Epaper – August 16 LHR 2021

Monday, 16 August, 2021 I 7 Muharram, 1443 I Rs 40.00 I Vol XII No 47 I 48 Pages I Lahore Edition

AshrAf GhAni flees AfGhAnistAn As tAlibAn seize KAbul

AbdUllAh SAyS ghAni ‘lefT AfghAniSTAn in A hArd TiMe’ g TAlibAn SAy They 'wAnT A peAcefUl TrAnSfer' of power in The coMing dAyS g

news desk

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fghAniSTAn’s president Ashraf ghani fled the country as the Taliban entered the capital kabul on Sunday. Abdullah Abdullah, the head of the Afghan national reconciliation council, later confirmed ghani had left in an online video. “he left Afghanistan in a hard time, god hold him accountable,” Abdullah said. reuters quoted a senior interior ministry official as saying that ghani “has left the capital kabul for Tajikistan”. it is unclear whether ghani has resigned from the post of president.

Asked for comment, the president’s office said it “cannot say anything about Ashraf ghani’s movement for security reasons”. A representative of the Taliban said the group was checking on ghani’s whereabouts. ghani’s countrymen and foreigners alike

also raced for the exit, signalling the end of a 20-year western experiment aimed at remaking Afghanistan. earlier, a senior official told reuters the Taliban were coming in “from all sides” but gave no further details.

A tweet from the Afghan presidential palace account said the firing had been heard at a number of points around kabul but that security forces, in coordination with international partners, had control of the city.

Shortly after ghani’s departure, The Taliban claimed to have taken control of Afghanistan’s presidential palace. Two senior Taliban commanders present in kabul told reuters they were seeking complete power.

There was no confirmation from the Afghan government about the Taliban’s claim. government officials were not immediately contactable.

Two officials from the Taliban told reuters there would be no transitional government

CoronAvirus in

PAKistAn

CONFIRMED CASES:

1,098,410

LAST UPDATED AT 4:28 PM ON AUGUST 15, 2021

DAY'S DEATH TOLL:

NEW CASES:

67

3,711

RECOVERED:

DEATHS:

986,795 24,406 SINDH:

PUNJAB:

410,766

371,605

KPK:

BALOCHISTAN:

152,197 AJK/GB: 29,187/9,316

31,556 ISLAMABAD:

93,783

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US evAcUATeS diploMATic STAff

following their lighting sweep across Afghanistan that led back to the capital two decades after the group were overthrown

by US-led forces.

Moreover, a Taliban spokesman told the bbc that the group sought to take control of Afghanistan “in the next few days”. “in the next few days, we want a peaceful transfer,” Suhail Shaheen, based in Qatar as part of the group’s negotiating team, told the bbc.

Shaheen laid out the policies of the Taliban ahead of an expected power transfer that would re-install the group two decades after US-led forces toppled them in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks. “we want an inclusive islamic government… that means all Afghans will be part of that government,” Shaheen said. “we will see that in the future as the peaceful transfer is taking place.” he also said foreign embassies and workers would not be targeted by the group’s fighters and they should remain in the country. “There will be no risk to diplomats, ngos, to anyone. All should continue their work as they were continuing in the past. They won’t harm them, they should remain.” rebuffing fears the country would be plunged back to the dark days of the group’s ultra-conservative version of islamic law, Shaheen said the Taliban will instead seek a “new chapter” of tolerance.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

Afghan warlords give up to the Taliban with surprising ease STORY ON BACK PAGE

Extending assistance for consular work, flights amidst unfolding Afghanistan situation: FO g

AfghAn SpeAker Mir rehMAn rAhMAni, oTherS fly To iSlAMAbAd IsLAMABAd staff report

foreign office Spokesperson Zahid hafeez chaudhri on Sunday said that pakistan was closely following the unfolding situation in Afghanistan and was extending assistance to facilitate visa or arrival of the diplomatic community, media and others.

Spokesperson Zahid hafeez chaudhri in a statement explained that the pakistan embassy in kabul was extending necessary assistance to pakistanis, Afghan nationals and the diplomatic and international community for consular work and coordination of pakistan international Airlines flights.

A special inter-ministerial cell has been established in the Ministry of interior to facilitate visa/arrival matters for diplomatic personnel, Un agencies, international organisations, media and others. in this regard, it emerged

Roshan Digital Accounts hit $2bn mark: SBP The roshan digital Account (rdA) programme has crossed a major milestone and hit the $2 billion mark as overseas pakistanis continued to pose trust in the central bank’s initiative that was launched in September last year.

“As pakistanis all over the world celebrated the country’s independence day, #roshandigitalAccount crossed the historical milestone of $2bn in deposits. A big thanks to overseas pakistanis for their overwhelming response to the rdA initiative,” State bank of pakistan (Sbp), the central bank, tweeted on Sunday. overseas pakistanis invested a record $2 billion in various products offered by the rdA platform and it will continue to attract more inflows as the central bank is keen to add more investment options for non-resident pakistanis, experts said.

Minister of State for information and broadcasting farrukh habib in a tweet said that increased deposits in roshan digital Account reflect overseas pakistanis’ confidence in prime Minister imran khan’s policies. he said just in eleven months roshan digital Account has crossed two billion US dol-

that Afghan wolesi Jirga Speaker Mir rehman rahmani and other officials of the government left for islamabad, pajhwok Afghan news reported. “it is said that the Speaker of the wolesi Jirga Mir rehman rahmani, haji Mohammad Mohaqiq and a number of other leaders and officials left for islamabad on a piA flight,” the news agency claimed on Twitter.

The reason for their visit to islamabad so far has not been clarified; however, signs point towards dialogue to discuss the rapidly changing situation within Afghanistan. Moreover, it has been speculated that pakistan will host a conference for neighbouring countries to discuss the volatile Afghan situation. “we are planning to host foreign ministers of the key regional countries on the Afghan situation,” a senior pakistani official told The express Tribune requesting anonymity.

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more inside

Six more arrested in Noor Mukadam murder case STORY ON PAGE 02

dawood eyes $50bn exports target by 2023 through diversification STORY ON BACK PAGE

lars in deposits. imran khan inaugurated the rdA service on September 10, 2020 for non-resident pakistanis to enable them to remotely open bank accounts in pakistan through online digital portals without physically visiting branches. it is a joint effort of the Sbp and the federal government in collaboration with eight commercial banks operating in pakistan. later, more banks joined the initiative to facilitate the overseas pakistani community.

The inflow through roshan digital Account reached $1.87 billion at the end of July, with the first month of the current fiscal year witnessing the second highest inflow since the rdA

was launched in September last year. latest data released by the Sbp showed that the country received $307 million in July compared to $310 million in June, reflecting a trend with inflow of over $300 million per month. The inflow through rdA was just $7 million in September 2020 and crossed the $2 billion mark on friday, according to the central bank. last month, Sbp governor dr reza baqir said the rdA initiative for overseas pakistanis had generated new financial inflows of $1.8 billion which helped boost the country’s foreign exchange reserves. News Desk

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

Government’s climate change initiatives acknowledged globally: Qureshi STORY ON PAGE 02 in today’s issue

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Monday, 16 August, 2021

LAHORE

NEWS

government’s climate change initiatives acknoWledged globally: Qureshi MULTAN

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aPP

S authorities across Pakistan are tackling the climate crisis with hundreds of local schemes, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Hussain Qureshi on Sunday said the government’s initiatives to address the challenge were being appreciated at the international level.

As Pakistan continues its massive drive to plant 10 billion trees to reduce smog, Prime Minister Imran Khan urged the nation to heed the dire warnings in a UN climate change report released last week.

Also last week, he inaugurated in Lahore the largest urban Miyawaki forest project in the world. Using a technique pioneered by the late Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki,

the forest covers 12.5 acres and has more than 165,000 plants.

Officials say the trees are expected to grow 10 times faster than normal due to the

Female oFFicer accuses grade 22 secretary oF sexual harassment IsLAMABAD Shahzad Paracha

A female officer of the federal government has accused a grade 22 federal secretary of sexual harassment. Pakistan Today learnt that a female officer has lodged a complaint against a federal secretary of the Pakistan Audit and Account Service under the Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act, 2010.

The victim claims to have been subjected to sexual harassment by the National Food Security and Research federal secretary. Despite many attempts to file complaints to the minister and senior officers of the Ministry of National Food Security & Research and the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, a formal complaint was not entertained. This led to even more harassment by the accused, she alleged in her application. She claims that she was physically and verbally harassed by the federal secretary on the official premises of the ministry and through phone calls. Despite multiple attempts to communicate very clearly that the officer is uncomfortable with the secretary’s advances, he remained persistent, the victim asserts. She said that the harassment has been mentally, physically and emotionally taxing, making it very difficult to perform official duties in the ministry with the added fear of character assassination under such circumstances. Consequently, the officer had to report back to her parent department due to the unsafe work environment. She requested the Establishment Division secretary to direct necessary legal action on her complaint under sections 3 and 5 of the Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act, 2010, through regular proceedings of a duly constituted inquiry committee. On the other hand, the accused federal secretary denied all the allegations.

Pm approves postings of two cWas, five press attachés abroad

Miyawaki technique of planting them close together.

The forest is one of 53 such sites in Lahore that are expected to work as carbon

sinks. The city has grappled with smog in recent years that has forced schools to close and earned it a ranking among the world’s most polluted cities.

Addressing a gathering on the occasion of tree planting at a ceremony in Multan, the foreign minister observed Prime Minister Imran Khan was paying immense attention to environmental impacts and initiated an ambitious green campaign.

The campaign is heading forward successfully, and Pakistan was leading in the global bid to address the climate question, he said.

Pakistan’s efforts, especially in plantation campaigns, were also recognised

by Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries, Qureshi said.

Prime Minister Imran will also be a keynote speaker at an environmental

conference scheduled to be held in Saudi Arabia in October. Riyadh invited him to the environment conference, he added.

He added the present government sensitised and created awareness among people about the importance of plantations.

The Foreign Minister also hailed divisional administration for involving all government departments in the campaign.

He, however, urged the public to take part actively in the plantation drive as their participation would lead to unprecedented success.

Qureshi also hailed PHA for matchless work in 62 parks of the city. Lauding the 115-kilometre walking tracks in the parks, Qureshi stated that physical exercise was of vital importance for mental health.

The ceremony was also addressed by officials of the Punjab government.

PM lauds KP’s performance in 10 billion tree tsunami IsLAMABAD TLTP

Prime Minister Imran Khan has appreciated the provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for its proactive performance to achieve his government’s 10 Billion Tree Tsunami target.

In a tweet on Sunday, the prime minister also shared an image of an earlier barren looking Jadkar Banda Badland site in Abbottabad area, which has now turned into lush green after massive tree plantation there.

“Efforts in Abbottabad to make Pakistan Green.

Jadkar Banda Badland site. Congratulations go to KP for being ahead in the race for achieving #10BillionTreeTsunami target,” the prime minister tweeted.

Separately, Prime Minister Khan on Sunday spoke about marginalised Pakistanis, saying that they are his “priority”. To convey his message, the premier took to his official Twitter account and posted the picture of a child, wearing grubby clothes and riding a bicycle. The child could be seen carrying the country’s flag as well

as a garbage bag. The caption on the picture said: “Those who love their homeland don’t question what the homeland gives them.” Khan captioned the picture that such marginalised people are his priority, adding that

these people have been neglected by the state so far.

The tweet comes following the 74th Independence Day of Pakistan on Saturday and is consistent with Khan’s earlier proclamations of working for the poor and marginalised communities within the country.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran Khan is launching the first phase of the Single National Curriculum for students of grade Pre-1 to grade-5 across the country today (Monday).

The introduction of the Single National Curriculum is in line with the Prime Minister’s vision to end educational disparity in the country. The uniform curriculum has been developed in consultation and collaboration with education departments of all federating units of the country. The Single National Curriculum is being developed and released in three phases.

In the first phase, the plan for grades Pre-1 to 5 (academic year 2021-22) will be implemented, whereas in second and third phases, grades 6 to 8 (academic year 2022-23) and grades 9 to 12 (academic year 2023-24) will follow the new curriculum, respectively.

Six more arrested in Noor Mukadam murder case News Desk Six more people were arrested on Sunday in the murder case of Noor Mukadam, the daughter of a Pakistani diplomat.

According to The Express Tribune, the owner of Therapy Works, Dr Tahir, was also among those arrested. It is worth mentioning here that Zahir Jaffer, the primary accused in the case, was reportedly practicing as a psychotherapist after enrolling in a certification course from Therapy Works.

A statement from the organisation claimed that Jaffer did not complete his Level 4 training and “was never ever given permission to see clients,” However, an Instagram photo on their page that has since been deleted, features a group of its Level 5 candidates including Jaffer.

This led to a deeper investigation into the organisation, with its legitimacy being questioned.

According to the Islamabad police, six individuals

have been accused of concealing evidence after meeting with Zahir Jaffer’s father, Zakir Jaffer.

Among those arrested was Amjad, who was also maimed after being stabbed by Jaffer the day he was arrested for the murder.

The Kohsar police station official presented the accused in the court of district magistrate Shehzad Khan, who approved their one-day physical remand.

A day earlier, the police had also arrested Jaffer’s gardener and sent him on a judicial remand.

27-year-old Noor Mukadam, daughter of a former Pakistani diplomat, was found beheaded in a posh neighbourhood of the capital on July 20. Police have charged Zahir Jaffer, a US national and scion of one of Pakistan’s wealthiest families, with murder.

After the arrest of the accused, the police have decided to add relevant clauses of the law in the case.

The case of Noor’s murder sparked nationwide outrage with thousands of people calling on the authorities to take the case to its logical end.

IsLAMABAD Shahzad Paracha

Prime Minister Imran Khan has approved the postings of two community welfare attachés, as well as five information attachés to different missions abroad. Pakistan Today learnt the Ministry of Overseas Pakistan and the Human Resource division has proposed the name of Office Management Group Officer Sohail Babar and Police Service of Pakistan Officer Muhammad Masoom to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Overseas Pakistanis Ministry has concluded the process for the selection of CWAs against the available posts and proposed these officers’ names. Moreover, these above-mentioned officers will replace those who were recalled after the complaints lodged by the Pakistani community in the kingdom. It is pertinent to note that the government has sent seven officers to different stations, including Saudi Arabia, in the last month wherein they have completed their mandatory training and will join duties next month. Moreover, the PM also gave the approval to post five grade 19 and 18 officers of information groups to different stations abroad.

Sarfaraz Hussain has been posted to New York, Hina Malik Barlin and Zafar Yab Khan to Moscow.

While Mahroo Arashed has been posted to Ankara, Turkey and Asia Rehman to Hong Kong.

Peace and development to be new normal in AJK, says Afridi MUZAFFARABAD Mian abrar

Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir Chairman Shehryar Khan Afridi has said that peace and development are the new normal in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) as Kashmir Premier League (KPL) has opened a new vista of economic growth in the AJK. Addressing a press conference here at the AJK Prime Minister’s House with AJK Prime Minister Abdul Qayyum Niazi, Afridi said that while Kashmiris are observing Black Day in across the world on India’s Independence Day, the people in across Pakistan stand firm to express solidarity with their Kashmiri brethren in observing Black Day. He said that while India was systematically killing the Kashmiris in the occupied Kashmir, the Kashmiris in Azad Kashmir were enjoying their rights of freedom and peace, development, progress and prosperity are a part of a new era in AJK. He also said that Kashmir Premier League should not be seen in isolation as the KPL has opened a new vista of opportunities for the Kashmiri youth. He urged

the Kashmiri youth to become a part of development process which has brought a new hope and opportunities for the Kashmiri youth.

Afridi said that KPL had brought along tourism and economic activity in Azad Kashmir and people of AJK have benefitted from direct and indirect involvement with the KPL. “Today, there is no room available in Muzaffarabad for visitors as tourists and spectators have occupied all hotels and guest houses. Thousands of Kashmiris have also benefitted from the KPL,” he said.

He also said that the KPL is being broadcast in 36 countries across the globe and it has also projected the beauty of Kashmir across the globe.

He added that the private investment into KPL and the business activity generated due to the KPL has brought a new wave of tourists. He said that the broadcast has also projected and promoted the rich Kashmiri culture, heritage and history to the world.

He urged youth to become a part of peace and development and grab the opportunities created due to the new era of development in AJK. The Kashmir Committee chairman said that the KPL has helped transform Kashmir’s name from a

conflict to a thriving and developing region.

“Now it is responsibility of the people Kashmiri and Pakistani diaspora to come and invest in Azad Kashmir and become a part of development process launched by the PTI government,” he added.

He said that the KPL has generated a new hope and changed the perception of Kashmir because perception management is vital in post modern era.

He emphasised that AJK is now open to the word to bring the required momentum and gentle nudge to economy when the world is struggling against covid-19 pandemic.He urged the media and youth of Kashmir to take ownership of the KPL and support the development process in Azad Kashmir. He said that Prime Minister Imran Khan was clear in his mission to lobby for right to self determination for the people of Kashmir.

He said all political parties stood together in Kashmir Committee on Kashmir cause and this unity was a great source of encouragement for the people of occupied Kashmir.

Responding to a question, he said that Ministry of Foreign Affairs was working to help return of 300 Pakistani women stranded in IOK.

