EpaperISB_2020-09-30

Wednesday, 30 September, 2020 I 11 Safar, 1442 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XI No 91 I 12 Pages I Islamabad Edition

Pakistan assures afghanistan of comPlete suPPort in Peace talks g

Qureshi sAys PAkistAn hAs no fAvourites when it comes to AfghAnistAn’s PoliticAl future As it Doesn’t wAnt to meDDle in kAbul’s internAl AffAirs

ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

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s the united states prepares to withdraw from war-torn Afghanistan after a nearly twodecade-old war against militancy and holds a dialogue in this regard, islamabad on tuesday assured kabul of its complete support for the peace process, saying Pakistan wanted to be “friends not masters”. the assurance came during a conference at the institute of strategic studies, islamabad where foreign minister shah mehmood Qureshi spoke alongside Afghanistan’s high council for national reconciliation chairman Dr Abdullah Abdullah. the Afghan leader is currently in the capital on a three-day official visit to seek Pakistan’s support for the on-going peace talks aimed at ending the 19-year-old civil war. he has described his visit as a “unique opportunity” to push forward talks.

Afghan and taliban negotiators have been meeting in Doha since september 12 hoping to agree on a cease-fire and a power-sharing deal. islamabad is considered key in brokering the talks and to court the warring militia. underscoring the need for durable security in Afghanistan, Qureshi, while speaking on the occasion, said, “security and stability is what we need and our security and stability is interlinked. i want to give a clear message: we have no favourites [and] do not want to meddle in your internal affairs. we respect and want to respect your sovereignty, your independence and your territorial integrity.” “my message [to the people of Afghanistan] is that whatever consensus evolves through your dialogue and negotiations, we will accept it […] that is the way it ought to be.”

Quoting the name of the book by former president Ayub khan, Qureshi said that it was important for Pakistan to be “friends not masters” of Afghanistan.

coronavirus in

Pakistan

CONFIRMED CASES:

311,516

LAST UPDATED AT 7:33 AM ON SEPTEMBER 29, 2020

DAY'S DEATH TOLL:

8

RECOVERED:

NEW CASES:

672

DEATHS:

296,340 6,474 SINDH:

136,395

PUNJAB:

99,292

KP:

BALOCHISTAN:

AJK/GB:

ISLAMABAD:

37,727

15,177

2,663/3,730 16,532

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Dr AbDullAh sAys PeAce tAlks offer ‘best hoPe to Put the wAr behinD us’

“that’s the paradigm shift and the new realisation and recognition if we have to coexist in peace and build a common future,” he said, concluding his address by assuring the Afghan leader and the highlevel delegation comprising prominent members of the council of Pakistan’s complete support.

During his speech, the foreign minister reiterated that a political settlement was the only solution for solving the Afghan conflict.

“A realisation has evolved over the years that there is no military solution to the Afghan conflict. today there is a recognition that a negotiated political settlement is perhaps the only and the best way forward.” warning of “spoilers”, he added that an overwhelming majority of Afghans want peace. “there will always be spoilers […] but the overwhelming majority feels that this is the right way forward and that is a positive development. we feel, and i believe, that only Afghans can decide the future of Afghanistan. “sustainable peace can only come from within Afghanistan, it can’t be imposed.” the foreign minister also emphasised the need for greater collaboration between the two countries in different fields in order to build a common future. he said that peace was essential for promoting trade and investment between the two countries. “the moment we have cooperated, we have benefitted. [therefore] a relationship of cooperation and understanding is the only way forward.

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PM reaffirms support to Afghan peace, economic uplift STORY ON PAGE 02

Opposition announces first PDM rally in Quetta on Oct 11 ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

An alliance of almost all major opposition parties, the Pakistan Democratic movement (PDm), that seeks to remove the incumbent government will hold its first public meeting on october 11 in Quetta, opposition leaders announced on tuesday.

Pakistan muslim league-nawaz (Pml-n) leader and former prime minister shahid khaqan Abbasi said while addressing a press conference that the PDm’s three-phase plan will begin after the “historic” rally in Quetta and that it will be launched across the country. the PDm was formed at the All Parties conference (APc), where opposition parties had announced the launching of a three-phased anti-government movement under an “action plan” starting from next month with countrywide public meetings, protest demonstrations and rallies in December and a “decisive long march” towards islamabad in January 2021. “this movement will keep growing and will be successful in ridding Pakistan of this undemocratic process,” said Abbasi, accompanied by other opposition leaders.

During the meeting, the opposition leaders discussed rising infla-

Primary schools to reopen today despite surge in campus virus cases ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Despite the emergence of new coronavirus infections at campuses around the country, the national command and operation centre (ncoc) on tuesday unanimously decided to reopen primary schools from wednesday after a sixmonth hiatus. education institutions were closed down in march as part of measures taken to curtail the pandemic. earlier this month, the government had allowed the “phased” reopening of all educational institutions from september 15, starting with universities. minister for education shafqat mahmood said on tuesday that 171,436 coronavirus tests had been carried out in educational institutions since their reopening, of which only 1,248 came out positive. “keeping in view this data, it has been decided to resume primary level classes,” mehmood told reporters, saying action would be taken against educational institutions that violated standard operating procedures. he said the decision to re-

sume primary-level classes was taken after consulting all federating units, including Azad Jammu and kashmir (AJk) and gilgit-baltistan (gb). “the government took the decision after observing a meagre 0.8 percent positive rate after reopening educational institutes,” the minister said, adding that the authorities will continue to monitor the situation and any carelessness in the implementation of the guidelines will be dealt with sternly. mahmood further assured the parents that the government took the step after meticulous research and inspection. stressing upon the need to adhere to the standard operating procedures (soPs), the minister said that young children cannot take care of themselves properly so wearing of face mask and density of the students in the classroom should be maintained.

As many as 973 students tested positive for covid-19 in sindh, balochistan and Punjab provinces after educational institutions resumed classes in different phases starting from september 15, According to province-wise

details, as many as 56,299 covid-19 tests were conducted at government and private schools across sindh, education minister saeed ghani said on tuesday. so far, 40,414 samples have been taken at government schools, out of which 217 came back positive, whereas 86 positive cases emerged when 15,885 tests were conducted at private schools, he disclosed. ghani said that a total of 303 samples were declared positive, which is 0.75 per cent of the total samples taken for covid-19. expressing satisfaction over the implementation of soPs at schools, he said that he, along with the education secretary and other officials of the department, have been visiting schools and monitoring the situation. “our main focus is to peddle awareness about precautions among parents,” the minister said, adding that they have asked parents to visit schools of their children to examine the conditions there and pick and drop their children themselves to keep the virus at bay.

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tion, unemployment, “historic corruption”, the state of the economy and people’s issues. Abbasi further said they strongly condemn the “shrinking” space for democracy in Pakistan. “you will see that this movement will give rise to a true political change in Pakistan’s political history,” Abbasi said, adding that all opposition parties had consensus on the decisions taken today.

Another point on the agenda for the meeting was to give approval to PDm’s steering committee, which will comprise two members from each party. Abbasi added that this will play a role “in taking the PDm movement forward”. the first meeting of this committee was held today and an “organisational structure” will be sent to the opposition parties’ leaders.

After review of this structure, the details of the movement will be presented to the people. the second meeting of the steering committee next monday will decide the movement’s future strategy, Abbassi added. the members of the steering committee will be rotated regularly, and Pml-n’s Ahsan iqbal will serve as its convener for the first month.

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more inside

Soldier, teenage boy martyred due to Indian firing along LoC STORY ON PAGE 02

Pm addresses un summit, calls for one-year extension in g20 debt relief STORY ON PAGE 02

NAB secures 14day remand of Shehbaz STORY ON PAGE 03

who chief lauds Pakistan for suppressing covid19 while keeping economy afloat STORY ON BACK PAGE

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Wednesday, 30 September, 2020

NEWS

PM addreSSeS UN SUMMIt, CaLLS for oNeyear exteNSIoN IN G20 debt reLIef ISLAMABAD

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STAFF REPORT

RIME Minister Imran Khan said on Tuesday the investment in sustainable infrastructure would be the key to a resilient economic recovery and realization of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), stressing upon creation of a United Nations (UN) Infrastructure Investment Facility to mobilize an additional $1.5 trillion annually in the developing countries.

“Rich countries should support the creation of at least $500 billion in new Special Drawing Rights and reallocation of unutilized SDRs to developing countries,” he said while participating in a virtual highlevel meeting on ‘Financing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in

the era of Covid-19 and Beyond’, co-convened by the UN secretary-general and prime ministers of Canada and Jamaica.

The high-level meeting brought together heads of states, representatives of international organizations, private sector and civil society to discuss ways to recover from the current crisis in the short term, mobilize financial resources to achieve SDGs in the medium term and build resilience and sustainability of countries and the global financial architecture in the long term.

The PM reminded the international community of the crucial need for developing countries to be provided debt relief in the backdrop of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic which has hit developing economies hard. He called upon the G20 countries in particular to extend the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) for

PM reaffirms support to afghan peace, economic uplift

another year. “The request for forbearance under this initiative should not affect the country’s credit rating. This is due to force majeure, not mismanagement,” the prime minister underscored. “Multilateral development banks should participate in the Debt Suspension Initiative. Other shortterm measures which could cover both official and private creditors include debt swaps for health, climate and SDGs; debt buy-backs; re-profiling debt; and regional resilience funds,” he suggested.

The PM noted that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had estimated that developing countries would require an additional $2.5 trillion to recover from Covid-induced contraction.

The prime minister, speaking of Pakistan’s fight against the virus, said that despite the country’s financial constraints

“we have injected over $8bn, [nearly] 3pc of our GDP to protect our poor and keep the economy going”.

“Debt relief is one of the quickest ways to create fiscal space for developing countries. Therefore, in April, I called for a global initiative on debt relief,” said the prime minister. “Subsequently, Pakistan initiated discussions on this matter at the United Nations and co-led the discussion group on debt vulnerability.”

“I welcome the extensive menu of options by each of the six discussion groups.

We must prioritise those actions that can have a significant impact and can be quickly implemented,” the premier said.

PM Imran, before concluding, underscored that recovery from recession in a post-pandemic world “must be inclusive and equitable”.

Killing of 11 Pakistanis in India: IHC urged to order for filing case in ICJ

ISLAMABAD

ISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

TLTP

Prime Minister Imran Khan has reaffirmed Pakistan’s full support for the post-conflict Afghanistan on its path to reconstruction and economic development. The prime minister was talking to High Council for National Reconciliation of Afghanistan Chairman Dr Abdullah Abdullah, who called on him on Tuesday. He reiterated his long-standing position that there is no military solution to the conflict in Afghanistan and that a political solution is the only way forward. He expressed gratification that the international community has come to recognise this stance and also acknowledged Pakistan’s positive role in facilitation of the Afghan peace process. He said that the US-Taliban Peace Agreement was a major step forward in these endeavours. He expressed the hope that Afghan leadership would seize this historic opportunity to work together constructively and secure an inclusive, broad-based and comprehensive political settlement. He underscored that all Afghan parties must work for reduction in violence leading to ceasefire. The premier conveyed that Pakistan would support whatever the Afghans agreed upon about the future of Afghanistan. Extending a warm welcome, PM Imran conveyed his best wishes for the successful outcome of the Afghan peace process and expressed the hope that Dr Abdullah’s visit would help open a new chapter in the bilateral relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan. In the bilateral context, the premier highlighted that Pakistan and Afghanistan have immense trade complementarities and emphasised the need to optimally utilize these capacities for mutually-beneficial trade and transit.

He assured that Pakistan would continue to undertake all efforts to facilitate Afghan transit trade and deepen our bilateral trade and economic ties and people-to-people exchanges with Afghanistan. PM Imran said that he was looking forward to his visit to Afghanistan on the invitation of President Ashraf Ghani.

A petition against the killing of 11 Pakistani Hindus in Jodhpur city of India, has been filed in Islamabad High Court (IHC), seeking the court’s order over the matter.

The Islamabad High Court Bar Association (IHCBA) in its petition pleaded on Tuesday for the court’s orders to the federal government and the Foreign Office (FO) to take the issue to the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

“The constitution gives equal rights to minorities. Pakistan’s 11 Hindu citizens were murdered in India over refusing to spy on Pakistan,” according to the petition.

“The Indian High Commission in Islamabad had issued visas to the victims. Indian diplomatic mission is working against diplomatic norms,” the petition said.

The Bar seeks the court order for the government and the FO to take the issue to the ICJ. It is to be mentioned here that Pakistan Hindu Council

(PHC) had recently staged a protest in front of the Indian High Commission to record their protest against the killing of 11 Pakistani Hindus in Jodhpur.

Protesters on Friday last crossed the barricades at the Diplomatic Enclave in Islamabad to stage a sit-in outside the Indian High Commission over the mysterious deaths of 11 members of the community in Jodhpur.

The protesters led by MNA Dr Ramesh Kumar were stopped short of entering the Indian High Commission’s building by the security personnel deployed there.

The PHC chief later conveyed their demands to the Indian officials, besides pasting these demands outside the high commission’s building.

They demanded Indian authorities to divulge details on the murdered Pakistanis and register a case against perpetrators of the heinous act, besides providing their post mortem reports. The protest leaders alleged that Pakistani Hindus staying in India are being forced to spy and being killed over their refusal.

Soldier, teenage boy martyred due to Indian firing along LoC RAWALPINDI STAFF REPORT

A soldier of Pakistan Army and a 15-year-old boy embraced martyrdom while four civilians got injured when Indian troops resorted to unprovoked ceasefire violation along the Line of Control (LoC), said Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Tuesday. According to the ISPR, one 15-year old boy embraced martyrdom and four other civilians got injured in the Indian Army unprovoked firing in Baroh and Tandar Sectors along the LoC. The Indian troops targeted the civilian population, said the ISPR. The Pakistan Army responded and targeted those posts which initiated fire. There are reports of substantial damage to Indian posts in men and material. In an intense exchange of fire, Sepoy Shafque fought valiantly and embraced martyrdom. Meanwhile, Pakistan has lodged a strong protest with India over the recent ceasefire violations by Indian forces along the LoC. Indian Charge d’Affaires Gaurav Ahluwalia was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad on Tuesday to register the protest. In a statement, Foreign Office (FO) Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez said that the Indian occupation forces along the LoC and the Working Boundary (WB) have been continuously targeting civilian populated areas with artillery fire, heavy-caliber mortars and automatic weapons. This year, India has committed 2,387 ceasefire violations to date, resulting in 19 martyrdom and serious injuries to 191 innocent civilians. Condemning the deplorable targeting of innocent civilians by the Indian occupation forces, it was underscored that such senseless acts are in clear violation of the 2003 Ceasefire Understanding, and are also against all established humanitarian norms and professional military conduct.

MNAs review socio-economic conditions in Miranshah RAWALPINDI STAFF REPORT

The members of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Defence visited Miranshah to review socio-economic conditions of the tribal area on Tuesday.

A 20-member NA standing committee on defence headed by its chairman Amjad Ali Khan reached Miranshah where it was given a special briefing on socio-economic conditions of the tribal area and uplift projects and construction of security check posts, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.

The spokesperson of the military’s media wing said the members were briefed regarding the ongoing borderfencing along Afghanistan border and construction of

check posts and forts.

Moreover, the defence committee’s members also visited different parts of the area located in North Waziristan for reviewing the progress of ongoing projects for socioeconomic developments of the masses. A briefing was given to the members pertaining to the projects for youth and sports.

The districts, formerly agencies in the erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), had been made after former President Mamnoon Hussain ratified the 25th Constitutional Amendment Bill into law in 2018.

According to the constitution amendment, erstwhile FATA has been granted sixteen general seats, four seats for women and one seat for non-Muslims in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assembly.

5 die as mortar shell explodes in Nowshera scrap shop NOWSHERA STAFF REPORT

Five people died while one got injured when a mortar shell exploded in Akbarpura area of Nowshera on Tuesday. According to Rescue 1122 officials, the bodies and injured were shifted to a nearby hospital. Five deceased in the blast have been identified as Shafqat, Mukarram, Ali, Zahidullah and Hidayatullh, the officials said. District Police Officer (DPO) Najmul Hasnain and other police officers rushed to the spot and inspected the site of the explosion. Police collected evidence from the site of the incident, DPO Najmul Hasnain said. The mortar shell was found near the riverside at Akburpura, which exploded when being sold at the scrap shop, the DPO added. Akbarpura is situated around 13 miles away from Peshawar and is part of Pabbi Tehsil of Nowshera district. Senior civil judge found dead at home.

