Epaper – May 9-2022 LHR

Monday, 9 May, 2022 I 7 Shawwal, 1443 I Rs 40.00 I Vol XII No 308 I 48 Pages I Lahore Edition

Keep army out of politics in country’s best interest, warns ispr g

Unsubstantiated, defamatory and provocative statements are extremely damaging, says military’s media wing ISLAMABAD

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Staff RepoRt

HE military Sunday warned politicians, journalists and analysts against dragging Pakistan Army and its leadership in the country’s political affairs, saying that the practice is “extremely damaging”.

“Recently there have been intensified and deliberate attempts to drag

Pakistan’s Armed Forces and their leadership in ongoing political discourse in the country,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement on Sunday.

“These attempts are manifest through direct, insinuated or nuanced references to Armed Forces as well as their senior leadership, made by some political leaders, few journalists and analysts on public forums and various communication

platforms including social media.”

The military ’s media wing further said that this practice of unsubstantiated, defamatory and provocative statements /remarks is extremely damaging.

“Pakistan Armed Forces take strong exception to such unlawful and unethical practice and expect all to abide by the law and keep the Armed Forces out of political discourse in the best interest of the country,” it added.

The statement comes in the wake of Federal Investigation Agency ’s (FIA) crackdown against those allegedly involved in running online campaigns to defame the military and its top leadership.

The agency has also initiated an inquiry against an anchorperson of a private TV channel for allegedly transmitting ‘anti-state’ videos and statements on various social media platforms.

At a recent public gathering, PMLN Vice President Maryam Nawaz said that former prime minister Imran Khan only lasted in office for over three years as he had the support of a former intelligence officer.

“When the government lost his support, it fell instantly.”

On Thursday, former PM and PTI Chairman Imran said he could not even think of appointing an army chief against the rules of merit and rubbished speculations that he wanted former Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) director general Lt Gen Faiz Hameed to be appointed to that post.

PM Shehbaz vows legal action against Imran’s ‘anti-state’ speech at Abbottabad rally ISLAMABAD NewS DeSk

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has termed Imran Khan’s address at Abbottabad rally a ‘grand conspiracy against Pakistan’.

In a statement, the Prime Minister said those concocting a narrative against national institutions were the real Mir Jaffar and Mir Sadiq.

He said the state of Pakistan, constitution of Pakistan, and the respected institutions of Pakistan were challenged by Imran Khan in Abbottabad on Sunday.

He assured that legal action would be taken. Shehbaz said what Imran was doing could only be categorized as conspiracy, not politics and this conspiracy was not against any political rivals but against the country.

“Pakistan cannot be surrendered and compromised over one person’s ego, arrogance, and blatant lies. Imran

FIA warns expats against arrests through Interpol for ‘seditious’ social media posts ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has warned all expatriates of Pakistani origin that their names can be put on the Exit Control List (ECL) if they put up “offensive and seditious” social media posts that may lead to chaos in Pakistan.

“All Pakistani origin expatriates living outside Pakistan are advised to desist from spreading chaos in Pakistan while staying abroad. Their social media posts must not be offensive and seditious,” the FIA spokesperson said in a statement.

The agency directed the expatriates to read the “Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act 2016 (PECA)” to make sure that their social media posts “do not constitute any offence”.

“If they commit any offence, Red Notices through INTERPOL can be issued against them for their arrest. Their names can be put on Exit Control List. They need to avoid commission of any electronic offences,” said the FIA. It added that its advice was “only for offenders” and law-abiding persons should not worry about it.

“Any attempts by anyone staying anywhere in the world to create disturbance in Pakistan or to defame dignity of a natural person or to act

first conspired to destroy economy of the country and was now planning to trigger civil-war in Pakistan”, he said.

The PM pledged that these nefarious designs of Imran would be crushed at all cost. “Imran is this era’s Mir Jaffar and Mir Sadiq who wanted Pakistan to face the same fate as Libya and Iraq,” he added. He said Imran incidentally also has a fake certificate of Sadiq, like Mir Sadiq, he said.

He went on to say that Imran was digging holes in the very boat he is riding and biting the hand that feeds him.

“The people of Pakistan, the constitution, and the institutions of Pakistan are not slaves of Imran Niazi, nor could he hold them hostage,” he lambasted. He slammed Niazi’s speech and said Imran would not be allowed to become the Hitler of Pakistan.

Imran had lied to the nation all this time, its about time he faces the truth, he concluded.

MORE INSIDE

No early elections without consent of all coalition parties: PM Shehbaz STORY ON BACK PAGE

FIA opens inquiry against Sharif critic under draconian laws

STORY ON PAGE 02 IN TODAY S ISSUE

against modesty of a natural person through fake news or fake videos are against the laws of Pakistan,” said the FIA. The investigation body said that “such attempts” are punishable under Pakistani laws, adding that offenders will be prosecuted when-

ever possible.

“Hence anyone must avoid committing any such offences through media of any type. All Pakistani citizens are also advised to avoid commission of such offences,” warned the FIA spokesperson.

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Monday, 9 May, 2022 | LAHORe

news

FIA oPens InQUIry AGAInsT shArIF crITIc Under drAconIAn LAws IsLAMABAD

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Monitoring report

HE government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif booked Bol News anchor Sami Ibrahim under contentious sections of the notorious Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (Peca), 2016 law.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) — which the government has been accused of unleashing on journalists critical of it and which made headlines a day earlier after it withdrew following backlash a petition

seeking restoration of its draconian powers under Section 20 of the law — summoned Ibrahim in personal capacity on May 13 (Friday) at 11:00 am.

Ibrahim, a career journalist, has been critical of the government and the military establishment, having raised his voice against the “imposition” of the government of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) component parties on Pakistan.

In a recent video, he had criticised the top military brass for its purported meddling in civilian affairs and aiding the process of the no-confidence vote against former prime

UK’s first LGBTQ+ museum opens in London LONDON Afp

Queer Britain, the UK’s first LGBTQ+ museum, opened its doors in London this week, promising to bring the history and culture of the community to a wider audience. Housed in a 19th-century building in a redeveloped area behind King’s Cross railway station, the museum has been four years in the making and is entirely financed by private donations. A major exhibition is slated for the coming months combining photos, artworks and costumes. Visitors can already discover the history of the community in the UK, from cross-dressing Victorians to more recent Pride marches.

Pioneers honoured include racing driver Roberta Cowell, thought to be the first British trans woman known to have had reassignment surgery, and Justin Fashanu, the first professional footballer to publicly acknowledge he was gay. Fashanu — who in 1981 became the country’s most expensive black player when he made a £1 million move from Norwich City to Nottingham Forest — killed himself in 1998, eight years after coming out. One of the museum’s managers, Stephanie Stevens, said Queer Britain was “a permanent place for us to be able to celebrate who we are, the amazing contributions we’ve made to history, and then to educate the nation so that they know about those contributions as well”. “We want to reach everyone,” regardless of gender, sexuality or identity, Stevens told AFP. “It’s important to have this museum and this space because as queer people we are so often expected to be grateful for the crumbs off the table.” The museum in the trendy Granary Square development, where barges once unloaded their goods from the Regent’s Canal, is free, with the aim of widening the message. Stevens described it as for “all of those people who feel like their voices haven’t been heard” and “the people that never heard those voices”.

Visibility: Elisha Pearce, 21, travelled from Birmingham in central England to visit the museum, just a day after it opened on Thursday. She discovered photographs of cross-dressing World War I soldiers. “I wouldn’t have thought that kind of photo existed from the time so it’s definitely important that we can understand how our history has developed and how we got to the point where we are now,” she added. Another section of the exhibition is dedicated to the communities LGBTQ+ people created for themselves. “It’s something that we’ve needed for many years in this country,” said Richard Halstead, another visitor, from London. “I hope this is a really positive start to something which will grow and develop and become a permanent part of the cultural heritage of this country.” Halstead, 59, said he hoped it would give greater visibility to the community. educatioN: The photographs in the exhibition are a reminder of the long road travelled, including of the acceptance of gay members of parliament. In 1977, Maureen Colquhoun, the UK’s first openly lesbian MP, was deselected by her constituency party because of her sexuality and feminist views.

minister Imran Khan.

Dated May 7, the notification said the agency has summoned the anchorperson under Section 20 which criminalised defamation, declaring that his video “spread false and frivolous allegations on senior government functionaries.”

“You have built a narrative with an illintent to cause intimidation, fear, panic, insecurity and unrest between government officials/personnel of armed forces and general public,” it read.

Section 20 of the law increased the prison term for social media users convicted

M A niAZi

PTI leader and Imran Khan’s spokesman Shahbaz Gill has an accident on the Motorway, which he said was a murder attempt. He made an appearance the next day limping heavily and swathed in bandages.

However, he filed no FIR, neither with the Motorway Police nor with the Khanqah Dogran Police, which was the area in which that particular stretch of the Motorway lay.

By not registering an FIR, he avoided a medical examination. That reminds one of Ch Parvez Elahi, who claimed that a murder attempt had been made on him by PML(N) MPAs in the precincts of the Punjab Assembly.

Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Ordinance unconstitutional and scrapped Section 20 of the original law introduced by the Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) in 2016.

The summon was condemned by journalist unions. Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) vice president Lala Asad Pathan said the voice of dissent can’t be muzzled through such oppressive tactics, ARY News reported.

Urban centres exempted from power outages as deficit worsens LAHORE StAff report

The government has decided to exempt major urban centres from crippling power outages as the electricity deficit is expected to worsen after a long weekend following the Eid ul-Fitr holiday, hobbling the economy and putting off foreign investors.

However, power outages will continue for high-loss making neighbourhoods. The situation is likely to worsen as summer intensifies, when air conditioners are switched on full blast.

Reports citing sources privy to the matter said the shortfall, calculated to be around 9,000 megawatts at the end of April, declined to 1000 megawatts during the first weekend after Eid ul-Fitr.

“The power production currently stands at 22,000 megawatts against the demand of 21,000 megawatts,” the sources said, adding the demand and supply of Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) also stood at

3,700 megawatts.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Today had reported in April the Lesco system was overloaded and the shortfall has gone beyond 1,500 megawatts.

“The quota of power supply to Lesco remains at 3,400 megawatts against a demand of 4900

megawatts,” the report said, adding that the overloading led to disruption of supply to multiple grid stations, causing power outages in the city.

It is likely that a new schedule for power supply would be issued Monday while keeping in view the demand and supply of the commodity across the country. The supply is likely to witness an improvement owing to the functioning of closed power plants.

Interestingly, only a year ago, Pakistan was generating more electricity than it needed. Large-scale construction of new power plants — largely coal-fired ones funded by China — had dramatically boosted the nation’s energy capacity. “It’s true. We are producing much more than we need,” Tabish Gauhar, former special assistant to then-prime minister Imran Khan on power, had told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Currently, the country gets 64 percent of its electricity from fossil fuels, with another 27 percent from hydropower, 5 percent from nuclear power and just 4 percent from renewables such as solar and wind.

Food products’ prices rise as Ramazan package ends

NEws DEsk The prices of various food products have surged at utility stores across the country as the government’s Ramazan Relief Package came to an end.

The Utility Stores Corporation (USC) on Saturday released a new rate list of various food products, including pulses, cooking oil and gram flour.

According to the list, the discount of Rs10 per kg being offered on dal mash and dal moong has been reverted while the price of gram flour has risen by Rs20 per kg.

New prices of items at utility stores: Dal mash: Rs270 per kg (up by Rs10)

Dal moong: Rs170 per kg (up by Rs10) USC gram flour: Rs190 per kg (up by Rs20) USC dates: Rs80 per 500gm (up by Rs10) Fresh Bru Tea 475gm: Rs442 (up by Rs23) Fresh Bru Tea 950gm: Rs846 (up by Rs47) Dalda Cooking Oil 5 litre: Rs2,155 (up by Rs100) Habib Cooking Oil 1 litre: Rs400 (up by Rs20) Meezan Cooking Oil 1×5 litre pack: Rs402 (up by Rs20) Eva Cooking Oil (1×5) litre pillow pouch: Rs410 (up

by Rs20) Tullo Cooking Oil 5 litre tin: Rs1,990 (up by Rs100) Yellow Label 380gm: Rs479 (up by Rs19) Lipton Yellow Label 475gm: Rs575 (up by Rs24) Supreme Tea 495gm: Rs525 (up by Rs24) Tapal Danedar Tea 450gm: Rs545 (up by Rs22) The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the previous Imran Khan-led government had approved a Ramazan relief package worth Rs8.3 billion in March, under which 19 kitchen items were to be supplied at subsidised rates through the utility stores. According to a notification issued at the time, a 20kg bag of flour would be sold at Rs800, sugar at Rs70 per kg, ghee at Rs260 per kg and gram flour at Rs170 per kg while other items, including pulses, dates, rice, black tea and spices would also be sold at subsidised rates.

Who stole the buffalo?

CITY NOTEs

of disseminating “fake news” from two to five years. It also made it mandatory for courts to decide such cases within six months.

Responding to the summon, Ibrahim tweeted: “My lawyer Raja Aamir Abbas has informed the agency that I’m out of the country and will take necessary legal action after May 14.”

Many wondered how could the agency invoke a section — Section 20 — which was struck down by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) to probe the matter.

On April 9, the high court declared the

He too had had an arm swathed in bandages, but he had shown as forgiving a spirit as Gill by not bothering to have a medico-legal examination done.

Medico-legal examinations are crucial in such cases. They are used by courts as proof that a murder was committed. No medico-legal examination was conducted on Benazir Bhutto, for example, and thus it was not even proved that she was dead.

Another important piece of evidence missing in the Benazir case was the ‘lalkara’, in which the killer shouts out the reason why he is murdering the victim, in case he didn’t know.

It has to end with the theft of a buffalo, otherwise the court is not convinced beyond all reasonable doubt.

While Ch Pervez will probably be able to get some MPAs to swear that his attackers

made that Lalkara, Shahbaz Gill may have some difficulty showing that the killer (well, the attemptor) drove along Shahbaz’s car, shouting out his lalkara, which involved Shahbaz Gill’s great-grandfather stealing the attemptor’s great-grandfather’s buffalo, and only then driving it off the road.

Remember, without a Lalkara, the prosecution is hard-put to provide a motive.

Shahbaz Gill is probably not going to be convinced, not unless Ketanji Jackson Brown, the first black woman on the US Supreme Court, tells him so.

Shahbaz Gill has been used to the American justice system, where the police doesn’t know about lalkaras, or even old enmities (and a good way to show an old enmity is to show that an ancestor of the victim stole the killer’s ancestor’s buffalo).

As a matter of fact, Americans don’t go

Police arrest eight men over apparent religious killing LAHORE Monitoring report

Police say they arrested eight men of the Ahmadi sect on Saturday who had opened fire on a group of Muslims the night prior, killing one and wounding another. Sheikhupura District Police Officer (DPO) Faisal Mukhtar said the Ahmadis shot at the Muslims while they were chanting religious poems in the village of Bahuman, near Lahore. One minor suspect was still missing. The killing was a rare case of violence exercised by Ahmadis, who have long held a grievance against the Muslims, who consider them heretics. The government amended the Constitution in 1974 to specifically declare that Ahmadis are not Muslims and may not be called or call themselves that. It also barred them from preaching.

in that much for buffalo theft any more, not since Red Indians lost the Indian Wars.

I wonder what the US Supreme Court would have ade of the conviction of former Aussie opener Mike Slater for domestic abuse, because of mental health issues. Onetime England Opener Geoff Boycott and Pakistan’s one-time keeper Moin Khan attacked their significant others.

Shahbaz Gill has never attacked a significant other, whatever the rumours swirling about his stays at an Islamabad University and a US one.

It must be noted that Slater and Boycott were openers, and Moin a keeper, exactly the opposite of Imran, who was a pace bowler. More relevant is how Ben Stokes, the all-rounder, has been elevated to England captain, and Joe Root has stood down. Root was captain for the World Cup win, so if he decides to build a cancer hospital, then the MI6 is lining him up to head a hybrid regime somewhere about 2050.

Well, let’s see what Stokes does. One

hears that both have switched to organic food.

Speaking of hybrid regimes, Punjab Governor Umar Cheema, apart from showing a thick skin, for no one would have stayed around after so many signs that he had outstayed his welcome, has shown he is an indefatigable correspondent, his latest effort being to shoot off a letter to the OAS, asking him to let him have a subedar and three jawans to arrest Hamza Shehbaz.

He also promised to send a reference against the LHC judge who ordered Hamza’s oath to the Supreme Judicial Council.

That would be a new one; a reference because of a judgement interpreting the Constitution. Even if the Governor had the CM’s advice, could he? And you might have noticed that the Governor doesn’t say why he did what he did. Unless a buffalo is involved, no SJC is going to even look at the case.

If Bob Marley had been a Pakistani, he would have sung “Who stole the buffalo?” instead of “Who shot the sheriff?”

