EpaperKHI_21-02-03

Wednesday, 3 February, 2021 I 20 Jamadi-ul-Sani, 1442 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XI No 216 I 12 Pages I Karachi Edition

Pakistan kicks off coronavirus vaccination drive g

pm imran urGes puBlic to adhere to coronavirus prevention Guidelines

ISLAMABAD

P

STAFF REPORT

rime minister imran Khan on tuesday appreciated the efforts of his government for moving quickly to secure the covid-19 vaccine, as well as thanking china for helping pakistan obtain half a million doses of the vaccine. addressing a ceremony to mark the launch of the vaccination drive, the premier reiterated that the vaccine will be first administered to health workers working with covid-19 patients, followed by the elderly in the high-risk age group. he added that the vaccine would be evenly distributed among the provinces. he once again appealed to the public to wear a mask and follow the covid-19 guidelines. “if allah has blessed pakistan as compared to the rest of the world, we should be grateful for that and take full precautions,” he emphasised. pm imran saw the first jab of the vaccine being given to a doctor in the federal capital before the ceremony.

the first batch of vaccines in the country were donated by china and had arrived by a pakistan air force (paf) earlier in the day. pakistan on tuesday reported its lowest one-day rise in coronavirus infections since november when the second wave of the pandemic swept the nation following the series of pakistan democratic movement (pdm) protests seeking to oust the government. the update comes as the government began to ease restrictions aimed at slowing the spread of the contagious disease, including reopening of schools and universities across the country. in the last 24 hours, the government portal keeping track of the disease posted 1,220 new infections after conducting 38,813 tests, receiving back a reduced transmission rate of 3.14 percent. with the new cases, the total number of coronavirus-positive patients across the country rose to 547,648. meanwhile, as many as 63 more people died of virus-related complications over the last 24 hours, taking the tally to 11, 746. the death toll was highest in punjab followed by sindh.

coronavirus in

Pakistan

CONFIRMED CASES:

547,648

of the total deaths, 4,004 were reported in sindh; 4,793 in punjab; 1,912 in Khyber pakhtunkhwa (Kp); 475 in islamabad; 196 in Balochistan; 264 in azad jammu and Kashmir (ajK); and 102 in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB). the national command and operations centre (ncoc) said that of the 34 fatalities reported on january 30, eight were reported in sindh, 46 in punjab, six in Kp and two in ajK. a total of 502,537 people have so far recovered from the disease. with this, the total number of recovered coronavirus patients stands at 502,537. pakistan has so far conducted about 8,005,794 tests. about 631 hospitals are equipped with covid-19-related facilities and around 2,508 patients are admitted to hospitals for pandemic-related treatment across the country. the government has secured 1.2 million doses from china’s sinopharm, 500,000 of whih arrived on monday. frontline healthcare workers in major cities are due to start receiving shots next week, and negotiations are underway for vaccines from other manufacturers, said minister for planning and development asad umar. state minister for health dr faisal sultan has confirmed the country will also receive 17 million doses of astraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine in the first quarter of 2021. about 6 million of those doses are expected in the country in march with the remaining batches following in the second quarter of the year, he said.

drap allows import of russian coronavirus vaccine STORY ON PAGE 03

Six more IPPs agree to renegotiate terms for cheap electricity ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

the government has reached another milestone, as talks with six more independent power producers (ipps) for cheaper electricity in the country remain successful. according to details, the government team had successful deals with six new ipps for affordable electricity. so far, 47 ipps with an overall production capacity of 7450mw electricity have agreed to sign the agreement with the government for cheaper power supply to the consumers. after the approval of the federal cabinet and economic coordination committee (ecc), the official contracts signing will take place instantly. a day earlier, Kot addu power company limited (Kapco) initialed an agreement with central power purchasing agency (cppa) to amend the power purchase agreement (ppa) and reduce existing capacity payments. according to a statement issued to pakistan stock exchange (psx) on monday, Kapco and cppa on behalf of water and power development authority (wapda) have initialed a master agreement and an amendment to power purchase agreement between the company and wapda in further-

Kashmir dispute be resolved in dignified, peaceful way: COAS g

General Bajwa says it's time to extend hand of peace in all directions RISALPUR STAF REPORT

LAST UPDATED AT 7:27 AM ON FEBRUARY 2, 2021

DAY'S DEATH TOLL:

63

RECOVERED:

NEW CASES:

1,220 DEATHS:

502,537 11,746 SINDH:

PUNJAB:

247,727

158,220

KP:

BALOCHISTAN:

AJK/GB:

ISLAMABAD:

67,419

18,830

9,050/4,909 41,493

chief of army staff (coas) General Qamar javed Bajwa has said that pakistan and india must resolve the Kashmir dispute in a “dignified and peaceful manner”. “pakistan and india must resolve the long-standing issue of jammu and Kashmir in a dignified and peaceful manner as per the aspirations of people of jammu and Kashmir and bring this human tragedy to its logical conclusion,” the army chief said during the graduation ceremony of 144th Gd(p), 90th engineering course and 100th ad courses held at paf academy asghar Khan on tuesday. “however, we will not allow anybody or any entity to misinterpret our desire for peace as a sign of weakness,” the inter-services public relations (ispr) quoted the army chief as saying. pakistan, he said, is a peaceloving country that has rendered great sacrifices for regional and global peace. “we stand firmly committed to the ideal of mu-

ance of the memorandum of understanding (mou) executed on august 19, 2020, between the company and the government committee for negotiation with ipps. these agreements have been initialed by Kapco, on the request of the government of pakistan, in the larger national interest and in order to maintain the sustainability of the power sector. the initial terms of these agreements are, inter alia, that the existing capacity payments and variable o&m shall be reduced by 11pc; usd exchange rate and us cpi indexations shall be discontinued on 50pc of the reduced capacity payment (which shall be locked at national Bank of pakistan’s tt/od selling pKr/usd exchange rate of rs168.60/usd without any local or international currency indexation or inflation adjustment for the future and the us cpi of august); usd exchange rate and us cpi indexations on a reduced variable o&m and 50pc of the reduced capacity payment shall continue as per existing arrangement; without prejudice to the terms of its generation license, Kapco will have the option to participate in the competitive trading arrangement when it is implemented and becomes fully operational.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

more inside

14 dead as speeding coach overturns in Balochistan STORY ON PAGE 02

pakistan lodges protest as indian firing along loc leaves 4 injured STORY ON BACK PAGE tual respect and peaceful coexistence. it is time to extend a hand of peace in all directions.” on august 5, 2019 the modiled government removed the legal fig leaf from indian occupied Kashmir (ioK) when it abrogated article 370 of its constitution, which accorded ostensible “autonomy” to the state, and bifurcated it into two “union territories” of jammu and Kashmir and ladakh.

General Bajwa said that the armed forces of pakistan are fully capable and prepared to thwart any threat. “the immaculate co-

ordination and harmony displayed by all the three services in operations against the enemies of pakistan has brought great improvement in the internal security environment.” according to the ispr, the army chief specially commended the critical role played by pakistan air force in war on terror. “the outstanding courage and professional excellence displayed by brave air warriors of pakistan air force during operation swift retort is a manifestation of our resolve and capability.”

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

SC orders to remove suspect in Pearl murder from death cell STORY ON BACK PAGE

cabinet panel laments slow progress on cpec projects STORY ON PAGE 03

02

Wednesday, 3 February, 2021

NEWS

projects underway to Build over 100,000 housing units: Faraz ISLAMABAD

M

APP

INISTER for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz on Tuesday said that the government’s plan to boost construction activity was moving ahead as over 100,000 housing units were being built in different projects.

Addressing a press conference to share details of the decisions taken in the weekly cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan, he said that under a government plan, the people were getting loans from banks for the low-cost housing.

On the instructions of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), he said, the banks had come

projects.

Faraz said that the government had put in place a mechanism to make it easy for the builders of houses, plazas and shopping malls to get no-objection certificates and maps’ approval.

He said that the prime minister took strict notice and condemned in strong words the incident in which a squad of vehicles had broken the red traffic signal in Islamabad and four people were killed.

He also said that the PM instructed the federal and provincial governments to strictly discourage the use of security and protocol squads on roads which created a culture of fear and impunity. A mechanism was already in place under which committees recommended bulletproof cars

up with packages for building homes and had allocated five per cent or Rs378 billion of their loan portfolio for the purpose. The banks were giving loans on five to 7 per cent mark-up for the construction of five marla houses and the loan limit was set at Rs3.5 million, he added.

The parliament had also passed the foreclosure law to protect such banks loans, he further said.

The minister said that two important projects, including Ravi Riverfront Urban Development Project and the Bundle Islands, were currently underway.

According to a briefing of the Housing Ministry, about 35,700 housing units were being built presently while over 21,000 would be constructed in another six

secp makes customers’ due diligence mandatory for brokerages, others ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has made it mandatory for regulated persons to conduct customers' due diligence under the Anti-Money Laundering Act. The SECP issued directives through SRO 105(I)/2021 related to customers due diligence. The regulated person has been explained as "securities brokers, futures brokers, insurers, takaful operators, nonbanking finance companies (NBFCs) and Modaraba regulated by SECP under administered legislation". In exercise of the powers conferred under section 6A of the AML Act, the SECP directed all regulated persons to comply with following customer due diligence requirements under section 7A(1)(b) of the AML Act and section 8(1) of the SECP AML/CFT Regulations, 2020, namely: (a). The regulated persons shall, at minimum, conduct CDD of their customers/ occasional customers in circumstances and matters set out in section 7(A)1 of the AML Act; (b) For the purposes of section 7(A)(1)(b) of the AML Act, the regulated persons shall conduct CDD in respect of every occasional customer. Any person to whom this directive applies and who contravenes or fails to comply with the requirements of this directive shall be subject to sanction in accordance with AML/CFT Sanctions Rules, 2020, issued under the AML Act, 2010, and imposed by the commission according to Clause (h) of Sub-section (2) of Section 6A of AML Act. STAFF REPORT

ogra authorises hdip to inspect industrial, commercial gas metres ISLAMABAD: Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) on Tuesday authorised the Hydrocarbon Development Institute of Pakistan (HDIP) to inspect and test industrial and commercial gas metres on the request of consumers. All the inspections in future would be carried out by the HDIP and respective Sui companies jointly, the authority said in a news release. OGRA said it took this decision under the Natural Gas Measurement (Technical Standards) Regulations, 2019. The authority also directed both the Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited and Sui Southern Gas Company to coordinate with the HDIP before initiating inspections, replacement or testing of meters carried out on request of industrial and commercial consumers. APP

14 dead as speeding coach overturns in Balochistan

and security staff for vulnerable citizens, he added.

The minister said that the problem of land grabbers was also discussed in the meeting and it was informed that operations were continuing against illegal occupiers of state land, including those who had encroached upon railways land.

Railways Minister Azam Swati was working on the issue of railways land and he was further instructed to get recovered the government assets, he added.

Land grabbing had weakened the rule of law and also created a sense of insecurity among the public, especially the overseas Pakistanis, he also said, adding it was the responsibility of the government to protect the state assets.

Hamza moves LHC for bail in assets beyond means case LAHORE STAFF REPORT

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) vice president and Punjab Assembly Opposition Leader Hamza Shahbaz on Tuesday filed a bail request in Lahore High Court (LHC) in a case pertaining to assets beyond sources.

National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Justice (r) Javed Iqbal and the agency's Lahore director general have been nominated in the petition.

Shahbaz has maintained that the reference was filed 14 months after his arrest in June 2019. Keeping an accused in jail for this long is equivalent to sentencing them before the trial, he stated.

The agency had arrested the PML-N leader from inside the high court after his lawyer withdrew the application for bail extension in the two corruption cases.

He along with his father National Assembly

opposition leader and PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif was indicted in November last in the Rs7 billion reference involving charges of money laundering and assets beyond means.

The reference mainly accuses Sharif of being a beneficiary of the assets held in the name of his family members and frontmen, who had no sources to acquire such assets.

It says the family members and the frontmen of the family received fake foreign remittances of billions in their personal bank accounts.

In addition to these remittances, the bureau says, billions of rupees were laundered by way of foreign pay orders, which were deposited in the personal bank accounts of Hamza and his brother Suleman Shahbaz.

The reference further says Sharif and his family failed to justify the sources of funds used for the acquisition of assets.

ECC likely to approve Rs141m grant to pay off Covid campaign fees ISALAMABD AHMAD AHMADANI

Federal cabinet’s Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on Wednesday is likely to direct the finance division to allocate Rs141.308 million as a technical supplementary grant (TSG) to Ministry of Information and Broadcasting so it may clear the accumulated dues of the Covid-19 media campaign.

Following the pandemic outbreak in the country, the Ministry of Information launched a designed media campaign to raise public awareness, and in this regard, it incurred an expenditure of Rs141.380 million. This amount has remained unpaid till date, Pakistan Today learnt. Sources said that the information ministry had launched the media campaign in the absence of available budget after emergency directions from the cabinet.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting took up the matter with the finance division on a number of occasions but funds have not been made available so far,

said sources. A meeting of the ECC, scheduled to be held on Wednesday under the chairmanship of the finance minister, will take up five agenda points, including renewal of the lease on Garden West (Pakistan Quarters) and allocation of funds for the aforementioned media campaign.

It is relevant to mention that the provision of funds amounting to Rs500 million was approved by ECC on June 10, 2020 and this decision was ratified by the cabinet later the same month. However, these funds were never made available to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

Regarding a summary presented by the Ministry of Housing and Works, titled as “Renewal of lease of Garden West (Pakistan Quarters)", it is likely that ECC may allocate fund amounting to Rs377 million for payment of lease to the government of Sindh. The quarters in Garden West, Karachi, a property measuring 32.13 acres and on lease from the provincial government of Sindh, comprises 396 residential accommodations for federal government servants. The government has planned an expansion of this residential area by adding more floors to the existing building.

KARACHI: At least 14 people died and nine hurt when a speeding passenger coach overturned near Uthal city of Balochistan's Lasbela district on Tuesday. The ill-fated coach was travelling to Karachi from Panjgur, according to Balochistan Levies personnel.

The accident took place near Wayaro Farm when the driver lost control of the vehicle.

The deceased include five women and two children, the rescue officials said. The bodies and injured were shifted to the District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital, Uthal while four patients who are said to be in a critical condition were shifted to Karachi. APP

sindh education minister says schools will close if cases increase Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani, a day after the schools reopened across the country, said that the province may close its educational institutes once more if the number of cases increases. "Parents who do not want to send their children to schools can refrain from it. Also, the administration can't ensure SOPs' implementation; the parents should play their part in it as well," the education minister said at a press conference. He added that the schools were only allowed to function at 50 per cent capacity in a bid to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus and that the government had conducted coronavirus tests in the schools and colleges before they reopened.

The minister further said that four colleges had been shut down due to the high number of cases. The positivity rate in colleges stands at 1.9 per cent, while it is at 5.9 per cent in schools. Sharing further statistics, he said that the government had conducted 11,845 tests in the province's schools' and from them, 546 came positive. "As the minister, I want the education department to improve." NEWS DESK

shc moved against css 2019 result KARACHI: The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday directed the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) chairperson to submit a response on a petition seeking to annul the result of the 2019 Central Superior Services (CSS) examination. A two-judge bench, headed by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar, questioned why the exam was not held afresh when a paper got leaked? He directed the FPSC chairperson to furnish his reply by the next hearing. The petitioner’s counsel stated that the exam was not held in a transparent manner as it was marred by accusations of irregularities, including the leaking of papers.

He said an FIR of the paper leak was also lodged and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) confirmed during its investigation that the paper was in fact leaked. He added FPSC officials were also arrested on charges of leaking the question paper. The petitioner pleaded with the court to cancel the result of the CSS 2019 exam and issue directives for the authorities concerned to hold the examination afresh. INP

Opp on same page on long march to Islamabad: Maryam LAHORE INP

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz on Tuesday said that all members parties of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) have agreed on holding an anti-government long march to Islamabad.

Talking to reporters, she said that PML-N and other PDM parties firmly believe in tendering resignations

from the legislative assemblies. In this regard, a final decision will be taken in the upcoming meeting on February 4, she said.

Maryam further said that anything going against the Constitution will be unaccepted by the opposition parties.

In December, the opposition parties while demanding the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government to quit by January 31, warned of a long march to the capital.

