CMYK
18 October, 2020 I 29 Safar, 1442 I Rs 25.00 I Vol XI No 109 I 36 Pages I Lahore Edition
Imran slams nawaz for 'malIgnIng' mIlItary leadershIp g
Imran Khan terms opp’s Gujranwala power show a ‘cIrcus’; reGrets InapproprIate lanGuaGe aGaInst army, IsI
ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT
p
rIme minister Imran Khan on saturday gave a no-holds-barred rejoinder to his political arch-nemesis for allegedly maligning the top army leadership, saying the pml-n supremo nawaz sharif himself was launched into politics through the help of the military establishment. his remarks came during an animated address to a tiger Force convention in Islamabad, in which he dismissed opposition's power show of yesterday in Gujranwala as a "circus". a visibly angry Khan termed sharif as “a jackal who ran away to london with its tail between its legs”. sharif, who has been handed a seven-year jail term on corruption charges, was allowed to fly to london late last year for treatment of his undiagnosed illness that remains a mystery till this day. at the time he was flown in a chartered air ambulance amid ominous speculations about his health. the disgraced former prime minister and his family are embroiled in a slew of corruption cases with fresh charges popping up every day. sharif and his party, however, claim all these charges are trumped up and motivated by political vendetta.
In an animated speech on saturday, premier Imran lampooned sharif as a protégé of army generals who is now trying to re-establish himself as a champion of democracy. “this is the same man who had first become a minister with the blessings of Gen (r) Ghulam jilani; this is the same man who had become the chief minister [punjab] by polishing the boots of Gen Ziaul haq; this is the same man who had received millions of rupees from the then IsI chief Gen (r) [asad] Durrani through mehran Bank to [cobble together an alliance of rightwing parties] to contest the elections against the ppp,” Khan said while referring to sharif’s political career. “Gen Durrani conceded this in his report submitted in the supreme court. But ironically, our courts have always helped him [get away]. this is the man who put [asif ali] Zardari in jail twice. It was Zardari who had instituted the hudaibiya paper mills case against him, not Gen [Qamar javed] Bajwa,” Khan said. premier Khan regretted sharif’s tirade against the country’s security institutions. “there are frequent attacks on our troops; they are sacrificing their lives every day,” he said, adding that 20 servicemen were martyred in two attacks on thursday. “why are they laying down their lives? For us. For our
CoronavIrus In
pakIstan
CONFIRMED CASES:
322,452
LAST UPDATED AT 7:23 AM ON OCTOBER 17 2020
DAY'S DEATH TOLL:
13
RECOVERED:
NEW CASES:
641
DEATHS:
306,640 6,638 SINDH:
141,474 KP:
38,565
PUNJAB:
101,425 BALOCHISTAN:
15,644
AJK/GB: ISLAMABAD: 3,398/4,033 17,913
country,” he added while regretting that the “jackal” used inappropriate language against the incumbent army and IsI chiefs. on Gujranwala rally of the pakistan Democratic movement (pDm), he said, “when you go after the thieves, they will unite. last night they were all together.” he also played an 11-year-old video clip, in which he had “predicted” the coming together of the opposition to protect their loot and plunder. the prime minister said the speeches of maryam nawaz and Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari didn’t deserve his reaction because these “kids” have never worked an hour in their lives and lived “of the ill-gotten wealth of their fathers”. “though one of them has become grandma now, she is still a kid for me,” he added while alluding to maryam. Khan said sharif was playing a dangerous game by trying to create rifts in the government, the military and the judiciary. sharif has been repeatedly accused of furthering the Indian narrative – for which he is receiving massive coverage in the Indian media. “the Indian newspapers are praising sharif for championing democracy,” the prime minister said before going on to expose the duplicity of Indian media. “Don’t they know this is the nawaz sharif who was nurtured by [military dictator Gen] Ziaul haq! Isn’t he the same nawaz sharif who had attacked and tried to buy the judiciary?" “he is only with the judiciary as long as it rules in his favour. when the judiciary closes the hudaibiya paper mills case, he praises it, but cries foul when he is convicted in the panama papers case. Did Gen Bajwa leak the panama papers?" the prime minister also scoffed at the opposition’s allegations of rigging in the 2018 elections as 50pc fewer petitions were filed for vote recount as compared to the 2013 elections. however, he claimed that the government "documentary evidence" that the pml-n had spent rs2.5 billion from state funds to win the na-120 by-polls, adding that the case had been forwarded to the national accountability Bureau.
Govt warns opp against playing a ‘dangerous game’ ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT
a day after the multi-party anti-government alliance sounded war drums and took on state institutions for allegedly stepping into civilian jurisdictions, the government on saturday warned the pakistan Democratic movement (pDm) against playing a “dangerous game”. addressing the participants of the gathering from his residence in london, deposed prime minister and pml-n supreme leader nawaz sharif, in his compassionate and strong-worded speech, had accused the security establishment of ending his government and “imposing” an “incompetent” prime minister on the nation. responding to the speech, the federal government said the opposition was causing harm to the country by targeting state institutions. addressing a press conference alongside minister for science and technology Fawad chaudhry, Information minister shibli Faraz said, “you are causing the country a lot of harm [and] are using the language of our enemies which is something we will not allow you to do. we stand behind our institutions
FO rejects New Delhi’s remarks accusing Pakistan of 'justifying terror' NEWS DESK the Foreign office on saturday rejected Indian external affairs minister (eam) subrahmanyam jaishankar's comments accusing pakistan of justifying terror as a policy and for the frail relations between the two countries. In a statement, the Foreign office said pakistan "completely rejects these unwarranted and tendentious comments" and advised to reflect on its own egregious behaviour marked by illegal and unilateral actions in Indian Illegally occupied jammu and Kashmir (IIojK) instead of blaming its neighbours for the current state of bilateral relations. the Fo's statement comes in reply to Indian minister subrahmanyam jaishankar's remarks during a recent online think-tank event. he had said that the pakistani government justified using terrorism as a policy, making it very hard to conduct relations, according to a report by Indian news outlet the print. "we don’t have a normal visa relationship, they are very restrictive on that score. they have blocked connectivity between India and afghanistan and from afghanistan to India.
and will not tolerate any such comment which will endanger our security or the people that stand for it.” chaudhry, while commenting on nawaz’s speech, said the former premier was acting like a “scorned lover”. “[nawaz] can’t understand how to exact revenge from the army for jilting him. he is unable to forget the past when he was [the favourite].” chaudhry also warned the opposition against playing a “dangerous game”. “Don’t disrespect our jawans [soldiers] and martyrs by adopting this narrative,” he said, adding that it was India’s agenda to draw a comparison between the upper and lower ranks of the army. “this is why I was against nawaz going abroad […] because when such people go abroad, they become altaf hussain. they become an asset for the international establishment.” he added that when the opposition talked about the difference between pakistana army officers, they were pushing India’s agenda. “that is why the people of Gujranwala, sialkot and narowal rejected you.”
CONTINUED ON PAGE 05
more inside
Crucial that world recognises Pakistan's new narrative of economic security: Moeed Yusuf STORY ON PAGE 12
london court freezes trust properties under mQm founder’s control STORY ON PAGE 02 normal neighbours do visas and trade, they give you connectivity and most important they don’t practice terrorism. and I think until we address that problem, this challenge of how do you have a normal relationship with this very unique neighbour is a very troubling issue for our foreign policy," the report quoted jaishankar as saying. the Fo called out India for its "fabrications and baseless allegations against pakistan", adding that "clearly, an acknowledged perpetrator of state-terrorism cannot masquerade as a ‘victim’ of terrorism." the statement recalled the various fake "encounters" and
"cordon-and-search" operations carried out by India to to divert the attention of the international community from the its atrocities in the occupied valley, which it said reflected the "moral bankruptcy of the Indian leadership". It was further mentioned that "the so-called preachers of trade and connectivity should also tell the world as to who is blocking regional cooperation and the saarc (south asian association for regional cooperation) process, with its next summit pending since 2016. Indian sophistry and obfuscation can neither hide hard facts, nor succeed in misleading the world community."
CONTINUED ON PAGE 05
PIA's former MD, director HR arrested over 'misuse of authority' STORY ON PAGE 03 in today’s issue
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Sunday, 18 October, 2020
NEWS
Corona killing spree Continues in pakistan with 13 fresh viCtims ISLAMABAD
t
STAFF REPORT
He coronavirus disease (Covid19) has claimed 13 more lives in the country over the past 24 hours, taking the death toll from the disease to 6,638, said the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Saturday. According to the latest statistics, 641 more people tested positive for the infection during 32,465 tests conducted over the last 24 hours. A total of 3,943,734 tests have been conducted so far.
The national tally of cases has reached 322,452. Around 306,640 people have recovered from the disease so far across Pakistan with addition of 805 recoveries recorded over the previous 24 hours. There are a total of 9,174 active cases of Covid-19 in the country. Of the total patients under treatment, 78 are said to be in critical condition and they have been moved on ventilators. No Covid-affected person is on ventilator in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Balochistan. So far, Sindh has reported 141,474 cases, Punjab 101,425, Khyber
london court freezes trust properties under mQm founder’s control
Pakhtunkhwa 38,565, Balochistan 15,644, Islamabad 17,913, Azad Jammu and Kashmir 3,398, and Gilgit Baltistan has reported 4,033 cases. About 6,638 deaths were recorded in the country since the eruption of the contagion, including 2,574 in Sindh, 2,288 in Punjab, 1,265 in KP, 194 in ICT, 146 in Balochistan, 90 in GB and 81 in AJK. Meanwhile, Balochistan Health Department has announced 23 more cases of Covid-19 in the province in the last 24 hours. The tally of active cases of Covid-19 in Balochistan has dropped to
Pakistani forces not fighting along Azerbaijan’s army: FO ISLAMABAD
NEWS DESK
STAFF REPORT
A high court judge has ordered the freezing of all six trust properties controlled by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) founder in London. According to media reports, London High Court’s Judge Peter Knox in the court order also frozen the MQM founder’s palatial residence in West London where he presently resides with his associates. Six London properties that have been frozen by the court order also included the MQM Secretariat premises in London. These properties included Abbey View house, High View Gardens first house, Whitchurch Lane first house, Brookfield Avenue house, High View Gardens second house, Whitchurch Lane second house, and the MQM office in elizabeth House. The court’s freezing order means the MQM founder and his associates could stay in the properties till the court decision on the case but these properties could not be sold. According to sources, the case will now proceed to in due course within a few months. The claim in the court was started in London on behalf of Syed Aminul Haque, the MQMPakistan MNA and a member of the Rabita Committee of MQM-Pakistan. The MQM-P had filed the case for the recovery of trust properties having a value of around 15 million British pounds.
Pakistan has categorically rejected baseless comments by the Armenian Prime Minister alleging involvement of Pakistani special forces alongside Azerbaijani army in the ongoing conflict. In a statement on Saturday, Foreign Office Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhari said President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan has also clarified his stance on the matter stating that Azerbaijani forces are strong enough to defend their homeland and do not need the help of foreign forces. He said that it is regrettable that the leadership of Armenia, to cover up its illegal actions against Azerbaijan, is resorting to irresponsible propaganda, which it must stop. The spokesperson said that Pakistan believes that longterm peace and normalization of relations between the two parties would depend on the complete and comprehensive implementation of the UN Security Council resolutions and withdrawal of Armenian forces from Azerbaijani territories. DecaDes-long conflict: The decades-long Nagorno-Karabakh conflict re-erupted on September 27 and
another soldier martyred in Balochistan; 3 injured RAWALPINDI
has so far killed more than 700 people, including nearly 80 civilians. The mountainous western region of Azerbaijan has remained under separatist Armenian control since a 1994 ceasefire ended a brutal war that killed 30,000. Armenia, which backs Nagorno-Karabakh but does not recognise its independence, has admitted that Azerbaijani forces have made important gains along the front in the past week. On Saturday, a missile strike levelled a row of homes in Azerbaijan's second city of Ganja, killing 12 and injuring more than 40 people in their sleep in a sharp escalation of the conflict. The early hours attack, which saw a second missile strike another part of Ganja and a third reach the nearby strategic city of Mingecevir, came hours after Azerbaijani forces shelled the ethnic Armenian separatist region's capital Stepanakert. The seeming tit-for-tat attacks further undermine international efforts to calm a resurgence of fighting between Christian Armenians and Muslim Azerbaijanis before it draws in regional powers Russia and Turkey.
PML-N may be banned over anti-state activities: Sh Rasheed LAHORE STAFF REPORT
TLTP
One soldier embraced martyrdom and three others got injured when terrorists raided a patrolling party of security forces near Jhaki Post in Turbat, said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Saturday. According to the ISPR, during the exchange of fire, Lance Naik Waseem Ullah embraced martyrdom. It is pertinent to mention here that 20 security officials have embraced martyrdom in different terrorist attacks in the last five days. On Thursday last, at least 14 security officials, including seven Frontier Corps (FC) personnel were martyred in a terrorist attack in Balochistan’s Gwadar district. According to the military’s media wing, the security personnel were escorting a convoy of Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) from Gwadar to Karachi when a large number of terrorists ambushed the convoy near Ormara on Coastal Highway. The security personnel responded effectively and ensured the security of the OGDCL persons and managed their safe exit from the area. During the encounter, seven FC personnel and seven security guards embraced martyrdom, the ISPR said, adding that substantial losses were also incurred to the terrorists. In another terrorist attack on Thursday, six Pakistan Army personnel including Captain Umar Farooq embraced martyrdom in an improvised explosive device (IeD) attack in the Razmak subdivision of the North Waziristan district of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
199 cases, a spokesperson of Balochistan Health Department said. The health officials conducted 1,063 tests in Balochistan in the last 24 hours finding 23 positive cases of novel coronavirus. Total count of coronavirus cases has reached 15,644 after detection of 23 new infections in Balochistan, the spokesperson said. Provincial health department said that 98 percent of coronavirus patients have recovered in Balochistan. The death rate by the disease remained at one percent of the total cases with overall 146 deaths by Covid19, the health department said.
Railways Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad has said that the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) may be banned over anti-state activities and speeches by its leadership. Addressing a press conference here on Saturday, he claimed that the PML-N had tried its best to get a deal from the government and several meetings, including one in the Renaissance Istanbul Hotel in Turkey, were held in this regard. “Nawaz Sharif, I know about the meeting at Hotel Renaissance in Istanbul [that took place] at 11:20,” he said, putting a finger to his lips. “I am not allowed to speak on it.” The railways minister challenged the PML-N to resign from the assemblies if they are serious in their campaign against the government. “Hand in your resignations. You will know where you stand,” he said. He predicted that the PML-N would be divided into parts after Dec 31, adding that there was no threat to the government from public gatherings and rallies of the opposition alliance, Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM). He said that governments could not be toppled by organising rallies and that the PML-N’s supremo’s speech had strengthened Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s government instead. He said Nawaz spoke the language of enemies by criticising the Pakistan Army, adding that now it was death of politics of Nawaz in the country, warning that he would suffer the same fate as MQM founder Altaf Hussain for his diatribe against the military leadership. “Your political funeral will come from London. Your politics will not thrive in Pakistan now,” said the federal
NAWAZ SHARIF TO SUFFER SAME FATE AS ALTAF HUSSAIN, RAILWAYS MINISTER CLAIMS minister. Rasheed further said that Nawaz was playing a dangerous game against the Pakistan Army, slamming the former prime minister of towing the line of international powers by tarnishing the image of the armed forces. He said that the PML-N itself voted for the extension of Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa and now its leadership was speaking against him and the Pakistan Army. He said that Pakistan Army was protector of the country and soldiers were sacrificing their lives for security of the country. He said that the PDM kept the media engaged for one month and could not gather as much people as they were expecting. To a question, he said that prices of flour and sugar would decrease in two months. About the railways, the minister said that all freight trains would now be booked online like all passenger trains. He said that technical allowance of the railways workers was being increased by up to 25 per cent which would facilitated 31,000 workers. He said that milage allowance of the drivers had also been increased. He announced that pension would be disbursed among all retired employees on the inaugural day of Hassan Abdal railway station.