Monday, 9 May, 2022 | LAHORe

news

eLecTIons onLy soLUTIon To PoLITIcAL crIsIs: hAMzA

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shehbaz nominates MQM-P’s Jalil as sindh governor sTAff REpORT

NEws DEsk

UNJAB Chief Minister Hamza Shehbaz has said that “free and fair elections” are the only solution to the prevailing political crisis in the country. Talking to the media in Faisalabad on Saturday, he expressed confidence that his party – PML-N – is prepared to face PTI chairman Imran Khan in the political battleground.

He said that Pakistan Is presently facing several challenges when it comes to the economy and governance. “In the last four years, they (the PTI) did nothing but lie. Imran Khan never fulfilled his promise of a ‘naya Pakistan’ and instead destroyed the old one.”

So now, Hamza continued, the governments — both federal and provincial — have begun the journey to revive the old Pakistan where “the growth rate was 5.8 per cent, labourers were paid on time, and essential food items were available”.

“We will work with our allies and take steps that will be beneficial for the public,” he vowed. “And I believe that in the upcoming period, whenever economic reforms are completed, free and fair elections are the only solution to the crisis in the country.

“I am hopeful that despite all these challenges, God will pave a path and God-willing, we will make this country Quaid-e-Azam’s Pakistan,” he said, adding that

the PML-N is prepared to face Imran in the political battleground. But some people, Hamza went on to refer to the former prime minister, want to start a “civil war” in the country.

“I have always said that Imran Khan is a man who is wearing a suicide vest to damage the Constitution of Pakistan and trample the law,” he said, citing examples

of the ruling of the National Assembly deputy speaker on the no-trust motion and the Punjab CM elections.

“Unlike Imran, we don’t believe in the politics of revenge, but we won’t forgive Imran for making people wait in queues for sugar, wheat and medicines. We will reveal how he raided the pockets of the people and make him pay for it,” Hamza added.

CCPO Lahore takes SDPOs to task for poor performance in investigation matters LAHORE StAff report

Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Lahore DIG Bilal Siddique Kamyana has stressed upon the need of timely investigation of cases on purely merit basis and completion of challan to ensure provision of speedy justice to the victims and ensure conviction of criminals.

He was presiding over a high level meeting of all the Circle Officers, at DIG Investigation Office here on Sunday. DIG Investigation Shehzada Sultan, SSP Investigation Imran Kishwar, all the SDPOs of different circles of Lahore police attended the meeting.

Bilal Siddique Kamyana reviewed the overall performance of all the Circle Officers. SSP Investigation Imran Kishwar briefed the CCPO Lahore about the performance of all the circles.

He expressed his displeasure over the failure of SDPOs to complete the investigation in time and to meet the targets of arresting the Proclaimed Offenders (POs). He reprimanded several SDPOs for their unsatisfactory performance in under investigation cases.

The CCPO said, supervisory officers were responsible for both Operation and Investigation wings, so they should also take serious interest in investigation matters as well. He said the Secretary Prosecution and the District Public Prosecutor during separate meetings with him, have assured their full cooperation to Lahore Police in clearance of the challans.

He further said, in order to provide justice to the victims and bring the culprits to justice, timely and transparent investigation should be carried out. He directed the SDPOs to immediately initiate crack down

along with Drug Inspectors on narcotics peddlers and drug injection dealers at and around the Canal.

The CCPO Lahore also directed them to take action against the sellers of black paper and blue light used by citizens on their private vehicles in continuation of the ongoing campaign against unlawful blue light and black paper.

Bilal Siddique Kamyana said, the Supervisory Officers should ensure hundred percent implementation on the policy to register prompt FIRs and the speedy investigations in the police stations. He said that the shortage of investigating officers in the investigation wing was being met and additional human resource has been provided.

He directed, SDPOs should hold Open Courts for direct hearing of citizens’ grievances. Instead of suppressing the crime, SHOs should immediately

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register cases and make actual provisions in the FIR according to the committed crime.

He said that pendency of helpline 15 calls and applications at the Front Desk of Police stations should be abolished. He directed that the administrative and managerial issues of the investigation wing should be improved and the nominated case older than one month should not remain under investigation and cleared.

Addressing the SDPOs, Bilal Siddique Kamyana said that they should become crime fighters and bring to book the big drug dealers, thugs, gamblers, shooters and notorious criminals. Bringing the thieves and robbers to book would definitely lessen the rate of interest to crime through preventive action.

He has said that prevention and detection of Crime, citizens-centric policing is top priority of Lahore Police. Investigation Wing will be further strengthened and performance improved by providing it additional force and enhancing capacity building.

The CCPO directed police officers to hold ‘ Khuli Katcehri (Open Courts) in different areas of the city on regular basis to listen to the problems of the citizens.

The CCPO continued in direction to Circle Officers to meet the target of arresting A-category POs. He urged the police officers not to compromise on anything during indiscriminate investigation process or bear any undue pressure by any side.

Bilal Siddique said criminals could get a chance to save themselves from conviction due to poor standard of investigation or lack of interest in completion of challan.

“We have been providing maximum resources to Investigation Wing and equip it with latest technology as better quality of investigation helps to curb crimes,” he added.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday forwarded a summary to President Arif Alvi for the appointment of Mutahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader Nasreen Jalil as the governor of Sindh. The appointment of Jalil came days after the MQM-P’s Coordination Committee shared with Shehbaz a list of five names, including Jalil’s, for the governorship. The Sindh governor’s post had become vacant when Imran Ismail resigned in the aftermath of the Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf’s (PTI) ouster from power through a vote of no-confidence. The former governor had sent his resignation to President Alvi hours before Shehbaz took oath as the prime minister of Pakistan. The president had accepted his resignation nearly a week later. In the absence of a sitting governor, Sindh Assembly Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani is currently handling additional responsibilities. Interestingly, Jalil would be the first woman in nearly five decades to occupy the top office after Begum Ra’ana Liaqat Ali who had become the governor of Sindh in 1973. Jalil rose to prominence in 2016 through a letter she purportedly wrote to the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, asking New Delhi to raise its voice to “safeguard human rights, particularly in Karachi”. In one letter — apparently penned by Jalil — the party stressed the “lawlessness of law enforcement agencies” and requests the high commission to use its good offices “to improve the situation of urban Sindh”.

The letter undersigned by the MQM leader was addressed to T. C. A. Raghavan, India’s high commissioner in Pakistan at the time. It read: “The targeted operation in Karachi was initiated to bring law and order in the city but since then, 40 MQM workers have been killed in custody, 90 party workers are missing while hundreds are killed in target killings.” It also added that no compensation had been paid to the families of victims belonging to MQM who were killed “extra-judicially” or to those who went missing.

KP minister hits back at sharif, says centre’s job to curb flour smuggling pEsHAwAR StAff report

Responding to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif who on Saturday called on the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to take stern measures to prevent wheat and flour smuggling to Afghanistan, provincial food Minister Atif Khan reminded the federal government it was its responsibility to curb the smuggling of the commodity and not vice versa. In a message on Sunday, Khan said that “first of all, flour was not being smuggled to Afghanistan. And, if at all, the commodity is being smuggled out, then it’s the federal government’s responsibility to curb it.” The premier should hold federal departments accountable for that, he added. Khan also reminded Sharif the agencies, including Customs, Frontier Corps and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), which oversee the border management come under the federal government’s control. He said during the government of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) at the Centre, there was not any smuggling of the commodity. “But if the wheat and flour are being smuggled out, the federal government should act to stop it,” he added. He further demanded of Prime Minister Sharif to ensure the wheat transportation from Punjab after lifting an embargo on the provincial flour transportation. The minister said there was no dearth of flour and the province had enough stock of it. He denied any hike in the flour price.

FBR serves notice on journalist Imran Riaz Khan for income tax audit IsLAMABAD ShAhZAd pArAchA

saudi king admitted to hospital in Jeddah for tests RIYADH reuterS

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz was admitted to a hospital on Saturday in the Red Sea city of Jeddah to undergo medical tests, the state-run Saudi Press Agency reported on Sunday, citing a statement from the royal court. He is undergoing the tests in the King Faisal Specialist Hospital, the statement said, giving no other details. King Salman, the custodian of Islam’s holiest sites, became ruler of the world’s top oil exporter in 2015 after spending more than 2-1/2 years as the crown prince and deputy premier. The king, 86, underwent gallbladder surgery in 2020 and had the battery of his heart pacemaker replaced in March.

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has picked the case of anchor person Imran Riaz Khan asking for income tax audit.

Document available with this scribe state that Commissioner Inland Revenue Zone-II Noman Malik has served notice on Imran Riaz Khan with regard to selection of case for audit u/s 177 of the income tax ordinance , 2001 for the tax year 2020.

“You have filed return of total income for the year under reference declaring income at Rs 15.5 million and your case for the Tax Year 2020 has been selected for audit of your income tax affairs u/s 177 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 for the following reasons,” the notice reads.

It further says that as per Wealth

Statement, the anchor person has declared liabilities amounting to Rs. 25.4 million.

“Whether the said amount was received through crossed cheque or not needs to be looked into in view of the provisions of Section 39(3) & 34(5) of the of Income Tax Ordinance. 2001,” the notice reads. The notice states that

Khan has declared residential property ‘Plot No 65 Millat Tractors Employees Society – Residential Plot 2 /Canals Lahore’ amounting to Rs 36.5 million, however, in the tax year 2021 he declared “65 , 66 Millat Tractors Housing Society Lahore – Residential House Constructed” at Rs. 32.5 million.

“It clearly transpires that despite addition in property No 66 and cost of construction, calculation of the property has been reduced. This aspect needs to be verified u/s 111 of Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 for concealment of cost and construction expenses,” the notice reads.

The notice reads that Khan has added 72 kanals of agricultural land situated at ‘Moza Ratni Wal Tehsil Ferozewala’ District Sheikhupura amounting to Rs 7.4 million.

“This needs to be checked whether the said agricultural property

is declared at cost in accordance with regard to Section 76 of Income Tax Ordinance. 2001”.

“You have declared agricultural land- but no agricultural income has been declared for the year, which needs to be verified”, the notice mentions.

“The Deputy Commissioner Inland Revenue concerned shall contact you for conducting Audit before May 15, 2022 and it is hoped that you will fully cooperate with the Audit proceedings. Please be assured that if no discrepancy is observed, the audit proceedings would be dropped without hesitation,” the notice added.

When contacted, Imran Riaz Khan said that he has not received the notice as yet as it may have been dropped at his old address.

“My address is updated in My ID card,” he added.

Monday, 9 May, 2022 | LAHORE

04 NEWS

PakiStan queStionS WHo Covid-19 deatH Count IsLAMABAD

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Staff RepoRt

HE government rejected a World Health Organisation’s (WHO) report on the number of Covid-19 deaths in the country, questioning the United Nations body’s methodology to collect data and supposing an error in the software used to collate the numbers.

In a recent report, the WHO estimated there were 260,000 Covid-related deaths in Pakistan — eight times the official figure. Official records state Pakistan had 30,369 Covid-19 deaths with over 1.5 million infections.

“We [authorities] have been gathering data manually on Covid deaths, it could have a difference of a few hundred but it can’t be in hundreds of thousands. This is completely baseless,” Samaa News quoted Health Minister Abdul Qadir Patel as saying.

According to the report, nearly 15 million people were killed either by the coronavirus or by its impact on overwhelmed health systems in the past two years across the world, more than double the official death count of 6 million.

Most of the fatalities were in Southeast Asia, Europe and the Americas.

Patel said the government has explained the calculation process to the WHO in a note rejecting the world health body’s numbers.

Patel said the methodology of data collection is questionable, adding that authorities in Pakistan collected the figures from hospitals, union councils, and graveyards.

He suspected “some error” in the data collection software used by the WHO which has been “showing figures in average”, according to the Samaa News report.

Responding to the WHO report, the health ministry said a reporting mechanism is in place whereby every Covid19 related death is reported on a district

Government to boost economy, generate jobs: Latif IsLAMABAD INp

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MP Javed Latif Sunday said that the coalition government was committed to progress and development of projects across the country to boost the national economy, generate employment and reduce poverty. Talking to a news channel, he claimed the inflation and unemployment in the country broke all records under the previous Pakistan Tehreek-iInsaf (PTI) government. He said the PTI government was responsible for the economic mess and hoped that the present setup will salvage the sinking economy. PTI left behind a massive current account deficit, he said, adding they did nothing for the welfare of people. He claimed that the country’s economic performance during the PTI era had been the worst compared to other governments. Replying to a question, he said that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) will remain the top priority of the new government, adding PTI instead of speeding up work on CPEC always criticised it. “CPEC was an economic project started in the region and it must not be politicized anymore as it is a game-changer which will transform the lives of the billions of people of the region,” he added. Javed said the government of PTI played havoc with the institutions for its own ulterior motives and PML-N was taking all immediate measures to put the country back on the right track.

daily Covid-19 report: 46 new cases, three deaths IsLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Pakistan reported 46 new Covid-19 cases on Saturday, the ministry of health said on Sunday. The tally of infected people increased to 1,528,736 after adding the new cases, according to the data released by the ministry.

The overall death toll rose to 30,375 after three more deaths were recorded on Saturday, according to the ministry’s statistics. On Saturday, 11,021 tests for Covid-19 were conducted in Pakistan while the positivity rate stood at 0.42 percent. Currently, there are 91 active cases that are in critical condition in the country.

level, which is then collated at a provincial level by the respective healthcare systems, and finally, a cumulative number is shared on a national level which is reported via official channels.

“The mortality audit carried out by the NCOC (National Command and Control Center) critically looked at the graveyard data of big cities,” the ministry stated.

“The death count in Pakistan is verifiable and accepted globally. Multiple checks and balances on the reporting systems are in place and the extra deaths reported in graveyards coincide with the Covid-19 waves that hit Pakistan.”

Meanwhile, former special assistant to the then prime minister on health Dr Faisal Sultan said the WHO data on coronavirus deaths in Pakistan is “not reliable”.

He defended the government’s death reports, saying that studies of the number of graveyard burials in major cities did not reveal large numbers of uncounted victims of the pandemic.

Dr Asad Majeed appointed as ambassador to EU News Desk Former ambassador to the US Dr Asad Majeed Khan — one of the central characters in the PTI’s “foreign conspiracy” claim — has left for Brussels to take over as Pakistan’s new ambassador to the European Union.

He will assume his new responsibilities on May 10.

Pakistan’s Ambassador to Brussels Zaheer Aslam Janjua has been appointed as the high commissioner to Canada. Janjua will arrive in Canada on May 15.

Former prime minister Imran Khan has been alleging that he was ousted from power through a US-backed conspiracy.

The coalition government led by PM Shehbaz has decided to form an “independent commission” to look into the allegations but Imran has rejected the proposal and sought formation of a judicial commission on the matter.

The controversy revolves around a diplomatic cable the then Pakistani ambassador in Washington sent to the Foreign Office on March 7.

The cable was based on Dr Majeed’s conversation with US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Donald Lu. In that cable, according to Imran, the US official threatened Pakistan of dire consequences if the vote of no-confidence against the PTI leader did not succeed.

The former prime minister claimed that he was ousted from power because he

had pursued an independent foreign policy and undertook a visit to Russia despite the US opposition.

The National Security Committee (NSC), the country’s highest forum on such matters, met twice—first on March 31 when Imran was still the prime minister and then on April 22 when Shehbaz was the country’s chief executive.

In both the meetings, the NSC agreed that the language used by the American official was undiplomatic and tantamount to “blatant interference” but found no evidence to suggest that there was a conspiracy against Imran. The PTI chairman, nevertheless, has kept building this narrative that the NSC had endorsed his claims.

The controversy has complicated the already fraught relationship between Pakistan and the US.

The new government, however, has been trying to bring some semblance of certainty with statements underlining the importance of relationship with the West, particularly the US. The US officials have also issued statements in favour of engagement with Pakistan. Despite the fact that the US pulled out of Afghanistan, Washington still has stakes in the neighboring country given that any instability would allow terrorist groups to regroup that may not just pose threat to the region but the US interests too.

Pakistan is worried over the recent spike in cross-border terrorist attacks from Afghanistan and considers counter-terrorism cooperation vital to deny the banned TTP and other groups space in Afghanistan.

We have to think beyond personal interests to progress: Sharif LAHORe Staff RepoRt

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday said the country needed to think beyond personal interests for its development and prosperity.

Addressing a ceremony in Lahore, Sharif alleged the government of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) delayed welfare projects which he said was against national interest.

During his one-day tour of Lahore, he inaugurated the Saleem Memorial (Trust) Hospital in the provincial capital.

The six-storey, 350-bed hospital is equipped with the latest state-of-the-art treatment facilities. It will provide medical treatment facilities to the

poor and needy.

He was briefed by the hospital’s management about the facilities available at the hospital, including treatment facilities for cancer, heart diseases, dialysis and CT scan.

Earlier, Trust chairman Shehzad Saleem gave an overview of the project.

