Epaper – January 1 KHI 2021

Saturday, 1 January, 2022 I 27 Jamadi-al-Awwal, 1443 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XII No 184 I 12 Pages I Karachi Edition

PM IMran khan launches naya PakIstan natIonal sehat card PML-N MPA Bilal Yasin injured in firing incident

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RIMe Minister Imran Khan has launched the Naya Pakistan National Sehat Card on Friday. The premier revealed that under the programme, each family would be eligible for medical treatment up to one million rupees per year.

The PM, while hailing his party, went on to state that not everyone can take such revolutionary decisions as the PTI did, citing the example of the health card as one.

“Today, every family in Punjab will be eligible for a health card,” he stated while adding that a welfare state is one where all citizens have equal opportunity for growth and prosperity.

The PM further stated that while the welfare state model can be seen in contemporary europe, it is not seen in Muslim countries.

He went on to add that like the State of Madina, the state accepted responsibility for society’s underprivileged segment.

He added that “we want to ensure that everyone in rural areas has access to health care, and by March 2022, all families in Punjab will have health cards.”

While taking a jibe at PML-N’s agenda of transforming Pakistan into an “Asian Tiger”, the PM said that “Asian Tiger is nothing in comparison to the State of Madinah; we are attempting to put Pakistan on a path of prosperity.”

He stated that now that the government will not spend money on building hospitals because private individuals will build them instead.

He said the government would close down the government hospitals in farflung areas, where the doctors do not

coronavIrus In

PakIstan

want to be posted, to save the cost.

He told the gathering that the time will prove that the initiative of Sehat Card, involving almost equal funding, would have far better outcomes than the Metro buses or Orange train.

The prime minister said that a silent revolution is in the making through the government’s initiative of housing construction loans by banks for the salaried class after the government removed all the impediments.

He said the people applied for loans worth Rs260 billion, out of which Rs110 billion worth loans have been approved and Rs34 billion disbursed already.

According to sources, the PM will also chair different meetings on administrative and political affairs, development projects and law and order. news desk

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader and MPA Bilal Yasin sustained bullet injuries after two unidentified men opened fire at him in Lahore on Friday.

According to the police, Bilal was on his way when some unidentified men, riding a motorcycle, opened fire at him. Resultantly, he received two bullets, one in the stomach and other in the leg.

He was shifted to Lahore’s Mayo Hospital for medical treatment.

Separately, PML-N MPA Khawaja Imran Nazeer told a news outlet that Bilal was visiting a PML-N worker Mian Ikram Kami’s house to attend a meeting of party workers.

Two unidentified men opened fire on him outside Kami’s residence as a result of which Bilal sustained wounds in the abdomen and one of his legs, Imran added.

Later, Mayo Hospital Medical

Govt increases petrol price by Rs4 per litre

CONFIRMED CASES:

1,295,376

NEW CASES:

6

515

RECOVERED:

STORY ON PAGE 03

1,256,337 28,927 PUNJAB:

481,689

444,977

KPK:

BALOCHISTAN:

181,370

33,633

AJK/GB:

ISLAMABAD:

34,660/10,429

108,618

Pakistan's economy will be ‘far better’

by Aug: Fawad Imran has surrendered to IMF in ‘economic war’: Shehbaz

DEATHS:

SINDH:

more inside

STORY ON PAGE 02

LAST UPDATED AT 9:50 AM ON DECEMBER 31, 2021

DAY'S DEATH TOLL:

Superintendent Dr Iftikhar Qureshi said Yasin is under treatment and his condition is out of danger.

Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar took notice of the incident and ordered the Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Lahore to submit a report and arrest the culprits at the earliest.

He also directed to provide best medical treatment to the injured.

Terming the incident an act of “terrorism”, PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif said that he is worried for the life of the MPA. “May God give him health. I urge party workers and the entire nation to pray for his swift recovery,” he added.

In a tweet, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz said Yasin is now “out of danger”. She asked people to pray for the MPA. Bilal was elected to the Punjab Assembly from PP-150 in 2018. news desk

The federal government announced yet another hike in the prices of petroleum products just as the brink of the new year.

According to a notification issued by the Finance Division on Friday, the price of petrol and high-speed diesel(HSD) will rise by Rs4 per litre for the first 15 days of January 2022.

The new prices would come into effect from January 1.

The increase has been announced to meet the petroleum levy target agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

As per the notification, the price of kerosene has been increased by Rs3.95, and light diesel oil (LDO) by Rs4.15 per litre.

After the increase, the price of petrol will go up from the previous Rs140.82 per litre to Rs144.82 per litre, while the price of high speed diesel will jump to Rs141.62 per litre from the previous Rs137.62 per litre.

The rate of light diesel oil will go up to Rs111.06 per litre from Rs107.06 per litre. Similarly, the price of kerosene will go up from Rs109.53 to Rs113.53 per litre. news desk

Pakistan has achieved target of vaccinating 70m people by yearend: Asad STORY ON BACK PAGE

PTV to air documentary on Karakoram Highway today STORY ON BACK PAGE

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Saturday, 1 January, 2022 | KARACHI

NEWS

PAKISTAN'S ecoNoMy wIll be ‘FAR beTTeR’

by AuG, SAyS FAwAd

I

NeWS DeSk

NFORMATION Minister Fawad Chaudhry stated on Friday that Pakistan’s economic conditions will be “far better” by August 2022, as the country is heading in the “right direction”.

Chaudhry, while speaking to reporters in Lahore stated that a phase of social protection programmes is being commenced in Pakistan which will pave way for improvement of the overall economic situation of the country.

While revealing details about the country’s debt payment, he informed that the PTI-led government had to return $55 billion in its next two years in debt payment, adding that a sum of $32bn had already been paid under debts in the last three years.

“We are paying the price for the legacy left by Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif,” the minister said, in reference to the last two governments of the PPP and PML-N. Chaudhry further dispelled the impression given by the opposition about the country failing at the economic front, by stating that Shehbaz Sharif and other opposition leaders should not worry about

the country as “it is heading in the right direction, and people are witnessing it”.

The minister stressed that the national economy was growing at five per cent and it will further stabilise in time to come.

“Also, take an example of the coronavirus pandemic as such calamities occur once in 100 years and Pakistan’s strategy to tackle it is being praised worldwide,” he added.

The minister further stressed that Pakistan’s politics, defence and economy were all quite stable.

Chaudhry further took a jibe at the rival parties, while stating that the opposition leaders were all panicked after the government expressed its intent to bring Nawaz Sharif back to Pakistan.

“We want the Lahore High Court to move on his case and Nawaz should be brought back at the earliest,” he said.

He went on to add that the government also wanted that cases involving Shehbaz Sharif should be taken up on a day-to-day basis. When asked about the political implications of the “most important” appointment the PM was set to make in 2022, he wrapped his answer by stating “for God’s sake”.

5.8-magnitude earthquake hits major cities in KP

Chaudhry, while talking about dollar depreciation, stated that he was pleased that the dollar depreciated against the rupee after the introduction of the Finance (Supplementary) Bill 2021 in the National Assembly on Thursday.

“This inflation cycle will break in three to four months, while the prices of vegetables will also decline in a couple of months,” he added.

He said the system through which Pakistan had been governed for the past several years was no more in practice. “Now, for the first time, a people-centric government is working in Pakistan”.

“If Pakistan is floating today, it’s because of Imran Khan and the PTI’s economic team,” claimed the minister.

The minister also highlighted the importance of the film and drama industry, by stating that “our stories have to be told through films and the way we ended our film industry was really unfortunate. We will now revive the medium to tell the story of Pakistan to the world.”

He concluded by stating that so far, the country had not been able to utilise the potential of the vital industry for its imagebuilding.

Quetta blast death toll surges to six

SWAT News Desk

An earthquake of 5.8 magnitude struck different cities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province on Friday afternoon. The National Seismic Monitoring Centre (NSMC) confirmed the earthquake with an intensity of 5.8 on the Richter Scale hit Mingora, Malakand, Battagram, Mansehra, Hazara and other cities of the province, forcing people to flee their homes in panic.

The monitoring centre said that the earthquake had a depth of 180 kilometres with the epicentre in the Afghan-Tajik border. Earlier on December 24, an earthquake of 4.2 magnitude had hit Swat and other areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The earthquake had a depth of 226 kilometres with the epicentre in the Hindu Kush mountain range, according to the monitoring centre.

PTI MNA Ghazala lodges FIR against PPP’s Shagufta

NeWS DeSk The Quetta blast death toll surged to six on Thursday, a day after an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) exploded near Saleem Medical Complex on Jinnah Road in.

The Balochistan Health Department identified the deceased as Muhammad Akram, son of Khan Muhammad; Sharafuddin, son of Niaz Muhammad; Younis Agha, son of Agha Jan; Hafiz Muhammad Akram, Sanaullah, son of Muhammad Akram; and Muhammad

Affidavit 'appeared an attempt' to influence Nawaz's case: IHC NeWS DeSk

ISLAMABAD INP

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) lawmaker Ghazala Saifi on Friday said that she has lodged an FIR against Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) MNA Shagufta Jumani after the latter slapped her during the National Assembly session on Thursday. Sharing the details with media persons, the PTI MNA said that Shagufta slapped her after she took her placard. “I have registered an FIR against her,” she said. She said that it is the joint responsibility of the lawmakers to protect the sanctity of the parliament, but unfortunately, the opposition is bent on destroying the image of a sacred institution. According to a report, amid a noisy session of the National Assembly on Thursday, Shagufta had slapped Ghazala near the speaker’s dice. The federal government had tabled a mini-budget and other amended laws in the National Assembly session, in which the opposition lawmakers had come face-toface to the government legislators to stop the proceedings of the House. The opposition lawmakers had besieged the speaker’s dice during the session to disrupt the assembly’s proceedings for the minibudget. The treasury and opposition lawmakers were seen pushing each other during speeches in the NA.

Ramzan, son of Muhammad Sadiq.

A case was registered by the officials of the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) against unknown terrorists, which includes provisions of attempted murder, terrorism and explosives. It is pertinent to note that a day earlier, a blast took place, near Science College on Quetta’s Jinnah Road on Thursday.

As per the initial investigation, adviser to the Balochistan Chief Minister on Home and Tribal Affairs Mir Ziaullah Langove stated that the explosion was triggered by a remote-controlled device.

Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo expressed dissatisfaction over security arrangements in Quetta, and condemned the incident, terming it an “act of terrorism”.

In a statement, Bizenjo said he was

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) stated on Friday that the affidavit that accused former chief justice Saqib Nisar of manipulating the cases against former PM Nawaz Sharif “appeared to be an attempt to influence the proceedings, obstruct and interfere with the due administration of justice”.

According to a 12-page ruling authored by IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah, the remarks were made in a contempt of court case against former top judge of Gilgit-Baltistan Rana Muhammad Shamim, senior journalist Ansar Abbasi.

“The questionable contents of the affidavit, the timing, the place of its execution and then its mysterious leak followed by a hasty publication had likely profound consequences for the proceedings pending before the Court relating to the appeals preferred by the two persons named therein” “The notion of the alleged contemnors that a document in the form of an affidavit has evidentiary value even though not part of any judicial record, is misconceived,” it said, adding that the most important aspect relates to the right to the fair trial of the two potential beneficiaries, Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz, named in the affidavit.

“They were the potential beneficiaries and their appeals were fixed for hearing two days after the date of publication i.e. on 17-11-2021. They have not owned the document. The publication could have been considered capable of influencing the outcome of their appeals. Their right to a fair trial was likely to be prejudiced. The contents of the document and its publication had the likely effect of creating a perception of their indirect involvement to pressurize the Court or influence the outcome of the appeals through a ‘media trial’ without their knowledge or consent.”

“The publication and the contents of the affidavit could be prejudicial to the right of fair trial of the two potential beneficiaries named therein and whose appeals were pending and fixed for hearing on 17-112021,” the IHC CJ added.

Justice Minallah further stated that the stance taken by the two journalists that publishing the document was in the public interest did not align with the international practices in the field of journalism.

“It cannot be presumed on the basis of the professional repute and stature of the reporter, editor and chief-editor that they were oblivious of the high profile proceedings pending before the Court and the likely consequences in the context of obstruction and interference with the administration of justice. It can also not be presumed that they had failed to appreciate that the contents of the document cast aspersions on this Court and its judges but yet they willingly chose not to verify the material facts.”

“It does not appear to be the function of a professional journalist to determine the factor of ‘public interest’ and then publish a document having no evidentiary value. By taking this stance they have also implied that the contents of the document were true because otherwise, in the public interest, the news report would not have been published,” the ruling added.

Had they verified the content of the affidavit from the IHC, they would have known the judge named in the document was not in the country at the time, the ruling added.

“They also do not appear to know the limits and exceptions to the freedom of expression e.g. as described in Article 10 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms,” the IHC CJ said while alluding to Ansar Abbasi and the newspaper’s resident editor.

saddened by the loss of lives in the “act of terrorism”, and that those targeting innocent citizens deserved strict punishment.

Bizenjo also issued directives for ensuring the provision of proper medical treatment to the injured, further instructing the provincial health minister to oversee the provision of medical treatment to them.

The CM also sought a report on the incident and security arrangements in the city from the Balochistan inspector general of police. He also directed the CM’s adviser on interior to review the security plan for the city and make security arrangements more effective.

“It is the responsibility of police and security agencies to protect the lives and properties of people. Citizens cannot be left at the mercy of terrorists,” he stated.

About Rana Shamim, Justice Minallah said, the “stance of Rana Mohammad Shamim that the affidavit could only have been leaked by the Notary from London, prima-facie, raises serious doubts regarding his own credibility. His silence for more than three years…makes his trustworthiness and probity questionable.

“For the above reasons, the Court is satisfied that the acts of the alleged contemnors, prima facie, constitute committing criminal contempt and, therefore, proceeded under the Ordinance of 2003 by framing of charge,” the judgement said, adding that the Attorney General for Pakistan is appointed as a prosecutor in the case.

