Epaper – October 27 LHR 2020

Tuesday, 27 October, 2020 I 9 Rabi-ul-Awwal, 1442 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XI No 118 I 12 Pages I Lahore Edition

amId heated debates, na adOpts resOlutIOn agaInst blasphemOus sketches g

KHawaja aSIF CRITICISES gOvT FOR EMPlOyINg ‘UNdEMOCRaTIC PRaCTICES’

g

FM QUESHI aCCUSES OPPOSITION OF PEddlINg ‘INdIa'S NaRRaTIvE’ aNd MaKINg NaTIONal INSTITUTIONS ‘CONTROvERSIal’

PM reiterates support for afghan peace process ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

FO summOns French envOy tO prOtest macrOn’s ‘IslamOphObIc’ remarks ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

F

OllOwINg a noisy session that saw the government and opposition deliver fiery speeches against each other, the National assembly unanimously passed a resolution condemning the publication of blasphemous caricatures in France and the "resurgence of Islamophobic acts" in some countries.

The ruckus initially began due to the opposition and government wanting to present their own versions of the resolution but after lawmakers from both sides exchanged barbs over other political issues, deputy Speaker Qasim Suri suspended the session for 10 minutes to allow the government and opposition to devise consensus on the resolution.

The move proved fruitful, with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi returning to an-

cOrOnavIrus In

pakIstan

CONFIRMED CASES:

328,602

LAST UPDATED AT 7:02 AM ON OCTOBER 26, 2020

DAY'S DEATH TOLL:

3

RECOVERED:

NEW CASES:

707

DEATHS:

311,075 6,739 SINDH:

PUNJAB:

143,836

102,875

KP:

BALOCHISTAN:

AJK/GB:

ISLAMABAD:

39,043

15,810

3,846/4,180 19,012

nounce that the government and opposition members had agreed on a unanimous resolution by clubbing their two versions. according to the resolution read out by the minister, the Na, while taking serious note of the republication of blasphemous caricatures depicting Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) and the desecration of the Holy Quran in Norway and Sweden, condemned in strongest terms the “resurgence of blasphemous and Islamophobic acts by mischievous elements in some parts of the world”.

The lower house also expressed serious concern at the "highly concerning statements and hate-mongering especially by leaders like [French] President Emmanuel Macron justifying unlawful propagation and insult to sentiments of more than a billion Muslims through such hate-driven acts under the garb of freedom of expression".

The Foreign Office on Monday summoned French ambassador Marc Baréty, a day after Prime Minister Imran Khan criticised President Emmanuel Macron for “attacking Islam”. Foreign Office spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri confirmed that Baréty had been summoned and shared a statement from his office which said: “Pakistan condemns systematic Islamophobic campaign under the garb of freedom of expression.”

The ambassador was told about Pakistan’s condemnation of the publication of blasphemous sketches and the comments later made by Macron, Chaudhri said. Prime Minister Imran had on Sunday slammed Macron for stoking “Islamophobia” after the president said France would not “give up” blasphemous caricatures depicting Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), declaring Muslims “will never have” his country’s future. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said Macron’s irresponsible statement had added “fuel to the fire”. “Nobody has the right to hurt the sentiments of millions of Muslims under the guise of freedom of expression,” he was quoted as saying by Radio Pakistan.

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Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday said the afghanistan war has brought great suffering for both afghanistan and Pakistan over the last 40 years. addressing Pakistan-afghanistan Trade and Investment Forum 2020, the premier observed: “after afghanistan, Pakistan has suffered the most due to the conflict.” and said the past only has one purpose: people should only learn from it and not live in it. The speech comes weeks after President donald Trump announced to withdraw all US troops in afghanistan “by Christmas”. The Oct 8 announcement was in sharp contrast to the landmark deal between the US and the Taliban that said foreign forces would leave afghanistan by May 2021. addressing the gathering, Imran said: “what history has shown us is that foreign interference has never been successful in afghanistan; the people need to make their own decisions,”, adding that the people will decide who will be elected. “Pakistan will work with the afghanistan government and will keep the relationship strong.” He also commented on neighbour India, saying that there has never been a more “Muslim-hating” government in power in 72 years. “we tried very hard to befriend them […] I had many friendships [in India] because of cricket.

But at one point, I understood that there was no point as they were against us ideologically,” he said, adding that what is currently happening with the Muslims in the neighbouring country has never happened before. “So there is a fear in Pakistan that India will use afghanistan to destabilise the country. But we have decided that we will back the wishes of the people of afghanistan because the future of this region lies in the relationship and cooperation between Pakistan and afghanistan.” The premier concluded his address by saying that trade was the only way to bring prosperity to both countries. Earlier, on the invitation of National assembly Speaker asad Qaiser, a 17-member afghan parliamentary delegation, led by Speaker of wolsey jirga Mr Rahmani, arrived in Islamabad to participate in the seminar.

'Black Day': Pakistan calls for immediate action on Kashmir NEWS DESK Pakistan will observe October 27 as ”Black day” at national and international level to express solidarity with the people of Illegally Indian Occupied jammu and Kashmir (IIOjK) facing illegal occupation and gross human rights violation for the last 73 years.

Each year, October 27th is observed as Kashmir Black day to mark protest and resentment

by Kashmiris around the world in commemorating the forced occupation by Indian security forces of the IIOjK. “we are observing this day to condemn Indian illegal occupation and to reiterate our unwavering support to the Kashmiri people,” said Prime Minister Imran Khan in his official statement. “The Kashmir Black day represents a dark chapter in the human history when, 73 years ago, Indian forces landed in Srinagar to forcibly occupy the territory and subjugate people of jammu and Kashmir.”

The illegal occupation of parts of jammu and Kashmir by India represents an international dispute, the solution of which is firmly anchored in the relevant

United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolutions in accordance with the UN Charter. despite unabated Indian atrocities for more than seven decades posing an existential threat, India is unable to break the will of the Kashmiri people.

International community bears witness that Indian stateterrorism, extra-judicial killing of innocent Kashmiris, unprecedented restrictions in freedom of speech, fake encounters, cordon-and-search operations, custodial torture and deaths, enforced disappearances, incarceration of Kashmiri leadership and youth, use of pellet guns, destruction and burning of houses to inflict ‘collective punishment’ on the Kashmiris communities and other methods of subjugation have failed to shake the resolve of the Kashmiris people in their just struggle for the inalienable right to self-determination.

India’s unilateral actions, military siege and communication blockade accompanied by illegal measures to bring about demographic change in IIOjK since 5th august 2019, expose yet another dimension of RSS-inspired ‘Hindutva’ ideol-

ogy. The dangerous mix of extremist ideology (Hindutva) and hegemonic designs (akhand Bharat) is imperiling regional peace and stability.

The international legitimacy of the jammu and Kashmir dispute is enshrined in the UNSC resolutions, which are binding.

For its part, Pakistan will continue to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Kashmiri people and extend all possible support to them until they realize their legitimate right to self-determination.

Meanwhile, in his message on the Black day, President dr arif alvi stated, “On 5 august 2019, India moved to alter the disputed status of Indian Illegally Occupied jammu and Kashmir (IIOjK) and change its demographic structure.

The illegal and unilateral Indian actions have been rejected by the Kashmiri people,

by Pakistan, and by the international community for being in violation of International law, relevant United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions, and India’s own solemn commitments made bilaterally to Pakistan as well as to the people of occupied jammu & Kashmir.

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more inside

FM urges UN to tackle hatebased narrative against Islam STORY ON BACK PAGE

Pak-Turkish ties being transformed into enduring partnership: COaS STORY ON PAGE 02

Govt to install electric vehicle charging stations on motorways STORY ON PAGE 02

England to tour Pakistan in jan 2021 for T20I series STORY ON PAGE 11

02

Tuesday, 27 October, 2020

NEWS

‘Their gOal is TO blaCkmail The sTaTe’, PTi miNisTers Call OuT PDm ISLAMABAD

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STAFF REPORT

EDERAl Maritime Affairs Minister Ali Haider Zaidi and former minister of information and broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry gave a scathing reply to the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), stating that their primary “goal is to save what they looted and blackmail the state.”

On Sunday, the PDM had held its third rally in Quetta, wherein the anti-government alliance had lambasted the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) for the woes faced

by the country, including the Kashmir issue, the current economic crisis, the arrest of Capt (r) Safdar Awan, and more.

In reply, Zaidi called the members of the PDM “circus characters”, and linked the rallies to the ploys of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said that the “shameful attack on Pakistan’s integrity” had shown the “true intentions” of the 11-party alliance.

“The circus members are spokespersons for those who use Modi’s language to attack the Pakistan Army, as well as the separatists and seditionists. None of the circus members have spoken on Modi’s barbarism in Kashmir,” the maritime minister said.

Coronavirus infects 707, kills three in 24 hours: NCOC As many as 707 new cases of coronavirus were reported across the country during the last 24 hours, lifting the national tally of infections to 328,602, said the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Monday.

Three corona patients, who were under treatment in hospitals, died during the aforementioned period, according to the latest update shared by the NCOC. The figure of patients recovered from the virus has reached 311,075.

There are now 10,788 active cases in the country. About 26,492 tests were conducted across the country on Sunday. Around 311,075 people have recovered from the disease so far across Pakistan. Since the pandemic outbreak, a total of 328,602 cases were detected, including Sindh reporting 143,836, Punjab 102,875, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 39,043, Balochistan, 15,810, Islamabad, 1,902, Azad Jammu and Kashmir 3,846, and Gilgit Baltistan has reported 4,180 cases. A total of 4,290,545 corona tests have been conducted so far, while 735 hospitals are equipped with Covid-19 facilities. About 559 corona patients admitted to hospitals across the country are said to be in critical condition. Meanwhile, as many as 71 healthcare staff working at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) Islamabad have been tested positive for the novel coronavirus in the last 30 days. Sources privy to the development said that 54 doctors, 10 nurses and seven non-medical staff of PIMS have contracted coronavirus. The doctors and the staff working in Cardiac Centre, Dialysis Centre, Urology Department, surgical healthcare workers, Emergency, Blood Bank and Medical wards are infected with the virus. The staff has been quarantined, the sources added. The majority of the doctors infected with the coronavirus is said to be under-training. NEWS DESK

Furthermore, he said that India’s GDP had fallen by 10 per cent and that Modi had no control over the border issues, adding that the efforts of the PDM were merely to give an edge to the Indian premier.

“I’m sure the circus members do not want to upset their ‘master’,” Zaidi said.

Zaidi accused the former premier Nawaz Sharif and his party members of “inciting a coup”, adding that Capt (r) Safdar seemed to show no remorse for having violated the sanctity of the Mazar-e-Quaid.

Meanwhile, Chaudry said that there was “no momentum” in the PDM’s rallies and that the anti-government movement was al-

ready failing. He said that instead of sending the premier home, it will be the opposition itself which would be sent packing.

“By January, the bedrock of the Opposition’s movement will vanish,” he claimed. “After the return of Nawaz Sharif, the movement will completely lose its.” He further claimed that all the rallies so far had been “failed shows”.

“Ordinary people are not attending the Opposition’s rallies at all [and that] is creating frustration within their ranks,” he added. He also said that the cracks in the alliance are beginning to show as the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) is distancing itself from the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) and the Pakistan Muslim league-Nawaz (PMl-N).

He added that Fazl, Maryam Nawaz, and PPP chairperson Bilawal were “being exposed in front of the people” and that “as the movement weakens, the rift in the Opposition ranks will widen”.

Nationwide anti-polio drive kicks off ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

The authorities on Monday began an anti-polio drive to vaccinate nearly 30 million children in 128 districts across the country as part of a campaign that ends on November 1.

Some 210,000 frontline workers will participate in the door-to-door initiative to immunise children below five years of age, a statement released by Pakistan Polio Eradication Program (PPEP) said on Monday.

According to the statement, during smaller campaigns launched in July and August, frontline workers had been trained in anti-coronavirus precautionary measures, such as proper use of face masks, regular hand washing, and maintaining a safe social distance during the door-to-door visits.

“Polio workers have been trained in COVID-19 protocols […] and the anti-polio campaign would be utilized to raise awareness about preventive measures against coronavirus as well,” it said.

All polio activities in Pakistan came to a halt when the World Health Organisation (WHO) decided in late March that they should be suspended to avoid placing communities and frontline workers at the risk of contracting COVID-19.

Pakistan resumed its anti-polio drive on July 20, after a four-month break and in smaller numbers, with the campaign used to raise awareness about the coronavirus disease as well.

According to the WHO, Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries in the world where polio continues to be a threat, with Pakistan reporting 79 new cases since January this year. Polio is a highly infectious disease caused by poliovirus, mainly affecting children under the age of five years. It invades the nervous system and can cause paralysis or even death. While there is no cure for polio, vaccination is the most effective way to protect children from this crippling disease. “Each time a child under the age of five is vaccinated, their protection against the virus is increased. Repeated immunisations have protected millions of children from polio, allowing almost all countries in the world to become polio-free,” the PPEP statement said.

SC reserves verdict on MQM, PTI pleas against Sindh LG Act ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

The Supreme Court on Monday reserved its verdict over petitions of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQMP) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) against the Sindh local Government Act (SlGA).

A three-member bench, headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed, heard the constitutional petitions over the matter and asked the counsels of the government of Sindh and petitioners to submit written statements within a week.

Justice Ijazul Ahsan maintained that the court had ruled that the implementation of Article 140-A is necessary and must be implemented through legislation across all provinces. MQM’s counsel, Salahuddin Ahmed, argued that Karachi’s building control, water supply, local transport and solid waste, among other local bodies, are under the control of the Sindh government, adding that the local government has the sole responsibility for the maintenance of parks and libraries. The counsel further stated that civic amenities, including parks and playgrounds, fall under the responsibility

of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation. “However, KMC does not have authority over the whole of Karachi.”

“Karachi was, is and will remain part of Sindh,” said Attorney General Khalid Javed in his arguments. “Several problems could be resolved with an empowered local government,” the government lawyer said.

“I have appeared before the court on the court’s notice and not as a lawyer of any party,” the AG said. “I think the court should itself hear this matter. The court could issue instructions to provincial governments,” Khalid Javed argued.

“The issue of local councils powers is serious in Sindh.

Usually, such matters are left to the provincial legislature to decide upon but in Sindh, the matter could not be left to the provincial assembly to take decision,” the federal lawyer said. “I don’t suggest abrogation of any law, the court should declare that the majority party would not take back the local councils’ powers. The court can rule that the consensus of 25 per cent urban representation is essential in such legislation,” the attorney general argued. “No municipal department such as the water board, building control have been in the control of the city’s mayor,” the council said.

Pak-Turkish ties being transformed into enduring partnership: COas RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa has said that Pakistan and Turkey share a great history of brotherly relations, which are being transformed into an enduring partnership. General Qamar Javed Bajwa said the above during a meeting with the Minister of National Defence of the Republic of Turkey, General (r) Hulusi Akar, who called on him here at General Headquarters (GHQ), said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Monday. During the meeting, they discussed issues of mutual interest, including regional stability as well as defence and security cooperation. The visiting dignitary commended the role of Pakistan for regional peace and stability, especially the efforts of Pakistan Army in battling the scourge of terrorism, said the ISPR. Separately, General (r) Hulusi Akar called on Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee General Nadeem Raza in Rawalpindi, said the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Monday. Matters of mutual interest, bilateral cooperation including measures to enhance the level and scope of military engagements were discussed during the meeting. Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthen the deeprooted cultural and brotherly relations between the two countries. General Hulusi Akar (r) lauded the professionalism of Pakistan Armed Forces and acknowledged the sacrifices rendered by Pakistan in the fight against terrorism. STAFF REPORT

Court extends bails of sanaullah, safdar in Nab office attack case LAHORE: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Monday extended interim bail to Pakistan Muslim league-Nawaz (PMl-N) leaders Rana Sanaullah and Captain (r) Muhammad Safdar Awan, and others in the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) office attack case.

The court extended the bail to all accused until the next hearing after hearing the arguments of their counsels. At the previous hearing, Sanaullah’s lawyer stated before the judge that police had arrested as many as 58 persons from outside NAB’s 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 capital city police officer (CCPO). Rana Sanaullah and Capt (r) Safdar are among the PMl-N members nominated in the case. On August 11, violence erupted outside the 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

Masood for multi-pronged strategy to block India's hegemonic designs ISLAMABAD TLTP

Sardar Masood Khan, President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir on Monday stressed the need for adopting a multi-pronged strategy to prevent India from its hegemonic agenda in South Asia, particularly on the Jammu and Kashmir issue.

"We direly need to create awareness against India's brinkmanship and to foil its policy of pushing the region to the brink of a nuclear disaster," he asserted.

Speaking at various webinars organized by Scottish Human Rights Forum and the Kashmir Council Sweden, the AJK President expressed concern over India's threats of a nuclear strike against Pakistan, carrying out false flag operations in order to malign Pakistan, repeated aggressions at the line of Control, and the hybrid warfare to prevent Pakistan from supporting the just struggle of Kashmiri people for their inalienable right to self-determination.

He maintained that we would have to engage global

civil society, political leadership and the world citizenry to seek a political settlement of the Kashmir imbroglio.

On the diplomatic front, the State President said that there was a need to launch a Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement against India on the global level, and to revamp diplomatic efforts in order to globalize the Kashmir issue and to pave the way for its resolution in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions. At the same time, he added that we need to prepare ourselves militarily to stem the tide of the fascist Hindutva philosophy and agenda, and engage legal experts to hectically plead our case.

While describing India's mantra of resolution of Kashmir issue through bilateral talks, the AJK President said that India was using bilateral talks as a time buying ploy. "We do not favor the idea because we desire trilateral talks with the participation of Kashmiri leadership and that too, under the auspices of the United Nations as the resolutions on Kashmir are still on the UN agenda," he added.

If there is any diplomatic process, that process must

include Kashmiri representative. If there are any negotiating tables or any concentration of parleys taking place in Delhi or Islamabad, Muzaffarabad or Srinagar, New York or Geneva, Kashmiris must be represented.