The prime minister visited different sections of the hospital and was briefed about the provision of treatment facilities including oncology, cardiology and OPD. During his address, Sharif stressed that national interests should be given priority while executing the public welfare projects including hospitals to serve the masses. The prime minister praised the owners of

the Trust and expressed the hope that the hospital would serve the ailing humanity with world-class treatment facilities.

He said the managers of the Trust would not only earn the prayers of the patients but also earn blessings in the world hereafter. The prime minister expressed the confidence that the experienced hands in the hospital would run the facility efficiently.

The prime minister said they had set up Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute and Research Centre in Lahore on this model to serve the people with the latest treatment facilities and wanted it to function like The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Hepatitis filter centres

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across Punjab were set up under its patronage and patients from all over the country came for treatment, he added.

The PML-N government was changed and what happened during the last four years was a painful story, he said, adding that the national wealth belonged to the people.

The prime minister referring to the economic constraints said that the government was hardly meeting its expenses.

He said 1122 was an initiative of Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi but he had expanded it throughout the province. The prime minister urged the philanthropists to come forward and execute such public welfare projects across the country.

Cleric dead in road accident PesHAwAR Staff RepoRt

Mufti Sardar Ali Haqqani, a religious scholar from Nowshera, died in a road accident near Darra Adam Khel on Sunday. Six other people, including Haqqani’s driver and guard, were injured in the accident. An officer of the Pakistan Army and his two daughters were among the injured, who were shifted to Combined Military Hospital (CMH) of Peshawar Cantonment while others were taken to a separate hospital.

Haqqani’s body was taken to his ancestral village in Nowshera in an ambulance. There had been an assassination attempt on Haqqani, one of the most respected religious scholars in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in Swabi in February when a man attacked and injured him with a dagger. The accused, later identified as Musa Khan of Manki village, was rounded up by the people and handed over to the police.

‘Severe heatwave’ to engulf Sindh from May 11 News Desk A “severe heatwave” that was prevailing over central and upper Sindh is forecast to grip the entire province — including Karachi — for nearly a week from May 11 with the maximum temperature projected to exceed 40 degrees Celsius in the provincial capital, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) said on Sunday. In its heatwave advisory, the Met department said the weather in the metropolis would remain hot next week, predicting the heatwave spell could last till May 16.

“The maximum temperature in Karachi may rise to 40°C and more during May 12 and 14.”

It predicted that the temperature in the citywould likely be in the range between 35°C and 38°C from May 9 to 10 before intensifying by May 11 to 12. The PMD also predicted “extreme heatwave” in other parts of the province, saying the daytime maximum temperatures in Dadu, Sukkur, Larkana, Jacobabad, Shaheed Benazirabad (Nawabshah), Naushero Feroz, Khairpur, Shikarpur and Ghotki districts would rise to 46 to 48 °C. While in Jamshoro, Hyderabad, Badin, Thatta, Mirpurkhas and Umerkot districts, the temperatures could peak at 45 °C during the period.

The department warned that hot and dry conditions could cause stress on crops, vegetables and orchards, and increase energy demands. It also advised the public to avoid open sun exposure as much as possible, especially during peak hours (11am to 4pm). A day ago, top climate scientists stated that the devastating heatwave that gripped Pakistan and India over the last two months was unprecedented, but worse — perhaps far worse — was on the horizon as climate change continues apace. “This heatwave is likely to kill thousands,” said Robert Rohde, lead scientist at Berkeley Earth, a climate science research non-profit.

Monday, 9 May, 2022 | LAHORE

NEWS

05

Chief seCy G-B assures tourists’ safety within reGion, followinG Glof inCident

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News Desk

HIEf Secretary of GilgitBaltistan (G-B) Mohyuddin Wani on Sunday assured that the situation, post the Glacial Lake Outburst flood (GLOf) at Hassanabad, is under control and being managed by the district administration.

On Saturday, glacial lake over Shisper glacier unleashed a massive outburst of flood in Hunza and a few more lakes were created, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) revealed. It said the glacial lake outburst flood in Hunza was mainly triggered due to abrupt temperature rise in the northern areas. Earlier today, the chief secretary stated that tourists can safely travel from Gilgit to Hunza and anywhere within the region. However, while travelling to Hunza a 15-min additional detour via Nager Valley will be required to reach Karimabad, Aliabad, central and upper Hunza, including Attabaad lake.

“We have established district and divisional level foreigner’s security cells. The administration at the district level has been further empowered with resources to be equipped for any eventuality. Powers have also been delegated to the district administration to facilitate visiting domestic and foreign tourists,” said CS Wani.

He further assured that intelligence agencies, including the ISI, IB and MI are assisting the provincial government in further improving security apparatus in G-B. He added that an alternate route via Nager Valley has been properly manned to ensure the safe travel of visitors, stating that he had “personally travelled twice on the route yesterday and today and found it secure for the movement of vehicles.”

“I was surprised to see the local community involved and volunteering to manage traffic movement on the alternate route, which is very encouraging for all of us,” the chief added.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also took notice of the GLOf and directed the concerned authorities to immediately enable the required emergency measures to cope with the situation in Gilgit-Baltistan.

The directives were issued after damage was caused by the melting of Shishper glacier, releasing a flood of water into the downstream lake which inundated the surrounding areas.

The prime minister directed authorities to shift affected families and their movable articles to safe areas and mobilise supplies of food, medicines and other emergency equipment to the affected area.

The premier expressed deep grief and sorrow over the losses faced by the community and ensured that all possible steps would be taken for the rehabilitation of those affected. He also summoned a report over the incident and directed for full assistance to the government of G-B. Taking into account the damage to the infrastructure, the PM issued a directive for the provision of substitute access to the area after the crumbling of Hassanabad bridge due to the GLOf. PM Shehbaz inquired into the estimated disruption of agriculture, potable water systems, and electricity as two powerhouses were affected.

He directed for immediate restoration of the 700MW and 250MW powerhouses on war footing and said that its expenditures would be borne away by the federal government. The prime minister also summoned a report regarding damage caused to the Karakorum Highway.

The chairperson of the National High-

sirbaz becomes first Pakistan man to climb 10 of world’s tallest peaks IsLAMABAD

way Authority (NHA) has stated that the installation of the Hassanabad bridge in Hunza – which was destroyed and swept away by a glacial lake outburst flood – will be completed within a week.

The NHA chairperson along with engineers visited the affected bridge, where the chairperson discussed rehabilitation efforts with the chief secretary and frontier Workers Organisation officials.

The chairperson stated that a steel ballet bridge will be installed on the suspension bridge and that the construction of the permanent bridge, and the temporary bridge will be started simultaneously.

With his latest feat, Sirbaz Khan on Saturday became the first Pakistani to have climbed 10 of the world’s 14 summits taller than 8,000 meters (26,247 feet). “Khan stood atop the summit of 8,586 meters (28,169-ft) Kanchenjunga (Kangchenjunga), the world’s third-highest peak, at 7:00 am (local time) on Saturday (0115GMT) with other members of a team,” the Alpine Club of Pakistan, the nation’s state-run mountaineering body, said in a statement. The peak lies on the Indian-Nepalese border. Hailing from the scenic Hunza valley of the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region, which borders neighbouring China, Khan, 32, only began his climbing career in 2016. In 2019, he became the first Pakistani to summit Mount Lhotse, the world’s fourth-highest mountain at 8,516 meters (27,940 ft), from Nepal without using supplementary oxygen. Moreover, he summited the 8,125 meters (26,657-ft) Nanga Parbat in 2017, the 8,611 meters (28,251-ft) K2 in 2018, and in 2019, Broad Peak, which boasts a height of 8,163 meters (26,782 ft). Earlier this year, he climbed the 8,091 meters (26,545-ft) Mount Anapurna, and the 8,035 meters (26,362-ft) Gasherbrum II, and the 8,848 meters (29,029-ft) Mount Everest — the world’s tallest peak. Khan hopes to become the first Pakistani to climb all 14 of the world’s highest peaks. This summer he plans to climb Mount Makalu (on the border between Nepal and China’s Tibet region) and Gasherbrum-1 (in Pakistani-occupied Kashmir).

the spot regarding the supply of twomegawatt generators for power supply and supply of water, while also issuing orders for estimation of land in the affected area.

Speaking to the media on the occasion, the G-B chief secretary said that the disaster was an unfortunate incident, which damaged public and private property and gardens.

“The government is ready to face all the challenges, and people trapped in the affected area have been shifted to safer places,” he said.

Hefurther assured full financial and administrative support to the victims and the district administration.

Sixty feared dead in Ukraine school bombed by Russia: governor Agencies

AnAdolu Agency

“All available resources should be utilised in the construction of the bridge.”

Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B) Chief Secretary Mohyuddin Wani revisited the flood-hit area in Hunza early in the morning to assess the damage and assured all possible cooperation.

The chief secretary was directed to expedite the repair work of the collapsed bridge, while issuing orders to ensure the provision of water, electricity, internet and telephone services in the affected area.

Wani arrived in Hunza last night to visit the affected area to assess the damage and provide immediate relief to the victims. He also gave the admin approval on

As many as 60 people were feared to have been killed in the Russian bombing of a village school in the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk, the regional governor said on Sunday.

Governor Serhiy Gaidai said Russian forces dropped a bomb on Saturday afternoon on the school in Bilohorivka where about 90 people were sheltering, causing a fire that engulfed the building.

“The fire was extinguished after nearly four hours, then the rubble was cleared, and, unfortunately, the bodies of two people were found,” Gaidai wrote on the Telegram messaging app. “Thirty people were evacuated from the rubble, seven of whom were injured. Sixty people were likely to have died under the rubble of buildings.” Ukraine and its Western allies have accused Russian forces of targeting civilians in the war, which Moscow denies.

In the ruined southeastern port city of Mariupol, scores of civilians have been evacuated from a sprawling steel plant in a week-long operation brokered by the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in an address late on Saturday that more than 300 civilians had been rescued from the Azovstal steelworks and authorities would now focus on trying to evacuate the wounded and medics.

Other Ukrainian sources have cited different figures. Russian-backed separatists on Saturday reported a total of 176 civilians evacuated from the plant.

The Azovstal plant is a last hold-out for Ukrainian forces in the city now largely controlled by Russia, and many civilians had also taken refuges in its underground shelters. It has become a symbol of resistance to the Russian effort to

capture swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin calls the invasion he launched on feb. 24 a “special military operation” to disarm Ukraine and rid it of anti-Russian nationalism fomented by the West. Ukraine and its allies say Russia launched an unprovoked war.

Mariupol is key to blocking Ukrainian exports and linking the Crimean Peninsula, seized by Russia in 2014, and parts of the eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk that have been controlled

by Russia-backed separatists since that same year. In an emotional address on Sunday for Victory Day, when Europe commemorates the formal surrender of Germany to the Allies in World War Two, Zelenskiy said that evil had returned to Ukraine with the Russian invasion, but his country would prevail. US President Joe Biden and

other G7 leaders were to hold a video call with Zelenskiy on Sunday in a show of unity ahead of Victory Day celebrations on Monday in Russia.

Underlining Western support for Ukraine, Britain pledged to provide a further 1.3 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) in military support and aid, double its previous spending commitments.

Victory Day is a major event in Russia and Putin will preside on Monday over a parade in Moscow’s Red Square of troops, tanks, rockets and intercontinental ballistic missiles, showing military might even as his forces fight on in Ukraine.

His speech could offer clues on the future of the war. Russia’s efforts have been stymied by logistical and equipment problems and high casualties in the face of fierce resistance.

US Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns said on Saturday that Putin was convinced “doubling down” on the conflict would improve the outcome for Russia.

“He’s in a frame of mind in which he doesn’t believe he can afford to lose,” Burns told a financial Times event in Washington on Saturday.

PM Shehbaz says ‘dirty politics kept PKLI non-operational for two years’ News Desk Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday regretted what he described as the mismanagement of the Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute (PKLI), saying “dirty politics” kept the facility non-operational for two years and brought it to a grinding halt.

He made the remarks while inaugurating the state-of-the-art Saleem Memorial Trust Hospital in Lahore. According sources, the hospital will provide world-class medical treatment facilities to the poor and needy.

The premier said that PKLI was established on the same “analogy” and billions of

rupees were invested in it. “I sincerely wanted it and still want it to become Pakistan’s John Hopkins.”

He asserted that it was a “world-class hospital” but lamented how it had been neglected by the PTI government.

“Without going into any kind of blame game, just because it was built under our watch, this hospital that was meant to serve thousands and thousands from all over Pakistan […] eminent doctors physicians and surgeons came, but what happened after the government changed is a sorrowful tale. I am not here to tell that tale.”

The premier went on to say that ulti-

mately it was the people’s money which was at stake. He said that the income left over after the divisible pool primarily went towards debt servicing and defence spending.

So if a hospital is made in Rs20 billion for treating cancer and conducting liver/kidney transplants and treating other diseases while experts are called from across the globe but ultimately chased away, who truly suffers, he asked.

He said that when he had inaugurated the PKLI in May 2018, five transplants had already been conducted. The prime minister also recalled how the wife of one of the pa-

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tients had told him that her life had changed due to the free-of-cost treatment.

“This is not one story, there are hundreds of thousands of such stories and patients that were supposed to get treatment. But only politics and dirty politics kept the hospital non-operational for two years. It came to a grinding halt,” he said, asking what could be a bigger travesty for the poor.

PM Shehbaz said that when the PML-N came into power in 2008 and he was made the Punjab chief minister, he made sure to expand the scope of Rescue 1122 — an initiative of Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid’s (PML-Q) Chaudhry Parvez Elahi.

“It was such a great initiative that I expanded it to the whole province. Because it was not [about] Parvez Elahi, it was about patients in this country and serving the common man in this country. It’s about that.”

He went on to say that if politicians “corrected their direction” and focused on the nation’s welfare, personal issues could be laid to rest. “But for this you need to have a big heart. We will have to rise above our likes and dislikes.”

PM Shehbaz also paid tribute to all those involved in establishing the hospital which millions of patients would benefit from in the future.

06-07 Comments - 9th May 2022_Layout 1 5/8/2022 11:19 PM Page 1

Monday, 9 May, 2022

06 COMMENT

Checking acute and rising income and wealth inequality

PECA petition Who’s in charge?

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hE FIa’s withdrawal of the petition it had filed before the Supreme Court, against the IhC judgement striking down the clauses enhancing certain punishments and making certain offences nonbailable, makes it doubtfuil if the FIa is under any sort of control. that the petition was withdrawn was a credit to the commitment of the present government to freedom of press, but the registration of a case by the FIa against telejournalist Sami Ibrahim, using the struck down section, indicates that there is a strong impulse to use the law to achieve certain aims. the filing of the petition implies that there is a strong lobby within the FIa in favour of the struck-down sections. that such a lobby can exert pressure that flies in the face of the concerned ministers, (the Interior Minister supervises the FIa, the Information Minister deals with the media), is worrisome. that the FIa is aware that fake news are propagated on social media is reassuring, but the solution is not: enhancing the punishment and making the offence non-bailable. all that does is put another weapon for oppression in the hands of the police.

What the FIa should be seeking is a better criminal justice system. If the courts could take up cases of fake news and defamation and punish perpetrators swiftly, it would prove a powerful deterrent. Part of the reason why fake news is published is because those propagating it are fairly sure that they will not only remain safe, not only will they get bail, but gain such long postponements of hearings that they might even be acquitted. however, if they were fairly certain that any offence would be punished by a swift trial and consequent punishment, there would be very few willing to commit such an offence. however, such a criminal justice system would mean that the tremendous powers of the law-enforcing agencies, to persecute individuals, would be ended. the rule of law does not suit certain powerful quarters either, so no government presses for the abolition of what is a powerful tool in its hands. at the same time, the government should not leave in limbo the problem of fake news. It exists, and will not go away if the government ignores it. the government must bring on board all stakeholders and evolve a consensus, so that fake news can be stopped without giving any government draconian powers against opponents.

A wealth tax would help

dr omer Javed ‘the battle for equality is not over. It must be continued by pushing to its logical conclusion the movement toward the welfare state, progressive taxation, real equality, and the struggle against all kinds of discrimination. this battle also, and especially, involves a structural transformation of the global economic system.’ – An excerpt from the recently published book a Brief history of Equality’ by world renowned economist Thomas Piketty

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ORLD Inequality Lab released ‘World inequality report 2022’ a few months ago. In the foreword to the Report by two Economics Nobel laureates, abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, they pointed towards the difficulty situation in terms of income and wealth inequality as per the findings of the Report as ‘In every large region of the world with the exception of Europe, the share of the bottom 50 percent in total earnings is less than 15 percent (less than ten in Latin america, Sub-Saharan africa and MENa region) while the share of the richest 10 percent is over 40 percent and in many of the regions, closer to 60 percent. But what is perhaps even more striking is what is happening to wealth. the share of the bottom 50 percent of the world in total global wealth is two percent by their estimates, while the share of the top ten percent is 76 percent.

