Saturday, 3 April, 2021 I 19 Shaban, 1442 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XI No 275 I 12 Pages I Islamabad Edition
SC rejeCtS PtI’S aPPeal, uPholdS re-PollIng order In na-75 daSka g
MARyAM LAUDS APEx COURT'S VERDICT, SAyS IT HAS BEEN PROVEN THAT 'GOVERNMENT HAD STOLEN THE VOTES' LAHORE
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staff report
HE Supreme Court (SC), while giving a brief verdict in the case regarding the Daska by-elections, upheld the earlier order of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for re-polling in NA-75, thus allowing for voting to be conducted in the constituency on April 10. The apex court heard the concluding arguments of the Election Commission and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Friday. PTI’s Asjad Ali Malhi, who contested the by-elections, had approached the SC, challenging the ECP’s decision to hold re-polls in the entire constituency. Earlier, the Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) demanded re-polling in 109 “controversial” polling stations of the NA-75 Daska, if not the entire constituency. Violence had marred the NA-75 byelection which had taken place in February, as firing incidences claimed the lives of two people and injured a few. Clashes between PML-N and PTI workers led to the deaths. Both parties
had blamed each other for the violence, after which the ECP ordered repolling in the entire constituency. While announcing the reserved judgment on Friday, Justice Umar Ata Bandial remarked that the situation was not under control in the constituency on the day of polling. In an earlier hearing, the apex court had suspended the Election Commis-
sion’s order to hold re-polling in the constituency on April 10. The bench had said that the court needed more time to decide the case. “At the moment, we are hearing Salman Akram Raja’s [the PML-N candidate’s lawyer] arguments. We have to hear [the arguments of] other parties to the case apart from Nosheen Ahmed [PMLN candidate],” the court had said.
The apex court had adjourned proceedings of the case for an unspecified period. “The decision of the ECP to hold repolling stands,” Justice Umar Ata Bandial had said. “For the moment, we are postponing the decision to hold it on April 10.” Raja had presented a map of district Daska during the hearing of the case to which Justice Umar Ata Bandial had an interesting remark.
PDM to issue notices to PPP, ANP for violating Steering Committee's decision g
IF PPP, ANP FAIL TO SUBMIT EFFECTIVE RESPONSE, THEy’LL BE ExPELLED FROM PDM, SOURCES SAy
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INDEPENDENT ALLIANCE OF 27 SENATORS, MINUS PPP AND ANP ON THE CARDS
ISLAMABAD mian abrar
The Pakistan Democratic Movement’s (PDM) Steering Committee has decided to issue show cause notices to Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Awami National Party (ANP) for violating the committee’s decision to appoint consensus candidate for leader of the opposition in the Senate. Requesting anonymity, sources in the opposition alliance told Pakistan Today that the eight parties of the PDM agreed at a meeting chaired by former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi that both parties will be given an opportunity to express their reasons for violation of the decision of the Steering Committee. “The meeting decided to give an opportunity to the PPP and ANP for violating the unanimous decision of
the PDM. If both the parties fail to come up with satisfactory answers, both the parties will be removed from the PDM,” the sources said. According to sources, the meeting of the steering committee of PDM was held at the residence of senior vice president PML-N Shahid
Khaqan Abbasi. The next course of action was considered at the PDM meeting. The PPP and ANP were not invited to the meeting. Sources said that leaders of eight parties of PDM held consultations in the meeting.
The eight PDM parties decided to give the PPP and ANP a chance to express their views. The eight parties agreed to issue show cause notices to PPP and ANP. “Show-cause notices will be issued with the approval of PDM chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman. It was decided in the meeting that if they failed to respond logically, the PPP and ANP would be expelled from the PDM,” the sources said. The sources said that it has also been agreed to convene a follow up meeting before Eidul Fitr. “The central leadership meeting will be convened when Maulana Fazlur Rehman recovers,” the sources said. The sources added that the eight parties of PDM also agreed to form an independent opposition alliance of 27 senators in the Senate, minus PPP and ANP.
Citing Covid-19 variants, UK imposes travel ban on Pakistan alongside others
LONDON staff report
The British government said on Friday that it would add four countries, including Pakistan, to its socalled red list, banning incoming travel to England, citing coronavirus “variants of concern”. United Kingdom’s Department for Transport
said that the ban on visitors from Kenya, Bangladesh, the Philippines and Pakistan would enter force at 0300 GMT on April 9. This will include anyone who left the countries or transited through them in the previous 10 days. The UK and Irish nationals and those with UK residence rights travelling from those countries will have to quarantine in hotels for 10 days. The department said that the ban was over new data showing increased risks of importing coronavirus “variants of concern”. The new rules take the total number of redlisted countries to 39. Other countries included on the list are Angola, Argentina, Bolivia, Botswana, Brazil, Burundi, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, Eswatini, Ethiopia, French Guiana, Guyana,
“you’ve prepared a lot of material in just a day’s time,” the judge had said. In response, Raja pointed out there were 76 polling stations in Daska and that complaints of irregularities were reported in 34 of them. “The ECP identified these 34 polling stations and even 20 presiding officers went missing,” he had said. “It is even said polling was delayed at 10 polling stations for quite some time,” Justice Bandial had said. “The question is, who was behind such a move and why?” The judge had wondered whether the irregularities took place because one candidate was strong and the other had to resort to such measures to win. “Nosheen’s father has won from Daska five times,” Raja had argued. “Her family has a lot of influence in the city. She was supposed to poll 46,000 votes while the PTI candidate was expected to poll 11,000 votes,” he added. Raja had said that it was in the PTI candidate’s interest to mar the polls since its candidate did not stand a chance of winning the contest.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 05
CoronavIruS In
PakIStan
CONFIRMED CASES:
678,165
LAST UPDATED AT 7:52 AM ON APRIL 2, 2021
DAY'S DEATH TOLL:
NEW CASES:
83
5,234
RECOVERED:
DEATHS:
607,205 14,613 SINDH:
PUNJAB:
265,917
225,953
KP:
BALOCHISTAN:
AJK/GB:
ISLAMABAD:
89,255
12,984/5,045
19,610
59,401
more inside
Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Oman, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Qatar, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Africa, Suriname, Tanzania, UAE, Uruguay, Venezuela, Zambia and Zimbabwe. “Red Listing means that only UK and Irish nationals and those with residency rights in the UK will be allowed to travel to the UK if they have been in Pakistan in the 10 days before they arrive,” British High Commissioner to Pakistan Christian Turner said in a video message posted on Twitter. The British government said that the list expansion came at a “critical time for the vaccine programme”. The UK has given more than 31 million people, or more than 45 per cent of the population, the first dose of a coronavirus vaccine.
‘Divide and rule is the strategy of nondemocratic forces’, Bilawal advises PDM
CONTINUED ON PAGE 05
STORY ON PAGE 02
PM says no trade with India until IOK’s autonomy is restored STORY ON PAGE 03
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Saturday, 3 April, 2021
ISLAMABAD
NEWS
‘DiViDE AnD rulE iS thE StrAtEgy of non-DEmoCrAtiC forCES’, BilAwAl ADViSES PDm
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NEWS DESK
AKISTAN People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari denied that his party’s relations with key parties of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) had worsened, adding that any rift within the opposition alliance would only benefit the incumbent government. Addressing a press conference in Jacobabad after meeting local PPP leaders and workers, he said: “I will suggest PDM to take decisions with due diligence and patience… divide and rule is the strategy of non-democratic forces.” “It will be in favour of PDM and democracy if we [opposition parties] continue to give tough time to the government in parliament,” he added. Denying any rumours of siding with the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Bilawal said that his relations with Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz were still “good”. Similarly, he expressed his belief that the PDM President and Jamiat Ulema-e-IslamFazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman was not cross with the PPP, adding that the veteran politician would not show bias towards one or the other party. The scion of the Bhutto dynasty also
PPP CHIEF SAYS NAB AND ECONOMY CAN'T FUNCTION TOGETHER wished quick recovery to PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz and JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman, saying that he wanted them to resume their political activities at the earliest so that the movement to topple the PTI government gains momentum. Speaking about the recent tensions between the PPP and the PML-N, having arisen out of PPP going ahead in getting Yousaf Raza Gillani elected as leader of the opposition in the Senate without the PDM’s blessing, Bilawal said that his party will soon convene a meeting to discuss the matter. Bilawal remarked that he had been told by those around him that the history between his party and PML-N had shown that the PPP and PML-N do not readily get along, remarking that it would be a tough nut to crack. He maintained that he had been working for the last three years to ensure the parties could collaborate for the benefit of democracy, adding “we do not want this government to benefit out of any infighting between opposition parties”. “And there can be no greater defeat,
Veteran folk singer Shaukat Ali passes away Celebrated folk singer Shaukat Ali passed away in Lahore on Friday where he was being treated at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH). The ailing singer was being treated at CMH for debilitating issues with his liver, with his son Ameer Shaukat Ali reporting earlier that his father’s condition had been critical for a while and doctors had given up hope. Shaukat had other medical issues hampering his health as well including diabetes, and a heart bypass surgery a few years ago. In a video message released earlier this week, Ameer had asked for special prayers from his father’s fans. Shaukat, known for songs like Saif-ul-Malook–Awwal Hamd Sana-e-Elahi, Sathio Mujahido, Jaag Uthha Hai Sara Watan, and Mein Puttar Pakistan Da, was also the recipient of a Pride of Performance Award. Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday expressed his deep grief and sorrow over the sad demise of the renowned folk singer. He prayed for elevation of the departed soul to high ranks and for fortitude to the grieved family. He said that the services of late Shaukat in the field of singing will always be remembered in the country. Senior leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Senator Shibli Faraz, also expressed deep grief and sorrow over the sad demise of veteran folk singer. In a condolence message, he said that every Pakistani was deeply saddened on the demise of Shaukat, an artist who awakened the spirit of patriotism among the people with his voice. He said that Shaukat, who sang songs with the spirit of patriotism, played a historic role in the wars of defence of Pakistan with exciting national anthems. News Desk
PPP convenes CEC meeting to discuss resignations on April 5 KARACHI: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has convened a meeting of its Central Executive Committee (CEC) on Monday, April 5, according to a party statement issued Friday. The meeting will be chaired by former president Asif Ali Zardari and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari at the Bilawal House in Karachi. As per details from INP, the senior PPP leadership will decide on resignations from assemblies in the meeting. The PPP chairman has directed all the CEC members to attend the meeting in person or through video-link. Meanwhile, PPP leader Qamar Zaman Kaira said that the party is trying to keep the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) united and all matters will be discussed in detail during the CEC meeting. The participants will also pay tribute to PPP founder and former prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto on his death anniversary. The PPP statement added that overall political situation in the country would be reviewed in the meeting after which media will be briefed regarding the decisions taken by the CEC. The PPP leadership is under fire from the opposition parties over the resignation issue and party’s unilateral move to get Senator Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani elected as leader of the opposition in the Senate. The PDM had postponed the March 26 long march due to differences over the resignation from assemblies. Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the PDM chief, had announced that the PPP is not ready to resign and would deliberate on the matter in its CEC and inform them. A meeting of the PDM heads is likely to be held on April 11 as many political parties have demanded to hold consultations regarding the future of the opposition alliance, it emegred on Friday. INP
than the prime minister losing in his own constituency,” the PPP chairman said, referring to Gillani winning the Islamabad Senate seat, with the government candidate Abdul Hafeez Shaikh losing by a margin of six votes. On the recent changes in the federal cabinet, Bilawal said that despite changing three finance ministers in as many years, PTI government’s economic policies remained the same. “PTI designs economic policies to provide relief to rich and make poor suffer,” he maintained. The PPP chairman said that Prime Minister Imran had made his aide on petroleum, Nadeem Babar, a scapegoat in his own incompetence. The PPP chairman said the last year’s fuel crisis was a mega corruption scandal of this government and his party will raise this issue at all fora. “Imran Khan changes his cabinet members for mere face-saving but we will not spare them.” Lambasting the PTI’s so-called poor handling of the economy, he said: “Even war-torn Afghanistan has a better economic growth rate. The war-torn Afghanistan has a lower inflation rate.”
He added that there is no reason for Pakistan’s economy to rank behind these countries. “The only reason is that a puppet has been imposed on us who has no political, economic or historical acumen and is not capable of governing Pakistan,” he said. In this regard, the PPP chairman said that Pakistan was sorely unprepared to combat the third wave of the Covid pandemic. He stressed the “stubbornness” of the government in refusing to purchase vaccines had led to Pakistan lagging behind other regional countries in vaccine rollout. “Pakistan is not at all ready to challenge the third [coronavirus] wave which is cropping up and coming in front of us. “If we are not ready then [it is] only because our federal government [is showing] stubbornness on this policy, that it is not ready to buy vaccines for every Pakistani which is the only solution to this problem.” He said that Pakistan is lagging behind the most in terms of vaccinations, counting Bangladesh and India to be the countries doing better than Pakistan. Bilawal also called on the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to play its
role to ensure free and fair elections across the country, and not just in Punjab. “I am confident that our candidate from Jacobabad [Ijaz Jakhrani] will be declared a winner the next day if ECP blocks the government’s attempts to rig the election like it did in Daska by-poll,” he said while speaking about the upcoming by-election. The PPP leader said that the PTI-led government has rendered poor helpless due to its flawed and IMF-centric economic policies. Bilawal said that the country was “drowned into sea of inflation” even before the government entered into International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan programme, further announcing that they would challenge the ordinance regarding the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) in the court. He said that the ordinance would be an attack on national sovereignty if the central bank operates at the behest of the IMF. “There is historic unemployment in the country due to PTI-IMF deal,” he said and added two finance ministers have been changed during the past three years. Responding to a question regarding Shaukat Tareen’s refusal to join the government’s economic team due to National Accountability Bureau (NAB) case, Bilawal said that his party had been advocating since day one that NAB and economy cannot function together.
Sindh seeks 10 million doses of CanSino's coronavirus vaccine NEWS DESK The Sindh government is seeking 10 million doses of Chinese pharmaceutical company CanSino Biologics' coronavirus vaccine. In a tweet, Sindh Chief Minister's Adviser on Law Barrister Murtaza Wahab announced that the provincial government was interested in procuring 10 million doses of the vaccine. He attached a letter written by the Sindh Health Department to AJM Pharma which is the representative company for the Chinese vaccine in Pakistan. Earlier, Provincial Minister for Information and Local Government (LG) Sindh Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said that the Sindh government had immediately placed an order to purchase two million CanSino bio-vaccines dozes. The Sindh government would procure more dozes by cutting development and other expenditures so that the entire population of the province could be protected from this deadly disease, he said while addressing a press conference on Friday. Wahab and Parliamentary Secretary for Health MPA Qasim Siraj Soomro were also present on the occasion. Shah said that the Sindh CM had not proposed a complete lockdown in the National Command Operaton Centre (NCOC) meeting held on March 31. He had only suggested a ban on the interprovincial movement of transport, he added. The minister said that the Covid positive cases were increasing at an alarming rate in the country, adding a provincial task force meeting was held under with Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah in the chair to discuss the situation. The Sindh health minister and a representative of the World Health Organisation (WHO) also attended the meeting. He said that the Sindh government was fully implementing the decision taken by the NCOC and strict measures had been taken in the areas where positivity
CM MURAD SAYS SINDH ONLY SEEKING CLOSURE OF INTER-PROVINCIAL TRANSPORT, NOT COMPLETE LOCKDOWN rate is increasing. The minister added that the Sindh education minister had been tasked to convene a meeting to decide about the schools. “Sindh government wanted to procure vaccine directly from China and allocated funds in this regard but due to delay in fixation of the price of the vaccine by DRAP [Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan], it was unable to purchase vaccine," he said. "DRAP has now fixed the price of the vaccine, after which we have placed an order to procure 2 million doses," he said. Shah said that there were no reports from the federal government to buy the vaccine from its own funds and that it was dependent on vaccines donated by China. He said that journalists are also front line workers and a vaccination facility would be provided to them at the press club at the divisional headquarters level. Wahab said that the effects of the third wave of Covid-19 had reached alarming levels in Punjab, Islamabad, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), where the positive cases rose to 14 to 15 per cent. Conditions are better in Sindh and Balochistan, he maintaiend. He said that the Sindh chief minister tried to persuade the prime minister to take tough decisions at the March 31 NCOC meeting. He said that the Sindh government has not proposed a complete lockdown. He said that the Sindh CM had requested a ban on the inter-provincial movement of people. He also said that CM Murad has also suggested speeding up the vaccination process and removing the age bracket so that patients suffering from heart, cancer and kidney diseases could be vaccinated, he added. He stressed that the Sindh
government had been active in implementing coronavirus standard operating procedure (SOPs) in the province from day one. “We have sought permission from the federal government for purchasing vaccines from private companies. We are doing everything we can do to protect our population," he said. Replying to a question, Shah said that the Sindh government was ready to hold local bodies elections and they had almost completed legislation to empower local bodies institutions. In response to another question, he said that they welcome those who join the PPP. There are no criminal cases against those who joined the Pakistan People's Party (PPP). "There is no dirty laundry here. Clean and people of good reputation from MQM [Muttahida Qaumi Movement] are coming to our party. Our doors are open for them." In response to a question, he said that they were going to launch a campaign against stray dogs immediately. Currently, the Sindh government was working in collaboration with civil society and NGOs for the vaccination of stray dogs, he added. The opposition's allegations are baseless and no funds have been set aside to neutralise dogs, he further said. He said that 40 senior officers of the local government department had been suspended for negligence. Separately, CM Murad said on Friday that the government was seeking the closure of only inter-provincial transport but not a complete lockdown. The CM made the statement while chairing the session of the provincial task force on coronavirus on Friday. During the session, a briefing was
given to the participants regarding the government steps for curbing the spread of novel coronavirus. It was stated that 68,877 tests are being conducted for one million population in Sindh and 3.3 million tests will be completed by Saturday. There are 664 ICU beds and ventilators in the provinces, whereas, the number of HDU beds is 1,872 and low-flow oxygen beds are 1,374. Overall, 8,913 tests were conducted across the province on Wednesday and 237 cases were confirmed with the positivity rate recorded at 2.3 per cent. 265,916 cases were turned up in Sindh from which 256,384 patients have recovered. The tally of coronavirus deaths stands at 4,504 with the rate of 1.7 per cent of overall positive cases. The positive rate of coronavirus cases was recorded between 2.6 per cent to 2.66 per cent from March 26 to April 1. The direction ratio in Karachi stands at 4.63 per cent, 5 per cent in Hyderabad and 1.57 in other districts. A representative from WHO briefed that the positive rate is 11.21 per cent in Pakistan. The provincial government then decided to compile one-month data of those who arrived in Sindh from the United Kingdom (UK). CM Murad said, “We only want to close inter-provincial transport and unwilling to impose a complete lockdown. The third wave of coronavirus can be contained through the closure of inter-provincial transport. However, we want to continue the port activity and goods transport in Sindh.” The chief minister said that Sindh could not solely decide for banning interprovincial transport as a decision should be taken on the national level.
