EpaperLHR_20-11-16

Monday, 16 November, 2020 I 29 Rabi-ul-Awwal, 1442 I Rs 40.00 I Vol XI No 137 I 52 Pages I Lahore Edition

after fierCe ComPetition, Pti leads in GilGit-Baltistan eleCtion g

two former Chief ministers lose in their ConstituenCies; three Candidates denied tiCkets by pti suCCeed in polls

GILGIT/ISLAMABAD

G

GHULaM aBBas/MIaN aBrar

ilgit-baltistan (gb) voted for its third legislative assembly on sunday as polling opened at 8 am and continued till 5 pm, following which unofficial results started coming in. in an interesting development, two former chief ministers of the autonomous region, ppps syed mehdi shah and hafeezur rehman of the pml-n, both lost their seats in the election. according to unofficial results that came in till the time of filing of this story, the pakistan tehreek-e-insaf (pti) candidates secured seven constituencies, including gbla-7 skardu-1, gbla-11 kharmang, gbla-12 shigar, gbla-hunza, gbla-14 astore –ii, gbla-15 astore-i and gbla-18 diamer-iv, while it's candidates

g

Citizens of the autonomous region brave freezing temperature to line up outside polling stations to exerCise their right to vote

were in a leading position in three other constituencies as well. pakistan people’s party (ppp) has so far secured four seats in gbla-1 gilgit-1, gbla-ii, gilgit-2, gbla-24 ghanche-iii and gbla-4, nagar-i while the party is reportedly leading in remaining two other constituencies as well. ppp gb president and candidate amjad hussain advocate managed to win from two constituencies — gba-1 gilgit-1 and gba-4 nagar-1. it is for the time that any candidate has won two seats in the election history of gba. in nine constituencies of baltistan, at least four independent candidates have succeeded in gbla-10, skardu-4, gbla22 ghanche-i, gbla-23 ghanche-ii and gbla-5 nagar. pakistan muslim league-nawaz (pmln), which ruled the autonomous region from 2015 to 2020, could secure only one seat in gbla-16 diamer-ii.

Jamiat ulema-e-islam-fazl (Jui-f) could also get just one seat in gbla-15 where its candidate defeated candidates of pti, and ppp. the results of five constituencies are still awaited which include three from district ghizer, one from diamer and another one from skardu-3. in gba-19 ghizer-1, well-known nationalist leader and independent candidate nawaz khan naji is leading with 5064 while ppp candidate syed Jalal is competing with 3366. according to details available with pakistan today, pml-n’s hafiz hafeezur rehman, who completed his five-year term in June this year, lost the seat in gbla-2, gilgit-2, as he could only secure 4,535 votes against the 5,578 votes secured by Jamil ahmed of ppp. hafeez was in third position as fathullah khan of pti secured 5,069 votes. moreover, results from the gba-5, nagar-ii, constituency show that independent candidate Javed ali manwa, the nephew of former minister late mirza hussain, won with 2,443 votes. independent candidate zulfiqar ali murad came second with 2,122 votes while rizwan ali of majlis wahdat-e-muslimeen (mwm) got 1,766 votes. mirza hussain of ppp obtained 604 votes and sajjad hussain of pml-n got 163 votes. former chief minister syed mehdi shah of ppp, who was contesting election against pti candidate raja zakaryia in gba -7, skardu-1, could secure only 4,114 votes against his opponent who secured 5,290 votes who won with 5,290 votes. muhammad akbar of pml-n got 196 votes. furthermore, independent candidate mushtaq hussain from ghanchey won gba-22, securing 6,051 votes while pti’s ibrahim sanai bagged 4,945 votes.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

Virus cases surge past 2,000 mark for third consecutive day ISLAMABAD staff report

the authorities on sunday recorded 2,443 new coronavirus cases and 32 deaths in the past 24 hours, marking the third day in a row when pakistan reported more than 2,000 infections, government data showed. according to the government’s Covid-19 portal, the total tally stood at 356,904 cases, as of sunday. faced with a continuous surge in infections, minister for education shafqat mahmood saturday announced an “important meeting” would be held on monday to discuss the transmission of infections in educational institutions. “we have convened an important meeting of provincial education ministers on monday at 11 am to discuss the latest coronavirus situation in the country. as stated before health of students is our no one priority,” mahmood tweeted. the authorities have been sounding the alarm about a second wave of the virus for several weeks now, with health officials warning it appears deadlier than the first. daily infections and deaths are once more on the rise, raising fears that disease is making a

in today’s issue

comeback as the public becomes more apathetic toward social distancing measures.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

Coronavirus in

Pakistan

CONFIRMED CASES:

356,904

LAST UPDATED AT 8:43 AM ON NOVEMBER 15, 2020

DAY'S DEATH TOLL:

32

RECOVERED:

NEW CASES:

2,443 DEATHS:

323,225 7,141 SINDH:

PUNJAB:

154,738

109,993

KP:

BALOCHISTAN:

AJK/GB:

ISLAMABAD:

41,990

16,393

5,349/4,447 23,994

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Contact: 0307-7338168 irfan.farooq@pakistantoday.com.pk

02

Monday, 16 November, 2020

NEWS

FIA Books shAhBAz, TAreen on ChArGes oF money lAUnderInG, CorporATe FrAUd LAHORE

T

STAFF REPORT

He Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Sunday booked Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shahbaz Sharif, his sons Hamza Shahbaz and Suleman Shahbaz, Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI) leader Jahangir Tareen and his son Ali Tareen on charges of involvement in the recent sugar crisis and money laundering.

Tareen, along with his son, returned to Pakistan earlier this month after spending several months in the United Kingdom where he had gone after a government commission had accused him of benefiting from the sugar crisis which saw a surge in the price of the commodity.

Tareen and other suspects nominated in the first information report (FIR) are currently being investigated for their alleged involvement in the sugar scandal and money laundering scams. The agency filed separate FIRs against them under various sections of

the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC).

According to investigators, a cumulative sum of Rs25 billion was deposited between 2008 and 2018 in accounts operated in the name of bogus companies owned by Sharif Group.

The monies were transferred into the bank accounts of Ramzan and Al-Arabia sugar mills’ staffers. The staffers admitted that the accounts were opened to help enable Suleman to wire the monies out of the country, the FIA claimed.

Whereas, Tareen and his son are

accused of submitting a bogus report about a business deal. According to FIA, Tareen’s JDW-Group allegedly acquired Jahangir Khan Sugar Farming Ltd. (JKSFL) for Rs4.35 billion, however, submitted a forged report about the deal. Per the agency, the JDW-Group used shareholders’ money for the deal thus committed corporate fraud.

The FIR against Tareen and his son were registered under sections 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating) and 109 (abetment) among others.

Faraz congratulates GB people on peaceful polling process ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information Shibli Faraz on Sunday congratulated the people of GilgitBaltistan (GB) on the peaceful process of polling in the region for the legislative assembly. It is pertinent to mention here that the voting process for the 23 legislative assembly seats of GB was completed on Sunday and results have started pouring in. A threepronged contest among the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is expected as the opinion polls suggesting PTI ahead in the contest.

Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), Jamiat-eUlema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Majlis Wahdat-e-Muslimeen (MWM) are among the parties participating in the polls. “Huge participation from the masses in the transparent polling process was evident from the television broadcast,” he said in a message on Twitter. He added that the masses ruined the opposition’s narrative of rigging in the elections due to the transparent polling process. He said that the top priority of the government was to hold peaceful and transparent polls and no untoward incident was reported during the polling process today. “The people of the Gilgit Baltistan had already witnessed the performance of these two parties[PPP and PML-N],” he said. He lamented opposition for following ‘ideological politics’ as per their political needs and said that in case of a victory in the GB polls they would have termed it a referendum against the incumbent government. “Now if PTI wins then it would become evident that people did not accept their narrative against the incumbent government,” he said adding that their win would prove the confidence shown by the GB people on the leadership of the PTI. TLTP

Centre to work on package for GB: Asad Umar ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiative, Asad Umar has said that the federal government will jointly work with the newly elected government in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) for the development in the region. In a tweet on Sunday, the minister said that after historic federal packages for Karachi and South Balochistan, now work will start on the package for GB. STAFF REPORT

LAHORE: Smog subsided in the provincial capital after a spell of rain on Sunday. zubAiR mEhFOOz

TLTP

Bringing a sigh of relief for the federal government, 51 per cent of people have not held it responsible for rise in prices of commodities, a survey has revealed.

The IPSOS survey also found, however, that 49 per cent of people are of the view that the federal government is to blame for the rise in prices of commodities.

17 per cent held the provincial governments responsible, 15 per cent thought that the previous

The federal government on Sunday announced a cut in the prices of petroleum products, bringing a litre of petrol down to Rs100.69. In a notification issued by the Ministry of Finance, the per-litre prices of petrol and high-speed diesel (HSD) were reduced by Rs1.71 and Rs1.79, respectively. The new per-litre prices of petrol and HSD were Rs100.69 and Rs101.43, respectively. Kerosene oil and light diesel oil (LDO), on the other hand, were maintained at prices of Rs65.29 and Rs62.86 a litre, respectively. The new prices would be applicable from November 16, 2020. NEWS DESK

punjab minister suggests smart lockdown for schools LAHORE: Punjab education Minister Murad Raas on Sunday said that instead of closing all schools, following the government's recommended smart lockdowns is a better option. In a Twitter update, the minister said that a meeting of all provincial education ministers will be held on Monday, November 16, to discuss the prevailing condition of coronavirus in the country. He added that he will provide further updates related to the decisions after the meeting. "Tomorrow is the meeting of all provincial education ministers to discuss the prevailing condition of Covid-19. In my opinion we should focus on a smart lockdown rather than an across the board shutdown of schools. Will update tomorrow," he added. The Monday meeting was announced by the Minister for education and Vocational Training Shafqat Mahmood earlier this week.

The forum will also discuss the possibility of announcing winter vacations early this year and extending the winter break to keep children at home. On Friday, Murad Raas spoke to a private news channel and said that Punjab is closely monitoring the situation in schools, adding that schools are doing "absolutely fine."

He said that there should be no winter vacation either, the report stated. STAFF REPORT

Pakistan-Russia joint military drills continue in Tarbela RAWALPINDI TLTP

Pakistan-Russia joint military exercise DruzhbA-V is underway in Tarbela.

