EpaperISB_21-02-27

Saturday, 27 February, 2021 I 14 Rajab, 1442 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XI No 240 I 12 Pages I Islamabad Edition

Pakistan will save $3bn thanks to Qatar lnG deal, says PM g

Imran expresses satIsfactIon at the current state of the country's economy

islamabad staff report

P

rIme minister Imran Khan on friday revealed that pakistan had signed a deal with Qatar, wherein the latter will provide pakistan three million tons of liquified natural gas (LnG) for 10 years. the premier witnessed the signing of the agreement that took place in the federal capital at the pm house. federal minister for energy omar ayub Khan and Qatar’s energy minister saad sherida al-Kaabi inked the agreement.

Qatar’s minister al-Kaabi termed as “historic” the agreement with pakistan and expressed confidence that it would open up new vistas of development. the prime minister informed that pakistan will save $300 million each year as a result of the deal. “and in 10 years’ time, pakistan will save $3 billion,” he added. he highlighted that these issues the country was facing where inherited from previous regimes.

“When a difficult time comes upon the nation, a country has to think of ‘out-of-thebox’ solutions,” he said during a ceremony in Lahore wherein the premier laid

the foundation-stone of the country’s firstever central Business District (cBD), a commercial hub aimed at ensuring ease-of-doing-business. the concept will plan activities in accordance with the market requirements and as per the unique dynamics of each district. addressing at the foundation-laying ceremony, the prime minister said that the project would touch the trading volume of rs6,000 billion with its first phase of commercial and Business hub to generate activities worth rs1,300 billion.

“With huge tenders involved, this project will witness a major take-off in a short span of time and also transform Lahore into a modern city,” he said. prime minister Imran said that the environment-friendly and urban generation project will be carried out on vertical principles with the construction of high-rise buildings. he regretted that earlier, lack of planning resulted in a haphazard expansion of big cities like Lahore and Karachi that became unmanageable with time. he stressed that vertical construction was the effective-most solution for the management of big cities in order to accommodate the maximum population. he said that the cBD would ensure en-

Coronavirus in

Pakistan

CONFIRMED CASES:

577,482

LAST UPDATED AT 7:07 AM ON FEBRUARY 26, 2021

DAY'S DEATH TOLL:

NEW CASES:

32

1,541

RECOVERED:

DEATHS:

542,393 12,804 SINDH:

PUNJAB:

257,408

170,222

KP:

BALOCHISTAN:

71,728 AJK/GB:

10,101/4,956

19,035

ISLAMABAD:

44,032

vironment-friendly policies with its unique features of botanical gardens and green spaces. he further said that in the first phase, the project will generate rs1,300 billion, through which the government will receive rs250 billion in taxes. the prime minister said that when the Walton airport is de-notified as per the project’s plan, tall buildings can be constructed in Gulberg and ferozepur road. the premier underscored that he was the biggest supporter of preservation and conservation of the environment and had always emphasised considering the environmental aspect while carrying out any project. he pointed out that the apathy of previous governments inflicted huge damage to the environmental conditions of urban cities in particular. “the entire city’s sewerage is going in river ravi,” he said. “this sewerage is going down the river. a lot of people drink water from the rivers,” he said, adding that even the water table of Lahore was declining. pm Imran said that for the first time, the government introduced policies to provide low-cost housing and encouraged banks to offer mortgage facility to facilitate the common man. the naya pakistan housing, he said, was a significant project for the uplift of low-income groups who struggled hard to own a residential place. he said that for six consecutive months, pakistan’s current account remained in surplus and acknowledged the contribution of overseas pakistanis in this regard. “our textile exports are also witnessing an increase and new industries are being set up across the country,” said the premier while giving an example of the economy’s condition. the prime minister lauded the efforts of the punjab chief minister for maintaining a faster pace of development projects in the province.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

Pakistan to meet FATF’s remaining demands

by June: Hammad islamabad staff report

minister for Industries and production hammad azhar has said that pakistan has complied with 90 per cent of the financial action task force’s (fatf) action plan and the rest will be completed

by June this year. he assured that the last three items on the list will be “fulfilled by pakistan by June”. addressing a news conference here on friday, he said that pakistan has so for completed compliance of 24 out of 27 action points of the fatf. he said that pakistan will come out of the grey list after compliance with the remaining three points. “the threat of blacklisting pakistan has been averted,” said the federal minister a day after the fatf granted the country four more months to complete the action plan. “at the previous plenary, fatf countries and the fatf secretariat said that blacklisting was not an option because the country has achieved significant progress,” he added. “a lot of work has been done on the three points in which we are partially complaint. In my eyes, we are close to being largely compliant in these areas,” said hammad, who is also the head of the fatf committee.

Biden administration urges Pakistan, India to hold direct talks on Kashmir issue islamabad staff report

the Biden administration welcomed the joint statement of India and pakistan to strictly observe all agreements on ceasefire along the Line of control (Loc) and has urged the two countries to engage in direct talks to resolve the issue of the disputed territory. a day earlier, pakistan and India had agreed to strictly observe the 2003 ceasefire agreement at the Loc, the de facto border between the arch-rivals in the disputed region of Kashmir, and other agreements, radio pakistan had reported. the director generals of military operations (DGmos) of the two countries had reviewed over a hotline the situation along the Loc and all other sectors in a “free, frank and cordial atmosphere” on thursday morning, Inter-services public relations (Ispr) had said in a statement. “the two sides reviewed the situation along the Loc and all other sectors in a free, frank and cordial atmosphere,” read the official handout. this move was welcomed by both the united states and the united nations, who hailed it as a “positive step” which will provide

he said that pakistan was given the most challenging action plan of the world, but it vigorously pursued to comply with the plan which was also recognised by the international community in fatf plenaries. he said that pakistan is determined to act against money laundering and terror financing. answering a question, hammad said that India misused the fatf platform to push pakistan into the blacklist, but due to the government’s concerted efforts of implementing the action plan, this has not been an option for pakistan now. he said that pakistan continued complying with the fatf action plan even during the strong wave of the covid-19 pandemic.

“We had the option to not report during the coronavirus pandemic [but] pakistan fulfilled its objectives during the difficult times of coronavirus,” said hammad, terming the country’s performance as “exemplary”.

When the coronavirus pandemic hit, pakistan had the option to not do the reports, an option that was exercised by some countries, according to the minister. “But we took advantage of that time and continued with the reporting. the result of that is in front of you.”

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

more inside

PPP will be the largest party in Senate, says Zardari STORY ON BACK PAGE

an opportunity for further dialogue.

During a press briefing, White house press secretary Jen psaki told reporters that the united states welcomes the joint statement between the two nations. “the united states welcomes the joint statement between India and pakistan that the two countries have agreed to maintain strict observance of a ceasefire along the Line of control starting on february 25th,” psaki said. “this is a positive step towards greater peace and stability in south asia, which is in all shared — is in our shared interest. and we encourage both countries to keep building upon this progress,” she added. asked if Islamabad is doing

enough in the fight against terrorism, she said, “But in terms of an assessment of that I would point you to the state Department or the Intelligence Department.” similarly, us state Department spokesman ned price brought up the agreement in his opening statement at the thursday afternoon news briefing.

“We encourage continued efforts to improve communication between the two sides and to reduce tensions and violence along the Line of control,” department’s spokesperson said, adding that us has been very clear that it condemned the terrorists who seek to infiltrate the Loc.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

security forces kill ttp nooristan commander in south Waziristan IBo STORY ON PAGE 02

One year of Covid-19 leaves 12,804 dead, 577,482 infected STORY ON BACK PAGE

Ihc seeks social media rules report by april 2 STORY ON PAGE 03

02

Saturday, 27 February, 2021

ISLAMABAD

NEWS

ShehBaz, not hamza, Prime SuSPect, ruleS lhc in Written Bail order LAHORe

h

TLTP

AMZA Shehbaz is not the prime suspect of the money laundering case, and his case does not have the same weight as that of his father, Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif, who is also already behind bars.

The Lahore High Court (LHC) observed in its ruling as it issued a detailed written order on Friday related to granting bail to Opposition Leader in the Punjab Assembly Hamza Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday last.

The order was issued by the two-member bench, led by Justice Sardar Muhammad Sarfraz Dogar, hearing the bail plea.

“The suspects cannot be left at the mercy of the prosecution, neither can they be left to rot in jail,” the court observed. The court in its written order maintained that the order sheet of the trial court shows that the appellants

'WHY DID IT TAKE NAB A YEAR TO FILE THIS REFERENCE?' BENCH ASKS NAB PROSECUTOR appear at every public hearing. “If at any point the appellant’s lawyer fails to show up for the hearing, the appellant cannot be blamed for it.” the bench further noted. Lawyers can at times not be able to appear before the accountability court owing to hearings at the high court or Supreme Court (SC).

The written order further maintained that the high court had referred this case again to the SC. “This bail plea has put forth new reasons as the basis to seek bail,” the high court further observed.

The court ordered Hamza to deposit two surety bonds of Rs10 million each and accepted the post-arrest bail pleas of accomplices Fazal Dad Abbasi and Shoaib

Security ForceS kill ttP commander nooriStan in South WaziriStan iBo The security forces on Friday in an important intelligence-based operation (IBO), killed the most wanted terrorist commander of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Nooristan, alias Hasan Baba. The security forces had conducted an IBO on terrorist hideout after confirmation of the terrorist’s presence in Sharmangi, Tiarza area of South Waziristan, said a statement of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

“During the exchange of fire a high-value target, terrorist commander (TTP) Nooristan alias Hasan Baba killed,” the ISPR statement read. The most sought and wanted killed terrorist was improvised explosive device (IED) expert and master trainer who was involved in martyrdom of more than 50 security forces personnel since 2007, it added.

Nooristan joined the TTP Baitullah Mehsud group in 2007 and has been involved in several terrorist attacks. He, along with other militants, carried out an attack on a checkpost in Manra Shawal Dargai in 2008, which resulted in the martyrdom of three Frontier Corps personnel. This development comes shortly after the escape of former TTP spokesperson Ehsanullah Ehsan was confirmed. ISPR Director General (DG) Major General Babar Iftikhar during a talk with Pakistan correspondents of foreign publications on Wednesday had said that action was taken against army officers who were found responsible for the escape of the militant. Earlier this week, four women aid workers among five people were gunned down while ten others were abducted in two separate incidents in Mir Ali district of North Waziristan. In the first incident, four women aid workers had been ambushed by two gunmen as they were driving through a village in North Waziristan district, according to local police chief Shafiullah Gandapur, who had said just one passenger survived the assault. “No one has claimed responsibility for the attack so far but it was surely an act of terrorism,” he had said. Gandapur had said that the aid workers were affiliated with a programme run by Sabawon Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) to develop household skills for women. The driver had been injured in the attack. News Desk

iran says it’s investigating shooting deaths at border Iran is investigating an incident in which at least two Iranians were shot dead this week at the border with Pakistan, and Islamabad has handed over the body of one of the victims, the Iranian foreign ministry said on Friday.

Monday’s shooting of at least two people carrying fuel across the border led to protests that spread from the city of Saravan to other areas in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan, including the capital, Zahedan. A provincial security official has said calm has returned to the province with the help of religious leaders. Media quoted prominent Baluch Sunni Muslim religious leader Molavi Abdulhamid as urging calm and calling for an independent investigation. “The body of at least one person was delivered by Pakistan’s border guards. We are reviewing the incident,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh was quoted as saying by Iranian media. Protesters stormed a governor’s office in southeastern Iran, on Tuesday, and set fire to a police car, according to videos posted on social media. Security forces used tear gas to disperse the crowd. Reuters could not verify the authenticity of the footage. AgeNcIes

Qamar On Wednesday, the LHC had ordered the release of Hamza in a case pertaining to money laundering. He had been in jail since June 11, 2019.

Hamza’s counsels had argued that the allegations levelled by the anti-graft body had nothing to do with the reality, adding that the content was concocted. They argued that NAB claimed Hamza established an offshore company and made the suspicious transaction of Rs1.2 billion.

On this, Justice Asjad Javed Ghural asked: “Why did you people not take up this argument while filing the bail petition in the apex court?”

In NAB’s reference, the NAB associated all Hamza’s assets with his father Shehbaz and further allegations were levelled that Hamza was ‘benamdar’ of his father.

“Why did it take you [NAB] a year to file this reference,” the bench asked the NAB prosecutor.

At which prosecutor Bukhari argued that the evidence was abroad. “It took time in collecting evidence about suspicious transactions, four offshore companies and other records.”

NAB in its reply had also opposed the bail and requested the LHC for dismissing the post-arrest bail of the accused on the plea that the accused made illegal assets by committing the heinous offence of money laundering.

LHC EXTENDS BAIL OF PML-N MPA IN AC TORTURE CASE: Moreover, the LHC on Friday extended interim bail of PML-N MPA Mian Naveed in a case pertaining to beating up the Pakpattan

assistant commissioner.

Naveed was booked for torturing the assistant commissioner of Pakpattan after Chief Minister Punjab Usman Buzdar took notice of the incident. The FIR was registered against the PML-N MPA under charges of interfering in government duty, abduction of the government employees, and torture. The LHC bench hearing the plea summoned Sahiwal RPO along with a record of the case at the outset of the hearing, to which the SP said that he is present in the court on behalf of the RPO, as he is ill.

The court rejected the plea of AC seeking exemption from the court appearance.

Later, the interim bail of the PML-N MPA was extended until March 16.

The MPA was booked in the case over manhandling the assistant commissioner Pakpattan, after the latter sought an implementation upon the one-dish rule being enforced in the province.

Election scandals: PML-N demands action against PM, CM over rigging in Daska by-poll LAHORe INP

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb on Friday requested the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to take action against Prime Minister Imran Khan and Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar following the ECP ordered re-election in the entire NA-75 Daska, In her statement, she said that it was on PM Imran’s orders that the election commission staff was whisked away during the by-election in the constituency on February 19.

“PM Imran and Punjab CM Usman Buzdar had held the chief secretary, the IGP and the entire provincial administration hostage during the by-polls,” she alleged. She was of the view that the process of accountability would remain incomplete until the prime minister was not held accountable over his ‘election management’.

Marriyum asked as to why the chief secretary was not available, and when the first attempt to get in touch with him failed, why was he not approached again to convey to him the complaints about rigging.

“The ECP needs to look into this,” she stressed.

PML-N spokesperson said all proofs were establishing the fact that the by-polls in the constituency had been

rigged. She reiterated that PM Imran was the ‘real culprit’ on whose orders election results were tampered with.

Marriyum added that those who had come to power in 2018 through ‘rigging’ had been caught red-handed doing the same on February 19.

She also called upon the chief election commissioner to not only take action against the prime minister and the chief minister, but also try to find out as to where these two had masterminded the plan to rob the PML-N of its mandate, and who else was involved in it.

Meanwhile, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz on Friday said that the opposition’s appreciation for the ECP has exposed its political hypocrisy.

In a post on the social-networking website Twitter, the minister said that changing stance and negating its own narrative has become a hallmark of the opposition.

He said that the opposition only accepts those decisions, which come in its favour. He also said that opposition only considers those elections as transparent in which it wins; otherwise, it makes hue and cry in the name of rigging.

Faraz said that the opposition’s adulation for ECP shows that the commission is independent, free, and sovereign in discharging its responsibilities in the government of Prime Minister Imran.

While allegations of rigging and foul play build up

Apex committee for GB development package reviews progress on projects IsLAMABAD ghuLAm AbbAs

The apex committee constituted to execute the uplift package for Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) has reviewed the progress on proposed projects being finalised to develop under the package.

During the meeting of the committee – jointly presided over by GB Chief Minister Khalid Khurshid and Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs Ali Amin Khan Gandapur at the Planning Ministry on Friday – it asked all ministries and institutions concerned to complete the preliminary work on priority basis.

The GB CM said that the first-of-its-kind package would change the history of GB, improve the living standards of the people, boost the construction industry, and development in the region.

The committee discussed the projects of various departments such as Clean Energy, Transport and Communication, Health, Infrastructure, Water Sanitation and Tourism.

The meeting was also attended by Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Mohammad Jehanzeb Khan, GB additional secretary and representatives from ministries and divisions.

As the availability of internet service has also been an issue in GB, the committee directed Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) to finalise the auction of 3G and 4G licences.

It highlighted the importance of ChitralShandur to Gilgit Highway Road and Shounter Tunnel and directed the National Housing Authority (NHA) to expedite the feasibility study. While discussing the Expo Centre for GB the chief secretary has assured the committee on providing dedicated land for the centre and requested the committee to include the scheme in PSDP 2020-21.

Jehanzeb Khan proposed a special project to enhance the capacity building of GB institutions which was approved; they directed for completion of the project expeditiously.

During the first meeting of the committee earlier this month, it was agreed that projects of Non-PSDP, Public-Private Partnership (PPP) and PSDP projects would be included and implemented under the package.

The committee had directed that the GB government, in collaboration with concerned ministries/divisions, should submit the project proposals & PC-1s to the Planning Ministry as early as possible.

It was also decided to constitute technical working groups comprising relevant chiefs of the ministry and officers of GB, which would be monitored by the GB CM and interministerial committee deputy chairman.

