EpaperKH_2020-06-21

CMYK

21 June, 2020 I 29 Shawwal-ul-Mubarak, 1441 I Rs 15.00 I Vol X No 352 I 36 Pages I Karachi Edition

Pakistan back on downward sPiral with record coronavirus deaths g

153 people dIe of CovId-19 In 24 HoUrs wHIle 6,604 new CAses sUrfACe ACross tHe CoUntry

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AsAd UmAr sAys AUtHorItIes sHoUld IssUe notIfICAtIon to proteCt employees Under loCkdown

ISLAMABAD

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STAFF REPORT

s many as 153 people lost their lives while battling against coronavirus during the last 24 hours, making it the highest count in a single day till the spread of the virus in the country, said national Command and operation Centre (nCoC) on saturday. meanwhile, after five days of declining cases, 6,604 new coronavirus cases surfaced in the country over the last 24 hours, taking the total tally to 171,666. the nCoC said that 63,504 Covid-19 patients have recovered so far across pakistan making it a significant count since the pandemic spread.

As of saturday, there were 64,216 cases in punjab, 65,163 in sindh, 20,790 in khyber pakhtunkhwa (kp), 9,162 in Balochistan, 10,279 in Islamabad, 1,253 in GilgitBaltistan (GB) and 803 in Azad Jammu and kashmir (AJk). However, active Covid-19 cases in the country are 104,780. so far, 3,382 deaths have been recorded since the contagion first emerged in the country, wherein 1,013 have been reported from sindh, 1,347 from punjab, 789 from kp, 95 from Islamabad, 100 from Balochistan, 21 from GB and 17 deaths have been reported from AJk. the forum noted that a total of coronavirus 31,681 tests were carried out during the last 24 hours. A total of 1,042,787 tests have been conducted so far and 810 hospitals are equipped with Covid-19 facilities with 6,980 patients admitted across the country.

According to nCoC, there is no patient on ventilator in Balochistan and GB. It added that around 549 ventilators were currently occupied across the country. separately, minister for planning, development and special Initiatives Asad Umar suggested that the provincial governments should issue notification to private corporations and offices to avoid taking any punitive action against em-

IHC vacates stay order on sugar inquiry report ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

ployees living in smart lockdown restricted areas for not attending the offices. the planning minister, who also heads the nCoC, said this during a meeting on saturday. He said that efforts and measures taken to contain the pandemic outbreak would show results after 15 days while the provincial governments should make strict compliance with measures adopted. the nCoC was apprised by the provincial chief secretaries of standard operating procedures’ (sops) compliance and smart lockdowns implemented across the country. the meeting reviewed the update of targeted smart lockdowns implemented across the country, decisions and action points of nCC, oxygen and cylinders import and quantity finalization vis-a-vis disease projections and need assessment of critical medical equipment. the kp chief secretary said that around 500,000 people are restricted under the smart lockdowns implemented where the major focus is on urban areas, including peshawar, malakand, swat, Haripur, nowshera and mardan. there was

no activity or increased risk of coronavirus outbreak in other seven districts, including kohistan and Upper Chitral. the punjab chief secretary said that around eight main cities are under lockdown and less than a million population is restricted. He added that there was over 80 per cent compliance of wearing masks in public places. strict enforcement drive is going on and as many as 12,000 transport vehicles were fined for violating sops and health guidelines, he further said. the sindh chief secretary told the forum that almost 24 districts with five million people are restricted under smart lockdown. the AJk chief secretary said that a total of 59 smart lockdowns are imposed in the valley where sops compliance has been improved. He added that the district administration is providing free masks to masses on violation of sops. the GB chief secretary informed the forum that the deputy commissioners in the provinces are authorised to lock down the areas reporting maximum coronavirus patients. He added that the general public is complying with the sops.

the Islamabad High Court on saturday vacated the stay order on sugar inquiry report and allowed the government to take action against those found involved in the scam.

IHC Chief Justice Athar minallah, in a short order issued after Attorney General khalid Jawed khan concluded his arguments, disposed of the petition and ruled that the formation of inquiry panel was legal. the order said that constitution of the Commission vide notification, dated 16.03.2020, read with notification, dated 25.03.2020 and pursuant thereto its proceedings and report, dated 21.05.2020 have not been found to be ultra vires the pak-

in today’s issue

istan Commission of Inquiry Act, 2017 nor in violation of the fundamental rights of the petitioners. the report, dated 21.05.2020 was, therefore, lawfully considered by the federal Cabinet in its meeting held on 21.05.2020, it added. the order stated that the functions and powers vested in the federal government cannot be delegated. “the decision of the federal cabinet, dated 21.05.2020, to the extent of delegating its functions and powers to respondent no. 4 i.e. shehzad Akbar, special Assistant to the prime minister on Accountability and Interior and approval of ‘Action matrix’ is not in consonance with the law laid down by the august supreme Court,” the ruling stated.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

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Sunday, 21 June, 2020

NEWS

Balochistan government unveils rs465.528B relief-oriented Budget QUETTA

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APP

MID the impacts of coronavirus, the Balochistan government Saturday unveiled its relief-oriented and pro-business budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2020-21, with a total outlay of Rs465.528 billion.

Presenting the budget before the provincial assembly, Finance Minister, Mir Zahoor Ahmed Baladi said the total income for the upcoming year had been estimated at Rs377.914 billion, hence the budget deficit would be around Rs87.614 billion.

He said the revenues would include Rs302.904 billion federal transfers, Rs46.407 billion provincial receipts, Rs3.538 billion Foreign Fund Projects Assistance (FPA), Rs14.698 billion Capital receipts, and Rs10.366 billion Cash Carry Over. The minister also announced Rs118.256 billion development budget under Public Sector Development Programme which include Rs12.177 billion Foreign Fund Projects Assistance (FPA).

He said under the development budget, Rs50.875 billion would be spent on about 934 ongoing schemes where Rs57.381 billion had been earmarked for 1634 new projects.

He said the outlay of non-developmental funds for the next fiscal year 2020-21 would be Rs309 billion.

The minister said this time, the budget was being presented in a situation when coronavirus had engulfed the whole world and also affected Pakistan.

He said Balochistan government had taken comprehensive measures to streamline the resources of the province for coping with the negative effects of coronavirus and restoring economy.

He said health was among the priorities of the provincial government, adding the government had provided health professional allowance for those fighting against the Covid-19 at frontline besides announcing provision of two basic pays for health workers.

He also announced many development projects in health sector including establishment of Thalassemia center at Gwadar,

global support for refugees, host countries imperative amid pandemic: fm

new blocks at Sheikh Zaid Hospital for cancer patients, and other projects.

The minister also announced recruitment on around 6840 posts lying vacant in the province.

He said agriculture was the backbone of the provincial economy, however locust was having negative impacts on it, therefore Rs500 million had been earmarked for eradicating the locust in the upcoming fiscal year. He said the government had provided Rs404 million during fiscal year 2019-20 to control the locust attack.

He also announced that farmers would be provided seeds, farming tools, while tunnel farming in the province would also be encouraged. He also announced Rs24 subsidy on fertilizers.

The minister announced upgradation of 39 colleges to Degree colleges, for which Rs301 million were being provide from PSDP. He also announced many comprehensive programmes for promoting education at all levels in the province.

He said for ensuring food security in the province, Rs2 billion interest free loans were provided to non-financial institutions

to procure wheat whereas Rs300 million had been earmarked for food subsidy in the upcoming year.

Talking about the rural development, he said 105 new development schemes would be launched in upcoming year.

The minister also announced Rs60 million for Design Cell project aiming at modernization of communication and construction industry.

He also announced internship programme for unemployed diploma holder engineers. He said Rs1117 million had been earmarked for reorganization of Levies Force. He also announced several other projects related to irrigation, public health engineering, information, mines and minerals, fisheries, energy and industry and commerce.

The minister said for the first time Balochistan Tax Revenue Mobilization Strategy was being prepared to bring about tax reforms to help enhance revenue collection and reduce expenditures.

He said efforts would be made to reduce fiscal deficit during the upcoming fiscal year.

Imran lauds overseas Pakistanis' philanthropic role during pandemic ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

renowned scholar mufti naeem passes away KARACHI TLTP

Prominent religious scholar and Jamia Binoria International chancellor, Mufti Muhammad Naeem passed away due to cardiac arrest here on Saturday. The prominent cleric was being taken to the hospital when he succumbed to his heart ailment, Maulana Ghulam Rasool, administrator of Jamia Binoria, said. Mufti Naeem was also a member of the executive committee of Wafaqul Madaris alArabia (WMA) – the largest grouping of seminaries in the country. According to his family members, he was suffering from chronic illness for a long time. He is survived by his wife, three sons and two daughters. President Dr Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Imran Khan expressed sorrow over the death of prominent scholar and extended condolences to the bereaved family.

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa expressed grief on the demise of the renowned religious scholar, Mufti Muhammad Naeem. “May Allah bless the departed soul in eternal peace and give strength to the bereaved family, Aameen.” said the Army Chief in his condolence message. Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, Information Minister Shibli Faraz and others also expressed deep grief over the sad demise.

ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi Saturday said as the Covid-19 has compounded the vulnerabilities of displaced people, global support to refugees and host communities is imperative more than ever in the current scenario. The foreign minister said this in his message on the World Refugee Day, which is observed globally on June 20 every year.

He said that World Refugee Day is a yearly reminder of importance of peace, prevention and resolution of conflicts that are the main reasons for forced displacement of millions of people from their homes. “This year, the devastating impact of Covid-19 has compounded the vulnerabilities of those already displaced by violence and conflicts. Today, more than ever, reaffirmation of global support to refugees and host communities as a shared responsibility and a global response that commensurates with fiscal needs of large refugee hosting countries, is imperative,” he said. He said that over the past forty years, the people of Pakistan have demonstrated exemplary generosity, solidarity and compassion in hosting millions of Afghan refugees.

These humane values have shaped Pakistan’s inclusive policies in public health, education, livelihoods and social mobility. “Our Covid-19 response has been inclusive, wherein our health and other services are being utilised by Afghan refugees without any discrimination,” he added. He said that Pakistan has led efforts in advocacy, awareness-raising and good practices in caring for and protecting one of the largest protracted refugee populations in the world. Prime Minister Imran Khan co-convened the first Global Refugee Forum (GRF) in Geneva in December 2019. In February 2020, Pakistan hosted an International Afghan Refugee Conference in Islamabad to mark 40 years of Afghan refugees’ presence in the country and seeking to find durable solutions to the Afghan protracted refugee situation, said the foreign minister. He said that Pakistan values the commendable work of UNHCR for refugees worldwide and looks forward to positive response to the UNHCR’s appeals for Afghan refugees and host communities in Pakistan. On this Day, Pakistan renews its call for adherence to the principle of global burden and responsibility sharing, commitment to pursuing durable solutions, and an early peaceful settlement in Afghanistan that paves the way for time-bound, gradual, well-resourced and mutually agreed framework for the repatriation of Afghan refugees to their homeland, the foreign minister concluded. TLTP

Prime Minister Imran Khan has lauded Pakistan nationals living abroad for their philanthropic role during the coronavirus pandemic which has taken the world in its grip.

In a series of tweets posted Saturday, the prime minister said non-resident nationals have long been a “source of inspiration” and have continued to help “their brothers and sisters” during this difficult time.

“There are many examples where the Pakistani community has been a source of inspiration, helping those around in need,” he stated.

In the subsequent tweet, Prime Minister Imran announced that country’s airspace for inbound international traffic will be opened from tomorrow to help the overseas workers who “have suffered the most during the pandemic”.

“This is being done especially to help our overseas workers who have suffered most in this pandemic but

covid-19: death toll of Pakistani expats in dubai climbs to 34

Pakistan to spend Rs26bn on locust eradication, says minister

ISLAMABAD: Death toll of Pakistanis expatriates settled in Dubai to earn livelihood for their families, due to the coronavirus pandemic has climbed to 34.

The deceased have also been laid to rest there. Ambassador of Pakistan to Abu Dhabi, Ghulam Dastgir has thanked the UAE government for providing free treatment and testing services to Pakistanis infected with the coronavirus. It should be noted that the number of patients infected with the coronavirus in the United Arab Emirates has exceeded 44,000, while the number of deaths due to the virus is 300. INP

Pakistan resumes international flight operations

have shown great courage and made us proud,” he wrote.

Under a new policy, about 45,000 stranded nationals will be brought back home every week. According to official reports, the entire operation to repatriate nationals will be completed in a month.

“The federal government, in con-

sultation with the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) and the provinces, has formulated a new comprehensive policy for the repatriation of the Pakistanis stuck abroad,” Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Security Dr Moeed Yusuf said at a press conference earlier this week.

Pakistan to continue facilitator’s role in Afghan peace: FO ISLAMABAD TLTP

Pakistan's Special Representative for Afghanistan, Muhammad Sadiq visited Qatar and met Taliban leaders including Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar in Doha to discuss peace and reconciliation process in Afghanistan.

According to the Foreign Office (FO) Spokesperson Aisha Farooqui,

during the meeting, the special representative underlined that Pakistan will continue to play its role as facilitator for peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan.

Muhammad Sadiq appreciated Taliban's commitment to implement the US-Taliban peace agreement and also noted that the release of prisoners as per peace agreement would be a stepping stone towards immediate start of intra-Afghan negotiations.

ISLAMABAD APP

The federal government would spend Rs14 billion, along with the contribution of Rs12 billion by provincial governments in order to counter the locust threats in the country.

This was stated by Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhar Imam while chairing the 5th meeting of NLCC on Saturday.

He said that locust had found a new corridor as they were entering Pakistan from Afghanistan to DI Khan and

Waziristan.

He was of the view that locusts attack had been minimized by combined efforts in majority areas, adding joint teams on the ground continued the spray and destroyed locust when it was on rested mode. He said the federal and provincial governments, district administration and farmers were coordinating to tackle the locust attacks.

National Locust Control Centre, along with National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and district administrations, were making effort to control the locust, he added.

CMYK

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has restored international flight operations from all its international airports, except Gwadar and Turbat.

According to a report quoting a spokesperson for Aviation Division, the permission for international flight operations would be subject to restrictions in light of the current Covid-19 scenario and implementation of health protocols. Cargo, special and diplomatic flights would continue to be authorised as per procedure in vogue and adherence to the relevant applicable standard operating procedures would be mandatory for all airline operators. STAFF REPORT

Babar awan briefs Pm imran regarding legislation over covid-19 ISLAMABAD: Parliamentary Affairs Adviser Dr Babar Awan on Saturday briefed Prime Minister Imran Khan regarding legislation over novel coronavirus. The premier chaired an important meeting with his legal team to deliberate on legislation over Covid-19 as directed by the Supreme Court (SC) and examined the progress made in health sector. PM Imran stressed that a reforms package will be introduced in health sector. The dignitaries decided that the law will be amended to protect women and weak class of the society, he added. Attorney General Khalid Jawed Khan and Special Assistant to the PM on Accountability Shahzad Akbar also attended the meeting. INP

About 8,000 army troops were deployed for the anti-locust operation.

China extended a financial help of $4.9 million to Pakistan, besides providing 53,000 liters of chemical for spray, sprayers and drones, he added.

He was of the view that 20 aircrafts would be used for anti-locust operation.

He also mentioned that ADB and World Bank would finance anti-locust operation in form of $200 and $150, respectively.

He also admired Ministry of Foreign Affairs for their coordination and appreciated the Inter-Services Public Relations

(ISPR) for locust awareness campaign.

A presentation was also given by Ministry NFS&R regarding National Action Plan (NAP) against locusts.

Under the plan, Punjab will treat 5 million hectares, Sindh will treat 1.5 million hectares, Balochistan will treat 0.5 million hectares. Similarly, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) will treat 0.5 million hectares and as per NAP, and there will be a surveillance/control team that will be headed by an etymologist.