Miftah cleared by SHC’s election tribunal for NA-249 polls KARACHI TLTP
The Sindh High Court’s (SHC) Election Tribunal on Friday rejected the plea of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) seeking disqualification of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Miftah Ismail and allowed him to contest by-election in NA-249 Karachi constituency. The decision was announced on the petition filed by Insaf Lawyers Forum, challenging the approval of
Miftah’s nomination papers for the election in NA-249. PTI leader’s counsel, Hasnain Ali, in his argument before the SHC election tribunal, said that Miftah did not submit details of his car and investment while submitting the nomination papers to contest the byelection. The plaintiff stated that the returning officer (RO) had illegally accepted PML-N leader’s nomination papers despite he does not fulfil the Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution. The PML-N lawyer, in his arguments, ruled out the allegations of the PTI leader against Miftah and added
that his client has not to hide anything in his nomination papers and stated Hasnain’s arguments are based on assumptions only. The tribunal, after hearing arguments from both sides, allowed Miftah to contest by-polls in NA-249. The NA-249 seat was relinquished by the PTI’s Faisal Vawda, who had won the seat in the 2018 general election, beating PML-N’s Shehbaz Sharif by a small margin of 723 votes. The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had announced to hold the by-polls on April 29.
Saturday, 3 April, 2021
ISLAMABAD
NEWS
03
PM SayS NO traDe witH iNDia uNtil iOK’S autONOMy iS reStOreD ISLAMABAD
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Mian abRaR
HE federal government Friday decided not to open trade channels with India until the pre-August 5, 2019 status of Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) is restored. Chairing a special meeting on economic diplomacy, Prime Minister Imran Khan said that relations with India could not be normalised without giving the Kashmiri people the due right of self-determination. “We will not trade with India till India restores the pre-August 5, 2019 status of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Our principled position is that there will be no trade with India without resolving the Kashmir issue,” said the prime
IMRAN SAYS NORMALISATION OF INDO-PAK RELATIONS DEPENDS ON KASHMIRIS BEING GIVEN THEIR JUST RIGHT TO SELF-DETERMINATION minister. The premier said that no trade can be allowed with India unless India shows flexibility on the Kashmir issue and take steps to ease out the situation in IOK. “We will not move forward unless India reconsiders its wrongdoings. The decisions of the Economic Coordination Committee [ECC] are submitted to the cabinet for ratification and final approval. This should have not been shared with media prematurely,” the source quoted the prime minister as saying.
Hammad reiterates commitment to implement reforms agenda NewS DeSk Finance Minister Hammad Azhar has reiterated the government’s commitment to implement the reforms agenda for socioeconomic development of the country. The finance minister expressed this while talking to World Bank Group Country Director Najy Benhassine, who made a courtesy call on him on Friday. While welcoming the country director, the finance minister acknowledged the pivotal role being played by the World Bank in implementing a series of reforms aimed at strengthening the social sector, broadening the tax base, harmonising general sales tax, improving fiscal and debt management in the country. Hammad said the continued support of the World Bank is critical for Pakistan to achieve strong, sustainable and inclusive growth. He said that the government’s focus would be on pursuing social, financial and economic management, strengthening the social sectors, enhancing tax revenue generation and setting the energy sector in order. He lauded the World Bank’s IDA financing for the Crisis-Resilient Social Protection (CRISP) Programme to expand the poverty alleviation and social safety Ehsaas Programme in order to protect the vulnerable households and increase resilience to economic shocks such as Covid19 pandemic. He also appreciated the World Bank’s funding for the prime minister’s Green Stimulus Initiative to boost green jobs for workers who have been laid off during Covid-19. The country director of the World Bank thanked Pakistan for streamlining processes for the completion of various projects of bilateral interest. He complimented the finance minister on assuming the additional responsibilities and thanked the Government of Pakistan for streamlining processes for the completion of various projects which are of bilateral interest.
The meeting was given briefings by Minister for Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Minister for Finance Hammad Azhar and other officials on the merits and demerits of opening trade channels with India. The meeting discussed economic policy and resumption of relations with other countries, including India. The meeting also discussed ambiguity over the approval of a summary on cotton and sugar imports from India. Sources said that the prime minister was
unhappy over the way the decisions of the ECC were shared with media without approval by the apex body, including the Foreign Ministry and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. According to the source, the prevailing rules of the government, various proposals are considered in the ECC. However, the way the ECC’s proposals were shared with media without the approval of the federal cabinet was inappropriate, the source added. The source also said that alternative sources of imports should be explored immediately
Pakistani pharmaceutical firm to produce coronavirus vaccine ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt
The prospects of production of coronavirus vaccine in Pakistan look certain now as SEARLE Company Limited, a Pakistani pharmaceutical company, entered into an agreement with a Chinese firm for this purpose on Friday. SEARLE inked an agreement with a Chinese firm for the licensing and supply of the vaccine. According to the local pharmaceutical company, success rates of the first and second clinical trials of the locally produced vaccine had been excellent while in the third phase more than 20,000 persons would be administered the vaccine to check its efficacy. SEARLE provided these details to the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) in writing. The news of localised production of an anti-Covid vaccine comes on the heels of a private hospital in Karachi is reportedly fleecing people by excessively charging for two-dose Russian-made Covid-19 vaccine, Sputnik-V. According to the sources, a private medical facility in Karachi has started bookings for administering the Covid-19 vaccine. The hospital is reportedly charging Rs6,134 for a single dose of Sputnik-V vaccine along with Rs2,500 as administrative charges, separately. Simultaneously, Rs12,268 are being charged from the masses willing to get Sputnik-V two-doses with Rs5,000 as administrative charges, separately. As per policy, the 15 per cent charges of vaccine are included in the price of the vaccine, but the hospital is reportedly unduly charging the masses. It is to be noted that the matter of fixing the price of the Russian Sputnik-V vaccine, imported by a private pharmaceutical company, is currently under hearing at the Sindh High Court (SHC). On March 18, a pharmaceutical company of Pakistan had received the first consignment of the Russian-made Sputnik-V vaccine. An official of the private firm said that the price of the vaccine would be fixed by the government soon. The Covid-19 vaccines would remain stored at the cold storage till approval of the price by the government. WORSENING SITUATION: The third wave of the coronavirus pandemic has tightened its grip in Punjab, Islamabad, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). According to experts, the rise in cases is because of the UK
variant. Educational institutions in these provinces have all been closed. In light of the third wave of the pandemic, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) also called off all hearings until April 11, said a notification issued by the Registrar’s Office on Friday. The decision was taken after coronavirus infections in the capital city increased. The notification was passed on orders of Chief Justice Athar Minallah. Only important cases will be heard during this time. These cases will be decided by the chief justice, the instructions added. Meanwhile, traffic police issued 23,875 challans for cars and motorcycles in three days in Lahore over violating standard operating procedures (SOPs) designated to control coronavirus pandemic. 12 cases have also been registered for not implementing the orders in public transport while 181 vehicles have also been seized for travelling with over 50 per cent passenger capacity. Meanwhile, 918 cases have been lodged in six days against the violators across the metropolis whereas 442 cases have been filed at different police stations for not wearing face masks. There has been no sign of any Covid-19 retreat as Pakistan recorded the single-day highest toll of infections since June 30 last year which is 5,234 with 83 deaths during the last 24 hours, showed the figures released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Friday morning. As per the latest NCOC statistics, the addition of 83 new fatalities took the countrywide death tally to 14,613 whereas the number of total confirmed cases stood at 678,165 after adding 5,234 new ones. As many as 2,148 patients recovered from the virus during the past 24 hours (Thursday). The total recoveries stood at 607,205 and the total count of active cases was recorded at 56,347 whereas the positivity rate stood at 10.43 per cent. As many as 265,917 coronavirus cases have so far been confirmed in Sindh, 225,953 in Punjab, 89,255 in KP, 59,401 in Islamabad, 19,610 in Balochistan, 12,984 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and 5,045 in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB). As many as 6,485 individuals have so far lost their lives to the pandemic in Punjab, 4,504 in Sindh, 2,382 in KP, 572 in Islamabad, 358 in AJK, 209 in Balochistan and 103 in GB. A total of 50,170 tests were conducted during the last 24 hours (Thursday) while 10,297,54 samples had so far been tested.
No plan to privatise any PIA asset, NA told ISLAMABAD tLtp
The National Assembly (NA) was informed on Friday that there is no plan to privatise any of the assets of national flag carrier Pakistan International Airlines (PIA). Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan said this during the question hour while speaking at the floor of the House, which met with Speaker Asad Qaiser in the chair. Sarwar said that the present government is very keen to make the national flag carrier self-reliant and profitable entity. Efforts are underway to improve the financial health of the airline by reducing its losses through various means, he said. He also said that lossmaking routes have been closed and flights on profitable routes have been added which has resulted in reduction of losses. Responding to a question, the aviation minister said
that 82 pilots were dismissed for acquiring the licences through unfair means. He said that a transparent mechanism has now been evolved to ensure the issuance of licenses in a transparent manner. An agreement to this effect has also been signed with the UK Civil Aviation Authority, he added. He maintained that the International Civil Aviation Authority (ICAA) will carry out an audit of Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) in July this year. He was confident this will lead to removal of travel restrictions on the PIA in the European countries and that the airline will regain its past glory. He said that the European Union (EU) aviation safety watchdog had previously decided to retain its ban on PIA from operating in EU member states, expressing its dissatisfaction over the steps taken by the CAA to address licensing and safety concerns. However, recently in March, the EU’s aviation safety watchdog termed safety standards of
Pakistan’s CAA as “satisfactory”. The decision was made following a two-day meeting of the EU’s Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) and CAA officials, in which representatives from Denmark, Italy and Sweden participated via videolink, he said. The minister for aviation said that Quetta and Dera Ismail Khan airports will be upgraded and that eight new planes will be inducted in the fleet of PIA to further improve its performance. Taking the floor, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan said that Prime Minister Imran Khan has taken the initiative of ‘Live Call Programme’ to directly connect with the people and listen to their problems. He said that this step of the prime minister should be appreciated. He further said that the premier is expected to again interact with the people via telephone next week. The House was later adjourned to meet again at 4:00 pm on Monday.
to facilitate various sectors especially imports of sugar and cotton yarn. National Security Adviser Moeed Yousaf said that trade with India could not take place until the constitutional situation in occupied Kashmir was restored. On the occasion, Finance Minister Hammad said that the final decision of any policy is taken by the cabinet but when a policy is formulated, it is decided by the ECC. The federal minister further said that there are alternative options for sugar and cotton imports. Prime Minister Imran was informed only about the economic aspect but there was no detailed discussion with the PM regarding trade. He said that unless India goes back to the pre-August 5 measures, there will be no trade with India.
Poverty alleviation, achieving SDGs among priorities: FM ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that poverty alleviation and achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs) are amongst the important priorities of the government. The foreign minister said this while talking to the UNDP’s Resident Coordinator to Pakistan Knut Ostby, who called on him on Friday. The foreign minister said that Pakistan has always played an important role in international discussions regarding development matters. He commended the support extended by the UNDP to Pakistan to deal with the issue pertaining to climate challenges and achieve the sustainable development goals. Separately talking to a Pakistani-origin British national Dr Tariq Mahmood, Qureshi said that the government is making hectic efforts to prevent the spread of coronavirus and its economic implications. He said that the process of vaccination in the country is successfully underway. The foreign minister also appreciated the services of Pakistani doctors, nurses and medical staff living in the UK.
Senior citizens above 65 age can avail walk-in vaccination: NCOC ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt
The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) announced Friday that senior citizens aged 65 years or above will be able to avail walk-in vaccination facility from April 3 onwards. Senior citizens will be able to get the coronavirus vaccine jab at designated vaccination centres across the country, said a tweet by the NCOC. “Senior citizen above 65 years can now walk into any designated vaccination centre with their CNIC to get on-spot registration and vaccination, with effect from 3rd April 21,” read the NCOC’s tweet. It also said that they have taken stock of the reported surge of coronavirus positivity cases among children. “There is no deviation in positivity ratio in children as compared to previous waves statistics,” it said. “During all three waves, infection ratio in children aged between 1-10 years remained around 3% of total cases.” The NCOC also expressed concerns over non-adherence to Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs) by the masses. “The forum expressed concerns over non-implementation of NCOC instructions on adherence to SOPs on wearing of masks, social distancing and commercial timings,” read the statement. The NCOC session headed by its Chairman Asad Umar and co-chaired by National Coordinator Lieutenant General Hamood-uz-Zaman Khan was held in Islamabad. The forum expressed satisfaction over the procurement process of vaccines and its subsequent rollout process to federating units. It was observed that one million Sinopharm vaccines purchased by Pakistan have been received and distributed amongst all federating units. The communique added that the provinces [are] to ensure that vaccination targets set by the authority are vigorously pursued.
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Saturday, 3 April, 2021
ISLAMABAD
NEWS
PM APProves sehAt InsAf CArd sCheMe for IslAMAbAd: AsAd ISLAMABAD
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eDeRAL Minister for Planning, Development, Reforms and Special Initiatives Asad Umar on Friday disclosed Prime Minister Imran Khan's "huge announcement" for Islamabad, saying that the premier has approved the Sehat Insaf Card scheme for the city's residents.
Asad tweeted, "Huge decision [taken] for the citizens of Islamabad by the prime minister. The prime minister has given the green signal to introduce the Sehat Insaf Card system for every citizen of the city. The minister said that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) was the first province to approve the health insurance card, adding that the system will be implemented in Punjab, Gilgit Baltistan and Islamabad as well. The KP government's Sehat Insaf Card
programme is an initiative that aims to provide Rs1 million insurance to every family in the province. Sehat Insaf Card programme Director Riyaz Tanoli had said that health insurance will be provided to people not on the basis of the health card but through their computerised national identity cards (CNICs). "From October to January 2021, all families in the province will be provided free health insurance," he had said.