Monday, 16 August, 2021

LAHORE

Pakistan closes torkham border aFter taliban advances IsLAMABAD

P

STaff correSPondenT

AKISTAN has closed the Torkham border crossing with Afghanistan after the Taliban took control of the facility in the war-battered country, the Minister for Interior said Sunday.

Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed said the decision to close the border was taken due to an extraordinary situation on the other side. He told Geo News that the border was closed when Afghanistan

police surrendered to the Taliban.

But, he said, the Chaman border point with Afghanistan remains open.

Since US-led foreign troops began leaving Afghanistan earlier this year, fighting between the Taliban and Afghan forces has escalated significantly. Today, Taliban fighters entered Kabul “from all sides” an interior ministry official.

The hardline insurgents have also taken control of several border crossings, including with Iran and central Asian countries, but the crossings with Pakistan provides a significant customs revenue.

Islamabad has already said that it cannot bear any load of new refugees in the wake of the crisis in Afghanistan.

The military is about to complete fencing along the long, porous border, saying the step has been taken to check the militants’ movement across the border.

Earlier this month, it said it has completed 90 percent of the fence, vowing to complete the project this summer.

The government said it is constructing the fence to prevent crossborder militant attacks.

Work on the fence along the 2,611-

kilometer (1,622-mile) border with Afghanistan — known as the Durand Line — started in 2017 when militants repeatedly launched cross-border attacks on security posts.

The border barrier between the two countries consists of two sets of chainlink fences separated by a 2-meter (6.5-foot) space that has been filled with concertina wire coils. The double fence is about 4 meters (13 feet) high.

The military has also installed surveillance cameras to check any movement along the border.

Pakistan to ‘facilitate’ journalists, families stranded in Afghanistan: ambassador IsLAMABAD STaff correSPondenT

Pakistan has announced special visa relaxations for journalists and their families stuck in Afghanistan amid the Taliban advancement across the wartorn country.

In a tweet, Islamabad’s Ambassador to Kabul, Mansoor Ahmed Khan, directed

people who fit the criterion to contact the press counsellor of the Pakistan embassy and “they will be facilitated”. The measure has been taken to assist the members of the media fraternity in “this period of uncertainty”, Khan said.

Taliban insurgents entered the Afghanistan capital Kabul “from all sides” on Sunday, an interior ministry official said. Earlier, the group captured

ncoc daily update: 3,711 new cases, 67 deaths from covid-19 ISLAMABAD: Pakistan reported 3,711 new Covid-19 cases over the past 24 hours, the National Command and Operation Centre said on Sunday. The NCOC, a department leading campaign against the pandemic, said that the number of overall confirmed cases has risen to 1,098,410, including 986,795 recoveries.

According to the NCOC, 67 more patients died during the period, bringing the death toll to 24,406, adding that 4,792 are in critical condition.

Sindh is the worst-affected province by the pandemic with 410,766 infections, followed by Punjab which reported 371,605 cases. The NCOC said on its website that the country has administered 42,173,424 doses of vaccines and has fully vaccinated 11,956,552 persons as of Saturday night. STaff correSPondenT

Pia evacuates 499 from us army controlled kabul airport ISLAMABAD: Two aircraft of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) have airlifted 499 passengers stuck at Kabul airport to Islamabad on Sunday. Two aircraft including Boeing 777, which had 329 passengers, and an Airbus 320, carrying 170 passengers, landed at Islamabad airport. According to PIA, three flights will be operated between Islamabad and Kabul on Monday (today) as well, as there is a large volume of Pakistanis and other nationals looking to leave Kabul. The sources said that there were many people without air tickets who wished to get on board the PIA flights. Eight such people were allowed passage, whereas the others were turned away. Among the passengers are diplomats from Pakistan and their families, as well as other countries.

Earlier, the aircraft were not allowed the use of the runway to take off as the US military evacuated American diplomats. Media reports said that two helicopters belonging to the US military were blocking the runway and over the past few hours, four C-130 cargo planes, also belonging to the US military, landed for evacuations of American diplomats. Several US embassy cars were seen entering the airport.

According to reports, the Kabul airport’s air traffic control has no control over what is happening and all air traffic is being controlled by the US army soldiers. One Emirates airline aircraft and another belonging to Air India, that had wished to land, circled the airport for an hour, before leaving without landing. Earlier in the day, Ambassador of Afghanistan to Pakistan Mansoor Ahmed Khan had tweeted that the embassy is “engaged with PIA to accommodate Pakistanis on regular and additional flights”. “We are also assisting those who have issues of affordability. Contact the Embassy,” he said. TLTP

the eastern city of Jalalabad without a fight, giving them control of one of the main highways into landlocked Afghanistan. They also took over the nearby Torkham border post with Pakistan, leaving Kabul airport the only way out of Afghanistan that is still in government hands.

Earlier on Friday, Minister for Interior Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed

announced special visa relaxations for foreign journalists and media workers stuck in Afghanistan.

“International journalists and media workers who want to leave Afghanistan via Pakistan are urged to apply for a Pakistani visa,” he said.

Ahmed said his ministry will issue visas to these international journalists and workers “on a priority basis”.

China’s role in ensuring equitable access to vaccine for developing world lauded IsLAMABAD Xinhua

China has been playing a greater role in ensuring a fair and equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines around the globe especially for developing countries, with a noble concept of building a global community of health for all, said an academic from Pakistan.

China recently announced to strive to provide 2 billion doses to the world throughout this year and offer 100 million U.S. dollars to COVAX, which is commendable and reflects China’s commitment to the global anti-pandemic fight, Professor Nadeem Irfan Bukhari, dean of faculty at the Pharmacy Department of the University of Punjab, told Xinhua in an interview.

Pakistan has received its first batch of over 970,000 doses of Chinese Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine this week provided by China through the COVAX facility, while more are expected to come in the near future.

China has helped many countries including Pakistan since the outbreak of the pandemic, Bukhari said, adding that the vaccines and other medical supplies provided by China have effectively supported Islamabad’s antipandemic efforts.

He said that the recent supply of Chinese vaccines through the COVAX facility to the country will further

boost the national vaccination drive amid its efforts to counter the fourth wave of Covid-19 owing to the rapid spread of the Delta variant.

The academic said that China has set a precedent for other countries to extend a helping hand too in the battle against the pandemic.

Through these contributions and others, China is proving that the country is a responsible stakeholder of the international community by showing a willingness to deepen international cooperation to combat Covid-19 and beefing up its role in providing global public goods, most importantly Covid-19 vaccines that the world urgently needs at the moment, he said.

“These steps are a clear manifestation of Chinese will and determination to play a responsible role internationally.” Bukhari believes that the role of China is even more critical at the time when some countries have adopted a selfish strategy of vaccine nationalism and even put restrictions on the export of Covid-19 vaccines and other medical supplies amid the still-raging pandemic.

“China has a bigger role to play in improving initiatives like COVAX and providing greater access to vaccines to the developing world,” he said, adding that only sincere efforts on a global level will rescue the world from the pandemic, as no one will be safe until everyone is safe.

NEWS

03

model murdered in lahore died in honour killing: Police KARACHI: A young woman who was found dead at her home in Lahore under mysterious circumstances was killed by her stepbrother for the honour, police said on Sunday. Nayab Nadeem, 29, a model by profession, was strangulated to death by unidentified suspects at her residence in the Defence Housing Authority neighbourhood on July 9. A First Information Report of the incident was registered on behalf of Muhammad Ali, one of the two stepbrothers of the deceased. The complaint said Ali visited Nadeem’s place on July 9 around midnight and found her dead on the floor unclothed. “There were scars on my sister’s neck,” he said in a statement. He added that he found a net of her bathroom window broken. He said he suspected that his sister was murdered. He further said Nadeem lived alone in the house and she was not married. In its findings made public on Sunday, the police said the other stepbrother, Aslam, “strangulated her” and later attempted to give police an impression that Nadeem was sexually assaulted before the murder. The police said they were able to close in on Ali after reviewing evidence collected from the scene. inP

Pakistan has vital role to bring peace, stability to afghanistan: turkish president ANKARA: Pakistan has a vital duty to bring peace and stability to Afghanistan, where conflicts have intensified recently, the Turkish president said on Sunday. Speaking at a ship launching ceremony as part of the Pakistan MILGEM Corvette Project in Istanbul, Recep Tayyip Erdogan congratulated Pakistan on its 75th day of independence. “As Turkey, we are facing a wave of Afghan migrants through Iran,” he said, adding that his country would continue to put every effort to help bring stability in Afghanistan and in the region. “To achieve this, we need to boost cooperation with Pakistan.” “Pakistan with a population of 2 billion plays a critical role in efforts to establish peace and increase prosperity in South Asia,” he added.

TURKEY’S DEFENCE INDUSTRY: Erdogan said Turkey has reduced its foreign dependency in the defense industry from 80% to below 20%.

“Turkey is a country that shares every facility it gains with its friends and brothers, as it grows and becomes stronger,” he said. “When the projects, all of which will be concluded in four to five years, are realized, Turkey will rise to the top league of the world in the field of the defense industry,” Erdogan added. The Turkish president also condoled the loss of lives in a firefighting plane crash in the country’s southern province of Kahramanmaras. All eight people on board died in the plane crash on Saturday. anadoLu agency

Morning symphonies: Harkishangarh Fort Haripur a reminisce QAMAR BILAL HAsHMI Whenever I recall early life memories, a page from my book of the nostalgic collection appears with the title “morning runs”. I was born in a beautiful and historical house, or we can name it as a haveli amid of bustling city life of Haripur Hazara.

The silent, misty dawns, starting with brisk walk-through narrow time stricken, brick alleys and cobbled streets, like moving through a time capsule and the spellbinding scenes would always enchant me.

Facade Gate walls and reinforcements Crossing the quite circular road leading to Fort Road was always my route. I Used to bid good morning to old hunch back banyan tree standing firmly on the left side, whose, tall trunk soaring like a minaret, piercing up in the skies, giving loftiness to my thoughts, and the long bare branches hanging down like beard of an old, rugged sage of the age, surely, must have witnessed generations. Just before the old brick building of the agricultural department, the nurseries related to the agricultural department containing the baby plants creating thick foliage, the dense green would give my eyes immense coolness in the mornings of June and warmth in December and January months.

Even today in my mind these mornings are vivid, fresh, still, feel like I am cursing like a free bird, an airborne or perhaps a drone hovering through the old vicinities, clay and cemented roofs, streets, landing on Fort Road approaching a mound, rubble and foliage.

The first glance of the lofty walls of qalah (Harkishangarh Fort) stands firmly for ages, resisting not to decay against the raid of ancient raiders and now the victim of pitiless time.

Silsali-e-roz o sub…

Naqsh gar-e-hadasat (Masjid-e-Qurtaba by Dr. Iqbal) Across the twenty or more meters deep trenches these walls had always mesmerised me: full of surprises, decipher to decode the hidden secrets, perhaps the prints of human race on the surface of the world, the hands who raised these magnificent walls and façade. Once mighty and invincible.

The generations no more…alas…perished in time, levelled in the debris, and heard no more.

Reaching on the brink of the circle of the deep trench, I would sprint around the trench; at a point, the trench was filled for purposes, a makeshift bridge, to cross and to reach the open courtyard of ruins of majestic Harkishangarh fort.

The lovely gate arch and decaying walls are piled up with heavy square grey-black, white and light blue hand-crafted square stones. Cracked walls, where ivy and green oozing out in abundance, a resonance from Robert Browning’s poem: “love among the ruins”.

The morning jogging also would become more interesting when it often ends up in Hari Singh’s Chota Bagh (Sarkari bagh) under the numbered pine trees, where few unlucky, fallen British army soldiers resting in peace (I will try to encompass chota bagh in another article in future).

The citadel’s stone-studded walls are slanted inwards, and with round joineries with decaying turrets and pickets at the corners, some parts are still intact in great shape boosting the great skills and craftsmanship of the once great architectural facade from the past. The remaining decaying edges of the walls boasting the glorious details once the fort must have adhered.

At a later stage, now as I relocated to the United Kingdom, being a member of English Heritage and National Trust, viewing numerous historical sites in the United

Kingdom and around the world, in my imagination often, I entwined many ancient historical buildings with this fort, especially, the moat forts in the Kent United Kingdom. The awe-inspiring four wooden gates and the stone archery depicts the grandeur, and stone masonry of the gone by era.

The symmetrical square stoned walls four-meter-wide and green pastures, sprawled around the decaying walls through the then trenches reminded me the famous lines of Browning’s “Love among the ruins”: Where the domed and daring palace shot its spires Up like fires O’er the hundred-gated circuit of a wall Bounding all Made of marble, men might march on nor be prest Twelve abreast.

And such plenty and perfection, see, of grass.

Never was!

Such a carpet as, this summertime, o’er-spreads And embeds.

(Love among the ruins by Robert Browning) Turning back to history, Pakhli formed a part of the Kingdom of Kabul (modern-day Afghanistan) also part of the passage joining Kashmir to Kabul. Due to the constant wars between Afghans and Sikhs around 1813, the Afghans lost their bastion, a defining stronghold the Attock fort strategically placed on the left bank of mighty Indus, and the victorious Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the Sikh’s stampede never stopped and by 1819, eventfully the Sikhs marched triumphantly and after a siege, they toppled the Afghan stronghold of Kashmir valley. This time the victory was celebrated, and the credit was given to renewed general of Khalsa brigade Hari Singh Nalwa. His traits were rather fierce, and his battle manoeuvres were not next to Napoleon.

Monday, 16 August, 2021

04 NEWS

LAHORE

RuPee sheDs 4.21 Pc OF vAlue AgAINst usD IN 2021-22 KARACHI

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Market experts said the rupee remained under pressure against the US dollar chiefly due to the current account deficit which stood at $1.85 billion in fiscal year 2020-21 owing to a jump in imports on account of increase in crude oil and other commodity prices.

Again, the current account deficit figures for July were not impressive, they added.

They said the rupee remained under pressure due to the higher demand of the foreign currency for import payments. “Once the pressure for import payments releases and the current account deficit narrows, the rupee per-

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AKISTANI rupee has been on a losing streak against the US dollar in the current fiscal year 2021-22 and has so far shed 4.21 percent of its value (Rs6.64) against the greenback in the interbank market during the last 45 days.

The US dollar closed at Rs164 on Friday last, the lowest level of the local unit against the greenback since October 06, 2020.

formance will improve again,” they added.

However, the market anticipated the announcement made by Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin regarding the date of inflows from the IMF. Tarin said that Pakistan will get $2.77 billion from the IMF on August 23. They said that such inflows would help the country ease pressure on the external front. However, the ballooning trade deficit remains a concern for the rupee stability, they warned.

They said the Pakistani rupee has been witnessing pressure in the post-budget pe-

Range-bound trading expected at PSX in three-session week KARACHI TlTp

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) is likely to behave range-bound during the three-session week starting today (Monday) due to expected strong corporate results, and concerns on Afghan situation as well as the fourth wave of the coronavirus pandemic in the country.

The market will remain closed on Wednesday and Thursday due to holidays for Ashura. Although the market witnessed bearish trends in the second half of the last week, low volumes amid bearish days give a sign of hope and attractive prices may attract investors. According to analysts at JS Global Capital, Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin announced that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) would disburse $2.77 billion by August 23, 2021 to Pakistan. “While the latest data reports total foreign exchange

reserves at $24.64 billion, the receipt of these funds would further boost the country’s forex reserves. The government also announced the invitation of bids for the cellular spectrum auction that amounts to $832 million at base price,” they added.

An analyst at Pearl Securities said the market activities remained dull throughout the week with no positive trigger in sight.

“Going forward, we anticipate the market to remain range-bound with dull activities ahead of the two holidays for Ashura; hence, we recommend investors to continue with the “Sell on Strength” strategy in the upcoming week.”

Analysts at Arif Habib Limited expected positive momentum in the market this week; however, they said that concerns over Covid-19 fourth may keep the sentiment skittish. Furthermore, prevailing tension in Afghanistan with continuing withdrawal of US army by end of this

Pink Riders mark I-Day with their ‘Freedom Rally’

LAHORE: Talking Points for ‘Fuel for Freedom’ Campaign. Pink Riders’ mission is to empower women to travel independently and confidently across Pakistan’s road space, on their own. We are celebrating Independence Day in Freedom rally. On our way we are fueling our bikes from Total PARCO service station to avail the Fuel For Freedom This offer is 5L fuel in a bike and avail 14% discount on selected products. We are availing the discount on Total PARCO service station. You all must grab this exciting offer too. press release

month may exert pressure on the local bourse, they added.

The benchmark KSE-100 index of Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) is currently trading at a PER of 6.6x (2021) compared to Asia Pacific regional average of 16.0x while offering a dividend yield of 6.6 percent versus 2.4 percent offered by the region. The market commenced on a negative note given mounting concerns over the current account. Moreover, the recent depreciation of Pakistani rupee against the US dollar (closing at Rs164) kept the momentum weak.

During the week, the market bounced back and cushioned the dip amid robust financial results of some scrips, massive incentives approved by the federal government for technology and telecom sector, robust $2.7 billion remittances in July 2021 and 114 percent surge in automobile sales on a year-onyear basis in July 2021. The benchmark

KSE-100 Index closed at 47,170 points on Friday last, shedding 320 points (-0.7 percent) on a week-on-week basis.

