Epaper – July 28 KHI 2021

Wednesday, 28 July, 2021 I 17 Zil-Hajj, 1442 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XII No 27 I 12 Pages I Karachi Edition

PM stresses uPon strengthening of econoMic diMension of Pak-saudi ties g

Pakistan, saudi arabia to work on easing travel restrictions

ISLAMABAD APP

P

rime minister imran khan tuesday while reaffirming the deep-rooted and historic bonds between Pakistan and saudi arabia, particularly emphasized upon the need of strengthening the economic dimension of these ties by taking steps to realize the vast possibilities in trade, investment and energy. the prime minister was talking to kingdom of saudi arabia Foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan al saud who called on him. the covid situation in the two countries and in the south asia was also discussed. on the situation in afghanistan, the prime minister underscored the need for constructive engagement among the afghan parties for securing a negotiated political settlement, which was critically important for peace and stability in the region. Prime minister imran khan appreciated the work related to activation

of the saudi-Pakistan supreme coordination council (sPscc), which was the highest-level platform designed to impart strategic direction to the development of Pakistan-saudi arabia relations.

He also lauded the important role of Pakistan’s community in saudi arabia in progress and development of the two countries. He underlined that the strong people-to-people linkages helped building solid foundations of bilateral cooperation. noting the difficulties being faced by Pakistani nationals due to covid-related travel restrictions, the prime minister underlined the importance of timely measures for facilitation of their return to saudi arabia. He thanked for the administration of covid-19 vaccines to Pakistanis living in the kingdom. the prime minister conveyed cordial greetings for the custodian of the two Holy mosques king salman bin abdulaziz al saud and crown Prince mohammed bin salman and fondly recalled his visit to saudi arabia in may.

coronavirus in

Pakistan

CONFIRMED CASES:

1,011,708

LAST UPDATED AT 7:29 AM ON JULY 27, 2021

DAY'S DEATH TOLL:

NEW CASES:

39

3,262

RECOVERED:

DEATHS:

928,722 23,087 SINDH:

PUNJAB:

369,245

353,695

KPK:

BALOCHISTAN:

142,139 AJK/GB: 23,203 / 7,798

29,681 ISLAMABAD:

85,947

in line with the decisions taken on the occasion, the prime minister highlighted the assiduous follow-up and stressed the need for exploring new avenues of cooperation to further deepen bilateral relations in diverse fields. thanking the prime minister for the warm welcome accorded to the saudi delegation, Prince Faisal underscored the importance that saudi arabia attached to its strong relationship with Pakistan, based on bonds of brotherhood.

He reaffirmed the resolve to taking all possible measures to further strengthen the bilateral relationship under the strategic direction set by the crown prince and the prime minister.

Pakistan and saudi arabia enjoy close fraternal elations, marked by close cooperation and mutual support. saudi arabia is a member of organisation of islamic cooperation (oic) contact group on Jammu & kashmir and steadfastly supports the kashmir cause. earlier, in a joint presser at the ministry of Foreign affairs, Foreign minister shah mahmood Qureshi and his saudi counterpart Prince Faisal vowed to continue lending support to each other on issues of regional and international importance.

Prince Faisal, who arrived in islamabad tuesday, earlier led the delegation-level talks with Qureshi that encompassed a wide range of matters.

He said: “we hope to build on the momentum of strong bonds based on our brotherhood, as the two countries have always stood by each other in difficult times.”

He termed the talks as “very, very fruitful discussions” held on bilateral matters with all areas of the broader spectrum coming under discussion, with a special focus on economic ties. the saudi foreign minister said riyadh would encourage businessmen from both sides to explore opportunities for investment in areas of technology.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

Pakistan rejects ‘misleading’ US commentary on judiciary ISLAMABAD StAff RePoRt

Pakistan on tuesday rejected as “factually incorrect” and “misleading” a report of the state department of the united states raising concerns on the judicial independence and purportedly improper influence from the other branches of government on its working. the report, titled “2021 investment climate statements“, while evaluating the domestic investment climate, claimed the “judiciary is influenced by the government and other stakeholders”. “the lower judiciary is influenced by the executive branch and seen as lacking competence and fairness. it currently faces a significant backlog of unresolved cases,” it claimed. “theoretically, Pakistan’s judicial system operates independently of the executive branch.

However, the reality is different, as the military wields significant influence over the judicial branch. as a result, there are doubts concerning the competence, fairness, and reliability of Pakistan’s judicial system. However, fear of contempt of court proceedings inhibit businesses and the public generally from reporting on perceived weaknesses of the judicial process.” responding to media queries concerning the report, the Foreign office said: “we take strong exception to the gratuitous and unwarranted comments made in the report on Pakistan’s judicial system.” “the judiciary in Pakistan is independent and the courts are functioning in accordance with the constitution and laws of the country. the allegations to the contrary are firmly denied as factually incorrect and misleading,”

SBP keeps interest rate unchanged at 7pc for fifth consecutive time NewS DeSk the state bank of Pakistan on tuesday kept the monetary policy rate unchanged for the fifth consecutive time at 7 percent for the next two months. sharing the decision taken by the monetary Policy committee (mPc) at a press conference, sbP governor dr reza baqir said the benchmark interest rate is being kept unchanged to support the economy during the covid-19 pandemic.

He said that consumer and business confidence have risen to multi-year highs and inflation expectations have fallen due the consistent policy rate and measures taken by the central bank. “as a result of these positive developments, growth is projected to rise from 3.9 percent in FY21 to 4-5 percent this year, and average inflation to moderate to 7-9 percent this year from its recent higher outturns,” he said. the mPc noted that the pandemic is not over and the country is going through the fourth wave of the coronavirus in view of which it wants to “give a feeling of stability to the nation” and show that the sbP’s

its spokesperson Zahid Hafeez chaudhri said. “as a vibrant democracy, the government of Pakistan firmly believes in the separation of powers between the executive, legislative and Judicial branches of the state,” he said. the spokesperson said there was no question of any coercion or pressure on the judiciary. “the baseless assertions made in the report are contradicted by innumerable decisions by Pakistani courts at all levels that meet the highest standards of judicial independence,” he said. chaudhri observed while the report acknowledged the progress made and reforms undertaken by the government in improving the business and investment climate despite extremely difficult circumstances due to the coronavirus crisis, it “speculated on alleged shortcomings in Pakistan’s regulatory framework and based its conclusions on unverifiable sources”.

He said mutually beneficial cooperation in the sectors of the economy, trade and investment with the international community, including the us, was one of the key priorities of the government. we will continue to take steps to optimally realise our geo-economic potential, he added.

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Fleeing Afghanistan troops ‘amicably returned’ to Kabul: ISPR STORY ON BACK PAGE

“supportive monetary policy” would be maintained, baqir added. “the mPc said that if there was a need to change the monetary policy, the change would come in a gradual way. if a change is made, it would not be in a way similar to how we had to bring the change in 2019 because back then the conditions of our economy were very different [and] we had a very large external deficit.” moving on to the current account deficit (cad) which increased in may and June, the sbP governor said seasonal factors were behind the rise. “we see a lot of [import-related] payments in June since the budget is expiring. besides this, there were some new imports — for

example, vaccines imported to [fight] covid — the impact of which was not present last year.

Food import payments have been high in the last fiscal year. the government imported flour and wheat to reduce the prices of [the products] in our country,” he explained.

For a country like Pakistan, which is considered to be an emerging market, a “moderate amount of current account deficit is appropriate”, especially if the country wanted to keep the economic growth rate between three and four per cent, baqir said, adding the sbP believed a current account deficit that was 2-3pc of the gdP was “sustainable”.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

centre commits to support sindh as coronavirus situation worsens STORY ON PAGE 03

Cabinet approves National Cyber Security Policy 2021 STORY ON PAGE 02

Parents of suspect challenge detention in noor murder STORY ON PAGE 02

02

Wednesday, 28 July, 2021

KARACHI

NEWS

CABiNet APProveS NAtioNAL CyBer SeCurity PoLiCy 2021

t

NEwS DESk

HE federal cabinet has approved National Cyber Security Policy 2021 for data protection and prevention of cybercrimes, the minister said, after it was revealed that India had used NSO Group’s spyware to target Prime Minister Imran Khan’s number.

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry, while addressing a post-cabinet press briefing in Islamabad, said the policy has been introduced keeping in view the enhanced significance of the cyber regime.

He said Prime Minister Imran has asked that a “threats assessment committee” be formed to decide whether or not security be provided to government ministers and other important figures.

THREATS ASSESSMENT COMMITTEE FORMED TO REVIEW PROTOCOL PRIVILEGES The information minister said “more money is spent on security for the judiciary than on government representatives”.

Chaudhry said a detailed report on protocol provided to people was presented to the cabinet, which revealed that Rs700 million in total are spent on the security detail of the president, prime minister, cabinet members, ministers, governors, chief ministers, and other high-ranking government officials.

The minister said Rs2,529 million are spent on security detail in Punjab, while Rs998 million are spent in Khyber

Nawaz met Afghanistan NSA on Ghani’s request: Abbasi ISLAMABAD stAff RePoRt

Former prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz Vice President Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has said his predecessor and party’s supreme leader Nawaz Sharif met Kabul’s National Security Adviser Hamdullah Mohib on the request of Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani. Sharif, who travelled to London in November 2019 on an eight-week conditional bail period on the pretext of medical treatment and later refused to return, landed himself in hot waters after he met with a delegation from Afghanistan, including Mohib, to “discuss matters of mutual interest”. The meeting, reportedly aided by an Arab country, was held to “talk to everyone, listen to their point of view and convey one’s own message across”, Sharif’s daughter Maryam Nawaz later tweeted. “The meeting was in favour of Pakistan,” Abbasi told host Adil Shahzeb on his programme Live with Adil Shahzeb. He said the meeting was scheduled some five months back after Ghani had expressed a desire for a meeting between an Afghanistan delegation and Sharif in London, but did not elaborate that in what capacity since Sharif does not hold any office and was declared an absconder by the courts for violating the bail requirements.

Islamabad severed ties with Mohib, who routinely accuses Pakistan of supporting and directing the Taliban’s insurgency in his country, in May after his recent “abusive outburst” against the country. In a public speech earlier that month in the eastern Nangarhar province of Afghanistan, next to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa border, Mohib not only repeated his allegations but referred to Pakistan as a brothel house. In his interview, Abbasi said Mohib’s statement was “rightfully condemned” by Pakistan and the official got “punished” for his remarks but insisted that “relations are always between two countries and not individuals”. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in June hit out at Mohib for his comments and called on him to “reflect and correct” his behaviour. “The national security adviser of Afghanistan carefully listen to me […] as the foreign minister of Pakistan, I say that no Pakistani will shake your hand or talk with you if you do not desist from the kind of language you are using or the accusations you’re making against Pakistan,” he said. Today, Abbasi said Sharif’s aim was to “improve relations” with Afghanistan through the meeting, adding the two sides discussed bilateral relations at length. “Even if someone is your enemy and they come at your doorstep, you listen to them. But Afghanistan is a friend of Pakistan,” Abbasi said.

‘INTERNATIONAL PLOT’: Commenting on the meeting, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry said: “This is why sending Nawaz Sharif abroad was dangerous because such people become a part of international plots.” Sharif’s meeting with “RAW’s (Indian spy agency) biggest ally in Afghanistan is an example of this. Modi, Mohib or Amrullah Saleh (Afghanistan vice president) — every enemy of Pakistan is a close friend of Nawaz Sharif”, he said. Responding to the criticism, Nawaz said the foundation of Sharif’s ideology was the peaceful coexistence of Pakistan with its neighbours and he had “worked tirelessly” for it. “It is the very essence of diplomacy to talk to everyone, listen to their point of view and convey one’s own message across: something this government doesn’t comprehend and hence is a complete failure on the international front,” she declared.

Responding to the tweet, Chaudhry questioned why all “haters of Pakistan, from Ajit Doval to Mohib, ended up in your [Sharif’s] palatial London palace?”

Pakhtunkhwa.

For security arrangements for the judiciary, Rs1,400 million are spent in the three provinces excluding Balochistan.

Speaking on the July 25 Azad Jammu and Kashmir elections, he said that the prime minister belonged to PML-N, while the party had also appointed the election commissioner. “How can [they claim] rigging took place?”

“The PML-N leaders were addressing a press conference while sitting in the AJK prime minister’s office; they should accept their humiliating defeat,” the information

minister said. PM Imran Khan has directed to launch an immediate investigation into the death of two PTI workers during the July 25 elections and ordered authorities to apprehend culprits at the earliest, he said.

The cabinet also prayed for the forgiveness of the four soldiers who were martyred while performing their duties during the elections — after a vehicle of the military’s Quick Reaction Force (QRF) fell into a ravine in Laswa near Neelum Valley — the minister said. The information minister said the federal cabinet members congratulated PM Imran Khan over PTI’s victory in the Kashmir elections.

The prime minister appreciated the efforts of federal ministers Ali Amin Gandapur and Murad Saeed as well as Chairman Kashmir Committee Shehryar Khan Afridi for running a successful election

campaign in AJK. The federal government has cleared the arrears of all the private television channels, he said, lamenting that despite receiving the payment, some media outlets were not giving salaries to their employees.

The federal cabinet also approved, for the first time in Pakistan, digital advertisement. “In a first, the Press Information Department will be shifted to digital and it will become paperless.”

The information minister said big cities have been tasked to vaccinate 40% of their eligible population in August, however, the inoculation ratio is still low.

In a bid to inoculate maximum people, vaccination has been made mandatory in government corporations, he said.

“If the voluntary coronavirus inoculations do not increase, then the option to block mobile phone SIMS of such people is available,” the information minister added.

Fawad added that the cabinet has approved Pakistanis to keep dual nationality with Czech Republic and a new policy for foreign investment in the country.

The federal minister said a new policy for foreign investment is aimed at providing security to international investors and reducing international litigation against Pakistan’s bilateral agreements.

Khadija Siddiqui’s attackers released early due to ‘technical remissions’: minister NEwS DESk Punjab Prisons Minister Fayyazul Hassan Chohan, in a video statement released on Tuesday, said that Shah Hussain, who stabbed Khadija Siddiqui 23 times, was released early due “technical remissions” as per the “law and Constitution”.

According to Dawn, the provincial minister said that these concessions are granted for good conduct and blood donations. He also said that Hussain did not receive any relief in the form of legal remission from any official such as the president, the prime minister or the chief minister.

His response comes after raised questions over Hussain’s early release.

Hussain was convicted and sentenced for five years in 2018 for stabbing law student Khadija 23 times.

A judicial magistrate had on July 29, 2017, sentenced Hussain to seven-year imprisonment under Section 324 (attempted murder) of Pakistan Penal

Code (PPC), two years under Section 337A(i) (causing injuries), five years under Section 337A(ii), one year under Section 337F(i), three years under Section 337F(ii) and five years under Section 337F(iv).

However, a sessions court in March 2018 had commuted the rigorous imprisonment by two years awarded by the trial court to Hussain while setting aside other minor penalties.

Hussain, the son of a senior LHC lawyer, then appealed against his conviction in the high court and was acquitted in June 2018.

The LHC had on June 4, 2018 acquitted Hussain giving him the benefit of the doubt. The court had observed that the prosecution had failed to establish its case and the courts could not solely rely upon the statement of the injured witness/victim. The Supreme Court, however, had restored the sentence.

Last week, it emerged that he managed to secured an early release and

served only three and a half years of his original sentence.

According to a notification issued by the superintendent of Central Jail, Lahore, Shah, now an ex-con, was released on July 17 after getting “remission admissible under the rules” and deposited approximately Rs0.3 million at the gate.

It noted that Hussain’s total sentence was five years of rigorous imprisonment in addition to various fines. Giving a breakdown, the notification said that Hussain was given “ordinary remission” of eight months and eight days.

He was also given annual good conduct remission (one month) and remission for blood donation (one month). Further, he was also given education remission (seven months and15 days). Therefore, the total remission granted to the accused was one year, five months and 23 days.

Khadija , the victim, took to Twitter on Monday, asking why she was not informed of the development and held

Chauhan “responsible for allowing early release of my attacker”.

Separately, speaking on Geo News programme Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath on Monday, Khadija said that she was “surprised” when she heard of Hussain’s release.

“On what basis was he released, on what grounds and what remission he was given … I have no record of this,” she said, adding that she had written to the Punjab Prisons IG and the Punjab Prisons minister in this regard but had not received a response.

“Yes our prison rules allow remissions […] but a year-and-a-half? I have not seen such generous remissions,” said Khadija, herself a lawyer. She also questioned how her attacker’s remission was allowed when the Lahore High Court was observing holidays.

