Epaper – October 14 LHR 2020

Wednesday, 14 October, 2020 I 25 Safar, 1442 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XI No 105 I 12 Pages I Lahore Edition

Talks wiTh india on kashmir conTingenT on condiTions, says saPm g

YuSuf ClAImS GovT HAS HARD EvIDENCE INDIA bACKED TERRoRIST CEllS IN PAKISTAN ISLAMABAD

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STAFF REPORT

R moeed Yusuf, the special adviser to the prime minister on national security, has said the Indian government has recently reached out to Pakistan, expressing a desire to resume bilateral dialogue about the Kashmir issue, to which the country was ready to talk, as long as Kashmir was involved as a third party. In the first interview to any Indian publication by a government official following the Indian annexation of held Kashmir in August last year, Yusuf, during a conversation with renowned journalist Karan Thapar, said that Islamabad’s agreement to dialogue would be “conditional”. “The conditions include the immediate release of occupied Kashmir’s political prisoners, lifting of the heavy military siege from the territory, the reversal of New Delhi’s decision to strip the region of its special status, ending human rights violations in the valley and a stop to India’s state-sponsored terrorism against Pakistan,” he said. last year, India repealed occupied Kashmir’s special status, and in the interview, journalist Karan Thapar claimed that this was an “internal matter”. However, the SAPm contended that India’s unilateral decision said that India had disobeyed the united Nations Security Council (uNSC) resolutions regarding the

matter, as well as the bilateral Simla Agreement. SAPm Yusuf also quoted the Kashmiri leader farooq Abdullah, who had also given an interview with Thapar. In that interview, Abdullah had stated that the Kashmiris did not wish to be Indian, and would rather “be ruled by Chinese”. “The day India recognises that only the wishes of people of Kashmir matter, this issue can be resolved,” Yusuf told Thapar. He further added that the talks would have to have a democratic approach to the Kashmir issue, remarking that “democratic societies […] do not bring in 180,000 troops to change the status of a territory.” He also critiqued that the annexation of Kashmir had resulted in a curfew imposed on the populace. Yusuf clarified that Pakistan had been forced to take the issue to the international forums as India repeatedly rejected Pakistan’s attempts to

coronavirus in

PakisTan

CONFIRMED CASES:

319,848

initiate talks and that it had “formally gone outside the uN charter and resolutions by making a permanent change to a territory I rightfully claim as mine”. As the premier’s aide was referring to the now-repealed Article 370 of the Indian constitution, the journalist asked if Pakistan’s actions regarding Gilgit-baltistan (Gb) might seem contradictory to Islamabad’s protests against India’s aforementioned decision to repeal. Responding to the question, Yusuf said “no decision has been made” regarding granting Gb a provincial status but added that the matter was the subject of “public debate”. He further added that this debate had been generated by the people of Gb and that the indigenous citizens had themselves been saying “We want to be fully integrated with Pakistan”. “Now you tell me, Karan, if people are not treated well, would they

ever want that? I’ve never heard the Kashmiri muslims talk about this in the occupied territory,” Yusuf said. He also added that the results of the debate would follow the resolutions of the united Nations Security Council (uNSC) and that there would be no “permanent change of territorial status”. Yusuf did agree with the journalist on the fact that Gb is a disputed territory. In regards to any future steps taken, Yusaf said that Pakistan was firmly dedicated to resolving the dispute and fulfilling the aspirations of over eight million Kashmiris. He said that Indian propaganda would not shake the principled stance of Pakistan on the Kashmir issue. furthermore, the SAPm instigated that India had sponsored terrorist activities in Pakistan, adding that India’s expansionist and Hindutva ideologies were preventing any meaningful talks from taking place. He spoke about Indian intelligence agency, Research and Analysis Wing’s (RAW) role in attacks that took place in Pakistan over the last few years, including attack at a five-star Hotel in Gwadar, Chinese Consulate in Karachi and the Pakistan Stock Exchange and the 2014 attack on the Army Public School (APS) in Peshawar. He added that the mastermind behind the attack was in contact with Indian handlers at the consulate in Afghanistan and that he had been treated at a New Delhi hospital in 2017. Yusuf said that India was “using Afghanistan’s” territory in its machinations.

ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

LAST UPDATED AT 6:52 AM ON OCTOBER 13, 2020

DAY'S DEATH TOLL:

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RECOVERED:

NEW CASES:

531

DEATHS:

304,609 6,588 SINDH:

PUNJAB:

140,534

100,764

KP:

BALOCHISTAN:

AJK/GB:

ISLAMABAD:

38,367

15,541

3,131/3,955 17,428

ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Irked by the excessive power outages in Sindh, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed on Tuesday took the federal government to task for excessive load-shedding in the province, saying the “federation was not fulfilling its responsibility”. The electricity situation in Sindh has worsened latterly with provincial ministers’ warning of public protests against recurring power failures. While hearing a suo motu case regarding unannounced power tripping in the province, the chief justice, who was heading the three-member bench, rejected as unsatisfactory the reports presented by the federal authorities and the National Electric and Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) explaining the issue. “These reports do not give a clear picture,” said the judge. He observed that neither the federal nor the provincial governments were doing anything to address the issue. “What services are you providing to people? What is your justification for staying on the job,” he questioned. Referring to NEPRA representatives and staffers of the Power Division, the top judge said, “You all should be fired. There is no point in having such employees.” He said that people were being allowed to exploit state institutions. “The government does not have the capabilities. All institutions are taking advantage of the government’s shortcomings,” he said. Regarding K-Electric, Justice Ahmed said that the power utility had become the people’s master after “hijacking” them, adding that the price for electricity in the metropolis had been increased once again. During the hearing, the court noted that it had reservations about the power utility’s investors. KE’s chairman informed the court that investors with ties to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait had invested $400 million in the company.

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Govt to restrict public gathering in cities with high positivity ratio The National Command and Control Centre (NCoC) has issued guidelines for public gatherings to prevent the spread of the coronavirus that it said were prepared with the input of provinces. The guidelines will apply to all cultural events, political gatherings, religious gatherings, parties or other similar events but not to marriages or sports, for which separate SoPs have been prepared. for indoor events, the NCoC has advised that participation be limited to 500 persons or 50 per cent of capacity, whichever is less; the events’ duration should not exceed three hours; all persons should be seated, and there should be a three-feet distance between seats. for outdoor events, the NCoC says the density of participants should be controlled; organisers should ensure the wearing of masks and social

SC censures Centre for failure to address Sindh’s power woes

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more inside

Testing of Covid-19 needs to be increased in schools, says WHO STORY ON BACK PAGE

NAb to probe Roosevelt Hotel closure, huge losses STORY ON PAGE 03

distancing; all persons should remain seated; events’ duration should not exceed three hours; rallies or gatherings on roads and other “ill-defined places” be avoided; no gatherings to be held in cities where positivity ratio is consistently high, i.e, 6 to 9 per cent or more. Emphasising on the importance of risk mitigation in order to prevent a second coronavirus wave, minister for Plan-

ning and Development Asad umar on Tuesday said the public response had been key in controlling the outbreak in the country. According to a statement by the NCoC, the minister stressed the importance of risk mitigation in a session attended by all four provincial chief secretaries via a video-link.

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Prime suspect in motorway gangrape case sent on 14-day remand STORY ON PAGE 02

Pm dismayed by establishment of multiple camps: faraz STORY ON PAGE 03

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Wednesday, 14 October, 2020

NEWS

priMe suspeCt in Motorway gang-rape Case sent on 14-day reMand LAHORE

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STAFF REPORT

n anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Lahore on Tuesday sent the prime suspect in the motorway gangrape case to jail on two-week judicial remand. Abid Malhi, one of the two suspects in the case, was arrested from Manga Mandi, some 33 kilometers from Lahore, by Lahore police’s Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) on Monday. Malhi was brought to court under tight security, with a black hood covering his face that was removed during the proceedings. During the hearing, ATC Judge Arshad Hussain Bhutta approved a request by the prosecution to hold an identity parade of the suspect and directed that the process be completed as soon as possible. The court also handed over the other

ABID MALHI SAYS HE EVADED ARREST BY TRAVELLING THROUGH VARIOUS CITIES WEARING A FACE MASK suspect in the case, Shafqat Ali, to police on physical remand till October 28. The incident occurred last month off the Lahore-Sheikhupura motorway wherein the suspects allegedly subjected the woman to sexual assault in front of her children. The heinous incident sparked nationwide protests amid growing calls for accountability of the culprits. Subsequently, on September 14, six days after the rape, the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) arrested Shafqat Ali from a house in Depalpur, Okara. His DnA samples matched the samples found on the rape survivor’s clothes. Reportedly, while the suspects’ DnA

test had already been conducted thrice and the results had matched with the samples of the rape victim, the test would be conducted again before further proceeding in the case. Following the incident, human rights activists and citizens have demanded that the government do more to stem violence against women, including ensuring perpetrators are held accountable. Worryingly enough, the country has seen at least 3,500 instances of sexual assault this year, according to a Karachi-based organisation, War Against Rape. Furthermore, Malhi has revealed the details of his month-long run from the po-

lice. He said that he had spent a month travelling through various cities in Punjab using public transport while wearing a mask over his face. He said that he had fled to nankana Sahib after the crime, and then travelled to Bahawalpur to escape the police. “I travelled through various cities in public transport,” the suspect added. Malhi added that he and his accomplice had already robbed a few truck drivers before they came across the woman. “After robbing the woman of her watch, jewellery and money, we told her to go down the motorway,” he reportedly said. “When the woman refused to do so, we took her children off the motorway, and the woman followed to protect them.” Malhi had been caught after he ran out of money and had no choice but to contact his wife.

Father of rapist claims abid Malhi turned himself in After the arrest of the prime suspect in the motorway rape incident, Abid Malhi, his father claimed that the suspect had turned himself in after having escaped the Punjab police for a month. The father released a video today stating the above after police arrested Malhi a day ago from Faisalabad. Reportedly, the Intelligence Bureau (IB), Special Branch of the police, and other agencies had tipped off Punjab police about the whereabouts of the suspect before the arrest was made, but the father's video alleges that Malhi had called the police himself and that the arrest was made from Lahore's Manga Mandi area in front of a person named Khalid Butt. Furthmere, as the arrest has been made, the father demanded that the female members of their family be released. Some of Abid's relatives had been apprehended by police shortly after the incident took place. "Abid had expressed his wish to come home. At 6:30 pm, he returned," his father said. "Abid was sent to the Crime Investigation Agency's (CIA) [office] in Khalid Butt's car," he claimed. On the contrary, Punjab Inspector-General Police (IGP) Inam Ghani said that the suspect had been arrested by police. NEWS DESK

lhC suspends peMra's order for ban on coverage of motorway gang-rape case LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday suspended the operation of Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority’s (PEMRA) order to ban the coverage of motorway gang-rape case in media. LHC Chief Justice Muhammad Qasim Khan passed the orders while hearing a petition filed by a private television channel challenging a ban on the coverage of motorway gang-rape incident in electronic media. The petitioner counsel argued before the court that the PEMRA had on October 2 put the impugned ban in compliance with an order passed by an anti-terrorism court on an application by the investigating team of the incident. He submitted that the ban was in clear violation of Article-19 of the Constitution, which guaranteed freedom of speech and press. He pleaded with the court to set aside the ban imposed by the PEMRA on coverage of the incident. At this, the court observed that the media could report the case proceedings as a ban could not be placed in accordance with the right to information. However, the court barred the media from broadcasting photos of the accused, victim and their families. The court also sought record of press conferences by advisers and ministers in the media about the arrest of prime accused, Abid Malhi. APP

Minor girl raped at gunpoint in Mian Channu MIAN CHANNU: In another shocking incident, a 5th-grade girl was allegedly subjected to rape by her cousin at gunpoint in Mian Channu tehsil of district Khanewal on Tuesday. The girl’s cousin Usman entered her house when her parents were not at home and he lured the girl to a deserted house where he subjected her to sexual assault at gunpoint. Usman managed to escape from the scene leaving the girl in critical condition inside the house. On hearing her screaming, some passers-by reached there and shifted the girl to the hospital. After being informed, police reached the scene and launched investigations into the incident. A police official said that a case has been registered in this regard and added that they were conducting raids to arrest the accused. Earlier on September 21, a three-year-old girl had been subjected to sexual assault after being kidnapped in Bakhwal area of Mansehra. TLTP

Balochistan CM contracts Covid-19 NEWS DESK

LANDIKOTAL: A long queue of export-bound vehicles moving towards Torkham border. PPI. PPi

ECC may approve Rs13.4m for media campaigns launched on ‘Kashmir Siege Day’ ISLAMABAD AHMAD AHMADANi

Federal cabinet’s Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) is likely to grant necessary approval for allocation of additional Rs13.4 million funds for clearing pending dues of media campaigns launched on “Kashmir Siege Day”. Sources told Pakistan Today that the upcoming meeting of ECC on Wednesday, chaired by Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, is expected to approve the allocation of additional funds for clearing expenses incurred on a media campaign launched on August 5, 2020. They said the actual expenditure incurred by the press information department and by the information sections in Pakistan’s mission abroad on the media campaign was Rs9.7 million and Rs3.7 million respectively. It has been proposed to ECC that these funds be allocated to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting through a supplementary grant of lump-sum provisions to meet the expenditure on the media campaign, said sources. The approval of the ECC will be solicited by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on October 14, 2020, sources added. This year, Pakistan observed August 5 as “Kashmir Seige Day” to mark one year of the illegal Indian occupation of Kashmir. Indian atrocities in Indian

Occupied Kashmir (IOK) were highlighted in local and international media through the Press Information Department (PID) and the press section abroad. Reportedly, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had earlier moved a summary for the prime minister for release of funds for media campaigns on the occasion. The Finance Division advised the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to meet the immediate funds requirement through re-appropriation from its allocated budget and added that any shortfall generated because of the suggested re-appropriation will be met through supplementary or technical grant when required. Similarly, another summary had also been sent for approval of the prime minister for allocation of an amount of Rs55 million through a supplementary grant or technical supplementary grant for the publicity campaign to be launched by the press section in Pakistan’s mission abroad. However, the prime minister observed that ECC is the competent forum for the grant. Reportedly, the Finance Division had earlier issued Indicative Budget Ceiling amounting to Rs9.003 billion and budget orders statements were prepared and submitted to the budget wing of the finance division, which was then endorsed by the joint secretary of the Finance Division but the final allocation of Rs8.835 billion was made to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for the current financial year.

Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan revealed via a tweet that he has contacted Covid-19. "My Covid Test has come positive," he tweeted on Tuesday, making him another on the list of public figures in Pakistan who has tested positive for the novel virus. Other politicians who have contracted the disease include Pakistan Muslim League-nawaz (PML-n) leader Shahbaz Sharif, Awami national Party (AnP) leader Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazar, national Assembly (nA) Speaker Asad Qaiser, Sindh Governor Imran Ismail, and Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) member Shaheen Raza was the first lawmaker in the country to lose his life to Covid-19. Khan did not specify whether he was feeling symptoms of the virus or not.

pakistan keen to promote trade partnership with uK: FM ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that Pakistan is desirous to further promote trade partnership with the United Kingdom (UK). The foreign minister said this while talking to the British High Commissioner Dr Christian Turner on Tuesday. Qureshi said that Pakistan and Britain enjoy deep and long-standing bilateral relations. Alluding to the Indian atrocities in occupied Kashmir, the foreign minister urged the international community to play its role for the resolution of Kashmir dispute as per the United nations Security Council (UnSC) resolutions. The British high commissioner commended Pakistan's conciliatory efforts for peace in Afghanistan. He was also appreciative of Pakistan's strategy against Covid-19. The two sides also held discussion for promotion of cooperation in the areas of climate change, education and tourism.

