EpaperISB_2020-05-21

CMYK

Thursday, 21 May, 2020 I 27 Ramzan-ul-Mubarak, 1441 I Rs 15.00 I Vol X No 323 I 12 Pages I Islamabad Edition

imran seeks debt relief to PumP money into health seCtor g

g

PM SAyS SeveRAL DeveLOPING COUNTRIeS DON’T HAve FISCAL SPACe TO STReNGTHeN HeALTHCARe SySTeM DUe TO DeBT-SeRvICING

g

IMRAN SAyS COvID-19 IS GLOBAL CHALLeNGe WHICH CAN ONLy Be DeFeATeD WITH COLLeCTIve eFFORTS

SAyS GOvT DeCIDeD TO eASe LOCKDOWN DUe TO UNeMPLOyMeNT AND ITS INABILITy TO TAKe CARe OF eveRyONe ISLAMABAD staff report

P

RIMe Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday urged the global community to provide debt relief to the developing world, especially the sub-continent, saying several countries in the developing world do not possess the fiscal space to divert resources to the healthcare sector amid a deadly pandemic.

Addressing a session of the World economic Forum (WeF) via video link, the prime minister said he talked to several leaders of the developing world who were facing the same problem as Pakistan or any other developing country.

“The G20 has come up with a debt relief plan but it needs more details and work. Let me just put it this way: many of the developing countries face this situation where, because of their debt-servicing, their fiscal space has contracted and they are unable to cope with this challenge of health facilities.

“The reason why there should be a debt relief and the G20 is looking into it is because we need to divert those resources to health and also to environment and, unfortunately, that space is not there,” he added.

“There has to be a way of picking up countries,” he implored, adding that the “exports are falling as well as the remittances”. He said Pakistan “depends a lot on the remittance from the Gulf countries and due to the fall in oil prices that has had an effect on it”.

According to the PM, the upcoming year isn’t just a challenge for Pakistan, it’s

US says it’s in Pakistan’s interest to advance Afghan peace g

WeLLS URGeS CHINA TO WAIve OFF ‘PReDATORy, UNSUSTAINABLe AND UNFAIR’ CPeC DeBTS TO ALLevIATe PAKISTAN’S SUFFeRING ISLAMABAD staff report

a challenge for the entire globe because “we are all connected”.

There has to be more interaction between the countries in dealing with this challenge so far, he said, adding: “When it hit the countries, they took unprecedented measures so every country looked inside and became insular. I feel that we are connected and the response has to be global.

Speaking about the economy, he said: “Just before this pandemic hit us, we had managed to balance our twin budgets — the current account and fiscal deficit. After very tough reforms, we had thought of the growth of the economy.

However, the country was now battling to overcome the ramification of the twomonth-long lockdown. “We have geared up and our economic think-tanks are mulling over how we are going to deal with the coming year,” he said, calling it a bigger challenge.

Coronavirus in

Pakistan

“We, in Pakistan, we have 25 million workers who are either daily wagers or get paid weekly or are self-employed. When we [impose a] lockdown like the whole of the world to stop the spread of the virus all these people became unemployed.

“When we are talking about 25 million workers, we are talking about 25 million families. And actually it has affected around almost 120-150 million people [who] face stark poverty.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 03

Pakistan would need more doctors in case of hike in Covid-19 cases: PM STORY ON BACK PAGE

United States Acting Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia Ambassador Alice G. Wells on Wednesday said it was in Pakistan’s interest to advance the Afghan peace process while acknowledging that Islamabad’s commitment to peace in the region had grown.

While addressing a farewell news briefing through a video link attended by journalists from South and Central Asia, Wells said that the US South Asia strategy had called for Pakistan’s decisive action against the militant groups, particularly those which had been supporting conflicts in Afghanistan.

While recounting Pakistan’s support for the Afghan peace process and actions against militant groups, she said Pakistan took constructive steps to encourage the Taliban to advance the Afghan peace process, besides taking action against Lashkar-e-Taiba leader Hafiz Saeed and other groups of the sort.

Wells said during last three years, Pakistan’s relations with the United

Pakistan registers ‘strong protest’ after LoC firing injures three ISLAMABAD/RAWALPINDI

CONFIRMED CASES:

47,259

RECOVERED:

DEATHS:

13,101

1,009

SINDH:

PUNJAB:

18,964

16,685

KP:

BALOCHISTAN:

AJK/GB:

ISLAMABAD:

6,815 133/556

2,968 1,138

CONTINUED ON PAGE 03

Pakistan has always supported peace in region, says Qureshi STORY ON PAGE 02 fiqah-e-hanfia

lahore sehr: 3:28 aM iftar: 6:57 PM

karachi sehr: 4:19 aM iftar: 7:13 PM

islaMabad sehr: 3:25 aM iftar: 7:06 PM fiqah-e-jafaria

lahore sehr: 3:18 aM iftar: 7:07 PM

staff report

At least three people were injured as a result of the “unprovoked ceasefire violation” by the Indian forces along the Line of Control (LoC) in the Nikial sector, said Pakistan Army’s media wing on Wednesday.

“Due to indiscriminate and unprovoked firing by the Indian occupation forces, Karam Din, 18 and Muhammad Rizwan, 20 of Ooli village and Hafiz Ilyas, 30, resident of Khanni village, were wounded,” said another statement issued by the Foreign Office.

“Indian Army troops initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation using mortars and automatics in Nikial Sector along LOC deliberately targeting the civilian population. Due to indiscriminate fire in Khanni and Ooli villages, three innocent civilians received critical injuries,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.

“All injured evacuated and being provided with medical care,” read the statement by the ISPR. Tensions between India and Pakistan have ratcheted up over the past couple of days due to unprovoked ceasefire violations

States had improved particularly in trade. To a question, the ambassador said it was deeply in Pakistan’s interest to advance the Afghan peace process. As per their commitment, the US had seen solid cooperation from Pakistan’s civil and military leadership towards the Afghan peace talks.

Wells said after assuming the office, President Trump had announced that the US needed to give a serious look to the Afghan policy in terms of its economic impact as well as the security risk to its security forces. She said after over a year of talks, the US and Taliban signed a peace deal in which the Taliban committed to bringing down the violence in the country.

karachi sehr: 4:09 aM iftar: 7:23 PM

islaMabad sehr: 3:15 aM iftar: 7:16 PM

more inside

Govt proposes amendments in election laws for ‘transparency’ STORY ON PAGE 03 by the former.

ENVOY SUMMONED: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs summoned an Indian envoy to register strong protest over the ceasefire violations by the Indian forces and said that “such senseless acts are in clear violation of the 2003 Ceasefire Understanding”.

“These egregious violations of international law reflect consistent Indian attempts to escalate the situation along the LoC and are a threat to regional peace and security,” the FO said.

“By raising tensions along the LoC and the Working Boundary, India could not divert attention from the grave human rights sit-

CMYK

uation in the Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir,” it added.

“India was also urged to allow the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to play its mandated role as per the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolutions,” the statement added.

The Indian occupation forces along the LoC and the Working Boundary (WB) have continuously been targeting civilian populated areas with artillery fire, heavy-caliber mortars, and automatic weapons.

In 2020, India has so far committed 1,101 ceasefire violations.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa slashes uplift budget by 50 per cent STORY ON PAGE 02

PM, Gen Bajwa discuss Covid-19, internal security STORY ON PAGE 02

02

Thursday, 21 May, 2020

newS

KP slAshes uPlIFt buDget by 50 Per Cent Aziz BuNeRi

t

GOVT SAYS IT IS FACING FINANCIAL RESTRAINTS AFTER CENTRE FAILED TO DISBURSE NET HYDEL PROFITS

PeSHaWaR

HE Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has slashed the developmental budget by 50 per cent for the ongoing financial year due to the coronavirus-induced financial crisis. Sources told Pakistan Today that due to the failure of the federal government to disburse net hydel profit, state transfers and other funds to provincial government, the province has reduced its uplift budget by 50 per cent.

They said that due to low revenue generation, 90 per cent budget of the province depends on funds from the federal government in the form of net hydel profit and others. Since the central government is not in a position to releases funds to the province, the KP government is facing difficulties in releasing funds for the ongoing uplift projects and departments are also

facing difficulties in preparing the budget for the next financial year, they added.

According to sources in the Planning and Development Department, the provincial government had allocated Rs108 billion from its own resources under the annual development programme for all departments across the province, of which more than Rs91 billion had been released and more than Rs52 billion had been utilised by the departments.

However, keeping in view the needs of

FIA head to submit sugar crisis report today News desk The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) head Wajid Zia has finalised the forensic report on the sugar crisis and will present it to Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday. According to the media reports, the 200-page report accused top politicians of tax evasion and sought action against them. It also included the statement of the sugar mills owners. The muchawaited forensic report was to be presented to Prime Minister Imran Khan on April 25, however, it was given three-weeks’ time upon the request of the commission probing the matter. Earlier this year, the country was battling shortages in the supply of both commodities, which had led to a surge in prices, leading to fierce criticism of the government’s policies as an inflation-battered public was left even more burdened. Amidst allegations his own aides were behind the crises, Prime Minister Imran Khan had announced an inquiry, promising “strict punishment” for anyone found guilty of profiting from these scandals. Near the end of March, the commission had submitted its preliminary reports on the sugar and wheat crises in the country to the prime minister. The 32-page report was prepared by FIA Director-General Wajid Zia, based on the findings of the inquiry commission constituted by PM Imran. Hailing the preliminary reports as “unprecedented”, the premier had said he was now awaiting detailed forensic audit reports by the commission.

Pakistan has always promoted regional peace, says Qureshi LAHORe Staff RePoRt

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Wednesday said that Pakistan has been actively supporting the Afghan peace process as it believes that peace in the war-torn country would be beneficial for the whole region. He said this while speaking to veteran journalist and Pakistan Today Editor Arif Nizami on Channel 92’s programme ‘Ho Kya Raha Hai?’. Arif Nizami highlighted that during an online press briefing earlier in the day, American diplomat Alice Wells said that Pakistan is the second biggest beneficiary of peace in Afghanistan but it has not been doing much to end violence in the country. Moreover, he said, the American diplomat expressed reservations over China’s loans to Pakistan, saying that Pakistan would have a hard time paying back the loans taken for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in view of the deteriorating economic condition due to the coronavirus pandemic. He further said that Wells also highlighted India’s role in the Afghan peace process, saying that it is playing an important role in this regard. Responding to the American diplomat’s statements, the foreign minister said that Pakistan has always promoted peace and United States President Donald Trump had also acknowledged its efforts for peace in Afghanistan. He said that Pakistan is not responsible for the delay in the Afghan peace process.

“Their internal politics created hurdles but not that political rivals have reached an agreement, we are hopeful that the peace process would be carried forward,” he said, adding that peace in the wartorn country would be beneficial for the entire region. Regarding US’ concerns over the loans taken

by Pakistan for CPEC, FM Qureshi said that these loans were negligible when compared to Pakistan’s overall external debt. He also said that Pakistan and China’s relationship allows them to resolve issues bilaterally.

the Health, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Department, the funds of all other departments have been slashed by more than 50 per cent, which has created problems for the departments in the implementation of Asian Development Bank’s (ADP) projects.

Sources said that departments have to pay the contractors for the ongoing projects and beneficiaries under a number of relief packages have to be paid as well. The administrative departments have sent all the bills to the AG Of-

fice for making payments to the contractors and clearing other bills but no positive steps have been taken so far to clear bills, they added. They further said that work orders have also been issued for a number of projects, but their budget has now been taken back from all the departments by the provincial government.

Sources said that administrative departments expressed concerns over the deduction procedure, saying that the deduction has been made in such a way that their ongoing projects were left incomplete and now not a single project can be continued by any department.

They said that due to cuts in this year’s development programme, the departments are also facing severe difficulties in formulating next year’s annual development programme. The departments have not yet been able to clarify the extent to which their projects will be implemented this year, they added.

PM, army chief discuss internal security, Covid-19

PID releases 58m for clearance of media industry’s dues News desk The Press Information Department (PID) of the Federal Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has released 58 million to advertising agencies with directives for immediate disbursement to media houses. According to a press release issued on Wednesday, the PID has handed over cheques to eight advertising agencies to pay off media houses for the government ads. Principal Information Officer (PIO) Shahera Shahid has directed these advertising agencies to quickly disburse the funds to media houses. Council of Newspaper Editors (CPNE) President Arif Nizami, Secretary General Dr Jabbar Khattak and Vice President Sardar Khan Niazi thanked the government for its decision. They said this would not only increase transparency in payment of dues but it would also help ease the financial constraints of the media industry.

isLAMABAd aPP

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa Wednesday called on Prime Minister Imran Khan and discussed the matters pertaining to internal security, Covid-19 pandemic, relief efforts and overall regional situation.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Planning Minister Asad Umar and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General Lt Gen Faiz Hameed were also present during the meeting, a Prime Minister Media Office press release said.

Pakistan, China and others reaffirm support for Afghan peace isLAMABAd INP FILE PHOTO

SC extends federal govt's authority to fight coronavirus outbreak isLAMABAd aPP

The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a written order of the coronavirus suo motu case and urged the government to take urgent measures for tackling risks crisis from the virus.

“It is obvious that this coronavirus has come as an additional burden on the government of Pakistan and the manner in which this virus has started spreading in Pakistan, has set the alarm bell ringing. This virus being new, there was no readiness of the government to deal with the same, nor the necessary medical equipment were available to face the growing number of infected cases,” read the written order issued by the five-member larger bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed during the hearing of the suo motu case related to the coronavirus

crisis in the country.

The written order further stated that the government did take immediate steps to tackle this virus and mitigate its effects on the people of Pakistan, and in this regard, a colossal amount of money was diverted and utilised. “We admit that Pakistan has a struggling economy and coronavirus made it more staggering. However, we note that the people of Pakistan have a fundamental right, namely, right to life, under which

government of Pakistan is required to provide to the people of Pakistan safe and healthy living conditions,” it added.

Referring to Article 149 (1) and (4), the order further stated that the executive authority of all the provinces are mandatorily required to be exercised so as not to impede or prejudice the exercise of the executive authority of the federation and the executive authority of the federation shall extend to giving directions to provinces, as may appear necessary to the government.

“The executive authority of the federation shall also extend to giving of directions to provinces as to the manner in which the executive authority of the provinces is to be exercised for the purpose of preventing any grave menace to the peace or tranquility or economic life of Pakistan or any part thereof.

Representatives of Pakistan, China, Russia and Iran held a virtual meeting and discussed the Afghan issue and issued a joint statement reaffirming their commitment to Afghan peace.

The spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Zhao Lijian said at a regular news briefing that Special Envoy on Afghan affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Liu Jian, Russian Presidential Envoy for Afghanistan Zamir Kabulov, Iranian Foreign Ministry’s Special Envoy for Afghanistan Mohammad Ebrahim Taherian, and Additional Secretary of the Foreign Ministry of Pakistan Safdar Hayat held a video conference on May 18 and had an indepth exchange of views on the current situation in Afghanistan and the peace and reconciliation process. The meeting was hosted by the Russian side. The four parties issued a joint statement afterwards. The joint statement welcomes the signing of the political agreement by the two major Afghan political leaders and calls on all parties in Afghanistan to seize the opportunity to launch intra-Afghan talks and realise comprehensive and sustainable peace at an early date. It called on foreign troops to withdraw in an orderly and responsible manner to ensure a smooth transition. It expressed hope that relevant United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions would be observed and implemented, and urged all parties in Afghanistan to resolutely combat international terrorist organisations. It reaffirmed support for Afghanistan in the fight against COVID-19.

Kashmir's internet blackouts hinder health services, contact tracing AgeNcies For three days without the internet or phone service this month, Rouf Ahmad found himself cut off from his family in occupied Kashmir while his mother was receiving treatment for the deadly coronavirus.