Both the committees will hold a follow-up meeting in the next 15 days and shortlist the most important areas for inclusion in the GB integrated development plan.

for the upcoming elections, the scandals involving the previous Senate elections continue to evolve as well. In a major development, a sub-committee of the federal cabinet, probing the leaked video showing lawmakers allegedly receiving money ahead of Senate elections in 2018, has summoned senators who were elected despite not having a due number of votes.

The notices were served to Senator Rubina Khalid, Bahramand Tangi, Dilawar Khan and Mushtaq Ahmed Khan. The lawmakers have been advised to submit their replies within seven days in writing or appear before the committee in person to explain how they were sworn in as senators despite not having a party vote.

The notices were also served to the members’ assemblies who were seen in the video.

The committee earlier had decided against conducting forensics of the footage, showing lawmakers allegedly receiving money before Senate polls in 2018.

The committee after deliberations had decided that the video showing the lawmakers was original and they had no proof to challenge its authenticity.

It is pertinent to mention here that on February 9, a video surfaced which exposed the horse-trading during Senate elections in 2018 by some party lawmakers who could be seen as counting bundles of currencies and hiding it inside the bag.

Fawad demands explanation from JUI-F over MNA’s alleged marriage with minor News Desk Federal Minister for Science and Technology Chaudhry Fawad Hussain on Friday has asked the leadership of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) to comment on the reported marriage of a member of the National Assembly from Balochistan, Maulana Salahuddin Ayubi, with a 14year-old girl from Chitral.

Earlier this month, information about the wedding of a 14-year-old girl with a person about four instances her age had gone viral on social media.

The federal minister pointed out that this marriage between a minor and a man four times her age would go against Child Marriage Restraint Act. Maulana Ayubi of the JUIF who had won the NA-263 Qilla Abdullah seat in the 2018 general elections on a ticket of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA).

While the government itself is not investigating the matter, Fawad stressed that the JUI-F leadership “should only come and deny the incident before the House because Pakistan’s parliament and we are being ridiculed over this across the

world”.

“My heart is saddened that how we can allow such an act and expose our children like this,” he added.

In a tweet later, Fawad said he had “raised issue of underage marriage by a JUI MNA”.

“I hope all sane voices in NA will take notice of this absurd act by a member of National Assembly and will join voice to seek explanation,” he tweeted.

Parliamentary Secretary for Legislation and Justice Maleeka Bokhari of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) endorsed Fawad’s feedback on “this unlawful act & legal offence by JUI-F MNA who has violated the Youngster Marriage Restraint Act by marrying a 13year-old little one”.

During the NA session, Fawad also said that the solidarity expressed in the lower house against the killing of four innocent women in the district of North Waziristan was commendable.

Speaking on a point of order at the floor of the NA, he said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government had also taken notice of the incident immediately which was also laudable.

Saturday, 27 February, 2021

ISLAMABAD

NEWS

03

IHC seeks soCIal medIa rules report by aprIl 2 IsLAMABAD

t

GOVT WANTS TO TAKE OPINION OF ALL STAKEHOLDERS, COURT TOLD

Staff RepoRt

HE Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday directed the federation to prepare a report within one month time period on social media rules after consulting all stakeholders.

The court asked the attorney general of Pakistan to submit its report by April 2, in this regard. “A verdict on the petitions challenging the policy will be announced once we have seen the report,” the court maintained.

Chief Justice Athar Minallah heard the case pertaining to social media rules.

At the outset of the hearing, Deputy Attorney General Tayyab Shah said that the government wanted to take the opinion of all stakeholders, adding that some had been consulted in it.

The court directed the AGP to presents his report within one-month and stated that the court would issue a judgment on petitions regarding social media rules after viewing the report.

A day earlier, India had announced its own new rules to regulate big social media firms, such as Facebook and Twitter, in the latest effort by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to tighten control over Big Tech firms.

The rules came after Twitter ignored orders to drop content on farmers’ protests, fuelling the government’s zeal, dating from 2018, to clamp down on material it regards as disinformation or unlawful.

Pakistan has had its own troubles with misinformation being spread, or cultural niceties being usurped, purportedly due to the lack of regulation on social media platforms.

Last week, a Taliban militant, who nine years ago wounded Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai had threatened a second attempt on her life, tweeting that next time, “there would be no mistake”.

In this case, the prime minister’s focal person on digital media, Arslan Khalid, had said that the account was “fake”. He had also informed her that Twitter and telecommunication authorities had been notified “as such miscreants using fake accounts and spreading hate shouldn’t be allowed on any social media platform”.

On February 16, the Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir had grilled the regional head of social media platform, Twitter, for silencing voices of thousands of Kashmiri and Pakistani activists projecting the plight of people of Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK).

In a special hearing held at the Parliament House, Committee Chairman Shehryar Khan Afridi had led the questioning of George Salama, who heads the Twitter regional office in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Afridi had questioned Salama about the Twitter policy regarding human rights and

freedom of speech and whether Twitter regulations did not conform to the United Nations charter on freedom of speech and freedom of expression.

Salama, who attended the meeting through Zoom, had said that Twitter has a specific policy and discourages hate speech and upholds freedom of expression.

He had said that Twitter authorities would ensure freedom of speech to all and voices of minorities would never be silenced.

Afridi had raised the misuse of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) black law by Indian occupational authorities and silencing of voices of Kashmiris.

Responding to Afridi, the Twitter representative had said that Twitter’s official position would remain equal for all parties of the conflict zone. “We are working closely with PTA to ensure equal opportunities to social media users,” Salama said.

On February 12, the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) had issued a statement in which it was learned that 280 valid handles had been suspended, alleging that “under Indian influence, the social media platform is not only depriving Pakistani users of their fundamental rights but also violating its own community guidelines”.

But this was not the first time Pakistan has contacted Twitter over the suspension of

users’ accounts. A similar response was sought from the tech giant in September 2019, days after New Delhi stripped Kashmir of its semi-autonomous status.

In November 2020, the federal government had notified the Removal and Blocking of Unlawful Online Content (Procedure, Oversight and Safeguards) Rules, 2020,” which have been framed under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 (PECA) to counter the flow of illegal, blasphemous, obscene or defamatory content on social media.

The rules, among other things, mandate a majority of social media platforms to register with the PTA and establish a permanent registered office, with a physical address. Under the rules, PTA would not restrict or disrupt the flow or dissemination of any online content except in the case of removing and blocking access to an online content that goes against the interest of Islam, integrity, security and defence of Pakistan, public order, public health, public safety, decency and morality. It would also remove or block content that constitutes an offence under different sections of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), 1860 or of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CCP), 1898.

Arsalan Khalid, the prime minister’s focal person on digital media, had told Anadolu Agency that “there is lack of clarity and communication on part of Twitter” and

Daska by-polls had ‘lifted the curtain from many secrets’, says Nawaz News Desk Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) supreme leader Nawaz Sharif on Friday said that the alleged rigging in the Daska by-polls has “lifted the curtain from many secrets”, adding that it was necessary to get to the bottom of this investigation.

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Thursday had declared a last week’s by-election for a National Assembly (NA) seat in a Sialkot constituency — a seat in Daska Tehsil of the city which fell vacant after the demise of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) MP Sahibazada Syed Iftikharul Hassan Shah in August — as null and void and ordered the government to hold re-election on March 18.

In a press statement, the ECP had

DASKA INCIDENT IS 'EVIDENCE' THAT RIGGING HAD OCCURRED IN THE 2018 GENERAL ELECTIONS, SAYS PML-N SUPREMO said it had suspected that the results of 20 polling stations in the constituency had been falsified because it received the results of the constituency with “unnecessary delay”.

A short verdict, announced on an application of PML-N candidate Syeda Nosheen Iftikhar, had ordered re-election in the constituency because “conducive environment was not available for the candidates and voters and the election had not been conducted honestly, justly, fairly and in a transparent manner.”

The order had been issued using the powers conferred on the ECP under

Article 218 (3) of the Constitution and Article 19 (1) of the Election Act, 2017.

A detailed verdict will be issued later, the commission had said.

Today, during a live video on his Twitter account, the PML-N supreme leader stressed that it was of the utmost importance that the person responsible for the chaos during the Daska by-polls be found out.

“It is much more necessary to get to the bottom of this investigation than the by-election in Daska on March 18,” he maintained.

Nawaz added that the events in the

by-polls had “lifted the curtain from many secrets” and were “evidence” that rigging had occurred in the 2018 general elections. “I have already told you that when election results stop coming in and there is a delay […] then understand that your vote is being stolen somewhere and put into another box,” he said.

Nawaz called upon the public to find those trying to steal the people’s mandate. He promised them in the video that he would not let the vote thieves escape. “Our request is that the nation sees implementation on these punishments as soon as possible.”

ECP issues code of conduct for March 3 Senate elections IsLAMABAD app

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday issued the code of conduct for the forthcoming Senate elections on March 3.

The conduct for political parties, candidates, election agents, and polling agents was issued following a consultation with the parties, the electoral authority said.

According to the code, the president of Pakistan and the governors will not take part in the campaign for the polls or use their residences for the purpose.

Political parties and the candidates will abide by the rules set for peaceful and organised polls. “No one will be allowed to speak against the state, its sovereignty, stability, or interest.”

The concerned will also have to abstain from issuing statements that could harm the independent status of the judiciary, Parliament, or the military.

The authority further restrained the concerned from any propaganda against Islam or the ideology of Pakistan. “All parties and the candidates will abstain from causing any harm to ECP’s stature.”

The communique added that those participating shall follow the directions issued from time to time, and avoid becoming part of any illegal or corrupt activity.

“The candidates and their supporters may not seek or accept help of any sort from any official,” ECP said and added, “no official shall promote a candidate nor

impede the electoral process.”

“The voters will not carry a cell phone or any other device that could capture an image of the ballot inside a polling station.”

The code also made it mandatory for the candidates to use specific accounts in the designated banks for the electoral expenditure. “All candidates shall submit the details of the expenses to the returning officers.

Separately, Sindh Provincial Election Commissioner Aijaz Anwar Chohan on Friday announced names of the candidates for Senate elections 2021.

Eighteen contenders from the province will be contesting for 12 of its share of seats in the upper house of the parliament polls, scheduled to be held next week. There are to be seven general seats besides two each under the categories of women and technocrats respectively.

As per the final list issued by the Sindh Election Commission, ten contestants for the seven general category seats include Taj Haider, Jam Mahtab Hussain Dahar, Dost Ali Jessar, Saleem Mandviwala, Shahadat Awan, Sheher Bano Rehman and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) lawmaker Sadiq Ali Memon, Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf’s (PTI) Muhammad Faisal Vawda, Grand Democratic Alliance’s (GDA) Pir Sadruddin Shah and Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) Syed Faisal Sabzwari.

PTI’s Saifullah Abro, Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarian’s (PPPP) Farooq Hamid Naek and Karim A

Khawaja besides Yasha Ullah Khan Afghan of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) will contest for two of the seats under the technocrats category.

On the other hand, the Sindh High Court (SHC) has summoned PPP’s Palwasha Khan, ECP officials and others, in a plea challenging the acceptance of PPP candidate’s nomination papers for the upcoming Senate elections.

The respondents have been directed to appear before the court on March 1.

According to the applicant, the Election Tribunal allowed Palwasha Khan to contest Senate polls by neglecting the facts.

Furthermore, the PPP candidate hid the name of her husband and sources of income in the nomination papers.

Earlier this week, an election tribunal had rejected a plea against the acceptance of PPP candidate Palwasha’s nomination papers for the upcoming Senate polls.

PTI lawmaker Arsalan Taj had earlier claimed that the PPP provided the address of an empty government-owned plot as her voting address in the province on the nomination papers.

Whereas PPP candidates, Palwasha Mohammad Zai Khan and Rukhsana Parveen along with Khalida Ateeb from MQM-P are to be the contenders for two Women category seats during the forthcoming senate polls.

CNIC REGISTRATION FOR MINORITIES: In a move to push forward with equal rights in the country, the ECP – which was aware of problems

being faced by transgenders, persons with disabilities, women and other neglected segments of the society in obtaining Computerised National Identity Cards (CNICs) – has started taking steps to resolve their all problems.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Joint Provincial Election Commission Haroon Khan Shinwari expressed these views while addressing a function of transgender, person with disabilities and women rights’ activists known as Coalition for Inclusive Pakistan (CIP) on Friday in Peshawar.

He said that the importance of participation of people from all sections of the society including transgenders, persons with disabilities and women in the political and electoral process could not be overlooked and urged political parties, civil societies and media to sensitise this issue and play their key role to ensure their participation in the political and electoral process. He maintained that the ECP had already directed provincial governments to install access ramps at polling stations to facilitate persons with disabilities. He added that the election commission was taking necessary steps to ensure participation of all segments of the society in forthcoming local body elections. He informed the participants of the function that National Database & Registration Authority (NADRA) and provincial social welfare department had been contacted to facilitate transgenders in obtaining NIC so that could be registered in the voters’ list.

Shinwari said that Under the Election

“such actions build the perception that Twitter is biased against Pakistan especially on topics like Kashmir.”

Twitter is not the only social media platform that has raised concerns with Pakistan. On February 11, the chief justice of the Lahore High Court (LHC) had directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to compile a list of those YouTube channels, or accounts on any other social media platform, which may be speaking against the judiciary and to take action against them.

Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PERMA) Chairman Muhammad Saleem Baig, in reply to a question about free speech posed by the chief justice during the hearing, had said that the precedent has been set wherein the authority has taken action in 129 cases of people speaking against the judiciary.

In a recent such incident, the chairman had cited that a TV channel had been suspended and imposed upon with a Rs1 million fine.

Last year, PTA on October 19 had lifted the months-long ban on popular Chinese video-sharing service TikTok, with a caveat that accounts of users posting obscene content will be blocked.

“TikTok is being unlocked after assurance from management [of TikTok] that they will block all accounts repeatedly involved in spreading obscenity and immorality. TikTok will moderate the account in accordance with local laws,” read a tweet on PTA’s social media handle Twitter.

pm Imran welcomes sri lankan govt’s decision allowing muslims to bury Covid-19 victims Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday welcomed the Sri Lankan government’s decision to allow the burial of Covid-19 victims, days after the premier’s visit to Colombo. On February 10, Prime Minister Imran had lauded his Sri Lankan counterpart Mahinda Rajapaksa’s announcement that burials would be allowed. A day later, however, Rajapaksa backtracked and said there would be no change in the cremation-only policy. The ban had sparked protests by Muslims who bury their dead in accordance with Islamic customs. The Muslim community in Sri Lanka had held a protest prior to Prime Minister Imran’s visit, where they carried a mock janazah or coffin. “Respect Prime Minister’s statement and allow burials,” one banner at the protest read. On February 25, a day after Prime Minister Imran concluded his two-day official visit to Colombo, the Sri Lankan government issued a notification saying that the order has been amended to allow both burial and cremation of people who died due to Covid-19. “I thank the Sri Lankan leadership & welcome the Sri Lankan govt’s official notification allowing the burial option for those dying of Covid 19,” PM Imran said in a tweet on Friday. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi too said that Pakistan was “grateful” to the leadership of Sri Lanka for allowing the burial of Covid-19 victims.

“Indeed it is these very principles of mutual understanding, respect and humanity that bring relationships to thrive and prosper,” he tweeted. app

Fm, Iraqi defence minister discuss regional situation ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Defence Minister of Iraq Jumaah Enad Saadoon met in the federal capital on Friday and discussed the overall situation in the region. The two ministers reaffirmed the mutual desire to further promote and solidify existing bilateral relations, the Foreign Office (FO) said. Foreign Minister Qureshi welcomed the Iraqi defence minister and underscored the importance accorded by Pakistan to its fraternal ties with Iraq.

Stressing the need for frequent high-level exchanges between the two countries, the foreign minister hoped that the visit of the Iraqi defence minister would help diversify and deepen collaboration between the two countries in the fields of defence as well as defence production. Foreign Minister Qureshi reiterated Pakistan’s support for sovereignty, political unity and territorial integrity of Iraq.

Pakistan and Iraq enjoy warm and friendly ties, rooted deep in shared faith, values and culture. Both countries cooperate closely in regional and multilateral fora. The Iraqi defence minister is on a four-day visit to Pakistan till February 27. The visit is expected to bolster defence cooperation between the two countries, the Foreign Office (FO) said. The visiting dignitary also lauded the professionalism of the Pakistani Armed Forces and acknowledged their sacrifices in the fight against terrorism. The minister called on Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) General Nadeem Raza at Joint Staff Headquarters, said a statement by InterServices Public Relations (ISPR). app

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Saturday, 27 February, 2021

ISLAMABAD

NEWS

PTI, PPP lawMaKeRS enGaGe In veRbal SPaT duRInG SIndh aSSeMbly SeSSIon

S

NEWS DESK

EVERAL lawmakers of Pakistan-e-Tehreek Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) engaged in a heated debate and used abusive language against each other during a Sindh Assembly session on Friday.

