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Monday, 1 February, 2021 I 18 Jamadi-ul-Sani, 1442 I Rs 40.00 I Vol XI No 214 I 52 Pages I Islamabad Edition

CPI, Core InflatIon lower than tIme of PtI govt formatIon: Pm g

ISLAMABAD

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STAFF REPORT

rIme minister Imran Khan on sunday said that the government’s efforts were coming to fruition as both the consumer price index (cPI) and core inflation had been moved lower than the time of government’s formation. “more good news on the economic front. consumer price index & core inflation are both now lower than when our government was formed,” the prime minister said on twitter.

Pm Imran stated that he had instructed his economic team to stay vigilant and ensure that inflation stayed under control.

Planning minister asad umar also said on twitter that January inflation was

down to 5.7 per cent while core inflation was at 5.4 per cent.

In July 2018, prior to the PtI government’s formation, cPI was 5.8 per cent and core inflation was 7.6 per cent. earlier this week, during the launch of rs18 billion development projects in sahiwal, the premier had said that the government was determined to uplift the under-developed areas of the country.

Pm Imran had said that sahiwal would be provided best facilities in the fields of health, education, road infrastructure and social welfare.

He had announced that every household across Punjab would get health insurance worth rs0.7 million by december 2021.

He had added that the inauguration of a rs400 million sewerage plant in sahiwal would provide wastewater treat-

ment, wherein the purified water would then be diverted towards irrigation of the adjoining forest area.

Prime minister Imran had said that reforestation was a priority of the government, adding that the Billion trees tsunami project was in full swing.

He had said that the upcoming local government system would ensure power devolution and result in providing facilities to people at their doorsteps. the premier had also stressed that the socio-welfare state of medina was based on the principles of justice and equality for all.

Pm Imran had maintained that the government would introduce uniform educational syllabus across the country, which would mainstream all students especially those from a poor background.

He had said that the ehsaas pro-

Academic activities to fully resume today under SOPs ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

the primary and middle schools, as well as universities, will reopen for students across the country on monday after being closed for nearly two months during the second wave of the coronavirus disease. the federal minister for education and Professional training shafqat mehmood on sunday took to his twitter account and sent a good luck message to students ahead of the reopening of the remaining educational institutions in the country from february 1. "all the remaining educational institutions are opening tomorrow," the minister reminded students in a tweet. "I wish the very best to all students."

In response to a tweet in which the minister was praised for "piloting the schools opening issue very well," shafqat mehmood wrote that he is "always praying for children's welfare."

He also urged universities that were not reopening to reconsider their stance. "to those universities who are still not opening despite government permission, I have this to say; on-

line lessons however good are no substitute for on campus classes. also interactions in the university mould social behaviour. they should reconsider," he said. earlier, Pakistan opened schools for grade nine to 12 on January 18 after a break of two months. the decision to resume sessions for the rest of the classes in the provinces and the federal territory of Islamabad was taken in the light of the recommendations of the national command and operation centre (ncoc). education minister shafqat mahmood told reporters on saturday that the country has experienced “too much loss of education” during the pandemic, with initial World Bank (WB) estimates saying that at least one million children are expected to drop out of school due to covid-19’s socio-economic impact on Pakistan. as part of its anti-coronavirus measures, the government had ordered the closure of all schools and colleges on november 26 last year, with online learning operational until december 24 before the winter break until January 11.

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Bilawal puts PDM to test, vows to force removal of 'puppets' ISLAMABAD MIAN ABRAR

as the Pakistan democratic movement’s (Pdm) January 31 deadline given to Prime minister Imran Khan to resign lapsed, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari put the opposition alliance to another test, saying that they must “force the removal of puppets”.

However, Bilawal did not give a date for Pdm’s long march or resignations from assemblies.

In a series of tweets, the PPP chief said that the premier had failed to resign by the deadline, which gave the “illegitimate regime an opportunity to step aside respectfully ” and allow a transition to democracy with free, fair and transparent elections. saying that Pakistanis face historic poverty, unemployment and inflation because the government was “forced” on them, Bilawal said that the joint opposition "must now force the removal of puppets”, adding that his party believes in democratic tactics and “sustained efforts in-

side and outside” of the parliament will lead to success.

Bilawal said that the Pdm will discuss the long march and noconfidence motion plans “hopefully” during their meeting.

But Bilawal did not give a date for the Pdm meeting, though the alliance had scheduled a meeting on february 1 to announce long march against the PtI government in its december 14 presser.

Bilawal also accused the government of trying to change the rules to “rig” senate elections because they can see their defeat. He added that, god willing, the senate elections will show that the government is on a “shaky ground”.

He also told the establishment to leave political battles to politicians, otherwise they would risk being drawn into controversies. “only a government chosen by the people can deliver for the people,” he added. on sunday, as the deadline passed without any announcement from the opposition, the federal government taunted the Pdm leaders, reminding

Imran Instructs economIc team to stay vIgIlant and ensure InflatIon stays under control

them that the deadline was over, and the opposition was unable to submit en masse resignations from national and provincial assemblies per their announced schedule.

Perhaps these statements forced Bilawal to break his silence and post tweets without giving any clear date for the Pdm’s long march. earlier, adding fuel to the fire, foreign minister shah mahmood Qureshi told the media in multan that the Pdm should fulfil its desire to bring a no-confidence motion against Prime minister Imran. “the opposition alliance is about to disintegrate. the Pdm alliance is full of contradictions. those who vowed to send the government packing are now fighting for their survival, because the unnatural alliance of Pdm is falling apart,” said Qureshi. He said that the Pdm is fighting for its survival and neither any noconfidence motion nor resignations would be submitted.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

gramme worked as a safety net for underdeveloped people, ensuring their free health, education and employment opportunities. earlier this month, the prime minister had appreciated Pakistani exporters for their role in increasing the country’s exports. taking to twitter, the prime minister

had revealed that the country’s exports had registered a growth of 18 per cent over the previous year. “congratulations to all the exporters on achieving record exports in dec 2020 with a growth of 18 % over the previous year. Well done & keep up this trend,” he had said on twitter.

Petrol price increased by Rs2.7 per litre ISLAMABAD: the government on sunday increased the price of petrol by rs2.7 per litre, which would now be sold at rs111.90 per litre from february 1 against its existing price of rs109.2 per litre. according to notification issued by the finance ministry, the price of high-speed diesel has been raised from rs113.19 per litre to rs116.07 per litre, an increase of rs2.88 per litre. likewise, the price of kerosene oil has been increased from rs76.65 per litre to rs80.19 per litre, showing hike of rs3.54 per litre while the price of light diesel oil has been increased by rs3 per litre, from rs76.23 per litre to rs79.23 per litre. the prices would remain effective till february 15. STAFF REPORT

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Monday, 1 February, 2021

NEWS

Pearl family to aPPeal against release of susPects KARACHI

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STAFF REPORT/AGENCIES

He family of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, who was kidnapped and beheaded in Karachi in 2002, plans to appeal to Supreme Court (SC) to review its decision to free the four men convicted of his murder. A three-judge panel on Thursday threw out the murder convictions against the four suspects, including group's British-born ringleader, Ahmad Omar Saeed Sheikh.

Kidnapping convictions were left in place, but the men were ordered freed as they had already served out sentences for the kidnapping charges.

The case appears to have fallen apart because of the contradictory evidence

produced during Sheikh’s original trial in 2002 and the decision by the prosecution at the time to try him and three other accused co-conspirators together.

According to the Pearl family lawyer, Faisal Siddiqi, this means that doubt about the guilt of one translates into a doubt about all. The family "intends to file a review petition against the illegal and unjust majority decision of the Supreme Court of Pakistan," said a statement issued

by Siddiqui late Saturday night.

On Friday, the Sindh government also filed an appeal to the apex court to review its decision. A hearing for that appeal has been set for Monday.

The United States has expressed concern over the ruling and the new Secretary of State Antony Blinken called

Karachi girl dies of doctors' 'negligence' KARACHI: A girl died at a private hospital in Karachi due to the alleged negligence of the doctors on Sunday.

The family members of the deceased staged a protest against the administration of the hospital accusing them of negligence costing the girl her life. Protestors demanded justice into the matter. In a similar incident in September last the alleged recklessness of the staff at a private hospital in Nawabshah claimed the life of a pregnant woman during labour as they abandoned her after she fainted. INP

illegal structures in asif’s housing society demolished SIALKOT: An operation on Sunday was launched in a housing society said to have been owned by senior Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Asif to retrieve occupied land. The authorities concerned said the operation was launched to recover the land reserved for graveyard and parking but occupied by the Kent View Housing Society. The management of the society illegally built a four-storey building on the site, necessitating action from the government, reports said. The district administration and municipal corporation officials in the presence of policemen demolished the structures. An official of the Sialkot Municipal Corporation said the structures were built in violation of the approved plans and the maps. Asif was arrested by the anti-graft watchdog in December last from outside the residence of PML-N leader Ahsan Iqbal in Islamabad where he had come to attend a party meeting. Former Sialkot mayor Toheed Akhtrer termed the operation "worst political victimisation." He claimed the administration did not even allow them to pick up Rs632 million from the cash drawer of the housing society’s offices. Reports of clashes between the policemen and the PML-N workers were also received from the scene. STAFF REPORT

for accountability in his first phone call with Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Friday.

Washington has vowed to pursue the extradition of Sheikh on two separate US indictments against him. For its part, Islamabad has thrown up every legal hurdle it could to keep Sheikh in jail following his acquittal last April by Sindh High Court (SHC). Pearl, 38, was abducted on January 23, 2002, in Karachi and beheaded the next month, reportedly by Al-Qaeda. Sheikh had been convicted of helping lure Pearl to a meeting in Karachi in which he was kidnapped.

Prior to his kidnapping, the journalist had been investigating the link between reportedly Pakistan-based militants and Richard Reid, the notorious “Shoe

President lists 10 books for people to pay heed to

Bomber” who attempted to blow up a flight from Paris to Miami with explosives hidden in his shoes.

In July 2002, following the hearings, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Hyderabad had sentenced to death Sheikh and life term to other co-accused.

However, all four convicts had moved the SHC in 2002 challenging their convictions.

In his autobiography, In the Line of Fire: A Memoir, former president Pervaiz Musharraf had claimed that Sheikh, a student at the London School of economics (reports suggest he did not graduate), was hired by MI6 to engage in “jihadi operations”, adding that “at some point, he probably became a rogue or a double agent”. With additional input from Reuters and the Associated Press

FM denies handing over Pearl murder accused to US ISLAMABAD TLTP

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi clarified on Sunday that Islamabad is not handing over the prime suspect in US journalist Daniel Pearl murder case to Washington. The foreign minister said this while commenting on reports doing rounds in Islamabad after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken offered to prosecute British-born accused Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh in the US for his "horrific crimes against an American citizen" during a telephone conversation with him on Friday.

"Reports regarding handing over of Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh to the US are baseless," a private TV channel cited the foreign minister as saying.

"I spoke to the US secretary of state, who expressed his concern over the Supreme Court judgement," he said while

referring to the acquittal of all the four accused including Sheikh by the apex court on Thursday. "I told him [Blinken] that our courts are independent," he said.

However, Qureshi added that the government has filed a review petition against Sheikh's acquittal, which will be heard on Monday by the same court. Pearl's parents have also announced joining the review proceedings. Pearl, a former South Asia bureau chief of the Wall Street Journal, was kidnapped in January 2002 and killed after a month in Karachi. His dismembered body was found on the outskirts of the port city four months after his disappearance. In June 2002, an anti-terrorism court sentenced Sheikh to death and the other three to life imprisonment. However, nearly 18 years after their conviction, first the Sindh High Court (SHC) in April last year, and then the Supreme Court (SC) acquitted all the defendants, declaring that the prosecution had failed to prove the case against them.

ISLAMABAD: President Dr Arif Alvi has called for the promotion of book reading culture to enhance knowledge and suppress biases. In a video message on Sunday, sharing his best 10 reads of 2020, the president said that he studies books on current affairs and computer sciences and tries to disseminate his knowledge to the masses through his speeches. He said that the people should also read the useful material of their choice. "With the number of books that I read annually, I prepare a list for my friends of top ten books I like and recommend those to them," President Alvi said in the video. "I've read a lot of them, but like last year, I will let you know the ten books you should read this year." His favourite book was about the life of Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) by Meraj Mohiuddin. "He has penned down this book beautifully," President Alvi asserted in the video. The second book he singles out is what he says is rather difficult. "Capital and Ideology by Thomas Piketty is a very important book. The first book by the same author is Capital in the 21st Century. I read that during my time at the assembly. This author brilliantly showcases the growing differences between the classes in the world," he recalled, adding he tends to highlight and underline the important bits from the book as well. The third book President Alvi named was based on the sub-continent history, Anarchy by William Dalrymple. "This book tells us the correct account of the happenings of events when the British entered united India," he continued Jared Diamond's Upheaval also gets a mention. "The book focuses on how nations can grow and work towards betterment. It also tells us how nations can tackle the crisis - the story gives an example of Finland as well," he added. The president's other favourite was Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James A Robinson. The other five books recommended by President Alvi are: The Metric Society by Steffen Mau; The Big Picture by Sean M Carroll; Life 3.0 by Max Tegmark, Superintelligent by Nick Bostrom; and The Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli He also went on to name a few more books he has been reading including reads on the current unrest in India, a few by Pakistani authors and a book by the former US president. TLTP

Jan 30 marked highest number of Covid deaths recorded in Punjab ISLAMABAD APP

65 coronavirus patients died during past 24 hours, according to the latest update issued by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Sunday.

During the last 24 hours, most of the deaths had occurred in Punjab, followed by Sindh. Of the 65 deaths, 58 were under treatment in hospitals and seven were in their respective homes or quarantines when they died. The NCOC data added that out of the total 65 deaths during last 24 hours, 36 patients died on ventilators. The maximum ventilators were occupied in four major areas including Multan 37 per cent, Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) 38 per cent, Peshawar 25 per cent and Lahore 35 per cent.

The maximum number of oxygen beds – which are alternate oxygen providing facility other than ventilator

and are utilised as per the medical requirement of the patient – were also occupied in four major areas; namely, Peshawar 41 per cent, Multan 34 per cent, Karachi 35 per cent and Rawalpindi 24 per cent.

Around 296 ventilators were occupied elsewhere in the country, while no Covid-affected person was on a ventilator in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) or Balochistan.

The national tally of total active Covid-19 cases in the country on Saturday reached 33,439 with 2,179 more people tested positive for the deadly virus and 1,407 people recovered from the disease during the last 24 hours. Some 41,435 tests were conducted across the country on Friday, including 12,642 in Sindh, 14,592 in Punjab, 6,629 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 6,168 in ICT, 574 in Balochistan, 323 in GB, and 507 in AJK. Around 498,152 people have recovered from the disease so far across Pakistan, placing the country at a

significant 90 per cent recovery ratio of the affected patients. Since the pandemic outbreak, a total of 543,214 cases were detected that also included the perished, recovered and under treatment Covid-19 patients so far, including AJK 8,972, Balochistan 18,809, GB 4,908, ICT 41,255, KP 66,679, Punjab 156,928 and Sindh 245,663. About 11,623 deaths were recorded in the country since the eruption of the contagion. Around 3,986 perished in Sindh among 17 of them died on Friday. 13 of them died in hospital and four out of the hospital. 4,716 in Punjab had died with 35 deaths in past 24 hours. 32 of them perished in the hospital and three out of the hospital. 1,890 in KP wherein 11 of them died in hospital on Friday, 475 in ICT wherein one of them died in the hospital on Friday, 195 in Balochistan wherein one of them died in the hospital on Friday, 102 in GB and 259 in AJK succumbed to the deadly virus.

NADRA reverses 240 promotions on directives from interior minister NEWS DESK Acting on the orders of Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed, the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) has reversed the promotions of 240 persons that had previously been identified as highperforming employees, a local news outlet reported on Sunday.

The original office order for the promotion had been first issued on January 25, but had been cancelled merely four days later. The promotion order included salary fixations and increments for the selected employees, and

was to take effect from July 1, 2021.

The interior minister, while talking to a local news outlet, said that it was ‘inappropriate’ for the chairman to take such a decision towards the end of his three-year term expiring on Feb 8, which is why the orders has been canceled.

Replying to a follow up question, the minster said that the next chairman of NADRA would be selected on merit. He said that the senior most officer of the authority would get acting charge of the post during the process for selection of the new chairman.

Rasheed explained that an advertisement for the post

would soon be published and once the formalities of the procedure are completed, three names would be sent to the federal cabinet for their final decision.

According to Section 3(7) of the Nadra Ordinance: “Chairman shall be an eminent professional of known integrity and competence with substantial experience in the field of computer science, engineering, statistics, demography, law, business, management, finance, accounting, economics, civil or military administration, or the field of registration.” earlier this week, Rasheed had expressed satisfaction on law and order situation in Khyber

Pakthunkhwa (KP), including merged tribal districts.

The interior minister had expressed these views during a high level meeting on law and order situation in the province jointly presided over by KP Chief Minister Mahmood Khan and Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad.

KP Chief Secretary Dr Kazim Niaz, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Dr Sanaullah Abbasi, the interior secretary and other senior officials had attended the meeting.

Rasheed had come to Peshawar on a one-day visit to review the overall law and order situation in the province and merged tribal districts.

