Epaper – November 12 LHR 2021

Friday, 12 November, 2021 I 6 Rabi-us-Sani, 1443 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XII No 134 I 12 Pages I Lahore Edition

Troika Plus mooT urges Taliban To Pursue ‘moderaTe’ Policies g

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expresses concerns over deepeninG humanitarian crisis in afGhanistan Group also meets afGhan actinG fm to discuss conclusions of its meetinG; Get perspective of afGhan interim Govt

ISLAMABAD mIaN abrar

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aKistan has agreed to continue practical engagement with the taliban government to encourage the implementation of moderate and prudent policies that can help achieve a stable and prosperous afghanistan on a priority basis. the meeting was attended by foreign secretary sohail mahmood, pakistan’s ambassador to afghanistan mansoor ahmad Khan, pakistan’s special representative to afghanistan muhammad sadiq, us state department’s special representative and deputy assistant secretary for afghanistan thomas West, russia’s special envoy for afghanistan Zamir Kabulov and china’s special representative for afghanistan, Yao Jing. trioka plus also met with the afghan acting foreign minister to discuss the conclusions of trioka plus meeting and hear perspective of the afghan

Coalition partners expressed reservations on electronic voting: Rasheed

ISLAMABAD INP

a day after the government put off today’s joint session of parliament within 24 hours of its summoning after struggling to ensure the presence of the required number of members, minister for interior sheikh rasheed ahmed on thursday said members of the ruling coalition had expressed reservations over the proposed elec-

toral reforms bills. the bills pertain to the use of the electronic voting machine (evm) and the introduction of ivoting for pakistan nationals living abroad in the next polls. speaking to the media, ahmed said keeping in view reservations of the allies, the joint sitting of the parliament was postponed by the government. on the revocation of the ban on the tlp party, the minister said he was in favour of negoti-

ations with the radical group from day one. he added he is not aware of the contents of the latest agreement between tlp and the government and will know its details only when the government decides to make it public. expressing his views on the t20 World cup, ahmed said his final was on the day when india was thrashed by pakistan. “But i pray for pakistan’s victory against australia,” he added. providing details of development work in rawalpindi, ahmed said in a short span of time, three women’s colleges were established in the city. special attention was paid to girls’ education in rawalpindi and we planned for 20 years ahead and constructed three universities and seven colleges. the backdoor lobbying of the government led by prime minister imran Khan has reportedly failed to garner the support of parliamentarians over the electronic voting machine (evm) bills that pakistan tehreek-i-insaf (pti) was set to table, said sources. according to the insiders, the lobbying with the government bloc to seek support for the bills, to be tabled by pti, have failed as muttahida Qaumi movement-pakistan (mQm-p) and pakistan muslim league-Q (pml-Q) have shared their reservations.

LAST UPDATED AT 7:38 AM ON NOV 11, 2021 coronavirus in CONFIRMED CASES: DAY'S DEATH TOLL: NEW CASES:

1,278,751 PakisTan 9 637 RECOVERED:

1,226,906

SINDH:

PUNJAB:

ISLAMABAD:

KP:

BALOCHISTAN:

AJK/GB:

472,925 441,493

DEATHS: 28,575 178,846 33,368

107,223

34,498/10,398

interim Government. the development came as islamabad hosted a meeting of extended troika on thursday, comprising pakistan, china, russia and the united states. the forum discussed the latest situation in afghanistan at length, while the leaders met senior taliban representatives on the sidelines of the meeting. as per the joint statement issued after the huddle, the four participating states called on the taliban to work with fellow afghans to take steps to form an inclusive and representative government that respects the rights of all afghans and provides for the equal rights of women and girls to participate in all aspects of the society. those in attendance expressed deep concern over the severe humanitarian and economic situation in Kabul and reiterated unwavering support for the people of afghanistan. the troika welcomed the international community’s provision of humanitarian assistance to afghanistan and expressed grave concern at

the potential for an economic collapse and the worsening humanitarian crisis and a new refugee wave. it called upon the taliban to ensure unhindered humanitarian access, including by women aid workers, for the delivery of humanitarian assistance to respond to the developing crisis. the forum also acknowledged international humanitarian actors’ concerns regarding the serious liquidity challenges in afghanistan and committed to continue focusing on measures to ease access to legitimate banking services. the participants condemned, in the strongest terms, the recent terrorist attacks in afghanistan and called on the taliban to cut ties with all international terrorist groups, dismantle and eliminate them in a decisive manner, and deny space to any terrorist organisation operating inside the country. the participants reaffirmed their expectation that the taliban will fulfil their commitment to preventing the use of afghan territory by terrorists against its neighbours, other countries in the region and the rest of the world. called on the taliban to take a friendly approach towards neighbouring countries and to uphold afghanistan’s international legal obligations, including universally accepted principles of international law and fundamental human rights and to protect the safety and legitimate rights of foreign nationals and institutions in afghanistan.

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Friday, 12 November, 2021 | LAHORE

NEWS

InDIa sEnDs THousanDs MoRE TRooPs To oCCuPIED KasHMIR NEW DELhI

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NDIA has sent thousands more paramilitary troops into the occupied section of Kashmir, already one of the world’s most militarised zones, after a string of targeted killings in recent weeks, officials said.

New Delhi has for decades stationed at least 500,000 soldiers in the divided Himalayan territory, which is partially controlled by Pakistan.

“Around 2,500 troops have arrived and they were deployed all over Kashmir valley,” Abhiram Pankaj, a spokesman for the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), told AFP.

More were on their way to the territory, he added.

Around 5,000 extra paramilitaries in all were being deployed from this week, including from India’s Border Security Force (BSF), according to a police officer speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity.

Some of the troops are housed in

civilian community halls that have been fortified with new sandbag bunkers, reminiscent of the early 1990s when an armed freedom campaign against Indian rule was at its peak.

That campaign has significantly waned in the years since tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, were killed in the conflict. A dozen people have been gunned down since last month in what appeared to be targeted assassinations, including police, migrant workers from northern Indian states and local members of the Sikh and Hindu communities.

Pro-freedom groups, who have since 1947 fought for Kashmir’s independence or a merger with Pakistan, are claimed to be responsible for the attacks.

Some of those killed were accused by the Resistance Front, a local fighter group, of being in the employ of security forces.

Police and paramilitary troops in bulletproof gear and wielding automatic rifles have intensified frisk searches of residents, including children, on the streets.

Newly deployed troops are now visible around many new checkpoints set up in recent weeks across the main city of Srinagar. Muslim-majority Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947. Anger has simmered in the region since August 2019 when New Delhi revoked its partial autonomy and brought it under direct rule.

‘Show climate action, not just climate illusion,’ says climate minister GLASGOW Xinhua

Transforming the Diversity & Inclusion Landscape of Pakistan: KE Launches 2nd Cohort of ‘Roshni Baji’ Program KArAch pR

Building on the resounding success of the 1st “Roshni Baji” Women Ambassador Program, K-Electric today officially announced the launch of its second cohort comprising 60 women from different parts of Karachi on Wednesday. This initiative extends KE’s commitment to uplift its communities and empower residents through targeted investment and support at a grassroots level. Mrs. Reema Imran, the spouse of Governor of Sindh Imran Ismail, graced the occasion with her presence in the ceremony as the Chief Guest. She was also joined by senior leadership from the company including Sadia Dada - Chief Marketing & Communications Officer, Amer Zia - Chief Distribution Officer, Rizwan Pesnani - Chief Risk Officer, and Rizwan Dalia - Chief Peoples Officer and representative from FMO, Netherlands Development Bank, along with their Environment & Social Consultant. As an equal opportunity employer, KE has been inducting women from a diverse spectrum of ethnicities, educational backgrounds, and ages, entrusting them with the mission of continuing the momentum and engaging communities on a customer-centric vision.

DHQ Hospital Faisalabad Pr District Headquarter Hospital (DHQ) & Faisalabad Medical University has been operational since 1956 & 1975 respectively, comprised of 900 beds. Mr. Muhammad Ali Lodi, Head Operations handed over the donation to Dr. Sameena Jabeen, Head Medical Supplies DHQ Hospital Faisalabad on 22nd September, 2021. Mr. Muhammad Irfan Tariq-Head Corporate Planning, Mr. Muhammad Ashhad Khan-Sectional Head Corporate Affairs, Mr. Shahzad Hameed, Senior Manager Marketing Area Office Lahore & other officials of Pak Suzuki & Hospital also attended the ceremony.

Developed countries, which bear the historical responsibility for the climate crisis, should “show climate action, not just climate illusion,” Minister for Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam said.

“We come to this conference with a lot of hope that the countries who are responsible for this issue should bear up to their responsibility and assist countries like Pakistan to face up to the consequences which are not their own doing,” Aslam told Xinhua in a recent interview. Aslam made the remarks in Glasgow, Scotland as negotiators met for the second week at the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The minister said Pakistan, as a developing country, has contributed little to the world’s carbon emissions

but is facing the grave impact of climate change.

“We are a country which faces glacier melt. We face horrendous heat fears. We had the hottest place on Earth in Pakistan last year. And then in the south, we have the cyclones and the hurricanes which are coming with increased frequency and intensity,” he said. “They are impacting our economy, and they are hurting Pakistan’s development for the future,” he noted.

The minister pointed out that the rich countries — which built their wealth by burning fossil fuels and accounted most for the climate crisis — have failed to deliver their promise of $100 billion a year to help lower-income nations to tackle climate change by 2020, among other pledges.

“I think it’s really a shame that you have the hundred-billion-dollar pledge, and we have a decade of disappointment,” said Aslam, noting the pledge by the rich countries was made 12 years ago at the United

Nations climate conference in Copenhagen.

“Here we are standing in 2021. and It’s still not there. They are pushing into 2023, which I think is really not fair. It’s not equitable. And as I said, it’s really a shame that they have not been able to live up to this,” he added. As developed countries failed to honour their commitments, some developing countries are taking robust action with ambitious goals to cut emissions.

China has announced that it would strive to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.

Meanwhile, the country has also announced green action initiatives that encourage green infrastructure, energy, transportation and finance under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) framework.

Aslam praised the collaboration between the two countries on a range of projects involving hydropower and tree planting in northwest China’s Gobi deserts.

Senators stage walk out in protest to continued absence of Energy Minister, Secretary ISLAMABAD ahmad ahmadani

In a rare show of anger, the members of the Senate Standing Committee on Power on Thursday walked out of committee meeting in protest against the continued absence of Minister for Energy (Power Division) and Secretary (Power Division). Committee members were of the view that proceedings of the committee are fruitless without presence of relevant Minister and Federal Secretary. Even Committee’s unanimous recommendations have not been considered for implementation and there is no progress whatsoever. Such behaviour on part of Ministry amounts to disrespecting the august forum of the Upper House.

Meeting of the Senate standing Committee on Power was held under the Chairmanship of Senator Saifullah Abro here at Parliament House on Thursday.

Meeting commenced with consideration of the agenda item regarding the rehabilitation plan of de-licensed public

sector power generation plants and improvement of power generation plants of all GENCOs, along with Independent Inquiry Report of damage and repair of 747MW in Block-V in GENCO-II and detail of BODs of all GENCOs from 2002 till date along with their notifications and Cvs. At the outset of the meeting Chairman Committee questioned as to why the Ministry still has not presented the Independent Inquiry Report of damage and repair of 747MW in Block-V of GENCO-II, replying to which Ministry officials said that report will be presented in the next meeting of the committee.

Chairman Committee lamented the passive approach of the relevant corners in this regard and pointed out that officials have been saying the same thing from last three meetings that report will be presented in the next meeting after approval of BODs, but nothing has materialized in this regard till now. Chairman Committee further commented that “Someone has to be held accountable for incurring such a huge loss to national exchequer, We will not allow laying waste to Public money in such blatant manner”.

KP check post attack leaves soldier dead ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

A soldier was killed in an attack by unidentified militants in a tribal district of Khyber late Wednesday, police said. The militants attacked a check post of paramilitary troops Frontier Corps in Jamrud area of the district when soldiers were performing their routine security duty, the police said. The attack left one soldier killed, and the troops also retaliated, forcing the attackers to flee, the sources added. A search operation was launched in the area to arrest the fleeing attackers. No group or individual has claimed the attack yet.

Tayyip Erdogan Hospital Muzaffargarh

GDA Hospital Gwadar Pr GDA Hospital Gwadar has been operational since 2016 with mutual cooperation of Govt. of Baluchistan, Gwadar Development Authority & Pakistan Army. Mr. Sherjan, Owner of Suzuki Gwadar Motors, on behalf of Pak Suzuki handed over the donation to Col. Shoaib Asghar, CEO GDA Hospital Gwadar on 9th September, 2021.

Pr

Donation to Hospitals Pr In order to support Government continuous efforts to curtail & stop the spread of Corona virus in country & facilitate Hospitals, Pak Suzuki has donated COVID protection items (Protective suits, coverall,

masks, gloves, body bags, goggles, face shields, alcohol wipes, Dettol, sanitizers, etc.), medical items (Patients Bed side Monitors & Oxygen Cylinders) & AC standing units to three different Hospitals as per their requirement; all these three hospitals are providing free of cost medical treatment & has separate COVID treatment ward. Donation ceremonies were held as follows.

Tayyip Erdogan Hospital has been operational since 2018; it is consisted of 250 (expandable to 500 beds), working under the network of Indus Hospital. Mr. Muhammad Ali LodiHead Operations handed over the donation to Dr. Sheraz Hassan, Faculty Head Tayyip Erdogan Hospital on 22nd September, 2021.

Mr. Ikhlaq Ahmed Virk-Head Area Office Multan, Mr. Muhammad Irfan Tariq-Head Corporate Planning, Mr. Muhammad Ashhad Khan-Sectional Head Corporate Affairs & other officials of Pak Suzuki & Hospital also attended the ceremony.

CCoE to take up deemed duty’s collection, utilisation by refineries ISLAMABAD ahmad ahmadani

The upcoming Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE) meeting next week is likely to scrutinise details of audit regarding the collection and utilisation of billions in deemed duty from 2002 to 2020 by the five refineries of the country, Profit learnt on Thursday.

According to sources, the five refineries collected Rs237 billion on

account of deemed duty from 2002 to 2020 and utilised Rs199 billion on upgradation of their plants with BYCO as the only refinery which spent Rs15 billion more than its collection under the head of deemed duty during this period.

The Petroleum Division will present a summary of the audit details in compliance of a decision of the Cabinet Committee on Transport and Logistics (CCoTL). Sharing details, sources said that Pak Arab Refinery (PARCO) collected Rs76 billion and spent

Rs66 billion, Attock Refinery Ltd. collected Rs47 billion and spent Rs26 billion, National Refinery Ltd. collected Rs40 billion and spent Rs37 billion, Pakistan Refinery Ltd. collected Rs36 billion and spent Rs17 billion while BYCO Petroleum Pakistan Ltd. collected Rs38 and spent Rs53 billion during the said audit period. “Local refineries have made improvements in the product specifications of petrol and high speed diesel (HSD),” sources said.

In order to ensure supply of quality products to the consumers, the government has been constantly improving the desired specifications of refinery products to remain aligned with global refinery market as well as international quality benchmarks.

Improvement in product standards has led to the up-gradation of existing plants to remain commercially viable against the headwinds of import of oil products from the international market.

Friday, 12 November, 2021 | LAHORE

NEWS

TaLIBan REPLaCE sTaTuE oF HazaRa LEaDER In BaMIyan wITH QuRan ISLAMABAD

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HE Taliban have replaced the statue of a Hazara leader declared a national martyr by the former government with a replica of the Quran, Bamiyan residents said Thursday — a move they warned could trigger violence.

The original statue depicted Abdul Ali Mazari, a leader of the mostly Shi’ite minority killed while he was a prisoner of the Taliban

during their first stint in power.

The statue was decapitated by a rocket-propelled grenade soon after the Taliban returned to power in August, in an incident residents of the city in central Afghanistan blamed on the hardline Islamists.

The Taliban’s strict interpretation of Islam forbids the human form to be depicted in paintings and sculpture — and printed photographs in extreme cases. Many businesses have removed or covered up billboards and posters featuring people since

the group’s takeover.

