EpaperISB_21-07-25

CMYk

25 July, 2021 I 14 Zil-Hajj, 1442 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XII No 24 I 12 Pages I Islamabad Edition

IndIa sponsors antIpakIstan terror outfIts In afghanIstan: Moeed

n

News Desk

ational Security adviser Dr Moeed Yusuf has said that there can be no forward movement unless india takes concrete steps to reverse the situation on the ground in indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (iioJK) and stops sponsorship of terrorism against Pakistan.

During an interview with prominent indian journalist Karan thapar aired on the Wire on Saturday, the national se-

curity adviser said that the government and people of Pakistan will remain committed to the Kashmir cause till the Kashmiris are granted their right to self-determination under the UnSC resolutions.

Elaborating the offer from india to hold talks, Moeed Yusuf said that Pakistan has clearly communicated to india that it must halt demographic change in iioJK, ensure the protection of Kashmiri identity and give Kashmiris their rights before any dialogue or talks can take place.

CoronavIrus In

pakIstan

CONFIRMED CASES:

1,001,875

LAST UPDATED AT 9:13 AM ON JULY 17, 2021

DAY'S DEATH TOLL:

NEW CASES:

32

1,841

RECOVERED:

DEATHS:

SINDH:

PUNJAB:

924,782 22,971

363,101 352,153 KPK:

BALOCHISTAN:

AJK/GB:

ISLAMABAD:

141,495

22,685/7,639

29,451

85,351

the national security adviser also provided details of indian sponsorship of terrorism against Pakistan. He said that Pakistan had provided a detailed dossier with evidence on indian involvement in terrorism inside Pakistan. the nSa said the BJP-led government in india is working on a fascist agenda. “Pakistan has always wished for peace, but the Hindutva ideology always becomes a hurdle in achieving it.”

Yusuf reminded the journalist that indian External affairs Minister S Jaishankar had admitted that new Delhi had used the Financial action task Force (FatF) for political gains. india’s Jaishankar had last week admitted that Pakistan is on the grey list of the FatF because of the “efforts of narendra Modi’s government”. according to a report published by the Print, india’s external affairs minister credited the Modi-led government for its “efforts” to ensure that FatF kept Pakistan on the grey list.

He said that indian intelligence agencies are deliberately targeting China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and Chinese interests in Pakistan through their terrorist proxies. the national security adviser said that Pakistan is committed to working with all regional countries that want peace and stability in afghanistan.

However, spoilers must desist from their negative actions. He also categorically said that india has turned afghanistan into a terrorism hub by sponsoring antiPakistan terrorist groups which is unacceptable for Pakistan. He said Pakistan is seeking a political solution to settle the differences in the war-torn country. at the end of the interview, Yusuf expressed his sadness over the coronavirus situation in india and invited thapar to Pakistan.

PML-N, PPP reject PM’s Kashmir referendum proposal LAHORe TLTP

Both major opposition parties, Pakistan Muslim league-nawaz (PMl-n) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), have rejected Prime Minister imran Khan’s proposal of holding a referendum in Kashmir, after the Un plebiscite, to decide whether the Kashmiris want to live with Pakistan or as an independent nation.

Pakistan Muslim league-nawaz (PMl-n) President Shehbaz Sharif, in a statement on Saturday, slammed the prime minister, saying imran Khan niazi is deviating from Pakistan’s historical and constitutional position by proposing a referendum. “the entire nation rejects anything other than Pakistan’s historic position on the Jammu and Kashmir dispute and the Un Security Council resolutions,” Shehbaz said in a hard-hitting response to PM Khan’s statement given during aJK rallies.

Shehbaz said that imran Khan’s statement has proved the concerns that have already come before the nation with the indian measures of august 5, 2019. “the Jammu and Kashmir dispute will be decided according to a transparent and independent plebiscite held under the auspices of the United nations and this is the position of the people of Pakistan and Kashmir.” the opposition leader said that imposing a solution on Kashmiris without their consent and consultation is tantamount to helping india and betraying the Kashmir cause.

Ministers criticise Nawaz Sharif for meeting Afghan NSA News Desk the ministers of Pakistan tehreeki-insaf (Pti) on Saturday criticised Pakistan Muslim league-nawaz supremo nawaz Sharif for meeting afghan national Security adviser Hamdullah Mohib. the ministers said that the meeting has proved nawaz’s connections with Pakistan’s enemies. the previous night, afghanistan’s national Security Council’s twitter account had shared a picture of Mohib and afghan State Minister for Peace Sayed Sadat naderi meeting nawaz in london to “discuss matters of mutual interest”.

Commenting on the meeting, Minister for information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry said: “this is why sending nawaz Sharif abroad was dangerous because such people become a part of international plots. nawaz’s meeting with “RaW’s (indian intelligence agency — Research and analysis Wing) biggest ally in afghanistan is an example of this. Modi, Mohib or amrullah Saleh (afghan vice president) — every enemy of Pakistan is a close friend of nawaz Sharif,” he tweeted.

Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari said: “after Mohib

later, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Saturday also rejected Prime Minister imran Khan’s proposal to hold a referendum in Kashmir to decide whether the Kashmiris wanted to live with Pakistan or as an independent nation. the PPP chairman, speaking to the media in Karachi, said PM imran Khan “always manages to say the wrong thing about Kashmir”.

“He (imran Khan) considers the people of Kashmir fools and traitors.

From the beginning, PPP has always maintained that the Kashmiri people should decide their fate,” he said.

Speaking about the July 25 aJK legislative assembly election, the PPP chairman said if a fair election is held, then his party would emerge victorious. “the jiyalas fought against rigging before and are ready to do it again.”

While addressing an election rally in tarar Khal on Friday, the prime minister had promised the people of Kashmir that his government will hold a referendum in which they could choose to join Pakistan or become an independent state, after Kashmiris on both sides of the line of Control support Pakistan in a Un-organised plebiscite. “… What i want to make clear now is that in 1948, there were two United nations Security Council resolutions which granted the people of Kashmir the right to decide their future. according to the Un resolutions, the people have to decide whether they want to join Hindustan or Pakistan,” the premier had said.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

more inside

Pakistan will take legal action against India for spying on Imran: Akbar STORY ON PAGE 02

Diamer, Dasu dams to change Pakistan’s fate: Rasheed STORY ON PAGE 03 referred to Pak — not Pti govt but [our] country — as a ‘brothel’, common RaW interest can only be to attack Pak,” she said, adding “such shameless self-interest of Sharif to preserve looted wealth & country be damned.”

State Minister Shehryar afridi said: “nawaz Sharif’s meeting with afghan nSa proves his connections with Pakistan’s enemies.” the meeting has proved that the former prime minister is a “tool to be used against Pakistani interests”, he added. afridi further said that nawaz’s statements have already been “used” by india at international forums.

Minister for Science and technology Shibli Faraz termed the meeting as “nothing new”, saying nawaz had “always kept company with enemies of Pakistan, be it (steel tycoon Sajjan) Jindal or Modi”.

Faraz said Mohib had called Pakistan a “brothel” in the past, adding that it was a “shame” that the former prime minister was so “insensitive” to the country’s self-respect.

Minister for Maritime affairs ali Haider Zaidi said nawaz had “violated our stated policy of having no official contact with this despicable fool”.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

FO rejects Indian minister’s remarks on Kashmir, CPEC, Afghan situation STORY ON BACK PAGE

Pakistan, india need to work together to resolve issues: US STORY ON BACK PAGE

02

Sunday, 25 July, 2021

ISLAMABAD

NEWS

PAkistAN will tAke legAl ACtiON AgAiNst iNdiA fOr sPyiNg ON iMrAN: AkbAr IsLAMABAD

P

Mian abRaR

AKISTAN on Saturday announced to take legal action against India for spying on its Prime Minister Imran Khan and military officials.

Addressing a press conference, Advisor to PM on Interior Barrister Shehzad Akbar told media that the prime minister has termed the misuse of Pegasus (spyware) a bigger issue than Panama Leaks and formed a team for initiating legal action against India on the issue.

“Indian regime under Prime Minister Narendra Modi is involved in espionage against Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and civilian officials. Moreover, some senior officials of foreign ministry and military were also spied on. Imran Khan has directed the team to take strict action against India,” the advisor said. Flanked by Minister for Information Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, the advisor said that the team would investigate the spying through Pegasus, adding that it would scrutinize all the cases and gather evidence. He said that the process may take two to three months.

“Spyware has been used to target

Pakistan. India has carried out hybrid espionage through Pegasus software manufactured in Israel. This is a serious matter, which cannot be ignored,” he said.

Akbar further said that Pakistan will also take up the matter at the top global forums, including the United Nations, and the results of the investigation will be communicated to the United Nations and other agencies.

“Pakistan will take every legal step to protect its security and sovereignty. We also demanded an investigation by the United Nations. The world needs to know why the Indian regime is lying over the issue of espionage on Prime Minister Imran Khan and other high-ranking officials,” he added.

He said that India attacked Pakistan’s security through cyber espionage while Indian foreign minister has also confessed of conspiracy and lobbying to keep Pakistan on grey list of Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Referring to the recent report of the European Union DisinfoLab, Akbar said that the report had proved that Indian regime was involved in creating hundreds of fake portals, media platforms and NGOs to defame Pakistan. He said that the EU DisinfoLab had proved the Indian conspiracy against Pakistan.

“India has used the software very

PM urges nation to take part in tree plantation drive NEws DEsk Prime Minister Imran Khan has urged the whole nation to participate in the greening of Pakistan. In a tweet on Saturday, the prime minister shared his pictures of planting Pine trees as part of the monsoon tree plantation campaign in Nathia Gali. “I want our whole nation to participate in the greening of Pakistan,” the premier wrote on his official Twitter handle along with the pictures of the plantation drive. Last month, the prime minister urged the nation to gear up for “the biggest tree planting campaign in our history”. “I want all Pakistanis, especially our youth, to gear up for the biggest tree planting campaign in our history. We have a lot of catching up to do,” the premier said on Twitter.

“And we will be gearing up this monsoon season for our plantation drive – the biggest in Pakistan’s history,” he added. In August last year, the premier launched the largest tree plantation drive in the history of Pakistan as the ruling party commemorated the ‘Tiger Force Day’.

Addressing a ceremony organised in Islamabad to launch the drive, the premier said many of the areas in the country will turn into desert which will lead to poverty if we do not take measures to overcome the effects of climate change.

No domestic air travel for unvaccinated citizens from Aug 1: NCOC NEws DEsk The National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) has announced that the Covid-19 certificate would be mandatory for domestic air travel from August 1. The NCOC, the country’s nerve centre for Covid-19 response, on Saturday urged the people to get themselves vaccinated by July 31 in order to avoid any ‘hassle’. Earlier, it was reported that the government was considering a slew of measures – including a possible air travel ban on unvaccinated people – in an effort to stem a steep rise in Covid-19 infections as officials confirmed the beginning of the fourth wave of the viral pandemic in the country. The NCOC had said that the Delta variant is more dangerous than the Indian mutation of the novel coronavirus. “Cases of Delta variant are surfacing in the country which could possibly trigger the fourth wave,” the NCOC said in its daily update. It called upon the people to follow security protocols against the virus because “any laxity could have serious consequences”. President Dr Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Imran Khan have repeatedly called upon the nation to not lower their guard against the contagion, which causes the mysterious respiratory infection because the more infectious Delta variant has sneaked its way into Pakistan. Pakistan reported 1,841 new coronavirus cases during the last 24 hours, taking the country’s Covid-19 tally to 1,001,875. The country’s death toll climbed to 22,971 after 32 more people succumbed to the deadly disease. Meanwhile, 1,310 patients recovered from the deadly disease in a day taking total recoveries to 924,782. According to NCOC, total active Covid-19 cases across the country were reported to be 54,122.

irresponsibly. Prime ministers of 10 countries have been targeted by the

technology. France has started an investigation into the matter. Pakistan will

also take legal action against India on the issue of espionage,” he concluded.

Shehbaz decries minister’s ‘misogynist’ tirade against Maryam LAHORE STaff RePoRT

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday deplored the “shameful language” used by Minister for Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Ali Amin Gandapur against his niece Maryam Nawaz during a rally in connection with Sunday’s general election in the mountainous region.

Addressing the meeting, Gandapur had called Nawaz a “daku rani [queen of thieves]”, claiming the PML-N vice president had “plastic surgery done worth Rs80 million” “I have a lot more to say [about Maryam] but I will only say this to her that if we come to slap, then you will get slapped so much that your [real] face will be uncovered from the Rs80 million [cosmetic] surgery you have done from our [tax] money,” he said.

Responding to the remarks, Sharif,

in a tweet, regretted that the language used was “not only violent but also deeply misogynist”.

Disgusted by the shameful language Ali Amin Gandapur has used against Maryam Nawaz. His words are not only violent but also deeply mysoginist. Just

imagine that people with this mindset have been given the responsibility to govern a country of 220 million people.

“Just imagine that people with this mindset have been given the responsibility to govern a country of 220m people,” he said.

RESOLUTION SEEKS GANDAPUR’S RESIGNATION: Meanwhile, PML-N legislator Hina Pervaiz Butt, submitted a resolution in the Punjab Assembly, asking Gandapur to apologise and tender his resignation for resorting to unsavoury language against his political opponent.

The resolution said the minister’s tirade was “simply intolerable”.

“After the character assassination of political opponents, jailing them on one pretext or the other, now the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government ministers have stooped down so low that they are getting personal in their speeches,” it declared.

“Gandapur’s statement is creating resentment in the PML-N youth [supporters]. Therefore, not only the minister should offer his apology to PML-N vice president but Prime Minister Imran Khan should also remove him from his post immediately.”

Parties to compete in AJK polls today MUZAFFARABAD TLTP

More than 3.2 million registered voters will exercise their right to vote to elect their representatives for the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly on Sunday (today).

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has emerged as the most popular party in AJK, according to a survey of Gallup Pakistan.