Since wealth is a major source of future economic gains, and increasingly, of power and influence, this presages further increases in inequality. Indeed, at the heart of this explosion is the extreme concentration of the economic power in the hands of a very small minority of the super-rich.’

Discussing the World Inequality Report 2022, an IMF-published article ‘Global Inequalities’ in March,

Handling the heatwave The government must get ready for a tough summer ahead

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fresh heatwave has been predicted for the week beginning on Monday (today). that the weather has turned hot over the last few days of april is no surprise, but the increase in temperature is abnormal.

Well, actually, because of climate change it is the new normal, and the government must get ready not just to deal with the current crisis, but to deal with the repetitions of coming years. Not only has the hot weather arrived early, but it is not going to end until later than usual.

Meanwhile, temperatures are likely ro reach new heights, and to hold at them. If Lahore’s temperature reaches highs only rarely achieved and stays there, what will be the sustainability of life in the city? this is predicted as happening to all cities, because the formation of a huge heat dome has meant that the whole of South asia, as well as Iran, is covered which will make temperatures soar. the government can only try to take measures to lessen the impact on citizens, the first being making sure that the various provincial and federal Disaster Management authorities are attuned to the situation. It must, among other things, make sure that hospital emergencies are ready for the arrival of victims of heat stroke and of heat-related diseases, such as diarrhoea, and other dehydration-related emergencies.

Warnings to all not to expose themselves in the sun must be widely disseminated. at their same time, the government should consider how it closed down schools during the recent covid-19 pandemic, and whether shutting schools during the worst of the heatwave, to be balanced by an early re-opening after the summer holidays, might be worth considering. after all, while children’s education is important, their health, indeed their survival, is more important.

Sohail ahmad

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hat is the cause of political unrest in Pakistan? Why are the events around happening, and how are they affecting us? In order to find the answers, we need to examine developments in the international arena. Russia has attacked Ukraine 32 years after the demise of the USSR. the decline journey continued as the after-effects of the defeat in afghanistan haunted the Russian Federation. the vision to reach the warm waters of the Indian Ocean through afghanistan and then Pakistan met with defeat to the Soviet forces and the reversal of its army out of afghanistan. the journey was further augmented with NatO advances in the neighbouring countries of eastern Europe, the central asian republics and above all, Ukraine. the Russian Federation continued to absorb all these advances with patience until 2014 when it realized that US-NatO allies were knocking at their doorsteps from the Ukrainian borders. Initially, the eastern half of Ukraine was part of Russia, with Kyiv as the capital. the population of orthodox Christians and ethnic Russians made it an integral part of Russia, but Leonid Brezhnev had gifted this part to Ukraine about 65 years ago. the western part of Ukraine comprised Czech and Polish ethnic groups and was previously part of the austro-hungarian Empire.

It would be interesting to trace back the history of the Russian Empire to understand the greater picture. It was under the rule of Chengiz Khan (11621227 aD) and then later Barqi Khan (1209-1266 aD) who nominated representatives in Moscow to collect kharaj from that region. Moscow remained under Mongol rule until the Czar’s kingdom emerged while transcending imperial Russia (1480 aD). the Czarist kingdom rose in 1721, which continued till the dawn of the 20th century. the evolution of history had made tax collectors emperors.

Arif Nizami (Late) Founding Editor

Yousaf Nizami M. A. Niazi

Umar Aziz

Joint Editor

Joint Editor

Executive Editor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965

Moreover, as per the Report, it is only in China as such, that female labour income share has been falling– from close to 40 percent in the early 1990s to around 33 percent around the end of the 2010s.

Cost of War

Dedicated to the legacy of late Hameed Nizami

Editor Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

pointed towards a very grim picture in terms of global wealth and income inequality, which has been exacerbated during the pandemic, as follows: ‘Global inequalities are in bad shape and mostly do not appear to be getting better. Disparities today are about the same as they were in the early 20th century, and the pandemic continues to make things worse. the recently released World Inequality Report 2022 sheds light on this problem. With two traditional measures and two new ones, the study adds much to our knowledge of inequality.’ here, with regard to the outcomes seen in the Report, in terms of two traditional measures, the same article pointed out ‘the poorest half of the global population owns just €2,900 (in purchasing power parity) per adult, while the top 10 percent owns roughly 190 times as much. Income inequalities are not much better. the richest 10 percent today snap up 52 percent of all income. the poorest half get just 8.5 percent.’

Moreover, the same article highlighted that the Report also reflected on inequality in terms of ecological and gender perspective, by employing two new measures, and the article pointed out in this regard that ‘the first is reported through carbon dioxide emissions by income category. this is not just a matter of rich versus poor nations; there are large disparities within all countries between the most well-off and the rest. the report looks at gender inequality through a breakdown of labour incomes. Over the past 30 years women’s share of income has only slightly improved.’

While there is large income and wealth inequality globally according tor the Report, at the same time, in terms of the gender pay gap– defined in the Report as ‘measured by the average gap between men’s and women’s wages and salaries, before or after controlling for the type of work, the level of qualification or other factors’– the Report pointed towards inequality against female labour income share, whereby ‘In practice, we find that the female labour income share is systematically below 50 percent, with significant variations across countries, ranging from below 10 percent to 45 percent.’

With regard to Pakistan, the findings of the Report with regard to female labour income share is that it is on the lower side, when compared globally, whereby the Report pointed out ‘asian countries exhibit lower shares than Europe and North america, with an average of 27 percent. there appears to be a strong east-west distinction, with East asian countries

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exhibiting much higher shares. Eleven countries have values above 30 percent while two (Pakistan and afghanistan) exhibit shares below ten percent. the two most heavily populated countries (China and India) exhibit shares of 33 percent and 18 percent respectively.’

Moreover, as per the Report, it is only in China as such, that female labour income share has been falling– from close to 40 percent in the early 1990s to around 33 percent around the end of the 2010s. this is quite alarming, given China has otherwise performed exceedingly well in terms of economic growth and poverty alleviation, and therefore, requires a special focus by country’s policymakers towards increasing gender income disparity, which it is hoped they are giving. among a number of remedial measures to lower income and wealth inequality that the Report points towards, one points towards wealth redistribution through taking the following step: ‘…revenue gains that would come from a modest progressive wealth tax on global multimillionaires. Given the large volume of wealth concentration, modest progressive taxes can generate significant revenues for governments. In our scenario, we find that 1.6 percent of global incomes could be generated and reinvested in education, health and the ecological transition. the report comes with an online simulator so that everybody can design their preferred wealth tax at the global level, or in their region.’

In terms of how to check inequality, an IMF-published article ‘tackling inequality on all fronts’ from March, pointed towards for instance ‘to tackle inequality, policies need to focus both on market income– income before taxes and transfer payments, or predistribution– and disposable income after redistribution through taxes and transfers. Pre-distributive public policies aimed at narrowing differences in market incomes at their source, such as through public education, help ensure an equal playing field. While necessary, such policies are not sufficient to limit inequalities.

Public intervention through social transfers and taxes is needed to help people cope with various life events related to unemployment, ageing, family, disability, or sickness. necessary corrections to inequalities through redistribution.’

the present Russian communist arrangement eyed Crimea as a critical seaport that provided access to the Black Sea. When the US-NatO forces started the excercises at the Ukrainian Russian border, the Putin administration decided to take back Crimea, where the strategic Sevastopol naval base provided seaward defences. Ukraine, which had broken away from ex-USSR, had no navy, barring a few small boats which were neither sufficient nor were designed to provide seaward protection to Ukraine’s mainland. the failure of the Ukrainian government to develop a navy in the last 32 years is costing the state heavily now.

Russia attacked Ukraine to overcome its challenges in securing access to the Black Sea. the objective of USaNatO was to deprive Russia of access to the Black Sea and thereby use Ukraine to take over control of the Black Sea. the reversal in afghanistan was likely to be completed with the closure of the Black Sea to Russia. therefore, Russia opted to go to war to gain land access for mainland Russia Crimea. It is like opening breathing space for oneself when faced with asphyxia. the war in Ukraine is a war for survival for Russia. For USa-NatO, it is required to dominate Russia to continue enjoying economic supremacy and access to Russian natural resources such as natural gas and petroleum. all sea trade for Ukraine stands blocked and the Russian fleet continues to patrol the southern coast of Ukraine. the economic strangulation of Ukraine could occur in a short frame of time, but the involvement of military supplies from Europe

Islamabad – Ph: 051-2204545

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

has prolonged this war.

Besides, warfighting expertise is also being exported to Ukraine. the cruiser Moskva, which played a dominant role in the sea blockade, was targeted using land-based Neptune missiles, providing targeting data through drones and commercial satellites.

Despite air defence, weapons, and sensors against aircraft and missiles, the ship sank. It is evident that Ukraine, without a navy, could never successfully attack this ship without the support of US-NatO forces that provided operational information and intelligence, along with naval warfighting expertise.

Saturating missile defence comprising short and medium-range anti-missile missiles and a close-in weapons system is highly complex and challenging to neutralise a cruiser. Providing commercial data at sea to achieve war objectives is another violation of international law.

Russian authorities threatened nuclear war or a third world war in response to this aggression. Both these scenarios are hazardous.

Ukraine has become the afghanistan of Europe, where both the losers of the afghan wars are fighting. all this started with a great power struggle between two major powers of the world and is threatening world peace today. the Russian Navy plans to control the Black Sea and both the powers are likely to remain engaged in the war till one of them achieves its war objectives. If USaNatO loses the conflict, the destabilization process in Pakistan would also end, providing Pakistan with the opportunity to emerge as a significant power in the new world order.

Ukraine has become the Afghanistan of Europe, where both the losers of the Afghan wars are fighting. All this started with a great power struggle between two major powers of the world and is threatening world peace today.

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Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk

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The writer retired as a commodore from the Pakistan Navy and can be reached at msohailyz@gmail.com.

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

06-07 Comments - 9th May 2022_Layout 1 5/8/2022 11:19 PM Page 2

Monday, 9 May, 2022

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

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

A sensible approach

Bolstering US-Bangladesh’s defence ties The USA needs Bangladesh for its Asia-Pacific strategy

mehJabin bhanu

B

aNGLaDESh is a key ally of the USa in South asia. On issues like regional and global security, counterterrorism, and climate change, the two countries enjoy substantial collaboration. Bangladesh has played an important role in the Obama administration’s major international development projects, including food security, healthcare, and the environment. In 2012, the two countries inked a strategic conversation agreement. In 2015, the US ambassador to Bangladesh, Marcia Bernicat, praised relations as “vibrant, multifaceted, and important. the US strategy with Bangladesh places a premium on political stability, human rights, and democracy. Bangladesh is also seen by the USa as a moderate Muslim friend among Islamic countries.

One of Bangladesh’s most important strategic military partners is the USa. Defense cooperation between the USa and Bangladesh is growing day by day. Regular joint exercises are carried out, particularly in the Bay of Bengal. the United States Pacific Command engages the Bangladesh armed Forces on a regular basis. the USa also assisted in the formation of the Bangladesh Navy’s elite SWaDS marine unit, which is fashioned after american and South Korean special forces.

Bangladesh is the greatest contributor to UN peacekeeping operations in the world.

Bangladeshi peacekeeping missions have benefited greatly from the sponsorship of the USa. Strong and expanding economic ties between the two nations are the bedrock of the relationship. Bangladesh has suddenly developed into one of the world’s fastest growing economies during the previous five decades.

Bangladesh is on track to become the world’s 24th largest economy in 10 years, with an expected growth rate of 7.2 percent in 2022.

Bangladesh’s growth and resiliency are built on development and foreign direct investment, and the USa remains a dedicated partner.

Bangladesh is located in the heart of the Indo-Pacific, a region that the Biden administration has prioritized for economic connectivity, while bilateral relations are also focused on shared democratic values, free enterprise, resilient supply chains, and the prosperity and health of both countries’ people.

We see major areas of engagement that may be strengthened to deepen defense and security cooperation as both celebrated 50 years of USBangladesh relations on 4 april 2022. this was notably true during the pandemic, when Bangladesh delivered over 6 million pieces of personal protective equipment to the USa dur-

ing the first catastrophic wave of covid-19. however, 2021 was a challenging year for relations between the USa and Bangladesh.

Washington had imposed sanctions on Bangladesh’s Rapid action Battalion (RaB) and several current and former officers for a long history of human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings, on 10 December 2021. the Biden administration did not extend an invitation to Bangladesh to the virtual Summit for Democracy that same month. the USa recently published a report on the state of human rights in 198 nations in 2021.

Bangladesh was accused of human rights in that report by the US State Department. according to the research, there has been widespread impunity for security force abuses and corruption in Bangladesh. But Bangladesh criticized the report. amidst these, the signing of a draft defense cooperation agreement during Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland’s visit to Dhaka exemplifies that effort. however, Washington may continue to regard Dhaka as a security partner in the region. the USa now wants to build a strategic relationship with Bangladesh.

US President Joe Biden has voiced his belief earliar that the Dhaka-Washington relationship will thrive for the next 50 years and beyond.

In a letter to Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh hasina Wazed, he noted that ‘Our defense cooperation is stronger than ever,’ adding that the Bangladesh Coast Guard and Navy are essential allies in ensuring a free and open Indo-Pacific area, as well as contributing to the regional fight to combat human and illicit drug trafficking. according to the US government websites, Bangladesh has received $66.9 million in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) and $7.29 million in International Military Education and training (IMEt) aid from the USa since 2015.

FMF funding includes $10 million in bilateral programmes and $56.9 million in regional FMF for the Bay of Bengal Initiative. through FMF support, the Department of State’s Bay of Bengal Initiative aims to improve civilian and military actors’ capacity to detect illicit activity within their borders and in the region, build networks and habits of cooperation to allow countries to share information, develop their capacity to respond quickly to illicit activity, and support our partners in enabling a rulesbased order in the Indian Ocean Region.

In support of the Indo-Pacific Strategy, US security aid to Bangladesh has improved maritime security, freedom of navigation, and humanitarian assistance/disaster response capabilities. these funds have been used to purchase patrol boats for the Bangladesh army, additional patrol vessels for the Navy, international peacekeeping and border security missions; electronic and mechanical upgrades to the Bangladesh Navy’s fast patrol boats and former US Coast Guard cutters; technical and professional training for Bangladesh military and Coast Guard personnel; and joint military exercises. this assistance has helped Bangladesh significantly in its efforts to improve its marine domain knowledge and control.

On april 18, Bangladesh army Chief Ge SM Shafiuddin ahmed visited the USa at the invitation of US army Chief of Staff Ge James C McConville. this visit would help strengthen bilateral defence ties. Bilateral defence ties may boost bilateral relations.the USa needs Bangladesh in the region and vice versa. this visit conveyed the message that despite having some bilateral problems, both countries are very interested in strengthening further bilateral ties.

this may help solve bilateral problems.

Bangladesh and the USa must engage as trusted partners to deal with some common problems. according to the media reports, General Shaf paid a courtesy call to Gen Daniel R hokanson, the head of the National Guard Bureau and a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Vice Chief of Staff of the army Gen James M Martin, Marine Corps assistant Commandant Gen Eric M Smith, and Director General of Southeast asia Laurie abel of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy from april 20 to 22.

During the meetings, issues of common interest to the two forces were discussed, including UN peacekeeping missions and post-disaster humanitarian aid.

General Shafi was also inducted into the Near East South asia (NESa) Center’s hall of Fame as a past graduate of the NESa programme at the National Defense University.

UN officials showed an interest in sending more Bangladeshi peacekeepers to the UN. the Bangladesh COaS requested that the Bangladeshi contingents of the UN peacekeeping force replace their old weapons and equipment with new weaponry and equipment sourced from Bangladesh. he met with Gilles Michaud, under-secretary-general of the United Nations Department of Security and Safety; Maj Ge Maureen O’Brien, acting military adviser; Mohammed Khaled Khiari, assistant secretary-general (aSG), Department of Political and Peace Building affairs; Christian Saunders, aSG, Department of Operational Support; and Police adviser Luis Ribeiro Carrilho during his visit to the United Nations headquarters in New York on april 25 and 26. according to a news release from Bangladesh’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations, the conversations were quite successful and highlighted many facets of Bangladeshi peacekeepers’ vital commitment to UN operations.

During the meetings, the COaS emphasized Bangladesh’s constitutional commitment to world peace and raised issues of Bangladesh’s interest in UN peacekeeping operations, such as the recruitment of more Bangladeshi peacekeepers, including women, the appointment of highranking military officials in various peacekeeping operations, participation in peacekeeping missions co-pledging with other countries, the deployment of armed personnel carriers from Bangladesh, and the recruitment of armed personnel carriers from Bangladesh. the USa intends to help Bangladesh modernize and institutionalize its armed forces by supplying defence equipment and training. the United States emphasized the signing of two defence accords – GSOMIa and aCSa – that serve as foundations for defence trade and cooperation. however, the majority of the US military assistance to Bangladesh is in the form of training for defence professionals and joint exercises between two forces. the US Pacific Command engages the Bangladesh armed Forces on a regular basis. US Defense Secretary Mark Esper paid a visit to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh hasina and discussed military cooperation between the two countries, among other things.