“Yesterday, they completely removed the statue and replaced it with a replica of the Quran,” said Abdul Danishyar, a civil society activist in Bamiyan.

“They are trying to wipe out the history from Bamiyan, the people are going to react violently to this,” he told AFP. Mazari’s statue stood in Bamiyan’s central square, where the Taliban blew up two massive 1,500year-old statues of Buddha in 2001 — just before the US invasion that ousted them.

The square, named after Mazari, has been renamed “military street”, Danishyar said.

Abdul Ali Shafaq, a Bamiyan provincial council member, told AFP he would talk to Taliban officials and urge them to reverse the move.

“This is a very sensitive issue, it might trigger reactions,” he said.

“People in Bamiyan love Mazari, they were making a new statue to replace the partially destroyed one.”

Mazari, a fiercely anti-Taliban militia leader, was killed in 1995 after being taken prisoner by the Taliban. They

said they shot him after he tried to seize the gun of one of his guards while being transferred aboard a helicopter.

He was officially named a “Martyr for National Unity of Afghanistan” by ousted president Ashraf Ghani in 2016.

State-owned Afghanistan airline begins flights from Kabul to Islamabad ISLAMABAD ReuteRS

Pakistan cables awarded the Prestigious 36th Map Corporate Excellence award 2021 KArAchI pR

Pakistan Cables won the prestigious Corporate Excellent Award 2021 in the Cables and Electrical Goods category at the Management Association of Pakistan’s (MAP) 36th Corporate Excellence award ceremony held at a local hotel in Karachi. Mr. Fahd K. Chinoy, CEO Pakistan Cables Limited was presented the award by Mr. Shabbar Zaidi, former Chairman Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), who was the Chief Guest at the ceremony. The Corporate Excellence Awards was instituted by MAP in 1982 to recognize and honour companies in Pakistan that demonstrate outstanding performance, progress and enlightened management practices consistently.

swati appears before ECP in contempt hearing ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Minister for Railways Azam Khan Swati appeared before the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday to explain his caustic remarks against the body. The commission first served notice on him on September 16, asking them to provide within week evidence of the charges of “bribes and always rigging” the elections they had levelled against it and Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Sikandar Sultan Raja. In September, during a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs to discuss proposed amendments to the Elections (Amendment) Act, 2021, Swati came down hard on the agency and said it should be “set on fire” for making fun of the government and “ruining” the democracy in Pakistan. Responding to Swati, the ECP rejected his allegations and decided to demand evidence from him in this regard. The ECP members also expressed anger over ministers for accusing them of taking bribes. The allegations are baseless and unacceptable as the ECP is a constitutional department, they said. Today, a twomember bench comprising commission’s members Nisar Ahmed Durrani and Shah Mohammad Jatoi chaired the proceedings. Senators Mirza Muhammad Afridi, Ijaz Chaudhry, Waseem Shehzad, Saifullah Niazi, Minister of State for Information and Broadcast Farrukh Habib, and adviser to prime minister Shehbaz Gill accompanied Swati in a show of solidarity. A large number of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) members reached the rostrum during the hearing. The panel directed the party workers to stay away from the rostrum.

During the hearing, Swati’s counsel told the commission they did not receive a second notice and asked it to serve it on them again so they could respond to it. The counsel also urged the commission to not indict him and let him submit a reply to the show-cause notice at the next hearing.

The panel adjourned further hearing of the case until November 16.

Ariana Afghan Airlines is beginning regular twiceweekly services from Kabul to Islamabad, the state-owned operator said on Thursday, joining Kam Air which has begun flying five times a week between the two cities.

Ariana, which began regular services to Dubai this week, will operate flights between Kabul and Islamabad on Thursdays and Mondays, charging $400 from Kabul and $100 from Islamabad.

Earlier this week, privately-owned Kam Air started services five times a week to Islamabad as international air traffic gradually reopens following the Taliban’s seizure of power in Kabul in August.

The announcement from Ariana came as the Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi was visiting Islamabad for talks that are expected to cover issues including aviation links between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Some charter services have been flying to Kabul since the Taliban takeover but normally scheduled commercial flights had been suspended.

With an economy in deep crisis and continuing concerns about Afghanistan’s future under the Taliban, there has been huge demand from people wishing to leave Afghanistan, made worse by repeated problems at land border crossings into Pakistan.

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) suspended its charter service to Kabul from Islamabad last month, citing interference from Taliban authorities, who had warned the airline it should cut its ticket prices.

NCOC approves Sinopharm, Sinovac vaccines for children aged 12-17 ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

A National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) sub-committee on Thursday approved the Sinopharm and Sinovac Covid-19 vaccines for children aged 12 to 17 and will begin the rollout from November 15 — the second vaccine after Pfizer available for younger children in Pakistan.

“Now, these vaccines will also be available in addition to already-approved Pfizer” for children above 12, the body tweeted.

Vaccines for children have been seen as crucial for protecting kids from the virus as well as slowing its spread, in addition to reducing the social and educational effects of school closing and attendance — and related economic concerns, such as caregivers’ ability to work.

The advisers weighed the vaccines’ effectiveness, the social and physical effects of the pandemic, and

the potential risk of rare side-effects like myocarditis, a type of heart inflammation.

Several advisers repeatedly pointed to the importance of vaccinating children in order to reduce cases throughout the country. While it is not yet clear how well the vaccine keeps children from transmitting the virus, data among vaccinated adults shows this is likely, and reducing the number of overall Covid cases through vaccination would help reduce spread.

“Children likely play an important role in transmission, and vaccinating children can help reach herd immunity,” said William Gruber, head of vaccination development at Pfizer.

Earlier, Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar, who also heads the NCOC, said more than 50 percent of students between the ages of 12 and 18 nationwide have received at least one dose of the vaccine. “Total students vaccinated so far exceeds 5.5 million. GB leads the way with 68% and Punjab is second with 62%,” he tweeted.

Afghanistan ‘at brink of economic collapse’, warns Qureshi ISLAMABAD afp

Afghanistan is “at the brink of economic collapse” and the international community must urgently resume funding and provide humanitarian assistance, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi warned Thursday at a meeting with the United States, Chinese, Russian and Taliban diplomats in Islamabad.

Qureshi spoke at the opening of the so-called “troika plus” meeting, which included Thomas West, the new US special envoy for Afghanistan.

The delegates are also expected to meet later today with Taliban foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.

“Today, Afghanistan stands at the brink of an economic collapse,” Qureshi said in remarks opening the meeting, adding that any further downward slide would “severely limit” the new Taliban government’s ability to run the country. “It is, therefore, imperative for the international community to buttress provision of humanitarian assistance on an urgent basis,” he said.

That included enabling Afghanistan to access funds frozen by Western donors since the Taliban took control of the country in August, he said. Resuming the flow of funding “will dovetail into our efforts to regenerate economic activities and move the Afghan economy towards stability and sustainability”, Qureshi said.

Doing so would benefit Western countries also, he

argued in later comments to state media.

“If you think that you are far, Europe is safe and those areas you imagine will not be affected by terrorism, don’t forget the history,” he said. “We have learned from the history and we don’t want to repeat those mistakes made in the past.” Qureshi expressed confidence the engagement with the Taliban government would help consolidate peace and stability, promote sustainable economic development and help constrict space for terrorist outfits operating from and within Afghanistan.

The United Nations has repeatedly warned that Afghanistan is on the brink of the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with more than half the country facing “acute” food shortages and winter forcing millions to choose between migration and starvation.

The UN and its agencies must be urged to find ways to reach out to the common Afghan and help stabilise the situation, Qureshi said.

He said being the next-door neighbour, Pakistan had a direct stake in Afghanistan’s peace and stability.

“With a shared heritage and history, we consider every ethnic community of Afghanistan important in the final destiny of the country,” he added.

“Located next door, we have borne the brunt of four decades of conflict and instability in the shape of refugees, drugs and terrorism. We see the current situation as an opportunity to end the prolonged conflict.”

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The mainly Shi’ite Hazara community, which makes up about 10 per cent of Afghanistan’s nearly 38 million people, has long been persecuted by Sunni extremists, such as the Islamic State group, in a country torn by ethnic and religious divisions.

P&G Extends Partnership with HoPE with us$100,000 funding KArAchI pR

Procter & Gamble (P&G) has announced extension of its Gender Equality initiative, with Health Oriented Preventive Education (HOPE) for women's skill development and girls' education. The programme, with a funding of US$100,000, reinforces the Company’s commitment to contribute towards the economic empowerment of women in the country. The launch of this program with long-term NGO partner HOPE was announced three years ago in 2018, which included establishment of 7 vocational training centers and provision of quality secondary education to women and girls in semi-urban and rural areas. During the last three years, more than 11,600+ against a target of 10,000 were reached. Additionally, P&G partnered with UN Women to provide over 100 women with skill development and financial literacy training, enabling them to set up smallscale business ventures in Sialkot. An evidence-based research study was also conducted, aimed at promoting women entrepreneurship and documentation of genderresponsive procurement practices in the country. Speaking on the occasion, Adil Farhat, Chief Executive Officer P&G Pakistan, said, "We have extended cooperation with longterm partner HOPE to reach out to more women in marginalized communities to ensure that women and girls have equitable access and opportunity." Commenting on the partnership Dr. MubinaAgboatwalla, Chairperson HOPE, said, "This program, in collaboration with P&G, came into being to support this kind of empowerment. With the setup of 6 vocational training centers, many women and girls in areas such as Badin, Sujawal, Thatta, Gadap, Ghagger, Muzaffargarh and soon Muzzaffarabad, learn skills that provide them with a chance to have a brighter future."

Friday, 12 November, 2021 | LAHORE

04 NEWS

Saudi arabia To ‘Soon’ TranSFEr CaSh aSSiSTanCE To PakiSTan: naWaF al-Malki ISLAMABAD

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AUDI Arabia will soon disburse cash deposit to Pakistan under the pledged financial assistance after approval of the Royal Court and signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in a few days, Saudi Ambassador Nawaf Bin Said Al-Malki said on Thursday.

“This will be soon InshaAllah. There will be the agreement from the Royal Court and the MoU will be signed in a few days for

the payment, and also for the deferred oil payment [facility],” the Saudi envoy said in an exclusive interview with APP, during his visit to the headquarters.

Saudi Arabia had recently announced to provide Pakistan $3 billion as a cash deposit with the State Bank to address its balanceof-payments crisis. Also, the Kingdom had pledged a one-year deferred payment facility for the import of oil, worth up to another $1.2 billion.

Ambassador Al-Malki said the government of Saudi Arabia considered Pakistan as “a dear country” with a very deep and strong

Sony cuts PlayStation 5 production outlook due to component snag NEW YORK agencieS

Sony Group Corp has reduced its PlayStation 5 production outlook for this fiscal year due to component and logistics constraints, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday. The company has cut down the number of PS5 units assembled for the fiscal year to about 15 million, from its previous target of 16 million units, the report added, citing people familiar with its operations. The development comes amid a global shortage of semiconductors which is impacting companies including Sony. Sony did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment. In October, the conglomerate – spanning areas such as entertainment, sensors and financial services – said it was on track to sell 14.8 million PS5 consoles this financial year, a target that takes into account the global shortages. Gaming firms’ earnings were hit last year by stay-at-home demand during the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, sliding PlayStation user numbers have stabilised, Sony’s finance chief Hiroki Totoki said, as the company approaches the year-end shopping season. Separately, Sony is partnering with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) to build a $7 billion chip plant in Japan. Construction of the factory, which local media said last month would supply semiconductors to Sony’s image sensor business, will begin in 2022, with production slated to begin at the end of 2024, the companies said in a press release.

relationship. He said Saudia Arabia always stood with Pakistan and extended support to it on multiple occasions, adding that the relationship with Pakistan was regardless of any government in power.

“Our connection is with the Pakistani flag and we consider it our brotherly country,” he said, adding that he saw a “very bright future of Pakistan”.

The Saudi ambassador mentioned the camaraderie between the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and Prime Minister Imran Khan and expressed confidence that the relationship would strengthen

Elon Musk sells $1.1 billion in Tesla shares NEW YORK agencieS

Tesla CEO Elon Musk sold approximately $1.1 billion in shares of his electric car company, after indicating over the weekend he would sell 10 percent of his stock based on the results of a Twitter poll.

However, the sell was put in motion on September 14, according to documents filed Wednesday, meaning it was not spurred by the survey’s outcome.

Musk, the world’s richest man, sold about 930,000 shares on Monday, a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission financial regulator showed.

On Saturday, Musk polled his more than 62 million Twitter followers about whether he should sell 10 percent of his Tesla shares, insisting he would do as voters say. The people voted “yes.”

The electric car maker’s query followed a proposal by US Congressional Democrats to tax the super wealthy

more heavily by targeting stocks, which are usually only taxed when sold. Following the poll, Tesla’s share price plunged Monday, meaning the 50-yearold entrepreneur sold his stock at a significantly lower price than if he had sold it before his tweet, losing tens of millions of dollars in unrealized profit.

in Pakistan, said the people of the country were very friendly and deserved a lot of good in their lives.

From the JF-17 fighter aircraft to the thousands of factories in Faisalabad, he said, there were a lot of positive things to be proud of and thus shown to the world as the image of a ‘real Pakistan’. He wished Pakistan the best of stability, progress, and prosperity.

Earlier, the Saudi ambassador in a meeting with Managing Director APP Mobashir Hasan discussed ways to strengthen cooperation, especially in terms of media and people-to-people contacts.

in the future.

In three years, the six visits of PM Imran Khan to the Kingdom reflect the level of relationship, he added.

The Saudi envoy said Pakistani people loved the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from the core of their hearts and held in high esteem the Custodian of the holy mosques.

Asked about the scope of collaboration between the media of the two countries, he said the role of media was “very important in bringing the nations closer”.

Ambassador Al-Malki, who in a few months is completing eight years of his stay

Musk still holds more than 170 million Tesla shares, according to the SEC documents, worth a total of $183 billion at Wednesday’s closing price. On Monday, the Tesla founder excercised 2.15 million stock options, buying the securities at $6.24 each — less than one percent of their current value.

Japan’s Subaru unveils first all-electric car, developed with Toyota TOKYO agencieS

Japan’s Subaru Corp on Thursday unveiled it first all-electric vehicle (EV), the Solterra, the result of a two-year joint development project with its biggest shareholder Toyota Motor Corp. The sports utility vehicle (SUV) launch comes amid accelerating demand for EVs as nations around the world tighten environmental regulation to cut carbon emissions. Toyota last month announced its version of a battery electric vehicle (BEV), the bZ4X. The technological shift away from internal combustion engines poses a challenge for smaller carmakers, such as Subaru, that are less able to fund expensive development of EVs. At the same time, its an opportunity for top-tier automakers, such as Toyota, to draw smaller rivals closer. Toyota, a pioneer of hybrid electric cars but a late comer to the full EV market, plans to have a line up of 15 BEV models by 2025.

Engro Fertilizers Partners with Punjab Government for “Grow More Wheat” Campaign KARACHI PR

Gifts sent by foreign governments, reps belong in museums: IHC ISLAMABAD Staff RePoRt

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) said the gifts received by the government officials from foreign governments and their representatives ought to be displayed in a museum instead of secreting their details.

In September, the Cabinet Division challenged in the high court an “illegal” order of the Pakistan Infor-

mation Commission (PIC) seeking details of the gifts presented to Imran Khan after he became the prime minister — an act dubbed stonewalling by many.

Government ethics rules mean the prime minister, ministers and special advisers must declare gifts received above a certain value — and pay for any of the gifts they wish to keep.

The high court had also questioned the government’s reluctance to disclose

details of the presents the prime minister received from world leaders after assuming office in August 2018.

During a hearing of a petition seeking the disclosure of gifts presented to Khan on Thursday, the court said displaying these presents in the museum will lead to the “public happiness”.

As the additional attorney general, Qasim Wadood, sought more time, the petitioner urged the

court not to delay the proceedings.

“If more time is given in the case then the petition will become ineffective,” he said. “Do you think the gifts will be sold by then,” Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb asked the petitioner.

The judge said the case will not become ineffective even after the premier is gone because this issue concerns everyone, including ministers and civil servants, not just one person.