Monday, 1 February, 2021

NEWS

Special plane airliftS firSt Batch of coronaviruS ShotS for pakiStan ISLAMABAD

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STAFF REPORT

SPECIAL Pakistan Air Force (PAF) plane left for Beijing early Sunday morning to bring back the first batch of half a million shots of the stateowned Sinopharm’s coronavirus vaccine “gifted” by China to Pakistan.

In a statement, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) said that necessary steps had been taken to store the doses in Islamabad. “All necessary measures have been put in place for vaccine storage at Islamabad and [transportation] of vaccine to various federating units particularly to Sindh and Balochistan through [the] air,” the statement further said. The authorities have already decided on a “comprehensive strategy” for the administration of the shots and other administrative measures.

The government had approved the Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use on

ncoc sAys necessAry steps HAve been tAken to store vAccine doses in isLAmAbAd January 18, two days after AstraZeneca’s vaccine co-developed with the University of Oxford received a similar authorisation from the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP).

Subsequently, on January 21, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi announced China has agreed to provide 500,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine “free of cost”.

“I thanked them and also told them we need more than this, and in the future, we will need 1.1 million doses, and they reassured us and said by the end of February we plan to meet this requirement for you as well,” Qureshi had added.

COVAX SHOTS BY JUNE: A day earlier, Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar, who also heads the NCOC, confirmed COVAX, a

Govt to amend rules regarding hiring of legal counsel by BoDs

global initiative to ensure rapid and equitable access to coronavirus vaccines for all countries, has indicated a supply of up to 17 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Pakistan by the end of June. “Good news on Covid-19 vaccine front. Received a letter from COVAX of indicative supply of up to 17 million doses of AstraZeneca in 1st half 2021,” he tweeted. According to him, six million of the total 17 million doses will be received by March with delivery starting in February. He, however, did not specify any dates. “We signed with COVAX nearly eight months back to ensure availability,” he added.

HOW TO GET VACCINATED: A step-by-step guide of NCOC’s plan to get the coronavirus vaccine is given below: In the first step, at-risk citizens,

PM expresses grief over deaths of Shahid Gondal, Neelo Begum ISLAMABAD

ISLAMABAD

TLTP

AHMAD AHMADANI

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday expressed grief over the deaths of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shahid Gondal and iconic Pakistani actress Neelo Begum. In a tweet, Prime Minister Imran Khan said that he is saddened to learn of Shahid Gondal’s passing away. He said, “Shahid Gondal was one of our most loyal workers who stood with us during our struggle against the political mafias.” He said that his condolences and prayers go to his family. Shahid Gondal, a senior member of the Insaf Lawyers Wing, died on Saturday night due to coronavirus. He was undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Rawalpindi.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis, Zulfi Bokhari described Gondal’s passing as a “great loss” for the party.

Federal Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari praised Gondal for fighting the cases of PTI

The government is slated to amend the Rules of Business, 1973 to bind the board of directors (BoDs) of autonomous bodies (ABs) to consult the Law and Justice Division during the appointment of counsels. According to sources, the Cabinet Committee on Institutional Reforms (CCIR), in its meeting held on January 7, 2021, had considered a working paper submitted by the Institutional Reforms Cell (IRC) titled “Amendments in the Rules of Business” and directed the Law and Justice Division to submit a summary for the CCIR on the following guidelines: a) Autonomous bodies, such as public sector companies, should prepare a panel of legal counsels or legal firms for such a period as may be decided by the BoDs wherein the same should be intimated to the law division. b) Autonomous bodies, in each case, with the approval of the board, should intimate proposed legal counsels or legal firms to the Law and Justice Division. In both cases, any observations should be conveyed by the division to controlling ministries/divisions within ten working days. Sources said that the CCIR had also directed the cabinet division to submit a summary for the amendments in the Rules of Business, 1973 as per recommendations of CCIR. The CCIR had considered the proposed amendments threadbare and formulated its recommendations in that regard. A thorough discussion was held regarding the extent of powers of BoDs of ABs for the appointment of legal counsels, wherein it was also discussed whether ABs should hire such services with the approval of their BoDs or after consultation of the Ministry of Law. As per details, the CCIR was informed by the IRC that the proposed amendments in the Rules of Business, 1973 had also been discussed with the Cabinet Division, Law & Justice Division and the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). Only after consultation with the aforementioned bodies were the amendments presented for consideration of the CCIR. Minister for Law Dr Mohammad Farogh Naseem, who was present on special invitation, explained the legal merit of the proposed amendments with regard to the Constitution of Pakistan.

including frontline healthcare workers, will send their Computerised National Identity Card (CNIC) numbers to 1166 through SMS or use National Immunisation Management System (NIMS) website for registration.

After necessary verification, designated AVC (Adult Vaccine Centre) (based on “Present Address” and PIN Code will be sent to the citizen through SMS). If the designated AVC is outside the current tehsil of the citizen, he/she can change the designated health facility by visiting NIMS web portal or by calling the 1166 helpline within 5 days of receipt of the first SMS. Upon availability of vaccine at the designated vaccination centre, SMS will be sent to the citizen to obtain an appointment date for vaccine administration.

After successful registration, the citizen will visit AVC on the date of appointment along with the original CNIC and received PIB Code.

The vaccination staff will verify the CNIC and PIN code.

workers and leaders during the 2014 sit-in protests.

Separately, Prime Minister Imran Khan expressed grief over iconic Pakistani actress Neelo Begum’s death.

According to an official statement, the Prime Minister prayed to God to grant her a high status in paradise and offered a message of condolence for her son, actor Shaan Shahid. Shaan, a renowned actor in his own right, took to Twitter on Saturday night to break the sad news to his followers. “It is with the saddest of heart I share the departure of my mother as she has gone to her Creator.

May Allah bless her,” he had tweeted. In another tweet, Shaan shared a picture of him with his mother, saying that the “world has become meaningless without her”.

“I don’t know what to write as words have become empty .. just like the world without her is so meaningless… my success and my failures both need her.

The only hope that is still alive is to meet her one day beyond the boundaries of life..love you forever. Allah apkay saath ho,” he tweeted.

Pakistan asks Kuwait to convene JEC meeting once per year ISLAMABAD SHAHZAD PARACHA

Economic Affairs Division Secretary Noor Ahmad has requested the Kuwait delegation to convene the Joint Economic Committee (JEC) meeting on annual basis to discuss bilateral economic issues, Pakistan Today learnt.

Since the inception of Pak-Kuwait JEC, only four sessions have been convened. Pakistan proposed the convening of JEC meetings on annual basis in order to enhance mutual cooperation.

The Pakistani side also asked the delegation to establish the Joint Business Council (JBC) as most of the trade and investment between the counties takes place through the private sector.

The Pakistani team reportedly also asked for the enhancement of trade between the two countries.

Presently, the total trade volume between the counties is $1,229 million. Therein, Pakistani exports are the only $104 million, whereas imports stood at $1,125 million.

Pakistan has huge potential for export of rice, meat, fruit and vegetables to Kuwait, the Pakistani side

communicated to the Kuwaiti delegation.

Noor Ahmed also informed the delegation that the present government’s investment-friendly policies have restored the confidence of international companies regarding investment in Pakistan.

As per World Bank’s (WB) recent ratings, Pakistan’s ranking in “Ease of Starting a Business” has improved from 130 to 72 and is placed at the second position in South Asian countries.

The Pakistani team also asked Kuwait to increase its financing through the Kuwait Fund, which is used by the Kuwaiti government to support developing countries.

Kuwait Fund has financed a number of development projects in Pakistan; however, keeping in view our historic relationship and size of Pakistan, we feel that the Kuwait Fund should significantly increase its financing for Pakistan, the secretary expressed.

In this regard, Pakistan proposed signing a framework agreement to finance high-quality projects for the next five years.

Reportedly, the Kuwait side was fully agreed with the above-mentioned proposals by Pakistan.

osama bin Laden used to finance, support nawaz sharif, claims former ambassador ISLAMABAD APP

Pakistan’s former ambassador to the United States Abida Hussain has said that Osama Bin Laden had supported and funded former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.

During an interview with a private news channel, Hussain said: “Yes, he [Osama Bin Laden] supported Mian Nawaz Sharif at one time. However, that is a complicated story. He [Osama] used to extend financial assistance [to Nawaz].” Abida, also an ex-cabinet member of Nawaz’s government, recalled that at one

AbidA HussAin sAys bin LAden wAs popuLAr At one time And Liked by everyone, incLuding tHe AmericAns, but At A LAter stAge, He wAs treAted As A strAnger time Osama Bin Laden was popular and liked by everyone, including the Americans, but at a later stage, he was treated as a stranger. She said that she was appointed as an ambassador during the first premiership of Nawaz Sharif after she lost the election. During her stint as an envoy to the US, the senior politician

disclosed, most of her communication used to be with President Ghulam Ishaq Khan. Khan had tasked her to keep the Americans engaged in talks till Pakistan completes its nuclear program in 18 months.

The US administration, including the diplomats, senators, and congressmen, used to advise Pakistan

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pM imran to answer public’s questions today Prime Minister Imran Khan, in lieu of keeping his promise to be answerable to the people, will be taking calls from the public on Monday at 4 pm, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz said on Sunday. Faraz made the announcement on popular microblogging site, Twitter. “The Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan will personally speak to the people on the telephone,” he said. The information minister further stated that the people can dial 051-9210809 and that the line would be open from the aforementioned time. NEWS DESK

Six arrested for travelling on fake covid-19 certificates PESHAWAR: Authorities detained six passengers on charges of attempting to travel abroad on fake negative coronavirus certificates, reports said Sunday. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and officials of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's (KP) health department conducted an operation at the Bacha Khan Airport, Peshawar during which the persons were apprehended. The CAA had issued standard operating procedures (SOP)s for international passengers travelling through chartered and private flights. As per the issued guidelines, the completion of the international passenger health declaration form by passengers or guardians will be the airline's responsibility. The guidelines said the passenger will be scanned through thermal devices for coronavirus before boarding. Moreover, passengers were urged to wear masks and follow social distancing, in case of any apparent symptoms, they are to inform the cabin crew immediately. STAFF REPORT

cold snap predicted to last longer with climate change ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) on Sunday said that the country can expect an unusually long period of cold in February. According to the Meteorological Department, the minimum temperature in Karachi was recorded at 11.5C while the minimum temperature is expected to hover between 9C and 11C Sunday (today). The humidity was recorded at 72 percent, with light winds expected to blow from the southwestern direction till evening. In addition, the temperature is likely to drop in most parts of Balochistan. the PMD said, adding that that -1C was recorded in Quetta Saturday, whereas -3C was the temperature recorded in Kalat. The department predicted dry weather in the northern and mountainous areas of Balochistan. As far as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is concerned, the weather department said that partly cloudy conditions can be expected in most parts of the province including the city of Peshawar. The minimum temperature in Peshawar has been recorded at 2C, whereas humidity is 74 per cent. INP

former chinese envoy lauds pakistan's diplomatic efforts on kashmir ISLAMABD: China's former defence attache in South Asian countries, Cheng Xizhong has said that Pakistan's diplomatic efforts on Kashmir issue have achieved remarkable results. In an article published in Chinese media outlets, Xizhong said that the entire international community, including the United Nations, has realised that if the Kashmir issue is not resolved fairly, it will seriously affect regional stability and world peace. Cheng pointed out that the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on last Friday called on both Pakistan and India to come together and seriously discuss their problems, stemming from the unresolved Kashmir dispute and also offered his good offices for mediation. Guterres emphasised that there is no "military solution" to the decades-old conflict. Earlier on last Tuesday, the former Chinese envoy said that Indian media has played a very negative role in Sino-Indian relations.

Some Indian media have increasingly lost their independence and objectivity, just like a propaganda machine controlled by the politicians and national extremism. TLTP

against the execution of the nuclear programme, she revealed. Responding to a question, Abida said that though she used to be spied on in the US, she did not undertake any suspicious activity which could be used against her by intelligence agencies.

When asked about the source of communication between her and President Khan in absence of modern tools, she revealed that she visited Pakistan five times to get briefings from the president during 18 months.

However, she said that she used to avoid using the phone knowing that it could be tapped. Since the nuclear programme was under the purview of the president, Abida said that most of her conversations used to be with him, and not the prime minister.

“This is also because President Ghulam Ishaq Khan did not trust anyone,” she maintained.

04

Monday, 1 February, 2021

NEWS

PDM GAiNeD NothiNG but eMbArrASSMeNt, huMiliAtioN, SAyS buzDAr LAHORE

P

TLTP

UNJAB Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has said the futile agitation of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) has died down and the Opposition gained nothing but embarrassment and humiliation.

In a statement on Sunday, the chief minister mentioned that politics of deceit and falsehoods do not continue long, saying that the unnatural alliance of the opposition parties is fast moving towards its logical end.

These elements have totally ignored national interest while the people have also rejected all those, who interrupted the development journey, he added.

The CM regretted that the opposition

tried to block development journeys at every occasion, adding that the government will continue to move forward despite difficult circumstances.

"The nation will never forget the irresponsible behaviour of the Opposition as the PDM has met its logical end," he further said.

"The unnatural association of 11 heterogeneous parties could not last even for 11 months. The PDM should reconsider its negative behaviour as

it lacks perspicacity and statesmanship. The opposition has no regard for public lives as it is following a dual policy."

Buzdar maintained the PDM would continue to face defeats as looters have no significance before the immaculate character and statesmanship of Prime Minister Imran Khan, who will move the country forward.

He declared the politics of development will continue, adding that PDM's politics of resignations has

been badly exposed. He advised the opposition to take rest till 2023 as every conspiracy against the PTI government has been foiled by the people.

"The negative tactics of the Opposition will not be tolerated in the journey of development while people have full trust over the leadership of PM Imran," the CM said. Separately, the chief minister expressed a deep sense of grief and sorrow over the death of veteran actress Neelo Begum and extended sympathies to her son Shaan and other family members.

The CM said that Neelo had enjoyed a unique status in the field of acting and performed several memorable roles.

"Her performance in film 'Zarqa' was remarkable and her death has ended a golden era of the film industry," said the chief minister.

Pakistan Navy to hold 'Aman 2021' exercise this month NEWS DESK Pakistan Navy will hold the seventh Multinational Maritime Exercise 'Aman 2021' this month, said the force’s spokesperson on Sunday. The spokesperson said this year, naval forces from 45 countries along with their assets and delegations will participate in the exercise, which will be held under the theme "Together for Peace". The aim of organising the maritime exercise is to maintain peace and sustainability in the region and improve the retaliation capabilities, the spokesperson added.

Sindh CNG stations to remain closed for three days KARACHI STAFF REPORT

All the compressed natural gas (CNG) stations across Sindh will remain closed from 72 hours from Monday (today) morning to Thursday morning. A spokesperson for the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) said that gas filling stations will remain shut for 72 hours from 8:00am on Monday (today) till 8:00am on Thursday across the province. “A notification regarding the closure has been issued,” he added. The country faces a shortfall of gas in winter, forcing the government to cut gas supply to CNG stations and industries, while domestic consumers are supplied gas on priority.

Earlier, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Petroleum Nadeem Babar had said the country is facing a dramatic decline in domestic gas production this year, adding that the government has suspended gas supply to CNG stations but domestic consumers will be given priority.

Four injured in gas explosion in Peshawar NEWS DESK The Peshawar police on Sunday said that four people have been injured after a gas pipeline exploded in a bakery in city’s Barisko area.

Three persons did not suffer serious injuries while one was moved to a nearby hospital. The bomb disposal unit was called soon after the explosion, who later confirmed the blast as a gas pipeline explosion. A house next to the bakery was also damaged in the explosion.

Hyderabad: Siberian birds search for food grains over the Phuleli canal in the second-largest city of Sindh. PPI

PM combating mafias bravely: Firdous SIALKOT TLTP

Special Assistant to Punjab Chief Minister on Information and Culture Dr Firdous Ashiq has said that Prime Minister Imran Khan is combating mafias bravely. Addressing a press conference here on Sunday, Firdous said that the Punjab government is making efforts to eliminate the encroachment mafia. Briefing the media about the operation, carried out by the government in Sialkot regarding illegal encroachments in Cantt Housing, she said that the owners of Cantt Housing are Musarat Asif [wife of Khawaja Muhammad Asif], Tawheed Akhtar, Zahid Maqbool, Shahid Maqbool, Naveed Akhtar and Saira Iqbal [daughter of Muhammad Iqbal], who got approval of 137-kanal land in 2017 and under the Punjab Housing Scheme Rules 2010, transferred the area of roads, parks and public buildings to the department. She said that an illegal commercial plaza was constructed on the site of the park, adding that the owners of the illegal plaza were issued several notices by the department to demolish the illegal building from the government land, but they turned a deaf ear to the notices.

She further said the building was finally sealed by the concerned authorities but the seals were later broken by the owners of the said housing scheme, adding that action has now been taken as per rules and the illegal building built on the public park has been demolished. Talking about Khawaja Asif, she said that “a thug from Sialkot” is also in jail these days. “The thugs have buried the people of Sialkot in the dust,” she added.

LG system in Sindh does not meet spirit of Constitution: Asad KARACHI TLTP

Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar has alleged that the Sindh government puts obstacles in the way when the federal government tries to start development work in the province.

Speaking at the inauguration of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) regional office in Shah Faisal Colony of the port city, Asad said the ruling party considers Karachi as its own but the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) does not, adding that the PTI is working on various development

projects in the city. "You (PPP) do not consider Karachi as your own but we will continue to work here,” he said.