“There are three parties to the Kashmir dispute, Pakistan, India, and the people of Jammu and Kashmir, and the people of Jammu and Kashmir are the key party as they are the one who make a decision about their political future.”

Speaking at the webinar hosted by the Kashmir Council Sweden, describing Sweden as a country with a glorious tradition of supporting diplomacy, Khan said it can play an important role in resolution of Kashmir dispute through diplomatic means.

He expressed his hope that, Swedish civil society and Swedish diplomatic establishment would respond to Kashmiris appeals and calls and will help us achieve our democratic right of self-determination. The President acknowledged the role of former UN Secretary General and Swedish diplomat Dag Hammarskjöld who took interest in the amicable resolution of the Kashmir dispute.

Tuesday, 27 October, 2020

NEWS

gOvT TO iNsTall eleCTriC vehiCle ChargiNg sTaTiONs ON mOTOrways ISLAMABAD

a

GHUALM ABBAS

FTER introducing an electric vehicle (EV) charging station in Islamabad, the government has decided to install EV charging stations on motorways across the country.

Addressing a ceremony in Islamabad, Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry said on Monday that the

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government was working over a plan to convert public transport into electric vehicles in metropolitan cities of Pakistan.

He was speaking at the ceremony to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Ministry of Science and Technology with a British company, EGV limited, to build electric buses in the country.

The minister said that EGV was Europe’s largest bus manufacturing company

Only PPP can resolve public issues, claims bilawal Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Monday claimed that only his party can resolve the problems of the masses. Addressing a public meeting in Gilgit, Bilawal said that only PPP possesses the capability to resolve the public issues. He maintained that his party will steer the country out of the economic crisis. The PPP chairman urged the masses to support PPP in the forthcoming elections. The PPP, in its tenure, had launched the historic Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) to curb inflation and had increased the government employees’ salaries by 100 per cent, he added. lashing out at the incumbent government, Bilawal said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) led government wants to shut Pakistan Steel Mills. The PPP leader said that he is fighting for the rights of the people. Earlier on Saturday last, Bilawal promised to form a constitutional province of Gilgit-Baltistan. Addressing a public meeting, the PPP chairman said, “It is not a new promise, it is part of the party’s 2018 manifesto. NEWS DESK

lack of quorum halts passing of working journalists’ jobs protection bill ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Amendment) Bill, 2020, aimed at protecting working journalists’ jobs, could not be passed in the Senate on Monday due to lack of quorum. Giving the objects of the bill, Senator Faisal Javed said that the bill was unanimously passed by the standing committee and aimed at protecting service of the working journalists. Earlier, he added, there was no check on private TV channels.“The bill would empower PEMRA to keep a check on TV channels so that the jobs of working journalists could be protected,” he said. “The government believes in freedom of expression and the bill would not impose any restriction on the freedom of press.”However, JUI-F lawmaker Maulana Attaur Rehman pointed out the quorum. The chairman asked for ringing the bells for two minutes and then the count was made.

However, the house was not in order and the chair adjourned the session to meet on Thursday at 10:30 am. APP

and they will be assembling electric buses in Pakistan, adding that this is the second agreement the government has signed with a foreign company for the manufacturing of electric buses.

In the first phase, buses will run in these three cities of the country, lahore, Karachi, and Islamabad.

Furthermore, 40 per cent of all public transport buses will be shifted to electric vehicles within the next ten years.

Criticising the former provincial government of Punjab over Orange line Metro Train (OlMT) project, Chaudhry said, “Pakistan Muslim league-Nawaz (PMl-N) government had spent Rs60 billion on Orange line project and the present government has to give an annual subsidy of Rs12 billion for the project.”

In the next two to three years, the entire motorway network will shift to electric vehicle charging, said the Federal Minister

Applications filed to book Noorani over remarks in PDM rally ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

At least two applications have been filed against Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan (JUP) leader Shah Owais Noorani in Sindh and Punjab provinces for filing of cases over his controversial remarks during the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) rally in Quetta.

The applications were filed by two citizens in Nawabshah area of the Sindh province and Bahawalpur district of the Punjab province.

In Nawabshah, a citizen named

Gul Muhammad Keerio submitted an application with the SSP Benazirabad, demanding to register an FIR against Owais Noorani as he has committed treason, violating the Constitution of Pakistan. They [opposition parties] want to create anarchy in the country through their hate speeches, he said and demanded the police to register a treason case against all those who attended the Quetta rally.

On the other hand, a female lawyer also submitted an application with police in Bahawalpur, saying that the treason was committed during the PDM rally after the JUP

leader’s remarks of an independent state for Balochistan.

“Owais Noorani tried to create a discord between provinces,” she said in her application as police said that they would take action as per law.

It is pertinent to mention here that JUP leader Maulana Shah Owais Noorani on Sunday faced criticism for peddling the Indian narrative regarding Balochistan over his remarks during the PDM rally in Quetta.

“We want Balochistan as an independent state,” Noorani could be heard saying this during the PDM rally in a viral video.

PM envisions ‘Pakistan’s first knowledge city’ at Namal ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that building the country’s first knowledge city at Namal University is his dream.

The prime minister said this in a tweet on Monday, sharing also the master plan of the knowledge city.

He posted an animated video showing the master plan of the knowledge city as envisioned by him with a caption that read: “The Master Plan of my dream to build Pakistan’s first knowledge city.”

Singer-cum-actor Ali Zafar announced in a Twitter post on Sunday evening that he had been appointed as ambassador to the Namal Knowledge City envisioned by Prime Minister Khan as a centre of academic excellence for the marginalized population residing in remote areas.

“Honoured to be nominated ambassador to the first and biggest

ISLAMABAD The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has notified revised gas sale price for domestic, commercial and industrial sectors, which would be effective from September 1.

According to a notification dated October 23 released to the media on Monday, the authority has determined Rs121 per Million British Thermal Unit (MMBTU) for domestic consumers using up to 0.5hm3 (in cubic hectometers) gas per month, Rs300 per MMBTU for users of up to 1hm3, Rs553 per MMBTU for up to 2hm3, Rs738 on consumption of up to 3hm3, Rs1,107 and Rs1,460 per MMBTU for consuming up to 4hm3 and above 4hm3 respectively.

“The billing mechanism will be revised so that the benefit of one previous/preceding slab is available to domestic consumer (residential use),” it said determining minimum charges at Rs172.58 per month.

For government and semi-government offices, hospitals, clinics, maternity homes, government guest houses, armed forces messes, langars, universities, colleges, schools and private educational institutions, or-

for Science.

Pakistan approved its first ever Electric Vehicle (EV) policy in June this year.

Talking with media, the S&T minister had said Pakistan will soon be included in the list of countries, which are running vehicles on electricity.

“The motorcycles and vehicles would be shifted on electric power, while EV manufacturing units would also be established in the country.” Fawad Chaudhry said there would be only one per cent duty on the establishment of EV’s Manufacturing Units in Pakistan. “Ministry of Science and Technolgoy is working to policy to shift vehicles on battery in future.”

The policy was passed by the ECC, which was jointly proposed by the Ministry of Industries & Production, Ministry of Science and Technology and Ministry of Climate Change.

balochistan Cm tested positive for Covid-19 again NEWS DESK Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan took to Twitter on Monday to announce that although 14 days have passed since he contracted the infection, his Covid-19 test has turned out to be positive again. “My retest of Covid after 14 days is showing positive. I request all of you to take precautions, use masks, if symptoms then keep isolation.. lets try not to be spreaders of this disease,” he tweeted. Khan had announced on October 13 via a tweet that he had tested positive for coronavirus. “My Covid test has come positive,” he had tweeted. At least 108 Pakistani politicians, including Pakistan Muslim league-Nawaz (PMl-N) President Shehbaz Sharif, Awami National Party’s (ANP) Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, Sindh Governor Imran Ismail, Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, and Punjab Assembly Deputy Speaker Dost Muhammad Mazari have previously tested positive for coronavirus, most of whom went into self-isolation and recovered. Of the total, 42 belong to the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government.

PTI Punjab MPA Shaheen Raza was the first lawmaker in the country who died due to Covid-19 a few months ago. PTI MPA Mian Jamsheduddin Kakakhel from Nowshera and PMl-N MPA Shaukat Manzoor Cheema from Gujranwala also passed away in June after being on the ventilator for a few days.

mazari accuses PDm of toeing indian narrative NEWS DESK

knowledge city in Pakistan “Namal Knowledge City” envisioned by the honourable Prime Minister Imran Khan,” he tweeted. He said knowledge plays a key role in the development of a country and society.

It is pertinent to mention that PM Khan had performed the groundbreaking of Namal Knowl-

edge City phase-1 on Saturday last.

The Premier was briefed that after completion of the first phase, more than 10 thousand students from deprived areas would benefit from the Knowledge City. It was informed that this project would be environment friendly and a state of the art green structure.

OGRA jacks up gas price for CNG, power, industrial sectors STAFF REPORT

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phanages, and other charitable institutions along with hostels and residential colonies to whom gas is supplied through bulk meters, OGRA has fixed all off-takes at flat rate of Rs780 per MMBTU, with minimum charges of Rs3,900per month.

In commercial sector, the authority has determined all off-takes at flat rate of Rs1,283 per MMBTU for all establishments registered as commercial units with local authorities or dealing in consumer items for director commercial sale like cafes, bakeries, milk-shops, tea stalls, canteens, barber shops, laundries, hotels including hotel industry, malls places of entertainment like cinema, clubs, theaters, private offices and corporate firms etc. Minimum charges for these are Rs 6,415.10 per month. In category of special commercial (roti tandoors), the gas sale price has been determined for Rs110 per MMBTU for using up to 1 hm3 gas per month, Rs220 per MMBTU for using up to 3 hm3 and Rs700 over the consumption of 3hmr. Minimum charges for this category are Rs148.50 per month. For ice factories, all off-takes have been fixed at flat rate of Rs1,054 per MMBTU with minimum charges of Rs6,415 per month.

In general industrial sector, all off-takes have been determined at flat rate of Rs1,054 per MMBTU for all

consumers engaged in the processing of industrial raw material into value added finished products irrespective of the volume of gas consumed but excluding such industries for which a separate rate has been prescribed.

Minimum charges for this sector are Rs35,540 per month.

For export-oriented (general industry), all off-takes have been set at flat rate of Rs 819 per MMBTU, with minimum charges of Rs 27,616 per month, while the off-takes for export-oriented (captive) would be Rs 852 per MMBTU and minimum charges Rs 28.,729. In Compressed Natural Gas (CNG-) Region-I, all off-takes have been fixed at flat rate of Rs1,371 per MMBTU with minimum monthly charges of Rs46,229. Similarly, in Region-II of the CNG sector, all off-takes would be at the rate of Rs1,350 per MMBTU with minimum Rs45,521 per month. For cement factories, a flat rate of Rs1,277 per MMBTU would be charged for all offtakes. Its minimum charges will be Rs45,588 per month.

For fertilizer companies on the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines limited, all off-takes would be at the rate of Rs302 per MMBTU for gas used as feed-stock and Rs1,023 per MMBTU gas used as fuel for generation of electricity, steam and for the usage of housing colonies.

Human Rights Minister Dr Shireen Mazari on Monday questioned a set of “coincidences” between a recent statement by the Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval and the speeches delivered a day earlier by the 11-party Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) of the opposition parties. “So [Ajit] Doval threatens hybrid war and lOC inside Pakistan and suddenly PDM’s Noorani talks of breaking away Balochistan, Maryam discusses issues of enforced disappearance while Nawaz Sharif seeks to sow mutiny in armed forces,” she said in a tweet. “Is it just a coincidental unity of purpose between India’s NSA and PDM?” Mazari’s statement comes days after Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval warned that his country will use its own soil as well as foreign territory in its fights against enemies. According to Times of India, Doval said India will take the battle to where the threat originates. “We will fight where you want us to fight, that is also not mandatory. We fight where we feel the threat is coming,” the Bharatya Janata Party (BJP) leader told a religious gathering in Rishikesh on Saturday last. A day later, Jamiat Ulemai Islam-Pakistan (JUI-P) leader Owais Noorani sought an independent state for Balochistan at PDM’s jalsa in Quetta. Pakistan Muslim leagueNawaz (PMl-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz also met with affected families and highlighted the missing persons issue during her stay in Balochistan.

04

Tuesday, 27 October, 2020

NEWS

All Set for rS15Bn KohAt DeveloPment ProjeCt, Cm tolD PESHAWAR

I

AZIZ BUNERI

N an effort to develop Kohat in a sustainable manner, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government is finalizing all necessary arrangements for the launch of a comprehensive developmental project known as Kohat Division Development Project (KDDP).

The development project is to be completed in five years, with an estimated cost of Rs15 billion. Under the KDDP, various development schemes would be initiated in all three districts of Kohat division, i.e.

Kohat, Karak and Hangu districts. The de-

velopmental schemes will be launched in departments of agriculture, public health, engineering, roads infrastructure, health, education and irrigation sectors etc.

The above was informed during a meeting held on Monday regarding the uplift of Kohat division. The meeting was chaired by KP Chief Minister Mahmood Khan. Advisors to Chief Minister Ziaullah Bangash, Himayatullah Khan, Special Assistant to KP CM Zahoor Shakir, MNA Shahid Khattak, Additional Chief Secretary Shakeel Qadir, Principal Secretary to CM Shahab Ali Shah, Kohat division commissioner and other relevant high-ranking officials were also present on the occasion.

GCU student raped, filmed by classmate, 3 others: Police CHINIOT: A female student of Government College University (GCU) was allegedly sexually abused by four men, police said on Monday. According to the police, the young woman was raped by her classmate, named Shahid, and his three friends. They also filmed the sexual assault. A police official said the police have arrested Shahid after lodging a first information report (FIR) of the incident while his three accomplices are on the run. Efforts are underway to arrest them as well, he assured. Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, taking note of the incident, sought a report in this regard from the Faisalabad regional police officer (RPO). He directed the police to ensure all suspects are arrested and the victim gets justice. Multiple incidents of sexual abuse of women and children have come to the fore of late. Two such cases were reported on Sunday in Punjab alone. A 10-year-old boy staying at a hostel was sodomized by a teacher in Ahmadpur East tehsil of Bahawalpur district. Separately, a female dancer was allegedly raped by a police constable at gunpoint in Lahore. TLTP

QAU closed for a day after five Covid-19 cases surface

The meeting was briefed in detail about different aspects of Kohat Division Development Project. Chief Minister Khan termed the project as a milestone for the sustainable development of Kohat division and said that implementation of the project would have a far-reaching effect on the socio-economic lives of the people.

He added that this project would usher a new era of development and prosperity in the region. The chief minister directed the relevant quarters to finalise all the necessary arrangements so that the project could be launched formally by next week.

The chief minister also directed the authorities to ensure elected representatives

and other stakeholders are fully on board in the finalizing of the schemes under the KDDP. He further directed the authorities to ensure the approval of developmental schemes from the competent forums under the project in a timely manner.

The meeting also discussed the construction of 16 small dams would for drinking and irrigation water, for which Rs 2.98 billion has been allocated. Furthermore, four PC-Is had been approved by the competent forums, project directors had been appointed, accounts had been opened at districts level and advertisements for the recruitment of necessary staff had been issued.

Chup Tazia procession concludes peacefully in Hyderabad HYDERABAD APP

The mourning procession in respect of martyrdom of Hazrat Imam Hussain (RA) and his companions in Karbala concluded after the culmination of the last procession “Chup Tazia” in peaceful manner on Monday (8th Rabiul Awal) in Hyderabad.

The last mourning procession for the year was brought out from Qadamgah Moula Ali (AS) after Zuhr prayers, marching its traditional routes of Koh Noor Chowk, Station Road, Lajpat Road, Risala Road, Saddar and Bohri Bazaar before terminating at Karbala Dadan Shah before Maghrib prayers.

All link roads and streets connecting the routes of the procession were sealed with barbed wires and the passage

from walk through gates.

Besides, deployment of commandos atop of buildings at different points, the contingents of Rangers, scouts have escorted the mourning procession from its starting point till the final destination.

However, no untoward incident was reported during the passage of the mourning procession.

As many as 12,000 policemen were deployed for security of the procession while all the 55 roads and streets intersecting the route of the procession were sealed for traffic.

The police spokesman informed that 20 snipers were positioned on the tall building along the route while as many CCTV cameras were also installed.

The mobile network services were suspended in the district by around noon.

‘Dukhtaran-ePakistan’ honours women's contribution to Balochistan development NEWS DESK A Dukhtaran-e-Pakistan (Daughters of Pakistan) National Conference was held on Monday by Paigham-e-Pakistan at Balochistan's University of Turbat to highlight the role of women in the province's development and especially in peace building. The event was chaired by Commissioner Makran Division Tariq Qamar with a special session by Minister for Defence Production Zubaidah Jalal. A speaker addressing the event said that women have also played an important role in promoting education in Turbat and continue to show a great love of learning. To celebrate the contribution of women to the social fabric and the overall good of the community, an artisan festival was also held.

Artists from the entire province participated.

Crafts displayed to showcase the skills of women workers gained much appreciation at the event. The display of various handicrafts also attracted a large group of women who rushed to purchase items such as traditional Balochi dresses, embroidered handbags, among other captivating things.

Punjab Group of Colleges to set up countrywide schools’ chain PRESS RELESE

Capital police finalises security plan for Eid Miladun Nabi ISLAMABAD APP

and personnel of other law enforcement agencies will perform patrolling and security duties on this occasion and the main procession starting from Sector G-7 will be completely cordoned off through heavy deployment.

The procession will start from sector G-7 (Sitara Market) and to culminate near the shrine of Hazrat Sakhi Mehmud at Aabpara market after passing through various routes, the police source said. All SPs, SDPOs, SHOs and other police officials will visit the routes of the procession and ensure effective coordination among the security personnel performing duties. Police officials will guide the cops and boost their morale in accomplishing duties in a responsible manner.