The 23-year-old sociology student is under quarantine in a hospital in Srinagar and could not contact the rest of his family to tell them about his mother’s condition as she was treated in the same hospital. “I used to update my sisters and father many times a day about my mother’s status,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation over the phone.

“My frustration knew no bounds when I couldn’t do so for three days,” he added. Communications blackouts imposed by the Indian government as part of an effort to quell political turmoil and armed uprising in occupied Kashmir are hampering the fight against the novel coronavirus, warn health experts and res-

idents. Weeks of slow or no internet are a regular occurrence in the disputed region.

The latest restriction on high-speed internet access has been in place since August last year, when India revoked the special status of its only Muslim-majority state.

The Indian government reinstated low-speed 2G internet services five months later in January, but a blackout earlier this month massively set back health services and contact tracing efforts to curb the novel coronavirus, health experts said.

“The shutting down of the internet is not new to Kashmir,” said one Srinagarbased hospital doctor, who asked not to be named. “But, this time around, we were shocked that we had to work without the internet even during the pandemic for a week,” he said, noting that the government had told health professionals not to talk to the press. “We are pushed into the primitive world when the internet is shut down abruptly.”

When contacted for comment, police officials directed the Thomson Reuters

CMYK

Foundation to an official order posted on the police website. It said the shutdown on May 6, implemented the day after security forces killed Kashmiri fighter Riyaz Naikoo in Pulwama district, was necessary due to the “likelihood of misuse of data services by anti-national elements”.

Knowing occupied Kashmir’s history of communication restrictions, Ahmad anticipates further shutdowns — mobile internet was again halted on Tuesday — but hopes he and his mother can get out of the hospital before then.

“I can’t bring myself to deal with another blackout. Our family is already facing an awful situation as my mother is battling Covid-19,” he said.

ContaCt traCing: Occupied Kashmir is among the Indian regions worst hit by Covid-19, with confirmed cases increasing sharply from four in mid-March to more than 1,200 by mid-May and about 16 deaths, according to official figures.

Health professionals at two major hospitals in Srinagar told the Thomson

Reuters Foundation that during the recent communications blackout they were unable to consult with colleagues about coronavirus cases.

A health department official, who requested anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to the press, said the three days without mobile phone service put added strain on the region’s already stressed health system. The blackout affected all but phones on pay monthly contracts, which are mainly used by government officials. Doctors normally use messaging services like WhatsApp to send each other information about cases and communicate with patients, the official explained, adding that relying on phone calls in the shutdown was often inconvenient and time-consuming.

He noted that there was no way for health workers to carry out contact tracing, which involves tracking down infected people and finding everyone who has been near them, so they can get tested too.

Thursday, 21 May, 2020

govt seeKs AMenDMents In eleCtIon lAw to Curb horse-trADIng isLAMABAd aPP

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has proposed 39 amendments in the election laws to make voting process more free, fair and transparent.

Addressing a joint press conference, Minister for Education Shafqat Mahmood and Minister for Narcotics Control Azam Khan Swati on Wednesday said that efforts would be made for evolving consensus among all the political parties on the electoral reforms.

They said that strict sentences had been recommended in these amendments on interruption in smooth holding of the election or making the voting process doubtful. There was also a suggestion to hold future Senate elections through ‘show of hands’ rather than secret balloting to avoid horse-trading, he added.

Swati said that although the government needs majority to pass these laws from the parliament but they are hopeful that all the political parties will study the amendments and make their support.

This initiative has been taken for the first

time after 1973 to hold all forms of elections in the country without any reservation, he added. He also said that under these amendments, the election plan would have to be presented four months before the date fixed for polling. Certain amendments had also been proposed to ensure deployment of impartial polling staff or taking action on biased conduct

us says it’s in Pakistan interest

of a presiding officer towards polling agents, he added.

Mehmood said that unlike the present practice, there was a suggestion that the from political parties should submit the names of their candidates for special women seats after holding of the general election to give chance to unsuccessful potential candidates.

He said that the use of biometric system in the election was mandatory to remove doubts about transparency in manual polling process. He, however, added that still many things had to do on proper use of electronic voting machines.

He also said that the amendments were related to the pre-election activities, election day activities and polling results, besides the deployment of impartial polling staff. He added that there were also suggestions about sharing of electoral rolls to the candidates and postelection activities. He added that the amendments also covered several other aspects with an objective to avoid any illegality and ensure transparency to maintain voters’ trust in the election process.

He expressed hope that the amendments would be passed with the consensus and support of all political parties.

Mahmood further said as per law, the prime minister had the mandate to select members of his cabinet as minister, special assistant or adviser. The practice of appointing technocrats in the cabinet was common in the world for smooth functioning, he added.

‘Govt committed to realising country’s transshipment potential’

cONTiNued FROM PAge 01

isLAMABAd

The US was upholding its commitment and closely looking at the situation, she said and made it clear that the increased volume of violence in Afghanistan was unacceptable. The ambassador, who would now be replaced by another veteran diplomat Tom Vajda, said the US welcomed the formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan by President Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah. The US was looking for rapid implementation of the mutual agreement and immediate steps to reach the much-awaited intra-Afghan negotiations. She believed that the peace process would meet success during the next five years. However, regarding the terror activities like the recent ones by the ISIS, the ambassador said both the Afghan government and Taliban should commonly fight such groups. Commenting on the US support in the worldwide public health sector, she said the US had spent around 6$.5 billion dollar in assistance and donations. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the US had provided $98 million to the South Asian and Central Asian countries to help them fight the pandemic.

‘ConCErnED oVEr CPEC LoanS’: She also urged China either to wave off or renegotiate what it called “unsustainable and unfair” debt of Pakistan as it once again raised serious questions about the lack of transparency in the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). “At a time of crisis like Covid-19, it is really incumbent on China to take steps to alleviate the burden that this predatory, unsustainable and unfair lending is going to cause to Pakistan,” said Alice Wells. “We hope China will join in either waving off debt or renegotiating these loans and creating a fair and transparent deal for Pakistani people,” Ambassador Wells said. This was not the first time the US and Wells in particular publically questioned the viability of CPEC. Wells in the past also expressed similar views, declaring CPEC detrimental to Pakistan’s economy.

Staff RePoRt

Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood said on Wednesday that the government can play a role of a facilitative regulator, providing a flexible environment to boost the transshipment industry as per the available potential.

“There is a lot of potential for transshipment in Pakistan, which can be exploited with the right policies and government support,” said Dawood while chairing a meeting/presentation to discuss “Transshipment Potential of Pakistan” at the Ministry of Commerce, said a press release issued by Ministry of Commerce.

The meeting was attended by the senior officers of the Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Maritime

Affairs, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and other stakeholders.

While talking about the importance of strategic location of Pakistan, the adviser stated that Gwadar port can act as a sister port to a number of other important ports in the region, which can complement each other in transshipment activities.

Dawood further emphasized that Pakistan could reach its true potential of transshipment when China, Afghanistan and other Central Asian Economies would be connected with Gwadar through land routes. Considering different policy recommendations, the adviser noted that a little value addition can be beneficial in promoting and improving the transshipment industry. He asked the stakeholders to consider the recommendations and resolve the identified issues for the benefit of ports and shipping industry in Pakistan.

US lauded for supporting Pakistan on FATF, Covid-19, G-20 debt relief BusiNess desk Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh has said that Pakistan appreciates the support extended by the US in FATF, COVID-19 and debt relief from the G-20 countries.

“We value our relationship with the US particularly the business collaborations which have a great potential of growth given the opportunities for business and investment available in Pakistan,” he said while speaking during a virtual discussion with the

office-bearers and members of the US-Pakistan Business Council at the Finance Division on Wednesday.

US-Pakistan Business Council President Esperanza Jelalian, US Chamber of Commerce Senior VicePresident (Asia) Charles Freeman, USPBC Chairman Steven Kobos and Ambassador of Pakistan to US Dr Asad M Khan also attended the discussion.

During the meeting, Hafeez Shaikh conveyed heartfelt sympathies from the government and the people of Pakistan on the loss of precious lives in the US due to COVID-19 pandemic.

SBP raises Rs167.3bn from T-bill auction kARAcHi MeIRYUM aLI

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has reported that the government raised Rs167.3 billion through T-bills, against the auction target of Rs325 billion.

The SBP conducted the auction for the sale of 3-month, 6-month and 12month Government of Pakistan Market Treasury Bills (MTBs) and received bids amounting to over Rs1,103 billion.

Bids worth Rs323.8 billion were received for 3-month T-bills, Rs270.1 bil-

lion for 6-month T-bills, while 12-month government papers fetched bids amounting to Rs508.8 billion.

Out of the received bids, the federal government raised Rs26.8 billion for 3months, Rs50 billion for 6-months and Rs90.5 billion for 12-months.

The total acceptance in the auction, including non-competitive bids, was Rs225.3 billion.

This is the first T-bill auction to take place after the policy rate was cut from 9pc to 8pc on May 15. The central bank aggressively cut interest rates in the last

three months, slashing the policy rate from 13.25pc to 12.5pc on March 17, from 12.5pc to 11pc on March 24, from 11pc to 9pc on April 16, and finally from 9pc to 8pc on May 15.

But despite the policy rate falling to 8pc, the cut-off yields for all bids did not significantly change from the yields in the previous auction on May 6. According to some analysts, it could be that the anticipated cut was preemptively reflected in the cut-off yields in the May 6 auction.

The cut-off yield for 3-month bids

was at 8.14pc, down from 8.38pc. The yield for 6-month bids was at 7.8pc, down from 7.9pc, while the yield for 12-month bids stood at 7.74pc, up from 7.75pc.

The bidding was more concentrated in the long term 12 month papers. This is opposed to the trend that defined most of last year and the beginning of this year, of investing in short term 3month T-bills.

The next auction date for T-bills is set for June 3, with a target amount of Rs325 billion.

newS

03

sC orders clearance of sanitary workers dues within two days isLAMABAd tLtP

Taking notice of alleged persecution of sanitary workers in the country, the Supreme Court issued directives to all the departments of Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), Gilgit-Baltistan and provincial governments to pay their outstanding dues and pension within two days. A five-member bench led by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed and comprising Justices Mushir Alam, Sardar Tariq Masood, Mazhar Alam Khan Miankhel and Qazi Muhammad Amin Ahmed also ruled that under the constitutional provisions, executive authority of the federation shall stand extended to giving directions to the provinces in order to prevent the outbreak of pandemic COVID-19.

124 MoF officers promoted to grade-18 iSLaMaBaD: The Ministry of Finance on Wednesday promoted 124 accounts' officers to grade 18. According to sources, a meeting was held under the chair of Additional Finance Secretary Dr Muhammad Arshad wherein promotions cases of 130 accounts' officers of Accountant General Pakistan Revenue (AGPR) were discussed in detail. Sources said the promotion of grade-17 officers was pending for the past many years but any meeting in this regard could not be held due to various reasons. Upon fulfiling the promotional criteria, the officials expressed gratitude to Dr Muhammad Arshad as well as the government and resolved to work diligently. These officers were performing their duties in different cities, sources added. Staff RePoRt

Imran seeks debt relief to pump money into health sector cONTiNued FROM PAge 01 “Unless the men and the women work, they cannot feed their families. What my government did was we launched a cash programme and reached nearly 15 million families with cash transfers but this is only a short-term solution.” “Therefore, despite the raising cases in our country, we have decided to ease our lockdown and reopen our construction industry so that people can find employment because there is no way that the government can provide for all. The only way we can do that is by providing employment. “The way forward that we have this year as a nation is that we realise that we have to live with this virus at least until a vaccine comes out and balances it. We have raised a volunteer force in this regard — of one million volunteers — who will help the administration as it is already overburdened and so are the law enforcement agencies. “This volunteer force will encourage people not to have large gatherings and spread awareness among masses to follow the SOPs [standard operating procedures] necessary to stem the virus. Speaking about the action taken to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, he said: “The experience of the developed world is completely different to what we are facing in the developing world. We’re not experiencing the same speed at which the virus had spread in the West.” However, the number of cases are still rising, and the country has yet to reach the peak, he said, adding that the government has developed a “very good National Command and Control Centre [NCOC] and the whole idea is that we aim to balance” the lockdown and employment rate.

04 ISLAMABAD

Thursday, 21 May, 2020

THURSDAY

380C

220C

FRIDAY

PM’s aide vows to Protect Margalla Hills NatioNal Park ISLAMABAD

a

STAFF REPORT

DvISER to the Prime Minister for Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam has strict action would be taken against anyone who causes environmental damage in the Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP).

While addressing the media here on Wednesday the Malik Amin stressed that no one would be allowed to play havoc with the national park for personal interests.

Speaking about the recent acts of tree cutting and construction activities by Monal Restaurant’s management, he told the media that the activities have led to massive land degradation, which will take a long time to be restored to its previous state.

He recalled that some photos of

PRAyER TimingS

WEATHER UPDATES

tree cutting and land leveling near the restaurant were circulating on social media, inviting public hue and cry.

“Taking serious notice of the illegal activities, Malik Amin had directed EPA to take legal action against the culprits, besides sealing off the property, and filing an FIR against the offenders at the Islamabad Secretariat Police Station.

Regretting the significant loss of tree cover and land degradation in the restaurant’s vicinity, he had thanked citizens for sharing pictures of the land levelled area achieved after the massive cutting of trees on social media until it went viral.

It may be noted here that Monal Restaurant was allowed to be constructed by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) in 2005.

Later on, few other restaurants, including Lamontana, Gloria Jeans, Whispering Pines and some other recreational activities spots were

also constructed in the Margalla Hills National Park.

“We must know that all have been constructed without any environmental approval from the Environmental Protection Agency Islamabad (EPA) and undoubtedly causing incessant damages to ecosystem and spiking levels of pollutions in the vicinity.

He called upon the Islamabad Administration to take serious action against all sorts of environment-damaging activities in Margalla Hills. “We have already directed the EPA to take all possible legal actions against those involved in tree cutting and causing environmental damage to the park,” Malik Amin added. Earlier in the day, Malik Amin also visited the damaged site near Monal Restaurant and expressed serious grief over the ruined landscape while participating in a tree plantation drive aimed at damage control.

380C

220C

SATURDAY

390C

230C

FAJR SUNRISE

ZUHR

ASR MAGHRIB ISHA

3:50

12:00

4:45

5:18

6:42

8:10

15 new Covid-19 cases registered in AJK, tally reaches 148 MIRPUR APP

After the emergence of 15 new cases of novel coronavirus during the last 24 hours in Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK), the number of confirmed positive cases reached 148 in the area on Wednesday, AJK Health Services Department said.

At the same time, the blood samples of 228 suspects were also tested across the state. In a state-

ment on the updated situation of pandemic in AJK issued on Wednesday, State Health Services authorities confirmed the registration of 15 new cases in AJK after samples from 228 suspects were tested.

According to the details, the cases include 12 from Muzaffarabad, two from Bagh and one from Mirpur district. So far, a total of 4,470 cases have been tested from which 148 positive cases were identified while the result of 62 tests

is awaited. Out of the total of 148 corona virus positive cases, 79 have fully recovered from the different health facilities while the rest were receiving treatment in various staterun health facilities and Isolation Centres at present in various parts of AJK, the health authorities said in the statement.

It may be recalled that AJK has only suffered one casualty, of an 80-year-old patient because of the pandemic.

Speakers at int'l conference agree on online education as top priority in world ISLAMABAD APP

Speakers of a virtual international conference on “the role of universities and scientific institutions in countering the corona crisis - the reality and solutions” on Wednesday agreed that online and distance education must the educational sector’s top priority across the world.

The conference was arranged with the joint efforts of The Union of Afro-Asia Universities (UAAU) and IIUI and was chaired by IIUI President Dr Ahmed Yousif AlDraiweesh and cooperated by the International Union of Arab Islamic International Schools (IUAIIS) of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the International Islamic Literature Association (IILA),

the Darae Salaam Contour University (DSCU), the Arab Union for Sustainable Development (AUSD) and the Environment and the Union of Arab Women Leaders (EUAWL).

