EpaperISB_21-01-06

Wednesday, 6 January, 2021 I 21 Jumada Al-Awwal, 1442 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XI No 188 I 12 Pages I Islamabad Edition

World Bank forecasts Pakistan’s growth rate at 0.5pc in FY21 g

containment measures, impact of pre-pandemic monetary and fiscal tiGhteninG cited as key reasons for restrained Growth in pakistan

ISLAMABAD

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GHULAM ABBAS

akinG stock of the dwindling economic situation due to the coronavirus pandemic, the world bank has forecast pakistan’s growth rate at 0.5 per cent financial year 2020-21. in its report titled “2021 Global economic prospects”, the world bank has estimated that pakistan’s growth rate contracted by 1.5 per cent during the last financial year due to the effects of measures taken by the government to curb the spread of coronavirus, as well as the impact of monetary and fiscal tightening prior to the pandemic. the report states that the real interest rates were moved into the negative territory because of reduction in policy rate – 250 bps on average and 625 bps in pakistan. acknowledging the steps taken to

Pakistan

CONFIRMED CASES:

490,476

LAST UPDATED AT 7:46 AM ON JANUARY 5, 2020

59

RECOVERED:

NEW CASES:

1,947 DEATHS:

444,360 10,409 SINDH:

PUNJAB:

219,452

141,393

KP:

BALOCHISTAN:

AJK/GB:

ISLAMABAD:

59,729

Global economic prospects report stresses collective measures for robust, sustainable and equitable Growth

ensure the usage of formal channels for transferring remittances, the report states that inflow remained robust in 2020 with pakistan and bangladesh experiencing double-digit growth in this sector due to the usage of said channels, government incentives and the return of migrant workers. the world bank said that pakistan, india and bangladesh’s current accounts were positively affected by the inflows during the said period, besides international assistance, which helped several regional economies increase their foreign reserves. as for economic recovery, the report states that pakistan is expected to experience as restrained growth – averaging 1.3 per cent over the next two years – which is slightly better than previously expected, but far below the growth potential. continued fiscal consolidation pressures and the weaknesses of the services sector are among the factors

Coronavirus in

DAY'S DEATH TOLL:

g

18,254

8,383/4,870 38,395

that could subdue pakistan’s economic growth. explaining its projection, the world bank states that the outlook is predicted on pakistan maintaining reform momentum, and its adherence to a macroeconomic-sustainability framework. the report also cautions against limited prospects for a strong rebound in the services sector, which would result in aggravating poverty in the country, given that the sector represents half of pakistan’s output and is an important financial source for low-income households. talking about the regional situation, the report, while excluding india, states that economic growth would slow to 0.9 per cent in 2021, with pakistan, afghanistan and maldives taking the largest hit. regarding the risk of debt distress, the world bank states that several economies, including pakistan, sri lanka and maldives, are at high risk, and require decisive action to maintain macroeconomic stability. it also cautions against security-related uncertainties pakistan, india, afghanistan and nepal, given how they could adversely affect the fragile economic situation. the report goes on to project a broader picture of the global economy, stating that economic growth is projected to be subdued, with the global economic output expected to expand by 4 per cent. it also cites the risk of setbacks in containing the pandemic as a potential factor which could derail economic recovery. it projects growth in emerging markets and developing economies at 5 per cent, while stating that the output of these countries is expected to remain well below their prepandemic situation.

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Pakistan reaffirms support for Kashmir cause ISLAMABAD

STAFF REPORT

president dr arif alvi and prime minister imran khan on tuesday reaffirmed the country's unequivocal support for the people of occupied kashmir in their struggle for freedom from ruthless indian occupation in accordance with the united nations security council (unsc) resolutions. "the right to self-determination is a vital component of human dignity. the negation of this right is the negation of human freedom, the universal declaration of human rights, and un human rights covenants," the president said in a message on the occasion of right to self-determination of kashmiri day observed on January 5. "india is the biggest violator of this inalienable human right,” he said. the president stressed that the un must honour its commitments and urged upon the global community not to shy away from its responsibility towards the oppressed people in kashmir. he said on 5th January 1949, the un commission on india and pakistan (uncip) adopted the resolution guaranteeing a free and fair plebiscite in the region to enable the people of kashmir realise their right to self-determination. he said since august 5, 2019, through continuous illegal and unilateral steps, the indian government had created an environment of fear and chaos in the region. more than 500 days of the military siege, and draconian restrictions

Families of Mach carnage victims continue sit-in for third day QUETTA STAFF REPORT

the families of victims of the attack on coal miners in balochistan's mach town continued their sit-in on quetta’s western bypass on the third consecutive day on tuesday.

11 miners were abducted and executed early sunday morning in an attack later claimed by the so-called islamic state militant group. the victims were said to be members of the shia hazara community that has suffered a number of similar attacks in the past. families of the victims placed the dead bodies on a road connecting quetta with sukkar on sunday but later moved the bodies to the provincial capital. they refused to bury the dead until prime minister imran khan visited them. minister for interior sheikh rasheed ahmed arrived in quetta on prime minister imran's instructions and held negotiations with the grieving community. even as he urged the protestors to call off the demonstration so that the bodies could be laid to rest and ex-

on fundamental freedoms and rights, including the right to life and health, despite the covid-19 pandemic, had challenged the conscience of the international community and india’s credentials of being a respectable member of the comity of nations, he added. the president said: "indian actions have been widely rejected by the international community, the united nations, and international human rights organizations. the current situation in the kashmir is the worst in recent history where people have been deprived of all basic rights, including rights to freedom of expression and assembly, as well as self-determination.” the people of occupied kashmir, he said, were being subjected to collective punishment by the indian occupation forces, which had turned the territory into the largest militarised zone in the world and were seeking to change the demographic structure of the occupied territory in violation of the international law, including the 4th Geneva convention. separately, in a series of late-night tweets to mark the annual right to self-determination of kashmiri day, the premier noted the un had on January 5, 1949, guaranteed the right to self-determination for the people of occupied Jammu and kashmir through a plebiscite. “we observe this day as a reminder to the u.n. and its member states of their unfulfilled commitment to the kashmiri people,” he said.

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more inside

Military leadership vows to defeat terrorists and abettors STORY ON BACK PAGE

cabinet approves purchase of covid-19 vaccine to save human lives STORY ON PAGE 03

pressed willingness to accept most of their demands, the hazara community did not accede to his call. in a post-attack statement, is claimed its pakistan branch executed the men. the terrorist group has targeted shia muslims, their shrines and places of worship in countries where the group has its loyalists. in addition, is militants, in recent months, have carried out

major attacks against the hazara community in afghanistan, killing scores of people. in a press conference after the meeting with the protestors, ahmed said the demands of the hazara community would be conveyed to the premier. he asked the majlis wahdat-emuslimeen (mwm) leaders to form a five or seven members committee for a meeting with imran in islamabad.

Cabinet extends fixed tax scheme for construction sector till June 30th STORY ON PAGE 05

saudi arabia says full ties restored between qatar and embargo nations STORY ON BACK PAGE

02

Wednesday, 6 January, 2021

NEWS

SC orderS ePTB To Begin reConSTruCTion of Hindu SHrine in KaraK

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NEWS DESK

HE Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday ordered the Evacuee Property Trust Board (EPTB) to begin the reconstruction of the burned Hindu shrine in the Karak district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

A three-member bench, headed Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed, further directed the EPTB to clear encroachments from temples across the country and take action against officials involved in the encroachments.

The CJP stated that the Karak incident had caused "an international embarrassment to Pakistan".

The KP chief secretary, KP

police chief, and Dr Muhammad Shoaib Suddle were also present during today's hearing.

A day earlier, a one-man commission on the rights of minorities at the apex court had submitted its report on the Karak temple vandalism after CJP Ahmed took suo moto notice of the incident.

The commission, headed by Dr Suddle, had recommended a comprehensive investigation into the vandalism at the temple. It had added that the statements of all witnesses should be recorded and evidence gathered against the culprits.

Maulvi Sharif, the main suspect in the case, incited people to violence, the report had said. The

SC asks govt to make 30 accountability courts functional ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) has directed the federal government to make 30 new accountability courts functional within a month. Hearing a case on Tuesday, the apex court took notice of the vacant post of a permanent law secretary and directed the federal government to make the appointment. Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed remarked that the Ministry of Law could not be run on an ad hoc basis. He directed the federal government to make 30 new accountability courts functional in a month. The chief justice questioned the reason for delaying the establishment of the accountability courts in the country. The additional attorney general told the court that an approval has been given by the Finance Ministry and Establishment Division, whereas recruitment process for the staff will commence from January 11. The top judge also questioned about the progress of the accountability courts. To this, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor said that testimonies of 18 out of 29 witnesses have been recorded in Lakhra power plant corruption, whereas the institution had decided not to record statements of seven witnesses.

The prosecutor detailed that in the case, overall, 29 hearings have been conducted so far and only one adjournment was sought by the institution as the prosecutor contracted Covid-19. He added that the accused sought adjournment of the hearings many times in the case. The top court directed the accountability court in Karachi to give its verdict within one month in the Lakhra power plant corruption case. The chief justice has also sought progress reports from the federal government and the anti-corruption watchdog. Later, the top court adjourned the hearing till the second week of February. A progress report was submitted by the Ministry of Law and Justice to the apex court, which stated that 30 new accountability courts will be established in the first phase. It added that the Finance Ministry had given approval to the expenditures of staff for the new courts and the recruitment process will be completed this month. The apex court directed the Law Ministry to submit another progress report in the second week of February regarding the completion of the first phase. TLTP

record of the temple land at the time of Partition should be looked into too and ensure that the record has not been tampered with.During the hearing, Justice Ijazul Ahsan asked where the intelligence agencies were when the incident took place.

The KP IGP replied that a Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) protest had been taking place near the site on the day of the incident which was sponsored by Maulana Faizullah.

"Out of the six ulema at the protest, only Maulvi Mohammad Sharif incited the crowd," the police chief said.

“There were 92 police officials at the spot, but they showed cowardice and negligence,” KP IG Sanaullah Abbasi admitted. These

92 policemen, including the superintendent of police (SP) and deputy superintendent of police (DSP), have not been suspended, the court was told.

The chief justice remarked that "suspension was not enough".

He also expressed dissatisfaction with the EPTB chairman during the hearing, telling the official to "not sit on the chairman's seat with government mentality".

"Your employees are doing business on the land meant for shrines. Arrest them and start the reconstruction of the temple," Justice Ahmed said.

“You have to recover money from the people who did this, from this Maulvi [Sharif] and his followers,”

the chief justice added.

Last week, KP Chief Minister Mahmood Khan had announced the reconstruction of the vandalised Hindu temple in Karak.

According to a statement, the KP chief minister had directed the concerned authorities to ensure the reconstruction of Hindu temple on an early basis. He had also vowed to protect the worship places of minorities in all cases.

Mahmood had said that several people involved in the incident have been arrested. “Strict action will be taken against those involved. No one is allowed to take the law into one’s own hands,” he had said.

Earlier on Wednesday, a mob, reportedly led by clerics, vandalised

and set the Hindu temple on fire. The temple, though no longer functional, is considered a revered pilgrimage site by the Hindu community.

Residents in the Terri area of Karak were not happy with the handover of the temple to the Hindu community. The ongoing renovation further fuelled their anger that set off a chain of events that led to the vandalism. The mob was too big to confront for the local administration and police.

According to the police officials, the Hindu community had bought some land to extend the temple, where they were constructing a building.

However, a local cleric instigated the people to attack the structure.

“They attacked and demolished the under-construction building. We have registered an FIR against the clerics and the situation is under control,” police had said.

On Thursday, CJP Gulzar took notice of the incident and the police began rounding up dozens of suspects, including the cleric, who had instigated the attack.

Senate condemns grave rights violations in occupied Kashmir ISLAMABAD

QURESHI HOPES JOE BIDEN TO PLAY ROLE IN RESOLVING KASHMIR DISPUTE

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Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Tuesday reiterated Pakistan's resolve to continue extending political, moral and diplomatic support to Kashmiris' just struggle for right to selfdetermination.

Speaking in the Senate, which resumed its session with Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani in the chair, Qureshi said, “We have to give a clear and strong message to our Kashmiri brethren and the international community that Pakistan will stand by the people of Kashmir till resolution of Kashmir dispute in light of the UN resolutions.”

The foreign minister said that India has deployed 900,000 troops to subjugate the voice of the people of Kashmir, but it will not succeed in breaking Kashmiris’ resolve and determination.

He said that today the entire Kashmiri nation has become sick of New Delhi's Hindutva policies.

He said every citizen of Pakistan is an advocate of Kashmiris' freedom struggle and he will continue this mission till resolution of the Kashmir issue.

Qureshi expressed hope that US Presidentelect Joe Biden will raise his voice against the human rights violation in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) when he comes into power. “Joe Biden is well-aware of the region and can help resolve the Kashmir issue,” he said while addressing the Senate.

The foreign minister further stated that despite differences between the political parties, Pakistan was unanimous in its call for the rights of Kashmiris. “We want to send a message to the world that Pakistan will not let the Kashmiris be oppressed,” he said, adding that despite India’s use of force, Kashmiris continue to raise their voices.

He apprised the upper house that Pakistan has raised the issue of Kashmiri human rights activist and political leader Asiya Andrabi’s husband’s arrest with the United Nations.

Taking a jibe at the opposition, the foreign minister stated that the previous governments did not pursue the Kashmir issue like they should have. Qureshi questioned why the previous governments did not raise the issue of Kashmir.

"Have the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) not had the chance to rule the country in 72 years?” he asked.

Referring to JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the foreign minister said that no other parliamentarian has been given the opportunity to advocate for Kashmir as long as Fazl has. "Maybe Maulana Fazlur Rehman was unable to pay heed to the issue as he should have," Qureshi added.

The foreign minister said that the opposition could use his offices to raise their voice for Kashmiris.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan said that freedom is the basic right of the oppressed Kashmiri people and sacrifices of thousands of Kashmiri people will soon bear fruit. Participating in the discussion, he said that Pakistan will continue its diplomatic support for their cause and raise the matter on all relevant forums.

He said, “It is our collective responsibility to acknowledge support to the Kashmiris people.” He demanded the implementation of the United Nations resolutions on the Kashmir dispute.

Later, the Senate unanimously passed a resolution condemning the grave human rights violations in occupied Kashmir.

The opposition leader Raja Zafarul Haq moved the resolution which demanded an immediate release of Kashmiri activist and political leader, Asiya Andrabi, who is incarcerated in Tihar Jail in India. Those who participated in the discussion include Haq, Sherry Rehman, Musaddik Malik, Ayesha Raza Farooq and Mian Attique Sheikh.

The house was later adjourned to meet again at 10:30 am on Friday.

No compromise on right to self-determination: Masood ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan has said that determination of the future through a free and fair plebiscite is the fate of the Kashmiri people and they are not ready to make any compromise on their birthright to selfdetermination.

In a statement on the occasion of the Right to Self-Determination Day on Tuesday, the AJK president said that according to the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolution of 5 January 1949, holding a referendum in the divided five units of Jammu and Kashmir state under the supervision of the UN, is the sole guarantee of peace and security of South Asia, and it is the basic responsibility of the UN to ensure an environment conducive for holding a free, fair and impartial plebiscite in the state.

The AJK president said that this was for the first

time that the international community had recognized the fundamental right of self-determination of the Kashmiri people through a comprehensive UN resolution in January 1949, but India has emerged as the biggest hurdle in the implementation of this resolution.

India, he said, instead of resolving the Kashmir issue through peaceful political and diplomatic means, wants to resolve the issue through military might.

He maintained that the illegitimate military occupation of Jammu and Kashmir, unlawfully declaring the disputed state as part of the Indian Union, change of demography of the held territory, the policy of turning the Kashmiri Muslims into a minority in their own homeland and inhuman treatment to the those demanding their legitimate right to self-determination has made the situation of entire South Asia explosive.