Xi sends best wishes to Alvi for early recovery from Covid-19 ISLAMABAD: Chinese President Xi Jinping has sent a letter to President Arif Alvi and wished him a speedy recovery from Covid-19. In his message, Chinese President Xi stressed that Pakistan and China are allweather strategic cooperative partners. "China would always stand with Pakistan to jointly fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, and make joint efforts to build a closer China-Pakistan community with shared future to benefit the two countries and two peoples," the Chinese president said. It is pertinent to mention here that the Chinese President Xi and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang also sent separate letters to Prime Minister Imran Khan who had also contracted the virus and recovered last week. MIAN ABRAR
Punjab govt closes tourist spots amid spike in Covid-19 cases LAHORE: The Punjab government on Friday decided to shut all the tourist spots in the province due to the recent spike in Covid-19 cases. According to a notification issued by the Tourism Development Corporation of Punjab, all the tourist spots in the province will remain closed till April 11. The decision has been taken to stem the spread of the deadly virus. It is pertinent to mention that Punjab had recorded as many as 2,467 new cases of Covid-19 and 73 deaths on March 30. According to the provincial health department, the tally of total deaths due to Covid-19 in the province had reached to 6,317. INP
Kashmala’s son gets bail in road accident case ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday granted bail to Federal Ombudsperson for Protection against Harassment of Women Kashmala Tariq’s son in a case pertaining to a traffic accident that killed four people in the federal capital. Justice Aamir Farooq of the IHC approved the bail of Azlan Khan against a surety bond of Rs200,000 until April 8. The court restrained the police from arresting him in the case and issued notices to respondents. The court observed the previous interim bail granted to the accused by a sessions court has ceased to have effect due to non-submission of surety bonds within a period of 15 days. Azlan through his counsel stated that he has reached an agreement with the heirs of those killed in the traffic accident and the person injured has also pardoned him. He, therefore, pleaded with the court to accept his bail before arrest plea. Four people were killed after a speeding vehicle with the family of Kashmala Tariq broke a signal and crashed into a car and motorcycle on the Srinagar Highway in Islamabad last month. TLTP
Man commits suicide after killing wife, children over poverty JHANG: In a shocking incident, a man killed his wife and children before committing suicide over poverty in Jhang on Friday. According to the local police, Nadeem, who lived in Hasilpur area of Jhang, initially strangulated his wife and two children and later committed suicide by hanging from a ceiling fan. The police said the male victim was in debt of Rs90,000 and a letter was also found near his body. “I love my wife and children and had failed to fulfil their needs. I am taking away all of them with me,” the letter read. Sources said that Nadeem was jobless and unable to fulfil the needs of his family. “He was unable to pay the rent and electricity dues and was forced to commit suicide after being continuously demanded to pay the amount,” they said. The police said that they had shifted the bodies to a hospital for medico-legal formalities and would investigate the matter from all angles to get clarity on it. INP
FAISALABAD: A view of closed shops at the Qaisery Gate Road due to smart lockdown in the city. ONLINe
Ehsaas survey to be completed by June: Sania ISLAMABAD TLTP
Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation Dr Sania Nishtar has said that the ehsaas survey is 78 per cent complete and is progressing smoothly to be accomplished by June this year. In a statement on Friday, she said that owing to the technical nature of computerised ehsaas survey, massive training of master trainers, trainers, enumerators, and supervisors is an important element of the ehsaas survey methodology. She said the ehsaas survey is free of cost and enumerators are not authorised to charge any fee for carrying out survey of households. The special assistant said
that this is entirely an apolitical survey being carried on a paperless approach. The field teams are going door to door to collect the data of households at the doorstep through an android based application. She asked the households to cooperate with the survey teams and share correct data. It is pertinent to mention that work on the new ehsaas National Socioeconomic Registry survey has been accelerated all over the country so that data can be gathered about the socio-economic status of households for complete coverage, targeting of poor and identification of potential beneficiaries. This is the first ever computerised survey that continues in various districts across the country to enrol deserving households in ehsaas.
So far, the phase-wise survey has been completed in 65 districts and is currently underway in other 88 districts. Further, enumerators are undergoing technical training in seven districts, including Upper Chitral, Skardu, Ghanche, Kharmang, Hunza, Shigar and Astore, and in these districts, the survey will be launched soon. According to the inclusive social protection policy of ehsaas, the results of the survey will facilitate proper targeting of poor households across the country for the multitude of ehsaas initiatives. To ensure transparency and integrity in data collection, the entire survey process has been made end-to-end digital. A new survey model has been developed to conduct the survey in AJK, Gilgit
Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, including newly-merged districts (erstwhile FATA) and several other areas of the country. The new model is centred on the fast-track approach to implement the survey in collaboration with provincial school education departments under the technical supervision of ehsaas. According to ehsaas strategy, as the door-to-door survey reaches a 70 per cent completion in a Tehsil, a registration desk is opened enabling missing households desirous of benefitting from ehsaas to register themselves. To-date, desks have been opened in every Tehsil of 60 Districts in total. These desks are facilitating those households to register themselves that were missed during the survey.
Man accused of child pornography arrested in Lahore LAHORE TLTP
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) arrested a suspect allegedly linked with a child pornography ring in Lahore on Friday. The suspect, identified as Ihtesham Siddiq, was detained from a prominent housing society by the FIA’s cybercrime circle on the information given by an affected child. Siddiq reportedly belongs to Kharian but is residing in Lahore. The law enforcement agency officials claimed to have recovered a large number of inappropriate photos and video clips from his possession.
According to the FIA, the suspect is a part of a child pornography ring. It added that Director FIA Abdul Rab Chaudhry had received information regarding the suspect's involvement in befriending children through social media, entertainment and gaming channels. The report added that the detained man had been involved in uploading indecent photos of children online. During the investigation, the cybercrime cell approached the local court, following which the suspect was remanded into custody. The cell further said forensics were being carried out on Siddiq's mobile and laptop, saying doing so would likely determine the suspect's links with an international child pornography ring,
In January, the Islamabad High Court had rejected the post-arrest bail plea of a suspect accused of child pornography, ruling that the instigation and distribution of such heinous content are patently offensive and extremely as well as atrociously harmful for society. "We must not normalise and ignore its far-going consequences in society and its children. The impact of child pornography on society is remarkable and enforces the normalisation of child exploitation by way of providing them safety and protection. The impact of child pornography on children is unimaginable and has a longterm daunting consequence on the child," the judge was quoted as saying.
Saturday, 3 April, 2021
ISLAMABAD
NEWS
Gwadar becomes capital of South Balochistan iSLamaBad inp
Gwadar, a crown jewel of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), has become the capital of South Balochistan, a move that will bring the coastal town into new limelight, catapulting its “star image” on the national and international spectrum. Talking to Gwadar Pro, Gwadar Port Authority (GPA) Chairman Naseer Khan Kashani revealed that GPA has got an official status of capital of South Balochistan. “We have received a letter from the Government of Balochistan in this regard.” A government official of Balochistan said that Gwadar is now an official provincial metropolis of South Balochistan. GDA officials said that the provincial government has declared the rest house of Gwadar Port Authority (GPA) as the secretariat office of Gwadar. It is revealed that an agreement in this regard has been inked on Wednesday (March 31). Funds have also been allocated to furnish the civil secretariat of Gwadar. A team of Services & General Admission Department has launched the recruitment process. Gwadar Development Authority (GDA) official Nadir Baloch said that the new initiative would have a positive impact on the image of Gwadar rising as the apple of the eye for everyone especially for those who visualise Gwadar as a unicorn of future development. It will help charge up Gwadar Master Plan, he added. It is pertinent to mention here that on February 23, 2017, former Balochistan chief minister Nawab Sanaullah Zehri announced to designate Gwadar as the winter capital of the province and directed all provincial departments to set up their offices in the port city. Presiding over the 16th meeting of the GDA governing body, he said that the decision had been taken in view of the importance of Gwadar as a future economic hub of the country. A day earlier, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had invited Tajikistan to benefit from Pakistan’s Gwadar port as the shortest trade route to Southeast Asia, Middle East, and Africa. Qureshi, while speaking to his Tajik counterpart Sirajuddin Mehruddin, had emphasised tapping the immense trade potential existing between the two countries. Gwadar and the country’s other seaports could help boost bilateral trade volume between Pakistan and Tajikistan, he said. Qureshi was in Tajik capital as part of his visit to attend the 9th Heart of Asia — Istanbul Process (HoA-IP) Ministerial Conference. Similarly, Pakistan and Uzbekistan had previously agreed to form a joint working group (JWG) for future coordination in connection with “access to Pakistani seaports”. This was agreed upon when Uzbekistan Railways Deputy Chairman Akmal Kamalov along with a delegation called on Maritime Affairs Minister Ali Zaidi on Wednesday. The delegation apprised the minister of their visit to the ports in Karachi and Gwadar, and discussed the way forward for cargo transportation. Moreover, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) parliamentary committee last month had recommended expediting the process of completion of the new Gwadar International Airport and avoid an unnecessary delay in construction work either by Pakistan or China. Committee Chairman Sher Ali Arbab had observed that the new airport was of utmost importance for attracting investors and exploiting the strategic location of Gwadar. The meeting was apprised about the progress of New Gwadar International Airport, which the chairman had said would prove conducive in effective operationalisation of Gwadar port if approved timely. The committee had also been briefed on various infrastructure, energy and socio-economic development projects for Gwadar under the CPEC framework, in addition to briefings on Gwadar Port Free Zone, East Bay Expressway and Pak-China Technical and Vocational Institute.
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NYT pAiNTS BleAk piCTURe of SiNdh heAlTh SeCToR iSLamaBad
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New York Times report has highlighted the dismal state of affairs of the health sector in Pakistan, in particular Sindh province, referring to the 2019's HIV outbreak in Rato Dero during which hundreds of children were reported positive. "In Pakistan, HIV numbers have long been trending in the wrong direction. The most recent data indicate that only 21 per cent of those infected with HIV in Pakistan are aware of their status," it said. The report quoted UNAIDS, saying that there are an estimated 190,000 HIV-positive people in the country, and only 12 per cent of them receive treatment. "As a result, there has been a 385 per cent increase in HIV-related deaths in Pakistan since 2010. Sub-Saharan Africa, in contrast, has had a 45 per cent decline over that same period. Pakistan has one of the fastest-rising rates of infection in Asia and the Pacific," the report stated.
According to the World Bank, just over 3 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product goes toward health, one of the lowest such allocations in the world; its neighbour Afghanistan devotes nearly 10 per cent. The report said that Pakistan, one of two countries that has not eradicated polio, also currently bears some of the heaviest burden from tuberculosis, at least in part because being HIV-positive increases the risk, by roughly 20-fold, of developing the disease. As of November 30, an astonishing 1,132 children in the city and its environs were HIV-positive, most of them under age 13. To put this in perspective, the equivalent figure for the entire United States is less than 2,000; the American population, 330 million, is a thousand times that of the Rato Dero metropolitan area." A local doctor Imran Arbani, in the report, said that the numbers in Rato Dero are certainly higher now — fuelled by the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country which put additional pressure on the already under-strained health system.
Citing Covid-19 variants, UK imposes travel ban on Pakistan alongside others continued from page 01 These additional restrictions will “help to reduce the risk of new variants – such as those first identified in South Africa and Brazil – entering England,” the Department for Transport said. The UK has set a potential May 17 date for resuming international travel, which is banned except for a few legally permitted reasons. “But [their] schedules could change,” Turner said. A task force set up by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to propose a traffic-light system to rank countries red, green or amber for travel according to the risks posed by their virus rates. Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Friday said that the government was making all-out efforts to contain the spread of Covid-19 as well as overcoming its adverse impacts on the national economy. The foreign minister, in a meeting with Pakistan-origin British national Dr Tariq Mahmood, who
called on him, said that the third wave of the coronavirus pandemic was becoming more severe in Pakistan, a Foreign Ministry press release said. He said that the anti-Covid vaccination drive was moving ahead successfully in phases. The foreign minister lauded the services of Pakistani doctors, nurses and health workers living in the UK during the pandemic. They discussed the overall situation of the pandemic and the matters of mutual interests. The third wave of the coronavirus in Pakistan has been intensifying over the last few weeks with daily cases reaching levels last seen in June and July of 2020. During the last 24 hours, the country reported 5,234 cases. This is the highest number of cases reported so far this year, and the highest since June 20, 2020, when 5,948 cases were recorded. The total number of cases in the country is 678,165. Deaths have risen to 14,613 after 83 fatalities were reported during the last 24 hours.
Last month, Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar had asserted: “Yes, there is no doubt that the third wave has started. The phenomena that are driving it is the spread of the UK strain.” “Our own statistics from the last few weeks show a sustained increase in our case fatality rate (the number of patients who succumbed to the virus from the total number infected). At the time, we were speculating that it may be linked to the UK strain. But now the research report is here which establishes [the link],” the minister had said, terming it a “very dangerous situation”. “We asked National Institute of Health (NIH) to do genome sequencing and first we saw the UK strain in areas in north Pakistan, including Islamabad. After that, we also did genome sequencing for the rest of the country,” he had added while talking to a private news channel. The federal minister had also pointed out that the new strain of the coronavirus was more transmissible than the original strain from Wuhan.
UNAIDS estimates that even a six-month interruption of antiretroviral therapy for 20 per cent of people would result in more than 110,000 additional deaths. In a study in The Lancet Global Health, researchers modelled the impact of Covid-19 on HIV, tuberculosis and malaria. Over the next five years, in low and middleincome countries where these diseases are highly prevalent, deaths could increase up to 10 per cent for HIV, 20 per cent for tuberculosis and 36 per cent for malaria. Mishal Khan, a policy analyst at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine who studies Pakistan’s health system, said that she doesn’t want “everything to be about Covid, because it’s not like the other issues will go away.” "They’ll just get neglected,” she added because even infectious diseases that have been “taking lives for decades” haven’t been tracked as closely as Covid-19. The New York Times report also highlighted the miseries a common person in Pakistan faces when a tragedy such as HIV struck a family.
USC jacks up oil, ghee prices by up to Rs9 per litre The Utility Stores Corporation (USC) has increased the prices of ghee and oil by up to Rs9 per litre just days before the start of the holy month of Ramzan. According to a notification issued in this regard on Friday, the USC has increased the prices of branded ghee and oil with immediate effect. The price of cooking oil has been increased from Rs6 to 9 per litre, while ghee rates have been moved up by Rs7 per kg, the notification added. It is pertinent to note the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (SBP), in a recent report, said inflation in the country reached a seven-month high, and in March, it rose to 9.05 per cent. Last month, Prime Minister Imran Khan had prohibited concerned authorities from hiking ghee prices at USC outlets across the country. Following the prime minister's disapproval of the price hike, according to sources, then finance minister Dr Hafeez Shaikh also backed the premier's decision. "Ghee is people's basic necessity; its price should not be increased," the finance minister had said. The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) had earlier allowed an increase of Rs30 in the price, but after PM Imran’s directives, the commodity will be sold at Rs170 instead of Rs200 per kg at Utility Stores. Separately, a Ramzan package worth Rs7.6 billion was approved by the ECC following a meeting chaired by the then-finance minister. nEWS DESK
SC rejects PTI’s appeal, upholds re-polling order in NA-75 Daska continued from page 01 Later on Friday, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz expressed happiness over the top court’s decision. In a post on the microblogging website Twitter, Maryam said, “Today, it has been proved
that Prime Minister Imran Khan and his government had stolen the votes of Daska people.” These “corrupt elements” also need to be made accountable for the kidnapping of Election Commission staff, she demanded. Maryam further congratulated the PML-N workers and candidate
Nosheen for bravely fighting these “thieves”. Meanwhile, PML-N Spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said that the decision of SC represents the stance of the masses. We will expose the conspiracy of disrespecting the vote and abducting electoral staff, she assured.
