EpaperKH_2020-06-30 by Pakistan Today

CMYK

Tuesday, 30 June, 2020 I 8 Dhū al-Qa‘dah, 1441 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XI No 2 I 12 Pages I Karachi Edition

PSX ATTACKED

terrorists stoPPed by PoliCemen, guards at CheCkPost g

4 SEcURITy PERSoNNEl MARTyRED, SEVEN INJURED AS SINDH PolIcE PUT UP A FIERcE FIgHT

FoREIgN MINISTER, PM'S NSA, SINDH RANgERS Dg SUSPEcT INDIAN INVolVEMENT; PRESIDENT, PM, coAS lAUD SEcURITy PERSoNNEl

KARACHI

StAff RepoRt

oUR security officials were martyred while four terrorists were killed when the heavily armed assailants attacked the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) building here on Monday morning. According to a police statement, one sub-inspector and three security guards were martyred while seven persons, including three police officials, received injuries in the fierce gun-and-grenade attack in the high-security zone that also houses the head offices of several banks. The attack was claimed by the proscribed Balochistan liberation Army (BlA), an Afghanistanbased terrorist organisation, through an email sent to multiple journalists. The outfit had also attacked the chinese consulate in Karachi in 2018. The BlA has been critical of chinese projects in Balochistan, particularly the china-Pakistan Economic corridor (cPEc). In 2016, A chinese consortium comprising three exchanges — china Financial Futures Exchange (the lead bidder), Shanghai Stock Exchange and Shenzhen Stock Exchange — bought 40 percent strategic shares in the PSX in a deal valued at Rs8.96 billion ($85 million). The attack can be an act of retaliation against increasing chinese presence in the port city of gwadar and elsewhere in the province. According to details, the attackers, who were armed with AK-47 assault rifles and hand grenades, reached the PSX entrance a little after 10am in a Toyota corolla car and opened fire. A grenade

attack was also carried out at the main gate of the building. Police said that advanced weaponry, hand grenades and explosive material was recovered from the dead terrorists’ custody. officials of the Bomb Disposal Unit also arrived at the scene of the attack and scoured the site, including the vehicle used by the terrorists, for any explosive material. ‘EIGHT-MINUTE OPERATION’: Sindh Rangers Director general omer Ahmed Bukhari, during a press conference, said that the terrorists were eliminated within eight minutes. He told reporters that the attackers arrived at the scene in a car at 10:02am and they were killed by security forces by 10:10am. once the attackers were killed, security personnel carried out a clearance operation and normalcy was restored to the area within 30-35 minutes. He said that the terrorists had planned a long assault, that included

bloodshed and holding people inside the building hostage. All the attackers were equipped with AK47s, hand grenades and food. Bukhari added that the possibility of the involvement of foreign agencies, especially India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), cannot be ruled out, saying that such attacks are not “stand-alone incidents” and cannot take place without the aid of “outside intelligence agencies”. “Straightaway, I can assure you that this terrorist incident cannot have taken place without [the help of an] outside agency. And among them, RAW’s frustration is apparent to all of you,” he said. Responding to a question, Bukhari denied the suggestion that the attack represented an intelligence failure, adding that security forces’ response was “in place” and the militants “could not achieve any of their motives”. Karachi police chief ghulam Nabi Memon also backed Bukhari’s state-

ment, saying that since the attack on chinese consulate, there have been other attempts that were foiled by security agencies. He said that it was a triumph for the country’s security forces as they had responded promptly and thwarted the motives of the attackers. “We were prepared when they came, we had a good response, we had good coordination with intelligence,” he said. Bukhari said that the militants may have wanted to show that they have the ability to target high-profile places but they had been humiliated because they were eliminated within minutes. The Sindh Rangers Dg said that investor confidence in the country had increased. ‘TRADING DID NOT STOP EVEN FOR A MINUTE’: PSX Board chairman Sulaiman S. Mehdi said “trading didn’t close even for a minute”. “There is no doubt that this was a terrorist attack. I want to thank the security guards who embraced martyrdom for their service. The response of police and

KARACHI Indices of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) showed incredible resilience on Monday, withstanding a terrorist attack on the PSX building earlier in the day, besides accumulating decent gains to cross the 34,000-mark. During the early trading hours, four terrorists had launched an attack on the PSX, resulting in the martyrdom of four security guards, including a police constable. According to Sindh Rangers, all four terrorists had been killed.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

CONFIRMED CASES:

208,358

BIlAWAl ASKS PM To ‘EITHER RESIgN oR SEEK FoRgIVENESS FRoM PEoPlE FoR DESTRoyINg coUNTRy’S EcoNoMy’

ISLAMABAD StAff RepoRt

DAY'S DEATH TOLL:

NEW CASES:

3,557

RECOVERED:

DEATHS:

SINDH:

PUNJAB:

95,407 4,254 81,955

74,778

KP:

BALOCHISTAN:

AJK/GB:

ISLAMABAD:

26,115

10,376

1,049/1,442 12,643

After a long and noisy debate on the proposed Finance Bill for the fiscal year 2020-2021 on Monday, the National Assembly gave its nod to the federal budget which the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has been touting as “tax-free”. 160 MPs voted in favour of the bill while 119 opposed it. The government had unveiled a coronavirus-influenced Rs7.13 trillion “tax-free” budget for the next fiscal year in a special session of the House held on June 13. While reading the budget document, Minister for Industries Hammad Azhar had emphasised that no new tax was being introduced in this budget. Prime Minister Imran Khan joined the session halfway as the speaker listed each clause and amendment. During the voting, a large number of members of the

Editorial: Crisis averted STORY ON PAGE 06

ARIBA SHAHID

Pakistan

160 lAWMAKERS VoTE IN FAVoUR oF FINANcE BIll, 119 AgAINST IT

CONTINUED ON PAGE 02

RESILIENT PSX WITHSTANDS TERRORIST ATTACK; INDEX GAINS 242 POINTS

Govt succeeds in passing FY21 budget amid Opp’s protests

Coronavirus in

security forces was unbelievable. our personal guards deterred the terrorists until police came in; they were not allowed to enter the building at all,” said Mehdi. Around 1:20pm, the benchmark index at the PSX was up 0.31pc or 104 points at 34,044. PSX Managing Director Farrukh Khan termed the attack “unfortunate” and praised the security forces for their timely response. He said the number of people in the compound was lower than normal — usually close to 6,000 — since many employees were working from home due to covid-19. He added that the terrorists were intercepted outside the entrance and only one of them had entered the compound, and that too “only a few steps”.

more inside

Pakistan reports 49 Covid-19 deaths, 3,557 new cases in a day STORY ON PAGE 03

Vietnam grounds Pakistani pilots over licence concerns STORY ON BACK PAGE

treasury benches started thumping their desks and chanting slogans in favor of the premier. Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar, while taking to Twitter after the passing of the bill, said: “Tall claims made by the opposition and some sensationalist analysis by the media over the last few days and the result is that the 29-vote majority, through which last year’s budget was passed, has increased to 41 votes.”

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Before the vote, speaking on the floor of the House, Azhar said that Monday’s session was meant to move amendments to the finance bill and pass it, yet the opposition was resorting to personal attacks. He accused the opposition of shouting na manzoor (unacceptable) even before the budget was presented in the parliament.

CONTINUED ON BACK PAGE

SC orders govt to decide drug prices within four weeks STORY ON PAGE 02

Finance Division rebuts news reports on Audit Report 2019-20 STORY ON PAGE 02

Tuesday, 30 June, 2020

NEWS

SC orderS Govt to deCide druG priCeS within four weekS ISLAmABAd

app

HE Supreme Court (SC) on Monday directed the federal government to take a decision on drug prices within four weeks. A twomember bench of the apex court comprising Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Ijazul Ahsan heard the case. During the course of proceedings, the counsel for a private pharmaceutical company said that the order of the apex court was violated in determining the prices of medicines. The SRO issued by the government was not in line with the court order, he added. The CJP asked what did the court order. The counsel responded that the court had ordered to freeze the prices of medicines at the level of year 2013. The top judge said that the court did not issue any such order on the prices of medicines.

He said that the drug regulatory authorities in the world were very strong while in Pakistan, the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) was working under pharmaceutical companies. DRAP kept fluctuating drug prices, he added. The DRAP director said that they were trying to control drug prices. The CJP said

that the DRAP wanted to engage all companies. Justice Ijazul Ahsan asked why did it take so long to fix drug prices. The CJP said that the DRAP should determine the drug prices in a day. Justice Ijazul Ahsan asked did the government decide on the prices after the recommendations of the task force. He said

the government could not take up the matter indefinitely. The additional attorney general said that the government had received the recommendations of the task force but the government had not yet made a decision on the recommendations. The additional attorney general said that the Drug Pricing Committee (DPC) had no authority to determine drug prices. The CJP said that the legitimacy of the task force was nowhere in the law. He said that the DPC determined drug prices but the government formed a task force on the decision of the DPC. He observed that employees were working on deputation in DRAP. No one was working on deputation at the director level in DRAP, the DRAP official responded. Later, the court ordered the federal government to decide on drug prices within four weeks and adjourned hearing of the case.

Finance Division rebuts news reports on Audit Report 2019-20 ISLAmABAd app

The Ministry of Finance on Monday refuted news reports appearing in a section of the press, claiming that the first audit report of the present government reveals irregularities and corruption amounting to Rs270 billion by 40 government departments and ministries during FY2018-19. Describing these reports categorically as baseless, misinformed and erroneous, the Ministry of Finance in an official statement issue here said that the Audit Report for FY2019-20, like all audit reports, consists of preliminary observations. According to the statement, the audit report it identifies some gaps in completing formalities while processing different cases by government entities and indicates various shortcomings in the provision of documents to the audit teams in certain other

instances. But to conclude that each procedural deficiency is tantamount to corruption is incorrect and misleading, it added. It stated that the Ministry of Finance would like to make it clear that by their

Judicial remand of Jang Group chief extended LAHORE: An accountability court on Monday extended the judicial remand of Jang Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mir Shakilur Rahman in the 34-year-old illegal plots allotment case for another 22 days. Accountability Judge Syed Jawadul Hassan directed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to produce Mir on the expiry of his remand period on July 21. The court was adjourned following a brief hearing wherein the NAB prosecutor and defence counsel appeared. The jail authorities did not produce Mir due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The bureau last week filed a reference in an accountability court against Mir and had nominated former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, former Lahore Development Authority (LDA) director general Humayun Faiz and former director Land Development Mian Bashir Ahmed in the Rs143.5 million scam. NAB has alleged that Mir obtained illegal exemption of 54 plots of one-kanal each in Johar Town Lahore, with the connivance of Nawaz Sharif, the then chief minister of Punjab, in violation of the exemption policy in 1986. app

very nature audit reports identify procedural deficiencies, and are not evidence of corruption – let alone ‘conclusive proof’ of corruption as certain sections of the media have attempted to portray. “Furthermore, these audit reports are subsequently considered exhaustively at several forums, including by the departmental audit committees and the Public Accounts Committees, where ministries and other government institutions are given an opportunity to defend their cases and rectify the procedural shortcomings,” the statement read. Even these forums are not competent to establish whether or not corruption has been committed, it added. “It must also be understood that on the provision of the requisite documents – and occasionally completion of the requisite approval processes – the vast majority of audit paras are settled at these forums. Only in a few instances, where the defi-

ciencies cannot be met, has punitive action been necessary,” the Ministry of Finance said. It added that moreover, within the above-clarified context of the nature of audit reports, it is very important to note that the audit report of the incumbent government actually reflects vast improvement in governance. “For instance, comparing earlier audit reports, as covered by the press in previous years, with the one in question reveals that while audit paras related to expenditures of only Rs270 billion in FY2018-19, the Audit Reports of FY2015-16, FY2016-17 and FY2017-18 presented audit paras on expenditures as huge as Rs3.2 trillion, Rs5.8 trillion and Rs15.7 trillion respectively,” the statement read. The Ministry of Finance, therefore, strongly rejects the misleading conclusions presented by certain sections of the press on the basis of the Audit Report for FY2018-19, the statement concluded.

Politicians, diplomats condemn Pakistan Stock Exchange attack KARACHI staff report

Politicians and international diplomats strongly condemned the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) attack that took place on Monday in which four militants were killed and four security guards along with one police officer embraced martyrdom. Sindh Governor Imran Ismail strongly condemned the attack on the Stock Exchange and said the attack was aimed at “tarnishing our relentless war on terror.” “Strongly condemn the attack on PSX aimed at tarnishing our

relentless war on terror. Have instructed the IG & security agencies to ensure that the perpetrators are caught alive and their handlers are accorded exemplary punishments. We shall protect Sindh at all costs,” he tweeted. Sindh chief minister called for an immediate inquiry report into the attack while appreciating the timely action taken by the police and rangers to thwart off the attack. “Chief Minister Sindh has directed all law enforcement agencies to be more vigilant,” a tweet from the CM House read. The CM House further added that Murad had said a detailed in-

quiry should be held into the attack and the report be submitted to him. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Hina Pervez Butt criticised the government for failing to keep terrorism at bay. “Nawaz Sharif had worked so hard to eradicate terrorism but under Niazi, the law and order situation in the country has started deteriorating again. This government is failing in every field,” she tweeted. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Shahbaz Gill, in a tweet, said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had condemned the attack. “Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan’s terrorist attack on the Karachi Stock Exchange condemned – the security forces bravely fought the enemy and thwarted the attack,” he tweeted.

will advise govt to take back nfC notification; AG asks ihC for more time ISLAmABAd app

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday adjourned until July 22 the hearing of a petition challenging the composition of the 10th National Finance Commission (NFC). A two-judge bench comprising Justice Aamir Farooq and Justice Mian Gul Hassan Aurangzeb heard the petition filed by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khurram Dastagir. Over the course of the hearing, the attorney general for Pakistan told the judges that a member of the commission has already resigned from it. “I will advise the government to issue a new notification for the NFC composition and withdraw the one challenged in the high court,” he said. He said that a new notification needs to be issued after the resignation of a member of the NFC and sought three weeks’ time in the hope that a new notification would be issued by the next hearing. On May 28, the IHC had issued notices to the federal government on the petition challenging the composition of the 10th NFC. It is noteworthy that former senator Javed Jabbar earlier this month announced his resignation from the 10th NFC. Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Alyani had nominated him as nonstatutory member from Balochistan to the 10th NFC that President Dr Arif Alvi constituted vide a notification put out on May 12.

Asad umar for uninterrupted power supply to karachi ISLAmABAd tLtp

Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar on Monday directed officials at the Power Ministry to ensure uninterrupted supply of electricity in Karachi. The planning minister said this while chairing a meeting of a sub-committee of the federal cabinet on energy affairs on Monday, where the K-Electric officials briefed him regarding recent power outages in the city. Asad Umar said that responsibilities should be clearly assigned in order to ensure continuous supply of electricity in the port city. “We are constantly in touch with K-Electric officials over electricity supply in the city,” he said. The meeting reviewed the measures taken to balance the demand and supply of electricity in the business hub of the country. The K-Electric Chief Executive Officer (CEO) briefed the meeting regarding steps taken by the power company to overcome electricity shortfall. The KElectric CEO said that the power company faced electricity shortage that varied from 600 Megawatts (MW) to around 150 MW. The Ministry of Power said that it has been extending every possible assistance to the K-Electric. A committee was also formed under the supervision of Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Power Sector Shahzad Qasim to review fuel supply measures to the power company. Earlier on June 9, Asad Umar had said that Karachi would receive an additional 1400MW electricity by 2023 via the national grid.