Speakers of the conference included Higher Education Commission (HEC) former chairman Professor Dr Mukhtar Ahmed, various educationists, vice chancellors, researchers and faculty members of the Islamabad International Islamic University (IIUI), Prof Dr Amal Fathallah Zarkashi, Prof Dr N.B. Jumani, Dr Ashraf Abdul-Rafie Mohammed AlDarfili, Dr. Samina Malik, Dr Hafiz Bashir and other concerned officials.

During the virtual conference, around 30 speakers across the world from more than 10 countries expressed their

views on the topic. They opined that the prevailing pandemic has increased significance of distance education and joint deliberations to benefit from this mode of education are vital in the current circumstances.

They discussed topics such as initial procedural steps for institutions’ in response to the pandemic, as well as preventive measures for employees and students of educational institutions. The participants also discussed alternative educational options to continue educational activities, the paradigm shift from conventional teaching to online classes and strategies of universities for their routine work and coordination with employees and students.

Thursday, 21 May, 2020

NEWS

05

PAkIstAN heAdINg foR ANotheR dRUgs dIsAsteR ISLAMABAD

A

could not supply them to various government and private hospitals, simply because there was no lot release of these products, endorsed by the federal government analyst,� the letter read. “Products such as various MABs (oncology), vaccines, recombinant biologicals, insulin, products for kidney transplants, products for dialysis and burns patients, cardiology products, plasma derived products, and many more critical care products became short in supply, simply because the DRAP & NHSR&C did not prioritise the approval of the notification of a federal government analyst for almost a month and a half,� stated PCDA Chairman Khalid Saeed.

The letter added that they do understand that Covid-19 is a priority matter, but there are numerous patients whose lives depend on such critical biological products and who cannot afford to wait due to departmental delays. “We look forward to your earliest possible action in this matter,� it added.

products from next month. “The tenure of the current federal government analyst Zafar Mehmood Minhas ends on June 19. We would earnestly request you to please ensure that the position of the federal government analyst does not remain vacant for a day. [Otherwise], it would result in non-supply of life saving products. Unless the DRAP and the NHSR&C acts proactively, there will again be a suspension of supplies of biological products from the 19th of June,� stated the letter.

It is worth noting here that Zafar Mehmood was notified as the federal government analyst by the ministry of NHSR&C on April 27 for three months, effective from March 19 till June 19 after a delay of 45 days as the post fell vacant on March 13. The delay in notifying the federal government analyst had created a very chaotic situation. “Importers of various lifesaving biological products, who had imported products,

GhulAm AbbAS

S Pakistan faced a serious shortage of lifesaving drugs on Wednesday due to the delay in issuance of a notification for 45 days, Pakistan Chemists and Druggists Association (PCDA) has expressed fear that the country might face another similar crisis next month if these delaying tactics continue.

Through a letter to the chief executive of Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) and Secretary Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations & Coordination (NHSR&C), the association drew the attention of Health Ministry and DRAP towards the possible suspension of supplies of lifesaving products from June 19.

The association requested the authority and the ministry to act proactively to deal with the suspension of supplies of biological

PIA, Reliance sign MoU to ensure safety during flights Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and Reliance Petrochem Industries Private Limited signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to ensure PIA passengers safety on flight against Corona virus. Reliance Petrochem Industries Private Limited manufactures sanitization products based on specifications and guidelines provided by WHO. Reliance will provide its premium quality Aerosol Sanitization Spray Canes to all PIA passengers on board free of cost starting from June 2020. Reliance is the only manufacturer of sanitization products that is offering aerosol sanitization sprays and the first one in Pakistan to follow WHO standards in manufacturing of all sanitization products including consumer and industrial range. The collaboration will ensure a safe and secure inflight experience on all PIA flights offering an additional protected environment for the passengers in the current COVID-19 active environment. The MoU was signed by Mr. Jai Kumar, Managing Director, Reliance Petrochem Industries Pvt. Limited and CEO PIA Air Marshal Arshad Malik along with senior officials of both organizations.This initiative will further assist PIA in following its SOPs for prevention against Covid-19 and in better facilitating its passengers on board its flights. PReSS ReleASe

‘Pakistan wants early repatriation of Afghan refugees’ ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi on Wednesday said that Pakistan wants early and honorable repatriation of Afghan refugees. The president said this during a ration distribution ceremony among Afghan refugees in wake of Covid-19 pandemic. He said that Pakistan has always kept its doors open for Afghan brethren who have been facing war oppression for many decades. He also said that Pakistan wants early and durable peace in Afghanistan. “We provided same facilities and cooperation to Afghan refugees extended to our own citizens to protect them from coronavirus,� he added. “Islam teaches us compassion and good feelings for fellow Muslims and in the same spirit Pakistan and Turkey have been hosting Afghan and Syrian refugees on their respective lands,� he further said.

OIC condemns contentious Kashmir domicile law RIYADH StAff RePoRt

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC) on Wednesday rejected India’s new domicile law in Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IOK), calling it a violation of the UNSC resolutions.

In April last, New Delhi notified a new contentious law, Jammu and Kashmir Grant of Domicile Certificate (Procedure), which allows non-locals to seek permanent residence in the disputed region. Under the new law, eligible non-locals, along with people who have lived in the held territory for 15 years, or studied there for seven years and appeared in class 10th or 12th examinations in a local school, can apply for the certificate. The rules were formally notified on Monday.

The notification elicited a strong reaction from Islamabad which said the rules were “in clear violation of the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions, international laws, including the

Fourth Geneva Convention, and bilateral agreements between Pakistan and India�.

Reacting to the development, the OIC body urged the United Nations and the in-

ternational community to put pressure on the Indian government to curb its illegal activities in held Kashmir. “The international community must

Police arrest suspect in North Waziristan 'honour killing' case NORTH WAZIRISTAN StAff RePoRt

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) police on Wednesday arrested a suspect in connection with an objection video which led to the “honour killing� of two teenage girls in North Waziristan district last week.

North Waziristan District Police Officer (DPO) Shafiullah Gandapur revealed that the suspect has confessed to his crime before a judicial magistrate. “In the confessional statement, the accused accepted that he used a cell phone of his friend, Fida Wazir, who is also in police custody,� Gandapur said. KP Inspector General of Police (IGP) Sanaullah Abbasi announced a cash reward and

commendation certificates for the police officials responsible for the investigation and subsequent arrest of the suspect. “Newly merged police will serve the public and ensure justice and will fight for the rights of women,� IGP Abbasi said.

The provincial police had launched a manhunt following the murder of the two teenage girls last week in North Waziristan district, which the police suspect was an act of “honour killing�.

Police say the video which they believe prompted the murder was shot a year ago but had only recently been uploaded on social media. “The females were sisters, identified as Jasima Bibi and Saeeda Bibi,� District Police Officer (DPO) Shafiullah Gandapur told Reuters.

Police also said the girls’ father and uncle had been arrested on suspicion of concealing the murder and evidence.

The girls’ relatives and local residents did not want a case registered because of “local traditions�, so the police became the complainant in the case, officials added. According to the FIR, the incident had taken place on May 14 around 2:00 pm at Shaam Plain Garyom, a border village of North and South Waziristan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “A confirmed report was received that two girls aged 16 and 18 were killed in the name of honour by their paternal cousin, whose name and address is not known, in Shaam Plain Garyom,� the FIR had said.

Sindh governor to head 154,000-strong Tiger Force ISLAMABAD StAff RePoRt

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday decided to give administrative powers of Corona Tiger Force to Governor Sindh Imran Ismail after the provincial government refused to involve the force in relief programmes.

PM Imran, in a meeting with his Special Assistant for Youth Affairs Usman Dar, decided to operationalise Corona Tiger Force in Sindh.

Dar, while officially announcing the decision in a press conference, said that from tomorrow Governor Imran Ismail will lead 154,000 volunteers of Corona Relief Tiger Force in Sindh.

Dar also paid tribute to volunteers of the force for performing their duties in these testing times and said that in the lockdown, it was the responsibility of the Tiger

Force to deliver rations from door to door.

Talking about post-lockdown role of Tiger Force, Dar rejected the impression that Tiger Force will not have any respon-

sibilities after the lockdown and said that the force has played an important role against hoarders and in the distribution of relief cash. Government will further in-

crease responsibilities of the volunteer force after Eidul Fitr, he added. While criticising the Sindh government and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari, Dar said “Bilawal urges PM Imran get united in National Assembly (NA) and on the other hand shows double standards in Sindh�.

Earlier, Sindh government announced not to include the Tiger Force in the relief campaign in the province.

Sindh Energy Minister Imtiaz Shaikh said that the distribution of ration bags has nothing to do with politics. “No worker of any political party, including the PPP will be part of this relief operation,� he said.

Responding to this, Dar said that it was unfortunate that the Sindh government had refused to use services of 154,000 volunteers registered in the Tiger Force in the province only because the force had been created at the prime minister’s initiative.

ensure implementation of UN Security Council and OIC’s resolutions in Occupied Kashmir,� the IPHRC in a press release. “OIC strongly condemns the new domicile law in occupied Kashmir.�

The commission added that India was taking such illegal steps at a time when the world was battling the coronavirus pandemic. “India seeks to alter Muslim-majority demographic structure in Occupied Kashmir,� the commission stated. “The Kashmiri people have strongly condemned this illegal move in the past too,� the OIC further observed.

Separately, taking to Twitter, Foreign Office (FO) Spokesperson Aisha Farooqui said that Pakistan welcomes the statement.

The statement further notes that since 5 Aug 2019, India,despite widespread int’l condemnation from @UN, @OIC_OCI & other human rights bodies, continues to pursue systematic persecution of Kashmiri Muslims through vicious political, economic & communication blockade in IoJ&K. 2/2 — Spokesperson đ&#x;‡ľđ&#x;‡° MoFA (@ForeignOfficePk) May 20, 2020

PM orders probe against institutions for taking public's complaints lightly ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has ordered an investigation into negligence committed by Pakistani institutions in resolving people’s complaints registered on the citizens portal. According to the PM office, it has been decided to reopen as many as 1,06,000 complaints as a contradiction found in the respective institutions’ statements. The complaints resolved from January 1 to April 30 will be reopened phase-wise. According to the PM Office, the respective institutions misreported regarding resolving the people’s complaints and the citizens were not satisfied with the solution presented by the institutions. The solution to the complaints will be ensured after the reopening of their complaints. According to the PM office 17, 661 complaints will be opened from Punjab, 3,256 from Sindh. In the same way 5, 346 complaints will be opened in KP, 12, 340 from the federal government while 482 complains from Balochistan. APP

Court summons Nawaz's cousin over unpaid loan LAHORE: A banking court in Lahore on Wednesday directed the cousins of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to appear in person in a case against them for allegedly defaulting on bank loans. The court instructed Javed Shafi, Tariq Shafi, Zahid Shafi and Shahid Shafi to show up on June 6. A counsel representing different banks that instituted the case against the accused persons for allegedly defaulting on loans stated before the judge that Ittifaq and Kashmir sugar mills obtained loans worth Rs700 million from his clients. It was submitted that the former premier’s cousins were served multiple notices by the banks to pay back the loan but to no avail. The court, therefore, was requested to order action against them as per relevant laws. StAff RePoRt

Thursday, 21 May, 2020

06 COMMENT

The worst is yet to come

Pak—Afghan peace and prosperity Predicated on friendly ties

The rush to reopen may harm the economy more than it helps

T

WO horrible attacks on May 12, the one inside the maternity ward of a Kabul hospital and the other a suicide bombing on a funeral gathering in Nangarhar province dealt US President Donald Trump’s push for Afghan peace a fresh blow. The attacks however galvanised Afghan politicians who forced President Ghani and former Chief executive Abdullah Abdullah to reach a power-sharing deal, something that the USA had tried for months but failed to achieve. The understanding has dispelled the fears of yet another conflict in Afghanistan.

With the Trump Administration soon to get bogged down in the presidential campaign the quartet comprising China, Russia, Pakistan and Iran has entered the stage to help broker peace in war-torn Afghanistan. Three of the countries share borders with Afghanistan while Russia has a centuries-old history of interaction with Kabul. All the four countries have suffered from terrorism to various degrees and are determined to root it out. The Afghan imbroglio will however test their combined diplomatic skills to the maximum. The biggest problem would be to take a highly divided Afghan administration along. While a power sharing deal is already in place in Kabul, there is no guarantee of the entrenched policy disagreements and mutual mistrust not bursting out with force. helping to settle differences between the Afghan administration and Taliban will pose another crucial challenge.

The lawlessness in Afghanistan has helped a number of terrorist groups set up safe havens in the country and use its soil as a spring board to launch attacks inside neighbouring countries. The persisting differences between Pakistan and Afghanistan facilitate the movement of groups like the IS, the TTP, the Jamaat-ulAhrar and the banned Baloch outfits from one side of the Durand Line to another. KP’s police chief told media the other day that militants trained in Afghanistan are reorganising in Swat. Pakistan will remain insecure in the absence of an understanding with Afghanistan that leads to joint operations against all terrorist groups.

Pakistan has done well to waive restrictions on Afghan exports. enhanced trade between the two countries is the need of the time, all the more so during the coronavirus crisis. What is more, it is a way to create mutual dependencies that would encourage the joint struggle against terrorism.

sAhil YAr mUhAmmAd

T

he novel corona virus and the disease it causes, covid-19, has affected the world on such a scale that it is not an exaggeration to say it has affected the social chains of people at the grass root level. Due to risk of infection, people are staying at home, governments are fearing a further increase in infection cases. They have imposed lockdowns which have ravaged the world economy, leading to a recession that has easily surpassed that of the 2008 financial crisis.

The curve has begun to flatten and governments such as that of Italy, the USA and others are relaxing some restrictions to allow the economy to gasp for a breath of fresh air. The Pakistani government is also contemplating an ease in some restrictions which can see some businesses carrying out their activities although by following some Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). however, it is that reduction in the alertness level of the governments which will prove most detrimental to them. The flattening of the curve, or a reduction in the transmission of the virus, does not mean that it has begun to disappear or a cause for celebration, but it is at such a critical time that a government must not lower its guard and observe vigilance to not lose its gains.

The second wave of any epidemic or pandemic is in most cases more deadly than the first, if one looks at the Spanish Flu, the Black Death, h1N1 Flu, ebola, and SARS. The second wave of the Spanish Flu in 1918 caused significantly more deaths than the first one, the reason for the second wave being a relaxation in the restrictions.

The second wave of the Black Death in the 1500s was far nastier than the first wave. The second wave of ebola was due to end but the death of an 11month-old girl in the Democratic Republic of Congo and a 26-year-old electrician said otherwise. The h1N1 Flu, which the Centre for Disease control (CDC) estimates took the lives of between 151,700 and 575,400 people, had a second wave more hellish than the first. While it is not by any means guaranteed that a second wave will happen but looking back at previous pandemics, a second wave is most likely.

It is the mistake of lowering their guard which will come back to haunt the governments relaxing the lockdowns in their territory, although the reasons for relaxing them are quite understandable, as they have frozen economic activity and put the livelihoods of countless people at risk, so a relaxation will provide them a breath of fresh air.

It is unfortunate that the relaxation will also provide the pandemic with fresh air which will come at the ignorant population with an even greater force.

The devastation which is yet to come will not be a love tap but a heavy blow to the gut which will not

Accountability in a pandemic While the world fights for its life, the government guns for the opposition

A

T one level, it does not make sense. Faced with perhaps the greatest challenge of the country’s existence, in the shape of the covid-19 pandemic, the PTI does not stop following its basic instincts by going after the opposition. It is going after PML(N) President Shehbaz Sharif, with Information Minister Shibli Faraz saying that the Cabinet was considering placing his name on the exit Control List. This was a follow-up to the earlier claim by Accountability SAPM Shehzad Akbar of discovery of Mr Sharif’s corruption and transfer of money abroad. Mr Faraz chose this juncture to spout a little homily on corruption, as if anyone was paying attention in this time when attention is riveted on the pandemic. Is the government trying to distract attention from its inadequacies in handling the crisis to its favourite theme, the corruption of the past?