The survey said that 44 percent people in AJK think that PTI will win the election while PML-N has 12 percent and PPP 9 percent popularity. Both PML-N and PPP have collective 21 percent popularity as compared to 44 percent of PTI. According to the survey, Prime Minister Imran Khan appeared as the most trusted political leader in the survey with 67 percent positive rating, Bilawal Bhutto with 49 percent followed by Shahbaz Sharif with 48 percent. Maryam Nawaz has 44 percent popularity.

Moreover, mostly Kashmiri people were of the view that Sunday’s election would be free, transparent and fair, said the survey.

Meanwhile, the polling process will begin at 0800 hours and continue till 1700 hours without any break.

The AJK Election Commission has finalised all arrangements to hold free, fair, and transparent elections. All-out security arrangements have also been made so that voters could cast their vote in a peaceful manner without any fear and pressure.

The Kashmiris living in any city of Pakistan will exercise their vote to choose their candidates on 12

constituencies meant of Jammu and Kashmir refugees settled in various parts of Pakistan.

A total of 587 candidates are contesting the elections in 33 constituencies of Azad Kashmir districts and 121 candidates in 12 constituencies of Jammu and Kashmir refugees settled in Pakistan.

Over 40,000 security personnel of Pakistan Army, FC, Rangers and police will perform duties to ensure peaceful polling.

A total of 5,118 polling stations have been set up in all three divisions, Muzaffarabad, Poonch, and Mirpur. Out of the total 830 polling stations are very sensitive while 1,269 are sensitive. The election schedule for 8 reserved seats will be announced after

the general elections.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission has directed commissioners Muzaffarabad, Poonch, and Mirpur Divisions to dispatch presiding officers and other election staff to the polling stations concerned in full security. Similarly, at the end of polling, presiding officers along with polling bags would be escorted in full security up to the office of the returning officer concerned so as to ensure fair and transparent elections.

The security staff will be present up to the official declaration of the results at the offices of the district and returning officers.

According to the media code of conduct issued by the Election Commission, entry pass holders would be allowed for coverage.

On the other hand, in Punjab, all necessary electoral, administrative and security arrangements have been finalised to ensure holding of free, fair and transparent Azad Jammu and Kashmir elections on nine seats reserved for Kashmiri refugees.

Meanwhile, in Lahore, polling will be held for two constituencies LA-34 Jammu One and LA-41 Kashmir Valley Two. A total of 9,194 registered voters will use their right of vote in these two Lahore constituencies, where 25 polling stations have been set up.

Strict security measures will be taken and under the finalised security plan to ensure a peaceful polling environment and avoid any untoward incident at polling stations. All coronavirus related standard operating procedures (SOPs) will also be strictly implemented inside and outside all polling stations in the province.

Sunday, 25 July, 2021

ISLAMABAD

NEWS

DIAMer, DASu DAMS To ChAnge PAkISTAn’S fATe, SAyS rASheeD

I

News DesK

NTERIOR Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed has said the mega projects like Diamer Bhasha and Dasu dams will change the fate of Pakistan as around 5,000 megawatt cheap electricity will be available after completion of these projects.

Addressing a gathering on Saturday, the interior minister said that China is Pakistan's old friend and both the countries have a strong bilateral relationship.

Rasheed said that Prime Minister Imran Khan wants to take the country forward with

an open foreign policy and he has raised the voice for the oppressed Kashmiris at all international fora.

He predicted that the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf would emerge victorious in the much-anticipated elections in Azad Jammu & Kashmir scheduled to be held on July 25. "I will be announcing the news of PTI's victory from Lal Haveli by tomorrow's (Sunday) evening," Rasheed said.

The minister predicted that the Pakistan People Party (PPP) will take one more seat than the PML-N. "The opposition has started to raise a hue and cry. They have pledged to not accept their defeat at any cost," he added.

"The personnel of FC, Rangers and Army are ready to ensure transparent elections," he maintained. Rasheed also advised the premier to prepare for the next elections as, "only a year of the government's tenure remains". He went on to add that "Shehbaz Sharif is scared of his brother and is missing." The minister asked former prime minister Nawaz Sharif as to why he was raising hue and cry, saying he "made his own decisions".

"If you announce your return in the morning, I will arrange for you a chartered flight by the evening. I will ensure security for you," he said.

Turning his guns towards the PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz, Rasheed said that her tone will destroy her politics.

"Nawaz and his family looted the country and penalised the nation," he said and added

Coronavirus kills 32, infects 1,841 in a day: NCOC News DesK Thirty-two more people succumbed to the coronavirus on Friday, taking the total death tally to 22,971, said the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Saturday. According to the NCOC data, at least 37,636 coronavirus tests were conducted across the country in the last 24 hours, out of which 1,841 came back positive. The coronavirus positivity ratio was recorded at 4.89 percent.

In addition to this, 924,782 people have recovered from the virus in the country so far whereas the number of active cases stands at 54,122.

According to the official portal, the total number of

Saudi foreign minister to visit Pakistan on Tuesday

coronavirus patients in Sindh has reached 363,101. In Punjab, the total number of Covid-19 patients is 352,153, in Balochistan 29,451, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 141,495, in Azad Kashmir 22,685, and 7,639 in Gilgit-Baltistan.

At least 446 new coronavirus cases were recorded in Punjab during the past 24 hours, taking the provincial tally to 352,153.

According to the Punjab Primary and Secondary Health Care Department, at least 15 more patients succumbed to the pandemic as the total death count reached 10,924. The department added that at least 330,528 patients had recovered from the deadly virus as of yet, with 227 people recovered in the past 24 hours.

Sindh closes private, public universities till 31st

03

that "according to social media, RAW agents are holding meetings with Nawaz Sharif".

On the Afghan diplomat's daughter's incident, he reiterated that the girl had been missing and had not been kidnapped.

Justice Isa, wife test positive for coronavirus News DesK Top court judge Justice Qazi Faez Isa and his wife Sarina Isa have quarantined themselves at their residence after testing positive for the coronavirus.

Deputy Registrar of the Supreme Court, Syed Sher Afgan said in a statement on Saturday that Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Mrs. Sarina Isa have tested positive for Covid-19. He disclosed that the National Institute of Health has issued their reports. Afgan further said that they are isolating at home and are under treatment. A doctor of the Polyclinic Islamabad advised them to remain in isolation for at least 12 days with strict adherence to the standard operating procedures (SoPs).

Covid-19 mortality rate in Pakistan lowest in region: Asad

IsLAMABAD

KARACHI

TLTP

TLTP

Saudi Foreign Minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, will arrive in Islamabad on an official visit on Tuesday, Pakistani government and Saudi embassy officials confirmed on Saturday. It will be Prince Faisal's second state visit to Pakistan within a year. He was in Islamabad in December 2020 for talks with Pakistani leadership. “The Saudi foreign minister is expected in Islamabad on a day-long visit during the next week, during which bilateral relations and cooperation in various fields would be reviewed,” Prime Minister Imran Khan's Special Assistant on the Middle East, Tahir Ashrafi, said. He said that progress on the agreements will be reviewed during Prince Faisal's upcoming visit, which "will also focus on future cooperation between the two countries." A Saudi embassy official said Prince Faisal is scheduled to arrive on Tuesday. "Saudi foreign minister is visiting Pakistan on July 27," the embassy official said, adding the visit is a continuation of "high-level engagements between the two countries which started with the visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, followed by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to the kingdom."

Public and private universities in Sindh will remain closed till July 31, a notification from the province's home department said Saturday, as the provincial government ramps up curbs to stem the spread of coronavirus. The Sindh government a day earlier had announced it would reimpose coronavirus restrictions in the province starting Monday, after the positivity ratio in the province crossed 10 percent. The decision came during a meeting of the Provincial Coronavirus Task Force chaired by Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah.

The new curbs which will be imposed from Monday include: educational institutions will remain closed from July 26 to 31; exams will be held as per schedule; offices, both private and public, will function at 50 percent capacity; there will be complete ban on all functions and gatherings, including indoor and outdoor weddings.

Moreover, all public places will remain closed for visitors; indoor and outdoor dining will remain banned at restaurants; restaurants will offer takeaway till 10:00pm and delivery services till 12:00am; and businesses will operate from 6:00am to 6:00pm.

Stand-alone grocery stores, milk shops, bakeries, fruit/vegetable vendors, and pharmacies, however, are

Punjab to launch door-todoor Covid vaccination drive from Monday

Court extends detention of suspect in Noor Mukadam murder

News DesK The Punjab government has decided to launch a door-to-door coronavirus vaccination campaign from Monday in five cities to meet the targets set by the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC).

The decision was taken in a meeting jointly chaired

by Provincial Minister for Health Dr Yasmin Rashid and the Punjab chief secretary at the Civil Secretariat on Saturday. The five cities of the province include Lahore, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Multan and Rawalpindi. The minister told the meeting that the NCOC had set a target of vaccinating 40 percent of the population over 18 years of age in Lahore, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, and Multan, and 70 percent of the Rawalpindi population by August 14. She said that the number of vaccination centres in Lahore was being increased to facilitate more people.

News DesK

exempt from restrictions, the notification said. The curbs will be subject to a review after one week.

The provincial health secretary informed the meeting that the positivity ratio of the province has climbed to 10.3 percent, while the situation in Karachi is particularly bad, with a positivity ratio of 21.58 percent.

CM Shah observed that the coronavirus situation in the province was indeed alarming and warned of it worsening after Eid, where large gatherings are customary. Health Secretary Kazim Jatoi told the participants that 85 percent of the patients admitted to Sindh’s hospitals were not vaccinated.

IsLAMABAD STaff RePoRT

A district and sessions court in Islamabad on Saturday extended for two days the physical remand of a prime suspect in the cold-blooded murder of a former diplomat’s daughter.

Noor Mukadam, 27, was found murdered at the residence of Zahir Zakir in Sector F-7/4 of Islamabad on Tuesday. Zakir, widely believed to be the killer, was arrested the same day for his purported involvement in the gruesome incident.

A first information report was registered late on Tuesday and nominated Zakir under Section 302 (premeditated murder) of the Pakistan Penal Code on the complaint of Ambassador Shaukat Mukadam.

The suspect was produced in the judicial magistrate’s court on Saturday on the completion of his previous threeday remand. After hearing arguments, the judge extended the remand for another two days, ordering that he be

National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) head Asad Umar has said that Pakistan’s coronavirus mortality rate is the lowest as compared to other countries of the region but warned that the danger is not over. In a tweet on Saturday, Asad Umar said that the government effectively controlled the Covid-19 pandemic with timely decisions, hard work, cooperation of people and blessing of Allah Almighty.

Giving the details about Covid-19 mortality rate in the region, Asad Umar wrote, "Covid deaths/million population in our region: Iran 1,037, Nepal 326, India 301, Sri Lanka 186, Afghanistan 160, Bangladesh 113 and Pakistan 102.” Urging the people to follow coronavirus-related standard operating procedures (SOPs) and get themselves vaccinated against the virus, he warned, “risk is not over”.

produced in court again on Monday.

“Accused is nominated in the FIR and he is charged with heinous offence, therefore for the purpose of recovery and investigation two days physical remand is granted,” said the court order.

Sajid Cheema, the prosecutor in the case, told the court that the murder weapon — a knife — along with a pistol and a knuckleduster were recovered from the suspect’s custody.

Cheema informed the court that cellphones, both Zakir’s and Noor’s, still needed to be recovered from the suspect’s custody, requesting it to grant an extension of 11 days in the remand period.

Earlier on Friday, Islamabad police chief Qazi Jamilur Rehman instructed the investigation team probing the murder to seek the placement of Zakir’s name on the Exit Control List to keep him from fleeing the country.

The Investigators are also seeking the suspect’s criminal record, if any, from the United States and the United Kingdom.

Sunday, 25 July, 2021

04 NEWS

ISLAMABAD

UAE donATEs $23m To fAciliTATE AnTi-Polio drivEs ISLAMABAD

T

TLTP

HE United Arab Emirates (UAE) has donated $23 million to fund anti-polio campaigns across Pakistan until December this year as the country perseveres in its efforts against the crippling children’s disease.

“It will enable the polio programme to keep up the momentum of implementing effective monthly polio campaigns targeting 16 million children in the highest-risk districts of Pakistan,” the World Health Organisation (WHO), on behalf of the Polio Eradication Initiative, said in a statement on Saturday.

The UAE’s latest aid is in addition to $200 million donated by the Arab nation since 2014, with Dr Palitha Mahipala, WHO Representative in Pakistan, thanking its leadership for the “generous contribution.” “With their steadfast commitment to the shared goal of polio eradication, we can further strengthen our efforts to protect children from lifelong paralysis. This

would not be possible without their support,” Mahipala said.

In a statement on Saturday, the Polio Eradication Programme (PEP) said that Pakistan has reported only one wild polio case in the first six months of the year.

“This is a significant decrease, over 98 percent, compared to 59 cases during the same point in time last year,” it added.

More than 33 million children under five years of age were vaccinated in 124 districts of the country in June, with officials saying that the government was “fully committed” to being polio-free in the next few months. Pakistan is required to report zero polio cases over three years to be certified as polio-free.

“We are getting closer to our goal, but this is not the time to be complacent. We are re-doubling our efforts to ensure the gains of the past don’t slip away,” Dr Shahzad Baig, National Coordinator of the Emergency Operations Centre for polio eradication, said.

Pakistan is one of the two countries globally, along with its neighbour Afghanistan, where polio is still endemic.

Sugar worth Rs174bn sold in six months

PTA blocks TikTok again over ‘inappropriate content’ ISLAMABAD AFP

The popular TikTok video-sharing application was blocked for a fourth time because of “inappropriate content”, the telecommunication regulator said. The Chinese-owned site has fought a series of legal battles with religious activists and authorities in the country and was shut down for two days earlier this month on the order of the Sindh High Court. Freedom of speech advocates have long criticised creeping government censorship and control of the internet and media. “The action has been taken due to continuous presence of inappropriate content on the platform and its failure to take such content down,” the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority said in a statement issued Wednesday. A local TikTok representative did not immediately comment. The app has a huge fan base in Pakistan, where many people use it to market and sell goods online. But its critics say it promotes vulgarity and LGBTQ content. In June, TikTok said it had removed more than six million videos available to Pakistan users in just three months following complaints from officials and ordinary users. Around 15 percent of the videos removed were taken down because of “adult nudity and sexual activities”, the company said. Officials have previously asked YouTube to block content they deem objectionable, and several dating apps are prohibited.

ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

The sugar mills have sold 2.47 million tonnes of sugar worth Rs174 billion from December 2020 to May 2021 during the last season.

As per sales tax returns, sugar mills declared Rs70.42 per kg as average ex-mill sale rate, Rs1 per kg distribution cost, Rs4 per kg transport, packing and retailer margin and Rs17 per cent sales tax in tax returns.

The government thinks that the maximum retail prices, including profits, should be Rs88.24 per kg despite the fact mill owners are not willing to lower prices to fair levels voluntarily, documents state.

Documents further reveal that the price of sugar has been on the rise since January 2021, when the average retail price was Rs90.06 per kg whereas the average retail price was recorded Rs100.70 per kg on July 8, 2021 and is still showing an upward trend.

The Ministry of Industries and Production, after taking into confidence the sugar mills association, notified Rs88.24 per kg maximum retail prices of sugar, including transportation and packing charges.

The provincial authorities and ICT have been directed to implement this order and to take action against mills, dealers, distributors and retailers who do not comply.

Moreover, a weekly compliance report shall also be filed by authorities in the provincial and federal jurisdiction.

No regulator to supervise charging points for EVs ISLAMABAD GHULAM ABBAS

While private firms have started establishing Electric Vehicle (EV) charging points after the facilities were announced under the EV policy, the government is yet to form a regulator to regulate and supervise quality and safety issues linked with charging points and machinery.

There is confusion about the ministries,

institutions and rules under which the charging points are being established in the country. According to an official at the Ministry of Industries, Engineering Development Board (EDB), an attached department of the ministry, was responsible for issuing the NOCs to import the duty free charging equipment only.

“Investors get the electricity connections from the respective power utility company, but there is currently no authority to certify the

quality standards for installations and operations,” the official added. Sources in the power division said a large number of investors, some even vying to establish charging points using solar power, have approached the Energy Ministry seeking permissions but there is a lack of regulatory mechanism in this regard.

As the numbers of electric vehicles were increasing in the country, the two largest oil marketing companies (OMCs) in Pakistan – the state owned OMC, Pakistan State Oil (PSO) and Shell Pakistan have already established charging points for the EVs. Private investors too have entered the emerging sector, by establishing three charging stations between Islamabad and Lahore. The Tesla Industries Pakistan has recently installed two EV charging stations at Lahore Islamabad Motorway one at

CMYK

Bhera and other at Pindi Bhattian.

These charging points have been established outside M2 Motorway, making the movement of EVs between Islamabad and Lahore technically possible at the motorway.

The EV chargers have been installed at old CNG stations just on the periphery of M2 Motorway at Bhera and Pindi Bhattian.

The EV vehicles drivers can take the exit at Bhera interchange either coming from Islamabad or going to Islamabad and move to the CNG station to recharge the vehicle, who can then re-enter the motorway. Similarly, commuters can get their vehicles charged at Pindi Bhattian.

The company claims that the charging stations have been indigenously designed, manufactured and installed by Tesla Industries Pakistan, and the company has installed

another such charging station near Gujrat at GT Road and plans to install more chargers on GT Road and alongside motorway as the demand soars. Both stations are equipped with one 120 kwh charger, which takes around 40 minutes to fully charge a 70 kwh battery and one 60 kwh charger it takes more than an hour to fully charge a 70 kwh battery.

The Federal Cabinet had approved a comprehensive EV policy for four wheelers on December 22, 2020, that offered a series of incentives to EV importers, manufacturers and end-users.

These incentives included a decrease in import duties and local taxes on CBU units, CKD units, parts and charging equipment, a complete waiver of registration fees, annual motor vehicle tax and 50 per cent relief on motorway tolls.

Sunday, 25 July, 2021

ISLAMABAD

NEWS

05

SBP to ANNouNce MoNetAry PoLicy oN tueSdAy PML-N, PPP reject PM’s Kashmir referendum proposal continued from page 01 “I want to clarify to all of you today. InshaAllah, a day will come, when all the sacrifices made by the people of Kashmir will not be wasted. God will grant you that right. There will be a referendum, InshaAllah.” He expressed the confidence that the people on that day will choose to live with Pakistan.

The premier went on to state that even after the UN mandated referendum, his government will hold another referendum, where the people of Kashmir will be given the choice to either live with Pakistan or become an independent state.

Ministers criticise Nawaz Sharif for meeting Afghan NSA

KaracHi

t

TLTP

He Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) will meet on Tuesday (July 27) at SBP Karachi to decide about monetary policy for the next two months.

SBP Governor Dr Reza Baqir will address a press conference on the same day after the MPC meeting.

The financial market participants are expecting the key policy rate to remain the same in the upcoming monetary policy announcement. In a poll conducted by Topline Research, around 89 percent participants said they expect no change in the policy rate in July 2021, compared with 73 percent in the previous poll. However, it showed that around 7 percent of the participants expect an increase of 25 basis points in the policy rate, while 4 percent anticipate an increase of 50 basis points.

None of the participants expected a cut in the policy rate this time, compared with 12 percent which were expecting a reduction in the previous poll.

In total, 64 percent of the participants expect an increase in the policy rate in 2021. Around 51 percent of the partici-

pants are expecting an increase of 50 basis points during 2021, while 13 percent of the participants are expecting a rise of 100 basis points during the year.

The majority of the participants i.e. around 57 percent expect the rupee/dollar between 160 and 165 by the end of 2021, while 37 percent expect the rupee/dollar

to be between 165 and 170.

In its last monetary policy statement on May 28, 2021, the central bank had maintained the policy rate at 7 percent.

continued from page 01 Responding to the criticism, Maryam Nawaz said the foundation of Nawaz’s ideology was the peaceful coexistence of Pakistan with its neighbours and he had “worked tirelessly” for it. “It is the very essence of diplomacy to talk to everyone, listen to their point of view and convey one’s own message across: something this government doesn’t comprehend and hence is a complete failure on the international front,” she said. Fawad Chaudhry responded to Maryam’s tweet, questioning why all haters of Pakistan, from Ajit Doval to Mohib, ended up “in your palatial London palace?” Last month, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had hit out at Mohib for his comments against Pakistan and called on him to “reflect and correct” his behaviour. “The national security adviser of Afghanistan carefully listen to me … as the foreign minister of Pakistan I say that no Pakistani will shake your hand or talk with you if you don’t desist from the kind of language you are using or the accusations you’re making against Pakistan,” Qureshi had said. The foreign minister was responding to comments made by the Afghan national security adviser during a visit to Nangarhar province in May, during which he called Pakistan a “brothel house”, according to a Voice of America report.

ISLAMABAD: A view of Faisal Mosque in the federal capital. o nLi ne

Govt urged to improve taxation system iSLamaBad TLTP

The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) has urged the government to improve the taxation system to increase the number of taxpayers instead of putting more burden on the existing taxpayers.

In a statement on Saturday, ICCI President Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan said that the business community is contributing significantly in the tax revenue generation and as a result the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) achieved a historic level of tax revenues of Rs4,732 billion in 2020-21, surpassing the revised target of Rs4,691 billion, which was 18% higher than last year.

The president ICCI said that the government should fully automate the taxation system to reduce people to people contact and take initiatives to make the taxation system easier for the taxpayers. He said that businessmen are paying huge amount of taxes but their contribution to the economy is not acknowledged and they are also not incen-

cmYK

tivised accordingly.

Yasir said that with easing out of the taxation system and giving incentives to taxpayers, the tax net could be increased manifolds which would also help in releasing the pressure on the existing taxpayers.

He proposed that in order to incentivise the taxpayers and increase the tax base, the government should allow self-assessment programmes and mechanisms, in which people would be willing to pay taxes based on their own comfort level. He added this will allow several taxpayers to become a part of the tax net which will increase the tax base.

He said that ICCI has been recommending to the government time and again for introducing the fixed tax policy linked with the self-assessment scheme, which is the only way to decrease the trust deficit. He said that the POS system is unfortunately creating distrust among the traders which were installed in good faith, and recommended that the government through chambers of commerce and industry should take the business community on board and FBR must conduct

seminars to give orientation to taxpayers for filing tax returns, Weboc system and several other aspects etc.

Yasir stressed that FBR should facilitate the taxpayers by introducing special counters for business community at airports, NADRA, CDA, RDA and important government departments to give them priority and preferential treatment, and as a business community will feel honoured that they are being treated with respect and their contribution in the economy is acknowledged.

He further suggested that the government should also introduce special cards like Gold, Silver and Platinum for different slabs of taxpayers to give them respect and treatment like Federal Ministers.

The ICCI president said that for better and sustainable outcome of policies, the government should keep the chambers of commerce and industry & associations in loop in the consultative process. He assured the cooperation of the business community to the government for achieving the next year’s tax revenue targets.

Sunday, 25 July, 2021

06 COMMENT

The Oil Dynamics

Afghan endgame and Pakistan

Pakistan needs a consistent oil policy

Need to give priority to national interest

F

OreIGN Minister ShahMahmood Qureshi, accompanied by the Foreign Secretary and other senior officials, is already in China where he has been joined by DG ISI Lt Gen Faiz hameed also. Another delegation comprising National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf and the DG ISI is expected in Washington next week for talks with their US counterparts.

Mr Qureshi’s unguarded statement regarding the Dasu incident had created misunderstandings with China which decided to send its own investigation team to the scene of the killings. Meanwhile another minister in the PTI cabinet announced that the tragic deaths occurred due to a terrorist attack, showing once again that in Prime Minister Imran Khan’s cabinet one hand does not know what the other is doing. The misunderstanding had resulted in the Chinese company at Dasu notifying the stoppage of work and the dismissal of Pakistani labour. A crucial meeting on the CPeC was also postponed. While the work on Dasu has yet to start, the dismissal letter was withdrawn soon after.

The delegation to the USA is to proceed next week. earlier in April Mr Qureshi had visited Washing where he had spoken at a think tank and met members of the house Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific. Mr Qureshi had stressed the need for a broad-based strategic partnership that looks after the interests of both countries and discussed the importance of regional peace and security in South Asia. The same month Dr Yusuf met US NSA Jake Sullivan and both reportedly held positive discussions on a range of issues. however the categorical statement by Mr Khan that Pakistan would “absolutely not” allow any bases and use of its territory to the USA for any sort of action inside Afghanistan was unnecessary, all the more so as the US had made no such demand.

The major issue the two delegations will discuss in Beijing and Washington would be the Taliban’s continuous advance and increase in the area under their control.

While hostility between the USA and China is continuously on the rise, Pakistan is required to perform a balancing act. While further strengthening relations with China, it has to maintain friendly relations with the USA also. Pakistan should advocate a policy that suits the interest of Pakistan, the Afghan people and neighbouring countries best.

Wajeeha Bilal

O

ver the years, the tools of warfare may have changed but the trade remains the same. Swords, guns, gauntlets, and grenades have increasingly been replaced by economics. The tip of the economic spear has lately been oil and influence over its pricing. The drastic rise and fall of global prices because of fast paced changes in supply and demand often result in a shift in the balance of power among the cartels. Whether it is the natural series of events or manmade that lead to the sky-rocketing prices, the political oil controllers depend on the public market and consumers who can do much to change the outcome but are not able to do much in this case. To counter the blow of energy politics, a robust and inclusive energy policy consistent with the needs of today is required on a global scale.

The strategic importance of power and fossil fuels makes energy the leading factor in geopolitics and international diplomacy. Although there have been significant developments in countering that component with alternative and renewable energy supplies, the influence of oil has still managed to withstand the test of time. Albeit focusing on alternative and renewable energy helps countries move past the geopolitical component of the fossil fuel industry, the technology’s reach has still not met its grasp and the overwhelming majority of global energy systems are still linked or dependent on fossil fuels.South Asia

Islamabad atrocity Toxic misogyny combined with social penchant to violence

T

Rayees ahmad KumaR

T

he relationship between a mother-n-law and her daughter-in-law is of prime importance in the domestic life of a family. A pleasing relationship between the two ladies to the happiness of the home. every member of the family dwells as in heaven when they express mutual respect for each other and make understanding a basic pillar of their living.

On the other hand the strained relatins between these two are devastating thousands of families. hundreds of ladies have committed suicide so far across the length and breadth of the valley and many more are still living a hellish life only due to misunderstanding between them. There are clear rules for both on running family affairs smoothly A mother-in-law should always treat her daughter in-law as her own child. It shouldn't be limited to just words or merely showing to strangers that she is respecting her, but it must be through good intentions. how she treats her own daughter, is how the daughter in-law should be treated.

The daughter-in-law must be so nicely treated that she forgets her parents and parental home.

For her comfort, affection and good health every member of the family must play a positive role.

She shouldn't be considered like a maidservant to be commanded. This will dishearten her.

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Arif Nizami Editor Managing Editor

Joint Editor

Umar Aziz Executive Editor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965

(Wajeeha is the author of "The Conscious Ego", "The Beautiful Present")

Treat Your Daughter In-law Humanly

he murder of Noor Mukaddam in Islamabad did not capture the attention of the public because of the prominence of the parents(her father was a former ambassador, the accused is the scion of a well-known business family), or the brutality of the killing (which included a beheading), but the garish light it threw on a sociey where a toxic misogyny combined with a culture where violence is not so much condoned as expected. A new factor in the mixture is the sense of entitlement of the accused,who loudly proclaimed at his initial magisterial appearance that he was a US citizen, as if that made any difference. Another problem is that the accused’s mental problems have been highlighted: not so much the problems,as their not being treated objectively, but as some sort of stigma.