PSX attacked: Terrorists stopped by policemen, guards at checkpost ContInued fRom pAge 01 PSX RECEIVED THREAT SIX MONTHS AGO: A source, on the condition of anonymity, told Pakistan Today that the PSX administration received threats approximately six months ago. “They increased the security, asked for additional support from Sindh Rangers. However, as time went on, I am assuming the security got lighter and the security may have stepped down a notch. This attack may have something to do with that,” the source added. RAW HAND SUSPECTED: While strongly condemning the attack, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi in a statement paid tribute to the security personnel who lost their lives. He suggested that India was involved in the deadly attack, recalling that he had stated after an attack in Waziristan that New Delhi had activated its “sleeper cells” in the coun-

try. The circumstances of today’s attack, if examined, “will lead to the same sleeper cells”, Qureshi added. “India cannot tolerate peace in Pakistan,” the minister said, adding that India was involved in the attack on Pakistani troops as well. He said India was being “exposed” before the world, including through its confrontation with China in Ladakh and its oppression of people in Indian-occupied Kashmir. Qureshi said Pakistani agencies are “fully alert” to all threats. “We will foil all Indian strategies [and] further expose it in front of the world,” he added. Meanwhile, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Security Dr Moeed Yusuf tweeted: “Make no mistake, today’s attack in Karachi is state-sponsored terrorism against Pakistan.” He said the world “must wake up to suicidal tendencies of this destabilising actor

that is finding distractions to overcome its own failures and embarrassment”. “Our warnings have come true repeatedly. Whether on demographic re-engineering in #Kashmir or sponsored terrorism against Pakistan,” he added, without naming India. In a later tweet, Yusuf called upon the international community to “publicly call out and condemn countries” that perpetrate terrorism against Pakistan. “There is an established link between BLA, an international listed terror organisation, and India, a state led by [a] fascist government that has again perpetrated terrorism in Pakistan through its proxies,” he wrote. CONDEMNATIONS: President Dr Arif Alvi condemned the terrorist attack. In a statement, he said Pakistan is determined to root out terrorism from its soil and terrorists will never succeed in their nefarious designs. The president paid a rich tribute

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to security personnel, who foiled the terrorists’ bid by putting their own lives in danger. He said the role of security forces in overcoming terrorism and eradicating it is worth appreciation. Prime Minister Imran Khan condemned the attack and said the “whole nation was proud of its soldiers who bravely fought off the enemy”, his assistant on political communication, Shahbaz Gill, said through a tweet. Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa paid tribute to the PSX security guards “who sacrificed their lives as first responders vigilantly checking terrorists’ entry to PSX [and] foiling a major terrorist incident”, according to a tweet by the military’s media wing. He also lauded the “prompt, effective and integrated response” of Rangers and Sindh Police, which he noted resulted in the terrorists being eliminated in “shortest possible time”. “With [the] support of our resilient na-

tion, we will foil all efforts of enemies aimed at destabilising hard-earned peace achieved through sacrifices of our martyrs,” the ISPR quoted Gen Bajwa as saying. Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah said that the attack was “akin to an attack on national security and economy”. “Antistate elements want to take advantage of the virus situation,” he said in a statement. Shah also lauded the “prompt action” by police and Rangers and directed all law enforcement agencies to be more vigilant. Sindh Governor Imran Ismail said: “We shall protect Sindh at all costs.” Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari tweeted that the “cowardly” attack was thwarted by the “brave and timely action by Sindh Police”. “All Pakistanis are grateful to Sindh police for not only saving so many live[s] but successfully defending the nerve centre of Pakistan’s economy.”

Tuesday, 30 June, 2020

pAkiStAn reportS 49 Covid-19 deAthS, 3,557 new CASeS in A dAy ISLAmABAd staff report

Pakistan on Monday confirmed 49 deaths from coronavirus as the number of positive cases surged to 206,512, and the nationwide tally of fatalities jumped to 4,167. According to the latest figures by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), 3,557 persons tested positive for Covid-19 during the last 24 hours. Sindh has become the worst-hit province by the pandemic in terms of cases followed by Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan. 80,446 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Sindh, 74,778 in Punjab, 25,778 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 10,376 in Balochistan, 12,643 in Islamabad, 1,442 in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and

DR MIRZA TELLS CORONAVIRUS PATIENTS TO ONLY TAKE PRESCRIBED MEDICINES 1,049 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). Furthermore, 1,681 individuals have lost their lives to the epidemic in Punjab, 1,269 in Sindh, 922 in KP, 116 in Balochistan, 127 in Islamabad, 24 in GB and 28 in AJK. Patients are under treatment at quarantine centres of 462 hospitals where 7,295 beds are available. Pakistan has so far conducted 1,262,162 coronavirus tests and 23,009 in last 24 hours. 95,407 coronavirus patients have recovered in the country whereas 2,437 patients are in critical condition. Meanwhile, Special Assistant to

Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza on Monday said that people should not choose themselves what medicines should be given to the coronavirus patients in their family, but rely on a doctor’s prescription instead. Speaking at a television programme, he said that Actemra injections are under clinical trials in Punjab only while the use of Remdesivir is currently in a trial phase. Dr Mirza urged people to adhere to the doctor’s instructions because doing otherwise, like choosing dosage or medicines on their own, might further worsen any pa-

Families of Karachi plane crash victims demand fresh probe KARACHI staff report

Families of the victims of last month’s Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) plane crash in Karachi on Monday rejected the government’s inquiry report and demanded a fresh and unbiased investigation into the incident. “We completely reject the government-mandated investigation,” they said in a press conference here. “A single person isn’t responsible for the crash, there are more than one individuals who are responsible for the tragedy. An indiscriminate action against

those at fault should be taken,” the aggrieved families said. At least 97 people had died in the May 22 incident, making it the third most catastrophic aviation disaster in Pakistan’s history. Two people had miraculously survived the crash. “The national flag carrier is the world’s second over-staffed airline according to employee-plane ratio. Political appointments in the airline should stop,” the families told reporters. Blaming the PIA management for failing to provide swift assistance to the victims, they said, “the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), PIA and the Pakistan

Airline Pilots Association (PALPA) all are the same”. They also demanded a ban on the workers’ unions in PIA and CAA. “Currency worth millions of rupees was recovered from the site, while many cases of corruption have been unearthed in the PIA.” The families said that they had knocked on the doors of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) for investigation. “What action has been taken against the air traffic controller officials?” they asked. “Here [in the country] a crash takes place every two years […] Who is respon-

tient’s health. Giving an update on the plasma therapy, he said that the government has not been recommending people to donate their plasma since the therapy is still under trial. “The Government of Pakistan will not promote plasma donations unless its trials show any positive outcome,” he said. Once, it begins bearing fruit, then might urge the people to donate their plasma to critical Covid-19 patients. He said that people should contact the authorities if they want to give plasma instead of personally approaching coronavirus patients. This, as Dr Mirza puts it, is extremely dangerous and can put their lives at risk if a complication occurs in the absence of any healthcare professional. sible for these incidents?” On June 24, Federal Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan had presented the interim investigation report on the PIA plane crash in the National Assembly, saying that the pilots were not focused and their lack of concentration caused the crash. Presenting the initial investigation report on the floor of the House, Sarwar had said that the conversation between the pilot and the air traffic controllers had been recorded and he had heard it himself. The minister said that the equipment from the aircraft had been extracted and decoded, adding that the recording obtained would be made part of the final report of the plane crash. Sarwar said that the initial report pointed out that there was no technical fault with the aircraft and even the pilot had said the same in his conversation with the air traffic controllers.

Sindh refuses to collect taxes for federal govt until FBR refunds Rs8bn: report neWS deSK The Sindh government led by Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has refused to collect taxes for the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) until it refunds Rs8 billion it has deducted from the provincial excise department’s acount, a private news channel reported on Monday. According to the report, the Sindh Excise and Taxation Department collects around Rs8 billion in taxes for the

federal government from the registration of vehicles of 800cc to 1300cc and transfer of vehicle ownership. Sindh Excise Secretary Abdul Haleem Shaikh told the channel that they used to collect these taxes for the federal government voluntarily and there was no constitutional binding in this regard. “After the Sindh CM’s directions we will not collect this tax,” he told the media outlet.

LHC orders Shehbaz to get himself tested for coronavirus from IPH LAHoRe The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Monday ordered Opposition Leader in National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif to get himself tested for coronavirus from the Institute of Public Health (IPH) on July 2. The court also directed the IPH director for producing the test report before it, while extending interim bail of Shehbaz in assets beyond means and money laundering cases till July 7. A division bench, headed by Justice Sardar Ahmad Naeem, passed the orders while hearing a pre-arrest bail petition by Shehbaz in the case. At the start of proceedings, She-

hbaz’s counsel submitted that an application for exemption from personal appearance had been filed on behalf of his client, in response to a court query. He submitted that Shehbaz was a cancer survivor and his recovery was slow due to it. He stated that Shehbaz was still in isolation and he had coronavirus symptoms despite passage of 14day period. He submitted that Shehbaz’s medical reports were also annexed with the application. At this stage, the court observed that since Shehbaz did not repeat the test, how it could be said that he still suffered from coronavirus. The court questioned that which laboratories had coronavirus test facility in the city.

NEWS

Bilawal meets Jwp's Bugti, discusses nfC Award, 18th Amendment ISLAMABADL: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) leader Shahzain Bugti discussed various matters of national interest during a meeting held here on Monday. Among the issues of national interest that the PPP chief and Bugti talked about were 18th Amendment, National Finance Commission (NFC) Award, and the rights of Balochistan and its people. The two leaders agreed on going forward together and working collaboratively on the country’s affairs, a statement issued by the PPP media cell stated. Bilawal lauded and supported the JWP leader’s stance on the NFC Award and the 18th Amendment. During former president and PPP co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari’s tenure, Balochistan received a specialised package for the commencement of the province’s rights, Bugti said. INp

how can SC suspend ShC verdict in daniel pearl case without solid reason, asks judge ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday once again rejected a request by the Sindh government to grant a stay order against the Sindh High Court’s (SHC) April 2 decision of overturning the conviction of four convicts in the American journalist Daniel Pearl murder case. A bench of the apex court, headed by Justice Mushir Alam, took up appeals by the provincial government and two independent appeals by the parents of Daniel Pearl against the acquittal of the convicts. Farooq H Naek, who represented the Sindh government, stated before the judges that the accused being global terrorists have been detained under maintenance of public order (MPO) after their acquittal. “How can you call the accused terrorists after acquittal,” questioned Justice Yahya Khan Afridi, a member of the bench, to which, the lawyer replied that one of them worked with a terrorist outfit in India while another with a banned organisation in Afghanistan. INp

Tuesday, 30 June, 2020

NEWS

anti-state eleMents will never suCCeeD in aChieving their punjab governor says anti-pakistan forces nefarious aiMs, says sinDh Minister involved in terrorism, leas clearing extremists KARACHi INP

INDH Minister for Information, Local Government, Housing & Town Planning, Religious Affairs, Forest and Wildlife Syed Nasir Hussain Shah on Monday, while appreciating the quick response of the security personnel in thwarting the terrorist attack on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), said that our security agencies were as alert as always to protect the country. He said that the manner in which Pakistan Rangers Sindh and Sindh Police personnel as well as private guards of PSX acted timely was highly commendable. The enemy has always failed because of the bravery and courage of our security personnel, he added. Shah expressed sorrow over the martyrdom of security personnel who were mar-

tyred in the terrorists' attack and said that the entire nation was proud of these brave sons who did not hesitate to lay down their lives for the protection of the country. He also expressed condolences with the families of the martyred security personnel. He said that the security personnel injured in the terrorists' attack were being provided all the best medical facilities and hoped that they would recover soon. The provincial minister further stated that the attack on PSX was in fact an attack on Pakistan's security and economy. He said that anti-national elements were always trying to create instability in Pakistan, but due to the bravery and alertness of our security personnel, their efforts would not be successful. "Our security personnel are on high alert at all times so that the enemy does not succeed in his nefarious aims," he maintained. Shah said that many nefarious aims of

the enemy were foiled by the personnel of our security agencies even in the planning stage. "Today's incident once again proves that our security personnel are always ready to protect the country," he said adding that anti-state elements should remember that whenever they turn to our country with their nefarious aims, they will face the failure. He further said that politically we might have differences, but whenever it came to national security we stand by the side of the federal government and will not sit idly by until the anti-national elements are brought to justice. The provincial Information Minister said that the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had also given a clear instruction to talk beyond all political differences for the security of the country. "We are happy that our security personnel are ready to face any challenge," he said.

LAHORE INP

Punjab Governor Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar on Monday said that anti-Pakistan forces are involved in terrorism and all law enforcing agencies (LEAs), including Pakistan Army, are clearing terrorists and their facilitators. Speaking during a meeting with a delegation of overseas Pakistanis at Governor House Lahore on Monday, he said the nation stands with the security agencies. He also said that all members of National Assembly (NA), including Prime Minister Imran Khan, deserve congratulations for federal budget for fiscal year 2020-21. Sarwar said the he strongly condemns attack on Pakistan Stock Exchange. He said that Rangers and other security personnel, including the police, must be applauded for thwarting the terrorists' intentions. However, terrorists are enemies of humanity and peace. Enemy forces do not want peace, development and prosperity here. He said that anti-Pakistan forces are involved in terrorism in Pakistan but the country’s security agencies have already thwarted the intentions of terrorists and will continue to thwart terrorists and their facilitators in the war on terror. He added, the sacrifices made by the institutions are unparalleled in the world. “We are proud of our security agencies and 220 million Pakistanis stand with their security agencies and no sacrifice will be spared,” Sarwar further said. “We salute the soldiers who were martyred in this incident of terrorism and we pray that Allah Almighty grant the martyrs a high position in Jannat-ul-Firdous,” he added.

four killed, four injured in Chotian nala landsliding

Covid-19 claims 74 more lives, infects 1,539 others in Sindh KARACHi PPI

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Monday said that coronavirus had hit new highs by claiming 74 more lives and lifting the death toll to 1,343 while 1,539 new cases emerged when 8,464 samples were tested across Sindh. In a statement issued from the CM House, Shah said that overnight 74 more patients died, lifting the death toll to 1,343. “This is the highest figure so far since the first death stemming from

Covid-19 reported on March 19,” he said and added that he was saddened to disclose that the death rate had increased from 1.5 to 1.6 per cent and offered condolence with the bereaved families. The CM said that 8,464 samples were tested against which 1,539 new cases of coronavirus were detected that constituted 19.6 per cent detection rate. The government had conducted so far 44,3757 tests which detected 81,985 cases, of them 45,616 patients had recovered, including 1,093 overnight. “The recovery rate

comes to 55.6 per cent which is quite encouraging,” he said. According to CM, currently, there are 35,026 patients under the treatment, of them 33,482 are at home isolation, 88 at isolation centers and 1,456 at different hospitals. Shah said that currently, 660 patients were in critical condition, of them 92 had been shifted onto the ventilators. Giving district-wise breakdown of the cases, Shah said that out of 1,539 new cases, Karachi had 689. He said East had 252, South 175, Central 107, Malir 62,

GiLGit West 49 and Korangi 44. He added that Hyderabad had 93 new cases, Ghotki 76, Sukkur 74, Mirpurkhas 34, Khairpur 34,Tando Allahyar 32, Sanghar 23, Shaheed Benazirabad 23, Jacobabad 28, Larkana 22, Kambar 19, Shikarpur 19, Dadu 13, Umerkot 12, Badin and Naushehro Feroze nine each, Sujawal six, Tando M Khan five, Thatta four, and Kashmore and Matiari have one each. The chief minister urged the people of Sindh to abide by the standard operating procedures (SOPs) so that the pandemic could be contained.

Locust again attacks crops in Naundero NAUNDERO

APP

At least four people were killed and four others sustained injuries in Chotian Nala landsliding incident, Rescue sources reported on Monday. According to details, landsliding that hit the area of Chotian Nala of Diamer district of Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), has been killed two children and a woman besides a man. The helicopter team started rescue operation to shift the dead and the injured to nearby hospital for necessary procedures. Rescue operation is continuing till the filling of this report. The dead and the injured were hailing from Diamer district of GB, rescue sources added.

light rainfall, drizzle in parts of karachi turns weather pleasant

PPI

KARACHi

Swarms of locusts once again attacked standing crops in Naundero area and its adjoining villages, causing widespread destruction to paddy saplings, mangoes, guava orchards and vegetables on Sunday. On seeing millions of locusts, tillers came out holding sticks and large tins in their hands to drive them out of their agricultural fields. It is expected that growers and peasants will suffer huge losses due to which they were extremely worried as the federal and provincial governments have so far failed to eradicate the locusts which will also raise issues of food security in the coming years apart from millions of rupees losses to them Peasants Muhmamad Nawaz Tagar, Rajib Khuhro and Ismail Khuhro said that they had been made scapegoat over the dispute between the federal and provincial governments over who will eliminate swarms of locusts and both had so far failed to protect their crops which was their fundamental duty. They said that had the plant protection department been alive in the country and in working condition, today they would not have

INP

faced such a terrible situation. The famers said ultimately people would also face food shortage and prices would be raised by the traders due to short supply. They said swarms of locusts were more dangerous pandemic than coronavirus, but both governments were busy in combating Covid-19 as if they had resolved all other problems faced by their voters and supporters.

They said rice would be unavailable for the poor next year and vegetable rates would also be enhanced for shortage which will very badly affect poor people as unemployment had also reached its new heights. They said paddy saplings were being destroyed by the locusts and it would take more time to sow fresh seeds and till then sowing paddy saplings' time will be over.

These farmers said they had been crying since last year, but both governments paid no heed as if it was not their primary duty to protect crops and save povertystricken people from destruction. In addition to aerial spraying with the help of airplanes and helicopters, non-conventional methods are also being used for effective control of locust during control operations.

Light rainfall and drizzle in various parts of the metropolis on Monday morning turned the hot and humid weather pleasant. Light rainfall and drizzle were reported in areas of North Karachi, Shahrah-e-Faisal, Baloch Colony and North Nazimabad, Gulshan-e-Iqbal and other areas. According to the Pakistan Meteorological Department, there are chances of drizzle, light rain with overcast skies during the day. The temperature in the morning was recovered at 30 degrees Celsius with humidity level in the air 69 percent. The weather department said the maximum temperature is expected to rise to 37 degrees Celsius during the day. It said mainly hot and dry weather is expected in most parts of the country during the next twelve hours. However, rain wind-thunderstorm is expected at isolated places in upper Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), upper Punjab, Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), Kashmir and adjoining hilly areas. The temperature of some major cities recorded this morning:The maximum temperature recorded in Islamabad and Quetta was 22 degrees centigrade, Lahore 28, Karachi 41, Peshawar 27, Murree 17, Gilgit 14, and Muzaffarabad 19 degree centigrade.