Unfortunately, he added that India's intransigence is the biggest hurdle in the way of peaceful resolution of the dispute as a result of which millions of people

of the region have been compelled to bear its brunt.

While criticising the lackadaisical attitude of the UNSC towards the oppressed and enslaved people of Jammu and Kashmir and peaceful resolution of the Kashmir dispute, Khan said that this attitude of the world body is not only eclipsing the credibility of the world body but also reveals the grave negligence toward fulfilling its obligations.

The state president said that the Kashmir issue had been on the UNSC agenda as an unresolved dispute since long, the lack of interest on the part of the world body is emboldening India to materialise its hegemonic agenda.

However, he said, in spite of all out deceitfulness of India and the lack of the interest of the UN, the people of Jammu and Kashmir are not ready to make any compromise on their birthright to self-determination and they are determined to continue their just struggle till they achieve their goal of freedom from the Indian clutches.

Wednesday, 6 January, 2021

NEWS

03

Cabinet approves purChase of Covid-19 vaCCine to save human lives ISLAMABAD

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STAFF REPORT

HE federal cabinet, in order to save human lives timely and on emergency basis, on Tuesday accorded approval for the purchase of Covid-19 vaccine by the Ministry of Health.

The cabinet, which met with Prime Minister Imran Khan in the chair, was briefed by Special Assistant on Health Dr Faisal Sultan about the current situation of the coronavirus pandemic in the country.

The cabinet offered Fateha and prayed for the souls of labourers martyred in Mach, Balochistan, Osama Satti, who was killed in police firing in Islamabad, and for the martyrs of Pakistan Armed Forces.

The meeting approved the appointment of the Board of Directors (BOD) chairman of Pakistan Expo Centers Private Limited.

It also approved the constitution of a special committee to adjudicate on the appeals made under Clause 21 of the Trade Organizations Act 2013. The committee would be able to exercise its authority after

the completion of amendments in the relevant laws.

The meeting also accorded approval for the appointment of members of the Press Council of Pakistan.

The cabinet, in order to improve the quality of exports in the fisheries sector, approved the constitution of inspection committee, which would perform duties of inspection of the fish processing plants to be established in the country.

The inspection committee comprised representatives of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Ministry of Commerce and Pakistan Fisheries Exporters Association.

The cabinet accepted the resignation of Dr Rana Abdul Jabbar as chief executive officer of Alternate Energy Development Board (AEDB) and approved the constitution of a selection committee for the appointment of new CEO. The managing director of Private Power Infrastructure Board (PPIB) would look after the AEDB till the appointment of new CEO. The cabinet endorsed the decisions taken by the Cabinet Committee for Legal Cases in its meeting held on December 31, 2020.

Covid-19 Claims another 59 lives; 1,947 fresh Cases surfaCe ISLAMABAD: The coronavirus pandemic claimed 59 more lives during the last 24 hours, taking the country's total death toll to 10,409. According to the latest update released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Tuesday, Pakistan recorded as many as 1,947 new cases of the novel coronavirus during the previous 24 hours, lifting the national tally of infections to 490,476. Most of the deaths were reported in Punjab, followed by Sindh. The NCOC said that 31 Covid-19 patients died on ventilators during the last 24 hours. Out of the 10,409 total reported deaths, there had been about 3,623 deaths in Sindh, 4,160 in Punjab, 1,683 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 428 in Islamabad. About 185 deaths had been reported in Balochistan and 101 deaths in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and 225 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). According to NCOC, about 1,903 patients had recovered from the deadly pandemic in the last 24 hours taking total recoveries to 444,360. There are about 626 hospitals with Covid-19 facilities with 2,729 patients admitted across the country. About 35,073 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, while a total of 6,884,940 tests have been conducted since the outbreak of the virus. Out of the 35,073 tests, the NCOC reported that 10,165 were conducted in Sindh, 16,203 in Punjab, 4,197 in KP, 3,713 in Islamabad 122 in Balochistan, 357 in GB and 316 in AJK Out of the total 490,476 Covid-19 cases, NCOC reported 219,452 in Sindh, 141,393 in Punjab, 59,729 in KP, 38,395 in Islamabad, 18,254 in Balochistan, 8,383 in AJK and 4,870 in GB. The total number of active Covid-19 across Pakistan was reported to be 35,707. The NCOC reported the number of active cases in Sindh to be at 17,959, 11,008 in Punjab, 3,378 in KP, 2,714 in Islamabad, 240 in Balochistan, 52 in GB and 356 in AJK. The highest number of ventilators occupied in the country was found to be in Islamabad with 46 per cent occupancy, followed by Multan at 44 per cent, Bahawalpur 41 per cent and Lahore 37 per cent. Meanwhile, the highest number of oxygen bed occupancy in the country was reported in Peshawar at 57 per cent followed by Islamabad with 32 per cent, Multan with 31 per cent and Karachi with 31 per cent. TLTP

ppsC staffers 'leaked' at least 12 question papers: investigation

Caa updates Covid advisory, international travel categories

LAHORE STAFF REPORT

An inquiry has found out that at least 12 papers for recruitment against government posts through Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) were leaked. According to a report, evidence emerged after the officials browsed the contents of storage (USB) and other electronic gadgets confiscated from Waqas Akram, a junior data entry operator at the commission. Akram along with three other staffers of the commission -- Ghazanfar, employed at the finance department of PPSC; Gohar Ali, an MPhil student at the University of Punjab and Mazhar Iqbal, a private person -- was arrested by AntiCorruption Establishment (ACE) on Saturday after they were found involved in leakage of the question paper for the written test being held for the 58 posts of tehsildar, consolidation/hill torrent officer and reader to member Board of Revenue (BoR). The arrests compelled the commission to postpone the test at the eleventh hour, inviting flak from the candidates who had arrived from far-flung areas in extreme cold. As many as 103,487 candidates had applied for the competitive examination. During the probe, papers for the posts of tehsildars, lecturers, deputy accounts officers, assistant directors and inspectors were found from devices belonging to the suspects. Reports suggest an officer from the education department might also be questioned in the case. Akram, who being a computer operator had access to the papers, is suspected of making copies of the paper and handing it over to the other suspects who in turn would sell it for hefty bribes. A week before the arrests, ACE Director General Gohar Nafees had formed a three-member special investigation team (SIT) to look into the reports about leakage of question papers. The spokesperson said that as per the ACE team’s investigation, an Rs800,000 bribe was received by the suspects for the leaking of each question paper. “The four arrested gang members have confessed that they not only leaked the question papers of the test for tehsildar’s posts but also of previous papers for the posts of inspector and ACE assistant director, lecturers in Chemistry, Education, etc,” he said, adding that further investigation was underway.

ISLAMABAD: Dark clouds over the federal capital present a breathtaking sight. ONLINE

PPP unhappy with PDM's 'unilateral decision' of march towards Rawalpindi ISLAMABAD MIAN ABRAR

The new challenge faced by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) leadership is regarding Maulana Fazlur Rehman's announcement on the alliance's proposed protest march towards the General Headquarters (GHQ) of the military in Rawalpindi, sources in the opposition alliance informed Pakistan Today. A source in the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has also said that the former president and Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari has expressed reservations over what he called the 'unilateral' announcement by the Fazl.

Zardari has alleged that the Jamiat Ulema-e-IslamFazl (JUI-F) chief and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supreme leader Nawaz Sharif had taken the decision themselves and made the announcement without consulting the other allies.

"Pakistan People's Party is strongly against the sitin in front of GHQ and march towards Rawalpindi.

Zardari believes that the proposal was discussed between Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Nawaz Sharif while the PPP was kept in dark," the source said.

Zardari has raised a point of contention on why the other parties were not consulted on this issue. The source said that Nawaz did not consult the PPP and other allies before making the controversial speech in the Gujranwala rally where he named the army chief and top spy of the country as those made "a state above a state". Furthermore, there seem to be reservations within the PML-N about the hasty decisions as well, and some party members feel that Nawaz is being influenced by the inexperienced Maryam and a vengeful Fazl. The source said that the JUI-F chief has been assured by the PML-N that whether the long march is towards Islamabad or towards Rawalpindi, the Sharifs will abide by the decision.

Sources also informed Pakistan Today that while the JUI-F and PML-N are working to put pressure on the GHQ, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has devised a strategy to alienate the ruling party by luring away their allies. The source said that Bilawal and Asif Zardari are working behind the scenes to lure Mutahidda Qoumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM) and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) to their side, as the parties are also unhappy with PM Imran's treatment of his government allies.

Pakistan, Iran to strengthen cooperation against drug trafficking NEWS DESK Pakistan and Iran have agreed to further strengthen bilateral cooperation between the two countries for elimination of drug trafficking.

This understanding was reached during a meeting between Minister for Narcotics Control Ijaz Ahmad Shah and Iranian Narcotics Police Chief Brigadier General Majeed Karimi, who headed a delegation, in Islamabad on Tuesday.

The meeting also discussed the steps being taken by the two countries to eliminate drugs.

Speaking on the occasion, Ijaz Ahmad Shah said that elimination of drugs will play an important role in the formation of a peaceful society. He stressed upon steps to reduce demand of drugs in areas along the Iranian border to control the drug supply. “I do look at enforcement and seizures but I think we have to work on demand reduction in an area which requires more attention, because if there is a demand for anything there would be supply despite all efforts,” he said.

Shah said that Pakistan wants to exchange effective intelligence with the

Islamic Republic of Iran to strengthen joint cooperation against illicit drug trade. He said that Iran and Pakistan have good coordination in narcotics control but there is always room for the improvement. Shah said that Iran and Pakistan are not only in the same region but "we are neighbours and if we do not have any coordination in the field of narcotics control, we cannot be successful. Iran and Pakistan have good coordination in narcotics control but there is always a room for the improvement.”

Shah said that a good thing is that the

Iran's Anti-Narcotics Police Chief Brigadier-General Majid Karimi has served in Pakistan and he knows the environment of Pakistan, he knows from where the drugs come into the two countries as Pakistan and Iran are the victim states. “Drug dealers have two routes, one is Iran and Pakistan and the other is Europe and they use both the routes so we are the victim states. These drugs affect all the countries on such routes,” he said. Brigadier General Majeed Karimi assured all possible cooperation for the solution of border issues.

KARACHI: The Civil Aviation Authority of Pakistan on Tuesday updated its coronavirus advisory and A and B categories for international travel which will come in effect from Wednesday. It has notified the new categories, A & B, for international travels wherein 23 countries now qualify in the former category which means people traveling to Pakistan from them will not have to take the mandatory preboarding Covid-19 test. China, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, and Australia are among the A-category countries according to CAA. However, those coming from countries in the B travel category will have to make sure a negative Covid-19 PCR report at maximum of 90 hours prior to boarding. The rest of coronavirus SOPs will remain the same and their implementation will be mandatory, CAA said today.

It is pertinent to note that earlier yesterday, CAA issued new travel restrictions for the passengers coming in from the United Kingdom and South Africa in view of a second novel coronavirus wave amplified by a newly detected coronavirus strain found hastily transmissible across Britain. TLTP

public does not want mQm-p to stay with govt: bilawal Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has questioned the rationale behind the Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQMP) staying with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) coalition. "The public does not want MQM to stay with the government for one more day," he said while addressing the inauguration ceremony of the second phase of the Karachi Neighbourhoods Improvement Project. Bilawal said that the PTI only came into power because of the MQM-P help, but added "that enjoy being in the government" must pay attention to the people of Karachi. "Ask MQM-P workers what they have done for the people of Korangi so far," Bilawal remarked. He said that the recent moves by the MQM-P have deprived the people of the port city of their rights.

"Unfortunately, those who have been elected from this city have long been part of different governments throughout history, however, they failed to get the city's rightful share from the Centre," Bilawal said. NEWS DESK

04 NEWS

Wednesday, 6 January, 2021

PM direCtS Punjab to enSure finanCial aSSiStanCe to farMerS ISLAMABAD

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SHC refuses plea against antiencroachment operation in Karachi

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RIME Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday directed to activate the Punjab Cooperative Department (PCD) to ensure financial assistance to farmers.

This was directed by the prime minister during a meeting with Punjab Minister for Law, Parliamentary Affairs and Cooperatives Raja Basharat.

The provincial minister apprised the prime minister of the changes being made in the province to bring the old laws in line with the existing rules. He said that the Punjab Provincial Cooperative Bank (PPCB) would be restructured and made an active institution for the betterment of agriculture and farmers.

He added that the bank would be made fully operational and its closed branches would be reopened.

He said that other important issues, including reconstitution of the board and recruitment on vacant posts, would be completed within three months. He told the premier that amendments would be made in the existing policies

DISCUSSES SENATE POLLS WITH SINDH, KP GOVERNORS; TELLS THEM TO AVOID CREATING HURDLES IN PDM PROTEST OUTSIDE ECP and laws of the bank to make it useful for the consumers.

Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Law Farogh Nasim and PM’s Advisor on Interior and Accountability Shahzad Akbar met with the premier in Islamabad.

During the meeting, they discussed important legal and constitutional matters, the way forward for resolution of problems, and future strategy. The premier was apprised of the strategy for taking court cases to their logical conclusion in a swift and prompt manner.

Farogh briefed the premier that 99.5 per cent cases received by the Law Ministry have been completed as 100 cases are being completed on a daily basis. The premier appreciated the pace of concluding court cases.

In another meeting, the prime minister directed the concerned authorities not to create any hurdle in the protest movement of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM)–an alliance of 11

opposition parties.

According to the details, the prime minister allowed the PDM’s planned protest in front of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) and directed Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed not to create any hurdle in the PDM’s protest.

He said that the opposition parties may exercise their right to protest. However, during the meeting, the premier issued directions to take action against those violating the law.

On the other side, the ECP has called a meeting on Wednesday (today) under the chairmanship of chief election commissioner to formulate a strategy in the wake of the PDM’s protest in front of its office on January 19.

Meanwhile, Governors of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh, Shah Farman and Imran Ismail respectively, and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Saifullah Niazi called on the prime minister.

During the meeting, the Senate elec-

tion, Kashmir issue, by-election and prevailing political situation in the country came under discussion.

According to sources, the premier gave an important task to the Sindh governor with reference to the Senate polls after an in-depth discussion over the political developments. “The governor will soon begin meetings with political stakeholders in this regard,” they said.

The prime minister is likely to visit Karachi next week.

It is pertinent to mention here that the PTI has approached its coalition partners in the federal government, MQM-P and PML-F, for devising a joint strategy against the incumbent Sindh government–led by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP)–in Senate elections and by-polls.

On January 1, the PTI approached its coalition partner in the Centre, PML-F, to discuss a joint strategy for by-polls in the Sindh province and Senate elections.

According to details, a PTI delegation, headed by Opposition Leader in Sindh Assembly Firdous Shamim Naqvi reached out to the PML-F, where they were welcomed by Nand Kumar and Sardar Abdul Rahim.

KARACHI TLTP

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday rejected the issuance of a stay order against the antiencroachment operation in Karachi. The owners of some restaurants moved to the SHC to challenge the demolition of their restaurants during the antiencroachment operation, which was started to recover the encroached lands along Karachi’s Super Highway. The owners sought a stay order against the ongoing anti-encroachment drive and stated that the notices issued to them by the Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) are illegal. The petitioners pleaded to the court to stop the demolition of their restaurants constructed on the plots, which were being used for both commercial and residential purposes. However, the court rejected to pass any stay order in the matter. The SHC judge issued notices to the SBCA director general and other parties in the case and said that the court will listen to the stance of the concerned officials. Earlier in December last year, the SHC had ordered the Karachi Development Authority (KDA) to launch a massive anti-encroachment drive in Gulistan-eJauhar area of the city to vacate the land occupied through China cutting. The judgement was passed on a plea submitted in the SHC, accusing the KDA of supporting the land mafia in Gulistan-e-Jauhar.