General Shafi paid his US visit this month after the successful completion of ‘Security Partnership Dialogue’ in april. 2022 in Dhaka. this visit is very significant for Bangladesh and the USa in the region. the USa and Bangladesh have strengthened their defence ties further through this visit.

The writer is a freelance columnist

thERE is a ray of hope for the overall national economy to build up after listening to the holistic correct approach of the finance minister to solve the teething national problems piled up owing to bad governance over the years. the minister appears to be clear headed and in a very short time of assuming the office , has correctly identified the grave problems facing the country . he has very capably outlined a workable road map to steer the country out of the woods and from its present state of quagmire and despondency.

No doubt , the power sector is in a great mess and its problems are many and have been made highly complicated with each passing day .

Some of its problems are solvable if there is administrative & a political will . these include massive power thefts , corruption and inefficiency . the government needs to root these out with a stern hand . then there are technical and policy problems . Surplus or excess power is one of these .

You have to pay capacity and fixed charges even if you are not utilising it . the government has not taken any measures or announced any policy for the fruitful utilisation of this surplus energy to eliminate the financial continuous burden on the exchequer. all the above items are contributing to the building up of the notorious Circular Debt .

One of the ways to maximise the use of surplus power is to give special incentives and tariffs to export oriented industries to boost exports which is the ultimate awnser to lift the national economy . at the same time , foreign investors should be encouraged to put up their industries by offering them subsidised power tariffs , besides other attractive favourable terms and conditions. another step could be to offer special reduced power tariffs for certain group of cosumers so that idol excess energy is profitably made use of . Even export of surplus power to the neighbouring countries should be explored , especially in view of launching of many new power generating projects and import of envisaged hydel power from Central asia , which will further increase surplus power .

Engr riaz Bhutta LahorE

Life is action, not contemplation MaN is the most active of all animals. the activities of all other animal are limited only to their search for food and reproduction off spring’s. But man’s activity is spread over a far field. he doesn’t only grow food and produce children, but he also makes numerous useful and beautiful things.

For the security of his life he has built up a complex social organisation; and for the proper satisfaction of his wants, an equally complex economic system. Man’s energy flows through many channels and through many unfamiliar activities.

Man’s greatness therefore lies in his capacity to act. the most active nations of the world have been most progressive. they have made progress in different spheres of life. they have built their industries, have developed their natural resources, and have often penetrated into foreign lands and built empires across the seas. thus, they have brought to their land the riches from remote corners of the earth.

Inactive nations, on the other hand, live in sloth and poverty. they are dominated by foreigners who develop their resources for their own benefit. they become their slaves and work for strangers in their own land. thus, the slavery demoralizes them. the history of mankind shows that the nation given to hard labour and constant work have made great achievements, while the achievements of dull and inactive have been very small. action is the royal road to success, both for nations and individuals. the philosophy of action, therefore, has been highly valued through the ages. But action is the outcome of thought. If our thoughts are mean and narrow, our actions will be cruel and selfish. If, on the other hand, we think of the good of mankind, we shall strive to do good to everyone. the actions of good men are inspired by the ideals of universal love and brotherhood. the persecution of the backward races, on the other hand, is the outcome of the ‘get-rich-quick ‘policy. But, thoughts do not always translate themselves into actions. at times one doesn’t proceed beyond the level of contemplation. We may think like hamlet, and think deeply; but when the time for action comes, we may find that the requisite will is wanting.

Disparity between thought and action is quite common in our world. there is no dearth of great ideals, but there is certainly a dearth of correspondingly great actions. Our statesman talk of lasting world peace, and yet threatens the world with atomic weapons. Our scientists, with their ideals of the pursuit of knowledge, are devising more and more terrible means of mass destruction. Likewise, our religious scholars, with all their mission or peace and love, are afraid to condemn violence and aggression. In the history of mankind great actions have often been done by comparatively small men.

In their case the normal disparity between thought and action was eliminated.

Inspired by great ideals, they did things which were calculated to do good for mankind, to remove its degradation and to mitigate its sorrows and sufferings.

MaLik MuhaMMad aBduLLah iSLaMaBad

Plastic bottles aLthOUGh plastic bottles have made mineral water and other drinks easily accessible and portable, the price we have to pay for this luxury is extremely high. Plastic bottles are one of the major contributors to plastic pollution throughout the world. the manufacturing process of plastic water bottles itself releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which contaminates the oxygen. Resultantly, it is difficult for people to breathe.

Not only do plastic bottles litter the landscape but the plastic does not decompose and remains in the soil for decades eventually disintegrating into microparticles. the microplastic particles are polluting the ocean and threatening marine life and biodiversity. Plastic waste is either consumed by seabirds, seagulls, and marine mammals, or they get entangled in the waste. It is estimated that 20% of sand is composed of microparticles across the world’s beaches and approximately 46,000 pieces of plastic are floating in the ocean.

Some plastic waste also ends up in landfills and is responsible for chemical leakages, disruption of ecosystems, etc. I request the government of Pakistan to either switch to glass bottles or implement strategies to reuse plastic bottles. to ensure that it is effective, people should be given an incentive to return plastic bottles to retailers. Companies should be encouraged to reuse bottles by thoroughly sterilising them. also, companies should be told to collect nonusable or damaged plastic bottles that can be converted and used to manufacture other items. Given the deteriorating environmental conditions, the use of plastic bottles must be drastically reduced.

ShahrYar khan PEShaWar

08 WORLD VIEW 9th May 22_Layout 1 5/8/2022 11:23 PM Page 1

Monday, 9 May, 2022

08 WORLD VIEW

ThE grEaT sTarvaTIon Is coMIng, and ThE world MusT prEparE For IT

middle easT moniTor MuhaMMaD hussein

w

HILE the world endured global supply chain issues and delays for over two years throughout the course of the Covid-19 pandemic, markets suffered, economies buckled, and there were real fears that it would mean potential shortages of essentials, and even food across the globe.

Such a fate is finally arriving with the Russian invasion of Ukraine impacting the planting, production and harvesting of wheat and other vital commodities in the region. Known as the “breadbasket of Europe”, it does not only feed a few tens of millions in the neighbourhood, but at least hundreds of millions elsewhere in the world.

The result is set to be almost apocalyptic. At the time of this writing, data by the Un’s World Food Programme (WFP) show that around 890 million people worldwide lack sufficient food consumption and subsist on an inadequate amount of calories needed. That number is constantly on the rise, and is a few hundred million higher than statistics from 2020.

As the billionaire astrophysicist and entrepreneur, David Friedberg, said in a widely-circulated video, the entirety of the planet’s food supply operates on only a 90-day cycle which constantly replenishes. With people consuming produce made and exported from that previous cycle, any delay or obstruction to the current or next cycle greatly impacts the amount of food and commodities supplied to populations. In short, “humans run out of food in 90 days”.

To put the situation into perspective, the spring planting season for wheat began weeks ago, at the end of March and beginning of April. Due to the war in Ukraine, there has reportedly not been an adequate amount of planting being undertaken, spelling disaster for the summer of 2022 and beyond.

When approximately 30 per cent of the world’s total wheat supply – and 15 per cent of the world’s total calories consumed – is cut off from export and the seriousness of the situation begins to properly set in within the coming months, the number of those stuck in food insecurity and potential starvation is predicted to enter the billions.

DATA BY THE UN’S WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME (WFP) SHOW THAT AROUND 890 MILLION PEOPLE WORLDWIDE LACK SUFFICIENT FOOD CONSUMPTION AND SUBSIST ON AN INADEQUATE AMOUNT OF CALORIES NEEDED A MANUFACTURED CRISIS? Like almost every issue that pertains to people’s livelihood, global food insecurity has become a political issue. While the common and accepted narrative is that Russia’s aggression is responsible for impacting the production and export of wheat and other commodities, there are others who question whether that is the primary factor, or even the only one.

Many, especially those on the American and European political right, cite a myriad of other issues ranging from the supply issues caused by the pandemic over the past few years, the lack or shortage of fertilisers needed to grow crops, and reports that some countries are hoarding a disproportionate supply of commodities – such as the fact that China is set to hold the majority of the world’s rice and wheat supplies this year.

The theories on the contributors to the global food crisis – or, at least, in north America – sometimes go even deeper, though, with some referring to the fact that much of the farmland in the US has been bought up by major figures such as Bill Gates, who is the biggest owner of farmland in the country. Opponents of such a monopoly on agricultural land fear that it could result in less capabilities to produce goods and benefit from livestock, which would further drive up the price of meat for the average person.

They also point to unwise policies implemented by the US government last year which may have contributed to shortages, such as farmers’ having had to destroy their crops and kill livestock during the pandemic, as well as the more recent program by the Biden administration to incentivise farmers with subsidies to stop growing more crops and food in certain areas in the name of cutting back on carbon.

Such agricultural setbacks and monopolies are not just seen in the US, but throughout most of the world where four corporations possess control of over 50 per cent of the world’s seed supply – and, therefore, the world’s food supply. Furthermore, policies and legislation implemented worldwide by the World Trade Organisation and its member states have reportedly prevented farmers from freely growing, re-sowing, exchanging and sharing seeds, making them easily commodified by those corporations.

The Un itself has acknowledged those concerns,

stating in a report thirteen years ago that the “oligopolistic structure of the input providers’ market may result in poor farmers being deprived of access to seeds productive resources essential for their livelihoods, and it could raise the price of food, thus making food less affordable for the poorest.”

That raising of food prices and the lack of affordability, then, are not simply a result of the Russian offensive in Ukraine and the subsequent reactions to it, nor is it even the result of climate change and increasing instances of drought. This was acknowledged in a report released this month by the US Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS).

Instead, it could be more so the result of multinational corporate monopolies, disastrous policies, and the tightening of production and exports which all caused the crisis to be years, even decades, in the making.

Whether one believes that the issue is the result of profit-driven conspiratorial plans to engineer food crises – as seen numerous times throughout human history, including at least 31 times in India under British rule and corporate interests – or that it is merely the result of an accidental series of events, the fact remains that a global food crisis and major shortages are set to hit this year, and could cause famines throughout the world before the end of this year and through to 2023.

The most immediate and severe impacts of these crises will, of course, be felt in the ‘third world’ and developing countries, where governments have less capabilities and resources from which to receive commodities such as wheat, are more likely to suffer and often are suffering from an economic crisis, and which tend to be import-driven economies.

Countries in South Asia, the Middle East, and south and central America will suffer the most, with examples of the food crisis already being seen in the likes of Yemen, Afghanistan, Somalia, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine.

Meanwhile, high-income and ‘first world’ countries will likely fare much better, as they are reportedly manoeuvring to buy up essential commodities and stockpile them before the crisis truly hits. There are reports that

they are even attempting to siphon off shipments of those commodities from arriving at their initial destinations in developing countries.

This practice was recently pointed out by Kuwait’s Minister of Commerce, Fahd Al-Shariaan, who alleged that “vessels that are loaded with wheat, grain and seeds and bound for Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman are diverted in the middle of sea to head towards Europe.” He warned that the Gulf region should expect a sharp surge in prices, and that “The situation in the world and in our region is very serious; we expect a famine to occur.”

When the food crisis hits those countries, and especially more fragile economies which are already struggling, there will predictably be a series of results that would soon be seen. Depending on how quickly the governments individually prepare and react, one of the first impacts could be political instability caused by the nationwide emergence of food riots and protests.

That is already being witnessed in Sri Lanka over the past few weeks, where the riots have resulted in a security crackdown and the recent killing of a protestor.

Such unrest and instability would echo that seen during the Arab Spring throughout the Middle East and north Africa a decade ago, of which a primary cause was the rising price of food and bread.

What other issues may follow on from the unrest are yet to be seen, but one likely consequence of the economic and food crises would be the developing countries’ need for loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to keep themselves afloat. Those predatory loans, which many developing nations already depend upon, would only further saddle them to ever deeper levels of debt and economic dependency. With potential famines, unrest and economic crises, the fate of the ‘third world’ looks bleak.

The effects of that will reverberate into the first world, however, through a surge in refugees which is predicted to flee towards western nations. If European governments imagined that they were overwhelmed by the waves of refugees fleeing Syria over the past decade, who numbered a few million, then they had better prepare for a new refugee crisis potentially in the tens of millions.

For India’s Muslims, Eid brings little to celebrate THE STATE PANDERING OF THE MOB, AND ITS OWN SUBVERSION OF THE RULE OF LAW, SIGNAL A CRUMBLING SOCIAL CONTRACT BETWEEN INDIAN MUSLIMS AND THE INDIAN STATE—EVEN BY THE STANDARDS OF THE STATE-SANCTIONED INTIMIDATION, ANTI-MUSLIM VIOLENCE, AND HATE SPEECH THAT HAVE BECOME A STAPLE OF THE EIGHT YEARS UNDER PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA MODI

Time magazine Debasish Roy ChowDhuRy

The day the Hindus wake up, the consequence will be That the skull-cap wearer will bow down and say victory to Lord Ram. The day my blood boils, I wish to show you your place Then I will not speak, only my sword will.

Whoever does not hail Lord Ram, send him to the graveyard.

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n past weeks, incendiary songs with lyrics such as these, blaring over giant loudspeakers, have interrupted the Ramadan fasts of Muslims across India, followed by mob violence and state persecution.

This year, as the dawn-to-sunset fasting of Ramadan ends in Eid al-Fitr, there is little joy for India’s 200 million Muslims—the world’s third largest Muslim population after Indonesia and Pakistan—tinged as the festival is by a new anxiety over their place in the country.

The state pandering of the mob, and its own subversion of the rule of law, signal a crumbling social contract between Indian Muslims and the Indian state—even by the standards of the state-sanctioned intimidation, anti-Muslim violence, and hate speech that have become a staple of the eight years under Prime Minister narendra Modi. His Hindu supremacist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has been accelerating its bid to dismantle the country’s constitutionally mandated secular democracy and create a

Hindu-first state. Its conspicuous subjugation of Muslims includes choreographed hate campaigns, violence, as well as official measures designed to weaken the community. Lynchings are frequent, as are organized boycotts of Muslims and their businesses. Hindu nationalism, called Hindutva, has been gorging during this fasting month of Ramadan.

The holy Muslim period, which coincides with several Hindu festivals, saw organized attacks on Muslims in many parts of India on a scale not seen lately. Muslim homes and shops were attacked and burned, Muslim places of worship desecrated, and Muslim prayers interrupted. A familiar pattern that emerged was that of religious processions organized by Hindu groups through Muslim neighborhoods. Men brandishing swords, sticks and guns, chanting loud slogans and playing music that demeans and threatens Muslims, linger around mosques hoping to pick a fight.

Their provocations extend beyond offensive music.

On one occasion, a militant Hindu priest threatened to rape Muslim women in a rousing speech in front of a mosque. Sometimes baits such as these produce the desired result and clashes break out, with Muslims pushing back, sometimes they don’t. It doesn’t matter, the marching mobs eventually embark on violence anyway, blaming the trouble on Muslims.

The police, who usually stand by passively or join in the attacks on Muslims, avoid booking the Hindu instigators and arbitrarily round up mostly Muslims after the mob has had its fill. In one instance, they arrested a Muslim man for pelting Hindu marchers with stones even though both of his hands had been amputated. In some instances when the police do file cases against Hindu supremacist organizations for unlawful behavior, they are forced to drop the charges.

In the case of the monk threatening the kidnap and rape of Muslim women, the police took six days just to file a case—despite viral videos of him in the act—and 11

days to arrest him, only for him to walk free in a little over a week. On being released, he declared that he had no remorse for his action and would happily do it again. The emboldening of such extremists is the result of BJP-run federal and state governments giving Hindutva vigilante groups a free rein to ratchet up their war on Muslims.

Open calls for the genocide of Muslims by militant Hindu leaders, and hate speech by senior BJP functionaries and Hindu organizations, have become increasingly common in recent months, with little or no official reprisal.

If the Indian state’s silent endorsement of such treatment of minorities has been a feature of the Modi years, this Ramadan has seen the state itself join the marauding mobs in ravaging and dispossessing Muslims—using bulldozers.

When individual Muslims are suspected of attacking Hindu marches, the police in some states, including in the capital Delhi, have started a disturbing and illegal policy of collectively punishing Muslim communities.

Without notice, entire clusters of Muslim homes are demolished on the tenuous pretext that these are unauthorized constructions. Bulldozers have actually emerged as a nationalist symbol in some BJP-ruled states, paraded in election rallies to drum up support.

The state-enforced homelessness of Muslims speaks to two dominant tropes of Hindu supremacist politics: the inherent degeneracy of Muslims, and the illegitimacy of their presence in India. Disinformation campaigns, political messaging, and official policy paint Muslims as criminals, jihadis, predators waging “love jihad,” and over-procreating sexual deviants. The government of the north-eastern state of Assam last year appointed seven “sub-committees” to recommend ways to control the growth of the Muslim population. They have just submitted their report.