Separate outdoors for Covid-19 patients set up at govt hospitals: Dr Yasmin LAHORE INP

Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid to review the facilities in the outdoor of hospitals, status of Covid19 patients and facilities chaired a high-level meeting here at the Committee Room of the Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education Department on Monday. The meeting was attended by Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education Department Secretary Barrister Nabeel Awan, SHME Additional Secretary Amir Ghazi, King Edward Medical University Vice Chancellor Professor Khalid Masood Gondal. Fatima Jinnah Medical University Vice

Chancellor Professor Amir Zaman Khan, Mayo Hospital CEO Professor Asad Aslam Khan, Allama Iqbal Medical College Principal Professor Arif Tajammaul, Services Institute of Medical Sciences Principal Professor Mehmud Ayaz, General Hospital MS Dr Mehmud Salahuddin, Services Hospital MS Dr Iftikhar, Ganga Ram MS Dr Ehtesham, Jinnah Hospital MS Dr Yahya Sultan, Mayo Hospital MS Dr Tahir Khalil. The health minister took an update on the facilities in outdoors of government hospitals, preparations and measures for the Covid-19 patients and strategy for future. The vice chancellors and the MS shared the details of their respective institutions, data of pa-

tients and treatment and suggestions for further improvements. The minister said that the outdoor facility at Expo Centre is available 24 hours. Dr Yasmin said, "We have set up separate outdoor facilities for coronavirus patients at the government hospitals. People can visit them freely and easily. At the Mayo Hospital, Lahore, Coronavirus outdoor has been set up at the Hepatitis Clinic. Routine services like ENT, dermatology and dentistry will continue to function as normal. These routine outdoors have been kept separate from coronavirus outdoor. People must not hesitate to visit the government hospitals. All the MS' must ensure proper disinfection of the outdoor facilities.”

CM seeks plan to CoMpletely funCtionalise opDs anD operation theatres LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar on Monday directed the health department to submit a comprehensive plan to fully functionalise OPDs and operation theatres, adding that required steps should be taken within 10-days positively to facilitate the patients. While presiding over a meeting on Monday, the CM directed the health minister to nominate focal persons for the complete operationalisation of OPDs and operation theatres in every district, and similarly, a public awareness campaign should be run as well. Plugging the holes will improve the situation as patients face difficulties due to lack of complete functioning

of OPDs and operation theatres, he maintained. The CM expressed the satisfaction that effective measures taken by the Punjab government have helped to overcome the spread of coronavirus as the number of cases is declining. He directed to ensure strict compliance of governmental instructions for restricting the spread of the virus. He appreciated that doctors and paramedics have performed yeoman service to control the virus and directed that adoption of precautionary measures should be ensured for them. Minister Health Dr Yasmin Rashid, Chief Secretary, health secretaries and others attended the meeting. INP

Tuesday, 30 June, 2020

SexuAl hArASSmeNt cASeS rePOrted At lumS AgAiN LAHORE

SHAHAB OMER

TUDeNTS of Lahore University of Management and Sciences (LUMS) have once again revealed incidents of sexual harassment on campus by class fellows which led to yet another wave of #Metoo and #TimesUp on social media. According to the details, posts about two different female students being given poor grades in what was said to be an intimidation tactic by a male student, who apparently also works as a Teacher’s Assistant (TA), were made in addition to accusations of sexual harassment at the hands of other male fellow students. However, all the posts were quickly removed by the admins of the Facebook pages. Some university students reported that more than 50 harassment posts made by female students were removed, adding that the posts which were made in a day or two showed that there was a larger underlying ongoing issue in the university which some people intended to cover up. The matter was then taken to Twitter, where a student Amna Chaudhry tweeted, "I hope every single man who has ever made anyone feel even slightly uncomfortable during their time at LUMS is scared right now. #TimesUp”. She further added, “Sending love and strength to everyone who has ever been made to feel unsafe, who has been violated both on and off-campus, whose stories have been doubted, who had to see their harasser on campus every day, whose university experience was defined by violation, pain and loneliness”. Another female student who said she

was the first one to expose one of her oncampus harassers said that the list of men who harassed her was long but that she had taken the first step by opening up about the particular man. “I was only able to do it because of all the women who came forward with their stories. It gave me courage. Girls, your voice matters. It can make all the difference. Today, I am proud of myself and all the women who came forward. I believe each one of you!” she wrote on social media. Relatives of the victims also commented in this thread of conversation. “My cousin just outed her harasser at LUMS and I couldn't have been more proud. So courageous of her and I hope all these a****s are held accountable and realise that they cannot get away with this,” one commented. In another Facebook post, a student al-

leged that a male student, who has also been the president of a university society and was also a trainer in the university's gymnasium , sexually harassed her. She said that he made inappropriate remarks over WhatsApp and shared screenshots of the chat which showed that the boy had tried to start a discussion about her body, adding that he was aware of the fact that she was not even single. "He made several inappropriate offers to me saying that he wouldn't charge me training fee if I hugged him," she added further. The student said that it started in 2018 with an Instagram story of hers to which he replied inappropriately while sharing screenshots that corroborated her claim. On the other hand, the accused while saying that it was a fabricated story, claimed that the accuser was willingly in a relation-

ship with him. He further added that the student was telling a one-sided story while he had also "joked" about the messages on her face several times, however, she did not react at that time. The accused student said that such jokes continued in the university and as two years had passed since the incident, it was incomprehensible for the female student to talk about it. He also posted in the LUMS social media group, saying that the two had been cordial until she snapped at him out of nowhere one day, adding that he had despite all the things that had happened, he apologised because "he had really made a mistake in the beginning". It is pertinent to mention here that after the #Metoo on social media a mix of real and fake cases have erupted on social media, however, LUMS has been brought into the limelight by various students time and again. Previously in 2019, a professor at LUMS had suddenly disappeared after students registered complaints of misconduct and sexual harassment against him with the administration. According to social media posts, the American-Iranian Professor Dr Hayder AlMohammad, who was assigned the “Anthropology of Body” course, sexually harassed both male and female students and had run off overnight when the admin was alerted. On the other hand, parents of students in LUMS while expressing distress over the repetitive incidents have demanded a foolproof administration on campus for the safety of their children. The LUMS management was contacted through their PR Agency for a comment but the management swiftly refused to give their statement on the matter.

NEWS

30 Opp members and 17 from treasury benches skipped NA session ISLAMABAD GHULAM ABBAS

While the government successfully got the budget for the upcoming fiscal year 2020-21 passed from the National Assembly (NA) on Monday after debates and amendments, at least 30 lawmakers from opposition parties and 17 members of the government and its allies did not attend the important session. According to sources, at least 15 members of the assembly did not take part in voting despite signing the attendance sheets. Those who did not attend the session included 12 members of the ruling party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and five members of its allied parties. Moreover, 14 members of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), 11 members of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), four members of Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal Pakistan (MMAP) and the entire Awami National Party (ANP) did not attend the session. As per the attendance sheet of the lower house, at least 294 members had attended the session, however, only 279 members participated in the voting process. PTI members who did not attend the session are Jawad Hussain, Tahir Saidiq, Haji Imtiaz Ahmed Chaudhry, Amir Sultan Cheema, Rahat Amanullah Bhatti, Sardar Talib Hussain Naki, Muhammad Farooq Azam Malik, Makhdoom Zada Syed Basit Ahmed Sultan, Jafar Laghari, Nasrullah Dreshak, Amir Hussain and Simi Bukhari.

Resilient PSX withstands terrorist attack; index gains 242 points continued on page 01

PAS, PSP officials lobbying for secretary interior slot ISLAMABAD SHAHZAD PARACHA

The officers of Pakistan Administrative Service (PAS) and Police Service of Pakistan (PSP) are currently busy in lobbying for the coveted post of secretary interior, Pakistan Today has learnt. Sources said that the Secretary Cabinet Ahmad Nawaz Sukheraz, Secretary Industries Afzal Latif and Secretary Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) Ali Raza Bhutta from PAS and former Inspector general of Sindh (IGP) Kaleem Imam are the strong contenders from PSP. Secretary Interior Major (r) Azam Suleman has taken premature retirement and as per the notification, his tenure would end on June 30. Sources said that Prime Minister Imran Khan is happy with the performance of Bhutta as he has done “tremendous work” along with Dr Sania Nishtar in distributing money to deserving people. In addition to this, sources added, he is also close to PM’s Secretary Azam Khan as he had also served in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) during the Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf’s (PTI) first tenure in the province. Meanwhile, Latif is also very close to Azam Khan as both of the PAS officers worked together in KP between 2013 to 2018. Sukhera is also close to the top hierarchy of the PTI. The secretary cabinet ranks among the big ones in all federal secretaries due to a number of reasons, including the fact that he chairs the secretaries’ meeting. On the other hand, he is also the secretary of the federal cabinet so if the government appoints him to the position of secretary interior so he would be demoted. Khakhaor is also in the capital corridors but sources said that he is not interested in the post as he had recently been removed from the same position. The former Sindh IGP is the strongest contender for the slot as he had served as the chief of the provincial police department and has a very good working relationship with the premier. Sources said that the government would post the new secretary interior during this week.

the benchmark KSe-100 index started the day on a negative note, losing 219.98 points to mark its intraday low at 33,719.51. the index, however, managed to recover losses following the attack and touched its intraday high at 34,207.00 (+267.51 points). it finally settled higher by 242.31 points at 34,181.80. among other indices, the KMi-30 index gained 383.07 points to close at 54,967.72, while the KSe all Share index accumulated 256.61 points, ending at 24,510.83. of the total traded shares, 169 advanced and 122 declined. MARKET RESILIENCE – EXPLAINED BY ANALYSTS: "trading did not stop for a minute and is still ongoing," said pSX Managing director Farrukh Khan while talking to a private media channel soon after the attack. "the pSX is an economic symbol...its security is important and should be strengthened." a general consensus among market analysts is that the index recovered due to the "quick response by law enforcement agencies at controlling the situation". naushad chamdia, ceo of Standard capital Securities, commented, "the index may have recovered in solidarity against the enemies of pakistan. However, the market sentiments looked good because of the reduction in interest rate.” capital Stake director Research Maha Jafer

Butt noted, "investors defied Monday's foiled terrorist attack on the exchange. pSX had also remained resilient against such attacks in the past when the country was fighting the war against terror." She continued, "the market carried forward the momentum from Friday's session, as the interim interest rate cut boosted investors' interest. Furthermore, oil marketing companies led the market rally today thanks to the exorbitant surge in petroleum prices." arsalan Soomro, Managing director at Khadim ali Shah Bukhari Securities, explained, "it was a follow-up rally after interest rate cuts and reduction in federal excise duty on cement. the valuations were quite good, regardless." commenting on the foiled terrorist attack, he stated, "it was a targeted attack at the heart of the investors, both local and foreign. given the nature of arms and ammunition with the terrorists, the security forces must be appreciated for foiling what could have been a major catastrophe." Speaking to profit, Samiullah tariq, Head of Research & development at pak Kuwait investment company, said, "the recovery could be attributed to the expectation of budget approval which is linked to the iMF review. this could also be due to lower Fed on cement." in a tweet, Mohammad Sohail, ceo of topline Securities wrote, "Failed attack at pSX. trading is smooth and continuing. pSX benchmark index

one of the Best performers in asia today so far. this is the resilience of pakistan." "Historically speaking, after terrorist events, markets do plunge because of fear but with the swift actions of the security forces, the situation was brought under control which ended the uncertainty and allowed investor confidence to return," Luqman nadeem, chief investment officer at FlatRock associates, opined. MARKET WATCH: the overall market volumes declined from 198.2 million shares in the previous session to 156.9 million shares (-23pc). average traded value also declined by 18pc, from $40.3 million to $34 million. pakistan Refinery Limited Right Shares (pRLR1 0.00pc), Sui Southern gas company Limited (SSgc +2.42pc) and Hascol petroleum Limited (HaScoL +4.75pc) led the volume chart, exchanging 18.45 million, 11.66 million and 11.35 million shares, respectively. Sectors that rescued the benchmark index from the negative zone included oil & gas exploration (+74.43 points), cement (+37.22 points) and banking (+34.52 points). among the companies, pakistan State oil (pSo 38.02 points), Lucky cement Limited (LucK +22.04 points) and Bank alFalah Limited (BaFL +19.47 points) remained the top contributors. the oil and marketing sector emerged as the biggest gainer of the session, adding 4.69pc to its total market capitalization.

Safe spaces for women: a myth in Pakistan LAHORE AYESHA BIBI

Two days ago, yet another sexual harassment scandal in the educational institutes of Lahore surfaced on social media. This time, students from a private school, renown for catering to the elites of the city, broke their silence about the various forms of harassment, especially sexual, by three faculty members as well as intimidation and cover-up by the school administration itself. The girls, including both current and former students of LGS 1/A-1 publically, narrated how incident after the incident took place over the course of years while the principal continued to shove things under the carpet by gaslighting the victims. This was not an isolated instance. A few days ago, female students of the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), another elite private sector educational institution hailed as the ‘Harvard’ of Pakistan came forward in a private Facebook group with similar complaints of systemic predatory behaviour within the student body. To the naked eye, both these incidents can be seen as one of the many lit-

tle waves of the #Metoo movement in Pakistan, however, look closely and the systematic abuse of authority, use of victim shaming as an intimidation tool and incompetency of administrations lead to only one overwhelming truth: educational institutions in Pakistan have never been safe spaces for women. Talking to Pakistan Today, a student from FC College, Ayesha Ali, opined why harassment continues to take place on campuses. “These incidents happen because men have enjoyed the fruits of oppression of women for so long that they know little to no harm will befall them if they prey on women or even young girls in any space, educational institutes included”. “The power dynamics between male-female relationships have always been skewed in favour of the male. Be it a faculty member or a fellow student, it is a known fact that the management of educational institutions will either try to bin the claims altogether or make efforts for a cover-up to avoid accountability at a personal and collective level,” she went on to state. The debate of whether the private sector in Pakistan is providing a high-

quality service which the public sector has never been capable of or is it operated on a strictly money-making model is a long and old one which has established that any threat to the reputation of a private educational institute harms potential income generation. Anmol Zahra, a former student of LGS 1/A-1 testified that the school administration did, in fact, have a toxic attitude towards any complaint that could highlight their incompetency and complacency. “I personally did not experience any sexual harassment in school, however, the absolute authority and lack of accountability which is enjoyed by the management of the A-levels section ruined my batch’s high school experience. The blatant misuse of authority, slutshaming of students as well as the coordinator’s mindset of how young girls should act is what normalised the conditions in which these harassers felt emboldened,” she told Pakistan Today. “LGS 1/A-1‘s school psychologist would ask girls, “do you have a boyfriend?” if they ever tried to talk to her,” said one user on Twitter. What is interesting about the most

recent LGS scandal is that the students repeatedly approached the school admin with complaints as well as evidence being sexually violated at the hands of three male faculty members. These ignored complaints, made over the course of years, became so normalised that some parents warned their girls to be careful while the students began mocking the incidents in annual farewells. So, why wasn’t any action ever taken? Alina, a former student from FC College, who did not want to share her full name, explained, “it is important to realise that in the case of LGS 1/A-1, a system which was already in place i.e. the school management, failed its students”. She stressed that it is important to make a collaborative effort and come up with solutions which correct the loopholes in our system. “It is important to equip women with tools to combat harassment, but it is also equally important to make conscious steps towards providing necessary training to sensitise the faculty besides creating a strong system which deals with such issues in all educational spaces,” she concluded.