“There are cases pending in the Supreme Court and in the high courts for the past 12 years, so how can their cases be heard so quickly?” she asked.

NAB arrests former CDA chief in Park Lane estate case

ISLAMABAD INP A Pakistani merchant shows traditional carpets to Chinese citizens. XINHUA

Chaman border crossing reopened to facilitate traders QUETTA ReUteRs

The authorities late on Monday reopened a major border crossing with Afghanistan that is currently under Taliban control on the opposite side, customs officials said, allowing over 100 trucks carrying goods to cross into Afghanistan.

The Chaman-Spin Boldak crossing, a key port for landlocked Afghanistan, had been closed by Pakistan for commercial traffic since fierce fighting for control of the crossing erupted between Taliban insurgents and Afghan security forces earlier this month.

“Pakistan has opened its border with Afghanistan at Chaman today and resumed Afghan Transit Trade which was suspended since the last one month,” Arif Kakar, a senior official of the Chaman border district, told Reuters.

He said it would remain open six days a week.

Two customs officials, requesting anonymity, told Reuters that Spin Boldak and the border town of Wesh were still under Taliban control, and they did not know what arrangements were in place across the border or who

was clearing the goods through customs.

They said officials on the Pakistan side were under pressure by traders to let trucks pass through as the goods they were carrying would otherwise perish.

Afghanistan’s interior and finance ministries, and the Taliban spokesman, did not respond to requests for comment.

US Marine General Kenneth McKenzie, head of US Central Command, which oversees American forces in Afghanistan, told reporters in Kabul on Sunday that Spin Boldak was a “contested space” and the Afghan government was looking to regain control of it.

The reopening came hours after 46 Afghan soldiers sought refuge in Pakistan after losing control of military positions further north along the border following advances by Taliban insurgents taking advantage of foreign forces’ withdrawal.

The Afghan military commander requested refuge at the border crossing in Chitral, the Inter-Services Public Relations said in a statement, adding safe passage into Pakistan was given on Sunday night after clearance from Afghan authorities.

The National Accountability Bureau on Tuesday arrested former Capital Development Authority chairman Engineer Farkhand Iqbal in Park Lane reference which revolves around former president and Pakistan Peoples Party co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari. In June, an accountability court in Islamabad issued his arrest warrants over his repeated absence in the reference which involves awarding 642,510 square feet of state-owned land to Park Lane Estate Private Limited. According to the dirty money watchdog, Iqbal was arrested from Rawalpindi. It further said Iqbal, by way of neglecting the environmental wing’s report, awarded the land to the company. An offshoot of the fake bank accounts case, the reference accuses Zardari of being involved “in extending loan and its misappropriation by M/s Parthenon Private Limited, M/s Park Lane Estate Private Limited and others”. The reference alleges that Iqbal, former member of CDA board Abdul Aziz Qureshi, director general Ghulam Sarwar Sandhu, former director Mehboob Ali Khan and Waqar Ali Khan caused a loss of Rs71 million to the national exchequer. As many as 11 people have been accused of allotting plots in violation of rules and procedures.

Wednesday, 28 July, 2021

KARACHI

NEWS

03

Centre CommitS to Support Sindh aS CoronaviruS Situation worSenS

a

NEwS DESK

s coronavirus situation worsens in Sindh, Federal Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Asad Umar on Tuesday extended full support to the provincial government on behalf of the Centre in dealing with the crisis.

During the meeting, the minister — who is also the chief of the National Command and Control Centre (NCOC), the body which leads the country’s Covid-19 battle — appreciated the measures taken by the Sindh government to curb the spread of the virus, Geo News reported.

Umar said that the Centre is keeping a close eye on the situation in Sindh.

The forum was informed that at present, the coronavirus positivity ratio in Karachi has reached 26.32 percent due to the violation of coronavirus standard operating procedures (SOPs). The meeting was briefed about the pressure the situation has exerted

on hospitals as well as the urgent need to vaccinate as many people as possible.

Meanwhile, the meeting was also told that the number of Covid-19 patients under

intensive care in hospitals in Sindh has reached 980.

The minister informed the meeting that the measures taken by the NCOC include timely assistance to law enforcement agencies in implementing the SOPs, improvement of existing medical facilities, timely supply of oxygen, and continuous supply of vaccines.

The fourth wave of coronavirus has hit Sindh with full force as the rate of positive cases continues to increase throughout the province.

The spokesperson for the Sindh health department reported that within the last 24 hours, 7,783 Covid-19 tests were conducted in Karachi, out of which 1,932 people tested positive as the positivity rate in Karachi touched 26.32 percent.

Additionally, the rate of positive Covid19 cases has increased for Hyderabad and other districts in Sindh as well.

The positivity rate in the last 24 hours was recorded at 6.34 percent for Hyderabad

Parents of suspect challenge detention in Noor murder case ISLAMABAD Staff RePoRt

The parents of the prime suspect in the murder of the daughter of a former ambassador on Tuesday moved a bail petition in the district and sessions court in Islamabad challenging their detention.

Noor Mukadam, 27, was found murdered at the residence of one Zahir Zakir in Sector F-7/4 of Islamabad last week. Zakir, widely believed to be the killer, was arrested the same day for his purported involvement in the gruesome incident.

A first information report registered on the complaint of Ambassador Shaukat Ali Mukadam nominated Zakir under Section 302 (premeditated murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Subsequently, Islamabad police arrested the parents, Zakir Jaffar and Asmat Adamjee, and the domestic staff of Zakir for “hiding evidence” and “being complicit” in the cold-blooded murder.

Sindh announces movement curbs in Karachi after record transmission rate KARACHI INP

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has directed the authorities to impose movement restrictions in Karachi after 6:00 pm to try to keep at bay an expanding coronavirus outbreak after the positivity ratio jumped to over 26 percent over the weekend. “I want a complete restriction on movement in Karachi after 6pm,” the chief minister directed the Sindh police chief and Karachi commissioner during a meeting of the provincial coronavirus task force also attended by government officials, ministers, Rangers, and other relevant departments. He further directed to curtail any unnecessary movements. “It has come to my knowledge that tuition centres are operating with impunity,” he said and directed for their immediate closure. The chief minister said that he would review the Covid-19 situation on Friday and warned of more stringent measures if the situation does not improve by then. He also formed a ministerial committee comprising Nasir Hussain Shah, Murtaza Wahab, and Owais Qadir Shah to meet concerned stakeholders in the city and convey the latest pandemic situation. “The committee will meet political stakeholders as there should be no politics on Covid-19 situation,” he said.

Admitting the petition, the court issued a notice to the police and fixed July 30 as the date for the hearing.

Earlier in the day, during the hearing, the court sent five suspects, including Zakir and his parents, to jail on a judicial remand till August 9.

The judge asked the defence if he wanted to furnish any argument on the judicial remand but he replied in

the negative. The judge then sent the suspects on judicial remand and sought the complete case record in the next hearing. Minister for Interior Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed said on Monday the names of the suspects will be put on the Exit Control List to keep them from fleeing the country. Rasheed disclosed Zakir’s name has already been placed on the Provisional National Identification List, an ECL-like list used to bypass the lengthy process of putting such people on the no-fly list.

The names of the suspects in the case will be presented in a cabinet meeting this week for approval of their inclusion in the ECL, he said.

According to a report, Zahir Jaffer had confessed to committing the crime. A police officer close to the investigation had told Dawn news on condition of anonymity that the accused had made the confession during interrogation.

“A statement of Zahir Jaffer is being recorded and he will also be produced before a magistrate to record his statement under CrPC 164,” he had said.

Tareen group MPA arrested on Shahzad’s complaint LAHORE Staff RePoRt

Lahore police arrested a Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf legislator from Punjab from the office of Lahore Development Authority in Johar Town neighbourhood.

Nazir Chohan, an active member of Jahangir Tareen posse, was booked in May on the complaint of Minister of State for Accountability Mirza Shahzad Akbar who accused the former of levelling allegations concerning his faith during a television programme.

The case was registered at Race Course police station in Lahore under sections 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation), 189 (threat of injury to public servant), 298 (making statements with deliberate intent to wound religious feelings) and 153 (provoking to cause riot) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Responding to the development, Chohan had accused Akbar of running a “planned campaign” against him.

Following the arrest, Chohan was shifted to the Racecourse police station and he would later be moved to a cell of the cybercrime wing of the Federal Investigation Agency, police said.

Chohan was later presented in a district and

sessions court. According to a court order, the charges against the MPA were “bailable in nature.” Therefore, he should be released on bail if he submits bail bonds of Rs100,000 with one local surety to the satisfaction of the court, it said.

However, if Chohan fails to submit bail bonds and the local surety, he would be sent to judicial lockup and would be presented in the court again on August 10 along with a report under Section 173 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

In April, the Tareen group had in a meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan accused Akbar of misusing the Federal Investigation Agency against Tareen in the sugar scandal, contending the mills of Minister for Industries and Production Khusro Bakhtiar and Haroon Akhtar, another PTI leader, were not made part of the investigation.

In a press conference following the meeting, Raja Riaz, another PTI MPA and also a member of the group, said that the posse shared their reservations regarding Akbar following which “the prime minister said he will not allow injustice to be done with anyone and that we should leave it to him and he takes responsibility”.

and it has increased from 1.87 percent to 3.40 percent for other districts in Sindh.

The spokesperson further added that the overall rate of coronavirus cases within Sindh is at the highest in a week at 12.74 percent.

Overall, a total of 18,112 tests were conducted in the province, out of which 2,308 people tested positive, while seven people lost their lives to the virus.

Amid a sharp rise in Covid-19 cases in the province, Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has issued directives to ban unnecessary movement after 6pm.

The orders were issued during a meeting of the Provincial Task Force on Tuesday after reviewing the latest pandemic situation.

CM Shah directed the additional IG police and commissioner Karachi to ensure timely closure of the markets, tuition centres and private gyms which are still operating.

He urged people to stay home and avoid going out without any valid reason.

man who forCed hindu worKer to abuSe religiouS figureS arreSted NEwS DESK A man who forced a Hindu worker of the Thar coal project to mock and hurl abuse at his religious deities has been arrested by Mithi police in Sindh’s Tharparkar district, Dawn reported on Tuesday. A case against the suspect named Abdul Salam Abu Dawood on behalf of the state at Mithi Police Station. The case has been lodged under Sections 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting Its religion or religious beliefs) and 298 (Use of derogatory remarks in respect of holy personages) of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of Mithi Police SHO Inspector Mohammad Soomar. The complainant, while referring to the video clip, stated that the suspect had forced the Hindu man, identified as Mukesh Bheel, to hurl abuses at his religion and deities. The Hindu man was also forced to hurl abuses at his mother and sister. The police official said that the suspect had committed sacrilege of the Hindu religion, which had hurt feelings of the minority Hindu population and caused anguish among the community. According to the SHO, the suspect had stopped Mukesh on a main road around five to six kilometres from Mithi near the shrine of Chutthan Shah and slapped him. He also grabbed him by the neck while forcing him to hurl abuses at his deities. The video of the incident, which went viral on social media, shows the suspect hurling obscenities at a young man, who looks visibly shaken at the ordeal. The suspect repeatedly tells the young man to hurl abuses at the Hindu religion and deities, while also forcing him to say “Allahu Akbar”. It was not immediately clear when the exchange was recorded, but on Tuesday, the video went viral on social media, prompting the Sindh government to take notice and order the police to arrest the suspect. In a tweet, Sindh chief minister’s adviser Murtaza Wahab said the suspect had been arrested from Khoski in Badin district. According to local journalists, Salam too used to work in the Thar coal project, but had been sacked some time ago. His Facebook profile still lists the Thar coal project as his employer.

Sarwar, first Nishan-i-Haider recipient, remembered ISLAMABAD Staff RePoRt

The 73rd martyrdom anniversary of Captain Raja Muhammad Sarwar was observed on Tuesday.

Sarwar holds the distinction of being awarded the Nishan-i-Haider, highest military honour, for the first time in the country’s history, owing to the tremendous valour that he displayed on the battlefield during the war in Kashmir.

Sarwar was born in Singhori village in Gujar Khan Tehsil on November 10, 1910. His father, Raja Muhammad Hayat Khan, served in the British army as a constable.

He obtained his early education from Islamia High School in Faisalabad. He had three brothers and one sister. He married in 1936 and became a father to a son and a daughter.

Sarwar entered the army as a sepoy in April 1929 and served in the Baloch regiment till 1941. He was commissioned in the Punjab regiment in 1944 and also got promoted to the rank of second lieutenant that very year.

He joined the Punjab Regiment in 1946 and achieved the rank of Captain, months before the creation of Pakistan.

Once the country emerged on the map of the world in 1947, Sarwar volunteered to be a part of the battalion formed to gain

Kashmir.

He was given the rank of company commander of the second battalion of the Punjab Regiment. Under his leadership, the regiment was able to force the Indian troops to retreat out of battle regions of Gilgit-Baltistan.

However, his battalion faced heavy resistance from the opponents present in the Uri sector as the soldiers pushed forward to take over a well-guarded enemy position.

As he along with his battalion continued moving forward, the intensity of gunfire, grenade attacks, and mortar fire increased. He embraced martyrdom on July 27, 1948, after receiving multiple

shots on his chest as he attempted to cut a barbed-wire barrier while making an effort to progress further into enemy lines.

In recognition of his exceptional acts of gallantry, Sarwar was awarded the honour on March 23, 1956.

Inter-Services Public Relations chief Major General Babar Iftikhar, in a tweet, memorialised Sarwar’s service: “Nation pays tribute [to] Capt Muhammad Sarwar Shaheed […] His matchless chivalry, unwavering resolve [and] fortitude shall always be remembered. The supreme sacrifice he made, will keep inspiring defenders of the motherland in times [to] come,” he wrote.

Wednesday, 28 July, 2021

04 NEWS

ISLAMABAD

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INISTER for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar Tuesday said the total spending under Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) in the fiscal year 2020-21 (FY21) exceeded the target

KARACHI

HigHEst PsDP sPEnDing in FY21 sincE FY12: AsAD UmAR set for the corresponding period in the fiscal year before

by Rs9 billion, totalling Rs659 billion.

“Total PSDP spending in 2020-21 was Rs659 billion vs a target of target of Rs650 billion or 101.4pc,” he tweeted. The minister said this was the the highest development funds utilisation since 2011-12 (FY12).

“In a year of COVID restrictions, this exceptionally high development spending reflects resolve of Prime Minister Imran Khan to accelerate growth,” he added.

According to data released by the Planning Commission, the released funds included Rs425.7 billion for federal ministries, Rs166.68 billion for corporations,

Rs37.06 billion for special areas, and Rs1.5 billion for the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA).

Similarly, Rs115.4 billion out of PSDP allocation of Rs118.67 billion were released for the National Highway Authority, Rs51.24 billion for the National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC), and Rs71 billion out of Rs79.38 billion were released for the for the Water Resources Division.

Likewise, Rs28.12 billion out of allocated fund of Rs22.49 billion were disbursed to the Higher Education Commission, Rs323.7 million out of Rs323 million to

the Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority (PNRA).

The Railways Division received development funds of Rs10.87 billion, the Interior Division Rs10.37 billion, and the National Health Services, Regulations, and Coordination Division Rs11.24 billion.

Similarly, the Revenue Division got Rs8.96 billion, and the Cabinet Division Rs24.11 billion.

The government also released Rs23.4 billion out of PSDP allocation of Rs24.5 billion for development projects in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Rs13.7 billion out of Rs15 billion for Gilgit Baltistan (GB) projects.

SCCI rejects body for implementation of new industrial policy for KP

PESHAWAR Staff REpORt

Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) President Sherbaz Bilour has expressed grave concern over ignoring the chamber in the 15-members committee, meant to ensure implementation of the KP Industrial Policy, 2020 under the action plan and rejected the proposed body.

Sans representation of the chamber and taking relevant stakeholders on board, he said the gaining desired objectives of the provincial industrial policy would not only be difficult, but will be impossible.

Sherbaz was chairing a meeting of industrialists here at the chamber house on Tuesday.

The SCCI chief informed that the provincial government has approved industrial policy 2020, which aims to give six industrial estates established in different districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) status of special economic zones and revive sick industries in the province. However, he said that the KP Industrial Policy, 2020 would be proved unproductive, owing to lack of representation of the chamber in the proposed body, which was incomprehensible and strongly con-

demnable. “Is the industrial policy confined to the government and ‘high-officials’?” he asked.