Bail of rana sana, Capt safdar extended in naB office attack case laHoRe: An anti-terrorism court on Saturday extended interim bail of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders Rana Sanaullah and Captain (retd) Safdar until October 20 in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) office attack case. The counsels for Rana Sanaullah and Captain (retd) Safdar appeared in court as it resumed hearing. They requested the court to put off the hearing for the time being, saying they will begin forwarding arguments in the case on October 19. Sanaullah’s lawyer stated before the judge that police had arrested as many as 58 persons from outside the NAB Lahore office. Terrorism charges were incorporated in the case at the government’s behest, he alleged. He said the terrorism charges were added immediately after the appointment of the Lahore’s CCPO. Rana Sanaullah and Captain (retd) Safdar are among the PML-N members nominated in the case. On August 11, violence erupted outside the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) office as PML-N workers and police contingents clashed with each other shortly after the arrival of Maryam Nawaz there in a land acquisition case. STAFF REPORT
ppp’s aitzaz ahsan highlights past wrongdoings of nawaz sharif laHoRe: Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) senior leader Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan has said that he was “profoundly disgusted” with the political ideas and past of PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif who had been brought up in the lap of dictatorship. Speaking during a television talkshow on Saturday, he said Nawaz Sharif had no sense of time and space and always forgot his past while speaking, adding that Nawaz Sharif served as the chief minister of Punjab during General Zia ul Haq’s martial law in 1985 and always used crutches to reach corridors of power. “Nawaz Sharif has a tainted political past who tried to become prime minister in 1988 despite being a minority party with 94 votes with Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto’s 96 seats in the National Assembly. He maneuvered a no-confidence move against PPP government and abducted our MNAs like Rasheed Bhatti and Father Jacob. Nawaz Sharif, with the help of the then DG ISI General Hameed Gull formed IJI against PPP in the 1990 elections”, he responded to a question, adding that Nawaz Sharif formed a maneuvered government in 1990. To a question, the former Federal Law Minister said Nawaz Sharif was an unreliable friend who could stab his benefactors in the back any time, adding that he had been hatching conspiracies against former PPP Prime Minister Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto. Aitzaz Ahsan said Nawaz Shairf was guilty of using derogatory language against Shaheed Benazir Bhutto. He said despite signing a pact with PPP after his exile from Saudi Arabia, he filed a 'memogate' case against PPP for political benefits. Aitzaz regretted the fact that the PDM public meeting was held in the neighbourhood of Indian Held Kashmir and nobody talked about Kashmir except PPP cocahirman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari. He said Maulana Fazal ur Rehman mentioned Kashmir only after Bilawal’s speech. He said Bilawal spoke with clarity. On Nawaz Sharif’s criticism against Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa during PDM public meeting, he said Nawaz Sharif had been guilty of appointing junior generals like General Pervaiz Musharraf as army chief in the past, adding that Nawaz always appointed army chiefs with bad intentions and this act spoiled civilianarmy relations. About PPP’s stance vis a vis Nawaz Sharif’s narrative regarding the army chief and the DG ISI, the senior PPP leader said PPP did not believe in adventurism and had always maintained moderate views regarding the armed forces. To a question, Aitzaz Ahsan said sit-ins and protests were democratic rights but these don’t topple governments. APP
Sunday, 18 October, 2020
NEWS
pm imran ‘forCing’ opp to take names of army generals at rallies: Bilawal
p
NEWS DESK
PP Chairperson Bilawal BhuttoZardari said on Saturday his party did not want to take the names of army generals at rallies because such moves could impact the integrity of national institutions, but accused Prime Minister Imran Khan of forcing the opposition to do so. He made the remarks while speaking to reporters in Karachi after reviewing arrangements for the Pakistan Democratic Movement's (PDM) second power show, which is scheduled to be held in the city on Sunday. At the opposition alliance's first joint rally in Gujranwala on Friday, the PPP leader had accused the premier of being "a puppet and selected”. “In Karachi on Oct 18 we will throw
a challenge to the selected and the selectors,” he had remarked. Meanwhile, PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, while addressing the PDM rally via video link from London, had accused the security establishment of being behind his ouster as prime minister and of "bringing Imran Khan into power". He named Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa and ISI chief Lt Gen Faiz Hameed, alleging that they were responsible for making a "state above the state" and for the presence of "two governments" in the country, among other things. In his remarks today, Bilawal said the opposition wanted to see national institutions, including the judiciary and the military bureaucracy, not to be accused of any wrongdoing on every issue. "It saddens me to see generals'
names being taken at rallies — whether those held by the prime minister or the opposition. This weakens the integrity of our institutions, which we do not want. "But what can we do when the army is deployed at polling stations in general elections [and] Imran Khan says in every speech 'this or that institution is with me, we are all on the same page'?" Bilawal asked, accusing the prime minister of using institutions as "political props". "When we take the establishment's name, we realise that only today's generals or retired generals [are not to be blamed] but it is a part of our history that we either received dictatorship or a controlled democracy," he said, adding that the opposition wanted to see complete and true democracy in the country. The PPP chairperson said they wanted to see every institution doing its
own job and the army "protecting the borders instead of polling stations". He added that the opposition did not want to see the morale of the armed forces being affected but said the politicians, parliament, judiciary and army will have to work to prevent such a situation. earlier on Saturday, Prime Minister Imran lashed out at Nawaz for allegedly maligning the top army leadership, saying the PML-N supremo himself was launched into politics through the help of the military establishment. Hinting at adopting a stricter line against opposition leaders in the future, Imran said the PML-N leader was using inappropriate "language" against the army and ISI chiefs at a time when Pakistani soldiers were constantly sacrificing their lives for the nation.
‘indian troops killing youth under garb of Covid-19’
03
minister takes notice of workers’ deaths at site area factory KARACHI APP
Sindh Minister for Industries & Commerce and Anti-Corruption & Cooperative Department Jam Ikramullah Dharejo has taken notice of the death of workers working in the chemical tank of the factory located in Karachi Site Area. He directed the MD site to inspect the accident site with a team, said a statement released on Saturday. He has also directed to submit a report on this tragic incident. Minister Jam Ikramullah Dharejo further instructed that those responsible for negligence should be identified and action should be taken against them in accordance with the law. He also directed all factory owners to take effective measures to prevent such accidents or else stern action would be taken against them. Sindh Minister for Industries & Commerce and Anti-Corruption & Cooperative Department Jam Ikramullah Dharejo said that human lives are very precious. Such incidents are tragic. Full cooperation should be extended to the families of the deceased workers. He said that all kinds of security arrangements need to be made in the workplace so that such incidents do not happen in future.
pakistan to observe eid milad-un-nabi on oct 30
MUZAFFARABAD TLTP
NEWS DESK
The Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan has strongly condemned Indian Army for burying the Kashmiri martyrs without funeral prayers by declaring them corona positive cases. "The youth being declared corona positive are tortured to death during the so-called cordon and search operations being carried out by the Indian Army in different parts of occupied territory," he asserted. Commenting on an analytical report released on Saturday, he said that the martyred youth are being falsely declared corona positive because they fear that thousands of people may throng their funeral prayers if permitted. These mourners publicly express their sentiments against India and its illegal occupation. The AJK president said that more than 96,500 innocent Kashmiri people have been martyred in occupied Kashmir since January 1989. Of them, 7,147 youth were martyred in the custody of the Indian occupation army, he added. Sardar Masood Khan said that the hypocrisy and falsehood of the Indian government and the military can be gauged from the fact that they are declaring it as an "operation goodwill gesture" in occupied Kashmir in a bid to hoodwink the international community. The report reveals that the Indian Army had destroyed 110,367 structures and molested 11,219 women in occupied Kashmir during the last 30 years, which is enough to expose this so-called operation goodwill gesture. The AJK President said that the Indian troops arrest the Kashmir youth during siege and house to house searches, take them to the military garrison where they are martyred, and later, declaring them corona patients, they are buried in unmarked graves. He said that India swiftly busy in massacre, genocide and ethnic cleansing in occupied Kashmir and is taking actions to change the demography of the disputed territory. The AJK president stressed the Indian Government to halt the ongoing military operation in occupied Kashmir, reverse all actions taken on August 5 and the aftermath, and unconditionally release Kashmir leaders and political activists including Yasin Malik and Asiya Andrabi, and recognized the disputed status of occupied Kashmir.
eid-e-Miladun Nabi will be celebrated on October 30 as the moon for Rabiul Awwal was not sighted on Saturday. The month of Rabiul Awwal would now start from October 19, the Central Ruet-i-Hilal Committee announced on Saturday. The committee’s session to sight the moon was held in Karachi with Mufti Muneeb ur Rehman in the chair. Meetings of the zonal committees took place at their respective provincial headquarters. The Pakistan Meteorological Department experts were also a part of the session. The decision was announced in a statement issued to media.
LAHORE: Dr Omer Chughtai leads Chughtai Lab’s Breast Cancer Awareness Walk. ZUBAIR MEHFOOZ
PIA's former MD, director HR arrested over 'misuse of authority' KARACHI STAFF REPORT
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has arrested former managing director of Pakistan International Airlines, ejaz Haroon, and former director human resources PIA, Hanif Pathan, for alleged misuse of authority, involvement in financial irregularities and illegal recruitments. The FIA Corporate Crime Circle Karachi arrested the former PIA high-ups for making the alleged illegal appointment of Salim Sayani as deputy managing director (DMD) of the national carrier in 2009 after violating the set regulations for recruitments. According to FIA officials, Sayani, a Pakistani origin USA national, had been appointed on the salary of $20,000 per month besides other perks and privileges including medical coverage, a 5-star hotel room for three months and family accommodation in Dubai at the expenses of PIA. The first information report (FIR) in the case stated that Sayani had been granted seven per cent salary incre-
ment every year, besides the provision of insurance coverage up to $1 million; $1 million in case of kidnapping for ransom; $1 million in case of death or injury of the employee during kidnapping in service and to legal heirs for the death of the employee and three-month gross salary on the maturity of contract for each completed year of service. The arrests were made after an inquiry which traced grave violations of regulations for the appointment of deputy managing director of the national carrier as even no advertisement was published in any newspaper nor other candidates were invited to complete the process in accordance with the PIA rules. Moreover, the top officers had not acquired services of any consultancy firm for the recruitment. In 2018, it was reported that the FIA had launched an inquiry against Haroon, for allegedly committing massive corruption, being involved in money laundering, and accumulating assets beyond known sources of income abroad. ejaz Haroon had stepped down from the post of MD of PIA in 2011 after the national carrier's employees had protested against his appointment.
Moot apprised of govt’s initiatives to overcome wheat shortage ISLAMABAD PPI
Minister National Food Security and Research (NFS&R) Syed Fakhar Imam said on Saturday that Prime Minister Imran Khan has approved a package of Rs26 billion to erect a physical infrastructure in the coming years to combat the menace of the pest. He said that the government has imported wheat to overcome the shortage of 1.7 million tonnes wheat and it would arrive in Pakistan by January 2021. He said this while sharing their views with the participants of an online dialogue titled ‘To Build Back Better' organized by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI). The webinar was held in connection with World Food Day. Imam said that the private sector has also started importing the wheat and it would alleviate the problem further. “The prime minister’s five-year plan of Rs277 million program and the Covid-19 Rs50 million fiscal
package programme for farmers as subsidy on seeds and fertilizers will also encourage the growers, he added. “The government will encourage and support the small farmers by providing research-based timely information regarding seeds and climatic vagaries,” Imam said, adding that the measures would ensure a fair return of their products and improve the quality of living of the people of Pakistan by providing safe and nutritious food to all on fair prices. Mina Dowlatchcahi, the country head of FAO, on the occasion highlighted that the agriculture sector is currently facing two threats that include the threat posed by Climate Change and the other is pests attack. The recent pandemic, she said, has actually exposed the fragility of our agriculture. She added further that almost 58pc of the world’s workforce in agriculture consists of women who are more vulnerable to health diseases. “Therefore, we need to have short to medium- and long-term plans to address
this issue.” She highlighted the need for economic inclusion and social protection of the most vulnerable class. Along with food security, we also need to work on the equation of the availability of safe food and the utilization of food, she added. Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri, executive Director of SDPI, in his opening remarks opined that the recent inflation is the result of Pakistan’s rupee depreciation as compared to the dollar, the gaps in government agricultural and food security policies, and the unavailability of new varieties of seeds compatible to changing environment and pests attacks. “There is a dire need of supporting the rural economy and the agriculture sector because it not only ensures food security but also provides jobs,” Dr Suleri said and highlighted the importance of having credible data of the different crop production and consumption. He said that it is inevitable for a policy and evidencebased decisions making.
‘sop violations’: pm imran advised not to allow pDm rallies in future ISLAMABAD MIAN ABRAR
The Punjab government and federal agencies have sent their reports to Prime Minister Imran Khan, suggesting the federal government to penalise the opposition alliance of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) and not to allow the alliance to hold public rallies in future. An informed source on Saturday revealed that the PDM leadership had violated several clauses of its agreement signed with the district and Punjab governments. However, the prime minister would take a final decision in this regard. “The reports claim that the written agreement was violated by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) central leadership as the public meeting at Gujranwala did not end per the mutually agreed time," the source said. Moreover, the reports revealed that the rally participants right from start from Lahore to Gujranwala also violated Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) of Covid-19 as no PML-N leader wore facemasks while social distancing norms were also violated. It was further suggested that PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz had agreed not to make speeches to the rallies from Lahore to Gujranwala but she openly violated the agreement by addressing the rally participants at Shahdara. The source claimed that the PDM’s rally was monitored by some key federal and provincial ministers who also sent their reports to the PM Office. The reports concluded that if the PDM rallies are allowed to take place in future, the same may lead to a major resurge of second phase of coronavirus pandemic.
