Epaper – May 24 ISB 2020

CMYK

24 May, 2020 I 1 Shawwal-ul-Mubarak, 1441 I Rs 15.00 I Vol X No 326 I 12 Pages I Islamabad Edition

No defect iN eNgiNe, laNdiNg gear of ill-fated a-320, Pia claims g

aIrlInE SayS laSt CHECK OF aIrCraFt WaS COnDuCtED In MarCH tHIS yEar KArAChI

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StAff RePoRt

HE engineering and maintenance department of the Pakistan International airlines (PIa) on Saturday claimed that there was “no defect related to the engine, landing gear or major aircraft system” of the ill-fated airbus a-320 that crashed into a residential area in Karachi a day earlier, killing 97 people on board.

In a brief on the technical history of the airbus a-320, PIa stated that the last check of the plane was done on March 21 this year and it had flown from Muscat to lahore a day before the crash. the summary further said the health of both engines was “satisfactory” and maintenance checks were being performed at intervals. the report also revealed that the aeroplane was declared fit for flights till nov 5, 2020 by the Caa.

Sources said the first certificate of airworthiness was issued to airbus a320-200 on nov 6, 2014 to nov 5, 2015. and after every year the airworthiness certificate was issued following a complete check of the plane.

Meanwhile, aircraft manufacturer airbus in a statement said the aircraft in question had logged around 47,100 flight hours and 25,860 flight cycles and was powered by CFM56-5b4/P engines. the company said it is providing full technical assistance to Pakistani authorities in charge of the investigation. the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder have been recovered from the site of the crash, a PIa spokesman said. “the black box had been found late yesterday; we are handing it over to the inquiry board,” PIa spokesperson abdullah Khan said, clarifying that both the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder were found.

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aIrCraFt HaD FlOWn FrOM MuSCat tO laHOrE a Day bEFOrE tHE CraSHn COVID-19

GOVT FORMS PROBE BODY: Earlier on Friday, the federal government constituted an investigation team to probe the crash. the investigation team will be headed by air Commodore Muhammad usman ghani, President of the aircraft accident and Investigation board.

He will be assisted by Wing Commander Malik Muhammad Imran, additional Director of technical Investigation; group Captain touqeer, Ops Investigator, Pakistan air Force Safety board, Kamra; and nasir Majeed, Joint Director of atC Ops, aaIb.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 03

Speculations rife as govt orders probe into plane crash STORY ON BACK PAGE

Pakistan celebrates Eid today g

MuFtI MunEEb annOunCES SIgHtIng OF MOOn HOurS aFtEr SCIEnCE anD tECH MInIStEr annOunCEMEnt OF EID On SunDay LAhore StAff RePoRt

Pakistan will celebrate Eidul Fitr today after ruet-e-Hilal Committee Chairman Mufti Muneebur rehman confirmed the sighting of Shawaal crescent. talking to media, Muneeb said evidence of moon-sighting have been received from Pasni and Chamman areas of balochistan.

Pakistan Meteorological Department experts were also a part of the session. the department’s officials said that the sky in many parts of the country is not clear and there are very slim chances the moon may be sighted.

Earlier in the day, a controversy was stirred when Federal Minister for Science and technology Fawad Chauhdry said Eid would fall on Sunday as per the calculations made by his ministry. His comments were rebuffed by the religious affairs minister, noorul Haq Qadri, who said Eid will be announced by the ruet only. addressing a press confer-

ence, the federal minister said his ministry had to step in to determine the Eid day, as the clergy have failed to agree on the Eid day in the past.

“Mufti Shahabuddin Popalzai, who heads Peshawar’s Qasim Khan Mosque, makes a different announcement, the ruet-e-Hilal committee makes another, so we decided this year [that the science ministry] would use technology to determine when Eid should be celebrated.”

Fawad said that the Shawwal moon could be sighted Saturday night, adding: “the Shawwal moon was born on May 22 at 10:30 pm and will be visible between 7.36 pm and 8:15 pm tonight in badin, thatta and Pasni.” the minister said that according to the calendar prepared by his ministry, Eid will be celebrated on May 24 in many countries including Pakistan. He also shared the link to ‘the ruet’ app on twitter. “nowhere in the world is moon sighting an issue. With advances in technology it has become easier to sight the moon,”

PM for celebrating Eid differently due to plane crash tragedy, Covid-19 ISLAMABAD APP

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday said that he wanted the nation to observe this Eidul Fitr in a different manner from the usual celebratory style to share the grief of those who have lost their loved ones in the Karachi plane crash and in the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. In series of tweets, he said, “I want our nation to observe this Eid in a different manner from the usual celebratory style. First, let us think of & pray for all those families who have been deprived of their loved ones by the plane crash tragedy & all those who have lost their lives to COVID19.” He also urged the nation to observe standard operating procedures (SOPs) with regard to controlling the spread of coronavirus by strictly adhering to the social distancing on the occasion of Eid. “Second, everyone must remember to observe the SOPs in place for COVID19.

Fawad said.

“Islam is a religion of knowledge and intellect. Whoever says technology should not be involved in moon-sighting, we reject their perspective. When you wear glasses, this is also technology. How can you say if I see with glasses, it is halal but if I see through telescope, it is haram?” he questioned. “[the government] is always trying to accommodate different religious groups which has resulted in empowering sectarian groups. We see that our state accommodates religious groups during the Eid conflict every year even though we should pay heed to the Constitution, law and human intelligence in some matters.

RUET FINAL AUTHORITY: However, his comments were responded by religious affairs Minister noorul Haq Qadri, who said that the federal minister was not the authority on the issue of Eid moon as it rests with ruet Chairman Mufti Muneebur rehman, who will make the announcement in this regard.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 03

more inside

Federal govt announces compensation for Karachi crash victims STORY ON PAGE 03

36 more die of Covid-19, tally crosses 53,000 STORY ON PAGE 02

notice The offices of Pakistan Today will remain closed on May 24 and 25 on account of Eidul Fitr. Therefore, the newspaper will not be published on May 25 and 26. We wish our readers a safe Eid.

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Sunday, 24 May, 2020

NEWS

36 MORe DIe Of COvID-19, tAlly CROSSeS 53, LAHORe StAff RePoRt

Pakistan confirmed 36 more deaths from novel coronavirus in one day as the nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 1,123 and positive cases surged to 53,493.

According to the latest figures by the National Command and Operation Center (NCOC), 1,743 persons have been tested positive for COVID-19 in 24 hours. Sindh remains the worst-hit province by the pandemic followed by Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and

Balochistan.

Till now 18,730 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Punjab, 21,645 in Sindh, 7,685 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 3,198 in Balochistan, 1,457 in Islamabad, 607 in Gilgit-Baltistan and 171 in Azad Kashmir.

Patients are under treatment at quarantine centers of 462 hospitals where 7,295 beds are available. Pakistan has so far conducted 460,692 coronavirus tests and 14,705 in last 24 hours. 16,653 coronavirus patients have recovered in the country whereas many are in critical condition.

NewS DeSk

Authorities understating coronavirus infections in prisons: JPP ISLAMABAD inP

Renowned physician Dr Ijaz Ahsan passes away NewS DeSk Renowned physician Dr Ijaz Ahsan, who was the brother of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan, passed away on Saturday. Dr Ahsan had an accomplished career as a physician. He graduated from King Edward Medical University (KEMU) in 1957, was the first principal of Allama Iqbal Medical College in the late 70s, principal of his alma matter, KEMU, in the 90s. He also served as the president of College of Physicians and Surgeons of Pakistan. Dr Ahsan authored a textbook of surgery and a second book on politics that was near completion before he passed away.

Survivor recalls horror of PIA plane crash kARACHI AgencieS

One of the two people to survive a plane crash in Karachi that killed 97 people has described jumping from the burning wreckage of the aircraft after it hurtled into a residential neighborhood. The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane came down among houses on Friday after both engines failed as it approached Karachi airport, the airline said. Its wings sliced through rooftops, sending flames and plumes of smoke into the air as it crashed onto a street, sparking a rescue operation that lasted into the night. Commercial flights in the country resumed only days ago, ahead of Eidul Fitr, after planes were grounded during a lockdown over the coronavirus pandemic. “After it hit and I regained consciousness, I saw fire everywhere and no one was visible,” Mohammad Zubair, 24, said from his hospital bed in a video clip circulated on social media. “The cries were everywhere and everybody was trying to survive. I undid my seat belt and I saw some light and tried to walk towards it. Then I jumped out.” Zubair had suffered burns but was in a stable condition, a health ministry official said. The airline named the other survivor as the president of the Bank of Punjab, Zafar Masud. The health ministry for Sindh on Saturday confirmed that the 97 bodies recovered from the crash site had been on the plane.

At least 19 had been identified so far, while DNA testing was being carried out at the University of Karachi to help name the rest of the victims. A local hospital earlier reported it had received the bodies of people killed on the ground. The disaster comes as Pakistanis prepare to celebrate Eid, with many traveling to their homes in cities and villages. “Eid has become meaningless not only for Karachi but the whole of Pakistan,” said Ziaul Huq Qamar, who lives near the crash site. Several members of the armed forces who were flying home to their families to celebrate the holiday were among the dead, the military said. Shahbaz Hussain said his mother, who was also among the victims, had been flying back to Karachi after becoming stranded by the lockdown in Lahore while visiting her daughters.

Several human rights organisations have raised concerns about lack of transparency in the reporting of Covid-19 infections in Pakistani prisons, said the Justice Project Pakistan (JPP) – a private organisation working for welfare of prisoners in a statement on Saturday.

According to the statement, when the first Pakistani prisoner tested positive for Covid-19 on March 24 inside Lahore’s Camp Jail, authorities were quick to respond as they turned the prison into an isolation centre and conducted tests of all the prisoners who had come into contact with patient zero. “By April 6, authorities reported 50 cases from the jail. By April 15, there were 59. The infection rate in the jail was 19.33/1000, much higher than the 0.09/1000 rate in the city of Lahore,” it said.

The JPP said that later different authorities in Punjab started providing information about more cases emerging in other cities. By April 21, Punjab Primary and Secondary Healthcare De-

Pakistan expresses sorrow over cyclone in India, Bangladesh Pakistan on Saturday expressed sorrow over the deaths and widespread devastation caused

by Cyclone Amphan in India and Bangladesh.

The two countries have lost at least 102 people in the cyclone, the most powerful in over a decade, mostly because of house collapses and electrocution. “We extend sympathies and condolences to the families who have lost their loved ones and pray for speedy recovery of the affected regions,” Foreign Office (FO) Spokesperson Aisha Farooqui said in a statement issued on Saturday. More than 3 million people were evacuated before Amphan made landfall, preventing a large number of deaths.

A powerful cyclone that tore through India’s eastern state of West Bengal this week has caused a damage of 1 trillion rupees ($13 billion) to infrastructure and crops, state officials said. The cyclone has affected more than 13 million people – some losing houses, crops and lands – and over 1.5 million houses have been damaged, two West Bengal government officials told Reuters. Neighbouring Bangladesh, which also fell in Cyclone Amphan’s path on Wednesday, initially said it had suffered a loss of 11 billion taka ($130 million). But this could rise, government officials said.

Met Office claims hot and humid climate reduces Covid-19 spread partment (PSHD) was reporting that the total number of infections among prisoners in the province stood at 97.

After April 21, the health department brought down the figure from 97 to 86 without any explanation.

“Recently, the spokesperson for Prison Department, Punjab claimed, ‘78 prisoners and jail staff have tested positive for Covid-19’ which is surprising because the same day, the prison health department reported 86 cases in

its daily breakdown,” it added.

According to the statement, Karachi Central Jail has also become a Covid-19 hotbed with 40 cases emerging on May 18, and a staggering 212 the following day. Nine wardens have also tested positive, it added.

The statement said that more than 48,300 prisoners have contracted the novel Covid-19 virus in 67 countries across the globe, adding that least 840 have died.

NTDC energises 500kV transmission line for Faisalabad west grid station NewS DeSk The National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC) is completing its ongoing projects on a fast-track basis through effective utilization of resources despite COVID-19 pandemic.

"In a recent development, the construction of 38-kilometre-long 500kV Double Circuit Quad Bundle Transmission Line, consisting of 126 towers for looping in & out 500kV Single Circuit -- Haveli Bahadur Shah-Gatti Circuit-II, at 500kV Grid Station Faisalabad West has been successfully energised on load on 22 May 2020," said a statement issued by the company.

The NTDC spokesman has said that the transmission line is transmitting power from Haveli Bahadur Shah power plant to 500kV Gatti grid station (Faisalabad) via the under-

construction 500kV Faisalabad west grid station.

The spokesman stated that construction work at the said grid station is being completed at fast pace, adding that completion of the project will help the country tackle the increasing demand of electricity by domestic, industrial, commercial and agri consumers.

While updating about the completion of another task on war footing, the spokesman said that NTDC team has also completed the installation/erection work of a collapsed tower of 500kV Rawat-Neelum Jhelum transmission line and the said transmission line has been energized successfully.

NTDC Managing Director Engr Dr Khawaja Riffat Hassan has appreciated the efforts of the NTDC teams for completing both these tasks by working day and night during the coronavirus pandemic.

ISLAMABAD StAff RePoRt

Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) on Saturday told the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) that its study had found a decline in Covid-19 transmission rate due to rise in temperature and humidity. The PMD official briefed the NCOC meeting headed by Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar through video link about the findings of its research conducted in collaboration with the Ministry of Health Services, Regulations and Coordination. He added that a deep study of the pandemic outbreak pattern showed that the coronavirus spread mostly occurred in the mid-latitude which had cold and dry weather. No single case was reported in the tropical belt during the first three weeks of the contagion rise. “Increase in temperature from 3-5 degrees mainly beyond 30 degree and mean humidity over 50 degree would slow down the virus transmission,” he noted. The forum was also apprised about the testing regime adopted at the airports to contain the epidemic spread. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Security Dr Moeed Yusuf said that there was 90 per cent local transmission of cOVID-19 AT the moment and only ten percent were foreign induced. He said there was no testing done of the air travelers at the airports in many of the countries rather they were putting the masses under self-quarantine. The forum made detailed discussion on the issue with the provinces where the provincial chief secretaries agreed to the idea of abolishing testing on arrival of the passengers and agreed for a strict and proper screening of the passengers arriving at the airports.

FM Qureshi calls OIC chief to update on IOK situation ISLAMABAD APP

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Saturday held a telephonic conversation with Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Secretary General Dr Yousef A Al-Othaimeen to update him on the aggravating situation in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK), including Indian move to alter the territory’s demography.

During the conversation, the foreign minister conveyed Pakistan’s deep concerns on the deteriorating human rights and humanitarian situation in IOK and India’s moves to alter the demographic structure of the occupied territory.

He highlighted the recent domicile law in IOK, stressing that it was in clear violation of relevant United Nations (UN) and OIC resolutions and international law, including the 4th Geneva Convention.

The foreign minister deplored that in the garb of Covid-19 crisis, India was im-

posing even more stringent lockdown in the occupied territory and enhanced repression of the Kashmiri population through fake encounters, extrajudicial killings and other repressive measures.

He stated that occupation forces were inflicting “collective punishment” to entire communities through actions such as torching houses of local residents or razing them to the ground.

The secretary-general was informed that in order to divert the world’s atten-

CMYK

tion from its unacceptable actions in IOK, India might resort to “false flag” operation and undertake some other misadventure which could imperil regional peace and security.

FM Qureshi appreciated the OIC’s consistent support on the Kashmir dispute.

He welcomed the statements issued by the OIC and its human rights body, IPHRC, rejecting the new domicile law and India’s other illegal actions in IOK. While briefing about his recent call with the United Nations Secretary General (UNSG) and letter addressed to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) president, the foreign minister urged the international community to demand from India to implement the relevant UN resolutions; restore fundamental freedoms and repeal discriminatory laws.