The team will also include locust assistant, representative of local community and manpower from Pakistan Army.

Sunday, 21 June, 2020

NEWS

Bilawal says centre unaBle to deliver on Pandemic, alleviating Poverty KARACHI

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STAFF REPORT

AKISTAN People’s Party (PPP) chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Saturday said that the Pakistan Tehreeke-Insaf (PTI) government has been unable to deliver on the coronavirus pandemic in addition to alleviating poverty and ensuring food security.

Addressing a press conference in Karachi, Bilawal said, “I think this pandemic is one of Pakistan’s greatest challenges, which is why it is so unfortunate that PTI’s government does not prioritise the social welfare and protection of the people.”

“Our working class needs support, our middle class needs support, our poor needs support.”

The statement comes as the federal government announced its “relief” budget; free of new taxes but failed to increase the salaries and pensions of in-ser-

sindh urges centre to withdraw its decision on control of three hospitals KARACHI INP

Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho, in a letter on Saturday, asked the federal government to withdraw its letter about taking the administrative control of three health facilities in Karachi. The federal health authorities had initiated proceedings to take over the three health facilities in Karachi – National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD), Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre and National Institute of Child Health – by allocating over Rs14 billion in the federal budget for these institutions.

The provincial health minister, in her letter, said that the province was facing serious Covid-19 emergency and the provincial government was attending the situation wholeheartedly. “The federal government in a decision on July 07, 2019, had granted approval of handing over these hospitals to the province,” the letter read. The National Health Services Regulation Division had also clarified the situation in this regard, the letter added. Dr Azra requested the federal government to cancel its letter about taking the administrative control of three hospitals in Karachi. She asked the Centre to work hand in hand with the province against Covid-19.

vice and retired civil servants. The lead the followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab government where the party is in power. However, the Sindh government, in its budget, announced a 10 per cent increment in pensions and salaries.

Commending his party’s performance in preparing the budget, Bilawal said that Sindh’s budget goes “one step ahead” in alleviating poverty during a difficult time.

“Our poverty alleviation programme will continue. Our agricultural sector budget will provide loans to farmers and small businesses. These kind of support projects are important to alleviate poverty in the province.

“Our hope was that the federal budget would be a pandemic budget.

And if it was a pandemic budget, all the political parties would’ve endorsed it similar to how during a war, all the political parties unite to protect their country,” Bilawal said.

Murtaza Wahab tests positive for coronavirus

116 more health workers contract covid-19, tally reaches 4,787 ISLAMABAD TLTP

Coronavirus has continued to take a toll on healthcare workers across the country as 116 of them tested positive for Covid-19 during the last 24 hours. According to a report prepared by the National Institute of Health (NIH) Islamabad and conveyed to the Ministry of National Health Services, the number of health workers affected by the virus has reached 4,787. “The virus-affectees within the past 24-hours included 80 doctors, 11 nurses and 25 paramedics,” the report said. Further highlighting the number of medics affected by the infection, the report said that 2,910 doctors have so far tested positive for Covid-19, followed by 577 nurses and 1,300 other health workers. “Currently, 2,500 health workers are quarantined at their homes, while 321 are receiving treatment at countrywide hospitals and of the 321 are said to be in a stable condition,” the report showed. It said that 1,918 coronavirus-positive healthcare workers have recovered. On the other hand, 48 of the medics have so far died of the infection including two of them who breathed their last due to it during the last 24 hours. It is pertinent to mention here that the countrywide tally of coronavirus cases has jumped to 171,577 after 6,604 new infections were detected in Pakistan over the past 24 hours while 153 more people succumbed to the deadly disease.

PBc to file review petition on Justice faez isa case verdict ISLAMABAD

KARACHI

INP

STAFF REPORT

The Pakistan Bar Council (PBC) has decided to file review petition over the Supreme Court (SC) verdict in the Justice Qazi Faez Isa case. The PBC will file review petition over the apex court’s decision to send the issue of the properties of wife and children of Justice Isa to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), PBC ViceChairman (VC) Abid Saqi said. Justice Isa and his wife had already opposed sending the matter to the FBR, the PBC official said. The PBC will file its review petition after the court’s announcement of the detailed judgment, Abid Saqi said. “The FBR is not expected to conduct an impartial and transparent inquiry under the government pressure,” he added. On Friday, the apex court dismissed the presidential reference against the senior judge after declaring it ‘invalid’ while accepting the petitioner’s plea on Friday. A 10judge bench of the apex court headed by Justice Umar Ata Bandial also withdrew the show cause notice issued by the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) to Justice Isa in July 2019 over writing letters to the president. In its 11-page short order the top court which nullified the presidential reference against Justice Isa besides ordering Inland Revenue Commissioner to issue a notice to the judge’s family members including his wife and children within seven days to seek details of their properties. The judgement was opposed by Justice Yahya Afridi while three of the 10 judges wrote additional notes in the case. Earlier on Thursday, the wife of Justice Isa, Zarina Montserrat Khoso Carrera, had provided the money trail for the purchase of the three properties in the United Kingdom and recorded her statement via video-link besides submission of details of her bank accounts.

The spokesman of the Sindh government, Murtaza Wahab, tested positive for Covid-19 on Saturday, becoming the latest victim among the high-profile government functionaries who have contracted the infection.

According to details, Adviser to CM on Law and Environment Murtaza Wahab underwent the test after experiencing virus symptoms. His test reports for the virus came out positive on Saturday.

It is pertinent to mention here that at least 26 provincial lawmakers have contracted the virus so far and one of them, Minister for Human Settlement Ghulam Murtaza Baloch, succumbed to the infection.

Those assembly members, who recently tested positive of novel coronavirus included Naseem Rajpar, Moazzim Abbasi, Izharul Hassan, Ghulam Jillani, Ali Khurshidi,

Mangla Sharma, Sharjeel Memon, Saleem Kalmati, Shahana Ashaar, Shajeela Laghari, Noor Ahmed Bhurgri, Liaquat Askani, Khurram Sherzaman and Shabbir Qureshi.

Moreover, Sindh reported 2,190 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of cases in the province to 67,353.

In his daily briefing, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said

that 35 more people have lost their lives due to Covid-19 during the past 24 hours, taking the total number of fatalities to 1,048.

The chief minister said a total of 32,193 Covid-19 patients are under treatment, of them, 29,818 care in home isolation and 64 at the isolation centres. He maintained that 700 patients are in critical condition and 116 are on ventilators.

Police case against Cynthia Ritchie cannot be registered, court told ISLAMABAD TLTP

Islamabad police have refused to register a case against American citizen and blogger Cynthia Dawn Ritchie, who has accused the top Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leadership of rape and harassment.

A report was forwarded from the Bani Gala police station to the Additional Sessions Judge’s court in this regard.

PPP leader Waqas Abbasi had submitted the plea against Ritchie for making inappropriate claims about former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in her tweets. In the petition, it was mentioned that the American citizen posted defamatory tweets.

Police said that if any action is required against Cynthia, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) should be consulted.

The court then summoned final arguments from both sides in the next hearing and adjourned the case until June 24.

Earlier, police had dismissed the case filed by Cyn-

03

thia against Senator Rehman Malik over lack of evidence.

Cynthia Richie on June 12 moved the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in a bid to stop the FIA from registering a case against her.

In her petition, Ritchie had said that the FIA should be stopped from filing a case against her as she had not committed any crime.

In the previous hearings, Additional District and Sessions Judge (ASJ) Jahangir Awan had directed the FIA to register a case against blogger.

In its two-page verdict, the court said the blogger had not denied that she created this tweet on social media.

"A crime has been committed falling under PECA Act 2016 and FIA is competent to investigate the matter in accordance with the law. Under the circumstances, the application is hereby accepted and FIA is directed to proceed in accordance with law, conduct on inquiry and if there is sufficient material register a FIR [First Information Report]," the order read.

In a video message earlier this month, Cynthia had accused senior PPP leader Senator Malik of rape and said that the incident happened in 2011 when Malik was interior minister.

Cynthia had also alleged that two others, including former prime minister Yusuf Raza Gillani, had "manhandled" her at a separate occasion. She had stated that the incidents occurred in 2011 when the PPP was in power, and when Malik had been a senior minister.

indian govt's extremist behaviour threat to int'l peace: shah farman PESHAWAR INP

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Governor Shah Farman has said that the extremist behaviour of Indian government is threat to international peace. He expressed these views while addressing the Youth Parliament through video-link from Peshawar on Saturday. The governor said that the silence of international community over brutalities perpetrated by Indian forces on innocent Kashmiris in occupied Kashmir is raising questions. Shah Farman strongly condemned Indian atrocities and urged the youth to raise voice for Kashmiri people via social media.

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Sunday, 21 June, 2020

PrAyer TImINgs

WEATHER UPDATES SUNDAY

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ASR MAGHRIB ISHA

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ADB to ProviDe $359m for KtBP, SeConDAry eDuCAtion in SinDh ISLAMABAD

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PPI

HE Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide $359 million to Pakistan for transportation infrastructure and education projects.

Signing ceremony to this effect was held here on Saturday which was witnessed

by Minister for Economic Affairs Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar and ADB Country Director Ms Xiaohong Yang.

35 more patients die of Covid-19 as 2,190 new cases emerge KARACHI APP

35 more coronavirus patients died in the past 24 hours while as many as 2,190 new cases emerged overnight, lifting the death toll to 1,048 and cases tally to 76,353. This was stated

by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah in a statement issued from the CM House on Saturday. According to the statement, 10,830 samples were tested which detected 2,190 cases with a percentage of 20.2 per cent. So far, 364,959 tests had been conducted against which 67,353 cases were diagnosed across Sindh. The overall detection rate had been reported at 18.2 per cent. CM Murad said that 35 more patients died, taking the death toll to 1,048, which constituted a 1.5 per cent death rate. At present, the CM Sindh said, 32,193 patients were under treatment, of them 30,504 were in home isolation, 62 at isolation centres and 1,627 at different hospitals. He said that 700 patients were in critical condition, including 116 who had been shifted on ventilators. CM Murad said that 1,387 more patients recovered and returned to normal life, constituting 51 per cent recovery rate. He said that the number of patients recovered so far has reached to 34,112. The district-wise breakdown of the new cases shows that out of 2,190 cases, 1315 cases had emerged in Karachi. They include 360 in East, 346 South, 185 Malir, 165 Central, 140 West and 119 Korangi. Khairpur has Khairpur 123 new cases, Hyderabad 111, Ghotki 79, Sukkur 76, Mirpurkhas 33, Larkana 31, Naushehroferoze 30, Dadu 28, Sanghar 16, Shaheed Benazirabad 12, Kashmore 11, Jamshoro eight, Badin and Umerkot have six each, Sujawal and Tando Allahyar five each, Jacobabad three, Thatta two and Matiari one.

The chief minister urged people of Sindh to follow the standard operating procedures (SOPs), wear a mask while going out and cooperate with the administration in implementing selected lockdowns in the hotspot areas of different districts of the province.

According to a press release, under the first project worth $284 million, the ADB will give a loan of $235 million while Green Climate Fund will provide $37.2 million as loan and $11.8 million as grant for Karachi Bus Rapid Transit.

Karachi BRT aims at reducing overall traffic volume on the roads, improving the overall quality of air through reduced carbon emissions, and an innovative waste-tofuel scheme for bettering public health and mitigating the effects of climate change on citizens.

The second loan agreement worth $75 million is for "Sindh Secondary Education Improvement Project." Under this financing arrangement, school infrastructure, institutional capacity building and reforms in the secondary education in the province will be strengthened.

The project will be implemented by provincial Education & Literacy Department to construct new secondary school blocks in 10 districts across southern Sindh and improve the teaching capacity of instructors in five key subjects including

English, Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry and Physics.

Speaking on the occasion, the minister for economic affairs reiterated the government's commitment to work tirelessly towards achieving sustainable cities and communities and highlighted the importance of promoting secondary education, especially for girls.

The ADB country director said that ADB’s financial support will strengthen Pakistan's economy and reduce the risk of external economic shocks.

18th Amendment covering PPP’s ‘wrongdoings’, says PTI leader KARACHI APP

Senior leaders of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) belonging to Sindh have taken strong exception to the press conference conducted by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari this afternoon and cited it an amateurish attempt to discredit the opponents.

MNA Aftab Siddiqui said that PPP for the third consecutive time projected figures that were absolutely against the facts and contrary to the allocations actually made under the federal budget for 2020-2021.

"Factually Covid-19 fund was accorded top priority in the budget for forthcoming financial year and this particularly included Rs1,200 billion stimulus package for its control and management," said the MPA from Karachi.

Siddiqui said that Sindh holds the optimum share in the funds announced for the people, from across the country, affected due to the viral infection and perhaps the fact is a cause of concern for those

frequently using "Sindh Card" for their own benefit.

Reiterating that federal government has allocated Rs70 billion for special development programs in face of pandemics and natural calamities, he said that another Rs10 billion have been earmarked for needed relief in agriculture sector, including measures required to handle locust attack. In this context, he mentioned that the largest share under the Ehsaas Emergency Cash Programme has been offered to the deserving people belonging to Sindh, which not only reflected sincerity of federal government but also the fact as how they had been constantly ignored by PPP ruling the province for past 12 consecutive years.

MPA Aftab Siddiqui asked the PPP chairman to share details of what his party may have done for critically needed development projects in Karachi, the commercial hub that also happens to be the major source of revenue generation for the provincial government.

"Provincial government has largely ignored Covid-19 as well as the agriculture sector in the budget for 2020-2021," he

said adding that on the contrary the federal budget was mainly focused on empowerment of poorest of the poor.

He alleged that PPP, despite its repeated claims, had never been interested to improve the living conditions of the masses that is well evident through steady surge in the instances of rabies induced deaths across the province.

"Absence of clean water and sanitation, poor status of healthcare facilities, lack of merit, rampant inadequacies in education and vocational training and deficiencies in social cum economic sectors in our province are facts that cannot be denied," said MNA Siddiqui.

He further commented that 18th Amendment in the constitution has turned to be a shelter for the wrong doings of PPP government and was therefore being defended by it.

PTI parliamentary leader Halim Adil Shaikh termed the press conference by Bilawal a pack of contradictions meant to neutralise the achievements of the PTI government in winning over the hearts of masses in Sindh.

107 prisoners, 18 employees test coronavirus positive at Sukkur jail SUKKUR INP

At least 107 prisoners and 18 employees at the Central Jail, Sukkur have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the jail authorities confirmed Saturday. They all have been quarantined. The jail authorities have also decided to test the families of its employees as well. The health department tested 1,295 people of which 125 tested positive. The virus has so far claimed 3,295 lives in Pakistan, according to the provincial health departments.

Bandits kidnap three laborers from Kandhkot area KANDHKOT PPI

A gang of bandits kidnapped three laborers from an area located near Kandhkot on Saturday. Armed bandits kidnapped three laborers Shaukat Kori, Shaman Kori and Shahid Kori to katch area. The abductees belong to village Bandhi Faqir Mangi Sarhad, district Ghotki.

The incident has created unrest among the family members and relatives. Heavy contingents of Ghotki police with mobiles and armed personnel carriers raided various areas in katch areas for the search of the abductees, but no one of them could yet be recovered. The police said that they were making hectic efforts to recover the abducted persons from the katch area as the police contingents were still searching for the abducted persons. They said that those involved in the incident would be taken to task.

PPP completed Benazir’s mission by restoring constitution: Zardari ISLAMABAD APP

KARACHI: The metropolis wears a deserted look after the government sealed various neighbourhoods to curb the spread of coronavirus. PPI

Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) President Asif Ali Zardari Saturday said that PPP has completed the mission of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto by restoring the constitution to its true form and still believes in a strong parliament. In a message on the birth anniversary of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, he said Shaheed Mohtarma defeated two dictators by her valiant struggle, said a press release. He said that her struggle has been a milestone for all democratic loving people. Her foreign policy earned respect of the country. Asif Zardari said that PPP was still fighting the anti-democratic mindset and those who criticize the Charter of Democracy were the remnants of dictators. The people are the greatest judge after the Allah Almighty, he concluded.

