EpaperISB_22-1-29

Saturday, 29 January, 2022 I 25 Jamadi-al-Sani, 1443 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XII No 211 I 12 Pages I Islamabad Edition

Senate paSSeS SBp Bill amid oppoSition’S proteSt

t

He Senate on Friday passed the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Amendment Bill, 2021, despite strong criticism from the opposition.

The upper house passed the bill with the treasury benches enjoying a slight lead of 43 members over the opposition’s 42.

The bill was presented by Finance Minister Senator Shaukat Tarin.

The passage of the bill is one of the conditions set by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the release of $1 billion to the country.

It is pertinent to note that the IMF board meeting is scheduled for January 28 and will take up Pakistan’s request for approval to ensure the release of funds. However, it is linked with prior actions — the Finance (Supplementary) Bill 2021 and the State Bank of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill 2021.

The Finance (Supplementary) Act, 2021, has already been enacted through parliament.

Opposition parties have been voicing strong concerns over the SBP bill, saying it compromises Pakistan’s “economic conditions and gives absolute authority to the SBP to take key economic decisions independently”.

The SBP Amendment Bill, 2021, promises complete autonomy to the central bank and places a complete restriction on the government’s borrowing from the central bank. However, the government now can borrow at a market rate from commercial banks, which will benefit private banks owned by business elites, according to the opposition.

As the proceedings began today, opposition benches insisted Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani to ask the treasury benches to table the SBP amendment bill, however, due to the absence of Tarin at the time, the bill was not tabled.

Senator Sherry Rehman said the government did not want to table the bill, fearing its rejection.

CoronaviruS in

pakiStan

CONFIRMED CASES:

1,402,070

LAST UPDATED AT 9:10 AM ON JANUARY 28, 2022

DAY'S DEATH TOLL:

NEW CASES:

30

8,183

RECOVERED:

DEATHS:

1,274,657 29,192 SINDH:

PUNJAB:

535,965

471,925

KPK:

BALOCHISTAN:

189,300

34,187

AJK/GB:

ISLAMABAD:

36,465/10,580

123,648

She said the government had been defeated and demanded Prime Minister Imran Khan’s resignation.

Later, Tarin presented the bill which was put to vote amid sloganeering from the opposition. The bill was approved shortly afterwards.

The chairman then adjourned the session till Jan 31.

As many as 54 amendments, including 10 new sections, have been introduced to the SBP Act 1956 through the amendment bill, which was first approved in a cabinet meeting on March 3, 2021. It was revised earlier this month following observations from the Law Division, Prime Minister Secretariat.

Though supporting the government’s development agenda will be a tertiary objective of the SBP, the central bank is believed to continue the government’s policies for economic growth as far as this support does not undermine its primary objective of price and financial stability.

The proposed amendments include domestic price stability as the primary objective of the SBP. To achieve this, the central bank will be guided by the medium-term inflation target set by the government.

Meanwhile, referring to the passage of the bill, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry in a tweet said that the opposition had been dreaming of tabling no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran in the National Assembly “but it failed even in the [Senate] where it has a majority”.

He said that it has been proved that all opposition parties have no match for Imran. “The journey of success will not stop,” he added.

Later while addressing a press conference in Lahore, Fawad said that fissures within the opposition parties and their “flawed” political strategy have resulted in another demoralising defeat for the opposition as it failed to block the passage of the SBP bill.

The opposition claimed a majority in the upper house yet it was incapable of stalling the SBP bill, he said, adding that the opposition is a “tried and tested loser”. news desk

4 killed, 10 injured in blast in Balochistan’s Sui area A blast in Mat area of Sui in Balochistan’s Dera Bugti district claimed four lives and left ten injured on Friday, Levies officials stated.

As per the officials at the Levies Control Room, the victims were passing by the area when their vehicle drove over a landmine.

Meanwhile, Balochistan CM Mir Abdul Quddus Bizenjo condemned the incident. In a statement, he identified the deceased as members of the local Aman Force and expressed grief over their martyrdom.

The CM offered his condolences to the families of the victims. He said that the martyrs had sacrificed their lives to establish peace and to protect the people’s lives and properties.

“The sacrifices and efforts made for peace will not go in vain. The entire nation stands united with the country’s security

Pakistan reports highest daily Covid cases since start of pandemic Pakistan logged the highest number of daily COVID-19 cases ever since the pandemic started in 2020 after 8,183 people tested positive in a single day, according to the National Command and Operation Centre’s (NCOC) data.

As per the data, the daily COVID-19 death toll also reached a new high since October 6, 2021, as 30 more people succumbed to the virus in a single day.

A total of 39 people died of COVID-19 on October 6, 2021.

According to the statistics issued by the NCOC, 68,624 diagnostic tests were conducted across the country in the last 24 hours, of which 8,183 came back positive, pushing the total number of cases reported so far to 1,402,070.

With the detection of new cases, the country’s current positivity rate swelled to 11.92%, while the active case count stands at 98,221.

Meanwhile, 1,786 people infected with COVID-19 recuperated overnight, taking the total number of recuperations to 1,274,657.

A day earlier, the NCOC decided to extend coronavirus curbs in the country from Janu-

forces in eliminating terrorists,” he said.

He further added that the enemies had once again carried out a cowardly act of terrorism to ruin peace in the province. “No effort will be spared to bring the terrorists to justice” Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) leader Sarfraz Bugti claimed that “Baloch Republican Army terrorists” were behind the attack. He questioned how long the state would continue to tolerate such attacks on innocent people.

He said that his cousin was among the victims, adding that the deceased was a father of four kids.

“Provincial and federal government of Pakistan are failing to protect innocent people. This kind of situation will push people to take measures on their own.

The writ of the government needs to be implemented in Balochistan,” he said. news desk

more inside

PM backs Ravi riverfront project after LHC declares it ‘unconstitutional’ STORY ON PAGE 02

ary 31 till February 15, as thousands continue to contract the infection amid a spread of the Omicron variant.

The NCOC had imposed non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) on January 19, which were to be reviewed on January 27 in light of the COVID-19 situation in the country.

The restrictions for the wedding sector were already imposed till Feb 15.

For cities/ districts with positivity above 10%: GatHERINGS/WEddINGS: Indoor gatherings of all types, including weddings.

Outdoor gatherings, including weddings, will be allowed with a cap of 300 fully-vacci-

nated guests. dINNING: There will be a complete ban on indoor dining.

However, outdoor dining for fullyvaccinated citizens and takeaway service will be allowed.

GyMS: Indoor gyms at 50% capacity for fully-vaccinated individuals will be allowed.

CINEMaS: Cinemas will be allowed to open at 50% capacity for full-vaccinated individuals only.

SHRINES: Shrines are allowed to open at 50% capacity for fullyvaccinated individuals only. aMuSEMENt PaRkS: Allowed to open at 50% capacity for fully-vaccinated people only. news desk

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

Alvi directs officials to accelerate process of digital transformation of parliament STORY ON PAGE 03

PM reaffirms commitment to eradicate terrorism from Pakistan STORY ON BACK PAGE

Misinformation threatening cohesion in society: COAS STORY ON BACK PAGE

02

Saturday, 29 January, 2022 | ISLAMABAD

NEWS

PM backs Ravi RiveRfRont PRoject afteR LHc decLaRes it ‘unconstitutionaL’

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News Desk

M Imran on Friday supported the Ravi Riverfront Urban Development Project by stating that the government oppose the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) decision to scrap it in SC. Earlier today, the PM visited the site of the project as part of a one-day trip to Lahore.

The PM while speaking to the media, stated that a planned city was being made for the very first time since the creation of Islamabad as a city.

“River Ravi is shrinking and will soon become a sewerage drain,” he said, gesturing towards the water behind him.

The PM Imran went on to say that the objective of the project was to curb the expansion of Lahore. “If Lahore continues to expand, then the water table will continue to recede,” he said, adding that solid waste disposal would also become a challenge He further said that even if the modern Ravi city was not constructed, Lahore was well on its way to expanding up to this point.

“Unplanned housing societies are being

constructed […] they have no concept of a sewerage system or water treatment plants,” he lamented.

The premier stated that he respected the judiciary, but the government did not

Raas issues updates on schools in Lahore, Rawalpindi News Desk Punjab Minister for Education Murad Raas on Friday issued an update for schools in Lahore and Rawalpindi.

The minister took to Twitter, and said that in all public and private schools of Lahore and Rawalpindi, classes up to grade 6 will continue in a staggered manner — 50% students each day — until February 15. It is pertinent that earlier, the restriction was imposed till January 31 and was limited to Lahore. He further said classes 7 to 12 will remain on the previous schedule (continue with strict SOPs and all students vaccinated).

“Please follow COVID SOPs.” The National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) also a day earlier decided to extend the COVID-19 curbs in the country from January 31 till February 15. It merits mention that Lahore a sharp surge in its COVID-19 positivity ratio after it shot up from 15.25% to 20.58% in a single day as the spread of the pandemic does not seem to slow down anywhere in the country. As of January 27, 1,380 new infections were detected in Lahore during the last 24 hours, according to official data released Friday morning, when 6,705 samples underwent the diagnostic test.

effectively plead its case in front of the LHC. “We will plead our case in front of the Supreme Court.”

The PM also refuted the impression that housing societies were being built under the project, stating that a new city was being developed.

“It will be a modern city which will be constructed at par with Dubai and Malaysia and will expand vertically.”

He further said that prior to the PTI, no other political party had ever focused on the environment. “It is the first party that has been recognised for growing one billion trees in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the drive to grow 10bn trees across the country.”

He added that a whole “jungle” would be grown alongside the project. “A planned jungle is being grown which will keep the environment clean.”

Similarly, barrages would be built in an effort to replenish the water table while treatment plants would also be made to dump clean water back into River Ravi.

The PM said that the initiative, which cost Rs20bn, would also attract foreign investment and contribute to wealth creation.

The PM while addressing the nation said

that such cities were the need of the hour due to the rate of population growth. “If cities continue to expand, we will not be able to address pollution, waste disposal or provide people with essential amenities.”

He stated that the government would present the detailed plan behind the project to the media so that the people could realise the significance of such a project.

It is pertinent to note that the PM’s statement comes days after the high court scrapped the project by declaring several provisions of the Ravi Urban Development Authority (Ruda) Act 2020 unconstitutional.

Earlier this week, Justice Shahid Karim of the LHC had announced a reserved judgement on multiple petitions.

The judge read the operative part of the judgement and ruled that Section 4 of the Ruda Act 2020 was in violation of Article 140-A of the Constitution, which deals with the formation of local governments.

He had also declared the acquisition of agricultural land for the project unconstitutional and in violation of the fundamental rights of citizens.

He further directed the Ravi Urban Development Authority to return a loan of

Rs5 billion to the Punjab government within two months and ruled that the authority had failed to comply with the laws and initiated the project without a master plan.

Justice Karim said the Ruda (Amendment) Ordinance 2021 also failed to cover legal infirmities in the law. The judge ruled that the notification issued under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act 1894 had not been released in accordance with the law. The land collectors failed to legally acquire the land for the project, the judge added.

Meanwhile, PM Imran also met with Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar during his Lahore trip. According to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the two discussed the overall political and administrative situation of the province as well as ongoing development and public welfare projects.

PM Imran also toured the Central Business District in Lahore and was given a detailed briefing on the project.

According to PMO, he was told that the first phase of the project attracted Rs24bn in foreign investment. “The project will provide a world class business centre and accommodation facilities in Lahore.

JI ends sit-in after successful talks with Sindh govt on LG law News Desk The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) on Friday announced to end its 29-day-long sit-in outside the Sindh Assembly after the Sindh government agreed to amend the local government act.

The announcement to end the sit-in was made by JI leader Hafiz Naeemur Rehman after successful talks with a delegation of the Sindh government. The delegation of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) was led by Sindh Minister for Local Government Nasir Hussain Shah.

The two sides also reached an agreement, according to which, the Karachi mayor will be chairperson of the water and sewerage board while all departments of the education and health sectors, including hospitals and dispensaries, will be handed back to the Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC).

The government also agreed to form the Provincial Finance Commission (PFC) board within 30 days after the LG elections. The elections will be held within 90 days after the local bodies end their current tenure.

The committee formed to review the local government act will meet regularly to iron out differences on clauses on which both parties could not agree as of now, the agreement said, adding that the Sindh government will take measures to restore student unions in Sindh’s

educational institutions. Speaking to media, Nasir said that PPP and JI have agreed to empower the mayor of Karachi.

Nasir requested the JI leadership to end the sit-in as their demands have been met by the provincial government.

He added the majority of the demands

have been met with consensus and negotiations will continue on the other matters to reach consensus. Rehman congratulated the participants of the sit-in for their movement to empower Karachi and added that the workers had started the protest for basic rights.

Dua Mangi case: Accused escapes from police custody in Karachi News Desk A man accused in kidnapping cases of Bisma Saleem and Dua Mangi had escaped from police custody on Friday.

In this regard, two police personnel were remanded in police custody while Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah ordered the suspension of Courts SSP Azam Durrani after the incident.

East SSP Qamar Raza Jiskhani confirmed that the accused was in police’s custody and was presented before the court in the kidnapping cases on Thursday, before he fled from a shopping mall at Karachi’s Tariq Road.

In the CCTV footage from the mall, a man, identified as Qureshi, is seen roaming around the mall’s exit for a few seconds before leaving with shopping bags in hand. He is wearing a jacket over a blue shalwar kameez and donning a cap as well.

As per the first information report (FIR) of the incident, Zohaib Ali Qureshi, one of the accused in the 2019 kidnappings, was presented before the court on Thursday. After attending the hearing, Qureshi and police personnel accompanying him stopped at a mall where the accused “wanted to shop” but he fled from there.

Subsequently, the Ferozabad police registered an FIR against court police constable Habib Zafar and head constable Mohammed Naveed for their alleged negligence that led to Qureshi’s escape. Qureshi has also been nominated in the FIR. The FIR was registered on behalf of Assistant Sub-Inspector Mohammed Khalid on Friday under sections 223 (escape from confinement or custody negligently suffered by public servant), 224 (resistance or obstruction by a person to his lawful apprehension ) and 225-A (omission to apprehend, or sufferance of escape, on part of a public servant, in cases not otherwise provided for) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

According to the FIR, Naveed told police that Qureshi was presented before the civil and judicial magistrate (East) at the City Courts on Thursday and the judge had fixed the next hearing on February 9.

The FIR further quoted the head constable as saying that after the hearing, he had travelled with Qureshi to Tariq Road in a private car, where the accused told him that he wanted to do some shopping at Dolmen Mall. Head constable Naveed said Qureshi went inside the mall and “fled after deceiving me”.

According to the FIR, after police received information about Qureshi’s escape, they rushed to the spot and arrested Naveed. Moreover, it said, Naveed told police that Zafar had taken other accused in the kidnapping cases to Central Jail.

Zafar was standing outside the jail when police reached there and arrested him, the FIR said, adding that a police party also went to

Qureshi’s residence in Steel Town for his arrest, but no progress had been made on that front until now.

According to Ferozabad Station House Officer (SHO) Arshad Janjua, Naveed, who is the prime suspect in Qureshi’s escape, told police during the initial probe that he had developed a “relationship of trust” with Qureshi as he would usually take the accused to court.

SHO Janjua said Naveed told police that he believed Qureshi would never “betray” him, adding that other aspects of the case were also being probed.