Sherbaz also criticised the provincial government for failing to implement the previous industrial policy, and questioned how the new policy could be executed after a massive previous failure,” he asked.

He added sustainable business environment and industrialisation can only be ensured by taking the chamber and business community on board.

The SCCI chief emphasised that the chamber, being representing a largest trade body and prime stakeholder, needed to be taken on board to ensure promotion of industrialisation, especially revival of sick industries under the policy in the province.

Strongly opposing the unilateral decisions and policies of the provincial government, Sherbaz Bilour asked to implement policies with mutual coordination and consultation, which would bring fruitful results.

“On one hand, the government has emphasised that industrialists and factory owners implement minimum wage Rs21,000/-, while on the other, it has failed to give representation to the chamber in the proposed committee for the industrial policy, which is reflecting double standards of the provincial government,” the SCCI chief said. Sherbaz Bilour asked the provincial government to give representation to the chamber in the proposed committee for implementation of the industrial policy in order to remove apprehensions and reservations, and ensure timely execution of the new provincial industrial policy.

MUZAFFARABAD: A view of houses alongside River Neelum. ONLINE

KP earns an estimated Rs4bn tourism revenue during Eid holidays PESHAWAR azIz BuNERI

The arrival of millions of tourists to Malakand and Hazara Divisions from all over the country during Eidul-Azha vacations generated huge employment opportunities and an estimated Rs4 billion in revenue.

For the first time in history, such a large influx of tourists arrived in Kalam and Bahrain that local hotels were not able to provide accommodation, forcing thousands of tourists to stay in tents and locals’ rooms and houses. KP Tourism Department spokesman Latifur-Rehman said that because of the ban on visiting tourist destinations due to Covid-19 restrictions, millions of tourists came to KP instead. According to Latif, more than 550,000 tourist vehicles were recorded in Malakand Division alone during Eid holidays, while more than 200,000 vehicles and more than 1 million tourists entered Galiyat whereas more than 1.2 million tourists in 300,000 vehicles visited Kaghan between July 17 and July 24. Apart from Malakand and Hazara, more than one lakh tourists visited North Waziristan.

Asif, a tourist from Karachi, said that tourist destinations in KP are facing difficulties in providing accommodation and the provincial government should improve facilities to attract foreign tourists. He urged the tourism department to search for more destinations to reduce the burden on sites in Hazara and Malakand divisions and improve communication issues to increase tourist arrivals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and also provide employment opportunities to locals of far off areas.

Pakistan, Bahrain to sign MoU for promotion of bilateral trade, investment ISLAMABAD GhuLam aBBaS

Pakistan and Bahrain will sign a memorandum of understanding for the promotion of trade and investment opportunities during the second session of Pak-Bahrain Joint Ministerial Commission, opening in Manama on July 28.

The MoU between the Board of Investment (BOI) and the Economic Development Board (EDB) of Bahrain will provide a framework within which both countries would be able to develop and undertake collaborative activities and projects; share knowledge and would have integrated technical exchange and assistance in the areas of mutual interest. The BOI expects the joint commission meeting will be a major breakthrough in terms of showcasing Pakistan’s lucrative investment opportunities to Bahrain.

Pakistan has adopted a very liberal and investor’s friendly investment policy which provides no restriction on remitting capital. All sectors are open for investments and equal treatment is given to local and foreign investors.

Profit learnt that a joint working group on trade and investment will also be set up by the joint ministerial

CMYK

commission which will provide both the countries an opportunity to discuss various trade related issues and opportunities. Pakistan is eager to attract investments from Bahrain and strengthen bilateral trade and investment relations.

It is pertinent to mention here that the second session of Pak-Bahrain joint ministerial commission is being held after a gap of over four years. The inaugural session of the commission was held in Islamabad in February 2017. Previously, bilateral trade and economic relations were taken up at the level of the joint economic committee but as relations between the two countries grew, it was mutually decided to upgrade the committee to the level of a ministerial commission.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi is leading the Pakistan delegation at the two-day joint ministerial commission meeting, while the Bahraini side will be chaired by Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Abdul Latif Bin Rashid Al Zayani.

The Pakistan delegation will comprise of several high officials from the BOI, Petroleum Division, and ministries of commerce, economic affairs and overseas Pakistanis and human resource development.

The meeting will focus on bilateral cooperation in

various sectors including political, defence, economic, commerce, finance and banking, industry, public health, overseas employment, higher education, science and technology, information, culture and arts, agriculture and livestock, cultural cooperation and parliamentary exchanges.

With regard to promoting trade and business development, some sectors of interest include manufacturing, financial services, tourism, healthcare and education, logistics, information and communication technology and vocational training will come up for discussion during the meeting.

Furthermore, the third session of the Joint Business Council, third Pakistan-Bahrain business opportunities conference, and visa facilitation for businessmen as well as business-to-business interactions will also come up for discussion at meeting. During the first session of the commission held in Islamabad in 2017, a consensus was built that the volume of bilateral trade was much below the potential of both countries and further avenues of increasing bilateral trade should be tapped. Pakistan has already proposed to Bahraini investors to take advantage of Special Economic Zones (SEZs) being developed under the umbrella of CPEC.

Wednesday, 28 July, 2021

KARACHI

PSX GainS 14 PointS in anotheR RanGe-Bound SeSSion KaracHi

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TLTP

HE Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed another rangebound session on Tuesday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index ending the session with a marginal gain of 14.31 points (+0.03 percent) at 47,686.99 points. The market opened on a positive note, with the KSE-100 Index touching the intraday high point. However, it observed profit-taking during the session amid rising Covid-19 cases in the country. The KSE100 Index traded in a range of 293.4 points, showing an intraday high of 47,910.1 points and a low of 47,616.7 points.

Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index shed 49.85 points (-0.15 percent) to close at 32,528.61 points, while All Share

Islamic Index shed 77.18 points (-0.33 percent) to close at 23,265.5 points.

A total of 397 companies traded shares in the stock exchange, out of them shares of 158 closed up, shares of 232 closed down while shares of 7 companies remained unchanged. The overall market volumes decreased by 17.62 million to 432.63 million shares. The number of total trades decreased by 8,959 to 133,967, and value traded increased by Rs0.32 billion to Rs13.88 billion.

However, the market capitalisation decreased by Rs12.25 billion. Among scrips, WTL led the table with 36.6 million shares, followed by BYCO (34.2 million) and KASBM (17.8 million). Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include WTL, BYCO, KASBM, TPL and ASC, which formed 28 percent of total volumes.

The sectors propping up the index were

Gold price decreases to Rs93,400 per 10gm NEWS DESK Gold prices loiter near the $1,800 per ounce mark for the fifth trading session on Tuesday as the US dollar remains steady near the four-month high ahead of interest rate decision by the Federal Reserve. At 1350 hours GMT, gold in the international market was available at $1,802.40 per ounce after gaining $3.90 as compared to its closing value on Monday last.

Meanwhile, the price of 10 grams of yellow metal in Pakistan decreased to Rs93,400 with a decrease of Rs1,000. The closing prices of the yellow metal in the country remained Rs94,400 on Monday last. According to experts, the prices moved cautiously despite the general negative sentiments surrounding the greenback. They said that from a technical perspective, the $1,790 level might continue to protect the immediate downside and act as a pivotal point for short-term traders. They said that sustained weakness below might prompt some aggressive technical selling and accelerate the slide further towards the $1,765-60 support area.

commercial banks with 119 points, textile composite with 40 points, fertilizer with 29 points, oil & gas exploration companies with 16 points and technology & communication with 8 points. The most points added to the index were by HBL which contributed 44 points followed by KTML with 30 points, SYS with 30 points, UBL with 27 points and MCB with 25 points.

Sector wise, the index was let down by oil & gas marketing companies with 43 points, investment banks/ investment companies/ securities companies with 35 points, cement with 32 points, refinery with 26 points and chemicals with 12 points. The most points taken off the index were by DAWH which stripped the index of 37 points followed by PSO with 27 points, TRG with 22 points, NRL with 14 points and COLG with 12 points.

Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market traded in a narrow range in the day, oscillating between -56 points and +237 points. They said that investors were anticipating monetary tightening. Resultantly, banking sector stocks moved up, particularly MCB, HBL and UBL. They said that the technology sector on the other hand saw profit booking after making an uptick in the past couple of sessions.

Similar activity was witnessed in the textile sector. Cement, O&GMCs and E&P sectors saw selling activity that brought the prices below LDCPs. A market closing note by Topline Securities said that concerns regarding the implementation of lockdowns kept the market gains in check. Furthermore, investors’ focus is now towards the upcoming monetary policy which was announced in the evening.

KKH portion blocked for 17 hours to remove debris of landslides NEWS DESK The Karakoram Highway (KKH) between Thalechi to Chilas will remain partially closed from 4:00pm Tuesday to 9:00am Wednesday.

In a statement on Tuesday, Assistant Commissioner Chilas said that debris of landslides will be removed from roadsides during the blockade to make smooth flow of traffic. He said that recent torrential rains and landslides damaged the highway between Chilas and Gilgit at many points. Earlier on Friday last, KKH was opened for all types of traffic after relentless efforts by the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO).

The recent spell of heavy rains in Gilgit-Baltistan caused blockage of

KKH with heavy mudflows at more than 20 locations between Tatta Pani and Raikot. During challenging weather and terrain conditions, teams kept working round-the-clock to clear all blocked locations. It is pertinent to mention that KKH is the lifeline for trade and people-to-people contact between Pakistan and China as well as between GilgitBaltistan and the mainland Pakistan. In recent years, the KKH has assumed increased importance for being the main link between China and Pakistan in connection with the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.

The KKH also serves as the main route from China to Gwadar port, which is being developed with Chinese assistance to serve as the main route for

China's exports to the rest of the world.

The trade volume between China and Pakistan through Khunjerab port was about $1 billion in 2019. Overall bilateral trade between Pakistan and China is continually increasing and is likely to see new heights as various projects under CPEC are set to complete in near future. In 2020, China's imports from Pakistan were estimated to be $2.12, while China's exports to Pakistan stood at $15.36 billion.

A Turkish magazine quoted Pakistani ambassador to China as saying that Pakistan recorded nearly 70% increase in exports to China during the first quarter of 2021, to the tune of $888 million, as compared to $526 million during Q1 of 2020.

PM stresses upon strengthening of economic dimension of Pak-Saudi ties couNtiNuED from pagE 01 He also assured extending facilitation to travellers from Pakistan especially in areas of visa restrictions linked to the Covid-19 vaccination.

On climate change, he expressed Saudi Arabia’s commitment to continue working with Pakistan as the country pursued the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan of achieving goals of preservation of the environment.

Prince Faisal appreciated the contributions of the Pakistani community towards the development of Saudi Arabia.

“We are working to lighten the travel restrictions for passengers from Pakistan and also making sure that the Pakistani community in Saudi Arabia gets vaccinated,” he said. He said Pakistan had done “exception-

ally well” in overcoming the pandemic.

The Saudi diplomat said security was the key factor in ensuring economic prosperity and vowed to facilitate the efforts for peace, whether in Kashmir, Palestine or Afghanistan.

Qureshi, while calling the visiting diplomat “my friend and my brother”, said at the bilateral front, Pakistan was “comfortable with how things were moving”.

He said the talks focused on ways to improve economic linkages through bilateral trade and investments.

Qureshi also mentioned that Monday’s senior officials-level talks about the structure of the Saudi-Pakistan Supreme Coordination Council for its activation. “Focal persons from both foreign ministries have been appointed to materialise a structured and institutionalised way of looking at our

bilateral relations,” he said.

He thanked Riyadh for supporting the stance of Pakistan on the Kashmir dispute.

In Afghanistan, he said, both sides shared similar objectives of ensuring peace and stability. He said easing up of travel restrictions amid the coronavirus situation also came under discussion, where the Saudi side agreed to extend facilitation.

He said the Pakistani workforce could contribute positively towards the implementation of Saudi Vision 2030.

Qureshi mentioned that the two sides agreed to strengthen cultural linkages and cooperation in fighting against climate change. Earlier, the two sides held delegation-level talks to discuss bilateral matters besides the issues of regional and international importance.

Qureshi led the Pakistani side, while

Prince Faisal represented the delegation of Saudi Arabia.

In his welcome remarks, Foreign Minister Qureshi said Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoyed commonalities in their relationship based on religion, culture and history.

Qureshi said the two countries stood by each other in difficult times, adding that Pakistan was committed to the security and solidarity of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

He lauded the active role played by Saudi Arabia for peace in the region, particularly reducing tension in the Gulf.

He expressed gratitude to the government of Saudi Arabia for supporting Pakistan’s stance on Indian revocation of the special status of occupied Kashmir.

Before departure, the Saudi foreign minister planted a sapling at the lawns of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

WB, COVAX to accelerate vaccine access for developing countries WaSHiNgtoN TLTP

COVAX and the World Bank will accelerate Covid-19 vaccine supply for developing countries through a new financing mechanism that builds on Gavi’s newly designed AMC cost-sharing arrangement.

According to a statement issued on Tuesday, the new financing mechanism allows AMC countries to purchase doses beyond the fully donor-subsidised doses they are already receiving from COVAX. COVAX will now be able to make advance purchases from vaccine manufacturers based on aggregated demand across

countries, using financing from the World Bank and other multilateral development banks. Participating developing countries will have greater visibility of available vaccines, quantities available, and future delivery schedules, enabling them to secure doses earlier, and prepare and implement vaccination plans more effectively, said the statement.

Gavi CEO Dr Seth Berkley said that this important and timely financing mechanism, made possible now by the World Bank and Gavi teaming up on the AMC cost-sharing arrangement, will allow COVAX to unlock additional doses for low- and middle-income countries.

“As we move beyond initial targets and work to support countries’ efforts to protect increasingly large portions of their populations, World Bank financing will help us advance further towards our goal of bringing Covid-19 under control,” said Berkley.

Speaking on the occasion, World Bank Group President David Malpass said that accessing vaccines remains the single greatest challenge that developing countries face in protecting their people from the health, social, and economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“This mechanism will enable new supplies and allow countries to speed up the purchase of vaccines. It will also pro-

vide transparency about vaccine availability, prices, and delivery schedules.

This is crucial information as governments implement their vaccination plans,” he further said.

Under the cost-sharing arrangement for AMC countries (92 low- and middle-income countries), COVAX plans to make available up to 430 million additional doses, or enough to fully vaccinate 250 million people, for delivery between late 2021 and mid-2022. There will be several supply offerings where countries will have the opportunity to select and commit to procuring specific vaccines that align with their preferences.

NEWS

05

Cryptos perform mixed with Bitcoin reaches $38,740 NEWS DESK The crypto market remained mixed on Tuesday following overnight fall after Amazon dispelled rumours claiming the online retail giant was planning to accept bitcoin as payment, with the market cap decreasing 1.30 percent to $1.57 trillion as of 1340 GMT. The price of Bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency, increased to $38,740 after gaining 1.25 percent. With this increase in price, the market capitalisation of the BTC has reached $727 billion. On the other hand, ethereum (ETH) price shed 0.28 percent to reach $2,316. With this decrease in price, the market capitalisation of ETH has reached $270.7 billion. However, XRP gained 0.28 percent to reach $0.652.

The market capitalisation of XRP stands at $65.2 billion after this increase. Cardano (ADA) price reached $1.32 with a 0.76 percent decrease in its price. Its market capitalisation has reached $42.4 billion after this decrease. The same was the case for Dogecoin (Doge) whose price depreciated by 3.06 percent to reach $0.209. With this decrease in price, the market capitalisation of Doge reached $27.3 billion. Meanwhile, a spokesperson from Amazon said, “Notwithstanding our interest in the space, the speculation that has ensued around our specific plans for cryptocurrencies is not true.” He admitted, however, that the company is “exploring what [cryptocurrencies] could look like for customers shopping on Amazon.” Bitcoin surged 15% to over $39,000 on Monday following a report from London’s City AM newspaper stating that Amazon was planning to accept bitcoin payments by the end of the year, citing an unnamed “insider” at the company. Rumours were also fuelled after the e-commerce giant recently listed a job posting for a digital currency and blockchain expert, which was seen as a sign that the company plans to work with cryptocurrencies. Apart from Amazon, a growing number of companies have been looking at cryptocurrencies with increased interest lately. Tesla CEO Elon Musk last week said the automaker may soon start accepting bitcoin for its electric car purchases again after stopping such payments in May this year.

SBP keeps interest rate unchanged at 7pc for fifth consecutive time couNtiNuED from pagE 01 He said that remittances had increased by a record 25 percent and the SBP believes they would remain “resilient”.