Pakistan missing sagacious leadership of Benazir Bhutto, says Bilawal ISLAMABAD APP

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari Saturday said that nation was missing sagacious leadership of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto when the country was facing extraordinary internal and external challenges.

In his message on the 67th birthday of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, he said that extraordinary challenges and difficult times were the actual litmus tests of the leadership and she always succeeded overcoming such crises and finally embraced martyrdom fighting the enemies of the country, said a press release issued here.

He said that as the first elected woman Prime Minister of the Muslim world Sha-

heed Mohtarma left innumerable and ineradicable imprints and impact on Pakistan’s politics, economy, society and the defence vision.

“Restoration of 1973 Constitution in its original form, transfer of power to the Parliament, provincial autonomy, NFC Award, identity to the people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgilt-Baltistan, representation for women and minorities among other marginalized and weak segments at every forum, programmes for poverty alleviation, projects for development and welfare of people, and elimination of extremism and terrorism and different other steps are in fact, the result of life-long struggle of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto,” he added.

Bilawal Bhutto said Shaheed Mohtarma

Benazir continued her struggle despite loss of her great father and two brothers for the people’s rights fighting against the two brutal dictators finally defeating them through peaceful political agitation.

He said that thoughts and vision of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto were still the actual resistance against the regressive and exploiting elements who consider people as herds of animal. “Forces who are scared of an unarmed girl yesterday are afraid of her name today,” he added.

Bilawal said these were the same individuals and their retrogressive thinking who remain busy in conspiring to remove name of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto from institutions and landmarks though they could not remove the memories of her father Shaheed Zulfikar Ali

Bhutto while Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto shall also remain in the hearts and minds of 220 million people and their future generations.

He said that though Shaheed Mohtarma was not present physically among us but her vision and philosophy remains as the key and guiding light towards the glittering future of our nation.

Bilawal pledged that PPP would strictly follow and adhere to the mission of Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir for strengthening of the democracy, rule of law and the Constitution, respect to human rights, eradication of poverty and an egalitarian society.

“For accomplishing this mission, the PPP leadership and workers will be always be ready to offer every sacrifice during their generation to generation struggle,” he added.

Sunday, 21 June, 2020

KP PrESEntEd bAlAncEd budGEt dESPitE PAndEmic: tAimur JhAGrA PeSHAWAR

K

STAFF REPORT

HyBER Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Minister for Finance Taimur Saleem Jhagra on Saturday said that despite difficult economic situation in wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the provincial government presented a balanced and tax-free budget for next fiscal year 2020-21.

Addressing a post-budget press conference along with Adviser to Chief Minister on Information Ajmal Khan Wazir at the provincial secretariat’s cabinet room, he said that KP did not receive its pending dues from the Centre on head of net hydel profit (NHP) from February 2020 till date, because of which the province was facing serious economic woes and constraints.

Due to shortcomings in tax collections by the federal government, the minister said that Rs150billion in the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award had been deducted from KP’s share in the outgoing financial year 2019-20. Furthermore, he informed that they were also facing a shortfall of Rs160 billion in provincial revenue receipt due to the coronavirus outbreak. The minister said that a record allocation of Rs148 billion had been made for the health sector. He added that a huge chunk of Rs207 billion had been allocated for the education sector to improve the socioeconomic conditions of masses.

Despite depressing economic conditions, he added that a sum of Rs317.8 billion had been allocated for development portfolio which was more than Sindh province. He further said the provincial budget is focused on reviving the economy crippled by the Covid-19 pandemic and protecting investment in service deliveries, particularly the health sector.

The Minister said that a hefty sum of Rs24 billion had been allocated for establishment of an anti-coronavirus Emergency Relief Fund, meant to protect people from the viral infection. He said that the tax rate had not been revised. He expressed hope that tax collection target of Rs49 billion would be achieved in upcoming fiscal year.

Jhagra said that the provincial gov-

ernment’s stand on net hydel profit issue was very clear as many countries were giving share in the revenue obtained from such resources to respective provinces.

The minister said that the provincial government has prioritised uplift of merged tribal districts with special focus on education, health and infrastructure development projects to bring them at par with developed areas of Pakistan.

Wazir said that Bacha Khan International Airport has been opened for international flights as per decision of the federal government where all necessary arrangements were made, including deployment of doctors, paramedics besides installation of scanners to facilitate passengers in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. He said that coronavirus cases

were increasing and urged people to follow the standard operating procedures (SOPs) to contain the viral infection.

Speaking to Pakistan Today, Jamaate-Islami KP chief Senator Mushtaq Ahmad Khan said that the provincial government’s budget is based on “unrealistic figures” because it has no actual source of revenue collection and planning behind it.

The senator said that KP government has just set aside Rs1 billion for universities in budget of Rs923 billion. “Universities are already suffering from severe deficits and are facing financial crisis and crises have been exacerbated due to coronavirus. In such a situation, ignoring universities in budget is against higher education,” he said.

He criticised the provincial government for failure to secure the constitutional and financial rights of the people of the province from the federal government.

Senator Khan said that last year the Centre released Rs14 billion from net hydel profit, and this year, a target of Rs58 billion has been set but the province did not explain how they would secure it from the Centre. He said that besides net hydel profit, KP's share in the NFC has already been cut by more than Rs150 billion.

The senator said that the budget did not specify where the money for Annual Development Programme (ADP) of more than Rs317 billion and the loans of Rs86 billion would come from.

NEWS

05

Weekly inflation goes up by 1.02pc iSLAMABAd TLTP

The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI)-based inflation for the week ended on June 18 for the combined consumption group witnessed an increase of 1.02 percent, according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS). The SPI for the week under review for the combined consumption group was recorded at 129.16 points as against 127.85 points registered in the previous week. During the week, prices of 7 items decreased, 22 items increased while that of 22 items remained stable. The items, which recorded a decrease in their average prices included bananas, garlic, Moong pulse, Masoor pulse, gram pulse, Mash pulse and sugar. The commodities, which recorded an increase in their average prices included tomatoes, chillies, wheat flour, eggs, potatoes, lawn, long cloth, chicken, georgette, shirting, tea (prepared), onions, rice (Irri6/9), rice (Basmati broken), milk (fresh), curd, mustard oil, LPG cylinder, milk (powdered), beef, and mutton. Similarly, the prices of the commodities that observed no change in their price during the week under review included bread, cooking oil (loose) vegetable ghee (tin), vegetable ghee (loose), salt, tea (prepared), cooked beef, cigarettes, gents sandal, gents sleeper, ladies sandal, electricity charges, gas charges, firewood, energy saver, washing soap, matchbox, petrol, diesel, telephone call and toilet soap.

Govt starts consulting clerics to devise SOPs for Eidul Azha iSLAMABAd TLTP

IHC vacates stay order on sugar inquiry report continued on 01 The IHC further ruled that the government is fully empowered to send a reference under section 18(b)(i) of the National Accountability Ordinance, 1999, to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). The court hoped that the officials dealing with the matter will ensure a fair trial in this regard.

The IHC CJ on June 11 last barred the authorities from proceeding in this regard and issued directives for the commodity to be sold at the rate of Rs70/kg for the next 10 days.

Earlier, Pakistan Sugar Mills Association and mills’ owners had challenged the formation of the probe commission and its findings

in the court.

The commission, in its report, had accused the millers of earning illegal profits amounting to billions of rupees through unjustified price hikes, benami transactions, tax evasion, suspicious sugar export deals, illegal power production, misuse of subsidy and purchasing sugarcane off the books.

Pakistan Sugar Mills Association and 17 other mill owners had challenged the report by the Sugar Inquiry Commission in the IHC on June 11, alleging that legal formalities were not fulfilled during the investigations conducted by the commission.

The federal government, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability Mirza Shahzad Akbar, interior ministry, Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), FIA chief Wajid Zia and other departments were made respondents in the petition.

The petitioners called for the sugar inquiry report released on May 21 to be declared void and the actions ordered by the prime minister in this regard, to be suspended.

The federal government has started consultation with the clerics to devise standard operating procedures (SOPs) ahead of Eidul Azha as health authorities predict a peak in Covid-19 cases in the country during July and August. The religious event that is expected to fall in the last days of July would see sale and purchase of a large number of sacrificial animals before the Eid. The government delegation led by Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Affairs Dr Zafar Mirza, Minister for Religious Affairs Pir Noorul Haq Qadri and others met with the clerics and religious leaders.

Speaking during the meeting, Dr Zafar Mirza said that the month of July would prove devastating if proper precautions are not adopted to avoid the spread of Covid-19. “Pakistan is already amongst the countries to witness third-highest ratio of increase in Covid-19 cases,” he said. During the consultative process, suggestions were submitted from both sides to adopt a proper way to celebrate the festive event so that Covid19 precautions are not compromised. The religious leaders were of the view that they have supported and implemented the 20-point government devised standard operating procedures (SOPs) during Ramzan and Eidul Fitr. “We will continue to extend our cooperation with the authorities on tackling the spread of Covid-19 in the country,” they said. The religious minister while speaking on the occasion said that they would have to observe religious obligations during Eidul Azha in view of health concerns. He thanked the religious scholars and ulema for their consistent support to the government in implementation of SOPs.

Remembering Shaheed Benazir Bhutto: What would she do today?

BASHiR RiAZ Today, we are celebrating the 67th birthday of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto. Her struggles for democracy are already a part of our history and a source of inspiration for the party workers. While her words and writings continue to glow brighter than ever in the dark political landscape of our country to provide guidance for her followers.

Shaheed BB used to run her party in a democratic way, which ultimately strengthened unity within the party.

She used to be extremely fair and impartial when allotting party tickets during elections. She used to consult with

Party Presidents and Secretaries on the district level to make the best possible and informed decision. She always discouraged favouritism and accepted recommendations based on merit. She used to respect and gave preference to sincere workers. On political matters, although she discussed every issue with party leaders but ultimately, she used to make her own decision. As a leader, she fully realized her responsibilities and never shied away from making difficult decisions.

In 1999 when Shaheed BB was in London, every morning she would spend five hours to connect with her workers in Pakistan through email. Similarly, she used to take out a few hours in the evening to respond to the people personally. She used to believe that if her response is a source of motivation for the workers then she was happy to do it. In this way, she kept the party united as one big family.

In 1985, after the death of her brother Shahnawaz Bhutto, Shaheed BB visited Pakistan for a few weeks but she was soon sent back to London.

During this time, she became aware of certain elements within the party creating inner conflict. Grief stricken but determined, Shaheed BB returned to Pakistan in April of 1986. She was sur-

rounded by two very opposing sentiments. On the one hand, she was welcomed by the love and fervour of the people of Pakistan. On the other hand, she faced internal rift within the party.

During a meeting, she was pressurized to change her communication strategy whereby she was issuing statements directly through me. She was the Cochairperson of the party at that time.

She was told to give statements through the Secretary General or the Senior Vice Chairman instead. It was a conspiracy to take control over party matters but Shaheed BB saw right through this scheme and did not fall for it. Later on, such people left the party. Mumtaz Bhutto created the Sindh Balochistan Front but Shaheed BB rejected such ventures by standing firm on her beliefs and principles that People’s Party will always support the federation. Shaheed BB condemned any nationalist movements. In the end, she received full support for her vision and she was elected as a national leader and the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

Simultaneously, Shaheed BB was fighting on multiple fronts. She was both, a mother and a father to her children. She used to hold several meetings, write articles, and give statements. She used to give lectures in the USA, which

was also a source of income for her. This way, she kept the party alive and relevant from 1998 until her last day in 2007.

During this time, the most worrisome issue for her was the cases on her husband. These cases on Mr. Asif Zardari were part of an organized propaganda against Shaheed BB. It is important to remember that none of the rivals managed to prove any of their allegations. Her reputation was dealt a blow with Surrey Mansion and Swiss scandals. Such allegations to tarnish her name were a great cause of concern for Shaheed BB but these challenges gave her greater political wisdom and she understood the nature of the forces working against her. Her political wisdom was not only appreciated in Pakistan but it was acknowledged internationally as well. In recent years, the Benazir Bhutto Leadership Program was launched at the Harvard University through a day long assembly titled “Leading in the Muslim World: What would Benazir do today?” In these challenging times, we should ask ourselves this same question and seek guidance in the words and legacy of Shaheed BB. The writer is the former press secretary of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto and adviser to PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto.

Sunday, 21 June, 2020

06 COMMENT

The enfant terrible

DEMOCRACY and provincial autonomy Antidotes against terrorism

A pyrrhic victory for judge Isa?

W

hILE the country reels under the impact of the coronavirus a terrorist group in Sindh, presumably trained by its counterparts in Balochistan, has started targeting law enforcement personnel. two incidents of the sort took place in Ghotki and Karachi on Friday. two Rangers personnel were among four killed and 13 injured. a week earlier there were grenade attacks on a Rangers mobile and the force’s post in Karachi’s Gulistane-Jauhar, injuring a law enforcement agency official. Responsibility for the attacks was claimed by the Sindhu Desh Revolutionary army, a hitherto unknown outfit.

Pakistan is a democracy where people are free to make political parties and ventilate their grievances through peaceful means. In democracies there is no restriction on the expression of views as long as violence is not preached as a means to achieve political goals. Besides being a democracy, Pakistan is also a federation where after the passage of the 18th amendment provinces enjoy substantial autonomy. the sense of deprivation caused by a highly centralized system introduced by successive military rulers had given birth to parochial tendencies in smaller provinces. these tendencies were eliminated by and large after the enactment of the 18th amendment and the NFC award. the terrorists have no support among the masses. they look for succour from foreign agencies which provide them funds and arrange asylum for their leaders in foreign countries. the Sindh government needs to improve the provincial intelligence system, arrest the terrorist leaders, prepare fool proof cases against them, expose their funding sources and put them on public trial so that their nefarious activities and connections are widely known. Disappearances or extra-judicial killings have not helped anywhere. these have instead provided more workers to the otherwise miniscule networks and brought a bad name to the administration. Instead of generating dissensions through an untimely debate on the 18th amendment and the NFC award, the federal administration and Sindh government should join hands to deal with the grave challenges like the fast spreading pandemic and the impending locust attack. the federal administration should also help Sindh government by sharing intelligence regarding the activities of the terrorist networks and their connections with the agencies of other countries.

aRif Nizami

T

hE very day BNP-M (Balochistan National Party-Mengal) announced quitting the PtI (Pakistan tehreek-e-Insaf) ruling alliance, the prime minister in Karachi declared that the 18th amendment to the constitution needs to be fixed. Surely the timing was coincidental.

But the irony was not.

On the one side the smaller provinces are demanding more autonomy (or at least affording them what is given in the constitution), while on the other hand the chief executive of the federation wants to clip their wings. Khan, in a pointed reference towards the Sindh chief minister Murad ali Shah, lamented that chief ministers have become dictators post eighteenth amendment.

Perhaps there is an urgent need on the part of the rulers to study the chequered political history of the nation. the country is still reeling from the aftereffects of Machiavellian schemes launched by self-serving politicians and authoritarian military dictators.

Pakistan was envisaged as a federation by its founding fathers. But hapless politicians and behind the scene mechanizations of ambitious military rulers had other ideas. East Pakistan, having a bigger population as a province, would be more dominant than the four provinces of West Pakistan; it was feared since the very inception of the country. hence the government in its wisdom lunched a chimerical formula in the form of parity. Under the so-called ‘one-unit scheme’, West Pakistan became a single province announced by Prime Minister Chaudhry Muhammad ali in 1954. this act coupled with East Pakistan’s already less than proportionate seats in the constituent assembly, created resentments and doubts about the intentions of the establishment and West Pakistani politicians.