The debate between the parties started when ruling party’s MPA Khurram Sher Zaman requested Speaker

Men kidnap woman after murdering her husband in Karachi: police Three armed men entered into a house in Korangi area on Friday and attacked a family, kidnapping a woman and killing her husband, according to the local police.

The husband, Abdul Sattar, was killed when the armed men attacked him with metal rods during their entrance into the house. The suspects allegedly injured Sattar's mother and sister as well during the attack.

The victim's wife was kidnapped by the suspects, who fled the scene after committing the crime in a rickshaw, according to the police. Disclosing details about the case, the police said the husband and wife had married three years ago by choice and were living secretly in Korangi area. The police said the suspects are relatives of the kidnapped woman. NEWS DESK

Standard Chartered Pakistan posts Rs23.6bn profit before tax Standard Chartered Bank (Pakistan) Limited, the country’s largest and oldest International bank,announced its annual results for 2020, declaring a profit before tax of Rs23.6 billion. Overall revenue grew 5pc and client revenue increased by 15pc YoY despite significant reduction in interest rates and economic uncertainty due to the pandemic. Costs remained well managed and increased by only 4per cent year on year. The bank continued to follow a prudent risk approach and booked loan impairment charge of Rs4.9bn. The risk environment remains heightened and we continue to monitor the portfolio given uncertainties surrounding Covid-19. On advances side, portfolio declined 15pc YoY due to slowdown in economic activity which impacted credit demand. Bank’s balance sheet is well capitalised and liquid and is positioned to leverage the opportunity from resumption in economic activity. With a diversified product and client base, the Bank will continue its strategy to build a profitable, efficient and sustainable portfolio. NEWS DESK

Govt taking steps to strengthen country's economy: Firdous

Agha Siraj Durrani to recite a prayer for a two-year-old girl, who had died due to non-availability of an anti-rabies vaccine in Jamshoro, and said, “It looks as if nowadays dog rules in Sindh.“ To this, PPP Parliamentary Minister Mukesh Kumar Chawla replied, “Please ask him to control his language.” Then several assembly members of the parties engaged in the debate and started using derogatory language.

Then again Zaman started and said, “Please ask Chawla, who is also in charge of the excise and taxation ministry, to close the spurious wine shops in the province." As Zaman’s words created another uproar in the assembly, Chawla replied, “You should also stop supplying contaminated food that is being served at your restaurant.”

The speaker then again controlled the situation by asking both the members to return to their seats.

SC halts demolition of lawyers’ chambers for four days ISLAMABAD TLTP

While granting stay order for four days against the demolition of hundreds of chambers, which were constructed by some lawyers over a football ground adjacent to Islamabad district courts, the Supreme Court (SC) on Friday issued notices to the attorney general for Pakistan (AGP), advocate general Islamabad (AGI) and district administration for Tuesday.

A three-member bench of the court also declined the plea of Islamabad Bar Council (IBC), seeking respite from criminal proceedings against the lawyers, who had reportedly ransacked Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) premises, including the office of IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah, during a protest over the demolition of the chambers on February 7.

The SC Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed expressed that

the lawyers should respect their institutions, saying that the IBC had been involved in allotting the chambers, which the lawyers now deem as their private property.

During the course of hearing, when a cluster of lawyers gathered over the rostrum in the court room, the CJ expressed displeasure and said, “The court will not come under any pressure. We were lawyers once but did not try to pressurise the court. Lawyers should not occupy public places. If you want to practice then build your own offices.” “Lawyers talk against the judicial fraternity after becoming a part of it,” the CJP said disapproving the counsels’ method of making speeches through microphones. A member of the bench Justice Ijazul Ahsan also inquired how the chambers were built on playgrounds and amenity plots.

However, while accepting the appeal for hearing, the top court issued directives to the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to restrain from demolishing the

chambers till next hearing and issued notices to the AGP, AGI and district administration for Tuesday.

It merits mentioning here that since July 1, 1980, the Islamabad district courts have been dispensing justice from a private building and all government of the tenure have been reportedly paying mere lip service to meet the demands of growing number of lawyers, who are practicing in the district courts. Resultantly, number of lawyers constructed their chambers on vacant lands over the time without caring about the easement rights under the pretext that they did not have any place to sit and work.

Earlier on February 7, the CDA enforcement team had demolished some chambers. A day later, a group of lawyers had entered the IHC premises, angrily chanting slogans against the judiciary and the CDA. As a result, two FIRs were registered and more than 21 lawyers were booked under a number of charges.

Comprehensive strategy evolved to resolve problems of every city: Buzdar LAHORE STAFF REPORT

Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has said that a comprehensive strategy has been chalked out to resolve the problems of every city he continuously visits different districts to know about the problems of the people at the grassroots.

He stated this while talking to Parliamentary Secretary for Information Muhammad Nadeem Qureshi who called him at his office on Friday to apprise him about the constituency related problems.

Buzdar said that a number of projects have been

launched in Multan, being the most important city of south Punjab, he added.

He said that the cabinet has approved a new 200bed hospital in Multan while the facility of the south Punjab secretariat is very helpful to solve the problems of the people. He reiterated that the journey of public service will be continued under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan. On the other side, the CM regretted that the opposition is trying to weaken the economy but its nefarious designs will not be succeeded because the people need progress and prosperity in the country.

Now, the politics of development and public service will prevail, he concluded.

UVAS fails to complete establishment of training centre in Pattoki LAHORE SHAHAB OMER

LAHORE: Special Assistant to Punjab Chief Minister on Information Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said on Friday that overseas Pakistanis had been given lucrative investment opportunities for various projects as the role of private sector had been quite significant in the country's economic uplift. Addressing a press conference, she said that Prime Minister Imran Khan wanted to see Lahore in the list of developed cities of the world and he inaugurated revolutionary project "Green Central Business District" and under this project a new city would be set up in the provincial capital. She said, "Our economic, digital and residential requirements are associated with this project, " adding that this project would be completed in three phases.

She also said that this project was a reflection of concept of vertical development. This project would help in promoting different industries and ultimately yield positive results for country's economy, she added.

This project would generate funds of Rs 1,300 billion and the Punjab government would get Rs250 billion in the form of tax, she further said. STAFF REPORT

However, when the speaker requested for decorum in the house, some other lawmakers from both the parties intervened and calmed down the situation.

The speaker then expressed that this was no manner to behave in the assembly and that too at the time of Friday congregation. “Please go and fight outside the house, if you are interested in violence”, he said and added that the session would be adjourned, if the members are not interested in continuing the proceedings.

Despite spending of Rs398.920 million by the Punjab government, the University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (UVAS) has failed to complete the establishment of a training centre for biologics production at the Ravi Campus in Pattoki, Pakistan Today learnt on Friday.

Sources in the Punjab Livestock and Dairy Development (PL&DD) department informed that a project titled ‘Establishment of Training Centre for Biologics Production” at the UVAS Ravi Campus in Pattoki was initiated in 2016, whereas the university was responsible for the execution of the project.

They added that the project was revised three times due to non-delivery of a special equipment, bioreactor, and the cost of the project was not changed in the all revisions as only gestation period of the project was revised from 48 to 54 months.

They further informed that an amount of Rs398.920 million was approved in PC-1 for completion of the project, out of which Rs373 millions have been utilised.

The funds were given for the construction of several laboratories, including Cell Culture Laboratory, Media Preparation Laboratory, Virus Culture Laboratory, Vaccine Preparation & Filling Laboratory, Water Treatment Laboratory, Cell Bank Laboratory and Serological Laboratory, they said, adding that recruitment of several people for various positions and procurement of some

technical and IT-based equipment were also parts of the project. Sources said that it was planned to hire 39 staff members during the executing of the project but only 17 seats were filled by the executing department, whereas most of the machinery and equipment procured for the project were not fixed.

According to the cost analysis of the project, Rs28.762 million were spent under the head of operating expenses against the planned amount of Rs33.295 million but not a single lab was made functional. “The management of the department should take notice and get details about the money spent for the project,” sources said, adding that some labs were constructed but the fixation of machinery and equipment was not done and due to this negligence, the funds of the government were wasted. They revealed that cheap material was used in the construction of the laboratories and numerous cracks are visible in the structures, adding that an agency of the government has questioned the performance of the project and issued a report. “The government has spent an amount of Rs398.920 million to establish this state of the art facility at provincial level but the facility is still not operational even after completion of the entire project period. Hence, it is recommended that it should be fully operationalised without any delay. Further, the process of fixation of machinery and equipment should be expedited as well. All the defects in the construction work must be rectified by the executing department and the rectification reports should be submitted to this office,” the report recommended.

Allied Bank, NIC managing arm Teamup sign MoU to collaborate for Fintech initiatives in startup space Allied Bank recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with National Incubator Center (NIC), which is the largest technology incubation center in Pakistan managed by Teamup. Both organizations aim to promote innovation and digitization in the ecosystem.

Allied Bank will use this partnership to encourage incremental, radical and disruptive innovation by holding design thinking and mentoring sessions, conducting hackathons, and even partnering or funding relevant start-ups for mutual value sharing.

Moreover, Allied Bank will also expose their relevant digital offerings such as Open-Banking APIs to the startups, allowing them to test it in a sandbox environment and possibly support their business architecture. Teamup believes that the NIC startups can benefit immensely

from this partnership. Relevant fintech startups will be provided access to ABL offerings and various collaborative programs will be developed to mentor, coach and facilitate startups to develop and refine their business ideas. “We are extremely happy to initiate this collaboration and future prospects from this partnership are bright.

PRESS RELEASE

Saturday, 27 February, 2021

ISLAMABAD

OGRA PROPOses uP TO Rs7 PeR lITRe IncReAse In PeTROleum PRIces iSLamaBad

T

AHAMAD AHMADANI

HE Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) on Friday recommended the Petroleum Division to increase the price of petroleum products by up to Rs7 per liter from March 1.

According to sources, OGRA, in its oil prices summary, proposed the govern-

ment to jack up the petrol price by Rs 7 per liter and high-speed diesel (HSD) by Rs6 per liter for next fifteen days. The final decision on prices of petroleum products will be taken by the Ministry of Finance in consultation with the prime minister.

“If the PM grants its approval to raise the oil prices then masses will find a new wave of inflation in the prices of essential commodities and fares of transport which

PTI calls for removal of Imran Ismail for 'poor strategy'

in result will destabilize their monthly budget and their economic health as well,” said the sources.

They added that the government can maintain the oil prices at current level if it decreases levy and taxes already imposed on oil prices.

The current levy on petrol stands at Rs17.97 per litre, while that on diesel stands at Rs18.36 per litre.

It may be noted that Prime Minister

Imran Khan had earlier this month rejected ORGA's proposal to increase the price of petroleum products.

OGRA had forwarded a summary to the prime minister, seeking an increase of Rs14.07 per litre in the price of petrol and Rs13.61 per litre in the price of high speed diesel from Feb 15th.

The authority had also recommended an increase in the price of kerosene oil by Rs10.79 per litre.

Biden administration urges Pakistan, India to hold direct talks on Kashmir issue continued from page 01

Members of the ruling party have called for the removal of Sindh Governor Imran Ismail as he allegedly did not consult stakeholders for the Senate elections, leading to the candidates from the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) losing in the Malir, Sanghar, and Tharparkar by-polls due to the governor's "poor strategy". The dissatisfaction was expressed during a meeting at the residence of PTI leader Gul Muhammad Rind. Several party members, including Liaquat Jatoi, Mumtaz Shah, and others were in attendance. The members further complained that Imran Ismail has failed to execute the duties of his office and has not properly brought Prime Minister Imran Khan's manifesto to Sindh. The statement condemned the show-cause notice issued to Liaquat Jatoi by the party and demanded the withdrawal of the notice as the politician is "an asset to the party". Separately, PTI leaders Liaquat Jatoi and Saifullah Abro on Friday clashed in Larkana. PTI activists of Larkana and Kambar Shahdadkot districts held a large protest demonstration at Jinnah Bagh Friday holding party's flags and large banners in their hands against awarding a party ticket to Saifullah Abro for Senate elections 2021. They also shouted slogans in favour of their demand.

Aqil Chandio, Wasim Jatoi, Javed Mangi, Jehangir Channo, Mumtaz Chandio, Habib Kathiyo and others questioned the basis of giving PTI's ticket to Abro. They said what sacrifice has he given for Sindh or the party.

They said that he entered PTI about eight months ago and there are several old loyal members of the party who have more experience than him but they were ignored which shows, they added, that some selfish people sitting inside the party are real enemies of the party.

They said that these elements have their own nefarious designs and are working against the party. They alleged that Abro is facing corruption and National Accountability Bureau (NAB) cases against whom arrest warrants were also issued. They asked when the party is working against corruption then how PTI can give a ticket to the man who is facing NAB and corruption cases. They urged the PTI Chairman and Prime Minister Imran Khan to immediately withdraw the ticket given to Abro or the party will be scattered, they feared. Meanwhile, during the protest, two groups of workers had a dispute in which Ashique Jatoi was injured.

Injured told newsmen that he is Larkana city's general secretary and was attacked by Jehangir Channo and other activists of the party whereas Channo claimed that they were holding a peaceful demonstration against the party's unjust decision when they were not only abused but also manhandled by Jatoi after which dispute started, he added. NEWS DESK

Media representatives present on the occasion recalled that Joe Biden, who was vice president during the Obama administration, had a warm relationship with Pakistan. The journalists asked how his prior closeness with Pakistan influenced this agreement, and how it may affect foreign policy and relations with the two countries moving forward, now that Biden is president of the US. “When it comes to the US role, we continue to support direct dialogue between India and Pakistan on Kashmir and other issues of concern,” said the State Department spokesman while responding to these queries.

Price also recalled that that both he and other members of the current administration had urged Pakistan and India to resolve the Kashmir issue since Biden took office on January 20.

“Pakistan is an important partner with whom we share many interests.

We, as I said, have been clear in terms of this issue,” he said in reply to a question on how the US would stay impartial in the regional conflict between the two countries.

“So clearly, we will be paying close attention, and we urge the Pakistanis to play a constructive role in all of these areas of mutual interest, including in Afghanistan, including with Kashmir, including with our other shared interests,” he said.

Separately, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres termed the development a “positive step” and hoped that it would pave the way for more talks between the two countries.

“The Secretary-General is encouraged by the joint statement issued by the militaries of India and Pakistan on their agreement to observing the ceasefire at the Line of Control in Kashmir and engaging through established mechanisms,” his spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, said in a statement

read out at the regular noon briefing at the UN Headquarters in New York on Thursday. “[The UNSG] hopes that this positive step will provide an opportunity for further dialogue,” the statement said.

Replying to a question from APP correspondent, the spokesman said that the UN chief had no plans as yet to contact the leaders of Pakistan and India for starting the process to resolve the decades-old Kashmir dispute.

He said that the secretary-general’s good offices were always available for any member state who would request it.

UN General Assembly President Volkan Bozkir also welcomed the agreement, which, he said, “set an example for others and demonstrates the General Assembly’s value.”

While the move between the two neighbouring nuclear powers seems to indicate a more cordial future, office holders in Pakistan are still seeking retribution for the acts incurred over the past year.

Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir Chairman Shehryar Khan Afridi on Friday urged the UNSG to act on the recent report of UN experts on human rights and put sanctions on India for its demographic terrorism in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK).

He expressed these views while addressing participants of a seminar titled ‘Countering Extreme Behaviors Through Perception Management’.

Afridi said that seven UN experts have issued a report on India’s stripping of autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir and undermining minority rights.

The UN rights experts have said that the loss of Kashmir’s autonomy and subsequent legislation has threatened the demography of Jammu and Kashmir. He added that these experts have warned that Indian acts could negatively affect the previous level of political participation of Muslims and

other minorities.

Afridi said that top human rights organisations have also called on India to immediately halt its intensifying suppression of voices of Kashmiris after the country’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) raided several organisations in Jammu and Kashmir.

Quoting Amnesty International, Afridi maintained that the global watchdog on human rights said that Indian raids are an alarming reminder that India’s government is determined to suppress all dissenting voices in IOK. He recalled that soon after the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A to strip Jammu and Kashmir of its autonomy, thousands of Kashmiris were arrested, including pro-India politicians, and an internet blackout was imposed following the unprecedented political move. He added that the high-speed internet was restored after two years, the longest spell of internet shutdown in the world.

Afridi said that the educated youth is giving confused vibes and is distracted from its roots. He said that self-belief and national pride is a must for Pakistan’s youth and the youth should work diligently to create a tolerant and moderate society.

He underscored that Pakistan is the jewel of the crown in Asia and was a centre of regional and global connectivity and trade.

He said that enemy was using Pakistani youth as its hostile designs by controlling minds of Pakistani youth.

He said that in this information age, enemy was using mod electronic gadgets to proliferate negative propaganda through fake news about Pakistan.

He concluded that Pakistani youth should act as agents of change and work to unify and unite the nation and instill national pride among the people at large.

