EpaperISB_20-12-16

Wednesday, 16 December, 2020 I 29 Rabi al-Akhir, 1442 I Rs 12.00 I Vol XI No 167 I 12 Pages I Islamabad Edition

Cabinet approves govt’s request to move eCp for early senate polls g

cabinet to file reference in sc for senate elections

islamabad Mian abrar

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eeping in view the upcoming long march schedule of the opposition alliance, the federal government has decided to approach the election commission of pakistan (ecp) with a request to hold senate elections in february instead of March next year. furthermore, the federal cabinet also decided to move the supreme court (sc) to seek permission to adopt the show of hands procedure for the senate elections. the meeting of the federal cabinet was chaired by prime Minister imran Khan, wherein the set agenda, the political, economic conditions and coronavirus pandemic situation was reviewed. reportedly, the federal cabinet discussed the upcoming long march by pakistan democratic Movement (pdM) and decided to hold senate polls in february next year instead of following the March schedule.

pakistan

CONFIRMED CASES:

443,246

LAST UPDATED AT 8:06 AM ON DECEMBER 15, 2020

73

RECOVERED:

NEW CASES:

2,459 DEATHS:

386,333 8,905 SINDH:

PUNJAB:

196,962

128,138

KP:

BALOCHISTAN:

AJK/GB:

ISLAMABAD:

52,787

Ministers point fingers on officials for failing to handle petroleuM shortage

the federal government had received reports that the pdM was concerned that if senate elections are held on time, the ruling pakistan tehreek-e-insaf (pti) and its allies would secure a two-thirds majority and it subsequently would overtake lawmaking for the foreseeable future. purportedly, in order to prevent any destabilisation of the democratic process, the cabinet members have decided to seek ecp’s approval to hold the elections in february. the cabinet also decided to approach the apex court to seek its guidance on the possibility of holding the senate elections through a show of hands rather than secret ballot. for this purpose, the government will file a reference in the sc. according to the decision of the federal cabinet, a reference will be filed in the sc under article 186, seeking the opinion of the top court under the constitution, in which case the government will be able to hold elections without amendment in the light of the decision of the apex court.

Coronavirus in

DAY'S DEATH TOLL:

g

17,771

7,750/4,793 35,045

adviser to prime Minister on parliamentary affairs babar awan gave a briefing to the cabinet on constitutional and political aspects in the meeting, while attorney general (ag) Khalid Javed Khan presented proposals in the cabinet. the federal cabinet was also presented with a detailed investigation report on the petroleum prices scandal. therein, prime Minister imran Khan hinted at action against companies involved in the petrol crisis. the pM said that strict action would be taken against those involved in the petrol crisis. he also formed a four-member committee to take action on the inquiry report of the petroleum crisis. the committee comprising federal ministers shafqat Mahmood, shireen Mazari, azam swati and asad umar. the committee will make recommendations for action on the inquiry report within a week’s time. some federal ministers reportedly reacted strongly to the inquiry report and raised concerns about the relevant purview of the concerned ministries on the petrol crisis.

Murad saeed, faisal Vawda and ali Zaidi raised serious questions over the incompetence of advisor to pM on petroleum nadeem babar. petroleum advisor nadeem babar continued to explain the report during the cabinet meeting.

Murad also asked what responsibilities did the ministries carry out after the crisis. federal Minister faisal Wawda asked why the licenses of the companies involved were not revoked. special assistant to pM (sapM) for social security and poverty alleviation dr sania nishtar briefed the cabinet on the details of payments made under ehsaas Kiflat programme, ehsas national socio-economic survey and prime Minister’s covid relief fund.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

‘Where will this political instability then lead us?’ asks FM islamabad staff report

foreign Minister shah Mahmood Qureshi while rejecting the resignation narrative of the pakistan democratic Movement (pdM), asked what they hoped to achieve should their ultimatum regarding prime Minister imran Khan’s resignation be fulfilled. “let’s assume that there is an election, and you get the mandate. Why would the pti then accept your mandate? Where will this political instability then lead us?” the pakistan tehreek-e-insaf (pti) leader asked while addressing a press conference in islamabad. terming their demands as “undemocratic” and “unconstitutional”, Qureshi, in the capacity of pti vice chairman, stated that the party is categorically rejecting the ultimatum. “the country cannot function on your whims,” he stressed, adding that the assemblies would not be dissolved. however, Qureshi said that the decision did not indicate the government’s “stubbornness”, and hinted at the possibility of a dialogue. “We are political people and are open-minded”.

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia vow to strengthen bilateral cooperation islamabad/RaWalPiNdi staff reoport

pakistan and saudi arabia on tuesday expressed commitment to strengthen bilateral cooperation in all areas of mutual interest. the resolve was expressed during a telephonic conversation between prime Minister imran Khan and saudi prince sultan bin salman bin abdul aziz al saud on tuesday. they also reaffirmed the long standing and time-tested ties between the two countries. the prime minister conveyed warm sentiments for the custodian of the two holy Mosques King salman bin abdul aziz and crown prince Mohammad bin salman and the saudi people. prince sultan conveyed condolences over the sad demise of late chairman of sultana foundation, naeem ghani. the prime minister lauded ghani's selfless devotion to the foundation. he appreciated the social welfare and educational projects of the sultana foundation in pakistan patronised by prince sultan. he also praised the

he added that the pdM leaders are also not united and failed to take stance over the long march issue. Qureshi maintained that there was nothing new in pdM’s lahore rally as none of the opposition leaders put forward a concrete future line of action. furthermore, he pointed out the double standards of the pdM’s stance on media. the alliance had blamed the media for the shortcomings of the lahore rally on december 13, to which fM Qureshi said, “if it reports [news] that favours you, then it is free and if it doesn’t then it is under the pressure of institutions.” he also claimed that there were two factions in the pakistan Muslim league-nawaz (pMl-n) — one which sided with pMl-n president and leader of the opposition in the national assembly shehbaz sharif and the other which sided with pMln Vice president Maryam nawaz. similarly, he said regarding the pakistan people’s party (ppp) that the decisions are truly taken by asif ali Zardari and that party chairman bilawal bhutto-Zardari is just a figurehead. “bilawal tried to give an impression in his speech that he is the decision-maker.”

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more inside

‘It’s official’: Biden won, Trump lost STORY ON BACK PAGE

petrol price increased by rs3 per litre STORY ON PAGE 02 foundation's philanthropic ideology which is aimed at socio economic welfare of the vulnerable segments of the society. pM imran assured support and cooperation for the foundation in pursuit of its noble mission.

KSA REAFFIRMS FULL SUPPORT TO PAKISTAN ON REGIONAL ISSUES: Meanwhile, during a meeting between saudi ambassador nawaf saeed al Malkiy and chief of army staff (coas) general Qamar Javed bajwa, the kingdom reaffirmed its full support to pakistan’s position on all matters, especially regional issues, said the interservices public relations (ispr). according to the military’s

media wing, matters of mutual interest, regional security situation and bilateral defence relations between the two brotherly countries were discussed during the meeting. separately, high commissioner of sri lanka to pakistan Vice admiral Mohan Wijewickrama (r) called on general Qamar Javed bajwa. according to the ispr, during the interaction matters of mutual interest, regional security and enhanced bilateral cooperation came under discussion. the high commissioner appreciated pakistan’s role in regional stability and progress made in the fight against terror.

President Alvi approves new anti-rape ordinance STORY ON PAGE 03

provincial govts lack motivation to increase revenue: faraz STORY ON PAGE 03

02

Wednesday, 16 December, 2020

NEWS

COviD-19 kiLLS 73, iNfeCtS 2,459 NAtiONwiDe iN 24 HOuRS: NCOC LAHORE/ISLAMABAD

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STAFF REPORT

HE novel coronavirus took the lives of 73 people nationwide and infected some 2,459 people in the last 24 hours with a positivity ratio of 7.12 percent, data from the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) showed Tuesday.

Government portal keeping track of the pandemic showed infections inflated to 443,246 against 386,333 recoveries and 8,905 deaths, leaving behind 48,008 active cases.

Pakistan, after miraculously surviving the first wave, is now in the middle of a second wave of the novel coronavirus. To contain the second wave, authorities have re-imposed smart lockdowns in virusaffected zones, along with a general ban on public meetings and rallies.

Meanwhile, despite an influx of new

hospitalisations, the government has yet to fully utilise its full testing capacity of 75,303, with daily testing significantly below numbers proposed by global health experts.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), Pakistan’s testing policies likely only record the most symptomatic patients while ignoring the spread among asymptomatic carriers, which studies suggest comprise the majority of infections nationwide.

Meanwhile, a ray of hope appeared after the country observed a slight reduction in fresh cases on Monday.

Pakistan reported 2,362 new cases, the lowest number of daily cases since November 18.

According to NCOC, the highest fatalities were from Karachi where 2,573 people have died of the disease. Lahore has posted 1,359 fatalities, trailed by Peshawar and Rawalpindi with714 and

PDM leaders booked for violating Covid SOPs during Lahore rally NEWS DESK Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz, among other party leaders and workers, has been booked for flouting the coronavirus standard operating procedure during the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) jalsa at Minar-e-Pakistan on December 13. At the complaint of the security of Great Iqbal Park, a first information report (FIR) was registered at the Lari Adda police station. This included 15 charges, comprising SOP violations, sound system act, and more.

The FIR also stated that PDM leaders broke the gate and fences of the Greater Iqbal Park to enter for the jalsa, and that PML-N's Malik Waseem Khokhar barged into the park with 125. The FIR was registered under Sections 286 (negligent conduct with respect to explosive substance), 287 (negligent conduct with respect to machinery), 506 (criminal intimidation), 440 (mischief committed after preparation made for causing death or hurt), 147 (rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly), 290 (public nuisance), 291(continuance of nuisance after injunction to discontinue), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public function) of the Pakistan Penal Code as well as the Punjab Sound Systems (Regulation) Act, 2015, Punjab Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance, 1960, and Punjab Infectious Diseases (Prevention and Control) Ordinance, 2020.

Arrest warrants for NAB witness in Paragon City case LAHORE STAFF REPORT

An accountability court in Lahore on Tuesday issued an arrest warrant of a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) witness for prolonged absence in a case against PML-N leaders Khawaja Saad Rafique and his brother Khawaja Salman Rafique in the Paragon City scam. The reference accuses the brothers of wrongfully receiving payment(s) to the tune of Rs18.2 million from M/s Paragon City (Pvt) Ltd in their bank accounts. During the hearing, the two suspects appeared before the court of accountability judge Jawadul Hassan. The judge ordered the NAB prosecutor to produce its witness. At this, the prosecutor replied the witness could not come as she was busy at a wedding ceremony of a family member. While expressing annoyance over the absence of the witness, the judge ordered the anti-graft agency to produce the witness today to record her statement and adjourned the hearing temporarily. After resuming the hearing, the judge questioned if the witness had come.

To which, he responded the bureau has asked Lahore Development Authority (LDA) to ascertain the reason behind the witness' absence.

562 deaths respectively.

The highest single-day positivity rate was observed in Hyderabad where 22.45 per cent of its PCR tests came back positive, followed by Karachi at 19.89 per cent and Peshawar with 19.04 per cent.

Sindh and Balochistan reported positivity rates of 14.9 per cent and 14.2 per cent respectively, followed by Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) with 9.4 per cent and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with 7.2 per cent.

While, Islamabad witnessed a positivity ratio of 4.3 per cent, Punjab and GilgitBaltistan (GB) posted 3.8 per cent and 0.5 per cent ratios, respectively. The mortality rate remains at 2.0 per cent compared to the global rate of 2.22 per cent. With 87.1 per cent of the Covid-19 patients surviving the contagious disease, Pakistan has one of the highest recovery rates.

VACCINE IN TWO MONTHS: Meanwhile, Prime Minister’s National Task Force on Science and Technology

Chairman Dr Attaur Rehman has said a vaccine for the coronavirus would be available in Pakistan in the next two months. He reiterated that the first priority would be given to healthcare workers, adding that the process to vaccinate the entire population would take some time due to a large population.

In a related development, the Ministry of National Health Services on Monday refuted media reports claiming it had allowed the private sector to purchase vaccines for those individuals that can afford to pay for them.

A report published in The Express Tribune quoted a statement issued by the health ministry as stating the government had given permission to “cater to the segment of society that can afford” the vaccine.

However, Sajid Shah, the spokesperson for the ministry, denied issuing such a statement.

PDM is united against this selected govt: Bilawal LAHORE INP

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal BhuttoZardari has said that all the parties in Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) are united against the so-called "incapable, fake and illegitimate" government of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

He said this while talking to media after visiting Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President and Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif in prison on Tuesday afternoon in Lahore.

He said that it is tradition to sympathize with the bereaved family at the time of grief and sorrow and express solidarity with them. He said that he had gone to meet Shehbaz Sharif to condole with him on his mother's death, who recently passed away.

Bilawal said that this selected premier and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government does not have courage to hear the truth. This is probably the only government in the world in which current and former leaders of opposition are languishing in prison without any conviction, he added. Former president Asif Ali Zardari was kept in prison for 12 years without any conviction, he pointed out, stating that such tactics were against democracy and human rights. He alleged that this is the reason the democracy has not progressed in this country. He claimed that the government is unable to control price-hike and economically Pakistan is continuously suffering. In democracy the government and the opposition both put forward their view points and a way to stabilize the economy is found but unfortunately this selected government refused the democratic way to solve the problems.

Naya Pakistan Housing Project to start soon: Buzdar LAHORE STAFF REPORT

The Punjab government on Tuesday announced that the "Naya Pakistan Housing Project" will start soon which will comprise 35,000 apartments with affordable instalment plans. Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar made the announcement in a tweet. "35,000 apartments' Naya Pakistan Housing Project, with affordable instalments plan, will be starting soon in Lahore Insha’Allah," he said in a tweet. Last month, Housing Minister Mian Mahmoodur Rasheed had said that the groundbreaking ceremony of 35,000 new housing units in Lahore would be performed by Prime Minister Imran Khan on December 25, 2020. Stating that financing for the construction of houses was also a major challenge and banks were not ready to finance these projects, the minister said that now State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has bounded the banks to allocate 5 per cent of their borrowing for the housing sector.

Petrol price increased

by Rs3 per litre NEWS DESK The government on Tuesday increased the price of petrol by Rs3 per litre. According to the Finance Division notification, a litre of petrol would now be sold at Rs103.69.

Meanwhile, the price of high-speed diesel has been increased by Rs3 to Rs108.44 per litre, while that of kerosene oil has been hiked by Rs5 to Rs70.29 a litre. The new prices will be effective from 12am on Wednesday.

Pakistan to conduct MRCP PACES clinical exam twice a year RAWALPINDI STAFF REPORT

A five-member team of the Federation of Royal Colleges of Physicians (RCP) of United Kingdom, headed by Dr Donald O'Donoghue, visited Pakistan to conduct Membership of RCP Practical Assessment of Clinical Examination Skills (PACES) clinical examination. The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Tuesday that the visit was made after mutual collaboration, conferences and memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Surgeon General of Pakistan Army and RCP(UK).

The clinical examination for Membership of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the United Kingdom, PACES, was conducted at Pak-Emirates Military Hospital in Rawalpindi, which is the first-ever centre established in

Pakistan by Royal College of Physicians UK. According to the ISPR, this has been the 15-year journey to open the MRCP PACES Centre in Pakistan. From now on, MRCP PACES Clinical Examination will be held regularly at least twice a year in Pakistan, said the statement. The exam lasted three days and 45 candidates were examined.

Dr Donald Farquhar, Federation International Medical Director for Assessment shared, "MRCP exams are offered in 36 countries around the world at more than 100 locations and over 25,000 doctors take the exams each year.” he maintained that the advent of these high-level medical exams in Pakistan will provide doctors with the opportunity to take this examination locally. It is pertinent to mention here that the MRCP(UK) PACES exams were held for the first time in Pakistan during February this year.

Commenting on the examination process on MRCP website, Dr Donald said: “The February event went extremely smoothly with great efficiency and professionalism demonstrated by the local examination team. Congratulations are due to all who supported the mock examination and the surrounding arrangements.”

The panel of examination from the UK included Dr Donald Farquhar, Prof Charles Twort, Dr Peter Newman, Dr Tanzeem Raza and Dr Roderick Harvery.

They were joined by a team in Pakistan including Prof Aamir Ghafoor Khan, lead examiner for MRCP in Pakistan, Prof Imran Fazal, Prof Khurshid Muhammad Uttra, Prof Wasim Alamgir, Prof Zafar Ali Qureshi, Prof Shazia Nisar, Prof Azmat Hayat, Dr Asim Yousaf, Dr Muhammad Salim, Dr Haroon Hafiz and Dr Mohsin Saif, said the statement.

Abraaj’s Arif Naqvi 'will not get fair trial in US', lawyers argue LONDON AGENCIES

The alleged fraudster who founded the now-defunct Dubai private equity firm Abraaj Group would not receive a fair trial in the US, a British court heard on Monday.