Engro Fertilizers, Pakistan's premier seed-toharvest solutions provider, has conducted a series of farmer seminars to support the Government of Punjab’s “Grow More Wheat” initiative for enhanced food security and farmer productivity in the country. The seminars, organized in Sargodha, Gujranwala and Kabirwala, were graced by Syed Hussain Jahanian Gardezi, Minister of Agriculture Punjab, as the Chief Guest. The events were attended by more than 2000 progressive farmers, dealers and other important stakeholders related to the agricultural sector.

Under the “Grow More Wheat” campaign, Engro Fertilizers is supporting the provincial government by training farmers in the best crop and fertilizer management practices for increased productivity and profitability. This will, consequently, encourage farmers to increase wheat cultivation area in the country and ensure sufficient wheat stocks for greater food and nutrient security of Pakistan.

Court orders to declassify Noor murder footage ISLAMABAD agencieS

Additional District and Session Judge Islamabad seized with the Noor Mukadam murder case has ordered the investigation officer to unseal the CCTV footage and give copies to the lawyers representing Zahir Jaffer and his parents, Asmat and Zakir Jaffer.

Judge Atta Rabbani said the decision to hand over the video footage, wherein Noor could be seen entering the house where she was murdered, was taken on directives of the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

In the same footage, Noor Mukadam could be seen running towards the main gate of the house barefoot in a bid to escape; however, the gate was shut on her by the gatekeeper who was reportedly told by Zahir to keep her confined.

Earlier, the investigation officer in

the case, Inspector Sattar, had filed an application in the court seeking permission to unseal the footage. The court granted the request and ordered for the footage to be unsealed.

On Wednesday, the court had told Public Prosecutor Hasan Abbas to relay it to Investigation Officer (IO) Abdul Sattar Khan to make five separate copies of the CCTV footage and hand them over to the lawyers of the suspects at the next hearing on November 12. Earlier this week, the defence was provided with copies of the transcript of the footage. A brief transcript of the CCTV footage of Noor Mukadam murder, which has been provided to the defence lawyers, has disclosed harrowing scenes.

According to the transcript, the time of the DVR camera, from where the footage had been accessed, was 35 minutes ahead of the local standard time.

According to the description, Noor

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could be seen entering the house of Zahir Jaffer, the prime suspect, at 10:18pm on July 18 while talking on the phone. As she entered the house, watchman Iftikhar could also be seen in the video footage.

Then, Zahir Jaffer and Noor Mukaddam could be seen exiting the house at 2:40am with bags and then re-entering it after keeping them in a taxi.

In another clip, Noor Mukadam could be seen running towards the main gate of the house barefoot and desperately before watchman Iftikhar shut the gate at her.

According to the transcript, Zahir Jaffer appears at the gate and grabs the victim, who pleads to let her go. Zahir Jaffer drags Noor inside the house and at 2:46 am, both were seen leaving the house in the taxi, parked outside the house.

At 2:52 am, they both return and enter the house with the bags they had earlier kept in the taxi while the watch-

man Iftikhar could be seen opening the gate for them. At 7:12 pm, Noor could be seen jumping off the first floor and falling on the grill of the ground floor with her mobile phone.

Then she hobbles towards the main gate, but the watchman and another man, who was later found out to be the gardener, closes the door before Zahir Jaffer, who could be seen jumping from the terrace of the first floor and running, grabs her.

He could be seen locking the victim in a cabin built inside the house and then opening it and snatching the victim’s mobile phone. Then, the suspect dragged her inside the house. At 8:06pm, a five to six members team of Therapy Works could be seen entering the house at 8:42pm and attempting to enter the house.

The Therapy Works team could be seen coming out of the house with an injured person at 8:55pm.

Friday, 12 November, 2021 | LAHORE

USA tOP exPOrt deStInAtIOn Of PAKIStAnI PrOdUCtS In 4MfY22: rAzAK ISLAMABAD

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DVISER to Prime Minister on Commerce and investment, Abdul Razak Dawood on Thursday said that the United States of America (USA) had remained the top export destination of the Pakistani products followed by China and United Kingdom (UK) during the first four months of financial year (4MFY22).

In a tweet in this regard, he said that exports to the USA during July-October FY22 were recorded at $2,080 million against the exports of $1,558 million during July-October FY21, showing growth

of 33 per cent.

This was followed by China wherein Pakistan exported goods worth $935 million against the exports of $514 million last year, showing an increase of 82 per cent.

“Similarly, UK was at third top export destination, where Pakistan exported products worth $742 million during the months under review against the exports of $669 million during last year, showing growth of 11 percent,” he added.

The adviser said that the country’s total exports stood at $9.44 billion during the period under review as compared to the exports of $7.57 billion during the corresponding period last year, showing an increase of around $2 billion.

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Car prices jacked up as rupee value, freight charges change ASSEMBLERS HAD SLASHED PRICES ON VARIOUS LOCALLY-ASSEMBLED CARS AND SUVS AFTER ANNOUNCEMENT OF FY22 BUDGET Barely four months after the government announced a a cut in duties and taxes in the federal budget FY22, auto makers have issued new prices as assemblers blame rising freight rates, container shortages, expensive raw materials and falling rupee against the dollar for the latest increase. It may be recalled that auto assemblers had slashed prices by Rs62,000-400,000 on various locallyassembled cars and SUVs. According to a report

by Dawn in this regard, Lucky Motor Corporation Limited (LMCL) increased prices ranging from Rs228,000-500,000 on locally-assembled and imported vehicles. The same day, prices of Toyota vehicles were increased by Rs140,000-580,000.

Similarly, Honda Atlas Cars Limited (HACL) has announced a price hike of Rs130,000-485,000 on different models of City, Civic and BR-V. The newly-launched Honda City price had also been increased by Rs130,000-195,000. The report claimed that Regal Automobile Industries Limited (RAIL) has planned to jack up prices by Rs200,000-400,000 on different models this week while other assemblers are also flexing their muscles to pass on the impact to consumers.

Earlier in August, Changan Pakistan, a Master Group company, had increased prices but had to suspend the price hike after the government intervened. Monitoring report

Minister for Planning, Development, and Special Initiatives Asad Umar on Thursday announced that a new industrial zone would be created in Islamabad.

The decision was taken during a meeting between the Planning minister and a delegation led by Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) President Muhammad Shakeel Munir.

The minister said the existing in-

ISLAMABAD Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Thursday that the Indian government was “losing the battle of hearts and minds” in occupied Kashmir.

Addressing a press conference alongside Special Envoy of the Organisation of Islamic Council on Jammu and Kashmir Yousef Aldobeay, who is on a six-day visit to Pakistan along with an OIC delegation, Qureshi added: “And you have witnessed in the neighbouring country to the west what happens when one loses the battle of hearts and minds.”

Replying to a question, the foreign minister said he was a seeing a change in the people of Indian-occupied Kashmir.

The Indian government, he said,

Services Int’l Hotel privatisation in final stages, Privatisation Commission told ISLAMABAD

dustrial areas in the capital need to expand to generate economic activity and employment, adding that the new zone would also help increase revenue and generate precious foreign reserves in the shape of exports.

The minister said being the capital, a model Industrial Estate was the need of the hour in order to showcase industrial development in the country for foreign visitors.

The ICICI representatives conveyed their views regarding the establishment of the new industrial zone to the federal minister and discussed the

key features of the project in detail.

Welcoming the newly elected ICCI delegation, Asad Umar said that the provision of electricity, gas, water, and other basic amenities would be ensured in the new zone.

He said that this project would be a source of employment not only for people of Islamabad but also for the citizens of areas adjoining Islamabad and would be helpful for industrialisation as well. Further, the meeting also discussed developing the project under a public-private partnership (PPP) structure.

‘India losing battle of hearts and minds’ in occupied Kashmir, says FM Qureshi alongside OIC envoy staff report

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staff report

New industrial zone to be established in federal capital: Asad Umar ISLAMABAD

NEWS

had created an impression that the situation was normal again in the valley.

“But the way they snatched [late Hurriyat leader] Syed Ali Shah Geelani’s body dispelled that impression,” he said, adding that had the Indian authorities not imposed restrictions, “a sea of people” would have been witnessed at Gilani’s funeral. “It would have reflected the sentiments of the people, contrary to the Indian government’s narrative.”

And so, Qureshi added, the Indian government lacked the courage to let it happen. “They were worried.”

Giving the example of the Indian authorities slapping sedition charges on Kashmiri students after they celebrated Pakistan’s win in the T20 World Cup match against India, Qureshi said the incident showed that the “paths of the people and

government of occupied-Kashmir were different”.

OIC DeLegAtIOn’S repOrt: Qureshi also announced that Pakistan would be hosting the upcoming session of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC’s) Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) summit in Islamabad in March 2022, where the Kashmir would come under discussion in light of a report prepared by an OIC delegation visiting Pakistan and Azad Kashmir.

Qureshi made the announcement at a press conference alongside Special Envoy of OIC on Jammu and Kashmir Yousef Aldobeay, who is leading the delegation, in Islamabad. The press conference was held after the delegation visited Azad Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday.

The privatisation of Services International Hotel is in its concluding stage whereas a meeting the authorities concerned was held on Thursday with the Punjab Cooperative Board for Liquidation (PCBL), National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) and Ministry of Commerce to finalise the said auction by fulfilling the remaining formalities. This was revealed during a meeting chaired by Federal Minister for Privatisation Muhammad Mian Soomro. As per the details, the federal minister was briefed about ongoing transactions and the possible dates of their completion with consultation with line ministries to remove bottlenecks for the sale of selected entities. A summary for the approval of financial advisors (FAs) to oversee the sale of the remaining 17 federal government properties would be placed before PC Board soon, the meeting was further told. The progress regarding House Building Finance and First Women Bank was also discussed. The meeting was told that the Ministry of Finance is leading the audit of the First Women Bank for the year 2018-2020 which will be finalised soon. For the privatisation of the Heavy Electrical Complex, a reference price would be placed before PC Board and subsequently to CCoP and federal cabinet. Soomro was briefed that the RFP for debt refinancing for the National Power Parks Management Company Limited (NPPMCL) has been finalised in consultation with stakeholders. The task of debt recapitalisation and refinancing is expected to be completed in three months after the approval from CCoP and Cabinet as well as the issuance of expression of interest (EOI) from NPPMCL. It was briefed that for the hiring of FAC for private sector participation in management of DISCOs, an advertisement has been published in national and international print media with the deadline set at November 30.

Pakistan ‘deeply concerned’ over deployment of additional Indian occupation forces in IIOJK ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is deeply concerned over the recent deployment of additional 5500 Indian occupation troops in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). “Indian occupation forces have unleashed unimaginable brutalities on the Kashmiris including inter-alia the use of pellet guns, extrajudicial killings in ‘fake encounters’, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, torture and custodial deaths,” says a statement issued by Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA). The statement said that Pakistan has already shared with the international community a comprehensive Dossier documenting Indian state-terrorism, widespread violations of human rights, war crimes and crimes against humanity in IIOJK. “The deployment of these additional troops in IIOJK – the world’s most militarized region with over 900,000 occupation forces already – will further brutalize the oppressed Kashmiri people. Equally reprehensible is the housing of Indian occupation forces in community centres, erection of additional bunkers in cities and daily aggressive and humiliating frisking of Kashmiri men and women,” the statement added. “Pakistan once again calls upon India to halt its barbarism and state-sponsored terrorism in the IIOJK, immediately cease human rights violations, lift the inhuman military siege and let the people of IIOJK exercise their right to self-determination as enshrined in the relevant UN Security Council resolutions,” it concluded. staff report

SBP autonomy issue stretches ambiguity over IMF programme The second round of dialogue between Law Minister Dr Farogh Naseem and International Monetary Fund mission chief for Pakistan Ernesto Ramirez Rigo for the revival of its $6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF) ended without the two sides being able to agree on the a new consensus draft of the State Bank of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill, 2021.

According to a report by the Express Tribune, Pakistan had proposed that the federal government would retain the right to set policy direction and give inflation targets to the central bank in a meeting held with the Fund on Tuesday.

Quoting sources present in the said meeting, the report says that the Finance Ministry on Wednesday gave the final read to its position vis-à-vis the SBP amendment bill while keeping in mind the discussions that took place with the IMF a day earlier, the constitutional requirements, and the prevailing legal framework.

The report claims that the draft bill, approved by the Cabinet, appears to be an attempt to consolidate power in the name of autonomy.

Furthermore, the report claims that government again told the IMF that it would retain the option to

borrow from the central bank, as it cannot afford to even default on local currency or let commercial banks exploit it. But the IMF mission chief was not ready to accept this change.

It claims that as the majority shareholder, the government also wanted to retain the finance secretary on the board of the central bank which it earlier had agreed to withdraw.

“The position will be shared with the IMF mission chief and on the basis of it a final meeting on the subject of the SBP bill will take place soon,” the report states. Monitoring report

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Too little too late?

Joint session postponed Is the government unsure of its numbers

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He sudden postponement on Wednesday of a joint session of Parliament, less than 24 hours before it was scheduled to meet on Thursday, indicates that the government had taken to heart its loss twice on Tuesday when it was narrowly defeated in two votes on private members’ bills. It also indicated that the government was unsure about who exactly had voted against it. The opposition did not muster an absolute majority against the government, but it seems that the government was no longer sure that it could ensure the passage of legislation in the joint session, as its Senators may well be skittish, and there is no certainty that they will vote thew party line.

The inability to identify those who switched indicates that both of two possibilities are open. First, that all the allies did not vote with the government. Second, that some of the PTI’s own members may have switched sides. neither of the bills voted on would have threatened the government, and indeed it is not as if the bills were passed; they were merely referred to committee. Still, that was a serious defeat, and might well have indicated that those made to support the government by those forces on which the government had learnt to rely to pull its chestnuts out of the fire, were no longer pressed. Those forces had not only given the PTI ‘electable’ candidates, but had delivered it its allies. In that case, the government would have had difficulty cobbling together a joint sitting majority.

The government has to undertake two things. First, it needs to work on its whipping. Of course, the whips cannot do their job of persuading members and allies to stay in line unless they know who voted against them.

Second, it should consider a departure. After all, though the only legislation that the government absolutely has to pass is the budget, which is not due until next June, but the government is now merely an executive, and lacks the ability to legislate.If it feels satisfied with holding office, it can carry on till then. However, there is now another danger: the opposition may bring a no-confidence motion.

In that event, even abstentions will count as votes against.

There can only be so many postponements. Sooner or later, the government will have to face its fears.

COP26 did not achieve international consensus on climate change action at Penpoint M a niaZi

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ne of the major dissonances manifest at the COP26 in Glasgow was that the heads of state present were dealing with a crisis that would come to a head when they would be either powerless or dead. It might be argued that the climate climate change crises has reached the stage it has because the people, taking decisions about it were mostly men deciding about things that would take place so far into the future that their own lifetimes would be seen out. even now, the commitments made at COP26 were such as to commit the future, not the present.

The commitment of Indian PM narendra Modi, who is today 71, was to bring India to zero emissions by 2050. When he himself would turn 100. It is not impossible that he would be alive at that time, but it is not that likely. Xi Jinping of China has committed to have China peak its carbon emissions by 2030, and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. While he would be 77 for the first goal, and probably still alive, and now that he has thrown Deng Xiaoping’s succession system out the window, in power, in 2060 he would be 107 for the second. That is an age that can be reached, but it will be uncommon even then. The US President, Joe Biden, is 78. That means he would be 137 by the time China becomes carbon-netral. It should be noted that that would break the current record for old age, but it is to be noted with concern that he made no commitment to the summit. Though his administration pushed through a spending bill with significant green components, his administration also issued 2500 new gas and oil It is perhaps no wonder that Greta Thurnberg, the Swedish activist is leading a movement which coordinated school strikes two years ago. Md Thurnberg was then 16, and is now 18. In 2060 she would be merely 57, and even in 2070, she would be 67, a tad younger yhan Modi is today, and than either XI or Biden. At that stage she could be a grandmother, and worried about the world those youngsters might be growing up in.

However, it should be remembered that while Modi, Xi or Biden will not see the consequences of global warming, Ms Thurnberg will. In a worse-case scenario, she might live to see the earth unliveable.