Sector-wise negative contributions came from cement (112 points), oil & gas marketing companies (67 points), oil & gas exploration (52 points), power generation & distribution (41 points), and fertilizer (39 points). Whereas, the sectors that contributed positively included technology & communication (47 points) and food & personal care products (37 points).

Scrip-wise negative contributors were LUCK (43 points), PPL (32 points), HUBC (32 points), PSO (32 points) and OGDC (31 points). Meanwhile, scrip-wise positive contributions came from TRG (83 points), MEBL (46 points), and FCEPL (44 points). Foreign buying continued this week, clocking at $4 million against a net buy of $3.1 million last week. Buying was witnessed in technology ($4.2 million), banks ($0.9 million) and fertilizer ($0.3 million). On the domestic front, major selling was reported by insurance ($6.6 million) and individuals ($3 million). Average volumes clocked-in at 307 million shares, down by 33 percent on a week-on-week basis, while average value traded settled at $73 million down by 14 percent on a week-on-week basis.

Pakistan-China trade expands 1.6 times in 1H 2021 BEIJING TlTp

Trade between Pakistan and China totalled US $12.56 billion in the first half of 2021, showing an increase of 1.6 times against the same period of the last year.

According to the General Administration of Customs PR China, the import and export trade volume between Pakistan and China has increased explosively against the global trend under the influence of epidemic, CEN reported.

The rapid growth of trade volume between both countries has brought great challenges to cross-border logistics and transportation, especially exports to China. Shipping is the main method of transport for Pakistan’s exports to China.

Currently, the capacity of maritime transport is tight and the freight rate remains high, according to CEN. Li Yiman, General Manager of Zhejiang Eman Supply Chain Management Company, said that in the case of aquatic products, there was a shortage of containers at the Karachi Port, and exporters of frozen aquatic products had to book space 1-2 weeks in advance. It is learned that about 90% of Pakistan’s exports of aquatic products to China are shipped from the Karachi Port.

Li believes that it is under the influence of a global shortage of shipping containers, plus the Pakistan route capacity has been squeezed to a certain extent, shipping space has also

BOP welcomes national hero Arshad Nadeem

LAHORE: The Bank of Punjab organized a warm reception at Allama Iqbal International Airport Lahore to welcome Arshad Nadeem, our national pride, upon his return to home after the heroics at Tokyo Olympics.

Arshad Nadeem who exhibited a phenomenal performance at Tokyo Olympics and grabbed 5th position in javelin throw event returned home on 12th

riod on account of rising imports led partly by higher commodity prices and for machinery. They said the central bank has been following a flexible exchange rate policy and focusing on sustainable current account balance; therefore, it interferes only when any manipulation is witnessed.

“The SBP let the rupee fall, as it believes it is overvalued in real terms despite higher inflation. So far, there are no traces of manipulation and the decline is purely a demand and supply phenomenon,” they added.

“We believe if imports decline from here

August 2021. The Bank of Punjab team welcomed him at the airport by presenting him a flower bouquet on his arrival and decorated him with a medal.

The Bank of Punjab has always been on the forefront to discharge its national responsibility by supporting healthy sporting activities and the sportsmen and shall continue doing so in days to come. press release

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been reduced. In addition, due to the epidemic, the freight cycle is lengthened. It takes about a month from Karachi to complete customs clearance in China, and the customs inspection cycle for frozen products is relatively longer, affecting turnover efficiency. Thus, some cargo ships prefer to return to China even with empty containers.

“We have communicated with Yiwu Customs on how to improve the timeliness of the process while ensuring safety, such as preparing relevant documents before the arrival of the goods to facilitate rapid customs clearance.” Ms. Li explained.

Under the condition of insufficient supply of transport capacity, the demand for logistics is still rising. As per China Customs, Pakistan’s exports to China in the first half of 2021 crossed $1.735 billion, a growth of 70.3 percent as compared to 1H 2020 figures. In the case of supply falling short of demand, freight rates continue to rise. The shortage of seaborne capacity is expected to continue this year. “Shipping space in Pakistan is likely to continue to decrease in the second half of the year, and freight rates are still in the upstream channel.”

Li stated. For Pakistani and Chinese traders, the pressure of cross-border logistics will continue, but as logistics enterprises stretch to the upper and lower reaches of the industrial chain, full-chain services will bring ease to the situation.

“Pakistan is rich in fishing resources and has a huge market for fishing and processing seafood. Chinese companies can replicate their frozen product techniques to Pakistan.”

and flows remain strong in the shape of higher exports and remittances then one might expect the rupee to recover its lost ground. The key to the above is containment of inflation and trade balance,” they elaborated.

Market insiders said the country’s reliance on external debt to repay old debt is increasing, which also impacts the rupee-dollar parity negatively. This, coupled with higher imports, is pressurising the rupee in the interbank currency market. The continued deterioration of the rupee in the last 45 days will put an extra burden on the external debt.

Bitcoin flirts with $46,000 mark for fourth day NEWS DESK The cryptocurrency market remained mixed on Sunday after remaining volatile a day earlier, and the market capitalisation increased by 0.2 percent to $2.03 trillion as of 1230 hours GMT. The price of Bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency, reached $45,893 after shedding 1.28 percent. The cryptocurrency witnessed profit-taking after hitting $48,152, the highest level since May 16, on Saturday.

With this decrease in price, the market capitalisation of the BTC has reached $862.1 billion. Likewise, ethereum (ETH) price shed 2.57 percent to reach $3,158. With this decrease in price, the market capitalisation of ETH has reached $369.7 billion.

Similarly, the price of Cardano (ADA) – now the third-ranked cryptocurrency after Bitcoin and Ether – fell to $2.11 with 2.64 percent decrease in its price. Its market capitalisation has reached $68 billion after this decrease.

Overall, it has been up 42.5 percent over the past seven days.

On the other hand, XRP gained 10.64 percent to reach $1.27. The market capitalisation of XRP stands at $127 billion after this increase.

Similarly, Dogecoin (Doge) price appreciated by 5.80 percent to reach $0.297. With this increase in price, the market capitalisation of Doge reached $38.8 billion.

According to experts, Bitcoin continues above its critical 200-day moving average. They said that Bitcoin price has been struggling with the $46,000 resistance level for roughly four days now but has failed to shatter it. However, the latest attempt has already pierced it, but only a decisive daily candlestick close above it will confirm the flip of this barrier into a support level. Regardless, investors can expect a minor retracement to arise here due to the extent of the rally, which originated roughly 23 days ago, on July 20. This correction will allow the bulls to regain strength and onboard the sidelined investors to kick-start a new leg-up, they said. The support levels at $41,333 and $40,550 are the contenders likely to absorb the incoming flurry of selling pressure. If the current rally is bullish, the pullback should reverse around the barriers mentioned above to create a lower low. The resulting upswing will burst through $46,000 and target the next significant psychological level at $50,000, they opined.

75th Independence Day of Pakistan celebrated at sNgPl head office LAHORE: Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) organized a flag hoisting ceremony at Head Office in Lahore to celebrate 75 th Independence Day of Pakistan. Managing Director SNGPL Ali J. Hamdani was chief guest of the ceremony. In his speech, MD SNGPL urged the employees on working as a unit for betterment of the Country and development of the Company. MD praised the role of Quid-e- Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Allama Iqbal for independence of Pakistan and also praised the role of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan in the field of Education which is actually the base for progress of any country. MD also said that Company earned profit of 5998 million in last financial year and hopefully will show better results in current financial year. He also thanked Chairperson B.O.D Miss Roohi Raees Khan and other B.O.D members for supporting the SNGPL management initiatives for better results. MD emphasized on the equal role of female Employees of SNGPL for the progress of the Company.

MD also said that the war against Corona virus is not yet over، hence the SOPs provided by the Government of

Pakistan must be strictly followed. He said that with the mutual efforts of the Government and people, Pakistan will soon emerge victorious from this situation. Later, MD SNGPL Ali J. Hamdani planted sapling as well. The ceremony was also attended by Senior Management of the Company and employees. Special arrangements were made to ensure strict compliance with SOPs. press release

Monday, 16 August, 2021

lAhore

newS

05

FIGhTInG CORRuPTIOn In KABuL CiTy NoTes M a Niazi

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E mark Independence Day one day before India does. Why, I’m not entirely sure, because the British let us go on the same day. Be that as it may, both countries marked the anniversary over the weekend.

That meant, for Pakistanis, that only those who work a six-day week had a holiday.

Of course, in India, even they had the holiday clash with a Sunday.

INDEPENDENCE DAY Well, the Indians seem to be busy celebrating for they have got a gold medal at the Olympics. What created a sense of injury was that a Pakistani athlete was also in the event, and failed to win a medal.

Perhaps he did the right thing, for otherwise he would have had to stand on the podium while the Indian national anthem was played. It has happened before, when Pakistan and India used to be the finalists in men’s hockey. Nowadays, of course, they don’t qualify.

I wonder what will happen now that

cricket is on schedule to be included in the 2028 games. I doubt if the Indo-Pak rivalry could grow any fiercer.

But what added insult to injury was that the Indian medal winner was a subedar in the Indian Army. He was rewarded with a commission, an award made by the Indian COAS himself, in front of a huge photograph of the surrender ceremony in Dhaka. Is that the reason why the Interprovincial Coordination Minister Fehmida Mirza has demanded the head of the President of the Pakistan Olympic Association, Lt Gen (r) Arif Hasan?

Somehow, the only thing missing is Arshaf Nadeem not being in the Army.

Perhaps then he would have brought home a medal. If India can do it with a subedar, imagine what could be done by an officer of appropriate rank.

Just think of all those gold medals to be had in rhythmic gymnastics and synchronized swimming, and how efficiently our boys could win, instead of wasting places in the Olympic squad on people who aren’t going to win, or other civilians.

The problem with asking for General Hasan to resign is that you might as well ask the Minister to do so, as it supervises the Pakistan Sports Board. And why not

Look, when the USA invaded, they also paid for the Afghan National Army to be established. Now it turns out they’re not worth much. Not much of an advertisement for the USA’s training abilities.

So even though the American taxpayer has shelled out about a trillion or two on the ANA, it isn’t up to scratch. Where did the money go?

The story is that US contractors made a killing, as did the senior officers of the Afghan military. The US military is doing its best to have that version believed, and they are supported by our own fearless anti-corruption fighter And whose fault is it that the Kabul regime is corrupt?

Well, any lessons Nawaz gave were in the past, for now, that the British Home Office has refused to extend his visa, he is probably running out of options. One is to burn his passport and then become fully illegal. So if you think you recognise someone in London, or somewhere more off the beaten track like Derby or Hull, carrying a crate of empties or hawking fish, don’t go up and say “Salam alaikum Mian Sahib.” He is probably trying to maintain his incognito, while still a step ahead of the immigration people.

ask the Minister’s boss, the PM? After all, he’s a sportsman too.

In fact, thinking of him, it’s perhaps a good thing that no one won any medals.

You don’t want any rivals produced. I mean, what if someone wins a medal, and builds a hospital?

But that is not going to happen until a long time after 2024.

Meanwhile, Imran should watch Shahid Afridi (who captained the team that won the 2009 T20 World Cup) and Malala Yousafzai, who won a Nobel Peace Prize in 2014, for any intentions to build even a dispensary. Shaheen Afridi, a personable fast bowler is still the frontrunner, though he has the disadvantage of not having won any sort of World Cup for Pakistan. All of the people I’ve mentioned also suffer the disadvantage of not using cocaine, or anything else to give them energy.

Of course, nowadays Imran probably doesn’t have much time to watch athletics, concentrating on the race of the Taliban for Kabul. And it’s happening so fast that even the Taliban don’t know which city to capture next. Imran is just poised to blame Nawaz Sharif for the mess in Afghanistan, because of corruption.

Ashraf Ghani flees Afghanistan as Taliban seize Kabul continued from page 01 “We want to work with any Afghan, we want to open a new chapter of peace, tolerance, peaceful coexistence and national unity for the country and for the people of Afghanistan,” he said.

But many officials, soldiers and police have surrendered or abandoned their posts, fearing reprisals against anyone suspected of working with the Westernbacked government or Western forces.

Shaheen said that would not happen. “We reassure that there is no revenge on anyone. Any case will be investigated.”

The Doha-based spokesman said the group would also review its relationship with the United States, which it has waged a deadly insurgency against for decades.

“Our relationship was in the past,” he said. “In future, if it will touch our agenda no more, it will be a new chapter of cooperation.”

The United States also evacuated diplomats from its embassy by helicopter. US officials said the diplomats were being ferried to the airport from the embassy in the fortified Wazir Akbar Khan district. More American troops were being sent to help in the evacuations after the Taliban’s lightning advances brought the group to Kabul in a matter of days.

Just last week, a US intelligence estimate said Kabul could hold out for at least three months. The lightning speed of the push has shocked many and raised questions about why Afghan

forces crumbled despite years of US training and billions of dollars spent.

“Core” US team members were working from the Kabul airport, a US official said, while a NATO official said several EU staff had moved to a safer, undisclosed location in the capital.

A Taliban official told Reuters the group did not want any casualties as it took charge but had not declared a ceasefire. Earlier on Sunday, the insurgents captured the eastern city of Jalalabad without a fight, giving them control of one of the main highways into landlocked Afghanistan.

They also took over the nearby Torkham border post with Pakistan, leaving Kabul airport the only way out of Afghanistan that is still in government hands.

The capture of Jalalabad followed the Taliban’s seizure of the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif late on Saturday, also with little fighting.

“There are no clashes taking place right now in Jalalabad because the governor has surrendered to the Taliban,” a Jalalabad-based Afghan official told Reuters. “Allowing passage to the Taliban was the only way to save civilian lives.”

A video clip distributed by the Taliban showed people cheering and shout Allah-o-Akbar — God is greatest — as a convoy of pick-up trucks entered the city with fighters brandishing machine guns and the white Taliban flag.

After US-led forces withdrew the bulk of their remaining troops in the last month, the Taliban campaign acceler-

Extending assistance for consular work, flights amidst unfolding Afghanistan situation: FO continued from page 01 It is likely that Russia, China, Iran and other stakeholders including Turkey would attend the conference, but no official announcement has been made as of the time of filing.

However, the spokesperson said Pakistan would continue to support the efforts for a political settlement.

“We hope all Afghan sides will work together to resolve this internal political crisis,” he added.

Pakistan has always stood for peace in Afghanistan, he said, adding that Islamabad wanted the security situation not to deteriorate further.

Furthermore, he stated that Pakistan would not be shutting down its embassy in spite of the advancement of the Taliban entering the Afghanistan capital after taking all the major cities, including Jalalabad and Mazar-i-Sharif, across the country.

With additional input from APP

ated as the Afghan military’s defences appeared to collapse.

President Joe Biden on Saturday authorised the deployment of 5,000 US troops to help evacuate citizens and ensure an “orderly and safe” drawdown of military personnel. A US defence official said that included 1,000 newly approved troops from the 82nd Airborne Division.

Taliban fighters entered Mazar-iSharif virtually unopposed as security forces escaped up the highway to Uzbekistan, about 80 km (50 miles) to the north, provincial officials said.

Unverified video on social media showed Afghan army vehicles and men in uniforms crowding the iron bridge between the Afghan town of Hairatan and Uzbekistan.

Two influential militia leaders supporting the government — Atta Mohammad Noor and Abdul Rashid Dostum — also fled. Noor said on social media that the Taliban had been handed control of Balkh province, where Mazar-i-Sharif is located, due to a “conspiracy.”

POPULARLY ACCEPTED: In a statement late on Saturday, the Taliban said its rapid gains showed it was popularly accepted by the Afghan people and reassured both Afghans and foreigners that they would be safe.

The Islamic Emirate, as the Taliban calls itself, “will, as always, protect their life, property and honour, and create a peaceful and secure environment for its beloved nation,” it said, adding

that diplomats and aid workers would also face no problems.

Afghans have fled the provinces to enter Kabul in recent days, fearing a return to hardline rule.

Early on Sunday, refugees from Taliban-controlled provinces were seen unloading belongings from taxis and families stood outside embassy gates, while the city’s downtown was packed with people stocking up on supplies.

Hundreds of people slept huddled in tents or in the open in the city, by roadsides or in car parks, a resident said on Saturday night. “You can see the fear in their faces,” he said.

Biden said his administration had told Taliban officials in talks in Qatar that any action that put US personnel at risk “will be met with a swift and strong US military response.”

He has faced rising domestic criticism as the Taliban have taken city after city far more quickly than predicted.

The president has stuck to a plan, initiated by his Republican predecessor, Donald Trump, to end the US military mission in Afghanistan by August 31.

Biden said it is up to the Afghan military to hold its own territory. “An endless American presence in the middle of another country’s civil conflict was not acceptable to me,” Biden said on Saturday.

Qatar, which has been hosting sofar inconclusive peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban, said it had urged the insurgents to a ceasefire.

Ship piracy incidents decline significantly in Asia in 2021 iSLamaBad TLTP

The number of incidents against ships in Asia declined significantly in the first half of 2021 falling to the second-lowest level in the past fourteen years.

The six-month report on piracy and armed robbery against ships in Asia released by the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) highlights the decline in serious crime while reporting five incidents, including one where a crew member was threatened with “an improvised gun,” in July.