LAHORE: A view of traffic jam at Canal Road due to heavy rainfall in the provincial capital. zubaIr mahfooz

Buzdar assures support to people of IOK LAHORE PPI

Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has said that its government will continue all-out support to the struggles of the oppressed people of Indian-occupied Kashmir (IOK) for the right of self-determination.

In his message, the CM lauded the strong passion and commitment of the oppressed Kashmiris

and stressed upon the international community to take immediate notice of Indian brutalities in the IOK. He said the silence of the international community on Indian aggression against hapless Kashmiris is regrettable.

The CM asserted

KP requests other provinces to arrest and hand over JUI-F leader Kifayatullah PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Inspector General of Police (IGP) Sanaullah Abbasi has written a letter to the IGPs of other provinces for the arrest of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) leader Mufti Kifayatullah.

In the letter, Abbasi requested the IGPs of other provinces to arrest and hand over Kifayatullah to the KP police as per the requirement of law, as a first information report (FIR) has been registered against Kifayatullah in KP. The KP government has lodged an FIR against Kifayatullah on account

of making defamatory remarks against the state institutions.

According to a media report, Kifayatullah has taken shelter at Madrasa Ishaatul Quran in Larkana to avoid his arrest and JUI-F’s Sindh Secretary General Rashid Mahmood Soomro has facilitated him in Larkana.

Earlier on December 29 last year, Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad had warned of quick legal action over anti-state remarks of the politicians and said that the first case in this regard will be registered against Kifayatullah in Lahore. TLTP

that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has even left Adolf Hitler behind with regard to the genocide. It is also deplorable that even the UN resolutions have failed to prevent Indian atrocities in the IOK. Buzdar empha-

sised that the international community should play its due role in granting the right of self-determination to the Kashmiris as a peaceful solution of the core issue of Kashmir will ensure durable peace in South Asia.

"The Pakistan government and its people will continue to side with the oppressed Kashmiris till the right of self-determination is not granted to them," the CM concluded.

Wednesday, 6 January, 2021

NEWS

CaBiNet exteNds fixed tax sCheMe for CoNstruCtioN seCtor till JuNe 30th ISLAMABAD

t

SHAHZAD PARACHA

He federal cabinet on Tuesday extended the fixed tax scheme for the construction sector till June 30, 2021. According to sources privy to this development, the Cabinet Division had presented a summary before the cabinet pertaining to the ratification of a decision taken by the Cabinet Committee for Disposal of Legislative Cases (CCLC) in its meeting held on December 31, 2020. earlier, the Revenue Division had requested the CCLC to extend and slightly amend the fixed tax scheme for the construction sector, originally promulgated vide ordinance dated April 14, 2020. Subsequently, the cabinet committee gave approval to promulgate the Income Tax (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020.

The CCLC was informed that in the wake of the

PKM laments sugarcane price disparity among provinces

Exporters demand customs duty waiver on cotton yarn KArACHI

LAHore

STAFF REPORT

STAFF REPORT

Value-added textile exporters have demanded the government to abolish customs duty on the import of cotton yarn in order to support the industry and ensure timely completion of export orders.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Pakistan Apparel Forum Chairman and former Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers & exporters Association (PHMA) central chairman Muhammad Jawed Bilwani said the gravity of situation demands the government to immediately abolish customs duty on import of cotton yarn either by passing through a presidential ordinance or by an immediate act of the parliament in the interest of export industry of the country.

He said that value-added textile exporters are highly perturbed over the unavailability of cotton yarn – which is basic raw material in the local market – at a time when huge export orders are available with the value-added sector.

He said the available cotton yarn is substandard owing to which exporters are unable to meet export com-

Pakistan Kissan Movement (PKM) Secretary General Chaudhry Hanif Gujjar, after arriving in Lahore from Sargodha on Tuesday, chaired a meeting of the executive committee wherein he was informed about the problems being by the farmers. It was observed that the ex-mill rate of sugarcane rose to Rs270-280 per maund, but farmers in Sindh were getting over Rs300 per maund for the same; middlemen were purchasing cane from South Punjab at more than Rs315 per maund including freight and selling to Sindh sugar mills. Farmers lamented that no action was taken on ground against the middlemen despite repeated requests to Punjab Cane Commissioner Muhammad Zaman Watto. If Sindh farmers could get Rs300 per maund of sugarcane price, then why farmers in Punjab getting less for the same, they asked. Farmers rejected the government-announced price of Rs200 per maund, which according to them were peanuts keeping in view the cost of fertilizer, seeds and pesticides. They appealed Prime Minister Imran Khan to take stern action against this disparity between the farming communities of Sindh and Punjab.

Bitcoin emergence as ‘digital gold’ could lift price to $146,000, says JPM LonDon AgEnCiES

Digital currency bitcoin has emerged as a rival to gold and could trade as high as $146,000 if it becomes established as a safe-haven asset, investment bank JPMorgan (JPM) said on Tuesday.

Interest in the world’s biggest cryptocurrency has soared this year, with investors viewing bitcoin as a hedge against inflation and an alternative to the depreciating dollar. The rush led to bitcoin prices more than tripling in the past six months to a record peak of $34,800 on Jan. 2. “Bitcoin’s competition with gold has already started in our mind,” the Wall Street bank’s strategists said in a note, citing recent $7 billion outflows from gold and more than $3 billion of inflows into the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. That could mark a new dawn for the volatile digital currency after years as a play for speculators and retail punters. “Considering how big the financial investment into gold is, a crowding out of gold as an ‘alternative’ currency implies big upside for bitcoin over the long term,” JPM said. Bitcoin is likely to outshine gold as millennials become a more important component of the investment market over time and given their preference for “digital gold” over traditional bullion, JPM added. With a market capitalisation of $575 billion, the bitcoin price would need a nearly fivefold jump to $146,000 to match the value of private gold wealth held in gold bars, coins or exchange-traded funds, the bank’s note added. JPM strategists said the upside is conditional on the volatility of bitcoin converging with that of gold in the longer term.

complete the new or existing project by September 30, 2023. earlier, it was September 30, 2022.

Moreover, the FBR may provisionally accept commencement of such project on a case to case basis where the builders or developers have taken all actions or done all things required and necessary to procure any approvals but any such approval is delayed beyond a period of 30 days from date of relevant application and the cutoff date of 31st day of December, 2021 is not adhered to by the builders or developers.

Besides, a declaration is provided in the registration from under eleventh schedule to the effect of percentage of the project completed up to the last date of the accounting period pertaining to the tax year 2019 or tax year 2020 at the option of the taxpayer.

The ordinance further stated that the additional partners or shareholders in a builder or developer after the 30 day of June, 2021, may join but additional partners or shareholders shall not be eligible for exemptions provided under sub-section (3) of section 100D.

economic slowdown caused by the outbreak of Covid19 pandemic and in order to boost the economy, the government had announced a comprehensive package of reforms for the housing and construction sector.

The package inter alia included promulgation of the tax law (amendment) ordinance 2020 on April 14, 2020, which provided various tax incentives to the housing and construction industry.

The package received encouraging response but owing to the second wave of Covid-19 and certain procedural delays in registration of projects, most investors could not avail the benefits of the package within the statutory timeline i.e.

December 31, 2020. This necessitated the extension in timelines prescribed in the said ordinance for various essential activities like registration as well as completion of projects.

The ordinance read that the builders or developers are bound to register the latest by June 30, 2021. In addition, builders or developers are also bound to

“Despite suffering 73 years of brutal Indian occupation, generation after generation of the Kashmiri people remain steadfast in the demand for their inalienable right to selfdetermination as guaranteed to them under the UN Charter and by the UN Security Council,” he said.

“We call on the international community to take action against the well-documented human rights violations being committed with impunity by Indian occupation forces against innocent Kashmiri men, women and children; and to ensure Kashmiris get their right to self-determination."

In a subsequent press statement, released by his office, the prime minister noted that around 900,000 occupation forces had turned occupied Jammu and Kashmir into the largest militarised zone in the world.

“Post-August 5, 2019, India unleashed a new reign of terror in the region, maintaining an inhuman military siege, perpetrating egregious violations of human rights of innocent people, especially women, children and the elderly with unprecedented impunity, and seeking to illegally change the

National workshop on livestock productivity today ISLAMABAD SHAHZAD PARACHA

The Livestock & Dairy Development Board (LDDB) will host a national workshop on Wednesday to discuss "Genetic Improvement of Livestock Breeds in Pakistan". According to an LDDB official, Pakistan has a diversity of Animal Genetic Resources (AnGR) in the form of several breeds of livestock -- with a potential to contribute significantly towards milk and meat production in the country. "But the productivity of local animals of Pakistan is quite low, mainly due to poor inherent genetic potential," he added. To overcome this situation, the LDDB in partnership with the Animal Science Institute of National Agriculture Research Center has developed a concept paper for the PSDP project, namely 'Coordinated National Program for the Genetic Improvement of Livestock Breeds for Milk & Meat', the official stated. He informed that LDDB's upcoming national workshop, to be held on January 6 at the National Agriculture and Research Council, Islamabad, would ensure a consensus is built on the proposed project. The workshop is focused on productivity enhancement of livestock sector by increasing the genetic potential of farm animals. National Food Security & Research Secretary Dr Ghufran Memon, Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Jehanzeb Khan and Food Security Planning & Development Member Dr Hamid Jalil are expected to be present during the workshop.

World Bank

mitment. To ensure availability of cotton yarn, the PHMA had earlier demanded the government to allow duty-free import of cotton yarn to facilitate value-added textile export sector; however, the government considered removing the regulatory duty only.

“Sense of severe unrest and uncertainty prevails as exporters feel it is ‘discriminatory’ because in the case of cotton, the government had allowed complete duty-free import,” he added. Bilwani said the removal of regulatory duty supported the value-added textile sector to some extent, whereas the situation necessitates to also remove the customs duty to fully support the value-added textile sector to complete their export orders which they have materialised for the next several months.

He urged that the government must realise the sensitivity of the matter to support the value-added textile exports as due to unavailability of cotton yarn, the prices of cotton yarn of 30/1, which were Rs235 per pound during the month of October 2020, have reached Rs260 per pound. He said the government must accord high priority to the matter in order to turn its policy to enhance export into reality.

Pakistan reaffirms support for Kashmir cause ContInueD froM pAge 01

05

demographic structure of the occupied territory,” he said.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi reaffirmed Pakistan's full support to the people of Kashmir in their demand for realisation of their inalienable right to self-determination. He urged India to allow the UN to investigate the grave human rights violation in IOK and said the international community must continue to support Kashmir for basic human rights and fundamental freedom.

Information Minister Shibli Faraz urged the international community to shun its silence on the Indian crimes against humanity in occupied Kashmir. In his tweets on Tuesday, he said that the 5th January reminds us that the UN resolution accepting the right to self-determination of Kashmiris has yet not been implemented. The information minister said that PM Imran being an advocate and ambassador of Kashmiris is forcefully pleading the case of valiant Kashmiri people at all international forums and unmasking the evil face of India. Paying tribute to the struggle of Kashmiri people, Faraz said that the oppression unleashed against them has not deterred them from seeking their fundamental democratic right to self-determination.

ContInueD froM pAge 01 Regarding global debt, the World Bank states that the pandemic exacerbated the risk associated with the decadelong wave of debt accumulation, with debt levels reaching historic highs, thus making the global economy vulnerable to market stress. Furthermore, the report projects that the pandemic is likely to be cause of realisation of long-expected slowdown in economic growth during the decade ahead of us. It stresses the role of policymakers in improving the likelihood of better growth outcomes, limiting the spread of the virus, providing relief to vulnerable segments in populations, and overcoming vaccine-related challenges. Finally, the World Bank also highlights that weak fiscal positions are severely constraining support measures of governments in many countries, and emphasises the need for reforms to ensure robust, sustainable and equitable growth, while stressing that global cooperation is the key to addressing many of these challenges. It adds that the global community needs to act rapidly and forcefully to ensure that the ongoing debt wave does not lead to a string of debt crises in emerging markets and developing economies as was the case previously.

Kashmir Committee Chairman Shehryar Afridi reaffirmed that the entire Pakistani nation stands by their Kashmiri brethren until they achieve their right to selfdetermination. Addressing a seminar in connection with Kashmiris' Right to Self Determination Day in Islamabad today (Tuesday), he said, “We all are united for the Kashmir cause.” Afridi said that Pakistan will continue its moral, diplomatic and political support to the Kashmir cause. The Kashmir Committee chief said the promise made to the Kashmiris for right to self-determination must be fulfilled.

He said that India's ugly face, its false propaganda and its nefarious designs against Pakistan have been exposed by eU DisinfoLab. Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control (LoC) and the world over observed the Right to Self-Determination Day on Tuesday, with a renewed pledge to continue their liberation struggle till it reaches its ultimate goal.

It was on 5th January in 1949 when the UNSC passed a resolution supporting the Kashmiris’ right to decide their future by themselves through UN-sponsored plebiscite.

The day was marked by various activities, including rallies, seminars and conferences across the world to remind the UN that it must implement its relevant resolutions to settle the Kashmir dispute and save Kashmiris from the Indian brutalities. Meanwhile, Hurriyet leaders and organisations called upon the UN and international community to fulfil their pledge by granting Kashmiris their basic right of self-determination.

Lahore, Karachi chambers join hands for trade promotion LAHore APP

Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and Karachi Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KCCI) have decided to make joint efforts to promote trade, industry and economic activities in the country.

This agreement was reached during a meeting between LCCI President Mian Tariq Misbah and KCCI President Shariq Vohra. LCCI Senior Vice President Nasir Hameed Khan, Vice President Tahir Manzoor Chaudhry, along with executive committee members Haji Asif

Sehar, Ali Afzal, Saleem Asghar Bhatti and Malik Riaz Iqbal, were also present on the occasion.

It was also agreed that both chambers would keep an eye on the trade and investment opportunities and ensure timely exchange of delegations so as to share their trade and economic research work.

They would also work together to settle issues with the Federal Board of Revenue, besides chalking out ways to ensure their representation in economic policies at all levels.

In addition, LCCI would take the Karachi chamber on board regarding the business

CMYK

and investment conference in Gwadar City, scheduled to be held in the last week of January or first week of February.

Speaking on the occasion, LCCI President Mian Tariq Misbah said collaboration between the two chambers would go a long way and help business communities of the two mega cities in finding new destinations for trade and investment.

He also highlighted the ongoing economic challenges and stressed the need for collective approach to bring the country out of these problems.

Both chambers have their own strengths and the joining of hands by the

two institutions would bring positive change on the economic front, he added.

The LCCI president urged the business communities of Lahore and Karachi to pay attention towards branding and innovative approach, which holds the key to success for businesses that want to go global.

Meanwhile, KCCI President Shariq Vohra said that the harmony between the LCCI and KCCI would give further boost to the inter-chamber interaction, adding that Karachi was the hub of quality products and offered matchless opportunities to both local and foreign investors.

Wednesday, 6 January, 2021

06 COMMENT

Human-rights violations in India

Work hard for Afghan peace But it mustn’t be labour of love

P

AKISTAN has bent over backward to help the USA, the Afghan government and the Afghan Taliban to resolve differences, end the civil war and bring peace to its war-ravaged neighbor. For this COAS Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa and PM Imran Khan separately visited Kabul last year while Pakistani officials held talks in Islamabad for three days with Afghan peace official Abdullah Abdullah. Pakistan helped restart the stalled dialogue in Doha three months after this was terminated unilaterally by US President Donald Trump in September 2019. In February last year Pakistan again facilitated the signing of the US-Taliban agreement, got the warring sides to observe a ceasefire on eid, and helped break the stalemate over the prisoners’ release that was delaying the start of the intra-Afghan dialogue. In December when apprehensions were expressed that the Afghan Taliban might not return to dialogue three weeks after a mutually agreed break, Pakistan invited their delegation to ensure that that talks started as scheduled.