He also demanded India to allow full and free access to the OIC, IPHRC and the UN to investigate the situation on the ground; and allow Kashmiris to

exercise their inalienable right to selfdetermination.

The foreign minister also apprised the secretary general of the rising wave of Islamophobia as well as demonisation of Muslims in India in the context of Covid-19.

Secretary General Al-Othaimeen reiterated OIC’s steadfast support to Pakistan on the Kashmir dispute and assured that the OIC would continue to follow-up on the issue.

Highlighting that Covid-19 posed a grave threat to the entire humanity, the foreign minister appreciated the secretary general’s role in spearheading the OIC’s collective response to combat the pandemic while briefing him about the steps taken by Pakistan to contain the virus.

The secretary general also expressed his deep condolences on the tragic crash of PIA 8303 flight and loss of precious lives and the foreign minister thanked for the condolences.

Sunday, 24 May, 2020

FEdEral govt announCES ComPEnSation For KaraChi CraSh viCtimS HEIRS OF DECEASED TO BE PAID RS1M, TWO INJURED TO RECEIVE 0.5M EACH KARACHI

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Staff RepoRt

HE federal government on Saturday announced compensation for the families of those who were aboard the ill-fated Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight that crashed into a residential area near Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport a day ago, killing 97 of 99 people onboard.

Speaking to reporters, Federal Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan said that families of those who were killed would receive Rs1 million each while the two survivors would be given Rs500,000 each.

Khan also announced that the government would offer compensation to

the residents of the area whose houses and cars have been affected. “A lot of damage has been done. We have directed that an initial survey be carried out and the government will pay for the damages after the assessment has been done,” he said.

The minister said that the government’s first priority was to hand over the bodies of the victims to their families after identification. He paid tribute to the “spirit of the people of Karachi”, who he said had participated keenly in the rescue work.

He also paid tribute to the pilot, saying that video footage showed he had “tried his best to reach the runway but when he saw it was impossible, he di-

Punjab reports polio case, tally reaches LAHORE: One more polio case was reported from Punjab on Saturday, taking the countrywide figure for this year to 49. According to reports, the latest victim of the virus is a three-year-old boy hailing from Taunsa, Dera Ghazi Khan. The samples of the patient were taken and referred to the National Institute of Health (NIH) on May 10. His polio test returned positive on Saturday, the sources said. On May 20, a polio case was detected in Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. According to the Health Department sources, a one-year-old child had been diagnosed with poliovirus in Union Council Mamakhel of Bannu. The fresh polio cases have surfaced at a time when all the vaccination campaigns are suspended due to the coronavirus threat. The government is now easing the lockdown gradually and markets and other businesses and transport are being opened. It is expected that the government may also resume vaccination campaigns keeping in view the needs of children who are at risk of contracting the virus, particularly in vulnerable areas. Staff RepoRt

AVIATION MINISTER PROMISES ‘FAIR’ PROBE INTO INCIDENT, MAKE REPORT PUBLIC verted the craft to an area where there would be minimum damage”.

AIRBUS TO COUNTER-INVESTIGATE INCIDENT: Khan announced the Airbus company would conduct a counter-inquiry into the cause of the crash. He also assured the people that the government’s inquiry would be “fair” and added that full efforts would be made to present the report to the nation and the parliament “as soon as possible”.

“Four experienced members of the Pakistan Air Force are part of the committee. They will make full efforts to present the facts.”

The minister said the government would take “100 per cent” responsibility for any negligence that led to the crash.

“Whoever is responsible, they will be made to resign.”

Responding to a query, he added: “If the report says the PIA CEO showed negligence, he will resign. If it says we have shown negligence, then not only will we resign but also present ourselves for accountability.”

Earlier, the federal government on Friday had constituted an investigation team to probe the crash.

The investigation team would be headed by Aircraft Accident and Investigation Board (AAIB) President Air Commodore Muhammad Usman Ghani and will feature experts/members from/of the civil and well as the military aviation sector.

No defect in engine, landing gear of ill-fated A-320, PIA claims CoNtINueD fRom PAge 01 According to a notification issued by the Aviation Division, the investigation team would exercise powers conferred under CAA Rules, 1994, and submit its report to the division within the shortest possible time. However, a preliminary statement would be issued within a month from the date of the notification.

Earlier, the Pakistan Airlines’ Pilots Association (Palpa) had demanded a thorough investigation into the aircraft crash by involving the association and international bodies.

It also suggested that in addition to the technical investigation into the aircraft’s health prior to the flight, investigators must consider the working conditions of the ground staff and flight crew.

It called for involving bodies like the International Civil Aviation Organisation and International Federation of Air Line Pilots’ Associations in the investigation.

“We will not accept the way the investigation carried out in the past and will not accept any inquiry into this accident without the inclusion of Palpa,” Captain Imran Narejo, the association’s general secretary, said.

“We appeal to the PIA management and the government to immediately order an inquiry into the incident and make its report available as soon as possible,” he added.

In a press conference on Friday night, PIA Chief Executive Officer Arshad Malik said that the pilots and cabin crew aboard PK8303 were all qualified.

“Accidents happen, but our pilots are trained for these kind of events. These planes have checks and balances that we are required to fulfill.

“My pilots were qualified, their checks and balances, and medical tests were complete,” he said, adding that the plane was “technically fit for flying”.

He said that an inquiry would be conducted into the plane crash by the Safety Investigation Board.

NEWS

Centre in contact with Sindh to ensure speedy rescue op: Shibli ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Shibli Faraz Saturday said that the federal government is in contact with the Sind government to ensure all-out efforts in speedy rescue operation. The government is fully focusing on relief and rescue operations in the plane crash incident, he said. This is highly tragic and sad incident before Eid-ul-Fitr and all prayers of Prime Minister Iman Khan and his government are with the passengers, crew members and families of victims at this hour of grief. Prime Minister Imran Khan is also in contact with the Sindh government and Civil Aviation Authority and is giving necessary directions in this regard, he informed. An information desk has been established to have a contact with families of the passengers on board the plane and provide them required information. He further said the incumbent government is also taking concrete measures to facilitate the marginalized segments of the society in wake of Covid-19 pandemic. Prime Minister Imran Khan directed to ease the lockdown only to facilitate the downtrodden resourced people of the country, he further said. It is now responsibility of the people to observe all precautionary measures to stay safe. “I appeal to the people to follow standard operating procedures (SOPs) properly to contain the spread of virus”. Pakistan is a developing country and cannot afford ceasing of economic activities for a long period of time, he said. Staff RepoRt

Pakistan celebrates Eid today CoNtINueD fRom PAge 01 In a statement, he said that the government and people of Pakistan would celebrate Eid according to the decision taken by the Ruet-i-Hilal committee. Qadri added that Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry had also been included in the central committee this year. He said “help of science and technology could be taken” but clarified that sharia relied on witnesses for moon-sighting. The government has earlier announced six Eid holidays from May 22 to 27 both of the public and private sectors. According to a notification issued by the Ministry of Interior, Friday, May 22 to Wednesday, May 27, will be Eid holidays in the country.

Pakistan’s coronavirus cases show no signs of slowing RAWALPINDI agencieS

As Friday prayers began in the main mosque here last week, worshipers filled the front courtyard. Late arrivals squeezed into the back and into overflow areas, disregarding the tape on the stone floor showing people where to stand to maintain social distance.

It was not just in Rawalpindi. Despite a rising number of coronavirus cases throughout Pakistan, officials in other major cities — Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore — described similar scenes during the holy month of Ramzan, which ends Saturday.

The large religious gatherings reflect the conflict between Pakistan’s powerful clerics, who successfully lobbied the government last month to allow congregational prayers, and health officials, who warn that the country’s fragile health system could be overwhelmed if current trends continue.

“This is the house of God,” said Mullana Hafiz Muhammed Iqbal Rizvi, the imam at the Jamia Mosque in Rawalpindi. “It’s our responsibility to make sure more and more people will come here.”

The number of coronavirus cases in this country of 230 million has quadrupled in the past month, jumping from 12,000 to over 48,000. And the rate of new infections is steadily rising: The number of cases increased 30 per cent in just the past week.

More than 1,000 people have died.

Yet the country’s Supreme Court (SC) ruled on Monday that the coronavirus “apparently is not a pandemic in Pakistan,” and

government officials, including Prime Minister Imran Khan, have suggested that the economic costs of prolonged restrictions outweigh the health costs of increased infection.

The same influential religious leaders who called for the easing of restrictions for Ramzan are now demanding they be done away with completely for Eidul Fitr, a holiday that marks the end of the holy month.

The eased restrictions on religious gatherings put Pakistan at odds with other Muslim countries. In Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt, Jordan and Turkey, mosques were closed during Ramzan to prevent the spread of the coronavirus and curfews are planned during Eid. Mufti Muhammad Hanif Qureshi, a religious scholar in Karachi, said he expects people to participate in Eid prayers at his mosque “in huge numbers.”

“We demand the government to avoid any confrontation,” he said. “Otherwise, it will be held responsible for any law-andorder situation.”

Qaiser Sajjad, the secretary general of the Pakistani Medical Association (PMA), is in touch with doctors and hospital directors across the country. As each shutdown restriction has been lifted, he said, the medical community has become increasingly worried. “This is a very bad time,” Sajjad said of the combination of accelerating infections and the lifting of restrictions. Even with a low death rate, he said, Pakistan may not have enough doctors to care for all the sick.

On a recent visit to the Jamia Mosque in Rawalpindi, the number of worshipers was

significantly smaller than a normal Friday turnout, but none of the government guidelines — social distancing, mandatory use of face masks and the elimination of prayer mats — were strictly enforced.

While there were fewer worshipers at the Jamia Mosque last Friday, social distancing rules were not always followed.

Many of those who came to pray said they believed God would protect them from infection inside a house of worship. Others said the global pandemic made it more important for Muslims to attend mosque.

“This is a punishment from God, and we must ask his forgiveness,” said Raja Nasib Ali, a 46-year-old businessman wearing a surgical mask over a long beard dyed with henna.

Naveed Paracha, a 35-year-old em-

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ployee of a garment shop, said he came to the mosque because he feels his faith is stronger than any virus. “Diseases come and go, but for Muslims, you always have to stand in front of God,” he said.

The Pakistani government never issued a countrywide lockdown, but by late March it had banned all international flights, and nearly all Pakistani provinces were under some form of shutdown, although most restrictions were poorly enforced. Restrictions began to formally ease in early May. This week, schools and restaurants remained closed but markets, factories, tailor shops, salons and most public transit across the country had reopened.

And in markets and along commercial streets across Pakistan, the crowds are even

greater than in the mosques. On May 11, images emerged of shoppers filling markets that stretched for blocks. People were packed so tightly together that there was little room to move, let alone maintain distance. “This is terrifying,” Waseem Khawaja said of the images. Khawaja, the senior doctor at the main hospital in Islamabad treating coronavirus patients, said he had seen a sharp increase in the rate of new infections since Ramzan began.

With the approach of Eid, when people traditionally buy new clothing and visit distant relatives, Khawaja predicts infection rates will continue to rise.

Many Pakistani families are also growing concerned.

Fida Hussain, a father of three, has watched the virus spread through his neighborhood in Islamabad over the past two months, infecting more than a dozen people.

“This is very disturbing for us,” he said of the reopening. “It’s dangerous.”

For his family, Ramzan has been a time of stress, anxiety and isolation. Hussain said he made the decision not to return to normal life after seeing the devastating impact of the virus on countries with much stronger health-care systems, such as the United States and Britain.

Hussain’s brother-in-law, Taimoor ulIslam, looked deflated when describing his decision not to pray at the mosque during the holy month, for fear of spreading the virus.

“There is not the kind of satisfaction as I had previously,” he said of praying at home. But, he added, “if I survive by not going to the mosque, I have the rest of my life to pray there.” Originally published on Error! Hyperlink reference not valid.

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Sunday, 24 May, 2020

WEATHER UPDATES SUNDAY

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PrAyer TimiNgs FAJR SUNRISE

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Five more police officials test positive for Covid-19 in Pindi RAWALPINDI: Five more officials of the Rawalpindi Police tested positive for Covid-19 here on Saturday. According to a police spokesman, the samples of Naseerabad Police station house officer(SHO), sub-inspecor, and a constable and two from policemen of Taxila Police Station tested positive for the virus. He said that all the officials had been quarantined.

Meanwhile, City Police Officer (CPO) Ehsan Younas told the media that tests of more officials are being carried out while the police will continue its role on the frontline against coronavirus. APP

SHO killed in firing incident

ISLAMABAD: Ladies being decorated their hands with henna (Mehandi) for preparation of Eid-ul-Fitr. oNliNe

KP rEliEF dEPT FACiliTATES MOrE THAn 100,000 PEOPlE viA E-SErviCE during PAndEMiC E-SERVICES WILL BE IMPLEMENTED PERMANENTLY IN VARIOUS PROVINCIAL DEPARTMENTS EVEN AFTER PANDEMIC PESHAWAR

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Aziz BuNeri

HE KP Relief Department has launched an e-service for facilitating citizens in the province with the services of 10 important departments during the current pandemic.

In this regard, more than 100,000 people who called 1700 have been provided services at their doorsteps during the last 45 days, officials told Pakistan Today.

It may be noted here that citizens may contact the department of their concern via the 1700 helpline for getting in touch with

doctors, the protection of women and children, coronavirus awareness, rescue services, civil defense, PDMA service portals, municipal service, industry service, medicine, and availing a psychiatrist in case they feel stressed due to Covid-19.

According to the details, the relief department received more than 41,000 calls for coronavirus awareness, around 14,000 calls for health services, more than 8,000 calls for civil defense service, more than 5,000 calls for rescue services, around 3,000 calls for medicines, 3,000 calls by citizens depressed due to facing pandemic induced problems and four calls were received for municipal service.

Pakistan’s prosperity a hope for Kashmir’s prosperity, says AJK president MIRPUR APP

Civil Defense Director Fahad Ikram Qazi told Pakistan Today that the toll free helpline’s purpose was to provide people with facilities on a single call in this difficult time. “KP is the only province where via a toll-free number more than one lakh calls have been received, and the concerned departments have resolved problems of citizens without them having to step out,” Qazi claimed.

He added that the government brought specialist doctors online on a daily basis while Civil Defense volunteers also resolved a number of issues that included running an awareness campaign across the province, providing municipal service, and disinfecting areas where the coronavirus patients resided.

“Such a service has never been used before,” said Qazir, adding that after the pandemic, the e-service will be implemented permanently in various provincial

26 Covid-19 positive cases registered in AJK, tally increases to 197 MIRPUR APP

The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan has said that economically and militarily strong and stable Pakistan is the sole guarantee for the early success of Kashmiri peoples’ struggle for their right to selfdetermination. “We must clearly understand that the coming era of new technologies will radically reshape international relations and global alliances.

Economic prowess, as always, will determine political clout and strategic weight. If Pakistan is viable economically and strong militarily, only then can we have reasonable hope for getting justice for Kashmiris”, he added in a news release issued on Saturday.

In an article written for Hilal magazine of the Pakistan Army, he said that the coming age will be of new technologies and these technologies would be the basis of international relations and new global alliances in future. Besides, the same technologies will contribute to the economic stability of any country and its political influence on the international level, according to the Presidential secretariat.

“Our preparations in the economic, military, strategic and diplomatic realm have to be proportionate to the multiple colossal challenges we face.” AJK President stated.

After the emergence of 26 new cases of coronavirus during the last 24 hours in Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK), the number of confirmed cases rose to 197 on Saturday, AJK Health Services Department said. At the same time, the blood samples of new 235 suspects were tested. In a statement on the updated situation of pandemic in AJK, State Health Services authorities confirmed the registration of 26 new cases in AJK which include 14 from Bagh, 10 from Muzaffarabad and two from Bhimbher district.