In a media talk, PDM President Maulana Fazlur Rehman said that if the government refused to quit by that time, a meeting of the PDM's leadership on February 1 will announce a long march towards Islamabad, the date of which will also be decided during the meeting.

As part of the anti-government movement, Fazl said that lawmakers from PDM member parties in the national and provincial assemblies will hand in their resignations to their party leaders by December 31.

Wednesday, 3 February, 2021

cabineT panel lamenTs slow proGress on cpec projecTs ISLAMABAD

T

SHAHZAD PARACHA

HE Cabinet Committee on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CCoCPEC), while directing the FBR chairman to ensure his presence in future meetings, has sought a detailed briefing on the framework of rules on exemptions required for Gwadar Free Zone.

According to details, the FBR Policy Member informed the forum on Tuesday that the tax department is dealing with all

exemptions within the existing framework of rules on the subject; however, the status of progress shall be ascertained from related quarters in the FBR. On this, CCoCPEC Chairman Asad Umar expressed displeasure over the continuous absence of FBR chairman from the panel's meetings.

Noticing slow progress on different CPEC projects, the chair was of the view that the CPEC forum was underutilized.

"Therefore, all concerned ministries must submit summaries to the CCoCPEC in respect of projects related

sindh cnG stations to reopen today

to CPEC, where proceedings are pending for inter-ministerial consultation," he added.

Meanwhile, the CPEC Authority chairman informed the meeting that under the CPEC framework, 17 different projects worth $13 billion related to infrastructure, energy and socioeconomic development of Gwadar had been completed; 21 projects of $12 billion were under process; while 26 projects of around $28 billion were in the pipeline.

During the ensuing discussion, the

foreign affairs minister emphasised the strategic importance of the CPEC programme for Pakistan. He stated that this programme should be viewed not only from a financial/economic angle but also as part of an overall strategic scenario given the bilateral relationship of Pakistan with China.

He stressed that proceedings on various fronts of the programme should be expedited as slow pace in this respect shall demonstrate lack of resolve to implement CPEC, which would not be in the interest of Pakistan.

PM for comprehensive strategy on vocational training, skilled manpower

All Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) stations across Sindh will reopen on Wednesday morning after a closure of 48 hours, the Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGC) has said. Gas filling stations were to reopen Thursday morning as per the previous schedule, but the SSGC has revised the schedule, allowing CNG stations to resume business tomorrow after a two-day closure.

Earlier, a SSGC spokesperson had said that gas filling stations would remain shut for 72 hours from 8am on Monday till 8am on Thursday across the province. It is pertinent to mention that the country was faced with a shortfall of gas in winter, forcing the government to cut gas supply to CNG stations and industries so that domestic consumers are facilitated on priority. On Jan 17, SSGC had launched a crackdown against the illegal use of gas compressors. NEWS DESK

Four TikTokers gunned down in Karachi KARACHI: Three men and a woman were gunned down near Anklesaria Hospital in Karachi's Garden area early Tuesday morning, police said. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Sarfaraz Nawaz Sheikh said that all four deceased were active on TikTok, a videosharing platform popular with youth. Two of the deceased, later identified as Muskan and Amir, were friends, he said. According to Sheikh, Muskan called Amir, asking him to meet on Monday night. Amir arranged a car and took his friends, Rehan and Sajjad, to meet her. "All four of them roamed the city and [Amir and Muskan] also made TikTok videos [during that time]," he added. The four, Sheikh said, were attacked near Anklesaria Hospital at 4:48 am by unknown assailants.

"The woman was killed inside the car while all three men were shot outside the car. They were taken to the hospital but succumbed to their wounds," he added. Empty shells from 9mm pistols were found near the car, he said.

The family of the deceased arrived at the police station and a first information report (FIR) would be registered, he added. The SSP said that there were no witnesses to the incident. STAFF REPORT

ISLAMABAD APP

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday stressing on the importance of vocational training and skilled manpower in socio-economic development directed the federal and provincial institutions to formulate and present a joint comprehensive strategy. He said that one of the numerous factors behind economic development of neighborly China was their special focus on skilled manpower.

The prime minister was presiding over a meeting regarding inter-provincial cooperation for skilled education. He further said that with no dearth of capabilities in Pakistani manpower, there was a need to improve their capabilities and provide opportunities of proving the country’s mettle at international level through timely measures.

Federal Minister Shafqat Mehmood, Provincial Ministers Raja Yasir Humayun, Kamran Bangash, Special Assistant to Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Tanvir Ilyas, National Information Technology Board (NITB) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Shabahat Ali Shah, National Vocational and Technical Training Commission (NAVTTC) Chairman Syed Javed Hussain, Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (TEVTA) Chairman Ali Salman Siddiqui, Special Technology Zones Authority (STZA) Chairman Amir Hashmi, Sajjad Burki, Atif Khan and officers concerned were in attendance. The meeting was briefed about the strategy for training the Pakistani skilled people as per international standards.

It was told that in order to tackle the challenges faced

by Pakistani manpower at international level, a comprehensive strategy would be formulated in cooperation with the federal and provincial institutions.

The meeting was told that neglecting the sector in the past resulted in unemployment and decrease in workers’ remittances, instead of transforming the youth into a skilled manpower.

The prime minister was told that TEVTA, for the first time in last 10 years, got a development budget of Rs10 billion during the present government, which enabled the institution to increase its training capacity from 90,000 to 200,000 and further 50,000 through online training system.

It was told that TEVTA, keeping in view the international consumption, was moving towards preparing a new lot of skilled manpower through Competency Based Training and Assessment (CBTS) system, which would be able to get employment in special sectors in any country.

Besides, the meeting was also apprised of introducing various skill training programmes as per the requirement of various countries, establishment of National Accreditation Regime and linking it with various international institutions. The meeting was further told about the initiation of 57 new training courses as well as another 200 courses, which would be started immediately after getting the relevant machinery.

Besides, the prime minister was also apprised of the first-time issuance of 1000 education and training scholarships for nurses.

Federal ministries, provinces asked to prioritise CPEC projects in PSDP 2021-22 ISLAMABAD SHAHZAD PARACHA

The Ministry of Planning and Development has directed all federal ministries as well as provincial governments to give priority to CPEC projects in the next year's Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) 2021-22.

As per details, the planning department has asked all ministries/divisions to identify core projects with tangible deliverables that may be undertaken on priority with adequate funding for early completion during the next year. As per Public Finance Management Act 2019, no

new project that has not been technically approved would be made part of the development budget.

It may be noted that the government has enhanced the approving powers of Departmental Development Working Party (DDWP) from Rs60 million to the limit of Rs2,000 million, with objectives that new viable projects may be quickly processed and approved at DDWP level for timely initiation and effective implementation to avoid cost overrun of new projections in future. The ministry also asked the concerned to observe the provisions of 18 amendments while working out the project-wise proposals for PSDP 2021-22.

Botched Allama Iqbal statue leads to suspension of 2 PHA officials NEWS DESK A statue of the Poet of the East, after having facing heavy backlash on social media, is being removed from Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park and will be returned after improvements have been made to it, the Lahore Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) announced on Tuesday.

Moreover, an order issued by the authority revealed that Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park Deputy Director Horticulture Shah Nawaz Wattoo and Assistant Director (AD)

Horticulture Ghulam Sibtain have been suspended with "immediate effect".

Shortly after his suspension, the AD spoke to a local news outlet, wherein he shared that the construction of the statue had begun during the first wave of the pandemic. However, he added, there was no architect involved, so the sculpture had been made by two gardeners.

This project had been undertaken after the PHA director issued orders for the construction of a "selfie point". Sibtain said he did not spend any state money

to make the selfie point. "I requested some elderly people who come to the park daily to help us with funds in the making of this statue. We bought cement with the collected funds, and used iron rods and wood dumped in the park."

He further explained that the statue had not yet been completed. "We have only completed the left side of the statue but the right side remains incomplete. The statue is not yet accurate". A spokesperson for the PHA earlier today said that the statue would be improved and returned to the park.

SC reverses PHC order to NAB to probe Peshawar BRT ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

The Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday reversed a 2018 order of Peshawar High Court (PHC) directing the National

Accountability Bureau (NAB) to investigate claimed irregularities in the construction of the Peshawar Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project.

In July 2018, the high court ordered the anti-graft agency to probe the "shady"

project, observing that the project was initially projected to cost Rs49.3 billion but the figure eventually soared to Rs67.9 billion. Subsequently, the KP government challenged the verdict in the apex court to stop the probe.

in its detailed verdict, the PHC observed the project was awarded to a firm that was blacklisted in another province, and that the project stood incomplete as of June 24, 2018.

"The delay, the contract awarding process, feasibility and all the issues relating to the Peshawar Sustainable Bus Rapid Transit Corridor Project are all shady and shaky," the verdict read.

NEWS

03

Kashmala Tariq's proTocol vehicle Kills 4 in islamabad ISLAMABAD: At least four people died and two others injured when one of the vehicles in the protocol convoy of Kashmala Tariq, the federal ombudsperson for harassment of women at the workplace, rammed into a car and a motorcycle while violating a traffic light near the Srinagar Highway in Islamabad. The police confirmed that the former MNA's protocol vehicles broke the sector G-11 traffic signal and collided into two vehicles, killing four people and injuring two others. One of the vehicles had a government number plate, the police said. Kashmala's husband, Waqas Khan, and son, Azlan Khan, were also in one of the vehicles. Police told the media that Waqas received wounds on his face following the accident. Police shifted Kashmala's husband Waqas Khan to the Ramna police station, while her son and others in the convoy fled the scene. Superintendent Police (SP) Sarfraz Virk told the media that the owner of Best Western Hotel, Waqas, was also present in the car along with his wife Kashmala Tariq and son Azlan Khan that hit the people on the highway. The driver, Fayyaz, of the vehicle reportedly belonging to Best Western Hotel owner Waqas, was taken into custody by police officials. Police also took the suspected vehicle into custody. A police spokesperson said action will be taken against those responsible in accordance with the law. Rescue sources said that three among deceased people belong to Mansehra and identified as Amir Shakeel, Farooq and Haider Ali. Traffic police told the media that CCTV footage is being collected to ascertain the details about the vehicle. In his First Information Report (FIR), the wounded citizen stated that his four friends were killed after being hit by the white car WY-077. He added that the deceased youth had arrived in Islamabad for an examination of the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF). He further stated that the vehicle collided with a small vehicle, leaving four youth killed, whereas, some motorcyclists were also wounded. STAFF REPORT

opp does not have 'the guts to resign', says pm imran Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday said that the opposition alliance, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), lack the "courage and character" and needed to follow through with their threats. The premier also said that they had been unable to organise a long march as the alliance could not garner supporters. He further criticised them for planning to take part in the Senate elections after announcing that they would resign. “December 31, and then January 31, came and went,” he said, in reference to the first and then the subsequent deadline the Pakistan Democratic Movement, an 11-party Opposition alliance, had set for the premier to resign. "I will resign tomorrow if you deposit the money you looted back into the national exchequer," he claimed. NEWS DESK

sc moved against shc verdict against 1,200 KpT employees’ termination KARACHI: The federal government on Tuesday filed an appeal in the Supreme Court (SC) challenging the Sindh High Court’s (SHC) verdict that declared the termination of 1,200 employees of the Karachi Port Trust (KPT) illegal. The appeal stated that the high court did not take into account important legal points while handing down the judgement. No approval of the then prime minister was sought for such massive appointments, it added. Moreover, the appeal said the appointments were made against merit without fulfilling the legal requirements, including the issuance of advertisements for inviting applications. The SHC had set aside a KPT notification regarding the termination of 1,200 employees who were hired during Babar Ghauri’s tenure as federal ports and shipping minister. It is pertinent to mention here that Babar Ghauri and others are facing charges of massive corruption of around Rs2.8 billion in Karachi Port Trust (KPT) through illegal appointments during the time that he was federal minister for Ports and Shipping, between 2008 and 2013. TLTP

04

Wednesday, 3 February, 2021

NEWS

PUNjaB livestoCk PoliCy devised, to Be PreseNted Before CaBiNet for aPProval: BUzdar LahORE

P

iNP

UNjAB Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has said that in order to ensure growth and progress of livestock and dairy development sector on modern lines, the first-ever livestock policy of the province has been devised and it will be presented before the provincial cabinet for approval.

He said this while presiding over a meeting with livestock and dairy development department here on Tuesday.

Livestock Minister Sardar Husnain Bahadur Dreshak, Special Assistant to Punjab CM Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan and some others were present during the meeting. Livestock secretary briefed the meeting about the departmental performance and future goals.

Buzdar directed the livestock department to collect authentic livestock data

for perfect planning, revive departmental helpline 9211, adopt a strategy for nonfunctional institutions, utilise resources for modern training while curtailing unnecessary expenditures and arrange modern training for small-scale livestock breeders to apprise them about the latest livestock techniques.

"Modern training is important for increasing the production of milk and wheat. Animal species should be encouraged to achieve this target," he said.

"Livestock sector's development will strengthen the whole economy."

He disclosed that a Punjab Veterinary Healthcare Commission will be established to monitor veterinary clinics, besides a model dairy farm in DG Khan.

The chief minister also gave approval to upgrade veterinary hospitals in Okara, Mianwali, Attock, Lahore, Sialkot, Faisalabad, Multan, Rajanpur and Rahim Yar Khan, and provide house jobs to the DVMs.

Naval chief chairs Bahria University’s BoG meeting Islamabad: Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Mohammad Amjad Khan Niazi chaired the 44th meeting of the Board of Governors of Bahria University (BU) at BU head office here on Tuesday. A detailed briefing was given to the board on the advancement of various continuing projects with special reference to growth and diversification in academic disciplines, infrastructure enhancement, budget and new initiatives of academic and nonacademic areas. The CNS, who is also the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman Board of Governors of BU, lauded the varsity’s endeavours for laying emphasis on the grooming of students via academic teachings and social values. He also appreciated the raised academic benchmarks of the university, aligned with its strategic vision and mission, inclusive of the programmes introduced in the field of Maritime Research and Studies. The BU is emerging as a leading maritime university of Pakistan with the fundamental aim of contributing towards the economy of the country via research-oriented approach and various specializations in maritime sciences domain. The meeting was attended by board members, senior naval officers, representatives of the Ministry of Science & Technology, Finance Minister, BU Rector Vice Admiral (R) Kaleem Shaukat and top management of BU. This was CNS's first BoG meeting as naval chief and chairman BoG. Pr

Punjab Group of Colleges launches virtual clinics

LAHORE: A student undergoes a temperature check as he arrives at his school in the provincial capital. Zubair MehfooZ

PL&DD to revive virtual governance system LahORE Shahab oMer

The Punjab Livestock and Dairy Development Department (PL&DD) has decided to revive its software system to ensure delivery of services to cattle breeders and better monitoring of services, Pakistan Today learnt on Tuesday.

According to details, a meeting was held in the PL&DD to activate its helpline 9211 and revive its software system for virtual governance.

Talking to Pakistan Today, a senior official of PL&DD said it has been decided to revive the department's virtual governance system in collaboration with the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB). “The virtual governance system is a unique system that uses Global System

for Mobile Communications (GSM) and Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) technology and retrieves large data from mobiles of more than 7000 employees in the field. The system also allows data entry without the use of mobile applications, computers, Android, smart devices and Internet, making it a low-cost and high-quality data collection facility,” the official said.

"With the help of this system, the Punjab government obtained evidence of authentic data and for the first time formulated the "Livestock and Dairy Development Policy Punjab 2016"."

“All the 25892 villages of the province were coded and a livestock database of more than 7.4 million farmers and more than 65 million animals was created within the system. All the services provided by the PL&DD, includ-

ing 51 field services, 51 OPD services, 329 different types of tests and artificial insemination, were fully digital due to the system,” he added.

Livestock Secretary Captain (R) Saqib Zafar said that 34 modules would be made functional under the system.

“The system will have a proper HRM mechanism, under which the database of all the farmers of the province will be collected. All records of vaccinations given to cattle will also be available in the system. The usefulness of the system is very high and the main benefit we will have is that the system will automatically tell us how much vaccination has been given to cattle in all areas of the province. Moreover, it will also be known that in which area, the stock of vaccination is adequate or less and the vaccines will be supplied accordingly to ensure a balanced distribution,” Zafar said. "The system would help in correcting the data and all the data available with the PL&DD would be made credible.

Evaluating IK's achievements objectively S Rahman The consensual definition of image is: "Image is what you are perceived to have done, not necessarily what you have or have not done".