Sunday, 18 October, 2020
04
NEWS Punjab govt to set uP sahulat bazaars in sub-districts to control Prices LAHORE STAFF REPORT
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N the directions of the prime minister to ensure availability of essential commodities especially flour and sugar at fixed
prices in the province, the Punjab government has issued orders to field officers to commission ‘Sahulat Bazaars’ at the tehsil level and take indiscriminate action against the flour mills selling government quota wheat in the market and
against sugar mills involved in hoarding. The instructions were issued at a meeting presided over by the Punjab chief secretary at the Civil Secretariat, here on Saturday. The additional chief secretary, additional chief
secretary (Home Department), administrative secretaries of departments, Lahore commissioner, additional IG (Special Branch) and police officers attended the meeting. All divisional commissioners, RPOs, deputy commissioners and DPOs participated through video link. The meeting decided to set up a price control cell at the provincial level. Speaking at the meeting, the chief secretary said that in order to control price hike and provide relief to the people as per the directions of the prime minister and Punjab chief minister, the administrative officers have to ensure implementation of fixed prices at all costs. No negligence would be tolerated in this regard, he warned. He directed that Sahulat Bazaars at tehsil level should be fully activated and availability of eatables, including flour and sugar at discounted rates, should be ensured there. He added that growers should be encouraged to sell their pro-
duce directly at the farmers’ platforms at bazaars without the involvement of a middleman, and required facilities should be provided to them as it would help ensure availability of fruits and vegetables at subsidised rates. “The officers should keep a strict check on the prices, demand and supply of food items in the Sahulat Bazaars as well as in the open market,” he said. Furthermore, the provincial chief secretary informed that non-functional flour mills selling government wheat quota had been identified in the province and a crackdown against them would be started from Sunday. “The performance related to price control would be reviewed on a daily basis and in case of poor performance, the deputy commissioner and assistant commissioner concerned would be held accountable,” he added. The chief secretary further directed that physi-
Six labourers die after falling into factory’s chemical tank KARACHI TLTP
In a tragic incident, at least six labourers died after falling into a chemical tank of a factory here at SITE area on Saturday. According to rescue sources, the bodies of the labourers have been recovered from the tank. The labourers were cleaning the chemical tank inside the industrial unit located near Naurus Chowrangi in the SITE area when they fell into it and died. On getting information, rescue teams reached the scene and retrieved the bodies. They were shifted to a nearby medical facility for an autopsy. Meanwhile, a huge fire erupted at a factory in Karachi’s SITE area on Saturday morning. Police said fire brigade vehicles have arrived at the scene to put out the blaze that has been declared a third-degree fire.
Father arrested on charge of raping daughter in Multan MULTAN TLTP
In another shocking incident, a man was has been arrested for allegedly raping his daughter in Shaher Sultan area near Multan. The girl accused her father of raping her numerous times. According to police, the victim's medical report proved that she was subjected to sexual assault. Police said that a case has been registered against the man after he was arrested and an investigation is underway. Earlier on Tuesday last, a 5th grade girl was allegedly subjected to rape by her cousin at gunpoint in Mian Channu tehsil of district Khanewal. According to details, 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 passersby 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 and they are conducting raids to arrest the accused.
cal verification of stocks in sugar mills be carried out and the stocks exceeding declared value be sold in the market. The official said that within a month,
sugar mills would be allowed to sell sugar stocks only for the consumption of domestic consumers and its sale for commercial use was disallowed.
He also assigned duties to the administrative secretaries of the departments regarding visiting the districts and overseeing price control measures.
Sunday, 18 October, 2020
ENvOy strEssEs NEED tO ENhaNcE Pak-caNaDa traDE, iNvEstmENt tiEs ISLaMaBad
h
APP
IGh Commissioner for Pakistan to Canada Raza Bashir Tarar, while expressing satisfaction over Pakistan-Canada bilateral relationship, stressed that there was enough room for further enhancing bilateral trade and investment opportunities. “Our relationship has much substance in it and it is free of any irritants which gives us room and opportunities to further develop this relationship, particularly in bilateral trade and investment,” a press release quoted him as saying on Saturday during an interview with a local Canadian Tv channel. According to a press release, Tarar said that there was a realization in both Pakistan and Canada to expand their relationship further.
he said Canada was an important country for Pakistan and the prime ministers of Pakistan and Canada, both popular leaders in their respective countries, had had telephonic conversations in recent months and high-level contacts had also been established between both the countries to further this relationship in coming days. he said Pakistan under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan had been progressing and getting more recognition and respect globally and the recent reelection of Pakistan to the United Nations human Rights Council by a maximum margin of votes through uniform support by all regions was an indication and manifestation of the international community’s confidence and trust in Pakistan’s commitment to progressive national and global human rights. “This election also vindicates our stance on Kashmir,” he said, adding the
human rights violations in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir were an issue of global concern and Pakistan would keep highlighting the plight of Kashmiris. Pakistan high commissioner further used the interview to welcome the Canadian businessmen and the Pakistani diaspora to invest and explore business opportunities in Pakistan which he said was open for business. The recent ease of doing of business report by the World Bank in which Pakistan was now ranked at 108 as compared to 147 two years ago, was reflection of the strength of favorable business climate in Pakistan. “The mission is ready to provide any facilitation to the Canadian businessmen, particularly the Pakistani entrepreneurs and businessmen, to help them explore business collaborations in fields such as infrastructure, manufacturing, housing,
Govt warns Opp against playing a ‘dangerous game’ coNtINuEd oN paGE 01 Chaudhry went on to say that the opposition’s targeting of the army and the courts was saddening. “This is an attack on the state. If you want to exact revenge in this manner, by saying that until the army and the courts play a role in helping you save your money, then [realise] that no one will do this.” You are now working on a dangerous narrative and this will also fail, he said. The minister added that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s prediction during a TV interview in 2011— that the opposition would band together once the process of accountability was initiated — was ringing true. “Understand this now and in the future, we will not grant you relief on any of your cases and Nawaz will be brought back from London.” During his briefing, Faraz called the opposition’s rally a “flop show”. “Their show of unity lacked unity, belief and discipline. The way that Maulana Fazlur Rehman was made to address empty chairs […] I think it was made obvious that they don’t have a programme or a way forward for the people.
“Those who didn’t accomplish anything during 40 years of governance, what will they be able to accomplish now? They are here to empathise with the poor but when was the last time Maryam Nawaz interacted with a poor person? “What do they know about the poor and the problems they face? They didn’t even have such people at their rally.” Faraz added that the result of a month’s worth of hype and speeches was a half-full stadium. “People left without listening to the speeches.” The information minister also lambasted PML-N leader Khawaja Asif and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari for using “inappropriate” language for women that were “not involved in politics”. “[Bilawal] your own mother was in politics. Did you not realise that the language you were using may not be appropriate?” Meanwhile, Chaudhry mocked the opposition for only being able to gather 15,000 to 18,000 people after spending millions. “The population of Gujranwala is in the millions [and] the opposition was only able to gather 15,000 to 18,000,” he said, adding that the PDM president addressed empty chairs at two in the morning.
oil and gas, education and energy in Pakistan,” he added. Speaking about media reports of problems faced by Pakistani students applying for Canada visas, the high Commissioner said that the issue had been taken up with the Canadian authorities and he had briefed forums such as Pakistan Canada Parliamentary Group and also proposed shifting of Canadian visa processing center from Abu Dhabi to Pakistan. he said Islamabad had been declared a family station by the UN due to much improved security and the US, UK and other Missions were also enhancing their strength. he said the Canadian government and the universities welcomed the international students and most of the Pakistani diaspora in Canada had also benefited from the education system in Canada and now playing an important role in the development of both Canada and Pakistan.
FO rejects New Delhi’s remarks accusing Pakistan of 'justifying terror' coNtINuEd oN paGE 01 The statement said it was the "RSS-BJP regime’s dangerous policies of 'Hindutva' and 'Akhand Bharat'" that continued to victimise the people in occupied Kashmir and minorities elsewhere in India and "create problems with nearly all of India’s neighbours". "Obviously, ‘normal’ relations with its neighbours remain contingent upon India beginning to act normally," the statement said. In a separate statement, the Foreign Office categorically denied Armenian prime minister’s baseless and unwarranted comments, alleging involvement of Pakistani special forces alongside Azerbaijani army in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. “We have seen the transcript of Armenian Prime Minister’s interview on 15 October with a Russian TV referring to some unsubstantiated reports alleging involvement of Pakistani special forces alongside Azerbaijani army in the ongoing conflict,” the statement read. “We categorically reject these baseless and unwarranted comments by the Armenian Prime Minister. President Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan has also clarified his stance on the matter stating that Azerbaijani forces are strong enough to defend their homeland and do not need the help of foreign forces.” “Pakistan will continue to stand by the brotherly nation of Azerbaijan and support its right of self-defence against any aggression,” the statement concluded.
China’s central bank changes laws for commercial banks BEIJING TLTP
China’s central bank has issued draft revisions to its commercial bank law enacted 25 years ago, expanding application of the law and improving mechanisms of market exit for lenders. The revisions clarify that policy banks, rural credit cooperative banks, financial companies that handle commercial banking business and foreign commercial banks and their branches are all under the application of the law, reflecting financial openness and fair market competition. The revisions also set out a mechanism for risk rating and mitigating, laying out steps for banks from risk alerting, early correction, restructurings and takeovers to bankruptcies, with a process similar to the government takeover of Baoshang Bank last May.
CMYK
NEWS
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Breast cancer awareness: Shaukat Khanum Hospital illuminates Minar-e-Pakistan in pink As part of its ongoing breast cancer awareness campaign, Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre (SKMCH&RC) M illuminated Minar-ePakistan in Pink. Globally, October is marked as the breast cancer awareness month and every year, Shaukat Khanum Memorial M Trust (SKMT) M campaigns aggressively on national and international levels to educate the public about the importance of early detection of breast cancer. This year, the Shaukat Khanum Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign launched on October 1, with the illumination of some landmark buildings in pink for three days including the President House, the Parliament House, the Prime Minister’s M Secretariat, and the Cabinet Division. Speaking at the illumination event, the acting CEO of the Hospital Dr Muhammed Aasim Yusuf said that breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide and Pakistan has one of the highest incidences of breast cancer in Asia. “Over the years, breast cancer continues to be the highest reported malignancy at Shaukat Khanum M Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centres. If detected early, breast cancer has a high survival rate of around 98pc. Dr Aasim also stressed on importance of regular selfexamination and said that all women should maintain their routine of self-examination on monthly basis. If a woman feels a breast lump or other symptom, she should immediately consult a qualified doctor. Due to extensive campaign on this issue we have recorded an increase in patients coming at an early stage at our hospitals.” PRESS RELEASE
Sunday, 18 October, 2020
06 COMMENT
Of law and order
The PDM power show An impressive and charged gathering
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The importance of a functioning Parliament
he opposition has taken to the streets not out of choice but out of compulsion. For over two years it made several offers to the government for cooperation in vital legislation and formulating a joint economic policy. The moves were interpreted by PM Imran Khan as attempts to seek reprieve for opposition leaders and were promptly turned down. Meanwhile PTI’s inexperienced lawmakers took recourse to unseemly remarks about the opposition leaders often couched in provocative language. On occasions this turned the National Assembly into a fish market. Recently NA Speaker disallowed the leader of the opposition, in violation of parliamentary traditions, from speaking before voting on some of the FATF related bills. Chairman PPP Bilawal Bhutto Zardari too was not permitted to speak. Meanwhile, PTI ministers and spokesmen were encouraged by the PM to pour scorn on the opposition on a daily basis Thousands of opposition activists converged on Gujranwala’s Jinnah Stadium defying threats of arrest and negotiating road blocks set up on intercity routes. The first rally by the PDM has turned out to be successful because people are fed up with increasing unemployment, rising prices of food items and hike in power and gas charges. The PTI has never been tired of reminding the opposition in particular and the common people in general that it was on the same page with the army. The statements amounted to implicating the military establishment in PTI’s foibles and misadventures. As the establishment made no effort to dissociate itself from the PTI’s policies, it came under criticism at the rally Unless the PTI government undertakes measures to bring down the prices, not only of wheat flour and sugar but of the whole gamut of essential kitchen items and reduce the power and gas rates, the harried people will continue to throng the opposition rallies. As long as the establishment fails to ensure its impartiality in the opposition’s tussle with the government, it will face public criticism. In case the PM continues to ignore the public’s suffering and does not engage with the opposition he will remain the PDM’s target. The opposition’s rallies may not lead to government change but would nevertheless exhaust and enfeeble the PTI administration.
mohib asad
A
S enunciated in my column last week, I had stated that for a sanguine security and Law&Order situation there are four subsystems that need to work in tandem; namely the parliament, the police, the courts, and the prisons. Social Scientists term this as the ‘Systems Approach’, as opposed the ‘Phenomenon Approach’. Advanced governance paradigms generally agree that networked and ‘on the same page’ institutions are the surest way to a safe, free, and fair society. This page looks at the Pakistani parliament as a player on the Law&Order vista. As the expression of the collective will of the people of Pakistan, and as keeper of their fundamental rights to living a decent safe and fruitful life for themselves and their loved ones, parliament is the most important player in this game. Parliament is mandated by the people to legislate needed laws, oversee the institutions of the state, watch government’s income and expenditure, ensure justice, ensure national security, make certain that each citizen irrespective of ethnicity, language, or religious belief gets a level playing field to ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’ Clearly, that is not happening in today’s Pakistan. The basic reason for this sad state of affairs is because our Senate and National Assembly derive their legitimacy from the 1973 Constitution which is one of the most flawed documents on earth. This is not an off-the-cuff generalization but based on reasoned objections. Firstly, this booklet was produced not by a constituent assembly mandated by the people to draft a fresh social contract, but by a group of MNAs, who, in retrospect, have been found to be responsible for the break-up of Pakistan and the creation of a hostile Bangladesh; Secondly, the adoption of the British Parliamentary system in a poor, semi-literate country, when that system was being trashed all over the world, leads to a lot of suspicious questions of intent by the makers. Thirdly, it was so poorly conceived and drafted that there have had to be twenty-three amendments since. Fourthly. how much respect may one give to a constitution which can be transformed from parliamentary to presidential by addition of a
NATO convoy attack
sparsely worded Article 58 (2) B.? It is patent to all analysts of Constitutional Law that the 1973 constitution was carefully crafted to prolong the stranglehold on political power by the feudal elite. This and the subsequent electoral Laws enacted since have all strengthened the status quo. Te only evolution during this period is the addition of the urban nouveau riche to the previously ruler feudal classes. Together these two self-seeking groups have played such havoc on the people of Pakistan that today we are on the tipping point of plunging into the rank of failed states. Wags and the chattering classes, in their cynicism, laugh and say that this fear is endemic to the history of Pakistan. They claim that we have always lived from crisis to crisis, ever since we got quasi-independence in 1947. May be so, but the national debt in 2020 is unsustainable when you look at the income of the state. And at the end of it all, it is the strength of the economy which can be the saving grace, and ensures peace and security. And although so-termed dictators namely, Gen Ayub, Gen Zia, and Gen Musharraf, are the butt of criticism by the wags and the chattering classes, the cold facts are that it was in their tenures that the economy of Pakistan grew between 6 and 10 percent, without any dip. And the miserable performance of our political governments, including the present set-up is for all to see. Inflation in the sensitive price index in the last decade has so broken the back of even the middle classes that they do not even have the strength left to protest. Suffice it to say that most of us are living hand to mouth; but for how much longer. hyperinflation is on the horizon, followed closely by a failed state. A study of economic growth in the rich countries illustrates beyond doubt that periods of growth have only blossomed when there has been a strong central authority, be it Japan, South Korea, or more recently, China. All these countries, and many other members of the G20, have what constitutional experts classify as ‘rigid’ constitutions. Most of these have the ‘Presidential’ form of government. All our economic growth has been under Presidents; our Prime Ministers are noted for other achievements which are not worth mentioning in any decent discourse. In traditional Islamic society, there were four pillars of state; the Ameer, the Army, the ‘Qazi’ and the ‘Bazaar’. The Ameer was the unquestioned authority. he appointed the head of the army, the Chief Justice
of the state, and his court was full of traders and merchants who counseled him on economic policy. If the Ameer ensured peace and plenty, he was loved and honored. If he failed the public weal, he was overthrown, and if that was not possible, assassinated. At the end, it was public weal which prevailed. This Moslem model of governance was so successful that the Moslems remained the predominant power over the known world from the 7th to the 17th Century. Science, architecture, education, medicine, and culture all progressed under the emirs of yore. This model was later adopted by the West as the Presidential form. It is the democratic model of choice today. In Pakistan, there is an ongoing conversation which avers that the present constitutional dispensation has failed to ensure a safe, economically vibrant, and progressive society. It is argued that all our members of Parliament, whether national or provincial, were voted in by a minority of their constituents i.e. that they did not secure more than fifty percent of cast ballots. Also that this ‘first-across-the-line’ system does not reflect the true ideology of the unit’s electorate, which would become patent if there was a run-off between the two most popular candidates. Tied to this is the truth that because the member knows full well that he has been rejected by the majority, he has no great feeling for the citizens of his constituency and forsakes contact with them. how democratic is that? The 1973 constitution stipulates that the cabinet would be selected by the PM/CMs from the elected members only. Thus, non-political experts and professionals are excluded from formulating national policies. This is a self-evident loss to the nation, it is argued. The conversation promotes the thesis that the Parliamentary model that has failed, should be replaced with the Presidential form which historically has been seen to be more beneficial to the people. Also, there needs to be electoral reforms to give proportional representation to the political parties. Numbers polled; proportional numbers of members. Such basic changes in our body politic seem like a pipe dream today because of the large number of entrenched stake-holders, who are enriching themselves and their families like there will be no tomorrow; but if the approaching hyperinflation sets in there would be a groundswell for change. We are in a classic catch-22 situation. The Author is a freelance writer.