Justice Minallah further wrote that the “freedom of expression does not license a journalist or a publisher even inadvertently or unintentionally to facilitate influencing of pending proceedings or casting aspersions on judges in the garb of an affidavit which does not form part of any judicial proceedings” “Freedom of expression is not an absolute right and for a journalist it carries with it responsibilities and duties. This Court is mindful of the paramount importance of guarding free press and freedom of expression and it is manifested by its judgments,” the ruling further maintained.

However, it said that the rights of litigants are equally important and attempts to interfere with “due administration of justice” are not covered under the freedom of expression.

About the decision to frame contempt charges against the accused, the IHC CJ said that the said law didn’t protect the judges as it was aimed to ensure a fair trial. “The sub judice rule i.e. no one should interfere with legal proceedings which are pending, is an established exception to the freedom of expression,” he added.

“The alleged contemnors appear to believe that as ‘messengers’ they have absolute freedom…While jealously guarding freedom of expression and free press, it is the simultaneous duty of the Court to protect…the right to a fair trial of the litigants and their confidence in the due administration of justice,” the ruling added.

Saturday, 1 January, 2022 | KARACHI

IMRAN hAS SuRReNdeRed To IMF IN ‘ecoNoMIc wAR’: ShehbAz

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NeWS DeSk

AKISTAN Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) President and Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif on Friday criticised Prime Minister Imran Khan, saying the premier has surrendered to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the economic war.

Talking to the media, he said the government says that the burden will not fall on the poor people, whereas in reality, the mini-budget, which was tabled in the NA on Thursday, will seize the economy’s engine altogether.

This is the level of brutality and indifference the government has shown towards the poor people of Pakistan, the

opposition leader said.

Shehbaz further accused the Imran Khan-led government of increasing

inflation in the country.

Later in the day, he, in a tweet, said that the mini-budget is a

declaration of war on the poor and middle-class people, who will be adversely affected by the price hike.

“This bill is a proof that the budget 2021-22 was a pack of lies, a fact I have repeatedly mentioned ever since,” he wrote in the tweet.

Earlier on Thursday, the PML-N leader had said that economic and political stability feeds directly into national security.

In a tweet, he had said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led government has been the worst by way of mismanaging economy and delivering poor governance.

Shehbaz had added that never before have the citizens been so hopeless about their future and warned that all this has implications for national security.

Omicron cases surge in Karachi NeWS DeSk The Omicron variant of the coronavirus is on a rise in Karachi, as 11 fresh cases within a single family have been reported on Friday.

It is pertinent to note that the Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS), Karachi, has acquired the capability of conducting the Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) with the help of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the varsity’s Provincial Public Health Laboratory (PPHL) is now the designated lab of the National Institute of Health (NIH), Islamabad, Prof Saeed Quraishy, Vice Chancellor, DUHS stated.

“Experts at the Provincial Public Health Laboratory (PPHL) have detected 11 cases of Omicron variant from the samples of a family from Lahore. These samples had been collected by the Sindh Health Department, which sent them to DUHS, where our experts confirmed the presence of Omicron variant through Next Generation Sequencing (NGS),” Prof Quraishy revealed on Thursday.

He went on to add that they would

they could not declare it a case of the variant with certainty.

“Community transmission of Omicron has started in Pakistan and it is now replacing the Delta variant very rapidly. As it is several times more transmissible, it would soon replace the Delta and other variants in our population,” Prof. Saeed Khan said and warned that people who were not vaccinated or those who had not received the booster dose were

continue to carry out surveillance for the Omicron variant cases at their lab, adding that they were using the molecular genetics technique for the detection of new variants, which is not available at many other facilities in the country.

Prof Dr Saeed Khan, an expert of the molecular genetics and pathology at DUHS, also confirmed that they had detected 11 cases of the Omicron variant while a 12th person was also infected but due to less viral load in the sample,

‘New Year gift’: LPG price slashed ISLAMABAD ahMaD ahMaDaNI

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has approved Rs5.90 per kilogram reduction in the price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and issued a notification to this effect. According to OGRA’s LPG price notification for January 2022, the price of each domestic cylinder has been reduced by Rs69.63 as the

price of LPG is now fixed at Rs2,320 which was previously set at Rs2,390 in the month of December 2021. Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said after launching a health insurance scheme for Punjab, the government has also reduced the price of LPG as a New Year’s gift for the people.

“The [reduction] will directly benefit 72% of the country’s population who are deprived of piped gas.

The coming year will see a sharp decline in energy

vulnerable to the Omicron variant infection.

“Cases of COVID-19 are expected to start rising within a few weeks in Karachi and rest of the country. We may see the peak of fifth wave of COVID-19 by the end of January or first week of February 2022,” he warned and urged people to take precautionary measures, wear masks and get vaccinated with booster dose, if required.

Meanwhile, officials of the Sindh Health Department said they had sent the samples of 20 people infected with COVID-19 to the Dow University for confirmation of the Omicron Variant and after analysis, the Dow University confirmed that 11 people of the family, who came in contact with a female member of their family from Lahore, were infected with the Omicron variant.

“We are now tracing other contacts of these people and will take their samples for analysis but community transmission of this variant has started in the country and we have started seeing a slight surge in the cases of COVID-19 during the last two days,” an official of the Sindh Health Department stated.

and food prices,” he added.

Meanwhile, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) also approved a Rs0.99 per unit cut in the electricity price under the head periodic adjustment in tariff for the fourth quarter (April to June) of the financial year 202021. According to sources, the reduction will provide approximately Rs22 billion worth relief to power consumers of all power distribution companies (DISCOs) except K-Electric consumers. However, this decision will be applicable only after the approval of the federal government.

‘Let the people enjoy’: IHC dismisses petition to stop New Year fireworks NeWS DeSk Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Athar Minallah while dismissing a petition to stop fireworks in Islamabad on New Year Eve, stated on Friday that “let the people enjoy… even this (fireworks) happened in Saudi Arabia recently” He added that the “entire world celebrates the event, not just Pakistan” The petitioner’s counsel, during the hearing of the case, argued that the Deputy Commissioner Islamabad had issued an NOC for a firework show at a popular mall in the capital city on the night of December 31.

He went on to add that since GT Road is nearby, the court should not allow the firework show. “The show continues for

30 minutes and causes traffic gridlocks.”

The petitioner’s counsel urged the court to order DC Islamabad to withdraw the NOC. However, after listening to the arguments, the court dismissed the petition, declaring it inadmissible.

Meanwhile, the Regional Police Officer (RPO) Ashfaq Ahmed Khan held a meeting at Police Line to review the crime situation, as well as law and order situation in the region.

The RPO directed all the officials concerned to ensure foolproof security on the New Year’s Eve, and to protect the lives and property of people.

He ordered strict action against those involved in aerial firing and any kind of illegal activity.

NEWS

03

Lahore: A view of the last sunset of 2021 in the provincial capital. ZubaIr MehfooZ

ombudsman intervenes to fill long-vacant positions in lahore hospital LAHORe staff rePort

As a result of the own motion notice taken in the public interest by Punjab Ombudsman retired Major Azam Suleman Khan, three anaesthetists and senior registrars have been recruited against long-vacant positions in Lady Willingdon Hospital of Lahore.

Meanwhile, the process of male and female medical officers’ recruitment was also being completed speedily to provide medical facilities to patients. Khan took this own motion notice over a news item published in a daily disclosing that different seats of anaesthetists, child specialists, senior registrar (pediatric), administration doctors and medical officers were lying vacant in the metropolis’ largest gynaecological facility. While taking cognizance of this, the provincial ombudsman directed the health department to expedite the recruitment process of medical officers and an organised system should also be evolved for timely recruitments against vacant posts while the hiring process may not suffer any bureaucratic snafu. In compliance with the instructions, the ombudsman office has been informed that a committee has been constituted under administrative secretaries of the primary and secondary healthcare and specialized healthcare and medical education departments to devise an automation system for dealing with such administrative issues.

Saturday, 1 January, 2022 | KARACHI

04 NEWS

SugAR PRIceS MAy wItneSS hIke, MIlleRS SAy laHORE

t

Shahab OmeR

HE Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) has indicated the possibility of a further increase in sugar prices with millers citing ineffective action against the role of middle men.

In this regard, a spokesman of the association’s Punjab Zone informed Profit that middlemen were making raw materials more expensive.

“Sugarcane farmers are paid by mills fifteen days after purchase while middlemen take advantage of this opportunity by paying them immediately. The price has been fixed at Rs250 per 40kg but middlemen do not

make a purchase according to the rate fixed by the government and reduces it from Rs50 to 60 per 40kg instead. After stocking a large quantity, they sell it to millers at their preferred rates,” he said.

“Some mills make quick payments to farmers but not all follow suit which is why the middleman element remains in the process,” he added.

When asked why millers do not point out and complain about these middlemen, he replied that it is the government’s job to do so.

“First of all, they [middlemen] do not come directly to us, and secondly we also need raw materials to run mills. Sometimes, despite the high rates, we are forced to buy from them. Millers want to buy di-

rectly from the farmer but our system is so weak that we eventually have to buy raw materials from middlemen so that mills do not close,” he added.

He said that the Punjab government has repeatedly been reminded to take effective action against them but in vain while the price of sugarcane continues to rise. “The price has currently exceeded Rs300 per 40kg. The price of sugar keeps going up because 80 per cent of the cost of production is dependent on the price of sugarcane,” he said.

According to the spokesman, effective action was taken only in Bhakkar district of Punjab; however, other districts matters were limited to formal proceedings and negotiations.

He said that the secretary Industries, and federal government had issued strict instructions to provincial governments for eliminating the role of middlemen but these instructions have not been followed.

“The current situation is that sugar

mills are not getting the required quantity of sugarcane which is affecting the crushing process. If middlemen are not controlled, it will be difficult to control the price of sugar due to rising production costs,” he concluded.

Govt urged to review Single National Curriculum Islamabad PR

FBR chairman holds e-katchehri PR As a sequel to E-Kachehries held regularly to comply with the directions of the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR)/Secretary Revenue Division, Dr. Muhammad Ashfaq Ahmed held yet another Weekly E-Kachehri at FBR (HQs) on Friday to listen to the complaints and concerns of taxpayers. This is the fourth week of holding E-Kachehri by the Chairman FBR after he decided to hold it on every Friday to expedite redressal of grievances of taxpayers. He listened to the complaints of the taxpayers and issued on-spot directions for immediate resolution of complaints. He also advised the taxpayers to visit their nearest RTO and Collectorate of Customs for redressal of any problem confronted by them. The Chairman FBR appreciated the suggestions put forth by the taxpayers and assured them that their valued input would be duly considered for formulation of tax policies and initiatives for taxpayers’ facilitation. He reaffirmed that FBR was making all out efforts to facilitate the taxpayers. The Chairman FBR has already issued specific directions to all Field Formations for according top priority to the grievances and concerns of female taxpayers and those belonging to remote and marginalized areas of Pakistan. Needless to add that the weekly E-Kachehri being held by Chairman FBR on regular basis will not only contribute significantly to the timely redressal of the grievances of taxpayers but it will also keep a strong check on the performance of the Field Formations. Chairman FBR has already instructed all field formations to resolve the outstanding issues of taxpayers and made it clear that any negligence in this regard will not be tolerated.

Educationists and stakeholders at a consultative meeting, while raising reservations over the recently devised single national curriculum (SNC) in the country, have urged the government to review this curriculum by duly incorporating all inputs from stakeholders so that it cater to all diverse communities across the country for better education results.

The consultation meeting was organized by Awaz Foundation Pakistan: Centre for Development Services with the purpose to discuss the government’s recently devised SNC and provide an opportunity to stakeholders to share their concerns as well as recommendations to ensure that this curriculum is made a representative document across the country.

The SNC is believed to be focused on modern education, skills development and technology adopting global trends of education with gender equality and women empowerment.

Officials from Pakistan Coalition for Education, Pakistan Private Schools and College Association, Pakistan Parents Association, Pakistan Teachers Forum, educationists and members of civil society organizations including SAHIL, CRM, GDP, VSO, PAMS, Gain Health,

PMHA, PYCA participated in the consultative meeting. Senator and Member Standing Committee on Education, Federal College of Education & Professional Training, Fawzia Arshad also attended the meeting.

In her remarks, Senator Fawzia Arshad appreciated arranging the consultative meeting on this national issue. She assured that the government will extend all support in identifying quick and practical solutions presented by the stakeholders during the consultative meeting.

The lawmaker mentioned that the government has engaged private schools and developed the SNC. Senator Fawzia urged Awaz Foundation Pakistan: Centre for Development Services and all stakeholders to formulate their recommendations on

GB lawmakers discuss unemployment, poverty issues

MIVIDA Pakistan inaugurates mosque PR On December 31st, 2021 MIVIDA Pakistan inaugurated Jamia Masjid Mohammad (PBUH). The mosque is located at main Chakri road; the two stories mosque is spread over total area of 15 kanals with covered area more than 17,000 square feet. The inauguration was done by Honorable Mufti MuneeburRehman. On this auspicious occasion he gave Friday sermon and led Friday prayers also. MIVIDA is Pakistan’s first ecosustainable city with smart progression. The project aims towards providing luxury living while contributing towards environmental protection and technology promotion. Further, MIVIDA’s leadership envisions using this project as a way to spread message of peace and prosperity. One of the basic facilities in any project that offers community living is of mosque. It’s a point where devout can express their love, people in the neighborhood get a chance to know each other and above all it’s the source of spreading religious light.

Understanding this, the mosque has been developed not just as a basic facility designed in the most aesthetic manner but it is also a source to spread message of peace and promote values taught by Islam.

the SNC for betterment of children, parents, teachers and society to ensure quality education.

She assured to take up these recommendations with the Federal Ministry of Education and Professional Training as well as Prime Minister of Pakistan to adopt a comprehensive SNC. In his opening remarks, Chief Executive Awaz Foundation Pakistan: Centre for Development Services, Zia-urRehman, explained about the targets and suggested to find the best solutions in real-life adaptation of SNC. He further shared that feedback/ suggestions on SNC are shared with MoFEPT on their feedback portal. He said that, the meeting is aimed to discuss the solutions and submit the recommendations to the government to ensure uniformity in text books

Islamabad PR

Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) held two days consultative workshop on “Youth Employability and Poverty Alleviation” for the members of Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly here in Islamabad. The inaugural session was graced by the Chief Minister Gilgit-Baltistan, Khalid Khurshid Khan. In the workshop, an array of expert shared their insights about the emerging issues related to youth employment and shed light on contextual strategies for poverty alleviation in GilgitBaltistan. Chief Minister Khalid Khurshid said that in GilgitBaltistan there is a strong tradition of making decisions at local level. His government intends to incorporate this local tradition into the local government model to pave the way for the representation of grassroot level communities in governance structure.