Contrived protests over the veil, halal meat and even the use of loudspeakers for the muezzin’s call to prayer have made even everyday Muslim practices a matter of political contestation for Hindu supremacists, who speak of expelling the entire Muslim population from what

they see as the Hindu homeland. Even senior BJP leaders now openly articulate this dangerous proposition. Hindu extremist groups in some villages have started putting it into action, vowing to evict Muslims.

The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) in its recent report recommends—for the third year in a row—that the U.S. government designate India as a “country of particular concern”, along with Myanmar, north Korea, China, Iraq, Syria and Eritrea, among others. It also recommends targeted sanctions on Indian individuals and entities responsible for violations of religious freedom.

But the unfolding makeover of the Indian state and the capture and capitulation of its democratic institutions shows the dynamic is far too widespread for such intervention.

India’s media cheer-leads the cruelty. One top TV anchor reported aboard a bulldozer while several others cracked bulldozer jokes on Twitter even as hundreds were being rendered homeless and their possessions destroyed. India’s once-powerful judiciary finds itself increasingly helpless against a dominant executive—the bulldozers continued to wreak havoc in Delhi well after a court order to stop. Even the highly respected and inclusive Indian Army has had to bow to the mob. It removed a tweet about an iftar (evening meal breaking the daily Ramadan fast) event it had organized, after a rightwing television anchor kicked up a social media storm over the “disease” of secularism afflicting the armed forces. The same anchor is often spotted administering nazi-style oaths to turn India into a Hindu state.

These are not hopeful signs for India’s Muslims. The community ponders its future, this Eid, in a country where the foundational promises of equal citizenship and rule of law now lie in a heap of bulldozed rubble.

Debasish Roy Chowdhury is the co-author of To Kill A Democracy: India’s Passage to Despotism.

Monday, 9 May, 2022 | LAHORE

NEWS

09

Three CPeC PrOjeCTs IN GwAdAr COmPleTed ISLAMABAD

P

staff rePort

AKISTAN has completed three China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects in Gwadar having value of over $300 million, as one-dozen schemes costing nearly $2 billion remain unfinished including water supply and electricity provision, according to the CPEC Authority.

According to the CPEC Authority, the progress review of the projects revealed that all the schemes having socio-economic benefits for Gwadar – considered as the crown jewel of CPEC – were falling behind their original completion schedules.

The CPEC Authority, which Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal wants to wrap up, gave the status update report to the new government last month.

So far, only three schemes have been declared completed by the CPEC Authority, including $4 million Gwadar Smart Port City Master Plan, which cannot be called a project. The other two schemes are the Physical Infrastructure of Gwadar Port and the Free Zone Phase-1 costing $300 million and PakChina Technical and Vocational Institute that has been built with a $10 million Chinese grant. Even there is no indigenous electricity

ITP intensify crackdown against CNG cylinder-fitted vehicles ISLAMABAD Press release

According to the details Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP) has taken special measures to ensure safety of lives and property of motorcyclists and other citizens and to keep them safe from any mishaps. It has been decided to intensify legal action more strict and effective against the vehicles without fitness certificates and gas fitted cylinder public service vehicles, in order to reduce accidents as much as possible and keep traffic flow smooth. SSP Traffic Rai Mazhar Iqbal has strictly directly in-charges of all zones to take strict legal action and imposed heavy fines against vehicles without fitness certificates and gas fitted cylinders public service vehicles. He also directed them to locked the illegals Vehicles at police stations and no concessions should be made in this regard. He also said that special enforcement teams from Islamabad Traffic Police have been formed to take effective and intensify action against vehicles without fitness certificates and gas fitted cylinders public service vehicles at lorry depots, bus stops, wagon stops and various places in the jurisdiction of Federal Capital. On this occasion, SSP Traffic said that safety of life and property of the citizens and providing all possible transport facilities are the foremost priorities of Islamabad Traffic Police, strict legal action will be taken against those violating traffic rules and affecting the flow of traffic in order to reduce accidents as much as possible and keep traffic flow smooth.

Power suspension schedules for today ISLAMABAD Press release

According to Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO)’s spokesman, System Maintenance/Development Work is in process. Therefore power supply of below mentioned feeders/areas will be temporary suspended as per given schedule: On Dated 09th May from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Kohala, Shakreela, Sohawa katchery Feeders, from 08:00 am to 01:00 pm G/Ghushti, Miskeenabad, Shinka, Nartopa, Haji Shah Feeders and Surroundings will remain off. IESCO management apologizes to its esteemed customers for the power outage. If the work is completed ahead of time, the power supply can be restored even before the scheduled time.

for the port, as the country imports power from Iran to meet the city’s energy needs.

CPEC remained dormant during most of the time of the previous PTI government but lately there had been some progress after the last political regime brought in Khalid Mansoor as special assistant to the PM on CPEC affairs. Yet, he could not take these schemes across the finishing line.

The $179 million Eastbay Expressway – a road link connecting the port with free zone and the city – that should have been completed a few years ago, is still shown as an under-implementation scheme, although on documents the project is 99% completed.

China has provided interest-free loan for the scheme. The CPEC Authority expects that the project will be completed by June.

Work on necessary facilities like fresh water treatment, water supply and distribution network project worth $72 million is still 65% completed. The project should have been readied by 2017. In its documents, the project is shown as funded by the federal government.

According to the original plan, China was supposed to commit 90% financing for the project. In 2016, Pakistan had requested the National Development Reforms Commission (NDRC) of China to provide a grant for the project.

China had informed Pakistan that the grant might take at least two years for approval and the country could not afford to wait that long.

The report revealed that Gwadar’s water requirements by 2020 would be 20 million gallons per day, as against the earlier supply of only two million. Water was planned to be pumped from the sea for purification and onward supply to the residential and industrial areas in Gwadar.

The project includes construction of a pipeline from Swad Dam with a capacity of five million gallons per day and Shadi Kure Dam with a capacity 2.5 million gallons per day to supply water to Gwadar City. It would upgrade the existing distribution system which was not sufficient to carry the available water as it consisted of six inches diameter pipeline which needed to be replaced by a 12-inch diameter pipeline.

In addition, two other schemes, $14 million worth of 1.2 million gallons per day desalination plant in Gwadar remained at a very initial stage of work, with only 3% work done. The government expected that the project could be ready before the end of the current year.

The second project –$32 million worth five-million gallons per day desalination plant remained at the planning stage, accord-

ing to the CPEC Authority.

The New Gwadar International Airport which, too, should have been completed a few years ago, remained under the implementation stage and hardly 36% work was done on the scheme, according to the CPEC Authority. China is providing $230 million grant for the project.

Hardly 20% work was finished on the $100 million Pak-China Friendship Hospital, Gwadar. The project involved upgradation of the existing 50-bed hospital to 150 beds. The hospital was being constructed on 68 acres of land. Despite its importance for the local population, the project did not come on the radar of the previous PTI government.

The Gwadar Airport and Gwadar Hospital projects had faced problems in importing certain steel materials which attracted antidumping duties.

The $285 million scheme for the Infrastructure of Gwadar Free Zone Phase-II was only 3% complete, according to the CPEC Authority.

The CPEC Authority progress report is in line with an assessment of the Board of Investment that wrote to former prime minister Imran Khan that “long being marketed as the centre piece of CPEC, Gwadar has yet to reach the heights of expected industrial development that can serve as a catalyst for

domestic and foreign investment”.

“On ground visit to the Gwadar Free Zone revealed that the present area of the zone is neither suitable nor suffice for establishing heavy industry,” it added.

Pakistan had also planned to set up 300 megawatts Gwadar power plant to provide home-based electricity. But the report showed that hardly 3% work was done on the scheme.

The power project was marred with problems due to the PTI government’s failure to clear Rs300 billion dues of those Chinese power plants that were already in operation. It led to the closure of 1,980MW Chinese IPPs, which was unthinkable till a few months ago.

The $266 million Breakwater project at the port remained at the planning stage and its PC-I had been submitted to the Planning Commission for funding from the Public Sector Development Programme.

Similarly, another Dredging of Berthing Areas and Channels project remained at the feasibility stage level.

The Gwadar Smart Environmental and Sanitation System costing $14 million and Gwadar Fish Harbor and Boat-Making Industry on West Bay with $32 million investment also remained in the pipeline, according to the CPEC Authority.

Pakistan-India water talks may hit snag StAff report New Delhi’s stubbornness over Pakistan-India water disputes persists as it is yet to respond to a letter sent from Islamabad even after the passage of a month.

A meeting of water experts from both sides is scheduled to be held in New Delhi this month, but now it seems that the talks would be delayed. A three-day meeting of water experts from both the countries was held on March 1 in Islamabad.

According to sources, it was agreed in that meeting to hold talks in New Delhi in May. The Indus Water Commission will soon write a second letter to its Indian counterpart to convene a

meeting. Islamabad has objections over New Delhi’s plans to build projects on Chenab River in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), the sources added. The sources said India had also approved the launch of illegal water projects on the Indus River.

The construction of water projects by India will reduce the flow of water in Pakistan’s rivers.

In March, Islamabad and New Delhi had reiterated to implement the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) following the 117th meeting of the India-Pakistan Permanent Indus Commission. Under the relevant provisions of the IWT 1960, the meeting takes place alternatively in Pakistan and India annually. The New Delhi’s delegation compris-

ing 10 members was headed by Indian Commissioner for Indus Waters PK Saxena, while Islamabad’s delegation was led by Pakistani Commissioner for Indus Waters Syed Muhammad Mehar Ali Shah.

Pakistan had reiterated its ob-

servations on the Kiru Hydroelectric project (HEP) located upstream river Chenab. Pakistan’s position on the controversial project was that the design of the project could affect the flow of the Chenab River in Pakistan. This

The surging threat of cyber-fraud NewS DeSk A major case of cybercrime engulfed Pakistan’s financial hub of Karachi recently. A debit card scam that targeted several consumers of three private banks emerged right before Eidul Fitr, prompting complaints with the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Cybercrime Unit of strange financial activities.

Hundreds of customers of one of Pakistan’s largest banks reported that they had lost money over the previous few days due to a technical fault with the bank’s services. The targeted customers also said were left in the dark about certain bank transfers, bill payments, and online purchases that were notified to them without their knowledge or approval. The bank’s staff informed the irate clients that their services were experiencing problems and that the bank was working hard to resolve the problems. Customers also stated that their cards had been momentarily disabled.

As the complaints piled up, debit card fraud was suggested as a likely explanation for the shady transactions. This particular type of fraud is committed by robbing and modifying ATMs so that they replicate debit card information whenever a user enters their card into the machine.

The card’s key pins are also taken using key loggers, and the cards are then utilised on the Internet.

Overseas thieves utilised compromised data from many debit cards to execute fraudulent financial transactions in foreign currencies to steal from a leading bank in Pakistan that offers online banking services. The financial organisation had to block foreign financial transactions using debit cards for practically all of its customers as a result of the incident.

As the fraudulent transactions were made in dollar denominations instead of Pakistani rupees, any customer who wanted to use a debit card for Internet banking had to first activate the service.

Failure to do so resulted in the transaction being denied and online service suspended for the account for safety reasons.

There were multiple fraudulent transactions of minor sums from multiple accounts. However, it was unclear how much money cyber criminals operating from abroad stole from how many bank accounts in Pakistan.

As the use of digital banking has grown in Pakistan over the last two years, data breaches have correspondingly become increasingly common in the country, despite the banking regulator and relevant ministry issuing a strong cyber security strategy. Over the past six months, data breaches have affected not just banks, but also numerous government organisations, such as the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the Ministry of Finance, necessitating the need for both public and private financial institutions to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to secure their customers and systems from hacking attempts.

Almost all of Pakistan’s banks were hacked in 2018 and huge sums of money were stolen from people’s accounts by the perpetrators. The cyber-security incident exposed over 19,000 card details from 22 Pakistani banks. The discovery came in response to a tip by Group-IB, a multinational cyber security group, which claimed that hackers had exposed a massive number of Pakistani individuals’ credit and debit cards on dark web forums. Among these, krebsonsecurity.com reported that over 8,000 account holders from roughly

ten Pakistani banks had lately been sold on the dark web.

K-Electric, the city of Karachi’s energy provider, was targeted by a Netwalker ransomware attack in September 2020, which disrupted billing and online services. The attackers stated that unless the management paid a $7 million ransom, all of KE’s customers’ information, including names, addresses, CNICs, NTNs, credit cards, and bank account numbers, would be leaked in the dark web.

Hackers stole the personal information of 260,000 users from a Pakistani music streaming site in January 2021. In August 2021, hackers attacked Pakistan’s largest data center controlled by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and managed to crack the hyper-V software by Microsoft, shutting down all the official websites operated by the tax machinery.

Despite the fact that the FBR’s official website and tax-related operations were restored, hackers sold the FBR’s data for $30,000 on a Russian forum. A cyberattack on the NBP’s servers was detected in the late hours of October 29th and early hours of October 30th, 2021, affecting some of its online services.

At least three other notable cyber-attacks are the Careem security breach in April 2018, which compromised the data of customers from Pakistan and other countries; the attack on Peshawar ATMs in December 2020; and the breach of various websites, including those belonging to the Sindh High Court in July 2021 and PTV Sports in August 2020, among others.

Some senior Pakistani officials’ cellphones were hacked in 2019 for covert surveillance. The attack was carried out using a particular sort of malware known as “Pegasus,” which was purportedly developed

by Israeli spyware firm NSO Group.

will have a direct impact on the agricultural areas adjacent to Head Marala, a major reservoir near Sialkot. Islamabad also raised its objection on New Delhi’s new run-of-the-river small HEPs on Western rivers.

AIOU hosts third General Assembly of CINVU ISLAMABAD Press release

The third General Assembly of the COMSTECH International Islamic Network on Virtual Universities (CINVU) will be hosted

by Allama Iqbal Open University on May 11 and 12. President, CINVU and Vice Chancellor, AIOU, Prof. Dr. Zia UlQayyum said that this event will be attended by members of the Executive Board from Syria, Ivory Coast, Malaysia, Iran, Turkey, Tunisia and other member countries. The focus of this event will be on evaluating the process of developing e-learning in the days of the epidemic Covid19, exploring new educational opportunities, especially in the field of skills-based training and virtual skills-enhancement workshops, identify challenges in the field of educational empowerment, strengthen specialized committees and define new missions. It is pertinent to mention here that the second General Assembly of CINVU was held last year at Anadolu University Turkey, in which the president proposed that the third general assembly will be held at Allama Iqbal Open University, Pakistan. Management of the AIOU has formed various committees for the preparations of this event. AIOU is working hard to make this meeting memorable and believes that collaborations with international educational institutions will enhance the quality of education and facilities for students. The summit will pave the way for new partnerships with other international universities.

Monday, 9 May, 2022 | LAHORE

10 FOREIGN NEWS

MuMbai: Hindu extreMists force Mosques to turn voluMe down on call to prayers mUmbaI

s

agencies

ITTING in an office lined with books overlooking a giant prayer hall, Mohammed Ashfaq Kazi, the main preacher at the largest mosque in Mumbai, checked a decibel meter attached to the loudspeakers before he gave the call to worship.

“The volume of our Azaan (call to prayer) has become a political issue, but I don’t want it to take a communal turn,” said Kazi, one of the most influential Islamic scholars in the sprawling metropolis on India’s western coast. As he spoke he

pointed to loudspeakers attached to the minarets of the ornate, sand-coloured Juma Masjid in Mumbai’s old trading quarters.

Kazi and three other senior clerics from Maharashtra where Mumbai is located said more than 900 mosques in the west of the state had agreed to turn the volume down on calls to prayer following complaints from a local Hindu politician.

Raj Thackeray, leader of a regional Hindu party, demanded in April that mosques and others places of worship kept within allowed noise limits. If they did not, he said his followers would chant Hindu prayers outside mosques in protest.

Thackeray, whose party has just one seat

in the state’s 288-member assembly, said he was merely insisting that court rulings on noise levels be enforced.

“If religion is a private matter then why are Muslims allowed to use loudspeakers all 365 days (of the year)?” Thackeray told reporters in Mumbai, India’s financial hub and capital of Maharashtra.

“My dear Hindu brothers, sisters and mothers come together; be one in bringing down these loudspeakers,” he said.

Leaders of India’s 200 million Muslims see the move, which coincided with the holy festival of Eid, as another attempt by hardline Hindus to undermine their rights to free worship and religious expression, with the

tacit agreement of the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

In recent weeks, a senior BJP leader began pushing for swapping marriage and inheritance laws based on religion with a uniform civil code, taking aim at rules that allow Muslim men, for example, to have four wives.

The BJP did not respond to a request for comment on Thackeray’s initiative. It denies targeting minorities, and says it wants progressive change that benefits all Indians.

At the Juma Masjid, Kazi said he complied with Thackeray’s demands in order to reduce the risk of violence between Muslims and Hindus.