Arif Naqvi, 60, is facing a string of fraud and money laundering accusations in the US after the collapse of Abraaj.

Liquidators estimate that the former chief executive, who denies any wrongdoing, defrauded a number of USbased investors, including the Bill and

Melinda Gates Foundation, out of $385 million. But Mr Naqvi’s lawyers are fighting his extradition to the US on the grounds that it breaches the European Convention on Human Rights.

Michael Baldassare, a US defence attorney, testified on Monday that the Pakistani businessman would probably be denied bail despite assurances from the FBI and the Department of Justice that they would not oppose his conditional release.

Mr Baldassare claimed US federal judges “are a law unto themselves” and may overrule assurances given in British

courts. “He is not a US citizen, he has a history of international travel,” he said.

“In this case, the penalty is serious. I’m not saying Mr Naqvi is a flight risk, but under US law he is.”

The court heard Mr Naqvi would probably be detained in Essex County Correctional Facility, in New Jersey, and would be tried in Manhattan.

Mr Baldassare testified that coronavirus was rife inside the maximum security prison and a ban on face-to-face meetings inside the jail would make planning for Mr Naqvi’s case difficult, given the complexity of

the case. “People are dying, lawyers are dying and nobody is really sure what is going on,” he said.

When asked if coronavirus restrictions would undermine a fair trial, Mr Baldassare said the US justice system was chaos at the moment. However, Mark Summers QC, argued that Mr Baldassare was not presenting the “full picture” and highlighted the level of testing in US prisons. He also argued that the level of coronavirus in the US could be different in six months’ time, when American authorities hope to have Mr Naqvi in custody.

Wednesday, 16 December, 2020

ALvi APPROveS New ANti-RAPe ORDiNANCe RAPE VICTIMS TO INCLUDE NOT ONLY WOMEN BUT ALSO MEN, TRANSGENDER PERSONS ISLAMABAD

P

STAFF REPORT

RESIDENT Dr Arif Alvi on Tuesday signed the Anti-Rape (Inves¬tigation and Trial) Ordinance, 2020, broadening the definition of rape and establish special courts to expedite prosecution of rape cases.

A meeting of the federal cabinet in November approved in principle two anti-rape ordinances — the other being Pakistan Penal Code (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020 — to expand the definition of penetration to include all its forms and list as possible rape victims not only women but also men and transgender persons.

The other changes include the establishment of special courts, anti-rape crisis cell, protection of victims and witnesses and prohibition of the intrusive two-finger test.

The new laws are introduced to award exemplary punishment to rapists,

ORDINANCE WIDENS SCOPE OF CRIME, EXPEDITES TRIALS THROUGH SPECIAL COURTS

including chemical castration and hanging, but not in public.

Pakistan already has severe sentences for rape though they are seldom implemented: 10-25 years in prison for rape and life imprisonment or death for gang rape.

However, according to legal experts, rapists often escape punishment because police investigations into such incidents are ineffective and influenced by powerful members of society. Moreover, rampant corruption in the lower judiciary also helps rapists in seeking favourable verdicts. The new regulations come after a recent spike in cases of sexual assault, drawing nationwide condemnation and demands for publicly hanging the rapist.

According to Minister for Information and Broadcast Senator Shibli Faraz, the new laws were introduced on the direction of Prime Minister Imran Khan who, after taking notice of a November rape incident of a mother and her daughter in Kashmore, had asked Minister for Law and Justice

Pakistan condemns terrorist attacks on Saudi oil facilities ISLAMABAD

Farogh Naseem to prepare comprehensive ordinances in this regard.

SALIENT FEATURES: The anti-rape ordinance would provide the creation of anti-rape crisis cells to be headed by concerned commissioners/deputy commissioners, who will also ensure prompt registration of the first information report (FIR), medical examination and forensic analysis within six hours of the incident. The prime minister himself will look over the establishment of these cells, the ordinance said.

The ordinance would also bring an end to the cross-examination of a rape victim by the accused, thereby only allowing the judge and the accused’s counsel to cross-examine the victim. The trials would be in-camera in future and protection for the victim and witnesses would be ensured.

It would also allow the use of modern devices during investigation and trial while the provision of legal assistance to the victims through the

ISLAMABAD

gives to the provinces and the revenues generated by the provinces due to which provincial governments don't have any incentive to increase their revenues," he said, adding that the finance ministry gave a presentation on the NFC and the merits and demerits were discussed in detail.

The information minister pointed out that there was no system in place to control the spending of the money given through the aforementioned award, and said that it was often found that the money was used for personal expenses and salaries. Referring to a "certain province", he said there was a lack of transparency regarding the spending of billions.

STAFF REPORT

Pakistan has strongly condemned the terrorist attacks on oil transport vessels in Jeddah and AlShuqaiq and on a petroleum distribution station in Jizan in Saudi Arabia. In a statement, the Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson said that these attacks threaten peace and security of Saudi Arabia, as well as the region. He said, “We call for their immediate cessation.” He said that Pakistan reiterates its full support and solidarity with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia against any threats to its security and territorial integrity. On Monday, an oil tanker was attacked by an explosive-laden boat while it was anchored at Jeddah's port. The attack resulted in a small fire on board that was extinguished. "The incident did not result in any casualties, and there was no damage caused to the unloading facilities, nor any effect on supplies,” a ministry spokesman said, according to the state news agency SPA. On November 25, an explosion damaged a Greek-managed tanker while at berth in the Saudi port of Shuqaiq. The country blamed Yemen’s Houthis for the mine attack. Similarly, on November 23, a missile attack struck a Saudi Aramco oil company distribution station in Jeddah. The attack was claimed by the Houthis.

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz pointed out that the provincial governments "do not have any motivation" to increase their local revenue due to the money given to them by the Centre, and as such, the federal government will review the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award.

The above was said during a press conference after a cabinet meeting, wherein Faraz explained the reason for the review was to hold provinces more accountable with their spending.

"There is a fundamental gap between the money that the Centre

MQM-P conveys reservations on karachi package to governor

The final anti-government meeting of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) at Minto Park, Lahore on Sunday caused a loss of Rs7.2 million to the national exchequer, the Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) said.

The authority said it has decided to recover the amount for damages from the alliance and also decided to take action under the Land Revenue Act, 1967. The authority will also file police cases against the PDM leadership for the damage sustained by the park.

Workers and supporters of PDM parties vandalised

TLTP

A three-member delegation of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) on Tuesday called on Sindh Governor Imran Ismail and conveyed reservations of the party on issues related to Karachi. The MQM-P delegation comprising Convener Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui, Kanwar Naveed Jameel, and former Karachi mayor Waseem Akhtar met the governor. The governor was conveyed regarding the MQM-P’s reservations on the exclusion of the party from the consultation process in the apex committee meeting and appointment of administrator Karachi. The party also raised its reservations over a delay in the implementation of the Karachi development package. Responding to the reservations, Governor Ismail said that the projects under the Karachi package have been announced after consultation with stakeholders.

“Imran Khan believes in a vision of uniform progress across the country,” he said adding that the Centre wants to go along with all stakeholders.

Ismail said that the government was taking all-out measures to improve the living standards of the masses. “People have pinned their hope on Imran Khan for betterment in the country,” he said adding that early implementation of the Karachi package would help in addressing the woes of the Karachiites. This is not the first time that MQM-P has raised the issue of Karachi development package as in June last year, the coalition partner of the federal government demanded Prime Minister Imran Khan hand over the Karachi package funds directly.

03

Pandemic calls for innovation, digitalisation of education: Shafqat ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training Shafqat Mehmood has said that the unprecedented challenge brought by the pandemic calls for innovation and digitalisation of education.

Shafqat Mehmood said this on Tuesday while addressing Huawei's ‘Igniting Innovation through Education’ summit as the key-note speaker. Hosted in partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Information Technologies in Education, the summit recognised the role of education as a catalyst for change, bringing people closer and making society more sustainable and prosperous. The minister said that within 15 days of the pandemic, the ministry acquired an exclusive television channel to launch a tele-school. For ten hours a day, lessons for classes 1-12 were broadcast in different modules, he further said. He maintained that an SMS system was established with the help of telecom companies to give students a medium for feedback on the lessons.

Knowing that not everyone has access to television sets, especially in the rural parts of the country, a radio school was also launched by the prime minister of Pakistan.

Provincial govts lack motivation to increase revenue: Faraz

STAFF REPORT

KARACHI

Legal Aid and Justice Authority would be ensured.

Maintenance of data of repeated sex offenders’ would be registered through the National Database & Registration Authority (NADRA) while a public reporting mechanism would be in place.

It also prohibits the identification of rape victims and makes it a punishable offense.

SECOND ORDINANCE: Meanwhile, under the Pakistan Penal Code (Amendment) Ordinance, a substitution of the existing Section 375 of the PPC has been proposed with a new provision so as to provide a new definition of “rape”, which would extend to females of all ages and male victims under the age of 18 years.

In addition to rape, the offence of gang-rape has also been “considered to be addressed; while in respect of first or repeated offenders, the concept of chemical castration has also been introduced mainly as a form of rehabilitation, and subject to consent”.

NEWS

The information minister also pointed out that the expenditure of natural disaster relief funds, Covid-19 funds, and so on, had drained the resources and forced the Centre to take loans.

Therefore, the cabinet decided that "we will have to improve this mechanism if we want the money to be spent in the right places and on right people," he told the presser.

Separately, Faraz said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government fully believes in the basic constitutional and democratic right of freedom of expression.

In a tweet on Tuesday, the information minister said, “We are standing by the media and will not let

PDM Lahore meeting caused hefty damage to Minto Park: PHA LAHORE STAFF REPORT

park infrastructure, including breaking iron fences, locks and gates of the venue. On Saturday, a good number of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) workers reached the venue, broke the locks of its main gate and placed chairs and installed lights at its ground.

Some PML-N leaders also visited the venue and oversaw the preparations.

PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz also reached there late Saturday night to take a look at the arrangements.

While the opposition insisted the rally was successful in building up momentum for the proposed long march to Islamabad, Prime minister Imran Khan rebutted the claim.

Pakistan ranked 154th among 189 states on Human Development Index ISLAMABAD TLTP

Pakistan was ranked 154th among 189 countries on the United Nation’s Human Development Index (HDI) 2020 rankings.

The HDI rankings are measured by combining indicators of health, education, and standards of living but this year included two more elements: a nation’s carbon dioxide emissions and material footprint that put enormous strain on the planet.

In other South Asian countries, India ranked at 131 on the planetary pressures-adjusted HDI; Bangladesh, 133; Sri Lanka, 72; Maldives, 95; Nepal, 142, and Bhutan, 129. Oil-rich Norway, Ireland, Hong Kong (China), Iceland, Germany led the rankings, while Niger, the Central African Republic, Chad, South Sudan and Burundi have the lowest scores in the HDI measurements.

The United States is placed at 17th position. This year’s Human Development Report (HDR), which reviews the performance of the countries in the year 2019, is titled: “The New Frontier: Human

Development and the Anthropocene.”

“With its new, experimental Planetary pressures– adjusted Human Development Index, we hope to open a new conversation on the path ahead for each country—a path yet unexplored,” Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Achim Steiner said as he launched the HDR 2020, a flagship study which the programme produces annually.

“Humans wield more power over the planet than ever before. In the wake of Covid-19, record-breaking temperatures and spiralling inequality, it is time to use that power to redefine what we mean by progress, where our carbon and consumption footprints are no longer hidden,” he stated.

The report is 30th in a series which began in 1990. The first UNDP HDR was prepared and launched under the leadership of the late Dr Mahbubul Haq, a former Pakistan finance minister.

The next frontier for human development will require working with and, not against, nature while transforming social norms, values, and government and financial incentives, the report argues.

freedom of media be dented.”

The minister said that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz's allegations and threats to the media expose her claims about freedom of expression. He added that she likes the media that praises her.

Earlier addressing the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s rally in Lahore on Sunday last, Maryam Nawaz claimed, “The media is being pressured into saying that the PDM rally in Lahore is a failure by certain elements... but we all know the truth of the matter.”

Rasheed invites opposition to parliament to resolve public issues ISLAMABAD TLTP

Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad has urged the opposition parties to show prudence and come to the parliament to resolve public issues. Talking to a private news channel on Tuesday, Rasheed said that parliament is the only forum where political issues can be resolved. He said the government is willing to negotiate with the opposition on issues of national interest but not on the issues of NRO and National Accountability Bureau (NAB) cases. He said that it does not matter whether the opposition goes on a long march or resigns from the assemblies, but they must take a constitutional and democratic path to resolve the issues. The interior minister said that the people across the country have rejected the Pakistan Democratic Movement's (PDM) narrative.

Rasheed said that governments use different methods at their disposal to deal with protests and marches, such as mutual negotiations, dialogue and other initiatives that come under the ambit of the law. Without going into details, the former railways minister said that the opposition's wish to engage with "someone" is not being fulfilled. "If you [Opposition] say that you don't want to talk to us [the government], then it seems that the wish you have in your heart to hold talks with 'someone' is not being fulfilled," he said. Earlier, the minister said that he has not dealt strictly with the PDM's workers when they arrived to attend the rally in Lahore. "Did I even stop one wagon, one car throughout the entire country when it was my first day [as interior minister]?" he asked.The comments from the interior minister came after PDM chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman announced on Monday that the 11-party alliance's lawmakers would hand in their resignations from the provincial and national assemblies on December 31. "Today, we want to make it clear: The government should resign till January 31. If it does not, then the [PDM leadership] will announce a long-march on February 1," Fazl had said as he addressed a press conference along with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice-President Maryam Nawaz and Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari.

However, Fazl had said that the final date for the long march would be finalised later.

Wednesday, 16 December, 2020

04 NEWS

SHC SenTenCeS fouR CoPS To SIx-MonTH IMPRISonMenT oveR fAKe enCounTeR KARACHI

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TLTP

He Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday found four police officials guilty of staging a fake encounter and sentenced them to six-month imprisonment. Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Najaf, Head Constable Rana Tariq, Bagh Ali, and Sher Gopang, posted at North Nazimabad police station, were taken into custody from outside the courtroom, after the court pronounced the verdict.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs50,000 on each offender.

DIRECTS GOVERNMENT TO ENSURE SAFETY MEASURES AT KEENJHAR LAKE The fake shootout had taken place on August 22, 2018.

On December 7, the SHC had ordered the registration of a criminal case against an ASI and four other police officials for allegedly killing two suspects in a fake police encounter. According to the report submitted in the SHC, the encounter was fake and the suspects were shot at a distance of two feet only. The

shells found from the crime scene did not match with the weapons, which the police had claimed to have recovered from the possession of the dead.

While hearing the case related to the incidents at the Keenjhar Lake and steps to avoid them, Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar asked the Sindh government’s counsel: ‘’What steps have been taken to ensure safety of the people visiting the

lake? How many cameras have been installed at the site?”

The government’s counsel submitted that the presence of ambulances and doctors has been ensured at the Keenjhar Lake to avoid any untoward incident.

The fitness of the boats is also being checked by the Pakistan Navy. Thirty two boats have been registered so far.

An additional district and sessions judge of Thatta presented his report regarding safety measures at the lake before the court. Later, the SHC adjourned the hearing of the case after directing the Sindh government to ensure all safety measures at the lake.

CCP inquiry blames cement makers’ body for cartelisation ISLAMABAD Shahzad Paracha

The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) on Tuesday announced that it had found firm evidence of cartelisation in the cement sector and had proven the involvement of All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA) in anticompetitive activities. “Prominent cement players, namely Lucky Cement, Bestway Cement, DG Khan Cement, Attock Cement, Kohat Cement, Cherat Cement, Dewan Cement, Fecto Cement and Kohat Cement, have also been found involved in cartelisation to harm the consumer’s interest in the market,” said a senior official while talking to the media.

He said that the CCP would issue notices to the cement manufacturers for involvement in cartelisation, market malpractices and market deception. It is pertinent to mention that the CCP had started an inquiry against cement manufacturers on the basis of various media reports published between April and May 2020 regarding an increase in the price of cement, particularly the 50kg bag, by cement manufacturers.

The media reports had alleged that the increase in cement price by Rs45-55 per 50kg bag was due to cartelisation by manufacturers, who had held a meeting subsequent to which price increase was announced. Consequently, a probe was conducted to ascertain possible prima facie violation of Section 3 and 4 of the Competition Act, 2010. According to the official, it was revealed from the information gathered that during the June-July 2019-2020 period, a sharp increase in cement prices was recorded in Islamabad (Rs63/50kg bag), Lahore (Rs101/50kg) and Karachi (Rs32/50kg), translating into a hike of 11.4 per cent, 18.6 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively. “It was surprising to note that the increase in the price of cement came into effect at a time when global coal prices dropped due to excess supply and lower demand,” he stated. Also, oil prices had reduced considerably in the international and domestic markets between April and May 2020 (petrol and diesel had reduced by Rs15 and Rs27, respectively).”

