EpaperISB_21-05-29

Saturday, 29 May, 2021 I 17 Shawwal, 1442 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XI No 328 I 12 Pages I Islamabad Edition

Wealth creation is impossible Without industrialisation, says pm g

RaSHakaI SEZ woRkERS To gET SPECIaL TRaInIng In TECH InSTITuTES: aSIM BaJwa

islamabad staff report

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RIME Minister Imran khan on Friday said any form of wealth creation in Pakistan’s future is impossible without industrialisation, adding that his government was now focusing on sustainable growth. addressing the commercial launch of Rashakai Prioritized Special Economic Zone in nowshera, the premier expressed hope at the upward trajectory of the economy and maintained that the country has passed its difficult economic phase.

He said that Pakistan is now on the path to prosperity with almost 4 percent growth rate predicted. “also this economic zone comes under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. This is a good thing for Pakistan because China has developed rapidly, and we can learn the most from their development.”

Moreover, he stressed on the fact that the industrial revolution within the west was outdated and could not offer any learning op-

portunity to Pakistan, whereas China’s industrialisation was new.

PM Imran also gave a “warning” to khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister regarding the economic zone. “You told me that people are eager to buy this land […] don’t sell the lands. Lease them on lesser rates.”

He argued that selling the land would make it turn into real estate and raise its price. “when land prices skyrocket, industries are unable to cope.” The premier said he wanted the land to be used by those who wished to set up industries.

Commenting on the need for upping exports, the PM lamented that Pakistan never paid attention to exports, adding that it was very difficult to increase a country’s wealth without them.

“If you aren’t increasing your exports, then the country’s wealth will never increase,” he lamented, adding that selling wheat and other products will not make Pakistan wealthy alone.

He said that Pakistan should learn from the SEZs set up by China. He labelled the Rashkai Special Economic Zone a “big opportunity”, stressing on authorities to create ease of

coronavirus in

pakistan

CONFIRMED CASES:

913,784

LAST UPDATED AT 9:32 AM ON MAY 28, 2021

DAY'S DEATH TOLL:

NEW CASES:

67

2,482

RECOVERED:

DEATHS:

834,566 20,607 SINDH:

PUNJAB:

314,158

337,775

KP:

BALOCHISTAN:

131,411 AJK/GB: 19,060/5,545

24,908 ISLAMABAD:

80,927

doing business for investors.

“It is a good omen for Pakistan to learn from a country with the fastest growth”.

“Through such industrial zones, we can elevate our exports and that will help us avoid a current account deficit, ultimately avoiding a dependence on the IMF,” the prime minister said referring to the Rashakai SEZ. “we are now planning sustainable growth so that we never have to go to the IMF again,” he maintained.

The prime minister also lamented that Pakistan was not an “investor-friendly country”.

“The more hurdles you remove for investors, the more investors will arrive here [in Pakistan],” he added. “we have not removed the obstacles in their way. a person will only set up a business for profit, not for charity. It is the government’s job to remove obstacles from investors’ path.”

He said that China was now outsourcing their industries due to cheap labour. “we are trying to give them incentives to come to Pakistan. our only problem is that we need to get rid of obstacles preventing investment.”

The PM said that his government was trying to provide incentives to attract investors.

He said that his government had decided early on to not impose a lockdown, as the poor ultimately suffered from it. “If I had come under pressure and imposed a lockdown, perhaps we would be facing the same situation as India.” we took the decision to save our people and the economy, he said. “now our opponents are amazed at the four per cent growth rate projection for the next fiscal year. They tell us we are lying.”

He stressed that the first year and a half of his premiership was the most difficult period of his life as the country was on the brink of defaulting when the PTI had come into power.

The PM further said that just when Pakistan was pulling itself out of the economic crisis, the coronavirus shuttered businesses around the world and had an adverse impact on various countries’ economies.

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Minister says 6.5pc GNP growth in current FY highest in 16 years islamabad staff report

Federal Minister for Planning and Development asad umar has said if the expected gross domestic product growth rate of 3.94 percent for the current fiscal year and increase in remittances are combined, it will take the gross national product growth to 6.5 percent, which is the highest gnP growth in the last 16 years. addressing a press conference on Friday, the planning minister said that Pakistan has set a 4.8 percent gDP growth target for the financial year 2021-22.

He said that the country is on the course to achieve 3.94 percent gDP growth for the outgoing 2020-21 year, adding: “This growth is an indicator that the revival that has started is continuing its momentum.” Highlighting the achievements of the government, umar said in the nine months of the current fiscal year, IT exports showed growth of 46 percent.

He said that the country witnessed a strong growth during the fiscal year, and it is expected that the remittances would shoot up from $21.7 billion to $29.1 billion till

SBP keeps interest rate unchanged at 7pc

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more inside

First case of Covid-19 Indian variant detected in country: NIH

islamabad staff report

In line with market expectations, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Friday maintained the status quo and left the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 7 percent for the next two months.

The SBP held its policy rate unchanged, citing the need to support financial stability and economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. The economy has continued to recover and business sentiment has further improved since the last policy announcement in March.

“Since its last meeting in March, the MPC (Monetary Policy Committee) was encouraged by the further upward revision in the FY21 growth forecast to 3.94 percent,” the bank said in a statement.

The SBP said while inflation had risen since January, a small number of energy and food items accounted for about three-fourths of this rise.

“Demand-side pressures are contained, wage growth is subdued and inflation expectations are reasonably anchored,” the central bank said in a tweet. Inflation rose to 11.1 percent last month.

the year end — an increase of 34 percent in a year. asad said remittances played an important role in helping the country’s economy grow, adding, “It is important that we should give overseas Pakistanis the right to vote.”

Shedding light on why the government is expecting a 4.8 percent gDP growth in FY 2021-22, he said that the government has invested in the agricultural sector which will greatly benefit the economy.

He also said that last year and this year cotton fields were badly affected, however, the government has now bought good quality seeds, stressed on the use of pesticides, and the demand for cotton has increased in the international market since. “and so, after consultations with all the provinces, we have concluded that Pakistan can produce 10.5 million bales — 4 million from Sindh, 6 million from Punjab, and the rest from other provinces.” asad said that the livestock industry has also been adversely impacted by the coronavirus, but in the next fiscal year, it will move towards normalisation, and growth in this sector, too, will be visible.

STORY ON PAGE 03

It said the higher growth forecast confirmed the strength of the “broad-based economic rebound underway since the start of the fiscal year, on the back of targeted fiscal measures and aggressive monetary stimulus”.

“This positive momentum is expected to persist, translating into higher growth next year,” it added. However, the SBP said uncertainty remained due to the third wave of the coronavirus, suggesting the need for the monetary policy to remain supportive. “The MPC was of the view that the current significantly accommodative stance of monetary policy remains appropriate to ensure the recovery becomes firmly entrenched and self-sustaining. This is especially so given the renewed

heightened uncertainty created by the ongoing third wave of Covid in Pakistan and the fiscal consolidation expected this fiscal year,” it noted in its policy statement.

The committee observed that given the Covid-related uncertainties, “the cost of withdrawing monetary stimulus too soon exceeded that of withdrawing too late”.

“Looking ahead, in the absence of unforeseen circumstances, the MPC expects monetary policy to remain accommodative in the near term, and any adjustments in the policy rate to be measured and gradual to achieve mildly positive real interest rates over time,” the statement added.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

Punjab schools allowed to reopen from June 7, says provincial minister STORY ON PAGE 03

Pakistan restored balance of power in region 23 years ago: ISPR DG STORY ON PAGE 02

Pakistan welcomes unHRC resolution on human rights violations by Israel STORY ON BACK PAGE

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Saturday, 29 May, 2021

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PAkIStAn ReStORed bAlAnCe Of POWeR In RegIOn 23 yeARS AgO: ISPR dg RAwALPINDI

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staff RepoRt

AyInG tribute to the scientists and engineers on youm-e-Takbeer, Inter-Services Public Relations Director General Major General Babar Iftikhar said that the country had restored the balance of power in the region 23 years ago.

In his tweet on the eve of ‘youm-e-Takbeer’, the ISPR DG said that on March 28, Pakistan restored the balance of power in the region by successfully establishing credible minimum nuclear deterrence.

“AFs and the nation pay

tribute to all those involved in making this dream come true,” he said in his tweet.

Pakistan observed youm-eTakbeer on Friday to mark the 23rd anniversary of historic maiden nuclear tests.

On this day, Pakistan became the seventh nuclear power of the world with the demonstration of nuclear capabilities and the first in the Muslim world after conducting nuclear tests at Chagai in Balochistan on May 28, 1998, as a response to India’s nuclear bomb tests on May 11 13 of the same year at Pokhran in the Rajasthan state of India.

The successful tests made Pakistan’s defence invincible.

US diplomat lauds Pakistan’s efforts for regional peace RAwALPINDI staff RepoRt

US Charge d’ Affairs to Pakistan Angela Aggeler on Friday called on Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa at the General Headquarters , according to the Inter-Services Public Relations.

The military’s media wing said that matters of mutual interest, overall regional security situation including recent developments in the Afghan peace

process, and bilateral cooperation in various fields were discussed during the meeting.

The statement added that the US dignitary appreciated Pakistan’s sincere efforts for bringing peace and stability to the region, especially the Afghan peace process.

On Thursday, the Russian ambassador called on the army chief at the GHQ and discussed matters of mutual interest including the Afghan peace process.

During the meeting regional security situation, enhanced bilateral and defence cooperation were also discussed, according to the ISPR. The COAS told the Russian envoy that peace in Afghanistan is a common goal. “Both reiterated mutual efforts towards achieving the goal. He also said that Pakistan values its relations with Russia and hoped for furthering militaryto-military relations between the two countries,” the military’s media wing

said.

The COAS appreciated the recent visit of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to Pakistan and hoped for further diplomatic engagements at a higher level.

The Russian ambassador appreciated Pakistan’s sincere efforts for bringing peace and stability to the region, especially the Afghan reconciliation.

“Both reiterated the commitment to enhance Pak-Russia bilateral relationship,” the statement said.

Covid-19: CAA warns airlines against boarding passengers from banned countries News Desk The Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority has instructed airlines not to board passengers from Category C (banned) countries.

In a notification issued on Thursday, the authority stated that only passengers who have been granted

SC to take up govts’ appeal against Ahmed Omar Sheikh’s release on June 2 News Desk The Supreme Court has set a hearing of appeals filed from the federal and Sindh governments against the release of an accused in Daniel Pearl murder case Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh for June 2, it was learnt on Friday. A three-member bench headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial will hear the appeals of the governments against the release of Sheikh, who was accused of the murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl. The court has issued notices to Sheikh and other respondents in the case as the former has been shifted to a rest house in Lahore from a Karachi prison. On March 25, the apex court granted a plea to shift Shaikh to Lahore’s Kot Lakhpat Jail. A three-judge bench, headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial, directed the Punjab chief secretary to appear on the next hearing. An additional advocate general stated before the court that the accused moved a plea seeking to shift him to Punjab. Observing that the court is not satisfied with the continued detention of Shaikh and other accused despite their acquittal in the murder case, Justice Bandial instructed the government to provide all facilities to them. The additional AG said the provincial government has decided to keep Shaikh in jail employees’ colony. Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, a member of the bench, questioned when the accused will be shifted to Punjab, to which, the attorney general replied that he will be shifted within a week. Adjourning the hearing for two weeks, the SC directed the government to provide all health facilities to the accused who, his lawyer said, is unwell and needs treatment. The court called for compliance reports to be submitted in the judges’ chamber for perusal.

exemptions will be allowed to enter the country.

“It has come to light that some passengers have been attempting to travel to Pakistan using fake exemption letters forged by local entities in Category C countries,” CAA wrote. This not only endangers the national drive against the spread of Covid-19 but also poses a serious risk of transmission of the virus in Pakistan, it added.

Water shortage: IRSA cuts share of Sindh, Punjab IsLAMABAD News Desk

The Indus River System Authority has cut down the water share of Sindh and Punjab due to an “excessive” shortage of water in the country. According to a statement released by IRSA, after the reduction in water share, Punjab is getting 83,000 cusecs of water, while Sindh is being provided 74,000 cusecs of water. The decision was taken in a meeting chaired by the IRSA chairman to review water distribution among provinces. Due to prevailing limited storage available in reservoirs and tumbling river inflows it was inevitable to apply cut on provincial shares, the water body said in a statement. The ISRA spokesperson in a statement has expressed hope that the water situation in rivers would improve in the next 48/72 hours. The ongoing tug of war between the IRSA members from Sindh and Punjab over water distribution has touched a new high over the opening of TP link canal from Indus at a time when the low riparian federating units are craving for water even for drinking purpose Sindh Irrigation Minister Sohail Anwar Siyal yesterday also met with Prime Minister Imran Khan here in Islamabad. During the meeting, matters related to water shortage and the IRSA were discussed.

Sindh minister in the meeting had compliant to the prime minister about the unfair distribution of water by IRSA among provinces. “IRSA not giving Sindh its due share of water. TP link canal was opened despite objection from 3 provinces,” Siyal told PM Imran. The Sindh government previously claimed that the province had been denied its due share of water with Pakistan People’s Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari blaming theft of water from canals in Punjab. He had also slammed the federal government for opening the Taunsa-Panjnad link canal amid extreme shortage of water in Sindh.

Bloodshed in Kashmir reminds of Britain’s bloody colonial past: Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman IsLAMABAD MiaN abRaR

A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry said on Friday that Britain needs to play its role in stopping bloodshed in Jammu and Kashmir in order to absolve itself of its “bloody colonial past”.

“As long as the bloodshed in Kashmir continues, Britain can never clean itself from its bloody colonial past,” Zhao said in a tweet posted on social media site, Twitter.

In a series of Tweets posted on Twitter while quoting an article published in China’s premier news agency Xinhua’s website, Lijian Zhao, who has formerly served as Charge d’ Affairs in the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad and is a distinguished diplomat known for his strong diplomatic career.

He is also credited for innovation in Chinese diplomacy and telling facts in a strong manner to countering the western negative propaganda against China, especially for busting fake news about the Belt and Road Initiative and its flagship project of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

Lijian Zhao is also known for proactively using social media and maintained a visible presence on social media platforms, especially the microblogging site Twitter and Facebook. While referring to the vast empire amassed by the British in the

20th century, Zhao said: “If British India was the jewel in the crown of the British Empire, then Kashmir has been the biggest crack in it when the crown finally fell over on that land.”

The article published on Xinhua carried a similar title, “Kashmir: A Crack in the Jewel in the Crown of the British Empire” which was all praise for the valley’s natural beauty. “It is a marvellous scenic place on Earth. Its four seasons are testimony to the timeless beauty which has been

portrayed in the lyrics of poetry,” the article read.

The Chinese government official used some strong words when he outrightly, without mincing any words, blamed the British for sowing hatred in the Subcontinent. He attributed the contemporary rivalry between the South Asian neighbours, Pakistan and India, to the “hatred injected by the British empire.”

“The British Empire fell, but the poison of hatred has been injected into

the body politic of two peoples for decades to come,” the Chinese foreign office spokesperson said while holding Britain responsible for the enmity prevalent in the region.

Calling attention to the greed that influenced the decisions of the British empire, Lijian Zhao said, “The land once as pristine as its famous Kashmir Sapphires was carved by innumerable scars, cracked by the greed of imperialists and soaked by the tears of people in fear.”

Saturday, 29 May, 2021

ISLAMABAD

NEWS

FIrst Case OF COvId-19 INdIaN varIaNt deteCted IN COUNtry: NIH

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67 MORE LOSE LIVES; 2,482 NEW INFECTIONS EMERGE IsLAMABAD

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HE first-ever case of a highly infectious coronavirus variant first identified in India has been detected in Pakistan despite a travelling ban on the neighbouring country in place since April, the National Institute of Health said on Friday.

The NIH shared results of whole-genome sequencing of SARS CoV-2 samples collected during the first three weeks of May 2021. “The sequencing results confirmed detection of seven cases of B.1.351 (South African variant) and one case of B.1.617.2 (Indian variant). This is the first in-country detection of the latter strain,” it said in a statement.

