EpaperKHI_21-01-13

Saturday, 13 March, 2021 I 28 Rajab, 1442 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XI No 254 I 12 Pages I Karachi Edition

Major setback for PDM as PtI wIns both senate toP slots g

Ruckus maRs uppeR house as hidden cameRas aRe discoveRed in polling booth ISLAMABAD

G

staff report

oveRnment-backed candidates sadiq sanjrani and mirza muhammad afridi were elected as senate chairman and deputy chairman, respectively on friday after they defeated their opponents who were supported by the 11-party opposition alliance, pakistan democratic movement (pdm). according to official results, sanjrani recieved 48 votes, while his opponent yousaf Raza gillani bagged 42 votes. seven votes received by the pdm candidate were rejected, which led to outcry from his party’s lawmakers. an eight vote was also rejected as it supported both candidates. sanjrani took his oath amid opposition’s protests and expressed his gratitude to the ruling party and to defence minister pervez khattak in particular. later, afridi was declared to be the winner of the deputy chairman slot after he defeated pdm’s maulana abdul ghafoor haideri. the former received 54 votes against the latter’s 44 votes. no votes were rejected. voting for the slot of senate chairman ended on friday at 15:18 pm in the upper house of the parliament. presiding officer (po) senator syed muzafar hussain shah chaired the session. the first vote was cast by Jamiat ulema-e-islam-fazl (Jui-f) secretarygeneral haideri. senators muhammad sadiq sanjrani of the pakistan tehreek-einsaf (pti) and gillani of the pakistan people’s party (ppp) contested for the slot of the chairman. the nomination papers filed in the senate secretariat for the slots of chair-

man and deputy chairman were accepted after detailed scrutiny. according to senate secretariat, secretary senate mohammad Qasim samad khan received the nominations papers and supervised the overall scrutiny process. senator sanjrani and senator gillani filed their nomination papers for the slot of chairman senate while afridi and haideri filed their papers for the post of deputy chairman. earlier in the day, as many as 48 newly-elected senators took the oath. syed muzafar hussain, nominated by president dr arif alvi as presiding officer, administrated the oath.

Jamaat-e-islami (Ji) senator mushtaq ahmed abstained from casting his vote in the elections. the senator had already announced that he will not take part in the elections after his party boycotted the polls. the polling for the senate chairman ended after 98 senators voted in the

coronavIrus In

PakIstan

CONFIRMED CASES:

600,198

elections. the counting of votes for the senate chairman’s election officially started at 5pm. the last vote was cast by the presiding officer. along with the abstained vote from Ji, ishaq dar did not cast a vote, as he has yet to take his oath.

HIDDEN CAMERAS: during the proceedings, hidden cameras were discovered by leaders of the pakistan muslim league-nawaz (pml-n). po sayed muzafar hussain shah, in this regard, announced the formation of a six-member committee to investigate the issue of hidden cameras’ installation around the polling booth meant for the elections. he said that senators mustafa nawaz khokhar, mussadik malik and azam khan swati had approached the secretary with separate written requests to hold a thorough probe into the incident. the po asked the leader of the upper house and leader of the opposition in the senate to give three names each for the committee members in

due course of time. he said that the committee members would themselves elect the convener to advance the proceeding of the parliamentary body. after the cameras were discovered, the opposition demanded cctv footage from the previous day in the upper house. khokhar and malik, along with other senators, approached the senate secretariat security chief to seek his assurance that nothing will happen to the footage. khokhar and malik repeatedly asked whether the footage could be destroyed without the consent of the security chief, to which he replied: “sir, the cctv footage can only be [destroyed] if it is accessed”.

ISLAMABAD: the controversy which triggered over seven rejected votes of the opposition alliance, pakistan democratic movement (pdm), in the senate chairman election on friday has led the pdm to decide to challenge the ruling of presiding officer senator muzaffar hussain shah in the supreme court (sc). the pdm is also mulling a proposal to investigate how mirza afridi, the government-backed candidate for the slot of senate deputy chairman, bagged six additional votes as sadiq sanjrani could only secure 48 votes. it is worth mentioning here that sanjrani secured 48 votes against yousaf Raza gillani’s 42 to be re-elected as the senate chairman while afridi bagged 54 votes against maulana abdul ghafoor haideri’s 44 votes. Mian abrar

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ministeR attRibutes incReasing cases to uk stRain of covid-19 and waRns against its high moRtality Rate ISLAMABAD staff report

LAST UPDATED AT 7:06 AM ON MARCH 12, 2021

DAY'S DEATH TOLL:

NEW CASES:

54

2,701

RECOVERED:

DEATHS:

568,065 13,430 SINDH:

PUNJAB:

260,661

182,576

KP:

BALOCHISTAN:

75,052

19,171

AJK/GB:

ISLAMABAD:

10,816/4,959

46,963

federal minister for planning, development and special initiatives asad umar on friday confirmed that the third wave of coronavirus pandemic has started in the country, attributing the rising number of cases to the united kingdom strain of the novel virus. “yes, there is no doubt that the third wave has started. the phenomena that are driving it is the spread of the uk strain,” the federal minister said while talking to a private news channel. “our own statistics from the last few weeks show a sustained increase in our case fatality rate (the number of patients who succumbed to the virus from the total number infected). at the time, we were speculating that it may be linked to the uk strain. but now the research report is here which establishes [the link],” the minister said, terming it a “very dangerous situation”. in response to a question regarding cases, asad said that

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PDM vows to challenge Gillani’s rejected votes in sc

Third wave of Covid-19 has started in Pakistan, says Asad g

“you aren’t answering my question,” said malik. “as of now sir, no one has accessed the cctv footage neither have we received any such request,” said the security chief. “so what you’re saying is that the security video is there?” asks khokhar. “yes sir, it is there,” responds the security chief. “so if any attempt is made to destroy it, you will not let that happen, right?” asks khokhar. “exactly, sir. i will not,” responds the security officer. the ppp senator then told the security officer that he feared the footage from the last couple of days may be destroyed.

more inside

Six coal miners killed in blast in Pakistan’s southwest STORY ON PAGE 02

education vital for national development, says imran STORY ON PAGE 03

the uptick in infections was witnessed in districts where a large portion of the pakistan british community lives. “we asked national institute of health (nih) to do genome sequencing and first we saw the uk strain in areas in north pakistan, including islamabad. after that, we also did genome sequencing for the rest of the country,” he added. the federal minister also pointed out that the new strain of the coronavirus was more

transmissible than the original strain from wuhan. "also, according to today's report, the mortality ratio of the strain is also high, posing a greater threat," he stressed. “the most recent research reports suggested that its mortality rate is also higher,” he said, adding, “this is a really dangerous situation developing as of now and the same is happening in other parts of the region, including bangladesh.”

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9 Pakistanis among 65 media workers killed in 2020: IFJ STORY ON BACK PAGE

who approves Janssen vaccine for covaX roll-out STORY ON BACK PAGE

02

Saturday, 13 March, 2021

KARACHI

NEWS

Six Coal MinerS killed in blaSt in pakiStan’S SouthweSt QUETTA

S

AgEnciES

Ix miners have been killed in a blast at a coal mine in southwestern Pakistan near the border with Afghanistan, officials with the provincial Directorate of Mines told Reuters.

They were among eight miners trapped about 1,000 feet underground when accumulating methane gas exploded at the coalfield in Marwar in the province of Balochistan, the officials said.

“Six bodies have been retrieved by the rescue team from the affected mine this morning,” a senior official of the Directorate of Mines said.

THE MINE HAS BEEN CLOSED AND AN INQUIRY HAS BEEN ORDERED INTO THE INCIDENT BY THE CHIEF INSPECTOR OF MINES “(The) mine has been closed and an inquiry has been ordered by the Chief Inspector of Mines into the incident.”

In the past year, 102 coal miners have been killed in Balochistan in 72 different incidents, Sultan Muhammad Lala, president of the Balochistan Coal Mines Workers Federation, told Reuters.

Lala said that the government and mine owners were not ensuring safe working conditions at the sites.

An explosion caused by methane gas at

Cop, attaCker gunned down in rawalpindi RAWALPINDI TLTP

A traffic warden was martyred in a firing incident that took place in the vicinity of Civil Lines police station of the garrison city on Friday. The assailants on a motorcycle opened fire on security officials who were performing snap checking near the Carriage Factory in the area. A traffic warden lost his life in the firing, whereas, an attacker was killed in retaliatory fire. The martyred traffic warden is identified as Muhammad Naveed. Friday’s incident was the third attack on police officials in the twin cities during the past four days. According to police, the alleged attacker killed in retaliation was identified as Shahid. It emerged that the attacker was also involved in the murder of an inspector, Imran, whom he had gunned him down along with his accomplice. Police claimed that the men were furious over the seizure of their vehicles by the inspector which he handed over to Kallar Syedan police station. A case was lodged over the complaint of the traffic sector in-charge at Ratta Amral police station. According to the first information report (FIR), the motorcyclists came from the side of IJP Road and opened fire after stopping their vehicle in front of the traffic police official Naveed. It stated that the attackers later fled towards Dhoke Hassu area of Rawalpindi. Following the attack, the Islamabad police chief issued orders for tightening the security arrangements, besides directing on-duty officials to wear bullet-proof jackets and helmets.

Islamabad Inspector General of Police (IGP) Qazi Jamil Ur Rehman instructed senior officers to check duties by themselves, besides briefing the staff.

Meanwhile, Rawalpindi CPO Ahsan Younus said that those who attack citizens and the police will not be spared. He added that the Rawalpindi police will not forget the sacrifices of its officers and will bring those responsible to justice. SHO Imran Abbas was shot dead on March 7. In another attack on the same day, a police officer was gunned down in Islamabad by assailants riding a motorcycle when they were on their routine patrolling of the area. On March 8, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid praised Islamabad police for sacrificing their lives in the line of duty and maintaining the law and order. He further said that the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) is reorganising in Pakistan, adding that there are threats in Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar, and Karachi.

another coal mine in Marwar in May 2018 killed 20 workers. In August that year, another methane-fueled explosion in the city of Quetta killed seven.

In 2011, 45 coal miners were killed by a methane gas explosion, also in Balochistan.

Sparsely populated and impoverished Balochistan is home to large deposits of coal, natural gas, copper and gold, many of which are being extracted by Chinese-backed operations. Militants often target workers and security forces.

Senate victories have buried PDM politics: Faraz ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz has said that the victory of Sadiq Sanjrani and Mirza Muhammad Afridi as chairman and deputy chairman of the Senate is a defeat of the forces of darkness and it has buried the politics of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).

Talking to the media at the Parliament House on Friday, the information minister said that PDM’s politics revolves around personal interests and Friday’s election has buried their ill intentions.

He said, “They [opposition] are people who have manipulated law and did everything for the sake of money. They have mastered corrupt practices… but, despite all this they have met defeat and insult today”.

“Today, they staged the drama of cameras. The votes that have been rejected can be re-checked through the screen footages.”

He added that the government will conduct an inquiry into the “drama they staged and in which they failed”.

“They should be ashamed to have staged such

propaganda,” he said, adding, “The PPP [Pakistan People’s Party] has back-stabbed PML-N [Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz].… the drama of cameras was staged by them. We have only used legal and moral measures to win today’s elections.”

The minister said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan, is committed to bringing transparency and end horse-trading in the electoral process of Pakistan. He maintained that Imran Khan wants to take the country towards development, progress and prosperity while the opposition wants to safeguard personal interests instead of serving the nation.

Faraz urged the opposition to strengthen the hands of Prime Minister Imran if it wants development, prosperity and rule of law in the country.

Speaking on the occasion, Senator Faisal Javed Khan said that PTI is going to bring comprehensive electoral reforms to ensure transparency in the polling process, which include electronic and open voting. He said, “We want to make the electoral process credible so that losing candidates accept his defeat open-heartedly.”

Australian High Commissioner Dr Geoffrey Shaw on Friday called on Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa at the General Headquarters and appreciated Pakistan’s positive role for regional peace and stability.

PM says no to gas price hike ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Prime Minister Imran Khan has directed the officials concerned not to increase gas price in the next few months. The prime minister issued these directions while chairing a meeting to review the prices of flour, sugar, gas, petroleum products and other essential commodities on Friday. "Gas prices should not be increased in the next few months," he said, while rejecting OGRA's proposal for 6-7pc increase in gas prices.

The PM emphasized on intensifying the efforts to provide all possible relief to the common man, directing his economic team to ensure stability in flour prices till the government introduces a targeted subsidy scheme.

"A detailed programme is being introduced to provide direct subsidy on flour to the poor," he said. "The purpose of the subsidy is to provide financial assistance to the downtrodden segment of society so that the burden of inflation on them could be reduced."

The meeting was also attended by federal ministers Khurso Bakhtiyar, Hafeez Shaikh, Hammad Azhar, Fakhar Imam, Umar Ayub, Asad Umar, advisers Nadeem Babar, Waqar Masood, Tabish Gohar, federal secretaries and other officials.

Ministry issues e-commerce rules for goods’ import, export ISLAMABAD TLTP

The Ministry of Commerce has issued rules for assessment and clearance of imported or exported goods through e-commerce. The ministry issued SRO 14(I)/2021 for the application of rules that will apply for the assessment and clearance of imported or exported goods of business-to-consumer (B2C) transactions through authorised dealer via designated customs stations. However, these rules will not apply on goods requiring testing of samples; animals; perishable goods; food stuff including beverages; medicines; alcoholic drinks; restricted items subject to fulfilment of import and export regulations under the relevant law; prohibited under sections 15 and 16 of the Customs Act, 1969 along with allied law; and import and export goods which are intended for clearance from other customs stations or airport. The ministry defined ecommerce as buying and selling of goods or services including digital products through electronic transactions conducted via the internet or other computer mediated (online communication) networks. According to rules, the registered courier shall file the prior arrival manifest of e-commerce goods.

The risk management system shall be applied at the manifest filing stage. A consumer shall provide the details of shipment and e-commerce importer. Ecommerce goods of the consumer shall be cleared upon provision of information prior to the manifest or post arrival of the goods.

Goods declaration shall be filed by a registered courier on behalf of e-commerce importer and exporter under a specified type of goods declaration for the purpose of ecommerce. The goods shall be cleared upon examination and assessment through the WeBOC system upon decision by the RMS. Duty and taxes shall be paid by the ecommerce importer and exporter through methods including self-payment by the ecommerce importer and exporter through a unique payment ID; or payment through authorised registered courier.

Patients’ platelets drop within a minute here, remarks ATC judge on Asif’s non-appearance LAHORE TLTP

An accountability court extended the judicial remand of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmaker Khawaja Asif in the assets beyond income case on Friday.

Judge Jawadul Hassan conducted the hearing of assets beyond income case against the PML-N central leader. The lawmaker did not appear in the hearing.

During the hearing, the jail officials presented the medical report of the accused lawmaker which stated that Asif

COURT EXTENDS JUDICIAL REMAND OF PML-N LAWMAKER KHAWAJA ASIF was admitted to Jinnah Hospital for hernia operation. The judge remarked, “Platelets of the patients drop within a minute here.”

He added that each accused would give an excuse for not appearing in the courtroom.

Asif’s counsel told the court that his client will be discharged from the hospital after undergoing operation within 10-15 days.

The court asked the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor whether the judicial remand could be extended in the absence of the accused. The prosecutor said that it could be extended in an untoward situation.

Later, the court extended the judicial remand of Asif for 14 days and adjourned the hearing till March 26.

Moreover, the court summoned a detailed report on the reference from the investigation officer (IO) of the anticorruption watchdog.

The anti-graft watchdog accused that a bank peon in Lahore had submitted over Rs28 million to the bank account of Asif following the orders of senior officers. It stated that the nephew of Asif, Khawaja Sultan, had submitted Rs20 million to his bank account after being told by his paternal uncle.