Parliamentary panel dissatisfied with govt’s decision to establish border markets ISLAMABAD SHAHZAD PARACHA

A parliamentary panel on Tuesday showed dissatisfaction over the government’s decision of establishing border markets in Balochistan.

The meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs Division was held under the chair of Senator Farooq H Naik, and Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Javed Ghani briefed the committee about the new markets.

He stated that the government is not

charging sales tax and federal excise duty on exports in Gwadar and that it is only taking one per cent income tax for the development and prosperity of the area. Furthermore, he said that the government has provided tax-free facilities in Gwadar to improve exports.

The committee was also informed that the government is establishing border markets in Balochistan to curb smuggling and provide job opportunities to the local people. Prime Minister Imran Khan has recently approved the establishment of two border markets in

Balochistan and one in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). These markets are to be completed by February of next year. FBR officials also remarked the committed that the government could not control the smuggling completely due to limited resources. The committee chairman replied that black marketing and smuggling would increase if border markets were established.

The committee has also discussed the question raised by Senator Kalsoom Parveen in the Senate session held on February 4, 2020, regarding complaints in Silk Bank.

Wednesday, 30 September, 2020

NEWS

PM taSkS ForeigN MiNiStry, Fia to coNtact BritiSh authoritieS For Nawaz'S rePatriatioN FORMS 6-MEMBER COMMITTEE TO DEAL WITH OPPOSITION’S ANTI-GOVERNMENT CAMPAIGN IMRAN ASKS FEDERAL CABINET TO SPEAK WITH ONE VOICE ISLAMABAD

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MIAN ABRAR

HE federal government on Tuesday once again decided to take steps for the repatriation of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif as Prime Minister Imran Khan directed his legal and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) teams to take steps to immediately contact the British authorities to help produce Sharif in a court of law. Informed sources told Pakistan Today that the premier also formed a cabinet committee to monitor and deal with the opposition’s political campaign and to counter their plans against the federal government.

The sources added that the committee will comprise of cabinet ministers, including Asad Umar, Shafqat Mahmood, Sheikh Rashid, Fawad Chaudhry, She-

hzad Akbar and Adviser Dr Babar Awan.

Furthermore, the cabinet meeting discussed the opposition’s All-Parties Conference (APC) and decided to deal with it prudently.

PM Imran vehemently said that the government would take all measures to bring back the former prime minister and produced in the court, sources added. The meeting considered various methods of ensuring the repatriation of the PML-N leader and then assigned the task to the Foreign Ministry and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

The federal government may once again write a letter to the British government to facilitate Nawaz Sharif's repatriation as both countries have already signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for repatriation of the accused.

“On this occasion, Prime Minister Imran Khan said that the process of ac-

countability will continue without any discrimination. He said the opposition has realised the fact that no one could get an NRO,” sources said, adding, “With the help of the British government, Nawaz Sharif will be brought back. He has fled the country under the pretext of illness. He will have to return home and appear before the courts.”

PM Imran emphasised that the government would use all legal options for Nawaz's early repatriation. The premier also told the cabinet meeting that the opposition parties were making the institutions controversial in a bid to divert attention from their cases, and reiterated that the government would not submit to these politics of blackmail.

“Corrupt politicians would be dealt with in the same way as criminals are treated. The cabinet should speak with one voice and no minister would have the luxury to offer his/her own legal point of view on political issues. All ministers should legally defend steps taken by their ministries,” said PM Imran.

According to insiders, the cabinet meeting also considered the arrest of opposition leader Shahbaz Sharif, the subsequent press conference by Maryam Nawaz and the statements of PML-N

leaders.

Along with this, the cabinet tackled the 16-point agenda of the meeting and approved the appointment of experts for biological medicine; the constitution of the Medical and Dental Council; and appointment of Chairman of the Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research.

The cabinet was informed that the government has taken important steps to significantly bring down the primary fiscal deficit, improve the nature and quality of domestic and foreign loans, and introduce new products regarding loans.

The cabinet was briefed that the government inherited a debt of Rs30 trillion; hence it had to take $24 billion of loans to pay off instalments of these loans and to prevent the country from bankruptcy.

The meeting was informed the government is paying $10 billion per year in loans instead of $5 billion as had been practised during the past governments.

Furthermore, the cabinet was informed that an increase of Rs7.7 trillion was recorded in government loans last year owing to the restoration of the original value of Pakistani currency, whereas coronavirus pandemic caused the loss of income of Rs1 trillion.

NAB secures 14-day remand of Shehbaz LAHORE STAFF REPORT

An accountability court in Lahore on Tuesday granted the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) 14-day physical remand of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) President and National Assembly Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif in the assets beyond means and money laundering case.

The agency had arrested Shehbaz from the Lahore High Court (LHC) a day earlier after his petition seeking extension in the pre-arrest bail in the said case was rejected. Talking informally to the media after reaching the accountability court, the PML-N president claimed that

the “nexus” between the NAB and Prime Minister Imran Khan has failed and his party will fight the “NAB-Niazi nexus”. During the proceedings on Tuesday, Shehbaz again denied any wrongdoing and fought the accusations himself. Following the arguments, accountability judge Jawadul Hasan accepted the bureau’s request for remand and ordered for Shehbaz to be presented again on October 13.

The counsel for the agency, Faisal Bukhari, told the court yesterday that Shehbaz’s assets between 2008-2018 had grown multifold. He further said that the opposition leader could not explain how he was able to buy four apartments abroad and had not shared when his business had started and its income.

Reacting to Shehbaz’s arrest in a tweet, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz had said that the PML-N president was arrested “because he refused to play in the hands of those who wanted to use him against his brother [former premier Nawaz Sharif]”.

Later in the day, addressing a press conference with other PML-N leaders, Maryam had said, “I do not have a grain of doubt that Shehbaz Sharif was not arrested for corruption or accountability. A reference against him was ongoing and he was arrested in the middle.” Maryam called this incident “a very sad day,” adding, “not only did not leave his brother’s side, but he showed loyalty and commitment to his brother and his cause and did not waiver for a second.

03

PML-N bars party leaders from meeting military leadership LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) has barred party leaders from meeting the military leadership and agencies. In a letter issued by Ahsan Iqbal on the directions of the former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, the party leaders have been asked to refrain from holding meetings with the military leadership. Meeting with the military leadership on issues of national interests will also be held after the permission of the party leadership, the letter read. The letter further states that PML-N is fighting for the supremacy of the constitution in the country. INP

Non-bailable arrest warrants for Shehbaz’s wife, daughter issued LAHORE STAFF REPORT

An accountability court on Tuesday issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Nusrat Shehbaz and Rabia Imran, wife and daughter of Opposition Leader in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif, respectively, in a money-laundering case. Accountability Court Judge Syed Jawadul Hassan conducted the case proceedings, in which Hamza Shehbaz was not produced due to suffering from coronavirus, while another co-accused in the reference, Javeria was allowed to leave the court after marking her attendance. At the outset of the hearing, the court asked about Suleman Shehbaz’s arrest. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor said that arrest warrants have been pasted outside the house of Suleman in London. The Foreign Office (FO) failed to present its report about Suleman and Haroon Yousuf. The court directed the officials of the FO to appear before the court on the next hearing along with the record. Over continued non-appearance before the court, the AC issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Nusrat Shehbaz and Rabia Imran, wife and daughter of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the co-accused in the reference. Later, the hearing of the case was adjourned till October 5.

On Monday, the NAB arrested Shehbaz after the Lahore High Court (LHC) denied him further extension in his interim bail. A NAB team arrested him from the courtroom and took him to the NAB Lahore headquarters amid tight security.

04

Wednesday, 30 September, 2020

NEWS

TAllAl MISled PuBlIC ABouT relATIonSHIP wITH FeMAle MnA, PMl-n CoMMITTee FIndS LAHORE

T

SHAHAB OMER

HE committee formed for the case regarding Tallal Chaudhry and a female Member National Assembly (MNA) Ayesha Rajab Baloch, in its report to the president of PML-N Punjab, Rana Sanaullah, stated that Chaudhry had misled the public about his relationship with the female MNA, said Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) sources.

According to sources, the fact-find-

ing committee had said in its report that Chaudhry had not gone to Ayesha’s house in connection with the party organising meeting, but had gone at Ayesha’s invitation.

Sources in PML-N further said that the committee found that Chaudhry had lied about his resentment with not only Ayesha but also with Ayesha’s brother, who he had had a fight with.

This fact-finding committee was formed by the PML-N Punjab Sanaullah on the issue of former state minister Chaudhry, who was allegedly tortured by the brothers of a female

Man arrested after video of him harassing girls at Peshawar varsity goes viral

LAHORE, TLTP

INP

FIA books Meesha Shafi, others for defaming Ali Zafar on social media LAHORE INP

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Tuesday has registered a case against Pakistani singer Meesha Shafi for defaming singer, actor and model Ali Zafar on social media. According to details, names of Leena Ghani, Haseem Azman, actress Iffat Omar, Hamna Raza, Maham, Ali Gull Pir, Fareeha Ayub and Faizan Raza have also been included in the case that was filed under Protection of Electronic Media 2016. The investigation agency said that on April 19, 2018, Meesha had accused Ali Zafar of sexual harassment.

She appeared before FIA on December 3, 2019 but failed to present any witness. Several fake social media accounts were also made to start MeToo campaign. Over 3,000 posts were posted against Ali Zafar in one year, the agency said. Earlier, Ali Zafar had filed defamation suit worth Rs1 billion against singer Meesha Shafi over hurling harassment allegations.

Zafar's legal counsel Tariq Rahim lodged a petition in Lahore's session court terming Meesha's accusations as reckless and baseless. Later, Pakistani singer Meesha Shafi also filed a Rs2 billion defamation suit against him in Lahore sessions court for making false allegations against her.

IHC hears Zardari’s plea against graft case indictment today ISLAMABAD

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) here on Tuesday extended judicial remand of Shafqat, one of the two key suspects in the motorway gang rape case, until October 6.

Judge Arshad Hussain Bhutta ordered the investigation officer (IO) of the case to ensure that identification parade of the suspect is concluded before the next hearing.

During the hearing, the investigation officer stated before the court that the identification parade of the suspect could not be held due to some reasons and sought time to complete the process. He informed that Shafqat was arrested from Dipalpur and his DNA samples matched those

of the victim woman. He said that Abid Ali, the other key suspect in the case, still remains at large.

Meanwhile, in a major development in the Lahore motorway gang-rape case, the rape victim woman has agreed to record her initial statement via telephone. On September 9, the woman along with her children was waiting for help on the Lahore-Sialkot motorway after her car ran out of fuel when she was forcefully brought out of the car at gunpoint and gang-raped in Gujjarpura area. As per sources, after 20 days of the gang-rape, the victim has agreed to identify Shafqat Ali in the identification parade and record her statement via phone under section 161. It was further learned that the police will request the court for an in-camera trial in which real identification of the rape victim would be kept secret.

Cabinet appoints Ahmad Nawaz Sukhera as Islamabad Club administrator ISLAMABAD SHAHZAD PARACHA

The cabinet on Tuesday gave approval to the appointment of Cabinet Secretary Ahmad Nawaz Sukhera as the administrator of the Islamabad Club.

Sources said that the cabinet division had proposed three names including Cabinet Division Secretary Sardar Ahmad Nawaz Sukhera, Inter-Provincial Coordination Division Secretary Abdul Ghufran Memon and Overseas Pakistanis & Human Resource Development Division Secretary Dr Muhammad Hashim Popaizai.

The position of the administrator has been vacant since August 2, 2020, when Mohammad Jehanzeb Khan – a close aide of Secretary to Prime Minister Azam Khan – retired. Jehanzeb Khan was later appointed as deputy chair-

man of the Planning Commission for three years.

The Islamabad Club was established through an Ordinance on July 17, 1978, as a social and residential club for the use, relaxation, convenience and entertainment of the officers of the federal government and the members of the diplomatic corps stationed at Islamabad.

The federal government shall appoint an officer, who is not of a lower grade than grade 21 in the national pay scale, to be the administrator of the Islamabad Club in addition to his other duties. The administrator shall hold office for a period of two years and shall be eligible for reappointment. The administrator shall, subject to any direction by the federal government, be responsible in the exercising of administrative and financial powers as may be necessary for the efficient working of Islamabad Club.

NAB summons Abbasi today in PMDC appointment case ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Tuesday summoned Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) leader and former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to appear before it on Wednesday (today).

According to the corruption watchdog, the former prime minister has been summoned for questioning in

a case related to the appointment of the Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation (PMDC) managing director.

The PML-N stalwart is facing a number of cases instituted by the bureau, including the LNG contract case, alleged assets beyond means case, and the PSO MD appointments case.

Lately, the NAB filed a supplementary reference against Abbasi in the LNG case. According to the supplementary reference, the PML-N

KP govt to buy, restore houses of Bollywood icons

STAFF REPORT

The Islamabad High Court will hear on Wednesday an appeal submitted by Asif Ali Zardari against the reference filed against him and his indictment in the Park Lane case. The appeal will be heard by Justice Amir Farooq and Justice Ghulam Azam Qambrani of the IHC. In his appeal against the judgement of accountability court, the Zardari counsel has made the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and the federal government parties for not following due process of the law. The appeal noted that the accountability court did not consider legal while carrying out its judgment on NAB reference and that the verdict was partial as the trial was not fair. It pleaded the IHC to nullify the accountability court verdict for it had dismissed Zardari’s petition by violating its legal purview and that the same court also rejected Zardari’s plea to quash the reference by NAB. Zardari was indicted in the main Park Lane case on August 10 after the accountability court had rejected a petition of the former president for dismissal of the NAB in Park Lane reference against him and his acquittal.

statement and submit its report to higher police officials.

However, after the incident, Chaudhry was shifted to the National Hospital, Lahore, but no PML-N leader visited him and, according to the doctors, Chaudhry’s condition was better, but his arm and shoulder were fractured in several places. They also advised him to wear a shoulder sling and get plenty of bed rest.

Speaking on the matter, Rana Sanaullah said, “This is a personal matter of both of them. If anyone complains, then the party will take action.”

Court orders identification parade of motorway rape suspect

PESHAWAR Police on Tuesday arrested a man after a video clip showing him harassing female students at the University of Peshawar went viral. The Campus police took the man, named Inam, into custody on harassment charges. A police official said they have launched an investigation against the arrested man.

Sources said that the video showing him making lewd gestures at female students on the campus began circulating on social media platforms a few days back. The varsity administration came under fire after the video went viral. The administration said that the video is one year old and that it will not condone such acts on the campus.

MNA Ayesha Rajab.

The committee consisted of two members, including PML-N leader and MNA Saira Afzal Tarar and Akram Ansari.

While explaining his side of the story on Twitter, Chaudhry had said that the incident which occurred was not related to any female MNA and the news related to this incident was not based on facts. Tallal had also said that he would issue a detailed statement on the said incident.

Faisalabad police had also formed their own committee to investigate the incident and this committee will record Chaudhry’s

PESHAWAR

leader had been receiving funds from Trinity Company located in the UAE, said to be working with an Indiabased firm, Siddhart Private Limited.

An amount of $538,895 was transferred to Ex-PM Abbasi’s account in three instalments from a Dubai bank, the reference revealed, adding that the UAE government provided the national graft buster with evidence in this regard as the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) also confirmed these transactions.

Afghanistan border crossings opened for pedestrians ISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

STAFF REPORT

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has decided to buy and restore the houses of Bollywood legend actors Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor. Both actors were born and raised in Peshawar’s famous Qissa Khwani area before they moved on to Mumbai to become acting greats. According to the Director Archaeology and Museums, Abdul Samad, the government has decided to buy the houses of Bollywood icons and in this regard, a letter has been sent to the deputy commissioner Peshawar. The value of both houses would be determined after the imposition of section 4. The houses, in the first phase, would be restored to their original position and after reconstruction, they will be transformed as museums, Samad said. “The move is part of efforts to restore Peshawar’s traditional culture.” Under the conservation plan, around 1,800 buildings in Peshawar over 100 years old will be acquired and restored by the provincial government.

