Epaper – August 29 LHR 2021

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29 August, 2021 I 20 Muharram, 1443 I Rs 25.00 I Vol XII No 59 I 32 Pages I Lahore Edition

PDM Moves beyonD PPP, announces new Protests

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SSerTIng that Pakistan People’s Party was “a thing of the past”, the Pakistan Democratic Movement on Saturday announced new protests across the country. The opposition alliance’s chief, Maulana Fazlur rehman, said that PPP “stabbed the PDM in the back”.

Leader of the Opposition in the national Assembly Shehbaz Sharif and other political party leaders, who accompanied him during the presser told reporters to not discuss PPP as it was “a thing of the past”.

A meeting of the leaders of various opposition political parties in the PDM was held prior to the media briefing, ahead of the alliance’s rally at the Quaid’s mausoleum on Sunday.

“PDM will also raise the issues in Sindh,” he said, hitting out once more at the PPP, which is the ruling provincial party.

The PDM chief said that women would also come to the anti-government protests, and they would be treated with the utmost respect — in reference to the recent harassment incidents with women in Lahore.

The PDM chief said the Opposition alliance rejects the proposed Pakistan Media Development Authority (PMDA).

“We do not accept this black law.”

Fazl said PDM stands in solidarity with the journalist community and announced a protest outside the parliament, as PMDA was an “unannounced”, “dictatorial” law.

The meeting participants expressed sorrow over the fire at a chemical factory that killed 16 labourers in Karachi, the blast in

Quetta which left several injured, and other incidents, he said.

Fazl said that leaders of all the political parties associated with the anti-government movement had attended the meeting, and they expressed grief over the ongoing “instability” in the country.

He further said that the PDM also rejected the government’s electoral reforms, which he claimed that the “entire world” had disapproved of, but the incumbent government was persistent in introducing. “electronic voting is a plan to steal elections,” he said.

The PDM chief said the government had “taken away the jobs of thousands” of people, as it aims to bring reforms to make state institutions profitable. “The meeting expressed deep concerns over the unemployment and inflation in the country,” he added.

PPP Chairman Bilawal BhuttoZardari, a couple of days ago, termed the news of the PDM holding a jalsa in Karachi as welcome news, adding that his party had informed PDM leaders of doing things the constitutional way. He said it was the right of every political party to hold rallies. He said that the PPP also desires to give a tough time to the PTI-led coalition government, adding that it has been opposing the regime since it came to power in 2018. The PDM, a multi-party opposition alliance, was formed on September 20, 2020 with a view to oust the PTI-led government. After a successful first few weeks of campaigning, that saw mass rallies convene all across Pakistan, rifts began to emerge,

around the time of the Senate elections.

At the forefront of the tensions are the PPP and PML-n — considered the two biggest Opposition parties in Pakistan — ever since PPP’s Yousaf raza gillani was appointed leader of the opposition in the Senate. gillani’s appointment drew the ire of PDM, which said that the move was made without its blessing.

PML-n Vice President Maryam nawaz maintains that at the time of the Senate chairman election, it was “decided” that with the PPP running for the seat, the PML-n will be given the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate position.

PPP, however, rounded up 30 senators to get its own candidate, gillani appointed to the Opposition leader position.

The numbers comprised 21 senators from the PPP itself, 2 senators from the Awami national Party, 1 senator of the Jamaat-i-Islami, 2 independents from FATA and a group of 4 ‘independents’ led by Senator Dilawar Khan that had broken away from the Balochistan Awami Party to support gillani’s candidature.

Over seeking the support of government allies (members of BAP), the PDM then issued showcause notices to the PPP, as well as AnP, a move that was considered highly offensive by both parties and resulted in them quitting the alliance. Mudslinging between both parties, following the break up, has continued and the rift seems to be widening over time.

In the nA-249 by-election in Karachi, the PPP and PML-n fielded their separate candidates with PPP’s Abdul Qadir Mandokhel winning the race.

PML-n accused the PPP of stealing the election. PPP, in turn, demanded proof of the allegations and went so far as to name the PML-n as the “original selected” and “only second to PTI in its selectedness”.

PDM chief Fazl, who is from the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl faction, has on several occasions said he wishes to give PPP and AnP a chance to return to the fold.

Entire region to benefit from peace in Afghanistan: minister Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who recently concluded a four-nation tour of Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Iran, has said that Afghanistan’s neighbours were “fully aware” of the situation in Kabul and their approach towards the issue “was realistic”.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the foreign minister detailed his findings after holding dialogues with regional leadership surrounding Afghanistan. “I had the opportunity to learn about their views on Afghanistan during my four-nation tour,” he said.

“The entire region will benefit if there is peace and stability in Afghanistan,” Qureshi said, adding that the Taliban leadership was also in contact with all the countries. “The people of Afghanistan have been dealing with wars for decades and want peace. They are suffering for the mistakes made in the past. We

need to learn from the mistakes made in the past so that they are not repeated.”

If there is a positive message coming from Afghanistan, it should be encouraged, Qureshi said, adding that isolating Afghanistan would be detrimental to all. The minister said the world was “expressing confidence” in Pakistan, adding that the country’s role as a mediator in Afghanistan had also been praised.

“Pakistan is helping evacuate the diplomatic staff of several countries from Afghanistan,” he said. “Pakistan International Airlines has played an important role in this regard.”

Commenting on neighbouring India, he said that it was at the top of the list of “spoilers” in the region.

He said India was carrying out “negative activities” to harm Pakistan and was bent upon destroying peace in the region.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 03

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Sunday, 29 August, 2021

LAHORE

NEWS

FIR ReveaLs GRuesoMe woRkING CoNDITIoNs oF kaRaChI CheMICaL FaCToRy

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NEws DEsk

First Information Report registered in the case of a chemical factory which caught fire on Friday has revealed details of the gruesome working conditions for the labourers.

The deadly blaze at a factory located in Korangi Industrial Area, Mehran Town in Karachi claimed the lives of 16 labourers a day earlier, raising questions about

industrial safety.

According to Geo News, Factory owner Ali Mehta, manager Imran Zaidi, two supervisors Zafar and Rehan and watchman Syed Zarin have been named in the FIR registered at the Korangi Industrial Area police station. The case has been registered under Sections 34 and Section 322 for the deaths of the workers.

The FIR revealed that there was no emergency exit in case of an unfortunate incident and there was only one way out of

Police investigation finds Zahir Jaffer guilty in Noor Mukadam case IsLAMABAD INP

The Islamabad police investigation has found Zahir Jaffar guilty of murdering 27-year-old Noor Mukadam on July 20. The Homicide Investigation Unit of the Kohsar police station prepared the case challan on Saturday. Jaffer’s parents, Therapy Works CEO, and other suspects have been named as accomplices of the prime suspect. In the challan, the police have requested the court to give strict punishment to Jaffer. “Other suspects in the case should be penalised for hiding the crime from the police.” In a hearing on Friday, the court issued notices to Tahir Zahoor, CEO of Therapy Works, and five other employees. They were nominated in light of the supplementary statement of the prime suspect.

Noor, 27, the daughter of former diplomat Shaukat Mukadam, was found murdered at a residence in Islamabad’s Sector F-7/4 on July 20. The investigation officer Abdul Sattar told SAMAA Digital that CCTV footage obtained from Zahir’s residence shows that when Noor jumped from the balcony and tried to run outside, the chowkidar closed the gate. The body was brought to hospital at around 12:10am on the day of the incident but the post-mortem was conducted the next morning at around 9am, said Abdul Sattar. He said that according to the postmortem report, the murder took place around at 7pm of July 20. A first information report (FIR) was registered later on the same day against Jaffer, who was arrested from the scene, under Section 302 (premeditated murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of the victim’s father. Later on, three more sections were added to the case in a supplementary application on July 24. These sections were made part of the case based on revelations made by Zahir Jaffer in front of police investigators during his physical remand. This supplementary application led to the arrest of Zahir Jaffer’s parents.

Greece imposes testing requirement for unvaccinated travellers from Pakistan IsLAMABAD Staff REPORt

Greece has imposed a new testing requirement for all unvaccinated passengers arriving from Pakistan, Bulgaria, Northern Macedonia, and Russia effective from September 3, its civil aviation body said. The same entry requirement remains in force for Egypt, Albania, Argentina, Brazil, Georgia, Cuba, United Arab Emirates, India, China, Libya, Morocco, Russia and Turkey, presented by the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority last week, schengenvisainfo reported. According to a press statement, the agency has also announced that international flights will continue being prohibited for another week, until September 3, as Covid-19 infection cases are increasing. Furthermore, the NOTAM [notice to airmen] for incoming international flights will be effective until Friday, September 3 and includes the following change: Third-country nationals will be banned from entering the country, including their spouses and other persons. Regardless of their nationality, country of departure or vaccination status, all travellers planning to enter Greece are obliged to provide the necessary travel document, Passenger Locator Form, before travelling, which can be sent electronically. Travellers whose test result is positive (with rapid test) must perform a PCR test on arrival. If the traveller results positive for Coronavirus again, they are obliged to undergo a ten-day quarantine or a seven-day quarantine for vaccinated travellers. In both cases, they must perform a PCR test on the last day of their quarantine. Currently, Greece is among the countries with the most relaxed restrictions as it recognises both European Medicine Agency and World Health Organisation approved vaccines, allowing all passengers inoculated with one of the following vaccines to enter the country without undergoing quarantine requirements.

the facility.

It stated that there was no alarm system in the factory either and that the janitor was asked to open the lock. The building was constructed in such a way that no one could get out in an emergency, it added.

None of the people nominated in the FIR have been arrested so far.

The fire brigade spokesperson had declared the blaze a “third-degree” fire because of the toxic chemical inside the factory. The fire broke out at a multi-storey

chemical factory in eastern part of the city, and most windows of the factory were blocked, police and fire officials said.

Many factory workers died after being trapped on the second floor in the fire, which broke out on the ground floor of the three-storey factory. Media footage showed thick grey smoke billowing out from the top floors of the factory.

“The factory had only one entry point, which was also being used as exit, and the roof exit was blocked, which badly

hampered rescue efforts,” Geo News Mubeen Ahmed, chief fire officer of the fire department, as saying.

Over 260 workers were burnt alive when a multi-storey garment factory was set on fire in September 2012 in what became the deadliest industrial blaze in Pakistan’s history.

Blazes and accidents are common in South Asia’s factories, many of which operate illegally and without proper fire safety measures.

People won’t vote for PTI in next elections, claims Bilawal NEws DEsk PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has claimed that Prime Minister Imran Khan has formed the government in Centre for the “first and last time”, saying the people will not vote for the latter’s party in the upcoming general elections.

Addressing the party workers in Tando Allahyar district of Sindh on Saturday, Bilawal said people’s rights are always being usurped whenever “selected’ and undemocratic government come into power”.

“Unemployment, inflation and poverty have increased since the PTI government held the reign of power.

From day one, the poor people of this country have been the target of this government,” he added.

The PPP chairman said the unprecedented increase had been witnessed in the poverty and unemployment during the PTI government “that has never happened in the past”.

“The selected government is attacking the people from all sides, the democratic rights and employment of the

people are being robbed and the incumbent rulers have resorted to economic murder of the people.”

Bilawal also urged his supporters to struggle against the “incompetent government”, saying people are aware of their rights and they know how to get them.

“The people have struggled against not one but many dictators…only the PPP can run an effective movement against the PTI government to oust it and bring people’s government,” he said.

Earlier in the day, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry lashed out at the PPP-led government, saying that it

has failed to provide basic health facilities to the people of the province.

“The PPP government cannot even give health cards to the masses as the PTI government provided in other provinces.”

Fawad said the Sindh government blame Centre for interfering in the provincial affairs “if we ask them about the development budget”.

The federal minister also expressed hope that the PPP will not be able to form government in Sindh after the upcoming elections. “The PTI will form the next government in Sindh.”

CTD arrests three terrorists from Lahore LAHORE INP

ISLAMABAD: A beautiful view of Faisal Mosque in the federal capital. ONLINE

The Counter-Terrorism Department arrested three terrorists belonging to a proscribed outfit during an intelligence-based operation in the Dharampura neighbourhood of Lahore late on Friday night. According to a spokesperson, the militants were identified as Rizwan, Abdul Qayyum and Muhammad Arif and were planning to attack security agencies.

The CTD personnel also recovered improvised explosive devices, two hand grenades, a pistol and explosive material from them. A case has been registered against them at a CTD police station.

World should learn from past mistakes, engage with Taliban: Yusuf IsLAMABAD Staff REPORt

Pakistan has urged the international community to learn from its past mistakes and engage with the Taliban in order to avoid a humanitarian and refugee crisis in Afghanistan.

In the wake of the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan after 20 years of war, the national security advisor, Moeed Yusuf, said the international community should not create a security vacuum by “abandoning” the ordinary people of Afghanistan.

“Another humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan was not inevitable, but only if the international community learn from the mistakes of the past and do not create a security vacuum by abandoning ordinary Afghans,” Yusuf told Gulf News.

The official observed the on-ground reality is that the Taliban are in control but said: “We must keep them honest to their promises, but engage for the sake of the average Afghans. Otherwise, we will end up in the same place. It wasn’t well last time.”

“Pakistan’s engagement with the Taliban is not unlike the world’s engagement with them. Being a neighbouring country, Pakistan has a great stake in Afghanistan and is investing its efforts for durable peace.

At this point, Pakistan’s leverage is really the same as any other major country: assistance and recognition in return for coming through on the commitments made to the international community,” Yusuf said.

“In fact, one could argue that the Western powers that offer legitimacy through recognition and financial assistance have greater leverage,” he pointed out.

He observed that peace and stability in Afghanistan will “fundamentally benefit the people of Afghanistan who have suffered for the last four decades”. “As a neighbour, Pakistan has had to deal with the negative fallout of the Afghan war.

Pakistan has been a victim of a war in Afghanistan that was not of our making. We joined the United States’ war against terrorism and suffered the blowback,” he lamented.

“No other country has contributed as much or suffered as much as Pakistan has due to the two-decadelong war. The world must recognise this instead of asking us to “do more” and

looking to use Pakistan as a scapegoat.

The fact is Pakistan has already done “too much”. The failures in Afghanistan were colossal and internal, as the events of the past month have confirmed.”

Sunday, 29 August, 2021

LAHORE

MoTheR, DauGhTeR IDeNTIFy susPeCTs IN LahoRe GaNG-RaPe Case LAHORE

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INP

woman and her daughter, who were allegedly gang-raped last week in the Chung area of Lahore, have identified the prime suspects during identification parade held at Camp Jail, police said on Saturday.

Sources in police said that the suspects were presented before the victims, adding that the victims had to identify the perpetrators in presence of a magistrate and the jail staff.