Pakistan to help Saudi govt replicate PM Imran’s ‘green initiatives’: Amin iSLamaBad app
Saudi Ambassador Nawaf bin Saeed Al-Maliki on Friday called on Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam and expressed his government’s interest to learn from Pakistan’s various green initiatives launched under the Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision for Clean Green Pakistan. “The exchange of views focused on bilateral cooperation and joint working for the implementation of the present Saudi government’s various green initiatives including 10 Billion Tree Plantation Programme and Ecosystem Restoration Initiative,” the Climate Change Ministry’s media spokesperson, Muhammad Saleem Shaikh, said in a press statement on the bilateral meeting held at the Climate Change Ministry. “Both sides agreed and expressed firm resolve to further strengthen the strong, longstanding Pakistan-Saudi Arabia fraternal ties through jointly working towards Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s vision of green and climate-resilient United Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) through
cooperation and collaboration,” the statement added. The Saudi envoy told the PM’s aide that the Saudi government is highly appreciative of the inspiring vision of PM Imran and impressed with the Clean Green Pakistan programme and various green projects initiated under the vision, especially one of the world’s most ambitious environmental undertakings: 10 Billion Tree Tsunami Plantation project. Along with this, the envoy highlighted the positive impact of the Ecosystem Restoration Initiative for the promotion of nature-based solutions, as well as the Protected Areas Initiative for conservation and protection of the environmentally sensitive and biodiversity-rich wildlife areas. During the meeting, the Saudi envoy extended an offer on behalf of the Saudi government to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with climate change ministry for enhanced bilateral collaboration in environmental, climate change, renewable energy and forestry sectors for promoting Pakistan’s green initiatives in Saudi Arabia, the PM’s aide said. “We are very much honoured to receive
the offer for signing an agreement with the Saudi government for extending bilateral brotherly ties in the forestry, environment, ecosystem restoration, renewable energy, water conservation and rainwater harvesting and will definitely sign the MoU after the go-ahead from the Prime Minister Imran Khan,” said Amin. Explaining about the Saudi government’s offer, the PM’s aide said that the Saudi envoy conveyed that the Saudi government is interested to work with the climate change ministry particularly in areas of Pakistan’s recently launched Olive Tree Tsunami Initiative and National Apiculture Programme and intends to replicate the initiatives in various areas of Saudi Arabia. Amin also asked the Saudi ambassador Nawaf bin Saeed Al-Maliki to send in the country’s technical team to visit the areas of Pakistan where the various green initiatives are being implemented by the climate change ministry in collaboration with the provincial governments. This could then enable the technical team to help the Saudi government effectively design its own green initiatives and implement them in partnership with local
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communities, he maintained. While spelling out details of Pakistan’s green projects being implemented under the environmental leadership of PM Imran, the PM’s aide told the Saudi ambassador that the Climate Change Ministry was implementing several world-acclaimed flagship programmes and projects in technical support with the international UN organisations, including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation and the World Bank (WB). The world’s largest afforestation programmes – the 10 Billion Tree Tsunami Plantation, Clean Green Pakistan Programme, National Apiculture Programme, National Olive Tree Tsunami Project, Ecosystem Restoration Initiative and Protected Areas Initiative – are now being implemented successfully in consultation and coordination with the international organizations to achieve environmental sustainability and climate resilience through initiative, he elaborated. He informed the Ambassador further that another ambitious Protected Areas Initiative (PAI) launched last year under the umbrella programme ‘Green Pakistan’ aims
at the conservation and promotion of naturebased solutions and creation of additional 5,000 green jobs for community members in the protected areas. “The ambitious PAI primarily was being implemented at a full-throttled pace to boost the country’s protected areas cover from 13 per cent to 15 per cent by 2023 and create 5,000 green jobs across the country,” Amin elaborated. While lauding further, the Saudi ambassador said that the PM Imran-led government’s post-Covid-19 green economic recovery initiative named Green Stimulus Initiative for creation of green jobs for those rendered jobless after the pandemic, afforestation and nature conservation, as well as protection programmes, are “something marvellous” that the Saudi government wishes to learn from and replicate. “Meanwhile, both the sides strongly pledged to collaborate on all fronts towards combating deleterious aftermaths of the global health crisis of the Covid-19 pandemic and global warming on various socioeconomic sectors of both the brotherly Islamic countries,” said Spokesperson Saleem Shaikh.
Saturday, 3 April, 2021
06 COMMENT
Role of perceptions in Indo-Pak relations
The PM’s blunder One step forward, two steps back
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India blames Pakistan for terrorism
RIME Minister Imran Khan has not only taken U-turns several times in the past but also called them a sign of leadership. The U-turn on trade with India however raises disturbing questions. One day the PM in his capacity as Minister-inCharge of Commerce and Textile approves the summaries for import of cotton, cotton yarn and sugar. Within days he takes a U-turn in the cabinet meeting declaring that there could be no trade with India until new Delhi reinstates Article 370 of its Constitution which guaranteed a semi-autonomous status for Indian-occupied Kashmir. After being in power for nearly three years, Mr Khan is expected to be in full knowledge of the views of important stakeholders around him. Unless he is well informed, he cannot act as a guiding force in the formulation of the country’s vital policies. In matters related to India Mr Khan is supposed to have received inputs from a number of ministries that include foreign, interior, finance and defence. It appears now that Mr Khan approved the summaries related to trade with India without consulting the concerned quarters or even the cabinet ministers holding key portfolios. Only weeks before, speaking at the Islamabad Security Dialogue, the PM had stressed the need for good relations with states and regional neighbours being paramount for national security, while simultaneously calling upon India to give the people of occupied Kashmir their right to self-determination in line with the UnSC resolutions. What made him then to take the decision to urgently open trade with India? Was he under the influence of some of the lobbies that try to influence every government when he put his signatures on the summaries? The summaries for imports should not have been signed if the PM was not able to get the decision implemented. It was better to keep an ambivalent posture than preconditioning trade with nothing less than reinstatement of Article 370, which would reduce Pakistan’s space to seek a diplomatic solution of the Kashmir issue. What is more, it would send a negative message abroad about the credibility of the PM.
Dr rajkumar Singh
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n the past the border areas had served as a haven for terrorists, who, the Indian government said, after obtaining training and arms in Pakistan, crossed over into India and fanned out all over the country. There has been a steady one-way traffic of illegal immigrants from Pakistan to the border areas. The importance of the problem lies in the fact that not only human traffic but arms and narcotics find easy access into India. Reports from various parts of the country confirm that they smuggle arms and narcotics in large quantities. Unfortunately, there are many godfathers, agents, touts, etc. on the Indian side who not only provide shelter and food to the illegal migrants but all help needed to remain unnoticed. The defence forces with the help of local people and the police must break up these gangs, round up the agents and touts and send the godfathers to prison. What is needed is not a fence along the border but a highly efficient intelligence machinery capable enough to identify the illegal migrants and stop the trans-border commerce in humans, drugs and arms. In August 1986 the Indian Parliament adopted a resolution in pursuance of Article 249 of the Constitution whereby the Centre assumed special powers to create a security belt to deal directly and swiftly against large scale infiltration, illegal traffic in arms, drugs and secessionist and terrorist activities on international borders. not only the entire border of Pakistan from Kashmir to Kutch but our borders with Bangladesh and China also need to be protected. It is time India told its people the real and full story about Pakistan’s role in the unrecognised war in Jammu and Kashmir which the latter has been waging since its first invasion in October 1947. Terrorism, it is said, has become endemic to modern society. It continues to be generated by recurrent
Vaccination scams Inevitable in the absence of an efficient and foolproof administrative setup
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T was perhaps inevitable that there would be some queue jumping for the covid-19 vaccine once it arrived, but now that it has apparently happened, it seems that this provided an opportunity for the next inevitability, that some would attempt to make money. At three hospitals in Lahore, it transpires, there are large numbers of doses of the vaccine missing and unaccounted for. One source of this disappearance is queue-jumping, mostly by political figures, who not only take the vaccination without falling into any of the categories of either healthcare workers or the aged, but have their jab administered at home. Even those who would be vaccinated, such as aged parents, want the service at home. Once doses of the vaccine leave the hospital, they do not come back, and probably find their way onto the black market, where queue jumpers without political influence find that paying through their nose will serve. It has not helped that the national Command and Operations Centre database seems to have collapsed, making data entry of those vaccinated impossible. That collapse itself must be viewed with suspicion, for the timing is too convenient for those misusing the facility. One result has been that one hospital has actually had to turn away those had been told to go there for their vaccinations on a particular date. Pakistan has also been found to do worst among the countries of the region, which means that it is doing badly among countries with equally ramshackle healthcare systems and similar cultures of entitlement. That this particular evil has cropped up under the PTI is perhaps more reprehensible for it than for other parties, considering the moral high ground it has tried to occupy. However, part of the problem is the apparent readiness of Chief Minister Usman Buzdar and Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid to do nothing in the hope that the problem will go away, even though they should be on the forefront of the effort to control their fellow party members from giving in to their worst instincts.
Politics of Turncoats Turncoats are not even good at ruling ihSaan afzal khan
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IFE is uncertain and so are events that unfold in future. Similarly, politics involves most vicious cycles of unpredictable events; it is during such times that the character and ideology of a politician is tested. Politicians with firm ideological roots make decisions, amidst such changes, based on some principles. Principles which help them maintain an uncompromising attitude against what stood against their ideology. Moreover, others have no such compact ideological basis to maintain a principled position in ever-changing events. Such politicians have competing loyalties; they side with whosoever is fulfilling their self-interest. These are self-obsessed public figures who continuously undermine the national interest by siding with forces inimical to democracy. These forces are made of cynical figures under a cynical mind. Political parties work on particular ideologies. They encapsulate the politicians who have likeminded ideologies. A leftist would never join a rightwing party; a socialist would abstain from working on the agenda of a capitalist party. Insightful individuals, having a few standards, always find proficient approaches to keep up themselves to a particular group for the sake of the collective interest. They work beyond vested interest. The preservationism of John Muir became the part of a mass movement after the 1970s even though the movement was subjected to criticism for being involved in vested interests; yet Muir's adherence and faithfulness to his thoughts had ended up being a triumph, as environmental protection plans are being incorporated in policies. Loyalty acts like an adhesive; it holds thoughts and connections together both in harmony times and troublesome occasions. It is like the loyalty of Liaquat Ali Khan, the man Jinnah called his right hand. Where there is morality, there is immorality. Around the globe, a portion of the lawmakers have no such
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social crises, arising from the increasing marginalisation of some sections of society caused by the indiscriminate spread of capitalism and the free market economy, through the much vaunted process of globalisation. At its root the terrorist movement is born out of frustration and despair. Despair caused by social marginalisation, economic decline and political defeat. Someone once said that “young hope betrayed, transforms itself into bombs”. Perceived injustice, if allowed to continue unresolved, would transform into despair and then violence. According to Leon Trotsky the two emotions central to terrorism, are despair and vengeance. The causes of these issues and the form they take, whether it be terrorism or otherwise, must be studied and understood in a scientific and objective manner. With the start of cross-border terrorism, the Kashmir dispute assumed alarming proportions. Pakistan’s historical record of its commitment to honour its agreements and treaty obligations, which it freely entered into, not only with India, but also with other countries has been extremely poor. The 1947 Standstill Agreement with Jammu and Kashmir, the 1948 Un Resolution, 1949 Karachi Agreement, 1954 SEATO and CEnTO agreements, 1966 Tashkent Declaration, 1972 Simla Agreement, 1988 Geneva Accords with Afghanistan, 1999 Lahore Declaration, and so on, stand out. When the Kashmir agitation picked up steam the Berlin Wall was being pulled down, the mighty Red Army had been forced out of Afghanistan by rag-tag bands of Islamic guerillas a year earlier and geographical boundaries were being redrawn across Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Thus it was no surprise then that the votaries of azadi thought that India too would close shop in Kashmir. But this did not happen. Pakistan’s waging a covert war through trans-national terrorism has a strong religious base. It was during the regime of General Zia-ul-Haq that Islamabad began to use terror as a weapon to fight war. The strategy had found a sound footing from a book Quranic Concept of War written by Brigadier S. K. Malik. In it, the Holy Quran was interpreted as requiring the believers to use terror as a weapon of war. Unfortunately, the military dictator at that time, strongly recommended the book and its conclusions by stating that it brings out the “Quranic philosophy on the application of military force, within the context of the totality that is “JEHAD”. The volume concluded that “jehad”, the Quranic concept of total strategy, demands the preparation and application of total manpower, and the military instrument is one of its elements. It went on to say further that “The holy Quran lays the highest emphasis on the preparation of war. The test of utmost preparation lies in our capability to instil terror into the hearts of the enemies”. The merging of the concept of jehad, war and terrorism has also been pursued by Pakistan in the trans-national terrorism it imposes in Jammu and Kashmir. Incidentally, a combination of jehad terrorism war has also been
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moralities or firm belief systems. They are in politics for promoting vested interests or are working on some agenda. These politicians have weak loyalty to the parties and they often switch parties to pursue the incentives being offered. The claim is not that the politicians and the parties have no ideology; it is changing parties and henceforth belief systems, based on cynicism. In Pakistan, the turncoats manoeuvre the voters roughly around the same vows; local development and spoiling other candidates. They have no firm ideologies and have been found changing parties frequently. They are in politics for the sake of electoral incentives; maintaining office, that is the lone inspiration they have. In the established and progressed democracies, a conservative politician would not switch to any other party regardless of whether the other party appears likely to win the upcoming elections because he or she opposes the other party’s stance and ideology. Also, the likely triumphant party is probably not going to invite him or her, considering his or her position and ideology. Pakistan, being a hybrid regime, does not follow such standards. The turncoats create discord in the whole democratic process. For instance, numerous turncoats left the PML(n) in 1999 in the repercussions of the deposition of Mian Muhammad nawaz Sharif, and it was
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pursued by Pakistan in Afghanistan for nearly three decades. India is the victim of sustained low-level aggression by secessionist forces encouraged and abetted by Pakistan. The present thinking on terrorism can be divided into two schools of thought. One school of thought places the terrorist beyond the pale of civilized society and considers him anathema to civilization and stigmatises him as a plain murderer who needs to be eliminated. But the second school of thought encourages an in-depth study of, and a systematic approach to understand and eradicate, the reasons that bring about such upheavals. The rational political, social and economic aspirations of peoples which when frustrated continuously give rise to full blown terrorism of the modern day, must be sifted out of the process of terroristic actions and looked at separately. Those political aspirations must be addressed honestly and seriously. The solutions that are employed must be made effective–legally and constitutionally, politically, economically and socially. The overall gained impression from the crossborder terrorism is that it relates to the second school of thought. Peace is more than the simple absence of war. It entails active engagement in the battle for identifying and rectifying the root causes of conflict. The problem of cross-border terrorism took an alarming shape during 1988-89 for which solid ground had been prepared by the parties concerned. First, on the part of new Delhi it was a time to face realities on the ground and examine carefully the causes for the sense of alienation that the Kashmiris feel. The government is well advised to go into the history of the Kashmir issue in order to understand and appreciate how and when things went wrong and how the impasse of this particular type came about. It is an open fact that the Government of India has, from the beginning, been ignoring the political, social, economical as well as cultural needs of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. The successive governments of the national Conference, alternated by the direct rule of new Delhi, proved a disaster in the real sense of the term. Farooq Abdullah’s behaviour during his curtailed first term in 1983-84, has been described as that of “a little boy with a toy”, and during the second as “a virtual abdication of governance.” He acquired the sobriquet “disco chief minister” because he was frequently sighted in discotheques in Indian cities, and he spent much of the rest of his time playing golf or vacationing abroad. His colleagues in government earned a reputation for corrupt practices. In a nutshell, the Kashmiris feel that Delhi’s behaviour has been atrocious in that it has chosen to ignore them completely. The writer is head of the political science department of the B.N.Mandal University, Madhepura, Bihar, India. He can be reached at rajkumarsinghpg@gmail.com
the experienced hands of followers like Khawaja Asif and other who kept the flow of the party going against the abuses and oppressions. The turncoats were named as “lotas” and this practice became the filthy culture in the political discourse of Pakistan since then. Stunningly, the same people who left nawaz Sharif returned to the party after Sharif’s arrival in Pakistan in 2007. There are numerous different instances of such turncoats in Pakistan’s political discourse. Fawad Chaudhry was once Musharraf’s man, at a point PPP’s man and is now PTI’s man. Likewise, Shah Mehmood Qureshi hopped from the PML(n) to the PPP to the PTI. Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed has remained a minister 15 times over the span of 35 years; his bounces from one party to the other is the main reason behind his portfolio of 15 ministries. The loss of this cynical practice can be found in the fiasco of the railway ministry as it has been noted that the net loss of Pakistan railway for the year 2018-19 stood at Rs 32.7 billion. During this year, approximately 140 accidents occurred. This is worrisome. They jump to different parties like polythene bags in the air which are threatening for the environment; so are they. Today Pakistan is suffering a governance crisis. The captain of the PTI government has given the main positions of the field to those who have been thrown out of the other teams because of their ill performance or to the individuals who had been backstabbing their skippers. At the point when Imran Khan is accusing the previous governments, he is accusing his own group, as PTI embodies the bigger number of turncoats.