According to the health authorities a total of 5,103 suspected cases were sent for test, of which the results of 5,041 had been received so far with 197 positive cases. Out of the total positive cases, 97 have been discharged from the different health facilities after full recovery while 99 patients were receiving treatment in various state-run health facilities at present. Only one casualty of an elderly person of 80 years of age has been so far. The AJK government has established 59 Quarantine Centres in all ten district headquarters where professional training in infection, prevention and control was being imparted to the doctors, paramedics at all Isolation Centres in coordination with the World Health Organisation (WHO). Further, District Rapid Response (DRR) teams with coordination with State Health Department mobile medical teams were also engaged in conducting the screening of all new entrants at all entry and exit points in AJK.

departments to reduce time and rush in government offices.

He told that in the first phase, the online service was provided only by the relief department, but now the government has decided to include agriculture, livestock and all the departments.

He further told that the chief minister's adviser on minority affairs is in touch with the minister for providing e-services to minorities in the province.

A diabetes patient Abrar told Pakistan Today that he was facing immense problems during the lockdown.

“Due to the virus, it is difficult for routine patients to visit hospitals. In such a situation, I contacted an online doctor on the 1700 helpline to get prescriptions,” he said, adding that patients should not use any medicine without the doctors’ consultation as it can create more health problems.

KP govt to celebrate Eid with simplicity: Ajmal Wazir PESHAWAR APP

Advisor to KP CM on Information and Public Relations Ajmal Khan Wazir on Saturday while expressing sorrow over the Karachi plane crash said the KP CM and entire provincial government were deeply saddened by this national tragedy in addition to the pandemic and would therefore celebrate Eid with simplicity. Talking to the media at the Civil Secretariat here on Saturday, Ajmal said that Eid would be celebrated in the memory of those who were martyred in the plane crash. “At the government level, no official gatherings will be held on the occasion of Eid, but we also appeal the people to avoid unnecessary gatherings on this Eid and stay at home,” he added. Referring to the coronavirus helpline number, he said the provincial government had introduced helpline number 1700 for on which more than 0.1 million calls had been received so far. He said through this helpline number medical assistance and advices of experts had been provided to people. Ajmal Wazir said the helpline had also provided guidance to the people involved in the field of handicrafts and registration of civil defense volunteers. “Eid is a test case for people. If the SOPs on Eid are not taken serious, then the government will be compelled to tighten the situation again, the people should cooperate with the government in the struggle against corona,” he concluded.

KOHAT: Lachi Police Station Station House Officer (SHO) Nazar Abbas was killed while his gunman was also seriously injured in a firing incident when unknown assailants targeted them at Lachi Bazar on Friday night. Police said that the SHO was rushed to Kohat DHQ Hospital in a critical condition where he succumbed to his injuries.

Meanwhile, the condition of gunman Jasim Ali, who is in the ICU, is stated to be critical as he was hit by multiple bullets. During a search operation on Saturday, police killed one of the assailants involved in the crime, however, the others managed to escape despite being injured. APP

Mosques notified of Eid prayer timings PESHAWAR: Different mosques of the provincial capital were notified of prayer timings for Eid here on Saturday. According to the details, prayers at Qasim Ali Khan Masjid, Eid Gah Mosazai, Jamia Masjid Salman Farsi Dir Colony, Jamia Masjid Lewanay Baba Nothiya Jadid, Jamia Masjid Mall Maveshi Mandi Kala Kalalan and Jamia Masjid Bilal Bukhari would be offered at 7 am. Markazi Eid Gah Charsadda and Masjid Akhun Darwaiz would gather people to offer prayers at 7:15 am. Bagha-e-Naran Hayatabad, Jamia Masjid Qarni and Jamia Masjid Akhoat Islam would offer prayers at 6: 30 am. Eid Gah Par Kernal Sher Khan Market Hayatabad Phase-7 and Abubakr Siddique Masjid Lalazar Market Hayatabad Phase-1 would offer prayers at 6:15 am.

Similarly, Eid prayers at Jamia Masjid Ammar Bin Yasir Mohmand Colony and Jamia Masjid Civil Colony Kohat Road would be offered at 6:45 am while prayers at Jamia Masjid Noshoo Baba and Firdous Chowk would be offered at 8 am. APP

Markets allowed to do business until 10pm ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad administration on Saturday announced the extension of working hours of shopping malls and markets from 5 pm to 10 pm.

According to a notification, all markets have been allowed to function till 10pm from Saturday on account of the upcoming festival of Eid. Earlier on May 21, the Punjab government announced to increase business hours of markets and shopping malls following the demand from the traders’ community ahead of Eid. Punjab Minister for Industries and Trade Mian Aslam Iqbal said all markets in the province will remain till 10 pm from Friday. iNP

Two killed, two injured in firing in Bajaur BAJAUR: Two persons were shot dead by unidentified gunmen here on Saturday, while two others got seriously injured. According to police officials, the incident took place in Inayat Kalay, the busiest bazaar in Khar Tehsil, where unidentified gunmen opened fire, killing two people and seriously injuring two others. The deceased Zia-ur-Rehman son of Ashraf and Sajjad son of Ghazi were shifted to hospital along with those injured comprising Ishaq son of Muhammad Zeb of Hazar Nawa and Nawab son of Shah Wali of Inayat Kalay for medical treatment. The injured have been shifted to Khar Hospital for treatment while one injured Ishaq son of Muhammad Zeb has been shifted to Peshawar in critical condition. No one has yet claimed responsibility for the incident, while police have launched an investigation and cordoned off the areas after the firing incident to search the killers. APP

Sunday, 24 May, 2020

Sindh reportS 762 new Covid-19 CaSeS aS 14 more patientS die KARACHI PPI

a

s many as 762 new cases of coronavirus have been detected by conducting 4,336 tests while 14 more patients died during the last 24 hours in Sindh. This was stated by Sindh Chief Minister (CM) Syed Murad Ali Shah in a statement issued from the CM House on Saturday.

According to the statement, 4,336 samples were tested against which 762 new cases emerged.

The government has conducted 153,902 tests so far, which have resulted in 21,645 cases which constituted 14 per cent of the total tests.

The CM further said that the death toll had reached 354 across Sindh with the death of 14 more patients since

the outbreak of the disease, which makes 1.6 per cent of the total patients.

He added that 155 patients were in critical condition while 34 of them had been put on the ventilators. He prayed for their early recovery.

The CM said that at present, 14,078 patients were under treatment, of them 12,424 were at home isolation, 794 at Isolation Centres and 860 were at hospitals.

Talking about the patients cured, he said 198 patients had been discharged on Saturday and so far, 7,213 patients had recovered.

“Our recovery ratio stands at 33.4 per cent,” he said.

The statement says that out of 762 new cases, Karachi has 618 cases. “This shows that local transmission is still spreading,” the chief minister warned.

According to the break down, there were 190 new

cases in East, 115 in South, 112 in Central, 81 in Malir, 76 Korangi and 44 in West district of Karachi.

In other districts, Larkana has 20 cases, Hyderabad and Khairpur each have 15 cases, Shaheed Benazirabad eight cases, Kambar-Shdaddkot three, two each in Jacobabad and Mirpurkhas and one each in Thatta, Badin, Tharparkar and Jamshoro.

Talking about flights coming in from other countries, the chief minister said that 28 planes which had landed between April 18 and May 5 brought in 5,051 stranded Pakistani to Karachi, of them 976 passengers were found to be coronavirus positive. The chief minister urged people of Sindh to stay home and avoid unnecessary crowding in markets and shopping malls.

“This is in your [people] interest, otherwise, you will be the carrier of the virus for your family,” he warned.

NEWS

05

three perish, five injured in vehicle collision near thatta THATTA PPI

Three people were killed while five others were injured in a road accident, 40km from Thatta, on Saturday. According to the details, a fast-moving Suzuki pickup collided with a bike at Jam Barrage area near Gharo town. As a result, Hamid Shoro, 55, Faizan, 25, and Shan, 20, were killed on the spot while five women of Shoro clan were also injured. The bodies and injured were shifted to Rural Health Centre Gharo for medico-legal formalities and treatment, respectively. The condition of the injured was stated to be out of danger.

Citizens protest against land mafia HYDERABAD

Sindh imposes two-month ban on all leisure activities at beaches, canals

PPI

A protest against alleged occupation and burning of houses of Bheel community by land mafia was carried out by the Sindh Agriculture General Workers Union (SAGWU) and Hari Haqdar Tahreek (HHT) at the Hyderabad Press Club on Saturday. Addressing the demonstration, National Trade Union Federation of Pakistan (NTUF) Secretary General Nasir Mansoor said that the land mafia was now active in rural areas as well as in cities. He claimed that attempts are being made to seize the 100-year-old Bheel Mori Goth near the town of Hala, which contains more than 200 houses. The protesters demanded that the attackers on Bheel Mori Goth be arrested.

“Goth and its inhabitants should be protected from land mafia. Strict action should be taken against government officials who assisted land mafia,” they said.

KARACHI INP

A notification issued by the government of Sindh on Saturday imposed a two-month ban on bathing and leisurely activities at beaches.

Karachi Commissioner Iftikhar Shalwani issued the notification related to the imposition of section 144 of (Criminal Procedure Code) CrPC on Saturday in this regard. The notification states that the ban will continue till July 22, 2020, to avoid crowds gathering and spreading the coronavirus pathogen. “As part of precautionary measure against Covid-19, the Sindh government imposed a ban on swimming and bathing in sea and canals,” it says. Further, the home department has also decided to impose a ban on bathing and swimming on the eve of Eid. It may be noted here that the District Administration has already announced that all tourist spots and hotels across Pakistan will remain closed during the Eid-ul-Fitr holidays.

trade unions welcome SC judgement in Sui Southern trade union case

14 more tested positive for Covid-19 in hyderabad HYDERABAD

KARACHI: The family of a PIA Karachi plane crash victim arrives at Edhi Centre to collect the body of their beloved for burial. ONLINE

APP

The number of COVID-19 cases Saturday increased to 644 due to 14 new cases reported during the last 24 hours. According to the data released by the district administration here, out of 644 coronavirus cases 331 had been recovered and discharged from isolation wards/quarantine centers while 23 patients had succumbed to the virus till to date so far. As per daily situation report, 74 COVID-19 patients are under treatment at isolation wards of different hospitals and 216 are quarantined at homes. In district Hyderabad, more than 4,500 COVID-19 tests performed, out of which 644 tested positive, 331 recovered and 23 patients died, the report said. Out of total 644 COVID19 positive cases in the district, 280 are in taluka Qasimabad, 194 in taluka City, 141 in Latifabad and 15 in Hyderabad rural, it added.

The district administration has established a control room at the office of deputy commissioner while COVID-19 Rapid Response Teams are working actively round-the-clock throughout the district and equipped with personal protective equipments (PPE) supplies.

NIBD head doctor appeals for plasma donation NEws DEsK Head of the National Institute of Blood Diseases (NIBD) Dr Tahir Shamsi said Saturday that they are facing a shortage of blood plasma from recovered coronavirus patients, local media sources reported on Saturday.

“We have reached a dead limit of available blood plasma needed to treat coronavirus patients currently admitted to hospitals or put on ventilators,” he said while making a call for more donations from recovered patients.

“We need 30 plasma bags daily to conduct passive immunization therapy

on critical coronavirus patients,” he said as the provincial health minister earlier said that the process had yielded positive results in treating COVID-19 patients.

He said that the NIBD had established a helpline service for the donations.

This is not the first time that Dr Tahir Shamsi has appealed to the recovered coronavirus patients to donate their blood plasma for conducting passive immunization therapy on virus patientsmainly critical ones.

On May 21, Dr Tahir Shamsi appealed coronavirus patients who recovered from the infection to donate

blood plasma.

In his appeal, Dr Tahir Shamsi said that there is an alarming increase in the number of critical patients admitted to hospitals.

“We are in dire need of donations from recovered coronavirus patients for passive immunization therapy,” he said adding that people from any blood group could donate plasma to them.

He said that many lives could be saved from the plasma donated from recovered virus patients. Dr Tahir Shamsi urged those willing to donate plasma to contact via helpline number 0333-2976390.

KARACHI: Trade union and labour support organisations on Saturday welcomed the Supreme Court’s (SC) landmark judgment in which the apex court has held that the contract workers have legitimate and fundamental right to form a union or becoming a part of it and take part in the union referendum or elections.

In a joint statement, Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research (PILER) Executive Director Karamat Ali, National Trade Union Federation (NTUF) Secretary General Nasir Mansoor, Peoples Labour Bureau Sindh President Habibuddin Junaidi, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Democratic Workers Union leader Liaqat Sahi, Zehra Khan from the Home-based Women Workers Federation (HWWF), Farhat Parveen from the NOW Communities and others underlined the need for implementation of the order in all corporation in the country. PPI

Family killed in plane crash laid to rest KARACHI: A family of three identified as Nida, her husband Waqas and their child Aliyan were laid to rest among 21 other victims of the PK 8303 crash on Saturday. The family were originally from Waheedabad neighbourhood off Gulbahar area and had moved to Lahore a few years ago. Other victims fortunate enough to have their bodies identified include Captain Sajjad Gul and passengers Mohammad Tahir, Dilshad Begum, Iqra Shahid, Balaj, Farhan, Saleem Qadir and 11 others. APP

Sindh governor visits plane crash site, hails rescue operation KARACHI PPI

Sindh Governor Imran Ismail on Saturday visited the PIA plane crash site in Model Colony and inspected the damage caused by the airline authority’s incompetence.

Federal Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan, PIA CEO Arshad Malik, MNA Aftab Siddiqui, MPAs Firdous Shamim Naqvi, Haleem Adil, Khurrum Sher Zaman, Jamal Siddiqui and Sidra Imran were also present on the occasion.

After taking a round of the wreckage, the governor met with locals and volunteers engaged in rescue and relief work.

While talking to the media, he appreci-

ated the quick response of Edhi, armed forces, Rangers and Chhipa as well as the services of scouts and volunteers of the Pakistan Hilal-e-Ahmer.

He said that on the directions of Prime Minister Imran Khan Qasr-e-Naz and Airport hotel of PIA had been reserved for legal heirs of crash victim and families who lost their houses in the incident for their accommodation.

“We want the victims’ families to know that they are in our prayers,” he said.

He assured that residents of the colony whose houses were damaged in the accident have been shifted to the Airport Hotel. “A Qasr-e-Naz has also been prepared in case there we run out of space at the hotel,” the governor said.

Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar, who had accompanied the governor, said that the expenses of the rehabilitation and repair of the houses destroyed will be incurred by the government.

The people who survived the crash will be paid compensation of Rs500,000. “We are no one to compensate for the losses of those who lost their lives,” Sarwar said, adding that, the government, however, will give their families Rs1 million.

“The insurance amount of Rs5 million will also be distributed to the people affected,” he added.

In reply to a question, the Sindh governor said that inquiry committee constituted by the federal government had started working. Its report would answer questions about

the causes of the incident, he added.

He appealed to media not to run news based on rumours and speculations and only give authentic and factual reports as the heirs of victims are already aggrieved and any baseless news only create unrest amongst them.

He said that it was a miracle that no life was lost on the ground despite the crashing of the plane in a heavily populated area.

Federal Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan said that Federal Government would construct the damaged houses while compensation for damaged vehicle would also be announced after their assessment.

The report of inquiry committee would be presented in the parliament and before the masses, he added.

Later, the Sindh governor visited the Emergency Response Centre (ERC) and PIA head office call centre where he was informed that the centre was made functional within half an hour of the crash.

He was further informed that so far, 18 dead bodies had been handed over to legal heirs while the remaining would be given to relatives after DNA verification.

A team specialising in DNA testing has been called in from Lahore to begin DNA sampling for the identification of the victims of the PIA plane crash in this regard.

“All the victims’ bodies have been recovered from the crash site and our foremost priority is identifying them and handing them over to their families now,” he said.