In a tweet on Sunday, the director general of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that special forces of the both countries are practising drills and procedures for hostage rescue, cordon and search operations, helicopter rappelling and sky diving as part of the exercise.

The Russian special forces troops are in Pakistan for two-weeks to participate in the joint military exercise. The military’s media wing said that the troops are practising counter-terror drills and procedures, rappelling and also making preparations for skydiving.

The joint exercises are seen as another step in growing military-to-

military cooperation, indicating a steady growth in the relationship between the two countries, whose ties had been marred by Cold War rivalry for decades.

Pakistan-Russia joint military exercises Druzhba (friendship) are held every year. The exercises started in 2016. These exercises include aspects of counter-terrorism and special operations. In September this year, a contingent of the Pakistan armed forces participated in the opening ceremony of multinational military exercises titled ‘Kavkaz 2020’ in the Russian city of Astrakhan.

Pakistan had also participated in the similar series of exercises called 'Tsentr 2019', in Russia last year. The wargames were joined by troops from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and other countries.

51pc don’t hold Centre responsible for price-hike: survey ISLAMABAD

Govt brings down petrol price to rs100.69 per litre

governments have played a role, while 8 per cent thought an unknown mafia was behind the hike. Some 5 per cent even blamed shopkeepers, 3 per cent blamed bureaucracy, and 3 per cent held the mill owners responsible for price-hike.

The survey sought responses through Computer Assisted Telephonic Interviews (CATI), taken from 1,013 Pakistani adults aged above 18, between September and November.

Responding to a question on financial constraints caused by the pandemic, 83 percent respondents said that their income has reduced since the outbreak. This means

four in every five households now have reduced income.

The majority of respondents — 88 per cent — also reported being worried due to the price hike in commodities. However, 12 per cent said that they have no such worries.

Despite the coronavirus pandemic raging in Pakistan, 51 per cent of parents say they are comfortable sending their children to school. The IPSOS survey also found, however, that this number has dropped in November, from 90 per cent in September, meaning fewer parents are now ready with letting their children go to school.

When the respondents were asked if they are comfortable getting a coronavirus vaccine, 62 per cent responded positively, while 38 per cent said that they do not like the idea.

A majority of people — 56 per cent — also feared a second coronavirus wave in Pakistan. This was a significant rise from September when only 35 per cent feared another wave of the pandemic.

For the latest news regarding the pandemic, people said that they trust the local television news channels the most, while Twitter and WhatsApp emerged as the least trusted sources.

69 per cent of people preferred local news channels, 6 per cent said they trust religious places, 5 per cent favoured Facebook and the internet, and 4 per cent said they trust their physician for accurate information.

Monday, 16 November, 2020

Fm QUreshI sAys IndIA wAnTs To sABoTAGe CpeC ISLAMABAD

F

iNP

OReIGN Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said India wants to sabotage China-Pakistan economic Corridor (CPeC) because it knows that CPeC is a game-changer project for Pakistan.

Talking to media here on Sunday, he said that India wants to stir unrest in Pakistan to destabilise the country by

sponsoring state terrorism.

The foreign minister said that New Delhi has allocated Rs80 billion for terrorists and established terrorist training camps on its soil to disrupt CPeC projects.

He said India also wants to create unrest in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) during and after elections and the dossier, containing irrefutable evidence of Indian sponsorship to terrorism, has exposed Indian plans.

FM Qureshi said that India has become a threat to the region’s peace and stability and the International community should take notice of the Indian nefarious designs to destabilise Pakistan through terrorism.

He further added that India is using Afghan soil against Pakistan, therefore Pakistan and Afghanistan should devise a comprehensive strategy to fight against terrorism.

Underage couple taken into custody, two nabbed over child marriage SUKKUR iNP

The police took an underage couple into custody in Sukkur’s Thul town, showing that child marriages continue unabated in the Sindh province – despite a law prohibiting such marriages having been put into place.

People below the age of 18 cannot be married, under

the Child Marriage Restraint Act. The police said that the minor girl’s father and the boy’s brother have been arrested over the child marriage while a cleric who solemnised the nikkah fled the scene. A police official said that they will have both minors medically examined to determine their age. On November 3, the Sindh High Court (SHC) had sent a minor girl to shelter home while

IHC disappointed with petitions creating ‘perception of abuse’ NEWS DESK The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Sunday expressed its disappoint with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the surge in the number of petitions alleging harassment, filed against journalists, without sufficient evidence. “This creates a perception of abuse of the provisions of the PeCA 2016,” read the court’s order, which was issued regarding the Rana Muhammad Arshad petition.

This petition dealt with the investigation of the journalist, Arshad, whose house had been raided by an FIA officer and his family had been harassed and intimidated during the raid. This raid, according to Arshad’s lawyers, occurred because of the opinions the accused expressed on social media.

In defence, the investigating officer appeared before the court previously and claimed that he had only gone to the house to verify the address, but the court noted that the FIA had not provided any evidence of wrongdoing against Arshad.

“He has further stated that, during the course of the investigation, no incriminating material whatsoever could be collected against the petitioner,” read the IHC’s order. The court further noted that a notice had issued to the petitioner due to the vagueness of the accusations.

The court spoke about the fact the petitioner was summoned due to a cellular number being registered in his name. “He could not give a plausible explanation for sending the undated notice or failure to disclose the purpose for summoning the petitioner,” stated the court.

The court felt that these actions by the FIA, which propagate “apprehension or fear” in the minds of those journalists whose job is to report information to the public, is “intolerable” and “undermines the independence”.

“Freedom of speech and expression is the most cherished human right and fortifies the other constitutionally guaranteed rights.”

Justice Minallah directed the director-general of the FIA to

formulate special guidelines for investigating officers in proceeding against journalists. earlier this week, Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz had said on Twitter that the Journalist Protection Bill will soon be tabled in the parliament for approval, adding that the protection of the rights of journalists and media workers is a priority of the government.

Two weeks ago, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) released its Global Impunity Index 2020 where it spotlighted countries where journalists have been slain and their killers set free. Pakistan is the ninthworst country on the list, just rising up one place from 2019 when it was the eighth-worst country. Somalia, Syria, Iraq, and South Sudan are on the top of the list, in that order, because of war and political instability.

In the case of Pakistan, there are 15 unsolved murder cases of journalists. According to the CPJ database, 61 journalists have been killed in attacks since 1992.

President calls for promoting arts, crafts ISLAMABAD TLTP

President Dr Arif Alvi has called for promoting arts and crafts through adequate preservation of the rich diversity of Pakistani culture.

Addressing a ceremony at Lok Virsa on Sunday, the president said that preserving the historical art culture of Pakistan can lead to the promotion of tourism.

The president urged the new generation to work for the revival of Muslim heritage which earned worldwide fame for Muslim artists. He also urged the private sector to invest in the drama and film industry of Pakistan that has the potential to exhibit Pakistan's rich culture in a good manner. Separately, President Alvi on Sunday rejected a representation of State Life Insurance Corporation of Pakistan (SLICP) and directed it to give insurance money to the widow of a policyholder, along with profits. The president upheld a decision of Wafaqi Mohtasib against SLICP, which had denied payment of insurance claim to a widow on grounds that her husband had pre-insurance ailment of Hepatitis C and chronic liver disease. The Wafaqi Mohtasib in its verdict had asked the SLICP to give the widow the due amount of insurance claim following the death of her husband. endorsing the decision of Wafaqi Mohtasib, the president termed as “unfair” the SLICP’s rejection of insurance policy on flimsy grounds that the deceased had lied about his ailment.

President Alvi said that it is the responsibility of the company to ensure the same at time of insurance,

DIRECTS SLICP TO GIVE INSURANCE MONEY TO WIDOW adding that the “onus to prove the pre-insurance ailment rested upon the Agency”. He called it “very traumatising” for the widow, who had been waiting for over three years for settlement.

He directed the SLICP to settle the claim as per direction of the Wafaqi Mohtasib’s order and ensure that payment is made with profits up to the date of settlement. The deceased Abid Bajwa had obtained a life insurance policy from SLICP in 2008 for a sum assured of Rs100,000. After his death in 2017, his widow Riffat Sultana filed the death insurance claim, which was repudiated by SLICP. Feeling aggrieved, the complainant approached the Wafaqi Mohtasib who passed the impugned order, against which the SLICP filed a representation with the [resident. The Wafaqi Mohtasib has contended that the policyholder had no serious disease when he had purchased the policy, saying that it could not be construed that he had been nursing that disease from 2008. Taking account of all facts, the president upheld the impugned order of Wafaqi Mohtasib. “I direct the agency to settle the claim as per direction of the Wafaqi Mohtasib order, and ensure that payment is also made of the profits up to the date of settlement, not 2017,” he said in his reply to the representation of SLICP

hearing the case of marriage of an underage couple from Punjab. An underage couple from Khanewal, Punjab had a free-will marriage in Karachi on October 24. Bride Aqsa Tariq, 17, had filed a petition in the SHC seeking protection from her family, who was against the marriage. “I have threats from my family,” Aqsa Tariq said in her petition, seeking protection from her family members. Justice K.K. Agha, while hearing the case, remarked that the marriage was solemnized in Sindh and marriage law of the province will be applicable over the matter. “After the 18th Constitutional Amendment, provincial marriage laws will be applicable in the matter of marriage,” the bench observed.

NEWS

03

kidnapped 7-yearold girl found murdered after rape LAHORE: Police arrested an accused, Nadeem, who confessed to raping and murdering a sevenyear-old girl in Baghbanpura area of Lahore after her dead body was found on Sunday. Police have shifted the dead body to a morgue for postmortem and started further investigation into the case. Sharing the details about the accused rapist and murderer, the police said Nadeem, a married man, is the neighbour of the victim. Cantonment Superintendent (SP) Saad Aziz and Baghbanpura ASP visited the spot where the dead body of the girl was found. The SP assured the family members of the victim that justice will be served and vowed to crush such criminals with an iron hand. Cantonment ASP Investigation Dr Anoosh Masood also visited the crime scene where investigation teams collected important evidence.