Tuesday, 30 June, 2020

06 COMMENT

On Russell’s teapot

People and the budget An incompetent government and a rootless opposition

HeN it presented the last budget in 2019, the PTI was fully confident about the support of all its legislators. This time the situation had changed. BNP-m with four Na members had left the coalition while discontent was prevailing amongst its allies as well as several PTI legislators. This led the Pm to invite all legislators on treasury benches to dinner to talk to the malcontents personally in order to ensure the passage of the budget without hassle on monday. The Na Speaker was tasked to ensure the presence of the PTI dissidents as well as its PmL-Q allies at the event. Speaker asad Qaiser managed to deliver party malcontents but failed to convince the chaudhries to attend the function or at least send a representative to maintain a perception of unity. The chaudhries who were hosting a dinner party for like-minded legislators the same evening declined to oblige. The snub was however followed by a message that they would vote for the government’s budget. Intriguingly some of those attending the Pm’s dinner later visited the chaudhries also to maintain a posture of political ambivalence Getting the budget passed was a big challenge for the PTI and it took measures to get it through. The opposition on the other hand had little to lose if it was passed. major opposition leaders like Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Khawaja asif concentrated more on exposing the PTI’s general performance than on individual provisions in the budget document. They maintained that the Budget had failed to address the major challenges faced by the country including the pandemic, inflation, unemployment, collapsing industry, shrinking agriculture, a deadly locust invasion and ongoing global economic shocks. The maximum the opposition promises is a multiparty conference in days to come to maintain pressure on the government. at a time when the pandemic continues to infect thousands every day while millions are being pushed down the poverty line and restrictions on the right of expression are throttling the media, an opposition having little grass root support can do little else than wait for more blunders by the government and greater realization among those who matter of the ineptness of the ruling coalition followed by some miracle.

haSaN aFTaB SaEED

erTraND russell’s teapot made its first appearance in ‘Is there a God’, an article which was commissioned but never published by Illustrated magazine. of course, coming from a man as important as russell, it was not long before people were talking about it anyway. of course, russell also made it a point to repeat it later. It remains one of the favourite arrows in the quiver of the atheist community ever since. The essay can now be found in russell’s collected papers. Its principal shortcoming, as is usual in articles of this nature, is that it chooses to attack particularly attackable definitions of god (which are frankly not very intelligent). It therefore suffers from the same drawback as his famous essay ‘Why I am not a christian’. To be fair to russell, in the case of the latter the title claims no more; but the title of the former advertises more than what russell delivers in the text. So, what is russell’s teapot? In russell’s own words: ‘many orthodox people speak as though it were the business of sceptics to disprove received dogmas rather than of dogmatists to prove them. This is, of course, a mistake. If I were to suggest that between the earth and mars there is a china teapot revolving about the sun in an elliptical orbit, nobody would be able to disprove my assertion provided I were careful to add that the teapot is too small to be

Crisis averted PSX attack revealed vulnerabilities

oUr terrorists, armed to the teeth with hand grenades and automatic assault rifles, made a failed attempt to shoot up Pakistan Stock exchange (PSX) yesterday as they were quickly intercepted and eliminated by security officials protecting the area. Given how all the attackers were carrying with them enough food supplies to last for days indicates that the plan was perhaps to lay siege to the exchange by holding people hostage. Three brave men, including a police sub-inspector, laid down their lives in the line of duty, thwarting an attack that could have easily resulted in a much higher body count, had the terrorists entered the building. Separatist group Balochistan Liberation army (BLa) that has carried out several other attacks in the country, including the one on the chinese consulate in Karachi in 2018, has claimed responsibility for this latest attack. The PSX compound is considered a sensitive, high-security area and is therefore protected by law enforcement agencies round the clock, which is why the attack was over within eight minutes, but the incident does still reveal vulnerabilities that cannot be ignored. If four BLa terrorists can make it within a few feet of the PSX building entrance before being killed, one can safely assume that the next attempt by the same terrorist outfit or any other could be at a less secure target with more men. and this is the problem; militants need to get it right just once while security forces have to continuously preempt such attacks through intelligence gathering and stop them. Pakistan has fought a long and bloody war for close to two decades against terrorism that has resulted in a drastic fall in the number and frequency of attacks, significantly reducing the loss of innocent lives. But clearly the threat still remains and the recent spurt in small-scale attacks in North Waziristan and Sindh has to be addressed with full force so that all the progress made through so much sacrifice is not reversed. The country faces a myriad of challenges that includes a possible black listing by the FaTF, an outcome for which India is making an all-out effort as well. There is no capacity to deal with any resurgence of terrorism at the moment.

Dead Democracy From Socrates till now, how the ‘flawed’ idea of Democracy baffles mankind

Shah Nawaz Mohal

emocracy, dear reader, has bid us farewell on its way to spend the rest of the eternity in perdition. We have murdered its essence and kept its forlorn form for exhibition. creation of Greeks nurtured by Brits and spread all over the world as final panacea, democracy had its heyday all over the world after WW-II but is now slowly, but certainly becoming a pariah in many of the kingdoms it once reigned. Democracy, both as an ideal perfected over millennia in the hearts of philosophers and as a system realized by sacrifices of millions of ordinary, forgettable mortals is imperiled in our age. a bad press coupled with mass disenchantment among folks who thought of it as a tool of economic prosperity that failed to deliver rather than a mode to politically govern their lot has relegated its splendid past track record to the ash heap of history. In these pages I’ve written multiple times that during the last century, the lofty ideals of democracy were under siege by Fascism, Nazisim and communism all over the world. The democracy backed by capitalist block prevailed while the fascists and Nazis crashed and burned during the Second World War. USSr, the

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Arif Nizami Editor Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

Umar Aziz

Asher John

Joint Editor

Executive Editor

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physical picture, try as one might. Starting from some more basic axioms and then seeking to ‘prove’ God is a foolish exercise to start with; for that God would revealed even by our most powerful telescopes. But then depend on those axioms. The Quran says that if I were to go on to say that, since my assertion can- God is absolute (depends on nothing), while everynot be disproved, it is intolerable presumption on the thing else depends on Him. part of human reason to doubt it, I should rightly be russell, who is otherwise painstakingly meticuthought to be talking nonsense.’ While russell’s lous, was guilty of a similar readiness to settle for a teapot is fine if it is used to place the burden of proof less-than-satisfactory argument that he recounts in his where it belongs, it doesn’t quite do the job it is em- autobiography. Granted, he was only eighteen then, ployed most often for; that is, ‘solving’ the God but he tells the story as an old man and seems satisproblem. Let me explain. fied with the argument. Before going to cambridge, No intelligent theological system proposes to he had rejected life after death and accompanying re‘prove’ the existence of ligious beliefs but having God. God is not just anno answer to the ‘First other physical object cause’ argument, he still (like a teapot). The God believed in God. He beRussell, who is otherwise I am talking about is a came an atheist when he Transcendent God that is read mill’s Autobiograpainstakingly meticulous, was outside the scheme of phy where the latter narthings – that is, one rated that his father had guilty of a similar readiness to Who is the creator of taught him that the quessettle for a less-than-satisfactory laws of the universe and tion ‘Who made me?’ is not subject to them. cannot be answered beargument that he recounts in his He is ‘present’ everycause it immediately where, and at all times in begs the further question autobiography. Granted, he was the sense that his Will ‘Who made God?’ The (or the laws of the unionly eighteen then, but he tells the problem with this arguverse) and His knowlment is that it presupstory as an old man and seems edge pervade everything. poses that somebody But being Independent must have created God, satisfied with the argument of time and space, He something not held by cannot be said to be conmany theists; according fined to a certain time or to whom you, me, our locality. This God cannot china teapot and the unibe proven any more than it can be disproven. That verse are all contingent entities whereas God, being is, that there is one – and only one – God is the a necessary being, is eternal. We know that the same most basic axiom in this system, not a theorem to be cannot be said about the universe. The most hardened proved. Like all axioms, you cannot prove this atheist, if he knows his science, will tell you that the axiom, but your whole metaphysical framework col- universe had a start. lapses without it. russell was no stranger to axioms. Tailpiece: To criticise one’s hero is not at all easy, He is on record regarding his disappointment when but it is something I am sure russell would have aphe learned from his brother (who was an early tutor proved of. That said, considering his immense body of his) that euclid’s axioms were to be accepted of work spanning so many subjects, russell gives without proof, because they could not be proved. He surprisingly few hostages to his critics. most of his says he almost quit studying geometry – What was work has spectacularly stood the test of time, and he the point of studying if everything could not be remains one of the most influential thinkers of all proved? He reluctantly admitted them, as anybody time. moreover, when it comes to expressing difficult interested in making progress must, for that is the and nuanced concepts in clear and elegant prose there way the human mind words. I am not sure many of is nobody who even comes close. those who habitually employ russell’s teapot understand this. Hasan Aftab Saeed is a connoisseur of music, according to the Quran, God is a necessary item literature, and food (but not drinks). He can be without which there is no completing one’s meta- reached at www.facebook.com/hasanaftabsaeed

And the way it continues to be misused

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birthplace of communism in practice, too went the the exam, and that is that. Pakistan’s tale of democracy since independence way of dinosaurs half a century later. The democracy that fought and prevailed over behemoths and giants has been a saga of hope, betrayal and disillusionment. has surrendered when it was confronted by internal During the first ten years, we had had seven prime ministers. almost all of them were at the forefront of seams, frustrated masses and populist politicians. our world, as it reels on the cusp of dissatisfac- Pakistan’s Independence movement. courtesy the tion and misery, is once again looking for a deliverer palace intrigues coupled with undue interference from who can usher in freedom, wealth and prosperity for the civilian bureaucracy and military junta one after the downtrodden and the precarious lot of the world. the other they bit the dust making way for the first alland unfortunately, the whole edifice of democracy powerful uniformed ‘democrat’ i.e. ayub Khan. The original sin that refuses to go away in our with all its bells and minarets, its glory and grandeur stands crippled beyond repair or redemption. It land is mistaking our adversaries for enemies, enemies for well-wishers, wouldn’t be an overstateand allies for opponents. ment to say that democon a daily basis, we racy as a form of hear, read and see many government is undergoThe original sin that refuses to go alterations of the above ing its worst existential lines; sometimes they crisis ever. In the past, it away in our land is mistaking our are bold and brash, at was the singular object others they are subtle of derision of few adversaries for enemies, enemies and suggestive. There philosophers and are droves of lads chatthinkers. Today, the mafor well-wishers, and allies for ting away the ills and jority of the masses have opponents. On a daily basis, we dilemmas facing ‘peoturned either indifferent ple’ of Pakistan at or downright contemptuhear, read and see many alterations dhaba and political punous of it. ‘Tis how the mighty of the above lines; sometimes they dits sell their souls on countless talk shows in have fallen. ‘Tis How are bold and brash, at others they their bid to awaken the bruised it is.’ Tis its end is ‘masses’ from their nigh. are subtle and suggestive. slumber. one needs not to We love the ghost of look further than Socrates democracy that casts its to prepare a case against pall on our land so much, democracy. Socrates, one of the most revered of philosophers, attacked democ- that even the rotten smell of its corpse is not disturbracy in its heyday in athens. His argument was sim- ing us one bit. on goes our march, on goes our life. on goes ple and gripping. Socrates asked how a government, by majority be just and virtuous when in any society dead, dead democracy. Let us see when the final whistle blows. Let us those having knowledge and intelligence are always a minority. Socrates is long dead. athens of his time see when the final curiosity withers. Let us wait and is buried under tons of debris. Democracy is all set watch and behold the demise of an idea that was to go the way of Socrates and athens. It’ll become an beautiful in the beginning and when we realized it, it idea, a memory, a word, an artifact; nothing more, turned every reality ugly. maybe less, certainly less. a derided, loathsome creaShah Nawaz Mohal is a law graduate and ture common people will forget like they have forgotten minor Victorian novelists who only the journalist based in Islamabad. He can be reached at academics have to read, students have to read to pass mshahnawazmohal@gmail.com.

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Tuesday, 30 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

The attack on Pakistan Stock Exchange THe attack by 4 terrorists on Pakistan Stock exchange building in the broad day shows that they were being guided properly by some one: the possibility of the involvement of Indian raW agency and afghan agency must not be ruled out since the peace process in Pakistan is not what they always wanted. The attack hints that this was an attempt to discourage foreign investors at one side and on the other side try to bluff the pakistani authorities that the terrorists have the ability to attack wherever they want to. all kudos to the pakistan rangers and Sindh police that they eliminated the terrorist in a matter of minutes. all this process to declare normalcy in the area took 30 minutes which must be lauded. The statement by the Sindh chief minister, murad ali Shah to condemn the attack is not sufficient. He must take enough measures to secure the lives of the people of his province as well as take out of the box initiative to not let the sacrifices of the security forces down the grain. MUHAMMAd WAqAS KHAN dera Ismail Khan

Peace in Palestine

A paucity of shared vision Use the CCI to fight the virus with unity relevant fora, but, rather, in the absence of the sions, prepared a plan identifying the actions rewill to mobilize them. In a public webinar con- quired to implement each of ccI’s recommenducted by the Joint action committee for Peo- dations along with the intended timelines, ple’s rights, when asked about the absence of a respective budgets, and the body responsible for mIDST the global fragility caused by well-coordinated national strategy against the effectuating them. a Federal Task Force was crethe coVID-19 pandemic, and the coronavirus, mr. afrasiab Khattak remarked that ated to monitor the performance of the plan, ensure funding, and havoc that it has wreaked in our coun- the lack of strategy encourage partnertry, a tussle over resource division and was not due to the ships among private realms of responsibility continues to existence of any and public stakegrow between the Federation and its units. The hurdles per se, but holders. Therefore, a centre has been criticised for revisiting the 18th the lack of a federal The Centre has been criticised recent precedent examendment and the devolution of powers, and will to formulate for revisiting the 18th amendment ists where attempts for contemplating the imposition of additional one. In doing so, he were made to build a towards fiscal burden on the provinces through the 10th pointed and the devolution of powers, national narrative minister NFc award. The federal government, on its end, Prime with the aim of has stressed upon the provinces’ inability to de- (Pm) Imran Khan’s and for contemplating the achieving a countryliver in this health crisis. as a result, despite the decision to not atimposition of additional fiscal wide consensus on a National action Plan for coVID-19 recognising tend parliamentary of public sigthe significance of a well-coordinated approach sessions dedicated burden on the provinces through matter nificance. conagainst the novel coronavirus, all calls of har- to coVID-19. Irreversely, the current mony have echoed hollow at the national and spective of whether the 10th NFC Award action plan to tackle minister Shibli provincial levels in Pakistan. the pandemic is unThe disease does not respect political Faraz’s justificaclear and has generboundaries, and the disharmony in central and tions that the Pm ated confusion. It is, provincial approaches has paved way for the was otherwise occuvirus mushrooming across the country. This is pied were correct, a coordinated and well- therefore, essential for the ccI to convene and in stark contrast to the nation-wide solidarity ex- thought-out response to this crisis is paramount. issue achievable recommendations. an identifiIn this regard, the potential role of the coun- cation of the jurisdiction of individual entities ophibited by china when the pandemic first broke out in the province of Hubei. a “one province cil of common Interests (ccI), and its secre- erating in the field of healthcare in Pakistan is helps one city” policy was announced by tariat, the ministry of Inter-Provincial essential. Benchmarks need to be set, and in china’s cabinet, and various provincial-level coordination (mIPc) is critical. amongst oth- order to function effectively, these entities need administrations were activated to assist the ers, the mIPc is mandated to promote unifor- sufficient budgetary allocations. a mature central leadership that takes into virus-affected cities of Hubei. The strategy of mity in the formulation and implementation of pairing one province with one city proved to be policy among the Provinces and the centre in account the provinces’ individual needs and al“all fields of com- locates to them their due share can engender a fruitful since each mon concern.” This shared vision and ensure uniformity in the fight city’s individual pandemic is, justifi- against this lethal disease. The federal governneeds were met by ably, a matter of ment would do well to cut down on the expanutilizing the reThe goal was simple and devoid of ‘common concern’ sive superfluous expenditures that exist in the sources of the partthat deserves to be form of unnecessary ministries and loss-making ner province. In this political disagreements: “defeat enterprises; to mobilize the ccI and the mIPc addressed. manner, a network their obligations in such a time of crisis; Back in 2018, of partnerships was the virus”. The partnerships were the ccI demon- toandfulfil to not expect the provinces to contain the created demonstratstrated no hesitation disease without appropriate funds. These steps ing the resolution of a vivid embodiment of the in tackling the issue are crucial since the veneer of Pakistan doing the central leadercommitment of the Chinese of rapid population ‘much better’ than the rest of the world has ship, and the cooperand issued clearly come undone, and the only rank we have ation of the people to “a community of shared growth, clear directions to recently managed to achieve is to feature among provincial authorithe ministry of Na- the ten countries reporting the highest cases of ties. The goal was future”- something Pakistan’s tional Health Serv- coVID-19. simple and devoid government and its citizens have ices regulations and Disclaimer: This research was conducted of political disagreec o o r d i n a t i o n by the CCLS and was supported by the ments: “defeat the been unable to fathom. (moNHSrc) to Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF) Pakistan. virus”. The partnerprepare an action The opinions expressed in this article are ships were a vivid plan for population those of the author and do not necessarily reembodiment of the control. The Na- flect the official position of LUMS or HSF. commitment of the chinese people to “a community of shared fu- tional action Plan spelled out financial modaliKhadijah Ahmad is a Research Associate at for operationalizing the ccI’s ture”- something Pakistan’s government and its ties recommendations after consulting relevant stake- the Centre for Chinese Legal Studies (CCLS), citizens have been unable to fathom. The problem does not lie in the absence of holders. The moNHSrc, after a series of discus- SAHSOL, LUMS.