As per protocols, the statement added, contact tracing of all the cases is in progress by the Field Epidemiology & Disease Surveillance Division and District Health Office, Islamabad.

Meanwhile, Pakistan continues to report a decline in coronavirus

cases as the country reported a positivity ratio below 5 percent for the fourth consecutive day on Friday.

Sixty-seven more people lost their lives to coronavirus, pushing the national death tally to 20,607 as per the NCOC’s data. The NCOC revealed 2,482 new infections had emerged during the past 24 hours, taking the total caseload to 913,784 across the country.

The positivity ratio stands at 4.8 percent across the country. The number of active cases have reached 59,018 with the nationwide recoveries rising to 831,744.

Meanwhile, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa reported the lowest positivity ratio of Covid-19 infections since March 11, Health Minister Taimur Khan Jhagra said on Friday. “Continuing to move in the right direction. Lowest positivity since March 11; lowest average daily deaths since end of March. Vaccinate, and be sensible,” he tweeted.

The minister said that a total of 384 fresh cases emerged when 8,110 tests were conducted. The

positivity ratio was recorded at 4.7 per cent, he added. He said 16 more patients succumbed to the deadly virus. There are a total of 5,564 active cases in the province at present. At least 702 new coronavirus cases were recorded in Punjab during the past 24 hours, taking the provincial tally to 337,775. According to the Punjab Primary and Secondary Health Care Department, at least 26 more patients succumbed to the pandemic as the total death count reached 9,925.

The department added that at least 307,716 patients had recovered from the deadly virus as of yet, with 1,167 people recovered in the past 24 hours.

Sindh reported at least 1,252 new coronavirus cases during the past 24 hours, taking the tally to 315,393.

According to Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, 15 more patients succumbed to the deadly virus as the death toll surged to 5,003. He further said that 572 more patients recovered overnight, taking the total to 285,975.

Punjab schools allowed to reopen from June 7, says provincial minister News Desk Education Minister of Punjab Murad Raas said that the schools are going to be commenced from June 7.

Addressing a press conference along with, Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid on Friday, who said that the government is trying hard to vaccinate all the teachers before the opening of schools.

Raas said that the vaccination centre would inoculate the teaching and non-teaching staff of both public and private schools, noting that there were 16,000 teachers and 4,000 non-teaching staff in Lahore.

“I request all teachers of public and private schools and non-teaching staff to get vaccinated before June 7 because we are going to open schools on June 7,” the minister said, adding that the provincial government would open similar vaccination centres in the nine divisional headquarters in order to inoculate the maximum number of teachers. He further stated that the teachers who bring their documentation to the vaccination centres would be vaccinated on priority.

It is pertinent to mention here that the National Command and Operation Centre on Friday decided to

Pakistan receives first shipment of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccines News Desk The first shipment of doses of PfizerBioNTech Covid-19 vaccine has arrived in Pakistan that is provided by Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access, INP said citing sources. A special flight carrying the shipment of 100,000 doses of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine landed in Pakistan today, whereas syringes for the vaccination will also arrive in the country in the next two days. Pakistan has received the second shipment of Covid-19 vaccines from COVAX as the first stock of doses of Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine had arrived in the country earlier in the month. PfizerBioNTech Covid-19 vaccine is the sixth vaccine in Pakistan for expediting the process of vaccination to curb the spread of the virus.

The latest stock of Covid-19 vaccine has been transferred to Expanded Programme on Immunisation warehouse before its usage across Pakistan, INP said.

allow walk-in vaccination for teachers above 18 years of age to ensure a safe environment for education and conducting exams.

The centre of the national effort in the fight against Covid-19 took to Twitter to announce the decision regarding vaccination of educators.

The NCOC wrote on its official handle, “To ensure safe environment for education and conduct of exams, walk-in vaccination for teachers above 18 years of age is opened.” It added that teachers could walk-in to any vaccination centre with CNIC, stamped letter from the

head of Institution, Teachers’ ID Card, and get themselves vaccinated.

It may be mentioned here that prior to visiting any nearest Covid Vaccination Centre it was advised to get registered after sending 16-digit CNIC on 1166.

In a separate tweet, the NCOC also informed about total Covid vaccine inoculations being carried out across the country in past 24 hours.

There were 284,975 Covid vaccines have been administered on Thursday whereas the total vaccine administered till now were 6,709,848.

NCOC Chairman Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar also wrote on his official Twitter handle to announce NCOC meeting decision.

Asad said, “In the NCOC meeting today it was decided to open up walk in vaccination for 30 plus individuals from tomorrow (May 29).” He urged the masses, “So if you are 30 or older and registered please go to any vaccination centre and get vaccinated.”

Moreover, Dr Yasmin informed that 3.5 million people have been vaccinated against coronavirus across the province so far.

Senator Waseem, PM Imran discuss legislation, upcoming budget IsLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Leader of the House in the Senate Dr Shahzad Waseem called on Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday and discussed with him matters pertaining to legislation in the Senate and the upcoming budget for the fiscal year 2021-22.

Senator Waseem appreciated the positive trend in economic indicators due to the government’s policies despite the challenge posed by Covid-19.

Minister for Kashmir Affairs Ali Amin Gandapur and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leaders Amir Mahmood Kiani and Saifullah Niazi also called on the prime minister in Islamabad and discussed strategy for the upcoming elections in Azad Jammu Kashmir.

Meanwhile, members of National Assembly from Punjab, Sindh, and Balochistan also called on

Prime Minister Imran and discussed development projects in their respective areas.

FM visits Iraq to discuss bilateral promotion at OIC, UN level IsLAMABAD Mian abRaR

Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi Friday arrived in Iraqi capital Baghdad on a three-day visit at the invitation of his Iraqi counterpart to discuss the promotion of bilateral cooperation between Pakistan and Iraq at the level of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, United Nations and its subsidiaries. The FM’s visit to Iraq is a link in the development of highlevel relations with Muslim countries in the light of Prime Minister Imran’s vision. At Baghdad International Airport, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Iraq Dr Saleh Al-Tamimi received Qureshi. Iraqi Ambassador to Pakistan Hamid Lafta, Pakistan’s Ambassador-designate to Iraq Ahmed Amjad Ali, and senior Iraqi Foreign Ministry officials were also present. It merits mention here that Iraq played a key role in facilitating the recent quiet parleys between the leadership of Iran and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to help bridge differences between the two Muslim countries. These talks were a part of the peace initiative started by Prime Minister Imran to bring the two Muslim countries closer. Imran Khan visited both countries to help bridge their differences and in the second phase, Iraqi president played a key role. During his brief visit to Iraq, the foreign minister will hold meetings with his Iraqi counterpart Fawad Hussein and other senior Iraqi leaders. The FM will also meet with Iraqi President Braham Saleh and other senior Iraqi officials. Talks will also be held with the Iraqi leadership on enhancing bilateral political and defense cooperation. It is hoped that this visit of the foreign minister will further strengthen the bilateral relations between the two countries. In his meetings with the Iraqi leadership, the foreign minister will also discuss the difficulties faced by Pakistani pilgrims to Iraq each year and the steps to be taken to facilitate them. The meetings will focus on promoting bilateral cooperation in various fields, including bilateral relations, trade, investment, education, agriculture, information technology and defense.

The foreign minister will brief the Iraqi leadership on Pakistan’s position on key regional issues, including the Palestinian issue, the Kashmir issue and the Afghan peace process. It is hoped that the visit of the foreign minister will further strengthen the bilateral fraternal relations between the two countries.

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LEAs dEsTroy 200 hidEoUTs of dAcoiTs in shiKArPUr oPErATion

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NEWS DESK

N anti-bandit operation in Shikarpur is underway and the police have burnt down 200 safe havens of dacoits, Pakistan Today learnt on Friday.

According to a report, the law enforcement authorities continued their operation against the dacoits in GarhiTeghu and Katcha area of Khanpuron Friday. As many as 200 shelter places belonging to the bandits were burnt down during the operation.

The police set up their check posts in the troubled areas and the authorities placed the areas under curfew for the sixth consecutive day while the residents, who were earlier advised to stay indoors, chanted slogans in favour of Pakistan and Sindh police.

The commandos, who were called from Karachi,also participated in the operation along with several armouredvehicles.

The police cleared and tookcontrol of all the troubled areas, which were earlier occupied bythe dacoits illegally for harvesting

their crops.

On Thursday, the federal and Sindh governments had decided to work in unison to restore peace and security in the province in the wake of fierce attack by bandits on the police personnel in the Katcha area.

Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed had met with Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah in Karachi to deliberate on the security situation.

The interior minister had offered federal government’s help to the chief minister, saying Rangers will be at thedisposal of Sindh government, if the province wants Rangers’ deployment in the operation.

Murad had told the interior minister that the provincial government need some sophisticated equipment for the operation and the interior ministry can help Sindh in this regard. Rasheed had assured him of his ministry’s full cooperation for the restoration of peace in the province.

CM Murad was certain that soon the Katcha area would be vacated from the bandits.

4.2 magnitude earthquake jolts Khuzdar KHUZDAR INP

A 4.2 magnitude earthquake shook Balochistan’sKhuzdar Friday morning. Tremors were felt in the city and neighbouring areas at 9.15am. No loss of life or property was reported. The earthquake had its epicentre 30 kilometres southwest of Khuzdar with a depth of 15 kilometres, according to the National Seismic Monitoring Centre. For the last three days, earthquakes have been shaking multiple parts of Balochistan.

On Thursday, tremors were felt in Mastung, Pishin, Chaman, Quetta, Makran, Noshki and Machh.

TEVTA, Urban Unit sign MoU to conduct Pakistan's first skill mapping exercise LAHORE PR

The Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (TEVTA)signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Urban Unit to conduct Pakistan's first skill mapping exercise in Punjab. The Urban Unit, in collaboration with the TEVTA, will map the district-wisedemand and supply of skilled labour to reorganise its courses and institutes according to the industry demand. The Punjab Skill Mapping Project is one of its kind and a first in Pakistan, whereby all current and projected demand of skilled labour will be mapped along with required skill set and mapping of industrial clusters. The mapping exercise will serve as a tool for evidence-based planning and policy making.The project was conceived due to dearth of data for evidence-based policy making, resulting in implementation failure and inability to achieve the desired results. The exercise will contribute significantly for TEVTA to utilise itsbudgets effectively and it will be a game changer for the CPEC projects, where the international investors will have credible information of industry and skilled labour in each part of Punjab. Speaking to the ceremony, Chairperson TEVTA Ali Salman Siddique termed the agreement as the most important MoU in his tenure as chairperson of Pakistan's largest skill provider and a breakthrough for evidence-based policy making in TEVTA. "Data reliance should be made an integral part while planning the development projects. The Urban Unit has been on the forefront in facilitation with its incredibly comprehensive data collection in almost all urban sectors. We will ensure making the most out of this memorandum too," assured Omer Masud, while explaining the need of such agreements among knowledge-driven organisations.

DG Placement and Procurement Aamir Aziz, DG Finance Ahmed Saeed, Consultant Digital Governance Nadeem Butt, Chief Technology Officer Naeem Aslam, Communication Innovation and Policy Adviser Saad Sheikh, Director Sarfraz Anwar and PRO Usman Khawaja were also present in the ceremony.

Restoration of LG system: SC issues notice to Punjab govt on contempt plea ISLAMABAD INP

The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday issued a notice to the Punjab advocate general on a contempt petition against the provincial government over alleged non-implementation of the apex court’s March 25 order regarding restoration of the local government institutions.

ASC bench, headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed, heard the petition seeking to initiate contempt of court proceedings against the provincial chief secretary for failing to implement the court order.

The court also issued a notice to the chief secretary to submit his response to the petition by next hearing.

The petitioner’s lawyer stated that the March 25 order is not being implemented despite the fact that the authori-

Karachi student ends life over denial of promotion to next class

ties concerned were informed about the order well in time.

He lamented that the local government representatives are not even being allowed to enter their offices.

On March 25, a bench of the SC, headed by CJP Justice Gulzar Ahmed, had ordered to restore the local government system in Punjab, terming the section 3 of the Local Bodies Act contradictory of the Constitution.

It is pertinent to mention that the Punjab government has filed a review petition in the SC against the restoration of the local bodies system in the province. The chief secretary Punjab had filed a review petition, asking the apex court to reconsider its March 25 decision regarding restoration of the local bodies system in the province on the basis of previous delimitations.

The Punjab Local Government Act, 2019 was passed by the provincial assembly in May, 2019.

KARACHI: A student was found dead in a house in Baldia Town’s Qaimkhani Colony on Friday. The teenager, identified as 15-year-old Owais, committed suicide by hanging himself, according to the police. The deceased, an eighth class student, wanted to be promoted to the next class but he was denied permission by his parents, the police said, adding that he was under mental stress since then. The police said the boy’s parents were not present at the house when he committed suicide, adding that the body was handed over to the family without a post-mortem examination on the parents’ request. Earlier this month, a final-year MBBS student of Ghulam Mohammad Mahar Medical College had committed suicide reportedly after failure to clear the examination in Sukkur.

Tariq, a final-year student at the medical college, had allegedly committed suicide after failing one paper. He had also left behind a suicide note, in which he had expressed his love for her mother and described the reasons behind his extreme act. INP

Cannot hold local govt elections this year, Sindh tells ECP KARACHI INP

The Sindh government has conveyed to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) that it could not hold local government elections in the province this year owing to its reservations on the census results, sources said on Friday.

According to sources, the local bodies’ polls could not be held in the country this year as the provincial government has conveyed to the ECP that it could not hold

the polls in 2021.

“We have reservations on the census results. We could not hold the polls,” sources in the Sindh government said, adding that the government would challenge the CCI decision of acceptingthe census figures. They said that the reservations on holding local bodies’ elections in the province during the ongoing year were conveyed by the provincial authorities during a previous meeting of the election body.

It was further conveyed, according to sources, that the government is currently engaged in the

budget preparation process and it will respond on the matter in a detailed manner later.

In a related development earlier in the day, the Supreme Court issued a notice to the Punjab advocate general on a contempt petition against the provincial government over alleged non-implementation of the apex court’s March 25 order regarding restoration of local government institutions in the province.The court also issued a notice to the chief secretary to submit his response to the petition by the next hearing.

Pakistan Railways holds high-level meeting to review projects LAHORE PR

A high-level meeting on planning and development was held at Railway Headquarters, Lahore under the chairmanship of Chairman Habib-UrRehman Gilani on Friday.

The members of the meeting reviewed in detail various projects,involving infrastructure, PSDP and revenue, and briefed the chairman about the projects. The meeting also discussed about the Railways lands, on which the chairman directed the chief project and planning officer to inquire about the pending projects regarding the lands and issue show cause notices to the delinquent officials.

Apart from this, the issue of flats, being constructed for Railways em-

ployees in Lahore, Karachi and Narowal, was came under consideration while the issue of maintenance and upgradation of 136-km track on Jacobabad, Celera Shahdadkot and Larkana sections was also reviewed.

The chairman was briefed by the concerned project directors regarding rehabilitation and upgradation of Shorkot, ChakJhumra, Sangla Hill, Wazirabad, Shahdara, Shaheenabad, Sargodha, Malikwal and Lala Musa sections.

In the meeting, the issues of security of various major stations and purchase of various security equipment to prevent terrorism were also discussed.

A briefing was also given to the chairman regarding procurement of 820 high-capacity bogies, freight wagons and 230 passenger coaches.

The chairman constituted a committee, headed by Chief Executive Officer Nisar Ahmad Memon, for this purpose and directed to complete the projects this year.

Nisar, Additional Secretary Arif Anwar Baloch, Adviser Farooq Haider, Additional General Manager Infra-

structure Asif Matin Zaidi, Additional General Manager Traffic Syed Mazhar Ali Shah, Additional General Manager Mechanical Salman Sadiq, DG Planning Amir Ali Baloch and Director Public Relations NaziaJabeenwere present during the meeting.