Here, I will like to reproduce the mission statement of National Defence University that goes like this: "Seeing beyond perceptions".

That is very significant, given the established fact that the world, at large, has remained divided and even fought wars, several times, on the basis of perceptions, misconceptions and images, irrespective of the fact whether they are close to reality or otherwise.

In the world of today, some politicians and the governments under them, have managed to build images even though far from reality, at times.

We can quote many examples of fifth generation or hybrid war or psyops or whatever including the shrewd propaganda offensives of our eastern neighbour, which has been camouflaging its uncouth ways through these machinations.

Coming to Pakistan and applying this concept of image-building to the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan, one finds greater focus on seriousness of purpose

in practical work instead of opting for cosmetics or image-building tactics.

It is primarily because of this reason that some astute persons in the rival camps have been painting the sitting government as nonserious in handling the overall political situation in general and economy in particular.

Actual facts are, however, otherwise as can be gathered from the two-year performance report of the present government, in which it had reviewed its achievements in different domains including governance, economy and diplomatic affairs.

The ministers in-charge of different divisions also gave briefings on the practical steps taken by their respective departments, especially towards the stabilization of economy, although the government had to tackle the worst external crises inherited from the past in addition to dealing courageously with Indian threat (Balakot 'adventure') and yet another alarming global Covid threat.

It was like riding a hydra with Covid crisis that had squeezed the space for successfully balancing lives and livelihoods.

It was a difficult decision to take but, throughout the Covid crisis, Prime Minister Imran Khan's emphasis has always been on ensuring that livelihoods are also saved side by side with saving lives. And that formula worked well not only in our own peculiar

circumstances but also in the overall global handling of Covid, Pakistan's crisis management being judged as pragmatic and emulable. This Covid-combatting strategy of Pakistan was highly appreciated by global leaders including the famous philanthropist, Bill Gates.

On the economic front, various economic indicators suggest that the country was moving forward notwithstanding the internal and external challenges. And, it is on record that Pakistan’s economic performance, during this period, has been hailed by international organisations, including IMF, Moody’s and Fitch, while Pakistan Stock Market has been recognised as the best performing market by Bloomberg.

No doubt, problems and difficulties of sorts were there but by devising practicable plans in departure from the past practices, the current account deficit was drastically reduced from $20 billion to just $3 billion. The initiatives were, in fact, focused on enhancing foreign exchange reserves and the government was successful in repaying Rs5,000 billion loans borrowed by former governments. At the same time, several benefits were offered to the business community, including relief in the ongoing tax regime, wherever it was possible.

Huge incentives were also offered to en-

hance exports and encourage investments.

Meanwhile, the government took drastic measures to curtail its expenditures by reducing the budgets of the President and Prime Minister House. The government did not borrow a single penny from the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) during the aforementioned period.

As regards the relief measures taken to neutralize the unprecedented challenges to Pakistan's health and economy sectors, Planning Minister Asad Umar, announced a relief package of massive Rs1240 billion under the prime minister's instructions. It included cash transfer to support the vulnerable communities.

According to Federal Minister Hammad Azhar, it owes to timely decisions by the present government during the pandemic period that helped mitigate huge losses.

The Minister also publicly announced that the new policies on electric vehicles and mobile manufacturing will generate jobs and boost economy.

In the area of poverty and planning, Special Assistant on Poverty Alleviation Dr Sania Nishtar released facts and figures, which demonstrate the government's serious concern for the vulnerable categories. According to Sania, as also acknowledged throughout the country, the government's

laHORE: The Punjab Group of Colleges (PGC) has taken another revolutionary step by launching virtual clinics for physical and mental health of students. The students will be able to book virtual sessions with mental health specialists, counsellors and doctors to address their health issues. The clinics were formally inaugurated by Punjab government's Health Advisor Hanif Patafi. Tablets were distributed among the campus health coordinators. The PGC once again took the lead and proved that it is serving the nation with a cause and its students and their well-being comes first. Pr

Ehsaas Programme is the country’s biggest ever social safety net with emergency cash disbursement of Rs145 billion among 12 million daily wagers. The programme would now be enhanced to reach 16 million people particularly those affected by the pandemic.

And, on the foreign affairs front, many good developments have taken place since PM Khan's government has laid down a policy of renewed global connectivity and reinforcement of old ties with emphasis on building up global goodwill, besides seizing these opportunities for massive expansion in trade and investment.

According to Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, "A dramatic shift can be seen from diplomatic isolation to effective representation. It is the government's top priority to revitalize Pakistan's relations with old friends and forge new understandings. Despite India's attempt to isolate Pakistan at regional and international forums, Prime Minister Imran Khan raised the Kashmir issue at UNGA and other platforms. Pakistan also played a pivotal role in intra-Afghan dialogue which was appreciated by the United States' government. As for Pakistan's relations with China, they are further evolving into a yet stronger economic partnership as the second phase of CPEC involves industrialization. Our Foreign Office has also developed economic partnership with African countries, having a population of 1.3 billion people, so as to increase trade and investment in the continent."

Wednesday, 3 February, 2021

neWs Six more IPPs agree to renegotiate terms for cheap electricity continued from page 01

‘PlunderIng PublIC mOney’: PunjAb SquASh ASSOCIAtIOn ACCuSed Of rS50m COrruPtIOn LaHore

Subject to agreement on the terms and conditions and completion of legal and corporate formalities, the power purchaser shall consent to the extension of the power purchase agreement for an additional term following the expiry of the term of the PPA. The final terms (in present or amended form) of these agreements and their execution are subject to receipt of requisite approvals, including, inter-alia, the approval of the federal cabinet, the company’s board of directors, its shareholders and also possible regulatory approvals, concluded the statement.

Kashmir dispute be resolved in dignified, peaceful way: COAS

05

t

TAIMOOR HASSAN

HE Punjab Squash Association (PSA) has failed to justify the utilisation of Rs50 million allocated to it by the Punjab Sports Board (PSB) and stands accused of potential corruption by its patrons, Profit learnt on Tuesday.

According to details, the provincial government appropriated Rs50 million as aid grant from the provincial exchequer to the PSA for the achievement of its targets and promotion of Squash games in Punjab. The memorandum of understanding (MoU) in this regard was signed in February 2017.

According to the MoU, the PSA was

liable to submit detailed statements of accounts regarding utilisation of aforesaid funds along with vouched accounts whenever requested by the Board.

In a letter written to the Association by the sports board, a copy of which is available with Profit, the Board lamented that despite repeated requests, the Association, headed by its president Nadeem Mukhtar who was elected as president in 2016, has failed to provide detailed statements about utilisation of Rs50 million appropriated to it in 2017.

The PSB has sent at least seven letters to the association since 2017, requesting information about the utilisation of said funds but the association has since failed to respond. “The non-compliance of mandatory condition on the part of the PSA leads to

the inference that the funds have been misappropriated and not utilised for the specific purpose as agreed upon in the MoU dated 23.02.2017,” the letter read.

Profit reached out to PSA President Nadeem Mukhtar on Saturday for a comment and to solicit documents that could prove that the funds were utilised properly. The president promised to share the documents with this reporter via WhatsApp that had not been received till filing of this report.

When contacted, PSA Secretary Sheraz Saleem commented that the association will respond to the letter by PSB at the beginning of the week. Profit requested the secretary to share a copy of the letter from the association but the secretary, Sheraz Saleem, refused our request.

Multiple attempts to request documents that had been promised were made further on Monday and Tuesday but no response was received from either the president or the secretary. The Punjab Sports Board now plans to take the matter to Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE).

Speaking to Profit, Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment DG Gohar Nafees said that the department will initiate an inquiry as soon as the board registers the complaint with it.

Profit also reached out to Punjab Minister for Sports Rai Taimoor Khan Bhatti to learn if he was aware of the facts of the said case and his plans to rein in corruption in the department. No response was received from the minister till filing of this report.

continued from page 01 The whole nation, he said, is proud of its Air Force and “I earnestly hope that PAF will scale new heights of glory and excellence in the years to come”. While hailing the presence of cadets from Saudi Arabia for training at PAF Academy Asghar Khan, General Bajwa said, “This is a manifestation of warm fraternal ties between Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and our Defence Forces indeed. We are proud of the strong bonds of Islam, brotherhood and cultural communion that bind us together.” While addressing the graduating cadets, Gen Bajwa congratulated them on their landmark achievement. The COAS was the chief guest on the occasion while Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan, Chief of Air Staff, Pakistan Air Force was also present at the ceremony. A total of 133 graduating cadets including 11 Royal Saudi Air Force Cadets and six lady cadets graduated on the occasion. The COAS awarded branch insignias to the graduating officers and also gave away trophies to the distinction holders. Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee Trophy for the best performance in General Service Training was awarded to Aviation Cadet Faizan Iqbal. Best Allied Cadet Trophy was won by RSAF Cadet Hatem Muhammad Alsofiani. The Chief of the Air Staff Trophy for overall best performance in Air Defence was won by Aviation Cadet Shahryar Khan.

Chief of the Air Staff Trophy for the best performance in Engineering was won by Aviation Cadet Muhammad Usman. Chief of the Air Staff Trophy for best performance in Flying Training was awarded to Aviation Cadet Danish Qayyum. Sword of Honour for overall best performance in College of Aeronautical Engineering was won by Aviation Cadet Muhammad Usman. Sword of honour for overall best performance in college of Flying Training was won by Muhammad Ibtisam Naeem. The ceremony was followed by a thrilling aerial display by PAF Academy Aerobatics team “Sherdil” and a specialised military drill “Hamza Flight” of the academy.

Earlier, on his arrival, the army chief was received by PAF Asghar Khan Academy Air Officer Commanding Air Vice Marshal Shakil Ghazanfar. The ceremony was witnessed by high-ranking military and civil officials, diplomats, foreign dignitaries and a large number of guests of graduating cadets.

LAHORE: The newly-elected members of Fire Protection Industry of Pakistan pose for a group photo after holding their first meeting in the provincial capital. PR

Pfizer targets at least 2bn vaccine doses this year, sees $15bn in 2021 from the shots Pfizer Inc said on Tuesday it expects to generate $15 billion, or about a quarter of its total revenue this year, from sales of its Covid-19 vaccine co-developed with German partner BioNTech SE. Sales from the vaccine - on track to be the drugmaker’s top product this year - could top $15 billion if the company signs more supply contracts, it said.

Pfizer aims to make two billion doses of the Covid19 vaccine in 2021. Pfizer Chief Executive Albert Bourla said in an interview that the company wanted to be conservative in its target and is working on numerous initiatives to exceed that output.

“We’ve increased the batches we run per week, we’ve doubled the output - the yield per batch - we’ve dramatically improved our success rates, we’ve made process improvements to the assembly lines,” Chief Financial Officer Frank D’Amelio said in the interview.

“All these things are things we’re continuing to examine to see what else we can do to try to produce more doses faster,” he added.

Pfizer also said it expects there could be a long-lasting need for Covid-19 vaccines, to combat new virus variants that emerge and to boost peoples’ waning immune responses.

The company is launching a study to determine whether a third dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, administered 6-to-12 months after the initial shots, can extend and improve efficacy with more contagious variants circulating in communities around the world. The Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine is currently administered as two doses three weeks apart.

Chief Scientific Officer Mikael Dolsten said he believes mRNA vaccines like Pfizer’s generate a strong enough immune response to repel the currently circulating variants, and that a booster, rather than a redesigned vaccine, is the right approach for now.

Citi analyst Andrew Baum said he was optimistic that revenue contributions from the vaccine could be sustainable beyond 2021.

Pfizer expects to supply 200 million doses to the

U.S. government by the end of May. To achieve the goal, it will have to deliver an average of around 10 million doses per week, more than double the rate Pfizer and BioNTech delivered to the United States through the end of January, according to Reuters calculations.

The vaccine, which uses synthetic messenger RNA (mRNA) to prompt an immune response against the virus, was the first shot to be authorized for emergency use in the United States, marking the first regulatory nod for the new technology. mRNA vaccines and Covid-19 could prove transformative for Pfizer, which is already one of the world’s largest drugmakers, CEO Bourla said. A potential flu vaccine based on the technology could hit the market by 2025, executives said on a conference call.

Pfizer forecast 2021 sales between $59.4 billion and $61.4 billion. The company raised both ends of its fullyear adjusted profit forecast by 10 cents and now expects to earn $3.10 to $3.20 per share. AGENCIES

Of Urdu prose poetry and interlingual rendition of Urdu poetry Syed afSar Sajid Title: ‘BaataiN’ Author: Bushra Saeed Publisher: Rumail House of Pulications, Committee Chowk, Rawalpindi Pages: 160 – Price: Rs.300/Title: ‘In Search of a Dream’ (‘Aik Ta’beer Khawab Chahati Hai’) Author: Manzoor Saqib -- Translator: Dr. Ghulam Murtaza Aatir Publisher: Misaal Publishers, Rahim Centre, Aminpur Bazaar, Faisalabad Pages: 244 -- Price: Rs.600/-

‘BataiN’ is a collection of ‘prose’ poems by an upcoming young poetess Bushra Saeed from Rawalpinid while ‘In Search of a Dream’ is a translated version of a collection of Urdu poems titled ‘Aik Ta’beer Khawab Chahati Hai’, originally composed by veteran poet Manzoor Saqib and rendered into English by Dr. Ghulam Murtaza, a known academic and cognoscente associated with the English Faculty of GC University, Faisalabad.

‘BaataiN’ The book contains some 76 pieces of prose poetry besides two illuminating prefatory essays by Sarwar Javed (Karachi) and Abrar Mujeeb (Delhi, India) and commendatory flaps by Jamil-ur-Rahman (UK), Dr. Wheeed Ahmad, Mahmood Azhar, and Dr. Ehsan Akbar. These connoisseurs of the literary art have unanimously held that Bushra’s work, albeit its non-prosodic tex-

ture, bears an internal rhythm emanating from her sensitivity, nay hyper-sensitivity, to contemporaneity and its woeful manifestations in want, disease, disaster, violence, terror, social injustice, hunger, exploitation, gender discrimination etc.

Literature thus communicates experience. The experience which lives in the author’s mind must live again in the reader’s mind. The power of imagination enables the writer to transform his experience into something, as a whole, to the reader. Furthermore, literature expresses, represents and communicates experience by means of language. It is the expression in language for its own

sake, of experience for its own sake.

Bushra Saeed has chosen the medium of prose poetry to communicate experience, presumably personal experience and not its counterpart, the empathetic one. It is amazing for the reader to note that at a relatively younger age, she has been able to encompass a wide expanse of her experience that she may have assimilated through an interplay of her dreams and observations, sympathies and empathies, sensations and visions with her lurid imagination. One would readily subscribe to Sarwar Javed’s view that a prose poem is a poem of divulgence or revealment.

It may be higher or lower in its tone or tenor, but it (divulgence/revealment) remains the quintessencial spirit of such a poem. Figures of speech like metaphors, similes, conceits and images assume an undeniable significance in this scheme of versification.

Sajjad Zaheer, Ahmad Hamesh, Sara Shagufta, Qamar Jamil, Gilani Kamran, Raees Farogh, Sarwat Hussain, Balraj Komal, Anis Nagi, Nasreen Anjum Bhatti, Iftikhar Jalib, Mubarak Ahmad, Abdul Rashid, Jayant Parmar, Azra Abbas, Farrukh Yar, Naseer Ahmad Nasir, Najma Mansoor et al have enormously contributed to the evolution and perfection of prose poetry in Urdu. The calibre and quality of Bushra Saeed’s work would eventually earn her an enlistment in this category of poets. At many a place in her work, her poetic avowals sound gravely feministic like in ‘Woh’, ‘Wirasat’, ‘Baysakhi’, ‘BaNsuri’, ‘Manzar Nama’, and ‘Piyas’. The narrative that emerges out of these poems is clothed in neat diction, a genuinely felt and

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rhythmically intonated sensation of the phantasmagorical reality of workaday existence.

It is hoped that the book would not go unnoticed by the discreet readers of the genre of prose poetry in Urdu. The internal beat and rhythm of these poems would certainly haunt them aside from their thematic import.

‘In Search of a Dream’/‘Aik Ta’beer Khawab Chahati Hai’ Manzoor Saqib is a veteran Urdu poet with four verse collections to his credit, upto-date. The present book (‘In Search of a Dream’) contains an English translation of his latest work viz. ‘Aik Ta’beer Khawab Chahati

Hai’ by Dr. Ghulam Murtaza. Its format comprises three tiers of a couplet as a unit; the first bears the original couplet in Urdu, the second its template in Roman Urdu, and the third, its translated version in English.