In October 1958 the scheming commander in chief general ayub Khan took over the reins of the govern-

Learning at home Not an option for everyone

a

S with every other aspect of life, education is also suffering due to the coronavirus pandemic. With schools and universities closed, teachers and students have no other option but to adapt and continue studies through virtual learning. however, in a country like Pakistan, this is easier said than done. Granted, a lot of families can afford to live in areas where there is Internet, and it can also be ensured by spending a little more money that the connection remains uninterrupted to avoid abrupt disconnection owing to perennial load shedding that gets worse in the summers that are now here. But a lot of lowermiddle class families do not have these privileges. to begin with, the equipment required to access the online lectures, personal computers and laptops, are quite expensive, even if they are used. and even if somehow procured, with no Internet services available in remote areas where many students live, the machine is practically useless. these problems perhaps affect university students more than schoolgoing children as the former cannot skip classes or semesters as easily as the latter- the fallout is more severe. a student from Bajaur district in the tribal areas filed a petition in the IhC in april, highlighting the lack of Internet access in the region that had adversely affected his performance in exams. according to the Deputy attorney General, services were restored there shortly after. But there are many other areas facing similar issues that cannot wait for a petition to be heard by the higher judiciary so that it may direct the government to do something. had the federal and provincial governments, in collaboration with the hEC (higher Education Commission) anticipated these obvious pitfalls themselves and sought to avoid them, students from former Fata and other far-flung areas would have been better off. Semesters are now ongoing with delivery of lectures through the Internet not reaching all students. If it is going to take time to lay the infrastructure to provide Internet in areas where it is not currently available, then the government must make special arrangements for all students affected by this. If the entire country can be opened up for the sake of the economy, then surely a partial opening of some campuses to cater to students who cannot access learning facilities from their homes is doable and not asking for much. Students should not have to freeze their semesters due to poor infrastructure and slow governance.

T

Umar Aziz

Asher John Deputy Editor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965

Rabia ahmed

hat must be the song ringing in the Pakistan People’s Party’s ears these days, a song that fits neatly with the rest of the story below. What with Cynthia Ritchie’s allegations, the MQM leadership under a ruling of murder and some of its top brass under arrest, the PPP must be feeling the heat. the same heat that feels like welcoming breeze to some others. Be that as it may, Cynthia Ritchie’s allegations have another side.

Whatever and whoever Ms. Ritchie, who has lived here for ten years, is; whether or not anyone had the right to call her in to ‘investigate’ matters in Pakistan as she says is the case, however many ‘privileges’ she enjoys, is a separate matter. Without any reference to the individuals she has pointed fingers at, because there is no way of knowing if those accusations are genuineher claims of the harassment suffered by women in general at the hands of men in general, are distressingly true, and when there is even a grain of truth in a matter, it warrants attention. and what Ms. Richie has said contains more than just a grain.

“I understand why some women choose to wear burqas as a protective cover to keep the men from staring,” said Ritchie, speaking of her experience of Pakistan. “It's important to note that both women and men stare, but men are more obvious. In Islam, men are taught to lower their gaze in front of a woman,

Editor Executive Editor

Arif Nizami is Editor, Pakistan Today. He can be contacted at arifn51@hotmail.com.

a tribal council, as revenge for a crime committed by a kinsman. She spoke up against the matter. Normally women do not. they are expected to kill themselves in shame following the rape. Which occurred as a result of a crime committed by someone else. Where’s the logic or the justice, much less the humanity here? but that does not happen often.” these lines are there is also the harassment suffered by women shamefully true. Female workers walking to and from in the public light by their colleagues such as the scene work regularly experience harassment by men on the created on public television by talal Chaudhry, during street, and unless their employers act on their behalf, which he addressed derogatory remarks against Kanthe police is likely to be added to their list of hawal Shozab, and called her names. Mr. Chaudhry is not rassers, with a few merciful exceptions. new to such actions. there have been many, many Women drivers have similar experiences, and this such cases, such as amir Liaquat’s lecherous tweet is the reason why women cyclists are so rare in this featuring Sherry Rehman. this man Liaquat, the man country as to be almost non-exwhose academic degrees have istent. and yet, the religious been declared fake, has been a right which never condemns and member of the National assemeven propagates this attitude, on a PtI ticket since 2018. seems to have the power to overThere are laws prohibiting bly Cynthia Ritchie mentions other ride the government, the courts child labour in Pakistan, but kinds of harassment as well. and whoever else tries to dis“I've also seen both sexes agree with them. this in itself is more than 11 million children mistreat their servants, servants' a situation as scary as any nuchildren, and scream abuses at are still working in this clear threat. Which way is our poor people in the markets. In country headed? When will the country, in homes, in factories, Pakistan, abuse is not as openly government and the people rediscussed as it is in the West. and elsewhere, many of them alise the importance of everyone seems to be more acceptstaying within their legal limits? as indentured labour. Zahra abuse able as long as one maintains a Jirgas, often responsible for luxury lifestyle.” this also is was one of those terrifyingly cruel judgements too true. there was just this against women, were given legal unfortunates. She was killed only month the tragic case of eightsanction in Pakistan by a bill year-old Zahra who was hired by by her employers, at their passed in the National assembly a couple to look after their onein 2017. the bill gives constitu- admission, when she let loose year-old child. tional cover to Jirgas and Panthere are laws prohibiting one of the birds they sold. chayats, the ‘kangaroo courts’ to child labour in Pakistan, but be found all over this country. more than 11 million children their decisions include ‘honour’ are still working in this country, killings, pedophilia, kidnapping, in homes, in factories, and elseforced marriage and all sorts of other horrific rulings. where, many of them as indentured labour. Zahra was a national daily reported the case of an eight-yearone of those unfortunates. She was killed by her emold girl who was accused of adultery. as a result she ployers, at their admission, when she let loose one of was stoned to death by the villagers on the jirga’s orthe birds they sold. ders. an eight-year-old child. a child.

Remember, eight years old and working. Eight Women are sold or forced into marriage to pay years old and murdered. Why could no one save her? for the crimes of men in their family. there was the Is this the Land of the Pure? Don’t even think of Ricase this year of a seven-year-old given in marriage asat-e-Madina, the biggest, saddest joke. for a crime committed by a family member. and of course there is always the well-known case of Rabia Ahmed is a freelance columnist. Read more Mukhtaran Mai who was gangraped on the orders of by her at http://rabia-ahmed.blogspot.com

Sexual harassment allegations must be taken seriously; they’re probably true

Arif Nizami

Joint Editor

ther impoverished the federal government. these are no fault of the provinces. Instead of tinkering with the eighteenth amendment and reducing provincial share under a new NFC award, the federal government could be castigated by the provinces for the presumptive loss to the provinces in the form of additional revenues. Secondly, money being given to provinces is no dole. It is their constitutional right.

Nonetheless, the constitution is not a Gospel that cannot be amended by consensus, unfortunately hitherto lacking.

Khan might be satisfied that the four BNP-M National assembly members and one senator leaving the ruling coalition will pose no immediate threat. But more than number crunching the present mindset needs to be altered. None of akhter Mengal's demands are non-negotiable. But it is a sad state of affairs that Balochistan has been consistently treated as an enfant terrible of the federation? take the case of Supreme Court judge Qazi Faiz Isa who belongs to a well-known family of Balochistan. his late father Qazi Essa was one of the founders of the Muslim league before 1947.

But sadly, he faced a presidential reference that the apex court has quashed declaring it as invalid.

During the hearings of justice Isa’s petition seeking the reference’s dismissal, it seemed not the judge but the government was on trial for filing a flawed and mala fide reference.

Isa’s lawyer, Munir a Malik claimed in court that the government brought in a reference against his client because it wanted to remove the judge who had given an adverse verdict in the 2017 Faizabad sit-in case. the judgement lamented the alleged role of the agencies when the tLP’s (tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan) dharna participants received cash handouts from men in uniform.It was a bit surprising though that it took Isa’s peer judges a year to throw out a reference that they have now declared mala fide in their judgement. In the meanwhile, Isa and his family were left to stew in their juice.

Babar Sattar, his erstwhile lawyer, has aptly tweeted: ‘unfortunately there is nothing to celebrate.

More things change they remain the same’. In another tweet he added: ‘the apex court in its wisdom has left the door open for Shahzad akbar in cahoots with the FBR (Federal Board of Revenue) to harass the judge and his family’. It just might prove a pyrrhic victory for those distributing mithai (sweets) outside the Supreme Court building. heavens will not fall if an independent minded judge from Balochistan takes over as CJP (chief justice of Pakistan) in 2023- technically the year of the general elections. the government should concentrate on improving its governance rather than engaging in such shenanigans.

Who let the dogs out?

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

ment through a coup d'état. a ‘strong centre’ was his mantra, which ultimately led to the break-up of the country. It was general ayub Khan’s successor coupster general Yahya Khan who restored status quo ante in 1969, thereby reinstating the four provinces of West Pakistan and doing away with the flawed ‘parity’ formula. after the loss of East Pakistan, a truly federal parliamentary system was introduced in the consensual constitution in 1973 under the stewardship of Prime Minister Zulfiqar ali Bhutto. But even Bhutto, a seasoned politician with a sense of history, could not outgrow the strong centre syndrome.

Within a year of taking over the reins of a truncated Pakistan, Bhutto dismissed the NaP (National awami Party) and the JUI (Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam) coalition government in Balochistan. this led to a four-year-old insurgency that ultimately led to the PPP government’s down fall.

It was in this backdrop that to restore the federal parliamentary nature of the constitution- distorted by successive military dictators- a consensual amendment was passed. Both the PPP and the PML-N had learnt their bitter lessons while in exile. hence a charter of democracy (COD) was signed by Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif in 2006 in London It was in this spirit that a new leaf was turned by devolving powers to the provinces and giving them a bigger slice of the financial pie in the form of the 7th NFC (National Finance Commission) award by the PPP government in 2010. the idea behind the 18th amendment (to the constitution) was to reinstate the parliamentary and federal system under the1973 constitution.

Fast forward to now, a decade later, the PtI led federal government seems to be up in arms against the smaller provinces.

Obviously, the prime minister is miffed about the independence being shown by the Sindh chief minister. his government’s performance in the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic crisis is much more decisive and clear-headed in sharp contrast to the mushy approach of the federal government.

On the question of lockdown Murad ali Shah’s stand has been vindicated. In a recent press conference Shah made fun of ‘the smart lockdown, selective lockdown’- terms coined by the prime minister- contending either there is a lockdown or no lockdown.

But perhaps a deeper malaise is the perception that somehow the provinces are having a ball at the expense of the federal government. Obviously, the protagonists of the 7th NFC award had assumed that the economy will grow and with it the piece of the pie to be shared. It was envisaged that tax to GDP ratio, even if it grows by one percent annually, in a decade it would have added Rs 4.5 trillion in revenue to the present Rs 45 trillion to the kitty.

But unfortunately, the tax to GDP ratio has remained stubbornly stagnant hovering around 9 percent. added to this is the alarmingly increasing losses of the SOEs (state owned enterprises) that have fur-

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Sunday, 21 June, 2020

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

Remembering BB WhENEvER we think and talk about democracy in Pakistan the name which comes first in our mind is Z.a Bhutto and when we think and talk about woman politics the name which comes in our mind is Shaheed Banezir Bhutto which is also known as daughter of East and daughter of Pakistan. She was the first female Prime Minister of Pakistan.the Bhutto family has made many sacrifices for Pakistan but Benazir Bhutto had a different personality. She served two times as Prime Minister of Pakistan. She had a very loving and caring personality. She was born on 21 June, 1953 and martyred on 27 December 2007 but she is still alive in the hearts of people. People call her Bibi Shaheed and respect her. She was a great leader and her martyrdom was a great loss for Pakistan. today on her birthday I pray for her soul. May God rest her soul in peace! amen.

ANTHoNy SAHoTRA Larkana

International day of yoga

The pit of all evils Chains must be broken because no one is born captive

Candid Corner Raoof hasaN “it appears to be among the laws of nature that the mighty of intellect should be pursued and carped by the little, as the solitary flight of one great bird is followed by the twittering petulance of many smaller.”

–Walter Savage Landor

U

NDER the shadow of growing concerns owing to the onset of covid-19, life is lurching along with little change noticed either in the ground realities, or the mindset people exude in talking petulantly about issues which may be of immense consequence in numerous ways. the battle against the deadly Coronavirus which should have been fought in earnest with unity and purpose has degenerated to a feud among political factions for scoring petty points. to top it all, all steps envisaged by the federal government have petered out before the rank indiscipline of the masses who have acted with bloated stocks of pretending immunity to the scourge.

Immune they are not. No one is. We are vulnerable before the growing destruction wreaked by the pandemic, but we don’t realise that. We believe that this is all fate and it cannot be fought. the merchants of religion keep invoking people to submit before the creator and seek forgiveness for their ill deeds as being the only appropriate recompense.

But, then, it is not without a reason that we have become what we have become. In the last 72 years, the state has virtually invested nothing in improving the stock of the people which, owing to lack of opportunities and empowerment, has continued to plunge. the bulk of the national wealth has been siphoned off illicitly to fill the coffers of the rulers and the crony beneficiary elite who, in addition to serving their own ends, aided and abetted the spree of loot and plunder let loose on this hapless land. this is in addition to assimilating varying degrees of bigotry which has drugged people to remain content in their miserable state as being the will of the creator. this has been the staple diet they have been fed on remorselessly.

Undiplomatic it may have been, but Dr Yasmin Rashid, the Punjab health Minister, was not wrong when she referred to the people

of Lahore, a hotbed of infections, as ‘jaahil’ (ig- believes in creating and augmenting a distinction norant). Ever since the advent of covid-19, she between the privileged and the marginalised has been leading right from the front and has communities of the country. Consequently, the been a source of phenomenal inspiration for privileged ones have manoeuvred to land themothers to follow. With a deep professional un- selves in positions of power from where they can derstanding of the pandemic, she has person- control the destinies of the poor. It is also the ally delineated all possible steps to make mindset whereby the poor have remained smitpeople aware of the measures to adopt to com- ten by their self-destructive fatalism and a morbid resignation to the perception that it is all bat the lurking dangers.

But, unfortunately, that did not have much ordained by the skies. they are afraid of even effect. It was, therefore, a moment of acute frus- thinking that they were not born in chains which tration that prompted her to blurt out the truth. have been put around them by the vile and the But, she must understand that it is not a state of treacherous to suit their malevolent purposes. mind which is going to disappear by itself, or by these must be broken because remaining ena few words of censure. It is also not just days slaved is an acknowledgement of the helplessthat may be required to alter the mindset that is ness before the very people who have so deeply embedded. It may take years, even systematically usurped what rightfully belongs decades, and that, too, if effective short-, to them.

But this is not going to just pop out of medium- and long-term measures are devised and implemented without an interruption to ed- nowhere. For this to happen would require ucate people in disciplines other than merely courage and effort over a prolonged period of time, fully cognisant of the faith that the chains contracting the germs of bigotry.