"The local government system in Sindh does not meet the spirit of the Constitution. The local government should have all the powers but that is not the case in Karachi Provinces usually seek help from the federation. The provincial ministers and the chief minister step up with promises but the powers have not been transferred yet."

The minister further said the PTI and the MQM have filed a petition in the Supreme Court regarding the local gov-

ernment powers, adding that Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah "does not consider Karachi as his own".

The federal minister noted that development work is underway in Karachi and that no one could hold leaders accountable better than the people themselves.

"Elections will be held under the new system, which empowers people," he mentioned, adding that the political families would not have any say under it.

Asad was accompanied by members of the Sindh Assembly, including PTI lawmakers Firdous Shamim Naqvi, Jamal Ahmed and Adeel Ahmed.

Speaking on the occasion, Firdous said that five months have passed since the local government system ended but the Sindh leadership has not been able to announce a date for the transfer of powers.

"The city has fallen victim to the tyrannical Zardari party and the Sindh government is responsible for all the shortcomings. Karachi's problems have outgrown the province's problems over the past four decades. There is no mass transit system in Karachi. The problems of Pakistan's financial capital will be resolved only by working together," Firdous added.

People suffer as officers avoid transfers in South Punjab Secretariat PUNJAB PUNCH SHAHAB OMER Although the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has set up a separate secretariat for South Punjab, yet the bureaucracy is reluctant to work in the new secretariat, it was learnt on Sunday.

Sources in the Civil Secretariat, Lahore said that due to the reluctant attitude of bureaucrats, the South Punjab Secretariat is facing a severe shortage of officers to run the administrative affairs.

In June last year, 385 seats were approved by the Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar for the South Punjab Secretariat, including the seats of Additional Chief Secretary, Additional Home Secretary and Additional Inspector General, but despite lapse of sev-

eral months, most of the seats are vacant so far, they added. On August 31 last year, 12 secretaries of various departments were approved by the CM and they were handed over the responsibilities of the South Punjab Secretariat, consisting of three administrative divisions, to make the secretariat functional.

Following the move, some PTI’s federal and provincial ministers were claiming that the secretaries of the South Punjab Secretariat, being fully empowered, would solve the problems of the people at their doorstep. The first introductory meeting of the secretariat was held on January 9 under the chairmanship of Additional Chief Secretary Zahid Akhtar Zaman at Circuit House, Multan.

The sources, however, claimed that the Punjab government has made the people of South Punjab even more upset by setting up two separate secretariats as the secretaries of Multan and Bahawalpur are not fully authorised and the distance between the two cities is almost

100 kilometres. The sources revealed that despite having a separate secretariat for South Punjab, the final approvals of most decisions, including transfers and postings, are given by the provincial secretaries sitting in Lahore. “There is no formal secretariat building in Multan and Bahawalpur yet. If one work is done from Multan, the other would be done from Bahawalpur,” they said. On the other hand, many government officials are not willing to be posted in the South Punjab Secretariat.

“When any bureaucrat is transferred to South Punjab, he tries his best to stop his transfer. The officers feel that they are being forcibly transferred and some officers, who cannot stop their transfers, go on long leave. This attitude of the bureaucracy shows as if they are all deliberately trying to thwart this emerging secretariat.

However, it is now being considered at the highest level that the officers, who belong to South Punjab, should be posted there in the first phase,” the sources added.

Monday, 1 February, 2021

NEWS

Academic activities to fully resume today under SOPs contInueD froM pAge 01 Students from grades nine to 12 returned to school on January 18. However, those in grades 1 to 8 and university students will resume classes from Monday.

During the first phase of the schools’ closure, the government provided free learning material for students from grades one through 12 through the TeleSchool initiative, as well as launching the country’s first “radio school” in December last year to expand its student outreach. Earlier this week, Shafqat shared the findings of a survey with the Senate, which showed that nearly seven to eight million children had benefited from the TeleSchool initiative. He added that the government has taken several measures to ensure students’ learning remained unaffected during the pandemic.

Meanwhile, the Senate also passed a resolution calling on the government to devise comprehensive distance learning strategies for the students by collaborating with all provinces. However, the opening of all educational institutions is raising fears of a spike in cases of Covid-19 in case the standard operating procedures (SOPs) are not followed.

According to the guidelines, the academic activity will resume with strict compliance of Covid-19 SOPs and students will be divided into two groups and each group will attend classes for three days in a week.

The Punjab government has issued a notification in light of the decision made by the NCOC after reviewing the coronavirus situation in the country, according to which the board examinations for matric and intermediate students will be held in May and June. Punjab Minister for Education Dr Murad Raas earlier shared the notification on social media saying that, as per the SOPs, students of all the educational institutions shall attend classes on alternative days with 50 per cent ratio on any single working day.

“The Accelerated Learning Programme (ALP) communicated earlier shall continue to be followed by the public schools and assessment criteria and examinations scheduled for 5th and 8th grade shall be communicated separately by the Punjab Examination Commission,” read the notification.

NBP replaces BoP in banking sector tradable index KArAcHI TLTP

The Pakistan Stock Exchange Limited (PSX) has carried-out the exercise of re-composition of Oil and Gas and Banking Sector Tradable Indices for the review period from July 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020. According to a notice issued by PSX, there is no change in the Tradable Indices of oil and gas sector index. The incoming company in Banking Sector Tradable Index is National Bank of Pakistan (NBP), whereas Bank of Punjab (BoP) is outgoing. The tradable sector indices capture a minimum 80 per cent free float market capitalisation of the given sector without any minimum companies’ limit, said the statement. The list of companies in the Recomposed Tradable Banking Index include Habib Bank Ltd., MCB Bank Ltd., United Bank Limited., National Bank of Pakistan, Bank AL-Habib Ltd., Bank Al-Falah Ltd., and Meezan Bank Ltd. The list of companies in the Recomposed Tradable Oil and Gas includes Oil and Gas Development Company (OGDC) Ltd., Pakistan Petroleum Ltd. (PLL) and Pakistan Oilfields Ltd. The re-composition has been carried out on the basis of the criteria of selection of companies as detailed in the Brochure of Oil & Gas and Banking Sector Tradable Indices, which can be downloaded from the website of the Exchange, said the statement. The recomposed Index will be implemented w.e.f.

05

With A PiNCh Of kAlA NAmAk CiTy NoTes M A NiAzi

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wonder if anyone has noticed that the prime minister has had repeated meetings with the chief of army staff and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) director general at Prime Minister’s House. I suppose that Imran could easily receive the two in a drawing room, but he prefers to receive them on the lawn, where they are photographed with the PM on an armchair, and the two generals on sofas flanking him. No one knows what they talk about, the lawns being free from bugging, unless somebody was to use a multidirectional microphone. However, it seems that they can safely discuss international affairs, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) movement or any other weighty national or international matter.

However, I would suspect that as soon as the photographer had taken his snap and disappeared, liveried waiters turn up,

bearing trays of kinnows, which the PM and the generals then proceed to consume, basking in the winter sun, which is particularly welcome in Islamabad these days. Teachers all over the country, from primary to postgraduate, have invented a refinement. They get their students to take their chairs to the roof of the institution, which is where they consume their kinnows. Female pedagogues take along their knitting. While Imran and the generals do not indulge in knitting, I am sure they too take liberal doses of kala namak with their kinnows.

Well, at least they were not taken over. I wonder if they talked about the takeover of the Red Fort by protesting farmers. The COAS might have an interest, because some Bajwas might have been involved, but I doubt if he knew any of them, for they might all belong to the same caste, they were all Sikhs, which he is not. But the ISI DG might have claiming credit, for the ISI was blamed enough during the 1980s Khalistan movement for backing it. The conflation of the farmers’ protest with the Khalistan Movement with the farmers’ protest gained strength

when farmers taking over the Red Fort waved the Nishan Sahib, the Sikh flag, over the Red Fort.

It is interesting that two flags have this year flown in buildings they never flew over before. On January 6, the Stars’n’Bars flew in the US Capitol when protesters tried to stop the certification of the election result which would throw their man Trump out of office. The Confederate flag had never before made it to the Capitol, though getting there was an ambition of the Confederacy throughout its brief existence.

Now the Nishan Sahib has made over the Red Fort. It would once have been a sign of the old Sikh rhyme ‘Aap Guru da khlasa Baqi rahe no ko, Dilli takhat tay bahegi tay barhi karegi mauj (There will be none left but the Khalisa of the Guru, It will sit on the throne of Delhi and will greatly enjoy itself).

Khalisa’ has a dual meaning here. It means both the followers of the Guru, and the Army of the Sikhs. Sikhs were martial, and had an animus against the Mughal Emperors. But though they established a state in Punjab, they never

Bilawal puts PDM to test, vows to force removal of 'puppets' contInueD froM pAge 01 “The government and its allies will fight the no-confidence motion, if filed. But everyone knows it is not coming anytime soon,” he asserted.

Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar also posted a sarcastic tweet on social media site, Twitter.

“I heard that a resignation is coming today. Those which they [PDM] had sought from us [PTI] those were never to be given. Leave others too. But where are the ones which were to be given by Murtaza [Javed] Abbasi etc??? Did you throw those [resignations] at your own face,” tweeted Asad in an apparent reference to a speech of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz who had asked Murtaza Javed Abbasi and brother of Captain (r) Safdar not to withdraw their resignations which they mistakenly sent to the National Assembly speaker.

However, both Abbasi and Sajjad Awan, brother-in-law of Maryam, did not press for their resignations.

Shehbaz Gill also posted a tweet, reminding the PDM leadership that it was time to tender resignations.

“Today is January 31. Today was your day to resign. The ink of vows of your resignations has not have dried yet. If you could not throw these

resignations at face of others, get it on your own face. Blacken your faces or the people will blacken your faces.

Those pen who write resignations would never write NROs and run towards Jeddah,” Gill wrote in an apparent jibe at Sharif family who had flown to Saudi Arabia after striking a deal with former president General (r) Pervez Musharraf in the year 2000.

It is pertinent to mention here that the PDM leader on December 14 last year had demanded the PTI-led government quit by January 31 or face an intensified opposition movement, including a long march to the capital and en masse resignations of the opposition parties from assemblies.

The demand was made by PDM President Maulana Fazlur Rehman while speaking to the media in Lahore alongside PML-N's Maryam, PPP Chairman Bilawal and other opposition leaders.

As part of the anti-government movement, Fazl said that lawmakers from PDM member parties in the national and provincial assemblies will hand in their resignations to their party leaders by December 31.

"Today, we want to make clear to the government that it should resign

by January 31," the JUI-F leader said.

He said that if the government refuses to quit by that time, a meeting of the PDM's leadership on February 1

will announce a long march towards Islamabad, the date of which will also be decided during the meeting.

"All party workers in PDM and the people of Pakistan are appealed to start preparations for the long march from today," Fazl added.

However, the opposition alliance leaders had changed its stance continuously as differences on resignations and long march have delayed their anti-government movement.

According to informed sources, Fazl has requested PPP Co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari and PML-N supremo Nawaz to ban all statements from their respective party leaders to remove the impression of deep-down differences on the alliance decisions.

“Fazl has requested Nawaz and Zardari to ban all statements on PDM issues. Rather, he himself would appoint a focal person to issue statements on PDM decisions so as the impression of deep-down fissures on PDM decisions could be removed,” a source said.

Sources said that Fazl wanted that only one specific person should be allowed to speak on the PDM matters so as all the parties of the alliance could speak with a single voice on the future strategy. They said that Nawaz and Zardari had promised to ban statements on PDM and soon Fazl would appoint a focal person to comment on the PDM decisions.

‘Regulators can’t stop people from bitcoin mining’ ISLAMABAD: Bitcoin Association of Pakistan Chairman Farooq Ahmed has said that the country’s young people are mostly working in tech industries and providing related services, adding that bitcoin is widely used. Talking to a Russian news outlet, Ahmed said, “The government put the ban on bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in 2018, after the bull run. TLTP

occupied Delhi. Until this January 23.

But was it the Khalisa? It was certainly not the Army. Or was it farmers?

I wonder if in the midst of peeling kinnows and asking each other to pass the kala namak, the Big Three paid any attention to how Transparency International had dropped Pakistan three places in the corruption index. One explanation, favoured by the opposition, is that previous rulers were not corrupt. Another, favoured by the government, is that Nawaz Sharif went abroad specifically so that he could bribe Transparency International to show that result. Some PTI circles are said to have promised to generate a new NGO, which would present the true picture, with Pakistan at the top of the ‘purity index’ and India at the bottom.

But maybe the talk also included the TikTokkers arrested at Lahore Railway Station. As was stressed by the Railways Police, defence installations could have been photographed. The COAS must have expressed relief at their safety.

Imran must have kept quiet, fighting off the impulse to defend the youth vote in its desire for a nice video.

China building digital Silk Road stretching from Asia through Africa to Europe ISLAMABAD TLTP

The final stretch of a cross-border fibre optic cable is set to be laid by China in Pakistan to create the Digital Silk Road (DSR). According to a Nikkei Asia report, the Digital Silk Road is part of the broader Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

The fibre cable will link to the Pakistan East Africa Connecting Europe (PEACE) submarine cable in the Arabian Sea, to service countries participating in BRI and Europe. It is currently being laid between Rawalpindi and the port cities of Karachi and Gwadar. The $240-million project, which is in partnership with China's Huawei Technologies, was approved by the government last week. The laying of sea cable in Pakistan's territorial waters will begin in March, following government approval this month for Cybernet, a local internet service provider, to construct an Arabian Sea landing station in Karachi. The Mediterranean section of the cable is already being laid, and runs from Egypt to France. The 15,000 kilometre-long cable is expected to go into service later this year.

The PEACE cable will provide the shortest direct internet route between participating countries, and will drastically reduce internet data transfer speeds. It is expected to help reduce Pakistan's exposure to internet outages from damaged submarine cables by providing an additional route for internet connectivity. According to Eyck Freymann, author of ‘One Belt One Road: Chinese Power Meets the World,’ the BRI is evolving to place less emphasis on traditional heavy infrastructure, and more on high-tech cooperation and digital services. He told Nikkei Asia that "Beijing wants to dominate the physical infrastructure underlying global communications, particularly the internet,” adding: "This will give it an advantage in internationalizing its tech sector and pursuing future tech-related deals with partner countries."

Analysis: A tulip by another name? ‘Gamestonk’ and the case for investor caution neW YorK AGeNCies

It sounds like the start of a parable: Investors stuck inside during a pandemic begin to bid up an asset until its price becomes untethered to reality. The value soars until one day the market runs out of buyers and freezes, causing prices to plummet and some unlucky few to lose fortunes more than ten times their annual incomes in the span of a few hours.

The date: February 3, 1636. On that day, the infamous Dutch tulip bubble burst during an outbreak of the bubonic plague, illustrating that asset prices can plummet just as quickly as they soar, leaving only pain behind.

Now, almost exactly 385 years and another pandemic later, Wall Street waits to see how long it will take for history to repeat itself.

Shares of video game retailer GameStop Corp have soared 1,625% since the start of January. Driving the rally are individual in-

vestors who have been stuck at home for the last ten months. Many have turned to online forums like WallStreetBets on Reddit and are buying the stock, some as a form of protest against hedge fund managers who wagered that it would fall.

These amateur investors are buoyed by savings built up over the coronavirus pandemic, two rounds of stimulus payments and near zero interest rates. Some, such as billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, have referred to the phenomenon as ‘Gamestonk’, a play on the intentional misspelling of the word ‘stock’ on social media.

The stock price rally to above $300 per share has emboldened some small investors to pour even more money into a company that Wall Street analysts tracked by Refinitiv believe is worth slightly more than $13 per share. The surge increases the risk that individuals will get caught up in the euphoria and look past the warning signs and consequences of an eventual crash.

“I dumped my savings into GME, paid my rent for this month with my credit card, and dumped my rent money into more GME (which for the people here at WSB, I would not recommend),” a Reddit user with the handle ssauron here wrote Thursday on WallStreetBets. “And I’m holding. This is personal for me, and millions of others.”

A form of class warfare waged through the shares of a video game retailer is notably different than financial market manias, such as the dotcom bubble in 2000 or the U.S. real estate bubble that culminated in the 2008 financial crisis, both which were fueled by assumptions of broad economic growth.

Yet for those who buy GameStop at the wrong time, the results will likely be the same.

“The reality is that GameStop doesn’t hurt Wall Street. It might hurt a couple of hedge fund managers out there, but no one is going to cry for them. The people who will be losing their life savings are small retail investors,” said Ben Inker, head of asset allo-

cMYK

cation at GMO. The total value of short positions in Reddit-favored stocks such as GameStop is about $40 billion, limiting the pain among professional investors to a handful of hedge funds, according to Barclays.

Overall, GameStop shorts were down about $5 billion for the year through Tuesday, according to S3 Partners. By comparison, Tesla Inc, another heavily-shorted stock among professional investors, caused short sellers $245 billion in losses in 2020, the firm noted.

“While we expect some more deleveraging, ultimately the scale of the problem appears quite limited,” Barclays said.

The likelihood that most of the losses from the rally in GameStop will come among the same group of retail investors who prodded it higher is leaving many on Wall Street baffled as the bubble continues to grow. GameStop surged 67.9% higher Friday to close at $325 per share.

“GameStop is not worth $500, not worth $400, not worth $300, not worth $200, not even worth $100, not even worth $50,” billionaire investor Leon Cooperman said on CNBC Thursday. “I’m not damning them.