“The total number of incidents of armed robbery against ships in Asia reported during January-July 2021 has deceased compared to 2020,” ReCAAP reports. “However, of concern is the persistent occurrence of incidents

in the Singapore Strait and the continued threat of abduction of crew in the Sulu-Celebes Seas and the waters off Eastern Sabah (Indonesia).”

On the five incidents reported to ReCAAP last month, one however included a higher level of violence. It happened on July 17 in the anchorage in Manila. The duty watcher aboard the Maersk Nusfjord containership encountered an unidentified person at the forecastle of the vessel who pointed “an improvised gun at the back of the duty watcher’s head.”

During the incident, the perpetrator took the watchman’s twoway radio and tied him to the railing of the ship. Seven other unidentified persons then boarded the ship, broke the padlock of the boatswain mate locker, and took away one roll of new spare rope mooring line. After they left, the watchman untied himself from the

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railings and reported the incident.

The other reports in July included two further boardings both in the eastbound lane of the Singapore Strait, which is a continuing area of concern for ReCAAP with a total of 22 reports in the first six months of the year.

Despite these reports, overall incidents in Asia were down by a third in the first half of 2021 versus 2020. According to ReCAAP, it is the second-lowest level between January to July from 2007 to 2021. They further reported that there were no incidents of piracy and no crew were abducted in 2021. Currently, ReCAAP is not aware of any cases where crew members are being held in captivity in Asia.

Beyond the increase in incidents in the Singapore Strait, ReCAAP says the majority of reports were from the Philippines and Indonesia.

Pakistani, Turkish presidents participate in 1st MILGEM Class Corvette launch ceremony ISTANBUL: Presidents of Pakistan and Turkey participate in the launching of the 1st MILGEM Class Corvette for Pakistan Navy Launching ceremony of the first MILGEM class corvette (PNS Babur) for Pakistan Navy was held today at Istanbul Naval Shipyard (INSY).

President of Pakistan Dr. Arif Alvi and President of the Republic of Turkey Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan graced the occasion as chief guests. Mrs Samina Alvi, the First Lady launched the warship with a prayer. Both Presidents also jointly performed steel cutting of Akhisar, the offshore patrol vessel for Turkish Navy. Addressing the ceremony, President Dr. Arif Alvi said that both countries shared common objectives of promoting peace, stability and development in their respective regions. He highlighted that Pakistan and Turkey were further strengthening their cooperation across various spheres, particularly in defence, to deal with common challenges and new and emerging threats. Thanking Turkey for construction of the PNS Babur within the timeline, the President emphasized that this project is a testimony of strong relations and expressed the hope that it would further boost defence collaboration between the two brotherly countries. President Dr. Arif Alvi lauded Turkey’s continuing support on Kashmir dispute and reiterated Pakistan’s unwavering support to Turkey on the Cyprus issue. In his address, President Erdoğan said that Turkey and Pakistan brotherhood and friendship is deep rooted in history and the people of Turkey have a special place in their hearts for Pakistan. He highlighted the enhanced collaboration between the two countries in various fields including defence production. He said despite the pandemic, Pakistan-Turkey bilateral trade is improving. He hoped that economic ties would further improve. President Erdogan stressed the need to closely work together to promote regional peace and stability including in Afghanistan. Speaker of Turkish Grand National Assembly Mustafa Sentop, Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay, Chief of the Naval Staff of Pakistan Admiral M Amjad Khan Niazi, alongwith senior Turkish defence officials, including Defence Minister Hulusi Akar, Chief of the Turkish General Staff General Yaşar Güler and Commander of Turkish Naval Forces Admiral Adnan Özbal also attended the ceremony. Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Niazi in his remarks lauded the great achievement of MILGEM project. Earlier, upon his arrival at the Istanbul Naval Shipyard, the President was received by Turkish President Erdogan and was presented a guard of honour. The contract for four MILGEM Class Corvettes for Pakistan Navy was signed in 2018. Under the contract, two ships were to be constructed at Istanbul Naval Shipyard and other two at Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works. Induction of MILGEM warships in Pakistan Navy arsenal will augment Pakistan Navy’s capability and contribute in its efforts towards maintaining peace and security in the Indian Ocean Region. Press reLease

Roshan Digital Accounts hit $2bn mark: SBP continued from page 01 He said that Pakistan’s reserve buffers are expected to rise by another $2.8 billion in August through the IMF’s planned new global SDR allocation. Banking experts and analysts are optimistic about the outlook of Roshan Digital Account and said it would continue to attract funds from overseas Pakistanis, especially those based in the Gulf region.

Gold expected to move sideways this week After finishing last week higher, gold is expected to move sideways in the near term with an average price target of $1,772 in the one week view. However, there is an apparent bearish shift in the one month view with a majority of experts expecting gold to trade below its current level by mid-September. During the last week, following the sharp decline witnessed on August 6, on the impressive July jobs report from the US, gold started the new week on the back foot and plunged to its weakest level since late March at $1,687. Nevertheless, gold managed to erase a large portion of its losses in the second half of the day on Monday and settled near $1,730 before staging a rebound in the remainder of the week. After rising more than one percent on Wednesday, gold stayed calm on Thursday and continued to push higher on Friday and ended up closing the week in the positive territory above $1,780. NeWs DesK

Monday, 16 August, 2021

06 COMMENT

Climate change crisis is already unfolding and serious policy action is overdue

The Taliban return The whole region is challenged

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T is all over bar the shouting. The Taliban have not just taken some more cities, but are taking back the capital of Afghanistan, Kabul. Perhaps the only positive to be taken out of the situation is that there is none of the bloodshed of the Taliban’s 1996 takeover of Kabul, when former President Najibullah was taken out of the UN compound where he was holed up, strung up from the nearest pole and his corpse dragged through the city behind a truck. It was also to be noted that the USA succeeded in evacuating its embassy, while other foreign missions also evacuated their staff. Meanwhile, the UN was among those acting as intermediaries between the government and the Taliban so that there could be a peaceful transition.

The sheer speed of the Taliban advance throws into sharp relief the importance of the US and other NATO troops to the Kabul government. It has also shown the world the ineffectiveness of the training that the USA is supposed to have given the Afghan National Army. At the same time, there has been widespread panic among those who have worked with foreign forces in such ancillary roles as interpreters, and the refugees who had gone to the capital, now have to find refuge again.

While Pakistan has shown that it is willing to engage the Taliban, it does so from nowhere near the position it did the last time the Taliban were in power. The fairly common assumption that the Taliban are a Taliban proxy, if ever true now, is certainly not true now. how the two governments are to tackle the refugee problem that seems inevitably about to develop, is the most immediate question. Then there will be the issue of the Tehrik-eTaliban Pakistan, which had taken refuge in Afghanistan, as well as the possibility of attacks launched against the Pakistani armed forces. The issues of the wider region, such as legitimate interests of China and the Central Asian republics regarding trade and connectivity, will also have to be addressed by the new Taliban government, leaving all of them with legitimate questions about the future. The Pakistan government has been in a constant state of crisis since at least 1979. The fall of Kabul does not show signs of bringing that crisis to an end.

The IPCC report shows time is running out for humanity

Dr Omer JaveD

‘The message from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC] could hardly be clearer.

Business as usual means global temperatures will rise by more than 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels within two decades. Preventing that happening will require a massive and rapid drop in the amount of greenhouse gases being emitted.’ – Excerpt from a recent Guardian article ‘Fairness will be key to successfully tackling climate change crisis’ by Larry Elliott

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N no uncertain terms, the latest report by IPCC titled ‘Climate change 2021: The physical science basis’ points out that climate change is already happening all around the world, and the role of humans in climate change is ‘unequivocal’. In the words of the Report ‘It is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, ocean and land. Widespread and rapid changes in the atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere and biosphere have occurred.’ A Financial Times editorial ‘Time is running short to avert “hell on earth”’ that came out on August 9, highlighted the profound standing of the Report as ‘A landmark assessment of climate change, released on Monday as a consensus statement by 234 international scientists, makes clear that the world faces a frightening future even if the global economy is decarbonised rapidly. Failure to cut greenhouse gas emissions deeply would lead within a few decades to what a leading climatologist called “hell on earth”.’

The upcoming COP26 meeting later this year in

Declining positivity rate Guard should not be lowered

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he decline in the positivity rate should not be taken to mean the end of the fourth wave of the covid-19 pandemic that was started by the deadly delta variant, but should be considered as a confirmation of the proposition that vaccinating the population would break the grip of the dreaded coronavirus, More specifically, the vaccination programme has meant that the healthcare system has not had to face the kind of stress placed on it in India, where there was a time when corpses were put out in the streets and cremation grounds ran out of capacity.

The government seems to have got its vaccination programme right, even though it has had to use such draconian measures as stopping salaries and travel restrictions for the unvaccinated to force people into getting vaccinated. however, such strong-arm methods have not just been dictated by the severity of the crisis at hand, but justified by the decline in the number of new infections. Another important factor which the government has managed is the supply of the vaccine.

The vaccination drive could have collapsed almost before gathering steam if enough people had been turned away from the vaccination centres. Indeed, this had begun to happen, but now it seems, primarily because of regular inflows from China, the NCOC has so far managed things that no one is turned away at the vaccination centres.

Perhaps the worst thing that is being faced at the moment is the unscrupulousness of certain elements has combined with the laziness of some to produce a thriving market for documentation of the unvaccinated. Before this becomes ‘institutionalised’, and certain posts become regarded as lucrative, this menace must be crushed. The development of such scams indicates the change in attitude promised by the present government has not taken place; however, this must be stamped out firmly before it becomes rooted. Besides, if there is widespread evasio of the vaccine, there will be a resurgence of the illness. At the same time one of the greatest failings of this government during this pandemic has been an apparently incurable optimism that has led it to let down its guard whenever there is anything resembling a positive development. This is no time to celebrate, for the struggle against covid-19 is a long way from over.

The phone call that will not come

Humza aHmaD Barlas

“P

AKISTAN has options”, National Security Adviser Moeed Yousaf reportedly remarked during an interview with the Financial Times.

Apparently, Dr Yousaf has been quite vocal and direct during his trip to the USA. he made this statement against the backdrop of an unease in Pak-US ties with President Joe Biden so far not making a telephonic conversation with Prime Minister Imran Khan. Dr Yousaf was critical of the USA choosing to ignore Pakistani leadership.

Nonetheless, the gesture from the USA is quite clear. And the reasons behind this cold shoulder are quite obvious too.

The USA’s growing rivalry with China is one of the major irritants in the bilateral relations between Islamabad and Washington. Successive US administrations have pressured Pakistan to draw away from Chinese courtship. however, that is not an option for Islamabad.

Arif Nizami (Late) Founding Editor

Yousaf Nizami M. A. Niazi

Umar Aziz

Joint Editor

Joint Editor

Executive Editor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965

seen a very sharp perpetuation of climate change crisis, pointing out in this regard that ‘each of the last four decades has been successively warmer than any decade that preceded it since 1850. Global surface temperature in the first two decades of the 21st century (2001-2020) was 0.99°C higher than 1850-1900.

Global surface temperature was 1.09°C higher in 2011– 2020 than 1850–1900, with larger increases over land (1.59°C) than over the ocean (0.88°C). …

The likely range of total human-caused global surface temperature increase from 1850–1900 to 2010–2019 is 0.8°C to 1.3°C, with a best estimate of 1.07°C. …

Globally averaged precipitation over land has likely increased since 1950, with a faster rate of increase since the 1980s… human influence is very likely the main driver of the global retreat of glaciers since the 1990s and the decrease in Arctic sea ice area between 1979–1988 and 2010–2019... Global mean sea level increased by 0.20m between 1901 and 2018. The average rate of sea level rise was 1.3mm… between 1901 and 1971, increasing to 1.9mm… between 1971 and 2006, and further increasing to 3.7mm… between 2006 and 2018’.

The situation calls for urgent policy action by countries, and efforts in this regard should happen immediately. Moreover, there is a need for showing much greater seriousness in terms of countries coming forward with concrete plans in the upcoming COP26 meetings, was highlighted in a recent Guardian article ‘Major climate changes inevitable and irreversible– IPCC’s starkest warning yet’ as ‘World leaders said the stark findings must force new policy measures as a matter of urgency, to shift the global economy to a low-carbon footing.

Governments from 197 countries will meet this November in Glasgow for vital UN climate talks, called Cop26. each nation is asked to come to Cop26 with fresh plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to a level that will limit global heating to no more than 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, the ambition of the Paris climate agreement and a goal the IPCC emphasised was still possible, but only just.’

The writer holds PhD in Economics degree from the University of Barcelona, and previously worked at International Monetary Fund.Prior to this, he did MSc. in Economics from the University of York (United Kingdom), and worked at the Ministry of Economic Affairs & Statistics (Pakistan), among other places. He is author of Springer published book (2016) ‘The economic impact of International Monetary Fund programmes: institutional quality, macroeconomic stabilization and economic growth’.He tweets @omerjaved7

National Security Options?

Dedicated to the legacy of late Hameed Nizami

Editor Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

Glasgow is unprecedented, since given the fast-unfolding climate change crisis, governments can no longer remain short on actionable details to commitments that they made in Paris Climate Agreement in 2015; something that was emphasized in the FT editorial as ‘The report should fortify the resolve of global leaders to agree on a far-reaching route toward net zero emissions at November’s COP26 summit in Glasgow.’

The situation is already quite dire in terms of climate change, given unprecedented frequency and intensity of such natural phenomena as floods and wildfires, among others, as pointed out for instance in a recent Economist article ‘Where is climate change being felt most acutely?’ as ‘Climate catastrophes have come thick and fast in recent months.

In June an unprecedented heatwave blasted the Pacific northwest, creating the conditions for devastating wildfires. In July extreme floods in central China killed more than 30 people. In August deadly fires have been blazing across Turkey and Greece. …

Many parts of the world have also experienced much more heavy precipitation (particularly in central and eastern North America and most of europe and Asia, as well as southern Africa); more droughts have been observed elsewhere.’

According to the Report, if appropriate urgent action is not taken in terms of moving away from fossil fuel usage, for lowering greenhouse gas (GhG) emissions, the world will most likely cross the desired target of global warming at 1.5°C by 2040, under one of the five scenario possibilities that it envisages. In this regard, the Report indicates ‘Under the five illustrative scenarios, in the near term (2021-2040), the 1.5°C global warming level is very likely to be exceeded under the very high GhG emissions scenario…’

A recently published Guardian article ‘Climate crisis “unequivocally” caused by human activities, says IPCC report’ pointed that there was still hope in terms of not crossing the 1.5°C global warming temperature, but on the other hand, lack of policy action would likely lead to dire consequences, and highlighted ‘…Some heating is already inevitable. We will definitely hit 1.5°C in the next two decades, whatever happens to emissions, the IPCC finds. The only good news is that keeping to that 1.5°C is not yet impossible. …even cutting emissions, but more slowly, leads to 2°C and significantly more suffering for all life on earth. If emissions do not fall in the next couple of decades, then 3°C of heating looks likely – a catastrophe. And if they don’t fall at all, the report says, then we are on track for 4°C to 5°C, which is apocalypse territory.’

The Report indicated that recent decades have

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Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9

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When Imran Khan took over in 2018, there was speculation that Pakistan might be shifting policy— interest in CPeC seemed to dwindle on the Pakistani side and there were many who thought Pakistan may have succumbed to US pressure. Yet as unpredictable as Pakistan’s foreign policy has been, the one constant that has so far remained intact is the deep economic partnership with China.

As the dust cleared out, Imran Khan appeared to be in a firm and warm embrace with China— though it took some convincing reportedly by the military establishment. CPeC seems well underway— though one could still question the pace of the work.

Pakistan has wholeheartedly welcomed Chinese investment despite initial concerns over a possible debt-trap, concerns that may be real and were also echoed by the USA for its own interest. For the time being, Pakistan seems to have shrugged off such doubts or at least chosen to remain silent.

At best, Pakistan desires a strong and mutually beneficial partnership with China and a stable, if not too friendly relationship with the USA. At worst, Islamabad could end up being the collateral damage in the US-Chinese struggle for global economic and political mastery. This is the worst-case scenario that strategic thinkers in Rawalpindi and Islamabad may be trying to prevent.

The USA’s increasingly expanding relations with India, while aimed primarily at containing China, could cause the South Asian balance of power to shift in favor of India. Not surprisingly, Pakistanis have openly protested against the deepening strategic ties between its arch-enemy and the world’s sole superpower.

In Washington, however, Islamabad’s protests have fallen on deaf ears. Yet, if ‘divide and rule’ means anything to US strategists, the USA will not elevate India beyond a certain threshold. Pakistan will have to ensure that the threshold remains at least as low as not to hurt its own strategic interests.

For the time being, there seems to be little commonality in terms of national interests between Pakistan and the USA. The volatile situation in Afghanistan, however, is likely to draw them into

Islamabad – Ph: 051-2204545

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Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk

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tough negotiations. Both sides will demand concessions from each other. Whoever prevails in the end or whether there will be a win-win compromise, will depend a lot on Pakistan’s perception of its strategic interests and its capacity to deal with US pressure.

Despite withdrawal, the USA would not want to risk losing out in Afghanistan to a regime that is more receptive of Chinese and Russian interests. And to make that happen it needs the support of Islamabad.

Will Pakistan oblige the USA or does it have better options?

The Pakistani NSA did not reveal the options Pakistan has when it comes to dealing with the USA. But it takes no wild guess to suggest that Islamabad finds itself in a difficult situation.