Welcoming the participants and experts, CEO Aga Khan Foundation, Akhter Iqbal, said that it is a great platform for learning about emerging issues related to development of Gilgit-Baltistan and making synergies with government and civil society. The speakers in the workshop emphasized on contextualizing the development plans so that they are more in sync with the issues of Gilgit-Baltistan. They lauded the

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local communities of Gilgit-Baltistan for introducing a successful model of community participation for other regions of Pakistan. Speaking on the occasion Dr.SaniaNishtar, Special Assistant on Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, appreciated the proactive approach of the government of Gilgit-Baltistan towards Ahsass initiatives. She said that Ahsaas programme has introduced a system for the vulnerable communities in Pakistan, but there is a need to introduce the programme to the targeted people.

A strategic plan was also discussed with members of GB Assembly and EhsaasNashonuma and Ehsaas One Window Centres in all tehsils of GB. Malik Amin Aslam, Federal Minister for Climate Change/Special Assistant to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, shared government initiatives in tackling climate change. He laid great emphasis on living in harmony with nature instead of fighting with nature. Amin Aslam said that the people of Gilgit-Baltistan know better how to live amicably with nature.

He said that since Gilgit-Baltistan is bearing the brunt of climate change, it is imperative to intervene at multiple fronts.

Speaking about future of work, the speakers emphasized on digitization of economy and promoting entrepreneurship in Gilgit-Baltistan. This will open up new opportunities for youth employment and economic development of the region.

The themes covered in the workshop ranged from community participation, poverty alleviation and prosperity, safety nets, climate change, digitalization, promoting entrepreneurship and responsible tourism to renewable energy.

The speakers and participants agreed to gear the insights of workshop into their policies and planning for the development of Gilgit-Baltistan. General Manager AKRSP, Jamil Uddin, expressed his gratitude to the members of GB Assembly and experts for making the session interactive and fruitful by giving undivided attention to the ideas discussed in the two days consultative workshop. In the end Speaker GBA, Syed Amjad Ali Zaidi thanked AKRSP for providing an opportunity to the members of GBA to get exposure to novel ideas about the emerging issues of Gilgit-Baltistan.

He concluded the workshop with a note of optimism and resolve to work together with all stakeholders towards the development of Gilgit-Baltistan.

and syllabus for the students from rural and urban areas, private and government schools as well as madaris across the country as Education for all is a fundamental and constitutional right.

Discussing the government’s adopted SNC, the meeting noted that the illustrations in the textbooks should ensure gender based equal representation and contributions of women in leadership roles should be highlighted at par with their male counterparts.

The discussants also suggested that illustrations in textbooks should give reasonable understanding and representation to religious minorities, people living with disability and transgender and without any discriminatory standards of dress code concerning gender.

The recommendations also came out to review text books through psychologists, as it would ensure fulfilment of academic as well as psychological needs of students. The meeting also recommended equal representation of girls, proper translation of curriculum, creating linkages between curriculum and textbooks for better understanding and quality education. As a solution to all these concerns, they suggested a joint action platform for improvements to move forward with an open-mind approach to formulate a complete and representative curriculum.

FBR registers 32.5pc growth during JulyDecember 2021 PR Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has released the provisional revenue collection figures for the months JulyDecember of current Financial Year 2021-22. According to the provisional information, FBR has collected net revenue of Rs. 2,920 billion during July-December of current Financial Year 2021-22, which has exceeded the target of Rs. 2,633 billion by Rs. 287 billion. This represents a growth of about 32.5 % over the collection of Rs. 2,204 billion during the same period, last year. The net collection for the month of December, 2021 realized Rs. 600 billion representing an increase of 18.0 % over Rs. 509 billion collected in December, 2020. These figures would further improve before the close of the day and after book adjustments have been taken in to account. On the other hand, the gross collections increased from Rs. 2,315 billion during July-December, 2020 to Rs. 3,068 billion in current Financial Year JulyDecember, 2021, showing an increase of 32.5 Likewise, the amount of refunds disbursed was Rs. 148 billion during July- December, 2021 compared to Rs. 111 billion paid last year, showing an increase of 33.0 %

Saturday, 1 January, 2022 | KARACHI

Palm Oil lOgS third cOnSecUtive year Of gainS KUALA LUMPUR

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ALM oil futures closed higher on Friday and clocked a third straight annual gain, with tight production and robust demand expected to keep prices firm next year. The benchmark palm oil contract for March delivery on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Exchange closed up 22 ringgit, or 0.47%, at 4,705 ringgit ($1,129.92) a tonne.

Palm jumped 30.7% in 2021 as a pandemic-fuelled labour shortage hammered output in the world’s secondlargest producer, while demand picked up after countries eased lockdowns. Prices averaged around 4,149.57 ringgit ($996.53) this year.

“2021 has been a year of supply shortages and weather disruptions. Demand returned, but supply struggled to keep up,” Sathia Varqa, co-founder of Singaporebased Palm Oil Analytics, said.

“High prices fuelled inflationary pressure in major importing countries, warranting trade policy changes,” Varqa added.

Global demand for commodities is expected to remain robust in 2022 and underpin prices as the world economy continues to recover, although similar price jumps are unlikely, analysts and traders say.

Palm prices are expected to stay strong in 2022 as production will remain constrained due to soaring fertiliser costs and long-standing labour shortages, the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries said on

Thursday.

Exports of Malaysian palm oil products for December fell 5.3% to 1,581,110 tonnes, from the 1,668,648 tonnes shipped during November, cargo surveyor Intertek Testing Services said.

Dalian’s most-active soyoil contract rose 0.8%, while its palm oil contract gained 1%. Soyoil prices on the Chicago Board of Trade were up 0.8%.

Palm oil is affected by price movements in related oils as they compete for a share in the global vegetable oils market.

Palm oil may retest a support at 4,314 ringgit per tonne next quarter, as its correction from the October high of 5,220 ringgit looks incomplete, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said.

GO granted permission to expand its network in KP Gas & Oil Pakistan Limited (GO), Pakistan’s fastest growing oil marketing company has been granted permission by Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) to operate additional petrol storage facility of 8,050 MTs recently completed at their depot located in KPK. This brings the total petrol storage of the company in KPK to more than 9,600 MTs, which is

more than 60% of the total petrol storage of all OMCs in the province.

This major milestone will allow GO to further expand its retail network in the KPK province by more than 200 retail outlets and will and will further strengthen GO’s commitment to ensuring adequate fuel storage across Pakistan.

Commenting on the development, Chief Executive Officer, Khalid Riaz said, “With this expansion, we intend to meet the fuelling needs of the people of KPK and firmly establish GO as a truly national player in the country. As a Pakistani company, we are proud that we will be adding new sites to our growing network which is already the largest in the

private sector in Pakistan.”

The company’s announcement is part of its ambitious business growth strategy that will enable GO to cater to customers round-the-clock, in all seasons and in every situation. The company operates more than 900 retail outlets including the M5 Sukkur - Multan Motorway with Executive Washrooms. pR

Pediatric hospitalisations in the US up under Omicron, but it’s not more severe New paediatric Covid-19 hospitalisations have hit a record-high in the United States, as children are increasingly swept up in Omicron’s lightning spread. While experts are concerned, and stress the need to step up vaccination among kids, early indications suggest that the new variant’s rate of severe disease could in fact be lower, and its extreme contagiousness is behind the rapid rise.

The raw data might also be muddied by coincidental infections that aren’t the main cause of a hospital admission.

Numbers spikiNg: According to the American Academy of Paediatrics, almost 199,000 children were reported infected with Covid-19 in the week ending December 23, the last week for which data is currently available, and a 50 per cent rise on figures earlier in the month. The seven-day-average of Covid hospital admissions for people aged 0-17 was 378 in the week ending December 28, a 66.1pc increase on the prior week and the highest-ever figure, surpassing the previous peak seen during the Delta wave on September 1, per official data. The only other age group where hospitalisations have hit a new peak are 18-29 year-olds. The rates of severe illness remains, however, much lower in absolute terms compared to older age groups. There have been 803 deaths of people aged 0-18 years from Covid-19 in the US, out of more than 820,000, since the pandemic began. Early research out of Hong Kong based on lab testing of tissue samples has shown Omicron replicates up to 70 times faster in the bronchi, the airways leading into the lungs, compared to Delta, which may help explain its extreme spread throughout the population. “I think at this point, it’s a numbers game,” Jim Versalovic, a pathologist and immunologist at Texas Children’s Hospital, the largest children’s hospital in the United States, told AFP. “Based on what we’ve gathered today, Omicron is not causing more severe infections, but is infecting many more children. And hence we are seeing more children hospitalised with Covid,” he added. If anything, there appears to be a greater proportion of mild pediatric cases linked to Omicron — which is similar to what has been seen in adults, he added. Its relative mildness could be explained by the same Hong Kong study that showed Omicron replicated 10 times slower in the lungs compared to Delta, and a hamster study from the University of Tokyo has borne this out. But “even if you have a small percentage of kids that would have severe disease, a small percentage of a large number is a large number,” Henry Bernstein, a pediatrician at Northwell Health hospital system in New York told AFP. As to why the rate of cases, and thus hospitalisations, are rising faster in younger age groups compared to older, there are several potential factors at play. President Joe Biden’s chief medical advisor Anthony Fauci told reporters this week that “many children are hospitalised with Covid as opposed to because of Covid.” afp

Wafaqi Muhtasib Secretariat Secretary Lt (R) Ijaz Ahmad Khan presides over a meeting in Karachi. pR

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corporate corner Ke shows commitment towards ctBcm karachi: National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) conducted a public hearing in the matter of Integration Plan for the Competitive Trading Bilateral Contract Market (CTBCM) Model submitted by K-Electric. The hearing was presided by Chairman NEPRA, Tauseef H. Farooqi along with the Members of the Authority, including Rehmatullah Baloch – Member Balochistan, Engr. Maqsood Anwar Khan – Member Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Rafique Ahmad Shaikh – Member Sindh, and was also attended by representatives from NEPRA, CPPA, NTDC and several Karachi’s industrial associations among others. During the hearing, the utility expressed its commitment for a sustainable transition towards open markets in line with GoP and NEPRA objectives and highlighted a few recommendations in this regard. K-Electric suggested that the framework for open markets must be aligned with the National Electricity Policy approved by the Council of Common Interest (CCI) and Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE) approved principles for competitive wholesale markets enabling a sustainable transition as well as a healthy and efficient competitive power market.

Furthermore, the utility proposed that it is essential that a mechanism is developed to ensure recovery of associated costs enabling a transition with no additional burden on regulated consumers.

Considering the issue of existing surplus capacity, KE further recommended that in order to promote competition and eliminate stranded capacity, existing generation capacity in the National Grid be allocated to DISCOs and new power procurement should be allowed only when there is a shortfall in any specific DISCO. Additionally, the power utility proposed that the threshold to participate in open markets should be lowered gradually to match it with supply/demand situation ensuring no capacity is left stranded while also providing for greater competition. On the issue of recovery of stranded costs, KE recommended that keeping in view international precedents, stranded costs arising from consumers opting for open access be recovered under a staggered approach over a length of time with a clear cut off provided to market participants for gradual and sustainable development. Based on the case studies from the international markets, KE also advocated for a dryrun to be conducted that will be critical in assessing the readiness of the system at large as well as help in identification of any subsequent revisions that maybe required to the market design or any other reforms that maybe needed to ensure a sustainable and more efficient competitive power market. The power utility welcomes the market reforms directed towards an efficient competitive power market, and requests that the policy decisions be made in the right direction considering the state of affairs and complexities involved in the power sector with an aim to ensure a sustainable power market which balances interests of all stakeholders. pR

Palestinians raise alarm over Facebook content ‘suppression’ Palestinian journalists have raised the alarm over what they describe as unjust suppression of their content on Facebook, a claim backed by rights groups but rejected by the social media giant.

On December 4, Palestine TV correspondent Christine Rinawi posted a video on her Facebook account in which Israeli security forces were seen shooting a Palestinian on the ground, killing him. He had just carried out a knife attack on an Israeli civilian.

Shortly after she posted her video, Rinawi, who has nearly 400,000 followers, noticed it had been removed from her account.

This was not her first experience with Facebook’s enforcement, and Rinawi said her account had already been restricted after she shared footage of a November attack in Jerusalem.

In both cases, Facebook said it intervened because the posts violated the platform’s standards.

A spokesperson for Facebook’s parent company Meta said its policies “were designed to give everyone a voice while keeping them safe on our apps”.

“We apply these policies to everyone equally, regardless of who is posting.”

Allegations of pro-Israeli bias at Facebook have simmered for years and were renewed in October when Human Rights Watch, a vocal Israel critic, said the platform had “suppressed content posted by Palestinians and their supporters speaking out about human rights issues in Israel and Palestine”.

Palestinian reporters have cited multiple incidents they describe as censorship.

One popular online news outlet, Maydan Quds News, may even have to fire reporters after its main Facebook page with 1.2 million followers was deleted, a source who requested anonymity told AFP. The Meta spokesperson told AFP it has “a dedicated team, which includes Arabic and Hebrew speakers, who are focused on keeping our community safe by making sure we’re removing harmful content”.

It also strives to address “any enforcement errors as

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quickly as possible so people can keep sharing what matters to them”.

A Palestinian journalist points at his restricted social media outlet Facebook account, at his office in the occupied-West Bank city of Hebron, on November 24, 2021. — AFP/File In the midst of a bout of fighting in May between Israel and armed factions in the Gaza Strip — the worst in years — Facebook had acknowledged widescale deletion of Palestinian posts, ascribing it to a technical bug that it sought to fix. ‘sileNciNg the voice’ According to Palestinian social media monitoring centre Sada Social, 600 Palestinian accounts or proPalestinian Facebook posts were restricted or deleted in 2021 — a record. The centre helped launch a social media campaign called “Facebook Censors Jerusalem”.