Naveed and Zafar were presented before a judicial magistrate on Friday and remanded in police custody till Monday.

The judge has also sought a report from the investigating officer

at the next hearing.

Meanwhile, the Sindh chief minister took notice of Qureshi’s escape and ordered the immediate suspension of the Courts SSP. According to a statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Office, he also directed the Sindh inspector general of police and home secretary to take “strict action” in the case. He further instructed that a police party be formed for Qureshi’s immediate arrest.

In May 2019, Bisma, said to be a blogger and make-up artist, was abducted outside her home in DHA by armed men travelling in a car.

She had returned home a week later allegedly following the payment of ransom.

Later, in November 2019, Dua, a law student was also kidnapped from the Bukhari Commercial area by four gunmen, who also shot at and wounded her friend Haris Fatah Soomro as he put up resistance. A week later, she also returned home after alleged ransom payment.

Police had arrested Qureshi along with another accused, Muzaffar alias Moozi, on March 19, 2020, in connection with the kidnappings.

An ATC had indicted him and four others in the kidnapping cases in January 2021.

Saturday, 29 January, 2022 | ISLAMABAD

NEWS

aLvi diRects officiaLs to acceLeRate PRocess of digitaL tRansfoRMation of PaRLiaMent

P

News Desk

RESIDENT Dr Arif Alvi has emphasised the need for accelerating the process of digital transformation of the Parliament House by equipping it with the latest IT tools to make it more efficient. The president made these remarks on Friday while chairing a meeting on the President’s Initiative on Cyber Efficient Parliament. He asked the concerned organisations to prioritise the deliverables of the project and take timely decisions to avoid any further delay.

Underscoring the importance of the project, the president said that e-solutions would significantly enhance the efficiency

of parliament as well as help in the quick disposal of the legislative business.

He stated that steps are being taken for the digital transformation of the government departments to bring transparency and improve governance and responsiveness of the government institutions. The meeting was attended by Deputy Chairman Senate Mirza Muhammad Afridi and other senior officials of the government.

The steering committee of the project updated the meeting on the current status of the project and various processes involved in it. The meeting was informed that the committee has seriously been working to implement the project within a given time.

PM seeks conducive business environment to attract investors News Desk Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that the industrial sector has resumed progressing due to government’s successful policies.

Chairing a meeting on Friday to review progress of ongoing development projects in Faisalabad, the prime minister directed completion of all development projects within a given time frame. He said that public welfare projects should be completed on priority basis.

He said the government is taking all possible steps to attract investors towards industrial manufacturing in the country. He said Punjab is a very attractive province for the foreign investors especially for Chinese investors who are desirous of shifting their industrial units to Pakistan.

The prime minister directed the relevant officials to ensure a business friendly environment for the investors.

These measures include provision of land on easy instalments to decrease the cost of initial investment of businessmen and availability of plug and play model for early start of their business operations.

The prime minister stressed that effective rules and

regulations should be formed to discourage conversion of industrial estate into real estate ventures because when the investor would have to pay a heavy cost for acquiring land to start a business project, it would make the investment not attractive and he would abandon the decision to make investment.

He instructed the relevant officials to reorganise the board of directors of Punjab Industrial Estate Development and Management Company and Faisalabad Industrial Estate Development and Management Company on very professional lines so that those directors can be appointed who have no personal interest in the special economic zones.

He said that foreign investments will boost after establishment of the special economic zone in Faisalabad. He said the government is providing health insurance worth over Rs400 billion for all families in the province through health cards.

During the meeting, the prime minister was told that construction work of important highways and link roads is in progress in Faisalabad. The meeting also discussed proposed public transport, IT university and city beautification projects for Faisalabad.

Federal ministers Shafqat Mehmood, Fawad Chaudhry and Asad Umar, Advisor to the PM on Trade Abdul Razak Dawood, Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar, Punjab Minister for Industries Mian Aslam Iqbal, and others attended the meeting while Special Assistant to the PM for CPEC Khalid Mansoor participated through a video link.

Bilawal inaugurates free bone marrow transplant facility at Gambat

News Desk Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari inaugurated the Bone Marrow Transplant Institute at Gambat Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS) on Friday.

Chairman Bilawal announced that the bone marrow transplant treatment at GIMS is 100% free.

He said that GIMS offers free treatment for liver, kidney, bone marrow and cancer.

People will be able to access free of cost bone marrow transplant facility at Gambat Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS), which is already offering liver transplant services.

“Our vision is providing free healthcare across Pakistan,” Bilawal stated.

The bone marrow transplant procedure will leave a great impact on the lives of people seeking treatment for several diseases such as thalassemia.

He also said 100 % free cancer treatment,

and world-class facilities are offered at Gambat.

“I challenge all the provincial governments of the country to build a hospital-like GIMS, where free treatment for liver, kidney, bone marrow and cancer is provided,” he added.

The PPP chairman further said that with the rise of car accidents, a rapid response emergency facility has also been launched.

The aim is to open such centres in other cities as well so those suffering severe medical injuries from fires and accidents can be treated in the best possible way. “Gambat, from today, is the medical capital of Pakistan.”

Bilawal said that Sindh has broken the national record by providing 550 free liver transplants. Amongst these, 52% people were from Sindh, 29% were from Punjab, 15% were from Balochistan, and 3% were from K-P. He further said that Punjab has a liver and

kidney institute that performs transplants, but the number of people from Punjab that Gambat treated is more than the overall patients their hospital admitted.

“The vision of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto was to improve the healthcare system of the nation, and save the lives of elders. This is our vision of Pakistan,” the PPP leader added. “We want healthcare to be completely free so no one can say they couldn’t get treated due to lack of finances.

To reach our goal, we have made a large number of investments, especially for tertiary care hospitals.”

Chairman Bilawal stated that the budget of only three institutes set up by the Sindh government, GIMS, SIUT and NICVD, is more than the budget of the entire KhyberPakhtunkhwa Health Card.”

“If you utilise your finances properly, you will also be able to make world class hospitals like GIMS,” said PPP chairman.

“Our vision is to bring free treatment to the homes of people. If we can provide free cancer, liver, and kidney transplant to Sindh, we can take this initiative to the rest of Pakistan too.”

Bilawal said the PPP government had introduced Waseela-e-Sehat Card to help the poverty ridden. When Mian Nawaz Sharif came, he changed the name to PM Health Card, now PTI calls it the Sehat Insaaf card.

“But you need a brain to even copy a bright idea (naqal key liay bhi aqal chahiey hay),” he also said. “The way they are running our card is wrong. We offered it to the poor – their card offers a subsidy of Rs600,000 to private hospitals.”

He further said that the selected government can run the healthcare sector better if some of this money is given to the poor, and the rest is utilised in the budget of government hospitals. Their current health card is a theft of the health budget as this money will be given to private insurance companies.

03

techno consortium quotes lowest bid for sukkur-Hyderabad motorway IsLAMABAD AhmAd AhmAdAni

Techno Consortium on Thursday, quoted the lowest bid for the Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway project (M-6). The financial bid was participated by Techno-CMC-ACC consortium which scored 98.43/100 marks and another bidder ZKB which secured 25.28/100 marks. According to sources, Techno Consortium consists of two local firms, Techno and ACC and an Italian construction company called Cooperativa Muratori e Cementisti (CMC) di Ravenna which was earlier declared as disqualified by an evaluation committee of NHA. The consortium is now likely to build the Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway project on a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) basis. Only two bidders had submitted their proposals and expressed interests for the construction of SukkurHyderabad Motorway project. However, an evaluation committee of National Highway Authority (NHA) had declared the consortium as disqualified. The consortium later approached the GRC which announced its decision regarding the technical qualification of the consortium on Thursday. According to sources capital Viability Gap Fund (VGF) of Rs143 billion and operational VGF amounting to Rs49 billion at Rs7 billion per year for a period of 7-years was authorised in the approved PC-I of M-6 project . According to sources, ZKB in its financial bid had quoted Rs37 billion as capital VGF during construction and Rs143 billion as operational VGF. Similarly, Techno Consortium had quoted Rs9.5 billion capital VGF during construction while the consortium did not claim a single rupee as operational VGF which will lead to direct saving of Rs170.5 billion to the national exchequer. According to sources NHA’s share as quoted by ZKB for a period of 22 years is Rs139 billion with a Net Present Value (NPV) of approximately Rs25 billion while the project cost as quoted by ZKB stood at Rs275 billion. However, on the other hand, Techno consortium had quoted a Rs407 billion share for NHA for a period of 22 years with a NPV of Rs73.58 billion. The total cost of the project in this case will be Rs307 billion. The project is of national importance and is going to cost the government Rs9.5 billion directly payable in the shape of capital VGF during construction while the government will gain Rs73.58 billion in terms of NHA share in present value terms. NHA intends to undertake construction of the 306 km HyderabadSukkur motorway (M-6) on a BOT basis under Public Private Partnership (PPP). The project entails the construction of a 306 km green-field six-lane access controlled toll road. The concession period of the project is spread over 25 years.

Saturday, 29 January, 2022 | iSLamabad

04

newS

FBR, CBR sign MoU to laUnCh nstR systeM in aJK a FTER the successful launch of its digitized National Sales Tax Return last month, FBR achieved one more milestone as the country's premier revenue collection organization has signed an MoU with Central Board of Revenue (CBR), AJ & K to extend its application to the territorial jurisdiction of AJ & K. In a simple but graceful ceremony, the MoU was inked by Dr. Ashfaq Ahmad Tunio, Member (IT), FBR and Mr. Shakeel Qadir Khan, Chief Secretary/ Chairman CBR(AJ & K), at FBR (HQs) on Friday afternoon. The ceremony was witnessed

by Chairman FBR/Secretary Revenue Division, Dr. Muhammad Ashfaq Ahmed and Commissioner Inland Revenue (AJ & K) Mr. Zafar Mahmood Khan.

In his welcome note, Chairman FBR congratulated Team FBR for successful launch of National Sales Tax Return in (AJ& K). He also thanked Chairman CBR(AJ&K) on signing of a historic MoU which promises a paradym shift in the way sales tax returns are filed by taxpayers of AJ&K. He termed it a watershed initiative and a big leap forward to maximize automation and taxpayers' facilitation who would be able to file their returns for Sales Tax and FED electronically. Addressing on the occasion, Mr.Shakil Qadir Khan thanked team and Chairman FBR for providing this momentous opportunity to the government & taxpayers of AJ&K in integrating their economy with the Federation of Pakistan. This will usher in a new era for ensuring ease of doing business for the

residents of AJ&K as well as the 1.5 Million Kashmiri diaspora settled in England, Europe and other developed countries, he concluded. It is pertinent to share that there are about 63,500 registered taxpayers in AJ&K, out of which 1002 are also registered for Sales Tax and 40 are registered with WEBOC. The National Sales Tax Return will facilitate all those taxpayers who are engaged in sales taxable activities.

The need for a National Sales Tax Return was felt long ago, but only recently, FBR had signed agreements with the provincial authorities to work together and prepare this return for the facilitation of taxpayers. Previously, a taxpayer had to get registered and file Sales Tax Returns in each of the areas where he was supplying goods or serv-

ices. Thus, someone operating in all four provinces and AJ&K had to file six different returns each month to the different revenue authorities. This caused great hardship and increased compliance costs of the taxpayers. Likewise, it was also a very tedious and cumbersome task which often led to errors and disputes. The National Sales Tax Return has eliminated many of these issues.

The salient features of National Sales Tax Return include entering the sales data by the taxpayers only once, instead of multiple times. Furthermore, the system acts as a single repository for all domestic transactions and invoice management. Similarly,the system automatically apportions input tax, prepares the return, and works out tax payable to

each of the relevant authorities. This automation eliminates repeated tedious data entry, manual calculations, and errors.

The new system is based on the IRIS platform, which already has many built in functionalities. For example, notices, assessment orders, refunds, exemptions, and legal management system are already incorporated. The IRIS platform has proved to be very robust over time, and is being further improved. The new system has linkages with POS transactions as well as Track & Trace.

The benefits of National Sales Tax Return include simplification of tax filing procedures, thus, helping taxpayers to save time, effort and facilitating taxpayers to promote ease of doing business and reducing compliance costs. It minimizes data entry, and addresses the common issue of data and calculation errors. It is easily manageable and officers of all the revenue authorities will be able to make better informed decision regarding tax matters of the taxpayers. Moreover, It will also enable tax collectors to maximize revenue potential and tax compliance without audits. It will encourage harmonization of tax procedures, definitions and principles between the federal government and the provinces.

The Senior officers of FBR including Member PR, Ms. Shahnaz Maqbool, Meber (IR Policy), Mr. Afaque Ahmed Qureshi, Chief PR/Director Media, Mr. Asad Tahir Jappa, Chief (Reforms) Mr. Khalid Jameel and officers of CBR(AJ & K) were also present in the ceremony. PR

Pandamart opens store in Karachi Karachi PR

Pandamart, the country’s leading online groceries delivery platform has achieved a major milestone of establishing over 50 stores within just over a year since the first store was opened in Bahadurabad, Karachi in November 2020.

The 50th store was opened in DHA Phase 8, Karachi on the eve of the new year, on December 31, 2021. This exponential growth means that a new store was opened practically every week of the past 12 months or so.

Online groceries shopping through pandamart is accessible on the foodpanda app.

Today, pandamart stores are spread across Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Islamabad and

Hyderabad, with this countrywide network of stores catering to about 85 to 90 percent of the population within the cities covered. There are now aggressive plans in place to further increase the number of stores and also expand into several other cities during this year. The present stores cover more than 350,000 square feet of floor space, stock more than 10,000 products of over 200 suppliers and vendors, employ over 1,250 people directly and create economic opportunities for the freelance rider community. .

Speaking about pandamart’s rapid growth, foodpanda’s CEO, Nauman Sikandar Mirza said, “Q-commerce is definitely the future and pandamart is pioneering this sector boldly as is obvious from the growth we have achieved

in such a short time period. Our mission is to vigorously support the government’s goal of realizing a digital Pakistan and documenting the economy, while offering unprecedented convenience and benefits to the public through online groceries shopping that is available 20 hours out of 24 every single day.”

Benefits of online groceries shopping include convenience of ordering from home instead of physically visiting shops particularly important during the covid panedmic, extremely fast delivery, assured high quality of products, especially of perishables like fruits and vegetables, competitive prices, and particularly relevant during Covid times, the minimizing of human contact and avoidable movement of people.

Lucky Cement announces profit Karachi PRess Release

On a consolidated basis, Lucky Cement Limited reported the profit after tax to date of PKR 17.15 billion of which PKR 4.01 billion is attributable to non-controlling interests for the first half ended December 31, 2021. This translates into earnings per share (EPS) of PKR 40.66 / share as compared to PKR 32.05 / share reported during the same period last year.

Further, on a consolidated basis, the Company achieved gross turnover of PKR 154.50 billion which is 24.9% higher as compared to the same period last year’s turnover of PKR 123.72 billion. During the HY 2021-22 under review, the Company’s consolidated net profit (attributable to owners’ of the Holding Company) increased by 26.8% as compared to the same period last year. The increase in Net Profit was mainly attributable to the stellar performance of Company’s Chemicals business. Apart from the one-off unrealized accounting gain recognized on acquisition of controlling shares in NutriCo Pakistan amounting to PKR 1.847 billion, the Chemical business achieved considerable improvement in net profitability on account of impressive growth in its Polyester, Pharma and Animal Health business segments.