Around 1000 cops including teams of QRF, ATS, CTF and police commandoes will perform security duties on the occasion while special teams of Rangers, CID and Special Branch police will assist in the smooth performance of their duties. The police officers including SPs will also visit various police posts lying in the route of the procession, check security duties and brief cops as how to ensure effective security.

Punjab Group of Colleges has announced a new educational initiative at schools level by the name of STEP 21st Century Learning Schools. The Punjab Group of Colleges chairman, while briefing about the new project, said that this new franchise-based schools Chain will be Pakistan’s first 21st century schooling chain and will soon start its operations countrywide. The schools chain will focus on project-based learning (PBL), STEM Education (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) and developing life skills in children. The schools will provide education from playgroup to Grade 10. All schools will be in purposebuilt campuses. Each child’s educational plan will be tailored after assessment of his passion and capabilities. Teachers’s training and school’s performances will be evaluated on latest and modern techniques.

STEP schools will offer all the facilities like robotics, interactive learning tools along with other extra and co-curricular activities which are essential for their physical and mental growth.

ISLAMABAD: The Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU) Islamabad was temporarily closed on Monday as the university reported five cases of Covid-19. The district health officer issued a notice regarding sealing the relevant departments and taking precautionary measures in classes and cafes and the campus to prevent the further spread of the virus. According to the notice, SOPs must be implemented in the departments that have not been sealed, whereas people who came in contact with those affected should stay in quarantine The QAU vice chancellor said the university had been closed down for a day. However, a final decision on sealing the university will be made later today. The federal capital's district administration has so far sealed 49 educational institutions after coronavirus cases were reported. On October 22, academic activities at the Fazaia Medical College Air University in Islamabad were suspended for over a week after it reported eight cases of coronavirus. TLTP

Islamabad Police Monday chalked out an elaborate security plan for the main procession of Eid Milad ul Nabi on 12th Rabi ul Awal (October 30) and to ensure strict patrolling for religious gatherings in the city.

The decision for comprehensive security arrangements was made in a meeting presided over by Inspector General of Police (IGP) Islamabad Muhammad Aamir Zulfiqar which was also attended by DIG (Headquarters) Muhammad Saleem, AIGs Special Branch, Operations, SSPs Traffic, Security, Headquarters, CTD, Additional SP and SPs of various zones. IGP directed DIG (Operations) Waqar Uddin Syed to ensure comprehensive security arrangements on the occasion. He asked for monitoring and surveillance of the processions through drone and CCTV cameras and to deploy teams of CTD as well as a falcon on important points.

According to the plan, the contingents of capital police

Another locust attack in Sindh, Balochistan feared

Pakistan officially enters ‘subway era’ with metro train launch

KARACHI: The Sindh government has issued a fresh alert over another locusts attack in the province and coastal areas of Balochistan, citing a report of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. In a series of tweets posted on the account of the provincial agriculture department, the government said that the FAO South West Asia has no threat from Africa and Arabian Peninsula; however, in case of any presence at source, wind directions in the next 24 hours warrant migrations from Rajasthan and Gujarat towards Sindh. Detailing the Sindh areas that might suffer from the recent threat, it said that Nara (Khairpur), Khipro (Sanghar), Umarkot, Chachro, Mithi, Diplo and Nagarparkar (Tharparkar), and Badin areas may face locusts attack. The agriculture department further said that the FAO recommends that surveys in Sindh and Balochistan should continue to timely detect the presence of any stage of desert locust especially in the Jamshoro area of Sindh and areas along the coastline of Balochistan. The department said that special survey efforts are required in Tharparkar, Jamshoro, and Lasbela by concerned teams as migrations between these areas are quite possible. Responding to the alert, the Sindh Agriculture Minister Ismail Raho said that the provincial teams are ready to deal with the situation and had already taken measures in different districts of the province. He also stressed the federal government to take prior preventive measures so that the loss of poor farmers could be avoided. STAFF REPORT

LAHORE PRESS RELEASE

The Orange Line Metro Train’s historic inauguration ceremony was held on October 25, 2020 in Lahore, which was graced by the Chief Minister of Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar, Consul General of the Consulate General of China Long Dingbin and Minister of Punjab for Transport. Jahanzeb Khan Khichi.

Through a video portal, the Orange Line Train began to whistle under the witness of the chief guests of both sides, announcing Pakistan's official entry into the subway era.

The Orange Line Metro Train Lahore is the first large-scale technologically advanced rail transit project under the "Belt and Road" initiative and the ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The project was jointly undertaken by China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. and China North Industry Co., Ltd. (CR-NORINCO), with a total track length of 27 km and 26 stations. A depot is located at Dera Gujran which is the northern end of the route and an Ali Town Stabling Yard is located at the southern end of the route.

In February 2020, Norinco International, as the leading company, joined hands with Guangzhou Metro Group (GMG) and Daewoo Pakistan Express Bus Service Ltd. to form a joint venture (JV), which successfully won the contract for the operation and maintenance (O&M) of Orange Line for the next eight years.

Despite the lockdowns caused by the pandemic, the JV team completed comprehensive personnel recruitment, skills training, joint commissioning and re-inspection, and trial operation through innovative models such as remote video and centralized isolation, making full preparations for the official opening and operation of the Orange Line subway.

The Orange Line is an initiative of the Government of Pakistan to improve the living standards of its citizens, and is an important source of employment for the local residents. During the construction

period, more than 7,000 local jobs were created for the citizens, and nearly 2,000 jobs will be provided to the people of Pakistan with the official launch, greatly improving the employment scenario of the city. It is estimated that nearly 250,000 passengers will be facilitated with this service every day and the commuting time through the northern and southern urban areas of the city will be significantly reduced from 2.5 hours to 45 minutes.

The Orange Line Metro will not only be greatly improving the travel efficiency of citizens and promoting the socio-economic development level in Lahore but will also be introducing a new momentum into the development of urban modernization. In compliance with the rules of urban green development in Lahore and Pakistan's National Development Strategy, Pakistan will officially enter the subway era with the launch of the Orange Line Metro Rail Transit System.

The Orange Line Metro Train project was signed under the witness of Chinese President Xi Jinping and built by Chinese companies, China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. and China North Industry Co., Ltd. The residents of the country consider Orange Line "a gift from President Xi Jinping to the people of Pakistan" and also as "the flower of friendship between China and Pakistan." This flower of friendship has finally taken root and blossomed under the rain of "shared destiny and winwin cooperation" between the two countries.

Tuesday, 27 October, 2020

FPCCI’S MeDIA COMMIttee ReSIgNS IN PROteSt AgAINSt PReSIDeNt iSLamaBaD

t

STAFF REPORT

HE Central Standing Committee on Media and Broadcasting of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) has resigned in protest against the policies of the leadership of FPCCI and Businessman Panel.

Convener of the committee Usama Khan Warsi was first to resign followed by deputy convener Robina Tasneem. They said that they have resigned due to wrong

policies and a humiliating attitude of president FPCCI and chairman of Businessman Panel.

Mian Zahid Hussain took the right decision to part ways with the Businessmen Panel which is being run as a family business, they said, adding that those who are calling the shots have damaged the reputation of FPCCI. Mian Zahid Hussain is an asset of the business community who has utilized his time and resources for the betterment of the business community which is the reason that he is respected

KSA to welcome pilgrims for Umrah from Nov 1

across the country, they said.

The institution of FPCCI is rife with inefficiency, nepotism and conspiracies while nothing was being done to serve the business community which has resulted in widespread resentment, said Warsi. He said that standing committees were formed in FPCCI as a usual practice but these were not allowed to work with few exceptions.

He said that the Businessmen Panel made it to FPCCI five years after its formation but has disappointed the majority of the voters which will result in

a defeat in the upcoming elections scheduled after two months.

After Mian Zahid Hussain, many more senior members of the Businessmen Panel who infused new blood in this group are set to leave the group because of the negative policies and moves aimed at personal welfare.

The president FPCCI has failed to perform and he has surrounded himself in time servers denting merit while he has always ignored the issues of the business community which helped him become president of the apex chamber.

UN chief urges rich countries to support health systems in developing world uNitED NatioNS

NEWS DESK

APP

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is to resume welcoming people who wish to perform Umrah as the travel restrictions placed to prevent the spread of Covid-19 will be lifted from November 1, 2020, reported Saudi Gazette. According to the gazette, people from the age of 18 to 50 who wish to perform the religious pilgrimage will be allowed to enter the kingdom, but they would be quarantined for three days after arrival, according to the protocols issued by the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah. Furthermore, pilgrims must carry a PCR medical test certificate – issued by a reliable laboratory within 72 hours of the flight’s departure time – clearing them of coronavirus. “The pilgrims shall have obtained a reservation for the performance of Umrah as well as to the visit of the Two Holy Mosques and prayer at Rawdah Sharif by registering through Eatmarna application, as well as having confirmed return flight reservations in accordance with the approved programme for each pilgrim,” read the report. Reportedly, all Umrah companies must follow a set of instructions issued by the ministry.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for worldwide solidarity in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic -- "the greatest crisis of our age” -- and urged developed countries to support health systems in countries that are short of resources.

The UN chief was speaking by video-link to the World Health Summit in Berlin at which the coronavirus pandemic was the overarching theme.

Several leaders and experts who spoke at the opening session on Sunday also stressed the need to cooperate across borders.

The Berlin-based summit is backed by the World Health Organization (WHO), involving 100 countries, and around 2,500 participants, geared towards improving health worldwide and respond to global health challenges, according to a UN press release.

In his message, the secretary-general ran through the many disruptive effects of the coronavirus pandemic beyond the loss of more than 1,147,000 lives as of Sunday, and 42.5

million cases.

Around 500 million jobs have disappeared, with a monthly loss to the global economy of around $375 billion. Gender-based violence has skyrocketed, and mental illness “is a crisis within a crisis”. Some 24 million children could drop out of school, “with lifelong impact.”

“Covid-19 is driving us even farther off-course from achieving the vision and promise of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, said the UN chief, who said the first hard lesson of the crisis was that “we were not prepared.”

“Global health and emergency response systems have been tested and found wanting. Access to health is a human right denied to billions of people around the world. Universal Health Coverage is the path to highquality, equitable, affordable healthcare. Strong public health systems and emergency preparedness are essential steps to greater resilience.”

He added that “if we follow the science, and demonstrate unity and solidarity, we can overcome the pandemic. Public health measures including masks, physical distancing and

hand washing, are proven means of keeping the virus at bay.”

Protecting the vulnerable is key, and staying away from events that simply spread the virus. Governments need to work with communities everywhere to share reliable information and build trust.

“Third, we need global solidarity every step of the way. Developed countries must support health systems in countries that are short of resources”, said Guterres, prioritizing the development of vaccines for everyone, everyone, as a public good.

“Vaccines, tests and therapies are more than lifesavers. They are economy savers and society savers”, he said. “Relief will come not through one single step, but through smartly combining cutting-edge research with basic public health.”

The fourth lesson, he told delegates, was that misinformation and disinformation are “deadly allies of the virus. They are contributing to deaths and infections, and to social tensions that have led to violence.

“Unless we counter rumours, conspiracy theories and lies, they will negate our other efforts.”

Amid heated debates, NA adopts resolution against blasphemous sketches CoNtiNuED from pagE 01 "[The assembly] condemns unequivocally the practice of blasphemy and of insulting prophets of Islam, Christianity and Judaism alike," according to the resolution, which also denounced acts of terror carried out in the name of any religion.

It deplored the "equating of Islam and Muslims with terrorism" and in order to effectively address the issue, urged the government to recall the Pakistani envoy from Paris; work within the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) for designating March 15 as the International Day to Combat Islamophobia; and ask OIC

countries to boycott French goods.

Earlier, the house witnessed a ruckus as PML-N's Khawaja Asif criticised the government over employing alleged undemocratic practices and presented a resolution to condemn the blasphemous caricatures.

FM Qureshi read out another resolution that the government wanted to be passed with consensus on the issue of blasphemy. With opposition members chanting "voting! voting!" for the resolution presented by Asif, a furious Qureshi accused the opposition of "doing politics" on the sensitive matter.

Qureshi said the entire world was anguished over the publication of the blas-

HAFiz QAiSER AbbAS.

The provision of safe food is a global concern and all the states in world are working in this regard to address this issue. Pakistan like other countries leaving no stone unturned to ensure the quality food for general Public. Safe food has always been one of the most prioritized issue of Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan and he has mentioned it in almost his every address.

In view of Prime Minister’s instructions, the relative stake holders are working aggressively in this regard especially the regulatory authorities in the most Populus province of Pakistan; Punjab. Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar and more prominently the Chairman Punjab Food Authority Umer Tanveer Butt, Director General of Punjab Food Authority, Irfan Nawaz Memon are trying in their best capacity to carry out his vision. Even in the contemporary situation of pandemic, Director General of Punjab Food Authority

phemous caricatures and he was disappointed to see the opposition's "non-serious attitude" on the grave issue.

"They want to do politics even on such a sacred matter," he said amid continued noise from the opposition benches.

He said the publication of the sketches had hurt the sentiments of the entire Muslim world and was reflective of the "rising trend of Islamophobia". He added that he had presented a resolution condemning the act on the government's behalf and wanted it to be passed with consensus but the opposition instead resorted to political statements.

Responding to Asif's comment that

the government had failed to get Pakistan removed from the 'grey list' of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Qureshi said it was during the PML-N's tenure that Pakistan was placed on the watchdog's list.

He accused the opposition of peddling "India's narrative" and making national institutions "controversial".

"You should be ashamed that slogans for Balochistan's independence were raised from your platform," he said, addressing the opposition benches.

Pointing to Asif, the minister said it appeared to him that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "spirit has been transferred into him".

NEWS

DRAP slashes remdesivir price

by Rs1,629 iSLamaBaD TLTP

In a major relief to coronavirus patients, the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) on Monday reduced the price of remdesivir, the first and only approved treatment for Covid-19 in the United States, by Rs1,629 to Rs9,244. In a notification, DRAP said that the price of remdesivir injection has been slashed by Rs1,629, adding that the antiviral drug will be sold at Rs9,244 across the country. The regulatory authority warned that strict legal action will be taken against those who are selling the drug at higher prices. It is pertinent to mention that remdesivir has reportedly proved effective against the novel coronavirus and the federal cabinet had approved to reduce the price of the antiviral drug last month. In May, US pharmaceutical company Gilead had allowed Pakistan to produce the antiviral drug in the country.

President, PM seek end to Kashmiris’ plight as nation observes ‘Black Day today’ CoNtiNuED from pagE 01 For more than a year now, Kashmiris have been prisoners in their own homes, aliens in their own land, and unable to walk freely on their own streets.” Over 900,000 Indian occupation forces, holding 8 million Kashmiris, have turned the occupied territory into the world’s largest open prison.

India’s inhuman military siege, continued blockade, continuing torture and brutal repression and attempts to change the demographic structure of the occupied territory, have shown the real face of the ‘ Hindutva’-driven RSS-BJP regime and its extremist designs. “I would like to assure my Kashmiri brothers and sisters, that we honour their sacrifices and salute their indomitable spirit as we observe this Black Day. We also re-affirm our unflinching support to the people of IIOJK in their just struggle.

This support and solidarity will continue until the Kashmiris achieve their legitimate right to self-determination as enshrined in the international law, United Nations Charter and the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions.

FO summons French envoy to protest Macron’s ‘Islamophobic’ remarks CoNtiNuED from pagE 01 According to Radio Pakistan, the foreign minister also urged the United Nations to take notice and called for action against the hate-based narrative against Islam, the report added. In the statement, Qureshi added that a comprehensive resolution will be presented at the next Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) foreign ministers’ meeting proposing to observe Mar 15 as the International Day against Islamophobia. Separately, Qureshi, while speaking to a private media house, said it was time to make a collective decision on the matter, pointing to a ban on the denial of the Holocaust — a law adopted by 16 European states and Israel. Earlier this month, Facebook had announced to remove all content on its platform that “denies or distorts the Holocaust.”

“Civilised nations should respect Muslim sentiments,” he said.

Initiatives to ensure food safety Irfan Nawaz memon along with his core team have ensured the provision of safe food through raids and different initiatives.

Punjab Food Authority has taken several historical initiatives recently to ensure the provision of safe food for public which are trend in itself. Free Milk Testing, Mobile milk testing labs and now body worn cameras. Punjab Food Authority recently has launched the project of body cameras project. According to which food safety officers who work in field will wear body cameras. The purpose behind this initiative is to ensure the authentic and more strengthened surveillance system. This initiative will prove to be a big step towards the assurance of safe food for public also the eradication of adulteration mafia. Another good aspect of this action is that it will help in maintaining record and proofs.

For governments, there has always been the need for enforceable standards that are convincing, which our contemporary government trying their best to do so but consumers and industry must take equal part in it. For consumers, food control systems must provide meaningful protection against real and important hazards. We must understand that government actions are not enough to cater this problem alone, we as nation and as responsible citizens must play our part, bring change in ourselves whether as producers, manufacturers, distributors we should act ethically and provide safe and healthy food to general public. In fact, even as consumers we should be vigilant bring, buy and eat food after checking it properly don’t feed unsafe food to yourselves and to your families. We as consumers need to be cautious in such matters

CMYK

05

only then the changes will be done at manufacturing end. One basic aim behind spreading word regarding initiatives taken by concerned stake holders is to draw attention and inspire action to help prevent, detect and manage foodborne risks, contributing to food security, human health, economic prosperity, agriculture, market access, tourism and sustainable development. Food safety is a shared responsibility between governments, producers and consumers. Everybody has a role to play from farm to table to ensure the food we consume is safe and will is good for our health.

Worldwide the concerned departments i.e.

WHO, FOA, UN pursues its efforts to mainstream food safety in the public agenda and reduce the burden of foodborne diseases globally. Safe food consumption is one of the basic needs for healthy life and

in contemporary situation of pandemic outbreak it has become even more important.