Rama Youssef, a Jerusalem-based journalist who volunteered for the campaign, said Facebook hews to an Israeli point of view and has “double standards”.

The Arab Center Washington DC think-tank said the Israeli government also pushes to censor “tens of thousands of posts and accounts” that support a Palestinian point of view.

Meta did not answer AFP questions about requests from the Israeli government.

But the company denied accusations of bias, saying its community standards prohibit violence, terrorism, hate and large-scale criminal activity, as well as posts supporting those subjects. Israeli officials have also accused various social media platforms, including Facebook, of failing to curb anti-Semitism.

In February, then-diaspora affairs minister Omer Yankelevich presented Facebook, Google, TikTok and Twitter with proposals to beef up the fight against antiSemitism, saying it was “running rampant” online. call for more traNspareNcy Media expert Iyad al-Rifai of Sada Social said he regularly meets with Facebook representatives to ask for more transparency. afp

karachi: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah calls on President Dr Arif Alvi at Governor House. pR

karachi: PBS Chief Statistician Dr Naeem-uzZafar, IBA Karachi Executive Director Dr S Akbar Zaidi and participants pose for a photograph at the workshop on Population & Housing Census 2022. pR

National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri meets a delegation of business experts led by Amjad Hussain Naqvi and Aijaz Hussain Shah. pR

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06 COMMENT

Donald Blome’s “Mission Pakistan”

Overburdening the common man

An ambassador sets the bar high for himself

The mini budget

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T is futile to complain, as national Assembly Leasder of Opposition Shahbaz Sharif has done, that there is not a single measure of relief for the povertystricken Pakistanis in the mini-budget. The mini-budget is aimed at raising more funds to comply with the IMF’s conditions rather than providing relief to those who badly need it. The business class by and large sits cosy, with some maintaining that the mini budget would help stabilize economic growth. While the government withdrew the Rs343 billion sales tax exemptions that will affect every segment of society, it has proposed income tax exemption to the richest who own real estate investment trusts (REITs).

Finance Minister ShaukatTarin has conceded that the levy of a 17 percent sales tax on some specific items would raise Rs2 billion, adding that the tax on these items only would affect the ordinary people. This means most of the population. Every food item which is packed will be taxed. This would force ordinary people to go for unpacked milk, curd, salt and chilli powder, providing a bonanza to unscrupulous elements who specialize in selling adulterated and unhygienic items. The middle class will be further squeezed with a whopping 17 percent GST imposed on infant formula milk, dry milk, yoghurt, bread, buns as well as laptops, and personal computers. While the consumer price index (CPI) might not be impacted much, the sales tax would reduce the purchasing power of middle class individuals buying a new car (over 850cc), mobile phones and solar panels.

The State Bank of Pakistan Bill was also vehemently opposed in the national Assembly as a sovereign capitulation. It was maintained that the Government was handing over the control of the SBP to the IMF which would rule Pakistan like another East India Company. While questions were raised about the independence being provided to the SBP Governor, the real bone of contention was his nomination by the IMF along with certain amendments in the SBP Act which would strip the central bank of an inherent mandate of helping the government respond to emergency situations, such as Covid-19, or support for initiatives such as low-cost housing or export refinance.

Many think that the IMF-proposed amendments to the SBP Act agreed by the government are misplaced and excessively intrusive.

Dr Qaisar rashiD

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n 14 December, in a statement before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, US ambassador-designate to Pakistan, Donald Blome, said that the relationship of the USA with Pakistan remained extraordinarily consequential for the USA’s core interests. Further, “Pakistan is pursuing expanded economic linkages with the United States as part of what it calls ‘geo-economics’.”

After an interlude of a few years, the term geoeconomics resurfaced on 18 March when, in his speech at the Islamabad Security Dialogue, Pakistan’s Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa said that Pakistan’s tremendous geo-economic potential was still untapped. Indeed, 2021 has compelled Pakistan to prioritize the economy. For a country like Pakistan, which had been at the front of the SovietAfghan war (1979-1989) and which has been the front-line state in the war on terror (2001 to date), the shift from the entrenched geo-political significance to the projected geo-economic forecasts has been onerous. Deriving strength from the geo-strategic position, the orientation of Pakistan’s executive and military machinery is geo-politics. Economy is still a subject locating its roots in Pakistan. Blome’s utterance to predicate on any chosen geo-economic craving of Pakistan is no more than propitiating Pakistan. nevertheless, Pakistan’s pronouncements to shift its strategy (from geo-politics to geo-economics) are the declarations of the end of Pakistan’s engagement in the War on Terror.

Blome elucidated his ambassadorial assignment by saying, “Mission Pakistan also plays an important role on encouraging an inclusive Afghan government that respects and promotes the human rights of all individuals, including women and girls and members of minority groups, and ensuring that Afghanistan never again becomes a safe haven for international terrorism.” One wonders what this statement has to do with Pakistan. Interestingly, Blome is ambassador-designate to Pakistan but he selects to speak as if he were heading for representing his country in Afghanistan. nevertheless, the statement reveals Blome’s veiled belief: the key to Afghanistan’s peace lies in Pakistan. This is a moot point.

Blome pledged to continue with counterterrorism efforts. At the occasion he said, “On the critical issue of counterterrorism, if confirmed (as ambassador), I will press Pakistan to target all terrorist groups without distinction. The United States and Pakistan are committed to combatting al-Qaeda, ISIS-Khorasan, and Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. If confirmed, I also will engage Pakistan on fighting all other groups – including Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed.”

Quintessentially, the statement reflects the Kerry-

Foreign funding case Towards a logical conclusion

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T has been a long journey for both the petitioner, PTI founding member Akbar S. Babar and the PTI itself, but with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) ordering open hearings of the foreign funding case from January 4, it seems that the issue has entered the home stretch. That the PTI does not fear an explosive result is shown by its Chairman and PM Imran Khan’s proposal that the hearings be aired live on PTV. The hearing was only made possible after the ECP accepted the report of a technical committee which it had mandated to end its scrutiny by the end of May, though it only reported back on november 26.

Ever since the case was instituted back in november 2014, it had been held as a Damocles’ sword which could be used against Mr Khan at any time, much as the Avenfield Flats were used against Mian nawaz Sharif when he was Prime Minister, over Mr Khan. Therefore, the ECP’s new self-assertiveness, and its readiness to take up the case, should serve as a relief for Mr Khan. True, his fears of what could be done sheds an unholy light on the charges against Mr Sharif, but it secures Mr Khan from ouster through a backdoor. Getting him out of office will involve either a vote against him by the national Assembly or by the electorate if he manages to carry Parliament with him to the next election.

Apart from the PTI and Mr Khan, other parties which are facing similar charges should also take heart, especially their legal eagles. The judgement in the case should set some standards over what is actually an uncharted field. The recognition of political parties, and the rules governing their conduct, are a relatively new field, and while there is a vast volume of case law on individual candidates contesting, and the duties of their agents, there is a small corpus on parties. The PTI’s lawyers had fought tooth and nail to avoid the case moving along, so it is too much to expect they will change.

However, it is to be hoped that the ECP will move along the case to its logical conclusion, be that what it may.

The hurdles must be removed

ali Jan MaQsooD

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LIF Ailaan reports 76 percent of Balochistan’s girls as out of school with a primary enrollment of 322,000 girls; of whom only 20,046 persist after they finish their matriculation. With only a few high schools and 41 inter and degree colleges for girls in the province, accommodating more than 300,0000 students would mean to average more than 120 students per class; absent teachers, poverty, long distances and non-availability of much-needed facilities such as sanitation, add more to the worries of female students, leading them to quit their education in disappointment midway.

Balochistan is the richest-in-resources province of Pakistan with a small population of 12.34 million, but still the most neglected among all the four provinces – especially when it comes to education, health and employment. Girls, in particular, are going through challenging times owing to a criies of educational facilities despite the constitution of Pakistan, and the human rights charter of the United nations, declaring education as a basic human need.

Last week, we witnessed college girls from

Arif Nizami (Late) Founding Editor

Yousaf Nizami M. A. Niazi

Umar Aziz

Joint Editor

Joint Editor

Executive Editor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965

Through “Mission Pakistan,” Donald Blome committed himself to a grueling undertaking. He might be confident of his diplomatic experience gathered after serving in some countries in the Middle East and also in Afghanistan, but Pakistan is a different country. Generally speaking, the statements convey that Blome set the bar of performance and delivery high to outclass his competitors in order to capture the top diplomatic task. He does not know that the mission will be a tough and constrictive assignment

Deteriorating girls’ education

Dedicated to the legacy of late Hameed Nizami

Editor Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

Lugar-Berman Act of 2009, which asked Pakistan to exterminate terrorist retreats from its land – along both eastern and western borders – in return for nonmilitary aid amounting to $1.5 billion per year for five years (from 2010 to 2014). Pakistan received the money but remained loath to executing any crackdown. Blome is coming with a mandate to get the job done, this time gratuitously.

Under the excuse of sacrilege, the spree to subdue (religious) minorities has blemished Pakistan’s image internationally, besides dehumanizing the conscientious Pakistanis.

The world connotes such horrendous acts as violations of human rights.

Blome said, “If confirmed as ambassador, I will never shy away from defending human rights in Pakistan, particularly freedom of religion and expression. Religious minorities in Pakistan have long faced societal and legal discrimination, as well as accusations of blasphemy. These accusations have undermined the rule of law, threatened mob rule and deeply damaged Pakistan’s international reputation and led to murderous violence and many deaths. If confirmed, I will speak out against these abuses and violations of human rights and religious freedom.”

Certainly, no religious mawkishness permits a zealot to take the life of anyone in the name of preserving religious sacrosanctity. It is high time Pakistan did introspection.

The practice of using the religion card to muster the support of young impressionable minds in order to win politics has poisoned the country’s streets. The same is equally true for the practice of playing the ethnic (provincial) card to woo the youth. Likewise, the practice of accusing somebody – as punishment – without offering corroborative evidence has putrefied the whole society. Reiterations have perfected these three practices. Though ochlocracy is an expression of decadence, the disaster multiplies manifold when

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the State condones, patronizes or partakes in such egregious practices.

In Pakistan, the freedom of expression is a raw nerve not many people like to touch. Templates for repression are many. Dissent is abominable. Perhaps, Blome decided to tread a trying path when he said, “I will urge the Pakistani government to cease harassment of journalists and members of civil society, who have faced kidnappings, assaults, intimidation and disappearances, and hold perpetrators of these actions accountable.” It is easier said than done. Blome will have to plod through it. At least, the world is getting aware of the plight of the press freedom in Pakistan.

Many a time, the Pakistanis forget that their ancestors founded the country through a democratic process of raising a voice for their rights and launching a movement. Pakistan was not a donation. Pakistan was the product of an electoral course sprang successfully from the 1945-46 elections in the Indian subcontinent.

Expressed in association and assembly, democracy made the origin of Pakistan possible. Most Pakistanis now discount the certainty of democracy, but Blome said, “I will advocate for expanded protections for freedom of association and assembly and will meet with civil society partners regularly.” In the statement, meeting civil society partners and that regularly open a new vista for the promotion of democracy, which has been reeling under the encumbrance of planned populism.

Through “Mission Pakistan,” Donald Blome committed himself to a grueling undertaking. He might be confident of his diplomatic experience gathered after serving in some countries in the Middle East and also in Afghanistan, but Pakistan is a different country. Generally speaking, the statements convey that Blome set the bar of performance and delivery high to outclass his competitors in order to capture the top diplomatic task. He does not know that the mission will be a tough and constrictive assignment.

Shahrak, Shapuk, Sami and Herronk (villages in the east of Turbat some 28, 34, 44 and 60 kilometers away from the city respectively) appear in Turbat Press Club to hold a press conference on lack of transportation.

They complained that their college bus, which was functional prior to the summer vocations, had been kept in store in the name of being out of order. The students said in their press conference that they went to the college principal to ask her to repair the bus, but she excused and said it would cost Rs 600,0000 and the college account was already in debt for Rs 800,000. It astonishes one to discern a government college admitting being in arrears of around Rs one million and the government is nowhere in the picture.

If it is really so, one wonders, how about the annual budget which the college receives? The students, while addressing the media personnel, accused the principal of bagging the budget and making excuses of loans. Meanwhile, the government officials have maintained silence over the grave concern so far.

Balochistan’s poverty ratio is not a secret from anyone: Mr. Zahoor Ahmed Buledi, the provincial minister for planning and development, and the representative of the constituency in question, furnished the report of the multi-dimensional poverty index in a recent “One Day Advocacy Workshop on Poverty Dynamics, Inclusive Development and Women’s Empowerment” on December 8 that the province’s “over 70 percent people are living in poverty”.

On the other hand, the college girls of the abovementioned villages have to pay 4,000 monthly to hire a car to take them to the college in Turbat. Amidst such a tensing realm, how can poor parents send their girls to college when they have no other option left? It ultimately leads them to stop their girls from going to college and prefer spending the money on raising them.

One of the remaining options for the college girls of Turbat to pursue their education in college level, as it was previously, is to solely appear in the examinations and continue their self-study from home so that they may secure admissions in a recognised university after their intermediate, but the principal has issued orders to strike off the names of the absent students. “We are given an ultimatum to get our names

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The writer is a freelance journalist and can be reached at qaisarrashid@yahoo.com

re-admitted by ensuring our presence in college and paying the fine of Rs 500 which our parents cannot afford,” protest the students in the press conference.

Such a tactic, on the other end, unfortunately, would encourage the parents of these girls to put a stop to their children’s educational careers.

It is not the first time girls had to confront issues to carry on their education. Long distances have always hindered them from getting an education, especially the girls of rural areas. One will always observe more than one child in a family in Balochistan who are studying; including both girls and boys. The parents, owing to reasons such as to long distances and poverty, can afford merely to educate one or two among their children.