I’m just saying from my experience, this will end in tears,” he added.

BURSTING BUBBLES: The dotcom bubble peaked in March 2000 and over the next two years the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index slid nearly 77% as companies that were touted as can’t miss investments ran out of financing. By the time the Nasdaq bottomed in October 2002, some $6.2 trillion in household wealth had been destroyed, according to Amir Sufi, a professor at the University of Chicago.

The 2008 financial crisis, meanwhile, wiped away approximately $16.4 trillion from American households through a combination of steep stock market losses and plummeting home equity, according to the Federal Reserve.

Monday, 1 February, 2021

06 COMMENT

Issues with high optimism for economic recovery

The Pearl case The federal government has joined the case, but why not before?

Apart from ‘vaccine nationalism’, ‘food nationalism’ and ‘oil nationalism threaten recovery

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he federal government has joined the Sindh government in filing a review petition before the Supreme Court, on its January 29 short order acquitting Umar Saeed Sheikh and the co-accused, earlier convicted of the kidnapping-cum-murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl in 2002. That it has done this may have been made inevitable by Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s recent phone conversation with the new US Secretary of State, Antony J. Blinken. They did not talk only about the Pearl case, but it came up enough for Mr Qureshi to say categorically afterwards that Mr Blinken had not asked for Mr Sheikh to be handed to the USA. What he did not mention was how angry the new Biden Administration had been made by the Supreme Court’s upholding of the Sindh high Court’s original acceptance of Mr Shaikh’s appeal, as well as that of the co-accused, against their convictions and sentences. Mr Blinken’s tough talking that the new administration’s concern does not show enough confidence in the Pakistani judicial process, but reprehensible as it might be, is a touch-button issue which Pakistan cannot ignore. The initial Foreign Office euphoria about the Biden Administration now seems mistaken, an indication that the government was not well served by its Foreign Office, which did not keep it aware of such issues, preferring to engage in chortling about Pakistan’s indispensability.

It seems even worse served by its Law Ministry, not that there is anything new in that. Joining the review petitions without locus standi will only lead to being expelled out of hand. If it could indeed become a party now, why did it not do so earlier? It seems that the Law Ministry too has failed in its duty, and the government is now merely going through the motions.

While reasons of state are not a good reason to twist the judicial process, the government’s apparent lackadaisicalness indicates that it did not have the necessary confidence in that process which it needs if it is to convince the USA that it must not try interference. The government must end both its casualness to this case, and realize that the apparent leniency shown to a terrorist who was originally convicted, has harmed the state greatly, because it should be noted that Mr Sheikh has not been honorably acquitted, but merely given the benefit of doubt.

Dr omer JaveD

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he recently released update of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s World economic Outlook (WeO) expects world output, which has been estimated to have been contracted in 2020 by 3.5 per cent, to grow by 5.5 percent in 2021– where advanced economies contracted by 4.9 percent in 2020. They are expected to grow by 4.3 per cent in 2021, and emerging market and developing economies (eMDe) to have contracted by 2.4 percent in 2020, to grow by 6.3 per cent in 2021.

This optimistic growth recovery expectation appears to have been built on a dangerously high level of optimism, given the deep downside risks at hand.

First, there is the case of strong currents of protectionism being seen in the case of a) vaccine rollout inequality where rich countries have booked most of the production of vaccines for the current year, b) food exports restrictions being placed domestically across many countries under over-heightened spirit of nationalism, and c) similar spirit being carried by OPeC countries in overly caring about the growth prospects of their individual countries, and not considering the burdensome situation slashing of oil supply to reach higher prices, will have in terms of the balance of payments situation of net oil importing countries like Pakistan. Such protectionism will therefore, likely add to the already precarious global debt situation, and higher interest payments that this further ballooning of debt will create, would mean greater downward push for economic growth prospects being envisaged by IMF, among others.

A major basis for growth optimism is built on the hope that vaccine rollout will take in an inclusive

Tax collection creaking along Latest figures must be maintained

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Fayaz Baloch

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Oe BIDeN has taken an oath as the 46th President of the USA, an office which once used to be the most powerful person of the world with potentially strong authority to the degree of breaking or making the governments of the world with virtually no resistance, particularly, in the Third World countries. But, this time the world seems to have been tremendously changing while discouraging the solepower from using unlimited power to rein the rest of the world. economic interdependence and geographical interconnectedness with various nations to ensure maximum benefits from the emerging multi polar world is increasingly becoming the political as well as strategic priority of many of the nations of the world.

All nations have risen to the consciousness of their vested interests. The public is no longer as in the bygone days indifferent to the interest of their nations and now they have begun to question the decision makers. In this age of IT, it is becoming comparatively tough for the World Bank and IMF to exploit the under resourced and under developed countries of the world. In this political consciousness and transition, there is a less in store for the USA. The policies driven by the passion of establishing the USA as the power militarily capable enough to obtain an unconditional surrender from all its adversaries who dared awake its wrath by refusing to accept its demands. Now China, Russia, Germany, Japan, France and India are the emerging forces with their own dis-

Arif Nizami Editor Umar Aziz

Asher John

Executive Editor

Deputy Editor

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The writer holds PhD in Economics degree from the University of Barcelona, and previously worked at International Monetary Fund.Prior to this, he did MSc. in Economics from the University of York (United Kingdom), and worked at the Ministry of Economic Affairs & Statistics (Pakistan), among other places. He is author of Springer published book (2016) ‘The economic impact of International Monetary Fund programmes: institutional quality, macroeconomic stabilization and economic growth’.He tweets @omerjaved7

There is a huge mess left behind by Trump

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Joint Editor

all about. Four-fifths of the planet’s eight billion mouths are fed in part by imports; the $1.5 trillion that was paid for them last year was three times 2000’s bill.’ hence, it could be well understood what the impact could be on global economic prospects in the presence of protectionism and other supply shocks in this sector. Once again, higher food import prices will likely have an adverse effect on the balance of payments situation of many countries, including Pakistan, raising in turn greater need for a more restrictive monetary stance than is needed to provide the needed growth stimulus for providing jobs and meeting overall welfare needs.

‘Oil nationalism’ will also likely produce similar pressures on the balance of payments situation of net oil-importers, along with policy options for reiningin inflationary currents. here, one thing that developing countries should be mindful of, is not to repeat the same mistake as many of them have made in the past of tackling inflation from not just the monetary channel of instruments, but also fiscal.

Moreover, according to the recently released issue of the IMF’s Fiscal Monitor, the fiscal deficit in many countries is already on quite a high level, whereby it points out ‘average overall deficits as a share of GDP in 2020 are projected at –13.3 percent for advanced economies, –10.3 percent for emerging market and middle-income economies, and –5.7 percent for low-income developing countries.’ Inflationary pressures build-up, as is becoming more likely in the shape of imported inflation mainly, would necessitate increasing the policy rate, which among other things would mean enhancing the interest payments on domestic debt– quite high in many countries including Pakistan, especially after many months of stimulus spending during the pandemic, with little support from the international community in the overall weak multilateral spirit– would add to the already high levels of fiscal deficit.

Given the above, it is therefore, quite safe to say that optimism for global growth stands on quite shaky grounds, unless issues like those mentioned above are quickly resolved, under greater multilateral spirit.

A brave new world for Joe Biden

he Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has managed to collect more revenue than targeted in the first half of the financial year. This performance is doubly impressive, because it has been achieved without any cataclysmic reforms, without any of the measures which many have felt necessary to end the inefficiencies within the system. The present government’s experiment of a Chairman brought in from outside seems to have been beaten off by the FBR. The present Chairman, who fulfills the mould of the past by being an insider, has shown the government that even tough targets can be met.

The performance of the FBR is all the more crucial because on it depends the resumption of the IMF facility.

This may well be the government’s motive for leaving alone the FBR, and even for the FBR attempting higher collection. The current FBR campaign to send notices to income tax non-filers, in which 1.4 million notices have been sent, will result in enhanced collection down the line, but soon will reach a limit.

At that point, the need for reforms will become glaringly obvious. The basic problem, of the FBR without reforms being both hostile to taxpayers and corrupt, has not gone away. enhancing collections merely by increasing the pressure is not going to lead to permanent growth, unless the endemic problems of the tax collection machinery are solved. Whether or not a Chairman needs to be brought in from outside is not even tactical, just cosmetic. The really strategic approach required political will. The present government may have exploited resentment against a corrupt and persecuting machinery to come to office, but it has not shown the needed political will, or any concrete ideas, to bring about the required changes. The present improvement needs to be maintained, not just to get the IMF programme resumed, but because the country and the economy need it, but also because it needs reforms that are not visible on the horizon.

Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

sense, while costs for these for developing countries will be significantly shouldered by a strong sense of multilateralism. Sadly, both are missing, given high patent walls, heavy pre-booking by rich countries, and a weak multilateral spirit as evidenced for instance by an issue-laden and weakly financed COVAX programme, mainly led by the WhO (World health Organization). Unless, something drastic changes with how things stand here, it appears highly unlikely that it will meet the high hopes of IMF in their hopeful growth projections for 2021, if at all even for 2022.

That ‘food nationalism’ is taking placed quite actively could be understood from the fact that food prices have significantly increased during recent months. In a recent article in Bloomberg ‘Global food prices at six-year high are set to keep on climbing’ this rise in prices is highlighted as ‘Global food prices reached a six-year high in December and are likely to keep rising into 2021, adding to pressure on household budgets while hunger surges around the world. A United Nations gauge of food prices has jumped 18 percent since May, as adverse weather, government measures to safeguard supplies and robust demand helped fuel rallies across agricultural commodities from grains to palm oil. Prices will likely climb further, the UN’s Food & Agriculture Organization said. The spike threatens to push up broader inflation, making it harder for central banks to provide more stimulus to shore up economies, while stirring memories of food-price crises a decade ago. It’s bad news for consumers whose incomes have been hurt by the Covid-19 crisis, and adds to concerns about global food security that’s being affected by conflicts and weather shocks.’

Moreover, the following quote from an article ‘Return to food protectionism is riling farmers in Argentina’ by Jonathan Gilbert gives an example of how ‘food nationalism’ is taking place, whereby ‘A ban on corn exports in Argentina is fanning fear among farmers and traders that one of the world’s top food suppliers is returning to an era of brutal meddling in crop markets. The measure creates yet another driver for surging global grain futures, given Argentina is the third-largest shipper of corn, and stokes concern of an up-tick in food nationalism around the world as the pandemic disrupts trade’.

At the same time, the farmer strikes in India, building up for many months now, are serving as strong shocks to the global supply chain, which play an important role in determining prices and food shortages. The significance of the food supply chain in the food sector globally could be understood from an article in The Economist, published in May 2020 ‘The world’s food system has so far weathered the challenge of covid-19’ according to which ‘Connectivity is what the world’s agro-industrial complex is

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tinctive models of governance.

The USA under Donald Trump has undergone an extreme radical change. he indeed attacked and exploited the divisions of the country in the worst possible ways to seek his interest. During his rule brutal racial, ethnic, religious and ideological controversies were rampant and turned into physical violence. he brought to the surface the long buried hostilities of black and white with his policies based on bias, discrimination and hatred. Blacks have been marginalized, rudely tortured, abused and made to feel as if they have an inferior background, and are not capable of claiming equality with the white supremacists.

Women and homosexuals were also the victims of the indignation of the state-appointed guardians of morality. Those who put innocent people to death to establish their violent existence aligned with fear and danger, wandered freely under the state patronage.

Any legislation regarding a ban on the gun at public places met with furious opposition, hindrance and criticism of Republicans.

No less did Trump shock friends abroad. Trump repeatedly and consistently claimed with confidence of America being first. It sounded as if saying hell to the rest. With this self-serving rhetoric which was central to his campaign, but which disappointed his allies who stood by him in all conflicts, the USA launched alone against so-called enemies and made heavy sacrifices.

Biden has pledged to end animosity, polarization, populism and fascist tendencies to make the USA for all a land safe, secure and prosperous. he removed a ban on immigrants. he promised to root out division, hatred, racial disharmony and inequality with fair governance aimed at uplifting the image of the country and equal opportunities, rule of law, and the only supremacy of the Constitution. he understands that the regressive and oppressive instruments introduced

by Trump against dissidents and particularly black communities, contain in themselves potentially disastrous consequences to shake down the pillars of the country in the shape of a civil war. We have witnessed similar disturbing incidents of chaos, agitation and protests as a reaction to the policies of Trump. Keeping this in view, Biden will have to strive a lot to re-

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habilitate, restore and renew the trust and hope of the marginalized communities through better services and inclusive politics to make them feel they are equal citizens with equal rights and dignity in the USA. What makes his task tough is the hostile attitude of many of the Republicans who presumably, will continue to throw up hindrances in legislation in Congress. Still Trump enjoys considerable influence on many of the Republicans and on the privileged classes of society. To ignore him totally, will be like underestimating his power.

Concerning self-destabilized regions of conflict, we can say that Biden is more predictable than Trump, as he understands that it is much harder to bring peace than to wage a war in a foreign land whose culture, tradition and way of life are quite contradictory and irreconcilable with that of Americans. he will have learnt that the belligerent and aggressive policies with so-called enemies have brought nothing other than economic burden, reduction in reputation, ruthless destruction, and fueled extremism, earned hatred and hostility and loss of precious lives. With highly sophisticated weapons and war experience all over the world, still it has not only failed to subdue the insurgency in Afghanistan but is impelled to withdraw from that country, leaving its agenda unfinished.

If it does so, without a political settlement achieved through the intra-Afghan dialogue, it will prove a historical fallacy. Afghanistan is a less homogenous society. There are peoples with distinctive ethnic backgrounds like Tajiks, Uzbeks, hazaras, Baluch and Pukhtoons, with varying religiosities. It is true that Pakhtoons are the dominant ethnicity which constitutes a major resistance block of insurgency against the USA, and have almost 65 percent control of total Afghanistan. But making a settlement with the Taliban, excluding the rest of the ethnicities, will further lead to destabilization. The only possible solution of this turmoil lies is in mutually acceptable government formation with the inclusion and representation of all the parties and peoples of Afghanistan. Surely, war has failed, so let peace be given a chance.

The writer is a freelance columnist

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Monday, 1 February, 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

India Republic Day becomes Black Day

Israel Shows No Morality A case that is one example of what Palestinians are going through

Washington Watch Dr James J zogBy

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SRAeL’S continued treatment of Palestinian political prisoners is unconscionable. Mohammad el halabi, an aid worker from Gaza, has been in prison for four years while he awaits his trial; this is nothing short of cruel absurdity. he has been forced before the court over 150 times, many of those appearances secret, without word of when his trial will begin. his last court appearance was January 14, and he and his family still have no word of when his case will begin.

Israel’s case against el halabi— whom it accuses of diverting humanitarian funds to hamas— has been widely condemned as flimsy at best. The amount of funds it claims el halabi diverted from his employer, the charity World Vision, is more than the organization’s entire annual operating budget; furthermore, World Vision as well as independent auditors found no financial irregularities as has been claimed. In addition, the Israeli government has refused to provide any further information or evidence regarding its claims. This case has not only led to a man’s indefinite imprisonment, but the suspension of significant humanitarian aid to Gaza, which will further impact adversely on the living conditions in the territory, which does not serve Israel’s interests

in the least. el halabi is being imprisoned under the cruel practice of administrative detention, a holdover from British-era Mandatory Palestine which allows for an individual to be held without trial indefinitely, under the belief that they may break the law once they are released. el halabi is not the only Palestinian to whom this legal loophole has been applied; Israel has consistently and heavily used this shameful practice against Palestinian political prisoners. Nelson Mandela adeptly put it when he said, “Prison is designed to break one’s spirit and destroy one’s resolve. To do this, the authorities attempt to exploit every weakness, demolish every initiative, negate all signs of individuality— all with the idea of stamping out that spark that makes each of us human and each of us who we are.”

The irony here is that while all right-wing Israeli parties and politicians know that they have no choice but to live side-by-side with the Palestinians indefinitely, they spare no efforts to alienate the Palestinians in every which way they can. Some, in fact, bask in the illusion that if they make the Palestinians’ lives miserable by incessantly abusing them, many will end up leaving their country. By doing so, these morally hollowed right-wingers will not need to deal with the demographic time bomb. Do these political parties and the politically blind operatives ever stop and think where all this will lead to?

Sadly, the incarceration of Palestinians with no trial is just one of many egregious acts that the Israeli government employs routinely

El Halabi is being imprisoned under the cruel practice of administrative detention, a holdover from British-era Mandatory Palestine which allows for an individual to be held without trial indefinitely, under the belief that they may break the law once they are released.

against the Palestinians; other violations include, among other things, night raids that terrify children, house demolitions, expropriation of land for any (or often no) purpose, uprooting of olive trees, and arbitrary searches and seizures— all of which are utterly uncharacteristic to a people who have gone through similar tragic experiences for centuries.

A single act of injustice against any Palestinian casts a wide shadow over all Palestinians, as they collectively feel robbed of their rights and their human dignity. Acts of mercy are remembered for a long time, but an act of horrifying injustice is remembered for much longer as it continues to painfully reverberate within the family and community.

This of course is not limited to el-halabi. Thousands of Palestinian prisoners who have no blood on their hands are languishing in Israeli jails as incarceration without trial is used as a deterrent. I do not suggest that every Palestinian is innocent, rather that he or she must be treated as innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. This is one of the fundamentals of a true democracy, governed not only by laws but also by compassion, which Israel takes pride in proclaiming.