Manzoor Saqib’s poetic skills comprise his chase diction, his grasp of Urdu prosody, and an unwavering faith in human values.

The beauty of truth and the truth intrinsic to beauty form the substance of his poetic outpourings in the genres of ghazal, nazm, quatrain, and lyric.

The translation is quite apt though it seems close to transliteration at places. Similarly the quasi-metrical coalescence of cadence and strain in the translated lines is neatly effected. Examples: Take not for a dove an eagle in peaceful attire,/Regard not the gentle devoid of any fire. …. Today is in my ken though/I can also see beyond tomorrow. …. The earth and the sky are amongst my subjects,/No Sultan surpasses me because I’m Love. …. Sword can’t convince, though it can injure;/I see that pen will prevail its power. …. And the clothes they wear,/Are also very miserable,/If they have/A hut somewhere,/That withstands not/The buffets of the wind.

To give delight to the reader, and to clarify and develop experience in the readers as well as the writer’s mind, are the primary functions of literature. This is amply reflected in the above lines translated from Manzoor Saqib’s verse. Thus the book is a heartening experiment meant to introduce and promote Urdu poetry among the English knowing readers.

Wednesday, 3 February, 2021

06 COMMENT

Would dalits benefit from farmers’ protest?’

Imran Khan’s promises From pies in the sky to peace only in THE grave

Will the change to the Oppressed People’s Movement help caste Hindus overcome their prejudices?

I

T was a welcome move on the part of Prime Minister Imran Khan to offer an opportunity to people to seek answers from him on telephone about his performance during an exercise spread over an hour and a half, widely televised on Pakistani channels. The programme also provided an opportunity to the PM to enumerate what he considers his lifetime achievements: a successful cricket career which turned him into a glamorous figure; the establishment of a state of art cancer hospital that provides free treatment to those unable to pay for the costly treatment; and finally breaking the hold of the dynastic politics represented by the PML(n) and the PPP, and leading the PTI to power.

Some of the questions, claimed Mr Khan, had really amazed him. Why should everybody be expecting that his government would set things right within a short time?

After all, he didn’t carry a wizard’s wand and people should know that everybody lives happily ever after only in fairy tales. But has Mr Khan forgotten that he had himself promised that once the PTI was in power it would end corruption in 19 days and terrorism in 90 days? Does he remember that the PTI had announced a hundred days programme and undertaken to provide 10 million jobs and five million homes? How many would have voted for his party if told before elections that with him as PM people would have to display patience and wait for good times and that peace comes to one only in the grave?

Mr Khan wants to rule like an all-powerful US President who is exhaustively briefed about future challenges months before taking over. But he believes that four or five years are not enough to deliver and he should have many more years to rule as is the usual practice in Russia and China. Only then can he fulfill his promises including the one to create Riyasate-madina, a term that has replaced naya Pakistan. What he will do meanwhile is to try to unite the Muslim ummah to fight against Islamophobia and stop the blasphemous acts committed in the West. This reminds one of Ziaul Haq who used enforcement of his peculiar version of Islam as the vindication of his rule.

Amjed jAAved

O

n India’s Republic Day, some farmers climbed up ramparts of the Red Fort and hoisted the Khalsa flag. Some BJP workers took the opportunity to label the farmers’ “traitors”. A section of the media projected farmers’ leader Rakesh as a retired constable. Disgusted at the vilification campaign, even Capt (Red) Amarinder Singh had to condemn police violence during the Republic Day march and the mud-slinging.

Fearing police action, some groups of farmers made a beeline back to their villages. Seeing the thinning crowd, Rakesh burst into tears and made an impassioned appeal to the farmers to stay back.

The tearful appeal galvanized the protesters. not only the farmers but also students and people from all walks of life surged to join the protesting farmers.

The protest, earlier galvanized by Bhim Sena chief `Chandrashekhar Azad’s participation, further widened in scope. It truly became the All-India Oppressed People’s Movement.

Dr B.R. Ambedkar, chairman of India’s constituent assembly called the low-caste community; he himself belonged to,dalit, a Sanskrit word which means “broken”. In everyday usage, it is synonymous with “downtrodden”. The British preferred to call them “oppressed”. Gandhi felt that the word “dalit” had a pejorative undertone, if not altogether an affront to the Dalit community’s sentiments. So he ‘called them harijans (children of God)’.

Who are the dalit?

Myanmar coup Disrupting the democratic process is never a solution for anything

M

yAnMAR, formerly Burma, is yet again under complete military rule after the previous coup, placed in 1962, was lifted in 2011, allowing Aung San Suu Kyi and her national League for Democracy Party (nLD) to form a government following a landslide victory in elections held in 2015. Even though the system that was put in place after the elections was a hybrid one whereby military generals oversaw many of the state’s affairs, keeping a close and strict check on the civilian setup, it was still a step closer to a semi-normal functioning democracy. The latest coup that has been met with outrage from the people of Myanmar, who have held conservative protests so far out of fear of action by the military, is a huge setback to the progression of democracy in the country. Reasoning for the seizure of power provided by the military is typically based on untruths, that the election was heavily rigged, even though no such irregularity has been found by the country’s election commission.

There has been widespread condemnation from progressive democratic countries. Pakistan, which has its own unfortunate history of multiple subversions of the Constitution by the military, has hoped for “a peaceful outcome”. Oddly, there has been no comment on these developments by Prime Minister Imran Khan directly, as so many other leaders of the world have made, some going as far as threatening sanctions like US President Joe Biden. A fierce opponent of military dictatorships in the past, Mr Khan was highly critical of Gen Musharraf’s regime’s policies. Since his party, the PTI, has come to power, however, he has altered this stance and prefers to keep a much closer working relationship with Pakistan’s military. Whatever the reason for the delay may be, one hopes that he will issue an appropriate statement soon.

Myanmar is a country that is plagued with ethnic and religious conflict that remains unresolved and continues to cause unimaginable violence. Ms Suu Kyi’s inaction and ignorance over the Rohingya genocide in her own country, despite her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights, is an irreparable blight on her reputation and profile. With this interruption in the democratic process, it seems the country’s many pending issues will take even longer to resolve.

Washington Watch dr jAmes j Zogby

T

HERE are times when no news is, in fact, big news. A recent example proves the wisdom of this maxim. But first, a bit of history.

Back in 1984, I was serving as a deputy campaign manager for the Jesse Jackson for President campaign. The Arab American community had become energized by Jackson and they were hosting fundraising events for him in cities across the country. Late in the campaign, I met up with Jackson in Los Angeles. He had just arrived from a visit to San Diego where, among other engagements, he had attended a gathering of Arab Americans who had raised funds for his presidential campaign.

When we got together in LA, Jackson with his wry humor said to me, “Looks like your folks have crossed a threshold. They’re making it in American politics. We did a fund-raising event in San Diego and the press didn’t cover it.”

He was pointing out that from the beginning of the campaign until that event every time the Arab American community had raised money there had been negative press stories about “Jackson goes to the Arabs,” or concerns raised by some local American Jewish leaders about the possible “impact of Arab money” on Jackson’s views. He interpreted the fact that there was no press coverage for the San Diego event as progress and possibly acceptance that Arab

Editor Umar Aziz

Asher John

Executive Editor

Deputy Editor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965

The farmers’ movement may engulf the whole society.

However it remains to be seen whether upper castes would shed their religious fads against dalits.

Another step in the acceptance of Arab Americans

Arif Nizami

Joint Editor

mal’. The judge says in his verdict: “nepal is a Hindu nation and has declared cows as national animals.

India is a predominant agriculture country based on animal rearing. As per Article 48 and 51A (g) it is expected from the state government that they should take action to get a legal entity for cows in this country.” Later, in a TV interview, the judge said, “The peacock is a lifelong brahmachari (celibate). He never has sex with the peahen. The peahen pecks on the tears of the peacock to get pregnant. That’s how she gives birth to a peacock or a peahen.

This is why Lord Krishna also wears the peacock feather. This is why the peacock feather is used by sadhus.” The judge revealed that when Lord Krishna came to earth, he brought down a cow with him to Vrindavan. And he knew that the cow could suffice for doctors and surgeons because cow’s milk is medicinal in nature, and cures all kinds of ailments (except insanity).

The judge’s reflections are not the first-ever ‘scientifically inaccurate and outright asinine’ outbursts Earlier, Rajasthan education minister Vasudev Devnani proudly proclaimed, defying all boundaries of human knowledge about mammals, that the holy cow is the only animal that inhales as well as exhales oxygen. Speaking at the Hingonia Goshala during an event organised by Akshay Patra foundation on January 14, the minister said, “Gai ekmatra prani hai jo oxygen grahan karta hai, aur oxygen hi chhorhta hai (The cow is the only animal that takes in oxygen and also releases oxygen).” “It increases religiousness and piousness. This is what makes cow’s milk so important”.

It is repugnant to common sense that cow milk alone could cure malaria, dengue, smallpox, Ebola and AIDS. The farmers’ movement may engulf the whole society. However it remains to be seen whether upper castes would shed their religious fads against dalits.

The writer is a freelance journalist, has served in the Pakistan government for 39 years and holds degrees in economics, business administration, and law. He can be reached at amjedjaaved@gmail.com

When no news is good news

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

Hindu society divides people into Brahmans, Kshatriya, Visya and Shudra. Jati is used to denote the different divisions of a varna. Thus there are jatis like namasudra, Rajbangsi, Paundra, Hadi, Dom, nadar, Mahar, Mang, and Chamar among the Sudras including the Atisudas (that is those who are untouchable). Accordingly Tipsily Jati and Tipsily Janajati are used for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes respectively.

Though India is nominally (de jure) a secular republic, the people practically act upon the Hindu law code as explained in Manusmriti. This code prescribes monitoring by the community and punishment for violation of caste codes, such as excommunication, social and economic boycott of the shudras or dalits and other violent forms. Thus the community acts as a police force. The Manusmriti prescribes heinous punishments such as flogging, slitting of the tongue, thrusting of an iron rod or hot oil into the moth and ears, severing limbs, slit on buttocks, lips to be gashed, urinating into the mouth and ears, cutting of hands, the death penalty, corporal punishment, cutting the offending part of the body and destruction of property, burning on a fire shaving with urine and so on to the untouchables or dalits for violation of the caste code.

The BJP erected Manu’s ststue in front of the Rajasthan High Court as it regards him as the father of the religionised legal code of caste inequality. He commands religious adherence as a symbol of justice.

The Dalit community staged several protests against erection of the statue, but to no avail.

Dalit are notorious for disrespecting cows. But, when a cow dies, high caste Hindus ask him to dispose of it. In India, a cow is more respectable than a Dalit. Fanatical Hindus have demanded that a cow should be treated as a citizen.

Mr Justice Mahesh Chandra Sharma of the Rajasthan High Court talked in detail about the benefits of cows in A 193-page judgment. His judgment, a mélange of scriptures and law, glistens with hijinks like ‘Peacocks Don’t Have Sex’, ‘Cow is a Surgeon’, `a complete pharmacy’, and Cow is a ‘national Ani-

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Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9

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Americans were just another group of ethnic Americans claiming their rightful role at the political table.

(A historical note: while Jackson’s observation was correct, it was unfortunately premature. “Arab-baiting” remained a problem for several more years.

Thankfully, it is now largely in our past.)

I thought of Jackson’s words this morning while speaking with two reporters for major Arab world dailies. They had each called to ask about White House and State Department press releases announcing a few rather significant Arab American appointments in the Biden Administration.

One of the journalists simply asked for my reaction to these appointments, while the other wondered why this story hadn’t received more coverage.

My response was like Jackson’s, “When an Arab American getting appointed to a national security post isn’t a story anymore, it looks like we crossed a threshold.” I also borrowed from Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech in which he said that he looked forward to the day when one would be judged by the “content of his character and not the color of his skin.”

Having spent years seeing Arab Americans excluded from political appointments dealing with critical Middle East issues, it is heartening to see competent Arab Americans being judged by their skills and experience and not excluded because of their ethnic background.

The fact that a few of the appointees are of Palestinian descent has, of course, been noted by fringe rightwing publications and a few predictably hardline

Islamabad – Ph: 051-2204545

members of Congress. But the support these Arab American appointees have received from their colleagues has drowned out the nonsense coming from the anti-Arab haters.

As someone who has lived through decades of discrimination in which Arab Americans were fired from jobs because of their ethnicity or their support for Palestinian rights or had contributions rejected or returned because candidates feared a backlash from appearing to be “too close to the Arabs”– I hope you’ll excuse me for feeling good about where we are today.

Across the USA today, in communities where just four decades ago Arab Americans were having difficulty becoming established and respected, members of the community are serving as Mayors and at other elected positions. On every level, from federal, state, and local, office holders and candidates regularly seek out Arab Americans for financial and political support, and policy expertise. And this year, the Biden campaign had an unprecedented number of Arab Americans on staff, organized a number of high-level meetings with the community, and issued a first-ever position paper of commitments to the Arab American community on a range of domestic and foreign policy concerns. And all of this occurred without any press coverage or backlash.

So, I’m not surprised that the number of great Arab American appointments in the Biden Administration have been greeted as ho-hum by the national media. In fact, I see it as good news that there is no news. We’ve crossed a threshold. And that’s a big story in and of itself.

Across the USA today, in communities where just four decades ago Arab Americans were having difficulty becoming established and respected, members of the community are serving as Mayors and at other elected positions.

On every level, from federal, state, and local, office holders and candidates regularly seek out Arab Americans for financial and political support, and policy expertise.

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Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk

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The writeris President of the Arab-American Institute

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Wednesday, 3 February, 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

New Islamabad Airport irregularities

Intervention not mediation Indian intransigence has made mediation meaningless

mAlik muhAmmAd AshrAf

U

n Secretary General Antonio Guterres said that there was no military solution to the decades old Kashmir conflict and military confrontation between the two would be a disaster of unmitigated proportions for both countries and for the whole world, in a press conference last Thursday, while responding to a question.

He also urged India and Pakistan to come together and seriously discuss their problems stemming from the unresolved Kashmir dispute. adding that his good offices were always available for mediation. He further said he stood by his statement of 8 August 2019, which called for the resolution of the Kashmir dispute based on Un resolutions and the Un Charter.

It is pertinent to mention that during his visit to Pakistan last year the Secretary General, while reiterating the need for resolution of THE Kashmir ISSUE in consonance with Un resolutions, added, “Another important aspect, which needs full respect of human rights and continental freedom in Jammu and Kashmir, is that people should have free movement as [they have] in Pakistan’s side. I hope this will also be achieved on the other side (India). I have offered my good offices in relation to the situation and our position is that the Security Council’s resolutions be implemented.” His office, in a statement after revocation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution by the Modi regime, ending the special status of the state, had also urged India to refrain from taking steps that could affect the status of Jammu and Kashmir.

What he has said and has been saying is very encouraging. But he must realize that responsibility for the implementation of resolutions on Kashmir lies with the Un and he as Secretary General was under obligation to ensure it. Mediation is carried out only where the two parties to a dispute agree for the third party to play a role in the resolution of a dispute between them. The idea of mediation is a nonstarter proposition as India has shown extreme aversion to any such suggestion. Resolution of the dispute bilaterally as envisioned in the Simla Agreement also remains elusive even after 48 years.

India, encouraged by inaction by the Un and the indifference of the global community, has been using its military muscle since 1989 to suppress the freedom movement in Kashmir. Indian security force according to reports complied by international human rights organizations like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have been involved in abuse of human rights and have killed nearly 100,000 Kashmiris between January 1989 and 31 December 2020, besides gang-raping 11226 women, through extra-judicial killings and fake encounters.

Thousands have gone missing during this period. The Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP), a human rights group in Indian Occupied Kashmir, discovered 3844 mass graves in different parts of the state in 2007 and brought them to the notice of the state-run Human Rights Commission in Indian-Occupied Kashmir. The Commission, after verifying those claims and identifying 38 such sites, asked the state government to hold an investigation into these mass graves. Human Rights Watch repeatedly called upon the Indian government for a probe. The European Parliament also adopted a resolution in July 2008 calling on the Indian government to ensure independent and impartial investigations into all mass graves. But the Indian government has not heeded these calls so far.