Bloody clashes have erupted sporadi-

John Lee elected as sixth-term Chief Executive of Hong Kong mIan abrar John Lee Ka-chiu has been elected as the sixth-term Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) by securing 99.16 percent supportive votes from the Election Committee members who cast their votes on Sunday.

The highly expected Chief Executive Election for Hong Kong, the first CE election since the implementation of electoral reform which aims to ensure only patriots governing Hong Kong, kicked off on Sunday as most of 1,461 Election Committee (EC) members cast their ballots at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai.

The overall voting process started from 9 am and concluded at 11:30 am, going smoothly and being organized in the eyes of some EC members. The central government is expected to formally appoint him as Hong Kong’s next chief executive soon.

In total, 1,428 Election Committee members cast their votes “support” or “not support” for Chief Executive Election in Hong Kong, with the overall turnout rate of 97.74 percent. 33 members did not vote. Lee secured 1,416 supportive votes among the 1,428 EC members who cast their votes, or 99.16 percent of the votes cast.

“Serving Hong Kong and serving our people for the next five years, this is an honor with humility and sincere gratitude, with loyalty and perseverance,” Lee told after being elected.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong SAR. We must continue to ensure the comprehensive, accurate and full implementation of the principles of the “one country, two systems,” “Hong Kong people administering Hong Kong” and “high degree of autonomy to maintain our long term prosperity and stability.”

Having restored order from chaos, it is high time that Hong Kong starts a new chapter of development, a chapter that we get toward greater prosperity for all, he said.

Lee gained a high rate of 99.16 percent of the votes, which reflects recognition and affirmation of the Hong Kong society, the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council said in a congratulatory message to Lee published shortly after the result came out. It’s believed the new CE will lead the new government and representatives from various sectors of Hong Kong to unveil

a new chapter for good governance in the city, the office said. It also said the election is a successful practice of Hong Kong’s new election system, which has proven to fit “one country, two systems” and Hong Kong’s reality.

The six-term CE election has great significance for Hong Kong, especially after the implementation of the national security law for Hong Kong and the electoral reform, the city returned to the correct track, resisting the foreign interference and stabilizing the society with active measures for economy and livelihoods. The election stimulates the positive energy, underscores the democracy with broad representation and unity as the candidate and residents are focusing on measures for building the city together rather than making confrontations or divisions, the top office on Hong Kong affairs said.

The next five years will be the period for Hong Kong to emerge from the social turmoil to being well governed to develop, and we believe that if the new government and representatives from various sectors seize the historical opportunities, it would be a new starting point for Hong Kong to make a splendid history, said the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macao office.

The liaison office of the central government also congratulates Lee’s election, as the election fully underscored the principle of only patriots governing Hong Kong and

the advantages of the new election system, which is another successful practice of the democracy with Hong Kong characteristics.

“We are fully confident in Hong Kong’s democratic path,” the liaison office said, hoping that Lee will lead the local government and representatives from various sectors to fully and correctly implement the “one country, two systems” to unveil a new chapter for Hong Kong’s future.

Carrie Lam, the incumbent CE, also extended her sincere congratulations to Lee on his successful election. She said she will submit a report of the election result to the central government later and will ensure a seamless transition with the CE-elect.

The election on Sunday is considered the most important one for the political life in Hong Kong. Since the implementation of the electoral reform, which fundamentally changed the rules of the political game in sweeping out the anti-China figures and some backed by Western forces, observers believe that the Hong Kong people can successfully choose an ideal person who will resolutely carry out the reforms to reshape the local governance in order to fix some deep-rooted problems in Hong Kong society.

Some political heavyweights told the media while they came to the polling station to cast their votes that they shared the high expectation for Lee and hoped that the next CE could tackle some urgent issues including fighting the epidemic in Hong Kong, reopening borders with the mainland, and fixing the housing woes.

Starry Lee Wai-king, a EC member and chairwoman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong (DAB), hoped that Lee could be elected with a high number of votes, expecting him to roll out more specific measures compared to his policy platform after he is elected. When asked whether the DAB members will join the new government, she said it’s too early to say but the DAB is happy to propose talents for the new government.

Executive Councilor Ronny Tong Ka-wah who is also a EC member told the Global Times on Sunday after he cast the ballot that Hong Kong people expect to elect a CE who can achieve the goals. “Hopefully, the new government can overhaul the political system, improve the living environment, work on the problems of the youth and help recover the local economy,” he said.

cally across India since independence, most recently in 2020 when dozens of people, mostly Muslims, were killed in Delhi following protests against a citizenship law that Muslims said discriminated against them.

While hardline Hindu leaders were seeking to undermine Islam, Kazi said, “we (Muslims) have to maintain calm and serenity.” The state took Thackeray’s initiative seriously. Senior police officials met religious leaders including Kazi earlier this month to ensure microphones were turned down, as they feared clashes in Maharashtra, home to more than 10 million Muslims and 70 million Hindus.

On Saturday, police filed a criminal case against two men in Mumbai for using loudspeakers to recite the early morning azaan and warned workers of Thackeray’s party from gathering around mosques.

“Under no circumstances will we allow anyone to create communal tension in the state and the court’s order must be respected,” said VN Patil, a senior Mumbai police official.

sri lanka in talks for $100 million emergency funding from beijing-backed bank COlOmbO agencies

The China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank is considering granting $100 million in emergency support to Sri Lanka, the country’s finance ministry said on Sunday. Sri Lanka has requested foreign-exchange liquidity support for state banks from the lender, it said in a statement. Hit hard by the pandemic, rising oil prices and populist tax cuts by the government of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the South Asian island’s economy is in crisis, with usable foreign reserves down to $50 million, Finance Minister Ali Sabry said last week. Shortages of imported food, fuel and medicines have brought thousands onto the streets in over a month of mostly peaceful protests. Rajapaksa declared a second state emergency in five weeks on Friday. The multilateral AIIB, founded in 2014 to promote infrastructure investing throughout Asia, draws most of its funding from China.

China is Sri Lanka’s largest bilateral lender, with an outstanding balance of $6.5 billion mostly lent over the past decade for large infrastructure projects, including highways, a port, an airport and a coal power plant. Beijing has extended Sri Lanka a $1.3 billion syndicated loan and a $1.5 billion yuan-denominated swap to boost its reserves. The two countries are in talks for a $1.5 billion credit line and a fresh syndicated loan of up to $1 billion.

Colombo said this month that talks had started on refinancing Chinese debt after Sri Lanka suspended some of external debt repayments in April.

Acting on the Global Security Initiative to Safeguard World Peace and Tranquility Islamabad Wang Yi

Changes of the world, of our times and of history are unfolding today in ways like never before, posing challenges that must be taken seriously by humanity. At this moment critical to world peace and development, President Xi Jinping made a keynote speech entitled “Rising to Challenges and Building a Bright Future Through Cooperation” at the opening ceremony of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference 2022, and proposed for the first time the Global Security Initiative (GSI). This important Initiative gives explicit answers to questions of our times such as what security concept the world needs and how countries can achieve common security. It fully demonstrates President Xi Jinping’s concerns for world peace and development, his internationalist vision, and his leadership as head of a major country. It contributes China’s wisdom to the efforts of mankind in tackling peace deficit, and offers China’s solution to addressing international security challenges.

I. Understanding deeply GSI’s practical significance and its values to our times This major Initiative was proposed to meet the pressing need of the international community to maintain world peace and prevent conflicts and wars. Humanity has yet to emerge from the shadow of the pandemic, and the Ukraine crisis is already wreaking havoc. Various traditional and non-tradi-

tional security threats keep flaring up. Peace and development, the theme of our times, is faced with severe challenges. President Xi Jinping noted that peace is the ever-lasting wish of our people. Human history has proven time and again that without peace, development will be like water without source; without security, prosperity will be like trees without roots.

The GSI is an effort to stand up to the changes of the world and answer the questions of the times. Building on the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security, the GSI seeks to promote the establishment of a balanced, effective and sustainable security architecture. It thus offers a new approach to eliminating the root causes of international conflicts and achieving durable stability and security in the world.

This major Initiative was proposed to meet the common aspirations of all countries to uphold multilateralism and international solidarity. The world today is facing unprecedented risks of division. Some countries, stubbornly clinging to the outdated mindset of Cold War confrontation, are obsessed with building exclusive, small circles and blocs.

They pursue unilateralism in the name of multilateralism, use double standards while touting their own rules, and practice hegemony under the guise of democracy. These acts have seriously undermined the international security order and aggravated the deficit in global security governance.

President Xi Jinping pointed out un-

equivocally that the Cold War mentality would only wreck the global peace framework, hegemonism and power politics would only endanger world peace, and that bloc confrontation would only exacerbate security challenges in the 21st century. The GSI is rooted in true multilateralism. It calls upon all countries to abide by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter and reject the obsolete mentality of zero-sum game and bloc confrontation. It advocates the win-win mindset to address the complex and intertwined security challenges, and champions the spirit of solidarity to adapt to the profoundly changing international landscape. It has provided a new approach for improving global security governance.

This major Initiative was proposed to meet the shared desire of all peoples for working together to overcome difficulties and build

a better world beyond the pandemic. At present, global economic recovery remains sluggish, compounded by rising inflationary pressure and multiple crises on the financial, trade, energy, food and industrial- and supplychain fronts. However, certain countries wantonly impose unilateral sanctions, exercise long-arm jurisdiction, insist on building “small yard, high fence” or “parallel systems”. They overstretch the concept of national security to hold back economic and technological advances of other countries.

This has worsened the livelihoods of people all over the world, particularly those in developing countries. President Xi Jinping observed that countries around the world are like passengers aboard the same ship who share the same destiny. For the ship to navigate the storm and sail toward a bright future, all passengers must pull together. The thought of throwing anyone overboard is simply not acceptable. The GSI echoes and reinforces the Global Development Initiative (GDI) proposed by President Xi Jinping last year. It accords with the trend of the times featuring peace, development and win-win cooperation, and represents a coordinated approach to safeguarding traditional and nontraditional security. It aims to seek the biggest common denominator and the widest converging interests in the international community, and to provide new support for countries in boosting livelihoods and development.

Getting a good grasp of the logical system and theoretical innovation of the GSI

The GSI is a complete system with rich meaning. It is the important fruit of applying Xi Jinping Thought on Diplomacy to the field of international security. It also improves and goes beyond the Western theory of geopolitical security. The GSI is underpinned by “six commitments”, namely, staying committed to the vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security; staying committed to respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all countries; staying committed to abiding by the purposes and principles of the UN Charter; staying committed to taking the legitimate security concerns of all countries seriously; staying committed to peacefully resolving differences and disputes between countries through dialogue and consultation; and staying committed to maintaining security in both traditional and non-traditional domains. These six commitments are interlinked and mutually reinforcing, including macro thinking of top-level design as well as methods and pathways for addressing practical issues. They form an organic whole of dialectical unity. The vision of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security serves as a guiding principle for maintaining world peace and tranquility. Since President Xi Jinping outlined this new vision on security at the Shanghai Summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in 2014.

State Councilor and Minister of Foreign Affairs

Monday, 9 May, 2022 | LAHORE

SPORTS 11

CoVId Curbs PusH CHIna off gLobaL sPortIng MaP BeIJING

C

AFP

HINA’S ambitions to be a global sporting hub took a heavy blow as the postponement of this year’s Asian Games further isolated a country already cut off by its hardline zero-Covid strategy.

The ruling Communist Party burnished its global image with an array of dazzling spectacles such as Beijing’s 2008 Summer and 2022 Winter Olympics, tennis and golf tournaments featuring all the world’s leading stars, and a showpiece annual Formula One grand prix.

The country also wants to host football’s World Cup. But with the exception of this year’s Winter Olympics — held in a virussecure, closed-loop Beijing bubble in February — the world’s most populous nation has cancelled or postponed almost all events since Covid emerged in Wuhan in late 2019.

The Olympic-sized Asian Games became the latest and biggest casualty on Fri-

day as organisers decided to delay the multisports extravaganza “after carefully considering the pandemic situation and the size of the Games”.

No new dates have yet been given for the continental showpiece, originally scheduled for September 10 to 25 in the eastern city of Hangzhou with around 10,000 athletes due to compete across 40 sports.

The World University Games due to begin next month in Chengdu were also postponed for a second time citing “continued uncertainty over conditions”.

They were part of a blitz of announcements on Friday as the Asian Youth Games were also cancelled, having been delayed once already, and two prestigious Diamond League athletics meetings later this year in Shanghai and Shenzhen were shelved.

China’s costly and labour-intensive Winter Olympics bubble — when participants took daily Covid tests and were not allowed to mix with the public — now appears to have been the exception rather than the rule, experts said.

Sport in limbo: The Winter Olympic Games “were a huge political priority and nothing was going to stop them”, said Mark Dreyer, author of “Sporting Superpower: An Insider’s View on China’s Quest to Be the Best”.

“The Asian Games are big, but not big enough,” he told AFP. Beijing maintained strict Covid measures including snap lockdowns, mass testing and lengthy quarantines to extinguish outbreaks even as other countries learn to live with the virus.

Event calendars will remain in limbo as long as China sticks with zero-Covid, Dreyer said. A revamped FIFA Club World Cup has already been suspended indefinitely, while big-ticket events such Formula One’s Chinese Grand Prix and ATP Tour’s Shanghai Masters tennis have fallen by the wayside since the coronavirus pandemic was declared in early 2020.

The World Golf Championships HSBCChampions tournament has not been held since 2019, when won by former world number one Rory McIlroy.

Stringent conditions leave any visiting athletes facing multiple Covid tests, difficult entry rules, reduced flights and potentially long isolation periods if they test positive.

Beijing has maintained that its Covid policy has saved lives, and one Chinese expert told AFP he saw “no problem” with the country continuing to bid for major tournaments. “Once the pandemic has been brought under control, these events will be great spectacles,” he said, requesting anonymity to speak freely.

“It’s very good that the government controls outbreaks so strictly. If other countries don’t get it, that’s not our problem.”

UniqUe reStrictionS: But Dreyer argued uncertainty over Beijing’s Covid policy may force some to reconsider their China ties. “Nowhere else has these restrictions,” he said.

“At what point do sporting bodies say: ‘Sorry, no, you can’t just keep postponing these events, because Covid’s not an excuse’?”

Global sports organisations have closely

courted China in recent years, eyeing the revenue to be made from the country’s vast market. Influential Chinese sports blogger Du Liyan said the notion that foreign sports capital would abandon the country was “not very realistic”.

“China’s market is still quite large, and its sports industry is still in its infancy and showing considerable growth,” he told AFP. But foreign sports organisations have also faced headaches in China as political rows have diverted from the sporting agenda.

The Women’s Tennis Association pulled out of the country last year following sexual abuse claims by Peng Shuai against a former top Communist Party politician.

And the hugely popular NBA was frozen out after a team official tweeted support for Hong Kong democracy protesters in 2019.

Those problems are creating a “perfect storm” for disengagement with the Chinese market, according to Dreyer, adding: “China is seen increasingly as not worth the trouble.”

Imam-ul-Haq dubs Australia’s home series as ‘huge learning curve’ for him StAff RePoRt Pakistan opening batsman Imam-ul-Haq opened up about his experience of playing against Australia and termed it as a ‘huge learning curve.’

While speaking in a video posted by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on their YouTube channel, Imam admitted that Australians gave Pakistan a tough time.

“The Australians gave us a tough time in Test cricket and played great cricket and as a cricketer, I learned a lot being subjected to relentless pressure,” he said.

Imam enjoyed a good run against the Australian side as he scored 370 runs in three Tests with two back-to-back centuries as he finished the series as the

4th highest run-scorer of the series.

The left-hander added that Australia’s tour is beneficial for Pakistan cricket as it will help while convincing other top nations to visit Pakistan.

“When more and more topsides will visit Pakistan, it will be an opportunity for individuals as well as a team to enhance their skill set.

During the ODI series, Imam continued his spectacular form as he scored 101,106 and 89* in the three respective ODIs. Speaking about his consistency, Imam said that domestic cricket also helped me tremendously.

“I have been working really hard on my game in the nets and in domestic cricket and reaping the results now,” he concluded.

Too early to talk about international Test comeback, says Mohammad Amir NewS DeSk

Virat Kohli registers third golden duck in IPL 2022 NewS DeSk Former Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Virat Kohli has bagged his third golden duck in the 2022 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). His latest slump came against Sunrisers Hyderabad as RCB took the field at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The 33year-old has been in horrendous T20 form as Kohli has only managed 216 runs in 12 matches at an average of 19.63 and a strike rate of 111.34. Kohli, however, did manage a half-century against the Gujarat Titans but his knock came in a losing cause. His innings was met with a lot of criticism due to his indifferent strike rate in the encounter.

Left-arm pacer Mohammad Amir has refused to rule out an international Test comeback but remained hesitant while speaking about it, saying that he is focusing on “enjoying the red-ball cricket.”