With additional input from APP

NEWS

05

Pakistan to meet FATF’s remaining demands by June: Hammad continued from page 01 The minister added that Pakistan is perhaps the only country in the world that is under the FATF’s dual scrutiny. “So, in parallel, our government and departments have also been working day and night on the completion of this process.” Pakistan will remain on the FATF grey list for another four months, it was revealed on Thursday after the plenary meeting of the FAFT concluded. According to a handout issued by the Ministry of Finance a day earlier, the FATF had appreciated Pakistan for the significant progress made on the entire action plan. The plenary meetings of FATF were held virtually from February 22-25, 2021, where its members discussed a range of topics relating to Pakistan’s progress. Pakistan’s delegation in the FATF plenary had been led by FATF Coordination Committee Chairman and Federal Minister for Industries and Production Muhammad Hammad, and attended by senior officers from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA), Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU), National FATF Secretariat and other key stakeholders. In its plenary meeting held on February 25, FATF had stated: “To date, Pakistan has made progress across all action plan items and has now largely addressed 24 of the 27 action items.” The global anti-money laundering watchdog had acknowledged the continued high-level political commitment of Pakistan to combat terrorist financing which, according to the FATF statement, had led to significant progress across comprehensive countering financing of terrorism plan. Pakistan had undertaken enormous work to strengthen its anti-money laundering (AML) and combatting finance of terrorism (CFT) regime as well as to address the strategic counter-terrorist financing-related deficiencies. In addition to the acknowledgement by FATF in its plenary statement that Pakistan has made significant progress on the entire action plan by addressing 24 out of the 27 items in the action plan.

Pakistan has also made notable progress in the remaining three action items which also stand partially addressed. As of now, all the 10 action items pertaining to the financial sector and border controls have been addressed. In relation to terrorism financing investigations and prosecutions, six of the eight action items have been addressed, whereas, for targeted financial sanctions, eight of the nine action items also stand addressed. The progress on the remaining three action items is well underway with significant progress made so far. The Ministry of Finance reaffirmed its commitment to continue strengthening the AML/CFT regime in line with global standards. In its previous meeting in December, the body said that Islamabad had now reached 21 targets out of 27 set for it in 2018 — when Pakistan was placed on the list of countries with inadequate controls over money laundering — and urged it to complete the plan by February. Starting February 21, the global anti-money laundering watchdog had engaged in a four-day virtual meeting to discuss, among other matters, the status of Pakistan after a review of the measures it has taken to combat the menace of ill-gotten money. The meetings were hosted in Paris and multiple countries, including Pakistan, came under review.

Indus Motor declares Rs4.8bn profit after tax 1HFY21 The Board of Directors of Indus Motor Company (IMC) has released the company's financial results for the half-year ended December 31, 2020. IMC's combined sales of Completely Knocked Down (CKD) and Completely Built-up Units (CBU) units increased by 82pc to 26,362 units against 14,453 units sold in the same period last year. The company produced 26,383 vehicles, registering an 81pc increase, as compared to 14,555 units produced in the same period last year. IMC’s market share in the overall market stood at approximately 24.7pc for the half-year ended December 31, 2020. The company's net sales turnover for the half-year ended December 31, 2020, increased to Rs79.65 billion as compared to Rs42.78 billion for the same period last year, while profit after tax increased to Rs4.8 billion as against Rs2.3 billion achieved in the same period last year. The increase in turnover and profitability for the half-year period was mainly owing to higher CKD and CBU volumes and increased other income due to improved cash flows. However, cost increases mainly due to rupee devaluation eroded the gross profit margin to 7.55pc against 8.81pc in same period last year. NEWS DESK

Pakistan will save $3bn thanks to Qatar LNG deal, says PM continued from page 01 Towards the end of his address, the premier announced that these projects would, in total, generate Rs6,000 billion in revenue. However, he became annoyed that no one had clapped when he declared the amount.

“I think all of you sitting in the front have had a late night, because you seem to be asleep. No one clapped at the announcement that Rs6,000 billion will be generated,” he said. “Aleem Khan, you should know about these things because you are in business.”

Separately, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Petroleum Nadeem Babar said Pakistan would save an amount of around $3 billion in the import of LNG under a 10-year agreement signed with

Qatar at 10.2 per cent of the Brent, which would be effective from January 2022.

“Today we have signed a very important agreement with Qatar. Our earlier agreement [signed by the PML-N government] with Qatar was 13.37 per cent of the Brent, under which an average of five cargoes arrive every month. But, we [the PTI government] has inked the deal at 10.2 per cent of the Brent,” he said while addressing the media.

This contract, he said, was almost 31 per cent lower than the previous agreement signed by the PML-N government. “It is a 10-year agreement and the price can be renegotiated after a period of four years.”

The SAPM said the existing agreement was of 15 years, under which the price was fixed for a period of 10 years.

Under the new agreement, he said, Pakistan would save around $317 million annually and $3 billion collectively during a period of 10 years.

Nadeem Babar explained that there were a number of amendments in the 10-year agreement. As per the old contract, Pakistan had given a letter of credit (LC) of $170 million to the Qatar government, but under the new agreement, the LC would be only $84 million.

In the new arrangement, he said, the import would be started with an average of two ships per month, which would be increased to four vessels in a period of three years.

Justifying the new deal, he said a contract of the Gunvor Company, which was operating at 13.37 per cent of the Brent, had expired in December 2020, while its second

cmYK

contract would be ending after 14 months.

The new contract would be replacing the two expensive contracts, he added.

The SAPM said there would be a cushion for Pakistan to import an additional volume of LNG during the upcoming peak winter season, on a need basis, at the same 10.2 per cent. “This agreement will be effective from next January, and if needed it can be executed two-three months before the commencement date, keeping in view the winter needs.”

Since the start of LNG import and till December 2019, he said Pakistan’s spot LNG purchase remained at an average of 11.90 per cent.

He termed the new LNG supply deal ‘historic’ as it would ensure economic stability.

“In the LNG trade, this price [10.2% of

the Brent] is the lowest publicly disclosed contract ever.”

Answering a question, he said the imported LNG was mostly being consumed by commercial, industrial, power and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) sectors. The LNG was not supplied to a common residential consumer, who rather got natural gas.

The SAPM said the process to strike the deal was started around two years ago when he had accompanied the PM during his first visit to Qatar.

“It is correct that the deal was discussed at the highest level of the government. The PM himself had talked to the Amir of Qatar thrice. It took a long time to strike the deal at 10.2 per cent of the Brent, which is the lowest publicly known contract in the world today.”

Saturday, 27 February, 2021

06 COMMENT

Initiation of India-China Border Talks

A landmark decision First step in the long march

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he election Commission of Pakistan (eCP) took note of the murders, firing and injuries and bad law and order situation that created harassment for voters and must have discouraged many from casting their votes. The eCP was surprised at very little response and assistance from the administration in tracking some 20 presiding officers who went missing overnight. The spokespersons of the party that has all along claimed the moral high ground meanwhile tried to explain away the incidents as common happenings in every elections. The eCP’s verdict declaring the Daska by-poll null and void and ordering action against government officials found responsible is a major step towards establishing the credentials of the eCP as an independent institution that possesses the will to execute its decisions with firmness and courage.

The use of government machinery by the PTI administration to create well-orchestrated lawlessness in NA75 has dented Prime Minister Imran Khan’s self-projected image of a champion of righteousness and transparency. Mr Khan’s lieutenants contradicted themselves within hours of the decision, promising first to accept, unlike the PML(N) and PPP, they said, whatever verdict was delivered by the eCP, then for a short while taking credit for the freedom displayed by the it and finally staging the all-too-familiar about-turn by challenging the verdict in Supreme Court. This proved once again that the PTI leadership is yet another practitioner of realpolitik. establishing the eCP’s credibility is no ordinary job in a country where no election, besides the one in 1970, has gone undisputed. For this the eCP will have to establish its moral authority through verdicts that are widely seen to be just and impartial, and having been delivered without bending to pressures from powerful circles. The Chief election Commissioner will have to resolve issues that have remained unsettled so far. Despite the presence of laws regulating election expenses, no CeC has succeeded in implementing them, thus allowing Parliament to gradually turn into a billionaire’s club. There is an absence of an effective system to efficiently resolve election disputes with the result that petitions remain unsettled for years. One hopes that the eCP will enjoy the support from all concerned quarters, including the superior judiciary, as it deals with the hurdles on its way.

The 1962 War between the two left far-reacging effects

Dr rajkumar Singh

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he unresolved border issue, a legacy of the India-China war of October 1962, cast a long and deep dark shadow on areas of engagement in the post-war period. Although ambassador-level relations between them were restored in April 1976, the first positive development on the part of China came when greeting the Indian diplomat in 1970, Mao said that India is a great country and that India and China should be friends again.

The border issue between them was intensified after the 1962 war, when the Chinese forces withdrew 20 Kilometers behind the Mc Mahon Line, which China called “the 1959 line of actual control” in the eastern sector and 20 km behind the line of its latest position in Ladakh, which was further identified with the “1959 line of actual control” in the western sector.

This left China in possession of 23,200 square km of territory in Ladakh. India asked for status quo-ex-ante as of 8 September 1962 in all sectors, which China rejected. It resulted in a stalemate on the boundary dispute. The Indian suggestion of status quo was further refuted in December 1964 by Chinese Premier Chou enlai while speaking to the National People’s Congress in Beijing. he called the suggestion of restoration of the status quo as of 8 September 1962 “an unreasonable Indian pre-condition”. he declared on the occasion that China would never dismantle its posts and reminded India that China had not relinquished its claim to an additional 90,000 square km south of the Mc Mahon Line. This territorial demand was in addition to the 23,200 square km in Ladakh that was already with China. Thus, the bigger border issue, if made central to further development of SinoIndian relations, would effectively freeze any progress towards entente.

In fact the conflict left a trail of bitterness whose traces are still present in their relations. For many years to come their mutual hostility determined their foreign policy. There were no ambassadors is each other’s capital for many years and there was virtual

FATF extension Staying on the grey list

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AKISTAN has been kept on the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) at its latest summit because, according to its President, while it has made considerable progress in fulfilling the requirements of the international watchdog, it has still to meet three of the 27 points of the Action Plan it gave in June 2018, when the country first went on the FATF grey list. FATF President Michel Pleyer said that Pakistan would still not be blacklisted at that stage, but it would be useful to get off the grey list. That the IMF resumed its eFF package was taken as an indication that FATF would end the greylisting, but that has proved an over-optimistic assessment. however, the failure to get off the grey list indicates two things: that Pakistan has to do more internally to make the country less favourable to terror financing and money laundering, and it has to mount a greater diplomatic effort to achieve its goal.

That FATF has set a fresh deadline is indeed an indication that Pakistan has taken steps to make its systems impossible for terror financing or money laundering, but it also shows that there are further steps to be taken. It should rate as a positive that the steps are to do with implementation, rather than ab initio. The exercise of passing laws with the opposition virtually being arm-twisted into cooperation seems to have helped, but not enough. The diplomatic effort is also crucial. India would like to use this as a tool against Pakistan, and unfortunately, the USA, which should be helping Pakistan, is working with India on this. Pakistan’s friends, like China and Turkey, are not able to do much to persuade even themselves to support Pakistan, let alone help anyone else do so.

The PTI needs to consider its strategy carefully. It has had to handle the issue, which arose just before it took office. It will not achieve anything by having its Foreign Minister, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, boast of success before FATF meetings, and scramble (as now), for explanations of what went wrong. The government itself has said that the issue is of the greatest importance. It is time it itself treated it that way.

azhar SiDDiq

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N monarchies or dictatorships, the state generally employs a large portion of the employable population and periodically gives them different incentives. For example, in Saudi Arabia, 66 percent of the total employed are somehow connected to public sector organizations. This social contract between state and public sector employees provides inevitable control over administration while regular increment and incentives ensure the grip of the state in the absence of any democratic framework.

These lucrative job additions through public enterprises help to accommodate a big chunk of the employable population who otherwise would be difficult to be adjusted in a skilled driven and competitive private sector.

In developing countries, in the absence of any moneymaking natural resources like oil and gas, the economy experiences substantial bottlenecks to provide necessary social security to people. The reason lies in the drain of fiscal resources to finance the public enterprise, salary bills or to provide subsidies in the areas where public enterprises mismanagement result in high prices of utilities like electricity. economist Janos Kornai’s concept of “Soft Budget Constraints' ' sheds light on the paternalistic behaviour of the government that leads to the emergence of fiscal cost without corresponding benefits.

Pakistan has been a very interesting case; frequent army takeovers and weak democracy resulted in the less efficient more complex public institutions filled with low skilled, well paid workforce that has now become a burden to the debilitated economy.

Since the last two decades, experts and international organizations including IMF, World Bank have

Arif Nizami Editor Managing Editor

Joint Editor

Umar Aziz Executive Editor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965

It was made clear to the Chinese authorities that the border issue between the two is central to normal relations when Wang Ping Non visited India in March 1978 as the leader of a goodwill delegation and emphasised that the bitterness that had developed between the two countries as a result of the border conflict 16 years before was a thing of the past. From the Government of India’s points of view complete friendship with China would be possible only after the return of its territory. Morarji Desai, the Prime Minister of India, also told the Rajya Sabha that there was no possibility of having full friendship with China: a border solution was first, amity could only come after.

Thus, the question in India was seen as a precondition to the normalisation of relations between the two countries

The writer is Head of the Department of Political Science and Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the B.N.Mandal University, Madhepura, Bihar, India and can be reached at rajkumarsinghpg@gmail.com

State Under the Burden of Servants

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Yousaf Nizami Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

absence of contact. There is nothing worse for a country’s image than defeat, as the prestige and image of a nation gets tarnished. Its capacity to influence other nations gets seriously affected. As J. F. Kennedy aptly put it: 'Victory has many fathers, defeat is an orphan'.

Internationally, the two countries traded abuses and generally adopted opposite standpoints. Peking was engaged in a full-scale campaign against New Delhi, a chief purpose of which was to carry conviction that India was no longer non-aligned but was firmly in the US camp.

With Chinese propaganda and its alliances against India, now the later was deeply suspicious about Chinese motives and designs.

India believed that China wanted to dominate Asia as Lal Bahadur Shastri, the then Prime Minister of India, said in Parliament, ‘To justify its aggressive attitude, China is pretending to be a guardian of Asian countries, who, according to China are being bullied

by India. The basic objective of China is to claim for itself a position of dominance in Asia, which no self-respecting nation in Asia is prepared to recognise' The annual report of the Ministry of external Affairs for the year 1964-65 spelt-out India’s perception of Chinese motivations. After a long period of hostility and strife from the mid1970s the two countries felt the need to normalise their relations and accordingly they moved in this direction, although slowly.

In line, China participated in the 33rd Table Tennis Championship at Calcutta in February 1975. Peking began to respond to the earlier Indian initiatives.

A major change of guard took place almost simultaneously in India and China. As a result of the general election held in early 1977, for the first time since country’s independence in 1947, a non-Con-

gress Government, the Janata Party coalition, under the leadership of Morarji Desai, assumed office. The Chinese confidently expected that the Janata Government would considerably distance itself from the USSR and move towards new bonds with Washington and Peking.

The change of government was welcomed in Peking and as reported in The Times, the Chinese government expressed the hope that the new Indian government would bring changes in the hitherto proSoviet policy of the Government of India. The new Government and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, its Minister for external Affairs, assured the Chinese Government by reiterating that India considered Tibet as a part of China and normal relations were maintained in the period with exchange of delegations from both sides. however, it was made clear to the Chinese authorities that the border issue between the two is central to normal relations when Wang Ping Non visited India in March 1978 as the leader of a goodwill delegation and emphasised that the bitterness that had developed between the two countries as a result of the border conflict 16 years before was a thing of the past. From the Government of India’s points of view complete friendship with China would be possible only after the return of its territory. Morarji Desai, the Prime Minister of India, also told the Rajya Sabha that there was no possibility of having full friendship with China: a border solution was first, amity could only come after. Thus, the question in India was seen as a precondition to the normalisation of relations between the two countries.

Therefore, this background persisted in the background to the recent clahes between forces of the two countries. The experience of te past also played a role in te recent clash between the two.

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Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9

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been warning the government about the rising pension and salary bills. however, in the past every government already had enough it's plate to deal with so at the expense of taxpayer’s money, the situation was left to be dealt with by the next government.

It has become so common that any debate against it is considered an injustice and animosity against the working class.

PIA, Steel Mills, Railways all have become white elephants. The bills of salaries and pensions make the economic makers in turmoil every year while proposing a budget or during negotiations with the IMF. Official figures by the Punjab government show that in 2019-20, Punjab government spent 18.9 % (Rs 244.9 fillion) of the total expenditures on the pension of its former employees and 26 % (Rs 337.6 billion) of the total expenditures was spent on the salaries.

A recent World Bank report, “Pakistan Assessment of Civil Service Pension” prepared on the request of federal and provincial finance ministries of Sindh and Punjab, using the actuarial projections estimates that by 2023 pension bill is set to overtake wages in Punjab while in Sindh this would happen in 2028.

Since assuming power, some major policy decisions have been taken by the PTI government including changing the management of PIA to prepare it for privatization, laying off the staff of steel mills and avoiding the regular yearly increment in the 2020-21 budget. however, recent protests by Federal government employees in Islamabad ended with a deal of 25 % increase to the adhoc allowance for BPS 1-19 which will cause 40 billion rupees to the federal budget and economists have already alarmed that this raise will further affect the coming round of negotiations with the IMF and might result in more taxes.