Any concession to the USA in return for strategic and economic support as well as US backing on international forums such as the FATF is likely to unnerve China. It may well view that as betrayal.

Given the volume of Chinese investment and that China is currently perhaps the only country that Pakistan looks up to in times of distress, Islamabad cannot afford to antagonize Beijing. The Pakistani leadership, therefore, has to make tough calculations before deciding upon any course of action. Any miscalculation could prove costly.

As the USA intensifies pressure on Pakistan through covert and overt means, Pakistan’s capacity to tackle the situation in a diplomatic manner is being tested to the limits. The “options” that Dr Yousaf talked about do not seem to be plenty even though Imran Khan has recently said that he is not waiting for a phone call from Biden.

For a country to have a strong foreign policy, it is imperative to possess internal stability and economic strength. So far, Pakistan has plenty of ground to cover on these fronts. Presently, there are many troubled waters for the USA to go fishing in.

The writer is a graduate in Public Administration from the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST). He can be reached at humza.a.barlas@gmail.com

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Monday, 16 August, 2021

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

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

Beauty standards The obession over the white complexion in our society exists from a long period of time. It is really disheartening to hear that someone got rejected due to his/her skin color, not being white enough or being too dark. The craze for having a white skin is so much that there are specific injections to convert the skin whiter. Many use home remedies for glowing skin. We can see the advertisements for promoting fairness creams which show that a girl or boy with fair skin can easily achieve anything without any judgment. The concept of white being beautiful has its root in history, and till today, we calling ourselves educated still believes the same old senseless ethic. Despite being Muslims, we easily discriminate others due to dark skin tone when our religion clears that everyone is equal. People are more than their skin colors. hazrat Ali (R.A) said,“ Your souls are precious, and can only be equal to the price of paradise, so do not sell them for anything else”. These words by Imam Ali (R.A) clearly shows that actual beauty lies in our soul that is worth paradise.

Fiza NaSir TurbaT

Jinnah’s Christians: From Pakistan Movement to the Formation of Pakistan Christians played a crucial role azeem alpHOnce

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he Christians’ unquestionable and undeniable allegiance and commitment to Pakistan needs to be flagged again in the frame of historical reference when the 74th independence day of Pakistan is being celebrated. The historical account of Christians’ services to the Indian Subcontinent, especially in the field of education, bears witness to their spirit to serve humanity with modern education which brought forward celebrated leaders to demand Pakistan as an independent state.

The Christian missionaries in the region realized that the Indian Subcontinent was in dire need of educational institutions which might impart quality education. So keeping in view the well-crafted future of this land, they began to materialize their vision in order to transform the stereotypical socio-political, socio-cultural and socio-religious ideologies.

The first ever Christian missionary school in the Indian Subcontinent was established in 1849 at Rang Mahal in Lahore by Dr. Charles W. Forman. This school is still serving the nation but not as effectively as it had been serving under Christian administration since 1849 till the nationalization in Bhutto regime. Dr. Charles W. Forman was one of the celebrated scholars of his time, who also established Forman Christian College in 1864 in Lahore. This college has always been regarded as one of the prestigious institutions both before and after the independence of Pakistan which produced eminent scholars, politicians, bureaucrats, armed forces officers and industrialists. The other esteemed institutions which Christian missionaries established are CMS School Karachi, Gordon College Rawalpindi, edwardes College Peshawar, Murray College Sialkot and Kinnaird College Lahore.

These institutions proved to be an emblem of excellence. As a result, many Christian and Muslim supporters of Pakistan movement were products of these institutions.

Generally, these educational institutions enlightened the minds of all living on that land, such as hindus, Muslims, Christians, Parsis, Buddhists and scheduled castes by imparting modern education based on Western concepts of nationalism, democracy, liberty and equality. however, the most prominent outcome of this education was seen in the most ardent Muslim leaders of Pakistan movement like Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Dr. Allama Muhammad Iqbal and Ch. Rehmat Ali. Along with others, the Christians had also learnt in these institutions to stand by the truth and

support fairness and justice. So, they set their faces against the hindus’ biased attitudes and behaviour against non-hindus. In continuation of this, when the Quuaid rejected the Nehru Report and presented his Fourteen Points the Christians also rejected the Nehru Report in the All India Christian Conference.

Interestingly, they offered unconditional support to the Quaid and the All India Muslim League even when the Quaid was being called a British agent by some Muslim religious groups who were in opposition to both of them and their ideology.

Furthermore, the Christians vote in favour of Pakistan before the Boundary Commission chaired

by Sir Cyril Radcliffe proved to be the decisive vote in the creation of Pakistan. The Christians were also seen and heard chanting slogans “Long live Pakistan” during the election in 1945-1946.

As an acknowledgment and appreciation of these gestures, the Christians were promised by the All India Muslim League that they will be offered more privileges as compared to other minorities in Pakistan.

The Quaid cherished a cordial relationship with eminent intellectuals, well positioned Christians like Mr. Joseph Burr (a member of the Viceroy’s Council and an advisor to the Nawab of Bhopal), Sir Samuel Rangandhar (a high Commissioner in London), Mr. K.L Kundan Lal (President All India National Congress), Rev Andrews and Mr. John Bright. The list is long. So, they all favoured and supported Jinnah in one way or the other in the pursuit of his dreamland.

When the Quaid-eAzam founded Dawn newspaper in 1941 as the mouthpiece of Muslim League for the promotion of Pakistan movement and appointed Pothan Joseph, a well reputed journalist of that time, as the first editor of Dawn, Delhi.

Mr. F.e.

Chaudhry was a photojournalist who promoted the Pakistan Movement by capturing historical moments in this regard.

Subsequently, his decision to make his two sons join the Pakistan Air Force speaks volumes of his love for Pakistan. Sqn Ldr Cecil Chaudhry,

The first ever Christian missionary school in the Indian Subcontinent was established in 1849 at Rang Mahal in Lahore by Dr. Charles W. Forman. This school is still serving the nation but not as effectively as it had been serving under Christian administration since 1849 till the nationalization in Bhutto regime.

a proud son of Mr. F.e Chaudhry, proved to be a pride of his father and the nation as a 1965 war hero. Mr. Joshua Fazaldin was another Christian intellectual and a proponent of the Pakistan Movement who used to write newspaper articles to promote the Quaid’s vision. his passionate support and favour to an idea of separate homeland in his articles won the heart of Ch. Rehmat Ali when many Muslim leaders were thinking that it was an impractical notion.

Dewan Bahadur S.P. Singha, another Christian intellectual, served Punjab University as a Registrar and made efforts for educational reforms in the region. Apart from his services in the field of education, he also appeared as a good politician and became the Speaker of the Punjab Legislative Assembly.

S.P. Singha was dismayed by the Christians’ predicament caused by the hindus’ discriminatory attitude and behaviour towards them. he preferred to support the Muslims in their demand for a separate land. he believed that their social values were comparatively secular and accommodating in nature. As an active Christian leader, he gave a statement that Christians be considered with the Muslims in their demand for a separate homeland. Moreover, he travelled from city to city to seek support of Christians and to convince them that they should claim to be a part of Pakistan.

Under the leadership of S.P Singha, the Christians began to visualize Pakistan as their land where their social, religious and political rights would be protected. history bears witness that S.P.Singha stood before Tara Singh and had a scuffle with him at the gate of the United Punjab Assembly when he defied the proponents of Pakistan by waving his Kirpan in the air and said that if someone demands Pakistan, he will be killed.

Despite other developments, the day had come when it was to be decided by votes whether West Punjab would be included in Pakistan or not. It proved to be a very stressful situation even for the Quaid when Muslim League and supporters of hindustan were on the same number of votes, which was 88. At that moment S.P. Singha who had a casting vote as a Speaker Punjab Assembly stood up to change the game and cast his vote in favour of Pakistan. The other two Christian members of the Assembly Mr. Fazzal ellahi and Mr. C. e Gibbon, followed him. Pakistan won by three votes and West Punjab was included in Pakistan.

Keeping in view the contribution and support of Christians in Pakistan Movement, the present day Christians in Pakistan take pride in retaining the spirit of their forefathers which made the Quaid’s dream a reality. Their loyalty to the country and efforts in their capacities to make Pakistan liveable and loveable are their pride and joy.

Keeping in view the contribution and support of Christians in Pakistan Movement, the present day Christians in Pakistan take pride in retaining the spirit of their forefathers which made the Quaid’s dream a reality. Their loyalty to the country and efforts in their capacities to make Pakistan liveable and loveable are their pride and joy

The writer is a freelance columnist

Gender problems PROBLeMS surrounding gender have always been present in our society.

From Pakistan ranking the third last country on the human Rights index, to the failure of exercising gender based laws. however as most of us think gender inequality is not just limited to men and women, but transgenders too; a large portion of our population which is largely stigmatised, and mostly ignored.

This was further highlighted when a transgender woman Julie, who happens to be an activist, was imprisoned based on a false allegation, and unlawfully kept in men’s jail despite her identifying as a woman. her suspicious arrest took the social media by storm, since Julie had earned her self quite a rapport with social media activists for her ardour to blatantly state the truths about our society. Which were otherwise shunned into silence; issues like sectarian unrest, sexual exploitation of transgenders, and the prevalent class culture. The rage of her supporters resulted in her release after 7 days. however in the past even when she was not a social media sensation Julie had faught for injustices against her gender, which are far too many to state.

The question is how long will we, as a nation, continue to opress the voices of truth and justice into silence, rather than addressing the issue at hand. It is high time that the order of law should be implemented and hold accountable even the keepers of law (police), if they’re caught missusing.

There needs to be further revision in law which cater to minorities whether gender based, race based or religion based.

SakiNa rizvi karachi

Karachi rains FOR the fifth time in around a month, Karachi lay in chaos in the aftermath of another spell of monsoon rains on Friday.

Flooded roads, power breakdowns, toppled trees, roads choked with traffic, damaged structures and authorities’ negligence and hollow promises – nothing was out of the ordinary for the city’s residents as heavy downpours lashed the metropolis.

For the earlier part of the day, the city sizzled as temperature soared past 39 degrees Celsius and sea breezes remained suspended. With humidity levels rising from 79 per cent to 89 per cent later in the day, the port city’s residents languished, anticipating that the predicted rainfall would add to their misery.

Their fears began unfolding at around 2pm, when the first smattering of raindrops hit the city. From a drizzle, it soon transformed into a torrential shower, accompanied by thunder and lightning, that continued to batter the city for as long as two hours, while some areas continued to experience intermittent showers after the initial heavy downpour.

Multiple roads, including Sakhi hassan Chowrangi , Surjani Town , Waterpump , People’s Chowrangi,which disrupted traffic on thoroughfares in the apparent absence of Pre-emptive measures. other localities worst affected on Friday included Orangi Town, North Nazimabad, Garden, Saddar, Burnes Road, , New Karachi, , Gulshan-eIqbal and others. Queues of vehicles stretching up to 10 kilometres were witnessed in many areas, leaving commuters frustrated while several vehicles ran out of fuel, adding to the predicament.

Meanwhile, the city’s electricity infrastructure crumbled under heavy showers once again as reports of over 600 feeders tripping, transformers malfunctioning and cables breaking surfaced, telling the tale of Kelectric’s (Ke) failure.

Areas particularly affected by prolonged electricity suspension included Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Liaquatabad, Saddar, PIB Colony, Landhi, Malir,Surjani, New Karachi Korangi and Shah Faisal Colony, among others. Residents continued to struggle in the midst of heavy downpour, subsequent flooding and darkness, as electricity supply to most neighbourhoods remained suspended late into the night.

Ke, however, claimed that it was necessary to shut down power due to water-logging in certain areas, adding that this created a risk of electrocution. arSlaN khaN karachi

Concerning situation he challenge for India and Pakistan is how to make certain that they manage their relation in a way that annihilate all points of contention, the convergence between the two countries remain dominant and the pessimistic aspects are manageable. The gap between the two is also expanding. There is growing distrust on the terms between the two countries and the challenge for Pakistan is how it manages that distrust and begins to shrink that distrust.

As far as the US is concerned, US is aspiring super power but its aspirational ambitions are built on great deal of insecurity, the way it perceives Pakistan’s relations with the China it is being hemmed in by close understanding cordiality between Pakistan and China so lets not discount the insecurity on the US side.

ShaFi ahmEd khowaja jaTi Sujawal

Monday, 16 August, 2021

08 WORLD VIEW

dO a deal With the taliBan OR flee – that is nOW the chOice facing afghans

indEpEndEnt

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PATRIck cOckbURn

S Taliban fighters enter Kabul, everybody from the US government to local policemen is seeking to reach a deal with the new rulers of Afghanistan. Alternatively, they want to flee the country as soon as possible.

The Afghan government agreed at the weekend on a transitional government which will avoid a direct Taliban military assault on the capital, allowing a peaceful transfer of power. At the start of this transition at least, it may be in the interests of the Taliban to show a moderate face and not stir up opposition at home or abroad by public executions and beatings.

As Afghans see it, President Donald Trump began a series of one-sided deals favouring the Taliban in 2020, an approach confirmed by President Joe Biden in his speech on 14 April this year. He declared that the final American pull-out would be completed by the 20th anniversary of 9/11 come-what-may.

By fixing on such a firm date, Biden evidently did not foresee that he had set the ball rolling for the complete disintegration of the anti-Taliban forces four months later. By highlighting the immediacy and completeness of the US military withdrawal, the White House probably wanted to gain credit among American voters, who have become increasingly

hostile to US involvement in foreign wars. The likely shattering impact in Afghanistan of Biden’s announcement received too little attention.

Many Afghans thought that if the Americans were reaching a deal with the Taliban, then they should not be far behind – if they wanted to maximise their chances of personal survival. “People began to ask why they should die for a lost cause and not reach an agreement with the Taliban as the Americans had just done,” says one Afghan observer.

She points out that the Taliban fighters met no military opposition when they swept through the traditionally anti-Taliban north of the country. In provinces dominated by the Tajik, Uzbek and Hazara communities, the Taliban, who largely come from the Pashtun community in the south of Afghanistan, met no armed resistance. Yet before 2001, this region was the heartland of the anti-Taliban Northern Alliance. “It is clear that the local leaders and former Northern Alliance warlords reached their own deals with the Taliban and refused to rally to the government side,” says the observer.

Army officers abandoned military strongholds they had held for two decades, while cities and towns surrendered without a fight, the latest being Jalalabad in the east of the country. “I have taken off my uniform and hidden it,” says Najib, a 35-year-old police officer in Jalalabad which fell on Saturday. Taliban white flags sprouted everywhere in the city as they took over with scarcely a shot being fired.

Najib says in a message to a friend in Europe shown to The Independent that he hopes that the Taliban will stick to their pledge “not to harm anybody who did not resist them”. Like many Afghans in the security forces, Najib had decided last week, as city after city fell without a fight, that the Taliban had won the war.

All over Afghanistan frightened individuals and families are desperately trying to calculate how they can either survive or escape the new regime. Many would like to flee the country, but do not know how they would do so or where they could go.

In the city of Herat in the far west of Afghanistan close to the Iranian border, a wealthy businessman

called Farid says in another message to a friend that “for the last three days we have been hiding in our basement. We do not know what the Taliban will want to do. We have enough food for now, but soon we will need to go outside our house to the market.”

The family had thought of leaving Herat in recent years, but the choice was not easy. The city was relatively peaceful and they owned property there as well as profitable pistachio and almond orchards.

Farid considered building a private hospital where his two medically-trained daughters could work as doctors, but he abandoned the idea as security deteriorated in the last couple of years.

Instead, he and his family went to Istanbul for six months, but Covid-19 restrictions made living conditions there difficult and they went back to Herat, where they are now trapped in their basement.

Others, who in the past had rejected the idea of leaving Afghanistan, now want to get out. Mustapha, the cousin of a Canadian citizen, had once been a translator, but was forced by lack of work to be a taxi driver in Kabul. Even so, he said he was happy in Afghanistan – until the last few days when he sent a message to his cousin saying he wanted “to ask about the chances of getting a Canadian visa [Canada has offered to take 20,000 Afghan refugees]”.

Women in Kabul have no doubt that they are facing a grim and deteriorating future. Mursal, a film maker and freelance journalist, says that under the Taliban “there will be no respect for women, culture or films, and no way to go on working”. Najmia, an older woman and a teacher who had experience of Taliban rule 20 years ago, says: “I did not expect that I would have to stop teaching again, but that seems to be the case.” She likewise asks if it is not too late to get a residence visa to live outside the country.

Not everybody is stuck in Afghanistan. Mrs Abadi, a British citizen born in Iran who works for an NGO, says that “it is sad that so many want to leave, especially if they have daughters. What a mess the US has left behind!” She herself plans to go to Iran for a time, but intends to return when the situation clarifies. She could have a long wait.

On sOcial media and level playing field Social media platforms should have the same standards for the rulers and the Opposition Hindu EDITORIAL

Several Twitter handles associated with the Congress and its leaders including its former president Rahul Gandhi were blocked by Twitter in the last few days, for violating its user policy and the law of the land. The violation pertains to posts shared by these handles that identified the family of a child who was allegedly raped and murdered in Delhi. The platform has since revealed that the NCPCR brought the violation to its notice.