Oil and gas seem to be the problem, whether in developed economies like the USA, or developing ones like China. The whole world depends on burning huge quantities of fossil fuels for two purposes: generating electricity, and moving people and goods. He solution is to stop burning fossil fuels for both activities. That means converting to electric vehicles, and powering them, as well as all other electricity with re-

Talking to the TLP The crescendo of opposition is rising

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He government probably knew that it would have a hard sell in talking to the Tehreek i Taliban Pakistan. That might explain why it shrouded those talks in secrecy, to the extent that their taking place was mentioned by the Prime Minister while talking to a Turkish news agency, and why the recent briefing to the Parliamentary Committee on national Security was kept so hushush that no reporting was allowed.

However, this need for secrecy led the government to bypass Parliament, which led former Senate Chairman Reza Rabbani to burst forth on Wednesday, and demand that it be raised. Senator Rabbani’s saying that he government could not negotiate without permission from Parliament might represent too great an intrusion on executive prerogative to win universal approval, but it cannot be gainsaid that a thorough discussion in Parliament would provide the government an opportunity to lay out the reasons for such a negotiation, as well as lay out a roadmap of how it expects negotiations to proceed.

Or is this what the government is trying to avoid?

After all, the TTP is a notorious terrorist organization, and there are so many victims’ heirs who are still not reconciled with the TTP. One example is the APS victims’ families. The PM, it seems, is ready to appear before the Supreme Court rather than take the matter of talking to them to Parliament. even within Parliament, Blawal Bhutto Zardari is himself an example of a victim’s heir, for his mother, Benazir Bhutto, was assassinated by a TTP hit squad.

The government would find that whenever it goes into any negotiation, it would be strengthened by having the support of Parliament. Does the government feel that it will be unable to find such support for its position?

However, if it was obliged by circumstances to take a stance widely divergent from the will of the nation, it would behave as the government is doing now, and try to avoid taking the matter to Parliament. This is particularly suspicious, because the government can exercise much control over the direction such a debate takes.

The environment needs fixing DeeDar ali Bangwar

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lIMATe change can push the globe over the apex if the acute stage is not prevented.

As a warning multiplier, it can lead to poverty, insecurity, and a violation of human rights. Human action is altering the climate phenomenally and in periodically irrevocable ways.

A landmark study warns of increasingly drastic heatwaves, droughts, flooding, and a key temperature limit being smashed in just over a decade. A report entitled”Trajectories of the earth System in the Anthropocene” interpreted a threshold which, if crossed, could activate many tipping points and self-reinforcing feedback loops that would stave off stabilization of the climate, resulting in much greater warming and sea-level rises and leading to severe disturbance to ecosystems, society, and economics.

It illustrated this as the “Hothouse earth” scenario and suggested a threshold of around 2°C above pre-industrial levels, arguing that opinion taken over the climate of the planet for tens to hundreds of thousands of years and potentially even steering to circumstances which are inhospitable to current human societies. The percentage of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have been rising. And as those increase, we have an increase in temperature. In spite of these endeavours, the recent state of play is problematic.

The previous decade has been the warmest. notstanding an economic downswing owing to the covid-19 pandemic, the year 2020 was one of the warmest years on record. A disastrous climate catastrophe approaches, more massive than ever. Withstanding the brunt are poor nations and people as global warming endangers lifelines. The global surface temperature was 1.09°C higher than between 1850-1900. The past five years have been the hottest on record since 1850. The recent rate of sea-level rise has nearly tripled compared with 1901-1971. Human

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progress, if need be at any cost, was responsible for the pollution causing climate change. Such epidemics cannot be an acceptable cost of doing business, but they do serve to indicate that global warming is caused by industrial activity.

The COP26 has also led to another thing being realized: national sovereignty is a problem. The actions of one country affect all the rest. India and China might claim that the industrialized countries do not have the right to atop them following, and adopting their lifestyles. The West, it should be noted, does not talk about rolling back the lifesyles of their citizens, just finding wats it can continue while not disturbing the environment.

Mankind is already familiar with municipal laws forbidding illegal waste disposal. Dumping rubbish on the road is a criminal offence. What if that principle was applied to nations? The way The International Criminal Court uses to go after war criminals?

That would raise a host of questions, but a necessary consequence would be an end to national sovereignties. The ICC is also a manifestation of the limits of that view, because ultimately the concept of Westphalian sovereignty covers that of one group within a state massacring another, so long as it has control of the state. The idea of a majority being able to do what it wants to a minority was illustrated as recently as by Donald Trump, and earlier by Hitler (who was first elected to power).

Incidentally, this leaves the idea of democracy as a panacea for all evils in trouble, because it wants the popular will to be followed. But what if the popular will wants industrialization and progress. That brings up the dilemma of countries like Pakistan, which will be badly affected, as cities like Karachi go under water. However, no matter what they do, matters will not change, not unless China, India and the USA cooperate.

For Pakistan, the first is a good friend, the second an existential threat, and the third a boss. Which can it persuade? Can any state in the Third World, including island-nations which may be flooded? Is COP26 too little too late?

It may act as a salve to world leaders trying to persuade younger voters of their concern, but they are probably not going to outlive the apocalypse that is looming.

influence is “very likely” (90 percent) the major driver of the global retreat of glaciers since the 1990s and the reduction in Arctic Sea ice.

The Un has since acted dynamically and mobilised combined struggles to cut emissions and switch to renewables and loosen up economic and technological assistance to emerging nations. Countries have enforced national plans, formed multistakeholder cooperations, and enlisted Un-led international partnerships for climate activity. The second report, the emissions Gap Report, discloses that “greenhouse gas emissions resumed to rise for third consecutive year in 2019” and the”short-term reduction in global emissions because of the covid19 disaster will not participate considerably to emissions reductions by 2030 unless countries pursue an economic comeback that involves powerful decarbonization.”

Climate action is seen to be a global responsibility, which can also indicate that it is no one’s responsibility. It does not support that the profits and outcomes from particular activities are observed to enlarge the wealth, at least in part to others. This is a

primary illustration of a catastrophe of the commons, whereby particular activities for individual profits, though harmless, add up to be destructive for all. like the problems of grazing and fishing which make pastures and seas contaminated and no longer right to strengthen cattle and fish.

Anybody can turn a blind eye to the weakening natural environment as they continue to get gains from high-carbon movements. local politics all over has eschewed estimations whose perceived advantages are partially not partly local. While international pacts have continued elusive the previous decades, people are extremely hopeful about the adoption of the environment. The agreement was made at the 21st conference of the parties (COP21) of the United nations framework convention on climate change in Paris in December 2015.

Behavioural change should enhance policy and technical innovations if we are to pursue tranquillity with nature.

Mankind is already familiar with municipal laws forbidding illegal waste disposal. Dumping rubbish on the road is a criminal offence. What if that principle was applied to nations? The way The International Criminal Court uses to go after war criminals?

The writer is a member of staff.

A danger for all

Dedicated to the legacy of late Hameed Nizami

Editor Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

newables, like solar and wind power, and hydel.

There are technical problems galore in undergoing these conversions. This is apart from the issue of how to pay for them, particularly since there are vast sums already invested both in fuel generation as well as transportation. Are those sums to be abandoned, or recouped? If the latter, how far can the world afford the delay?

Another thing which has not yet received sufficient attention, is how to scrub the atmosphere clean of the greenhouse gases that already are in it. Greenhouse gas emissions cannot just be left to end on their own, because though they will break down, the planet will be heated up, and experience the extreme weather that will make the planet, or rather large patches of it, too inhospitable for people to live in. emissions have to be controlled to a level that the planet can handle.

There are certain factors militating against this, such as the belief in infini material progress, and the ability of science to do anything, such as solve the technical issues that are involved. At the same time, there is a minority, rightwing, faction, which says the science of climate change is wrong, that the world can carry on in its profligate old ways. This view was best expressed by US President Donald Trump saying that climate change was a Chinese conspiracy meant to stop America from being great again.

The choice of China was not fortuitous. It reflected the reality that China was trying to supplant the USA as the workshop of the world, and in the process was indutrializing very rapidly. Though China is still an economy of the order of the USA, it has about four times the population. While the USA has industrialized, polluting the world in the process, China wants to, and finds restrictions on greenhouse gases irksome.

So does India. Both pollute like crazy, and want to pollute some more so that they can ‘catch up’.

It should be remembered that climate change is being blamed on colonialism. Colonialism did mean that indutrialisation, and the release of greenhouse gases, proceeded apace. Another consequence of climate change is the spread of zoonotic diseases, as viruses try to find other hosts, covid-19 being the worst so far, and probably not the last.

The clearing up of the air as the epidemic slowed down economic activity showed that the doctrine of

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reached

Anybody can turn a blind eye to the weakening natural environment as they continue to get gains from high-carbon movements. Local politics all over has eschewed estimations whose perceived advantages are partially not partly local. While international pacts have continued elusive the previous decades, people are extremely hopeful about the adoption of the environment. The agreement was made at the 21st conference of the parties (COP21) of the United Nations framework convention on climate change in Paris in December 2015

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

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Breast cancer awareness in Pakistan

The Latest on the 5th Generation Warfare Front Media and digitalisation savvy is essential KoMayel Hassan

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AKISTAn’S entering 5th generation warfare has exposed a number of weaknesses inherent to the state security apparatus. On a central footing, most of these failings stem from a fundamental misunderstanding of the modes of tactically conducting such skirmishes within cyberspace; shortcomings that continue to be exploited routinely by what is often construed as the ‘wily’ eastern neighbour.

Simply put, 5th generation warfare overtly relies on the public disseminating medium of the Internet to carry out its propagandist wares.

These tactical onslaughts are strategically subtle in their approach, cashing in on the target’s innate (subliminal) weakness at effectively discriminating between literature (TV, film, music, print media, and other popular culture artifacts) issues from its domestic discursive field and those intentionally perpetuated by an aggressing state bent upon changing the former’s perceptual narrative as espoused by both resident citizens as well as the members of the global polity.

Humanist discourse, when conflated insidiously with propagandist tinkering (as attested to by the lessons of the Cold War), wields a potent influence on the non-discerning and the impressionable. It tricks the human target’s psychological ‘soft spots’ into believing in the projected humanity of the perpetrator; endowing the latter with an additional layer of cognitive shielding in the eyes of the commoner.

During ‘hot’ warfare scenarios, which see heavy troop deployments in combat zones, this perceptual framework allows the issuing state to receive relatively little dissonance flak from outside purveyors of the conflict. These spectating bodies can be aid agencies and international relief effort concerns which, following effective initiation, would potentially be more easily swayed into adopting a strategic, aggressorsponsoring, course than in the opposite case (which would comprise no rendering of a similarly indoctrinating effort from any side).

Currently, one of the most effective strategies deployed by combat headquarters in both military and civilian intelligence quarters has to do with establishing thought leadership in all knowledge areas of popular national inquiry.

Practically, this entails government agencies compiling a list of strategically important semantic keywords from a number of well-frequented online forums and then producing expert content samples centered on their defining themes. The dialogical briefs employed in their crafting are geared towards narrative shifting/reframing, in a broad-based effort to steer the conversation within a specific locus and toward the pursuit of a decided endpoint.

These content forms encompass viral spread over all available digital propagation mediums; specifically those that receive significant visitor footfall within ever-shortened timespans.

Recently, the Inter-Services Public Relations

(ISPR) began to dabble in the media-fronted corollary of information warfare, a tactic enabled, in its efficacy, to a large degree by the persistent press and media censorship forced on private avenues of entertainment publication. An ARY Digital production titled Aik Hai Nigar, eponymously named after the current Surgeon General of the Pakistan Army (a three-star career officer), is the latest exemplar of this trend; showcasing the efficacy of the state media machine in communicating nationalistic tropes, often bared unapologetically; unconcerned with the expected dissecting takes of cultural theorists, for the consumption of unsuspecting audiences.

As a testament to the said telefilm’s impact, a recent poll conducted by Reuters Pakistan revealed a significant upswing in the number of intermediate students applying for preferential induction in the Army Medical Corps. And to add further insult to injury, when judged from the foe nation’s standpoint, even the Indian mainstream media picked up on the current; adulating the good general, the first Pakistani female to reach the coveted office, to its own propagandist detriment; fanning the flames of celebrity across borders.

The ISPR, in recent years, has also released a number of ‘patriotic’ clamour-songs, disseminated by force, in some instances, on the local (private) airways. As a countermeasure to the rising popularity of its initiated stratagems, the Indian side, capitalizing on its best resources (in line with historical precedent), has resorted to the arena of Bollywood film and song-making to check the one-sided tide. But this attempt, inspired as it is by patriotic design, has done little to foster much public endorsement to its open cause; mostly because of the narratological nature of the Indian media fraternity.

The average Indian, simply put, is more interested in taking stock of the fictional romanticization/ perpetrated by plot characters on a personal footing .typical of Bollywood productions than in absorbing the thrust of state machinations inherent to the same issues.

From the Pakistani side, however, this message-absorption disability provides little cause for complacent jubilation; because the enemy is still in charge of the offensive. So in order to address this concern, a number of local content pro-

duction agencies, euphemistically referred to as ‘Think Tanks’, have started orchestrating a wellformulated plan of virtual astroturfing based on digital marketing best practices. narrowly, a lot of their effort is presently vested into compiling lengthy lists of niche keywords with high search volumes and relatively little ranking difficulty; which are then meticulously seeped into publishings carried on popular digital news avenues.

So far, this occupation has borne a lot of low-lying fruit; with a number of international media outlets even carrying the same pieces for ‘authoritative’ current affairs explication on their platforms. The opposite side is still working on rebounding from these scores, which include such Pakistan-sided narrative scoops as the Cnn, ABC, nBC, and (surprisingly) FOX International ‘specials’, recently aired, on the Kashmir Issue, nuclear non-proliferation, the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, and ongoing Pakistan Gove r n m e n t - Te h r i k Takiban Pakistan talks, among the region’s other sociopolitically pressing affairs.

The continued success of Pakistan’s fifth generation warfare effort, if we are to be honest in our consideration, is predicated on the state’s continuation of a field-discerning policy tethered to constant targeting innovation.

These ends require both a knowledge-seeking and skills acculturation approach, to be fomented as part of the going disposition of field analysts and executives tasked with seeing to their fruition.

Overall, the endeavour requires an expansiveness of vision and understanding which is currently lacking in both military and elected government top cadres. So as a launch prescription, to channel progress in the right direction, a top-down organizational programme of strategic awareness comes highly recommended for initiation on a priority basis; followed by, in logical conclusion, an initiative of pragmatic feedback redressal.

Because it is (as they say) only after we get our own house in order that we can think of tarnishing the abode of the usurper. The homefront would be well advised to take this assessment under consideration; if it is indeed strategic thought dominance that is the endpoint here.

The endeavour requires an expansiveness of vision and understanding which is currently lacking in both military and elected government top cadres.

So as a launch prescription, to channel progress in the right direction, a top-down organizational programme of strategic awareness comes highly recommended for initiation on a priority basis; followed by, in logical conclusion, an initiative of pragmatic feedback redressal

The writer is a freelance columnist

PAKISTAn has the highest rate of breast cancer in Asia and latest demographic trends suggest that this rate is likely to further increase in the coming years. Diagnosis of breast cancer at an early stage has a significant impact on reducing both morbidity and mortality. Mammographic screening is also linked with a variety of socio-cultural and economic factors.

However, women in Pakistan tend to approach health facilities at the last stage of cancer due to plethora of socio-economic and cultural factors such as: age, employment status, lack of awareness, fear of surgery, and belief in traditional treatments, and spiritual healing.

In Pakistan, 89% of breast cancer patients are diagnosed at later stage and 59% at an advanced stage due to lack of awareness. The fear of stigmatization and feminine sensitivity limits the choice of treatment and early detection of breast cancer in low and middle income countries. In addition, physical barriers also become a source of psychosocial stress, as patients show hesitancy to undergo the exhausting screening and treatment process. In the context of Pakistan, only a handful studies have explored the reasons behind delay in cancer screening and treatment such as lack of awareness [18], poor socioeconomic status , availability and affordability of cancer medicine [19], and risk factors (exposure to hazardous industrial substances) There is a dearth of studies on the impact of socio-cultural beliefs and their impact on delayed breast cancer screening and treatment in Pakistan. A few studies have investigated the patient’s knowledge about breast cancer in Punjab, effects of social support in adjustments with breast cancer, handling and managing of breast cancer and delayed presentation of breast cancer.