International media, in spite of denial of access to the Valley, has also been unmasking the abuse of human rights and incidents of mass killings by the Indian security forces.

The Modi government, by revoking article 370 of the Indian constitution which ended special status of the state, by bifurcating it into two territories and annexing them to the Indian Union followed by promulgating laws to change the demographic realities of the state, has patently nullified the Un resolutions, breached international law and the Fourth Geneva Convention. The message to the Un and the world community is that India does not care about her international obligations under the Un resolutions on these issues. It undoubtedly constitutes an affront to the Un and the world community. notwithstanding the fact that the international community and the Un have not accepted the Indian narrative about the issue being her internal affair, has expressed concern about the human rights situation in the state and has reaffirmed the need for resolving the Kashmir dis-

pute through the implementation of the Un resolutions, India refuses to listen. Its security forces continue their killing spree in the state.

Reportedly since 5 August 2019 more than 300 Kashmiris have been killed during cordon and search operations and fake encounters. The entire population is under military siege and lockdown, and is living a miserable life. not only that, the Indian government has also adopted a belligerent and hostile posture towards Pakistan, scuttling any chance of a dialogue between the two states for the resolution of the Kashmir dispute. It has created a situation which can easily push the two nuclear countries into a military confrontation, as is evident from persistent violation of the ceasefire Agreement along the LoC by the Indian security forces targeting civilians, and the aggression committed against Pakistan on 26 February 2019 when India sent planes to attack imaginary terrorist camps at Balakot. Pakistan showed remarkable restraint in the face of this naked aggression. While proving her resolve and capability to thwart any aggression against her by downing two planes and capturing Indian pilot Abhinandan, it also established her credentials as a peace loving country by repatriating the pilot.

Friendly countries also played a part in defusing the situation.

However India is persisting with her threatening posture towards Pakistan. Therefore, Pakistan justifiably feels that India was planning yet another false-flag operation against it, and Prime Minister Imran Khan has repeatedly cautioned the world about the Indian designs. Any such eventuality can easily push the two countries into a military confrontation with disastrous consequences for both countries and for the world, as rightly observed by the Un Secretary General.

The situation therefore demands immediate intervention of the Un for the implementation of its resolutions and not mere sermons and offers for mediation. India has shown it is not amenable to such exhortations and offers. It has scant respect for the opinion of the world. Therefore the Un Secretary General must act to fulfill his responsibilities to ensure peace in the world by having the Un resolutions implemented. That is the only way forward in resolving the Kashmir dispute and dissuading India from spilling the blood of Kashmiris who are fighting for their right of self-determination as enshrined in the relevant Un resolutions.

The UN Secretary General must act to fulfill his responsibilities to ensure peace in the world by having the UN resolutions implemented. That is the only way forward in resolving the Kashmir dispute and dissuading India from spilling the blood of Kashmiris who are fighting for their right of selfdetermination as enshrined in the relevant UN resolutions

Malik Muhammad Ashraf is an academic.

He can be contacted at: ashpak10@gmail.com.

ALMOST every state funded project has suffered because of gross irregularities and politicized appointments of cronies to head mega projects, who lack necessary technical knowhow, expertise and experience. The new Islamabad Airport is one such project which was announced in 2005 by Pakistan CAA. Foundation stone was laid on 7 April, 2007 by President Musharraf and PM Shaukat Aziz. After numerous delays and cost escalation, the project was made partially operational on 3rd May 2018.

Pakistan’s aviation industry faces a crisis because of the incompetence of the mediocrity placed at the helm and sanctions imposed by EASA for safety concerns and irresponsible statements by the Aviation Minister.

Islamabad Airport was designed for simultaneous arrivals and departures from two parallel runways. Unfortunately, because of the criminal incompetence of those within CAA and Project Directors appointed by them, there were basic design flaws. Minimum distance between Two Parallel Runways was less than the mandatory spacing for safe operation as per ICAO regulations. This is apart from roofs leaking and in one case caving in.

Even the choice of the site was made on political grounds during the tenure of PM Shaukat Aziz and President Musharraf, rather than on soil survey by specialists. The recommendations of Shamsul Mulk, a universally acclaimed engineer with integrity, must be followed and implemented.

One fails to understand why retired or serving officials from civil and uniformed services should be appointed to head these projects when there is no dearth in this country of highly qualified engineers, with expertise in relevant fields. Institutional and departmental accountability should have jurisdiction on misconduct of an officer within the department, but not when they are deputed to head projects or organizations funded by the taxpayers.

Malik Tariq ali lahorE

Gwadar stadium IT has been a few days that there are trends on social media and reports on television channels about Gawadar Cricket Stadium since International Cricket Council ( ICC ) on Sunday posted multiple pictures of the newly built Gawadar Cricket Stadium on its social media pages asking fans if they’ve seen a more picturesque’ venue in the world.

“Show us more picturesque sports venue than the Gawadar Cricket Stadium in Balochistan, we’ll wait....” The recent pictures of the Gawadar Cricket Stadium were clicked by Pakistani TV personality and Sports Commentator Fakhr_e_ Alam. He himself urged cricket lovers to visit the stadium. Furthermore, being in the very middle of natural hills Gawadar Cricket Stadium presents a tremendous view. It presents a unique view from top of the hills. Lastly, as International Cricket Council (ICC) has had its best wishes for the newly built Gawadar Cricket Stadium now it is the responsibility of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to explore this beautiful venue and make this dream come true for the fans. I urge PCB to host at least two or three matches of Pakistan Super league (PSL) in Gawadar Cricket Stadium it will attract the world’s attention and will become an international vanue for Pakistan to host international matches.

MEEr afzal hub

Security of NSK THE return of test cricket to the metropolis has been causing serious difficulties to the people, especially those living in adjoining areas of the national Stadium Karachi nSK as the security plan issued by authorities has suggested almost a lockdown like situation in one of the busiest areas of the city, it emerged on today. The traffic plan for the first test match between South Africa and Pakistan to be played at the nSK from January 26-30 would lead to strick security and traffic arrangements. A statement issued by the Karachi traffic police said all roads leading to the nSK would be closed from 9am to 6pm and an alternative route would be requested to use alternative routes to avoid any inconvenience, it said. It said that the traffic will be diverted towards Jail chowrang Shared-i-Millat road or straight to people secretariat chowrangi. Civil society members haman right and labour leaders have condemned the traffic mismanagement in Karachi and cordoning off the residential areas around the nSK on the pretext of security for a few cricketers playing or practicing at the stadium. bahadur kaSSaki TurbaT

Myanmar’s plight THE current political turmoil in the form of a military coup in Myanmar is a matter of great concern calling for the attention of the international community now. This Asian country, formerly known as Burma, has been facing many challenges both political and economic for quite a longer span of time. The latest reports from there confirm that the state of emergency has been declared and that the Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi, also a nobel Peace Prize laureate in 1991, has been detained now. Straight away from the start- just right off the bat, Myanmar has been in the midst of so many issues like inherent political crisis, unending Rohingya conundrum and economic mess.

From now on, it is time to stop messing up everything out there literally. Also, the time is ripe now to take fine examples from other countries. In my opinion, Sri Lanka has been in the forefront as an example of harmonious coexistence, meaning the living together of Sinhalese and Tamils across Sri Lanka after a lot of initial upheavals like ethnic crisis and terror group attacks. Just right from my schooldays on, I have been observing the beautiful coexistence of Sinhalese and Tamils in Sri Lanka through various reliable sources like print media, electronic media and other overseas business activities out there in my native areas like Tuticorin, Korkai, Tiruchendur, Kanyakumari and Tirunelveli in Tamil nadu. The missing identity has been the core issue in Myanmar. Like identity based on religion, language and ethnicity in Sri Lanka, it is high time to seek the identity tags for all in Myanmar. And such political measures as granting citizenship rights to the inhabitants will pave the way for resolving all those ethnic and identity crises nagging Myanmar just before any possible major breakthrough could take place.

P SEnThil Saravana durai MuMbai

Wednesday, 3 February, 2021

08 WORLD VIEW

How Modi’s AtteMpt to crusH tHe fArMers’ protest seeMs to HAve bAckfired WHO IN THIS NARENDRA MODI AND AMIT SHAH-LED GOVERNMENT CAN FIND A WAY FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO DEFUSE THIS SITUATION WITHOUT LEAVING VAST SWATHES OF FARMERS IN NORTH INDIAN FEELING DEFEATED BY THE STATE?

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rohan VenkataraMakriShnan

MAGINE, for a second, what the Indian government’s focus would be on right now if the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party had just accepted the Opposition demand to send the three controversial farm bills to a Parliamentary panel for further consultation and scrutiny in September.

Perhaps the attention may have been on the Covid-19 numbers steadily falling since a peak in September 2020, even as the pandemic continues to rage in Western Europe and the United States. Or it may have been on India’s vaccination drive, with the country becoming – according to the government – the fastest to hit 1 million, 2 million and 3 million people receiving innoculations despite a surprising level of hesitancy among health workers.

Or more attention might have been paid to India’s vaccine diplomacy effort, giving away doses to neighbouring nations and allowing firms to sell them to other countries in Africa, South America and beyond. This even as the European Union squabbles with drugmaker AstraZeneca over a contract and vaccine export controls.

Then there’s the most important Budget since 1991.

In addition, elections are around the corner in five states, including West Bengal and Tamil Nadu.

Of course, hindsight is 20-20 and certainly the government has been able to put resources and effort into each of those issues. But, because of its decision to push through the farm bills without even counting the votes in Parliament, the BJP has found itself struggling to deal with a large, resilient protest movement that it has been unable to placate, vilify or crush.

After a small section of the lakhs of protesters who participated in a tractor rally in Delhi on Republic Day broke into the Red Fort prompted entirely misguided comparisons to the storm of the US Capitol, it has been clear, as I wrote this week, that the calculations made by the government have come undone every step of the way.

This was on display in the aftermath of January 26, when the chaos at the Red Fort as well as misinformation spread by the mainstream media gave the protesters the feeling for the first time that the government had gained the upper hand on the narrative.

Indeed, the BJP’s online army went on an overdrive in an attempt to portray the entire farmers’ movement as being filled with violent extremists, sparking anti-Sikh sentiment in a city that has a history of dreadful violence against the community. Authorities also filed multiple First Information Reports against the farm union leaders, even though they had broadly appealed for peace and disowned the protesters who entered the Red Fort.

Yet, a subsequent effort by Uttar Pradesh Police to strike quickly backfired. Authorities had moved security forces and made efforts to clear out the protest site at Ghazipur. Even as police amassed outside and the water and electricity were cut off, Bharatiya Kisan Union (Tikait) leader Rakesh Tikait made an impassioned speech that appeared to re-energise the movement. In particular, it mobilised members of the Jat community in BJP-controlled western Uttar Pradesh to support what had until then been a Punjab-led protest.

From another report by Vijayta Lalwani: “’Haryana and UP have a roti-beti ka rishta,’ he said. Haryana and Uttar Pradesh have a very strong bond. ‘But Punjab is like our elder brother. And this time, our elder brother has

been disrespected. We will not tolerate it,’ said Kumar, referring to the portrayal of Sikh farmers as ‘Khalistanis’ and ‘terrorists’ by mainstream media over the last few months, and particularly after the events of January 26.

Another farmer concurred. ‘Sardar birhadhri pe bahut bada akraman tha.’ The Sikh community has been attacked, said Amit, a 45-year-old farmer from Bulandshahr. He reached Ghazipur at 6 am. ‘But we have understood that this will not work,’ he said. ‘You cannot divide and rule in the name of Sikhs, sardars, Jats… till when will they [government] do this tandav?’”

And so the government finds itself in conflict with its own people. Taken aback by Tikait’s successful mobilisation of the Jat community, it suspended the internet at all the protest sites on the borders of Delhi, and even went so far as to halt SMS services in 17 out of Haryana’s 22 districts.

Meanwhile, authorities continue to try and crush any narrative that challenges its own, filing police cases – with charges including sedition and inciting riots – against a number of journalists for simply tweeting about developments. It also put young freelancer Mandeep Punia in jail for allegedly manhandling police personnel.

Other journalists have said that Punia was attempting to report on the assembly of a large crowd of men describing themselves as locals near the Singhu protest site, who – despite security keeping many others out – managed to simply walk in and commit violence against the protesters. This allowed the pro-government media to once again depict the movement as being extremist.

On the eve of the Indian Parliament’s Budget session, with a number of Opposition parties boycotting the customary President’s address, Prime Minister Narendra

The end of European influence in Asia

Modi seemed to signal some willingness to compromise.

At the all-party meeting prior to the Parliament session, Modi said that the government’s offer to put the farm laws on hold for 18 months still stood. This had been rejected by the farmers calling for a full repeal.

Yet, a day later on his regular radio show, Modi repeated the talking points relying on misinformation used by his party in the aftermath of the January 26 events, saying “the country was saddened to see the national flag insulted”. The wider BJP ecosystem has continued to spread the message that the farmer movement is violent and full of vested interests, even as the mobilisation includes nearly the entire political class of Punjab, a significant section in Haryana and is now growing in support in western Uttar Pradesh. While the BJP may have been prepared to ignore Punjab politically, and has somehow managed to not lose power in Haryana, the mobilisation in Uttar Pradesh where elections are due in 2022 will undoubtedly be a source of worry for it.

Yet, by pushing the line that the protesters are corrupt and violent, the BJP has made it harder to arrive at a compromise without its own supporters feeling like the government gave in to what the party’s propaganda has been depicting as an extremist, unruly mob. Indeed, doing so may empower other interest groups to repeat the same protest tactics.

Who in this Narendra Modi and Amit Shah-led government can find a way for the government to defuse this situation without leaving vast swathes of farmers in North Indian feeling defeated by the state? Who in the party can create the political space for the BJP’s own followers to accept a compromise deal and not see anything less than the crushing of dissent as a capitulation?

Can US Centcom afford Israel?

EU PROVING INCREASINGLY IRRELEVANT IN A REGION DOMINATED BY CHINA Nikkei asia

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WilliaM Bratton

S China rises, governments across Asia are seeking stronger economic and political ties with the European Union and individual European countries. The hope is that these enhanced relationships will act as a counterweight to China’s expanding influence and mitigate increasing uncertainty over the U.S.’s long-term commitment to the region.

These efforts are being aided by a newfound European interest in Asia. The EU has defined China as a “strategic competitor” and is moving to strengthen its relationships with other Asian countries. This includes its recent trade and investment agreements with Japan, Singapore and Vietnam. Individual European countries are also looking to improve their Asian relationships. The U.K., for example, is keen to demonstrate an ongoing Asian commitment in order to give substance to its post-Brexit ambitions for a “global Britain.”

But there is a substantial and widening disconnect between rhetoric and reality. Europe may think it has a role to play in Asia, but the unfortunate truth is that it is increasingly irrelevant as the third player in the region behind China and the U.S. As its influence rapidly fades, Europe is in fact very much on the fringes of Asia’s geopolitical and economic dynamics. And any substantive interest European countries still have in the region now appears focused on China than the smaller more peripheral Asian states.

Europe’s declining economic role within the region is seen in global trade flows. It accounted for nearly a fifth of Asia’s total trade flows excluding China in 1999 but this had declined to 13% in 2019. Today, Australia, Indonesia, Singapore and Taiwan all send less than a tenth of their merchandise exports to European countries. Asia ex-China sent twice as many exports by value to Europe as to China in 1999. But this ratio had been completely reversed by 2019 with China now the dominant trading partner for the rest of the region by a substantial and growing margin.

Europe’s financial relevance is also waning. Ten years ago, banks from Europe’s five largest economies represented 40% of all foreign lending in Southeast Asia. In 2019, they accounted for less than a quarter. European banks have actually cut their exposure to some Asian countries over the last five years, including Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. This mirrors the trend by many of Europe’s financial institutions, especially its investment banks, to scale back their broader Asian aspirations and focus their regional efforts on China.

Europe’s declining significance is also demonstrated by its marginal role in the financing of Asia’s infrastructure investments. Compared with China’s Belt and Road Initiative or Japan’s Partnership for Quality Infrastructure, the European Union’s Euro-Asia Connectivity Strategy, or EACS, is limited in size and scope. And reflecting the changing balance of power between China and the EU, the EACS seems more focused on limiting further Chinese encroachment into Southeast Europe than on infrastructure development in Asia. It can be seen, therefore, as a defensive reaction to China’s rise rather than a positive commitment to Asian engagement.