A senior political worker Rana Abdul Waheed had submitted Rs30 million to Asif’s account and told the NAB that the money was given to him by Asif. Another political activist Sarmad Ijaz had withdrawn Rs5 million from Asif’s bank account and handed him over the money.

The documents stated that Asif had failed to respond to the NAB’s query regarding the money from where it was earned.

Saturday, 13 March, 2021

KARACHI

NEWS

03

education vitaL foR nationaL deveLoPment, SayS imRan SOHAWA

P

PM STRESSES NEED FOR ACADEMIC RESEARCH TO BENEFIT HUMANITY

stAff RePoRt

RIME Minister Imran Khan on Friday, terming education vital for national development, said that preparing knowledgeable and talented youngsters with moral strength was the need of the hour.

Addressing a ceremony at Al Qadir University, he emphasised an education system that acted as a means of selfdevelopment and a source of bringing positive change in the society.

Two years ago, the prime minister had laid the foundation-stone of the university with the objective of making the institution a cradle of science and spirituality.

PM Imran said that knowledge was the main element that distinguished between

humans and animal species, and emphasised the significance of literacy meeting the needs of both contemporary world and the hereafter. He stressed academic research at university with the purpose of benefitting humanity and said that it was time to prepare youngsters to adopt best learning practices to acquire knowledge.

He said that he wanted to transform the system of Al Qadir University similar to that of Egypt’s Al Azhar University, a prestigious institution of the world.

He desired introduction of scholarships for hardworking and brilliant students at Al

Qadir University to help them carry out studies and contribute to the country’s development.

Besides taking inspiration from the West in technological development, he said, there were several aspects of their culture such as truth and honesty, that merited replication.

He mentioned that the corrupt practice of vote-purchase, as recently seen in Pakistan polls, was out of question for the western leadership and parliaments.

Earlier, the prime minister planted a sapling in the premises of Al Qadir University.

Pakistan joins UN drive for vaccines availability to all ISLAMABAD APP

Pakistan on Friday joined the United Nations’ new campaign to ensure the availability of Covid-19 vaccines everywhere and everyone.

Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the UN Munir Akram said in a tweet that it is vital to control the pandemic for quick recovery of the virus-hit world economy.

In another tweet, Ambassador Akram added: “We must fully support the COVAX Facility by funding the 20B shortfall.”

COVAX is a global initiative intended to secure equitable access to vaccines and is led by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, among others.

The United Nations on Friday launched a new global campaign, Only Together, to support its call for fair and equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines around the world.

The campaign stresses the need for coordinated global action to ensure vaccines are accessible in all countries, starting with health-care workers and the most vulnerable.

UN LAUNCHES NEW CAMPAIGN TO SUPPORT GLOBAL VACCINE EQUITY CALL “Only together can we protect healthcare workers and the world’s most vulnerable people,” UN SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres said in his video remarks on the virtual launch of the campaign.

Noting that with the promise of vaccines, the international community sees “light at the end of the tunnel”. He said that scientists worked wonders, developing safe and effective vaccines in record time.

“We now have the tool to stop Covid-19 in its tracks,” Guterres added.

“But so far, a small number of rich countries are rolling out a majority of the doses,” the secretary-general warned.

“Covid-19 vaccines must be considered a global public good,” he said, reiterating his long-held position.

“No country can overcome this crisis in isolation.”

“Over the past year, we’ve all missed out on doing the things we love to do with others — eating, hugging, and going to school and work,” said UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J

Loans distribution under Punjab Rozgar Scheme starts NEWS DESK The Punjab government has started issuing loans under the Punjab Rozgar Scheme on Friday and loan cheques, worth Rs180 million, were distributed in a ceremony. Secretary Industries & Commerce Wasif Khursheed, MD Punjab Small Industries Corporation and CEO Punjab Bank Zafar Masood distributed the cheques among the borrowers. Addressing ceremony, Industries & Commerce Secretary Wasif Khursheed congratulated the recipients and said that the scheme will help in the promotion of industries, creation of job opportunities and the revival of business affected due to corona. He said that this scheme is a reflection of the vision of the prime minister and Punjab chief minister, adding that more such schemes would be introduced to improve the provincial economy. PSIC MD Jamil Ahmed Jamil has said that Punjab Small Industries Corporation has disbursed interest-free revolving loans in collaboration with Akhuwat Organization. Easy loans of over Rs30 billion will be disbursed in the next five years which will provide employment to 1.6 million people and benefit 16000 SMEs. He said that business incubation centres were being set up in the province. CEO Bank of Punjab Zafar Masood said that the Punjab Rozgar Scheme will create new employment opportunities. This scheme covers men, women and transgender. “Today loans worth Rs18 crore are being distributed among 400 people under this scheme,” he said.

Apart from the officers of Punjab Small Industries Corporation and Bank of Punjab, the people from various walks of life attended the ceremony.

Mohammed.

“Millions of us have lost someone we love or had our livelihoods taken away. An unprecedented global scientific effort for vaccines has given us hope to defeat the virus – but only if we work together to ensure everyone, everywhere has access to Covid-19 vaccines. Only together can we end the pandemic and transform a new era of hope.”

More than 2.5 million people around the world have died from Covid-19, according to WHO. The biggest vaccine roll-out in history is now underway with millions of doses being delivered around the world, including to some of the world’s poorest countries, through the efforts of COVAX, the global vaccine equity mechanism.

But these doses will initially only cover a small segment of the populations — healthcare workers and the most vulnerable. By the end of 2021, COVAX aims to offer vaccines to nearly 30 per cent of each participating country’s population.

COVAX, which is led by the WHO, GAVI and the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and in partnership with the UN Children’s Fund, has 190 participating countries. It needs more than $2 billion to fully meet its goal to vaccinate those most in need by the end of the year.

“If the world’s scientists were able to develop safe and effective vaccines in just seven months, the aims of world’s leaders must be equally record-breaking – to provide enough funding and to ramp up manufacturing to enable everyone on earth to be vaccinated,” said UN Undersecretary-General for Global Communications Melissa Fleming.

On Thursday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on the world community to join hands and vaccines must be considered a global public good.

“Covid-19 vaccines must be considered a global public good. No country can overcome this crisis in isolation. Governments and businesses must share doses and technology,” the UN chief said in his video message.

Earlier last month, the UN issued a statement stating the names of countries receiving doses in proportion to the size of the population.

The most will go to India (97.2 million), followed by Pakistan (17.2 million), Nigeria (16 million), Indonesia (13.7 million), Bangladesh (12.8 million), Brazil (10.6 million), Kenya (4.2 million), Sudan (3.4 million) Yemen (2.3 million) and Syria (1.02 million).

COVAX was set to ensure an equitable distribution of vaccines to countries and people in need, the statement added.

Tractor production up 52.8pc in July-Feb FY21 ISLAMABAD APP

Production of farm tractors in the country increased 52.87pc to 31,199 units during the first eight months (July-Feb) of the current financial year (FY21), as against 20,408 units in the same period of last year.

The production of trucks, however, declined 16.65pc to 2,021 units in 8MFY21 as compared to 2,425 units last year, data released by the Pakistan Automobile Manufacturing Association (PAMA) on Friday revealed.

Similarly, the output of buses plunged to 385 units during the period under review from 430 units last year,

showing a decrease of 10.46pc.

On the other hand, the production of light commercial vehicles, vans, and jeeps surged 118.04pc to 6,439 units in July-Feb FY21 compared to 2,953 units in the same months of last year. Likewise, the production of pickups witnessed an increase of 22.17pc, from 9,933 units last year to 12,136 units.

Meanwhile, the production of passenger cars rose 8.27pc to 88,997 units during the period under review against the production of 82,196 units last year. The manufacturing of motorcycles and three wheelers also increased to 1,266,444 units during the period under review from 1088,714 units last year, showing a growth of 16.32pc.

CJP remains unhurt in car accident: SC NEWS DESK Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed remained unhurt after his convoy met with an accident near Rashakai, the Supreme Court’s (SC) spokesperson said on Friday.

The spokesperson said that one of the cars in CJP Gulzar’s convoy had an accident as he was travelling to Kohat to attend the funeral of Justice Yahya Afridi’s father. The spokesperson said the accident took place near Rashakai town in Mardan. “Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed and his car are safe,” said the spokesperson. It was reported on Thursday that SC’s Justice Yahya Afridi’s father Omar Khan Afridi had passed away.

Remembered as an outstanding civil servant, Afridi

had previously served as the chief secretary for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and later an interior minister. His funeral prayers took place around 3:00 pm in his native village of Babri Banda, in district Kohat, on Friday.

In a statement issued a day ago, the CJP and other honourable judges of the SC expressed deep sorrow and grief over the sad demise of Afridi’s father. The judges extended their heartfelt condolences and sincere sympathies to the members of the bereaved family of the departed soul.

“They prayed to Almighty Allah to shower His blessings upon the departed soul and to give patience to the bereaved family members to bear this irreparable loss with equanimity (Ameen),” the statement further read.

RawaLPindi confiRmS fiRSt dengue caSe of 2021 Rawalpindi reported the first case of dengue fever for 2021 on Friday. The Ministry of Health confirmed that the first case of dengue was reported from Fauji Foundation Hospital Rawalpindi.

Officials from the government department said that they have initiated measures to control dengue in a timely manner. In the last 10 days, more than 14,000 homes have been monitored for dengue virus, the health department officials said. So far, dengue larva has been found in 25 houses, they said. Dengue is transmitted by the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, for which irregular rainfalls and tropical climates create ideal breeding ground. News Desk

atc to indict accused cops in Satti murder case on 26th An anti-terrorism court (ATC) hearing Osama Satti murder case on Friday decided to indict the five accused policemen in the case on March 26. Osama was killed by Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) personnel after they claimed that the boy refused to stop his vehicle at a check post following a robbery report on the wireless in Islamabad. The postmortem report later found that the boy was shot multiple times from the front. The hearing was presided over by the ATC Judge Raja Jawad, in which the accused policemen were presented, while the police failed to present the challan of the case. The Investigation Officer (IO) sought more time from the ATC for filing the challan of the case, which was granted by the court. Later, the hearing was adjourned until March 26. On January 2 at around 2:00am, Osama had gone to drop his friend in Sector H-11. When he was returning, the police officials had intercepted his vehicle in Sector G-10 and fired at him from all sides. The cops killed Osama with proper planning which was a terrorist act, said the FIR. However, all the personnel had refuted charges of engaging in a fight with the victim any time before the incident. Later, Prime Minister Imran Khan met with Nadeem Younis Satti, the father of Osama who was shot dead by policemen in the federal capital. Commiserating with the bereaved family, the premier prayed for the departed soul. He regretted the despicable incident and assured the father of Osama of complete justice. News Desk

Pia mismanages asad umar’s seat; flight delayed for an hour Flight PK309 of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) was delayed for an hour after Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar boarded the plane only to find that his seat had been occupied by another passenger. Asad was going to Karachi from Islamabad when the incident occurred. When the minister entered the plane, he got angry after seeing that his seat was occupied. “[It’s unfair that] I have purchased a ticket for this seat, but someone else is sitting there,” the minister said, as per sources. “This [mismanagement] has been going on for about an hour. I bought the ticket, paid for it.”

Asad had booked seat 12F, and was flying with Federal Minister Aminul Haq, Pakistan People Party’s (PPP) Agha Rafiullah, Qadir Patel, and other assembly members. The flight took off after an hour’s delay. News Desk

04

Saturday, 13 March, 2021

NEWS

Islamabad: Senior officials of Green Palms Housing Scheme, Gwadar pose for a photograph during a lucky draw ceremony. PR

11 injured as coaster overturns in Sheikhupura ShEiKhUPUra INP

At least 11 people were injured when a passenger coaster overturned due to overspeeding on Friday. According to details, the accident took place at the Gujranwala Road near Sadhoke in Sheikhupura, where a reckless driven passenger coaster overturned. As a result of the accident, 11 passengers were seriously injured and shifted to a nearby hospital for treatment.

Four of family killed as truck overturns on car in Mardan MarDaN INP

Four members of a family, a couple and two children, were killed when a truck overturned on a car in Mardan on Thursday night. According to details, a truck loaded with marble overturned on a car, carrying four family members, on the Buner Road in Mardan. All the passengers on the car, including a man, his wife, a 6-year-old son and a four-year-old daughter, were killed on the spot in the accident.

KARACHI

Punjab aPProveS FundS For Several develoPMent ProjectS LahOrE

P

APP

UNjAB Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has approved several development projects in various districts of the province to provide better facilities to the masses. In connection with the projects, the provincial cabinet's standing committee for finance and development met under the chair of Provincial Finance Minister Hashim jawan Bakht and approved funds for the projects, said a handout issued here on Friday.

The meeting approved the immediate release of Rs2 billion for roads' repair in different districts of the province.

In the meeting, Rs180 million were approved for a block in Government Girls Degree College, Samanabad and Rs500 million were approved for the construction of different blocks in newly-approved Emerson University, Multan.

The meeting approved the recruitment of sub-inspectors, assistant sub-inspectors, head constables and constables against 565 vacant posts in Muzaffargarh, Layyah, Rajanpur and Dera Ghazi Khan.

The meeting decided to expand the scope of scholarships to colleges and universities and approved the release of Rs477 million in the current fiscal year for students.

During the next financial year, the amount for scholarships will be increased to Rs834 million.

The meeting decided to gradually construct rainwater storage tanks at 10 different points in Lahore and approved to construct water storage facilities at Kashmir Road, Sheranwala Gate and Qaddafi Stadium area with an amount of Rs1.85 billion.

The committee approved grants-inaid of Rs50 million for the division public school in Dera Ghazi Khan.

The meeting also confirmed Rs68 million for four new police stations and as many check posts of border military police in DG Khan.

Rs125 million for the promotion of tourism in historic Nandana Fort in jhelum, Rs60 million for tourism purposes in Kohuta, Khewra and Patriata, and Rs34 million for the provision of water in Gurdwara Panja Sahab in Hassan Abdaal were also approved in the meeting.

Minorities inclusion in mainstream to strengthen Pakistan: moot LahOrE STAFF REPORT

Special Representative to Prime Minister on Religious Harmony Hafiz Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi on Friday said that the religious minorities in Pakistan are enjoying equal rights and the government is making efforts to address the challenges being faced by the marginalised groups.

Addressing an "Istehkam-e-Pakistan" conference at the Praying Hands Cathedral Church, hosted by Bishop of Raiwind Diocese Dr Azad Marshall, Ashrafi said that no persons or groups would be allowed to impose their beliefs on any minority group.

“Prime Minister Imran Khan has taken notice of complaints of forced conversions of minority girls and the misuse of the blasphemy laws, and the government is making sincere efforts to address these issues through effective legislation,” he said.

He added that the minorities have complete freedom to perform their religious rituals. “Islam gives a message of love, peace, harmony and brotherhood,” he said.

Ashrafi said that the country's foreign policy is completely independent and the National Action Plan against terrorism and extremism is being implemented in letter and spirit.

“The operation "Raddul Fasaad" was successful due to the joint struggle of the Pakistani army and nation. We salute the martyrs and "ghazis" of the operation,” he said.

Addressing the moot, Bishop Marshall, who is also the president of National Council of Churches

in Pakistan, urged the government to ensure integration of religious minorities in the national mainstream.

“Christians have always played a constructive role in the development and solidarity of Pakistan. We love our country and we are always available for defending our motherland against all enemies, foreign or domestic,” he said.