In Contrast, present study has used qualitative method to explore the fears and barriers of diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. A unique feature of this study is to simultaneously unearth individual, sociocultural and structural barriers that prevent women to seek timely diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer in Punjab. It has explored the dimensions of breast cancer experience that are scant in existing literature.

Recently, the Supreme Court of Pakistan expressed grave concern about the high prevalence rate of breast cancer in Pakistan. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Pakistan is facing the lowest life expectancy rate in Asia, which is 67.48 years. On the other hand, our mortality rate is skyrocketing and the main cause for this is breast cancer among women. It accounts for 40,000 deaths along with a diagnosis of 90,000 new cases per year. Breast cancer is curable if diagnosed at an early stage and can be easily detected by routine examinations. Yet one out of nine women in Pakistan is suffering from this disease. This is because of a lack of awareness and stigma related to diseases associated with women.

Women are often unaware of the need for regular examinations and hesitant to get themselves examined.

Given the high prevalence of the disease, it is imperative that women are informed of breast cancer and prevention methods. Hospitals should collect data on the disease and the successes of treatments, which should be utilised in campaigns to raise awareness. Women should be encouraged to examine themselves whenever they detect any changes in their bodies.

There is an urgent need to destigmatise breast cancer because it has already risked the lives of many women. All relevant authorities and medical practitioners must come together to limit the spread and prevalence of breast cancer. An early diagnosis and effective treatment will also lift the burden of the medical system that is already under considerable strain due to several diseases.

NEElam YaSir Karachi

Water scarcity in Pakistan ReSIDenTS in north Karachi are faced with an acute water shortage because of which residents are required to purchase water through tankers. The tankers are costly and do not fulfil the water requirements of the residents.

One of the reasons for poor water supply is broken supply lines, which have reduced the flow of water to different parts of the city. The long transmission routes also cause disruptions in the supply as there are leakages and thefts, which account for a loss of almost 30% of the city’s water supply. The situation is further exacerbated by the poor performance of outdated and inefficient pumping stations. The water board should address this by refurbishing the pumping stations and installing new supply lines to ensure a smooth supply of water.

According to a recent report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Pakistan ranks third in the world among countries facing acute water shortage. Reports by the United nations Development Programme (UnDP) and the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) also warn the authorities that the South Asian country will reach absolute water scarcity by 2025. “no person in Pakistan, whether from the north with its more than 5,000 glaciers, or from the south with its ‘hyper deserts,’ will be immune to this [scarcity],” said neil Buhne, Un humanitarian coordinator for Pakistan.

Researchers predict that Pakistan is on its way to becoming the most water-stressed country in the region by the year 2040.

It is not the first time that development and research organizations have alerted Pakistani authorities about an impending crisis, which some analysts say poses a bigger threat to the country than terrorism.

In 2016, PCRWR reported that Pakistan touched the “water stress line” in 1990 and crossed the “water scarcity line” in 2005. If this situation persists, Pakistan is likely to face an acute water shortage or a drought-like situation in the near future, according to PCRWR, which is affiliated with the South Asian country’s Ministry of Science and Technology.

In the past, there was a crackdown on illegal hydrants to ensure an uninterrupted water supply. However, little has changed since. Some residents suspect that the water shortage is artificially created by tanker services for financial gains. If this is the case, then the relevant authorities should crack down on tanker mafias to make sure that water is easily available and accessible. Those involved in such malpractices must receive strict punishments and their services should be suspended. Despite several complaints against the inadequate water supply, the authorities have done little to address the concerns of the people. I want to urge all the relevant bodies to pay attention to this issue and resolve the water crisis at their earliest.

NiSar ahmEd Karachi

08 WORLD VIEW 12th November 21_Layout 1 11/11/2021 10:44 PM Page 1

Friday, 12 November, 2021

08 WORLD VIEW

LIke Reagan and goRbachev, bIden and XI can unITe When IT MaTTeRs sydney mornIng Herald

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MatthEw Knott

N June 1987, US president Ronald Reagan stood at the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin and issued what would become a famous demand of his Soviet counterpart, Mikhail Gorbachev.

“Secretary General Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and eastern europe, if you seek liberalisation, come here to this gate,” Reagan said. “Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”

Regan’s plea for Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall reflected his view that the Soviet Union (which he previously dubbed an “evil empire”) was a fundamentally despotic, totalitarian regime. The Soviet press agency TASS shot back, calling Regan’s Brandenburg address an “openly provocative, war-mongering speech”.

Six months later, Reagan and Gorbachev appeared together at the White house to sign the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, a landmark agreement that banned the coun-

BUT IT OFFERS RENEWED HOPE TO COUNTRIES AROUND THE WORLD THAT BIDEN AND XI WILL BE ABLE TO EMULATE REGAN AND GORBACHEV

BY WORKING TOGETHER ON THE DEFINING CHALLENGE OF THEIR AGE: STOPPING RUNAWAY CLIMATE CHANGE BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE tries from using nuclear and conventional ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometres.

The agreement showed that, even as the US and the Soviet Union remained fierce ideological and economic rivals, the Cold War superpowers could co-operate on a vital shared interest: preventing global nuclear catastrophe.

There were echoes of that breakthrough three decades later on Thursday (AedT) as today’s bitter geopolitical rivals, the US and China, issued a surprise joint pact on climate change.

Just days earlier, during his appearance at COP26, Biden had hit out at Chinese

Leader Xi Jinping for making a “big mistake” by bypassing the Glasgow summit.

That followed the infamous March meeting in Anchorage, Alaska, in which the top Chinese and American diplomats traded insults in front of the cameras. But, as with Reagan and Gorbachev, the confrontational rhetoric masked diplomatic progress behind the scenes. “Our teams have worked together for months and we have worked in good faith,” Biden’s climate envoy John Kerry said of the pact, in which China committed to cut methane emissions for the first time. “We have found common ground.”

Xie Zhenhua, China’s climate change

We don’t need Zuckerberg’s Metaverse MOST OF US ARE SO AWED BY TECHNOLOGY’S SCRAMBLING OF EVERYTHING THAT WE LEAN TOWARD PASSIVITY AS OUR LIVES AND BUSINESSES ARE UPENDED IN WAVES

Jerusalem post

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Dan PErrY

eBRANded Facebook’s proclaimed new focus on something called the Metaverse is fascinating because, unlike its other products, the concept seems psychologically unappealing and even likely to fail – except as a twist to the oldest profession. ever from the lofty heights of Start-Up Nation, a certain caution is advisable with tech prognostications. Most of us are so awed by technology’s scrambling of everything that we lean toward passivity as our lives and businesses are upended in waves.

With tech-related companies accounting for nearly 40% of the valuation of the S&P 500, there is a sense that they must know what they are doing. The innovations of recent decades are so logical and intuitive, yet the sages of tech were first to think them up. And once they did, the value was so obvious that adoption was on a planetary scale. email: even before the web, certain industries and universities became linked in networks that enabled the sharing of files. It is a short path to sending letters instantaneously and with no need to fold papers, lick stamps or wait days. People exposed to it (including me, as a 1980s computer science undergrad at Penn) knew snail mail would be dead.

Flat screens: They were possible since the 1960s but only became widely visible with the spread of certain laptops (journalists often used the Tandy model sold at Radio Shack) two decades later. Those who used them then knew: it would soon be sayonara to the boxy, flickering TV. Mobile phones: Why connect phones by a cable to a wall?

The idea becomes absurd once you have walkie-talkies with range. despite some strange early resistance in the United States, this was pretty clear by the early 1990s. e-commerce: Instead of searching shelves for a hard-tofind edition, online stores can have everything ever published, let you read bits and enable user reviews. The economics may have caused Amazon some delays en route to profitability, but for the consumer, since the late 1990s, it was a no-brainer.

Smartphones: If you’re going to carry a phone with a flatscreen and processor, and the Internet exists, then why should it be just a phone? The usefulness of what’s possible was staggeringly obvious since the moment Steve Jobs presented the iPhone in 2007.

Social Media: Facebook gives you a personal news service

to your friends; Twitter lets you send the world a searchable text; Instagram makes a global art gallery of your photo album; LinkedIn transforms resumes into public, mega-linkable yielders of professional relationship maps. It probably takes a genius to come up with these things – but not to identify the utility.

Streaming: Online audio-on-demand was widely possible since the late 1990s (Napster; torrents) but it so undermined the music industry that fusses ensued. With broadband and an adjusted business model, this extended to video and became legal. The 2013 release of house of Cards by Netflix made it clear: there’s no reason to be a slave to schedules anymore.

Virtual meetings: The modern economy connects workers from anywhere on the globe; you cannot congregate them all in an office. Nor is it needed when we have synchronous video calls. Offices are good for team-building and some tasks, but demand for them will collapse. COVId is just the accelerator.

All these developments were useful in immediately apparent ways (less apparent was the coming damage: the trashing of journalism; the amplification of dangerous lies; the exacerbating of humanity’s obsession with appearance).

Moreover, the network effect – whereby a service becomes better the more people use it – created an array of niche monopolies.

Now ask yourself whether you need to replicate our existing universe as a 3-d cartoon while wearing a headset. That is, essentially, Mark Zuckerberg’s Metaverse. It may be useful for gaming – a huge business to be sure.

Mainly it has limitless potential related to sex – an area in which the real universe comes up short for many people (observe what this did to Tumblr, OnlyFans and even Instagram).

Consider the failure of Second Life, an early version of what Facebook, rebranded as Meta, is trying to develop: its biggest success about a decade ago was probably the thriving kink scene in its virtual rooms.

Note the disappointing adoption of both virtual reality and 3d television. Most buyers of 3d TVs regretted the purchase about a decade ago, when there was a drive to market them.

Analyses tended to focus on implementation – clunky glasses, extra costs – but the demand for the content itself was not there.

These failures are all related, and the reason is psychological. A 3d experience takes over your consciousness and invades your personal space; it literally cannot be kept at arm’s length. even though many people turn to drugs to willfully lose control, most like their media and art experiences to be controllable. To be enjoyed, most art needs to be contained and contemplated. A 3d universe that takes over your brain may be immersive, but then again, a torture chamber is immersive.

Unlike Facebook, we do not need the Metaverse.

Some view Facebook’s rebranding as a ploy to draw attention away from its civilization-damaging algorithm embarrassments. But with the Metaverse gambit, one wonders whether the company is hoping to fail: to get the regulators off its back while its real business continues to dominate the planet like a digital Godzilla.

The writer, a technologist by education, is chief strategy officer at the digital engagement firm Engageya and managing partner of Thunder11, a communications firm with a tech specialization. Before that he was the top editor for the Associated Press in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. In the 1980s, he was among the first to develop and market multilingual words processors for personal computers.

envoy, said: “We both see the challenge of climate change is existential and a severe one. As two major powers in the world, China and the United States, we need to take our due responsibility and work together and work with others in the spirit of co-operation to address climate change.” The pact legitimises two key decisions Biden made after his election victory last year.

Firstly, to appoint Kerry (a distinguished former secretary-of-state and presidential nominee) to the new role of global climate envoy. And secondly, to attempt to isolate climate change from the fundamental complaints America has with China over trade

and human rights issues.

While Secretary of State Antony Blinken and national security adviser Jake Sullivan are required to juggle an array of competing priorities when it comes to China, Kerry has had a single-minded focus: identifying potential areas for co-operation on climate change. And he’s worked hard at it, travelling to China twice and meeting with his Chinese counterpart dozens of times in the lead-up to Glasgow. The language of the USChina “Glasgow declaration” is mostly broad and aspirational. It contains no specific new promises on emissions reductions targets or accelerated timelines.

But it offers renewed hope to countries around the world that Biden and Xi will be able to emulate Regan and Gorbachev by working together on the defining challenge of their age: stopping runaway climate change before it’s too late.

Matthew Knott is North America correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

Inflation is good for you DON’T PANIC OVER MILK PRICES. INFLATION IS BAD FOR THE 1 PERCENT BUT HELPS OUT ALMOST EVERYONE ELSE

Intercept

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Jon Schwarz

he top story on the New York Times website this morning is about inflation, and it’s scary: “Inflation spiked in October, sinking Washington’s hopes that price gains would slow down.”

The Washington Post led with a similar call for alarm: “Prices climbed 6.2 percent in October compared to last year, the largest increase in 30 years, as inflation strains economy.”

Television, which follows the lead of the Times and the Post as surely as death follows life, will now produce many more peculiar segments like CNN’s botched portrayal of the impact of inflation on a large Texas family that buys huge quantities of milk. Whenever the corporate media moves en masse like this, it’s a good idea to slow down and consider what’s actually happening, and why.

A panic about inflation usefully creates the conditions to weaken the power of working people. And what’s happening is this: The inflation freakout is all about class conflict. In fact, it may be the fundamental class conflict: that between creditors and debtors, a fight that’s been going on since the foundation of the United States.

That’s because inflation is often good for most of us, but it’s terrible for the kinds of people who own corporate news outlets — or, say, founded coal firms. And a panic about inflation usefully creates the conditions to weaken the power of working people.

Today’s stories were generated by the release of inflation numbers for October by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. BLS found that prices for all goods rose 0.9 percent in the last month. In other words, on average, products that cost $10.00 in September now cost a terrifying $10.09.

Also, overall prices are now 6.2 percent higher than they were a year ago. So something that cost $10.00 in October 2020 is now $10.62.

You’ll notice here that both the Times and Post were misleading about this. The Post headline — “Prices climbed 6.2 percent in Oc-

tober compared to last year” — makes it sound like prices went up 6.2 percent in October, i.e., in one month. The Times similarly has a graph with a label saying prices went up “6.2 percent in October.” That truly would be a problem.

Fortunately, that didn’t happen.

So why has inflation seized the imagination of the corporate press? It’s simple. First, inflation lessens the real value of debt. In 2020, American households had around $14.5 trillion in debt from their mortgages, credit cards, student loans, and other sources. Inflation of 6.2 percent means that the real value of that $14.5 trillion is now just $13.65 trillion in last year’s dollars.

In other words, the inflation over the past year has effectively transferred $850 billion in wealth from creditors to debtors. That’s a lot of money.

Most people are a mixture of creditors (e.g., you have a bank account) and debtors (you have a mortgage and student loans). But overall, this $850 billion has generated a big check written by the tippy-top of the income scale to everyone else. And as you’d expect, the people at the tippy-top don’t like this.

Second, inflation generally accompanies economic booms, when the unemployment rate is low and workers have the market power to demand higher pay.

That’s what’s happening now: As prices increased 6.2 percent over the past year, wages for regular people went up 5.8 percent. In other words, inflation barely touched their purchasing power. And with almost 300 labor strikes in the U.S. so far this year, workers are leveraging their power to demand better compensation at historic rates. So while inflation can be a significant problem for workers if they don’t get it back in higher paychecks, that seems unlikely today.

Then add to higher paychecks the fact that the median American recently had about $65,000 in debt. Inflation has reduced the real value of this debt by almost $4,000 over the past year. With that added to pay increases, most people have come out significantly ahead.

Put these two things together — lowered values for their assets and higher wages for workers — and you can understand why the rich people who run the U.S. absolutely detest inflation. however, there is one rock that can kill both these birds at the same time. The Federal Reserve can raise interest rates. This would slow the economy and increase the unemployment rate, lessening worker bargaining power. Less bargaining power would mean lower or nonexistent raises, which would eventually translate into lower inflation.

That’s what all today’s inflation panic is ultimately aimed at: creating an economy with higher unemployment, lower growth, and more frightened workers. Whether America’s creditors can make this happen remains to be seen, but we shouldn’t have any illusions about what they’re trying to do. And we definitely shouldn’t help them do it.