In addition, he said, interest rates had dropped to a single-digit; State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) had slashed the policy rate by 525bps from 13.25 per cent to 8 per cent during the fiscal year 2019-20.

The official said that based on the foregoing, the commission on May 18, 2020, authorised an inquiry under section 37(1) of the act to ascertain whether there had been any prima facie violation of Section 3 and/or section 4 of the act on part of the cement manufacturers and submit a report in the matter.

He said that to understand reasons behind the cement price increase, the inquiry committee sought information from cement manufacturing companies vide letters dated May 20, 2020, and August 12, 2020, on the various aspects including pricing, production etc.

On September 24, 2020, the CCP had conducted search and inspection of the APCMA main office as well as the office of senior vice chairman of the APCMA’s executive committee; a senior employee of a major cement company in Lahore.

Bomb defused near Bilawal Chowrangi in Karachi KARACHI: The Sindh Police on Tuesday defused a bomb installed in a double-cabin vehicle, parked near Bilawal Chowrangi area. South Karachi Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Sheeraz Nazir informed the media that there were some foreigners in the vehicle. They have been shifted to a safer place and investigation has been started. He further said that a bomb disposal squad was called in after the suspicious vehicle was spotted moving in the area near the Bilawal House. TLTP

PTI’s Bukhari, Kastro inducted into Punjab cabinet LAHORE: Two more lawmakers of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) were inducted into Punjab cabinet here on Tuesday, as Members of Provincial Assembly (MPAs) Syed Yawar Abbas Bukhari and Khayal Ahmad Kastro took oath as provincial ministers during a ceremony, held at the Governor House.

Governor Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar administered the oath to the new ministers. A number of provincial ministers, MPAs, and other government functionaries were present during the ceremony. Reportedly, Prime Minister Imran Khan had given go-ahead to induct two more members into the top decision-making body of the province. Bukhari, who was elected from PP-1 Attock, is also the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee-II and Kastro, who was elected from PP110 Faisalabad, is also a member of the provincial assembly’s sub-committee on privileges. TLTP

State land worth billions evacuated in Lahore, Murree: Raja Basharat LAHORE: Punjab Minister for Law and Cooperatives Raja Basharat on Tuesday said that the Punjab Cooperatives Liquidation Board has taken major action against the land-grabbing mafia and recovered 252-kanal land worth billions of rupees from illegal occupants in Lahore and Murree. The minister said that the department took action on his direction. In the first operation, 200 kanals of valuable land was recovered near Thokar Niaz Baig, which was illegally occupied even before the establishment of the department. Basharat further said that in the second and third operations, illegal possessions of 35-kanal land in Mouza Kachha, Lahore and 17-kanal land at Cart Road, Murree were relinquished respectively.

The process of relinquishing illegal possessions of lands of cooperatives is being intensified in coming days under the directions of Prime Minister Imran Khan and Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar.INP

Court summons report from police on Achakzai speech case LAHORE: The Lahore Sessions Court on Tuesday heard a petition seeking registration of a case against Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PMAP) leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai over alleged hate speech against the people of Punjab in the Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) public gathering in Lahore and summoned a report from concerned police station. Additional Sessions Judge Rizwan Aziz heard the petition of Tanveer Arshad Chaudhry Advocate.

The petitioner pleaded to the court that Achakzai talked with hate against the people of the province in the recent public meeting of PDM. .INP

Wednesday, 16 December, 2020

NEWS

05

'PakiStan, iMF on SaME PagE REgaRding PoWER SECtoR REFoRMS, CiRCulaR dEBt' ISLAMABAD

S

STAFF REPORT

TATE Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Dr Reza Baqir said on Tuesday that the International Monetary Fund, like the government, wants power sector reforms and reduction in circular debt.

He was addressing the plenary on 'Pakistan's Economic Response to Covid-19 and Way Forward for an Inclusive Economic Recovery' on the second day of the 23rd Annual Sustainable Development Conference of the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI).

FBR forms ‘complaint resolution committees’ for Punjab taxpayers

The SBP governor said the country's exports have recovered to the pre-Covid monthly level of around $2 billion, with strongest recovery seen in textiles, rice, cement, chemical, and pharmaceutical sectors.

He stressed that Pakistan needs to focus on ways to improve competitiveness and reduce dependency on imports in order to ensure sustainable growth.

"To boost economic activity and job opportunities in the country, the central bank is working with the banks to ensure that lending to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and housing sector are increased."

He said the government has coordinated a consistent and holistic policy to promote the housing and

construction sector. "At the central bank’s end, we are working with the banks to help them support this sector," he added.

Dr Reza Baqir noted India's economy had suffered a sharp decline due to Covid-19 outbreak, as compared to Pakistan, adding that the government and SBP had taken timely measures to stop bankruptcies from happening since that could have led to long-term implications.

"Now that demand is coming back from the world market, our exporters are ready due to the liquidity and smart lockdowns. What we need to focus now is to increase our export-to-GDP ratio," he concluded.

cOntInuED fROM pAgE 01

ECC likely to approve Rs739bn Karachi Transformation Plan

ISLAMABAD TLTP

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Tuesday constituted complaint resolution committees for settlement of issues related to sales tax refunds in Punjab. The FBR constituted two complaint resolution committees for Punjab North and Punjab South. The southern committee shall comprise members falling under the jurisdiction of Multan, Bahawalpur and Sahiwal; whereas northern committee shall comprise members falling under the jurisdiction of Lahore, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Sargodha and Sialkot. As per the terms of reference (TORs), the complaint resolution committees would be responsible to review the nature of complaints/issues and take immediate action for resolution; follow up with concerned field formations till issue is resolved; maintain complete record of complaints/issues, mechanism adopted for resolution and post resolution action required, if any; and share the date with FBR on a monthly basis indicating issues received, resolved and pending for resolution.

Punjab lifts ban on grant, renewal of coal mining concessions LAHORE

ISLAMABAD SHAHZAD PARACHA

The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC), in its upcoming meeting, is likely to approve the Rs739-billion Karachi Transformation Plan.

As per details, Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh has summoned the ECC meeting on Wednesday (tomorrow) to discuss 13 agenda items, including the Karachi Transformation Plan.

Sources said that the planning ministry had proposed the ECC to

approve five Karachi infrastructurerelated projects pertaining to water, railway and green bus services worth Rs739 billion in the next three years under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP), public-private partnership, Supreme Court fund and financing from foreign institutes.

Other agenda items of the ECC included a technical supplementary grant (TSG) for a project of ICT administration, Islamabad; TSG for annual contribution of the government to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Partners in Population and Development (PPD) and

Family Planning Association of Pakistan for the fiscal year 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21; TSG to pay Pakistan's outstanding contribution to the World Health Organisation; revision in relending policy 2016 for foreign loans/credits; implementation of approved recommendations of Mobile Device Manufacturing Policy and Electric Vehicles (2-3 wheelers and HCVs) as well as approval of new proposals related to automotive industry (four wheelers EVs and premium on vehicles); besides a new agenda item on Pakistani rupee-linked bonds programme.

TLTP

The Punjab cabinet has lifted a ban on the grant and renewal of coal mining concessions in the province. A spokesman for Punjab Mines and Minerals Department on Tuesday termed the development a historic decision of the Buzdar government to promote mineral development and investment. He said that the provincial cabinet gave final approval to lift the 10-year ban on coal leases, adding that a formal notification in this regard has been issued by the provincial mines & minerals secretary. He said that the provincial cabinet has constituted a committee to promote competition in the minerals sector. He said another committee has also been constituted to evolve an effective strategy for development of minerals sector which will submit its recommendations to the provincial cabinet.

“Lifting of the ban would not only boost the morale of existing investors but would also attract new ones to invest,” he concluded

‘Where will this political instability then lead us?’ asks FM

Japan to provide Pakistan Rs1.54bn to fight Covid-19 Japan will provide Pakistan with a grant of Rs1.54 billion to fight against Covid-19.

An agreement to this effect was signed in the federal capital on Tuesday. Japanese Ambassador to Pakistan Kuninori Matsuda and Secretary Economic Affairs Noor Ahmed were present in the signing ceremony.

The grant will be helpful for the purchase of healthrelated equipment, particularly ventilators and oxygen cylinders.

Speaking on the occasion, Secretary Economic Affairs Noor Ahmed expressed that Pakistan values bilateral and friendly relations with Japan and both countries share common views on most of the regional and international economic issues. He said that Japanese economic assistance has played and shall continue to play a vital role in the socio-economic uplift of Pakistan.

“Japan is still insisting on complete eradication till

the zero polio patients are reported,” he added.

He also appreciated Japan’s assistance to build an intensive care unit and maternal and child health facilities at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Islamabad, worth JPY 3.62 billion. He added that Japan has extended similar grant assistance for Hyderabad (Sindh).

He highlighted that the grant assistance in the form of medical equipment during the pandemic (Covid-19) is timely.

“Pakistan is going through a second wave of the pandemic and the number of patients is higher, hence overburdening the health systems in Pakistan. This grant will supplement the health facilities of the hospitals, the risk to health workers and doctors shall be minimised,” he added.

The Japanese ambassador said that Japan will continue extending cooperation with Pakistan for its socioeconomic development. NEWS DESK

Furthermore, he lambasted Bilawal for saying the time for talks is over and told the PPP chairman to learn from Asif Ali Zardari. “This is inexperience talking,” he said. “What is this dialogue about then if there is no room for one?” the senior PTI official asked. Stating that the nation has recognised the anti-country agenda of the PDM, the foreign minister took jabs at the so-called resignations from assemblies planned by the PDM. “If you have consensus on resignations and are serious, then on the 31st, your resignations should reach the speaker and not the leadership of your parties. Submitting resignations to leadership is just for show.” Maintaining that there is “no unity” in the 11-party alliance, he advised them to “learn from the lessons of history”.

Cabinet approves govt’s request to move ECP for early Senate polls cOntInuED fROM pAgE 01 The cabinet was also informed that there were many errors and ambiguities in the old Social Security and Poverty Reduction Survey due to which payments were made to undeserving persons. The SAPM said that the Ehsaas Programme will provide financial assistance to 7 million people, of which 2.3 million people have been disbursed so far. The cabinet was further informed that 31,543 unqualified persons have been removed from the database. The premier was told that Rs1.081 billion was received in the fund from international donors while Rs3.805 billion was given by local donors. At that time, Rs4.886 billion was deposited in this fund. As per the instructions of PM Imran, the federal government has increased this amount to Rs24.43 billion. The cabinet was informed that the payments from this fund are being made in a completely transparent manner. So far, 2 million people have been provided emergency cash from this fund. The cabinet approved the appointment of Asim Shehryar Hussain as the chief executive officer of National Technology Fund on a threeyear contract. The cabinet also approved the appointment of Imran Manyar and of Ali Javed Hamdani as the managing directors of Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGCL) on a three-year contract. The cabinet approved the appointment of members on the Board of Directors (BoD) of the Public-Private Partnership Authority. The meeting approved the appointment of Lt Gen Akhtar Nawaz as chairman of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), and approved the reorganization of the Board of Trustees of the Employees Old-Age Benefits Institution.

China poverty alleviation, cotton boom backed by forced labour in Xinjiang: report China is forcing hundreds of thousands of Uighurs and other minorities into hard, manual labour in the vast cotton fields of its western region of Xinjiang, according to a report by the BBC. The Xinjiang region produces more than 20pc of the world’s cotton and 85pc of China’s, but according to a new report released on Tuesday by the Center for Global Policy (CGP), there is significant evidence that it is “tainted” by human rights abuses, including suspected forced labour of Uighur and other Turkic Muslim minority people.

The revelations came as the International Criminal Court (ICC) said it did not have the jurisdiction to investigate allegations of crimes against humanity and genocide in Xinjiang.

According to the BBC’s findings, over half a million Chinese religious minorities are suspected of being detained in detention

camps where they are forced to participate in textile related work alongside constant “thought training”.

The Chinese government denies the claims, insisting that the camps are “vocational training schools” and the factories are part of a massive, and voluntary, “poverty alleviation” scheme. But the new evidence suggests that upwards of half a million minority workers a year are also being marshalled into seasonal cotton picking under conditions that again appear to raise a high risk of coercion, the report states.

Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation Senior Fellow Dr Adrian Zenz, who uncovered the documents, told the BBC that new “evidence of Uighur forced labour in manufacturing, in garment making, directly about the picking of cotton, is supported by multiple satellite images, online government

policy papers and state news reports providing evidence on sudden huge industrial expansion, dubious movement of people.

The report explains that in 2018, the prefectures of Aksu and Hotan sent 210,000 workers “via labour transfer” to pick cotton for a Chinese paramilitary organisation, the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.

This year, Aksu identified a need for 142,700 workers for its own fields, which was largely met through the principle of “transferring all those who should be transferred.” References to “guiding” the pickers to “consciously resist illegal religious activities” indicate that the policies are designed predominantly for Xinjiang’s Uighurs and other traditionally Muslim groups.

Since 2018, a huge industrial expansion has been under way involving the building of hundreds of factories. The parallel purpose of

CMYK

mass employment and mass imprisonment is made clear by the appearance of many factories within the walls of the camps, or in close proximity to them, the report adds.

The report further raises questions over the living conditions and daily lives of the textile workers, saying that “It is impossible to verify who the people in the satellite image are or what the conditions for the workers in the facility are like today; however, recent findings have claimed that the detainees are put through short bouts of “military-style” job training by the Chinese, who according to a report found by Dr Zenz wish to transform the “deep-rooted, lazy thinking” of poor, rural villagers by showing them that “labour is glorious”.

Furthermore, the report examines Xinjiang’s cotton growing industry which was dependent on seasonal, migrant workers

from other provinces in the country, whose interest in the work has fast diminished, leading to a dearth of local labour.

“There is no mention of real explanation of why hundreds of thousands of people, who apparently had no previous interest in picking cotton, should suddenly rush into the fields,” the report emphasises.

Earlier, in the first week of December, the United States’ Customs and Border Protection (CBP) personnel issued a detention order on cotton products made by Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) for using prison labour. The CBP order contended that cotton products made by XPCC used forced labour.

It may be mentioned here that India could exploit the ban to find more convergence with the US and also attack China economically. NEWS DESK

Wednesday, 16 December, 2020

06 COMMENT

Biden and the JCPOA

Defusing the crisis by reaching an understanding Unwise to underrate PDM

Lessons from Iranian and Arab public opinion

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hE opposition’s rally at Minar-e-Pakistan was neither the largest ever, as claimed by Mr Khaqqan Abbasi nor a flop as maintained by Prime Minister imran Khan. the rally was by all standards a fairly successful gathering at a time when many avoided going to rallies because of the pandemic and Sunday being one of the coldest days of the winter. it needs to be further realised that rallies are attended only by the activists of a party or alliance who are just a fraction of its voters, who mostly prefer to stay home and turn out only on Election Day. What should worry Mr Khan and his patrons is that the delay of the promised march on islamabad till the end of January has, instead of dispelling the crisis, prolonged it further. the state of uncertainty that has come to prevail is casting an ominous shadow over the economy and it would be futile to hope that it would disappear by ridiculing the PDM leadership. it might be gratifying for the PM to find that he has 13million followers on his twitter account, up by 3million since October. Former President Musharraf too had a massive Facebook fan club backing his plans to return to lead the country in May 2013. Mr imran Khan needs to be reminded that the common man’s level of dissatisfaction with the government is on the rise, because of increasing rising prices and service charges. the government takes pride in bringing the sugar price down from Rs102 to Rs81 per kilo in a month but people compare it to Rs 55 per kilo under the previous government. Prices of most of the basic commodities continue to be beyond the common man’s reach. On Monday Nepra’s fuel price adjustment led to a further increase in the electricity tariff by Rs 1.11 per unit. A further rise in petroleum and diesel prices is expected. Failure to import LNG on time is going to cause gas shortages in January, raising tempers the opposition remains divided over the issue of resignations. it is however united over the march and dharna in islamabad. Unless some sort of understanding is reached with the PDM during the breather of about a month and half, the crisis is bound to further deepen which is not good for the country.

Washington Watch Dr James J Zogby

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ith Joe Biden as President-elect and Donald trump soon leaving the White house, analysts are engaging in endless speculation about what this change in administrations will mean for the future of the JCPOA– the “nuclear deal” negotiated between the P5+1 and iran. i’m well aware of the difficulties involved in attempting a simple US return to the agreement and of additional complications because of actions taken by trump and the israeli government that served to strengthen iranian hardliners. My intention, therefore, is not to add to the already excessive speculation/commentary on “What should Joe Biden do?” instead, i thought it might be useful to insert into the discussion of the past and possible future of the JCPOA, the views of both iranian and Arab public opinions compiled from our extensive polling across the Middle East. i want to begin by confessing, with apologies to former Secretary of State John Kerry, that i was against the deal before i was for it. Just looking back at our pre-JCPOA polling data, i noted that although Arabs believed that iran was pursuing its nuclear programme with the goal of developing a nuclear warhead, they were more concerned with the islamic Republic’s meddlesome interventions across the region. in fact, it was iran’s involvement first in Lebanon, then in iraq, and finally in Syria that caused the deepest concern in Arab public opinion. i found that iran’s favorable ratings among Arabs in most countries plummeted from the 80 percent range in 2006 to less than 30 percent in 2012 and then to less than 20 percent in our most recent polls. i noted, at the time, that it was iran’s role in Syria that acted as “the nail in the coffin of iran’s standing in Arab opinion.”