It is true that many European countries and the EU have long histories of engagement with the region, but China’s rise has rapidly displaced their residual economic influence. The recent spat between Cambodia and the EU demonstrated this. Europe raised tariffs in 2020 on many Cambodian imports in response to the country’s human rights record. But while this economic pressure may have been previously sufficient to change Cambodia’s behavior, its strengthening relationship with China allowed it to effectively ignore European censure. Cambodia instead accelerated its free trade agreement with China: a clear indication of the region’s changing economic balance of power and the fading importance of Europe.

This is a problem for Europe as its only leverage within the region is economic. It has minimal ability to deliver or sustain significant hard power capabilities within Asia. Across Europe, only France and the U.K. have the ability to

conduct military operations in Asia and even then, in a sporadic and limited manner. The aircraft carrier group that the U.K. intends to send to Asia this year, for example, will represent a substantial proportion of the Royal Navy and yet will still be dwarfed by the People’s Liberation Army’s South Sea Fleet, which is just one of China’s three naval fleets.

As such, it is unclear what Asian countries looking to Europe to counter China’s rise can realistically expect. It is true that some of the European countries remain important within international institutions such as the United Nations, but they simply do not have the ability or intent to contribute to an Asian anti-China bloc. Europe may talk about strengthening relationships with Asian countries but it has little to offer in comparison with China or the U.S., either economically, politically or militarily.

In fact, instead of being potential partners to counter China’s rise, European countries are more focused on their economic relationships with the Asian superpower as they are captured by its expanding importance. This was reflected by the EU’s recent haste to agree to an investment treaty with China. This single action demonstrates just how rapidly the balance of economic power between Europe and China has changed over recent decades. And this balance, or growing imbalance, is only likely to shift further in China’s favor given Europe’s internal issues and lack of economic dynamism.

As George Orwell foresaw in “1984,” the world is splintering into three distinct economic and geopolitical blocs. Europe may have relatively strong economic and political relationships with the Americas, but its role in Asia is already weak and fading fast. Asian countries looking for partners in the face of China’s rise should therefore not be looking to Europe, but rather to their immediate neighbors. That in itself raises numerous challenges but the future of Asia is China and any significant relevance Europe once had in the region is now a relic of history.

William Bratton is author of “China’s Rise, Asia’s Decline.” He was previously head of equity research, AsiaPacific at HSBC.

NatioNal Bilal SaaB and Michael Mulroy

One of the Trump administration’s final acts in foreign affairs was to include Israel in the area covered by US Central Command (Centcom), the geographic combatant command responsible for the broader Middle East.

The move will make it easier for Centcom’s forces, which collaborate frequently with Arab states, to extend that collaboration to Israel.

From the US perspective, it is a sensible decision, given that Israel is part of the region and shares many of the security concerns of Centcom. But it presents potential challenges to America’s top foreign policy priority, which is staying ahead in great power competition.

For decades, Israel was under the area of responsibility of European Command (EUCom) and not that of Centcom, mainly because of the complicated politics of the Arab-Israeli conflict. After Egypt and Jordan signed peace deals with Israel in 1979 and 1994, respectively, the idea of forging closer Israel-Centcom relations was broached several times, only to hit a brick wall at every juncture because of the concerns of the other Arab countries. Today, those concerns have largely subsided.

With the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco signing normalisation agreements with Israel last year, the road to Israel’s integration into Centcom was paved.

Israel will get to enjoy several benefits from Centcom – a large command that has accumulated a wealth of experience in military operations, strategic analysis, and contingency planning, most of which is centered on Iran.

These include an added layer of deterrence against Iranian aggression, a more streamlined process for intelligence sharing and broader security co-operation.

In addition, Israel will have the opportunity to bolster its defence ties with the Arab states, with Centcom likely playing the role of practical enabler and facilitator.

So, all in all, this is an outcome that not only reflects the changing strategic realities of the Middle East but also serves the security interests of all three parties – the Israelis, Arab partners

and the US. But some significant challenges remain.

First, it is likely that the resources previously used by EUcom for Israel will not be transferred to Centcom. At EUcom, dozens of officers have had oversight responsibilities to process US military sales to Israel, which is one of the largest recipients of US arms in the world.

If Centcom does not receive that influx of staff support, expertise, funds and military assets, it will have to surge internally in terms of manpower and military capabilities, all of which will cost money. But this will not be an easy sell.

EUcom will have a compelling argument to keep all of those resources in-house. The US’s 2018 National Defence Strategy (NDS) prioritises great power competition primarily in Europe and the Indo-Pacific, and Washington believes the Russian threat to European allies and partners has grown in recent years. EUcom will need every penny to focus on challenges from Moscow and engage in some serious repairing of key security relationships in Nato, which were badly managed by the previous US administration.

Second, it is unclear how Israel’s inclusion into Centcom will affect the global integrator role of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

This role entails finding integration opportunities among all the unified commands to more effectively execute the NDS. The Chairman’s shifting of resources between combatant commands based on the threat and current events will be critical to all the objectives of the NDS. All of this leads to the broader issue of the future of America’s military footprint in the Middle East. Whether because of foreign policy reprioritisation or so-called “Middle East fatigue”, the US has been trying to draw down in the region for some time, albeit unsuccessfully. This endeavour enjoys bipartisan support in America.

However, with Israel added into the Centcom mix, what happens to that goal? This is a question for the new administration, which will have to balance turning Washington’s attention to near-peer competitors and granting Centcom more resources to address its new Israel-centred responsibilities.

It seems that every time US officials attempt to trim the American military presence in the Middle East, a crisis erupts, forcing them to increase Centcom’s forces. This time, it is not a crisis but an opportunity, and one that is likely to increase the strategic relevance of Centcom in an era of great power competition.

Bilal Y Saab is director of the defence and security programme at the Middle East Institute (MEI) in Washington and a former senior adviser on the Middle East at the Pentagon.

Michael P Mulroy is a senior fellow at MEI and a former US deputy assistant secretary of defence for Middle East policy.

Wednesday, 3 February, 2021

BUSINESS 09

corporate corner

JAnUAry SeeS 23.6Pc JUmP in DomeSTic cemenT SALeS LAHORE

KARACHI: National Foods Ltd (NFL) recently received the prestigious ‘Dr Ruth Pfau CSR Award 2021’ from Marie Adelaide Leprosy Centre (MALC) – the most renowned institution providing healthcare for Leprosyaffected in Pakistan. PR

ISLAMABAD: Citi has announced Ahmed Bozai as the new country officer for its business in Pakistan. As CCO, Ahmed will assume overall responsibility for driving Citi's business in the country, and will report to Elissar Farah Antonios who has been recently appointed as the Head of Citi’s MENA cluster. PR

T

HASSAN NAQVI

HE country's total cement despatches clocked in at 4.73 million tonnes in January 2021, as against 4.07 million tonnes in January 2020.

According to data released by the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA), local despatches increased 23.67pc to 4.03 million tonnes in January 2021 compared to 3.26 million tonnes in January 2020.

However, exports dropped 14.09pc to 694,934 tonnes from 808,874 tonnes.

During the month under review, north-based factories despatched 3.31 million tonnes of cement to the local market, depicting a healthy increase of 23.48pc when compared with 2.68 million tonnes in January 2020, while the southern mills despatched 724,281 tonnes

OVERALL, DOMESTIC DESPATCHES RISE 15.7PC YOY IN JULY-JAN FY21; EXPORTS UP 10.2PC cement for local consumption, which was 24.59pc higher than 581,316 tonnes cement despatched in January 2020.

Exports from the northern mills increased 25.36pc to 233,404 tonnes in January 2021 (186,185 tonnes in January 2020), whereas exports from the southern mills decreased 25.88pc to 461,530 tonnes (622,689 tonnes in Jan 2020).

Overall, total cement despatches (domestic and exports) during the first seven months (July-Jan) of the ongoing fiscal year (FY21) clocked in at 33.36 million tonnes, which was 15.77pc more than the corresponding period of FY20.

Local despatches increased 16.98pc to 27.65 million tonnes in July-Jan

Pakistan, Uzbekistan agree to sign preferential trade agreement ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Pakistan and Uzbekistan have agreed to enhance bilateral trade relations by entering into a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA).

The understanding was reached at the first meeting of Joint Working Group of Pakistan and Uzbekistan on Trade and Economic Affairs and the meeting of Tripartite Working Group on Implementation of Trans-Afghan Railway Project in Tashkent, said a press statement issued on Tuesday.

KARACHI: TPL Trakker has partnered with B4U Cabs, a new entrant in the ride-hailing services market based in Lahore. Under the partnership, TPL Trakker’s LocationBased Service (LBS) APIs will power B4U Cab’s ride hailing mobile apps for consumers and cab drivers. PR

LAHORE

ISLAMABAD: OPPO has signed an MoU with Peshawar Zalmi ahead of HBL PSL 6. The MoU was formally signed

by Zalmi Chairman Javed Afridi and Mr. Jeff, Sales Director from OPPO. HBL PSL 6 will see OPPO as the official smartphone and IoT partner of Peshawer Zalmi. PR

Online grocery shopping platform 24SEVEN.pk has secured a six-figure investment from US-based venture capital fund SOSV, and has joined its mobile accelerator programme.

This investment is part of 24SEVEN.pk’s ongoing preSeries A round which is expected to close within a couple of weeks. 24SEVEN has also been selected for the 10th cohort of Mobile Only Accelerator, an SOSV programme for consumer technology and mobile-first markets.

Though the investment amount remains undisclosed, the investor, SOSV confirmed to Profit that the said funds have been disbursed to the startup.

Speaking to Profit, Jarrar Shah, co-founder and CEO of 24SEVEN.pk, said that the said

funds will be deployed towards building infrastructure that will help the company grow faster.

The funds will be focused on improving technology stack and supply chain for efficient deliveries as well as towards market expansion and enhancing the platform’s AI capabilities.

“Fresh food delivery and food traceability will become the norm in the future, and we have huge ambitions for innovating the grocery space in Pakistan. We have been on this journey for a while and are looking forward to gleaning the best insights from SOSV to further advance our mission,” says Jarrar Shah, Co-founder and CEO of 24SEVEN.pk.

Founded in 2016, 24SEVEN.pk is among Pakistan’s rapidly growing grocery shopping platforms, that claims to have served over 30,000 customers and delivered over

150,000 orders. The platform boasts an offering of over 6,000 products including fresh food delivered the same day to consumers. The company also provides direct linkages with farms to ensure food traceability and multiple payment options.

Pakistan’s grocery market is estimated at US$60 billion, according to research by MarketLine. Yet the value chain is incredibly fragmented, with 98 per cent of its small corner shops having limited product offerings and zero traceability.

24SEVEN claims to be innovating the whole sector with its own fulfilment centres, lastmile capability and small shops on wheels.

With over US$800 million under management and a crossborder ecosystem of over 1,000 startups, SOSV has backed several notable companies through its accelerator programme MOX.

MARKET DAILY

Stocks bounce back to recover overnight losses KARACHI STAFF REPORT

LAHORE: Bank Alfalah and The Beaconhouse Group have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to facilitate personal loan financing solutions for the employees of the Beaconhouse School System. PR

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood, who is leading a delegation to Uzbekistan, represented the Pakistani side in the meeting.

The two sides discussed enhancing banking cooperation, working on rail and road connectivity matters and establishment of off-dock terminals. They also resolved to cooperate in shipping, textile, engineering and IT sectors.

The Uzbek side invited Pakistan business delegation to organise a joint exhibition in Tashkent in June this year.

US venture capital fund SOSV invests in Pakistani e-grocer 24SEVEN.pk TAIMOOR HASSAN

LAHORE: The Orange Line Metro Train System (OLMRTS) successfully completed its first 100 days of operations on Tuesday while ensuring strict implementation of all the necessary standard operating procedures (SOPs) related to Covid-19. PR

FY21 from 23.63 million tonnes in July-Jan FY20. Exports also increased from 5.186 million tonnes in 7MFY20 to 5.71 million tonnes in 7MFY21, showing a growth of 10.23pc.

During the months under review, north-based mills despatched 23.54 million tonnes cement for domestic consumption, which was 17.18pc higher compared to 20.09 million tonnes in 7MFY20. Exports from the north, however, dropped 10.09pc to 1.44 million tonnes, when compared with 1.61 million tonnes last year.

On the other hand, southern mills despatched 4.11 million tonnes in the domestic market during July-Jan FY21,

which was 15.86pc higher than 3.54 million tonnes despatched last year. Exports from the south also registered an increase of 19.35pc, from 3.57 million tonnes to 4.27 million tonnes.

"Cement uptake has reached historic high in the domestic market but the increase in its main inputs has become a major challenge for the industry," an APCMA spokesman said, adding that coal rates are constantly going up in the global market which was why the cement sector was facing major cost increase. Moreover, hike in diesel and petrol prices for the fifth time in the past three months resulted in an increase in transportation cost, he stated.

"There is a declining trend in exports in the last three months as cement manufacturers are losing competitiveness due to high fuel and energy costs," he said, adding that fuel and energy were the two major inputs of the cement industry.

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) was back on track as bulls re-appeared to take control of the market after a day of consolidation.

Global equity markets also showed a positive trend, whereas crude oil prices appreciated further from the previous close; WTI crude price rising 2.39pc to $54.84 while Brent crude price increasing 2.33pc to $57.64 (as at 3:50pm PST).

As per analysts, the surge in oil prices was due to a decline in inventories and hopes of a swifter global economic recovery.

"The signing of IPPs agreement motivated investors to take positions in PSO and HUBC, re-

CMYK

sulting in the latter driving the market with an overall increase of 394 points during the session.

Similarly, overnight increase in crude oil prices by 3.5pc caused the E&P stocks to contribute assertively to the upsurge in the index. Banking, refinery and cement stocks saw profit booking, which kept the gains in check," a report issued by Arif Habib Ltd read.

MARKET SUMMARY: The benchmark KSE100 Index remained in the green throughout the session, touching its intraday high at 46,642.72 after gaining 394.27 points. It settled higher by 331.89 points at 46,580.34. Among other indices, the KMI-30 Index accumulated 666.67 points to end at 74,905.07, while the KSE All Share Index added 166.89 points, closing at 32,167.97.

Earlier on Monday, Abdul Razak Dawood called on Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev to discuss matters related to economic cooperation between the two countries. Dawood also met with Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Uzbekistan President Adkham Ikramov and discussed cooperation in textile, leather and engineering sectors.

The commerce adviser is leading a delegation to Uzbekistan for the first meeting of the Joint Working Group on Trade and Economic Affairs and the meeting of Tripartite Working Group on Implementation of Trans-Afghan Railway Project.

UBL introduces WhatsApp Banking Services KARACHI: UBL, Pakistan’s Best Digital Bank 2020 (as declared by the Pakistan Banking Awards), in collaboration with Infobip, has introduced another financial convenience for its over 10 million customers – WhatsApp Banking. This is a self-service option for all of its customers in order to deliver an interactive customer solution for all their banking queries, on their most preferred communication channel. Commenting on the launch of the service, Sharjeel Shahid, Group Executive Digital Banking, said, “UBL has, time and again, introduced products and services which offer customers maximum expediency. With our digital footprint and technological know-how, we want to bring the ultimate banking experience for our customers. This new service is another step in that direction.” PRESS RElEASE

Telenor Pakistan crosses 47m subscribers in Q4 2020 LAHORE: Telenor Pakistan announced its Q4 results for 2020 on Tuesday and reported an improvement in overall performance, adding more than 1 million subscribers and bringing overall subscriber base to over 47 million. “I am happy to share that our efforts to improve subscriber engagement contributed to our overall performance. Despite the challenges faced by the pandemic and other factors, we were able to strengthen the profitability with a YoY EBITDA growth and we ended the year on a strong note by adding more than a million new subscribers on net basis. We were successfully able to control our OPEX by prioritizing spending and providing our customers with the services and offers they need at the right time,” said Fridtjof Rusten, Chief Finance Officer, Telenor Pakistan. PRESS RElEASE

State-of-the-art Jazz Digital House Quetta inaugurated ISLAMABAD: Jazz, Pakistan’s number one 4G operator, has inaugurated its state-of-the-art office, the Jazz Digital House, in Quetta. The office aims to provide a comfortable and inspiring environment, enabling employees to be more productive and creative. Speaking on the occasion, Aamir Ibrahim, Jazz CEO, said, “This digital house is a testament to Jazz’s values and caters to the rapidly changing workplace dynamics. In line with our commitment to provide a healthy working environment, we hope that this next-generation workplace promotes continuous learning, nurtures wellness, and fosters innovation.” PRESS RElEASE

Wednesday, 3 February, 2021

10 FOREIGN NEWS

MyanMar generalS tighten grip on power aS US CallS for SanCtionS WASHINGTON

t

Agencies

HE United States threatened to reimpose sanctions on Myanmar’s generals after they seized power in a coup and detained elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose whereabouts remained unknown on Tuesday more than 24 hours after her arrest.