Marshall said that while it is heartening to see minority people being included in the mainstream, there is still a lot more that needed to be done at the government level to ensure their equal rights and protection from extremist elements. “Forced conversions and marriages of minority girls and blatant misuse of the blasphemy laws are some of the major issues being faced by the

religious minorities, especially Christians and Hindus. We urge the government to bring effective legislation in this regard as well as form a high-level panel, comprising representatives from the religious and political leaderships, to address these concerns,” he said.

The church leader said that Christians are patriotic and would continue to project Pakistan’s national interests on all international forums. “We have been voicing our concern against the atrocities being committed against innocent Indian Christians and Kashmiri Muslims by the fascist Modi regime and we demand that the world community should take notice of the gross human rights violations being committed in our neighbouring country,” he said.

K-Electric announces applications for 'KHI Awards' will receive till March 15 Karachi PR

The K-Electric had launched "KHI Awards" in February with the objective to commemorate the rich history of Karachi by paying tribute to those social-entrepreneurs and innovative business ventures, whose work benefits the city in social, infrastructural, and cultural contexts.

The K-Electric on Friday announced that applications for the awards will be received till March 15. Interested participants can download the application form from the K-Electric's website.

With twenty awards across the thirteen categories, each participant can apply to a maximum of three award

categories only. The 'KHI Awards' platform was formulated in line with the United Nation’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development guidelines. The awards will reward the winners with electricity rebate, ranging from Rs250,000 to Rs5,000,000.

The awards will prioritize projects and proposals that directly benefit the people of Karachi via community upliftment initiatives and infrastructure development in sectors and fields of education, public health, uplifting communities, inclusion, livelihood & vocational training, heritage & culture, digital accessibility & financial inclusion, sports, safety (road, fire, home, personal), sustainability & environment, empowering women, social service and new organisation (less than 12 months old).

Three killed, two injured in accident in Pakpattan PaKPaTTaN INP

At least three people, including a doctor, were killed and two others injured in a collision between a car and a tractor trolley in Pakpattan on Friday.

According to details, the driver of an overspeeding car lost control and the vehicle rammed into a tractor

trolley on the Arifwala Road. As a result of the accident, Dr Mohammad Aslam, Mohammad Azam and another were killed while Mohammad Ahmad and Adnan were critically injured.

The bodies and the injured were shifted to the Tehsil Headquarter Hospital, Arifwala for medico-legal formalities and the police, after registering a case into the incident, started an investigation.

Saturday, 13 March, 2021

KARACHI

NEWS

Third wave of Covid-19 has started in Pakistan, says Asad continued from page 01 In the wake of a sudden increase in the number of infections in the country during these days, Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination Dr Faisal urged the public to strictly adhere to Covid-19 Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) to effectively counter the disease.

While chairing a meeting on Health Sahulat Programme, he said, “The government is seeking public full cooperation in adhering to the SoPs. We can save precious lives including those of our near and dear ones by taking preventive measures.”

He urged the citizens to wear a mask, maintain social distance, wash hands with soap frequently and avoid crowded places.

He asked the provincial and district governments to enforce necessary preventing measures at public places and encouraging people to protect themselves and others from the virus by adhering to the SoPs. Dr Faisal said that effective measures are being adopted to achieve targets of universal health coverage (UHC).

“The government is working for expansion of UHC by investing in health systems, especially in Primary Health Care (PHC) and is committed to implementing its agenda to achieve the target of UHC,” Dr Faisal said.

He reiterated the strengthening of PHC in the country and taking innovative steps to improve the health status of the population.

He assured expansion in coverage of the Sehat Sahulat Programme, which will be instrumental in decreasing the financial burden on the poor and marginalised population and endorsement of the Universal Health Coverage Benefit Package.

The SAPM said that the government is working on developing strategies and plans for strengthening the PHC services and implementation of the UHC plan.

Similarly, Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar chaired the meeting of the cabinet committee for the eradication of the coronavirus and expressed concern over the increase in the number of patients in Lahore and other districts.

It was decided to take steps for securing the lives of the common man in cities with more than 5 per cent positivity rate.

The meeting resolved to ban sports activities, Jashan-e-Baharan and public meetings in Lahore and particular cities for two weeks.

Similarly, holding marriage ceremonies in marquees and marriage halls will be banned for two weeks.

It was further decided to close markets after Maghrib while milk and yoghurt shops, medical stores and tandoors will be exempted from this prohibition.

According to the decision, only takeaways will be allowed from restaurants and some other places will be closed for two weeks. Meanwhile, parks will be

shut down at 6 pm.

Half of the offices' staff will work from home and the rest of the officials will be allowed to perform duties in the offices, the meeting settled.

The meeting chose to limit the number of passengers in public transport especially the metro bus service and Orange Line Metro Train according to the SoPs. These arrangements will apply to cities with more than 5 per cent coronavirus positivity rate from Sunday and will remain enforced for the next two weeks.

The Primary & Secondary Health Department will issue a notification in this regard.

The decisions had been taken in the larger public interest and more steps could also be taken after a review of the situation, the CM maintained.

The Primary & Secondary Health Department secretary briefed that 1,632 new cases were reported and 36 others died from coronavirus during the last 24 hours and this number was also reported on June 24, 2020.

The number of patients had increased and children were also getting affected while the ratio of the positive test has increased to 8 per cent in Lahore.

It was further briefed that more than one lac health workers have been vaccinated and elderly citizens were also being vaccinated.

Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid, chief secretary, IG Police, SMBR, ACS (Home), administrative secretaries, Lahore commissioner, medical experts attended the meeting while military officials and commissioners participated through video-link.

The number of novel coronavirus infections in Pakistan crossed the 600,000 mark on Friday after 2,701 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours, according to the latest statistics of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC). This number takes the total count of active cases to 18,703 and the positivity rate increases up to 6.56 per cent.

The virus also claimed 54 more lives during the same time period, taking the nationwide tally of coronavirus related deaths to 13,430.

Out of the total, Sindh has reported 4,452 deaths, Punjab has reported 5,698, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) has reported 2,138, Islamabad has 520 deaths, Balochistan has 202, Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) has 103 deaths and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) has 317 deaths.

In the past 24 hours, as many as 1,573 patients have recovered from the virus in a day and 1,709 patients are still in critical condition.

A total of 41,133 tests were conducted across the country during this period. Overall 568,065 people have recovered from the deadly disease so far while 9,402,639 samples have been tested thus far.

The second phase of the Covid-19 vaccination drive is also underway in the country, under which a total of 7,582 elderly citizens have been administered the first shot of the vaccine.

As per health authorities, a total of 207,464 elderly citizens got themselves registered for vaccination.

Microsoft says ransom-seeking hackers taking advantage of server flaws WASHINGTON: Ransom-seeking hackers have begun taking advantage of a recently disclosed flaw in Microsoft’s widely used mail server software, the company said early Thursday - a serious escalation that could portend widespread digital disruption. The disclosure, initially made on Twitter by Microsoft Corp security program manager Phillip Misner and later confirmed by the Redmond, Washington-based company, is the realization of worries that have been coursing through the security community for days. Since March 2, when Microsoft announced the discovery of serious vulnerabilities in its Exchange software, experts have warned that it was only a matter of time before ransomware gangs began using them to shake down organizations across the internet. Misner didn’t immediately respond to follow-up messages and Microsoft did not return emails seeking further comment. The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency and the FBI also didn’t immediately respond. Even though the security holes announced by Microsoft have since been fixed, organizations worldwide have failed to patch their software, leaving them open to exploitation. Experts attribute the sluggish pace of many customers’ updates in part to the complexity of Exchange’s architecture and lack of expertise. In Germany alone, officials have said that up to 60,000 networks remained vulnerable. All manner of hackers have begun taking advantage of the holes - one security firm recently counted 10 separate hacking groups using the flaws - but ransomware operators are among the most feared. Those groups work by locking users out of their devices and data unless the victims cough up big chunks of digital currency. They now potentially have access “into a huge number of vulnerable systems,” said Brett Callow of cybersecurity company Emsisoft. AGENCIES

05

IndIa's dIgItal medIa regulatIon sparks fears of curbs on press freedom neW deLHi

I

AGENCIES

NDIA’s new oversight of digital news platforms is drawing protest from the media industry and activists who fear the rules will curb press freedom in the world’s largest democracy.

India, which has one of the world’s biggest and most diverse media industries, last month announced the Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code, aimed at pushing Big Tech firms such as Facebook to comply with content takedown orders. However, it also extends to news websites.

The rules impose a three-tier regulatory mechanism, requiring a grievance officer to resolve complaints and a government panel to have broad oversight. The most senior government official

in the information and broadcasting ministry will also have emergency powers to order content be blocked.

Media executives fear such oversight could lead to censorship of content seen as critical of the government, and three digital news outlets have approached state courts.

“These...rules will signify the death of media independence in India,” said Siddharth Varadarajan, editor of independent news website ‘The Wire’. Its publisher has challenged the regulation in the Delhi High Court.

LiveLaw, a legal news website, has challenged the rules in the Kerala High Court, which this week said no coercive action should be taken against the website for non-compliance.

The government says the new rules are aimed at achieving parity between

digital media and print and TV news regulations. Referring to the rules for digital media, information and broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar last month said “every freedom has to be responsible freedom”.

The number of online media outlets in India has increased in recent years, but some journalists have complained they face intimidation for reporting stories critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his administration.

Modi's administration says it favours press freedom.

“I think these rules will restrict and constrain press freedom, as indeed freedom more generally,” said Zoya Hasan, a former professor of political science at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University.

“This whole regulation is about control of digital media and other

platforms as there’s little tolerance for dissenting voices.”

US think tank Freedom House recently said Modi and his party are driving India toward “authoritarianism”, adding political rights and civil liberties had deteriorated since he came to power in 2014.

The government called the report “misleading, incorrect and misplaced”.

On Thursday, Javadekar said on Twitter that a group representing leading newspapers and TV channels had welcomed the new regulation and asked that their members “be treated differently” from digital-only news publishers.

That has drawn criticism from some smaller digital news outlets, which have questioned why they are being ignored while seeking exemptions.

PDM vows to challenge Gillani’s rejected votes in SC continued from page 01 It appears that the votes rejected in the chairman’s elections were considered in government’s favour in deputy chairman’s election.

Opposition leaders also held a joint press conference outside Parliament House in which Raja Pervez Ashraf said that the manner in which Gillani was defeated despite the opposition’s majority in the upper house of parliament is reprehensible.

Ashraf expressed hope that Gillani would win in the court. He said that the government had used every available tactic to secure its socalled win, adding that if Sanjrani, the recently re-elected Senate chairman, was a lover of democracy, then he would resign.

“We got 49 votes but Yousaf Raza Gillani was defeated after seven votes were rejected,” said Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) Secretary-General Ahsan Iqbal on the occasion.

Iqbal also read out the SC’s earlier rulings on the matter during the press conference and said that the court ruled that the voter’s intention has to be seen. “Stamping the name box means that the voter has the right intent and [aims to vote for that candidate],” he said.

Separately, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said that the biased and illegal actions of the government have been laid out before the people, maintaining that the votes were rejected incorrectly.

“Those votes were cast properly, legally, constitutionally, but seven senators of the Senate of Pakistan

were purposefully disenfranchised and Gillani sahab, despite winning, has still not sat on that seat in the Senate,” said the PPP chairman.

“A vote is ‘cast’ when the intention of the voter becomes clear.

Seven votes were invalidly rejected [but] if these seven votes are added, then Yousaf Raza Gillani has won.

Yousaf Raza Gillani has become the chairman of the Senate.”

He declared that the PDM had won both the Senate and the NA, lamenting the fact that cameras were installed in the polling booths.

Noting that the PDM “exposed the system and defeated” the PTI, Bilawal announced that the anti-government alliance had decided to go to court after consultations with PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz and other opposition leaders.

“You do not have the right to reject our vote if it has been stamped inside the box and on the candidate’s name,” Senator Farooq H Naik said earlier while speaking on a point of order at the floor of the upper house after the election results for Sanjrani were announced.

“The rejected votes that you are talking about have been stamped within the boxes on the candidates’ name. Why should the should voter suffer due to the mistake of the secretariat which mislead our voters?

Naik asked the presiding officer.

Qasim Gillani, the son of the former premier, vowed that the PDM parties would approach the election tribunal and challenge the rejection of votes.

In this regard, former secretary of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) Kunwar Dilshad told

media that a decision related to the matter would be taken by the SC of Pakistan and not ECP or its tribunal.

Former secretary of ECP, Ishtiak Ahmed Khan, said that Senate election is held under the Senate Rules and not under the Election Act. “Under Elections law, the stamp is to be put on election symbol. But in this specific case, there is no symbol on the ballot paper and only a name and empty space has been placed. There was also no clear instruction available too. In my view, this matter can be challenged in the Supreme Court as the apex court is the ultimate forum for justice,” he said.

Tahir Hanfi, former additional secretary of National Assembly, told Pakistan Today that Presiding Officer Senator Shah whose ruling has been challenged, is a seasoned campaigner and has a long parliamentary experience. He said that Shah has served as Sindh Assembly speaker and Sindh chief minister too. He added that the opposition which is the aggrieved party in this matter can move the apex court.

“Under Article 60 or 69, the House proceedings cannot be challenged in a court of law. I believe that the problem area is not the proceedings and rather the irregularity according to the opposition is the issue that is permissible to be raised in a court of law. If the opposition wants to challenge the point of law in the Supreme Court, the Senate Secretariat would become a party to the matter as all record is with the Secretariat including the instructions issued for polling arrangements,” he further said.

Major setback for PDM as PTI wins both Senate top slots continued from page 01 “Sir, whatever footage we have is saved,” said the security chief, urging the PDM senators to approach the speaker of the upper house for further action.

Meanwhile, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Friday demanded an investigation into the hidden cameras that were installed in the polling booth ahead of the polls.

Bilawal demanded of Sanjrani – the government’s candidate for the Senate chairmanship – to step down and remarked that he disgraced the sanctity of the upper house.

His remarks came after PPP Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar took to Twitter and shared a picture of an alleged camera along with the caption: “Myself and Dr Musadik found spy cameras right over the polling booth!!!!”

Khokhar and PML-N leader Malik talked to the media afterwards. The PML-N leader asked the Election Commission of

Pakistan (ECP) and the Supreme Court (SC) to take notice of the incident.

Khokhar said that it is a crime to tamper with the secrecy of vote under the Election Act 2017. While demanding investigations, he said that Sanjrani should withdraw his name as a candidate for the Senate chairman and someone else should contest.

A ruckus was created in the upper house following the development as the opposition stood up from seats and staged a protest.

Senator Raza Rabbani said that installing spy cameras are in violation of the law.

Similarly, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz Sharif on Friday said that the Constitution of Pakistan has a clause about “secret voting” but not “secret cameras”.

While responding to the issue of spy cameras over polling booth in the Senate ahead of chairman and deputy chairman elections, the PML-N leader took to social-networking website Twitter and posted, “Have some shame vote thieves and leave the seats.”

Those carrying out a robbery in the upper house of the parliament have lost their last war after the RTS fiasco and fog in Daska polls, she added.

On the other hand, Federal Minister for Information Shibli Faraz accused the opposition of installing cameras over the polling booth and announced to conduct an inquiry into the matter.

Reacting to the opposition, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz said that the opposition’s sinister plan of installing cameras in the polling booth has been exposed.

In a tweet, the minister said that similar tactics were used in the Senate elections in National Assembly (NA) by the opposition, wherein they converted majority into minority using all criminal tactics.

He stressed that this was the reason the PDM was against open balloting.

The minister maintained the era of loot and plunder was taking its last breath.

cmYK

Similarly, Special Assistant to the Punjab Chief Minister on Information Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan on Friday said that opposition parties are levelling false allegations to escape from the Senate chairman and deputy chairman elections.