The woman and her daughter on Thursday had recorded their statement before police, recalling the horrifying details of their calamity at the hands of the alleged rapist rickshaw driver.

who lauds Pakistan’s help in delivering medical supplies to afghanistan IsLAMABAD aPP

Pakistan is supporting efforts to airlift necessary supplies into Afghanistan where medical stocks have shrunken after the Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul closed following a series of blasts, said the World Health Organisation. “We have only a few days of supplies left and we’re exploring all options to bring more medicines into the country,” said Rick Brennan, Regional Emergency Director for the agency’s Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, while speaking at his bi-weekly press briefing. Brennan told reporters a first Pakistan International Airlines flight carrying the supplies will hopefully leave to Mazar-i-Sharif shortly. The UN World Food Programme is also establishing a “humanitarian airbridge”, with flights expected to take off soon. Meanwhile, UN Spokesman Stephane Dujrarric told APP that during Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ telephonic conversation with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Friday, he thanked for Pakistan’s support for UN operations in Afghanistan and their generosity towards Afghan refugees. Prior to the airport attack, WHO had planned three airlifts of trauma kits, emergency health kits, essential medicines and supplies for hospitals and health centres in Afghanistan, but the items remained grounded due to security and operational issues at the airport, the kit was pointed out. “Because of security concerns and several other operational considerations, Kabul airport is not going to be an option for the next week at least,” Brennan said.

“One of the challenges we have in Afghanistan right now is there’s no functioning Civil Aviation Authority. But we are working with the Pakistanis, particularly in the context of Mazar-iSharif Airport, because they can work with contacts on the ground to ensure that all the necessary steps to land an aircraft, to land a cargo aircraft, can be put in place”.

PDM moves beyond PPP, announces new protests CONtINuED fROM pAgE 01 Mudslinging between both parties, following the break up, has continued and the rift seems to be widening over time. In the NA-249 byelection in Karachi, the PPP and PML-N fielded their separate candidates with PPP’s Abdul Qadir Mandokhel winning the race.

PML-N accused the PPP of stealing the election. PPP, in turn, demanded proof of the allegations and went so far as to name the PML-N as the “original selected” and “only second to PTI in its selectedness”. PDM chief Fazl, who is from the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl faction, has on several occasions said he wishes to give PPP and ANP a chance to return to the fold. In the latest report of him attempting to bridge the gap between the parties, it was said close to Eid-ul-Fitr, that the PDM chief may make an attempt to invite PPP and ANP back into the fold after Eid. The PML-N president, too, in recent weeks was focusing his efforts on bringing the PPP and the ANP back, in order to more effectively put pressure on the government once again. Shehbaz, ahead of the last major PDM meeting, in May, had said at a press conference: “No party has the right to bring or kick another party out [of the alliance]. PDM is a forum and decisions are taken with consensus.” On May 29, the alliance rejected the government’s electoral reforms as “one-sided” and announced a fresh wave of protest rallies across the country. On August 11, when the alliance met after a two-month hiatus, Fazl declared the electronic voting machine as the “simplest way to rig elections”. Subsequently, on August 21, when its steering committee met, it announced a white paper against the government’s three-year performance.

The woman had said that they were not familiar with the routes of Lahore when they visited it from their area Thokar Niaz Baig. She said that she had been there only twice in her entire life.

When they reached Lahore and stepped down from their bus, they got into the rickshaw, whose driver offered to take them to the destination against

Rs300.

The medico-legal report on the mother-daughter rape case had confirmed sexual assault was inflicted upon them.

The DNA samples of the two accused in the gang-rape case will be sent to a lab to establish whether these match with that of the victims, police said.

Qureshi says Pakistan to continue its constructive role for Afghan peace NEws DEsk Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Saturday underscored that Pakistan would continue to play its constructive role in support of the efforts to promote peace and stability in Afghanistan.

The minister’s remarks came during a telephonic conversation with United Nations Secretary-General (UNSG) Antonio Guterres during which the two leaders exchanged views on the evolving situation in Afghanistan.

A day earlier, Pakistan accepted a request to host the US citizens and other foreigners leaving Afghanistan in a bid to aid the withdrawal of people from the neighbouring country by August 31.

According to reports, up to 3,000 people will be brought to Karachi.

Today, the foreign minister also appreciated the contribution of the UN in addressing the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.

Secretary-General Guterres expressed gratitude for Pakistan’s role in facilitating the work of humanitarian

missions of UN entities in Afghanistan and sought Pakistan’s continued support in the matter.

FM Qureshi also assured the secretary-general of all possible support to the UN in the fulfilment of its mandate.

The foreign minister also received a call from the Secretary for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs and First Secretary of State of the United Kingdom Dominic Raab. The two leaders exchanged views on the latest developments in the neighbouring country.

The FM underscored that safety, security, stability and protection of the rights of all Afghans were critically important.

“It is essential for the world community to stay engaged with Afghanistan to stabilise the situation and help the Afghan people economically and to continue providing humanitarian assistance,” the FM said.

The UK foreign secretary shared UK’s perspective on the developments in Afghanistan and conveyed gratitude for Pakistan’s support and facilitation in the evacuation efforts.

The US Embassy in Kabul warned Americans to avoid Kabul’s airport because of security threats and those at its gates should leave immediately.

US and allied forces have been racing to complete evacuations of their citizens and vulnerable Afghans and to withdraw from Afghanistan by the Tuesday deadline set by President Joe Biden after two decades of American military presence there.

Most of the more than 20 allied countries involved in airlifting Afghans and their citizens out of Kabul said they had completed evacuations by Friday.

Britain will end its operation on Saturday, its armed forces chief said, while acknowledging that it, like other countries, had not been able to get everyone out.

Throngs of people have gathered outside the airport to try to get onto evacuation flights since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan on August 15, although on Friday Taliban guards stopped people from approaching.

Biden said earlier he had ordered the Pentagon to plan how to strike ISIS-K, the ISIS affiliate that claimed responsibility for Thursday’s bombing.

Afghanistan’s ISIS affiliate, known as Islamic State Khorasan after an old name for the region, appeared in eastern Afghanistan in 2014 and later made inroads into other areas, particularly the north.

BLASTS IN JALALABAD: A US official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the drone strike was against an ISIS militant planning attacks.

A reaper drone, which took off from the Middle East, struck the militant who was in a car with an ISIS associate. Both are believed to have been killed, the official said.

In Jalalabad, community elder Malik Adib said three people were killed and four were wounded in the airstrike

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Minar-e-Pakistan incident: victim refuses to attend identification parade LAHORE INP

A woman TikToker who was assaulted at the Minar-ePakistan on Saturday refused to attend an identification parade citing illness. According to details, the woman refused to attend the identification parade at the Lahore jail and Magistrate Noman Nasir had to return without the process. The TikToker conveyed that she was not feeling well and could not attend the proceeding as 144 people had to be paraded before her during the identification process. The authorities have now rescheduled the process for September 1. During the previous identification parade, the woman TikToker identified three suspects for their involvement in the entire episode.

During the identification parade, 40 suspects were presented before the woman TikToker and she identified three of them for their alleged role in the assault incident at Greater Iqbal Park on Independence Day. It emerged that the three were the first ones who assaulted her during the entire episode. Speaking to media after the identification parade, she said those identified were most active during the incident while two others have also been identified over suspicion of their involvement. The police authorities said that 40 people have so far been produced before the victim and 30 will be paraded before her later in the day. The victim said that her mother and the entire family is under stress after the incident and it was like a bad dream for her, which she wanted to get rid of as soon as possible.

Pakistan would like ‘inclusive government’ in afghanistan: akram IsLAMABAD Staff REPORt

US drone strike kills ISIS planner of Kabul airport attack CONtINuED fROM pAgE 01

NEWS

at around midnight on Friday, adding he had been summoned by the Taliban investigating the incident.

“Women and children are among the victims,” said Adib, though he did not have information about their identity.

Residents of Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar, said on Saturday they had heard several explosions from an airstrike around midnight, though it was not clear if the blasts were caused by a US drone.

A senior Taliban commander said some ISIS-K members had been arrested in connection with the Kabul attack. “They are being interrogated by our intelligence team,” the commander said.

The number of Afghans killed in the airport bomb attack had risen to 79 on Friday, a hospital official told Reuters, adding that more than 120 were wounded.

While Kabul’s airport has been in chaos, the rest of the city has been generally calm. The Taliban have told residents to hand over government equipment including weapons and vehicles within a week, spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said.

Biden was already facing criticism at home and abroad for the chaos surrounding the troop withdrawal and evacuations. As the Taliban rapidly advanced to Kabul amid the pullout, Afghanistan’s Western-backed government and military collapsed. Biden has defended his decisions, saying the United States long ago achieved its rationale for invading the country in 2001.

The US-led invasion toppled the then-ruling Taliban, punishing them for harbouring al Qaeda militants who masterminded the September 11 attacks on the United States.

The Taliban have said Afghans with valid documents would be able to travel in future but the population left behind is facing a humanitarian catastrophe, UN officials say.

Pakistan has said it sought an inclusive government in Kabul as reports suggest Islamabad is in talks with four central Asian nations that share a border with Afghanistan in an effort to coordinate a diplomatic approach to the Taliban. “We are consulting with all the regional countries in order to coordinate and approach […] on the issue of not only the recognition but going forward, what are the steps that are required to stabilise Afghanistan,” Pakistan’s ambassador to the United Nations, Munir Akram, told Al Jazeera on Friday (early Saturday in Pakistan). “The issue of terrorism emanating from Afghanistan is a special concern for Pakistan, because we have had the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, which has been operating from the territory of Afghanistan, which had support from the intelligence agency of the former government, as well as the Indian intelligence agency [Research and Analysis Wing],” Akram added. The Taliban are planning an inclusive caretaker government in Afghanistan after the group toppled the Western-backed administration in a stunning sweep earlier this month, according to an Al Jazeera report.

Citing Taliban sources, the report said the caretaker government will include leaders from all ethnicities and tribal backgrounds in the country. Nearly a dozen names are being considered to be part of the new government. However, the duration of the caretaker government is unclear at the moment. Afghanistan’s ethnic diversity has been at the centre of politics and conflict in the country, with no single ethnic group enjoying a decisive majority in the country of 40 million people. The Pashtuns are Afghanistan’s biggest ethnic group, making up more than 42 percent of the population. The predominantly Sunni Muslim community speaks the Pashto language and has dominated local politics since the 18th century.

Pakistan is also bringing Afghanistan’s neighbouring central Asian nations together to pressure the Taliban to form an inclusive and broad-based government now that US forces have all but pulled out of the country.

Investment in peace required to ensure stability in Afghanistan: Pakistan wAsHINgtON Staff REPORt

Pakistan has called for investment in peace efforts to counter terrorism in Afghanistan and underlined the need for an inclusive government in Kabul to ensure long-term stability in the war-battered country.

“If there is no peace in Afghanistan, there would be ungoverned spaces where terrorist groups could potentially find safe havens as before”, Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States, Asad Majeed Khan, said in an interview with ZDF, a German television broadcaster.

Khan said Pakistan had in the past cooperated with the international community in fighting terrorism and paid a heavy price in terms of the loss of life and economy but assured that it would continue its efforts to combat the menace of militancy.

Pakistan herself faces threats from terrorist groups

operating on Afghanistan’s soil, he said, in a reference to the proscribed Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.

“We have given a commitment to the international community that our territory would not be used against anyone and we hope that whosoever forms government in Afghanistan, will also make sure that their territory is not used against any country,” he said.

In this regard, the signals coming from Afghanistan were positive as the Taliban had started listening to the concerns raised by the international community, Khan said. On its part, Pakistan had purged its tribal town of militant elements, he said. It has also built a fence along its border with Afghanistan to make sure terrorists don’t cross over into Pakistan’s territory, he added.

Replying to a question, Khan observed Pakistan enjoyed a close relationship both with the United States and China. In fact, Pakistan had played a role in bringing Washington and Beijing together in the 1970s, he recalled.

“Afghanistan is one place where we would want to see the international community work as a partner so that it becomes an arena for cooperation rather than confrontation,” Khan said.

He pointed out the extended troika — China, Russia, United States and Pakistan — had issued a unanimous declaration recognising the fact that conflict and instability in Afghanistan was not in any country’s interest. The ambassador said Pakistan was closely monitoring the situation in Afghanistan and right now was focused on helping evacuate members of the international community stranded there.

“I think right now what is really important is to make sure that things don’t fall in Afghanistan and that the crisis does not turn to a humanitarian catastrophe and that all the key players and stakeholders are talking to each other and work towards an inclusive, all-embracing government where all Afghan ethnicities are represented,” he stressed.

Sunday, 29 August, 2021

04 NEWS

LAHORE

Rupee depReciates By 0.88pc aGainst dollaR on weekly Basis KARACHI

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TlTP

akistan rupee continued its losing streak against the US dollar in the interbank and shed Rs1.44 (-0.88 percent) during the ongoing week, mainly due to volatile situation in neighbouring Afghanistan and high import bill. According to the State Bank of Pakistan, the US dollar opened at Rs164.18 on Mon-

day last and closed at Rs165.62 on Friday, the last working day of the week.

Overall, rupee’s depreciation during the fiscal year 2021-22 has been Rs8.26. The local unit has shed Rs5.43 against the US dollar in the current year 2021.

During the week, the rupee weakened by 25 paisas against the US dollar in the interbank on Monday despite the country receiving $2.77 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on the same day. The

depreciation of the local unit continued on Tuesday and it was weakened by 77 paisas.

Again on Wednesday, the rupee faced a blow of Rs1.08 (-0.65 percent) against the US dollar and it reached the lowest level against the greenback since September 21, 2020.

However, the next two days proved good for the local currency and it recovered Rs0.47 and Rs0.19 on Thursday and Friday, respectively. According to currency dealers, the rupee has been witness-

ing sharp decline in the interbank owing to the situation in Afghanistan and higher import bill. They said that huge payments against machinery imports were made, which escalated the demand for the dollars. They said that the IMF allocation of $2.75 billion is conditional money to support the coronavirus crisis and it cannot be used for the fiscal space.

They said that delay in payments from Afghanistan against Pakistan’s export has

created pressure on the rupee. They pointed out that Afghan traders are opening import LCs from Pakistan as they cannot open from their own country due to ongoing turbulence which has also weighed on the rupee.

They feared that demand for the dollar for machinery import is likely to persist in the coming days, which may put pressure on the local currency. They said the rise in the international oil prices is also one of the factors that deteriorated the local currency.

Gold price increases to Rs97,300 per 10gm NEWS DESK Gold prices surged over one-and-a-half percent in the international market on Friday last amid a decline of the US dollar and risk appetite. Gold in the international market closed at $1,817.80 per ounce on Friday last after gaining $24.20. The price of 10 grams of yellow metal in Pakistan increased to Rs97,300 on Saturday after gaining Rs1,200. The closing prices of the yellow metal in the country remained Rs96,100 on Friday last. The increase in prices in the local market was due to overnight jumps in gold price a day earlier. According to experts, gold prices rose more than $20 from the daily low, rising back to the weekly top at $1809. The positive tone remains intact despite the sharp rally that took place during the last hour on Friday. The trigger of the rally was the speech from US Fed’s Chairman Powell that sent the dollar to the downside. He mentioned the Fed could start scaling back its purchase programme this year, offering no specific timeline. He sees the surge in inflation fading over time, said the experts.They said that the Kabul airport bombing and escalating Delta Covid variant concerns are providing support to safe-haven gold.