Wednesday, 14 October, 2020

Murad saeed lashes out at nadeeM BaBar, oMar ayuB For inFlation, priCe hiKe ISLAMABAD

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MiAN ABRAR

InISTER for Communications and Postal Services Murad Saeed on Tuesday lashed out at Energy Minister Omar Ayub Khan and Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Petroleum nadeem Babar, holding them responsible for skyrocketing prices and inflation. An informed source told Pakistan Today that during the meeting of the federal cabinet, the issue of price hike was discussed as Prime Minister Imran Khan asked the cabinet ministers to come up with their views to deal with the inflation. The source said that Murad lashed out at Omar and nadeem for failing to handle the inflation. Other ministers also endorsed Murad’s views, the source added. The source said that during the meeting, PM Imran Khan praised the performance of Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed. On this occasion, Murad Saeed criticised Omar and nadeem and said that they were responsible for the high prices of electricity and gas. He also alleged that decisions are being made in the

meeting but the people are not getting any relief. Minister for Water Resources Faisal Wawda said that the federal government was losing its narrative in media. He asked Federal Minister for Information Shibli Faraz to form new media team to help develop a new narrative of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) government. Faisal Vawda also criticised the Information Ministry for its poor performance in handling the government’s narrative and said that the information ministry needed an overhaul. During the cabinet meeting, the source said, SAPM on Health Services Dr Faisal Sultan gave a briefing on measures to bring down the prices of expen-

sive medicines. The source said that Rasheed predicted in the cabinet meeting that wheat and flour prices may further rise and the flour may become more expensive in november-December. He also said that people have to be heard to as medicines are too expensive now and the same were out of reach of the common man. PM Imran Khan said that he was monitoring the situation himself. “Let us see what the mafia does now. In the days to come, our focus will be on controlling inflation. We will mobilise the government machinery to provide relief to the common man,” the premier told the cabinet members. The source said that the cabinet also

discussed the strategy to deal with the opposition rallies and said that Planning Minister Asad Umar briefed the cabinet on the strategy to deal with the rallies of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM). The source said that Asad told the cabinet that the government had decided to give free hand to the PDM for holding rallies but added that the PDM rallies must follow the standard operating procedures (SOPs) set by the national Command and Operation Centre (nCOC) due to the fear of the second spike of Covid19 pandemic. The source said that the nCOC has recommended a ban on rallies across the country. “The nCOC has recommended ban on gatherings at the ECC [Economic Coordination Committee] meeting yesterday,” the source said and added that PM Imran directed the nCOC to monitor the coronavirus situation. “The prime minister said that the ban was due to coronavirus and if the government decided to ban PDM rallies, the opposition will try to play victimhood. Hence the premier said that the government had decided to allow the PDM to hold rallies but the same should be held in line with the SOPs set by the nCOC,” the source concluded.

PM dismayed by establishment of multiple camps: Faraz ISLAMABAD APP

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz said the prime minister expressed dismay at the trend of establishing multiple camp offices and stated that the rulers and the people should have the same lifestyle. The above was said by the premier while chairing a meeting of the federal cabinet which was attended by provincial chief secretaries and food secretaries. Asif Ali Zardari and nawaz Sharif, while in the highest offices, enjoyed lavish lifestyles with many camp offices where hundreds of policemen were deployed, he recalled. He said that the cabinet allowed a maximum of one camp office whose expenditure would be capped. The minister asserted that the government was not worried about the activities of the opposition and would let it do whatever it wanted to. The majority of the opposition leaders were facing serious charges of corruption, cases against many of them were in courts, some of them were convicted and some were on bail, he added. He said that the opposition was carrying out its political activity at a time when the economy was improving, and jobs were being created despite the coronavirus pandemic. The opposition parties, he said, were rejected by the people and had no future because they wanted to only save their leaders and their looted wealth.

Fir lodged for cleric's assassination in Karachi ISLAMABAD iNP

The First Information Report (FIR) of the murder of Maulana Dr Adil Khan, the head of Karachi-based Jamia Farooqia who was gunned down on Saturday, was registered on Tuesday on the behalf of the station house officer (SHO) of Shah Faisal police station. The probe into the assassination was launched on Sunday with police saying the targeted attack was apparently aimed at fueling the sectarian gulf in the country. The FIR was registered on behalf of the state after the family of the cleric reportedly refused to lodge a complaint. Provisions of terrorism have been included in the case and the investigation has been handed over to the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD). Commenting on the incident, CTD DIG Omar Shahid Hamid had earlier said all possible aspects of the incident were being looked into and nothing could be ruled out at this stage. Khan’s funeral prayer was held at Jamia Farooqia Phase-II on Hub River Road on Sunday. It was attended by a large number of people including leaders of the Jamiat Ulemae-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and many prominent religious scholars.

They wanted to put pressure on the government through their political activity but they would not get any concession in the corruption cases, he stressed. Faraz recalled that after the general elections 2013, some 413 petitions were filed in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) while after the 2018 polls, their number was 287, 90 of them for the national Assembly (nA) seats, including 13 submitted by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and 11 by the Pakistan Muslim League-nawaz (PML-n). The PTI lost 16 seats by a margin of 50 to 2500 votes. He said that in his view the opposition got more seats despite their corruption and bad governance. The people

rejected Maulana Fazlur Rehman, and both the PML-n and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) abandoned him when he came to Islamabad the last time, he added. He said that the opposition parties had no moral ground to agitate on the streets and their leadership wanted a country where they could further amass wealth through corruption. To a question, the minister said that the PTI government improved the economy, which was damaged by the previous regime. Faraz also said that the government would adopt a coordinated mechanism to bring prices down and improve supplies of the commodities by anticipating shortages. The senator gave details of the decisions taken in the weekly cabinet meeting and a meeting on price control. He said that the government was aware that the price hike was a serious issue, which had adversely affected the low- and middle-income groups. The minister held the Sindh government responsible for the wheat shortage and the difference in its price in the provinces. He said that the wheat crop was affected in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) due to rains. Both the private and public sectors had imported wheat and now the government had enough reserves to overcome any shortages, he added. The people, he said, had to bear the hike in wheat prices due to the insincerity of the Sindh government, which had now agreed to release the stocks to stabilise the supply and price of the commodity. He said the cabinet was told that the loan owed by

NEWS 03 nawaz seen violating Covid sops in london NEWS DESK A video has surfaced on Twitter where former prime minister nawaz Sharif was seen violating the standard operating procedures (SOPs) regarding coronavirus imposed in the United Kingdom. Twitter user @usarxaza shared a video on Monday wherein nawaz was seen walking the streets of London with an entourage of over six people, which violates the outlined coronavirus laws. “You should continue to maintain social distancing with anyone you do not live with. There is further guidance on meeting with others safely, which includes details of exemptions from this limit, including for larger households and support bubbles,” says the UK government website. “More than 6 people are not allowed to be together in the UK at the moment. He is breaking the law there too,” tweeted @usarxaza. In response, another Twitter user tagged the London police’s official Twitter account and asked them to investigate Sharif, adding the Pakistan Muslim League-nawaz (PML-n) supremo’s London address as well. The police account replied and in the ensuing conversation, it was learned that nawaz had a “big gathering outside his apartment with no social distancing or masks”. The London police have clarified they are aware of the situation, but not offered any other details. The members of nawaz’s gathering included former state minister Abid Sher Ali. Roosevelt Hotel in new York was paid to the JP Morgan Bank and now the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) had complete ownership of the hotel. He also said that despite the coronavirus pandemic, the revenue of PIA increased. The government had no plan to sell the Roosevelt Hotel, he added. The efforts to further expand the economy were hampered by the coronavirus, which caused negative economic growth in leading economies of the world as well, he further said. Faraz said that the prime minister was most worried about the economic conditions of poor people. He said that both the PML-n and PPP leaders had double standards as they were asking the people to take to the streets despite the threat of coronavirus. He assured that the gas prices would not be raised for consumers. The Sindh government’s refusal to give right of way for a pipeline disrupted the gas supplies, he added. The minister said that the government would improve the financial situation of institutions and decrease the circular debt in the power and gas sectors. Electricity rates in Karachi were raised to end disparity with other parts of the country, he added. To a question, he said that the Tiger Force comprising volunteers, including teachers, students, doctors, and other segments of society would just keep a check on the prices in their areas as it had no administrative power. To another question, Faraz said that the family of Maryam nawaz looted the national wealth and the courts gave verdicts against them. He said that the ideologies of the Sharif family changed like the changing weather and it was responsible for the present difficulties of the people. The PTI, he said, would be even in power in 2028 contrary to what the opposition was saying.

NAB to probe Roosevelt Hotel closure, huge losses ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Less than a week after Roosevelt Hotel, new York City announced to permanently shut its doors on guests on October 31, the national Accountability Bureau (nAB) on Tuesday announced to probe the closure of prime Pakistan International Airlines’ (PIA) property in the heart of the posh borough of Manhattan. According to a press release issued by the anti-graft agency, its Chairperson Justice (r) Javed Iqbal, while taking notice of the closure, has directed the bureau’s Rawalpindi chief to probe the reasons behind the decision to shutter the “national asset”. The property which is valued at more than a billion dollars has been bleeding vast monies for some time now. Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan on Monday revealed the hotel’s management had taken out a loan of $160 million from JP Morgan Chase, an American invest-

ment bank, and was making regular payments from its own revenue stream. The balance outstanding at the moment is $105m, he had said. However, following the virus outbreak, the hotel ran into financial trouble, giving the lender a pretext to sell off its liabilities to another company. That bank, Khan said, has now set its sights on purchasing the hotel. It even attempted a takeover of the property, but the Pakistan government put its foot down and decided to take the matter into its own hands, he added. The press release said that the nAB will look into the reasons behind the alleged loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars borne by the government. The accountability watchdog will also point out officials who allegedly showed “carelessness in performing their national duties” and failed to play a role in making the hotel into a profitable entity. The Roosevelt Hotel opened on September 23, 1924, and was leased by PIA through its investment arm, PIA Investments Limited in 1979, with an option to purchase

the building after 20 years, which it did in 1999 for an additional $36.5 million. Prince Faisal bin Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia was one of the investors in the 1979 deal. In 2005, the PIA bought out its Saudi partner in a deal that included the prince’s share in Hotel Scribe in Paris in exchange for $40 million and the PIA’s share of the Riyadh Minhal Hotel. The national flag-carrier has since controlled 99 per cent interest in the hotel while the Saudis have only 1 percent. After fully acquiring the hotel, PIA undertook its renovation. Following refurbishment, it started making a profit after a long time and continued doing so till 2018. But the onset of the coronavirus pandemic brought doom to the hotel and tourism sector. Experts say the main reason for its decline is the obsolescence of its infrastructure and depleted room conditions. After the news of the closure of the property become public, diplomatic sources clarified that the airline still owned the property as the building had not been sold.

Imran congratulates Tajikistan president on historic election win ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday congratulated Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon on winning the country’s presidential election with over 90 per cent of the vote and securing another seven-year term. Rah-

mon, 68, has led the mountainous, former Soviet republic bordering China and Afghanistan for nearly three decades. In a tweet, Imran said: “Felicitations to President Emomali Rahmon of #Tajikistan on his historic win in Presidential elections.” “Pakistan & Tajikistan are partners in regional

peace, prosperity & connectivity. I look forward to working closely with President Rahmon in further cementing our brotherly ties.” Having come to power amid a devastating civil war in the early 1990s following Tajikistan’s transition to independence from the Soviet Union, Rahmon has defined himself as the guarantor of the state’s stability.

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Wednesday, 14 October, 2020

NEWS

wcla comPleTes 70Pc resToraTion of maKaTib Khana and moTi masjid LAHORE

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SHAHAB OMER

HE Walled City of Lahore Authority (WCLA) has completed almost 70 per cent of the conservation and restoration works of Makatib Khana and Moti Masjid inside Lahore Fort. The project had started in November last year and is scheduled to be completed in another couple of months. The total cost of the project is Rs19.70 million. According to the WCLA Assistant Director Historic Research Samina Khan, these places were among the important monuments inside the Lahore Fort.

“According to historic references, this was a place where clerks (muharirs) recorded entry into the fort. The place was built under the orders of the emperor Jahangir in the year A H 1027 (1617) under the superintendence of the architect Ma’mur Khan. Along with the Makatib Khana is the Moti Masjid which was built in 1645 by the Mughal Shah Jahan. As per historic accounts, it is stated that the Mosque might have been built along with Dolat Khana Khaas-o-Aam of Shah Jahan. It is one of those two mosques built in chaste marble by Shah Jahan,” she said. Iqbal Aslam, a tourist and frequent visitor of Lahore Fort, was of the opinion that once this place was restored it will be more

Two more dengue cases surface in Punjab; Toll reaches 105 LAHORE TLTP

The number of confirmed dengue fever cases in Punjab has jumped to 105, this year so far, after the detection of two new cases on Tuesday. According to the spokesperson of the Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department Punjab, the fresh cases were reported in Lahore and Rawalpindi. The patients are under treatment. He further added that out of 105 total patients, 90 dengue patients have recovered their health and were allowed to leave for their homes. 15 patients are still under treatment at the various hospitals of the province, he added. No deaths have been reported in the ongoing year due to the dengue virus, the health department spokesperson said. The masses are advised to contact helpline 1033 in case of any signs of dengue fever or can register their complaints. Earlier in the month of August, as many as 533 suspected patients of dengue fever were reported in Punjab in a single day. The patients after tests were declared fit and sound and were allowed to leave for their homes.

attractive for people. “Many of the people bypass Makatib Khana because it was never brought into the limelight, but I am sure that after the restoration is completed and this green covering from the building is taken off, it will turn into a beautiful piece,” he said. A tour guide of Lahore Fort, Abdul Rehman, said that people were very keen to visit Moti Masjid as they believed that praying there made a difference. “All the tourists do visit this masjid and it is said that whatever they pray there for, it is answered by God,” he remarked. WCLA Senior Architect Azeem Dad, while talking to Pakistan Today said, “We have completed almost 70 per cent of the

works in Moti Masjid and Makatib Khana. The major interventions include the working on the roof of Makatib Khana which was extremely dilapidated. We have restored the hujras alongside Makatib Khana as well and only the fresco work in remaining inside Makatib Khana. Moreover, the main façade has also been restored along with the drainage system. The floor of the main chamber will also be restored in a few weeks’ time which is an uphill task.” Azeem also informed this scribe that the works on Moti Masjid were also 70 per cent complete. “Marble is being re-laid inside Moti Masjid and the work on inner hujras is in process too. Drainage system is also being improved,” he added.

IHC directs ICT admin to resolve Lal Masjid issue

KARACHI STAFF REPORT

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday granted bail to two absconding accused in a case related to the suicide of a young female in Karachi’s Defence Housing Authority. Dr Maha Shah, 24, practising at a private hospital in Clifton, committed suicide by shooting herself at her home in Defence Housing Authority in August. A two-judge bench approved the bail of Junaid Khan and Waqas Hussain Rizvi directing their counsels to submit surety bonds Rs100,000 apiece. The court also barred the police from arresting the suspects and issued a notice to the prosecution department to submit a reply by November 12. The bench directed the accused to join the trial in the case. They both had escaped from the courtroom on September 21 when a session court revoked their interim pre-arrest bail.

Pakistan for redoubling global efforts to mitigate risks of disasters

ISLAMABAD APP

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday granted time to the district administration to resolve the matter of Lal Masjid’s closure in accordance of the law and adjourned hearing the case till December 1. Justice Mohsin Akhter Kiyani conducted the hearing on a petition moved by the Shuhada Foundation against the closure of Lal Masjid. During the course of proceedings, Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) Deputy Commissioner Hamza Shafqat informed the court that there were around 40 female students in the mosque who had illegally constructed the rooms and occupied the government land. He pleaded that only one way towards the mosque was closed and prayed the bench to grant time to address the issue. The petitioner’s lawyer Tariq Advocate pleaded that the illegal occupant should be removed from the mosque’s premises so that it could be opened. To this, the bench said that the

Two absconding suspects secure bail in dr maha suicide case

ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

foundation could shift the students elsewhere. The lawyer said that the mosque was not owned by the Shuhada Foundation, adding that the

visitors were facing hurdles in the way towards the mosque. The court directed the ICT administration to resolve the matter under the law and adjourned the hearing of the case.

Pakistan has called for redoubling global efforts, including sharing of experiences, knowledge and transfer of technology, to mitigate risks of disasters and to save lives. In a statement on the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Foreign Office (FO) said these efforts should be made under the United Nations and other international platforms.The FO said that Pakistan has strengthened the response capacity of its institutions at the national, provincial and district levels. It said, “The strength of our governance systems was tested in the first wave of Covid-19 pandemic. While we have successfully contained the initial outbreak and continue to mitigate its long-term socio-economic impacts.”The FO also said that Pakistan launched its renewed "National Disaster Response Plan 2019" with a view to improving the level of preparedness and strengthening the capacity of the country to respond.