Pakistan has invested a lot of time and energy in bringing peace to Afghanistan. Many in Pakistan would however judge the outcome of the efforts from what Pakistan has received in return. To reiterate that the security of Pakistan lies in the security of Afghanistan will satisfy few when there is no end to terrorist attacks from sanctuaries in Afghanistan, the horrendous killing of 11 innocent hazara mine workers being the latest gory incident.

We are told by the government that that terrorist networks like the Daesh, which carried out the attack on the hazaras, the TTP, the Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and the umbrella organisation Baloch Raji Aajoi Sangar (BRAS) have set up their camps in Afghanistan from where they launch attacks inside Pakistan. The beleaguered Afghan government might be lacking the ability to take on these networks, as we are told. But how come the US forces in Afghanistan possessing precision weapons look the other way as these groups target Pakistan? And why do the Afghan Taliban who challenge the US might, continue to ignore their presence in the areas under their control or influence? There is no doubt a need to continue to work for peace in Afghanistan but what has the PTI government done to ensure that the USA, the Taliban and the Afghan government deny Pakistan’s enemies the use of Afghan territory as a launching pad against Pakistani civilians and security personnel?

The evidence keeps on mounting Amjed jAAved

T

he International Federation for human Rights has published a report on human right violations in India. The Federation was assisted in compilation of the report by its partners, including the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP) and Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society (JKCCS) The report covers a broad range of subjects including enforced disappearance, extrajudicial killings, torture, and military impunity for grave crimes.

The report observes “military operations were marked by excessive and disproportionate use of force”. Since 1990, over 70,000 people have been killed, more than 8,000 have been subjected to enforced disappearances, several thousands have been arrested and detained under repressive laws, and torture and other acts of inhuman and degrading treatment against protestors and detainees have been routinely used by Indian security forces.

The Indian government continued to deny access to international human rights bodies to Indian-Occupied Kashmir. In 2016, even some journalists were warned not to visit it. In November 2010, US academic Richard Shapiro also was deported for “political activism” in Kashmir. In May 2011 Indian activist and writer Gautam Navlakha was denied entry at Srinagar airport. extra judicial disappearances continued unabated.

There are at least 1,500 so-called “half widows” in Kashmir, wives of men who have disappeared.

The paramilitary forces sometimes kill the “disappeared” in custody. The bodies of five disappeared persons were recovered, three killed by the Indian armed forces. In 2018, three civilians were subjected to enforced disappearance and later found dead. “enforced disappearances are used to instill fear among the local population and to dissuade them from participating in, and supporting, the freedom movement and to target civilians and militants alike.”

The fate or whereabouts of the 8,000 people who have been subjected to enforced disappearance have never been officially established. however, there are strong indications that a large number of these people are likely to have been buried in mass and otherwise unmarked graves.

Many victims of enforced disappearances are thought to have been killed and buried in unmarked mass graves. The Indian government acknowledges 4008 persons had been missing.

Although India signed the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from enforced Disappearance (ICPPeD) in 2007, it has yet to ratify it or to pass domestic laws.

From January 2008 to December 2018, there

Judgment on NAB A fiasco costing the country $28.7 million

T

he single-minded desire of the Musharraf regime to find some– any– evidence against the Sharifs and the Zardaris has led the government to shell out Rs 28.7 million to a company the Musharraf government had engaged in 2000 to find assets abroad created by those who had embezzled money. The company, Broadsheet LLC, created specifically for this purpose, made no recovery but because of a clause in its contract, had a claim for a share in recoveries by NAB, including recoveries made in Pakistan. It filed a claim after its contract was terminated in 2003, and won an award of $22 million in 2018. The government appeal in 2019 failed, and the recovery efforts culminated in the seizing of $28.7 million from the bank accounts of the Pakistani high Commission in the UK. earlier, Broadsheet had tried to take other assets of Pakistan, such as the money paid to the Pakistan cricket team, and the Avenfield apartments seized from the Sharifs.

The decision was announced by PM’s Interior and Accountability Adviser Shahzad Akbar, who was, through the Assets Recovery Unit he headed, supposed to recover from abroad the vast amounts the PTI holds were skimmed off government funds and parked abroad.

Instead of making any such recovery, after more than two years of efforts, Mr Akbar has managed a payment of $28.7 million, of taxpayer’s funds, by a country which is strapped for foreign exchange.

The pity of it all is that there is no trace of any attempt at negotiation to have the damages reduced. The high hand with which the government seems to have conducted proceedings has backfired badly. The government is now reduced to searching for those responsible, though it should be clear that its own desire for targeting Mian Nawaz Sharif was at fault. Though $28.7 million is not a sum to sneeze at, it pales in comparison with the $5.97 billion awarded in December 2020 against it in favour of the Tethyan Copper Company in the Riko Diq case, which is over 200 times greater. That particular award will be disastrous for the country as a whole, unless it is negotiated. Aside from the need to give responsibility in the Broadsheet case, the government needs to prepare a strategy for the Reko Diq case.

A question of India honouring its commitments muhAmmAd ZAhid RifAt

T

he Longest lingering and unresolved Kashmir issue, which was lying in the cold storage of the United Nations for almost 55 years, was revived and activated by Pakistan in 2018 and 2019 when its democratically elected Prime Minister Imran Khan addressed the UN General Assembly sessions consecutively for two years, highlighting the burning Kashmir issue, the Palestine issue and Islamophobia. Afterwards, the Kashmir issue has been discussed by the UN Security Council more than twice in a year.

The UN and its Security Council, the international community as well as international human rights organizations, have been expressing serious concern and condemning the fascist RSS Modi regime of India in continuing suppression and atrocities on innocent, unarmed Kashmiris who have engaged in an indigenous and unarmed struggle for securing their fundamental right of self-determination.

But somehow or the other, due to various factors and interests, they do not pressurize the biggest democratic and human rights violating country India, beyond expressing concerns and condemnation.

The right to self-determination is a vital component of human dignity. Negation of this right, as continuously being resorted to India in its illegally occupied territory of Jammu and Kashmir, is gross negation of human freedom, the Universal Declaration of human Rights and its Covenants, to say the least.

The UN Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP) had adopted the resolution way back on 5 January 1949, embodying the principle of the right of self-determination for the people of Indian-Occupied KashmIr. The resolution duly mentioned that the question of Indian-Occupied KashmIr would be decided through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite. Both India, which had taken the Kashmir issue to the world body, had agreed to implement the resolution. But even after 72 long years, the people of Indian-Occupied KashmIr still continue to live under

Arif Nizami Editor Umar Aziz

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Joint Editor

Executive Editor

Deputy Editor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965

rights. Amnesty International was compelled to close its offices in India after its bank accounts were frozen over alleged violation of the FCRA. Bachelet noted, ‘The FCRA has been invoked over the years to justify an array of highly intrusive measures, ranging from official raids on NGO offices and freezing of bank accounts, to suspension or cancellation of registration, including of civil society organizations that have engaged with UN human rights bodies. ..Constructive criticism is the lifeblood of democracy. even if the authorities find it uncomfortable, it should never be criminalized or outlawed in this way.’

The UN human Rights Committee oversees implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which India is a party. The Committee found that India did not ‘show the specific nature of the threat or risks posed, and limit its responses to those necessary and proportionate to address such threat or risks’ . India was bound to explain to the Committee that it was invoking ‘national security and protection of public order as a reason to restrict the right to freedom of association’.

India uses its draconian laws to gag dissent. The POTA is just old wine in new bottle. It does not repeal fake cases under TADA. Indian media termed POTA as ‘draconian’.

The POTA attaches evidentiary value to the telephonic, telegraphic and internet conversations. Its brutality was brought into limelight when S. A. R Geelani, a Kashmiri lecturer in Delhi University, was implicated in the attack on Indian parliament.

POTA was employed to frame cases against several other Kashmiri leaders, like Yaseen Malik and Syed Ali Geelani. Despite his frail health, Malik was arrested on March 25 under POTA for receiving ISI money. The court acquitted him with observation that there is not an iota of believable evidence against him.

Syed Geelani and his journalist son-in-law, Iftikhar Gilani also were detained under POTA. Funny charges on senior Geelani included: “Being a member of Jamaat-e-Islami, he criticised US war against Afghanistan, and described himself as Pakistani”. he was detained for violation of Official Secrecy Act for possessing information about Indian troops’ movement of the pre-1996 period. The alleged information was available on the internet. having failed to make a case against him, police charged him under the Pornographic Act! The hindu-monk chief minister of India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh regards a cow as a citizen. he directed the police to register cases under National Security Act for offences concerning a cow. One hundred and forty cases were soon registered to terrify the Muslims.

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.

UNCIP Kashmir resolution 1949 still awaits implementation

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

were 4,059 extrajudicial killings in the occupied Kashmir, out of which 1,081 were civilians.

Torture has been used to punish militants who have been arrested; carry out acts of reprisal against individuals with suspected ties to militants; or coerce suspected militants or sympathisers to reveal crucial information. Torture has also been used against a significant numbers of seemingly random civilians.

Common torture centers in Jammu & Kashmir are Indian army camps and police stations. In the past, cinema theatres and hotels occupied by armed forces, abandoned houses, and government buildings were also converted into torture centres, where, according to testimonies, extreme forms of torture were perpetrated. Commonly used torture techniques practiced in Jammu & Kashmir include: excessive beatings; water boarding; roller treatment; hanging from the ceiling upside down; tying in stretching positions for prolonged periods; sleep deprivation; burning; mutilating organs; electrocution; and starvation.

Despite signing the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in 1997, India has not yet ratified the treaty, nor has it taken steps to criminalize torture at the domestic level.

This impunity is exacerbated by laws such as the 1990 Armed Forces (Jammu & Kashmir) Special Powers Act (AFSPA), which allows Indian armed forces to use deadly force, and provides them with the power to: arrest individuals without a warrant on mere suspicion of the commission of a crime; enter and search any premises; stop, search, and seize any vehicle. AFSPA also protects the Indian armed forces from being prosecuted in civilian courts without prior authorization from the government.

India shrugs off reports on rights violations. earlier, the United Nations’ high Commissioner for human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, had expressed `concern over restrictions on Non-governmental Organisations, arrests of activists and implications of Citizenship Amendment Act. She ‘appealed to the Government of India to safeguard the rights of human rights defenders and NGOs, and their ability to carry out their crucial work on behalf of the many groups they represent’. She `expressed regret at the tightening of space for human rights NGOs in particular, including ‘by the application of vaguely worded laws that constrain NGOs’ activities and restrict foreign funding’. Besides, she `cited as worrying the use of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), which a number of UN human rights bodies have also expressed concern is vaguely worded and overbroad in its objective’. The Act prohibits `receipt of foreign funds “for any activities prejudicial to the public interest’. But, it leaves vague definition of the `public interest’ and `prejudicial’ to the wild imagination of police officers.

The Act, which was adopted in 2010 and amended last month, has had a detrimental impact on the right to freedom of association and expression of human

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Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9

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brutal Indian occupation as the Indian Prime Ministers from Pandit Jawahir Lal Nehru down to current Narenda Modi,a follower of the RSS founder, continue to flagrantly and shamefully dishonour their commitments while the UN Security Council finds itself helpless to get its resolutions implemented by India.

January 5 every year is commemorated as the Right of Self-Determination Day for the oppressed people of Indian-Occupied KashmIr. As already stated, it was on this day way back in 1949 that UNCIP had adopted the resolution that guarantees a free and fair plebiscite in Indian-Occupied KashmIr under UN auspices to enable the Kashmiri people realize their basic and fundamental right to self-determination. The UN must honour its own commitments which were made long ago 72 years back.

Today’s commemoration, by the Kashmiris on both sides of the Line of Control and the world over, and the people and the government of Pakistan, is quite obviously aimed at reminding the international community, which somehow is blind and sleeping over the continued brutalities and atrocities on innocent Kashmris by the occupying Indian security forces, that they cannot shy and refrain away from their responsibility towards people of Kashmir living continuously under persistent oppression and atrocities.

Pakistan has been raising the Kashmir issue at the world body and all international forums and bilaterally with all friendly countries. UN, international community as well as the International human Rights Organizations continuously condemn and reject the brutal Indian actions——but somehow do nothing more than this to exert any pressure beyond that.

It is bitter well-known fact known the world over that the people of occupied Indian territory of Jammu and Kashmir are continuously being subjected by more than nine lakhs strong occupying Indian security forces who have converted the occupied territory into the largest militarized zone in the world. Occupying India security forces are employing various draconian laws like IIOJK Disturbed Area Act, Armed Forces Special Powers Act and Public Safety Act for arbitrarily arresting any individual for an indefinite period and even killing them without any legal procedure whatsoever.

In order to continue maintain its illegal control,

Islamabad – Ph: 051-2204545

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Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk

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India has persistently continued its repressive regime in IIOJK through various mechanizations and brutal state terrorism. Since August 5,2019 following India’s illegal merging IIOJK in the Indian Union and placing its entire over eight million population under detention and military lockdown and siege ,through continuous and unilateral steps, the fascist Indian regime of Narenda Modi has created an environment of fear and chaos in its occupied Territory.

More than 500 days of continued lockdown and absence of fundamental freedom whatsoever continue to challenge conscious of the international community and India’s credentials of being a respectable member of the United Nations and the world community at large.

Current situation in IIOJK is more than worst in recent history as the people there are being continuously denied and deprived of their fundamental rights including the right to life, freedom of expression and assembly.

Pakistan government and the people have all along been and will continue to support in indigenous struggle of the Kashmiris for securing their right of self-determination in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolutions.

Pakistan has been and will continue in a determined and committed manner to extend all political, moral and diplomatic to the just cause of people of IOJK till they realize the right of self-determination in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions.

The Kashmiris determination for continuing their unarmed and just indigenous struggle against all brutalities, atrocities, suffering and killings of Kashmiri men, women, young girls and boys and children is bound to wake up the long sleeping conscious of the international community and secure their long denied right of self-determination sooner or later, Inshallah.

After all, there is a limit to such brutalities, atrocities, state terrorism which the occupying Indian security forces are committing in furtherance of the RSS agenda of fascist Indian PM Modi and continuing genocide of Kashmiris to turn their absolute majority into majority by inducting hindus there through illegal immigration whatsoever.

The writer is Lahore-based Freelance Journalist, Columnist and retired Deputy Controller (News) , Radio Pakistan, Islamabad and can be reached at zahidriffat@gmail.com

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Wednesday, 6 January, 2021

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

Fault lies with us

Hindutva: Anathema to self-determination The solution remains a plebiscite

mAlik muhAmmAd AshRAf

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N the wake of the1948 war between Pakistan and India over Kashmir, it was the latter which took the issue to theUnited Nations Security Council. The Security Council after deliberating on the issue formed the United Nations Commission on India and Pakistan (UNCIP) to have the dispute resolved. The UNCIP adopted an epoch making resolution on 5 January 1949, granting the right of self-determination to the people of Kashmir and calling to settle the question of accession of the state to either Pakistan through a plebiscite to be held under the auspices of the UN. Since then 5 January is commemorated as the day of self-determination for the people of Indian-Occupied Kashmir.