ABBOTTABAD: A striking view of fields in a village near Abbottabad. Online

Bitcoin jumps to $48,7870 as cryptos turn bullish NEWS DESK The cryptocurrency market continued with a bullish trend for the second consecutive day on Saturday, with the market capitalisation gaining 3.3 percent to reach $2.18 trillion as of 1315 hours GMT. The price of bitcoin (BTC) gained 3.76 percent to reach $48,870. With this increase in price, the market capitalisation of the biggest cryptocurrency has jumped to

$918.7 billion. Likewise, ethereum (ETH) price gained 3.31 percent to reach $3,240.

With this increase in price, the market capitalisation of ETH has reached $379.7 billion. Similarly, XRP gained 4.31 percent to reach $1.15. The market capitalisation of XRP stands at $115.4 billion after this increase.

Following the suit, the price of cardano (ADA) reached $2.83 with a 4.83 percent increase. Its market capitalisa-

tion has reached $91.6 billion after this increase in its price. Likewise, dogecoin (Doge) price went up by 5.1 percent to reach $0.289. With this increase in price, the market capitalisation of doge has reached $37.8 billion. Meanwhile, the first cryptocurrency ATM in Honduras opened this week as bitcoin backers sought to spur demand for virtual assets after neighbouring El Salvador became the first country to establish bit-

coin as legal tender.

The machine, locally dubbed “la bitcoinera,” allows users to acquire bitcoin and ethereum using the local lempira currency and was installed in an office tower in the capital of Tegucigalpa by Honduran firm TGU Consulting Group. Juan Mayen, 28, chief executive of TGU, led the effort to bring the ATM to Honduras in hopes of educating people about virtual assets through first-hand experience.

Until now, there was no automated way to buy crypto-currencies, he said. “You had to do it peer-to-peer, look for someone who … was willing to do it, meet in person and carry X amount of cash, which is very inconvenient and dangerous given the environment in Honduras,” he said.

FBR launches customs duty calculator to facilitate traders NEWS DESK The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has introduced a customs duty calculator to facilitate traders in clearance of consignments. According to a report, to calculate the customs duty, a person is required to provide HS code, unit of measurement (UOM), unit value in the US dollar, import value in Pakistani rupee (PKR), tariff description, quantity and total value in the US dollar. The duty calculator will help the trader to make assessment of duty and taxes prior to filing a good declaration.

Engro digital infrastructure investments to unlock Pakistan's potential: Fitch NEWS DESK As 95 percent of Pakistan's towers and related infrastructure is operator-owned, Fitch Solutions has long believed that the emergence of a well-funded and resourced specialist player would be the best way of accelerating investment in this under-resourced market. According to Fitch Solutions, Engro, which only entered the telecoms infrastructure business in 2018, already has well-established relationships with all four of the country's mobile network operators - Telenor, Zong, Jazz and Ufone - and had over 1,800 operational sites as of August 2021.

These are managed by a wholly-owned Engro subsidiary, Infiniti, through a unit called Engro Enfrashare. As part of the group's new digital infrastructure strategy, Enfrashare has been spun-off from Infiniti (which is now tasked with investing in data collection and analytics projects) and we believe this will give Engro a greater range of options for the future, including partnering with other infrastructure companies or a listing on the local bourse, said Fitch Solutions.

As part of the revamp, Enfrashare is tasked with increasing its operational base to 5,000 towers by 2025. Specific details have not been disclosed, but we consider it likely that expan-

sion will be achieved through the acquisition of strategically-useful assets, such as operators' existing towers, fibre cables and data centres, as per the business models of most other towercos, according to Fitch Solutions.

Although it is one of the largest markets for consumer telecoms services in Asia, Pakistan is relatively digitally immature, largely owing to the limitations of its communications infrastructure. The country is phasing out its extensive 3G mobile networks, and customers are transferring to the relatively new 4G platforms, which are still being built out at considerable expense. In addition, 5G is expected to be introduced from 2023/24

and this will add more capital cost pressures for operators. Outsourcing critical passive infrastructure to a specialist will help operators cost-effectively manage their 4G/5G transitions without having to pile price increases onto end-users, said Fitch Solutions.

Enfraco is also tasked with exploring 'other investment avenues within the connectivity value chain', according to an official statement. We believe this refers to, albeit not exclusively, investment in fibre infrastructure, most likely for backhaul purposes but also potentially for use in metro fibre rings that could be opened up to other operators for local broadband connectivity pur-

poses. While the investment could also be used to establish cloud or edge data centres, we believe the high costs of establishing cloud infrastructure would necessitate a listing of the business at some point. The edotco claims to own 1,610 towers in Pakistan, many of which have been built for Jazz, Telenor and Zong. The infrastructure specialist has said it wants to double the size of its Asian towers portfolio by 2024 and to invest more in fibre, small cells and edge computing. It has not disclosed any specific plans for Pakistan, but it is clear that Enfraco will need to at least match its rival's investments in the medium to long term, concluded Fitch Solutions.

Youth, resources huge advantages to develop service trade: Expert NEWS DESK Pakistan’s service trade showed great potential in the last financial year as its young population and resources are huge advantages for the development of this sector.

This was stated by Zhang Wei, chief expert of China Association of Trade in Services, CEN reported.

“For Pakistan, the development of the network infrastructure industry should be the priority. It is necessary to establish 4G and 5G base stations, especially in ports where cross-border freight is concentrated and large cities where cross-border trade is concentrated.

CMYK

This is the foundation of developing online cross-border trade,” said Wei. He told CEN that he knew there are many Chinese network companies including China Mobile investing in Pakistan for its infrastructure network facilities and he strongly supports that. He also stressed the importance of the processing trade development. “Pakistan’s exports to China, including agricultural products and minerals, are all resources products.

China’s exports to Pakistan are all manufacturing products, home appliances, electronics, and mechanical products. Such trade in goods between China and Pakistan is bound to have a deficit.” Zhang Wei said,

adding that Pakistan should increase the added value and variety of products, which could help increase employment and promote the development of service trade. Last year, China signed the RCEP with 14 other countries. Zhang Wei noted that it manifests the international cooperation tendency of establishing free trade zones and signing free trade agreements, adding China and Pakistan also have free trade agreements which can be fully utilised.

It is worth mentioning that during the fiscal year 2020-2021, Pakistan’s service exports increased by 9.19 percent to $5.937 billion, and the service trade deficit fell sharply by 43 percent.

Sunday, 29 August, 2021

LAHORE

Vaccine inequity driVe diVergence in global economy: un NEW YORK

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TLTP

crisis of vaccine inequity is driving a “dangerous divergence” in Covid-19 survival rates and in the global economy, the UN agency leaders said in a statement, noting that less than two percent of adults are fully vaccinated in most low-income countries compared to almost 50 percent in high-income nations.

The heads of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, World Health Organisation (WHO) and World Trade Organisation (WTO) met with the leaders of the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT), Africa CDC, Gavi and UNICEF to rapidly scale-up vaccines in low- and lower middle-income countries, particularly in Africa.

“These countries, the majority of which are in Africa, simply cannot access sufficient vaccines to meet even the global goals of 10 percent coverage in all countries by September and 40 percent by end 2021, let alone the African Union’s goal of 70 percent in 2022”, the UN

officials said. They expressed gratitude for “the important work” of AVAT and COVAX in trying to address the “unacceptable situation”.

However, they warned, “effectively tackling this acute vaccine supply shortage in low- and lower middle-income countries, and fully enabling AVAT and COVAX, requires the urgent cooperation of vaccine manufacturers, vaccine-producing countries, and countries that have already achieved high vaccination rates”.

To ensure that all countries achieve the global goals of at least 10 per cent coverage by September, and 40 per cent by the end of the year, the top UN Officials called on countries that have contracted high volumes of vaccines to “swap near-term delivery schedules with COVAX and AVAT”.

They also advised vaccine manufacturers to “immediately prioritise and fulfil” their contracts to COVAX and AVAT, and to provide regular, clear supply forecasts.

Moreover, the UN agency chiefs urged G7 industrialized nations and all dose-sharing countries to “fulfil their pledges urgently” with enhanced pipeline visibility, product shelf life and support for ancillary supplies – as

barely 10 per cent of the nearly 900 million committed doses have yet to be shipped.

“We call on all countries to eliminate export restrictions and any other trade barriers on Covid-19 vaccines and the inputs involved in their production”, the statement continued.

In parallel, the UN agencies are intensifying their work with COVAX and AVAT to tackle persistent vaccine delivery, manufacturing and trade issues, notably in Africa. They are mobilising grants and concessional financing to support this work.

“We will also explore financing mechanisms to cover future vaccine needs as requested by AVAT… [and] advocate for better supply forecasts and investments to increase country preparedness and absorptive capacity”, they assured.

The UN agency heads upheld that they would also continue to enhance data, identify gaps and improve transparency in the supply and use of all Covid-19 tools.

“The time for action is now. The course of the pandemic – and the health of the world – are at stake”, the statement concluded.

NEWS

05

corporate corner

CEO Dr M. Aasim Yusuf, COO Mr. Tahir Aziz, and Director of IT Department Mr. Idrees Khokhar from SKMT along with the office bearers of four teaching hospitals, Dean-ATH Dr Umer, Hospital Director HMC Dr Shahzad Faisal , Chairman BOG – KTH Dr Nadeem Khawar and Hospital Director - LRH Brig.

Dr Muhammad Abrar Khan at the signing ceremony for Hospital Management Information System donated by SKMT. PR

boP recorded significant growth in after-tax profit

Global insurance ratings stabilise: Fitch Fitch Ratings has completed a review of approximately 70 insurance groups that has resulted in favourable actions for about 80 percent of the cohort, mainly outlook revisions to stable from negative.

The insurance groups were reviewed over the first eight months of this year, and represent just over 25 percent of Fitch’s international scale insurance ratings coverage globally. However, some pressures still remain, said Fitch in a latest report.

These actions reflect a stabilisation of global insurance ratings following negative signalling applied in 2020 tied to the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. Typically, for the noted insurance groups, Rating Outlooks in 2020 were revised to negative from stable, said Fitch Rating.

The more favourable signalling actions reflect Fitch’s expectation that investment and underwriting losses are absorbable by earnings and capital, allowing key financial metrics to remain within guidelines. This results from economic recovery in many jurisdictions that is both swifter and stronger than originally envisioned by Fitch, in part driven by quicker than expected approval and implementation of Covid-19 vaccines, said Fitch Rating.

In 18% of the cases, the rating action was neutral, meaning either the prior signalling was maintained or a rating action was taken unrelated to the impact of the pandemic. Negative actions, including downgrades or an adverse change in signalling, were taken in less than 3% of cases, and typically focused on companies with less headroom in their ratings leading into the pandemic, according to Fitch Rating.

While the insurance industry has proven to be resilient to the pandemic, some pressures remain. These include some developing markets where insurers have material exposure within their investment portfolios to a sovereign that is still under ratings pressure due to the pandemic.

Pressures also remain in commercial real estate (CRE), especially the retail and office sectors, which will strain some insurers’ investment portfolios. To date, however, Fitch has not observed CRE investment concentrations within its ratings coverage that it expects to result in near-term rating issues, said Fitch Rating. NEWS DESk

RAWALPINDI: A shopkeeper arranges clay ovens outside his store. oNLiNE

Containership orders set record in 2021 amid high freight rates, volumes The rush by carriers to increase capacity in the face of new highs in freight rates and record volumes coming from Asia has led to a new record being set for the total containership capacity ordered in a single year.

Just eight months into 2021, the order book has nearly doubled since the beginning of the year and stands at three-quarters of the all-time high reached 13 years ago, reported The Maritime Executive. Cash-rich shipowners rushed to order new containerships, and with four months left in the year and rampant rumours of more large orders, more records could well be broken. According to an analysis of the new construction orders by industry trade group BIMCO, a total of 381 containerships have been ordered in 2021 representing a nominal capacity of 3.44 million TEU. Never, says BIMCO, has that level of container capacity been ordered in such a short period of time.

The total orderbook for containerships now stands at 5.3 million TEU up from just 2.5 million at the beginning of 2021. While it is not yet a record for the alltime high in the containership capacity on order, there are still four months left in 2021. The all-time high currently stands at 6.8 million TEU that were on order at the end of July 2008.

“Shipowners are going big on investing in new capacity,” says Peter Sand, BIMCO’s Chief Shipping Analyst. “It is very much a sign of the times too; you go big, or you don’t go at all. You order four, five, or six

CMYK

ships, or as much as 20 units, in one go, and at one yard only. The buying power when you spend $2.5 billion is significant.” While the shipping lines are anxious to add capacity, they are also being very strategic in their investments. Because the ships must remain versatile, capacity is not the sole determinant in the order. “Your ships must be ready to fit emerging trade lanes,” notes Sand highlighting the instead of going solely after the largest capacity carriers are tailoring orders to specific market needs.

In February, March, April, and June, a total of 60 container ships with a cargo carrying capacity of 16,000 TEU each were ordered by just five different owners. Half of them were ordered by two Top-4 tonnage providers and one minor, while the other half was ordered by operating liner companies.

In addition to the potential of growing the orderbook to an all-time high, the potential exists for a record delivery year. In both 2023 and 2024, BIMCO forecasts that 1.5 million TEU will be delivered.

However, based on announced schedules there is a potential new record for deliveries in both 2023 and 2024. The current record stands at 1.66 million TEU entering service in 2015, but accounting for the possibility of delays in scheduled deliveries, BIMCO’s current estimate suggests that the 2015 delivery record will not be broken. NEWS DESk

LAhoRe: A meeting of the Board of Directors of The Bank of Punjab was held on August 27, 2021, to consider and approve the un-audited Financial Statements for the 1st half of the year ended June 30, 2021. While reviewing the Bank’s financial performance for the first six months of the year 2021, Board appreciated the efforts of the Bank’s Management for registering marked improvement in all areas of operations as all key financial indicators remained aligned with Bank’s business plan. During the 1st half of the year 2021, Bank’s Net Interest Margin (NIM) improved to Rs13.88 billion as against Rs11.55bn during 1st half 2020 registering a growth of 20 per cent. Similarly, NonMarkup per Interest Income, excluding Gain on Securities, increased to Rs2.77bn as against Rs2.13bn during 1st half 2020 showing a significant increase of 30pc. During 1st half of the year, the Bank posted an after-tax profit of Rs5.60bn as against Rs3.65bn earned during 1st half of the year 2020 registering a growth of 53pc. Earnings per Share (EPS) for the 1st half of the year 2021 also improved to Rs2.12 per share as against Rs1.38 per share for the 1st half of the year 2020. Bank’s Total Assets as of June 30, 2021, improved to Rs1,167.36bn as against Rs1,095.45bn as of December 31, 2020. The Deposits of the Bank improved to Rs. 925.66bn as against Rs835.07bn registering a growth of 11pc. Investments improved to Rs584.99bn as against Rs567.79bn as of December 31, 2020. Similarly, Gross Advances improved to Rs486.48bn as against Rs442.76bn as of December 31, 2020, registering a growth of 10pc. Equity improved to Rs52.47bn and Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) stood at 15.09pc against the regulatory requirement of 11.50pc. During 1st half of the year 2021, Pakistan Credit Rating Agency (PACRA) upgraded Bank’s long term entity rating to “AA+” with short term rating being already at the highest rank of “A1+”. The Bank currently has a network of 640 online branches, including 105 Taqwa Islamic Banking Branches and 18 subbranches. Further, the Bank has a network of 634 ATMs providing 24/7 banking services to the customers. PRESS RELEaSE

Sunday, 29 August, 2021

06 COMMENT

Obstacle to peace

Transit visas for thousands

But stick to policy about refugees

The post-Taliban equation with China

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he evacuation of their citizens from Kabul has become a nightmare for many countries, especially the USA, as the time limit to complete the operation is to end on Tuesday night. While the USA has airlifted roughly 105,000 by Friday, thousands still remain stranded in Afghanistan. Tens of thousands of Afghans who worked with the USA are yet to be brought out of the country.