Bleak security outlook
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The easy way out
INCe the US invasion of Afghanistan, Pakistan has had to pay a heavy price both in terms of loss of life and damage to the economy worth billions of dollars. Pakistan, under General Pervez Musharraf, became party to the American ‘War on Terror’ resulting in a severe upsurge in domestic and cross border terrorism. It took years of subsequent military operations to clear our badlands of terrorists but this marked improvement in the security situation of the country is quite fragile. Two days back parallel IeD blasts claimed the lives of 20 security personnel. Yesterday a NATO convoy moving through Bara Tehsil of Khyber district in KP en route to Afghanistan came under attack by multiple armed men who stopped the two trailers carrying four humvees and torched the vehicles. Although there was no loss of life, such an incident has taken place after more than a year indicates slippages in the intelligence apparatus of the country. That the target was equipment meant for US-led NATO forces in Afghanistan means that Pakistan-based militants who have made similar attacks are still active and able to remain under the radar before they strike. Not too long ago, Afghan-based Taliban were able to take over Swat and were fast advancing towards Islamabad, which is when necessary action was taken to stop them. Zia-era militancy and years of harboring the enemy notwithstanding, the delayed action against the Taliban plunged the country into an avoidable war resulting in thousands of innocent lives being lost. Pakistan simply cannot afford a repeat of the events that led it to being in the security quagmire that it was for over two decades. This sudden uptick in the number of attacks is alarming and must be dealt with swiftly. As things stand, Pakistan is attempting to at least avoid the dreaded FATF black list and ideally be placed in the white list. Terrorist activity needs to be financed, which is exactly what Pakistan has been unable to stop leading to it being penalized by the FATF. All agencies, be it security or intelligence, must ramp up efforts to preempt these events rather than acting after the fact.
How to sell dumb ideas
Rabia ahmed
T
he downside of democracy is that ‘the public’ is not prone to checking what it hears, and those elected to lead the public understand this only too well. What’s more, they use it. This is called manipulation, and those elected people are politicians, and their manipulation generally takes the form of slogans. Politicians are past master at sloganeering. It’s the nature of the beast. Take Boris Johnson for example when in 2016 Britain was debating eU, in our out. Mr. Johnson of course was campaigning for out and he needed support. he knew full well which buttons to push. “What I certainly cannot imagine is a situation in which 77 million Turks, and those of Turkish origin can come here without any checks at all,” said Mr. Johnson. “That is really mad.” Said the man who while being english is himself a great grandson of a Turkish Muslim, and otherwise descended from Russian Jewish/Lithuanian Jewish, Swiss German, French, Irish, Dutch, Belgian, and American ancestors. You could call him a one-man crowd of immigrants who stormed the country without any checks at all, and took over. Mr. Johnson’s english side knew well that a reference to a horde of Turks pouring into the country would translate into a graphic image of a Mongol invasion, and he knew how it would sit with the bulk of the British population which like the bulk of populations anywhere reads little beyond the London Underground guides. After all why not millions of Spaniards, or Italians, or hungarians? But that would not have had quite that
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transport, no police record, be medically fit and dedicated to ‘serving the nation’ (slogan alert). They’re volunteers, but in these times of covid when every paisa should go into supporting the people who have impact, would it. It had to be Turks and Turks it was. been struck cruelly because of it and are at a loss for The people of Israel have managed to elbow away making ends meet, there is a special fund to support the people who lived in what is now Israel and estab- these by now hundreds of thousands of Tigers across lish a homeland for themselves. The country is now a the country. And what they’re supposed to do is hand fact of life. It is here to stay. It has the backing of pow- out food packages, report any breach of SOPs, or iserful nations. Yet ‘Jewish Survival’ remains a rallying sues identified in markets, educational institutions, cry and their elected leader uses the term freely: when public places, police stations, land record authorities, he wants to re-stoke the fires against Arabs and Pales- and local courts. They are also supposed to keep an tinians he invokes memories of old sufferings. Very eye on the prices of essential food and health items, much as the spectre of India is used in Pakistan. ‘Jew- in other words to monitor food prices and inflation. ish Survival’ is a leftover from when the Jews wan- This is an incredible workload for a massive group dered the desert in search of a homeland, and were of persons with no training or legal sanction. You wonder what other slogan was used in an atcenturies later horrifically persecuted by a monster with an idiotic moustache. Those times are over but tempt to validate this our PM’s latest spark of genius. Well, that would be contained the fear remains in the hearts of in Mr. Khan’s twitter post – the people. new political disjointed pontifAnd then out there across ication that has taken over from the pond in the erstwhile verbal irrational statements – democracy is the man who You wonder what other slogan which says that he wants our once said “I’m the least racist youth to do jihad against the person you have ever interwas used in an attempt to suffering caused by this panviewed” sometime after quesvalidate this our PM’s latest demic. There it is, that magic tioning why the US let people from ‘shithole’ countries enter spark of genius. Well, that would word ‘jihad’ that brings up images of sword wielding ertethe United States. he was referbe contained in Mr. Khan’s gruls driving back shrieking ring to haiti, el Salvador and twitter post – the new political covid attackers. an assortment of African naRaise your hands all those tions at a closed-door meeting disjointed pontification that has who are sick and tired of reliwith congressional leaders and Cabinet members in 2018. This taken over from verbal irrational gion and Arabic words being is the same man who has fed statements – which says that he used to manipulate minds? Not many hands. That’s himself obese on the ‘American wants our youth to do jihad why it works. Dream’ which he has re-defined against the suffering caused by Do we honestly need anto suit himself. other messy group of persons “We’re going to make the this pandemic. unable to do their job? Or do we country great again,” has been need a dedicated group of perhis rallying cry for whatever sons capable of doing what they atrocity he wished to commit, need to, but who lack the funds the Mexican wall, little children separated from their mothers, for attacking affordable and the necessary support. All the Tiger Force has manhealth care for the people. And it worked. The racism aged to achieve for now is to attend a meeting in Attock which once simmered beneath the surface but had not where they violated all social distancing and safety been given the stamp of approval has come out guns measures themselves, all 17,000 of them at that one blazing, crying to make the country white ‘again’. As event. There they created uproar because their local it once was, you understand. We heard about the In- chapter’s president was not invited. In the end Mr. Zulfi digenous man who was told to ‘go back where he came Bukhari who was to speak at the event had to give up from’ so he pitched his tent in his taunter’s front yard. and the affair ended in shambles. What is such a bunch On home ground then, and here we have the co- of people going to achieve? Why is it that politicians almost always try to take rona relief Tiger Force (rowwrrr), something like another army without the discipline, or a police force the easy but hugely detrimental way out? without the training. This yet another group is comRabia Ahmed is a freelance columnist. Read more posed of men and women between the ages of eighteen and forty. They are supposed to have their own by her at http://rabia-ahmed.blogspot.com
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Sunday, 18 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
Biased reporting
Dynamics of an ill-intentioned agitation A classic case of thieves joining hands to save the spoils of their thievery
Candid Corner Raoof hasan “The motive behind criticism often determines its validity. Those who care criticise where necessary. Those who envy criticise the moment they think they have found a weak spot.” –Criss Jami
S
PeNDING a few minutes listening to the shrieking and howling on the television screens, crassly led by the anchors themselves, one gets away with a feeling that some earth-shaking event is taking place which is going to change the course of things in the country. In actual effect, this agenda-driven activity precedes every event planned by the opposition parties with an intention to rock the PTI government. In spite of a history of acrimony separating some leading parties apart, what are the factors which now bind them together? PML-N and PPP are the two political forces which have taken turns at ruling this country and their mutual hatred has been no secret. In times past, they have accused each other of corruption, maladministration, even treachery. Their leaders have threatened to hang their opponents by the poles, tear their stomachs apart, and drag them through the streets. So, what brings them together to stage a joint protest? It is nothing other than saving themselves from the consequences of the spree of loot and plunder that they had unleashed during their respective tenures in power, laundering billions of illicit funds into their foreign accounts. Owing to the process of accountability which the PTI government has initiated in the country, gory details of their daylight robberies have not only surfaced, but cases have been registered against the perpetrators to be appropriately punished. each day, new instances of merciless pillage are unearthed and handed over to the concerned institutions. Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Safdar have already been convicted for their crimes. Grave new cases against them await adjudication. Shahbaz Sharif and hamza Shahbaz are currently in NAB custody undergoing interrogation. There are cases implicating virtually all members of the Sharif family who have absconded, consequently declared fugitives. The Zardaris fare no better than this. Countless cases of laundering billions through fake accounts are registered against them and proceedings are ongoing. Following in the footsteps of Nawaz Sharif, they are also faking ill-
and there are cogent reasons making this case. ness to escape the dragnet of justice. With the successful conclusion of these There may have been disappointments for the cases, not only the leaders of the two parties will people in the last two years as a number of them have to spend prolonged periods behind the bars, expected immediate results, but a majority of but their properties would be confiscated, and them understand that the process of reform is time they would be declared ineligible to participate consuming and remedies would come once the in elections for life, thus leading to dismantling ingredient causes of the division between the benof their political empires. This is a harrowing eficiary elite and the common folks have been eliminated. This involves a change in the way prospect that looms above. Fazlur Rehman is part of the bandwagon be- people look upon things or, more correctly, the cause he has suffered from incurable hallucina- way they have been nurtured to look upon things tions ever since having been left out of the – to work by contacts, not merit, and to operate parliament and the government both. he has by exploiting the system, not by making it transfailed to bear the consequent humiliation. A large parent, accountable, robust and sustainable. The number of his properties, amounting to billions, country was virtually caving in under the unbearhave also been discovered. This is presently able burden of free-loaders who had been imbeing investigated by the NAB and there are posed on it through decades of exploitation. There is another aspect which should not be chances that he may be summoned soon to answer a few questions. his presence in the coali- overlooked in the process of making projections. tion is also owed to his ability to marshalling the People are far more aware today of the wrongcaptive students of his seminaries for staging po- doings of these past rulers than they ever were. They are fully cognisant litical rallies. All other of the remorseless plunparties are there only to der and, consequently, gain some relevance in there are diminished the political arena. The current political game is chances for this band of The mala fide intent thugs to secure their of the agitation is not being played out by the support. There may be a hidden. The results of the last elections were beneficiary elite of the past lot of noise, there may even be some numbers, not accepted by these principally to sabotage the but people also know parties at the very outset that there is no prospect without first pursuing accountability and reform of any change by resortthe remedial process ing to these self-serving outlined in the constituprogrammes of the tactics, particularly tion. Virtually no elecgovernment. The divide has when the past leaders tion petitions were stand fully exposed in moved by PML-N and been further accentuated by a the courts of law. other parties. The selffirm no by the Prime Minister The current political imposed silence over the game is being played out last two years could be to any compromise with the by the beneficiary elite of attributed to behind-thescene efforts for secur- guilty. The ones facing political the past principally to sabotage the accountabiling an unconstitutional extinction are now engaged in ity and reform proreprieve for the guilty of the leaders. having lost any a last-ditch battle to save their grammes government. The divide hope now, and with their has been further accentupolitical fate hanging by loot, and themselves. ated by a firm no by the the most tenuous of Prime Minister to any threads, the only recompromise with the course available was to guilty. The ones facing stir agitation – which is what these parties are now trying to rake up. This political extinction are now engaged in a lastmakes for a classic case of thieves joining hands ditch battle to save their loot, and themselves. There is going to be much hue and cry as could to save the spoils of their thievery. The timing of the protest movement is also be clearly gauged from the build-up to the first an important constituent making for a malevo- protest meeting which turned out to be a horrid lent cause. The process of reform that the PTI anticlimax, thus exposing hollow the claims of government initiated immediately after coming their popularity. The agitation may totter along, into power was a herculean effort to put things but Prime Minister Khan remains resolute to recright. When so much damage had been inflicted tify the errors of the past by cleaning up the sysupon the country by the preceding governments tem. he is also determined to punish the ones who resulting in grave economic conditions and dis- have weakened the state by robbing it of its prommantled institutions, difficult times were bound ise. There comes a time in the history of nations to be a necessary phase to pass through before when people, in spite of a measure of personal things would begin to improve. Additionally, discomfort, must stand up for the cause of the Sharifs and Zaradris unleashed their mafias, state. That time is now - to stand alongside the whom they had nurtured through their days in Prime Minister and give him the strength that he power, to further accentuate the problem by re- needs to free this country of the tentacles of an sorting to hoarding and artificial price hikes. inglorious past and put it on course to irreThat created serious issues for the common peo- versible recovery and progress. ple, rendering purchase of basic commodities The writer is a political and security strategist, beyond their reach. It is this feeling that the opposition conglomerate is trying to exploit. But, and heads the Regional Peace Institute – an Islamabad-based think tank. Email: raoofhasan@hotwill they succeed in this design? The predominant chances are in the negative, mail.com. Twitter: @RaoofHasan
The news media plays a vital role in keeping the public informed of what is happening in the country and around the world. however, when it comes to reporting the matters of political nature, it becomes a bit complex. For many reasons, media outlets tend to have a bent for one party or the other. As humans, it is natural to have likes or preferences for people, parties, and events. however, it is expected from the media persons to rise above their personal likes and report the truth. Unfortunately, the truth can also be spun in many ways. The bias or bent for one party or the other runs to the top in media houses and it only permeates their reporting in two ways. First, it can be spinning the truth to present the facts in a way that makes one side or the other look good. For example, one group would report the increase in the number of COVID-19 cases and the other would report the number of survivors from the deadly virus. Yet another group would mention the number of deaths from Coronavirus. Now all three might be reporting the correct number, information is spun in a way that confuses and create bias among the masses. The second case is more disturbing where biases tend to cloud the judgment of media persons from different channels and newspapers. For example, Liaqat Bagh in Rawalpindi is used for political gatherings and public rallies by political parties. While this ground has a fixed capacity of the maximum number of people it can hold, the reporting by different media outlets of a political gathering is clearly biased. A rally by a political party at this venue would be reported by one media house to be in millions and another media house would estimate the number of participants in thousands. Both estimates are extreme and wrong as the ground has a fixed capacity which is way different than either of the estimates. This type of biased reporting only strengthens the divide among masses creating confusion and at times anarchy. The media houses globally tend to have their bent for one or the other party in their country. however, media outlets in our country have reached another level. Given the level of frustration and anger among people due to deteriorating conditions and rising inflation, such bias in reporting can work as fuel to fire. Our media groups should realize this and stick to honest and truthful reporting. They should try to work to bridge the differences than confusing the already frustrated and divided nation. RAJA SHAFAATuLLAH ISLAmAbAd