Talking to journalists at the Parliament House Media Centre, she said that it was a democratic process and winning or losing is part of it.

She also said that the opposition has already lost their trust in the masses and now they were making hue and cry to play victim, adding that they should take care of the sanctity of the Senate.

The SACM said that PTI-nominated deputy chairman from the merged area of the region formally known as Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) to end the sense of deprivation of its people.

Firdous said that the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) knows that the PTI government is committed to contesting them

at each front. She said that opposition should come out of blame game politics and not violate the sanctity of the upper house.

She suggested that after elections, Senate chairman should constitute a parliamentary committee to probe the issue of secret cameras in the polling booth.

Moreover, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P), an ally of the PTIled ruling coalition, demanded an inquiry into the installation of spy cameras in the Senate.

MQM-P leader and Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Syed Aminul Haq maintained: “We are an ally of the government but our stance is very clear that there should an investigation.”

Haq stressed that the government without any delay should announce the inquiry into the installation of the spy cameras in the Senate. “This should not have happened as this is the credibility of the Parliament you are talking about,” the MQM-P leader declared.

With additional input from APP and INP

Saturday, 13 March, 2021

06 COMMENT

Jirga system and womens’ rights

Senate Chairmanship election An expected result

How jirgas and panchayats are used to suppress women

T

He loss of Yousaf Raza Gilani to Sadiq Sanjrani in the election for the Chairmanship of the Senate was not really a surprise, not because the alliance which had put up Mr Gilani, the Pakistan Democratic Movement, had a majority, but because the PTI, which had put up Mr Sanjrani, was the ruling party. Ruling parties, it seems, do not lose. It was bad enough that Mr Gilani had made it to the Senate at all, being elected by the national Assembly in the teeth of the PTI majority, and to expect him to spearhead a second defeat of the government, in the Upper House, was perhaps being overoptimistic.

Still, one effect of this defeat was to set the seal on the moral degeneration of the PTI, which enjoyed the advantage of the secret ballot it had previously decried. It had strenuously claimed that Mr Gilani had been elected because MnAs had sold their votes, with party chief Imran Khan, not caring that he was accusing his own MnAs, of venality. now it was the PTI which had benefited from the secrecy of the ballot, with Mr Gilani losing because seven MnAs had spoilt their votes. Those votes were rejected, even though the PDM claims they were cast in Mr Gilani’s favour, and because of them it is going into appeal. While this appeal will be a first, as presiding officers’ elections have been pretty straightforward in the past, it does indicate that either some PDM Senators were dolts, or there was some external force at work.

What that force might have been may be found if there is a vigorous pursuit of the hidden cameras which were found in the polling booth. Aside from the garish light it throws on the lack of security of all of Parliament, a casual look at the relevant CCTV footage should reveal the perpetrator. The government and the opposition are accusing each other, and the attempt of the perpetrators to violate the secrecy of the ballot is so blatant, that it must not be brushed aside. There must be a thorough investigation, and the national Assembly and Senate Secretariats must both be involved in ensuring not just that responsibility is fixed, but that there is never any further repetition.

Shaikh abdur raShid

O

n 30 August 2018, while hearing of the forced marriage of minor girls to settle murder and tribal disputes, the Supreme Court had declared jirga and panchayats (tribal councils) unconstitutional and illegal as they were against fundamental human rights.

Regrettably, in the blatant violation of apex court’s orders, the tribal councils continued to meet in several regions of the country infringing human rights with apparent impunity.

On February 6, a jirga of tribal elders of Wara region of Mamond tehsil of Bajaur district banned women from calling the local FM radio station and visiting Sada-e-Aman Centre, a place where cash grant is given to women after they give birth to babies, under the government policy. The jirga announced that if any tribesman allowed his female to telephone the radio station or to visit the said centre, he would be fined Rs.10,000.

Similarly, on the behest of a jirga, a couple hailing from Kohistan which had married of their own free will in Karachi in September 2020, was allegedly killed after two months in november. In another incident, a 15-year-old girl and a boy, 17, were reportedly electrocuted by their families in compliance with the orders of a jirga in September last year in Karachi.

These are the latest episodes in the ongoing saga of such heinous decrees of the unconstitutional parallel judicial system across the country.

Coronavirus comeback

Moreover, vani, a tradition of giving girls in marriage by force to compensate for a crime committed by their male relatives, is the most ubiquitous tradition in rural Pakistan. In 2012, 13 girls between the ages of 4 and 16 were ordered to be married off to resolve a murder dispute between two clans in Baluchistan.

The shocking fact is that members of jirgas and panchayats are authorized to use unrestricted powers to award death and other stringent sentences, and they are not accountable or answerable to anyone. The matter of great concern is that the members have no or little knowledge of laws concerning the criminal and civil matters. Despite that, the bodies have yet been existing and functioning effectively. Amidst many other factors, the substantial factor responsible for the continued existence of the jirgas and panchayats is that many of the bodies are represented by feudal lords, Sardars and Maliks who have been powerful and dominant parliamentarians in successive governments and who control decision-making and policy formulation processes in Pakistan’s Parliament.

Although many of the matters referred to the jirgas and panchayats, the tribal judicial system, are related to women and girls, yet the tribal councils are fully represented by men and women have no say in them. Complete absence of women representation is one of the principal reasons that decrees issued by this patriarchal structure badly affect and tyrannize females. These illegal non-state justice institutions are wholly and evidently opponents of the fundamental rights of women to free-will, life, education and health. They prevent girls from recieving schooling, restrict women within their houses and develop the destructive traditions of child marriage and honour killing. not only this, women have been made victims of many other oppressive, barbaric and criminal acts.

It shows that abhorrence for women’s liberty and the misogynist attitude in Pakistan’s patriarchal society are deep-seated and entrenched. These are the sig-

nificant reasons that, according to the Global Gender Gap 2017 report, Pakistan was rated as the second worst country for women with a rank of 143 out of 144 countries.

Some believe that jirgas and panchayats making speedy decrees offer a swift settlement of disputes, while courts of law take too long to give out justice.

The fact is that rapidly made rulings by the bodies do not bring about remedies for injustice, violence and exploitation. Instead, the verdicts persecute women, minorities and the economically feebler people.

The faulty and wrong rulings of jirgas have resulted in initiating and reviving of fatal tribal conflicts in Sindh. Started on insignificant issues, the tribal disputes ultimately culminate in the deadly wars which result in loss of a gigantic number of lives and huge financial losses. A colossal number of such tribal clashes have taken place in the province so far. Many of the bloody disputes continued for long years, some of them lasting for two decades. Traditionally, the jirgas compensate murder with murder and the remaining amount of money goes into pockets of chieftains of the disputing tribes.

The fatality and prolonged continuity of the clashes finally badly affect women of the conflicting tribes. In tribal feuds, mostly men are killed. And during the fighting taking place between tribes, no male member of the disputing clan can look-after his crops or continue his job in any other village, town or city because of the terror of being killed by the rivals. In these both situations, their women have to shoulder lifelong responsibility to support families working in the fields or begging for money.

Although women are entitled the fundamental rights to life, liberty, security and dignity by the Constitution and the international laws, jirgas and panchayats have been a massive source of serious violations of these women rights. The government of Pakistan should shoulder the responsibility to protect women rights, and to this end the government has to obliterate jirga and panchayat systems.

Although women are entitled the fundamental rights to life, liberty, security and dignity by the Constitution and the international laws, jirgas and panchayats have been a massive source of serious violations of these women rights.

The writer is a freelance columnist

The third wave rears its head

W

ITH the spike in coronavirus cases has come the increase in the number of deaths, both being at levels not seen in weeks. The anxiety to reopen institutions may well be based on economic reasons, but it remains a fact that so far, no deaths due to starvation induced by the pandemic, either directly or indirectly, have been reported. There have been increases in poverty detected worldwide, but the government’s main fear seems to be the working of an overactive imagination. A greater risk to public health is the failure of the government to procure any vaccine, apart from what is given free to it.

The closing of educational institutions indicates the uncomfortable reality that the reopening, not just of schools, but also of shops and wedding halls, was probably premature, with anxiety about the economy driving the decision rather than best practices and the reality of the virus. Too much reliance was placed on the approval of vaccines against the coronavirus. It does not seem to have been realized that a vaccine could not stop the virus in its tracks; but that eradication would be a hard slog, of which a vaccine would only be a component.

Authorities should keep in mind that the world does not have much of a record eliminating viral diseases, and the country is hardly a world-beater. Pakistan is one of the last redoubts of the poliovirus, and was the place where the last naturally occurring case of smallpox, the only viral disease eradicated by mankind, was detected in 1977. Going by that rather dubious record, Pakistan may well become one of the places where the disease establishes itself. The government’s cavalier attitude, shown by how it is treating it as an economic problem, and also by its casual attitude towards vaccination, is doing nothing to stop this.

At this juncture, the focus should remain on fighting the pandemic, and it seems premature to make attempts at post-pandemic adjustment. There secret to winning is vaccination. not only are there procurement issues, but there are serious distribution issues. These will be best resolved by adoption of best practices from round the world.

Electronic Theses: Where Pakistan stands Preserving research for future scholars

abid huSSain

E

leCTROnIC Theses in Pakistan have picked up immense pace over the last two decades, but the year 2006 is regarded as a milestone in the history of electronic theses.

When Dr Ata Ur Rahman took the responsibility as Chairman of the Higher education Commission, he for the first time introduced the Pakistan Research Repository. Pakistan, which has become a symbol of quality research in the last few several years. new universities have been set up. According to the HeC website, there are 218 universities in Pakistan; 134 are Public Sector Universities; however, 84 are private degree-awarding universities. each university offers a degree in the bachelor’s, master’s, MPhil, and even PhD programmes. These universities’ mission is to transmit knowledge through instructions, scholarship and research. Universities are meant to apply knowledge through public services. each university offers library services in the disciplines they deal with. Universities are conducting research on variety of topics and produce theses in binding formats. now the question arises where do these theses go? The answer is: to a supervisor, to the HeC, and to libraries. libraries are preserving such theses in the locked shelves and granting no access to the young scholars.

Theses are pre-requisites for obtaining MPhil and PhD degrees. Previous theses provide background knowledge for the scholars to discover new facts from the old knowledge yet to be researched.

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Arif Nizami Editor Yousaf Nizami Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad Managing Editor

Joint Editor

Umar Aziz Executive Editor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965

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Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9

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Students in Pakistan and abroad rely more on opening Google.

The American library Associations conducted a general survey and found that 92 percent of scholars worldwide are researching the open access material available on Google and simillar search engines. People are shuffling only eight percent of the material for research. ninety-two percent of material exists in the printed format available in libraries (physically) or has been locked and placed out of access for researchers (available in Paid Databases like JSTOR, Taylor& Francis, Springer link, Projectmuse, and alike Databases.

Physicists first started the e-Theses initiative in 1991. When they introduced the Arxiv in 1991, it was an Open Repository system.

The purpose of this initiative was to showcase the scholarly works of Physicists on a broader level. Since that time, numerous projects have been made available in different countries. A few praiseworthy examples for electronic theses are: DARTeurope e-These portal offers more than 106,000 doctoral electronic theses. ethOS is a digital library project which provides online theses for free. PQDT Open is a project of Proquest which covers research from Canada and the USA. MIT Digital library offers a collection of theses at the Master’s and doctoral levels. Worldwide eTD Indexes offers a collection of online theses and dissertations and helps researchers find material in their respective fields.

The Pakistan Research Repository was a splendid project for the researchers in Pakistan and abroad. The project is still available online and can be accessed via the Internet. It only covers PhD and MPhil theses.

Islamabad – Ph: 051-2204545

Universities in Pakistan do not fully cooperate to offer retrospective and current research as generated in electronic formats. They sent a copy to the HeC Repository in printed form only and are not bothered to send the electronic version of the same copy.

Today’s age is the age of technology and people do not visit the library physically. They need electronic copies of books, articles and even theses. Public sector universities in Pakistan are producing quality research, but there is still a dire need for electronic theses. Theses in electronic formats have become the need of the day.

HeC may either update the old software being utilized for MPhil and PhD theses or produce indigenous software to preserve electronic theses. A login password ought to be granted to universities in Pakistan and the HeC should direct them to put their theses on the HeC portal. Open research appeals to researchers more than that paid contents. The HeC is requested to extend the Pakistan Research Repository project to the provincial level to make all electronic theses available for the present and forthcoming generation. Teamwork could make it more expeditious.

Quality research is a dream job for a common Pakistani, and that could only be achieved through the monitoring system of HeC. Preserving electronic researches on HeC website can bring these dreams into reality.

Quality research is a dream job for a common Pakistani, and that could only be achieved through the monitoring system of HEC. Preserving Electronic researches on HEC website can bring these dreams into reality

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Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk

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The writer is a library officer at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad. He can be reached at abidhussain@issi.org.pk

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Saturday, 13 March, 2021

COMMENT 07 Editor’s mail Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan.

E-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively

The third wave THe third wave of the Coronavirus has started in the country. Coronavirus infections in pakistan crossed the 600,000 mark today and 2,701 new cases reported in last 24 hours. Taking the countrywide tally of positive cases to 600,198. A breakdown of the data showed that out of the 600,198 cases, 19,171 were reported in Balochistan, 46,963 in Islamabad, 75,053 in Khyber pakhtunkhwa, 182,567 in Punjab and 260,662 in Sindh. The new coronavirus strain is affecting countries across the world.

MEhrEEn Munir roShin TurbaT

Commitment to education

Electronic Business is a Gateway to Women Empowerment The pandemic opened up opportunities for e-commerce

huma mir

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He entire world is witnessing a tremendous transition in electronic business as e-commerce has already shown its importance from a gender perspective. Women have made substantial gains along with shifts in social attitudes towards empowerment. e-commerce refers to the purchase and sale of goods or services via the internet and the transfer of money and data to perform those transactions.

The 21st century stands as a testament to some of the greatest innovations and technological advancements that have changed the essential nature of human communication and interactions. Today, lives are driven by technology and we can no longer imagine a life without our favourite gadgets; and most importantly, internet connectivity. The world is one big interconnected global village due to the Internet, and one can also imagine this global village acts as a global marketplace, thanks to advancements in e-commerce. The trend of e-commerce has been increased rapidly in recent years with the development and easy accessibility of the Internet.

The importance of e-commerce has increased manifold due to the coronavirus, making it an extremely vital sector for the economy.

There is no better time than right now for new business ventures and startups to commence their journey, considering how e-commerce is gaining attention due to the epidemic. Innovative and scalable e-commerce business ideas will easily click with the growing consumer base that prefers originality when it comes to shopping today. The future of e-commerce is incredibly bright especially for women entrepreneurs who were limited to local markets. Access to information is providing additional information tools for women entrepreneurs, particularly those with small e-commerce companies, and opening new lines of communities for the marginalized community of women.

The e-commerce world decidedly seems to be well-suited to female entrepreneurs in our country because it gives them the flexibility to balance their personal and professional life.

These businesses are not affecting their household chores and security issues. But before starting an e-commerce business we need to

understand that it requires disciplined hard work and demands many steps and decisions that need to come together at the right time.

So, the first question that comes to our mind is probably “How do I start an e-commerce business today?

“All you need to do is to build an e-commerce website featuring your products and services and you are ready to sell to the world.

Therefore, for all those ambitious entrepreneurs out there, we are going to take a glance at some of the hottest e-commerce business opportunities available for you.”

Smart Technology and Related Products: We live in a digital age where everyone and everything is connected through smart technologies.

People are completely dependent on their devices, be it smartphones or smartwatches, to lead an efficient and smooth lifestyle. Therefore, it is no wonder that most people prefer technical knowledge or smart homes where most of their electronic devices are connected, making lives easier. The sales of smart home products and smartwatches are expected to rise significantly in the coming years considering how people are drawn towards these products for their varied benefits.