Remittances in the current fiscal year would increase compared to last year although the rate of increase would not be as fast, he added. Talking about the Roshan Digital Account initiative, he said overseas Pakistanis had sent $1.8 billion so far which he termed a “source of support”. “Our current account deficit is fully funded which means we are seeing enough sources … the current account deficit is overfinanced because of this. Our prediction is that our reserves will increase in this fiscal year.” There had been three warning signs in the past whenever the country’s current account deficit had skyrocketed — when the CAD was increasing very fast, when the exchange rate remained unchanged and SBP’s reserves were falling, he said. “I want to tell you all that all three warning signs are not present during the current increase which is why the SBP has confidence that the moderate increase in our current account deficit will be sustainable.” The SBP is seeing a “healthy increase” in exports, the SBP governor said. Noting that exports had increased by 13.7 percent in the last year, he said many exporters are increasing their capacity for this year. “We expect the export increase will remain good this year,” he added. He said that the central bank would announce an initiative related to loans for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) soon. Previously, SMEs had to show collateral to banks but after the government’s new policy, they would not have to do so, Baqir disclosed.

Wednesday, 28 July, 2021

06 COMMENT

How Pegasus trampled human rights

Another coronavirus wave The Eid laxities

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aJOR Muslim countries introduced special restrictions during eidul azha to control the spread of covid-19. Turkey stopped short of clamping curfew as it had done on eidul Fitr. Instead it advised citizens to exchange eid greetings online. Visits to relatives and friends were discouraged and subjected to strict regulations. Iran imposed a week-long lockdown on Tehran and the surrounding region. Instead of hosting over 2million pilgrims, saudi arabia allowed only 60,000 vaccinated saudi citizens or residents to perform the Hajj. uae reduced the maximum period of the post-prayer sermon to 15 minutes, ensured that the doors of mosques would open 15 minutes prior to the start of the prayer and be closed immediately after the prayer.

Pakistan fell short of introducing the required restrictions on account of the religiosity of those in power, leading to dire consequences. Within days after the eid the national positivity ratio hit the highest level in more than two months with the positivity ratio topping 10% in six major cities. The single-day tally of the fresh covid-19 cases topped 3,500 after many weeks, pushing the number of active cases in the country close to 58,000. The fourth wave is already weighing heavily on government hospitals. The surge in virus cases has forced the sindh government to further strengthen covid-19 restrictions. The Punjab government has initiated a door-to-door vaccination campaign in five cities including Lahore. It is being maintained that vaccination alone can mitigate the crisis. shortage of vaccines is the reason behind the vast majority of the targeted population still remaining unvaccinated. There were complaints that the government failed to place timely orders, waiting instead for donated vaccines. While the government denied it, facts that surfaced during a meeting of the Public accounts Committee on Monday raise perturbing questions. It was revealed that a considerable chunk of funds acquired for fighting covid-19 was diverted to tax returns, subsidizing uility stores, Panahgahs, power, gas and petrol, which are normally funded from the annual budget and supplementary grants. This strengthens the perception that if the covid-19 funds had been used to purchase vaccines on time, most of the targeted population would have been vaccinated by now.

How can the floodgates be closed?

Amjed jAAved

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egasus remained shrouded in mystery until Whatsapp filed a complaint against it in a California court in 2019. Whatsapp alleged that the Pegasus targeted the video calling feature. It hijacked smartfones running on iOs, Blackberry and the android Operating system.

Through its self-destruct mode, it washed away its footprints, though not imperceptibly in all cases.

Investigations carried out by 17 media organisations, led by Forbidden stories and sponsored by amnesty International, revealed that the NsO (Pegasus) software was implanted into the phones of individuals targeted by governments of azerbaijan, Bahrain, Mexico, Morocco, Rwanda, saudi arabia, Hungary, India, the united arab emirates and others.

The NsO group that manufactures Pegasus spyware claims that it only sells the hacking software to “vetted” governments and government agencies. However, an international media consortium reported that over 300 verified mobile phone numbers, including those of two ministers, over 40 journalists, three opposition leaders, besides scores of businesspersons and activists, in India had been spied on. Congress leader shashi Tharoor demanded a judicial probe to verify whether or not government money had been misused.

The Pegasus software can be installed on a mobile phone by sending a simple Whatsapp message to it. It gets installed automatically and gains complete control over the host’s phone without the host even opening the infected message. Thereafter, all data stored on the host’s phone, all calls, all location data and all images visible to the phone camera are relayed to the snooper.

Pegasus spyware has the capability to self-destruct, without leaving any trace. Currently, allegations of misuse of the Pegasus spyware are roiling governments the world over. However, NsO group, the developers of Pegasus, has piously claimed that

TTP’s emerging threat The state must act in a timely manner

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s the Taliban continue to solidify their hold on key afghan districts while advancing towards Kabul, capturing more territory with each passing day, splinter groups such as the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) are also gearing up for a resurgence, emboldened by the very real possibility of a complete capitulation of the civilian government and us-trained afghan forces. The TTP is responsible for some of the most heinous terrorist attacks carried out on Pakistani soil. The period between 2007 and 2014 was the most deadly, necessitating a series of military operations that helped in significantly reducing the frequency of terrorist attacks in the country. However, with at least 32 attacks in Pakistan being claimed by the TTP in the first two months of the current year, it seems the group is attempting to make a comeback. speaking to CNN through intermediaries, TTP chief Noor Wali Mehsud has said that the group’s primary target is to fight against Pakistani security Forces and gain control over the country’s tribal regions. although the group’s activities have been restricted to some parts of Balochistan and North Waziristan, the TTP under Mehsud, who took over from Mullah Fazlullah after he was killed in us drone strike in 2018, has been able to hit targets such as the serena Hotel in Quetta where the Chinese ambassador was present.

Mehsud has also been able to reconcile with many disgruntled former members of the TTP who have formed splinter groups of their own while also reaching out to Baloch and sindhi separatist groups, not to mention voicing its support for the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) that on several occasions has wreaked chaos across major cities of the country.

Pakistan must take all these developments very seriously for it could very well lead to a situation where the country yet again falls into an abyss of death and destruction at the hands of violent terrorist groups if they are not dealt with in a timely manner. The economic ramifications of such an eventuality would be devastating for the country. Currently, there are multiple mega infrastructure projects in various stages of development that can easily prove to be soft targets for groups such as the TTP. The recent bus attack that claimed the lives of nine Chinese engineers is a case in point. all available resources, especially in terms of intelligence gathering to preempt and diffuse terrorist elements present in the country before they strike is key while providing adequate protection to sensitive installations is crucial to maintain peace in the country.

Washington Watch

L

Founding Editor

Yousaf Nizami Umar Aziz

Joint Editor

Joint Editor

Executive Editor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965

dr jAmes j Zogby

asT week I spoke at a conference on antisemitism and anti-arab racism hosted by the university of southern California annenberg school of Communications and co-sponsored by the arab american Institute (aaI) and a few national american Jewish organizations. Because both communities have been victimized by negative stereotyping and hate crimes, I believed that the conversation was both timely and necessary.

For me, this topic is deeply personal.I grew up learning about anti-semitism. When I was quite young, my mother read me excerpts from The Diary of a Young Girl by anne Frank. she also read me letters from my godfather, a World War II infantryman, describing his experiences entering concentration camps liberated by allied forces at war’s end. and one of my most striking memories of my mother was of her crying at the news reports of ethel Rosenberg’s execution. When I asked why she was executed, my mother said that while the government said Mrs. Rosenberg had spied for the soviet union, she felt in her heart that it was because she was Jewish. Mom also told me what prompted her tears was

Arif Nizami (Late)

M. A. Niazi

number of in-built safeguards. under the Telegraph act the government can intercept calls only after authorisation by a Joint secretary level officer and that too in the interest of the sovereignty and integrity of India, the security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states or public order, or for preventing incitement to the commission of an offence, which are the restrictions imposed on free speech under article 19(2) of the Constitution. above all, journalists are exempt from interception. The reason for subjecting a person to surveillance has to be recorded in writing. The ambit of interception under section 69 of the Information Technology act, 2000 is wider but is subject to the right to privacy.

Pegasus was a winged horse of greek mythology, It carried Zeus’s thunderbolts and helped the hero Bellerophon slay the dreaded monster Chimera.

In the second century, astronomer Ptolemy eponymously named Pegasus a constellation.

Law-books teem with assurances about freedom of thought, speech, expression and privacy. There are golden words of the constitution about fundamental rights. These rights are protected in international conventions also. some countries have even passed data protection rights. Political espionage through the Pegasus has made the rights enshrined in laws meaningless.

Indian government denies having hacked phones. should it be proved that the Indian government used the Pegasus software to hack into the phones of its citizens, without any reasonable cause, it would be a watershed moment. sections 43 and 66 of the Information Technology act, 2000 criminalise hacking.

India has also used the software against Pakistani targets. Does espionage justify hacking? and perhaps more crucial domestic targets, can the tools of such espionage be used against domestic political opponents? More crucially, can such use be stopped?

Law-books teem with assurances about freedom of thought, speech, expression and privacy.

There are golden words of the constitution about fundamental rights. These rights are protected in international conventions also. Some countries have even passed data protection rights.

The writer is a freelance journalist, has served in the Pakistan government for 39 years and holds degrees in economics, business administration, and law. He can be reached at amjedjaaved@gmail.com

Anti-Semitism and Anti-Arab Bigotry

Dedicated to the legacy of late Hameed Nizami

Editor Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

the NsO group provides only “authorised governments with technology that helps them combat terror and crime.” Further, the NsO group has highlighted excerpts from its contracts with buyers that require customers to use Pegasus only for criminal and national security investigations. Yet, a considerable mass of evidence contradicts NsO group’s claims of innocence. a show on al-Jazeera channel claimed that the Israeli government had used Pegasus spyware to snoop on friends and foes alike. Pegasus spyware shot into the limelight after the assassination of saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey, in 2018. Khashoggi used to make frequent calls to his friend abdul aziz. These calls were intercepted by saudi arabia through Pegasus bought from Israel. Citizen Labs of Canada confirmed the presence of Pegasus spyware on Omar abdul aziz’s mobile phone. abdul aziz filed a lawsuit against the NsO group in Israel. several similar cases have been filed in Israeli courts on the basis of documents that show that the NsO group had engaged in illegal spying activities for its clients.

In 2019, Whatsapp informed 17 people of the presence of spyware on their mobile phones. The issue of unauthorised surveillance of citizens using Pegasus spyware was taken up in Parliament by DMK MP Dayanidhi Maran. Replying to Maran, minister of state gK Reddy neither confirmed nor denied that the government had purchased Pegasus, or whether Pegasus was used to spy on Indian citizens. Rather, the government justified surveillance of Indian citizens by quoting section 69 of the Information Technology act, 2000 and section 5 of the Indian Telegraph act, 1885.

The list of Indian targets includes at least 40 journalists, 14 politicians or associated persons, 41 activists, lawyers and academicians, some high-ranking Central Bureau of Investigation officials, some prominent businessmen, one election Commissioner, and Indian opposition leader Rahul gandhi. section 69 of the Information Technology act, 2000 and section 5 of the Indian Telegraph act, 1885 authorise the Indian government to intercept communication by telephone and internet. But they have a

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Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9

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that the Rosenbergs left two children– who were the ages of my brother and me.

Being sensitized at an early age to the vulnerability of the Jewish people, as I grew to adulthood, I was angered by the use of anti-semitic tropes like “the Jews own the banks, control the media, or run the country.” Or accusations made against individuals based on their being Jewish, as if there were something inherently evil or untrustworthy or dishonest in members of that community. anti-semitism was a problem then and continues to be one now, with Jewish people and institutions subjected to defamation, negative stereotyping, threats of violence, and actual violence.

When it came to addressing anti-arab bigotry, I noted the problems of defamation of arabs in media and popular culture and the pain it has brought to my community– especially to our children. The hate and violence we have experienced over the decades and the traumatic backlash we faced when terrorists struck at home or abroad (whether or not the perpetrators were arab, the latter being the case during the Iranian hostage crisis and the Oklahoma City bombing).

I also chose to use this opportunity to address what I believe is the way anti-arab bigotry was combined with a false definition of anti-semitism and used against arab americans. growing up in a diverse immigrant community, I did not experience anti-arab sentiment, per se, until my graduate school days at Temple university in the late 1960s, early 1970s. Ironically, the source of this discrimination came largely from members of the Jewish community. My life was threatened by the Jewish Defense League. I was fired from a teaching job because some Jewish parents were concerned that their children were being taught by an arab. Interviewing for my first full-time college teaching position I was told that I would be limited to courses in Religion, because it would be “too controversial” for someone of my ethnicity to teach about the Middle east. and on too many occasions I was forced to defend my right to work in political coalitions or even to attend some meetings because some Jewish organizations had objected to my presence.

What was especially troubling about each of these instances (and many more I could cite) was that I was

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called anti-semitic– simply because I had called out the injustices done to Palestinians by Israel.

Over the next several decades, I founded and ran several organizations: the Palestine Human Rights Campaign which (like amnesty International) adopted individual cases of Palestinian victims of torture, detention without charges, expulsion, and home demolitions; the american-arab anti-Discrimination Committee which documented and combated defamation and disinformation in media and popular culture and discrimination against arab americans; and the aaI which organizes arab americans in american politics and advocates for their concerns.

In every one of these efforts, we faced the problems of exclusion and defamation led by major american Jewish groups who routinely conflated being pro-Palestinian or opposed to Israeli policies with being anti-semitic— with consequences that have been hurtful to my community and damaging to our ability to fully participate in the political process.

Coalitions were pressured to reject our involvement.

Candidates were pressured to return or reject our contributions or endorsements. and members of our community were denied employment or political appointments. and, in too many instances, the persistent defamation of arab americans who criticized Israel by calling us antisemitic or supporters of terrorism fueled hate crimes in the form of death threats or actual violence.

The good news is that we have become sufficiently empowered to protect ourselves against these damaging charges. and we are now being defended by law enforcement, civil rights groups, and a host of progressive Jewish organizations. But with other major Jewish groups pressing legislators to equate criticism of Israel with anti-semitism and intensifying their attacks on public figures who speak out against Israeli behavior, we realize that more must be done.

That is why I welcomed the opportunity to speak at the conference and to make the point that antisemitism must be condemned and opposed, but also clearly defined and never weaponized to silence legitimate criticism of Israel or to defame individuals who do so.

The writer is President of the Arab American Institute

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Wednesday, 28 July, 2021

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

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

Leftistan or rightistan?

Blaming Pakistan not fair The Ghani government should look to its own faults

mAlik muhAmmAd AshrAf

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FgHaN President ashraf ghani yet again raised an accusing finger at Pakistan at the conference on ‘Central and south asian Regional Connectivity, Challenges and Opportunities’ held at Tashkent, uzbekistan, alleging that Pakistan was not supporting peace in afghanistan as 10,000 fighters had entered afghanistan from its territory. Reacting to his preposterous suggestion Prime Minister Imran Khan rightly said that in view of the role that Pakistan has played in facilitating the peace deal between the usa and the Taliban, and intra-afghan dialogue– globally acknowledged and appreciated– it was extremely unfair to blame Pakistan for the unfolding scenario in afghanistan.

The Dg IsPR was also right on money in rejecting the afghan allegations of fighters having entered afghanistan from Pakistan pointing out that it had been the other way round. The terrorists had been using afghan soil for attacks in Pakistan and in spite of repeated requests to the afghan government, no action has been taken by the afghan government against them. The reality was that the afghan security, agency, NDs, in collaboration with Indian RaW, has been sponsoring and supporting these attacks. To prevent cross-border movement of the terrorists Pakistan took a unilateral decision to fence the entire Pakafghan border on which 90 percent work had been completed. There have been several attacks on the security personnel of Pakistan engaged in fencing the border, resulting in several casualties.

Regrettably the afghan leaders have persistently been blaming Pakistan and looking askance at the efforts made by her to facilitate a political settlement in afghanistan. Their rhetoric belies logic and ground realities. Pakistan is the biggest stakeholder among the regional countries in regard to peace in afghanistan as peace on its soil was inextricably linked to peace in that country. Pakistan had suffered the most due to the conflict in afghanistan. It has been hosting more than three million afghan refugees for the last four decades, and during the War on Terror has lost more than 70,000 of its citizens including per-

sonnel of the security forces, besides sustaining a loss of $150 billion to its economy. afghanistan is a bridge between Central and south asia and peace in that country is a key to shared regional prosperity through connectivity that the CPeC initiative has thrown open. The success of the CPeC initiative promises transformational change in the economic profile of Pakistan and the regional countries. so logic dictates Pakistan’s sincerity in peace efforts in afghanistan as being in her own interest. speaking of the ground realities, it is an undeniable fact that Pakistan has been making unrelenting efforts at bilateral and multilateral forums to promote peace in afghanistan. It has always reiterated a political solution owned and led by the afghans. It played a pivotal role in bringing Taliban and the usa to the negotiating table that led to the signing of peace deal between them, paving the way for the exit of us forces from afghanistan. It also used its influence on the Taliban to initiate dialogue with the afghan government.