During the initial investigation, Nadeem confessed to his gruesome crime. Reportedly, Nadeem’s wife had some quarrel with him and went to her parent’s home. On the day of the unfortunate incident, the victim was out to buy cooking oil at a store where the accused was already present. He bought some sweets for her and gave Rs10 to her then took her to his home where he raped her. When the girl resisted and raised her voice, Nadeem strangulated her by putting his hand on her mouth. He later fled from the crime scene after locking his house. Like in other similar cases, the accused also initially took part in the search of the seven-year-old girl. iNP

Monday, 16 November, 2020

04 NEWS

WinTeR SeTS in aS many CiTieS ReCeive SnoWfaLL, Rain

Smog Control Room set up to ensure smog monitoring ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of Climate Change has established a 'Smog Control Room' in Lahore to ensure regular monitoring of smog which causes health hazards to population in different areas of the province during Winter season (November to March).

The other objective of the Control Room was to have a constant check on smog Air Quality Index (AQI) in the province during coming days. In a tweet, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam on Tuesday said that the process to combat smog has been started. There would be a regular check on crop burning, transport and industrial emissions, brick kilns and cross border emissions which are the main reasons, he added. The SAPM said that much-needed technology has been provided to farmers to help them avoid burning of paddy crop residue and instead convert the residue into organic fertilizer for boosting fertility of their farmlands. he said that technology was also being introduced across the country under government’s project for Mechanised Management of Rice Crop Residue for which Rs30 billion were being spent for disbursement of 50,000 units of rice straw shredder. Another initiative is provision of happy Seeder technology to help farmers stem the stubble burning which is one of the reasons for smog in winter. APP

Karachi man arrested for murdering wife outside workplace: police ISLAMABAD

T

INP

he long-awaited winter set in after many cities across Pakistan received snowfall and rain on Sunday. People in parts of GilgitBaltistan (GB) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) were greeted with the first snowfall and rain of the season, which dropped temperatures and introduced chill in the air, as voters lined up outside polling stations to cast votes in the third GB general elections on Sunday.

Snowfall and rain were expected to continue all day long on Sunday. Snowfall

also disrupted the polling process in Gilgit as voters braced against the first snowfall of the season to cast their vote.

In Astore-II, constituency no 14, due to snowfall the voter turnout was grim as citizens faced difficulties in reaching the polling stations. Snowfall continued in upper parts of Astore, including Qamari, Manimarg, Chillam Ghasat, Sikmal, Mil Malik Rupal, Daskhraima and Chillam.

The twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi also received rain on Sunday morning. Many areas in Rawalpindi looked like small ponds due to the continuous rain. Several other cities in Punjab also received rain.

Capital administration asked to keep maintaining warm clothes’ prices in markets ISLAMABAD: Citizens of federal capital on Wednesday urged the authorities concerned to ensure regular visits of markets to have check on increasing prices of warm clothes. According to them, such steps with monitoring of warm clothes business by the district administration staff was necessary at domestic level to avoid any unnecessary increase in prices by shopkeepers. They said that some shopkeepers have increased the prices of warm clothes without any justification, which they termed it totally unjustifiable and demanded action against any such unreasonable price hike. "We have purchased warm items this year on double price as compared to previous year's rates due to the negligence of local administration officials, who were reluctant to hold surprise visits to check prices in open markets," Inaam Ullah, a citizen said. They should understand the financial issues of poor segment of the society who were unable to purchase warm clothes on high rates, particularly when many of them were jobless due to coronavirus pandemic, he added.

Rubina Fazal, a housewife, said, "Last Sunday I went to market with my family for winter season shopping but unfortunately the rates of all major warm item like shawls, scarfs, sweaters or coats were high." APP

After a long dry spell, a westerly wave started affecting different parts of western, north-western and northern parts of the country, resulting in the first rain and snow of this winter season.

According to the Meteorological Office, a westerly wave is affecting upper and central parts of the country and likely to persist in upper parts till Monday morning.

In Swat, snowfall is continuing in upper parts where Mahodand received 3ft snowfall while Malam Jabba, and other areas also received 3ft snowfall.

Met Office predicted that a westerly wave is affecting upper and central parts of the country and likely to persist in upper

parts till Monday morning.

Due to first snowfall on hilly areas, the westerly wave also reached upper and central parts of Punjab including Lahore and other cities where temperature further fell.

The Met Office predicted rain on Sunday and on Monday in the provincial capital.

In Shangila hills, rain continued on Sunday while mountains received the first snowfall of the winter. The tourist spots of Shangla – Shangla Topa and Yakh-Tangi – also received severe snowfall.

Karachiites also witnessing a chilly morning as chilly winds began in the port city while the temperature is expected to reach 31 degrees Celsius.

Those who emptied national exchequer trying to prove their loyalty now: Buzdar LAHORE INP

Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has said that the opposition started with the message of failure and will end in a fiasco, and they should realise that masses have rejected their treacherous stance.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Buzdar said that opposition has put the national interest on stake and is engaged in a ridiculous agenda of weakening the country. he said that those who are chanting hollow slogans today had emptied the national exchequer in the past and such elements cannot hoodwink the nation any more as their incompetency and corrupt faces have been exposed to public.

The chief minister said that Pakistan is passing through critical phase therefore preference of the opposition parties should be national interest instead of negative politics but still they are giving priority to their personal vested interests. These parties have no agenda of progress and prosperity of Pakistan, and these rejected elements are not even loyal to each other, he added.

Buzdar further stated that those who are creating chaos are following the enemy's agenda, and the frustrated opposition cannot mislead the people. he said that it is not a time for negative politics but to promote unity

and consensus. “There is a dire need that opposition parties should reconsider their behaviour/attitude. The alliance of opposition parties is only to safeguard their personal interests and looted money and they have nothing to do with people’s problem,” he said.

The chief minister said that Prime Minister Imran Khan has rectified the shortcomings of previous regimes and put the country on the road to progress.

“These elements are confused to see the country moving in the right direction. The people know that same parties destroyed the national economy when they were in power therefore these elements are trying to create hurdles in the development and progress of Pakistan,” he said, adding that Pakistan is facing internal and external challenges.

Buzdar maintained that politics of chaos will be unwise and against the national interest during current circumstances. Opposition parties want fulfil their personal agenda in a grab of political unrest but the people want to see the country moving ahead on the road of progress, he added. he said that PM Imran is taking wise and brave decisions in the national interest. The era of looting and plundering will never come back and under the leadership of PM Imran, Pakistan will find its true destination, he concluded.

KARACHI: A man was arrested for murdering his wife with a knife outside her workplace in New Karachi, the police said on Sunday. The victim worked at a factory.

According to the police, on Saturday, the suspect attacked her with a knife immediately after she left the factory. “The woman had registered a case against her husband for harassing her daughter last month,” a police officer said, adding that the suspect killed her in an act of revenge.

The body has been returned to the family after a post-mortem examination. The perpetrator has been arrested and is being questioned by the police. The couple had been married for 20 years and had six children together. In another incident, a 55-year-old man and his two-year-old granddaughter died after they were run over by a train in Landhi. The family has blamed the government for not providing security to pedestrians crossing railway tracks in the area. INP

Principal tortures late-comers at Lahore school LAHORE: A school principal in Mohlanwal area of Lahore found involved in subjecting students to physical torture for arriving late. In a video that went viral of corporal punishment, school principal Rafique Anjum can be seen thrashing students with a stick. Students are supposed to be studying and learning about several subjects but are helplessly receiving such ruthless behaviour. School insiders told that corporal punishment scenes are now a routine matter in the school. “School principal himself receives the late-comers at the gate. Parents and teachers are equally irked by the principal's irritating behaviour,” said one of the schoolteachers. education CeO Pervaiz Akhter said, “We will conduct an injury into the matter while no one will be allowed to punish or torture students.” INP

Monday, 16 November, 2020

The Virus is making a comeback City Notes

i

M A NiAzi

T seems the election is not over in the US. It seems over for Mike Pompeo, the United States secretary of state, who says that the State Department is being readied for a second Trump term.

And it is over for Trump himself, who firmly believes he has won. Joe Biden also thinks it is over, only he thinks he has won. Of course, that is what the rest of the world thinks. Some world leaders have congratulated Biden. Others have maintained a stony silence.

No one has yet congratulated Trump on being successfully re-elected. Not even Pakistan or Qatar. It might be remembered that these were the only two countries to have recognised the Taliban government of Afghanistan when it replaced… well, a vacuum, really.

But this time, even they are staying quiet. It seems that they are not so enthusiastic about lost causes.

Trump’s re-election does seem about as lost a cause as they come. It is probably fitting that he has a certain regard for the Confederacy, which was about as lost a cause as they come. But the continued glorification of the Confederacy, especially in its stronghold of the South, and in the US military naming so many of its bases after Confederate military men, shows that lost causes have an attraction for Americans. Does that have anything to do with Georgia

being the state where Trump lost? Its recount was crucial to his hopes of being declared elected, but its recount shows he still lost.

I suspect the flaw is that he is claiming there was rigging. Without Biden or Kamala Harris having been seen firing in the air, how do we know they won? There has been no victory procession, with party workers led by a dhol wala doing an indeterminate sort of dance, loosely called a bhangra. On the other hand, Trump has not let off any bursts, or rater brusts, of his trusty KK. Nor has he been seen doing what he calls a luddi, nor has he let off any babblis, or executed any barhaks, which would tell opponents to stay at home. Actually, he would only be thought to win if he chopped off his enemy’s leg. And it should not be forgotten that elections are a potent cause of violence in Pakistan, along with honour and cattle- stealing, any of which can give rise to something described coyly in FIRS as an ‘old enmity’.

We are having a minor cause of bad blood over here, in the shape of elections in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB).

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is expected to win.

If it did not, then the Kashmir Affairs Minister, these days Ali Amin Gandapur of the flowing locks, deserved to be sacked. The campaign there was perhaps fiercer than usual, perhaps because the polls came in the middle of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) campaign to dislodge the government. Otherwise, the GB polls are like by-elections in other provinces. The government is supposed to win.

It was in the middle of this election’s campaign that

the Pakistan Army chose to issue its report on the Karachi incident, when ‘certain officers’ apparently kidnapped the Sindh inspector general of police (IGP) so that he would register a case against Nawaz Shairf’s son-in-law. Mian Nawaz dismissed the report as a cover-up, while Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari welcomed it as showing the military’s self-accountability mechanism. Of course, Bilawal was not really aware of how sensitive a father-in-law has to be when a son-in-law is involved. Maybe Imran tried sending the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) after Captain (r) Safdar Awan, he would get the results he did not get when he sent it after Nawaz himself.