In the automobile business, Lucky Motor Corporation introduced Kia Stonic in its line up as well as started commercial production of Samsung branded mobile phones during the half year under review. Whereas, profitability of Company’s overseas operations increased mainly due to improvement in sales volume

and operations of Company’s Joint Venture Greenfield cement plant in Samawah, Iraq, which achieved its COD in March 2021.

On unconsolidated basis Company’s overall sales volumes posted a decline of 5.9% to reach 4.70 million tons during HY 2021-22.

Company’s local sales volumes remained almost in line with the corresponding period last year i.e. 3.63 million tons in 1HY 2021-22 versus 3.66 million tons during the same period last year. The export sales volumes of the Company declined by 19.7% to 1.07 million tons as compared to 1.34 million tons during the same period last year.

The decline in overall dispatches is mainly attributed to decline in export volumes on the back of volatily in coal prices and freight costs internationally, which have adversely impacted the viability of cement exports from Pakistan.

Further, with regards to Company’s unconsolidated financial performance, the gross sales revenue increased by 20.2% to PKR 50.61 billion compared to PKR 42.11 billion reported during the same period last year. The per ton cost of sales also increased mainly due to increase in coal prices along with other input costs. Lucky Cement recorded net profit after tax of PKR 5.77 billion showing growth of 27.2%. Similarly, the standalone EPS of the Company is PKR 17.86 / share as compared to the same period last year’s reported EPS of PKR 14.04 / share.

The Company reported progress on its brownfield plant expansion activities in KPK with project completion targeted for December 2022.

The construction activity for setting up a

660 MW super critical, lignite coal-based power plant is near to completion and it has been synchronized with the national grid in November 2021. The Project is currently under testing phase and it is targeted to achieve COD in February 2022.

Lucky Cement continued its patronage on Education & Scholarship, Women Empowerment, Health, Environment Conservation and reassured its commitment for the development of society and the communities in which it operates.

While the previous waves of Covid-19 receded in the past, the pandemic continues to resurge with different variants of the virus.

Even with the persistent drive of the Government on compliance of SOPs and getting the masses vaccinated, prudent expectation is that volatile infection rates will continue for the time being. We, however expect that the economy will continue to show resilience against the adverse impacts of such pandemic.

On the other hand, the ongoing inflationary trend in commodities globally has resulted in an increase in cost of inputs, such as coal, diesel, furnace oil and freight charges, which are a major cost component of cement. Currency devaluation has further impacted and increased these costs. Due to increase in costs of other construction materials, the local demand will remain flat. At the same time, cement prices have only partially offset the increase in input costs faced by the manufacturers.

Construction of dams, hydropower projects, real estate development and low cost housing schemes will help to maintain the demand of cement in the medium to long term.

cMYK

Waheed maintains lead in golf tournament Karachi PRess Release

The second round of UMA 48th Pakistan Open Golf 2022 was played at Karachi Golf Club on Friday. In the combined category of Professionals and Amateurs, Waheed Baloch of Karachi Golf Club maintained lead with seven under par on the completion of second day.

Defending Champion Shabbir Iqbal of ICGC is following him with gross of five under par. Ahmed Baig of PAF with Ansar Mehmood of MGG are behind him with joint score of four under par. Total 58 golfers have qualified to play in Round 3.

Amateur Omar Khalid of KGC while competing amongst Professionals is holding 29th position with three over par. Next Amateur Umer Khokhar is at 40th position with five over par.

Junior Professionals played the first round on Friday.

Total 16 participated in this category. Muhammad Sahil of PGC is holding first with 73 one over par. He is being followed by Muhammad Saqib of LGG who managed 76 five over par.

Tournament Director Col Zahid Iqbal said, “Leading Golfers from all over Pakistan are struggling hard at the lavish greens of Karachi Golf Club. Players are enjoying playing in the pleasant weather and clear visibility.”

Waheed Baloch is in full form and came up as major hurdle for Defending Champion Shabbir Iqbal.

UMA 48th Pakistan Open Golf 2022 has the highest prize money of PKR 10 Million, with return Dubai ticket along with golf rounds as Hole-in-One prize for the first claim.

Saturday, 29 January, 2022 | ISLAMABAD

NEWS

05

PaKiStan RePoRtS higheSt Daily CoviD CaSeS SinCe StaRt of PanDemiC ContInued fRom pAge 01

Bridge collapses in US city before Biden visit to tout infrastructure needs A two-lane bridge in Pittsburgh collapsed on Friday hours ahead of a visit by US President Joe Biden to the Pennsylvania city, a dramatic example of the urgency behind his drive to rebuild the United States' creaky infrastructure.

Ten people sustained injuries, all of them minor, when the snow-covered span collapsed into a wooded gully at about 6am (1100 GMT), according to authorities.

The collapse also caused a massive natural gas leak, which prompted the temporary evacuation of several families from their homes until it was brought under control, Pittsburgh Fire Chief Darryl Jones said at a news conference.

“It sounded like a snowplow,” a witness told television station KDKA, calling the timing of the collapse on the day of Biden's visit “an amazing coincidence.”

Biden was told of the bridge incident and will proceed with his trip as planned, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said.

The White House was in touch with state and local officials about the collapse, she added.

The incident was a high-profile example of the need to rebuild the country's aging bridges, highways and other infrastructure with money from a $1 trillion spending bill that was a signature achievement of Biden's first year in office.

A photo posted on social media by KDKA showed several vehicles piled in the rubble of the collapsed roadway at the bottom of a wooded gully.

At least one vehicle, which appeared to be a bus, was dangling at the edge of part of the bridge. A strong smell of gas permeated the area, Pittsburgh Public Safety said in a Twitter message.

Pennsylvania has 3,198 bridges rated as being in poor condition, according to the US Department of Transportation.

Economic boost: Biden, whose approval ratings have fallen in recent months amid a surge in the Covid-19 pandemic and inflation, got a boost on Thursday when the Commerce Department reported the US economy grew the fastest in nearly four decades in 2021.

In Pittsburgh, the Democratic president will tour Mill 19, a former steel mill building now serving as a research and development hub, before hailing the US economy's strong recovery from the pandemic, the White House said.

“The president will talk about the remarkable economic progress we've made over his first year in office — including the fastest single year of job growth in American history, the biggest unemployment drop on record and, as we learned on Thursday, the fastest economic growth in 2021 in almost four decades,” a White House official said.

Biden was returning to the site of his first campaign event in 2019. He is expected to tout the creation of 367,000 manufacturing jobs since he took office a year ago, and highlight the $1 trillion infrastructure bill — which was a rare bipartisan victory in a deeply divided Congress.

The president also plans to talk about his push to rebuild American competitiveness and beat China in a race to dominate the global economy, the official said.

In recent days, General Motors Co has said it would invest $7 billion in Michigan to expand electric vehicle production and Intel Corp has said it would invest $100 billion to build a chipmaking complex in Ohio.

Mill 19 is home to Carnegie Mellon University's Manufacturing Futures Institute, and hosts a robotics laboratory and a technology training site. ReuTeRs

sport: There would be a complete ban on contact sports like karate, boxing, martial arts, water polo, kabaddi and wrestling.

Education sEctor: Schools will be allowed to open with 50% attendance (staggered days) for students below the age of 12 years. For students (fully vaccinated) over 12 years, the NCOC has recommended 100% attendance. citiEs with lEss than 10% GathErinGs/wEddinGs: Indoor gatherings are allowed with a maximum limit of 300 guests (fully vaccinated), while outdoor events can be held with a maximum limit of 500 guests. dininG: Indoor and outdoor dining is permitted for fully-vaccinated individuals only, while takeaways are allowed 24/7.

Gyms: Indoor gyms are open for fully-vaccinated individuals only. shrinEs: Open for fully-vaccinated individuals

only. parks: Open for fully-vaccinated individuals only. sports: All types of sports are allowed for vaccinated individuals.

Education: Children will continue to attend schools with strict standard operating procedures (SOPs), while those above 12-years of age must have to be fully vaccinated. rEstrictions imposEd across pakistan businEss timinGs: Businesses will continue without time restrictions public transport: Public buses will be allowed to operate with 70% of their seating capacity.

Wearing masks will be mandatory throughout the journey, with a complete ban on serving meals/snacks. railways: Railways will operate with an 80% occupancy level. officE routinE: Offices will be allowed to operate at 100% capacity with normal working

hours. However, work from home is encouraged. domEstic air travEl/mEals: There will be a complete ban on meal/beverages serving during the in-flight journey for domestic travel.

Education sEctor: With effect from February 2022 vaccination for students above 12 years will be mandatory (at least one dose). No exemption other than medical reasons will be entertained.

Aggressive sentinel testing in educational institutions will be carried out for targeted closures in high disease prevalence education institutes.

Federating units in consultations with health authorities will set a number/percentage for closure of education institutes. mask wEarinG: Compliance with compulsory mask-wearing while incorporating innovative measures for enforcement. Strict adherence to SOPs in mosques and other places of worship be ensured by all federating units.

ExtEndEd lockdowns: Targeted lockdown with stringent enforcement protocols based on risk assessment will continue.

Haleeb Foods organises donation campaign

KARACHI PR

Haleeb Foods Limited recently joined hands with the University of Management & Technology (UMT) to conduct a Winter Clothing Donation Drive for Akhuwat Foundation. This donation drive was held for 3 days, highlighting the importance of helping out and giving back to society, encouraging students to

donate winter clothing for the underprivileged.

Akhuwat Foundation’s clothing bank helps many families in need and HFL takes pride in being associated with this charitable cause. Sharing her view on this collaboration the Corporate Communications Manager, Haleeb Foods – Ms. Amur Nadeem said: “We at HFL are thankful to the donors who actively participated to help the

people suffering in these severe weather conditions. Haleeb Foods is highly committed towards the wellbeing and betterment of the society, helping the local community and supporting social causes.”

The company continues in its mission to lend a helping hand to the community and give back to the society as part of their multiple CSR initiatives.

PKR recovers 21 paisas against USD KARACHI TLTP

Pakistani rupee strengthened against the US dollar for the first time during the current week by 21 paisas (+0.12 percent).

The State Bank of Pakistan said in a statement on Friday that the dollar opened at Rs176.98 in the interbank market and closed at Rs176.77. The rupee witnessed a trading range of 23 paisas during the session, showing the intraday high bid of 176.80 and low offer of 176.75. Within the open market, the rupee was traded at 178/179 per dollar.

Overall Pakistan rupee shed 53 paisas against the US dollar during the last four days, while it has depreciated by 26 paisas during the current year 2022. The local unit has depreciated by Rs19.34 during the ongoing fiscal year 2021-22. The main reason behind the recovery of rupee against the dollar was passage of the State Bank of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill 2021 from the Senate during the day. The bill passage was one of the conditions for the revival of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme for the $6 billion extended fund facility (EFF). The IMF will discuss Pakistan's case on February 2. On the other hand, the US dollar has been climbing against its peers in the international markets following the Federal Reserve said that it will soon be appropriate to raise its benchmark interest rate amid surging inflation. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, has increased up to 96.4080. The currency experts said that approval of the State Bank of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill 2021 from the Senate will ensure clearance of Pakistan’s sixth review by the IMF’s executive board.

Earlier this week, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the central bank in its meeting decided to keep the policy rate unchanged at 9.75 percent till March in line with the forward guidance provided in the last monetary policy statement.

GroupM, GSV, Ten Sports join hands to promote football A new dawn of an era in football marketing kicks off 2022 in a historic trilateral strategic collaboration between the powerhouses of GroupM Pakistan, Global Soccer Ventures (GSV), and TEN Sports to showcase football.

The partnership is designed to redefine the future of football marketing in Pakistan led by the private sector. GroupM is the undisputed market leader in Pakistan and playing its role as a leader to take the reins of football too in order to bring yet another platform to the Pakistani youth and for the Brands to capitalize on it. The Brands will be given an opportunity to make lucrative commercial investments in football in Pakistan - offering international intellectual property image rights.

Naveed Asghar CEO of Group M said: “GroupM offers a suite of expertise through Mediacom, Mindshare, M/Six and Wavemaker so this becomes an enduring partnership offering lucrative returns to brands on their investment, while capitalizing on the football frenzy. It is a no brainer with Pakistan having approx. 40 million football fans, almost 15 million watching live TV Euro-

pean leagues week in week out and nearly half of our youth actively engaged with football clearly demonstrates the number of marketing opportunity that is ripe for brands and marketers in Pakistan”.

TEN Sports will beam the ground-breaking TV broadcast deal, being the first of its kind in Pakistan, striking a balance between grassroots coverage and a franchise league.

The deal will see all matches broadcast live from Karachi on TEN Sports. The deal mobilises the first ever international broadcast partnership offering a blend of international and local expertise.

Aly Rana, TEN Sports Country Head said, “I am really excited by the football package GSV has created, put simply its all under one roof. The Pakistan Football League heralds the birth of Pakistan as a Footballing Nation and as the leading sports broadcasting network, we plan to take the viewer experience to the next level. They have placed Pakistan in the front seat to witness world-class production, with the focus remaining on Pakistani talent being at the centre of all the action on and off the pitch”.

Zabe Khan CEO of GSV said: “In GroupM and TEN Sports we saw a blend of winning professional combination as market leaders and who can interpret our strategic vision all over Pakistan. GSV entered Pakistani market with a view to disrupting the typical sports marketing platforms and provide brands with alternative marketing opportunities connected to the world’s most popular sport – football.

Yasir Mahmood, Chairman of GSV said: “If Pakistan as a nation can export 750,000 footballs a month we can certainly create a brand new marketing ecosystem for brands and television to engage with the world’s fanatical game offering endless opportunities” Pakistan and beyond”.

Ateeq Rehman, GroupM Pakistan CIO in conclusion said “Partnership with GSV and TEN comes as a very calculated move on behalf of GroupM Pakistan, as we have established ourselves as the premium partner in sports marketing. GSV adds into our portfolio of sports partnerships from cricket events like ICC and PSL, to virtual e-gaming partnerships with Galaxy Gamers to now

CmYK

this Football partnership” Global Soccer Ventures has kicked off football transformation in Pakistan by developing state of the art soccer city already underway at NED University in Karachi, an international pathway for Pakistani players

to be developed at clubs and secure pro club contracts and a franchise football league featuring international stars creating the ultimate football carnival in Pakistan with inter-city rivalry taking center stage in the all new soccer city. PR

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Saturday, 29 January, 2022

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Prospects for new provinces

Terrorism on the rise Under the PTI government

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ITh the PTI government focused fully on punishing its political opponents, the threats to internal security are on the rise. This can be gauged from the number of terrorist attacks that have taken place within a few weeks of the New Year. The attack on a police checkpost in Islamabad showed that the terrorists had developed the capacity to launch attacks in the heart of the country. This was followed by the attack in Lahore’s Anarkali Bazaar which rudely awakened the investigators to the Buzdar government’s neglect of safe city cameras. Between Wednesday and Thursday night terrorists attacked the hangu oil field, killing the security official and abducting a supervisor. On Thursday 10 soldiers lost lives in a terrorist attack on a checkpost in Balochistan’s Kech district. On Friday four people died in a land mine blast in Dera Bugti. The country seems to be reverting to the pre-Zarbe Azb era.