Saturday, 29 May, 2021

ISLAMABAD

FIrSt-EvEr PakIStan-EgyPt aIr drIll StartS

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HE opening ceremony of first-ever Pakistan-Egypt joint air defence exercise “Sky Guard-1” 2021 was held in Cairo on Friday.

According to Inter-Services Public Relations, the two-week-long joint exercise is aimed to bolster the military cooperation between two countries in face of existing and emerging threats in the air defence domain.

“The exercise will focus on greater integration, synergy, interoperationability, information gathering, decision making of air defence tentacles to generate a comprehensive response against multiple hostile air threats in battle,” the commu-

niqué read.

The ISPR said that the participating troops will exchange operational drills and procedures to meet the future battlefield environment. It further said that the troops of Pakistani and Egyptian air defence tentacles will participate in the first-ever joint air defence exercise between the two friendly countries.

Director General Joint Staff Headquarters Lieutenant General Muhammad Chirag Haider witnessed the opening ceremony.

Egyptian Chief of Air Defence Major General Mohamed Hagezy Abdel Mawgood along with other military officials from both countries was also present on

the occasion.

The air defence exercises include training on securing the airspace and vital assets while unifying concepts among participating elements to ensure the competent planning and administration of operations.

Prime Minister Imran Khan hailed Egypt’s efforts for reaching a ceasefire in Gaza during a phone call with President Abdel Fattah al Sisi on Wednesday last.

Presidential Spokesman Bassam Radi said in a statement that Khan underlined the depth of relations between the two countries and peoples, saying he is looking forward to tapping new vistas of fruitful cooperation between Egypt

and Pakistan.

Sisi and Imran exchanged viewpoints on the latest developments regarding the Palestinian cause and recent incidents in the Gaza Strip. Imran said that his country is highly appreciating the Egyptian stance and successful efforts exerted by Cairo to reach a ceasefire.

The prime minister underscored that Egypt’s stability is a milestone in the stability of the Middle East region and the Muslim world at large.

Sisi praised “positive” relations between Egypt and Pakistan. He reiterated keenness on promoting bilateral cooperation with Pakistan on all levels. news Desk

Wealth creation is impossible without industrialisation, says PM continued from page 01 “We should raise our hands and profusely thank Allah,” he said, adding that Pakistan had not suffered the same fate as other countries had, where millions were unemployed and thousands had died.

He praised the National Command and Operation Centre adding that the think tank was closely following the coronavirus situation in the country.

He praised his government’s decision not to impose a coronavirus lockdown, adding that the poor would have “died from hunger” and Pakistan “would have suffered a fate similar to India”.

“Let me remind them [opposition] that I was the captain who introduced neutral umpires in cricket,” the prime minister said, adding that he would not give up easily in reforming the country.

“We are not ones to win with rigging,” he stressed.

He said that large-scale manufacturing was showing growth and there had been improvement in the agriculture sector. “This time round there has been record output of rice, corn and wheat,” he said, adding that this had an affect on other sectors.

“Good times are coming. I used to tell people to not worry, but they used to worry. Life is never a straight line.”

He concluded his speech by saying that as the economy grows, there would be pressure on the current account. The current account has been in surplus for the past 10 months, he said. “But as the economy grows, we

will require imports. So the fear is that it will put pressure on our current account.”

He said that the government was now planning on sustainable growth so that it does not have to turn to the International Monetary Fund.

According to Radio Pakistan, the Rashakai Prioritized Special Economic Zone is part of the CPEC cluster and is a flagship project of the KP government and KP Economic Zone Development and Management Company.

The zone spreads over one thousand acres, which is linked with CPEC route on M-I Motorway and other districts of the province, making the project strategically significant.

The construction of the zone is being carried out in collaboration with China’s state enterprise, China Road and Bridge Corporation, and KP Economic Zone Development and Management Company.

The project will provide employment opportunities to about 200,000 people in the area directly and indirectly.

Separately, CPEC Authority Chairman Lt Gen (r) Asim Saleem Bajwa on Friday said that a special training would be arranged for workers in three technology institutes to be established in the vicinity of Rashakai SEZ. “A special training of workers being started as per specific industry needs, in 3 three institutes in the vicinity of Rashakai,” he said in his tweet after participating in the launching ceremony of Rashakai SEZ. The chairman said that history was made today by the commercial launch of Rashakai SEZ under the mega-project of CPEC. He added that the second phase of CPEC included industrialisation through establishing export-oriented SEZs.

NEWS

05

SBP keeps interest rate unchanged at 7pc continued from page 01 Citing the latest National Income Accounts data, the SBP said the economy had “rebounded strongly” from last year’s severe Covid shock, led by services and industry. “The industrial sector is estimated to have grown 3.6 percent during FY21, driven by construction and large-scale manufacturing, especially the food, cement, textile and automobile sectors,” it added. The strong rebound is also reflected in “exceptionally strong growth” recorded in multiple high-frequency indicators across all three quarters of the year, including sales of fast-moving consumer goods and POL products. The agriculture sector, meanwhile, is estimated to have grown 2.8 percent, with the production of three important crops ― wheat, rice and maize ― rising to record highs and that of sugar cane to its second-highest ever level.

Executive board approves $1.289bn budget for IMF WASHINGTON: The International Monetary Fund’s executive board approved the lender’s administrative and capital budgets for the financial year 2022. The total administrative budget for the latest financial year, which began on May 1, has been set at $1.21 billion, while the capital budget for the year will be $79 million, according to a statement. The budget “is set in the context of a global economic outlook that is marked by high uncertainty and the likelihood of uneven recovery, with many countries facing daunting crisis legacies,” the IMF said. “The budget provides for continued fund support for its membership with the immediate crisis response and to navigate a safe exit from the crisis.” The lender also said many countries may not return to the preCovid path of economic activity for several years, and those without the means to mitigate the impact of the crisis will be hardest hit. The capital budget provides financing for building facilities and information technology capital projects including modernising digital platforms and tools, according to the lender. “Financial support is expected to rise and programmes to become more complicated, as many emergency financing operations are followed with upper credit tranche conditionality programmes, in many cases characterized by complex debt issues,” it said. As of early March, 12 UCT arrangements have been approved in the year since the pandemic hit.

Going forward, another 38 members have expressed interest in new UCT programmes. Fifteen member countries are also seeking emergency financing that will come up for board approval over the next year.

The executive board of the IMF also took note of indicative budgets for 2023 and 2024. The administrative budget for the financial year 2023 is expected to be $1.24bn and for 2024 it will be $1.26bn. agencies

Minister says 6.5pc GNP growth in current FY highest in 16 years continued from page 01 The federal minister said that electricity consumption is expected to grow by 6 percent, and after the government has announced a package for the industries, their power consumption has gone up 15 percent during the current fiscal — and in the next year, it is predicted to go up further.

Growth is expected in gas, coal, and construction, among several other sectors. “Exports are predicted to go up, this year it stood at $25.2 billion, and in the next year, it will move up to $26.8 billion.”

The federal minister said this year’s $25.2 billion worth of exports are the country’s highest figures in the last 10 years. “It is unfortunate — that the backbone of the economy, exports, faced several setbacks during the previous year.” Asad said that the next year’s target for exports, $26.8, would be the highest in the country’s history.

‘FIRST RAYS OF SUNLIGHT’: Speaking about the coronavirus vaccination campaign, Asad said that Islamabad has reached the point where “first rays of sunlight” had started to appear as 21 percent of its target population had been inoculated against Covid-19.

Addressing the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce in the capital, the minster remarked the inoculation campaign was progressing comparatively better in the federal capital than in other parts of the country.

However, he pointed out that there was room for more vaccinations than this, adding that “the faster we do this work, the faster we will permanently escape [this situation].”

He said that the current vaccination capacity in Islamabad was 20,000 shots daily while the average number of first dose administrations was 7,000 shots.

Speaking on Friday, Asad said that there was a need to run a vaccination campaign

with help of the businessmen and traders because they stood to benefit the most from it.

He gave the example of Massachusetts, which according to him was completely lifting restrictions and going towards reopening because it had reached a certain stage of the vaccination process.

“It is only a matter of a few weeks, not months and years when we can completely escape this [situation in Islamabad].

“The faster we increase vaccinations, the sooner we will get the opportunity to remove all restrictions,” said the federal minister, adding that he wanted to see no restrictions in place on Eid-ul-Azha so businesses and traders could be free to work.

“I believe the NCOC will provide you full help and if your leadership is present then we want to send a message through you […] your real help is needed in vaccinating your employees in your businesses,” said Asad.

He also added that coordination with the Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce was needed due to many people commuting from the city to Islamabad for work. “I have no doubt, we have the vaccine in our hand and vaccination centres are built so we can set up vaccination centres in the markets as well.”

It bears mentioning that Islamabad’s twin city, reported that as many as 320,407 people, including 23,707 health workers and 296,700 senior citizens have jabbed themselves so far against the coronavirus from 23 centres operating across the district since the vaccination administering drive launched on March 10.

According to data shared by the district administration Friday, 4278 people had been inoculated the vaccine at Tehsil Headquarters Hospital Taxila, 853 at THQH Murree, 2211 at THQH Kahuta, 4843 at THQH Gujar Khan, 547 at THQH Kotli Sattian, 1882 at THQH, Kallar Sayda, 10,498 at Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology, and

5195 at Holy Family Hospital.

Moreover, 3445 people were vaccinated at DHQ Hospital, 8731 at Benazir Bhutto Hospital, 643 at Govt T.B Sanatorium Samli, 9111 at Wah General Hospital, 83,407 at Shahbaz Sharif Complex, 19,834 at Tehsil office Taxila, 11,699 at TO office Kallar Syedan, 26,555 at TO office Gujar Khan, 1650 at TO office Kotli Sattiyan, 3990 at TO office Murree, 60,579 at TO office Potohar, 10,904 at TO office Kahuta, 3602 District Health Office, 92 Government Wapda hospital while 45,868 people received the jab at Red Crescent vaccination centre.

Asad said that a meeting of the NCOC would be called next week to launch a national campaign where the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry, trade associations and other stakeholders would be invited to work together on vaccinations.

The federal minister also said that the NCOC discussed the opening up of amusement parks during Friday morning’s session and it was decided to give permission to open them with limited numbers and compliance with Covid-19 standard operating procedures.

He added that in a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee last week, he had highlighted that some sectors and industries such as restaurants, marriage halls and education institutions had faced “exceptional injury” due to Covid restrictions.

“I said that we should announce a special package for the people associated with these sectors because the pain they have suffered has benefited society.” Asad said the finance minister had accepted this proposal and a decision was made that a package would be formulated by the relevant ministers and bodies.

The federal minister also highlighted Pakistan’s economic performance during the Covid-19 pandemic and pointed out that while India had contracted and many fast-growing

cmYK

economies had also seen negative growth, “we more or less [achieved] breakeven.”

He said people were shocked over the current growth estimate of 3.94pc, adding that the Planning Commission had given a growth estimate of 4.8pc for next year.

Asad credited the growth estimates to the government’s balanced decision-making.

He said that the decisions Prime Minister Imran Khan had taken to deal with the situation during the Covid-19 pandemic reflected the thinking of “a mother for her children”.

Another 67 people lost their lives to the coronavirus whereas 2,482 fresh cases were reported during the last 24 hours across Pakistan, showed the figures released by the NCOC on Friday morning. According to the latest figures from the NCOC, the death toll has surged to 20,607 while the number of confirmed cases stands at 913,784.

During the 24 hours (Thursday), the tally of recoveries increased by 2,822 to 834,566, or 91.3 percent of total infections. There are currently 58,611 active cases of Covid-19 in the country, with the NCOC saying 4,132 of them require critical care.

On Thursday, a total of 51,625 coronavirus tests were conducted and the positivity rate was recorded at 4.80 percent.

Punjab: Authorities reported 26 deaths due to the coronavirus, raising total casualties to 9,925. The province now has 337,775 confirmed cases; it reported 702 new infections after conducting 20,903 tests, a positivity ratio of 3.36 percent. There were 1,167 new recoveries recorded, leaving 307,716 fully recovered, and 20,134 active cases of the virus.

Sindh: Confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in Sindh have now climbed to 314,158; it reported 1,099 new infections after administering 14,529 tests, a positivity ratio of 7.56 percent. The province reported 22 deaths, raising the toll to 4,988, while its

recoveries rose by 708 to 285,403. Overall, the province now has 23,767 active cases of the novel coronavirus.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: During the past 24 hours (Thursday), the provincial government recorded 384 new infections after conducting 8,110 tests, a positivity ratio of 4.73 percent. Overall, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s confirmed cases have climbed to 131,411. It recorded 16 new deaths and 305 recoveries, raising toll to 4,025 and recoveries to 121,822. There are currently 5,564 active cases of Covid-19 in the province.

Balochistan: The province raised its confirmed cases to 24,908 with 85 new infections after administering 1,450 tests for a positivity ratio of 5.86 percent. There were no deaths and 24 recoveries recorded in the past 24 hours, leaving 273 fatalities and 23,525 fully recovered. There are now 1,110 active cases of Covid-19 in the province.

Islamabad: The federal capital raised its confirmed coronavirus cases by 148 to 80,927 after conducting 5,273 tests, a positivity ratio of 2.81 percent. There were 2 deaths and 526 recoveries recorded in the past 24 hours, leaving 753 casualties; 73,743 recovered; and 6,431 active cases.

Gilgit-Baltistan: Gilgit Baltistan recorded 12 new cases of Covid-19 after conducting 490 tests, a positivity ratio of 2.45 percent; it now has 5,545 confirmed cases. The region reported no new deaths and 2 recoveries, leaving 107 fatalities and 5,326 fully recovered people. There are currently 112 active cases of Covid-19 in the region.

Azad Jammu and Kashmir: In Azad Kashmir, confirmed cases rose by 52 to 19,060 after administering 870 tests, a positivity ratio of 5.98 percent. There was 1 death and 90 recoveries in the past 24 hours, leaving 536 fatalities and 17,031 fully recovered.

It now has 1,493 active cases of Covid-19.

Saturday, 29 May, 2021

06 COMMENT

Implementing The Scpa Act-2021

Cracks in the PML(N) Divergent policy lines cause divide

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Dealing with the problem in te worst-hit province

N her father’s absence and during her uncle’s prolonged incarceration, Maryam Nawaz took the reins of the PML(N) and guided the party, with the help of senior leaders, through a tumultuous political environment. Without the PML(N), the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), which was formed during this time, would not have had the legitimacy or numbers to take the government head-on through well attended rallies. Several key by-elections were held as well and Ms Nawaz campaigned for her party’s candidates with conviction resulting in meaningful successes, most notably in PK-63 where the PML(N) beat the PTI in its backyard of Nowshera. Throughout this, she maintained, independently and collectively with the PDM, an anti-establishment narrative with the blessings and instructions of her father Mian Nawaz Sharif, who remains in self-exile in London with no plans of returning. Following his release from jail, however, Shehbaz Sharif has emerged as the new face of the party and is pushing for a narrative that is divergent from his elder brother’s, one of reconciliation rather than confrontation with state institutions.

These divergent party lines have resulted in grouping within the party, something that does not bode well for the future of the PML(N) if allowed to continue for too long.

On one side is the old cadre led by Shehbaz Sharif, with the very recent addition of estranged party leader Chaudhry Nisar ali Khan, which believes in working with the establishment to maintain cordial relations so that political, administrative and legal challenges remain at a minimum. The other side backs Mian Nawaz Sharif’s stance, and wants to remain on a collision course with the powers-that-be, whose interference in political matters must be restricted. The PML(N)’s vote bank relies heavily on Nawaz Sharif’s leadership role in the party, but his indefinite absence from the country is creating uncertainty in party ranks. Many are now questioning the fairness of this arrangement where the leadership is dictating a dangerous and largely ineffective party line without having to face the consequences on account of not being in the country to face arrest. With Maryam Nawaz now limiting her political activity to infrequent reserved statements, perhaps there is a realization of what is at risk. However, a complete reconciliation of the two party narratives is necessary to mend the cracks that have already developed.