Pakistan’s power sector reforms: Lessons from Turkey 6 injured in Karachi with the creation of a also had, and still has its FAtIMA MuSHtAq competitive market, fair share of detractors. gas cylinder explosion Pakistan embarked upon which – ideally – would Regardless, for a number a series of reforms in the power sector in the 1990s, more or less around the same time as Turkey. In Pakistan, these reforms started with the unbundling of stateowned DISCOs. This was supposed to culminate with their privatization and then evolve further

have resulted in multiple options for the end user leading to cheaper power and improved services, among other benefits. KESC was the first DISCO to be privatized, and later became KElectric. It was termed a success by many, but it

of reasons, mostly political, the process of reforms stuttered and eventually fizzled out. While the country went from a huge power deficit position to a power surplus, much of that power is of no use to almost a third of the population because the reforms failed to creative an attractive environment for investment in the transmission and distribution (T&D) system. In Turkey, reforms also started in the 1990s and led to the privatization of distribution retail companies in the early 2010s. The enactment of the Electricity Market Act in 2001 was a turning point toward a more competitive market environment and was a key factor in the success of this process and the country’s electricity market saw a dramatic restructuring during the last 20 years. There was a radical transition from a vertically integrated public monopoly model to a model of regulated competition with privatized and unbundled firms.

KARACHI

STAFF REPORT

At least six people were injured after two gas cylinders exploded in a shop near Nipa Chowrangi in Karachi late Monday night. The injured have been shifted to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC). The eyewitnesses said they heard two loud explosions in a shop located in Benazir Basti. A rickshaw parked near the shop was

destroyed too. Its driver said that he had recently

paid all the installments of his vehicle, adding that he has no other means to earn money. The fire was doused in less than an hour, according to the fire department.

Wednesday, 14 October, 2020

nEWs

Covid-19, loCuSt SwarmS diSrupt pakiStani farmerS’ inCome, produCtivity: adB iSLamaBad

t

GHULAM ABBAS

WO major crises in Pakistan -Covid-19 and locust swarms -had a significant impact on the livelihoods through agricultural products, including wheat, vegetables, fruits and dairy products. According to a survey of farmers in Sindh carried out by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), tomato farmers especially faced acute difficulties, with majority choosing not to harvest their crop. The challenges most often cited were the farmers’ inability to travel to markets and cities and the unavailability of traders to purchase the crops. Almost all respondents from upper Sindh reported locust swarms, with over a third of lower Sindh respondents stating they had also been affected. Upper and lower Sindh respondents reported an almost universal lack of government response as a source of information about the swarms or relief in the form of surveys and spraying. "The market disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and its related policy measures are temporary. The government needs to monitor and ensure the functioning of market activities and the availability of agricultural inputs, as requested by farmers," ADB suggested. "Locust swarms may require action to both mitigate the damage already caused and to invest in long-term means to help farmers and communities prepare for future locust swarms."

ADB released on Tuesday results of the survey carried out in June 2020 under ADB technical assistance and collected information on how Covid-19 related measures and disruptions affected the harvest and marketing of rabi season crops and dairy products, the availability and price of inputs, and the financial needs of farmers. More than 400 farmers were surveyed i n Sindh on the impact of the nationwide lockdown in response to the coronavirus disease. Due to the pandemic, more than half of the farmer households reported lower food consumption with one-third of them reporting lower earnings. Among the respondents, the largest number (97.1pc) cited the need to ensure timely supply of agricultural inputs followed by the need to ensure price stability for agricultural produce (96.8pc), and then the need to ease loan repayment conditions or write-off loans (80.7pc). About 68.8pc of respondents identified equally the needs to remove restrictions on the supply of agricultural inputs and to allow the marketing of agricultural produce in districts other than the farmers’ home district. About half of the respondents suggested other policy measures. Covid-19 related problems have severely affected farmers of all crops; over 65pc of wheat farmers and more than 67pc of fruit and vegetable farmers reported difficulties with selling their produce. Tomato farmers experienced an even more severe outcome – over 32 per

SC censures Centre for failure to address Sindh’s power woes

cent were unable to market their produce at all and a further 61.2pc were able to do so, but with difficulty. In addition, 61pc of respondents were unable to complete their tomato harvest. Milk producers were also affected, as traders were unable or unwilling to buy milk from milk producers. Among the respondents, 81pc of milk producers reported that they were unable to market their produce daily in the past few months. In addition, farmers faced acute problems during the kharif cultivation season because of the limited availability and increased prices of farm inputs, particularly seeds. Another major concern, especially for farmers in Upper Sindh, is the severe locust invasion. To mitigate the severe impacts of Covid-19 and the locust swarms, the survey respondents identified essential actions, in order of priority ensure timely supply of agricultural inputs, ensure price stability for agricultural produce, ease loan repayment conditions or provide waive loans, and remove restrictions on marketing agricultural produce in districts beyond where it was grown. Concerning crops grown during the 2019-2020 rabi season, wheat, the predominant crop grown during the rabi season in Sindh, was produced by 93.7pc of farmers. Oilseed was grown by 27.3pc of farmers, followed by tomatoes at 25.6pc. Sindh farmers also produced substantial quantities of lucerne (20pc) and berseem (19.3pc), which are fodder crops for livestock. In addition, farmers grew onions

(9.3pc of respondents); melons (5.1pc); sugarcane (3.9pc); and banana (1.2pc). Some (2.2pc) grew miscellaneous fruits, and a few (7.8pc) planted other crops. Finally, 20.2pc of producers grew a variety of vegetables. Almost all respondents reported having completed harvesting their wheat. The majority completed their harvest after the fourth week of March, although this was much more prevalent in upper Sindh (81.7pc) than in lower Sindh (57.1pc). In lower Sindh, 39pc of respondents had completed their wheat harvest by the fourth week of March, with the rest completing their harvest later. A third of the respondents felt that their wheat harvest had been delayed compared with the past years; of these, 38.6pc cited rain as the reason, 26.8pc stated that harvesting machines were not available on time, and 18.9pc noted a shortage of labour during harvest time. The share of respondents reporting unavailability of labour was higher in Lower than in Upper Sindh. Respondents who did not cite rain as a reason for delay were prompted to consider whether Covid-19 had an impact on the delay of their wheat harvest - 84.3pc of them said that Covid-19 had an impact. When asked to identify their major wheat crop buyers, 95.4pc of respondents said they sold their harvest in the open market, and only 4.6pc cited the government as their primary buyer. Respondents who sold in the open market reported an average price of Rs1,278 per 40 kilogrammes of wheat.

PM calls for all-out measures to curb commodities’ prices iSLamaBad STAFF REPORT

continued from page 01 “It seems that that is not the end of the story, there must be someone behind them. It seems as though eventually this company will have connections with Bombay [Mumbai],” the CJP remarked. “Perhaps the electricity in Karachi and Balochistan is controlled from Bombay,” he said referring to news reports. He also remarked that half of Karachi was without electricity at night. “Every day I get calls and messages saying load-shedding is happening three times a day.” The K-Electric lawyer contended that news reports about the company having shareholders in Bombay were incorrect. The CJP replied that corporate affairs were often tangled and someone else was usually reaping the benefits. The top judge said the power utility was a defaulter and should be sent to jail. “Provision of electricity is a basic right,” he noted, adding that a heavy fine could be imposed on the company. To this, KE’s lawyer responded by saying power supply had been affected during June and July due to a shortage of oil.

Prime Minister Imran Khan has directed the concerned authorities to take all possible administrative steps to bring down the prices of basic commodities. The PM issued these directions on Tuesday while chairing a high-level meeting on prices and availability of basic commodities, especially wheat and sugar. The meeting discussed the availability of wheat in the country, the prices of wheat and flour in different provinces, the schedule of wheat imported by the government and the private sector and its arrival in the country to meet the future needs. A report on wheat and flour prices in different parts of the country from Tigers Force and independent sources was presented to the meeting. The meeting was also informed about the daily release of wheat from Punjab. It was also told that Sindh will start its release from the

16th of this month. To ensure the appropriate supply of wheat in the country, the forum decided to increase the per day release of wheat from Punjab. Regarding supply of sugar, the meeting was informed that the imported sugar will be available to masses at lesser rates. It was also informed that the crushing season will begin from 10th of next month in Punjab. The PM approved the proposed administrative measures to control rising prices of basic commodities in the country. The meeting was attended by members of the economic team, federal ministers, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) governor and provincial chief secretaries. It is pertinent to mention that the prime minister last Monday said that his government will use all the resources at disposal of the state to bring down skyrocketing prices of essential food items in the country. Imran Khan also decided to once again use the services of volunteers of Tiger Force for the identification of hoarders.

Govt to restrict public gathering in cities with high positivity ratio continued from page 01 During the meeting, Asad said that there was a need to ensure that standard operating procedures (SOPs) devised by the government, including wearing face masks and other guidelines, are being followed. “Actions have consequences and we as a nation have taken the right steps to save precious lives and contain the spread of the virus,” the minister stated. The forum was told that 3,497 smart lockdowns have been imposed in 103 districts across the country. It was also informed that 52 per cent of tests were being carried out under the trace, test and quar-

antine (TTQ) strategy. NCOC was also briefed on measures being taken by provincial governments to curb the spread of the virus by respective chief secretaries, who attended the meeting. Sindh chief secretary told the meeting’s participants that the government was monitoring academic institutions and marriage halls — both of which reopened last month. He assured the forum that the provincial authorities will take administrative measures to ensure that health guidelines set by the NCOC are implemented. The chief secretary of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) informed the meeting that the government had taken ac-

tion against some restaurants and marriage halls for violating SOPs. Meanwhile, the chief secretary of Balochistan said that due to implementation of the TTQ strategy, an improvement” in Covid-19 cases was observed in the province. Asad said that so far, the nation has taken the right steps that have helped prevent deaths and contain the spread of the disease. “The proactive response of the people has been key so far,” the minister said. The people of Pakistan have shown great maturity and responsibility in following guidelines for preventing the spread of the virus, he added.

05

British airways flight lands in lahore after 40 years LaHore TLTP

British Airways has resumed its direct flight operations to and from Lahore as the airline’s first flight touched down at Allama Iqbal International Airport on Tuesday after nearly 40 years. The flight, BA259, with 214 passengers on board took off from the Heathrow airport and landed at the Lahore airport this morning. A cake was cut in CIP lounge to mark the resumption of the airline's flight operation. The airport manager and other civil aviation officers were present on the occasion to welcome the passengers who arrived there via the BA’s first flight. The flight will fly back to London with more than 200 passengers on board. British High Commissioner to Pakistan Christian Turner tweeted that British Airways used to operate to two cities in Pakistan but after 40 years, the airline has resumed its operation to another city, Lahore. “Welcome @British_Airways first flight to Lahore, increasing connectivity, people-to-people ties & business investment #UKPakDost,” he tweeted.‫۔‬

envoy urges pakistani traders to explore Sudan for attractive returns raWaLpindi TLTP

Sudan offers promising opportunities and Pakistani businessmen should explore the country for direct investments and joint ventures to earn attractive returns. This was stated by Sudan's Charge d'Affaires Muhammad Bashir during his visit to the Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) on Tuesday. He was accompanied by Trade and Commercial Counsellors Muhammad Nooruddin and Abu Bakr Hussain. Bashir noted that there were close friendly relations between Pakistan and Sudan, adding that regular exchange of delegations was imperative to strengthen bilateral trade ties. There were many opportunities of mutual cooperation in agriculture and minerals sectors, he stated. The envoy appreciated the role of the RCCI in promoting trade and business activities. He also invited the RCCI president to attend the International Trade Fair, Khartoum, which will be held in January 2021. Speaking on the occasion, RCCI President Nasir Mirza said the chamber was ready to cooperate for the exchange of delegations and to hold bilateral business conferences. “There is a huge opportunity for joint ventures in different sectors mainly agriculture, IT and pharmaceuticals,” he added. He informed that despite the corona epidemic, the chamber had recently launched a series of webinars to promote trade with African countries.

talks with india on kashmir contingent on conditions, says Sapm continued from page 01 He further said that Indian Embassy funds have been used to sponsor terrorist groups like the Tehreek-eTaliban Pakistan (TTP), and that hard evidence had been collected. SAPM Yusuf said that RAW had used $1 million to facilitate TTP and that Pakistan knew the names and ranks of officers in touch with terror leadership and would soon reveal Indian activities to the world through a detailed dossier based on lengthy investigations. “Congratulations to the RAW. They have succeeded in creating an organisation to kill Pakistanis,” he said. When asked about Indian allegations that Mumbai attacks were sponsored by Pakistan, Yusuf said that Pakistan had facilitated investigations in all cases pending in courts but India was delaying the investigations, adding that this was a ploy for India to feed its false narrative of terrorism. Yusuf called out India’s double standards by citing their failure to produce the perpetrators of the Samjhuta and Babri Masjid cases, Malegaon blast case and others to justice.

KCCI rejects hike in K-Electric tariff, demands withdrawal KaracHi STAFF REPORT

Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) President Shariq Vohra said on Tuesday that hike in K-Electric tariff would prove to be a serious blow to the city’s industry, which is still struggling to recover from the disaster caused by the lockdown imposed to contain Covid-19 pandemic. Rejecting the federal government’s de-

cision to increase KE’s tariff up to Rs2.89 per unit with effect from September 1, Vohra said that Karachiites are already suffering badly due to unbridled inflation, hence the hike in KE’s electricity bills is unacceptable and must be withdrawn immediately. “Although the lawmakers are assuring that Prime Minister Imran Khan and his government are striving to control inflation through earnest efforts, it is really unfortunate that they have given a go-ahead to KE

to raise its tariff,” he lamented. “The move will not only added to the hardships of business community but will also terribly affect the poor masses who are already overburdened by rising inflation.” Expressing disappointment in the federal government, he said instead of providing relief to the already burdened citizens of Karachi, the government continues to take anti-business and anti-Karachi actions. “It is a well known fact that the economic hub of Pakistan is passing through the

CMYK

worst possible crisis and suffering badly due to crumbling infrastructure, electricity load shedding, gas and water shortages etc. For God’s sake, please have mercy on poor citizens and the anxious business and industrial community of Karachi which is battling hard for survival,” he stressed. Vohra pointed out that the cost of utilities in Pakistan is much higher as compared to regional countries, making Pakistani products uncompetitive in the international markets.

“The economy will only flourish if the cost of doing business is brought down by substantially reducing the tariffs of electricity, gas and water, besides lowering the exorbitant rates of taxes and duties,” he added. He hoped that keeping in view all the above-mentioned facts, the government would review KE’s power hike notification and immediately withdraw the same, as it would be beneficial not only for the business community but also for people belonging to all walks of life.

Wednesday, 14 October, 2020

06 COMMENT

FATF’s sword of damocles

From holding rallies to blocking rallies Divisions within the PTI

Selective use of `terrorism’

a

n over-confident Prime Minister imran khan underrates the ability of the opposition to pose a threat to his government. He thinks he alone is an expert in rousing the masses. as he recently put it, to make the public come out you need to pick something that interests the masses. He seems to think that issues like unemployment, poverty, rising prices and the government’s failure to fulfill its election promises do not perturb the people. He is confident that the opposition “can never lure masses out.” the PML(n) workers will not come out even if they are bribed with money and “qeemay kay naan”, he says. He has no fear of the opposition, as he would go for by-elections if all opposition members were to resign from the assemblies. it appears that not all the cabinet members agree with the PM, though with the exception of interior Minister ijaz shah they are unwilling to stick their neck out over the issue. the Prime Minister has allowed the opposition to hold a rally at Gujranwala with the certitude that the gathering would be dismal as the public would distance itself from the show being put up by what he calls a ‘gang of dacoits’. as opposed to the PM, the Punjab government is in a state of panic. it has already instructed the Gujranwala administration not to allow the PML(n) to hold limberup corner meetings and remove banners and posters put up by the opposition in the city. it has given a green signal to local Pti workers to hold a rally in Gujranwala to offset the impact of the PDM’s public gathering despite warnings from the intelligence agencies that it could lead to a bloody confrontation. to further create hurdles in the way of the PDM, the Punjab government has instructed the Deputy Commissioner and CPO to disallow the PDM to hold the rally at Jinnah stadium. the Pti’s dual policy indicates internal differences over the scale of the threat from PDM and how to meet it. it is for the opposition to decide how to respond to the hurdles being created in its way. One expects it, however, to act more maturely, maintain peace in the face of provocations, meanwhile abiding by the pandemic sOPs.