Some problems have been inadvertently highlighted.

First is the role of social media in bringing such cases to the fore. It is almost as if the police has decided not to respond until the social media galvanizes it. Secondly there is the distinct impression that Islamabad is not a safe city.

This is not the first incident involving an ambassador’s daughter. Only recently the disappearance of the Afghhnambassador’s daughter caused a major diplomatic row. Interior Minister Sh rashid Ahmad tried to deflect attention by claiming that it had been an Indian conspiracy, but has so far not made any claims trying to dismiss the present incident. Perhaps someone has told him that his efforts harm the police more than they help. earlier, there had been the weird case of Usman Mirza and his entrapment ring.

Things are happening in the federal capital because a loose governmental grip has meant that Islamabad is becoming a place to try it on. Criminals are pushing limits and are being left alone.

It is not just a matter of obtaining justice for the dead woman. It is no longer a matter of punishing the perpetrator. Thekiller must be tried and punished to prove that society can handle such events. More than any consciousness-raising events, it must be made clear that punishment is inevitable, no matter whose son one is, no matter which country one is a citizen of.

Yousaf Nizami Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

is one such example of a market caught in the crosshairs. Despite a move towards energy transition, the demand still outpaces the supply of alternative fuels. Currently, with its rapidly growing energy sector, the region is poised to play an expanding role as a global energy market and constitute a component of geopolitics where Pakistan, a significant developing country, grapples with daily challenges in meeting the rising energy demands and climate change issues.

The energy sector is a pivotal realm at present, where the USA, China, and the OPeC+ are the dominating power players.The USA’s long-standing failure to bring peace in Afghanistan and its hasty withdrawal will leave Pakistan’s neighborhood vulnerable to external vectors. China in the meantime is expanding its control and has made Pakistan the centre of its OBOr and CPeC initiatives, with the main contribution in infrastructure projects. China, India and Pakistan constitute a fast developing region that is availing energy resources to provide for the growing energy and financial demands with much room for diplomatic cooperation and regional development.

Presently, the demand of energy in Pakistan is greater than supply and the energy weave is based on expensive fuels. To resolve its energy problems, Pakistan is in dire need of implementation of various supply and demand side plans, through an allied energy policy and a proper operative system. Pakistan should be able to make use of low-cost domestic energy resources with major usage of renewable energy.

As a large developing country, Pakistan is facing many problems, especially related to overcoming poverty and improving the health, education, and employment opportunities for low-income groups. Pakistan has pursued high-cost, short-term fixes while obtaining billions in infrastructure loans, mostly from China, for coal and nuclear plants that could cause financial adversity in the energy sector. The country’s energy problems are profound and deep-rooted, that have more to do with the inefficient government and its failure than with the supply of resources.

The energy sector is important for development in solving Pakistan’s problems, but corrupt contribution, weak governance, and poor budgetary control of the sector are major obstacles. Unlike India or China, Pakistan is a small contributor to the greenhouse effect, but it could escalate in the future owing to the poor investment and its choice of fuel. rising energy demands from increasing urbanization, incomes, and population have placed pressure on domestic resources and eventually Pakistan has increased its reliance on fossil fuel imports, though

according to the US Geological Survey, it has petroleum resources of 164 million barrels of oil and 24.6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, in his closing remarks at the UN Climate Conference in 2019, called for countries to stop building coal plants after 2020. It might be overly ambitious for developing countries like Pakistan, but it would be more appropriate and helpful for its future to focus future projects on renewable energy by improving its policies for the energy sector. Pakistan is currently focusing on energy projects under its new renewable energy policy to enhance the exploration of domestic energy resources and engage foreign investment to uplift its economy.It is focusing on promoting oil and gas exploration opportunities aiming to attract investment from Saudi Arabia, the UAe and other Gulf countries, to provide viable energy supply, lower its energy imports and boost its economy.

In a meeting with the UAe Ambassador hamad Obaid Ibrahim Salem Al-Zaabi, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for energy Minister Omar Ayub Khan analyzed the development on the current petroleum projects and discussed ways to promote Pak-UAe cooperation in the energy sector. “The collaboration in the energy sector would provide a fresh impetus to economic ties between the two brotherly countries,” the UAe envoy said.

Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin has also stated in a press conference, that an understanding had been reached with Saudi Arabia for revival of its oil facility on deferred payments. he informed that Pakistan has also availed the deferred oil payment facility from Saudi Arabia and the petroleum levy would increase in the next fiscal year. however, the government is expecting that oil prices in the international market would decline after the lifting of the ban on Iran. The government will have the chance to consume the levy by retaining the impact of the decline in the international oil price.

Pakistan’s future could shape and elevate from successful investment by international financial institutions, in solar and wind projects along with its large hydro development projects, at the same time funding and enhancing its projects and future policies. It is crucial to improve the conditions and function of its present policies keeping with the dramatic climate change and global warming. however, the biggest hinderance towards the implementation of any measure comes from incompetent leadership. A long draft of hopeful policies can have no effect unless there is a clean ambition to implement them with honesty by the leaders, who desire to serve the interests of their country. Fundamental reforms and policies can always follow an efficient governance.

I

Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9

I

If she makes a minor mistake, instead of abusing her or informing her parents, one must guide her affectionately. It develops her love for you and next time she proves your strong companion.

Never complain about your daughter In-law in front of your neighbours and relatives. In case she is wrong on something, inform her mother or elder sister only. Never say her, "You don't know anything. You haven't learnt anything. Your parents haven't given you good manners." Instead she must be taught the way you teach your own daughter.

When they commit mistakes, do you inform your neighbours and relatives ? No. So in the similar way a daughter-in-law, when treated with utmost affection, she too plays her good role in considering her in-laws as her own parents. Otherwise it is seldom possible for her to think so.

What you think is good for your own daughters with regard to clothing, or food, a daughter in-law must be given similar consideration. If the daughterin-law feels discomfort or she isn't feeling well, instead of giving her commands to perform a particular task, you must yourself do that chore. When she is ill , you must accompany her to a doctor and be serious the way you are when your own daughters feel unwell. She must be allowed to take rest and prescribed medicines and eatables.

When she does any work, appreciate her and pray for her well-being but not to remain busy in finding faults in her work.

You mustn't be habitual of complaining about the daughter in-law infront of her husband and father inlaw instead you must hide her faults the way you ignore the mistakes and faults of your own daughters.

You must advise your son to look after his spouse and take care of her especially when she feels ill. It will create an everlasting love, affection and mutual respect among all the family members.

You must always advise your daughters and your sons to treat her well. Further you must caution them not to give her commands and consider her like a coolie or outsider. Instead you must make them understand that she is part and parcel of your family and if treated with utmost affection and love, she would respect and love you.

Further it must be reiterated to them that in their mother's absence it is she who distributes food among them so she is like their elder sister.

Never make a demand of dowry to your daughter-in-law. In case she doesn't bring any item, never complain about it nor taunt her. If you continuously

Islamabad – Ph: 051-2204545

I

Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk

I

insult her, she may take some extreme step as have been reported earlier.

If an outsider asks about the work and conduct of the daughter in-law, never say negative things. Always praise her for her work and behaviour before outsiders.

Apart from the mother-in-law sometimes we see the father-in-law too indulge in unnecessary family affairs with the result both spouses become victims of depression and mental trauma which leads to the devastation of the family. Instead of treating her like his own daughter, the father-in-law gives her unnecessary commands as if she is a maid. his daughters and sons too misbehave, which makes the life of the newcomer quite melancholic.

The most distressing episodes are experienced when all other family members are on one side, thinking, sharing, managing and living a separate life within one common family and the daughter in-law and her children are on the other side. In such circumstances she always feels lonely and she thinks of herself as living among strangers.

At that point it becomes the duty of the husband either to overhaul his parents and siblings or to rehabilitate his wife with peaceful dignity. The husband's siblings torture his wife only due to undue powers given to them by his parents.

If the husband's younger siblings aren't given undue powers by his parents and they themselves manage every family affair with utmost honesty, our families wouldn't shatter but would become abodes of peace and tranquillity. So many women have ended their lives due to domestic violence at the hands of their husbands and other in-laws.

At the time of engagement and the nuptials, her in-laws-to-be leave no stone unturned to assure her she would be treated like their own daughter but once the bride is brought home, all the assurances prove false. She is tortured and always considered a burden and stranger in the home which is contradictory to the noble teachings of Islam . A hadith of the holy Prophet (PBUh) is "The best amongst you is the one who is good to his wife. I have been the best to my wives". The need of the hour is to get acquainted about the noble teachings of Islam with regard to living a better family life especially with our daughtersin-law.

The writer teaches at the Government Secondary School Anderwan, Ganderbal, Indian Occupied Kashmir.

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Sunday, 25 July, 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

Farewell Arif sb IT was a shock as a reader to find out that Mr Arif Nizami had passed away on the first day of eid. The country was already reeling from the gruesome murder in Islamabad which has made many wonder where the national conscience is. To find out that Arif Nizami is no longer among us makes one feel rather hopeless. As a consumer of news, I have been reading his publications for years - first The Nation and now Pakistan Today as well. One could trust Mr Nizami’s edited papers to always be factual and to be honest in what news they chose to cover. On numerous occasions, whether it was something like the dismissal of Benazir Bhutto’s first government or the news of Imran Khan’s marriage, one always knew if he was backing a piece of breaking news it was bound to be true.

Nizami started his career as a reporter in his father hameed Nizami’s Urdu language daily, Nawa-i-Waqt. After his father’s death, Nizami continued to work at Nawa-i-Waqt as executive editor up until 1985 when he founded the english daily The Nation. During his time as editor of The Nation, Nizami trained and supported some of the major names in Pakistan’s journalism today. As an editor, he has been remembered as a staunch defender of his reporters and staff who would stand in support of his team no matter who was on the other side.

With him, a very particular brand of old school journalism has gone. he will be dearly missed, by his friends, family and colleagues - but also by his readers who remain grateful.

Sohail Khan lahore

Delusion and destruction Unremitting hubris camouflaged as democratic pretensions

Candid Corner Raoof hasan “Many have dreamed up republics and principalities that have never, in truth, been known to exist. The gulf between how one should live and how one does live is so wide that a man who neglects what is actually done for what should be done learns the way to self-destruction rather than selfpreservation.”

–Niccolò Machiavelli

I

T is difficult to imagine when an effort to inflict damage upon others may actually turn into heaping destruction upon yourself. This keeps happening simply because those who are given to conjuring up fictional situations usually end up rueing the penchant.

Afghanistan presents a similar situation.

The government in Kabul, hoisted through a disputed election which none has certified, knows its bounds are shrinking with each passing day, but its stalwarts remain incensed with the idea of staying in power. In the process, they are actively sabotaging the prospect of reaching a negotiated settlement with other stakeholders for agreeing on a formula for sharing power in the interim, leading to a permanent settlement of the problem for peace to return to the war-ravaged country.

The crisis is that, faced with the Taliban onslaught, their hold on power is loosening and the end is increasingly in sight.

Instead of looking inwards to formulate a strategy to negotiate for a way out of the crisis, the triumvirate in power comprising Ghani, Amrullah and Mohib have intensified their hate spree against Pakistan whom they blame for every failing of their government.

Pakistan is that one country which has suffered the most because of the continuing war in Afghanistan and has endeavoured ceaselessly for facilitating negotiations, first between the USA and the Taliban and then between the Taliban and the Kabul government. Instead of making the most of the opportunity, the latter has used it as a weapon to assert its authority over an adversary that is war-hardened, having just emerged successfully from fighting a prolonged and savage combat against the combined might of the

USA and NATO. This comes across as nothing short of a delusional espousal of self-destruction.

With the Western support having dissipated leaving behind a military which is barely trained in the annals of fighting a prolonged war, the options of the Kabul government are limited. This constraint is further augmented by the geopolitical state of the region which has undergone a transformation over the last couple of decades. Unlike the past, it would no longer lend support to any belligerent moves that the Kabul government may be envisaging as a last-ditch effort to save its hold on power. The dream of resuscitating a Northern Alliance-like war machine is beyond reckoning as it will not have the requisite regional support. Under the circumstances, a negotiated settlement with the Taliban appears to be the best option for the Kabul government. But the layer of hubris is far too thick for them to see the writing on the wall and save the Afghan people from further fratricide. As a matter of fact, they seem hellbent on continuing with their hara-kiri act.

The reality stings, but it must be faced.

Over the years, more so since the initiation of the democracy experiment, Afghanistan has turned itself into a launching pad for terrorist acts aimed at destabilizing Pakistan on the behest of its masters– the Indians. As part of this gameplan, they continue to subvert the efforts for securing peace in their own country and, consequently, the entire region. It is principally aimed at sabotaging the initiative for opening up avenues for economic development in the region. As part of the overarching US-led “contain China” policy, this drive may trigger a new cold war era in the world. While the USA may escape relatively unscathed from this ill-thought-out plan, it is the countries of the region, more so the contiguous neighbours of Afghanistan, which will be roasted in the heat of another unnecessary conflict.

The current Afghan leadership has mistakenly linked its future with the furtherance of this devilish plan which will bring them no peace. The contrary may be the truth.

While countries of the region have spoken against the prospect of a violent takeover by the Taliban, there is also unanimity that the incumbent Kabul government is unlikely to become a willing partner in the advent of peace in Afghanistan. The deep-set infatuation to stay on in power, irrespective of the consequences, is fraught with real danger of the war continuing into the future which, according to all rational appraisals, would not be in the interest of Afghanistan, its neighbours and the larger region. But the challenge is to make the Kabul triumvirate understand that prolonging the conflict will not provide the means for peace to return to Afghanistan. Only engaging in meaningful talks will do so.

It is Pakistan which is likely to be the worst affected as a consequence of this spree of violence across its Western border. When the US and the NATO forces are completely withdrawn, and if no peace deal is secured before that, this level of violence is likely to increase further which will inevitably lead to an

influx of refugees into the neighbouring countries. This would include Pakistan, which is already hosting over 3 million of them at the cost of its economic and social fabric.