Today Pakistan is suffering a governance crisis. The captain of the PTI government has given the main positions of the field to those who have been thrown out of the other teams because of their ill performance or to the individuals who had been backstabbing their skippers. At the point when Imran Khan is accusing the previous governments, he is accusing his own group, as PTI embodies the bigger number of turncoats
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The writer is a freelance columnist
Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk
Saturday, 3 April, 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
PM and his advisors THE prime minister is naive and so are his bunch of advisors and ministers . This is costing the country very dearly in all respects and in almost three years of its installation , the government has failed to check the continuous decline of the economy which has nosedived . As if the wreckage of power sector and its gross mismanagement was not enough , the prime minister has entrusted an additional charge of Petroleum division to Tabish Gauhar , the advisor on Power . The appointment of a young inexperienced person on the important subject of Power is beyond comprehension , with the result that the affairs of the power sector are becoming more and more complicated with passage of time instead of being sorted out . A mere foreign degree does not help you to become an expert or an effective advisor at the national level . nor the qualifications of being an ex- MD of Kesc and chairperson of a consultancy company should merit to elevate a person to advise the government on a very important matter such as Power , the back bone of national development and progress . With this background , one should not be surprised to see the whole national power sector in shambles . The pity is that there are no signs of any improvement with no light at the end of the tunnel . The notorious circular debt is continously swelling . There is inefficiency and incompetance all over in all tiers of the power ministry and its subordinate organisations . The minister of power knows every thing except the subject of Power . If the prime minister does not know everything , he is supposed to select a team of good , well experienced and mature advisors and ministers for the good of the country. EnginEEr riaz Bhutta LahorE
Protest of Indian Farmers Keep going The Indian farmer needs subsidies to keep going fahaD SiDDique
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n Indian farmer, Jaswinder Singh Gul, lives in a house built by his grandfather years ago. Jaswinder Singh is one of the millions of Indian farmers today worried about their future as economic catastrophe nears. Gul, a mechanical engineer by profession, had invested what he had earned in 20 years, in his family's 40-acre farm in Indian Punjab. His village is a few miles from the Pakistan border. His land is a bit sandy, but he harvested a good rice crop for the last 15 years with the help of generous government subsidies to farmers. There were strange dreams in his eyes that like him, his son and daughter, the sixth generation of this family, would also work hard in these fields and earn their livelihood. Then, suddenly, his farm underwent a dramatic change. BJP PM narendra Modi’s government introduced new laws for farmers last year. Under them, the government’s role in the Agriculture Department has been severely limited. The laws’ main purpose was to implement a new system in a country where a plentiful crop of paddy was grown but its citizens were still forced to eat substandard and malnourished food. Why have Indian farmers been protesting against those laws for the last several months? Because they can darken the future of Jaswinder Singh, and millions of farmers like him. India's agricultural commodity markets are controlled by the government, but once these laws are enacted, the government's role in running them will be greatly diminished. Farmers fear that that reduced role will be a major blow to the prices of the crops they produce, as the government gives them a hefty subsidy on the prices of their crops, making agriculture a lucrative occupation. If the government withdraws from subsidizing agricultural crops, the livelihoods of millions of farmers who depend on these lands and fields will be jeopardized. They are convinced that the government is planning to give them as hostages to the corporate sector. Jaswinder, 56, does not know what could happen to him in the coming days. He asked what else could a person do in his age group? The fire PM Modi has set across the country through these new laws is proving the biggest and most difficult challenge of his rule. Thousands of farmers have been protesting outside new Delhi for the past four months. They are from Punjab and other states, India's largest agricultural producers. Many farmers have also gone to the Indian Supreme Court, which has suspended them and ordered the government to take steps to resolve the issue. The government is using all possible means to sabotage the protest. It has removed theInternet facility to cut off protesters' access, trying to stifle online criticism. now the issue is that the farmers are continuing their protest and the government is standing firm. What is the real cause? That is the subsidy
on agricultural commodities. The government, economists and farmers agree support prices will end once these laws come into force. The government acted hastily to end the subsidy and immediately used its power to get these laws passed. Farmers say that after the implementation of these laws, the entire country’s agriculture will be destroyed, although the majority in Indian villages is engaged in agriculture. Devendra Sharma, an independent economist in Chandigarh, says, "India is in dire need of change in the agricultural sector, but it cannot be done." At present, the total population of India is 1.3 billion, of which 60 percent depends on agriculture, while the agricultural sector accounts for 11 percent of total economic activity.For the majority of rural people, there is no other option for employment. Official figures show that the manufacturing sector has shrunk slightly since 2012, while the workforce has increased. "Our hardworking non-agricultural workforce is growing rapidly, and everyone is looking for a job," says Jyan Jose Thomas, an economist at the Indian Institute of Technology in new Delhi. The current system is obsolete. It was introduced in the 1960s to avoid famine, encouraging farmers to grow rice and wheat. The government had set a minimum selling price so they could make a profit by selling whatever they produce. "Work hard and get as much produce as you can," Jaswinder Singh said, citing government instructions. The government had given full guarantee it would pick up every single grain produced. In government-sponsored markets, crop prices were set. Here the farmer and the buyer meet. Grain is dried, stored and sold here. The proceeds from the fees are spent on rural infrastructure projects, farmer’s pensions and other programmes that provide free advice to farmers on seeds and fertilizers. Thanks to this system, which uses the best technology, the use of machinery and stiff competition has greatly increased the yield per acre. Basmati rice is more widely grown in India than traditional rice and wheat. When subsidized rice is sold on the world market, it creates tension in the member countries of the World Trade Organization. On the other hand, according to the Global Hunger Index, 19 million people in India are forced to eat less nutritious food. In India, surplus grain is produced in districts from where it is very difficult to transfer it to other provinces. The government food ration system is not capable of delivering grain to the desired states before it decomposes. The government is not in a position to buy all the food produced by farmers. This imbalance does not end there. Price support from the government saves large farmers from losses, but small farmers are destroyed or are often forced to commit suicide. The highest suicide rate is in Indian Punjab. Much of the area is dry and farmers grow traditional rice, which requires a lot of water. The water level in the area is falling due to over cultivation of wheat and rice. Jaswinder Singh once tried to
grow basmati. It is more fragrant and nutritious. It requires less water, grows faster and has a better price in the world market, but government price laws do not apply to it. "When I wanted to sell basmati rice, the trader refused to pay the full price," said Jaswinder. According to Modi's plan, the role of corporate buyers in Indian agriculture will increase significantly as he believes that if Indian farmers have the option to sell outside the market to a private buyer, it will increase their income. Exports will also increase. The protests intensified because the majority of farmers feared the new laws would eliminate subsidies and disrupt markets. Under the new rules, farmers will not be able to take their disputes with buyers to court. Farmers cite an attempt made 15 years ago to deregulate agriculture in Bihar. Proponents of the laws say they will increase production, but economists and farmers believe they will fail in Punjab. Many farmers in Bihar sell their produce in Punjab markets for a good price. Affected farm owners are now forced to work in Punjab's fields. The haste with which the agricultural laws have been changed shows how much Modi likes such dramatic changes which have provoked outrage all over India. Punjab farmers and local authorities want a gradual change in price subsidies. Farmers in Bhagwanpura said in an interview that they were afraid their lands would be taken away from them and they would not get any employment. "I am not afraid of hard work, I can do anything, but I am afraid that I will not get a job," said Rajwinder Kaur, a widow farmer. "Our land was sold because I had to buy a lot of medicine for my sick husband," she said. “We now have only half an acre left, while every farmer in India has an average of two and a half acres. now my two children and I barely have anything to eat.” The bulk of our income is spent on repaying the seed and fertilizer loan. I repay this loan every six months, but the actual amount is never reduced due to interest. If this land of mine is sold, I will be forced to beg.” All the farmers involved in the protest have left their family members to work in the fields behind them. The cost of the protest is being borne by all together. Jaswinder has donated his tractor trolley and money has also been donated. He thinks saving his land is his family's problem. This farm was built by his grandfather who migrated from Pakistan after the partition of India. Farmers were prosperous with crop subsidies and now own a good deal of land. Jaswinder Singh took over in 2005 after which he spent all his saved money on improving its irrigation. He has bought a machine to pick crops and a pair of tractors. As he was talking, a call was coming from a loudspeaker at a Sikh gurdwara near his fields. "This is what we are taught every day from the gurdwara," Jaswinder said. "Work hard, worship your God and share every benefit with the whole of humanity." CCTouching his heart, he said, "My heart knows what is happening here. I must keep all this in my heart.” The writer can be reached at : fahadsiddique789987@gmail.com
Third wave
WE are now in the third wave of the deadly Coronavirus, which appears to be more contagious and deadly than the first two waves. Unfortunately, people are also experiencing Corona fatigue and becoming careless in observing social distancing and other precautionary measures. Similarly, the government also seems hesitant in taking strict measures blaming it all on people that they are not following the SOPs. The reality is that fighting such a deadly pandemic is a collective responsibility where everyone must do their part. It is understandable that fatigue and stress sets in after a prolonged threatening event making people careless or indifferent to the threat. However, we must realize that until people are vaccinated, the only defense against this life-threatening virus is taking necessary precautions. By not observing the SOPs we are not only risking our lives but those of our loved ones and others. Therefore, it is high time that we show some patience and seriously observe distancing measures. We must avoid unnecessary social events and diligently follow the SOPs. Our leaders should set an example of good behavior in this regard. They must postpone their social and political activities for the time being and ensure that they observe SOPs. The recent pictures of the PM holding a meeting during isolation or politicians holding rallies or press conferences do not send a good message across. Finally, the government should do its part and stop blaming everyone else. They did not do anything about procuring vaccines in time and that is hounding us now. It is a "now or never" type of situation so the government should take urgent and necessary measures to procure and administer vaccines to the masses. It must stop this mantra of smart lookdowns as that clearly is not working. A complete lockdown for a couple of weeks might be a difficult pill to swallow in the short run, but it will save lives and the economy in the long run. The economy is if people are, so the government must take the measures necessary to ensure public safety first. If we can shut down everything for a parade in the twin cities for days, why not do it for saving lives across the country. raja ShafaatuLLah iSLamaBad
Women prisoners ignored RECEnTLY, the Punjab government ordered that the wife of a prisoner can stay with her husband for three days every three months for which separate arrangements have been put in place in certain prisons in the province Punjab. Certainly, it is a good move, but here I am against of the government why this order applies only to male prisoners, not famale while they have equal rights. There are often reports about women being harassed and even abused by prison officials, but nobody take action against the erring officials. If _the human rights and the facility are given to the prisoners and ignoring women in this regard is a cruel act. I appeal to the government of Punjab should not do cruel act on women prisoners, rather he should provide the facility and rights as equally. imran a. Sattar KEch
Workplace harassment SExUAL harassment is one of the impediments that Pakistani women face at work places. In a patriarchal society like Pakistan harassment is always considered as a sub-rosa topic. According to some surveys 75% to 80% working women are harassed at work places. Harassment is often in form of staring, catcalling, molestation and even demanding sexual favors from women employs. Women are often reluctant to report cases because of fear of victim shaming, dismissal from job and defamation. There is a lack of awareness on this issue. Many companies, organizations and universities still do not have internal inquiry committees. Law like “Protection against harassment of women at work place Act 2010” are in place but its implementation is a tough job. A lot is need to done to make work places safe for women. Awareness should be spread on sexual harassment and laws on it. Government should ensure that every company should have internal inquiry commission to deal with this issue. Liza WaSiquE iSLamaBad
Saturday, 3 April, 2021
08 WORLD VIEW
BIden plans afghanIstan traIn wreck ON MAY 1, US MAY FACE AN “ENTIRELY NEW WAR”
AMeRIcAn conseRvATIve
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DOUG bANDOW
HE seemingly eternal war in Afghanistan continues. American forces have been on station for nearly 20 years, longer than the Mexican-American War, Civil War, Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, and Korean War combined. Some $2 trillion have been spent. More than 6,000 U.S. service members and contractors have died, along with roughly 1,100 allied soldiers. Many more have been wounded, some suffering crippling injuries. Absent a speedy exit, those numbers will continue upward. The U.S. is supposed to leave Afghanistan on May 1, the timetable agreed to by the Taliban. However, at his recent press conference President Joe Biden essentially admitted that American forces won’t be leaving then. He expressed hope that they would not be there next year. Even if there was trust between Washington and the Taliban, that sentiment probably would not suffice. The American military has spent nearly two decades seeking to end the insurgents’ bid for power. Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump both increased the number of American personnel in Afghanistan before reducing them. Moreover, Biden, despite joining his predecessor in criticizing “endless wars,” never committed to implementing the peace accord. Worse, the president is under significant pressure from the Pentagon, hawkish establishment media, mostly interventionist think-tank paladins, and a bipartisan war lobby, which heretofore have dominated Afghan policy. Typical was the Afghanistan Study Group—established by Congress and including former political and military figures who had backed and mismanaged the war—which came to the unsurprising conclusion that U.S. forces should stay. never mind two decades of failure, even after America put in nearly 100,000 troops, and (largely European) allies added another 40,000. Acknowledging error was simply beyond members’ comprehension. The best that co-chair Joseph F. Dunford, Jr., former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and one of many architects of the present imbroglio, could offer was: “If we take advantage of the opportunity we have right now then there is at least a prospect of
achieving that end state [a U.S.-friendly outcome] even as we recognize how difficult it will be.” That is supposed to be a serious argument for violating the withdrawal plan, putting troops at risk, and sticking around months or years more, with reinforcements likely necessary? Afghanistan is truly an endless war. Of course, if Biden folds this time, similar claims will be advanced again whenever the possibility of withdrawal looms. Indeed, if negotiations between the Kabul government and Taliban continue to go badly, Biden will face pressure to do more militarily to strengthen Afghan forces. The Ghani government would have an incentive to hinder progress to justify a continued and even expanded American presence. Countries in the region also would push harder for delay, preferring that the U.S. continue to relieve them of responsibility for confronting the conflict. Most of those advocating America’s forever role in Afghanistan assume that relative peace would continue. Thankfully, no American lives were lost over the last year, but that reflected the Taliban’s assumption that the U.S. was leaving. If the Pentagon keeps several thousand troops on station—about 3,500 are there now—the insurgents would have less reason to stick to the deal. Indeed, the Taliban issued a statement warning that it “will be compelled to defend its religion and homeland and continue its Jihad and armed struggle against foreign forces to liberate its country.” Of course, that could be an empty threat, an effort to pressure the administration to stick to the withdrawal schedule. However, the Islamist movement has been fighting for decades, starting well before the U.S. arrived. Absent a serious and credible U.S. promise to leave soon after May 1, the Taliban would be unlikely to hold back. It has seen American force levels wax and wane over the last two decades; Biden is the fourth president to deal with Afghanistan and he might mimic his predecessors by trying a troop surge first. Indeed, retired Army Col. Chris Kolenda, who was involved in earlier negotiations with the Taliban, warned what abandoning the agreement might unleash: The Taliban have already prepared militarily for this scenario. We’ve had a false sense of confidence over the past 14 months in which the Taliban have not attacked any U.S. bases or facilities. If we tear up the agreement, we can look forward to a Vietnam-style, Tet-like offensive by the Taliban in the summer of 2021. Some of those major attacks are going to be much more successful than the Tet Offensive was. none of this is certain, of course, but what would Biden do then? Withdrawing
quickly would be the only proper response, ending American involvement in Afghanistan’s endless civil war. However, countervailing pressure would be heavy. Public outrage would encourage retaliation. The entire pro-war establishment would declare the administration’s policy a failure and demand that he send in heavy reinforcements, which would not likely prove temporary. There also would be a crescendo of cant about the threat of withdrawal to American global credibility. Every intervention, no matter how foolish and counterproductive, is always defended as essential to convince the world that Washington is willing to undertake even more foolish and counterproductive interventions in the future. Biden would be told that if he didn’t punish the Taliban for attacking U.S. forces to punish his administration for violating the agreement, no one would ever again believe American promises. He would be warned that U.S. credibility was at risk, that inaction would trigger an avalanche of Chinese, Iranian, north Korean, and Russian aggression worldwide to “test” U.S. resolve. Biden would be told that acting tough is essential for America’s security and even survival. However, there are no good arguments for staying. Imagine Afghanistan as it is, except without U.S. forces. Would anyone suggest that Washington intervene militarily? Would anyone single out Afghanistan as a land warranting invasion and occupation, a country 40 years into a civil war involving a kaleidoscope of changing combatants? Would anyone insist that given the many challenges facing America, this is one of its highest priorities, warranting what amounts to a permanent military presence? At least, would anyone not residing in Washington, D.C.’s St. Elizabeth’s Hospital do so? Central Asia is not important for America. Rather, it is geographically about as far from a vital national interest as any location on earth. That doesn’t mean the region isn’t important to several significant and even great powers nearby—China, Russia, India, Pakistan, and Iran. But their presence is an obvious reason for the U.S. to stay out. All would benefit from a resolution of the Afghan conflict, especially Pakistan, which would most gain from ending the war. And these governments should take over efforts to promote peace. Rather than maintain a permanent military presence in Afghanistan, Washington should encourage regional discussions on how those states could best cooperate to yield a country with a modicum of stability, prosperity, and peace. There remain enthusiasts for nationbuilding. For instance, Ronald E. neumann, a former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, asked: “At this time, when so many young
Afghans are dying to build the kind of society we preached to them, have we no moral responsibility to sustain what we helped build?” Similar was the argument from Rina Amiri and Mark Kustra, who served in Afghanistan in civilian and military positions, respectively: “If the Taliban prevails militarily, it will surely unwind the substantial social, political, and economic gains that have allowed Afghans to advance over the last 20 years.” The war is a tragedy, but Americans are not obligated to fight and die, and especially to do so seemingly forever, to transform other nations. And there certainly is no reason for Afghanistan to be Washington’s top responsibility in a troubled world. The list of countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East in which the U.S. could launch similar missions, and perhaps with greater chances of long-term success, is long. War should be a last resort to protect Americans, not a first resort to fix other systems. Especially when almost two decades of U.S. involvement have not delivered the desired peace. This is no less the case when considering the status of women. On my two trips to Afghanistan I met many who enjoyed a better life because of America’s presence and who understandably feared for their future in a Taliban-dominated nation. However, as then-Vice President Biden reportedly responded to the argument that the U.S. should stay to remake Afghan society: “I am not sending my boy back there to risk his life on behalf of women’s rights! It just won’t work, that’s not what they’re there for.” It isn’t. If the status of women was a casus belli for America, Saudi Arabia and Iran long would have been at the top of the Pentagon’s hit list. Another emotional appeal is what economists call the sunk cost fallacy. At a recent meeting Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, apparently cited “all of the blood and treasure spent” there, asserting that it was important to “honor the sacrifices that have been made.” Alas, sacrificing more blood and treasure in the future would not redeem all that was sacrificed in the past. Other than the initial action to wreck Al Qaeda and oust the Taliban, the war has been a terrible mistake, and its costs have exceeded any benefits. Those who died have done so in vain. That is not their fault, but of U.S. policymakers, who should be held to account. Indeed, polls indicate that Afghan veterans are in the lead in supporting withdrawal, with nearly threequarters in favor. The best way to honor the dead is to stop sending Americans in harm’s way for less than compelling causes. Perhaps the worst but most common argument is that withdrawing from Afghanistan would leave a vacuum for terrorists. Even Trump was
taken in by this argument, admitting that he abandoned his campaign promise for a speedy exit because his aides claimed that “if we don’t go there, they’re going to be fighting over here.” That is, unless America occupies, say, Lashkar Gah, Kunduz, or Kandahar in Afghanistan, a coalition of the Taliban, Al Qaeda, and myriad other bad guys will be battling for control of Omaha, Dallas, or Boise. It is an inane claim. The Taliban is an insurgency, not a terrorist organization, and is focused on ruling Afghanistan. Its fighters have no interest in the U.S. otherwise. They welcomed Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda to fight the Soviets, the same reason America armed and funded similar fundamentalist Islamic groups in Afghanistan four decades ago. It appears that the Taliban was unhappy when its guests unexpectedly brought down America’s wrath upon them. Although Taliban fighters have fought alongside the Al Qaeda remnant currently in Afghanistan—most combatants, like the Allies in World War II, take help from anywhere they can get it—a Taliban government would be unlikely to tolerate future terrorist attacks which would bring the U.S. back militarily. nor would Afghanistan’s neighbors, which also would suffer in the aftermath. Anyway, geography is not destiny when it comes to terrorism. The 9/11 plot was concocted and organized almost entirely outside of Afghanistan. After America’s invasion of Afghanistan, Bin Laden simply moved next door to Pakistan, a nominal U.S. ally. In subsequent years the most effective Al Qaeda operatives were located in Yemen, where, ironically, the U.S. has spent six years aiding forces, including the legally recognized Hadi government, that have subsidized and armed Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Elsewhere, too, the world has plenty of ill- and ungoverned spaces in which terrorists can operate. Whatever happens vis-à-vis the Taliban, the U.S. will remain capable of mounting counter-terrorism operations in Afghanistan. Equally important, withdrawal would be an important step toward lowering Washington’s military profile in the Arab and Muslim worlds. Over the last two decades America has generated enemies faster than it has killed them. That is a losing long-term strategy. Ultimately, fighting in Afghanistan makes America and Americans less safe. The conflict is a tragedy, but not one the U.S. can resolve. Despite the understandable desire to do good, Americans are not obligated to war forever to remake other societies. Our wealth and lives should not be Washington’s to sacrifice for anything other than defense of our own land. Doug Bandow is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. A former special assistant to President Ronald Reagan, he is author of Foreign Follies: America’s New Global Empire.