With these numbers in mind, i remember asking members of the Obama Administration’s National Security staff, “Why are you expending so much of our political capital and whatever leverage we might have gained from sanctions on trying to stop a bomb that

Achakzai’s perception of Punjab An imbalanced view

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iKE all nationalists of an extremist variety, irrespective of whether they belong to Punjab, Sindh, KP or Balochistan, PKMAP leader Mahmud Khan Achakzai presented a simplistic, one-sided and highly prejudiced view of history. the view disregards complex historical processes, looking at “ours” as heroes and “theirs” as demons. in such cases nationalism often turns into racism.

Mr Achakzai holds said that all Muslim-majority countries were subjugated by 19th century colonial powers that included italy, France and the United Kingdom. the only state, according to him, that fought against the imperialists was the Afghan-Pashtun state that spread from the Amu River to the Abaseen River. it suits him to forget that turkey was never colonized and it successfully fought against powers that wanted to divide it among themselves. Like the narrow-minded nationalist that he is, Mr Achakzai claims that all Punjabis, including hindus, Sikhs and Muslims, sided with the British when the latter tried to take over the ‘Afghan homeland’.

Mr Achakzai has tried to open a Pandora’s box which political wisdom would require to keep shut. Punjab itself has suffered immensely from the invaders coming from the Afghan side who indulged in killing, looting and burning of its cities, including Lahore. Punjab however defended itself against invaders. this explains why Punjab was among the last regions of india to come under British rule in 1849. the British rule in Punjab is limited to less than a century.

Punjab has a glorious history of struggle against the British rulers which is borne out by the massacre of Jallianwala Bagh, the first Martial Law in Punjab in 1919, several anti-British movements including the Ghadar movement, with scores of fighters hanged or sentenced to the Andamans or expelled to Rangoon. Punjab had its share of collaborators. But Pushtiuns too produced Shah Shuja, Emir Yaqub Khan and Bacha Saqqa. Punjab provided the largest number of recruits to British indian Army in Northern india, and many Pushtuns like Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan, Azam Khan, Gul hasan Khan, habibullah Khan and Akbar Khan saluted the Union Jack every morning as young officers. in both cases economic compulsions played a crucial role. Early recruits in the British army, Punjabis as well as Pushtuns, came from poor rain fed areas which provided little chance of social improvement besides the army.

What restrained the BBC? Protecting India when it’s disinformation is exposed amJeD JaveD

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hE EU-based non-governmental organisation, EU DisinfoLab, has released its second tranche of te goldmine of india’s vast disinformation network. it reveals that a dead human-rights professor Louis Sohno, who died, aged 92, in 2006, and numerous defunct organisations had been resurrected. they were used alongside at least 750 fake media outlets in a vast 15-year global disinformation campaign to serve indian interests.

After connecting the dots, the disinformation watchdog found that they had shady links to a large network of think tanks, non-governmental organisations, and fake news websites in over 65 countries. the network worked day in and day to create a mirage of anti-Pakistan perceptions by influencing the world’s political leaders, international institutions, as well as gullible ordinary folk alike.

Srivastava Group of india sponsored a fake, disinformational network in 65 countries, including US, Canada, Brussels, and Geneva. the Group published New Delhi Times, Times of Geneva Online, and EP (European Parliament), besides running a website 4newsagency.com. the fake think tanks include the international institute for Non-Aligned Studies, Women are Economic and Social think tank, the South Asia Democracy Forum, and Friends of Gilgit-Baltistan. these think tanks are run by Modi Sharma, who runs the outfits with just two administrative fulltimers, but with no specialists on South Asia.

Ms. Sharma, who posed as a self-styled “international business broker”, paid for the travel and accommodation of an unofficial far-right delegation of 23 European Union parliamentarians to Srinagar, on 30 October 2013.

She was photographed with PM Modi along with the EU parliamentarians who made the Kashmir trip. the delegation’s shikara (boat) ride in Kashmir

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Arif Nizami Editor Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

Umar Aziz

Asher John

Joint Editor

Executive Editor

Deputy Editor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965

iran doesn’t have (and even if they did, they couldn’t use it anyway) when we ought to be focusing on the very real and immediate danger posed by iran’s direct engagements in iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen?”

After the deal was announced, i supported it, for three reasons. in the first place, a negotiated solution to any problem reached through multilateral diplomacy is always preferable to conflict. And then there was the hope, as expressed by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, that the framework created by the P5+1 could be extended in due course to negotiations dealing with iran’s ballistic missile programme and its involvement in regional conflicts.

My third reason for supporting the JCPOA came after i reviewed our polling results from iran and Arab countries in the years after the “deal” was in place and then after President trump unilaterally pulled the USA out of the agreement and instituted new sanctions on iran.

When the framework for the nuclear deal was announced in 2015, majorities in most Arab countries were opposed to it. But in the intervening years, support for the P5+1 agreement grew with increasing confidence that it would serve to limit iran’s capacity to develop a nuclear bomb. By 2018, majorities in these same countries supported the deal. But,ional behavior, in that same year, strong majorities in every Arab country, including iraq and Lebanon, supported the trump Administration’s decision to scuttle the deal, expressing the hope that it would be replaced by a new arrangement that would address iran’s “role in the region’s conflicts.”

Equally telling were the results of our iran polling , where we saw dramatic shifts in public opinion between 2014 and 2015, after the announcement of the framework agreement with the P5+1, and finally in 2018, following the trump Administration’s decision to pull out of the agreement. these shifts occurred in three areas. in 2014, almost one-half of iranians felt their country “should have the right to a nuclear weapon because it is a major nation.” After the framework agreement was announced in 2015 support for that proposition dropped to 20 percent. Following trump’s decision to withdraw from the deal, the percentage of iranians who felt they had a right to a nuclear weapon because they are a major nation rose again to 40 percent. in 2015, 80 percent of iranians supported the P5+1 agreement and expressed the view that their country’s interests had been well served by the deal.

After the US pullout positive responses to both questions, dropped to 60 percent.

Also in 2014, substantial majorities of iranians (between 90 percent and 60 percent) expressed sup-

I

Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9

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Lake (dal) pictured Kashmir as a heaven in serene peace. Some members however smelt a rat and abandoned the free joyride. the BBC report reveals, `A pro-indian comment spoken in a personal capacity by a single MEP is modified to sound like the official voice of the whole Parliament. As a result, dozens of indian media outlets wrote that “EU backs India’s surgical strikes” though this was the position of just one MP’. it appears india meticulously implemented hitler’s propaganda theorem: `the bigger the lie, the better the results among the masses”. india’s worldwide disinformation campaign against Pakistan and China is spearheaded by think tanks and journalists of doubtful credentials.

For instance, Macdonald-Laurier institute, a registered Canadian charity, is in the forefront. it published a Pakistan-bashing report Khalistan—A project of Pakistan which found mention in almost all leading indian newspapers. the social democratic Broadbent institute (a think-tank on the political left) referred to the MacDonald-Laurier institute as a “right-wing charity”. that’s true. Founded in 2010, the institute is a registered charity funded by corporate and individual donors, including disguised pro-indian lobbyists. its political orientation is conspicuous from the fact that it is named after two Canadian prime ministers Sir John A. Macdonald and Sir Wilfrid Laurier.

Another pro-india “think-tank” is the “international terrorism Observatory” chaired by Roland Jacquard. the prestigious French newspaper Le Monde pointed out in 2015, “he is the only member “without publications, without a website, without postal address and without any legal existence”. he runs a bookstore stacked with books on “networks of islamist terrorism”.

According to journalists Didier Bigo, Laurent Bonelli and thomas Deltombe, Roland Jacquard’s claim of being a media expert is questionable. in July 2010, Roland Jacquard appeared on France 5 channel. in the show, he displayed a 300page Arabic manual, supposedly intended for Al

Islamabad – Ph: 051-2204545

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port for their government’s involvement in iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen. in 2015, after the framework agreement was announced, that percentage began to drop and by 2016 support for these foreign entanglements had plummeted to below 50 percent in iraq, Syria, and Lebanon, and just 20 percent in Yemen. By 2017, after the US pullout and the introduction of new sanctions on iran, the iranian public’s support for these foreign involvements had risen to over 60 percent.

And finally, when we asked iranians their attitudes toward their government’s performance and policy priorities, we found a significant shift from 2014 to 2015 and 2018. After the P5+1 framework was announced, iranians turned inward, not only did they express significantly less support for a nuclear weapons programme and for involvement in foreign conflicts, they also said they wanted their government to focus more resources on job creation and give more emphasis to protecting personal rights. Once again, after the US pullout and the imposition of new sanctions, iranian opinion shifted to support for their government and its policies. it appears that when their government is threatened, iranians turn to it and not against it.

Given this survey of both Arab and iranian opinion, it seems that the incoming Biden Administration may be on the right track. it seeks engagement with iran and not conflict. And it plans to reenter the nuclear agreement, but with the added component of firmly addressing iran’s involvement in regional conflicts. Such an approach may be difficult to achieve for several reasons. iranian opinion has hardened. the new sanctions imposed by the trump Administration have taken a toll and with elections in iran coming in June 2021, the country’s hardliners are on the ascent.

Attitudes toward iran have also hardened here in the USA, especially among Republicans, where any move to ease sanctions or reenter the JCPOA may be met with strong opposition in Congress. Opinion toward iran among Arabs has also hardened in light of iran’s continuing aggressive role in the region.

Nevertheless, despite these very real difficulties, engagement remains the better course. Efforts to negotiate a reentry in the JCPOA, while at the same time addressing iran’s regional involvement, may provide a key to shifting public opinion in iran and the Arab World– both of which need to be considered. it won’t be an easy lift. But anything is better than the current path which leads to the dead end of continued or, God forbid, an expanded conflict that no one can win Dr James J Zogby is President, Arab American Institute.

Qaeda cadres to protect themselves from the secret services on the internet. the authenticity of the document was questioned by leading journalists, the cover of the document being that of a simple manual downloadable for free on the internet.

Jacquard incessantly writes China- and Pakistanbashing articles in Global Watch Analysis.

Look at similarity between Jacquard’s think tank “international terrorism Observatory” and Srivastava Group’s think tanks. the BBC’s report (December 10, 2020) says, ‘the BBC approached the indian government for comment but had received no response by the time of publication’.

Still it remained shy of speaking the simple truth: the disinformation was sponsored by the indian government. instead, it saves indian face by saying ‘there is no evidence the network is linked to india’s government, but it relies heavily on amplifying content produced on fake media outlets with the help of Asian News international (ANi)─ india’s largest wire service and a key focus of the investigation. the researchers cautioned against “definitively attributing indian Chronicles to some specific actors such as indian intelligence services” without further investigation’. how many more years do the researchers need? it is well-established convention that if a government or any of its departments withholds information, the investigative journalist publishes his own version of investigated facts.

Even in india the reporters went ahead with their reports when the government did not condescend to reply to the questionnaire for information. A case in point is Praveen Swami’s investigation of Kulbushan Jhadav’s antecedents. On the basis of gazette notifications, he surmised that Jhadav was a serving naval officer. in another report ‘Saanp vinash or sach vinash’ (serpent killing or truth busting), as the reporter assailed the army version of a so-called military operation against the militants in occupied Kashmir. india has proved that it understands dimensions of the fifth-generation war or fake news. it knows how to apply its techniques to achieve its objectives. time for Pakistan to wake up!

Why can’t the BBC see india’s hand?

Amjed Jaaved is a freelance journalist, has served in the Pakistan government for 39 years and holds degrees in economics, business administration, and law.

He can be reached at amjedjaaved@gmail.com.

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Wednesday, 16 December, 2020

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

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

Govt vs PDM

Making peace with nature Affluent nations must also play their due role

malik muhammaD ashraf

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RESENtLY the world is focused on dealing with the covid-19 pandemic which has destroyed lives, livelihoods and economies, posing an unprecedented challenge of the century to the entire humanity. hopefully, through collective efforts of the global community, the contagion will be contained in the near future. in this regard a ray of hope has been kindled by the development of vaccines by a number of countries and multinational pharmaceutical companies which are already being administered to people in the UK and are also likely to be available to the people of the USA in a week’s time. these vaccines will also be shared with all the countries affected by the pandemic very soon. it is indeed a very satisfying development in regards to overcoming the pandemic, saving human lives and reviving the devastated economies. however the world is still not on track in dealing with the challenge posed by climate change which is an ever-growing threat to people’s health, jobs and safety. the stakes could not be higher than it.

According to two authentic reports compiled by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP), released in the first week of December, the climate crisis continues with unmitigated severity. the WMO report shows 2020 to be on track as one of the three warmest years on record while the UNEP report states that to limit temperature rise to 1.5° Celsius as set out in the Paris Climate Change Agreement, the world needs to decrease fossil fuel production by roughly 6 percent every year between now and 2030.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, in his address at Colombia University on the day these reports were released, said “Making peace with nature is the defining task of the 21st century.” Later speaking to the Climate Ambition Summit, held online, marking five years since the landmark Paris Agreement, he urged the world leaders to declare a state of climate emergency and focus on greener growth. he observed, “Commitments made in Paris were far from enough to limit temperature rises to 1.5° Celsius and if we do not change course we may be headed for a catastrophic temperature rise of more than 3° this century.”

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told made specific commitments instead of making the climate summit that a traumatic year of pan- a general statement and also unraveled measures demic was ending with the hope of vaccines that Pakistan had already put in place in this recoming on-stream. he said, “We can use scien- gard. he told the summit that 60 percent of all tific advances to protect our planet, our bios- energy produced in the country would be clean phere against a challenge far worse, far more and generated through renewable resources by destructive, than even the coronavirus pandemic. 2030; Pakistan has already scrapped two coal Scientific progress would allow the creation of power projects which were supposed to generate millions of green jobs.” he presented plans for 2600 MW of electricity and replaced them with a “green industrial revolution” creating up to hydropower units; 10 billion trees will be 250,000 jobs. Before the summit opened, he planted in the country during the next three committed to ending all direct British govern- years; the number of parks and protected areas ment support for the fossil fuel sector overseas. has been increased from 30 to 45 and as far as the foregoing discourses emphasize sever- indigenous coal is concerned, the government ity of the problem and the need for the global has decided to produce energy either by “coal to community to act in unison to deal with the phe- liquid” or by “coal to gas” so that coal doesn’t have to be burned. i am nomenon of climate of the considered view change. But it is regretthat the strategy table to note that the readopted by Pakistan is quired commitment is beyond reproach and not coming forth from The UN surely has a crucial the best option that can the countries which are role in this regard and needs to be exercised, relying on major contributors to indigenous resources the emissions of greenadopt a more proactive and expertise. houses gases. Major Pakistan is the economies, including approach in ensuring the fifth-most affected Australia, Brazil and country by climate South Africa, were abimplementation of the change and there are sent from the summit. protocols on climate change, many other developing Brazil’s far-right Presicountries like her dent Jair Bolsonaro has remove the inadequacies in which are being badly dismissed the scale of destruction to the Amathem and devise a mechanism affected by this phenomenon even though zon rainforest opened whereby the developing they are not responsible up by his climate-scepfor contributing to tic policies. the USA, countries receive the required greenhouses gases in a the world’s secondbig way. Pakistan conlargest polluter after financial and technical tributes one percent of China, left the Paris assistance. The developing the total emissions.

Agreement under Presin certain cases the ident Donald trump. countries on their own can developing countries however, it is encournot have the necesaging to note that Presalso unfurl initiatives designed do sary financial resources ident-elect Joe Biden and technical and scihas indicated the USA to mitigate the impact of the entific wherewithal to will rejoin the Paris climate change by emulating mitigate the impact of Agreement. in a statethe climate change. ment last Saturday he the Pakistani example.

Climate change is a said, “We have not global challenge, therecome close to the bold fore it is incumbent action that is needed upon the affluent naand today we have no time to waste.” he pledged to convene leaders tions which are major contributors to the emisof the major economies for his own climate sum- sions of greenhouse gases, not only to abide by their commitments given in the international mit within 100 days of taking office.