Given the current state of security, any more refugees filtering across the border would be absolutely untenable.

So, whichever way one looks at it, continuing strife in Afghanistan is not in the interest of any country. But, unfortunately, the incumbent triumvirate in Kabul looks at it as a saviour of their corrupt rule. Thus, they are investing their energies in subverting the process of negotiations. The recent bombing of the Taliban positions by the US would embolden them further. Yet, the sword hangs over Pakistan’s head that it is not doing enough. This is a vile travesty.

Under the circumstances, what are the options that Pakistan has? It can continue putting in the effort to facilitate a negotiated settlement among the stakeholders as it has been doing in the past, or withdraw, secure its borders and let the warring factions settle it amongst themselves, or implement measures in such manner that all the parties are pressured to sitting around a table till they have reached a settlement. Going by a process of elimination, allowing the stakeholders to settle it among themselves will be a non-starter and, therefore, not an option. Maybe, pursuing the third option would be better than being content with the first one which Pakistan has tried over a considerable period of time without much tangible success. So, how could meaningful pressure be exerted on the parties to secure a balanced peace deal?

That is where the regional countries can play a key role. The Chinese, russians, Central Asian republics, Iran, Turkey and Pakistan can jointly exert pressure on the warring parties to ensure that they become amenable to clinching a mutually acceptable solution to the raging conflict. This pressure could be incentivised by an undertaking of economic support in the reconstruction of Afghanistan once the peace deal is signed.

Such a strategy has become even more important in the light of the statement by the Taliban spokesperson that, for the sake of peace, Ashraf Ghani will have to quit. In such an event, they have also promised their support to a negotiated settlement with all other stakeholders. This brings the focus back on the Ghani triumvirate: are they desperately stuck with clinging on to power irrespective of the consequences for the state and the people, or will they relinquish charge for peace to return to Afghanistan?

That is where it rests at this juncture, and that is where it will continue to rest for a limited period of time into the future unless, of course, the Taliban go for the dreaded surge and take over the country by force.

With the prospect of a negotiated settlement increasingly being pushed back by the Kabul triumvirate, the chances of a violent takeover can no longer be ruled out. Delusion inevitably breeds destruction.

The writer is a political and security strategist, and heads the Regional Peace Institute – an Islamabad-based think tank.

Email: raoofhasan@hotmail.com. Twitter: @RaoofHasan

AJK elections and occupied Kashmir

WhILe Pakistan is in deep crisis – from Corona to inflation and economic depression, crisis after crisis is crippling the life of the public – our leaders are busy playing the old game of blame and counter blame in AJK elections.

Though the circumstances demanded that either the elections be deferred, or the activities be subdued, all parties seem hell-bent on risking the lives of people for their hands on power in AJK. The stalwarts of all main parties are holding rallies and public meetings with no regard to safety or caution, especially when the Delta variant of the COvID is getting out of control. They accuse each other of selling Kashmir or not being strong on the issue. In fact, none of the parties has ever done anything worthwhile to pursue the cause of Kashmir. except for some display for public consumption and lip service, no party has ever taken a clear and strong stance on the issue. our worthy politicians are busy holding public meetings and seeking votes to form their governments and destroy the existing ones. The Indian government literally annexed the occupied Kashmir abrogating its special status and we could do nothing. except for the symbolic observance of silence and a few fiery songs, we failed to muster any support at the international level to back India off from canceling the special status of the occupied Kashmir. Unless we stand united and take a strong stance on Kashmir, nothing will change. Unfortunately, the circus going on in AJK elections where politicians are raising wort of allegations against each other only weakens our stance and the world does not take us seriously. The world will only pay attention if we present a strong and united front which signals that we mean business. I wish our leadership could get this and show some maturity. raja Shafaatullah iSlamabad

Ulema on Domestic Violence

SIr, I fail to understand the opposition by our Ulema to domestic violence, which is a crime. Their argument is as ludicrous as the decision given by CCI in May 2013, that DNA cannot be accepted as primary evidence against a rapist. Male chauvinism has no place in the religion of Islam, nor is there a single incidence during the life of holy Prophet PBUh where violence against any women, including a wife has been condoned. Islam emphasizes on the acquisition of knowledge in science, medicine, technology, economics etc. so that it be used for the welfare of human beings. DNA is not a creation of scientists, but a discovery of what existed in nature for billions of years. Islam means submission to Almighty Allah SWT and therefore it is binding upon Muslims that dignity of human beings be respected and all must be equal before law. The welfare Islamic state must exist and precede the imposition of Sharia penalties for any violations and excesses. Why is it that our Ulema chose to remain silent when citizens in a Muslim majority state are denied basic human rights and organized criminals openly and forcibly occupies state and private land and women denied inheritance in accordance to holy Quran, or punishing criminals involved in pedophilia within few seminaries and other abuses of power by powerful individuals or groups. All human beings enjoy equal rights in Islam and there is no discrimination. If a man has irreconcilable differences with his wife he has the option to seek divorce in accordance with Sharia Laws instead of beating her to death, or inflicting injuries to her? Islam gives women the right to choose their life partner in marriage, yet we witness this basic right being denied on one pretext or another. maliK tariq ali lahore

Vaccinated peoples are also getting infected The current variants of SArS-COv-2 are relatively rampant in their transmissibility and severity, many faculty members and students are fast getting infected, vaccination is the best protection which Science has thankfully offered to us, you may have heard that vaccinated peoples are also getting infected but keep in mind about two facts.

1. Percentage of vaccinated individuals getting the virus is far smaller than the unvaccinated individuals even if you normalized the data against the proportion 2. even if the vaccinated individual gets infected, the disease is not progressing to severity. Therefore, its my sincere suggestion to all of you get vaccinated at the earliest, the best vaccine is what's available to you first. remember in Science and Scientific problems like the COvID-19, Facts solve problem opinions creates one, God Speed, again urging get vaccinated asap. Nobody is safe until everybody is safe. laiba baqai, Karachi

Sunday, 25 July, 2021

08 WORLD VIEW

HOW THE US COLLECTS INTELLIGENCE AROUND THE WORLD

W

Sandboxx

ITH a budget of more than $60 billion a year, the U.S. Intelligence community is a behemoth of agencies, offices, and capabilities. The Intelligence community is the nation’s first line of defense, ensuring that policymakers are promptly aware of threats against U.S. national security. But which agency spies better?

THE TWO GIANTS OF THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY: Usually, when someone talks about the U.S. Intelligence community, two agencies come to mind: The central Intelligence agency (cIa) and the National Security agency (NSa). Both have been around for a while, spearheading different aspects of america’s intelligence efforts. The agencies, however, approach the intelligence game through different paths. While these paths may converge from time to time, for the most part, each is in a league of its own.

The cIa is america’s primary Human Intelligence (HUmINT) collection agency.

It has four missions: collect foreign intelligence, provide objective analysis, conduct covert action, and help safeguard american

secrets (counterintelligence). The cIa is composed of five directorates (Directorate of analysis, Directorate of operations, Directorate of Science and Technology, Directorate of Support, Directorate of Digital Innovation) but operates under mission centers, which bring officers together from across the directorates to tackle issues.

For example, the russia mission center uses operations officers from the Directorate of operations to collect HUmINT by recruiting spies and agents. The information that these assets produce then gets poured over by analysts from the Directorate of analysis before they find their way to the “customers,” which can range from the President, through the Presidential Daily Brief (PDB), to the Secretary of Defence, to the Director of the FBI. The NSa is america’s dedicated cryptologic organization that specializes in intercepting foreign Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) but also in protecting U.S. information systems. according to the NSa, the agency is the largest employer of mathematicians in the United States and probably the world. They also employ a large, dedicated cadre of foreign language analysts. created in 1952, the NSa is both part of the Department of Defense and a member of the Intelligence community. In this dual-hat-

ted role, the NSa serves customers from across the government, including the military, policymakers, other elements of the intelligence community, and even key international allies, such as the Five eyes (australia, canada, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom).

It is important to highlight that both the NSa and cIa, and indeed the whole Intelligence community, inform policy, but they don’t make it. Their intelligence enables policymakers to make better decisions—they don’t make the decisions themselves. Nowadays, covert action programs, such as regime change in a hostile country or arming a rebel group, aren’t run by some rogue cIa officers from an innocuous carpet store in arlington, but are approved by the President and funded by congress through the Intelligence community’s annual budget.

HUMINT vs SIGINT: Human Intelligence (HUmINT) is one of those terms you may hear tossed around, but if you’re not already familiar with it, you may just gloss over it as you do with any number of seemingly meaningless military acronyms. The truth, however, is that HUmINT is a fundamental building block of any national defense strategy, and in many ways, is the oldest and longest-standing form of espionage.

The lights begin to wink out in India’s democracy TOO MANY INDIANS ARE HAPPY TO DISMISS NEWS OF THE GATHERING DARKNESS, SHRUG AT FALSEHOOD AND BIGOTRY, AND BE NARCOTICISED INTO BELIEVING ALL IS WELL Scroll

O

SAMAR HALARNKAR

N the day Prime minister Narendra modi’s government sent tax raiders, escorted by police with automatic weapons, to the offices of a feisty news channel, Bharat Samachar, and India’s largest-circulated newspaper, Dainik Bhaskar – which has relentlessly revealed thousands of covid-19 deaths that the government tried to hide – a few other things happened that characterised the speed with which the government is crippling the processes of Indian democracy and pushing it towards the darkness. one of modi’s ministers, anurag Thakur – whose main claim to fame was urging Bharatiya Janata Party cadre to shoot traitors – said the government’s agencies did their job independently, a claim as believable as his boss’s assertion that Lord Ganesha was evidence of India’s ancient prowess at plastic surgery. another minister, meenakshi Lekhi, borrowed from Whatsapp forwards to defend the government, claiming the advocacy organisation amnesty International had not released a list of phone numbers that had been illegally hacked into: amnesty quickly called out that lie. Lekhi called the Pegasus expose “yellow journalism”, a “non-story across the world”.

The inconvenient facts were that France ordered a parliamentary investigation, the German chancellor called for restrictions on the spyware trade. even a dictatorship like Hungary has announced an investigation.

That same day, in the heart of India’s capital, the police stopped reporters and opposition members of Parliament from talking to protesting farmers (whom Lekhi called mawalis or hoodlums). No law allows such blockading of the democratic process unless there is a clear threat of violence, which there was not. over at the Supreme court that day, the solicitor general told Justice Sanjay Kaul not to comment on bail granted by the Delhi High court to three student activists. “you can’t expect me not to speak,” said Justice Kaul.

This, then, is the state of India’s democracy: with Parliament in session, government agencies launch punitive raids against the media, ministers lie about or ignore illegal acts and officials meant to protect democracy do their best to stifle it. and this just on one day.

Democracy – as the world has come to realise and India knows only too well – is a thing of fragility. It cannot be taken for granted. It must be protected and nurtured by its institutions and its people, all of whom must work for its well-being. Indians now show distinct signs of being unable or unwilling to do so. a US political psychologist called Shawn rosenberg in a 2019 paper that attracted much attention said that western-style democracies were kept stable by “elites” – journalists, academics, politicians, officials. These people, according to

rosenberg, had the motivation and power to support democratic institutions.

With the coming of social media, as is now evident, that power has passed to the people at large, who, rosenberg argued, ignore the elites and tend to think in “linear” fashion, in a way that is easy to comprehend. right-wing populism, he said, “offers the understandings the people can readily comprehend, the values they can readily appreciate and the direction of speech and action they can readily follow”.

DEVOURING ITSELF: Linear thinking in this age of social media makes more citizens more readily accept fake news, bigotry and conspiracy theories. In a sense, this is a condition of more democracy that, eventually turns on itself. rosenberg’s conclusion was that “democracy is likely to devour itself”.

The argument that citizens in democracies do not have the capacity – either by way of intellectual capacity or information – to understand the complex governance mechanisms that underpin democracy and sustain their political structure has been made by many political theorists over more than a century.

In modern India, that incapacity is evident in the easy acceptance of fake, misleading and, often, bizarre Whatsapp forwards by a great mass of citizens, allowing politicians to greatly simplify issues of the day and propose solutions that adhere easily to biases and preconceived notions. modi and his party have abandoned reasoned democratic discussion to reduce governance to the quality and minimalism of a Whatsapp forward. What use then of democracy’s institutions, its checks, and balances?

When Parliament, the media, the election commission, the auditors, the police, tax officials and the judiciary are coopted, crippled or otherwise made ineffective, the rowdy democracy we know dissipates to a whisper.

If India continues down this murky path – and there is every indication to believe it will – the lights of its hard-fought for, painstakingly created democracy, however flawed and chaotic, will die in the darkness.

It can be dispelled, this darkness, but only if Indians are willing to defy their government and take the trouble and accept the risks of holding up the light of liberty. It is difficult today to find many who are willing to do this. Some farmers, students, political dissidents, judges and journalists refuse to let democracy’s flickering lights go out, but there are too few of them.

Too many of us are happy to swipe through and dismiss news of the gathering darkness, smile at falsehood and bigotry, and be narcoticised by the government and its fake-news factories into believing all is well.

Samar Halarnkar is the editor of Article14.com, a project that tracks misuse of the law and the hope it offers.

To a certain extent, HUmINT intelligence is closer to the pop-culture idea we have about spies than SIGINT might be, but more often than not, it doesn’t come with a license to kill. Intelligence officers may gather HUmINT through direct engagement with sources, or through leveraging local assets (people) to directly gather information for them. everything from friendly conversation to interrogation can be seen as a means to gather Human Intelligence.

HUmINT might look like any of these methods of collecting information: • clandestine acquisition of photography, documents, and other material • overt collection by people overseas • Debriefing of foreign nationals and U.S. citizens who travel abroad • official contacts with foreign governments Signals Intelligence (SIGINT), on the other hand, is the interception of the communications of enemy or competitor state and non-state actors. From telephone landlines, to cellular calls, to underwater communication cables, to encrypted high-frequency messages, the NSa intercepts them all.