The culture of granting allowances is very discriminatory and vague, it makes no sense to increase the salaries of civil secretariat/CM secretariat em-

Islamabad – Ph: 051-2204545

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Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk

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ployees just because they have easy access to Chief Secretary or the Chief Minister. Without a skill set and without taking into account the annual output of the department, this allowance sanction powers need immediate revisions.

A pension and pay commission has already been working under the former bureaucrat Nargis Sethi and according to the Prime Minister’s special assistant on reforms, Dr Ishrat hussain, the commission would present recommendations for pension reform from pay as you go to defined contribution and creation of pension funds. In future this will help the government to reduce the fiscal pressure and would also help in the capital market.

In the past, many solutions have been suggested including limiting the indexation of benefit or increasing the minimum serving age rather than 25 years for pension eligibility or limiting the pension to widow of deceased pensioner rather than windowed daughter and younger son etc. however, there is a policy solution which is to grant powers of pension and salary related decisions to BODs of every public sector enterprise to create their own salary and pension formula under the guidelines set by the government. The concept is to dissolve the issue to departmental level. If a department performs well and they have finances to invest then it can set the pension rate and salaries according to its own financial capacity.

Rather than emotionality, the matter requies practical analysis and policy solutions. Whatever the solution may be, it will irk some stakeholders and if any government either this one or the next does not want to take the hit, this financial burden will remain costing billions to taxpayers especially in a country where the tax system is dependent on indirect tax collection rather than a clear mechanism of direct taxes.

The writer is a freelance columnist

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Saturday, 27 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

Covid-19 and mental health

ECP Demystifying Daska Fog The ECP reasserting itself

muSTaFa aBDuLLah BaLOCh

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he seed of democracy is elections. If they are fair, the outcome will be progress and prosperity but if they are tampered then the outcome will be instability and crisis. While analyzing the controversial electoral process of Pakistan the famous quote of Stalin makes quite relevance "It's not who votes that counts, it's who counts the votes."

In Pakistan the paper ballots are still being counted manually and carried in sacks making it vulnerable to theft and tampering when electronic voting is being used in countries like India and Bangladesh. The ballots being in the custody of helpless and weak Grade 16 or 17 government officers, mostly schoolteachers reluctant to perform this heavy responsibility, raises a pertinent question about whether a schoolteacher is mentally and physically strong enough to handle the pressure.

The recent by election in NA-75 Daska was an eye-opener. The optics revealed a weak electoral system where the voters were scared by militants backed by political entities to deliberately affect the turnout, while the polling staff were caught carrying bags containing votes and then suddenly results stopped pouring in, leading to speculations about the pollls’ fairness.

But this time something happened that was unheard of before as the polling staff of 20 polling stations were untraceable, to which the PML(N) reacted by highlighting the issue in the media. Later, next day the election Commission responded with a statement that it tried to communicate with the top brass of the Punjab bureaucracy but did not receive any response. This clearly showed the bureaucracy was taking dictation from the ruling party.

When pressure was built then the Punjab administration came with the infamous ‘fog’ story which was later discarded by the eCP. These circumstances raised many questions on

the fairness of Daska by election, therefore pressure was built to the point where the Prime Minister offered a re-poll in the 20 suspicious polling stations. But the eCP acting fairly voided the Daska by poll and ordered a re-poll in the entire constituency. The eCP took strict action against the bureaucracy for negligence, ordered the establishment Division to suspend Sialkot’s DC, DPO and AC. The Punjab Chief Secretary and IGP have been summoned on March 4 for “ignoring their duties”. Such bold decisions were never taken before, it gives an impression that eCP is heading for change and improvement but still there is a long way to go. The current eCP Chairman is a retired bureaucrat and apparently understands complexities of bureaucracy, therefore is dealing with the situation better than his predecessors who were retired judges. however, the decision of the PM to move to the Supreme Court against the eCP’s order has raised quite a few eyebrows as he claimed himself to be a champion of electoral reforms, and carried out 126 days dharna in 2014 for the sake of four constituencies and but conveniently changing the rules of game when he himself got power. Ironically, the PTI which is anxious to implement open ballot in the Senate is not ready to strengthen the eCP which is trying to develop trust of voters in the electoral system.

Now, will the Bozdar administration be neutral this time or not? Interestingly Daska re-poll would be held after the Senate elections which will majorly change the political dynamics. If hafeez Shaikh gets defeated, then the PTI’s morale will further sink and situation will give boost to the PDM which will ultimately affect the upcoming political events especially the Daska repoll. Also the contest of hafeez Shaikh is not just with the PDM but with the doomed fiscal policies being faced by the common man.

Usually in by-elections the constituency gets attention from political parties, media and public, therefore these rigging elements were surfaced this time but similar or different types of rigging do occur in general elections as well affecting the actual results, just like in 2018 the RTS system was used which failed to deliver as the results were held back for many days, polling staff were forced to stay outside the premises of polling stations and the counting was done in their absence. Such happenings created doubts about the transparency of elections and till date the ruling party is carrying the stigma of being called ‘selected’.

These electoral tamperings should not be ignored, rather strict measures should be taken to bar any possibility of rigging and as the entire process of election will remain disputed and this is not a positive sign for democracy.

Parliament must work on improvement of the electoral process which can only be done with bold and innovative steps which other countries have also taken to upgrade their electoral process.

The electoral process of India shows that they have brought gradual changes in their election system such as implementation of e-

voting. For further verification they added Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail which is an independent system attached with the electronic Voting Machines that allows the voters to verify that their votes are cast as intended.

The game changer in their electoral process was the 10th CeC T.N. Seshan who transformed the election commission in India.

Today Pakistan needs an upright, no- nonsense, rulebook CeC who can take innovative steps and reduce the errors, a shadow of which can be seen in the current CeC who has used his powers firmly by not taking any pressure and making valiant decisions. If electronic Voting Machines are used in Pakistan it will bring possible changes and reduce the rigging chances. Also will it help in cost cutting as there will be no need of using millions of ballot papers that drains a huge amount of public exchequer and there will be no need of deploying thousands of people across the country to deal with the ballot papers. Also it will provide accuracy in the result by diminishing the chances of manual miscounts.

As a test case electronic voting system needs to be introduced in local bodies elections. In today's modern world of IT the system of carrying the public mandate in bags that can be compromised does not serve the purpose. If we talk about the USA which has a highly developed electoral system recently witnessed a public rage during the presidential elections after the speculations about rigging. The Republican voters were anguished and protested unprecedentedly in Washington. It shows that there is always a threshold point of the voters which might trigger anytime they feel their votes are being tampered.

There are a lot of improvements and changes that need to be brought in the electoral process of Pakistan to revamp the trust of voters if we are keen to protect the already fragile democracy. every election in Pakistan becomes controversial in some way or the other which discourages the voters and especially the youth who plays a vital role in the progress of any country. election commission should be practically independent in financial and administrative matters with zero tolerance. If an institution is fully autonomous then it won't be under the influence of the executive or judiciary.

The Daska episode should not be ignored and must be taken as a test case for it has mirrored the political and administrative interference hindering the electoral process that has been weakening the democracy of Pakistan.

It's high time that all political stakeholders reach a consensus on how elections must be conducted on a modern and technically advanced pattern and how to make eCP powerful and able to execute its decisions without any duress.

It seems that the current eCP is demystifying the fog that made Daska election suspicious. Today, Pakistan needs an autonomous, innovative, effective and authoritative eCP with a courageous and neutral Chairman so that future elections are not compromised by fogs and faulty RTS. The writer can be reached at mustafarind01@gmail.com

DURING Corona-Virus (COVID-19) pandemic, Social sites, and Social platforms’ involvement in de escalating the outbreak was crucial. So, the International health Authorities incited hankering after designing an effectuated vaccine just in against the clock. however, on such crunch times, the civilians were supposed to be indoors, and internet at the nick of times, gave a helping hand to the people to stay home, to protect themselves from the novel COVID-19. On the other hand, being in doored and attached to the internet around the clock can trigger multitudinous mental illnesses, caused by spending hours on online games, social sites, even addicted to porn. After the declination of the virus, people are still addicted to their smartphones and computers. Owing to that, people are losing social interactions, charisma, and the charm once they had before the pandemic. As a result, in the recent decades some well-developed countries just owned the smartphones utilizing addiction, like United States of America (USA) (where people are more likely to be the victim of mental disorders), Japan, China, and many more. haplessly, now such social dilemmas are being retained even in the underdeveloping nations especially Pakistan. In addition, the recent statistics comprehensively denote the tremendous accentuation of the internet users in Pakistan. According to an estimation that nearly 154.3 million people in Pakistan use internet, approximately 11 million from 2017-2019 which is nearly 17% enhancement as comparing to the last three years. The report more specifies that around 76.38 million people were active in internet only during 2020, and over 164.4 million mobile connections were reported within the country. As there are multifarious nefarious mental diseases caused by social sites\Internet including Depression, Anxiety, Self-harm, loneliness, and involving unethical motivations. In fact, more than 50 million people suffer from mental disorders in Pakistan, majority of them are relevant to the internet. Furthermore, depression is the most un-extraordinary form of mental illness especially triggered by spending more time on internet which also causes anxiety.

According to a report of 2012, that more than 13,000 residents committed suicide in Pakistan under depression, and nearly 33.62% are suffering from anxiety among which 45.57% are women, and 21.7 are man, mass of the suicides was due to getting motivated from some unethical sources, and later on came under the radar of depression.

Unfortunately, Pakistan is not only notorious for its suicide rate, but also due to selfie-deaths. Pakistan is ranked second in the world with more than 76 Selfie-Deaths during taking selfies for uploading in their social accounts or making videos for TikTok. Not only Selfie but Pakistan has a huge list of Players Unknown Battle Ground (PUBG) users.

MEhraj altaf hErronk

Return of stolen assets PRIMe MINISTeR Imran Khan Thursday urged the world community to seek commitment from the “haven” countries to return all foreign stolen or illegitimate assets, and develop international anti-money laundering legal instruments. Addressing as a keynote speaker at the virtually held launching ceremony of the Final Report of the high-Level Panel on International Financial Accountability, Transparency and Integrity for Achieving the 2030 Development Agenda (FACTI Panel), the prime minister called for considering the OeCD’s (Organisation for economic Co-operation and Development) proposal to freeze and return the unexplained assets of foreign “Politically exposed Persons”. The event was also addressed by 75th President of the General Assembly Volkan Bozkir and 76th President of the economic and Social Council Munir Akram. The report presents 14 recommendations to reform, redesign and revitalize the global architecture, so it can effectively foster financial integrity for sustainable development. Besides, it stresses for strengthening coordination and global governance related to financial integrity as an essential component of the common agenda for the common future of present and coming generations. Urging for some quick concrete actions, the prime minister first emphasized on “a commitment by “haven” countries to immediately and unconditionally return all foreign assets that were shown to be stolen or whose “legitimacy” could not be explained.

“The OeCD’s proposal to freeze and return the unexplained assets of foreign ‘Politically exposed Persons’ is worthy of consideration.”

Sohail ali khan iSlaMabad

Don’t ignore SOPs The second wave of Covid-19 is more dangerous and causes more deaths than the first one. It is killing more people and creating several problems for every individual in the world. But still the people are ignoring ordered SOPs. Today we can’t see a single person who is wearing a face mask thus, the cases are increasing day by day. People think that the Covid-19 has gone, but actually it is not, it exists in the country. So, that’s why we need to strict on ourselves to follow the SOPs in everywhere and be saved from deadly virus. iMran Sattar nigwari balnigwar

Climate change and Pakistan AS we know that the whole world is shaken worstly by the covid19 pandamic but also climate change became an other lethal challenge is being faced by the world. Pakistan is one of those countries which is became most effected country by the climate change that is confronting the overall population of it.The major diseases grown up by the climate change that effected the lives of population. Moreover our all actions are against of nature and sharpening the climate change to rise up. All people from different corners of the country have no attention on nature and every one is just for their own profits and ignored the nature. It is already known that climate change is a major issue but still pushing it up. On the other hand Balochistan agriculture is being adversely effected by the climate change at the time. Agricultures are the tireless efforts of farmers who created for life use production in their livelihood but they are going in vein due to climate change. I urge to every countrymen across the country to keep full attention on nature. There is a need urgently to put an end to climate change and protect the earth as well as the life on the earth. altaf adaM awaran

Saturday, 27 February, 2021

08 WORLD VIEW

Why the US ShoUld pUrSUe cooperation With china

PrOject syndicate JEFFrEY d SaChS

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MeRICAn foreign policy since World War II has been based on a simple idea, perhaps best expressed by President George W. Bush after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks: either you are with us or against us. America should lead, allies should follow, and woe be to countries that oppose its primacy.

The idea was both simple and simplistic.

And now it is antiquated: The United States faces no implacable foes, no longer leads an overpowering alliance, and has far more to gain from cooperation with China and other countries than from confrontation. Former President Donald Trump was a grotesque caricature of US leadership. he hurled insults, threats, unilateral tariffs, and financial sanctions to try to force other countries to submit to his policies. he ripped up the multilateral rulebook. Yet Trump’s foreign policy faced remarkably little pushback inside the US. There was more consensus than opposition to Trump’s anti-China policies, and little resistance to his sanctions on Iran and Venezuela, despite their catastrophic humanitarian consequences.

President Joe Biden’s foreign policy is a godsend in comparison. Already, the US has rejoined the Paris climate agreement and the World health Organization, is seeking to re-

COOPERATION IS NOT COWARDICE, AS AMERICAN CONSERVATIVES REPEATEDLY CLAIM. BOTH THE US AND CHINA HAVE MUCH TO GAIN FROM IT: PEACE, EXPANDED MARKETS, ACCELERATED TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS, THE AVOIDANCE OF A NEW ARMS RACE, PROGRESS AGAINST COVID-19, A ROBUST GLOBAL JOBS RECOVERY, AND A SHARED EFFORT AGAINST CLIMATE CHANGE turn to the United nations human Rights Council, and promises to rejoin the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. These are hugely positive and admirable steps. Yet Biden’s early foreign policy pronouncements vis-à-vis China and US leadership are problematic.

Biden’s recent address to the Munich Security Conference is a good window into his administration’s thinking in these early days.

There are three causes for concern.

First, there is the rather naive idea that “America is back” as world leader. The US is only now returning to multilateralism, has utterly botched the COVID-19 pandemic, and until January 20 was actively working against the mitigation of climate change. It still must heal the many deep wounds left by Trump, not least the insurrection of January 6, and address why 75 million Americans voted for him last november. That means reckoning with the hefty dose of white supremacist culture animating much of today’s Republican Party. Second, “The partnership between europe and the United States,” Biden declared, “is and must remain the cornerstone of all that we hope to accomplish in the twenty-first century, just as we did in the twentieth century.”

Really? I am a europhile and strong supporter

of the european Union, but the US and the eU account for just 10% of humanity (nATO members account for 12%).

The transatlantic alliance cannot and should not be the cornerstone “for all we hope to accomplish” this century; it is but one important and positive building block.

We need shared global stewardship by all parts of the world, not by the north Atlantic or any other region alone. For much of the world, the north Atlantic has an enduring association with racism and imperialism, an association stirred by Trump. Third, Biden claims the world is engaged in a great ideological struggle between democracy and autocracy. “We’re at an inflection point between those who argue that, given all the challenges we face – from the fourth industrial revolution to a global pandemic – that autocracy is the best way forward…and those who understand that democracy is essential…to meeting those challenges.”

Given this alleged ideological battle between democracy and autocracy, Biden declared that “we must prepare together for a long-term strategic competition with China,” adding that this competition is “welcome, because I believe in the global system eu-

'Islamo-leftism' debate shows just how low Macron's regime can go

Middle east eye Marwan MuhaMMad

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hen French Minister of higher education Frederique Vidal appeared on Cnews last Sunday to warn of the dangers of “Islamo-leftism”, one may wonder whether she had planned to deliberately reignite one of the most destructive debates in the country, or - for structural reasons related to her privilege she simply felt confident enough to allow herself to be candid?

In either case, we are now back to the cycle of Islamophobic trash. This past week was dedicated to how Trappes, a popular banlieue in the western suburbs of Paris, was supposedly “a territory lost to Islamists”, as its recently elected Mayor Ali Rabeh was, according to the far right, “not doing enough” (to prevent racist fake news, most probably).

The title for the worst, most ignorant, most racist and polarising statement related to Islam and Muslims in France has become, over the years, one of the most sought-after credentials.

At the same time, our political elites fail to tackle more mundane issues, such as addressing a major health crisis, fighting unemployment, curbing mass poverty, or addressing structural discrimination. They have failed even to be struck by a transient form of decency and simply remain silent, when incapable of offering any useful contribution.

So when Vidal was invited on the Cnews show, her PR adviser, surely aware of how politically bland the minister had been thus far, likely told her to make the most of it.