Amjed jAAved

P

akistan is struggling hard to wriggle out of the Financial action task-Force’s grey list. Pakistan needs 15 out of 39 votes to get rid of being listed. But, it may remain on the grey list if it gets only three votes. the whole listing procedure looks biased as it does not accommodate Pakistan’s perception. the main allegation is that Pakistan harbours Un-designated terrorists. But, the yardstick with which the Usa measures its allegation is lopsided. the Un views the ongoing freedom movement in kashmir, a disputed territory under Un resolutions, as `terrorism’ aided by Pakistan. the term has meant different things to different individuals and communities. the oldest ‘terrorists’ were holy warriors who killed civilians. Recent examples of religious terrorists are aum shinrikyo (Japanese), Rabbi Meir kahane, Baruch Goldstein and Yigal amir (Jews).the Jewish-controlled media describes Hezbollah and Hamas as ‘religious terrorists’. in first-century Palestine, Jews publicly slit Romans’ throats, in seventh-century india, thugs strangled gullible passersby to please the Hindu goddess kali, and the 19th-century adherents of narodnaya Volya (People’s Will) mercilessly killed their pro-tsar rivals. `terrorist’ and `freedom fighter’ had been interchangeable labels subject to expediency. not long ago the Usa treated the taliban as freedom fighters. President Ronald Reagan accorded a red-carpet welcome to Jalaluddin Haqqani. Cuban terrorists were decorated in the Usa as freedom fighters. the term ‘terrorism’ received international publicity during the French Reign of terror in 1793-94. it is now common to dub one’s adversary a ‘terrorist’. Doing so forecloses possibility of political negotiation, and gives the powerful definer the right to eliminate the ‘terrorist’, an individual or a country. FatF is employed as a sword of Damocles for Pakistan. in line with indian security czar ajit Doval’s Doctrine, RaW aims at fomenting insurgency in Pakistan’s sensitive provinces. Doval is inspired by india’s nefarious efforts in East Pakistan. naila Baloch’s `Free Balochistan’ office has been working in new Delhi since 23 June 2018. BJP MLas and RaW officers attended its inauguration. B Raman in his books admitted that not only india’s then prime minister indra Gandhi but also the heads of RaW and iB created and trained Mukti Bahini. Doval publicly claims that he acted as a spy under a pseudonym in Pakistan for 11 years. it sponsored offensive posters on taxi cabs and buses in switzerland and Britain. the Usa recently outlawed the Balochistan Liberation army. However, earlier, in 2012, a handful of Republicans moved a pro-separatist bill in Us Congress, demanding `the right to self-determination’. india’s ambassador to kabul, Bharath Raj Muthu kumar, with the consent of then foreign minister Jaswant singh, `coordinated military and medical as-

Exiting Afghanistan Not so straightforward

U

s President Donald trump, evidently without consulting his top generals or advisors on the matter, sent out another one of his controversial tweets, stating that all Us soldiers currently in afghanistan would be home by Christmas. that the claim came only a few hours after the President’s own national security advisor had said the number of troops would be brought down to 2,500 by early next year, which indicates that even the White House administration was caught off guard. the country’s top general, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of staff, Gen Mark a. Milley, however, rejected both exit timelines that had come out of the White House, saying the situation needed to be analyzed. the Us presidential election is in less than 20 days and trump, trailing in the polls, is desperately trying to check all the boxes with regards to promises he made four years ago, a complete and clean exit of Us troops from afghanistan being one of them. Unfortunately for him, afghanistan is a much more complicated problem that he cannot simply lie his way out of, as exiting the country is not so straightforward. as things stand, the Us-taliban peace deal, although signed and agreed upon in principle, does not stand on very strong footing as negotiations are ongoing and civil war violence continues. Yesterday the Usa, for the first time since February when the troop withdrawal agreement was signed, launched air strikes against the taliban in Helmand province of afghanistan that the former has expanded its control over, taking over military bases and advancing towards taking control of the provincial capital. Confirming the strikes, Us military spokesperson Col sonny Leggett tweeted, urging the taliban to cease their offensive actions that are in violation of the peace agreement. another threat remains in the form of taliban splinter groups and the resurgence of is-affiliated outfits such as the islamic state of iraq and the Levant– khorasan Province (iskP), responsible for the recent attack on Jalalabad prison where 29 people were killed. these undeniable ground realities are not at all conducive for an early Us exit, especially the sort trump is foolishly advertising as doable. the taliban must be convinced by all stakeholders to ramp down their violent activities soon, otherwise the progress made so far towards a peaceful afghanistan will surely be undone.

A saga of new non-traditional security threats The coronavirus changes the concept of national security HAmzAH Touqeer

B

iO-tERRORisM is considered to be warfare or terrorist attacks in which the belligerent factions use various toxins, chemicals, bio-hazard materials such as viruses, bacteria or various other pathogens among the masses to infect or cause injury, and in serious cases death and massacre among the targeted population. the covid-19 pandemic has made people skeptical about the use of pathogens and bio-warfare, as it has shifted the conversation about non-traditional security threats to a whole new level of political, strategic and military debate across the globe since January 2020 when the virus strains were first discovered in an animal market in Wuhan province of China. But the history of bio-warfare dates back to two millennia ago when scythian archers used arrowheads dipped in manure and decomposing corpses to cause the spread of diseases and deadliness of the weapons upon striking the enemies. tatars in 1300s used corpses of people who were infected with plague as a weapon by throwing them over the enemy. the Colonial-era British forces used to give various French and indian enemy tribes with blankets and clothing rations which were infected with smallpox so that they might catch it. Germans used to spread the disease of glanders among the cavalry of the enemy forces during World War i, while Japanese imperial forces during World War ii used

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sistance that india was secretly giving to Massoud other of his assports, no. L9630722 (issued from and his forces’… `helicopters, uniforms, ordnance, thane in 2014), inadvertently exposed his correct mortars, small armaments, refurbished kalashnikovs address: Jasdanwala Complex, old Mumbai-Pune seized in kashmir, combat and winter clothes, pack- Road, cutting through navi Mumbai. the municipal aged food, medicines, and funds through his brother records confirmed that the flat he lived in was in London, Wali Massoud’, delivered circuitously owned by his mother, avanti Jadhav. Furthermore, with the help of other countries who helped this out- in his testimony before a karachi magistrate, reach’. When new Delhi queried about the benefit of karachi underworld figure Uzair Baloch confessed costly support to northern alliance chief Massoud, he had links with Jadhav. india’s prestigious Frontkumar explained, “He is battling someone we should line surmised that Jadhav still served with the indian navy. the Gazette of india be battling. When Massoud files bore no record of Jadfights the taliban, he fights hav’s retirement. india told Pakistan.” the international Court of Pushtun tahafuz MoveIndia portrays the freedom Justice (iCJ) that Jadhav ment is apparently being was a retired naval officer. backed by india. in their movement in Kashmir as But, it refrained from statover-ebullient speeches, `terrorism’. What about ing exactly when he retired. PtM leaders openly scold the spy initially worked for Pakistan’s national security India’s terrorism in naval intelligence, but later institutions. For instance, Manzoor Pashteen, in an inneighbouring countries? Will moved on to the intelligence Bureau. He came in terview, berates Pakistan the world take notice of contact with RaW in 2010. army operations and extols it is not understood why drone strikes. He says, ‘the confessions by India’s the freedom movement in army did not eliminate even former intelligence officers disputed kashmir is terrora single taliban leader. all ism while india-sponsored the 87 taliban commanders and diplomats? Pakistani insurgency, followed by killed in the last 18 years armed intervention, in erstwere eliminated in drone outfits sdympathising with while East Pakistan isn’t. strikes’. at a PtM meeting Kashmiri freedom fighters Raman’s book makes no in Britain, even Malala bones about india’s involveYusafzai’s father (Ziaudare dubbed as terrorists. ment up to the level of prime din), like His Master’s But, Indians abetting minister in Bangladesh’s inVoice, echoed anti-army surgency. One is shocked to sentiments. He said, “Pakterrorism in Sri Lanka, or read accounts of former istan army and intelligence diplomats and RaW officers agencies knew that Fazalulsupplying IED components about executing insurgenlah was a terrorist, who conto ISIS, go scot free cies in some other neightinued to operate a radio bouring countries also. station in swat.” india portrays the freein a published letter, Rk dom movement in kashmir Yadav made startling revelation that india’s prime minister indira Gandhi, par- as `terrorism’. What about india’s terrorism in liament, RaW and armed forces acted in tandem to neighbouring countries? Will the world take notice dismember Pakistan. the confessions in his letter are of confessions by india’s former intelligence officorroborated by B. Raman’s book the kaoboys of cers and diplomats? Pakistani outfits sdympathisR&aW. He reminds `indian parliament passed reso- ing with kashmiri freedom fighters are dubbed as lution on March 31, 1971 to support insurgency. in- terrorists. But, indians abetting terrorism in sri dira Gandhi had then confided with kao that in case Lanka, or supplying iED components to isis, go Mujib was prevented from ruling Pakistan, she scot free. Raman ‘s book, and Rk Yadav’s letter of 14 auwould liberate East Pakistan from the clutches of the military junta. kao, through one RaW agent, got a gust 2015 published in indian and nepalese media, Fokker Friendship, the Ganga, of indian airlines hi- confirm india’s involvement in terrorism against Pakistan. kalbushan Jhadav wanted to replay the Mukti jacked from srinagar to Lahore. experience in Balochistan and kulbushan Jadhav was an indian navy officer, Bahini attached to RaW. His mission was to covertly carry khyber Pakhtunkhwa. the conduct of indian diplomats amounts to out espionage and terrorism in Pakistan. Pakistan also alleged there were indian markings on arms de- state-sponsored terrorism. For one thing, india should liveries to Baloch rebels pushed by Jadhav. to close the `Free Balochistan’ office on her soil, and india’s chagrin, india’s investigative journalists con- stop resuscitating propaganda skeletons of prefirmed from Gazettes of india that he was commis- Bangladesh days. sioned in the indian navy in 1987 with the service Amjed Jaaved is a freelance journalist, has iD of 41558Z kulbhushan sudhir. a later edition showed his promotion to the rank of commander served in the Pakistan government for 39 years and after 13 years of service in 2000. His passport, holds degrees in economics, business administration, law. He can be reached at E6934766, indicated he traveled to iran from Pune and as Hussein Mubarak Patel in December 2003. an- amjedjaaved@gmail.com.

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to drop fleas infected with plague among the Chinese, which resulted in killing of hundreds of thousands of people. During the Vietnam War, Us forces used agent Orange against the Viet Cong hiding in the jungles and dense forests of Vietnam which till date has resulted into deformations and disabilities among the people and newborn children in that region. iraqi forces, during the first Gulf War and invasion of kuwait, and iraq-kurdish insurgency, used anthrax against the local population. israel had also used phosphorus weapons and bombs against the Palestinian people and Hamas targets in the Gaza strip in the 2006 and 2014 wars/intifadas. Moreover, various chemicals have been widely used by the assad regime against its people during the ongoing syrian Civil war. in 1995 a cult known as the Cult of Doom in Japan tried to conduct an act of bio-terrorism by spreading sarin gas in the tokyo Underground in 1995. the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) categorized the various pathogens, viruses and chemicals on the bases of their virility, and harmful affects. these include category a, B and C types of agents. their classification is as follow: Category A agents are those that are the most harmful and can result in pandemic and can risk the national security of a state. Category B agents are those which are less virulent and do not result in major casualties. Category C viruses include those viruses which can result into a major risk to national security, high mortality rate and major health impact as a result of their outbreak.

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there have been various international multilateral forums in place to monitor the spread and outbreak of various viruses such as Chemical Weapons Convention which aims for Prohibition of development, stockpiling and proliferation of chemical weapons which was initiated in 1993. similarly the Biological Weapons Convention which was initiated in 1972 also aims at banning and controlling the proliferation of biological weapons. Biological pathogens are identified upon the bases of following criteria, Quantitative abilities, Multiplexing capabilities, High specificity and High sensitivity. Multiplexing helps researchers identify and distinguish between pathogenic and non-pathogenic toxic and genetically modified strains. the ongoing coronavirus pandemic had claimed lives of over one million people and has infected over 35 million people across the globe. it had strangled the world economy and health system, and changed the aspects and prospects of traditional and non-traditional forms of security and approaches of how the world now perceives security threats in the contemporary age. the regimes of lockdown and the rules for social distancing had changed the norms of social behaviour to a certain extent and would do so for the near future as long as no credible antidote or vaccine is developed. the contemporary situation has also called upon states to take into consideration the non-traditional security issues, including investment in health infrastructure and socio-economic viability under the social contract. Hamzah Touqeer is a freelance columnist

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Wednesday, 14 October, 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

World without women tHE world without women would absolutely be incomplete. a man can not continue his life without the bolster of women as the Prophet adam did. Eve was created by God to become his partner. Furthermore, women play unpredictable roles in several categories. the love and affection that a child gets from his/her mother, can not be gotten by any other person. the support and motivation for a brother can only be provided by a sister. Only a daughter cares about every single thing regarding her father. thus, if women would not exist in the world, the world would be emotionless and colorless. FaraHnaz Farooq aHmEd TurbaT

Child abuse tHE world without women would absolutely be incomplete. a man can not continue his life without the bolster of women as hazart adam did. Hazart Eve was created by God to become his patner. Furthermore, women play unpredictable roles in several categories. the love and affection that a child gets from his/her mother, can not be gotten by any other person. the support and motivation for a brother can only be provided by a sister. Only a daughter cares about every single thing regarding her father. thus, if women would not exist in the world, the world would be emotionless and colorless. therefore, women must be respected in every position. riaz aHmEd TurbaT

Child labour

India as war like state Indian links to terrorism are turning up

mAlik muHAmmAd AsHrAf

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nDia, with the approving nod of her strategic partners, particularly the Usa, has been persistently accusing Pakistan of harbouring terrorist entities on its soil and sponsoring cross-border terrorism. the Usa all along has also been endorsing the indian narrative. the Us state Department report on terrorism for the year 2019 says “Pakistan continued to serve as a safe haven for certain regionally focused terrorist groups. it allowed groups targeting afghanistan, including the afghan taliban and affiliated HQn, as well as groups targeting india, including Let and its affiliated front organizations, and JeM, to operate from its territory. Pakistan took modest steps in 2019 to counter terror financing and to restrain some india-focused militant groups following the February attack on a security convoy in the indian state of Jammu and kashmir claimed by Pakistan-based JeM.” a similar damning statement was also issued on september 10 by the Us-india Counter terrorism Joint Working Group and Designations Dialogue noting that the two sides underlined the urgent need for Pakistan to take immediate, sustained, and irreversible action to ensure that no territory under its control was used for terrorist attacks, and to expeditiously bring to justice the perpetrators of such attacks, including 26/11 Mumbai and Pathankot. as per the joint statement the Usa reiterated its support for the people and government of india in the fight against terrorism. it also denounced use of terrorist proxies and strongly condemned cross-border terrorism in all its forms. the voices accusing Pakistan have become more vociferous since the advent as indian Prime Minister of narendra Modi; a diehard follower of the Rss ideology of Hindutva, akin to the supremacist ideology of Hitler. Pakistan, while taking the fight to the terrorists as a frontline state and rendering unprecedented sacrifices in the process, has also been trying to unveil the real face of india as a sponsor of terrorism within Pakistan and extending support to the Baloch insurgents. the arrest of

kalbhushan jhadav in Pakistan and his confes- cupied Jammu and kashmir but it has adopted sions amply testified to this fact. But unfortu- a belligerent posture towards Pakistan, a Musnately the big powers, blinded by their strategic lim state. india right from the beginning had and commercial interests linked to india, have hegemonic ambitions and has remained fopreferred to remain indifferent to the indian cused on achieving that objective. in doing so machinations and the lurking dangers to peace it has been involved in disputes with almost all its neighbours. and security in the region. However, under the current BJP regime However, it is a matter of great satisfaction that Foreign Policy magazine of the Usa has headed by narendra Modi, india has adopted unveiled the real face of india to the world. a re- the hue of a war-like state posing danger to port in the magazine has claimed that india was peace and security in the region. it has adopted a new face of global terror. the report, express- an increasingly hostile posture towards Paking concern over the dynamism imparted by the istan. it is engaged in border clashes with China isi to the international jihadist movement, and in Ladakh while the indian military leaders conthe networks that it built says “in particular the tinue to make threatening statements. the latest indian and Central asian linkages are already one is by the indian air Force Chief, in which having repercussions beyond the region.” ac- he said that india was ready for a ‘two-front cording to the magazine, terrorist groups com- war’ with China and Pakistan. Only people prising central asian driven to ultimate and indian nationals madness can make were involved in terrorsuch irresponsible ist attacks like the Indian leaders are better statements, being unbombings in Easter 2019 in sri Lanka, the advised to study the history mindful to the consequences of such an attack on a turkish of the world, particularly the eventuality for the night club in 2017 on countries of the region new Year’s Eve, and states which acted as waras well as india itself. the 2018 truck attacks the world has already in new York City and like entities and ultimately seen the unbelievable stockholm. the report either perished or caused death and destruction noted that indians have that such ideologies also remained involved irretrievable damage to can perpetrate on huin networks in india or manity. any such inoccasionally Pakistan, themselves.The example of discretion on the part and the danger is that of india could unleash there may be an inGermany under Hitler is a cataclysmic situation creasing number of inbefore us beyond imagination as dians and Central asian both Pakistan and links to plots outside China are nuclear their region. it is pertipowers. nent to point out that a Pakistan has already manifested its determiUn report on terrorism has also warned that there are “significant numbers” of islamic state nation, resolve and capability to thwart indian aggressive designs when it sent its planes across the (is) terrorists in kerala and karnataka. the foregoing facts present irrefutable cor- border to hit an imaginary terrorist camp at Balroborative evidence about the indian govern- akot. However at the same time it exhibited exment looking the other way over the activities of treme restraint and desire to settle disputes with these groups comprising its own nationals. it is india, including kashmir through peaceful means. Pakistan has repeatedly and rightly been surely a wake-up call for the Un and the countries which support the indian narrative. May be warning the world to check india in its tracks the indian government is using these non-state before it could consign the region to a horrible actors as a tool for achieving its foreign policy humanitarian tragedy. Prime Minister imran objectives, particularly in regards to Pakistan. khan, in his address to the Un General assemindia is currently ruled by the proponents of the bly last year and this year, threw exhaustive supremacist and essentially anti-Muslim ideol- light on the indian designs and the danger that ogy of Hindutva. such regimes can go to any ex- the supremacist ideology of Hindutva poses to tent to achieve their objectives. indian state peace in the region. His argument and reason terrorism in the indian-Occupied Jammu and for appealing to the Un and world community kashmir repeatedly reported by the international is indeed beyond reproach. indian leaders are better advised to study media and also exposed by Pakistan undeniably strengthen indian credentials as the sponsor of the history of the world, particularly the states terror. Communal and anti-Muslim policies which acted as war-like entities and ultimately being pursued by the BJP regime in india also either perished or caused irretrievable damage speak volumes about the intentions of the regime to themselves.the example of Germany under to convert india into a Hindu state where minor- Hitler is before us. ity communities have no place. Malik Muhammad Ashraf is an academic. india has not only extended the tentacles of its anti-Muslim ideology to the indian-Oc- He can be contacted at: ashpak10@gmail.com