Meanwhile, Covid-19 is rearing it head. Peshawar High Court (PHC) Chief Justice Waqar Seth has passed away. General (r) Pervez Musharraf, whom he sentenced to hanging in D Chowk Islamabad, even if it was only his corpse, has made no comment. The passing of a PPP Sindh MPA, Jam Madad Ali, reveals a danger not normally realised. Jam Madad Ali had beaten off the coronavirus, and actually tested negative. But he had beaten rendered so sick, that the remaining complications did for him.

Footnote to these notes: Hopefully, the winter rains, which started on Sunday morning, will dispel the smog which seems to have made the pandemic worse. My grouse is that it has given us all colds, not to mention that faint taste of burning plastics seems its hallmark. But make no mistake the virus has not been beaten.

NEWS

Virus cases surge past 2,000 mark for third consecutive day continuED froM pagE 01 Meanwhile, the country has yet to fully utilise its claimed testing capacity of 73,572 and is currently testing significantly below numbers proposed by global health experts. According to WHO, Pakistan’s testing policies likely only record the most symptomatic patients while ignoring the spread among asymptomatic carriers, which recent studies have suggested comprise the majority of infections in the country. Pakistan has urged the international community to ensure that the virus vaccine is made available to all and is distributed across the globe without any discrimination or favour. Islamabad’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Munir Akram, at a virtual G-77 ministerial meeting in New York City, said earlier this week: “A vaccine once developed must be available to all without discrimination and without favour.” “But the critical requirement today is adequate finance to enable our economies to recover from the crisis.”

Akram also emphasised the need to rebuild the economies destroyed by this pandemic. He pointed out that the pandemic had devastated the economies of many developed countries, adding to the multi-dimensional challenges they were already facing from climate change and other endemic problems. “We must at this time, focus on specific objectives that we need to achieve to recover from the devastation that we are facing. For the group of 77, unity is the key to success in achieving the objective,” he had said.

After fierce competition, PTI leads in Gilgit-Baltistan election continuED froM pagE 01 The results so far show PTI's Muhammad Ayub was leading in GBA-4, while PTI’s Abaidullah Baig has secured the most votes at a polling station in GBA-6.

Meanwhile, MWM’s Muhammad Kazim won in GBA-8, while independent Wazir Muhammad Saleem leads the polls in GBA-9. PTI’s Raja Azam Khan won in GBA-11 with 538 votes so far, while Imran Nadeem of the PPP lost in GBA-12.

GBA-13 Astore-1, PTI’s Khalid Khurshid Khan won the seat by securing 4836 votes while the runner-up and PML-N Rana Farman Ali secured 3528 votes.

GBA-5 Nagar 2, independent candidate and PTI renegade Javed Ali Manwa has reportedly won the seat by securing 2240.

Interestingly, three independent candidates, who were denied tickets by PTI, succeeded in securing their seats in the election against the ‘electables’ who were granted tickets by the ruling party.

Raja Nasir Ali Khan in GBLA-10 Skardu-4, Javed Manwa of Nagar-5 and Mushtaq of GBLA-22 Ganche1 were denied the tickets as PTI preferred electables of other parties.

In the two constituencies PTI had given tickets to electables Ibrahim Sanai (former minister of PML-N) and Wazir Hassan (former minister PPP) while on the third one, the party had made seat adjustment with MWM candidate, Haji Rizwan, who was initially also denied a ticket by the ruling party.

The three successful candidates Raja Nasir, Javed Manwa and Mushtaq had earlier joined PTI but decided to contest election as independent candidates after the party denied tickets.

Meanwhile, GB Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Raja Shahbaz Khan had expressed satisfaction over the arrangements made to ensure smooth polling process and security of voters.

He expressed his views during his visit to various polling stations in Gilgit on Sunday. “We all have to ensure peaceful polling in GB,” he said.

Khan telephoned the GB chief secretary to discuss the law and order situation during ongoing general elections in the region. Both officials discussed the process of polling and the situation of the sensitive polling stations in the region. The GB CS apprised the CEC that polling is underway in a peaceful manner in Diamer and other sensitive declared polling stations.

Earlier in the day, PPP stalwart Senator Sherry Rehman said that any attempt to deprive women of their right to vote in the GB polls is unacceptable, adding that she was “deeply concerned” over the “deliberate restrictions on women’s voting” in the election.

The PPP leader had called for GB CEC to immediately intervene and resolve the issue. She also voiced worry over purported rigging at the polling stations, alleging that the observers associated with the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN), a non-profit NGO, were removed from polling stations.

“FAFEN observers should be at the polling stations during the counting of votes” and “should be permitted to remain at the polling stations”, she said, adding that there were 600 observers.

“The absence of observers at the polling station raises questions about the transparency of the election,” she said, warning that such incidents could damage the credibility of the election.

On the other hand, PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz, in a statement, also called on the Election Commission to “make the process of voting and counting of votes transparent”.

Maryam had praised the people of GB for weathering the cold temperatures to vote. “The wholehearted participation of women in the Gilgit Baltistan Election 2020 is welcome,” she said.

A total of 745,361 registered voters in the region

were expected to cast their votes at 1,160 polling stations set up across the region. A total of 330 candidates in 23 out of 24 constituencies contested the elections. Polling in one constituency has been postponed. Meanwhile, more than 15,000 security personnel from GB, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Sindh and Balochistan are deployed at their respective polling stations across GB. Voters were seen lining up outside polling stations to cast their ballot despite the temperature dropping as low as minus six degrees centigrade in some areas of the region due to the season’s first snowfall coupled with cold winds.

The harsh weather could not dampen voters’ enthusiasm as people came out of their homes in trickles and droves to exercise their right to franchise in GB third election since the region was given the power to elect their representatives in 2009.

It is noteworthy that a 98-year-old resident of Nagar in Gilgit-Baltistan’s Nagar District, Sha’aban Ali, arrived at the Jafarabad 21 polling station to cast his vote despite the freezing temperatures and mobility issues.

Meanwhile, #Balaypethappa became the top trend on Twitter in Pakistan with more than 20,000 tweets during ongoing GB elections.

Over half of the polling stations had been categorised sensitive. Out of 1,141 polling stations, 577 had been declared sensitive and 297 highly sensitive.

The main contenders were the PTI, PPP, PML-N, which won the 2015 elections in the region. The first two elections were won by the PPP and the PML-N, respectively.

GB, which borders Afghanistan and China, is the gateway of the $65 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) infrastructure plan. But the region has so far reaped few rewards.

A recent Gallup survey unveiled Prime Minister Imran Khan was the most popular leader in the region followed by PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and

Politics is no child’s play

By Dr MuhaMMaD ali Ehsan Dictatorship grows in the womb of politics.

Weak governments led by unsuitable, unqualified and incompetent leaders create compelling conditions for military dictators to take over. Despite over a decade’s continued democracy in this country, the opposition and its ill-conceived brainchild, the PDM, has learnt no lessons and is once again bent upon creating political conditions of uncertainty, chaos and strain in this country.

Politics of a nuclear power state has been handed over to the children, whose childlike ambition goes no further than ‘compelling the military to do their will’. Nowhere in the world do politicians term the military of its own country as their opponents, and nowhere in the world are children with no record of public service or intellectual reputation allowed to lead politics. Is this democracy?

The elderly ‘political troupe’ of both PML-N and PPP stands with tied hands with bowed heads, not allowed to flex their experienced political minds. As democracy unfolds around them, they only torment us and themselves with their illogical and ill-tempered arguments, trying to defend their political master’s unpopular and ill-timed confrontations with the military.

Lt Gen (r) Abdul Qadir Baloch took a lot of criticism from his party for quitting it.

Some described him as a ‘never-was or never-could-be’ democrat. That brings me to ask: Why can a politician be a democrat, and a general that retires from the service cannot? What does it take to become a politician? There are two different sets of answers to this question depending on which part of the world we live in.

What are the defining attributes of a politician in a developed world? To start with, an unblemished reputation; but the genius of a politician in the developed world mostly lies in their personality. They can never compete for an office for which they are not suitable and don’t have the right competence. Thus they are openminded, truthful, available, candid, revealing and have nothing to conceal.

Demonstrators of political grace, knowledge, awareness and modesty, they showcase the right set of skills to undertake any given political responsibility. If we take the example of the US and look at any political leader – regardless of whether the form of government he is in service of is parliamentary or presidential – we come to some very interesting conclusions.

All US presidents, with very few excep-

tions, have been a combination of both political and military genius. Even if we only considered those that occupied the office of the President during and after WWII, we can easily determine what kind of leadership the most powerful country in the world was showcased in a turbulent world. All US Presidents, like all Presidents of Pakistan, bear the title of Commander-in-Chief, with the stark difference that almost all US Presidents were warriors (soldiers) in one sense or another.

President F Roosevelt (1933-44) was the Assistant Secretary of the Navy in WWI and remains the only American President who enjoyed three terms in the office. President Truman (1945-1952), who took over from Roosevelt, was a Colonel in the military and participated in WWI as a captain. The reason he could dismiss General MacArthur, one of the finest generals the US produced, was because the dismissed general and the people of US knew that the knockout was coming from a president who knew not only his but the dismissed general’s job as well.

Eisenhower (1953-1960), who took over from Truman, was a retired US Army Chief of Staff. The young President Kennedy (1961-1962) was a Lieutenant Commander in the US Navy and in WWII won the Navy’s highest gallantry award, the Purple

CMYK

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PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif.

Around 30 per cent of voters believed elections will be transparent and free of rigging, the survey said. When asked about which political party they would vote for on the election day, 27 per cent of respondents said that they would vote for PTI, 24 per cent for PPP and 14 per cent for PML-N. Commenting on the findings of the survey, PM Imran earlier this week expressed satisfaction and hoped his party will succeed in making its government in the region.

Opposition parties, mainly the PPP and the PML-N, accused the government of pre-poll rigging after the premier announced to integrate the administrative unit into the country as its fifth province “keeping in view the UN Security Council resolutions” in a visit earlier this month.

Addressing a gathering in Gilgit, the prime minister had said that his government took the decision keeping in view the “long-standing demand of the people of the region”.

The announcement came a year after India changed the status of the portion of occupied Kashmir, taking away some of the region’s privileges. India rejects the government’s plan to change GB’s status, and it calls the elections an exercise to “cover-up Pakistan’s occupation” of the region.

PM Imran’s plan is not the first time locals have heard promises of being granted constitutional rights: in 2016 then-prime minister Nawaz Sharif proposed to make GB a province as well but shelved plans after proPakistan leaders in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) denounced the decision.