Abdur rAshid sheikh

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N 23 ap, the Sindh assembly amending the Sindh Child Protection authority act, 2011 enacted the Sindh Child Protection authority (amendment) act, 2021. The objective of the amendment was to make the concerned authority law more effective so that the interest of the children is protected all over the province. although the enactment of the SCPa act, 2021 is a commendable initiative of the government but due to its intricacies it is unlikely to be effectively executed to achieve the desired results.

The SCPa act, 2011 did not cover any preventive and curative measures for the multitudinous crimes against children including rape, trafficking, abduction or killing and was also ineffectual to curb the menace.

Therefore, it was deemed expedient in the public interest to make an appropriate amendment in this act.

The main purpose of bringing about this momentous legal change was to have a system of raising alertness for the rights of children in conformity with the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution of Pakistan and in adherence to national and international laws and obligations including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Child (UNCRC). according to the Section 2 (a-i) of the SCPa act,2021, psychological, physical and sexual violence, exploitation, compromising economic exploitation and sexual exploitation which includes child marriage, domestic or commercial child labour, child trafficking, corporal punishment, injury, and maltreatment fall in the purview of child abuse.

Section 20-B of this act affirms that the child

The upcoming budget

abuse is a cognizable and non-bailable offence. In reality, this makes the implementation of this act a challenging and daunting task to prevent child abuse as many well off or influential people, and politicians, are involved in some acts of the offence.

Under Section 10 (q-i) of the act, the authority will facilitate and ensure the registration of an FIR with the police or any law enforcement agency, in relation to any child in need of special protection measures within four hours of the occurrence of the criminal offence. Moreover, it will be obligatory for the police or any law enforcement agency to lodge the FIR on receipt of such a complaint by any person or the authority’s representative.

No doubt, this will help increase the ratio of the reported cases as many cases of alleged child abuse are not reported to police due to numerous reasons, but this will not ensure the dispensation of justice to the victim and punishment to the perpetrator. In the court, there will be no person to pursue the cases reported to the police by the SCPa officials. Parents, who are reluctant to register the FIR, will not pursue these cases.

Thus, many of the culprits will go unpunished.

Under Section 20a (2), no report in any newspaper and magazine will disclose the name, address or any other particulars which will lead to the identification of the abused child and nor any picture of any such child may be published. In reality, this is a praiseworthy feature of the act, 2021. Generally, it has been seen that children, especially girls, who have been made victims of sexual abuse, experience social and psychological difficulties and agonies in a society after their identification is revealed. The fact is that the victims have the rights to privacy and dignity of life. So, it is the social and moral responsibility of a society to respect their rights. Under Section 20D of the act,

the special courts will be set-up in each district of the province to provide the victimized children with protection and expeditious justice. after the special courts are established, all the cases falling under this act pending in any court will be transferred to the special courts for trial. The court shall proceed with the trial from day to day and shall decide the case within four months.

I would suggest that to make the special courts productive, result-oriented and child-friendly, lawyers, prosecutors and judges in these courts should be females. Moreover, police officers and medico-legal officers dealing with child abuse cases should also be females. Significantly, the child abuse victims are to be provided with free legal aid.

Child abuse is on the rise in Pakistan. Sahil, a NGO, in its six-months cruel number report 2020 revealed that, with 14 percent increase, the number of child abuse cases reported from January to June this year stands at 1489 out of which 53 percent were girls and 47 percent boys. It means that eight children were abused every day during these six months. Of the overall cases, 32 percent of them were reported from Sindh. It means that Sindh has been plagued enormously more than all other provinces by crimes against children. although to protect the rights of children, a spate of prochildren laws have been enacted by the government, the data shows an upturn in upsetting offences of child abuse in the province. The lack of a robust implementation mechanism has rendered these laws ineffective.

To achieve productive fruits from the 2021 act, the Sindh government will have to make concrete and positive efforts for the implementation of the law. For the larger public interest, the government should shoulder responsibility to ensure the provision of justice to the vulnerable portion of our society and their protection from all forms of abuse.

To achieve productive fruits from the 2021 Act, the Sindh government will have to make concrete and positive efforts for the implementation of the law. For the larger public interest, the government should shoulder responsibility to ensure the provision of justice to the vulnerable portion of our society and their protection from all forms of abuse

The writer tweets @ARShykh OI

Everything in melting pot

When Pakistan emerged as a responsible nuclear state

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He only thing certain about the next budget is that it will not deviate from the parameters defined by the IMF. From what SaPM Dr Waqar Masood told a parliamentary committee on Thursday, one does not expect any significant relief to accrue to the common man from the budget. Three days back Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin had promised not to levy any additional tax or raise the power tariff. The SaPM however told the committee that the government will try to impose less than Rs 500 billion worth of additional taxes while the increase in the power tariffs has been deferred only for the time being. as the SaPM succinctly put it, the government will reach a consensus with the IMF before the budget and only those proposals will be taken to Parliament that would have been agreed with the IMF. The PM has taken pride in the next year’s projected GDP growth of 5.02 percent which, if achieved, will fall short of the 5.79 percent achieved by the PML(N) government in 2018. But doubts were expressed in the Standing Committee on Finance about both the projected GDP target and the inflation target at 8.2 percent.

It was a tall claim by the SaPM that commodity prices, exchange rate, food supplies and utility prices would remain stable in the next fiscal year, which would help contain inflation to 8.2 percent. as a committee member observed, the inflation projection for the current fiscal year was 6.5 ercent, which had now been revised to 9 percent, then what is the guarantee that the 8.2 percent inflation rate will be achieved in the next fiscal year? The government’s taxation policies are already causing an increase in the share of indirect taxes, thus hurting the poor more than the rich. Next year’s Public Sector Development Programme had been increased to Rs900 billion from Rs800bn last year. Hopefully the extra funds will be used to provide maximum benefit to the common man rather than to ensure the loyalties of the parliamentarians.

With Moody’s B3 credit rating, Wapda has floated first green eurobond for $500 million, apparently to meet foreign exchange needs required for its mega and strategic projects of Diamer-Bhasha and Mohmand Dams. One hopes the forex thus acquired will be used prudently and not wasted on luxury cars for the officers.

What drives the regional nuclear arms race AnAyA shAhid

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May 1998 was the day when Pakistan became the seventh nuclear state and made its defence impregnable. Pakistan conducted a nuclear weapons test in response to India’s nuclear tests conducted a few days earlier on 11 and 13 May, respectively. Since Independence, Pakistan has been neighbour to a hostile state, India, ruled by an extremist Hindutva ideology that has threatened Pakistan’s sovereignty and existence. In 1948, India forcefully occupied Kashmir, Hyderabad, and Junagadh areas by massacring people who did not want to be annexed to India. These were just a few instances of India’s aggression and intimidation.

In 1998, India tested nuclear weapons while openly threatening Pakistan. Pakistan had no other option but to respond so that the level of deterrence could remain stable. Therefore, on 28 May 1998, Pakistan, as a direct response to Indian tests, also tested nuclear weapons to deter Indian aggression at all costs. Pakistan annually commemorates this day as the National Science Day and also as a reminder of the struggle and great odds it faced in order to defuse Indian threat.

“If India had not exploded the bomb, Pakistan would not have done so. Once New Delhi did so, we had no choice because of public pressure” – Former Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif.

India never thought that Pakistan could match India’s nuclear capability in any manner. Therefore, the Indian leadership, soon after testing nuclear weapons, threatened Pakistan with nuclear attack and even some members of the ruling BJP warned Pakistan to leave azad Kashmir. However, the Indian leadership’s threats met a firm response when Pakistan demonstrated its indigenous weapon capability. acquisition of nuclear deterrence capability was also necessary to project Pakistan’s self-sufficiency in defense against any territorial threat. Pakistan’s nuclear tests made it clear that when it comes to national

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honour and survival, Pakistan would maintain a balance of power against its adversaries. Indian acquisition of nuclear weapons compelled Pakistan to build its nuclear muscle for improving national security, otherwise it had no intention to do so.

It is an open secret that Pakistan did not introduce nuclear weapons in South asia. In fact, India took the lead twice in bringing the nuclear dimension in the region. South asian strategic dynamics were changed forever with the advent of nuclear weapons. Former Indian Home Minister L.K. advani warned Pakistan that it should “realize the change in the geostrategic situation in the region and the world” and Pakistan must submit to Indian dictation, otherwise it “will be futile and costly for Pakistan.” So, the Indian hostile hegemonic plan had to be neutralized by Pakistan. Since then, nuclear dissuasion has played a critical role in the political security and strategic stability of South asia.

It is pertinent to note that Pakistan has always been hesitant to engage in the nuclear weapons race in South asia.

Pakistan was aware of a nuclear arms race initiated by India. Therefore it, long before embarking on a nuclear journey, proposed to make South asia a nuclear-free zone. India bluntly refused Pakistan’s proposal. Pakistan on numerous occasions has bilaterally proposed India to limit the manufacturing or acquisition of nuclear weapons in order to strengthen arms

Islamabad – Ph: 051-2204545

control and disarmament in the region. India has, however always, declined to sign any disarmament or restraint agreement with Pakistan. India is to be rightly blamed for triggering a nuclear arms race in the region.

Today’s nuclear India is becoming a global migraine. It has the fastest-growing nuclear programme with multiple secret nuclear facilities to further expand its nuclear programme.

India’s offensive march on nuclearization and further expansion of its nuclear arsenal paints a grim situation for international arms control efforts. Unlike India, Pakistan has no offensive strategic approach or aggressive hegemonic design, rather, its nuclear capability is purely defensive. a nuclear-conscious Pakistan has a strong understanding of the sensitivities involved in military adventurism.

Whereas India’s prestige hunger drives its nuclear developments. youm-e-Takbeer has helped Pakistani leaders in making wise decisions to consistently support nuclear nonproliferation. Pakistani scientists and engineers have employed research and development of nuclear technology for peaceful uses. For instance, power generation, agriculture, medicine, and the environment. Pakistan believes in peaceful coexistence and as a responsible nuclear country, it has put in serious efforts to settle long-standing disputes. If the international community would force India to follow sui, South asia could not go into nuclear brinkmanship.

Today’s nuclear India is becoming a global migraine. It has the fastestgrowing nuclear programme with multiple secret nuclear facilities to further expand its nuclear programme.

India’s offensive march on nuclearization and further expansion of its nuclear arsenal paints a grim situation for international arms control efforts

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Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

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Saturday, 29 May, 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

Cheap Hydro Power for Far off Industrial Estates MOHMMaND Dam construction was recently inaugurated by the Prime Minister. Similarly many other dams are also in the process of construction in KP and other provinces. With so many dams producing Hydel power that would need to be transported to populated areas would result in massive line losses that would be a wastage. Therefore with the launch of every new Hydel Power project, the Government should also launch an Industrial estate project in the area. The Government can offer cheap fixed rate electricity to new Industries that would setup in the new industrial estates, while also construct required infrastructure. Similarly to promote agriculture, agriculture machine units can be constructed near national grid that would be provided cheap electricity, and would contain agriculture processing machines. Local farmers can bring their produce to these units and process or pack them by paying a fixed fee. This way the Government can create new jobs, improve agriculture processing and create new industries in far off areas, while also utilize some of the energy locally, reducing the load on National Grid and also reducing the wastage of energy through line losses.

Shahryar Khan BaSEEr PEShawar

Waiting for vaccines

Changing Face of Democracy in Modern Nepal The country carries on the democratic experiment

dr rAjkumAr singh

F

OLLOWING the dissolution of the House of Representatives, the lower house of the Federal Parliament of Nepal, on 22 May, a fresh general election has been scheduled to be held by November 2021 to elect the 275 new members for the sixth time in the democratic history of Nepal, although, earlier to this it was also dissolved on 20 December 2020 but restored by judicial interference, while the proper five-year term of the existing house was to expire in March 2023. With the end of the monarchy in May 2008 and declaration of a Federal Democratic Republic, Nepal’s real experience and challenge began and even going further, the nation took some uptodate knowledge of democratic twists and turns. In the general elections of May 2018, no single political party got a sufficient number (138) to form the government, but this was done after the merger of two main political parties, the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), led by K. P. Sharma Oli, and the Communist Party of Nepal (MaoistCentre), led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal, as the Nepal Communist Party. Under the terms of agreement the leaders of the two parties consented to share the post of Prime Minister for a period of two and a half years each and in an important decision reached on 20 November 2019 they also agreed to let Oli complete his full term as Prime Minister. But, soon thereafter, a campaign of charges and countercharges started between them, leading to the dissolution of the House for the first time on December 2020. It was reinstated after a decision of the Supreme Court of Nepal, however, as a follow-up of the another writ petition which annulled the decision of the election Commission of the country to retain its old name, and the Oli government came back as a minority and was also defeated in a noconfidence motion, ultimately to recommend the dissolution of the House and the seeking of fresh mandate from the people.

The present-day democracy of Nepal has travelled a long journey of about seven decades, beginning with the first movement of 1951 for the establishment of a democratic rule in the country, and was affected by many factors which included the expansion of the country’s education system, increased literacy rate, rising

level of higher education and independence of India, whose political leaders and the government as well remained permanent sympathizers and supporters of pro-democratic movements in Nepal. By the time two political parties Nepali Congress Party, which later became Nepali Congress (1947), and Nepal Communist Party (1949), had already been founded before the commencement of the first democratic movement. as a result of their joint action against the Rana monarchy, internal and international pressure, the royal regime agreed for the peaceful transfer of power which paved the way for constitutional monarchy, known as the ‘Delhi Settlement’ of 1951, although itonly lasted for a short period of nine years.

In December 1960 King Mahendra assumed all powers and introduced the Panchayat System with limited democratic practices. In the post1960 rule of King Mahendra democratic practices began shrinking and repressive measures were used freely to suppress the antiregime movements and student protests which gave birth to the ‘Jana andolan’ of 1990. In comparison with earlier movements, this one was large in size and effect and included students, human rights organisations and professional unions which gave a call for mass movement. Ultimately democracy was restored in Nepal with a multiparty system in the framework of constitutional democracy.

In fact, it was a shift to neoliberal policies that promoted economic liberalisation and many other timely steps to move the country forward.

In comparison to earlier, the post-1991 period faced more violent protests, movements, insurgencies in which thousands of people, including the civilians, were killed and hence was considered decisive. The constitutional monarchy implemented in 1991, witnessed political instability due to frequent government changes, internal party battles and corruption. The midterm election held for the House of Representatives led to a hung parliament producing eight unstable governments within five years, and in this environment of anarchy from 13 February 1996 the People’s War was declared which, among other things, demanded abolition of the monarchy, formation of an interim government and establishment of a constituent assembly. an important event took place on 1 June 2001 in which the royal

family of Nepal was murdered and it was followed by the crowning of Gyanendra as the new King of the country. This further worsened the situation and now the insurgent group’s attacks on police and armed forces became normal, resulting in the declaration of the state of national emergency, making the condition worse on both sides.

Ultimately, a peace agreement was signed between an alliance of the seven political parties and the Maoist insurgents in 2006 through a 12point agreement which outlined the democratic framework to be established after the abolition of monarchy. It included the formation of an internationally monitored interim government, the holding of free and fair elections, and a guarantee of the system of governance, civil, political and human rights, with rule of law. Following elections in 2008, the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist -Leninist) won 38 percent of the votes and Pushpa Kamal Dahal became the Prime Minister of the new Federal Republic of Nepal.

Pursuing the recommendations of the Nepali Cabinet made on 22 May, President Bidya Devi Bhandari, dissolved the House of Representatives and announced midterm elections on 12 and 19 November. The declaration is the end of the political drama continuing for years, especially after merger of the two Communist groups and their active involvement in power politics of the day, although nothing seems unusual in a country which had seen 25 Prime Ministers in last 29 years, excluding the former King Gyanendra, along with turbulent political changes in the last three decades including a decade-long armed struggle (19962006) and seven constitutions in the previous 70 years. However, in this transitional phase the hope lies in the present Constitution of 2015 which provided a federal democratic republic with three government tiers-central, provincial and local. as these are the basics of democracy which will make the spirit of the system deep-rooted with a sense of duty and pride, it will also be able to check corruption at all levels, make the governance easy and transparent and create a political awareness in the country in the years to come.