While in the Opposition, Prime Minister Imran Khan was the foremost critic of operations against the TTP terrorists. Despite TTP’s renunciation of the idea of a nation-state, its rejection of the Constitution and replacement of the constitutional judiciary with Sharia courts in Swat, the TTP enjoyed the support of the PTI chief who demanded that the terrorist network be allowed to open offices in Pakistan. The infatuation continued even after assuming the office of PM. The attacks by the TTP have exposed the bankruptcy of those having a soft corner for the network. The hope that Taliban’s victory would lead to the reining in of the TTP has turned out to be a pipe-dream. There is a need to take on the TTP instead of holding talks with it.

The Baloch insurgency is a self-imposed calamity.

Over-confident of the military’s prowess, General Musarraf refused to resolve differences with Nawab Akbar Bugti through talks, preferring instead to take him out. It was claimed that protests would be confined to no more than a couple of districts and would be brought under control in no time. The resulting widespread unrest provided an opportunity to Pakistan’s enemies to exploit it. halfhearted attempts made by the PML(N) government to resolve the issue through talks were foiled by those who matter. As long as acts of terrorism continue, the CPeC would continue to face problems.

All provinces contain the seeds of a split dr qaiSar raShid

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he issue of provincial division is fast coming out of the closet and seeing daylight. On 17 January 2022, Rana Mehmood-ul hassan, a lawmaker of Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N), introduced a private bill in the Senate demanding the division of the Punjab to carve out South Punjab as a separate province. The bill garnered support from both the Pakistan Tehreek Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).

It has been an election sloganeering to cash in on the sentiments of the residents of South Punjab to secure electoral victory. Presently, the ruling government of the PTI has only established a civil secretariat in Multan, but it has also planned to form another secretariat in Bahawalpur. The civil secretariats would be meant for running by additional secretaries and not chief secretaries, thereby meaning that both Multan and Bahawalpur would be subordinate entities to Lahore.

The issue is more to woo voters of South Punjab than to do anything substantial on the ground. The ruling party, PTI, would have to face the wrath of the voters if it faltered on the issue of dividing the province. The division of the Punjab was one of the major electoral manifestoes of the PTI in South Punjab to win over the affiliations of politicians and voters alike. The PTI has failed to honour its pledge of creating a South Punjab province within the first 100 days of ruling the country. The promise has gone frustrated. The issue is now more a political gimmickry than anything serious. The acrimonious voices would surge as the next polls approach.

The argument supporting the provincial division says that the division is meant for uplifting the rural outlying areas of the province, as development in South Punjab has not been the priority of Lahore.

More infrastructure has been laid in central and northern Punjab than in Southern Punjab. The same principle is also applicable to other provinces. This is one of the reasons poverty is more rampant in South Punjab than in the rest of the province. Making a new province can create new financial opportunities.

The creation of any new province would also bring along certain constitutional challenges. Amendments have to be introduced into the Constitution, a renewed Water Accord has to be formulated, the National Financial Commission has to be revised, and

JI succeeds

the Senate and National Assembly have to be rearranged. It is a gigantic task. Constitutional amendments have to be introduced as one package. It can be done neither on selected basis nor as a piecemeal development. The will of other provinces have to be asked whether or not they require division along linguistic lines.

India is cited as an example to divide existing provinces along linguistic lines. In 1947, India had nine provinces and now it has 22.

Nevertheless, India cannot be cited as an example, as ground realities in Pakistan are different. Over the years, the challenge of ethno-cultural nationalism has gone toxic. Under the rubric of Seraiki Sooba, to divide the Punjab along ethnic or linguistic lines is not difficult but the repercussions of this act are quite ominous.

One of the major menaces is that ethno-cultural nationalism would get an impetus. The major force of brunt would be borne by Sindh where the voice of a separate province for the Urdu-speaking people would re-emerge, visualizing Karachi as a separate province. This would be a call for bloodshed in Sindh.

The PPP seems to be oblivious of this expected turn of events. Similarly, in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the voice for hazara province is still loud meant for dividing the province. In Baluchistan, the Pashtun with numerical majority may ask for a Pashtun province carved out of Baluchistan into a Baluch majority and a Pashtun-majority area. Similarly, northern Punjab consisting of the Potohar area can also demand its separation from Central Punjab.

On the other hand, the challenge is how to improve development in South Punjab to help it overcome its deprivation. Apparently, both the PTI and

the PML(N) have a consensus that the proposed Seraiki Sooba should be sub-divided into two administrative units (or sub-provinces): Multan and Bahawalpur. To have separate secretariats in both Multan and Bahawalpur is a good idea, as with the passage of time, the population of the province is increasing, besides the strife for resources.

An associated problem is that politics has gone ethnic and not federal. In the past, the Centre promoted ethnic parties to counterweigh national political parties. For instance, in 1977, the martial law of General Zia-ul-haq promoted Urdu-speaking groups to dilute the effect of the PPP, which was a national party, in Sindh. he also brutally crushed the Movement for Restoration of Democracy in 1983 and permitted the survival of linguistic parties in Sindh. That is, the PPP faced the problem of existence and relevance in its own home province, Sindh, which still faces the challenge of being divided into urban Sindh and rural Sindh. The policy might have solved immediate problem of Sindhi nationalism after the hanging of the late Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, but the policy gave rise to today’s seemingly intractable ethno-linguistic problems in Karachi.

As apparent, ethnic identity and provincial nationalism are the two contenders against the concept of federalism. The factor of ethnic identity remained submerged in the Punjab but each electoral episode incites ethnic identity and hence the division in the Punjab. ethnic identity and provincial nationalism make a lethal combination. Both existed simultaneously in east Pakistan (Bangladesh). Generally, prospects for the division of existing provinces into full fledged new provinces along linguistic lines are dim.

As apparent, ethnic identity and provincial nationalism are the two contenders against the concept of federalism. The factor of ethnic identity remained submerged in the Punjab but each electoral episode incites ethnic identity and hence the division in the Punjab. Ethnic identity and provincial nationalism make a lethal combination. Both existed simultaneously in East Pakistan (Bangladesh)

The writer can qaisarrashid@yahoo.com

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The lessons for everyone

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Saving the military regime, not Myanmar’s people

he Jamaat Islami protest against the Sindh Local Government Act ended on Saturday after 29 days, with the agreement between the Jamaat and government teams to implement the Jamaat demands.

Though the Jamaat did win acceptance of its demands that more departments be placed under mayors, that the mayor of Karachi head the Water and Sewerage and Waste Management, Boards, and over the formation of the provincial finance commission; in a way, it is irrelevant what exactly was agreed. More to the point, the Jamaat succeeded because of the political process that it followed. It carried out a sit-in at the height of winter, but perhaps more importantly, it avoided violence.

Avoiding violence may only have become a virtue now that so many people and parties have lost it. Only a day before the Jamaat success, the MQM (P) clashed with the administration and one of its workers died. There have been displays aplenty of hotheadedness and bad manners, which might provide a fleeting satisfaction, but which fail to provide any agreement. It may have helped the current negotiation that the PTI was not part of it; otherwise someone was likely to have acted as a disruptor. The Jamaat itself would do well to profit from this example, for its student wing, the Islami Jamiat Tulaba, has won a reputation for mayhem, but that has not translated into any political gain for the Jamaat.

The issue is not so much to build a culture among political parties of tolerance, so much as to recapture a culture that is lost. The ruling PTI can claim to have reached an agreement with the Tehrik-i-Labbaik Pakistan, but that was brokered by others. The Jamaat-PPP agreement showed that there need not be any shadowy and mysterious presences around to make political parties come to an agreement. As in this instance, the agreement, and thus the preceding discussion, was about an electoralcum-executive issue, rather than about the release of leaders and workers. That is where political parties are best engaged, contrary to the belief of some.

Getting the military rulers off the hook

Parvej Siddique Bhuiyan

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N the complex political and security crisis following last Februaqry’scoup, Cambodian Prime Minister hun Sen came in Myanmar on a two-day visit. Despite the fact that the juntabacked State Administration Council (SAC) is represented at Myanmar embassies in approximately 40 countries, this is the first visit by a head of state to Myanmar since the military seized power. Another reason for the enhanced focus in his visit was that Cambodia is chairing ASeAN this year. Myanmar was barred from attending the 36th ASeAN Summit after the junta failed to implement the five-point accord issued by ASeAN last year. Now, sidelining the ASeAN’s unanimity, hun Sen’s bilateral meeting with Min Aung hlaing naturally raises the question of whether hun Sen is the Myanmar people’s saviour or the Myanmar dictatorship’s. It is believed that his visit is part of a backdoor diplomacy to relieve mounting pressure on the junta.

With an increasingly tumultuous domestic scenario, Tatmadaw is establishing fresh example of

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horror and ruthlessness in the ongoing armed conflict. By doing so, the junta administration is sending a clear message that any protest would be violently suppressed. however, the junta was dealt the harshest blow when it was denied permission to represent Myanmar at the ASeAN meeting in Brunei last year. It was also barred from attending the China-ASeAN Summit, the Asia-europe Meeting and international climate and disaster conference. Aung Thurein, the junta’s UN ambassador, was also denied by the UN Credentials Committee.

On December 10, the USA, the UK and Canada jointly imposed sanctions on four departments affiliated with the Myanmar military.

On January 7, hun Sen and hlaing held a 140minute discussion on bilateral and regional issues of mutual interest and concern. Both sides issued a joint statement which represents three concrete outcomes (assurance!): One, the existing truce would be extended from February to December this year. Two, allowing meeting with all parties involved to expedite humanitarian relief and immunization initiatives.

Three, including the ASeAN Special envoy in Myanmar peace talks. hun Sen’s visit was hailed by the government and government-controlled media, the Khmer Times, as a positive step forward in the peace process. But the fact is that over the last few months, the junta has become known for making spectacular choices and then altering them quickly.

Similarly, since there is no legal obligation to implement these decisions, it is self-evident that the junta will change its position in any situation contrary to its interests. Furthermore, the public’s skepticism rises due to the following factors: Firstly, though the junta is currently at war with the People’s Defense Force (PDF), backed by NUG and other ethnic armed organizations (eAOs), its promised truce applies only to a limited number of eAOs. Thus, the war in Myanmar will continue as no representative of the NUG attended the discussion, and armed groups like the Kachin Independence Army, Karen National Liberation Army, and Arakan Army refused to accept the junta’s truce in advance.

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Secondly, while the ASeAN calls for constructive dialogue with all parties to find a way out of the crisis, hun Sen has given no indication that he will engage in dialogue with other democratic parties, including the NLD, which is critical to ensuring that all parties participate in the 2023 elections to restore democracy in Myanmar. hun Sen also avoided discussing about democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi or the end of the war with the NUG. Thirdly, such unilateral negotiations would split ASeAN’s unified stance on Myanmar and thwart a concerted diplomatic effort to put the five-point plan into effect. The ASeAN Foreign Ministers’ Conference, which was scheduled for January 18-19 in Cambodia, had been canceled due to a dispute over the Myanmar junta’s representation.

Fourthly, hun Sen also sidelined the Rohingya crisis, another key issue in the Myanmar’s real political crisis. Only hours before hun Sen’s arrival, Myanmar made a dramatic offer to hold bilateral talks with Bangladesh to begin the Rohingya repatriation. Bringing up the Rohingya card by the junta to relieve stress and kill time is, however, nothing new. General Naing, the head of the Arakan Army, recently in an interview claimed that the Arakan Army has established a strong position in Rakhine through the introduction of justice, tax, and police administration. As a result, any talks on the Rohingya crisis without the group would fail, and will only deepen and prolong the crisis.

Amid a variety of challenges faced by junta, including internal pressure due to growing anti-junta armed movement as well as increasing trend of international isolation, hun Sen has emerged as a rescuer to the junta. he has created a new context through this visit for gaining regional recognition by allowing the junta at the ASeAN Summit in 2022.

Diplomatic analysts believe that China and Japan are the two key actors in this backdoor diplomacy and hun Sen is in the forefront in the role of villain in its implementation. In this case, hun Sen’s tactic is to divert public attention away from Cambodia’s internal politics, which is suffering from an image crisis due to US sanctions and human rights violations.

The writer can at psbhuiyan92@gmail.com

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

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06-07 Comments - 29TH January 2022_Layout 1 1/29/2022 12:29 AM Page 2

Saturday, 29 January, 2022

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

From history to impact

Civil rights for transgenders This neglected segment of society needs attention

Fayyaz Salih huSSain

H

UMAN rights law is guided by the basic principle of equality, universality, and nondiscrimination. According to international human rights law, all human beings are equal and should be treated equally irrespective of their gender expression. The basic principle states that all human beings have the right to exercise and enjoy their basic human rights, and these rights included the right to life, liberty, and freedom of assembly, association, and expression. it is also the basic human right of anyone to have freedom from arbitrary detention, freedom from discrimination, ill-treatment, and torture and a person has a right to private and family life, right to access to justice when their civil, political, economic will is compromised.

According to this explanation of international law, irrespective of whether they express as male and female, the transgender also have all basic human rights. There are multiple definitions of the transgender person according to international standards; and not any single definition can define it. The Yogyakarta Principles statement about gender identity is that “Gender identity is understood to refer to each person’s deeply felt internal and individual experience of gender, which may or may not correspond with the sex assigned at birth, including the personal sense of the body (which may involve, if freely chosen, modification of bodily appearance or function by medical, surgical or other means) and other expressions of gender, including dress, speech, and mannerisms.”

Before the British colonial period, transgenders were considered the most trusted and royal servants during the Mughal period. They exercised enormous power, had great respect in Mughal courts, and had a huge amount of wealth associated with them. They are considered one of the most trusted servants of the king and were appointed as custodians of the harem.

Many of them were appointed as teachers for the royal family, advisors to the court of justice, and a few of them manage to rise to the rank of general in the army. But nowadays transgender people are one of the most marginalized populations all around the world, especially those living in South Asia.

This discrimination and annoying behavior started in 1872 when British colonial power introduce the notorious act called Criminal Tribes Act, which required control and registration of

transgenders. This bill prohibited wearing female clothes, considered it offensive for men, if any were transgender, who used ornaments and dress like a woman, in public or participated in any public exhibition, considered it as a crime, and liable to imprisonment for two years. This law deprived transgenders form their fundamental rights of free living and earning.

This discrimination was the inheritance of colonial practices which included exclusion, criminalization, and marginalization of transgenders. Besides the incidence of abduction, beaten, rape, and killing of the transgender, Pakistan has shown good steps to uplift this marginalized segment of society but there is a long road to go, and after 147 years of the British criminal tribe act, the National Assembly passed one to historical act, known as “Protection of rights” bill. In this bill, rights for equality have finally been recognized by the Parliament of Pakistan and it has become the very few countries in the world, the first in Asia, to legally recognized the rights of gender identity. This act allows a ban on discrimination of any kind in any institution including workplaces as well as educational institutes.

The transgender have the right to mention their gender in their identity card, passport, and in driving license.

In the past state has miserably neglected this community. It is the responsibility of the state to safeguard the rights of every citizen and to provide a better environment.

There are many more steps required to eliminate injustice with transgenders. The government has taken good steps to fix the job quota for transgenders but to acquire these jobs, one should possess the required qualification, so there is a great need to revolutionize steps in order to facilitate the education of transgenders. It is not only necessary to fix a quota in all public and private sector schools, colleges, and universities but the state should take all necessary steps in order to provide free education with that quota. When a section of the population is severely affected for more than a century, many extraordinary steps, are the need of the hour in order to balance the societal structure.

In almost every case, transgenders are badly rejected from their family and society is still incapable to accept them with heart and mind.