Amir last featured for the Pakistan Test side back in 2019 and has not represented his country in any format since retiring from international cricket at 28.

The left-arm bowler recently joined Gloucestershire after his compatriot Naseem Shah was ruled out due to an injury. His debut went unnoticed as he remained wicketless as the match ended in a high-scoring draw.

Amir stepped up his game in the following match against Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl as he claimed wickets of James Vince, Nick Gubbins and Aneurin Donald. The pacer ended up picking 3/57 in 26 overs in the first innings, followed by 3/33 in the second innings.

“I am playing after three years, so it isn’t easy as a fast bowler,” he told the ECB Reporters Network in Southampton.

“I didn’t play any first-class cricket in the last four years, but I am getting better after the first game and just trying to help the boys and do well for them,” he added. “As a bowler, it is my duty to bowl well and lead from the front, so that is what I’m trying to do.”

Mohammad Amir has featured in various leagues across the globe following his retirement. He has kept

himself match fit even if it meant playing a small Ramadan tournament.

“It is too early to talk about a Test return. You never know and things can be changed but for now I’m enjoying playing for Gloucestershire,” he said on whether he would consider reversing that decision and returning to Test cricket.

“After recovering from the side strain in the PSL, I was training and feeling so good and thought why not give a chance to red-ball cricket,” he explained. “I think I am getting better and on the right path now. I am enjoying red-ball cricket. For now, I’m only here for three games and afterwards I’m planning on going to the Caribbean Premier League.”

Hamilton relieved as Mercedes regain some form MIAMI AFP

Lewis Hamilton admitted to relief and said he and Mercedes would ‘keep chipping away’ to recover lost speed after he qualified sixth on Saturday for the Miami Grand Prix. The seven-time world champion had missed out on a top ten start at last month’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix and praised his team for their hard work in attempting to improve their new car.

“That’s the best qualifying session that I have had in the last three races,” he said. “So I’ll take that and keep pushing and keep working hard. “We’ve got to keep on chipping away. So much amazing work has gone on in the background. “I don’t think we are necessarily moving forward at the rate we would like to, but we have just got to keep our heads down and keep working and eventually we will get there.” Team-mate George Russell, who was fastest in Friday’s second free practice session, was unable to reproduce that pace as the team continued making set-up changes in search of a major performance improvement. “I’m a bit confused to be honest,” he said, having qualified 12th. “The car was bouncing a lot more again. “My qualifying lap was slower than the one I did in second practice yesterday. We just didn’t attack any of the corners. There was potential in there, we saw that yesterday. “We were really quick, but it was massively away from us today. It’s all a bit inconsistent to be honest. When we get it into the window, it’s fast. “Yesterday, it looked like we were in the fight for pole, but today we were 12th so it doesn’t really make a lot of sense.” Mercedes, winners of a record eight consecutive constructors championships in Formula One, have struggled to be competitive with their new car this year after the introduction of new regulations.

Ons Jabeur sharpens quest to inspire more Arab women to take up tennis PARIS AFP

Ons Jabeur’s long-stated goal is that her historic exploits on court lead to more Arab women taking up tennis — becoming the first Arab player to win a Grand Slam in next month’s French Open final would do wonders to achieve that.

The 27-year-old Tunisian became a front-rank contender for tennis’s greatest prize on clay with her gutsy three-set victory over American Jessica Pegula in Madrid on Saturday. In doing so the engaging and highly expressive Jabeur wrote another piece of tennis history.

Her 7-5, 0-6, 6-2 victory made her the

first Arab or African woman to win a WTA 1000 title.

Her title in Birmingham last year was the first for an Arab woman player on the circuit and she is the first Arab player — man or woman — to crack the top 10.

Indeed she will return to her previous highest ranking of seven on Monday.

With a tour-leading 12 victories on clay so far this season — and with Australia’s world number one Ashleigh Barty having retired — the omens seem positive for her.

However, she has another glass ceiling to crack in reaching the last four of a Grand Slam for the first time — so she has two quarter-finals to her credit in Australia in 2020 and Wimbledon last year.

Jabeur — the junior champion at Roland Garros in 2011 — is, though, armed with a powerful weapon apart from her strokeplay.

“Definitely all those matches I’ve won on clay will give me a lot of confidence,” she said as she absorbed her Madrid victory.

“When you’re confident like that and you win a lot of matches, I think I should take this opportunity to go, like, really forward and win.”

Jabeur admits to not watching much tennis when she was growing up and it was her husband Karim Kamoun who was more “obsessed by Roland Garros.”

‘All owed to her’: Kamoun was on hand in Madrid — he planted a kiss on her cheek courtside after her triumph — as were

her siblings and the head of the Tunisian tennis federation to see her momentous win.

Jabeur welcomes such attention but she would like to see more company in the locker room on the tour as Arab female players have been a rarity. Her compatriot Selima Sfar

reached a career high of 75 in the world in 2001 but there was little progress for other Arab women players until Jabeur came on the scene. “Being the only Arab is not easy to be on tour right now,” she said at Wimbledon last year. “I just want to say if I did it (succeed on tour), it’s not impossible. Like I said before, I always try to inspire other generations.”

Jabeur’s favourite player of all time is America’s three-time Wimbledon finalist and 2003 US Open champion Andy Roddick — but it is Morocco’s four-time Grand Slam quarter-finalist Hicham Arazi who has been her role model. Jabeur said just as Arazi inspired her, so she hopes she can do the same for Arab women. “Honestly, he really inspired me, and I am trying to do the same here,” she said.

Monday, 9 May, 2022

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No early electioNs without coNseNt of all coalitioN parties: pM shehbaz LAHORE

s

Staff RepoRt

PEAKING to a select group of newspapers’ editors and senior journalists here at the PML-N secretariat in Model Town, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that there was no proposal under consideration for early elections and any decision in this regard would be taken in consultation with all allied parties of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

Flanked by Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, Finance Minister Miftah Islamil, Railways Minister Khwaja Saad Rafique and others, Shehbaz Sharif, when asked to comment on the statement of former interior minister Sheikh Rasheed about the possibility of turning the PTI Long March bloody, said that if the march remains peaceful then the government had no problem.

“If there is any indication of incitement to violence or bloodshed, law will take its due course ” he added.

To a question regarding the end of tenure

of Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa, due to retire in November, and selection of next army chief Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said that it was premature to discuss the matter at this time.

Speaking on the matter of issues faced by the media industry, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb said that the system would be upgraded to resolve the billing issues of the print media industry.

“We will assure press freedom. As soon as we found out about FIA’s SC appeal against IHC’s decision on the PECA ordi-

nance, it was taken back” she added.

Finance Minister Miftah Islamil, commenting on the state of the economy said that the outgoing regime of PTI had rendered a huge blow to the country’s economy and Rs 118 billion per month had been lost due to capping the oil prices, while is takes Rs 40 billion per month to run the government.

He said that he had also taken notice of mismanagement of wheat and three million tons of wheat would be imported to help stabilise the prices of wheatflour.

“Pakistan was exporting wheat when we

Forensic audit of CPEC projects during PTI rule angered China: PM

left the government in 2018. Three and a half years of PTI’s government’s mismanagement and incompetence has forced us to become importers of wheat”, he added.

This was the last and fourth meeting in a day that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had held with various members of the media on Sunday, ranging from media representative bodies such as the Council for Pakistan Newspaper Editors, Editors of various newspapers, electronic media anchors to bureau chiefs and beat reporters of various media houses.

first Na session following set up of coalition govt under pM shehbaz today Staff RepoRt

LAHORE Staff RepoRt

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said that his predecessor Imran Khan ruined the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project and added that forensic audit of the CPEC projects carried out by the PTI-led government angered the Chinese authorities.

He made these remarks while speaking to a delegation of the Council of Pakistan Newspapers Editors (CPNE) here on Sunday. During the meeting, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb, Secretary Information Shahera Shahid, Principal Information Officer (PIO) Mobashir Hasan and other officials were present.

CPNE delegation included president Kazam Khan, Ayaz Khan, Yousaf Nizami, Irshad Ahmad Arif, Aamir Mahmood and others.

CPEC remained dormant during most of the time of the previous government but lately there had been some progress after the last political regime brought in Khalid Mansoor as special assistant to the PM on

CPEC affairs.

Pakistan could complete only three China-Pakistan Economic Corridor projects in Gwadar having value of over $300 million, as one-dozen schemes costing nearly $2 billion remained unfinished including water supply and electricity provision, according to the CPEC Authority.

PM Shehbaz in today’s media interaction expressed his resolve to effectively work over the CPEC and Riko Diq projects. He also reaffirmed resolve to maintain ties with all the brotherly nations and other countries on basis of mutual respect and mutual interests.

Press freedom: Speaking about challenges to press freedom in the country, PM Shehbaz reiterated that his government had no intention to put any restriction on freedom of media and expression.

The prime minister also assured that journalists would be provided with best possible protection against unwarranted actions under the PECA ordinance and other related laws.

He said that the ministry of law had already been tasked to review the PECA ordinance.

pM gives directive to expedite relief operation after glacier outburst flooding in hunza NEwS DESk Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday ordered emergency measures to contain the damage caused by a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) from the Shisper Glacier in Hunza a day ago. Hunza’s Hassanabad bridge on the Karakoram Highway was swept away on Saturday by flooding which originated from the Shisper glacier. Dramatic footage on social media showed a large wave of water sweeping away a chunk of the bridge as onlookers ran for safety. The outburst of the ice-dammed lake formed by the surging Shisper glacier also submerged houses, hundreds of kanals of agricultural land, trees, water supply channels, and two hydropower projects. The flooding disconnected road access between central and upper Hunza, leaving thousands of people, including tourists, stranded on both sides. In a statement issued today, the prime minister ordered authorities to ensure the protection of lives and property of people and their evacuation to safer places.

Praising the CPNE role for the freedom of media, strengthening of democracy, and evolution of democratic institutions in the country, the prime minister said that the government was keen to engage constructively with the CPNE and other media representative bodies for the protection of the rights of journalists and promotion of responsible journalism in the country.

economic challenges: The prime minister said that the government was taking all possible measures to ensure power generation and its supply, so that public woes could be addressed.

The previous government had doubled the country’s debt during the last four years rule which had made the lives of poor miserable, he said, adding that they were making efforts to provide basic necessities of life including flour, health treatment and medicines at subsidised rates.

He regretted that during the previous government’s rule, special arrangements were not made at PKIL like facilities for giving free-of-cost treatment to the poor and deserving patients.

The prime minister stressed upon the solidarity of the nation to resolve the current economic challenges for the welfare of the people and said that holding of a long march – announced by deposed PM Imran Khan – in this situation amounted to uncalled for and creation of fissures among the nation.

He observed that electoral reforms were a must for holding of transparent elections in the country.

Politics of religion: Lethal tug-of-war over the religion card NEwS DESk Allegations of blasphemy have rendered every place from Pakistan’s courts and universities to police stations, factories and worship places a potential ‘crime scene’. Given how sensitive and inherently emotive the issue is for a significant segment of the populace, the threat of death extends beyond prisons and the gallows for those accused or convicted. It waits for them in the streets and the open markets, often before a judicial process can even begin.

Despite the utmost sensitivity that the issue should be handled with, the use of the ‘religion card’ has been seen in Pakistan’s political arena for some time now.

The use of hate speech to incite populist sentiment, even violence, against one’s political opponents has become just another tool for political leaders to settle scores. Re-

ligiously and politically, things are often blown out of proportion and misrepresented without context to sway the public opinion back towards one’s own camp. Tragically, this approach persists even though the bigwigs of various political parties have paid the price for standing up against religious intolerance.

In the on-going tussle between the ruling party and its ousted predecessor, a dangerous precedent is being set. When a crowded mobbed and hurled slogans of ‘chor, chor’ (thief, thief) the members of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s delegation at Masjid-e-Nabvi – one of the most revered sites for all Muslims – the supporters of the ruling party accused the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf of orchestrating the incident. This, they charged, was tantamount to committing blasphemy by completely disregarding the respect for the holy site.

Khan vows to gather two million people in Capital city after May 20 ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman and former prime minister Imran Khan on Sunday vowed to bring at least “two million people” to Islamabad as part of his long march plan after May 20.

Addressing a huge public gathering in Abbottabad, Imran Khan claimed that more than three million people will march on Islamabad when he will give the protest call to the nation after May 20.

He also said that the MPs who were elected on reserved seats and “sold” their loyalties to the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) government should be “thrown in jail”. An MP who has a constituency can argue that the PTI was unpopular in his area and therefore he had to

abandon ship,” he said while speaking to a gathering of Punjab MPs in Islamabad.

“That is still understandable [but] how can someone go [to the other side] on a reserved seat? They have clearly sold their conscience. They should be ashamed […] they should be sent straight to jail.”

Khan began his address by paying tribute to the efforts of the lawmakers “fighting till the last ball” in the Punjab Assembly. “I went to meet Asia [Amjad]. She seemed better. She is still unable to speak but she is okay otherwise, thank God,” he said.

Asia was rushed to a private hospital in Lahore last month after her health deteriorated and was treated for a blood clot in her brain. The PTI had claimed that the lawmaker was “tortured” by the police and PML-N “goons” during the chaos that took place at the Punjab Assembly on April 16,

when the election for the chief minister was held. The PTI chairman recognised the fact that even though Amjad was unable to speak when he visited her, she was full of passion.

“All of you went through a test and your performance was excellent — some were outstanding even,” he said, specifically mentioning the “Pindi team” and the performance of female lawmakers. “You have passed a very big test. And you have attained a special status in the party and in my eyes.” He went on to say that turncoats who had abandoned the party, after once making grandiose claims of being willing to render sacrifices, had forever humiliated themselves. “People will remind their children about what they have done.”

He went on to say that certain people had advised him buy loyalties of opposing lawmakers. “Our people told me that we can buy

their people. We need Rs1 billion and we can buy eight to nine of their people. I got such an offer,” he said, adding that several people were “ready” to provide the money. He said that those people who would contribute the money would then attach their hopes to earning that money back and that he would ultimately stoop to the level of other political parties. “What did this achieve? It brought about a revolution the scale of which none of you can imagine,” he said, adding that only time would prove it to be the biggest revolution in the country’s history.

Khan said that his political opponents and their “handlers” had thought he would lose steam after staging the rally in Lahore.

“I assure you that what I saw in Mianwali yesterday […] I have never before seen such a rally in Mianwali,” he said, referring to the rally held on Friday.

President Dr Arif Alvi, under Article 54(1) of the Constitution, has summoned the National Assembly session on the advice of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif at 4 pm on Monday. As per the details, the NA session will be held at Parliament House and Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf will preside over the session. It will be the first session of the House after the ouster of Imran Khan-led government. The agenda of the session has not been released yet but it is expected to be issued by Sunday (today) evening. It is pertinent to mention here that Speaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf will have to face the challenge of keeping parliament functional after the mass resignations of 123 PTI lawmakers. The speaker is likely to start the process of verification of the resignations submitted by PTI MNAs by calling them in his chamber individually or in the form of groups during the current session. At least two dozen MNAs belonging to the PTI had already reportedly approached him seeking a meeting to clarify their stance, the sources added. The sources further said that a majority of the resignations submitted by the PTI lawmakers were not handwritten and had a similar text printed on the party’s letterhead. Signatures of some members on the resignation letters did not match those on the assembly roll, the sources said, quoting the secretarial staff. Following the en masse resignation of PTI MNAs, the appointment of an opposition leader in the House will be another challenge before the NA speaker.

Govt to stop pti’s long march if it leads to bloodshed: Marriyum aurangzeb LAHORE Staff RepoRt

Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb on Sunday announced that if the PTI’s planned long march to Islamabad leads to bloodshed, then the government will take measures to stop it. Her comment came in response to former interior minister Sheikh Rasheed’s statement when he expressed his fears that the PTI’s planned long march might get “bloody” and demanded the “powerful quarters” to intervene. Speaking during a press conference in Lahore, Aurangzeb criticised former prime minister Imran Khan and said that nothing is bothering him more than the fact that Shehbaz Sharif has become the country’s premier through a democratic process. “An incompetent, thief and corrupt prime minister was removed from power through a no-confidence motion,” said Aurangzeb, adding that his allies left him because he failed to fulfill his promises. She further said that Imran Khan, through his “independence march”, will not be able to distract the attention of the masses from the Farah Gogi corruption scandal. Addressing Khan’s alleged US-backed conspiracy which, according to him, led to his ouster from the government, Aurangzeb asked: “What kind of atomic bomb were you making that the United States felt threatened by you and sought to remove you from power?” “There was no conspiracy. Imran Khan is not sad about his ouster but he cannot tolerate Shehbaz Sharif replacing him,” she said, adding that Shehbaz did not get a single vote from a “turncoat” to become the premier.

Published by Arif Nizami at Qandeel Printing Press, 4 Queens Road, Lahore, for PT Print (Pvt) Limited. Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965. Email: newsroom@pakistantoday.com.pk