Friday, 12 November, 2021 | LAHORE

NEWS corporate corner POWER SUSPENSION SCHEDULES FOR 12th AND 13th NOVEMBER 2021 Islamabad: 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 12th November, from 09:00 AM to 02:00 PM, Fazal Ahmad Shaheed, New Chowah Feeders, On 13th November, from 09:00 AM to 02:00 PM, Race Course, Azizabad, People's Colony, Kamalabad, Radio Pakistan, Dhok Awan, Zaraj Housing Scheme, New Rawat, RCCI-1,2,3,4 & 5, Bank Road-2, City Center, Kashmir Road, New Rawat, Sihala, Kahuta City-1, Kambili Sadiq, Nara Motor, G-8/2, Lethrar, F-6 / 2, Waheedabad, Athal, Iqbal Town, SRD East, E-8 Navy, PHA-2, G-9 Express, H-8, NPCC, G-13/3, D-12/2, Shahpur, Pindi Point , Nimble, TDCP, Shahdara, Burma, EBlock, Sadiqabad, APHS, Liaquat Bagh, Sarafa Bazar, Rajaabad, Ali Market, Bani, People's Colony, Officer Colony, P&T Wani, Noon, BB Shaheed, Mall Road, Sir Syed Road, Rehmatabad-2, CBR-2, Mehboob Shaheed, Gulistan Colony, Humayun, Shahpur, Gulistan Fatima, Shah Jeewan, Ara Bazar, New Rawat, Sihala, Kahuta City-1, Kambili Sadiq , Nara Motor, Hamid Jhangi, Industrial, Sukho, Nishan Haider, CBR-2, Jalala, Nawababad, Kohsar Valley, Industrial, Aminabad, Shah Dir, Qaziabad, Ishtiaq Shaheed Ghor Ghasti, Shamsabad, Pindi Gheeb City, Mithial, Jhand I&II, Dharnal, Khor, Khandha, Gul Muhammad, Sajed Shaheed, Fateh Jang City 2-, Amjad Shaheed, F-7 Katchary, Abbaspura, Sanaullah Shaheed, CMH Jhelum, Puran, F-6 Machine Mohalla, Madukals, Mumtaz Shaheed, Padial, Industrial, F-9 Chak Daulat, Hamlet , Scheme One, Jarmut, Chappar Sharif, Kontrela, Smoot, Khairpur, Line Park, Megan, Sarpak, Latifal, Droghi Rajgan, Daulatullah, Sarkal, Hasil, Dharnal, Mort, Dhalar, Mugla, Timon Feeders, from 09:00 AM to 03:00PM, Bhikri, Line Park, Millat Chowk Feeder, from 08:00 AM to 05:00 PM, Jhang Feeder and surroundings will remain closed.

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. Pr

2000 Pakistani TVET Institutes to get International Accreditation under “VET Toolbox”

Islamabad: Country Head British Council, Mr. Amir Ramzan called on Federal Minister for Education and Professional Training, Shafqat Mahmood and briefed him about the first British Council’s project, “VET Toolbox” to support recently established National Accreditation Council for Technical and Vocational stream (NAC-TVs).

Mr. Amir Ramzan said that wages of Pakistani workers employed in international job market are lower than workers of other countries due to lack of international recognition of Pakistani Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) qualifications. This is an era of advancement and competition where many of employers look for skills for international standards. This funding instrument will play vital role in achieving the NAC’s objective to accredit 2000 TVET institutes according to the international standards. Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training, Shafqat Mahmood while appreciating the idea of “VET Toolbox” project said that it will not only pave the way to formulate accreditation related policies, devising and implementing comprehensive accreditation plan for TVET sector across Pakistan but also open avenues for developing linkages with international accreditation bodies. “The employment opportunities of Pakistani skilled workers will also be increased many folds in global job market, the minister said. “We are focused on imparting quality training to our youth which is the only way to guarantee maximum employability to our TVET graduates and the cooperation with the British Council will enable us to achieve the desired objective,” said Chairman NAVTTC, Syed Javed Hassan. Chairman NAC, Mian Waqas Masood presented six months performance report of NAC to the Federal Minister and highlighted that so far six TVET institutes have acquired the international accreditation. “The cooperation with the British Council will further accelerate the process of international accreditation, he said. The minister appreciated the efforts of National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC) and NAC to uplift the TVET sector of Pakistan in accordance to the vision of government and said the effective execution of the TVET sector policies will transform the skill development sector of the country. The Federal Minister, Shafqat Mahmood and the Federal Secretary, Ms. Naheed S. Durrani assured full support of Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training to NAVTTC and NAC in bringing the TVET sector of Pakistan at par with international standards. Pr

09

SENATE PANEL ExPRESSES RESERVATIONS OVER CONDUCTINg MDCAT ADMISSION TEST ISLAMABAD

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staff rePort

he Senate Standing Committee on National health Services, Regulations & Coordination has expressed its reservations regarding widespread complaints of discrimination and mismanagement throughout the whole process of conducting MDCAT admission test.

The meeting of the committee was held under the Chairmanship of Senator Dr. Muhammad humayun Mohmand at Parliament house.

At the outset, the Committee discussed the recently conducted Medical & Dental College Admission TeST (MDCAT), Testing agencies registration, selection, past experience and agreement / MOU signed by PMC with them.

The Committee members expressed their reservations regarding widespread complaints of discrimination and mismanagement throughout the whole process of admission test.

The President PMC briefed the Committee that the PMC Act, 2020 empowers the PMC to conduct the tests and the MDCAT test was conducted.

The reason to conduct the test through a computer based system was to ensure integrity and transparency of the exam. In addition the Council also directed the Authority to ensure that the MDCAT exam was offered internationally as a large number of Overseas Pakistanis applied for admissions each year and in the past they were permitted to use SAT II scores, however, with SAT II being discontinued and MDCAT being a mandatory requirement, it was essential to offer the exam internationally.

To conduct the exam through a computer based system for the first time in Pakistan and at such a large scale, the Authority worked to review all possible solutions to conduct the computer based examination.

In view of the above, the Authority initiated a review of the local market testing service providers to see whether a suitable partner could be available to the Authority for conduct of the examinations. In this regard, the public advertisement requesting proposals from interested parties was published on 4th May, 2021.

The minimum mandatory requirements were identified in the advertisement. A total of 12 companies submitted their proposals which were reviewed and SOAR education Private Ltd was approved for

the task to conduct the test.

The Committee members termed the system adopted by PMC for conducting the test as Discriminatory. Senator Rubina Khalid inquired about the rationale behind the decision to conduct the exam in 32 days.

Answering to which the President PMC said that logistical issues and non-availability of resources for conducting computerized exams in a single day has prompted us to take this exam over the period of 32 days.

Senator Rubina Khalid further said that if PMC did not have the required facilities and resources available then they should have gone with the previous system. “everything is being done in haste, System should be changed gradually, and these abrupt changes have disturbed the whole system,” she said.

Meanwhile, the Chairman Committee inquired the President PMC about how the system ensured the same level of difficulty for every student when the exam spanned over 32 days with different questions involved each day.

The President PMC stated that a panel of experts compiled a pool of questions with a certain percentage of both easy and difficult questions, which ensured that level of difficulty remains the same for students.

The Committee members were of the view that it is impossible to maintain the same benchmark while conducting a test, stretched over 32 days.

Senator Behramand Khan Tangi pointed out that MDCAT exam stretched over 32 days is in violation of PMC Act itself which clearly states that MDCAT will be conducted on a single day throughout the country. “either conduct the exam on a single day if not then the PMC Act needs to be amended” said Senator Behramand Khan Tangi.

Senator Dr. Zarqa Suharwardy Taimur commented that the intention behind conducting the computerized test seems right but the execution has been very faulty.

SAPM on NhSR&C Dr. Faisal Sultan defended the system employed by PMC and said that system may not be perfect but we have ensured the same level of difficulty for all the students.

“Our effort is that our children can face safe and competent doctors in future, ” he further said that this test is an attempt to incorporate critical thinking into the system.

INVESTITURE CEREMONY HELD AT AIR HEADQUARTERS

Islamabad: Operational and Non-Operational Military awards were conferred upon Officers, JCOs and Airmen of Pakistan Air Force in recognition of their distinguished services during an Investiture Ceremony held at Air Headquarters, Islamabad today.

Air Chief Marshal Zaheer Ahmed Baber Sidhu, Chief of the Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force was the Chief Guest at the occasion. During the ceremony, Air Vice Marshal Amir Shahzad, Air Vice Marshal Zubair Hassan Khan, Air Vice Marshal Salman Abbas Shah and 39 PAF officers were conferred Sitara-i-Imtiaz (Military). 36 Tamgha-i-Imtiaz (Military) and 06 Tamgha-i-Basalat (including 04 Shuhada) were also awarded to PAF Officers. 08 Junior Commissioned Officers of Pakistan Air Force were also conferred Tamgha-i-Khidmat (Military) Class-I. The decorations were awarded in recognition of acts of extra ordinary devotion to duty and outstanding contributions towards service.

A number of PAF high ranking officers and personnel were also present at the occasion. Pr

FBR Develops an Automated Facility in WeBOC to facilitate Businesses In the continuation of the ongoing drive for digitization, Pakistan Customs (FBR) has developed an automated facility in WeBOC System to enable the small and medium export enterprises to acquire imported input goods from a Common Export House for subsequent exports under the Export Facilitation Scheme, 2021. Common Export House is a warehouse authorized by the Collector of Customs for import, warehouse and supply of input goods without payment of customs duty, sales tax, federal excise duty and withholding tax, to the small and medium export enterprises, direct or indirect exporters or commercial exporters. FBR has already issued a procedure for obtaining authorization to operate as Common Export House vide SRO 957(I)/2021 dated 30th July, 2021. Public warehouses already operating under Customs warehousing rules can also apply to operate as a Common Export House, simultaneously. The newly introduced automated facility in WeBOC includes features of online application filing for authorization to operate as Common Export House, authorization of common export warehouse by the regulatory collectorate and filing of import Goods Declarations (GDs) of input goods by the authorized user of Common Export House as importer. This automated system will also facilitate supply of input goods to the SMEs and other authorized buyers within a period of two years from the date of importation. Pr

“We have enough candidates to fill 20,000 seats in our medical colleges. Over 68000 candidates have passed the exam which shows that the system is working. We have to correct our input so that 6 or 7 years down the line we have competent doctors available as per requirement”.

Senator Dr. Zarqa Suharwady Taimur maintained that “Change requires time. PMC should communicate with doctors around the country.

“They should be taken into confidence before taking such drastic decisions which affect the lives of millions. Doctors should be made part of the deliberations and that’s all they want. Sadly medical professionals have been left to protest on streets. Alternate avenues should be explored for candidates who do not make it to medical colleges. PMC should do something about them as well”.

The Chairman Committee sought details of extra marks given to candidates in MDCAT for wrong questions which were included in the exam.

President PMC replied that an extra mark for each wrong question has been allotted to candidates.

The Committee members expressed serious reservations on this and were of the view that this policy of awarding extra marks to candidates is discriminatory.

The Chairman committee remarked that even if a single mark is important, students either get or are denied admission based on a single mark.

The Committee members questioned PMC officials regarding the National Licensing examination introduced by PMC. The Committee members were of the view that PMC should make a database of valid medical colleges and display the list on its website so that parents and students can get guidance before taking admissions abroad.

PMC officials were of the view that some of the students get admissions in medical colleges abroad which are not up to the international approved standards. It was further added that Agent Mafia has captured the market for money.

The President said that in order to bring transparency and ensure quality PMC has introduced NLe as per global and international practice.

The Committee also deliberated upon the process of awarding a contract to a testing agency for Conducting MDCAT test. The Committee decided to discuss the matter in detail in the next meeting of the committee.

Federal government fully determined to grant 35% Ehsaas Rashan subsidy to Sindh and Balochistan

Islamabad: Federal Government is fully committed to providing its 35% share of subsidy in Sindh and Balochistan. In Sindh and Balochistan, federal share of subsidy worth Rs. 350 will be granted for each eligible family if both the provincial governments do not participate in the Ehsaas Rashan Riayat. “Provincial Governments of Punjab, KP, Gilgit Baltistan and AJK are already participating in the programme. We are reaching out to provincial governments of Sindh and Balochistan to engage them in the Ehsaas Rashan programme”, said Senator Dr. Sania Nishtar, SAPM in a press statement. In the current fiscal year, the budget of the programme for the next six months is Rs. 120 billion under the federalprovincial cost sharing arrangement. The federal government and all participating federating units will share fiscal resources in the proportion of 35/65. For online registration of low-income families and Kiryana owners, Ehsaas Rashan portal has been opened on Nov 9. The Ehsaas Rashan portal can be accessed online at: https://ehsaasrashan.pass.gov.pk/. Families with monthly income less than Rs. 50,000 will be eligible for the Rashan registration. Ehsaas and the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) have built a mobile Point of Sale (mPOS) system/App that will deliver the targeted subsidy to beneficiaries through a network of Kiryana stores designated by NBP countrywide. Under Ehsaas Rashan Riayat, a targeted subsidy of Rs. 1,000 a month will be granted to each to each of the 20 million eligible families on the purchase of flour, pulses, cooking oil. Accordingly, 30% subsidy will be given on these three items, per unit purchase. In total, 20 million deserving families will be identified through the Ehsaas survey. Overall, 130 million people will benefit nationwide that equates to 53% of the population. Pr

Friday, 12 November, 2021 | LAHORE

10 FOREIGN NEWS

Xi Jinping warns of ‘Cold war-era’ tensions in asia-paCifiC BEIJING

C

AFP

HINESE President Xi Jinping warned against a return to Cold War-era divisions in the Asia-Pacific Thursday as tensions mounted over the security of Taiwan. In the run-up to an anticipated virtual summit with US President Joe Biden as early as next week, Xi said countries in the region must work together on common challenges from the Covid-19 pandemic to trade.

“Attempts to draw ideological lines or form small circles on geopolitical grounds are bound to fail,” he told a virtual business conference on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit hosted

by New Zealand.

“The Asia-Pacific region cannot and should not relapse into the confrontation and division of the Cold War era.”

Xi’s call came hours after China and the United States announced a surprise pact to

accelerate climate action at a summit in Glasgow where countries are trying to agree on measures to curb the warming of the Earth. The Chinese leader did not mention the US deal directly but said “all of us can embark on a path of green, low-carbon sustainable development”.

“Together, we can usher in a future of green development,” he said.

The Chinese and US leaders will hold virtual talks “soon”, according to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Reports say the meeting will take place as soon as next week.

‘CriTiCal hisToriCal junCTure’: But while the Biden administration has identified climate as a key area for potential cooperation with China, tensions have soared over their rival security strategies in the Asia-Pacific region, notably Taiwan.

Beijing has ramped up military activities near Taiwan, a state claimed by China, with a record number of planes intruding into the island’s air defence identification zone in

parents targeted with misleading warnings on Covid-19 vaccination WASHINGTON AFP

Registered nurse Melody Butler seeks to provide sciencebased answers to American parents as she urges them to vaccinate their children against Covid-19. But her efforts to do so on social media through Nurses Who Vaccinate — a volunteer group she founded — is up against a deluge of claims that the shots are dangerous. The claims are designed to evoke fear: a 16-year-old girl said to have been “permanently damaged” by Pfizer-BioNTech’s shot. An image of a 17-yearold playing basketball juxtaposed with a photo of a boy hooked up to machines in a hospital after allegedly suffering “blood clots in his brain” following vaccination. Such claims are nearly impossible to verify without access to private medical records, allowing them to escape content moderation on social media platforms and spread doubt about the safety of vaccination “A lot of times these stories are being used and the stories are being manipulated by anti-vaccine organizations,” Butler told AFP. “Their main goal is to scare people away from vaccinating.” When talking to mothers like herself, Butler says she “will never say that adverse reactions don’t happen, because they do happen,” but she emphasized that evidence does not point to a high risk of severe side effects from Covid-19 vaccination. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that children have most commonly reported arm pain or fever following vaccination.