Pakistan has been asked to accept thousands of transit passengers that include US diplomats and citizens, Afghan nationals and those who carry the passports of several other countries. As this will entail hosting them for several days, arrangements have been made with hotels in Islamabad and Karachi which have been asked to stop taking new reservations for 21 days. Around 3,000 to 4,000 evacuees will reportedly be accommodated in Islamabad and Rawalpindi hotels. Those who cannot find a room will be transferred to marquees. Around 2,000 diplomats and Afghan citizens who supported the US and allied forces during the war with the Taliban will be sent to Karachi before their departure to the USA. The Interior Minister has meanwhile announced the issuing of 21-day transit visas at the Islamabad airport and Torkham border crossing to all foreigners coming from Afghanistan especially members of NGOs, delegates and journalists While it is a good humanitarian gesture to allow transit facility to thousands of people desperately wanting to exit from Kabul, it is also a big gamble that can cost the country heavily if necessary measures are not taken. Pakistan has to ensure the foreigners’ security as long as they remain in the country. As the deadly IS attack in Kabul shows, the terrorists are out to spread anarchy in the region. Any major terrorist attack on the evacuees would damage Pakistan’s reputation. Afghanistan has been badly affected by Covid-19. All those who are allowed to enter the country should be thoroughly checked and those found positive should be immediately quarantined.

As UNhCR urges Afghanistan’s neighbours to keep borders open for fleeing Afghans, Pakistan needs to stick to its policy of not allowing any refugees inside its territory. It should call on international agencies to make arrangements to keep displaced Afghans inside their country instead of pushing them into Pakistan.

atiya Munawer

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AK-China friendship has a history of seven decades, during which the two countries have gone through difficult times on various occasions but have been fully supportive of each other. The fruits of this amity can be seen in the Pak-China economic Corridor.

CPeC is not just a project but also an attempt to further strengthen the relations between Pakistan and China, and this project has not gone unnoticed by many countries which have been using various tactics over the years to end it.

The USA and India are at the forefront in this regard. The USA has repeatedly urged Pakistan to abandon CPeC, while India has taken the other route and is trying to sow the seeds of mistrust between the two countries. It has sabotaged the sites of various projects of CPeC and has been carrying out terrorist acts against Chinese nationals working on the project.

India wants to crack this Pak-China friendly relationship but has so far failed in all its attempts. however, the government should expose the elements involved in such incidents so that the world can know who is obstructing the peace process in the region.

It is clear that the number of attacks on Chinese nationals has increased in recent times. Before the suicide attack in Gwadar, a bus carrying Chinese engineers was targeted. About two weeks after the incident, a Chinese national was killed in Karachi by assailants on a motorcycle while travelling in a car.

Indian-backed terrorist groups have claimed responsibility for the terrorist attacks, or the investigation has found that there is clear evidence of Indian facilitation in terrorist incidents. It is no secret that the banned Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and

Heir moves so far have beenreassuring

Ignoring safety, endangering lives

T

he deaths of 16 workers in the fire at a chemicals factory in Mehran Town in Karachi is yet another example of how safety regulations are ignored when setting up a factory, While the factory fire in Baldia Town in September 2012 may have led to many more deaths, with 260 people killed, the more recent incident showed that its lessons had not been learned, and there had been no proper safety provisions made. It may be of some satisfaction to register an FIR against the owner for ignoring the mandatory safety precautions, but it neither guarantees punishment, nor does it leave the unfortunate 15 any less dead.

As with the BaldiaTown factory fire, many casualties at Mehran Town could have been avoided if there had been proper exits provided. Most of those killed are reported to have died of asphyxiation, which is a sure sign that proper access to air would have enabled them to survive if they could have got away from the inferno in which they were trapped. It should not be forgotten that those killed in this fire, as in previous ones, were factory labourers, who should not have had to face the risk of death while trying to eke out a living. The factory owners were doubly responsible. First, there should have been precautionary measures taken to ensure that a fire did not break out, and second, there should have been proper precautions taken to ensure that if the worst did happen, and if there was indeed a fire, there was a knowledge of what was to be done to ensure that the work force could get out safely.

Fire safety is a provincial government’s responsibility, and it was clearly not fulfilled this time, not so much because of the tragedy that occurred as because nothing seems to have been learned from the past, While nothing will bring back those who have been killed, at least those who work in the city’s myriad other factories are made safer by ensuring that proper safety measures have been taken. An emergency inspection by the concerned department would seem in order.

Farina aFzal

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he swift takeover of Afghanistan, and specifically its capital, Kabul, by the Taliban group has come as an immense shock and threat to nations all around the globe.

Forty years of incessant foreign invasion, rule, and trillions of dollars’ worth investment by foreign powers got swept away in a matter of a few days. This is because the Afghan society has been absolutely ravaged by the continuous conflict it has, unfortunately, been a part of. In this context, the future of women’s rights is particularly a very important yet unpredictable topic of concern, not only for the women in Afghanistan, but also for the international community.

Western media and reports display the effective and pragmatic side of the so-called installed democracy, by the G-7 in Afghanistan, on women rights. Reports highlight the upsurge in women participation in parliamentary affairs in the US takeover compared to the Taliban regime of 1997-2001. Another prominent gain for Afghan women was the increased education enrollment percentage, which went as high as 40 percent for elementary school, 35 percent for middle and high school, and 33 percent for university. Apart from this, Afghan women made up 36 percent of the total workforce with women entrepreneurs creating 77,000 jobs for their female counterparts. however, what the Western media fails to acknowledge is the harm this has done to Afghan society, and specially, females. Statistics from the United Nations show that the continuous NATO-Afghan war since 2001 has led to severe casualties for Afghan civilians. The extensive and increased use of Improvised explosive Devices (IeDs) along with air and land strikes in the first half of the 21st century were the primary contributors to civilian casualties there.

Girl children have been deliberately targeted at least on one occasion, the recent example of which is the 8th May attack outside the Sayed-ul-Shuhuda school in the district of Kabul. It is highly disturbing to notice 300 civilian victims with 85 killed due to this attack, out of which most were girls. May-June 2021 were particularly discomfiting months as increasingly women and children made up more of the civilian casualties recorded in Afghanistan.

According to recent UN reports, women and children, the explicit weak segments of society, accounted for 46 percent of the total casualties, including wounded and killed. A shocking and detrimental toll has been perpetuated by the years-long Afghan conflict, especially on children and women

Dedicated to the legacy of late Hameed Nizami

Arif Nizami (Late) Founding Editor

Yousaf Nizami M. A. Niazi

Umar Aziz

Joint Editor

Joint Editor

Executive Editor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965

The efforts of our institutions to make the country safe for Chinese citizens are commendable. However, frequent attacks on Chinese visitors show that the goal of ensuring security is not being achieved, so we need to take more steps to protect Chinese citizens and take China into confidence in these efforts

The writer is freelance columnist

Future of women’s rights under taliban rule

Another factory fire

Editor Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) are both Indian instruments and are being operated from Afghanistan.

The former Afghan government, stumbling on all sorts of sincere selflessness, cooperation and sympathy from Pakistan, had made the wrong decision to make itself a breeding ground for anti-Pakistan networks all over the world. It had become a place from where all kinds of facilities were available to operate them.

A l t h o u g h Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS) has closed its doors as an institution in the new situation in Afghanistan, it is difficult to immediately believe that the seeds of hatred that have grown from the seeds sown by this malicious organization have been uprooted.

The Afghan Taliban have assured that their territory will not be used against any other country, but the current turmoil in Afghanistan could facilitate the movement of terrorist elements, and the primary responsibility of Pakistani institutions is to ensure that infiltration into Pakistan from the Afghan border is prevented and that wherever there are reports of anti-Pakistan elements in Afghanistan, the Taliban should be informed and

reassured that action should be taken against the elements that pose a threat to Pakistan. With the Taliban invasion, India has turned a blind eye to Afghanistan and evacuated from the region, so it can be assumed that this escape will affect these elements in the coming days.

India's escape from Afghanistan can be said to be a source of relief for Pakistan's security, but it is the responsibility of our institutions to deal with the destructive elements on Pakistani soil.

China is our bosom friend which is not only providing financial support to Pakistan to equip it with the best resources for industrialization, infrastructure, economy and communication with the world, but it is also contributing to our development with the personnel and skills of our deserving citizens.

Pakistan's primary responsibility is to protect these guests and development partners. The efforts of our institutions to make the country safe for Chinese citizens are commendable. however, frequent attacks on Chinese visitors show that the goal of ensuring security is not being achieved, so we need to take more steps to protect Chinese citizens and take China into confidence in these efforts.

I

Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9

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of all ages, amounting to extremely serious human the female journalists from BBC and CNN that we rights’ violations. The facts elucidated above give us see giving media coverage to various events going on something to ponder upon as the majority of the re- in the country without being mistreated, harmed or ports produced, news delivered and statistics main- stopped. Indeed, they are in burka, but this portrays tained are straight from foreign UN sources, and not that the Taliban are respecting the Islamic dress code of women whilst allowfrom any national ing them to work, vote, source. Afghan women and gain education were perhaps not kept at peacefully too. It apthe forefront as they were never invited to the It is only the coming days that can pears as if the past has served as a precept for decision-making table at truly unveil what prevails in the Taliban group, and any time in recent years now they seek to ecoeven though they have Afghanistan and what does not. nomically, socially and always been willing to politically alleviate the participate in the peace Though the Taliban have been conditions of the talks. These females reassuring of women’s freedom Afghan society, howconstitute a prominent ever, while staying segment of society, and under their Islamic rule, there within the boundaries require that their rights remains a widespread fear of the prescribed by Islam. are as recognized as of rights groups any other segment.

Taliban reinstalling their notorious are The apprehensive of Moreover, as the women’s freedom being Taliban have only regender segregation system that eroded away eventually cently assumed control dominated the late 1990s under the Taliban of the country and are regime as most women building up their power suspect them to not into fill in the power vactending to honor the uum created by the abpromises made. At the sence of a national leader and the US forces, the socio-political paradigm same time, even the staunchest women rights activists has shifted. Though the Taliban announced the impo- have acknowledged peace being made via negotiasition of Islamic Shariah Law in their officially de- tions with the Taliban, apart from which stands no clared, Islamic emirate of Afghanistan, they have other way for peace and amity to prevail.

Thus, it is only the coming days that can truly vowed not to infringe women’s rights anyhow. They maintain they have learned from the mistakes of the unveil what prevails in Afghanistan and what does past and so for the prosperity of the nation of not. Though the Taliban have been reassuring of Afghanistan, women will be permitted to educate women’s freedom under their Islamic rule, there remains a widespread fear of the Taliban reinstalling themselves and to work within the realm of Islam.

Although most women believe to the contrary, a their notorious gender segregation system that domhandful are affirmative about it. This is evident from inated the late 1990s.

Islamabad – Ph: 051-2204545

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Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk

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Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Sunday, 29 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

Prevalence of mouth cancer MOUTh cancer is one of the very biggest diseases in Pakistan. Oral cancer is a pernicious disease which occures on the lips, gums, tongue and moth cancer mostly affects those people who are drugs users. excessively use of tobacco including cigarettes, cigars, pipes and snuff among others.

Mouth cancer affected many people in Pakistan and among them also can cause death sometimes. Most cases of mouth cancer occurs in able adult12,5090 cases affect people younger then 50 overal can around 60% of people with mouth cancer will live at least five years affect their diagnosis and many will live much longer without the cancer returning.

Mouth cancer is very dangerous cancer, it is affecting to inside. Lip and oral cancer is the second most proralent. diagnosed and leading cases of cancer death in Pakistan with an estimated 5 year prevalence of 30,6417 cases 12761 newly diagnosed cases and 7266 deaths in 2012. The one case came in Pakistan now 2020, he was an affected and died due to mouth cancer at age of 56 year. It is my humble request to the government, she should take out the treatment of mouth cancer.

Saba baran KarKi

We are not ATMs

The changing face of Afghanistan With the Taliban gaining control, things will never be as in the past

Candid Corner raooF Hasan “Enya never writes a bad melody. That’s first and foremost her secret. As she goes along, she will start changing the dynamics, pushing here and there so that not everything is perfectly in unison. It adds a texture you can acquire only from having different voices. The variations lead to interesting quirks. It is an integral part of the Enya sound.”

–Nicky Ryan

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MAGINe a country that has lived in war-like conditions for most of the past four decades. Imagine a country whose generations were born and bred in the battlefields among untold violence. Imaging a country where not a hope is nurtured and the future is virtually absent from the canvas. Imagine a country where red is recognised by the colour of blood and white by the sheet to wrap the dead. A country that comes closest to this description is Afghanistan which lies just across our Western frontier.

It is also a country with whom Pakistan has had hostile and acrimonious relations through most of the past seven decades. Is it that we are about to witness a change occurring in the nature of these relations? Is it that we shall be able to surmount the bitterness of the past to lay the foundations of peaceful and harmonious co-existence between two neighbours? Well, we may not have to wait long to see which way the tide shall flow.

Afghanistan was the only country which opposed Pakistan’s admission to the United Nations back in 1947. The rest of the world was on one side and Afghanistan on the opposite. That may have sowed the seeds of the animosity that followed, taking one shape or the other with the passage of time. What was a constant was the bitterness. It only kept varying in toxicity during different phases. Tragically, the two neighbours could never become friends to shape their destinies together for the betterment of their impoverished people.

The second advent of the Taliban may have sent shock waves across certain sections of the Afghan society, but it also comes laden with the hope that things may not be the same as they were when they first ruled the country. If one

were to accept numerous proclamations emanating from the Taliban leadership ever since they walked into Kabul after overpowering the better part of the country within days, and without any bloodshed or violence, one could gain a fair bit of confidence that peace may, after all, return and the Taliban may not repeat the horrible spectacle of their last tenure in power.

What is expected of the Taliban now that they have taken over the country? They have already stated some of their intentions in unequivocal terms. They have announced a general amnesty. They are venturing into making an inclusive government and have offered their adversaries to join in to take the country forward collectively. They have agreed to engage in a comprehensive dialogue to tide over the differences that may exist between various schools of thought. They have imposed no unusual curbs that would rattle the world. There is general peace prevailing in the country and life has returned to near normal: schools are open, offices are working and businesses gradually picking up. They have made appointments to some key positions in the power echelons. For the rest, they are awaiting the complete withdrawal of troops from the Afghan soil.