Mark Zuckerberg still won’t address the root cause of Facebook’s misinformation problem THE CEO WAS ASKED REPEATEDLY AT A CONGRESSIONAL HEARING WHETHER FACEBOOK’S RECOMMENDATION ALGORITHMS FUEL POLITICAL POLARIZATION
MIT Technology RevIew
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Abby Ohlheiser
n a congressional hearing about disinformation on Thursday, Representative Debbie Dingell, a Michigan Democrat, asked Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg to respond to a claim he once made about his own company: that the more likely content posted to Facebook is to violate the company’s community standards, the more engagement it will receive. Is this, she asked, still accurate?
Dingell cited a recent investigative report by MIT Technology Review’s Karen Hao based on interviews with former and current members of the company’s AI team. The story dove into how AI models that drive Facebook’s recommendation algorithms allow misinformation and abuse to continue to thrive on the site. As Hao wrote, and Dingell paraphrased, “A former Facebook AI researcher who joined in 2018 says he and his team conducted ‘study after study’ confirming the same basic idea: models that maximize engagement increase polarization.” The company’s AI algorithms gave it an insatiable habit for lies and hate speech. now the man who built them can't fix the problem. As Hao wrote, a study from new York University of partisan publishers’ Facebook pages found “those that regularly posted political misinformation received the most engagement in the lead-up to the 2020 US presidential election and the Capitol riots.” Zuckerberg, after saying that “a bunch of inaccurate things” about Facebook’s incentives for allowing and amplifying misinformation and polarizing content had been
shared at the hearing by members of Congress, added: “People don’t want to see misinformation or divisive content on our services. People don’t want to see clickbait and things like that. While it may be true that people may be more likely to click on it in the short term, it’s not good for our business or our product or our community for it to be there.” His answer is a common Facebook talking point and skirts the fact that the company has not undertaken a centralized, coordinated effort to examine and reduce the way its recommendation systems amplify misinformation. To learn more, read Hao’s reporting. Zuckerberg’s comments came during the House Committee on Energy and Commerce hearing on disinformation, where members of Congress asked Zuckerberg, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey about the spread of misinformation about the US election in november, the January 6 attack on the Capitol building, and covid vaccines, among other things. As has become common in these hearings, conservative legislators also questioned the CEOs about perceived anti-con-
servative bias on their platforms, a longtime right-wing claim that data doesn’t support. Both US political parties have called for reforming Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act to hold Silicon Valley companies responsible for the content on their platforms and their decisions about moderating it. As part of his prepared remarks submitted ahead of the hearing, Zuckerberg proposed a change to the rule that, in its current state, grants platforms immunity from liability for user-posted content. Congress, Zuckerberg said, should “consider making
platforms’ intermediary liability protection for certain types of unlawful content conditional on companies’ ability to meet best practices to combat the spread of this content.” In other words, companies would be held liable for content posted to their platforms if the firms failed to adhere to best practices for content moderation (which the government would, in theory, define). But if companies adopt these practices and harmful content still shows up on their sites, Zuckerberg doesn’t believe that platforms should then be liable.
Saturday, 3 April, 2021
BUSINESS 09
ISLAMABAD Brooklyn man accused of using information from Bloomberg reporter for insider trading WASHINGTON
Vaccines, fiscal sTimulus BoosT us employmenT in march WASHINGTON
AGENCIES
A Brooklyn man indicted for an insider trading scheme used information from a Bloomberg News reporter about certain deals to trade, according to a review of the charging documents, in a case that comes as the volume of leaked information about mergers and acquisitions is rising. On March 23, a federal grand jury indicted 38 yearold Jason Peltz for trading on “material nonpublic information” obtained from a company insider and a financial reporter. Peltz has been charged with securities fraud, money laundering, tax evasion, among other offenses, according to the indictment filed in the Eastern District of New York. Reuters was unable to obtain contact information for Peltz and a company called Peltz Financial Firm, where the indictment says he was formerly the principal. His lawyer Jeremy Temkin of Morvillo Abramowitz law firm declined to comment. The indictment does not name the journalist or the media outlet, but Reuters and other media outlets have identified him as Ed Hammond, a deals reporter with Bloomberg in New York, based on a review of articles mentioned in the indictment. Hammond, who is not accused of any wrongdoing, declined to comment through a spokeswoman. “Ed Hammond is a very accomplished reporter. We’re not aware of any facts to suggest any wrongdoing on his part,” the same Bloomberg spokeswoman said in an email statement. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Brooklyn prosecutors declined to comment. Among the trades Peltz allegedly executed, the indictment said, was the purchase of securities and options in chemical manufacturer Ferro Corp.. based on information, obtained from a friend, that Ferro had received a takeover offer. After Peltz began placing the trades with the help of co-conspirators between Feb. 22, 2016 and March 11, 2016, Peltz had “numerous contacts” with Hammond over the phone and in person, the indictment alleges. Bloomberg published a story by Hammond about the approach on March 15, 2016, which pushed Ferro’s stock up 4.7%. A spokesperson for Ferro did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The case casts a stark light on the workings of the world of corporate mergers and acquisitions, where a cadre of bankers, lawyers and other advisers as well as executives know about talks. Information often leaks, studies have shown. Despite a long-term trend of increased oversight and enforcement, the percentage of M&A deal leaked globally increased 1.3 points to 8.7% in 2019, the secondhighest rate in a decade, according to research published by the University of London last year. Wall Street intermediaries have an incentive to leak prospective deals because doing so typically attracts more suitors, driving up the target price, the report said. “The motivations for intermediaries and other sell-side parties related to M&A transactions to leak information are clear. Our research shows that over the past ten years leaked deals have commanded an average premium that is 124 percent higher than for non-leaked deals,” the reported noted. Apart from the Ferro deal, Peltz is accused of continuing to have frequent conversations with Hammond during which he obtained material nonpublic information about stories Hammond was working on regarding certain companies. Peltz used this information “to trade in certain companies’ stocks just prior to the publication of an article about each respective company written by the Reporter,” the indictment alleges. Those were biopharmaceutical companies Medivation Inc and INC Research Holdings, communications company R.R. Donnelley and healthcare provider Community Health Systems Inc., according to the indictment. Each of the stories referenced in the indictment cite multiple sources and involved two or more reporters. The companies did not immediately return Reuters requests seeking comment.
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HE U.S. economy created the most jobs in seven months in March as more Americans got vaccinated and the government doled out additional pandemic relief money, marking the start of what could be the strongest economic performance this year in decades. The Labor Department’s closely watched employment report on Friday suggested the jobs market has finally turned the corner after hitting a ditch in December. All industries added jobs last month and more people rejoined the labor force. A measure of the economy’s ability to create employment also improved. But the road to full recovery remains long. More than four million Americans have been unemployed for over six months. “The economy is roaring back to life,” said Brian Bethune professor of practice, Boston College. Nonfarm payrolls surged by 916,000 jobs last month, the biggest gain since last August. Data for February was revised higher to show 468,000 jobs created instead of the previously reported 379,000. Still, employment re-
mains 8.4 million jobs below its peak in February 2020. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls increasing by 647,000 jobs in March. The employment report marked a painful anniversary for the labor market. The March 2020 employment report was the first to reflect the mandatory closures of non-essential businesses such as restaurants, bars and gyms to slow the onset of the justemerging COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly 1.7 million jobs were lost that month, and another 20.7 million would vanish in April. Economists estimate it could take at least two years to recoup the more than 22 million jobs lost during the pandemic. Job gains last month were led by the leisure and hospitality sector, where employers hired 280,000 workers. Restaurants and bars accounted for nearly two-thirds of the industry’s employment gains. Construction employment rebounded by 110,000 jobs after being depressed by harsh weather in February. Manufacturers hired 53,000 employees. Public and private education payrolls also increased as more schools resumed in-person learning and other school-related activities. The dollar was steady
against a basket of currencies. U.S. Treasury prices were lower. The U.S. stock market is closed for Good Friday. GOOD PROGRESS: As of Tuesday morning, the United States had administered 147.6 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines in the country and distributed 189.5 million doses, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The White House’s massive $1.9 trillion pandemic relief package approved in March is sending additional $1,400 checks to qualified households and fresh funding for businesses. Economists expect job growth will average at least 700,000 per month in the second and third quarters. That, combined with the fiscal stimulus and about $19 trillion in excess savings accumulated by households during the pandemic, is expected to unleash a powerful wave of pent-up demand. First-quarter gross domestic product estimates are as high as an annualized rate of 10.0%. The economy grew at a 4.3% pace in the fourth quarter. Growth this year could top 7%, which would be the fastest since 1984. The economy contracted 3.5% in 2020, the worst performance in 74 years. The unemployment rate fell to
Dollar, US Treasuries edge higher on strong US labour report NEW YORK AGENCIES
The dollar and the yield on the benchmark Treasury note edged higher in light trading on Friday after data showing a surge in the hiring of Americans in March pointed to a U.S. economic recovery that is poised to be the strongest in decades. Equity markets were closed in observance of Good Friday in the Americas, Europe and elsewhere but it is not a U.S. government holiday and the Labor Department released the closely watch non-farm payrolls report. The U.S. economy added 916,000 jobs in March, more than economists’ forecast of 647,000, and the unemployment rate fell to 6.0% from the previous month’s 6.2%. Jobs numbers for February were revised upwards according to the jobs report. Futures for the S&P 500 stock index extended gains to 0.43% after the report. Despite the strong numbers the data will not alter the Federal Reserve’s stance on monetary policy, said Steven Ricchiuto, U.S. chief economist at Mizuho Securities USA in New York. “The economy’s bouncing back, but it’s not producing the things that are going to change the direction of monetary policy,” Ricchiuto said. “We’re going to test the 1.77% level (in the 10-year Treasury note), but I’m not sure it’s going to break (through) on this number.” The 10-year U.S. Treasury note rose 3.9 basis points to yield 1.7179%, but this was still below a 14month high of 1.776 hit on Tuesday.
Treasury yields have spiked on the economic outlook spurred by U.S. President Joe Biden’s plans for $2.3 trillion in infrastructure spending and the accelerating rollout of Covid-19 vaccines. The March labor market report is the first of what are likely to be several very strong jobs reports over the next few months, said Russell Price, chief economist at Ameriprise Financial Services Inc in Troy, Michigan. “The outlook looks very good,” Price said. But “in my mind the biggest constraint could be the ability of the supply side of the economy to fulfill consumer wishes.” Asian markets overnight rose as optimism over a global economic recovery lifted equity markets in Japan, China and South Korea. The Nikkei in Tokyo hit a two-week high, with semiconductor- related shares leading the market as the industry looks to boost manufacturing amid a global shortage of chips. Biden’s spending plan includes $50 billion for chip manufacturing and other technology research, said Fumio Matsumoto, chief strategist at Okasan Securities. China stocks posted a second weekly gain as recent data pointed to a solid recovery in the world’s secondlargest economy. Both the CSI300 index and the Shanghai Composite Index closed at an almost fourweek highs. Chinese steel rebar and hot-rolled coil prices closed at record highs after China on Thursday announced a nationwide investigation into steel capacity cuts launched in 2016 as part of efforts to ensure output falls this year.
6.0% last month from 6.2% in February. The unemployment rate has been understated by people misclassifying themselves as being “employed but absent from work.” Without the misclassification, the unemployment rate would have been 6.4% in March. But the labor market is making progress. About 347,000 people entered the labor force in March. That lifted the labor force participation rate, or the proportion of working-age Americans who have a job or are looking for one, to 61.5% from 61.4% in February. The employment-to-population ratio, viewed as a measure of an economy’s ability to create employment, increased to 57.8% from 57.6% in the prior month. Long-term unemployment, however, is becoming entrenched. About 4.218 million people have been out of work for more than 27 weeks, accounting for 43.4% of the 9.7 million people classified as unemployed last month. That was up from 41.5% in February. “The labor market has begun to turn around, but we still have a long way to go before substantial progress is made and the labor market fully recovers,” said Charlie Ripley, senior investment strategist at Allianz Investment Management.