The coup followed a landslide win for Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party in November elections, a result the military has refused to accept citing allegations of fraud.

The army handed power to General Min Aung Hlaing and imposed a state of emergency for a year, crushing hopes the povertystricken country also known as Burma was on the path to stable democracy after decades of military meddling in politics.

US President Joe Biden said the coup was a direct assault on Myanmar’s transition to democracy and the rule of law, and said his administration would be watching how other countries responded.

“The United States removed sanctions on Burma over the past decade based on progress toward democracy. The reversal of that progress will necessitate an immediate review of our sanction laws and authorities,

followed by appropriate action,” Biden said in a statement.

“We will work with our partners throughout the region and the world to support the restoration of democracy and the rule of law, as well as to hold accountable those responsible for overturning Burma’s democratic transition,” he said.

The crisis in Myanmar is one of the first major tests of Biden’s pledge to collaborate more with allies on international challenges, especially on China’s rising influence. That stance contrasts with former President Donald Trump’s often go-it-alone ‘America First’ approach. The United Nations-led condemnation of the coup and calls for the release of detainees and restoration of democracy in comments largely echoed by Australia, the European Union, India, Japan and the United States.

China did not join the condemnation, saying only that it noted the events and calling on all sides to respect the constitution.

Other countries in the region including neighbouring Thailand refused to comment on Myanmar’s “internal affairs”.

The streets of Myanmar were quiet overnight during a curfew already in place to stop the spread of coronavirus. Troops and riot police took up positions in the capital, Naypyitaw, and the main commercial centre

China cracks fake Covid-19 vaccine ring, confiscates 3,000 doses: report SHANGHAI

Yangon. By Tuesday morning, phone and internet connections were running again but usually bustling market places were quiet and the airport in the commercial hub of Yangon was closed.

Banks in Yangon reopened on Tuesday after halting financial services a day earlier due to poor internet connections and amid a rush to withdraw cash.

SUU KYI WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN: The whereabouts of Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and other NLD leaders remained unknown, the military giving no information about their conditions.

Israel sees 6-month Iran nuclear breakout, longer than Blinken projection TEL AVIV Agencies

Agencies

Chinese police arrested more than 80 people and confiscated over 3,000 fake doses of Covid-19 vaccine as part of a campaign to combat vaccine-related crimes, state news agency Xinhua reported. The suspects had been carrying out the ruse since at least September last year, Xinhua said on Monday, adding that all fake doses had been tracked down.

The fake vaccines were made by injecting saline into syringes, it said. The suspects may have intended to send the vaccines abroad, the government-backed Global Times newspaper reported, citing a source close to a major Chinese vaccine producer. The police operation was carried out by police in multiple places including Beijing, Shanghai and the eastern province of Shandong, Xinhua said. Countries around the world from have been rolling out vaccine programmes in the hope of bringing the year-long coronavirus pandemic to an end.

Brazil Senate elects Bolsonaro ally to head the upper chamber

Israel’s energy minister said on Tuesday it would take Iran around six months to produce enough fissile material for a single nuclear weapon, a timeline almost twice as long as that anticipated by a senior member of the Biden administration.

Israel is wary of the Biden administration’s intent to re-enter the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal and has long opposed the agreement. Washington argues that the previous Trump

administration’s withdrawal from the deal backfired by prompting Iran to abandon caps on nuclear activities.

Speaking last month a day before he took office as US secretary of state, Antony Blinken said that the so-called “breakout time” — in which Iran might ramp up enrichment of uranium to bomb-fuel purity — “has gone from beyond a year (under the deal) to about three or four months”.

He said he based his comments on information in public reporting.

But Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz, in a radio interview, said the

Agencies

Brazil’s Senate voted 57-21 on Monday to elect Rodrigo Pacheco, the candidate endorsed by right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, to head the upper chamber for a two-year term. Though he is a Bolsonaro ally, Pacheco of the centreright Democrats party has said he would not make a priority of privatizing Eletrobras, Latin America’s largest utility and one of the government’s biggest potential asset sales as it works to cut the fiscal deficit. Before the vote, Pacheco vowed to seek a compromise between fiscal restraints and assistance to socially vulnerable Brazilians hurt by the coronavirus pandemic.

Trump administration “seriously damaged Iran’s nuclear project and entire force build-up”.

“In terms of enrichment, they [Iranians] are in a situation of breaking out in around half a year if they do everything required,” he told public broadcaster Kan. “As for nuclear weaponry, the range is around one or two years.”

Iran, which denies seeking nuclear weaponry, has recently accelerated its breaches of the deal, which it started violating in 2019 response to the US withdrawal and reimposition

of sanctions against it.

The last quarterly estimates by the UN nuclear body in November show that Iran’s stock of enriched uranium had risen to 2.4 tonnes, more than 10 times the amount allowed under the deal but still a fraction of the more than eight tonnes it had before.

Since then Iran has started enriching uranium to higher purity, returning to the 20 percent it achieved before the deal from a previous maximum of 4.5 percent. The deal sets a limit of 3.67 percent, far below the 90 percent that is weapons grade.

Indonesian air crash investigators send plane parts to US, UK for checks JAKARTA Agencies

BRASILIA

Min Aung Hlaing, who had been nearing retirement, promised a free and fair election and a handover of power to the winning party, without giving a timeframe.

Suu Kyi, 75, called for protests against military dictatorship in a statement prepared in anticipation of her arrest and released on Monday, but there were no reports of unrest.

Her election win followed about 15 years of house arrest between 1989 and 2010 and a long struggle against the military, which had seized power in a 1962 coup and brutally stamped out all dissent for decades.

The latest coup marks the second time

the military has refused to recognise a landslide election win for the NLD, having also rejected the result of 1990 polls that were meant to pave the way for civilian rule.

Suu Kyi’s party finally came to power in 2015 under a new constitution guaranteeing a major role for the military in parliament and government, including key ministries.

Consolidating its power, the new junta removed 24 ministers and named 11 replacements to oversee ministries including finance, defence, foreign affairs and interior.

Buddhist monk Shwe Nya War Sayadawa, known for his outspoken support for the NLD, was also among those arrested on Monday, his temple said. Monks are a powerful political force in Buddhist-majority Myanmar.

One of the key concerns for UN diplomats is the fate of Rohingya Muslims and other ethnic minority groups who have endured years of harsh treatment at the hands of the military.

A 2017 military crackdown in Myanmar’s Rakhine state sent more than 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fleeing into Bangladesh.

About 600,000 Rohingya remain in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, including 120,000 people who are effectively confined to camps, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters. “So our fear is that the events may make the situation worse for them,” he said.

Indonesia’s air accident investigator has sent five components of a crashed Sriwijaya Air jet to the United States and Britain for examination, including the autothrottle that controls engine power automatically, the agency’s head said on Tuesday.

The 26-year-old Boeing Co. 737-500 crashed into the Java Sea shortly after takeoff from Jakarta on January 9, killing all 62 people on board.

National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT) Chief SoerjantoTjahjonosaid the components had been sent for examination to help find out why an autothrottle parameter had changed. He did not identify the other parts.

The plane’s flight data recorder (FDR) has been found and read by investigators but a maritime search is going on for the cockpit voice recorder’s (CVR) memory unit that Tjahjono said would help explain any human factors behind the crash.

“If we only have the FDR, we do not know why the parameter changed, what was the reason,” he said of the autothrottle. “We need confirmation from the components that we sent to the US and UK and the CVR.” KNKT said last month it was investigating whether a problem with the autothrottle system contributed to the crash given an issue with it had been reported on a flight a few days earlier.

It is acceptable for a plane to fly with an autothrottle system that is not working because pilots

can control it manually instead.

KNKT plans to issue a preliminary report into the crash soon, possibly on February 9, Tjahjono said.

Citing sources close to the investigation, the Wall Street Journal last month reported the FDR data showed the autothrottle system was not operating properly on one of the plane’s engines as it climbed on departure from Jakarta.

Instead of shutting off the system, the FDR indicated the pilots tried to get the stuck throttle to function, the WSJ said. That could create significant differences in power between engines, making the jet harder to control.

Tjahjono said the WSJ report was incorrect and more information would be provided in the KNKT’s preliminary report.

Torture, forced labour rife in North Korea, UN says as US mulls sanctions GENEVA Agencies

Torture and forced labour are rife in North Korea’s prisons, amounting to possible crimes against humanity, the UN human rights office said on Tuesday, as the Biden administration weighs fresh sanctions over Pyongyang’s nuclear programme.

The report, issued seven years after a landmark UN investigation found that crimes against humanity were being com-

mitted, also said that political prison camps run by security forces still persisted, although information is more scarce.

“Not only does impunity prevail, but human rights violations that may amount to crimes against humanity continue to be committed,” Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement. She urged world powers to pursue justice and prevent further violations. The report called for the UN Security Council to refer the Democratic People’s Republic of

Korea to the International Criminal Court for prosecutions or establish an ad hoc tribunal.

“Accountability for grave human rights violations and ongoing crimes against humanity should not be a secondary consideration in bringing North Korea to the negotiating table,” UN human rights spokeswoman RavinaShamdasanisaid.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, speaking on NBC News on Monday, said additional sanctions could be used against North Korea in coordination with US allies

as a way toward denuclearization of the divided Peninsula. Other tools include unspecified diplomatic incentives, he said.

North Korea denies the existence of political prison camps and last July denounced Britain for announcing sanctions against two organisations that the British government has said are involved in forced labour, torture and murder in the camps.

The UN report, citing interviews with former detainees, said it continued to receive “consistent and credible accounts of the sys-

tematic infliction of severe physical and mental pain or suffering upon detainees, through the infliction of beatings, stress positions and starvation in places of detention.”

This reconfirmed the 2014 findings of the UN inquiry, led by former Australian judge Michael Kirby, and “indicates that the crime against humanity of torture continues to take place in the ordinary prison system,” it said. Forced labour, “which may amount to the crime against humanity of enslavement” also persists in prisons, it said.

Wednesday, 3 February, 2021

SPORTS 11

Pakistan eye first test series win over south africa in 17 years RAWALPINDI

n

AGENCIES

EW-look Pakistan will look to end a 17-year wait for a series win against South Africa and leapfrog the Proteas in the rankings in the second Test starting on Thursday.

Victory would be poignant for Pakistan, who are hosting their biggest Test series

since the deadly 2009 militant attack on Sri Lanka's team halted international tours.

Pakistan, whose lone series win over South Africa was at home in 2003, start as favourites in Rawalpindi after last week's thumping seven-wicket win in Karachi.

They stand to rise two places to fifth in the rankings with a series victory, while defeat would push South Africa down from

fifth to sixth.

Debutant Nauman Ali and fellow spinner Yasir Shah were the heroes in Karachi with seven wickets each, along with Fawad Alam whose first-innings century set up the win. Babar Azam, who captained Pakistan for the first time, said the win was much needed after they went down heavily in both Tests away to New Zealand in December and January.

"This win was very necessary for our group," said Azam. "The last series in New Zealand didn't go very well. Yes, these are home conditions but South Africa is a top Test side and beating them was moraleboosting."

He added, "We have been telling the players to be confident. I don't want them to take pressure, learn from mistakes and do your best."

However, Rawalpindi will provide a different challenge for both teams as fast bowlers tend to dominate.

When Pakistan beat Bangladesh there by an innings and 44 runs, 12 months ago, 20 of the 30 wickets went to fast bowlers.

With that in mind, Pakistan are expected to drop Nauman, despite his wickets in Karachi, and give a Test debut to paceman Haris Rauf.

'NOT THE GREATEST' RECORD: South Africa have long struggled in the sub-

Pakistan may make changes in squad: Misbah NEWS DESK Pakistani head coach Misbahul Haq has said that there is a possibility of some changes in the squad for the second Test against South Africa. “We would make sure that the best team is fielded against South Africa for the second Test. Though it is too early to say anything on the final combination, we would not be afraid of making any changes in the team, if some needs arise,” Misbah said during a media briefing on Tuesday. “No doubt Pindi and Karachi stadiums have different conditions. We are monitoring the situation and we will decide on the final combination once we inspect the final shape of the playing surface. Shamsi could not play the first Test. Let’s see how he would go on to perform here, if selected.” He added, “We have given Haris Rauf a long run and he came out good. He is talented and a good future is ahead of him. If there is a need to add one pacer in the team, we even can consider him. Yes, it is unfortunate that we haven’t got a settled opening pair as yet. The same has happened in New Zealand. We are trying to give our openers a longer run and want to get the best out of them.” continent, with Karachi their eighth defeat in a row in India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

They lost their last eight wickets for 112 and 60 in the two innings in Karachi, falling for 220 and 245 all out.

"I know that our record in the subcontinent is not the greatest," said captain Quinton de Kock.

"We have won a couple of series and I

Australia's tour of South Africa postponed due to Covid-19

have part of some but now we want to find a way to alter that."

Experienced opener Dean Elgar is expected to be fit to play after being hit on the hand in Karachi.

The tourists are likely to drop spinner George Linde to bring in one of their fastbowling all-rounders, Wiaan Mulder or Dwaine Pretorius.

olympics will go ahead this year however coronavirus evolves, says tokyo 2020 chief TOKYO

SYDNEY AGENCIES

Australia's cricket tour of South Africa has been postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Cricket Australia said in a statement on Tuesday.

Australian players were scheduled to fly out this month for a three-Test series in March, but the touring side's cricket board

said it had no choice but to postpone the trip due to the South African epidemic.

“It has become clear that travelling from Australia to South Africa at this current time poses an unacceptable level of health and safety risk to our players, support staff and the community,” CA's interim Chief Executive Nick Hockley said in a statement.

“This decision has not been made

lightly and we are extremely disappointed, especially given the importance of continuing international cricket at this time.”

South Africa has recorded more than 1.45 million coronavirus cases and over 44,000 deaths. Since late last year, it has been battling a more transmissible variant of the virus.

Australia, where the spread of Covid

has been less acute, recently hosted a series against India that included three Twenty20 internationals, three one-dayers and four Test matches.

“We look forward to playing the series against CSA at a date to be confirmed in due course,” Hockley added.

South Africa hosted Sri Lanka for two Tests around the turn of the year and their Test side are currently touring Pakistan.

Kenin, Osaka make winning starts in Melbourne ahead of Australian Open MELBOURNE AGENCIES

World No 3 Naomi Osaka made light work of France’s Alize Cornet on Tuesday in the Japanese star’s first competitive match since winning the US Open for a second time.

The three-time Grand Slam champion hit 22 winners to move into the third round of the Gippsland Trophy with a 6-2, 6-2 victory in Melbourne.

“I was really nervous coming here,” said Osaka, who won the Australian Open in 2019. “The last match I played was in

New York and I wanted to continue the momentum.” It was an impressive performance from Osaka, who had few problems against Cornet in her first encounter with the French veteran.

Osaka plays Katie Boulter in the next round after the British woman knocked out teenage sensation Coco Gauff 3-6, 7-5, 62 in one hour and 43 minutes.

After a tough opening victory over Jil Teichmann, the 16-year-old American started strongly before fading in her second match in consecutive days.

Earlier, defending Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin’s long-awaited re-

turn to Melbourne Park was brief after her Italian opponent Camila Giorgi retired injured after one set at the Yarra Valley Classic. The 22-year-old was back at the scene of her stunning breakthrough Grand Slam title last year, where she beat Garbine Muguruza in three sets.

But it was a short stay on Margaret Court Arena with the 76th-ranked Giorgi retiring because of a thigh injury after Kenin clinched a tight first set 7-5.

“I’m happy with the win, the way I played,” she said. “I started off pretty good...just made a little bit too many unforced errors.”

The American was upset in the quarter-finals of the season-opening event in Abu Dhabi last month by Greece’s Maria Sakkari, ranked 22.

Kenin reeled off three straight games to start the match before going off the boil as Giorgi went 4-3 ahead. Kenin regrouped before Giorgi called for medical attention at the end of the set and retired.