The state is considered a mother to all citizens so it is the primary responsibility of the state to provide shelter in order to live, monthly stipends to study, and help them to achieve

their careers and dreams.

Moreover, Initiatives should be taken from primary to a higher level in order to educate people regarding gender equality. even in the society today we are living in, when talking about gender equality, they only discuss equality and the rights of males and females. Where is transgender? There is a matter of urgency to change the curriculum from primary to higher studies. A new or modified chapter should be included about differences in genders and ethics. Medical universities should revise their curriculum and add essential knowledge about the ethics, diseases, treatment, and social well-being of transgenders. Pakistan medical and engineering council should modify their registration processes in order to register transgender as medical or engineering professionals. Civil and military forces should open the doors for those transgenders who can qualify according to the general standards irrespective of their gender and should be treated with the same dignity as other gender are being treated.

Transgender should be given equal opportunities in making laws. Initially, Parliament should pass a bill to amend election commission rules especially for transgenders by making the whole of Pakistan, one constituency because the population of transgenders is not confined in any single area, they are scattered all over Pakistan if they contest the election, they will never succeed and never be elected legislators.

Moreover, all political parties should fix a special quota afor transgenders.

Religious scholars should have to play a positive role in order to make all necessary arrangements for the participation of transgender in religious activities. Allah is the creator of all living beings, no one has no right to ask questions about his creations. There is nothing to take pride in being “Mard” or “Aurat”. If you are not a good human being, you are nothing but a useless creature on earth.

The Government should take steps in order to create new laws and amendments where necessary, in order to make a smooth way for the marriages of transgenders. It is a crime to force anyone to behave, act and live against their gender. It is the time of urgency to implement new social order in which all genders must be treated equally.

Religious scholars should have to play a positive role in order to make all necessary arrangements for the participation of transgender in religious activities. Allah is the creator of all living beings, no one has no right to ask questions about His creations. There is nothing to take pride in being “Mard” or “Aurat”. If you are not a good human being, you are nothing but a useless creature on earth.

The writer is a Ph.D Scholar at the National Centre of Excellence in Analytical Chemistry, University of Sindh, Jamshoro, and can be reached at fayyazsalih@hotmail.com

I would like to share some heroic history done by our past governments. In February 1992, China aero-generation import and export company invited Pakistan to make investments in the venture in change for a big switch of era and participation. The primary flight became planned in 1996; nevertheless, it got delayed because Pakistan favoured to improve the characteristics in response to India’s acquisitions of SU-30mki. The task began to stagnate.

In 1998, the Pakistani Prime Minister’s visit to China triggered the continuation of the programme. In 1999, sanctions on Pakistan brought about critical setbacks at the programme. Pakistan was hoping to install western avionics on the aircraft that had been now not viable. 2001 saw the adjustments in technique to increase to produce the fighter aircraft.

The development of the airframe turned into the development of avionics. The complete layout became completed in September 2002 even as the improvement of various aircraft structures stepped forward. The primary aircraft become assembled by way of May 2003. A contemporary redesigned prototype emerged in April 2006; this was in reaction to flaws that have been which having been located in advance flight assessments.

The key changes protected re-designed air intakes, large main area root extensions LeRX, longer ventral fins under a nook of the fuselage, a taller vertical stabilizer fin with a rectangular electronic conflict device housing on the tip. These are the investments and experiments our national heroes spend for us and for our brighter future. So, being Pakistani here I would also like to say thanks to the government of Argentina for showing interest to buy our Technology JF-17 Thunder. For me, it may be the impact of our selling power of technology to other countries like Nigeria too.

FAYYAZ ASHFAQ KArAcHi

Diet for radiant skin SKIN is the organ with the largest contact area between the human body and the external environment and is a barrier that separates the human body from the environment. It not only protects the body from external environmental damage and avoids water loss from the body, but also has a certain cosmetic effect. Diet primarily impacts the levels of varying hormones in the body, and hormones regulate many of the natural processes that occur within the body. This means the overall health and appearance of the skin are, closely related to hormone fluctuations that are influenced by diet.

Research on the best foods for healthy skin is limited. Still, antioxidantrich foods seem to have a protective effect on the skin. Consider these skin-friendly foods: Carrots, apricots, and other yellow and orange fruits and vegetables, spinach and other green leafy vegetables, tomatoes, berries, beans, peas and lentils, salmon, mackerel and other fatty fish and nuts are good for healthy skin. Tomatoes are a good source of vitamin C and all of the major carotenoids, especially lycopene. These carotenoids protect your skin from sun damage and may help prevent wrinkling. Soy contains isoflavones, which have been shown to improve wrinkles, collagen, skin elasticity, and skin dryness, as well as protect your skin from UV damage.

Dark chocolate has cocoa that contains antioxidants that may protect your skin against sunburn. These antioxidants may also improve wrinkles. riMSHA ArSHAD GojrA

Political maturity needed CAN you say that our political leaders receive more appreciation or accusations from the people who elect them for seats of higher authorities? If they receive more appreciation, the citizens feel that they fulfil their responsibility adequately. If they get more accusations, the conscientious citizens should assess his conscience and see if he has discharged his responsibilities in the best possible behaviour. Our government is not authoritarian. It should not be even an oligarchy. It presumably is a democracy — a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Occasionally it is that —when the people bother to vote. Sometimes it isn’t government by the people, but a government by a segment of the people whose special interests make sure that they will enrol a vote. Special interest groups are frequently respected with scorn by innocent citizens who stay away from polls. This kind of thinking is a little tough to pursue. Where can we disclose virtue in being a vote slacker? Because this concept is so prevalent, and it is quite absolutely a sign of immaturity, it would appear worthwhile to strive to examine it.

Mature people welcome privileges and assume responsibilities. It is good, of course, when they welcome both. But even though they may not welcome responsibility, mature people understand that responsibility is the other side of the shield of privilege. You don’t get worthwhile sans paying for it. If you refuse to pay, someone else has to do more than his share. If that doesn’t occur, there is the terrifying thought that the government of the people, for the people, and by the people may perish from the face of the earth.

Unfortunately, our political leaders have never tried to get lessons from their previous decisions and stupid activities, and they regularly delight at taking out the standing government just using the name of democracy. But our political leaders have been accusing one another of their ridiculous decisions and failures that put the nation from bad to worse. Besides the incapabilities of our political leaders, the coronavirus pandemic has brought out the terrible overwhelming reaction on the economy that resulted in inflation and several other problems for the people. Sans financial support, we can never develop and control inflation in any case. But sadly, our political leaders just have been protesting for their aims. Unfortunately, the PDM involves those political bodies which governed thrice in the country but we didn’t get fruit from their rule in the country. A far-flung trauma from the politicians of the country that destroyed the nation’s every basic and essential right from their lives which includes freedom of speech, right to education, equality of citizens, right to property, freedom of trade, business, and security of person which cause education ills, mental malaise, economic havoc, suicide contagion, void of learning and much more. The politicians on both viewpoints, besides the sitting government and opponents, look insensible of the truth that overrides an aching economy. Our political leaders should make such policies that must contain hard work, continuity in work, which can be done through a union on fundamental doctrines. The basic pillar of democracy is an electoral procedure, if it is imposed then the people could elect their own diplomats in unrestricted and adequate ways sans any extraneous distress. In order to rule out the increasing phenomenal mayhem from political leaders and transparent electoral process, the political domain should be brought up to a higher tribune of forbearance and collaborative accommodation.

DEEDAr ALi BANGWAr KANDHKot

08 WORLD VIEW 29th January 2022_Layout 1 28/01/2022 9:56 pm Page 1

Saturday, 29 January, 2022

08

WORLD VIEW

Is A RussIA-ukRAIne wAR ImmInent?

EXAMINING THE KEY QUESTIONS AROUND RUSSIA’S STRATEGY AND MILITARY MOVEMENTS, AND THE LIKELY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS

Chatham house

F

MathIeu BOulègue

UNDAMeNTALLY, the Russian leadership wants to subdue Ukraine once and for all. Russia is seeking to transform Ukraine into part of a buffer zone with limited sovereignty – as explicitly made clear by Vladimir Putin – to protect against the enlargement of NATO and perceived foreign encroachments.

The minimum strategic objective Moscow might settle for is the full and comprehensive implementation – under extreme coercion – of Russia’s interpretation of the Minsk 2 agreements from the creation of a ‘special status for Donbas’ to the federalization of the country, as well as a ’no membership pledge’ from NATO, whereby Russia obtains a guarantee Ukraine will never join.

These objectives have been cleverly concealed by the Kremlin. Under the pretext of seeking ‘strategic stability’ discussions with the Us over wider european security and the expansion of NATO, Russia is really after forcing the Us and NATO into making concessions over Ukraine. Demands of ‘mutual security guarantees’ with NATO shows the Kremlin is not only seeking to humiliate the West but is also creating ‘smoke and mirrors’ to deceive and distract.

Alternatively, when the moment is ripe, Moscow might use its position as leverage to push for more security concessions with the Us and NATO, negatively impacting the security of europe as a whole.

Timing matters, and many factors come into play, the most important being the perception the Us has disengaged from the european theatre and turned towards the Asia-Pacific, leaving a void; the current absence of european leadership; and the ‘legacy moment’ for Putin himself – what history books will remember him for.

Russia has not achieved the implementation of the Minsk agreements - which favour Moscow and shackle Ukraine – and now wants to achieve that and get it rubber-stamped by Washington. The Kremlin simply believes it will never achieve security at its european borders without a subdued Ukraine.

Russia’s demands are not new but part of a wider set of grievances and self-constructed narratives feeding its foreign policy since the end of the Cold War. With Ukraine in particular, the Russian leadership exists in an irrational mental space fraught with emotions and gut feelings which are hard for Western policymakers to grasp. Ukraine is now a hostage with the threat of renewed war against its territory. Russia already invaded Ukraine in 2014 and used that as leverage for the Us and NATO to finally take Russian demands seriously.

WHAT COULD HAPPeN IF RUssIA CHOOses A MILITARY OPTION AGAINsT UKRAINe? Ukraine will likely suffer Russian military operations in the coming days or weeks. The question now is no longer if but when, and how far it will go.

Russia is willing to use military force to achieve political-strategic goals, as well as to conduct a blend of non-conventional warfare and false-flag operations to create surprise and achieve a fait accompli. The Kremlin plans for all contingencies from full-scale war to cyber and information warfare and other asymmetric tools.

In terms of tactical-operational warfighting, this would potentially occur at the ‘initial period of war’ by

the intensive use for a few days of a mix of long-range precision-guided munitions (PGMs) and ground-based artillery strikes against key military (and likely civilian) targets in Ukraine.

The goal would be to quickly decapitate the Ukrainian command and control (C2) infrastructure, critically hampering its ability to communicate, move, and fight.

This initial phase would be complemented with air strikes and air superiority missions notably from Belarus – in order to hold Kyiv at risk of destruction – as well as electronic warfare operations to further downgrade the ability of Ukrainian forces to act in a contested environment.

With the recent pre-positioning of troops close to Ukraine borders, Russia can now easily move in three broad directions – from the Western Military District (WMD) and occupied Donbas, from Belarus, and from illegally-annexed Crimea, with the support of naval operations in the Black sea and the sea of Azov.

From there, follow-on ground forces could potentially cross the border from the WMD into eastern and north-eastern Ukraine and (re)invade the country. Territory would be quickly seized with an influx of troops and heavy artillery, as well as support and rear units fighting against Ukrainian Territorial Defence units, armed civil resistance, and counter-insurrection movements.

Depending on what Moscow’s war termination strategy is, the ground invasion could push to the Dnieper River, and potentially beyond into the southwest of Ukraine and down to the southern seaboard and Odessa.

Once Kyiv can no longer take the unacceptable cost of warfare operations, Russia would move to ‘diplomacy’ where it could potentially force a regime change in Ukraine, install a pro-Kremlin team – as outlined by the recent UK release of intelligence – and enable its own implementation of the Minsk agreements as well as achieve further strategic concessions.

But the Kremlin needs the Us to sign off on this too.

Is war inevitable?

THE ONLY DECENT WAY OUT OF THE CURRENT SITUATION IS FOR ALL SIDES TO IMMEDIATELY MEET AT THE NEGOTIATING TABLE ON MUTUAL SECURITY GUARANTEES

russian international affairs CounCil

O

IgOr IvanOv

VeR the past days and weeks, media outlets have been proliferating all kinds of apocalyptic predictions and scenarios on the immediate prospects of the Ukrainian crisis. Journalists, experts, and politicians claim — with all seriousness — that a Russian-Ukrainian war can hardly be thwarted, not to mention article that seek to explore a purported coup in Kyiv, the crushing response of the West, or even the looming nuclear conflict of global dimensions.

We shall try to find an answer to a number of interwoven questions, which might arise in the minds of those who face this wave of dire prophecies and predictions.

Why has this information attack been unleashed? Who is behind this and who is deriving profit from it? What is really going on and what could happen to the Ukrainian issue in the near future? starting off with Moscow’s plans and intentions. Anyone who is slightly familiar with the structure of power in Russia knows well that it is few people who are especially close to the power circles that are aware of the true plans and the motives of the Russian authorities.

As a rule, these people tend to avoid showing up in the media. strong statements are usually made by those tasked by their superiors to attract a lot of exposure or by those who act at their own discretion to be noticed and appreciated by their top management.

Obviously, none of these talking heads are privy to any of the Kremlin’s plans, which means they are simply working out their tasks at a higher or lower professional level. Regrettably, being baseless and of no practical value, the campaign — launched by such ‘concerned’ people about the allegedly impending war in Ukraine — in-

variably affects the public sentiment in our country, causing either panic or warmongering.

This bellicose campaign, coupled with its dire consequences, has the potential to seriously demoralize and traumatize Russian society. Time will tell what repercussions this may bring about; still, nothing good can obviously be expected from this wave of hysteria.

It can be assumed that some in Russia need another anti-Ukrainian campaign to deflect attention from the country’s severe socio-economic and political problems, to raise the population’s patriotic spirit, or to unite the country. If one thinks so, one is likely to be seriously disappointed over time.

The very idea of war against Ukraine or in Ukraine is insufficient for a new national idea; it is not even close to a platform on which Russian society could be consolidated. Now let’s take a look at this problem from Ukraine’s perspective. We have to admit that there are many in the country who are interested in stirring up information hysteria around the relations with Russia, and for various reasons. They assume that playing the role of an innocent victim of the bloodthirsty Russia can only bring benefits to Ukraine.

First, they believe that this way it would be easier to implement a plan in order to shape a new national identity. second, the West might be willing to turn a blind eye to Ukraine’s domestic scandals, corruption cases and other issues. Third, one can count on increased economic and military aid by playing the victim. Fourth, numerous clumsy actions of Russian propaganda only serve to strengthen anti-Russian sentiments across Ukraine. Therefore, it is logical to assume that Kyiv will go on with doing everything it can to heat up tensions in the media environment.

The campaign around Russia’s alleged imminent aggression in Ukraine is also good for Washington and its euro-Atlantic allies.

It provides a distraction from their own domestic problems, allowing for cohesion

within the archaic NATO and diverting attention from the ignominious flight of the Western troops from Afghanistan.

By focusing on what is going on around Ukraine, the White House is trying to counter the europe-wide perceptions that the Atlantic string of U.s. foreign policy is finally receding into the background of U.s. priorities, giving way to the Indo-Pacific, which is more important to Washington.