That pattern would perhaps be clearer in Sindh, where PTI Sindh Assembly parliamentary leader Shamim hussain Naqvi has called for emergency to be imposed in the provinces. This destabilization of the PPP Sindh government can only be explained by the party’s frustration at the impression that it has done a better job of dealing with the pandemic than either of the PTI’s two provincial governments, or indeed of its federal government. As if unable to engage in healthy competition, the PTI has without let-up engaged in sniping at the Sindh government, and Prime Minister Imran Khan has himself tried to denigrate the efforts of Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, instead of encouraging or praising them. The recent demand that the federal government should take over provincial government hospitals seems rooted more in spite than because they are being badly managed.

The PTI may have come to power on an anticorruption platform, and a stance of confrontation with the opposition, but it should realize that this is not the time to be vengeful, or to try and suppress opponents. The government has shown by its latest actions that it has not abated a jot or tittle of its pre-pandemic attitude and it still believes that it can ask for votes at the hustings based on how much it persecutes its opponents.

Science and Fiction around COVID-19 Conspiracy theories have all been disproved AsmAt UllAh GondAl

T

he covid-19 outbreak unleashed prodigious public discourse about its origin and transmission. Several themes of discussion surfaced during this period since its outbreak.

Many people subscribed to a religious interpretation and believed it was divine rage at humanity for its unforgivable sins. Others labeled it as a manmade virus, used by global powers to further their hegemony.

For example, initially it was believed by many that it was a sagacious plan by the USA to reclaim its dying hegemony. The USA, allegedly, prepared the virus in laboratory and spread it to China to halt its economic growth; which is about to become world biggest economic power within a couple of years. Surprisingly, the Chinese Foreign Office also claimed that US soldiers served as a cause of the covid-19 outbreak. however, the indifferent and swift spread of the covid-19 pandemic across the globe neutralized these allegations.

A few weeks later, the USA brought a counter claim and held China responsible for the outbreak with the malicious intent of dragging down her economic growth. US President Donald Trump kept on calling it a Chinese virus in number of his press briefings. Two Chinese laboratories in Wuhan have come under the spotlight in this regard.

At a societal level in Pakistan there are different degrees and shades of conspiracy theorists. Many people believed that covid-19 is part of a Zionist agenda— to create the virus, in the first place, and then make vaccine to enrich them. Startlingly, a great deal of people turned a blind eye and deaf ears to the coronavirus pandemic and perceived it as just a mirage. In short, there are as many conspiracy theories as one can imagine. Although, time unfolds falsity

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

leave a bruise or two but a gaping wound. The econ- vitalize the economy. What good will revitalizing the omy will suffer more, people will suffer even more economy do if there are no people to do it for?

Instead of listening to rubbish, the governments and the government best contemplate the option of must listen to the voice of experts, it will do much slitting its own throat if this keeps up.

The relaxation from the government of Pakistan good. The voice of doctors and professionals have has done less to allay the fears of experts. The popula- started to go hoarse from shouting too much about tion of Pakistan is not as averse to danger as those of the dangers of relaxing the lockdown when the curve many other countries, perhaps because of the recent has just started to straighten, or in Pakistan’s rare case troubled times as well as the illiteracy. It is evident which has decided to relax the lockdown despite the from the utter ignorance of the people who do not obey corona curve steadily rising.

Almost all health exinstructions to limit perts have expressed chances of transmission, dread on what is an algoing to shopping malls most certain second wave. in such numbers that it is The governments must listen and Dr. Ian Lipkin of the Cohard to find a place to put your foot down. The lack believe in the voices of reason from lumbia University’s Center for Infection and of implementation of the professionals who know what it Immunity says, “We’re SOPs by traders and busirisking a backslide that nesses does not do much is they are doing and not to the will be intolerable”. in helping the cause, alOlivier Schwartz, though they too are justivoices of buffoons like Donald head of the virus unit at fied in their actions as most shops are only big Trump who believe the coronavirus France’s Pasteur Institute said, “There will be a enough to accommodate is no more dangerous than a flu. second wave, but the only a few people at a problem is to which extime. It is the responsibilThe ultimate goal of every tent. Is it a small wave or ity of the citizens to obey the government but it is government must be to make sure a big wave? It’s too early to say”, and by the time it the responsibility of the the damage to life as well as the is just right to say, it will government to create a be too late to react. suitable environment for economy is as low as possible.

Josh Michaud, the asits citizens. sociate director of global The government Relaxing restrictions will help in health policy with the fails to understand that the shortest term but will have Kaiser Family Foundathe suffering of the unin Washington said, derprivileged sections of devastating consequences over the tion “If we relax these measthe population can be ures without having the abated through ecolonger term because the health proper health safeguards nomic packages for their in place, we can expect households but once the experts and other professionals more cases, and unfortupeople are infected, it mean it in the truest sense when nately, more deaths.” takes a while for them to The governments recover and they may in they say, “The worst is yet to come” must listen and believe in the most likely of cases the voices of reason from infect others as well and the professionals who with Pakistan’s health know what it is they are system as it is, the situation will be in simple words, ‘not good’. however, if doing and not to the voices of buffoons like Donald the safety of the people is the government’s top pri- Trump who believe the coronavirus is no more danority as it should be, then introduce further relief gerous than a flu. The ultimate goal of every governpackages for the most vulnerable sectors of the pop- ment must be to make sure the damage to life as well ulation, which will do much good to them and the as the economy is as low as possible. Relaxing restrictions will help in the shortest term but will have devcountry in the long run.

Yes, steps to provide relief to the population will astating consequences over the longer term because affect the economy, but what the government must the health experts and other professionals mean it in understand is that the economy no matter how much the truest sense when they say, “The worst is yet to it goes into recession can be put on track. It will take come”. time to recover but it will recover nonetheless, as long Sahil Yar Muhammad is a frreelance columnist as there is a desire, a passion, a stubborn mind to re-

I

Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9

I

of conspiracy theories and they disappear in oblivion, yet they continue unabated with mutations and take new forms and shades.

On the contrary, science looks upon pandemics entirely from a different prism. Scientific theory goes through a long process of experiments before establishing a claim. Scientific theories are made after an empirical process. In the light of science, although the exact origin of viruses is uncertain, yet they have been part of nature since living cells first evolved.

The universe is in a continuous process of creating viruses in multiple numbers since its beginning, and out of which many survive through the process of evolution. The origin of covid-19 is unraveled so far, but the majority of scientists are clear about the latter’s origin as a process of nature.

Scientists are unanimous in rejecting the claim that covid-19 is a laboratory-engineered virus. For example, US microbiologist Kristian Andersen along with his team refuted such claims and said that the genetic data shows no signs of previously existing viruses. Moreover, if we hopscotch through history, it is a crystal clear fact that pandemics have ravaged humanity at intermittent periods. Take, for example plague— the Black Death— which caused approximately 75-200 million deaths. Likewise, Spanish flu played havoc with human lives and caused 17 to 50 million deaths, according to an estimate. hence, the history of pandemics categorically refutes infantile claim of covid-19 being a man-made virus.

Moreover, it is beyond the realm of doubt that for many decades human beings have been at war with the planet and, now planet is fighting back. The balance of nature theory holds that natural process remains in a state of equilibrium. When disequilibrium occurs, nature recaptures its original design by itself.

Industrialization, urbanization and over-population have caused disequilibrium in the process of nature.

Mankind has made environment unfriendly not just

Islamabad – Ph: 051-2204545

I

Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk

I

for himself, but also for other species— aquatic and subsoil. Global warming, famines, droughts, diseases and natural disasters of all kinds are the tools of nature to avenge and reclaim its original form. human wit and sagacity subscribes to scientific wisdom and refutes unscientific claims eventually. In the light of this discussion wisdom demands that we should acknowledge that covid-19 is a reality and unsubscribe to conspiracy theories. We must nourish wisdom and starve stupidity & ignorance to save our lives from the scourge of this pandemic. There is no vaccine for covid-19 over the horizon. The World health Organization has warned about a prolonged existence of covid-19 like AIDS. In this given situation people must learn to live with this pandemic until its vaccine is invented.

Moreover, as a responsible citizenry the rules ought to be obeyed to keep covid-19 at bay. People should adhere to principles of social distancing and abandon flouting them. There is no other way around so far than adopting precautionary measures as a lifestyle to constrict the coronavirus. Since the WhO’s clear message that we have to live with coronavirus; governments across the world have realized that a lockdown is not a workable solution to combat this pandemic.

Maintaining lockdowns for a long period at the cost of many daily wage earners is not a final solution to the current pandemic crisis. Freezing economic activities may mitigate viral transmission for a particular time, but its spillover effects will reduce many to destitution with poverty and food shortage. If stupidity prevails it will not only endanger the lives of a large number of people by chain infections, but also sweep Pakistan into vortex of poverty & economic retrogression.

Asmat Ullah Gondal can be reached at asmatgondal88@gmail.com and tweets @asmatgondal

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Thursday, 21 May, 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

Escalation of E-Smoking and Vaping

The coronavirus economics Policies must be local, if the pandemic’s effects are to be mitigated ernment might also issue state bonds or Shariah uals ride the tide with the help of the provincial sovereign bonds to reduce the money supply. If and the national government. In a beneficial necessary, they can inject the money generated strategy, the tax rates would also differ even from the bonds back into the market. Over $5.4 within a single province, depending on how hard N average, a Pakistani makes around billion worth of funds have been set aside to di- that particular area has been hit.

Rs 21,000 a month. This minute rectly help the villages fight the virus.

With the increased community spread of the amount is viable to cause hardships Pakistan has also responded rapidly to pre- virus going on in densely populated areas, espefor households across Pakistan, even vent its economic situation worsening. On 10th cially in major cities, an imminent and strict without economic fallout. The coron- April, the State lockdown is necesavirus pandemic has caused an already fragile Bank started offersary. But this does system to take a nosedive. The virus is not just ing not require a lockrefinancing bound to kill thousands and lay off millions of schemes to busidown in low-density Pakistan will come out of this workers; the true aftershocks of this tremor are nesses throughout areas such as vilstill immeasurable at such an early stage. But we Pakistan. As the lages and other rural crisis stronger than ever if the can take a look at nations across the world and press release states, areas around the analyze their economic response to help the cit- “The mark-up on That is why important actions can be taken on country. izens of their country. This will allow us to come the loans under this this decision should up with a strategy with the highest probability scheme will be up time. These policy changes over a be given to the local of success. One thing to note is that there is no to 5%.” This can be governments. The short period of time will allow the perfect strategy; each strategy will involve some very beneficial to workers in these sacrifice, but some strategies are certainly better those who can afareas are usually not market watchers to collect data on than others. The best strategy will involve lower ford to take out interacting with interest rates, well-tailored fiscal policies on the loans but it is still a each other as much how economic behaviour is local level, and some introspection. as in crowded bazars risky endeavour as influenced. This can be very First, we can take a look at the USA, which the chances of busiand factories within has responded with a huge stimulus package to nesses going banka city. The harvest effective in future and really help keep the economy running and maintain its com- rupt are already season is on the petitive edge against China. The USA has al- very high. On horizon and it is imthe government clamp down on ready sent out $1,200 stimulus cheques to every March 17, the SBP perative that agriculprice instability or the bottlenecks tural workers be citizen over the age of 16. Its Central Bank, also reduced the known as the Federal Reserve Bank, has taken ‘policy rate’ to 12.5 allowed to work in within the country that have been on an ambitious strategy to input money into the percent from 13.25 their fields or graze market. It has also temporarily reduced the Fed- percent previously. their cattle if they hindering the economy for decades eral Funds rate to0. The Federal Funds Rate is Then it reduced it to must. While the the interest rate at which banks can take loans 9 percent on April urban economy is from other banks. The low rate means banks will 16. According to bound to suffer due not hesitate to take out loans from other banks bloomberg, SBP to business closures, since it would not cost them much in interest, has slashed rates the most so far compared to the rural economy should be allowed to flourish, thus stimulating the market. any other country in the world. One good thing as this can also help tackle the various food Since the coronavirus cases in the USA to note is that there is a lot of room to maneuver, shortages around the country. differ state to state, there is no one policy fit but the 9 percent is still pretty high to generate The State Bank should pursue a quantitative for all the 50 states. That is why a chunk of the some serious economic activity, as most banks easing policy by injecting money into the econfiscal policy has been left for the local and would not be willing to borrow at such a high omy. This can be achieved by buying securities state governments to implement and execute, rate. It is expected that this rate will continue to from the open market and it would help ease the with the help of the federal government. These decline as the crisis continues. This should be spillover effects caused by different collapsing local fiscal policies would include tax benefits done cautiously and slowly, preferably about 25 sectors. Now, this could cause inflation if the for small businesses, and favorable business to 50 basis points at a time to hinder a panic in government decides to print money to achieve loans, amid other various policies. The state of the market. Other measures were also taken such this. Controlled inflation for a short term would Pennsylvania, for example, is trying to set as doubling the period for rescheduling loans devalue the currency eventually. But that is what aside roughly $10 and concessional a fiat currency is for. It is a tool that allows a million worth of loans to hospitals in country to absorb economic shocks and stimufunds to help boost late the economy in the short run. Unfortunately, need. local volunteer orWe must realize this tool has been needlessly used in the past by ganizations in Since the coronavirus cases in the that Pakistan is a corrupt leaders to stimulate the economy just to fighting the virus. very diverse coun- win voters’ support. The coronavirus situation USA differ state to state, there is One country try, even in terms of requires its use, but it should be utilized cauthat can be deemed its economic activ- tiously and only where it is needed. no one policy fit for all the 50 similar to Pakistan No doubt, Pakistan will come out of this criity. The industrial outside of the subeconomy of Sialkot sis stronger than ever if the important actions states.

That is why a chunk of the continent is Indoneis not the same as can be taken on time. These policy changes over sia with its massive the agricultural a short period of time will allow the market fiscal policy has been left for the 268-million majoreconomy of south- watchers to collect data on how economic belocal and state governments to ity Muslim populaern Punjab. The haviour is influenced. This can be very effective tion. The World population distribu- in future and really help the government clamp implement and execute, with the Bank has projected tion also varies down on price instability or the bottlenecks that Indonesia’s greatly. So, the fis- within the country that have been hindering the help of the federal government. economic growth cal policies that are economy for decades. Alarm bells should be will slow down to being implemented going off in heads of policymakers, and even op2.1 percent and milthroughout Pakistan portunistic businessmen, as the world tries to dilions could slip into must be imple- versify its manufacturing capacity and moves poverty as the country tries to fight the virus. mented at the local district level rather than at a away from China as a sole producer. Could the The Government of Indonesia has cut corporate national level. If an area is suffering from a rapid next destination be Pakistan? taxes to 22 percent from the previous 25. The increase in coronavirus cases, then its local govstate budget deficit has also been eased to allow ernment should implement a policy that will Muhammad Armaghan Faisal can be the states to borrow more if necessary. The gov- help the local businesses, hospitals, and individ- reached at 4rmaghan@gmail.com

mUhAmmAd ArmAGhAn FAisAl

O

IN Pakistan smoking is one of the leading causes of avoidable death.

According to World health Organization (WhO) use of tobacco is currently responsible for the death of one in ten grown-ups’ world widely. If this continues death rate will be doubled and more lives will impulsively develop tobacco related diseases that lead to long-lasting disabilities. Individuals who smoke cigarettes are fifteen times more expose to death due to lung cancer.