The NSa conducts both strategic and tactical SIGINT collection. The former

would be the tapping of a chinese communications node, whereas the latter would be developing SIGINT technology to track and monitor a terrorist cell in order to provide intelligence to a special operations task force that would order a raid.

THE FIRST LINE OF DEFENCE: THE US INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY: The United States Intelligence community was formed on December 4, 1981, and is an umbrella organization comprised of 17 separate U.S. government agencies and offices.

These all work both separately and together to conduct intelligence activities in support of U.S. foreign policy and national security objectives. member organizations include intelligence agencies, military intelligence units and commands, and civilian intelligence offices found within the federal government’s executive departments. This is all overseen by the office of the Director of National Intelligence (oDNI), headed by the Director of National Intelligence, and reports directly to the President of the United States.

The 17 Intelligence community member organizations include two independent agencies (who do not fall within a department), seven offices that fall within other departments, and eight Department of Defense elements.

The fight for open societies begins again FREEDOM HOUSE REPORTS THAT LESS THAN 20% OF THE WORLD’S POPULATION NOW LIVE IN WHAT IT CATEGORIZES AS FULLY FREE SOCIETIES, THE LOWEST SHARE IN MORE THAN A QUARTER CENTURY Project Syndicate

D

MARK MALLOCH-BROWN

emocracy is back on policymakers’ minds. U.S. President Joe Biden plans to host a summit on the theme, and invitations to a host of events on democracy and human rights fill my inbox.

This renewed focus is not good news. rather, it reflects the erosion of both democracy and respect for human rights in recent years. Freedom House reports that less than 20% of the world’s population now live in what it categorizes as fully free societies, the lowest share in more than a quarter century. many countries are drifting steadily toward authoritarianism.

Freedom is in trouble for well-known reasons. In many countries, increasing inequality and marginalization of different groups has fueled an embrace of rightwing (and in some cases left-wing) authoritarianism. as the world grapples with rapid technological change and economic restructuring, many are far from convinced that democracies have the edge in terms of adaptation and forward-looking policymaking. The pandemic — which many democracies mishandled — deepened these doubts. These are difficult times for those of us who profoundly believe that the absolute, non-negotiable basis of good government is a free, democratically empowered citizenry protected equally under law. I am president of the largest private philanthropy in this domain. If we are honest with ourselves, we know that our traditional models of advancing democratic values and institutions are struggling.

The open Society Foundations (oSF) was founded in the 1980s on the assumption that there was an urgent global public demand for freedom, and that a growing number of governments around the world were embracing its rules and norms. That allowed us (in partnership with local activists) to use a mixture of shaming and encouragement to persuade governments to adopt and respect human-rights laws and democratic procedures.

Whether our work concerned the roma in central and eastern europe, LGBTQI communities in africa, ethnic minorities in South and east asia, women’s rights in Latin america, or worldwide migrant and refugee protection, it seemed that we were pursuing a historic mission. and one day, that pursuit might lead to all individuals enjoying full and equal rights and opportunities. Today, however, a rising human-rights tide is not lifting all boats; on the contrary, it seems that all are at risk of sinking. This recent sharp reversal of 20 years of human-rights gains is forcing us to think again. as a foundation chaired to this day by its founder, George Soros — a survivor of Nazism and a refugee from communism in his native Hungary — we will not move on to less challenging issues. after all, Soros started the foundation when prospects for human-rights advances looked as difficult as they do today. So, the mission is non-negotiable. But we must revisit our approach. We must ask how to recover public support for democratic and human-rights norms, while also identifying more clearly the enemies of open societies and what will lead them, even grudgingly, to respect their obligations again.

In 1980s eastern europe, the problem was sclerotic, aging communist governments that could no

longer deliver for their people. Today’s situation is more complicated. True, a bipolar world again threatens freedom.

Biden’s forthcoming Summit for Democracy is in part an effort to rally like-minded governments but also the wider world against chinese President Xi Jinping’s authoritarianism. That may mean democracies have some uncomfortable bedfellows as pragmatism risks trumping values. a dense web of trade, investment, education and technology links mean china is tied to the West, and vice versa, in ways that the Soviet Union never was. a relationship that is more economic than military gives democracies an array of options — from governmental and consumer boycotts to a more coherent international containment and engagement strategy — for pressing Xi’s regime to accept norms of good behavior at home and abroad. Leaders on both sides will frame this contest primarily in terms of economics, but human rights can also be a big winner — or a big loser.

Soros has always called oSF’s work “political philanthropy.” What he means is that we need to engage with the wider dynamics of change and find entry points to champion our issues. Whereas strong states were the sole or leading human-rights violators during the cold War, today’s world is one of multidimensional human-rights menaces. Inequalities exacerbated by unregulated transnational financial and corporate power, together with dramatic shifts in individual states’ fortunes, are creating an ever more challenging landscape.

The world is becoming more unequal — and angrier.

That anger is amplified (and fueled) by socialmedia platforms where polarization, abuse and lies undermine trust in institutions. a technology that many saw just a few years ago as an enabler of citizens’ rights has become in many cases a tool for manipulating minds and closing societies.

The insidious copycat behavior that Donald Trump’s four-year presidency allowed and encouraged in regimes around the world accelerated a crisis of respect for the rule of law and human rights. Presidents stole additional terms, official corruption surged and agreements between states brushed aside people’s rights. Nowadays, human-rights defenders and those who support them are not welcome in much of the world. yet malign governments and globalization, with its unintended financial and corporate consequences, are only half the problem. many view the renewed attention to deep-seated institutional racism in the United States and around the world — and the recognition that marginalization based on race, gender, religion and class is often mutually reinforcing — as exposing the limits of a human-rights agenda. Human-rights remedies, victims argue, have scratched the surface, not reached the roots.

Human-rights work needs to become more political: tougher and smarter in its attacks on oppressors and clearer about being on the side of the oppressed. We need to address the challenges people actually face, looking beyond narrow political rights to address the deeper causes of economic and social exclusion.

Mark Malloch-Brown, a former deputy United Nations secretary-general and co-chair of the U.N. Foundation, is president of the Open Society Foundations.

Sunday, 25 July, 2021

BUSINESS 09

ISLAMABAD corporate corner EFU Life wins 7th International Environment, Health & Safety award

ECC to APPRovE 5-YEAR tRAdE FRAmEwoRk ISLAMABAD

t

SHAHZAD PARACHA

HE Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) is likely to approve the Strategic Trade Policy Framework (STPF) 2020-25.

Earlier, the economic decision-making body had deferred the matter in its meeting held on March 31 due to the observations made by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).

Now, the commerce ministry has requested the ECC to take up the matter again in its meeting schedKARACHI: EFU Life Assurance Ltd, the leading private life insurance provider in the country, has been conferred with ‘International Environment, Health & Safety Award’ in the category of ‘Support for Health Care Organiaations’ at the 7th International Summit & Awards on Environment, Health and Safety organized

by The Professionals Network and Ethical Business Update (EBU). Evelyn D. Abrogena, Head of CSR, EFU Life Assurance Ltd., received the award on behalf of the Company. The awards recognise the company’s efforts towards the health sector and its role for environment safety. EFU Life has been at the forefront of promoting and contributing to the causes of healthcare, education and environment and believes in playing a pivotal role in building a positive relationship with the society in which it operates. EFU Life has joined hands with numerous renowned nongovernmental organisations for a safe and healthy Pakistan. PRESS RElEASE

uled for Wednesday. The Ministry of Commerce had submitted a summary on the draft STPF 2020-25 to the ECC of the cabinet for its consideration, after seeking approval of the prime minister.

Subsequently, the ECC, in its meeting held on March 31, 2021, deferred consideration of the summary and directed the commerce ministry to hold further consultations with the relevant stakeholders.

Sources said that MoC has addressed the objections pertaining to determining value and some tax relaxation, incorporating the views of SBP and FBR in the updated draft.

Sources said that the MoC has proposed an

FBR official appointed as member of UN tax body

Seafood exports increase by 1.85pc in FY21 ISLAMABAD: The exports of fish and fish preparations increased by 1.85 per cent during the fiscal year 2020-21 (FY21) as compared to the corresponding period of last year. The seafood exports during July-June FY21 were recorded at $414.193 million against the exports of $406.654 million in July-June FY20, showing growth of around 1.85 per cent, according to Pakistan Bureau of statistics (PBS). In terms of quantity, Pakistan exported 184.396 metric tonnes seafood during the period under review against the exports of 177.884 metric tons last year, showing an increase of 3.66 per cent. On a YoY basis, the fish exports from the country decreased by 7.04 per cent by going down from $33.272 million during June 2020 to $30.929 million in June 2021. On a MoM basis, the seafood exports decreased by 1.08 per cent in June 2021 when compared to the exports of $31.267 million in May 2020, the PBS data revealed. The overall food exports from the country decreased by 41.83 per cent during FY21 compared to last year. The food exports from the country were recorded at $433.538 million during July-June FY21 against the exports of $305.664 million during July-June FY20. APP

Pakistan’s REER improves to 99.85 Pakistan’s real effective exchange rate (REER) - the country’s cost of international trade - improved to 99.85 points on the index in June, making exports viable and imports expensive mainly due to depreciation in rupee against the basket of major trading partners’ currencies. It improved to below 100 reading on the index at the end of June 2021 after remaining above the level in the prior three successive months (MarMay 2021), according to Pakistan’s central bank on Friday.

Export earnings remain an important source of country’s total foreign earnings. Growth in exports is a must to achieve a sustainable surge in the country’s foreign currency reserves and conveniently repay foreign debt. MONITORING REPORT

ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

United Nations (UN) Secretary General Antonio Guterres has appointed Mohammad Ashfaq Ahmed of Pakistan as member of the Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters for a term of four years.

Selected on the recommendation of the Pakistan government, Mr Ahmed is among the distinguished group of 25 tax experts from around the world to serve as members of the committee for the 2021-25 term.

He currently holds the post of director general of international taxes at the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).

The United Nations tax committee guides countries’ efforts to advance stronger and more forward-looking tax policies adapted to the realities of globalised trade and investment amid an increasingly digitalised economy and worsening environmental degradation. The committee assists countries in their efforts to prevent double or multiple taxa-

tion, as well as non-taxation, broaden their tax base, strengthen their tax administrations and curb international tax evasion and avoidance.

The United Nations Tax Committee fosters international cooperation on domestic and international tax matters. It works closely with observers from government, civil society, business and academia, to develop guidance and encourage an inclusive setting of norms and policies.

The new committee membership brings together tax practitioners with expertise in a wide range of areas, such as double tax treaties, transfer pricing, avoiding and resolving tax disputes, taxation of the extractive industries, taxation of digital economy, environmental taxation and valueadded taxes. While nominated by the governments of their countries, the committee members serve in their personal capacity.

In welcoming the appointments, President of the Economic and Social Council Ambassador Munir Akram said: “I am delighted to see that such a diverse

and capable group of experts has been appointed. I have high expectations for the committee’s continued success in challenging times, which are nevertheless full of opportunity to stem the tide of tax-related illicit financial flows and shore up developing-country capacities to mobilise and invest domestic resources in their own development.”

The majority of the newly appointed members come from developing countries, and, for the first time since its inception, the committee has a majority of women experts.

The first meeting of the new membership of the committee will take place in October during which the experts will determine the work plan for their term.

The other members of the committee are from India, Nigeria, Chile, South Korea, Malawi, Ghana, Mexico, Zambia, Jamaica, Ireland, Indonesia, Myanmar, Mauritania, Argentina, Angola, the Netherlands, Russian Federation, Canada, Norway, Germ¬a¬ny, Ecuador, Italy, Sweden and China.

Rs37.15 billion export including Rs10 billion services sector target for the current fiscal year 2021-22 (FY22). It may be mentioned here that exports during the year 2020-21 (FY21) amounted to Rs25.36 billion against the target of Rs24.14 billion.

The MoC has also recommended relaxation for the engineering, textile, leather, and fans in the proposed policy.

It is pertinent to mention here that the ECC deferred the approval last Friday owing to the absence of the Advisor to Prime Minister on Commerce, Textile and Board of Investment Razzaq Dawood, and secretary Commerce.

PIA launches largest flight operation for north Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has launched the largest flight operation to the northern areas as global travel restrictions, stemming from Covid-19, forced the affluent Pakistanis to explore local tourist sites. “The national flag carrier has launched special flights for the tourists visiting the country’s northern areas during Eid days,” PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan said while talking to The Express Tribune on Friday. Although bad weather over the past few days affected the flight schedule for the north, still the airline managed to ramp up the number of flights to the highest-ever level, he said. He pointed out that the national flag carrier would operate six flights to Skardu on Saturday (July 24) alone. Elaborating, he said that two planes to the city would fly from Karachi, one from Lahore, one from Sialkot, one from Faisalabad and one would be air safari. The air safari flight will take off from Islamabad and fly over the snowcapped peaks of K2 and Nanga Parbat as well as Saiful Malook Lake. Apart from the regular operation, two additional flights would depart from Islamabad to Gilgit, he revealed. Earlier in May, Skardu and Gilgit airports saw a massive rise in flight operations, at par with major cities of Pakistan, when nearly 16 PIA flights operated to and from both the cities. The airports saw a hustle bustle with flights continuously arriving and departing at the same time. A video released by an official spokesperson of PIA showed flights arriving and departing in the background, making northern areas skies look unusually crowded. According to details, PIA had operated eight flights each to Gilgit and Islamabad airports in a day, the highest number of flights ever operated in a day in the country’s history. The spike in temperatures in other parts of the country and the fact that you can get to an extremely pleasant weather and breathtaking views with a convenient air travel lasting minutes, is enticing people all across the country, especially Karachi to take these flights. Previously this journey lasted days and required extensive planning and finances. Back in March, it emerged that three new air operators are in the final stages of certification by CAA and will start operations in the regional airline’s space soon. Scrutiny of two airlines, Q-Airlines and Fly Jinnah, had reportedly been completed while the third airline Jet Green Airlines was going through the inspection process.