In such a dilemma, they prefer educating their sons over their daughters from whom the parents keep a hope of heir becoming supports in old age. Girls, on the other hand, are, called ‘guests’ by their parents who would have to leave once married. Although they deeply wish to educate both their children, looking at their gross incomes, they are merely left with one option.

In such times, it is the government who has to come forward to fix the problem, for example, by introducing various policies to enroll more and more girls to schools, establishing girls’ primary, middle, high schools and colleges near their homes, or at least managing transportation for them, or rendering them monthly stipends (which Balochistan’s chief secretary announced in October last year but which never happened practically) and so forth. But that too requires the government’s willingness to curb such a growing menace of illiteracy among the girls of the region.

Balochistan is already speaking out about getting a fair literacy rate. Only 24 percent literate women cannot take it to that higher level of development which is a prerequisite to change the fate of the province. Iit needs both men and women to make a difference in the everyday life of the people of Balochistan,and keeping most of the girls intentionally away from education can only worsen the already declining education system of the resourceful province. However, it is yet to be seen if the provincial government, with the help of the federal government, brings about possible reforms in the girls’ education of the province in one or the other way to get more girls enrolled in educational institutions.

The writer is a student of Law at University Law College Quetta and tweets at @Alijanmaqsood12

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

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Saturday, 1 January, 2022

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

Preventation of Child Abuse through CCTV cameras

The covid-19 pandemic: Crucial Lessons for 2022

Dr raJkuMar singh

F

OR the last two years, since the eruption of the covid-19 pandemic, our life activities have remained paused due to changes that it brought in the daily life of the people across the world and new physical and mental stamina is yet to come to make life fully normal as it was in the pre-disaster phase.

In fact, it was a human disaster which affected more than 200 countries and locked all human wishes by putting them in a state of house-arrest with utmost in-house precautions and people were bound to live with anxiety, isolation, and frequent loss of loved ones forever, who till recently lived with us attached in the beautiful chain of individual, family and social relationships.

In the pandemic phase, nothing appeared permanent as everyone’s plans were cancelled or were constantly changing because of the influence of this health emergency. During the period we all were immunity conscious, wanting to live with good health all the time irrespective of age, climate and place, and it became an undeniable fact of life to protect our bodies against viral invaders. The major problem of the time was how to eat, how much to sleep and what type of exercises to complete. Physical aspects apart, there were several mental issues like, depression, isolation, loneliness, mental stress and psychological problems.

Before the daily bread earners, shortage of cash and other household goods remained at the top of their priorities. Closure of schools and colleges and several restrictions in public places minimised children’s outer activities. Suddenly, people learnt how to live simply with life-supportive activities, such as, more sleep, meditation, eating well, feeling lighter despite external chaos. On the other hand, the coming of the covid-19 pandemic motivated us to give more to others and inspired us to kindness and charity for needy people across the world.

Despite one dose of the vaccine administered to most of the people of the world and a second dose to near 50 percent of global population along with beginning of a booster or pre-

cautionary dose in developed countries including India in January 2022, the fear of its spreading looms large all over the globe and it’s a matter of close concern for nations of the globe.

In European countries and the USA and other advanced countries, still there is no respite from the disease and waves of infections are continuously occurring affecting millions of people with significant death rates while in many Asian nations due to increase of cold the second and even third wave approached and many Indian states and regions have started imposing Covid-19-related precautions, particularly in South Indian states even though they relaxed hardly, especially in Kerala and Tamil nadu which registered significant number of Covid patients on regular basis.

The current variant of the coronavirus is called Omicron. The World Health Organisation on november 26 designated the variant as B.1.1.529 and named it Omicron and issued an advisory on the basis of evidence presented in its different forms.

As per the decision of WHO’s Technical Advisory Group on Virus Evolution (TAGVE), it has several mutations that have an impact on behaviour and it spreads easily with severity of illness.

There onwards, it has expanded in many countries of the world like Covid-19 and nation’s governments are revamping their health systems to fight the virus and control it at the earliest. Beginning in South Africa first, the new variant is more transmissible compared to other variants, like Delta, and today can be found in most countries of the world with difference in number and severity of illness. Howsever, people with a history of Covid-19 infection are more likely to fall easy prey than others and recovery periods may prolong for days or weeks.

Most of the countries where Omicron has shown its presence and is also spreading with speed, are facing both types of infections simultaneously. In many countries of the globe Covid-19 infected people are coming in number of lakhs and the new variant has also registered its presence.

Although, people with both doses of vaccines are safer than others but still they are facing the after effects of covid-19 and are fearful about this new variant. In most countries, booster doses have also been initiated to avoid further infection and make people healthy and

fit, it is taking more time than assumed by many and is likely to continue for the whole of the year 2022. In this situation, the new normal of post-Covid phase is something different to which we are not yet accustomed. In earlier days we didn’t take self-care seriously, moving more frequently, least caring about immunity, wearing no mask, maintaining no distance practising no sanitation or washing of hands by habit. now, in the same kind of situation, we try new things and pandemic-related precautions like more focus on reducing stress, boosting immunity, getting more rest, different ways of connecting others, socializing outside, maintaining safe distance and to be more acquainted with social media. In addition, apart from physical precautions there are a number of mental or psychological tips that must be followed in the coming year.

With the presence of both types of infections- Covid-19 and Omicron people all over the world are fearful about its severity as they have witnessed in last two years, however, the availability of different vaccines and most of the people taken the required dose its effects are hoped to be less, if not least. At the same time the WHO and its entire team of experts are busy day and night in getting rid of this deadly disease which has cost the lives of millions around the world.

The intensive and extensive ways of studying the virus with its new variants- delta and Omicron etc., are continuing to suggest preventive as well as curative methods for the welfare of humanity. In the context, several developed countries of the world are also busy in making perfect and long lasting vaccines and medicines to defeat the infection at the earliest in a short span of time to save human life, money and resources as well. Despite all odds it is clear that the worst has become a thing of the past and a better future is in the pipeline which will see the light of the day in 2022.

Despite one dose of the vaccine administered to most of the people of the world and a second dose to near 50 percent of global population along with beginning of a booster or precautionary dose in developed countries including India in January 2022, the fear of its spreading looms large all over the globe and it’s a matter of close concern for nations of the globe

The writer is presently Professor and Head, Department of Political Science and Dean, Social Sciences at B.N. Mandal University, Madhepura, Bihar, India. Hehas had 19 books published in addition to 900 articles in national and international journals and daily newspapers from 25 foreign countries. He can be reached at rajkumarsinghpg@gmail.com

RAMPAnT cases of child abuse are being surfaced and reported these days which is pathetic and shows regression of our society that even pupils of seminaries and academic institutions are not saved from this menace. Culprits are punished later on once the sad incident is taken place and the culprit is arrested while unknowingly how many cases go unreported and how many cases do not come to knowledge but in all situations, the child has suffered and been abused which leaves a bad impact on their mental and physical health. The need of the hour is to impede such cases from happening in future. The only way to curb such cases from happening of child abuse in academic intuitions and seminaries is to monitor the academic activities through CCTV cameras and it should be made mandatory for all seminaries as well as academic institutions, coaching centres and technical and vocational training institutions to install functional CCTV cameras in all the classes, outside area of toilets, play area and main gates of the institutions and at reception and access should be given to guardians/parents of the kids to view online activities of their kids as well as of the institutions’ staff and teachers so that parents might see their kids are being taught in safe environment. Registration of such seminaries and academic institutions which fail to install functional CCTV cameras should be cancelled and they should not be allowed to operate until and unless functional CCTV cameras are not installed in their intuitions. Bio-metric attendance should also be encouraged in all institutions of the kids and message ought to be sent to parents’ cell numbers once the kid reaches and leaves the institutions. The sooner we act accordingly, the better we protect our children.

FAISAL ANSAR Karachi

Mental health of Men in Pakistan

ACCORDInG to the Pakistan Medical Association, 34% of people in Pakistan suffer from mental illnesses. There are only 500 psychiatrists for 220 million people due to which mental illnesses are either not treated in time or not treated at all. Statistics have revealed that 90% of mental illness cases are not treated at all. These illnesses include depression, schizophrenia, multiple personality disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, etc. According to a survey, 36% of people in Pakistan suffer from anxiety and depression. The main reason for this is not being able to tell family or friends about their condition because of the shame and judgment. In addition, they worry about being isolated from society if they disclose their inner state. Unstable economic conditions, unemployment and poverty further add to the suppression. Globally, men are stereotyped as tough and resilient, which is why men are often reluctant to reveal or confront mental health issues. The stigma against mental health in our society further adds to the predicament and puts men suffering from mental illnesses at a greater risk. Instead of seeking help, most men resort to extreme measures such as substance abuse, which further harms them.

A study conducted in Pakistan revealed that suicide is more common among men than women. According to WHO, 13,000 to 14,000 people commit suicide in Pakistan every year, while the number of unsuccessful suicide attempts is in the millions. From 2002 to 2019, the suicide rate among men was 13%. Among women, the rate fell to 4.3% from 4.9%.

Men should be encouraged to share their mental illnesses and offered therapy and rehabilitation. As a society, we need to break down stereotypical barriers and offer help to those who are vulnerable.

BABAR ALI ISLAmABAd

Mughal system of social welfare

THE Mughal dynasty was one of the world’s largest and strongest empire during the reign of greater Mughals. It lasted from 1526 to 1857 A.D. Most of the historians, especially the Hindu ones, consider Jalal-ud-Din Akbar as the greatest Mughal but in my opinion, this notion hinders the greatness of other Mughal emperors like Babar, Shahjehan and Aurangzeb Alamgir.

The great strength of this dynasty, no doubt, was its military power but their reign was also exemplary in other fields like education, economy, social development and judiciary.

The social welfare system adopted by them was very strong capable of fulfilling the needs of the time. The society was multi-religious society in which the Hindus were in majority. The sizeable population of other religions like Islam, Buddhism and Sikhism was also present there. The Muslim population was not more than ten percent at that time. In such a multi-religious society, it was tough to build a balanced social welfare system that would be acceptable for all. The Mughals were successful in this concern. This policy was mainly based on the principle of equality. The people were allowed to enjoy full religious freedom. no one was forced to convert his religion forcefully. Business opportunities were for all and at an equal level. Muslims were a privileged class but at the same time, Hindus were also encouraged to get social progress as high as possible.

Hinduism is an old religion which had its origin and development within subcontinent. It became a regional entity and its followers did not try to spread it out. Since the last century, this religion was limited to this region only. The most prominent feature of this religion is its caste system which allows a small class of religious pundits to have full control over it.

As a result, the social welfare system developed by this religion was very weak and did not provide social justice to the people. That is why the local people were attracted towards Islam and accepted it and hence Islam became a popular religion in this region. It confirms that the social welfare system of Mughals was successful. During British era, Hindu revival movements gained momentum which mainly focused to compete the Islamic values. These movements were reactionary in their nature and they started opposing policies of the Mughals and criticized them negatively.

Different segments started accepting their propaganda. It created the social, political and religious among two religions. British exploited the both of the communities by using these differences. They used the policy of divide and rule. All these circumstances ultimately lead to the partition of the subcontinent. So it is wrong to blame the Mughals especially, Aurangzeb Alamgir, for the partition of subcontinent as some Hindu historians blame.

TARIQ mAHmOOd KHAN FAISALABAd

08 WORLD VIEW 1 January 2022_Layout 1 12/31/2021 10:13 PM Page 1

Saturday, 1 January, 2022

08 WORLD VIEW

Forecasting the world in 2022

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he world on the brink of 2022 seems an especially unpredictable, and unsettling, place. For the first time, two FT forecasts this year ask if Russia and China will invade neighbours (we say no, but that may be wishful thinking). Less optimistically, our forecasters warn a more infectious coronavirus variant than Omicron could yet emerge, inflation will not return to US targets, tighter monetary policy will hit equities, and the next global climate conference will still not achieve enough in limiting warming. A bit playfully, perhaps, John Thornhill forecasts shares of elon Musk’s Tesla will buck the trend and rise nonetheless.

For 2021, 17 of the FT’s 20 forecasts proved correct.

We were wrong about the US rejoining the Iran nuclear deal, and too pessimistic on Covid vaccinations (about half the total world population has received two doses, suggesting more than half of adults have). Progress on diversity in US boardrooms also beat our benchmark.

WILL A MORE INFECTIOUS VARIANT THAN DELTA AND OMICRON COME TO DOMINATE GLOBAL CORONAVIRUS CASES? Yes. Most virologists expected Delta to be succeeded by something more infectious, but few foresaw such a sudden leap upwards in transmissibility and immune escape as Omicron. The virus may infect billions more people in 2022, so it would be surprising if evolution did not produce something that spreads even faster. Whether the next dominant variant causes more serious illness and deaths will depend on the extent of vaccination and social distancing followed around the world. Clive Cookson WILL INFLATION BE BACK AT THE US FEDERAL RESERVE’S 2 PER CENT TARGET BY YEAR-END? No. The idea that the inflationary “surprise” of 2021 would be transitory was a mistake. The shortages seen in 2021 may indeed prove temporary. But the shelter component in the consumer price index seems likely to rise sharply. The labour market is running hot, with low unemployment and high vacancy and quit rates. The surge in inflation has made short-term real interest rates even more negative. The moderate Fed tightening expected in 2022 and the long lags between tightening and its effects make it likely that core inflation, especially wage inflation, will rise, not fall, in 2022. Martin Wolf WILL THE GREAT RESIGNATION END? Yes — or it will ease, at least. In the US, the Big Quit is already starting to lose steam, and mothers who stopped work while schools were closed are returning.

Provided the Omicron wave passes, more workers will return as the virus recedes and savings amassed last year dwindle. But demographic ageing and lower migration mean labour markets will still be tight, with workers in shortage areas better placed to bargain up pay and conditions than before the pandemic. Delphine Strauss WILL NATIONAL CLIMATE PLANS FINALLY BE ENOUGH TO LIMIT WARMING TO THE 1.5C TARGET BY COP27 IN EGYPT? No. even with all the new climate pledges made at Glasgow’s COP26 summit, analysts say the world would still warm by at least 1.8C from pre-industrial times, and more likely 2.4C. Keeping to the safer 1.5C that countries claim they want requires much bolder cuts in the biggest emitters’ greenhouse gases — especially China, which accounts for 27 per cent of global emissions, more than the US and eU combined. But neither it nor other big economies show any sign of drastically improving their targets in 2022, nor the policies needed to reach them. Pilita Clark WILL THE UK’S BORIS JOHNSON FACE A NO-CONFIDENCE VOTE FROM HIS MPS? Yes, probably. Johnson has been written off many times before and in September seemed untouchable. But a run of errors has hammered the prime minister’s authority, as have tax rises and Covid restrictions which many Tories oppose. Bad polls and shocking by-election defeats make MPs fear he has lost his winning touch.