Because the virus threat might have reduced but has not ended completely. We must prioritize the consumption of safe food over anything for healthy life. As once quoted “When diet is wrong, medicine is of no use. When diet is correct, medicine is of no need” To avoid bad health, doctors and hospitals all you have to do is to keep your dietary habits in good shape. Satisfying your pallet is one thing but just satisfying your taste pallet and ignoring all other factors can put you and your system in severe danger. Be vigilant and choose food wisely. Also, there is an immense need of support and positive attitude of public towards regulatory officials.

Government officials are working tirelessly for prosperity of people and our beloved country we as responsible civilians must support their initiatives and actions and must play our due part.

Tuesday, 27 October, 2020

06 COMMENT

On intellectual lethargy

Need to engage the opposition Establishment- PDM dialogue can save the situation

T

No signs of change

HeRe was a time when all opposition parties wanted to resolve issues with PTI government through talks. PM Imran Khan’s hubris however led him to reject the moves disdainfully, calling these as attempts to seek the NRo. Things have reached a point now where no one in the PDM is willing to negotiate with the “selected” PM. Meanwhile, the opposition has already held half of its six planned rallies. The latest in Quetta drew big crowds fed up with the government’s policies like the earlier ones despite intelligence warnings of a possible terror attack. over the past few weeks the 11-party alliance has developed a common narrative. The PDM maintains that the PTI’s ‘selected’ government is thoroughly incompetent. According to the alliance, while the government’s policies have made life miserable for the common man and drawn resentment from smaller provinces, its foreign policy is alienating Pakistan from friendly countries. The government has tried to suppress the independent media, made attempts to target impartial judges and has failed to stop the wave of disappearances in the country. The PDM accuses the government of failing to deter India from changing the status of Kashmir, thus openly turning the disputed region into a colony.

According to the opposition’s narrative, the “selected” PM pays no attention to the sufferings of the common man because he does not consider himself responsible to the electorate. This has led the PDM to conclude that the fault lies with the establishment which has brought an inept leader to power. While there may be variations in the tone of the alliance partners, the substance of their narrative remains the same.

The PTI’s ministers have called upon the establishment to take stern action against the opposition.

Any move in the direction would not deter those who are already facing several cases or have remained under custody. It could however add to the prevailing restiveness among the masses caused by the government’s failed policies. This suits neither Pakistan nor its friends and allies. The situation along the LoC, ongoing peace efforts in Afghanistan and the timely completion of the CPeC require peace and stability in the country. The way out is a substantive dialogue between the establishment and the PDM with the exclusion of the government representatives unlike the talks last month.

HASAN AFTAB SAEED

Y

ou cannot shut your eyes to the stupendous levels of intellectual laziness in the society if you try. There are just too many reminders of it. The other day on the social media, I had a little exchange with a young man – not your run of the mill happy-go-lucky sort but supposedly an enlightened and thoughtful type. It struck me, as such debates often do, that we are trapped in some sort of a time-bubble. For every such episode reminds me of the debates I had on message boards in those prehistoric times before the advent of Facebook. That is more than fifteen years ago, but the more things change the more they remain the same.

It typically starts like this: a claim is made, or a strong position on some issue expressed. For instance, ‘XYZ is the single largest reason for what has been happening in the country in the last seventy years.’ You ask what exactly has been happening in the country in the last seventy years. (Plenty has been happening, of course, but what precisely does the man have in mind?) Then you are asked: ‘Have you not read history?’ To which you respond: ‘I have read many historical accounts, but I am not

Orange line train

sure what particular history you may be referring a justification is demanded a link to the opinion of to.’ So, you suggest it is made clear to you. In re- some scholar is presented, and it is deemed that the sponse to this, you are provided the link to a 120- job is done. These ‘intellectuals’ fail to realize that minute video by somebody named Imtiaz Mustafa one must be equipped with convincing arguments (say), which you are advised to watch. You feel before holding strong views on anything. The Quran, obliged to point out the fact that you are not having in multiple places, mentions people who, by way of this conversation with the esteemed Imtiaz Mustafa justification for some of their beliefs or practices, inand that you do not even know him. That you would stead of making a case for their position point to gladly listen to him in the future event of having a somebody else as their authority. It points out how silly this attitude is. of debate with him, but you course, parents, friends, are not currently interested teachers, and scholars can in what the gentleman has be a great help in this reto say and that at this moStudents of philosophy know gard, but ultimately it is the ment, you would appreciate individual himself who is it infinitely more if your that thoughts have a way of supposed to be able to give current opponent presents sounding convincing and an account of his beliefs and his arguments himself. The actions.

There is no way discussion usually comes to brilliant in direct proportion to around this. a stop at this point after the Students of philosophy customary exchange of their vagueness. The more you know that thoughts have a pleasantries. examine them critically and in way of sounding convincing This debate-by-videos is a relatively new phenomeconcrete detail, the more they and brilliant in direct proportion to their vagueness. non. In the old days it used tend to fall apart, until The more you examine to be links to internet pages them critically and in conwith unreadable and inter(usually) one is left with crete detail, the more they minable content. What is untend to fall apart, until (usuchanged in all these years is precious little. It is not ally) one is left with prethe sheer inability or intelsurprising, then, that many cious little. It is not lectual lethargy to build an surprising, then, that many argument leading to one’s people choose to have no people choose to have no held position. When it thoughts of their own; they thoughts of their own; they comes to more intelligent inkeep carrying ideas and dividuals, it could well be by keep carrying ideas and conclusions of other people. design, because there are That is quite all right, becertain benefits of not using conclusions of other people. cause not everybody is exone’s brain in arriving at pected to be a Socrates. But one’s conclusions. This the least one can do is exsaves one the trouble of critical examination, which is hard work at the best of amine all the arguments for or against a position and times, and can be extremely disconcerting when the either accept them or reject them using his own mind different ideas (no doubt brilliant when seen sepa- and his best efforts. Since most people are reluctant rately) turn out to be contradictory, causing the whole to take the trouble to think their thoughts through, they are not able to justify their held position by arbuilding to collapse.

Simplistic political slogans and sweeping state- gument, hence their reliance on other people’s videos ments have precisely this appeal: namely, they are and websites and whatnot. easy to repeat and they help a man pretend to be a Hasan Aftab Saeed is a connoisseur of music, deep thinker. This sort of thing is even more disturbing in religious debates than it is in political ones. A literature, and food (but not drinks). He can be view is held and expressed very strongly, but when reached at www.facebook.com/hasanaftabsaeed

Increasing rape cases

Benefits of new transit system justify the subsidy

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on the misleading interpreby psychologists and socioltations of religion and culogists have shown that sextural norms to eradicate ual crimes are all about MuHAMMAD SAAD ASlAM gender biases. They need to power. Perpetrators of these Men have to call out these be sensitized regarding the crimes involve in such false narratives built on the issues faced by the other crimes to assert their soHe increasing number of rape cases across called male authority. In the gender. Co-education is misleading interpretations of also the country has triggered a debate about layered structure of vioconsidered against our why there is a precipitous increase in sexual lence, women have to go religion and cultural norms to religious and cultural valassault and rape. A small but influential seg- through an extra layer of ues and is responsible for eradicate gender biases. They promoting youth indement of society believes that the victims are sexual violence. Regardless blamed for their lack of so-called modesty and pu- of their class or social capicency. But the reality is difneed to be sensitized rity. Such insensitive comments about rape victims tal, a majority of women ferent. When boys and girls regarding the issues faced by interact with each other, always evoke harsh reactions from society’s broad have to go through this orparts, and rightly so. Still, there is a prevailing deal one way or another. they get sensitized regardthe other gender. thought in these societal segments that the women ing issues of the opposite If the problem’s root who are raped or sexually assaulted are responsible cause is identified correctly, gender. Therefore segregafor crimes committed against them. tion and moral policing are meaningful interventions Women who venture outside the confines of their could eradicate the problem. not the solutions for eradihomes are considered to be lacking modesty and If we continue to blame victims and lay the responsi- cating sexual crimes, but the opposite is. therefore invite the perpetrators to commit sexual bility of sexual crimes on the door of so-called obMany religious injunctions are misinterpreted crimes against them. In a patriarchal society like Pak- scenity and vulgarity, it will only increase such and misused to perpetuate male dominance and paistan, victim-blaming is frequently used to tell crimes. Sexual crimes like rape affect the victim, but triarchy. If women are to given their actual status, women that they should remain within the walls of the whole family goes through the trauma, and most which is accorded to them by Islam, the accurate intheir homes to prevent rape, of the time, this trauma is terpretation of Islamic teachings concerning sexual assault or harassment transmitted to the next gen- women’s dignity must be propagated. Both state and committed against them. erations. Such crimes have the pulpit have to play their role in this regard.

This utterly flawed arguLastly, the stigma attached to sexual crimes prefar-reaching social and psyment neglects that acquainDeep-seated misconceptions chological effects. There- vents the victims from coming forward and reporttances commit most of the fore, eradication of these ing harassment and sexual violence against them. and fallacies take generations crimes needs multi-faceted The victims of such crimes are perceived as having sexual crimes and these crimes occur either at home lost their dignity; therefore, they do not come out approaches. to be changed but to bring a or near the vicinity.

It is appropriate for to share their suffering. The families of victims dischange, steps should be Another fallacious argumore structural problems to courage them from disclosing their ordeal because ment is that the so-called be identified so that pur- they have to undergo public shaming. This ostrich taken in the right direction. westernization and exposure poseful interventions should mentality has to be abandoned. one should underto obscene content on the inbe made. The power struc- stand that the victim is not the one who loses digThe educated and ternet and television are reture, which is tilted heavily nity but the perpetrator who loses dignity, and he is enlightened segments of sponsible for a sharp rise in against women, has to be the one who should be treated as a criminal rather sexual crimes. Many webadjusted to be treated as an than the victim. society have to play their sites and social media appliDeep-seated misconceptions and fallacies take equal citizen. equal opporconstructive role in it. Only cations have been banned on tunities in education, em- generations to be changed but to bring a change, steps the pretext that these platployment, health, and should be taken in the right direction. The educated then can we make a society forms disseminate indecent politics would lead to and enlightened segments of society have to play content. As if denying acwomen’s emancipation in their constructive role in it. only then can we make a where women could play a cess to these platforms will society where women could play a constructive role the real sense. constructive role in nationeradicate sexual crimes in Men also need to be ed- in nation-building without fear of being harassed or our society. that women are intimidated. building without fear of being ucated These misconceptions equal human beings, and harassed or intimidated. will continue to be peddled The writer is an alumnus of NUST, a member of they are not supposed to unless we understand that play as second fiddle to the literary think tank, ‘Institute of policy and sexual crimes are not about men. Men have to call out Research’ and is currently pursuing an M-Phil in sex and lust alone. Research these false narratives built Political Science

FTeR much delay, Lahore’s orange Line Metro Train (oLMT) project has become commercially operational with both the PTI and the PML-N squabbling over who gets the credit for its completion.

Because much of the work, with some estimates putting it at 95%, was completed under Shehbaz Sharif’s tenure as Chief Minister of Punjab, it is understandable why the PML-N held a parallel ribbon cutting ceremony on inauguration day. It is therefore quite hypocritical that the PTI is celebrating the opening of a project that the party severely criticized, labeling it as a drain on public funds and a vehicle for corruption. Putting the politics to one side, it has to be said that the salient features of the project are quite impressive and will benefit daily commuters immensely. The route alignment of the trains is such that they will pass through some of the most highly congested areas in Lahore allowing one to save crucial time spent waiting in long traffic jams. The subsidized cost of Rs 40 to travel end-to-end in less than 45 minutes with 26 stations guarantees cheap and accessible transport and it is estimated that 245,000 passengers will use the facility on a daily basis. This will also translate into less cars and motorcycles on the roads, as a more economical public transport option will be available. oLMT also happens to be the country’s first electricity-run mass transit project, which means there will be less breakdowns and maintenance as is the case with conventional trains. From an environmental perspective, fewer combustion engines on the road means less air pollution as well, not to mention a possible reduction in the demand for fuel in Lahore. That the project is the first large-scale technologically advanced rail transit project under the Belt and Road Initiative and CPeC, makes it all the more crucial for it to be a success.

It is imperative therefore that the highest possible standard of service quality is maintained, the timeliness of trains is ensured and most importantly, the trains and stations are kept clean.

Victim blaming is not the solution

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Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Arif Nizami Editor Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

Umar Aziz

Asher John

Joint Editor

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Lahore – Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965

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Tuesday, 27 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

Corona rising WITH some 847 fresh infections in the last 24 hours against 31,009 tests and an inflated positivity ratio of 2.73 percent, Pakistan’s active coronavirus cases on Saturday exceeded the grim milestone of 10,000 after nearly two months. The last time such a spike was recorded on July 30 when more than 900 cases were detected in 24 hours. The country has been witnessing a surge in the positive cases for a week now — a development health experts have attributed to poor handling of the ground situation, the decision to open up the educational institutions in phases and the massive rallies of opposition parties to protest against the incumbent setup. earlier on Friday, the National Command and operation Center (NCoC) warned of a “consistent” increase in positivity ratio, virus-related deaths, and hospital admissions. Its daily meeting noticed that Muzaffarabad, Hyderabad, Karachi and Gilgit-Baltistan had the highest positivity in the past week, and urged authorities to ensure standard operating procedures (SoPs) compliance to avoid another lockdown.

Mirza ManSoor Karachi

Remembering Abdul Qadir

Black Day Kashmiris’ struggle for freedom continues

SAjjAD SHAukAT

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He people of Jammu and Kashmir, living on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) and rest of the world are observing october 27 as the Black Day to mark strong protest and indignation against the forced and unlawful occupation of Jammu and Kashmir for the last 73 years since 1947. But, Kashmir dispute is still alive due to perennial struggle of the Kashmiri people.

During the partition of the subcontinent, the people of the state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) which comprised Muslim majority decided to join Pakistan according to the British formula.

In this regard, the historical resolution was unanimously passed on 19th July, 1947 by the All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference in Abi Guzar, Srinagar. It decided to merge Kashmir with Pakistan, considering the geographical proximity—majority of Muslim population (77%), language and cultural relations of Jammu and Kashmir.

But, Dogra Raja, Sir Hari Singh, a Hindu who was ruling over the J&K in collusion with the Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Governor General Lord Mountbatten joined India.

The design to forcibly wrest Kashmir began to unfold on August 16, 1947, with the announcement of the Radcliffe Boundary Award. It gave the Gurdaspur District—a majority Muslim area to India to provide a land route to the Indian armed forces to move into the state of J&K. There was a rebellion in the state forces, which revolted against the Maharaja and were joined by Pathan tribesmen. Lord Mountbatten ordered armed forces to land in Srinagar.

Indian forces invaded Srinagar on october, 27 1947 and forcibly occupied the J&K in utter violation of the partition plan and against the wishes of the Kashmiri people.

When Pakistan responded militarily, on December 31, 1947, India made an appeal to the uN Security Council to intervene and a ceasefire ultimately came into effect on January 01, 1949, following uN resolutions calling for a plebiscite in Kashmir.

Particularly, the Security Council adopted resolution 47 (1948) of 21 April 1948, which promised a plebiscite under uN auspices to en-

able the people of Jammu and Kashmir to deter- tioned in the occupied Kashmir.

While, since 1989, Kashmiris have already mine whether they wish to join Pakistan or India. on February 5, 1964, India backed out of its been enduring various forms of state terrorism promise of holding plebiscite. Instead, Indian such as tortures, kidnappings, rapes and massacre, Parliament declared Kashmir-an integral part of no Indian soldier has ever been taken to task for these heinous crimes. Hence, since the military the Indian union.

It is notable that August 5, 2019 was the lockdown started, Indian forces have intensified blackest day of Indian so-called democracy the employment of these brutal tactics. Almost, when its Parliament revoked articles 35A and 100,000 Kashmiris have died in the past 30 years.

It is mentionable that Western media, human 370 of the Constitution, which gave a special status to the disputed territory of the J&K. The rights groups such as Human Rights Watch, act split the J&K into two territories to be ruled Amnesty International etc. and leaders of various countries and uNo have repeatedly condemned directly from New Delhi.

Thus, India’s fanatic Prime Minister Naren- Indian illegal measures and human rights violadra Modi’s government led by extremist ruling tions which keep on going in the IoK. In this respect, a year after India abrogated party BJP unilaterally annexed the Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK) to turn Muslim majority the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, uN human rights experts on August 4, 2020 called into minority.

Now, more than 14 months have been on India and the international community to take urgent action to address passed. But, Indian the “alarming” human strict military lockrights situation in (IoK) down in the Illegally Jammu and Kashmir— occupied Jammu and While, since 1989, Kashmiris “to investigate all cases Kashmir (IIoJK) conof human rights violatinues unabated. have already been enduring tions, including extrajuDespite the deployvarious forms of state dicial killings, enforced ment of more than disappearances, torture 900,000 military troops terrorism such as tortures, and arbitrary detenin the IIoJK, who have tions.” martyred tens of thoukidnappings, rapes and In this context, sands of Kashmiris, inmassacre, no Indian soldier Amnesty International cluding women and on September 29, children through brutal has ever been taken to task for said this year that it is “stoptactics like fake enthese heinous crimes. Hence, ping its work in India counters, closure of because the governmosques, shortage of since the military lockdown ment has frozen its food, medicines for the bank accounts on Seppatients and coronstarted, Indian forces have tember 10 for highavirus-affected persons. intensified the employment of lighting rights Yet, Kashmiri freedom violations in Jammu fighters continue war of these brutal tactics. Almost, and Kashmir and riots liberation.

100,000 Kashmiris have died in in Delhi in recent days Besides, Indian and the government prejudiced rulers’ varithe past 30 years. had sought to punish it ous other measures for that”. such as issuance of In the recent past, domicile certificates to the uNSC in its meetmore than 430,000 non-Kashmiris, blaming Indian Muslims for ings has thrice reiterated that the Kashmir issue spreading of coronavirus in India and IIoJK requires to be settled in accordance with the principles of the uN charter and the related Seshow Indian anti-Muslim campaign.