Much is wrong in our midst and around us of slavery can and must be broken irrespective that we are not even sensitive to. It usually of the cost that may have to be paid. this is a passes for the normal. We are so used to seeing necessary burden that will have to borne to be this happen in our daily life that we have lost free of the captivity that the poor sections of the society have lanthe necessary faculties to guished in through genmake out right from erations. the mantle of wrong. It is all encapsuhubris must come down. lated in one ritual tablet the icons of savagery which we consume as A society built on injustice is a must be smashed bethe cure of our maladies. this happens both in society that loses its right to cause therein is the path salvation for a materms of events and peoexist. The inherited germs of to jority of the people ple, each being the conwhose sufferance cansequence of the other disparity and discrimination not be encapsulated in and each merging into words alone. the other. So, what we have been further perpetuated a society built on see in the end is an odd by the unholy alliance among a injustice is a society contraption which is acthat loses its right to cepted as the reality to sequence of rulers and the exist. the inherited submit to, without any domestically-grown crony germs of disparity and questions asked. this discrimination have has been a tradition beneficiary elite. The resolve of been further perpetuthrough decades and, the incumbent government to ated by the unholy algiven the continuing beamong a littling circumstances, cater to the poorer segments liance sequence of rulers and this is likely to remain the domestically-grown the remedy in the foreof the society may be crony beneficiary elite. seeable future also. the resolve of the inIn the absence of a cumbent government to change of mindset, there can be no substantive improvement, either cater to the poorer segments of the society around us, or in the environment that we may be praiseworthy, but words will not acbreathe in. If that be the case, we would re- crue improvement unless fundamental main floating in stagnant waters, going changes are brought about to eliminate the around in circles, forever aware of our inabil- mafias whose interests have advanced at the ity to undertake any constructive effort that cost of those of the impoverished, as also libwill alter the way our life has been shaped. erate the oppressed from the shackles of bigEventually, this would be tantamount to otry to fight for their legitimate rights.

Silence is no longer an option. Spirited falling prey to the evil machinations of the crony beneficiary elite who believe that we and meaningful action must be stirred. It may are but their slaves to be dealt with as may be not be by the ones who have grown frail and their wont. that is also the reason why no re- weak amidst the ignominy of slavery imposed sources have been made available to invest in on them, but by their future generations who the betterment of the impoverished and the must invoke this fight, irrespective of the destitute communities whose circumstances consequences. have only deteriorated further while the assets The writer is a political and security strateof the crony beneficiary elite have grown at a gist, and heads the Regional Peace institute – phenomenal pace. there may also be other contributing cir- an islamabad-based think tank. Email: Twitter: cumstances, but the pit of all evils is the twin- raoofhasan@hotmail.com. mindset that rules the rot. this is a mindset that @RaoofHasan

WhILE the social distancing measures adopted by countries to fight the COvID-19 pandemic have shut down yoga studios and other communal spaces, yoga practitioners have turned to home practice and online yoga resources. Yoga is a powerful tool to deal with the stress of uncertainty and isolation, as well as to maintain physical well-being. the United Nations offers yoga resources to its personnel and others on the Coronavirus portal's section on Wellness.

Yoga is an ancient physical, mental and spiritual practice that originated in India. the word ‘yoga’ derived from Sanskrit and means to join or to unite, symbolizing the union of body and consciousness.today it is practiced in various forms around the world and continues to grow in popularity. the resolution notes “the importance of individuals and populations making healthier choices and following lifestyle patterns that foster good health.” In this regard, the World health Organization has also urged its member states to help their citizens reduce physical inactivity, which is among the top ten leading causes of death worldwide, and a key risk factor for non-communicable diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer and diabetes.

SyEd AmAN SoHAiL Karachi

Student politics in Pakistan thE rise and fall of Student Unions in Pakistan post 1947 is a classic case of state obliteration, and a lack of political acumen on the part of political leadership. the indifference, with which this case has been dealt with by the successive military and civilian governments-federal as well as provincial-reeks of gross malafide on the part of otherwise so-called populist political leaders. the denial of the right of self-representation to the students across the country has seriously compromised their socio-political and academic wellbeing, and left an irreparable vacuum in their campus life.

It’s a historic fact that the students of the then undivided subcontinent had played a very pivotal role in the Freedom Movement against the British Raj. and, specifically, the students of all India Muslin League were also equally instrumental in the ‘Pakistan Movement’ which was a very prominent political struggle for safeguarding the rights of the millions of Muslims living under the figurative ‘hindu Raj’ that was autocratically administered by the Indian National Congress. the crucial role played by the students of aligarh University in the ‘Freedom Movement’ stands testament to the efficacy of student politics, and proves how productive Student Unions could be in building our national life! Let’s try to delineate the rise and fall of Student Unions in Pakistan, and build a logical case for their revival. historically speaking, student unions were first banned in 1929 (in United India) and restored in 1959. at the time of Pakistan’s appearance on the map of this world in 1947, the only well-established student organization was the ‘Muslim Students Federation’ (MSF), the student arm of the ruling Muslim League. It was created to recruit the young Muslim students in undivided India to help achieve its goal of acquiring a separate homeland for the Muslims of the subcontinent.

Post-independence, three years later, in 1950, the ‘Democratic Students Federation’ (DSF) was founded at Dow Medical College Karachi. Its only agenda was to address the educational and academic issues of students like tuition fees, library facilities, better classrooms, and etcetera. By 1952 it had evolved into a dedicated left-wing student organization that had also started to exhibit support for various progressive causes through demonstrations, rallies, and protests. By 1953 it had demanded in its ‘Charter of Demands’ for the construction of a proper university in Karachi, which was soon materialized only because of its efforts.

Similarly, the pro-China factions of NSF were instrumental in garnering students’ support for ayub Khan’s candidacy in the controversial 1965 presidential elections. Likewise, the student unions like NSF, MSF, and Islami Jamiat talaba (IJt) had taken out protests against the ‘tashkent Declaration’, in the aftermath of the country’s 1965 war with India, which, apparently, antagonized the then regime. In the meantime, the provincial government of Punjab had imposed a ban on the formation of student unions, which had negatively affected the culture of campus politics in the province. the role of IJt, Muslim Students Federation (MSF), Democratic Students Federation (DSF), National Students Federation (NSF) and other student unions has been prominent in the democratic history of the country. the 1970's is termed as the most democratic period in the history of student politics as the government promoted and patronized student unions and passed the ‘1974 Student Union Ordinance’. the ordinance appreciated and encouraged political activities on campuses. It is the same period when the IJt finally rose as a powerful electoral force.

It’s almost twenty five years now that student unions were banned through a Supreme Court verdict in 1993. although article 17 (a) of the Constitution gives the right to every citizen to “form associations or unions, subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interest of sovereignty or integrity of Pakistan, public order or morality”, it is necessary that these unions are closely watched over.

TARiquE AHmEd AbRo Hyderabad

Sunday, 21 June, 2020

08 WORLD VIEW

How to prevent a war in asia

Foreign AFFAirs

a

Michèle A Flournoy

mid all the uncertainty about the world that will follow the pandemic, one thing is almost sure to be true: tensions between the United States and China will be even sharper than they were before the coronavirus outbreak.

The resurgence of U.S.-Chinese competition poses a host of challenges for policymakers—related to trade and economics, technology, global influence, and more—but none is more consequential than reducing the risk of war.

Unfortunately, thanks to today’s uniquely dangerous mix of growing Chinese assertiveness and military strength and eroding U.S. deterrence, that risk is higher than it has been for decades, and it is growing.

Neither Washington nor Beijing seeks a military conflict with the other. Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President donald Trump both undoubtedly understand that a war would be disastrous. Yet the United States and China could all too easily stumble into conflict, sparked by a Chinese miscalculation of the United States’ willingness or capability to respond to provocations in disputed areas such as the South China Sea or to outright aggression against Taiwan or another U.S. security partner in the region.

For the past two decades, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has been growing in size, capability, and confidence. China is also emerging as a serious competitor in a number of technological areas that will ultimately determine military advantage. At the same time, the credibility of U.S. deterrence has been declining. For Beijing, the 2008–9 financial crisis gave rise to an enduring narrative of U.S. decline and Chinese superiority that has been reinforced by perceptions of U.S. withdrawal from the world—as well as, more recently, by its perception of bungled U.S. management of the pandemic and societal upheaval over systemic racism.

What’s more, Washington has not delivered on its promised “pivot” to Asia. U.S. troop levels in the region remain similar to what they were a decade ago. The current administration discarded the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement its predecessor had so painstakingly negotiated. Senior diplomatic positions in the region remain empty, and the United States is often underrepresented or entirely AWOL from the region’s major diplomatic forums. There has been no U.S. answer to Beijing’s Belt and Road initiative, even as its influence expands through Asia and well beyond. And Chinese activities in the “gray zone,” below the level of conflict— such as building militarized “islands” and using coercive measures to enforce disputed sovereignty claims in the South China Sea—have gone largely unanswered by the United States beyond the occasional diplomatic démarche or freedom-of-navigation operation.

All of this spells trouble for deterrence. The more confident China’s leaders are in their own capabilities and the more they doubt the capabilities and resolve of the United States, the greater the chance of miscalculation—a breakdown in deterrence that could bring direct conflict between two nuclear powers. As tensions continue to rise and Chinese assertiveness in the region grows, it will take a concerted effort to rebuild the credibility of U.S. deterrence in order to reduce the risk of a war that neither side seeks.

DECLINING ADVANTAGE, INCREASING RISK: Since the 1991 Gulf War, the PLA has gone to school on the American way of war and developed an expanding set of asymmetric approaches to undermine U.S. military strengths and exploit U.S. vulnerabilities. Of greatest concern is the substantial investment Beijing has made in “anti-access/area-denial” (A2/Ad) capabilities. Ranging from persistent precision strikes on U.S. logistics, forces, and bases to electronic, kinetic, and cyber attacks on digital connections and systems inside U.S. battle management networks, these capabilities are designed to prevent the United States from projecting military power

into East Asia in order to defend its interests or allies. As a result, in the event that conflict starts, the United States can no longer expect to quickly achieve air, space, or maritime superiority; the U.S. military would need to fight to gain advantage, and then to keep it, in the face of continuous efforts to disrupt and degrade its battle management networks.

The Chinese military has also made rapid advances in cyber- and artificial intelligence—thanks to China’s massive theft of Western technology, state support for its leading technology companies, and doctrine of “civilmilitary fusion,” which requires that any commercial or academic technological advancement with military implications be shared with the PLA. Technological investments have come along with doctrinal innovations.

Chinese military doctrine now holds that the side that can make and execute battlefield decisions most quickly will gain a decisive advantage in any conflict. China’s theory of victory increasingly relies on “system destruction warfare”—crippling an adversary at the outset of conflict, by deploying sophisticated electronic warfare, counterspace, and cyber-capabilities to disrupt what are known as C4iSR networks (command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance), and thereby thwarting its power projection and undermining its resolve. Among other things, this means that the United States can no longer assume that its satellites—essential for navigation, communications, early warning, targeting, and much more— would escape attack during a conflict. Given China’s ability to interfere with, spoof, damage, or destroy U.S. satellites, Washington can no longer take space for granted as an uncontested domain during war.

The upshot of the developments is dangerous new uncertainty about the U.S. ability to check various Chinese moves, which could invite risk-taking by Chinese leaders. deterrence could break down owing to either strategic or tactical miscalculation. A strategic miscalculation might involve Chinese leaders choosing to blockade or attack Taiwan in the near term or midterm based on a set of strongly held beliefs about the United States as a declining power—one racked by internal political divisions, preoccupied with domestic crises, no longer showing up in the region diplomatically, lacking the military capabilities that might be effective in the face of A2/Ad, and with an uncertain commitment to defending Taiwan. They could conclude that China should move on Taiwan sooner rather than later, a fait accompli that a weakened and distracted United States would have to accept.

Alternatively, a tactical miscalculation could have strategic consequences. For example, Chinese military planning for taking Taiwan by force envisions early cyberattacks against the electric power grids around key military bases in the United States, to prevent the deployment of U.S. forces to the region. But these same power grids also support the surrounding civilian population, including hospitals, emergency services, and other functions critical to public safety. Any such attack would have a high risk of killing American citizens. So rather than deter U.S. action, the envisioned cyberattacks could actually increase the U.S. determination to respond.

REESTABLISHING DETERRENCE: To reestablish credible deterrence of China, the United States must be able to prevent the success of any act of military aggression by Beijing, either by denying the PLA’s ability to achieve its aims or by imposing costs so great that Chinese leaders ultimately decide that the act is not in their interest. And Xi and his advisers must believe that the United States has not just the capability but also the resolve to carry through on any deterrent threat it makes.

Given China’s A2/Ad networks and ability to field a far larger force in its own backyard than the United States can, U.S. policymakers need to start thinking more creatively about how to shape Beijing’s calculus. For example, if the U.S. military had the capability to credibly threaten to sink all of China’s military vessels, submarines, and merchant ships in the South China Sea within 72 hours, Chinese leaders might think twice before, say, launching a blockade or invasion of Taiwan; they would have to wonder whether it was worth putting their entire fleet at risk. in part, the United States can develop such approaches to deterrence by using existing capabilities in new ways. Yet new capabilities will also be necessary, and here especially, the Pentagon’s current efforts are lagging, notwithstanding some promising exceptions.

The defense department continues to overinvest in legacy platforms and weapons systems while underinvesting in emerging technologies that will determine

who has the advantage in the future. Although the defense innovation Unit, Special Operations Command, and various military service organizations are doing a good job of scouting for new, transformative technologies, there is a “valley of death” between demonstrating a prototype of a new capability and getting it produced at scale and into the hands of deployed operators. And the Pentagon still lacks the tech talent it needs—at all levels, civilian and military—and has failed to give its acquisition workforce the right incentives to adopt cutting-edge technologies, such as artificial intelligence and unmanned systems, rapidly and at scale.

There are several steps that the defense department can take to accelerate innovation in service of deterrence. in the wake of the pandemic, there will be substantial downward pressure on defense spending, as other priorities compete for funding. A flat or declining defense budget will require making tough tradeoffs between legacy programs, which alone are insufficient to maintain the U.S. military’s edge, and the new capabilities that will ultimately determine military success— such as resilient battlefield networks, artificial intelligence to support faster decision-making, fleets of unmanned systems, and hypersonic and long-range precision missiles. Continuing to underinvest in these emerging capabilities will ultimately have dire costs for U.S. deterrence. For every existing major program, both defense officials and Congress need to ask whether buying one additional unit or platform is really worth forgoing investment in the new technologies and capabilities that are key to making U.S. forces effective in a far more contested and lethal environment. The secretary of defense should press each service chief to recommend tough choices, and Congress should back up the Pentagon when it makes those choices.

The U.S. military also needs to adapt its own overseas posture while shoring up the capabilities of allies and partners. it should expect that China will try to disrupt the U.S. ability to reenforce forward forces from the outset of a conflict, in all domains—air, sea, undersea, space, cyberspace. Accordingly, U.S. forces, bases, logistics networks, and C4iSR networks must be made more survivable and resilient. This will require investments in stronger cyber- and missile defenses; more geographically dispersed bases and forces; more unmanned systems to augment manned platforms; and resilient networks that can continue to function under attack.

China’s A2/Ad capabilities can be thought of as having different rings of threat intensity that generally correspond to the first island chain (the first arc of archipelagos east of the East Asian continent, stretching from the Kuril islands, to Japan and Taiwan, and then to the northern Philippines and Borneo) and the second island chain (further to the east, formed by the Bonin islands, the Volcano islands of Japan, and the mariana islands)—with anything inside the inner ring highly vulnerable to Chinese attack, and anything within and beyond the outer ring less so. Beyond the outer ring, the United States will likely want to maintain bases, fortified against threats, for staging and logistics. But the overall operating principle should be based on “places, not bases”: within the inner ring, the military should increasingly rely on smaller, more agile force packages such as submarines and unmanned underwater vehicles, expeditionary air units, and highly mobile marine or army units able to move between austere, temporary bases in order to complicate Chinese planning. Also essential will be taking a more strategic approach to security cooperation, assessing what each U.S. ally and partner can contribute to deterrence and developing multiyear security cooperation plans for each.

The Pentagon will also need to implement a series of acquisition, investment, and workforce-development reforms. Acquisition officials must be trained on best practices for acquiring software and emerging technologies. There must be more funding for turning successful prototypes into successful programs. And to bolster its tech workforce, the department should work with Congress to expand programs that offer scholarships or debt relief to students in a broad array of tech fields in return for government service and to recruit mid- and seniorlevel talent by expanding fellowships for private-sector technologists. For employees at all levels, it needs to create opportunities for skill development and viable career paths for technical talent that allow for both promotion and continued technical development, including through rotations in the private sector.