A poor Tory performance in May’s local elections is the most likely moment for opponents to strike; only 54 MPs are needed to force a vote. Johnson may prevail in that vote, especially if MPs are unsure who might succeed him. But with economic storms ahead and no sign he has changed his style there may well be enough Tories ready to try their luck. Robert Shrimsley WILL FRANCE ELECT A FAR-RIGHT PRESIDENT?

FINANCIAL TIMES WRITERS SHARE THEIR PREDICTIONS FOR THE NEW YEAR, FROM THE POSSIBLE EMERGENCE OF AN EVEN MORE INFECTIOUS STRAIN OF CORONAVIRUS TO THE UKRAINE STAND-OFF AND THE NFT BUBBLE No. France’s nativist far-right has welcomed a new addition ahead of presidential elections in April: eric Zemmour. But barring unexpected twists (a lot can happen in four months), the former columnist is splitting the ultranationalist vote, mostly at the expense of Marine Le Pen, who no longer looks certain to make it to the runoff.

In a second round, she or Zemmour would most probably face President emmanuel Macron, who would rally the mainstream voters against them. The bad news for Macron, however, is that he would probably win by a smaller margin than in 2017. Anne-Sylvaine Chassany WILL RUSSIA INVADE UKRAINE? No. A large-scale invasion would risk heavy Russian casualties and would run counter to Vladimir Putin’s preference for subterfuge and plausible deniability. Putin can achieve many of his aims without it: destabilising

wan, which lies about 161km from the mainland’s coast.

Lloyd Austin, US defence secretary, said in December that the exercises looked “a lot like rehearsals”. But an attack on Taiwan would risk economic suicide for China.

The US would almost certainly impose harsh sanctions that could cover the lion’s share of $350bn in semiconductors that China imports every year. China’s economy would buckle without these chips. James Kynge WILL MYANMAR’S MILITARY CONSOLIDATE ITS GRIP? No. Nearly a year after the coup that toppled Aung San Suu Kyi, Min Aung hlaing’s regime faces mass opposition from an angry population. No foreign partners, including Russia and China, have formally recognised it as Myanmar’s government, although Cambodia and India have made diplomatic overtures. Despite a military

Ukraine, deterring Kyiv’s allies from providing military aid, intimidating Nato and forcing more concessions in talks to end the fighting in the Donbas. however, Moscow may yet escalate further, stepping up the conflict in the breakaway region, stirring up trouble in other parts of Ukraine or targeted incursions. The ability to escalate is the Kremlin’s strongest asset. Ben hall WILL DEMOCRATS LOSE CONTROL OF CONGRESS IN NOVEMBER? Yes. Democrats will lose both the house of Representatives and the Senate in a clean Republican sweep.

Midterms are normally a setback for the party that controls the White house, but 2022 will look more like the “shellacking” Barack Obama’s Democrats received in 2010. On top of President Joe Biden’s low approval ratings, Republicans have been gerrymandering districts in states they run, which will only reinforce liberal disaffection with a system they see increasingly as rigged against them. They have a point. But being right is no defence against losing. edward Luce WILL THE US SUPREME COURT GIVE STATES FREE REIN TO BAN ABORTION? Yes. America’s highest court is considering a Mississippi law that bans the procedure after the 15th week of pregnancy. Arguments held in December suggested that a majority of the justices no longer want to maintain the constitutional protections set out in the 1973 Roe vs Wade decision. A decision is expected by the end of June. If the justices do over-rule the landmark case, more than 20 states are poised to ban all or most abortions and the issue will move to the centre of the 2022 elections.

Brooke Masters WILL CHINA INVADE TAIWAN? No, not this year at least. The question is fair given the escalation in military exercises by China near Tai-

counter-insurgency campaign in the north-west, guerrilla “people’s defence forces” are holding on to swaths of territory. With the economy in freefall and the coup proving a failure, the generals’ playbook of rerunning the 2020 election their proxy party lost looks fanciful. John Reed CAN IRAN BE PREVENTED FROM DEVELOPING A NUCLEAR WEAPON? Yes. Talks are struggling to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal that Iran signed with world powers but Donald Trump abandoned. Tehran is enriching uranium close to weapons-grade levels. The Biden administration hopes to save the deal, but the odds of an agreement that convinces Iran to return to compliance appear slim. experts believe Tehran’s calculation is that the risks outweigh any security gain, while Iran insists its programme is for civilian use. The key, however, may be whether Israel can be convinced to avoid acts of aggression that provoke Iran to move to the next dangerous stage. Andrew england WILL AFRICAN COUNTRIES MANAGE TO VACCINATE 70 PER CENT OF THEIR POPULATIONS? No. Though some countries, such as Morocco and South Africa, will almost certainly reach the level deemed necessary by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, others will not. In 2021, efforts to secure enough vaccines through purchases, donations and the global Covax initiative failed as western countries used their purchasing clout to jump to the front of the queue. The situation will improve in 2022. But new variants, the clamour for booster shots from wealthier countries and logistical problems mean many African countries will continue to lag behind. David Pilling

WILL BRAZIL’S PRESIDENT JAIR BOLSONARO REMAIN IN POWER? No. The far-right former army captain may have vowed in September that “only God can take me from the presidency” but despite his bravado, a more prosaic end beckons. high inflation and a stalling economy will conspire against his winning another term in the October presidential election. Former president and icon of the left Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva is favoured to win by a wide margin, and neither Brazil’s masses nor its democratically-minded armed forces are likely to back any Trump-style bid by Bolsonaro to cling to power after an electoral defeat. Michael Stott WILL THE S&P 500 FALL BY MORE THAN 10 PER CENT? Yes. It is hard to believe that the US Federal Reserve, essentially the price-setter for global stock markets, can engineer its way out of a period of supercharged monetary stimulus without upsetting equities, particularly given that inflation has proven a much tougher beast to tame than most investors, analysts and policymakers had predicted. The chance that the Fed will need to hit the brakes hard is real, especially given how politicised inflation has become in the States. Whether markets would remain pinned lower is another matter entirely. Katie Martin WILL AMERICA’S SECTION 230 BE REFORMED TO CURB BIG TECH? No. Many on both sides of the political aisle want to reform this loophole that allows technology companies off the legal hook for harmful content on their platforms — but for different reasons; Democrats and Republicans are concerned about different types of content. There are several proposed reform bills up in Congress, and whistleblower revelations about what Facebook (now Meta) knew about how its apps harmed teens have added fuel to the fire. While there’s pressure for both sides to be tough on tech in advance of midterms, the lack of an easy fix will make getting to “yes” difficult. Rana Foroohar WILL TESLA SHARES END THE YEAR HIGHER THAN NOW? Yes. By any traditional financial metric, Tesla’s shares remain madly overvalued, in spite of heavy falls towards the year end. A price/earnings ratio that has topped 300 in 2021 assumes that everything that can possibly go right at Tesla will keep going right into the indefinite future. But Tesla’s shares have become more than a claim on future corporate cash flow. Thanks to the mercurial genius of chief executive elon Musk, they have become alternative NFTs: non- financial tickets to the future. There remain more buyers than sellers of that particular kind of token. John Thornhill WILL MANY OTHER COUNTRIES FOLLOW CHINA’S CRYPTO CLAMPDOWN? No. Three months after China declared all crypto activities “illegal”, it is still seen very much as an outlier. Part of it is logistical. Most regulators say a broad crypto ban would be impossible to implement in markets with free and easy internet access. Regulators, especially in the west, are also naturally resistant to outlawing market activity without a very good reason, such as evidence of actual harm being done. In most jurisdictions, the approach is putting up guardrails. The US has started developing legislation which includes banning non-banks from issuing some types of cryptocurrency, and the eU has drawn up draft rules to regulate those who service crypto assets and issue them.

One exception to the trend is India, whose government said in November it was considering banning private crypto. Laura Noonan WILL MORE MUSICIANS CONFRONT THE POWER OF THE STREAMING GIANTS? Yes. When Adele demanded that Spotify make it harder for users to shuffle the tracks on her album 30, the streaming service unctuously tweeted: “Anything for you.” A recent UK study estimated 80 per cent of streams derive from 1 per cent of artists. Keeping the elite sweet is vital, as with Spotify’s efforts to mend fences when Taylor Swift temporarily pulled her catalogue from it in 2014. But streaming platforms must guard against being valet services for superstars. After Spotify went overboard promoting Drake’s 2018 album Scorpion, irate subscribers demanded refunds. The “anything for you” policy will intensify, but servility carries risks too. Ludovic hunter-Tilney

The curious case of Urdu poet Akbar Allahabadi’s new name IndIan ExprEss

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Editorial

eNAMING has a long history in India. The British once mangled native names in imperial arrogance; nativist rulers now rename cities and kasbas, streets and stadiums to avenge history, and inflame old wounds. For a brief while this week, it seemed that sarkari fiat wanted to do even more — not just rewrite history for political ends, but even give a spanking new digital ID to the dead. On the website of Uttar Pradesh higher education Services Commission, Urdu poet Akbar Allahabadi, whose takhallus paid homage to

WAS ALLAHABADI’S RENAMING ONLY ABOUT THE EARNEST LOGIC OF BUREAUCRATIC COMPLIANCE? OR SOMETHING MORE PURPOSEFUL, GIVEN THE CURRENT MANUFACTURED PRICKLINESS TO ANYTHING URDU OR MUSLIM? the city he lived in and worked in till his death in the 1920s, had been renamed Akbar Prayagraji.

The poet would not have been amused.

Allahabadi was a sharp satirist, a nationalist despite being a servant of the British government, and he firmly believed that the destinies of hindus and Muslims were inseparable. For him, Prayagraj and Allahabad

were not on either side of a fault line. But nearly a century after his death, his city’s name, found too Mughal by the powersthat-be, was changed by official diktat. how could he be exempt? Indeed, Allahabadi is not the only one to suffer this inelegance — two other poets, who had adopted similar pen-names, had found their names changed on the website.

What’s in a name change? The bureaucratic machine is not known to be a friend of poets or poetry or the imagination; it is the literalness of paperwork that it recognises — offered in triplicate, duly attested by a gazetted officer. But was Allahabadi’s renaming only about the earnest logic of bureaucratic compliance?

Was it a find/replace function error? The

unthinking work of an incompetent bureaucrat? Or something more purposeful, given the current manufactured prickliness to anything Urdu or Muslim? The UP government claims that the changes were unintentional and that the website had been hacked. Allahabadi’s name has been restored. And the curious case of Akbar Prayagraji laid to rest.

Saturday, 1 January, 2022 | KARACHI

corporate corner Bank of Punjab inaugurates two new branches in Karachi

Mini-BuDgET: nA sEssiOn ADjOurnED AgAin

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The Bank of Punjab (BOP) continues to expand its branch network as part of its strategy to reach out to its customers across the country. In this regard, BOP inaugurated two branches in Karachi today, a conventional branch at Khayaban-e-Tanzeem, Tauheed Commercial Area, and one Taqwa Islamic Banking (TIB) branch at LuckyOne Mall. These branches were a part of 11 branches being opened in Karachi in 2021 as a part of its strategy to expand its network in South, with special focus on Karachi. BOP’s Islamic branch at Lucky One Mall was inaugurated by BOP President & CEO Zafar Masud, BOP Directors Saeed Anwar & Syed Ghazanfar Abbas Jilani and ICI Pakistan Limited Chairperson Sohail Tabba, This branch is the first Islamic branch in Lucky One Mall, and BOP’s first Mall branch in the country. p r

HE National Assembly (NA) session was adjourned on Friday for an indefinite period, deferring the approval of the Finance Supplementary Bill, 2021 and State Bank of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill, 2021, once again.

“The National Assembly session has been prorogued,” the official Twitter handle of the NA said.

According to local media reports, the session which commenced with Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri in chair was held for a mere 12 minutes.

Earlier on Thursday, Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin had presented the two bills in NA; however, the the session was adjourned till Friday after the opposition pointed out the lack of quorum in the House.

PIA to restart Europe flights in Q1 of 2022

BEIJING aFp

ISLAMABAD app

The national flag carrier will be flying to Europe in the first quarter of 2022, after getting clearance from the international aviation auditor, revealed Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) CEO Arshad Malik.

In an interview on Thursday, the PIA chief anticipated that the

ban would be lifted in the first quarter of next year.

PIA sorted out its in-house affairs and brought significant improvement in safety and quality standards, which were checked by the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) before the visit of IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) team.

“We were able to clear and cross that hurdle (safety and qual-

reuters

The Turkish lira weakened for a fifth consecutive day on Friday, further eroding the big gains it made a week earlier as investors continued to fret about the country’s unorthodox monetary policy and rising inflation.

The lira stood at 13.3 against the dollar in thin trade at 0806 GMT, 0.6% weaker than Thursday’s close and down 20% from the end of last week.

Turks’ earnings have been eroded in re-

ity standards) with outstanding remarks,” he said.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) had recently completed its audit, but it had not yet shared its findings, he pointed out.

However, there were “very positive” indications and acknowledgments for improvement in Pakistan’s aviation sector, he added.

Banks to remain closed for public dealings on Jan 3 All banks in Pakistan will remain closed for public dealing on January 3 as the day will be observed as a bank holiday, according to an announcement by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP).

The central bank has said that all banks, devel-

opment finance institutions (DFIs) and Microfinance Banks (MFBs) and the SBP itself will remain closed.

“However, employees of banks, DFIs and MFBs will attend office as usual,” the statement reads. Monitoring report

Turkey’s lira weakens for fifth day on monetary policy worries ISTANBUL

cent months by the slide in the lira, though it rebounded from 18.4 to 10.25 last week after the introduction of a state scheme to protect local deposits from depreciation losses versus hard currencies.