However, New Delhi has openly violated curity Council resolutions, as the world has rethe laws which include uNSC resolutions on fused to believe in the Indian story that its Kashmir, article 42 of the Hague regulations actions regarding IIoJK are its internal matter.

Nevertheless, Kashmiris living on both sides 1907, common article 2 of the Geneva conventions (GC), article 42-56 Geneva convention-IV of the LoC and their brethren in Pakistan, includand customary international law. In this regard, ing almost all over the world observe today (27th Article 55 & 56 of the GC IV states that the oc- of october) as a Black Day to protest against Incupying power must ensure sufficient hygiene dian illegal occupation of the Kashmir. and public health standards, as well as the proIn this connection, conferences and demonvision of food and medical care to the population strations are likely to be held in various major under occupation. cities of the World as people will protest against owing to military clampdown in the In- India, while reminding the international commudian occupied Kashmir (IoK)—in order to nity of the rights of self-determination of the conceal India’s state terrorism, Kashmir has Kashmiris as recognized by the uNo-related been cut off from rest of the world. But, under resolutions. these adverse circumstances, Kashmiris are still violating the lockdown by protesting Sajjad Shaukat writes on international against Indian illegal actions. affairs and is author of the book: US vs Islamic Notably, Modi-regime has also increased Militants, Invisible Balance of Power: gangs of RSS-BJP volunteers permanently sta- Dangerous Shift in International Relations

IT has been more than a year since Abdul Qadir has passed away.

Qadir’s legend as a player extended far beyond his stats, which boast an impressive 236 test wickets, but do not speak to the volumes he added to the game with his personality, and his services to spin bowling.

In the era of the deadly fasts of Australia, West Indies and Pakistan, he became the master of a dying art – leg spin. In the many eulogies that have come his way since his passing, one of the prevalent praises has been that he bowled leg spin with the attitude of a fast bowler.

Despite his almost lazy strut to the popping crease, Qadir’s high arm action had so many moving parts that the batsman would often be lost in his movements. To those that have seen footage of him, or have been lucky enough to see him bowl in person, the sight that comes to mind is him turning a big looping google way outside off that crashed into middle-andleg. Without any fuss and a deadly straight face, he would walk back past the umpire – already on the prowl for his next victim.

This attitude and charisma made him the last lifeline of leg spin bowling. In 1994, when Australia last toured Pakistan, a bottle blond Shane Warne wished to meet Qadir. And as Qadir would with some pride relate later, Warne was nervous approaching Qadir since he was considered such a legend – and the only inspiration for aspiring leg spinners in the 80s and 90s. To this day he holds the record for the best bowling figures in a test innings by a Pakistani bowler – his magical spell of 9-56 against england in Lahore in 1987.

His supple wrists with their astounding ability to control the ball at any angle and any measure of spin on any surface also gave him some batting prowess – having scored three test fifties and two First Class hundreds.

But perhaps the most legendary aspect of Abdul Qadir was his personality. A man of the people, he loved to be in the spotlight. In a time when cricket was a languid sport, especially for the typically pot bellied leg spinners, Qadir was fit and would bowl seemingly without tiring.

When Imran Khan insisted he be selected for a series against england in the late 80s, he famously asked Qadir to grow a goatee because he was going to present Qadir to the english press as a spin magician and wanted him to look like a wizard. While this is testament to Khan’s captaincy, one has to give credit to Qadir for playing along and then some. His eccentricities on the field are well recorded. His long, curly locks and loud appealing all marking him as not just an entertainer – but one of those rare personalities in cricket that help define the game. off the field, one can fondly remember an interview he gave to an urdu newspaper in which he posed in silk kurtas with a gandasa announcing he would like to work in the Punjabi film industry.

Abdul Qadir was a leg spinner with the flare and fire of the fastest of the pacemen, and the heart of an artist. Most importantly, he was a man devoted to the game of cricket. He was by no means irreplaceable as a spin bowler, as Shane Warned and many others have shown, but his services to the art of leg spin will never be forgotten. And if a history of the art is ever written, he will go down as the founding father. abdullah niazi lahorE

Summoning the French PAKISTAN has done a great thing by summoning the French envoy and questioning him about the blasphemous drawings of the Holy Prophet published in a French magazine. Not only was the cartoon published, in fact, it was appreciated and celebrated by the French President. To this end, Prime Minister Imran Khan has done a wonderful service by sending him a letter and condemning his words.

The Foreign office (Fo) on Monday summoned the French ambassador, Marc Baréty, to lodge a “strong protest” against the publication of blasphemous sketches and recent comments made by French President emmanuel Macron. In a statement, Fo Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhry said that the ambassador was handed over a dossier by the special secretary (europe). The ambassador was told about Pakistan’s condemnation of the publication of blasphemous sketches and the comments later made by Macron, the spokesperson said.

It was underscored that such “illegal and Islamophobic acts” hurt the sentiments of Muslims across the world and “could not be justified in the name of freedom of expression”, he added.

In the days that followed the beheading, the caricatures were projected onto the facade of a building in one city and people displayed them at protests around the country.”Nobody has the right to hurt the sentiments of millions of Muslims under the guise of freedom of expression,” he said.

The foreign minister also urged the united Nations to take notice and called for action against the hate-based narrative against Islam, the report added. In the statement released today, Qureshi added that a comprehensive resolution will be presented at the next organisation of Islamic Cooperation (oIC) foreign ministers’ meeting proposing to observe March 15 as the International Day against Islamophobia.

Not only is this incredibly inappropriate and Islamophobic, as well as insensitive to a vast portion of the human population, it is being flauntef with the express purpose of stoking sentiments in Muslims. Pakistan must play it’s role as part of the Muslim world. huSSain ManKan Karachi

Tuesday, 27 October, 2020

08 WORLD VIEW

Is IndIa overturnIng decades of nuclear doctrIne? THE COUNTRY HAS GOOD REASON TO WANT FIRST-STRIKE CAPABILITIES. BUT THE ACTUAL STATE OF ITS ARSENAL SUGGESTS THAT IT WON’T GET THEM

Foreign Policy

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HARsH V PAnt AnD YoGesH JosHi

N a statement to the Conference on Disarmament on Oct. 14, Indian Ambassador Pankaj Sharma reiterated that—even as tensions with neighboring China heat up—his country remains committed to its doctrine that it will not use its nuclear weapons against an adversary unless first attacked with them.

India’s adherence to a no-first-use principle is longstanding. Ever since 1998, when the country went nuclear, New Delhi has rejected the idea of initiating the use of such weapons in any conflict scenario. Nukes, in Indian strategy, are purely retaliatory. And that stance has made good military and diplomatic sense. The relatively small size of India’s arsenal ruled out a first strike anyway, and the country’s commitment to restraint, meanwhile, built its image as a responsible nuclear stakeholder helped ease New Delhi’s accommodation in the international nuclear order.

But India’s steadfast rhetorical adherence to its nofirst-use principle has been facing challenges on multiple fronts.

First, there is a growing consensus in the Western nonproliferation community that, in practice, New Delhi has already nearly relinquished the policy. In fact, experts believe that should India and Pakistan go to war, India would ready its nuclear force for preemptive strikes. And it has acquired the capability—nuclear arsenal, delivery systems, and ISR (intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance) systems—to do so.

Moreover, having already been granted recognition of its right to a nuclear program through the 2005 Indo-U.S.

nuclear deal, New Delhi has less incentive for caution.

Second, China and India are embroiled in military scuffling in the Western Himalayas. Given the disparity between New Delhi’s conventional military power and Beijing’s, publicly adopting a first-use doctrine would communicate both power and resolve on India’s part. In other words, this would be an opportune time for India to align its stated policy with its apparent intentions.

Sharma’s message, though, amounts to a categorical rejection of both facts. The essential puzzle in India’s nuclear policy, therefore, boils down to the following: If Indian intentions and capability to initiate first use of nuclear weapons have indeed shifted, why is New Delhi hesitant about leveraging this shift where it may matter most—against China?

States do have an incentive to hide new military capabilities; the no-first-use doctrine may simply be a public lie to hide private intentions. However, backing away from the principle would also signal strength and perhaps make it less likely that India would need to use its new military capabilities to begin with.

Another explanation is that India doesn’t think it needs the added deterrence. So far, New Delhi has opted for a conventional buildup along the border with China.

But that has put enormous strain on its underequipped and overstretched armed forces, as well as its underperforming economy. Diplomatically, too, building up conventional deterrence has been costly. Measures such as inviting Australia to joint naval exercises in Malabar and

initiating official trade talks with Taiwan rattle Beijing, but not much more. Meanwhile, they entrap New Delhi into expensive commitments.

In reality, the reason New Delhi persists with the same old principles despite changing strategic conditions may be that Indian nuclear capabilities are not all that the assessments suggest. India remains fundamentally vulnerable. For a country facing two nuclear-armed adversaries—China and Pakistan, both of which have territorial aims against India and maintain a strategic alliance by targeting it—India’s nuclear arsenal remains relatively modest: 150 atomic warheads and perhaps 5060 missiles. Any preemptive targeting of Pakistani atomic assets, for example, would consume most of that arsenal, leaving India utterly vulnerable to a Chinese strike. An attack on Pakistan would, meanwhile, free the Chinese from any moral compunctions against using nuclear weapons of its own even as it undermines India’s own moral authority.

In that way, relinquishing its no-first-use policy would actually exaggerate India’s nuclear dilemmas.

There’s also the problem that its existing arsenal is not really suited to any of its tactical objectives. As the Indian national security expert Bharat Karnad has argued, the “only credible nuclear deterrent” in the case of an Indian-Chinese war on the Himalayan front, would be “atomic demolition munitions (ADMs) placed just behind the prepared defensive line along the likely ingress routes of the [Chinese military] in the mountain.” AMDs

Normalisation with Israel will trigger an arms race in the Middle East

Middle eaSt Monitor MotAseM A DAlloul

Giving up its decades-old position against Israel’s occupation of Palestine, Sudan has agreed to normalise relations with the Zionist state. Tellingly, this was announced by US President Donald Trump on Friday at the White House. He is, of course, seeking a second term in office in next week’s presidential election.

“HUGE win today for the United States and for peace in the world,” Trump tweeted. “Sudan has agreed to a peace and normalisation agreement with Israel!” He celebrated the deal as a personal achievement to add to the previous agreements.

“With the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, that’s THREE Arab countries to have done so in only a matter of weeks,” he wrote. “More will follow!” The tweet was clearly part of his election campaign.

The deal was sealed during a phone call between Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, as well as Transitional Council Head Abdel Fattah AlBurhan. “The leaders agreed to the normalisation of relations between Sudan and Israel and to end the state of belligerence between their nations,” they said in a joint statement.

At the same time, Trump removed Sudan from his country’s list of states which sponsor terrorism, lifting around three decades of tight restrictions imposed on the country and unblocking economic aid and investment. This measure followed the payment, on Sudan’s behalf — apparently by the UAE through Saudi Arabia — of $335 million in compensation for US “terror victims”. Not the victims of US state terrorism, as you might first think, but the American citizens affected by terrorists in East Africa.

Netanyahu described the agreement as a “dramatic breakthrough for peace” and the start of a “new era”. Hamdok, meanwhile, thanked Trump for removing his country from the “state terror” list and said

that the Sudanese government is working “towards international relations that best serve our people.” In other words, the Palestinians can go away and rot.

Because they were not aimed at reaching a real reconciliation between the nations in the Middle East, it is hard to know what lies behind these deals, the fake “peace breakthroughs” as Netanyahu and Trump called them. However, slips of the metaphorical tongue by parties involved in the issue are revealing about what went on behind closed doors.

Globes is an Israeli economic newspaper. On Friday it reported that Israel’s Defence Minister Benny Gantz said that the Sudan-Israeli agreement means that “Israel’s security achieved a massive jump forward.” He was in Washington at the time.

For the retired general, the “massive jump” has two dimensions: the renewed US “strategic commitment” to Israel’s security, as reported by Walla news website and Israeli TV Channel 13; and probably US arms deals worth billions of dollars with the Arab countries which are now Israel’s allies. A glut of advanced weapons plus support from the US and Israel will reinforce hostility among Arab states and destroy whatever bonds they have between each other at the moment, weakening rather than strengthening them. A weak Arab world is, of course, what Israel has been working towards for decades.

Moreover, if only the “normalised” states will be allowed such advanced weapons, those Arab states can be relied upon to stand with Israel in any confrontation with Iran. Again, something that Israel will have dreamed of for many years.

The Times of Israel reported that Netanyahu and Gantz announced earlier on Friday that Israel would not oppose the US sale of “certain weapon systems” to the UAE. This was an apparent reference to the advanced F-35 stealth fighter jets, about which Washington has given Israel assurances that it would “significantly upgrade” its own military capabilities in exchange. Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Qatar were also given the green light to buy advanced US weapons.

This is one aspect of the arms race, pitching Arab countries against Arab countries. The other is the competition between the Arabs and Israel. Given that Washington will always ensure that Israel has the qualitative and quantitative edge in the region, this is one race that the normalising Arabs must know they will not win. Nevertheless, Israel wants to make absolutely certain, just in case the current dictators in the region are overthrown and regimes less

open to normalisation bribery and blackmail take over.

The race has already started. When Gantz travelled to the US, Ynet News reported that he was expected to order a third squadron of Lockheed Martin 5th Generation F-35 aircraft and Boeing F-15 EX jets, which will include a series of upgraded capabilities. He was also expected to discuss long-range munitions during his visit.

According to Responsible Statecraft, “On this trip, he [Gantz] wanted to make sure that Israel got the best deal it could to ensure that any weapons sales to the UAE, or to other states that agree to normalise their relations with Israel, would not diminish Israel’s military dominance in the region.”

Israeli journalist Alon Ben-David, who specialises in defence and military issues, said that the Americans refused to make such a pledge to Gantz. Speaking to Al Jazeera, the director of the Arms and Security Programme at the DC-based Centre for International Policy, William Hartung, said that arms sales were an “important factor” in the normalisation deals. Bahrain, he affirmed, may have agreed to normalisation in order to have access to advanced weaponry, and the Saudis could follow suit.

Indeed, Israel’s Channel 12 has reported that the government believes that Saudi Arabia will normalise relations soon, and the decision will be accompanied by a significant arms deal with Washington.

Arming the Arab states in this way demonstrates that these are far from the “peace agreements” that the various governments claim; they are intended to equip them to wage war and suppress the human rights of their own citizens. Saudi Arabia and the UAE, remember, are still fighting a war against the Houthis in Yemen. Reports claim that they are guilty of war crimes there and want to split the country in two. In Libya, the UAE, along with Egypt, is supporting the renegade Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, whose militias have been fighting the legitimate government and are said to be responsible for numerous war crimes.

All the evidence suggests, therefore, that these “peace” deals are, in fact, little more than a fig leaf for arms deals which will make the region more dangerous for everyone. We Palestinians are not surprised, because Israel and its lackeys in Washington have been trying to pull the wool over our eyes for decades with fake “peace” deals which allow the colonisation of our country to continue unabated. The so-called “deal of the century” is but the latest of these.

are nuclear land mines, whose tactical value in the rugged terrain of the Himalayas has been questioned by the Indian Army since the 1960s. Moreover, as the downstream nation, the environmental effects of nuclear use would be disastrous for India more than for China.

Efficiency notwithstanding, the problem of proportionality persists as well. No decision-maker in Beijing would believe a threat from New Delhi to use tactical nuclear weapons to deter salami-slicing of small portions of its territory. Beijing remains the overwhelmingly superior conventional and nuclear power.

To be sure, against the backdrop of Sino-Indian military tensions, calls in India for New Delhi to leverage its nukes for deterrence will grow. India has been here before: In the late 1960s, New Delhi considered using tactical nukes to outmatch China in the Himalayas.

But P.N. Haksar, the principal secretary to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, stood firm against the idea.

“Every time a tactical exchange takes place,” he noted, “it invariably escalates to a strategic exchange as soon as one of the parties starts having the worst of tactical exchange.” Similar views seem to be shaping the thinking in New Delhi today. It is worth believing Sharma’s statement at the Conference on Disarmament, then.

India is wedded to its policy of no first use and opposed to nuclear war. India’s nuclear weapons have and will continue to remain weapons of last resort, meant to fulfil only one objective: deterring its adversaries from using nuclear weapons first.

Harsh V. Pant is director of research at Observer Research Foundation (ORF), New Delhi, and professor of international relations at King’s College London. Yogesh Joshi is a research fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore.

History is on Trump’s side Scroll.in AtAnu BiswAs

Come November 3, if Donald Trump loses, he will be the first United States president in 28 years to have failed to win re-election.

This last time this happened was when George HW Bush lost to Bill Clinton in 1992. Despite strong accusations from critics that he has mishandled the coronavirus crisis, Trump is very much in the race to the White House. This might be due to the fact that the democratic structure of the US, like many other democracies in the globe, is designed so that the incumbent starts a few yards ahead of the challenger.

In the 231-year history of the US president’s office, only 10 out of 45 presidents have failed to win re-election for a second term when they had attempted to. The party-wise picture is not so grim, though. Over the last 100 years, ruling parties were voted out of the office in 11 out of 25 presidential elections, i.e. 44% of times – six occasions for Democrats and five occasions for Republicans.

In India, ruling parties or coalitions have been ousted in seven of the 17 Lok Sabha elections so far – about 41% of cases, which is quite high with respect to the world average. The corresponding figure for the general elections in the United Kingdom for the last 100 years is 37% (10 among 27).

The National Elections Across Democracy and Autocracy dataset of University of California, Berkeley and University of Houston provides a detailed account of the global percentage of elections lost by incumbents, by year. While the global percentage was 17%-18% during 1946-’50, it went down to just above 10% during the Cold War period of 1961-65. The percentage, however, grew sharply after 1980, but only to reach around 30% level during 2011-’12.