This is so far as the stated intentions of the Taliban go. A serious question that arises pertains to the intentions of those who have been administering Afghanistan over the last two decades, and who have now been invited by the Taliban in fulfilment of the objective of forming an inclusive government representing all stakeholders of the country. Apparently, a large number of them have principally agreed to do so, but a disturbing factor in this regard could be the conditions they may impose before making any such move: award of the highest offices in the inclusive government.

The question is who has won the war and who has been ousted from the seat of power?

Consequently, who has the legitimate right to rule: the Taliban who are the winners, or the defeated and disgraced leaders of the former government? As long as this question is not settled, and the authority and legitimacy of the Taliban not recognised, I believe there is little prospect of putting together what is generally referred to as an inclusive and multi-stakeholder government. even otherwise, the demand for forming an inclusive government defies logic and reason.

By what rationale can a defeated lot be imposed on those who have won the war and who have absolute control of the country to the elimination of all adversaries who have either fled in disgrace, or who are busy exploiting the existing conditions for sneaking in for a place in the government?

This becomes particularly relevant when the USA, the european Union and other countries together with international donor organisations have slammed a ban on providing much-needed funds to Afghanistan to run its day-to-day affairs. This is the one exploitative tool which the Western countries and institutions are using in a bid to force the Taliban to bow before their demands.

Do I see this happening? The answer is an

assertive no. This is not likely to happen. The Taliban are made of a different mettle. They have clarity of purpose and their mind works in a different way. They are not the ones to compromise for the sake of getting some paltry funds. Notwithstanding their being right or wrong, one can say with relative certainty that they will not compromise on their principles under any pressure.

I don’t see them offering the choicest positions to the now disgraced members of the former government in a bid to form a so-called inclusive government for currying favour and approval of the West. It is also feared that if the Taliban would accept certain demands to appease them, another list of demands will be handed over for implementation and this process may continue to perpetuity. Obviously, the Taliban are unwilling to get trapped in this vicious cycle of moving from meeting one demand to the next and, in the process, losing legitimacy before their people.

So, what is likely to happen is simple.

The requisite offers will be made to various stakeholders to join the new government. If they don’t forfeit their ludicrous demands of getting the highest public offices, the government will still be made without their inclusion, but a caveat will be kept for them to join as and when it may be expedient for them. The formation of the government will not be delayed inordinately for any reason. It is also understood that it will be a powerful and effective government that would be geared to tackling the urgent needs of the people on a priority basis which shall come forth as the defining difference between the Taliban government and the ones under Karzai and Ghani which administered the country over the last two decades.

Just like their behaviour during the tenures of their government, the leaders of an array of dysfunctional political groups have exposed their real nature: they are not concerned about joining the government to work for the betterment of the people, but insist on lucrative positions so that they could again indulge their old habits. This is bound to trigger a clash between two distinct mindsets: one devoted to service of the people and the other consumed with the attainment of personal benefits.

What I see is a period of slight uncertainty which will settle down as soon as the Taliban have taken full charge of the state and they have put together their team to deliver at the grassroots level. There shall then be no looking back as the claimants to the high offices alone with no commitment to service shall bite the dust.

Agreement or no agreement, and notwithstanding the spoilers’ machinations, the Taliban are here with relative peace and security assured in Afghanistan, thus generating hope that the two neighbours may begin writing a new chapter in the history of their relations.

The writer is a political and security strategist, and heads the Regional Peace Institute – an Islamabad-based think tank. Email: raoofhasan@hotmail.com.

Twitter: @RaoofHasan

AS schools have started reopening categorically, they are demanding all six months of pandemic period fees at once.At the time when inflation is on its peak from 3.8 to 7.2 in the term of ongoing government, giving as much money at one time looks a milestone for a poor.We send our children to private schools to ensure that they get better education, but educational institutions do not even take pity on us.Moreover, the school bus runs on its will.It takes the same amount for the ones who are nearby to schools and as well to the ones who are far in distance.We are being looted but the authorities are in deep slumber.We do not know how to survive in this country.I have found your newspaper a source to highlight the issues of ours.

Hammal naeem bugH

Common evils AS we all a aware that rape cases are increasing like the population of the world. Acorrding to the research millions of rape cases are happening in this world per year. Pakistan is among those countries where rape has become a big issue. For some years even the small kids are being targeted to rape. The rapists have become so cruel that they not only sexually abuse the girls or women but also kill them. In most of the cases the subjected girl or women is found dead. Recently in the motorway case the women was in search of help and the men who had to help her, sexually assaulted her and killed her.

Such cases are not taken seriously by the government. The silence of government is a proof that not only our society but the parliament and assemblies are also Male-dominant. I don’t understand why do we call ourselves muslims? Why do we call ourselves the most powerful Islamic nation? We have never done anything a muslim has to do. We should not claim to be muslims but we should prove that.

JamSHer KHurSHid TurbaT

Child marriages ChILD marriages have been one of the serious issues, especially in developing countries. Pakistan also facing this problem, children under eighteen are forcefully contract into marriage by their family elders in rural areas. specially girls are going through this issue. The girls of the extremely poverty-ridden families in the slums of the towns and cities of villages are found to be married before 15. According to research every year at least 12 million girls marry before the age of 18. It's due to poverty and illiteracy. The parents of their families can't afford to send their girls to high schools and can't provide them with job.

This later causes different types of health issues such as obstetric fistula, cervical cancer and many other sexually transmitted infectious diseases like hIV. There is a high chance of death during childbirth. human Rights and many other organizations are working against child marriages by doing awareness programs, sessions etc, But still there are no such fruitful results. Child marriage is still in practice and situation is becoming worst day by day. Government should make strong law against child marriages, and also develop educational institutes in backward areas because illiteracy and poverty is the main reason of child marriage.

Javeriya KHan KaracHi

Regression of society ANy country’s retrogression of the society can be assessed from the incidents transpire in their society. Many incidents of different nature are taken place in societies of civilized, uncivilized, developed and under development countries like raping, child abuse, sexual harassment, lynching, assassination, forced and child marriages etc but the worst incident which can be transpired in any country is beating and killing parents and such tragic incidents are rarely transpired.

Such barbarism is started taking place in our society which is an Islamic country. Recently, an unfortunate son has assassinated his own mother just to acquire few thousand rupees from her. It is reported that a poor mother accompanied her son to get Rs. 12,000/- from ehsas program launched by incumbent government aim to help poor and needy people so that they can manage bread and butter for their families. On the way back to home, that unfortunate son demanded money from his mother whom she refused and on refusal, he took his mother to a place where nobody could see them and he stabbed his mother with a sharp knife and she succumbed to death.

Propagation of respecting, obeying and treating parents in good manners is required to be disseminated through print, electronic and social medias as well as clerics should also let folks know about parents’ status and advantages and disadvantages of respecting and disobeying parents so that such pathetic and sad incident would not happen again in our society.

FaiSal anSar KaracHi

Sunday, 29 August, 2021

08 WORLD VIEW

The wesT hAs To Ask iTself: if is is The enemy, does ThAT mAke The TAliBAn our friends?

AFGHANISTAN’S NEW RULERS ARE FAR BETTER EQUIPPED THAN THE US AND ITS ALLIES TO TAKE THE FIGHT TO THE KABUL AIRPORT BOMBERS

GUArdiAn

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JasOn Burke

FTeR the bloodshed at Kabul airport, the grim reality for those who want to prevent Islamic State’s affiliate causing further murder and mayhem in Afghanistan is that in practice their best partner for this complex and difficult battle would be the Taliban.

Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) – the name is borrowed from that used by early Islamic empires to describe much of modern Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan – was founded six years ago. Until this week

it had been something of a failure. Though the group made early gains, these were rapidly lost as the Taliban fought back hard: they were not going to allow an upstart newcomer, particularly one largely composed of disaffected former Taliban commanders, Pakistanis and Uzbeks, to take over.

In 2019 and early 2020, a series of Taliban offensives, as well as US and Afghan government operations, devastated ISKP in eastern Afghanistan, reducing its hold on territory to just two small valleys in Kunar, the north-east frontier province. Yet despite several offensives this year, the Taliban have not been able to evict ISKP’s fighters from these bases. Now that the Taliban no longer have to fight elsewhere, many more forces can be concentrated against them and they may well be eliminated at some stage soon.

But, though this would be a significant blow to ISKP, it underlines the dilemma facing the US. The rule in Afghanistan has long been “my enemy’s enemy is my friend”.

This determines which local powerbrokers the Americans will choose to support – for example, which actor is most likely to pro-

vide them with the resources they need to maintain their influence – and who they should fight. But if the enemy of the US is ISKP, does that make the Taliban its friend?

That ISKP is the enemy of both the US and the Taliban is crystal clear. It derives its ideology from the hardline “Salafi-jidahist” doctrines, influenced by Gulf-style Wahabi strands of Muslim observance and the globalised vision of men such as Osama bin Laden. Its ultimate aim is a caliphate stretching across the Islamic world – a single “nation of Islam” within which individual nations are dissolved. One of the insults hurled by ISKP members at the Taliban, who they already consider “apostates” for their (relative) moderation and negotiations with the west, is that they are also nationalists.

The Taliban have never hidden their belief in the nation state, though it is undoubtedly often tinted with a degree of ethnic and sectarian chauvinism. Nor have the Taliban ever been linked directly to any terrorist attack beyond Afghanistan’s frontiers. They do not seek to establish a caliphate either. The state they have been fighting for is an “emi-

Are Syrian jihadis ready to take the fight to Afghanistan?

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Al MoniTor

he Biden administration has vowed retaliation against the Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K) for the Aug. 26 attack on the Kabul airport that killed 13 US armed service members and over 90 Afghan civilians. More violence is likely. US Marine Corps Gen. and CeNTCOM commander Kenneth "Frank" McKenzie said after the attack that "we expect those attacks to continue."

There are an estimated 10,000 foreign fighters in Afghanistan, over 2,000 IS-K members, and perhaps just 200 or so alQaeda members in South Asia, according to the Pentagon.

The US military knew that the threat from the Taliban, al-Qaeda, and IS-K was on the rise, and that the Afghan government would be hard-pressed to meet their challenge after the US withdrawal. The June 2021 quarterly report of the Pentagon Inspector General about the US combat mission in Afghanistan made the following observations, worth reviewing here, in light of recent events: * "Medium" threat over two years. In June, when asked in a Senate hearing about the likelihood of al-Qaeda or IS regenerating inside Afghanistan and presenting a threat to the US homeland, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said, “I would assess it as medium. I would also say … that it would take possibly two years for them to develop that capability.”

That assessment may be upgraded, given events of the past month. * "No change" in al-Qaeda-Taliban ties. Although the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) said the Taliban is “very likely” to request that al-Qaeda restrict its actions, per the US-Taliban agreement of February 2020, McKenzie said that if “left unmolested [al-Qaeda militants] are certainly going to rebuild, restrengthen themselves, and we have no reason to doubt they … want to attack us in our homeland." The DIA assessment was that there has been "no change" in the Taliban-al-Qaeda relationship. * "educated extremists." IS-K this year has been "taking advantage of the political instability and violence in Afghanistan by using the opportunity to bolster its public support and recruitment efforts. … attacks have increased ISISK’s public visibility and will help bolster its recruitment of disenfranchised Taliban members and other “educated extremists,” according to the DIA. The United States and the Taliban share an interest in thwarting IS-K, but expectations should be low. This shared

interest does not lead to an "enemy of my enemy" logic, or any notion of partnership. The Biden administration gets this.

Last week we wrote that Afghanistan, even before the Taliban takeover, ranked "as one of the most at-risk, fragile economies in the world." in other words, a potentially failing or failed state, the textbook breeding ground for terrorist groups. And with the Taliban, it just got exponentially worse.

RUSSIA, CENTRAL ASIA SEE SECURITY VACUUM: Like the United States, Russia has no faith that the Taliban will be willing or able to keep al-Qaeda and other jihadi groups away, or contain the growing threat from IS-K. The Taliban takeover of Afghanistan "poses new challenges for Russia and its Central Asian allies such as Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan," writes Kirill Semenov. "While the Americans were present in Afghanistan, they could provide counterterrorism measures that benefitted Afghanistan’s Central Asian neighbors. But after the arrival of the Taliban, a security vacuum may emerge, and the Taliban may face serious difficulties in solving this problem."

SYRIAN JIHADIS INSPIRED BY TALIBAN TAKEOVER: Given that IS has been territorially defeated in Iraq and Syria, it’s no surprise that jihadis and foreign fighters, especially those experienced in Syria’s conflict, could soon make their way to Afghanistan.

The US-led coalition ended IS control of territory in Iraq and Syria in March 2019, thereby shifting to the fourth and final phase of the mission, termed "normalize, transitioning from training, developing, and assisting partner forces in Iraq and Syria to advising and enabling them."

IS, according to the DIA, remains cohesive but operates as a “low-level” and “well-entrenched” insurgency in rural areas of Iraq and Syria. The IS strategy, according to the June 2021 quarterly Pentagon Inspector General's report, "is to sustain the group’s notoriety, rebuild influence among the local populace, and reestablish a self-described 'caliphate' in the region." The relative success of the campaign to defeat IS in Iraq and Syria combined with the Taliban takeover has been an inspiration and magnet for kindred jihadis, especially those in Syria, and some may consider relocating to pick up the fight in Afghanistan.

In Idlib, Syria, which is primarily ruled by hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (hTS, or "Liberation of the Levant"), an al-Qaeda offshoot and US-designated terrorist group, "Jihadi factions are hailing the Tal-

iban’s takeover," writes Sultan al-Kanj from Idlib. even factions hostile to hTS have sung the Taliban’s praises, Kanj reports.

"Statements came from groups many observers believed had been eliminated. Instead, they had been quietly avoiding persecution by hTS, which has been cracking down on groups espousing ideologies similar to al-Qaeda's." hTS and its leader, Abu Mohammad al-Jolani, have been attempting a makeover in relations with the West, but the public relations campaign has hit a wall.

What the Taliban and hTS "share is the West’s deep skepticism of them," write Kanj and Amberin Zaman. "The suit-wearing Jolani’s dovish overtures fly in the face of his iron grip over Idlib."

Khaled al-Khateb reports on the outcry among civil-society activists over a slew of unfair detentions and trials. "Such factions capable of transit from Syria to Afghanistan may include, for example, Katibat al-Tawhid wa al-Jihad (not to be confused with the Iraqi group of the same name), consisting of fighters from the Central Asian republics, primarily Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, many of whom came from Russia where they were looking for work," writes Semenov.

ERDOGAN WEIGHS DECISION ON AIRPORT: Turkish President Recep Tayyip erdogan is considering an offer by the Taliban to help operate the airport, but he’s in no rush to make a decision, as we report here, after three and a half hours of meetings between Turkish diplomats and Taliban officials in Kabul.

Although Turkish discussions with the United States and NATO over airport security broke down, "Two Turkish security officials told Reuters that Ankara won’t help run the airport unless the Taliban allows Turkey to maintain a security presence. One official said the Taliban’s security plans, including watchtowers surrounding the airport, are not sufficient to protect Turkish personnel providing logistical support." Turkey’s role, if there were to be one, would be about more than airport security.