Finance Minister Nureddin Nebati said this week that Turks’ dollar holdings have since fallen, but official data on Thursday showed local holdings of hard currencies soared to a record $238.97 billion last week.

At the same time the central bank’s net foreign currency holdings – its effective

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While addressing a press conference following the NA session on Thursday, Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin said that tax exemptions worth Rs343 billion out of Rs700 billion recommended by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) given to various sectors will be withdrawn under the supplementary bill.

Tarin dismissed fears of inflation claiming that there is no such thing as a storm of inflation hitting the masses by taking these measures.

“The common man will have to bear a burden of only Rs2 billion,” he had said, adding that items which will affect the common man only include personal computers, sewing machines, matches, iodised salt and red pepper. Monitoring report

Tesla to recall nearly 200,000 cars in China over collision risk Tesla is recalling almost 200,000 vehicles in China over problems with the trunk and front hood that raise the risk of collisions, a state regulator said Friday, hours after a similar recall was announced in the United States. The order is the latest blow to the American self-driving car pioneer, which is hugely popular in China although the firm’s reputation has taken a hit this year following a spate of crashes, scandals and data security concerns. China’s State Administration for Market Regulation said the defects could affect the vehicles’ backup cameras or cause the hoods to open suddenly while driving. The move covers three batches of cars produced between 2015 and 2020. Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company will inspect the cars for free and fix the issues, the regulator said in a statement. The recall includes around 19,700 Model S cars that could have latch problems with the front hood and about 180,000 Model 3 vehicles. In the Model 3 cars, repeated opening and closing of the trunk may damage a cable for the rearview camera. “This will affect the driver’s vision when reversing, and in extreme cases will increase the risk of collision,” the regulator said. The Chinese notice came hours after US authorities said Tesla was recalling almost 500,000 vehicles in the country due to similar problems. Tesla estimated that just one percent of the recalled Model 3 vehicles contain the problem, and the company knew of no related crash or injury, according to the US safety regulator. In June, the electric car giant recalled more than 285,000 cars in China over issues with its assisted driving software that could cause accidents.

NEWS

buffer against financial crisis – plunged to nearly a two-decade low.

The currency crisis was triggered by the central bank’s aggressive interest rate cuts, amounting to 500 basis points since September, carried out under pressure from President Tayyip Erdogan as part of a bid to boost credit and exports.

Economists have said the easing is reckless, given that inflation has risen above 21% and is expected to soar beyond 30% this month and in the months ahead due to the lira depreciation.

Digital payments account for over 50pc of sales on Daraz: CEO Bjarke

eCommerce marketplace Daraz CEO Bjarke Mikkelsen has said that digital payments account for over 50 per cent of sales on Daraz and that the company will focus on creating greater access to financial payments and services in the year ahead. In a LinkedIn post, Bjarke said that 2021 had been a great year for the company with significant progress made on the customer experience side. The CEO said that the company continued its infrastructure investment into Daraz Express which now gives Daraz the ability to deliver packages to all corners of its markets up to three days faster than any other provider.

Daraz continued expanding its brand portfolio, driving price competitiveness, and investing significantly to enhance the content, search, and navigation of the marketplace, wrote Bjarke. “This investment has enabled us to deliver a more intuitive experience that is personalised to a user’s product and content preference, keeping them more engaged for longer,” he wrote. Bjarke further said that the company had scaled its digital wallet in its markets, allowing customers to make secure, faster, and seamless payments in traditionally cash-dominated markets. “We have strengthened the marketplace regulation and incentive systems to achieve the best ever seller performance in terms of customer chat response quality, shipping time, out-of-stock rates, and product quality – this is supported by strongly incentivising reviews and product/seller ratings to create full transparency for customers when buying,” he wrote. Meanwhile, the implementation of AIpowered chatbots means we can now instantly resolve over 70 per cent of common queries/issues in multiple languages, Bjarke added. Monitoring report

Saturday, 1 January, 2022 | KARACHI

10 FOREIGN NEWS

WInd-drIven Colorado graSS FIre deStroyS HundredS oF HomeS, dISplaCeS tHouSandS DENVER

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ReuteRs

FIeRCe, wind-driven wildfire destroyed hundreds of homes, injured at least a half dozen people and prompted the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents in and around two towns east of the Rockies near Denver, authorities said on Thursday.

The swiftly spreading prairie grass fire was believed to have been ignited by sparks from power lines and transformers toppled by high winds on Colorado’s droughtparched Front Range, according to Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle. evacuation orders were first issued for all residents in the town of Superior, Colorado, with a population of about 13,000, and a short time later for the adjacent munic-

ipality of Louisville, home to more than 18,000 residents, the Boulder County emergency management office said on Twitter.

Separately, the National Weather Service office in Boulder tweeted: “All Superior under an evacuation ORDeR. LeAVe NOW!” Within hours, the blaze had swept an estimated 1,600 acres (647.5 hectares) and destroyed more than 500 homes, Pelle told reporters at a news briefing.

He said an entire subdivision of 370 homes went up in flames west of Superior, and that 210 dwellings were lost in the Old Town area of Superior, along with additional residences in the area. Property losses also included a shopping center and hotel in Superior, officials said.

Governor Jared Polis said flames were consuming football fields of landscape in a

matter of seconds, calling the conflagration “a force of nature.”

The sheriff said gale-force winds made it impossible to halt the fire’s rapid advance, adding that fire and emergency personnel were “essentially running ahead of this just trying to get people out of the way. That’s all you can do.”

Pelle said tens of thousands of area residents were under evacuation orders.

Among them were about 30 patients, along with staff, from Avista Adventist Hospital in Louisville, which was shut down and fully evacuated as of late afternoon, according to the medical network Centura Health. Some patients were discharged. The rest were transferred to other Centura hospitals.

The sheriff said he had no reports of people missing and no deaths reported.

Six people were treated for injuries from the wildfires at the UCHealth hospital in the neighboring city of Broomfield, spokesperson Kelli Christensen said. But she declined to specify the nature of the injuries or the patients’ conditions.

The extent of property losses was not immediately known, but KMGH-TV, the local ABC News affiliate, aired footage of multiple homes engulfed in flames.

A towering plume of smoke from the wildfire was visible in Denver, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) to the south.

Wind gusts of up to 110 miles (177 km) per hour were reported in Boulder, according to the National Weather Service, which said fast-moving fires were creating a “lifethreatening situation” in the Superior and Louisville areas.

Authorities said forecasts called for di-

minishing winds late on Thursday or early on Friday, which would enable firefighters to get ahead of the flames and for waterdropping helicopters and airplane tankers to be deployed against the blaze.

Polis declared a state of emergency allowing use of disaster funding to support emergency response efforts in Boulder County and to allow mobilization of the Colorado National Guard and other state resources as needed.

The fire on the outskirts of the Denver metropolitan area, left bone dry from an extreme drought gripping eastern Colorado, follows several days of heavy snow in the Rocky Mountains to the west. However, forecasts call for snow to hit Denver and eastern Colorado starting on Friday.

Four killed, 200 injured in protests in Sudan KHARTOUM AnAdolu Agency

At least four protesters were killed and hundreds injured demanding the restoration of civilian rule in Sudan, a doctors group said Friday. At least four protesters were killed Thursday by live munition in Omdurman, the twin city of the capital Khartoum across the White Nile River, while 200 were injured, the Central Committee of the Sudanese Doctors said in a statement. “Thursday’s repression of the demonstrations is known as a fullfledged crime against humanity, as the authorities launched a fierce war against peaceful demonstrations,” the committee said. It added: “We detected about 200 injuries during Thursday’s demonstrations, including about 40 injuries from live bullets, some of which are critical.” On Thursday, protest rallies took place in several areas in the capital Khartoum, Kasala, and Port Sudan in the country’s east, as well as the northern city of Atbara, according to an Anadolu Agency correspondent on the ground. Protesters called for democratic civilian rule and decried a recent political deal between the military and Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok. Internet services on Thursday were down in the capital and other areas prior to the demonstrations, as providers cut mobile services, with only landline connections remaining available. On Wednesday, security authorities closed multiple bridges and overland routes, installing concrete barriers and barbed wire on roads leading to the presidential palace. The calls for protest were made by the Sudanese Professionals Association, which rejected the deal signed last month and called for full civilian rule. Sudan has been in turmoil since Oct. 25 when the Sudanese military dismissed Hamdok’s transitional government and declared a state of emergency.

Hamdok, however, was reinstated on Nov. 21 under an agreement with army chief Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan in a move rejected by Sudanese political and civil forces as an “attempt to legitimize the coup.”

India says China 'inventing' names in disputed Himalayan region NEW DELHI AFP

India hit out at China for giving “invented” names to several places in a disputed Himalayan region on their border as Beijing looks to assert sovereignty over the territory. Several stretches of the lengthy frontier are disputed and relations have soured dramatically since 20 Indian soldiers died in a brawl in June 2020 on one section between Ladakh and Tibet. Since then, both sides have reinforced the region with thousands of extra soldiers and military hardware as multiple rounds of talks have failed to de-escalate tensions. This week the Ministry of Civil Affairs said it had “standardised” the names of 15 places in Zangnan ("South Tibet") — Beijing's title for the region India calls Arunachal Pradesh — and gave them all formal Chinese names. The renaming of residential areas, rivers and mountains followed a similar move in 2017 involving six other locations in the same area. “Arunachal Pradesh has always been, and will always be an integral part of India,” India's foreign ministry said on Thursday. “Assigning invented names to places in Arunachal Pradesh does not alter this fact,” spokesman Arindam Bagchi said in a statement. Foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said “Southern Tibet is in China's Tibet Autonomous Region, and has historically been Chinese territory,” adding the renaming came within “the scope of China's sovereignty”. Tibet has alternated over the centuries between independence and control by China, which says it “peacefully liberated” the rugged plateau in 1951.

Saturday, 1 January, 2022 | KARACHI

SPORTS 11

MAn UniTed CrUise pAsT BUrnley To sTrengTHen Top-foUr Hopes MancHeSter AFP

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ANCHESTER United cruised to a moraleboosting 3-1 win against Burnley on the eve of Alex Ferguson’s 80th birthday on Thursday to strengthen their push for a Premier League top-four finish.

Scott McTominay put United in front early and a Ben Mee own goal doubled their lead before Cristiano Ronaldo finished impudently to put Ralph Rangnick’s men 3-0 up.

Veteran winger Aaron Lennon punctured the party atmosphere at Old Trafford towards the end of the first half, giving Sean Dyche’s struggling Burnley hope, but United largely bossed the second period.

The Red Devils are now four points behind fourthplaced Arsenal with a game in hand after interim manager Rangnick shook up his team following a disappointing draw at Newcastle.

Rangnick, still unbeaten since taking over from the sacked Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, made six changes, shuffling his defence and starting Jadon Sancho and Edinson Cavani in attack.

Bruno Fernandes was suspended after picking up a fifth yellow card of the league season.

Burnley have suffered suffering a number of postponements as a result of coronavirus and a snow-bound pitch and the Covid-19 again disrupted Dyche’s plans at Old Trafford.

Dyche, whose side had not played since December 12, confirmed before the game that Josh Brownhill, Nick Pope, Jay Rodriguez and Kevin Long had missed out after testing positive for the virus.

Both teams made a bright start to the game, with Burnley’s Chris Wood heading over from close range and Ronaldo side-footing over with just the goalkeeper to beat after a fine pass from the recalled Luke Shaw. mctominay stRike: United opened the scoring in the eighth minute, when Mason Greenwood cut the

ball back to the edge of the box, where Ronaldo’s first touch fell for McTominay, who hit a sweet right-footed shot past Wayne Hennessey.

The home side extended their advantage in the 27th minute in front former manager Ferguson, who was at the helm the last time they won the Premier League, in 2013.

Sancho was freed the left by Shaw and the former Borussia Dortmund player cut inside onto his right foot before hitting a low strike that nestled in the corner via a slight touch from Burnley captain Mee. A superb McTominay effort was met by a similarly impressive stop by the flying Hennessey, who tipped the strike onto a post only for Ronaldo to react by flicking the loose ball into an empty net with the outside of his right boot.

The goal looked to have wrapped up victory for United but their porous defence conceded again as Lennon produced a clinical finish to beat David de Gea after a fine driving run.

The second half started at a more sedate pace but the confident McTominay again tried his luck from range shortly after the hour mark, forcing Hennessey to tip over. United were largely in control for the rest of the match as they ended 2021 on a high despite a couple of late scares.

The defeat leaves Burnley mired in relegation trouble, third from bottom of the table with just a single Premier League win all season.

Ronaldo statue kicks up a fuss in India's Goa neW deLHI AFP

A statue of Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo has caused a stir in the southern Indian state of Goa, with locals accusing officials of insensitivity for honouring a sports star from the region's former colonial power.

Protesters with black flags gathered at the site after the statue was unveiled this week in the town of Calangute.

They expressed anger that authorities had shunned Indian sports stars and chosen a player from Portugal, which granted Goa independence in 1961. Micky Fernandes, a former Indian international player who is from Goa, said the choice was "hurtful" and a "hangover" from Portuguese rule.

"Ronaldo is the best player in the world but still we should have a statue of a football player from Goa," Fernandes told AFP. Michael Lobo, a local minister with India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, told AFP the aim was to inspire young people to excel not just inside the country but internationally.

"All the boys and girls who want to make football a career will get inspired by people like Cristiano Ronaldo," Lobo said.

"If you pursue your dream and you're passionate about it then you can reach a higher goal. This is what we have written on the plaque."

Most of present-day India gained independence in 1947.

But Portugal's then-military dictatorship only relinquished Goa following an invasion by the Indian army and a two-day war in 1961.

Portugal's centuries-long influence remains visible in local architecture, particularly the many churches. Many people in Goa have Portuguese-origin surnames.

Unlike in most of India, many Goans prefer football to cricket -- and many support Portugal in international tournaments such as the World Cup. "I follow (Portugal) too but when we have our own players we cannot put up a statue of someone from outside," Fernandes said.