A petition in the Delhi HC seeking legal action against Mr. Gandhi has pointed out that his post was in violation of Section 74 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 and Section 23(2) of the POCSO Act 2012, both of which mandate that any material that might reveal (directly or indirectly) the identity of a child victim of a crime shall not be published. Additionally, the post also violated Twitter’s own rules. The Congress has not addressed the substantive question raised by the platform regarding these violations. It has alleged double standards by the platform, and questioned its impartiality. That is not a mature response. The party transgressed the norms of discussion in a sensitive case in its campaign. It must, without qualifiers, accept that mistake, and commit to better standards in social media campaigns.

Twitter had flagged posts on several handles associated with the BJP in May, which were intended to target the Congress, as ‘manipulated media’. The BJP and the Centre took umbrage over the decision, claiming that only a police investigation could establish whether the content was altered. Twitter insisted that it had its own mechanism to check whether files uploaded on the platform were tinkered with. Herein lies the core conflict between the state and private companies over controlling the information flow in a democratic society. Both the state and the companies invoke public order and interest to justify their control over information, but the protocol for exercising that enormous power over lives remains open to question. Additionally, private companies also claim a right to unilaterally decide their user policy. This raises the pertinent question of whether a private company that is providing a service that is essential — connectivity in this instance — can set the terms of usage arbitrarily. The state has often shown itself unable to control speech in a fair and even-handed manner. It does even wilfully misuse such powers, going by experience. The age of acceleration has thrown up many such complicated moral and governance questions that society needs to resolve. In the meantime, state agencies must exercise control over speech only in the rarest instances, for the briefest periods, and in the most transparent manner. Private companies must be more transparent in enforcing their guidelines and reassure users that their standards for those in power and those in the Opposition are one.

‘Resign modi’: independence day banner dropped from london’s Westminster Bridge CARAVAn MAGAZinE SOUTH ASIA SOLIDARITY GROUP

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N the occasion of Indian Independence Day, a group of diaspora Indian activists in the United Kingdom dropped a banner from London’s Westminster Bridge, demanding Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s resignation. They listed several reasons for their opposition to the Modi government in a press release, including calls for religious genocide, India’s “settler colonialism” in Indian Occupied Kashmir, agricultural corporatisation, and the government’s mishandling of the second wave of COVID19, among others. The group also held a candlelight vigil outside the Indian High Commission in the UK. The press release issued by the group is reproduced below.

As dawn broke in London today, members of the diaspora and friends of India in the UK dropped a huge banner reading ‘Resign Modi’ from London’s iconic Westminster Bridge. En route to the bridge, the participants had held a candlelight vigil outside the Indian High Commission to remember all the victims of the Modi regime.

One of the organisers, Mukti Shah from South Asia Solidarity Group, explained the reasons for the action: “As India’s 75th Independence Day dawns, the country’s secular Constitution lies in tatters. Communal and caste violence stalk the land. Thousands of political prisoners languish in Covid-infected prisons, and hundreds of thousands of people are grieving the loss of their loved ones as a result of the callous negligence and mismanagement of the Coronavirus crisis. We, a group of diaspora members and friends standing in solidarity with the people of India, are demanding the resignation of Narendra Modi, the chief architect of this violence, injustice and criminal negligence”.

A statement released at the time of the banner drop identifies ten specific reasons for the call for Modi’s resignation:

1. CALLS FOR GENOCIDE OF MUSLIMS AND NORMALIZATION OF MOB LYNCHING AND POGROMS Calls for the genocide of Muslims are being made openly at rallies in the national capital and elsewhere in the country by people who belong to Hindu supremacist terror groups.

Far from investigating these groups and dismantling them, these incidents are being brushed aside as part of ‘normal life’. This follows on from the gradual normalization of horrific violence against Muslims since Modi came to power in 2014. Mob lynching, pogroms and police attacks on Muslim neighborhoods are now common occurrences. This normalization, together with the fact that Modi has never apologized for the Gujarat massacres of 2002, which happened under his watch as Chief Minister, suggest that India is being prepared by Modi for another large-scale genocidal attack on Muslims. It must never be allowed to happen again! MODI MUST RESIGN! 2. RAPES AND MURDERS OF DALIT WOMEN AND GIRLS The ever-present violence against Dalits has increased several-fold under Narendra Modi, with Dalit women and girls being gangraped and murdered by oppressor-caste men who are shielded by ruling BJP governments at state and central level. The Hathras gang rape and murder is well-known. Similar cases are widespread and every day brings fresh horrors. Most recently a nine year old Dalit girl was raped and murdered by a crematorium priest in Delhi who then tried to burn her body. The Prime Minister has remained silent in the face of such unspeakable violence and Brahmanical misogyny. MODI MUST RESIGN! 3. THE CORPORATE TAKEOVER OF AGRICULTURE The Modi regime has passed three Farm Laws which facilitate a handover of the entire agricultural sector to his corporate cronies Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani.

This corporatisation will push India’s already impoverished farmers into destitution and landlessness. The country’s food selfsufficiency will be destroyed, deepening hunger. A massive farmers’ movement has arisen to challenge these laws and has been at the doorstep of the capital since November last year. Modi has consistently ignored the voices of this key section of India’s working people. MODI MUST RESIGN! 4. INCARCERATION OF DISSENTERS AND HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS The Modi regime has imprisoned thousands of people whose only ‘crime’ has been to dissent, to advocate for the most marginalised and oppressed groups, or to take part in nonviolent protests, under draconian laws like the UAPA. Elderly and vulnerable academics and lawyers, students and young activists, including thousands of Adivasi youth, are locked up in overcrowded and unhygienic conditions in the middle of a pandemic. Their lives are at extreme risk. Some have already been infected with the virus and are being denied treatment, or only provided treatment after enormous pressure from their friends and families. Others, like Father Stan Swamy, an 84-year-old Jesuit priest who suffered from Parkinson’s Disease and was denied even some of his most basic needs, have already died – murdered in custody by the Modi regime. MODI MUST RESIGN! 5. SETTLER COLONIALISM IN INDIAN OCCUPIED KASHMIR Kashmiris have suffered decades of intense militarisation, grave human rights abuses and the denial of their right to self-determination. Under Narendra Modi, India’s relationship with Indian Occupied Kashmir has entered a new phase of occupation similar to Israel’s settler colonialism. The abrogation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019, in violation of both India’s Constitution and International Law, has been followed by two years of brutal lockdowns, curfews, mass

imprisonment and the longest ever internet and communication blockade in the history of any democracy. Underlying this are the Modi regime’s plans for demographic changes, corporate plunder, and ecological destruction in Indian Occupied Kashmir.

MODI MUST RESIGN! 6. MODI’S NUREMBERG LAWS The Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), brought by the Modi regime is an attack on the very basis of Indian citizenship. It allows migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan to become Indian citizens provided they are Hindu, Sikh, Parsi, Jain, or Christian. By explicitly linking Indian citizenship with religious affiliation, and conspicuously excluding Muslims, the CAA violates India’s secular Constitution and seeks to build a legal foundation for the BJP’s stated dream of creating a fascistic Hindu state. Combined with the National Register of Citizens (NRC), and the National Population Register (NPR), the new citizenship rules will result in the potential disenfranchisement of India’s 200 million Muslims.

Meanwhile BJP-ruled states have introduced so-called ‘Love jihad’ laws seeking to outlaw interfaith relationships. All of these laws have a striking similarity to the Nazis’ Nuremberg laws. MODI MUST RESIGN! 7.

MODI’S ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMES India is the world’s fourth-worst country in the Environmental Performance Index. While the global climate crisis intensifies, Modi stands guilty of major environmental crimes.

He has granted mining and infrastructural projects unprecedented access to forests, land and water and is auctioning off massive coal fields for commercial mining by his capitalist cronies including the notorious Gautam Adani! MODI MUST RESIGN! 8. VIOLATION OF THE DEMOCRATIC ELECTORAL PROCESS No election held since Narendra Modi came

to power has been free and fair. Elections have been occasions for scapegoating Muslims, tampering with ballot boxes and EVMs and more recently for lethal violence. In the West Bengal assembly elections earlier this year, armed police controlled by the Central government sprayed bullets on people queueing to vote – killing four and injuring many others.

This is the state of India’s ‘democracy’ under the Modi regime! MODI MUST RESIGN! 9. CRIMINAL MISMANAGEMENT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC Last, but certainly not least, Modi is responsible for the enormous and preventable death toll from Covid-19. The initial lockdown at four hour’s notice led to acute distress and an unknown number of deaths for hundreds of thousands of migrant workers who were left stranded in cities far away from their homes with no means of sustenance and forced to walk home. More recently the second wave of Covid -19 has devastated the country with an estimated four million deaths. This is a result of Modi’s callous negligence and gross incompetence, including the sanctioning of ‘superspreader’ events such as the Kumbh Mela and his own party’s mass roadshows during the West Bengal elections, and the prioritizing of ‘superprofits’ from vaccines by his corporate cronies. Modi has demonstrated that for him, consolidating power is more important than saving lives. These are crimes against humanity! MODI MUST RESIGN! 10. FAR-RIGHT HINDU SUPREMACISTS IN THE UK DO NOT SPEAK FOR US! Currently the right-wing UK government ministers Priti Patel, Rishi Sunak and Alok Sharma are all acolytes of Modi, and the HSS (the international wing of the openly fascist RSS, of which Modi is a lifelong member) and other Hindu-supremacist organisations are actively spreading hate in the UK. They claim Modi has the support of the diaspora. But they do not speak in our name.

MODI MUST RESIGN!

Monday, 16 August, 2021

BUSINESS 09

LAHORE FBR data centre compromised, all websites down Hackers on Saturday attacked Pakistan’s largest data centre run by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and managed to break the hyper-V software by Microsoft, bringing down all the official websites operated by the tax machinery. “There has been a national crisis like situation since 2.00 am Saturday morning and we may not be out of the woods by Sunday evening,” a senior official said while explaining the gravity of the situation to The Express Tribune on condition of anonymity. “The FBR’s website is temporarily down for scheduled maintenance,” read the website when it was opened. However, the authority issued a general press release regarding in-progress service optimisation activities at the FBR House Data Center, Islamabad. “The stakeholders, who are being provided services from the data centre, are informed that there were unforeseen anomalies during the migration process, which has resulted in the unavailability of services, since early hours of the last night.

The FBR team is ensuring restoration of services as soon as possible to keep the downtime to a minimum. This activity is expected to be completed in the next 48 hours.” It further stated, “FBR regrets and apologises for any inconvenience this may have caused and appreciates continued cooperation of the stakeholders.” The official said the cyberattack has affected the virtual environment of the data centre. “This time the data centre’s virtual machines were attacked and the attackers managed to exploit the weakest link, which is the hyper-V software by Microsoft Inc,” he added. He said Pakistan has contacted Microsoft that is helping to recover it from the attack. “It is cyber terrorism on our Independence Day,” said the official, adding that the attackers have not yet been identified. “Since the virtual environment has been damaged, we are trying to create a new virtual environment that may take up to two days,” said another official from the information technology department. “We are trying to restore the websites by tomorrow afternoon and the essential data centre by tomorrow evening, as we do not want to cause more damage by shifting data in haste.” The report quoted officials saying that there has been a national crisis-like situation since 2 am Saturday and the country’s shipments have also started getting affected due to the shutdown of all FBR websites and data centres. MONITORING REPORT

Pak-UK Business Council to meet with UK investors to lure foreign investment ISLAMABAD: The Pak-UK Business Council will hold meeting with investors in London next month to lure foreign investment in diversified fields in Pakistan besides establishing collaboration between private sector for setting up joint ventures in various sectors of economy. UK-Pak Business Council Pakistan chapter Chairman Mian Kashif Ashfaq on Sunday while talking to a delegation of importers and exporters led by Chaudhary Araib Arain said that UK is the fifth largest economy in the world measured by nominal gross domestic products (GDP) comprising 3 per cent of the global GDP. He said the UK is the ninth largest exporter and the fourth largest importer in the world, adding that council is creating awareness about Prime Minister Imran Khan’s incentives package offered to foreign investors for attracting foreign investment for industrialisation coupled with business friendly environment. He said council is also planning to conduct a joint meeting of UK-Pak investors in the UK for exploring investment avenues in different sectors. Mian Kashif said Pakistan’s export to the UK posted a 33 per cent growth when it reached $2.025 billion in the fiscal last fiscal year ended on June 2021 against $1.522bn over financial year 2020 mainly led by textile products. He said remittances from the UK to Pakistan increased by 58 per cent from $2.569 billion in financial year 2020 to $4.067 billion which he added is a good sign for economy. He said the principal reason behind an increase in local textile products is due to market the diversification drive by UK companies in the aftermath of the Covid-19 induced crisis. UK-based companies have realised their vulnerability due to over-reliance on Bangladesh, India and China. He said that he has set up a special facilitation centre at his Lahore office to help, guide and assist foreign investors who will be provided all facilities and free transport to visit proposed sites for investment. APP

LONDON AGENCIES

The Taliban’s rapid advance towards Kabul is not only causing concern about Afghanistan’s future but also about the impact on other countries in the region and their economies.

Iran and then Iraq lie to the west of Afghanistan. Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are to the north. But the immediate focus for financial markets and investors is Pakistan to the east.

Pakistan has a large public debt, a sizeable equity market and is dependent on a $6billion IMF programme. The prospect of years of violence and waves of refugees will add pressure to its fiscal repair plans.

“It is a very troubling situation and unfortunately has set the region back many years,” said Shamaila Khan, head of emerging market debt at AllianceBernstein. “I think the neighbouring countries will have to deal with an influx of refugees in the com-

PaKistan exPoRts FiRst Consignment oF loCally manUFaCtURed smaRtPhones ISLAMABAD

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GHULAM ABBAS

HE first consignment of 4G smart phones tagged “Manufactured in Pakistan” has been exported to the Uniteds from Arab Emirates (UAE); however, local manufacturers of mobile phone sets have stressed for an export supportive policy, allowing Pakistan to beat competitors in the Middle East region.

The first consignment consisted 5,500 mobile sets of 4G smart phones manufactured by Inovi Telecom.

On Saturday, Pakistan Telecom Authority (PTA) congratulated the company and said that Pakistan would further increase its smartphone export here on.

“This is the result of concerted efforts for the development of mobile device manufacturing ecosystem in the country,” the regulator said in a statement.

Inovi Telecom Pvt Ltd was issued authorisation for mobile device manufacturing in April and it has managed to fulfill its first export order within four months. Chief Executive Zeeshan MianNoor said that their main target was to penetrate in low-end markets of Middle East including Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan.

“We are manufacturing the Chinese brands and there are a large number of expat workers in the

Gulf countries,” he said, adding the hi-end consumers of Gulf countries prefer top world class mobile brands and we should not even try to get involved in that market.”

Article continues after this advertisement He said that the mass market of Gulf countries was their primary target, while the ordinary citizens of Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan too preferred mobile sets up to $100 each.

IT and Telecom Minister Syed Amin ul Haque while speaking to a local media outlet said that favourable government policies have helped achieve the milestone of transforming Pakistan from a net mobile phone importer to an exporting country.

He added that conducive environment was being provided to the local mobile device manufacturing companies and the smuggling of mobile phones has been stopped through Device Identification Registration and Blocking System (DIRBS).

The minister added that the local manufacturers would eventually start moving towards assembling of high-end phones too after the production of spare parts for mobile sets commence next year.

On the other hand, a senior player in the field has said that the government’s approach towards enhancing export markets was slow, keeping in view the changing scenario.

Transsion Tecno Electronics CEO Amir Allahwala said that overall exports of mobile set by China is over $140bn, but that was only due to low labour cost, which has now increased significantly.

“The Chinese are moving towards high-tech items and shifting their mobile set manufacturing to countries like India, Vietnam, Indonesia and Bangladesh,” he said.

He added that labour cost was very high in Vietnam and Indonesia and Chinese businesses are not expanding in India anymore due to mounting political tensions.

“Now Pakistan is the only player left to compete with Bangladesh, but is the government ready to provide same level of facilities to us too?” he asked. “We have proved that investors can meet the targets but the future of mobile set exports depends on the government policies,” he remarked.

It is pertinent to mention here that Advisor to prime minister on Commerce, Abdul Razak Dawood, had earlier stated that Pakistan could become a mobile set exporting country by January, 2022; however, local manufacturers have met the target six months ahead of the schedule set by Dawood.

The advisor lauded them over the achievement and expressed confidence that more export orders would to be completed in September.

OGRA advises SNGPL to halt recovery of material cost from consumers ISLAMABAD AHMAD AHMADANI

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has advised Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) to immediately stop charging gas consumers with Rs744 on account of galvanised iron GI material cost for installing a new gas meter.

According to details, in a letter dated August 11, SNGPL's managing director was advised to refund the amount to all who have been billed the said amount and submit a compliance to the decision within one month.

According to the letter, SNGPL has been charging domestic consumers Rs744 on account of GI fittings, in addition to service line charges with the contention that the fittings are not part of service line.

The authority said that these additions to the bills in a discrete manner is a violation of the OGRA ordinance rules.

Earlier in 2013, gas companies had requested OGRA for a revision in certain charges. After conducting a public hearing, the authority had decided that long service lines are installed by companies at 100 per cent cost sharing by consumers.

An official from SNGPL of anonymity said that OGRA itself had earlier allowed the company to recover expenses of the fittings from consumers whereas the company has been recovering this amount from consumers since 2010-11.