The applications were sent to Aviation Division and later to the federal cabinet for final approvals. With the addition of three new airlines, the number of private carriers operating will increase to six.

Airblue, SereneAir, and AirSial are the three existing airlines operating in the country of approximately 217 million whereas PIA is still the largest and oldest carrier in the country. NEWS DESK

Mercedes-Benz ready to take on Tesla in all-electric car market LONDON AGENCIES

Mercedes-Benz maker Daimler plans to invest more than 40 billion euros ($47 billion) by 2030 to be ready to take on Tesla in an all-electric car market, but warned the shift in technology would lead to job cuts.

Outlining its strategy for an electric future, the inventor of the modern motor car said on Thursday it would, with partners, build eight battery plants as it ramps up electric vehicle (EV) production.

From 2025, all new vehicle platforms will only make EVs, the German luxury automaker added.

“We really want to go for it … and be dominantly, if not all electric, by the end of

the decade,” Chief Executive Ola Källenius told Reuters, adding that spending on traditional combustion-engine technology would be “close to zero” by 2025. However, Daimler – to be renamed Mercedes-Benz as part of plans to spin off its trucks division later this year – stopped short of giving a hard deadline for ending sales of fossil-fuel cars.

Some carmakers like Geely-owned Volvo Cars have committed to going all electric by 2030, while General Motors Co says it aspires to be fully electric by 2035, as they all try to close the gap to industry leader Tesla.

“We need to move the debate away from when you build the last combustion engine because it’s not relevant,” Källenius said.

“The question is how quickly can you scale up to being close to 100% electric and that’s

what we’re focusing on.”

Daimler shares rose as much as 2.5% after the news, which comes just over a week after the European Union proposed an effective ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2035 as part of a broad package of measures to combat global warming.

Ahead of the EU’s announcement, carmakers had announced a series of major investments in EVs. Earlier this month, Stellantis said it would invest more than 30 billion euros by 2025 on electrifying its line-up.

Tough DecISIonS: At MercedesBenz, the shift will see an 80% drop in investments into combustion engines and plug-in hybrid technologies between 2019 and 2026, which the group said would have a direct impact on jobs. EVs have fewer

components and so require fewer workers than combustion engine vehicles.

“A transformation of our workforce will involve tough decisions. Yes, overall we must and will reduce our personal costs,” Mercedes-Benz management board member and head of human resources Sabine Kohleisen said.

Daimler said that as of 2025, it expects electric and hybrid electric cars will make up 50% of sales – with all-electric cars expected to account for most of that – earlier than its previous forecast that this would happen by 2030.

The carmaker will unveil three electric platforms – one to cover its range of passenger cars and SUVs, one for vans and one for high-performance vehicles – that will be launched in 2025.

Daimler is also acquiring British firm YASA Limited to help develop high-performance electric motors.

The company said it would build out 200 gigawatt hours (GWh) of battery cell capacity. Four of its new battery plants will be in Europe and one in the United States.

Daimler said it would announce new European partners for its battery production plans soon. The EU has been pushing hard to build out battery capacity to counter China’s dominance of battery production.

Rival Volkswagen AG plans to build half a dozen battery cell plants in Europe.

Daimler said that as part of its electrification strategy it would build a battery recycling plant in Kuppenheim, Germany, which would start operations in 2023.

Sunday, 25 July, 2021

10 FOREIGN NEWS

ISLAMABAD

BIden assures GhanI of contInued us suPPort: WhIte house WASHINGTON

W

ReuteRs

ITH the last US forces on the way out of Afghanistan, US President Joe Biden assured President Ashraf Ghani of US diplomatic and humanitarian support on Friday as Taliban advances piled pressure on the US-backed government in Kabul.

In a phone call, Biden and Ghani “agreed that the Taliban’s current offensive is in direct contradiction to the movement’s claim to support a negotiated settlement of the conflict,” a White House statement said.

Biden has set a formal end to the US military mission in Afghanistan for August 31 as he looks to disengage from a conflict that started after al Qaeda attacked the United States on September 11, 2001.

Violence has risen sharply since the withdrawal plan was announced in April,

with the Taliban launching offensives, taking districts and important border crossings, and encircling or closing in on several provincial

Israeli troops kill Palestinian teen in West Bank: Palestinian officials

capitals.

The Taliban control about half of Afghanistan’s district centres, the senior US

general said this week, indicating a rapidly deteriorating security situation.

Biden told Ghani the United States would remain engaged diplomatically “in support of a durable and just political settlement,” the White House said.

The United States is also preparing to begin evacuating thousands of Afghan applicants for special immigration visas (SIVs) who risk retaliation from Taliban insurgents because they worked for the US government.

Biden on Friday authorized up to $100 million from an emergency fund to meet “unexpected urgent” refugee needs stemming from the situation, the White House said.

Biden also authorized the release of $200 million in services and articles from the inventories of US government agencies to meet the same needs, it said.

The State Department condemned the Taliban’s targeted attacks on former inter-

preters and other Afghans as well as the destruction of infrastructure.

“We vehemently condemn the targeted attacks, the destruction of vital infrastructure, as well as other attacks against the people of Afghanistan,” spokeswoman Jalina Porter said at a regular news briefing.

Educated Afghans — especially women and girls who were barred from school and most work under Taliban rule — have voiced alarm at the insurgents rapid advance, as have members of ethnic and sectarian minorities.

The first batch of Afghan evacuees and their families is expected to be flown before the end of the month to Fort Lee, a US military base in Virginia, where they will wait for the final processing of their visa applications.

About 2,500 Afghans could be brought to the facility, about 30 miles (48 km) south of Richmond, the Pentagon said on Monday.

Canada vows to resettle Afghan interpreters, citing threat from Taliban TORONTO ReuteRs

RAMALLAH ReuteRs

Israeli soldiers shot and killed a Palestinian teenager during a clash in the occupied West Bank on Friday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. The violence erupted at a protest against Israeli settlements near the city of Ramallah Witnesses said a crowd of young Palestinians hurled stones at Israeli forces, who in turn opened fire.

A 17-year Palestinian was shot and later died of his wounds, the Health Ministry said. The Israeli army had no immediate comment on the incident.

Canada announced on Friday it would resettle Afghan interpreters, embassy staff and their families amid a “dynamic and deteriorating” situation in Afghanistan, saying they had become targets for the Taliban.

“Canada is here to support those who supported us,” said Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino, adding that “several thousand” people would be eligible and the first arrivals would be landing in Canada very shortly.

Reuters reported this month that Canada planned to relocate Afghan interpreters and others as soon as possible in light of an imminent United States military drawdown. “We appreciate that there is a need to act quickly and decisively but that we must also do so safely given the very dynamic and deteriorating situation,” Mendicino told a televised news conference in Ottawa.

He did not give a specific number of people who would be admitted or say when exactly they would arrive. “Many Afghan citizens put themselves at risk to assist Canada […] now they face even greater threats from the Taliban,” he said.

Taliban insurgents are gaining control of more and more territory, pushing back overstretched

Afghan troops. Canadian officials are identifying eligible Afghans, focusing on those who worked for Canada as interpreters or who provided “critical support,” embassy staff and their families, Mendicino said. Canada’s combat mission in Afghanistan ended a decade ago, after which the country resettled about 800 Afghans who had worked for the country as in-

terpreters or in other roles.

Many Afghans who worked with Canada and other NATO countries fear reprisals from the Taliban as US forces depart.

“The pace of the Taliban’s advances over the course of the past month is troubling,” Foreign Minister Marc Garneau told the news conference.

Global supply chains buckle as virus variant and disasters strike LONDON ReuteRs

A new worldwide wave of Covid-19. Natural disasters in China and Germany. A cyber attack targeting key South African ports.

Events have conspired to drive global supply chains towards breaking point, threatening the fragile flow of raw materials, parts and consumer goods, according to companies, economists and shipping specialists.

The Delta variant of the coronavirus has devastated parts of Asia and prompted many nations to cut off land access for sailors.

That's left captains unable to rotate weary crews and about 100,000 seafarers stranded at sea beyond their stints in a flashback to 2020 and the height of lockdowns.

"We're no longer on the cusp of a second crew change crisis, we're in one," Guy Platten, secretary general of the International Chamber of Shipping, told Reuters.

"This is a perilous moment for global supply chains."

Given ships transport around 90 percent of the world's trade, the crew crisis is disrupting the supply of everything from oil and iron ore to food and electronics.

German container line Hapag Lloyd described the situation as "extremely challenging". "Vessel capacity is very tight, empty containers are scarce and the operational situation at certain ports and terminals is not really improving," it said. "We expect this to

last probably into the fourth quarter – but it is very difficult to predict."

Meanwhile, deadly floods in economic giants China and Germany have further ruptured global supply lines that had yet to recover from the first wave of the pandemic, compromising trillions of dollars of economic activity that rely on them.

The Chinese flooding is curtailing the transport of coal from mining regions such as Inner Mongolia and Shanxi, the state planner says, just as power plants need fuel to meet peak summer demand.

In Germany, road transportation of goods has slowed significantly. In the week of July 11, as the disaster unfolded, the volume of late shipments rose by 15 percent from the week before, according to data from supply-chain tracking platform FourKites.

Nick Klein, VP for sales and marketing in the Midwest with Taiwan freight and logistics company OEC Group, said companies were scrambling to free goods stacked up in Asia and in US ports due to a confluence of crises.

"It's not going to clear up until March," Klein said.

MORE PAIN FOR AUTOMAKERS: Manufacturing industries are reeling.

Automakers, for example, are again being forced to stop production because of disruptions caused by Covid-19 outbreaks.

Toyota Motor Corp said this week it had to

halt operations at plants in Thailand and Japan because they couldn't get parts.

Stellantis temporarily suspended production at a factory in the UK because a large number of workers had to isolate to halt the spread of the virus.

The industry has already been hit hard by a global shortage of semiconductors this year, mainly from Asian suppliers. Earlier this year, the auto industry consensus was that the chip supply crunch would ease in the second half of 2021 - but now some senior executives say it will continue into 2022.

An executive at a South Korea auto parts maker, which supplies Ford, Chrysler and Rivian, said raw materials costs for steel which was used in all their products had surged partly due to higher freight costs.

"When factoring in rising steel and shipping prices, it is costing about 10 percent more for us to make our products," the executive told Reuters, declining to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.

"Although we are trying to keep our costs low, it has been very challenging. It's just not rising raw materials costs, but also container shipping prices have skyrocketed."

Europe's biggest home appliances maker, Electrolux, warned this week of worsening component supply problems, which have hampered production. Domino's Pizza said the supply-chain disruptions were affecting the delivery of equipment needed to build stores.

US AND CHINA STRUGGLE: Buckling supply chains are hitting the United States and China, the world's economic motors that together account for more 40 percent of global economic output. This could lead to a slowdown in the global economy, along with rising prices for all manner of goods and raw materials.

US data out Friday dovetailed with a growing view that growth will slow in the last half of the year after a booming second quarter fueled by early success in vaccination efforts.

"Short-term capacity issues remain a concern, constraining output in many manufacturing and service sector companies while simultaneously pushing prices higher as demand exceeds supply," said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit.

The firm's "flash" reading of US activity slid to a four-month low this month as businesses battle shortages of raw materials and labor, which are fanning inflation.

It's an unwelcome conundrum for the US Federal Reserve, which meets next week just six weeks after dropping its reference to the coronavirus as a weight on the economy.

The Delta variant, already forcing other central banks to consider retooling their policies, is fanning a new rise in US cases, and inflation is running well above expectations.

'WE NEED TO SUPPLY STORES': Ports across the globe are suffering the kinds of

logjams not seen in decades, according to industry players.

The China Port and Harbour Association said on Wednesday that freight capacity continued to be tight.

"Southeast Asia, India and other regions' manufacturing industry are impacted by a rebound of the epidemic, prompting some orders to flow to China," it added.

Union Pacific one of two major railroad operators that carry freight from US West Coast ports inland, imposed a seven-day suspension of cargo shipments last weekend, including consumer goods, to a Chicago hub where trucks pick up the goods.

The effort, which aims to ease "significant congestion" in Chicago, will put pressure on ports in Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland and Tacoma, specialists said.

A cyber attack hit South African container ports in Cape Town and Durban this week, adding further disruptions at the terminals.

If all that were not enough, in Britain the official health app has told hundreds of thousands of workers to isolate following contact with someone with COVID-19 - leading to supermarkets warning of a short supply and some petrol stations closing.

Richard Walker, managing director of supermarket group Iceland Foods, turned to Twitter to urge people not to panic buy.

"We need to be able to supply stores, stock shelves and deliver food," he wrote.

Sunday, 25 July, 2021

SPORTS 11

ISLAMABAD

OLymPIcS: GLIttErInG GOLd dIStrActS FrOm tOkyO wOES

PSL 2022 to be played in JanuaryFebruary to avoid clash with IPL NEWS DESK The seventh edition of the HBL PSL will be played in Pakistan in a window in JanuaryFebruary next year, the PCB has confirmed after consulting the six franchises, ESPNCricinfo reported. The tournament is expected to start in early January and continue till the third week of February. The scheduled has been drawn up despite a dates' clash with the BBL in Australia. Lahore and Karachi will host 17 matches each, with the final to be played at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. The regular PSL window, since 2016, has been in FebruaryMarch, but in 2022, Pakistan is hoping to host Australia. That forced PCB to work a window either before the series against Australia or after, and neither window was without its share of clashes. April-May clashes with the IPL, and that affects the broadcasting and commercial arrangements. It is also likely to affect player availability. That window will also overlap with the month of Ramzan. The January-February period is not free either, because the BBL takes place then, and a number of premier T20 players are expected to be occupied there. There is also the issue of the weather in the Punjab province of Pakistan, which tends to be foggy in winter. To deal with the weather, the PCB has decided to start the PSL in Karachi, which is in the Sind province, in January, and then travel to Lahore, in Punjab, in February, when it is likely to be more conducive. The Covid-19 pandemic has hampered the PSL schedule for the past two seasons, as it has the cricket calendar around the world.