It is not the first time a statue of Ronaldo, 36, has caused an upset.

A grinning bust unveiled at Madeira airport in Portugal in 2017 was widely ridiculed as looking little like its subject.

Mohammad Rizwan, Shaheen Afridi nominated for ICC Men’s Player of the Year award neWS deSk

Australia's Travis Head tests positive for Covid-19 Sydney AFP

Australia's Ashes campaign was thrown into chaos Friday with batsman Travis Head testing positive for Covid-19 and ruled out of next week's fourth Ashes Test against England. The number five, who made a swashbuckling 152 in the first Test at Brisbane, will remain in Melbourne and isolate for seven days. "Unfortunately, Travis returned a positive Covid-19 result earlier today," Cricket Australia said.

"Thankfully, he is asymptomatic at this stage.

We anticipate that he will be available to play in the fifth Ashes Test in Hobart." Is it not clear whether other Australian players were close contacts. Mitchell Marsh, Nic Maddinson and Josh Inglis have been called into the squad as cover, but the experienced Usman Khawaja is favourite to take Head's place and play his first Test since the 2019 Ashes. Head is the latest positive coronavirus case on the Ashes tour with England's under-pressure coach Chris Silverwood also out of the Sydney Test after a family member failed a test. The touring party has so far registered seven positives -- three support staff and four family members -- since a PCR testing regime was implemented on Monday after the virus was first detected during the Boxing Day Test.

England fast bowling coach Jon Lewis, spin coach Jeetan Patel and strength and conditioning boss Darren Veness are reportedly among those in isolation. International Cricket Council match referee David Boon, who has officiated at every Test so far, will also be absent in Sydney after he too tested positive. Australia have already retained the Ashes after comfortable wins in the first three Tests at Brisbane, Adelaide and Melbourne and are looking to sweep England in the best-of-five series.

Star pacer Shaheen Shah Afridi, and ace batsman-wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan have been included among four nominees for the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Men’s Player of the Year, the world cricket body announced on Friday.

The other two nominees are England captain Joe Root and New Zealand captain Kane Williamson, the ICC revealed in a statement.

Rizwan – the ace batsman Ever-reliable batsman for Pakistan, Rizwan accrued 1,915 runs in 44 international matches this year at an average of 56.32 and racked up 56 dismissals behind the stumps.

“The Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter ruled the roost in 2021 when it came to the shortest format of the game. Aggregating a staggering 1,326 runs in only 29 matches, Rizwan struck at an average of 73.66 and a strike rate of 134.89. Apart from his exploits with the bat, he was as solid as ever behind the stumps,” the statement said.

According to the ICC’s statement, Rizwan’s most memorable performance also came during Pakistan’s match against India, with the batsman hitting 79 on only 55 deliveries, including six fours and three sixes.

“He ensured that there were no hiccups in the run-chase as Pakistan galloped towards the target without losing a single wicket to seal a 10-wicket victory. Rizwan would continue this form throughout the remainder of the tournament, scoring 281 runs and ending as the third-highest runscorer,” it added.

Praising Rizwan’s consistency, the ICC statement noted that he had also improved his Test performances this year, gathering 455 runs in nine matches at an average of 45.50.

The ICC also recalled Rizwan’s performance in Pakistan’s semi-final against Australia in which he top-scored for the Green Shirts with 67 from 52 balls. During his innings, Rizwan had become the first player to score 1,000 runs in T20 interna-

tionals in a calendar year.

Officials had revealed after the match that Rizwan was in hospital with a severe chest infection before taking the field in the semi-final.

Saying Rizwan has a “character of steel”, the statement recalled coach Matthew Hayden’s post-match talk in which he said, “[Rizwan] is a warrior. He has been brilliant through it (the campaign) and he’s got great courage.”

A day earlier, the ICC announced the nominees for the ODI Player of the Year award, with Pakistan skipper Babar Azam one of four contenders for the accolade.

According to the ICC, its Voting Academy which comprises global cricket journalists and broadcasters will vote for their first, second and third choices. The world cricket body will also take fans’ votes into consideration. The winner will be decided

by combining the results of the Voting Academy and fans’ votes. shaheen – the staR paceR Elaborating on the achievements of the players, the ICC noted that Shaheen took 78 wickets in 36 international matches this year at an average of 22.20 runs. He also delivered his career-best figures in an innings this year in August against the West Indies, grabbing six wickets for 51 runs.

“The tall Pakistani pacer was on fire throughout 2021, knocking some of the best batters over across all three formats of the game. He especially had a year to remember in Tests and T20Is, reaching his absolute peak during the T20 World Cup in UAE where he impressed one and all with his sheer speed and skills,” the statement said.

“He ruled the shortest format throughout the calendar year, scalping 23 wickets

in 21 matches with his death bowling improving by leaps and bounds,” it added.

The statement made special mention of Shaheen’s performance against India in the T20 World Cup where it was the pacer’s double-wicket salvo up top that put India on the backfoot early and set the tone for the entire match.

It also recalled Indian captain Virat Kohli’s post-match statement in which he had heaped praise on Shaheen, saying: “He put our batsmen under pressure immediately with the new ball, and he ran in with intensity and showed that he’s bowling in consistent areas, so as batsmen you are forced to be a bit watchful.

“That spell kind of put us on the back foot immediately, and from therĴe on to get those extra 20, 25 runs, in the end, seemed pretty difficult when you lose three wickets for 20 runs.”

Saturday, 1 January, 2022

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Pakistan has achieved target of vaccinating 70m PeoPle by year-end: asad ISLAMABAD

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News Desk

EDERAL Minister for Planning, Development, Reforms and Special Initiatives Asad Umar on Friday said that Pakistan has achieved the target of administering Covid-19 vaccine to 70 million people of the country by the end of 2021.

Sharing the details from his Twitter handle, Asad, who is also the head of National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), said that the target of fully vaccinating 70 million people by the end of 2021 has been achieved owing to efforts of the NCOC team and the federal and provincial administrations.

“I am grateful for the tireless work of the NCOC team, the federal and provincial administrations and the health teams. The hard word of all these people achieved the target that was considered unachievable,” he said.

He added that to make the massive vaccination drive possible, the federal government had procured vaccines worth approximately Rs250 billion.

“100 percent procurement of vaccine was done by the federal government, which has provided free vaccines to all citizens regardless of which province they

live in,” he said.

Further sharing the statistics of Covid vaccination in the federating units, the NCOC head said that Islamabad leads with a 77 percent fully vaccinated population.

“Punjab is at 51 percent, Gilgit-Baltistan 46 percent, AJK 45 percent, Balochistan 42 percent, KP 41 percent, and

Sindh at 37 percent,” he said, adding that of the total eligible population of the country, 46 percent is fully vaccinated and 63 percent has received at least one dose.

Covid-19 kills 6, infects 515 in a day: Pakistan reported six deaths by novel coronavirus in the last 24 hours as the nationwide tally of fatalities jumped to 28,927 on Friday.

According to the latest figures issued by the NCOC, 515 persons were tested positive for Covid-19 in the past 24 hours.

Punjab remained the worst-hit province in terms of deaths followed by Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The number of confirmed positive cases surged to 1,295,376.

481,689 coronavirus cases have been confirmed so far in Sindh, 444,977 in Punjab, 181,370 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 108,618 in Islamabad, 34,660 in Azad Kashmir, 33,633 in Balochistan and 10,429 in GilgitBaltistan.

Pakistan has conducted 23,372,405 coronavirus tests so far and 47,856 in the last 24 hours. 1,256,337 patients have recovered in the country, whereas 633 patients are in critical condition. The Covid-19 positivity ratio was recorded at 1.07 percent.

Four soldiers martyred in exchange of fire with terrorists in North Waziristan: ISPR Four soldiers of the Pakistan Army embraced martyrdom in a gun battle with terrorists during an intelligencebased operation (IBO) in the Mir Ali area of North Waziristan tribal district, the military’s media wing stated on Friday.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), security forces revealed that an IBO was conducted on the reported presence of terrorists in the area.

As per the details, an intense exchange of fire ensued between the terrorists and the troops, as a result of which four soldiers embraced martyrdom.

The martyred soldiers were identified as Havaldar Munawar, Sepoy Zaka Ullah, Sepoy Farhan and Sepoy Sheraz.

Separately, the security forces conducted another operation in the Tank area

following reports of terrorists’ presence in the vicinity.

During the operation, two terrorists were killed, who were later identified as

Shahzeb alias Zakir and Daniyal. The forces also recovered weapons during the raid.

“These terrorists were involved in multiple terror activities including attacks against security forces, targeted killings and kidnapping for ransom,” the ISPR statement said.

Earlier on December 24, two soldiers embraced martydom, when terrorists attacked a security forces check post in Balochistan’s Kech district.

The ISPR had said a follow-up operation was in progress in the area to search for the terrorists when the attack took place.

Similarly, on December 14, terrorists attacked a post close to the Pak-Iran border in Balochistan, resulting in martydom of one member of the security forces. News Desk

saudi airstrike kills 12 yemeni troops by mistake: officials An airstrike by the Saudi-led coalition has mistakenly hit a camp of allied Yemeni pro-government forces, killing at least 12 troops, Yemeni military officials said on Friday.

The strike, which took place on Thursday in the province of Shabwa, also wounded at least eight Yemeni troops, the officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to brief the media.

There was no immediate comment from the Saudi-led coalition, an ally of the forces of Yemen's internationally recognised government. Turki alMaliki, a coalition spokesman, did not respond to numerous calls and messages from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Yemen has been torn by civil war since 2014, when Iran-backed Houthi rebels overran the capital of Sanaa and much of the country's north. In 2015, the Saudiled coalition intervened to halt the rebels and restore the internationally recognised government to power.

However, the war has slogged on for years and created the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

At the scene of the strike, several bodies were burned and three military vehicles, some of which carried automatic rifles, were destroyed, said two local residents who asked not to be identified by name, fearing reprisal.

Friendly fire incidents where Saudi-led coalition airstrikes have hit allied ground forces have happened on occasion during Yemen's conflict.

In the past months, fighting has escalated between the Houthis and Yemeni government forces around the central city of Marib and the coastal city of Hodeida.

The coalition has also increased its airstrikes on Sanaa and other rebel-held areas in Yemen in recent weeks. ap

PTV to air documentary on Karakoram Highway today ISPR in association with Delirium Productions and FWO produces a documentary film Where Men and Mountains Meet to showcase the construction and completion of the project.

The documentary, which will be aired on Saturday (today), is a testament to unprecedented sacrifices

by FWO in particular and the Pakistani nation in general.

According to details, the film will showcase Karakoram Highway (KKH), a mammoth project of 1300 km, which is often regarded as the 8th wonder of the world.

KKH is an emblem of Pak-China friendship also known as the “Friendship Highway”.

The premiere was arranged on 27 Dec 2021 at The Arena, Bahria Town, Ph-IV RWP where maximum media platforms were invited. The documentary is a testament to numerous sacrifices (813 individuals have embraced martyrdom including 567 military and 246 civilians) for seeing the construction of Highway possible.

It is pertinent to note that the Karakoram Highway, also known as National Highway 35 is a 1,300 km (810 mi) national highway that extends from Hasan Abdal in the Punjab province of Pakistan to the Khunjerab

Pakistani side, the road was constructed by FWO (Frontier Works Organisation), employing the Pakistan Army Corps of Engineers. Karakoram Highway provides the pathway to expeditions for almost all peaks in Gilgit–Baltistan, Kash-

Pass in GilgitBaltistan, where it crosses into China and becomes China National Highway 314.

A project which is often regarded as the 8th wonder of the world is the emblem of Pak-China friendship and is also known as Friendship Highway. The highway is one of the highest paved roads in the world, passing through the Karakoram mountain range at a maximum elevation of 4,714 m (15,466 ft) near Khunjerab Pass.

It was started in 1959 and was completed and opened to the public in 1979. On the

m i r and several peaks in Xinjiang China. The region includes some of the world’s largest glaciers like the Baltoro and Siachen Glaciers.

This herculean task has witnessed numerous sacrifices so much so that a famous proverb “A life lost every kilometer of the road” came into being. 567 Military troops (including 11 Officers) and 246 Civilians lost their lives and more than 980 individuals injured mostly in landslides and falls while building the highway.

Experiences of the following officials,

who remained part of FWO during different eras of construction of KKH have also been included in the documentary: 1. Lieutenant General (Retired) Javed Nasir, HI (M), SBt 101 Engineers Battalion 1966-1969 2. Major General (Retired) Sabih Ud Din

Bukhari, SI, HI (M) 173 Engineers Battalion Oct 1970 – Oct 1971 3. Mustansar Hussain Tarrar, Sitara-iImtiaz, Pride of Performance Writer, Author 4. Major General (Retired) Muhamad Afsar GSO-III, 491 Road Construction Group 1966-1968 5. Brigadier (Retired) Iqbal Ahmed, SI (M) 107 Engineers Battalion 1967-1969 6. Brigadier (Retired) Mumtaz Khalid Author of “History of Kakakoram Highway”

July 1969-Oct 1969 7. Brigadier (Retired) Muhammad Arbi Khan, SI (M) 104 Engineers Battalion, Bridge Construction Group 1970-1972 8. Colonel (Retired) Ta n v e e r Ahmed 105 Engineers Battalion 1967-1969 9 .

Colonel (Retired) Sajid Bashir Sheikh 1 0 8 Engineers Battalion 19691971 10. Major (Retired) Shahid Attaullah 11 ECB 11. Naib Subedar (Retired) Manzoor Hussain 108 Engineers Battalion 1969-1971 Federal Minister of Communication and Postal Services Murad Saeed also took to his Twitter to laud the initiative of documenting the historic construction of Karakoram Highway.

Similarly, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain also took to his Twitter to appreciate the ISPR’s project. News Desk

Published by Arif Nizami at Plot No 66-C, 1st Floor, 21st Commercial Street, Phase-II (Extension), DHA Karachi and printed at Ibn-e-Hassan Printing Press, Hockey Stadium, Karachi, for PT Print (Pvt) Limited. Ph: 021-35381208-9. Email: newsroom@pakistantoday.com.pk