The authorities have reopened all border crossings with Afghanistan in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) to pedestrians four days a week, reports emerged on Tuesday. Pakistan’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Mohammad Sadiq tweeted on Monday night, saying all border terminals located in KP, including Torkham, would be opened for pedestrian traffic on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. “[The government] will fully revert to preCorona schedule shortly,” Khan said, referring to the coronavirus crisis due to which the country shut down its borders and suspended domestic and international flights in March. “Good news: Pakistan has announced [the] opening of border crossings with Afghanistan in Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa for all pedestrian traffic for four days a week – Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursday’s and Saturday’s,” Islamabad’s representative in Kabul, Mansoor Ahmad Khan, said in a tweet.

Four killed, one injured over domestic dispute RAWALPIND INP

A man killed four family members of his brother’s second wife and injured the woman over a domestic dispute on Tuesday, and escaped the scene. Iraj Iqbal had married Khurram out of love, hailing from Dhoke Kamal Din of Rawalpindi, but at the demand of her parents, was asking for a divorce from him. Ghulam Abbas, the younger brother of Khurram, annoyed over the demands of his sister-in-law, barged into the house of his brother’s in-laws shot the residents. As a result of firing Iraj was critically injured while her three sisters Hira Nousheen Iqbal, 20, Sabahat Iqbal, 25, and Kiran Iqbal, 27, were killed on the spot. The culprits later visited the shop of their younger brother Haider Ali, 20, and shot him dead there. The accused fled the scene after committing the quadruplet murder. Parents of the deceased said that the matter was in Jirga to settle but Ghulam Abbas was threatening them of dire consequences. A case was registered into the incident and police started raids to arrest the culprits.

Man kills male relative, injures wife for ‘honour’ KARACHI TLTP

A man on Tuesday killed a person and seriously wounded his wife after multiple attacks of knife in what appeared to be a murder on the pretext of “honour”. According to details, the incident was reported in Memon Goth area of the city, when a man named Khalid first killed his male relative with multiple knife attacks and then wounded his wife in a similar manner. The injured woman was shifted to a hospital in a critical condition, said police. They said that the victim and the murderer are relatives and the latter had run away after the incident. “We have collected evidence from the spot and have interrogated other people to gather information regarding the motive of the killing,” they said. According to a report, around 769 people including 510 females have been stabbed in the name of honour from 2014 to 2019 in Sindh while 108 women fell victim to it last year.

Police presented charge sheets in 649 cases and the courts awarded sentences to accused in 19 of those cases. Accused in 136 cases have been acquitted and 494 cases are still pending trial. The conviction rate stood at a mere 2 per cent against the acquittal rate of 20.9 per cent.

Massive promotions, transfers in Islamabad Police ISLAMABAD BILAL SABRI

The inspector-general of Islamabad Police has issued a notification of promotions and transfers of 20 sub-inspectors (BPS14) to officiating inspectors (BS-16) on Tuesday. According to a notification, the promotions came following recommendations from the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC). On the special directions of the Islamabad IGP Amir Zulfiqar Khan, the officers who got promotions to inspector rank include Shoail Ahmed Awan, Muhammad Yousaf, Habibur Rehman, Noorul islam, Khani Zaman, Muhammad Ashraf, Yasin Ali, Zile Hussain, Umer Khan, Munjra Khan, Muhammad Irshad, Muhammad Riaz, Muhammad Yousaf, Ghulam Nabi, Muhammad Feroz, Muhammad Ayub Awan, Muhammad Ashraf, Ghazanfar Ali, Muhammad Iqbal and Shafaqat Mehmood. Furthermore, 16 deputy superintendent of police (DSPs) in Islamabad have been transferred and assigned different duties. Bashir Ahmed has been transferred from DSP/VVIP route to DSP/Security (Aiwan-e-Sadar), Ulfat Arif from DSP/Security (Aiwan-e-Sadar) to DSP/Parliament Lodges, Imtiaz Ali Shah from DSP/Parliament Lodges to DSP/VVIP route, Haq Nawaz Ranjha from DSP/Special Branch to DSP/CTD, Farooq Ahmed from DSP/Foreign Mission to DSP/Security Headquarter (security division) and 11 others.

Wednesday, 30 September, 2020

GovT To AnnounCe wheAT suPPorT PriCe This week, nA Body ToLd iSLaMaBad

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GHULAM ABBAS

HE government is expected to announce the minimum wheat support price for 2020-21 crop in the next few days, National Food Security and Research Secretary Omar Hameed Khan informed the National Assembly Standing Committee on National Food Security on Tuesday.

MNA Rao Ajmal Khan, who chaired the meeting, was of the view that the minimum support price should be fixed at Rs1,800 or Rs1,900 per 40kg keeping in view experiences from the current wheat crisis.

He demanded the government to announce the support price without any delay, saying that an early announcement of the support price would help farmers know how much wheat they need to sow based on the seed availability.

"The government must realise that the wheat sowing season starts from October 10, and if the support price is

announced by mid-October, farmers will opt for other crops, which will ultimately lead to a new wheat crisis," he stated.

Secretary Hameed Khan informed the committee that the price mechanism has been developed by the Agriculture Policy Institute in consultation with all stakeholders and keeping in mind recommendations of the standing committee.

Meanwhile, the committee asked the Ministry of National Food Security to ensure the availability of quality hybrid seeds of cotton in the markets to enhance its per acre production. It expressed concern that growers could not be facilitated through the government's subsidy on fertilizers, directing the ministry to take stringent measures to support small growers.

Earlier, National Food Security and Research Minister Syed Fakhr Imam briefed the committee about the current wheat and cotton position, saying that major factor for low output of crops was outdated seed technology, adding that climate change has also

caused substantial damage to this year’s agriculture production.

Punjab and Sindh were the most affected provinces in the wake of recent rains, which also was a big reason the country couldn’t achieve the production targets of some crops, he said.

Imam cautiously estimated that the torrential rains and flood have damaged over 500,000 bales of cotton in Sindh and Punjab.

He informed the committee that the major issues for not achieving the cotton production target were the quality of seed quality and white fly attacks. “Subsidy on white fly pesticides has started, the experts of our ministry are continuously working on it and we are trying to ensure transparency in this regard."

During its lengthy deliberations discussing the entire gambit of the agriculture sector, the committee members urged the government to take serious measures for provision of certified cotton seed, fearing that like previous years, the cotton production this year would also show declining trends.

Moreover, the committee heard FIA DG Wajid Zia on the outcome of the sugar and wheat commission. He said as a follow-up, NAB has started investigation on sugar subsidy whereas FIA initiated investigation into sugar export in light of the findings of the report. The SECP was also conducting investigation on the sugar scam, he said, adding that the government wants these agencies to submit their reports within 90 days.

To tackle the weaknesses as pointed out in the commission reports, Zia said that the government has set up a committee under Industries and Production Minister Hammad Azhar to bring reforms in sugar policy. On this, the committee chairman regretted that even five months after the submission of reports, no significant improvement has been seen in the prices of sugar and wheat.

Lastly, the committee unanimously recommended that the 'Chamber of Agriculture Bill, 2019” (Private Member Bill) may be passed.

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Pakistan assures Afghanistan of complete support in peace talks continued on page 01 “I realise that the road ahead will be bumpy and it won’t be easy. And let’s not fool ourselves, it won’t be handed to us on a platter. One will have to work for it,” he said.

ABDULLAH APPRECIATES PAKISTAN’S ‘VITAL ROLE’: In his address, the Afghan leader highlighted that Pakistan had played a vital role in facilitating the Afghan peace process. He added that both the countries have paid a heavy price by facing terror groups that are still acting as “spoilers”.

According to Radio Pakistan, Abdullah stated that Afghanistan would not allow any terror entity to pose a threat to any other nation. He also recognised the start of negotiations between the Afghan government and the Taliban as an important opportunity, saying that it offered the “best hope to put the war behind us”. He said they had asked the negotiating team to be patient and ready to make compromises, the report added. The Afghan leader highlighted that Pakistan and Afghanistan face common threats and challenges, including terrorism, extremism, intolerance and, more recently, Covid-19. Abdullah said that there was untapped potential for cooperation between the two countries. He also thanked Pakistan for hosting millions of Afghan refugees, adding that Kabul shared Islamabad’s view regarding their dignified return.

Primary schools to reopen today despite surge in campus virus cases continued on page 01

Livestock sector to be transformed on modern lines: CM Buzdar LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has said that the provincial government is committed to transforming the livestock sector on modern lines. The chief minister said this after inaugurating a ‘Veterinary Academy’ at the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences on Tuesday.

Addressing the inauguration ceremony of the state-of-the-art Academy, Punjab Livestock Minister Sardar Hasnain Bahadar Dhareshak said the government is taking steps to improve the life of farmers by paying attention to the livestock breeding, dairies, free zones, and domestic poultry. STAFF REPORT

Balochistan health officials detected 12 more cases of novel coronavirus at educational institutions on Tuesday and with the latest detection of the Covid-19 cases, the number of total cases reported at the educational institutions of the province now stands at 525. The health department has conducted 5,659 tests so far to monitor the virus in schools and other educational institutions. Spokesperson of Balochistan government, Liaquat Shahwani, earlier said that primary schools in the province will remain closed for 15 more days. He said the decision of delaying the reopening of primary schools in the province has been taken after a spike in coronavirus cases. Meanwhile, as many as 145 students tested positive for the coronavirus at public and private schools in Punjab, according to the Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department. A spokesperson for the department said that 70,750 students were tested for Covid-19 at educational institutions after they reopened on September 15, out of whom 145 turned out to be positive. Of the total tests, 63,339 were conducted at government schools while 7,411 at private schools, he said. One classroom of nine educational institutes while more than one classroom of five others were sealed for flouting the government-prescribed standard operating procedures (SOPs) between September 15 and September 28.

Opposition announces first PDM rally in Quetta on Oct 11 continued on page 01: The announcement of the PDM rally comes just one day after PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif was arrested by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) in a case regarding his alleged possession of assets beyond means and money. Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Raja Pervez Ashraf said that “such tactics will weaken democracy and the anger and grievances of Pakistanis will rise” while referring to the arrest. Pervez further said this arrest is proof of the “government-NAB nexus”, referring to the government ministers that predicted on television the arrests of various opposition leaders. Ashraf said the Oct 11 rally will be followed by “a series of public meetings” in all provinces. The meeting was expected to review the situation after Shehbaz’s detention and possible arrest of other leaders, the PTI government’s alleged plan to rig Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and local bodies polls and give a final shape to the decisions taken at the opposition’s September 20 multi-party conference (MPC). PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari did not attend the meeting.

SBP must proactively encourage lending for home loans, says NPHP chairman KaRacHi MEIRYUM ALI

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) must take a more aggressive stance when it comes to encouraging and collecting information on housing finance in Pakistan, according to Zaigham Mahmood Rizvi, the chairman of Naya Pakistan Housing Programme (NPHP), and the former CEO of House Building Finance Company (HBFC) Pakistan.

He made these comments in a webinar on Tuesday titled “The future outlook of Housing Finance Industry in Pakistan in view of the government’s initiatives”, jointly organized by the CFO CLUB and The Institute of Bankers Pakistan.

Other panelists included Mudassir Khan, the CEO of Pakistan Mortgage Refinance Company (PMRC); Muhammad Afaq Khan, the head of Islamic Banking at Habib Bank (HBL); and Syed Taha Afzal, the head of Consumer Finance at Askari Bank.

The discussion was moderated by Zulfiqar Alam, the group head of business and products at PMRC. Rizvi noted that for most of Pakistan’s 70 year history, there had

CMYK

been no fiscal or regulatory incentives to develop housing finance. He said that for the first time, the SBP had decided to lower the cost of borrowing and make banks lend more.

This year, the central bank has asked commercial banks to allocate 5pc of their total lending to the construction sector. Currently, banks’ current exposure to the sector is only at 1pc of overall loans.

“If banks will not lend out to the housing sector, that money will stay with the bank - the cost will be there.

They have to be forced to,” said Rizvi.

He said that the SBP should have a dedicated and aggressive department with an elaborate information system on low-income housing.

This would be akin to a system similar to the one set up by Thailand’s central bank.

Rizvi also lamented that Pakistan’s neighbouring country, India has more than 90 housing finance institutions, whereas Pakistan only has one.

Mudassir Khan said that Pakistan’s mortgage to GDP ratio was one of the lowest in the world, at 0.5pc. Meanwhile, in Bangladesh and India, that ratio stood at 3pc and

11pc, respectively. Malaysia’s ratio stood at 33pc.

“You cannot progress housing finance without long term funding.

Unfortunately in Pakistan, the housing sector has been financed through short term deposits.”

Khan said that PMRC already had a 10pc share of the housing finance market, and that there was a huge opportunity in the sector.

Afaq Khan said that as HBL was Pakistan’s largest bank, they felt an obligation to take a lead in the development of this segment.

He also explained some structural problems to housing in Pakistan. According to Khan, first, the banking and contracting sector had not participated with one another.

Second, banks were not comfortable approving credit or having exposure for 20 years in low income areas, due to uncertainty and ‘qabsa’ groups.

“These are ground realities we cannot ignore,” he said.

Taha Afzal emphasized that while banks were focused on expanding and catering to first-tier and second-tier cities, there was a need to expand to third, fourth and fifth-tier cities in Pakistan.

Wednesday, 30 September, 2020

06 COMMENT

How to bring back illicit money stashed in foreign safe havens

The rising political temperature Govt should hold talks with opposition

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HE PdM is finally in action. The alliance will hold its first rally in Quetta on October 11 to test the waters. after this, rallies will be held in other three provincial capitals as well as in the smaller cities of the country. With its several leaders under threat of arrest, the ten-day-old alliance has to set up an organisational structure while simultaneously conducting agitation. a steering committee comprising representatives from all PdM parties has been formed to take decisions.

The arrested opposition leader Mian Shahbaz Sharif stood for conciliation with the establishment. His incarceration has brought hardliner Ms Maryam nawaz into action. interestingly the initial response to Mian Shahbaz Sharif’s arrest from both former PM nawaz Sharif and daughter Maryam was confined to targeting the ‘puppet regime’ of PM imran Khan without directly criticizing the army. a call has been made instead to those “who brought PM imran Khan into power” through the 2018 elections to withdraw their support to him as he is avowedly “an immature, incompetent, corrupt and inexperienced person” and has landed the country in disaster.

The PdM bears a heavy cross. The PML(n} and JUi(F) can take whatever steps are needed to remove the PM including resignations from the national assembly.

The PPP has a tightrope walk ahead to retain the Sindh government while participating in the PdM’s agitation also.

The government and its patrons too face problems dealing with the protest movement. The people are hard hit by rising prices. Soon there will be gas and power shortages. This could provide street power to the PdM. increasing confrontation with the opposition would create uncertainty in the country. The news of the arrest of Mian Shahbaz Sharif has already had a negative impact on the KSE-100 index that plummeted 960 points (2.30 per cent) and closed below the 41,000 level at 40,741. The right to protest is a part and parcel of democracy. The opposition is therefore within its right to exercise it, while it is the opposition’s duty to keep the protests peaceful. The way out is not arrests through naB but negotiations with the opposition. Meanwhile naB needs to be reined in from targeting the opposition leaders only.

India too has much bitter experience Amjed jAAved

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ndia says that its citizens have $60 billion in assets stashed abroad. Our government also is determined to get back assets worth $11 billion hidden in foreign safe havens. india was able to get full names of 50 offenders, and several others with name- initials that held Swiss accounts.

The flight of money leaves no easy trail. it goes into foreign `havens’ through benami (nameless or surrogate) account holders. indians do not put all their secret money in Swiss banks. in recent years, indians’ Swiss deposits have been dwindling. They put it in about 80 tax havens including British and US islands (offshore), Liechtenstein, Luxemburg, the Channel islands, the UKs Offshore Territories such as Cayman islands, British Virgin islands, and Bermuda, besides Switzerland.

Then, there are asian tax havens like Hong Kong, Macao, Singapore, Bahrain and Malaysia, rather than Switzerland. While 31 per cent of the indian wealth was kept in Switzerland, 53 per cent was held in asian tax havens (as of 2015). indians feared Swiss banks may share their data with the indian government. This fear is reflected in declining Swiss deposits. Money parked by indians in Swiss banks rose 50 percent to about Rs 7000 crore in 2017 compared to2016. However, on the whole, indian deposits have been declining since 2014 (diverting to asian havens). as a blow to secrecy, or to check illicit deposits, Switzerland, in its federal gazette, have published names of indian account-holders in two parts, one full names, and the other identifed by initials Several of these are believed based in Kolkata, Gujarat, Bengaluru, delhi and Mumbai. in india, several companies now store their wealth as cash or bullion for fear of getting caught.