"A decision by OGRA official over a complaint cannot override the authority's decision," said SNGPL official.

Earlier last week, OGRA had urged public representatives and the government to come up with pol-

icy guidelines for competition-based development and expansion of national grid and new residential gas connection in view of the expiry of monopoly of both SNGPL and Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL).

“Please be advised that exclusivity of the gas companies to operate in franchise areas is no longer valid and hence new development schemes are to be awarded on a competitive basis,” the authority wrote to the Petroleum Division.

The exclusivity of SNGPL and SSGC is reported

to have come to an end about 10 years ago.

In the letter, which was also sent to the attorney general, ministries of energy, law and justice and planning and development, the NA speaker and a host of stakeholders, OGRA demanded that the gas companies be made to ensure completion of already approved network development plan and new gas connections already funded by the consumers through tariff instead of pressing the regulator to burden the consumers with imprudent costs of unreasonable targets.

Taliban gains unnerve investors ing months/years.”

The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR estimates 400,000 Afghans have fled their homes this year. Only a few hundred of these displaced persons are known to have fled Afghanistan but the UNHCR estimates there are 2.6 million Afghan refugees worldwide, with 1.4 million in Pakistan and one million in Iran.

Pakistan’s bond prices have already fallen nearly 8% this year, though many financial analysts think this has probably had more to do with delays in it obtaining its latest tranche of International Monetary Fund (IMF) money than with the security situation.

Nearly 10,000 Pakistani civilians were killed in attacks between 2010 and 2015 South Asia Terrorism Portal figures show.

Those numbers have fallen since then but

there are concerns they will now rise again.

“Another influx of refugees and the spillover of violent groups motivated to destabilise urban areas and infrastructure, particularly, on the western side of Pakistan... could set Pakistan’s recovery and reform story back,” said Hasnain Malik, an analyst at research firm Tellimer. He suggested risk might be reduced if the Taliban were included in the Afghan government.

StrAtegIcALLy IMportAnt: Pakistan’s IMF programme is its thirteenth in 30 years and is needed to help the government tackle a public debt of about 90% of GDP. Any Taliban attacks inside Pakistan could raise security concerns and make it harder for Islamabad to meet targets set by the IMF. At the same time, some investors say, they could increase Pakistan’s strategic

important for the West.

“The IMF is carefully watching the fastmoving situation on the ground in Afghanistan,” a Fund spokesperson said on Friday, adding that it was premature to speculate about what impact the security situation could have on Pakistan.

“If the Taliban takes control (of Afghanistan), Pakistan becomes even more strategically important to the US,” said Kevin Daly, a portfolio manager at ABRDN. This, he said, could help keep IMF money flowing.

Kay Van-Petersen, a global macro strategist at Saxo Capital Markets in Singapore, said the impact of the crisis in Afghanistan could ultimately spread far wider.

Many Afghan refugees could seek refuge in Europe, he said, following an ear-

lier influx of migrants, mostly fleeing war or persecution in Syria, other Middle Eastern countries and Afghanistan.

If the refugees travel via Turkey, he said, they could help Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan make political or financial demands of the European Union.

“Basically it’s a lever for Erdogan to pull with the European Union ...’Pay us to take care of these refugees, or we are just going to let them through’,” he said. This could weigh on the euro and lift Turkey’s lira, he said.

Emerging market watcher Tim Ash at BlueBay Asset Management said that the Taliban’s advances as NATO troops withdrew had damaged US credibility and fed into the growing rivalry between Washington and China.

“Comparisons with Vietnam abound,” Ash said, recalling the evacuation of the last Americans and many South Vietnamese via from the roof of the US embassy as Saigon fell in 1975. “With that feeling of a Saigon moment and the last US helicopter out.”

Monday, 16 August, 2021

10 FOREIGN NEWS

LAHORE

At leAst 304 killed As MAssive eArthquAke wreAks hAvoc in hAiti LES CAYES

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REUTERS

POWeRFUL magnitude 7.2 earthquake added to the misery in Haiti, killing at least 304 people, injuring a minimum of 1,800 others and destroying hundreds of homes.

People in the Caribbean island nation rushed into the streets to seek safety and to help rescue those trapped in the rubble of collapsed homes, hotels and other structures.

Saturday’s earthquake struck the southwestern part of the hemisphere’s poorest nation, almost razing some towns and triggering landslides that hampered rescue efforts in two of the hardest-hit communities.

The disaster also added to the plight of Haitians, who were already grappling with the coronavirus pandemic, a presidential assassination and deepening poverty. The epicentre of the quake was about 125 kilometres (78 miles) west of the capital of Port-au-Prince, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The widespread damage could worsen by early next week, with Tropical Storm Grace predicted to reach Haiti late Monday or early Tuesday.

Aftershocks were felt throughout the day and late into the night, when many people now homeless or frightened by the possibil-

ity of their fractured homes collapsing on them stayed in the streets to sleep — if their nerves allowed them. In the badly damaged coastal town of Les Cayes, under the darkness that was only punctured by flashlights, some praised God for surviving the earthquake. “We are alive today because God loves us,” said Marie-claire Jean-Pierre, whose home collapsed a moment after she and her son stepped outside when they felt the ground begin to shake.

Prime Minister Ariel Henry said he was rushing aid to areas where towns were de-

Malaysia PM Muhyiddin to resign on Monday: report KUALA LUMPUR REUTERS

Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin will resign on Monday, news portal Malaysiakini reported, after he lost his majority due to infighting in the ruling coalition. The resignation, if confirmed, would end a tumultuous 17 months in office for Muhyiddin but also bring more uncertainty to Malaysia as the country grapples with a Covid-19 surge and economic downturn. It was not immediately clear who could form the next government as no lawmaker has a clear majority in parliament, or if elections could be held in Malaysia amid the pandemic. It would be up to the constitutional monarch, King Al-Sultan Abdullah, to decide what happens next. Muhyiddin will submit his resignation to the king on Monday, according to Mohd Redzuan Md Yusof, a minister in the prime minister's department, Malaysiakini reported on Sunday. Reuters could not immediately reach Mohd Redzuan. The prime minister's office did not immediately respond. Mohd Redzuan said Muhyiddin informed party members of his decision to resign as he had exhausted all other options to sustain the government. "Tomorrow, there will be a special cabinet meeting. After that, he will head to (the palace) to submit his resignation," Mohd Redzuan told Malaysiakini. Muhyiddin's grip on power has been precarious since he came to power in March 2020 with a slim majority. Pressure on him mounted recently after some lawmakers from the United Malays National Organisation party -- the largest bloc in the ruling alliance -withdrew support. The premier had for weeks defied calls to quit and said he would prove his majority in parliament through a confidence vote in September. But on Friday, Muhyiddin admitted for the first time he did not have a majority and made a last-ditch effort to woo the opposition by promising political and electoral reforms in exchange for support on the confidence vote. The offer was unanimously rejected. The king has the constitutional power to appoint a prime minister from amongst elected lawmakers based on who he thinks can command a majority. He picked Muhyiddin as premier last year after the unexpected resignation of Mahathir Mohamad.

stroyed and hospitals overwhelmed with incoming patients. A former senator rented a private aeroplane to move injured people from Les Cayes to Port-au-Prince for medical assistance. Henry declared a one-month state of emergency for the whole country and said he would not ask for international help until the extent of the damages was known.

“The most important thing is to recover as many survivors as possible under the rubble,” said Henry. “We have learned that the local hospitals, in particular that of Les Cayes, are overwhelmed with wounded,

fractured people.”

Jerry Chandler, director of Haiti’s Office of Civil Protection, told reporters that the death toll stood at 304 Saturday night. Rescue workers and bystanders were able to pull many people to safety from the rubble.

Chandler said a partial count of structural damage included at least 860 destroyed homes and more than 700 damaged. Hospitals, schools, offices and churches were also affected. On the tiny island of Ile-a-Vache, about 6.5 miles (10.5 kilometres) from Les Cayes, the quake damaged a seaside resort popular with Haitian officials, business leaders, diplomats and humanitarian workers. Fernand Sajous, owner of the Abaka Bay Resort, said by telephone that nine of the hotel’s 30 rooms collapsed, but he said they were vacant at the time and no one was injured.

“They disappeared — just like that,” Sajous said. People in Les Cayes tried to pull guests from the rubble of a collapsed hotel, but as the sun set, they had only been able to recover the body of a 7-year-old girl whose home was behind the facility.

“I have eight kids, and I was looking for the last one,” Jean-Claude Daniel said through tears. “I will never see her again alive. The earthquake destroyed my life. It took a child away from me.”

The reports of overwhelmed hospitals come as Haiti struggles with the pandemic and a lack of resources to deal with it. Just last month, the country of 11 million people received its first batch of U.S.-donated coronavirus vaccines, via a United Nations program for low-income countries.

The earthquake also struck just over a month after President Jovenel Moïse was shot to death in his home, sending the country into political chaos. His widow, Martine Moïse, who was seriously wounded in the attack, posted a message on Twitter calling for unity among Haitians: “Let’s put our shoulders together to bring solidarity.”

As he boarded a plane bound for Les Cayes, Henry said he wanted “structured solidarity” to ensure the response was coordinated to avoid the confusion that followed the devastating 2010 earthquake, when aid was slow to reach residents after as many as 300,000 Haitians were killed.

U.S. President Joe Biden authorized an immediate response and named USAID Administrator Samantha Power as the senior official coordinating the U.S effort to help Haiti. USAID will help to assess the damage and assist in rebuilding, said Biden, who called the United States a “close and enduring friend to the people of Haiti.”

At least 28 killed in Lebanon fuel tank explosion BEIRUT REUTERS

At least 28 people were killed and 79 injured when a fuel tank exploded in northern Lebanon early on Sunday, the health ministry said.

Military and security sources said that the army had seized a fuel storage tank hidden by black marketeers and was handing out gasoline to residents when the explosion occured.

Lebanon is suffering from a severe fuel shortage, leading to long lines at gas stations and extended blackouts.

The disaster happened in the town of Altalil, in the Akkar region that is one of Lebanon's poorest areas.

About 200 people were nearby at the time of the explosion, eyewitnesses said. Caretaker Health Minister Hamad Hassan said the worst cases of burns probably needed quick treatment abroad to save their lives.

Army and security forces personnel were among the casualties, sources said. Accounts varied as to what caused the explosion.

"There was a rush of people, and arguments between some of them led to gunfire which hit the tank of gasoline and so it exploded," said a security source. Local Al-Jadeed TV channel reported from eyewitnesses that it was caused by a person who ignited a lighter.

Abdelrahman, whose face and body was covered in gauze as he laid in Tripoli's al-Salam hospital, was one of those in line to get gasoline.

"There were hundreds gathered there, right next to the tank, and God only knows what happened to them,"

he said.

The father of another casualty at the hospital said he had two other sons he still hadn't located.

The Red Cross said its teams were still searching the explosion site.

Angry residents in Akkar gathered at the site and set fire to two dump trucks, according to a Reuters witness.

With Lebanon deep in economic crisis, hospitals have warned that fuel

shortages may force them to shut down in coming days, and have also reported low supplies of medicines and other essentials.

"The Akkar massacre is no different from the port massacre," said former Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri on Twitter, referring to last year's massive explosion at the port in Beirut.

He called on Lebanese officials including the president to take responsibility and resign.

Hariri is the leading Sunni Muslim politician, the dominant religion in Lebanon's north, and has been in open opposition to Lebanese President Michel Aoun.

Aoun expressed condolences, writing on Twitter that "this tragedy that befell our dear Akkar has made the hearts of all Lebanese bleed". He added that he asked the judiciary to investigate the circumstances that led to the explosion.

Modi says India will soon unveil $1.35 trln infrastructure plan NEW DELHI REUTERS

India will launch a 100 trillion rupee ($1.35 trillion) national infrastructure plan that will help generate jobs and expand use of cleaner fuels to achieve the country's climate goals, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday.

The infrastructure programme, called "Gati Shakti", will help boost productivity of industries and boost the economy, Modi said during his speech at the Independence Day celebrations in New Delhi.

"We will launch a masterplan for Gati Shakti, a big programme ... (it) will create job opportunities for hundreds of thousands," Modi said from the ramparts of the historic Red Fort in the capital city.

While Modi did not announce details of the plan, he said the plan will help local manufacturers compete globally and create new avenues of future economic growth.

Boosting infrastructure in Asia's third largest economy is at the heart of the Modi's plan to pull back the country from a sharp economic decline worsened by the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the last fiscal year, India's economic output fell by a record 7.3% and a second wave of Covid-19 has delayed economic recovery.

The prime minister also set a target to become energy independent by 2047, saying the goal can be achieved through a mix of electric mobility, moving to a gas-based economy and making the country a hub for hydrogen production. Modi said the country spends more than 12 trillion rupees annually on energy imports and becoming energy independent was critical, as he also announced the launch of a National Hydrogen Mission to boost the government's clean energy plans. "India is moving fast towards achieving its climate goals," he said.

Monday, 16 August, 2021

SPORTS 11

LAHORE

ChelseA Not PreMier leAgUe title FAvoUrites, sAys MANAger tUChel

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REUTERS

HELSEA are widely tipped as the team most likely to challenge champions Manchester City for this season's Premier League title, but manager Thomas Tuchel has ruled the London club out of the race, saying they first need to close in on top-ranked rivals.

European champions Chelsea, who added the Super Cup to their collection this week, got their Premier League campaign

off to a flying start with a 3-0 home win over Crystal Palace on Saturday, even without new signing Romelu Lukaku.

Tuchel, who took over Chelsea midway through last season and led them to a topfour finish, said his team are "fourth favourites" to win the league and must hunt down Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool - last season's top three teams.

"To be totally honest, I see us as the number four, that cannot be the favourite in the next year," he told reporters after Saturday's game.

"This is the Premier League, a tough competition. It's on us, we are in this role and in the role of the hunters, we have to close the gap to Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United.

"This was a very good first step, but that's the reality and we are not shy to say this out loud that we try to be the best in any competition we play, but the reality is we come from fourth place and have three teams to close the gap to."

Chelsea next travel to north London to play Arsenal on Aug. 22.

Messi gets rapturous reception before watching PSG beat Strasbourg PARIS AFP

Lionel Messi got a first proper taste of his new home on Saturday as he was presented to a full stadium of Paris Saint-Germain fans before watching his teammates beat Strasbourg 4-2 in Ligue 1 with Kylian Mbappe playing a starring role.

Messi received a rapturous reception as he ran out onto the pitch along with PSG's other summer signings, with a 48,000-full house greeting the six-time Ballon d'Or winner despite the welcome ceremony taking place an hour before kick-off.

Messi joined fellow recruits Sergio Ramos, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Georginio Wijnaldum and Achraf Hakimi on a stage set up on the turf at the Parc des Princes, and the flashy presentation ceremony threatened to overshadow the match itself.

The Argentine later watched from the stands alongside Neymar and Angel di Maria -- the trio not yet considered match-fit having enjoyed an extended break after playing at the Copa America -- as Mauricio Pochettino's team made it two wins from two Ligue 1 matches this season.

They led 3-0 at half-time thanks to goals by Mauro

Icardi and Julian Draxler either side of a Ludovic Ajorque own goal, but Kevin Gameiro and Ajorque netted after the interval to bring the visitors back into the contest. However Pablo Sarabia made sure of the win late on after Strasbourg had been reduced to 10 men in the first match played before a full house at the Parc des Princes since before the Covid-19 pandemic struck in March last year.

"With all that has been happening at the club, it was not easy to stay focused on the game," Pochettino admitted to broadcaster Canal Plus.

Among the spectators here were Formula One driver Pierre Gasly, French former Olympic judo champion Teddy Riner and NBA star Evan Fournier.

All wanted to get a glimpse of Messi, but the Argentine is not likely to make his Paris debut for another couple of weeks yet.

While Messi is the new idol of the PSG support, those fans jeered when Mbappe's name was read out by the stadium announcer ahead of kick off.

The France striker is in the spotlight with speculation that he will seek a move away from PSG before the transfer window shuts -- he has so far refused to extend his contract, which expires at the end of the campaign.

It's cool, football is back, says Klopp NORWICH REUTERS

Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp declared that "football is back" after his side opened their Premier League campaign with a 3-0 win over Norwich City at a packed Carrow Road on Saturday.

Klopp's side perhaps suffered more than most during the Covid-19 restrictions which meant their 201920 title season, their first since 1990, was concluded in empty stadiums.

While the pandemic is still ongoing, a lifting of restrictions in Britain mean the season has kicked off with traditional atmospheres inside stadiums.

Fans of promoted Norwich were in good voice and although Liverpool rather ruined the party, Klopp said it was a day for all fans to celebrate a return to

normality.

"It's great to see the fans back and I hope that Norwich celebrated as well because they had an exceptional season," Klopp said. "The occasion was great.

It was exactly what we expected and what we'd missed for so long. "I applauded the Norwich fans as well because it's so nice to have fans back, wherever they come from. I could see in the eyes of the players they had to get used to it again. Everybody has to get used to the atmosphere.

"It's cool. Football is back."

Goals by Diogo Jota, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah sealed the points and it was perhaps a good omen for Liverpool that they also beat Norwich on the opening day in 2019.