"Much will depend on Turkey's … readiness to provide a corridor for the transfer of foreign fighters from Syria to Afghanistan," writes Semenov. "Considering the current level of relations between Ankara and Moscow on the one hand and the Central Asian republics on the other, it’s unlikely Turkey will provide assistance to these groups. But their presence in Idlib and the potential for them to move to the Turkish-controlled zones in Syria also threatens Ankara’s security interests."

rate”, a much less ambitious proposal than the unified Islamic superpower sought by IS. As ISKP has regained strength over the past year, bolstered by a $20m (£15m) donation from the IS leadership in Iraq, its attacks have included an assassination campaign against mid-level Taliban officials. The bombing of Kabul airport was aimed as much at undermining the claim of the new rulers of Afghanistan to a monopoly of violence, as at the US. Unsurprisingly, the people who know most about ISKP on the ground – who have the names of its commanders, can run down its finance networks or even simply detain the arms dealers from which it has been buying significant amounts of weaponry in recent weeks – are the Taliban.

The US, by contrast, has just dismantled its intelligence networks and hardware, pulled out its staff, and paid off or evacuated its sources. Now the US is relying on what President Biden calls “over the horizon” counter-terrorist capacity. Yet no neighbouring country is likely to be enthusiastic about helping; and, though undoubtedly impres-

sive, the US intelligence’s long-range tools have their limits. These cannot alone produce information of the same quality as that garnered by people on the ground.

Meanwhile, the Taliban have clearly indicated their desire for international recognition, or at least acceptance. Quite how much their leaders are prepared to compromise core beliefs to achieve this is as yet unclear but, in practical terms, cooperation with the US in the battle against a mutual enemy is certainly possible. This might be no more than the secret sharing of intelligence. A Taliban tipoff for a US drone strike on a top ISKP commander would seem a mutually beneficial arrangement, for example. Security officials 7,000 miles away from Kabul would probably leave others to ponder the moral and ethical questions raised by such deals with an abhorrent regime.

But once again the US has found it cannot simply leave a country without consequences, and that the rules of the game are determined by those who live there, not by policymakers in Washington. So Washington needs to choose: which enemy, and which friend.

Jason Burke is the Guardian’s Africa correspondent. He covered the 2001 war in Afghanistan and his most recent book is The New Threat from Islamic Militancy.

Biden's blundered Afghanistan withdrawal requires keeping military in country THE TEMPTATION WILL BE TO ACCELERATE AMERICA'S WITHDRAWAL AND THAT OF OUR ALLIES. THIS WOULD BE A MISTAKE USA TodAy

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Michael O'hanlOn

he tragic news of a truck bombing near the airport in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Thursday that took the lives of 12 American service members, and injured 15, has dropped the nation to an even deeper level of heartache. Until now, the silver lining in the rapid collapse of the Afghan government and the seizing of power by the Taliban was the relative lack of bloodshed. Now, even that solace has been destroyed.

So what should the Biden administration do next? The temptation will be to accelerate America's withdrawal, and that of our allies.

This would be a mistake. More than before, we should be prepared to leave troops in the country past President Joe Biden’s arbitrary deadline of Tuesday, which never should have been viewed as binding – especially when dealing with an emergent Taliban government in violation of its own obligations under the Feb. 29, 2020, accord with the United States. It's impossible to fully assess the likelihood of further attacks of this type – attacks that are very hard to stop at the final line of defense. None of us has the tactical information that the president and our troops on the ground have. historically in Afghanistan, we have tried to stop terrorist acts with a complex and interlocking system of intelligence sources, Afghan troops at various checkpoints, airstrikes on suspected enemy assets and multiple barriers around major American positions. Almost all of those methods have been lost with the unfortunate developments that have resulted from Biden’s misguided April decision to end the assistance mission and bring home even the modest number of troops we still had in country this spring. even so, there must be a strong presumption against racing for the exits. It is not just that doing so would potentially leave a number of Americans, and many friendly Afghans who have worked with us, with even less hope of leaving the country. It would also signal to ISIS-K and the Taliban that we don't have the stomach to stand up to them – possibly putting any remaining Americans at even greater risk. Beyond that, to leave now or on any imminent timetable would concede further public relations victories to ISIS-K – the Afghanistan chapter of the Islamic State group that held power in Iraq and Syria some years ago – and to the Taliban as well. Although the Taliban and ISIS are not known to coordinate their efforts, and in fact have fought each other in the past, they share a common and publicly stated desire to drive the United States out of Afghanistan as soon as possible. Both would use an American departure as proof of their success and our decline. They would crow about it loudly and often. Their message of triumph would, just as it did in 2014 and 2015 in Iraq and Syria, allow them to recruit and motivate followers from around the world more successfully. Back then, when ISIS established its so-called caliphate in the Middle east, it wound up attracting supporters from dozens of countries, and organizing or inspiring bloody attacks from Paris to Brussels to San Bernardino, California. In the terrorist world, and especially those of al-Qaida and ISIS, success begets success, and facing down a superpower accords major bragging rights.

The Taliban are in a different category. Their leadership is capable of being strategic, and of showing restraint. We do not yet know whether they will do so consistently going forward. I doubt the Taliban have become kinder and gentler; we should not trust them, nor feel confident that their relatively more moderate behavior will continue. Nonetheless we have incentives – in the form of possible diplomatic recognition, access to Afghanistan’s financial holdings around the world, possible humanitarian aid in the months and years to come – that we can employ to reduce the odds they will use violence against us or our friends if we stay beyond Tuesday, something we must do at this point for the sake of human rights and American credibility. We should attack the Taliban militarily if they attack us in the future. After we do leave, those same instruments of diplomacy, finance and aid can be used to try to induce the Taliban to govern and to treat their own citizens, including women and non-Sunni Muslims, with dignity and equality.

No approach is a guarantee. But remaining for at least another month can constitute real leverage. We want Americans and Afghans to be safe, and to leave the country as safely as possible.

That means trying to push the Taliban in the most humane and least dangerous direction possible for longer-term gains. Yes, ISIS may attack us again in the days to come – that reality is a consequence of our decision to leave, and it is tragic. The United States needs to rescue its people and close friends, demonstrate its resolve, and regain its foreign-policy footing after a catastrophic decision to leave made by the president. At a time of fear and uncertainty, we need to keep those core goals in mind. And we need to set our nation on a course for long-term success.

Michael O’Hanlon is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Sunday, 29 august, 2021

buSineSS 09

lahore corporate corner KE installs new transformer at Korangi South Grid Station Karachi: K-Electric is installing an additional transformer at its Korangi South Grid, which supplies electricity to areas including Gulistan Market, Landhi, Hasrat Mohani Colony, and others. This equipment is critical to transforming electricity arriving from generation plants to consumer premises through KElectric’s network of 30,000 pole-mounted transformers.

Since privatization, K-Electric has added 19 new grid stations to its network for a total of 71 grids and is actively working to increase this number. The 40 MVA transformer is capable of supplying almost 36 additional Megawatts of electricity to its neighborhood, energizing between 10,000 to 20,000 additional homes. Earlier this month, K-Electric installed a similar transformer at the PRL Grid located at Korangi Creek, which enhanced the company’s ability to serve industrial and commercial activity in the area. Grid-level additions can be day-long operations, and KE has planned a shutdown of the Korangi South Grid on Tuesday, August 31 from 9 AM to 7 PM. During this time, KE’s operational teams will be working to complete all groundwork prior to the energization of the transformer. PREss RElEasE

‘Pakistan Prosperity Index’ reaches all-time high: think tank The Pakistan Prosperity Index (PPI) reached an all-time high of 135.9 in June 2021, an increase of 12.8 per cent after the decline in April and May 2021, said Policy Research Institute of Market Economy (PRIME), an Islamabad-based think tank, in its latest report compiled by Business Recorder. This figure signals an increase in economic prosperity at the back of higher business confidence and activity amid the fourth wave of Covid-19, added the institute. According to details, the trade volume witnessed an increase of Rs548 billion year-on-year (YoY) and Rs360 billion month-on-month (MoM) on account of resumption of business activities and opening up of international markets.

Private sector borrowing from banks showed a surge of Rs170 billion YoY and Rs25 billion MoM increase. This increasing trend can be credited to lower cost of borrowing and a reduction in the budget deficit, which has reduced the government’s borrowing needs from the commercial banks thus reducing the crowding out effect. In the context of purchasing power, the YoY Inflation was reported at 9.7 per cent, while the MoM inflation clocked at negative 0.3 per cent. The prevalent high levels of inflation are at the back of hike in food and energy prices. The report added that Large Scale Manufacturing (LSM) increased by 4.36 per cent MoM. “This increase can be attributed to the higher demand emanating from ease in lockdown, mass vaccination and opening up of business. In addition, higher production cost fueled by higher energy prices, and supply side disruptions of raw material all had a fair share in restricting LSM’s output. Notwithstanding, the overall economic outlook, as measured by PPI, seems to be encouraging”. “Addressing the supply side shocks of basic food items is pertinent to lower food inflation, which is the main cause of rising overall inflation in the economy. These supply side shocks call for more liberal trade measures and elimination of state intervention in the market,” it said. MONITORING REPORT

PaKIStan’S GSP-PluS StatuS SEcurE, DawooD aSSurES LAHORE

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DVISOR to Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood on Saturday said that there is no need to be worried about the Generalised Preferential System-Plus (GSP-Plus) status by European Union (EU) as Pakistan is likely to get an extension in this regard.

He was talking to the media after inaugurating the Pakistan Footwear Designers Hub (PFDH), a joint initiative of Punjab Industries and Commerce Department, Pakistan Footwear Manufacturers Association (PFMA) and United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) here at Gulberg-III. The advisor informed that he had held a meeting with the prime minister a few days back wherein it was decided to apply for another two year extension for the trade preference programme.

To a question, the PM’s advisor said that economic growth hinged on right and well-conceived trade and investment policies but unfortunately, in the past, Pakistan’s economic culture was import-centric.

“Even though Vietnamese and Bangladesh's shoe exports surpassed Pakistan’s, let me give you an example of mobile phones which were completely imported from other countries until a few years ago but now for the first time in Pakistan’s history, we are manufacturing and exporting mobile phones and last

‘NO DECLINE IN TRADE WITH AFGHANISTAN FOLLOWING ONGOING SITUATION’ month, some 5,000 to 10,000 mobile phones were exported which only became possible only because of prudent and viable economic policies of the present government," he said.

He added that the government is also fonrmulating policies for the shoe industry on the same patter.

About Afghanistan, the advisor said that everybody knew the situation in the neighbouring country whereas Pakistan was hopeful of an early return of routine life there; however, it was a good omen that trade between the two countries was not affected and consignments were still entering Afghanistan through the Torkham Border. In response to a query, he said that trade with India cannot not be started at this point in time. “Let us concentrate on our western border and once the western border is okay, we will focus on eastern border,” he added.

To a another question, he said that it was not only Pakistan that was hit by inflation and price hikes but the entire world was facing the same problem, and asserted that currently, commodity prices in the world had increased manifolds as prices of cement, steel and oil etc., in addition to containers’ charges and shipping costs were at an all-time high.

Dawood said the government was also focusing on the development of the agriculture sector and taking various measures to enhance crop yields, citing that Pakistan reaped bomber crops this year.

Regarding the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) fresh tranche, he said that he had talked to Federal Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin. He said that negotiations with the Fund were underway and the matter is expected to be settled by September end.

Moreover, he said that shoe designing in Pakistan played a very important role in local and export production, and it was a good omen that Pakistani designers were designing footwear in collaboration with American shoes designers while energising the culture of Swat, Hunza and Multan.

“I appreciate the efforts of the Punjab government, PFMA and UNIDO for setting up the Pakistan Footwear Designers Hub as it will not only help enable our youth, both male and female, to gain new experiences in this field but also increase exports and local industrial shoe production,” he said. He mentioned that the government has provided relief to the industry by reducing duties and taxes which would further be reduced for more grow and expansion.

He was of the view that local shoe designing would largely benefit the country’s Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and also substantially decrease shoe import, assuring that Ministry of Commerce would extend full support in this regard.

Razak Dawood vowed that Pakistan would recapture lost global shoe markets.

$1bn mobile phone export target fixed for FY22 The government has fixed mobile phone export target at $1 billion for the current fiscal year linked with the incentives offered to local manufacturers.

The announcement follows the first successful consignment of ‘Make in Pakistan’ 4G smartphones to the United Arab Emirates earlier this month.

While discussing the export opp¬or¬t¬unities with members of Pakistan Mobile Phone Manufacturers Association (PMPMA) and representatives of other leading makers and assemblers including Samsung, Oppo, Vivo, Tecno, Infinix and Inovi, Commerce Adviser Abdul Razak Dawood on Friday observed that it was very encouraging to see imports were going down as mobile phones were being manufactured locally.

“It’s also creating job opportunities for the locals and saving millions of dollars.” he added.

“I was also informed that small quantities of mobiles have now started to be exported,” the adviser told the meeting. This is a testimony that our mobile phone manufacturing policy is on track, he claimed.

Separately, while addressing a press conference along with Minister for Finance Shaukat Tarin and other business leaders from the different Industrial sectors, Razak said the government had fixed the target for the country’s total exports at $38.7 billion dur-

ing the current fiscal year out of which $31.2 billion export target was fixed for goods while the rest $7.5 billion for services sector.

“So far, we are on target in goods’ exports while we are also hopeful to achieve the services exports’ target,” he added.

The adviser noted that at present, pressure was mounting on the country’s imports which would be controlled.

He said the imports of the country were high because traditionally Pakistan always relied on trade that was not ‘Made in Pakistan’.

“Now we are implementing the policy of ‘Made in Pakistan’.

The best example of which is that the number of locally manufactured mobile phones have now exceeded the phones that were imported,” he added.

In addition, he pointed out that the industrialization in the country was increasing because of tariff rationalisation.

He said the government had

waived off the tariff on 50 per cent raw material for enhancing the manufacturing of the country.

He said export diversification, focusing 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 to 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.

The adviser said 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.

Razak said at present, the share of engineering goods exports in the global trade market was 51 per cent.

He said Pakistan now wanted to make a name for itself in the world in non-traditional sectors, including engineering and pharmaceuticals.

He said the country’s information technology (IT) exports had grown at 47 percent, which indicates that IT exports crossed the mark of $ 2 billion. NEWs DEsK

Prices of essential food items skyrocket The weekly inflation, based on the Sensitive Price Index (SPI), for the week ended August 26 registered a meagre gain of 0.22 per cent for the combined income group going up from 151.80 points during the week ended August 19, 2021 to 152.14 points in the week under review. According to the provisional figures released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), the average prices of 22 essential items, including chicken, onions, garlic, eggs, cooking oil, mustard oil, vegetable ghee, pulse mash, fresh milk, sugar refined and wheat flour rose were selected in a basket of goods.

Prices of five items, including tomatoes, potatoes and LPG 11.67 kg cylinder declined.