If Israel wants to maintain its status as a democracy— and indeed it has never missed an opportunity to assert itself as the sole democracy in the Middle east— it must treat its prisoners with dignity and respect, regardless of their race, religion, or creed. It should provide them with a full accounting of the accusations against them, and bring them to trial in a reasonable and timely manner— not leave them to languish in prison for years with no hope of seeing the light again.

It is a stain on Israel— a country that claims to be a beacon of democracy in the Middle east— to engage in such cruel, vindictive practices that go beyond the pale of humanity.

It is not too late, however, to right the wrong, not only for the sake of the Palestinians but for the sake of all Israelis, because if the moral tenet of the country is forsaken it diminishes Israel’s reason for being.

It is a stain on Israel— a country that claims to be a beacon of democracy in the Middle East— to engage in such cruel, vindictive practices that go beyond the pale of humanity. It is not too late, however, to right the wrong, not only for the sake of the Palestinians but for the sake of all Israelis, because if the moral tenet of the country is forsaken it diminishes Israel’s reason for being

Dr James J Zogby is President, Arab American Institute.

JANUARy 26 is commemorated as India’s Republic Day, the date on which the Constitution of India came into effect in 1950 replacing the Government of India Act (1935) as the governing document of India. every year, this day is celebrated with pomp and splendour with a great military parade in the capital New Delhi being the hallmark of the event. each year, Kashmiris observe this day as Black Day since India’s illegal occupation, tyranny and oppression of Jammu and Kashmir continues unabated.

Following Narendra Modi’s August 5, 2019 illegal action of abrogating Article 370 and 35A of its own Constitution, rescinding the autonomy given to Illegally Indian Occupied Kashmir (IIOK) and annexing Kashmir and Ladakh into Union Territories, caused the Kashmiris to observe the Indian Republic Day as a truly black day. To stop the people of IIOK from protesting, Jammu and Kashmir has been in a state of lockdown since August 5, 2019. Its people are incarcerated in their homes with no access to internet and communications, limited movement and orders to shoot on sight if any protest rallies are organized. To make matters worse, India shot itself in the foot by introducing the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) towards the end of 2019. The NRC demanded Indian citizens to register themselves but the Muslims of Assam and elsewhere were barred from it so that they remain outside the reach of registration, deprived of their basic rights and if deemed necessary, forced to leave India or detained in concentration camps. Tragically, instead of accepting its own shortcomings in mishandling the crisis, Indian hardliners are busy blaming Pakistan for sponsoring the Sikh’s protest rally.

Recently India has been shamed and named in a massive exposé by european Union DisinfoLab of a deception campaign, titled “Indian Chronicles.” The shocking disclosure revealed India’s clandestine operations using fake hardcore and social media platforms to denigrate Pakistan. On India’s Republic Day, a landmark development took place, when the first hearing in the eU about DisinfoLab was held. european Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Interference in all Democratic Processes in the eU, including Disinformation (INGe) held a hearing on disinformation activities and tactics originating from India at the european Parliament, Brussels. executive Director of eU Disinfolab Alexander Alaphalippe and Managing Director Gary Machado briefed the Committee on India’s disinformation campaign, “Indian Chronicles.”

Kamran Khamiso Khowaja sujawal

Failure of the UN The United Nations was established to resolve disputes among nations to ensure world peace. Unfortunately, it has failed badly to achieve what it was formed for. At the time of partition of the sub-continent, India in connivance with the ruler Mahraja hari Singh annexed Kashmir against the will of the people. The people of Kashmir revolted, and the issue led to an armed conflict between the two newly formed countries. Pakistan lent support to the local Kashmiri population to protect its own borders and to block the illegal annexation of Kashmir by India. Facing a severe revolt by the local population and war with Pakistan, India took the matter to the UN, where a resolution was passed that the fate of Kashmir will be decided by a plebiscite. The war ended with this resolution as Kashmiris and Pakistan expected the UN to ensure India would act on the resolution. Unfortunately, this never happened. There have been multiple wars between Pakistan and India on this issue, but the UN has failed to force India to hold the plebiscite. India is acting as the worst oppressor in the Kashmir valley marginalizing the locals and inflicting the worst atrocities on them. India has become so emboldened by the world silence that it recently attacked the UN vehicles on the Pakistan side of Kashmir. All the UN could do was to plea that India and Pakistan settle the issue bilaterally in a peaceful manner. Similarly, the UN has completely and utterly failed to reign Israeli occupation and aggression against the Palestinian people. It seems the UN is more of a forum to legitimize and support the actions of superpowers, especially the USA when they run havoc on other nations under one pretext or the other. Be it the phony claim of weapons of mass destruction, or the trumpeted Libyan threat, the UN is quick to fall in line to legitimize the US aggression, but it fails badly in protecting small nations and territories. I wonder what good is this forum if it cannot solve the longstanding Kashmir and the Palestinian issues? raja shafaatullah islamabad

Govt commissions and coverups SIR, Forming commissions sans will to implement its recommendations has become a tragic hallmark of our nation. In the past these commissions have been used to quell public anger and calm popular dissent. In July 1947, a Boundary Commission was appointed to decide demarcation of boundaries in Punjab and Bengal, which was designed to fail and Cyril Radcliff implemented a 1945 plan for division with ulterior motives to give allies access to oil fields through their politically engineered interventions by remnants of Raj. The hamood-ur-Rehman Commission formed to probe into the causes and criminal follies that led to dismemberment of this country in 1971, after yahya Junta failed to honor the results of general elections and hand over power to elected representatives, was never made public. The die was cast when military action was ordered instead of seeking a political settlement. Justice hamood was a man of unquestionable integrity and professional competence. The report was revealed by Indian and BD media.

While ZAB gets credit for giving this country the 1973 Constitution, he made cardinal mistakes of choosing Zia and not implementing recommendations for court martial of those guilty of criminal offences and professional misconduct. Instead, Zia Junta promoted those who should have been court martialed, with disastrous consequences, leaving behind a legacy of extremism, terrorism, ethnic/sectarian divide and institutionalized corruption.

The one-man commission headed by retired Justice Azmat Saeed to probe into irregularities in the Broadsheet Agreement that was signed in June 2000

by Musharraf junta appointed former Chairman NAB is shrouded in controversies. Azmat Saeed Saheb was also part of Saifur Rehman ehtesab Bureau in 1997 and Deputy Prosecutor General NAB in 2000. Will this be another attempt to cover-up the powerful few, who have been identified by an Arbitration judge in London and $65 Million it cost taxpayers? maliK tariq ali lahore

Monday, 1 February, 2021

08 WORLD VIEW

Was sardar PaTel sofT on savarkar in Gandhi murder case, and if so, Why

PrinT RAVI VISVESVARAYA SHARADA PRASAD

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he setting up of the Godse Gyan Shala in Gwalior by the Akhil Bharatiya hindu Mahasabha to propagate the ideologies of Nathuram Godse is an appropriate occasion to re-evaluate the involvement of the hindu Mahasabha, and especially its Gwalior branch, in the assassination of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.

The Italian Beretta revolver that Nathuram Godse used to assassinate Gandhi originally belonged to Colonel V.V. Joshi, military secretary to the Maharaja of Gwalior, Jiwajirao Scindia. how it reached a gun trader was never investigated properly. Of the five people who conveyed the revolver to Nathuram and Narayan Apte, the biggest weapons dealer in Gwalior, Jagadish Prasad Goyal, was not named in the chargesheet at all.

The leader of the chain, Dattatreya Sadashiv Parchure, head of the hindu Mahasabha in Gwalior, and physician to the Scindia royal family, was sentenced to life imprisonment by the trial court of Justice Atma Charan, but was acquitted on technicalities later. The three other persons, who were senior leaders of the hindu Mahasabha in Gwalior, were listed as untraceable.

My late mother Kamalamma Madikera Sharada Prasad was part of the prosecution team in the Gandhi murder trial. She also worked in the Bombay government. Oscar henry Brown, chief presidency magistrate of Mumbai, had specifically recruited her to get evidence from one of the accused — Shankar Kistayya, who worked for Digambar Ramachandra Badge. Badge, a weapons dealer and a hindu Mahasabha member, had turned approver.

My mother, and other junior members of the prosecution team, suspected that the case against the hindu Mahasabha and Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was being deliberately weakened under directions from deputy prime minister and home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, and Morarji Desai, then home minister of Bombay. No matter what they personally said.

My personal assessment, based on my discussions with my mother and others such as D.G. Tendulkar and Robert Payne, is that there were numerous strategic and national interest considerations for Sardar Patel to ensure that the investigation did not probe the involvement of the hindu Mahasabha too closely.

The proceedings of the murder trial were published by the government of India. The Justice Jeevan Lal Kapur Commission report was also published in full. This article has drawn from these sources.

PIECES OF THE PUZZLE: First, according to my mother, Sardar Patel found the hindu Mahasabha’s activities with hindus strategically useful against the Nizam of hyderabad, who had allowed Muslim Razakars to butcher hindus. The role of the Mahasabha in hyderabad is mentioned by both S.R. Date in Bhanagar Struggle and A.G. Noorani in Savarkar and hindutva. Mahasabha branches in Pune, Ahmednagar, and Gwalior were said to be helping hindus in the Nizam of hyderabad’s territories. My mother worked in the Bombay government in close coordination with Jamshed Nagarvala who headed the CID. Nagarvala was close to Morarji Desai.

Two of the biggest weapons dealers were Badge in Pune, and Jagadish Prasad Goyal in Gwalior, who was instrumental in transporting the Beretta revolver to Nathuram Godse from the Maharaja of Gwalior’s army officer. Second, the integration of the princely state of Gwalior into the Indian

MY MOTHER WAS PART OF THE PROSECUTION TEAM IN THE GANDHI MURDER TRIAL. SHE POINTED OUT SEVERAL LOOPHOLES THAT WERE ALLOWED TO REMAIN SO Union was then at a very delicate stage.

Sardar Chandrojirao Angre, the powerful and popular uncle of Maharaja Jiwajirao Scindia, had established the hindu Mahasabha in Gwalior. It was headed for long

by Dr Dattatreya Sadashiv Parchure, who was close to both the royal family and Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.

The hindu Mahasabha enjoyed strong support in Gwalior, and was expected to form the government after Independence, with Parchure becoming the premier. however, the Dewan of Gwalior, M.A. Sreenivasan, who was close to Jawaharlal Nehru, swore in Congress ministers instead. Narayan Apte and Parchure threatened Sreenivasan that they would “finish him and Gandhi off”.

Sreenivasan wrote about this in his autobiography Of the Raj, Maharajas, and Me. Third, with the assassination happening so soon after the massacres during Partition, Sardar Patel and Morarji Desai wanted to avoid communal violence. According to Govind Ballabh Pant and Lal Bahadur Shastri, Patel and Morarji feared uncontrollable communal violence if Savarkar was arrested.

Sardar Patel reportedly said at a Congress meeting, ‘The Muslims are already against us. If Savarkar is arrested/convicted, then the hindus too will turn against us.’ This apprehension is talked of both by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre in Freedom at Midnight and Tushar Gandhi in Let’s Kill Gandhi.

Fourth, my assessment, based on Sardar Patel’s papers [The Collected Works of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, by P.N. Chopra], is that he was shrewdly trying to split the hardline elements of the hindu Mahasabha and the RSS away from their more moderate members, and then get the moderates to join the Congress party.

‘ARE YOU MAD?’ My mother described to me numerous lacunae in the investigation of the unsuccessful attempt on Gandhi’s life on 20 January 1948. The assassination of 30 January could have possibly been prevented too. Madanlal Pahwa was a Partition refugee from west Punjab. his family had been massacred, and he was looking for revenge.

Pahwa was employed by Professor Jagadish Chandra Jain of Ruia College to sell his books. Jain writes that during one of Pahwa’s tirades against Muslims, Pahwa said he and his friends wanted to kill Gandhi. Pahwa also mentioned that Vishnu Karkare, hindu Mahasabha head in Ahmednagar, took him to meet Savarkar, who had shown his approval.

Jain dismissed this as the bragging of a young traumatised man. On 20 January 1948, Pahwa placed a bomb (gun-cotton slab) at Birla Sadan in an attempt to kill Gandhi.

During his interrogation, according to the case diary, Pahwa first claimed that he acted alone. however, on 22 January, Pahwa named Karkare, but said that he did not know the others. he said some of them were associated with the Pune newspaper hindu Rashtriya and had stayed at the hindu Mahasabha Bhawan.

On 21 January 1948, professor Jain read in the newspapers that his employee Pahwa had exploded a bomb. Jain immediately called Sardar Patel, but couldn’t get through (Patel was leaving Delhi for Ahmedabad and did not have time to speak to Jain, but the latter left a message). Jain then went to Balasaheb Gangadhar Kher, the premier of Bombay province, who directed him to go to Morarji Desai. Jain was cut off after a few minutes by Morarji, who also accused him of being part of Pahwa’s ploy. however, that night, Morarji told Jamshed Dorab Nagarvala, the deputy commissioner of police of

Bombay, what he had heard about Pahwa.

Jain wrote about this in three of his books — I Could Not Save Bapu, Murder of Mahatma Gandhi and The Forgotten Mahatma.

Nagarvala told my mother that he had immediately asked Morarji for permission to arrest Savarkar. Morarji angrily denied it, saying: “Are you mad? Do you think I want this whole province to go up in smoke?” however, Nagarvala managed to obtain Morarji’s reluctant consent to place Savarkar under surveillance.

Morarji had also rushed to Ahmedabad to meet Sardar Patel after talking to Nagarvala.

In the trial court, Morarji was questioned

by Savarkar’s lawyers as to why he had placed Savarkar under surveillance two days after Pahwa exploded the bomb.

Morarji replied: “Shall I give the full facts? I am prepared to answer. It is for him [Savarkar] to decide.”

Savarkar signalled to his lawyers to withdraw this question. Lawyer A.G. Noorani, too, has written about this episode.

Could Morarji’s reply have revealed something about the hindu Mahasabha’s role in hyderabad? Multiple sources make it clear that Morarji was in the know about Sardar Patel’s hyderabad strategy.

Justice Atma Charan, at first, refused permission to have this question withdrawn, remarking that it was central to the prosecution’s case against Savarkar. Only after elaborate arguments by both Savarkar’s lawyers as well as by the prosecution team was this question expunged from the official record.

My mother told me this. No wonder Nagarvala did not arrest Nathuram and Gopal Godse, Apte, Karkare, and Badge at the time, though he was quite capable.

In reply to a question by Balakrishna Sharma in the Constituent Assembly, Sardar Patel stated that arresting them would have alerted the principal conspirators to escape.

ACQUITTALS IN THE WAY: The Godse brothers, Apte, and Karkare then met at Thane on the night of 26 January 1948 where they planned the second attack on Gandhi.

The chargesheet mentions that on 27 January, Nathuram and Apte flew to Delhi, from where they took a train to Gwalior, and stayed overnight with Parchure. Parchure refused to give his personal weapon to them. however, Parchure’s aide, Gangadhar Dandavate, said that he would obtain a suitable revolver. enter Colonel Joshi’s revolver.

The 9 mm M1934 model Beretta revolver originally belonged to a senior Italian army officer in ethiopia during World War II. The Fourth Gwalior Infantry regiment, led by Colonel Joshi, captured this Italian commander in ethiopia, who ceremonially surrendered his weapons to Colonel Joshi.

After the war, Colonel Joshi became military secretary to the Maharaja of Gwalior.

The persons who brought this revolver from Colonel Joshi and sold it to Nathuram Godse for Rs 300 included arms dealer J.P. Goyal, and three senior leaders of the hindu Mahasabha — Gangadhar Dandavate, Gangadhar Jadhav, and Surya Deo Sharma.

Tushar Gandhi’s book Let’s Kill Gandhi and the chargesheet both mention this. however, according to my mother, Goyal was crucial to Sardar Patel’s strategy against Nizam’s hyderabad, and Colonel Joshi was never even named in the chargesheet filed in the trial court.

Dandavate, Jadhav, and Sharma were listed as untraceable in the chargesheet. They were expected to become cabinet ministers if a Mahasabha government had been sworn in with Parchure as the premier, according to

the intelligence my mother had.

Parchure was questioned on 3 February, and formally arrested on 18 February 1948.

The same day, he gave his statement before the magistrate of Gwalior, R.B. Atal, confessing to supplying the Beretta pistol to Nathuram and Apte. The trial court sentenced Parchure to life imprisonment. however, on appeal, the Punjab high Court acquitted him because he was a British citizen, and proper procedures had not been followed to extradite him from Gwalior to Delhi. The Punjab high Court also held that the provisions of the Indian Penal Code did not apply in the princely state of Gwalior.

Nagarvala also interrogated Savarkar’s bodyguard, Appa Ramachandra Kasar, and secretary, Gajanan Vishnu Damle. They confirmed, as many have noted, that the two Godse brothers, Apte, and Karkare had long meetings with Savarkar on 14, 17, and 24 (after the blast) January 1948. Later, it was said their confessions were extracted under torture.

The prosecution team, led by Advocate General Chander Kishan Daphthary, did not summon Savarkar’s secretary and bodyguard. The Justice Jeevan Lal Kapur Commission castigated this lapse, remarking that the evidence against Savarkar would have been complete if these two had been summoned to give their statements.