In their 2018 book How to Rig an Election, Nic Cheeseman of the University of Birmingham and Brian Klaas of the London School of Economics outlined several methods that have been used to rig elections. The authors cover a full spectrum of regimes in 38 countries from “electoral democracy” (eg the US) through “competitive authoritarian” (eg Russia) to the “closed authoritarian” (eg China).

Based on their experiences as election watchers and their hundreds of interviews with presidents, prime ministers, diplomats, election officials, and conspirators, Cheeseman and Klaas documented instances of several elections rigging in several countries including the big one – the 2016 US election. The Cambridge Anlytica episode was an eye-opener to illustrate how important elections – including Trump’s 2016 victory and the Brexit referendum – might have been hacked by using digital tools and

spreading fake news. But many other ways are attempted to steal an election. These include the art of political bribery and violence as a political strategy, the authors say. How stuffing ballot-box maybe employed beyond the bounds of credibility, if not legality, was illustrated by Uganda’s 2016 election, where 43 polling stations in Kiruhura District in the heartland of President Museveni’s National Resistance Movement not only recorded a 100% poll, but all the votes were favouring Uganda President Museveni.

Cheeseman and Klaas also discussed about “Potemkin elections” where “the pageantry of campaigning, the parade of voting, the charade of counting, all are engineered with one simple goal – to fool the West into believing that all was conducted fairly in a shining model of democracy”. Azerbaijan’s egregious election of 2013 is a classic example of such “Potemkin elections”.

However, Cheeseman and Klaas concentrated mostly on flaws in the developing world and the post-Soviet countries. Why, then, does an incumbent win so often in the Western countries as well? Only Cambridge Analytica may not be the answer, for sure.

INCUMBENT’S PRIVILEGE: Quite often the incumbent takes remarkable advantages within the constitutional framework of the corresponding country. While analysing the reason of 78% of the US presidents winning a re-election, one might remember that President Trump could nominate Justice Amy Coney Barrett in place of the deceased Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg for the US Supreme Court just weeks before the election – a step that might yield a 6:3 ratio of Republican-and-Democrat-appointed justices in the Supreme Court.

The American electorates and media widely believe that might benefit Trump tremendously as the election may very well be decided through a legal battle this year, as in the “Bush vs Gore” case of 2000 over Florida. One may question the morality of Barrett’s nomination at this stage, especially when the Republican senators refused to hold a hearing of President Barack Obama’s nominee Merrick Garland in 2016, who was nominated for the Supreme Court 237 days before the election. However, it completely falls under the jurisdiction of Trump’s constitutional right.

Then, Cheeseman and Klaas might have missed one very important point – that the incumbency often generates a sense of habit among the electorates. You need sufficiently concrete reasons and also a hard push to dismantle the status quo. And unless that happens, the status quo persists within the mind-set of the electorates.

Atanu Biswas is a professor of statistics at the Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata.

Tuesday, 27 October, 2020

ECC AppRovEs wHEAT sUppoRT pRiCE AT Rs1,600 ISLAMABAD

T

SHAHZAD PARACHA

HE Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet on Monday fixed wheat support price at Rs1,600 for next year’s crop. The decision was taken during an ECC meeting, which chaired by Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, at the Cabinet Division.

The committee was briefed that the support price mechanism plays a pivotal role in boosting wheat production, as it stabilises market and increases the profitability of farmers.

Since 2010-2011, support price for wheat has been revised four times. The new price, which has been decided by the ECC, is close to the price recommended

by Punjab, the largest producer of wheat in the country. The ECC was informed that the Trading Corporation of Pakistan (TCP) shall be able to secure 1 million metric tonnes (MMT) of wheat till January 2021 through international bidding.

Further, on the Ministry of National Food Security & Research’s request, the ECC decided that the initial allocation of TCP for the import of 1.50MMT of wheat may be enhanced to 1.80MMT to cater for the

9M2020: HabibMetro posts profit before tax of Rs13.8bn NEWS DESK

additional requirement of 0.30MMT demanded by KP and Sindh for shipment by mid-February.

It was decided that 300,000MMT of wheat shall be imported on government-to-government basis from the Russia through PASSCO. The committee also decided that further tendering of wheat may be stopped and TCP may resort to GTG arrangement for additional procurement of wheat.

Keeping in view the arrival of the new crop in March 2021, the forum decided that no vessel of imported wheat should be arranged either in the public or private sector beyond February 2021.

Meanwhile, the ECC okayed releasing 50 per cent of the tariff differential subsidy to the Power Division.

The Finance Division has earmarked Rs140 billion for 2020-21 as Power Division subsidy. The release of Rs65.8 billion demanded by the division will be used for payments to power producers in order to maintain adequate liquidity.

On a summary moved by the Ministry of Industries and Production for the determination of gas rate for operations of Fatima Fertiliser and Agritech, the ECC decided that the rate of Rs772/MMBTU with variable contribution margin at 186 per bag may be offered to both the units for the period November 3 onwards.

The ECC was briefed that the government’s share at this gas rate has been estimated by NFDC on the basis of RLNG’s last notified rate for July by OGRA, which is approximately 0.42 billion.

The actual payment for price differential sum to SNGPL may vary due to the difference in RLNG’s monthly rate.

Moreover, the ECC granted approval for the sale of surplus power available at the incremental rate of Rs12.96/kwh to all industrial consumer categories, excluding zero-rated industrial consumers, on the incremental consumption over their respective historical consumption or established benchmark.

The meeting decided to form a committee, consisting Adviser to PM on Institutional Reforms Dr Ishrat Hussain, SAPM on Revenue Dr Waqar Masood, Industries and Production Minister Hammad Azhar, Power Minister Omer Ayub Khan, and SAPMs Nadeem Babar and Tabish Gohar, to prepare a proposal to include K-Electric in the package.

The committee will also propose whether the package shall continue for one year or three years, besides analysing the need for any subsidy that will be involved in the package and all issues that may come up in the calculation and distribution of the subsidy.

NA speaker for enhanced Pak-Afghan trade cooperation ISLAMABAD

HabibMetro Bank posted a profit before tax of Rs13.8 billion for the nine months ended September 30th 2020, depicting a healthy growth of 58.5pc year-on-year. In its performance report for the period under review, the bank’s total assets increased by 9.7pc to Rs943 billion, while its deposit base increased by 7pc to Rs654 billion. The bank registered continued growth in its trade finance business despite slowdown in global economy and trade activity. It also posted increased earnings per share of Rs7.89 compared to Rs4.78 in September 2019. The Pakistan Credit Rating Agency (PACRA) assigned premium credit ratings of AA+ and A1+ to HabibMetro Bank for the 19th consecutive year. The bank currently operates with 400+ branches in more than 135 cities across Pakistan.

UBL’s nine-month profit rises to Rs16bn NEWS DESK The Board of Directors of United Bank Limited on Monday annoucnced the bank’s financial results for the nine-month period ended September 30, 2020.

As per the results, UBL posted a profit before tax of Rs26.4 billion for the period under review. The profit after tax stood at Rs16 billion with 12pc growth over last year. The bank maintained its momentum across core businesses as gross revenues were recorded at Rs71 billion, up 14pc YoY. Earnings per share (EPS) stood at Rs13.13. The bank’s capital ratios remained strong with the overall Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) at 22.8pc as at September 30, 2020, well above the minimum regulatory requirement of 12.5pc.

STAFF REPORT

Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaisar has said that promotion of trade and economic links between Pakistan and Afghanistan would usher into a new era of socio-economic development in the region, besides bringing people of the two sides closer.

Addressing the Pakistan-Afghanistan Trade and Investment Forum on Monday, the NA speaker noted that the 2,640 kilometres Pak-Afghan border was not only the longest border that Pakistan shares with any of its neighbouring country, but was also the thread that weaved the two nations in a historic tapestry of social, cultural, linguistic, economic, religious and fraternal ties.

Qaiser said that Pakistan valued the common bond that binded Pakistan and Afghanistan together and it was important for the leadership of two sides to create harmony, develop understanding and build consensus to seek solutions for common problems.

He called for building a united front against the biggest scourges of the time, especially poverty and instability. He observed that Pakistan and Afghanistan were strategically significant trading partners in the past, but ‘trade between the two countries gradually declined with time’.

“Elimination of trade barriers and facilitation of traders would not only enhance the existing trade volume between Pakistan and Afghanistan but would also greatly contribute to poverty eradication and social uplift,” he remarked. “Such initiatives will also increase employment opportunities for our people.”

He pointed out that establishment of PakistanAfghanistan Parliamentary Friendship Group and its task forces to encourage people-to-people contact and facilitate bilateral and transit trade was a manifestation of Pakistan’s commitment to improving bilateral economic engagement with Afghanistan.

TLTP

Jobseekers and newly hired workers have been urged not to fly to Dubai without valid work permits or risk being turned back on landing.

Recruiters said companies that would normally bring in new recruits on visit visas, then transfer them to a residency visa, must avoid the practice.

In addition, they warned jobseekers using tourist visas to hunt for work faced being flown home.

The advisory came after 1,370 Pakistanis and up to 250 Indian citizens were denied entry into Dubai this month and held at the airport for failing to meet entry requirements. Immigration authorities interviewed the passengers on arrival and those who did not have sufficient funds – at least Dh2,000 – proof of accommodation or a return

He proposed formation of a task force to oversee the terms of negotiation of Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement (APTTA), which is going to expire in 2021, saying there is a need to take input from parliamentarians and institutional stakeholders from both sides of borders for a comprehensive future trade agreement. Qaisar reiterated Pakistan’s commitment in terms of promoting Parliamentary diplomacy and said that Pakistan is ready to play its role in mounting strong linkages for mutually beneficial trade relations with Afghanistan.

Addressing the ceremony, Speaker Wolsi Jirga (Afghan Parliament) Mir Rehman Rehmani applauded the efforts of the Pakistani government to support Afghanistan for bringing peace in Afghanistan. The speaker of the Afghan parliament said that Afghanistan highly values its ties with Pakistan as both countries enjoy shared religious and cultural values and Afghanistan is proud of its close relations with Pakistan.

Rehmani remarked that there is a need to capitalize on the potential of both countries as both have vast opportunities of trade and investment. The Wolsi Jirga Speaker said that both the countries can progress and develop together by mutual cooperation.

ADVISORY COMES AFTER 1,370 PAKISTANIS WERE DENIED ENTRY INTO DUBAI THIS MONTH FOR FAILING TO MEET ENTRY REQUIREMENTS ticket were flown back to their home country. The majority were blue-collar workers who had travelled to the UAE on a tourist or visit visa with the intention of seeking employment. At present, the UAE will only issue work permits for government or semi-government staff, as well as domestic workers. Recruiters said there was high demand for workers in the private sector but that it was not worth "risking it" by bringing candidates to the Emirates on visit visas.

“It’s recommended that the workers wait until work permits and employment visas start being issued again,” said Sheraz Mughal, a spokesperson with Al Namas Corporation, a labour supplier

CORPORATE CORNER

KARACHI: Faysal Bank, in partnership with Hashoo Group, has invited overseas Pakistanis to open their Faysal Islami Roshan Digital Account. When maintaining a minimum deposit in their account, customers will be able to avail exclusive discounts at Pearl-Continental Hotels & Resorts and Hotel One properties across Pakistan.

KARACHI: Dubai Islamic Bank Limited and IGI Life Vitality have signed a Bancatakaful Vitality product launch agreement. Under the agreement, IGI Life Vitality Takaful products will be distributed using various channels of Dubai Islamic Bank Limited. DIBPL Consumer Banking Group Head Naveed Malik and IGI Life Vitality COO Ali Nadim signed the agreement.

MARKET DAILY

Recruiters warn jobseekers not to fly to Dubai without work offer DUBAI

busiNess 09

that recruits 300 to 400 Pakistanis for UAE companies per year. “A lot of companies used to bring these workers here on visit visas and then transfer them on employment visa, but that’s not a risk anyone wants to take now. “The workers who were sent back were trying their luck and hoping they could find a job while on a tourist visa, but it is not the proper way. We have to wait for work permits to be available again.”

Overseas Labour Supply, a UAE company that has recruited 140,000 workers in the past four decades, has clients in the private sector that have requested workers. “With Covid-19, the industry has gone upside-down,” said

CMYK

Mohammed Jindran, managing director.

“Employment visas haven’t started yet – only for government or semi-government, so these workers are probably coming and taking the chances [with tourist visas] because they know there is a shortage in the market and that is the main motivation.

“Once Dubai opened visit visas, it motivated a lot of people to come look for jobs. But, if you’re coming on a tourist visa, you should be a tourist and you should have the means to support yourself.” The Consulate General of Pakistan in Dubai is discouraging jobseekers from attempting to enter the country on tourist visas.

Cement stocks, FATF announcement lift benchmark index up 585 points KARACHI STAFF REPORT

Bullish sentiments prevailed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday, as investors reacted positively to media reports that Pakistan has successfully completed 21 out of 27 points outlined by Financial Action Task Force, and that any chance of blacklisting was off the table. Moreover, the announcement of financial results announcement also kept the investors interest alive. Global equity markets, on the other hand, put up a mixed show, whereas crude oil prices slipped lower from the previous close; WTI crude price declining 1.86pc to $39.12 while Brent crude price falling 1.55pc to $41.42. The benchmark KSE100 Index remained in the green throughout the day, touching its intraday high at 41,876.79 after accumulating 610.79 points. It settled higher by 584.47 points at 41,850.47. Among other indices, the KMI-30 Index gathered 1,459.90 points to end at 67,394.62, while the KSE All Share Index added 321.25 points, closing at 29,439.51. The overall market volumes increased from 354.5 million shares in the previous session to 487.2 million shares (+37pc). Average traded value also increased by 37pc, from $96.9 million to $133.6 million. The volume chart was led by cement stocks; Maple Leaf Cement Factory Ltd (MLCF +4.13pc), Power Cement Ltd (POWER +8.39pc) and Fauji Cement Company Ltd (FCCL +7.46pc). The scrips exchanged 48.50 million, 38.31 million and 30.97 million shares, respectively. Sectors that drove the benchmark index north included cement (+229.69 points), technology & communication (+53.66 points) and oil & gas marketing (+44.61 points). Among the companies, Lucky Cement Ltd (LUCK +120.67 points), Dawood Hercules Corp Ltd (DAWH +37.53 points) and Hub Power Company Ltd (HUBC +36.57 points) remained the top contributors. Adding 5.02pc to its cumulative market capitalization, the cement sector ended as the session’s top performer, with LUCK (+6.23pc), Bestway Cement Ltd (BWCL +2.01pc) and DG Khan Cement Company Ltd (DGKC +3.34pc) posting decent gains. On the financial side, United Bank Ltd (UBL -2.73pc) announced earnings per share of Rs3.81 for the third quarter of FY20 (Rs3.97 last year); Ferozsons Laboratories Ltd (FEROZ -1.25pc) declared an EPS of Rs3.65 for 1QFY21 (Rs2.75 in 1QFY20); Highnoon Laboratories Ltd (HINOON +3.19pc) recorded an EPS of Rs9.43 for 3QFY20 (Rs6.29 last year); Lucky Cement Ltd (LUCK +6.23pc) registered an EPS of Rs6.89 for 1QFY21 (Rs2.96 Last year); whereas Philip Morris Pakistan Ltd (PMPK -0.41pc) posted an EPS of Rs9.35 for 3QFY20, (Rs12.70 in 3QFY19).

Tuesday, 27 October, 2020

SPORTS 11

ENTIrE CrICkET SOuTh AFrICA bOArD rESIgNS JOHANNESBURG

T

AGENCIES

HE entire board of Cricket South Africa has resigned, the organisation announced on Monday. "All independent and non-independent directors have now resigned," CSA said in a Twitter post.

In a statement, CSA said the resignations had been accepted and were with immediate effect, with the exception of three directors who would remain in place "to ensure the continuity and stability of the organisation" until an interim board was appointed. Monday's announcement followed the resignation of six board members, including acting president Beresford Williams, on Sunday.

The resignation of the four remaining board members clears the way for the appointment of an interim committee.

The latest development came one day

tors -- Zola Thamae, John Mogodi and Donovan May. They will be joined by Rihan Richards, who was elected acting president of the members' council following the resignation of Williams. Richards, who was not a board member, will chair the reduced board. CSA has been in disarray since chief executive Thabang Moroe was suspended last December, prompting calls from the country's players' association and major sponsors for the board to resign.

Moroe was fired in August on the basis of a forensic report which CSA has refused to make public. The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc), an umbrella body for elite sports, demanded in September that the board step down in order for Sascoc to appoint a task team to investigate CSA. When the cricket body failed to cooperate, Sascoc asked the minister to intervene, potentially putting CSA's standing

before a deadline threatening intervention by sports minister Nathi Mthethwa.

The resignations followed a series of meetings of a 14-person members' council, which consists of the presidents of provincial unions affiliated to CSA. According to CSA's website, the council "sets general policy for CSA".

A report in The Citizen newspaper quoted an unnamed insider as saying: "Not all of the directors were happy to go but they were basically told they had to, we forced them."

Six "non-independent" board members -- elected from cricket structures -were also part of the members' council.

Williams resigned from both bodies but the other four non-independent board members who resigned on Sunday said they would remain part of the members' council. All three of the directors who will remain in place until the formation of an interim board are non-independent direc-

England to tour Pakistan in Jan 2021 for T20I series NEWS DESK The England national team will reportedly tour Pakistan from January 15 to 20 for the proposed threematch T20I series. Pakistan Cricket Board Chief Executive Wasim Khan, who is currently on a tenday leave in Birmingham, is expected to soon discuss the series with England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) CEO Tom Harrsion. They had planned to hold a face-to-face meeting in London, but in view of the deteriorating situation of the Covid-19 pandemic, an online meeting will be scheduled. The PCB CEO proposed the series to his English counterparts earlier this month. Several English publications have reported that the proposal is likely to be accepted even if the ECB has a packed schedule in that window.