In Pakistan, it is estimated that the occurrence of smoking tobacco is 36% for males and 9% for females. Among young adults especially the university students in Pakistan, the occurrence of smoking is 15% with the majority being male smokers. Approximately 1,500 people especially children start smoking every day. This represents a huge impact not only in terms of economic costs but it is slowly depriving the country of a healthy workforce and increasing the burden of disease in the already overloaded health sector. According to the health expert, the use of e-cigarette among now a days is common in youth and it is a significant public health concern and steps must be taken by parents, educators and especially officials to discourage the use of e-cigarettes. e-cigarettes are known by many different names. They are sometimes called e-cigs, e-hookahs, mods, vape pens, vapes, tank systems, and electronic nicotine delivery systems.

The reason young people start to smoke is complex. Possibly the most flexible causes are social and environmental in nature, including exposure to smoking by parents, siblings, friends, and members of the general public. I hope government and responsible officials will take certain measures to counter this harmful situation.

MUjAhid QAYYUM islamabad

Do not forget the poor this Eid INDeeD one of the greatest acts of kindness is giving the charity for the poor ones. In Islam, we can read a number of incidents which show the importance of charity. helping others is a trait that is encouraged by our religion. Moreover, our Beloved Prophet hazrat Muhammad (PBUh) commanded Muslims to help those in need and distress. eid is the right time to revive your bonds and connections with those people who don’t have enough resources to celebrate this event with clothes as good as yours maybe. They are deprived of true happiness and enjoyment of most awaited Islamic festival. As the eid ul-Fitr nears, I hope everyone is done with their eid shopping but the rich community should not forget that souls who are living in slums, having no roof to live under, no proper and healthy food to eat, no clothes to dress up and having nothing to celebrate eid. every year God gives us a golden chance to create harmony and to cover the difference between upper and lower classes. But we miss the chance just for our own happiness. We waste money on the Chaand Raat and we get out in bazaars for fun and waste a lot of money. Alas! We have forgotten the core values of Islam and true meaning of this religious accession. Although, there are several ways to help our poor sisters and brothers who are not gifted enough by God. One of the foremost sources is our Zakaat and Fitrana. If we want to enjoy the real meaning of peace and inner satisfaction, just donate some amount of money even if you have it. It doesn’t matter how much you donate. This is an opportunity to gain Allah’s appreciation.

SAirA jAn isalambad

The night of giving A night better than a thousand months. There is no night better than this night, no night that is more virtuous.

If it happens to be Laylatul Qadr, In’sha’Allah you will receive the reward of worship the amount for thousand months.

Aisha reported: I asked: “O Messenger of Allah! If I realize Lailat-ulQadr (Night of Decree), what should I supplicate in it?” he replied, “You should supplicate: Allahumma innaka ‘afuwwun, tuhibbul-‘afwa, fa’fu ‘anni (O Allah, You are Most Forgiving, and You love forgiveness; so forgive me).” In the Qur’an, it is said that “the night of al-Qadr is better than a thousand months” (Qur’an 97:3), and so for many these nights are the greatest opportunity for a Muslim to exercise their faith through good acts to benefit from this night’s endless rewards. “The Night of Decree is better than a thousand months. “-[97:3]Alhamdulillah for everything- We are witnessing another last ten blessed days of Ramadan Alhamdulillah which are for the protection from the hell fire. Among these 10 days there is Lailla Tul Qadar as well. Read following dua frequently in these 10 day: Istighfar (Astagfirullah) is the gateway of relief and happiness.

Whenever you are in distress start reciting it and InshaAllah , Allah swt will take you out of your anxiety and will put you in a peaceful situation and will give you happiness. Allah swt loves that his slaves repent and seek forgiveness. One of the 99 Names of Allah is Al-Ghaffaar (‫– )ُراَّفَغْلا‬ The Great Forgiver The Forgiver, the One who forgives the sins of his slaves time and time again. There are numerous verses in the Quran about the importance of asking for forgiveness from Allah swt.

Prophet Muhammad (‫ )ﷺ‬said. “By Allah! I ask for forgiveness from Allah and turn to him in repentance more than seventy times a day.”

[Sahih al-Bukhari 6307] If we make a habit of saying istighfar , inshallah our every step will go towards success in this world and hereafter. Brothers and Sisters , please do not delay in asking for forgiveness from Allah swt as it is a human nature to do mistakes. Specially in this Ramadan, let’s get ourselves forgiven.

MAleehA ShoAib islamabad

Child Labour WANTeD to draw the attention of society or highlight very important issue which is about child labour. We know that child is a bright future of our country. Children have a age of playing, studying and many more. If we put them doing to do work, they will not be literate. Then the upcoming young labour generation will unable to literate their younger. Some people try to put them in work. In my opinion child labour should not be exist.

Because they are meant to be learn not to be earn. I hope the concerned rs and take prompt action to eradicate this evil from our society.

FidAk ZAhrA Attock

Thursday, 21 May, 2020

08 WORLD VIEW

Afghan power sharing deal breaks Kabul’s political impasse WORKING TOGETHER THEY CAN WITHSTAND INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL CONFLICTS. BUT A PEACEFUL AFGHANISTAN IS A TALL MOUNTAIN. LET US HOPE THIS AGREEMENT IS NOT A FALSE CREST

AtlAntic council

W

James B Cunningham, shuJa nawaz & Javid ahmad

ITH the tentative peace deal under fire, continuing havoc wreaked by the COVID-19 pandemic, and a looming U.S. troop withdrawal, the breakthrough in the Afghan government’s political deadlock which emerged on May 15 will undoubtedly be welcomed by many in Afghanistan and the international community. Key provisions in the agreement— which sought to end a political stalemate after both President Ashraf Ghani and former chief executive Dr. Abdullah Abdullah claimed victory in a September presidential election—include power sharing structures designed to reflect the interests of both Ghani and Abdullah, as well as pulling voices from many segments of Afghan society directly into the political fray and the reconciliation process.

As the government continues to work through political differences and unite behind the preservation of Afghanistan’s republican institutions, it remains yet to be seen how rivals to its democratic consolidation, chiefly the Taliban, will react to the newfound strength and resolve of a unified Afghan government.

Experts from the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center analyze the breakthrough political agreement, the role of the United States in the peace process, and the ramifications of a united front against the Taliban: Ambassador James B. Cunningham, nonresident senior fellow at the South Asia Center: “As U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, I was intimately involved in the talks on resolving the outcome of the 2014 elections and on the agreement creating the National Unity Government. I know how difficult the discussions over the past several months among President Ghani, Dr. Abdullah, and Afghanistan’s political and civil classes have been. Now that President Ghani and Dr. Abdullah have reached an agreement on the way ahead, they are to be commended for their statesmanship in putting the national interest ahead of their own, and on finding a solution which offers the prospect, if not the certainty, of building a national consensus at this most crucial of times for Afghanistan. Implementation will be fraught with difficulty, but all Afghans now have the opportunity, indeed the responsibility, to unite in determining the future their country and in testing whether a peace agreement

with the Taliban, on terms that most Afghans can accept, is possible. It’s not at all clear that it is. But if the Taliban are to conclude that they cannot simply prevaricate, continue the violence, and bide their time until the United States leaves, the Trump administration will have to make clear that there is now an Afghan address for negotiations, and that the United States will condition its withdrawal of forces on the progress in, and conclusion of, those negotiations.”

Shuja Nawaz, distinguished fellow at the South Asia Center: “The agreement between Dr. Abdullah Abdullah and President Ashraf Ghani represents the basic and enduring truth of Afghanistan: Afghans have the best solutions for their problems.

Working together they can withstand internal and external conflicts. But a peaceful Afghanistan is a tall mountain. Let us hope this agreement is not a false crest. They key role for the United States must be to ensure sustained economic aid for Afghanistan and its emerging national government and to assist it in working with all its neighbors, especially Iran and Pakistan, to achieve a practicable agreement with the Taliban. Both would benefit from a peaceful Afghanistan. We must try to remove the blind spot that the United States has on Iran. The regional aspect is critical to ensuring peace and stability in this war-torn country.”

Javid Ahmad, nonresident senior fellow at the South Asia Center: “The signing of Ghani-Abdullah political agreement that ended the months-long political impasse between the two sides set a good example in political compromise in Afghanistan. The agreement demonstrated that Afghan leaders are capable of showing extreme prag-

Intimidated by illness?

Let God’s light lead you.

SOMETIMES IT CAN SEEM AS IF THERE’S NO OPTION BUT TO LET ILLNESS RUN ITS COURSE. BUT AS A WOMAN FOUND WHEN EXPERIENCING SYMPTOMS OF THE FLU, PROTESTING THE NOTION OF SICKNESS AS INEVITABLE AND OPENING OUR THOUGHTS TO DIVINE INSPIRATION AND LIGHT PAVE THE WAY FOR HEALING christiAn science Monitor

I

alexis deaCon

was feeling ill with flu symptoms and could hardly wait to get home so I could lie down. As I headed home I decided to pray, to turn to God. That is something I’ve found helpful and healing when I’m afraid, or I’m not feeling well, or I need guidance.

My prayer didn’t start out very well. I began by telling God I felt so sick that I wasn’t going to be able to come up with anything very inspired. In other words, that my prayer might be pretty lame.

I was surprised when I heard this message in my thought: “Why don’t you stop repeating to yourself how bad you feel?”

That sounded like something I could do, so I stopped telling myself – and God – all about the problem. By the time I got home 15 minutes later, I was completely healed. I didn’t go to bed until nighttime, because I didn’t need to. I was completely free.

This healing reminded me of something Mary Baker Eddy, the discoverer of Christian Science, says in her main book, “Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures”: “All disease is the result of education, and disease can carry its ill-effects no farther than mortal mind maps out the way” (p. 176).

“Mortal mind” is another name for the carnal mind, which Paul in the Bible calls “enmity against God” (Romans 8:7). It’s the counterfeit of the one true Mind, God. After I stopped focusing on how bad I felt, I was able to see that the carnal mind had no legitimate power to map out the way of sickness. Instead I could choose to refuse to go along with it, to instead let the divine Mind, which is entirely good, guide my thoughts. In my case it involved not rehashing the problem.

Underlying my refusal to agree with sickness as the inevitable course of things was the conviction that God’s love for me – and for all

of us – includes the right to be free, to be healthy.

In the book of Genesis in the Bible, it says that God made everyone in His image (see 1:26, 27).

As God’s children, or spiritual expression, we reflect the strength and power of the Divine. We are the opposite of vulnerable.

This spiritual reality means we don’t have to mentally go along with sickness, but instead can claim our God-bestowed freedom. This isn’t done through willpower but through leaning on God’s presence and power.

Mrs. Eddy was a devoted follower of Jesus. Jesus never accepted sickness as having validity or power. It didn’t matter what the situation was, whether a man with a withered hand, a man who was paralyzed, or a woman who had a fever. In each instance Jesus protested against mortal mind’s unjust sentences of illness and injury and showed that God’s healing power could be tangibly felt. As a result, the sufferers were healed.

The following passage from Science and Health describes the way Jesus healed: “It is neither Science nor Truth which acts through blind belief, nor is it the human understanding of the divine healing Principle as manifested in Jesus, whose humble prayers were deep and conscientious protests of Truth, – of man’s likeness to God and of man’s unity with Truth and Love” (p. 12).

Even though I am certainly not healing to the degree that Jesus did, I do take his teachings to heart and try to follow him. We all can do this!

Jesus promised that if we believe in him we will do the same works he did (see John 14:12). We can expect to experience more healing as we honestly put his teachings into practice.

Our own “deep and conscientious protests of Truth” can take many different forms. Our prayers don’t have to be elaborate. But being willing to let the divine Mind inspire us, to replace dark thoughts of sickness with the light of Truth, can make a healing difference. Our prayerful protests on the side of God, good, defeat the darkness.

matism to make hard tradeoffs and compromises. It also emphasizes the fact the Afghans can manage to settle their disagreements among themselves without seeking external mediation—even though interventions from Turkey and Iran, plus lurking U.S. aid pressure, played a role in making the deal happen.

“Indeed, the deal is not perfect nor was it expected to be, but it is ‘good enough’ despite its flaws. However, unlike the 2014 U.S.-brokered agreement, the encouraging part this time is that because it is an entirely Afghan-negotiated deal, the Afghan leaders fully own it, whether it works or not.

“This is an inflection point for Afghanistan. As Afghans struggle with increased Taliban and militant violence, the government is faced with an acute economic challenge and a fiscal deficit amidst soaring poverty and unemployment rates as well as shrinking foreign assistance. For now, an immediate challenge for the Afghan government is to prepare for the November donors’ conference in Geneva, where Afghanistan partners are expected to pledge their continued development support to the country. Hence, the agreement comes at the right time and provides an important first step in a continuing exercise to bring the Afghan political class together to assume/share the growing burden of responsibility and better manage the country.

As a country, Afghanistan has moved on, but most of the country’s leadership has lagged behind. As Afghanistan navigate through this decisive period, it is about time Afghan leaders realize that simply holding inflated titles or occupying fancy villas and retaining expensive protocol is no longer tenable.”

Sahar Halaimzai, co-founder of the civil society organization Time4RealPeace: “Afghans who are still reeling from the horrific attacks last week, which targeted mothers, infants, and mourners, will welcome steps towards resolving the long-running political gridlock and uncertainty. Afghanistan today faces a resurgent Taliban, the spread of a deadly virus, and millions facing food shortages and hunger. While this desired political agreement brings much looked-for unity, vital in order to facilitate intra-Afghan negotiations, any resulting government needs to effectively govern and make meritbased appointments. This deal should not be about reaffirming titles, positions, and resources for the political elites. Instead, it should focus on building a genuine partnership that prioritizes, represents, and addresses the urgent needs of the Afghan people, who cannot afford to continue with the status quo.”

Ambassador James B. Cunningham joined the Atlantic Council in May 2015 as a Senior Fellow in the South Asia Center. He became a Nonresident Senior Fellow in May 2016. He served as ambassador to Afghanistan (August 2012 to December 2014), and as deputy ambassador (2011 – 2012).

Shuja Nawaz, a native of Pakistan, is currently a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center. Most recently, he was the Center’s first director.

Javid Ahmad is a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s South Asia Center and a nonresident fellow with the Modern War Institute at West Point, where he focuses on pressing security, violent extremism, socioeconomic and peace-related issues in South Asia, mainly Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Like India, Sri Lanka is using coronavirus to stigmatise Muslims

Al JAzeerA

T

omar suleiman

HE world is going through a period of unprecedented instability, distress and uncertainty. The novel coronavirus pandemic, and the threat posed by it to the socioeconomic fabric of nations, pushed many governments around the world into an existential crisis and forced them to switch to survival mode. Populist politicians in these countries, who failed to respond to this public health crisis swiftly and efficiently, resorted to scapegoating minority communities, especially Muslims, to justify their shortcomings.

This has put millions of people, who were subjected to discrimination, abuse and oppression even before the start of the pandemic, in a bind. In many countries around the world underprivileged Muslims are now facing not only a pandemic that is threatening their lives and livelihoods, but also a spike in institutionalised Islamophobia.

In India, since the emergence of COVID-19, members of the country's 200 million-strong Muslim community have repeatedly been accused of being "super spreaders" of coronavirus both by the media and the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

In late March, after a Muslim religious gathering in New Delhi allegedly led to a rise in the number of coronavirus cases in the city, a politician from the BJP dubbed the gathering "corona terrorism", and called for Muslims who attend mosques amid the pandemic to be "punished like terrorists".

As a result, "corona jihad" became a trending topic on social media and many Muslims, including volunteers distributing relief material, faced physical and verbal attacks. A BJP legislator from the state of Uttar Pradesh, meanwhile, called for a boycott of Muslim vendors, accusing them of "infecting vegetables with saliva".