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the then Indian Prime Minister, accepted the UNCIP resolution, and in his communications to his Pakistani counterpart and in his statements in the Indian Parliament repeatedly promised to allow the people of Kashmir to exercise their right of self-determination. however India did not cooperate with UNCIP in creating conditions for the holding of the plebiscite. Sir Owen Dixon, the head of UNCIP, resigned in protest against Indian attitude on the issue. Later the Indian government reneged on its commitment and in 1957 manoeuvred a declaration of accession of the state to India by the constituent assembly of Indian-Occupied Kashmir and took the stance that Kashmir had become an integral part of India. The UN, however, through its Resolutions 91 and 122, repudiated the Indian claims, maintaining that the question of accession of the state could only be resolved through a plebiscite held under the auspices of the UN. It is pertinent to mention that before this development the Indian government, in accordance with an arrangement agreed with the political leadership of Indian-Occupied Kashmir, had inserted article 370 in the Indian Constitution which granted special status to the state with its own constitution and legislature.

Over the last seven decades India has persisted with its stance that Kashmir was its integral part, but no Indian government ever dared to scrap Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, not even after the launch of the freedom movement by the Kashmiris in 1989. however the BJP government headed by Narendra Modi, a staunch

follower of the RSS philosophy of hindutva, not gress party with the slogans such as ‘pseudo-seconly scrapped Article 370 of the Indian Consti- ularism’, accusing Congress of misusing secutution ending special status of the state, but has larism for the political appeasement of also made it part of the Indian Union in defiance minorities, and established an explicit and unambiguous path of hindu revival. of UN resolutions and international law.

The Ayodhya issue and the related communal The RSS philosophy of hindutva is essentially anti-Muslim and an anathema to self-de- riots which polarized the electorate along relitermination. Its followers were bitterly opposed gious lines, helped the BJP make good progress to the Partition of the Subcontinent. French po- in the subsequent elections of 1989, 1991 and litical scientist Christophe Jaffrelot, specializing 1996. Finally the BJP won the elections in 2014 in South Asian affairs, particularly India and and a diehard disciple of RSS, Narendra Modi, Pakistan, points out that the ideology of the RSS who is known as butcher of Gujrat for the masalong with other hindu nationalist movements sacre of Muslims, became Prime Minister of such as the Arya Samaj and the hindu Ma- India. Modi adopted a belligerent posture tohasabha, thought of Muslims, Christians and the wards Pakistan which gave boost to his popularBritish as “foreign bodies” implanted in the ity and enabled him to win the 2019 elections hindu nation, who were able to exploit the dis- with a thumping majority. On 5 August 2019 he unity and absence of valour among the hindus finally managed to fulfill his pledge by ending in order to subdue them. however, majority of the special status of Indian-Occupied Kashmir, scholars believe that RSS was actually formed followed by its annexation to the Indian Union and the promulgation of a new domicile law to fight the Indian Muslims.

The RSS believed that Partition was a result meant to change demographic realities of the state. In his address to of a mistaken soft-line the nation on Indian Intowards the Muslims, dependence Day he which only confirmed boasted that he had the natural moral weakSince 5 August, the people of done within 70 days nesses and corruptibilwhich could not be ity of the politicians.

Indian-Occupied Kashmir are done in 70 years and The RSS and Jana that he had fulfilled the Sangh, a nationalist under virtual siege and the dream of Vallabhai party, took complete Indian security forces continue Patel of United India. advantage of the 1965 Stripping 1.9 milwar with Pakistan to extrajudicial killings, lion Bengali Muslims ‘deepen suspicion in Assam of their Inabout Muslims’, and kidnapping and rapes of dian citizenship, promalso encashed the growing unpopularity women with the impunity given ulgation of Citizenship Amendment Bill and of Congress, particuto them by draconian laws like the pogrom of Kashlarly in the hindi-belt, miris are also outcomes where a left-wing alterthe Disturbed Area Act, the of the implementation native was weak or non-existent. The major Armed Forces Special Powers of the fascist and supremacist ideology of themes on the party’s Act and the Public Safety Act. hindutva. agenda during this peSince 5 August, the riod were banning cow There is an atmosphere of people of Indian-Occuslaughter, abolishing pied Kashmir are under the special status given chaos and fear in the valley. virtual siege and the Into Jammu and Kashmir The blatant violation of human dian security forces and legislating a unicontinue extrajudicial form civil code. rights in Indian-Occupied killings, kidnapping The RSS-domiand rapes of women nated Jana Sangh Kashmir have been unraveled with the impunity given started making alliances to them by draconian by joining anti-Conby two reports of the Human laws like the Disturbed gress coalitions. It beRights Commission of UN and Area Act, the Armed came part of the 1971 Forces Special Powers Grand Alliance and fithe international media.

Act and the Public nally merged itself with Safety Act. There is an the Janata Party in 1977. atmosphere of chaos The success of the and fear in the valley.

Janata Party in 1977 elections made RSS members central ministers The blatant violation of human rights in Indianfor the first time (Vajpayee, Advani and Brij Lal Occupied Kashmir have been unraveled by two Verma) and provided the RSS with an opportunity reports of the human Rights Commission of UN to avail the state and its instruments to further its and the international media. The situation in Inends. The differences between the coalition part- dian-Occupied Kashmir is an affront to the conners led to the formation of a new party called science of the world community. India has also adopted a hostile posture against Pakistan. Prime Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 1n 1980.

The BJP did not have much electoral success Minister Imran Khan has repeatedly warned the in its initial years and was able to win only two world community about the threat posed to peace seats in the 1984 elections. After L.K. Advani and security of the region by the hindutva phireplaced Vajpayee as party president in 1986, the losophy. The situation warrants immediate interBJP also began to rally around the Ayodhya vention of the UN and the world community. campaign. In 1990, the party organized the Ram Malik Muhammad Ashraf is an academic.

Rathyatra to advance this campaign on a large scale. Advani also attacked the then ruling Con- He can be contacted at: ashpak10@gmail.com

I have witnessed the creation of Pakistan and the struggle our country has gone through over the past 73 years. Although Mr. Jinnah managed to get a separate state for us against all odds, we could not follow the vision of our founder. India never accepted the existence of Pakistan wholeheartedly and did not leave any opportunity to attack its smaller neighbor directly or indirectly. Unfortunately, we kept providing ample opportunities to our enemy to inflict damages on us. India forcefully occupied Kashmir and never acted on the UN resolutions to hold a plebiscite in Kashmir. We instead of setting a strong economy, went on wrong ways. The economy of our country had never been stable and our rulers instead of forging unity and strengthening the economy kept fighting and spending in royal ways to promote their personal agendas.

This led to us relying on international lenders. The first government which borrowed money from the IMF did a great disservice to the people and country. From that point on, our ruling elite instead of exercising prudence, kept their royal ways rolling out projects for personal popularity. every government that came to power followed the path trodden by its successors. The debt piled up to enormous proportions with the passage of time and now we have become slaves to lending institutions. The leaders forgot to fill the gap between rich and poor while consolidating their own financial positions. When reality revealed itself, both government and opposition started maligning each other for this sin against the nation. Now, the opposition led by Maryam Nawaz is taking out rallies in the garb of PDM to topple the existing government while the public is at the mercy of inflation, Coronavirus, and unforgiving weather.

Unfortunately, our leaders have not learned any lesson yet and if they do not shun their prejudices and work for the country, we are looking at the complete disaster in near future.

Raja Shafaatullah ISlamabad

Future of Pakistan’s education AFTeR the announcement for reopening educational institutions, Shafqat Mehmood tweeted on Twitter about negative messages and tweets regarding his decision. he said most of the students don’t want opening of schools and because of them education in Pakistan seems very worst. The reason behind students’ will to not open educational institutions very soon is just because of our failing educators. We have schools, but with ghost teachers whose teaching efforts are less than educating and who makes students’ future less brighter than making it completely dark. The authorities must look into the education system of Pakistan because the education future in Pakistan is now getting worse day by day. adnan maqSood tuRbat

Companies in Hub city hUB city is an industrial city of Pakistan,after Karachi it is one of the most industrial areas in Pakistan. hub city is located in Balochistan it connects Sindh and Balochistan. It one of the emerging cities of Pakistan.

But it is not getting its fundamental rights by the Government. however,as Government said that place where a company is organized it is up to the company to give electricity. But unfortunately, in hub there are more than 200 industries are held. Still public is not getting any betterment from them. Local people are unemployed, they move to different industries for work and do not get jobs. As we know that electricity is very expensive a poor can not afford. If companies give free electricity to public it will be a big solution for public. As we go towards companies asking about these issues .they reply that your leaders take money from them about these issues. I request the Government to give free electricity to the public for their sacrifice. They get plots from companies for their betterment. m.IRfan hub

Registering companies TO end secret business ownership by Parliamentarians and to increase tax paying companies, the Government should enact a new law which would compel all applicants willing to contest next election to declare all their companies ownership and to ensure that their companies have tax registrations. Anyone found to be owner of a secret company would be disqualified for five years by the election Commission of Pakistan. Thus to end secret business ownership by Parliamentarians and to increase tax paying companies, the Government should enact a new law which would compel all applicants willing to contest next election to declare all their companies ownership and to ensure that their companies have tax registrations. In this way, anyone found to be the owner of a secret company would be disqualified for five years by the election Commission of Pakistan.

ShahRyaR Khan baSEER P.EngR. PEShawaR

Gulf relations FULL ties have been restored between Qatar and the four nations that severed relations with Doha in a rift that began over three years ago, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said on Tuesday. Saudi Arabia led a coalition of countries in the Gulf and beyond that cut ties and transport links with Qatar in June 2017, charging that it was too close to Iran and backed radical Islamist groups — allegations Doha has always denied. “What happened today is ... the turning of the page on all points of difference and a full return of diplomatic relations,” Prince Faisal bin Farhan told a press conference at the conclusion of a landmark regional summit in Saudi Arabia. Saudi state media said that de facto leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met separately with Qatar’s ruler Sheikh Tamim bin hamad al-Thani, after the pair publicly embraced at the airport.

EhtISham ahmad lahoRE

Wednesday, 6 January, 2021

08 WORLD VIEW

How FaCeBook and GooGle Buy oFF THe press THE TECH GIANTS COMPROMISE MEDIA INDEPENDENCE WITH THEIR CORPORATE DONATIONS

WaShinGTon MonThly

y

nikki USher

oU may have heard that Big Tech has damaged journalism. Google and Facebook siphon off ad dollars needed to finance independent reporting while also inserting themselves as profit-maximizing middlemen between news organizations and news consumers. By now, many news organizations see no way forward except to depend on charitable donations from corporations and philanthropies.

What you may not know, though, is that Google and Facebook are becoming the two largest sources of such donations to for-profit and nonprofit journalism in the United States.

Prior to the conclusion of the 2016 U.S.

presidential election, Google and Facebook’s financial contributions to American media organizations were modest. This changed in the wake of Donald Trump’s election. Facebook received deep public scrutiny over its role as a vector for foreign interference that had benefited Trump. As the “techlash” spread, Google also began facing heat for its anticompetitive practices, its misuse of user data, and its discriminatory search results.

Soon after, big promises of financial support for journalism came from both Google and Facebook. By 2018, these two corporations were already among the largest funders of journalism in the world. Since then, they have gone on to promise a total of $700 million in funding for journalism, not counting other “undisclosed” funds and inkind contributions.

Just who is receiving exactly how much from Google and Facebook remains hard to establish, however. Both corporations distribute most of these funds through their marketing and public relations budgets rather than through charitable foundations, which makes the flow of money as much of a black box as any search or newsfeed algorithms. even the flows to nonprofit media entities do not necessarily become public

record, because since 2018 the Internal Revenue Service has no longer required nonprofits to disclose their donors. Investigative journalists who want to follow the money need to rely on intensive gumshoe reporting of the kind few publications can afford anymore, thanks in large measure to the predations of Google and Facebook.

But at least in broad outline, much of the money flow can be established from other sources. In 2018, Google announced the Google News Initiative. Launched in New York, the GNI promised $300 million in support for journalism to be distributed across the globe over three years, although the emphasis appeared to be on local news in the United States. Facebook, meanwhile, pledged an undisclosed portion of a pot of $14 million to the City University of New York’s News Integrity Initiative in 2018 with the goal of fighting misinformation. In 2019, Facebook upped the ante with a $300 million pledge over three years, matching Google’s promised giving.

Facebook has provided a bit more detail about specific grants. In 2019, it gave 46 grants of between $5,000 and $25,000 to small, local news organizations through the Facebook Journalism Project, which were administered by the Lenfest Institute for

The battle to modernise Japan

JaPan TiMES

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JUn mUkoYAmA

He creation of a digital agency is a top policy priority for Prime minister Yoshihide Suga.However, the protracted distribution of a ¥100,000 handout for each resident amid the coronavirus pandemic and the use of fax, now essentially obsolete in most other nations, for reporting CoVID-19 infections have laid bare the government’s delay in taking advantage of digital technology.

Though the country possesses quality communications infrastructures, such as fiber optic and mobile phone networks, these have not been utilized sufficiently, with little emphasis on the convenience of users as the starting point — a situation that digital transformation minister Takuya Hirai repeatedly called “the defeat in the digital war.”

The coronavirus pandemic has provided an unprecedented opportunity for the government to develop its digital strategies, which it had struggled to push through, with numerous failed attempts in the past two decades. Globally, an intensifying competition for national cyberpower is playing out. Japan stands at a crossroads right now and must determine whether it will also suffer a defeat in the competitive global cyberspace.

When we consider using the economy as a weapon to solve geopolitical problems, one of the major strategies is to acquire the latest technology and command control over the international standards for the next generation’s leading industries.

Cyberspace has emerged as one of the main battlegrounds for competing powers that fully utilize the support of the private sector.

History shows that the world has always maintained order based on the power balance of nations.

Alfred mahan stressed the importance of sea power in the age of imperialism, while it was nuclear power that swayed the balance during the Cold War. After the Cold War came soft power, touted

by Joseph Nye, which emphasizes countries’ cooperation rather than the use of coercion when one country wants to reach a desired outcome.

As the times changed, so did the force that defined the ages. Now national cyberpower has surfaced as a deciding force that will determine the rise and fall of various countries. In the age of geoeconomics, cyberspace has jumped to center stage of the national power game, and that is further intensifying the power game of geoeco-

nomics.

In September, the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs announced the National Cyber Power Index 2020.

The U.S. topped the ranking, followed by China, while Japan was ranked ninth, behind european nations such as the United Kingdom, France and Germany.China’s Digital Silk Road project is playing an important role in that country’s broader Belt and Road initiative. Under the DSR, $17 billion (¥1.8 trillion) worth of investments have been carried out since 2013 not only on network equipment and infrastructure, such as 5G and fiber optic cables, but also in various sectors, such as data and research facilities, smart cities, large-scale e-commerce and smartphone settlements.

These measures represent a credible international strategy that has allowed China to play a leadership role as a cyber superpower and also lead directly to the growth strategy of Chinese enterprises. even though the government and companies may not be able to operate as one in Japan as they do in China, as the whole of Japan pushes for digitalization, we will need a clear vision on how it will translate into national power or how Japan will position itself in the international context.

SECURITY IN CYBERPOWER: The National Cyber Power Index research team measured countries’ cyber capabilities in the context of seven national objectives that countries pursue using digital means.

The seven objectives are: Surveilling and monitoring Domestic Groups; Strengthening and enhancing National Cyber Defenses; Controlling and manipulating the Information environment; Foreign Intelligence Collection for National Security; Commercial Gain or enhancing Domestic Industry Growth; Destroying or Disabling an Adversary’s Infrastructure and Capabilities; and Defining International Cyber Norms and Technical Standards.

These are all important objectives to allow countries to maintain hegemony over cyberspace.

To make substantial progress on the digitalization of the economy and society as well as digital transformation, cybersecurity defense, once everything is connected to the internet, would be essential. moreover, cybersecurity nowadays has played a critical role in protecting not only companies and the economy from cyberattacks, but also in ensuring national defense against cyberattacks on important infrastructure. As a result of Russia’s attempts to meddle with the U.S. Presidential election in 2016, cybersecurity has expanded its role to protecting democracy and society.