Formerly known as the Northern Areas, GB is located at the confluence of the world’s greatest mountain ranges – the Karakoram, the Himalayas, the Hindu Kush and the Pamir.

Before the end of British colonial rule and the creation of Pakistan and India in 1947, the region was part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Rich in history, culture and natural beauty, the area, which also remained a centre of rivalries between Russian, British, and Chinese empires, has been a cynosure for trekkers and adventure tourists for centuries.

Heart. President Johnson (1963-1968), who took over from Kennedy, was a Lieutenant Commander in US Naval Reserve and during WWII won a Silver Star medal.

President Nixon (1969-1973) served in US Navy and President Ford (1974-1976) was a Lieutenant Commander in US Naval Reserve. President Carter (1977-180) was a graduate from US Naval Academy and served on battleships and submarines. President Regan (1981-1988) was a naval aviator in WWII and President WH Bush (19891992) was a Navy pilot who flew combat missions during WWII. While President Clinton and Obama have no military service to show, they were attorney general, governor and senator before they became President. President Trump is the only US President that never held a public office before becoming a President and during his tenure as president, in my personal view, has done to America is what ‘politics as child’s play’ in Pakistan has done to our country. Having held no public office prior to his election President Trump is our answer to what happens to a country when an unbefitting and unsuitable person occupies the highest office in the country.

Take a look at the premiers of our country over the last two decades. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi (2017-18), Nawaz Sharif (2013-17), Raja Pervaiz Ashraf (2012-2013), Yousaf Raza Gillani (2008-2012), Shaukat Aziz (2004-07), Chaudhry Shujaat Hussian

(2004) and Zafarullah Khan Jamali (20022004). None of them has served in the military, and while some of them could be ‘uncontested electables’, what has been their service to the country? Why are our politicians just politicians?

Post-WWII, former PM Churchill in his speech at Westminster College in Fulton Missouri introduced the phrase ‘Iron Curtain’, which became a buzzword for the fight against communism. Since then, all American presidents have fought against Nazism, Fascism and Communism.

But my country’s fight is against none of these isms. It is against the ‘Iron Curtain’ imposed by the corrupt political system that continues to throw up politicians of mediocre competence who have deliberately raised this iron curtain between themselves and us. My country’s fight is against this imposed ‘backwardism’ by them. This fight, I fear, we will never be able to win under the existing political system which only serves the creators of this iron curtain.

Former presidents, Mamnoon Hussian, Asif Zardari, Muhammad Rafiq Tarrar and Fazal Ellahi Chaudhry, were not only presidents but Commanders-in-Chief. As a student of politics, when I compare them, our former PMs, and those that led the US, I make no mistake in understanding why we have lagged behind.

The writer is a member of the faculty of contemporary studies at NDU Islamabad

Monday, 16 November, 2020

06 COMMENT

The signs of Dawn

Gilgit-Baltistan elections A reflection of national politics

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HOUGH the polling for the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative assembly, where 334 candidates are contesting for the 24 general seats, was marred by power breakdowns and hampered by snowfall, the absence of casualties amid generally peaceable voting is not just a cause of satisfaction for the caretaker government of the province, but for the people of GilgitBaltistan as a whole. the province being given self-government only a decade ago, these polls are the third, and have received much more attention than previous ones mainly because Gilgit-Baltistan has become the main battlefield for the Pti government and the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM). a complicating factor is that the two main components of the PDM, the PPP and the PML(n) both had won a majority in previous elections, and have successively formed the government.

Both had won elections in Gilgit-Baltistan when in power at the centre, and their main opponent is the Pti, which is presently in office in islamabad. that raises one of the more contentious issues of the whole campaign, which is the role of the establishment. the readiness to accept results is also going to be a test of how much democracy has penetrated, but at the same time, it is not just undemocratic, but downright unfair to ask losers to accept results that might be manipulated into going against the wishes of the voter. another issue that arose since the last election is the increased indian attention to it, because it will be a main component of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. not only is it a disputed territory, but it also previously contained the only areas which Pakistan handed over to China. it is also the first election to be held after the indian abolition of kashmir’s special status, and the clampdown in the Valley. though the election is not just about local issues, but seems to involve a number of old electoral rivalries, it is being seen as a kind of referendum on the federal government as well. this may not be completely unfair, for it should not be forgotten that if anything, federal policies impinge more heavily on Gilgit-Baltistan than on full-fledged provinces.

2021 will see Naya Pakistan come SYED FAWAD ALI SHAH

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akistanis, for more than 70 years, have been waiting for the creation of a society where they can lead their lives according to the teachings of islam. However, the society deteriorated with each passing day and the hopes of the people for change faded away. the Pti regime gave Pakistanis a hope which till date has not materialized. the political parties have now gathered for changing the regime on the plea of inflation and corruption without an alternative solution, due to which an ordinary Pakistani is still expecting from the Pti regime. Before expecting anything from the government let us analyze the role of individual citizen in Pakistan. an individual would have reasons to justify nepotism, favoritism and corruption. He would claim to be a pious Muslim with the holy Quran lying covered in dust on a shelf in his house. He would apply teachings of islam on everyone except himself or would practice those giving him material gain. He would steal electricity and gas. He would not give sadqah, khairat or zakat. He would enjoy Umrah and Hajj as tourist jaunts, deny inheritance rights to his sisters still would be standing in the first row of the congregational prayers in the mosque. a government employee would claim salary to be his basic right without paying heed to his duties.

He would be an example of inefficiency with installed easyload software. He would profess the religion of bribery and obeying his political and bureaucratic bosses to every extent. no file would move unless he is paid for it. the rules of business together with the Civil servants act and Efficiency and Discipline Rules are lying somewhere covered with dust in his office. a doctor would claim himself to be an asset for the society but he would not entertain a patient without fee. He would not bother to get himself involved in any sort of research for the advancement of science, rather relying on the advice of the medical representatives who pay him for prescribing their medicines. He would be advising patients in hospitals to visit his private clinic for detailed check-up with accurate prescription. He would be a partner with the medical laboratory and medics.

Reaction to rape The Kashmore case sows the need for careful policing

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Applying the lessons of the first wave AtIA MunAWEr

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HE second wave of coronavirus has taken its toll all over the world. Millions of people are currently taking measures to protect themselves from the deadly virus, but in Pakistan, from the government and the opposition to the business community, everyone, instead of protecting themselves from the coronavirus, are inviting it to do its worst because of their frivolous behavior. Opposition parties are holding rallies in the wake of the coronavirus, and while responding to the government, seems to be pushing hard to put people to a new test. in addition to this, sOPs are not being implemented in public offices, or in universities, colleges, schools, wedding halls, public transport and bazaars, due to which precious lives are being lost.

Unless the government and the opposition take precautionary measures, the people will remain non-serious. Precautions must be taken until the coronavirus vaccine is available in the market, otherwise the second wave of coronavirus could wreak havoc. there is no doubt that the second wave of the rapidly spreading coronavirus pandemic around the world is being viewed with great concern, but with the passage of time people began to abandon the sOPs designed to prevent the coronavirus pandemic. Because of this, the chances of spreading of coronavirus are increasing and a new wave of coronavirus has claimed the lives of 35 people, including the Chief Justice of te Peshawar High Court, Mr Jutice Waqar ahmed seth, while former Prime Minister Raja Pervez ashraf and Chairman national Disaster Management authority (nDMa) Lt. Gen. Muhammad afzal have also not been spared from the pandemic. according to data released by the national Command and Operations Center (nCOC), 2,165 people tested positive for COViD-19 in 24 hours and 17 died of the virus. the number of people recovering from COViD-19 in the country so far has reached 322,414 but the second wave of coronavirus could be more damaging if the public’s non-

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ther accept a bribe from the aggressor or the aggrieved. the investigation is misdirected and leads to the acquittal of the accused. One of the reasons for the rampant increase in crime is the corruption within the police department which is followed by the prosecution and judiciary. all the above discussed examples are evidence of the darkest phase of night or in other words a sign of dawn for Pakistanis. imran khan, due to the number game in Parliament, till date has not been able to act on his promised agenda of change in Pakistan. this gave a slogan to his political opponents for removing him from the slot of Prime Minister. the opposition leaders are leaving no stone unturned for toppling the Pti regime, ranging from corner meetings and rallies, to rhetoric against the defence forces and allegations against the state; all testifying to the arrival of hard days for them in the near future. the main target of the opposition parties is derailing the system before the upcoming senate election. after that the Pti government would acquire the numbers in Parliament required for necessary amendments in laws, after which imran khan would be able to act decisively on the issues of corruption and administrative inefficiencies. it is probably the first time in the history of Pakistan that the military establishment is ready to assist the government in doing the needful. the arrival of the year 2021 is the year of the creation of naya Pakistan where exploitation of Pakistanis in all manifestation would cease.

The main target of the opposition parties is derailing the system before the upcoming Senate election. After that the PTI government would acquire the numbers in Parliament required for necessary amendments in laws, after which Imran Khan would be able to act decisively on the issues of corruption and administrative inefficiencies

Syed Fawad Ali Shah is a Pakistani Journalist Currently Based in Malaysia.

Alarm bells in the Coronavirus’ second wave!

HE story of the kashmore rape case has shocked everyone, not least because it involved an assault on a mother-daughter pair. the killing of the main accused by an accomplice has only further added mystery to what really happened in the interior of sindh, but the reaction of the federal government, which is to bring an ordinance enhancing the punishment, will not provide a sufficient substitute for proper policing. the crime is governed by the Hudood Ordinance as well as the Pakistan Penal Code, and providing for enhanced punishments or special courts will merely be eyewash, and will not serve as a preventive. the kneejerk reaction of enhanced punishments will be meaningless without better policing and prosecution. if no one is convicted, the punishments cannot be administered, leaving policemen to cover their sloppiness by faking encounters, as appears to have been done in kashmore, thereby getting public pressure off their backs for time being, until the next outrage. the problem is not limited to a failure to get victims to testify, for fear of what amounts to insulting and hostile cross-examination by defence lawyers. it is made worse because of the impunity felt by criminals, who believe that their crime will go unpunished, because they will not be convicted.