Uproot this menace IT has been widely documented that women in this country are targets of being abused. Along with, the sexual violence cases are increasing rapidly. The reasons behind this are military conquest, socio-economic status, power, anger, sadism, traits, ethical standards, and evolution. In some cases, drugs and alcohol are the cases too. Sexual violences are in universal occurrence and in Pakistan, the graph of sexual violence is expanding fast. Almost 93 percent of Pakistani women experience sexual violence. Most of the cases take place in Punjab and least in Gilgit Baltistan. About 72 percent of cases are reported from rural areas and 28 percent in urban areas. however, the two recent cases were the motorway gang rape incident in which a woman was raped in front of her children and the other one was the five year old minor girl who was raped, killed and threw in garbage. Lots of such cases are occuring in Pakistan. Women are raped during pillage and kidnapping often. even the dead bodies are raped. Women are the victims. If today a strong step is not taken then tomorrow it'll be anything but a deal. To prevent further incidents we must uproot the molestation, hang the rapists and punish them. Further, the human Rights along with Gender Rights activists must conduct awareness campaigns regarding this. It is time for the state machinery to feel responsible for revamping and reforming the existing laws in line with international standards in order to protect the lives and honor of the victims. mAHJAbEEn munIR TuRbAT
Another Zainab TWO-and-a-half-year-old Zainab was brutally murdered after being raped in Charsadda. The incident disappeared after circulating on social media for a few days. But on the other hand, the whole family of the oppressed, especially the parents, will be in great distress. Parents may have had great dreams for a little one, but the oppressors stole everything. The occurrence of one tragic event after another is in fact a failure of the rulers. The escalation of traumatic events has gradually spread fear and anxiety among the people. In order to prevent such atrocities, the oppressors should be severely punished. If the government does not punish them, such incidents will increase. The responsible body should take immediate action and bring justice to the victim's family. HunzLA KAKAR zHob
Disadvantages of making videos on social media
MAKING videos for social media platforms is a complete waste of time. Youth and teenagers waste their priceless time creating videos despite giving their attention to studies. It is a common trend in our society that youths aged surprisingly 9 are immersed in this vicious cycle. Instead of reading books the present generation's mind is fixed with Tik Tok. We need to give time to our studies. According to reports many people especially teenagers have breathed their last due to not having followers and getting comments. While there are others who feel proud to upload photos and upload a large fraction of vidoes in a day. Thus, wasting their precious time. If the time given to these videos is equally given to the studies, the conditions would have changed for the better. Therefore, it is requested of the government to ban this app so that the future of the youth is saved. SHEHzAdI SAbzAL TuRbAT
Coronavirus and SOPs We all know that corona virus is spreading over the world like a wild-fire. And there are poor people who don’t have any money to treat themselves in this regard. Because of thCoronavirus any things are stopped in the world and most importantly education is being destroyed in one way or another. It is better that everyone should be serious and follow the SOPs and corona will not catch us. Thus, I request the authority to not allow anyone wandering without any mask and take strict action against them. nAzEER bASHAm TuRbAT
Sunday, 18 October, 2020
08 WORLD VIEW
RupeRt MuRdoch believes Joe biden will beat pResident tRuMp in a ‘landslide’
R
Salon roger SollenBerger
UPERT Murdoch, the billionaire owner of Fox News and an influential ally of President Donald Trump, believes Democratic rival Joe Biden will win the presidential election in a landslide, according to associates. "Disgusted" with the response to the coronavirus pandemic, the media mogul has privately complained about the president's refusal to listen to experts, The Daily Beast reported on Thursday. (Fox News has fueled this problem, multiple studies show.) Murdoch, whose embrace of Trump boosted the crass New York billionaire's ascension in 2016, now believes Biden will cruise to victory on Nov. 3. "After all that has gone on," he reportedly told one associate, "people are ready for Sleepy Joe." Murdoch's friends said the media mogul never took Trump seriously — and their re-
“AFTER ALL THAT HAS GONE ON, PEOPLE ARE READY FOR SLEEPY JOE” lationship was born "out of business necessity," according to the report. In fact, he publicly expressed a similar opinion early in the president's first campaign. One month after Trump threw his hat into the ring, Murdoch tweeted, "When is Donald Trump going to stop embarrassing his friends, let alone the whole country?" The Beast reached out to Murdoch regarding Biden's chances and his opinion on Trump's handling of the pandemic. The media responded, "No comment except I've never called Trump an idiot." (The latter was
Twitter, Facebook and some inconvenient truths
a reference to a 2018 report from Michael Wolff's insider White House account "Fire and Fury," in which the News Corp chairman was quoted as calling the president a "f***ing idiot" following a discussion about immigration.) One day earlier, a News Corp tabloid published a hotly disputed series of stories surrounding alleged emails between Biden's son Hunter and officials connected with the Ukrainian energy company Burisma. One expert told Salon that the incendiary work based on unverified emails was "a garbage fire story with obscene numbers of legal holes and flaws." The Beast report matches a Vanity Fair story from September, which reported that Trump had "screamed" at Murdoch this summer over alleged "unfair" coverage of his administration from Fox News, which the president once viewed as an ally. The "humongous blowup" came in a
RCM Harold FurcHtgott-rotH & KirK arner
Section 230 and cries of anti-conservative bias online are in the news again. In the immortal words of Yogi Berra, it’s déjà vu all over again. Only this time, things are a little different. Earlier this week, Twitter and Facebook took actions that prevented users from sharing a New York Post article containing allegations about Hunter Biden that are potentially damaging to the elder Biden’s presidential campaign. For its part, Facebook limited the story’s exposure on users’ News Feeds, subject to a “fact check.” Twitter, meanwhile, labeled links to the story as “potentially unsafe,” and then subsequently blocked users from sharing it altogether. Twitter even went as far as to lock the accounts of users who had previously shared the story, including those of the Trump campaign, the White House press secretary, and even some journalists. At one time, there were, broadly speaking, two types of websites housing user-uploaded content. The first—think Craigslist or Reddit—allow nearly unlimited uploads of user content, with restrictions typically reserved only for content that is clearly illegal or otherwise reprehensible. The second type allows very limited uploads of user content, which are carefully reviewed and curated by the website prior to being hosted. An example of this might be a real estate broker’s website, with listings carefully curated by a discerning editor. But increasingly, these two types are blending together. Consequently, we’re beginning to see the rise of a third type of user content-driven website. This third type claims to allow users to upload a wide variety of content. But it will bury, block, or outright ban user content deemed unsafe or untruthful. And far too often, these acts of censorship are taken in haphazard manners that, unintentionally or otherwise, reek of political favoritism. In the case of New York Post article, Twitter claimed it needed to restrict users from sharing the article because it violated Twitter’s rules prohibiting sharing individuals’ email addresses and phone numbers. It also claims that the article violates Twitter’s Hacked Materials Policy, due to the emails in the article potentially being obtained by Russian hackers. The article in question may have indeed violated these rules. But the truth is that these rules are rarely and selectively applied. Just ask Federal Communications
To what end does this “fact checking” exist? Of the hundreds of millions of daily uploads on Facebook, many filled with false information, few if any are tortured by “fact checkers.” If Facebook’s “fact checkers” find the New York Post’s article to be truthful, will Facebook allow the articles to be widely shared? Or will a shadowy truth board hold the article hostage and refuse to release it until a later date, when readers forget about the story altogether? Perhaps that’s the point. In the meantime, the Streisand effect remains in full force. As for Section 230—by their actions, both Twitter and Facebook likely have lost broad liability protections under the law. Under Section 230(c)(1), websites shall not be treated as the “publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.” And under Section 230(c)(2), websites avoid liability for efforts to “restrict access to or availability of . . . objectionable” content. But websites lose that safe harbor when they go beyond merely restricting access, and instead publicly editorialize against user content. At that point, the website is no longer a provider of access to information; it instead becomes a speaker itself. By publicly criticizing and editorializing against the information disclosed in and the provenance of the New York Post’s article, Twitter has engaged in its own form of original speech which is not sheltered in the safe harbor of Section 230. And by similarly publicly questioning the truthfulness of the article, Facebook likely also acted beyond Section 230’s safe harbor. Nevertheless, Section 230 remains contentiously debated. President Trump has repeatedly voiced his opposition to the law, as have former Vice President Biden and countless senators. Additionally, the Federal Communications Commission has decided to conduct a rulemaking to “clarify the meaning” of the law. To be clear, Section 230 remains a vital component of the user content-driven Internet we all enjoy today. And the best solution to online censorship is more, not less, speech—to let markets, not government, solve the political censorship problem. Market solutions may well include consumers shifting to social media sites that do not censor content, combined with private lawsuits against those sites that violate their own terms of use outside of the protection of Section 230. In anticipation of those market reactions and the enormity of recent events, legislators’ and regulators’ disdain for Twitter and Facebook should hardly be surprising. Harold Furchtgott-Roth is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute. Kirk R. Arner is a legal fellow at the Hudson Institute.
Roger Sollenberger is a staff writer at Salon.
Is Indonesia selling out to investors? LIKE BRAZIL, INDONESIA IS PERENNIALLY THE PLACE WITH LOTS OF POTENTIAL
“FACT CHECKING” IS FAR TOO OFTEN A 21ST CENTURY INVENTION USED TO ACCUSE POLITICAL FIGURES OF LYING Commission Chairman Ajit Pai, who was publicly doxxed and harassed in 2017 following his attempts to roll back Obama-era Internet regulations. A simple Twitter search today reveals tweets from that time claiming to contain his home address. How does this not violate Twitter’s rules? Consider another recent example. Twitter did nothing to rein in users from sharing various New York Times articles published last month detailing years of the president’s confidential tax returns. Surely this highly personal information was hacked or otherwise obtained illicitly. And lest we not forget the confidential emails of John Podesta and other Democratic operatives, infamously stolen by Russian hackers and widely disseminated on social media in 2016. Of course, it would be impossible for Twitter to perfectly apply its rules. Twitter users send roughly 500 million tweets per day. Surely many of those tweets contain personal information like email addresses and phone numbers, yet are not blocked. So it’s only fair to ask—why were Twitter’s rules enforced in only one of these many high-profile instances? In a tweet from his personal account, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said that “blocking URL sharing via tweet or DM with zero context as to why we’re blocking [was] unacceptable.” Actually, Mr. Dorsey is mistaken. He would be wise to follow an old adage: it is better to remain silent and be thought to be a fool than to speak and remove all doubt. Facebook is also becoming a new, third type of user content-driven website—one that, like Twitter, is far too often marred by selective application of shifting rules resulting in predictable, politically-tinged consequences. Don’t just take our word for it. Andy Stone, a senior executive at Facebook, tweeted that the company was “reducing [the New York Post article’s] distribution” on Facebook, pending a “fact check.” This was the only proffered rationale for Facebook’s suppression of the New York Post article. Instead of violating an internal rule, a Facebook executive seemingly personally plucked a politically potent article for “fact checking.” Facebook is even more widely used than Twitter. In 2019, Facebook had 2.5 billion active monthly users, with users uploading 350 million photos every day. Of the hundreds of millions of files and posts uploaded daily, few if any of these are subject to “fact checking.” Rather than actually involving a search for truth, “fact checking” is far too often a 21st century invention used to accuse political figures of lying. Publications that a decade or two ago would have sneered at the idea now have entire departments filled with dedicated “fact checks.”
phone call, during which "Trump yelled that Fox's coverage is unfair and the polling is fake," according to Vanity Fair. "Sources who've spoken with Trump told me Trump thinks Murdoch wants him to lose," journalist Gabriel Sherman wrote. Rupert's youngest son, James, gave more than $2 million with his wife to support Biden and other Democratic campaigns over the summer. Citing editorial disagreements, James Murdoch stepped away from the family empire in July. He still retains voting rights. "I reached the conclusion that you can venerate a contest of ideas, if you will, and we all do and that's important," James Murdoch told The New York Times in a recent interview about his decision to leave. "But it shouldn't be in a way that hides agendas. A contest of ideas shouldn't be used to legitimize disinformation. And I think it's often taken advantage of. And I think at great news organizations, the mission really should be to introduce fact to disperse doubt — not to sow doubt, to obscure fact, if you will." James Murdoch said those differences complicated editorial decisions to the extent that "it was actually not that hard a decision to remove myself and have a kind of cleaner slate."
BlooMBERG daniel MoSS
Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo has taken a big gamble. A key component of the 905-page omnibus law passed last week chisels away at the country’s wall of labor protections, making it a win for employers and investors. In response, tens of thousands of protesters have taken to the streets. Some have turned violent. While few politicians would be bold enough to take on labor reform with the economy buckling beneath a pandemic, Jokowi should stick to his guns. These changes are sorely needed and he is running out of time. The legislation reduces the steep severance pay owed by employers, while some forthcoming regulations could make contract workers more attractive relative to full-time staff. Union leaders and provincial political chiefs have urged Jokowi, as the president is known, to rescind or soften parts of the law, which contains a kitchen sink of other provisions. Yet few, if any, countries in Asia have firing costs as high as Indonesia, or such complicated procedures to calculate severance. So while the initiatives aren’t perfect, they do mark a step forward. (Investors, for one, responded positively). With a young population, a growing middle class and plenty of natural resources, Indonesia ought to be an economic star. But growth was stuck at around 5% before the pandemic. Now, thanks to COVID-19, gross domestic product will likely contract this year for the first time since the Asian financial crisis. That’s why capital needs a win right now. Foreigners have been retreating from the bond market, and now hold about 27% of the country’s debt, down from as high as 39% at the start of the year. That’s a problem, given the increase in borrowing required to fund coronavirus-relief spending. Indonesia also suffers from a persistent current-account deficit. The rupiah, meanwhile, was Asia’s worst performing currency last quarter, buffeted by communications snafus that raised questions about the independence of the central bank and how long it will have to monetize the budget. Despite chipping away at some employee protections, the labor changes fall well short of dismantling them entirely. The maximum severance borne by bosses has been reduced to 19 months from 32 months. The government is likely to make up at least some of the difference from a new jobs fund created by the bill. It’s unclear whether this will be a mix of cash or less tangible benefits, such as worker training. Keep in mind, too, that few people actually received the severance they were
entitled to under existing laws. Only a minority get any compensation at all, according to the World Bank. More than half of those who do receive less than the amount owed, with little recourse. For all that injustice, the system wasn’t working too well for companies, either. Indonesia consistently ranks poorly in surveys assessing the ease of doing business. Soon after winning re-election last year, Jokowi told Bloomberg Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait that he was eager to address investor complaints about restrictions on hiring and firing. He was only too aware that Indonesia must compete for investment dollars and emphasized the country had to become more than a raw-material giant. Protesters are probably also worried about what’s not in the bill. The key issue of contract workers will be addressed in follow-up regulations likely to dribble out of Jokowi’s office over coming weeks and months. One question is the level of severance protection, according to Kevin O’Rourke, author of “Reformasi Weekly Review,” a Jakarta policy newsletter. The law removes a three-year cap on fixed contracts, which have been used as a workaround for employers reluctant to boost permanent payroll. Like Brazil, Indonesia is perennially the place with lots of potential. Some studies even depict it sharing commercial power later this century with China, India and the U.S., an unlikely proposition unless its cumbersome economic machinery can be streamlined. “At issue, primarily, is the ability of Indonesia to capture inward investment that has been flowing instead to other destinations for manufacturing, especially Vietnam,” O’Rourke wrote Friday. “The exceedingly high job-loss compensation levels stipulated … rarely benefited workers in practice — but they did serve to ward off potential investors, who regarded the regulatory landscape as treacherous.” Jokowi won the presidency on his credentials as a small businessman-turned-populist reformer. But he has let down many people along the way. Jokowi’s newcomer status meant people could project whatever hopes and fears they wanted onto him, as a former minister observed to me last year. Executives saw Jokowi as one of them, a man who could free commerce from hidebound constraints. For the poor, he was the regular guy not beholden to special interests. Labor changes are always more palatable during good times, so Jokowi has his work cut out. He has had job-market reform in his sights for a while and this might be his best shot. The president is also in his second term and can’t run again. Soon jockeying will start for the 2024 elections, making dramatic shifts in policy harder still. Somewhere in those 905 pages of legislation is a hint of his legacy. Daniel Moss is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Asian economies. Previously he was executive editor of Bloomberg News for global economics, and has led teams in Asia, Europe and North America.