Pakistan is one of those countries where there exists a huge child labour, forced work and trafficking in human. Child labour has risen a lot due to problems like umemployment, poverty and illiteracy. similarly, Covid-19 has also added fuel to fire. according to my research, hundreds of children studying in private school has got themselves enrolled in Government school. while students already studying in govt schools have left schools. after reopening schools, the number of dropout children has risen to thousands. it is all because of social factors like poverty, unemployment, covid-19 and inflation. Mostly, children are pushed in child labour for lessening burden of their parents` shoulders. in Constitution of Pakistan 1973, there exists a prohibition of child labour. article 11, (3) no child below the age of fourteen years shall be engaged in any factory or mine or any other hazardous employment. Despite constitutional prohibition, thousands of children are engaged in works. one can see everywhere children working as waitor, street seller, etc. Government should take strict actions against child labour. Effective policies should be brought to cope with child labour. there should be strict implementation on article 25a that states ´state shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of five to sixteen years`. imTiaz ESSa HalEpoTo JamSHoro

Honour killings HOnOUR killing became a major issue in Pakistan. Many females were killed in the name of honour killing. Recently in Quetta a brother killed his innocent sister in name of honour killing and told that she disobeyed the family. it was not the first case which happened rather such cases are happening always and they are losing their precious lives. Females aslo have rights to live their lives with their own choices and wishes but unfortunately they are always forced to sacrifice their happiness and wishes. i would like to request the government kindly stop such cruel acts. parigul zaHid TurbaT

Cybersecurity objectives CYBER security is one of the most fundamental security paradigms in today’s modern warfare era. Countries should protect their own information assets, because in today’s warfare everyone’s rivalry tries and seeks to target their information system. this is an advanced strategy of states to overthrow their adversary by creating new cyber threats such as aPts. aPts are known as advanced persistent threats, which are highly complex threats and are very difficult to counter. Cyber security is a part of information security, and can be defined as the protection of informa- tion assets by addressing threats to information processes, stored and transported by internetworked information system. Cyber security usually refers to an entity initiat- ing threats due to the existence of a global cyberspace (i.e. internet) Cyber security requires stakeholders in the cyberspace area to be active in security, beyond the protection of their own assets. in the old era, simple encryption techniques such as Caesar ciphers were created to ensure confidentiality. But as time and tech nology move forward, the demands of security have increased. today, to protect information, three indispens- able components are concerned with the protection of information such as confidentiality, integrity and availability. Confidentiality means protection of information from unauthorised access, while integrity means protection of information from unauthorised modification and availability means protection of information from disruptions in access. niTaSHa Farooq rawalpindi

TikTok ban FiRst time the public is happy for the right desicions of PM imran khan about banning tik tok. tik tok is a kind of media which was completely destroying the generation of our young of our society. and affected the mindset of children. Other countries tik tok is banned but in Pakistan recently it was banned. Pakistan was the latest country to ban tik tok. actually, people are happy for this because due to tik tok children were totally connected with internet and it was damaging children studies and behaviour. tik tok is a major sources of entertainment. Entertainment is good but a limit. zarnaz mayar KarKi

Wednesday, 14 October, 2020

08 WORLD VIEW

Don’t abanDon peace for afghanistan WE URGE THAT US TROOPS BE NOT WITHDRAWN BY CHRISTMAS

aTlanTic council JAMEs CuNNINGHAM, JoHN NEGRopoNTE, RoNALD NEuMAN, HuGo LLoRENs, RICHARD oLsoN & EARL ANTHoNy WAyNE

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S President Donald J. Trump’s October 7 tweet saying that all U.S. troops will return from Afghanistan by Christmas threatens the prospects for success in the first serious Afghan to Afghan peace negotiations in forty years, now taking place in Doha, Qatar.

If confirmed, a premature U.S. withdrawal would tip the balance toward the Taliban, who are still waging war across Afghanistan. It would undermine our Afghan partners and have a terrible impact on Afghan women. U.S. national security would be undermined leaving the United States with less leverage to assure that the Taliban will keep commitments—especially their promise to prevent Al-Qaeda and other international terrorists from using Afghanistan to attack the United States. The surprise presidential tweet undercuts the credibility of the United States with partners and allies. It appears to have been made without prior consultation with allies fighting with us, suggesting that the United States would abandon agreements made abroad for short-term domestic political calculations. It would badly damage the international support which the United States has worked so hard to build around a sustainable Afghan peace process. Consistent with the South Asia Strategy enunciated by President Trump himself in August 2017, the U.S. agreement with the Taliban is supposed to be conditions-based. Specifically, through repeated public statements by the Secretaries of State, of Defense, and Special Representative Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. administration has underscored that we will not withdraw from Afghanistan until the Taliban has demonstrated its good faith by abiding by the terms of the agreement in a manner that protects U.S. and allied security equities in Afghanistan. Administration officials have admitted in Congressional testimony that the Taliban is not yet fully compliant with its counterterrorism commitments. Yet, remarkably, the president’s tweet seems to have the United States rushing to withdraw troops without achieving its stated goals and well ahead of the final May 2021 deadline. An accelerated withdrawal will effectively mean abandoning the fruits of two years of determined U.S. diplomacy with the Taliban, Afghan partners in Kabul, our allies, and regional and international partners to get the Afghan parties to the negotiating table. The U.S. diplomatic effort has orchestrated an opening which many thought highly unlikely, and which will need much nurturing and tending as the parties try to bridge major differences.

Important in this context are the words of Pakistan’s prime minister, whose country has long sheltered the Taliban. In a September 26 Washington Post op-ed he said: “All those who have invested in the Afghan peace process should resist the temptation for setting unrealistic timelines. A hasty international withdrawal from Afghanistan would be unwise.” In spite of President Trump’s persistent interest in quickly pulling out of Afghanistan, many in and out of the U.S. government have worked to persuade him to stay the course and assure a sustainable peace. Still the impact in Afghanistan of this surprise tweet should not be doubted. As one Afghan official wrote privately to one of us: “people were talking about waking up to a tweet like this … How serious is this? Is it a decision or not? How was the decision made? Was there any consultation? It does undermine the conditionality and will impact the dynamics in Doha…” Many in the United States and around the world have similar questions. Speeding withdrawal is highly irresponsible while the Afghan negotiations in Doha are still grappling with initial issues and have not gotten to the real substance of negotiations. After decades of fighting, it is not realistic to believe that these issues will be resolved quickly or without the ability of the United States and other partners to exert leverage in Afghanistan. A key element of the U.S.-Taliban agreement is a commitment to reduce violence as a means to create favorable conditions for the ongoing peace talks. Lamentably, the Taliban has so far ignored this commitment and in the past several months has actually heightened the tempo and intensity of its military campaign against the Afghan security forces. At present, there is no indication of a serious Taliban interest in implementing a ceasefire. Indeed, if the United States accelerates its departure, the Taliban will be even more tempted to just wait, by stalling the talks until the United States completes its withdrawal. Once the United States and its allies have departed, the Taliban is likely to further intensify its military campaign and potentially seek a military victory. In addition to undermining U.S. security, those who will pay the biggest price for a premature U.S. withdrawal and effective abandonment of the nascent peace

Trump must not be how American democracy dies A MAN BORN WITH BOTH A SILVER SPOON AND A FORKED TONGUE IN HIS MOUTH HAS DONE UNTOLD DAMAGE TO THE PRESIDENCY

Financial Times MADELEINE ALBRIGHT

Upon arriving in New York as a refugee, aged 11, I soon became a proud and grateful American. Later, as a US diplomat, I often pointed to the country’s democratic institutions and venerable electoral process as models. Foreign friends endorsed this assessment. When people looked to the US, they generally liked what they saw. This month those happy memories feel far away. Due to the antics of a president born with both a silver spoon and a forked tongue in his mouth, American democracy has been visibly and audibly debased. Watching the recent debate between Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, I felt as if I were trapped inside an erupting volcano with a howling dog. A president who claimed to represent law and order refused to abide by the debate rules his own campaign had accepted. He declined, as well, to condemn the forces of racial bigotry, or to promise to abide by the results of the election. Based on his record, none of this was surprising. Shortly afterwards, Mr Trump and several people close to him tested positive for coronavirus. Again, this was not surprising given the administration’s cavalier attitude towards the pandemic. There followed a grossly inept effort by White House officials to portray their boss as someone who had “beaten” the virus, albeit with the help of an elite medical team

and experimental drugs. Mr Trump’s message — that no one should fear the virus — is rebutted by the bones and ashes of 1m dead. Americans are now choosing a leader for the next four years. There is no grander democratic spectacle, yet this year there is also the potential for catastrophic disruption. Reasons include the challenge of voting safely in a pandemic, the logistical burden of handling a huge number of absentee ballots, the probability that foreign and domestic agents will seek to sway the process by spreading lies, and the president’s own outrageous efforts to undermine public faith in democratic institutions. By alleging that the election will be rigged against him, Mr Trump is intentionally sowing the seeds of chaos, including the possibility of violent confrontations on election day and a flood of litigation in its wake. Should the outcome be close, the verdict may not be known for weeks and will likely be rejected as fraudulent by one side or the other. No election is conducted flawlessly, and disputes over ballots are common but this time Mr Trump will try to inflate any minor discrepancy into a major conspiracy. There are some on the extreme left capable of thinking in the same way. Ultimately, the controversy may be settled by the Supreme Court, which for Biden supporters is a decidedly unsettling proposition. It is possible, of course, that the tally will be one-sided enough to make partisan complaints irrelevant. I hope so. But we should prepare for the worst and three facts are worth remembering. First, procedures for voting have been developed over many years and benefit from the guidance of non-partisan experts: widespread fraud is both extremely unlikely and relatively easy to detect. Second, a few glitches are inevitable but also remediable and should not discredit the whole process. Third, regardless of how

honest and efficient the vote count is, allegations of cheating are sure to surface on social media and in partisan elements of the press. With or without real fires, there will be plenty of smoke. It will be up to responsible leaders in both parties and professionals in law, academia and journalism, to help citizens separate facts from exaggerations and lies. The more prepared we are for efforts to confuse, the better we can counter them. I am often asked how long it will take to repair the damage done by the current administration to the US’s global standing. Certainly, the country cannot undo the experience of being represented by Mr Trump. Just as a herd of elephants leaves behind traces of its passage, so will the Trump team. Mr Biden, if elected, will inherit a country diminished by his predecessor’s search for “greatness” in all the wrong places. The new president’s task will be daunting: to reassure allies; reassert leadership on climate change and world health; forge effective coalitions to check the ambitions of China, Russia and Iran; and reestablish the US’s identity as a champion of democracy. Are Mr Biden and his team up to the job? With help from those who still wish the US well, the answer is surely yes. Will they have the chance? That depends on how US citizens have come to view the purpose and character of their nation. Does their vision bear any resemblance to the confident, outward-looking country that welcomed my family to its shores in 1948? Or has time so narrowed the popular perspective and muddied our capacity to discern truth from lies that the US I fell in love with has faded into history? For better or worse, we will soon know the answer. The writer is a former US secretary of state and author of ‘Hell and Other Destinations: a 21st Century Memoir.’

process are the women of Afghanistan and the millions of younger Afghans who have grown up over the last nineteen years. They are the ones who will suffer terribly with a Taliban victory. Recall that the Taliban are effective combatants, but they are not popular in Afghanistan, as evidenced every year by the Survey of the Afghan people. What is popular is achieving peace. The United States has done a great service by getting the Afghan parties to the negotiating table. Now, the United States must support that peace process including by remaining effectively present in Afghanistan, as the Afghan parties work through very tough issues about the future structures, rules, and processes of an Afghan government. We all agree that U.S. troops should be out of harms way as soon as possible. Already, however, Afghan government forces are on the front lines of the fighting. The United States should not undermine the important progress that the combination of U.S. diplomacy and military steadfastness, working with allies and friends, has yielded in getting Afghans to the negotiating table and putting the Taliban on the spot to become a more responsible actor against terrorism. We urge that U.S. troops not be withdrawn by Christmas or until conditions on the ground assure that U.S. security objectives in Afghanistan are guaranteed through a political settlement and a sustainable peace—a peace that honors the sacrifice of America’s brave men and women. Ambassador James Cunningham was U.S. deputy ambassador to Afghanistan in 2011 and U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan from 2012-2014. He is also a nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center. Ambassador John Negroponte was U.S. deputy secretary of state from 2007-2009 and director of national intelligence from 2005-2007. Ambassador Ronald E. Neumann was the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan from 2005-2007. Ambassador Hugo Llorens was U.S. assistant chief of mission in Afghanistan from 2012-2013 and charge d’affairs from 2016-2017. Ambassador Richard Olson was U.S. special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (2015-2016) and previously served at the U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan (2011-2012) as well as U.S. ambassador to the UAE and to Pakistan. Ambassador Earl Anthony Wayne, was U.S. deputy ambassador to Afghanistan and coordinating director for development from 2009-2011. He is also a nonresident senior fellow in the Atlantic Council’s Global Business and Economics Program.