These efforts have been repeatedly acknowledged by the usa and the world community.

The situation in afghanistan at the moment is actually attributable to the fact that the usa has made a premature exit. Pakistan has been advocating a responsible pull out by the us and NaTO forces. It should not have beeb pulled out before a political settlement was made. another reason is that the afghan government itself is responsible for the continuing confrontation in the country. Immediately after the signing of peace deal between us and Taliban it refused to release the Taliban prisoners as promised in the peace deal as a pre-condition for intra-afghan dialogue. It said that the issue could be discussed during the dialogue. This led to a stalemate and the negotiations could not commence as envisaged. It took protracted efforts to finally arrange an interface between

them. But unfortunately that process has not moved forward The afghan government is still holding round about 7000 Taliban prisoners, the release of whom is the sticking point in the parleys between the two. The Taliban have offered a ceasefire in case those prisoners are released and to continue the dialogue. There has been no response by the afghan government. It does not seem inclined to striking a deal with the Taliban as is evident from the belligerent statements made by ghani about fighting it out with the Taliban.

Prime Minister Imran Khan was right in saying that why would the Taliban listen to anybody when they were sensing victory, and the dialogue should have been held while the us troops were in afghanistan.

The afghan government is not only itself responsible for the situation prevailing in that country, but is also playing in the hands of regional spoilers of peace. India is the biggest culprit in this regard. Continuing turmoil in afghanistan fits well into her efforts to sabotage CPeC as part of the ‘Contain China’ policy of the usa as her strategic partner. It helps India in furthering her efforts to harm Pakistan by all possible means. The Taliban are also responsible for the unfolding events to some extent for failing to show some flexibility.

The afghan government needs to revisit its stance of finding scapegoats for the situation in afghanistan and also recognize the enemies of peace in its country. Blaming Pakistan for the turmoil in afghanistan is not going to help. Pakistan, in spite of the hostility shown by the afghan government, is ready to promote peace efforts in afghanistan. Her joining the quadrilateral diplomatic forum comprising afghanistan, uzbekistan and the usa to support peace and stability in afghanistan and foster regional trade and business is a ranting testimony of her peace- making credentials.

The Afghan government needs to revisit its stance of finding scapegoats for the situation in Afghanistan and also recognize the enemies of peace in its country.

Blaming Pakistan for the turmoil in Afghanistan is not going to help.

Pakistan, in spite of the hostility shown by the Afghan government, is ready to promote peace efforts in Afghanistan. Her joining the quadrilateral diplomatic forum comprising Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and the USA to support peace and stability in Afghanistan and foster regional trade and business is a ranting testimony of her peacemaking credentials

Malik Muhammad Ashraf is an academic.

He can be contacted at: ashpak10@gmail.com.

PaKIsTaN as a nation has always been confused about its identity , whether we are a Islamic state representing a true colour of Islam or whether we are a modern secular progressive state. every leader since inception of Pakistan faced the difficulty of aligning to a side that was representing the true identity of a state. It was confusing whether Jinnah wanted to see Pakistan as a islamic state or a secular, in-fact probably even he was confused about that as he was asked on one occasion and his reply was ‘we will see when we get there’.

However identity has been used and switched time to time for the gains and requirements of time. Pakistan has witnessed a secular leftist era of ayub then switching to socialist Bhutto and later extreme right during Zia era. and the vicious cycle keeps on repeating and we as a society remain confused about our national identity.

Recently a new debate regarding construction of a mandaar in Islamabad has refreshed decades old confusion of our society, which is, what is our national identity? People are seen aligning in favour of or against construction of the mandaar, representing secular Pakistan for everyone on one hand and an Islamic Pakistan for Muslims on the other hand. However the question is not which side to align , the question is what are we as a state , what is our national identity? In order to develop a common national identity, it needs to be a progressive process , which needs to be incorporated in our educational curriculum and we as a society needs to be groomed. In a nut shell, Pakistan as a society wants to modernise and enjoy the outcomes of new technologies and modernity and the same time wants to hold back to its culture and values. We are not a progressive society rather regressive society , which is that we are not open to change and new ideas and this is reflected in our decisions and mindset as a society. To conclude, Pakistan as a society is to remain confused whether to align to leftistan or rightistan.

Rohail BaSEER PEShawaR

Witch doctors and crooks YesTeRDaY, my friend told me a strange incident . He told me that his mother went to a lady for black magic removal. The friend further tell me that his mother went to that lady and ask lady to remove black magic on her . The lady firstly asked information about my friend’s mother and then tell a little common things about her . after this The lady demanded 5k for the removal of magic and also gave a list of grocery and also told her that he further take 30k for this process. The lady used the name of our beloved Imam Hussain . The lady gave a list of grocery which includes fruits , meat , chicken, wheat , rice , biscuits etc which are not essential for the removal of magic. That lady was a fraud . and think it was totally wrong. Through this letter I want to draw the attention of our society to beware of this and please don’t waste your money in frauds like this . haRum KaRachi

Tech troubles TODaY’s world is jamed with technology .The main inventions which are playing an important role to destroy our health’s such as computers, mobiles and social media etc. Which almost every family owns. Originally it was created to make our lives more easier then before but later on researches were carried on and it came up that our physical and mental health suffers because of immoderate usage of technology. Technology appears to create global network bringing people together but infact this technology ends up the importance of real life communication the enjoyment of life even because of this we forget to give time to our relatives,families and friends. In today’s world it’s a habit of almost every people to live in their own world stuking at the device screen even when surrounded with the kith and kins. This technology have ruined the peace of people specially, the most inferior impact of technology is that it reduced the quantity and quality of sleep and today’s generation have become habitual of technology. so we should not fail to think of that this technology have harmful effects too for our health so we should not accustomed to technology. We should take care of our health also. uRooj NadEEm hydERaBad

Benefits of yoga YOga is a very safe, easy and healthy way to get fit your whole life without any problems. It just needs regular practice in the right way of body movements and breathing. It regularizes the connection between three components of our body such as body, mind and soul. It regularizes the functioning of the all body organs and prevents the body and mind to get disturbed because of some bad situations and unhealthy lifestyle. It helps in maintaining the health, knowledge and inner peace. By providing a good health it fulfills our physical needs, through knowledge it fulfills our psychological needs and through inner peace is fulfills the spiritual need thus it helps in maintaining the harmony among all.

Regular practice of the yoga in the morning provides outer and inner relief by keeping away from the countless ailments at the physical and mental level. Practicing postures or asanas strengthens the body and mind as well as creates the feeling of well being. It sharpens the human mind, improves intelligence and help in high level of concentration by steadying the emotions and feelings. The feeling of well being creates helping nature within us and thus enhances the social well being. Improved concentration level helps in meditating and provides calming effect and inner peace to the mind. Yoga is like a practical philosophy which develops selfdiscipline and self awareness within us through regular practice. Yoga can be practiced by anyone as it is irrespective of age, religion, or health circumstances. It improves the discipline and sense of power as well as provides a chance to life healthy life without physical and mental problems.

To enhance its awareness about all benefits all over the world, the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi has suggested to the united Nations general assembly to declare the 21st of June as an International Day of Yoga so that each and every may know about yoga and can been benefited. m iRfaN huB

Wednesday, 28 July, 2021

08 WORLD VIEW

ThIs Is no ordInary spyIng. our mosT InTImaTe selves are now exposed

Guardian

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arundhati roY

ERE in India, the summer of dying is quickly morphing into what looks very much like a summer of spying. the second wave of coronavirus has retreated, after leaving an estimated 4 million Indians dead. the official government figure for the number of deaths is a tenth of that – 400,000. In Narendra Modi’s dystopia, even as the smoke dwindled in crematoriums and the earth settled in graveyards, gigantic hoardings appeared on our streets saying “thank you Modiji”. (An expression of the people’s gratitude-in-advance for the “free vaccine” that remains largely unavailable, and which 95% of the population is yet to receive.) As far as Modi’s government is concerned, any attempt to tabulate the true death toll is a conspiracy against India – as if the millions more who died were simply actors who lay down spitefully in the shallow, mass graves that you saw in aerial photos, or floated themselves into rivers disguised as corpses, or cremated themselves on city sidewalks, motivated solely by the desire to sully India’s international reputation. this same charge has now been levelled by the Indian government and its embedded media against the international consortium of investigative journalists from 17 news organisations who worked with Forbidden stories and Amnesty International to break an extraordinary story about global surveillance on a massive scale. India appears in these reports, alongside a group of countries whose governments appear to have bought Pegasus spyware developed by NsO Group, an Israeli surveillance firm. NsO, for its part, has said that it sells its technology only to governments that have been vetted for their human rights record and undertake to use it only for purposes of national security – to track terrorists and criminals. the other countries that seem to have passed NsO’s human rights test include Rwanda, saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE and Mexico. so who, exactly, has agreed upon the definition of “terrorists” and “criminals”? Is this simply up to NsO and its clients?

Other than the exorbitant cost of the spyware, which runs into hundreds of thousands of dollars per phone, the NsO charges an annual system maintenance fee of 17% of the total cost of the program. there has to be something treasonous about a foreign corporation servicing and maintaining a spy network that is monitoring a country’s private citizens on behalf of that country’s government. the investigating team examined a leaked list of 50,000 phone numbers. Analysis showed that more than 1,000 of these

PEGASUS, WE ARE TOLD, CAN BE INSTALLED IN THE REVELATIONS OF THE PEGASUS PROJECT A TARGETED PHONE WITH JUST A MISSED CALL SHOW THAT THE POTENTIAL THREAT OF THIS SPYWARE IS MORE INVASIVE THAN ANY PREVIOUS FORM OF SPYING OR SURVEILLANCE THERE HAS TO BE SOMETHING TREASONOUS ABOUT A FOREIGN CORPORATION SERVICING AND MAINTAINING A SPY NETWORK THAT IS MONITORING A COUNTRY’S PRIVATE CITIZENS ON BEHALF OF THAT COUNTRY’S GOVERNMENT

were selected by a client of NsO in India.

Whether or not a number has been successfully hacked, or subject to an attempt at hacking, can only be determined if the phones are submitted for forensic examination. In India, several of those that have been examined have been found to have been infected with the Pegasus spyware. the leaked list includes the phone numbers of opposition party politicians, dissident journalists, activists, lawyers, intellectuals, businessman, a non-compliant official of India’s election commission, a non-compliant senior intelligence officer, cabinet ministers and their families, foreign diplomats and even the prime minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan.

Indian government spokespeople have denounced the list as fake. Close watchers of Indian politics would know that even a skilled and knowledgable fiction writer would not be able to construct such an apt, credible list of those whom the ruling party considers to be persons of interest or people inimical to its political project. It’s full of delightful nuance, full of stories within stories. some unexpected names are on it. Many expected ones are not.

Pegasus, we are told, can be installed in a targeted phone with just a missed call.

Imagine that. A payload of invisible spyware delivered on the missile of a missed call. An ICBM like no other. One that is capable of dismantling democracies and atomising societies without the bother of red tape – no warrants, no weapons agreements, no oversight committees, nor any kind of regulation whatsoever. technology is value-neutral of course. It isn’t anybody’s fault. the friendly collaboration between NsO and India appears to have begun in Israel in 2017, during what the Indian media called the Modi-Netanyahu “bromance” – the time they rolled up their trousers and paddled together on Dor beach. they left more than just their own footprints in the sand. It was around then that phone numbers in India began to appear on the list. that same year the budget for India’s National security Council increased tenfold. Most of the increased amount was allocated to cybersecurity. In August 2019, soon after Modi won his second term as prime minister, India’s draconian anti-terrorism law, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), under which thousands have been imprisoned without bail, was expanded to include individuals, not just organisations. Organisations, after all, don’t have smartphones – an important detail, even if only theoretical. But certainly one that expands the mandate. And the market.

During the debate on the amendment in parliament, the home minister, Amit shah, said: “sir, guns do not give rise to terrorism, the root of terrorism is the propaganda that is done to spread it … And if all such individuals are designated terrorists, I don’t think any member of parliament should have any objection.” the Pegasus scandal has now created an uproar in the monsoon session of parliament. the opposition has demanded that the home minister step down. Modi’s ruling party, comfortable in its brute majority, fielded Ashwini

Vaishnaw – newly sworn in as the minister for railways, for communications and for information technology – to defend the government in parliament. Humiliatingly for him, his number was on the leaked list as well.

If you set aside the bluster and obfuscating bureaucratese of the government’s many statements, you will find no outright denial of the purchase and use of Pegasus. NsO hasn’t denied the sale either. the government of Israel has opened an inquiry into the allegations of abuse of the spyware, as has the French government. In India, the money trail will, sooner or later, lead us to the smoking gun. But where will the smoking gun lead us?

Consider this: there are 16 activists, lawyers, trade unionists, professors and intellectuals, many of them Dalit, who have been jailed for years in what is known as the Bhima-Koregaon (BK) case. they are accused, outlandishly, of conspiring to incite violence that took place between Dalits and privileged caste groups on 1 January 2018, when tens of thousands of Dalits gathered to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the battle of Bhima-Koregaon (in which Dalit soldiers fought with the British to defeat the Peshwas, a tyrannical Brahmin regime). the phone numbers of eight out of the 16 BK accused, and the numbers of some of their close family members, have appeared on the leaked list. Whether all or any of them were the subject of an attempted or actual hack cannot be ascertained because their phones are in police custody and not available for forensic examination.

Over the years some of us have become scholars of the sinister lengths to which Modi’s government will go to entrap those it considers enemies – and it’s more than simply surveillance. the Washington Post recently published the findings of a report by Arsenal Consulting, a digital forensics firm in Massachusetts, that examined electronic copies of the computers belonging to two of the BK accused, Rona Wilson and surendra Gadling. Investigators found that both their computers had been infiltrated by an unidentified hacker, and incriminating documents had been placed in hidden folders on their hard drives. Among them, for some added frisson, was a ludicrous letter outlining a corny plot to kill Modi. the grave implications of the Arsenal report have not stirred India’s judiciary or its mainstream press to act in the cause of justice. Quite the contrary. While they worked hard to cover it up and contain the possible fallout of the report, one of the BK accused, an 84-year-old Jesuit priest, Father stan swamy, a man who had spent decades of his life in the state of Jharkhand working among forest-dwelling tribespeople fighting against corporate takeover of their homelands, died an excruciating death after being infected with coronavirus in prison. At the time of his arrest he had Parkinson’s disease as well as cancer. so, what are we to make of Pegasus? to cynically dismiss it as a new technological iteration of an age-old game in which rulers have always spied on the ruled would be a serious mistake. this is no ordinary spying.

Our mobile phones are our most intimate

selves. they have become an extension of our brains and bodies. Illegal surveillance through mobile phones isn’t new in India.

Every Kashmiri knows that. Most Indian activists do, too. However, for us to cede to governments and corporations the legal right to invade and take over our phones is to voluntarily submit ourselves to being violated. the revelations of the Pegasus project show that the potential threat of this spyware is more invasive than any previous form of spying or surveillance. More invasive even than the algorithms of Google, Amazon and Facebook, inside whose warp and weft millions live their lives and play out their desires. It’s more than having a spy in your pocket. It’s like having the love of your life – or worse, having your own brain, including its inaccessible recesses – informing on you. spyware such as Pegasus puts not just the user of each infected phone but the entire social circle of their friends, families and colleagues at political, social and economic risk. the person who has probably thought longer and deeper about mass surveillance than anybody else in the world is the dissident and former Us National security Agency analyst Edward snowden. In a recent interview with the Guardian, he warned: “If you don’t do anything to stop the sale of this technology, it’s not just going to be 50,000 targets. It’s going to be 50 million targets, and it’s going to happen much more quickly than any of us expect.” We should pay attention to him. He’s been on the inside track and has been watching it coming.

I met snowden in Moscow almost seven years ago, in December 2014. It was about a year and a half since he had turned whistleblower, disgusted by his government’s indiscriminate mass surveillance of its own citizens. He had made his great escape in May 2013, and was slowly getting used to life as a fugitive. Daniel Ellsberg (of the Pentagon Papers), John Cusack (of John Cusack) and I travelled to Moscow to meet him.