However, in this transitional phase the hope lies in the present Constitution of 2015 which provided a federal democratic republic with three government tiers-central, provincial and local. As these are the basics of democracy which will make the spirit of the system deep-rooted with a sense of duty and pride, it will also be able to check corruption at all levels, make the governance easy and transparent and create a political awareness in the country in the years to come

The writer is head of the political science department and dean of the Social Sciences faculty of the B.N.Mandal University, Madhepura, Bihar, India. He can be reached at rajkumarsinghpg@gmail.com

THe most effective way to control the virus is to vaccinate a large number of people. For this, the government of Pakistan has taken a good step to vaccinate people. But unfortunately, the government has just started the vaccination process in big cities. On the other hand, people living in remote areas are still waiting for the government that when he will start Covid vaccination process . yes, it is certainly right that the non of remote areas, has not gotten any vaccine. Though getting vaccine is the best way to defeat the deadly virus Covid-19. But the government is failed in this regard. I urge the government should start vaccination programme in remote areas too as soon as possible. hammal Zahid Kolahoo

Strict action needed OUR cooperation plays a vital role to assist the government to bring the circumstances under control, but undoubtedly people are not listening to the government, and they are doing what they want. The major source to defeat the Covid-19 has to follow the SOPS but people are ignoring the SOPs and not following them the place where these are requires. I recommend to the government that it is high time now to bring the ratio of the Covid-19 down, and take a strict action on those people who are not following the SOPs or violating them. rahim humraZ Jath Balnigwar

Covid-19 vaccine patent waiver PaNDeMIC is a global crisis and the extraordinary condition of making vaccines available in the entire world requires fabulous steps. WTO or Intellectual Property Protection (IPP) is very important in itself but humanity come much before that and that’s when proponents of the waiver argued that the temporary suspension of intellectual property rights is key to achieving vaccine equity and global health security. This must be a welcome step, there will be opposition but certainly opposition which is business oriented will be in favor of humanity. Basically, patent waiver would be a valuable panacea. a fair proposal would mostly allow countries to issue compulsory licenses, essentially allowing third-party manufacturers to make and sell other companies’ patented products, while also helping free up some information about how that manufacturing is done. Just a waiver of the IP rights rules without further assistance such as technology transfer to generic pharmaceutical companies in developing countries would render the move useless. This will also necessitate tech transfer for the pharmaceutical companies to start the production since vaccines like the mRNa vaccines require highly sophisticated manufacturing equipment. Not only technology and equipment, raw materials and probably personnel would also need to be transferred for developing countries to be able to produce vaccines on a large scale. Lastly, this move marks the start of the battle, not the end of the war. Much remains to be resolved before the waiver is translated into increased vaccine supply. Complex vaccines require deep cooperation between developers and manufacturers. any failure to make them properly could undermine public confidence and safety.

Shafi ahmEd KhowaJa hydEraBad

Pak-Egypt talks PRIMe Minister Imran Khan Wednesday held a telephone conversation with egyptian President abdel Fattah al-Sisi and appreciated the important role played by egypt and its leadership for cessation of hostilities in Palestine. The prime minister strongly condemned the Israeli aggression against innocent Palestinians, especially women and children, and the sacrilege of al-aqsa Mosque during the holy month of Ramazan. Stressing the importance of the early and just resolution of the Palestine issue, the prime minister said the people of Palestine were living in an “open prison”. In this regard, Imran Khan called for total withdrawal of Israeli forces from Occupied Palestinian Territories including Jerusalem; restitution of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people including their right to self determination and the right of return to Palestine. He also stressed for the Palestinians’ right for establishment of an independent, viable and contiguous Palestinian State, as part of a two-state solution, with pre-1967 borders, with al-Quds al-Sharif as its capital. The prime minister laid emphasis on the importance of solidarity among the Muslim Ummah, and adopting a collective approach especially through the OIC platform, for safeguarding the rights of Muslims, particularly those living under foreign occupation. Outlining the recent efforts made by Pakistan in amplifying the voice of the Palestinian people, he reaffirmed Pakistan’s continued support for the just settlement of the Palestinian issue. President Sisi invited the prime minister to visit egypt, while the prime minister also renewed his invitation to President Sisi to visit Pakistan. Both the leaders agreed to continue with the momentum of high-level exchanges to further strengthen bilateral political and economic ties between the two countries.

Sohail ali Khan iSlamaBad

Saturday, 29 May, 2021

08 WORLD VIEW

Why BiDen Won't solve the Palestinian-israeli conflict

usa today

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aaron DaviD Miller

’M mad as hell and i’m not going to take it anymore,” the broadcaster turned prophet Howard Beale ranted in the anti-media classic Network.

Listening to the reaction against israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza, especially the number of civilian casualties from just about everybody – europeans; the UN; human rights organizations; the Arab League; the Organization of the islamic Conference and perhaps most surprisingly many mainstream Democrats in Congress, you’d think we’d reached a Howard Beale tipping point. And maybe we have.

BIDEN MAY NOT BE A BIG FAN OF NETANYAHU But one very important guy isn’t likely going to be shouting out of windows anytime soon. And it’s not because he’s such a fan of Benjamin Netanyahu. After all he’s seen the Bibi movie before when in 2010 as vice-president, the israeli prime Minister surprised and humiliated him by announcing a major housing expansion in east Jerusalem.

He is most assuredly a very pro-israeli pres-

CHALLENGED WITH THE GREATEST TASK OF NATIONAL RECOVERY SINCE FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT, WITHOUT HIS LARGE MARGINS IN THE HOUSE AND SENATE, BIDEN IS MUCH MORE FOCUSED ON DOMESTIC PRIORITIES ident; but not a narrowly pro Netanyahu one.

And if israel’s prime Minister is looking for a fight, Biden will oblige. But the president isn’t looking for one; And here’s why.

Governing is about choosing. And challenged with the greatest task of national recovery since Franklin Roosevelt, without his large margins in the House and senate, Biden is much more focused on domestic priorities, including fighting COViD, passing infrastructure and police reform bills, and combating a degree of political and racial polarization not seen in this country for decades. He’s certainly determined to restore America’s leadership abroad but his foreign policy priorities are China; and climate, not the Middle east, let alone an Arab-israeli peace process not ready for prime time.

Other than a brief mention of Yemen, president Biden failed to even mention the Middle east in a major speech at the state Department in February. the current israelipalestinian crisis has forced the Administration to intervene. But there’s nothing to indicate yet in Blinken’s recent trip to consolidate the cease-fire and marshal aid to Gaza or in Biden’s public remarks that the

president is looking to embark on a major Middle east peace initiative.

Biden has long been a strong supporter of israel; and there’s little in this current crisis that suggests he’s looking for a major fight with Netanyahu. While he did finally press the israeli prime Minister for a ceasefire, a full week went by in which he stood

by Netanyahu’s campaign against Hamas, supported israel’s right to defend itself, blocked any action in the UN security critical of israel and never even used the words cease-fire. to avoid the tougher public criticism of Netanyahu during the Obama years, Biden stressed the need for quiet behind the scenes diplomacy. indeed, when it comes to israel, if there’s any presidential modelling at work, Biden is more like Bill Clinton than his former boss Barack Obama who pressed Netanyahu on both the iran nuclear accord and the peace process at the same time. Both are veteran pols in a political system where being “good” on israel is smart politics and where a pro-israeli sensibility is deeply ingrained in their political DNA. With America’s effort to reenter the iran nuclear accord – an agreement Netanyahu can’t abide - per-

Closing Australian embassy in Kabul undermines claims to care AFTER THE AUSTRALIAN ANNOUNCEMENT, THE TALIBAN TOLD THE AFP NEWS AGENCY IT WOULD NOT POSE ANY THREATS TO FOREIGN DIPLOMATS AND STAFF OF HUMANITARIAN ORGANISATIONS

Conversation

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Michelle Grattan

espite Australian forces spending most of two decades in Afghanistan, at tuesday’s Coalition parties meeting only one government backbencher questioned the closure of our embassy in Kabul.

When the Liberals’ Dave sharma, a former ambassador to israel, expressed concerns about the reported move – which had been flagged in the Australian that morning – scott Morrison was firm. Cabinet’s national security committee had made the decision and a media release was going out, he said. that was that. subsequently, the announcement the resident embassy will be replaced after this week by fly-in-fly-out diplomacy has attracted very limited interest, and even less debate. the opposition said the decision would harm Australia’s “ability to deliver and monitor our ongoing development partnership with Afghanistan” and called for interpreters and local staff to be provided quickly with visas. But Labor didn’t seek to elevate the issue of the closure.

A country that prime ministers from both sides of politics assured Australians was so important to us – donning body armour as they repeatedly visited Australian troops there – is now not significant enough to keep a handful of diplomats based in its capital. the decision comes as the last Australian troops prepare to leave, following the United states giving notice it would pull out its forces. Mr Morrison and Foreign Minister Marise payne in their announcement said the departure of international and Australian forces would mean “an increasingly uncertain security environment”. “the government has been advised that security arrangements could not be provided to support our ongoing diplomatic presence,” they said. the presence of coalition forces had been the back-up protection for the embassy, on top of the extensive – and very expensive – security arrangements for it. But these security considerations should be put in perspective. the government doesn’t provide official figures but it’s understood we’ve had about 15-20 Australians in the embassy (plus

support staff). they worked and lived in a compound. Yes, it’s a dangerous posting, but so are postings in a number of other countries. some risk goes with these jobs. After the Australian announcement, the taliban told the AFp news agency it would not pose any threats to foreign diplomats and staff of humanitarian organisations. “in the future, they don’t have to worry about running their business as usual,” a spokesman said.

While one is sceptical of anything the taliban says, some sources believe the statement has a degree of credibility given the taliban wants to run the country and knows it would need international funds including for humanitarian purposes. the Afghanistan conflict was Australia’s longest war and there were 41 Australian soldiers killed. Very many more lives have been ruined, as we often hear from veterans. Mr Morrison accords those who serve, or have served, in the military a special place, acknowledging them, as he does indigenous Australians, when he makes speeches. What does this decision say to the many thousands who were deployed in Afghanistan?

Mr Morrison and Ms payne said it was expected the embassy closure would be “be temporary and that we will resume a permanent presence in Kabul once circumstances permit”. Mr sharma says that “having worked as a diplomat in dangerous overseas environments myself, i appreciate that the security of our people must be a first-order consideration. “Nonetheless, i deeply hope that the removal of our embassy is a temporary measure only, and we will shortly find a way to restore a permanent diplomatic presence in Kabul.” Realistically, however, the chances of this happening are minimal. the general security situation in Afghanistan will only get worse, and it is hard to think the government will have any appetite to set up the embassy again. the “temporary” line in the statement looked like an attempt to put a softer edge on the decision. Fly-in-fly-out arrangements are better than nothing but they’re of limited value, in terms of making and maintaining contacts, gathering information, and monitoring aid efforts delivered through international bodies. shaharzad Akbar is chair of the Afghanistan independent Human Rights Commission (AiHRC) and lives and works in Kabul. she says: “Closure of the embassy and the public messaging about it furthers the sense of uncertainty and anxiety about

the next few weeks and months among Afghans. the public perceives this as certain foretelling of increased violence and chaos across the country and in Kabul. “it reinforces the message that the world is leaving the Afghans behind with a war that was initiated and supported by the international military and Afghans, specially those who can’t leave, are left to bear the consequences that might be bloody and devastating,” she says. the embassy closure is also likely to make more difficult the current Australian investigation of war crimes allegedly committed by Australian special forces. this is the followup to the Brereton report and is directed to gathering material for possible prosecutions.

From the Afghan end, Akbar says: “For us in the AiHRC, we are concerned about what this means for our ability to pursue accountability and reparations for victims of alleged war crimes of Australian forces in Uruzgan.” Wafiullah Kakar, an official in Afghanistan’s Ministry of Refugees and Repatriation, is scathing. “Both as an Afghan and public servant, i believe that the decision is selfish in its entirety.” He says it undermines the achievements made in the last two decades and also passes a very negative message to Afghans and to the country’s international partners. “i find this decision lacking a holistic approach in evaluating its impact on the peace process, Afghans in general and women’s rights in particular. “if this decision was based on a wider consultation with Australia’s partners in the commonwealth, the NAtO member states, particularly the Us, we can only wonder what we shall expect next – other countries to follow? And what message does this convey to the taliban who are determined to take over Afghanistan militarily?

“Why did Australia choose to opt for the last resort at a stage where only basic precautions are required?” Kakar asks. if the government had wanted more security for its diplomats, it could have sought to move in with the Americans, where our diplomats were located for a time some years ago. the central driver of Australia’s entry to the war in Afghanistan was the American alliance. post the war, our alliance considerations are turned elsewhere.

However, much Australia declares it still cares about Afghanistan, its action in closing the embassy tells another story, which is not to the credit of this country.

Michelle Grattan is a professorial fellow at the University of Canberra.

haps nearing a critical point, Biden’s pro-israeli credentials may soon be tested.

Fighting with israel is an occupational hazard. And presidents have surely done it when the fight promises a big foreign policy success that makes the fight worthwhile and necessary. Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger fought with israel plenty over the diplomacy in wake of the 1973 war; Jimmy Carter battled Menachem Begin over settlements on the way to an egyptian-israeli peace treaty; and George H.W. Bush (41) and James Baker pressed israel on the same issue enroute to a successful Madrid peace conference. But wrestling with the israelis on a peace process that’s comatose, where the mistrust between israelis and palestinians is deep and toxic and where there’s zero chance of a big accord hardly seems worth the effort.

SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL FROM THE DEMOCRATS it’s true that Biden has more political cover for such a fight if it should come. progressive Democrats are already pushing the Administration to go beyond a cease-fire and take on israel’s occupation policies that harm palestinians. And this recent crisis been seen

more criticism from the party’s traditional supporters of israel too. And if Netanyahu tries to sabotage America’s iran policy or moves ahead with a major settlement expansion, Biden will push back. still, support for israel in the Democratic party is strong, especially when it comes to iran and Hamas. And Biden knows fighting with israel is bad politics with very little margin for gain. sure the progressives will love it; but mainstream Democrats won’t and Republicans will use it as trump did to paint the whole Democratic party as hostile to israel. indeed, if the administration’s efforts to reenter the iran nuclear accord succeed – and reports from the Vienna talks suggest progress – will have his hands full trying to manage a deal deeply opposed by israel and many influential voices within his own party. indeed, the last thing a busy, overburdened, president needs is a distracting and messy fight with a close ally. And Joe Biden will go to considerable lengths to avoid picking one.

Aaron David Miller is the senior fellow for Geoeconomics and Strategy at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

The poem that’s channelling India’s anger about the pandemic A 14-LINE GUJARATI VERSE HAS HIGHLIGHTED INDIA’S SHOCKING RESPONSE TO COVID – AND NARENDRA MODI’S GROWING UNPOPULARITY Guardian

P

Salil tripathi

ARUL Khakhar had little idea of the storm her 14-line poem would unleash. posted on 11 May on social media, the Gujarati-language dirge expresses heartfelt despair and outrage over the pandemic deaths in india. shab-vahini Ganga (“A Hearse Called Ganga”, as the river Ganges is known across india) is hauntingly rhythmic and charged with emotion, lamenting the tragedy that has stunned indians. india was spared the first wave of Covid-19, and the Narendra Modi administration rather smugly thought the country would be immune. Modi had hosted the then president, Donald trump, in Ahmedabad, Gujarat’s largest city, at a large rally in February 2020, weeks before the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 to be a pandemic. in the months since, other than declaring a brutal lockdown that disrupted the lives of millions of india’s internal migrant workers, the government carried on business as usual, permitting the world’s largest religious festival and holding vast political rallies for elections earlier this year (in which it suffered major setbacks). Modi donated vaccines to other countries, perhaps fancying the Nobel prize for himself, and in January at the virtual World economic Forum boasted that india had overcome the pandemic. that was an act of hubris, as the world – and india – have discovered. Within days, it was clear that the emperor indeed had no clothes (Khakhar alludes to Hans Christian Andersen’s folktale in her poem). india turned from being the “world’s pharmacy” into a recipient of charity, with massive shortages of oxygen, medicines and ambulances. Not only did patients have to queue for beds in hospitals’ intensive care units (some died on the doorsteps of hospitals, waiting in ambulances or cars), mourners had to queue up for spots at crematoriums, which were running out of wood and whose furnaces were melting, the trees surrounding the crematoriums turning ashen.