The fifth and sixth editions of the tournament were both played in two chunks. The 2021 edition started in February in Pakistan but was postponed after 14 matches and completed in June in Abu Dhabi. In 2020, the tournament started on time in February, but though the league stage was completed by March, the playoffs could only be held in November. The seventh edition of the PSL will also have fresh broadcast and commercial partners after the previous deals concluded this year after a three-year run. The PCB has confirmed that it is presently working at a framework for the evaluation of the rights and their subsequent sale. The PCB is expected to hire an independent consultant to evaluate the value of the brand. In the last cycle, the PCB had secured a 358% rise in the broadcast deal, worth approximately USD 36 million.

Originally published on ESPNCricinfo

TOKYO

S

REUTERS

PORT stretched out over Tokyo on Saturday and gold medals rained down as the Olympic Games burst into life, finally casting aside some of the shadow of Covid-19 and controversy that has plagued the global showpiece.

China made an instant statement of intent when Yang Qian grabbed the Games' first gold, and Japanese judoka Naohisa Takato lifted home hearts with gold on the mat a day after the nation's global superstar tennis player Naomi Osaka, had lit the cauldron to officially open the pandemicdelayed Olympics.

Iran were also cheering early after Javad Foroughi won the men's 10m air pistol event, and Ecuador's Richard Carapaz won the men's cycling road race as unexpected nations featured at the top of the medals table.

But fans, banned from all venues under Covid-19 protocols, were served an early reminder of the pandemic's potential impact as two US archers said they were competing unvaccinated through personal

choice, and organisers said another athlete had tested positive for the virus.

The choice of Osaka to light the cauldron on Friday had capped an opening ceremony shorn of glitz and staged in an eerily silent stadium.

But while the ceremony had been like none before, day one of sport offered a much more familiar feel despite the absence of spectators, as the world's elite athletes ran, rode, fought and swam as a hankered-for business-as-usual vibe built.

The sight of an athlete, eyes glistening with joy, was always going to be a welcome one for organisers, and 21-year-old Chinese shooter Yang provided it first, holding her nerve in the women's 10-metre rifle competition to overhaul Anastasiia Galashina.

CRUMPLED UNDER PRESSURE: The Russian crumpled under pressure on her final shot, shooting 8.9, by far her worst of the day, and the worst score any of the finalists registered. "I got too nervous, held on too long," she said.

Yang was thrilled, and hinted at her prime motivation. "It's the 100th birthday of the Chinese Communist Party," she said.

"I'm so happy that this golden medal is a

gift to my country."

Organisers are hoping sport can distract from the stream of embarrassing gaffes and coronavirus woes which have marked the event, postponed by a year.

But there was no ignoring the global pandemic, as organisers said one more athlete had tested Covid-positive, bringing the total number of disclosed virus cases to 123.

Later, American archers Brady Ellison and Mackenzie Brown said they were free to choose whether or not they got vaccinated against Covid-19, after a US Olympic swimming gold medal prospect who had declined the vaccine was widely criticised on social media.

"It's 100 per cent a personal choice, and anyone that says otherwise is taking away people's freedoms," Ellison, the world's No. 1, said on the competition sidelines.

TYPHOON PREPARATION: Organisers are also preparing for a typhoon, having already reworked Monday's rowing competitions to integrate them in the schedule for Saturday and Sunday.

But while the rowers look anxiously to the skies, surfers - who start their compe-

Solskjaer 'delighted' to sign new three-year deal LONDON AFP

Manchester United manager Ole Gunnar

Solskjaer has signed a new-three year deal, the Premier League club announced on Saturday.

The Norwegian, who took over from

Jose Mourinho in 2018, will stay at Old Trafford until at least 2024, with the option of an extra year.

"Everyone knows the feeling I have for

this club, and I am delighted to have signed this new contract," Solskjaer told the club website.

"It is an exciting time for Manchester United, we have built a squad with a good balance of youth and experienced players that are hungry for success."

Solskjaer led United to a secondplaced finish in last season's Premier League while losing in the Europa League final to Villarreal.

However, the 48-year-old, who this week added England winger Jadon Sancho to his squad, has his eyes firmly on the biggest prizes in English and European football.

"I have a fantastic coaching team around me, and we are all ready to take that next step on our journey," he said.

"Manchester United wants to be winning the biggest and best trophies and that's what we are all striving for. We have improved, both on and off the pitch, and that will continue over the coming seasons.

"I can't wait to get out in front of a packed Old Trafford and get this campaign started."

titions on Sunday - should benefit from bigger swells.

The 3x3 basketball tournament made its debut and US First Lady Jill Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron led the cheering as the American women beat France.

At 12, Syria's Hend Zaza was the youngest athlete competing in Tokyo but her table tennis tournament was over in a flash as she lost to Austria's Liu Jia, before taking a selfie with her conqueror.

Liu, who has a 10-year-old daughter, had struggled to sleep on the eve of the event. "Yesterday I asked my daughter, 'Do you know your mother is playing against someone two years older than you?' Her first response was, 'Then you better not lose!'"

Perhaps Japan's "King Kohei" Uchimura could have done with similar advice, but the reign of the Olympic allaround champion and holder of seven Olympic medals, came to an abrupt end when he failed to qualify for the apparatus final, closing his storied Olympic career.

"I couldn't perform what I have practised. That's how I simply think," he said.

Pakistan’s matches against Afghanistan shifted from UAE to Hambantota NEWS DESK The three-match ODI series between Afghanistan and Pakistan will be played at the Mahinda Rajapaksa Stadium in Hambantota, Sri Lanka instead of in the UAE, as originally planned, ESPNCricinfo reported on Saturday. The series, which is the first bilateral contest between the two sides, will be played between September 1 and 5, and ESPNcricinfo learnt that the venues in the UAE were unavailable because of the second leg of IPL 2021, which has been tentatively scheduled to begin on September 20. Earlier this month, the schedule for the CPL was tweaked to avoid an overlap with the IPL, and the next edition of the PSL, in 2022, has also been slotted into a January-February window to avoid a clash with the Indian T20 league, expected to be played in April-May.

Sunday, 25 July, 2021

PRAyeR TIMINgs

NEWS

FO rEJEctS IndIan mInIStEr’S rEmarkS On kaShmIr, cPEc, aFghan SItUatIOn

ZUHR

ASR MAGHRIB ISHA

12:14

3:59

5:06

7:21

9:02

Pakistan, India need to work together to resolve issues: US WASHINGTON TLTP

ISLAMABAD TLTP

P

FAJR SUNRISE 3:27

AKISTAN has categorically rejected baseless and irresponsible remarks made by Indian State Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar in the Indian Parliament regarding the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, situation in Afghanistan and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

“We categorically reject baseless and irresponsible remarks made by the Indian state minister for external affairs,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri said in a statement on Saturday while responding to media queries.

“Regurgitation of false and fabricated claims by India can neither change the facts nor divert attention from India’s illegal occupation and human rights violations in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK),” said Chaudhri. He said that Jammu and Kashmir remains an internationally recognised dispute, pending resolution in accordance with the UN Security Council resolutions and the wishes of the people of Kashmir.

The spokesperson said that India has no locus standi whatsoever on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is a flagship project under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). “It promises socio-economic up-

lift and regional connectivity. No amount of Indian machinations or propaganda can undermine the significance of CPEC for peace, development and prosperity of the region”, he added.

As for Afghanistan, the spokesperson said that

“rather than expressing fake concern for the country, India would be well-advised to stop pedaling the delusional ‘contiguous neighbour’ fiction; to remind itself that its role as a ‘spoiler’ in Afghanistan is well-established; and to focus on course correction.”

Pakistan, China evolve joint strategy to counter terrorism

ISLAMABAD MIAN ABRAR

China and Pakistan Saturday evolved a joint strategy to counter terrorist attacks targeting the projects linked to China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) – a flagship project of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) launched

by China.

In a joint presser of the third session of the Foreign Ministers’ Strategic Dialogue of China and Pakistan held in Chengdu, capital city of Sichuan Province, China, both the sides vehemently condemned the recent

terrorist attack in Dasu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and pledged that China-Pakistan partnership would emerge stronger through this test against terrorism and also discussed at length the terrorist attack and promised joint action against the terrorism and its masterminds.

The terrorist attack in Dasu had caused loss of around 12 precious lives including nine Chinese and three Pakistani citizens. Dozens of Pakistani and Chinese workers sustained injuries.

The Pakistan side conveyed its profound condolences and sympathies to the bereaved families, emphasised that the sacrifices of Chinese nationals would not go in vain,

and promised to ensure medical treatment, care and comfort of the injured. Foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi led the Pakistani delegation, which also included director-general of the Inter-Services Intelligence (DGISI). Foreign Minister Wang Yi led the Chinese side.

Other than Dasu terrorist attack, the two sides exchanged views on bilateral strategic, economic and security cooperation, Covid-19 pandemic, peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan and international and regional issues of mutual interest. The sides reached consensus to collectively take measures to safeguard their common interests and promote peace, prosperity and development in the region.

Both sides recalled that the enduring Pakistan-China friendship has reached the momentous milestone of the 70th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations, being enthusiastically marked in the two countries with holding of more than hundred celebratory events throughout this year, demonstrating warmth and deep sentiments of their unshakable fraternal bonds.

Extending felicitations to the Chinese side on the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, the Pakistani side recognised CPC’s immense contributions for the Chinese people, China’s stellar rise at the world stage, and its unrivalled achievement of lifting 800 million people out of poverty.

The Pakistan side wished the Chinese government and people greater success in achieving the goal of socialist modernization in 2035 and building a modern, prosperous, beautiful, democratic, culturally advanced and harmonious socialist country in 2049. Both sides reviewed with satisfaction their close cooperation in successfully controlling the spread of Covid-19, cooperation in protective and medical equipment, vaccine development and ensuring early post-pandemic economic recovery.

Pakistan and India need to work together to resolve bilateral issues, the United States has said, adding that it has always encouraged the two nucleararmed neighbours to build a “more stable” relationship in the future. “India and Pakistan’s issues are ones for them to work out between themselves,” Dean Thompson, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, told reporters on Saturday. “We are pleased to see that the cease-fire that went into place earlier this year has remained intact, and we certainly always encourage them to continue their efforts to find ways to build a more stable relationship going forward,” he added. In February, both the countries agreed to adhere to a 2003 cease-fire agreement along the disputed border in Kashmir. Muslimmajority Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan. Both claim it in full and rule it in part and have fought two of their three wars over control of the region. Ties between Islamabad and New Delhi nosedived in August 2019 when the Indian government revoked the special status of Kashmir by repealing the constitution’s Article 370. Pakistan had strongly condemned the move and refused to hold talks with India until it reversed its decision.

New Delhi, for its part, has maintained that the decision was to “fully integrate” its only Muslimmajority region with the rest of India and was an “internal matter” of the country.

Emirates extends suspension of flights from Pakistan till July 28

Passenger flights from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka will remain suspended until at least July 28, Emirates airline has announced. The Dubaibased carrier said the decision was made in line with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government’s directives. Emirates also said passengers who have transited through Pakistan, India, Bangladesh or Sri Lanka in the past 14 days will not be allowed to travel from any other destination to the UAE. The UAE citizens, golden visa holders and members of diplomatic missions who comply with updated Covid-19 regulations are exempt from the ruling.

The exemption also applies to participants in Expo 2020 Dubai. Emirates said its contact centres were experiencing a greater volume of calls than anticipated. “If your call is not related to travel within the next 48 hours, please consider calling back later,” the airline said in its travel update.

Passenger flights from India were initially suspended on April 24 because of a surge in Covid-19 cases in the country. Since then, the suspension has been extended several times. News Desk

Afghan govt imposes night curfew to stem Taliban advance KABUL AFP

The Afghan authorities on Saturday imposed a night-time curfew across 31 of the country's 34 provinces to curb surging violence unleashed by a sweeping Taliban offensive in recent months, the interior ministry said.

The widespread Taliban offensive has seen the insurgents capture key border crossings, dozens of districts and encircle several provincial capitals since early May. "To curb violence and limit the Taliban movements a night curfew has been imposed in 31 provinces across the country," except in Kabul, Panjshir and Nangarhar, the interior ministry said in a statement.

The curfew will be effective between 10:00 pm and 4:00 am local time, Ahmad Zia Zia, deputy interior ministry spokesman said in a separate audio statement to reporters.

With the withdrawal of American-led foreign forces all but complete, the resurgent

Taliban now controls about half of Afghanistan's roughly 400 districts.

After a brief lull in violence during this week's Muslim holidays of Eid al-Azha, fighting continued again with the authorities claiming to have killed more than 260 Taliban fighters in the past 24 hours across several provinces.

Both the authorities and the Taliban exaggerate their claims, which cannot be independently verified.

US CARRIES OUT AIR STRIKES: As the fighting raged in recent weeks, the US military was forced to carry out air strikes "to support" Afghan troops to repel Taliban offensives even as its overall withdrawal continues, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on Thursday.

Experts say a lack of regular US air support since May to Afghan forces on the ground is a key factor in government troops losing a lot of territory to the Taliban.

Late on Friday, the Taliban warned the US military against carrying out air strikes.

"It is a clear violation of the signed agreement that will have consequences," the Taliban said in a statement, referring to a landmark deal between Washington and the insurgents last year that paved the way for the withdrawal of foreign forces.

The Taliban also warned the Afghan government against launching any offensive, saying the group will "strongly defend their territories and not remain in a defensive posture if the enemy insists upon war".

The Taliban had said earlier this week that its fighters were in a "defensive" posture to mark the Eid al-Azha holidays that ended on Thursday.

Earlier this week, the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff General Mark Milley said the Taliban appear to have "strategic momentum" on the battlefield.

With the militants putting pressure on around half of the country's provincial capitals, Afghan troops are in the process of "consolidating their forces" to protect those major urban centres, Milley added.

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