STICKLER FOR TRUTH: My mother, a psychology graduate, had developed a good rapport with Badge and Karkare, and had won their confidence, while they played badminton together in the evenings at Red Fort. Vishnu Karkare, head of the hindu Mahasabha in Ahmednagar, was an absolute stickler for truth. he just could not tolerate anyone lying, even if it was to save their own lives.

While being questioned by the judge, Savarkar denied having met any of the conspirators since 1946, citing poor health.

Karkare whispered to my mother that Savarkar was lying, saying he had met Savarkar numerous times, as did Nathuram and Gopal Godse, Apte, and Parchure.

More importantly, Karkare let slip to my mother while they were playing badminton that Badge’s statement on Savarkar saying “Gandhi, Nehru, and Suhrawardy should be finished” was absolutely true.

My mother told this to the lawyers in the prosecution team, but it was not presented as formal evidence. After Savarkar’s death in February 1966, the Justice Jeevan Lal Kapur Commission examined fresh evidence from Nagarvala and concluded: “All these facts taken together were destructive of any theory other than the conspiracy to murder by Savarkar and his group.”

A PRINCELY PLAN: Going through Sardar Patel’s papers (Collected Works of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel by P.N. Chopra, volumes 13 and 14) gives me the impression that he was very careful to distinguish the extremist hindu Rashtra Dal from its parent organisation, the hindu Mahasabha. My conclusion is that once the Mahasabha had served its purposes in hyderabad and other princely states, Sardar Patel intended to weaken its top leadership and get its foot soldiers to join the Congress party.

My assessment is that while Sardar Patel was personally certain that V.D. Savarkar had ordered the assassination of Gandhi, he wanted to ensure Savarkar was given the benefit of doubt.

Sardar Patel wrote to Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on 27 February 1948: “…

All the main accused have given long and detailed statements of their activities…It clearly emerges from these statements that the RSS was not involved in it at all. It was a fanatical wing of the hindu Mahasabha directly under Savarkar that hatched the conspiracy and saw it through …Of course, his assassination was welcomed by those of the RSS and the Mahasabha who were strongly opposed to his way of thinking and to his policy. But beyond this, I do not think it is possible, on the evidence which has come before us, to implicate any other members of the RSS or the hindu Mahasabha….” There were whispers in the prosecution team that Nehru wanted Maharaja Jiwajirao Scindia to be investigated. however, Sardar Patel strongly suspected another president of the hindu Mahasabha, Narayan Bhaskar Khare, who was then premier of Alwar, of being involved in the assassination of Gandhi. This has been written about by many including hari Desai in Asian Voice, Indira Mohal in Khare versus Nehru, and Kannan Srinivasan in Wire.

Sardar Patel and Khare had a tortuous association. In 1937, Khare became the Congress premier of Central Provinces and Berar.

In 1938, Sardar Patel dismissed Khare as premier and expelled him from the Congress party. he then joined the hindu Mahasabha.

At the time of Partition, Khare informed Sardar Patel about the overtures made by Pakistan to numerous Rajput kingdoms, where Muslims comprised over 25 per cent of the population. V.P. Menon’s book Story of Integration of Indian States describes this in detail, as does Khare’s own autobiography My Political Memoirs. But things soon went south when Khare allegedly ordered massacres in Alwar and Bharatpur.

On 7 February 1948, Sardar Patel dismissed Khare as premier of Alwar, and had him placed under house arrest together with Raja Jai Singh of Alwar. Suspicion of Khare’s involvement in Gandhi’s murder as well as charges of inciting communal violence had led to this. however, detailed interrogation of both of them by the police found that they were ignorant of all the attempts to assassinate Gandhi.

They were never mentioned in the chargesheet.

Several junior members of the prosecution and Nagarvala’s team speculated that the Khare probe could have been a feint to draw them away from investigating the leads in Pune, Ahmednagar, and Gwalior. Khare was detained several days before Gopal Godse and Narayan Apte were arrested by Nagarvala.

In my assessment, Sardar Patel’s hindu Mahasabha strategy appears to have been successful. he also used the opprobrium over Gandhi’s assassination to quickly install Congress administrations in the hindu Mahasabha strongholds of Indore, Dewas, and Dhar, and incorporate them, together with Gwalior, into what became the state of Madhya Pradesh.

Ravi V.S. Prasad is a technology consultant and defence analyst. His mother, Kamalamma Madikera Sharada Prasad, was a freedom fighter and later an official interpreter during the Gandhi murder trial.

His father, H.Y. Sharada Prasad, was a journalist, civil servant and adviser to three Indian prime ministers — Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Morarji Desai.

Stop intimidation: Withdraw criminal cases against journalists Times of india

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he FIR lodged in Noida – and Bhopal too – against six senior journalists accusing them of several offences ranging from sedition to harming national integrity and promoting communal disharmony smacks of intimidation rather than any real concern for rule of law. Along with police personnel, journalists were also at the frontlines of the chaotic tractor rally on Republic Day and some initial accounts of a protester’s death had presented it

as a bullet injury. But when Delhi police released the video of his tractor overturning, those like Rajdeep Sardesai promptly gave credence to the police version.

As the editors Guild of India has underlined, this is how journalism proceeds, fresh information often overturning earlier accounts, especially when there is action happening on multiple fronts. To construe these actions as malicious and intended to destroy communal harmony and incite violence equates to shooting the messenger. That police in two states

lodged similar FIRs on the prodding of private complainants highlights how accusing journalists of sedition is becoming a fairly common tack: Some weeks ago, three journalists in Manipur became its victims. Ironically, this provision used to be invoked by the British Raj against Indian nationalists, accusing them of traitorous behaviour.

Repurposing sedition against journalists negates our democracy’s founding tenets recognising the rights of news media to report without fear or favour.

The press has stood tall alongside the organs of the

Indian state in discharging its duties. Likening its watchdog duties to sedition betrays a crooked view of democracy. While the private complainants are entitled to their opinion, the UP and MP governments, which surely understand the critical role of free press in invigorating democratic institutions, must withdraw these cases lodged overzealously by police. Additionally, Supreme Court must also take cognisance of how its guidelines narrowing the applicability of sedition have fallen on deaf ears.

Monday, 1 February, 2021

BUSINESS 09

Govt striving to connect research with industry: Fawad KARACHI APP

Federal Minister for Science and Technology Chaudhry Fawad Hussain has said that the government was striving to connect the research with industry in order to to reap the full benefits of researches.

Addressing as a chief guest in an inaugural session of “Affordable Low Cost Model Home” via video link at the NED University of Engineering and Technology, the federal minister said that since he took over the Ministry of Science and Technology he had focused on ensuring practical use of research. He said the government was making efforts to link academia with the industry, and bring all stakeholders on the same platform to establish affordable structures for the needy people. Addressing the event, PM Housing Task Force Chairman Zaigham Rizvi emphasised upon the active role of academia. He said no country had grown without active role of academia. He expressed his gratitude that around 28 universities had joined hands with the government for research on low cost material and technology. Rizvi said that the government was determined to achieve the target of provision of affordable housing units to needy people of the country. Naya Pakistan Housing and Development Authority Lt. General (r) Chairman Anwar Ali Hyder, NED University Vice Chancellor Dr Sarosh H. Lodhi and other also spoke on the occasion.

Food inflation higher in rural areas Rural areas were hit more by food inflation than the urban areas, with the food inflationary gap between these areas increasing mostly in the second half of the calendar year 2020, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) said in a recent report. According to the report compiled by a local media outlet, food prices gradually increased during the last 12 months, both in urban and rural areas.

However, the pace of price hike in rural areas was higher than in urban areas. From Dec 2019 food inflation moved from 10.4pc (12-month average) in urban areas to hit 13.3pc in Dec 2020. In terms of percentage, food prices increased by 28pc during the 12 months (13.3-10.4=2.9pc or 28pc increase). In case of rural areas, food inflation in Dec 2019 was 11.3pc which rose to 16.2pc in Dec 2020, with food prices going up by 43pc in rural areas. Rural areas remain poorer than urban areas. The rural-urban gap is still wide while the government claims that poverty has declined. A World Bank report issued in 2018 said the poverty head count rate in rural Pakistan was twice as much in urban areas — 36 per cent versus 18pc. The gap had remained virtually unchanged since 2001-02.

Rural areas are the sole supplier of foods, but high food prices are making it difficult for the population already hit by poverty and low development. In Dec 2019, the 12-month average food inflation was 10.4pc in urban areas compared to 11.3pc in rural areas; a gap of 0.9pc.

However, the gap jumped to 1.9pc as the rural food inflation rose to 14.8pc compared to 12.9pc of food inflation in urban areas. The gap further increased by 2.3pc in June as the food inflation rose to 15.9pc in rural areas while it was 13.6pc urban areas. In August the gap increased to 2.7pc as the rural food inflation was 16.7pc compared to 14pc in the urban areas.

However, the next two months October and November witnessed highest gap of 3.1pc as the food inflation rose to 17pc and 16.7pc respectively in rural areas while the same was 13.9pc and 13.6pc in the urban areas. The last month of the calendar year 2020 noted the rural-urban food inflation gap as 2.9pc; the rural food inflation was 16.2pc compared to 13.3pc in urban areas in Dec 2020.

The WB report believes that 80pc poor living below poverty line are in the rural areas of Pakistan. The high food inflation is clearly hitting hard to the rural population. MONITORING REPORT

KSE-30 IndEx rEcompoSEd wIth SIx modIFIcatIonS KARACHI

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TLTP

HE Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) has replaced six companies in the Karachi Stock-30 Index (KSE-30) with an equal number of constituents as part of the re-composition exercise.

The re-composition has been carried out on the basis of the pre-requisites/ criteria of selection of companies, said a statement. The PSX has carried out the exercise of recomposition of KSE-30 Index for the review period from July 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020. The re-composed index, based on the prices of December 31, 2020 will be implemented w.e.f. March 15, 2021.

The six new constituents of KSE30 are Attock Refinery Limited, Systems Limited, Ghandhara Industries Limited, Pioneer Cement Limited, Kot Addu Power Company Limited, and Dawood Hercules Corporation Limited.

The outgoing companies are Fauji Cement Company Limited, Hascol Petroleum Limited, Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited, National Bank of Pakistan, Bank Alfalah Limited, and Bank of Punjab.

KSE-30 Index includes the top 30 most liquid companies listed on PSX based on free float methodology. The constituents of KSE-30 include Engro Corporation Ltd, Lucky Cement Ltd, Oil & Gas Development Company Ltd, Fauji Fertilizer Company Ltd, Habib

Bank Ltd, Hub Power Company Ltd, Pakistan Petroleum Ltd, Pak Oilfields Ltd, Engro Fertilizers Ltd, MCB Bank Ltd, United Bank Ltd, DG Cement Company Ltd, Pakistan State Oil Company Ltd, Searle Company Ltd, Maple Leaf Cement Ltd, Bank AL-Habib Ltd, Mari Petroleum Company Ltd, TRG Pakistan Ltd, Attock Refinery Ltd, Unity Foods Ltd, Systems Ltd, Meezan Bank Ltd, Ghandhara Industries Ltd, Nishat Mills Ltd, Pioneer Cement Ltd, Cherat Cement Company Ltd, Pak Elektron Ltd, International Steel Ltd, Kot Addu Power Company Ltd, and Dawood Hercules Corporation Ltd. The primary objective of the KSE-30 Index is to have a benchmark by which the stock price performance

FPCCI urges removal of hurdles in Pak-Sino trade CHAMBER CALLS FOR ENHANCEMENT OF SINO-PAKISTAN ECONOMIC, TRADE TIES ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

The Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) has urged the govt to remove hurdles in the way for Pak-China trade including visa issues, freight charges and low trade volume.

In this regard, FPCCI Chairman Qurban Ali said that during the closure of Khunjerab Pass because of the pandemic was decreasing bilateral trade volume between Pakistan and China, while bilateral trade was also being hampered due to expensive freight charges of Chinese containers.

The FPCCI chairman said this in meeting of a delegation of the FPCCI led by him with Ambassador of China in Islamabad, Nong Rong, was at the Chinese Embassy here along with senior business leaders of the chamber. Hunza Chamber of Commerce Industry (CCI) President Mehboob Rabani and Gilgit CCI former president Mushtaq Hussain also attended the meeting.

He informed that freight charges from Urumqi to Sost for 30 containers were 20,000 RMB in November 2017. “Now, freight of vehicles has been increased up to 120,000 RMB.” Qurban also said that the issues of the Chinese Visas for genuine businessmen should be simplified and easy to provide the facility to the business community of Pakistan on the recommendation of FPCCI. He said that last year no Pak-

istani businessman went to China due to the closure of the border due to COVID-19 pandemic and now visa s process should be easy and simplified for the business community.

Further, the FPCCI chairman also called for enhancing the China and Pakistan economic and trade connectivity through Gilgit Baltistan (GB).

Qurban Ali said that the GB region is a gateway under CPEC to provide opportunities to the Chinese business community and investors to connect with Central Asian Republics (CARs).

He said that Chinese investors

and businessmen can invest and start Joint Ventures (JVs) with local industrialists in the Gilgit Baltistan (GB) special economic zone (SEZ), in value addition on agriculture, livestock, mines and minerals and milk products.

“There is also huge potential of hydro power in GB, which can provide cheap energy for the industrial sector and a secure business opportunity.

Ambassador Nong Rong said that the China’s Embassy in Islamabad would coordinate with the enterprises of both countries and also promote Pakistan’s enterprises in China.

Steel sector calls for reduction in tax rate The steel sector has requested the government to reduce the minimum tax rate for dealers and distributors citing that the tax was counter-productive for them to function effectively. In this regard, Pakistan Association of Large Steel Producers (PALSP) Secretary General Syed Wajid Bukhari requested the government to reduce the tax rate from 1.5 per cent to 0.25pc keeping in view the thin margins set by them. He made the request in a letter written to Federal Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar, Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh and Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Revenue Dr Waqar Masood Khan. The Pakistan Tehreeke-Insaaf (PTI) government had imposed a 1.5 per cent tax on steel dealers and distributors to enhance the number of tax filers around two years ago, which is quite close to profit margins, encouraging them to remain in the undocumented segment.

According to a report by the Express Tribune, Bukhari was quoted as saying that the existing rate not only discourages steel manufactures from making future investments but also places additional burden on cash flows and disrupts supply chain of steel sector,” he said. “It further discourages the stakeholders from documenting their business transactions with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).”

He added that this a reduction in minimum tax rate would encourage distributors, dealers, retailers and traders to enter the documented segment of the economy which will ultimately lead to expansion in tax revenue for the government. Bukhari said that the steel sector’s request should be considered as the federal government, on similar grounds, has already facilitated dealers and sub-dealers of sugar, cement and edible oil by reducing minimum tax rate from 1.5pc to 0.25pc by inserting clause 24(D) of part II of Second Schedule through Finance Act, 2019. MONITORING REPORT

Britain to apply to join Asia-Pacific free trade bloc LONDON AGENCIES

Britain will apply to join a massive 11-nation free-trade bloc of Asia-Pacific countries, it announced Saturday, weeks after leaving the European single market with its departure from the EU. International Trade Secretary Liz Truss will formally request Monday for Britain to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a market representing half a billion people and roughly 13.5 percent of the global economy.

The CPTPP application will come one year after Britain left the European Union following more than forty years of membership — and after five years of complex trade discussions.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the potential new partnership would “bring enormous economic benefits for the

people of Britain”.

“Applying to be the first new country to join the CPTPP demonstrates our ambition to do business on the best terms with our friends and partners all over the world and be an enthusiastic champion of global free trade,” he said.

Negotiations between the UK and the partnership — which represents 11 Pacific Rim na-

tions including Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan, Mexico and Vietnam — are expected to start this year, the trade department said.

But opposition Labour party shadow international trade secretary Emily Thornberry questioned the lack of transparency surrounding the pact.

After five years of debate over Brexit trade agreements, she said people would

CMYK

question the British government’s decision “to rush into joining another one on the other side of the world without any meaningful public consultation at all.”

“At present, Liz Truss cannot even guarantee whether we would have the right to veto China’s proposed accession if we join the bloc first,” she said.

ENORMOUS OPPORTUNITIES: Truss said joining the CPTPP would offer “enormous opportunities”.

She has touted joining as Britain made agreements with members such as Japan and Canada in the wake of Brexit, with British media reporting that CPTPP nations accounted for around eight percent of UK exports in 2019.

Truss said the deal will mean lower tariffs for car manufacturers and whisky producers, as well as “delivering quality jobs and greater prosperity for people here at home”.

Karan Bilimoria, president of the UK’s largest business lobby group the Confedera-

can be compared to over a period of time. In particular, the KSE-30 Index is designed to provide investors with a sense of how large company’s scrips of the Pakistan’s equity market are performing.

KSE-30 Index is calculated using the “Free-Float Market Capitalisation” methodology. In accordance with methodology, the level of index at any point of time, reflects the free-float market value of 30 companies in relation to the base period.

The free-float methodology refers to an index construction methodology that takes into account only the market capitalization of free-float shares of a company for the purpose of index calculation.

tion of British Industry (CBI), said the move marked a “new chapter for our independent trade policy”.

“Membership of the bloc has the potential to deliver new opportunities for UK business across different sectors,” he said.

The CPTPP was launched in 2019 to remove trade barriers among the 11 nations representing nearly 500 million consumers in the Asia-Pacific region in a bid to counter China’s growing economic influence.