Finally, defense officials need to accelerate efforts to develop new operational concepts—new ways in which

the military will fight—in order to clarify which capabilities will be essential, or even game changing, and to accelerate their acquisition and delivery into the hands of service members in the field. There are ongoing efforts to develop and test “joint” (that is, applicable across the different military services) operational concepts, such as multi-domain Operations, as well as service-specific operational concepts, which aim to erode the adversary’s advantage in various ways. determining which technologies will be essential to these will require iterative, ongoing development and experimentation—with dedicated funding from Congress.

WHERE THERE’S A WILL: Effective deterrence does not depend just on Chinese leaders believing the United States has the capability to thwart any act of aggression; they must also believe it has the will to do so.

Today, Beijing has doubts on both scores. Accordingly, along with investments in military capabilities, Washington needs to clarify—and consistently demonstrate— its commitment to the indo-Pacific region, making clear who and what it is willing to defend. it must deploy more senior officials and additional military forces to the region, to underscore its enduring presence, strengthen its relationships, and counterbalance China’s influence. it should conduct more regular military exercises with allies and partners in the region, both to demonstrate capabilities it has already and to accelerate the development of new ones.

Ultimately, competition with China is far more than a military one, and its economic, technological, political, and ideological elements cannot be neglected. The most consequential thing the United States can do is to invest in the drivers of competitiveness at home—especially as it emerges from the current crisis. it is a time for investments in everything from STEm and higher education to critical technology and twenty-first-century infrastructure, such as 5G. it is also a time for restoring a smart immigration policy, welcoming foreign-born talent that poses no risks to national security and encouraging it to stay and build innovative enterprises in the United States.

The United States should also leverage its unique advantage of having an unrivaled network of allies and partners around the world. The best way to deal with the challenges China poses, be they unfair trade practices or orchestrated disinformation campaigns, is by making common cause with allies and partners whenever possible, confronting violations of the rules-based order as a coalition of like-minded states committed to a shared set of norms. The United States should work closely with its allies and partners to make a clear-eyed assessment of what each country can contribute to stabilizing the region and deterring increasingly aggressive behavior. This will also require reassuring them in words and deeds that they can count on the United States to have their backs in disputes with Beijing and ultimately to help defend them against gray-zone coercion or outright attacks.

Washington should spell out to countries in the region the stark contrast between what international rules and norms shaped by Beijing would look like and those the region has enjoyed to date—especially when it comes to enduring norms such as the freedom of navigation and peaceful resolution of disputes. in an Asia dominated by an authoritarian, revisionist China, ships that today can freely navigate the seas would be vulnerable to possible harassment. decisions taken today by independent governments could increasingly fall prey to coercion. And failure to resist these coercive measures would, in turn, limit the collective ability of the United States and its allies to deter aggression or, if aggression takes place, to reverse it.

Yet even as it strengthens its capacity to deter China, Washington must also reopen a sustained high-level strategic dialogue with Beijing—a practice that every administration since Richard Nixon’s has adopted, until the current one. Reestablishing a forum in which China and the United States could regularly discuss their respective interests and perspectives, identify areas of potential cooperation (such as nonproliferation and climate change), and manage their differences short of conflict is essential; tactical discussions on trade issues are simply not enough. After all, deterrence depends on the clear and consistent communication of interests and intent in order to minimize the risk of miscalculation.

Given Beijing’s assumption that the United States is preoccupied and in decline, Chinese leaders’ propensity to test the limits in areas such as Taiwan or the South China Sea, and the faulty, potentially escalatory assumptions embedded in Chinese military doctrine, such a dialogue cannot come too soon.

MICHÈLE A. FLOURNOY is Co-Founder and Managing Partner of WestExec Advisors. From 2009 to 2012, she served as U.S. Undersecretary of Defense for Policy.

Fleecing fuel users: On hike in petrol, diesel prices Hindu in just 12 straight days, india’s state-owned oil marketing companies have raised the retail prices of petrol and diesel by ₹6.55 and ₹7.04 a litre, respectively. A consumer in delhi would have ended up spending about 9% more on petrol at an indian Oil Corporation fuel pump on Thursday while those driving diesel vehicles would have found their fuel costs had risen by a little more than 10%. Over the same period, the price of Brent crude oil futures, which contributes a fourth to the value of the indian crude basket, declined by about 3%. if one drills down to the price buildup data shared by

REVENUES FROM FUELS COME AT THE EXPENSE OF PEOPLE RELYING ENTIRELY ON PRIVATE TRANSPORT iOC, petrol’s freight inclusive base price as on June 16 in delhi was ₹22.44, a significant 23% higher than the ₹18.28 before the refiners embarked on their latest round of price increases. it is disconcerting that between the OmCs, which had frozen their daily resetting of prices for almost 12 weeks following a reduction on march 16, and the Central and State governments, automobile fuels have been targeted for milking rev-

enue. The buildup data shows that Excise duty, levied by the Centre, and VAT collected by the delhi government together constituted two-thirds the ₹76.73 pump price of petrol as on June 16.

On the face of it, the OmCs’ decision to resume daily price resetting would appear to be in broad conformity with the pricing deregulation that the Centre has intermittently committed to ever since the

government of the day freed up petrol prices in 2010. However, the timing of the recent moves to raise levies and retail prices by the governments and fuel marketers, respectively, is at odds with logic at a point when the country is grappling with the impact of a pandemic.

The aim of maximising takings from fuel products to offset shortfalls in other revenue streams can only bear fruit if petrol and diesel offtake remains unaffected and the rising fuel bill doesn’t end up depleting household consumption budgets. With public transportation yet to restart fully in most urban areas and operating with tight restrictions and at lower frequencies even where

some services have resumed, most commuters continue to have little choice but to use personal vehicles. Also, with the lockdowns imposed to contain the spread of COVid-19 having severely hit business activity at all levels, the onus is on the governments — both at the Centre and in the States — to facilitate the resumption of economic activity in every manner possible. Given that diesel is the primary fuel for the vast and essential road freight sector, every incremental addition to haulage costs ends up dampening both the transport industry and wider economic revival. it is imperative that authorities remove the speed breakers on the path back to normalcy.

Sunday, 21 June, 2020

bUSineSS 09

NTDC warns of acute shortage of RFO at thermal power plants ISLAMABAD: The densely populated cities of Lahore and Faisalabad may witness prolonged load shedding in the coming days as the stock of residual fuel oil (FRO) of thermal Independent Power Producers (IPPs) has depleted to a critical level. In a letter to the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) CEO, the National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC) has warned that the stocks of thermal IPPs' RFO had depleted to a critical level and were sufficient only for a few days. "If IPPs fail to maintain 15 days' stocks on an urgent basis, then the load management of 150MW to 200MW could be carried in Lahore and Faisalabad areas." The company asked the CCPA to direct all IPPs to maintain the at least 15-day stock on an urgent basis, otherwise, people of said areas would have to face three to four hours power load shedding in the coming days. This is not the first time the NTDC has intimated the CPPA regarding the RFO situation. As per the NTDC’s letter, "Despite repeated instructions from this office to keep fuel inventory as per respective PPA provisions, no improvement has been observed." AHMAD AHMADANI

Italy’s Eni mulls exiting Pakistan after 20 years BUSINESS DESK: After about 20 years of operations in Pakistan, Italy's Eni SpA is mulling to sell its energy exploration and production assets in the country, Bloomberg reported citing sources. Eni is working with a financial adviser to gauge interest in the portfolio, said people who asked not to be identified as the information isn't public. According to Bloomberg, the disposal includes Eni's producing assets in Bhit, Badhra and Kadanwari, as well as its processing facilities and several non-operating assets. It includes four exploration leases and eight development and production leases. As of 2019, Eni produces 37 billion cubic feet of natural gas annually in Pakistan, according to its website. The company in 2019 opened a photovoltaic plant there, which will produce about 20 gigawatt-hours per year, the website shows. A representative for Eni declined to comment. The proposed sale would mark Eni’s exit from Pakistan as the South Asian nation’s domestic gas production has plateaued in recent years. It is also joining other energy giants in selling assets in the country. In 2018, OMV AG sold its upstream companies in the country to Hong Kong-based United Energy Group Ltd for 158 million euros.

Govt says three crossing points to be opened for Afghan transit trade ISLAMABAD: Advisor to the Prime Minster on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood has said that Ghulam Khan crossing point, the third major trading route with neighboring Afghanistan, is also being opened for Afghan transit trade. The advisor said this in a series of tweets after having a meeting with Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan Atif Mashal here on Saturday. He said that he informed the diplomat that in addition to Pakistan’s decision to open Torkham and Chaman points for transit trade six days a week, Ghulam Khan crossing point is also being opened as 3rd major trading route to immediately clear the backlog. He said that Afghan imports will be allowed at all three crossing points from June 22 (Monday) subject to Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs).

The meeting also discussed resuming negotiations on Afghanistan Pakistan Preferential Trade Agreement (APPTA).

The meeting also stressed the need for greater safeguards to curb illegal imports from Afghanistan. The commerce advisor assured the Afghan ambassador of Pakistan’s desire of early resolution of all issues regarding bilateral trade. The Afghan ambassador informed the advisor that this is peak time for Afghan exports of fruits/vegetables which are ready for export.

He also extended invitation to the advisor visit Kabul with a trade delegation in upcoming July or August. STAFF REPORT

GOvT COmmITTED TO EmPOwERING wOmEN ThROuGh E-COmmERCE PLATFORms: DAwOOD ISLAMABAD APP

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DVISER to the Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood has said the government was committed to empowering the women by providing them with e-commerce platforms and promoting digital businesses in the country.

"The Women Economic Empowerment Group (WEEG) will be made operational soon so that dedicated initiatives for women entrepreneurs could be launched," the adviser said in a statement issued by the Ministry of Commerce on Saturday.

He added that 'WCom', a mobile app, was also being developed in the near future to facilitate youth and women entrepreneurs and promote digital business culture across Pakistan.

Dawood appreciated the progress made by

'WOMEN ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT GROUP WILL SOON BE MADE OPERATIONAL SO THAT DEDICATED INITIATIVES FOR WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS COULD BE LAUNCHED’ provinces in terms of encouraging e-commerce platforms through tax facilitation and promotion of digital payments. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has reduced the general sales tax (GST) for online platforms to two per cent, while Punjab has decreased it five per cent, he noted.

The adviser said a sub-committee on 'shift to digital

payments' will work with the Small and Medium Entrepreneurs (SMEs) sector as well as logistics companies to ensure capacity building and to monitor the progress.

"I chaired the second national e-commerce council meeting, wherein discussions were held on the implementation of the Pakistan e-commerce policy as well as progress made in the last six months; breakthrough with Amazon, cross border facilitation etc.," he added.

The adviser further noted that the trend of e-commerce had increased rapidly in recent years with the development and easy accessibility of the internet.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the importance of e-commerce had increased manifolds, making it an extremely vital sector for the economy, he added.

Dawood stressed the importance of directing the resources towards digital adoption and connecting the SMEs to e-platforms across the globe, while exploring new market opportunities for them.

KP businessmen demand immediate release of income tax refunds PESHAWAR AZIZ BUNERI

The Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) on Saturday demanded the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to immediately release income tax refunds to the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) sector so that the corona-hit small businesses in the province could be revived.

The demand was raised during a meeting chaired by SCCI Acting President Shahid Hussain at the chamber house. SCCI Vice President Abdul Jalil Jan was also present on the occasion.

The members noted that despite clear directions by the prime minister and subsequent assurances by FBR, the payment of income tax refunds has not been made to the SMEs sector of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Resumption of flight operations 'a good omen for economy': LCCI They maintained that the negation and violation of the PM's orders and finance ministry's policy was "extremely unfortunate and tantamount to ridiculing the business community".

The meeting was earlier informed that KP SMEs were being unable to meet their basic expenses due to the outbreak of coronavirus, “and if these de-

laying tactics of FBR continued, the business community would be pushed into an economic depression”.

The participants lamented the government’s "casual approach" in this regard and warned that the business community would be compelled to launch a protest campaign for what was their own money in the shape of income tax.

KARACHI: Business activities in the port city remained subdued on Saturday after the imposition of a complete lockdown in the wake of Covid-19 outbreak. P P I

GOVT URGED TO HELP EXPORTERS RECOVER LOSSES ACCUMULATED IN MAY LAHORE APP

The Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI) on Saturday welcomed the resumption of flight operations from Pakistan, terming it "great news" for businesses and economy. Talking to the media, LCCI President Irfan Iqbal Sheikh said that the business community had received some encouraging news after a long time, as Covid-19 had halted all trade and economic activities in March 2020. Flight operations from Pakistan were suspended in March when a lockdown was imposed across the country to curb the spread of Covid-19.

"The recommencement of flights from all national and foreign airlines will give impetus to Pakistan's external trade as well as tourism," he opined, adding that the implementation of standard operating procedures (SOPs) and guidelines by the government would help address critical challenges pertaining to coronavirus. Although the Covid-19 pandemic had caused unprecedented losses to global economies, international trade was inching towards normalisation, he noted. "Being a developing country, Pakistan desperately needs to boost its international trade, and flight operations by all the national and foreign airlines will greatly contribute to this cause.” The LCCI president urged all domestic and international airlines to ensure the implementation of guidelines and SOPs set by the government of Pakistan/destination countries. He also asked the government to fully facilitate the exporters who have been hit hard by the coronavirus lockdown. Citing a report, he said the country recorded $1.39 billion in merchandise exports in May, the lowest number in years, and a 34 per cent drop from a year ago. "Exports are critical to the economic recovery of Pakistan," he concluded.

US current account deficit edges down; Covid-19 curbs trade WASHINGTON AGENCIES

The US current account deficit dipped to a near two-year low in the first quarter as the Covid-19 pandemic restricted the flow of goods and services, while companies continued to repatriate profits back home.

The Commerce Department said on Friday the current account deficit, which measures the flow of goods, services and investments into and out of the country, slipped 0.1pc to $104.2 billion, the smallest since the second quarter of 2018. A drop in imports and income payments narrowly outpaced a decline in exports and income receipts.

Data for the fourth quarter was revised to show the gap narrowing to $104.3 billion, instead of $109.8 billion as previously reported. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the current account gap shrinking to

$103 billion in the January-March quarter.

The current account gap represented 1.9pc of gross domestic product in the first quarter, the smallest share since the third quarter of 2017.

“The figures reinforce a dire outlook for trade, and we expect import and export volumes to drop at record rates this year,” said James Watson, a senior US economist at Oxford Economics in New York. “With global demand falling further than domestic demand, we expect the current account to widen sharply in the second quarter.”

The Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis, which compiles the data, attributed the drop “in part, due to the impact of Covid-19, as many businesses were operating at limited capacity or ceased operations completely, and the movement of travellers across borders was restricted.”

Exports plunged to a 10-year low in April, which economists said set up the cur-

rent account deficit to widen to as much as $120 billion in the second quarter.

In the first quarter, exports of goods and services and income received from foreign residents fell $47.5 billion, the biggest drop in 11 years, to $902.2 billion. That was the lowest level since the third quarter of 2017.

Imports of goods and services and income payments to foreign residents declined $47.7 billion to $1.01 trillion, also the lowest level since the third quarter of 2017. That drop was also the biggest since the first quarter of 2009.

PROFITS REPATRIATED: Despite the disruptions caused by the pandemic, American companies repatriated $124.2 billion in profits in the first quarter, the most in over a year, up from $83.6 billion in the prior period.

A surge in repatriations in 2018 was fueled by a Republican tax overhaul, which reduced much of the tax liability for bringing back earnings from foreign subsidiaries, although

the flows subsided substantially in 2019.