Sunday, 18 October, 2020
BUSINESS 09
TikTok PLEdGEs To iNvEsT iN PakisTaN if PTa REoPENs aPP
corporate corner
KARACHI: Bata Managing Director Imran Malik has been elected as the new chairman of Pakistan Footwear Manufacturer Association (PFMA) for the year 20202021. In his welcome speech, he thanked outgoing chairman and retiring executive members for their contribution to the footwear sector and to the association. press release
Peshawar traders reject price hike in essential commodities PESHAWAR aZIZ BUNerI
The traders of Peshawar city on Saturday rejected the new price list with increased rates issued by the district administration to control prices and maintain transparency. The new list fixed rates for various commodities from rice to pulses to milk and meat. Under the new pricelist, rate of Chapli kebab was fixed at Rs450 per kilogramme (kg), mutton at Rs810 per kg, whereas grind meat was fixed at Rs400 per kg. The district administration had directed all vendors to ensure the implementation of new pricelist, failing which strict action would be taken against defaulters. The traders rejected the said pricelist, alleging that the administration was blaming small traders for its failure to control the inflation. “The government and the administration failed to take action against big mafias and now they are putting the burden on small traders,” a trader told Pakistan Today. He added that prices of essential items were continuously on the rise and beyond the control of the government, therefore, they should not fix rates. According to the announcement, the rates were fixed in 2019, but now due to different circumstances, they had been increased. Under the orders, all types of pulses and rice were to be listed in Urdu so that the citizens could understand it. It was directed that the oil will not be reused. Similarly, on Tuesday, there will be meat available while chicken kebabs will not be sold. Peshawar resident Irshad Ali Khan said that the district administration always failed to implement rates of commodities whenever they were changed. He added that inflation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and other parts of the country was on rise continuously for the last two years. “The district administration officials have never shown any interest in providing relief to the public and control inflation,” Khan said.
i
BABAR KHAN JAVED
N an official statement, a spokesperson from TikTok has shared that if the Government of Pakistan decides to reopen access to its services, the Chinese videosharing social networking service will certainly assess the allocation of resources to the Pakistan market. “Over the past year, we've made concerted efforts to address questions from the Government of Pakistan around our content moderation process, including significantly increasing the capacity of our local language content moderation team,” said the spokesperson. “After TikTok was blocked in Pakistan, we continued to engage with the PTA to demonstrate our commitment to comply with local laws and further enhance our content moderation capacity. Though the PTA
THE CHINESE VIDEO-SHARING SERVICE INTENDS TO IMPROVE ITS CONTENT MODERATION CAPACITY AND ADHERE TO LOCAL LAWS FURTHER AFTER ITS APP IS REOPENED acknowledged and appreciated these efforts, our services remain blocked in the country and we have received no communication from PTA.” The spokesperson said that the company was disappointed that in spite of these efforts, its userbase in Pakistan is still unable to access the app more than a week after being blocked by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) on the 9th of October 2020. As reported by Profit, TikTok has 25 million downloads in Pakistan of which 68% are female and 96pc are Android users. User behavior data shows that the app is opened an aver-
age of five times a day, generating 14 billion views a month, and consuming an average of 34 minutes of each user’s day. According to Sensor Tower data pertaining to the first and second quarters of 2020, TikTok has ranked in the top five most downloaded apps in Pakistan, on both the Google Play store and the Apple App Store. The latest data from Sensor Tower shows that since TikTok was banned in Pakistan, it has slipped in-app download rankings from the top five to the top 20 on Google Play, with Android being the predominated operating system for TikTok’s audience in Pakistan.
Capitalizing on the ban, LIKEE by Joyy Inc has ramped up its investment in YouTube advertising to drive app installs, with the app now ranking in the top three most downloaded apps in Pakistan. Before the ban on TikTok, LIKEE ranked in the top ten. Two India-based companies have also jumped in to win over disgruntled users in Pakistan, with clear TikTok replicas: Tik Tik Video India by Bonanza App Lab in the top 40 and MX TakaTak which went from the top 100 in Pakistan to number one nationwide according to Sensor Tower. Both companies have predominately begun using YouTube for their app install campaigns. It is unclear whether the PTA will take notice of these trends and block Indian-owned apps from acquiring data from users in Pakistan, which can be interpreted as a national security concern.
Weekly inflation rises 0.45pc ISLAMABAD app
The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI)based weekly inflation for the combined consumption group witnessed an increase of 0.45pc during the week ending October 15 as compared to the previous week. The SPI for the week under review in the above mentioned group was recorded at 141.36 points against 140.73 points registered in the previous week, according to the latest data issued by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). As compared to the corresponding week of last year, the SPI for the combined consumption group during the week under review witnessed an increase of 9.20pc. The weekly SPI with base year 2015-16=100 covers 17 urban cen-
ters and 51 essential items for all expenditure groups. The SPI for the lowest consumption group, up to Rs17,732, witnessed 1.56pc increase, from 148.78 points in the last week to 149.76 points during the week under review. Meanwhile, weekly inflation for the consumption groups from Rs17,732-Rs22,888, Rs22,889Rs29,517; Rs29,518-Rs44,175; Rs29,518 to Rs44,175 and above Rs 44,175 per month also increased by 0.28pc, 0.42pc, 0.52pc and 0.50pc, respectively. During the week, prices of nine items decreased, 25 items increased while that of 17 items remained unchanged. The items that recorded a decrease in their average prices included bananas, onions, potatoes, garlic, moong pulse, masoor pulse,
gur, gram pulse and electricity charges. On the other hand, the commodities which recorded an increase in their average prices included chicken, eggs, tomatoes, LPG cylinder, sugar, matchbox, cooked beef, washing soap, cooked daal, mash pulse, rice (Irri-6/9), energy saver, milk (fresh), wheat flour, vegetable ghee, mustard oil, rice (basmati broken), tea (packet), tea (prepared), cooking oil (loose), long cloth, curd and beef. Similarly, the prices of the commodities that observed no change in prices during the week under review included bread, mutton, salt, chillies, cigarettes, shirting, lawn, georgette, gents sandal, ladies sandal, gas charges, firewood, petrol, diesel, telephone call and toilet soap.
‘Covid-19 to lower global economic output by 4pc’
‘Pak-China agro-industrial cooperation gaining momentum under CPEC’
BERLIN: Private banks in Germany expect the Covid-19 crisis to lower global economic output by around 4 percent this year, the Association of German Banks (BdB) said. “Since all regions of the world are affected, this would be the worst economic slump since the Second World War,” said BdB President Hans-Walter Peters in a statement. In 2021, global economic output is projected to grow again by around five percent. However, the global economy is “not yet out of the woods,” added Peters. The BdB stressed that there were uncertainties, and that much would depend on how the world’s largest economy, the United States, would get out of the COVID-19 crisis. In view of the global economic slump, Germany’s private banks have called for structural reforms in Germany and in Europe. “In such turbulent times, the question of how Europe’s competitiveness can be strengthened is more important than ever,” said Peters. One important issue was the digitization of money. “Without a digital euro, Europe threatens to jeopardize its international competitiveness,” said Peters, adding that China already was a step ahead in this field. At the beginning of October, the European Central Bank (ECB) announced its intention to intensify work on a digital euro and it also launched a public consultation process. TlTp
Agro-industrial cooperation under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has been gaining momentum in recent months, Gwadar Pro reported on Saturday. This cooperation is an important area of CPEC phase-II, under which China announced to set up eight new agricultural institutes in Pakistan. In this connection, private sector has a major role, to be facilitated by both the governments. As agreed, in this area, the Chinese private sector will form joint ventures with Pakistani companies. It was decided that a leading research center focusing on pest control will be in Karachi. Research will be done on insects and pests and how to protect seeds and plants from these pests. According to the report, both countries agreed to work together to produce high-quality inputs, especially seeds, which are direly needed in Pakistan. The quality of the seed is the foremost priority for healthy production. Therefore, to improve the seed quality, another research institute will be established from where quality seeds will be provided to the farmers. Moreover, the standards would be set to increase the production.
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The CPEC Authority has also prioritized it and is working to make it operational as soon as possible. Agriculture is one of the seven pillars of the long-term CPEC plan. It has been agreed that both countries will work on enhancing cooperation in the agriculture sector. The authority's sources said that China will assist Pakistan in developing an agro-industrial base, which is negligible at present. Fatima Group and China Machinery Engineering Corporation have already signed an MoU in this regard. The cooperation will serve multiple objectives. As Chinese firms are way ahead in terms of technology and experience, it will help build the capability of Pakistani companies, besides making way for technology transfer. Processing of agricultural produce is another weak area where China has started providing assistance to Pakistan. It will donate a date processing plant to Balochistan in accordance with the commitment to investing in areas of southern Balochistan. “Dates are an important food product in Balochistan but due to unsatisfactory processing facilities, the province loses a huge quantity of dates every year. Onion, mango and meat processing are other areas which will get assistance from China,” the report concluded.
Conversion of CNG vehicles to RLNG to cut oil import bill by 20pc: PEW ISLAMABAD app
Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) Chairman Brigadier (r) Aslam Khan on Saturday lauded the move of the government to promote the use of regasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) in vehicles in place of compressed natural gas (CNG), saying that the move will reduce the oil import bill by almost 20 per cent. As per the plan, conversion of CNG stations to RLNG is in progress and the CNG stations will not get natural gas in future. Instead, they will use imported LNG which will bring an end to the scarcity of gas for vehicles during the winter, Khan said. The chairman said that besides reducing oil import bill, the move will reduce environmental pollution and fares for the masses. Aslam Khan said that the imported LNG will be around 20 to 25 per cent cheaper than petrol which will provide relief to millions of people linked to the transport sector and commuters. “This will also help the government utilise the idle capacity of LNG terminals which was resulting in heavy losses,” he said. “This will bring down the terminal charges on a unit basis while the private sector will start building new terminals with new investments,” he added. He went on to say that a sizable volume of local gas will be saved through this initiative which could be diverted to the industrial sector, reducing complaints and triggering production and employment. “RLNG usage should be encouraged throughout the year and the natural gas could be used for more efficient purposes in the industrial and power sectors,” he added
Rising inflation to hurt economic growth in post-corona slowdown: FPCCI KARACHI sTaFF repOrT
The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) has warned the authorities that inflation above 6pc can hurt the country’s economic growth in post-corona slowdown, adding that a long-term strategy is required to keep the inflation rate in check. In a written statement issued on Saturday, FPCCI President Mian Anjum Nisar said that Pakistan inflation surged to over 9pc in Sept as against stable annual inflation rate of 1.2pc across the world. He urged the
government to put the economy on a balanced and sustainable growth trajectory and address the underlying structural vulnerabilities, as low export growth, limited foreign exchange reserves, documentation of economy and higher food inflation still remain the major challenges for the economy. He said that there is a consensus that a low inflation rate helps economic activities, while high inflation hurts economic growth. “High inflation environment affects decision making of all economic agents like investors, savers, consumers and producers as they remain uncertain about the expected payoffs from their decisions. Moreover,
persistent high inflation also causes erosion of the value of the local currency in terms of foreign currencies. Such uncertainties, in turn, have adverse implications for economic activities.” Anjum Nisar further explained low inflation helps economic agents to predict outcome of their economic decisions with fair level of certainty. Especially, producers follow their plans for business expansion with more confidence; and new investment is undertaken in the expectation of predictable returns. The FPCCI president stressed the need to build on gains made on the ‘ease of
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doing business front, which requires not just the capacity development in key public institutions, but also a continuous dialogue with relevant stakeholders to ensure smooth implementation. He said that owing to low unit prices, exports growth remained low. Terming inflation a serious threat to economy, he urged the government to come up with out-of-the-box solution to expedite economic activities in the country. The FPCCI president lamented that regular increase in oil, gas, power rates and rupee devaluation was posing threat to all sectors besides making life of common
man miserable. Over the past three months, he noted, prices of fresh vegetables, fruits and meat have increased massively while average inflation during the January witnessed 12year high at 14.6pc this year -- the highest inflation not only in comparison with the developed economies but also with emerging economies. He said the IMF loan has had devastating effects on the economy, as with more taxes and increased rates of utilities, cost of production has further increased, rendering Pakistani exports uncompetitive in the global market.