The partnership is an updated version of a giant deal originally backed by former US president Barack Obama.

The United States pulled out of the agreement under Donald Trump’s presidency — turning away from what he viewed as unfavourable multilateral deals — but 11 countries eventually agreed to sign the new version.

Following Britain’s definitive departure from the European Union after a one year transition period out of the European single market at the end of 2020, the UK has sought to advance the brand of “Global Britain” in 2021.

The UK holds the rotating presidency of the G7 in 2021 and takes over the presidency of the UN Security Council in February.

Monday, 1 February, 2021

10 FOREIGN NEWS

russia detains over 2,700 at protests against Jailing of kremlin CritiC navalny MOSCOW

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AGENCIES

OlICE detained more than 2,700 people and broke up rallies in Moscow and across Russia on Sunday as supporters of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny braved the bitter cold and a massive show of police force to demand he be set free.

The nationwide rallies are the second straight weekend of protests that are part of a high-risk opposition campaign to try to pressure the Kremlin into freeing President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent opponent.

The opposition politician was arrested

lice as snow fell. Yulia, a 40-year-old protester in Moscow, said she had joined the rallies despite having a panic attack the night before because of worrying about repercussions for taking part.

“I understand that I live in a totally lawless state. In a police state, with no independent courts. In a country ruled by corruption.

I would like to live differently,” she said.

Police have said the protests were illegal as they had not been authorised and would be broken up. Authorities have said demonstrators could spread Covid-19.

At one point a column of protesters marched towards the prison in northern Moscow where Navalny is being held,

on January 17 after returning to Moscow from Germany where he had been recovering from a nerve agent poisoning in Russia last summer. He accuses Putin of ordering his murder, which the Kremlin denies.

Navalny’s dramatic return to Moscow despite the obvious threat of arrest and the protests that his jailing has sparked pose a major challenge for Putin who has dominated the Russian political landscape for over two decades.

In a highly unusual move, police imposed a security lockdown in the heart of the capital on Sunday, sealing off streets to pedestrians near the Kremlin, closing metro stations and deploying hundreds of riot po-

Queen elizabeth to host biden before g7 summit in June LONDON AGENCIES

Queen Elizabeth will host new US President Joe Biden and other world leaders at Buckingham Palace before a summit of the G7 big economies in June, the Sunday Times newspaper reported. Describing it as a “soft power” reception, the Sunday Times said the Queen would be joined by the Prince of Wales, the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. The palace declined to comment on the report. Britain has announced plans to hold the first inperson summit of the G7 for nearly two years in June in Cornwall, southwest England. Prime Minister Boris Johnson hopes the meeting will forge a consensus that the global economy must recover from the Covid-19 pandemic in a pro-free trade and sustainable way.

trump parts ways with impeachment lawyers: sources WASHINGTON AGENCIES

Former US President Donald Trump abruptly parted ways on Saturday with the two lead lawyers working on his defense for his Senate impeachment trial, a source familiar with the situation said, leaving Trump’s legal strategy in disarray. Butch Bowers and Deborah Barberi, two South Carolina lawyers, are no longer on Trump’s team, the source said. The source described the move as a “mutual decision.” Three other lawyers associated with the team, Josh Howard of North Carolina and Johnny Gasser and Greg Harris of South Carolina, also parted ways with Trump, another source said. A third source said Trump had differences with Bowers over strategy ahead of the trial. The president is still contending that he was the victim of mass election fraud in the Nov. 3 election won by President Joe Biden. It leaves Trump’s defence team in turmoil as he prepares for a trial starting on February 9 to consider an article of impeachment passed by the House of Representatives charging Trump with inciting the January 6 storming of the US Capitol by his followers. It was unclear who would now represent the former president at the trial. His White House lawyers at his first impeachment trial last year, Pat Cipollone and Patrick Philbin, are not expected to be a part of the proceedings. “The Democrats’ efforts to impeach a president who has already left office is totally unconstitutional and so bad for our country,” said Trump adviser Jason Miller. “In fact, 45 senators have already voted that it is unconstitutional. We have done much work, but have not made a final decision on our legal team, which will be made shortly,” Miller said.

Forty-five Senate Republicans backed a failed effort last Tuesday to halt Trump’s impeachment trial, in a show of party unity that some cited as a clear sign he will not be convicted of inciting insurrection at the Capitol.

Car bomb explodes in northern aleppo killing at least five: report

WHO team visits Wuhan market where first Covid infections detected WUHAN AGENCIES

A World Health Organization-led team of experts investigating the origins of Covid-19 visited Huanan market on Sunday, the now-shuttered wholesale seafood centre in the Chinese city of Wuhan where the new coronavirus was initially detected.

The team arrived at Huanan amid heavy security, with additional barricades set up outside a high blue fence surrounding the market, and left in a convoy after about one hour. The experts did not take questions from journalists.

Since being released from a twoweek quarantine on Thursday, the team has visited hospitals and markets, as well as an exhibition commemorating Wuhan’s battle with the virus, which included a 76-day lockdown of the city of 11 million.

“Very important site visits today a wholesale market first & Huanan Seafood Market just now. Very informative & critical for our joint teams to understand the epidemiology of Covid as it started to spread at the end of 2019,” team member Peter

Daszak said on Twitter.

The WHO, which has sought to manage expectations for the mission, said on Friday that team members would be limited to visits organised by their Chinese hosts and would not have any contact with community members, due to health restrictions.

No full itinerary for the team’s two weeks of field work has been announced, and journalists covering the tightly controlled visit have been kept at a distance from team members.

Public access to the sprawling Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market has been restricted since it was shut at the beginning of last year.

Before its closure, the market bustled with hundreds of stalls divided into sections for meat, seafood and vegetables. Now it stands as a landmark in a city that was traumatised as the original epicentre of what became the pandemic.

On December 31, 2019, after four cases of a mystery pneumonia were linked to the market, it was shuttered overnight. By the end of January, Wuhan had gone into a 76day lockdown.

Experts say the Huanan market still

AGENCIES

A car bomb exploded leaving at least five people dead and more than 25 injured in Northern Aleppo, Syria’s alWatan newspaper reported. State news agency SANA reported the bombing but did not give details on the number of those killed and injured. Turkey, which is allied with some rebel groups opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, is in control of the area where the explosion occurred.

plays a role in tracing the origins of the virus, since the first cluster of cases was identified there.

The WHO-led probe in Wuhan has been plagued by delays, concern over access and bickering between China and the United States, which accused China of hiding the extent of the initial outbreak and criticised the terms of the visit, under which Chinese experts conducted the first phase of research.

The origins of the virus have be-

come highly politicised, and some Chinese diplomats and state media have thrown support behind theories that the virus potentially originated in another country.

The team had been set to arrive in Wuhan earlier in January, and China’s delay of their visit drew rare public criticism from the head of the WHO, which then-US President Donald Trump accused of being “China-centric”.

Navalny, WHO and Thunberg among nominees for Nobel Peace Prize OSLO AGENCIES

Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, the World Health Organization and climate campaigner Greta Thunberg are among those nominated for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, all backed by Norwegian lawmakers who have a track record of picking the winner.

Thousands of people, from members of parliaments worldwide to former winners, are eligible to propose candidates. Nominations, which close on Sunday, do not imply an endorsement from the Nobel committee. Norwegian lawmakers have nominated the eventual laureate every year since 2014, with the exception of 2019, said Henrik Urdal, Director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo. “The pattern from recent years is quite stunning.”

The Norwegian Nobel Committee, which decides

who wins the award, does not comment on nominations, keeping secret for 50 years the names of nominators and unsuccessful nominees.

But nominators can choose to reveal their picks.

According to a Reuters survey of Norwegian lawmakers, nominees include Thunberg, Navalny, the WHO and its COVAX programme to secure fair access to Covid-19 vaccines for poor countries.

Thunberg was named as one of “the foremost spokespeople in the fight against the climate crisis”, with the campaigning group she co-founded, Fridays for Future, also receiving a nod.

Navalny, nominated by Russian academics, was named for his “efforts for a peaceful democratisation of Russia” by Norwegian former minister Ola Elvestuen. The battle against Covid-19 is front and centre, including a nomination for the GAVI vaccine alliance. Other names are Belarusian activists Sviat-

lanaTsikhanouskaya, Maria Kolesnikova and VeronikaTsepkalo for their “fight for a fair election and inspiration for peaceful resistance”, one nominator, GeirSigbjoernToskedal, said.

Another, Jette Christensen, also named the Hungarian Helsinki Committee, a human rights group, and IUSTITIA, a group of Polish judges defending civil rights. “My nomination this year is ... for the fight to preserve democracy as a form of government in Europe,” Christensen said. Freedom of information is a recurring theme with nominees including the USbased Committee to Protect Journalists; former Charlie Hebdo journalist Zineb el Rhazoui; news website Hong Kong Free Press, the US-based International Fact-Checking Network and Paris-based Reporters without Borders (RSF). Other nominees include former US President Donald Trump, NATO and the UN refugee agency (UNHCR).

India proposes law to ban cryptocurrencies, create official digital currency MUMBAI AGENCIES

DAMASCUS

chanting “let him go!”

Police put turnout at the Moscow protest at around 2,000 people. Reuters’ reporters estimated crowds of several thousand that were smaller than last weekend when police estimated 4,000 people and the opposition put the figure at 50,000, an assertion the authorities dismissed as nowhere near the truth.

Police detained at least 2,737 people nationwide, including 681 in Moscow, according to OVD-Info, a protest monitoring group. The figures were expected to rise.

YuliaNavalnaya, the Kremlin critic’s wife, was among those detained.

“If we stay quiet, then they could come for any of us tomorrow,” she wrote on Insta-

gram before joining the protests.

The protest is a test of Navalny’s support after many of his prominent allies were targeted in a crackdown this week.

Several, including his brother Oleg, are under house arrest.

In the far eastern city of Vladivostok, video footage showed protesters chanting “Putin is a thief” as they linked hands and marched in temperatures of around -13 Celsius (8.6 Fahrenheit). Police detained more than 100 people in the city, OVD-Info said.

In Tomsk, the Siberian city that Navalny visited before suddenly collapsing on a domestic flight last August, demonstrators gathered in front of a concert hall and chanted “let him go!”.

Navalny, 44, is accused of parole violations which he says are trumped up. A court is due to meet next week to consider handing him a jail term of up to three and a half years.

The West has told Moscow to let Navalny go and his allies have appealed to US President Joe Biden to impose sanctions on 35 people who they say are Putin’s close allies.

India plans to introduce a law to ban private cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and put in place a framework for an official digital currency to be issued by the central bank, according to a legislative agenda listed by the government.

The law will “create a facilitative framework for creation of the official digital currency to be issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI),” said the agenda, published on the lower house website on Friday.

The legislation, listed for debate in the current

parliamentary session, seeks “to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies in India, however, it allows for certain exceptions to promote the underlying technology of cryptocurrency and its uses,” the agenda said.

In mid-2019, an Indian government panel recommended banning all private cryptocurrencies, with a jail term of up to 10 years and heavy fines for anyone dealing in digital currencies.

The panel has, however, asked the government to consider the launch of an official government-backed digital currency in India, to function like bank notes, through the Reserve Bank of India.

The RBI had in April 2018 ordered financial in-

stitutions to break off all ties with individuals or businesses dealing in virtual currency such as bitcoin within three months.

However, in March 2020, India’s Supreme Court allowed banks to handle cryptocurrency transactions from exchanges and traders, overturning a central bank ban had that dealt the thriving industry a major blow.

Governments around the world have been looking into ways to regulate cryptocurrencies but no major economy has taken the drastic step of placing a blanket ban on owning them, even though concern has been raised about the misuse of consumer data and its possible impact on the financial system.

Monday, 1 February, 2021

SPORTS 11

PCB DRoPs HafEEz, faKHaR foR souTH afRiCa T20 sERiEs LAHORE

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AGENCIES

N-FORM batsman Mohammad Hafeez and struggling opener Fakhar Zaman are absentees from the Pakistan squad named by selectors Sunday for the T20 series against South Africa, starting February 11.

40-year-old Hafeez is in the form of his life, scoring 502 runs in his last 12 T20 internationals at an average of 100.40 with a strike rate of 153. But chief selector Mohammad Waseem said the senior batsman was

not available for the series.

“There are no questions over Hafeez’s performance, but he has not given his availability on February 3 when the squad will go in a bio-secure environment,” said Waseem while announcing the squad.

Hafeez is currently featuring in the T10 league in Abu Dhabi, which finishes on February 6. Pakistan and South Africa will play three T20 matches — all in Lahore — on February 11, 13 and 14.

Waseem said the current form, as well as this year’s T20 World Cup in India, were considered for selection.

Zaman was in a poor form, having managed just 97 runs in his last 10 matches. He also missed the T20 series in New Zealand in December following a positive Covid-19 test. Babar Azam will lead the squad, which also sees comebacks for pacer Hasan Ali, allrounder Aamer Yamin and batsman Asif Ali. Uncapped leg-spinner Zahid Mahmood, all-rounder Amad Butt and batsman Danish Aziz are also part of the 20-man squad, while pacer Wahab Riaz is left out.

Pakistan lead the two-match Test series 1-0 after beating South Africa by seven wickets in Karachi on Friday.

They begin the second Test in Rawalpindi on Thursday.

SQUAD: Babar Azam (captain), Haider Ali, Khushdil Shah, Hussian Talat, Danish Aziz, Asif Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad

Man City move three points clear as Man United draw at Arsenal LONDON AGENCIES

Ganguly discharged from hospital after second heart surgery NEW DELHi: Indian cricket great Sourav Ganguly was discharged from the hospital on Sunday after undergoing a second heart operation in a month, with doctors optimistic that he will make a full recovery. The 48-year-old, who now heads the country’s powerful cricket board, was admitted to hospital in Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal, on Wednesday. It was the second time this year that the former batsman had to be hospitalised, after being admitted in early January when he suffered a heart attack while exercising. He underwent an angioplasty and had a stent inserted to open up his clogged arteries. During his second stint in hospital, two more stents were inserted, doctors said.

“Ganguly is absolutely OK,” one of the doctors treating Ganguly, Saptarshi Basu, said as the former left-handed opener left hospital. “His heart is very strong. We hope that he can resume his normal activities in a few weeks.”

Ganguly was feted by hundreds of youths outside the hospital and at his Kolkata home when he was discharged. They threw rose petals at his car and shouted: “Welcome Dada (elder brother). We are with you.” Ganguly was unanimously elected president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, the sport’s most powerful body in the country, in 2019. He had retired from Test cricket in 2008 having accumulated 7,212 runs including 16 centuries – his first made at Lord’s on debut. He also scored 11,363 runs in 311 one-day internationals. AGENCIES

Manchester City opened up a three-point lead at the top of the Premier League with a game in hand to come as Pep Guardiola’s men beat Sheffield United 1-0, while Manchester United played out a goalless draw at Arsenal on Saturday.

Gabriel Jesus scored the only goal inside the first 10 minutes at the Etihad as City extended their winning run to 12 games in all competitions.

Ferran Torres and Jesus were two of five changes made by Guardiola and they combined to make the breakthrough as the Brazilian tapped home for his first Premier League goal since November. City failed to build on the lead, but comfortably held out for a 15th clean sheet in their last 19 games. “People think if we won the last one 50, we will win this one 5-0. This is the real world, not a fairytale,” said City manager Pep Guardiola.

“Today when I see Sheffield is bottom of the league. You see his team and realise how tough is the Premier League.” Second-placed United could have moved back within one point of their local rivals, but for the second time in four days, after suffering a shock defeat by Sheffield United on Wednesday, their title challenge faltered.

Edinson Cavani wasted a golden opportunity for United when the striker volleyed wide in the closing moments, while Alexandre Lacazette’s free-kick for Arsenal came back off the bar.

“The Sheffield United result of course was disappointing when you’re at home. If you feel, away at Arsenal, you deserve a win that’s a step forward,” Solskjaer said. Arsenal are undefeated in their last seven league matches and edged to within six points adrift of the top four despite missing Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Bukayo Saka and Kieran Tierney.

Aston Villa moved above the Gunners into

eighth after Ross Barkley’s header earned a 1-0 win at Southampton.

Dean Smith’s men had goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez to thank for brilliant saves to deny Che Adams and Jan Bednarek, while Danny Ings had a goal ruled out for offside deep into stoppage time as Southampton slumped to a third straight league defeat.

NEWCASTLE EASE PRESSURE ON BRUCE: At the other end of the table, Newcastle pulled clear of the drop zone with a first win in 12 games, beating Everton 2-0, while relegation rivals West Brom and Fulham played out a 2-2 draw.

Magpies manager Steve Bruce’s future was under the spotlight after a wretched run that plunged his side into the relegation dogfight.

But Callum Wilson scored twice in the final 17 minutes to earn a deserved victory.

Everton were punished for a poor performance when Wilson header home from a corner and then sealed the win on the counter-attack in stoppage time. “There’s no disputing it – it’s been very difficult,” said Bruce.

“We’re trying to be more on the front foot and push up the pitch. We were a lot better.”

Bruce’s men are now eight points clear of the relegation zone after a point each did little for West Brom or Fulham’s battle to beat the drop.

The visitors were dominant in the first half at the Hawthorns and were made to regret not building on Bobby Decordova-Reid’s opener. Kyle Bartley levelled for the Baggies two minutes into the second half before new signing Mbaye Diagne teed up Matheus Pereira to turn the game around.