Online education and learning: It might not sound surprising that today education has acquired a new dimension in the form of online teaching and learning. Many online courses have been introduced both by the government as well as the private sector to help to advance women’s professional growth and economic empowerment through offline and online entrepreneurship education, support and capacity building. Knowledge is no longer limited to the four walls of a classroom but has expanded to include everyone interested in learning from and within the comfort of their homes or even workplaces. There is a great demand for course contents designed to crack specific examinations. While it is important to build an ecommerce, website designed and specifically suited for this purpose, it is equally important to establish trust among the audience by providing relevant content from reputed and efficient teachers and instructors.

Groceries: The demand for household groceries continues to remain a growing and promising market and even though there are already certain big names that appeared during the pandemic in the online grocery and delivery market of Pakistan also, and surely there is still room for more. Modification of products, providing doorstep delivery, promotion of local and fresh products and monthly subscriptions are a few ways of attracting a larger customer base.

Personal Protection Items: As a result of the covid-19 epidemic, there has emerged a rolling demand for sanitizers, hand washes, gloves, disinfectants, face masks, and many other personal safety and hygiene products. People have accepted the use of health care products as a necessary lifestyle choice, which is exactly why there is a whole new market dedicated to these in the form of designer and customized natural products too. Since most personal safety products are becoming mandatory across all spheres of human lives as well as industries, large bulk orders of the same are anticipated. Additionally, since these products have become an inseparable part of our daily lives, there arises the scope for customizations based on affordability, storage, durability and so on while at the same time never compromising on their quality.

Health, Beauty and Skincare Products: The demand for beauty, skincare and healthcare products for both men and women, continues to rise exponentially. Additionally, there is an expanding market for organic goods as more consumers are opting for options that are natural and safer for the skin. Global statistics suggest that the organic health and skincare products market will contribute to $22 billion in sales by the year 2024. It is interesting to note that the men’s skincare and health market is one with a lot of potential, which is often overlooked compared to the uncountable options available for women. Therefore, this is one of the many other e-commerce business ideas worth pursuing.

Jewelry and Fashion Accessories: Amongst the scores of e-commerce business opportunities out there, this one will never go out of fashion! People are always on the look-out for great accessories and jewelry which are in fashion. Interestingly, handcrafted jewelry and ethnic fashion are gaining much more attention lately and this is a cause for delight since it promotes the talent of traditional and local artisans and jewelry makers as well as potential designers. notably, in Pakistan also, signature jewelry designers are designing attractive collections. These women entrepreneurs are creating customized designs and appealing to a larger crowd too.

These are some of the top picks when it comes to exploring some of the most profitable e-commerce business ideas while many other e-commerce options are still there to explore.

It’s sanguine that the government of Pakistan is also committed to empowering women by providing them with e-commerce platforms and promoting digital businesses in the country to increase the GDP.

Many e-commerce options are still there to explore.

It’s hoped that the government of Pakistan is also committed to empowering women by providing them with ecommerce platforms and promoting digital businesses in the country to increase the GDP

The writer is a senior educationist and freelance contributor

PRIMe MInISTeR Imran Khan on Friday terming education vital for national development said Al-Qadir University would be made a hub of Islamic research and youth’s character-building based on the golden principles of Islam. Addressing at an interactive session with educationists, Islamic bankers, scholars and parliamentarians here at AlQadir University, he said the research to be carried out at the institution would later be disseminated to educational institutes across the country.

The prime minister, two years ago, had laid the foundation-stone of the university in name of great saint of sub-continent Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jilani, with an objective to make the institution a cradle of science and spirituality. Imran Khan said currently, the Islamic studies being taught at the schools were beyond comprehension of students, thus had no relevance with correct interpretation. He said Al-Qadir University, to start its academic activities by September, would make international Islamic scholars such as Syed nasir Hussain and Hamza Yousuf part of the university board for their worthy guidance. He said preparing a lot of knowledgeable and talented youth with moral strength was need of the hour. He emphasized the need of an education system that acted as means of self-development and a source of bringing positive change in the society. He said knowledge was the main element that distinguished between humans and animal species, and emphasized on the significance of literacy meeting the needs of both contemporary world and the hereafter. He stressed academic research at university with a purpose to benefit the humanity and said it was time to prepare the youth adopt best learning practices of international standards to acquire knowledge. The prime minister said he wanted to transform the system of Al-Qadir University similar to that of egypt’s Al Azhar University, a prestigious institution of the world. He said the ideology of great Muslim thinker Allama Muhammad Iqbal was also based on the concept of founding principles of Islam that favoured ‘Ijtehad’ on issues by credible scholars of time. He desired introduction of scholarships for hardworking and brilliant students at Al-Qadir University to help them carry out studies and contribute to development of country. Besides taking inspiration from the west in technological development, he said, there were several aspects of their culture such as truth and honesty, that merited replication, except their flawed family system promoting disintegration.

He mentioned that the corrupt practice of vote-purchase, as recently seen in Pakistan polls, was out of question for the western leadership and parliaments. He pointed that countries became failed states, not due to their financial but moral decline. Only a quality leadership of high moral calibre led a nation to success, he added. Imran Khan proposed Al-Qadir University to carryout research on the concept of Islam’s first welfare State of Medina that was based on the principles of socioeconomic justice and high moral standards. The prime minister flanked by Minister for Science and Technology Chaudry Fawad Hussain and MnA Farrukh Altaf planted a sapling in the premises of Al-Qadir University, to be developed into an Olive Orchard. So far, the Sufi and Research blocks at the university have been completed, while two other academic blocks, hostel and faculty residences are presently under construction. Under Miyawaki urban forest project, around 16,500 trees will be planted at the university premises including 1,000 olive and another 34,500 saplings to be planted in the vicinity. anjuM ali lahorE

Increased electricity bills PAKISTAn Muslim league - nawaz (PMln) Vice president Maryam nawaz has recently condemned the increase in electricity tariff by the government. She further said each and every moment spent under Imran Khan’s government was a burden on people neither did not have idea have a better of people’s problems. And another tweet she mentioned raising power tariff and petroleum price was the worst example of antipeople moves. As we public see carefully, a very bad change in there in Pakistan in which everything is disturbed a. The government of Pakistan should recognize the country’s challenge very soon and take a more responsible action for public. barkaTullah TurbaT

Class divisions SIR, I want to drew the attention of the people towards the class differences in Pakistan through your newspaper by writing this column.

In Pakistan there is a trend that the poor people are considered a slur for the society and they are given less prestige. The people who have money are considered the best human beings and are allowed to do anything might it be right or wrong. They are meant to be the superior class of the society. They are given much more respect, love and freedom of thought and actions.

While on the other hand, the poor are meant to be the inferior part of the society. They are considered only the servants of rich people. They are not given the rights like upper class. They have to obey them. According to our religion, everyone is equal and there is on one superior over the other except God. But, unfortunately in Pakistan the one who is poor is bad and the one who has money is considered the best. The elite class see poor as they are some other creatures. But they do not know that they feel happy in who they are and are always thankful to AllAH AlMIGHTY for HIS blessings. laiba kauSar lahorE

Saturday, 13 March, 2021

08 WORLD VIEW

How tHe natIonal securIty state manIpulates tHe news medIa

anti War

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TED GaLEn CaRpEnTER

n especially dangerous threat to liberty occurs when members of the press collude with government agencies instead of monitoring and exposing the abuses of those agencies. Unfortunately, collusion is an all-toocommon pattern in press coverage of the national security state’s activities. The American people then receive official propaganda disguised as honest reporting and analysis.

The degree of collaboration frequently has reached stunning levels. During the early decades of the Cold War, some journalists even became outright CIA assets. Washington Post reporter Carl Bernstein’s January 1977, 25,000-word article in Rolling Stone was an extraordinarily detailed account of cooperation between the CIA and members of the press, and it provided key insights into that relationship. In some cases, the "journalists" were actually full-time CIA employees masquerading as members of the Fourth Estate, but Bernstein also confirmed that some 400 bona fide American journalists had secretly carried out assignments for the ClA during the previous 25 years. He noted that "journalists provided a full range of clandestine services – from simple intelligence gathering to serving as go-betweens with spies in Communist countries. Reporters shared their notebooks with the CIA. Editors shared their staffs."

A December 26, 1977, investigative report in the new York Times described the scope of the CIA’s global campaign to influence opinion through media manipulation.

"In its persistent efforts to shape world opinion, the C.I.A. has been able to call upon" an extensive network "of newspapers, news services, magazines, publishing houses, broadcasting stations and other entities over which it has at various limes had some control. A decade ago, when the agency’s communications empire was at its peak, [it] embraced more than 500 news and public information organizations and individuals. Ac-

IT IS UNSETTLING HOW OFTEN MOST MAINSTREAM MEDIA OUTLETS ADVANCE THE AGENDA OF THE NARRATIVE PUT FORTH BY THE CIA AND OTHER PORTIONS OF THE NATIONAL SECURITY STATE

WHEN THE AGENCY’S COMMUNICATIONS EMPIRE WAS AT ITS PEAK, [IT] EMBRACED MORE THAN 500 NEWS AND PUBLIC INFORMATION ORGANIZATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS

THE NEW YORK TIMES ALONE "PROVIDED COVER FOR ABOUT TEN CIA OPERATIVES" OVER A NEARLY TWO-DECADE PERIOD

DURING THE EARLY DECADES OF THE COLD WAR, SOME JOURNALISTS EVEN BECAME OUTRIGHT CIA ASSETS

cording to one CIA official, they ranged in importance ‘from Radio Free Europe to a third‐string guy in Quito who could get something in the local paper.’" The CIA funded those foreign "journalistic assets" generously.

Bernstein emphasized that the most valuable of the close associations were "with the new York Times, CBS and Time Inc. [the publisher of both Time and newsweek]." In fact, the new York Times alone "provided cover for about ten CIA operatives" over a nearly two-decade period.

"The aid furnished often took two forms: providing jobs and credentials ("journalistic cover" in Agency parlance) for CIA operatives about to be posted in foreign capitals; and lending the Agency the undercover services of reporters already on staff, including some of the best-known correspondents in the business." CBS news, though, gave the Times some competition for the designation of the CIA’s most useful press asset. CBS was unquestionably the CIA’s most valuable broadcasting asset. Over the years, the network not only provided cover for CIA employees, the network "allowed reports by CBS correspondents to the Washington and new York newsrooms to be routinely monitored by the CIA." Reforms enacted in the late 1970s after investigative hearings by the Senate Intelligence Committee, chaired by Sen. Frank Church (D-ID), supposedly brought an end to such CIA penetration of the press. However, evidence of recent media-intelligence agency collaboration suggests that while the manipulation may have become more subtle, it has not gone away. A startling September 2014 exclusive report in the Intercept con-

firmed that the problem of excessively close ties between the CIA and certain prominent journalists is not a merely a historical artifact.

Intercept reporter Ken Silverstein obtained several hundred pages of documents from the Agency regarding that issue in response to two Freedom of Information Act applications. The heavily redacted documents provided only limited enlightenment; the un-redacted portions consisted primarily of correspondence from reporters and columnists to the Agency, while the replies from CIA personnel were mostly blacked out. As Silverstein noted, "It’s impossible to know precisely how the CIA flacks responded to reporters’ queries, because the emails show only one side of the conversations. The CIA redacted virtually all of the press handlers’ replies other than meagre comments that were made explicitly on the record, citing the CIA Act of 1949, which exempts the agency from having to disclose ‘intelligence sources and methods.’" Silverstein pointed out archly that the contents of off-the-record or background emails from CIA press handlers might disclose sources and methods, "depending on whether you view manipulation of American reporters as an intelligence method."

Even with the extensive redactions, the abundance of the e-mail exchanges with reporters from the Associated Press, Washington Post, new York Times, Wall Street Journal, and other major outlets indicated that very close professional (and sometimes personal) relationships seemed to exist between those journalists and the CIA. Silverstein focused much of his attention on the behavior of Ken Dilanian, a national security reporter for the Los Angeles Times who later

joined the Associated Press, and still later, nBC news. His relationship with the CIA certainly raised some troubling questions.

Silverstein charged that numerous e-mails "show that Dilanian enjoyed a closely collaborative relationship with the agency, explicitly promising positive news coverage and sometimes sending the press office entire story drafts for review prior to publication. In at least one instance, the CIA’s reaction appears to have led to significant changes in the story that was eventually published in the Times." Clearing stories in advance and currying official cooperation and approval automatically compromises the integrity of the journalist’s handiwork.

One of the CIA’s long-standing, favorite tactics is to generate favorable, including outright bogus, news stories in foreign media outlets, with the expectation that American outlets will eventually pick them up. There is no question that the U.S. government still recruits foreign journalists for propaganda missions in their home countries. For example, the United States and Britain have mounted an extensive joint propaganda effort regarding the Syrian civil war using an array of Middle Eastern reporters and columnists.

Among other possible effects, one must ponder how many of those orchestrated "news" stories found their way back into American media, impacting the narrative and domestic debate about the Syrian civil war and what Washington’s stance should be toward that conflict. The potential "blowback" phenomenon is a worrisome example of how the intelligence agencies can manipulate the debate on a foreign policy issue in the United States.

It is unsettling how often most mainstream media outlets advance the agenda of

the narrative put forth by the CIA and other portions of the national security state. Most of the press circulated the narrative that the CIA-orchestrated coups in Iran and Guatemala in the 1950s were spontaneous democratic uprisings. More recently, the news media disseminated allegations that Saddam Hussein had a vast arsenal of weapons of mass destruction. nearly all that information came from Iraqi exiles that the CIA supplied to "friendly" journalists, including new York Times reporter Judith Miller. Perhaps most striking, major media outlets, especially the Washington Post, the new York Times, Cnn and MSnBC, have avidly joined the national security state’s campaign to demonize Russia. Those media heavyweights enthusiastically promoted the false narrative about collusion between Donald Trump’s campaign and the Russian government to influence the 2016 presidential election. Even worse, they parroted the CIA’s unsupported, far-fetched allegation that Moscow had paid the Taliban bounties to kill American soldiers.

It is possible that the willingness of journalists to be megaphones for the CIA on such issues merely reflects inherent gullibility.

However, given the long track record of collusion, it is likely that the intelligence community is systematically working with willing allies. The American people, who count on the news profession to provide them with accurate, independent information about foreign affairs, are the ultimate victims.

Ted Galen Carpenter, a senior fellow in security studies at the Cato Institute, is the author of 12 books and more than 900 articles on international affairs.

Netanyahu's anti-Iran campaign is Israel's greatest failure A SPECIAL HEADQUARTERS WAS SET UP IN THE US UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF UNDER SECRETARY OF TREASURY STUART LEVEY, AND IN COOPERATION WITH A SPECIAL BODY THAT WAS CREATED IN ISRAEL TO INFRINGE ON IRAN’S ECONOMIC FREEDOM OF ACTION AND ITS INTERNATIONAL TRADE

Jerusalem Post

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EHUD OLMERT

n 2009, just after being elected prime minister for the second time, Benjamin netanyahu decided that preventing Iran from attaining nuclear power should be placed at the top of his government’s list of priorities. netanyahu believed it was up to him to define Israel’s goals vis-à-vis Iran, and dictate these ideas to the entire international community, as well. netanyahu’s actions, however, resulted in absolute failure. It was the worst and most painful political and military failure in all of Israel’s history since its establishment.

For many years, we here in Israel, along with intelligence agencies around the world, have known that it was Iran’s intention to attain nuclear capability and to build an atomic bomb. At the same time, Iran was attempting to build missiles which, in a time of need, could reach distant regions, including strategic locations in the State of Israel. Israel’s military and deployment policies were based on this basic assumption.