Sunday, 24 May, 2020

06 COMMENT

The charade of sugar inquiry

Consequences of a misconceived policy Fears of a second wave in the offing

Skirting the real issues

T

HE people are paying the price for the government’s politically motivated rather than evidence-based decisions to control the coronavirus. on Friday, SAPm dr Zafar mirza announced 50 deaths and 2,603 new patients in 24 hours, the highest numbers so far in a single day. with the opening of the entire transport system, tens of thousands of untested urban employees and informal sector workers would be going back to small towns and villages, so far unaffected by Covid-19, to celebrate Eid with relatives. The PTI leadership’s carefree attitude has made the people take the pandemic lightly as shown by their thronging the shopping malls and stores while mostly ignoring the SoPs. one shudders to think of a second wave of coronavirus striking the country after the present one begins to subside in July.

Thanks to the lack of a clear-cut policy to contain the pandemic, the country faces a double jeopardy. Pakistan wasted the opportunity to stop the spread of the virus and bring down the infection and death rate through a strict but short term countrywide lockdown followed by massive testing, quarantining the affected and hospitalising the serious cases followed by the lifting of the lockdown within weeks. According to dr mirza, the stock of ventilators and personal protective equipment (PPE) is only sufficient for may. Next month the country would face a shortage unless their local production starts. Pakistan has gifted a planeload of protective gear to the US Army. does it imply that it has started local production of the items? while infection and the mortality rate continuing to rise, there is little hope of a revival of the economy which was already in the doldrums before the advent of the pandemic. The economic squeeze has constricted domestic demand while with supply chains choked and lockdowns and restrictions imposed all over the world, Pakistan’s exports are likely to suffer further. opening the economy in the middle of a virus pandemic is not likely to fulfill the government’s expectations. Evidence shows that economic activity in US cities that imposed tighter lockdowns bounced back quicker and stronger than those cities that had looser restrictions in place.

aRif Nizami

A

mId the release of the damning sugar commission’s inquiry report there is talk of bringing in a conflict of interest law barring holders of public office from engaging in business activities. The prime minister has already directed the law ministry to prepare the draft of a conflict of interest law.

Such a draft already exists on the annals of the National Assembly. The law was initiated back in 2016 as a private member bill by murad Saeed. But for reasons quite obvious never saw the light of day.

A similar law was enacted in KP (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) in 2016 by the PTI (Pakistan Tehreeke-Insaf) government. Conflict of interest law became a law in Punjab earlier this year as well.

It is obvious that a law, sans tooth and the will to implement it, is useless. A broad spectrum of politicians- both in power and in the opposition- are directly involved in all kinds of business activity.

The rot started with field marshal Ayub Khan after he took power through a coup de tat in 1958.

His son Gohar Ayub set up the now defunct Ghandhara motors. The dictator was founder of crony capitalism in Pakistan.

But general Zia ul Haq, who ruled Pakistan from 1977 to 1988 with an iron hand, while invoking the name of Islam in order to make a political base for himself, mentored the Sharif family and the Chadhrys of Gujrat.

Sugar mills owned and run by political office holders became the new normal. Interestingly the Sharifs as owners of Ittefaq foundry also manufactured sugar mills machinery. The foundry was nationalised by late ZA Bhutto’s regime and returned to the family by Zia. Cheap loans were facilitated through nationalised banks. Running into billions, a bulk of them were never returned. As a result, a new comprador culture emerged in Pakistan.

But why sugar? The answer is quite simple. The feudal politicians saw a double advantage: cheap sugar cane and an industry that did not require much

Following procedure And respecting the law

o

NE of the most common features of past and present civilian governments is a propensity to undermine or overlook protocol, procedure and the legality of important and sensitive matters. when this practice gets too much out of hand, courts have to step in and force some course correction. during the PmL (N)’s tenure for example, then Prime minister Nawaz Sharif preferred to take decisions without cabinet approval. winning by a thumping majority had its perks but bypassing Cabinet was not one of them, and this is exactly what the Supreme Court had to remind mr. Sharif of when many important decisions were being taken by the kitchen cabinet rather than the actual one. Fast forward to the current PTI government and things are somewhat similar.

Even though there is no electoral majority to speak of, the arrogance that it may give rise to is very much there. Take the recent case of Islamabad mayor Sheikh Anser Aziz of the PmL(N), who was suspended for three months by the federal government pending a corruption inquiry. It is peculiar that mr Aziz was neither present in the meeting of the Local Government Commission where the decision of his suspension was taken nor was the matter part of the original agenda, and was rather inserted at the last minute. only six days later, the Islamabad High Court reinstated him, much to the embarrassment of the PTI. An earlier restraining order of the IHC over the removal of mr Aziz notwithstanding, SAPm on CdA affairs Ali Nawaz Awan is clearly in a hurry to make the post of the Capital’s mayor vacant. That the job has belonged to a member of the opposition party since 2016 adds fuel to the fire. Last year, without taking into consideration the sensitivity, modalities or legalities of the matter, the entire PTI setup from the Pm to the president and downwards botched up the extension of the CoAS with a haphazardly prepared notification that got noticed by the Supreme Court. The matter had to be settled by passing some meaningful legislation in Parliament. The entire episode exposed the incompetence of the federal government’s legal and administrative framework. while the matter of Islamabad’s mayor is not as high-profile, it checks all the boxes when it comes to recklessness and disregard for legal procedure. It would suit the PTI government to carefully consider such decisions more carefully in future so that courts do not have to step in time and again to remind them of the limitations of the law that the government must operate within.

Rabia ahmed

H

ow unexpected is life that within a few months the world …the entire world is taken over and the life of all its people changed… perhaps forever… by a miniscule ‘thing’ whose very existence as a ‘living’ organism is debated. That tiny organism, about 10,000 times smaller than a single grain of salt, has managed to halt traffic… aircraft, trains, massive trucks, trundling containers, everything. It has shut down businesses, some of them run by powerful magnates, ruin livelihoods and impressive economies, and kill more than 300,000 humans around the world, more than nukes managed to kill in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

In a world where humans boast about whose nuclear arsenal is larger and about being able to decimate their enemies by pressing a button, this tiny thing has ‘achieved’ much the same much more insidiously and very efficiently. Unlike clunky human bombs this organism has killed humans alone by means of a disease that has as yet no cure. Structures remain unharmed, houses, buildings and towers stand as before, and there is no damage to forests and wildlife. In fact if anything wildlife has thrived in the

Editor Umar Aziz

Asher John

Executive Editor

Deputy Editor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965

Arif Nizami is Editor, Pakistan Today. He can be contacted at arifn51@hotmail.com.

How do we manange the next time?

Arif Nizami

Joint Editor

team) in Panama gate probe. It is no coincidence either that Shahzad Akbar SAPm on accountability read out the salient points of the report to the media and in his signature acerbic style, he lambasted the ‘sugar mafia.’

Jahangir Tareen, the erstwhile close consort of Khan, was singled out for every crime perpetrated in the sugar industry. In many ways the report seems to be Tareen and opposition specific.

According to the findings, Jdw Sugar mills, in which Tareen has a considerable shareholding that controls 20 per cent of the sugar market by virtue of its sheer size, under invoiced sales from bagasse and molasse resulting in 25 per cent cost inflation.

Jdw is found guilty in the report of forward sales, satta, benami sales and transferring money from PLC accounts to private accounts amongst other crimes.

But why Tareen? what has he done wrong that Khan decided to go after his virtual deputy prime minister? Conceivably such are the vagaries of power.

Tareen used vast sums of his own money to achieve the desired results for Khan. despite his disqualification for holding public office by the apex court in April 2018 he carved an important niche for himself.

He traversed the whole country on his private plane collecting a motley crew of carpetbaggers to join the Kings party in the making, before and post 2018 general elections. of course, with a little help from the establishment with whom he had excellent contacts.

In the process he created jealousies within the inner sanctum of the ruling party, primarily Asad Umer, Shah mehmood Qureshi and quite a few others became his sworn enemies.

Tareen perhaps forgot a cardinal norm of rulers that they usually bite the hand that feeds them. Perhaps some important persons having a stranglehold on Khan were also responsible for his undoing. with no political base, Tareen had become the most expendable that he had ever been since joining the PTI. The Report singles out chief minister of Sindh of granting sugar export subsidies to omni group owned

by Anwar majeed, a close friend and business partner of Asif Zardari.

But on the other hand, the Commission simply papered over the then finance minister Asad Umar’s decision while chairing an ECC (economic coordination committee) meeting in december2018.

Thus, granting sugar millers permission to export 1.1 million tons of sugar in 2019 on the flimsy pretext that the country was in dire need of foreign exchange.

He also defended the subsidy given by the Punjab government to sugar exporters. The Punjab Cm falsely claimed that the subsidy was given by the Federal Cabinet despite the minutes of the meeting stating otherwise.

Talking of double standards, Khan is personally mr Clean but running a clean government in this dispensation is another ball game.

To expect the unexpected and be prepared for it

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

know-how to run.

The Sharifs, apart from establishing their own sugar empire, sanctioned sugar mills as the machinery in many cases was being fabricated at the Ittefaq Foundries.

Recounting a personal interaction, in 1997 when Nawaz Sharif was elected second time prime minister and the Chaudhrys were his close political allies, they came to see me at my house. I had the temerity to suggest that they should set a healthy tradition by not to engaging in business activity while in power.

Ch. Shujaat was quite shocked. He retorted, “why not? we were victimised by Benazir; we have to make good our losses.”

Since then the younger generation of the Sharifs, the Chaudhrys and others have moved on to other lucrative businesses as well.

In fact, the formula of making money while the sun shines has been calibrated to perfection. many a politician in power has a brother or son looking after his business intrests, blatantly promoted through state patronage.

Take the curious case of federal minister Khusro Bakhtiar. He has been very conveniently absolved of any wrongdoing since technically his brother makhdoom omer Shehryar runs the RYK Group Sugar mills.

Khusro, hailing from Rahim Yar Khan, is not new to establishment politics. He has been able to find a ministerial berth in virtually every regime since Pervez musharraf’s time.

There are several NAB investigations against him relating to having assets much beyond his means. But having the protection of Khan, he is hitherto untouchable.

It is well known that Chaudhary munir, who looks after the intrests of the ruling family of UAE in Pakistan, is his political as well as business mentor.

Because of the ‘Janoobi suba mahaz’, that Khusro heads, he is politically vital for Khan.

His brother Hashim Jawan Bakht holds the important portfolio of finance minister in Punjab, while Shehryar is looking after the business intrests of the family. A cool arrangement.

In this backdrop a conflict of interest law will barely scratch the surface. only if implemented in letter and spirit it can make a difference. However, present political dispensation leaves little room for optimism.

The aviation minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan in a fit of candour has blown the cover off the so-called clean governance practises. According to him there are many SAPms (special assistant to the prime minister) and advisors who hold dual nationality and have failed to declare their assets.

The original mandate of the sugar commission was to probe the reasons behind price hike and shortage of sugar. Headed by wajid Zia, the director general of the FIA (Federal Investigation Agency) the so-called commission soon morphed into another body tainted by political expediency unable to answer this fundamental question.

Incidentally, this is the same wajid Zia who did Sharif in while heading the JIT (joint investigation

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absence of man on the streets and with the decrease in the atmospheric pollution he caused.

Never has humanity been more united in distress, nor human beings worked more determinedly towards a common goal, a worthy goal, as they do now when they’re racing to develop a vaccine to combat covid-19, the disease. And never has what is good and what is bad in human society been more starkly differentiated for all to see. The inefficiency, the materialism, the selfishness, the opportunism displayed by a few persons in stark contrast to the selflessness and devotion of the many… doctors, nurses, medical researchers, charities and the such whom the world can never thank enough.

Never have the most crucial problems in society been more thrown into relief, like the important bits in a document being highlighted in fluorescent colours or typed in a bold font to catch the reader’s eye for maximum impact. we see starkly as never before the difference in the suffering of the rich on the one hand and the less fortunate on the other. Perhaps it was needed to put it this way because the difference was always there and was always stark but we had got used to it.

The world has become used to incorporating poverty within it as if it were some kind of necessary ingredient, like leavening in bread or water in coffee. we exist within viewing distance of poverty, we allow it to persist and grow as if nothing can be done about it. we accept without much question the differences that exist in society, in housing, education, nourishment and health care. This is not just in Third world countries, it is also in countries like the USA where homeless persons may be found living in

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parks in residential areas, where the difference in health care is mindboggling depending on whether you have insurance or not, or in Pakistan the difference between being able to afford a good private hospital or not.

It is inequality that is more or less inevitable, not poverty, the kind that leads to immense disadvantages… that is not necessary at all, and something can be done about it if the will exists.

Now, for the poor, the choice is very much in black and white. For the others there are options. For the poor this episode of covid-19 has been a choice between dying of the virus and dying of want. For the rest it has been an inconvenience, of having to make do without help, of having to disinfect and wash and not being able to socialize. But in the process we have seen the interdependence of one upon the other, how much we need various trades– the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker, and how much they need our custom. It comes home to us that everyone does not have a bank account much less access to online banking, so people don’t get paid while there is a lockdown, or they are not paid because they do not earn.

So there is an increase in violence, what a surprise.

Can something be done so that even if there must be a lockdown… and the need will definitely arise again… we can survive it?

If even after this, these issues are not tackled, then the next disaster might come that much closer to annihilating us all. And there will be nobody to blame but ourselves. If we are still alive.

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

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Sunday, 24 May, 2020

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

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

Global warming

Multilateral capture and the aftermath Long is the list of frauds; befitting should be the punishments.

Candid Corner Raoof hasaN “Whoever commits a fraud is guilty not only of the particular injury to him who he deceives, but the diminution of that confidence which constitutes not only the ease, but the existence of the society.”

—Samuel Johnson

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HE Enquiry Commission Report makes for a long list of vile frauds committed by the sugar industry cartel ranging from manipulating cane procurement to working out the cost of production, massive tax evasion to artificial price hike, benami sales to fake export claims, hoarding to satta and illegal capacity enhancement to deceitful power production gimmicks! There was double booking, under-reporting and over-invoicing. duplicate books were maintained and huge amounts were regularly transferred from company accounts to personal coffers. This is tantamount to massive regulatory capture as all state institutions collapsed in the face of a multipronged manipulative onslaught masterminded by this cartel.

Indicting the regulatory bodies as being responsible for this messy situation, the Sugar Enquiry Commission has recommended sending copies of the report to NAB, FIA and anti-corruption departments of the provinces to proceed further with initiating appropriate action.

In addition to the government, it is the poor people of the country who had to suffer at the hands of this mafia on a minimum of two counts: by receiving less than their hard-earned due for the sugarcane sold to the mills and paying exorbitantly more for buying the end product.

This investigation is the first of its kind ever conducted in the country. Even more singular is the fact that its findings have been made public without any redactions. For this, Prime minister Khan deserves our gratitude. He has demonstrated a high level of courage, commitment and resolve, to uphold the ideals that he has always stood by. This one action will further nurture those ideals and it is hoped that, from here onwards, his credentials would be boosted as the confidence of people grows further in him.

But, for that to happen, a number of steps are yet to be taken. Having the enquiry held and making the findings public is just one part of the task. The more important part is to implement the recommendations without exception. This, inevitably, would include holding people accountable for decisions they took, whether they

This is not the end. The sugar mafia is not be part of the Prime minister’s team, or they sit with the opposition. Even if a single exception the only culprit. Virtually every business is in the is created on one pretext or the other, the pur- grip of suchlike mafias, be it the textile industry, pose of the entire exercise would be defeated. I the car manufacturing industry, independent understand that the Prime minister remains fully power producers, or other similar conglomerates. resolved to not only do this, but to go after all They are all into the business of exploiting the cartels which are operating in the country. That state for their personal benefit. There are going is the only way to get the better of these criminal to be more enquiries and more scams will be ungangs who have been running their own govern- earthed, of similar or graver proportions, involving mafias which have driven the state to the ments within the government.