The Moscow-born Kenin emerged as a serious force in last year’s truncated circuit, also reaching the French Open final and rising to a career-high fourth in the world rankings. She plays fellow American Jessica Pegula next.

AGENCIES

The pandemic-postponed Olympics will go ahead this summer “however the coronavirus evolves”, Tokyo 2020 President Yoshiro Mori said Tuesday, brushing aside doubts about the event. “We’ll certainly go ahead however the coronavirus (pandemic) evolves,” he told a meeting of Olympic organisers and members of Japan’s ruling party in Tokyo. “We must go beyond discussion about whether we will hold it or not. It’s about how we will do it. Let’s think about a new kind of Olympics on this occasion,” he added. The comments come with organisers and government officials insisting the Games can be held safely despite surging Covid-19 infections around the world, including in Japan. Tighter border restrictions imposed after infections surged have already forced the postponement of some sporting fixtures including this year’s first Olympic test event, an artistic swimming qualifier that was scheduled for March. The nationwide Olympic torch relay is still due to begin on March 25.

On Wednesday (today), organisers are expected to outline further details of the extensive coronavirus countermeasures they have devised for the 2020 Games, which were pushed back to 2021 last March as the virus spread around the globe. But public opinion appears opposed to holding the Games this year, with 80 per cent of Japanese people asked in a January survey backing either further postponement or a cancellation. Organisers have said neither of those options are on the table, and have received strong support from both the International Olympic Committee and athletes around the world.

ATP Cup: Djokovic registers hard-fought win, Nadal pulls out of Spain’s tie MELBOURNE AGENCIES

Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic got his season off to a perfect start with a battling win over Denis Shapovalov in the ATP Cup Tuesday, but Rafael Nadal pulled out injured and world No 3 Dominic Thiem crashed to defeat.

The Serbian world No 1, who will be chasing a ninth Australian Open crown when the year’s first Grand Slam begins on Monday, was pushed hard before coming through 7-5, 7-5 against the hot shot Canadian on Rod Laver Arena Djokovic showed no signs of being hindered by a nasty blister on his racquet hand that troubled him at an Adelaide exhibition last week and returned 30 minutes later

alongside Filip Frajinovic to play the decisive doubles rubber.

The pair beat Shapovalov and Milos Raonic 7-5, 7-6 (7/4) as defending champions Serbia took the Group A tie against Canada 2-1.

“It was a great opening of the season.

Playing Shapo is always a great challenge on hardcourts, he is such a dynamic, explosive player,” said Djokovic, who was fired up by playing in front of a smattering of noisy Serbian fans.

“I thought we both played on a pretty high level, so I’m really pleased with the way I started the season. This is a great competition,” added Djokovic, who won all eight matches he contested en route to the trophy last year. “We need more competitions where we represent a team, represent our

country.” On a cool day, big-serving Raonic got Canada off to a blistering start, crushing Dusan Lajovic 6-3, 6-4 in 79 minutes to give his team a 1-0 lead, with the former world number three, now ranked 15, dropping just eight points on serve while sending down 11 aces. It was left to Djokovic to level the tie before clinching the doubles rubber.

Serbia beat Nadal’s Spain in the final of the inaugural and hugely popular tournament last year in Sydney – launched as a rival to the Davis Cup. It has been slimmed down from 24 teams to 12 this year due to the coronavirus with all matches at Melbourne Park over five days with US$7.5 million at stake, rather than the multi-city format employed in 2020.

Nadal was due to face Australia’s Alex de Minaur in an evening Group B clash,

but withdrew shortly beforehand with a back niggle. “Hi all, we have decided with Team Spain and my team, to not play today the first match of the ATP Cup here in Melbourne since I have a stiff low back,” he tweeted.

Nadal, though, was in his team corner courtside, jumping up and down, and said he hoped to be fit by Thursday, when Spain meet Greece. In his absence, Spanish No 2 Roberto Bautista Agut stepped up to face de Minaur and rose to the challenge, bouncing back from losing the opening set to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. Pablo Carreno Busta earlier beat John Millman 6-2, 6-4 to ensure his country claimed the tie.

THIEM TUMBLES: While Djokovic tasted victory, US Open champion Thiem, who lost to the Serb in a gripping Australian

Open final last year, got his season off to a disappointing start. He slumped 6-2, 6-4 to Italian world number 10 Matteo Berrettini who never allowed the Austrian to get going with his big-swinging game. “I’m very happy obviously for myself, but in this competition we’re playing for a team, so it’s really nice,” Berrettini said. “I’m really happy with my performance. Playing for your country is something special.”

Berrettini was under pressure after Austria took the lead in their Group C clash when 100th-ranked Dennis Novak earned one of the biggest wins of his career, upsetting world No 17 Fabio Fognini 6-3, 6-2.

It sent the tie to a deciding doubles with Thiem returning alongside Novak only to crash again, losing 6-1, 6-4 to Berrettini and Fognini.

Wednesday, 3 February, 2021

PRAyER TImINGS

NEWS

SC orderS To remove SuSpeCT in peArl murder from deATh Cell ISLAMABAD

T

STAFF REPORT

he Supreme Court (SC) on Tuesday ordered to shift Ahmad Saeed Omar Sheikh, principal suspect in the 2002 kidnap and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, from the death cell in Karachi Central Prison to a state rest house.

Last week, a three-judge panel quashed 18-year-old murder convictions against the four suspects, including British-born Sheikh. however, kidnapping convictions were left in place, but the men were ordered freed as they had already served out sentences for the kidnapping charges.

The Tuesday’s decision was announced on separate appeals from the Sindh government and the Pearl family, requesting the court to review its decision. The court also directed to ensure complete security of the rest house and allowed Sheikh’s family access to him between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm [GMT+5].

The suspect, however, will not be given access to mobile and internet services while his family will be given accommodation and transport on the government’s expense, in line with the court’s directives.

During the hearing, Attorney General of Pakistan Khalid Jawed Khan insisted Sheikh was “not [just] an accused but a terrorist mastermind.” At this, Justice Umar Ata Bandial sought links be-

Three killed in wave of bomb attacks in Afghanistan

tween Sheikh and terrorist organisations.

Khan said that the government was of the opinion that the case against the suspect was strong. however, Justice Muneeb Akhtar observed the attorney general until yesterday had said the ShC [Sindh high Court] did not hear the federal government.

“From your arguments, it seems that you no longer have these objections,” the judge said. At this, Sindh Advocate General Barrister Zamir Ghumro said the federal government was not a party in the case heard by the ShC. “Did the Sindh government raise any objection in the high court regarding this?” asked Justice Akhtar. Ghumro responded in the negative.

“The detention [of the accused appears] to be a provincial matter. The federal government has delegated its authority to the provinces [through the 18th amendment],” the judge said.

“Therefore, it seems that only the Sindh advocate general needs to be given notice.”

At this, Khan asserted the bench could not deprive the Centre of its powers. “There should also be proof before exercising powers,” said JusticeMansoor Ali Shah, observing the provincial government did not have evidence to keep the accused in custody.

When Khan said that it was possible the state was in possession of such evidence, the bench questioned why the material was not handed over to the Sindh government. “It seems that the attorney general has not read the reasons for the

decision of the high court,” said Justice Shah.

Justice Bandial also asked the federal government to present the evidence against the accused. Justice Bandial remarked that Sheikh had been incarcerated for 18 years while the charges proven against him were for kidnapping. “Keeping one detained means ‘no trial’,” he said, adding that it would be wrong to accuse someone of being a terrorist without evidence.

Pearl, 38, was abducted on January 23, 2002, in Karachi and beheaded the next month, reportedly by Al-Qaeda. Prior to his kidnapping, the journalist had been investigating the link between reportedly Pakistan-based militants and Richard Reid, the notorious “Shoe Bomber” who attempted to blow up a flight from Paris to Miami with explosives hidden in his shoes.

In July 2002, following the hearings, an antiterrorism court (ATC) in hyderabad had sentenced to death Sheikh and life term to other co-accused. Sheikh was convicted of helping lure Pearl to a meeting in Karachi in which he was kidnapped. however, all four convicts had moved ShC in 2002 challenging their convictions.

In his autobiography, In the Line of Fire: A Memoir, former president Pervaiz Musharraf had claimed that Sheikh, a student at the London School of economics (reports suggest he did not graduate), was hired by MI6 to engage in “jihadi operations”, adding that “at some point, he probably became a rogue or a double agent”.

DRAP allows import of Russian coronavirus vaccine

KABUL AGENCIES

At least three people were killed and seven wounded in a series of explosions in Afghanistan on Tuesday, after Western countries called on the Taliban to end a wave of violence that the group denies responsibility for.

With Washington and NATO reviewing plans to withdraw their forces from the country by May, one blast in Kabul hit an SUV and killed two people, including Mohammad Atif, the head of non-governmental charity Jamiat-i-Islah, police in the capital said. Two other explosions in the city, which caused injuries, targeted, respectively, a jeep of the counter-narcotics force and a civilian vehicle. All three blasts were caused by small magnetic devices known as sticky bombs, police said. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told Reuters the Kabul explosions “had nothing to do with us.”

In the eastern city of Jalalabad, one soldier was killed and two injured in an explosion targeting their vehicle, Attaullah Khogyani, Nangarhar provincial governor spokesman, told Reuters.

Another explosion in central Parwan province targeted a senior security official. The European Union, NATO, and a number of Western embassies said on Sunday that the Taliban bore responsibility for “the majority of this targeted violence.” The group’s attacks “undermine state institutions and contribute to an insecure environment in which terrorist and criminal groups are able to freely operate,” they added in a statement. Talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government have stalled, and President Joe Biden is reviewing an agreement to withdraw US forces by May. On Sunday Reuters reported about 10,000 NATO troops in Afghanistan plan to stay beyond May, with exact plans to be decided this month. “If US or NATO troops remain in Afghanistan after 14 months, that means continuation of occupation in Afghanistan,” Suhail Shaheen a Taliban negotiating team member said in Tehran on Monday.

KARACHI TLTP

The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has authorised AGP Limited, a Pakistani pharmaceutical company, to import and introduce Russian coronavirus vaccine, Sputnik V, in the country.

In a notification to Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Tuesday, AGP Ltd said that DRAP has granted emergency use authorisation (EUA) for the vaccine to prevent coronavirus infection to the company.

The company has said that it is now making efforts to ensure the availability of sufficient supplies of

the vaccine on an emergency basis in order to play a key role in supporting the government’s objective of vaccinating the masses.

The vaccine has been developed by the Gamaleya National Centre of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Russia, one of the world’s leading research institutions. This vaccine has been approved by 15 countries including Russia, Hungary, Argentina and the United Arab Emirates with registrations underway in several other countries.

“As per the Interim Clinical Study Report which is based on the Phase III trials of 21,862 volunteers the efficacy of Sputnik V has been determined at 91.6 per cent

with 100 per cent efficacy against severe cases of Covid-19. The vaccine has a good safety profile and in particular, there is no strong allergy that is caused by the vaccine,” stated the pharma.

“This is by far the most effective Covid-19 vaccine to have received EUA in Pakistan and can be administered two persons aged 18 and above including persons aged above 60,” it added.

“We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to DRAP and the Ministry of National Health Services Regulations and Coordination, for their tireless efforts in ensuring registration of the Vaccine on a fast track basis,” the notification said.

FAJR SUNRISE

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ASR MAGHRIB ISHA

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pakistan lodges protest as indian firing along loC leaves 4 injured ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Pakistan has lodged a strong protest with India over ceasefire violations by Indian forces along the Line of Control (LoC). A senior Indian diplomat was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday to register Pakistan's strong protest over India’s ceasefire violations. According to a press release of Foreign Office (FO), due to the indiscriminate and unprovoked firing by the Indian occupation forces in Hotspring and Jandrot Sectors on Tueday, four persons including three women were injured. Condemning the deplorable targeting of innocent civilians by the Indian occupation forces, the FO spokesperson underscored that such senseless acts are in clear violation of the 2003 Ceasefire Understanding. The spokesperson said that these egregious violations of international law reflect consistent Indian attempts to escalate the situation along the LoC and are a threat to regional peace and security.

It was added that by raising tensions along the LoC and the Working Boundary, India cannot divert attention from the grave human rights situation in the Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK). The Indian side was called upon to respect the 2003 Ceasefire Understanding, investigate this and other such incidents of deliberate ceasefire violations and maintain peace along the LoC and the Working Boundary.

deposed myanmar leader warned of possible army obstruction YANGON AGENCIES

Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate who became Myanmar’s leader in 2016 following five decades of military rule, cautioned repeatedly that the country’s democratic reforms would only succeed if the powerful army accepted the changes. Her warnings proved prescient. The military detained Suu Kyi and other senior politicians on Monday and said it would rule under a oneyear state of emergency. It was a sharp halt in the tentative steps toward democracy by the Southeast Asian nation in the past decade. Suu Kyi has spent much of her life fighting military rule. She was born on June 19, 1945, in the city now called Yangon, to charismatic independence hero Gen. Aung San, who was assassinated when she was only 2. Buddhist-majority Myanmar, then called Burma, attained independence six months after his death. Suu Kyi’s mother, Khin Kyi, served in the postindependence Parliament, became a government minister, and later was ambassador to India in the 1960s. Suu Kyi mainly lived abroad as a young adult. She earned a degree at Oxford University in philosophy, politics and economics, and then worked for the United Nations in New York and Bhutan. She married British academic Michael Aris and had two sons. Her homeland, meanwhile, was under the control of a military leader, Ne Win, a former comrade of her father who had seized power in 1962. Protests against the military government had been growing before Suu Kyi returned to Myanmar in 1988 to nurse her dying mother. She was little known but soon became the face of the swelling opposition. Defying a brutal military crackdown that by some estimates killed thousands of people, she helped found the National League for Democracy. Placed under house arrest in 1989, Suu Kyi was detained for 15 of the next 22 years, mostly at her dilapidated lakeside home in Yangon. Even when free, she did not dare leave the country to see her husband and sons in Britain for fear the military would prevent her return. Her husband died of cancer in 1999 without her being able to visit. In awarding Suu Kyi the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her nonviolent struggle, Norwegian Nobel Committee Chairman Francis Sejersted likened her not only to her father but also to India’s Mohandas Gandhi. Her reputation for grace under fire grew during her confinement. The Myanmar public called her “The Lady,” a sign of respect and knowingly indirect, to avoid attention from the ubiquitous secret police. The military finally eased its grip on politics, allowing elections in 2010, and eventually for Suu Kyi to hold government office. She resumed traveling, no longer fearing the generals would bar her return. More than 20 years late, she delivered her Nobel lecture in Norway in June 2012.

Oil prices hit near 12-month highs as producers restrain output LONDON AGENCIES

Oil prices rose more than 2pc on Tuesday, hitting near 12-month highs after major crude producers showed they were reining in output roughly in line with their commitments.

Brent crude was up $1.27, or 2.3pc, at $57.62 a barrel by 1320 GMT, its third straight day of gains and the highest levels

since late February last year.

US oil gained $1.2, or 2.2pc, to $54.75.

Both contracts rose more than 2pc in the previous session to levels last seen in early March.

OPEC crude production rose for a seventh month in January but the increase was smaller than expected, a Reuters survey found.

Also, voluntary cuts of 1 million bpd by OPEC’s de facto leader, Saudi Arabia, are set to be implemented from the beginning of

February though March.

“With OPEC and its allies (OPEC+) endeavouring to keep global oil production below demand, we expect petroleum inventories to keep falling,” UBS said in a note.

“With inventories starting to drop in 2H20, the structure of the futures curve has shifted to become downward sloped. This is attracting investors.”

The investment bank forecast Brent

would reach $63 a barrel by the second half of this year and $65 by the first quarter of 2022. Goldman Sacks said it expected the benchmark to reach $65 a barrel by July.

Russian output increased in January but is in line with the agreement on reducing production, while in Kazakhstan oil volumes fell for the month. However, energy giant BP flagged a difficult start to 2021 amid declining product demand, noting that January re-

tail volumes were down by around 20pc year on year, compared with a decline of 11pc in the fourth quarter.

Oil demand is nevertheless expected to recover in 2021, BP said, with global inventories expected to return to their five-year average by the middle of the year.

Helping to support prices, a severe blizzard hitting a large area of the northeastern United States is pushing up demand for heating fuel.

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