At the same time, the State of Israel, led by the Mossad, and in cooperation with all of Israel’s security agencies, namely the IDF Intelligence branch, and along with the Israel Atomic Energy Commission, the Foreign Ministry, the Shin Bet and all of the other in-

ternational bodies involved with the Iran issue, took actions against Iran in various sectors and in different locations around the globe. The scope of these activities and their results will one day be recorded in the annals of history of the State of Israel. none of this though was ever publicized by the government or any of its representatives.

Arik Sharon, and later I, too, felt we needed to carry out covert operations on a number of different fronts, that involved great risk, but made sure that all would be completely out of the public eye. At the time, we believed there was no reason to take unnecessary risks that might expose these actions, since the only chance this complex international effort had to succeed was if we could maintain maximum restraint and allow the US to continue leading the efforts.

In my speech at the Herzliya Conference in early 2007, I stated that Israel would act with all its capabilities and forces to thwart the Iranian nuclear program. The international struggle, however, must be led by the US. I had full confidence in then-US president George Bush’s ability, desire and determination to lead this campaign. At the same time, the international community began implementing economic sanctions against Iran.

A special headquarters was set up in the US under the leadership of Under Secretary of Treasury Stuart Levey, and in cooperation with a special body that was created in Israel to infringe on Iran’s economic freedom of action and its international trade. The Un Security Council approved two decisions involving sanctions on Iran. The international community felt obligated to curb Iranian activity, and so it did.

That is, until Israel’s prime minister decided to act like a bull in a china shop, and impose a new model on everyone around the world that included using military force to eliminate all of Iran’s bases that were suspected of being linked to nuclear activity. netanyahu’s decision was not kept a secret and began to be discussed outside of closed forums. The possibility of an attack against Iran became a public, overt and provocative issue the echoes of which could be heard in every corner of the planet. Everyone still remembers the ridiculous presentation the Israeli prime minister gave at the Un General Assembly, with the graphs and diagrams pinpointing the secret atomic sites, and showing the red line which, if crossed, would leave Israel with no choice but to take military action. Many of Israel’s allies around the world were terrified at the thought of the State of Israel taking independent military action that could shake up the entire Middle East.

Back in 2008, while on a visit to Israel, Bush told then Defense Minister Ehud Barak in my presence, that under no circumstances would he allow Israel to attack Iran. Moreover, he stated that the US would prevent any Israeli jet from flying over Iraq towards Iran. Bush committed to using all of his power to fight against the nuclearization of Iran, but he believed that an Israeli attempt to move forward with an attack on Iran that would drag the international community into the foray was wrong, dangerous and could possibly end in a disaster.

Obama pursued a similar policy and was fully committed to preventing Iran form advancing in its efforts to arm itself with nuclear weapons. During these same years, it became

crystal clear that Iran had stopped its nuclear weapons program in 2003, while continuing to develop long-range ballistic missile capabilities, which could carry nuclear bombs.

The government of the State of Israel, under the leadership of netanyahu, decided to do everything it could to lead a military operation against Iran. In the end, Israel’s constant threats and netanyahu’s almost daily appearances on local and international stages, led to secret negotiations between the US, its European partners (including Russia) and Iran, which culminated in the signing of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, of which Israel was not a partner and over which it had no influence.

This agreement, which was overseen by President Barack Obama, would never have been formulated if netanyahu hadn’t caused the level of international concern to rise so high by insinuating that Israel would act unilaterally against Iran. If the agreement really was as bad as the Israeli prime minister insinuated, then he should be blamed for contributing to its creation.

Many people – myself included – were of the opinion that although the agreement had quite a few drawbacks, despite its flaws, it was preferable to having no agreement at all. In opposition to many people’s opinions, netanyahu decided to use all of Israel’s political connections in the US, and all of our military potential, to bring about the abrogation of the Iran nuclear agreement.

Obama concluded his term. Donald Trump was sworn in as the new American president. A short time later, the US withdrew from the nuclear agreement. Over the last few years, Israel has carried out several brilliant operations, the most prominent of

which was the break-in by Mossad agents into the warehouse where secret files were stored in a suburb of Tehran.

These Israeli operations revealed what many people already knew: that Iran had fulfilled all of the commitments that were delineated in the agreement that was promoted

by Obama. not only did the withdrawal of the US from the agreement not improve the situation, but it led to a dramatic escalation in Iranian nuclear activity, significant progress toward building a bomb, the operation of advanced centrifuges it hadn’t had in the past and larger amounts of enriched uranium. Just last week, the recently retired deputy head of the Mossad who was in charge of operations, “Alef” (his name is not allowed to be published), stated in the clearest of terms: netanyahu’s actions led to a strategic failure for Israel, and as a result, Iran’s nuclear capabilities have improved significantly. The deputy head, who headed up the team behind the operation to steal Iran’s nuclear archive in 2018, also asserted that Israel’s management on a political level was a complete disaster. He didn’t downplay the feats achieved through the Mossad’s operations, but he concluded, saying: We won the battle, but lost the war.

Anyone who still needs it spelled out for them why each additional day that netanyahu serves as prime minister increases the level of danger to our security can go back and read the words said by one of Israel’s bravest and brightest warriors. His name is unknown, he is not running for Knesset, nor is he a political activist. He’s just a concerned citizen who has experienced some of the nation of Israel’s most beautiful, courageous and daring escapades, who says the results are a strategic failure.

What else must be said to justify getting rid of the hysterical man from Balfour Street?

The writer was the 12th prime minister of Israel.

Saturday, 13 March, 2021

BUSINESS 09

KARACHI

Drone regulatory authorIty Draft gets PM’s noD

corporate corner

ISLAMABAD

KARACHI: Faysal Bank Limited was honored with five Global Diversity and Inclusion Benchmark (GDIB) Awards during a ceremony held recently in the port city. The awards were conferred to FBL Retail Banking Head Tahir Yaqoob Bhatti by State Bank of Pakistan Deputy Governor Sima Kamil. PR

P

TLTP

RIME Minister Imran Khan on Friday approved a draft ordinance regarding the establishment of the Unmanned Aircraft System Regulatory Authority (UASRA) to regulate the affairs of drone usage for civil purposes in the country.

The prime minister acceded the draft during a meeting with all the stakeholders including representatives of the defence ministry, Civil Aviation Authority and the Ministry of Science and Technology.

Officials said once the authority is established after approval of the law, it will

regulate the operation, manufacturing and import of unmanned aircraft systems.

The meeting decided that representatives of the relevant divisions, including an air vice marshal and three experts from relevant fields, shall be members of the authority to run affairs of the UASRA, TLTP learnt.

Talking to TLTP, legislative consultant Umer Sajjad Chaven said as the Ministry of Science and Technology had initiated the draft following which the federal government has principally decided to set up a civil drone regulatory authority for effective use of remote-controlled surveillance technology in various fields.

Chaven said that after the promulgation of law, drones would be allowed

exclusively for civil purposes, including usage for agriculture, recreational activities and research & development.

"Under the law, UASRA would have carry out activities with the purpose of obtaining new knowledge that shall enable the development of drone and its associated technology or creating new equipment, products and tools using the available information and resources, creating new systems, processes and services, including software production or improving those that are available."

It is pertinent to mention that other functions of the authority would be to grant, cancel and renew licences for manufacturing, importing and operating drone and associated technology on payment of some fees. Besides, the au-

MARKET DAILY KARACHI: Indus Motor Company (IMC) served as the official Women Leaders’ Partner in the annual youth leadership conference, Markhor, held between March 5 and 7 at Khanpur Dam, Haripur. PR

Stocks recover 1,008 points after four-day rampage

Weekly inflation drops 1pc

STAFF REPORT

ISLAMABAD: The Sensitive Price Index (SPI)-based weekly inflation dropped one per cent during the week ended 11th March, data released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics on Friday showed. PBS calculates the SPI based on the prices of 51 essential items from 50 markets across 17 cities of the country. Out of the 51 items, prices of seven decreased, 26 increased, while that of 18 remained unchanged. According to details, items that recorded a decrease in their weekly prices included garlic (6.64pc), chicken (2.96pc), onions (0.91pc), gur (0.69pc), pulse masoor (0.49pc), electricity (9.01pc) and LPG (2.13pc).

On the other hand, an increase was observed in the prices of eggs (10.78pc), tomatoes (7.01pc), bananas (3.83pc), lawn printed (2.33pc), potatoes (2.31pc), sugar (1.74pc), fresh milk (1.37pc), shirting (1.36pc), long cloth (1.27pc), georgette (1.24pc), curd (1.12pc) and wheat flour bag (1.03pc). Meanwhile, the year-on-year trend depicted a 13.48pc increase in SPI, with most price hike seen in chili powder (143.07pc), electricity (69.19pc), eggs (65.38pc), chicken (46.41pc), gents sandal (33.37pc), matchbox (30.47pc), mustard oil (26.99pc), gents sponge chappal (25.13pc), sugar (22.86pc), washing soap (20.78pc) and long cloth (19.58pc). On the contrary, a major decrease was observed in the price of onions (50.82pc), garlic (40.42pc), potatoes (12.81pc), LPG (11.69pc), tomatoes (6.59pc) and diesel (4.98pc). STAFF REPORT

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) staged a remarkable recovery on the last trading session of the week, with the benchmark index accumulating gains all day long, crossing the 43,000-mark.

Global equity markets also showed a positive trend, whereas crude oil prices inched lower from the previous close; WTI crude price dropping 0.27pc to $65.84 while Brent crude price falling 0.24pc to $69.46 (as at 5:08pm PST).

“The market bounced back today, gaining over 1,200 points intraday mainly on the back of cement, steel, banking and technology stocks, which were the subject of leveraged positions during the week.

Besides, excitement over Senate elections also had some bearing on the stock market, where anticipation of a government victory kept the investor sentiment upbeat, a report issued by Arif Habib Ltd read.

SUMMARY: Contrary to this

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week’s trend, the benchmark KSE100 Index remained in the green throughout the day, touching its intraday high at 43,986.18 after gathering 1,206.42 points. It settled higher by 1,008.32 points at 43,788.08. On a week-on-week basis, however, the index lost 4.47pc in terms of value.

Among other indices, the KMI30 Index accumulated 1,895.41 points to close at 72,524.63, while the KSE All Share Index added 640.44 points, ending at 30,013.05.

The overall market volumes improved from 406.08 million shares in the previous session to 442.52 million shares (+9pc). Average traded value also increased by 22pc, from $112.7 million to $137.4 million. Unity Foods Ltd (UNITY +5.02pc), TRG Pakistan Ltd (TRG -0.28pc) and Jahangir Siddiqui & Company Ltd (JSCL 7.46pc) led the volume chart, exchanging 88.26 million, 38.84 million and 17.74 million shares, respectively.

Sectors that painted the bench-

mark index green included cement (+223.08 points), banking (+151.16 points) and oil & gas exploration (+89.93 points). Among the companies, Lucky Cement Ltd (LUCK +76.16 points), Hub Power Company Ltd (HUBC +60.64 points) and Habib Bank Ltd (HBL +46.23 points) remained the top contributors.

Adding 4.28pc to its cumulative market capitalisation, the cement sector ended as the session’s top performer, with Lucky Cement Ltd (LUCK 3.15pc), Bestway Cement Ltd (BWCL 2.57pc) and DG Khan Cement Company Ltd (DGKC 6.81pc) posting decent gains.

Meanwhile, in a notification to the exchange, Sazgar Engineering Works Ltd (SAZEW +7.49pc) informed that it “has signed a Vehicle Assembly Technical & Corporation Agreement with a Chinese automobile manufacturer for manufacturing, assembly, sales and after sales services of passenger and commercial vehicles, subject to approval of relevant authorities”.

NTDC to install 160MVA transformer at Rawat grid station The National Transmission and Despatch Company Ltd (NTDC) has completed the installation work on the new 160MVA transformer at 500kV Rawat Grid Station. However, erection work of 132kv isolator and jumpers would be carried out tomorrow (13 March 2021).

"Resultantly, partial load management will be observed from 0500 hours to 1500 hours on Saturday, if required, on IESCO’s 132kV grid stations and 11kV feeders.

132kV Grid Station Dina and its allied 11kV Dina-1, Capt Nisar, Rohtas, Dina-4, Mado Klas, Col Akram, Mangla Cantt, M Riyyaz Shaheed, Mansoor Shaheed, Mumtaz Shaheed will be affected. In addition, 11kV Feeders Reliance Mill, Jarrar Camp, Industrial, Emmar, Lab-I, LabII, Bhal, Islamabad Feed Mill and Jatha Hathial from 500kV Grid Station Rawat will also face load management,” the NTDC spokesman said.

In addition, partial and requirement-based load management would be carried in Rawalpindi, Gujar Khan and Chakwal and its suburbs, 11kV feeders emanating from 132kV Old Rawat, Dina, Gujjar Khan, Jatli, Padshan, Chakwal, Chakri, Bhagwal, Adyala, Danda Shah Bilawal, Shoa Syedan Shah, MES, Kallar Syeddan, Kahuta, Bahria Town, Al-Ghurrair, F-16, I-16, KTM, Ranyal, Mandi Sawan and Chaklala. NEWS DESK

thority would have power to prescribe standards for grant of licence to local manufacturers and importers of drone and associated technologies and certify compliance of such equipment with prescribed standards.

Chaven said in order to support the local industry in manufacturing, assembly, integration and design of drone and drone-based applications, the authority would monitor and enforce licences, besides entering into contracts. "Once the ordinance is passed, the authority will attract investment into drones and associated technologies including foreign direct investments, venture capital funds, public sector investments, public-private investments and private funds."

Pakistan, Iran reiterate resolve to promote trade linkages ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Pakistan and Iran have reiterated the resolve to promote economic and trade linkages between the two countries by building upon historical ties, geographical proximity, cultural affinities and economic commonalities. This was agreed upon when Hassan Abghari, Deputy Minister of Economic and Finance Affairs and Managing Director Iran Foreign Investment Company (IFIC) of Iran, called on Minister for Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh on Friday. Deputy Head of Iranian Mission in Pakistan, Muhammad Surkhabi, was also present in the meeting. Finance Minister Shaikh emphasised to find ways for furthering trade relations. Pakistan-Iran Investment Company can play a pivotal role in strengthening trade and investment between the two countries, he added. The finance minister briefed the deputy minister that Islamabad is pursuing a broad-based economic reform agenda to achieve exportled growth and sustainable economic development. He apprised him of the economic challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic and outlined socio-economic measures taken by the government to lessen the adverse impact of the pandemic on marginalized sections of the society. The government announced the largest ever fiscal stimulus package and introduced the strategy of a smart lockdown to protect the vulnerable segments of the society which has been acknowledged worldwide, he stated. Hafeez Shaikh said that the government is firmly committed to correcting fundamentals of the economy through effective policy making and targeted reforms with an aim to achieving sustainable and inclusive growth strategy, he said.

Power couple behind Bagallery takes center stage with announcement of Salman Sattar as CEO Every success story starts with a dream and while there is a woman behind every successful man, this power couple challenges the norms with the man behind the successful woman i.e. Co-founder of Bagallery Mina Salman.

Bagallery being one of the leading Fashion and lifestyle e-commerce businesses of Pakistan announces Salman Sattar as the Chief Executive Officer from March 20, 2021. Bringing more than 15 years of industry experience to the position, he brings the maturity and focus that the company requires. He will be leading from the front to deliver sustained growth and frictionless customer service & experience.

This tale begins with Mina Salman, a beauty & wellness blogger and an online shopping enthusiast recognising a gap for authentic brands in Pakistan. While there was interest in the local market the choices were limited. Thus giving birth to what is now the biggest beauty, fashion & lifestyle e-commerce player in Pakistan.