Because of this, rape is used as a tool of coldblooded enmity, and not just a slaking of base desires. the series of violent sexual crime indicates a deeper malaise than can be handled by enhancing punishments, but which requires better policing. if the CCPO Lahore, who is so much the blue-eyed boy of the government that the previous iGP was transferred, and who used the Motorway rape case in indulge in victim-blaming repeatedly, will continue to command, the government cannot hope to prosecute such crimes successfully. if no one is convicted, after all, how are those sentences to be awarded? a more proactive attitude would be to ensure that prosecutions in hand are so handled that prosecutions succeed. While assaults will not cease, the criminal should no longer be under the impression that he will get away with this heinous crime.

Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

an engineer after getting employment would unlearn his acquired education and skills. He would never associate himself with the research process, rather would be doing things as recommended by the contractors. He would be paid by the government for signing papers required for clearing the bills of the contractor without application of his mind. He would run from pillar to post in the Planning and Development and Finance departments for clearing escalation of cost and re appropriation bills of the contractor. a patwari would be looking for clients ready to bribe him for tampering and for making wrong entries in the revenue record. He would be least interested in the collection of agricultural income tax and other duties and taxes. He, through his tehsildar, gives two percent of his ill-gotten receipts to the administrative head of the district. He would sponsor the election campaign of the elected representatives who in return would protect his tenure. the whole system would turn a deaf ear to any complaint about the system. a journalist, regarded as a mirror of the society, has lost his role in Pakistan. they revolve around the office of the district police officer and others who pay them from their secret funds for projecting their good image in the newspapers. all the published newspapers are evidence of this breach of trust by the journalists. they threaten the corrupt for extortion and at higher levels are paid for the projection of good image of the political parties. in short, the journalists in Pakistan at the moment are best example of yellow journalism in the world. a police officer posted for the purpose of assisting the court in the dispensation of justice would ei-

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serious attitude does not change. the second wave of coronavirus has sounded alarm bells, with the World Health Organization (WHO)warning that this time the virus has become more powerful and invasive, requiring more precautions. Due to this pandemic affecting 50 million people on the planet, the severity of the lockdown has increased once again in many countries, while in our country also due to the negligence of the general public and other circles, it is feared that the severity of lockdown can be increased and closure of institutions can be done. therefore, in order to protect every person from the coronavirus pandemic, all measures including te use of masks and sanitizers, and social distancing should be strictly followed to protect individuals, family, neighbours and others as a part of the indispensable precautions. it should not be overlooked that as long as a single person is suffering from coronavirus; people all over the world are in danger. the World Health Organization (WHO) medical experts say that it will not be possible for us to stop the second wave like the first wave of coronavirus, but they all know how to reduce the rate of its spread. this is possible only when everyone acts responsibly. the eradication of the coronavirus pandemic is still a long way off, so precautions must be taken as before. after a seemingly significant reduction in the spread of coronavirus in the country, the government had lifted the ban on social and business activities and tourism, as well as social and educational activities. But the lift-

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ing of sanctions across the country, is generally taken to mean that there is no longer any threat from the coronavirus, while the fact is that without social restrictions, the risk is many times greater than before, and if one does not maintain social distance and individuals as a result of not taking steps to keep oneself free of the virus, it will not be possible to prevent the pandemic from spreading again. there is no doubt that the second wave of coronavirus has re-emerged and no vaccine is yet available.

We have no choice but to be cautious. Due to the carelessness of the people, alarm bells have started ringing in the second wave of the coronavirus. the government has started imposing sanctions once again. if the people do not show seriousness and start implementing sOPs, then it will be time to close the whole country. the economic losses of this ban will not be borne by the people. a meeting chaired

by Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar has decided to strictly enforce masks and sOPs. in view of the current situation, such decisions really need to be strictly enforced. this should be done all over the country. if the people cooperate with the government, the second wave can be overcome like the first wave, in which the good of every citizen is hidden, not just the government.

There is no doubt that the second wave of coronavirus has reemerged and no vaccine is yet available. We have no choice but to be cautious. Due to the carelessness of the people, alarm bells have started ringing in the second wave of the coronavirus

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Atia Munawer can be reached at Attiabutt121@gmail.com .

She tweets @AttiyaMunawer

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Monday, 16 November, 2020

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

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

Reboot economy to help the people tHE shocking revelations about the state of affairs post COViD-19 have started coming to the fore. My recent chat with a recruiter had turned intense when she was talking about the fact that many more experienced professionals including HR professionals had been without job due to the multiple crises caused by coronavirus. all these six to seven months down the road, the entire lifestyle has gone from bad to worse. this strongly means many sad stories behind the scene. technology and lavish lifestyle cannot hide these facts or could not paint a different picture either. Unemployment apart, the affected have been unable to share their status and pent-up feelings. Maybe this might have been the trend everywhere in the world. a stitch in time saves nine as the saying goes. now, the entire responsibility of setting right everything squarely falls on the executive and policymakers. an immediate economic boost is much-needed. strong political will, financial back-up, multilevel economic agendas and far-reaching plans of action are badly required to inject a new lease of life out there. Lack of foodstuff, malnutrition and a shortfall in nutritious diet have been just out there, impacting the human race across the world. to stop such spiralling effects, the much-needed economic strategies should be on the ground. in asia, local markets have been flourishing for much longer time than in the West. in my native areas like korkai, tiruchendur, tuticorin, nagercoil, kanyakumari, tirunelveli in tamil nadu, the people have been able to survive such crises through local economic activities like agriculture. in the West, local economic activities are relatively concerned with population, lifestyle, other external/internal factors as totally distinct from asian region which has inherent capacity and intensive manpower to sustain the changing trends. america and other European countries should tread cautiously to handle possible food crisis and economic downturn. Quickly enough, farming activities and the agriculture size should be strengthened at the world stage through appropriate sources/channels like green strategies, perennial water sources and huge tracts of fertile soil.

P SEnthil Saravana Durai MuMbai

Biden’s challenges The Predsident-elect faces major problems nAEEM KAnDWAL

T

HE Biden Presidency will face historic challenges. Poverty, unemployment, racism and internal security are major challenges facing Us. the economy is the biggest challenge. Virtually all major policy issues derive from this central challenge. there are also many external problems.

Bad relations especially with China and iran are a big problem. it is important to mention some issues in detail here. the coronavirus pandemic is far from over.

Cases are surging across the nation as many states are in their eighth month of enforcing some sort of social distancing guidelines. a record 121,888 new COViD-19 infections were tallied across the country on thursday. More than 231,000 people in the Usa have died from the virus, and more than 9 million americans have contracted it. throughout the campaign, Biden laid out some things he would do to combat covid-19. He has said he would contact governors to help implement a mask mandate. if they refuse, the former vice president has said he would turn to local officials. Biden also said he would launch a national plan to expand testing for the virus, implement national guidelines for states to reopen at the guidance of scientists and said the coronavirus vaccine would be free once it was available. While experts say at least one vaccine candidate could win FDa approval by year’s end, it could be months to get a vaccine to the more than 300 million people who live in the Usa, let alone the seven billion people across the globe. now, as President, Biden will have to actually implement his plan rather than discuss what he would do if he were the commander-in-chief.

While Biden will need to address the pandemic, he also will need to address the nation’s economic recovery after it was plunged into a recession as result of the pandemic. During a speech about his covid-19 response last month, Biden said that if he were elected, he would give Congress one month to get a bill on his desk that included funding to address the public health and economic aspects of combating the virus. “i’ll reach out to every governor in every state, red and blue, as well as mayors and local officials, during the transition, to find out what support they need and how much of it they need,” Biden said in his speech in October. He added: “i’ll ask the new Congress to put a bill on my desk by the end of January with all the resources necessary so that both our public health response and our economic response can be seen through to the end.” Biden has not been specific about what his stimulus plan would look like, but he

has said: “We should be providing the money the House has passed in order to be able to go out and get people the help they need to keep their businesses open.”

Congress earlier this year passed a coronavirus stimulus package that included $1,200 stimulus checks for many americans.

But Congress over the past several months has not been able to pass a new round of legislation. However, Biden has laid out a plan for unemployment benefits, saying he would create a health crisis unemployment initiative to help all workers facing a loss of work because of the pandemic, create plans to ensure unemployment benefits are available to those who lose jobs but would be denied Benefits for a variety of reasons, extend COViD-19 crisis unemployment insurance, and provide guaranteed emergency paid sick leave and caregiving leave.

Biden’s road to the White House was paved

by Black voters, in the primary and in the last several days of the election, when many of Biden’s winning votes came from voters in Philadelphia, Detroit, Milwaukee and atlanta.

But Black americans, along with white allies and other people of colour, continue to protest in the streets nationwide against police-involved shootings and racial injustice. Biden, who has publicly used the phrase “Black lives matter,” released a plan that includes an array of policies to address systemic racism, which includes investing in Black-owned small businesses, creating a new tax credit to help Black americans buy homes, and investing in historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). the president-elect will need to address racial tensions across the country in the imme-

diate future, and not just point to his plan. stefanie Brown James, who led Obama for america’s effort to engage african american leaders and voters in 2012 and is a co-founder of Collective PaC, told Usa tODaY that activists within the movement aren’t going to remain silent under a Biden Presidency. she said she expects a number of community tasks forces will be developed by the administration, and they must include “community leaders from Black Lives Matter and just Black organizations, period.” “there will continue to be a push of Biden and Harris to make good on their promises,” she said. “there’s also going to be a larger push for Congress to do the same.” the world according to Joe Biden is a much more traditional take on america’s role and interests, grounded in international institutions established after World War two, and based on shared western democratic values. it is one of global alliances in which america leads free nations in combating transnational threats. Joe Biden says he’s prepared to rejoin another international accord abandoned by President trump: the deal that gave iran sanctions relief in exchange for scaling down its nuclear programme. the trump administration withdrew in 2018, saying the arms control agreement was too narrow to cope with the threats posed by iran, and too weak in its limits on nuclear activity, which expire over time. it re-imposed sanctions and continues to pile on economic pressure, recently blacklisting almost all of iran’s financial sector. in response iran has stopped observing some of the restrictions on its nuclear activity. Mr Biden says this “maximum pressure” policy has failed.

Relations between China and the Usa are at their worst in decades over disputes ranging from technology and trade to Hong kong and the coronavirus, and the trump administration has unleashed a barrage of sanctions against Beijing.

“Biden’s election means an opportunity to re-establish relations with the Us as he is more likely to uphold multilateralism. that means China and the Us can start discussing issues including climate change, pandemic control and trade,” Wang said.