For three days, we holed up in a hotel room with the icy Russian winter pressing against the windowpanes, speaking of surveillance and spying. How far would it go? Where would it take us? Who would we become?

When news of the Pegasus project broke, I went back and looked at the transcript of our recorded conversation. It ran

into a few hundred pages. It made my hair stand on end. snowden, barely into his thirties then, was grimly prophetic: “the technology cannot be rolled back, technology is not going anywhere … it is going to be cheaper, it is going to be more effective, it is going to be more available. If we do nothing, we sort of sleepwalk into a total surveillance state where we have both a super state that has unlimited capacity to apply force with an unlimited ability to know and [therefore be able to] target [that] force – and that’s a very dangerous combination … this is the direction of the future.”

In other words, we are headed towards being governed by states that know everything there is to know about people, and about which people know less and less. that asymmetry can only lead in one direction.

Malignancy. And the end of democracy. snowden is right. the technology cannot be rolled back. But it needn’t be allowed to function as an unregulated, legitimate industry, reeling in profits, blossoming and flowering on the pulsing transcontinental highways of the free market. It needs to be legislated against. Driven underground. the technology may exist, the industry needn’t. so, where does that leave us? Back in the world of good, old-fashioned politics, I’d say. Only political action can halt or mitigate this threat. Because that technology, when it is used, if not legally then illegally, will always exist within the complicated matrix that describes our times: nationalism, capitalism, imperialism, colonialism, racism, casteism, sexism. this will remain our battlefield – regardless of how technology develops.

We will have to migrate back to a world in which we are not controlled and dominated by our intimate enemy – our mobile phones. We have to try to rebuild our lives, struggles and social movements outside the asphyxiating realm of digital surveillance.

We must dislodge the regimes that are deploying it against us. We must do everything we can to prise open their grip on the levers of power, everything we can to mend all that they have broken, and take back all they have stolen.

Arundhati Roy is a novelist, writer and political activist. Her latest novel is The Ministry of Utmost Happiness.

Pegasus spyware and the consequences for privacy Middle east Monitor

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Yasser al-Zaatreh

t’s not that long ago that people were preoccupied with the hacking of some social media sites, including those believed to be immune from such things, such as Facebook, twitter and WhatsApp, for example. Now we have Pegasus spyware.

Pegasus is a programme produced by an Israeli company, NsO, through which mobile telephones can be hacked into and monitored. An investigation has identified around 50,000 phones that have been infected with the programme, which was bought by Arab regimes to spy on their opponents and other parties. the story has been well covered in the media.

However, this is the tip of the iceberg. there is no doubt that security and military agencies in developed countries are already developing advanced generations of Pegasus. When available, they will probably be very cheap.

Combined with satellite and drone technology which

THERE IS NO SOLUTION TO THIS OTHER THAN PLURALISM, FREEDOM, AND TRANSPARENCY SO THAT SOPHISTICATED SPYING IS SIMPLY NOT NECESSARY allows extraordinarily detailed spying to take place from the skies above us all, it is clear that privacy is going to become a thing of the past. If secrets need to be revealed for whatever reason, they will be revealed, regardless of the consequences. Moreover, as prices become more affordable, it will not be long before neighbours will be able to spy on each other.

It is a diabolical progression. Everyone will be completely exposed. And there is a political aspect to this, as well as a social one. the latter is complex and requires an in-depth discussion elsewhere.

In terms of the political aspect, though, we already know that it is difficult for those working in the political and military fields to have absolute secrecy, upon which

they rely. they now know that everything will be shared with their own and other security agencies. As such, they are going to have to change the way that they work. this is not only going to affect opposition groups, but also official bodies and regimes within which there are rivalries and power struggles. We can expect to see a deluge of leaks from officials and opposition groups alike, each designed to damage the other in one way or another. there is going to be a growth in security personnel engaged in spying on enemies within and without; hordes of people will be spied upon at great expense.

Countermeasures will have to be taken, and these will also be costly. Regimes may find themselves facing these or other measures in varying degrees, placing them in a

very difficult situation. Instability is bound to follow. there is no solution to this other than pluralism, freedom, and transparency so that sophisticated spying is simply not necessary. security and intelligence agencies need to be recalibrated so that they represent the conscience of the people and the interests of society, rather than the interests of the ruling elites.

When oppression becomes too much to bear, it can go either get worse or the people can rise up and take control. We have already seen what can happen with the latter. With the proliferation of dangerous spyware such as Pegasus, more of the same may be on the way.

Translated from Arabi21 and edited for MEMO.

Wednesday, 28 July, 2021

BUSINESS 09

KARACHI CORPORATE CORNER

WITHHoLdIng TAx on gAS ImporT LIkELy To BE cAncELLEd ISLAMABAD

Mr. Kaleem Ishaque (L), Senior Manager - SPM Operations, Byco Petroleum,...

Byco wins 7th Int'l Awards on Environment, Health & Safety 2021 KARACHI PR

Byco Petroleum Pakistan Limited, Pakistan’s largest oil refining company, has won two awards in the categories of ‘The Foundations of Process Safety’ and ‘Oil Spill Management’ at the prestigious 7th International Awards on Environment, Health & Safety 2021. The awards were received by Mushtaq Ahmad Khokhar, General Manager- Production, Byco Petroleum andKaleem Ishaque, Senior Manager- SPM Operations, Byco Petroleum at a grand ceremony held at a local hotel in Karachi.

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AHMAD AHMADANI

HE new Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) Policy, 2021 which is likely to be approved within the next four weeks has proposed to grant immunity in withholding tax of 5.5 per cent imposed on the import of gas.

In this regard, a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Petroleum was held on Monday under the chairmanship of Senator Muhamad Abdul Qadir. The Senate Panel was briefed that a new LPG Policy is being formulated in the light of recommendations made by a group headed by the deputy chairman Planning Commission.

It was proposed that same tax should be imposed on local and imported gas whereas the government should adopt a policy and mechanism under which the masses will find relief while local companies do not suffer a loss if immunity is given to the importers of gas.

Present on the occasion, Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) chairman said that an effective solution will be drawn through extensive consultations with the stakeholders.

Raising serious concerns over LPG

CONSUMERS OWE RS473BN IN GIDC ARREARS price hike, Senator Fida Muhammad said that the rise in the price of domestic cylinder was not possible without OGRA’s approval. “Brief this committee about the action taken against those who have raised the gas price illogically,“ he said.

Senator Afnanullah Khan alleged that Hascol’s management had prepared Rs7.4bn worth of fake purchase orders while the CEO of the company had committed a Rs8bn fraud. He said the company had misappropriations or misdeclarations of about Rs75bn. “The committee would like to know what action had been taken by the relevant government departments into the matter,” Senator Khan said.

Secretary petroleum said that Hascol was claiming more than Rs60bn losses in three years. “If this had happened, the company should have already collapsed,” he said. “Hascol’s petrol pumps had run dry on Eid in different cities of the country and wondered if so many losses were happening then what were their boards and general managers doing,” he questioned.

“Who is responsible for such massive corruption?” Senator Mohsin Aziz

questioned. Stressing that his colleagues and the Petroleum Division must not ignore the matter, he proposed to a joint meeting of the Senate’s standing committees on Finance and Petroleum to probe the matter in detail.

Senator Sadia Abbasi, however, advised that it would be better to invite relevant bodies including the SBP, SECP, Petroleum Division and FIA to examine the matter. The committee unanimously decided to hold a onepoint meeting on the subject by calling all the relevant regulators and departments.

On the occasion, Secretary Petroleum Dr Arshad Mahmood gave an update on the North-South Gas Pipeline Project which is being developed in collaboration with Russia.

The 1,040km pipeline — also called Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline – will be constructed at an estimated cost of $2.5bn, with Pakistan’s shareholding of 74pc and Russia’s at 26pc. “This is by far the biggest government-to-government project. The project had been under process since 2014 and once it begins, it should take about two years to complete,” he added.

The Senate committee chairman stressed on the need for completing Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline on a priority basis.

The meeting was further informed that total amount of Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC) was Rs790 billion and approximately Rs321 billion amount was paid to national exchequer till April 2021 while Rs473 billion was yet to be collected from different parties.

Moreover, the meeting also took up agenda items including a public petition submitted by Irfan Khokar , founder of LPG Industries Association regarding abolition of various taxes on LPG imported via land routes, lifting the ban on the use of LPG in autos, and installation of LPG dispensers at all closed CNG and petroleum stations in addition to points of public importance raised by Senator Sarfraz Ahmed Bugti during the Senate sitting held on May 27 regarding unemployment of engineers and diploma holders of Balochistan in the petroleum sector, issue of daily wage workers of Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) and SSGCL, and also matters of public importance raised by Senator Manzoor Ahmed Kakar during the Senate sitting held on June 3, regarding the cancellation of lease agreements of coal mines in Balochistan.

CDC Group agrees $50m trade finance risk sharing facility with HBL Bank UK KARACHI: AIM Hygenics has signed renowned celebrity Sarah Khan as their Brand Ambassador for Mamia Baby & Adult Diapers brand. This happening event took place in a private hotel in Karachi. The TV commercial will be shown on all well-known TV channels. Mamia diapers have good quality on economical price; Mamia diapers are available all over Pakistan and online. PR

KARACHI: FrieslandCampina Engro Pakistan Limited (FCEPL) enters into a strategic communication partnership with Nutshell Communications (Private) Limited.

Photograph taken during the agreement signing ceremony shows (Sitting Left to Right) Imran Husain, Chief Financial Officer, FCEPL, Muhammad Azfar Ahsan, Founder & CEO, Nutshell Communications (Private) Limited, Ali Ahmed Khan, Chief Executive Officer, FCEPL, Rabia Ahmad, Chief Growth Officer, Nutshell Communications. (Standing Left to Right) Farooq Soomro, General Manager Media and Innovation, FCEPL, Faisal Razi, Director Marketing, FCEPL, Ayesha Yousuf, Assistant Manager Corporate Communications, FCEPL, Sadaf Mahmood, Chief Operating Officer, Nutshell Communications, Sania Sattar, Head of Corporate Communications, FCEPL, Syed M. Ayaz, Chief Business Officer, Nutshell Communications, Amer Pasha, Chief Strategy Officer, Nutshell Communications, Sanya Shahid, Head Customer Experience & New Initiatives, Nutshell Communications and Khurram Zia, Head of Media Relations. PR

IT exports cross record $2bn mark MONIORING REPORT Pakistan’s exports of information technology grew by 47.4 per cent to cross the $2 billion mark for the first time in the country’s history in the outgoing fiscal year. In absolute terms, the IT exports reached $2.12bn in 2020-21 as against $1.44bn in the preceding year, according to data released by Commerce Ministry on Monday. “I want to congratulate our IT exporters for crossing the $2bn export mark for the first time in our history,” Commerce Adviser Razak Dawood said in a statement on Monday. Dawood said he always believed in the abilities of IT professionals and entrepreneurs. “You have done a remarkable job and I encourage you to market your exports even further to achieve more”, the adviser further said.

KARACHI PR

CDC Group, the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor, has announced a $50 million risksharing facility with HBL UK, the majority-owned subsidiary of HBL, Pakistan’s largest private sector bank operating in 14 countries across the world. The facility will increase HBL UK’s capacity to support trade with local banks and trade supply chains across South Asia and Africa.

As COVID-19 continues to disrupt trade in goods and commodities, CDC and HBL UK’s facility will provide critical credit support to ensure consumers have access to essential goods and services. It will boost the import of food and agricultural commodities, metals, machinery and other essential resources. The risk-sharing facility will increase economic opportunities across a wide socio-economic strata and support businesses de-

spite the impact of COVID-19 on economic activity, particularly in markets where HBL has a strong regional presence such as Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

This latest commitment from CDC builds on an existing partnership with HBL that spans over five years. It is aligned with the common goal of both organisations of extending financial inclusion across South Asia. The facility will also help HBL UK broaden its reach across Africa, allowing it to provide liquidity to local banks and keep economic activities flowing – much needed support at a time when local banks and businesses struggle to access foreign exchange.

Admir Imami, Director, Head of Trade & Supply Chain Finance, CDC, said: “We are thrilled that CDC’s facility to HBL UK will strengthen the bank’s ability to offer necessary support to local financial institutions, banks and business that are sustaining local economies and meeting basic

SHELL Tameer Awards 2021 empowering youth to establish sustainable enterprises KARACHI: To promote and recognize Pakistan’s bright, young entrepreneurs, ‘Shell Tameer Awards 2021’ has been launched, opening the application process from now until August 8. This initiative is part of Shell LiveWIRE – a global flagship programme, locally named Shell Tameer, for enterprise development, envisioned to strengthen local economies, by promoting entrepreneurship and innovation. Start-ups and innovators in their prototype stage are eligible to participate under six categories. ‘Clean Energy Solutions’ (CES) category includes disruptive technologies for access to energy, off-grid solutions, energy-efficiency etc.

‘Empowering Women’ (EW) category invites innovative tech solutions that enable gender equality and new livelihood opportunities.

‘Technology Innovation’ (TI) category fosters e-commerce, FinTech & smart solutions for Health, Education & Business. Other categories include; ‘Circular Economy’ (CE), ‘Transportation & Mobility’ (T&M) and ‘Bright Ideas Award’ (BIA). PR

consumer needs. CDC is committed to focusing its capital toward helping to mitigate the impact of the pandemic throughout Asia and Africa’s markets, even as Covid-19 exacerbates existing pressures on trade finance. We are pleased that our partnership with HBL UK will help address the financing gap to local businesses, sustain supply chain and trade flows, and ensure communities and businesses can recover and grow.”

Andreas Ponce de Leon, Chief Executive Officer, HBL UK, added: “We are proud of the partnership between HBL UK and CDC. At HBL, we are centred on our customers’ needs and that means supporting the communities in which we operate and do business. This partnership will help us sustain growth in our core markets. By supporting local banks, we facilitate access to trade finance needed by growing business, and thereby we help boost exports, create new jobs, promote financial inclusion and underpin economic growth.”

ImagePayPro and 1LINK sign agreement to join 1LINK affiliate programme KARACHI PRESS RELEASE

PayPro has joined 1LINK as an Affiliate member.

1LINK, Pakistan’s first PSO/PSP and largest payment system offers a unique affiliate program that allows non-banking entities to offer their services through 1LINK’s platform. An agreement to this effect was signed at the 1LINK Head Office in Karachi by Ali Janjua, CEO, PayPro and Najeeb Agrawalla, CEO, 1LINK. As part of the program, PayPro will be able to benefit from 1LINK’s extensive payments infrastructure, including 1IBFT and Bill Payment System (BPS), while extending these advantages to PayPro customers in a seamless and effective manner.

Through the support of 1IBFT, transaction

costs and time constraints associated with funds transfers will be eliminated. Additionally, through BPS, PayPro will leverage 1BILL’s payment service to become a bill initiator for its customers on the collections and payments side.

ECC likely to give approval for importing 100,000MT sugar ISLAMABAD SHAHAD PARACHA

The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of Cabinet is likely to give approval of importing 100,000 metric tonnes of sugar.

Sources said that Finance Minister has summoned the ECC meeting on Wednesday in which two agenda of importing of 100,000 sugar and the approval of STPF would be discussed.

Sources said that Ministry of Industries and Production on the instructions of the Prime Minister Secretariat prepared a summary pertaining to importing of 100,000 metric tonnes sugar not only to build the stretegic reserves but also to stabilise prices in domestic market which has surged to Rs110 per kg.

Sources said that Pakistan has an ample sugar till November 15, as government has imported 0.130MMT of sugar in last year despite this an in-

crease of Rs15 to 20 in sugar prices per kg witnessed during the last six months.

It is worth mentioning here that government has fixed Rs88 per kg maximum retail price of sugar as the mills in its sales tax returns declared Rs70.42 per kg as average ex-mill sale rate, Rs1 per kg distribution cost, Rs4 per kg transport/packing & retailer margin and Rs17 percent sales tax per kg in their sales tax returns. On the other hand, Pakistan Sugar Mill Associations (PSMA) has never agreed to the

price fixation as one senior official told this scribe that the average ex mill price comes to Rs101 per kg.

“We have to clear sugarcane farmers dues coupled with interest payments on working capital to commercial banks,” he said. Sources also said ECC would also take up the Ministry of Commerce’s summary with regard to approval of a five year stretegic trade policy framework which has been deferred in last meeting.