In spite of the fact that the findings are brink of collapse. This has taken a long time in broad-based, focusing on businesses managed coming which is not like how the Prime minister by people on both sides of the divide, the ones would have liked to operate. But, there were from the opposition accused of these fraudulent grave challenges in terms of the economic surpractices were busy making ludicrous claims in vival which the previous regimes had left behind. their own defence and those who are their asso- That delayed the onset of the accountability ciates and family members, some of whom have process in earnest. But, sleepless will be the already been declared absconders. It was a pa- nights of these mafias now as they would not find a respite, no matter how thetic sight to see a forhard they try. mer chief minister of The media’s conduct Punjab, whose family has has always been dubious ruled the province for It is seldom that a leader and it continues to be so, more than 20 years and but when cases have whose elder brother has would come along, been registered against been the prime minister of the country thrice, determined to undertake the the alleged criminals as a consequence of the findcome up with incoherent ings of the report, the and illogical stuff in a challenge of transforming the role the judiciary plays desperate bid to escape destiny of a country. Pakistan would be critical. It the damage. Then there determine was this other person who has one in Imran Khan. It is would whether we are headed served as the prime minessential that all of us look towards dispensing jusister of the country, and tice, or the criminals who helped a former fibeyond our respective would again be given renance minister escape the lief vide bails on the clutches of law in his own prejudices and extend a basis of mere personal official plane, not having helping hand to accomplish undertakings. This would a clue to what he was stattip the balance and no ing on air. the task, with media and amount of genuine effort The response from within the government judiciary playing pivotal roles. by the executive would bear fruit if the judiciary ranks has been more subdecides to play the adverdued. Except for one indi- If that may not be so, it would sarial role. we have seen vidual who has vowed to be the making of a that happening in the fight the charges, the othnear to distant past, and ers have opted to remain monumental tragedy. the likelihood of a repeat silent. That would inperformance cannot be evitably mean that they Thereafter, the state would be eliminated. The judiciary would be willing to face must understand that, the cases when these are but a skeleton, tossed around a key pillar of the registered. one coalition at the mercy of these gangs being state, it is incumbent partner of the government upon it to play a role has tried to disassociate of inveterate criminals which would facilitate himself by claiming that and augment the resolve he had no role in managof the executive to ing the industry which cleanse the country of has been implicated in the report. The veracity of this claim would be as- mafias and cartels which have bludgeoned it over decades of rampant corruption and misrule. certained when investigation commences.

It is seldom that a leader would come along, The Sugar Commission Report is not the only source of concern for those who have ha- determined to undertake the challenge of transbitually indulged in manipulating the system to forming the destiny of a country. Pakistan has loot and plunder the state. It is reported that the one in Imran Khan. It is essential that all of us debt Enquiry Commission has also submitted look beyond our respective prejudices and exits findings to the Prime minister. This commis- tend a helping hand to accomplish the task, with sion was looking into the (mis)use of loans of media and judiciary playing pivotal roles.

If that may not be so, it would be the making over Rs 24,000 billion during 2008-18. It has allegedly pointed out monumental loss to the na- of a monumental tragedy. Thereafter, the state tional exchequer pertaining to various would be but a skeleton, tossed around at the developmental projects. The commission also mercy of these gangs of inveterate criminals. evaluated the success rate of development Raoof Hasan is a political and security schemes undertaken with the financial assistance of the world Bank, Asian development Bank strategist, and heads the Regional Peace and other institutions at 25-30 percent. The re- Institute – an Islamabad-based think tank. port has also highlighted the criminal role of Email: raoofhasan@hotmail.com. Twitter: @RaoofHasan some beneficiary families of the country.

GLoBAL warming’ is an expression which refers to the effect of human activities that produces the unnatural change on the climate. It is an increase in earth‘s temperature due to burning of fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas) and large-scale deforestation, which results in emission of large amounts of ‘greenhouse gases’ to the atmosphere. Now the Question arises that, what causes Global warming. According to Scientists and Government organisations.

Concentration of Greenhouse Gases in the atmosphere due to greenhouse effect is the major causes of Global warming. These gases especially Co2 have heat trapping capability. So they trap heat and cause the greenhouse effect, rising global temperatures.Some of the main Causes of Global warming are q Greenhouse Effects Greenhouse effect is the phenomenon in which the heat and light of sun enters to the earth’s atmosphere but cannot go out as they are trapped by the greenhouse gases, as a result temperature rises.

Greenhouse Gases Greenhouse gases mainly comprises of carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. These gases are lighter than air, so they rise up to the outer limits of the earth‘s atmosphere and settle up there, making an impenetrable barrier that traps heat from escaping out into the space, and keeping it within our environment, and increases the temperature.

Agriculture produces large amount of methane and nitrous oxide worldwide, as accounted by IPCC. There are numerous agricultural sources of greenhouse gases. Livestock grazing, waste management and digestive gases contribute half of the emissions produced by agriculture.

Nitrogen fertilizers (used for increasing production) release nitrous oxide and comprise 35 per cent of agricultural emissions. deforestation According to NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), deforestation is responsible for nearly one-fourth of the amount of carbon emitted to the atmosphere. The planet cuts and burns nearly 34 million acres of trees each year, including millions of acres of rainforest. Trees and plants take up the carbon dioxide and provide us pure, clean, breathable oxygen as a free by product of the plant life cycle. Some of the effects of global warming observed across the world are Rise in Sea Levels due to rise in temperature, the Glaciers present in polar regions are melting rapidly, as a result there is sufficient rise in sea level. droughts and Floods Higher temperature leads to faster evaporation of water and leads to drought in one part, and heavy rainfall causes flooding in other part of the world. Experts have estimated that, drought conditions might be increasing by at least 66 percent in upcoming years.

Effects on Biodiversity wildlife researchers have noticed some of the strong species migrating to the poles, far north and far south to maintain their needed habitat, for example the red fox normally an inhabitant of North America is now seen living in the Arctic. Also it has been noticed that loss of species and endangerment is rising along with the global temperatures.

Prevention of Global warming we can prevent Global warming by reducing the demand of fossil fuels and by using the energy more wisely. Some of the simple actions which can help us to reduce the effects the global warming are – REUSE, REdUCE ANd RECYCLE we can reduce the emission of carbon dioxide by choosing reusable products instead of disposables.

Using Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL): we can save energy by replacing regular light bulbs with compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs, because CFLs uses 75% less energy than 60-watt incandescent light bulb.

Also CFLs last 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs and give off 70 percent less heat. By Planting Trees we should plant more and more trees as they absorb carbon dioxide and give off oxygen. They are an integral part of the natural atmospheric exchange cycle here on Earth.

Turning of Electrical Appliances we can save electricity and reduce global warming by turning off lights, television, video player, stereo and computer and many other electrical appliances, when not in use.

Global warming is due to the increased carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases in air due to pollution caused by human and it is predicted that it will cause variety of negative effects.

MAHNooR TARIq Wah

Corona virus Rumors Now a days Corona Virus is one of the major issues around the world. most of the countries are fighting against this virus. There are many myths on social media such as how to fight against this virus? It is suggested “by eating Allium you will cure from Corona virus”, or it is prescribed that this virus didn’t attack in hot atmosphere”, or this virus attack only to child less than age of 5 year and a person age greater than 40, or You can boost your immune system and lower your risk of getting CoVId by eating sweet potatoes and taking certain vitamins and supplements, or taking colloidal silver, or You can avoid the virus by drinking warm water every 15 minutes. These myths are creating big problem for illiterate peoples.

The issue is that people start treating themselves by following these wrong prescriptions and as a result they end up facing a lot of problems. we as a nation must not spread such type of myths, because this create problem for peoples who follow these prescriptions.

The government should take stern measures against those who spread such myths, as government have announced about tiger force which will supply goods to needy people that is good decision but they should also told to spread awareness between peoples.

M HAMzA EHSAN Lahore

No Eid prayers THE largest number of cases of CoVId-19, the disease caused by the virus, has been in Saudi Arabia, which normally sees millions of muslims descend on the holy cities of mecca and medina during Ramadan. In response to the outbreak, the kingdom closed off the religious sites, with stark images of empty mosques and sacred sites circulating online. millions of muslims are preparing to celebrate the end of Ramadan with the Eid al-Fitr holiday this weekend, normally marked by public prayers in the mosque, family visits and grand communal meals.

But as cases continue to rise, Saudi Arabia has announced the whole country will remain locked down with strict curfews in place and gatherings limited to five people, according to the ministry of Interior. Stay at home to stop the spread of deadly virus. wishing you all a happy Eid. HARuM SHuJAuddIN. Karachi.

Sunday, 24 May, 2020

08 WORLD VIEW

Pakistan’s coronavirus cases quadruPle during the holy month of ramadan — and show no signs of slowing ‘IF I SURVIVE BY NOT GOING TO THE MOSQUE, I HAVE THE REST OF MY LIFE TO PRAY THERE’

Washington Post

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SuSannah GeorGe

s Friday prayers began in a main mosque last week, worshipers filled the front courtyard. Late arrivals squeezed into the back and into overflow areas, disregarding the tape on the stone floor showing people where to stand to maintain social distance.

It wasn’t just in Rawalpindi. Despite a rising number of coronavirus cases throughout Pakistan, officials in other major cities — Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore — described similar scenes during the holy month of Ramadan.

The large religious gatherings reflect the conflict between Pakistan’s powerful imams, who successfully lobbied the government last month to allow congregational prayers, and health officials, who warn that the country’s fragile health system could be over-

whelmed if current trends continue.

“This is the house of God,” said Maulana Hafiz Muhammed Iqbal Rizvi, the imam at the Jamia Mosque in Rawalpindi.

“It’s our responsibility to make sure more and more people will come here.”

The number of coronavirus cases in this country of 230 million has quadrupled in the past month, jumping from 12,000 to over 48,000. And the rate of new infections is steadily rising: The number of cases increased 30 percent in just the past week.

More than 1,000 people have died.

Yet the country’s supreme Court ruled Monday that the coronavirus “apparently is not a pandemic in Pakistan,” and government officials, including Prime Minister Imran Khan, have suggested that the economic costs of prolonged restrictions outweigh the health costs of increased infection.

The same influential religious leaders who called for the easing of restrictions for Ramadan are now demanding they be done away with completely for Eid, a holiday that marks the end of the holy month.

The eased restrictions on religious gatherings put Pakistan at odds with other Muslim countries. In saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Jordan and Turkey, mosques were closed during Ramadan to

prevent the spread of the coronavirus and curfews are planned during Eid. Mufti Muhammad Hanif Qureshi, a religious scholar in Karachi, said he expects people to participate in Eid prayers at his mosque “in huge numbers.”

“We demand the government to avoid any confrontation,” he said. “Otherwise, it will be held responsible for any law-andorder situation.”

Qaiser sajjad, the secretary general of the Pakistani Medical Association, is in touch with doctors and hospital directors across the country. As each shutdown restriction has been lifted, he said, the medical community has become increasingly worried.

“This is a very bad time,” sajjad said of the combination of accelerating infections and the lifting of restrictions. Even with a low death rate, he said, Pakistan may not have enough doctors to care for all the sick.

On a recent visit to the Jamia Mosque in Rawalpindi, the number of worshipers was significantly smaller than a normal Friday turnout, but none of the government guidelines — social distancing, mandatory use of face masks and the elimination of prayer mats — were strictly enforced.

Many of those who came to pray said

they believed God would protect them from infection inside a house of worship. Others said the global pandemic made it more important for Muslims to attend mosque.

“This is a punishment from God, and we must ask his forgiveness,” said Raja Nasib Ali, a 46-year-old businessman wearing a surgical mask over a long beard dyed with henna.

Naveed Paracha, a 35-year-old employee of a garment shop, said he came to the mosque because he feels his faith is stronger than any virus. “Diseases come and go, but for Muslims, you always have to stand in front of God,” he said.

The Pakistani government never issued a countrywide lockdown, but by late March it had banned all international flights, and nearly all Pakistani provinces were under some form of shutdown, although most restrictions were poorly enforced. Restrictions began to formally ease in early May. This week, schools and restaurants remained closed but markets, factories, tailor shops, salons and most public transit across the country had reopened.

And in markets and along commercial streets across Pakistan, the crowds are even greater than in the mosques.

On May 11, images emerged of shoppers filling markets that stretched for blocks. People were packed so tightly together that there was little room to move, let alone maintain distance.

“This is terrifying,” Waseem Khawaja

said of the images. Khawaja, the senior doctor at the main hospital in Islamabad treating coronavirus patients, said he had seen a sharp increase in the rate of new infections since Ramadan began.

With the approach of Eid, when people traditionally buy new clothing and visit distant relatives, Khawaja predicts infection rates will continue to rise.

Many Pakistani families are also growing concerned. Fida Hussain, a father of three, has watched the virus spread through his neighborhood in Islamabad over the past two months, infecting more than a dozen people. “This is very disturbing for us,” he said of the reopening. “It’s dangerous.” For his family, Ramadan has been a time of stress, anxiety and isolation. Hussain said he made the decision not to return to normal life after seeing the devastating impact of the virus on countries with much stronger health-care systems, such as the United states and Britain. Hussain’s brother-in-law, Taimoor-ul-Islam, looked deflated when describing his decision not to pray at the mosque during the holy month, for fear of spreading the virus. “There is not the kind of satisfaction as I had previously,” he said of praying at home. But, he added, “if I survive by not going to the mosque, I have the rest of my life to pray there.”

Shaiq Hussain in Rawalpindi and Haq Nawaz Khan in Peshawar, Pakistan contributed to this report.

Should Joe Biden pick Michelle Obama as his VP? Online education is a pale Washington MonthLy Last month, Joe Biden sparked renewed interest in putting two familiar names on a Democratic presidential ticket when he said off-hand that he would pick Michelle Obama “in a heartbeat” if she would agree to be his running mate. He should take the prospect more seriously.

If Biden really wants to lead the most progressive administration in U.s. history, he is going to need a partner who can galvanize support among the Democratic base.

As we saw in the 2016 election, a mere endorsement from both Obamas does not generate the turnout that comes with actually having an Obama on the ticket.

In addition to greatly boosting his chances of winning in November, Michelle Obama would help sustain progressive enthusiasm and engagement should he win, which in turn will enable the Democrats to accomplish major legislative victories once in office. sure, Michelle Obama has stated unequivocally that there is “zero chance” she would run for president. Given the brutal reality of life in the political spotlight, it is entirely understandable that she would not want to subject her family to a second round in the ring. But it’s one thing for her to choose not to run. It’s another if her party’s presidential nominee implores her to help him defeat Donald Trump, given how high the stakes are. That’s why Joe Biden should call upon Michelle Obama to serve the nation in a way that only she can.

As vice president, Michelle Obama would build upon her vast experience working on behalf of the American people—before, during, and after her time as first lady. That experience would prepare her to serve at a crucial moment when the country is desperate for intelligent, empathetic, and eloquent leadership. In her long and varied career before entering public service, she was a big-firm lawyer, an entrepreneurial nonprofit leader, and a public health executive at a nonprofit hospital.

More than that, though, Michelle Obama would provide the Democratic ticket with a critical missing link: a powerful and compelling voice as one of America’s leading storytellers. she actually won this year’s Grammy Award for Best spoken Word Recording for the audiobook version of her autobiography. And Higher Ground, the film production company she runs with her husband, shared in the Oscar for Best Documentary for American Factory.

Recently, in the middle of the COVID19 pandemic, parents and their children are tuning into “Mondays with Michelle Obama,” a collaboration with PBs Kids on Facebook and YouTube, to hear the former First Lady read classics such as “The Gruffalo” and “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.” In short, she has that unique gift of being able to connect with audiences.