KhaDijah ahMaD

I feel really distressed when I see the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine, one of the biggest conflict in human history. on top of that the president of the United States “Donald Trump” promised earlier that Israelis will have their control over the West Bank, along with the statements by president of Israel “Benjamin Netanyahu” about the annexation of the West Bank has created a sense of war in that region. Now I totally understand that a majority of muslims have this perception that we should go for war and we should not sit quitely, but you know what, this perception is spread by people who are living in different countries sitting in their homes and just watching it on TV or maybe reading some articles regarding that. on top of that, the majority of those are illiterate and don’t even know what this conflict is about in real. Now you tell me how will they know the circumstances of war, as we have seen from years now, how muslims have been killed in Palestine, how children are suffering due to this conflict. ask them how they are unsettled due to this ongoing terror. Now let’s talk about how we can bring peace in that region. First of all I would like to quote an example from a book “ clash of civilization” in which the author has written that the upcoming wars would be religious wars which means the wars will be fought to dominate the ones religion. and we can see the Israel and Palestine conflict is a typical religious war between the muslims and the Jewish. The peace can be build between both Nations if the state actors behave selflessly that will create a sense of peace between people living in there as it is stated in Galtung’s peace and conflict theory, how the behavior, attitude and contradictions are related with each other that can cause either conflicts or peace initiatives” depends upon how it has been portrayed either in a conflicting way or a peace building way. So leave the religious thoughts aside and work for humanity because we might can not end this conflict completely but we might can end the violence. In the end would say that this is not the war which kills people, but the egoistic behavior of state actors kills people. So leave your dominance aside and think about the people who are suffering on both sides. SyEd HAIdER SULtAN Islamabad

Stuck in Pakistan Pakistan.. a country full of troubles! People will be definitely granted heaven just by surviving in this country. The way it tests our patience no one else can. I belong to Uae and unfortunately had to visit Pakistan for some personal business and then came the corona virus! and i got stuck somewhere i really don’t wanna be life here is miserable no one cares about health nor hygiene no one’s hygienic here even the highly educated one’s in a global pandemic!! I really wanted to go back to United arab emirates but the government banned all the flights to pakistan and the residents like me are stuck here a place where i have no friends and too afraid to make new one’s i won’t make new friends here due the fear of getting addicted to drugs by all these spoilt kids even the rich one’s and paksitan is a place where tourists don’t feel safe nor do nri’s feel safe every day i pray that my mobile doesn’t gets snatched or something bad occurs which i wouldn’t even like to imagine i hope the government understands our pain and fix all the issues I’ve mentioned hopefully one day we will rise pakistan zindabad. ANAS tARIq Karachi

Lessons from Ertugral THe drama serial ertugrul ghazi has gained a great amount of fans especially in Pakistan. People adore this drama and the efforts that has been put to make it. on the other hand, some criticize this series as well, due to the constant focus on war and some fictional dialogues. Surely, nothing is perfect. There are good and bad aspects to everything. Now it is our duty to learn anything good that it teaches. The first lesson it teaches is the faith of a true muslim that conquers every fear and difficulty. The righteous that always wins at the end, the intentions that can be seen through deeds and words, the power of dreams, the respect of parents, elders and traditions, the fruit of patience, being firm at every situation, being hopeful during hard times, the power of justice and the peace in prayers. It strengthens the believe that no matter what allah is always with us. “as long as we follow allah’s faith, no one can bring us to our knees” (ertugrul) AFROz MJ turbat, Kech

08 WORLD VIEW

The bomb KAPLAN SHOWS HOW THE US NUCLEAR WAR PLAN HAS ALWAYS CALLED FOR OVERKILL

Strategy Bridge

“e

PAIgE COnE

VeRYThING about the atomic bomb is overshadowed by the twin facts that it exists and that its destructive power is fantastically great.” (Bernard Brodie, 1946). From the bomb's inception, presidents, policy-makers, and generals have grappled with the twin facts of the sheer destructive power of nuclear weapons coupled with the understanding that the technology exists and is here to stay. Fred Kaplan’s The Bomb: Presidents, Generals, and the Secret history of Nuclear War walks us through this history, showing how U.S. presidents and generals alike have “figur[ed] out the best way to maneuver around them or to reconcile with them.” The book weaves together rich archival material and first-source interviews to allow the reader to feel as though they are in the White house Situation Room or in the bowels of the Strategic Air Command (SAC) alongside major historical players. At the same time, Kaplan seeks to offer an analytical framework that highlights patterns of a push and pull between military and presidential interests, and of how institutions create continuity in perceptions of U.S. nuclear weapons while individual personalities can sometimes upset the status quo.In fact, Kaplan notes in the introduction that it was concern over one such individual personality that was the impetus for the book, calling out President Donald Trump's 2017 threat to rain “fire and fury” on North Korea. For the first time in several decades, American citizens were concerned about nuclear war, though their fear took “the form of a vaguely paralyzed anxiety. Because of

the long reprieve from the bomb's shadow, few people know how to grasp its dimensions; they've forgotten, if they ever knew.” In part, this lack of understanding has been by design. From the very beginning of the atomic age, U.S. nuclear policy has been shrouded in secrecy. One of The Bomb's greatest contributions is to shine a light on this secret history. Kaplan takes the reader from the Truman administration through the Trump administration, highlighting key players along the way, including RAND strategists, Air Force officers, low-level staffers, and Congressional members. What emerges is at the same time terrifying and oddly comforting—terrifying in how close the U.S. has come to starting a nuclear war and comforting in putting what seems like a unique presidency into a broader context that shows President Trump has not been the first American president to both know very little about nuclear weapons upon entering office and to threaten their use seemingly cavalierly. Kaplan takes the reader from the Truman administration through the Trump administration, highlighting key players along the way, including RAND strategists, Air Force officers, low-level staffers, and Congressional members. One concerning revelation to come from the book is how little U.S. nuclear strategy, particularly during the Cold War, seems to have been based on determining the best methods of deterrence, but rather came together as a product of competing bureaucratic interests. Kaplan shows how the U.S. nuclear war plan has always called for overkill, a condition created from several factors. In one sense, the overkill was based on heavily siloed information. For instance, in describing the first civilian investigation into nuclear targets and planning by Franklin Miller in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it

was discovered that three separate USSR targets were all within range of one weapon; but due to the nature of the Single Integrated Operational Plan (SIOP), a bomber, missileer, and analyst were each given separate instructions to destroy a factory, the Ministry of Defense headquarters, and a railroad yard all in the city of Moscow. Further, the war plan specified that there must be ``high confidence'' in the targets being destroyed, and each target thus had several weapons aimed at it. In total, Miller and his aides found that there were 689 separate weapons aimed at a fifty-mile radius surrounding Moscow. In another sense, overkill was borne out of ensuring that funding continued for weapons development. Strategic Air Command had an office devoted to safeguarding nuclear weapons funding and development, which led to a dangerous cycle—justification of funding coming from the number of targets to be hit and the number of targets to be hit coming from the number of weapons in the arsenal. As one general, a former commander of Strategic Air Command, told a Senate committee, “I need 10,000 weapons because I have 10,000 targets.” essentially, the nuclear war plan was a product of supply, not demand, for nuclear weapons. While I found this discussion of the major players and strategic war plans interesting, I was disappointed to discover little space given to exploring the trajectory of deterrence theory that grew out of, and in conjunction with, changes in U.S. nuclear strategy. I expected to see explicit references to scions such as Thomas Schelling, hermann Kahn, Glenn Snyder, and Robert Jervis, as well as a discussion of how academia and policy interacted in real time to explain some of the divergences in thinking between presidents and generals. Beyond highlighting how strategy has evolved, Kaplan offers several examples of

The triple crisis shaking the world MORE THAN JUST A PUBLIC-HEALTH DISASTER, THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IS A HISTORY-DEFINING EVENT WITH FARREACHING IMPLICATIONS FOR THE GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH AND POWER

Project Syndicate

JOSCHKA FISCHER

he COVID-19 pandemic is entering its second phase as countries gradually reopen their economies and loosen or even revoke strict social-distancing measures. Yet, barring the arrival of an effective, universally available therapy or vaccine, the transition back to “normal” will be more aspirational than real. Worse, it risks triggering a second wave of infections at the local and regional level, and possibly on a much larger scale. True, political decision-makers, health-care providers, scientists, and the general public have learned a great deal from the experience of the first wave. Though a second wave of infections seems highly probable, it will play out differently than the first wave. Rather than a full-scale lockdown that brings economic and social life to a standstill, the response will rely mainly on strict but targeted rules for social distancing, face masks, telecommuting, video conferencing, and so forth. But, depending on the next wave’s intensity, local or regional lockdowns may still be deemed necessary in the most extreme cases. Much like the first wave of the pandemic, the next phase will involve a trio of simultaneous crises. To the risk of new infections getting out of control and spreading globally once again must be added the ongoing economic and social fallout and an escalating geopolitical bust-up. The global economy is already in a deep recession that

will not be quickly or easily overcome. And this, along with the pandemic, will factor into the intensifying Sino-American rivalry, particularly in the months leading up to the United States’ presidential election in November. As if this combination of health, socioeconomic, and geopolitical upheavals were not destabilizing enough, one also cannot ignore the Trump factor. If US President Donald Trump were to win a second four-year term, the current global chaos would escalate dramatically, whereas a victory for his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, would at least bring greater stability. The stakes in the US presidential election could scarcely be higher. Given the world’s mounting crises, it is no exaggeration to say that humanity is approaching an historic crossroads. The full extent of the economic recession probably will not become apparent until this fall and winter, when it will most likely come as another shock, because the world is no longer accustomed to such dramatic contractions. Both psychologically and in real terms, we are accustomed to continuous growth. Will richer countries in the West and Asia be able to deal with a deep, widespread, prolonged recession or even depression? even if trillions of dollars in stimulus spending proves sufficient to offset a full collapse, the question will be what comes next. In the worst scenario (which is not impossible), Trump is re-elected, the second wave of the pandemic is global, economies continue to crash, and the new cold war in east Asia turns hot. But even if one does not assume the worst, the triple crisis will usher in a new era, requiring that national political and economic systems and multilateral institutions be rebuilt. even in the best-case scenario, there can be no return to the status quo ante. The past has passed; only the future counts now. We should harbor no illusions about what might and should come next. The crises triggered by the pandemic are so deep

and far-reaching that they inevitably will lead to a radical redistribution of power and wealth at the global level. The societies that have prepared for this outcome by mustering the necessary energy, know-how, and investments will be among the winners; those that fail to see what is coming will find themselves among the losers. After all, long before the pandemic, the world was already undergoing a transition to the digital age, with far-reaching implications for the value of traditional technologies, legacy industries, and the distribution of global power and wealth. Moreover, an even greater global crisis is already fully visible on the horizon. The consequences of runaway climate change will be far graver than anything we have ever seen, and there will be no chance of a vaccine to solve that problem. The COVID-19 pandemic thus marks a real turning point. For centuries, we have relied on a system of political economy comprising sovereign egoistical nation-states, industries (both under capitalism and socialism) that run on fossil fuels, and the consumption of finite natural resources. This system is quickly reaching its limits, making fundamental change unavoidable. The task now is to learn as much as we can from the first wave of the triple crisis. For europe, which seemed to have fallen far behind economically and geopolitically, this moment represents an unexpected opportunity to address its obvious shortcomings. europe has the political values (democracy, rule of law, and social equality), technical know-how, and investment power to act decisively in the interest of its own principles and goals, as well as those of humanity more generally. The only question is what europeans are waiting for. Joschka Fischer was German Foreign Minister and Vice Chancellor from 19982005, a term marked by Germany's strong support for NATO's intervention in Kosovo in 1999, followed by its opposition to the war in Iraq.

how presidents and generals interacted to form policy. Famously, the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 saw President Kennedy striking a deal with Nikita Krushchev to remove missiles from Cuba (publicly) and Turkey (secretly). The Bomb shows that U.S. civilian and military advisors alike opposed this plan, advocating instead for a direct bombing of missile sites and invasion of Cuba— an action that most probably would have resulted in World War III. Nixon's administration, like several of his successors, seriously attempted to figure out a way to include a ``limited nuclear option'' that would make nuclear weapons more usable, but failed in the attempt. Interestingly, Kaplan provides examples of several presidents changing preferences for nuclear weapons as they became more settled in their presidencies. For instance, as Kennedy grew more comfortable in his role, he began to rely on his own judgment more, feeling that both his civilian and military planners were too enmeshed in their organizational ethos to provide sound judgment. President Carter came into office strongly opposing nuclear weapons, believing them to be immoral and costly. however, in attempting to push an arms-control treaty through, he ended up funding a first-strike missile as a concession. This bargaining is not unique to Carter's administration, Kaplan shows how in many cases of arms control, the Joint Chiefs leveraged funding for new or improved weapons. Similarly, President Reagan campaigned on, and entered office as, a foreign policy hawk. his first term saw an escalation of rhetoric and policy towards the Soviet Union. however, as he began his second term, he became less bellicose and more interested in creating peaceful relations with his Soviet counterpart, Mikhail Gorbachev. Though each administration since the bomb's inception has grappled with the existence of nuclear weapons and whether there may be a way to use them in battle, no U.S. President since the bombings of hiroshima and Nagasaki has used this option. Instead, each has shown restraint and sought a diplomatic solution. how long this trend will continue is unknown; should the nuclear taboo lift, the effects will be devastating. At times, the political scientist in me

wanted Kaplan to go deeper, to offer implications on what it means when presidential and officer interests compete or converge; when presidents juggle conventional crises that may take focus away from nuclear deterrence; how personality, past experience, and other individual level factors affect leaders' views towards nuclear weapons; and how competing bureaucratic interests make nuclear policy a two-level game. While I realize this book is generally a more popular read, I often felt like I wanted more out of it. For instance, in several chapters Kaplan mentioned a particular president was facing reelection or had to juggle a conventional crisis in Vietnam or Afghanistan, but did not take this observation further to make a real contribution to deterrence theory. It would have been a unique angle to seriously explore when and how goals of deterrence impede or complement other U.S. foreign policy aims. Similarly, the book’s subtitle hints at a deep dive into presidential and military interests and their effects on nuclear conflict. here too, the book fell short of the mark. Kaplan does a wonderful job of historically tracing many of the interactions and viewpoints of presidents and key military officers, but he does not make a serious attempt to theorize how certain sets of interactions, personalities, and/or experiences will conditionally affect nuclear deterrence. Still, The Bomb is both timely and classic, a joy to read, and rich in information for students of military history, American political bargaining, and nuclear strategy. The Bomb: Presidents, Generals, and the Secret history of Nuclear War. Fred Kaplan. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 2020. Paige Cone is an assistant professor at the U.S. Air Force School of Advanced Air and Space Studies (SAASS) where she teaches and researches on issues of nuclear deterrence and nonproliferation. her work has been featured in The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, Strategic Studies Quarterly, Oxford Research encyclopedia of Politics, and commentary featured on CSPAN. The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not represent the official opinion of Air University, SAASS, the U.S. Air Force, or the Department of Defense.

An insulting blow to the unemployed editorial

HAAREtz

ROUND a million people are unemployed, tens of thousands of businesses are collapsing, the labor market is in critical condition and the public fears for its livelihood and its children’s future. Moreover, all this is happening against the backdrop of reports of a second wave of the coronavirus leading to renewed restrictions and paralysis of the economy. Yet in the midst of this apocalyptic situation, the Knesset Finance Committee found time and saw fit to accede to the request of the criminal defendant heading the most inflated and disconnected government in Israel’s history by approving tax breaks for Benjamin Netanyahu worth about a million shekels ($290,000). Without providing a full picture of the lifestyle Netanyahu wants the state to finance or explaining how exactly this is connected to doing his job, the Finance Committee approved his request that the state pick up the tab for taxes owed for the services, personal spending and other benefits he received due to his job through 2017. In other words, the only tax he will have to pay will be income tax on his salary. This cynicism reached its peak with Likud MK Miki Zohar, who added the Israel Tax Authority to the “conspiracy” against Netanyahu and accused the “conspirators” of wanting “to turn the prime minister into an economic cripple.” Netanyahu, he added, “must be able to function without thinking about how he’ll get through the month.” This is chutzpah of the highest order. Netanyahu’s personal wealth is estimated at around 50 million shekels. he has been prime minister for more than 11 years, during which time his salary and expenses have been paid by the public. he never had and most likely never will have financial worries. To depict him as someone who has trouble getting through the month is a bad joke, especially at a time when hundreds of thousands of taxpayers truly

NETANYAHU’S PERSONAL WEALTH IS ESTIMATED AT AROUND 50 MILLION SHEKELS. HE HAS BEEN PRIME MINISTER FOR MORE THAN 11 YEARS, DURING WHICH TIME HIS SALARY AND EXPENSES HAVE BEEN PAID BY THE PUBLIC don’t know how they’ll make it through the month. Netanyahu would do better to learn from other countries, where leaders have cut their own salary or donated it to the public welfare as a sign of solidarity with the public. But not Netanyahu. This representative of the “second Israel” – that is the non-elite – is concerned first and foremost with his own wallet. The fact that members of Benny Gantz’s Kahol Lavan party were absent from the Finance Committee vote is another gut punch for his voters. This is further proof that the only item our “coronavirus government” has on its agenda is looking out for its members and their families. Members of both Kahol Lavan and Netanyahu’s Likud party grasped the magnitude of the economic tsunami threatening to flood Israel due to the pandemic and rushed to find shelter in government offices. Instead of trying to solve the crisis and provide significant government assistance to the hundreds of thousands who are drowning financially, Gantz and his colleagues are collaborating in an additional blow to public trust in the government. We can only hope that the million unemployed people watching this theatre of the absurd will remember the government’s disconnect from them just when they needed the government more than ever before, and settle accounts.