For Japan, cybersecurity is not somebody else’s business. According to the U.K. Foreign office, Russian military intelligence attempted to obstruct the Tokyo olympics, which was scheduled to be held in 2020. The number of cyberattacks has doubled following an increasing shift to telework amid the coronavirus pandemic, while cyberattacks that targeted information on coronavirus vaccine development have been reported recently.

A COMMANDING ROLE IN CYBERSPACE: In Japan, the Basic Act on Cybersecurity, which passed the Diet in 2014, serves as the foundation for related policies. In 2016, the law was amended to strengthen the function of the National center of Incident readiness and Strategy for Cybersecurity

Journalism. of Facebook’s funding, only $36 million was specified, and went to recipients like the Pulitzer Center ($5 mil), the American Journalism Project ($1 mil), and Report for America ($2 mil), among others.

Facebook also gains influence over the press (while also scoring public relations points) by financing fact-checking initiatives. In 2019, Facebook’s Third-Party FactChecking Program was the largest source of revenue for the Poynter Institute’s International Fact-Checking Network, making up roughly 43 percent of the members’ total revenue. According to the investigative journalist Judd Legum, most fact-checking organizations don’t disclose the amounts they are receiving from Facebook, but two that have areLeadStories, which received $359,000 in 2019, and FactCheck.org, which received $229,600. These are trivial amounts to Facebook, and they pay for only a trivial amount of fact-checking—especially when compared to the unmet need for correcting false and fake news created by Facebook itself. But they are comparatively large sums to many of the fact-checking organizations receiving the money. Google also finances fact-checking organizations (many of the same ones as Facebook), but is even vaguer than Facebook about the

(NISC) at the Cabinet Secretariat and again in 2018 to set up a cybersecurity committee to allow the government and private sector to work together to share information ahead of the Tokyo olympics and Paralympics. But Japan fared poorly, especially in intelligence gathering, in the National Cyber Power Index, as it has failed to streamline the law to make reporting of cybersecurity incidents mandatory, or install a system of aggregating information to make appropriate detection, analysis, judgement and responses to cyberthreats.

NISC, which plays a central role in improving the government’s cybersecurity, is only tasked with dealing with the government and government agencies as part of its mission, and is not responsible for ensuring the cybersecurity of society as a whole, leaving the private sector to make voluntary efforts.

Because NISC’s main role is general coordination, it also cannot aggregate information by eliminating the vertically segmented administrative system or issue an alert to the government on its own, even if infrastructure under the jurisdiction of government ministries and agencies was to be hit by a cybersecurity incident.

Unless we eliminate the compartmentalized government structure, not only in administrative service and digitalization but also in cybersecurity, the digital agency’s control tower function will likely be insufficient. A lack of expert personnel in cybersecurity is also a serious issue, as is the overall digital problem. We need to set up a structure through which experts who can communicate with professionals in other countries are nurtured and constantly hired, and new expertise continues to be developed at the organizations.

What is to be called for in the digital agency is the function of a conning tower to improve cybersecurity in the overall society in cooperation with the Self-Defense Forces and the Defense ministry, which defend against attacks, and the National Policy Agency, which cracks down on cybercrimes.

A GLOBAL SPHERE: To achieve those goals, the first step would be to analyze the factors behind the “defeat in the digital war” and have the government realize digital services that citizens feel are convenient. That’s because we cannot make progress unless the government wins appreciation and trust from its own citizens for administrative services.

But at the same time, we cannot forget the fact that cyberspace is a global sphere. No matter how we push ahead with the digital transformation, it would have to meet the geo-economic challenge of a cutthroat competition in the global cyberpower game. Sadly, the Japanese government is nowhere near acquiring an integrated core function that would nurture, exercise and defend national cyberpower, the most vital national strength of the 21st century.

Former U.S. President John F. Kennedy once said that “a nation can be no stronger abroad than she is at home,” but we must realize that we cannot put in place cybersecurity that is beyond our national cyberpower.

Jun Mukoyama is a fellow at API. API Geoeconomic Briefing, provided by the Asia Pacific Initiative, an independent think tank based in Tokyo, is a series that looks into geopolitical and economic trends in the post-COVID-19 world, with a particular focus on technology and innovation, global supply chains, international rule-making and climate change.

amount it gives and to whom.

Facebook and Google also provide ample funding to journalists’ professional associations. According to the Tech Transparency Project, a foundation-supported research group, Google gave the Center for Investigative Reporting 26 grants and Investigative Reporters and editors 23 grants. The Society for Professional Journalists received $1 million between 2013 and 2017 to support the training of more than 21,000 journalists at over 550 locations in the U.S. and Canada. The online News Association also reports receiving money from both Google and Facebook, though it does not disclose how much or where exactly it goes. Google and Facebook also sponsor internships, fellowships, and scholarships for journalists, while also underwriting major journalism convenings, including the International Journalism Festival, which meets each spring in Perugia, Italy. Dave Cohn, a former board member of the online News Association, notes that the conference itself would likely not be able to exist without support from Google and Facebook.

Journalists routinely pounce on similar conflicts of interest when they occur in government or science or in virtually any other institution, and for good reason. When we need critical reporting about Big Tech more than ever, we should all be concerned that Facebook and Google are funding the news.

Nikki Usher is an associate professor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s College of Media.

This paper is adapted from a longer paper written for the Center for Liberty and Journalism at the Open Markets Institute, where she is a fellow.

Covid has exposed how incompetent the British state is, from top to bottom

Guardian

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Simon JenkinS

ome the day of reckoning, who gets blamed? No one could call this week’s reopening of england’s local schools anything but a shambles.

The prime minister has declared that all primary schools are “safe … very, very important to stress that” and must stay open. That appears not to apply where they stay shut, as in London and possibly manchester, Newcastle, Slough, Brighton … and perhaps elsewhere as the week goes on.

The appearance is of a man embattled in Downing Street, wholly out of touch with the country he is governing. Inconvenience, cost and stress are inflicted on millions, with Boris Johnson seemingly concerned only for his daily press conference.

No government in europe has had an easy ride over the past nine months, but none has had a worse one than Britain’s.

Indecision on lockdown was followed by chaotic PPe supplies, the “world-beating” test-andtrace shambles, school exam confusion and now the multiform bureaucratic deterrent to potential vaccinators.

British politics likes to keep blame simple. Politicians are entitled to the pleasure of success and the pain of failure. When things go wrong, we blame the person in charge – be it Johnson, matt Hancock, michael Gove or Gavin Williamson. Damn each incompetent, damn the lot of them. That feels better.

Certainly Johnson’s lack of

grasp over his government is distressing to see. He sacked many of his best colleagues from Theresa may’s team and replaced them with nonentities. The nation is paying a high price for a prime minister who puts blind loyalty before ability.

But the current incompetence of British government is due not just to poor ministers. The PPe contract scandal exposed deepseated cronyism in state procurement. The decanting of sick elderly people from hospitals into care homes showed institutional NHS contempt for private care.

Last year’s exams algorithm debacle was the result of officialdom’s obsession with quantification. The multibillionpound test-and-trace fiasco resulted from Whitehall’s aversion to local government.

Coronavirus has revealed a country so ill-governed that current politicians cannot be blamed for all of it. The traditional model holds that ministers decide on the general direction of policy and officials interpret and implement it. This balance of roles has been eroded at least since the turn of the century, largely by a ministerial craving for headlines that led to a daily welter of central initiatives, interventions and vanity projects. officials are expected not to challenge but to obey.

This has clearly affected the calibre and morale of the civil service, with high-profile departures from Downing Street, the Home office and Foreign office. Johnson also gave too much prominence to scientists, hoping to blame them if things went wrong, and then found himself in perpetual conflict with them. This in turn allowed Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to appear blessed with decisive and clear-sighted leadership by contrast.

Come the inevitable inquiry into the events of the past year, it is not only politicians who should carry the can. All the components of Britain’s government, central and local, should be tested – the constitution as a whole should be under examination.

Wednesday, 6 January, 2021

BUSINESS 09

corporate corner Indus Motor inaugurates new dealership KARACHI: Indus Motor Company (IMC) recently inaugurated Toyota Port Qasim Motors at Karachi, making it the 12th dealership in Karachi and 17th in the Southern region. Present on the occasion were IMC Chairman Mohamedali R Habib, Vice Chairman Yuji Takarada and CEO Ali Asghar Jamali who unveiled the dealership amidst tight Covid-19 SOPs. IMC CEO Ali Asghar Jamali said on the occasion, “Toyota is a brand loved by our people. IMC’s philosophy is expanding outreach to all corners of the country for our customers’ ease and convenience. The addition of this 49th dealership to the network is a testament to that commitment.” PRESS RElEASE

Govt to raise Rs3.6tr through bonds The government will raise Rs3,620 billion through the auction of bonds from January to March 2021, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) stated. According to details, the government will raise the highest amount of Rs2,900bn through the auction of market treasury bills, by raising Rs1,050bn for three months, Rs975bn for six months and Rs875bn for 12 months. At the same time, the government will raise Rs270bn through Pakistan Investment Bonds (PIBs) at a floating rate and Rs300bn at the fixed rate. Islamic banks will also get a chance to invest in the government papers as the State Bank announced that the government would sell Ijara Sukuk for five years for a total amount of Rs150bn. NEWS DESK

TencenT-BAcked kuAIShou Tech coMInG To PAkISTAn KARACHI BABAR KHAN JAVED

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ITH Sensor Tower ranking SnackVideo in the top ten Google Play Store apps in the “Video Players & Editors” for Pakistan since mid-December 2020, parent company Kuaishou Technology is actively recruiting content moderators in the country.

The internet media services company is looking to rope in talent agencies such as Alchemist, Citrus Talent, and the BodyBeat Group in order to lock in social media content creators (SMCCs) that are brand safe. The company hopes that by directly dealing with talent agencies, it can enforce content guidelines and avoid the app bans faced by the likes of TikTok and Bigo in Pakistan. The company did not respond to a request for comment.

The company hopes to hire a team in Pakistan to coordinate influencer marketing campaigns between advertisers and talent agencies registered with the Chinese video-sharing mobile app.

ENTRY COMES WITHIN YEAR OF BIGO ENTERING $1.75BN ADVERTISING MARKET, TIKTOK SIGNING ON JACK OF DIGITAL AS CHANNEL PARTNER Speaking to Profit, executive recruitment firms said that the company is looking for seasoned digital campaign strategists to conceptualise help registered SMCCs increase their stickiness, contribution, and loyalty to ensure advertiser campaign success.

Sources at executive recruitment firms said that Kuaishou Technology is considering launching a reseller programme aimed at a multi-channel network (MCN). While there is no MCN in the country, the closest equivalents are Amplifyd, Digital Engagement Network, (DEN) and Walee which collectively represent over ten thousand SMCCs in the country.

As predicted by Profit, as the SMCC market in

USC posts Rs100bn turnover for 2020 ISLAMABAD APP

MARKET DAILY

Stocks close flat after volatile session KARACHI STAFF REPORT

Putting an end to its winning streak, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed a volatile session on Tuesday flat, with the indices changing directions throughout the day in search of a clear direction. “The market saw selling pressure right from the start, primarily due overnight decline in crude oil prices as well as profit booking in power, oil & gas marketing and fertilizer stocks,” a report issued by Arif Habib Ltd read. “Cement and steel sector stocks bounced back after yesterday’s selling activity mainly on the back of healthy growth in cement despatches, whereas chemical stocks also performed well ahead the closure of the quarter and in anticipation of posting better earnings.” The benchmark KSE-100 Index endured a volatile session on Tuesday, registering its intraday low at 44,458.71 (-227.75 points) and high at 44,830.28 (+143.82 points). It finally settled lower by 36.03 points at 44,650.43. Among other indices, the KMI30 Index lost 269.78 points to end at 72,636.28, while the KSE All Share Index dropped 15.86 points, closing at 31,266.16. The overall market volumes increased from 540.79 million shares in the previous session to 581.55 million shares (+8pc). Average trading value, on the contrary, declined by 9pc, from $166.3 million to $151 million. Hum Network Ltd (HUMNL +4.67pc), Pakistan Refinery Ltd (PRL +7.49pc) and TRG Pakistan Ltd (TRG +3.51pc) led the volume chart, exchanging 68.81 million, 58.16 million and 31.05 million shares, respectively.

Sectors that dragged the benchmark index lower included oil & gas exploration (-169.62 points), power generation & distribution (-85.14 points) and oil & gas marketing (-52.07 points). Among the companies, Hub Power Company Ltd (HUBC -119.19 points), Pak Petroleum Ltd (PPL -89.29 points) and Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd (OGDC -60.60 points) dented the index the most. Shedding 2.04pc from its cumulative market capitalization, the oil & gas exploration sector emerged as the session worst performer, with OGDC (-2.21pc), PPL (-3.69pc), and Pakistan Oilfields Ltd (POL -0.98pc) closing in the red.

The annual turnover of Utility Stores Corporation of Pakistan (USC) was recorded around Rs100 billion in the calendar year 2020 as compared to Rs10 billion in 2019.

On achieving this benchmark, USC Managing Director Umer Lodhi said that the corporation has now almost become a debt-free and self-sustained entity.

"USC now intends to carry out highly progressive restructuring [reforms] with a consolidated view to provide customer-centric approach, and expects to reach another milestone by achieving a turnover of Rs150 billion by the end of the fiscal year 2020-21," the MD said in a statement released by the corporation on Tuesday.

"From a loss making entity to one of the leading contributors to the national exchequer, USC ensured food security through uninterrupted supplies of staple food items during the year."

As per the statement, USC contributed Rs8.564 billion to

Pakistan heats up, the ecosystem will need an MCN. Advertising agencies that are considering doing so would need to replicate the business model of CastingAsia while behaving as both the training academy for aspiring SMCCs – think of how the government of South Korea manufactures Kpop stars – and will lock in those SMCCs as their employees, taking a large slice of any and all earnings off the top.

According to Sensor Tower, the SnackVideo app went from being in the top 350 in mid-October 2020 to being in the top 15 by the end of the month. By December 2020, the app will be in the top ten and is currently in the top five in the “Video Players & Editors” category. The app went from top 300 across all categories in December 2020 to being in the top 15 in January 2021.

Data from the leading provider of market intelligence for the global app economy shows that the Chinese video-sharing mobile app has gained traction in the Indonesian market at the same rapid pace, suggesting that it plans to set up similar teams in the world’s 4th-most populous country.

Business community demands visa-free entry to boost Pak-Afghan trade PESHAWAR STAFF REPORT

the national exchequer during the fiscal year 2019-20 as compared to Rs1.476 billion in FY19. It served Rs45.77 million households during the year through its retail network of 4,881 stores in rural and urban areas.

“The USC will establish its IT infrastructure in the next fiscal year; a data center has already been deployed at its head office, having the capacity to meet future IT infrastructure requirements,” the statement read. “Through the establishment of IT infrastructure, USC would be synchronizing warehouses and retail outlets.”

Other initiatives during the year included deployment of Online Stores Information System by geo-tagging all stores

throughout the country. USC also implemented a Demandbased Online Purchase Ordering System integrated with the Finance Payable System.

Despite outbreak of Covid19, retail outlets remained opened for the public to maintain continued supplies of food items at prices lower than the open market. USC also launched around 100 Mobile Utility Stores during the pandemic to ensure delivery of grocery items at people’s doorstep in far-flung areas.

During the year under review, the USC launched 64 products under its own brand including vermicelli, spices, mix spices, black tea, toiletries, and detergents.

Hyundai Pakistan vows to boost production by 100pc in Q1CY21 LAHORE: Hyundai Pakistan is likely to boost its production by 100 per cent in the first quarter of the calendar year 2021 (Q1C21).

According to a statement issued by HyundaiNishat Motor (Pvt) Ltd. CEO Hassan Mansha, double shift operations would ensure that capacity is further enhanced by the end of Q2CY21.