Wednesday, 28 July, 2021

10 FOREIGN NEWS

KARACHI

Biden, Kadhimi seal agreement to end Us comBat mission in iraq WASHINGTON

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REUTERS

nited States President Joe Biden and iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi sealed an agreement on Monday formally ending the US combat mission in iraq by the end of 2021, but US forces will still operate there in an advisory role. the agreement comes at a politically delicate time for the iraqi government and could be a boost for Baghdad. Kadhimi has faced increasing pressure from iran-aligned parties and paramilitary groups who oppose the US military role in the country.

Biden and Kadhimi met in the Oval Office for their first face-to-face talks as part of a strategic dialogue between the United States and iraq.

"Our role in iraq will be ... to be available, to continue to train, to assist, to help and to deal with iSiS as it arises, but we’re not going to be, by the end of the year, in a combat mission," Biden told reporters as he and Kadhimi met. there are currently 2,500 US troops in iraq. the US role in iraq will shift entirely to training and advising the iraqi military to defend itself.

the shift is not expected to have a major operational impact since the United States has already moved toward focusing on training iraqi forces.

Still, for Biden, the deal to end the combat mission in iraq follows decisions to carry out an unconditional withdrawal from Afghanistan and wrap up the US military mission there by the end of August.

together with his agreement on iraq, the democratic president is moving to formally complete US combat missions in the two wars that then-President George W. Bush began under his watch nearly two decades ago.

A US-led coalition invaded iraq in March 2003 based on charges that then-iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's government possessed weapons of mass destruction. Saddam

US to keep travel restrictions in place due to concerns about Delta variant

WASHINGTON AP

the United States served notice Monday that it will keep existing Covid-19 restrictions on international travel in place for now due to concerns about the surging infection rate because of the delta variant. it was the latest sign that the White House is having to recalibrate its thinking around the coronavirus pandemic as the more infectious variant surges across the US and a substantial chunk of the population resists vaccination. it was also a reversal from the sentiment President Joe Biden voiced earlier this month when he said his administration was “in the process” of considering how soon the US could lift the ban on european travel bound for the US after the issue was raised by German Chancellor Angela Merkel during her visit to the White House.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the restrictions would continue for now. “driven by the delta variant, cases are rising here at home, particularly among those who are unvaccinated, and appears likely to continue in the weeks ahead,” she said. the rising cases also are causing the administration to take a closer look at policies on wearing masks.

On Monday, the department of Veterans Affairs became the first major federal agency to require its health care workers to get Covid-19 vaccines. And over the weekend, US health officials acknowledged they’re considering changing the federal government’s recommendations on wearing masks. the delta variant is a mutated coronavirus that spreads more easily than other versions. it was first detected in india but now has been identified around the world. Last week, US health officials said the variant accounts for an estimated 83 percent of US Covid-19 cases, and noted a 32 percent increase in Covid hospitalizations from the previous week. the rise in cases has prompted some state and local officials to reinstate masking guidance, even for vaccinated Americans. the White House follows the Centres for disease Control and Prevention guidance released in May, which states those who are unvaccinated don’t have to wear masks indoors. they’ve thus far made no changes to Biden’s public events, and the president is still traveling the country and participating in events unmasked.

But dr Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said on Cnn’s State of the Union this Sunday that recommending that the vaccinated wear masks is “under active consideration” by the government’s leading public health officials. “We’re going in the wrong direction,” Fauci said, describing himself as “very frustrated.”

the surge in the delta variant poses a major political challenge for Biden, who called it a “great day” for Americans when the CdC released its relaxed masking guidance in May and on July 4 declared that “the virus is on the run and America is coming back.”

He’s spent the past few months shifting his focus from dire warnings to Americans to get vaccinated to public events pitching his infrastructure, education and jobs proposals, which are currently in the middle of fevered negotiations on Capitol Hill. the administration has touted strong economic growth as fears about the pandemic waned, states relaxed their coronavirus restrictions and their economies opened back up.

But the surging delta variant risks undermining that economic progress and drawing Biden’s attention away from his domestic agenda and democratic Party priorities like gun, voting and policing reforms, back to the risks posed by the coronavirus pandemic. it could also highlight one of the administration’s greatest struggles thus far: the sluggish vaccination rate nationwide.

As of Sunday, 69 percent of American adults had received one vaccination shot, according to the CdC — still slightly below the 70 percent goal Biden had set for July 4. Sixty percent of Americans have been fully vaccinated.

When asked Monday if he had confidence he could get unvaccinated Americans to get the shot, Biden said, “we have to,” but ignored a follow-up question on how.

And prior to the VA's announcement, White House press secretary Jen Psaki skirted questions from reporters on why the administration hadn’t yet issued its own vaccination mandates for healthcare workers, deferring to the CdC for guidance and hospitals and healthcare associations on the ultimate decision.

Psaki acknowledged that the administration runs the risk of undermining its vaccination goals by further politicizing an already fraught issue if the president becomes the face of vaccine mandates. “the president certainly recognises that he is not always the right voice to every community about the benefits of getting vaccinated, which is why we have invested as much as we have in local voices and empowering local trusted voices,” she said.

Still, it’s clear the administration is taking steps to address the continued impact of the pandemic.

Biden announced Monday that those Americans dealing with so-called “long Covid” — sometimes debilitating side effects caused by the illness that last for months after the initial infection — would have access to disability protections under federal law. “these conditions can sometimes, sometimes, rise to the level of a disability,” he said, adding they’d have accommodations in schools and workplaces “so they can live their lives in dignity and get the support they need.”

And the CdC advised Americans against travel to the United Kingdom this past Monday given a surge in cases there.

Most of continental europe has relaxed restrictions on Americans who are fully vaccinated, although the United Kingdom still requires quarantines for most visitors arriving from the US Airlines say, however, that the lack of two-way travel is limiting the number of flights they can offer and seats they can sell.

But the rise and prevalence of Covid-19 variants in europe, especially the delta mutation, has caused the Biden administration to tread slowly about increasing transatlantic travel.

was ousted from power, but such weapons were never found. in recent years, the US mission was focused on helping defeat militants in iraq and Syria. "nobody is going to declare mission accomplished. the goal is the enduring defeat of iSiS," a senior administration official told reporters ahead of Kadhimi's visit. the reference was reminiscent of the large "Mission Accomplished" banner on the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier above where Bush gave a speech declaring major combat operations over in iraq on May 1, 2003. "if you look to where we were, where we had Apache helicopters in combat, when we had USspecial forces doing regular operations, it's a significant evolution. So by the end of the year we think we'll be in a good place to really formally move into an advisory and capacity-building role," the official said. US diplomats and troops in iraq and Syria were targeted in three rocket and drone attacks earlier this month. Analysts believed the attacks were part of a campaign by iranian-backed militias. the senior administration official would not say how many US troops would remain on the ground in iraq for advising and train-

ing. Kadhimi also declined to speculate about a future US drawdown, saying troop levels would be determined by technical reviews.

Kadhimi, who is seen as friendly to the United States, has tried to check the power of iran-aligned militias. But his government condemned US air strikes against iranaligned fighters along its border with Syria in late June, calling it a violation of iraqi sovereignty. in remarks to a small group of reporters after the talks, Kadhimi stressed that his government was responsible for responding to such attacks. He acknowledged that he had reached out to tehran to address them.

"We speak to iranians and others in an attempt to put a limit to these attacks, which are undermining iraq and its role," he said. the United States plans to provide iraq with 500,000 doses of the Pfizer/Biontech (PFe.n), Covid-19 vaccine under the global COVAX vaccine-sharing program. Biden said the doses should arrive in a couple of weeks. the United States will also provide $5.2 million to help fund a Un mission to monitor October elections in iraq.

"We're looking forward to seeing an election in October," said Biden.

South, North Korea restore hotlines as leaders seek to rebuild ties SEOUL REUTERS

South and north Korea have restored hotlines that Pyongyang severed a year ago when ties deteriorated sharply, with renewed efforts by the two countries’ leaders to rebuild relations, the South’s presidential Blue House said on tuesday.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in and north Korean leader Kim Jong Un have exchanged multiple letters since April and agreed to reconnect the hotlines, said Moon’s press secretary, Park Soo-Hyun. north Korea’s state media outlet, KCnA, also said all inter-Korean communication channels resumed operation at 10:00 am tuesday (0100 GMt) in line with an agreement between Moon and Kim. “the two leaders have explored ways to recover relations by exchanging letters on several occasions, and agreed to restore severed hotlines as a first step for that process,” Park said in a statement. “they have also agreed to regain trust as soon as possible and foster progress on relations again.”

KCnA touted the reopening of the hotlines as “a big stride in recovering the mutual trust and promoting reconciliation.” north Korea cut the hotlines in June 2020 as cross-border ties soured after a failed second summit in February 2019 between Kim and former US President donald trump, which Moon had offered to mediate. the move was followed by the destruction of a joint liaison office inside the north that had been set up in 2018 to foster better ties, plunging relations between the rivals to a low point.

Seoul’s defence ministry confirmed that a military hotline was tested on tuesday and that twice-daily regular communication would re-

sume. the Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, also said telephone lines installed at the border truce village of Panmunjom had also been restored, welcoming it and expressing hopes for a restart of cooperation.

Moon has called for a revival of the hotline and talks, pinning high hopes on US President Joe Biden to restart negotiations aimed at dismantling north Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes.

But it was unclear whether the hotline reopenings were a serious sign that Pyongyang would respond to overtures by Moon and the Biden administration, which called for a “reliable, predictable and constructive” way to kickstart denuclearisation talks. “the United States has been continuing to reach out to north Korea ever since President Biden took office. i think this shows willingness on Pyongyang’s part to respond,” said James Kim of the Asan institute for Policy Studies in Seoul.

“But it is premature to read too much into these gestures,” Kim added. “We need to see some seriousness on Pyongyang’s part to move towards denuclearisation for us to say that there is genuine progress.”

Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of north Korean Studies in Seoul, said exchanging information on Covid-19 and natural disasters may be a way to rebuild ties. north Korea has not formally confirmed any Covid-19 outbreaks, but it closed its borders and took strict anti-virus measures, seeing the pandemic as a matter of national survival. the announcement came as the two Koreas marked the 68th anniversary of the armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War. Kim paid tribute to fallen soldiers and sent gifts to surviving veterans, according to KCnA.

Wednesday, 28 July, 2021

SPORTS 11

KARACHI

Biles fails in gold Bid as osaka exits tokyo gaMes TOKYO

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REUTERS

IMONE Biles’ bid to launch a history-making goldrush at the Tokyo Olympics fell apart after a single vault on Tuesday when the gymnast superstar pulled out of the team event, and her American team mates were beaten to the title by the Russians.

The late-night drama was a fitting end to a day which had begun under the threat of a storm and featured the loss of the face of these Games, tennis player Naomi Osaka.

America’s silver team medal means Biles can no longer win six golds here which, added to her haul of four from Rio, would have confirmed her status as the greatest gymnast of all time.

“After the performance I did I just didn’t want to go on,” Biles said.

USA Gymnastics said Biles had withdrawn because of a “medical issue,” and would be assessed daily. “Injury, no,” she said.

“Just a little injury to my pride.” While she could still, in theory, win five and match the current record, it seems unlikely.

Russian great Larisa Latynina won nine gymnastic Olympic golds in the 1950s and ’60s. Only Michael Phelps, with his 23 swimming golds, has won more.

If Biles does win five here she would join four athletes on nine — Latynina, swimmer Mark Spitz and track and field athletes PaavoNurmi and Carl Lewis.

OSAKA EXITS: Osaka, who lit the Olympic cauldron on Friday to open the Games after a one-year postponement, looked out of sorts and never settled into a rhythm as she lost 6-1

JAPAN WIN SECOND STRAIGHT GOLD IN SOFTBALL

6-4 in the third round to Czech Marketa Vondrousova. Her departure left Japan without its best known global sporting figure in the Olympics, one whose multi-ethnic background contrasts with the image of an insular and male-dominated country that emerged in the run-up to the event.

“I think it’s maybe because I haven’t played in an Olympics before and for the first one to be here was a bit much,” she said.

It was her first tournament since she pulled out of the French Open in May. The women’s tennis tournament has now lost both of its top draw cards after Australia’s world

Manchester United agrees fee to sign Real Madrid’s Varane

number one Ash Barty was beaten in the first round. The Games are taking place under a state of emergency and without spectators, an unprecedented event in the history of the modern Olympics.

Tokyo reported 2,848 infections on Tuesday, in line with warnings from health experts that the summer would bring a rebound in Covid-19 cases due to increased mobility and the spread of variants.

Most Japanese opposed holding the Games amid the pandemic, especially as the healthcare system has been pushed to the brink in parts of the country.

TOM DEAN WINS GOLD IN MEN’S 200M FREESTYLE Games organisers have reported a total of 155 cases associated with the Olympics, a tiny percentage given the tens of thousands of people who have come from abroad.

Tokyo’s virus cases are counted separately from those reported in the Olympic village. Athletes and other officials who have travelled from abroad are separated from the public.

EXPLOSIVE BREAKOUTS: Japan has not had the kind of explosive Covid-19 breakouts that have crippled the United States and parts of Europe, but the vaccine roll-out has been slow and the healthcare system has struggled to cope in parts of the country.

The number of severe Covid-19 cases in Tokyo over the last month has roughly doubled to 78 as of Monday, local government data showed. Coronavirus hospitalisations have also jumped at a similar clip, reaching 2,717. While Osaka was out, and Biles diminished, other competitors enjoyed better days.

Japan won their second straight gold in softball, beating the US 2-0, and Brazil’s Italo Ferreira and American Carissa Moore overcame challenging conditions in brilliant style to win historic first Olympic surfing gold medals. In the women’s triathlon, Flora Duffy, 33, achieved instant national hero status when she won Bermuda’s first Olympic gold medal.

With about 63,000 residents, the British Overseas Territory in the North Atlantic Ocean became the smallest nation to win a Summer Olympic gold medal.

In the pool, Russian Evgeny Rylov broke

a US stranglehold on the men’s 100m backstroke, while Tom Dean powered to gold in the men’s 200m freestyle, heading a British onetwo with Duncan Scott taking silver.

GURYEVA MAKES HISTORY WITH TURKMENISTAN'S FIRST MEDAL: Weightlifter PolinaGuryeva made history as Turkmenistan's first Olympic medallist and, as the shock sank in, began wondering how she might cope with the hero's welcome she is anticipating back home. A former gymnast and a first-time Olympian, Guryeva won silver in the -59kg class, behind her idol, Taiwan's KuoHsing-Chun, who broke Olympic records in all three of the event's categories.

"It's the first medal, and it's me who won it," an overwhelmed Guryeva told reporters at the Tokyo International Forum. "I think I've made myself a name in the history of Turkmenistan... I'm so shocked."

Guryeva said she had found it hard to adapt to the -59kg category, having dropped down from -64kg last year.

"That's how I had the chance to come to the Olympics. It was so hard. I tried and trained so hard," she said, adding that she had used Kuo as an inspiration.

"I like everything about her, I like the technique, how she trains. I want to be like her in the future."

Guryeva's homecoming is likely to be celebrated in style, a prospect that the 21-year old is only just beginning to come to terms with.

"What am I going to do? I don't know. I'm going to be in shock throughout."

India-Sri Lanka T20I postponed after Pandya's positive Covid test COLOMBO REUTERS

LONDON REUTERS

Manchester United have agreed a deal to sign France centre back Raphael Varane from Real Madrid for an initial 34 million pounds ($46.97 million), British media reported on Monday.

Sky Sports said the fee would rise to 41 million pounds ($56.64 million) including add-ons for World Cup-winner Varane, who has one year remaining on his contract at Real. The 28-year-old has featured over 350 times for the Spanish club, winning three La Liga titles and four Champions League trophies since joining them in 2011 from French side Lens. He lifted the World Cup with France in 2018, and played in all four of their games at this year's European Championship as they were eliminated by Switzerland in the last 16. Last week, England winger Jadon Sancho joined United from Borussia Dortmund in a deal worth 85 million euros ($100.33 million).

The second Twenty20 international between Sri Lanka and India, scheduled for Tuesday in Colombo, has been pushed back by a day after India's Krunal Pandya tested positive for Covid-19, the country's cricket board (BCCI) announced hours before the game. "Following the Rapid Antigen Tests conducted ahead of the match on Tuesday morning, India allrounder Krunal Pandya was found to be positive.

The medical teams have identified eight members as close contacts," BCCI said in a statement. The teams will now play the remaining two fixtures of the three-match series on consecutive days, with the third match also to be played in Colombo. India won the first game by 38 runs in Colombo on Sunday.