Under the Paris climate accord, signatories protocols, but also to help the developing councommitted to limit temperature rises to “well tries in coping with the problem through finanbelow” 2.0°C above pre-industrial levels, and to cial and technical support. it is absolute imperative if the future of mankind on the earth try to restrain them to 1.5°C. Other world leaders, including Prime Min- planet was to be secured. the UN surely has a crucial role in this regard ister imran Khan, addressing the summit through short video messages, said that they and needs to adopt a more proactive approach in would announce new and ambitious climate ensuring the implementation of the protocols on change commitments and that there would be no climate change, remove the inadequacies in them space for general statements. the countries are and devise a mechanism whereby the developing set to announce efforts to reduce national emis- countries receive the required financial and techsions, and long-term strategies and financial nical assistance. the developing countries on commitments to support the most vulnerable. their own can also unfurl initiatives designed to More than 110 countries have committed to be- mitigate the impact of the climate change by emcoming carbon neutral by 2050. China, the ulating the Pakistani example. world’s biggest polluter, announced in SeptemMalik Muhammad Ashraf is an academic. ber plans to achieve net zero emissions by 2060.

Prime Minister imran Khan in his address He can be contacted at: ashpak10@gmail.com

REJECtiNG the ultimatum given by Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) as ‘unconstitutional and undemocratic’, Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi on tuesday emphatically stated that neither Prime Minister imran Khan would step down, nor the assemblies would be dissolved. “i want to clearly tell the PDM that we reject your ultimatum for the resignation of prime minister by January 31. the system of country will not be run on your wishes,” Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who is also the Vice Chairman of Pakistan tehrik-e-insaaf (Pti), told a news conference here. he said if the opposition parties were really serious in resolving the issues of national and public importance such as inflation, provincial autonomy, National Finance Commission (NFC) Award etc, the government and opposition could hold dialogue with political reasoning.

Qureshi, however, made it clear that the government will not hold talks on personal cases or any NRO [National Reconciliation Ordinance]. “For personal cases or NRO, there is a clear cut no from Pti side,” he remarked. the Foreign Minister advised the opposition parties to learn lesson from the history, saying such conduct of PDM could harm democracy in the country. Qureshi described the PDM’s public meeting in Lahore on December 13 as complete flop and said even people of Lahore, where Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) won all National and Provincial Assemblies seats except three, demonstrated political wisdom and rejected their narrative. to a question, the Foreign Minister said that the ‘third force’ in the country did not want to get them involved in politics at all and were performing their professional responsibilities. “Be it Coronavirus, locust attack or urban flooding in Karachi, they always fulfill their responsibilities for which we are thankful,” he remarked. the Foreign Minister said that the opposition parties were pushing themselves to a blind alley, adding the saner elements in PDM parties should advise their leadership that their demands were not only unconstitutional but also against the interest of the country, in view of the current regional situation. to a question on the media reports about return of Saudi Arabia ‘s remaining US $ 2 billion, he said Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoyed excellent relations. “We had excellent relations in the past, have the same at present and will continue to enjoy these relations in future as well,” he added. he said that Saudi Arabia always stood by Pakistan and supported it in difficult times including the deposit of US $ 3 billion in State Bank of Pakistan to help address the country’s balance of payment issue. the Foreign Minister, however, mentioned that as Saudi Arabia like many other countries in the world, was also facing financial issues due to COViD-19 situation, it was the responsibility of Pakistan to pay back the amount.

Sohail ali Khan iSlamabad

Himalayan Beauty thE highest on Earth, even the greatest literally, Mount Everest has been now creating many interesting news pieces after its latest height measurement by numerous laborious, great mountain surveyors out there.

No eyes can see the whole himalayan beauty around! No mouths can utter the in-depth geological wonders of this gigantic mountain range on the planet! No words in the world could fulfill the praise of Mount Everest! this is no interesting poem but this has been the beautiful, undisputed fact as such. Feeling pulled back to my school memories, i am herein fondly remembering those beautiful 1990s schooldays in my native areas like Korkai, tuticorin, tiruchendur, tirunelveli, Kanyakumari in tamil Nadu when we the school students would usually get immersed in the school books on geography, memorising and uttering the beauty of Mount Everest from the school syllabus. Still, all i as a passionate person wish is to go back to those schooldays even now at this stage. that apart, the latest interesting news pieces coming from the world media desks are all welcome and have been rather scintillating. that said, there is no need to create controversy over the height of thE hiGhESt in the world. Where is the question of this then? i don’t see any sensible reason behind/could not find any controversy over there creating unnecessary confusion and negative vibes around the himalayas. No one could do so indeed because a slight hint of this natural wonder can not only make the people and countries alike spellbound but also make them all speak volumes about the boundless beauty of Mount Everest non-stop. Finally, the unquestionable credit goes to all the researchers, climbers, surveyors for their great hard work involved and also to Asian nations like Nepal, China, Pakistan, india for all their support, both financial and multilateral in the matter of making Mount Everest the everlasting geographical beauty on Mother Earth.

P SEnthil Saravana durai mumbai

The Drama Continues WhY is there so much fuss on Media regarding Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) current and potential plans to overthrow an existing government by an alleged scheme of putsch or coup d’état? is there something new? We should have now been inured to these tactics of politicians. there was once a time, not very long ago indeed, when similar stratagem and techniques were used by the incumbent Pti regime against the erstwhile Government in power to oust or overthrow it. At that time, these political parties (who were in power) were regarding Pti’s actions as illegitimate, immoral and unethical. May i dare ask how their own plans now become credible, justifiable and in the favor of common people? thousands of people had been amassed by Pti on the promises of provision of millions of jobs, eradication of corruption and provision of quality education, medical welfare and an introduction of a just police and judicial system. Pti’s rhetoric was based on potential rigging in elections by the N-League, the then government in power. Now, PDM is also pledging similar things by pointing out the rising unemployment and inflation due to bad governance of the incumbent government. ironically, today N-League is blaming Pti for forming an illegal government by rigged elections. Ergo, this drama is not something new for the polity of Pakistan. One thing can be concluded easily that common people have no concern for who is in power, instead, their concerns are simple. they want jobs, deflation, quality education, free health care, easy to reach judiciary system and eradication of crimes. So question to the aspiring candidates of PDM, seeking a government of their own by overthrowing the incumbent regime: will you be able to cope with all these challenges, or, will there be a similar episode be repeated once you get into power if it so happens to you? raja amin afzal muzaffarabad ajK

Wednesday, 16 December, 2020

08 WORLD VIEW

A World WITh Three InTerneTs THE WORLD IS ON ITS WAY TO HAVING SEPARATE CHINESE, AMERICAN AND EUROPEAN NETWORKS

el PaiS

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MOISÉS nAÍM

HE global, decentralized, non-governmental, open and free internet that we all know is vanishing.

Today’s internet is neither global nor open. More than 40% of the world’s population now lives in countries where internet access is controlled by the authorities. The Chinese government, for example, restricts access to Google, YouTube, Facebook, instagram, Twitter, Whatsapp, Cnn, Wikipedia, TikTok, netflix and The

new York Times, among others. There are, of course, Chinese versions of those digital products. in india, iran, Russia, saudi arabia and many other countries, the government blocks websites and censors their content.

The internet is no longer decentralized either. While it is true that the internet has empowered many individuals and groups by giving them a better chance of being heard and influencing others – including their governments – it has also evolved in a way that gives other governments and the Tech Giants – Google, Microsoft, amazon and Facebook – ever-greater control over the internet. as a result, in many countries, the technology of political liberation has become a tool of repression.

The internet is not free. Google searches, Facebook meetings, Twitter messages and Whatsapp chats may appear to be free, but they’re not. We pay for them by letting those who provide these services know virtually everything about us. That information enables them to dominate the lucrative market for global advertising.

But perhaps the most important trend transforming the internet is the way it is fragmenting into three distinct blocks. The world is on its way to having a Chinese, an american and a European internet.

The Chinese internet is closed, censored, protectionist and has high barriers to entry for companies from outside its digital borders. These cyberborders transcend the geographic borders of the country and include allies like north Korea and others. its main competitive advantage is the almost one billion internet users in China. its most influential protagonist is the central government and its national security, intelligence and citizen control services. its great weakness is trying to use barriers from the past (protectionism and censorship) to contain the highspeed arrival of 21st-century digital innovations. Then we have the United states version of the internet, which is anarchic, innovative, aggressively commercial and with strong monopolistic tendencies. The central players are the giant technology companies.

With their huge war chests, large pools of

Farmers vs the Indian state INDIAN PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA MODI'S GOVERNMENT APPARENTLY THINKS THAT THE HUGE OPEN-AIR FARMERS’ PROTESTS OUTSIDE DELHI MAY FIZZLE OUT IN DUE COURSE. BUT THE FARMERS’ RESOLVE, AND THEIR WIDESPREAD PUBLIC SUPPORT, SUGGEST THAT THIS TIME COULD BE DIFFERENT

Project Syndicate

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JAYATI GHOSH

ndia’s capital is under siege from more than two million farmers, who are currently gathered at the city’s border in a massive protest that started two weeks ago. Old and young men, women, and even children from farming families are camping on open roads in the bitter cold of a delhi winter. They have abandoned their concerns about viral infection and come prepared for the long haul, bringing enough food to last for several months.

The movement began when several thousand farmers from the neighboring states of Punjab and Haryana drove their tractors toward delhi in the hope of publicizing their grievances in the city’s center. The protests subsequently swelled as more farmers arrived from other states, and show no sign of dissipating. More than 500 farmers’ organizations across india are supporting the protesters’ demands, and the farmers’ calls for “Bharat Bandh,” or a national shutdown, on december 8 garnered widespread support from trade unions and several opposition parties.

The immediate trigger for the protests was the government’s hasty enactment of three new farm laws, introduced during the COVid-19 pandemic without consulting stakeholders, like the farmers themselves, or state governments, which are responsible for agriculture under india’s Constitution.

On the face of it, the laws appear harmless or even beneficial for farmers. They relax restrictions on the purchase and sale of farm produce, remove constraints on stockpiling under the 1955 Essential Commodities act, and enable contract farming based on written agreements. The government’s declared purpose is to create “an ecosystem where farmers and traders enjoy freedom of choice,” with “competitive alternative trading channels” that “promote efficient, transparent, and barrier-free” trade. india’s farmers view the new legislation very differently.

They fear that these “modernizing” laws will pave the way for the predatory corporate commercialization of indian agriculture, led by politically well-connected tycoons. Others argue that the laws effectively deregulate farm-produce transactions, contract farming, and stock holding in ways that will harm farmers. small and marginal farmers fear they will be the worst affected.

These measures were probably the proverbial last straw for

many farmers, whose protests have become more vocal in recent years as threats to their livelihood have increased. True, farm incomes were declining continuously before Prime Minister narendra Modi came to power in 2014. in fact, farmers played a crucial role in Modi’s initial election triumph after he promised to double their incomes in five years by offering minimum support prices (MsPs) for their produce (sold to the public food-procurement agency) that were 50% above total cultivation costs.

But Modi failed to keep that promise, and farmers instead received prices that were even lower relative to their costs than they had been under the previous government. several of Modi’s other promises to the agriculture sector also turned out to be hollow, further eroding farmers’ trust in his administration. in recent years, collapsing demand in the indian economy has kept prices for agricultural produce low. This was the result of policy blunders – two in particular – that destroyed many informal economic activities and damaged livelihoods: the november 2016 demonetization initiative and the subsequent poorly conceived and implemented national goods and services tax.

The government did not use fiscal policy to revive employment and demand, so both incomes and consumption declined, keeping crop prices low. The pandemic subsequently made it much harder for farmers to grow produce and get it to market, while crop prices have remained well below 2019 levels.

Farmers suspect that the new laws will sound the death knell for the public food-procurement system, which, though imperfect, still provides them with some basic protection against the vagaries of the market. and they can see that crop prices in states like Bihar (which has already ended the monopoly of regulated market yards) fall well below the MsPs. One of the new laws aims to do away with “middlemen” like commission agents. But farmers say they would rather interact with such people, and potentially develop a relationship that allows for some flexibility and concessions when required, than with faceless, intractable corporations that can use various means – such as “quality control” during purchase – to deprive them of their due.

To be sure, farmers must also worry about ecological constraints and soil degradation resulting from ever-greater reliance on chemical agriculture, scarce and contaminated water, and climate change (reflected in adverse weather events and changing rainfall patterns).

But the Modi government’s policies, farmers fear, would worsen these problems. so far, the government has sought to deal with the angry farmers much as it has done with all democratic protests. it initially ignored the demonstrators, before claiming that they were being misled and manipulated by malevolent opposition forces.

The government then implied that the sikh farmers were “anti-nationals” and therefore “terrorists,” and used brute force to quell peaceful protests. Pliant mainstream media and social media trolls have been unleashed in an effort to undermine the farmers and discredit their demands, just as they have aggressively attacked all dissenters over the past six years.

The government has refused to bend to the farmers’ central demand of doing away with these laws. it apparently thinks the openair protests may in time fizzle out, especially given the cold that has already claimed the lives of several demonstrators.

But this could be hubris. around half of india’s total workforce depends on agriculture, and two-thirds of the population (and 70% of rural people) depend on farm incomes directly or indirectly. The protesting farmers’ resolve, and their widespread public support, suggest that this time could be different.

Jayati Ghosh is Executive Secretary of International Development Economics Associates and a member of the Independent Commission for the Reform of International Corporate Taxation.

technological talent and their unmatched prowess for innovation, they have a dynamism that their foreign counterparts simply can’t rival.

But the vulnerability of the american system is that a business model based on the bartering of free digital services in exchange for users’ personal data is not sustainable. nor is the monopolistic control the tech companies enjoy. Or their indifference to the malicious use of their platforms by some actors that seek to sow social chaos, polarization and to influence elections. This is already beginning to change.

Europe, on the other hand, is the epicenter of an alternative internet approach that addresses the flaws of the american model and the abuses of the Chinese one.

The European internet is more regulated, tries to protect users, confronts monopolies and defends democratic values. The European Commission has imposed billions of dollars in fines on Google, apple, Microsoft and other tech companies. in 2018, the European Union adopted the General data Protection Regulation (GdPR), setting strict guidelines for the collection, storage and management of personal data. This regulation is the concrete manifestation of a legal approach that treats the protection of personal data

as a fundamental human right. While the Chinese system is based on an autocratic regime’s need to control the country’s huge population and the Us system on its business and technological dynamism, Europe is trying to influence the others by exporting its philosophy and system of rules based on democratic and humanistic values.

These three blocs are already fighting fiercely to gain full control over their respective areas of digital sovereignty, and the frictions between them are obvious. in addition to applying their antitrust and tax laws to american companies, the Europeans threaten to restrict Big Tech’s access to their market if they don’t conform to their rules.

For its part, the United states is imposing sanctions and blocking companies like Huawei. China, naturally, is fighting back.

We will eventually have three internets, but the defining battle will be between the United states and China. and the confrontations of these digital superpowers will not be restricted to cyberspace and to the protection and expansion of their digital sovereignty. We already see this in the efforts of Washington and Beijing to ensure that their companies dominate 5G technology, the new generation of mobile telephony that will revolutionize communications and transform the internet. However, these are just skirmishes. The real clash will be over who will gain leadership in the field of artificial intelligence, an emerging technology that will remake the world. That revolution is just beginning.

The illegality of Uttar Pradesh’s crackdown on interfaith marriages THERE IS A ROBUST LEGAL FRAMEWORK WHICH GUARANTEES AN INDIVIDUAL THE FREEDOM TO WORSHIP A GOD OF HIS OR HER OWN CHOICE AND MARRY BASED ON LOVE

HinduStan timeS

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KTS TulSI And TAneSSA PurI

iTH Uttar Pradesh leading the way, a set of states now plan to pass laws to end what they call “love jihad”, a term which lacks any real definition and is beyond comprehension.

This will make it a non-bailable, cognisable offence. apart from the fact that it has no basis in law, the practical implication of this is that the constable on the street will have the power to arrest someone considered guilty of this “crime” without seeking the court’s permission.

This proposed law is wrong on many counts.

First, the Constitution enshrines secularism. This means india is not anti-religion, pro-religion or irreligious. despite this, several states have had anti-conversion laws for a long time, including Odisha, arunachal Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Jharkhand.

However, these laws made it illegal to use force to convert a person. The socalled love jihad law plans to outlaw religious conversion which may take place for marriage purposes. This interferes with personal liberty. second, based on articles 25 to 28, an indian citizen is guaranteed the freedom to practise any religion of his or her choice.

The “love jihad” law curtails this freedom.

The state wants to intervene not only in the citizens’ private relationship with God, but also in the choice of their spouse. in addition, the proposed law does not account for agnostics.

Third, the supreme Court in shafin Jahan v ashok KM (2018), after setting aside the annulment of the marriage of a Muslim convert from Kerala, Hadiya (akhila ashokan) and shafin Jahan, a Muslim man, upheld the right to marry a person of one’s choice as a part of article 21.