Personal aPPeals: Parents have also been targeted with misleading posts featuring obituary photos of vaccinated teenagers who later died. The posts claim a direct link to the shots, but no such deaths have been confirmed. CDC spokeswoman Martha Sharan said that officials investigate all reports of serious reactions but cannot comment on individual cases. The CDC has “not detected any unusual or unexpected patterns for deaths following immunization that would indicate that Covid vaccines are causing or contributing to deaths, outside of the five confirmed deaths following the Janssen vaccine,” she said, using another name for the Johnson & Johnson shot. US regulators recently authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech shot for young children — the only one of the vaccines currently allowed for this use. Even when parents acknowledge that vaccination can protect children from severe Covid-19, this can be pushed to the background by claims of vaccine injury, said Tara Kirk Sell, a public health researcher at Johns Hopkins University. “Science has shown us that those types of efforts at persuasion really work,” she said. Disinformation purveyors know that a personal story will resonate, especially with parents, “because you just think about your child in distress and how terrible that would be.”

early October.

Against that backdrop, Secretary of State Blinken Wednesday underscored US military support for Taiwan.

“We will make sure that Taiwan has the means to defend itself because the purpose here is never to get to that point where anyone is actually trying to disrupt the status quo by force,” he told an event hosted by The New York Times.

But in a message delivered to a gala dinner in New York on Tuesday evening by Beijing’s ambassador to the United States, China’s leader offered a conciliatory message. “Right now, China-US relations are at a critical historical juncture. Both countries will gain from cooperation and lose from confrontation,” Xi said, according to an embassy statement. China was ready to work with the United States to improve regional and global cooperation and “properly manage differences”, he said.

‘TranslaTe Consensus inTo aCTions’: Besides its position on Tai-

wan, China also claims almost all of the resource-rich South China Sea, through which trillions of dollars in shipping trade pass annually, rejecting competing claims from Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam.

Against that backdrop, the United States, Britain and Australia announced in September that they had formed a new alliance — AUKUS — under which Australia will acquire nuclear-powered submarines using US technology.

Although delivery is years away and China was not specifically named, the announcement angered Beijing and separately sparked a furious row with France which

Delhi’s regional summit fails to equate terrorism with Afghanistan ISLAMABAD APP

The Regional Summit on Afghanistan in New Delhi failed to achieve the Indian objective of indirectly raising the bogey of terrorism in Afghanistan as a separate statement issued by Russia did not highlight the areas pointed by the host country.

Two statements, with varying content, were released by Russia and India at the conclusion of the New Delhi Regional Summit on Afghanistan on Wednesday showing differences in their stance on certain issues. The summit was attended by National Security Advisers and Secretaries of the National Security Councils of India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.

The meeting had no representation from either Afghanistan, China or Pakistan.

New Delhi focused on the “threats arising from terrorism, radicalisation and drug trafficking” in Afghanistan, according to the “Delhi Declaration.”

Ironically, Pakistan had already issued a dossier

last year specifically pointing out the operation of 66 Indian-funded terrorist training camps, in collaboration with Afghan NDS, to carry out subversive activities in Pakistan.

Of the 12 points discussed at the meeting, four were related to extremism, terrorism, radicalisation

ISLAMABAD Two back-to-back consultations on Afghanistan steered

by Pakistan and India, respectively, in their capitals this week, reflect that the international community is waking up to the critical humanitarian crisis looming in Afghanistan. While the approaching winter is feared to bring further hardships to the poor and displaced Afghans, the US, EU, and NATO are still struggling to distinguish between extending cooperation and recognition of the Taliban-led government.

At the third meeting of the Moscow format talks on Afghanistan held under the aegis of Russia on October 20, a realisation emerged that Afghanistan’s new rulers should be given access to $9.5 billion funds, blocked in American banks.

and drug trafficking in Afghanistan, while “humanitarian concerns” were the last in order of priority in a statement released at the end of the meeting by the Indian Ministry of External Affairs.

However, interestingly, and in a rare move, Russia also issued its own statement, which showed divergent views on at least five areas.

On the issue of terrorism, the Delhi Declaration stressed the need “to ensure that Afghanistan would never become a safe haven for global terrorism”.

However, the statement from Russia skipped that line.

Similarly, the Delhi Declaration called for ensuring that the fundamental rights of women, children and minority communities were not violated. The statement from Russia while mentioning the importance of ensuring the rights of women, children and national minorities, again skipped the words “fundamental” rights and “not violated”. The Delhi Declaration stressed “collective cooperation against the menace of radicalization, extremism, separatism and drug trafficking in the region,” but the Russian statement made no such mention of “collective cooperation” on these issues.

Iran-supplied arms smuggled from Yemen into Somalia, study finds

NAIROBI ReuteRs

Guns supplied by Iran to its Houthi allies in Yemen are being smuggled across the Gulf of Aden to Somalia, according to a Geneva-based think tank, where al Qaeda-linked al Shabab insurgents are battling a weak and divided government.

The Global Initiative against Transnational Organised Crime said its study drew on data from more than 400 weapons documented in 13 locations across

Somalia over eight months and inventories from 13 dhows intercepted by naval vessels. It is the first publicly available research into the scale of illicit arms smuggling from Yemen into the Horn of Africa country.

“Weapons originating in the Iran–Yemen arms trade are being trafficked onward into Somalia itself,” said the study, which is due to be published on Wednesday. “Iran has repeatedly denied any involvement in the trafficking of arms to the Houthis. However, a preponderance of evidence points to Iranian state supply.”

Iran’s foreign ministry and a spokesman for Yemen’s Houthi forces did not respond to a request for comment on the study. Iran has repeatedly denied any involvement in the trafficking of arms to its Houthi allies in Yemen, where the sixyear-old civil war has killed tens of thousands.

The Somali government spokesman and the internal security minister did not return calls or messages seeking comment. The study said the investigators were not able to fully document the buyers and sellers of the weapons.

But it said signs the weapons were originally supplied by the Iranian state included serial numbers that were very close together, indicating they were part of the same shipment, information from satellite navigation systems on seized dhows and human intelligence from trafficking gangs.

One dhow carrying weapons which was seized by a US navy vessel had a GPS with stored points in Iran, southern Yemen and Somalia, the report said, including a small anchorage near Jask port, which hosts an Iranian naval base, and “home” as the Yemeni port of Mukalla, a well-known arms smuggling hub.

The study said the guns end up with commercial smuggling networks whose customers can include armed factions seeking advantage ahead of Somalia’s repeatedly delayed presidential elections, as well as clan militias and rival Islamist insurgent groups linked to al Qaeda and the so-called Islamic State.

World wakes up to avert humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan AnAdolu Agency

saw its deal to sell Australia conventional submarines torn up.

In his address to Asia-Pacific business leaders, Xi also called for a joint effort across the region to close the “immunisation gap”, making Covid-19 vaccines more accessible to developing nations.

“We should translate consensus that vaccines are a global public good into concrete actions to ensure their fair and equitable distribution,” he told the summit. The Chinese leader said countries should step up cooperation in research, production, testing, and mutual recognition of vaccines, “to emerge from the shadow of the pandemic and achieve steady economic recovery at an early date”.

The consultations in Russia expressed deep concern over the deteriorating economic and humanitarian situation in Afghanistan and expressed the need to mobilise the international community to provide urgent humanitarian and financial assistance.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has repeatedly warned that a resolution to Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis would become impossible in case of economic collapse and the consequences of such a disaster would be dire for the region and the world.

In New Delhi, the national security advisors of India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan met on Wednesday to discuss the situation. A document issued at the end of the meeting expressed concern at the deteriorating socio-economic and humanitarian situation in Afghanistan and underlined the need to provide urgent humanitarian as-

sistance to the people of Afghanistan.

The forum piloted by India discussed ways to persuade Kabul to act against the various groups taking shelter in Afghanistan. The document named as Delhi Declaration referred to the relevant UN Resolutions and sought the central role for the UN and its continued presence in Afghanistan.

Troika Plus meeTs in islamabad: In another development, Afghanistan Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi arrived in Islamabad to probe what the world can do to help the country.

A meeting of Troika Plus involving the special envoys of the US, China, Pakistan, and Russia met in Islamabad in presence of Muttaqi and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to discuss efforts for achieving lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan.

Experts believe that both the meetings underline a

subtext that the global community has mentally accepted the Taliban rule in Kabul and a realisation has also come that apart from Afghan people themselves, there is little chance for any outsider to remove the Taliban from power. “The global powers neither have the intentions, energy nor the mind space to tackle humongous problems of Afghanistan,” wrote Shishir Gupta in Hindustan Times — the largest circulated English-language newspaper of India, while reporting about the Afghanistan meeting. A former Indian diplomat, M.K. Bhadrakumar, also gave credit to US President Joe Biden for opening a new page quickly in the US national interests.

It appears that Biden Administration has realised that it is in the interests of regional and international security to beef up the Taliban government’s capacity to stabilise the Afghan situation, especially in the security and economic arena. The US and its allies are using “normalisation,” and its attendant benefits, as an incentive for the Taliban to exercise flexibility and accommodate balanced representation of all ethnic groups in the government.

Friday, 12 November, 2021 | LAHORE

SPORTS 11

BaBar, rIzWan Set reCord for BIggeSt t20 World Cup partnerShIp

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StAff RepoRt

AKISTAN skipper Babar Azam and his opening partner Mohammad Rizwan have put together more runs in their partnership this T20 World Cup than any other batting pair at any T20 World Cup. The duo have amassed 402 runs together, according to Wisden, known in the

cricketing world to have put together the Bible of Cricket.

The record was set during Pakistan’s semi-final against Australia on Thursday at the Dubai Cricket Stadium.

This was not the only record to have been set during the match.

Wicketkeeper Rizwan became the only batter to have scored 1,000 T20I runs in a calendar year. It took him 20

innings to achieve the feat.

Moreover, Babar broke yet another record of India’s Virat Kohli during the semi-final clash.

This time, the Pakistani skipper became the fastest to score 2,500 T20I runs, achieving the feat in 62 innings.

Previously, the record was held by Kohli, who had scored 2,500 T20I runs in 68 innings.

Italy eye return to World Cup as Switzerland come to town

Rizwan becomes first batter to score 1,000 T20I runs in a year DUBAI StAFF RePoRt

Pakistani opener Mohammad Rizwan entered his name in the record books by becoming the first batter to score 1,000 T20I runs in a calendar year. The Pakistani wicketkeeper achieved the feat in the 20 innings he has so far played this year. babar azam becomes fastest to 2,500 t20I runs: Rizwan wasn’t the only one to break a world run when it comes to T20I runs in the Australia vs Pakistan match. Skipper Babar Azam wasn’t far behind.

The Pakistani skipper became the fastest to score 2,500 T20I runs, achieving the feat in 62 innings.

Previously, the record was held by Indian captain Virat Kohli, who had score 2,500 T20I runs in 68 innings. most runs as t20I captaIn: The Pakistani captain, with his fourth half-century in the tournament last week, had surpassed the record of former Sri Lanka batter

MILAN AFP

Italy head into Friday’s crunch visit of Switzerland with their World Cup hopes still in the balance, as the newly-crowned European champions aim to definitively banish the ghosts of their disastrous 2018 qualifying campaign. Still on a high from triumph at Euro 2020, Italy lead Group C on goal difference from the Swiss, with the pair battling for a single guaranteed place in next year’s tournament in Qatar. Roberto Mancini took control of the Azzurri in the toxic aftermath of their failure to make the last World Cup in Russia, the first time they had missed out on a place in six decades, and is well aware of the significance of making it this time around. “It’s important that we play well because after the Euro it’s the biggest match of the year. We know we have to win,” said Mancini. However, Mancini tried to maintain a semblance of calm for a fixture that would put Italy back on football’s biggest stage after eight years. Playoff defeat to Sweden in late 2017 left the country feeling like it was in a footballing black hole, lagging well behind the rest of Europe and no longer a conveyor belt of world-class talent. Since then the former Inter Milan and Manchester City coach has brought the feelgood factor back to the national team by getting a stylish tune from both a new crop of players and some hardy veterans. “I don’t think we have everything to lose,” Mancini said of the pressure to win. “It’s an important match, very important in fact, and it’s true that if we win it will open the door to the World Cup, but it’s just a game of football.”

Key absences: In the run up to the match, Mancini lost starting centre-forward Ciro Immobile to a calf injury, as well as Roma midfielders Lorenzo Pellegrini and Nicolo Zaniolo. However, the most keenly felt absence will be that of captain Giorgio Chiellini, who failed to recover from a thigh injury in time and left the national team camp on Wednesday. The one good news for Italy is that midfield dynamo Nicola Barella should be fit to play in front of over 50,000 fans at the Stadio Olimpico on Friday.

Barella left the San Siro field in the second half of the weekend’s Milan derby with a muscle problem, but on Wednesday trained with the squad. The Swiss are also missing several key players, with Granit Xhaka and Benfica Haris Seferovic among the big names out. Coach Murat Yakin is especially irked by the absence of Borussia Moenchengladbach forward Breel Embolo, who picked up a thigh injury in Friday’s 1-1 draw with Mainz and leaves the Swiss short up front. “I couldn’t believe it, I told myself it couldn’t be true, not before such an important match,” Yakin told La Regione, an Italian-language Swiss newspaper. “His injury was the result of his application on the pitch.

He is often played out of position but he adapts and always gives his all.” Embolo, 24, has only scored once in the Bundesliga this season but hit a brace in Gladbach’s 5-0 cup hammering of Bayern Munich a fortnight ago. He also starred in Switzerland’s most recent qualifiers last month, setting up both goals in a 2-0 win over Northern Ireland and netting twice as the Swiss rolled over Lithuania 4-0.

Mahela Jayawardene’s record of most runs by a captain in a single edition of the T20 World Cup. Babar had then accumulated 264 runs in the tournament. Jayawardene had scored 201 runs as captain of Sri Lanka in 2012. The inning of 66 was Babar’s 4th score of fifty or more in this edition of the tournament, no other player has scored more than 4 half-centuries in a single edition of ICC T20 World Cup — the two others to do so are Kohli and Australia’s Matthew Hayden, who is the current batting consultant of Pakistan team. fastest 1,000 t20I runs as captaIn: The Pakistan captain had broken another record of Kohli when he became the fastest to score 1,000 T20I runs as captain last month during the T20 World Cup against Afghanistan.

Azam scored 1,000 T20I runs in 26 innings as the skipper of the Pakistan cricket team. Kohli, as captain of the Indian cricket team, had taken 30 innings to score 1,000 T20I runs.

Australia underdogs against Pakistan in role reversal DUBAI ReuteRS

It will be quite a role reversal with Australia being the proverbial underdogs in tonight’s semi-final of the T20 World Cup against a red-hot Pakistan who have displayed rare consistency to set alight the tournament.

Aaron Finch’s Australia were written off after losing all five T20 series they played, including in Bangladesh, before heading into the tournament and have not looked entirely convincing despite making the last four.

In a spin-dominated tournament, they have reposed faith in the pace of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins and favoured playing seven specialist batsmen.

Adam Zampa has led their spin attack and with 11 wickets from five matches is the joint-leading wickettaker of the Super 12 stage of the tournament.

Mitchell Marsh, Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis have chipped in at different times to play the fifth bowler’s role with Australia refusing to compromise on their batting strength.

“I think you can look at stats and you can deep dive into whether you should be bowling spin or quicks in the powerplay,” Finch said on the eve of the match.

“They’re a world-class trio of quick bowlers and we’ve got Kane Richardson there as well, who’s arguably one of the best T20 bowlers in the world who hasn’t featured just yet.

“We’re really happy with how that’s gone.”

Finch will hope the ploy works against the tournament’s only unbeaten team who are chasing their second 20-overs world title.

For a team known as much for their surfeit of talent as for their mercurial nature, Pakistan have been a revelation in the tournament.

Babar Azam’s side have laid the marker with their unblemished Super 12 run built around their incisive bowling attack and incendiary batting.

Azam has led by example and is the tournament’s leading run-scorer and has a perfect foil in opening partner Mohammad Rizwan, who is number six in that table.

Down the order, they are blessed with the power-hitting skills of Asif Ali and the reassuring presence of veterans Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez.

Their bowling, traditionally their strong suit, has been equally impressive.

Shaheen Afridi’s left-arm swing has troubled the best batsmen, while spinners Shadab Khan and Imad Wasim have been very impressive.

Their batting consultant Matthew Hayden’s 16 years experience in Australia colours tells him Pakistan cannot still afford to lower their guard.