Fake ballot boxes are just the start of this election's dirty tricks los angeles Times EDIToRIAL

Voters beware: In a year full of conspiracy theories, misinformation and other election-oriented claptrap — much of it coming from the president himself — it’s more important than ever to be a savvy participant in our democracy. For starters, don’t leave your ballot in some random drop box. The Orange County Register and other news outlets reported over the weekend that GOP groups around the state had set up unauthorized ballot boxes at party offices, churches and gun shops, apparently hoping to spur more Republicans to vote in the November election. In one example in Orange County, a California Republican Party official posted a picture of himself beside a metal delivery box labeled “official ballot drop off box,” and he urged voters to message him for more “convenient locations” to drop their ballots. Such unofficial drop boxes are not only risky for voting security, they’re illegal, Secretary of State Alex Padilla warned Sunday. Setting up a rogue ballot box is a felony and, if convicted, the perpetrators could be locked up for two to four years. The only mail-in ballot drop boxes allowed are those authorized by county election officials, who are responsible for ensuring that the boxes are tamper-proof and that there is a chain of custody when ballots are collected. These wanna-be ballot boxes are also unnecessary. Orange County, for example, has more than 100 ballot drop-off boxes that are available 24 hours a day until voting ends at 8 p.m. on Nov. 3. Los Angeles County has more than 400 secure drop-off boxes installed by the registrar-recorder. Every ballot mailing includes a list of the drop-off boxes near the voter's address. And, of course, voters can put their ballots in a mailbox, give them to their postal carrier or hand-deliver them to voting centers. Voters can also track their ballot online, so they know exactly when it is received and counted. The problem is that the misinformer in chief has sowed distrust in the state’s election system and in mail-in ballots in general (despite the fact that, as a registered voter in Florida, President Trump has been casting his vote by mail while living in the White House). The Fresno County Republican Party, citing the president, promoted its unauthorized dropoff boxes as the safer way to vote. “President Trump is very concerned about the lack of security with mail in ballots,” the Fresno GOP

SETTING UP A ROGUE BALLOT BOX IS A FELONY website read. “Don’t take a chance that your vote will not be counted.” The irony is that the party’s answer to alleged voting insecurities is to create its own insecure (and apparently illegal) voting operation. Wisely, the county GOP announced it would remove the rogue boxes after Padilla’s warnings, according to the Fresno Bee. Padilla and Attorney General Xavier Becerra sent a cease and desist letter to the state, Orange County, Los Angeles County and Fresno County Republican parties, telling them to remove the boxes by Thursday. But state GOP officials continue to insist that they were simply engaging in a form of “ballot harvesting,” which the state authorized in a 2016 law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown. Before the law was passed, only a family member or a member of the household was permitted to deliver a ballot on behalf of a registered voter. Assembly Bill 1921 relaxed that rule, allowing anyone to deliver mail-in ballots — campaign workers, party officials, you name it — as long as that person's compensation wasn't tied to the number of ballots collected. The law requires voters to designate a person to turn in their ballot, and the designee has to sign the ballot envelope and state his or her relationship to the voter. Padilla's office said the GOP ran afoul by asking voters to turn in their ballots to a box, not a person. That leaves little accountability if ballots go missing. The shenanigans are hardly surprising. Voting security advocates have warned that California’s law gives too much leeway for private citizens or party activists to collect and deliver multiple ballots. Large-scale ballot collection could enable voter fraud and other improprieties, undermining confidence in the election. Given Trump's incessant attacks on voting procedures, the last thing the election system needs is for the public to have another reason to doubt the results. There was a time when activists might have been able to argue that ballot collection was needed to help people who couldn’t get to the polls. That's simply not necessary for the vast majority of Californians today. There are safe, secure and convenient ways to cast a ballot without relying on a party activist to turn it in.

Wednesday, 14 October, 2020

CAbineT APProveS enACTmenT of eXim bAnK of PAKiSTAn ACT 2020 ISLAMABAD

T

SHAHZAD PARACHA

HE federal cabinet on Tuesday gave an approval for enactment of the Export-Import Bank of Pakistan Act, 2020. According to sources, the Ministry of Finance had proposed the enactment of EXIMBP Act on the recommendations of senior government officials and international legal experts. The EXIM Bank of Pakistan was set up by the government in June 2015 for the promotion, expansion and diversifi-

cation of international trade through provision of credit, guarantee and insurance products as well as ancillary services to exporters and importers in the form of a statutory corporation having the backing and support of the government. The bank was declared a Development Finance Institution (DFI) and was incorporated with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) under the Companies Ordinance 1984, on June 11, 2015. Sources said that the authorized capital of the bank was Rs100 billion, while paid-up capital was Rs10 billion. Of the

KP businessmen warn of protest against tax collection on transport, other services

total paid-up capital, the government has so far released Rs7 billion. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) had approved a technical assistance (TA) grant of $500,000 to support the operationalization of EXIM Bank on the request of the government in 2018, whereas the International Financial Consulting Limited (IFCL), Canada, would provide deliverables under the said TA. As per the sources, one of the components of the TA was to draft the EXIM Bank of Pakistan Act, giving necessary powers to the bank to be able to deliver

on its mandate by providing necessary financing and insurance products to the exporters of the country. They said the EXIM Bank of Pakistan Act was drafted by the finance ministry under the aegis of a stakeholders' steering committee, comprising officials of the finance and commerce divisions, State Bank of Pakistan and SECP, and with the support of international legal experts of IFCI (Canada). Following the approval of the adviser to the PM on revenue, a summary in this regard was presented to the cabinet for approval.

Bank of Punjab observes Pink October LAHORE

PESHAWAR

PRESS RELEASE

AZIZ BUNERI

The business community of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has categorically rejected the collection of tax on transport and other services by the KP Revenue Authority (KPRA), warning of launching an agitation campaign if the "unfair and unjust" additional taxes were not abolished immediately. The matter was discussed during a meeting chaired by Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) President Sherbaz Bilour on Tuesday. SCCI Senior Vice President Engineer Manzoor Elahi, former FPCCI president Ghazanfar Bilour, SCCI former presidents Riaz Arshad, Malik Niaz Ahmad, Zulfiqar Ali Khan, members of SCCI executive committee Zarak Khan, Ghulam Dastgir and Imran Khan were also present on the occasion. Participants of the meeting opined that KPRA was only liable to collect provincial taxes whereas the manufacturer sector fell under the federal government. Therefore, they said, the collection of up to 15pc tax from the business community was unconstitutional and illegal, adding that the move was also against the spirit of the 18th constitutional amendment. The speakers said that the collection of transport tax was tantamount to closing the industry in KP, which would not only trigger unemployment in the province but also enhance the cost of production, ultimately affecting the poor masses. The participants went on to say that the KP businessmen pay double transportation charges as compared to other parts of the country while facing major challenges owing to geographical disadvantage and distance from the seaport. The meeting decided that a delegation of the business community will hold a meeting with the KP Finance Minister Taimoor Saleem Khan Jhagra to apprise him about their reservations and concerns regarding the imposition of transport tax by KPRA. However, they reiterated that if the issue was unsolved, a phasewise protest campaign would be launched under which billboards will be displayed on all main routes in the provincial capital, besides advertisement against transport tax being published in newspapers and strikes. Last but not least, the business community will move court against the KPRA if all measures fail, they warned.

Pakistan has the highest prevalence of breast cancer among the Asian countries with over 90,000 new cases emerging every year. October is the month to create and increase awareness of breast cancer and is observed as Pink October globally. Realizing the same, The Bank of Punjab has taken an initiative to promote and create awareness related to the risks of breast cancer in the country. As part of this campaign, BOP has planned several activities including illumination of key buildings in selected cities. Bank’s staff will be wearing pink ribbons during the whole month of October. Awareness material is being displayed at BOP Offices & branches across the country along diversified campaign on Digital & Social media platforms. An awareness event was also held

ISLAMABAD The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet is likely to approve a technical supplementary grant (TSG) of Rs5 billion to the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) so as to expand the scope of its interest-free loan programme and to enhance access to financial services for the poor. The ECC, which is scheduled to meet tomorrow (Wednesday), will take up the summary submitted by the Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Division on the recommendation of Prime Minister Imran Khan. The PM had decided to scale up the scope of interest-free loan scheme

Following the massive decline a day ago, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) extended its fall, though at a slower pace on Tuesday. Global equity markets, on the other hand, witnessed a positive trend, whereas crude oil prices also moved north from the previous close; WTI crude price rising 1.67pc to $40.09 while Brent crude oil price increasing 1.39pc to $42.30. "The market continued with the downtrend trend after yesterday’s attrition on account of FATF concerns, which was further worsened by an uptick in inflation numbers. Although the index lost

over 550 points intraday, it partly recovered by the end of session," said a report issued by AHL Ltd. "Selling was observed almost across the board, with the exception of PSO, HBL, UNITY, KEL which traded positive for the most part of the session." The benchmark KSE-100 Index remained in the red almost the entire session, recording its intraday low at 39,645.73 after losing 564.09 points. Failing to recover the losses, it settled lower by 203.15 points at 40,006.67. Among other indices, the KMI-30 Index lost 396.29 points to end at 63,775.16, while the KSE All Share Index dropped 139.27 points to close at 28,372.12.

A TikToker approached the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday challenging the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s (PTA) October 9 decision of placing a ban on the popular short video-sharing Chinese app, TikTok. Munib Ahmed stated in his petition that more than 20 million people use this application. "The government’s move to block the app because of a few people misusing it is uncalled for," he argued. The petitioner pleaded with the high court to declare the ban unlawful. The petition will come up for hearing on October 15. On October 9, the PTA had placed a ban on TikTok in the country. The authority, in a statement, cited “complaints from different segments of the society against immoral/indecent content on the video-sharing application” as the reason behind the move.

KARACHI at BOP’s Head Office in Lahore in which BOP’s president, Senior Management & Staff participated. Speaking on the occasion, BOP President and CEO Zafar Masud said, “Thousands of precious lives are lost every year from breast cancer just because of mere ignorance. Breast cancer is one of those cancers, if diagnosed at early

stage, chances of survival are more than 90pc.” He further added, “Every 15 seconds, somewhere in the world, a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer—and that is far too many. Pakistan has the highest rate of breast cancer for any Asian population in the world. These alarming stats require serious concerns of every citizen of the country.”

through PPAF. It is worth mentioning that the interest-free loan programme (Prime minister's Qarz-e-Hasna Scheme) was made an integral part of the Ehsaas National Poverty Graduation Initiative launched by the prime minister on 5th July 2019. Since that date, 780,934 interest-free loans have been dispersed across Pakistan through partner organizations of PPAF. The IFL programme has been in operation since 2014 and has made significant contributions in improving access of the poor to financial services. In the previous financial year (FY20), PPAF received a TSG of Rs20 million from the Finance Division. In response to a query by PM of-

fice, PPAF informed that since Rs20 million was part of the overall financing of Rs5 billion for utilization as operational cost to be borne by the implementing partners, hence it can only spend once the full amount of Rs5 billion was released. In light of the ECC decision on 10th June 2020, the BISP secretary issued concurrence to surrender the remaining amount of Rs4.98 billion in favor of PPAF during the course of FY21. Since the approval of a TSG requires recommendation of the ECC at first instance before its consideration by the federal cabinet for approval, it was proposed that a TSG of Rs4.98 billion may be authorized from BISP budgetary grant.

Stocks extend losses amid lack of triggers KARACHI

NEWS DESK

STAFF REPORT

MARKET DAILY

STAFF REPORT

PTA ban on TikTok challenged in SHC

Sindh govt to release wheat to flour mills from 16th

ECC may okay Rs5bn to enhance outreach of interest-free loan scheme SHAHZAD PARACHA

BUSINESS 09

The overall market volumes fell from 376.40 million shares in the previous session to 290.07 million shares (23pc). Average traded value also declined by 24pc, from $78.9 million to $ 59.9 million. Hascol Petroleum Ltd (HASCOL -0.96pc), TRG Pakistan Ltd (TRG +1.89pc) and Unity Foods Ltd (UNITY +2.33pc) topped the volume chart, exchanging 43.89 million, 28.53 million and 19.12 million shares, respectively. Sectors that drove the index south included oil & gas exploration (-68.28 points), banking (-31.90 points) and fertilizer (-30.48 points). Among the companies, Hub Power Company Ltd (HUBC -31.70 points), Pak Petroleum Ltd (PPL -

CMYK

26.53 points) and Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd (OGDC -24.09 points) dented the index the most. Shedding 1.51pc from its cumulative market capitalization, the oil & gas exploration ended as the session’s top loser, with OGDC (-1.61pc), PPL (-1.99pc), Pakistan Oilfields Ltd (POL -0.87pc) and Mari Petroleum Company Ltd (MARI 1.00pc) posting significant losses. Meanwhile, KSB Pumps Company Ltd (KSBP +0.28pc) announced its financial performance for the third quarter of FY20. The company’s sales inched up by 4.53pc YoY; distribution cost surged by 15.72pc; whereas finance cost fell by 43.3pc. Its earnings per share improved from Rs0.48 in 3QFY19 to Rs2.74.

Sindh cabinet on Tuesday decided to release wheat from government stocks from October 16. A session of the provincial cabinet with Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah in chair approved the wheat release policy of the provincial government. The release of wheat from government stocks would help reduce the ex-mill commodity price by Rs9.13 per kilogramme in Sindh. The ex-mill price of wheat flour will drop to Rs47.87 per kg from Rs57 per kg. The provincial cabinet has fixed Rs3,687.50 per bag price of the wheat and also issued directives to this effect to district administration across the province. Last week, Sindh Food Minister Hari Ram Kishori Lal had said that the province would likely to release wheat from its stocks between October 15 to 20, adding that the food department has already sought a permission from the chief minister in this regard. The province had last year released wheat stocks to flour mills on October 27.

‘Stamping of Aghan transit goods imperative to curb smuggling’ ISLAMABAD AZIZ BUNERI

The country’s tyre manufacturing sector has urged the government to withdraw its decision to discontinue stamping of goods in transit to Afghanistan at the Karachi Port and Port Qasim, stating that the move would damage the local industry and reverse all efforts to control smuggling. In a statement issued on Tuesday, a spokesman of the General Tyre and Rubber Company of Pakistan (GTR) said the process would increase smuggling and facilitate the pilferage of transit goods in the country. He asserted that stamping must be mandatory for goods in transit to Afghanistan. “Without stamping, goods will again find their way into the country and ultimately weaken our local industrial basis, resulting in the government losing billions in revenue.” Moreover, it has been established that stamping was helpful in identifying items under the guise of Afghan Transit Trade (ATT) that were either unloaded in Karachi or came back from the Afghan border via smuggling. It may be mentioned that smuggling has been the biggest problem for the local tyre industry, which meets almost 15pc of the country’s demand. It is also worth noting that almost 20pc of the country’s demand is met through imports while 65pc of tyre demand is covered through smuggling. The GTR spokesman maintained the local industry is generating employment and tax revenue for the government while saving millions of dollars in import bill. “But owing to the menace of smuggling, local manufacturers are either shutting down operations or are moving out to other places.” General Tyre, the largest tyre manufacturer in Pakistan, is also suffering due to cross-border smuggling, misdeclaration, legalised smuggling and ATT, he said. “Therefore, we request the government to mull over its decisions and revert to previous conditions.”

Wednesday, 14 October, 2020

10 fOreign neWs

i’m ReALLy soRRy’: teARy-eyed Kim ApoLoGises foR Not meetiNG NoRth KoReANs’ expectAtioNs

o

AGENCIES

FTEN seen grinning at a missile launch or in command of lengthy official meetings, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has offered a glimpse of a different image: emotional and apologetic. At a weekend military parade where he showed off Pyongyang’s latest and largest intercontinental ballistic missiles, Kim’s voice trembled momentarily as he spoke of “tears of gratitude” for his people’s efforts. He repeatedly and effusively thanked the citizens and military for their loyalty and for remaining healthy in the face of the global coronavirus epidemic, which he insisted had not caused a single case in the North. That has come at a price: Kim closed his impoverished country’s borders in January to stop the virus, a move which analysts say has exacerbated the effects of international sanctions imposed over the North’s banned weapons programmes. The camera cut away after Kim lauded volunteers who helped with disaster recovery efforts, returning to show him laying down a handkerchief and putting his glasses back on, as if he had been wiping his eyes. At one point he went as far as apologising for failing to meet expectations: “Our people have placed trust, as high as sky and as deep as sea, on me, but I have failed to always live up to it satisfactorily,” he said. “I am really sorry for that,” he went on, according to the transcript by the official KCNA news agency. It was his second apology of recent weeks: according

Johnson & Johnson’s covid-19 vaccine trial paused over unexplained illness AGENCIES A late-stage study of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate has been paused while the company investigates whether a study participant’s “unexplained illness” is related to the shot. The company said in a statement on Monday evening that illnesses, accidents and other so-called adverse events “are an expected part of any clinical study, especially large studies”, but that its physicians and a safety monitoring panel would try to determine what might have caused the illness. The pause is at least the second such hold to occur among several vaccines that have reached large-scale final tests in the United States. The company declined to reveal any more details about the illness, citing the participant’s privacy. Temporary stoppages of large medical studies are relatively common. Few are made public in typical drug trials, but the work to make a coronavirus vaccine has raised the stakes on these kinds of complications. Companies are required to investigate any serious or unexpected reaction that occurs during drug testing. Given that such tests are done on tens of thousands of people, some medical problems are a coincidence. In fact, one of the first steps the company said it will take is to determine if the person received the vaccine or a placebo. The halt was first reported by the health news site STAT. Final-stage testing of a vaccine made by AstraZeneca and Oxford University remains on hold in the US as officials examine whether an illness in its trial poses a safety risk. That trial was stopped when a woman developed severe neurological symptoms consistent with transverse myelitis, a rare inflammation of the spinal cord, the company has said. That company’s testing has restarted elsewhere. Johnson & Johnson was aiming to enroll 60,000 volunteers to prove if its single-dose approach is safe and protects against the coronavirus. Other vaccine candidates in the US require two shots.

family, who have led it for more than 70 years, as heroic self-sacrificers who devote their lives to the service of its people. But the acknowledgement of personal fallibility is a marked contrast to the superlativeladen propaganda that exalted his grandfather Kim Il Sung, the North’s founder. Under Kim, who inherited power when his similarly lauded father Kim Jong Il died in 2011, observers say the North has taken some small steps away from the personality cult of the past — portraits of the current leader are extremely rare. Former United States government North Korea analyst Rachel Lee described the weekend’s parade as a “departure from the norm”.

to Seoul’s presidential Blue House, the North’s ruling party told it in September that Kim was “very sorry” over the killing of a South Korean in Pyongyang’s waters. And at the weekend parade, Kim also pledged to his citizens to do better. “I solemnly swear once again in this place that I will live up to the people’s trust without fail even if my body is torn and crushed to pieces,” he said. PEROSONA L I T Y CULT: In some ways the sentiment is in keeping with North Korean orthod o x y : Pyongyang consistently portrays the Kim

Defiant Trump defends virus record in 1st post-Covid rally SANFORD AGENCIES

Defiant as ever about the coronavirus, President Donald Trump on Monday turned his first campaign rally since contracting Covid-19 into a fullthroated defense of his handling of the pandemic that has killed 215,000 Americans, joking that he was healthy enough to plunge into the crowd and give voters “a big fat kiss.” There was no social distancing and mask-wearing was spotty among the thousands who came to see Trump’s return to Florida. He held forth for an hour, trying to get his struggling campaign back on track with just weeks left before Nov 3 Election Day. Though he was hospitalised battling the virus only a week ago, Trump’s message on Covid-19 was unaltered since his diagnosis: a dubious assessment that the pandemic was just about a thing of the past. Hundreds of people in the US continue to die of the virus every day. “Under my leadership, we’re delivering a safe vaccine and a rapid recovery like no one can even believe,” Trump insisted. “If you look at our upward path, no country in the world has recovered the way we have recovered.” His voice was perhaps a touch scratchy but otherwise, Trump was, well, Trump.