Biden’s policy looks revolutionary. Biden can help the Usa move forward by finding solutions to problems.

Biden’s policy looks revolutionary. Biden can help the USA move forward by finding solutions to problems

Naeem Kandwal is a freelance columnist

GB elections OUR political leaders are consistent in making promises which do not see the light of the day and we are audacious to hope in their vows. also, our politicians speak of democracy, but never practice the principles of it. neither do they make promises that they would ever keep, nor do the losing party ever accepts results. it seems promises are only to befool people and democracy is only when they win. We as people always become the fools our leaders are making us. Every time we fall for their rosy words and we never hold them responsible for their promises. i have never seen a losing party to graciously accept the results and the winning party to work for what they promised. Before the current elections in the Gilgit Baltistan (GB), both the PPP and the PMLn had a stint at power. Both made promises they never kept. neither did they accept the results. Yet again, all three parties have run a strong campaign in the GB during the past month. However, except for the Pti, which is in power at the center, both the Chairperson of the PPP and the VP of the PMLn have been carrying the line that the election will not be fair if they lose. all three parties are making promises and tall claims. i wish for once the three parties accept the results with those losing conceding and the winners promising to work for the betterment of the region. We already are going through the agony of losing sides crying foul and the winners completely forgetting their promises after the 2018 elections in the mainland. i hope we will not see the repeat of this horror story in the GB and for once our politicians will show some maturity and work for the betterment of people in a democratic and civilized manner.

Raja Shafaatullah iSlaMabaD

Provincial status at the time, the Prime Minister of Pakistan has attempted to deliver some good news for Gilgitis . However, majority of the population have intended to vote for Pti as it has once stepped for election in this neglected region of Pakistan. the 2020 election is to be scheduled on 15th november. Heeding on the voices of surviving population. they have directly demanded for issues left not undertaken by political parties. Even i am astonished to see in this era of election, country have made GB so relevant and important . and the PPP, PML-n, and the ruling Pti have held marathon rallies across the region, attracting tens of thousands attendes. Unlike the past, GB has been considered a past flourished region with no facilities, such as rising unemployment, poor sewerage system, less resources to meet people’s requirement and one of the most important thing to be focused in these times is to make GB an industrial region. according to the well-deserved residents, We have seen a large number of people while active in elections,but after reserving seats, they promises not to be worried about it . so what types of democracy does Pakistan’s keep? Everything starts from bribes, corruption. Pakistan political parties should get abashed to see the current conditions or status of Pakistan’s son Bangladesh. though it is a country with less power resources, but it’s laws tries to keep limited the government and it’s people. therefore, Pakistan should get lesson from other countries and work for best elections in GB . i hope whoever would win election, so the party should hope for best for Gilgit Baltistan. barkatullah turbat

Deforestation DEFOREstatiOn is the main reason of interminable pollution in Pakistan. Due to an unchecked population and growing urbanization , the trees are being cut in order to make homes, buildings etc. Haplessly, people only cut trees for their needs, but do not grow instead. this is the actual reason for climate change, global warming, and pollution around the country. if the government or people cut trees for their benefits then they have to grow trees again instead of that. Likely, no one will be deprived from a poor environment. farahnaz farooq ahMED turbat

Monday, 16 November, 2020

08 WORLD VIEW

France’s Islam problem WESTERN GOVERNMENTS OFTEN INVOKE ABSOLUTE FREEDOM OF SPEECH TO ALLOW PROVOCATIONS AND INSULTS TO MUSLIMS AND ISLAM. BUT ALL WESTERN GOVERNMENTS HAVE RESTRICTIONS ON FREEDOM OF SPEECH, IN THE NAME OF MORALITY, COMMUNITY STANDARDS, NATIONAL SECURITY, OR EVEN INTEGRITY OF HISTORY

Consortium neWs

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as’aDabukhaLiL

ITH little coverage in Western media, and without support from most Muslim governments, a popular boycott of French goods is underway in many Arab and Muslim countries.

France is alarmed enough about the growing boycott that it dispatched its foreign minister to egypt on Sunday for a round of apologies and explanation, hoping that the Sisi government would prompt Al-Azhar University to help calm Arab and Muslim public opinion.

Despite shelves emptied of imported French goods, Muslims’ anger toward the French government and President emmanuel Macron has been largely reduced in Western media to a mere tiff between Macron and Turkish President RecepTayyip erdogan.

Far from being the instigator of the Muslim outrage, erdogan has merely exploited the public reaction articulated on social media and in some street protests, and posed as the defender of the Prophet (PBUH).

(Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) holds a very special status for Muslims. He represents to them the exemplary Muslim, moral life). erdogan’s response to Macron, amplified by Qatari media, should be seen as part of the regional struggle between the SaudiUAe axis on the one hand, and the QatariTurkish axis, which includes the Muslim Brotherhood.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab emirates want to avoid any confrontation with the West, especially as Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) struggles to return to the international scene after the disgrace which befell him with the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. MbS is too eager for Western rehabilitation to allow friction in his relations with the U.S. and europe.

But his strategy carries the risk of ceding Muslim leadership from Saudi Arabia, the custodian of Islam’s two holiest sites, to Turkey or Qatar.

The beheading of a French history teacher in Paris on oct. 16 by a young Chechen Muslim came after the teacher displayed — for explanatory, instructional purposes — a cartoon of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), while allowing Muslim students to leave the classroom. Macron called the murder “a typical Islamist terrorist attack.” The display of the cartoon has generated the Muslim condemnation and boycott.

EXPLOITING THE SITUATION Macron has attempted to politically exploit the situation. His oct. 2 address on Islam was like a campaign speech and drew accolades from the Islamophobe rightwinger Marine Le Pen, who congratulated him for adopting her “common sense” approach to Islamism, as well as by some French socialists who have been vocal in their Islamophobia and attacks on multiculturalism.

Macron decreed that “Islam is in crisis,” a declaration impossible for any Western politician to make about Judaism or Christianity. But Islam in the West is unlike any other religion, prompting measures from anti-terrorism laws to regulations on secularism to combat it.

To be sure, Donald Trump, George W. Bush and Macron, for instance, employ the word “Islamist” and not “Islamic,” connoting political Islam rather than the religion, though Macron spoke of Islam in crisis.

In any way it’s lost in Arabic translation.

If Arabs or Muslims made hostile declarations against “Judaic” or “Christianist” threats of terror, their statements would be seen — and rightly so — as bigotry.

The idea that such a declaration as Macron’s would not translate in most Muslim eyes into hostility to Islam underscores Western disregard for Muslim and Arab opinion.

Western media and governments correctly do not tolerate Palestinians invoking religion when criticizing Israel. Zionism is not confined to one religion. evangelical Christians, for instance, are among the most

fanatical Zionists in the world. Israeli war crimes should not be blamed on Jews or on Judaism, just as fanatical Islamism should not be blamed on Muslims or Islam.

The way Macron explained it, the West wants to redesign Islam. Western governments are already setting up institutions to produce Muslim preachers with acceptable views. It’s not too far-fetched to suggest that there may come a time when they may insist on a revision of the Qur’an to fit Western and Israeli policies and interests.

Furthermore, there is a thin line between hostility to immigration and hostility to race or religion in Western countries. In the U.S., it is often a disguised form of objection to a particular ethnic group, while in europe the hostility takes the direct form of objection to Muslim immigrants.

In France, the two are invoked interchangeably. Despite this heightened antiimmigrant stance in the U.S., one never hears objections to the predominant religion of immigrants, which is Christianity. (Instead, some on the American right complain about immigration as a threat primarily of Muslim infiltration.)

The banner of secularism in France is raised by politicians to rationalize this hostility to Islam and Muslims in the guise of opposing political Islam, or Islamism.

WESTERN INTERFERENCE Islamism is a product of Western interference in the Middle east to begin with.

From the early days of the Muslim Brotherhood in egypt, which had a relationship with British intelligence, Western powers have often used violent Islamist groups against U.S. enemies in the region. The U.S. worked with Gulf Arab countries for much of the Cold War to arm and finance Islamist radicals to combat communist and socialist forces in the region (from Gamal Abdel Nasser in the 1950s and 1960s, to the communists later in Yemen and Afghanistan). But Western secularism (versions of which vary from one country to the other, including in the U.S. where faithbased initiatives struck a blow against the secular pretensions of the state) is neither consistent nor absolute.

France is but an example. All the rheto-

ric against Islam and Islamist terrorism, and even complaints against any indications or manifestations of the Islamic faith, (like the “foulard” or the Halal meat in markets) is produced in the name of firm belief in secularism, or what they call “laicite” in France.

The laicite did not clash, according to politicians, with government support of religious schools. Joan Wallach Scott says in her book The Politics of the Veil that:“Since 1958, the French government has contributed 10 percent of the budgets of private religious schools; more than 2 million children attend state-supported Catholic schools…The school calendar still observes only Catholic (Christmas, easter, etc) and state holidays; the proposal of the Stasi commission to add a Jewish and Muslim holidays was rejected by President Chirac” (p. 100-101).

Moreover, Western governments often invoke absolute freedom of speech to allow provocations and insults to Muslims and Islam. But all Western governments have restrictions on freedom of speech, in the name of morality, community standards, national security, or even integrity of history.

The various forms of insults to Muslims — which indeed is a form of expression that Muslims sometimes don’t realize are deliberate provocations intended to whip up more hatred of Muslims — sends a message from governments and media that Islam won’t be relegated to a protected status sometimes reserved for certain communities and groups.

Western governments have a problem with Muslims worldwide, not just in their local communities. “Islam is a religion that is in crisis all over the world today, we are not just seeing this in our country,” Macron said. For him to speak of a “crisis in Islam” is to pass judgment on a religion of 1.5 billion people, and on individual Muslims.

That Macron links world Muslims to a single Chechen murderer is to hold all Muslims responsible for the murders of each and every individual Muslim. This has been exactly the method of anti-Semites against Jews.

Macron invoked a new term, “Islamic separatism,” blaming Muslims for living in certain quarters while the segregation is

largely class-based. Historically, Christian europeans put Jews in ghettoes and then blamed them, and attacked them, for living in ghettos.

BORROWING FROM CLASSICAL ANTI-SEMITISM There is much in Islamophobia that is borrowed from classical anti-Semitism. And just like classical anti-Semites, Macron and other Western leaders insist on linking all Muslims to isolated terrorist incidents; while evidence exists that recent terrorist attacks were perpetrated by individuals who were not tied to a group or a network.