Khakhar does not name Modi, but her anguish and anger are palpable in her

poem. What’s remarkable is that she wrote it in Gujarati: Modi continues to be immensely popular in his home state, which his Bharatiya Janata party has ruled almost uninterrupted since 1995. He was himself the state’s chief minister from late 2001 till 2014, when he was elected india’s prime minister. the poem has wider ramifications; it has revealed to indians how unpopular he is becoming in his own state, which goes to elections late next year. the poem has set Gujarati society apart, with many cheering it quietly, and many more openly abusing its author. it has emboldened Modi’s opponents within the state to be more vocal. At the same time, Modi’s supporters have doubled down. they have written responses, including some verses of indifferent quality, vilifying Khakhar, comparing her with a demoness, besides the usual misogynistic, vulgar and crude imagery that trolls on the internet often invoke when they come across a spunky woman who says things they don’t want to hear. indeed, she has already reportedly attracted more than 28,000 hate-filled messages, making it perhaps the most criticised poem of all time, at least in india.

Meanwhile, the poem has spread across india with the speed of the virus itself. it has been translated into at least seven languages – Bengali, english, Hindi, Marathi, punjabi, Malayalam and tamil, and been set to music in Gujarati and punjabi. i translated it into english, and it appeared with a few other translations on the independent publication, the Wire. While many leading Gujarati authors have remained silent, some have spoken up.

Khakhar has had to lock her social media profile. she responded politely to my emails but chose not to comment in public – preferring to let her words speak for herself. As the attacks against her mounted relentlessly, last week she posted a spirited verse on her Facebook page: “Blessed and content that parul is still alive; even though many daggers were drawn carrying her name.”

Salil Tripathi is a writer based in New York and chair of the Writers in Prison Committee of PEN International.

Saturday, 29 May, 2021

BUSINESS 09

ISLAMABAD corporate corner Maple Leaf Cement awarded Construction Contract to Descon Engineering Limited DESCON has a long-standing relationship with Maple Leaf Cement, having successfully contributed towards the construction of Maple Leaf's Line 3 in 2019. Maple Leaf has now awarded the contract for the construction of its upcoming Line 4 to DESCON, to be launched in 2022.

The scope of the work includes civil works of 7,000 metric tons cement clinker per day plant at existing Maple Leaf Cement Factory in Iskanderabad, District Mianwali. Being a market leader, Descon has executed major industrial projects across the region and as a leading cement contractor, it has successfully delivered and worked on numerous cement plants in Pakistan with a total capacity of 80,900 TDP. DESCON’s work and its long service history in Pakistan is a testament to its belief in Partners in Progress. It is because of for this very reason that Maple Leaf has once again chosen DESCON to develop its new project. Taimur Saeed, President Sales & Marketing welcomed the news, “We have always upheld our tradition of delivering excellence on projects executed by DESCON. We have worked on majority of Pakistani cement plants and several plants internationally. We are grateful to Maple Leaf Cement for continuing to show their faith in our capabilities.” . Press release

TCL Pakistan Launches T- Pro T3 Full DC Inverter AC with IoT Wi-Fi for a Smarter Living Lahore: TCL, Pakistan ushered in a new era of smart connectivity with the recent launch of the T – Pro T3 Full DC Inverter Air Conditioner.

Connected with IoT Wi-Fi, this technologically advanced AC, with its powerful T3 Compressor, guarantees maximum cooling output even at temperature reaching up to 60 degrees and helps save energy consumption up to 66%. The newly launched AC is available nationwide. Consumers can connect their smart devices via the TCL Home and Google Home app and control the AC seamlessly with voice commands anywhere, anytime. With its Smart Air Flow system, the AC distributes the air more evenly for both cool and hot air to help avoid direct exposure and maximum efficiency in cooling. TCL Pro’s Anti - Bacterial filter removes 99% airborne bacteria from the dust particles in the air which ensures that your family breathes in a healthy and safe environment. Press release

Briefing on Restoration Work on August Schoefft’s Princess Bamba Collection Organized by BOP & Hungarian Embassy at Lahore Fort

The Bank of Punjab (BOP) as part of its responsiveness to create a sustainable and solid foundation of inclusion has been very actively engaged and in the forefront of discharging corporate social responsibility initiatives.

BOP is sponsoring the restoration of historically significant series of paintings by Hungarian artist August Schoefft (1809-1888) in the Princess Bamba Collection of Lahore Fort. These paintings depict an important period of our history and are precious surviving testament of the common heritage between Hungary & Pakistan. The paintings suffered considerable deterioration and visible damage over a long period of time. The Hungarian experts, with the assistance of Government Authorities and The Bank of Punjab are restoring these iconic pieces to their original splendid grandeur. A briefing on the on-going restoration work was organized by The Bank of Punjab in collaboration with the Hungarian Embassy at Royal Kitchen of the Lahore Fort. Press release

CREDIT SuISSE SCAnDALS PROMPT SWITzERLAnD TO THInk unTHInkABLE: PunISH BAnkERS

E

xASPERATION with Credit Suisse following a string of scandals is prompting Switzerland to rethink a system in which top bankers have been largely untouchable. Credit Suisse's heavy losses from the collapse of family office Archegos and the decimation of billions of client investments backed by insolvent British financier Greensill have angered regulators and triggered a rare discussion among lawmakers about fining bankers.

The debate, the biggest public discussion about banking reform since the financial crash, centres on ending the current laissez-faire regime, where fines on bankers are not possible, to copy Britain's stricter rule book.

"Bank directors don't take responsibility for their action because there is no need to. There are no real sanctions for mismanagement," said Gerhard Andrey, a Green member of the Swiss parliament.

"The scandals that have hit Credit Suisse, from Mozambique to Greensill, are damaging for Switzerland's reputation. We have proposed a reform ... that would mean if something goes wrong, then the manager is on the hook," he said.

Andrey's proposals, which follow the groundbreaking British model that makes top management of financial firms directly accountable for their actions, are set to be discussed by Swiss lawmakers in the coming days.

The debate has unfolded after Credit Suisse lost

more than $5 billion from the collapse of family office Archegos and faced a barrage of legal action over $10 billion of client investments linked to Greensill.

A bank spokesman said its board of directors had launched investigations that would "reflect on the broader consequences" of those events, adding that it had made management changes in investment banking and risk controls.

The string of scandals angered officials at supervisor FINMA, who struggle to hold bankers to account because Swiss rules only allow it sanction directors if directly involved in wrongdoing rather than for general managerial lapses.

A FINMA spokesman told Reuters that it welcomed a discussion about "optimising" "questions about personal responsibility", adding that other financial centres "go significantly further than Switzerland".

He said current Swiss rules allowed penalties, such as banning bankers from working, only if there was a direct link between the manager and wrongdoing, and that it was not enough to show that person was simply in charge.

Despite more than $15 billion in writedowns and penalties at Credit Suisse and multiple scandals, FINMA has struggled to get the bank under control and dissenting shareholders also failed to oust its chairman, Urs Rohner, before he retired this year.

As well as Archegos and Greensill, Credit Suisse's has had other problems, including a spying scandal

that forced the departure of its former CEO. Its bankers also faced proceedings in Britain and the United States related to loans granted to Mozambique that plunged it into a debt crisis.

U.S. prosecutors last year said they were investigating Credit Suisse's role in the $2 billion corruption case, which stems from loans the bank helped arrange to develop Mozambique's coastal defences. The bank has said it is cooperating with the enquiry.

Commenting on its most recent setbacks, the bank said it had suspended some pay to employees involved, including executive board members so that it would be able to claw back the money if needed.

Monika Roth, a Swiss lawyer and compliance expert, said it was prohibitively expensive for bank shareholders to seek justice by pursuing directors over failings in Swiss courts and that it should be made possible for supervisors to claw back director pay.

Any reform, however, is likely to meet resistance.

The Swiss Banking Association said that current supervision was "well-balanced" and rigorous and that any improvements should take into account the "peculiarities" of Swiss banking.

Dominik Gross, of the Swiss Alliance of Development Organisations, predicted that Swiss lawmakers would be reluctant to change.

“There is an understanding that a strong financial centre is part and parcel of Switzerland - just like watches and chocolate. A large part of the population profits from the money that comes in.” aGeNCIes

After Colonial attack, energy companies rush to secure cyber insurance U.S. energy companies are scrambling to buy more cyber insurance after this month's attack on Colonial Pipeline disrupted the U.S. fuel supply, but they can expect to pay more as cyber insurers plan to hike rates following a slew of ransomware attacks.

The Colonial ransomware attack on May 7 shut the largest fuel pipeline network in the United States for several days, crippling fuel delivery to most of the U.S. East Coast. Pipeline companies rely on electronic networks, putting them at risk of additional attacks that could hamper delivery of crude oil or other fuels.

Insurers are preparing to increase cyber insurance premiums by 25% to 40% across many industries because of the number of claims, insurance companies and brokers have said. But energy companies should expect rate increases at the higher end of the spectrum as the Colonial attack exposed their vulnerabilities and exposed insurers to losses.

Only about half of the nation's pipeline companies currently buy cyber insurance even though ransomware at-

tacks have become more frequent, according to Nick Economidis, vice president of cyber liability at insurer Crum & Forster.

"Since the Colonial outage, submissions from energy companies are up across the board," said Economidis, adding that he started getting calls the day after the Colonial attack.

Anthony Dagostino, cyber insurance broker at Lockton Companies, said his Houston office has been fielding a large number of calls from energy companies in recent weeks.

"Before the attack, the energy sector had some of the lowest interest in purchasing cyber insurance of all industries, but in the past two weeks, now they're very interested," Dagostino said.

Regulators are working with pipeline companies to strengthen protection against attacks, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said this week.

The energy industry's "cyber risk management and mitigation practices are not as advanced" as other major sectors like banking or real estate, raising the risk of

successful attacks, Moody's Investors Service said in a May 10 report.

Cyber attacks can be particularly damaging for the pipeline sector compared with other companies in the energy sector because fuel supply cannot be easily rerouted, Moody's said, and pipeline operators have increased their use of digital technologies to manage delivery.

To date, many companies have not bought cyber insurance because of high premiums and difficulties in quantifying the costs from incidents, according to a report from the Government Accountability Office, a federal watchdog, on Monday.

"A lot of operators have not done the business impact assessments that banks and big retailers do to determine overall costs of being down for a certain period of time," said Dagostino.

Colonial had cyber insurance coverage of only about $15 million, according to one media report. Last year, the company had net income of $420 million on $1.3 billion of revenue, according to regulatory filings.

Cyber insurance typically covers

ransom payments and insurers often provide staff to negotiate with the hackers, in addition to IT and public relations services.

The average ransom paid is $1.9 million, but in recent months cyber criminals have extracted ransoms as large as $40 million from a single company, according to a Bloomberg News report.

Companies that have cyber insurance often retain the initial loss that can range from $500,000 to $10 million, depending on the policy. Then the insurance kicks in to cover the ransom, which in Colonial's case was $4.4 million, its chief executive told the Wall Street Journal. Insurance also covers business interruption costs, and costs from supply-chain partners after a waiting period of eight to 24 hours.

Colonial, which carries about 2.5 million barrels of fuel a day, could have lost $9 million to $15 million in revenue from the six-day outage, depending on the waiting period, according to calculations by Reuters. Colonial has not commented on its losses. aGeNCIes

Biden budget to put price tag on policy priorities, earn likely Republican rebuke The White House on Friday will lay out President Joe Biden's budget for trillions of dollars in spending on infrastructure, education and other initiatives, but the plan is unlikely to sway Republicans who want to tamp down U.S. government spending.

Biden, a Democrat, will put price tags on his policy priorities in what is expected to be a roughly $6 trillion blueprint for the fiscal year that starts on Oct. 1.

The budget is Biden's first since taking office in January and is largely a political document that kicks off what will likely be months of difficult negotiations with Congress.

It will build on a partial "skinny

budget" the White House released last month that sought spending increases for fighting climate change, cancer and underperforming schools.

The new, longer document will spell out spending plans for other areas, including foreign aid and immigration.

Republicans are unlikely to embrace the plan.

Biden has tussled with Republicans over the price of his initiatives to grow the economy, recover from the pandemic and improve roads and bridges.

No Republicans voted for his $1.9 trillion stimulus bill, but some touted its benefits later, drawing some chiding from the president. read more Biden's budget will reflect his ini-

tial proposal for some $4 trillion in spending on infrastructure, childcare and public education, including free community college tuition.

The White House has since said it would accept a less costly infrastructure bill of $1.7 trillion instead of the originally proposed $2.2 trillion plan. Republicans countered with a $928 billion offer, which has kept talks alive.

Biden has pledged to fund his proposals by increasing taxes on corporations and wealthy people as he seeks to create a reshaped, more equitable economy in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Thursday that the budget

would push U.S. debt above the size of the U.S. economy, but would not contribute to inflationary pressures.

Despite the large price tag, not all of the promises Biden made as a presidential candidate will make it into the plan, the White House has said, sparking disappointment from progressive Democrats, who favor bigger increases in spending on social programs and cuts to defense.

The budget will include some $715 billion for the Department of Defense and modernization of the nuclear arsenal to deter China, while also developing future warfare capabilities, according to people familiar with the matter. aGeNCIes

Analysis: Big oil may get more climate lawsuits after Shell ruling -lawyers, activists A Dutch court's decision to force Royal Dutch Shell to make deeper, faster cuts to its climate warming emissions on the basis of human rights could set a precedent, especially in European countries, according to lawyers and activists.

The court on Wednesday ordered the Anglo-Dutch company to slash its global greenhouse gas emissions, which stood at around 1.6 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2019, by 45% by 2030. Shell said it would appeal the decision forcing it to cut by an amount roughly equivalent to four times Britain's annual emissions.

CMYK

"We expect a ripple effect into other jurisdictions.

Now that we have this first established liability, it definitely creates a momentum we can build on," said Roger Cox, lawyer for activist group Friends of the Earth, which brought the case along with Greenpeace, other activists and Dutch citizens.

They brought the lawsuit in the Netherlands, where Shell's headquarters are based.

The court held that Shell violated its duty of care under Dutch law because its policies and emissions contributed to dangerous climate change.

Shell had argued that its global emissions were not

subject to Dutch law, that the plaintiffs' claims were a matter for lawmakers and that the company was acting lawfully and its emissions were permitted. The company also said the plaintiffs could not establish that reducing Shell's emissions would have an impact on climate change.

Michael Burger, a litigation specialist who represents local U.S. governments in climate cases including against Shell, said while Wednesday's decision was based on Dutch law, the concept of a duty to care exists in legal systems in Europe and around the globe. aGeNCIes

Saturday, 29 May, 2021

10 FOREIGN NEWS

ISLAMABAD

Syria'S aSSad winS 4th term with 95pc of vote in election the weSt callS fraudulent DAMASCUS

S

AGENCIES

yRIAN President Bashar al-Assad won a fourth term in office with 95.1 percent of the votes in an election that will extend his rule over a country ruined by war but which opponents and the West say was marked by fraud.

Assad's government says the election on Wednesday shows Syria is functioning normally despite the decade-old conflict, which has killed hundreds of thousands of people and driven 11 million people - about half the population - from their homes.

Head of parliament HammoudaSabbagh announced the results at a news conference on Thursday, saying voter turnout was around 78 percent, with more than 14 million Syrians taking part.

The election went ahead despite a UN-led peace process that had called for voting under international supervision that would help pave the way for a new constitution and a political settlement.

The foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy, Britain and the United States said in a statement

criticising Assad ahead of the election that the vote would not be free or fair. Turkey, an Assad adversary, has also said the election was illegitimate.

The win delivers Assad, 55, seven more years in power and lengthens his family's rule to nearly six decades. His father, Hafez alAssad, led Syria for 30 years until his death in 2000.