“This will ensure that Hyundai-Nishat continues to play its part by creating further employment opportunities as network and capacity are

expanded,” he added.

The Nishat group-owned company also vowed that customers will benefit from not having to face delays and long waiting times as orders are rolled out at a fast pace. In 2017, Hyundai came back after a partnership with Nishat Group.

The company launched the Hyundai Tucson crossover SUV in August 2020 to compete in the recently growing crossover SUV market of Pakistan. STAFF REPORT

Traders and exporters of Pakistan and Afghanistan have demanded the introduction of a visa-free entry regime for the business community to bolster trade operations, as well as strengthening linkages and effective collaboration and coordination between relevant departments of the two countries. These views were expressed, during a joint meeting of Pak-Afghan traders, held under chairmanship of the Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) President Sherbaz Bilour here at the chamber house on Tuesday. SCCI Senior Vice President Engineer Manzoor Elahi, former president Faiz Muhammad, ex-SVP Shahid Hussain, former vice presidents Malik Niaz Muhammad Awan, Abdullah Yousafzai, Abdul Jalil Jan, executive committee members Mujeebur Rehman, Zahoor Khan, Muhammad Aurangzeb, Ihsanullah, Aftab Iqbal, Afghan Consul General in Peshawar Najeebullah Ahmadzai, PAJCCI Afghanistan chapter President Khan Jan Alkozai, Afghan Trade Attaché Fawad Arash, as well as a large number of traders, exporters and importers from the two countries were present in the meeting. The participants said that they had identified bottlenecks that were hampering bilateral and transit trade, including complicated regulations and procedures, strict policies and cumbersome goods’ clearing processes, urging that Islamabad and Kabul review their policies to further improve mutual trade and economic relations. They also proposed the launch of a joint bonded carriers system between Pakistan and Afghanistan to address the issues of transport. Speaking on the occasion, Bilour informed that the customs authorities had recently issued a notification regarding reduction in values of more than 51 Afghan origin imported items, due to which, a noticeable increase in mutual trade and transit trade was witnessed. He added the SCCI was making efforts to decrease customs values on the rest of the Afghan imported items. He also proposed the introduction of a joint bonded carriers system to ease difficulties of Pak-Afghan transporters.

Moreover, speakers including Faiz Muhammad Faizi, Abdul Jalil Jan, Mujeebur Rehman, Zahoor Khan, Muhammad Aurangzeb, and Aftab Iqbal pointed out impediments in way of Pak-Afghan trade and suggested a number of proposals to remove them.

Cement despatches up 15.6pc in H1FY21 LAHORE HASSAN NAQVI

Cement despatches during the first six months of the current fiscal year (H1FY21) increased by 15.66 per cent to 28.628 million tonnes as compared to 24.751m tonnes during the same period last year, according to data released by the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA).

As per details, local cement despatches in the northern region grew 16.21pc to 20.228m tonnes during the July-December period as compared to 17.406m tonnes in the corresponding period of last year. Exports from the region, however, fell 15pc to 1.210m tonnes in the first six months of the current fiscal year from 1.420m tonnes during the same period last fiscal year.

TOTAL DESPATCHES DURING JULY-DEC PERIOD CLOCKED IN AT 28.6M TONNES AS COMPARED TO 24.7M TONNES IN 1HFY20 In the southern region, domestic cement despatches grew 14pc to 3.381m tonnes in July-Dec FY21 from 2.966m tonnes in the same period last fiscal. Exports also swelled by 29pc to 3.806m tonnes from 2.957m tonnes in 6MFY20.

The APCMA spokesman attributed the decrease in exports from southern region during the last two months to heavy congestion at ports; as per the government's directives, berthing priority is given to wheat, sugar and canola import vessels. "This is causing a great loss of exports of cement and clinker from the country as customers are di-

verting their ships to other destinations in the region to load cement and clinker due to heavy congestion at both ports in Karachi."

He said the cement industry needs a levelplaying field and requested the government that exports be prioritised so that industry can earn maximum foreign exchange the country.

Meanwhile, as per APCMA’s monthly data, local cement despatches increased to 4.154m tonnes in December 2020, as compared to 3.536m tonnes in December 2019, depicting a jump of 17.47pc. But exports during the month dropped to 633,431 tonnes compared to 769,986 tonnes in December 2019.

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In the northern region, domestic cement despatches stood 17.09pc higher at 3.471m tonnes in December 2020 from 2.964m tonnes in December 2019. Exports from the region, on the other hand, plunged 40.52pc to 0.123m tonnes from 0.206m tonnes in December 2019.

In the southern region, domestic cement despatches rose 19.47pc to 682,854 tonnes in December 2020 from 571,558 tonnes in December 2019. Exports from the southern region came down by 9.36pc to 0.510m tonnes in December from 0.563m tonnes in December 2019.

The APCMA spokesman said that the rising trend of coal, electricity and diesel prices are also hurting the cement sector.

During the last six months, coal prices have increased by almost $35 per tonne.

"On the other hand, duty and taxes on

the cement sector are also very high; cement is subject to Federal Excise Duty at Rs1,500 per tonne (Rs75 per bag) and 17pc general sales tax (Rs77 per bag). Total direct taxes on cement are Rs152 per bag."

He urged the government to give tax concessions on the cement sector which would reduce the cost of production, giving a boost to construction activities and employment in the sector.

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is now in the process of implementing a Track and Trace System on major sectors such as tobacco, cement, sugar and fertiliser.

APCMA has already requested the government to implement the system on the cement sector, which would help promote a level playing field and boost revenues by curbing tax evasions.

Wednesday, 6 January, 2021

10 FOREIGN NEWS

LeAve youR guns AT hoMe, WAshIngTon PoLICe WARn PRo-TRuMP RALLy-goeRs WASHINGTON

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Agencies

ITY officials in Washington on Monday warned supporters of President Donald Trump not to bring guns to protests this week against congressional certification of his election defeat and enlisted hundreds of National Guard troops to help keep order.

“We have received some information that there are individuals intent on bringing firearms into our city and that just will not be tolerated,” Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee told a City Hall news conference, adding that anyone found doing so or provoking violence would be arrested.

More than 300 troops will be on hand to support the city government, providing crowd control and aiding fire and rescue services, the DC National Guard said in a

statement on Monday. They will be joined by the US Capitol Police, US Park Police and US Secret Service, Contee said.

The District has some of the United States’ strictest gun laws, and forbids open carry of weapons or possession of a handgun without a local license.

Thousands of Trump supporters, including some far-right nationalist groups that openly carry arms at protests elsewhere, are expected to converge on the US capital to oppose Congress’ certification the next day of the Republican president’s November 3 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.

Contee said the protests could be bigger than November and December rallies marred by stabbings and brawls as hundreds of Proud Boys, a group of self-described “Western chauvinists,” and other Trump loyalists clashed with counter-protesters, and sought fights with antifa, or anti-fascists, and

Central African Republic President Touadera is re-elected BANGUI: Central African Republic President Faustin-Archange Touadera has won five more years in power by securing more than 53 per cent of votes in an election that was marred by violence, according to provisional results announced on Monday. The electoral commission declared Touadera the winner of the December 27 election, saying he had secured enough votes in the first round to make a second round runoff unnecessary in the gold- and diamondproducing country. Touadera, 63, has struggled to wrest control of vast swathes of the country from armed militias since first winning power in 2016, three years after former President Francois Bozize was ousted by another rebellion.

The presidential election went ahead despite an offensive by rebel groups who tried to disrupt the vote after Bozize’s candidacy was rejected by the country’s highest court. “Faustin-Archange Touadera, having received the absolute majority of the vote in the first round with 53.9 per cent is declared winner,” Mathias Morouba, the electoral commission’s president, told a news conference in the capital, Bangui. Agencies

Black Lives Matter activists.

On Monday, Metropolitan police arrested Proud Boys leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio, and charged him with destruction of property related to an earlier protest. Tarrio was “in possession of two high capacity firearm magazines” at the time of arrest, a police statement said, and charged with that possession offense as well.

Trump summoned supporters to this week’s gatherings, saying on Twitter on Sunday that “I will be there,” and on Friday that “it will be wild.” Several rallies are planned for Wednesday (today), including one outside the US Congress.

The White House has not provided any official schedule, but one person briefed on his plans said Trump will speak to supporters on Wednesday (today) at the Ellipse, a park just south of the White House.

Trump falsely claims that Biden won the

election through massive vote-rigging, even though dozens of state and federal court rulings, state election officials of both parties, and the US Justice Department have found no major fraud.

Congress is constitutionally mandated to certify the presidential election results on Wednesday (today), in what would normally be a formality overseen by Vice President Mike Pence.

But at least 12 Republican senators and some 140 Republican House of Representatives members pledged to vote against certification of Biden’s win, citing Trump’s election fraud allegations.

Their move will not change the outcome, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, a Democrat, told the news conference. “Our Constitution will endure. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be the president and the vice president of the United States” when they are inaugu-

Iran tests drones in military exercise DUBAI Agencies

Iran launched exercises featuring a wide array of domestically produced drones on Tuesday, Iranian media reported, days after the anniversary of the US killing of a top Iranian general by a drone strike in Iraq.

Iran and the regional forces it backs have increasingly relied in recent years on drones in Yemen, Syria, Iraq and the Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Gulf.

Iran’s armed forces are to test combat drones used as bombers, interceptors and in reconnaissance missions in the two-day exercises in central Semnan province, the semi-official Fars news agency said.

“The fingers of our

At least 22 killed in eastern Congo village BENI: At least 22 people were killed in an overnight raid on a village in a part of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, local authorities said on Tuesday. The militants struck late on Monday, killing residents of Mwenda village with machetes and guns, its civil society leader Jeremi Mbweki said. He blamed the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), a Ugandan group. “Now we live in total fear, with no certainty about the future,” Mbweki said by phone. The administrator of Beni territory, Donat Kibwana, confirmed the death toll and said the ADF was responsible.

More than 1,000 civilians were killed in attacks attributed to the ADF in 2019 and 2020, according to UN figures, despite repeated offensives by the army and UN. peacekeepers against the group over the past decade. Nine more bodies were discovered on Monday in another village in the area - also victims of an alleged ADF attack, Kibwana said. Agencies

heroic armed forces are on the trigger, and if enemies commit the slightest mistake, the armed forces will surely respond fiercely,” said Mohammad Baqeri, chief of staff of the armed forces, quoted by state media.

Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has said US President Donald Trump may be trying to find an excuse to attack Iran in his last days in office, or Israel might try to provoke a war. Israel rejected the allegation.

The exercises coincided with increased tensions between Iran and the United States, two days after the first anniversary of the killing of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in a US drone strike at Baghdad airport, and two weeks before President-

elect Joe Biden takes office. Biden aims to revive a nuclear agreement with Iran abandoned by Trump, though diplomacy is expected to be tricky.

Beyond surveillance, Iranian drones can drop munitions and also carry out a "kamikaze" flight when loaded with explosives and flown into a target, according to a US official.

Iran has developed a large domestic arms industry in the face of international sanctions and embargoes barring it from importing many weapons.

Western military analysts say Iran sometimes exaggerates its weapons capabilities, though concerns about its ballistic missiles contributed to Washington leaving the nuclear pact.

rated on January 20.

Bowser urged residents to stay out of the city center, where boards hung during racial justice rallies last summer still cover office, restaurant and hotel windows.

Before his arrest, Proud Boys’ Tarrio said on social media that “record numbers” of members would attend, suggesting that they may dress in all black like antifa activists.

“We will be incognito and we will spread across downtown DC in smaller teams,” he said.

The Hotel Harrington and the attached Harry’s Bar, popular Proud Boys gathering spots during previous protests, will close on Wednesday (today).

“While we cannot control what happens outside of the hotel, we are taking additional steps to protect the safety of our visitors, guests and employees,” the hotel said on its website.

Israel authorises use of Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine JERUSALEM Agencies

Israel’s health ministry has authorised a Covid-19 vaccine developed by US drugmaker Moderna Inc, the company and an Israeli official said, marking the vaccine’s third regulatory authorisation and the first outside North America.

“Ministry of Health of Israel has secured 6 million doses and first deliveries (are) expected to begin in January,” Moderna said in a statement on Monday.

Israeli Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said he had no knowledge of shipments arriving this month.

“To my regret, we will likely only see the company’s shipment in two months,” Edelstein told reporters. “As soon as the vaccines arrive we will use them happily and if the company wants to move the arrival forward we will be happy to receive notification.” The director-general of Israel’s health ministry, Hezi Levy, confirmed the import agreement. Interviewed by radio station 103FM, he declined to give details of the size of the shipment and said the date of its arrival was under discussion.

Wednesday, 6 January, 2021

Williamson hits double hundred, neW Zealand flatten Pakistan

SPORTS 11 Wrist injury ends rahul's australia tour ahead of sydney test SYDNEY: KL Rahul’s hopes of featuring in the Test series against Australia were snuffed out on Tuesday when the India batsman was ruled out of the last two matches with a wrist injury. “KL Rahul sprained his left wrist while batting in the nets at the MCG during Team India’s practice session on Saturday,” the Indian cricket board (BCCI) said in a statement. “The wicketkeeperbatsman will not be available for the remaining two Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy as he will need about three weeks time to recover completely and regain full strength.” Rahul, who can bat at the top as well as in the middle order, played the limited-overs matches against Australia but could not break into the Test squad in the first two matches. His name was doing the rounds for the third Test in Sydney from Thursday (tomorrow) as India, who levelled the series 1-1 in Melbourne, grapple with form and injury issues. The tourists, missing regular skipper Virat Kohli who is on paternity leave, have already lost the pace duo of Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav to injuries. They replaced an out-of-form Prithvi Shaw with Shubman Gill in Melbourne but continue to fret over Mayank Agarwal’s form after the opener managed a total of 31 runs in four innings.

Rahul would return home to continue his rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru, the BCCI added. Agencies

former Pakistan captain sana mir tests positive for coronavirus

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Agencies

KIPPER Kane Williamson smashed his fourth Test doublehundred while Henry Nicholls and Daryl Mitchell notched up centuries to fuel New Zealand’s bid for a 2-0 series sweep in the second and final Test against Pakistan on Tuesday.

Williamson scored 238 and collaborated in a marathon 369-run partnership, a New Zealand record for the fourth wicket, with Nicholls, who made 157.

Williamson then allowed Mitchell to complete his maiden Test century before declaring New Zealand’s first innings on 659-6. Pakistan, who managed 297 in the first innings, finished the day three on 8-1, still 354 runs behind and staring at an innings defeat at Hagley Oval.

Pakistan could not make the most of the overcast conditions and the second new ball and Azhar Ali spilled a catch at gully to allow Nicholls to complete his seventh Test century.

Battling a calf strain, Nicholls decided to counter-attack, pulling and cutting until

his dismissal after attempting a pull shot off Mohammad Abbas.

Williamson was rock solid at the other end and became the third New Zealand batsman, after Stephen Fleming and Ross Taylor, to score 7,000 Test runs.

Currently the top-ranked Test batsman, Williamson took a single off Shaheen Afridi to also equal Brendon McCullum’s record of four Test double-hundreds by a New Zealand batsman.

Williamson shook hands with batting partner Kyle Jamieson and raised his bat in a muted celebration.

After batting for more than nine-andhalf hours during which he hit 28 boundaries, Williamson played a tired shot and departed with scores of 251, 129, 21 and 238 in his last four Test innings.

“Pretty grateful to the skipper for giving me a couple of extra overs to try and get the job done,” Mitchell, who made 102 not out, said afterwards.

“His knock was amazing today, 238 in a Test match is incredible.”

Pakistan dropped several catches in the match and were equally sloppy with the ball conceding 64 extra runs.