Long story short, everyone is minding their own business, spinning a propaganda war around Ukraine. Are there any forces that might actually be interested in a full-blown rather than a propaganda war in Ukraine? The situation looks different here. If one puts aside the opinions of fierce fanatics and professional instigators, it turns out that no one needs an actual war with the use of modern weapons, countless casualties and immense destruction. everyone would lose from such a war, be it Russia, the West, or Ukraine.

This would entail such political, military, and economic costs for everyone that it would not be easy to recover for decades, not merely years. The repercussions of a major war at the center of europe would be no less lasting than the ramifications triggered by the Chernobyl disaster, which have persisted for almost forty years. Who would be willing to take such a risk?

We allow ourselves to draw a relevant, if not too original, conclusion, leaving all the forecasts and scenarios of a military conflict at the heart of europe to the conscience of numerous slacktivists.

The only decent way out of the current situation is for all sides to immediately meet at the negotiating table on mutual security guarantees. Russia, the United states, and NATO have all presented their proposals on this matter. The positions of the parties are known. Now we must come to agreement.

Igor Ivanov is President of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC). He was Russia's Foreign Minister from 1998 to 2004.

This could arguably be the only way for Washington and NATO to obtain the (partial) removal of Moscow’s ’shopping list’ of unachievable demands and deconflict a tense situation.

There would probably be no Russian force withdrawal until after the Minsk agreements have been fully implemented to Russia’s satisfaction. But what could then conceivably follow is a partition of Ukraine, with the creation of a ‘Union state’ as part of an enlarged Russia and a diminished Ukraine. From a broader security perspective, Russia could then seek to push for more ‘accommodations’ regarding european security and NATO’s role.

WHAT Is eXPeCTeD TO HAPPeN IN THe sHORT-TeRM? There are an increasing number of strong signals and red flags to show Russian military movements are imminent in the next month. But other crucial precursors to war – notably in terms of military logistics – have not yet been fully activated to start massive military operations. These range from a likely surge in railway transit through critical Russian transportation points and in occupied Donbas, the activation of military support logistics such as medical facilities, modular bases, and ammunition storage sites, or placing National Guard units on full alert. The organization of military exercises in Belarus as well as naval drills in the Black sea are all part of concealing the timing of actual operations.

The Winter Olympics in China to be held between 4-20 February might offer some respite. To safeguard relations with Beijing, Moscow may avoid repeating its actions of August 2008 when Russia invaded Georgia literally during the opening ceremony of the Beijing summer Olympics. If not before, Russia will likely move in late February.

Russia will probably wait for either Ukraine to make a mistake – such as a military accident or incident, or Kyiv mobilising troops – or find a political excuse – such as stalled Us-Russia discussions – to unleash a military option. But excuses can always be found and mistakes engineered from scratch through false-flag operations and deception.

On the home front, the propaganda machine will justify operations as ‘legitimate’ to ensure Russia’s safety.

The Kremlin has now raised the stakes so high it seems improbable it will simply back down unless it can gain something in return.

Mathieu Boulègue is the Research Fellow, Russia and Eurasia Programme.

Islamophobia isn’t just a Tory problem – it runs right through British society Guardian

A

Owen JOnes

s the Tories’ most senior Muslim female politician, sayeeda Warsi, puts it, to be accused of Islamophobia is “career enhancing”, but to be a victim of Islamophobia is “career destroying”. she should know: her often lonely public campaign against Islamophobia has been rewarded with political exile. What could be described as Warsi’s law applies to Nusrat Ghani too: a Tory politician who claims to have been sacked as a minister because her “Muslimness” was “making colleagues uncomfortable”.

Compare and contrast their experience with Zac Goldsmith’s: after a failed London mayoral campaign against sadiq Khan that was accused of being riddled with Islamophobia, Goldsmith was elevated to the House of Lords and made a minister. Or what of Nadine Dorries, who has retweeted far-right criminal Tommy Robinson, and responded to a video from Khan about tackling Islamophobic hate speech with: “How about, ‘it’s time to act on sex abusing grooming gangs’ instead?”

Islamophobia reaches down into the grassroots of the party. A YouGov poll uncovered that six out of 10 Tory members believe Islam “is generally a threat to western civilisation”, that 45% believe the racist lie about “no go areas” for non-Muslims, and nearly half don’t want a Muslim prime minister.

However politically convenient it may be to pretend this is a Tory-specific problem, the Labour party cannot claim to be innocent. Twenty-nine per cent of its Muslim members report suffering Islamophobia in the party, over a third have witnessed it, and 44% didn’t believe the party took it seriously. During the Batley and spen byelection, Labour officials briefed rightwing newspapers that they were losing Muslim support because of Keir starmer’s efforts to tackle antisemitism, and welcomed losing “the conservative Muslim vote” over Labour’s position on gay rights and Palestine. This bigoted depiction of often lifelong Labour voters for cynical electoral benefit is Islamophobia, pure and simple. Witness, too, how Labour rescinded the suspension of Trevor Phillips after he described Muslims

as “a nation within a nation”.

More widely, anti-Muslim racism is endemic in British society, with a new study finding that middle-class social groups are significantly more likely to admit to bigoted views about Islamic beliefs than their working-class counterparts. I have been inundated with examples of what should be described as anti-Muslim racism. Telecoms engineer Usman Chaudhary has had eggs thrown at him in Rochdale while strangers yelled “Bin Laden” and “terrorist” at him. Many others tell me of passersby hissing “Isis” and “suicide bomber” at them. One civil servant working for central government spoke of white colleagues saying, “he’s one of the good ones!”. Apologists for Islamophobia play semantic games – “Islam is not a race” is their go-to jibe – but, as Warsi tells me, “discrimination is not based on the actual practice of your faith, it’s about a racial identity of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness”.

No wonder there are no adverse political consequences for Islamophobia: anti-Muslim bigotry is condoned and perpetuated across the spectrum of the British press. While one study found that 78% of the Mail on sunday’s stories featuring Muslims were negative, the Times, our supposed paper of record, confers Islamophobia with respectability with headlines such as “Christian child forced into Muslim foster care”. A correction to this dishonest story eventually came, but the damage was done.

“If you look at the polling and survey evidence, there’s been no real progress in the last decade in how Muslims are seen in society,” Miqdaad Versi, director for media monitoring at the Muslim Council of Britain, tells me. Why? Partly because British Muslims – half of whom live in the poorest 10% communities – lack power and an organised voice.

The rhetoric fanned by media outlets and politicians, particularly during the “war on terror”, has further normalised this racism. Like all forms of bigotry, it’s the voices of the victims that need to be heard the loudest. But that doesn’t mean nonMuslims shouldn’t speak out: the failure to do so is what makes anti-Muslim hate mainstream, and that is why to say nothing is to be complicit.

Owen Jones is a Guardian columnist.

Saturday, 29 January, 2022 | ISLAMABAD

NEWS corporate corner Analysis of financial bids for Sukkur-Hyderabad motorway to be completed soon: NHA ISLAMABAD: Construction of 306 Km long SukkurHyderabad Motorway on Public Private Partnership (PPP) basis stands among priorities of National Highway Authority. This was stated in a press release of the National Highway Authority issued here today, according to which, documentation work of the project is being completed. It is to recall that the tenders were invited for this project on national and international level. As a result, NHA received bids from M/s. Zahir Khan & Brothers and M/s. Techno-CMC-ACC Consortium.

Technical Bids of both the companies were opened on November 25, 2021. Whereas the Public Opening of Financial Bids has also been made on January 27, 2022, in the presence of Committee members. Presently, National Highway Authority is in process of detailed analysis of both the Financial Bids. This procurement process will be completed soon according to the set procedures followed by final decision for award of the construction work of Sukkur-Hyderabad Motorway. PR

PrIceS Of PetrOleUM PrOdUctS exPected tO INcreASe by UP tO rS10: rePOrtS

t

HE price of petroleum products is expected to increase by up to Rs10 next month in view of rising rates in the international market, according to media reports.According to reports the price of petrol is expected to increase by Rs7 per litre, while the rate of diesel is expected to increase by Rs10 per litre.

The final decision regarding the price hike will be taken by Prime Minister Imran Khan on January 30, 2022 after consultations with the Finance Division.

Earlier on January 15, the government had announced Rs3.01 increase in the price of petrol owing to the rising petroleum prices in the international market. In addition an increase in other petroleum products was also enforced from January 16. MonitoRing RePoRt

Cabinet body takes decision to reduce traffic congestion in Karachi

AIOU mulls enhancement of facilities for students A day-long Regional Directors' Conference of the Allama Iqbal Open university was held here on Friday at the main campus under the chairmanship of Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr. Zia-ul-Qayyum in which 54 Regional Directors of the University participated through video conferencing link. The main objective of the conference was to ponder over devising strategy to bring more people in the educational network across the country, to do some consultation regarding devising future plans for enhancement of student facilities, especially those from remote areas. The Regional Directors were to be consulted and instructed to provide assistance and facilities for admissions in the most important places. another major objective of the conference was to give a respectful farewell to the Director General of Regional Services, Inamullah Sheikh, who will retire next week, and to pay tribute to him for his outstanding services.

The conference was also attended by the University Registrar, Raja Umar Younis and Principal Officers. The Chancellor, Prof. Dr. Zia-ul-Qayoom said that the future of 1.2 million students is associated with this institution.

We have to take care of their needs. We have to formulate a strategy for the next three years.

Strengthening the regional network has been his priority from day one, all the facilities required for the regional campuses have been provided so that there is no gap left in providing the best services to the students, he added. Speaking on Human Resources, he said that following the rules and regulations, he has done a lot for staff development in these three years and has filled the staff shortage in the regional offices. The Vice Chancellor directed the Director ICT to conduct a briefing session with the Regional Offices on Campus Management System (CMS) and Awareness LMS and to train the staff of the Regional Offices through the Master Trainers on the Digital System of the University. Provide so that they can guide students. In the end, the Vice Chancellor appreciated the services of the retired DGRS, Inamullah Sheikh in wonderful words. The Regional Moderators paid tribute to him in recognition of his excellent services Director General Regional Services, Inamullah Sheikh thanked the Vice Chancellor and Moderators for their services. Speaking on the occasion, he said that if 25 per cent of the role in this initiative is theirs, then 75 per cent share belongs to the Vice Chancellor, Prof. Dr. Zia-ul-Qayyum. PR

09

Senate passes NMIP bill Islamabad PR

The Cabinet Committee on Transportation and Logistics (CCoTL) took a momentous decision to reduce traffic congestion in the city of Karachi in Islamabad. The committee, chaired by Minister of Maritime Syed Ali Haider Zaidi decided that once Pipri Marshalling Yard is commissioned, all containerized cargo coming in to KPT will be transferred to the bonded Pipri Marshalling Yard and custom clearance including de-stuffing

will be done at the bonded Pipri Marshalling Yard. This will greatly reduce the heavy traffic congestion of large vehicles on the roads of Karachi. Chopper Licensing Policy, KPT to Pipri Dedicated Freight Corridor, QFlex Vessels at Port Qasim Karachi, Charges collected by Ports on Hydro Carbons and a New Rail Link from PBIT Terminal in Port Qasim were also discussed in detail. Federal Minister for Railways Mr. Azam Swati, Federal Minister

for Civil Aviation Mr. Ghulam Sarwar Khan, Advisor on Commerce Mr. Razzaq Dawood, Chairman Port Qasim Rear Admiral Syed Hasan Nasir Shah, Chairman KPT Mr. Nadir Mumtaz, Chairman PNSC Mr. Rizwan Ahmed, Chairman Ogra Mr. Masroor Khan, Secretaries and other important officials also attended the meeting.

Minister further directed the attendees that the committee will follow up on the agendas in the upcoming meeting. PR

Under the leadership of Federal Minister for Science and Technology Senator Shibli Faraz the National Metrology Institute of Pakistan (NMIP) bill which has been pending since 1997 was passed by Senate on Friday. The aforementioned bill was passed by National Assembly on January 13, 2022. National Metrology Institute of Pakistan shall act as a apex body for the establishment of infrastructure of Metrology to implement and operate a unified and coherent National measurement system as per international requirements and practices of Quality assurance. “It’s the need of time to protect consumer’s rights and to ensure that quality of products and services meet the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) regulatory requirements of trading partners. This will pave way for better market accessibility for Pakistan”, Said Federal Minister for Science and Technology Senator Shibli Faraz. It’s pertinent to mention that National Metrology Institute of Pakistan Bill 2022 is in accordance with requirements of United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), national Quality Policy and International Standards.

Saudi delegation visits NARC Islamabad PR

H. E. Dr. Khalid Bin Abdullah Al-Abdul Qadir, CEO, National Center for Vegetation Corps and Combating Desertification (Saudi Arabia) visited various departments of NARC. Dr. Ghulam Muhammad Ali, Chairman, PARC and Senior Management welcome and briefed about the structure, research activities and important research initiatives of

Pakistan Agricultural Research Council and Dryland Agriculture in Pakistan. Dr. Khalid Bin Abdullah said that the Saudi Government is working on a 10 billion tree program in Saudi Arabia and is also part of the 40 billion tree program in the Middle East.

After briefing by Chairman, PARC, Dr. Ghulam Muhammad Ali, the Saudi delegation visited NIGAB, Gene Bank, Rangeland Research and Field Station of

Climate Change, Energy and Water Resource Institute. The delegation took keen interest in the research activities of these institutes and expressed its intention to cooperate and collaborate with the Council in the exchange of germs of multi-purpose trees, shrubs and grasses to deal with the desert. The delegation also expressed interest in plant biotechnology, tissue culture technology and medicinal plants for crops and forest trees.

Property with surety: safe and transparent investments ZeenIa Waheed If you have ever bought a property in Pakistan, you must be familiar with the cumbersome process of real estate transactions.

From signing the sale agreement to the transfer of property, imagine going through the entire document collection process and ending up buying a disputed piece of land? What follows is the long series of legal battles and property disputes. It is not surprising that 5075% of the pending cases in Pakistani courts are related to real estate, and more than 70% of complaints on Call Sarzameen are also connected with real estate. However, recent developments by Pakistan’s leading real estate group have introduced quick solutions to all your real estate problems. Realising the potential of the real estate sector, the IMARAT Group has set out to transform the real estate sector through technological innovation, teaching International best practices, improving developmental opportunities and implementing sustainable solutions.

Relying solely on your ‘property dealer’ can be a risky process, especially for inexperienced investors unaware of market prac-

tices. With our busy schedules and daily commitments, it becomes highly impractical to personally visit and verify details of every property, making people susceptible to fraud.

To resolve this issue, IMARAT Group launched Graana.com, Pakistan’s 1st Online Real Estate Marketplace, to make buying, selling, and investing in real estate seamless and reliable; to counter malpractices in the real estate sector and to provide transparent and reliable transactions to consumers and investors in real estate. Graana.com is leading the industry with its innovative and out of the box solutions to transform the real estate sector in Pakistan. The company has integrated the highest standards of ethics with an extremely transparent property portal, where consumers can sit back, relax and let Graana.com handle their transactions and investments with transparent processes and personalised contracts.

As an investor, the first step to ensure a safe and secure transaction is the inspection and verification of a property. Many real estate transactions end up in a ‘capital trap’ due to investing in disputed and illegal parcels of land or [Housing Societies]. Real estate as-

sets amass 60 to 70% of the country’s total wealth. However, the absence of a consolidated database for property verification has resulted in multiple malpractices. A Digital Property Verification System is of paramount importance to ensure safe and secure transactions. Digitisation trends have revolutionised the core values of the real estate industry through fast-paced technologies like proptech, contech and fintech. To eradicate the problem of property verification, the IMARAT Group has recently launched Propsure Digital Solutions, offering Pakistan’s first-ever online property verification and inspection services.