Recently, india’s income tax department in Tamil nadu recovered Rs 1 billion in cash and 90kg bullion in raids on 22 subsidiaries of a construction firm. india realised it was a Herculean job to get illicit money coughed up. as such, it devised new offencecompounding rules to deal with the Gordian Knot.

Un specified techniques to circumvent antimoney laundering legislation target: (a) Smurfing, that is breaking down a large volume of cash in amounts less than the threshold of the particular country’s reporting requirements, thereby avoiding the requirement to justify the transaction. Generally, the cash is exchanged for bearer cheques or in-

The relentless CCPO Unapologetically inappropriate

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LTHOUGH CCPO Lahore Umar Sheikh first made headlines due to his alleged role in the ouster of former iGP Punjab Shoaib dastigir to make room for a more agreeable man in inam Ghani, he became particularly controversial for his atrocious remarks blaming the victim of the Motorway gang-rape for what had happened to her. Public outrage and a dressing down by the LHC Chief Justice had forced Sheikh to make a belated apology, but it would seem that it was a dishonest one as he doubled down on his stance, after stating in front of the Senate human rights panel that it was his “assumption” that the female victim in question was attacked because she was “travelling alone at night without her husband’s permission”. Such victim blaming, especially against women who have been sexually assaulted, is a product of a severely misogynistic society that we live in and the CCPO’s mindset reflects that reality. notwithstanding Mr. Sheikh’s personal opinions about how and when females should be ‘allowed’ to be mobile, the main accused in the case is still at large after close to 20 days after the incident and the police do not seem to be any closer to finding him. is it safe to assume then that the CCPO, who has now twice made it clear who he thinks is to be blamed for the rape, is no longer interested in bringing to book the person who committed the rape?

Mr. Sheikh is not very popular within his own department either. a few days back he had his personal secretary briefly put behind bars because of unsatisfactory work, who was later released after protests by the latter’s colleagues. Earlier, a sub-inspector resigned from his position after being verbally abused by the CCPO Lahore in a meeting. Even before getting the job, Mr. Sheikh did not enjoy a good or clean reputation and since taking charge he has made no effort to amend that, and rather has made it much easier for everyone to accept that the iB report on him is quite accurate. The leniency shown to Mr. Sheikh by the Punjab government suggests that he has the blessings of those who matter and is therefore indispensable. Without a fear of losing his job in the presence of such blanket immunity, why wouldn’t the CCPO say the things he says and do the things he does?

The Need for Social reforms The only way to handle the abuse in society AAmnA KhAn

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furious debate concerning women’s security in Pakistan has been evoked right after the recent motorway gangrape. Public began to protest all over Pakistan, and social media became the hub of discussions and anger-filled arguments. Society questioned the state of law and the role of law enforcing agencies. it’s an alarming situation that approximately every day there are cases of rapes of women, children and transgenders and gangrapes. There are arguments that in a country which claims itself to be an islamic republic, why are such cases increasing. What are the factors responsible? after the motorway incident, people began to demand strict punishments for rapist and hashtag #HangtheRapist had trended for several days.

Prime Minister imran Khan in response to these demands advised his government to formulate strict laws and favoured chemical castration and public hanging of rapists. in a recent interview, Khan said “They should be given exemplary punishments. in my opinion, they should be hanged at the chowk,” further he said, “The way murders are graded as first degree, second degree and third degree, rape should also be graded this way, and the first-grade rapists should be castrated and made incapable completely.” after his statement, a new discussion began on social media about the pros and cons of such penalties considering the existence of numerous loopholes in the judicial system that may lead to exploitation of such punishments. a robust judicial system is a prerequisite to give speedy justice as it is said “Justice delayed is justice denied”, but unfortunately it is one of the dilemmas of the Pakistani judicial system where it took years to get justice and cases remain pending. Strict punishments are inevitable to control the crime rate at the moment. Public hangings will caution rapists and all those having such tendencies and out of fear,

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

ternational money-orders which are then deposited into the trafficker’s account by a go-between. (b) Making use of so-called front and shell companies in cashintensive concerns (retail outlets, etc). (c) accounting techniques like over-invoicing of imports and under-invoicing of exports. (d) Repatriation of funds parked in offshore shell companies through the loan-back method. (d) Use of non-bank financial institutions like unregistered currency-exchange houses, monetization of gold, gems, diamonds and other precious metals. (e) acquisition of sick companies. (f) Hawala transactions based on trust and confidentiality rather than paper work leaving no trail and bypassing regulatory mechanism of banking systems. The fraudsters utilize banking-system opacity and politicized financialaction task forces to their advantage. according to international media, the money belonging to Pakistanis in Swiss banks far exceeds that of indians (excluding dormant accounts of about $300 million). it is speculated that Pakistan could retire its entire debt (and even build some dams) if this money is repatriated. during 2013 to 2016, then Finance Minister ishaq dar (now a fugitive) held negotiations with Switzerland regarding hidden bank accounts, double taxation and granting Switzerland most-favoured-nation status. The upshot of the negotiations was that only accounts from January 2018 onwards could be investigated.

Pakistan’s Express Tribune dated 2 July 2016 reported `in a startling revelation, London-based investigative journalist James d Crickton has claimed former army generals Pervez Musharraf and ashfaq Parvez Kayani possess multi-million dollar Swiss bank accounts’. The newspaper adds, `in his blog on World Press Platform, Crickton said he came to know that the two former army chiefs have several million dollars stashed away in Swiss bank accounts while he was investigating into offshore accounts of Prime Minister nawaz Sharif’s family’.

Pakistan became a priority region for counter terrorist financing, due to the presence of al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups, the porous Pak-afghan border, and cash-based economy that often operates through informal mechanisms, such as hawala (hand-to-hand delivery). despite freezing of over $10 million of al-Qaeda assets, Washington remained rueful. international attitude to india and Pakistan’s efforts smacked of blow-hot-blow-cold. in yesteryears, india was the bête noire. now, focus is on Pakistan.

Money `flight’ techniques include: (a) Underinvoicing/over-invoicing of exports and imports and getting the balance stored abroad (b) Kickbacks from major defense/civilian contracts (c) Smuggling

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Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9

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the crime rate will also decrease. in addition to the strict punishments, social reforms are too, vital to deal with such issues in future. Social reforms can be defined as “any attempt that seeks to correct any injustices in society. People who are involved in social reforms do so with the aim of improving the quality of life. Social Reform is a kind of social movement that aims to make gradual change, or change in certain aspects of society, rather than rapid or fundamental changes.” now the question is how and who will bring these reforms in the society?

First and foremost is acceptance. We need to accept the shady sides of our society. Closing eyes to the problems will not eradicate them. We need to accept that such heinous crimes do exist in our society and mollifying ourselves behind controversies isn’t going to help much. There can hardly be any woman in Pakistan who has never faced any sort of harassment, violence or molestation in her lifetime.

Secondly, start with one’s own self at one’s own home. it is said ‘Be the change you want to see in the world’. Parents must teach their children about good, bad touch and how to protect themselves in any such situations. in our society, parents often feel shy to talk about such issues with their kids and it is considered taboo. This attitude needs to change, parents should befriend their kids and make sure their kids feel comfortable talking about anything with them. in most cases, kids are uncomfortable in sharing and get scared of the consequences, leading to continuous suffering and abuse.

Thirdly, educational institutions can play a significant role in bringing change in society. after home, schools and teachers are the main sources of learning for kids hence, teachers should play their part in creating awareness. Besides, the set curriculum, schools, colleges and universities must teach their students morals and ethics. There should be training sessions for self-defense. Moreover, to create awareness about the level of sensitivity about such issues there should be regular workshops for educating police officials and other concerned au-

Islamabad – Ph: 051-2204545

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Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk

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of gold and illegal money (d) Hawala funds (e) Funds earned by entertainment industry, and sports icons, and (e) setting up trusts abroad. (f) Money is moved in a layering process through numerous shell companies located in tax havens mainly to hide the identity of the real beneficiary. as such, only a few culprits appear in leaks like Swiss leaks, Panama Papers, Bahamas leaks and Paradise Papers. (g) Unauthorized letters of undertakings in the absence of credit limits and collateral security.

Financial offenders are highly qualified, educated in foreign universities. For instance, nirav Modi was an accomplished real estate lawyer. He developed a specialization in acquisitions and disposals of corporate vehicles and underlying real estate assets. He is an expert in private mergers, acquisitions and disposals in children’s nurseries, dental practices and other sectors. Even supersleuths in india could not get back R. 11400 crore chipped off from indian-Punjab Bank. The fraudsters abroad remained immune to enactment of the Economic Offenders Bill, extradition requests under and mutual legal assistance, and so on. a fugitive offender may seek political asylum, if he is not entitled to `indefinite leave’ to stay in a foreign country. notwithstanding the extradition treaty with UK since 1993, it could get back only one offender. To check flight of money abroad and get ‘foreign’ money repatriated, Pakistan could learn from india. Unlike india, Pakistan’s enforcement bureaucracy lacks competence to deal with hydraheaded money launderers. a plethora of cases against the previous government’s bureaucracy has undercut their enthusiasm for bold steps. Pakistan’s bureaucracy acts hands in glove with politicians.

Tax circulars and tax amnesty schemes are invented to whiten black money. interestingly, even nawaz Sharif, like imran Khan, has no declared business.

Pakistan could follow the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and development’s regulations to bring back black money. it could learn a lot from india’s online information-exchange techniques, and offence compounding. Pakistan relies on Tax amnesty Schemes. These schemes discourage honest tax payments. Even iMF has expressed ennui on extending the deadline for the current amnesty Scheme. Even offenders in india did not cough up a penny. incentive schemes look better than legal mousetraps.

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

He can be reached at amjedjaaved@gmail.com.

thorities who are directly associated with such situations as recently, the insensitive remarks of CCPO Lahore aggravated much anger among the masses. These workshops will help to tackle any such issue in future.

Fourth, religious scholars need to play their part as well. Being an officially islamic state, religion is an eminent part of our society We feel proud of living in the islamic Republic but in islam, there is no margin for such crimes. in islamic jurisdiction, the punishment of rape is stoning to death. islam is the prime torchbearer of human rights, so if we call ours a ‘Muslim society’ why are such heinous crimes happening so often One of the fundamental problems in Pakistan is the complicating intermingling of culture and religion. We often follow some cultural values religiously without realising they have nothing to do with our religion. The true interpretation of religious texts and values is indispensable. Further, Clerics being influential and respectable part of our society come forward to guide people and preach them the true islamic values. in Friday sermons, in spite of speaking about politics, they should highlight social evils and provide solution of social problems in the light of islamic teachings. They need to speak against rape exactly as they do against blasphemy.

The media should also play its role in creating awareness among the masses. in the current century, media has emerged as an extraordinary tool for shaping opinions and perspectives. Media can reach to even those who don’t have access to educational institutions. Media itself is an institution that can play major role in building a society on moral and ethical grounds. Electronic media should broadcast such dramas, movies and advertisements as address subjects like child abuse, rapes, and any other form of abuse. Through media, the audience can be informed about their rights, responsibilities and legal procedures.

There is a dire need for social reforms in Pakistani society. Without such reforms, even severe penalties wouldn’t be able to do much. Executing strict punishments is the short term strategy while complete eradication of such evils requires a grassroot-level and long-term strategy of social reforming.

These reforms can only be achieved through serious concerted efforts mutually carried out by all segments of society at all levels.

Aamna Khan is a freelance columnist

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Wednesday, 30 September, 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

Socio-economic impact of Covid-19 in the history of world, we witnessed the worst scenario of the globe in the face of COVid-19. it has not only affected the lives of all and sundry but also has shaken the socio-economic fabric of the countries. as we have been sighting for 6 months, the pandemic has muddled the pattern of the world. nothing is on its appropriate position, owing to epidemic. Our economical progress has been retarded. as, our industries, schools, colleges, and e.t.c were ceased, therefore, our economical progress came to an end. Moreover, number of industries have lost massive headway. However, it is the responsibility of our government to make vaccines for pandemic, despite fixing money with doctors for the dead body of COVid ruined people. They must perceive, even our youth has been facing physical and mental chaos as well.

Furthermore, our government should take timely steps regarding pandemic’s impact on this entire synopsis of the world.

MooSa Panhwar Sukkur

Politics of bankruptcy

A realistic appraisal of peace process The Taliban, the Afghan government, the USA and Pakistan must all be on the same page

mAliK muhAmmAd AshrAf

N

EEdLESS to emphasize that the intra-afghan dialogue which has commenced in doha is going to be a lengthy and complicated undertaking to reach a consensual future political arrangement in that country. Like the protracted and arduous path in firming up a peace deal between the USa and Taliban, the negotiations between the two afghan interlocutors would require lot of patience, understanding and a spirit of accommodation on both sides. Therefore in view of the intricacies involved no time line can be given for the conclusion of this process. The signing of a peace agreement between the USa and Taliban and the commencement of intraafghan dialogue, has brought forth a historic opportunity for bringing peace in afghanistan.

Prime Minister of Pakistan imran Khan in an article published in Washington Post on September 26 has made a very realistic appraisal of the efforts for peace in afghanistan, the need for patience in carrying forward the peace process , the benefits that the successful intra-afghan dialogue holds for afghanistan itself and the whole region, factors inimical to the success of the ongoing dialogue and the need for the USa to hold back the withdrawal of its troops till the time of the anticipated outcome of the intraafghan dialogue. He also dwelt at length at the fallout of continued conflict in afghanistan and the acts of terrorism by the terrorist entities on the country itself, the region and Pakistan, as well as the cost that the latter had paid in fighting the scourge of terrorism and hosting four million afghan refugees for nearly four decades.

The thrust of his article was rightly on the irrefutable realities about peace in afghanistan being essential for peace in Pakistan, a realization which has been the driving force in Pakistan’s efforts to promote reconciliation in afghanistan. Few would contest his observation in this regard which goes like this “This experience taught us two important lessons. First, that we were too closely intertwined with afghanistan by geography, culture and kinship for events in that country not to cast a shadow on Pakistan. We realized Pakistan will not know real peace until our afghan brothers and sisters

are at peace. We also learned that peace and po- the barrel of the gun. The USa asked Pakistan litical stability in afghanistan could not be im- for help in facilitating a dialogue with the Talposed from the outside through the use of force. iban, which eventually commenced and conOnly an afghan-owned and afghan-led recon- cluded with the peace agreement between them. ciliation process, which recognizes The contribution made by Pakistan in this regard afghanistan’s political realities and diversity, has been repeatedly acknowledged by the US administration. This development has also could produce a lasting peace”. in regards to intra-afghan dialogue he was helped in arresting nosedive in relations between right on money to say “We have arrived at a rare the two countries. The two countries almost moment of hope for afghanistan and for our re- seem on the same page in regards to the exgion. On Sept. 12, delegations from the afghan pected outcome of the intra-afghan dialogue. government and the Taliban finally sat down in imran Khan’s contention that like the USa, Pakdoha, Qatar, to begin negotiations toward a polit- istan does not want the blood and treasure we ical settlement that would bring the war in have shed in the war against terrorism to be in vain amply reflects this afghanistan to an end. unanimity of views.