Ings lobs Southampton to 1-0 win over listless Liverpool SOUTHAMPTON Agencies

A superb second-minute lob by Danny Ings gave Southampton a surprise 1-0 home win over Premier League leaders Liverpool, with the Reds’ attack looking rudderless as they were held scoreless for the second game in a row.

With the injury-hit champions fielding a makeshift centre-back pairing of Jordan Henderson and Fabinho, striker Ings, who joined Southampton on loan from Liverpool in 2018 before making the transfer permanent a year later, was able to exploit some confusion at a set piece to secure the win.

The victory lifted Southampton to sixth in the table on 29 points, behind Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City on goal difference. Liverpool stay top on 33 points ahead of Manchester United, who have a game in hand, on goal difference. As Henderson called his players to shore up the middle, James Ward-Prowse floated a free kick down the left that Trent Alexander-Arnold failed to deal with, and Ings pounced to send a deft left-footed lob over Alisson into the net.

Liverpool did not manage a single shot on target in the opening 45 minutes, with their best chance headed just over the bar by Mohamed Salah during the first-half stoppage time. They dominated the second half, but once again

a concerted effort by the massed ranks of Southampton’s defence kept them out, and coach Ralph Hasenhuettl fell to his knees at the final whistle as his players celebrated.

“He (Hasenhuettl) is very passionate and he brings that passion into the game, and it’s great for us to see that,” goal-scorer Ings told Sky Sports.

Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp, whose side were held to a goalless draw by Newcastle United in their last outing, was disappointed with the display.

“They (Southampton) put a lot of work in. Our decision-making was just not good, that is how it is when you don’t have momentum. We should have had much more chances,” he said.

LahorE: Former Pakistan women's cricket team captain Sana Mir has tested positive for Covid-19, it was learnt on Tuesday. Sana, who was part of the broadcast panel for the Quaid-eAzam Trophy, had showed symptoms of fever on day three of the final match of the tournament. Subsequently, she underwent a test, which came positive. Following the news, the entire production team as well as some others were asked by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to undergo Covid-19 tests. The 34-yearold has played 226 internationals, including 137 as captain from 2009 to 2017, during her glittering 15-year cricketing career. She also captained Pakistan to a gold medal win at the Asia Games in 2010 and 2014. After retirement in April last year, Sana has been involved as an expert and commentator in domestic events and the Pakistan Super League. stAff RepoRt

bike rider Price wins dakar third stage as howes goes top riYaDh: Australian Toby Price won the third stage of the Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday as American Skyler Howes took the overall lead in the motorbike category. Two times champion Price, who also won Sunday’s opening stage on his KTM but started the day 29th after struggling on Monday, beat Argentine rider Kevin Benavides by a minute and 16 seconds after the 403km loop around Wadi AdDawasir. Howes, who had been eighth overall overnight, finished fourth on his non-factory KTM to take the lead 33 seconds clear of Benavides. Price moved up to fourth, one minute and 52 seconds off the lead, with Britain’s 2017 winner Sam Sunderland fifth.

Overnight leader Joan Barreda dropped to eighth overall, the Spaniard now more than nine minutes behind Howes, after having to open the stage through the desert dunes. Agencies

South Africa win second Test for 2-0 series sweep over Sri Lanka JOHANNESBURG Agencies

South Africa completed a sweep of their two match series against Sri Lanka as they strolled to a 10-wicket win on the third day of the second Test on Tuesday.

South Africa knocked off a target of 67 runs without loss as openers Dean Elgar (31 not out) and Aiden Markram (36 not out) saw them to victory at the Wanderers Stadium – with two and a half days of the contest still remaining.

Success in Johannesburg followed a convincing innings and 45-run triumph in the first Test in Pretoria last week and turns around a poor run of Test form over the last year. Sri Lanka were bowled out for 211 in their second innings, surviving only 95 minutes of Tuesday’s morning session. They resumed their second innings

at 150-4 overnight with a tenuous five-run lead but with captain Dimuth Karunaratne not out on 91 and hoping to set the home side an imposing target to chase in the fourth innings.

Karunaratne reached his 10th Test century off 123 balls as the visitors began in aggressive fashion, but a misjudged pull shot saw the Sri Lanka skipper top edge Anrich Nortje to be caught by Wiaan Mulder in a major blow to their hopes, just 20 minutes into the day’s play. He was dismissed for 103. “We wanted to turn the pressure over onto South Africa but unfortunately they bowled really well,” Karunaratne said afterwards.

Niroshan Dickwella, who scored 36, followed in the next over as Lungi Ngidi (4-44) took another crucial wicket, setting off an end to the resistance among the lower order.

Lutho Sipamla cleaned up the tail with three wickets in 12 balls, including bowling Wanindu Hasaranga for 16, to finish with figures of 3-40.

Sri Lanka, who won the toss and elected to bat, scored 157 in their first innings and South Africa replied with 302, with Elgar top scoring on 127.

“We wanted to get the new year off to a good start, and it was good to see our experienced batsmen among the runs as well as our young bowling line-up putting up their hands,” said winning captain Quinton de Kock.

South Africa now look ahead to their first visit in 14 years to Pakistan, where they will play two Tests and three Twenty20 internationals later this month, while Sri Lanka return home to host England in two Tests in Galle. The first starts on January 14.

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Wednesday, 6 January, 2021

PRAyER TImINGS

NEWS

FAJR SUNRISE

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ASR MAGHRIB ISHA

5:30

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MIlItary lEadErshIP vOws tO dEfEat tErrOrIsts and abEttOrs

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NEWS DESK HE Pakistan Army leadership, in a meeting at the General Headquarters in Rawalpindi on Tuesday, vowed that terrorists and their abettors would be “defeated at all

Pakistan welcomes breakthrough in Gulf dispute ISLAMABAD: A day after Saudi Arabia announced to reopen its land and sea borders to Qatar following a long-running embargo, Islamabad on Tuesday welcomed the development aimed at resolving a political dispute that shattered Gulf unity at a time of heightened regional tensions with Iran. Saudi Arabia and its regional allies — the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt — severed diplomatic, trade and travel ties with Qatar on charges of terrorism support, an accusation it denies. The breakthrough is the latest in a series of Middle East deals sought by Washington — the others being Abrahamic Accords involving Israel and its Arab neighbours — aimed at building a united front against Tehran. It came ahead of a summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) being held in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. “Pakistan welcomes the decision by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the State of Qatar to reopen the land, air and sea borders between the two countries,” the Foreign Office (FO) said in a statement.

“We also appreciate other steps being taken by the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which will contribute to [the] resolution of outstanding issues between the countries of the organization persisting for almost four years.” Pakistan thanked the Kuwait’s Emir Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah for his “persistent and sincere efforts” and cooperation of GCC countries that had led to the breakthrough deal. STAFF REPORT

Oil prices up $1 on OPEC output cut talks, Iran tension LONDON: Oil prices rose by around $1 on Tuesday as tension simmered following Iran’s seizure of a South Korean vessel and as the OPEC+ group studied a possible production cut in February. Brent crude futures for March rose 96 cents to $52.05 a barrel by 1206 GMT, while US West Texas Intermediate crude for February was at $48.53 a barrel, up 91 cents. Both contracts fell more than 1pc on Monday after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, known as OPEC+, failed to agree on changes to February’s oil output. Saudi Arabia argued against pumping more because of new lockdowns that are likely to limit demand, while Russia led calls for higher production, citing recovering consumption. An OPEC document dated Jan. 4, showed the group was studying a 500,000 barrel per day (bpd) cut for February, and other scenarios that include stable production or an increase of 500,000 bpd. “It is no secret that the bullish kick which crude markets have received through much of the last quarter (crude rose almost 30pc in Q4-2020) and again this morning is supported by a particularly hands-on approach from OPEC+ to tighten crude markets and bring inventories lower through 2021,” JBC Energy said in a note. AGENCIES

costs”, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement.

At the 238th Corps Commanders’ Conference, chaired by Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, the army leadership reviewed the security situation in the country and the region with a

“special focus on the situation along the borders, internal security and other professional matters of the army”.

It also discussed the “ongoing security situation along the Line of Control (LoC), Working Boundary and eastern border”, the ISPR said. The army huddle paid “spe-

cial tribute to all shuhada (martyrs) and their families” for their sacrifices for a “peaceful and secure Pakistan”, especially the martyrs in the recent incidents in Balochistan.

“Their sacrifices won’t go [to] waste.

Terrorists and their abettors will be defeated at all costs,” the statement added.

Earlier this week, 11 coal miners belonging to the Shia Hazara community were shot dead in the Mach area of Balochistan after armed militants kidnapped them and took them to a nearby area before opening fire at close range.

The militant Islamic State group or Daesh claimed responsibility for the killing. It was the second such incident in the span of a few months in the restive province that has seen an uptick in violence, with several incidents of terrorism being reported last year.

In October 2020, seven soldiers of Frontier Corps (FC) Balochistan and seven security guards were martyred in an ‘encounter’ with a “large number of terrorists” while escorting a convoy of state-run Oil &

Saudi Arabia says full ties restored between Qatar and embargo nations AGENCIES Full ties have been restored between Qatar and the four nations that severed relations with Doha in a rift that began over three years ago, Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said on Tuesday.

Saudi Arabia led a coalition of countries in the Gulf and beyond that cut ties and transport links with Qatar in June 2017, charging that it was too close to Iran and backed militant groups — allegations Doha has always denied. “What happened today is ... the turning of the page on all points of difference and a full return of diplomatic relations,” Prince Faisal bin Farhan told a press conference at the conclusion of a landmark regional summit in Saudi Arabia.

Saudi state media said that de facto leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met separately with Qatar's ruler Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad alThani, after the pair publicly embraced at the airport.

“During the meeting, they reviewed bilateral relations between the two brotherly countries and ways of consolidating the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) joint action,” the official Saudi Press Agency said.

Leaders of the six-member GCC signed two documents on Tuesday, the Al-Ula Declaration, named after the Saudi city where this year's regional summit was held, and a final communique. Three GCC members — Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain — took part in the three-and-

a-half year blockade, alongside Egypt.

Qatar is also a GCC member state, along with Kuwait and Oman, which remained neutral in the spat.

The documents are general in terms, but Prince Mohammed said earlier that the Gulf states had inked an agreement that affirms “our Gulf, Arab and Islamic solidarity and stability”.

He called for unity to confront challenges facing the region, singling out “the threats posed by the Iranian regime's nuclear and ballistic missile programme and its plans for sabotage and destruction.”

The summit comes a day after it was announced that Saudi Arabia would reopen its airspace and sea and land border to Qatar under the deal signed today.

Under the agreement, Qatar will suspend lawsuits related to the boycott, a senior US official earlier said.

All of the countries are US allies.

Qatar hosts the region's largest US military base, Bahrain is home to the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, and Saudi Arabia and the UAE host US troops.

The development is the latest in a series of Middle East deals sought by Washington — the others involving Israel and Arab states — aimed at building a united front against Iran. White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, assigned to work on the dispute by US President Donald Trump, also attended the ceremony in the historical city of Al-Ula along with Middle East envoy Avi Berkowitz and Brian Hook, a special State Department adviser.

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Gas Development Company Ltd (OGDCL) on the Makran Coastal Highway in Ormara.

The convoy was on its way to Karachi from Gwadar when it came under attack Today’s meeting also expressed “extreme respect and appreciation” for the people risking their lives to combat the coronavirus. The meeting noted that training and professional pursuits must remain the army’s “prime focus to enhance operational preparedness and thwart any possible misadventure”.

“Highest standards of capability and maintaining cutting edge at all levels is vital to meet all challenges in tandem with other elements of national power,” the statement quoted Gen Bajwa as saying. “[The] defeat of complete threat spectrum is only possible through a comprehensive national effort, where all segments of the society play their rightful role,” the statement quoted the participants as observing.

In accordance with the Right to Self-determination of Kashmiris Day being observed today, the forum expressed “complete solidarity with resilient and brave Kashmiri brethren till the realisation of their just cause in accordance with their aspirations and relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions”. “Decades of atrocities by Indian occupation forces have failed to suppress ever-strengthening freedom struggle. [The] determined Kashmiris shall succeed,” the army leadership said.

According to the ISPR, the meeting also expressed its satisfaction at the progress in the Afghan peace process and efforts made for regional peace and stability.

Pakistan condemns India’s refusal to hand over martyred Kashmiris’ bodies to heirs ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday strongly condemned the latest extra-judicial killings by the Indian occupation forces of three Kashmiri youngsters in Srinagar on December 29 and their refusal to hand over dead bodies to their heirs. The Foreign Office (FO) said that the families and neighbours of the martyred Kashmiris – Aijaz Maqbool Ganie, Zubair Ahmed Lone and Athar Mushtaq Wani (aged 16 and student of Class 11) — had affirmed that the young boys were innocent, who visited Srinagar on the fateful day and became victims of Indian state-terrorism. “It is doubly inhuman that the bodies of the three martyrs are not handed over to their families for a proper burial, despite repeated appeals from the families,” the FO said in a statement. It further termed it a “new form of oppression” that the Indian occupation forces were now resorting to in order to break the will of the Kashmiri people and emphasised that they would never succeed in this attempt. “The unabated killing spree in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) and the reprehensible refusal to hand over the bodies should be a matter of grave concern for the people of conscience across the world,” it stressed. The FO underscored that the “morally bankrupt RSS-BJP regime” should not be allowed to act with such impunity. It said that Pakistan had consistently emphasized that the gross and systematic violations of human rights being perpetrated by the Indian occupation forces warranted an investigation by a UN Commission of Inquiry, as recommended by the OHCHR in its Kashmir reports of 2018 and 2019. “Pakistan reiterates its call for an independent inquiry under international scrutiny to investigate the extra-judicial killings of Kashmiris by Indian occupation forces and to bring the perpetrators of these heinous crimes to justice,” the FO statement added. STAFF REPORT

Family appeals for release of detained Kashmiri activist ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

The family of a prominent pro-freedom leader from Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) who is being held in a New Delhi jail on trumped-up charges of anti-state activities has appealed to the United Nations for help in securing her release.

Ahmad bin Qasim — the son of Asiya Andrabi, chief of a pro-freedom group Dukhtaran-i-Milat (Daughters of the Muslim Faith) — was joined by Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari on Monday in issuing the appeal during a news conference in Islamabad. Andrabi and two other woman activists, Sofi Fahmeeda and

Nahida Nasreen, were charged by a court in India last month. Andrabi’s group generally campaigns against perceived acts of immorality in Kashmir, India’s only Muslim-majority state.

During the presser, her son — who is studying in Pakistan — and Mazari criticised Indian forces for committing grave human rights violations in held Kashmir and called on international rights organisations to work for Andrabi’s release and the release of other women jailed in India.

Qasim said his mother suffers from asthma and in need of medical care.

Qasim’s father, Ashiq Hussain Faktoo, was a Kashmiri pro-freedom fighter. Indian authorities convicted him of murder

in the death of a human rights activist in occupied Kashmir. Pakistan wants India to drop charges against Andrabi and her husband and release them.

Last Sunday, through a statement, Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said Pakistan has urged the UN secretary general António Guterres and the UN high commissioner for human rights Michelle Bachelet to seek Andrabi’s immediate release. “It has been highlighted that Ms Andrabi’s life is in danger owing to imminent risk of persecutory conviction by a sham court on 18 January 2020,” the statement read.

Pakistan and India have a history of bitter relations and have fought two of

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

their three wars over Kashmir since gaining independence from Britain in 1947.

Relations between the two countries have been further strained since August 2019, when India revoked the Muslim-majority region’s semi-autonomous status through a controversial decree and divided it into two federally governed territories, touching off anger on both sides of the frontier. India has an estimated 700,000 soldiers in held Kashmir, fighting nearly a dozen pro-freedom groups since 1947. In many areas, soldiers are in full combat gear patrolling streets and frisking civilians. More than 68,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in the conflict in the last few decades.