Tesla's first-quarter deliveries break previous record, beat expectations Tesla Inc on Friday posted record deliveries for the January to March quarter, beating Wall Street estimates, as solid demand for less expensive models offset the impact of a global shortage of parts. “We are encouraged by the strong reception of the Model Y in China and are quickly progressing to full production capacity,” Tesla said in a statement. “The new Model S and Model X have also been exceptionally well received ... and we are in the early stages of ramping production,” it added. Tesla’s Shanghai factory started production of the Model Y late last year in the key market where it already produces Model 3 sedans. In February, Tesla’s China sales jumped from the previous month even as demand usually falls during China’s Lunar New Year holidays which occurred that month. The electric-car maker delivered 184,800 vehicles globally during the first quarter, above estimates of 177,822 vehicles, according to Refinitiv data. This also exceeds its previous record of 180,570 achieved last quarter. In February, Tesla suspended its California plant for two days due to “parts shortages.” “We believe China and Europe were particularly robust this quarter,” said Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush. He expects Tesla’s annual sales to exceed 850,000 vehicles this year, fueled by the Biden administration’s policy of boosting EV sales and by rising global demand. AGENCIES
Analysis: Millennials and global consumers push US companies to get political BOSTON/NEW YORK AGENCIES
A push to attract young and diverse talent and global consumers is behind some of corporate America’s willingness to speak out on politically charged issues like Georgia’s new voting law, executives and corporate governance experts said. Georgia’s decision last month to strengthen identification requirements for absentee ballots and make it a misdemeanor to offer food and water to voters waiting in line, among other changes, drew condemnation from many U.S. companies this week, including Microsoft Corp and Citigroup. A number of companies say it disenfranchises some voters. Some, such as Delta Air Lines and Coca-Cola Co., are based in Georgia, where state lawmakers have the power to raise state taxes. Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in a public memo that his decision to speak out was informed by discussions with leaders and employees in the Black community. The companies criticizing the law so far represent a sliver of the U.S. business landscape. Yet they are part of a growing group
of companies shedding their reluctance to speak out on politically controversial social issues that matter to many of their employees and customers globally, business leaders interviewed by Reuters said. “Young people want more than words, they want action,” Debra Lee, the former chair and CEO of BET Networks, a TV network owned by ViacomCBS Inc, said in an interview on Thursday. ViacomCBS has also criticized the Georgia law. A new focus from investors on environmental, social and governance issues such as climate change and the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements has also emboldened companies. Recent examples range from companies criticizing former President Donald Trump’s claims of election fraud, to Washington Redskins football stadium sponsor Fedex Corp asking for a team name change. Retailers Walmart Inc and Dick’s Sporting Goods Inc, for example, have adopted new restrictions on gun sales following mass shootings. Some companies that are reluctant to criticize specific laws or policies are still willing to come out with more general state-
ments. For example, roughly 330 of the 500 companies in the S&P 500 Index issued comments last year in support of social justice in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a Black man, in the custody of Minneapolis police, according to shareholder advocacy group As You Sow. This approach, however, does not always appease activists looking for bigger change. Olivia Knight, the group’s racial justice initiative coordinator, said companies often did not follow up with any action, and that many were limited to vague statements of support. “I don’t think we can make the assumption the corporate world is a pot of social justice advocacy and should be looked to for guidance on these issues,” she said. On Thursday, Reuters reported that Ford Motor Co’s political action committee is resuming making political donations. It said it will not rule out making donations to Republican lawmakers who voted against President Joe Biden’s election certification on Jan. 6. Former American Express Co CEO Ken Chenault, who co-authored a letter with other Black business leaders this week call-
CMYK
ing on companies to condemn the Georgia voting law, said in an interview that some firms may be hesitant to speak out for fear of appearing partisan. But he noted that more than 60 big U.S. companies recently signed a statement opposing state bills focused on sexual orientation, showing a willingness to weigh in at least on some topics. In the battle on voting bills, “we are in the early stages,” Chenault said. WORKERS AND CONSUMERS: Speaking out against politically sensitive issues can be risky. Shares of some western apparel companies declined after they faced boycotts in China over their statements expressing concern about labor conditions, amid investor worries they would lose access to a vast, growing market. However, companies that spoke out against the Georgia voting law saw little impact on their share price. Shivaram Rajgopal, a Columbia Business School professor who follows corporate cultural issues, said corporate America is focused on satisfying its skilled young workers, who are getting more politically active on social media.
“The younger workforce expects you to take a stand on these social justice issues,” Rajgopol said. A 2019 study by the Pew Research Center found members of the U.S. generations known as Millennials, born between 1981 and 1996, and Gen Z, born after 1996, share more liberal attitudes than older generations on a range of issues, such as favoring more racial diversity and activist government. “If we are not speaking up against these voter suppression efforts, we’re really taking a chunk out of ourselves and who we are as aviation,” said Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, speaking at a U.S. aviation summit on Wednesday. The views of global customers and investors also matter more to international conglomerates like Coke and Delta than local politics, said Ric Marshall, executive director at sustainability ratings firm MSCI. “Management at these companies is much more beholden to this broader stakeholder group,” Marshall said. Conversely, companies that have said less about voting rights could be wary of alienating a more domestic customer base, he said.
Saturday, 3 April, 2021
10 FOREIGN NEWS
ISLAMABAD
TraIn CraSh kIllS 50 In TaIwan'S deadlIeST raIl Tragedy In deCadeS HUALIEN
a
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Taiwan express train with almost 500 aboard derailed in a tunnel on Friday after hitting a truck that had slid down a bank onto the track, killing at least 50 passengers and injuring 146 in the island’s worst rail disaster in seven decades. Images from the scene showed some carriages ripped apart by the impact, with others crumpled, hindering rescuers in their efforts to reach passengers. By mid-afternoon no one was still trapped, though the fire department said it had found body parts, meaning the number of those killed, who included the driver, was likely to rise. “People just fell all over each other, on top of one another,” a woman who survived the crash told domestic television. “It was terrifying. There were whole families there.” Taiwan’s government said there were
496 people on the train, including 120 without seats. Many were tourists and people heading home at the start of a traditional long weekend holiday to tend to family graves. One French citizen was amongst the dead, officials said. The train was travelling from Taipei, the capital, to the southeastern city of Taitung. It came off the rails north of the eastern city of Hualien after hitting a truck that had slid off a road from a nearby construction site, Feng Hui-sheng, the Taiwan Railways Administration’s deputy director, told reporters. Feng said the manager of the site, which was stabilising the mountainside to prevent landslides, visited around 9 a.m. (0100 GMT) and stopped his truck in front of the site office. “At present it is suspected because the vehicle wasn’t braked properly, it slid for around 20 metres along the site access road and entered the eastern trunk line,” he added. The official Central News Agency said
US, Iran to go to Vienna for indirect nuclear deal talks: report PARIS
YANGON
Officials from Tehran and Washington will travel to Vienna next week as part of efforts to revive the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and global powers, although they will not hold direct talks, diplomats said on Friday. Even without face-toface talks, which Tehran has ruled out, the presence of both of Iran and the United States in the Austrian capital would mark a step forward in efforts to bring all sides back into compliance with the accord. The aim was to reach an agreement within two months, said a senior official with the European Union, the coordinator of the deal. Former US President Donald Trump pulled out of the deal in 2018 and reimposed sanctions on Iran, prompting Tehran to violate some of the pact’s nuclear restrictions. His successor Joe Biden wants to revive the accord, but Washington and Tehran have been at odds over who should take the first step. “Iran and the US will be in the same town, but not the same room,” a European diplomatic source said. A Western diplomat said a shuttle diplomacy approach would be adopted. The talks will seek to create negotiating lists of sanctions that the United States could lift and nuclear obligations Iran should meet, the EU official said. Those lists “should marry at some point. In the end, we are approaching this in a parallel way. I do think we can do it in less than two months,” the official said. He was speaking after Iran, China, Russia, France, Germany and Britain - all parties to the 2015 deal - held virtual talks on Friday to see how to progress. “Aim: Rapidly finalise sanction-lifting & nuclear measures for choreographed removal of all sanctions, followed by Iran ceasing remedial measures,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad JavadZarif said on Twitter. “No IranUS meeting. Unnecessary,” he added. An Iranian official said US Iran envoy Rob Malley and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan would be in Vienna, but insisted there would be no direct or indirect meetings between Iranian and American officials. US officials were not immediately available for comment. “If we don’t get there in two months we will see what happens, but it will be definitely bad news,” the EU official said.
AGENCIES
AGENCIES Global prices for crude oil increased over 3 percent following the decision of the OPEC+ meeting to add 350,000 bpd next month, with a similar volume to be added in June and 450,000 bpd in July. Brent, the international benchmark for two-thirds of the world's oil, closed at $64.86 a barrel after gaining 3.38 percent. Likewise, the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained 3.87 percent to reach $61.45 a barrel. The price for Opec Basket was recorded at $63.07 a barrel with 0.47 percent decrease, Arab Light was available at $63.86 a barrel after an increase of 2.00 percent while price of Russian Sokol gained 1.90 percent to reach $63.66 a barrel. The oil markets remained closed on Friday due to Good Friday. According to experts, the expected increase in supply had the opposite impact, leading prices to surge in prices. The gradual increases in output signalled higher demand and economic recovery proving price positive for the markets. "The agreement is supportive of oil prices, yet should also help avoid a sharp spike upward as oil demand picks up," said Ann-Louise Hittle, Vice-President Macro Oils at Wood Mackenzie. "We expect oil demand to recover this quarter, likely benefiting from a faster vaccine rollout and the removal of mobility restrictions," said Giovanni Staunovo, commodity strategist at UBS. The Swiss bank expects oil demand to rise close to pre-Covid levels of 99 million bpd during the second half of the year from current 94 million bpd.
Sweeping Day holiday. Taiwan’s mountainous east coast is a tourist destination. The railway that snakes down from Taipei hugs the coast and is known for its tunnels, in one of which the crash took place. The link to Taipei opened in 1979. Taiwan’s state-owned railways are gen-
erally reliable and efficient, but have had a patchy safety record over the years. The last major crash was in 2018, when 18 people died and 175 were injured when a train derailed in the island’s northeast. In 1948, 64 people are estimated to have died when a train burst into flames in northern Taiwan.
Myanmar junta cuts internet, protesters say they will not surrender
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Crude oil prices up by 3pc
police had taken in the manager for questioning. The fire department showed a picture of what appeared to be wreckage of the truck beside the derailed train, with an aerial image of one end of the train still on the track next to the construction site. ‘EVERYTHING SHOOK’: Survivors described their terror as the train slammed into the truck and ground to a halt. “It suddenly came to a stop and then everything shook,” one told local television. “It was all so chaotic.” Passengers in some carriages still in the tunnel had to be led to safety, the railway administration said. Images showed an injured passenger carried away on a stretcher, with her head and neck in a brace, while others gathered suitcases and bags in a tilted, derailed carriage as some walked on the train’s roof to exit the tunnel. The accident occurred at the beginning of a long weekend for the traditional Tomb
Opponents of military rule in Myanmar marched and laid bouquets of flowers on Friday while trying to find alternative ways to organise their campaign of dissent after the authorities cut off most users from the internet. Protests have taken place almost daily since the military overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1. Hundreds of civilians have been killed in a crackdown by security forces that has drawn international condemnation. On Friday, security forces opened fire at a rally near Myanmar’s second city Mandalay, wounding four people, two critically, according to three domestic media organisations. In the town of Tamu on the Indian border, a policemen who supported the democracy movement killed five policemen in a grenade attack on a police station before soldiers killed him, the Myanmar Now news portal reported. Across the country, demonstrators left bouquets of flowers, many with messages of defiance, at places associated with activists killed by the security forces. The authorities, who had already shut down mobile data in a bid to stifle opposition to the ruling military junta, ordered internet providers from Friday to cut wireless broadband, depriving most customers of access. In response, pro-democracy groups shared radio frequencies, offline apps that work without a data connection, and tips for using SMS messages as an alternative to data services to communicate. Protest leader KhinSadar called in a Facebook post in anticipation of the internet blackout for people to join as many “guerrilla protests” as possible, referring quick demonstrations in unusual paces that break up when security forces appear. “Let’s listen to the radio again. Let’s make phone calls to each other
too,” KhinSadar said. The military did not announce or explain its order to providers to cut wireless broadband. Internet was available only on fixed lines, rare in Myanmar where most people connect through wireless networks. A spokesman for the junta did not answer telephone calls seeking comment. Despite the internet shutdown, users were still able to upload pictures of marches, “flower strikes” and a funeral of a slain protester. An image shared widely on social media showed a bird’s eye view of hundreds of flickering candles on a dark road, spelling out the words “we will never surrender”. People held up roses while making three-finger salutes, a symbol of resistance. One arrangement of dandelions and red roses on a lakeside walkway read: “Myanmar is bleeding”. ‘MEDIATE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE’: More than 540 people have been killed in the uprising, many of them when troops fired on crowds, according to the Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) advocacy group,
which tracks casualties and detentions. The junta has said those killed instigated violence. The military says it staged the coup because an election in November - won by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy - was rigged and the election commission failed to heed its complaints. The commission has dismissed that assertion. Suu Kyi, a longtime democracy campaigner who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, is in detention. She and four allies have been charged with violating a colonial-era official secrets act, her chief lawyer said on Thursday, the most serious charge against her. Violations are punishable by up to 14 years in prison. The security forces have also arrested numerous suspected opponents of the coup. Myanmar Now said five women who spoke to a visiting CNN news crew on the streets of Yangon this week had been taken away by security men. Authorities have issued warrants for 18 show business celebrities, social media “influencers” and two journalists under a law against material intended to cause a member of the armed
forces to mutiny or disregard their duty, state media reported. All of them are known to oppose military rule. Western countries have condemned the coup and some have imposed limited sanctions. But neither China nor India, which compete for influence, have denounced Suu Kyi’s overthrow. Myanmar’s neighbours in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have traditionally been reluctant to criticise their fellow member under a principle of non-interference. But there is growing dismay with a country that has for decades raised international concerns over its domestic repression. Several Southeast Asian foreign ministers met separately this week with a senior official in China, which is a major investor in Myanmar and one of the few countries able to influence the generals, to seek its backing for a bid to find a path out of the crisis. “China...supports the convening of a special meeting of ASEAN leaders to mediate as soon as possible,” the Chinese government’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, said after talks with Malaysian foreign minister Hishammuddin Hussein.
Bitcoin jumps to $59,563 as cryptos go up NEWS DESK The major cryptocurrencies continued upward trend on Friday following more global acceptance. Bitcoin (BTC), the world's biggest cryptocurrency, gained 0.83 percent to reach $59,563. With this increase in price, the market capitalisation of the BTC has reached $1.1 trillion. Likewise, Ethereum (ETH) gained 5.68 percent to reach $2,054. With this
increase in price, the market capitalisation of ETH reached $235.7 billion. Similarly, Binance Coin (BNB) price gained 8.94 percent to reach $352. The market capitalisation of BNB stands at $54 billion after this increase. Likewise, the price of Tether (USDT) gained 0.12 percent to reach $1. The market capitalisation of the USTD stands at $41.7 billion after this increase. According to Bloqport’s latest data,
bitcoin, which ended the month of March with an overall gain of 29 percent, has now been in the green for six consecutive months. The data also shows that the crypto asset’s value has nearly doubled from its December 2020 closing price of $29,383 to its current value of $59,563. With this run, bitcoin has already outperformed many other assets including gold. However, according to Bloqport’s
data, this is only the third time the bitcoin has recorded net gains for six consecutive months or more. The same run was previously seen in 2012, between April and September. However, it is the period from November of 2012 to May of 2013 when BTC recorded seven consecutive monthly net gains. In terms of the worst periods for the crypto asset, the data shows that BTC had some of its less stellar moments in the year 2011 and 2018.
Saturday, 3 April, 2021
SPORTS 11
ISLAMABAD
BaBar century helps pakistan Beat south africa off last Ball CENTURiON
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century by Babar Azam set up a three-wicket, last-ball win for Pakistan in the first one-day international against South Africa at SuperSport Park in Centurion on Friday. The Pakistan captain hit a strokefilled 103 off 104 balls and shared a secondwicket partnership of 177 with Imam-ul-Haq, who made 70. But Babar's dismissal started a collapse in which fast bowler Anrich Nortje took four wickets in four overs. From 186 for one, with more than 18 overs in hand to reach a target of 274, Pakistan slumped to 203 for five before Mohammad Rizwan and Shadab Khan steadied the innings again in a sixth-wicket stand of 53. But both were dismissed before Faheem Ashraf hit the winning run off Andile Phehlukwayo off the last ball. "There was a little bit of pressure but we will learn from that," Babar said through an interpreter at the after-match presentaPAKISTAN tion. 274 FOR 7 (BABAR 103, Babar, who was named man of the IMAM 70, NORTJE 4-51) BEAT match, praised his SOUTH AFRICA 273 FOR 6 (VAN bowlers, who came within three runs of DER DUSSEN 123 NOT OUT, achieving his objective MILLER 50, AFRIDI 2-61) BY of restricting South Africa to a total of around THREE WICKETS 270 after he won the toss and sent them in. "I told them to bowl hard power play and that helped us." lengths and there was some swing as Rassie van der Dussen had to perform well," he said. "They took wickets in the a rescue act for South Africa after the hosts
struggled to 55 for four inside 15 overs. He hit 123 not out, his maiden international century, to enable South Africa to score
Karunaratne solid as Sri Lanka, rain frustrate West Indies NORTH SOUND AGENCIES
Determination and good fortune paid off for Sri Lanka's openers with Lahiru Thirimanne and captain Dimuth Karunaratne taking their team to 93 without loss at lunch after a rain-shortened first session of the last day of the second and final Test against the West Indies at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua on Friday. Karunaratne will resume after lunch on 54 with Thirimanne, who has compiled half-centuries in the three previous innings in the series, on 37. Set to start the day with 29 runs already on the scoreboard and faced with the challenge of getting 377 for victory, any realistic prospect of engaging in such a daunting chase effectively disappeared when early-morning rain resulted in just over an hour's play being lost before a ball was bowled. When play did get underway, West Indies needed early success to keep them interested in pulling off a se-
ries-clinching victory following the drawn first Test at the same venue eight days earlier when it was the Caribbean side who batted through the final day to defy the tourists' victory bid. Shannon Gabriel should have removed Thirimanne, then on 17, in the course of his second over when a lifting delivery on the body of the left-hander bushed a glove only for wicketkeeper Joshua da Silva to spill the chance having covered ground well down the legside. Karunaratne, who has endured a terrible series with the bat before this final innings, looked decidedly uncomfortable to the off-spin of Rahkeem Cornwall, the inside edge of his bat saving him on a couple of occasions from concerted leg-before appeals. Having survived that test, the Sri Lankan skipper brought up a 25th Test half-century with a straight-driven boundary off the part-time spin of Jermaine Blackwood and will be entertaining thoughts, together with the consistent Thirimanne, of getting to three figures in seeking to take their team to safety by the end of the day.