The intra-afghan negoPakistan undoubttiations are likely to be edly has an abiding even more difficult, recommitment to peace quiring patience and The visit is a part of the in afghanistan which it compromise from all efforts to evaluate progress views as being in her sides. Progress could be interest and of the slow and painstaking; on the intra-Afghan dialogue own region as well. as the there may even be the occasional deadlock, as and discuss the way forward. Prime Minister said, “Pakistan will continue afghans work together Pakistan not only wants a to support the afghan for their future. at such people in their quest for times, we would do well political settlement in a unified, independent to remember that a and sovereign bloodless deadlock on Afghanistan but also a afghanistan that is at the negotiating table is collective effort to help peace with itself and its infinitely better than a neighbors. Pakistan bebloody stalemate on the Afghanistan in the post-war lieves that peace negobattlefield. all those tiations should not be who have invested in the era as is evident from Prime conducted under coerafghan peace process cion and urges all parshould resist the temptaMinister’s reiteration “It is ties to reduce violence. tion for setting unrealisalso time to start planning Just as the afghan govtic timelines. a hasty ernment has recognized international withdrawal for the “day after” — how can the Taliban as a politifrom afghanistan would cal reality, it is hoped be unwise. We should the world help a postwar that the Taliban would also guard against reAfghanistan transition to recognize the progress gional spoilers who are afghanistan has not invested in peace sustainable peace?” made.” and see instability in While Pakistan reafghanistan as advantamains engaged with the geous for their own Taliban it has also ingeopolitical ends. The first step toward that peace has been taken in vited abdullah abdullah, the Chief Executive of doha. not seeing through the afghanistan peace afghanistan and the Chairman of the High process or abandoning it for any reason would be Council for national Reconciliation of a great travesty. For Pakistan, regional peace and afghanistan, to Pakistan. during his visit, abstability remain keys to realizing the collective as- dullah will call on the President, Prime Minister, pirations of our people for a better future. We are Chairman Senate, Speaker national assembly committed to multilateral collaboration to achieve and Foreign Minister as well as other dignitaries, besides also delivering a keynote address at the this.” it is pertinent to point out that Pakistan, institute of Strategic Studies, islamabad and also notwithstanding the skepticism repeatedly ex- having an interaction with the media. The visit pressed by the afghan government, has been is a part of the efforts to evaluate progress on the making determined efforts to promote afghan- intra-afghan dialogue and discuss the way forled and afghan-owned reconciliation in ward. Pakistan not only wants a political settleafghanistan and has also remained engaged with ment in afghanistan but also a collective effort the USa persuading it to opt for a settlement on to help afghanistan in the post-war era as is evthe negotiating table, rather than on the battle- ident from Prime Minister’s reiteration “it is also field. it firmly opposed the new policy an- time to start planning for the “day after” — how nounced by President Trump for afghanistan can the world help a postwar afghanistan tranand South asia. Pakistan’s perseverance with sition to sustainable peace?” this position finally won the day for her and the Malik Muhammad Ashraf is an academic.

Trump administration ultimately realized the futility of continuing to force a solution through He can be contacted at: ashpak10@gmail.com

FRiEnd Raoof Hasan’s column of the same title in this esteemed paper’s issue of last Sunday refers. i am a great admirer of Raoof’s for his courage and forthright castigation of the corruption which bedevils all sectors of our society. Week after week he rouses our collective conscience. deserves kudos for that. aPCs are good moves. democracy needs these unions of the like minded. Raoof’s analysis of the fissures among major parties is pertinent. now the aPC has to walk the talk. Waiting for the crowds. Let’s see how much disruption of civic life is in store for us. Living in interesting times.

Mohib aSad iSlaMabad

Rise of e-commerce PaKiSTan’S e-commerce and digital economy has registered a huge boost in sales during the coronavirus pandemic as shoppers physical mobility is limited. in recent years, the country has tried to expand the digitization of its economy through promoting online businesses in a bid to boost exports and create job opportunities for young people. although the digital industry remains in its infancy stage in Pakistan, there has been a steady rise in e-commerce transactions and in the number of registered e-commerce merchants. Sales of local and international ecommerce merchants in Pakistan have increased to Rs 40.1 billion in 2018 from Rs 20.7 billion in 2017, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

Businessmen said that the encouraging online sales figures would grow further if the government offered tax incentives and ensured regulation for Pakistan’s e-commerce platforms, as numbers of people visiting shopping malls and retail outlets trickles to a near-halt.

Thanking you, SyEd aMan karachi

Smuggled fuel i have come to know that smuggling of petrol and diesel from iran is increasing. according to one estimate, 20% of the diesel used in Pakistan is smuggled from iran. it can well be imagined how much the Government of Pakistan is losing in sales tax, levies and custom duties every year because of this practice. i am sure the losses run into billions of rupees. availability of cheap fuel from smuggled sources also hurts Pakistan’s oil sellers as well as the refineries. Smuggled iranian diesel is of low quality and that is why it is cheap. it has high percentage of sulphur and other additives. When it is smuggled into Pakistan, it pollutes the underground tanks of the fuel pumps when it mixes with better quality local fuel. The dealers are attracted by the low-priced iranian fuel so they prefer to buy it and do not buy from local refineries. Smuggled fuel has even forced a major OMC to close many of its pumps in Balochistan where this low-quality fuel was commonly available. The roots of fuel smuggling between the borders of Balochistan and iran can be traced to the poor socio-economic conditions existing in Pakistan’s most backward province. if these conditions can be improved and the people of Balochistan are given the opportunity to earn a respectable livelihood in their own province, smuggling will be discouraged. i think the government should pay urgent attention to this factor.

MuhaMMad rohail haSSan karachi

Guardian is the shoplifter THE economy of the country had been on the verge of collapse in recent years and the arrival of Corona-Virus (COVid-19) has even made it worse but our political leaders despite stabilizing the country’s economy they are maintaining their own bank balance by money laundering and some other ways of corruption. On Monday, the Lahore High Court (LHC) declined the bail petition of the president of Pakistan Muslim League-nawaz (PMLn) and the former prime minister of Punjab (Shahbaz Sharif) and arrested him for the case of money laundering in ashian-i-iqbal housing scheme of more than 14 billion rupees and the case was filed by national accountability Bureau (naB). according to a report that over 177 suspected transactions were detected and the anti-graft auditors promulgated the cessation of around 23 properties belonged to Shahbaz Sharif and his sons (Hamza and Suleman), even some properties were registered under the name of his wives nusrat and Tamina durrani, the ceased properties involve 9 plots in Lahore’s Jahar town, four in Judicial Colony, two houses in Model Town, and some others in the defense Housing authority and the naB’s report more involve a cottage and a villa in Pir Sohawa, as well as two plots in Chiniot. according to the report of The dawn in 2018 that the total assets of Hamza Shahbaz were nearly 411,540,310 rupees and Shahbaz Sharif were more than 159,010,066 rupees and the total net worth of Rs159 million.

MEhraj altaf hErronk

Wednesday, 30 September, 2020

08 WORLD VIEW

There's a socIal pandemIc poIsonIng europe: haTred of muslIms IF ANTI-MUSLIM PREJUDICE IS NOT TARGETED, STEPS TO COUNTER RACISM IN EUROPE IN THE WAKE OF BLM PROTESTS WILL BE MEANINGLESS

guardian Patrycja SaSnal and yaSeMin el Menouar

r

ARELY does the EU act so swiftly. Less than four months since the killing of George Floyd in police custody and the Black Lives Matter campaign that spilled into Europe and galvanised continent-wide protests, the EU is appointing its first ever anti-racism coordinator. This brilliant idea will make little sense, however, if anti-Muslim hatred is not part of their portfolio. Because instead of building a “truly anti-racist union”, as the president of the European commission, Ursula von der Leyen, would wish, we have so far built an anti-Muslim one.

Prejudice against Muslims exists in every corner of Europe. not only do we collectively devalue and discriminate against Europeans who follow Islam, but the incidence of violence against Muslims is increasing.

We have known since the refugee and migration crisis of 2015 and the jihadist terrorist attacks in France, Spain and Germany that Muslims suffer from an exceptionally bad reputation in our societies. In 2019, research conducted for the Bertelsmann Stiftung’s Religion Monitor yet again confirmed widespread mistrust towards Muslims across Europe. In Germany and Switzerland, every second respondent said they perceived Islam as a threat. In the UK, two in five share this perception. In Spain and France, about 60% think Islam is incompatible with the “west”. In Austria, one in three doesn’t want to have Muslim neighbours.

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) confirms these findings in its most re-

cent paper on the rise and meaning of hate crimes against Muslims. So does Europe’s police coordinating body Europol: in 2019, far-right terrorism soared.

What is more surprising is how quickly anti-Muslim racism has turned violent. In its most recent report the Council of Europe warns that “Europe is facing a shocking reality: antisemitic, anti-Muslim and other racist hate crimes are increasing at an alarming rate”. The OSCE also corroborates these findings in its own paper on hate crimes against Muslims.

If it were not so distressing it would be fascinating.

From Spain to Bulgaria and from Finland to France, people feel prejudice against Muslims no matter the size of the country’s economy, its Muslim community, the religious, racial or ethnic social makeup, the kind of historical relations with the south and the Muslim world, or even the refugee policy after 2015.

Take two very different European countries: Germany and Poland. The German Muslim community (4.7 million people or 5.7% of the population) is more than 200 times larger than Poland’s (about 20,000 or 0.01%).

German GDP is seven times larger, and the country is much more religiously diverse. Perhaps the best indicator to showcase differences is the policy towards Syrian refugees that the two countries adopted in 2015. Germany’s Willkommenskultur stood in stark contrast to Poland’s staunch refusal to take any. And yet roughly the same percentage of Germans and Poles think unfavourably about Muslims.

Racism in Germany occurs particularly frequently under the guise of anti-Muslim prejudice. Some 52% of those surveyed in early 2019 said they perceived Islam as a threat. This perception has remained stable at a high level for around 10 years. In Poland, with only a handful of Muslims, Arabs (usually identified as Muslims) have been the most disliked ethnicity for more than a decade.

In the 2020 poll, 55% of Polish respondents said they disliked them.

In both countries, anti-Muslim prejudice prepared

fertile ground for racist violence. According to German police statistics, the number of crimes classified as Islamophobia rose by 4.4% to 950 offences in 2019. Repeated or foiled attacks on refugee centres and mosques are becoming a serious danger to Germany’s national security, with the killing of nine people in Hanau in February as the most blatant example. Although smaller and less frequent in Poland, hate crimes since 2016 also have been perpetrated mostly against Muslims or “persons thought to be Muslims”.

The anti-Muslim bias is omnipresent not only geographically but also across the political spectrum. The right, the centre and the left – everyone seems to hold a grudge, although for different reasons.

In Germany, far-right racism focuses on the question of whether Muslims or other minorities can be “real Germans”. A whole generation of German Muslims have grown up in this social climate – constantly questioned and forced to justify their religion. The Alternative für Deutschland party, which claims it is defending JudeoChristian values against so-called Islamisation, is now the biggest opposition party in the national parliament.

Its ideas have spread into the mainstream.

Among liberals and on the left there is often prejudice against Islam from a position of “humanist universalism, human rights, gender equality and democracy”, as one Polish liberal commentator put it while warning about the creeping Islamisation of Europe. Even the strongest critics of the current PiS government in Poland will quite openly talk of Muslims as religious fanatics: “not that I am against Islam,” you hear people say, “it’s just that they have not had their reformation yet – they’re like Christians in the Middle Ages.”

This is not to say that criticism of religion is inadmissible, or that all Europeans are racist. But xenophobia grows in crises, and we currently live in crisis – the pandemic, looming recession and global uncertainty may exacerbate what is already an existential danger for the European Union and democracy. The European scape-

America’s ruling class LawLiberty.org

I

Mark PulliaM

n his ambitious new book, The Unelected, Manhattan Institute senior fellow James Copland combines the general theme of documenting “how an unaccountable elite is governing America”—a phrase that serves as the book’s subtitle “CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED” NO MORE The Founders’ constitutional design, Copland reminds us, “was predicated on accountability to the voting public.” This was essential to ensure the “consent of the governed.” Since the Constitutional Convention was held in 1787, and particularly in the wake of the new Deal, we have significantly departed from this ideal. Government has greatly expanded in size and power, and—more importantly—“governmental accountability to the public has been substantially eroded.” In Copland’s telling, the unelected, unaccountable entities exercising control over the polity consist of four components: rulemakers, enforcers, litigators, and what he calls the “new antifederalists.”

“Rulemakers” is Copland’s shorthand for the “gaggle of federal agencies staffed by permanent, professional government bureaucrats” (of whom Dr. Anthony Fauci is currently the most well-known example), responsible for enacting 98 percent of the estimated 300,000 federal crimes on the books. Copland explains in chapters 1-3 how we arrived at the modern administrative state, in which “[u]nelected bureaucrats write the rules, often acting in ways that were unauthorized by Congress, are unaccountable to the president, and are essentially unreviewable by the courts.”

“Enforcers” consist of the government officials (prosecutors and agencies with sometimes-draconian civil enforcement powers) who exercise nearly-limitless discretion to determine whether individuals, businesses, and nonprofit entities are in “compliance” with this vast and amor-

“RULEMAKERS” IS COPLAND’S SHORTHAND FOR THE “GAGGLE OF FEDERAL AGENCIES STAFFED BY PERMANENT, PROFESSIONAL GOVERNMENT BUREAUCRATS.” “ENFORCERS” CONSIST OF THE GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS (PROSECUTORS AND AGENCIES WITH SOMETIMES-DRACONIAN CIVIL ENFORCEMENT POWERS) phous body of regulations. The consequences of a violation—even wholly inadvertent—can be fines, imprisonment, ruinous legal expenses, or the crippling loss of federal funding, reimbursement, or regulatory approval. Enforcers possess so much power that merely threatening to use it can cause entire industries (such as higher education, in the case of the Obama administration’s Title IX “guidance”) to cower.

“When there are as many rules as there are today,” Copland points out, “and so many of the prohibitions in the rulebook go beyond intuitively bad conduct, it is impossible for individuals and small businesses to know how to comply.” This places staggering power in the hands of unelected government agents, who exercise unfettered discretion and sometimes act arbitrarily—and even render decisions retroactively. Large corporations can afford the immense sums necessary for compliance and legal expenses; individuals and small businesses generally do not. Copland covers this in chapter 4-6.

Unlike some public law scholars, Copland (who is Director of Legal Policy at MI) does not overlook the role of our legal system in the transformation of our selfgoverning republic into a caste-like society ruled by an unaccountable clerisy. Copland criticizes “litigators” as an elite group of unelected actors, on par with the administrative state. Defenders of litigation sometimes try to justify it as a form of “private enforcement,” akin to the free market, but Copland correctly notes that our litigation system is far removed from markets: “Markets involve consensual transactions, in which each party to the transaction agrees to a deal. A lawsuit, in contrast, entails one party taking from another, unwilling party, who is engaged with the plaintiff only because the government forces the issue.”

Copland’s disdain for litigators—especially those specializing in class actions— is unsparing. Most litigators, he says, are “simply venal,” motivated by money rather than ideology, unlike rulemakers and enforcers who tend to be “true believers” (although some litigators are both mercenaries and ideologues). He mocks the American civil justice system for its inefficiency, unfairness, capriciousness, and susceptibility to fraud and manipulation.

Copland heaps scorn on “contingent fee” arrangements, the so-called American Rule requiring litigants to bear their own attorneys’ fees, class actions, mass tort litigation, attorney advertising, junk science, the cy pres doctrine, and costly, often abusive pre-trial discovery. His revealing overview of the growth of the plaintiffs’ personal injury bar since WWII, drawing on the “Trial Lawyers, Inc.” project he oversaw at MI, is excellent. Proponents of tort reform, and fans of Walter Olson’s work in this area, will find much to enjoy in chapters 7-10.

Copland’s fourth category—“new antifederalists”—is exemplified by the 1990s-era litigation by state governments against the tobacco companies. But the definition is broad enough to include activist state attorneys general who meddle in other states’ affairs (or national policy) with lawsuits seeking injunctive relief; orchestrated, forum-shopped state court tort litigation against out-of-state defendants; politically-motivated lawfare against targeted industries by big-city mayors (such as Bill de Blasio’s climate change lawsuit against oil companies); public employee pension fund shenanigans; and the like. (new York Attorney General Letitia James’s lawsuit to dissolve the nRA would likely qualify.) national policy should be made—democratically—at the federal level, not ad hoc on a state or local basis.

goat of choice will most likely be Muslim. Far-right or populist parties will openly vilify Islam, with the tacit support of many mainstream politicians.

The good news is that, thanks to the Black Lives Matter protests, the ground is now fertile in Europe for anti-xenophobic activism and policies. Across the continent – Poland and Germany included – thousands of people gathered this summer in anti-racist and antifascist demonstrations. In Germany, as a direct result of the Black Lives Matter movement, the Bundestag recently asked the DeZIM-Institut to set up a Racism Monitor, with funding of €10m.

The creation of an EU anti-racism coordinator could reinvigorate a pan-European approach to anti-Muslim racism. But it should incorporate the existing office for coordinating Europe’s efforts to combat anti-Muslim hatred – which was created in 2015 but has achieved little – with an enhanced budget and a clear, strong mandate.