And she did. When host Jean-Pierre elkabbach asked her to comment on whether “Islamo-leftism is infecting universities”, she doubled down and explained that “Islamo-leftism is in fact infecting the whole society”. The host went on to ask

whether Vidal included those who “link race, gender and social status” in her criticism. “Absolutely,” she confirmed. And when elkabbach claimed there was “an alliance between Mao Zedong and Ayatollah Khomeini”, Vidal couldn’t agree more: “You’re right!”

She eventually asked for a national inquiry on “Islamo-leftism” in French academia, immediately triggering a mass reaction from student unions, social scientists and universities’ senior management. The basic idea is that by breaking the instrument through which science identifies and problematises structural forms of racism, political leaders will no longer have to be seen for what they are, as they continue to take advantage of racial, social and economic struggles for their own benefit.

CRISIS-MAnAGeMenT MODe

By Monday morning, the whole cabinet was in crisis-management mode. What was supposed to be just another opportunity to join in the ongoing anti-Muslim dialogue had gone a bit too far, as commentators began to wake up to the fact that constructing Islam as a problem, criminalising intellectual and political opinions, and infringing on fundamental and academic freedoms could eventually be harmful to everyone.

On Wednesday, France’s national Centre for Scientific Research published a media release explaining how the term “Islamo-leftism” has “no scientific basis whatsoever”. Jean Chambaz, the head of Sorbonne University, commented that “it is easy to blame an undefined ideological movement for social issues in the country”, noting that the government was “trying to appeal to quite nauseating segments of public opinion”.

Prominent academics and political figures have called for Vidal to resign, and, as if that wasn’t enough, the far right national Rally congratulated her for her stance on “Islamo-leftism”.

This debacle would never have been possible if it weren’t for two factors. Firstly, there is the role of the media. For several years now, Cnews has devoted itself to providing an audience for the most racist ideologies, with a constant flow of far-right commentators and Muslim-conspiracy-theory pundits, several of whom have been convicted of inciting hatred. Cnews has proudly become the French Fox news.

Other media outlets often follow their lead, organising debates on all things Islam, such as whether to ban headscarves in universities, “how to control” Muslim organisations, or whether to prohibit religious schools. Under the pretext of expressing

“diverse opinions”, these news outlets validate the framing of these issues as defined by the far right. There can be no knowledge built on a flawed premise. nORMALISInG ISLAMOPhOBIA The second factor is the normalisation of Islamophobia. Many of the commentators who have rightly and aptly criticised Vidal’s claims were not as vocal when the same destructive processes targeted Muslim intellectuals, Islamic organisations and community leaders - labelled “Islamists” for exactly the same reason that social scientists who do not validate the far right’s agenda are now labelled “Islamo-leftists”. This should remind us all that we have to stand in solidarity when any minority or group is stigmatised even if we are not directly and personally affected.

The government’s plan to control Muslims, the law on “separatism” and the way Muslim and anti-Islamophobia organisations have been criminalised - without a massive reaction from all progressive voices - poses a threat to fundamental freedoms.

In an attempt to defuse the situation, timely “leaks” have emerged, claiming that President emmanuel Macron disagreed with Vidal - even though he himself identified academia as a political target in June 2020. So, how can we understand a government that fails to address mass poverty, but is quick to come up with a new racist controversy every week? how do we define a government that has been elected to “defeat the national Rally”, but claims the far-right party is not tough enough against Muslims? how can we make sense of Macron’s strategy, which doesn’t seem to be a strategy at all, unless the aim is to shatter what remains of French ideals and pave the way for national Rally leader Marine Le Pen’s victory, as she becomes the main contender for the next presidential election?

One thing is certain: Macron’s regime has been shown for what it really is, and no French cultural exceptionalism can justify that.

Marwan Muhammad is a FrenchEgyptian author and statistician. After a career in finance, he dedicated the last 12 years to the fight against Islamophobia. He was the spokesman and then the director of the Collective Against Islamophobia in France (CCIF), the most prominent human rights NGO in France supporting Muslims, before becoming a diplomat for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), where he supported Muslim communities all across Europe, Central Asia and North America.

rope and the United States, together with our allies in the Indo-Pacific, worked so hard to build over the last 70 years.”

The US may view itself as being in a long-term ideological struggle with China, but the feeling is not mutual. American conservatives’ insistence that China is out to rule the world has come to underpin a bipartisan consensus in Washington. But China’s goal is neither to prove that autocracy outperforms democracy, nor to “erode American security and prosperity,” as the 2017 US national Security Strategy asserts.

Consider Chinese President Xi Jinping’s speech at the World economic Forum in January. Xi did not talk about the advantages of autocracy, or the failures of democracy, or the great struggle between political systems.

Instead, Xi conveyed a message based on multilateralism to address shared global challenges, identifying “four major tasks.”

Xi called on the world’s leaders to “step up macroeconomic policy coordination and jointly promote strong, sustainable, balanced, and inclusive growth of the world economy.” he also urged them “to abandon ideological prejudice and jointly follow a path of peaceful coexistence, mutual benefit, and win-win

cooperation.” Third, they must “close the divide between developed and developing countries and jointly bring about growth and prosperity for all.” Lastly, they should “come together against global challenges and jointly create a better future for humanity.”

Xi stated that the path to global cooperation requires remaining “committed to openness and inclusiveness,” as well as “to international law and international rules” and “to consultation and cooperation.” he declared the importance of “keeping up with the times instead of rejecting change.”

Biden’s foreign policy with China should begin with a search for cooperation rather than a presumption of conflict. Xi has pledged that China will “take an active part in international cooperation on COVID-19,” continue to open up to the world, and promote sustainable development and “a new type of international relations.” US diplomacy would be wise to aim for engagement with China in these areas. Today’s hostile rhetoric risks creating a self-fulfilling prophecy. Cooperation is not cowardice, as American conservatives repeatedly claim.

Both the US and China have much to gain from it: peace, expanded markets, accelerated technological progress, the avoidance of a new arms race, progress against COVID-19, a robust global jobs recovery, and a shared effort against climate change.

With reduced global tensions, Biden could direct the administration’s efforts toward overcoming the inequality, racism, and distrust that put Trump in power in 2016 and still dangerously divide American society.

Jeffrey D. Sachs, Professor of Sustainable Development and Professor of Health Policy and Management at Columbia University, is Director of Columbia’s Center for Sustainable Development and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

He has served as Special Adviser to three UN Secretaries-General.

Trump’s unconditional retreat from Afghanistan leaves Joe Biden little choice US troop withdrawal was supposed to depend on progress in Taliban reconciliation with Kabul. But the terrorist attacks have only increased Usa tOday

W

Editorial Board

hen the United States and the Taliban reached an initial peace deal last year, it held out the promise of ending America's longest war. There was widespread praise for President Donald Trump, including from us. Sadly, it proved to be nothing like that at all.

The Taliban only increased attacks in the country, and the Trump plan turned out to be little more than a cynical ploy to create a nice campaign sound bite: "We're bringing our soldiers back home."

ONE COMMANDER IN CHIEF TO ANOTHER: The risks and dangers associated with what amounted to a U.S. retreat from Afghanistan would be someone else's problem. And that someone else today is Joe Biden.

President Biden's only choices are to either stick with Trump's plan and pull the remaining troops out by May 1 — risking collapse of the Afghan democracy. Or delay withdrawal to provide time and space for the insurgency and the Kabul government to strike an agreement — however difficult that might be. We believe the second option is the only real choice.

Under the terms of the U.S.-Taliban accord reached by the Trump administration last February, America promised an initial troop drawdown from 14,000 to 8,600 by July. And the Taliban agreed to negotiate peace with the Afghan government.

WHAT HAPPENED TO CONDITIONS? Further reductions were to be conditioned on progress toward an overall reconciliation. except they weren't. And there wasn't.

Trump just kept pulling troops out, even with zero progress in peace talks. The Taliban launched major offensives across southern Afghanistan in november. The insurgency began targeting journalists, civil servants and activists for assassination. And the Taliban recently closed in on several major cities, reportedly telling field commanders the peace agreement is a ruse to achieve overall military victory once the Americans leave. "Certainly the Taliban (are) looking emboldened," said heather Barr, a human Rights Watch official who works on Afghan issues. She characterized the mood in Kabul as "incredibly grim."

TERRORISM, HUMAN RIGHTS American troop levels are now at 2,500

— the lowest since 2001. nATO allies, with more than 7,000 troops in Afghanistan, would almost certainly follow a U.S. exit.

Thanks to Trump's craven effort to win political points regardless of consequences, Biden has no good choices. But the stakes remain high: ►The threat of terrorism. It's no accident that there hasn't been a major terrorist attack on the United States since 9/11. The counterterrorism work by U.S. forces in Afghanistan has apparently checked the ability of al-Qaida and the Islamic State militants to launch that kind of violence. While Biden made his own campaign promises to pull out U.S. troops, he carved an exception for maintaining a counterinsurgency force to prevent Afghanistan from once again becoming a terrorist haven. ►The preservation of human rights. hard-won freedoms for a generation of Afghan women, and the girls growing up behind them, would be lost under a Taliban regime. This is already the case in rural areas occupied by the insurgents. But in areas controlled by the government, millions of girls attend school, tens of thousands of women are educators, thousands serve in the justice system and dozens are in parliament. ►The imperative of a stable Afghanistan.

If peace negotiations were allowed the time and space to succeed, a successful result could ultimately quell a region fraught with extremist ideologies, a vast opiate drug trade and dangerous rivalry between nuclear-armed rivals Pakistan and India. All six neighboring countries, including China and Iran, share an interest in avoiding an all-out civil war should the United States leave. And the regional economic benefits of a stable nexus country like Afghanistan are limitless.

There are risks to negotiating a delay in troop withdrawals with the Taliban. The insurgency could claim that the United States is violating the 2020 accord and resume attacks on American service men and women. nonetheless, the Taliban also have a viable interest in a power-sharing agreement that carries the promise of widespread diplomatic recognition, international economic support and peace. They were a pariah state before the U.S. intervention in 2001. That's no future.

The Biden administration still has leverage, and good reasons, to delay a final withdrawal of U.S. troops in order to push the Taliban and the Afghan government toward a negotiated end to the conflict.

Saturday, 27 February, 2021

buSineSS 09

iSlamabad

PAkiSTAN To SAvE ARoUNd $3bN UNdER NEw LNG dEAL wiTh QATAR: SAPM

corporate corner

ISLAMABAD

LAHORE: The Bank of Punjab (BOP) and Haleeb Foods Limited (HFL) have entered into a far-reaching collaboration to deliver easily accessible financing to dairy farmers associated with HFL. PR

LAHORE: METRO Pakistan, as part of its continuous Covidrelief support program, has donated 1500 hygiene kits to the civil administration in Islamabad, Lahore, and Karachi for the frontline workers and quarantine centers. PR

S

STAFF RePORT

PECIAL Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Petroleum Nadeem Babar said on Friday that Pakistan would save an amount of around $3 billion in the import of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) under a 10-year agreement signed with Qatar at 10.2pc of the Brent, which would be effective from January 2022.

"Today we have signed a very important agreement with Qatar. Our earlier agreement [signed by the PML-N government] with Qatar was of 13.37pc of the Brent, under which an average five cargoes arrive every month. But, we [the PTI government] gave inked the deal at 10.2pc of the Brent," he said while sharing with media details of the

SHAHZAD PARACHA

ISLAMABAD: Pak Suzuki has donated Suzuki Bolan as a fully equipped ambulance, medicines, medical and Covid protection items to Saiban NGO, which has been involved in welfare activities since 2001. PR

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s first-ever batch of certified real estate advisors graduate as course by Graana.com and NUST concludes. PR

$170 million to the Qatari government, but under the new agreement, the LC would be only of $84 million.

In the new arrangement, he said, import would be started with average two ships per month, which would be increased to four vessels in a period of three years.

Justifying the new deal, he said a contract of the Gunvor Company, which was operating at 13.37pc of the Brent, had expired in December 2020, while its second contract would be ending after 14 months.

The new contract, he said, would be replacing the two expensive contracts [of Gunvor].

The SAPM said there would be a cushion for Pakistan to import additional volume of LNG during the upcoming peak winter season, on need basis, at the same 10.2pc of the Brent.

IMF slashes FBR’s collection target by Rs263bn ISLAMABAD

KARACHI: JS Bank recently orgranised a grand event under the theme ‘The Power of You’, to recognise highperforming JS Bank family members and their unmatched dedication to the bank. PR

agreement, which was signed in the presence of Prime Minister Imran Khan at the PM House.

This contract, he said, was "almost 31pc lower" as compared to the previous agreement signed by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government.

"It is a 10-year agreement and the price can be renegotiated after a period of four years," he informed, adding that the existing agreement was of 15 years, under which the price was fixed for a period of 10 years.

Under the new agreement, he said, Pakistan would save around $317 million annually and $3 billion collectively in 10 years.

Nadeem Babar said there were a number of amendments in the 10-year agreement. As per the old contract, Pakistan had given a letter of credit (LC) of

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has slashed Federal Board of Revenue (FBR)'s tax collection target from Rs4,963 billion to Rs4,700 billion for the current fiscal year (FY21).

According to sources, the IMF team has agreed for a downward revision in FBR's collection target by Rs263 bil-

lion which would be met through non-tax revenue. The FBR has assured the IMF team that the department can achieve the revised Rs4.7 trillion target, they added.

It is pertinent to mention that the FBR's performance has been impressive in terms of revenue collection; the revenue board has managed to achieve its eight-month collection target of Rs2,898 billion.

The FBR's revenue clocked in at Rs2,900 billion till February 27, 2021. On the other hand, FBR issued refunds amounting to Rs140 billion during the said period, in addition to Rs50 billion released under the prime minister's package.

The FBR now has to collect Rs1,800 billion in the remaining four months to achieve its FY21 revenue target.

K-Electric reports half-year profit of Rs6.8bn The Board of Directors of KElectric Ltd (KE) recently approved the company’s financial results for the half-year ended December 31, 2020.

KE has reported a net profit after tax amounting to Rs6.872 billion for the period under review, translating into an earning per share (EPS) of Rs0.25. This included Rs4.6 billion actual write-offs claim as per the mechanism provided under KE’s MYT.

The KE board decided to invest the profits earned back into business.

During the period under review, the company showed strong operational performance on the back of improved macroeconomic environment after uplifting of the Covid-19 lockdown along with investments of around Rs26.422 billion across the power value chain. As a result, during the period under review, units sent out grew by

4.8pc along with a 5.5pc increase in units billed and 0.6pc points reduction in T&D losses.

It is important to note that the key driver of this growth was industrial segment which showed a growth of 10pc higher compared to same period last year. Driven by these operational improvements, the company’s gross profit increased by 23pc as compared to the same period last year. NeWS DeSK

CCP seeks ex-mill, retail price record of edible oil from ghee manufacturers ISLAMABAD: The Competitive Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has sought ex-mill and market retail prices of banaspati and cooking oil from ghee manufacturers.

According to sources, the CCP has directed ghee as well as oil manufacturers to submit month-wise ex-mill and retail prices of banaspati and cooking oil from July 2018 till date. The Ministry of Industries and Production had asked the CCP to take up the matter of high prices of cooking oil with the ghee industry association as well as Pakistan Vanaspati Manufacturers Association (PVMA). It may be noted that retail prices of vegetable ghee had not decreased in the local market last year despite the fact that palm oil prices in the international market fell to $277 during the first four months of 2020. "The ghee industry failed to pass on the relief to the consumer despite reduction of $140 in palm oil prices in the international market in the last few months," an industry insider informed. As per the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, palm oil import to Pakistan had enhanced by 57,233 metric tonnes in the last 12 months; Pakistan imported 301,710 metric tonnes of palm oil in January 2021, as compared to 244,477 metric tonnes in January 2020. Meanwhile, sources informed that the PVMA has also summoned its extraordinary general body meeting on Saturday to discuss a number of issues, including the CCP notices. SHAHZAD PARACHA

MARKET DAILY

Stocks retreat 100 points on profit booking KARACHI STAFF RePORT

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) endured a volatile session on Friday, with the indices swaying both ways in search of a direction before finally ending in the red.

Equity markets around the world showed also showed a negative pattern; whereas crude oil prices slipped lower from the previous close; WTI crude price declining 1.89pc to $62.33 while Brent crude price falling 1.71pc to $65.00 (as at 4:48pm PST).

"Market activity remained subdued

today, with FATF's decision to maintain status quo for Pakistan till June 2021 receiving a lukewarm response from investors. Profit booking was witnessed almost across the board, particularly technology, cement, textile and oil & gas marketing sectors," a report issued

by Arif Habib Ltd read.

SUMMARY: The benchmark KSE-100 Index moved in a narrow range on Friday, touching its intraday high at 46,239.89 (+274.26 points) and low at 45,753.07 (-212.56 points). It settled lower by 100.61 points at 45,865.02.

Among other indices, the KMI-30 Index dropped 113.36 points to close at

76,278.37, while the KSE All Share Index declined 211.72 points, ending at 31,436.15.