“We face Australia tomorrow, a country which has been incredibly proud to set high standards in terms of delivery on trophies for its country in World Cups,” Hayden said. “This is one that it’s never got in the trophy cabinet, so lots of high-stake matches ahead of us now.”

pliskova, Kontaveit open Wta finals with wins GUADALAJARA NewS DeSk

Karolina Pliskova continued her dominance of Garbine Muguruza Wednesday, opening her WTA Finals campaign with a battling 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (8/6) victory over the Spaniard. Czech third seed Pliskova, at 29 the oldest player in this year’s edition of the elite season-ending event, has now won nine of 11 career meetings with Muguruza, the latest putting her atop her round-robin’s group standings alongside Estonian Anett Kontaveit, who beat second-seeded Czech Barbora Krejcikova 6-3, 6-4.

After dropping the first set, Pliskova produced a superb serving effort to take the second, putting 16 of 18 first serves in play and dropping just two points on serve. In a tense third set, Muguruza saved two match points while serving at 4-5 — the first with a service winner. But she was unable to capitalize on two break points that followed as they went to the tiebreaker. Muguruza saved another match point to knot the decider at 6-6, but Pliskova won the next two to polish it off after two hours and 26 minutes when Muguruza belted a forehand wide. The tournament was moved to Mexico from its usual home in Shenzhen, China, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The switch in venue means the tournament’s eightstrong singles field must adjust to the thin air of Guadalajara, which is around 5,100 feet (1,550 meters) above sea level. Red-hot Kontaveit kicked off group stage action with her straight-sets win over French Open champion Krejcikova. Estonia’s Kontaveit, the last player to secure her spot in the event, notched her 11th straight match victory, continuing a superb season that has seen her capture four WTA titles and rise to eighth in the world.

She needed just half an hour to pocket the first set — sealing it with an ace. Kontaveit, who didn’t face a break point, secured the match when Krejcikova fired a backhand into the net on match point. “I’m definitely very thrilled to get the win, it was a very tough match,” Kontaveit said. “I think I managed to win a lot of points on my first serves once they actually went in.” Krejcikova, the only reigning Grand Slam champion in the field, remained optimistic after a “difficult” match, noting that the round-robin format was more forgiving than a traditional tournament — and she has doubles to contest as well.

Friday, 12 November, 2021

pRayeR tiMingS

NEWS

PaKIsTaN’s T20 WorLd CuP dreaM CoMes To aN eNd due MaTTheW Wade LasT MINuTe heroICs duBai

a

Mian abRaR

USTRALIA won the semifinal of T20 World Cup due to last minute heroics and superb batting skills shown by Australian Mathew Wade who took his side into the finals in 19th over.

Perhaps, a drop catch of Wade by Hassan Ali proved to be fatal for Pakistan who lost the game in last moments of the match. Australia won by five wickets.

Pakistani leg-spinner Shadab Khan did his best, raking in figures of 4/26 against Australia [the best for a T20 World Cup semi-final] but it wasn’t enough.

After the Shadab scare, Australia managed to bounce back as Stoinis and Matthew Wade struck up a solid partnership, hitting Hassan Ali and Shaheen Afridi for a couple of sixes.

Shadab Khan once again broke through and managed to dismiss another Australian batsman, sending Steve Smith to the pavilion.

Always looking uncomfortable right from the start, the right-handed batsman attempted to hit Shadab out of the park

but was caught by Fakhar Zaman.

Earlier, a clinical Shaheen Afridi exerted pressure on the Australians right from the word go when he trapped Aussie skipper Aaron Finch lbw in the very first over Thursday.

Australia, in their quest to qualify for the T20 World Cup final against New Zealand, have been handed a target of 177 runs to win.

When it was Pakistan’s turn to bat, left-handed batsman Fakhar Zaman gave the Men in Green a fighting chance in the second semi-final of the T20 World Cup between the two sides Thursday.

The Pakistani batsman scored 55 runs off 32 balls and a couple of sixes in the final over to ensure Pakistan crossed the 170-run mark to hand Australia a target of 177 runs.

Australia dismissed Asif Ali and Shoaib Malik to keep the Pakistani batsmen at bay and from scoring 200 runs in Thursday’s T20 World Cup semifinal clash.

Pakistan suffered its first setback in the first semi-final clash against Australia after Adam Zampa dismissed Babar Azam, as the Men in Green con-

PM Imran Khan to take PTI into confidence on deferring Parliament’s joint session: sources ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has called a meeting of the PTI core committee, sources said Thursday. Sources privy to the matter said that the meeting will take place at 4pm on Friday, where PM Imran Khan will take the committee members into confidence over major national and political affairs, including the postponement of a joint session of the Parliament. They further stated that Sindh Governor Imran Ismail, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Shah Farman, and other PTI leaders will attend the meeting.

Govt postpones joint Parliament session Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry on Wednesday had announced that the joint session of the Parliament, scheduled for Thursday, had been postponed. The information minister, however, made no mention of when the parliamentary session would instead be called. Later, President Arif Alvi officially notified the session’s deferral. “In exercise of powers conferred by clause (1) of Article 54 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, I hereby withdraw the order issued to summon the Majlis-e-Shoora (Parliament) in joint sitting on Thursday, the 11th November, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. in the Parliament House, Islamabad. Consequently, the summoning/prorogation orders issued thereof stand rescinded,” read the notification. The session had been called by the government in order to pass the National Accountability Bureau Ordinance (Amendment) Bill and electoral reforms bill among other legislation items. PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, while addressing the MNAs at a dinner he hosted at the Senate’s banquet hall on Tuesday, had said that the government had to postpone the Parliament’s joint session due to the efforts by the Opposition. “Due to the opposition’s contacts with the government’s allies, the government had to retreat and cancel the joint session.

Thanks to [leader of the Opposition] Shahbaz Sharif who gathered the Opposition parties,” said Bilawal. Staff RepoRt

tinue to bat first against Australia.

Earlier, Pakistani openers Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan had formed another 50-run partnership against Australia.

Pakistani openers had found boundaries against Australia’s fast bowlers and all-rounder Maxwell.

Mohammad Rizwan was dropped twice as he attempted to hit the ball out of the park.

Australia decided to bowl first again Pakistan in the T20 World Cup semi-final after skipper Aaron Finch won the toss.

Both teams are unchanged from their last matches.

Pakistan breathed a sigh of relief earlier today as cricketers Mohammad Rizwan and Shoaib Malik were been declared fit to play against Australia.

In an update, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said that a medical panel reviewed their fitness and okayed their participation in the crucial encounter.

In a virtual press conference two days back, Babar Azam has said he was confident that the Men in Green will maintain the momentum and perform

well against Australia in the semi-final.

Some minor flaws have been pointed out in all the matches which sometimes relate to batting and sometimes bowling, Babar said.

He said sometimes fielding lapses were also noted. “It is good that we are trying to fix these issues,” he said.

Australia are five-time winners of the 50-over World Cup but await their first T20 World Cup crown in six attempts.

Pakistan’s Mohammad Rizwan and Shoaib Malik are fit to play after they had fever in the lead up to the match but tested negative for Covid.

Babar said their experience of playing on UAE pitches will be useful.

“We’ll have to put runs on the board and then defend it,” said Babar, who has scored 264 runs including four half-centuries in the tournament.

“It’s an honour to lead this group of players, we are looking forward to playing some good cricket. UAE (United Arab Emirates) is our backyard, we know these conditions well.”

Pakistan, the 2009 T20 World Cup champions, came into the tournament with 10 successive wins in the UAE.

Troika Plus moot urges Taliban to pursue ‘moderate’ policies continued from page 01 The participants recalled the relevant Afghan and the UNSC resolutions, including respect for the sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity of Afghanistan that is free of terrorism and drug-related crime, and that contributes to regional stability and connectivity.

The summit leaders welcomed the Taliban’s continued commitment to allow for the safe passage of all who wish to travel to and from Afghanistan and encouraged rapid progress, with the onset of winter, on arrangements to establish airports countrywide that can accept commercial air traffic, which are essential to enable the uninterrupted flow of humanitarian assistance.

The attendees emphasised that access to education for women and girls at all levels is an international obligation and encouraged the Taliban to accelerate efforts to provide for full and equal access to education countrywide.

The forum welcomed the greater role of the United Nations as a coordinator in such fields as contributing to stability and delivering emergency assistance.

It urged the UN and its spe-

cialised agencies to develop programmes to implement the international community’s commitments to support the people of Afghanistan. The forum called upon the international community to take concrete actions to provide Afghanistan with help against the Covid-19 pandemic.

Earlier today, while addressing the forum, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said it was crucial for the international community to ‘avoid mistakes’ of the past and pursue positive engagement with the Taliban regime to avert economic collapse and civil war in the country.

He termed engagement with Afghanistan important as “no one wished to see civil war and an economic collapse in Kabul”.

“Everyone wants terrorist elements operating inside Afghanistan to be tackled effectively and we all want to prevent a new refugee crisis,” he maintained.

According to the minister, the meeting reflected the common desire to see a “peaceful, stable, unified, sovereign and prosperous Afghanistan”.

He expressed confidence that the engagement with the new

Afghan government would help consolidate peace and stability, promote sustainable economic development and help constrict space for terrorist outfits operating from and within Afghanistan.

He reiterated that Afghanistan is at the brink of an economic collapse and with international funding dried up, it had become difficult to pay even salaries, let alone pursue development projects.

Qureshi observed that allowing Afghanistan to access its frozen funds would boost efforts to regenerate economic activities and move the Afghan economy towards stability and sustainability.

He highlighted that Pakistan had already taken a number of steps to facilitate the common citizens in Afghanistan. “These include waiver of customs duties on perishable food items to support farmers, provision of humanitarian assistance, facilitation of pedestrian movement, keeping the border open during the pandemic and visa on arrival for medical cases.”

This is the first official visit of the interim Afghan FM since the Taliban returned to power after the chaotic exit of US-led foreign forces from the war-torn country in August.

FAJR SUNRISE

ZUHR

ASR MAGHRIB ISHA

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Name of TLP chief removed from terror list LAHORE: The Punjab government has removed the name of Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) party chief from the Fourth Schedule. Dated November 10, a Home Department notification recalled Saad Hussain Rizvi “being Ameer of Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan, a proscribed organisation, was listed in the 4th Schedule of AntiTerrorism Act, 1997, under Section 11-E on the recommendations of District Intelligence Committee”.

But the government on November 7 removed the radical party from the First Schedule as a proscribed organisation. “Therefore, [the] name of Hafiz Mohammad Saad is hereby deleted from the list […] with immediate effect,” it added. According to Section 11-E of the AntiTerrorism Act, the Fourth Schedule includes “any person who is an activist, office-bearer or an associate of an organisation kept under observation […] or proscribed […] or […] affiliated with any group or organisation suspected to be involved in terrorism or sectarianism”.

According to the law, law enforcers keep an eye on the activities of persons included in the list. Furthermore, a person on the list is required to inform the respective district police officer (DPO) of his movement and failure in doing so might result in their arrest. Rizvi, son of the late firebrand cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi, was arrested in April on charges of inciting his followers and party activists to take the law into their own hands after, according to him, the government had reneged on its promise to expel the French ambassador over the publication of blasphemous caricatures. His detention was scheduled to end on July 10 in light of a decision of the review board of the Supreme Court. However, the office of the deputy commissioner issued a fresh notification extending the detention for another three months under Section 11-EEE (powers to arrest and detain suspected persons) of the Anti-Terrorism Act. On August 2, Rizvi, through his uncle, filed another petition with the Lahore High Court (LHC), claiming the government extended his detention with “mala fide intention”. He said it implicated him in 14 criminal cases following his detention. Through the petition, Rizvi’s uncle asked the court to declare the extension of the detention period illegal and order his release. Two weeks later, on August 17, the court sought replies from the authorities on the request. Subsequently, on October 1, the court declared as illegal the detention of Rizvi. Following the court order, the Lahore deputy commissioner, Umer Sher Chattha, also issued orders for his release. But on October 11, the Punjab government challenged in the Supreme Court the high court order declaring Rizvi’s detention as illegal and directing the provincial government to release him immediately. The following day, the Supreme Court remanded the matter to the high court for a two-member special bench to decide after hearing arguments from both sides. Staff RepoRt

Pakistan’s exports up by 24.7pc during 4MFY22 Pakistan’s exports surged by 24.7 per cent to $9.44 billion during the first four months of the current financial year (4MFY22) as compared to $7.57 billion recorded in the corresponding period of the last fiscal. Taking to its official Twitter handle in this regard on Thursday, the Ministry of Commerce informed that the products that contributed to this growth include readymade garments, home textiles, cotton fabric, rice, cotton yarn, jerseys and cardigans, and synthetic fabrics. Similarly, the services exports also witnessed an upsurge of 23.2 per cent to clock in at $1.572 against $1.276 billion recorded during the first quarter of the last financial year. Of this, IT exports grew by 42pc to $635 million from last year’s $445 million, business services exports increased by 29pc to $394 million from $304 million last year and travel services exports up by 72pc to $ 141 million from $82 million last year. newS deSk

7th Pak-Russia IGC meeting on bilateral cooperation to be held from Nov 24 ISLAMABAD: The 7th meeting of Pak-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission (IGC) on trade, economic, scientific and technical cooperation will be held in Yekaterinburg, Russia from November 24 to 26. In this regard, Federal Minister for Economic Affairs Omar Ayub Khan on Thursday chaired a high-level meeting to discuss the agenda of the upcoming meeting. The meeting was attended by the representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Information Technology & Telecommunication, Ministry of National Food Security & Research and other relevant departments. It may be mentioned here that Omar Ayub Khan and Minister for Energy of the Russian Federation Nikolay Shulginov are the co-chairs of the IGC. The chair reviewed progress on the decisions of the 6th IGC meeting which was held in Islamabad in December, 2019. He emphasised on enhancing bilateral relations with the Russian Federation as both countries have huge potential for mutual cooperation in various fields. Staff RepoRt

No decision yet on extending amnesty to TTP: Yusuf iSLamaBad Staff RepoRt

The government has not yet decided if it would extend amnesty to the members of the proscribed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), National Security Advisor (NSA) Moeed Yusuf said as reports emerged of a month-long truce between Islamabad and the proscribed group.

The government announced Monday it and the TTP had agreed on a “complete cease-fire” in a bid to negotiate an end to years of militancy.

Minister for Information and Broadcast-

ing Fawad Chaudhry, who made the disclosure while speaking to Pakistan Television, said the tentative truce “would be extendable, keeping in view the progress of negotiations”.

The talks have reportedly been mediated by the Taliban’s Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, the head of the notorious Haqqani network, the lethal arm of the Taliban. Interestingly, the network is a US-designated terrorist organisation and Haqqani is among the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s mostwanted fugitives.

Today, Yusuf, who was sitting in a television programme, when asked, said: “I don’t know where this talk [of amnesty to

the group] started from […] There is no such decision [at this moment].”

The official said the government was aware that previous agreements with the TTP — in 2004, 2006 and 2009 — had not held but added that at the present stage, talks were being held and the government would see if the militant body was “serious”.

“The state’s job is to defend its public and not to go with the kinetic option — using bullets — until it becomes impossible to avoid it,” he stressed. “This [TTP talks] is an emotional issue. No citizen is left who has not been directly or indirectly affected by terrorism.”

When asked about opposition MPs not

being satisfied with the security briefing given last week by the top military brass in the Parliament, Yusuf said: “It is their choice.

The state can only inform [them].”

“This is a decision of the entire nation.

These processes [of talks] will continue.”

‘ABANDONING AFGHANISTAN A MISTAKE’: Meanwhile, Yusuf, while talking to a four-member American delegation headed

by Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Staff Director Chris Socha in Islamabad, said a repeat of the historic mistake of abandoning the state of Afghanistan by the global community would prove to be disastrous.

The official said the world needed to

constructively engage the Taliban in order to prevent governance collapse and avert another refugee crisis.

He said Pakistan was coordinating with the world to have a stable and peaceful Afghanistan.

Both sides discussed the situation of Afghanistan along with the ways to enhance cooperation in light of the regional and international developments and challenges.

The two sides also exchanged views on the importance of developing the strategic relationship between Pakistan and the United States and the determination to strengthen ties in all sectors and vital areas of cooperation.

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