Injured Shadab to miss first ODI against Zimbabwe NEWS DESK Pakistan's limited-over vice-captain Shadab Khan could miss the first ODI against Zimbabwe, which is scheduled to be played on Friday at the Pindi Cricket Stadium. According to media reports, the 22-year-old on Sunday experienced a strain in his left leg and also missed the second intra-squad practice match in Lahore. Although the PCB is yet to make any announcement in this regard, the leg-spin all-rounder's participation in the match is reportedly in jeopardy. The first ODI between the Africans and the hosts is scheduled to kick off at noon.

Pogba's slams France retirement rumours as 'fake news' LONDON AGENCIES

Manchester United's Paul Pogba said on Monday reports claiming he had retired from international duty in protest against French President Emmanuel Macron's comments about radical Islam were "fake news". According to reports in the Middle East picked up by British tabloid The Sun, World Cup winner Pogba wanted to end his international career after Macron vowed to take the fight to Islamic radicals after the October 16 beheading of history teacher Samuel Paty. "Unacceptable, fake news," Pogba, a converted Muslim, posted on Instagram with a screenshot of The Sun's article. Paty had shown cartoons of the Prophet Mohamed to pupils in a class discussion on free speech in a school near Paris. Macron's comments triggered protests in Muslim-majority countries at the weekend, with people burning pictures of Macron in Syria and setting fire to French flags in the Libyan capital Tripoli. Pogba won the World Cup in Russia in 2018, with Les Bleus' next fixture a friendly with Finland on November 11 ahead of Nations League meetings with Portugal and Sweden. United's next match is Wednesday's Champions League group game against RB Leipzig at Old Trafford.

with the International Cricket Council at risk. One of the tasks of an interim board will be to recommend a new structure.

Under the current constitution a majority of the board are non-independent - elected from cricket structures -- but there have been calls for the balance to tilt in favour of independent directors.

CSA's statement did not mention a timetable or procedure for the appointment of an interim committee but it is expected that Sascoc will drive the process.

CSA's annual general meeting, postponed from September, has been rescheduled for December 5.

The fate of the members' council is uncertain but it is likely that in future it will not be possible for board members to also be part of the council. South Africa are due to host World Cup champions England in three one-day internationals and three Twenty20 internationals in late November and early December.

Boxing Day Test likely to allow fans as virus outbreak quashed MELBOURNE AGENCIES

Fans are expected to be allowed into the Melbourne Cricket Ground for the blockbuster Boxing Day Test between Australia and India, officials said Monday in a major boost for the series.

Australia's second largest city has been under a coronavirus lockdown for months, and on Sunday a decision was made to bar spectators at next week's Melbourne Cup horse race. But on Monday officials announced an easing of restrictions after no new daily or deaths, opening the door to some good news for cricket fans. "The Boxing Day Test of course is very different (to the Melbourne Cup) because that is some way off," Victoria state premier Daniel Andrews told reporters. "I am very confident that we will get a crowd at the MCG for the Boxing Day Test.

"I don't know how big it will be but there will be a crowd, that's the advice that I have, that's what we're working towards." More than 80,000 people attended day one of last year's Boxing Day Test when New Zealand were playing. India are set to play four Tests and a white-ball series against Australia over the coming months, although dates have yet to be confirmed amid wrangling over quarantine requirements.

Andrews' comments are also good news for tennis fans with the Australian Open due to be held in the city from January 18-31 and organisers desperate to welcome spectators. Big-ticket sporting events in Melbourne have been hit hard by the pandemic with the Australian Rules grand final played outside the city on Saturday for the first time in more than a century.

This year's Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park was cancelled at the last minute in March as the city suffered its first cases of the virus.

Adjudicator deems Saleem Malik’s NOC request 'unnatural' NEWS DESK An independent adjudicator on Monday disposed off former cricketer Saleem Malik's petition, ruling that his bid to secure a No Objection Certificate from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was "unnatural" and "cannot be granted". Malik had petitioned that the PCB, on the basis of him having his named cleared from a local court in a decades-old betting scandal, should also clear him of any wrongdoing. "The appellant (Saleem Malik) is seeking a Clearance Certificate from PCB to the effect that he is not involved in any kind of match-fixing or betting," former Lahore High Court Judge, Justice (retd) Fazal-e-Miran Chauhan is quoted as having ruled in a PCB press release. "This prayer for issuance of NOC from PCB (the employer) is unnatural. "The appellant had to show his good character independent of PCB. He cannot ask PCB to issue NOC for providing him a job or grant him permission." The PCB and the International Cricket Council (ICC) have long asked Malik to explain the purpose of a suspicious meeting with some shady elements. The adjudicator, in the verdict, told the PCB that it cannot hold against Malik the transcript of the said meeting "without verifying it against original tapes". Malik's gripe stems from him not being considered for the batting coach's position. The adjudicator instructed the Board to "decide on the application either way", perhaps for the sake of clarity.

Mercedes' Hamilton, Wolff set to stay in further records assault PORTIMAO AGENCIES

Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff will continue their assault on Formula One's records next season, the pair made clear in the aftermath of Hamilton's landmark 92nd career win in Sunday’s Portuguese Grand Prix.

The pair erased doubts about their futures together in an outfit set to claim a record seventh consecutive constructors' title at next weekend's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Both have contracts with Mercedes that end this year, but have avoided making any commitment for 2021. Speaking to reporters via a post-race video news conference, Wolff said he had agreed with

his Daimler boss Ola Kaellenius "to continue with each other" while Hamilton in a separate interview said he would like to remain at Mercedes.

The remarkable relationship has powered Mercedes to a record six consecutive teams' titles and, for Hamilton, five drivers' wins since they joined in 2013.

"Where we stand today is that everybody has the will to continue," said Wolff.

"With Lewis and I, it is simply that we are living like hermits and, I think, our team is particularly disciplined.

"I hope we can finish the next couple of races on a high and then concentrate on the contract."

'HERE NEXT YEAR': Hamilton, 35, whose win total represents more than five seasons of unbroken

victories, told Sky Sports he could still improve.

"I don't think I'm at my peak. I'm in a good area for sure, but I still want to continue to race. I don't know how much longer that will be – this is a period of time when I've got to work out what the future holds.

"All I can say is I plan to be here next year."

Hamilton's commitment to Mercedes will be greeted warmly by the team, fans of his driving and his sport. "His achievement is just phenomenal," said Mercedes’ trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin. "He doesn’t show any signs of giving up or slowing down either. So, I suspect he's going to go on and hit some more milestones, but it's just a phenomenal achievement."

Madrid's Clasico, Lewandowski, record-breaking Ajax: European football talking points PARIS AGENCIES

Real Madrid triumphed in the Clasico, Robert Lewandowski kept up his stunning form and Ajax recorded the biggest victory in the history of the Dutch top flight.

AFP Sport rounds up some of the main talking points from the weekend's action across the continent: REAL TAKE CLASICO HONOURS: Rarely in recent years have both Barcelona and Real Madrid come into a Clasico at such a low ebb, but it was Zinedine Zidane's team who emerged from their own mini-crisis with a fine 31 win at an empty Camp Nou. Not for the first time in this fixture there was controversy, with the decision to award Real a crucial second-half penalty leaving Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman furious with the VAR. Sergio Ramos's spot-kick put the visitors 2-1 up and Luka Modric went on to wrap up the win which saw Real bounce back from suffering consecutive defeats in the week leading up to the game.

They have now lost just once in eight trips to the Camp Nou and the result relieves the pressure on Zidane, while leaving Koeman under the cosh. That is two

straight La Liga losses now for Barca, the first time that has happened since April 2016. They are 12th in the table.

ANOTHER RECORD FOR LEWANDOWSKI: Robert Lewandowski's sensational start to this season continued as he bagged a hattrick in Bayern Munich's 5-0 demolition of Eintracht Frankfurt.

The Polish striker has 10 goals already and is the first to reach that mark after just five matches of a Bundesliga

CMYK

campaign.It was a perfect hat-trick, with Lewandowski scoring one each with his left foot, right foot and head. At 32 he is in the form of his life, having scored 55 times in total last season as Bayern won the treble.

LUCKY 13: AJAX MAKE HISTORY: Those who thought record wins and double-figure scorelines belonged to the 1930s can think again. On Saturday Ajax set the all-time mark for the biggest victory in the Dutch Eredivisie as they

crushed hapless VVV Venlo 13-0 away.

Lassina Traore struck five times as the Amsterdam club outdid Johan Cruyff's Ajax, whose 12-1 win over Vitesse Arnhem had stood as the top flight's record win since May 1972 - the season they won the league title and the second of their four European Cups.

Traore, the 19-year-old from Burkina Faso, became the first Ajax player to score five in an Eredivisie game since Marco van Basten in 1985.

"We were hungry in the field. We wanted to score goals, and I'm fine with that," said Ajax coach Erik ten Hag, whose team now go to Atalanta in the Champions League.

STUMBLING JUVENTUS: Juventus have now drawn the last three Serie A games they have actually played, leaving aside the 3-0 win they were awarded when Napoli did not turn up for their recent match in Turin due to a coronavirus outbreak.

On Sunday Andrea Pirlo's team needed Dejan Kulusevski to come off the bench and salvage a 1-1 draw at home to Verona as the reigning champions again had to do without Cristiano Ronaldo following a positive Covid-19 test.

"We could have done better," admitted novice coach Pirlo, whose side may have their work cut out if they are to win a 10th straight Scudetto with a resurgent AC Milan joining the likes of Inter and Atalanta in hoping to knock the Old Lady off her perch.

Tuesday, 27 October, 2020

10 FOREIGN NEWS

Thai ParliaMenT oPens To discuss Pro-deMocracy ProTesTs BANGKOK

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AGENCIES

HAILAnD'S parliament opened Monday for a special session to discuss the growing youth-led pro-democracy movement, which is demanding Premier Prayut Chan-O-Cha's resignation and reforms to the ultra-powerful monarchy. A former military chief who staged the 2014 coup, Prayut has faced increasing pressure in recent weeks by the protesters, who regard his premiership as illegitimate.

Prayut last week recalled parliament -- which was in recess -- to discuss how to reduce tensions.

"It's about how to solve the situation of the protest-

centre-right opposition wins lithuania’s polls VILNIUS AGENCIES

The conservative opposition Homeland Union party has won Lithuania’s elections with a projected 50 seats in the 141-seat parliament, the electoral commission said late on Sunday after almost all votes were counted.

Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis’ Union of Farmers and Greens came a distant second with just 32 seats, while its three coalition partners fared even worse – two of the three scraped back into parliament, also known as Seimas, with only three seats each. Homeland Union leader Ingrida Simonyte said she would immediately begin coalition talks with the country’s two liberal parties, the Liberal Movement, which won 13 seats, and the recently-founded Freedom Party, which won 11 seats. In a joint statement the leaders of the three parties, which would have a slim majority, said they would begin talks on forming a centre-right coalition led by Simonyte, a former finance minister.

ers," said Tankhun Jittitsara, one of the secretaries of House Speaker Chuan Leekpai.

The protesters want Prayut's resignation, a rewrite of the military-scripted constitution, and for the government to "stop harassing" political opponents.

But the two-day session will not address these demands, focusing instead on the "illegal" protests, according to a parliament statement issued last week.

Some protesters have also boldly challenged the monarchy, long a taboo subject in Thailand because of strict royal defamation laws.

Tensions spiked earlier this month when protesters flashed three-finger salutes -- a symbol of their movement -- at Queen Suthida's motorcade as it passed by.

After that incident, the premier responded by impos-

ing emergency measures banning gatherings of more than four, while authorities arrested scores of activists.

Prayut revoked it a week later when it failed to discourage tens of thousands turning up in "guerrilla" protests across Bangkok. The motorcade incident is also up for discussion in parliament.

"The protesters say it was not in the plan for the Queen to pass that way, but the government says she can go anywhere," Tankhun said. "no one knows the truth so we'll talk about that."

Three activists have been charged under a rarely used law banning "violence against the Queen", which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

The demands for royal reform from some protesters include the abolition the royal defamation law, a clear

Fury after Qatar 'forcibly examined' women at airport DOHA AGENCIES

Female passengers flying from Qatar were subjected to invasive searches after a premature baby was found abandoned in an airport bathroom, in procedures the Australian government on Monday described as "grossly disturbing" and "offensive".

A number of women -- including from Australia - were removed from their flight and examined for signs of childbirth after the baby was found in a bathroom at Hamad International in the Qatari capital.

Australia's government on Monday condemned the October 2 incident, which only came to light after Australian passengers spoke out, and said concerns had been lodged with Qatar.

"This is a grossly, grossly disturbing, offensive, concerning set of events. It is not something that I have ever heard of occurring in my life," Foreign Minister Marise Payne said. "We have made our concerns very clear to the Qatari authorities at this point," she said, adding that the matter had also been referred to Australian Federal Police. A source in Doha briefed on the incident told AFP that officials "were forcing women to undergo invasive body searches -- basically forced Pap smears," an internal examination of the cervix.

Passenger Wolfgang Babeck told AFP women returned to his flight from Doha to Sydney in a "shellshocked" state, having been told to remove clothing from the lower half of their bodies for an examination by a female doctor.

"All of them were upset, some were angry, one was crying, but basically nobody could believe what happened," the commercial lawyer said, adding he thought the incident could be "a violation of international law".

That flight, Qatar

Airways' QR908 to Sydney, was four hours late departing Doha as a result, according to air traffic website Flightradar24. It is not clear how many flights were involved.

In an official statement, Doha's Hamad International airport confirmed a broad outline of events, without providing details of the procedures, or the number of women and flights involved.

"Medical professionals expressed concern to officials about the health and welfare of a mother who had just given birth and requested she be located prior to departing," the statement said. "Individuals who had access to the specific area of the airport where the newborn infant was found were asked to assist in the query". It is understood that in addition to the Australians, one French woman was also affected, according to one official.

Some of the group received assistance and mental health support while spending the last two weeks in quarantine, under rules put in place by Australian authorities to contain the spread of coronavirus. A report from the Qatari authorities about the incident is "imminent" according to Payne, who admitted Australian officials were made aware of the situation by passengers "at the time of the flight". The incident could damage Qatar's reputation as it prepares to host tens of thousands of foreign visitors for the 2022 soccer world cup. Qatar practices a strict form of Islamic law, with stiff penalties applied to women who fall pregnant or bear children outside marriage.

Doha airport on Sunday launched an appeal for the child's mother to come forward, suggesting that the checks undertaken at the time were inconclusive.

"The newborn infant remains unidentified, but is safe under the professional care of medical and social workers," it said in its statement, and requested that anyone with information come forward.

accounting of the palace's finances, and a call for King Maha Vajiralongkorn to stay out of politics.

Pro-royalist groups have emerged in response to these unprecedented challenges, gathering in counter-rallies to pronounce their love for the king.

On Monday, dozens of supporters in yellow shirts - the royal colour -- gathered outside Parliament, telling MPs not to reform the monarchy.

"We do not want the monarchy topic to be discussed in parliament," said Suwit Thongprasert, a prominent royalist activist. "We are ready to protect the monarchy."

A student group has called for anti-government protesters to march Monday afternoon to the German Embassy -- in apparent defiance to the king who has spent long stints of time in Germany.

Typhoon Molave displaces thousands, floods villages in Philippines MANILA AGENCIES

Thousands of villagers were forced to flee their homes in the Philippines as a fast-moving typhoon made landfall, flooding rural villages, ripping off roofs and toppling trees and powerlines, officials said. There were no immediate reports of casualties from Typhoon Molave, but authorities on Monday reported at least one person was missing and seven others were rescued after their yacht sank off Batangas province south of Manila. The typhoon has sustained winds of 125 kilometres per hour (77 miles per hour) and gusts of up to 180 km/h (112mph) and was blowing westward at 25 km/h (15 mph).

Tuesday, 27 October, 2020

SPORTS 11

ENTIrE CrICkET SOuTh AFrICA bOArD rESIgNS JOHANNESBURG

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AGENCIES

HE entire board of Cricket South Africa has resigned, the organisation announced on Monday. "All independent and non-independent directors have now resigned," CSA said in a Twitter post.

In a statement, CSA said the resignations had been accepted and were with immediate effect, with the exception of three directors who would remain in place "to ensure the continuity and stability of the organisation" until an interim board was appointed. Monday's announcement followed the resignation of six board members, including acting president Beresford Williams, on Sunday.

The resignation of the four remaining board members clears the way for the appointment of an interim committee.

The latest development came one day

tors -- Zola Thamae, John Mogodi and Donovan May. They will be joined by Rihan Richards, who was elected acting president of the members' council following the resignation of Williams. Richards, who was not a board member, will chair the reduced board. CSA has been in disarray since chief executive Thabang Moroe was suspended last December, prompting calls from the country's players' association and major sponsors for the board to resign.

Moroe was fired in August on the basis of a forensic report which CSA has refused to make public. The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (Sascoc), an umbrella body for elite sports, demanded in September that the board step down in order for Sascoc to appoint a task team to investigate CSA. When the cricket body failed to cooperate, Sascoc asked the minister to intervene, potentially putting CSA's standing

before a deadline threatening intervention by sports minister Nathi Mthethwa.

The resignations followed a series of meetings of a 14-person members' council, which consists of the presidents of provincial unions affiliated to CSA. According to CSA's website, the council "sets general policy for CSA".

A report in The Citizen newspaper quoted an unnamed insider as saying: "Not all of the directors were happy to go but they were basically told they had to, we forced them."

Six "non-independent" board members -- elected from cricket structures -were also part of the members' council.

Williams resigned from both bodies but the other four non-independent board members who resigned on Sunday said they would remain part of the members' council. All three of the directors who will remain in place until the formation of an interim board are non-independent direc-

England to tour Pakistan in Jan 2021 for T20I series NEWS DESK The England national team will reportedly tour Pakistan from January 15 to 20 for the proposed threematch T20I series. Pakistan Cricket Board Chief Executive Wasim Khan, who is currently on a tenday leave in Birmingham, is expected to soon discuss the series with England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) CEO Tom Harrsion. They had planned to hold a face-to-face meeting in London, but in view of the deteriorating situation of the Covid-19 pandemic, an online meeting will be scheduled. The PCB CEO proposed the series to his English counterparts earlier this month. Several English publications have reported that the proposal is likely to be accepted even if the ECB has a packed schedule in that window.