The Indian media also contributed to

the stigmatisation of Muslims during the pandemic. As politicians continued their efforts to blame the rapid spread of the virus in the country on Muslims, pro-government media organisations ran shows and published reports that support this unfounded accusation. As a result, Muslims who had only a few months ago survived a pogrom in New Delhi found themselves with an even bigger target on their backs. India's government treated the coronavirus pandemic as an opportunity to double down on its existing Islamophobic policies. Since the start of this public health emergency, it not only used Muslims as a scapegoat to divert attention from the shortcomings of its coronavirus response, but also managed to deepen the Hindu majority's existing prejudices about this community.

In neighbouring Sri Lanka, the government chose to use the pandemic as an excuse to stigmatise Muslims and pander to Islamophobia.

Sri Lanka is an island nation with a vibrant multireligious and multi-ethnic heritage. But Islamophobic propaganda persistently spread by the media and politicians over the years, coupled with attacks by radical Muslim groups in Sri Lanka and the mainstreaming of Islamophobia across the world, led to the marginalisation of Muslims in the country.

Muslims faced waves of violence at the hands of Buddhist nationalists. The government was accused of not doing enough to protect this minority community and bring those who attack them to justice.

So, unsurprisingly, when COVID-19 reached Sri Lanka, some prominent media organisations and nationalists who are close to the current government were quick to blame Muslims, who form nearly 10 percent of the population, for the spread of the virus. Just like in India, Muslim religious practices were singled out as "super spreader events" and Sri Lankans who belong to the Buddhist majority were warned not to buy food items from Muslim vendors.

In April, the government made cremations compulsory for coronavirus victims, which goes against the Islamic tradition of burying the dead. The measure not only deprived Muslims of a basic religious right, but it contributed to the widespread perception that Muslim religious practices aid the spread of the virus.

Islam has at its heart the sanctity of life and honouring the dead is an extension of that sanctity. There are four duties that Muslims are obligated to perform

upon the passing away of a fellow Muslim; they are to wash the body, shroud it with clean sheets, perform the funeral prayer even if only with a few people, and provide a dignified burial.

When called on to take all the necessary measures to stop the spread of the virus, the majority of Muslim communities, in Sri Lanka and elsewhere, agreed to adjust their burial practices accordingly, especially in regards to the first two duties.

There is no scientific basis to the claim that burying bodies of victims contributes to the spread of the coronavirus.

Countries across the world, from Europe to Africa and North America, are burying coronavirus victims, according to the detailed guidelines issued by their governments, and without causing any risk to public health.

The Sri Lankan government's decision to make cremation mandatory for all victims of COVID-19 is thus not a public health measure but a blatant act of institutionalised Islamophobia. It speaks to the larger fears that amid the coronavirus pandemic the Indian model of disenfranchisement is being tested in Sri Lanka as well.

India and Sri Lanka are not the only countries in which Muslims face increased risks, abuse and discrimination due to the coronavirus crisis.

The suffering of Rohingya Muslims, who in 2017 faced a military offensive in Myanmar for which the government is facing genocide charges at the UN's top court, has also increased due to the pandemic. Today, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees are living in densely populated camps in neighbouring Bangladesh. A COVID-19 outbreak in the overcrowded camps is almost certain to come - and when it does, experts say, the damage could be severe. A Rohingya refugee in the camps already tested positive for the virus last week.

Governments are using the coronavirus pandemic to divert attention from the crimes they committed, and continue to commit, against Muslim minorities in their countries. Political leaders across the world are using racism, xenophobia and Islamophobia as potent tools for short-term gains during this pandemic.

The world must act immediately and decisively to hold these leaders and governments to account to ensure we do not let the rise of COVID-19 contribute to the rise of fascism.

Imam Omar Suleiman is an American Muslim scholar and theologically driven activist for human rights.

Thursday, 21 May, 2020

buSinESS 09

CORPORATE CORNER

PaKIStan wILL nOt SeeK ReLIeF On COMMeRCIaL LOanS' RePayMent, eCC tOLD FINANCE ADVISER SAYS PAKISTAN ‘HAS THE MEANS AND WILL TO HONOUR ITS COMMERCIAL COMMITMENTS’ ISLAMABAD

ISLAMABAD: Telenor Velocity, a digital startup accelerator by Telenor Pakistan, has introduced its EdTech innovation programme, forging strategic alliances with EdTech startups/scaleups, serving as a roadmap for making a rapid shift to online learning and skill development. PRESS RElEASE

ISLAMABAD: One million trainings have been imparted to youth in freelancing under the national level training program (DigiSkills.pk) launched by the Ministry of Information Technology & Telecommunication through Ignite National Technology Fund. On the direction of the IT ministry, IT Secretary Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui was briefed on the successful execution of the programme by DigiSkills Training Project Director Dr Zafar Alvi through video link. PRESS RElEASE

Jazz’s Matching Grants Programme contributes Rs20m to PM’s COVID-19 Relief Fund ISLAMABAD: Jazz has deposited a total of Rs20 million to the Prime Minister’s COVID-19 Relief Fund by matching every rupee donated by its customers.

This is just the first tranche of payments under the company’s Matching Grants Programme, which was launched last month to double all contributions made by subscribers and employees to the fund. “We are grateful to our customers who have showcased their openhandedness towards the cause since the announcement of the Matching Grants initiative.

Within the first three weeks, we have been able to collect PKR 10 million, which has been equally matched and deposited into the PM COVID-19 Relief Fund,” said Jazz CEO Aamir Ibrahim. PRESS RElEASE

UPaisa removes all transactions charges on mobile wallet accounts LAHORE: To upscale the pace of digital transactions and provide convenience, UPaisa has further facilitated its customers by completely removing the charges on all transactions using mobile wallet accounts. As the nation approaches Eid amid coronavirus crises, the move will prove extremely convenient for the users to transfer money safely from the comfort of their home. In response to the coronavirus pandemic in March and as per the directive of State Bank of Pakistan, charges on money transfer to other bank accounts from mobile wallets were also removed. Now with this move all types of money transfer transactions will be free from UPaisa wallet. PRESS RElEASE

KSBL appoints Mubashar Hameed as Rector BUSINESS DESK: The Board of Karachi School of Business and Leadership (KSBL) has appointed Mubashar Hameed as the rector. In addition to this role, Hameed will also serve as CEO of Karachi Education Initiative (KEI). The KEI is the sponsoring and fundraising entity of KSBL where sponsor directors represent some of the leading industrial and financial groups in Pakistan. Prior to joining KSBL, Hameed served as the Chief Digital Officer at Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency where he led a complete business transformation, including restructuring of the agency into a digital business. “KSBL has embarked on an ambitious journey to become the pre-eminent institution for business leadership in Pakistan and our purpose is to develop leaders who can make meaningful contributions to society, through consistently ethical decision-making, knowledge and humility,” said Mubashar Hameed. Hameed, a result-driven senior executive, carries 32 years of experience primarily in the USA.

a

STAFF REPORT

DvISER to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh stated unequivocally on Wednesday that Pakistan had no intention of seeking any kind of relief on the repayment of its commercial loans or borrowings.

"Pakistan has the means and will to honour its commercial commitments," the adviser said while chairing the meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC). The committee gave an in-principle approval to allow the Economic Affairs Division (EAD) to sign Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to avail the G-20 relief initiative. However, this would be subject to the cabinet's approval.

Pakistan is required to enter this MoU with all official bilateral creditors, including Paris Club creditors, to implement the debt relief initiative of G-20.

Meanwhile, the ECC approved various technical supplementary during the meeting, including Rs360.515 million for the repair and maintenance of Supreme Court of Pakistan buildings in Islamabad and various cities; Rs3.836 billion in favour of the Ministry of Housing and Works to execute development schemes in Sindh, and Rs291 million for the

COMMITTEE APPROVES RS360M FOR MAINTENANCE OF SUPREME COURT BUILDINGS; RS3.8BN TO EXECUTE DEVELOPMENT SCHEMES IN SINDH

payment of salary of the Pakistan Public Works Department's maintenance staff.

On the recommendations of the committee formed under the chairmanship of Adviser to PM on Institutional Reforms and Austerity Dr Ishrat Hussain to look into the issues of servicing of power sector loans and stock handling in a holistic manner, the ECC allowed allocation of Rs10 billion from the government's 'stimulus package', as a stopgap arrangement, for the payment of interest on the Pakistan Energy Sukuk-II for a period of six months.

The committee also approved the proposal of the Revenue Division for declaration of multi-model transit hub, Jia Bagga NLC Transit Port, as Customs clearance port under Section 9 of the Customs Act 1969.

In order to reduce the capacity charges of power generation companies through synthetic financing, the ECC approved the ToRs for negotiations with IPPs/Gencos as recommended by a committee constituted by the Cabinet Committee on Energy vide its decision dated April 2nd, 2020, under the chairmanship of the power minister.

The committee will submit its report in due course.

In order to manage and operate the Prime Minister’s COvID-19 Pandemic Relief Fund 2020, the ECC approved the constitution of a Policy Committee under the chairmanship of the prime minister.

MarkET DaIly

KSE-100 retreats as investors book profits KARACHI STAFF REPORT

Investors of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) witnessed a volatile session on Wednesday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index dropping over 350 points intraday amid profit booking.

Foreign investors remained net sellers on Tuesday, registering a net outflow of $2.94 million. According to an Arif Habib Ltd report, the market today saw profit booking across the board ahead of Eid holidays and the long weekend.

"Although international crude oil prices remained high overnight, local investors paid little heed to that, given the long gap from Friday till Thursday next, which can cause the underlying prices to move in any direction," the report stated. "Also, Moody's notification of considering Pakistani banks for rating downgrade caused a stir among local investors, resulting in the negative price performance of the banking sector."

The KSE-100 Index started the day on a positive note, gaining 65.60 points to touch its intraday high at 34,224.15. However, the index failed to maintain its flight and slipped 371.59 points to mark its intraday low at 33,786.96. It finally closed lower by 225.74 points at 33,932.81.

Among other indices, the KMI-30 Index plunged 549.42 points to end at 55,296.00 while the KSE All Share Index dropped 107.34 points, settling at 24,370.17. The advancers to decliners ratio stood at 114 to 183.

The overall market volumes shrunk from 247.63 million shares in the last session to 165.09 million shares. Average traded value followed suit, declining from $65.3 million to

$42.7 million (-35pc). Hum Network Limited (HUMNL -9.43pc), Hascol Petroleum Limited (HASCOL -1.99pc) and TRG Pakistan Limited (TRG -2.32pc) topped the volume chart, exchanging 11.72 million, 11.30 million and 9.50 million shares, respectively.

Sectors that drove the benchmark index south included oil & gas exploration (-73.81 points), fertilizer (-65.95 points) and banking (-42.87 points). Among the companies, Engro Corporation Limited (ENGRO -28.81 points), Fauji Fertilizer Company Limited (FFC -28.09 points) and Pak Petroleum Limited (PPL -27.77 points) dented the index the most.

The pharmaceutical sector lost 2.26pc in its cumulative market capitalization, with Searle Company Limited (SEARL -3.81pc), GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Limited (GSKCH -2.52pc), Ferozsons Laboratories Limited (FEROZ -7.50pc) and AGP Limited (AGP -4.49pc) closing in the red.

Meanwhile, Shell Pakistan Limited (SHEL -1.52pc) announced its financial performance for the first quarter of FY20. The company’s gross profit margin fell from 7pc to 1pc, whereas it registered a net loss of Rs4.33 billion. The company’s earnings per share fell from Rs2.40 last year to Rs-40.49.

The eight-member committee would comprise planning minister, PM’s finance adviser, commerce adviser, special assistant to PM on poverty alleviation and PM's focal person on Corona Philanthropy Drive.

Terms of reference for the proposed committee would be i) to decide on the appropriate usage of the proceeds deposited in the fund including means of identification of the beneficiaries of the fund and the parameters of their selection; 2) to decide about the means of disbursement of assistance to the beneficiaries; and 3) to take any appropriate decisions for collection of donations, maintenance and administration of the fund and related matters.

In order to devise a comprehensive policy to incentivise "Smartphone manufacturing in Pakistan", the ECC constituted a committee under the chairmanship of Industries and Production minister, with members from the ministries of IT and industries, Board of Investment and Engineering Development Board.

The committee would bring its proposals after consultation with all the relevant stakeholders in due course.

The ECC also assigned the role of chairman to Hammad Azhar, being the Federal Minister for Industries and production, of a committee to oversee the effective utilization of subsidies, Ramzan relief package and PM’s Rs50 billion package for Utility Stores Corporation.

PM says 70pc sukuk oversubscription shows strong market confidence ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday said oversubscription of sukuk by 70pc was reflective of "strong market confidence in the government's policies".

"Landmark financial innovation with Rs 200 bln Sukuk issued through competitive book-building at PSX. As a result govt saved Rs18 billion - savings that can now be used for welfare of the people," the prime minister tweeted. The government on Tuesday was able to obtain long-term borrowing below the Kibor due to significant interest from investors in the Power Energy Sukuk–II (PES). The Rs200 billion sukuk was oversubscribed to Rs339 billion, around 70pc above the target offer, at minus 0.10pc for six months Kibor. STAFF REPORT

BOP's profit drops to Rs1.5bn in Q12020 The Board of Directors of The Bank of Punjab (BOP) met recently to consider and approve the unaudited financial statements for the 1st quarter ended March 31, 2020. During the period under review, the bank’s Net Interest Margin (NIM) remained a little subdued at Rs5.9 billion as against Rs6.3 billion last year. This was due to the bank's strategy to focus on avenues of investments other than the traditional interest income of loans & advances. Accordingly, the nonmarkup/interest income increased to Rs2.0 billion as against Rs0.8 billion last year, showing a substantial increase of 150pc. Keeping in view the prevailing economic situation, the bank opted to create provision against certain loans & advances on a prudent basis. Therefore, during the 1st quarter of the year, the bank posted an after-tax profit of Rs1.5 billion as against Rs1.9 billion last year. Earnings per Share (EPS) remained at Rs0.57 per share. The bank’s total assets, as on March 31, 2020, improved to Rs899.1 billion as against Rs868.9 billion on December 31, 2019. The deposits touched Rs716.1 billion, while investments and gross advances were recorded at Rs387.9 billion and Rs417.5 billion, respectively.

The board expressed its confidence in the leadership of new president Zafar Masud, who had joined the bank on 16th April 2020, and hoped that the bank would be greatly benefiting from his rich experience. BUSINESS DESK

'Trade officers to be tasked to secure investments for FIEDMC' ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood said on Wednesday that trade and investment officers in Pakistan's missions abroad would be given special tasks of bringing maximum investment in the Allama Iqbal Industrial City, a prioritised special economic zone of the Faisalabad Industrial Estate Development and Management Company (FIEDMC) working under CPEC. Talking to FIEDMC Chairman Mian Kashif Ashfaq in the federal capital, Dawood said that the trade and investment officers working in more than 50 countries would be dutybound to

link expected investors with the one window operation of FIEDMC. Besides, he added, the ministry had already tasked its trade officers to explore new and viable markets for new products and to ensure that orders of Pakistani exporters were not cancelled.

The adviser said the government was committed to formulating comprehensive solutions in order to ensure sustainable economic growth in the wake of Covid-19 outbreak. FIEDMC Chief Operating Officer Muhammad Aamir Saleemi among other technical experts were also present on the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion, FIEDMC Chief Mian Kashif Ashfaq unfolded the distinctive features of Allama Iqbal Industrial City, saying that

this sole project would house as many as 400 industries besides giving employments to 2,500, 00 people.

He said approximately Rs450 billion foreign and local investments would be pumped into AIIC, adding that development project was being carried out on a fast-track basis.

He maintained FIDEMC has always provided state-of-the-art facilities to its customers and resolved their issues through one window operation on top priority. He said the confidence of the investors was being restored after completion of M3 project.

Appreciating the economic policies of Prime Minister Imran Khan and his economic team, the FIEDMC chairman said that the government has made a lot

of efforts to overcome the balance of payment issue by focusing on the development of various economic sectors.