Propsure is a one-of-a-kind proptech company and is the pioneer of the digital transformation of the real estate sector of Pakistan. Propsure uses disruptive technologies to conduct spatial analysis to create visualisations of a particular property in the form of a map. They also provide an indepth real estate market analysis that allows investors to make informed decisions. Their market analysis includes information about the property’s price, dimensions, permitted land usage, by-laws, plot status, building

height, adjoining road, and multiple other metrics. In essence, digitising land records amplifies market knowledge with the true impact of location-based data to better understand the real estate market and the factors that drive growth. As a plus point, the listings on Graana.com are verified through Propsure, which affirms the credibility and legality of the online marketplace.

Propsure has accomplished geo-tagging and digital mapping of over 3 Million Plots, 0.5 Million Points of Interest and 0.2 Million Roads in planned areas of 7 major cities of Pakistan. Each of these plots has exclusive data with 47 different indicators to aid investors in making informed real estate investment decisions. They have also launched the Property Inspection Services (“PINS”) to provide ‘approval’ and ‘land-usage-status’ of a given property to investors with an insight into applicable bylaws and regulations. Each property in Propsure’s inventory contains a Title Plan and a Title Register by the legal and regulatory status of the relevant plot.

The lack of a proper regulatory framework is the plight of the real estate sector of Pakistan. Most of the horizontal and vertical

real estate projects launched in Pakistan are unapproved by the regulatory authorities. According to the figures projected by CDA, Islamabad has approximately 64 authorised housing societies and around 140 illegal housing societies. Even though Pakistan received 30 Billion USD instead of Foreign Remittances in 2021, out of which 40% went into the real estate economy; however, a lack of a Digital Property Verification System has made the investors vulnerable to the pervasive malpractices in the real estate sector. In such circumstances, companies like Graana.com and Propsure are a breath of fresh air. They are the flagbearers of digital transformation in the real estate sector, a sure shot way to guarantee transparent real estate transactions and avoid the infamous ‘capital trap’ for investors.

The concept of an online marketplace with a digital database is of paramount importance to build investors’ confidence in the real estate economy. The future of the real estate sector of Pakistan is bright with the involvement of Graana.com and Propsure. They will work together to ensure transparency in real estate transactions through innovative technologies and digital frameworks.

Saturday, 29 January, 2022 | ISLAMABAD

10 FOREIGN NEWS

Six rocketS tArget BAghDAD Airport, DAmAging plAne

S

AFP

Ix rockets were fired on Friday at the Iraqi capital’s airport, causing damage but no casualties, security sources said, the latest in a string of attacks the US blames on Iran-linked militias.

The rockets hit Baghdad International Airport’s runways or parking areas, a source at the interior ministry said, noting that a “civilian plane has been hit and damaged”.

The aTTack was noT immediaTely

Storm Ana deaths rise to 88 as second storm brews to Africa's east JOHANNESBURG

claimed: A second security source confirmed the attack consisted of six rockets that fell around civil installations at the airport, damaging a plane, while a third source identified the plane as a Boeing 767 belonging to state-owned Iraqi Airways.

Iraqi Airways posted on its social media pages pictures of the damage, consisting of a hole near the nose of the plane that was out of service and stationary at the time of impact. No flights were affected by the attack, the airline added.

Recent months have seen rocket and drone attacks target the US embassy in Baghdad’s high-security Green Zone, a US diplomatic facility at the airport and troops belonging to a US-led coalition stationed at Iraqi bases.

The attacks are rarely claimed but are routinely pinned on pro-Iran factions, who demand that US troops

who were deployed to help Iraqi forces fight the militant Islamic State (IS) group leave the country.

The past few weeks have also seen violence targeting Iraqi politicians and parties, largely consisting of grenade attacks, but also extending to one rocket assault near the home of a key politician, amid tensions surrounding the formation of a new government.

PosT-elecTion Tensions: The US-led coalition ended its combat mission in Iraq in December, four years after the Baghdad government declared victory over the IS. But roughly 2,500 American soldiers and 1,000 coalition soldiers will remain deployed in Iraq to offer training, advice and assistance to national forces.

On January 3, US forces downed two armed drones that targeted the coalition at Baghdad airport, according to a coalition source. On January 13, three people, in-

cluding two children, were wounded by a rocket that hit a school in the Green Zone, while two other rockets fell inside the US embassy complex, without causing casualties. In September, an “armed drone” attack targeted Arbil international airport in northern Iraq’s Kurdistan region, where a base hosts coalition troops. The more recent rocket and drone fire come amid a tense domestic political situation.

An election October saw Fatah (Conquest) Alliance, the political wing of pro-Iran ex-paramilitary coalition Hashed al-Shaabi, lose most of its seats. It alleged the polls were rigged. A bloc led by Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr, who once led an anti-US militia and who opposes all foreign interference, took the largest share of seats, and is trying to form a coalition government that could include Sunni and Kurdish factions.

Five dead, 30 hurt in missile strike on Yemen’s Marib: state media

ReuteRs

Tropical Storm Ana has killed at least 86 people across southern and eastern Africa, with recovery operations still ongoing as another storm threatened more severe weather.

Storm Ana passed over Madagascar on Jan. 22, adding to days of already intense rainfall. The country declared a state of disaster on Thursday night, reporting a rise in the death toll from Ana to 48, with people killed by landslides and collapsing buildings or washed away. Ana then made landfall in Mozambique on Jan. 24, where 18 have been reported dead, before moving inland to Malawi, where it triggered massive power cuts. Malawi's death toll rose to 20 on Thursday. Across all three nations, Ana has affected hundreds of thousands of people and lead to widespread flooding and destruction, according to the United Nations. "This latest storm...is a blunt reminder that the climate crisis is very much a reality," said Maria Luisa Fornara, UNICEF Representative in Mozambique. The region has been repeatedly struck by severe storms and cyclones in recent years, destroying homes, infrastructure and crops and displacing large numbers of people. In some cases, communities still recovering are hit again, compounding the impacts. Experts say storms are becoming stronger and more frequent as waters warm due to climate change, with rising sea levels also making low-lying coastal areas vulnerable. Another storm, dubbed Batsirai, is now travelling towards Africa's east coast. Meteo France on Friday described Batsirai as a small system that presented no immediate threat to a group of islands to the east of Madagascar, including the French territory of Reunion, because it was still days away.

11 arrested after Delhi woman ‘gang-raped, paraded in streets’ AFP Eleven people including several women have been arrested after a young mother was allegedly abducted, gangraped and then paraded through the lanes of Delhi in broad daylight, Indian police said on Friday. The incident, the latest to spotlight sexual violence in India, drew widespread condemnation including from the Delhi Commission for Women and Delhi’s chief minister, who called it “shameful”. Footage on social media, which could not be independently verified, showed the victim — her face blackened with ink and her hair chopped off — being pushed and heckled by several women as onlookers cheered and filmed with their phones. R. Sathiyasundaram, deputy commissioner of police, said the incident in the Shahdara district of east Delhi on Wednesday was a result of “previous enmity” among neighbours. He gave no further details but media reports said a 16-year-old relative of the perpetrators had killed himself by jumping in front of a train after the married 21-year-old woman rejected his advances. “All 11 arrested including two minors, who can’t be tried as adults, belong to a single-family and the videos clearly show that the women were at the forefront,” Sathiyasundaram told AFP. The victim told police that she was abducted by members of the family before being raped by several men and minors — egged on by the women — and then beaten with sticks and paraded outside. “We are examining the videos to identify others who were involved and there will be more arrests,” Chinmay Biswal, additional commissioner of Delhi police, told AFP. The woman, who has a two-year-old child, is now receiving counselling after the incident, which reportedly took place barely 50 metres (yards) from a police booth that was unmanned at the time. India’s rape laws were overhauled after a notorious 2012 gang rape in New Delhi but the number of offences remains high, with more than 28,000 rapes reported in 2020. Many more are thought to go unreported and police have long been accused of not doing enough to prevent violent crime and failing to bring sexual assault cases to court.

ADEN ReuteRs

At least five people were killed and 34 injured in what Yemeni-government media said was a Houthi missile strike on Marib city on Wednesday night, state news agency SABA said on Friday.

A resident and a medical source said a missile on Wednesday had fallen next to a military building in the al-Matar area.

Marib city is the Yemeni government’s last northern stronghold. It sits in an energy-producing region which has been the focus of fighting over the past year, during which Iran-aligned Houthi forces advanced towards the city.

The fighting for Marib has dashed UN-led ceasefire efforts as both sides ramped up military operations.

Aid agency Save the Children late on Thursday said 28 civilians had been killed or injured and that international law must be respected in Yemen’s seven-year conflict.

“Civilians must be spared the horrors of ongoing fighting,” it said in a Twitter post.

In the past few weeks the Houthis have launched a number of missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia, which leads a coalition backing the government’s fight against the Houthis, and two unprecedented attacks on

the United Arab Emirates, a coalition member.

The Saudi-led coalition has in recent weeks stepped

up air strikes on Houthi areas in Yemen, including on a detention centre which killed around 90 people.

China vows to ‘safeguard outer space security’ in race for supremacy ISTANBUL AnAdolu Agency

China on Friday vowed to “safeguard outer space security” as it outlined its priorities in exploring the final frontier.

China is starting a new journey toward becoming a space power, and the industry will contribute more to China’s growth, global consensus and human progress, read a white paper published by the country’s State Council Information Office, China’s Space Programme: A 2021 Perspective.

“In the next five years, China will integrate space science, technology and applications while pursuing the

new development philosophy, building a new development model and meeting the requirements for highquality development,” it said.

The paper, China’s fifth since 2016, said the global space industry “has entered a new stage of rapid development and profound transformation that will have a major and far-reaching impact on human society.”

“At this new historical start towards a modern socialist country, China will accelerate work on its space industry. Guided by the concept of a global community of shared future, it will work actively with other countries to carry out international space exchanges and cooperation, safeguard outer space security, and strive for long-term sustainability in activities related to outer

space,” it said.

The paper highlighted the “rapid and innovative progress” made by China’s space industry since 2016, such as improving its space infrastructure, operationalising its BeiDou Navigation Satellite System, and completing a high-resolution Earth observation system.

The paper also detailed improvements in China’s satellite communications and broadcasting systems, progress on the three-step lunar exploration programme and voyages of its space missions, including Tianwen1, as well as ongoing work on its space station.

It said China has coordinated the development of its BeiDou Navigation Satellite System with the US’ Global Positioning System, Russia’s GLONASS system, and Europe’s Galileo system.

“It has carried out in-depth cooperation with them in the fields of compatibility, interoperability, monitoring and assessment, and joint application,” the paper said. Over the past five years, Beijing has inked 46 space cooperation agreements or memoranda of understanding with 19 countries and regions and four international organizations, according to the document.

“It has actively promoted global governance of outer space, and carried out international cooperation in space science, technology and application through bilateral and multilateral mechanisms. These measures have yielded fruitful results,” the paper said.

China has built satellite research and development infrastructure with countries including Egypt, Pakistan and Nigeria.

“It has pressed ahead with the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative Space Information Corridor, and opened China’s space facilities to developing countries,” it said.

“It will give priority to developing communications satellites for Pakistan and to cooperating on the construction of the Pakistan Space Centre and Egypt’s Space City.”

Saturday, 29 January, 2022 | ISLAMABAD

SPORTS 11

HBL PSL 2022: PeSHawar ZaLmI THraSH QueTTa GLadIaTorS By fIve wICkeTS

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News Desk

eSHAWAR Zalmi thrashed Quetta Gladiators by five wickets in the second match of the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) at the National Stadium in Karachi, opening their tournament.

Stand-in skipper Shoaib Malik won the toss and elected to field first and the decision, and at first did not seem good as they had to chase a 191-run target, but their sensational batting defied odds.

The Zalmi were three men down— skipper Wahab Riaz, Kam-

ran Akmal, and Hazratullah Zazai — due to coronavirus, but Malik did not let that overshadow the Zalmis as he and Hussain Talat led the team to victory.

Quick fall of three wickets — Tom Kohler-Cadmore (22), Yasir Khan (30), and Haider Ali (19) — seemed like Gladiators had the match wrapped up, but then, Malik and Talat came in.

Talat was able to score 52 off 29 balls, with the help of five fours and two sixes, while Malik hit an unbeaten 48 off 32 balls — and he also smashed some amazing boundaries in the second-last over to help

his team sail to victory.

Gladiators’ bowlers failed to impress, as Mohammad Nawaz picked up three wickets, while James Faulkner and Naseem Shah were able to take a wicket each.

Openers William Smeed and Ahsan Ali had earlier punished COVID-hit Peshawar Zalmi and helped Quetta Gladiators put up a massive 190/4 score on the board.

Will Smeed made 97 off 62 balls, with the help of 11 fours and four sixes, while Ahsan Ali smashed 73 off 46 balls with the help of eight fours and three sixes.

The powerplay was sensational

for the Gladiators as they managed to amass 62 runs — Ahsan Ali (28 runs off 16 balls) and Will Smeed (31 runs off 20 balls).a Till the 16th over, the Gladiators were sailing smoothly, and both the batters did not leave any opportunity to punish the Zalmi bowlers — no matter who was sent their way.

The openers made a 151-run opening stand.

But Usman Qadir finally came to work and got the first wicket of Ahsan Ali. In the same over, he picked up the scalp of Ben Duckett, who was dismissed for nill.

The Gladiators moved on as Smeed stood his ground to play an exceptional inning. Iftikhar Ahmed (8) was dismissed in the 20th over.

In the last ball of the innings, Smeed

was also caught out as he tried to hit a boundary to get a ton but failed in the process.

Sameen Gul and Usman Qadir took two wickets for Zalmi.

Rafael Nadal on brink of history after beating Matteo Berrettini to reach Australian Open final AFP

Zimbabwe’s Taylor banned over money received from spot-fixers: ICC ReuteRs Former Zimbabwe batsman Brendan Taylor has been banned from all cricket for 3-1/2 years after admitting he received a $15,000 “deposit” for spot-fixing, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Friday. Taylor said he was blackmailed and never went through with the arrangement and that he was coerced into accepting the money from an Indian businessman in October 2019.

Spot-fixing refers to the manipulation of part of a game to deliver a given outcome for betting purposes. The 35year-old added that it took him four months to report the incident to the ICC anti-corruption unit because he feared for his safety. In addition to four breaches of the ICC anti-corruption code, Taylor was also charged with breaching the anti-doping code after testing positive for the stimulant benzoylecgonine, a cocaine metabolite, in an in-competition test conducted on Sep. 8 2021. “Brendan is a former international captain who represented Zimbabwe for 17 years,” ICC integrity unit general manager Alex Marshall said. “Over such a long career, he participated in numerous anti-corruption and antidoping education sessions and knew exactly what his obligations were under the ICC Anti-Corruption and Anti-Doping Codes. “It is disappointing that a player of his experience chose not to fulfil those obligations, however, he has accepted all charges, which has been reflected in the sanction.” Taylor, who played for Zimbabwe in 34 tests, 205 one-dayers and 45 T20s, retired from international cricket in September.