A large portion of the repatriated money funded stock buybacks and dividends. It was not immediately clear whether the surge in the first quarter was directly a result of US companies’ need to shore up their domestic balance sheets.

In the early stages of the coronavirus crisis, however, activity in corporate funding markets all but dried up, and companies broadly tapped into whatever sources of liquidity were available.

Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, the import bill had been shrinking because of the Trump administration’s trade war with China. The United States has also become a net exporter of crude and fuel, the result of a production surge that has dramatically reduced the nation’s dependence on foreign oil.

Goods trade with China collapsed in the first quarter.

Investment income also took a hit last quarter as COVID-19 restrictions impacted earnings.

The surplus on primary income - which includes investment income such as dividends and employee compensation dropped to $52.5 billion, the smallest since the third quarter of 2016, from $62 billion in the fourth quarter. There was a record drop in foreign direct investment.

Primary income receipts fell $27.8 billion to $255.1 billion. The deficit on secondary income, which includes US government grants, pensions, fines and penalties, and worker remittances, increased $1.1 billion to a record $37.6 billion.

The Federal Reserve’s expansion of currency swap lines with more than a dozen foreign central banks to ease a global dollar crunch early in the crisis contributed to record increases in assets and liabilities in the US financial account.

Sunday, 21 June, 2020

10 FOREIGN NEWS

Beijing tests food, parcel couriers for coronavirus as city checks widen BEIJING AGENCIES

Officials in Beijing are carrying out nucleic acid tests on all food and parcel delivery personnel as they ramp up efforts to rein in an outbreak of the novel coronavirus in the Chinese capital, state-backed Beijing News reported on Saturday.

Officials have been expanding testing across the city of 20 million since a cluster of new infections linked to a food wholesale market erupted just over a week ago.

The outbreak, the first in Beijing in months, has now surpassed previous peak numbers in early February.

Testing for Covid-19 initially focused on residential areas near the sprawling Xinfadi market and on people who worked or shopped there.

Officials are now targeting the tens of thousands of delivery personnel who regularly traverse the city, where fleets of motorised pedicabs and scooters ridden by couriers delivering parcels and food are a common sight.

Workers at SF Express, China’s second-biggest courier firm, arrived in batches at testing points in Beijing on Friday evening, Beijing News reported.

Food delivery firm Meituan Dianping confirmed on Friday all its Beijing riders would be tested and those who had carried out deliveries in high-risk areas would be temporarily taken off duty, undergo nucleic acid tests and be quarantined at home for 14 days.

Customers will be able to view details on disinfection of the delivery package and their courier’s body temperature online, Meituan said on its Wechat account.

Beijing News said that all couriers in the city would be tested by next week.

Officials have highlighted the risk of contamination

coronavirus continues to spread in latin america LIMA AGENCIES

through packaging in Beijing, which reported 22 new cases on Friday.

The city has now recorded more than 200 locally transmitted infections since June 11.

Officials have been testing people working in catering, including restaurant staff, as well as imported food after the virus was found on chopping boards at Xinfadi used to handle salmon.

ICJ urged to make Rohingya genocide report public DHAKA

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VEr two dozen rights groups from various countries are urging the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to make Myanmar’s report on the rohingya genocide available to the public.

Myanmar submitted the report to the ICJ late last month, stating what the government had done to prevent further acts of genocide against the country’s persecuted rohingya Muslim minority.

In the joint letter sent to the ICJ on June 17 and made available to Anadolu Agency, 30 rohingya rights groups expressed fears of misinformation if the report remains confidential.

“We fear that keeping the reports confidential will undermine their effectiveness and allow Myanmar to skirt its obligation to comply with the Court’s Order, and its continuing obligations under the [UN’s] 1948 Genocide Convention,” it states.

“We would like to respectfully urge the Court to make the 23 May 2020 report and all future reports (including any responses from The Gambia) available to the public on the Court’s website.”

According to a January 23 ruling by the ICJ, Myanmar is obliged to take all measures to protect the rohingya community from mental and physical harm, as well as

from the deliberate infliction of life conditions that cause their “physical destruction” and measures “intended to prevent births within the group.”

Stressing the need to ensure public confidence in the trial process, the rights groups said “the non-public nature of the reports will prevent rohingya communities and other observers who may have relevant

information and expertise from being able to scrutinise Myanmar’s reports.”

“The reporting requirement may not fulfil its intended purpose, especially given that United Nations investigators are not able to operate within Myanmar,” the letter said.

It warned that “misinterpretation may arise even among the rohingya people” if the report was not made public.

“It is also a simple fact that rohingya communities may misinterpret the confidential nature of the reports as acceptance or endorsement of Myanmar’s position – or as a sign that the plight of the rohingya is being forgotten, even as the case advances,” the letter said.

PERSECUTED PEOPLE: The rohingya, described by the UN as the world’s most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012.

According to Amnesty International, more than 750,000 rohingya refugees, mostly women and children, fled Myanmar and crossed into neighboring Bangladesh after Myanmar forces launched a brutal crackdown in August 2017.

Since Aug 25, 2017, nearly 24,000 rohingya Muslims have been killed by Myanmar’s state forces, according to a report by the Ontario International Development Agency (OIDA).

More than 34,000 rohingya were also thrown into fires, while over 114,000 others were beaten, said the OIDA report, titled Forced Migration of rohingya: The Untold Experience.

As many as 18,000 rohingya women and girls were raped by Myanmar’s army and police, while over 115,000 rohingya homes were burned down and 113,000 others vandalised, it added.

Coronavirus cases and deaths continued to rise Saturday across Latin America as the region struggles to contain the spread of infections.

PERU: Peru reported 199 new deaths from Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, according to health officials. The death toll climbed to 7,660, while the number of confirmed cases rose by 3,537 to 247,925. At least 135,520 people have recovered from the virus. The country reported its first case March 6 and first death March 20.

ECUADOR: Ecuador reported 69 more deaths from the coronavirus, said the Health Ministry. The death toll climbed to 4,156, while the number of confirmed cases rose by 634 to 49,731.

COLOMBIA: In Colombia, 95 people died from the coronavirus in the past 24 hours, its highest single-day number for fatalities, according to national media. The number of fatalities rose to 2,045. Cases in the country stand at 63,276 with 3,059 new infections, while 23,988 people have recovered. Since first appearing in Wuhan, China last December, the novel coronavirus has spread to at least 188 countries and regions. The pandemic has killed more than 458,700 people worldwide, with an excess of 8.6 million confirmed cases and greater than 4.2 million recoveries, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University in the US.

iran slams un nuclear watchdog resolution, says it worked with body DUBAI AGENCIES

Iran’s Foreign Ministry on Friday blasted a resolution by the UN nuclear watchdog, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), saying Tehran has cooperated with the body.

“While Iran has the highest level of cooperation with the IAEA, the issuance of a resolution by the Board of Governors is a completely unconstructive and disappointing step,” ministry spokesman Abbas Mousavi said in a statement by state media. The UN nuclear watchdog’s 35-nation Board of Governors called on Iran in the resolution earlier on Friday to stop denying the agency access to two suspected former sites and to cooperate fully with it, diplomats attending the meeting said.

Shortage of weekends, monkeys: Chinese lab races against time to create virus vaccine SHENYANG AGENCIES

Inside one of the Chinese labs racing to create a coronavirus vaccine, researchers work weekends, lab monkeys are in short supply and plans are being made for human trials abroad.

Yisheng Biopharma, a company based in the northeastern city of Shenyang, has been working non-stop since January to find the silver bullet against the disease that emerged in China late last year.

A resurgence of cases in Beijing — after China had largely brought the virus under control — has highlighted the urgency for the world to find a vaccine against the coronavirus, which has killed more than 450,000 people around the world.

Yisheng is better known for making rabies vaccines, but it has converted one of its nine workshops into a coronavirus inoculation production line and will recruit up to 50 extra workers.

The company is still in the early stages of development. But it will take the risk of starting production of its vaccine in September, before completing clinical trials, so the shots are ready sooner for the public if the

product is approved.

“This vaccine must appear quickly, and it is impossible to wait until the next epidemic season to complete the trial and the third epidemic season to use the vaccine,” Yisheng chairman Zhang Yi told AFP. Zhang said his researchers had not had any rest on weekends since they got the gene sequence of the coronavirus, on the second day of Chinese New Year in late January.

“There is too much work to do,” he said.

EXPENSIVE MONKEYS: The company’s planned vaccine is at the animal testing stage, which precedes human clinical trials.

Zhang said tests on mice and rabbits had shown good results, giving the animals high levels of neutralising antibodies.

The vaccine is expected to not only protect the healthy against infection, but also heal patients with COVID-19, according to the company.

The next step will be to test it on monkeys, which have become expensive due to high demand from labs testing an array of Covid-19 antibody drugs and vaccines, according to Yisheng chief executive David Shao.

Yisheng used to pay between 10,000 and 20,000 yuan ($1,400 and $2,800) each for

macaques, Shao said.

Now each animal is worth 100,000 yuan, according to Shao.

Chinese labs mainly use rhesus and cynomolgus macaques, farmed in the country’s southern provinces.

China is a large provider of lab monkeys, exporting 20,000 of them last year and using

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18,000 in local research, said Liu Yunbo, chairman of Beijing HFK Bioscience, a lab animal provider.

“This year’s consumption is quite large, so the supply is not enough,” he said.

RACING FOR TIME: Yisheng has spent about $3 million on its vaccine research so far, with plans to start production in a few

months and make it available to the public this year.

“It’s more expensive than other vaccine products,” Shao said, adding that there was a shortage of resources and research material.

“We are really racing for time.”

The company plans to spend another $180 million for the clinical trials following the animal tests.

“We can have as many as 10 production lines and produce 500 million doses a year,” Zhang said.

With too few infections now in China to test the vaccine on humans, Yisheng plans to apply for clinical trials in the United States, Europe, Singapore and Australia in collaboration with a US company.

Thirteen clinical trials are taking place around the world, five of them in China.

Zhang said competitors were likely to beat his company in the race to produce the first vaccine, but that was not his priority.

“It’s about who can produce the quantity.

Who can get good results and make a high quality and effective product, he said.

“This is what really counts. Being first doesn’t mean anything.”

Sunday, 21 June, 2020

SportS 11

Flurry oF PosITIVe CoroNaVIrus TesTs IN aThleTes hurTs us resTarT PlaNs

in Florida cases would prompt a rethink of those plans.

Inter Miami said on Thursday that one of their players had tested positive for the virus.

MLB’s Philadelphia Phillies shut down their Clearwater, Florida, site after five players tested positive while just down the road in Dunedin, the Toronto Blue Jays shuttered training facilities after a player presented symptoms.

The San Francisco Giants closed their spring training facility in Scottsdale, Arizona after a visitor and one family member exhibited symptoms. The Giants said they had tested others who have been at the facility and are awaiting results.

Los Angeles Angels general manager Billy Eppler said two players had tested positive for COVID-19, but did not disclose if they were on the major league roster, citing medical privacy law, the LA Times reported.

In Tampa, the NHL Lightning closed their arena after three players tested positive.

The NHL on Friday said that since June 8, when teams were permitted to open their training facilities, over 200 players have undergone multiple tests and 11 have tested positive.

All of the players who tested positive have been self-isolating, the league said.

Even the UFC, who were one of the first sports to resume operations when they staged a mixed martial arts card in Jacksonville, Florida on May 9, are considering another shutdown in wake of the spike.

“I told you guys going into this thing, I’m always thinking about what’s next,” said UFC President Dana White in a report by MMA Junkie. “And I’m planning for a second shutdown, that it will happen again.

“I’m always thinking about the worst.”

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OPES that sport in the United States might soon return to business as usual suffered a blow on Saturday as athletes from golf to hockey tested positive for the novel coronavirus, triggering a shutdown of some facilities.

The PGA Tour, which only restarted last week after a three-month Covid-19-forced hiatus, confirmed its first positive test, removing Nick Watney from second-round play at the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head, South Carolina.

Over a 24-hour period, Major League Soccer (MLS), National Football League (NFL), National Hockey League (NHL) and Major League Baseball (MLB) confirmed positive tests, and those sports pondered return-to-play scenarios. Leagues are doing extensive testing for coronavirus even among players not showing symptoms.

This followed leading U.S. health official Dr. Anthony Fauci on Thursday casting doubt on whether the NFL would get on the field this season.

The MLS and NBA were paying particularly close attention to Friday’s events as many of the positive tests occurred in Florida where both leagues have announced plans to restart their seasons at Orlando’s Walt Dis-

ney World.

Florida is one of several U.S. states where COVID-19 cases have recently

surged. The MLS is scheduled to return on July 8 with a World Cup-style tournament featuring all 26 teams. The league, which has

said that the health and safety of players and staff were the priority, did not immediately respond to questions about whether the spike

Shoaib Malik to miss first four weeks of training in England LAHORE

Dutch soccer players boycott TV show over Black Pete remarks

AGENCIES

Mashrafe Mortaza, Nazmul Islam, Nafees Iqbal test positive for Covid-19 DHAKA AGENCIES

Mashrafe Mortaza, left-arm spinner Nazmul Islam and opener Nafees Iqbal have tested positive for Covid-19 in Bangladesh. Mortaza, 36, is currently in the capital Dhaka after undergoing the test earlier this week.

Mortaza, a member of parliament, had been quite active with humanitarian efforts during the pandemic, especially in his hometown and constituency Narail. Islam was also heavily involved in distributing food and other supplies in his hometown Narayanganj, one of the worst-hit areas in Bangladesh.

Mortaza posted about testing positive on his Facebook page on Saturday evening local time saying: "Today my Covid-19 results came as positive. Everyone please pray for my quick recovery. The number of infected has now crossed one lakh. We all have to become more careful. Let's all stay at home, and not get out unless it is necessary. I am abiding by the protocol at home. Rather than panic, we need to raise awareness about corona." Mortaza only plays ODIs at international level and had stepped down from captaincy earlier this year. Islam, 28 and the youngest of the three, has played one Test, five ODIs and 13 T20Is since his international debut in 2018 and Iqbal, 34, has played 11 Tests and 16 ODIs. Covid-19 cases have crossed 100,000 in Bangladesh with over 1400 deaths, and the government now planning area-wise lockdown. Bangladesh were scheduled to tour Sri Lanka in July for three Tests (part of World Test Championship) and later host New Zealand in August but both series look unlikely now. The Asia Cup, scheduled for September, is also uncertain currently which could leave the Bangladesh players without any cricket in the near future.

Shoaib Malik has been given special permission to skip the first four weeks of Pakistan's training in England in order to meet his family. According to the PCB, Malik hasn't been with his wife Sania Mirza and their son - who are in India - for five months due to suspended flights in the wake of Covid-19.

The 28 other Pakistan players will leave for Manchester on June 28, with Malik joining them on July 24.

Malik, who is based in Sialkot, was with the Peshawar Zalmi squad in the Pakistan Super League before the tournament was suspended in March. Since then he is in Pakistan, while his wife and their one-year-old son are in Hyderabad in India. With limited flights in operation, it's not yet clear where Malik and his family will reconnect but it is more likely to be in Dubai.

"Unlike the rest of us, Shoaib Malik has not seen his immediate family for nearly five months due to his commitments and the subsequent international travel bans following the Covid-19 pandemic," PCB CEO Wasim Khan said in a statement. "As travel restrictions are

AMSTERDAM AGENCIES

now slowly easing out and there is an opportunity for a family reunion, it is appropriate that at a human level we show compassion as part of our duty of care and respect Shoaib's request."

The main reason behind reaching England five weeks ahead of the series is to comply with the UK government's policy that those arriving from outside the country will have to undergo a 14-day quarantine period. While Malik is not travelling with the rest of the squad, he will have to adhere to the same policy.

"We have spoken with the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), which

understands the situation and has agreed to make an exception by helping Shoaib enter the country on July 24," Khan said. "Of course, before integrating with the side, Shoaib will follow the UK government's policies on visitors entering the country."