The overall market volumes improved from 468.94 million shares in the previous session to 479.75 million shares (+2pc). Average traded value also increased by 11pc, from $147.1 million to $162.8 million. Unity Foods Ltd (UNTIY -4.76pc), Telecard Ltd (TELE +0.38pc) and TRG Pakistan Ltd (TRG -2.86pc) led the volume chart, exchanging 45.31 million, 36.65 million and 33.15 million shares, respectively.

Sectors that dragged the benchmark index lower included oil & gas explo-

CMYK

ration (-56.30 points), technology & communication (-33.02 points) and chemical (-30.83 points). Among the companies, Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd (OGDC -53.72 points), TRG Pakistan Ltd (TRG -44.82 points) and ColgatePalmolive (Pakistan) Ltd (COLG -29.86 points) dented the index the most.

Shedding 1.63pc from its cumulative market capitalization, the tech & communication sector ended as the session's worst performer, with Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd (PTC -1.55pc), Avanceon Ltd (AVN -5.02pc) and Hum Network Ltd (HUMNL 5.17pc) ending in the negative.

"This agreement will be effective from next January, and if needed it can be executed two-three months before the commencement date, keeping in view the winter needs."

He termed the new LNG supply deal ‘historic’ as it would ensure economic stability. "In the LNG trade, this price [10.2pc of the Brent] is the lowest publicly disclosed contract ever," the SAPM claimed.

Answering a question, he said the process to strike this deal had started around two years ago, when he had accompanied the PM during his first visit to Qatar. "It is correct that the deal was discussed at the highest level of the government. The PM himself had talked to the Amir of Qatar thrice. It took long time to strike the deal at 10.2pc of the Brent, which is the lowest publicly known contract in the world today."

No debt burden on Pakistan due to CPEC power projects: China China has said that power projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) did not incur debt burden on Pakistan as they were investment projects. "I can say this with good authority that these energy projects are commercial investments where Chinese companies invested in Pakistan," Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said during a regular briefing in response to a question that Pakistan had requested China to reschedule its debt of around $22 billion in power projects funded by Beijing. "We have responded to similar questions on many occasions. I don't know how you got your specific figure," he said, adding that there were many power and energy cooperation projects in CPEC. "Perhaps you are referring to loans on the energy projects. Right?" Lijian informed that he had worked in Pakistan for many years and was very familiar with the energy projects and the CPEC. "So, these loans are from Chinese companies. The Pakistani government doesn't need to pay back anything," he added. The spokesperson remarked that the construction and operation of energy projects under the CPEC framework were "going on very well", providing steady and affordable power source, adding tax revenues and producing very tangible, economic and social benefits. "We are confident that energy cooperation between the two countries will continue to make greater contributions to Pakistan's national development and livelihood improvement," he added. According to official data, a total of 22 energy and power projects will be constructed under CPEC, a flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping. So far, nine energy and power projects have been completed, boosting the energy needs of Pakistan. These projects have contributed 5,340 megawatts of electricity to the main grid, helping meet the country's vital needs of industry, agriculture and domestic consumers. NeWS DeSK

Takaful Pakistan Limited is now Salaam Takaful Limited KARACHI: Takaful Pakistan Limited, the largest dedicated general takaful operator in the country, unveiled its new brand image of Salaam Takaful Limited.

To commemorate the commencement of this new name, a grand launch event took place in Karachi on Friday, 26th February 2021. With the top brass of financial industry and leading corporations, Shariah scholars and media personnel, the company’s stakeholders were also in attendance.Dr. Ishrat Husain, Adviser to PM for Institutional Reforms and Austerity, was the chief guest and in his speech, he gave an insight on the current national economic landscape. Dr. Isharat Husain further continued by applauding the progress that Islamic financial sector has made over the years. PReSS ReleASe

Ufone brings STARZPLAY by Cinepax for U LAHORE: Keeping customer convenience a top priority, Ufone has partnered with STARZPLAY by Cinepax to provide variety of latest TV shows, movies, kids’ entertainment and Pakistani dedicated content including selected titles in full HD with flexible payment plans.

Ufone subscribers can now stream their favorite shows from any device at all times; also getting the opportunity to download all their shows for offline viewing. The platform is available for all Ufone pre- and postpaid customers to enjoy unlimited movies, videos and short films. Through this partnership Ufone aims to provide diverse entertainment options to customers and ensures that they get amazing value for money. The service is available to users all across Pakistan with a daily price point for as low as Rs8/day, weekly price of Rs59/week and monthly price of Rs239/month. PReSS ReleASe

Saturday, 27 February, 2021

10 FOREIGN NEWS

ISLAMABAD

KidnAPPeRS ABdUCt hUndRedS of SChoolgiRlS in noRthweSt nigeRiA AS SeCURity deteRioRAteS ABUJA

U

Agencies

NIDENTIFIED gunmen kidnapped a number of schoolgirls, estimated to be more than 300, from the town of Jangebe in northwest Nigeria early on Friday, the second such kidnapping in little over a week.

“Unknown gunmen came shooting sporadically and took the girls away” in a midnight raid on the Jangebe Government Girls’ Secondary School, SulaimanTanauAnka, information commissioner for Zamfara state, told Reuters.

“Information available to me said they came with vehicles and moved the students, they also moved some on foot,” Anka said, adding that security forces were hunting

A parent told AFP he had received a call about the latest incident in Zamfara.

“I'm on my way to Jangebe. I received a call that the school was invaded by bandits who took away schoolgirls. I have two daughters in the school,” said SadiKawaye.

A surge in armed militancy in the northwest has led to a breakdown of security in the north of Africa’s most populous country, where school kidnappings are becoming endemic.

The rise is fuelled in part by sizeable government payoffs in exchange for the children, officials have said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The Nigerian government regularly denies such payouts.

Last week, unidentified gunmen killed a student in an overnight attack on a boarding school in the north-central state of Niger and

through the area.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said more than 300 girls were estimated to have been abducted.

“We are angered and saddened and by yet another brutal attack on schoolchildren in Nigeria,” said Peter Hawkins, UNICEF’s Nigeria representative.

Police, military and intelligence services did not respond to calls seeking comment.

One teacher told AFP “more than 300 are unaccounted for after a headcount of remaining students,” while another teacher had a higher estimate.

“Out of the 600 students in the school only around 50 have been accounted for. The rest have been abducted. It is possible some of them managed to escape, but we are not sure,” the teacher said.

Biden says US will hold Russia accountable over Crimea WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden on Friday said the United States would stand with Ukraine and hold Russia accountable for its aggression against Crimea, according to a statement released by the White House on the anniversary of Moscow’s 2014 annexation of the peninsula. “The United States does not and will never recogniSe Russia’s purported annexation of the peninsula, and we will stand with Ukraine against Russia’s aggressive acts. We will continue to work to hold Russia accountable for its abuses and aggression in Ukraine,” Biden said. The Biden administration has said still conducting its foreign policy reviews regarding Russia, China and other key areas after taking the reins from former Republican President Donald Trump on January 20. Biden, a Democrat, spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin late last month and pressed him on a range of issues, including Ukraine’s sovereignty as well as Moscow’s jailing of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, alleged interference in the 2020 US election and the massive cyber hack against the US government last year. The White House in recent days said it will respond to Russia in coming weeks over the SolarWinds hack. Agencies

Australia lifts ban on Boeing 737 MAX, among first in Asia-Pacific SYDNEY: Australia said on Friday it would lift a near twoyear ban on flights involving Boeing Co 737 MAX planes, becoming among the first in the Asia-Pacific region to do so. “We ... are confident that the aircraft are safe,” Graeme Crawford, acting chief of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, said in a statement. The regulator has accepted comprehensive return-to-service requirements set by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for the 737 MAX, he added. No Australian airlines operate the 737 MAX, but Virgin Australia has 25 of the planes on order. Singapore Airlines Ltd and Fiji Airways operated them on flights to Australia. The Boeing 737 MAX was grounded in March 2019 after two deadly crashes. Crawford said it was unclear when those airlines would resume flights to Australia given the disruption by Covid-19 to international air travel. Singapore Airlines and Fiji Airways will also need approval to resume flying the 737 MAX from their national aviation regulators and from other authorities where they need to use airspace. Singapore’s aviation regulator did not respond immediately to a request for comment. Singapore Airlines said it would continue to work with and be guided by regulators on 737 MAX operations. A Fiji Airways spokesman said it was still working with other regulators in the region, including those in Fiji and New Zealand, before returning the 737 MAX to service. New Zealand’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said it had worked closely with counterparts in Australia and Singapore on the return of the 737 MAX in New Zealand. “The CAA will not issue a blanket approval for the Boeing 737 MAX to fly into New Zealand but will work with any future operators on a case-by-case basis to clear flight operations into New Zealand,” the CAA said, noting Fiji Airways was still restricting international flights due to Covid-19. Regulators in the United States, Europe, Britain, Canada, Brazil and the United Arab Emirates are among those that have already approved the 737 MAX’s return to flight following technical modifications and additional pilot training.

Japan lifted its restrictions at the end of January following decisions by counterparts in the United States, Europe, Canada and Brazil, an official at Japan’s Civil Aviation Bureau said on Friday. Japan has no local operators of the 737 MAX and the decision was not announced publicly at the time. China was the first country to ban the 737 MAX from its airspace in 2019 and it has not indicated when it will lift the ban. Boeing said on Friday it was working with regulators and customers to return the 737 MAX to service safely worldwide. Agencies

kidnapped 42 people, including 27 students.

The hostages are yet to be released.

In December, dozens of gunmen abducted 344 schoolboys from the town of Kankara in northwest Katsina state. They were freed after six days but the government denied a ransom had been paid.

The militant group’s West Africa branch in 2018 kidnapped more than 100 schoolgirls from the town of Dapchi in northeast Nigeria, all but one of who, a Christian, were released. A ransom was paid, according to the United Nations.

Perhaps the most notorious kidnapping in recent years was when Boko Haram militants abducted 276 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok in Borno state in April 2014. The incident drew widespread global attention, with several prominent personalities calling

for their release.

Most have been found or rescued by the army, or freed in negotiations between the government and Boko Haram, also for a hefty ransom.

About 100 are still missing, either remaining with Boko Haram or dead, security officials say.

Hundreds of people have been killed in the north by criminal gangs carrying out robberies and kidnappings. The country is also struggling to contain insurgencies in the northeast and communal violence over grazing rights in central states.

President Muhammadu Buhari replaced his long-standing military chiefs earlier this month amid worsening violence, with the armed forces fighting to reclaim northeastern towns overrun by insurgents.

India rescues 81 Rohingya people on drifting boat, asks Bangladesh to take them NEW DELHI/DHAKA Agencies

India’s coast guard found 81 survivors and eight dead on a boat crammed with Muslim Rohingya refugees adrift in the Andaman Sea, and were repairing the vessel so that it can return safely to Bangladesh, Indian officials said on Friday.

The Indian government was in discussions with Bangladesh to facilitate the safe return of the vessel, which was found drifting in international waters having left southern Bangladesh about two weeks ago with hopes of reaching Malaysia.

The boat had sailed on February 11 from Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh carrying 56 women and eight girls as well as 21 men and five boys, officials said.

Many of the survivors, according to Indian officials, were sick and suffering from extreme dehydration, having run out of food and water after the boat’s engine failed four days after leaving Cox’s Bazar, where refugee camps house hundreds of thousands of Rohingya who have fled neighbouring Myanmar.

“The engine of the boat broke down earlier this week and we received an SOS from some Rohingyas,” said an Indian coast guard official overseeing the search and rescue effort from New Delhi. “It’s a humanitarian crisis and we are doing the best we can to save their lives,” he said, requesting anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

“The foreign ministry is working towards sending them back to Bangladesh and India will repair or replace the boat’s engine to ensure they can travel back safely.”

The survivors were being provided with food supplies and medicine, and women and children have been given fresh clothes. It was unclear what

arrangements were being made for the funeral rites of the people who died, the coast guard official added.

Announcing that the boat had been found, India’s External Affairs Ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava said on Thursday two Indian coast guard ships were dispatched to search for the vessel following urgent calls for help.

UN RAISED THE ALARM: The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, had raised the alarm earlier this week over the missing boat.

“We understand that around 47 of the occupants of the boat are in possession of ID cards issued to them by UNHCR office in Bangladesh stating that they are displaced Myanmar na-

tionals,” Srivastava said.

Of the 90 people that had set out on the voyage, eight were found dead, and one was missing, he added.

More than 1 million Rohingya refugees from Myanmar are living in teeming camps in Bangladesh, including tens of thousands who fled after Myanmar’s military conducted a deadly crackdown in 2017.

Human traffickers often lure Rohingya refugees, promising them work in Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia. A Bangladeshi foreign ministry statement said the boat had been traced some 1,700 km (1,056 miles) away from Bangladesh and 147 km (91 miles) from India’s Andaman and Nico-

bar Islands. “Other states, particularly those on whose territorial water the vessel has been found, bear the primary responsibility and they should fulfil their obligation under international law and burden-sharing principle,” it said.

India did not sign the 1951 Refugee Convention, which spells out refugee rights and state responsibilities to protect them. Nor does it have a domestic law protecting refugees, though it currently hosts more than 200,000, including some Rohingya. Chris Lewa, director of the Arakan Project, a group that monitors the Rohingya crisis, accused India of trying to shirk responsibility, saying keeping the refugees “at sea put their lives at further risk.”

Facebook switches news back on in Australia, signs content deals SYDNEY Agencies

Facebook Inc ended a one-week blackout of Australian news on its popular social media site on Friday and announced preliminary commercial agreements with three small local publishers.

The moves reflected easing tensions between the US company and the Australian government, a day after the country’s parliament passed a law forcing it and Alphabet Inc’s Google to pay local media companies for using content on their platforms.

The new law makes Australia the first nation where a government arbitrator can set the price Facebook and Google pay domestic media to show their content if private negotiations fail. Canada and other countries have shown interest in replicating Australia’s reforms.

“Global tech giants, they are changing the world but we can’t let them run the world,” Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday, adding that Big Tech must be accountable to sovereign gov-

ernments. Facebook, whose 8-day ban on Australian media captured global attention, said it had signed partnership agreements with Schwartz Media, Solstice Media and Private Media. The trio own a mix of publications, including weekly newspapers, online magazines and specialist periodicals.

Facebook did not disclose the financial details of the agreements, which will become effective within 60 days if a full deal is signed.

“These agreements will bring a new slate of premium journalism, including some previously paywalled content, to Facebook,” the social media company said in a statement.

The non-binding agreements allay some fears that small Australian publishers would be left out of revenue-sharing deals with Facebook and Google.

“It’s never been more important than it is now to have a plurality of voices in the Australian press,” said Schwartz Media Chief Executive Rebecca Costello. Facebook on Tuesday struck a similar agreement with Seven West Media, which owns a free-to-air television network and the main metro-

politian newspaper in the city of Perth.

The Australian Broadcasting Corp has said it was also in talks with Facebook.

Google Australia managing director Mel Silva said in a statement published on Friday the company had found a “constructive path to support journalism”. She thanked Australian users of the search engine for “bearing with us while we’ve sent you messages about this issue”.

Facebook and Google threatened for months to pull core services from Australia if the media laws, which some industry players claim are more about propping up ailing local media, took effect.

While Google struck deals with several publishers including News Corp as the legislation made its way through parliament, Facebook took the more drastic step of blocking all news content in Australia.

That stance led to amendments to the laws, including giving the government the power to exempt Facebook or Google from mandatory arbitration, and Facebook on Friday began restoring the Australian news sites.

Saturday, 27 February, 2021

SPORTS 11

ISLAMABAD

RizwAn helPS MUltAn SUltAnS down lAhoRe QAlAndARS

LAUSANNE AGENCIES

KARACHI

w

Umar’s 18-month ban over corruption charges reduced to a year by CAS

AGENCIES

ITH the state of a world at the moment, almost everyone craves a return to the way things were a couple of years ago.

Watching Lahore Qalandars in the PSL on Friday, you might as well have been transported there for three hours after Multan Sultan walloped them by seven wickets with nearly four overs to spare, ending their perfect start to this season. It was a performance of overwhelming dominance from the increasingly irrepressible Mohammad Rizwan whose 49ball 76 made light work of a chase of 157.

The win was set up by the bowlers right at the start of the match after the Sultans won the toss and - guess what decided to bowl. With Lahore opener Sohail Akhtar struggling for fluency, Sohail Khan and Shahnawaz Dhani's plan to cramp Fakhar Zaman for room worked like a charm, stifling him before bringing the wicket. By the time the powerplay was done, the Qalandars had managed just 25, their lowest six-over total in PSL history.

It was only Mohammad Hafeez, perhaps the only Pakistan batsman to match Rizwan for form at the moment, who propelled Lahore to a respectable total. He began by clobbering a six back over bowler Shahid Afridi's head, who had a difficult day today. Hafeez went from strength to strength, bringing up his halfcentury of 27 balls, but a mix-up with Samit Patel led to his first dismissal of the tournament. There was no one to take over the mantle from him, and the Qalandars' innings began to splutter from that moment. Joe Denly, Ben Dunk and Patel all failed to get their side to the sort of total that would challenge the Sultans, and while the early wickets of Chris Lynn and James Vince gave the Qalandars hope, it was only flickering.