He said Razak Dawood’s role in the redressal of business community’s woes was admirable, adding that his untiring efforts have infused confidence in the business community.

Kashif Ashfaq said that technological advancement in all sectors of the economy was vital to achieve a higher growth rate and to make the local producers more competitive in the international market.

He said that PM Imran Khan was an honest political leader, adding that his honesty and credibility has encouraged the local and foreign investors to invest in Pakistan.

Thursday, 21 May, 2020

10 FOREIGN NEWS

CyCLone TeArs InTo IndIA, BAngLAdesH, desTroys Homes, wHIps up sTorm surge KOLKATA/DHAKA

A

AGENCIES

powerful cyclone tore into eastern India and Bangladesh on Wednesday, destroying mud houses and embankments and whipping up a storm surge along the coast, officials said, after millions of people were moved out of its path.

At least one 70-year-old man was killed by a falling tree in Bangladesh’s coastal Bhola district, a police official said.

The low-lying country has evacuated 2.4 million people to shelters.

Another 650,000 people have been moved to safety in the eastern Indian states of Odisha and West Bengal, authorities said, an operation carried out amid surging coronavirus infections. It was too early to estimate a toll on life or damage to property.

Cyclone Amphan began moving inland with winds gusting up to 185 kph, Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, director general of the India Meteorological Department, told reporters. Mohapatra said that the storm

surge could rise to around five metres in the Sundarbans delta, home to around four million people and thick mangrove forests that are a critical tiger habitat.

“Our estimate is that some areas 10-15

kilometres from the coast could be inundated,” Mohapatra said.

On the Sundarbans’ Ghoramara island, resident Sanjib Sagar said several embankments surrounding settlements had been

damaged, and some flooding had started.

“A lot of houses have been damaged,” he told Reuters by phone.

The storm will also sweep past Kolkata, a sprawling city of 4.5 million people, where strong winds uprooted trees and electricity poles, littering several streets, television showed.

A home ministry official said authorities in West Bengal and neighbouring Odisha had struggled to house thousands of evacuees as shelters were being used as coronavirus quarantine centres.

Extra shelters were being prepared in markets and government buildings with allowances made for social distancing, while masks were being distributed to villagers.

Police in West Bengal said some people were unwilling to go to the shelters because they were afraid of being infected by the coronavirus and many were refusing to leave their livestock.

“We have literally had to force people out of their homes, make them wear masks and put them in government buildings,” said a senior police official in Kolkata.

In Bangladesh, standing crops could be damaged and large tracts of fertile land washed away, officials said. Farmers were being helped to move produce and hundreds of thousands of animals to higher ground. “Fortunately, the harvesting of the rice crop has almost been completed. Still it could leave a trail of destruction,” Mizanur Rahman Khan, a senior official in the Bangladesh agriculture ministry, said.

Bangladeshi officials also said they had moved hundreds of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, living on a flood-prone island in the Bay of Bengal, to shelter.

China trade growth 'unsustainable' if virus not controlled: minister BEIJING AGENCIES

Britain rejects India's request to extradite Tiger Hanif LONDON: India’s request for the extradition of Tiger Hanif, an alleged aide of notorious Bombay underworld figure Dawood Ibrahim wanted in India in connection with two bomb blasts in Surat in 1993, has been turned down by the British government, Tribune India reported. Hanif, whose full name is Mohammed Hanif Umerji Patel, was traced to a grocery store in Bolton, Greater Manchester, and arrested by Scotland Yard on an extradition warrant in February 2010. The 57year-old since lost a number of legal bids to stay in Britain, claiming that he will be tortured in India. However, his final bid to then Home Secretary Sajid Javid succeeded as the minister turned down the Indian request last year. “We can confirm that the extradition request for Hanif Patel was refused by the then Home Secretary and Patel was discharged by the court in August 2019,” a UK Home Office source said on Sunday. Hanif’s extradition to India was first ordered by then Home Secretary Theresa May in June 2012. AGENCIES

A recovery in China’s trade growth is not sustainable unless the coronavirus pandemic is brought under control globally, the minister of industry and information technology warned Wednesday.

China’s exports saw a surprise increase in April, partly because of rising medical product shipments, as production resumed after months of closures to control the outbreak, while imports and exports fell less than expected in renminbi terms during the first four months. But Miao Wei told a news conference that “although our imports and exports in renminbi terms from January to April have increased moderately, I think that if the global pandemic cannot come under effective control, this is unsustainable”.

To drive economic growth, the country will “rapidly activate domestic demand” to make up for weakness in the international markets, he said.

China had already been trying to boost consumption as a key driver of domestic growth in a drive to recalibrate the economy from one driven by exports and state investment.

Miao also said companies have experienced a fall in production since work resumed because of falling demand after governments went into lockdown to contain the spread of the

disease, effectively strangling their economies. China’s key markets have been reeling from the virus fallout, with more than 30 million jobs destroyed in the United States, where the Treasury Secretary has warned of “permanent damage” to the economy if strict stay-at-home measures are not lifted soon enough.

Asked about the possibility that firms have to stop work again after resuming production, Miao said the “general policy direction is still to… use domestic demand and consumption to drive economic growth”.

He believes there remains scope for the industrial economy to continue recovering in the second quarter, and said if the pandemic comes under control performance will be better in the second half of 2020.

While a recent survey by Chinese authorities showed some 40 percent of foreign-funded enterprises plan to step up investment in China in the near term, according to Miao, firms engaged in foreign trade have been hit particularly hard during the pandemic. China plans to “introduce more targeted policies” to help smaller firms, he said.

Brazil sees record virus deaths as pandemic surges in Latin America RIO: Brazil has seen a record number of coronavirus deaths as the pandemic that has swept across the world begins to hit Latin America with its full force. After Asia, Europe and North America, Latin America has seen coronavirus infections surge in recent days and now accounts for about 580,000 of the world’s nearly five million confirmed cases. Brazil has been hardest-hit in the region, rising to the third-highest number of cases in the world, as Peru, Mexico and Chile also see steady increases in infections. Health officials in Brazil reported 1,179 new coronavirus deaths on Tuesday, the first time the daily toll exceeded 1,000, but far-right President Jair Bolsonaro remains bitterly opposed to lockdowns, having described them as unnecessary over a “little flu”. With the outbreak in the world’s sixth-largest country expected to accelerate until early June, many Brazilians are deeply worried about the next few weeks. “Our country is going from bad to worse,” said retiree Gilberto Ferreira in Rio de Janeiro. “We have an inefficient government, and the people also do not obey the rules of the pandemic.” Bolsonaro has refused to accept experts’ advice on responding to the pandemic, pressing regional governors to end stay-at-home measures. And like US counterpart Donald Trump he has also promoted the use of anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine against the virus despite studies showing it has no benefit.

CLASHES IN CHILE: Chile is also suffering from a sharp rise in cases and on Tuesday deployed soldiers on the outskirts of its lockeddown capital Santiago after clashes with protesters angry about food shortages and job losses. “People don’t have work, they don’t have money and they don’t have food,” said Monica Sepulveda, a 46-year-old unemployed security guard from El Bosque, a working class neighbourhood where residents armed with clubs and stones clashed with riot police. There were worrying signs in Argentina too, with authorities in the second city Cordoba having to backtrack on easing lockdown measures following a sharp spike in infections. Experts have been warning for weeks of the devastating impact the pandemic is set to have as it moves from northern countries to the less-developed south. In Africa, the pandemic is still in its “early days”, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned, calling for “global solidarity” with the continent. “The pandemic threatens African progress,” he said. “It will aggravate longstanding inequalities and heighten hunger, malnutrition and vulnerability to disease,” Guterres added, calling for international action to support Africa’s health systems and maintain food supplies.

EUROPE LOOKS TO SAVE TOURISM: Lockdown measures in place for weeks are being eased and officials are scrambling to try to save the summer tourism season, which is crucial for Europe’s economies. European Union tourism ministers were set to hold a virtual meeting Wednesday and authorities in Greece were to announce plans for reopening the country to travel. Russia reported its highest daily death toll to date, registering 135 fatalities, but also saw the number of active virus cases drop for the first time. The country has the second-highest number of total cases but with 2,972 deaths so far its mortality rate is relatively low and officials have been moving to ease lockdown measures as the rate of new infections falls. AGENCIES

Global CO2 emissions to drop 4-7pc in 2020, but will it matter?

PARIS AGENCIES

Global CO2 emissions from fossil fuels are set to drop by up to seven percent in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic, but even this dramatic decline — the sharpest since WWII — would barely dent longterm global warming, researchers reported Tuesday.

In early April, coronavirus lockdowns led to a 17 percent reduction worldwide in carbon pollution compared to the same period last year, according to the first peer-reviewed assessment of the pandemic’s impact on CO2 emissions, published in Nature Climate Change. Four countries or blocs — China, the United States, the European Union and India — accounted for two-thirds of the downturn across the first four months of 2020, equivalent to more than one billion tonnes of CO2. Total emissions from industry and energy last year came to a record 37 billion tonnes.

“Population confinement has led to drastic changes in energy use and CO2 emissions,”

said lead author Corinne Le Quere, a professor at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of East Anglia.

“These extreme decreases are likely to be temporary, however, as they do not reflect structural changes in the economic, transport or energy systems.” If the global economy recovers to pre-pandemic conditions by mid-June — an unlikely scenario — CO2 emissions in 2020 are projected to drop only four per cent, Le Quere and her team calculated.

But if lockdown restrictions persist throughout the year, the decline will be around seven per cent. With nearly five million confirmed infections and 320,000 deaths, the COVID-19 pandemic has deflected attention from the climate crisis that dominated global concerns in 2019.

LIKE FILLING A BATHTUB: “We need to stop putting it there altogether, not just put it there more slowly,” he said.

“It’s like we’re filling a bath and have turned down the tap slightly — but not turned it off. The water is still rising, just not as fast.” Earth’s average surface temperature

has so far risen by one degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels — enough to amplify deadly droughts, heatwaves and superstorms engorged by rising seas.

Under the 2015 Paris climate treaty, nearly 200 nations pledged to cap global warming at “well below” 2C. But the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) subsequently determined that 1.5C is a far safer temperature guardrail.

The pandemic has underscored just how difficult it will be to hit that more ambitious target. Emissions must fall 7.6 per cent — in line with the worst-case lockdown scenario for 2020 — every year this decade to ensure the 1.5C cap, unless other means are found to remove carbon from the atmosphere, scientists calculate. “The pandemic has shown us that major structural changes in the transport and energy systems are required,” noted Mark Maslin, a professor of climatology at University College London.

SECTORS HIT UNEVENLY: “If this (continues) we may come out of COVID with emissions going down since renewables have

CMYK

been able to take more relative space, pushing out some of the most polluting fossil fuels, especially coal.” But the multi-trilliondollar rescue packages — especially in the United States and China — hastily assembled to stave off another Great Depression send mixed signals when it comes to building a

green global economy. “There is a high risk that short-sightedness will lead governments to lose track of the bigger picture and put money into highly polluting sectors that have no place in a zero-carbon society,” said Joeri Rogelj, a researcher at Grantham Institute and Imperial College London.

Thursday, 21 May, 2020

EngLAnd bowLErS LEAd thE wAy AS CriCkEtErS rESUmE trAining LONDON

E

AGENCIES

NGLAND bowlers are set to report for training on Thursday, leading the way as cricket chiefs step up plans to start a season heavily delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.

The global health crisis has put matches on hold in England until July 1 at the earliest while in other countries the season is already over.

Despite the pandemic, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is still planning to stage a full home international programme, starting with a three-Test series against the West Indies, which was originally scheduled for June.

The ECB has announced that up to 18 bowlers will be involved from Thursday.

Edgbaston, Hove, Old Trafford, the Oval, the Riverside, Taunton and Trent Bridge will stage at least one session, before batsmen and wicketkeepers become in-

volved from June 1.

The bowlers’ identities have yet to be made public but the choice of venues indicates that James Anderson (Old Trafford) and Stuart Broad (Trent Bridge) will be among the leading England bowlers training at their home county grounds.

Bowlers will have to bring their own kit, including designated cricket balls, wash their hands regularly, and clean any equipment used with disinfectant wipes.

England managing director Ashley Giles

said last week he wanted the training sessions to be safer than a trip to a supermarket.

As well as the West Indies Test series, England’s cricket schedule includes three Tests against Pakistan and limited-overs matches against Australia and Ireland, with the fixtures set to be played behind closed doors at bio-secure venues.

ECB chief executive Tom Harrison has warned a season without any matches at all could cost the board £380 million ($465 million).

Serie A group training gets all clear, season decision May 28 TURIN AGENCIES

UEFA chief hopes Champions League will finish by ‘end of August’ BERN: UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin is aiming to finish this year’s Champions League by the end of August as football in Europe slowly starts to bounce back from the coronavirus pandemic. “Our plan is to finish it between now and the end of August,” Ceferin said in an interview with Portuguese sports daily Record, published on Wednesday. “I think that will work. You never know what’s going to happen but things seem to be calming down. “Eighty percent of European leagues are going to restart, I don’t see why the Champions League and Europa League shouldn’t take place.” That end date for UEFA’s European tournaments was widely reported but never officially confirmed by the continent’s football governing body. Ceferin’s desired deadline gives clubs a chance to finish their domestic competitions — halted across Europe in mid-March — before the Champions League restarts in early August. In an interview with British daily The Guardian, Ceferin added that he would be prepared to bet a million dollars on Euro 2020 being played next year following its postponement to 2021.

“Yes, I would,” he told the newspaper “I don’t know why it (the tournament) wouldn’t be (played). “I don’t think that this virus will last forever. I think it will (change) sooner than many think. “I don’t like this apocalyptic view that we have to wait for the second and third waves or even a fifth wave.” Ceferin said football would follow the recommendations of the authorities but he was optimistic that fans would return to the stands quicker than many observers think. AGENCIES

Italy’s Serie A teams have been given the green light to resume group training but will have to wait until May 28 to know whether the season can resume, Sports Minister Vincenzo Spadafora said on Tuesday.

Spadafora told Italian television that government scientists had accepted the Italian football federation’s (FIGC) revised health protocol.

“The Scientific Technical Commit-

tee have approved the FIGC protocol for the resumption of team training,” Spadafora told Rai. “It is excellent news, collective training can now resume.” Spadafora said he has scheduled a meeting on May 28 with FIGC president Gabriele Gravina and Lega Serie A chief Paolo Dal Pino to decide on the return to competition.

“We will then decide if and when Serie A will restart,” he said.

“The important thing will be to restart with the firm intention of completing the championship, then the fed-

Parkour athelete arrested for committing ‘vulgar’ acts on Tehran’s rooftops TEHRAN AGENCIES

An Iranian parkour athlete has been arrested for committing “vulgar” acts, police said Wednesday, after he posted photos online of himself kissing a woman on Tehran’s rooftops.

“This individual has been arrested by Tehran’s cyber police,” the capital’s police chief Hossein Rahimi was quoted as saying by semi-official news agency ISNA. “We are against this individual and his companion’s

erations will decide the modalities and formats to be adopted.”

The minister said that a controversial measure of isolating team members for two weeks at club facilities to limit the risk of contagion has been withdrawn. If a player tests positive he will be quarantined for two weeks, while the team will be placed in isolation, and monitored, but can continue to train together. FIGC president Gravina welcomed a “decisive step on the path of restarting football in Italy”.

Gravina said that FIGC Medical Scientific Commission were now working on the protocol for the return to competition. The Italian season has been on hold since March 9 amid the pandemic which has killed more than 32,000 people in Italy.

Serie A teams have been training individually since May 4, with a government decree suspending all competition until June 14. Italian players’ union president Damiano Tommasi said Tuesday that footballers would need at least a month training before returning to competition. “Even if some talk about six, at least four weeks would be needed to avoid injuries,” said the former Italy and Roma midfielder.