Boisterous and bellicose, he thanked the audience for their wellwishes and declared he was no longer contagious as he embarked on a frenetic final stretch of the campaign. Trump insisted that, after being given experimental medication and other VIP treatment, he felt great and was glad he no longer needs to be concerned about infection because he’s now “immune.” “I feel so powerful,” said Trump, displaying no obvious signs of lingering infection. “I’ll walk into that audience. I’ll walk in there, I’ll kiss everyone in that audience. I’ll kiss the guys and the beautiful women […] everybody. I’ll just give ya a big fat kiss.” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious-disease expert, said Monday on CNN that those who recover from Covid-19 are likely to be immune for a limited period of time, but there are cases emerging of people getting reinfected weeks or months later. Despite Trump’s battle with a deadly disease, it was striking how little had changed. Threats to smooch audience members aside, the rally felt like so many others during the pitched general election battle against Democrat Joe Biden. Trump returned to his many usual attack lines, slamming Democrats as “engaged and unhinged and out for vengeance,” and hyping “tremendous progress” on virus therapeutics. He

5 men in Michigan governor kidnapping plot to face hearings GRAND RAPIDS AGENCIES

Five men accused in a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will appear in a US federal court Tuesday for a hearing on whether they should be detained before trial. US Magistrate Judge Sally Berens will oversee the bail and detention proceeding in Grand Rapids for Adam Fox, Ty Garbin, Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta — all Michigan residents. A sixth man, Barry Croft, was being held in Delaware. The FBI made arrests last week after using confidential sources, undercover agents and clandestine recordings to foil the alleged kidnapping conspiracy. Some defendants had con-

His speech was “about the people” and “carefully calibrated to come across as genuine and relatable”, she told AFP. “This is the latest example of North Korea’s changing propaganda strategy of conveying their message in a more entertaining and relatable manner.” ‘REGIME SURVIVAL’: Analysts differed on the sincerity of the declaration by Kim, whose regime stands accused of widespread human rights abuses and who has ruthlessly asserted his grip on power, at times purging even close relatives. “First of all he is a politician, it means he is a good actor,” said Andrei Lankov of Korea Risk Group. But Kim “really would like his people to live well”, he added. “Of course regime survival is far more important for him than survival of poor farmers in distant provinces. “Missiles come first but he doesn’t forget about farmers.” Under Kim’s leadership, the North has made rapid strides in its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes, and has been subjected to increasingly strict sanctions as a result. But it was already isolated long before that and has suffered decades of economic mismanagement. Former CIA analyst Soo Kim suggested that Kim could be “resorting to tears to compensate for his failure to deliver his basic promises to his people”. “The expectation, of course, is that the population will buy into this act,” she said. In the South, the Korea JoongAng Daily dismissed Kim’s performance as “crocodile tears”. In an editorial, it pointed out: “Kim suddenly turned euphoric upon looking at the super-sized intercontinental ballistic missiles in the military parade.”

ducted coordinated surveillance of the Democratic governor’s vacation home in northern Michigan in August and September, according to a criminal complaint. The men were trying to retaliate against Whitmer due to her “uncontrolled power” amid the coronavirus pandemic, authorities said. They said four of the men had planned to meet last week to pay for explosives and exchange tactical gear. Whitmer, who was considered as Joe Biden’s running mate and is nearly halfway through a four-year term, has been widely praised for her response to the virus outbreak but also sharply criticized by Republican lawmakers and people in conservative areas of the state. The Capitol has been the site of many rallies, including ones with gun-toting protesters calling for her ouster.

Whitmer put major restrictions on personal movement and the economy, although many of those limits have been lifted since spring. Fox, who was described as one of the leaders, was living in the basement of a vacuum shop in Grand Rapids. The owner said Fox was opposed to wearing a mask during the pandemic and kept firearms and ammunition at the store. The defendants face up to life in prison if convicted. Seven others linked to a paramilitary group called the Wolverine Watchmen were charged in state court for allegedly seeking to storm the Michigan Capitol and providing material support for terrorist acts by seeking a “civil war.” The investigation is ongoing.

promised the third-quarter economy would be “record-setting” and claimed that, if he wins in November, “normal life” will resume, while Biden would delay the vaccine and destroy the economy with a “draconian” lockdown. And when he was done, with his new exit song, The Village People’s “YMCA,” blaring over the loudspeakers, the president did what has become his trademark dance, pumping his fists somewhat in time to the beat as the crowd roared. But he kept his distance from the audience. With three weeks to go before the election, Trump is pushing to correct a stubborn deficit in national and battleground state polling as he continues to spread misinformation about a virus that he spent months downplaying. That includes in Florida, which is seen as crucial to his reelection chances. Trump narrowly beat his 2016 rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton, in the state by just over 112,000 votes. Some recent polls have suggested a close race in the state, while others have put Democrat Joe Biden ahead. Underscoring the importance of Florida, Trump will be back in the state Friday for another rally, this time in Ocala. Trump’s Sanford rally was his first stop in a busy week that will include events in Pennsylvania, Iowa, North Carolina, Georgia and Wisconsin.

Lion’s share of Russia’s Arctic LNG destined for Asia MOSCOW AGENCIES

Russian gas producer Novatek has announced plans to ship 80 percent of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) from its Arctic LNG 2 plant to Asian markets via the Northern Sea Route. According to the head of Novatek Leonid Mikhelson, “The plant’s three liquefaction lines with a total capacity of 19.8 million tons of LNG will be launched starting in 2023.” LNG supplies to Asia will become possible due to the year-round navigation of ships along the Northern Sea Route (NSR), he told participants of the LNG Producer - Consumer Conference in a video message. Mikhelson added that after the commissioning of the new nuclear-powered icebreakers LK-60, it will be possible to use all the routes of the NSR yearround. “The lead icebreaker Arktika is completing tests and will be commissioned next month,” he said. Arctic LNG 2 is Novatek’s second liquefied natural gas project at the Gydan Peninsula in Russia’s Yamalo-Nenets Region. Besides Novatek, Chinese CNOOC and CNPC, France’s Total and a consortium of Japan’s Mitsui and Jogmec have a 10 percent share each in the project. Last month, Germany said it may participate in the project with investments of up to €300 million ($354 million). Russia wants to turn the Northern Sea Route, which stretches the entire length of Russia’s Arctic and Far East regions, into a major trade artery between Europe and Asia. In the first half of the year, freight transportation via the route reached almost 15 million tons. Last year, 31.5 million tons were transported using the Arctic route.

50 Richest AmeRicANs hAve moRe moNey thAN hALf of Us popULAtioN WASHINTON AGENCIES

The 50 richest Americans now hold almost as much wealth as half of the US, as Covid-19 transforms the economy in ways that have disproportionately rewarded a small class of billionaires. New data from the US Federal Reserve, a comprehensive look at US wealth through the first half of 2020, show stark disparities by race, age and class. While the top 1 percent of Americans have a combined net worth of $34.2 trillion, the poorest 50 per cent – about 165 million people – hold just $2.08tn, or 1.9 per cent of all household wealth. The 50 richest people in the country, meanwhile, are worth almost $2tn, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, up $339 billion from the beginning of 2020. Covid-19 has exacerbated inequality in the US, with job losses falling heavily on low-wage service workers and the virus disproportionately infecting and killing people of colour. Meanwhile, many upper-middle class professionals are working from home, watching their retirement accounts rise in value after the US Treasury and Fed pumped stimulus into the economy and markets. Another key reason for the wealth disparity is that the vast majority of Americans aren’t benefiting from rising stock prices. The bottom 90 per cent’s exposure to the stock market has been dropping for almost two decades. Since peaking at 21.4 per cent in 2002, upper middle class Americans have seen a 10 percentage point decline in their equity interest in companies. A similar pattern is seen among the bottom half.

Wednesday, 14 October, 2020

P

NEWS DESK

RIME MINISTER Imran Khan has discussed the possibility of the Australian cricket team touring Pakistan after the “coronavirus situation improves in the country”. The premier spoke about the matter with his Australian counterpart Prime Minister Scott Morrison during a phone call late on Monday. This conversation was revealed on Twitter by the editor of a local publication, who said: “During a telephone conversation with Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has discussed the possibility of

IMran, MorrISon dISCuSS auSTralIa Tour of PakISTan an Australian tour of Pakistan once the Covid-19 pandemic situation improves.” Australia last toured Pakistan in 1998 — the same tour that saw Mark Taylor score his famous 334 in Peshawar. They have since honoured their away-from-

home commitments with the Pakistan Cricket Board in the UAE but have not visited Pakistan in more than two decades. It is also pertinent to note that while most of the cricketing countries had discontinued touring Pakistan in 2009 after

the Sri Lankan team was attacked by terrorists in Lahore, the Aussies’ refusal to do the same had begun a year prior, in 2008. They had cited “violence” and “political tensions” in the aftermath of the 2008 elections as the reason.

‘Winning is what you play for’: Nadal after 13th French Open title PARIS AGENCIES

Hearing into Malik’s request for cricket return concludes, decision in 15 days NEWS DESK The hearing into tainted former cricket captain Salim Malik’s appeal seeking permission to become a coach has been completed by a PCB-appointed independent adjudicator, who will announce his judgement in 15 days’ time. Malik and his lawyer, Saood Cheema told the media after the hearing that they were confident their request would be accepted. Malik is being heard by Justice (r) Fazal Miran Chohan, who was appointed by the Pakistan Cricket Board. He has stated that since the match-fixing life ban imposed on him by the board in 2000 has been revoked by a lower court, he should be allowed to get involved in cricket again as he wants to become a coach. The board has not given Malik permission as yet and asked him to respond to questions regarding a meeting he held with some people in London in 2000 in which allegedly fixing of matches and players was discussed. “For the first time the PCB today produced the original ICC letter on the basis of which this case against my client of having a negative role in the transcript of the meeting which was recorded in 2000 was made,” Cheema said. He claimed the ICC itself had not verified the transcript. But sources said that the PCB got the tapes verified and on Monday, the board’s legal counsel, Tafazzul Rizvi submitted them with original cassettes to the adjudicator. “I had not accepted the transcript as it is a pack of lies. And now the ICC letter, which was presented by the PCB for the first time before the adjudicator, also mentions that it (transcript) has no authenticity,” Malik said. But he said he was happy that an in-depth discussion was held during the hearing and hoped that a decision will come in his favour in the next 15 days. Malik, who played 103 Tests and 283 ODIs, was banned for life for match-fixing on the recommendations of the Justice Malik Qayyum judicial commission. It was in 2011 that the PCB first got hold of the transcript and cassettes from the ICC about the meeting in London and by that time Malik claimed a lower court had cleared his life ban in 2008. “For the last 20 years I have been fighting for my right but they (PCB) are pushing me from one side to another [...] I hope by now many things have been cleared and the decision will come in my favour,” Malik said.

When Rafael Nadal beat the Argentinian Mariano Puerta in four sets to win his first major title at the French Open back in 2005, no one had any idea that it was the start of one of the most remarkable winning sequences in any sport. Since then, Nadal has won 100 matches at Roland Garros and lost just two. His straight-sets domination of Novak Djokovic on Sunday gave the Spaniard an extraordinary 13th French Open title. Aged 34 and a long-term sufferer of knee tendinitis and a number of other ailments from foot to wrist to shoulder, Nadal might be forgiven for packing it all in and taking life easy in his native Majorca. The bad news for his challengers, however, is that Nadal has no intention of walking away just yet, especially as Sunday’s triumph brought him level with Roger Federer’s record of 20 Grand Slam titles. “Winning is what you play for,” Nadal told AFP in a telephone interview on Monday. “In high-level competition, what counts is victory. That is a reality.” “And beyond the victory, there is an even greater personal satisfaction because at certain times I have had to make sacrifices to achieve the goal.” Nadal was just 19 when he first won at Roland Garros and quickly es-

tablished himself as the King of Clay by winning four French titles in a row. In 2009 he surprised everyone by losing to Roger Soderling in the fourth round but returned the following year to beat the Swede in the final and start another winning run of 39 matches and five titles. Djokovic beat him in 2015 and a year later he had to withdraw after the second round with a wrist injury but he was back on top in 2017 and remains there still, as dominant as he was when he saw off Puerta all those years ago. “What has changed is age,” he laughs. “The only negative is that I am 15 years older. “Everything else, the basic and important things in my life, have not changed much. “I still live practically in the same place, with the same friends and the reality is that my way of life when I am out of tournaments has changed relatively little.” CORONAVIRUS: There is another negative, though, and that is the coronavirus pandemic which has killed over a million people since the outbreak emerged in China last December. With tennis in lockdown for several months, Nadal struggled to keep his body and game in condition, prompting his decision to skip the rearranged US Open to focus on Roland Garros. “After the confinement I didn’t feel great, I trained very little for many weeks,” he said.

“I couldn’t train in the way I wanted, especially for the first two months after the confinement. “My body suffered a little from the whole lockdown. The reality is that for bodies like mine with a lot of kilometres on the clock, a drastic stop makes the return to normal work much more complicated. “In my case, the body responded badly for a few months and little by little things started to sort themselves out. They were tough weeks.” Nadal admits that he watched with “sadness” as the virus unfolded across the world. “I am a sensitive person and when I see so much suffering, so many deaths, so many people having a bad time... I had a bad time,” he said. “At one point I stopped watching the news because it made me so sad it wasn’t healthy. I live with worry and now it seems that things are getting worse again. “I hope this nightmare will be over as soon as possible and that people can go back to living in a more pleasant and happier world.” As for what Nadal will be doing in another 15 years time, the Spaniard is loath to commit. “I am not into making such longterm plans. But I have a lot to do, with my foundation, the academy and other things that are about to start. “For the moment I’m playing tennis... we’ll see for how long.”

Nadal’s French Open record will never be beaten, predicts Murray PARIS AGENCIES

Andy Murray predicts Rafael Nadal’s record of 13 French Open titles will never be beaten as the British former world number one looks to bounce back in Cologne this week from his own Roland Garros disappointment. Murray, 33, the reigning Olympic champion, crashed out of last month’s French Open in straight sets with a lopsided first round defeat to Stan Wawrinka as he works his way back from hip surgery. On Sunday, the Scot watched in awe as Nadal, 34, demolished Novak Djokovic 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 in the final at Roland Garros to win his 13th French Open title. The Spaniard has also equalled the all-time record of 20 Grand Slam titles held by Roger Federer, who hailed Nadal’s victory as “one of sport’s greatest achievements”. Murray echoed the Swiss legend

and doubts anyone will even get close to Nadal’s record in Paris. “It’s an amazing achievement. I don’t think that what he has done at Roland Garros will ever be beaten. I just don’t see it being topped,” Murray said in Cologne. “He is one short of winning the same amount of Grand Slams as (Pete) Sampras did just at one tournament. It’s incredible. “I don’t think it’ll be repeated and I don’t think anyone will be close.” Murray reached the second round of the US Open in his first Slam since hip resurfacing surgery and Roland Garros was his third tournament this year after rehab. Having needed wildcards to play in Paris and Cologne, Murray hopes the back-to-back ATP indoor tournaments on the Rhine can help improve his current ranking of 97th. “It will be good to get a few matches in over these next few weeks - I hope to perform better than I did in Paris,” said the Scot.