The ability to communicate and resonate with the American people is paramount to winning the White House in our current era.

IN A DEMOCRACY, PEOPLE GET THE LEADERS THEY DESERVE. WHILE WE MAY NOT DESERVE MICHELLE OBAMA, WE DO NEED HER. AND SO DOES JOE BIDEN History makes that clear. In 1980, the year CNN was launched as the first full-time cable news channel, Ronald Reagan, a vintage voice from Hollywood, prevailed over technocrat Jimmy Carter. In 1984, Reagan crushed the earnest civil servant, Walter Mondale. Folksy George W. Bush managed to aw-shucks his way past two lifelong public servants in Al Gore and John Kerry, neither of whom could find the right words or the right way of reaching the American people.

Among Democrats, only Bill Clinton and Barack Obama connected with the electorate through their powerful stories of hope.

Clinton came from “a town called Hope” and Obama laid out his remarkable political vision in his pre-election book The Audacity of Hope, which was both the title of his bestseller and the 2004 Democratic National Convention speech that launched his national political career.

Anyone who has read Michelle Obama’s Becoming—or heard the audiobook in her own warm, clear voice—knows that her personal story of hard work, perseverance, and personal triumph over adversity and sorrow, is a quintessentially American tale. Whereas most book tours are conducted in libraries and bookstores, Michelle Obama filled sports arenas last year, proving that the country cannot get enough of her. For those who missed her epic book tour, a new documentary on it, eponymously titled Becoming, premiered on Netflix this month.

The other prospective vice-presidential candidates all have appealing attributes, but none come close to Michelle Obama’s raw star power—something Joe Biden desperately needs. His media appeal is anemic, with just over 50,000 subscribers to his YouTube channel. By contrast, Michelle Obama has 38 million followers on Instagram.

Michelle Obama is far more popular than other prospective vice-presidential candidates and much more popular than Biden himself. According to favorability ratings released by YouGov, Michelle Obama is viewed favorably by 57 percent of Americans, with only 30 percent holding a negative view of her. By contrast, Elizabeth Warren has a much narrower 39 to 34 percent favorability rating, whereas opinion is split evenly 33 to 33 percent on Kamala Harris. Over the next several months, the presidential campaign will be waged in an unprecedented fashion, relying largely on digital media to connect with voters while traditional political practices, such as big rallies and door knocking, are curtailed. In the 2016 election, Donald Trump realized that commercial television executives would carry his vaudevillian political rallies, filled with rage and bombast, knowing

they would bring great ratings. Because he was garish and outlandish, an expert in the language and cadence of reality TV, Trump was able to dominate the media and dictate the terms of debate. During the pandemic, he has once again shown that he can command the network cameras to hang on his every word, not because they are newsworthy or true, but because they are ratings gold.

If Democrats want to compete on the national stage with Trump, especially in an unprecedented election in which reaching voters digitally will be even more important, they need to field a ticket that will deliver a blockbuster audience. Michelle Obama is the only figure in American politics who can command that attention. she would be able to greatly amplify the Democratic message and would drive voter participation through the roof.

Even beyond her unrivaled ability to command the spotlight, Michelle Obama’s substantive experience in and out of public office makes her uniquely qualified to help lead the nation at this dark moment.

As first lady, she led two signature initiatives that have direct relevance to the challenges ahead: Let’s Move, a nationwide public health effort to reduce childhood obesity, and Joining Forces, a nonprofit to assist military families through innovative interventions, such as helping military spouses obtain professional credentials when moving to new postings. As we work to rebuild a healthy nation in the aftermath of COVID-19, America will need a voice in leadership that can offer clear guidance on healthy lifestyle practices.

Michelle Obama’s great success with the Let’s Move campaign makes her well equipped to meet that challenge. And millions of medical workers will need an advocacy effort like Joining Forces, which will help them address their own health and well-being in the wake of the crisis. And before she resigned to devote herself fully to her husband’s presidential campaign, Michelle Obama was vice president for community and external affairs at the University of Chicago Hospital, giving her a special perspective on the needs of patients, hospitals, and the health care system that few other politicians can claim.

Finally, in her current role as a private citizen, one of Michelle Obama’s major initiatives has been When We All Vote, a campaign to promote voter registration and fight voter suppression nationwide.

These efforts will need to be central to the Democratic platform for the party to succeed in November and beyond. There’s an old adage: In a democracy, people get the leaders they deserve. While we may not deserve Michelle Obama, we do need her.

And so does Joe Biden.

shadow of the real thing

gLoBE anD MaiL MarK KInGWeLL

The fast-break virus-driven move to online education is a miniature crisis within a global one. It is non-fatal in terms of human life, of course, but may prove devastating in more subtle ways. Among other things, the massive and sudden shift in teaching at all levels exposes social and economic faultlines that pre-date the current pandemic.

In the United states, as City University of New York instructor Corey Robin wrote earlier this month, the biggest gap is between wealthy private universities and public state schools.

The former, with robust infrastructure, enviable brand names and mostly well-heeled students, can weather the storm. At places like CUNY, where I taught myself, this is not so, not least in the uneven distribution of access to affordable internet connections.

Meanwhile, different approaches to college re-opening are quickly creating asymmetries in the experience students can expect. Even at places where in-person teaching will resume in the fall, the social and cultural aspects of campus life will be almost entirely absent. Mark Twain is supposed to have said, “I never let my schooling interfere with my education.” If, as is usually thought, he meant that true education happens outside the seminar room, that kind of learning is simply no longer available on neutron-bombed campuses. There will be no college culture for the foreseeable future: no keg parties, no crowded football games, no grassy quads and dreaming spires, no rallies or latenight residential bull sessions.

Adding to these deficits are polls that show a majority of students consider online instruction “inferior” to physical gathering in classrooms and lecture halls. An estimated one-third of incoming freshmen are wondering whether university is even a good idea right now, according to a survey commissioned by the Canadian Association of University Teachers and the Canadian Federation of students, while some disgruntled current undergraduates have agitated for tuition refunds or reductions. small liberal arts colleges are among the most vulnerable here. An old grad-school friend of mine who teaches at one such place wrote that a liberal arts college like his “was already living beyond its means … as the com-

prehensive fee rose to an obscene $75,000 per year. Many houses of cards have been exposed.” such institutions face financial collapse and permanent closure.

In Canada, where the post-secondary system is almost entirely public, such bad deals are not so common. Nobody here pays $75,000 a year in fees to attend a second-tier college. But what about smaller regional or teaching-intensive schools? Can anyone, in good conscience, charge full-whack tuition to students who are sitting at home – maybe living with their parents – staring at time-delay faces on a screen, or watching quickly assembled YouTube videos and PowerPoint presentations?

At the University of Toronto, where I currently teach, we’ve been told that we should consider adopting a system called “HyFlex Dual Delivery.” This jargony buzzphrase smacks of an advanced laser weapon or intercontinental ballistic missile, but really just means offering simultaneous in-person and online versions of university courses. Given physical distancing, the inperson option will presumably be available only for small classes; we are then advised to respect the needs of students who won’t attend in person, and replicate the course online. To those of us who see a pedagogical contradiction, not just an experiential gap, in the very idea of a webinar, that now-ubiquitous portmanteau word, this development is anathema. In my own discipline of philosophy, the centrality of face-to-face socratic engagement, the special benefits of group interlocution with nothing but a shared text before us, cannot survive the lockstep march online. Even a hybrid model – that’s what the “Hy” in “HyFlex” means – will not rescue us. Hybrid is just the new synonym for we have no idea.

And yet, over any possible objection or plea for discussion, online education is what we are forced to accept. Like most instructors, I will do my level best to approximate real seminars and lectures under new circumstances.

But we owe it to our students and ourselves to acknowledge that these are, and can only be, poor shadows of the real thing. I’ve heard administrators insist that online instruction is just a “change in delivery system,” not a diminution of content. But this bureaucratic bromide wilfully ignores the wisdom of Marshall McLuhan, whose work I often teach. The medium is always the message. You can reduce a seminar to a distortion-addled screen, sure, but that will never substitute for being there.

I’m reminded that the etymology of “seminar” refers both to places where learning happens – seminaries, the matrix of modern universities – and also to what happens there: seeds are planted, ideally later to bear intellectual fruit. To paraphrase Norma Desmond in sunset Boulevard: Ideas are big; it’s the screens that got small. The fact that we’ve been forced willy-nilly into this viral-virtual corner is no solace, or solution.

Sunday, 24 May, 2020

BUSINESS 09

GOvt lIkEly tO AllOw ExpOrt Of pErSOnAl prOtEctIvE EquIpmEnt ISLAMABAD

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BOI chief vows all-out support to SEZ investors ISLAMABAD APP

Minister of State and Board of Investment Chairman Atif R Bokhari has said that the government would take special measures to facilitate local and foreign investors so that more investment could be brought to Allama Iqbal Industrial City, a prioritized Special Economic Zone (SEZ) of Faisalabad Industrial Estate Development and Management Company (FIEDMC). He expressed these views while talking to FIEDMC Chairman Mian Kashif Ashfaq in Islamabad, said a press release issued on Saturday. Bokhari informed the government would soon introduce a new act through parliament to ensure the presence of all federal and provincial departments in the 'one-window operation' system of FIEDMC. He said road shows would be conducted in different countries of the world through joint venture between BOI and FIEDMC, adding that the Chinese president was expected to visit to Pakistan soon and that FIEDMC should ensure its active preparation in this regard to lure Chinese investors.

Bokhari said the government has been striving to improve all nine indicators of 'Ease of Doing Business', including starting a business, paying taxes, getting credit, resolving insolvency, getting construction permits, trading across the borders, property registrations, getting electricity and enforcing contracts to be implemented to attract foreign investment in the country. He appreciated FIEDMC Chairman Mian Kashif Ashfaq for his untiring efforts towards acceleration of development process at the Allama Iqbal Industrial City. Both the officials discussed the investment prospects available in the country and the areas and fields where foreign investors could show interest and make investments leading to overall economic development and increase in the GDP growth rate. The problems faced by the foreign investors post Covid-19 environment were also discussed on the occasion. Mian Kashif Ashfaq informed the BOI chief that Allama Iqbal Industrial City was being built as a priority project under the CPEC framework. It was being set up under direct orders from Prime Minister Imran Khan, he said, adding that the completion of this project would mark the start of an industrial era for the country. He said the industries being set up in AIIC would enjoy 10-year tax exemption on import of machinery. Additional facilities planned for the industrial city include a technical university. The FIEDMC chairman also revealed that the company would collaborate with the Naya Pakistan Housing Authority (NPHA) and construct 10,000 flats for Allama Iqbal Industrial City labourers. "A shuttle train would also be launched for labourers to commute from one place to another." He said that on the pattern of Faisalabad Express, another new road from Sahianwala to Chiniot would be constructed to provide easy access to the SEZ.

SHAHZAD PARACHA

MID sufficient availability of stock, the federal government is likely to allow the export of personal protective equipment (PPE), it was learnt on Saturday. According to sources, the Ministry of National Health Service Research & Coordination and the Ministry of Commerce have agreed in-principle that the country has sufficient PPE to fulfil its demands.

Both the ministries had discussed the matter after the health ministry had asked the federal government to ban PPE export in the wake of Covid-19.

Sources said that the commerce ministry, on the recommendations of the health ministry, has

now placed the matter before the federal cabinet, which may take a decision in this regard in its next meeting.

Earlier, the commerce officials were reluctant to discuss the matter with the cabinet due to the recent sugar controversy. The Sugar Advisory Board had also recommended the ECC to allow the export of sugar as the country has surplus resources, but the matter became controversial after a massive surge in sugar prices.

Sources said that Pakistan was earlier importing PPE from China. However, the government later decided to prepare the equipment in the country keeping in view its textile potential.

"Since the European Union has eased regulations with regard to PPE import, export and local produc-

Cyclone Amphan loss estimated at $13bn in India KOLKATA AGENCIES

A powerful cyclone that tore through India’s eastern state of West Bengal this week has caused a damage of INR 1 trillion ($13 billion) to infrastructure and crops, state officials said.

Neighbouring Bangladesh, which also fell in Cyclone Amphan’s path on Wednesday, initially said it had suffered a loss of 11 billion taka ($130 million).

But this could rise, government officials said.

The two countries have lost at least 102 people in the cyclone, the most powerful in over a decade, mostly because of house collapses and electrocution. More than 3 million people were evacuated before Amphan made landfall, preventing a large number of deaths.

The cyclone has affected more than 13 million people some losing houses, crops and lands - and over 1.5 million houses have been damaged, two West Bengal government officials told Reuters.

In North 24 Parganas, a district in southern West Bengal, 700 villages were flooded and

Govt urged to probe ‘cartelisation’ in seed, pesticide sector ISLAMABAD APP

80,000 people lost their homes, the Times of India newspaper reported.

Hundreds of thousands are in relief camps across the state, the officials said, amid concern that lax social distancing norms could fuel a spread of coronavirus cases.

In Kolkata, the state capital, authorities struggled to remove debris from roads and clear trees that fell as the cyclone, packing winds of 133 km (83 miles) per

hour, pounded the city of 14 million for hours.

The cyclone also destroyed farmland in Bangladesh’s lowlying coastal areas, damage that will likely endanger livelihoods, non-profit ActionAid said.

“Communities need urgent support as they are without basic necessities such as food, clean water and materials to rebuild their homes,” Farah Kabir, the country director of ActionAid Bangladesh said.

Easing lockdown, Spain to reopen for tourism in July MADRID: Spain will reopen its borders to tourists in July and its top soccer division will kick off again in June, the Prime Minister said on Saturday, as one of the world’s strictest lockdowns starts to ease.

Pedro Sanchez’s dual announcements coincided with calls for his resignation over the lockdown’s impact on jobs and the economy from the far-right Vox party, which called a protest through cities across Spain that drew thousands of horn-blaring cars and motorbikes.

“From July, foreign tourism will resume in safe conditions. We will guarantee tourists will not take any risks and will not bring us any risks,” Sanchez told a televised

tion for companies, it is likely that the government may allow the PPE export to the EU," an insider said.

As per the EU, "Market surveillance authorities may authorise products for the EU market without finalised conformity assessment procedures if the equipment ensures an adequate level of health and safety in line with EU law requirements. In exceptional cases, purchases organised by EU countries for healthcare workers may skip necessary conformity assessment procedures for equipment, provided that the EU countries’ authorities have ensured adequate safety levels."

Sources believe that the EU's statement is a great chance for Pakistani companies to not only take advantage of this opportunity but also to introduce their companies in EU markets.

news conference, without giving further details.

Foreign visitors contribute around an eighth of Spain’s economic output and the government curbs – taken to contain one of Europe’s severest coronavirus outbreaks – have shuttered everything from hotels, bars and restaurants to beaches and leisure parks just as its tourism season gets under way.

Close to a million jobs were lost just in March, when the lockdown began, and the Bank of Spain has forecast the economy will contract by up to 12% this year.

Sanchez also said that another national money-spinner, top flight La Liga soccer, would resume on June 8.

Saturday’s protesters called on him and Deputy

Prime Minister Pablo Iglesias – head of left-wing Podemos, the junior partner in Socialist Sanchez’s coalition – to resign over their handling of the crisis and, in particular, the economic fallout.

“It is time to make a big noise against the government of unemployment and misery that has abandoned our self-employed and workers,” Vox said.

The government says the lockdown has allowed it to get the pandemic under control.