The Court said, “Matters of dress and of food, of ideas and ideologies, of love and partnership, are within the central aspects of identity. The law may regulate (subject to constitutional compliance) the conditions of a valid marriage, as it may regulate the situations in which a marital tie can be ended or annulled…

Matters of belief and faith, including whether to believe, are at the core of constitutional liberty.

The Constitution exists for believers as well as for agnostics. The Constitution protects the ability of each individual to pursue a way of life or faith to which she or he seeks to adhere…The right to marry a person of one’s choice is integral to article 21 of the Constitution. The Constitution also guarantees the right to life. This right cannot be taken away, except through a law which is substantively and procedurally fair, just and reasonable. intrinsic to the liberty which the Constitution guarantees as a fundamental right is the ability of each individual to make decisions on matters central to the pursuit of happiness.” Therefore, the proposed law violates the right to life under article 21.

Fourth, in sC’s K.s. Puttaswamy v UOi (2017) judgment, it read the “right of choice of a family life” as a fundamental right. The regressive law limits the choice of a prospective spouse such that this spouse would only be one approved by the state.

Fifth, the allahabad High Court, on november 11, in the case of salamat ansari v Uttar Pradesh (2020), held that the choice of a partner is the exclusive domain of the individual. it also distinguished itself from the noor Jahan Begum case (2014) by suggesting that this earlier case did not deal with the “liberty of two matured individuals in choosing a partner or their right to freedom of choice as to with whom they would like to live”.

There is a robust legal framework which guarantees an individual the freedom to worship a God of his or her own choice and marry based on love. UP’s move is illegal for it will deny a citizen his or her choice in a deeply personal domain which is protected by the Constitution.

KTS Tulsi is a senior advocate and Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha and Tanessa Puri is associate at the Chambers of KTS Tulsi.

Wednesday, 16 December, 2020

BUSINESS 09

Big iNDuStry expaNDS 6.6pC iN OCtOBer

corporate corner

LAHORE: To accelerate the pace of digitization in Pakistan and make the transition to cashless payments swift for customers, UPaisa has launched a new mobile application. With a simple and user-friendly interface, the UPaisa app allows its users to avail multiple financial services through one platform. PR

LAHORE: OPPO, the leading smart device brand, has launched its all-new OPPO F17 with a limited-edition box, in collaboration with Saboor Aly, exclusively on Daraz. PR

ISLAMABAD

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STAFF rEPOrT

HE large-scale manufacturing (LSM) sector grew 6.6 per cent YoY during October 2020, according to data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday.

The LSMI Quantum Index Number (QIM) was recorded at 138.03 in October 2020 as against 128.22 points in October 2019.

Meanwhile, on month-on-month basis, industrial growth witnessed an increase of 3.95pc during October 2020 when compared with the indices of September 2020, the PBS data revealed.

On a cumulative basis, large-scale

manufacturing during the first four months (July-Oct) of the current fiscal year (FY20-21) recorded a growth of 5.5pc as compared the same period of last year.

Industrial production during JulyOctober FY21 was recorded at 136.08 points as against the output of 129.04 points during July-October FY20.

The highest increase of 3.74pc was witnessed in the indices monitored by the Ministry of Industries, followed by 1.63pc increase in indices monitored by the Provincial Board of Statistics and 0.1pc rise in the products monitored by the Oil Companies Advisory Committee (OCAC).

Major sectors that showed positive growth during October 2020 in-

cluded textile (2.24pc); food, beverages and tobacco (12.16pc); coke and petroleum products (1.57pc); pharmaceuticals (13.53pc); chemicals (9.22pc); non-metallic mineral products (22.88pc); fertilizers (5.99pc); paper and board (10.46pc); and rubber products (3.3pc).

On the other hand, the LSM industries that witnessed a negative growth during the month under review included automobile (1.62pc); iron and steel (5.41pc); electronics (23.01pc); leather products (43.18pc); engineering goods (34.05pc); and wooden products (64.05pc).

It is pertinent to mention that the provisional QIM is being computed on the basis of the latest production data

SECP registers 1,956 new companies in November KARACHI: Construction work on Pakistan’s third and biggest Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital continues at full pace in the port city. The project, worth Rs13 billion, would be completed in three years. PR

KARACHI: At an inauguration ceremony held on World Energy Conservation Day, K-Electric, in a power industry first, reopened its integrated business center at Tipu Sultan Road, following renovation using energy efficient materials and processes, which earned it the prestigious LEED Gold Green Building certification. PR

KARACHI: A prize distribution ceremony was held at JS Bank’s Private Banking Office to mark the closure of ‘Sitaron Say Agay Jahan Aur Bhi Hain’, a joint art competition held by JS Bank and the IVS Alumni Association to provide upcoming artists with a platform to express their skills and abilities. PR

Huawei engages global experts to discuss challenges of Data Centre Network ISLAMABAD: The Huawei Data Center Network Online Summit 2020, was held to attract experts from around the world to discuss the value of next-generation data centers for the intelligent era, in which data is a key production factor. Held online and organized by Huawei, the summit brought together global and regional experts to address the challenges faced by data centers in tomorrow’s hyperconnected world. Speakers represented leading companies such as Huawei, Gartner, Solutions by stc, and more.

Conference participants recognized the huge surges in data volumes happening now and expected in the future.

Issues of computing power loss and others must therefore be overcome in order for governments and enterprises to realize the full value of their data center resources. Pr

ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has registered 1,956 new companies in November 2020, indicating an increase of 41pc when compared with the corresponding period last year.

Around 71pc companies were registered as private limited companies; 26pc were registered as single member companies; whereas three per cent were registered as public unlisted companies, not for profit associations, trade organizations, foreign companies and limited liability partnership (LLP).

In November, around 99pc companies were registered online; 30pc of new incorporations were completed the same day. During the month under review, 117 foreign users reg-

istered companies from overseas.

The trading sector took the lead with the incorporation of 319 companies, followed by IT with 230, construction with 209, services with 198, real estate development with 139, corporate agricultural farming and food & beverages with 74 each, e-commerce with 73, engineering with 60, tourism with 51, education 48, pharmaceutical 47, market & development 43, textile 40, transport 35, chemical 33, healthcare 31, auto & allied 27, fuel & energy and mining & quarrying with 23 each, logging 22, cosmetics & toiletries 21, communications 17, broadcasting & telecasting 16, power generation 14, cables & electric goods and steel & allied with 12 each. In

addition, 65 companies were registered in "other" category.

Foreign investment has been reported in 34 new companies.

These included investments from Australia, China, Germany, Iran, Italy, Kazakhstan, Korea South, Lebanon, Mozambique, the Netherlands, Russia, Spain, Switzerland, Syria, Turkey, the UAE, the UK and the US. The highest numbers of companies, i.e. 628 were registered in Islamabad, followed by 625 and 349 companies registered in Lahore and Karachi, respectively. Regional offices in Peshawar, Multan, Faisalabad, Gilgit-Baltistan, Quetta and Sukkur registered 127, 109, 64, 27, 22 and five companies, respectively. STAFF rEPOrT

KP traders warn of protests against market closures PESHAWAR: Small traders of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have warned the provincial government of protests against the closure of shopping malls and other business centres under the guise of "violation of coronavirus SOPs".

Traders informed that the district administration, citing violation of Covid SOPs, was imposing fines on the already struggling shopkeepers, causing millions of rupees worth losses to traders on a daily basis.

Talking to this scribe, KP Tajir Ittehad President Mujeebur Rehman termed the steps taken by the incumbent to curb the spread of coronavirus as "tantamount to economic massacre of the business community".

"The deteriorating law and order situation in the area over the past two decades had cost traders billions of rupees and now the lockdowns have completely destroyed their economic conditions."

Instead of closing business centres, he said, it was

imperative for the government to provide compensation to the traders.

Mujeeb noted that the government had recently announced a relief package for the industries, but small traders, who provide employment to millions of people across the province, remained completely ignored.

"After enduring the devastating effects of the first wave of Covid-19 earlier this year, the district administration wants us to close our shops again and sit idle at homes."

He said that the government ensure the provision of education, employment, healthcare and protection to the people instead of depriving them of the legal business.

"If the government and district administration do not stop the closure of shopping malls and markets under the guise of coronavirus SOPs violation, the business community will be forced to protest across the province," he added. AZIZ BUNErI

PIA to operate flights to another Saudi city The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has decided to operate flights to Saudi Arabia’s tourist city of Abha from the first week of January. According to details, the national airline intends to operate two weekly flights to the Saudi Arabian city from Islamabad and Lahore. The PIA has already approached the Kingdom's General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) for permission in this regard. On November 5, Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) granted Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) permission to operate flights to and from the Kingdom’s Al-Qassim region. Consequently, the national flag carrier issued its schedule for flights, with the first flight flying to the new station from Multan on November 18. NEWS DESK

received from sources, including Oil Companies Advisory Committee (OCAC), Ministry of Industries and Production (MoIP) and Provincial Bureaus of Statistics.

‘ECONOMIC RECOVERY’ Commenting on the development, Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar attributed the industrial growth to “acceleration in economic recovery”.

Similarly, Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar also took to Twitter and said, “Largescale manufacturing grew by 5.46pc in the July-Oct period. At a time when the global economy is in a deep recession, the industry is driving economic growth and recovery in Pakistan.”

mArket dAIly

Stocks close flat after late selling KARACHI STAFF rEPOrT

After trading in the green for almost the entire session, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) fell flat in the last hour amid selling pressure.

Equity markets around the world displayed a mixed trend, whereas crude oil prices moved north from the previous close; WTI crude price rising 0.36pc to $47.16 while Brent crude price increasing 0.28pc to $50.43. "The stock market added around 450 points during the session today before facing the selling pressure that eroded all gains and took the index down by almost 150 points,” a report issued by Arif Habib Ltd read. "Exploration & production and cement sectors mostly contributed to the downside of index, despite oil prices maintaining yesterday's level."

SUMMARY: The benchmark KSE-100 Index remained in the green for the most part, recording its intraday high at 43,709.71 after gaining 443.49 points. The index, however, lost momentum later in day and fell to its low at 43,126.48 (-139.74 points. It finally settled lower by 15.38 points at 43,250.84. Among other indices, the KMI-30 Index dropped 317.16 points to end at 70,324.46, whereas the KSE All Share Index gathered 59.65 points, closing at 30,313.95. The overall market volumes surged from 629.33 million shares in the previous session to 701.91 million shares (+12pc). Average traded value also increased by 11pc, from $164.7 million to $182.3 million. Pakistan Refinery Ltd (PRL -6.38pc), Hascol Petroleum Ltd (HASCOL +0.38pc) and Azgard Nine Ltd (ANL +1.40pc) led the volume chart, exchanging 64.43 million, 62.84 million and 42.66 million shares, respectively. Sectors that dragged the benchmark to the red zone included cement (-67.53 points), oil & gas exploration (-64.36 points) and power generation & distribution (-49.69 points).

Among the companies, Hub Power Company Ltd (HUBC -46.01 points), Lucky Cement Ltd (LUCK -41.66 points) and Pak Petroleum Ltd (PPL -32.57 points) dented the index the most. Losing 4.24pc from its cumulative market capitalization, the refinery sector ended as the session's worst performer, with Byco Petroleum Pakistan Ltd (BYCO 4.42pc), Attock Refinery Ltd (ATRL -6.78pc) and Pakistan Refinery Ltd (-6.38pc) posting significant losses.

Govt relaxes aviation rules to facilitate Airblue, Serene Air ISLAMABAD AHMAD AHMADANI

The federal government has relaxed the National Aviation Policy, 2019, to facilitate private airlines Airblue and Serene Air. Sources privy to this development informed that the Aviation Division had earlier this month proposed the federal cabinet to relax Article 4.5 of National Aviation Policy (NAP)2019 in favour of Serene Air and Airblue so that the carriers may be permitted to commence/continue international flight operations.

The division had also sought approval for designation of Serene Air and Airblue to all countries with whom Pakistan shared Air Services Agreements (ASAs).

Consequently, the federal cabinet, in its meeting on Dec 8, considered the summary submitted by the Aviation Division and approved the proposal accordingly.

However, sources informed that the Aviation Division, after “silently” obtaining the cabinet’s approval to “facilitate” Airblue and Serene Air, refrained from forwarding the said summary to federal ministers. They said the

summary was “not even included” in the Dec 8 agenda items of the cabinet.

It is pertinent to mention that Pakistani scheduled carriers were required to operate on primary and socio-economic routes under Article 4.5 (a) (IV) read with Article 4.4 of NAP2019. However, over the course of more than one year since the policy came into effect, both Serene Air and Airblue remained unable to operate five per cent of their capacity — available seat kilometers (ASK) — each on primary and socio-economic routes as required under the said article.

CMYK

“Due to Covid-19 situation, airlines across the world, including PIA, had suffered immense losses, and it was unlikely for Serene Air and Airblue to fulfill requirements of satisfactory operations on primary and socio-economic routes anytime soon,” an insider said.

“While Airblue is already operating international flights, the Civil Aviation Authority has forwarded the request of Serene Air to commence international operations.”

According to NAP-2019 and terms of bilateral ASAs, the federal cabinet was the competent authority to relax the provision of

NAP-2019 as well as to approve designation of Pakistani airlines to other countries.

It may be noted that Airblue, owned by former premier Shahid Khaqqan Abbasi, has been operating flights to United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, while Serene Air (Pvt) Ltd has plans to start its operations to UK, China, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Serene Air has already given an undertaking to the Aviation Division that they will fly as per requirements of NAP-2019 on primary and socio-economic routes as soon as possible after Covid-19 pandemic was over.

Wednesday, 16 December, 2020

10 ForeigN NeWS Tank shell fired at Gaza ‘accidentally’: Israel TEL AVIV AGENCIES

An Israeli tank operator has “accidentally” fired a shell into Gaza, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said, noting it would launch a probe into the incident, the second mishap involving “unauthorised” tank fire in a matter of weeks. The inadvertent shelling came during a mission “to increase operational employment” near the Palestinian enclave on Monday, the Israel Defence Forces said in a statement, adding that “the incident is being investigated.” The munition struck an “abandoned structure” and inflicted no casualties, according to a local report. An unconfirmed image circulated on social media by a photojournalist in Gaza, Ahmed Al-Maqadma, showed a dilapidated structure with a square hole punched in its wall alongside a small pile of rubble. Al-Maqadma noted the building was an “abandoned house” east of Juhr al-Dik, a small village in central Gaza. The bombing comes less than a month after another “misunderstanding” near the Gaza border on November 21, which saw an IDF tank open fire on a “Hamas observation post” without authorization. The military said the illicit shelling was the result of miscommunication “between commanders on the radio,” adding at the time that the shelling would be investigated. No casualties were reported in the earlier incident. Hamas, too, has reported an accidental weapons discharge in recent weeks, with an equipment malfunction triggering rocket fire in midNovember. The IDF ultimately concluded the incident was a mistake caused by lightning and extreme weather conditions, coupled with faulty rocket launchers. Tel Aviv routinely carries out what it deems retaliatory operations in Gaza, including air and ground raids.

JPMorgan sees $600bn demand for bitcoin from global institutional adoption NEW YORK: JPMorgan’s analysts have predicted significant demand for bitcoin following the $100 million purchase of the cryptocurrency by Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (Massmutual). The analysts believe that other traditional investors, including pension funds, will follow suit, leading to a conservative estimate of $600 billion demand for bitcoin. JPMorgan Chase’s analysts wrote a note explaining why they see significant demand for bitcoin. They explained that the recent investment of $100 million in the cryptocurrency by the mega insurer highlights “the potential for additional institutional demand for the cryptocurrency in coming years,” Bloomberg conveyed.

The note adds that the purchase “suggests adoption of bitcoin is spreading from family offices and wealthy investors to insurance firms and pension funds.” The JPMorgan analysts further detailed, “Massmutual’s bitcoin purchases represent another milestone in the bitcoin adoption by institutional investors,” elaborating: "One can see the potential demand that could arise over the coming years as other insurance companies and pension funds follow Massmutual’s example." They explained that traditional investors like insurance companies and pension funds face regulatory hurdles relating to the “risk levels and liability mismatches” that would limit how much they can invest in bitcoin. While the analysts do not expect large insurance companies and pension funds to dive into the cryptocurrency with heavy weighting, they believe that even a small portfolio allocation, such as 1 per cent, in BTC could be significant for its market. With bitcoin outperforming most other assets this year, the analysts explained that “if pension funds and insurance companies in the US, euro area, UK and Japan allocate 1 per cent of assets to bitcoin, these would result in additional bitcoin demand of $600 billion,” the news outlet conveyed.

Institutional interest in bitcoin has been rising rapidly.

Recently, the CEO of Standard Chartered Bank said that widespread cryptocurrency adoption is “absolutely inevitable,” while the CEO of Blackrock said bitcoin can evolve into a global market. Ready for institutional demand, a growing number of major banks have started offering cryptocurrency services, including Standard Chartered Bank, BBVA, and DBS. A survey by Fidelity shows that the majority of institutional investors feel that cryptocurrencies have a place in their portfolios. AGENCIES

Boko HaraM claIMs kIdnaPPInG of Hundreds of nIGerIan scHoolBoys ABUJA

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ERRORIST group Boko Haram on Tuesday claimed responsibility for the abduction of hundreds of pupils in northwest Nigeria.