“I want to win tournaments and move up the rankings. “Physically, my body tends to feel better the more I play. “Hopefully, I will play a lot over the next two weeks, perform well and see how it goes after that.” On Tuesday, Murray predicts a “tough” start against Spain’s Fernando Verdasco for the chance to play world number seven Alexander Zverev in the second round. “Whoever gets through will face Sascha (Zverev) and he is obviously one of the top players in the world,” said Murray. The Scot says he has had to adapt after hip surgery. “It has gone well at times and sometimes been a struggle,” he admitted. “I was told it would be an 18month process for my body to get used to it. “It changes the way your pelvis moves and your body needs to adjust. “Hopefully with a few matches this autumn and some good training, next year will be a good one.”

SPORTS 11

‘The game needs you back,’ India coach Shastri asks de Villiers to step out of int’l retirement DUBAI AGENCIES

South African batsman AB de Villiers got the world of cricket talking once again with his incredible knock for IPL’s Royal Challengers Bangalore against Kolkata Knight Riders on Monday. De Villiers plundered 73* off 33 balls with five fours and six sixes to set the stadium ablaze. His knock propelled RCB to 194, a total which was enough for them to beat KKR comprehensively – by 82 runs. Clearly, everyone was talking about de Villiers being at his belligerent best. This is de Villiers’ third half-century of the season in seven matches, and judging by his fine form in the IPL, India head coach Ravi Shastri believes the time is right for de Villiers to end his retirement and return to play international cricket for South Africa. Shastri is convinced that de Villiers’ return is needed for international cricket in “these trying times”. “Now, that the penny has dropped. What one saw last night was unreal. And the feeling is the same waking up. @ABdeVilliers17, the game in these trying times or otherwise needs you back in the international arena and out of retirement. The game will be better off,” Shastri tweeted on Tuesday. De Villiers’ retirement from international cricket in May of 2018 came as a bit of a shock for everyone. The dynamic batsman would have been an integral part of South Africa’s plans for the 2019 World Cup, and the decision to call time meant that captain Faf du Plessis would be without one of his biggest match-winners for the ICC tournament. As it turned out, de Villiers’ absence was a huge void which SA failed to fill as they finished seventh on the points-table and were the second team after Afghanistan to be eliminated from the competition. Controversy erupted in the middle of last year’s World Cup when it was revealed that de Villiers made one last-ditch effort to come out of retirement but South Africa’s team management, along with captain du Plessis and head coach Ottis Gibson had turned it down because they felt it would be unfair on those who had worked hard to make it to SA’s World Cup squad.

World Test Championship final on schedule: ICC DUBAI AGENCIES

The final of the inaugural World Test Championship (WTC) remains on course to be held in June next year despite the disruption caused to the qualifying process by the Covid19 pandemic, cricket’s governing body told Reuters on Tuesday. The pandemic played havoc with the game’s international calendar, prompting cancellation of a number of test series and complicating the process of allocating WTC points from those matches in the process. “The planning is still in progress,” a spokesman of the International Cricket Council (ICC) said of the WTC final, without elaborating how the point system would be reworked. “There is likely to be more clarity in the coming days once all stakeholders are aligned. There will be an announcement on this soon.” This year’s Twenty20 World Cup in Australia had to be postponed because of the pandemic and the restrictions it forced. The ICC launched the WTC last year to lend context to bilateral test series, giving the format its standalone showpiece like the World Cup in other formats. Originally, nine topranked sides were scheduled to play six series over two years with the top two making the final at Lord’s. India currently top the WTC points table, having played four series, followed by Australia who have played one fewer. England have played four, including home series against West Indies and Pakistan in July-August, and are third. England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) chief executive Tom Harrison last week underlined the logistical challenge of hosting the WTC final.

Family ‘blown away’ by Klopp’s advice to young Liverpool fan LONDON AGENCIES

The mother of a young Liverpool fan who wrote to Jurgen Klopp regarding his worries about moving schools said on Monday that they had been “blown away” by the Reds boss’ thoughtful reply. Lewis Balfe, 11, wrote to Klopp in August about the anxiety he was feeling over starting a new school in September. “He’s re-

ally excited and I was completely blown away, because I thought you might get a standard response from the club or you might get some acknowledgement, but I didn’t think you’d get a letter so personal,” Milena Balfe told Britain’s Press Association news agency. In his letter Klopp, who guided Liverpool to their first English title of the Premier League era last season, wrote: “Can I start by telling you a secret? I get nervous.

“To be totally honest, I would be worried if I did not get nervous because when it happens it gives me the chance to turn that energy into something positive.” The German added: “I know it might be strange for a boy of your age to think that the Liverpool manager can feel the way that you do but I do. “From your letter it is clear that you are very thoughtful and also very caring and when you have these qualities it is very hard

CMYK

to avoid getting nervous. “You asked me what I do when my players feel this way and the answer is simple — I remind them of how important they are to me and how much I believe in them and I have no doubt that it will be exactly the same for your family with you. “You do not need to worry about bad things happening. As you know, I lost more than a few finals and this isn’t a good feeling but with the help of my family and friends I

kept going and in the end we were able to enjoy some really good times. “If I had dwelled on the bad moments I know that this would not have been possible so please be positive about yourself and look forward to the brilliant time that I know you will have growing up. Klopp thanked Lewis for his backing by saying: “Your support means a lot to me and to everyone at LFC so I hope that this letter shows that we support you too.”

Wednesday, 14 October, 2020

PrAyEr TImINGS

NEWS

TESTinG of Covid-19 nEEdS To bE inCrEaSEd in SCHoolS, SayS WHo

T

NeWS DeSK

their overall testing capacity. Since the resumption of school operations KP has collected 34,964 swabs from students, teachers and staff members, of which 360 have tested positive for Covid19, 29,015 were negative and the results of 5,589 are not yet available. Last week, the province showed a positivity ratio of 1.22 per cent from 2,206 tests, according to health department data. Swat has so far recorded 31 patients in educational institutions as positive for the coronavirus. Abbottabad has reported 19 infections in schools from its recorded 1,754 cases since the pandemic began. Upper Dir shows 13 cases of school infec-

he World Health Organisation (WHO) said that the number of tests being conducted daily is too low and that this number needs to be increased significantly to find out the exact level to which schools are infected and thus prevent a second wave. As an example, the WHO commented on how the tests in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) needed to be increased from 1,500 per day to at least 3-4,000. However, the machines in the Khyber Medical University have been overrun and now can no longer function at full power, decreasing

tions from a total of 955 in the population. Troubling reports emerged from Hangu, which reported 17 school infection cases out of a total of 232 patients in general public after the outbreak of the pandemic in the province. Similarly, Lower Kohistan, Upper Kohistan and Torghar show high positivity ratios, and the infection numbers for school-cases are reported as 11 out a total of 90 adult patients, eight out of 29, and eight out of 55 respectively. Chitral Upper has registered 23 cases in schools which is higher if considered its total 233 cases since the arrival of the pandemic. Detection of infection in 10 stu-

dents in Bannu and as many in Dera Ismail Khan also required more tests, the WHO officials said. Due to these numbers, the WHO recommended a renewed focus on school testing for the disease. “But the ratio of sampling from educational institutions is gradually decreasing which is not recommended. The testing must be increased to know the prevalence among students so that to keep the incidence at lower level and prevent second wave,” they said. “We have tasked the high-risk districts to collect samples in line with the positivity of cases among the inmates of schools,” they added.

$2.99bn needed in 2021 to implement entrusted mandates: Guterres NEW YORK: United Nations SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres said that 2.99 billion U.S. dollars is needed in 2021 to fully implement the mandates entrusted to the organization. “To fully implement the mandates entrusted to us, we will require a total of 2.99 billion U.S. dollars, which represents a net reduction of 2.8 percent compared to 2020, despite additional initiatives and mandated activities,” the UN chief told the UN General Assembly’s (UNGA) Fifth Committee. “This includes a net decrease of 25 posts,” said the secretarygeneral. “We are open for business and we are running this organization from thousands of dining tables and home offices,” said the secretary-general. “Last year, I proposed an increase of funding by 3.3 million dollars, or about 10 percent, for technical cooperation projects. The draft proposal before you is maintaining the Regular Programme for Technical Cooperation at this higher level to maximize our support for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. The projects will meet the increased demands of member states in a responsive and agile fashion, and will complement the reformed Resident Coordinator system,” he added. “And management reform has brought substantial changes, including in structures, accountability, delegation of authority and internal operations. These have been critical to sustain business continuity during the pandemic. With better aligned responsibilities and accountabilities, we were able to quickly adjust internal policies and procedures to accommodate the new realities on the ground; at the same time, we have dedicated capacities that could focus on key areas of concern, such as health and supply chain management,” said the UN chief. The UN chief also warned that the liquidity crisis “has not abated and severely hampers the United Nations’ ability to fulfil its obligations to the people we serve.” The Fifth Committee, also known as the Administrative and Budgetary Committee, is one of six main committees of the UNGA. It deals with administrative and budgetary matters. AGENCIES

KARACHI: Smog season returns to the port city. INP

Debt of poorest countries climbed to $744bn before pandemic: WB WASHINGTON AGENCIES

The total external debt of the world's poorest countries climbed 9.5 percent to a record $744 billion in 2019, according to the World Bank Group's latest International Debt Statistics (IDS) report released. "Before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, rising public debt levels were already a cause for concern, particularly in many of the world's poorest countries," the multilateral lender said in a statement during the annual meetings of the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund (IMF). The Group of Twenty (G20) endorsed the Debt Service Suspension Ini-

tiative (DSSI) in April this year to help up to 73 of the poorest countries manage the impact of the pandemic, allowing them to suspend payments on official bilateral debt until the end of 2020, the World Bank noted. World Bank Group President David Malpass previously urged the G20 countries to extend the time frame of the DSSI through the end of 2021 and commit to give the initiative as broad a scope as possible. The latest IDS report showed that the total external debt of countries eligible for the G20 debt relief program climbed to a record last year, "highlighting an urgent need for creditors and borrowers alike to collaborate to stave off the growing risk of sovereign-debt crises triggered by the Covid-

19 pandemic." The pace of debt accumulation for these countries was nearly twice the rate of other low- and middle-income countries in 2019, the report noted. "It's been very important that leaders of poorest nations speak up and speak out about the need for a lighter debt burden from the creditor nations," Malpass said on Twitter. "That dialogue hasn't been as robust yet as I think is necessary to move this process along," said the World Bank chief. Finance ministers and central bank governors from the G20 economies are scheduled to meet virtually on Wednesday, and could make a decision on further extension of debt service relief.

FAJR SUNRISE

ZUHR

ASR MAGHRIB ISHA

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US forces hit Taliban with air strikes in Helmand KABUL: The US carried out air strikes in support of Afghan security forces under attack by the Taliban in southern Helmand province, despite a peace deal signed earlier this year between Washington and the insurgent group. Col Sonny Leggett, a US military representative in Afghanistan, said the recent Taliban assault in Helmand was not in line with the US-Taliban deal signed in February and that it undermined intra-Afghan peace talks ongoing in Doha. He also said the air strikes did not violate the February deal. The Taliban “need to immediately stop their offensive actions in Helmand province and reduce their violence around the country,” Col Leggett said on Twitter, quoting Gen Scott Miller, the commander of US forces in Afghanistan. Col Leggett said that US forces will continue to provide support in defence of Afghan national security forces when attacked by the Taliban. The announcement of US strikes followed gun battles on Monday in and around Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand province. Witnesses reported shooting in the city and some residents fled the districts of Nad Ali and Nawa because of the fighting. Omer Zwak, spokesman for the provincial governor in Helmand, said Taliban fighters started co-ordinated attacks across the province in the past week and stepped those up at the weekend. “The Taliban have destroyed several bridges over the main highway, so the highway is closed right now and no one can travel,” said Mr Zwak. Helmand’s police chief General Khalil-ur-Rahman Jawad told reporters that “tactical measures have been taken to prevent casualties, but security will soon be restored to restore order”. He said the Afghan Air Force had conducted strikes that had killed 170 insurgents in the last 24 hours. The US-Taliban deal in February provides for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan in exchange for security guarantees from the insurgent group, and a pledge to sit down with the Kabul administration to find a peaceful settlement. AGENCIES

Palestinian PM urges active EU role in future ME political process RAMALLAH: Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye has urged the European Union (EU) to play an active role in the future political process related to the Palestinian cause. Ishtaye made the call during his online meeting with the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs, attended by 80 people representing different countries and parties in Europe, according to a press statement by the prime minister. “It is necessary to break the status quo that the Palestinian cause is passing through because of the Israeli occupation measures,” said Ishtaye, calling on the EU to recognize an independent Palestinian state. During the meeting, he also called on Europe “to end the American monopoly of sponsoring the Middle East peace process through an international conference for peace in which all parties participate.” “Any political process must depend on ending the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories on the basis of the twostate vision under international law and United Nations resolutions,” Ishtaye noted. He called on the EU to exert pressure on Israel to allow the Palestinians to hold the elections in East Jerusalem, as the Palestinian leadership is determined to hold the general elections in the Palestinian territories soon.AGENCIES

Apple unveils iPhone 12 with 5G, HomePod Mini smart speaker AGeNcIeS Apple Inc on Tuesday launched the iPhone 12 with faster 5G connectivity, which the Cupertino, California company hopes will spur a wave of upgrades and keep its sales booming through the end of the year. Verizon Communications Inc CEO Hans Vestberg said the new iPhones would work with the carrier's “ultrawideband” 5G network designed to alleviate bottlenecks in major cities like New York and Los Angeles as well as in crowded areas like NFL stadiums. Apple said all iPhone 12 models in the United States will support millimeter wave 5G, the fastest variant of the technology, as well as lower-frequency bands. Some rival Android devices support only the lower-frequency versions of 5G. The iPhone 12, with a 6.1-inch display, has flat sides with a flush display, similar to the company's iPhone 5 and a departure from rounded edges in recent years. The new

phone will have a “ceramic shield” glass cover to resist cracks when dropped. HOMEPOd MiNi: Apple also announced a HomePod Mini smart speaker that will come in white and gray, cost $99 and be shipped starting November 16. The new HomePod offers features like allowing use by multiple users in a home and sending information to car-based systems. For example, a user can tee up driving directions to a store after asking the HomePod what time it closes. Many of the features serve as a catch-up to similar offerings from Amazon.com Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google. The annual launch event is nearly one month later than normal and comes as the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted Apple's well-oiled machine for designing and churning out its biggest-selling product. The iPhones announced Tuesday will test whether Apple can keep up that streak and ride a wave of consumer excitement around 5G wireless data networks, whose

speediest variants outstrip their predecessors' data rates multiple times over. Android devices from Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and others have featured the new networking capabilities for months, and analysts say 5G phones are driving upgrades. But Apple is in a delicate position of needing to excite consumers with 5G without setting them up for a disappointment. For many of its fans, it will be their first experience with 5G networks, which in the United States remain years away from delivering dramatic speed boosts for most consumers. Some analysts worry Apple will be selling a high-powered sports car while its customers remain confined to sleepy village roadways. Shares of Apple fell 2.7 per cent on Tuesday, after jumping 6pc the day before, which added $128 billion to its stock market value. Apple in January quit giving financial guidance, citing uncertainty from the pandemic. But despite waves of retail store closures and

travel bans that delayed the development of the iPhone because Apple engineers were not able to cross the Pacific to Chinese factories as frequently, Apple's financial results have largely bucked the pandemic. In July at its most recent earnings, the company posted year-on-year revenue gains across every category and in every geogra-

phy as consumers working and learning from home during the Covid-19 pandemic turned to its products and services. Apple last month launched new watch models with blood oxygen sensors and updated its iPad models while also rolling out a new bundle of its paid subscription services called Apple One.

Published by Arif Nizami at Qandeel Printing Press, 4 Queens Road, Lahore, for PT Print (Pvt) Limited. Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965. Email: newsroom@pakistantoday.com.pk