Restrictions on movement are being gradually eased, though residents of Madrid and Barcelona, both national epicentres of the virus, have remained in lockdown. AGENCIES

The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry’s Standing Committee on Agriculture has called upon the government to address issues pertaining to cartelisation in the seed and pesticide sector so that the country's agriculture sector could be developed on modern lines. "Substandard seeds and pesticides may hit the agriculture sector this year as well; cotton crop is one of the novel example in this regard," the committee said in a statement issued on Saturday. It noted this was the second consecutive year that cotton growers seemed worried, as substandard seeds had again flooded local markets, especially in Sindh. "These seeds either grow nothing or the germination rate is as low as 30-40 in the fields," former committee chairman Ahmad Jawad said, adding that cotton cultivation had started in the southern parts of Sindh as well as in south Punjab but farmers were facing problems due to the nonavailability of high productivity seeds suitable for respective soil conditions. "Despite the fact that the country has research institutes like Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) where we can produce local seeds for any crops through international cross breeding according to our weather conditions, there is no role of the regulator in checking the quality of seed and pesticides on every shipment before distributing in the market," he lamented.

Similarly, he said, the quality of pesticides was getting "pathetic" by the day. "If you spray on the crop to kill a particular virus, it is most likely that the spray may cause another virus to the same crop." He urged the government to facilitate and incentivise cotton growers and bring back to the market those growers who had opted for other profitable alternatives.

Wall Street investors look beyond drug makers as hunt for Covid-19 treatment heats up NEW YORK AGENCIES

Investors are diversifying bets in the healthcare sector, as the rush to develop treatments for Covid-19 has driven up prices for some pharmaceutical stocks.

A record 48pc of fund managers are overweight healthcare stocks, a BofA survey showed, and the S&P 500 healthcare sector is up nearly 34% since its March low. Hopes for a treatment have also sparked outsize rallies in the shares of companies such as Moderna and Inovio Pharmaceutcials, up 253% and 327% since the start of the year, re-

spectively, as of Friday’s close.

In recent weeks, news of potential treatments or vaccines to fight the pandemic have occasionally fueled swings in broader markets.

Yet some fund managers believe lasting profits may be elusive for vaccine-makers, leading them to seek corners of the healthcare sector that could see longer-term benefits from the fight against coronavirus.

Large pharmaceutical companies such as Johnson & Johnson and GlaxoSmithKline Plc have said they plan to make any successful vaccine available at cost, though they could reap profits later if a seasonal shot is needed. Multiple treatments could

also divide the market between many players, investors said.

“There’s the question of ‘Does anyone really make a lot of money on this?,” said Larry Cordisco, co-portfolio manager of the Osterweis Fund.

Signs of progress on potential treatments could bolster the case for a quicker economic recovery and further fuel the rally that has boosted the S&P 500 around 30% from its late March lows. In the next two weeks, Gilead Sciences is expected to announce results of clinical studies of its potential coronavirus treatment remdesivir for patients with moderate symptoms of Covid-19. Pfizer has said it expects to release safety data

for initial human testing of experimental vaccine by the end of May. Cordisco is looking further afield. One of the companies he owns is medical device maker Danaher Corp, which manufactures a rapid Covid-19 test the FDA approved in March. Its shares are up 3.1% since the start of the year.

“If you’re looking for where the profits might be in the chain, it’s somebody like that who is going to benefit. They can cash in the whole way,” Cordisco said.

Alessandro Valentini, portfolio manager at Causeway Capital Management, said his firm is looking for value opportunities as the healthcare

sector becomes more expensive, trading now at 22.9 times trailing earnings, slightly more than the 21.9 multiple of the S&P 500 index as a whole.

He is staying away from potential vaccine producers in favor of companies such as Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd. Japan’s largest pharmaceutical company said this month it could start clinical trials as early as July for a COVID-19 treatment based on antibodies from blood of recovered patients.

“This is a company that will be part of the solution and can buy a world class business for a significant discount to what we think the fair value is,” Valentini said. Its shares are

down nearly 6.5% for the year to date.

Mike Caldwell, a portfolio manager of the Driehaus Event Driven Fund, said his fund is focusing on supply chains of vaccine production rather than the drug companies themselves.

He is betting on companies such as Roche Holding and Abbott Laboratories, which have large diagnostics businesses that will likely be a part of any future COVID-19 treatment.

He is also bullish on smaller companies such as Luminex Corp, which received an FDA emergency use authorization for its COVID-19 diagnostic test. Shares are up 36pc year to date.

Sunday, 24 May, 2020

10 FOREIGN NEWS

EuropEans, naTo urgE russia To work To savE TrEaTy droppEd by Trump PARIS

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AGENCIES

ATO and the EU on Friday urged Russia to comply with the 1992 Open Skies military surveillance treaty, as European nations scrambled to save the pact after US President Donald Trump said his country would with-

draw.

Western allies are hoping to convince Washington to reverse the decision, which Trump said was due to Moscow not honouring the defence agreement.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the US decision to quit the agreement will not come into effect for six months, leaving Moscow time to change course. “All NATO allies are in full compliance with all provisions of the treaty,” Stoltenberg said.

“Russia has for many years imposed flight restrictions inconsistent with the treaty, including flight limitations, over Kaliningrad and restricting flights in Russia near its border with Georgia.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said he regretted the US decision, calling the Open Skies treaty “a key element of our arms-control architecture” which serves as “a vital confidence and security-building measure.”

He called on Washington to reconsider and for Moscow to “return immediately to the full implementation of the Treaty”.

Earlier a group of 10 European nations said in a joint statement they regretted Trump’s threat — his latest in a string of withdrawals from international agreements.

SECURITY AND PEACE: The withdrawal “will have a negative impact on the international arms control and disarmament process,” foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States could reconsider “should Russia return to full compliance with the Treaty.” Open Skies is the third important military pact that Trump has withdrawn from since coming to office in January 2017.

He halso dropped the 2015 JCPOA agreement to prevent Iran from advancing its nuclear weapons program and the 1988 Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia.

In both cases, Trump accused the other side of violating treaty requirements.

The latest move adds to question marks over New START, a pact that limits the number of nuclear missiles the US and Russia can deploy, which is due for renewal by early 2021.

The Open Skies treaty carried more political than military weight, according to Corentin Brustlein of the Paris-based French Institute of International Relations.

Large spy agencies do not need “open skies” to gather information on other countries’ military activities, he told AFP.

“But the information gathered under Open Skies is shareable and shared,” he said, including with signatory states that do not have strong intelligence agencies of their own.

“The only negative consequences of this withdrawal will be felt by allies of the United States… It is yet another demonstration of what little regard the US administration has for Europe’s security concerns.”

NASA gives go-ahead for first crewed SpaceX flight on May

FLORIDA AGENCIES

NASA gave the green light on Friday to next week’s launch of two astronauts aboard a SpaceX vessel — the first crewed space flight from US soil in nine years and a crucial step towards ending American dependence on Russian rockets. Top officials at the US space agency and Elon Musk’s company had been meeting since Thursday at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for final checks of the Crew Dragon space capsule ahead of its maiden May 27 crewed mission.

“At the end we got to a go,” NASA administrator

Jim Bridenstine told reporters by video of the meticulous Flight Readiness Review, which provided the goahead.

US astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley are scheduled to blast off from Kennedy’s historic Launch Pad 39A at 4:33 pm (2033 GMT) on Wednesday for the International Space Station, arriving the next day. Asked about going ahead with the mission in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Behnken told reporters: “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

Behnken and Hurley have been in strict quarantine since May 13 because of the pandemic, but they said their actual isolation began as far back as mid-March.

“We have been in quarantine probably longer than any other space crew has ever been in the history of the space program,” Hurley said. He said he and Behnken have been tested twice so far for COVID-19 and “rumor has it we might be tested again before we go.” American astronauts have been flying to the ISS, which currently houses two Russians and one American, on Russian rockets since the US space shuttle program was shelved in 2011 after three decades of service. Should the SpaceX mission succeed, the United States will have achieved its goal of no longer having to buy seats on Russian Soyuz rockets to send astronauts to the ISS, which has been occupied by US and Russian astronauts since 2000.

Ramzan rule-breakers: Indonesians try to beat Eid exodus ban JAKARTA AGENCIES

Indonesians are turning to smugglers and bogus travel documents to get around bans on an annual end-ofRamzan exodus that could send coronavirus cases skyrocketing in the world’s biggest Muslim majority nation.

Thousands are using any trick in the book to reach their hometowns in time for celebrations at the end of Islam’s holy fasting month this weekend, a festival known as Eid-ul-Fitr. “It is a critical moment,” said Doni Monardo, head of Indonesia’s COVID-19 mitigation task force.

“I’m afraid people who go to other regions will come back infected and all of our efforts will be wasted.” Every year, millions of travellers pack into airports, train stations and ports across the nearly 5,000 kilometre (3,100 mile) long archipelago in a mass migration similar to China’s Lunar New Year holiday or Christmas. Fearing a public health disaster, the government last month slapped a ban on domestic sea and air travel and set up roadblocks to stop the cross-country movement. It later relaxed those rules over concerns about a collapse in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy, but only for those who could prove they were virus-free and had a professional reason to travel.

LOOPHOLES: That loophole was not lost on Kamal and his wife who set about getting a fake certificate for their daughter, a university student in the capital Jakarta — the country’s virus epicentre. With the help of friends, the couple said they managed to obtain a government-agency stamped letter that claimed their daughter was hired to distribute pandemic supplies in her hometown Makassar on Sulawesi island. “We’re very worried about her health if she stays in Jakarta,” said Kamal, who asked that his real

CMYK

name not be used. “But the most important thing of all is that we miss her so much. We want to celebrate Eid al-Fitr together like in past years,” he added. Frustrated police are battling a tide of fake travel documents being sold online and through word of mouth, with authorities on holiday island Bali last week arresting seven people suspected of peddling bogus papers. Markets have also been packed with throngs of shoppers buying food and clothes for Eid celebrations. Some of the Southeast Asian nation’s mosques are expected to draw big crowds despite official calls to pray at home. Widespread social distancing violations have generated a slew of angry responses — under the hashtag #WhateverIndonesia — from social media users fed up with fellow citizens’ blatant rule breaking.

TRICK US: But that has not done much to convince the people playing a cat-and-mouse game with police by hiding inside vehicles, under tarpaulins slung over the back of trucks, or even, reportedly, inside a concrete mixer. Authorities say they have nabbed hundreds of drivers paid to smuggle travellers. “There are lots of ways people are trying to trick us,” said Jakarta police spokesman Yusri Yunus.

“We’re not trying to make their lives difficult. This is all meant to reduce the spread of coronavirus,” he added.

Indonesia recorded its biggest one-day jump in virus cases this week with the nationwide death toll at 1,326 — the highest in Asia outside China. But infections and deaths are widely believed to be much higher in the country of more than 260 million, where testing rates have been among the lowest in the world. Laid-off Jakarta bus driver Maulana Arif Budi Satrio became a local media sensation after he claimed to have made the 500-kilometre journey to his hometown Solo on foot after his car was turned back at a checkpoint.

Sunday, 24 May, 2020

SPORTS 11

WTA proS TAke The courT iN FloridA miNi-TourNAmeNT Florida

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Agencies

MERICANS Alison Riske and Danielle Collins and Aussie Ajla Tomljanovic were among the winners Friday on the opening day of a women's tennis mini-tournament in Florida that offered pros a chance to play amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The WTA women's tennis tour cancelled four more events this week and won't resume until at least July 20.

But four women ranked in the top 60 in the world turned out for the UTR Pro Match Series event in Palm Beach, which followed a similar event for men two weeks ago.

World number 51 Collins toppled 28th-ranked compatriot Amanda Anisimova in the opening match 4-1, 4-2 and said she was "grateful" to be back on court even with no fans in attendance.

"I'm familiar with playing without fans but I definitely miss it," she said. "One of the things that makes it so special to be a professional athlete is having people supporting you."

Tomljanovic, ranked 56th, defeated 19th-ranked Riske 4-3, 4-1 and in the final round-robin match of the day Riske beat Anisimova 0-4, 4-0, 4-3.

The tournament concludes Saturday with more round-robin matches, a thirdplace and a championship match.

All are played in a shortened format in which the first player to four games with a two-game lead pockets a set.

"Just getting into the competitive spirit again was kind of got me really excited today," said Tomljanovic.

She said her first few weeks off had

been a welcome break, but when she felt the need to return to training it was difficult to find motivation with no tournaments scheduled.

"I need that competition to keep me going," she said.

Health protocols are in place to protect players from the threat of coronavirus.

Players had their temperatures taken upon arrival at the venue and carried their own equipment and towels onto the court.

With social distancing in place, a racquet tap had to suffice for a handshake, and the umpire wore a mask.

Each player had her own set of marked balls and collected them herself, with no ballkids in attendance.

While some areas of the United States remain under strict lockdowns, Florida has begun to open up and state officials have specifically welcomed the return of sports without spectators.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship mixed martial arts outfit returned to competition in Florida in May and Tiger Woods will tee it up on Sunday with Phil Mickelson and NFL stars Tom Brady and Peyton Manning in a made-for-tv charity golf event in Hobe Sound, Florida.

Social distancing, 'safe' ball management among ICC's dos and don'ts duBai Agencies

Setien keen on Neymar Barca return Barcelona Agencies

Barcelona coach Quique Setien says he would love to coach Neymar and would be "delighted" if the Brazilian returns to the club from Paris Saint-Germain. Barca tried to resign Neymar last year but were unable to agree a deal with French champions PSG, whom he joined for a world-record fee of 222 million euros ($264 million at the time) in 2017. An agreement may even harder to strike this summer given the financial implications of the coronavirus pandemic, although reportedly Barcelona could offer players in exchange. "I would love to be able to coach him some day," said Setien, speaking to beIN Sport on Friday night. "We are talking about an exceptional level. Fortunately I have already fulfilled one of my dreams, which was to coach (Lionel) Messi but I would be delighted if Neymar comes." Neymar previously formed a successful attacking trio with Luis Suarez and Messi at Barcelona but the future of Suarez is uncertain. The 33-year-old has not played since January when he underwent surgery on an injury to his right knee, and Setien admitted he needs more time to regain full fitness with La Liga due to restart from its coronavirus-enforced suspension in the middle of next month.

Players and umpires will need to keep to "social distancing" norms on and off the field. Players will not hand over personal items such as caps, sunglasses and sweaters to the umpires any more.

Players should use a hand sanitiser regularly once they have had contact with the ball. Umpires should consider wearing gloves to handle the ball.

These are some of the important dos listed by the ICC as guidelines for when international cricket resumes after being forced to halt in March due to the Covid-19 pandemic. On Friday, the ICC issued a document titled 'Guidelines on return to cricket' that encompasses international, domestic and community cricket. The ICC emphasised that these guidelines would need to work in synergy with government directives in individual countries on resumption of the sport.

PLAYERS AND UMPIRES - SOCIAL DISTANCE AT ALL TIMES "Players and umpires should maintain social distancing on the cricket field and that includes no handing over of player items (cap, towels, sunglasses, jumpers) to the umpire or teammates," the ICC said. "Consider adopting a process that will assist the bowler in managing his/her items. Umpires may also be encouraged to use gloves when handling the ball."

Social distancing, the ICC said,

would need to be followed even during training where players will need to keep a 1.5 metre (or what the government in the country recommends) distance between each other. Players have also been asked to come in training gear and told to use change rooms sparingly.

The ICC also said "celebrations with body contact" along with sharing drinks or drink bottles, towels and equipment could "pose a risk" and hence should be "strongly discouraged".

BALL, A 'POTENTIAL' CARRIER OF VIRUS: The ICC also reiterated the recommendation of the ICC Cricket Committee that no saliva should be applied on the ball. The committee had recommended earlier this week that

only sweat should be applied to shine the ball and not saliva or any artificial substance. Despite cricket not being a contact sport, the ICC said there were "several risks".

The ball, the ICC said, "is a potential transmission medium" and there had to be "rules" governing the "management" of the ball. "Provide players with clear guidance on the safe management of the ball. This will include regular hand sanitising when in contact with the ball; do not touch eyes, nose, and mouth after making contact with the ball; saliva should not be used on the ball."