Tuesday, 30 June, 2020

business 09

‘SBP’s principal deferral scheme to facilitate cashstrapped cement sector’ LAHORE HASSAN NAQVI

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has introduced a principal deferral scheme whereby principal to be repaid in FY21 can be deferred for a year; this will uplift the cement sector’s profitability and liquidity and provide relief to businesses struggling to cope with the economic impact of Covid-19. Shahrukh Saleem, an investment analyst at AKD Securities Limited, informed that finance costs as a proportion of Earnings Before Interest and Taxes (EBIT) for Cherat Cement Company Limited (CHCC), DG Khan Cement Company Limited (DGKC) and Maple Leaf Cement Factory Limited (MLCF) for 9MFY20 stands at 8.8pc, 5.6pc and 4.8pc, respectively. "At a time when low margins have made lives of leveraged cement players difficult, loan restructuring and principal deferral have provided significant liquidity to local players," Saleem added. He stated that among the highly leveraged players, DGKC has already been granted approval for deferment till FY21. "Even though the valuation impact of the deferment remains minimal for DGKC, a positive earnings impact of Rs0.72 per share for FY21 is expected, while earnings for FY22 and FY23 are expected to decline by Rs0.26 per share and Rs0.23 per share, respectively." He continued, "According to our estimates, Pioneer Cement Limited (PIOC) and CHCC are expected to pay Rs4.3 billion and Rs2.4 billion, respectively, in principle repayment for FY21. In case companies opt for deferment, PIOC can witness an increase in earnings of Rs1.2 per share for FY21 while a decrease in earnings for FY22 and FY23 of Rs0.28 per share and Rs0.17 per share respectively is expected,” Saleem predicted. Similarly, CHCC’s earnings for FY21 are expected to increase by Rs0.28 per share and decrease by Rs0.93 per share and Rs0.66 per share for FY22 and FY23, respectively, he said. According to Shehzad Saleem MLCF, on the other hand, has opted for complete restructuring of its debt with no loan repayments expected for FY21. However, the company has to repay Rs2.1 billion prior to restructuring. In September 2019, MLCF had raised Rs6 billion by issuing 85 per cent rights shares at Rs12 per share. The company utilised the proceeds to repay Rs5.8 billion in loans during 2QFY20 and 3QFY20, reducing its total long term debt from Rs17.1 billion as of 1QFY20 to Rs11.3 billion as of 3QFY20. However, due to strained cash flows, part of the loan repayment was financed using short term borrowing, which increased to Rs7.5 billion as of 3QFY20 from Rs5.3 billion as of 2QFY20.

Virus lockdown: Gul Ahmed reports Rs8bn loss in revenue LAHORE STAFF REPORT

The retail stores of Gul Ahmed Textile Mills Limited (GATM) across the country had remained closed for approximately eight weeks, owing to which the company has registered a revenue loss of Rs8 billion. This was revealed during the company's corporate briefing session on Monday, wherein the management discussed GATM's current performance and outlook. The retail segment has not yet normalised, as stores are operating under shorter timings (closed on weekends which is usually peak sales time). However, the management commented that for the month of June 2020, textile-related exports are expected to the cross $1 billion-mark. Hammad Akram, a research analyst at Topline Securities, said GATM has sufficient export orders in hand till November 2020, adding that the company has started to export products related to the healthcare segment, which mainly includes protective gowns, scrubs and masks etc. The GATM management, during the meeting, highlighted that due to Covid-19, consumption patterns of consumers have changed significantly and every segment would be impacted in a different way.

FouR Steel comPAnieS iSSued tAx eVASion noticeS FBR SEEKS FROM THE COMPANIES INFO REGARDING THEIR INVOLVEMENT IN TAX EVASION OF UP TO RS50BN PER YEAR ISLAMABAD

SHAHZAD PARACHA

HE Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Monday, issued a notice to four steel companies for their involvement in the evasion of taxes and duties worth Rs40 to Rs50 billion per year. According to documents, FBR has sought information under section 26 and 26-A of the Customs Act, 1969, from Ahmad Enterprises, Ali Akbar Steel Traders, Ansari Cooperation and AR Enterprises for their involvement in evasion of duties and taxes worth Rs40 to Rs50 billion per year. The FBR-Islamabad had directed the Directorate of Post Clearance Audit to conduct the audit of Cold Rolled Coil (CRC) steel manufacturing units which import Hot Rolled Coil (HRC) steel in order to ascertain whether the exemption given to the CRC manufacturing units is being availed in a correct manner. Subsequently, while analysing the records pertaining to International Steel Ltd the directorate observed that the company had supplied flat-rolled products to Ahmad Enterprises, Ali Akbar Steel Traders, Ansari Cooperation and AR enterprises and asked the companies to furnish records pertaining to purchases made from International Steel Ltd within seven days. According to documents, the post-clearance audit in its report unearthed evasion of Rs40 billion to Rs50 billion duties every year by the four companies. Moreover, the contents of the complaint of Pakistan Steel Line Pipe Industry Association have been examined along with the regulatory mechanism allowing concession of duties and taxes to the manu-

facturers of CRC. The Directorate General also analysed import data of the importers and manufacturers availing concession of duty and taxes. The data revealed that the imports made by International Steel Limited Karachi and Aisha Steel Karachi constitute almost 90 per cent of the total imports made by CRC manufacturers. The major manufacturers of CRC, Aisha Steel Karachi, BEJ Steel Lahore and Hameed Steel Lahore registered a nominal increase in their imports whereas the volume of imports of HRC made by International Steel Limited slightly decreased since the change in regulatory mechanism. The Post Clearance Audit, in its recommendations, states that the regulatory mechanism is not robust as it is only possible through chain audits to ascertain the supplies made by CRC manufacturers availing concession of duties and taxes. Additionally, the status of a taxpayer given in the sales tax registration certificate does not indicate the nature of the activity being carried out by the manufacturer, which makes it difficult to ensure that supplies have been made to manufacturers of pipes by the importers and manufactures availing concession-

ary regime. Moreover, there is no restriction pertaining to supplying to any other registered trader, distributor, wholesaler or manufacturer, which makes it difficult to segregate whether the CRC supplied was used by manufacturers of auto parts, bicycle or by pipe manufactures. Earlier on June 18, the Pakistan Steel Line Pipe Industry Association had written a letter to the Prime Minister with regard to providing a level playing field for the flat steel industry. The letter stated that HRC is the basic raw material for the industry, however, after the closure of Pakistan Steel Mill, there is no other manufacturer of HRC left in Pakistan. The letter further stated that due to the exemptions around five companies are importing two million tonnes of HRC per year and saving up to Rs20,000 per million tonne resulting in a total saving of Rs40 to Rs50 billion per year. On March 3, the Directorate General approached Pakistan Steel Line Pipe Industry Association seeking information regarding alleged misuse of exemptions given to CRC manufacturers on import of HRC. However, Pakistan Steel Line Pipe Industry Association is yet to provide any information in this regard.

‘12-minute situation’: PSX condemns terrorist attack KARACHI STAFF REPORT

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) has released a statement on the attack on its premises in Karachi on Monday, dubbing it a ‘terrorist’ attack. In the statement, the PSX said that the situation had been brought under control as security forces, including police and rangers, ‘dealt with the situation effectively and very quickly’. At 10:02am, four heavily armed terrorists attempted to enter the PSX premises. The attackers were stopped from entering the premises of the Exchange. “The security forces including guards, police and Rangers dealt with the situation bravely, skillfully and in a timely manner,” the statement said. All terrorists were killed. Two security personnel were injured, while three personnel including two private security guards and one ASI, lost their lives in the line of duty. The situation was brought under control within about 12 minutes. The PSX emphasized the stock market continued to operate normally and trading continued. According to the state-

ment, protocols in place were followed and the management took necessary measures to ensure that the Exchange continued to function normally. The PSX managing director Farrukh Khan said, “Pakistan Stock Exchange, a national Institution of the country, is an important symbol of the economy. Any attack on this institution is an attempt to damage the economy and scare away investors from Pakistan.”

He added: “I am thankful and applaud our courageous security personnel including the Rangers and Police who reached the scene within no time and successfully and skillfully dealt with the terrorists. They brought the situation under control and no terrorist was able to reach the PSX buildings. All staff, TREC-holders and investors, who were present at the premises, are safe”. He further stated, “I am proud that

throughout the COVID-19 lockdown and now this extreme situation brought about by the attack, the stock exchange continued to function normally and did not close for even a minute. I want to acknowledge the calm bravery of the PSX team, brokers and investors in continuing to work under very difficult circumstances.” According to media reports, the attackers had been armed with grenades, automatic rifles, and food in preparation for perhaps a much longer situation. After the twelve minute interception, police and rangers surrounded and cordoned off the area which was then immediately closed for traffic. According to Sindh Rangers Director General Omer Ahmed Bukhari, some tweets had been posted in which terrorists belonging to the Baluchistan Liberation Army (BLA) took responsibility for the attack. The BLA had previously carried out an attack on the Chinese consulate in Karachi in 2018. However, Bukhari said a final statement on the matter would be issued after an investigation.

Rupee continues to slide despite foreign inflows PKR FALLS 0.52 PAISAS TO RS168.1 AGAINST USD IN INTERBANK MARKET KARACHI/LAHORE ARIBA SHAHID AND MUHAMMAD FAROOQ

The rupee lost 0.5215 paisas against the dollar and closed at Rs168.1895 per dollar on Monday after closing at Rs167.6680 per dollar on Friday in the interbank market. The PKR hit an intraday high of Rs167.50, and a low of Rs168.30 against the US dollar. Within the last year or so, the rupee was strongest on 17 February 2020, trading at Rs154.16 against the dollar, and the weakest on 27 March 2020, trading at Rs169.50. "Although this is not the lowest the rupee has traded, there is a threat that the rupee can continue to slide further," said

Forex Association of Pakistan President Malik Bostan while talking to Profit. EXTERNAL ACCOUNT: Bostan attributed this downtrend in PKR value to the global outbreak of Covid-19; a huge number of Pakistanis are now jobless and looking to return, which means remittances are on the lower side. "Furthermore, export orders have been cancelled. Also, there is a surge in crude oil imports due to the lockdowns being eased. That too is money leaving the economy. The demand for the dollar is high, whereas the demand for the rupee is low. Regardless, the end of June is always a time of pressure on the rupee," he explained. Bostan opined, "In light of these pressures on the currency, the government is striving to attract inflows not only to strengthen reserves but also to boost its ability to meet their loan obligations that have been deferred due to coronavirus." Tresmark analyst Komal Mansoor informed that Pakistan had received $1.75 billion last week, following which the current account

deficit became positive only for the second time this year. "Yet, the USD/PKR did not relent, staying within Rs167-Rs168 throughout." She stated, "Part of the answer lies in the closeout of forwards done by exporters. According to most estimates, a total of $1.3 billion closeouts have been done in the last four weeks, which has kept the rupee under continuous pressure." If everything else remains constant, she said, the closeouts will decrease after June 30th while exports are expected to increase, which means the rupee may gain value in the coming sessions. "The demand for USD in the local market is high due to June-end payments. The pressure should ease off once planned inflows from commercial banks are materialized," Samiullah Tariq, Head of Research & Development at Pak Kuwait Investment Company, noted. Meanwhile, Renaissance Capital Global Chief Economist Charlie Robertson told Profit, "Beyond today, the PKR will be more

affected by last week's interest rate cut, which will reduce the relative attraction of holding rupees over dollars or euros. The SBP likely sees an advantage in having looser interest rates and a cheap currency, to help support the economy,” "We should get used to rupee hitting new lows now and then. However, do not expect any run on the currency. After the recent discount rate cut, speculators are expecting the rupee to depreciate and dollarization of the investments," said Khadim Ali Shah Bukhari Securities Managing Director Arsalan Soomro. INFLOWS/OUTFLOWS: "A loan of $500 million matured today; this is the likely cause of volatility in the rupee. On a cumulative basis, the maturity of $1.1 billion may be more this week," explained Adnan Sheikh, a senior market analyst. "Despite receiving inflows of $1.7 billion, the rupee is still slipping, which shows that there is still the pressure of outflows." "The current account, multilateral inflows and exports' resumption is going to

keep the currency safe for now. Moderate day-to-day fluctuation is healthy and not necessarily a red/yellow flag. Currency is perhaps being kept here as an opportune time to give benefit to exporters, as regionally currencies are also under pressure," explained Mr Soomro. ATTACK ON PSX: Concerned quarters feel that the attack on the PSX may have pushed the dollar up against the rupee, despite the PSX indices recovering immediately in face of the attack. However, Mr Robertson believed terrorism - especially unsuccessful terrorist attacks - tend to have only a very short-lived impact on a currency. According to Chief Market Global Strategist at Axitrader, Stephen Innes, the rupee did not show the same resilience the PSX did. "Yes, the attack on the stock exchange heightened the risk at a bad time for the rupee. The dollar is not trading exceptionally stronger today so this could be the reason," he added.

Tuesday, 30 June, 2020

10 FOREIGN NEWS

Israel's annexatIon plans 'Illegal': Un rIghts chIeF GENEVA

AGENCIES

SRAEL's aim to annex parts of the occupied West Bank was clearly "illegal", the UN's human rights chief said on Monday, warning that the consequences could be "disastrous". Just days before Israel intends to kickstart plans to annex its West Bank settlements and the Jordan Valley, Michelle Bachelet added her voice to the chorus urging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to drop the proposal. "Annexation is illegal. Period," the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said in a statement. "Any annexation. Whether it is 30 percent of the West Bank, or five percent," she said, urging Israel to "listen to its own former senior officials and generals, as well as to the multitude of voices around the world, warning it not to proceed along this dangerous path." International condemnation of the possible Israeli annexations has mounted ahead of July 1, when the Jewish state could take

its first steps toward implementing part of a US-proposed Middle East peace plan. US President Donald Trump's proposals, rejected outright by the Palestinians, pave the way for annexing key parts of the West Bank, including settlements long considered illegal by the majority of the inter-

national community. Bachelet urged Israel to shift course, warning that "the shockwaves of annexation will last for decades, and will be extremely damaging to Israel, as well as to the Palestinians." "The precise consequences of annexation cannot be predicted," she said.

"But they are likely to be disastrous for the Palestinians, for Israel itself, and for the wider region." The UN rights chief warned that "any attempt to annex any part of the occupied Palestinian territory will not only seriously damage efforts to achieve lasting peace in the region, it is likely to entrench, perpetuate and further heighten serious human rights violations that have characterised the conflict for decades." Her statement cautioned that such a move would almost certainly lead to increased restrictions on Palestinians' right to freedom of movement, as their population centres would become enclaves. In addition, significant tracts of private land would likely be illegally expropriated, and even in cases where this does not occur, many Palestinians could lose access to cultivate their own lands. And Palestinians who found themselves living inside the annexed areas would likely experience greater difficulty accessing essential services like healthcare and education, while humanitarian access could also be blocked.

airstrikes kill 10 taliban in eastern afghanistan GHAZNI AGENCIES

Ten members of Taliban have been killed as warplanes struck their gathering in Afghanistan's eastern Ghazni province on Sunday, provincial government spokesman Wahidullah Jumazada said. Acting on tip-off the aircraft struck a gathering of Taliban insurgents in Tawsang village of Dehyak district at 2:30 p.m. local time Sunday, killing 10 militants on the spot and wounding three others, the spokesman added. A car and four motorbikes of the insurgents were also destroyed during the air raids, he said. The security forces also captured six more militants from Ghazni city, the provincial capital, and its surrounding areas over the past couple of days. The Taliban group which has escalated attacks on Ghazni city over the past week has yet to make comment on the airstrikes.

global tourism lost $200bn during coronavirus lockdown: Un MADRID

Macron's party faces challenge in France municipal polls PARIS AGENCIES

As Covid-19 epidemic indicators keep improving in France, some 16.5 million voters are called to cast ballots in the second round of municipal elections under strict health protocol. Of France's 35,000 cities, towns and villages, about 30,000 had already elected their mayors in the first round held on March 15. The second round of mayoral elections was originally planned for March 22, but the worsening coronavirus outbreaks and the anti-virus lockdown had forced the French government to postpone it. Sunday's voting is taking place in 4,827 municipalities, as well as in the districts of Paris, Lyon and Marseille, where the councils were not elected in the first round. For the voting, the French Interior Ministry recommended voters should keep a safe distance from each other, wear a mask at polling stations and bring their own pens to sign off their vote. Since May 11, France has eased restriction measures step by step after a months-long nationwide lockdown. "The turnout is the main unknown of this election. It is difficult to know what will happen. The campaign, the longest in the 5th Republic (of France), had low intensity and struggled to gain momentum due to economic concerns and renewed health concerns," said Frederic Dabi, director of the IFOP opinion institute. "What is certain is that we will not be at the same level of 2014," he added, estimating Sunday's turnout to be at 42 percent. In the first round elections, only 44.3 percent of voters came to polling stations due to the risk of contamination, as against 63.5 percent in 2014. Facing his first domestic mid-term vote challenge, President Emmanuel Macron had bet on his La Republique en Marche (LREM) party -- which he created in 2016 -to win control of major cities to anchor power at local levels, and offset losses in the rural zone where his party faces criticism of "doing little" for the working class, local media reported. "Efforts by LREM to build grassroots support have fallen short, with most of its candidates failing to make it past the first round of voting on March 15," said state-owned international news television network France 24. The good news was that Prime Minister Edouard Philippe finished first in the port city of Le Havre, winning 43.6 percent of the vote and consolidating his chance to win the runoff. "Philippe, whose popularity has soared over his handling of the Covid-19 crisis, also faces a close fight to regain his mayor's seat in the port of Le Havre. A loss by Philippe would almost certainly force Macron into a broad reshuffle of his cabinet," France 24 said. Opinion polls projected that the ruling party's candidates would fail to re-conquer any big city, which would be a blow to Macron's plan to build a local power base he needs to extend his stay at the Elysee Palace for another five-year term.