“Caution comes first because at this point you need real certainties from a medical and health point of view.”

norm-breaking and vulgar behaviour and the police and the judiciary will certainly deal with them,” he added, without naming the person who was arrested.

The individual appeared to be Alireza Japalaghy, a Tehran-based parkour athlete with more than 133,000 followers on Instagram. Parkour is an extreme sport born in France in the 1990s that combines the efficiency of movement across the urban landscape with death-defying leaps.

It has a following in neighbourhoods of west Tehran, where high-rise residential buildings are closely connected.

Japalaghy had posted a series of photos and videos last week showing him and an unidentified woman in revealing outfits hanging off buildings and kissing. Under the Islamic dress code, women can only show their face, hands and feet in public and are supposed to wear only modest colours.

In an Instagram video on Monday, he said he had received “suspicious calls” telling him to turn himself in or be arrested publicly. His brother posted an update on the same account the next day, saying Alireza had been taken from their home and arrested.

Athletics star takes to rooftop to train in virus-hit Iran TEHRAN AGENCIES

The coronavirus pandemic has forced the world’s athletes to keep fit in confinement, and for top Iranian athlete Maryam Toosi, that has meant training on the rooftop of her apartment.

Toosi’s exploits as a sprinter have made her a household name in the Islamic republic.

She holds Iran’s records for 100, 200 and 400 metres and claimed two gold medals at the Asian Indoor Championships in 2012 and 2014. But now the 31-year-old is confined to her home and has even taken to training on the roof of her apartment block in a bid to stay in shape.

“I train at home, in any space I can use, like the rooftop, inside the house or even in the alley next to the apartment,” she told AFP. “There’s a green space there, and I train there when no one is around,” said Toosi, who has 159,000 followers on Instagram.

CMYK

SPORTS 11

Her apartment is in Shahr Ara, a densely populated neighbourhood of the sprawling capital where there are few open areas.

“We have to keep our strength up, because competition will start later and we eventually have to challenge.” The novel coronavirus has claimed the lives of nearly 7,200 people in Iran, making it the deadliest outbreak in the Middle East. The government ordered the closure of sports facilities in mid-March as part of measures aimed at containing the virus.

It has forced athletes of all disciplines to practise in Tehran’s public parks.

One group of boys has been forced to do football training in one such park, wedged between highways in the west of the capital.

“They call us asking where can they train, because all (training) fields are closed,” said goalkeeping coach Soheil Jelveh. “We bring them over to parks while observing all health protocols and social distancing,” he told AFP. “Wherever there is some grass we can train.”

Cricket Australia explore possibilities to disinfect ball to lower health risk

MELBOURNE: The head of Cricket Australia’s (CA) medical team on Wednesday said that they are exploring the possibility of disinfecting the ball during matches to minimise the health risk to players during the COVID19 pandemic. Players’ health is a major concern as the game seeks to return from the coronavirus shutdown and the International Cricket Council’s cricket committee has recommended a ban on shining the ball with saliva. “Disinfecting the ball is a consideration,” CA Sports Science and Sports Medicine Manager Alex Kountouris said in a video-conference. “We don’t know the impact on the ball because we haven’t tested it. We’d obviously have to test it, we’d have to speak to the ICC and get permission...” “The ball being leather, it’s harder to disinfect because it’s got little nooks and crevices. “So we don’t know how effective it’s going to be, we don’t know how infected the ball is going to get and we don’t know if it’s going to be allowed. “But it’s absolutely a consideration. Everything is on the table at the moment, everything is being considered.” Kountouris said the proposed ban on shining the ball with saliva would be difficult for players to get used to. “Some people are used to licking their fingers before they grab the ball. People are used to shining the ball with their fingers ... there are going to be mistakes at some point,” he added. “I imagine we are going to take a commonsense approach and understand that people make mistakes and things are not going to be perfect.” AGENCIES

Spurs probe Aurier’s third apparent lockdown breach LONDON: Tottenham have launched an investigation after Ivory Coast defender Serge Aurier appeared to flout social-distancing rules for a third time by getting a haircut during the coronavirus lockdown. Aurier posted an Instagram photo on Tuesday showing off his new haircut and tagged the barber Justin Carr in his post.

“Yes Sir @justscuts #LeCoiffeurEstBon?? (the hairdresser is good)” Aurier wrote next to the picture. Hairdressers are closed in Britain in line with the government’s rules on social distancing. They are not expected to open again until at least July 4. “We are investigating the circumstances and will deal with the incident appropriately,” a Tottenham statement said on Wednesday. Aurier has already been in trouble twice during the pandemic lockdown after going out for a run with a friend and training too close to Tottenham teammate Moussa Sissoko. The 27-year-old and Sissoko apologised and made a donation to the National Health Service. Tottenham have been plagued by social-distancing issues, with boss Jose Mourinho forced to apologise after taking a training session in a north London park with Tanguy Ndombele.

Davinson Sanchez and Ryan Sessegnon were also spotted running together in a separate incident. Aurier was pictured arriving at Tottenham’s Enfield training base on Wednesday, with Mourinho’s squad due to start training in small groups after receiving their virus test results from the Premier League. AGENCIES

Thursday, 21 May, 2020

NEWS

PAkIStAN woUld Need more doctorS IN cASe of hIke IN covId-19 cASeS: Pm IMRAN LAUNCHES TELEHEALTH PORTAL TO HELP PEOPLE WITH MEDICAL EMERGENCIES ISLAMABAD

P

stAff RePoRt

RIME Minister Imran Khan warned on Wednesday said that Pakistan’s doctor-to-patient ration is quite low in comparison to other countries and there would be a need for more doctors if coronavirus cases continue to increase in the country.

Pakistan has more than 47,000 coronavirus cases across the country, with 13,101 recoveries and 1,009 deaths.

Sindh and Punjab make up most of the country’s cases with 18,964 and 16,685, respectively, while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) has 6,815 cases, Balochistan 2,885, Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) 1,138, Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) 556 and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) 133.

Addressing the people after inaugu-

rating a telehealth portal to help people with medical emergencies, the prime minister said that over a million people have registered for the Corona Relief Tiger Force. He also urged health workers to register themselves with the volunteer force. “Even after the coronavirus pandemic passes, we will need this force to go to far-flung areas of Pakistan,” he said.

The premier said that the government can disseminate information to far-flung areas through technology and can deal with their issues.

Praising the telehealth initiative, PM Imran said that the health sector is facing huge challenges. He said that this year, the country would have to battle against the virus. “Until there is a vaccine made,

we will have to put up with this virus,” he cautioned.

Earlier, while briefing PM Imran about the initiative, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Digital Pakistan Tania Aidrus said that federal government’s telehealth portal was available to people across the country.

“This service is available to all Pakistanis and I am proud to announce that Pakistan is the first nation that is providing such a service for free,” she told the premier.

She also urged the doctors to sign up for the service to further help the people.

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza said that the coronavirus pandemic has opened new ventures for healthcare and telehealth is one of them. “The use of this service during the pandemic has increased and Pakistanis who think they have symptoms of coronavirus can just pick up their phone and connect with doctors,” he said.

He urged all women doctors who were unable to continue their practice to avail this service to help the people.

“Telehealth is here to stay and it will be able to help people even in far-flung areas,” he added.

Pakistan Railways resumes operations after two-month-long hiatus ISLAMABAD/KARACHI stAff RePoRt

US blacklists Iran's interior minister over human rights abuses WASHINGTON: The United States on Wednesday imposed sanctions on Iran’s interior minister, accusing him of having a role in serious human rights abuse, including giving orders that led to violence against peaceful protesters, the US Treasury Department said.

The Treasury said in a statement that Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli gave orders authorising the Law Enforcement Forces (LEF) to use lethal force in response to protests in November, leading to the killing of protesters, including at least 23 minors.

The Treasury’s action on Wednesday also blacklisted seven senior officials of the LEF and a provincial commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The LEF Cooperative Foundation – which the Treasury said is controlled by the LEF and which is active in Iran’s energy, construction, services, technology and banking industries – was also blacklisted, as were its director and members of the board of trustees. The organization’s name in Iran is Bonyad Taavon NAJA. Wednesday’s action freezes any USheld assets of those blacklisted and generally bars Americans from dealing with them. “The United States will continue to hold accountable Iranian officials and institutions that oppress and abuse their own people,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in the statement. Tensions between Washington and Tehran have spiked since U.S. President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew in 2018 from the Iran nuclear deal struck by his predecessor, Barack Obama, and began reimposing sanctions that had been eased under the accord. AgeNcIes

After a two-month suspension, the Pakistan Railways on Wednesday resumed operations across the country, with warning from the minister concerned that anyone not observing the standard operating procedures will be held accountable.

Talking to the media, Rasheed said that the train operation was resumed partially to facilitate the people on the occasion of Eidul Fitr.

He said that trains started their journey from several stations, including Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Multan, Karachi and Quetta, on Wednesday. He thanked the governments of the four provinces particularly Sindh for extending cooperation to restore the train operation.

He said that all the arrangements were finalised to resume the train operations and the divisional superintendents had been directed to strictly implement the standard operating procedures (SOPs).

The minister announced that now the online booking of train tickets would be stopped one or two hours before departure of the train to facilitate the passengers. Moreover, booking for the trains would be made only through online ticketing service, while the booking offices would be opened after Eid, he added.

He also said they have decided to run the trains at 60 per cent occupancy to maintain social distancing and there was no fare increase.

He further said that the Pakistan Railways had already reduced the

train occupancy more than Britain and India. “They are running trains at 70 per cent occupancy,” he added.

The minister also said that special cleanliness arrangements had also been made at all railway stations. He also appreciated efforts of the divisional superintendents particularly of Pindi, Lahore, Multan, Peshawar, Quetta and Karachi for excellent arrangements.

He said that all SOPs would strictly be adopted during the train operation. He warned that no violation of SOPs would be tolerated and any such instance would result in action against the officers concerned.

“We will review the situation and if everything goes well then we will restore more trains from June 1,” he announced.

He appealed the passengers to follow the SOPs and main social distance and travel only when re-

quired direly.

Karachi Division Divisional Superintendent Arshad Salam Khattak, along with all the divisional officers and railways police superintendent, supervised the processing of passenger trains as per the laid standard operating procedures (SOPs) devised

by PR Headquarters.

DS Khattak, on the occasion, said that all the SOPs devised by the Railways Headquarters have been strictly implemented.

Presently, 11 Up and 11 Down trains would operate daily from Karachi to important provincial capitals and cities. The cumulative capacity of 11 Karachi-bound trains is 11,000 passengers approximately whereas the reservation would be done on 6,600 maximum seats as per the SOP of 60 per cent occupancy during the coronavirus pandemic period.

NAB on the move against religious affairs minister ISLAMABAD INP

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has launched a probe against Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Noorul Haq Qadri after a complaint was lodged against him. NAB Chairman Justice (r) Javed Iqbal has authorised conducting of complaint verification against the minister.

According to sources, NAB is investigating him for his alleged involvement in renting out a building of his ministry to his alleged business partner in the federal capital. Sources said the NAB believed it was a case of “conflict of interest”.

In veiled warning to Iran, US tells Gulf mariners to stay clear of its warships WASHINGTON AgeNcIes

In an alert that appeared aimed squarely at Iran, the United States Navy issued a warning on Tuesday to mariners in the Gulf to stay 100 metres away from US warships or risk being “interpreted as a threat and subject to lawful defensive measures”. The notice to mariners, which was first reported by Reuters, follows US President Donald Trump’s threat last month to fire on any Iranian ships that harass Navy vessels. “Armed vessels approaching within 100 metres of a US naval vessel may be interpreted as a threat,” according to the text of the notice. A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the new notice to mariners was not a change in the American military’s rules of engagement. The Pentagon has stated that Trump’s threat was meant to underscore the Navy’s right to self-defence. The Bahrain-based US Naval Forces Central Command said in a statement that its notice was “designed to enhance safety, minimise ambiguity and reduce the risk of miscalculation.” It follows an incident last month in which 11 Iranian vessels came close to US Navy and Coast Guard ships in the Gulf. The US military called “dangerous and provocative” behaviour. At one point, the Iranian vessels came within nine metres of the US Coast Guard cutter Maui, the US military said.

Trump’s threat followed that incident, which Tehran, in turn, said was the fault of the US. The head of Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards responded to Trump by threatening to destroy US warships if its security is threatened in the Gulf. The back-andforth is just the latest example of razor-sharp tension between Washington and Tehran, which has steadily escalated since 2018, when Trump withdrew from Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with six world powers and reimposed crippling sanctions. Animosity reached historic heights in early January, when the US killed top Iranian military commander Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike in Baghdad. Iran retaliated on January 9 by firing missiles at bases in Iraq, causing brain injuries among US troops at one of them.

Close interactions with Iranian military vessels were not uncommon in 2016 and 2017. On several occasions, US Navy ships fired warning shots at Iranian vessels when they got too close. But Iran had halted such manoeuvres before the April incident.

Afghan Taliban leader says committed to deal with US KABUL AgeNcIes

The leader of the Taliban said Wednesday that they were committed to a landmark deal with the US, despite being accused of carrying out thousands of attacks in Afghanistan since it was signed.

In a rare message released ahead of the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan next week, Haibatullah Akhundzada urged Washington “not to waste” the opportunity offered by the deal to end America’s longest war.

“The Islamic Emirate is committed to the agreement… and urges the other side to honour its own commitments and not allow this critical opportunity to go to waste,” Akhundzada said in a statement, using the name the Taliban called Afghanistan when

they were in power.

After months of negotiations, the Taliban and US signed a deal in February which stipulates Washington will withdraw all troops from Afghanistan by next year in return for security guarantees.

“I urge American officials to not afford anyone the opportunity to obstruct, delay and ultimately derail this internationally recognised bilateral agreement”, the reclusive leader said.

Akhundzada hails from the Taliban’s traditional bastion of Kandahar, and was appointed head of the group after a US drone strike killed his predecessor, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, in 2016. Mansour had succeeded Mullah Omar, the one-eyed warrior-cleric who founded the group.

Akhundzada is a hardline religious

scholar and a former head of the Taliban court system.

He outlined the political system he envisaged for Afghanistan after the exit of foreign troops.

“The objectives of our jihad… are freedom of our country and to establish an Islamic system,” he said.

“Every male and female member of society shall be given their due rights.”

EMBOLDENED MILITANTS: US President Donald Trump’s administration has made it a priority to end the war in Afghanistan, and in a bid to pull out foreign forces US officials have been pushing the Taliban and government leaders to hold peace talks.

The talks have stumbled, but the Afghan government was strengthened over the week-

end by the announcement of a power-sharing deal between President Ashraf Ghani and his former chief executive Abdullah Abdullah, who will lead negotiations with the Taliban.

US Special Representative to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad arrived in Kabul on Wednesday and met Ghani in a bid to push the peace process forward.

The pair discussed the importance of “a ceasefire or reduction in violence before the start of direct talks,” Ghani’s office said.

Under the US-Taliban accord, the militants pledged to stop attacking cities and foreign troops, but they have continued to target Afghan forces in the provinces.

Analysts say the Taliban have been emboldened by the deal, and Afghan government officials have reported more than 3,800 attacks since it was signed, killing 420 civil-

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

ians and wounding 906.

Last week, Khalilzad said the militants had kept up their end of the bargain — even if recent violence violated the spirit of the accord.

“The Taliban have implemented their agreement not to attack the coalition forces,” he said.

His remarks came after a horrific attack against a maternity hospital in Kabul that killed dozens — including mothers and infants — and a suicide bombing at a funeral.

The Taliban denied involvement in the attacks, but President Ghani blamed them and the Islamic State (IS) group for the bloodshed.

“They’ve committed not to carry out attacks in 34 major cities, and they haven’t done that, based on our assessment,” Khalilzad said of the Taliban.