An energetic and devoted coordinator should not only coordinate between EU institutions but also monitor and record anti-Muslim hatred in all member states: only 15 of 27 have strategies to fight racism.

But none of us should give anti-Muslim racism a free pass. Many communities across Europe are uniformly white and Christian, particularly in smaller towns and villages. But we all live in our own social bubbles, none of which are free from prejudice, and it is there that we need to act. We need to keep a nose for what Frantz Fanon called the “stench of racism” – those seemingly rational opinions that hide a bias uttered at friendly dinners or drinks parties. Take up the issue and talk loudly about anti-Muslim racism.

Call a spade a spade. We have become accustomed to the word Islamophobia, but the “phobia” part softens the meaning as if it was a medical condition deserving of tolerance. EU legislation classifies anti-Muslim racism as racism – once we take it as such, its ominous character becomes clear.

Patrycja Sasnal is a political scientist and head of research at the Polish Institute of International Affairs; Yasemin El Menouar is a social scientist, head of the Religion Monitor project at the Bertelsmann Stiftung in Germany and a member of the independent expert group on hostility against Muslims at the German interior ministry.

Copland acknowledges that in most instances “antifederalist” litigation is commenced by an elected official, but the insult to representative government lies in the fact that “nobody in nashville or Fargo or Phoenix voted for the mayor of new York City; and no one in Alabama or Montana or Indiana voted for the attorney general of California.” Of his four categories, this one least resembles the others. Chapters 11-13, while interesting and informative, are less cohesive than the rest of the book.

An EFFECTIVE SKEWERInG Copland’s engaging critique is thorough and thoughtful enough to satisfy policy wonks, but is also laced with interesting vignettes about actual Americans whose lives have been affected by the unaccountable elites. We read about the travails of Bobby Unser, John Rapanos, USC football star Matt Boermeester, and other Americans whose lives were disrupted—and in some cases ruined—by unaccountable elites. These real-life stories may broaden the appeal of The Unelected, and make its message resonate with a popular audience in a way that a purely scholarly tome could not. Toggling back and forth between The Federalist Papers and yesterday’s headlines, Copland brings the concepts to life, energizing them further with pop culture references and allusions to movies and television shows not often seen in legal books.

Although Copland is a Yale-trained lawyer, his analysis is refreshingly free of jargon and puckishly irreverent toward the legal profession he effectively skewers. The often-arcane terminology of administrative law, civil procedure, and litigation is broken down and clearly explained in layman’s terms. The Unelected contains a thumbnail history of the leading Supreme Court cases, the development of administrative law, and the evolution of the modern regulatory state.

Copland offers the clearest and most succinct summary of these complicated subjects that I have ever seen.

Copland connects the dots among his superficially disparate categories fairly well. If anything seems “missing” from this book on unelected elites governing America, it is the scourge of judicial activism, as to which The Unelected is strangely silent.

(Hopefully Copland is saving that critically-important topic for his next book.)

Legal history can be painful to read: often muddled and—worse—boring. Copland manages to deliver an account that is neither. For example, his treatment of the derivation of the American Rule is concise and compelling. The advance copy I reviewed contained no notes, bibliography, or index, so I cannot comment on Copland’s sources or the breadth of his research.

In a survey of the type Copland undertakes, it is always easier to identify problems than it is to propose realistic solutions, and—alas—The Unelected is no exception. The final chapter, entitled “Restoring the Republic,” is somewhat anticlimactic. “A return to the limited government envisioned [by the Founders] in 1787 is highly unlikely, whatever its substantive merits” is hardly a call to arms, or a roadmap to reform. Readers hoping for radical prescriptions will be disappointed.

Copland does not “stand athwart history, yelling Stop.” Instead, he concedes that the dysfunctional systems he so ably chronicles are “difficult to undo in [their] entirety.”

In contrast to his robust (and jargonfree) critique in earlier chapters, Copland offers cautious (and unavoidably technical) suggestions: judicial limits on delegation, congressional reforms along the lines of the Regulations from the Executive in need of Scrutiny (REInS) Act, etc. Solutions to entrenched, multifaceted problems are complicated, especially when they require reforms by the states as well as the federal government, and coordinated action by different branches of government. Copland is correct to conclude that meaningful reform—at least politically—will require a cultural shift. “Broad social consensus” must accompany sweeping changes, he notes.

Perhaps Copland could devote a future book to outlining a comprehensive blueprint for reform, directed at specialists.

There are many competing proposals, and even approaches. Copland has the expertise (and credibility) to evaluate them. I concur with his assessment that “The first step in this process is understanding the forces that underlie the regulatory behemoth, which this book has endeavoured to elucidate.”

It should be clear to the reader that I admire—and recommend—The Unelected, but in fairness I found Copland’s discussion of the Covid-19 virus in the book’s Introduction and Epilogue to be a distraction.

As with many crises throughout history, perceived exigencies often provoke bad decisions, some of which have lasting consequences. It will likely take the benefit of hindsight to put the current pandemic in perspective, and Copland’s understandable desire to be topical by commenting on events still unfolding runs the risk that his insights will be dated (or off-base). At an appropriate time, a detailed post mortem would make an excellent sequel to The Unelected—a case study of how the unaccountable “experts” handled the crisis.

The Unelected by James R. Copland.

Mark Pulliam is a contributing editor of Law & Liberty.

Wednesday, 30 September, 2020

BUSINESS 09

corporate corner PepsiCo, WWF join hands to replenish groundwater resources KARACHI: PepsiCo, in partnership with WWF, has launched the ‘Community Water Stewardship: Replenishing Groundwater Resources in Lahore’ project.

Some of the key focus areas of the project include recharge wells, rainwater harvesting systems and floating treatment wetlands. These interventions are being installed in the PepsiCo’s Snacks Plant watershed in the Sundar Industrial Estate, with a focus on both urban housing schemes and rural settings. PepsiCo Pakistan and Afghanistan CEO Furqan Ahmed Syed said, “Long term sustainable use of water is critical to the continuity of our business, our license to operate, and the health of our communities. Our water replenishment efforts are focused towards the same watershed where the extraction has occurred. The partnership with WWF is another step forward towards achieving this goal.” PRESS RElEASE

Telenor Microfinance Bank selects PTCL to expedite ‘digital transformation journey’ KARACHI: Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) and Telenor Microfinance Bank Limited have signed an agreement for provision of physical and Virtual Data Center (VDC) Hosting Services bundled with industry’s leading Managed Security solution. Zarrar Hasham Khan, Chief Business Services Officer, PTCL and Khurram Gul Agha, Chief Information Officer & Operations Support, Telenor Microfinance Bank, signed the agreement at a special ceremony recently held at PTCL Zonal office in Karachi. Umar Farooqi, General Manager, Digital Services Sales, PTCL, Javaid Sher Ali, Executive Director, IT Planning & Architecture, Telenor Microfinance Bank and Nadeem Ashfaq, Director Information Technology, Telenor Microfinance Bank, were also present on the occasion, along with other senior officials. PTCL is providing Telenor Microfinance Bank with its state-of-theart infrastructure and platform solutions that are equipped with latest technology, managed security and DDoS filtering solution. PRESS RElEASE

KARACHI: PayPak, Pakistan’s first domestic payment scheme launched by 1LINK, is set to introduce an innovative loyalty programme for its customers with TPL Life as the family Takaful coverage provider. PRESS RElEASE

GovT ForMuLaTInG ShaLe GaS PoLICy To aTTraCT ForeIGn InveSTorS ISLAMABAD APP

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HE Petroleum Division is in the process of formulating a vibrant policy to exploit massive shale gas and oil reserves by attracting multinational companies in the exploration sector of the country.

According to a latest official document available with APP, the Shale Gas Policy will attract many multinational companies to come to Pakistan for undertaking exploration to discover Shale gas and oil in the country.

In 2015, a study completed in cooperation with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) had confirmed the presence of 10,159 trillion cubic feet (TCF) shale gas and 2,323 billion of stock tank barrels (BSTB) shale oil in place resources.

ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

The All Pakistan Marble Industries Association on Tuesday sought government’s support for the development of the marble industry, which has potential to earn multibillion dollars for the country through exports.

During the formal meeting of the association’s newly-elected office bearers and executive committee members, APMIA Chairman Sheikh Mohammad Rizwan said the marble industry could bring billions of dollars in foreign exchange to the country if the government facilitates the exports of marble and granite products.

APMIA Senior Vice Chairman Babar Habib, Vice Chairman (North) Ali Akbar and Vice Chairman (South) Muhammad Nazir were also present on the occasion.

The association chairman demanded the government to pay special attention to the development of the marble & granite industry, as this could lead to rapid economic recovery.

“In line with the construction industry, the marble industry should also be given a relief in sales tax,” he said. “This will make it easier for the government to collect sales tax from every marble factory in Pakistan.”

He said in the budget 2020/21, like other small and medium enter-

prises (SMEs), the government failed to provide relief to the marble industry in the fixed sales tax scheme, while this scheme was very successful from July 2016 will June 2019.

Rizwan expressed determination to play a constructive role in safeguarding the interests of the industrialists associated with the marble sector.

Meanwhile, former APMIA chairman Muhammad Shakeel Munir said that Pakistan’s marble and granite sector has the potential to eliminate unemployment. “Pakistan has the largest variety of marble and granite which needs to be appreciated throughout the world,” he remarked.

FAO inaugurates pine nut processing unit in Diamer CHILAS

ISLAMABAD: Officials of the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA) and OGDCL Workers Union have warned the government that it will not allow profitable entities like OGDCL to pay billions of rupees in taxes to the exchequer. PRESS RElEASE

and oil centre had been established at the Petroleum House to facilitate interested Exploration and Production companies to exploit the potential.

The successful exploitation of shale gas could also provide Pakistan with a sustainable supply of natural gas and oil; Pakistan’s estimated natural gas demand stood at about 6 Billion Cubic Feet per Day (BCFD), out of which less than 4 BCFD gas was being produced locally.

To determine the cost of extracting shale gas and oil, Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) and United Energy Petroleum Limited (UEPL) are undertaking drilling activities near Hyderabad.

The drilling, initiated on December 14, 2019, at the shale gas well, KUC-01 (Kunar Unconventional1), is in progress to acquire geological and engineering data for further planning of the pilot project.

Marble industry seeks relief package to boost exports, jobs

STAFF REPORT

ISLAMABAD: Food Security & Agriculture Center of Excellence (FACE), in line with its vision of exploring new avenues for the social and economic uplifting of the farmer community, has developed a partnership with the Forest Department, Government of the Punjab. PRESS RElEASE

The study covered lower and middle Indus Basin, which geographically spreads over Sindh, southern parts of Punjab and eastern parts of Balochistan. The total area under the study was 271,700km, which is 33 per cent of the total sedimentary area of the country.

During the study, a detailed analysis of 124 wells was carried out, including laboratory analysis on Shale Cores and cuttings in the United States (US). Objectives of the study were to validate shale gas resource estimate, initial findings, assess the availability of required technology and infrastructure for operations and formulate guidelines for the policy.

According to the Energy Information Administration (EIA) Shale Gas Assessment Report 2015 (USA), Pakistan has around 105 TCF of recoverable shale gas and 9.1 Billion Barrels of recoverable shale oil resources.

Following the discovery, a dedicated Shale gas

The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), under the project 'Reversing deforestation and forest degradation in high conservation value chilogoza pine forest in Pakistan', has inaugurated a pine nut (chilgoza) processing unit in Diamer district of Gilgit-Baltistan.

"The project was funded by the Global Environment Fund and implemented under the oversight of the Ministry of Climate Change," said a press statement issued on Tuesday. "The project is additionally contributing 23 million trees to the Ten Billion Trees Programme of the MoCC." In Diamer district, chilgoza pine forest covers an area of around 18,000 hectares. The project has involved the local community within the conservation and protection of forests for value chain development.

"Since the key issue faced by the local community was the lack of access to chilgoza processing unit, the FAO, through the project, installed a chilgoza processing unit at Chilas, covering chilgoza cleaning, grading, roasting, packing and labelling," the statement read.

Speaking on the occasion, FAO Country Representative Mina Dowlatchahi highlighted the significance of the processing unit to ensure more benefits

arising from natural resources management. She stated that for the first time in Diamer district, the local people will be able to process their harvest -from grading to packaging and labelling -- in one place.

"This will help them obtain a higher price in the market compared to selling cones or unroasted nuts," said Dowlatchahi. "It is hoped that these economic benefits will increase the efforts and community engagements in chilgoza forest conservation."

FAO Representative Programme Assistant Dr Aamer Irshad said that the project brings an opportunity to these communities to also learn how to leverage information technology to access high-end markets. This is particularly relevant in times of supply chains disruptions due to Covid-19, he added.

National Project Coordinator Dr Faizul Bari appreciated the cooperation of the forest department for the project, saying forest conservation will help ensure economic sustainability in the area.

“This initiative is much appreciated by local communities as the processing unit will allows them to sell a finished product at a higher price and also will increase the shelf life of roasted nuts up to six months,” he said.

FAO and the forest department representatives jointly inaugurated the unit at Chilas -- one of the primary markets of Chilgoza Pine in Gilgit Baltistan -- on a pilot basis.

SCCI demands extension in taxfiling deadline PESHAWAR AZIZ BUNERI

The Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) on Tuesday expressed reservations over a number of deficiencies and hiccups in the e-filing of income tax returns, commonly known as the IRIS system, which has caused delays in the timely filing of tax returns for 2020. It demanded the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) give a three-month extension in filing income tax returns for 2020 to facilitate taxpayers. Engineer Maqsood Anwar Pervaiz said according to income tax ordinance 2001, financial year closes on 30th June of this year, while the last date of filing of income tax returns is fixed at 30th September 2020 under the section 118 (3) of the aforesaid ordinance. However, he said, owing to unnecessary delays in uploading of draft return 2020 and delayed final notification of income tax return of this year, besides glitches in the IRIS system, taxpayers are being faced with enormous difficulties in timely filing of income tax returns. The SCCI chief said the coronavirus pandemic hasn’t only brought negative impacts on the country’s economy, but it has created severe financial challenges and difficulties for taxpayers as well as slowing down the filling process of income tax returns for this year.

Maqsood Pervaiz said the IRIS system isn’t working smoothly, because of which taxpayers have faced difficulties in filing income tax returns 2020 owing to overloading the electronic system ‘IRIS’. Furthermore, he informed that under section -118 of the income tax ordinance 2001, with the rule: 34 of the income tax rules – 2002, the time period for filing or income tax returns to be 90 days, while on the contrary only 14 days have been given between 17th and 30th September 2020, for filing of income tax return 2020, which is quite difficult for taxpayers to file tax returns in the aforementioned period. Therefore, he urged the FBR to give a three months extension in the filing of income tax return 2020 in order to ease difficulties of the taxpayers, also it can make sure they timely file income tax returns.

MARKET DAILY

Stocks bounce back with 463-point rally KARACHI STAFF REPORT

Bulls of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) came roaring back to the market on Tuesday, with the indices recovering all losses accumulated in early trade to close in green.

Global equity markets showed a mixed pattern, whereas crude oil prices slipped lower from the previous close; WTI crude price declining 0.59pc to $40.36 while Brent

crude price falling 0.56pc to $42.63.

"The index lost over 300 points in early trade, as settlement ratios from last week’s rollover activity caused selling pressure at the bourse, in addition to redemption called by mutual fund investors," said a report issued by AHL Ltd. "However, as soon as the settlement concluded, heavy buying activity took place in HASCOL, PSO, ENGRO, which helped the index erase all losses and post significant gains towards the end."

MARKET SUMMARY: The benchmark KSE-100 Index saw volatile activity for most part of the day, registering its intraday low at 40,389.80 (-351.15 points) and intraday high at 41,445.47 (+704.52 points). It settled higher by 463.41 points at 41,204.36.

Among other indices, the KMI-30 Index accumulated 726.82 points to end at 65,884.01, while the KSE All Share Index added 281.61 points, closing at 29,295.24.

The overall market volumes declined

CMYK

from 407.19 million shares in the previous session to 353.65 million (-13pc). Average traded value also declined by 3pc, from $86.1 million to $83.2 million. Hascol Petroleum Ltd (HASCOL +5.85pc), Unity Foods Ltd (UNITY +1.10pc) and K-Electric Ltd (KEL +0.48pc) led the volume chart, exchanging 50.22 million 22.63 million and 21.17 million shares, respectively.