Mina spent most of her life abroad, residing with Husband Salman Sattar in the UAE

and travelling around the world. She saw the e-commerce market booming and could foresee its immense potential in Pakistan. And so, together they decided to launch this e-commerce platform in May 2017.

Initially the aim was to sell bags only

which explains the name however, the business pivoted and on boarded a huge portfolio of beauty & fashion brands. L’Oréal and Unilever are one of the biggest partners for Bagallery with the partnership not restricted to sales & marketing but towards tech, sus-

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tainability, logistics and data science.

The year 2020 was when the start-up entered hyper growth with 2 key triggers fuelling the sudden increase in demand and size of the business. COVID-19 forced consumers to shop online, which not only created a demand for online shopping, but also pushed existing e-commerce players to improve their services. This had a similar impact on Bagallery as while the business had a massive spike in demand, it also put a strain on the company’s operations and customer service. The second trigger established Bagallery as a serious player in the e-commerce industry when the start-up raised $900,000 in a Pre-Series A round from Lakson Investments Venture Capital. Speaking about the investment, Faisal Aftab, the Managing Partner of Lakson Venture Capital and board member of Bagallery said, “The beauty & personal care market in Pakistan is projected to be worth billions of dollars over the next 5 years. This represents a tremendous opportunity for market leaders like Bagallery, especially at a time where internet adoption in Pakistan has attained critical mass with

more than 80 million active users.”

Salman Sattar, hailing from Karachi had spent majority of his career in business development roles across Pakistan and Middle East. He worked with different multinationals including Unilever, Mondelez, Savola Foods and FrieslandCampina. His most recent role was that of Sales Director Middle East at Friesland Campina managing a business of $400 Million+. FrieslandCampina is a Dutch Dairy company and one of the biggest dairy multi-national organizations of the world with Salman being part of the Future Leader Program of FrieslandCampina which is managed by Ashridge Executive Education UK. A life-long campaigner and supporter of Bagallery, Salman had been mentoring the startup since its inception.

However, since 2020, Bagallery needed constant direction and experience to fix its issues pertaining operations and customer service. Looking at the immense potential of the e-commerce beauty & fashion business in Pakistan, Salman took the leap of faith to join the company his wife cofounded. PRESS RELEASE

Saturday, 13 March, 2021

10 FOREIGN NEWS

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Biden says free indo-Pacific essential as he meets india, JaPan, australia leaders WASHINgToN

u

Agencies

S President Joe Biden met leaders of Australia, India and Japan on Friday, a group central to his efforts to counter China’s growing military and economic power, and said a free and open Indo-Pacific region was essential to all of their futures.

The White House says the virtual meeting of the countries known as the Quad, the first at leader level, shows the importance Biden places on the Indo-Pacific region and that it will focus on ways to fight the coronavirus pandemic, as well as cooperate on economic growth and the climate crisis.

“A free and open Indo Pacific is essential to each of our futures,” Biden told the meeting from the White House. “The United States is committed to working with you, our partners, and all our allies in the region, to achieve stability.” Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said he wanted the four “to forge strongly ahead toward the realization of a free and open Indo-Pacific, and to make visible contribution to peace, stability and prosperity of the region, including overcoming the coronavirus.”

India and Australia have also emphasized the importance of regional security cooperation, which has been enhanced by previous lower-level meetings of the four countries.

A senior US official told reporters ahead of the meeting it would involve “an honest,

open discussion about China’s role on the global stage,” referencing “challenges in the region” to free and open trade and commerce.

The Biden administration has said the Quad nations will announce financing agreements to support an increase in manufacturing capacity for coronavirus vaccines in India, something New Delhi has called for to counter China’s widening vaccine diplomacy.

US officials say the countries will also set up a group of experts to help distribute vaccines in the region, as well as working groups for cooperation on climate change, technology standards, and joint development of emerging technologies.

The United States wants to strengthen ties with allies and partners as China adopts an increasingly assertive foreign policy in Asia and beyond. Washington says the additional vaccine capacity will be used in immunization efforts in Southeast Asia, where Beijing is competing for influence.

The virtual meeting including Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Indian Prime Minster Narendra Modi will aim to lay the groundwork for an in-person meeting later this year, the administration said.

‘WHOLE NEW LEVEL OF COOPERATION’: Morrison called the meeting “incredibly important.”

“When governments come together at the highest level, this shows a whole new level of cooperation to create a new anchor for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific,”

dozens of students abducted from forestry college in northwest nigeria KADUNA Agencies

Gunmen in northwest Nigeria kidnapped around 30 students overnight from a forestry college near a military academy, three students said on Friday, in the fourth mass school abduction since December. The Federal College of Forestry Mechanization sits on the outskirts of Kaduna city, capital of Kaduna state, in a region roamed by armed gangs, who often travel on motorcycles. Kaduna state’s security commissioner, Samuel Aruwan, confirmed the attack but did not say how many students had been taken. Sani Danjuma, a student at the college, said those abducted were all female students, but authorities were unable to confirm this. Other students said some of the young women had managed to escape during the attack. Local resident Haruna Salisu, speaking by phone, said he had heard sporadic gunshots at around 11:30 p.m. “We were not panicking, thinking that it was a normal military exercise being conducted at the Nigerian Defence Academy,” he said. “We came out for dawn prayers, at 5:20 a.m., and saw some of the students, teachers and security personnel all over the school premises. They told us that gunmen raided the school and abducted some of the students.”

Salisu said he had seen military personnel taking the remaining students into the academy. On Friday morning, relatives of students gathered at the gates of the college, which was surrounded by around 20 army trucks.

LAWLESS REGION: Banditry has festered for years in northwest Nigeria, rendering large swathes of the region lawless. The trend of abduction from boarding schools was started by group Boko Haram, which seized 270 schoolgirls from a school at Chibok in the northeast in 2014, around 100 of whom have never been found. It has since been taken up by armed criminal gangs seeking ransom. Within the last few weeks, 279 schoolgirls were freed after being abducted from their boarding school at Jangebe in northwest Nigeria’s Zamfara state, and 27 teenage boys were released after being kidnapped from their school in the northcentral state of Niger, along with three staff and 12 family members. One student was shot dead in that attack. Military and police attempts to tackle the gangs have had little success, while many worry that state authorities are making the situation worse by letting kidnappers go unpunished, paying them off or, as in Zamfara, giving them amenities. In late February, the presidency said President Muhammadu Buhari had urged state governments to “review their policy of rewarding bandits with money and vehicles, warning that the policy might boomerang disastrously”. The unrest has become a political problem for Buhari, a retired general and former military ruler who has faced mounting criticism over the rise in violent crime, and replaced his long-standing military chiefs in February.

he told reporters.

Among the issues to be addressed are supply chains exposed as heavily reliant on China during the pandemic.

Japan’s Nikkei newspaper reported on Thursday that the four countries would also work together to secure rare earth metals essential to the production of electric car motors and other products.

The Biden administration told Reuters on Tuesday the United States and Japan would help fund Indian firms manufacturing vaccines for US drugmakers Novavax Inc and J&J.

However, Indian government sources said US curbs on exports of critical materials could hamper that effort and those to start large-scale distribution to Southeast Asia.

A second senior administration official told reporters on Thursday that Washington’s focus was foremost on getting vaccines to Americans, adding: “We will not be talking about sharing vaccines right now.”

India, Australia and Japan have all faced security challenges from China, strengthening their interest in the Quad. Cooperation among them dates back to their joint response to the Indian Ocean earthquake and

tsunami in 2004.

The Quad was revived under the Trump administration, which regarded it as a vehicle to push back against China’s spreading influence. The United States hosted a foreign ministers’ meeting in 2019, which was followed by another in Japan last year and a virtual session in February.

Friday’s meeting coincided with a major US diplomatic drive to solidify alliances in Asia and Europe to counter China.

On Sunday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin head to Japan and South Korea for the first face-to-face meetings between senior officials of the Biden administration and US allies - underscoring the critical importance Washington places on Asia and the China challenge.

Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, will join Blinken in Alaska next week to meet with China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, and State Councillor Wang Yi the first high-level in-person contact between the world’s two largest economies under the Biden administration.

Washington has said it will not hold back in its criticism of Beijing over issues ranging from Taiwan to Hong Kong and the genocide it says China is committing against minorities. US officials have said they see the meeting with their Chinese counterparts as a “one-off session”, with future senior-level engagements based on Washington seeing tangible outcomes to address its grievances with Beijing.

More protests held in Myanmar as South Korea suspends defence exchanges YANgoN Agencies

Myanmar activists held more rallies against the junta on Friday as South Korea said it would suspend defence exchanges and reconsider development aid to the Southeast Asian nation because of the military’s harsh crackdown on the protests.

Friday’s rallies came a day after a rights group said security forces killed 12 protesters and as the lawyer of deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi ridiculed new bribery allegations against her.

The deaths took to more than 70 the number of protesters killed since the coup, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) advocacy group said.

“Despite repeated demands of the international community, including South Korea, there are an increasing number of victims in Myanmar due to violent acts of the military and police authorities,” South Korea’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

It said Seoul would suspend defence exchanges, ban arms exports, limit exports of other strategic items, reconsider development aid and grant humanitarian exemptions allowing Myanmar nationals to stay in South Korea until the situation improved.

Protests were held in Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city, and several other towns on Friday, social media photographs posted by witnesses and news organisations showed. There were no immediate reports of violence.

The country has been in crisis since the army ousted Suu Kyi’s elected government in a Feb. 1 coup, detained

her and officials of her National League for Democracy party and set up a ruling junta of generals.

Junta spokesman Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun said on Thursday Suu Kyi had accepted illegal payments worth $600,000, as well as gold, while in government, according to a complaint by Phyo Mien Thein, a former chief minister of Yangon.

Adding corruption charges to the accusations facing Suu Kyi, 75, could bring her a harsher penalty. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate now faces four comparatively minor charges, such as illegally importing six walkie-talkie radios and flouting coronavirus curbs.

“This accusation is the most hilarious joke,” Suu Kyi’s lawyer Khin Maung Zaw said in a statement posted on social media. “She might have other weaknesses but she doesn’t have weakness in moral principle.” Thursday was one of the deadliest days since the military took power. Among the dead were eight people killed in the central town of Myaing when security forces fired on a protest, the AAPP said.

In Yangon, protester Chit Min Thu was killed in the North Dagon district. His wife, Aye Myat Thu, told Reuters he had insisted on joining the protests despite her appeals that he stay home for the sake of their son.

“He said it’s worth dying for,” she said through her tears. “He is worried about people not joining the protest. If so, democracy will not return to the country.”

The bloodshed also came hours after the UN Security Council had called for restraint from the army, which has been trying to put down daily anti-coup protests and paralysing strikes. Pro-democracy activists

urged people not to be cowed and in posts on social media called for night demonstrations on Friday and for strikes and civil disobedience campaigns that have paralysed swathes of the economy to continue. Candlelight vigils by protesters in defiance of a curfew have been held more frequently in recent weeks.

‘CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY’: UN human rights investigator Thomas Andrews told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva the military may have committed crimes against humanity. He called for multilateral sanctions on the junta and the state energy firm, Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise.

The army did not respond to requests for comment on the latest deaths, but the junta spokesman said on Thursday the security forces were disciplined and used force only when necessary.

Rights group Amnesty International accused the army of using lethal force against protesters and said many killings it had documented amounted to extra-judicial executions. Suu Kyi fought for decades to overturn military rule under previous juntas before the start of tentative democratic reforms in 2011. She had spent a total of about 15 years under house arrest.

The army has justified taking power by saying that a November election, overwhelmingly won by Suu Kyi’s party, was marred by fraud - an assertion rejected by the electoral commission. Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun reiterated the military would only be in charge for a certain period before holding an election. The junta has said a state of emergency will last for a year, but has not set a date for the election.

Turkey plans to host Afghan peace talks in April ANKARA Agencies

Turkey plans to host Afghanistan peace talks in Istanbul in April, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Friday, and Ankara will appoint an Afghanistan special envoy. Cavusoglu’s comments come after the United States shared a draft peace plan calling for replacing Afghanistan’s government with a power-sharing interim administration pending elections under a new constitution.

The US proposal is intended to jump-start stalled talks in Doha between the Taliban and a team including Afghan officials on a political settlement to decades of conflict. Cavusoglu said Turkey had previously been asked by Afghan officials, the Taliban and the negotiation team to host talks, and this week’s decision came after a US proposal for Turkey to host a meeting.

“This is not a meeting that is an alternative to the

Qatar process, it is a complement to that,” state-owned Anadolu news agency quoted Cavusoglu as saying. We will carry this out in coordination with brotherly Qatar, but it will be in Turkey.”

He said the aim was for talks between the Taliban and the government to continue in a “goal-oriented” way. The exact date in April, and the content of the talks, were being discussed.

Cavusoglu also said Turkey had been sending messages to the Taliban and the negotiating team, calling for violence in the country to stop for talks to yield results.

The Taliban and the Afghan government have been negotiating in Qatar to reach a peace deal. Those talks resumed in January after an almost month-long break, but negotiators and diplomats say there has been little progress since then.

Russia also plans to hold a conference on Afghanistan in Moscow later this month, the TASS news agency said on Tuesday.

Saturday, 13 March, 2021

SPORTS 11

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BowlerS helP AfghAniStAn tAke Control in SeCond ZimBABwe teSt

PCB names squads for South Africa, Zimbabwe tours NEWS DESK

AbU DhAbI

A

AGENCIES

FGHANISTAN are ten wickets away from squaring the twoTest series against Zimbabwe, having enforced the follow-on in Abu Dhabi after dismissing the opponents for 287 in the first innings for a 258-run lead. On a pitch that's taking turn but remains good for batting, Zimbabwe openers Kevin Kasuza and Prince Masvaure batted out the 13 overs before close in their second innings to shave 24 runs off the deficit.

Rashid Khan and Amir Hamza shared seven wickets between them in Zimbabwe's first innings and ensured that Zimbabwe were unable to build on a decent start. The opening pair of Kasuza and Masvaure put on 91 then, but Zimbabwe then lost four wickets for 54 runs before Tarisai Musakanda and Sikandar Raza steadied them. Musakanda and Ryan Burl were then dismissed in successive overs and Raza was again needed to do a repair job. He put on 53 with Regis Chakabva, Zimbabwe's only other halfcentury stand, and after Chakabva was dismissed, Zimbabwe lost their last four wickets for 45 runs in the hour after tea and had to bat again.

Khan, who got four wickets in the first innings, was given the new ball, which he shared with left-arm seamer Sayed Shirzad, who had a significant impact with the old ball in the first innings with two wickets in two balls. It was Shirzad's double-strike in his first over after lunch that put paid to any thoughts Zimbabwe might have had of batting out the day.

Which is what they must have hoped for at the start of the day, with Kasuza and Masvaure unbeaten overnight and the scoreboard showing 50 for no loss. But Kasuza reached for a wide delivery from Khan that he could have left alone to fall for 41, and Masvaure was then bowled by Hamza. Shirzad rushed Sean Williams

into a pull, which he could only top-edge to midwicket, and then removed Wesley Madhevere for his second golden duck of the series. Shirzad found Madhevere's outside edge with a delivery that angled in and left the batsman, who doesn't have a run in Test cricket so far.

Those wickets were a redemption of sorts for Afghanistan's lone seamer in this match after a poor morning spell. His four overs cost 22 runs and Kasuza plucked boundaries off him with ease, forcing Asghar Afghan to use spin from both ends early on. Offspinner Javed Ahmadi found sharp turn but the breakthrough only came when Khan was introduced and removed Kasuza. Zimbabwe have gone without a century opening stand in almost ten years, since August 2011.