Rafael Nadal marched into the final of the Australian Open to be just one match away from becoming the alltime men’s Grand Slam leader after overcoming Matteo Berrettini in their semi-final on Friday.

The 35-year-old Spanish great, seeded sixth, was too solid for the Italian seventh seed, winning 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 in two hours 55 minutes, and will face either Daniil Medvedev or Stefanos Tsitsipas in Sunday’s final.

Nadal is level on 20 majors with his golden-era rivals Novak Djokovic, who was deported on the eve of the tournament, and Roger Federer, who is absent with injury.

It gives the Spaniard an opportunity to go clear at the top and add to his lone 2009 Melbourne Park crown in his sixth Australian Open final.

“For me it’s all about the Australian Open more than anything else, it’s an amazing event,” Nadal said.

“I have been a little unlucky during my career with some injuries and I played in some amazing finals here with some good chances against Novak in 2012 and Roger in 2017, I was close a couple of times.

“I feel very lucky that I won once in my career in 2009, but I never thought about another chance in 2022.

“So I’ll just try to enjoy today’s victory and try my best in the final.”

It has been an extraordinary effort from Nadal at the year’s opening major, having to modify his game to compensate for a degenerative bone disease in his left foot that ended his 2021 season last August.

Rafael Nadal, right, of Spain is congratulated by Matteo Berrettini of Italy after their semifinal match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, on Friday.

Rafael Nadal, right, of Spain is congratulated by Matteo Berrettini of Italy after their semifinal match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, on Friday.

‘It means a lot’: He then caught COVID in December which, he said, made him “very sick”.

Yet Nadal brushed aside Berrettini’s challenge with

precision shot-making, while last year’s Wimbledon finalist could not overcome his sluggish start.

The stark statistic confronting Berrettini was that Nadal had never lost in his 20 Grand Slam semi-finals after leading by two sets.

“I started the match playing great, the first two sets were one of my best in a long time and I knew Matteo was a very solid player, very dangerous and I knew at some point in the third set he was going to go for his shots,” Nadal said.

“It means a lot to me to be in the final again here,” added Nadal who is now unbeaten in 10 matches to start the 2022 season after winning a warm-up event in Melbourne.

Nadal made the better start, breaking tentative Berrettini’s opening service game when the Italian’s backhand went wide.

Nadal solidly rolled through his service holds to

claim the opening set on his fourth set point in 43 minutes.

Nadal was honing in on Berrettini’s backhand and got his reward with a double break to take a stranglehold on the second set.

He finished off a 10-stroke rally with a delicate slice that again exposed Berrettini’s backhand to consolidate the double break.

Berrettini, the first Italian man to play in the Australian Open semi-finals, raised his level in the third set.

He brought up his first break points in six sets in his two encounters with Nadal and broke with a forehand winner to 5-3 and served out to reduce the deficit to one set.

But the key break came in the eighth game of the fourth set, Nadal bringing up two separate break points and getting the crucial break when Berrettini netted a forehand before serving out for the match.

China unveils Winter Olympics world leader guest list BeIJING AFP

China on Friday revealed a list of visiting dignitaries for next week’s Winter Olympics that includes the leaders of Russia, Saudi Arabia, and egypt for an event that is being diplomatically shunned by some Western nations.

Beijing is keen to shore up international support for the Games, which are the most politicised in recent memory.

Multiple Western nations have announced a diplomatic boycott citing China’s human rights record, in particular its crackdown on Muslim Uyghurs in the western region of Xinjiang that the United States has labelled “genocide”.

State broadcaster CCTV released an updated guest list for next Friday’s opening ceremony which includes many of China’s neighbours, a host of royals and leaders from key autocratic nations.

Among the more than 20 foreign visitors on the list are egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Russia’s Vladimir Putin was last year the first foreign leader to confirm his presence at the Beijing Olympics and is included on

the list released Friday.

The dignitaries will attend the February 4 opening ceremony, a welcome banquet and “relevant bilateral activities” with Xi, CCTV reported.

Their presence comes despite the US-led diplomatic boycott by countries including Britain, Canada, Australia and Denmark over China’s rights record.

Other nations such as Japan are not sending officials and have voiced concerns about human rights in China while steering clear of formally announcing they are part of the boycott. Some Western countries such as the Netherlands have refused to send officials over China’s strict pandemic travel restrictions.

Human rights groups have long accused Sisi, Prince Mohammed and Putin of rights abuses in their countries.

The list released by CCTV also includes leaders from China’s mostly authoritarian Central Asian neighbours as well as the emir of Qatar and Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Mohammed.

Other royals include Thailand’s Princess Sirindhorn and Prince Albert II of Monaco.

Confirmed european invitees include Poland’s President Andrzej Duda and Ser-

bia’s President Aleksandar Vucic.

World Health Organization head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres are among global institution leaders coming to the Games.

The arrival of the dignitaries will kick off a flurry of face-to-face diplomatic activity for Xi, who has remained in China

throughout the coronavirus pandemic as the country pursues a strict zero-Covid strategy.

Xi received International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach in Beijing earlier this week – his first face-to-face meeting with a visiting foreign official in two years.

Critics of the IOC’s decision to award the Winter Games to Beijing have long cited China’s rights record.

Scrutiny of a host country increases in the run-up to any Olympics but China under Xi has become palpably more authoritarian and muscular on the world stage.

Compared to the 2008 Summer Olympics, China’s relations with Western powers and many of its neighbours are much more fraught.

Rights groups believe at least one million Uyghurs and other Turkic-speaking Muslims have been incarcerated in Xinjiang.

China denies genocide or the existence of forced labour camps.

It says a vast network of camps that have been built there are “vocational training centres” to support employment and fight religious extremism.

An ongoing political crackdown in Hong Kong has also strained ties with many Western powers.

China’s history of tech surveillance has also weighed on the build-up to the Games, with some countries and cybersecurity researchers telling athletes and others attending to take temporary phones and laptops.

Beijing has dismissed those concerns and accused the United States and other Western powers of “politicising” the Olympics.

Saturday, 29 January, 2022

PrAyer TimiNgs

NEWS

PM reaffirMs coMMitMent to eradicate terrorisM froM PaKistan

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M Imran has assured the nation that he will “rid Pakistan of all forms of terrorism” PM’s statement came a day after 10 soldiers were martyred in a terrorist attack at a security check post in Balochistan’s Kech district.

PM Imran took to his Twitter, and stated that the brave soldiers of Pakistan continue to lay down their lives to keep the country safe from terrorists.

“I salute the 10 martyred soldiers who repulsed a terrorist fire raid on checkpost in Kech Balochistan. We are resolute in our commitment to rid Pakistan of all forms of terrorism,” he wrote.

It is pertinent to note that a day earlier, as many as 10 soldiers were martyred after terrorists opened fire at a security check post in Balochistan’s Kech district, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said on Thursday.

The military’s media wing stated that

the incident took place on the night between January 25 and 26, where one terrorist was killed and several others sustained injuries.

The security forces have apprehended

three terrorists in follow up clearance operation, while they were still on the hunt for the perpetrators behind the incident.

“Armed forces are determined to eliminate terrorists from our soil no mat-

ter what the cost,” the statement added.

It is pertinent to note that ealier, Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad had warned of a surge in terrorist activities in the country in the coming months.

“Terrorism is expected to rise in the country in the next two months,” Rasheed stated.

He, however, said that Pakistan has a much better system to fight terrorists and gathering information and this wave of terrorism will be dealt with accordingly.

The minister stated that Afghan Taliban are unable to force the Tehreek-eTaliban Pakistan into anything.

“However, they [Afghan Taliban] are playing a positive role and have been a mediator in Pakistan’s negotiations with the TTP,” he said.

He went on to add that the Afghan Taliban are playing the role of a bridge and trying to keep the TTP from engaging in terrorist activities. News Desk

Misinformation threatening cohesion in society: COAS General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) visited Lahore Garrison today where he was briefed on various operational and training matters of the formation at Corps HQ. Later, COAS interacted with Vice Chancellors, faculty and students of LUMS, FCU, UET, LSE, PU and GCU. COAS appreciated the critical role being played by these premier educational institutions in preparing the future leadership and useful citizens of Pakistan.

COAS also said that there is dire need of Human Resource development in the fields of education, health, infrastructure/ industry and environment.

COAS also emphasised that spread of misin-

formation by vested interests is not only creating misperceptions but also threatening cohesion in the society.

COAS further stressed on the need to stay united in order to thwart designs of hostile forces.

Pakistani youth is extremely talented and enterprising, given the right opportunities and enabling environment they will lead the country to progress and prosperity, COAS remarked Faculty members and students asked very candid questions during the exhaustive session and hailed the interaction as very positive and illuminating.

Corps Commander, Lieutenant General Muhammad Abdul Aziz, was also present during the session.

FAJR SUNRISE

ZUHR

ASR MAGHRIB ISHA

5:44

12:20

3:09

7:10

5:29

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UK man found guilty of plot to murder Pakistani blogger LONDON AFP

A British man has been found guilty of plotting to kill a Pakistani political blogger in the Netherlands after being hired as a hitman with a fee of £100,000.

A jury trial convicted supermarket worker Muhammed Gohir Khan, 31, of plotting to kill the blogger and liberal activist Ahmad Waqass Goraya after being recruited by middlemen apparently based in Pakistan.

The judge postponed sentencing until March 11.

Prosecutor Alison Morgan said Goraya, who lives with his wife and two children in the Netherlands, appeared to have been targeted for speaking out against the Pakistani authorities in satirical social media posts.

Khan was hired by "others who appeared to be based in Pakistan", Morgan told the jury at Kingston-uponThames. In 2018, Goraya had "received information from the FBI that he was on a kill list", she added, saying he feared an orchestrated attack.

"He believes that some of the threats that he received were from internet trolls” but that others were in fact being led and orchestrated, she alleged.

Goraya, who has lived outside Pakistan for more than a decade, did not attend the hearings.

Khan, from east London, was charged in June last year with conspiring with unknown other people to murder Goraya in the Netherlands. He was arrested after returning to the UK by train.

British police liaised with the Dutch authorities to build up a dossier of his encrypted communications with middlemen on WhatsApp and Signal and security camera footage of his movements.

After travelling to the Netherlands on Eurostar, Khan spent days watching Goraya's home in Rotterdam and bought a professional chef’s knife. He returned to the UK after realising the blogger was away.

Khan, who pleaded not guilty at his trial held at Kingston-upon-Thames in southwest London, acknowledged sending the messages and travelling to Rotterdam, but claimed he was only seeking money and never intended to commit the killing.

"He was enthusiastic about carrying out the killing to earn the money and to carry out further attacks in the future," Morgan said.

Goraya has previously reported violent attacks and threats made against him.

Ex-government workers mine for salvation in Afghan mountains In the bone-splitting chill of the Afghan mountains, Mohammad Israr Muradi digs through coarse earth spilling from the open mouth of an emerald mine.

With an improvised sieve and a few splashes of water, the former police officer scours a slag heap for fragments of the green gemstone, swarmed by dozens of others vying for the same prize.

Measured in a dusty open palm, the emerald pieces, pried from the bowels of the Mikeni Valley 130 kilometres (about 80 miles) northeast of Kabul, are no bigger than peanuts.

But they are just about enough to assuage total poverty in a nation mired in humanitarian catastrophe.

"The emeralds we find, we sell them for 50, 80, 100 or 150 Afghanis (between 50 cents and US$1.5)," Muradi said.

He was once head of the anti-terrorism police in neighbouring Paryan district.

Unemployed when the Taliban overran Kabul in mid-August, he initially tried his hand as a secondhand clothing salesman on the streets of the Afghan capital.

"It didn't work out," said the 25-year-old.

Without any source of income, he was "forced" to head for the hills.

Echoing booms roll across the valley, 3,000 metres above sea level, as blasting teams carve out shafts crisscrossing the innards of the mountains.

Locals have known about the presence of emeralds in Panjshir province for thousands of years.

Systematic mining only began in the 1970s and remains largely artisanal, but the

gems found here are compared to Colombian emeralds, the most sought-after on the planet.

Each shaft is co-owned by several dozen partners and manned by a team of about 10 miners, digging lengths of more than 500 metres in search of glimmering veins of quartz.

But the last workers to arrive at the camp are relegated to the thankless, tedious and low-paid work at the mine entrances, where rickety trolleys tip out mounds of rubble.

It is a far cry from the decent job 27year-old Gulabuddin Mohammadi previously had earning 35,000 Afghanis ($340) per month in the now-defunct army.

The mines are a two-hour hike from the bottom of the valley up precarious paths of grimy ice, cresting at a mud hut village supplied by donkeys and powered by petrol generators.

But its far-flung location is part of the attraction for Mohammadi, a seven-year veteran who was looking for sanctuary when the army crumbled as US troops withdrew in August.

Many former soldiers and police officers have come here to eke out a living while evading potential reprisals for their roles in the previous Western-backed regime.

The Taliban have publicly proclaimed an amnesty, but human rights groups warn more than 100 people from those groups have been executed or "disappeared".

But for the moment, the squalor of the camp seems like the greatest injustice on Mohammadi's mind.

"We are treated like cattle," he sighed.

"We have no real place to live, we are in

tents. We have no water, no fire, no clinic if we get sick."

The withered Afghan economy means he has little choice of how else to feed his 25 family members.

Since their chaotic withdrawal, Western powers have frozen billions of dollars in overseas Afghan assets and aid, which propped up the country.

The mountainous redoubt of Panjshir has historically been a nest of resistance against outside forces.

The anti-Soviet mujahideen mustered here in the 1980s, and anti-Taliban forces rallied among the ridges when the hardline Islamists first ruled the country from 1996 to 2001.

But this time, the Mikeni Valley has not escaped the Taliban's touch.

The province was the last to fall in September, but when Taliban soldiers arrived there was little resistance.

Fighters travelled up to the mine a few days later, recalled Mohammad Riyah Nizami, a former senior Kabul police officer who worked there at the time.

They examined men's hands to identify newcomers with skin not yet roughened by mine work, and rounded up 20 who were later released.

"Nobody told them we were police, army or security services," said Nizami.

The Taliban, it turned out, were looking

India denies visas to 170 Pakistani pilgrims The government of India denied visas to 170 Pakistani tourists on Friday, who completed their preparations for a tour to Pakistan .

As per the Faith Tourism Coordinator MNA Dr Ramesh Kumar, the Indian government denied the visas on the pretext of Covid-19 restrictions.

He revealed that 170 tourists had registered for the tour and the group wanted to visit Ajmer

Sharif, New Delhi, Mith, Jaipur and other areas of India.

As per the details, the visit was supposed to conclude on February 1 but it has been deferred after the Indian government’s refusal.

Diplomatic sources told that there is no agreement on visit visas between Pakistan and India.

They further stated that Pakistan and Indian

pilgrims visit each other’s countries as per the existing 1974 agreement, adding that Pakistan had issued visas to Indian tourists.

India will not recognise the efforts of any individual for faith tourism between the two countries, adding that both nations would have to negotiate to resolve the issue, sources concluded. News Desk

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

for fighters mobilising against their new government.

Nizami was lucky during his time at the mine. His job, secured through a friend, was to haul a cart through the mineshafts, a posting with a 400 Afghani (almost $4) daily salary.

Now he is back in Kabul, at the request of Taliban officials seeking his computer skills.

Muradi is ready to do the same.

The Taliban want to rebuild Afghanistan's army and police force.

For years, it was his task to chase them down. Now, he says, "If they call me back to work, I will go." AFP