AGENCIES

30 die, dozen missing after ferry sinks in Dhaka DHAKA AGENCIES

At least 30 people have died and a dozen missing after a ferry capsized and sank in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka following a collision with another vessel, rescue officials said. The Morning Bird vessel was hit from behind by another ferry around 9:30am local time (0330 GMT) during the Monday morning rush hour, when the country's largest port on Buriganga River is packed with vessels. "We have collected 30 bodies, including 20 males, seven women and three children," Abul Khair, a diver in the fire brigade, told media. "There were at least 50 people on board... Our rescue divers are still searching," coastguard spokesman commander Hayet Ibne Siddique said. The ferry - which departed from central Munshiganj district - sank as it was

about to moor at Sadarghat, Dhaka's main river port used by hundreds of boats to travel to the country's south. Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority's chief, Commodore Golam Sadeqk, said the single-deck ship was "not overcrowded" and sank "due to carelessness". He said the vessel had been cleared to carry passengers until September. Witnesses told local television stations that many passengers appeared to be stuck in the ferry's cabins. Divers were still pulling bodies from the wreck, in waters some 40-50 feet (1215 metres) deep. The deceased were put in body-bags before they were laid in rows at the harbour-front. Another boat would later arrive to lift the damaged vessel from the water, Siddique said. The ferry went down after colliding with another passenger ferry in the morning, said Golam Sadeq, chief of Bangladesh's Inland Water Transport Au-

thority (BIWTA). BIWTA said there were at least 50 passengers on board, but a survivor told private broadcaster 71 Television that the vessel was carrying at least 100 passengers. The survivor said he was travelling to Dhaka along with his brother who is still missing. They had set out from his village home in the central district of Munshiganj, 30km (18 miles) south of capital Dhaka. The South Asian nation is heavily reliant on ferries for transport but has had a poor safety record. Experts blame badly maintained vessels, lax safety standards at shipyards and overcrowding for many of the accidents. In February 2015 at least 78 people died when an overcrowded ship collided with a cargo boat in a central Bangladesh river. The number of accidents has dropped sharply in recent years as authorities crack down on unseaworthy vessels.

As the coronavirus pandemic paralyzed global travel, tourist flows have nearly halved in the first four months this year, the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has revealed. Instead of becoming a booming tourism season, April has turned out to be a disaster, with international arrivals dropping 97 percent, according to the UNWTO estimates. This is over 40 percent more than March’s decline. “Between January and April 2020, international tourist arrivals declined by 44%, translating into a loss of about US$195 billion in international tourism receipts,” the agency said. Evaluating the possible economic fallout from the pandemic, the UNWTO previously said that travel restrictions could wipe out between $910 billion and $1.2 trillion in revenues for the tourism sector and put up to 120 million jobs at risk. As it laid out three possible scenarios, even according to the best of them, international tourism is expected to drop 58 percent year-on-year.

russian Yadro surpasses huawei on domestic data storage systems market MOSCOW AGENCIES

Saudi Arabia sees 3bn riyals rise in foreign assets during May RIYADH AGENCIES

Saudi Arabia's net foreign assets rose in May, reversing three months of declines. The stockpile climbed by about 3 billion riyals ($800 million), to $445 billion, according to a monthly report from the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority. Officials have said a record cumulative decline of more than $47 billion in March and April was mainly due to a $40 billion transfer from the central bank to the sovereign wealth fund, intended to support investments abroad to take advantage of market turmoil during the coronavirus pandemic. Finance Minister Mohammed Al-

Jadaan has said the government would only draw down reserves by up to 120 billion riyals over the whole year, as originally planned in the budget. The central bank data released on Sunday showed that May's consumer spending was down sharply year-on-year, with electronic points-of-sales transactions combined with cash withdrawals declining 32 per cent. But demand picked up relative to April, with the total up nearly 20 per cent on a monthly basis. The kingdom eased many of its coronavirus-related precautions in May, including a curfew that had curbed business hours, and many Saudis have been front-loading purchases ahead of an expected increase to value-added

tax July 1. With reserves at the lowest in almost a decade, Saudi Arabia has tried to rein in spending at home as it faces a double crisis from the outbreak and a major decline in energy revenue. The government, which counted on crude for over 60 per cent of its income this year, is now contending with oil output cuts and prices well below its breakeven level. Global benchmark Brent crude rose nearly 40 per cent in May from April, and has traded at over $40 a barrel this month - still far short of the $76.10 the International Monetary Fund estimates Saudi Arabia needs to balance its budget. The IMF sees Saudi Arabia's economy contracting 6.8 per cent this year.

Russia’s data storage systems market enjoyed rapid growth in the first three months of 2020 despite the coronavirus pandemic, allowing domestic developer Yadro to outpace Chinese tech giant Huawei, a recent study has shown. According to IDC research cited by Russian media, the volume of deliveries of data storage systems in Russia stood at $99.64 million in the first quarter of the year. This is 37.9 percent more than during the same period last year. The sector continued to thrive despite the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, IDC program manager Mikhail Lebedev said, adding that the research firm sees stable demand from businesses. Meanwhile, Russian company Yadro, part of X Holding IT group, has become the market leader. In monetary terms, it had 18.6 percent of the share in the external storage systems market, 0.2 percent more than Huawei, which topped the list in the previous quarter.

Cholesterol-lowering drugs help reduce Covid-19 deaths, study suggests WASHINGTON AGENCIES

Commonly used cholesterol-lowering statin drugs may help reduce the death rate in hospitalized Covid-19 patients, according to a new study published in the journal Cell Metabolism. Animal studies have shown that statin drugs can improve immune cell responses, reduce inflammation, and slow the progression of lung injury. However, it was unclear how clinical outcomes in patients with

Covid-19 would be affected by the use of statins, either alone or in combination with other drugs. In search of answers, researchers at the Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University conducted the study, involving 13,981 Covid-19 patients in 21 hospitals in Hubei Province, among which 1,219 received statins. After a follow-up of 28 days, researchers found that the death rate of the statin group was 5.2 percent, lower than the 9.4 percent death rate of the non-statin group. The large-scale study also showed that

CMYK

the use of statin drugs was associated with a decreased incidence of invasive mechanical ventilation, admission to intensive care units, and acute respiratory distress syndrome in Covid-19 patients. Besides this, those who took statins had much lower levels of inflammation biomarkers than those who did not, indicating that the drugs can prevent patients from progressing to severe illness. According to researchers, 319 patients in the study used statins combined with angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) in-

hibitors or angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARBs), and 603 used statins combined with other blood pressure medicines. The study showed that adding an ACE inhibitor or an ARB did not increase the death risk in patients. "These results proved the safety and efficacy of statin drugs in treating hospitalized Covid-19 patients," said lead researcher Li Hongliang, adding that the statins are promising drugs for Covid-19, especially when there is no approved vaccine or treatment for the disease.

Tuesday, 30 June, 2020

archer 'a real match winner and threat', Younis warns ahead of england-Pakistan clashes LAHORE

AGENCIES

AKISTAN batting coach and former cricketing great Younis Khan singled out fast-rising paceman Jofra Archer as a "major threat" in his team´s forthcoming matches against England. The Pakistan squad left on Sunday for England, where they will play three Tests and as many Twenty20 internationals, starting in the first week of August. Younis said 25-year-old Archer has made a reputation for himself since qualifying to play for England and going on to play a key role in last year's Ashes and triumphant World Cup campaign. "He (Archer) is a real match winner and a threat," Younis told AFP before the team's departure. "Archer has strong nerves which he proved while bowling a crucial super over

in the World Cup final," said Younis of England´s nail-biting win over New Zealand at Lord's last year. "He has bite in his bowling and his

high arm action is very good and gives him nip in his bowling," he added. But Younis — himself playing a key role in Pakistan´s 2-2 series draw in Eng-

SPORTS 11 land in 2016 with a double hundred in the last Test at The Oval — said Barbadosborn Archer can be countered. "There is hype around him so that can be an added pressure on him. I have told the batsmen to play close to the body and play on the back foot because his inswinger can be very dangerous." Younis remembered playing Archer in Pakistan´s practice game against Sussex in 2016. "I remember playing him in the side game," said Younis of Archer´s debut firstclass match. "He got five wickets in the match but was not on top of his bowling at the time like he is now." Pakistan´s highest Test run scorer with 10,099, Younis said Pakistan should also be cautious of England´s most experienced bowlers — James Anderson and Stuart Broad."Anderson and Broad have a wealth of experience. They are always a great pair. Whenever England have won they have the major share, but in August the weather will be dry and not very overcast so they can be handled properly." Pakistan need to score 300-350 in the first innings, in order to challenge England in bowling, the coach said. The squad has a new pace battery with lanky Shaheen Shah Afridi as spearhead supported by 17-year-old Naseem Shah and Mohammad Abbas, who also played a key role on 2018 tour. "You face challenges in England as your technique as well as nerves are put to test. I am sure our team will be up to that task," said Younis.

csa gets green light to resume training JOHANESSBURG: Cricket South Africa's (CSA) return-to-train-and-play plans have been approved by the country's sports ministry and the organisation will meet on Thursday to plot its course back to action. ESPNcricinfo understands that CSA's focus will be on getting the national men's and women's teams back in action, though franchise and provincial players will continue to wait before they can begin preseason camps. A new date for the 3TC competition - a format in which three teams will play in the same game - is not expected imminently. Last week, CSA was forced to postpone the 3TC exhibition event, originally scheduled for June 27, because it had yet to receive the government's green light to train or play. CSA needed both the sports and health ministry's permission because it hoped the match would take place at SuperSport Park, in Centurion, a coronavirus hotspot. With infections rising as South Africa heads towards its peak (predicted to occur between July and September), CSA may consider an alternative venue for the fixture. One source said CSA would require players to have at least seven days of training before rescheduling the 3TC match. This means that for now, CSA's top priority will be to ensure its national player groups return to organised sessions, especially as they have been out of action for more three months. There has been no cricket in South Africa since March 15, when the group stage of the domestic one-day cup was completed. AGENCIES

AGENCIES

West Indies will wear a Black Lives Matter emblem on the collars of their shirts during July's Test series against England. Captain Jason Holder hinted in his first press conference of the tour that West Indies would look to support the movement in some way, and said in a statement on Sunday: "We believe we have a duty to show solidarity and also to help raise awareness." The logo used will be that worn on the shirts of all 20 Premier League football clubs since the sport's restart earlier this month, designed by Alisha Hosannah, whose partner Troy Deeney is Watford's captain. Deeney was contacted by CWI for approval, and the ICC gave permission for the emblem to be worn on the teams' collars. "This is a pivotal moment in history for sports, for the game of cricket and for the West Indies cricket team," Holder said. "We have come to England to retain the Wisden Trophy but we are very conscious of happenings around the world and the fight for justice and equality. "As a group of young men, we know of the rich and diverse history of West Indies cricket and we know we are guardians of the great game for generation to come. "We did not take our decision lightly. We know what it is for people to make judgments because of the

colour of our skin, so we know what it feels like, this goes beyond the boundary. There must be equality and there must be unity. Until we get that as people, we cannot stop. "We have to find some way to have equal rights and people must not be viewed differently because of the colour of their skin or ethnic background." Deeney said: "Alisha and I are immensely proud to be asked and take part in a monumental moment in world sport, this amazing decision by the West Indies cricket team to show their support for Black Lives Matter. "Watching cricket with my grandad, and seeing Brian Lara transcend from being a cricketer to a worldwide superstar, shaped my childhood, so it's great to be able to help West Indies cricket show their support in such

LAHORE: Pakistan cricket team after reaching England has undergone COVID-19 testing on Monday at Worcestershire. After landing in Manchester the squad traveled via bus to reach Worcestershire, said a spokesman of the Pakistan Cricket Board here. England and Wales Cricket Board medical penal conducted the Corona Virus tests of twenty players and twelve team officials who reached England in first phase for playing three test and similar number of T20 games against English side. Pakistan cricket teams bowling coach Waqar Younis who reached England from Australia to join the team was also tested for COVID-19. APP

Peshawar Zalmi announces Zalmi digital camp to find young talented cricketers

West Indies to wear Black Lives Matter logo on Test shirts TRINIDAD

Pakistan cricket squad undergoes covid-19 testing in england

a meaningful way." The shirts are expected to be worn for the first time in this week's firstclass, four-day warm-up match at Emirates Old Trafford, which starts on Monday. The ICC had previously told ESPNcricinfo that they would operate a "common-sense approach to the implementation of regulations" regarding demonstrations of solidarity with the movement, which would be assessed on a "case-by-case basis". England are also expected to mark their support for the movement during the series following discussions within the squad, and may also wear blue armbands in recognition of the contribution of NHS staff during the Covid-19 pandemic. The ECB announced last week that players would wear the names of cricket-supporting key workers on their training shirts ahead of the first Test. West Indies' shirts will also be the first to feature a chest sponsor, like those seen in football since the 1970s. The ICC's chief executives' committee ratified a change earlier this month to allow a relaxation of rules on apparel logos for the next 12 months, seemingly to help them maintain relations with sponsors during a difficult financial period. Logos on the fronts of players' shirts will not be permitted to exceed 32 square inches in size, as per the regulations for ODI and T20I kits. England are also expected to release a shirt with a chest sponsor in the next few days.