Sunday, 18 October, 2020
10 FOREIGN NEWS india gives go-ahead to home trial of russian Covid-19 vaccine NEW DELHI: India’s vaccines regulator has given the green light for a clinical study of the Russia-developed Covid-19 vaccine. Similar trials of the formulation are underway in Russia itself and in some other nations. The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), a department in India’s drug regulator that is responsible for licensing vaccines, has given its approval for a domestic clinical study of the Russian candidate vaccine dubbed “Sputnik V,” Indian and Russian partners have announced in a joint statement. The “multi-centre and randomised controlled study” will be conducted by Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, a Hyderabad-based pharmaceutical giant. In September, Dr Reddy’s signed a partnership agreement with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which funded the development of the drug. After Sputnik V is cleared for Indian customers, RDIF will supply 100 million doses of the vaccine, according to the deal. The Russian partner also pledged to supply data from the clinical trial of Sputnik V conducted in Russia, saying it will help “further strengthen the clinical development” of the vaccine in India. Russia registered the new vaccine in August, before a large-scale Phase-3 clinical trial was conducted. The developer managed to convince the Russian drug licensing agency that its product, which is based on a time-tested platform, was safe to use. A proper efficacy study, involving 40,000 volunteers, is currently coming to an end in the country. The novel drug was also supplied to several other countries, including Belarus, Venezuela and the UAE, where separate Phase-3 trials of the Russian vaccine are underway. AGENCIES
iranian ports operate normally after cyber attacks foiled
Turkey seeks imparTial approaCh by eu in easT mediTerranean ANKARA
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URKEY called on the EU to stop threatening the country and adopt a tangible and impartial approach to ongoing tensions in the eastern Mediterranean. Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami Aksoy said in a statement that Turkey sought to reduce tensions with the bloc and that Ankara displayed its goodwill by responding positively to calls for dialogue, citing an earlier statement this month following an EU summit where it said Turkey expected tangible steps from the union. Arguing that the EU ignored Turkey's theses and took a biased attitude on the issue, Aksoy went on to say that his country was determined to defend its
rights, along with those of the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), in the region. According to the official, Turkey was not surprised that the EU viewed its determination as provocative, adding that the bloc's attitude did not encourage a positivity between Turkey and the EU and that its language was far from sincere and constructive. He called on the body to work towards resolving the outstanding issues by respecting the rights of Turkey and the TRNC in line with common interests and stop yielding to the "spoiled" and "irrational" demands of Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration. The EU leaders summit had issued a declaration claiming Turkey was acting unilaterally in the Eastern Mediterranean and that the EU regretted provocative moves by the Turkish government. German
Canada not to be cowed by China on human rights: Trudeau
Trump approves California's request for wildfire relief funds LOS ANGELES TLTP
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TEHRAN: One of the targets of large cyber attacks on two Iranian government institutions this week was the electronic infrastructure of the country’s ports, an Iranian news agency revealed. However, the Ports and Maritime Organization of Iran said it has foiled a cyberattack on the electronic infrastructures of the seaports. The Ports and Maritime Organization of Iran announced in a statement that its information technology experts have thwarted a cyberattack targeting the electronic infrastructures of the Iranian ports. According to the Organization of Iran all missions and activities of the Ports and Maritime Organization are going on normally, the statement added, noting that online services are being provided to prevent any disruption to the freight services or loading and unloading operations even for a moment. Last month, an official said the export of non-oil commodities in the first half of the current Iranian year via the southeastern port city of Chabahar has risen by 95 percent compared to the corresponding period a year earlier. Chabahar is the closest and best access point of Iran to the Indian Ocean and Iran has devised serious plans to turn it into a transit hub for immediate access to markets in the northern part of the Indian Ocean and Central Asia. AGENCIES
Canada will continue to defend human rights in China, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has said after a top Chinese diplomat warned Ottawa against welcoming Hong Kong pro-democracy activists. “We will stand up loudly and clearly for human rights, all around the world, whether it’s talking about the situation faced by the Uighurs, whether it’s talking about the very concerning situation in Hong Kong, whether it’s calling out China for its coercive diplomacy,” said Trudeau said on Friday. But he added: “We don’t look to escalate.” China’s ambassador to Ottawa, Cong Peiwu, warned Canada on Thursday against granting asylum to Hong Kong activists, which he said could have consequences for the “health and security” for the 300,000 Canadians living in the theoretically autonomous Chinese territory. The Canadian daily The Globe and Mail said Ottawa had recently granted asylum to a Hong Kong couple, which the Canadian government has neither
no-deal brexit looms as Johnson urges eu to change approach
Aussie authorities seize 552kg of cocaine shipment
LONDON: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said unless there is a “fundamental change in approach” from the European Union then the UK will go for the “Australia solution” – Downing Street language for no-deal – in the post-Brexit trade talks. Speaking to broadcasters, Johnson said: “From the outset we were totally clear that we wanted nothing more complicated than a Canada-style relationship based on friendship and free trade. “To judge by the latest EU summit in Brussels, that won’t work for our EU partners. “They want the continued ability to control our legislative freedom, our fisheries in a way that is completely unacceptable to an independent country. “And since we have only 10 weeks until the end of the transition period on January 1, I have to make judgment about the likely outcome and get us ready. AGENCIES
Chancellor Angela Merkel, for her part, called for deescalation in the region and closer dialogue between Ankara and Brussels. Turkey, which has the longest continental coastline in the Eastern Mediterranean, has rejected maritime boundary claims of Greece and the Greek Cypriot administration in the region and stressed that these excessive claims violate the sovereign rights of both Turkey and the Turkish Cypriots. Ankara has sent several drill ships and seismic research vessels in the past weeks to explore for energy on its continental shelf, asserting its own rights in the region, as well as those of the TRNC. Turkish leaders have repeatedly stressed that Ankara is in favor of resolving all outstanding problems in the region through international law, good neighborly relations, dialogue, and negotiation.
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A joint investigation into a shipment of approximately 552 kilograms of cocaine concealed in bags of banana pulp from Brazil has resulted in the arrest of a 68year-old man in Sydney. Operation Stalwart began in September 2020 following information from U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) about a suspect shipment destined for Australia, a joint statement by Australian law enforcement authorities on Saturday said. Australian Border Force (ABF) officers say they examined the consignment which arrived into Sydney from Brazil on 21 September 2020. The refrigerated container held close to 2,000 boxes of assorted fruit
confirmed nor denied. In a sign of the rising tensions between the two countries, Canadian Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne had earlier slammed the ambassador’s remarks as “totally unacceptable and disturbing.” For his part, the new leader of the conservative opposition, Erin O’Toole, called on the Chinese diplomat “to fully retract his remarks and issue a public apology.” “Should the ambassador fail to do so expeditiously, we expect the government to withdraw his credentials,” he said.
pulp. Further examination revealed approximately 275 boxes in the shipment contained banana pulp. ABF officers identified anomalies within these boxes, with closer examination revealing a white substance secreted in the bags of banana pulp. Preliminary testing of the substance returned a positive result for cocaine. Australian Federal Police (AFP) Crime Scene Investigators removed the cocaine from the banana pulp bags and reconstructed the shipment in preparation for a controlled delivery. The cocaine totalled approximately 552 kilograms, which has an estimated street value of a staggering $248 million. The 68-year-old man was arrested at his residence in Forestville, in Sydney in the matter and has been charged with offences carrying a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
US President Donald Trump has approved California's request for a Major Disaster Declaration to bolster the state's emergency response to wildfires, California governor Gavin Newsom stated. "Just got off the phone with President Trump who has approved our Major Disaster Declaration request. Grateful for his quick response," said Newsom in a statement. A Presidential Major Disaster Declaration helps people in the impacted counties through eligibility for support including crisis counseling, housing and unemployment assistance and legal services. It also provides federal assistance to help state, tribal and local governments fund emergency response, recovery and protective measures, according to the statement from Newsom's office. California officials said earlier that the Trump administration had rejected California's application for disaster relief funds, which aimed at bolstering California's emergency response to wildfires across the state and support impacted residents in six counties in the state, including Fresno, Los Angeles, Madera, Mendocino, San Bernardino, San Diego and Siskiyou counties. Newsom had asked for the major disaster declaration on Sept. 28. The denial and the later reversal on the aid caused widespread concern in the United States. There was a clash of views between the Trump administration and California on the state's handling of wildfires. The administration urged California to improve the management of its forests while Newsom blamed climate change for wildfires. Since the beginning of the year, there have been over 8,500 wildfires that have burned well over a record 4.1 million acres (16,592 square km) in the state, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) reported on Friday.
Why tech giants limited the spread of NY Post story on Biden? OAKLAND AGENCIES
When Facebook and Twitter moved quickly this week to limit the spread of an unverified political story published by the conservative-leaning New York Post, it led to predictable cries of censorship from the right. But it also illustrated the slippery hold even the largest tech companies have on the flow of information, particularly in the midst of a raucous presidential election campaign. While Facebook and Twitter have often been slow to combat apparent misinformation and other violations of their rules, their response, in this case, shows how quickly they can move when they want to. Misinformation frequently outpaces the truth on social networks, academic studies have found. But if social media titans aren’t careful, their attempts to clamp down on a story can amplify it further. And even when
they exercise caution, they risk generating their own headlines with every move. For the first time in recent memory, the two social media platforms enforced rules against misinformation on a story from a mainstream media publication. The story in question, which has not been confirmed by other publications, cited unverified emails from Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s son that were reportedly discovered by President Donald Trump’s allies. Trump’s campaign seized on the report, although it raised more questions than answers, including whether emails at the center of the story were hacked or fabricated. Neither company responded when asked if they have previously taken similar action against a mainstream news article, although Facebook said demoting material while it awaits a fact check is a common practice. Facebook used the possibil-
ity of false information as the reason to limit the article’s reach, which means its algorithm shows it to fewer people, much the way you might not see as many posts from friends you don’t interact with often. Twitter, meanwhile, blocked users from tweeting out the link to the story and from sending it in private messages. Though they acted quickly, both companies stumbled on communicating their decision to the public. In part because of this, and in part by the mere act of trying to limit the story, the tech platforms soon became the story, especially in conservative circles where purported bias from Big Tech is already a prime talking point. The fact that a major, bigcity newspaper was getting the treatment usually reserved for more fringe outlets added extra fuel to the fire. “I find this behavior stunning but not surprising from a platform that has censored the President of
the United States,” wrote Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) in a letter to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. Republican lawmakers on Thursday announced plans to subpoena Dorsey to testify about his platform’s actions. In a somewhat unusual move Wednesday morning, a Facebook spokesman took to Twitter to announce that the company was “reducing” the story’s distribution on the platform while waiting for thirdparty fact-checkers to verify it. Facebook regularly does this with material that isn’t banned outright from its service, but that risks spreading lies or causing harm in other ways. Later on Wednesday, Twitter began banning its users from sharing links to the article in tweets and direct messages because it violated the company’s policy that prohibits hacked content. But it didn’t alert its users as to why they couldn’t share the link until hours later.
Sunday, 18 October, 2020
Misbah may pick Khushdil Shah over Shoaib Malik for Zimbabwe series NEWS DESK Shoaib Malik, an experienced all-rounder, is unlikely to be included in the national team for the upcoming T20 series against Zimbabwe as chief selector Misbah-ulHaq wants to give young batsman Khushdil Shah a chance, according to a local media report. Malik, 38, has failed to live up to expectations thus far in the domestic event, contributing just 177 runs - of which 74 came in a single innings - over 10 matches of the round-robin stage. This dull display adds to his 14-run knock in the only T20I he played on the recent tour of England. Meanwhile, Southern Punjab's hard-hitting batsman Khushdil has been in scintillating form in the National T20 Cup, and is not only the fifth-highest scorer of the tournament but now also holds the record of hitting the fastest-ever T20 century by a Pakistani batsman. Read more: Khushdil Shah smashes fastest century by a Pakistani in T20 cricket Despite being on the peripherals of the national T20 unit for a while, Khushdil only has a single cap to his name - something Misbah wants to change soon as the lefty is in line to play all three T20Is against Zimbabwe, as per Daily Express' sources. Abdullah Shafique, the other National T20 star, is also almost a certainty to be selected even though his team Central Punjab are out of the tournament. While Malik's stock has fallen, Mohammad Hafeez's has soared and it is unlikely that he would be dropped. However, the cricket board has been unimpressed with him ever since he badmouthed the new cricket structure in an unsanctioned meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Bubble violators will be expelled from National T20 Cup, warns PCB NEWS DESK The Pakistan Cricket Board warned players and team officials Friday to obey bio-secure protocols after nine cricketers and three team officials breached the rules during the on-going National Twenty20 Cup in Rawalpindi. The nine cricketers included at least three players who have represented Pakistan in international matches. They underwent Covid-19 tests on Thursday and all were negative. The PCB said all individuals who violated the biosecure bubble paid the costs of the Covid-19 tests. “The PCB is disturbed and disappointed that some senior players and officials have breached the biosecure bubble during the National T20 Cup. In doing so, they have put at risk the integrity of the tournament and health and safety of their colleagues,” PCB director of high performance Nadeem Khan said in a statement. Several international cricketers, including Pakistan Twenty20 skipper Babar Azam, Mohammad Hafeez, Shoaib Malik and Imam-ul-Haq, are participating in the six-team event in Rawalpindi. “There will be zero-tolerance for future breaches and those violating the protocols will be expelled from the ongoing and future tournaments,” Khan said. Pakistan is scheduled to host Zimbabwe this month for ODIs and Twenty20s, with Rawalpindi hosting the ODIs from Oct. 30. “I expect the players and officials to show responsibility as the world is watching and international cricket is standing at our doorsteps,” Khan said. “Their (players and team officials) irresponsible actions can put into jeopardy all the efforts of the PCB in organizing and inviting sides during these challenging COVID-19 times.”
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ShaN MaSood, BowlerS Power SouTherN PuNjaB To NaTioNal T20 fiNal NEWS DESK
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OUTHERN Punjab followed up their sensational win against Balochistan with a thumping win over defending champions Northern to stride into the Natioanl T20 Cup final, cricinfo reported on Saturday. Chasing 161, one fewer than they did with 56 balls to spare in their last game, Shan Masood's side was much more businesslike, the captain top-scoring with an unbeaten 78 in 58 balls and knocking off the winning runs with eight balls and seven wickets to spare. Masood and Zeeshan Ashraf - whose swashbuckling 55 off 32 kept the asking rate down - shared a 91-run opening partnership, which broke the back of the chase. From thereon, it was something of a procession, with the final single coming from a dab down to third man. The usually free-scoring Northern were kept on a leash by the rejuvenated Southern Punjab bowling attack, who, after conceding 200-plus in seven of their first eight games, have kept sides below 165 in the preceding three. That was possible thanks to a disciplined start by Aamer Yamin and the ever-reliable Mohammad Abbas. Though Ali Imran scored a halfcentury, there was no real support for him from the other end. Zahid Mahmood removed three big-hitters in Haider Ali, Asif Ali and Imad Wasim, and only a late flurry from Shadab Khan, who smashed an unbeaten 48 off 27, took Northern past 160. But against a batting line-up as high on confidence as Southern Punjab, it proved something of a cakewalk.
England confirm invitation to tour Pakistan in 2021 LONDON AGENCIES
England could tour Pakistan for the first time in over a decade after officials confirmed they had received an invitation to visit the Asian giants early in 2021 for a “short white-ball series.” Fifty-over world champions England have not played in Pakistan since 2005-06. An attack by armed militants on Sri Lanka’s team bus in Lahore in 2009 ended major cricket tours for a decade. But Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, West Indies and Bangladesh have all since made the trip. An England and Wales Cricket Board statement issued Thursday said: “After discussions with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), we can confirm the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has received an invitation in respect of a short white-ball tour to Pakistan during the early part of 2021. “We welcome the fact that international cricket is returning to Pakistan and are committed to doing what
we can to help this develop further.” The statement added that “the safety and welfare of our players and staff is paramount,” with security issues and the development of Covid-19 secure ‘bubbles’ of the kind pioneered in England this year among the ECB’s key concerns. “We will be liaising with the PCB, and as well as other partners over the coming weeks to work through these considerations, before a final decision will be taken in due course,” the ECB said. Although the ECB did not specify any dates, Wasim Khan, the Birmingham-born chief executive of the PCB said: “We have sent them a window of January 13-20, so we will do our best to make this tour happen. “They (the ECB) will consider it (the invitation) and have a security assessment. “It will be a very important tour and help improve our credibility as a host,” he added. It is understood the proposed tour could consist of three T20 internationals, none of which would replace England’s rescheduled tour of Sri Lanka. Pakistan, following in the footsteps of the West In-
Tireless Mbappe sends PSG top with brace at Nimes PARIS AGENCIES
Kylian Mbappe shrugged off any lingering fatigue to score twice in his second game in 48 hours as Paris Saint-Germain defeated 10man Nimes 4-0 on Friday to take over top spot in Ligue 1. The France forward struck the opener on 32 minutes at the Stade des Costieres and netted again late on as a weary Nimes folded following the early dismissal of centre-back
Loick Landre. Alessandro Florenzi scored PSG's second on 77 minutes and Pablo Sarabia notched a fourth for the reigning champions as PSG climbed above Rennes on goal difference after a fifth successive win. "I spoke with Kylian yesterday, he told me that he felt good and that he absolutely wanted to play," said PSG coach Thomas Tuchel. "He's the guy who can always make a difference and he did just that." New signings Moise Kean and Rafinha made their PSG debuts
‘Gul-dozer’: Umar Gul calls time on cricket career NEWS DESK Fast bowler Umar Gul, who earned the nickname “Gul-dozer” for his rattling of stumps, has called time on his 17-year cricket career. With no crowds to bid farewell to the national hero because of coronavirus restrictions, the Twenty20 World Cup winner bowed out to a guard of honor from teammates and opponents after his final match — a disappointing defeat — in Rawalpindi on Friday. “I want to be remembered as someone who tried his best for the country and it’s flattering that I was called ‘Guldozer’ during this memorable journey in cricket,” the 36-year-old told AFP. It was a topsy-turvy journey for Gul, whose affair with cricket began on the crowded streets of Peshawar.