Musakanda was around when Mas-

Brathwaite replaces Holder as West Indies Test captain ANTIGUA AGENCIES

Kraigg Brathwaite will replace Jason Holder as the West Indies Test captain with a two-Test series against Sri Lanka coming up this month, Cricket West Indies said Thursday. Brathwaite has previously led the team in seven Tests while deputising for Holder, including in the recent 2-0 Test Series win away to Bangladesh. “It is a huge honour to be given the captaincy of the West Indies Test team,” Brathwaite said. “I feel extremely proud and humbled that the Board and Selectors have given me the opportunity and responsibility to lead the team. “The recent Test Series win in Bangladesh was a fantastic a hievement and I’m really looking forward to the upcoming home series against Sri Lanka and I’m excited about what I believe this team can achieve in the future.” The squad for the first Test against Sri Lanka, scheduled for March 21-25, will be announced soon. Roger Harper, CWI lead selector, said selectors were impressed that in Bangladesh Brathwaite “was able to motivate his players to play to a very high level and create the culture we are looking to establish where the team showed a collective determination to fight and a real hunger for success.” Holder, the 29-year-old who was named captain of the Test team in 2015, was one of several players who opted not to tour Bangladesh because of Covid-19 related concerns. The current number one all-rounder in the ICC Test rankings, Holder captained the West Indies team in 37 Tests, leading the side to 11 wins, five draws and 21 defeats. “On behalf of CWI, I would like to thank Jason for all he has given to the game in the region while serving as Captain of our Test team,” CWI director of cricket Jimmy Adams said. “As the world’s leading Test all-rounder, we all believe that Jason still has a tremendous role to play in West Indies Test Cricket for many years to come.”

vaure got to his third Test fifty, which came with a quick single that almost led to the batsman being run-out at the nonstriker's end. Musakanda went on to a career-best 41 and was particularly severe on Khan's short balls, but the legspinner had the last laugh when he trapped Musakanda lbw. In the next over, a Hamza delivery that turned in from the rough clipped Ryan Burl's leg stump to dismiss him for a duck and leave Zimbabwe on 189 for 6 and staring down the barrel.

Raza and Chakabva not only stabilised Zimbabwe but also took the fight to Afghanistan. They would have wanted to see Zimbabwe to the close, but Chakabva was victim to an outstanding catch from Ibrahim Zadran at short leg when he looked to work a Khan delivery to the leg side but sent the ball in the air, Zadran sticking out his left hand and taking the

catch low to his right. That left Raza, who was on 43 at the time, to usher the tail and work towards avoiding the follow-on. He reached 50 off 80 balls and then saw Donald Tiripano given out four balls later to a catch at silly point although there did not appear to be any bat involved. Raza played some shots after that, whacking Khan over mid-on for four and Hamza over long-on for six, even as he tried to keep the strike away from Blessing Muzarabani.

Afghanistan were on to Zimbabwe's survival tactics and it was around then that we got a moment that may be talked about long after this Test is done and dusted. Raza hit a shot off the last ball of a Shirzad over, and the ball went towards the point boundary before stopping just short. But Hashmatullah Shahidi, in bending down to pick the ball up, had one foot over the line.

The Pakistan Cricket Board on Friday announced its squads for the upcoming tours of South Africa and Zimbabwe. Pakistan are scheduled to play three One-day Internationals and four Twenty20 Internationals against South Africa from April 2 to 16. After the South Africa tour, the team will depart to Zimbabwe to play two Tests and three T20Is. Test squad: Babar Azam (captain), Imran Butt, Abid Ali, Abdullah Shafique, Azhar Ali, Fawad Alam, Saud Shakeel, Agha Salman, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Sarfaraz Ahmed, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Tabish Khan, Hasan Ali, Shahnawaz Dhani, Nauman Ali, Zahid Mahmood, Sajid Khan. ODI squad: Babar Azam (captain), Imam-ul-Haq, Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Haider Ali, Danish Aziz, Saud Shakeel, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Usman Qadir, Hasan Ali. T20I squad: Babar Azam (captain), Shadab Khan, Sharjeel Khan, Mohammad Hafeez, Haider Ali, Danish Aziz, Asif Ali, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Sarfaraz Ahmed (wk), Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Wasim Jr, Haris Rauf, Mohammad Hasnain, Usman Qadir, Hasan Ali, Arshad Iqbal.

AC Milan grab last-gasp equaliser at Man United; Arsenal, Spurs sail in Europa League LONDON AGENCIES

Simon Kjaer’s last-gasp equaliser gave AC Milan a dramatic 1-1 draw at Manchester United on Thursday, handing the Italians a great chance of reaching the Europa League quarterfinals while Roma, Tottenham and Arsenal cruised closer to the lasteight.

Kjaer netted with a bullet header in the final seconds of stoppage time of the last 16, first leg encounter at Old Trafford, levelling the scores after Amad Diallo had opened in the 50th minute with his first United goal.

“This is a great result, we played really well, showed personality and I think we dominated,” the defender told Sky Sport Italia.

Milan called the shots early on and had two goals disallowed, Rafael Leao’s effort ruled offside and Franck Kessie’s powerful 11thminute finish chalked off after a VAR review showed the ball had glanced off the midfielder’s arm before his shot.

Diallo’s introduction at half-time proved an inspired move from United coach Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as the 18-year-old Ivorian, recently bought by United from Milan’s Serie A rivals Atalanta, soon broke the deadlock. Bruno Fernandes unfurled a delightful long pass towards Diallo, who made an incisive run behind the Milan defence and looped a clever backwards header over Gianluigi Donnarumma. But United failed to build on that lead and Milan’s intelligent play was rewarded with just seconds remaining when Kjaer powered his header past Dean Henderson from a corner.

ROMA, SPURS, AND ARSENAL CRUISE: Milan’s domestic rivals Roma made sure it was a good night for Italian football with a 3-0 win over

Shakhtar Donetsk at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

Lorenzo Pellegrini prodded home the opener in the 23rd minute after latching on to Pedro’s through ball.

Shakhtar pressed for a leveller after the break but quick-fire goals from Stephan El Shaarawy – his first for Roma since returning from China – and Gianluca Mancini gave Paulo Fonseca’s side a strong lead to defend in the second leg.

The win will have been particularly sweet for Fonseca, who came to Roma from Shakhtar in the summer of 2019. A Harry Kane double helped Tottenham Hotspur ease to a 2-0 home win over Dinamo Zagreb that continues a good run of form for Jose Mourinho’s team. Spurs have now won their last five matches in all competitions thanks to Thursday’s victory in London. “We had some ups and downs in the season but we come into

an important period now and it is good to feel the players are ready to help the team,” said Spurs keeper Hugo Lloris.

Arsenal also came away with a win, 3-1 at Olympiakos which all but secures their passage into the quarters. Martin Odegaard’s first Arsenal goal was cancelled out by Youssef El-Arabi. But two goals in six minutes from Gabriel Magalhaes and substitute Mohamed Elneny earned victory. Molde’s heartening European run looks to have come to an end after a 2-0 defeat at La Liga side Granada.

RANGERS, AJAX WELL PLACED: Rangers are well placed to make the quarter-finals after a 1-1 draw away to Slavia Prague.

Filip Helander’s close-range finish in the first half levelled Nicolae Stanciu’s superb opener and left Steve Gerrard’s Rangers still in the hunt for a

European trophy with the draw in Prague, days after winning their first Scottish League title in 10 years.

The highlight of the match however was Allan McGregor’s stunning save near the end, the Scot somehow stopping and holding on to Lukas Masopust’s thumping header, which looked destined for the bottom corner.

“I saw it a wee bit late. It’s just one of these things,” McGregor told BT Sport.

“You react to it, you stick your hand out and hope it doesn’t go in, and it never, so happy days!”

Four-time European champions Ajax are almost guaranteed a place in the last eight after thumping Young Boys 3-0 in Amsterdam through goals from Davy Klaassen, Dusan Tadic and Brian Brobbey.

Villarreal also look good to make the quarters thanks to a 2-0 win at Dynamo Kiev.

Saturday, 13 March, 2021

Prayer Timings

NEWS

9 Pakistanis amOng 65 mEdia wOrkErs killEd in 2020: iFJ a total of 65 journalists and media workers, including nine from Pakistan, were killed worldwide in 2020 while doing their jobs, according to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).

That is 17 more than in 2019, and the death toll is around the same level as in the 1990s, the federation said Friday as it published details of its annual report on killings.

The IFJ said that the killings took place in 16 different countries during targeted attacks, bomb attacks and crossfire incidents.

A total of 2,680 journalists have been killed since the IFJ started keeping count in 1990.

“The ruthless reign of crime barons in Mexico, the violence of extremists in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Somalia, as well as the intolerance of hard-liners in India and the Philippines have contributed to the continued bloodshed in the media,’’ said

IFJ General Secretary Anthony Bellanger.

For the fourth time in five years, Mexico topped the list of countries where the most journalists were killed, with 14 killings. It was followed by 10 deaths in Afghanistan; nine in Pakistan, eight in India, four each in the Philippines and Syria, and three each in Nigeria and Yemen. There were also killings in Iraq, Somalia, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Honduras, Paraguay, Russia and Sweden.

In addition to the deaths, the IFJ said that at least 229 journalists were in prison across the world as of March 2021 because of their work. The federation said that Turkey is “the biggest jailer of journalists in the world” — with at least 67 media workers in its cells. That was followed by 23 journalists detained in China, 20 in Egypt, and 16 in Eritrea. ‘’No democracy worthy of that name can jail messengers of freedom of expression,” Bellanger said. news Desk

WHO approves Janssen vaccine for COVAX roll-out ISLAMABAD agencies

The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Friday listed the Covid-19 vaccine, Ad26.COV2.S, developed by Janssen (Johnson & Johnson), for emergency use in all countries and for COVAX roll-out.

The decision comes on the back of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) authorisation, which was announced a day earlier, said a press statement.

“Every new, safe and effective tool against Covid-19 is another step closer to controlling the pandemic,” said WHO Director General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “But the hope offered by these tools will not materialize unless they are made available to all people in all countries. I urge governments and companies to live up to their commitments and to use all solutions at their disposal to ramp up production so that these tools become truly global public goods, available and affordable to all, and a shared solution to the global crisis.”

The vaccine from Janssen is the first to be listed by WHO as a single dose regimen, which should facilitate vaccination logistics in all countries. The ample data from large clinical trials shared by the company also shows that the vaccine is effective in older populations.

To expedite listing of the vaccine, WHO and a team of assessors from all regions adopted what is called an ‘abbreviated assessment’ based on outcomes of the EMA review, and evaluation of quality, safety and efficacy data

focused on low- and middle-income country needs. The WHO assessment also considered suitability requirements such as cold chain storage and risk management plans to be implemented in countries.

While the vaccine needs to be stored at -20 degrees, which may prove challenging in some environments, it can be kept for three months at 2-8°C and it has a long

shelf life of two years.

The WHO will convene its Strategic Advisory Group on Immunization Experts next week to formulate recommendations on use of the vaccine. In the meantime, WHO continues to work with countries and COVAX partners to prepare for roll-out and safety monitoring. The COVAX facility has booked 500 million doses of the vaccine.

FAJR SUNRISE

ZUHR

ASR MAGHRIB ISHA

5:36

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OPEC sees strong oil demand in second half of 2021 Global oil demand is set to benefit from stronger economic recovery and vaccinations in the second half of this year, OPEC said in its report released on Thursday. The cartel, however, revised down in its Monthly Oil Market Report (MOMR) its estimates for global oil demand for the first half of the year due to extended lockdowns in major economies in Europe and high unemployment rates in the United States slowing the recovery. In hindsight, the OPEC+ group’s decision from last week not to lift collective crude oil production from April, leaving only small exemptions to Russia and Kazakhstan, seems not so surprising after all, as the cartel sees now oil demand in the first and second quarters of 2021 lower than in last month’s assessment. In this month’s report, OPEC cut its oil demand estimate for Q1 by 180,000 bpd, and for Q2 by 310,000 bpd compared to the February outlook. The cartel is much more bullish about the second half of the year, and raised its estimates for Q3 and Q4 demand, “reflecting expectations for a stronger economic recovery with the positive impact of vaccination rollouts.” In the third quarter, OPEC now sees demand at 97.43 million bpd, up by 400,000 bpd compared to last month’s assessment. For the fourth quarter, global oil demand is expected at 98.91 million bpd, up by nearly 1 million bpd – 970,000 bpd – compared to the estimate in February. For the full year, OPEC expects oil demand to grow by 5.9 million bpd, up by 100,000 bpd compared with last month’s forecast. Currently, the organisation expects total oil demand to reach 96.3 million bpd, with most consumption appearing in the second half of the year. The base assumption for OPEC’s bullish view for H2 is that by the beginning of the second half of 2021, “the pandemic will largely be contained with the majority of the population in western economies vaccinated, with Covid-19 not posing a major obstacle for emerging and developing economies.” “However, this year’s demand growth will not be able to compensate for the major shortfall from 2020, as mobility is forecast to remain impaired throughout 2021,” OPEC said. agencies

Asian markets up as Biden signs US stimulus legislation ISLAMABAD TLTP

Asian shares pushed higher on Friday after US President Joe Biden signed a $1.9 trillion stimulus bill into law, and as a retreat in bond yields overnight eased global concerns about rising inflation.

Biden signed the legislation ahead of a televised address in which he pledged aggressive action to speed vaccinations and move the country closer to normality by July 4.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) gained 2.36 per cent with the benchmark KSE-100 jumping up with 1,008 points.

MSCI’s broadest gauge index of AsiaPacific shares outside Japan soared 0.5 per cent on Friday morning, supported by tech gains.

Seoul’s Kospi added 1.1 per cent, Taiwan shares were up 0.2 per cent and Australia’s ASX 200 gained 0.9 per cent.

Japan’s Nikkei rose almost 1 per cent, but China’s blue-chip CSI300 index lost 0.4 per cent as that country’s high-valuation tech and consumer firms dragged.

The signing of the American Rescue Plan provided a further boost to market sentiment after the European Central Bank said it was ready to accelerate money-printing to keep a lid on borrowing costs, using its $2.2tn Pandemic Emergency Purchase Program (PEPP) more generously over the coming months to stop any unwarranted rise in debt financing costs.

“It’s looking like we’ll see a positive

open across Asia-Pacific markets,” said Michael McCarthy, chief markets strategist at CMC Markets.

“The big news overnight was the decision from the ECB. There might be some disappointment they didn’t expand their bond purchase programme but that’s largely offset by undertakings to accelerate the purchases.”

The US technology stocks pushed the broader market solidly higher on Thursday, as investors welcomed another reprieve from the volatility in the bond market that has dominated the conversation on Wall Street for the last several weeks.

Big Tech stocks, which have been hurt this year by rising bond yields, were among the biggest gainers. Apple was up 1.5 per cent, Microsoft rose 2.4 per cent and Google’s parent company, Alphabet, was up 3.4 per cent.

“We are entering this environment where growth is going to be higher than expected,” said Charlie Ripley, senior investment strategist for Allianz Investment Management.

“With higher growth you get higher interest rates.”

Much of the uncertainty facing the market at the beginning of the year has faded, he said, as vaccine distribution ramped up and businesses reopened. The latest round of stimulus from Washington is also helping to lift uncertainty about the recovery.

A better-than-expected US government bond auction could support a rally in tech stocks and a rotation between growth and

value stocks in the next few weeks, said Cliff

Zhao, chief strategist at China Construction

Bank International in Hong Kong.

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, for PT Print (Pvt) Limited. Ph: 021-35381208-9. Email: newsroom@pakistantoday.com.pk