Meanwhile, the rates of 24 essential goods recorded no change. During the week under review, prices of chicken went up by 9.52 per cent, pulse masoor 9.32 per cent, onions 7.55 per cent, garlic 5.21 per cent, eggs 2.86 per cent, vegetable 1kg ghee 1.8 per cent and cooking oil 0.86 per cent. However, prices of tomatoes declined by 29.88 per cent, followed

by LPG 2.63 per cent and potatoes 2.11 per cent. On a year-on-year (YoY) basis, the inflation based on the SPI increased 12.67 per cent. The SPI for the lowest income group increased 0.20 per cent compared to the previous week. The index for the group stood at 163.94 points against 163.62 points in the previous week. MONITORING REPORT

India's Future files new case against Amazon in top court over $3.4bn retail deal NEW DELHI aGENCIEs

India’s Future Retail on Saturday filed a new case against Amazon.com Inc at the Supreme Court in its latest effort to seek clearance for its $3.4 billion retail assets sale, which the U.S. firm has challenged.

The Supreme Court this month dealt a blow to Future when it said an interim decision by a Singapore arbitrator in October 2020 that put its deal with Reliance Industries on hold - following Amazon's complaint - was valid in India.

The top court had also said Future could not appeal a lower court’s decision against it. The retailer is now asking the top court to

hear the challenge, people familiar with the case said.

In its over 6,000-page filing, Future has argued that if the deal with Reliance doesn’t go through, it would cause “unimaginable” damage to the group, including possible job losses for 35,575 employees, and put at risk roughly 280 billion rupees ($3.81 billion) in bank loans and debentures.

“There is extreme urgency to hear this petition,” Future counsel Yugandhara Pawar Jha said in the Supreme Court filing, which is not public. Reuters has seen the filing.

Amazon and Future spokespersons did not respond to requests for comment on Saturday.

Amazon has for months been locked in

a dispute with Future, and accuses the Indian firm of violating contracts when it sold its retail assets to market leader Reliance last year. Future denies any wrongdoing.

The outcome of the tussle involving two of the world’s richest men, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Reliance’s Mukesh Ambani, is seen as reshaping India’s pandemic-hit shopping sector and deciding whether Amazon can blunt Reliance's dominance of the country's nearly trillion-dollar retail market.

The dispute started after Future, India’s second-largest retailer, with more than 1,700 stores, including popular Big Bazaar supermarkets, entered a deal last year to sell its retail businesses to Reliance after COVID-19 hit its operations hard.

Sunday, 29 August, 2021

10 FOREIGN NEWS

LAHORE

MideaST leaderS plUS FranCe MeeT in Baghdad To Talk SeCUriTy BAGHDAD

S

REUTERS

EVERAL Middle Eastern leaders and French President Emmanuel Macron met in Baghdad on Saturday at a summit hosted by Iraq, which wants its neighbours to talk to each other instead of settling scores on its territory.

Iraq's security has improved in recent years but it is still plagued by big power rivalries and heavily armed militia groups.

Competition for influence in the Middle East between Iran on one side and the United States, Israel and Gulf Arab states on the other has made Iraq the scene of attacks against US forces and assassinations of Iranian and Iraqi paramilitary leaders.

The strained relationships within the region have also led to disruptions to global oil supplies with attacks on Saudi Arabian oil installations - blamed on but denied

by Tehran.

Organisers of the Baghdad summit said they did not expect any diplomatic breakthroughs. "Getting these countries to sit around the table - that will be achievement enough," said one Iraqi government official.

Heads of state attending included Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, King Abdullah of Jordan, Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and Macron.

Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates sent their heads of government, and Turkey its foreign minister.

Macron was due to stay an extra day, meet Iraqi leaders and visit French special forces fighting Islamic State insurgents.

Shi'ite Muslim Iran and Sunni Saudi Arabia, longtime rivals for regional dominance, sent their foreign ministers. The two countries resumed direct talks in Iraq in April this year, but those meetings yielded no breakthroughs.

Iranian officials have said they are focused more on the outcome of talks in Vienna with Western powers over Iran's nuclear programme and international sanctions.

"The meeting in Iraq ... is only focused on Iraq and how the regional countries can cooperate to help Iraq,"

Two die in Japan after shots from suspended Moderna vaccines: Japan govt TOKYO REUTERS

Two people died after receiving Moderna Covid19 vaccine shots that were among lots later suspended following the discovery of contaminants, Japan's health ministry said on Saturday. The men in their 30s died this month within days of receiving their second Moderna doses, the ministry said in a release. Each had a shot from one of three manufacturing lots suspended on Thursday. The causes of death are being investigated. Japan halted the use of 1.63 million Moderna doses shipped to 863 vaccination centres nationwide, more than a week after the domestic distributor, Takeda Pharmaceutical received reports of contaminants in some vials. "At this time, we do not have any evidence that these deaths are caused by the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine," Moderna and Takeda said in a statement on Saturday. "It is important to conduct a formal investigation to determine whether there is any connection." The government has also said no safety or efficacy issues had been identified and the suspension of the three Moderna batches was a precaution. Fumie Sakamoto, the infection control manager at St. Luke's International Hospital in Tokyo, cautioned against drawing a connection between the shots and the fatalities reported on Saturday. "There may only be a temporal relationship between vaccination and death," Sakamoto told Reuters.

"There are so many things we still don't know to make any conclusions on these two cases." The contaminants found in some vials in Japan are believed to be metallic particles, public broadcaster NHK reported, citing health ministry sources.

Japan has administered more than 124 million Covid-19 vaccine shots, with about 44 percent of the population fully inoculated. As of August 8, 991 people had died in Japan after receiving shots of Pfizer Inc's vaccine and 11 after receiving Moderna's, but no causality between the injections and the deaths has been established, according to the health ministry. Adverse reactions have been reported at a frequency of 0.01 percent for the Moderna shot. In the fatalities reported on Saturday, each man had a fever the day after his second dose and died two days after getting the fever. There has been no evidence that their shots contained contaminants, a health ministry official told reporters.

an Iranian official told Reuters ahead of the Baghdad summit.

The US-Iran rivalry brought the Middle East to the brink of war after the United States under former US President Donald Trump killed Iran's military mastermind QassemSoleimani in a drone strike at Baghdad airport in 2020.

Iran-backed militias have launched increasingly sophisticated drone and rocket attacks against US forces stationed in Iraq, and also fired drones at Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia has blamed attacks on its oil installations on Iran - a charge Tehran denies.

The US military drawdown in Iraq and the new nuclear talks with Iran instigated by President Joe Biden's administration have prompted Riyadh to favour engagement with Iran as a way to contain tensions without abandoning its security concerns.

Ahead of the summit, UAE Vice-President Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum met Qatar's alThani and described him as a "brother and friend" in a

Pentagon holds talks with Chinese military for first time under Biden: official WASHINGTON REUTERS

A senior Pentagon official held talks with the Chinese military for the first time since President Joe Biden took office in January to focus on managing risk between the two countries, a US official told Reuters on Friday.

The United States has put countering China at the heart of its national security policy for years and Biden's administration has described rivalry with Beijing as "the biggest geopolitical test" of this century.

Relations between China and the United States have grown increasingly tense, with the world's two largest economies clashing over everything from Taiwan and

China's human rights record to its military activity in the South China Sea. Despite the tensions and heated rhetoric, US military officials have long sought to have open lines of communication with their Chinese counterparts to be able to mitigate potential flare-ups or deal with any accidents.

Michael Chase, deputy assistant secretary of defence for China, spoke last week with Chinese Major General Huang Xueping, deputy director for the People's Liberation Army Office for International Military Cooperation. "(They) utilised the US-PRC Defence Telephone Link to conduct a secure video conference," the US official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

US coronavirus hospitalisations hit eight-month high over 100,000 WASHINGTON REUTERS

The number of coronavirus patients in US hospitals has breached 100,000, the highest level in eight months, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, as a resurgence of Covid-19 spurred by the highly contagious Delta variant strains the nation's health care system.

A total of 101,433 Covid patients were hospitalised, according to data published on Friday morning. US Covid hospitalisations have more than doubled in the past month. Over the past week, more than 500 people with Covid were admitted to hospitals each hour on average, according to data from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

The United States reached its all-time peak for hospitalisations on January 14 when there were over 142,000 coronavirus-infected patients in hospital beds, according to HHS. As the vaccination campaign rapidly expanded in early 2021, hospitalisations fell and hit a 2021 low of 16,000 in late June.

However, Covid admissions rose suddenly in July as the Delta variant became the dominant strain. The US South is the epicentre of the latest outbreak but hospitalisations are rising nationwide.

Florida has the highest number of Covid-19 hospitalised patients, followed by Texas and California, according to data from the US Department of Health

and Human Services. More than 95 percent of intensive care beds are currently occupied in Alabama, Florida, and Georgia.

The Delta variant, which is rapidly spreading among mostly the unvaccinated US population, has also sent a record number of children to the hospital.

There are currently over 2,000 confirmed and suspected pediatricCovid hospitalisations, according to HHS. Three states - California, Florida, and Texas amount to about 32 percent of the total confirmed and suspected pediatricCovid hospitalisations in the United States.

Children currently make up about 2.3 percent of the nation's Covid hospitalisations. Kids under 12 are not eligible to receive the vaccine.

The country is hoping for vaccine authorisation for younger children by autumn with the Pfizer Inc vaccine.

Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, said this week that the nation could get Covid under control by early next year if vaccinations ramp up.

The US has given at least one dose of vaccine to about 61 percent of its population, according to the CDC. The United States, which leads the world in the most deaths and cases, has reported 38.5 million infections and over 634,000 deaths since the pandemic began last year, according to a Reuters tally.

sign of warming ties between the Gulf rivals.

Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt in 2017 severed ties with Qatar over charges it supports terrorism, which Qatar denied.

Since a deal in January, Riyadh and Cairo have restored diplomatic ties. Abu Dhabi and Manama have yet to do so.

Complicating the security landscape in Iraq, Turkish troops are battling Kurdish separatists in the north. Their presence has drawn rocket fire from militias.

"Both sides agreed on the importance of maintaining open channels of communication between the two militaries," the official added.

Officials said US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin has yet to speak with his Chinese counterpart, in part because there was a debate about which Chinese official was Austin's counterpart.

Vice President Kamala Harris said on Thursday that the United States welcomes competition and does not seek conflict with Beijing, but will speak up on issues such as maritime disputes in the South China Sea. China, Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan lay claim to parts of the South China Sea, which is crossed by vital shipping lanes and contains gas fields and rich fishing grounds.

Biden has ramped up sanctions on China over alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang and Hong Kong.

In a shift from his predecessor as president, Donald Trump, Biden has broadly sought to rally allies and partners to help counter what the White House says is China's increasingly coercive economic and foreign policies.

US reports first Covid-19 infection in a deer CHICAGO REUTERS

The US government on Friday said it had confirmed the world's first cases of Covid-19 in deer, expanding the list of animals known to have tested positive for the disease. The US Department of Agriculture reported infections of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, in wild white-tailed deer in the state of Ohio, according to a statement. There were no reports of deer showing symptoms of infection, the USDA said. "We do not know how the deer were exposed to SARS-CoV-2," USDA spokeswoman Lyndsay Cole wrote in an e-mail to Reuters. "It’s possible they were exposed through people, the environment, other deer, or another animal species." The USDA has previously reported Covid-19 in animals including dogs, cats, tigers, lions, snow leopards, otters, gorillas and minks. Worldwide, most animal infections were reported in species that had close contact with a person with Covid-19, according to the agency. The USDA reported last month that whitetailed deer populations in Illinois, Michigan, New York, and Pennsylvania were exposed to SARS-CoV-2, based on a study that analysed serum samples from free-ranging deer for antibodies to the disease. The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine collected samples from the infected deer in Ohio from January to March as part of ongoing studies, the USDA said. The samples were presumed to be positive for Covid-19 in university tests, and the cases were confirmed at USDA's National Veterinary Services Laboratories, according to the statement.

Sunday, 29 August, 2021

SPORTS 11

LAHORE

IndIa cOllapSe agaIn aS england Seal crUShIng wIn In thIrd teSt LONDON

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AFP

NGLAND thrashed India by an innings and 76 runs to win the third Test at Headingley on Saturday with more than a day to spare. Victory saw England level the five-match series at 1-1 after India’s 151-run win in the second Test at Lord’s.

India, 215-2 overnight in their second innings, collapsed against the new ball, losing eight wickets for 63 runs in 19.3 overs on Saturday with Ollie Robinson taking 5-65.

India’s 278 all out, however, was 200

runs more than their woeful first innings of 78 – made after captain ViratKohli won the toss – which saw England great James Anderson rip through the top order with 3-6.

The tourists resumed Saturday on 2152 but, with 80 overs bowled, England took the new ball straight from the start of Saturday’s play.

From the moment CheteshwarPujara was lbw to Robinson without adding to his overnight 91, lbw playing no shot to Robinson, England were in complete command Saturday, with Kohli falling soon afterwards for 55 – his first fifty of the series.

The match was a personal triumph for

England captain Joe Root, who top-scored with 121 out of a total on 432 on his Headingley home ground.

It was Root’s third century of the series and sixth of the calendar year.

Meanwhile, the rest of England’s often fallible top order all posted fifties, with Dawid Malan compiling 70 on his Test recall after Dom Sibley was dropped from the team.

Root said, "It was fantastic and clinical performance.The two big lads were exceptional. They built pressure early on. Three maidens this morning, and we felt we were in a good place to take wickets. When

chances came we took them. [Comeback after Lord's] Look at the talent in the dressing room we know we're capable, just have to be more consistent. Brilliant with the ball but the opening partnership with the bat was fantastic. And yesterday, to hold the rate and build pressure, when it wasn't going for us we knew with the second new ball we always had an opportunity today."

The fourth Test at the Oval starts on Thursday.

BRIEF SCORES: India 1st Innings 78 (J Anderson 3-6, C Overton 3-14) England 1st Innings 432 (J Root 121, D Malan 70, H Hameed 68, R Burns 61; Mohammed Shami 4-95) India 2nd Innings 278 (C Pujara 91, R Sharma 59, V Kohli 55; O Robinson 5-65, C Overton 3-47) RESULT: England won by an innings and 76 runs

PM approves framework for promotion of school, domestic cricket NEWs DEsK Prime Minister Imran Khan Saturday approved a framework for the promotion of school and domestic cricket, advising the cricket association of Central Punjab for implementing the model in its entirety.

Central Punjab Cricket Association Chief Abdullah Khan Sumbal briefed the prime minister on domestic cricket with a special focus on school cricket.

Following the presentation, Imran appreciated the model developed by body, an organisation under the

Pakistan Cricket Board, and called for its nationwide strategic replication.

The prime minister pledged his support to the School Cricket Championship scheduled to begin from September 15 in central Punjab and observed school cricket had immense potential to generate and groom raw talent.

Punjab Chief Secretary Jawad Rafique Malik highlighted the role played by the Punjab government in this initiative.

The meeting was attended by Minister for InterProvincial Coordination Fehmida Mirza and PCB CEO

Ronaldo set to complete Man United return after day of high transfer drama LONDON ReuteRs

Manchester United capped a day of high-transfer drama by agreeing on a deal for Cristiano Ronaldo to return to the club, after rivals Manchester City had a reported change of heart.

The transfer is subject to the agreement of personal terms, visa and a medical, but the 36-year-old appears set to leave Juventus to re-join the club where he won eight major trophies between 2003-2009.