He entered the international arena exactly a month after the legendary pace duo of Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis retired following Pakistan’s disastrous 2003 World Cup. It was like the baton of swing bowling had been passed from one generation to another, Gul recalled. “It was tough to fill those shoes but I tried my best and it was great to lead Pakistan to the final of the Twenty20 World Cup in 2007 and then to the title two years later,” he said. He finished with 163 Test and 179 ODI wickets, but he achieved his greatest success in Twenty20 cricket, the start of his career coinciding with the launch of the shortest format in 2003. Gul was at his destructive best in England in 2009, finishing as the top wicket
taker of the Twenty20 World Cup with 13. That included a mesmerizing five wickets for just six runs in the semifinal win over New Zealand. “Winning the World Cup was the highest point of my career,” he said. “I remember those were very tough days and there was unrest in our country so our win brought smiles back on the faces.” At the time, the military was fighting an insurgency from militants in the northwestern region of the country. Gul attributes his Twenty20 skills to the early days of his love for the game. “I grew up playing 20-20-over matches in the streets and then Ramadan cricket where you look for wickets in a 20over innings,” he said. But his baptism was in Test cricket, where he became an instant hero in 2004.
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with a host of players missing following the international break and just four days ahead of the visit of Manchester United in the Champions League. Neymar sat out the trip after scoring a hat-trick for Brazil in a World Cup qualifier in Peru that did not finish until the early hours of Wednesday in Europe. However, Mbappe was handed a second start in three days having scored the winning goal for France midweek in their Nations League match in Zagreb.
In only his fifth Test, Gul destroyed a star-studded Indian batting order in a Lahore Test with figures of 5-21. His victims included the great Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag and VVS Laxman. The feat almost halted a burgeoning career, causing a stress fracture in his back. He later featured in the inaugural Indian Premier League in 2008, topping the chart for the Kolkata Knight Riders with 12 wickets in six games — the only time Pakistan players were allowed to feature in the world’s most lucrative league. But the 2011 World Cup semifinal against India — in the one-day format — turned out to be the most bitter of his career. He was targeted by the top order and finished with figures of 0-69 in eight overs for the match in Mohali, India. “Before that match I was the top wicket taker for my team so India targeted me and to add to that we lost that match,” Gul reminisced. With his playing years now behind him, next for Gul is a move into coaching: “I will try to make new Bulldozers for my country [...] it is my duty to the nation.”
dies, visited England this year for three Tests and three T20 internationals despite Britain being one of the countries worst hit by the coronavirus pandemic. Two of international cricket’s financially poorer leading sides helped spare one of the wealthiest in England an estimated £280 million ($366 million) loss if all the ECB’s scheduled matches were wiped out by Covid-19. That prompted Pakistan great Wasim Akram to say in August: “You (England) boys owe Pakistan cricket, and the country, a lot, with the boys coming over here.” The same month saw Joe Root, England’s Test captain, said, “I’d love to go and visit Pakistan.” England are meant to tour South Africa next month but a shadow has been cast over that campaign after the country’s government signalled it was about to intervene in the Proteas’ chaotic cricket administration. They could then be in Sri Lanka in January for a tour that was originally halted in March because of the virus outbreak before traveling to India for a Test series that may, like this year’s Indian Premier League, be moved to the UAE on virus-related health grounds.
Bale return adds stardust as Mourinho targets trophies for Spurs LONDON AGENCIES
Gareth Bale is expected to make his second Tottenham debut against West Ham on Sunday, but Jose Mourinho claims even the Welsh star's place is not guaranteed as he revels in the squad depth at his disposal. Bale has returned to north London on a season-long loan from Real Madrid after seven years of highs and lows since joining the Spanish giants for a then world-record fee. He scored in two Champions League finals as Madrid won the competition four times in his first five seasons. But Bale's performances also attracted plenty of criticism, while he struggled with injuries and the adaptation to life in Spain. Injury has also delayed his Tottenham return on the field, but the familiar surroundings have made the 31-year-old more relaxed after his Madrid misery and he has been pictured in the stands supporting his new team-mates. Mourinho said on Friday that Sergio Reguilon, who also moved from Madrid to Spurs last month, commented that Bale looks a "different guy" from the shy figure in the Spanish capital. But questions remain over whether he can emulate the success of his first spell with Tottenham, when he developed into one of the world's best. In the final season before his big move, Bale scored 26 goals but it still was not enough to secure a place in the Champions League as Andre Villas-Boas's side finished fifth. During his time in Spain, Spurs became Champions League regulars, reaching the final for the first time in 2019.
Sunday, 18 October, 2020
PrAyEr TImINGS
NEWS
crUcIal that world recognIses PaKIstan's new narratIve of econoMIc secUrIty: Moeed yUsUf
s
NEWS DESK
PECIAL Assistant to Prime Minister on National Security Dr Moeed Yusuf said on Saturday it is crucial to change the perception of the country's narrative and to push the message that Pakistan stood for regional peace and economic security. Addressing a news conference in Lahore, the special assistant said, "Pakistan's narrative is of economic security and the world has not seen that," as he urged the media to play their role in changing the country's narrative. "India's narrative was 'shining India' and the world can see how much it's shining," Yusuf added. "Pakistan's narrative is one of peace and taking the region forward," said the PM's aide as he elaborated that it is the goal of his office to ensure recognition for Pakistan's new narrative. Inviting other countries to form a partnership with Pakistan, the PM's aide said: "We say that we are a small market. We need to have confidence in ourselves.
tehran mulls to resume nuclear activities in response to Us sanctions TEHRAN TLTP
Iranian lawmakers intend to draft an urgent bill to resume all nuclear activities in the country in response to the extension of the US sanctions against Tehran. According to a local news agency Iranian MPs intend to prepare an urgent draft law to resume all nuclear activities in the country in response to the US Senate’s decision, adding that the deputies stressed on the need to have a serious answer in the face of the US Senate’s decision. On October 15, the US Senate voted unanimously to prolong the 1979 sanctions against Tehran for another decade.
We're the fifth or sixth biggest country in the world." Referring to his recent interview with Indian media outlet The Wire – the first by a Pakistani official after India revoked occupied Kashmir's special status, Yusuf
said he was "saddened" by one particular part of the interviews feedback. He said 90 per cent of the feedback said this was the first time a Pakistani fearlessly responded to India. "There's no political agenda with the Kashmir issue,"
the special assistant clarified. Exposing India's brutalities in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJ&K), the aide stated that India is spreading a narrative that the Kashmir dispute is over. "In my interview, I made it clear. I said, not over my dead body." He reiterated that Pakistan stands for peace and taking the region forward. "There is only one country and none of its neighbouring countries supports it. If you see what is happening inside [India], I'm sure you will understand." Earlier this week, Dr Yusuf, in an interview to Indian journalist Karan Thapar said that Pakistan desired peaceful ties with India and wanted to resolve all issues through dialogue. However, he asserted that for any meaningful dialogue to take place between the two neighbours, India has to release all political prisoners in Kashmir, end inhuman blockade and restrictions, rescind domicile law that allows nonKashmiris to settle in the disputed territory, stop human rights abuses and end state terrorism in Pakistan.
Global coronavirus cases rise by one-day record of 400,000 GENCIES Global coronavirus cases rose by more than 400,000 for the first time late on Friday, a record one-day increase as much of Europe enacts new restrictions to curb the outbreak. Europe, which successfully tamped down the first surge of infections, has emerged as the new coronavirus epicentre in recent weeks and is reporting on average 140,000 cases a day over the past week. As a region, Europe is reporting more daily cases than India, Brazil and the United States combined. Of every 100 infections reported around the world, 34 were from European countries, according to a Reuters analysis. The region is currently reporting a million new infections about every nine days and has reported more than 6.3 million cases since the pandemic began. Major European countries - United Kingdom, France, Russia, Netherlands and Spain -- accounted for about half of Europe’s new cases in the week to Oct. 18,
according to Reuters tally. France is reporting the highest sevenday average of new cases in Europe with 19,425 infections per day followed by the United Kingdom, Russia, Spain and Netherlands in worst affected European countries. Several European countries are closing schools, cancelling elective surgeries and enlisting student medics as the authorities face a Covid-19 resurgence. Russia is moving students to online learning and Northern Ireland is closing schools for two weeks and restaurants for four. In Spain, authorities in Catalonia ordered bars and restaurants to close for 15 days and limited the numbers of people allowed in shops. The Czech Republic has also shifted schools to distance learning and plans to call up thousands of medical students. Hospitals are cutting non-urgent medical procedures to free up beds. Polish health officials have warned the country is on the brink of a disaster as a record 6,526 new coronavirus infections and 116 deaths were reported this week.
Poland is ramping up training for nurses and considering creating military field hospitals. Latin America is the worst-affected region with about 27pc of total Covid-19 cases followed by Asia, North America and Europe, according to a Reuters analysis. India is reporting fewer cases this month compared with September, with 69,000 cases per day, according to Reuters analysis. The numbers have fallen by more than 20,400 over the last three weeks, down 22pc from its previous peak. India reported 55,342 cases on Oct. 13, its lowest daily increase since Aug. 18. In the United States, which has the largest total number of cases and deaths in the world, new infections are edging higher along with the most hospitalized Covid-19 patients since early September. Efforts to develop a vaccine hit snags, with Johnson & Johnson JNJ.N pausing its trial after an unexplained illness in a study participant. AstraZeneca's AZN.L U.S. trial has remained on hold for more than a month.
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Baku in talks with tehran, ankara, london over Karabakh row TEHRAN AGENCIES
Media outlets in Azerbaijan revealed that Azerbaijan Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov has held telephone talk with his Iranian, Turkish, Czech and British counterparts over Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. As the clashes between Baku and Yerevan over the Nagorno-Karabakh region continued, the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan made telephone calls with officials from various countries including Islamic Republic of Iran, Turkey, Britain and the Czech Republic. Earlier, Azeri foreign minister held a telephone conversation with his Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif, in which, Azeri side expounded on the latest developments on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. In this telephone conversation, Iran’s Zarif reiterated the principled positions of the Islamic Republic of Iran and emphasized territorial integrity of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Islamic Republic of Iran is ready to help achieve sustainable peace and a lasting solution to this conflict within the framework of Iran-Turkey-Russia regional initiative, as complement to Minsk Group Mechanism, Zarif added. Azeri foreign minister stated that, despite the agreement of Armenia with the ceasefire mediated by Russia, the country is violating the ceasefire and targeting civilians and populated areas of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
Macron calls killing of teacher an ‘Islamist terrorist attack’ PARIS TLTP
French President Emmanuel Macron has said the teacher murdered in a Parisian suburb on Friday was “assassinated because he taught his students freedom of expression.” The killing is being investigated by anti-terrorism police. "One of our fellow citizens was assassinated because he taught his students freedom of expression," Macron said after he arrived in the Paris suburb of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, where the attack took place. "Our compatriot was the victim of a characteristic Islamist terrorist attack." The middle-school teacher was attacked earlier on Friday in the street of the commune, some 28km northwest of Paris. The attacker allegedly shouted "Allahu Akbar," or "God is greater," as he assaulted the teacher with a knife. Media reports said the teacher was either “decapitated” or stabbed in the throat, succumbing to his injuries. The attack on the teacher was an attack on the French Republic and its Enlightenment values, Macron said, arguing that the country was in an “existential” battle to defend the possibility of making children into free citizens “no matter where they come from, what they do or don’t believe, whatever their religion.” “I want to say clearly tonight, they will not pass,” Macron said, urging the French to stand together in defense of their republic.
New Zealand's Ardern wins 'historic' re-election for crushing Covid-19 WELLINGTON
PM IMran felIcItates ardern over ‘IMPressIve vIctory’
AGENCIES
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern delivered the biggest election victory for her centre-left Labour Party in half a century on Saturday as voters rewarded her for a decisive response to Covid-19. The mandate means Ardern, 40, could form the first single-party government in decades and will face the challenge of delivering on the progressive transformation she promised but failed to deliver in her first term, where Labour shared power with a nationalist party. “This is a historic shift,” said political commentator Bryce Edwards of Victoria University in Wellington, describing the vote as one of the biggest swings in New Zealand’s electoral history in 80 years. Labour was on track to win 64 of the 120 seats in the country’s unicameral parliament, the highest by any party since New Zealand adopted a proportional voting system in 1996. Ardern, 40, promised supporters she would build an economy that works for everyone, create jobs, train people, protect the environment and address climate challenges and social inequalities. “We are living in an increasingly polarised world,” she said. “A place where more and more have lost the ability to see one another’s point of view. I hope that with this election, New Zealand has shown that this is not who we are.” Opposition National Party leader Judith
NEWS DESK Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday congratulated Jacinda Ardern on her “impressive victory” in New Zealand elections 2020. In his felicitation message, PM Imran said Jacinda Ardern's compassionate style of leadership has won hearts not just in New Zealand but in Pakistan too. The prime minister said that he was looking forward to expanding cooperation and further strengthening bonds of friendship between Pakistan and New Zealand. Jacinda Ardern delivered the biggest election victory for her centre-left Labour Party in half a century on Saturday as voters rewarded her for a decisive response to Covid-19.
Collins said she congratulated the prime minister for an “outstanding result”. Labour had 49.0pc of the votes, far ahead of National at 27%, the Electoral Commission said, with 95pc of ballots counted. Ardern said she would wait until the final result to say if her government would include smaller groups like the Green Party, a former coalition partner that secured a bigger 8pc mandate. VOTERS SWING: National leaders were decimated in their strongholds by young Labour candidates who appealed to voters
with progressive, democratic messages, and highlighted the party’s success in beating coronavirus. “The last seven months of this government, all of the issues around their past promises have been put aside because of Covid-19. It’s that simple,” said Deputy National leader Gerry Brownlee who lost his long-held seat. Despite the election’s tilt to the left, Ardern “is likely to continue to chart a centrist course, largely aiming to implement incremental change that she hopes will outlast a future change in government,” because she
owes her victory to centre-right voters who previously supported National, said Geoffrey Miller, analyst at political website Democracy Project. ‘BE STRONG, BE KIND’:The prime minister won global acclaim for her handling of a mass shooting last year by a white supremacist in Christchurch, with her inclusive “be strong, be kind” mantra and swift action to ban guns. She burnished that reputation this year with a “go hard, go early” approach to the new coronavirus, which has eliminated locally spread Covid-19 in the nation. The election was delayed by a month after new Covid-19 infections in Auckland that led to a second lockdown in the country’s largest city. While known internationally for promoting progressive causes such as woman’s
rights and social justice, at home Ardern faced criticism that her government failed on a promise to be transformational. Life is back to normal in New Zealand, but its borders are still shut, its tourism sector is bleeding and economists predict a lasting recession after the harsh lockdowns. The economy shrank at an 12.2% annual clip in the second quarter, its steepest drop since the Great Depression. Debt is forecast to rise to 56% of gross domestic product from less than 20% before the pandemic. New Zealanders also voted on Saturday in referendums to legalise euthanasia and recreational marijuana, with results to be announced on Oct. 30. The latter vote could make New Zealand only the third country in the world to allow the adult use and sale of cannabis nationwide, after Uruguay and Canada.
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