The Pakistan team will stay in Derbyshire for the quarantine period during which they will be allowed to train and practise. They will also be playing intra-squad practice games because of the non-availability of local teams as the ECB is yet to commence its domestic season.

The Dutch men’s and women’s national football team players said on Friday they would no longer grant interviews to a popular TV show due to remarks made by a commentator mocking an anti-racism protester.

In a statement first published on Twitter by men’s team captain Virgil van Dijk, the players said they would no longer speak with the Veronica Inside programme after the host compared a prominent Dutch black activist to “Black Pete”. Black Pete is a fictional character in Dutch winter holiday celebrations usually portrayed by white people wearing black face paint - a tradition criticised this week by U.S. civil rights leader Jesse Jackson as offensive. “This is not on the edge, this has nothing to do with humour, this is not the language of football,” said Liverpool defender Van Dijk. The national football association KNVB told national broadcaster NOS that it stood behind the players. Veronica Inside host Johan Derksen said earlier on Friday that he did not regret his comments. “I didn’t think the joke was really that bad, for me,” he told newspaper Algemeen Dagblad.

Saqlian terms Saeed Anwar as a maestro of playing off-spin bowling ISLAMABAD APP

Former Test Cricketer Saqlain Mushtaq believes Pakistani batting legend Saeed Anwar was the maestro of playing off-spin bowling, saying no left-handed batsmen played off-spinners better than him.

“I played some matches against Anwar but have done many rounds with him in the nets. It was very difficult to beat him or take his wicket,” Saqlain said in a video on his YouTube Channel.

Anwar played 55 Tests and 247 ODIs scoring 4,052 and 8,824 runs, respectively.

Anwar also captained Pakistan in seven Tests and 11 ODIs. “Anwar was very skillful and I think there was no other left handed batsman who played off-spinner better than him,” Saqlain, who was the Head of International Player Development at the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) High Performance Centre, said.

Saqlain, who was credited with the invention of the “doosra”, said the second left handed batsman who played off-spin better was the Indian cricketer and current Board of Control for Cricket in India

(BCCI) President Sourav Ganguly.

“Ganguly also had an expertise against the off-spinners. He used to cut, insideout, sweep against off-spinners. He would charge the bowler whenever he wanted,” he said.

Ganguly who also captained the Indian team, had scored 7,212 runs in 113 Tests and 11,363 runs in 311 ODIs. “Dada was intelligent, brave and played good on the turning tracks,” he said.

Saqlain said West Indies batsman Brian Lara also played off-spinners very well. “I witnessed once when Lara was in command against the Sri Lankan off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan. Muralitharan couldn’t get his hands on him,” he said.

Lara who debuted in international cricket in 1990 against Pakistan, scored 11,953 and 10,405 runs in 131 Tests and 299 ODIs, respectively.

“Unfortunately Lara and I didn’t got to play much. However, previously I used to take his early wickets in Tests and ODIs but after that we had very tough battles,” he said.

Saqlain said Sri Lankan cricketer Kumar Sangakkara was also an outstand-

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ing batsman of off-spin bowling. “A tactic was and still is used was to play off-spinners against the left-handed batsmen,” he said.

The former Sri Lankan skipper scored 28,016 runs in international cricket across all formats in a career that spanned 15 years.

“But these (Anwar, Ganguly, Lara, Sangakkara) were some of the few lefthanded batsmen who played off-spinners very well and used to create difficulty for the bowler,” he said.

Saqlain said the reason behind these batsmen of how they were able to play offspin bowling so well was self-belief and courage.

“According to my observation they were brave and had full belief on their skills. They never thought that they will face difficulty playing off spinners,” he said.

“If a bowler is creating pressure on a batsman, then he should come out of the crease sensibly taking calculative risk and play different shots.

These (Anwar, Ganguly, Lara, Sangakkara) batsmen used the crease very well,” he said.

Sunday, 21 June, 2020

NEWS

PAkIstAn to sAve $2.4Bn In 2020 deBt relIef: World BAnk NEW YORK

t

AGENCIES

HE world's poorest countries could save over $12 billion (9.71 billion pounds) owed to sovereign and other creditors this year through their participation in a debt-relief programme, with Angola alone saving some $3.4 billion, according to estimates published Friday in a new database from the World Bank.

The savings under the Covid-19linked Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) will be short-term, since the initiative only provides for suspension of debt payments through the end of the year. It postpones those payments until a

'POOREST COUNTRIES CAN CUMULATIVELY SAVE OVER $12BN OWED TO SOVEREIGN AND OTHER CREDITORS THIS YEAR' later date but does not cancel them outright.

The second-largest saver among eligible DSSI countries would be Pakistan, with $2.4 billion, followed by Kenya with $802 million, according to the data.

In terms of savings compared with the gross domestic product, Bhutan would reap the most benefits from the plan with 7.3pc of GDP savings, followed by Angola at 3.7pc and Djibouti at 2.5pc.

Besides each country’s estimated sav-

Pakistan to witness ‘ring of fire’ solar eclipse today

ings, the database includes details on debt owed to multilaterals like the International Monetary Fund as well as on official and non-official bilateral debt disbursed and debt service due per year.

IMF and World Bank officials have warned that the Covid-19 pandemic will hit developing and emerging markets particularly hard given high levels of debt, sharp drops in oil and other commodity prices and insufficient healthcare systems.

The DSSI is backed by the G-20, the

World Bank, the IMF and the Paris Club of sovereign lenders. The database provides a new level of transparency about debts and creditors, including China, which has become one of the largest creditors in Africa and elsewhere over the past two decades. The Jubilee Debt Campaign has estimated the cancellation of poor countries’ debt payments, including to private creditors, would free over $25 billion for the countries this year, or $50 billion if extended through 2021.

The United Nations, many African countries and civil society groups have called for debt relief to be extended for two years to allow countries to recover more fully from the economic shock of the pandemic.

Pakistan's envoy discusses Afghan peace deal with Taliban leadership

KARACHI STAFF REPORT

DOHA

Pakistan will sight an annular solar eclipse, popularly known as the ‘ring of fire’, on Sunday, the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) said on Saturday. According to the met office, other than southern parts of Pakistan, the solar eclipse will also be visible in parts of Africa including the Central African Republic, Congo and Ethiopia and in northern parts of India and China. An annular solar eclipse happens when the Moon covers the Sun’s center, leaving the Sun’s visible outer edges to form a “ring of fire” or annulus around the moon. According to the PMD, the maximum magnitudes of the eclipse in major Pakistani cities will be as follow: The eclipse would begin at about 9:45 am on Sunday across the country, and at approximately 11:45 am, the moon would completely eclipse the sun.

It would end at about 1:10 pm. The Met Office said the solar eclipse would be fully visible in Karachi. “Punjab, Balochistan and KhyberPakhtunkhwa (KP) will have 90 per cent eclipse visibility while Karachi will have full visibility.

The eclipse will be visible from Australia to Europe, as well as to people in Central Asia and Asian countries,” said the PMD. Ophthalmologists have described Sunday’s eclipse as “dangerous for the human eye” as it would emit ultraviolet rays that could permanently destroy

STAFF REPORT

Muhammad Sadid Khan, Islamabad’s special envoy for Kabul, has called on top Taliban leadership in Doha, Qatar to discuss upcoming intra-Afghan talks and reaffirm Pakistan’s continued role as a facilitator in the peace process.

The meeting comes a week after Kabul and the Taliban said they had agreed that Doha would be the venue for the first meeting in their peace talks, known as the intra-Afghan dialogue — the first high-level meeting between the two sides after years of fighting.

According to the Foreign Office, in Khan’s first meeting with Taliban political representatives since his appointment earlier this month, he met the head of the Taliban political office, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, and other senior Taliban leaders and discussed the Islamabad-brokered reconciliation process aimed at ending more than 18 years of war in Afghanistan.

“Pakistan will continue to play a role as a facilitator for reconciliation

and peace in Afghanistan,” Khan told a private media outlet on his return from Qatar late Friday, adding that Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa’s recent visit to Kabul had “given a new impetus” to Islamabad’s push for peace.

The US signed a troop withdrawal deal with the Taliban in February, but its attempts to usher the insurgent group toward peace talks with the Afghan government have been mired in setbacks. Violence, which surged in March and April, and disagreement over the Taliban’s demand that all 5,000 prisoners be released, have also

blocked progress toward resolving the conflict, in which Pakistan is a key player.

“Mullah Baradar said the release of prisoners according to the Feb 28 accord [with the US] would be a stepping stone to immediately start intraAfghan negotiations,” Khan said.

He said Pakistan considered Doha a convenient venue for the talks but it was up to the main stakeholders, the Afghan government and the Taliban, to make a final decision on the location. “On its part, the government of Pakistan is fully committed to supporting the peace process,” Khan said.

AP changes writing style to capitalise ‘b’ in Black LONDON AGENCIES

The Associated Press changed its writing style guide Friday to capitalise the “b” in the term Black when referring to people in a racial, ethnic or cultural context, weighing in on a hotly debated issue. The change conveys “an essential and shared sense of history, identity and community among people who identify as Black, including those in the African diaspora and within Africa,” John Daniszewski, AP vice president of standards, said in a blog post on Friday. “The lowercase black is a color, not a person.” The news organization will also now capitalize Indigenous in reference to original inhabitants of a place. Daniszewski said the revisions aligned with long-standing identifiers such as Latino, Asian American and Native American. He said the decision followed more than two years of research and debate among AP journalists and outside groups and thinkers. “Our discussions on style and language consider many points, including the need to be inclusive and respectful in our storytelling and the evolution of language,” he wrote. “We believe this change serves those ends.” The AP said it expects to make a decision within a month on whether to capitalise the term white. Among the considerations are what that change might mean outside the United States. An ongoing debate over capitalisation of Black accelerated in many U.S. newsrooms in recent weeks as journalists grappled with massive protests and sweeping changes in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death at the hands of police. The Los Angeles Times, USA Today and NBC News last week embraced capitalisation, and the National Association of Black Journalists urged other news organizations to follow. The AP Stylebook of usage policies is highly influential in the industry, with many news organisations, government and public relations agencies using it as a guide. The death of Floyd, a Black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee to his neck, sparked nationwide protests and lent momentum to a variety of social changes, from police reform and the public removal of Confederate statues and flags to the capitalisation of Black. “It’s certainly long overdue,” said Doris Truong, director of training and diversity at the Poynter Institute, a journalism think tank. “It’s something that people who are Black have been calling for for a long time.” It’s also a relatively simple step for news organizations dealing anew with many complex issues, such as whether their journalists can be opinionated on social media or march in Black Lives Matter demonstrations. Nearly a century ago, sociologist W.E.B. DuBois waged a letter-writing campaign to get newspapers to capitalize Negro, saying a lowercase “n” was a sign of disrespect and racism. The New York Times took his advice in 1930, calling it an act of recognition and respect for those who’d spent generations in “the lower case.”

Modi downplays territory violation in violent Ladakh clash with China NEW DELHI AGENCIES

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi appeared to downplay a clash with Chinese troops in a disputed Himalayan region that left 20 Indian soldiers dead and more than 70 injured, saying on Friday there had been no intrusion across his country’s borders.

“Nobody has intruded into our border, neither is anybody there now, nor have our posts been captured,” Modi said, referring to Ladakh’s Galwan valley, where hand-tohand fighting between soldiers from the nuclear-armed neighbours took place earlier this week.

India and China are attempting to cool tensions after the deadliest clash in at least five decades, with military-level talks taking place in an attempt to deescalate the confrontation. But Modi’s comments, made in a televised statement at the end of an all-party meeting to discuss the incident, contrasted with his government’s earlier stance.

On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar had told a senior Chinese diplomat that the dispute was triggered after “the Chinese side sought to erect a structure in Galwan valley on our side of the LAC,” according to a ministry statement.

The LAC refers to the Line of Actual Control, the de facto border that has been a constant source of friction in the region where India and China fought a brief war in 1962. With his nation in shock over the loss of its soldiers’ lives, Modi faces one of the

Indian troops attacked Chinese officers who went for negotiations, says diplomat BEIJING AGENCIES

The Deputy Director of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Information Department Lijian Zhao on Saturday gave a step-by-step account of the confrontation that took place at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) that killed 20 Indian army troops including an officer. The Chinse diplomat said the Galwan Valley area is located on the Chinese side of the LAC in the western section of the Sino-Indian boundary.

“For many years, the Chinese border troops have been patrolling and on duty in this region.”

Zhao said. “Since April, the Indian border troops have unilaterally and continuously built roads, bridges and other facilities at the LAC in Galwan Valley.” Zhao also further that China lodged representations and protests on multiple occasions but Indian troops crossed the LAC and were responsible for provocations.

“On May 6, Indian border troops crossed LAC, trespassed into China’s territory, built fortification and barricades, which impeded the patrol of Chinese border troops,” Zhao said. “They deliberately made provocations in an atmost difficult foreign policy challenges since he came to power in 2014.

On Friday evening, some opposition parties questioned why the government was not better prepared. “Does the government not receive, on a regular basis, satellite pictures of the borders of our country? Did our exter-

tempt to unilaterally change the status quo of control and management.” The Chinese border troops were compelled to take necessary measures to respond to the situation on the ground and strengthen management and control in the border areas, the Chinese diplomat added. “To ease the situation, China and India stayed in close communication through military and diplomatic channels.” He added that, in response to the strong demands by China, India agreed to withdraw the personnel who had crossed the LAC and demolish the facilities, which they did. “On June 6, the border troops held a commander-level meeting and agreed to ease the situation,” Zhao elaborated. “India promised it would not cross the estuary of Galwan River to patrol and build facilities.”

“Shockingly, on the evening of June 15, India’s front-line troops, in violation of the agreement reached the commanderlevel meeting, once again crossed the Line of Actual Control for deliberate provocation when the situation in the Galwan Valley was already easing,” Zhao said.

“India’s front-line troops even violently attacked the Chinese officers and soldiers who went there for negotiation, thus triggering fierce physical conflicts and causing casualties,” he added.

nal intelligence agencies not report any unusual activity along the LAC?” said Sonia Gandhi, president of the opposition Congress party.

SOLDIERS RETURNED: Earlier on Friday, an Indian government source said that China had returned 10 Indian soldiers cap-

tured during the battle.

In a briefing in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian denied any Indian troops had been in its custody. “As far as I know China hasn’t seized any Indian personnel,” Zhao said.

The Indian army did not comment on the

release, which according to the source took place on Thursday evening, instead referring to a government statement that said all of its soldiers were accounted for.

India has said the Chinese side also suffered casualties in the clash, but China has not disclosed any.

Military officials have since held talks, but there is no sign of a breakthrough.

“The situation remains as it was, there is no disengagement, but there is also no further build-up of forces,” said a second Indian government source, who is aware of the ground situation. The official said at least 76 Indian troops were wounded during the clash and had been hospitalised.

“No one is critical as of now,” he said.

US SYMPATHY: The United States offered condolences to India on Friday.

“We extend our deepest condolences to the people of India for the lives lost as a result of the recent confrontation with China,” US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a message posted on Twitter.

“We will remember the soldiers’ families, loved ones, and communities as they grieve.” Having actively sought greater economic engagement with China, Modi is compelled to review the state of those ties, just at a time when Sino-US relations have also deteriorated.

As a non-aligned nation, India has always sought to balance the influence of super-powers. But in the past two decades, New Delhi has built closer political and defence ties with Washington and the United States has become one of India’s top arms suppliers.

Published by Arif Nizami at Plot No 66-C, 1st Floor, 21st Commercial Street, Phase-II (Extension), DHA Karachi and printed at Ibn-e-Hassan Printing Press, Hockey Stadium, Karachi. Ph: 021-35381208-9. Email: newsroom@pakistantoday.com.pk