Fan favourite Ronaldo’s return generated so much excitement that United’s website crashed shortly after they announced the deal, while the club’s share price rose nearly 7 percent to $18.47.

Initial media reports had said Ronaldo, who told Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri he wanted to leave the Turin club on Thursday, was likely to move to United’s rivals City, but Sky Sports said the Premier League champions had decided against doing a deal.

Financial details were not disclosed, but the BBC claimed the fee was 15 million euros for Ronaldo upfront, with eight million euros added on. Sky Italia said he will sign a two-year contract worth 480,000 pounds ($660,048.00) a week.

The day of drama started when Allegri, speaking ahead of Juve’s Serie A clash with Empoli this weekend, said Ronaldo had informed him on Thursday of his decision to leave the club.

“Yesterday, Cristiano told me that he no longer plans to play for Juventus,” he told a news conference.

“This is why he will not be called up tomorrow.

He did not train yesterday. He told his team mates this morning. I am not surprised at anything, in football there is the market and there are the needs of individuals.

“He made his choice. Life goes on.”

Ronaldo, who won two Serie A titles and a Copa Italia trophy during his three years in Turin, posted a farewell message to Juve fans on Instagram later on Friday.

“Today I leave a wonderful club, the largest in Italy and certainly one of the largest in Europe,” he said. “I gave my heart and soul for Juventus and I will always love the city of Turin until my last days.

BEAUTIFUL HISTORY: “I can look back and realise that we have achieved great goals, not all we wanted, but still, we have written a beautiful page of history together.”

Allegri’s comments sparked a media frenzy, with reports in both the Italian and British media claiming Ronaldo’s agent, Jorge Mendes, had already agreed personal terms with City — a move that would have proved controversial given their rivalry with United.

City coach Pep Guardiola said the power was in

Ronaldo’s hands.

“I cannot say much,” said the Spanish coach when asked about Ronaldo at a news conference to preview Saturday’s home match against Arsenal. “Only I can say that in this three or four days left until the transfer window shuts, everything can happen.

“In my personal view, there are few players that, and I think Cristiano Ronaldo is included and (Paris St Germain’s new signing Lionel) Messi of course, decide where they are going to play.”

But United had not given up hope of securing a return to Old Trafford for a player who spearheaded one of the most successful periods in the famous club’s history.

“We’ve always had good communication,” United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said of his relationship with Ronaldo.

“I know (United’s Portugal midfielder) Bruno (Fernandes) has been talking to him as well and he knows what we feel about him. And if he was ever going to move away from Juventus he knows we’re here,” he told a news conference on Friday.

Hours after Solskjaer’s comments, United announced the deal, something their website could not cope with.

“It is fantastic news,” former United defender Gary Neville told Sky Sports. “It’s a little bit nostalgic and nostalgia doesn’t always work in football, it sometimes kicks you when you don’t expect it.

“The idea of him going to Manchester City was torture for Manchester United fans. I said last week, if there is a big player available then United have to be in the market for that player.

“He’ll play regularly, he’ll play as a No 9, I’m sure they’ll put legs in and around him. He will score goals and Cristiano Ronaldo will be coming to win trophies, win personal accolades and set the Premier League on fire.”

Ronaldo spent six seasons at Old Trafford from 2003-2009 where he won eight major trophies plus the Ballon d’Or as the world’s best player in 2008 before sealing a then world record 80 million pounds move to Real Madrid.

At United, he scored 118 goals and won the Premier League Golden Boot in the 2007-08 season, the year he helped the Old Trafford club claim their last Champions League title.

The transfer means Ronaldo and Messi, winners of 11 of the last 12 Ballon d’Or awards between them, have both made surprising switches this summer.

Wasim Khan among others.

IMRAN APPRECIATES MANI’S CONTRIBUTIONS: Meanwhile, Imran acknowledged former Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ehsan Mani for his contributions towards the promotion of cricket in the country. In a tweet, the premier wrote: “Want to thank Ehsan Mani for his contribution to cricket in Pakistan during his three-year tenure as Chairman PCB. I especially appreciate his setting up, for the first time, a regional domestic cricket structure in Pakistan and his role in bringing back international cricket teams to Pakistan.”

Olympic gold, 2020 near miss motivate Zverev at US Open NEW YORK AFP

Winning Olympic gold has helped ignite a Grand Slam fire in Alexander Zverev as he chases a US Open title after coming within two points of capturing it last year. The German fourth seed, coming off a title last week at Cincinnati in an event where he hadn't won a prior match, burns for his first Grand Slam title after falling to Dominic Thiem in last year's championship match on the New York hardcourts. "It fuelled gas into the fire a little bit because I was two points away from winning it," Zverev said Friday.

"I've practiced on centre court now a few times. There are still memories there. Still have that in the back of my mind. "I'm very motivated. I'm very much looking forward to getting back on that court and starting to compete because I was not far away." Thiem and 20time Grand Slam champions Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are out with injuries and Novak Djokovic, a 20-time Slam winner going for the calendar-year Grand Slam, lost to Zverev in the Olympic semi-finals. "It has been a pretty incredible month for me," Zverev said. "Winning the gold medal is something that you don't even dream about as a tennis player because it's just so surreal in a way. "It's incredible the feeling that gave me, and also the Cincinnati week has been pretty good. I feel well. I hope I can kind of continue this wave here in New York and we'll see how it goes." The haunting memory of being so close to a long-sought Grand Slam title has given the 24-year-old something to prove in the Flushing Meadows fortnight. "Two points away last year here. I wasn't far away. I've always since then still had memories of that. I still have thoughts on that," he said. "I'm very happy to be back here, because now I can feel like I can go out on that court and I can prove myself, whether I got better since last year. I feel like I'm playing great tennis this year." Zverev is among a seeded group of rising young stars that also includes Daniil Medvedev, StefanosTsitsipas, Andrey Rublev and Matteo Berrettini. "We're having great battles. We're having very entertaining matches," Zverev said. "I think a lot of tennis fans are also looking forward to those matchups." But the German warned not to expect another "Big Three" era such as Nadal, Federer and Djokovic have produced. "The top three guys, they've been dominating for the past 15 or 20 years. We might never see that again," Zverev said.

"Don't expect this group of guys to be the next Djokovic, Federer and Nadal. I don't think the four of us are going to win 20 Grand Slams in the next 15 years each. That's not how it's going to go. I think we're going to split them among us maybe.

"But the dominance those guys had is something you see once in a lifetime probably."

Sunday, 29 August, 2021

prayer timings

NEWS

Any ‘susTAinABle soluTion’ in AfghAnisTAn musT inClude PAkisTAn: grAhAm ISLAMABAD

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staff report

NY sustainable solution in war-battered Afghanistan must include Pakistan, a senior Republican Senator said Saturday.

Calling the region “very complicated” and the current period “very dangerous”, Lindsey Graham reminded the American establishment in a series of tweets that “Pakistan is a nucleararmed nation, and there is a Pakistan version of the Taliban who wishes to topple the Pakistani

government and military”, in an apparent reference to the proscribed Afghanistan-based Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan.

Therefore, “any sustainable solution in Afghanistan must include Pakistan,” he said.

Graham said he spoke with Pakistan’s Ambassador in Washington, Asad Majeed Khan, about the situation in Afghanistan.

Responding to his tweet, Khan recalled he briefed Graham on Pakistan’s efforts to support evacuations from Afghanistan.

“Very much appreciate the efforts of the Pakistani government to assist with the evacuation

of US citizens, our allies, and other nations,” Graham said.

In recent days, Pakistan has decided against going it alone with regard to extending recognition to the Taliban as Afghanistan’s legitimate government. The government said it would take a decision on the matter “in consultation with regional and international powers, especially China, Turkey and the United States of America.”

While it has not officially announced a government yet, the group, which captured Kabul on August 15, has been quietly appointing their leaders to different

administrative and political offices in the country.

Earlier this week, they appointed senior veterans to the posts of finance minister and defence minister — appointments a commander said were provisional.

While appointing loyalists to senior positions, the Taliban have also ordered mid-level officials at the finance ministry and central bank to return to work.

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid told reporters in Kabul on Tuesday that it “was time for people to work for their country”.

Pakistanis travelling abroad can now get Covid-19 booster shots ISLAMABAD inp

Pakistanis travelling abroad can get additional coronavirus vaccine doses from September 1, according to the requirements of the country they are heading to.

“Additional vaccination to travellers will be administered at select immunisation centres. A fee of Rs1,270 will be charged from

them,” a notification issued on Saturday stated.

The payment of the vaccine can be deposited at all branches of the National Bank of Pakistan.

Earlier this week, the government decided to open a special vaccination category for people who require a particular vaccine to travel abroad. There are two conditions for this. The government is mulling over starting

booster shots for health workers and people with weak immune systems. If this is approved, the vaccination will begin from October 1.

On Friday, Pakistan reached another milestone of vaccinating over 50 million people across the country. The NCOC has urged people to get the second dose of the vaccine after 28 days. They don’t have to wait for another SMS from the government.

FAJR SUNRISE

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Pakistan ‘keenly observing’ Afghanistan situation, says minister Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry on Saturday said the world should realise that the situation in Afghanistan could give rise to another humanitarian crisis and turning a blind eye to the war-torn country could worsen the crisis. “We are keenly observing the situation in Afghanistan,” Fawad said while speaking to the media in Karachi this afternoon. “The world has to make decisions with sagacity, not by the use of force,” he said adding, “Don’t wait for the destruction of Afghanistan. I urge all countries to not leave the country alone.” Highlighting that the world was cognisant of Pakistan’s efforts pertaining to the evacuations, he said, “The bigger problem at the moment is about filling the gap of leadership in Afghanistan.” “It is not up to Pakistan to form a government in Afghanistan; it is the Afghans who can elect a government.” He recalled that Pakistan had expressed its concerns about the neighbouring country beforehand. “If the world listened to Pakistan earlier, it wouldn’t be in such a dismal state.” “We still advise the global community to act on Pakistan’s advice,” the minister said adding, “We will provide all-out support to Kabul.” Fawad further stated, “The government came to power in difficult circumstances, but Pakistan is now moving towards stability.” The country, he added, handled the Covid-19 pandemic well and further said that “the current account deficit is significantly better compared to what it was before.” “We paid attention to exports and lowered imports. Inflation saw a 27 per cent increase while income increased by 37 per cent. We provided an additional Rs1,100 billion to the farmers.” Fawad further stated that the foreign policy will improve further.

“We put forth three-year performance before the masses and with it [Prime Minister] Imran Khan set a tradition.” He went on to add, “Did the chief minister Sindh put forth his performance before the public.” “Sindh government isn’t giving Sehat cards to the public.” He reiterated that the provincial government received Rs1,900 billion in the past three years, and asked “where has that money gone.” “They should either work themselves or let us do it. The basic development work cannot be done without [the coordination of] the provincial government.”

“What would the local government departments do if the chief minister kept all powers to himself,” said Fawad and urged the Supreme Court to revoke Article 140 [in the province]. “PPP will be eliminated in Sindh.” Turning his guns towards the opposition, Fawad said, “PPP and PML-N have turned into regional political parties. Maryam Nawaz and Bilawal Bhutto have done nothing in their lives.” “Neither of them ever gave a policy direction on any issue. “ The fact is, he added, the opposition doesn’t have a clear policy. “Shehbaz Sharif should first decide as to who will lead the party.” The also minister reiterated that Nawaz Sharif will have to be answerable to the public. “He should return to Pakistan and return the country’s money.” news Desk

Biden says China withholding information on Covid origin US President Joe Biden on Friday said Washington and allies would continue to press the Chinese government for answers about the origin of the coronavirus.

China had accused the US of playing politics over a probe into the source of Covid-19. And a World Health Organization-led report had ruled out a laboratory leak to have caused the outbreak. But US intelligence agencies said in a report published Friday that support from China was needed to settle the debate.

WHAT DID BIDEN SAY? Biden, who received a classified report earlier this week summarizing the investigation he had ordered, accused China of deliberately preventing access to information. “Critical information about the origins of this pandemic exists in the People’s Republic of China, yet from the beginning, government officials in China have worked to prevent international investigators and members of the global public health community from accessing it,” Biden said in a statement. “To this day, the PRC continues to reject calls for transparency and withhold information, even as the toll of this pandemic continues to rise,” he added. The US intelligence community released the highly anticipated report on Friday. It failed to present a clear conclusion. The report said both animal-tohuman transmission and a laboratory incident were “plausible hypotheses.”

However, the intelligence agencies “remained divided” on the most likely origin of Covid-19. According to the report, Chinese authorities had no knowledge of the virus before the first outbreak. It also ruled out that the virus was developed as a “biological weapon.” agencies

Where is the Afghan Taliban’s supreme leader?

KABUL: In the days since taking power in Afghanistan, a wide range of Taliban figures have entered Kabul — hardened commandos, armed madrassa students and greying leaders back from years of exile. There has been one major exception — the group’s supreme leader. Hibatullah Akhundzada — the so-called commander of the faithful — has shepherded the Taliban as its chief since 2016 when snatched from relative obscurity to oversee a movement in crisis. After taking the insurgency’s reins, the cleric was tasked with the mammoth challenge of unifying a movement that briefly fractured during a bitter power struggle. The infighting came as the group was hit with successive blows — the assassination of Akhundzada’s predecessor and the revelation that its leaders had hidden the death of Taliban founder Mullah Omar.

Little is still known about Akhundzada’s day-to-day role, with his public profile largely limited to the release of annual messages during Islamic holidays. Apart from a single photograph released by the Taliban, the leader has never made a public appearance and his whereabouts remain largely unknown. Since taking control of Kabul in mid-August, the group has remained tight-lipped about Akhundzada’s movements. “You will see him soon, God willing,” Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid told reporters this week when asked about Akhundzada’s whereabouts. The ongoing silence comes as the heads of various Taliban factions have openly preached in Kabul’s mosques, met with opposition figures, and even chatted with Afghan cricket officials in recent days.

THE SECRET HISTORY: The Taliban have a long history of keeping their top leader in the shadows. The group’s enigmatic founder Mullah Mohammad Omar was notorious for his hermit ways and rarely travelled to Kabul when the group was in power in the 1990s. Instead, Omar stayed largely out of sight in his compound in Kandahar, reluctant even to meet visiting delegations. Still, his word was rule and no singular figure has emerged to command the movement with the same respect.

Laurel Miller — the head of the Asia programme at the International Crisis Group — said Akhundzada “appears to have adopted a reclusive style similar” to that of Omar.

The secrecy might also be fuelled by security reasons, Miller added, citing the assassination of his predecessor Mullah Akhtar Mansour by a US drone strike. “A Taliban spokesperson has indicated their leader will emerge soon, and he might have reasons to do that to quash suspicions of his demise,” Miller told AFP. “But it’s also possible that after showing himself he would withdraw and exercise his authority in a remote fashion, as Mullah Omar did.” Akhundzada’s absence follows years of rumours about his health, with chatter in Pakistan and Afghanistan suggesting he had contracted Covid or had been killed in a bombing. There has never been much in the way to prove these rumours, but Akhundzada’s secrecy comes at a sensitive time for the erstwhile insurgency. There are myriad Taliban factions comprising groups from across Afghanistan, representing a vast array of constituents. afp 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