Ivan Cavaleiro’s equaliser ensured Fulham remain above West Brom in 18th and edged to within four points of safety. Crystal Palace eased fears they could be dragged into a scrap for survival as Eberechi Eze’s winner earned the Eagles a 1-0 win over Wolves to move up to 13th.

Nawaz, Zafar Gohar, Faheem Ashraf, Aamer Yamin, Amad Butt, Mohammad Rizwan, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hussain, Hasan Ali, Usman Qadir, Zahid Mahmood.

Venus crushes Rus to set up Kvitova showdown in Yarra Valley Classic SYDNEY: Former world number one Venus Williams produced a vintage display to outclass Netherlands’ Arantxa Rus in straight sets and storm into the second round of the Yarra Valley Classic as a packed week of Australian Open warm-up events kicked off on Sunday.

The 40-year-old American broke serve twice in each set to canter to a 6-1 6-3 victory in a little over an hour and set up a date with fourth seed Petra Kvitova in the next round.

American 13th seed Danielle Collins also had a straightforward outing as she eased to a 6-3 6-3 win against Belgian Ysaline Bonaventure. She was joined in the second round by compatriot Shelby Rogers, who upset 12th seed Fiona Ferro 6-2 7-5. Australia’s Daria Gavrilova opted to skip karaoke night with a friend and instead made Slovakian Viktoria Kuzmova dance to her tunes, racing to a 6-2 6-0 win in under just 65 minutes. “I missed a big event with my friend Greg’s birthday and going to karaoke and I was pretty upset about that and thought I had to lock it in today,” said the 26-year-old, who faces 23-times Grand Slam champion Serena Williams next after the American received a first-round bye. Also advancing was Czech Republic’s Marie Bouzkova, who downed home favourite and former U.S. Open champion Samantha Stosur 6-2 6-0. Unseeded Romanian Ana Bogdan crushed Russian teenager Kamilla Rakhimova 6-2 6-2 to set up a date with top seed Ash Barty. AGENCIES

Casey cruises to victory in Dubai for 15th European Tour crown DUBAi: England’s Paul Casey claimed his 15th European Tour title after a closing round of two-under-par 70 handed him a dominant four-shot victory at the Dubai Desert Classic on Sunday. Casey has previously lifted trophies in the United Arab Emirates with victories in Abu Dhabi in 2007 and 2009 and he made it a hat-trick in the desert at the Emirates Golf Club with a score of 17-under, four clear of South Africa’s Brandon Stone. The 43-yearold also boosted his chances to make a fifth Ryder Cup appearance in September, with the Dubai triumph tying him with 2018 European captain Thomas Bjorn and current skipper Padraig Harrington for Tour wins. “It’s very, very special,” said Casey, whose latest Tour triumph comes 20 years after his first. “It’s an unbelievable roster (of winners). That’s so cool, I’ve worked so hard. “I feel like I’ve regained my youth, I mean that sincerely.”

Starting with a one-shot advantage, Casey struck two birdies and two bogeys for a level-par 35 on the front nine to extend his lead to three strokes, with Stone bogeying three of his opening seven holes. Stone recovered with three quickfire birdies on the back nine but Casey never looked in danger as he cruised to victory that will move him back into the top 20 when the world rankings are updated on Monday. A 15th European Tour title triumph also takes Casey past the tally of three-times Race to Dubai champion Rory McIlroy and makes it 350 tournament wins for English players. Scot Robert MacIntyre finished third at 12-under after carding four consecutive bogeys in a round of 74. AGENCIES

Rafael Nadal ready to perform for 'suffering' fans around the world SYDNEY AGENCIES

Rafael Nadal pronounced himself fit and ready Sunday to produce some magic to entertain “suffering” tennis fans around the world as they cope with the coronavirus pandemic.

The Spanish great, who can move past the injured Roger Federer’s 20 Grand Slam titles with victory at the Australian Open beginning February 8, kicks off his season representing Spain at the ATP Cup from Tuesday. He will take to the courts of Melbourne Park after completing 14 days of

quarantine in Adelaide, where he was allowed to train for up to five hours a day before an exhibition on Friday against US Open champion Dominic Thiem.

“For me personally, preparation has been positive,” said Nadal.

“I have been able to practise around two hours per day in Adelaide. Some days a little bit more, two hours 15, two hours 20. That’s it. “I did, I think, the things that I had to do to be ready. Now is the moment to start playing and practising with other colleagues and let’s see what’s going on.”

Most players are now out of quarantine and the world number two is keen to get the

focus back on tennis, although his thoughts are with those in lockdowns around the world. “When we arrived here, we have this quarantine. But I think that’s over. Is the moment to start talking about tennis,” he said.

“That’s why we came here: to play tennis, to try to give to the fans around the world and to the fans here in Australia.

“For some of the people who are suffering a lot at home, we try to have good entertainment for them. The only way to make that happen is to go on court, try our best.”

He leads Spain in the ATP Cup, desperate to make amends after being beaten in the final at Sydney last year by Novak

CMYK

Djokovic’s Serbia.

STRANGE SiTUATiON: Nadal, who does not usually play the week before a Grand Slam, said it was a different experience this year, with the tournament cut to 12 teams from 24 and all games in Melbourne immediately before the Australian Open.

“It’s a very unusual situation for most of us. Most of you that are around tennis know I never play the week before a Grand Slam,” he said. “So is a little bit new and is a strange situation. But here I am, the same like the rest of the team, to try our best in every moment. “Because we are a team, and a good team, with great players, we have different

options. Everybody’s ready to play, and to play with very competitive level.”

Spain start their campaign against home nation Australia, who are without Nick Kyrgios but led by the in-form Alex De Minaur, who won the season-opening Antalya Open this month.

The two teams met in the ATP Cup last year with De Minaur pushing Nadal hard in an engrossing three-setter. “It was an emotional match, not great for me, but emotional one,” Nadal said of that clash. “He’s young, he’s improving every year. I think it’s going to be a tough battle for all of us playing against a great team like Australia.”

Monday, 1 February, 2021

PRAyER TImINGS

NEWS

Rs210bn RetRieved fROM land gRabbeRs, says akbaR

293 kanals worth Rs70 million from a frontman of PML-N, MNA Irfan Dogar; and 10,289 kanals state land, worth Rs308.670 million in Mouza Rakh Kot Qaisrani was retrieved Meer Badshah Qaisrani.

Sardar Sher Ali Khan Gurchani illegally occupied 7,560 kanal forest land worth Rs1,323 million, out of which 1,200 kanal worth Rs210 million was retrieved from him. 106.4 kanals of government land worth Rs33 million in Arifwala was recovered from PML-N MNA Chaudhary Muhammad Ashraf. Illegally occupied 18.9 kanals worth Rs14.425 million owned by Agriculture University, Faisalabad, was retrieved from PML-N’s ex-MPA Zafar Iqbal Nagra and five kanals land worth Rs150 million from the possession of Farooq Ahmed Khan.

PML-N’s former tehsil nazim M C Bhalwal illegally allotted 45 shops to his political supporters at the lowest rates ranging Rs600 to Rs700. State land valued at Rs102.9 million was retrieved from him.

Speaking about the narrative of the parties that comprise the anti-government alliance, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), he said that the purpose of their protests was just to defend their looted money and get NROs. Talking about the Senate elections, he said that the government had tabled a constitutional amendment bill in the National Assembly (NA) for open balloting, adding that the opposition parties had the opportunity to vote in its favour if they were sincere in the transparency of the electoral process.

Otherwise, they should present sound logic to the people for opposing it, Akbar said.

He said that the government is ready to hold talks with the opposition on every important issue except national reconciliation ordinance (NRO) or personspecific bill.

Counting on the PTI government’s development programmes, he said, “We aim at providing universal health coverage in Punjab till the end of this year.”

Khattak clarifies bizarre one-man force speech ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

A day after delivering a controversial speech declaring that the government could not function without him “even for a day”, Minister for Defence Pervez Khattak on Sunday clarified he was in fact “indebted” to Prime Minister Imran Khan.

“Clearly mentioned in my speech for the locals of my village in Nowshera that I’m sincere & indebted to Imran

DEFENCE MINISTER HAD SAID GOVT COULDN'T FUNCTION WITHOUT HIM 'EVEN FOR A DAY' Khan,” he said in a tweet.

“We are successful in our const[est]. due to our efforts & support of IK [Imran Khan]. We will defeat all opp. parties ganged up against the candidate we [PTI] are supporting for the byelec[ion].”

On Saturday, Khattak, while ad-

dressing a meeting of supporters in his native district of Nowshera of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), said: “I can take whoever I want to the heights [of success] and make zero whoever I want and this is a result of my hard work.”

He also said he was “competing against the entire country.” “If I do [not

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STAFF REPORT

Similarly, illegal occupied state land under a floor mill, measuring 8.2 kanal and worth Rs34 million, was retrieved from PML-N leader Javed Latif. Furthermore, 30.16 kanal of illegally grabbed government land under his paper and board mill had also been recovered.

Malik Saiful Malook Khokhar, an ex-MNA of PML-N, illegally grabbed and fraudulently transferred over 1,025 kanal state land worth Rs70.78 million and sold it out to Punjab Industrial Estates Development & Management Company (PIDMIC) on very high prices. The said land had been retrieved from along with further 45 kanal state land worth Rs1.5 billion where Khokhar Palace was constructed illegally.

A case was registered against them in Lahore and the land had been retrieved, he added.

Mudasar Qayum Nahra, Azhar Qayum Nahra and Mazhar Qayum Nahra of the PML-N were accused of illegally occupying state land of 267 kanals worth Rs100 million which had been retrieved and Mudassar Nahra was arrested in December 18 last year.

Akbar accused PML-N MNA Mohsin Shah Nawaz Ranjha and his father of getting registered 13 exchange deeds worth Rs15.68 million to conceal “black money” and in exchange, no land was given. He said NAB Lahore was also inquiring about their “illegal” asset of 2,000-kanal orchard land in Sargodha worth billions of rupees. Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Secretary-General Nayyar Bukhari was accused of illegally grabbing 60 kanals of state land worth Rs48 million belonging to Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU). The land has been retrieved by the local administration.

The government also retrieved illegally occupied 60 acres of agricultural land of Darbar Makhdoom Abdul Rasheed Haqqani worth Rs38 million from Zahid Bahar Hashmi, the son-in-law of PML-N’s stalwart Makhdoom Javaid Hashmi.

The adviser stated that 25 acres of auqaf land in Moza Hardo Sabhni, worth Rs37 million, was recovered from PML-N MPA Mazhar Rasheed.

ASR MAGHRIB ISHA 3:07

NEW DELHI

ISLAMABAD

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Modi breaks silence on months long farm protests

PM'S ADVISER SAYS THESE PEOPLE HAD BEEN USING POLITICAL INFLUENCE TO OCCUPY GOVERNMENT PROPERTIES DvISER to the Prime Minister on Accountability and Interior Mirza Shahzad Akbar on Sunday unveiled that the government had recovered Rs210 billion from land grabbers, 36 of which belonged to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

Illegally occupied state land worth billions of rupees had been retrieved from PML-N’s stalwarts, including Khuram Dastagir, Senator Chaudhary Taveer, Javed Hashmi, Khawaja Asif, Abid Sher Ali, Malik Saif ul Malook Khokhar, Daniyal Aziz, Jave Latif and others, he said.

Addressing a press conference at the Press Information Department (PID), he said that these people had been using political influence to occupy the government property, which caused huge financial loss to the national exchequer.

“We recovered Rs210 billion from 36 people mostly belonging to PML-N, during the last two-anda-half years while illegal properties worth billions of rupees have also been recovered.” He said that a total of above 8,000 acres of illegal land has been retrieved so far that is now being utilised for public welfare.

PML-N supeme leader Nawaz Sharif, he added, had introduced the politics of ‘changa manga’ and use of money in it for personal gain.

Through a rapid anti-corruption drive, the incumbent government succeeded in making these recoveries from the thieves who had been looting and plundering the national kitty during previous regimes, Akbar explained. The PM’s adviser maintained that the government would utilise this money to introduce universal health insurance in Punjab and to provide free health facilities to citizens.

Punjab government and its anti-corruption department have played an outstanding role in the anti-corruption, drive which would continue in the future, he added.

Sharing a document containing the details of recoveries with media persons, the advisor said that the government had retrieved 2 kanal 11m land worth Rs92 million, along with penal rent worth Rs37.50 million, from Ghulam Dastagir, the father of PMLNN lawmaker Khurram Dastagir, who grabbed the land on GT road and built a petrol pump in Gujranwala.

Dastagir also nabbed commercial state land measuring 1 kanal, worth Rs66 million along with Rs17.16 million penal rent, which has been used in his cinema land. Rent of the land amounting Rs54.66 million will be recovered from Ghulam Dastgir Khan, who is said to be on pre-arrest bail, the adviser said.

FAJR SUNRISE 5:36

want it to], Imran Khan’s government would not function even for one day but I am indebted to him.”

“I do not only handle government officials but also deal with members of the opposition. Everyone respects me.”

The by-poll in the PK-63 constituency of the Nowshera district is scheduled to be held on February 19. The seat fell vacant after the death of PTI MPA Mian Jamsheduddin Kakakhel from coronavirus in June last.

India’s prime minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday that protesters that stormed New Delhi’s Red Fort had caused “insult” to the country, his first public comments on a months-long farmers’ agitation that turned violent last week. Tens of thousands of farmers have camped on the outskirts of the capital for more than two months, protesting new agricultural laws they say benefit private buyers at the expense of growers. A tractor parade on Tuesday’s Republic Day turned violent when some protesters deviated from pre-agreed routes, clashing with police and breaking into the historic Red Fort complex in the capital. One died and hundreds were injured. “The country was saddened by the insult to the Tricolor (Indian flag) on the 26th of January in Delhi,” Modi said in a radio address on Sunday. “The government is committed to modernizing agriculture and is also taking many steps in that direction.” Farm leaders say they were not responsible for violence, that was caused by a minority of those on the parade, and the government has left open the possibility talks between the two sides will resume. Modi told opposition party leaders on Saturday an offer to freeze the laws for 18 months still stands, according to a government summary of the meeting. Agriculture employs about half of India’s labour force, and unrest among an estimated 150 million landowning farmers is one of the biggest challenges to Modi’s rule since he first came to power in 2014.

Oil prices dip for second straight week on worries about vaccine rollout ISLAMABAD AGENCIES

Oil prices dipped for the second straight week due to demand worries over coronavirus variants and slow vaccine rollouts, which offset a bullish sentiment due to a cut in Saudi Arabian oil supply and falling US oil inventories. The Brent, the global benchmark for twothirds of the world's oil, went down by 0.11 percent to close the week at $55.04 per barrel. Brent posted its fourth positive week in five. The US crude gauge West Texas Intermediate (WTI) decreased by 0.38 percent to $52.14 per barrel, registering its second straight negative week.

Both front month Brent and WTI were on track to post a weekly gain of less than 1 percent. The price for OPEC Basket was recorded at $54.36 a barrel with 1.72 percent loss at the end of the week, Arab Light was available at $55.38 a barrel after a decrease of 0.5 percent while price of Russian Urals remained unchanged at $42.22 a barrel.

“The vaccine numbers are just not there,” said Bob Yawger, director of energy futures at Mizuho in New York.

Additionally, he said a U.S. economic stimulus package may not come quickly enough to support the market.

Earlier, US President Joe Biden urged congress to take swift action on a $1.9 trillion Covid-19 relief proposal.

“There is no time for any delays,” Biden said. “It could take a year longer to return to full employment if we don’t act and don’t act now.” A poll showed oil prices are expected to hover around current levels for much of 2021 before a recovery gains traction towards year end.

“Restrictions on the demand side because of lockdowns are countered by a sufficient reduction in supply ... preventing prices from falling or rising to any significant extent,” said Commerzbank analyst Carsten Fritsch. Saudi Arabia is set to cut output by 1 million barrels per day (bpd) in February and March. Compliance with output curbs by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, together known as OPEC+, improved in January. OPEC oil output rose in January, after OPEC+ agreed to an easing of supply curbs. However, the rise was less than the amount agreed under the deal, with an involuntary drop in Nigerian exports limiting the increase.

A 9.9 million barrel drawdown in US oil inventories last week and forecasts for a small drop in US oil production in February provided price support. However, the market remains focused on the vaccine rollout and any loss of momentum in vaccination programmes will undermine the strength of the global oil demand recovery.

Foreign troops to stay in Afghanistan beyond May deadline: report ISLAMABAD AGENCIES

International troops plan to stay in Afghanistan beyond the May deadline envisaged by the insurgent Taliban’s deal with the United States, four senior NATO officials said, a move that could escalate tensions with the Taliban demanding full withdrawal.

“There will be no full withdrawal by allies by April-end,” one of the officials told Reuters.

“Conditions have not been met,” he said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter. “And with the new US administration, there will be tweaks in the policy, the sense of hasty withdrawal which was prevalent will be addressed and we could see a much more calculated exit strategy.”

The administration of then-President Donald Trump signed an agreement with the Taliban early last year calling for the withdrawal of all for-

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eign troops by May in return for the insurgents fulfilling certain security guarantees.

Trump hailed the accord — which did not include the Afghan government — as the end of two decades of war. He reduced US troops to 2,500 by this month, the fewest since 2001.

Plans on what will happen after April are now being considered and likely to be a top issue at a key NATO meeting in February, the NATO sources said.