Sectors that painted the benchmark index green included banking (+136.94 points), oil & gas exploration (+61.37 points) and oil & gas marketing (+47.18 points). Among the companies, Bank AL Habib Ltd (BAHL +43.22 points), Engro

Corporation Ltd (ENGRO +38.06 points) and Lucky Cement Ltd (LUCK +37.64 points) remained the top contributors.

Adding 5.73pc to its cumulative market capitalization, the refinery sector ended as the session's top gainer, with Byco Petroleum Pakistan Ltd (BYCO +7.88pc), Attock Refinery Ltd (ATRL +4.65pc), Pakistan Refinery Ltd (PRL +4.60pc) and National Refinery Ltd (NRL +2.06pc) posting decent gains.

Meanwhile, the Searle Company Ltd (SEARL -1.83pc) announced its financial performance for FY20. The company's sales surged by 13.96pc YoY, while cost of sales fell by 13.7pc, increasing gross profit by 68pc YoY.

Wednesday, 30 September, 2020

10 FOREIGN NEWS London Stock exchange to list first Sharia-compliant etF today LONDON: The world’s first actively managed global equity Sharia-compliant exchange traded fund (ETF) will be listed on the London Stock Exchange on Wednesday (today), as it looks to capture investor interest from the Middle East and UAE. The ETF from UK financial services group Almalia aims to achieve capital growth over the medium to long by investing in companies with high returns on capital and low leverage. The asset management and investment screening – to ensure the product remains Sharia-compliant – will be supervised

by Sanlam Investments UK, which oversees £5.3 billion in funds. “The status quo in the ETF market has always been to track some sort of index but actively managed will allow us to outperform the MSCI Islamic Global Equity Index. Our long-term track record has demonstrated a significant outperformance over time,” Pieter Fourie, global head of equities at Sanlam, told The National. AGENCIES

French pOLice diSmantLe caLaiS migrant camp CALAIS

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AGENCIES

camp of 700 to 800 migrants in the French port city of Calais was dismantled by police on Tuesday in the biggest such operation since the sprawling "Jungle" shanty town was broken up four years ago.

Calais continues to attract migrants from the Middle East and Africa who set up makeshift camps along the coast from where they hope to make the passage across the English Channel to Britain.

Since January 1, at least 1,317 migrants have been intercepted by French authorities as they tried to reach the UK, some by swimming across the busy waterway. Tuesday's operation started before sunrise and had removed some 200 people in the first two hours, according to local authorities. Twentyone among them were arrested.

"We want to avoid a concentration and a new gathering point in Calais," Louis Le Franc, the government's top official for the northern Pas-de-Calais department, said at the scene.

According to Le Franc, it was the biggest dismantling of a Calais camp since the Jungle was cleared of some 9,000 migrants between

2015 and 2016.

About 150 of the evacuated migrants will be brought to reception centres in Pas-deCalais, another 150 to other departments in northern France, and the remaining 500-odd to other regions of the country.

By far the majority of the migrants are men, mainly from Somalia, Sudan, Iran, Iraq and Eritrea. "In my view, this is above all an operation to give people a safe haven. The migrants are living in this forested area in extremely difficult conditions," Le Franc said.

"It was important to get the migrants out before... the winter period," he added. Northern France has long been a magnet for people seeking to smuggle themselves to Britain in small boats or in one of the tens of thousands of trucks and cars that travel daily between the countries on ferries and trains.

The month of August saw this year's first drowning of a migrant trying to exit France, when the body of a Sudanese teenager trying to reach Britain with a friend in an inflatable boat was discovered on a beach.

French authorities have vowed to avoid a repeat of the Jungle -- which at one point held as many as 10,000 people -- but camps have continued to spring up as migrants flee war and poverty at home to seek a better life in Europe.

Shipping magnate OK Lim faces second forgery charge SINGAPORE AGENCIES

Singaporean oil and shipping magnate Lim Oon Kuin (also known as OK Lim) faces a second charge of abetment of forgery in connection with an allegedly fraudulent loan application. According to prosecutors, Lim asked an executive at his firm Hin Leong Trading to forge an email to client China Aviation Oil (Singapore). The email depicted a sale that allegedly did not occur, and it was "submitted to a financial institution to secure more than $56 million in trade financing," prosecutors asserted. It is the second charge in connection with the same alleged offense.

In a previous filing, prosecutors charged OK Lim with instructing a contracts executive to falsify a document on the letterhead of UT Singapore Services, a tank farm operator on Jurong Island. The document showed a transfer of about one million barrels of gasoil to China Aviation Oil (Singapore) in mid-March. Along with the falsified email described above, this document was then submitted to a financial institution as part of an allegedly fraudulent loan application. If convicted, Lim could face a fine and a prison term of up to 10 years for each charge.

The charge is the latest in a string of serious setbacks for the Lim family and its businesses, which have entered into bankruptcy proceedings and court administration. The court-appointed manager for Hin Leong Trading, PricewaterhouseCoopers, is suing Lim and members of his immediate family to recover a total of about $3.5 billion in losses that they allegedly caused through "the manipulation of Hin Leong's accounts through irregular accounting entries" and other fraudulent practices. The suit contends that O.K. Lim, his daughter Huey Ching and his son Chee Meng deliberately hid trading losses and made the firm look profitable long after it had passed into insolvency. Their methods allegedly included overstating the firm's inventory and accumulating more debt by deceiving lenders. Lim confirmed the losses in a court filing in April, saying that he was responsible for the firm's inaccurate financial statements.

Rights groups have criticised police tactics, which include seizing migrants' tents and other belongings. In December 2018, France's human rights ombudsman said migrants in northern France have been subjected to "unprecedented" violations of their basic rights.

As Tuesday's evacuation was under way, migrants queued for buses grouped by ethnicity or nationality, as tents, duvets, blankets, shoes and clothes were left behind in the undergrowth.

"Our goal is also to fight actively against smugglers" and "the exploitation of human misery," Le Franc said.

Rights associations said the operation was pointless as Maya Konforti, of the Auberge des Migrants (Migrants' Hostel) group, said the evacuated foreigners would be back "within days."

"We spend a lot of money to move dozens of people in buses... but it serves absolutely no purpose. It's messaging, nothing else," she said.

The migrants know that few of them qualify for asylum in France, and believing that "England is their last chance" will continue trying to get there at all costs, Konforti said.

The government estimates about 1,000 migrants currently live around Calais, while support groups say the number is closer to 1,500.

China's economy to grow by 2pc in 2020: WB WASHINGTON AGENCIES

China's economy is expected to grow by 2.0 percent in 2020, up from the 1-percent growth projection released in June, the World Bank said.

The growth will be boosted by government spending, strong exports, and a low rate of new Covid-19 infections since March, but checked by slow domestic consumption, the World Bank said in the October 2020 Economic Update for East Asia and the Pacific (EAP).

The rest of the region, however, is projected to contract by 3.5 percent, according to the report. The region as a whole is expected to grow by only 0.9 percent in 2020, the lowest rate since 1967.

In the semi-annual Global Economic Prospects released in early June, the World Bank projected that the EAP region will grow by 0.5 percent in 2020.

The World Bank said in the regional update that prospects for the region are brighter in 2021, with growth expected to reach 7.9 percent in China and 5.1 percent in the rest of the region, "based on the assumption of continued recovery and normalization of activity in major economies, linked to the possible arrival

of a vaccine."

The multilateral lender, however, pointed out that output is projected to remain well below pre-pandemic projections for the next two years, noting that the outlook is particularly dire for some highlyexposed Pacific Island countries where output is projected to remain about 10 percent below pre-crisis levels through 2021.

The Covid-19 shock is not only keeping people in poverty, but also creating a class of "new poor," the World Bank noted. The number of people living in poverty in the region is expected to increase by as many as 38 million in 2020 -- including 33 million who would have otherwise escaped poverty, and another 5 million pushed back into poverty.

"Many EAP countries have been successful in containing the disease and providing relief, but they will struggle to recover and grow," said Aaditya Mattoo, chief economist for East Asia and the Pacific at the World Bank.

"The priorities now should be safe schooling to preserve human capital; widening narrow tax bases to avoid cuts in public investment; and reform of protected service sectors to take advantage of emerging digital opportunities," Mattoo said.

Wednesday, 30 September, 2020

PAkiSTAn To TouR new ZeAlAnd FoR Two TeSTS And ThRee T20iS in deCeMBeR T AGENCIES

HE schedule for Pakistan's second overseas tour since the Covid-19 pandemic has been finalised, with their visit to New Zealand over Christmas set to go ahead with virtually no deviation from the original FTP, cricinfo reported on Tuesday.

The two teams will play three T20Is and two Tests from December 18 to January 7, with each international played at a different venue. In accordance with Covid-19 protocols mandated by the New Zealand government, the Pakistan squad will enter a twoweek quarantine period in Lincoln once they reach New Zealand in the last week of November.

The relatively low rate of Covid-19 transmission in New Zealand means the bio-secure bubble need not be maintained following the expiry of the quarantine period. Aside from the largest city, Auckland, the entire nation is operating under what are known as Level 1 conditions, which effectively mean no restrictions on movement besides

border control. At one point, the nation went over 100 days without an officially recorded positive Covid-19 case, and a second wave that saw a few hundred further cases has been all but extinguished. By contrast, when the Pakistan side toured England for three Tests and three T20Is over the summer, the bio-secure bubble was strictly maintained throughout the tour.

With no internal restrictions in the country outside of Auckland, ESPNcricinfo understands NZC are privately confident there will be crowd attendance for at least four of the five internationals on the tour. With new Covid-19 cases having trickled to a near standstill, Auckland appears on track to drop back down to Level 1 in line with the rest of the country well before the scheduled tour, meaning crowd attendance at Eden Park is still very much on the cards. That means Pakistan's tour of New Zealand could become the first international cricket played since the Covid-19 outbreak that is not played in front of empty stadiums.

While New Zealand Cricket's chief executive David White had already con-

firmed both Pakistan and West Indies would tour the country as previously planned, the schedule for the Pakistan series is only now out. Auckland, Hamilton and Napier will host the three T20Is to be played on December 18, 20 and 22, while Mount Maungunui hosts the Boxing Day Test. The Hagley Oval in Christchurch will be the venue for the second Test, which begins on January 3rd.

"It's always a pleasure to host the Pakistan cricket team in New Zealand and I know there will be a lot of interest in the Test and T20 series," NZC chief executive, David White, said. "Pakistan touring sides have been coming here since 1965 and many New Zealanders have grown up watching the likes of Hanif Mohammad, Majid Khan, Zaheer Abbas, Javed Miandad, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, and of course, the great Imran Khan in action. I'm sure the squads coming out here this summer will be similarly steeped in talent and class and will continue the great legacy that is Pakistan cricket."

"New Zealand boast some outstanding cricket facilities with supportive and knowledgeable crowds," PCB

director international cricket, Zakir Khan said. "Pakistan have always enjoyed touring New Zealand and have performed well there, and we look forward to similar performances from our side on this tour."

"New Zealand series will be our penultimate series in the ICC World Test Championship with the last series against South Africa at home following this tour. We remain optimistic and committed to finishing on a high in the Championship as it is our endeavour to become one of the top-performing Test playing nations." A press release from the PCB revealed the Pakistan Shaheens, effectively the "A" team, would also travel to New Zealand, with details on their departure to be announced in due course.

Pakistan were last in New Zealand for a limited-overs tour in 2018, with the hosts sweeping the ODI series 5-0, while Pakistan triumphed in the T20I leg 2-1 to rise to the No. 1 ranking in that format. The last time the two sides played Test cricket in New Zealand was in 2016, with New Zealand winning both Test matches.

PSL franchises unsure of PCB talks, may let court settle dispute NEWS DESK The Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchises are unsure whether to come back to the table or let its legal battle with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) run its course, a national daily reported.

The franchises, after their long-held grievances of the PSL not being financially viable for them repeatedly fell on deaf ears, recently took the decision to take the matter to the Lahore High Court - a move that disappointed the Board.

A last-ditch effort to settle the matter outside the court is expected in a meeting scheduled for October

8-10 but a PSL representative has said that a collective decision on whether to talk to the PCB or not has yet to be made.

"We have already decided to take a collective decision. We have not decided as yet as whether to meet the PCB or wait for the outcome of the court verdict.

The matter is already sub judice. We will definitely be requiring legal advice on the matter and in the wake of that, the decision will be taken accordingly," the representative said.

Meanwhile, an official of the PCB said that a legal dispute "would hardly serve any purpose" and "hope to reach an out-of-court settlement".

The official said that the Board had never objected and even sought the details as to how these franchises kept on selling their products for each and every edition of PSL. "If these franchises have their issues, we have our own and that is what we want to discuss, staying within the parameters of the new financial model. If they have any issue regarding the model that could also be discussed," he said.

The Lahore High Court is set to hear the case on September 30 where it is likely to consider the PCB reply on the petition jointly filed by the PSL franchises.

Lewis Hamilton offers veiled apology after F1 accusations LONDON AGENCIES

Lewis Hamilton has offered a veiled apology for his claim that Formula One bosses are singling him out after he was hit with a 10-second penalty at the Russian Grand Prix.

Hamilton's bid to match Michael Schumacher's record of 91 victories in Sochi on Sunday was wrecked when he was punished with two five-second penalties for pre-race misdemeanours. He had also been given two penalty points on his super license by the race stewards but they subsequently cancelled them and instead fined his team Mercedes.

The six-time world champion claimed afterwards F1's governing body, the FIA, were finding new ways

to stop him from winning. But in a social media post on Tuesday, Hamilton wrote: "I may not always get it right in the face of adversity. "I may not always react the way you want me to when tensions are high, but I am only human after all and I am passionate about what I do.

"I'm learning and growing every day, and I'll take my lessons and keep fighting on to the next one.

Thank you to those who continue to support and are right there fighting with me."

Hamilton will now have to wait until at least Germany's Eifel Grand Prix on October 11 to match Schumacher's all-time tally. F1's motorsport managing director Ross Brawn called on the British driver to learn from the incident.

Brawn said: "Personally, I would go away, lick my

SPORTS 11

Alfa Romeo give Mick Schumacher F1 practice run

PARIS: The son of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher moved a step closer to a spot on the 2021 Formula One circuit when Alfa Romeo announced Tuesday it would again test the 21-year-old. Mick Schumacher improved his hopes of landing a drive by winning the Sochi Formula Two feature race last Saturday which extended his lead in the title race over Callum Ilott. He will now take the wheel of the top of the range Alfa Romeo ahead of the Eifel Grand Prix at the Nurburgring circuit in two weeks time. Alfa Romeo will announce their line up for the 2021 season after the October 9 Grand Prix and are thought to be keen on promoting the 21-year-old from F2 to F1. "I am overjoyed to get this chance in free practice," Schumacher said. "I’m going to prepare myself well, so that I can do the best possible job for the team and gain some valuable data for the weekend." If he impresses he could be in the running for Antonio Giovinazzi’s seat along with several other Ferrari academy proteges as well as the experienced Mexican Sergio Perez and German Nico Hulkenberg. Whoever is picked will team up with 40-year-old 2007 champion Kimi Raikkonen. Mick was just 14 when his father suffered a severe brain injury in a skiing accident, while with him in the French Alps. He remained in a medically induced coma, in Grenoble, until June 2014. AGENCIES

Suarez and Costa 'can play together', says Simeone MADRID AGENCIES

Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone on Tuesday dismissed suggestions that he would not play Diego Costa and Luis Suarez together. The 33-year-old forward Suarez joined Atletico after six seasons at Barcelona with Costa, 31, saying he welcomed the arrival but would fight for his place in the side. "Of course they can play together, for sure they can play together," said Simeone in the press conference ahead of Wednesday’s Liga match against Huesca. "The important thing is that both of them give us the fire they have." Suarez made his debut against Granada on Sunday, coming on after 71 minutes as Costa and young striker Joao Felix went off, scoring twice in a 6-1 victory and sparking speculation that Simeone would not play both veterans at once.

"Diego with his personality and Suarez with leadership are very important players for us," said Simeone. "They are different. Diego is more sideways movement to move around the defence and create gaps," said Simeone.

"Suarez makes shorter diagonal runs into the area, with a lot of movement close to goal," said Simeone. "He has an absolute humility, even for a player of his standing and history."