With the Sultans lacking a premium

fast-bowling asset, Carlos Brathwaite has proven himself surprisingly useful, particularly in the first half of the innings. He was introduced as early as the fourth over today, and with his exotic mix of pace, angles, and length, kicked things off with a wicket maiden. Even Hafeez struggled to really get a hold of the West Indian, while Joe Denly often took several deliveries simply to get off strike against him.

When he came on in the 14th over to bowl his final over, he broke an 89-run third-wicket partnership that looked to have set up the Qalandars for the finish, drawing Denly wide outside off stump to get him nicking off. It wasn't bowling to set the heart racing, but Brathwaite's intelligence did at least as much for the Sultans' chances as Rizwan's belligerence in the second half.

The Qalandars weren't just ordinary with bat and ball today, but also in the

field. Zaman's struggles up top might have caught the headlines for how heavily the side relies on him, but it wasn't the only department he was found wanting.

There were two chances to put an end to the 110-run partnership between Sohaib Maqsood and Rizwan, with each of them allowed a reprieve by Zaman in the deep.

When Maqsood sliced one to him, he opted for the safety of collecting it on the bounce, while Rizwan's chance spooned straight into his hands and back out again a few overs later. It was a day Zaman will want to put out of his mind, and on that point, he'll find the rest of his side in agreement.

Despite the Qalandars having little to smile about, there was still the obligatory moment of magic that Shaheen Afridi would conjure up, almost like it's been written into his contract. In his first over, he had the out-of-form Chris Lynn facing

up to him, a contest that would end by knockout in two balls. Lynn kept out the first one, an inswinging yorker, before being hopelessly outfoxed by a dream of a follow-up. Landing on middle a foot from the base of the stumps, it seamed ever so slightly towards off and away from the bat Lynn hopelessly brought down to fend it off. It would crash into off stump to create that most elegant spectacle, a cartwheeling off stump after an impact to its base, with a flummoxed batsman frozen just in front of it.

Afridi followed it up with another wicket in the 15th over, though the one that removed Rizwan was more of a formality after the game was done. It produced one of the cosier moments of the game, with the 20-year old walking up to the man eight years his senior and giving him a pat on the head to acknowledge his efforts.

Pakistani cricketer Umar Akmal’s 18-month ban over corruption charges was reduced to a year, the Court of Arbitration for Sports said on Friday. The verdict from the Lausanne-based body will likely come as a relief for the troubled batsman with a history of disciplinary issues that has earned him a string of fines and bans during his career. But the court also hit Akmal with a hefty fine of 4.25 million rupees ($26,800) over his role in the incident. He was suspended last year after he failed to report details of a match-fixing approach made to him during meetings with alleged bookies. A Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) disciplinary committee banned him for three years in April over the incident.

However, the ban was later reduced to 18 months in July by an independent adjudicator. Pakistan cricket authorities hoping for a further reduction filed an additional appeal over the case to the CAS. “It’s a big relief for Umar,” the cricketer’s brother Kamran told AFP. “He wants to play cricket and return to the field.” The PCB said Umar would be eligible to compete again after completing a rehabilitation programme. Akmal emerged on the international cricket scene with a hundred in his first Test in New Zealand in 2009. He has so far played 16 Tests, 121 one-day internationals, as well as 84 Twenty20 internationals. But his career has been bridled by disciplinary problems, including an arrest after scuffling with a traffic warden in 2014. The batsman was also sent home after he failed a fitness test ahead of 2017 Champions Trophy in England and has been hit with various fines over the years.

Yusuf Pathan retires from all forms of cricket NEWS DESK Former allrounder Yusuf Pathan, who was part of two World Cup-winning India teams, has announced his retirement from all forms of the game. The big-hitting 38-year-old played 57 one-dayers and 22 Twenty20 Internationals for India after beginning his career in the shadow of younger brother and Test bowler, Irfan Pathan. "The time has come today for me to put a full stop to this innings of my life," Yusuf said in a statement on social media. Both the Pathan brothers were part of the victorious India team at the 2007 Twenty20 World Cup under Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Peshawar Zalmi win over Quetta Gladiators by 3 wickets NEWS DESK Peshawar Zalmi won over Quetta Gladiators by three wickets in the 8th match of the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) at National Stadium here on Friday.

Sherfane Rutherford scored 36 not out and hit the winning shot, surpassing the target of 199 runs.

Earlier with an impressive performance by Sarfraz Ahmed, Quetta Gladiators set a mammoth target of 199 runs for Peshawar Zalmi. In the opening overs, Saim Ayub and Cameron Delport could not sustain for long as the former was run out at 21 while the latter made only 2 runs.

However, Faf Du Plessis scored 37 runs and Azma Khan with his superhigh 6s made 47 runs.

Zalmi had won the toss and decided to bowl first.

"One of the best feelings for me, because PSL has some of the best bowlers. Good to see the skipper step up," Rutherford said.

Sarfaraz said he was disappointed with the fielding, according to Simon Doull.

Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators have faced each other 17 times in PSL with both sides winning equal matches. One game was ended as noresult.

Zalmi: Peshawar SQUADS:

Haider Ali, Kamran Akmal, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Shoaib Malik, Wahab Riaz, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Ravi Bopara, Sherfane Rutherford, Amad Butt, Umaid Asif, Saqib Mahmood, Imam-ul-Haq, Muhammad Imran, Mohammad Irfan, Ibrar Ahmed, and Mohammad Amir Khan.

Quetta Gladiators: Anwar Ali, Azam Khan, Ben Cutting, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Nawaz, Naseem Shah, Sarfaraz Ahmed, Zahid Mahmood, Dale Steyn, Tom Banton, Usman Khan Shinwari, Cameron Delport, Qais Ahmad, Abdul Nasir, Saim Ayub, Arish Ali Khan, Usman Khan, and Faf du Plessis.

Europa League: Arsenal, United, Rangers into last 16 as Leicester exit PIREAS AGENCIES

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored twice including a late winner as Arsenal qualified for the last 16 of the Europa League on Thursday with a 3-2 victory over Benfica in Greece, while Manchester United and Rangers cruised through to the next round.

The Gabon striker put Arsenal ahead at the Karaiskakis stadium in Piraeus in their home leg of a tie relocated due to Covid-19 travel restrictions between Portugal and the United Kingdom.

Diogo Goncalves levelled the contest with a magnificent free-kick and Rafa Silva gave Benfica a 2-1 lead on the night when

he took advantage of an error from Dani Ceballos on the hour.

Kieran Tierney rifled in an equaliser and Aubameyang headed in the decisive goal from Bukayo Saka’s cross on 87 minutes, earning the Gunners a 4-3 aggregate victory and saving them from an unusual away goals exit following a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Rome.

“Everyone is happy tonight. This is what gives me power every day, take errors from the past and transform to strength,” Aubameyang told BT Sport.

“The team showed a lot of character and we deserved the win. It was a hard game.

What we showed tonight will be an example for the future.”

United cemented their place in Friday’s

draw with a 0-0 draw at home to Real Sociedad, having effectively clinched the tie last week with an emphatic 4-0 win on neutral ground in Italy.

Mikel Oyarzabal’s awful penalty miss represented the best chance at Old Trafford for La Real, while Bruno Fernandes rattled the crossbar and Axel Tuanzebe’s header was disallowed for a foul.

Leicester City, who are behind secondplaced United in the Premier League only on goal difference, were knocked out after sliding to a 2-0 loss at home to Czech champions Slavia Prague.

Lukas Provod fired Slavia in front just after half-time following a goalless draw in the first leg, and Senegalese teenager Abdallah Sima ensured the visitors extended their

run in the competition.

“We didn’t create enough over two legs.

We didn’t defend with any intensity. We gave away two disappointing goals. The better team won,” said Leicester coach Brendan Rodgers.

GERRARD PRAISES ‘OUTSTANDING’ RANGERS: Steven Gerrard’s Rangers progressed following their 5-2 win over Belgian side Antwerp at Ibrox, with five different players on target for the Scottish league leaders. After a dramatic 4-3 win in the first leg last week, goals from Alfredo Morelos, Nathan Patterson and Ryan Kent put Rangers in control before late penalties from Borna Barisic and Cedric Itten wrapped up the tie 9-5 on aggregate.

“I’m very satisfied, the performance was outstanding in a lot of areas,” said Gerrard.

“The first three were top high-level goals. But, as a perfectionist, we still have to look at the areas we went wrong tonight.”

AC Milan squeezed past Red Star Belgrade on away goals after a 1-1 draw in a clash of former European champions at the San Siro.

Franck Kessie’s early penalty was enough to book Milan’s place in the last 16 despite El Fardou Ben Nabouhane equalising as the tie finished 3-3 over the two legs.

Napoli’s dismal run continued as they were knocked out 3-2 on aggregate by Granada despite winning 2-1 in the return fixture in Italy.

Ajax eliminated French Ligue 1 leaders Lille with a 2-1 victory in Amsterdam to complete a 4-2 overall win, while Gerard Moreno netted both goals as Villarreal dumped out Salzburg 4-1 on aggregate.

Egyptian forward Ahmed Hassan’s 88thminute strike in Eindhoven sent Olymiapkos through at the expense of PSV 5-4 on aggregate, while Roma and Young Boys brushed aside Braga and Bayer Leverkusen respectively.

Saturday, 27 February, 2021

prayer timings

NEWS

PPP will be the largest Party in senate, says Zardari islamabad

d

staff report

iscussing the upcoming senate elections, former president and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari expressed confidence that the PPP will form a majority in senate after the elections.

While addressing PPP’s sindh lawmakers and senate hopefuls, he said: “PPP’s elected MPs are my strength. i am proud of my party members, the incumbent government has to go.”

The ex-president was speaking on the occasion of a dinner party hosted by PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari in honour of the party’s members of the sindh Assembly. sindh chief Minister Murad Ali shah and sindh Assembly speaker Agha siraj Durrani, Bakhtawar BhuttoZardari, Mehmood chaudhry, and Asifa Bhutto-Zardari were present during the dinner.

LAHORE: Prime Minister Imran Khan and Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar exchange views during a meeting in the provincial capital.

US strikes ‘Iranian-backed militant’ site in Syria: Pentagon WasHiNGTON agencies

The united states military struck facilities in eastern syria used by allegedly iran-backed armed groups on Thursday, saying President Joe Biden’s new administration was sending Tehran a message after recent rocket attacks on us troop locations in iraq. in its first military action against allegedly iran-backed groups since Biden became president five weeks ago, the us Defence Department said it had carried out airstrikes at a syria-iraq border control point used by those groups, destroying “multiple facilities”.

“At President Biden’s direction, us military forces earlier this evening con-

ducted airstrikes against infrastructure utilised by iranian-backed militant groups in eastern syria,” said spokesman John Kirby in a statement.

“These strikes were authorised in response to recent attacks against American and coalition personnel in iraq, and to ongoing threats to those personnel,” he said.

17 REPORTED KILLED: Kirby did not say whether there were any casualties in Thursday’s attack.

But the syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that 17 people were killed after the strike hit three trucks loaded with munitions coming from iraq near the syrian city of Bukamal.

The group said all the dead were from iraq’s state-sponsored Hashed al-shaabi force, the umbrella group over many small

militias that allegedly have ties to iran.

Kirby said the location was used by Kataeb Hezbollah and Kataeb sayyid alshuhada, two armed iraqi militants groups under Hashed al-shaabi.

REPRISAL FOR ROCKET ATTACKS: The us action followed three rocket attacks on facilities in iraq used by united states and coalition forces fighting the so-called islamic state militant group.

One of those strikes, on a military complex in the Kurdish region’s capital Arbil on February 15, killed a civilian and a foreign contractor working with coalition forces, and injured several us contractors and a soldier.

The attacks in iraq laid down a challenge to the new Biden administration just as it opened a door to resumed negotia-

tions with Tehran over its alleged nuclear weapons programme.

Last week, the administration offered talks with iran led by European allies as it sought to salvage the 2015 nuclear deal, left on the brink of collapse after the previous government of President Donald Trump withdrew from it.

But the administration has also made clear it would not brook “malign activities” in the region by iran. iran is believed to be searching for an opportunity to avenge the us assassination of top general Qasem soleimani one year ago. soleimani, a senior officer in the iranian Revolutionary guard corps, was Tehran’s key liaison to allied groups and figures in iraq, syria, Lebanon and elsewhere in the region.

FAJR SUNRISE

ZUHR

ASR MAGHRIB ISHA

5:36

12:14

3:07

7:01

5:27

6:52

One year of Covid-19 leaves 12,804 dead, 577,482 infected islamabad staff report

The coronavirus pandemic has claimed 12,804 lives and infected 577,482 people in the country during the last one year as Pakistan’s fight against coronavirus began exactly one year ago on February 26, 2020.

The covid-19 virus was first detected shortly after 22-year-old Yahya Jaffery arrived from iran. At the temperature screening gates at Karachi’s international airport, Jaffery was allowed to pass through despite showing early signs of the disease. Little did he know that he would end up being the first carrier of the covid-19 virus in Pakistan. Meanwhile, 32 people died of covid-19 during the past 24 hours, surging the overall death toll to 12,804, said the national command and Operation centre (ncOc) on Friday.

According to the ncOc, 1,541 fresh cases were reported during the aforementioned period, lifting the national tally of cases to 577,482. As many as 2,505 more patients recovered from the virus and so far 542,393 people have recovered from the deadly disease. The total count of active cases is 22,285, and 1,558 patients were stated to be in critical condition. According to the ncOc, a total of 41,849 tests were conducted across the country during the past 24 hours, while 8,873,741 samples have been tested so far. sindh reported at least 322 new coronavirus cases during the past 24 hours, taking the tally to 257,729. According to chief Minister syed Murad Ali shah, 13 more people succumbed to the deadly virus as the death toll surged to 4,335. He further said that 273 patients recovered overnight, taking the total to 241,256. At least 748 new coronavirus cases were recorded in Punjab during the past 24 hours, taking the provincial tally to 170,222. According to Punjab Primary and secondary Health care Department, at least 15 more patients succumbed to the pandemic as the total reached 5,323. The department added that at least 159,295 patients had recovered from the deadly virus as of yet. The virus picked up speed again over the past week in every part of the world except Africa, after a month in which new covid-19 cases fell by half, according to AFP data. Here is the state of play worldwide: CASES UP SIX PER CENT: The number of new daily cases globally increased by six per cent over the past week to 384,200. it is a reversal after the unprecedented 51 per cent plunge recorded from mid-January to midFebruary, according to an AFP tally to Thursday. new cases are now at a level last seen in mid-October. The number of confirmed cases only reflects a fraction of the actual number of infections, as different countries have different counting practices and levels of testing.

AFRICAN EXCEPTION: Africa is the only continent to see a slowdown, with 14 per cent fewer new cases. All the other regions saw a pick up: 10 per cent in Europe, eight per cent in Asia and Latin America and the caribbean, five per cent in the Middle East and one per cent in the united states and canada. in Oceania, the number of infections more than tripled, but there are nevertheless only 47 cases a day.

BIGGEST SPIKES: On a country basis, Estonia saw the biggest increase with 82 per cent more infections among the countries that recorded more than 1,000 daily cases.

Hungary followed with 69 per cent more (or 2,900 cases); Jordan with 59 per cent more (3,400 cases); serbia 59 per cent more (3,000 cases) and Ecuador 48 per cent more (1,600 cases).

FM reiterates Pakistan’s consistent support to Afghan peace process islamabad staff report

Foreign Minister shah Mahmood Qureshi has reiterated Pakistan’s consistent support to the Afghan peace process.

He was talking to the special Representative of Afghan President Mohammed Omer Daudzai, who called on him on Friday.

The foreign minister reiterated that a peaceful and stable Afghanistan is in the best interest of Pakistan. He said that Prime Minister imran Khan has always stressed that there is no military solution to the Afghan conflict.

The foreign minister underlined that the continuing incidents of violence inside

Afghanistan served to undermine progress achieved in the Afghan peace process. He said the continuation of violence would strengthen spoilers, who do not wish to see the return of peace in the region.

The foreign minister underscored that the Afghan leadership must seize this historic opportunity and workout an inclusive, broad-based and comprehensive political settlement for durable peace and stability in Afghanistan and the region.

Qureshi expressed the hope that the intra-Afghan negotiations would lead to its desired objectives of a sovereign, peaceful and stable Afghanistan.

Earlier on February 22, it was reported that Pakistan will attend a crucial meeting later this month in Moscow, which is being

convened by Russia with an aim to restart the stalled Afghan peace process, officials and diplomatic sources confirmed.

Russia has launched a diplomatic initiative to arrange a meeting of Pakistan, the us, china and iran in order to develop a “collective mechanism” for the Afghan peace efforts. Moscow is also pushing for hosting the stalled intra-Afghan dialogue.

The talks that began in Doha in september made slow progress because of differences between the two sides. The situation became further uncertain after the new us administration decided to review the February 29, 2020 deal. Against this backdrop, Russia is making efforts to seek resumption of intra-Afghan talks and also broader regional consensus.

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