Assad's years as president have been defined by the conflict that began in 2011 with peaceful protests before spiralling into a multi-sided conflict that has fractured the Middle Eastern country and drawn in foreign friends and enemies.

"Thank you to all Syrians for their high sense of nationalism and their notable participation. ... For the future of Syria's children and its youth, let's start from tomorrow our campaign of work to build hope and build Syria," Assad wrote on his campaign's Facebook page.

Assad's biggest challenge, now that he has regained control of around 70 percent of the country, will be an economy in decline.

Tightening US sanctions, neighbouring Lebanon's financial collapse, the Covid-19 pandemic hitting

remittances from Syrians abroad and the inability of allies Russia and Iran to provide enough relief, mean prospects for recovery look poor.

Rallies with thousands of people waving Syrian flags and holding pictures of Assad while singing and dancing took place all day Thursday in celebration of the election.

Officials have told Reuters privately that authorities organised the large rallies in recent days to encourage voting, and the security apparatus that underpins Assad's Alawite minority-dominated rule had instructed state employees to vote.

The vote was boycotted by the US-backed Kurdish-led forces who administer an autonomous oil-rich region in the northeast and in northwesternIdlib region, the last existing rebel enclave, where people denounced the election in large demonstrations on Wednesday.

Assad was running against two obscure candidates, former deputy Cabinet minister Abdallah Saloum Abdallah and Mahmoud Ahmed Marei, head of a small, officially sanctioned opposition party.

Marei got 3.3 percent of the vote, while Saloum received 1.5 percent, Sabbagh said.

Pope orders inquiry into German Church’s handling of abuse allegations BERLIN AGENCIES

Boat carrying 200 people capsizes in nigeria BIRNIN KEBBI AGENCIES

A boat ferrying about 200 people capsized in the northwestern Nigerian state of Kebbi on Wednesday but the number of casualties remains unclear, a state spokesman said. The wooden boat capsized near Wara, a town on the shores of Kainji Lake, part of the Niger River, said yahayaSarki, a spokesman the governor of Kebbi. It had about 200 passengers on board, coming from the neighbouring Nigerian state of Niger. "Bodies are still being recovered. We can't ascertain the number for now," Sarki said. One survivor, BuhariAbubakar, said about 40 people have been rescued so far, though many of the other passengers, mostly women and children, are still missing.

Five bodies were recovered as of Wednesday evening, though local people expect more to wash up in the coming days, said Qasimu Umar Wara, a Wara resident. "The boat was overloaded, he said. "My brother is among those missing. This is the worst boat accident that has happened in this water." Many of the passengers were returning from a newly-discovered gold vein in Niger, Wara said. “They usually go there in the evenings and return to Wara in the morning,” he said. “Most of them are petty traders, food vendors and the local miners.”

un alarmed at soldiers detaining displaced from tigray camps GENEVA AGENCIES

The United Nations refugee agency voiced deep concern on Friday at reports of soldiers taking hundreds of people away from displacement camps in Tigray, Ethiopia earlier this week, saying such sites should be a safe haven. Three aid workers and a doctor told Reuters this week that Eritrean and Ethiopian soldiers forcibly detained more than 500 young men and women from four camps for displaced people in the town of Shire in the northern region of Tigray on Monday night. "We reiterate our call on all parties to ensure the protection of civilians including the forcibly displaced. It is crucial that all parties to the conflict recognise the civilian and humanitarian character of the displacement sites," Babar Baloch, spokesman of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told a Geneva news briefing. Some had been released, he said, providing no figure.

The Pope has dispatched two senior foreign bishops to investigate the Archbishop of Cologne’s handling of sexual abuse allegations in Germany’s largest archdiocese, the pontiff’s representative in Germany said on Friday.

Archbishop Rainer Maria Woelki has been criticised for his handling of historic child sex abuse allegations, in

particular for his decision to shelve a report into earlier wrongdoings by priests because of unspecified methodological shortcomings.

An 800-page follow-up report into the handling of abuse cases in the Cologne archdiocese between 1975 and 2018 found more than 200 abusers and more than 300 victims mostly under the age of 14. “Pope Francis has ordered an Apostolic Visitation to the Archdiocese of Cologne,” Nikola Eterovic, the Papal

Nuncio to Germany, said in a statement.

“The Holy See’s delegates will form a comprehensive picture of the complex pastoral situation in the Archbishopric and consider any possible failings by Cardinal Woelki and his excellency Stefan Hesse, Archbishop of Hamburg,” he added.

Cologne, by some measures the world’s richest diocese - with a bigger income than the Vatican itself - is at the centre of a crisis in the German Catholic

Church, with thousands quitting the Church in protest at its handling of abuse cases and at its refusal to bless same-sex relationships.

Woelki welcomed the decision to send the inspectors - Anders Cardinal Arborelius, the Bishop of Stockholm, and Johannes van der Hende, Bishop of Rotterdam.

“I am glad that the Pope wants to form his own picture of our independent inquiry and its consequences,” Woelki said in a statement. “I will support Cardinal Arborelius and Bishop van den Hende in their work.”

Centred on the renowned Cologne Cathedral, the tallest twin-spired church in the world, the Rhineland diocese is home to Germany’s largest community of Roman Catholics.

France resists more joint funding of 'brain dead' NATO PARIS AGENCIES

A $20 billion plan to give NATO more flexibility in facing military threats, climate change and China’s rise has hit firm resistance from France, which fears the move could undermine its defence priorities, four diplomats and a French defence source said.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg proposed in February that allies put more money directly into existing, albeit small common budgets, rather than rely on the current system that each government pays for its own military operations.

That was a response to long-standing tensions with the United States which says European allies do not contribute enough to their own defence.

A deal at a June 14 summit with US President Joe Biden would likely shore up transatlantic unity, two of the four diplomats who spoke to Reuters said.

The proposal also seeks to heed French President Emmanuel Macron’s 2019 warning that NATO was “brain dead” because the alliance, formed in 1949 to contain a military threat from the Soviet Union, lacked a clear political strategy in the post-Cold War, multipolar world.

But France believes the idea – which the diplomats said was to put some $20 billion into common budgets over 10 years – is unlikely to benefit French military priorities and risks diverting attention and resources away from building up weak defence capabilities among European Union member states.

Most of them are also part of NATO. “If the idea is to brutally increase the contribution of countries to common budgets and change the philosophy of NATO, moving from national responsibility to the dilution of responsibility, France’s response will be clearly no,” a French armed forces ministry source told Reuters.

The EU has been working since December 2017 to develop more firepower independently of the United States, led by France, the EU’s remaining major military power after Britain left the bloc.

“For us, it is not an issue of NATO versus

Europe but NATO versus the national defence of each member state,” the French armed forces ministry source said.

The source said Paris was still open to hearing counter arguments and details, however. France already meets NATO‘s target to spend 2 percent of economic output on defence.

One of the four diplomats said French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly was upset by Stoltenberg’s decision to go public in February with the outline of his proposal. Stoltenberg met Macron in Paris on May 21, praising the French president for France’s “significant defence investment”.

A NATO official told Reuters that pre-summit negotiations were constructive and that NATO foreign and defence ministers would discuss the proposal, part of Stoltenberg’s NATO 2030 reform package, when they convene on June 1.

MOREAMBITION: Germany and other European allies, as well as Canada, also want to know what any extra money would be spent on before they loosen their purse strings. The summit with Biden

may only agree to carry out an analysis of common funding, the diplomats said.

“Some Europeans are asking: do we build up NATO, or do we develop the EU’s defence capacity to complement NATO?” said a senior NATO diplomat. “Each euro can only be spent once.”

Stoltenberg, a former Norwegian prime minister, suggested that allies fund collectively more of their deterrent operations on allied territory, rather than the current system that a single ally bears all the costs of a deployment.

Allies could invest in upgrading allied bases to adapt to climate change, protecting telecoms and computer networks against cyber attackers and in space. Stoltenberg said in February: “If we want to do more, we also need more resources.”

NATO common-funded budgets amount to 0.3 percent of total allied defence spending, or some $2.5 billion, to run NATO commands and military infrastructure. That figure is lower than NATO‘s historical average of about 0.5 percent, the diplomats said.

Saturday, 29 May, 2021

SPORTS 11

ISLAMABAD

SrI LaNka beaT baNgLadeSh by 97 ruNS IN ThIrd OdI DHAKA

d

AGENCIES

UShMANThA Chameera's maiden five-wicket haul complemented his captain Kusal Perera's sixth ODI hundred as Sri Lanka finished their Bangladesh tour with a 97-run win in the third ODI. It is Sri Lanka's first points in the ICC ODI Super League; also a much-needed win for the new-look side even though Bangladesh took the series 2-1.

After Perera's 120 hauled Sri Lanka to 286 for 6 in 50 overs, Chameera's three early strikes rocked Bangladesh. he later returned to take out two lower-order wickets to complete his five-for. But when he removed Mohammad Naim with his first ball, he had taken a wicket in his first over in all three ODIs of this series. In his following over, the fourth of the innings, Ramesh Mendis timed his leap to take Shakib Al hasan's catch at square-leg.

Bangladesh were reduced to SRI LANKA 286 FOR 6 9 for 2.

(PERERA 120, DE SILVA 55 Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiqur Rahim couldNOT OUT, TASKIN 4-46) BEAT n't arrest the slide either.

BANGLADESH 189 Iqbal was out to a con(MAHMUDULLAH 53, tentious caught behind decision as he was given out MOSADDEK 51, CHAMEERA attempting a dab outside off attempted a rebuild by 5-16) BY 97 RUNS to the wicketkeeper. Upon readding 56 for the fourth view, it looked a tight call with wicket, before Rahim became the bat hitting the ground at the time Ramesh Mendis's first ODI wicket of the ball passing close to the bat. Iqbal, un- when he hold out to long-on for a 56-ball 28. derstandably, walked off disappointed.

After that, the innings simply meandered, After Chameera's three-wicket burst in with Mosaddek fighting to make a half-cenhis first spell, Rahim and Mosaddek hossain tury before falling to a reverse sweep. Mah-

mudullah too hung around to make 53, but damage had been done at the top.

Earlier, Bangladesh paid the price for dropping Perera thrice, as he went on to hold the innings together.

Shakib Al hasan was the unlucky bowler on two of those occasions, which meant his wait to become

England rule out changing summer schedule for IPL restart LONDON AGENCIES

England’s cricket board said it is going ahead with its summer schedule and has not been asked to bring forward a five-Test series against India to make room for the remainder of the Indian Premier League (IPL) season. This year’s IPL, which featured a dozen English cricketers, was suspended indefinitely earlier this month after several personnel, including players, tested positive for Covid-19.

The Indian board (BCCI) is looking to stage the remaining 31 matches in the United Arab Emirates soon after Virat Kohli’s men finish the series in England on Sept. 14 and before the start of the Twenty20 World Cup in mid-October.

England and Wales Cricket Board managing director Ashley Giles said that, contrary to media reports, they had not received a request from the BCCI to bring forward the start of the Test series by a week to create a bigger window for the IPL. “As far as we’re concerned and what we’re prepared for, the

Bangladesh's leading wicket-taker in ODIs is set to continue.

First, Mustafizur Rahman couldn't hold on to a reverse sweep off Shakib Al hasan at point on 66 . Then, Afif hossain dropped him running back from mid-on on 79, Shakib the unlucky bowler again. Then On 99, Mahmudullah dropped him at mid-off.

matches will be where they are,” Giles told British media on Thursday.

“I’m not surprised there’s all sorts of speculation.

Everyone wants to get their cricket in. But we’ve not received anything official and we’re cracking on.”

England are scheduled to tour Bangladesh and Pakistan soon after the home series against India.

And with the Twenty20 World Cup and the Ashes series against Australia looming later this year, Giles effectively ruled out any English participation in the IPL this year.

“We are going to have to give some of these guys a break at some point. But the intention of giving guys a break for, say, Bangladesh, wouldn’t be for them to go and play cricket elsewhere,” he said.

“We have to manage our schedule now, so we get our guys arriving in the best shape possible for the T20 World Cup and the Ashes,” added the former Test spinner.

Djokovic reaches final in Belgrade after three-set win over Martin BELGRADE AGENCIES

Novak Djokovic eased into the final of the ATP tournament in Belgrade on Friday despite losing his form in the second set, beating Slovakia’s Andrej Martin as he steps up his French Open preparations.

The world number one saw off his 119th-ranked opponent 6-1, 4-6, 6-0 to set

up a Saturday final against either Argentinian Federico Delbonis or another Slovakian, Alex Molcan. It will be the Serbian’s third final of the year after his Australian Open triumph and his final loss to Rafael Nadal at the Italian Open last week, but his first on home soil since 2011.

“I’m super excited to play in front of a Serbian crowd. This is my home town.

I’m always excited, but also nervous,

coming out on the court and playing in front of my home crowd,” Djokovic said.

“It’s a very unique feeling. You feel a lot of pressure and expectations. But I’m just happy to fight for a trophy tomorrow.” After racing through the first set against Martin, Djokovic uncharacteristically took his foot off the gas and was broken three times in the second set.

The 34-year-old was back to his best

in the decider, though, quickly ending any thought of a surprise comeback.

“I thought I started and finished the match really well, so I’ll try to take those positive feelings into tomorrow’s (Saturday) final,” Djokovic said.

“I also had some letdowns in concentration towards the end of the second set, and I’ll try to correct those mistakes for tomorrow.”

he got to his hundred, his third against Bangladesh, off the next delivery.

Perera struck eleven fours, only two of which were his signature cover-driven boundaries. The majority of his fours came square on the legside, as he hit six fours between square leg and fine leg, while his only six was a mow over midwicket.

Perera formed a formidable association at the top with Danushka Gunathilaka as they got Sri Lanka off to their brightest start in the series, hitting seven fours in the first five overs. They added 82 before Sri Lanka were rocked with the wicket of Gunathilaka and Pathum Nissanka in quick succession.

Perera carried on to reach his fifty in the 16th over, consolidating the innings with his deputy Kusal Mendis. The third wicket pair added 69 runs in the next 13.2 overs, with Perera dominating the partnership.

Mendis hit just a six in his 22 off 36 balls before skying one to Tamim Iqbal at midoff. Iqbal had brought on Ahmed in search of a wicket around then and the fast bowler repaid that faith.

Sri Lanka's scoring rate however dipped around this stage despite Perera and Dhananjaya de Silva adding 65 for the fourth wicket.

Both batters tried to take their stand into the last 10 overs, but Perera felt to a tired shot off Shoriful Islam in the 40th over. Shortly afterwards, Niroshan Dickwella, one of four changes in the XI for this game, was run out for seven.

Sri Lanka managed 69 runs in the last 10 overs, but the good deeds of Perera and later Dhananjaya, on the face of a collapse, helped them tide over a collapse and score enough to clinch the game.

India and New Zealand to share WTC title if final ends drawn, tied NEW DELHI AGENCIES

India and New Zealand would be declared joint winners of the World Test Championship (WTC) should next month's final end in a draw or a tie, the game's governing body said on Friday. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has discontinued the use of the controversial boundary count rule, which saw New Zealand lose the 2019 World Cup to England after the final ended in a tie even after a Super Over.

"The playing conditions confirm that a draw or a tie will see both teams crowned as joint winners ...," the ICC said in a statement. The ICC, which also confirmed Duke's balls would be used for the final in Southampton from June 18, said there would be a reserve day factored in to ensure five full days of play. The reserve day would only be used if lost playing time could not be made up each day. "There will be no additional day's play if a positive result is not achieved after five full days of play and the match will be declared a draw in such a scenario," the ICC said.

Man City, Chelsea eye Champions League glory PORTO AGENCIES

Pep Guardiola's Manchester City are 90 minutes away from the trophy they so desperately crave but a Chelsea side transformed in recent months stand in their way in Saturday's all-English Champions League final in Porto, the Portuguese city which was named as a last-minute host.

It is the third final of Europe's elite club competition to be played between two Premier League sides, and the second in just three seasons, and so this is a match-up that underlines the strength of the cash-rich English game.