Injured Shadab to miss first ODI against Zimbabwe NEWS DESK Pakistan's limited-over vice-captain Shadab Khan could miss the first ODI against Zimbabwe, which is scheduled to be played on Friday at the Pindi Cricket Stadium. According to media reports, the 22-year-old on Sunday experienced a strain in his left leg and also missed the second intra-squad practice match in Lahore. Although the PCB is yet to make any announcement in this regard, the leg-spin all-rounder's participation in the match is reportedly in jeopardy. The first ODI between the Africans and the hosts is scheduled to kick off at noon.

Pogba's slams France retirement rumours as 'fake news' LONDON AGENCIES

Manchester United's Paul Pogba said on Monday reports claiming he had retired from international duty in protest against French President Emmanuel Macron's comments about radical Islam were "fake news". According to reports in the Middle East picked up by British tabloid The Sun, World Cup winner Pogba wanted to end his international career after Macron vowed to take the fight to Islamic radicals after the October 16 beheading of history teacher Samuel Paty. "Unacceptable, fake news," Pogba, a converted Muslim, posted on Instagram with a screenshot of The Sun's article. Paty had shown cartoons of the Prophet Mohamed to pupils in a class discussion on free speech in a school near Paris. Macron's comments triggered protests in Muslim-majority countries at the weekend, with people burning pictures of Macron in Syria and setting fire to French flags in the Libyan capital Tripoli. Pogba won the World Cup in Russia in 2018, with Les Bleus' next fixture a friendly with Finland on November 11 ahead of Nations League meetings with Portugal and Sweden. United's next match is Wednesday's Champions League group game against RB Leipzig at Old Trafford.

with the International Cricket Council at risk. One of the tasks of an interim board will be to recommend a new structure.

Under the current constitution a majority of the board are non-independent - elected from cricket structures -- but there have been calls for the balance to tilt in favour of independent directors.

CSA's statement did not mention a timetable or procedure for the appointment of an interim committee but it is expected that Sascoc will drive the process.

CSA's annual general meeting, postponed from September, has been rescheduled for December 5.

The fate of the members' council is uncertain but it is likely that in future it will not be possible for board members to also be part of the council. South Africa are due to host World Cup champions England in three one-day internationals and three Twenty20 internationals in late November and early December.

Boxing Day Test likely to allow fans as virus outbreak quashed MELBOURNE AGENCIES

Fans are expected to be allowed into the Melbourne Cricket Ground for the blockbuster Boxing Day Test between Australia and India, officials said Monday in a major boost for the series.

Australia's second largest city has been under a coronavirus lockdown for months, and on Sunday a decision was made to bar spectators at next week's Melbourne Cup horse race. But on Monday officials announced an easing of restrictions after no new daily or deaths, opening the door to some good news for cricket fans. "The Boxing Day Test of course is very different (to the Melbourne Cup) because that is some way off," Victoria state premier Daniel Andrews told reporters. "I am very confident that we will get a crowd at the MCG for the Boxing Day Test.

"I don't know how big it will be but there will be a crowd, that's the advice that I have, that's what we're working towards." More than 80,000 people attended day one of last year's Boxing Day Test when New Zealand were playing. India are set to play four Tests and a white-ball series against Australia over the coming months, although dates have yet to be confirmed amid wrangling over quarantine requirements.

Andrews' comments are also good news for tennis fans with the Australian Open due to be held in the city from January 18-31 and organisers desperate to welcome spectators. Big-ticket sporting events in Melbourne have been hit hard by the pandemic with the Australian Rules grand final played outside the city on Saturday for the first time in more than a century.

This year's Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park was cancelled at the last minute in March as the city suffered its first cases of the virus.

Adjudicator deems Saleem Malik’s NOC request 'unnatural' NEWS DESK An independent adjudicator on Monday disposed off former cricketer Saleem Malik's petition, ruling that his bid to secure a No Objection Certificate from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) was "unnatural" and "cannot be granted". Malik had petitioned that the PCB, on the basis of him having his named cleared from a local court in a decades-old betting scandal, should also clear him of any wrongdoing. "The appellant (Saleem Malik) is seeking a Clearance Certificate from PCB to the effect that he is not involved in any kind of match-fixing or betting," former Lahore High Court Judge, Justice (retd) Fazal-e-Miran Chauhan is quoted as having ruled in a PCB press release. "This prayer for issuance of NOC from PCB (the employer) is unnatural. "The appellant had to show his good character independent of PCB. He cannot ask PCB to issue NOC for providing him a job or grant him permission." The PCB and the International Cricket Council (ICC) have long asked Malik to explain the purpose of a suspicious meeting with some shady elements. The adjudicator, in the verdict, told the PCB that it cannot hold against Malik the transcript of the said meeting "without verifying it against original tapes". Malik's gripe stems from him not being considered for the batting coach's position. The adjudicator instructed the Board to "decide on the application either way", perhaps for the sake of clarity.

Mercedes' Hamilton, Wolff set to stay in further records assault PORTIMAO AGENCIES

Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff will continue their assault on Formula One's records next season, the pair made clear in the aftermath of Hamilton's landmark 92nd career win in Sunday’s Portuguese Grand Prix.

The pair erased doubts about their futures together in an outfit set to claim a record seventh consecutive constructors' title at next weekend's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Both have contracts with Mercedes that end this year, but have avoided making any commitment for 2021. Speaking to reporters via a post-race video news conference, Wolff said he had agreed with

his Daimler boss Ola Kaellenius "to continue with each other" while Hamilton in a separate interview said he would like to remain at Mercedes.

The remarkable relationship has powered Mercedes to a record six consecutive teams' titles and, for Hamilton, five drivers' wins since they joined in 2013.

"Where we stand today is that everybody has the will to continue," said Wolff.

"With Lewis and I, it is simply that we are living like hermits and, I think, our team is particularly disciplined.

"I hope we can finish the next couple of races on a high and then concentrate on the contract."

'HERE NEXT YEAR': Hamilton, 35, whose win total represents more than five seasons of unbroken

victories, told Sky Sports he could still improve.

"I don't think I'm at my peak. I'm in a good area for sure, but I still want to continue to race. I don't know how much longer that will be – this is a period of time when I've got to work out what the future holds.

"All I can say is I plan to be here next year."

Hamilton's commitment to Mercedes will be greeted warmly by the team, fans of his driving and his sport. "His achievement is just phenomenal," said Mercedes’ trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin. "He doesn’t show any signs of giving up or slowing down either. So, I suspect he's going to go on and hit some more milestones, but it's just a phenomenal achievement."

Madrid's Clasico, Lewandowski, record-breaking Ajax: European football talking points PARIS AGENCIES

Real Madrid triumphed in the Clasico, Robert Lewandowski kept up his stunning form and Ajax recorded the biggest victory in the history of the Dutch top flight.

AFP Sport rounds up some of the main talking points from the weekend's action across the continent: REAL TAKE CLASICO HONOURS: Rarely in recent years have both Barcelona and Real Madrid come into a Clasico at such a low ebb, but it was Zinedine Zidane's team who emerged from their own mini-crisis with a fine 31 win at an empty Camp Nou. Not for the first time in this fixture there was controversy, with the decision to award Real a crucial second-half penalty leaving Barcelona coach Ronald Koeman furious with the VAR. Sergio Ramos's spot-kick put the visitors 2-1 up and Luka Modric went on to wrap up the win which saw Real bounce back from suffering consecutive defeats in the week leading up to the game.

They have now lost just once in eight trips to the Camp Nou and the result relieves the pressure on Zidane, while leaving Koeman under the cosh. That is two

straight La Liga losses now for Barca, the first time that has happened since April 2016. They are 12th in the table.

ANOTHER RECORD FOR LEWANDOWSKI: Robert Lewandowski's sensational start to this season continued as he bagged a hattrick in Bayern Munich's 5-0 demolition of Eintracht Frankfurt.

The Polish striker has 10 goals already and is the first to reach that mark after just five matches of a Bundesliga

CMYK

campaign.It was a perfect hat-trick, with Lewandowski scoring one each with his left foot, right foot and head. At 32 he is in the form of his life, having scored 55 times in total last season as Bayern won the treble.

LUCKY 13: AJAX MAKE HISTORY: Those who thought record wins and double-figure scorelines belonged to the 1930s can think again. On Saturday Ajax set the all-time mark for the biggest victory in the Dutch Eredivisie as they

crushed hapless VVV Venlo 13-0 away.

Lassina Traore struck five times as the Amsterdam club outdid Johan Cruyff's Ajax, whose 12-1 win over Vitesse Arnhem had stood as the top flight's record win since May 1972 - the season they won the league title and the second of their four European Cups.

Traore, the 19-year-old from Burkina Faso, became the first Ajax player to score five in an Eredivisie game since Marco van Basten in 1985.

"We were hungry in the field. We wanted to score goals, and I'm fine with that," said Ajax coach Erik ten Hag, whose team now go to Atalanta in the Champions League.

STUMBLING JUVENTUS: Juventus have now drawn the last three Serie A games they have actually played, leaving aside the 3-0 win they were awarded when Napoli did not turn up for their recent match in Turin due to a coronavirus outbreak.

On Sunday Andrea Pirlo's team needed Dejan Kulusevski to come off the bench and salvage a 1-1 draw at home to Verona as the reigning champions again had to do without Cristiano Ronaldo following a positive Covid-19 test.

"We could have done better," admitted novice coach Pirlo, whose side may have their work cut out if they are to win a 10th straight Scudetto with a resurgent AC Milan joining the likes of Inter and Atalanta in hoping to knock the Old Lady off her perch.

Tuesday, 27 October, 2020

PRAyER TImINGS

NEWS

FM QureshI urges uN to taCkle hate-based NarratIve agaINst IslaM ISLAMABAD

F

STAFF REPORT

OREIGN Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has urged the United Nations (UN) to take notice of and action against the hate-based narrative against Islam.

In a statement on Monday, the foreign minister said that there is resentment in the world over the blasphemous caricatures. He

said the irresponsible statements of French President Macron have added fuel to the fire.

He added that nobody has the right to hurt the sentiments of millions of Muslims under the garb of freedom of expression. The foreign minister said the seeds of hate that are being cultivated today will polarize society and have serious consequences. Qureshi said the French ambassador to Pakistan has been summoned to the Foreign Office (FO) to register an official protest.

On the instructions of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the foreign minister said a comprehensive resolution will be presented at the next meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) foreign ministers, proposing to observe 15th March as the international day against Islamophobia. In a separate statement, the Prime Minister’s aide on Religious Harmony and the Middle East, Maulana Tahir Ashrafi said that Pakistan will take up the issue of blasphemous caricatures

Britain’s Conservative MPs denounce Modi’s policies in IIOJK ISLAMABAD APP

The conservative members of the United Kingdom’s Parliament have denounced India’s Prime Minster Narendra Modi policies in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

“The fact that a much more aggressive India has abandoned any attempt to be a secular government, combined with basic issues of human rights, means that Kashmir is now an issue for us,” Conservative Friends of Kashmir, Chairman, Paul Bristow was quoted as saying in an online article, co-authored by British Journalists Peter Oborne and Jan-Peter Westad on Monday. Bristow is the MP from the UK’s Peterborough city, where the Muslim population of 9.4 per cent is above the national average.

He took note of the sentiments of the Kashmiris diaspora of his constituency who could not talk to family and friends back in the IIOJK. Talking about his own views on Kashmir issue, Bristow said there was a need to shine a spotlight on human rights issues in Kashmir.

“We also need to raise the issue of self-determination. Britain doesn’t just say that sovereignty over the Falkland Islands is a matter between Britain and Argentina. We say it’s an international matter. The same should apply in Kashmir.” “Thirdly, we need to take account of the views of people in Kashmir itself. Not to do so, is morally indefensible.”

The writers also explained history of the October 27 and current situation of human rights violations in

the IIOJK to the readers.

They said Kashmiris have been under heavy restrictions since India revoked the special status of Jammu and Kashmir on August, 05, last year.

This status had given special privileges to permanent residents of Kashmir, including state government jobs and the exclusive right to own property. It was designed to protect the state’s distinct character as the only Muslim-majority state in India, they said.

Many of these rights have since been undermined by further legal changes. Government jobs that were previously reserved for Kashmiris have now been opened up to Indian citizens. It has also been made easier to revoke residency rights, they maintained.

With the outbreak of coronavirus, they said heavily armed police line the streets in ever greater number.

Following a communications blackout at the time of the revocation last year, internet access and other means of communication remain limited.

Journalists, too, face harassment and imprisonment. Nearly 400 journalists & civil society members have called for the release of Kashmiri journalist Aasif Sultan who has been in jail for more than two years.

Only last week, the office of the Kashmir Times, an English-language daily newspaper, was sealed off

by Indian officials. Properties have been destroyed and innocent people are losing their lives. According to human rights organisations, between 1 January and 20 June, there were 229 killings, of which 32 were civilians, 54 were government forces and 143 were militants, they remarked.

at the OIC forum.

In a tweet, he said France has hurt the sentiments of Muslims and the premier has already raised the issue of desecration of sanctities at every forum.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Office summoned French Ambassador Marc Baréty on Monday to record Pakistan’s strong protest over French President Emmanuel Macron’s Islamophobic comments and publication of blasphemous sketches.

FAJR SUNRISE

ZUHR

ASR MAGHRIB ISHA

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11:46

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BEIRUT Air strikes by Damascus regime ally Russia killed 78 Turkey-backed rebels in northwestern Syria on Monday, a monitor said, in the bloodiest surge in violence since a truce almost eight months ago.

More than 90 others were wounded when Russian warplanes targeted a training camp of the Faylaq alSham faction in the Jabal Duwayli area in Idlib province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. In early March, a truce brokered between Moscow and Ankara stemmed a deadly months-long Russia-backed regime military offensive on the country's last major rebel stronghold in Idlib.

That onslaught from December had displaced almost a million people from their homes in one of the worst humanitarian crises of the nine-year civil war.

Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman described Monday's strikes as the "deadliest since the ceasefire came into force". The National Liberation Front, an umbrella group of Ankara-backed rebels based in Idlib that includes Faylaq al-Sham, told AFP that Monday's Russian strikes hit one of its positions and caused casualties. It did not give an exact death toll.

NLF spokesman Sayf Raad denounced the "Russian aircraft and regime forces continuously violating the Turkish-Russian deal in targeting military positions, villages and towns". Of the almost one million people displaced in the last Idlib offensive, more than

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The special secretary for Europe handed over a letter of protest to the French ambassador. Earlier this month, schoolteacher Samuel Paty was beheaded by an 18-yearold for showing blasphemous cartoons to his students in the name of “freedom of expression”. The 18-year-old was subsequently killed by the French police.

Responding to the teacher’s killing, French President Macron had said that “Islam as a religion is in crisis all over the world, schools will be closely monitored and control over incoming foreign funding to mosques will be further improved.”

Several Muslim countries condemned Macron’s statement and called for a boycott of French products, whereas Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, “What problem does the French president have with Muslims and Islam? He needs mental treatment.”

Iran reports Covid-19 death every four minutes, extends curbs TEHRAN: Iran extended Covid-19 curbs in Tehran and across the country on Monday as health authorities said they were recording a death from the virus every four minutes. Some hospitals had run out of beds to treat new patients, the head of the national coronavirus task-force told state TV. “Our doctors and nurses are tired. I urge everyone to respect the protocols,” Alireza Zali said. The health ministry in the Middle East’s hardest-hit country reported 337 new deaths and 5,960 new cases over the past 24 hours. A banner on state TV said that amounted to a death every four minutes. Authorities have complained of poor social distancing, and Deputy Health Minister Iraj Harirchi said last week the death count could soon rise to 600 a day if Iranians fail to respect health protocols. The closure of schools, mosques, shops, restaurants and other public institutions in Tehran, that was due to end on Monday, would now be extended until Nov. 20, state TV reported. “Extreme measures and limitations” will be imposed for one week in at least 43 counties where the infection rates have been alarming, the TV report added, citing officials. AGENCIES

Russia strikes kill 78 Turkeybacked fighters in Syria

AGENCIES

6:15

200,000 have returned home to their towns and villages, most since the ceasefire went into force. The March truce has largely held, despite some intermittent bombardment in the area from both sides.

Russian air strikes have from time to time targeted military positions, including those of Turkey-backed groups, Abdel Rahman said.

UN ENVOY VISIT: The US army on Thursday said it carried a drone strike against Al-Qaeda leaders in northwestern Syria, with the Observatory reporting 17 jihadists killed at a dinner gathering.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, led by Syria's former AlQaeda affiliate, and allied rebels dominate the region of some three million people, around half living in camps after being displaced by fighting in other parts of the country.

Last week, Turkey withdrew from one of its largest outposts in northwestern Syria which had been encircled for the past year by Syrian regime forces. The outpost in Morek had been Turkey's largest in Hama province, most of which is now under Syrian government control. After a string of military victories backed

by Russia, the Syrian government has regained control of around 70 percent of the country, the Observatory says. Syria's war, which broke out after the brutal suppression of anti-government protests in 2011, has killed more than 380,000 people and displaced millions inside the country and abroad.

Endless rounds of UN-backed peace talks have failed to stem the bloodshed and in recent years have been largely overtaken by a parallel negotiations track led by Russia and Turkey.

On Sunday, UN envoy to Syria Geir Pedersen visited Damascus and met Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem. Pedersen afterwards said the meeting "touched upon all issues related to Security Council resolution 2254" for a political solution to the conflict.

"It's my hope that meetings we have had today and meetings we will continue to have could be the beginning of something new," he said.

The UN envoy said he would then hold talks with members of the political opposition. "Hopefully we can see if it's possible to find more common ground on how to move this process forward," he added.

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