"I am Abubakar Shekau and our brothers are behind the kidnapping in Katsina," said the leader of the group in a voice message.

The abductions have sparked global outrage and brought back memories of the 2014 abduction of almost 300 schoolgirls by the group in Chibok, Borno State, northern Nigeria.

Those kidnappings led to the international campaign ‘Bring Back Our Girls,’ which continues to this day as a large number of the girls are still missing.

Usama Aminu was one of the lucky ones. He managed to escape when gunmen abducted more than 300 pupils from his school in northwestern Nigeria. At first, he said, the boys thought the commotion was from soldiers trying to protect them. But the attackers, armed with AK-47 assault rifles, were already in the building, threatening groups who tried to leave their dormitories at the Government Science secondary school in an attack that has outraged Nigerians.

"When I decided to run they brought a knife to slaughter me but I ran away quickly," he said, sitting on a mat and speaking softly as he described how he had been in bed at the all-boys school in Kankara when he heard gunshots on Friday night.

"They said they would kill whoever is trying to escape then I began to run, climbing one rock to another through a forest," Usama said. Many details of

Relatives of abducted students gather at the Government Science School after it was attacked by armed men, in Kankara, north-western Katsina state, Nigeria, on December 13, 2020.

the raid and its aftermath remain unknown.

Police said on Friday they exchanged fire with the attackers, allowing some students to run for safety. A spokesman for Katsina state said 17 more students had been found on Monday, leaving about 320 students missing.

The president's office said on Monday the government was in contact with the armed men and was negotiating the release of the boys after security agencies had located them. "We are making progress and the outlook is positive," Katsina Governor Aminu Bello

Masari told reporters after meeting President Muhammadu Buhari, who was visiting his home state.

The governor said the president was fully committed to the rescue of the schoolchildren, after he had been criticised in Nigerian newspapers for not visiting the school.

Until Boko Haram claimed the attack, it was not clear who the gunmen were – attacks by armed gangs, widely known as bandits, are common throughout northwestern Nigeria. The groups attack civilians, stealing or kidnapping them for ransom.

Moderna nears US authorisation for Covid-19 shot with FDA staff endorsement WASHINGTON AGENCIES

Moderna Inc’s Covid-19 vaccine appeared set for regulatory authorization this week after US Food and Drug Administration staff endorsed it as safe and effective in documents released Tuesday.

The coronavirus pandemic has killed more than 300,000 people in the US and the government is counting on the Moderna shot to help fulfill its promise to inoculate 20 million this month.

An FDA decision on whether to issue a so-called emergency use authorization for the Moderna vaccine will be made after a panel of outside advisers meets Thursday. The FDA typically follows the advice of the panel, but is not required to do so.

Moderna’s is the second vaccine the FDA has considered, behind one from Pfizer Inc. and Germany’s BioNTech, which was authorized last week. Hospitals in the US began giving the Pfizer shots on Monday.

The New York Times, citing unnamed sources, reported that the FDA decision on Moderna’s vaccine would be on Friday. FDA did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the NYT report.

FDA staff said in documents prepared for that meeting that a two-dose regimen of Moderna’s vaccine was highly effective in preventing confirmed cases of Covid-19 and did not raise any specific safety issues in adults over the age of 18.

Moderna released data in documents supporting previous statements that the vaccine may prevent some asymptomatic infections of Covid-19.

It said 38 trial participants in the placebo arm of its trial tested positive for Covid-19 without exhibiting symptoms at the time of their second dose nearly triple the number in the vaccine arm of the trial.

Both Moderna and Pfizer designed their late-stage trials to show that their vaccines were capable of preventing more significant forms of Covid-19, in the hope that the shots could prevent hospitalizations and deaths.

But preventing asymptomatic infection is also important and could reduce the chances of vaccinated people infecting the unvaccinated, further stemming the spread of the disease.

The FDA said that there appeared to be some protection for trial participants after the first dose of Moderna’s vaccine, which is given in two shots, with 28 days between inoculations, but there was not enough information on longer term protection.

It said that vaccine efficacy was 80.2 per cent in participants who only received one dose at the time of the interim analysis, which was based on data collected as of November 7.

But the FDA said it could not draw a conclusion because the numbers of participants and time of observation were limited and there was no singledose arm in the 30,000 person trial.

Moderna said trial participants, half of whom received a placebo, may request to find out if they had a placebo or the vaccine so that they can get either

the vaccine or another vaccine potentially available outside of the trial.

The FDA staff said that serious side effects in the trial of the vaccine represented medical events that occur in the general population at a similar frequency as observed in the study.

The FDA did flag the possibility that the vaccine was contributing to Bell’s palsy, a type of facial paralysis also reported by participants in the Pfizer trial.

Moderna reported four cases of Bell’s palsy, including three among people who had the vaccine and 1 in the placebo group. The company said that three of the cases had resolved itself.

Although the FDA said that the trial participants with Bell’s palsy had predisposing factors, the “potential contribution of the vaccine to the manifestations of these events of facial palsy cannot be ruled out”.

Pfizer reported six cases of Bell’s palsy, including 4 in the vaccine arm, which it said was a rate typical of the general population. Thirteen people who participated in the trial died, six who received the vaccine and seven who received the placebo.

The death rate during the trial was in line with death rates in the general population for patients of this age, the documents said. There was only one Covid-19 related death, a patient who received the placebo. Moderna shares, which have risen nearly eight-fold this year up to Monday’s close, were up 1.8 per cent before the bell.

Human progress to stall without climate action: UN NEW YORK AGENCIES

Unless humans take bold steps to reduce the immense pressure we are placing on the planet, human progress will stall, the United Nations (UN) said on Tuesday, as it released a major new report on human development.

The Covid-19 pandemic has placed huge strain countries around the world, but without significant action such crises will recur, according to the UN Development Programme’s Human Development Report that monitors progress through metrics like environmental impact, well-being and education.

Amid mounting evidence that man-made climate change is ravaging the planet, UN analysts added carbon dioxide emissions and consumption rates to their calculations,

shaking up the Human Development Index (HDI) scorecard.

Countries like Norway and Switzerland place high, while Somalia and North Korea trail at the bottom.

Singapore, Luxembourg, Australia, several Arab states and many other wealthy nations, which ordinarily have high HDI scores, saw their rankings fall sharply this year because of overconsumption and for emitting too much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

More than 50 countries dropped out of the very high human development group as measured by the new index, reflecting their large impacts on the climate and nature.

Luxembourg, a tiny European country of 628,000 people and a $62 billion economy, originally ranked 23rd on the index, but fell 131 places after its environmental score was

added to the mix.

Australia fell 72 places, the US lost 45 and Canada 40 places.

Meanwhile, countries of relatively modest means that strive to cut greenhouse gas emissions, such as Costa Rica, Moldova and Panama, each saw increases in their rankings of at least 30 places on this year’s index.

Poorer nations largely stayed unchanged. While these nations tend to have smaller carbon and material footprints, they also stand behind on education, health and other metrics of well-being.

Achim Steiner, the administrator of the UN Development Programme, told reporters that achieving high rates of literacy and life expectancy was not enough to reach the top of the index nowadays.

“Many countries have achieved a great

deal of progress but they also have done so at the expense of great damage to the planet,” he said.

“Singapore and Luxembourg have achieved very high levels of per capita income of development. But what they are confronting right now is … climate change, global warming, loss of biodiversity and ecosystems,” said Mr Steiner. “What is driving that way of measuring development needs to adjust.”

But he said the index was not intended to be a judgement but rather to illustrate that being rich is not the singular way in which to determine whether you’re a successful and future-ready economy”.

Pedro Conceicao, the lead author of the report, which was released on Tuesday, said modern economies with high consumption

rates that burn lots of fossil fuels fared poorly on the revised scale.

“Luxembourg and Singapore demonstrate this more sharply, in large part reflecting their exceptional circumstances, given that both are small, highly open economies with high income per capita and a structural dependence on hydrocarbons for energy,” said Mr Conceicao.

With the Covid-19 pandemic, climate change and natural destruction, warning lights for the planet and societies are “flashing red”, the report said.

The 369-page report, The Next Frontier: Human Development and the Anthropocene, marks its 30th anniversary this year amid growing concerns of environmental devastation as mankind continues to overuse the planet’s resources.

Wednesday, 16 December, 2020

ICC AnnOUnCES SChEdUlE OF WOmEn’S OdI WOrld CUp 2022 DUBAI

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HE International Cricket Council (ICC) on Tuesday released the schedule of the Women’s Cricket World Cup 2022, confirming the opening match at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui on March 4.

Hagley Oval in Christchurch will host a floodlight final of the mega event on April 3. It will also host the second semifinal on March 31, a day after the first of the semi-finals at the Basin Reserve in Wellington. The tournament had postponed from its original dates in February and March 2021 because of the Covid-19 pandemic. It will go ahead at venues in six New Zealand cities.

Seddon Park in Hamilton will host seven pool matches, including the opener between England and Australia. New Zealand and Australia will meet at the Basin Reserve on March 13, among five pool matches at the ground.

India will meet Australia and New Zealand will play England in consecutive matches at Auckland’s Eden Park on

March 19 and 20.

The tournament will be the first global women’s cricket event since the Women’s Twenty20 World Cup in Australia in March, when more than 86,000 spectators packed the Melbourne Cricket Ground to see the hosts beat India in the final.

World Athletics partially upholds corruption charges against UAE Federation chief STOCKHOLM: President of the UAE Athletics Federation Ahmad Al Kamali has been suspended for six months and fined 5,000 euros ($6,080) for gifting watches to delegates in an attempt to win votes, the World Athletics ethics board said on Tuesday. The Athletics Integrity Unit had provisionally suspended Al Kamali from any athletics-related activities last October, preventing him from standing in election for the vice president’s role at World Athletics, formerly known as the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).

World Athletics said in a statement that Al Kamali was alleged to have gifted Rolex and UAE branded Continental watches to delegates at the Confederation of African Athletics Congress in 2015 while he was a member of the IAAF Council. Al Kamali admitted giving watches to the delegates but said the retail value of the gifts did not exceed $40 to $50.

“Mr Al Kamali has been found to have violated the Code of Ethics by his conduct... in giving gifts of more than nominal value and failing to act with dignity and respect for his opponents as a candidate for IAAF office,” World Athletics said in a statement. AGENCIES

Olympic flame will still visit every corner of Japan: organisers TOKYO: The Olympic flame will still visit all of Japan’s 47 prefectures during the torch relay starting on March 25, organisers said on Tuesday, sticking to the original plan before the Games were postponed until next year due to the coronavirus pandemic. Days before the torch relay was due to begin in March this year, the International Olympic Committee and the Japanese government took the unprecedented decision to postpone the Games. Despite Covid19 restrictions and rising cases in Japan, organisers announced on Tuesday that the 121day tour, which starts in Fukushima and ends in Tokyo’s National Stadium during the Games opening ceremony on July 23, will go ahead.

The announcement came after a poll by NHK broadcaster showed a third of Japanese residents want the Tokyo Olympics to be scrapped amid fears that an influx of foreign visitors may cause a further spike in Covid-19 cases. As Japan grapples with a third wave of infections, the NHK poll, conducted from December 11-13, showed 32 per cent of respondents wanted the Summer Games to be cancelled entirely. Only 27 per cent said they should go ahead as scheduled and 31 per cent favoured another delay. To mark 100 days until the start of the tour, Tokyo Skytree, the tallest tower in the world and an iconic part of the Japanese capital’s skyline, was illuminated on Tuesday in the pinkish gold hue of Tokyo’s Olympic torch. Organisers said the full relay route would be announced in February. AGENCIES

The Hagley Oval lights, under which the final will be played, are new and installed for the tournament. “To play in a World Cup at our own stomping ground here in Christchurch, under lights, would be a real career highlight,” said New Zealand veteran Amy Satterthwaite.

India captain Mithali Raj said she and her teammates are looking forward to a return to international tournaments. “We have all been through a very difficult year and are happy to be getting back at playing the game we all love,” she said. “If we manage to win the tournament in 2022 it will be a massive inspiration for the next generation of girls as the 50-over format is considered the pinnacle for any cricketer.”

New Zealand, Australia, England, South Africa and India have already qualified for the eight-team round-robin tournament. The other three teams will be decided in qualifying series next June and July. Meanwhile, the ICC announced that as many as 86 teams will compete for 15 places at the men’s Twenty20 World Cup in Australia in 2022.

The four-step qualifying process, involving up to 225 matches, will begin next April. There will be 11 qualifying tournaments across five regions, all of which have been rescheduled because of the coronavirus pandemic. Hungary, Romania and Serbia will attempt to qualify for the first time. Japan and Finland will host qualifying events.

Green to make Test debut against India if fit: Langer

Babar, Shan named in Wisden’s Test Team of the Year 2020

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan skipper Babar Azam and left handed-batsman Shan Masood made it to the Wisden’s Test Team of the Year 2020.

The team was comprised of the best performers during the period from December 19, 2019 to December 11, 2020. Babar had scored 600 runs at an average of 100 in the six matches, while Shan had made three centuries. “All told, that is not a bad average. Babar made sure the return of Test cricket was a joyous, triumphant one, and it was fitting that he, a player who had already inspired such hope in the country, should provide even more. That he will be disappointed with his exploits in England, despite averaging just under 50, shows how high his standards now are,” wrote Wisdon. “Three tons in three consecutive innings earn Shan Masood his place in this team, even if he tailed off somewhat alarmingly against England.” Wisden’s Test Team of the Year was led by New Zealand’s skipper Kane Williamson while other players include Dom Sibley, Shan Masood, Marnus Labuschagne, Babar Azam, Ben Stokes, Quinton de Kock, Kyle Jamieson, Stuart Broad, Tim Southee and Nathan Lyon. APP

West Indies set to tour Bangladesh in January DHAKA: The West Indies have agreed in principle to tour Bangladesh in January and play three one-day internationals and two Tests. The approval on Tuesday followed an inspection visit. The West Indies proposed to arrive on January 10 and play the ODIs from January 2025 in Dhaka and Chattogram, the first Test from February 3-7 in Chattogram, and the second Test from February 11-15 in Dhaka. Cricket West Indies said discussions will continue with Bangladesh and the West Indies players “to finetune the various arrangements in order to ensure the health and safety of the players and team management unit.” AGENCIES

Arsenal must trust in Arteta, says Guardiola

SYDNEY AGENCIES

All-rounder Cameron Green will make his Test debut against India in the first game of the series in Adelaide if he comes through concussion protocols, Australia coach Justin Langer said on Tuesday.

The 21-year-old was struck on the head when bowling to Jasprit Bumrah last week in an Australia ‘A’ game and replaced under the sport’s concussion rules.

Green is expected to train with the Australia squad over the next two days and undergo testing for any lingering concussion symptoms ahead of the daynight match, which begins on Thursday.

“If he is passed fit he will definitely play,” Langer told reporters on Tuesday.

“We are just going through the concussion protocols. If Cameron gets through the protocols and he gets through training and he feels good ... he will make his Test debut, which is very, very exciting for Australian cricket, for him and his family.”

The hosts will also anxiously wait on the fitness of batting mainstay Steve Smith who missed Tuesday’s training with lower-back soreness, according to a report on a Cricket Australia website.

An Australian team spokesman said

SPORTS 11

Smith was not in risk of missing the opening Test and was expected to attend practice on Wednesday, the report added. Langer said that the selection of the opening batsmen was proving to be one of the harder decisions he faced ahead of the Test, with David Warner and Will Pucovski out injured and Joe Burns out of form.

Langer was still keen on Burns taking the role and he would be watched closely at training over the next two days. There was no suggestion that

Marnus Labuschange would be elevated from his usual number three position, though Matthew Wade could be used as a makeshift opener, Langer added. “He has got good footwork. He has got the game for it,” Langer said of the former wicketkeeper who has been batting in the middle order in the Test side. “He can counterattack like David Warner does and a lot of the great openers do. He can definitely do it. We just have to work out what the best make up of our team is going to be.”

MANCHESTER: Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has backed former assistant Mikel Arteta to turn Arsenal’s fortunes around despite the club’s dismal start to the season.With 13 points from 12 Premier League games, Arsenal are off to their worst start to a campaign in almost 40 years and the pressure is building on Arteta, who was given the manager’s job last December after winning two Premier League titles, an FA Cup and two League Cups under Guardiola at City.“Arsenal do not have a better manager that can lead this club in this year and the next,” Guardiola said.