PCB tells Bangladesh remaining Test not possible this season: sources NEWS DESK

wounds and think about how I could prevent such incidences again in the future. "That's what I know Mercedes will be doing. I know many of the people from my time at the team and they will recognise they have made some mistakes. "Bad luck and mistakes happen, but it's how you respond that matters. It's easy to think the world is against you but there is nearly always something you could have done differently and you can learn from." The F1 circus next heads to the Nurburgring for the first time since 2013 for the 11th of 17 rounds this year.

Despite Valtteri Bottas's triumph on Sunday, Hamilton, who finished third in Sochi, will head to Germany with a 44-point lead in his quest to be crowned world champion for a record-equalling seventh time.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has informed its Bangladeshi counterparts that it would not be possible to stage the remaining Test of their series during the ongoing 2020-21 season, a private media outlet reported on Tuesday.

Pakistan and Bangladesh played the first Test of their twomatch series in February and were scheduled to return after the Pakistan Super League 2020 in April. However, the Covid-19 pandemic did not allow the plan to go through. The PCB, upon making contact with the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB), conveyed that due to the commitments of the national team, the series, which is a part of the ICC Test Championship, will not be completed this season. As per sources, the PCB informed the BCB that the Test could be staged during the 2021-22 season, depending on any window in the schedule. It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan’s domestic season is about to start from Wednesday, while the national team is scheduled to host Zimbabwe next month, which will kick-start a series of international assignments that will last up to next summer. Sources further said that the ICC Test Championship could be extended by a year as several teams have been unable to complete their series due to the Covid-19 inactivity.

'Like a snake killing its prey': Djokovic eases through Roland Garros opener PARIS AFP

Novak Djokovic was described as a "snake killing its prey" by vanquished Roland Garros opponent Mikael Ymer on Tuesday as the world number one's bid to become the first man in half a century to win all four Grand Slam titles twice got off to a convincing start.

Djokovic eased to a 6-0, 6-2, 6-3 victory, reaching the second round in Paris for a record-equalling 16th time. It was also his 32nd win in 33 matches in 2020, his only loss coming when he was defaulted from the US Open. "It felt like when a snake kills its prey," was the

blunt verdict of 23-year-old Ymer who never recovered from dropping the first set in just 20 minutes under the roof of Court Philippe Chatrier. "He hits it pretty big. I had chances to rally but then I got suffocated. It was corner to corner and he rarely misses.

"At the beginning, it was just surreal. The court felt big and I was nervous because I was facing the best on the other side." Tuesday's demolition was the not the first time Ymer, the world number 80 from Sweden, had faced Djokovic who is chasing a second French Open title and 18th career major.

The two hit together at Wimbledon in 2015 on the morning of the men's final when Djokovic went on to

CMYK

beat Roger Federer for the title and Ymer was readying for the boys championship match which he lost to Reilly Opelka of the United States.

Meanwhile, Djokovic insisted his New York disqualification, handed out when he swiped a ball which felled a line judge, was definitely a thing of the past. In the immediate aftermath of his US Open retreat, he went to Rome where he captured a record 36th Masters title.

"I have not had any traces of New York in my mind.

I'm over it," he said. However, there was evidence of the old Djokovic feistiness on show Tuesday.

During the third set, he appeared to be heckled by a spectator wearing a Roger Federer hat.

But the world number one, who shot a prolonged angry glare at his tormentor, shrugged off the incident which was hard to ignore at a tournament where only 1,000 fans are allowed on site each day due to coronavirus restrictions.

"No, that's my childhood friend. I sent him a kiss after I won the game. It was very nice to see him," he said.

Top seed Djokovic will meet Lithuania's Ricardas Berankis for a place in the last 32.

Berankis, the world number 66, won his first main draw match at Roland Garros after six losses when he saw off Hugo Dellien of Bolivia 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.

Wednesday, 30 September, 2020

PrAyEr TImINGS

NEWS

Who chief laUds PaKistan foR sUPPRessing covid-19 While KeePing economy afloat

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AGENCIES

ORlD Health Organisation (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has once again praised Pakistan’s response to the coronavirus, saying the country managed to fight the pandemic while allowing its economy to pick up as the country stabilises.

In an op-ed in the British online newspaper The Independent, Tedros noted that Pakistan had deployed the infrastructure built over many years for polio to combat Covid-19. “Community health workers who have been trained to go door-to-door vaccinating children against polio have been redeployed and utilised for surveillance, contact tracing and care,” he wrote.

He said this strategy had “suppressed the virus so that, as the country stabilises, the economy is also now picking up once again”. Pakistan’s response reinforces “the lesson that the choice is not between con-

trolling the virus or saving the economy; the two go hand-in-hand”, the WHO chief added. Besides Pakistan, Tedros picked out certain other countries for praise, notably Thailand, Italy and Uruguay, for their handling of the pandemic.

He said the grim milestone of one million Covid-19 deaths should spur the planet into fighting back against the disease, insisting that it was “never too late to turn things around”. Tedros said there were encouraging signs of hope, citing vaccine candidates in final-stage trials. And he said that while the world awaited scientific breakthroughs, the new coronavirus could be effectively contained through proven public health measures.

“One million people have now been lost to Covid-19 and many more are suffering because of the pandemic,” he wrote. “This milestone is a difficult moment for the world but there are glimmers of hope that encourage us now and in the near future.

“No matter where a country is in an

Kuwait emir sheikh sabah al ahmad passes away at 91 KUWAIT CITY: Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah passed away at 91, the Deputy Minister of Amiri Diwan, Sheikh Ali Al Jarrah Al Sabah, announced on Kuwait TV Tuesday. The Emir was admitted to hospital on July 18 for medical checks and then, a day later, underwent a successful surgery. On July 23, the Emir was flown to the United States to complete his medical treatment. The Emir’s office did not disclose the reason for the surgery or details of what treatment the Emir was going to receive in the US. AGENCIES

illicit money flows from africa near $89bn: Un study NEW YORK: Africa has lost nearly $89 billion a year in illicit financial flows such as tax evasion and theft, amounting to more than it receives in development aid, a United Nations study has shown. The estimate, in the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s (UNCTAD) 248-page report, is its most comprehensive to date for Africa. It shows an increasing trend over time and is higher than most previous estimates. Recently released report calls Africa a “net creditor to the world”, echoing economists’ observations that the aid-reliant continent is actually a net exporter of capital because of these trends.

“Illicit financial flows rob Africa and its people of their prospects, undermining transparency and accountability and eroding trust in African institutions,” said UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi. Junior Davis, head of policy and research at UNCTAD’s Africa division. AGENCIES

outbreak, it is never too late to turn things around.”

SEIZE THE OPPORTUNITY: Tedros outlined four essential steps to get the pandemic under control, starting with preventing amplifying events and protecting vulnerable groups.

He stressed the need for individual responsibility in washing hands, wearing masks and keeping a distance; and for governments to find, isolate, test and care for cases, then trace and quarantine their contacts. “While today’s milestone gives us pause for reflection, this is a moment for us all to come together, in solidarity, to fight back against this virus,” Tedros said.

“History will judge us on the decisions we do and don’t make in the months ahead. let’s seize the opportunity and bridge national boundaries to save lives and livelihoods.”

ONE MILLION TRAGEDIES: The WHO chief reiterated his call for funding for the WHO-led ACT-Accelerator, a glob-

ally pooled hunt for Covid-19 vaccines, diagnostics and treatments.

The programme has just $3 billion of the $38 billion needed to meet the goal of producing and delivering two billion vaccine doses, 245 million treatments and 500 million diagnostic tests over the next year.

Meanwhile, the Red Cross, also based in Geneva, said the death toll was one more tragic milestone in the rolling humanitarian catastrophe.

“Today, we stand in grim solidarity with the hundreds of thousands of families that have lost loved ones,” said Jagan Chapagain, secretary-general of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

“A million deaths represent one million individual tragedies and countless heartbreaks.” He added that while fighting the pandemic, “we need to be planning for the support that millions of people will need to rebuild their lives even once this illness is finally defeated”.

Tensions mount as Armenia and Azerbaijan continue fighting AGENCIES Armenian and Azerbaijani forces accused each other of attacks on their territory on Tuesday, as fighting over the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh continued for a third straight day following the resumption of violence in the decades-old conflict.

The renewed fighting prompted calls from around the world for a ceasefire, before hostilities escalate.

Azerbaijan's Defence Ministry said Armenian forces shelled the Dashkesan region in Azerbaijan. Armenian officials said Azerbaijani forces opened fire on a military unit in the Armenian town of Vardenis, setting a bus on fire and killing one civilian.

Armenia’s Foreign Ministry denied shelling the Dashkesan region and said the reports were laying the groundwork for Azerbaijan “expanding the geography of hostilities, including the aggression against the Republic of Armenia.”

Dozens were killed and wounded since fighting broke out on Sunday.

The Nagorno-Karabakh Defence Ministry reported 84 servicemen killed.

Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev said on Tuesday that 10 civilians were killed on its side, but he didn't detail the coun-

try's military casualties.

Nagorno-Karabakh lies within Azerbaijan but has been under the control of ethnic Armenian forces backed by the Armenian government since 1994 at the end of a separatist war following the breakup of the Soviet Union three years earlier.

The region in the Caucasus Mountains of about 4,400 square kilometres, or about the size of the US state of Delaware, is 50km (30 miles) from the Armenian border. Soldiers backed by Armenia also occupy some Azerbaijani territory outside the region.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has pushed for “an immediate ceasefire and a return to the negotiating table” in phone calls with the leaders of both countries, her office said.

She told them the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe offers an appropriate forum for talks and that the two countries’ neighbours “should contribute to the peaceful solution”, said her spokesman, Steffen Seibert. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said during a visit to Greece that “both sides must stop the violence” and work “to return to substantive negotiations as quickly as possible”.

Turkey supports Azerbaijan in the

conflict, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urging Armenia to withdraw immediately from the separatist region.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Turkey is “by Azerbaijan’s side on the field and at the [negotiating] table”.

Cavusoglu said the international community must defend Azerbaijan's territorial integrity in the same way it defended the integrity of Ukraine and Georgia.

“They are holding Azerbaijan, whose territories have been occupied, on an equal footing with Armenia. This is a wrong and unjust approach,” Cavusoglu said after a visit to Azerbaijan’s Embassy in Ankara.

Russia, which along with France and the United States co-chairs the Minsk group set up in 1992 to resolve the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, urged every country to help facilitate a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

“We call on all countries, especially our partners such as Turkey, to do everything to convince the opposing parties to cease fire and return to peacefully resolving the conflict by politicodiplomatic means,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

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Roadside bomb leaves at least 14 dead in afghanistan KABUL: At least 14 civilians, including women and children, were killed on Tuesday by a roadside bomb in central Afghanistan, officials said, as violence continues despite peace talks between the Taliban and Afghan government. Seven women, five children and two men died when their vehicle detonated an explosive device in Daikundi province, interior ministry spokesman Tareq Arian said in a statement. Three children were also wounded, he added, blaming the Taliban for the blast. Nasrullah Ghori — the spokesman for the governor of Daikundi — told AFP the victims were travelling to a shrine when their minibus struck the bomb. No group has claimed responsibility for the blast, but roadside bombs have been a weapon of choice for the Taliban.“Deliberate attacks” targeting civilians killed or wounded more than 800 civilians in Afghanistan during the first half of 2020, according to a UN report released in July. The violence comes as Taliban and Afghan government negotiators are meeting in Doha, where they are trying to find a way to end 19 years of war. Despite calls for a ceasefire, the Taliban have refused to halt their violence, seeing it as key to leverage at the negotiating table. The blast came as the head of the Afghan peace process, Abdullah Abdullah, kicked off the second day of a three-day visit to Pakistan.

Speaking at an event in Islamabad, he proclaimed that the “ice has been broken” at peace talks, which started September 12.

Afghanistan has long accused Islamabad of providing vital support and safe havens to the Taliban. Islamabad denies it supports the Taliban, but its influence with the militants is seen as pivotal to paving the way for any potential deal. AGENCIES

east asia poverty to rise for first time in 20 years: Wb WASHINGTON: New report by the World Bank reveals that Covid-19 delivered a “triple shock” to the developing East Asia and Pacific region, with as many as 38 million people expected to remain in, or be pushed back into, poverty as a result. It is the first increase in poverty in the region in two decades, according to the findings. The bank defined the poverty line as income of $5.50 a day. The East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region includes China, Southeast Asian countries and the Pacific Islands, such as Fiji and Samoa. India and other South Asian countries don’t feature in the report. “Covid-19 has delivered a triple shock to the developing East Asia and Pacific (EAP) region: the pandemic itself, the economic impact of containment measures, and reverberations from the global recession brought on by the crisis,” the report reads. The region as a whole is expected to grow by only 0.9 percent in 2020, the lowest rate since 1967.

While China is forecast to grow by 2.0 percent in 2020 – boosted by government spending, strong exports and a low rate of new Covid-19 infections since March, but checked by slow domestic consumption – the rest of the EAP region is projected to contract by 3.5 percent. Mongolia is likely to experience its first recession since 2009, with economic output projected to contract by 2.4 percent in 2020, as weak external demand and Covid-19 containment measures hit, particularly in the mining and services sectors. AGENCIES

Biden campaign tees up Trump tax issue on eve of first debate WASHINGTON/WILMINGTON AGENCIES

Joe Biden’s campaign seized on a fresh line of attack on the eve of the Democratic presidential nominee’s first debate with President Donald Trump, accusing the Republican incumbent of gaming the system to avoid paying his fair share of taxes.

Trump, a self-proclaimed billionaire who is seeking reelection in the Nov 3 vote, paid only $750 in federal income taxes in both 2016 and 2017, after years of reporting heavy losses from his businesses to offset hundreds of millions of dollars in income, the New York Times reported on Sunday, citing tax-return data.

The Times also reported that Trump paid no federal income tax in 10 of the previous 15 years through 2017, despite receiving

$427.4 million through 2018 from his reality television program and other endorsement and licensing deals.

Jared Bernstein, one of Biden’s top economic advisers, said the report highlighted the need to simplify the tax code and make people like Trump pay their fair share.

“The vast majority of us pay taxes and get on with life. But the richer you are, the more tax lawyers you employ, the more complex you can make your holdings - all of this can, as the piece shows reduce your tax liability to zero,” Bernstein said on Twitter.

Within hours of the report, Biden’s campaign had released a video listing the thousands of dollars in income tax typically paid by an elementary school teacher, firefighter, construction manager and registered nurse, before contrasting Trump’s reported $750 bill in 2017. The campaign also started selling

stickers that say, “I Paid More In Taxes Than Donald Trump.” Trump has dismissed the report as “fake news.” On Monday, he tweeted that he had paid “many millions of dollars in taxes” but was entitled to depreciation and tax credits and was “extremely under-leveraged” in terms of his debt and assets.

White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany described the report as a hit job that was straight out of the Democratic playbook.

“We’ve seen this play out before [...] purported tax information dropping the eve of a debate.

They tried this in 2016 - it didn’t work,” she told Fox Business Network. US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, told MSNBC the president’s reported debts raised questions of national security.

FIRST DEBATE: Trump and Biden will square off in their first debate in Cleveland, Ohio, on Tuesday, five weeks before the

election. Polls show Biden leading Trump nationally and in a number of key battleground states. “I am looking very forward to the debate,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday.

The 90-minute televised debate is likely to focus in part on Trump’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which has killed more than 200,000 Americans, and his push to fill the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s seat on the high court.

The re-emergence of Trump’s tax history as an election issue - in 2016 he broke a decades-old tradition of presidential nominees releasing their tax returns when seeking the White House - offers Biden another avenue of attack Tuesday evening.

The former vice president is trying to turn the tables on Trump, who ran successfully as an economic populist four years ago and is re-

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

garded by some observers as having an edge among voters on the issue of who would best manage the economy. In recent days, Biden has characterized the race as a clash between Scranton, the working-class Pennsylvania city where he spent part of his childhood, and Park Avenue. Trump Tower, which serves as headquarters for the Trump Organization, is located near that tony boulevard in Manhattan.

Trump has painted his economic record in glowing terms, saying his policies were responsible for boosting growth and reducing US unemployment to near 50-year lows prior to the outbreak of the pandemic.

His message, however, has been badly dented by the virus-triggered recession, which has put millions of Americans out of work. Democrats say Trump has mishandled the US response and embraced policies that favored corporations and the rich.