Klopp's mood was made even more cheery by the sight of key defender Virgil van Dijk coming

If players believe Test cricket is the pinnacle, they need to call for a summit on its future IAN CHAPPELL The addition of the Hundred to cricket's array of formats should concern players because of the adverse effect the unwieldy schedule has on one of the game's most important aspects - player development.

For decades the best way for a player to progress from a schoolboy cricketer to an international one was along a straightforward path: play as many matches as possible at a young age, and when success is achieved at one level, it is time for promotion to a higher grade. The player either hit a ceiling that was their limit or they reached the pinnacle with the skills acquired to provide them with a decent chance of achieving success.

This productive system has been severely diluted in the prime pursuit of revenue, with little thought given to the effect on players' skills.

In a revealing and thoughtful interview during the Trent Bridge match, the current poster boy for Test cricket, Virat Kohli, made an interesting observation.

When asked about the murky future of the game's longest form, he replied: "It depends on the quality of cricket; it's the players who keep Test cricket alive."

This being the case, the players should want more of a say in the future direction of the game.

Instead of devising more formats, which in turn results in an absurdly cluttered schedule, there needs to be rationalisation in order to produce a blueprint for the game's future. A much needed forum on this subject should include a wide range of participants: players, administrators, media, sponsors, medical people and the public.

The first question should be: "How many forms of the game allow a workable schedule that provides for player and fan satisfaction, along with ample revenue?"

If it's decided Test cricket is part of the game's future, then a decision needs to be made on what form it takes to best fit into modern society. After all, it's better to have a streamlined version than no Test cricket.

It's hard for the modern player to maintain the standard Kohli is referring to when you look at the schedule. While the battle for the Pataudi Trophy is in progress, any player England might potentially call up is involved in the Hundred, the T20 Vitality Blast, or the Royal London Cup 50-over matches. Not a redball game in sight, and yet Test cricket, at least according to the majority of players and administrators, is the game's pinnacle.

During a Test series in Australia, the situation isn't much different. An Australian player has to press his

"Kylian is focused on what he has to do here. He had a really good game and he needs to continue like that," Pochettino added.

Mbappe played a key part in PSG's victory, which looked a certainty from the moment Icardi headed in Abdou Diallo's cross in the third minute.

The second goal arrived in the 25th minute when Mbappe's shot went in via a cruel deflection off the face of Ajorque, and two minutes later it was Mbappe's cross that was turned in at the back post by Draxler.

Nevertheless former PSG striker Gameiro pulled one back for Strasbourg with a well-taken header not long after half-time, and giant frontman Ajorque then scored with a header of his own to make it 3-2.

Mbappe had come close in between those goals and PSG were sweating before their opponents had defender Alexander Djiku sent off nine minutes from time when a foul on Icardi earned him a second booking. PSG then secured a 4-2 win with four minutes left when Mbappe burst towards the byline and cut the ball back for substitute Sarabia to convert.

Earlier Lille -- who defied expectations to pip PSG to the title last season -- suffered a humiliating 4-0 defeat at home to Nice, whose coach Christophe Galtier joined in the summer from the champions.

Galtier oversaw Lille's remarkable title triumph in May but then ended his three-and-a-half-year association with the club and headed south to take charge of an ambitious Nice outfit owned by Ineos, the group chaired by British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe.

Denmark striker Kasper Dolberg bagged a brace for Nice, his goals coming either side of a Hicham Boudaoui strike and a penalty converted by Amine Gouiri.

through the game unscathed after being out injured for nine months.

"After that long time being out and the pre-season he had, being back on the pitch feels different, you could see all his class," Klopp said.

"It was hard for him to go for 90 minutes. we'll see if he has enough time to recover."

For Norwich it was an 11th successive Premier League defeat after they lost their last 10 in 2020.

But manager Daniel Farke said it had been a tough pre-season with several players unavailable.

"Several missed lots of time. We had many players out. The energy was there and we were competitive for 65 minutes," he said. "The second goal made it tricky. But I was pleased we didn't concede more after the three goals."

Farke also praised the fans.

"It is our living room (Carrow Road) and we have a special bond and unity with our supporters. I think they appreciate what we have done. It was great to get this welcome and humbling," the German said.

claims through the Big Bash T20 tournament.

That's two countries with a reasonably strong firstclass competition. What chance do the lesser nations have when their potential Test players either have a weak first-class competition or none at all in which to hone the required skills?

It's often said that players have improved. The comment needs clarification. If the reference is to batters being more powerful hitters, then it's true.

Are they better equipped to navigate tough spells of bowling for a long period? In most cases the answer is an emphatic no.

It's the same when people profess that fielding has improved. There's no doubt the number of athletic catches in the outfield has increased, and they are often spectacular in their execution. Has slip catching improved? Most definitely not. The bulk of the regularly spilt chances occur because of one simple flaw in footwork, and yet it remains uncorrected.

The skills required to excel at Test level need to be acquired at a young age and then honed in tough competition as the player rises through the grades.

This can only be achieved if enough countries have a functional development system. If this is the case then Test cricket can remain vibrant, otherwise it will wither on the vine.

If those skills are properly honed, a player can adapt to any length of game - Kohli being a good example. If players truly believe Test cricket is the pinnacle then they need to agitate for a summit on the game's future; they could do no better than appoint Kohli their spokesperson.

Originally published on ESPNcricinfo

Fernandes steals headlines but Pogba the conductor of Man United's fast start MANCHESTER REUTERS

While Bruno Fernandes’ hat-trick grabbed the headlines in Manchester United’s opening day thrashing of Leeds United, Paul Pogba, a man much-maligned during his time in England, showed he may finally be hitting top gear after years of disappointment. The France international orchestrated United’s victory from midfield with a sublime display, amassing four assists - one more than he managed in the Premier League in the entirety of last season. Pogba became the seventh player in Premier League history to assist four goals in a single game in the competition, as he followed up his impressive showings at Euro 2020 for France with a match-defining contribution in front of a packed Old Trafford on Saturday. The 28-year-old has struggled to live up to the then world record fee of 89 million pounds ($123.38 million) United paid in 2016 to bring him back to the club where he spent some of his formative years as a youth player before leaving for Juventus. But his performance against Leeds will only act as a reminder of what he is capable of, which is encouraging and frustrating in equal measure. “Paul’s always got that vision, he’s got that quality,” United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said.

“I know the headlines will probably be about Bruno but it’s a team effort, the space Mason (Greenwood) creates for Bruno to open up the channels, what everyone does ahead of the goals has been worked on this week. “Paul, I’m very impressed with his fitness levels as well, he’s not been with us for too long and he looks fit, raring to go, enjoying his football. I love seeing Paul smiling when he is playing football.” Pogba has not always been quite so content in his surroundings. On several occasions it appeared he would leave United, with his inconsistent form not sitting well with fans who expected more from a player with boundless natural ability. His latest contract is due to expire at the end of the season, with reports in the English media suggesting he could join Lionel Messi at Paris St Germain before this summer’s transfer window is over.

Often deployed in one of two deeper midfield roles for United, Pogba has struggled to have an influence on games, but further forward on the left, where he has been pivotal for his national team, he can really express himself.

Nico Ali Walsh, grandson of Muhammad Ali, wins pro fight debut REUTERS Nico Ali Walsh, the grandson of former heavyweight champion and boxing legend Muhammad Ali, defeated Jordan Weeks by technical knockout in his professional boxing debut on Saturday. Middleweight fighter Ali Walsh is the son of Robert Walsh and Rasheda Ali Walsh, Muhammad Ali's daughter. The 21-year-old signed a deal with Bob Arum's Top Rank Boxing in June ahead of his first professional fight in the U.S state of Oklahoma. Ali Walsh, who wore trunks made for grandfather Muhammad Ali, knocked down his opponent Weeks midway through the first round before the referee stopped the fight at 1:49 of that round. "Obviously my grandfather, I've been thinking of him so much. I miss him. It's been an emotional journey," ESPN quoted Ali Walsh as saying. "I think me and him (Weeks) made a little bit of history tonight. This lived up completely to my expectations. Muhammad Ali, nicknamed "The Greatest", died in June 2016. His recordsetting boxing career, unprecedented flair for showmanship and controversial stands made him one of the best-known figures of the 20th century. Ali Walsh, who is trying to follow in his grandfather's footsteps into professional boxing, said Muhammad Ali was "the greatest fighter who lived". "It seems like a lot of pressure; to me, it's just my grandfather," said Ali Walsh, who grew up in Las Vegas. "He's the greatest fighter who ever lived maybe the greatest person," Walsh said. "I'm never wearing these trunks again," he added.

Monday, 16 August, 2021

Prayer Timings

NEWS

AfghAn wArlorDs give up to the tAlibAn with surprising eAse

A

FGHAnISTAn’s warlords vowed defiantly to defend their strongholds from the Taliban and crush the insurgents. But, like the government’s forces, they too gave up with surprising ease.

As the insurgents swept through the north in a surprise offensive targeting Afghanistan’s anti-Taliban bastion, President Ashraf Ghani called for a national mobilisation of militia forces.

Despite Ghani’s chequered history with the country’s warlords, the beleaguered president was hoping they could help turn the tide.

In the besieged northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, Ghani was looking to longtime strongman Atta Mohammad noor and ethnic Uzbek warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum.

Both were known for their dogged defence against the Taliban in the 1990s, and had remained influential figures during the past two decades of war.

In the days leading up to their defeat, the greying commanders appeared to be the fearsome figures from their younger years.

“The Taliban never learn from the past,” Dostum told reporters last week after flying back to Mazar-iSharif, while offering a not-so-subtle reference to the alleged massacre of the insurgents by his fighters in 2001.

Also read: Afghan government seeks to hold capital as Taliban takes Jalalabad “The Taliban have come to the north several times but they were always trapped. It is not easy for them to get out.” noor took to social media to issue his own warnings, posting graphic pictures of Taliban killed by his troops while promising to fight to the death.

“I prefer dying in dignity than dying in despair,” wrote noor on Twitter, alongside other defiant posts vowing to “defend the nation”.

In a video posted to Facebook on Saturday, noor spoke calmly to camera dressed in military fatigues while rifle fire could be heard close by.

Ultimately, bravado did not beat back the insurgents. Late Saturday, both men’s militias were routed after the Afghan military units they were supporting

surrendered to the Taliban.

Dostum and noor fled across the nearby Uzbek border. noor claimed they had been the victims of deep-seated betrayal, saying on Twitter their resistance came to an end “as a result of a big organised & cowardly plot”.

He offered no other details.

Video posted on pro-Taliban social media accounts, meanwhile, showed a group of young Taliban fighters combing through Dostum’s gaudy residence, digging through cabinets and testing out overstuffed furniture.

Their rout came days after fellow strongman Is-

mail Khan was captured by Taliban fighters in the western city of Herat.

Ismail had in the lead-up to his defeat sounded like the same powerful figure who had ruled his fiefdom with such authority for decades that he earned the nickname “Lion of Herat”. “We demand all the remaining security forces resist with courage,” Ismail said last month.

But with a look of resignation, Ismail was on Friday forced to pose for pictures with Taliban fighters and give an interview to an insurgent media outlet.

After all the hefty promises and chest thumping, it was a humiliating end. afP

Who’s who behind the Taliban leadership The Taliban movement’s inner workings and leadership have always been largely shrouded in secrecy, even during their rule of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. As the hardline group appears to be on the brink of regaining power, here is a rundown of what little is known about its leadership.

HAIBATULLAH AKHUNDZADA, THE SUPREME LEADER: Haibatullah Akhundzada was appointed leader of the Taliban in a swift power transition after a United States drone strike killed his predecessor, Mullah Mansour Akhtar, in 2016. Before ascending the movement’s ranks, Akhundzada was a low-profile religious figure. He is widely believed to have been selected to serve more as a spiritual figurehead than a military commander. After being appointed leader, Akhundzada secured a pledge of loyalty from Al Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri, who showered the religious scholar with praise — calling him “the emir of the faithful”. This helped seal his jihadist credentials with the group’s long-time allies. Akhundzada was tasked with the enormous challenge of unifying a militant movement that briefly fractured during a bitter power struggle following the assassination of his predecessor, and the revelation that the leadership had hid the death of Taliban founder Mullah Omar for years. The leader’s public profile has been largely limited to the release of annual messages during Islamic holidays.

MULLAH BARADAR, THE FOUNDER: Abdul Ghani Baradar was raised in Kandahar — the birthplace of the Taliban movement. Like most Afghans, Baradar’s life was forever altered by the Soviet invasion of the country in the late 1970s, transforming him into an insurgent. He was believed to have fought side-by-side with the one-eyed cleric Mullah Omar. The two would go on to found the Taliban movement in the early 1990s amid the chaos and corruption of the civil war that erupted after the Soviet withdrawal. Following the Taliban’s collapse in 2001, Baradar is believed to have been among a small group of insurgents who approached interim leader Hamid Karzai with a letter outlining a potential deal that would have seen the militants recognise the new administration. Arrested in Pakistan in 2010, Baradar was kept in custody until pressure from the United States saw him freed in 2018 and relocated to Qatar. This is where he was appointed head of the Taliban’s political office and oversaw the signing of the withdrawal agreement with the Americans. afP

FAJR SUNRISE

ZUHR

ASR MAGHRIB ISHA

3:50

12:09

3:49

5:20

6:57

8:28

Dawood eyes $50bn exports target by 2023 through diversification ISLAMABAD TLTP

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood on Sunday expressed the hope that the country’s exports will reach the $50 billion mark by the fiscal year 2023 as the country is following the policy of trade diversification in potential trade sectors and markets. In an interview to the state-run news agency, Dawood said that export diversification, focus on non-traditional sectors and increasing exports to new markets, including the African market, would not only enhance the volume of the country’s exports, but would also help achieve the export targets.

‘Made in Pakistan’ is the government’s top priority trade policy, which aims to introduce Pakistan’s traditional and non-traditional export sectors and local products in the international trade market. He said that now the export of mobile and motorcycle from Pakistan would be started within the same trade policy. He said the export of these two products to the global market would usher an era of exporting engineering products from the country. He said that at present, the share of engineering goods exports in the global trade market was 51 percent. He said that Pakistan now wants to make a name for itself in the world in non-traditional sectors, including engineering and pharmaceuticals. The adviser said that in the recent past, when the United States, Secretary of States for commerce visited Pakistan, he had identified in his trade facilitation scheme, Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), a number of traditional trade products in which Pakistan has not yet shipped goods to the US trade market. He added the US GSP programme provides non-reciprocal, duty-free tariff treatment to certain products imported to the United States from designated Beneficiary Developing Countries (BDCs). Most of these items came from Pakistan’s traditional commercial products, including textiles, which were now being worked on diligently.

“Geographical trade diversification and search for new markets will further increase our exports,” he said. And in this regard, the government wanted to increase exports to Europe and the United States by making its trade goods globally competitive, he added. Replying to a question, he said that now the manufacturing of motorcycles has been started in Pakistan and with this Pakistan would start exporting up to 10,000 motorcycles which would be increased up to export of 30,000,000 motorcycles annually in the coming years.

Facebook group bridging gap between Pakistan, India ISLAMABAD: At a time when relations between Pakistan and India are defined by acrimony and hostility, a social media group on Facebook is attempting reconciliation and bringing understanding between the people of the two neighbours. Created three years ago by a Pakistan-based heritage lover, the membership of the India Pakistan Heritage Club has grown to 194,000. Speaking to Anadolu Agency on eve of independence days of Pakistan and India celebrated on Saturday and Sunday respectively, Lahore-based Imran William said his club is documenting history by recording stories of people. “This group successfully connected families which had separated during 1947,” he claimed. He said that the mission of the group has been to connect people on both sides in a positive way and forge peace and love between India Pakistan. anadoLu agency

46 years later, plot behind killing of Bangladesh founder remains mystery DHAKA anadoLu agency

As Bangladesh observes the 46th death anniversary of its freedom icon Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on Sunday, some of his killers are still at large. Many in the country believe that the plot behind the assassination conducted by some disgruntled ruling Awami League activists and military officers on August 15, 1975, remains to be unraveled, although most of the killers have been rounded up and executed over the years. In 2010, five men involved in the assassination were hanged. Last year police in Bangladesh arrested Abdul Majed, a former military captain, in the capital, Dhaka, who had publicly declared his involvement after the killing and had reportedly been hiding in India for many years. He was soon executed. Another man died of natural causes in Zimbabwe, leaving five other convicts still at large. Rahman who is popularly known as Mujib is the father of the current prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, who, with her younger sister Sheikh Rehana Siddiq, was visiting Germany at the time of the assassination. The sisters were the only survivors in the family. Senior politician of Bangladesh and once a close associate of Mujib, Tofail Ahmed alleged that local culprits with the patronisation of their external actors killed the leader, indicating a larger plot behind the assassination. “It was a great conspiracy,” he added. Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Ashfaque Hossain, a professor at Dhaka University, said Mujib was one of the first category leaders in the then US list, whom the superpower disliked and marked harmful to their interests. About the leader, Hossain said despite drawbacks, Mujib was an “uncompromised leader”. In 1938, he was drawn into national politics when top leaders A. K. Fazlul Huq, the then prime minister of undivided Bengal, and Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, the labour minister, visited his hometown Gopalganj. The young Mujib led a grand rally to receive the leaders. “After the deaths of these leaders in the ’60s, Mujib stepped into their shoes,” he said.

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