“I do not have to give publicly my support because he has it. He is one of the best managers I have ever worked with and seen. I am pretty sure he will turn things around and perform like everyone expects. When a club comes from not a good period, it needs time. If I was part of the board, I would not have any doubts about his capacity to put Arsenal in the place they deserve to be.”Arsenal technical director Edu said Arteta was on the right track and predicted a bright future for the club, who have not won a league title since 2004. “Mikel is doing a great job,” Edu said. “It is normal and easy to be driven by results. But I can see the future, see where we go and the way we are building things on a daily basis.” AGENCIES

Messi salary at Barcelona ‘unsustainable’, says presidential candidate BARCELONA AGENCIES

Lionel Messi’s salary is too big for Barcelona due to their financial predicament, presidential candidate Emili Rousaud has said, adding that he wishes to keep the club’s all-time top scorer on a reduced contract.

Messi, who sought an exit from Barca in the close season, has less than seven months remaining on his deal with the club where he has spent his entire career. He is free to negotiate with rival clubs from January. Former Barca vice-president Rousaud, who resigned this year out of protest at how the club was being run by then chief Josep Maria Bartomeu, said

Messi would accept a lower salary if he could be convinced the club will return to winning ways. “In the club’s current situation Messi’s salary is not sustainable, so we’ll have to reach an agreement with him.

We will present an attractive project to him,” Rousaud told Spanish newspaper AS on Tuesday.

“What matters most here is the sporting project. When Messi said he was leaving he didn’t mention money. He has the highest salary in the world, no-one earns more than him, he doesn’t want to leave because he earns too little.

“He wants to leave because he wants to win trophies. He referred to that recently when he said: “The Champions League is not within our reach.” He wants a team full

CMYK

of talent.” Barca were ranked as the club with the biggest revenues in European football by the 2020 Deloitte Money League but the Covid-19 pandemic has obliterated their finances. Last week the club announced they were delaying salary payments to players.

Messi was named the top-earning footballer in the world by French newspaper L’Equipe earlier this year, claiming an es-

timated 8.2 million euros ($9.97 million) per month from Barca.

Rousaud, one of many candidates running in the club’s presidential election on January 24, also said he wishes to name Barca’s renovated Camp Nou stadium after Messi, a move he believes will help attract sponsors. The election is being held two months earlier than planned after Bartomeu resigned in October.

Wednesday, 16 December, 2020

PrAyEr TImINGS

NEWS

FAJR SUNRISE

ZUHR

ASR MAGHRIB ISHA

5:36

12:03

3:23

7:05

5:01

6:30

‘it’s official’: biDen won, trump lost BIDEN BAGGED 306 ELECTORAL COLLEGE VOTES, TRUMP GRABBED 232 WASHINGTON

t

AGENCIES

HE Electoral College decisively confirmed Joe Biden on Monday as the United States’ next president, ratifying his November victory in an authoritative state-by-state repudiation of President Donald Trump’s refusal to concede he had lost.

The presidential electors gave Biden a solid majority of 306 electoral votes to Trump’s 232, the same margin that Trump bragged was a landslide when he won the White House four years ago.

Heightened security was in place in some states as electors met to cast paper ballots, with masks, social distancing and other pandemic precautions the order of the day.

The results will be sent to Washington and tallied in a January 6 joint session of Congress over which Vice President Mike Pence will preside. For all Trump’s unsupported claims of fraud, there was little suspense and no change as every one of the electoral votes allocated to Biden and the president in last month’s popular vote went officially to each

man. On Election Day, the Democrat topped the incumbent Republican by more than 7 million in the popular vote nationwide.

California’s 55 electoral votes put Biden over the top. Vermont, with 3 votes, was the first state to report. Hawaii, with 4 votes, was the last.

“Once again in America, the rule of law, our Constitution, and the will of the people have prevailed. Our democracy — pushed, tested, threatened — proved to be resilient, true, and strong,” Biden said in an evening speech in which he stressed the size of his win and the record 81 million people who voted for him. He renewed his campaign promise to be a president for all Americans, whether they voted for him or not, and said the country has hard work ahead on the virus and economy.

But there was no concession from the White House, where Trump has continued to make unsupported allegations of fraud.

Trump remained in the Oval Office long after the sun set in Washington, calling allies and fellow Republicans while keeping track of the running Electoral College tally, according to White House and campaign aides. The president frequently ducked into the private dining room off the Oval Office to watch on TV, complaining that the cable networks were treating it like a mini-Election Night while not giving his challenges any airtime.

The president had grown increasingly disappointed with the size of “Stop the Steal” rallies across the nation as well as ef-

forts for the GOP to field its own slates of electors in states. A presidential wish for a fierce administration defense led to TV appearances early Monday by Stephen Miller, one of his most ferocious advocates, to try to downplay the importance of the Electoral College vote and suggest that Trump’s legal challenges would continue all the way to Inauguration Day on January 20.

Late in the day, he took to Twitter to announce that Attorney General William Barr was leaving the administration before Christmas. Barr’s departure comes amid lingering tension over Trump’s unsupported fraud claims, especially after Barr’s statement this month to The Associated Press that the election results were unaffected by any fraud.

In a Fox News interview taped over the weekend, Trump said that “I worry about the country having an illegitimate president, that’s what I worry about. A president that lost and lost badly.”

On Monday in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — the six battleground states that Biden won and Trump contested — electors gave Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris their votes in low-key proceedings. Nevada’s electors met via Zoom because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Trump’s efforts to undermine the election results also led to concerns about safety for the electors, virtually unheard of in previous years. In Michigan, lawmakers from both parties reported receiving threats, and

US puts sanctions on Turkey over S-400 missile system ERDOGAN CONDEMNS MOVE: ZARIF SAYS IRAN STANDS WITH TURKEY WASHINGTON AGENCIES

The US government imposed sanctions on Turkey over the acquisition and testing of the S-400 Russian defence missile system, further straining relations between the two NATO members.

The State Department announced the sanctions under the Countering America’s Adversaries through Sanctions Act, passed by Congress in 2017. It is designed to penalise any significant transactions with Russia. The estimated cost of the S-400 missile system is $2.5 billion. Despite pressure from Congress, the Trump administration delayed sanctions on Ankara, even after the country installed the Russian system in July 2019 and began testing it in October.

“Today’s action sends a clear signal that the US will fully implement Caatsa Section 231 and will not

tolerate significant transactions with Russia’s defence and intelligence sectors,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said. Pompeo said Turkey “knowingly [engaged] in a significant transaction with Rosoboronexport, Russia’s main arms export entity, by procuring the S-400 surface-to-air missile system”.

The sanctions include a ban on all US export licences and authorisations to Turkey’s Presidency of Defence Industries, Ankara’s military procurement agency, and an asset freeze and visa restrictions on Ismail Demir, its president, and other officers.

Christopher Ford, assistant secretary of state for international security, said the sanctions barred the Presidency of Defence Industries from obtaining US export licences.

Mr Ford said they prohibited it from receiving US loans of more than $10 million, banned assistance from the Export-Import Bank of the US and required Washington to use its influence with international financial institutions to block loans to the agency.

“I would in no way underestimate the importance of cutting off the main military procurement entity of a military ally from items coming from the US defence industrial base,” he said.

legislative offices were closed over threats of violence. Biden won the state by 154,000 votes, or 2.8 percentage points, over Trump.

Georgia state police were out in force at the state Capitol in Atlanta before Democratic electors pledged to Biden met. There were no protesters seen.

Even with the Electoral College’s confirmation of Biden’s victory, some Republicans continued to refuse to acknowledge that reality. Yet their opposition to Biden had no practical effect on the electoral process, with the Democrat to be sworn in next month.

Republicans who would have been Trump electors met anyway in a handful of states Biden won. Pennsylvania Republicans said they cast a “procedural vote” for Trump and Pence in case courts that have repeatedly rejected challenges to Biden’s victory were to somehow still determine that Trump had won.

In North Carolina, Utah and other states across the country where Trump won, his electors turned out to duly cast their ballots for him. Electors in North Carolina had their temperatures checked before being allowed to enter the Capitol to vote. Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes withdrew as a Trump elector and was in quarantine because he was exposed to someone with Covid-19.

Former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whom Trump defeated four years ago, were among New York’s 29 electors for Biden and Harris. In New Hampshire, before the state’s four electors voted for Biden at the State

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan hit out at new US sanctions, saying that he expected backing from his country’s NATO ally, not punishment. In a speech on Monday, Erdogan said that Turkey would not be deterred in defending itself by either US sanctions, or those agreed by the EU in response to the country’s gas drilling in Mediterranean waters claimed by Cyprus.

“We expect support from our NATO ally, America, in our fight against terrorist organisations and forces ... not sanctions,” Erdogan said.

A spokesperson for the Turkish Foreign Ministry said that Ankara “condemns” the sanctions and said allegations that its new weaponry could jeopardize NATO systems are “devoid of any technical merit.”

He added that Ankara would “take the necessary steps” against what it called a “grave mistake” by the US, while also claiming that President Donald Trump had previously repeatedly admitted that Turkey’s acquisition of the S-400 was “justified.”

Iran’s Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said that Iran condemns US sanctions against regional rival Turkey and stands “with its people in government” in the face of Washington’s pressure. In a damning tweet on Tuesday, Zarif said the US showed its “addiction to sanctions and contempt for international law” by targeting Turkey, and expressed support for the country.

It was a rare gesture of solidarity between two neighbors that rarely get along. Iran and Turkey are on opposing side of Islam’s sectarian divisions and have clashed on a range of issues, most visibly in Syria, where they support competing parties of the protracted civil war.

Poor countries face long wait for coronavirus vaccines despite promises NEW DELHI AGENCIES

With Americans, Britons and Canadians rolling up their sleeves to receive coronavirus vaccines, the route out of the pandemic now seems clear to many in the West, even if the rollout will take many months.

But for poorer countries, the road will be far longer and rougher.

The ambitious initiative known as COVAX created to ensure the entire world has access to Covid19 vaccines has secured only a fraction of the 2 billion doses it hopes to buy over the next year, has yet to confirm any actual deals to ship out vaccines and is short on cash. The virus that has killed more than 1.6 million people has exposed vast inequities between countries, as fragile health systems and smaller economies were often hit harder.

COVAX was set up by the World Health Organisation (WHO), vaccines alliance GAVI and CEPI, a global coalition to fight epidemics, to avoid the international stampede for vaccines that has accompanied past outbreaks and would reinforce those imbalances.

But now some experts say the chances that coronavirus shots will be shared fairly between rich nations and the rest are fading fast.

With vaccine supplies currently limited, developed countries, some of which helped fund the research with taxpayer money, are under tremendous pressure to protect their own populations and are buying up shots.

Meanwhile, some poorer countries that signed up for the initiative are looking for alternatives because of fears it won’t deliver.

“It’s simple math,” said Arnaud Bernaert, head of global health at the World Economic Forum. Of the approximately 12 billion doses the pharmaceutical industry is expected to produce next year, about 9 billion shots have already been reserved by rich countries. “COVAX has not secured enough doses, and the way the situation may unfold is they will probably only get these doses fairly late.”

To date, COVAX’s only confirmed, legally binding agreement is for up to 200 million doses, though that includes an option to order several times that the number of additional doses, GAVI spokesman James Fulker said. It has agreements for another 500 million vaccines, but those are not legally binding.

The 200 million doses will come from the Serum Institute of India, the company that will likely make a large portion of the coronavirus shots destined for the developing world. CEO Adar Poonawalla says it has a confirmed order for 100 million doses each of a vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca and one from Novovax. “We don’t have anything beyond that in writing,” he said. “If they want more, they’ll have to place more orders.”

He said the lack of commitment from COVAX will mean a much longer wait for people in developing countries. Poonawalla also noted that his company’s first priority would be making shots for India, which has suggested it wants at least 300 million vaccines. It’s likely India would not be able to take all of those at once, but a big order could delay the distribution of vaccines for other parts of the developing world, Poonawalla said.

Potentially further slowing down the process is that neither the AstraZeneca vaccine nor the Novovax

one has been licensed by any regulatory agency yet – and any injection distributed by COVAX will likely need WHO approval. COVAX does not have any supplies of the two vaccines that appear to be most effective so far – the Pfizer-BioNTech shot and the Moderna one. The United Kingdom has already begun giving the Pfizer vaccine, and the United States and Canada are rolling it out this week. Some Gulf countries have also authorised it.

Still, GAVI said they “aim to start rolling out safe and effective vaccines to COVAX (member countries) at scale within the first and second quarters of the New Year.” Even with vaccines in hand, the rollouts will take many months, even in rich countries, and many developing ones are facing serious logistical challenges that will add to delays, noted Dr. Gagandeep Kang, an infectious diseases expert at the Christian Medical College at Vellore in southern India.

John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, criticised Western countries for buying up the global vaccine supply “in excess of their needs while we in Africa are still struggling with the COVAX (effort).”

With no certainty about which shots would work, governments scrambled in recent months to sign multiple deals to ensure their citizens would have at least some Covid-19 injections. Canada, for example, bought nearly 200 million vaccines — enough to cover its population of 38 million about five times over.

Nkengasong called the idea that people in rich countries would get immunised while Africans go without “a moral issue.”

House in Concord, 13-year-old Brayden Harrington led the group in the Pledge of Allegiance. He had delivered a moving speech at the Democratic National Convention in August about the struggle with stuttering he shares with Biden.

Following weeks of Republican legal challenges that were easily dismissed by judges, Trump and Republican allies tried to persuade the Supreme Court last week to set aside 62 electoral votes for Biden in four states, which might have thrown the outcome into doubt.

The justices rejected the effort on Friday.

The Electoral College was the product of compromise during the drafting of the Constitution between those who favored electing the president by popular vote and those who opposed giving the people the power to directly choose their leader.

Each state gets a number of electors equal to its total number of seats in Congress: two senators plus however many members the state has in the House of Representatives. Washington, D.C., has three votes, under a constitutional amendment that was ratified in 1961. With the exception of Maine and Nebraska, states award all their Electoral College votes to the winner of the popular vote in their state.

The bargain struck by the nation’s founders has produced five elections in which the president did not win the popular vote. Trump was the most recent example in 2016.

Deputy governor, 2 others killeD in kabul attacks KABUL: The deputy governor of Kabul was killed when a sticky bomb attached to his armoured vehicle detonated in the centre of the Afghan capital on Tuesday.

Interior Ministry Spokesman Tariq Arian confirmed the fatal attack, calling the killing “a war crime,” that was an “inhumane” act. Deputy Governor Mahboobullah Mohebi died in the blast, along with his secretary. Two bodyguards were wounded, Mr Arian said. In the other attack in Kabul, gunmen shot and killed a police officer and wounded another policeman, Ferdaws Faramarz, spokesman for Kabul’s police chief, said. An investigation was ongoing, he added. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the Kabul attacks. ISIS has claimed responsibility for multiple attacks in the capital in recent months, including horrific attacks on educational institutions that killed as many as 50 people, most of them students. The Taliban have waged bitter battles against ISIS fighters, particularly in ISIS strongholds in eastern Afghanistan, while continuing their insurgency against Afghan government forces. Violence in Afghanistan has spiked in recent months even as the Taliban and Afghan government negotiators are meeting in Qatar to try and hammer out a peace deal that could put an end to decades of war. AGENCIES

recorD number of journalists imprisoneD worlDwiDe in 2020: report LONDON: A record number of journalists were imprisoned during 2020, as governments cracked down on coverage of the coronavirus pandemic or tried to suppress reporting of civil unrest, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said on Tuesday. At least 274 journalists were in jail as of December 1, the most since the New York-based group began collecting data in the early 1990s, the report said, up from at least 250 last year. Protests and political tensions were the cause of many arrests, with the most made in China, Turkey, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia, it said. Amid the Covid-19 pandemic, authoritarian leaders tried to control reporting by arresting journalists. At least two journalists died after contracting the disease in custody, the report said.

“It’s shocking and appalling that we are seeing a record number of journalists imprisoned in the midst of a global pandemic,” CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon said in a statement. The report blamed a lack of global leadership on democratic values, and in particular attacks on the media by US President Donald Trump, which it said gave cover to authoritarians to crack down on journalists in their own countries. Globally, 34 journalists were jailed for “false news” in 2020, compared with 31 last year, it said. “The record number of journalists imprisoned around the world is President Trump’s press freedom legacy,” Simon said. While no journalists were in prison in the United States as of December 1, 110 were arrested or charged in 2020, many while covering demonstrations against police violence, the CPJ said. Countries where the number of jailed journalists rose significantly include Belarus, where the re-election of its long-time president sparked mass protests, and Ethiopia, where political unrest has led to armed conflict. The report found that two-thirds of journalists in jail were charged with anti-state crimes such as terrorism or membership of banned groups, while no charges were disclosed in nearly 20 percent of cases. AGENCIES

Published by Arif Nizami at Plot # 7, Al-Baber Centre, F/8 Markaz, Islamabad, for PT Print (Pvt) Limited. Ph: 051-2204545. Email: newsroom@pakistantoday.com.pk