ISLAMABAD: Peshawar Zalmi, one of the outfits in Pakistan Super League Saturday announced to launch the MG Presents Zalmi Digital Camp, which would allow young players to be part of the Zalmi squad. Young cricketers will be able to join the programme by making videos of their batting and bowling and uploading these on social media with the hashtag #MGZalmiCamp, said a press release issued here. Peshawar Zalmi’s Head Coach Darren Sammy, Mentor Hashim Amla and Director Cricketing Affairs Muhammad Akram are set out to find new cricketers. They will review the batting and bowling videos of the young cricketers and the talent which impresses the Zalmi management can be part of the Zalmi squad in the emerging category. Encouraging the youth in a video message, Peshawar Zalmi’s Head Coach Darren Sammy said that the Zalmi Digital Camp was a great opportunity for young cricketers to test their skills. Make your batting or bowling videos and be a part of Zalmi’s team, he asked the promising players. Darren Sammy said that Peshawar Zalmi had already given opportunities to many great emerging cricketers like Hassan Ali and Haider Ali who went on to become part of the Pakistan Team. Director Cricketing Affairs, Mohammad Akram said that the players were away from the field due to coronavirus and Zalmi was trying to reengage them. “Make your video and send it to us to get a chance to represent Peshawar Zalmi in PSL,” he asked the aspiring players. Javed Afridi, Chairman Peshawar Zalmi, said the digital programme was designed in light of the current situation. Young cricketers should take full advantage of this programme so that their talent can reach to the thinktank of Peshawar Zalmi and they can be provided maximum coaching. APP

African players in Europe: Ighalo maintains goal-per-start record PARIS AGENCIES

Nigerian Odion Ighalo continued a record of scoring every time he starts for Manchester United by netting in a 2-1 FA Cup quarter-final win away to Norwich City at the weekend. Apart from four goals in four starts, the on-loan forward also scored once after coming off the bench for a total of five goals in 11 appearances. Ivorian Nicolas Pepe was the other African scorer in the last-eight stage, putting Arsenal ahead for the first time in a 2-1 win at Sheffield United. ENGLAND: ODION IGHALO (Manchester Utd): He scored the opening goal and a foul on him led to a Norwich City player being red-carded as United won 2-1 to book an FA Cup semi-final clash with Chelsea. Ighalo, who joined the Red Devils temporarily last January from Shanghai Shenhua, netted from close range and when he was later hacked down on the edge of the box, Timm Klose got his marching orders. NICOLAS PEPE (Arsenal): Pepe scored his eighth Arsenal goal, from the penalty spot, as the Gunners moved

into the FA Cup semi-finals with a 2-1 win at Sheffield United. With Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang rested by Mikel Arteta, the Ivorian took responsibility from the spot and confidently dispatched the ball low into Dean Henderson's left-hand corner. MOHAMED SALAH/SADIO MANE (Liverpool): Egyptian Salah and Senegalese Mane were both on the scoresheet as Liverpool thrashed Crystal Palace 4-0 as the Reds ended a 30-year wait to be crowned champions of England. The Egyptian showed why his presence was so badly missed in a 0-0 draw at Everton last weekend with a cool control and finish for Liverpool's second goal before Salah teed up Mane to round off the scoring. Both have played huge parts in Liverpool's title triumph and still have the Golden Boot to challenge for. Salah has 17 goals, two behind Premier League top scorer Jamie Vardy, while Mane is on 15. SPAIN: JOSEPH AIDOO (Celta Vigo): Ghana defender Aidoo helped Celta snatch a 2-2 draw at home to Barcelona in what could prove a pivotal moment in the title race. Aidoo was among those in charge of marshalling Lionel Messi, who teed up Luis Suarez's opener but was unable to score his 700th career goal for club and country. Celta's draw,

CMYK

earned after a late free-kick from Iago Aspas, allowed Real Madrid to move two points clear at the top of La Liga. ITALY: GERVINHO (Parma): Ivory Coast forward Gervinho opened the scoring for Parma against Inter Milan, connecting with a Juraj Kucka cross to finish off from close range after 15 minutes for his sixth league goal this season. The 33-year-old then set up Andreas Cornelius, but the Danish striker missed in front of goal and third-place Inter hit back with two late goals to win. MUSA BARROW (Bologna): Gambia forward Barrow sparked Bologna's revival after a four-match winless run with a 2-1 victory over Sampdoria. Barrow converted a penalty after 72 minutes for his fourth goal since joining Bologna on loan from Atalanta in January. The 21-yearold was then involved in the buildup as Riccardo Orsolini tapped in the second two minutes later. JEREMIE BOGA/MEDHI BOURABIA (Sassuolo) Ivory Coast international Boga came off the bench at half-time and bagged a brace as Sassuolo fought back to salvage a 3-3 draw at the death at home against Hellas Verona. Boga connected with a Gregoire Defrel cross to pull Sassuolo level at 1-1 after 53 minutes. A defensive error involving Moroccan Medhi Bourabia allowed

Verona to move ahead again, but Boga grabbed a second on 77 minutes for the former Chelsea midfielder's 10th goal this season. GERMANY: ANTHONY UJAH/SULEIMAN ABDULLAHI (Union Berlin): Nigeria striker Ujah, 29, tapped home from a goalmouth scramble to put his side on the road to a 3-0 victory over Fortuna Duesseldorf, who were relegated by the result on the last day of the Bundesliga season. Fellow Nigerian Abdullahi, 23, came off the bench to score his first Bundesliga goal in only his sixth appearance on 90 minutes. Ujah said his goal had special meaning as it helped former club Werder Bremen, who hammered Cologne 6-1, qualify for the relegation/promotion play-offs. ACHRAF HAKIMI (Borussia Dortmund): Morocco international Hakimi made his final appearance for Dortmund when he came off the bench for the second half of a 4-0 loss at home to Hoffenheim. After two years on loan from Real Madrid in Dortmund, the 21-year-old has drawn reported interest from Inter Milan and could be sold for around $45 million (40 mn euros). The versatile Hakimi has impressed this season with five Bundesliga goals and 10 assists.

Tuesday, 30 June, 2020

NEWS

vietnam grOunds Pakistani PilOts Over liCenCe COnCerns HANOI

AGENCIES

IETNAM’S aviation authority said on Monday it had grounded all Pakistani pilots working for local airlines, amid concern from global regulators that some pilots may have been using “dubious” licenses. The issue of dubious licenses drew global attention after Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan, last week in the National Assembly, declared that 150 pilots associated with Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) had fake licenses. Last week, the International Air Transport Associa-

Blasts at afgHan market kill 23 Civilians KANDAHAR: Multiple explosions tore through a busy market in southern Afghanistan on Monday, killing at least 23 civilians, officials said, blaming the Taliban for the carnage. The latest bloodshed comes as both the Taliban and Afghan government prepare to launch peace talks aimed at ending the country's nearly two-decade-old war. The blasts at the bazar in the Sangin district of Helmand province also wounded 15 people, the governor's office and army said in separate statements. Rockets hit the market at 9:00 am local time after which a car bomb exploded, the governor's office said, blaming Taliban militants for the attack. The army also accused the Taliban of carrying out the offensive. Two Taliban insurgents were killed, the governor's office added. "Unfortunately, 23 civilians were killed and around 15 others were wounded," the army said in its statement. The Taliban, however, denied responsibility, pinning the blame on the Afghan army which they accused of firing the rockets. The militants hold large areas of Helmand province, a region known for its opium production. President Ashraf Ghani condemned the "terrorist attack", which he said had left several children dead. "The Afghan government once again call on the Taliban to give up violence, and heed the demand of the people to stop fighting and start talks," Ghani said, in a statement issued by his office. Violence dropped after the Taliban offered a rare ceasefire to mark the Eid festival on May 24, but officials say the militants have now stepped up attacks against security forces and civilians. In recent weeks, several brutal attacks have targeted Afghan security forces, mosques, human rights workers and prosecutors. The Taliban have denied most of these attacks, but acknowledge that the group's fighters have been targeting security forces. The rise in violence in recent weeks come as both the government and Taliban are set to engage in peace talks. The United States has pushed for launching the talks after it signed a deal with the Taliban that paves the way for withdrawing all foreign forces by the middle of next year. AGENCIES

Covid-19 pandemic ‘is not even close to being over’, WHO chief says NEW YORK: The Covid-19 pandemic is not even close to being over, World Health Organisation chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a briefing on Monday. Tedros noted that, six months after China first alerted the WHO to a novel respiratory infection, the grim milestones of 10 million confirmed infections and 500,000 deaths had been reached. “Most people remain susceptible, the virus still has a lot of room to move,” he said. “We all want this to be over. We all want to get on with our lives. But the hard reality is that this is not even close to being over. Although many countries have made some progress globally, the pandemic is actually speeding up.” The head of the WHO’s emergencies programme, Mike Ryan, told the briefing that tremendous progress had been made towards finding a safe and effective vaccine to prevent infection, but there was still no guarantee the effort would succeed. In the meantime, countries could fight the spread of the disease by testing, isolating confirmed cases and tracking their contacts, he said. He singled out Japan, South Korea and Germany for their “comprehensive, sustained strategy” against the virus. The WHO plans to convene a meeting this week to assess progress in research towards fighting the disease, Tedros said. AGENCIES

UAE SUSPENDS FLIGHTS FROM PAKISTAN OVER CORONAVIRUS FEARS tion (IATA) expressed concern over the “serious lapse in licensing and safety oversight by the aviation regulator”. “The head of the Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has ordered a suspension for all Pakistani pilots working for Vietnamese airlines,” the CAAV said in a statement on Monday. The suspension will be in effect until further notice from CAAV, it said, adding that the authority is coordinating with Pakistani

authorities to review the pilots’ profiles. Vietnam had licensed 27 Pakistani pilots, and 12 of them were still active, while the other 15 pilots’ contracts had expired or were inactive due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to the CAAV. Of the 12 active pilots, 11 were working for budget airlines Vietjet Aviation and one for Jetstar Pacific, a unit of the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines. Vietnam Airlines and Bamboo Airways were not using any pilots from Pakistan, the CAAV said. Vietnamese airlines currently have 1,260 pilots, with nearly half of them holding foreign citizenship, according to the CAAV. UAE STOPS INCOMING AIR TRAFFIC FROM

PAKISTAN: Meanwhile, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said it will not receive passengers coming from Pakistan as of June 29 (today) until a special Covid-19 lab is set up to test them. The General Civil Aviation Authority said the decision also applies to transit flights originating from Pakistan. Dubai state carrier Emirates had already said it was temporarily suspending flights from Pakistan, effective June 24 until July 3, after about 30 Pakistanis who arrived in Hong Kong on board an Emirates flight on June 22 tested positive for Covid-19.

Covid-19 an opportunity to initiate structural reforms in Pakistan, says WB economist LAHORE INP

World Bank Senior Economist Gonzalo Varela on Monday said that the Covid19 pandemic is an opportunity to initiate structural reforms in Pakistan since the country’s exports have been hit hard due to the coronavirus. Pakistan recorded $1.39 billion in merchandise exports for May 2020, a 34 per cent drop from May 2019. The World Bank senior economist during an online interaction with members of All Pakistan Business Forum (APBF) said that the short-term global trade prospects lack optimism as experts forecast contractions in exports in the months ahead. “At such a time, exports are crucial to Pakistan’s recovery because they are labor-intensive and provide plenty of good jobs for Pakistanis. Global and regional trade integration offers Pakistan a tremendous potential in driving and sustaining growth and poverty reduc-

tion,” he said. He suggested the need for protecting the exporters through smart export promotion and the need for structural reforms to aid economic recovery. He further suggested that the Pakistani government needs to lift barriers to exports, including easing up import restrictions. “Firms need to import to export successfully,” he argued While speaking on the occasion, APBF President Syed Maaz Mahmood appreciated the debt relief measures taken by the G20 countries, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (WB) for the developing countries including Pakistan. He urged multilateral development partners, including WB, to play their due role by investing in the social sector rather than exclusively in mega development projects, which would help in shifting the focus of member governments back to social sector development. He further said Pakistan's health care system is not equipped to handle emergencies like Covid-19, and appre-

ciated the WB’s efforts along with the government to help enhance health capacity to respond to the challenge. Syed Maaz Mahmood further observed that the initial relief packages of $1.4 billion by the IMF and $1 billion by the World Bank would have substantial impact and provide much needed fiscal space to Pakistan which should be used for the well being and welfare of the public. While noting that the Covid-19 pandemic has posed unprecedented health and economic challenges, he underlined that a global recession might lead to a situation worse than the Great Depression. “A global pandemic cannot be contained without strong, coordinated and well-crafted global response,” he stressed. APBF national and provincial board members called for announcing special incentives for cash-strapped SMEs, which represent more than 90 per cent of the total 3.2 million business enterprises in Pakistan.

Iran issues arrest warrant for Trump over killing of top general TEHRAN AGENCIES

Iran has issued an arrest warrant for US President Donald Trump and 35 others over the killing of top general Qassem Soleimani and has asked Interpol for help, Tehran prosecutor Ali Alqasimehr said on Monday, according to the Fars news agency. The United States killed Soleimani, leader of the Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force, with a drone strike in Iraq on January 3. Washington accused Soleimani of masterminding attacks by Iranian-aligned militias on US forces in the region.

Alqasimehr said the warrants had been issued on charges of murder and terrorist action. He said Iran had asked Interpol to issue a “red notice” for Trump and the other individuals the Islamic Republic accuses of taking part in the killing of Soleimani. Alqasimehr said the group included other US military and civilian officials but did not provide further details. He said Iran would continue to pursue the matter after Trump’s time in office ends. The killing of Soleimani brought the United States and Iran to the brink of armed conflict after Iran retaliated by firing missiles at American targets in Iraq several days later.

Pakistan reopens kartarpur corridor on ranjit singh's death anniversary LAHORE: The government on Monday reopened the Kartarpur Corridor after threeand-a-half months to commemorate the death anniversary of Sikh Maharaja Ranjit Singh. According to Sardar Gobind Singh, Head Granthi Darbar, Kartarpur, the death anniversary rituals of Sikh Maharaja Ranjit Singh at Darbar Baba Guru Nanak Kartarpur will begin at 12:30pm. However, due to the lockdown, the entry to Kartarpur Gurdwara has been closed. Gobind Singh said that the entire Sikh nation is immensely happy with the reopening of corridor after nearly four months. He said that Sikh pilgrims from all over the world, including Pakistan, would participate in prayer ceremony on the occasion while the Indian government should also allow Sikh pilgrims to visit Kartarpur corridor. Prime Minister Imran Khan had inaugurated the Kartarpur Corridor on November 9 last year but the corridor was closed after the outbreak of the Covid-19. On the other hand, Pakistan had announced to open Kartarpur corridor on June 29 and India was also informed about the development but New Delhi had refused to open the corridor for its pilgrims. STAFF REPORT

Ogra imposes rs15m penalty on three OmCs ISLAMABAD: Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) on Monday imposed a total penalty of Rs15 million on three Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) for creating artificial fuel shortage in the country. “OGRA imposed a penalty of Rs5 million each on Byco, Aksar and BE Energy on show cause notices issued during the oil shortage crisis earlier this month," said the OGRA spokesperson. The oil and gas regulatory authority also issued a show-cause notice to the three companies and directed them to submit a reply within 24 hours. Earlier on June 11, OGRA had issued show cause notices to Byco, Askar and BE Energy for violation of license conditions seeking explanation from them within 24 hours. STAFF REPORT

Pakistan launches electric vehicle plan with cars in slow lane LAHORE AGENCIES

Ghulam Hussain was used to zipping through the streets of Lahore with his wife and three young children perched perilously on his motorbike, whenever they visited relatives or ran errands. But now that the government has launched a plan to move vehicles over to electric power, Hussain is excited about the prospect of no longer spending Rs4,000 each month on petrol. “It would be a substantial saving for me to switch to an electric motorbike,” said Hussain, who works as a driver for a family in Gulberg district, earning about Rs20,000 a month. “Eventually I’d like to buy a small car for the family, as the children are getting older. I would buy an electric car, if they are affordable.” He will have to wait a while to find out. After a lengthy delay, the ambitious electric vehicle (EV) policy was approved for implementation this month, but a late-stage change leaves cars out of its first phase. Critics warn this means it will take longer for citizens to reap the policy’s environmental and financial benefits.

Covering buses and trucks, as well as two- and three-wheel vehicles, including rickshaws and motorcycles, the new policy introduces a raft of incentives to encourage manufacturers to start producing electric vehicles and customers to buy them. POLICY AIMS: Passed on June 10, the new policy was originally approved by Prime Minister Imran Khan in November, with the goal of cutting air pollution and curbing climate change. It aims to bring half a million electric motorcycles and rickshaws, along with more than 100,000 electric cars, buses and trucks, into the transportation system over the next five years. The goal is to have at least 30 per cent of all vehicles running on electricity by 2030. After pushback from traditional automakers, the first stage of the policy bypasses cars to focus on motorbikes and rickshaws — the most common form of transport in densely populated urban areas — as well as buses and trucks. Malik Amin Aslam, climate change advisor to the prime minister, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that incentives for cars would be added to the policy “at a later stage”, without specifying when. Leaving out cars makes the new policy

“like a wedding party arriving with no bridegroom”, said Shaukat Qureshi, general secretary of the Pakistan Electric Vehicles and Parts Manufacturers and Traders Association (PEVPMTA). “The rest of the world is adopting this technology and it is pollution-free. The sooner it comes, the better it is for everyone,” he said. Abdul Waheed Khan, director general of the Pakistan Automotive Manufacturers Association, which represents petrol-powered carmakers, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation that the policy “states the broad parameters to which we agreed”. POORER FAMILIES LEFT BEHIND: Mian Ali Hameed, marketing director at Sazgar Engineering Works Limited, a leading rickshaw manufacturer, said his company was ready to start producing electric rickshaws before the end of 2020. Hameed confirmed that Sazgar’s erickshaws will be more expensive than traditional versions, costing about Rs400,000, compared with Rs250,000 for a petrol powered ride. However, customers will soon see savings, as their petrol use drops dramatically and they spend less on maintenance like oil and filter changes, he explained.

“Customers could recover the [purchase] cost in one year, according to our estimates,” he said. One potential obstacle to the speedy uptake of electric vehicles is a lack of charging infrastructure. To address that, the policy makes it cheaper for authorities and companies to install charging stations in cities and along motorways. But Qureshi of the PEVPMTA noted that owners of electric motorbikes, e-rickshaws and small electric cars do not need to wait. “You just plug them in at home, like a fan,” he said. Qureshi worries that leaving cars out of the policy for now will disadvantage lower income families, estimating that switching to a small electric car could save up to Rs25,000 a month in fuel costs. GOOD FOR HEALTH: Addressing concerns about the cost of electric vehicles, climate advisor Aslam said the policy includes incentives for their owners, such as removing yearly registration fees and a 50pc discount on motorway tolls. “In a country where large cities routinely suffer high levels of air pollution, the benefits to Pakistan’s environmental health will also be significant,” he added.

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