The positive test could give Indian batsmen Prithvi Shaw and Suryakumar

Yadav a nervous wait as they were picked for India's test series against England and were slated to travel at the end of the Sri Lanka tour.

There are no reports of positive results among the Sri Lankans, who are scheduled to be tested next on Wednesday morning.

Professor Arjuna de Silva, who overseas SLC's bubble protocols for international tours, told ESPNcricinfo that it remained a mystery as to how Pandya could have contracted Covid-19, as there have been no reports of the bubble being broken, nor any other significant irregularities. The series has been played behind closed doors and both teams have been operating out of a biosecure bubble with their movements restricted to only the team hotel and the ground.

India currently lead the three-match series 1-0, having sealed a 38-runs victory in the first match at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.

POA says not mandated for development of sports in country NEWS DESK The Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) on Tuesday made it clear that it is not responsible for the development of sports in the country as it is the job of Pakistan Sports Board (PSB).

According to a press release, the POA said that weightlifter Talha Talib gave a remarkable performance and secured fifth position in the 67kg weightlifting event of Tokyo Olympics, adding that his performance will encourage his fellow Olympians at Tokyo and inspire those who are working hard to raise the national flag at different international events.

The association said that the weightlifter would have won a gold medal in the Games, if the PSB had lived up to its responsibilities.

The association said that the PSB is responsible for the development of sports as stated in its rules available on its website (www.sports.gov.pk). The POA also quoted some rules of PSB in its press statement for the ease of understanding. The rules state that the functions of the PSB shall be: • To promote and develop standards of

national fitness as well as standards of competition, comparable to the International standards • To encourage, promote and undertake all such measures as would assist in the development of sports in Pakistan • To arrange and secure foreign training facilities and scholarships for Pakistani Coaches, Sports Organizations and sportsmen • To sponsor and provide administrative and financial support for exchange of sports teams, coaches, organizers and delegations with various countries at international level • To implement and monitor sports policy in conformity with national objectives and to recommend measures for designing and development of sports policy • To make the public sports-conscious and to encourage their participation in the national and international sports events • To construct, develop and maintain the National Stadia, Gymnasia, Sports Training and Coaching Centres, Squash Courts, Golf Courses and other play fields The POA further said that it is the representative of IOC and OCA for Olympic movement in Pakistan and mandated to fos-

ter Olympism through sports and education.

“It is our stated position, duly conveyed to the concerned quarters on multiple occasions, that the existing facilities and financial support for our sportspersons are the lowest in the region despite which our athletes have made tremendous strides in their respective sports events as is evident from Talha's performance,” the POA said.

“On May 31, 2021,[the] POA categorically stated its concerns vide a press release about the surrendered Rs440 million and that too in the Olympic year. This money could and should have been utilised for further specialised training of those athletes, who had qualified on their own steam. It could have been utilised to assist other athletes who were capable of qualifying but could not do so as neither they nor their federations have the resources. Had this been done, Talha and Gulfam may have been on the podium at Tokyo. Inam and Bilal (wrestling) were not supported the way elite athletes should be. Others like Saadi Abbas lacked the resources to train and qualify.

The grant from the amount not surrendered was doled out at the end of the financial year with no basis or criteria of allotment

and therefore frittered away.”

The association said that the POApresident, in a meeting withPSB in September last year, had requested the Minister of Inter Provincial Coordination for financial support to athletes and provision of international standard equipment for the qualified athletes.

“He [POA president] was categorically told that a summary has been moved for the approval of the PM. This unfortunately later proved to be not true. Had the funds been provided to athletes, more athletes, including wrestlers Mohammad Inam and Mohammad Bilal, could have qualified. It is the sole discretion of the governmental authorities to decide whether there is any need to create a supporting system for elite athletes or not,” it added.

“POA, through IOC, managed scholarships and financial support for athletes that benefited all the three qualified shooters, Talha Talib and Bismah Khan, who are part of the Pakistanicontingent at Tokyo Olympics…..Apart from these scholarships, POA funded the complete contingent for its travelling and Covid testing for participation in the Games.”

The POA said it isa non-governmental and non-profit organisation entrusted to promote Olympic values in Pakistan, adding that neither it gets any financial support from the government of Pakistan nor its elected office bearers are paid employees as they serve voluntarily.

“POA has always expressed its readiness to assist and it can assume an advisory role if desired by the authorities to establish an elite sports development programme, however, the national sports federations shall remain custodian of their games. POA's exclusive domain is to monitor observance of Olympic Charter and WADA Code in Pakistan.We strongly condemn baseless and misleading information being spread about POA and its office bearers.We strongly believe that certain quarters are spreading disinformation about POA to divert attention from the main issues like lack of resources and infrastructure for sports in Pakistan and for certain other ulterior motives to malign institutions, including POA. POA will continue to discharge its obligations as entrusted in the Olympic Charter,” the association concluded.

Wednesday, 28 July, 2021

pRAyER TimingS

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ASR MAGHRIB ISHA

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Fleeing AFghAnistAn troops ‘AmicAbly returned’ to KAbul: ispr ISLAMABAD

d

STAff REpoRT

OzENS of soldiers from Afghanistan who slipped across the border into Pakistan to seek refuge after their border post was overrun by the Taliban were “amicably returned” to Kabul, the Inter-Services Public Relations said Tuesday.

A total of 46 members of the Afghan National Army, including five officers, crossed the border late Sunday near the border town of Chitral in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the ISPR confirmed early Monday.

It said that a local ANA commander opposite Arandu town of Chitral had requested help for the soldiers as “they were unable to hold their military posts” along the border “due to [the] evolving security situation in Afghanistan.” “These soldiers […] and Border Police were given safe passage into Pakistan, on their own request, by the Pakistan Army in Arundu Sector of the […] international border […] on July 25,” the military’s media wing said Tuesday.

“After necessary clearance, the Afghan soldiers [had] crossed into Pakistan with their weapons, ammunition and communication equipment.

The soldiers have now been amicably returned to Afghan authorities on their request along with their weapons and equipment.”

The ISPR affirmed Pakistan will “continue to extend all kinds of support” to its “Afghan brethren in time[s] of need”.

In a similar incident earlier this month, the army had “given safe passage into Pakistan” to 35 fleeing soldiers of the ANA who had asked for refuge and later, handed them over to Kabul “after due procedure”.

The Taliban have swiftly captured territory in recent weeks in Afghanistan and seized strategic border crossings with several neighbouring countries. They are also threat-

ening a number of provincial capitals — advances that come as the last US and NATO soldiers complete their final withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The insurgents are said to now control about half of Afghanistan’s 419 district centres. The rapid fall of districts and the seemingly disheartened response by Afghan government forces have prompted US-allied warlords to resurrect militias with a violent history. Hundreds of Afghan army soldiers and civil officials have fled to neighbouring Tajikistan, Iran and Pakistan in recent weeks after Taliban offensives in border towns.

For many Afghans weary of more than

four decades of wars and conflict, fears are rising of another brutal civil war as American and NATO troops leave the country.

The Afghanistan government and Taliban negotiators have met in Qatar’s capital, Doha, in recent weeks, although diplomats say there have been few signs of substantive progress since peace talks began in September. Reeling from battlefield losses, Afghanistan’s military is overhauling its war strategy against the Taliban to concentrate forces around critical areas such as Kabul and other cities, border crossings and vital infrastructure, Afghan and US officials have said.

Kargil War anniversary: ‘Mistrust mars Pakistan-India relations’ ISLAMABAD AnAdolU AgEncy

As the 22nd anniversary of the Kargil War is marked between Pakistan and India, analysts say “mistrust” persists between the nuclear neighbours.

According to Indian military experts, the last 22 years have seen ups and downs in relations between the two nations where Kashmir continues to be the main bone of contention.

“Today, Indian and Pakistani relations are mired in mistrust, despite the ongoing cease-fire. The shortterm trends are not positive,” retired Lt. Gen. Deependra Singh Hooda, former Chief of the Northern Command of the Indian Army told Anadolu Agency, while referring to a truce on the Kashmir border announced in January.

While the guns have fallen silent on the borders for the last six months, the relationship, experts said, continued to be icy.

Talking about the “many ups and downs,” Hooda said from the low of post-Kargil, it improved in the mid-2000s until the deadly 2008 Mumbai terror attacks that claimed more than 150 lives. The war broke out in 1999 in Kargil in the disputed Ladakh region. It took place months after then-Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari and his Pakistan counterpart, Nawaz Sharif, signed a peace accord. Sameer Patil, a fellow of international security studies at the Mumbai-based Gateway House think tank, told Anadolu Agency that since the war, the relationship has “continued to fluctuate.”

“After Kargil, the trajectory of India-Pakistan relations has really gone through ups and downs be-

cause we have had periods of engagement between the two countries followed by periods of long estrangement,” he said. “It’s also true that no phase has lasted for long.”

MAJOR CHANGE: Sameer maintained that a big change happened in the Indian defence procurement and preparedness after the conflict.

“I would say that change really happened much later when the IndiaUS defense relationship began to flourish after the 2005 agreement on defense cooperation and since then, India has purchased advanced equipment from American defense companies,” he said. “Also, in terms of procurement, the timelines have been expedited in the case of India-US defense deals. However, in terms of overall procurement, this is really a blip on the radar.” Hooda argued that after Kargil, there was a great deal of analysis by the Kargil review committee formed by the Indian government, and “it led to a number of changes in the areas of defense preparedness, intelligence, and higher defense management,” he said.

While over the years, India has been scaling up its defense capabilities, what is now emerging as a challenge is the chance of a twofront challenge: simultaneous armed conflict between India and China, and Pakistan. Experts said it would be the biggest challenge for India.

“In my opinion, India is not really prepared to fight a two-front war,” said Sameer. “The government may have made contingency planning for such a scenario, but the military appears to be over-stretched when meeting the China challenge, especially on the LAC [Line of Actual Control] and cyber front.” The LAC is a demarcation line that separated Indian-controlled territory

from Chinese- controlled territory.

Earlier this year, Indian Army Chief Gen. Manoj Mukund Naravane said there is increased cooperation between Pakistan and China in military and non-military fields, and “a two-front situation is something we must be ready to deal with.”

Pravin Sawhney, a former Indian army officer and editor of the FORCE defense magazine, echoed Sameer’s views. “Today the US army sees China as their peer competitor. If they are competitors of the US, common sense should tell you they can’t fight the PLA [Chinese People’s Liberation Army]. So if you can’t fight the PLA, how would you fight at two fronts,” he told Anadolu Agency, adding that a twofront war is a “slogan” and “not workable” at the moment.

IMPROVISED INTELLIGENCE: Soon after the Kargil War, deficiencies in intelligence capabilities in India came to the fore.

Retired Brigadier M. P. S. Bajwa, commander of the Indian Army’s 192 Mountain Brigade that was assigned to capture Tiger Hill during the war, said Kargil brought many lessons to be learned for India. “Be it intelligence or any other areas in the Indian army, there has been a lot of change since the Kargil War,” Bajwa told Anadolu Agency.

Hooda, however, said more is needed in terms of India’s intelligence capabilities.

“The number of structural and policy changes were made to improve intelligence sharing between various agencies. The NTRO [National Technical Research Organisation] and Defence Intelligence Agencies were raised which have improved our intelligence capacity,” he said.

A rainbow is seen during the Tokyo Olympics. REUTERS

Shehroze Kashif becomes youngest person to summit K2 ISLAMABAD REUTERS

A 19-year-old boy has become the youngest person to summit K2, the world’s second-highest mountain, the Alpine Club of Pakistan said on Tuesday.

Shehroze Kashif reached the 8,611 metres (28,251 foot) summit at 8:10 am on Tuesday.

Kashif, who began climbing in his early teens, scaled the world’s 12th highest mountain, 8,047-metre (26,400 foot) Broad Peak, at the age of 17.

In May, he became the youngest Pakistani to scale Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain. He now holds an additional record as the youngest person to have summited K2 and Everest.

Several of the country’s youngest climbers have been on K2 in recent days. Sajid Ali Sadpara, who in 2019 became the youngest to climb K2 at the age of

20, is part of an expedition there to find the body of his father, who went missing along with two other climbers in February.

On Monday, sherpas affixing ropes for climbers about 300m below an obstacle known as the Bottleneck discovered the bodies of Muhammad Ali Sadpara of Pakistan, Iceland’s John Snorri and Chile’s Juan Pablo Mohr. The same day, Samina Baig, 30, said she was abandoning an attempt to summit the mountain because of dangerous conditions. Baig became the youngest Pakistani woman to scale Mount Everest in 2013.

On Sunday night the body of Scottish climber, Rick Allen, 68, was recovered after he was swept away by an avalanche while attempting to traverse a new route on K2’s southeastern face.

Earlier this month, Kim Hong-bin, 57, a South Korean Paralympian, went missing after falling from the nearby Broad Peak.

Analysis: US, China positions ossify at entrenched Tianjin talks WASHINGTON REUTERS

With no indication of a U.S.-China leaders’ summit in the works, nor any outcomes announced from high-level diplomatic talks on Monday, relations between Beijing and Washington appear to be at a standstill as both sides insist the other must make concessions for ties to improve.

U.S. officials had stressed that Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman’s trip to the northern Chinese port city of Tianjin to meet Foreign Minister Wang Yi and other officials was a chance to ensure that stiffening competition between the two geopolitical rivals does not veer into conflict.

But the combative statements that emerged from the meeting – albeit coupled with suggestions from officials that closeddoor sessions were marginally more cordial – mirrored the tone set in Alaska in March, when the first senior-level diplomatic talks under President Joe Biden were overshadowed by rare public vitriol from both sides.

While Tianjin did not expose the same degree of outward hostility that was on display in Alaska, the two sides appeared to stop short of actually negotiating anything, sticking instead to lists of established demands.

Sherman pressed China on actions Washington says run counter to the rulesbased international order, including Beijing’s crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong, what the U.S. government has deemed is an ongoing genocide in Xinjiang, abuses in Tibet and the curtailing of press freedoms.

“I think it’d be wrong to characterize the United States as somehow seeking or soliciting China’s cooperation,” a senior U.S. administration official told reporters after the talks, referring to global concerns such as climate change, Iran, Afghanistan and North Korea. “It is going to be up to the Chinese side to determine how ready they are as well to… take the next step,” a second U.S. administration official said of bridging disagreements.

But Wang insisted in a statement that the ball was in the United States’ court.

“When it comes to respecting international rules, it is the United States that must think again,” he said, demanding that Washington remove all unilateral sanctions and tariffs on China.

DIPLOMATIC OSSIFICATION: China’s Foreign Ministry has recently signaled there could be preconditions for the United States on which any kind of cooperation would be contingent, a stance some analysts say is a recipe for diplomatic ossification and that leaves dim prospects for improved ties.

Bonnie Glaser, an Asia expert at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, said it was important for the two sides to maintain some form of engagement. At the same time, there appeared to be no agreement in Tianjin for follow-up meetings or mechanisms for ongoing dialogue.

“That will probably leave U.S. allies and partners uneasy. They are hoping for greater stability and predictability in the U.S.-China relationship,” Glaser said. Both sides are likely to be disappointed if they expect the other to give in first, she added.

There has been some expectation in foreign policy circles that Biden could meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping for the first time since becoming president on the sidelines of a G20 summit in Italy in October.

White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the prospect of a Biden-Xi meeting did not come up in Tianjin, though she added that she expects there will be some opportunity to engage at some point.

Indications are, meanwhile, that the Biden administration may scale up both enforcement actions impacting Beijing – such as cracking down on Iranian oil sales to China – and coordination with allies in the context of countering China, including another summit later this year that Biden is keen to host with the leaders of Japan, Australia, and India. Biden’s White House also has given few signals that it intends to roll back tariffs on Chinese goods established under the Trump administration.

At the same time, cooperation on the Covid-19 pandemic seems almost entirely out of reach, with the United States calling

Beijing’s rejection of a World Health Organization plan for further study of the virus’ origin “irresponsible” and “dangerous.”

There has been little sign either of a willingness by China to cooperate with Washington on the climate issue, a priority for Biden, despite energetic entreaties by U.S. climate envoy John Kerry.

“What was on display in Tianjin is that both sides are still very far apart on how they view the value and role of diplomatic engagement,” said Eric Sayers, a visiting fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.

Scott Kennedy, a China specialist at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies,, said neither side saw much upside for now in being more cooperative.

“And there’s no low-hanging fruit for cooperation for either side and any gesture toward cooperation actually comes with significant costs, both domestic and strategic,” he said. “I think we ought to have very low expectations about the two sides finding common ground and stabilizing the relationship in the near future.”

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