And these are the two clubs whose own transformations in the last two decades under mega-rich foreign owners have done the most to change forever the landscape of the Premier League.

Not so long ago, the idea of Chelsea and City meeting in the biggest club game of all would have been laughable. Their only previous encounter in a final came in 1986 in the short-lived Full Members Cup, when Chelsea won 5-4 at Wembley.

That was before the Premier League and modern Champions League existed, before Roman Abramovich bought Chelsea in 2003 and before the Abu Dhabi takeover of City in 2008.

The west London club had a head-start in terms of becoming big-spenders and as a club they have the experience of this stage before, having beaten Bayern Munich on penalties on their own turf in the 2012 final.

They have also won the Europa League twice since then.

City, though, have never made it this far but are finally here, after 13 years of enormous investment from the Gulf and four pre-

vious years of disappointment under Guardiola, the man who was hired principally to win them the European Cup. "We are quite a similar team to what we were in the past when we were knocked out.

The margins and little details this year fell down on our side whereas before it was the opposite," said Guardiola, who is looking to win his third Champions League as a coach, a decade after his last victory with Barcelona.

After romping to the Premier League title, their third in four seasons, and having also won the League Cup this season, a City side starring the likes of Kevin De Bruyne and Ruben Dias are the clear favourites at the Estadio do Dragao.

Chelsea, though, have beaten City twice in the last six weeks, first in the FA Cup semi-final and then at the Etihad Stadium in the league.

"I could not expect a tougher opponent," Guardiola said. They have been transformed since Thomas Tuchel replaced Frank Lampard as coach in January, even if they did finish the domestic season with three defeats in four games including the FA Cup final against Leicester City.

"We have arrived here. This is an incredible achievement and once you arrive you want to be on your very best, but it's City with Pep on the other side who are maybe at the moment the best in Europe, maybe in the world," said Tuchel, who was given a boost as fitness concerns Edouard Mendy and N'Golo Kante returned to training on Wednesday. "It is on us again to close the gap for 90 minutes and the good thing is we did it already. "In football everything is possible and in a final everything is possible."

Of course Covid-19 casts a shadow over the final, which is only being played in Porto

after the last-minute decision to move the game away from Istanbul.

The Turkish metropolis was denied the chance to host the occasion for the second year running after the UK government put the country on its travel red list, making it impossible for fans of either finalist to attend the game from England.

Just like last year when Lisbon was the last-minute solution, Portugal rode to the rescue again, and fans will be there with the country one of the few on the UK's green travel list. With Portuguese authorities allowing the Estadio do Dragao to be filled to 33 percent capacity, there will be 16,500 spectators in total, including 6,000 fans of each club.

Portuguese police have said dealing with such an influx of English fans as the country opens its borders again will be "an operation of great complexity".

Saturday, 29 May, 2021

PrAyer Timings

NEWS

Pakistan welcomes UnHRc ResolUtion on HUman RigHts violations by isRael

P

AKISTAN welcomes the adoption of an Organisation of Islamic Conference led resolution by the United Nations Human Rights Council in response to “grave violations of international law and human rights” by Israel in Palestine, said a statement issued by the Foreign Office on Friday.

Referring to a special UNHRC session held the previous day, the statement said the UN rights body and its decision to establish a standing international commission to investigate human rights violations represented global resolve to end systemic impunity and injustice and begin a process of meaningful accountability.

“Pakistan stands in solidarity with the Palestinian people and shares the international community’s expectation for effective implementation of this resolution to ensure respect for international law as well as for rights and dignity of the people of Palestine,” the statement read.

Quoting Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, the statement further said that he welcomed the adoption of the resolution for the formation of an independent commission for probe into Israel’s aggression against Palestine.

It added that the foreign minister lauded the efforts of Pakistani missions in Geneva and New York to highlight the Palestine issue.

Pakistan, on behalf of the OIC, had requested the UNHRC on May 19 to call a special session in view of Israel’s atrocities in Palestine. Subsequently, the session was

held on Thursday, where the resolution was adopted.

The resolution, which passed with 24 of the council’s 47 members in favour, would spur an unprecedented level of scrutiny on abuses and their “root causes” in the decades-long Middle East dispute between Israel and Palestine.

It sought the launching of an investigation into violations surrounding the latest episode of violence and “systematic” abuses spurring a repetitive cycle of violence over the decades.

The text of the resolution, which was presented by Pakistan on the OIC’s behalf, said the investigators should probe “underlying root causes of recurrent tensions and instability, including systematic discrimination and repression based on group identity”.

The investigation should focus on establishing facts and gather evidence for legal proceedings, and should aim to identify perpetrators to ensure they are held accountable, it said.

It also urged countries to “refrain from transferring arms when they assess… that there is a clear risk that such arms might be used in the commission or facilitation of serious violations or abuses”.

Opening the session, UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet voiced particular concern about the “high level of civilian fatalities and injuries” from the attacks on Gaza and warned that Israeli attacks on the enclave “may constitute war crimes”.

She also said Hamas’ “indiscriminate” firing of rockets at Israel was “a clear violation of international humanitarian law”.

Before the vote, Meirav Eilon Shahar, Israel’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, slammed the session and the resolution, insisting that they were yet another example of the council’s bias against Israel.

The resolution, she insisted, “has nothing to do with reality, has nothing to do with human rights”. She urged countries not to back the resolution, which she said would “embolden and reward Hamas….”.

Besides, Bachelet said her office had “not seen evidence” that the buildings targeted in Gaza, including medical facilities and media offices, were “hosting armed groups or being used for military purposes”.

The Palestinian foreign minister, meanwhile, accused Israel of instituting “an apartheid system”.

“The right to self defence and the right to resist occupation is a right we have as the Palestinian people,” he said.

A day earlier, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and United Nations General Assembly President Volkan Bozkir on Thursday held a meeting and discussed matters of international and regional importance, including Palestine.

The FM welcomed the UNGA president at the ministry of foreign affairs, who had arrived in the capital on Wednesday on a three-day visit.

Qureshi appreciated the efforts of the UNGA president to convene an emergency session of the UNGA on Palestine.

He said that the ceasefire was the first step towards stopping the Israeli atrocities, however, added the only just solution to resolve the issues of Palestinian was the im-

plementation of the UN Security Council resolutions.

Qureshi said that establishing peace in the Middle East without resolving the Palestinian issue on a permanent basis was not possible.

The UNGA president also visited the National Defence University and gave a speech on the importance of multilateralism during a joint press conference with FM Qureshi.

Speaking at the university in Islamabad, the FM said, “There are similarities between the Palestinian situation and that of Jammu and Kashmir”.

“The fire can be extinguished through dialogue and a two-state solution in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions.” FM Qureshi maintained that timely humanitarian assistance should also be provided to the Palestinians affected by Israeli aggression.

Bozkir shed light on various issues, including Palestine, the Kashmir Issue, and the coronavirus pandemic.

“Inaction on the issue of Palestine, which is a grave matter, is damaging the credibility of the United Nations and the Security Council,” Bozkir said, adding that it is hoped that the Security Council will also hear a unanimous vote on this important and necessary issue. “Hundreds of Palestinians have been killed in blatant human rights abuses,” Bozkir said. “Negotiations are urgently needed to establish two independent states. The UNGA will not sit idly until peace is restored in the Middle East,” he said. news desk

KSE-100 breaches 47,000-point mark as stocks soar KARACHI TLTP

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) remained bullish on Friday and the benchmark KSE-100 Index crossed the 47,000-point mark.

The KSE-100 Index gained 335.54 points (+0.72 percent) to close at 47,126.29 points. The KSE-100 index moved in a range of 548.3 points, touching an intra-day high of 47,246.5 points and intra-day low of 46,698.2 points.

Among other indices, the KSE All Share Index gained 240.38 points (+0.76 percent) to close at 31,703.75 points, while All Share Islamic Index gained 144.43 points (+0.63 percent) to close at 22,924.36 points.

A total of 414 companies traded shares in the stock exchange, out of them shares of 239 closed up, shares of 160 closed down while shares of 15 companies remained unchanged.

The overall market volumes decreased by 1260.17 million to 959.89 million shares. The number of total trades decreased by 101,219 to 183,093, and value traded decreased by Rs20.09 billion to Rs22.75 billion. However, the market capitalisation increased by Rs64.56 billion.

Among scrips, WTL realised trading volumes of 380.4 million shares, followed by SILK (56.3 million) and BYCO (38.7 million).

Stocks that contributed significantly to the volumes include WTL, SILK, BBYCO, HUMNL and NRSL, which formed 56 percent of total volumes.

The sectors propping up the index were commercial banks with 98 points, oil & gas exploration companies with 96 points, oil & gas marketing companies with 53 points, fertilizer with 39 points and automobile assembler with 22 points. The most points added to the index was

by BAHL which contributed 47 points followed by SYS

with 46 points, PPL with 46 points, HBL with 39 points and OGDC with 35 points.

Sector-wise, the index was let down by chemical with 11 points, insurance with 7 points, automobile parts & accessories with 5 points, technology & communication with 4 points and pharmaceuticals with 3 points. The most points taken off the index was by TRG which stripped the index of 48 points followed by AICL with 11 points, DGKC with 8 points, COLG with 7 points and SEARL with 5 points.

According to analysts, the macro news flow on Pakistan’s green bond as well as improved real GDP estimates helped lift investor sentiment, which was further supplemented by inching up of international crude oil prices.

They said that the market showed consistent performance with a further increase of 456 points and closing the session +356 points. E&P, O&GMCs, banks and fertilizer sector stocks performed well even after a major sell-off of E&P sector stocks a day earlier in MSCI rebalancing. Cement and steel sector stocks didn’t contribute much to the index, they added.

The PSX on Thursday recorded a trading volume of over 2 billion shares, the highest on any single day. Commenting on this, an economist tweeted, “Brokers, punters, and analysts are upbeat about record-breaking volumes traded at the PSX in the last few sessions. Every day is an all-time high. But that growth in volumes is not necessarily healthy, as volume leaders are extremely low-value stocks.”

PSX proposes 20pc tax credit for listed firms in new budget KARACHI: The Pakistan Stock Exchange has recommended that 20 percent tax credit should be granted to listed companies in order to encourage documentation of the economy. In its proposals for the upcoming budget for the financial year 2021-22, the PSX said that it is generally observed when companies opt for a listing on a stock exchange, their profits grow substantially due to effective corporate governance, better disclosures, and ability to raise capital from the market. Increased number of listed companies and higher profitability lead to higher tax revenue for the government, including incremental revenues from capital gain tax. Hence it is important to encourage companies to get listed on PSX. However, tax credit on enlistment under section 65C has been withdrawn through Second Amendment Act, 2021. This tax incentive was a very small carrot with no significant revenue impact. Presently, only 10 listed companies are availing this tax credit which has a tax revenue impact of around Rs175 million per annum. Out of these 10 companies, 4 companies are in their 4th or last year of this benefit and 4 companies have recently been listed in the current financial year, the PSX said. In fact, the tax revenue benefit in the medium term is very large as the documentation of the corporate sector increases and hence tax revenue of Pakistan. Further, the CGT collected on these 10 symbols for the 8 months period from July 2020 to February 2021 is Rs.176 million, and, extrapolating based on this 8 months average collection of CGT, the tax collection for the 12 months period could be Rs.264 million, compared to the total estimated tax credits of Rs.175 million availed by these 10 companies. TLTP

FAJR SUNRISE

ZUHR

ASR MAGHRIB ISHA

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islamabad, moscow sign Pakistan stream gas Pipeline pact MOSCOW: Pakistan and Russia signed a protocol on the amendments to the agreement on North-South Gas Pipeline Project on Friday.

A tweet issued by the Pakistani Mission in Moscow said that Pakistan and Russia agreed to change the name of the North-South Gas Pipeline Project to the “Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline” in a protocol agreement signed in the Russian capital. The agreement was signed by Pakistani envoy Shafqat Ali Khan and Russia’s Energy Minister Nikolay Shulginov. “The pipeline will run from Karachi to Kasur for transportation of gas. The project is a flagship strategic venture between Pakistan and Russia and will strengthen bilateral cooperation,” said the mission. The Pakistan embassy stated that Islamabad desires a strategic partnership with Moscow. It also said that Pakistan looks forward to enhanced bilateral relations in all fields of mutual interest. The cost of the project has been estimated at $2.25 billion by Pakistani officials, which is not yet finalised by the Russian side. Under the revised agreement, Pakistan will own 74 percent stakes in the pipeline and Russia 26 percent. The PSGP project will deliver gas from coastal regions to industrial areas in the north and will boost the country’s capacity to internally transport imported LNG. It has been held up since 2015 due to a disagreement over fees and the US sanctions against Russian state conglomerate Rostec. Indigenous natural gas contributes around 38 percent to Pakistan’s total primary energy supply mix. Pakistan produces around 4 billion cubic feet per day against an unconstrained demand of 6 bcfd and imports gas to meet the deficit, particularly when demand peaks in winters. TLTP

sufism, s&t research centres to be set up across Punjab LAHORE: Research centres would be established across Punjab province to carry out research on Sufism and science and technology. In the first phase, Sheikh Abul Hassan Shazli Centre would be established in Lahore for research on Islam, Sufism, religious thought, interfaith harmony, and modern sciences as well as S&T. Under the poorfriendly and pro-education initiatives of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s spouse, Bushra Imran, the downtrodden segment of the society would be given equal opportunities to progress. The first lady is also striving for the uplift of Panagahs, Langar Khanas, shelter homes and child protection bureaus. Sheikh Abul Hassan Shazli Research Centre would serve the poor students and those passionate for getting education. The centre would also be linked with the shelter homes, child protection bureaus, prisons, particularly women and juvenile jails, schools, colleges, universities, public, private, and religious educational institutions. The centre would also be linked with the libraries of world famed research centers like Jstor, Oxford and Cambridge – which would also be made remotely accessible across the province. The portal and counters would also be established to guide the students at research center for getting admission in local and foreign universities, in cooperation with the Higher Education Commission. In the first phase, MoUs are being signed with the Government College University, Lahore College for Women University, Jamia Naeemia and Auqaf research centers for linkage with the Abul Hassan Centre. APP

Covid-19 to have long-term consequences for businesses, economies: UN chief UNITED NATIONS Agencies

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said that Covid-19 pandemic is indeed much more than a health crisis, adding it is a social and economic crisis with dramatic long-term consequences for livelihoods, businesses, and for economies.

Guterres said this while addressing business leaders at a virtual roundtable event hosted jointly with the IKEA Foundation and Purpose – the social mobilisation organisation which partners with the Department of Global Communications leading the UN Verified initiative, to combat misinformation.

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought a tsunami of suffering, taken over 3.4 million lives and 500 million jobs, while wiping trillions of dollars from global balance sheets, Guterres told business leaders, appealing for

equitable vaccine distribution worldwide.

The UN chief recognised the many lives that have been saved: “To have you leading this meeting is a guarantee of success because what our partnership has always represented is indeed the very symbol of the values we represent”.

Having delivered safe and effective vaccines in record time, science has shone a light for some parts of the world. However, despite the World Health Organisation’s authorisation for 13 vaccines and the “incredible success” of rollouts in more than 170 countries, Guterres bemoaned “a large and growing vaccine gap between rich and poor countries”.

“Just 10 countries have administered more than 75 percent of all vaccine doses. In poorer countries, even health workers and people with underlying conditions cannot access them”, he said, adding, “this is not only

unjust, it’s self-defeating and dangerous – to everyone”.

Fast, equitable vaccination is the only way “to prevent new and more dangerous variants from emerging and wreaking further havoc”, in rich and poor countries alike, said Mr. Guterres.

He said a global vaccination plan was needed, beginning with a G20 Task Force comprising countries with vaccine production and manufacturing capacities, the WHO and Access to Covid-19 Tools (ACT) partners, as well as international financial institutions.

“I am ready to mobilise the entire United Nations System to support this effort, but we need political will to move forward”, he said.

To this end, Guterres highlighted that the private sector could leverage its influence and expertise, use its communication channels to share accurate information and donate its service and resources, to encourage inoculation.

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