WHAT IF A PLAYER TESTS POSITIVE?

pochettino wants premier league return london Agencies

Mauricio Pochettino says returning to the Premier League is his "priority", stating he is eager to manage again six months after being sacked by Tottenham. The 48-yearold transformed Spurs' fortunes during his five-and-a-half-year reign but failed to win a trophy and was sacked less than a year after leading them to the Champions League final. The Argentine has now ended his sixmonth "gardening leave", meaning he is free to join another club. He has been heavily linked with Newcastle if their proposed Saudi Arabia-backed takeover goes through, while speculation over the Manchester United job has never gone away. "After six months, our tanks are completely full," Pochettino told various British media outlets. "I have tried with my coaching staff to review everything that we did in the last seven years (including Southampton) because we never had a break until now."

Pochettino, who still lives in London, said he "loved" England and the Premier League. "I am not going change (my feelings) now because I am not involved in the Premier League," he said. "Because I am no longer the Tottenham manager, I am not going to change my vision. "I still think the Premier League is the best league in the world. We enjoy it a lot. Of course, it's one of the options. Of course, it can be my priority but I am not closed to move to a different country." Pochettino said due to the uncertainty caused by the coronavirus crisis, it was difficult to know what opportunities would be available. "Today we are going to live a completely different era in football that we need to discover," he said.

"It's difficult to know what project is going to be the right project. "There are many things, at the moment, that we have in our minds about how things are going to be after this virus hopefully disappears, but how are these clubs or companies, because that's what they are, going to be? It's a big question mark.�

Seeking the spotlight, athletics takes a leap in the dark Paris agencies With traditional competition shut down by the coronavirus pandemic, athletics has begun experimenting with imaginative and unusual ways to ensure that, somehow, the show goes on.

The Olympics and European Championships have been postponed and there no traditional meetings are scheduled until the Diamond League in Monaco on August 14, yet there has been a steady stream of creative initiatives to allow competition.

There have been long-distance polevault showdowns and solo races against the clock.

Micro meetings are planned and, in a sport built on direct competition, promoters of traditional meetings are looking at ways to stage meaningful one-runner races in arenas where no hands are clapping.

"In this period when nothing is happening, there is no bad idea, apart from taking

health risks," Remy Charpentier, the organiser of the Monaco meeting, told AFP. The postponed London Marathon launched the 2.6 Challenge in which participants attempted solo events based on that number. Some sat in cornflakes, Mo Farah swung from a climbing frame but others ran or rolled.

Three of the world's leading pole vaulters managed to compete while staying at home with the Ultimate Garden Challenge on May 3 as Swede Armand 'Mondo' Duplantis, the world record holder, took on Frenchman Renaud Lavillenie, and two-time US world champion Sam Kendricks.

Watched, World Athletics estimated, by more than a million people worldwide, Duplantis, jumping in his back garden in his native Louisiana and Lavillenie, in Clermont-Ferrand, both cleared a bar set at 5 metres 36 times in 30 minutes while Kendricks, in Mississippi, managed 26.

"It's already huge even to be able to do exhibitions again," Lavillenie told AFP, adding that he was surprised to have felt "a

little bit of adrenaline" with this ersatz competition. The format was duplicated by three of the world's top women vaulters jumping

CMYK

at their training grounds with Greek Olympic champion Ekaterini Stefanidi beating American Katie Nageotte and Canadian Alysha

Newman. As the lockdown eases in some parts of Europe, 'Flight Night' involving four German pole vaulters, is planned at a drivein cinema in Dusseldorf on June 12 while six micro-meetings have been scheduled in the Czech Republic.

Those will start in Kladno on June 1 with three events -- women's javelin, men's shot put and men's 300m -- on the announced schedule.

ATHLETICS OF 2030: In addition to "private" initiatives, the big meetings are looking for a way to keep the show going, which is a problem in events where athletes compete at the same time.

The Oslo Diamond League event, on June 11, has been renamed "the Impossible Games" and will operate "in full observation of Norway's coronavirus regulations and social distancing rules."

The hour-long made-for-TV event will again feature Duplantis who will be at the Bislett stadium as will Norwegian Sondre Guttormsen while Lavillenie will vault in his French garden.

Sunday, 24 May, 2020

NEWS

US DIScUSSeD hoLDINg fIrST NUcLeAr TeST IN DecADeS: WAShINgToN PoST

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NeWS DeSk

S President Donald Trump’s administration has discussed holding the first US nuclear test since 1992 as a potential warning to Russia and China, The Washington Post reported on Friday.

Such a test would be a significant departure from US defence policy and dramatically up the ante for other nuclear-armed nations.

One analyst told the newspaper that if it were to go ahead it would be seen as the “starting gun to an unprecedented nuclear arms race”.

The report, citing one senior Trump administration official and two former officials, all who spoke anonymously, said the discussion had taken place at a meeting on May 15.

It came after some US officials reportedly claimed that Russia and China were conducting their own low-yield tests. Moscow and Beijing have denied the claims, and the US has not offered evidence for them.

The senior administration official said

that demonstrating Washington’s ability to “rapid test” would be a useful negotiating tactic as the US seeks a trilateral agreement with Russia and China over nuclear weapons.

The meeting did not conclude with any agreement, and the sources were divided over whether discussions were still ongoing.

Nuclear non-proliferation activists were quick to condemn the idea.

Locusts present in 49 districts: NDMA ISLAMABAD TLTP

National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Saturday said that locust is now present in 49 districts of the country. Of these, thirty are in Balochistan, seven in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, ten in Punjab and two in Sindh, said the NDMA spokesperson. He said that an area of 477,000 hectares was surveyed during the last twenty four hours, of which 6,100 hectares were treated. In Balochistan, spray was conducted on 4,000 hectares of land and in Punjab 1,400 hectares were treated with sprays. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 4,000 hectares were treated while in Sindh 3,00 hectares of land came under treatment. The NDMA spokesperson said that on Thursday last, 3,500 hectares in Balochistan, 1,600 hectares in Punjab, 400 hectares in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and 400 hectares in Sindh were sprayed to keep them safe from locusts. A day earlier, a senior locust forecasting officer of the Food and Agriculture Organization, Keith Cressman, said that Pakistan is well prepared to combat an impending attack of crop-eating locust from breeding grounds in southern Iran. He termed the current desert locust outbreak as the worst in decades for countries such as Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, Iran, Pakistan and India.

He said the FAO is doing all it can to help these countries control this menace that threatens their food security. About the operations in Pakistan, Keith Cressman said that Prime Minister Imran Khan has already declared a national emergency to meet the challenge and the government has been very actively working to get ready for action. The UN officer said the government has been training all their personnel, recruiting additional hands, procuring stocks of pesticides, vehicles and aircraft. He said unlike Kenya, Pakistan also has experience of dealing with locust swarms in the past and they have systems in place.

“It would be the starting gun to an unprecedented nuclear arms race,” Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, told the Washington Post.

He added that it would also likely “disrupt” negotiations with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, “who may no longer feel compelled to honour his moratorium on nuclear testing”.

The Trump administration has repeat-

edly shaken up US defence policy.

The Washington Post report came one day after Trump announced that he plans to withdraw from the Open Skies treaty with Russia, which was designed to improve military transparency and confidence between the superpowers.

It is the third arms control pact Trump has abrogated since coming to the office.

Russia has insisted it will abide by the 18-year-old agreement, which seeks to lower the risk of war by permitting each signatory country’s military to conduct a certain number of surveillance flights over another member country each year on short notice.

European nations have also urged Trump to reconsider.

Facing reelection in November, Trump has also significantly hardened his rhetoric against China in recent weeks, repeatedly criticising Beijing’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic which first emerged there.

He has made repeated but vague threats of retaliation against the chief US economic rival, which has denied all his accusations.

Speculations rife as govt orders probe into plane crash NeWS DeSk A day after the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight PK8303 crashed into a residential area near the Karachi International Airport with 98 passengers and seven crew members onboard, a number of explanations have emerged for the deadly crash which left only two survivors.

An aviation expert told Pakistan Today that when there is an indication of landing gear failure, there is a chance that it could be false, therefore, according to the standard operating procedures (SOPs), the plane does a low-level pass in front of the control tower, where the operators use binoculars to affirm the authenticity of the indication.

He said that the air traffic controller (ATC) told him that he was right and the landing gear was not deployed. Under these circumstances, belly landing is an option but it has some pre-requisite checks such as fuel level, etc. to avoid any unfortunate incident.

He further said that no pilot is prepared for a belly landing as the first time they attempt is the first time they experience it and psychological blocks can hinder its efficiency. He added that it is natural to believe that lower the altitude and

speed, the less the damage would be.

The aviation expert said that the pilot was one minute short of touchdown and may have slowed the aircraft more than he should have, which led to the plane being stalled in the air, diminishing its flying capability.

He said that at 800 feet, no pilot could recover from a stalled plane, and before the pilot knew it, the plane fell down. He added that although the co-pilot suggested engine failure, there is a possibility that just because the plane had stalled, it felt like engine failure.

Alternatively, according to Juan Browne, a commercial pilot who runs the YouTube channel Blancolirio, the photographs of the plane in

its final moments and the audio recording of the conversation between the pilot and the ATC provide another explanation into the incident.

Browne said that the pilot initially said that the plane was comfortable to land and was cleared to land at runway 25L but later requested an another go around, and the controller directed him to turn left and climb 3,000 feet.

According to the audio tape, Browne said, the plane was having trouble reaching 2,000 feet and the pilot informed the ATC of engine failure along with a ‘Mayday’ signal, after which the plane crashed into a residential area about 1 kilometre away from the runway.

Ivanka Trump draws derision in India for praising migrant's hard journey home WASHINGTON Agencies

US presidential adviser Ivanka Trump’s praise of an Indian teenager’s bicycle ride home hundreds of kilometres away is drawing criticism in India for being insensitive to the plight of impoverished migrant workers struggling in a lockdown. The girl carried her father on the back of her bicycle for about a week for 1,200km, the two said on Saturday, one of the many out-of-work migrant families leaving the big cities for their homes in other parts of India because the shutdown has sapped their savings. “15 yr old Jyoti Kumari, carried her wounded father to their home village on the back of her bicycle covering +1,200 km over 7 days. This beautiful feat of endurance & love has captured the imagination of the Indian people and the cycling federation!” Ivanka, daughter of US President Donald Trump, tweeted on Friday night. India’s cycling federation, impressed with her endurance, has invited her for trials and said it could groom her into a cyclist, local media reported. But opposition political figures, as well as some commentators, in the country of 1.3 billion said Jyoti’s desperate journey home because of a crippling transport shutdown was hardly something to celebrate. “Her poverty & desperation are being glorified as if Jyoti cycled 1,200km for the thrill of it. The government failed her, that’s hardly something to trumpet as an achievement,” Omar Abdullah, a former chief minister of Indian-occupied Kashmir, tweeted on Saturday in response to Ivanka’s message. Health experts say India’s vast lockdown has helped limit the spread of Covid-19, but it has pushed millions who live on daily wages to the brink of poverty.

After weeks of mounting criticism and tales of hardship, the government is now running trains and buses to help the migrants get home. “This is not a feat of excellence. It’s a feat fuelled by desperation caused due to the callous attitude of the government,” said Kanti Chidambaram, an opposition member of parliament, about the teenager’s hard journey home. Jyoti’s father, a rickshaw driver in north India, said he could not cycle because of an accident he had suffered months ago. With food and cash running out, his daughter decided she would ride him to their village in the eastern state of Bihar. “Initially I had doubts because she is just 15, but I was wrong,” Mohan Paswan told Reuters by phone. “She asked me to sit on the bicycle and not pay heed to what people would say.”

They survived on biscuits and food that people gave them during the stops in the blistering Indian summer. Jyoti said she was happy she had brought her father home safely. She declined to be drawn into a controversy about Ivanka’s post, saying, “I am very happy with the appreciation I am getting from all the corners.”

Zero cases in China as virus surges in Latin America, India New coronavirus cases in China fell to zero on Saturday for the first time but surged in India and overwhelmed hospitals across Latin America — both in countries lax about lockdowns and those lauded for firm, early confinement.

The pandemic’s persistence stymied authorities struggling to keep people safe and revive their economies at the same time, disrupting Memorial Day weekend in the United States and collective celebrations around the Muslim world marking the end of the holy month of Ramazan.

Rain dampened the start of the holiday weekend in the northeastern US, where newly opened beaches had been expected to attract throngs of people and test the effectiveness of social distancing rules.

However, US President Donald Trump visited one of his private golf clubs for the first time during the pandemic — the Trump National Golf Club in northern Virginia.

He has been pushing for states to fully reopen months after closing businesses and outdoor venues to help slow the spread of the virus.

In countries with weak health care sys-

tems, impoverished populations and not enough clean water, fighting the virus is increasingly difficult.

“I’m a mother, if I don’t go out and sell, my children won’t have food to eat. I am obliged to go out and come here to sell products, despite the danger that we are in,” said Nagnouma Kante, a market vendor in Guinea’s capital Conakry.

Turkey imposed its toughest lockdown measures yet starting on Saturday for the Eidul Fitr holidays and Yemen’s Houthi rebels urged believers to use masks and stay inside, as authorities try to contain infections at a time usually marked by days of multigenerational feasting and collective prayer.

Traffic congests the roads in Istanbul, late on May 22, minutes before a four-day new curfew declared by the government in an attempt to control the spread of novel coronavirus. — AP Elsewhere, many governments are easing restrictions as they face a political backlash and historic recessions brought on by the battle against the virus.

In just a few months, the pandemic has

killed at least 338,000 people worldwide and infected more than 5.2 million, according to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University.

In Germany, which has drawn praise for its handling of the virus, seven people appear to have been infected at a restaurant in the northwest of the country. It would be the first known such case since restaurants started reopening two weeks ago.

And in the southwestern city of Frankfurt, more than 40 people tested positive after a church service of the Evangelical Christian Baptist congregation on May 10.

The city’s health office said one is hospitalised.

A church leader said the community had complied with all hygiene rules but has cancelled all gatherings and is now holding services online. Authorities in nearby Hanau decided to call off Muslim prayers planned for a stadium on Sunday as a precaution.

The new infections are not seen as a threat to Germany’s overall virus strategy and Chancellor Angela Merkel said the country had “succeeded so far in achieving the aim of preventing our health system

being overwhelmed”.

Religious events helped spread the virus early in the pandemic and resuming gatherings of the faithful is an especially thorny issue.

Mindful of evangelical Christians who are key to his support base ahead of November’s election, Trump on Friday labelled houses of worship as “essential” and called on country’s governors to let them reopen this weekend.

France allowed religious services to resume starting on Saturday after a legal challenge to the government’s ban on gatherings in places of worship.

One of the world’s major pilgrimage sites is reopening on Sunday: the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, built on the site where Christians believe Jesus was crucified, buried and resurrected.

Latin America is the latest epicentre of the virus and experts note the limits of government action in a region where millions have informal jobs and many police forces are weak or corrupt and unable to enforce restrictions.

Brazil and Mexico reported record num-

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

bers of infections and deaths almost daily this week, fueling criticism of their presidents for limited lockdowns.

But infections also rose and intensive care units were swamped in Peru, Chile and Ecuador, all countries lauded for imposing early and aggressive business shutdowns and quarantines.

In the US, some regions are opening more quickly than others. California is preparing its wineries for visitors next week and Las Vegas casinos could reopen on June 4.

New Yorkers were offered an unexpected reprieve when Governor Andrew Cuomo eased the virus-ravaged state’s ban on gatherings in time for the Memorial Day weekend, when Americans honour fallen military service members, hold picnics and head outdoors on what’s traditionally seen as the kickoff to summer.

Some families plan to go to beaches or national parks for the first time since the virus hit and US Interior Secretary David Bernhardt is scheduled to visit the Grand Canyon on Saturday. Agencies