273 for six. South African captain Temba Bavuma admitted the loss of early wickets disrupted
South Africa's aggressive intent. "We didn't help ourselves with our batting effort in the first ten overs," he said. The win gave Pakistan an important advantage in the three-match series, with South Africa set to lose five key players to the Indian Premier League after Sunday's second match in Johannesburg. Nortje, one of those who will depart for India, conceded 31 runs in his first spell of five overs but came back strongly, dismissing Babar and Iman in successive overs before having new cap Danish Aziz caught behind off a vicious, lifting delivery. When Asif Ali was caught off a topedged pull, South Africa were right back in the game. Nortje finished with four for 51. Rizwan, who was man of the series in both Tests and Twenty20 clashes against South Africa in Pakistan earlier in the year, again showed a calm temperament as he and Shadab took their side close to victory. But Rizwan and Shadab both perished to over-ambitious shots against the mediumpaced Phehlukwayo as the match went down to the last ball. Van der Dussen and David Miller (50) revived South Africa's innings earlier with a fourth-wicket stand of 116. Van der Dussen and Phehlukwayo (29) then added 64 for the sixth wicket. The 32-year-old Van der Dussen had been dismissed three times in the nineties– twice in one-day internationals and once in a Test match–since making his debut two seasons ago. He took 80 balls to reach his fifty but lifted the tempo of his innings to finish with ten fours and two sixes off 134 balls.
India cricket legend Tendulkar in hospital after contracting coronavirus MUMbai AGENCIES
Indian cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar entered hospital Friday as a precautionary measure six days after announcing that he had coronavirus. The 47-year-old "little master" of batting is one of the most high-profile cases of a new pandemic surge in the country of 1.3 billion people. "As a matter of abundant precaution under medical advice, I have been hospitalised," Tendulkar said on Twitter. "I hope to be back home in a few days. Take care and stay safe everyone." Tendulkar is adored across India, and fans took to social media to wish the former cricketer a speedy recovery. Indian Premier League teams like the Delhi Capitals all released messages of goodwill. "Wishing a speedy recovery to the little master," IPL player Mufaddal Vohra said on Twitter. "Praying for the speedy recovery of Sachin Tendulkar," said Jay Shah, secretary of the BCCI, India's national cricket board. Former Pakistan arch-rival Wasim Akram also sent special wishes. "Even when you were 16, you battled world’s best bowlers with guts and aplomb... so I am sure you will hit Covid-19 for a six!" said Akram, who bowled at Tendulkar in his
debut series as a 16-year-old. "Recover soon master! Would be great if you celebrate India's World Cup 2011 anniversary with doctors and hospital staff... do send me a pic!" Tendulkar is the highest run-scorer ever in Test matches and one-day internationals. He retired in 2013 after playing in 200 Tests, in which he made 15,921 runs. He scored another 18,426 runs in 463 ODIs and hit 100 centuries across both formats. Just days before announcing he had the coronavirus, Tendulkar had led an India Legends team to a win over Sri Lanka in a Twenty20 exhibition series. Three other players who took part in the so-called Road Safety World series, including brothers Yusuf and Irfan Pathan, have also tested positive for the virus. Crowds were allowed into the stadium in Mumbai for the matches. India is battling a new wave of Covid-19 cases– daily infections rose to more than 81,000 on Friday with 469 deaths, the highest since October. Tendulkar's home state of Maharashtra, which includes Mumbai, accounted for more than 43,000 cases and 249 deaths.
Hurkacz rallies past Tsitsipas to reach Miami Open semis MiaMi AGENCIES
Hubert Hurkacz put together a stirring comeback on Thursday to record a 26, 6-3, 6-4 victory over second-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas to advance to the semi-finals of the Miami Open. The 26th-seeded Hurkacz was dominated in the first set and was down 02, 15-40 in the second set before turning things around in his quarter-final victory. “I was just trying to stay competitive,” Hurkacz told Tennis Channel. “I knew if I could make those shots that I was just missing, I could turn it around.” The 24-year-old Pole certainly did that as he saved 10 of 13 break points en route to the stunning win. His semi-final opponent will be the winner of clash between fourth-seeded Russian Andrey Rublev and American Sebastian Korda. Hurkacz recorded 15 aces compared to seven for Tsitsipas. He had seven aces in the second set and five in the third. Tsitsipas, from Greece, was one point away from winning his sixth straight game before Hurkacz fought out of the hole to win six of the final seven games in the second set. Tsitsipas held a 2-1 lead in the final set before Hurkacz won the next three games en route to completing the superb rally. “It’s the quarterfinal of a Masters (1000) series so you’re going to try your best and fight to the end, and that’s what I did,” Hurkacz said.
Barty and andreescu set up first career meeting in miami final MIAMI: World number one Ash Barty and former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu completed contrasting semi-final victories in the Miami Open, setting up a mouth-watering first career meeting between the Grand Slam winners in Saturday’s final. Australian Barty spent the last year at home because of the Covid-19 pandemic and Miami is her first tournament abroad since February 2020. She is also the defending champion at the WTA 1000 event after the 2020 edition was cancelled. Andreescu also returned to action after a 15-month injury layoff at the Australian Open in February, but after playing a follow-up event in Melbourne she had to withdraw from tournaments in Adelaide, Doha and Dubai with a leg issue. AGENCIES
Saturday, 3 April, 2021
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AntI-IndIA CLAshes erupt In oCCupIed KAshmIr After troops KILL 3 fIghters SRINAGAR
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NTI-India clashes erupted between government forces and residents of a village in occupied Kashmir on Friday following a gunbattle in which troops killed three freedom fighters, police and residents said. The gunfight erupted shortly after scores of counter-insurgency police and soldiers launched an operation based on a tip about the presence of fighters in Kakpora village in southern Pulwama district, Inspector General Vijay Kumar said. Kumar said that two of the three slain men had been involved in fatally shooting a policeman guarding the home of a local politician from India’s ruling party in the region’s main city on Thursday. He said that troops recovered two rifles and a pistol from the site of Friday’s clash, and that one of the recovered weapons had been taken by the fighters from the slain policeman. Residents said that troops used explosives to blast a civilian house during the fighting, a common tactic employed by Indian troops in occupied Kashmir.
As the fighting raged, hundreds of people marched nearby in solidarity with the fighters while chanting slogans seeking the end of Indian rule over the region. Government forces fired shotgun pellets and tear gas at the stone-throwing protesters. At least four civilians were injured in the clashes, including a woman with a bul-
let injury in her leg. Kumar said that the woman was injured in the crossfire between Indian troops and militants. PAKISTAN CONEMNDS ‘UNABATED EXTRA-JUDICIAL KILLINGS’: In a media briefing on Friday, Foreign Office (FO) Spokesperson
Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said that Pakistan strongly condemns the “unabated extra-judicial killings of innocent Kashmiris in ‘fake encounters’ and ‘cordon-and-search’ operations” in the occupied valley. He said that Indian forces had martyred six more Kashmiris in the last two weeks. “These extrajudicial killings of Kashmiris are a clear violation of the humanitarian norms and fundamental precepts of international law,” he added. Chaudhri reiterated Pakistan’s demand for an immediate and transparent inquiry into the killings. He also called for a peaceful resolution to the Kashmir issue in line with resolutions of the United Nations Security Council for “durable peace and stability in the region”. Tens of thousands of civilians, fighters, and government forces have been killed in the conflict in occupied Kashmir. In a surprising decision last month, India and Pakistan agreed to reaffirm their 2003 ceasefire accord that has silenced guns along the de facto frontier dividing Kashmir. However, a crackdown by Indian forces and attacks by fighters have continued inside the Indian-occupied portion of Kashmir.
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Armed man arrested from makkah’s grand mosque A man with a knife was arrested from Makkah’s Grand Mosque for chanting slogans in support of terrorist outfits after Asr (afternoon) prayer on March 30, according to the Saudi Press Agency. A spokesman for the Makkah police said that the mosque’s security officials arrested the man immediately and started legal procedures against him. According to a report, the man was spotted at the mosque’s first floor, where he was brandishing his knife and sloganeering, and was immediately arrested by the security officials present on the site. Sheikh Abdul Rahman Al Sudais, head of the Presidency for the Two Holy Mosques, said “use of racist and extremist expressions is outside the doctrine of Islam”. He added that the man “did not respect the sanctity of the place. God has made the Grand Mosque a place of worship, including prayer, tawaf (circumambulation) and Hajj”. Earlier in October last year, a man had crashed his car into the outer gates of the Grand Mosque. However, the security guards had chased the man, who was said to be in an “abnormal condition” by the Makkah authorities. news desk
Provision of 3G, 4G internet services in GB vital for tourism promotion: PM
India urges China to expedite army disengagement in Ladakh NEW DELHI agencies
ISLAMABAD ghulam abbas
As the federal government has prepared a comprehensive development package for Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), Prime Minister Imran Khan along with key federal ministers are likely to visit Gilgit early next week to make an announcement regarding the development plan. A reliable source informed Pakistan Today that the premier and other key ministers, during a meeting held on Friday, finalised the development plan, which included energy, infrastructure, communication and social development projects worth over Rs250 billion. “The PM and some key federal ministers are likely to visit Gilgit on April 5 or 6 to make the announcement regarding the development plan,” the source said. PM Imran had chaired a meeting with Minister for Kashmir Affairs and GB Ali Ameen Gandapur, Minister for Information Technology Aminul Haq, GB Chief Minister Muhammad Khalid Khursheed and other senior officers to finalise the plan approve some projects related communication. This was the second meeting this week regarding the GB package, as the premier, on March 30, had approved the overall plan submitted to him by an apex committee formed for making proposals. However, some projects related to communication, internet facilities and so on were deliberated and approved on Friday, the source informed. Projects related to clean energy, transport and communication, health, infrastructure, water sanitation and tourism are part of the package. A hint about the package worth billions of rupees was dropped in January this year after Federal Minister for Planning, Development & Special Initiatives Asad Umar and GB CM Khalid Khurshid jointly chaired the inaugural meeting for the preparation of an integrated plan for the development of the region. Following the meeting, technical working groups comprising relevant chiefs of the ministry of planning and development and officers of GB were constituted. As per officials, PM Imran, during the meeting, said that the provision of 3G and 4G internet services in GB were vital for exploiting the true potential of youth and promoting tourism in the area.
It will also help youth in getting online education and utilizing their capabilities through information technology besides benefitting from the potential of tourism, he added. The meeting deliberated on various projects and other related matters for bringing about further improvement in communication links and internet facilities in the Northern Areas. The PM directed the Ministry of Information Technology, Special Communications Organization (SCO) and Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) to continue to strive for improved connectivity in Gilgit. As per Pakistan Today’s sources, the meeting was informed that the 3G and 4G issue with SCO has been resolved. After due deliberation, the SCO has agreed to withdraw stay from the courts to facilitate other cellular companies to participate in the bidding process. The PM was also informed that a consultant has been hired and will submit a report at the earliest. During the meeting, some important projects of com-
munication including Astore Valley Road from Thalichi to Shounter, Astore, Shagartuang – Gurikot Road (Baltistan / Diamer Divisions), Inter-regional Connectivity Construction of 38 Km Shara-e- Nager, Construction of 60 Km Valley roads in Darail & Tangir, Diamer Construction of Shiger Paiju Road were also discussed. Other projects which were also discussed and approved were the establishment of a dedicated display centre/expo centre in Gilgit, a sanitation and sewerage system, bulk oil depot in Skardu and LPG Air Mix Plant at Skardu, Hunza and Chilas. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Imran said that the present government was committed to the development of GB and has already approved a historic development package for GB, which will herald a new era of progress in the area. He maintained that, compared to past regimes, the present government was giving special attention to improving connectivity in GB and the government’s commitment was also evident from 250 per cent increase in the allocation of funds for communication links in the area.
India on Friday urged China to expedite the disengagement of military forces from remaining areas in eastern Ladakh, saying a prolongation of the months-long standoff on their disputed border is not in either country’s interest. Thousands of Indian and Chinese front-line troops disengaged in February from the southern and northern banks of Pangong Lake in the Ladakh region following a series of talks between the two countries. Senior Indian and Chinese military commanders held their last meeting on March 12. The foreign ministers of the two countries also had a teleconference last month. External Affairs Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said India hopes that “the Chinese side will work with us to ensure that disengagement in the remaining areas is completed at the earliest.” “This would allow both sides to consider deescalation of forces in eastern Ladakh as that alone will lead to the restoration of peace and tranquillity and provide conditions for the progress of our bilateral relationship,” he said. There was no immediate response from the Chinese side. The tense standoff high in the Karakoram mountains began last May, when Indian and Chinese soldiers ignored each other’s repeated verbal warnings, triggering a yelling match, stone-throwing and fistfights at the northern bank of Pangong Lake, where contested ridges push into the glacial lake from eight directions. By June it escalated and spread north in Depsang and Galwan Valley, where India has built an all-weather military road along the disputed frontier. Tensions exploded into hand-to-hand combat with clubs, stones and fists that left 20 Indian soldiers dead. China acknowledged six months later that it suffered four casualties. Troops withdrew from the Galwan Valley shortly after the June clashes and have now done so from Pangong Lake. They remain in a standoff in Depsang and at least two other places, Gogra and Hot Springs.
IHC gives govt one month to prepare report on social media rules ISLAMABAD inp
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday gave a one-month deadline to the government committee for preparing a report on social media rules. The IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah heard the petition against the social media rules devised by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA). Attorney General Khalid Javed Khan told the court that the prime minister constituted a committee to review the social media rules. The committee, which was formed earlier this week, comprises Federal Minister for Human Rights Shireen Mazari as the
committee’s chairperson, with MNA Barrister Maleeka Bokhari, Senator Barrister Ali Zafar, IT secretary, and the PTA chairman as its members. The committee will furnish its findings and report back to the PM after one month’s time. It would also hold consultations with the petitioner, Usama Khawar — who filed the case in the IHC — and relevant stakeholders. It is pertinent to mention here that the AGP had recommended to PM Imran that broad-based consultations were needed to properly frame comprehensive rules for the regulation of social media within the country. The framework would aim to protect the fundamental rights of freedom of speech and right to information as envisaged under the
Constitution of Pakistan, while also ensuring that the platforms are not abused and material is not disseminated in violation of laws. CJ IHC Justice Minallah, during the hearing on Friday, remarked that the court welcomed the steps taken by the federal government and set hopes for a report prepared by the committee in light of the objections and recommendations. The judge questioned the attorney general whether he was assisting the government committee or not. Khan replied that a lawyer was already included in the committee; moreover, his office was also ready to assist them if needed. The attorney general reiterated that a month was given to the committee to finalise
its report. The petitioner’s counsel argued that the court had earlier given a month to the federal government, however, no progress was made except the constitution of a committee on the last day of the deadline. He also raised objections to the committee members and pleaded with the court to order the inclusion of stakeholders in the government committee. Justice Minallah remarked that the federal government has formed its own committee and those having objections to it could move to the court. The counsel said that the court’s directives were about to include stakeholders in the consultations. The judge remarked that stakeholders could provide the committee with their writ-
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
ten recommendations and the committee would formulate rules in accordance with the suggestions. The counsel said that opposition should also be included in the committee. AGP Khan said that he has also thought about it but it will increase the timeframe of preparing a report up to three months. He also questioned who should be the member of the committee. To this, the IHC CJ remarked that the court would not run on the basis of concerns and the doors are open for everyone if anyone finds something wrong. Later, the high court gave a one-month deadline to the government committee to prepare a report regarding social media rules and adjourned the hearing till May 10.