Yet, Muslims fall into a trap by allowing themselves to being provoked. There were insults against the Prophet (PBUH) from the very early days of Islam. Christianity perfected the art of insulting the Prophet (PBUH) and Islam since medieval times.

When Islamic civilization was then at its zenith, it seems Muslims were more thickskinned and tolerant of polemical attacks and insults. As Palestinian historian TarifKhalidi wrote days ago, Muslim history and theology books at the time contained insults to the Prophet (PBUH) what would cause riots in today’s Arab streets.

Many Muslims have become too defensive in their interactions with the West, and for obvious reasons. They are on shaky grounds when they complain about insults to their religion and Prophet (PBUH) when Muslim preachers, and even lay people, sometimes hurl insults against Jews and Christians (not to mention insults against Marxist atheists, the least thin-skinned group of “believers”).

The Islamophobic right wishes to instill the idea of Muslims’ intolerance, and some Muslims are reinforcing that view by their overreaction. It is not lost on many Arabs that some Muslims allow themselves to be outraged over an offensive French cartoon, but not over Western wars, Israeli occupation and aggression and tyrannical rule throughout the region.

It was inevitable that Macron would declare war on Islamism when his political fortunes seem to be sagging, knowing that white voters are drawn to anti-Islamist political messages especially when those messages contain both anti-immigrant and racist themes.

There is little sign of an improved environment of tolerance toward Muslims in Western countries and an economic crisis can easily turn into attacks on immigrants.

France wants to unite the nation, just as the U.S. wanted to unite the nation prior to the civil rights movement. It is a unity of hierarchy and not of equality: minorities need to know their places in the nation, or else.

As`adAbuKhalil is a Lebanese-American professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus.

How will Trump give up?

Week

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Damon Linker

oe Biden will be sworn in as president on Jan 20, 2021. Donald Trump does not have the capacity to overturn an election he lost by a healthy margin, no matter how often and in what form he repeats the lie that he won. He can try to scuttle the presidential transition. But in the end, much of that process happens automatically. Which means that the end of the Trump administration is coming, regardless of how convincingly the president pretends otherwise.That's what the reasonable part of my mind keeps saying.

But another, more anxious part of me is saying something else. Not that Trump is poised to mount a coup and extinguish democratic government in the United States, but that the path from getting to where we are to where we need to be just over two months from now is … unclear. How do we transition from the president insisting the election was stolen from him, his party's leadership backing him up on this claim, and a supermajority of Republican voters believing the perfidious story — to all of them accepting and affirming in public that Joe Biden is the actual president of the United States and that he did not, in fact, end up in the White House through a coup of his own?I have no good answer to that question.

Trump is not raising questions about the vote count in selected states. He is not saying that Biden won but he (Trump) will stay in office by transforming himself into an authoritarian dictator. He is insisting that he won the election outright — and that the only reason state vote tallies and media outlets say otherwise is that there was voter fraud on a truly massive scale. The election was a sham.

A Democratic Party conspiracy leading up to and following election Day produced the crucial and false comefrom-behind victories for Biden, and now a conspiracy of state officials (many of them Republicans) and journalists (including from Fox News) is working tirelessly to legitimize this illegitimate outcome. That is Trump's position as expressed in a series of public statements, from his election Night rant at 2:30 a.m. on through numerous outbursts and actions in the days since then.

The assumption of many Republicans so far is that they just need to humor him. Let Trump rant and rave, let the court battles and recounts play out — and at the end of it all, Trump will back down, admit he lost, and slink away.But when has Trump ever done anything remotely like this? The answer, of course, is: never.

Think of all the discredited outrages: claiming in defiance of contrary evidence that Barack obama was born abroad and so was ineligible to serve as president. Alleging that Ted Cruz's father had a hand in killing JFK. Declaring that his win in 2016 with a modest 306 electoral Votes and a popular vote loss was a landslide. Asserting (with no evidence) that he would have won California if not for millions of illegal votes cast by noncitizens. Contending (with no evidence) that he would have won New Hampshire if not for busloads of Massachusetts voters crossing state lines to vote illegally.

Insisting the relatively small crowd at his inauguration was the largest ever. And on through four unprecedentedly mendacious years of the Trump presidency, including an impeachment trial. Through all of it, when has Trump ever admitted fault or error and reversed himself when backed into a corner? It hasn't happened.

Can anyone seriously envision Trump coming out and announcing (in a statement or on Twitter) that he was wrong about allegations of voter fraud, that judges who rule against him are justified in their decisions, and that the

recounts showing he in fact lost the election and that Biden won it fair and square are valid? You can't be serious.

The next assumption people are making is that if Trump doesn't back down, his party's leadership in Washington will stand up to him en masse and get him to relent — if not this month, if not before members of the electoral College vote in mid-December, then at least after the GoP has made use of rank-and-file indignation to power through and win the two run-off elections in Georgia on Jan. 5 that will determine control of the Senate.

But again I ask: When has something like this ever happened? When have Republicans told Trump that enough is enough with his conspiratorial, politically corrosive B.S. and stuck to it? The answer, again, is never. oh sure, individual Republicans have occasionally talked back to him: John Kasich, a featured speaker at the Democratic convention this past summer; Jeff Flake, now retired; Justin Amash, no longer a Republican and just two months away from retirement; Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, now loathed by much of his party's base.

But the rest? The failure of GoP leadership to stand up to Trump has been one of the major dramas of the past five and a half years of American politics.

one after another, leading members of the president's party have tentatively drawn lines and attempted to enforce them — and one after another, they have folded and cowered before him. Many have gone on to become outright stooges, eager to ingratiate themselves before the mad emperor.

Now, it's true that sometimes novel, unprecedented things happen. Maybe this situation is different — one where either Trump will behave differently than he has in the past, or elected members of his party will. or maybe Trump's throngs of dittoheads will turn on him for the first time, concluding that although they wouldn't abandon him for shooting someone on Fifth Ave, they just can't countenance backing him up as he tries to defy the “official” election results.But this, too, would be something wholly unprecedented.

As I said at the start, I think Joe Biden will be sworn in as president on Jan. 20, 2021. But if Trump never backs down on his own, and if the Republican leadership never stands up to him and forces a concession, and if Republican voters never turn on him — then I can honestly say I'm at a loss about precisely how we're supposed to arrive at that hoped-for destination.

Monday, 16 November, 2020

BUSINESS 09 POL production increases by 2.75pc in Q1FY21 ISLAMABAD APP

Overall production of petroleum commodities has witnessed an increase of 2.75 per cent during the first quarter of the financial year 2020-21 (Q1FY21) as compared to the corresponding period of the last fiscal year. POL products that showed positive growth include kerosene oil the production of which increased by 35.35 per cent during the period under review, Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) reported. Similarly, the production of motor spirits, high-speed diesel, jute batching oil and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) witnessing an increase of 18.04pc, 10.20pc, 35.75pc and 7.95pc, respectively.

However, the production of jet fuel oil has decreased by 42.68pc, diesel oil 62.43pc, furnace oil 0.73pc, lubricating oil 40.01pc, solvent naptha 27.99pc and petroleum product nos 17.35pc during the period under review. It is pertinent to mention here that the overall output of Large Scale Manufacturing Industries (LSMI) in the country during Q1FY20 witnessed positive growth of 4.81pc as compared to the output of the corresponding period of last year. LSMI Quantum Index Number (QIM) was recorded at 133.02 points during July-September (2020-21) against 126.92 points during July-September (2019-20), showing a growth of 4.81pc, according to the data released by the PBS. The highest increase of 2.98pc was witnessed in the indices monitored by the Ministry of Industries, followed by 1.66pc decline in the products monitored by the Provincial Board of Statistics (BOS) and an increase of 0.17pc was witnessed in the indices monitored by the Oil Companies Advisory Committee (OCAC).

Imported wheat to be available for consumers at Rs87.50 per kg PESHAWAR APP

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has imported an ample quantity of sugar that would be provided to people at Rs87.50 per kilogramme, according to the KP Food Department. In this regard, an official of the food department said that imported sugar has reached various divisions of KP which would be provided to people at cheaper rates. “Imported sugar would be available at Sasta Bazaars established by District Administration in various districts of the province and general stores at Rs87.50 per kg,” he told APP here on Sunday. He said sugar imported from abroad has reached Karachi port under the supervision of the Industries Department, adding that its transportation to different parts of the province is in full swing, adding that its sale and purchase has begun at different cities, including Peshawar, Dera Ismail Khan (D.I. Khan), Hazara and Malakand divisions. He said that the provincial government has hired dealers with the help of deputy commissioners whereas the process would be supervised and monitored by the deputy commissioners and other staff. It is expected that sugarcane crushing season is starting soon and will further reduce the price of sugar.

Pakistan, China working on transportation projects under CPEC: Haque BEIJING TLTP

Pakistan’s Ambassador to China Moin-ul-Haque has said that Pakistan and China are discussing and working on many other transportation projects under the framework of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in major cities. In an interview with China’s Global Times on Sunday, Haque said that the CPEC, in its first phase, focuses on infrastructure and energy development, referencing Gwadar Port projects in Southwestern Pakistan under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). “The port will enhance connectivity between the two countries and the rest of the world,” he added. He said the metro line is an extremely important project under the CPEC that will provide a modern, efficient, and affordable transport service to the people of Lahore, a metropolis of 12 million people with serious traffic congestion. “The line will also help reduce carbon emissions and air pollution in the city as more people use it to commute,” he added.

ImPORT OF COsTLY LNG TO HIT mAssEs, DOubLE CIRCuLAR DEbT: PEW ISLAMABAD

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INP

HE Pakistan Economy Watch (PEW) on Sunday said that the government is importing costly gas which will affect the masses and industrial sector.

“Expansive gas will add to the problems of masses and dejected the

business community while it will double the volume of the circular debt in the gas sector,” fact finding tank stated.

PEW President Dr Murtaza Mughal said that expensive gas import contracts have been finalised at rates ranging between 16 to 18 per cent of Brent crude rates while gas purchased by the previous government was around 13pc.

He said that the former government purchased gas at a lower price despite a

stable market while now it is being purchased at a higher cost when the market is down.

Dr Mughal noted that the cotton crop’s failure will cost the country billions of dollars. “Cotton production stands at five million bales against the target of fifteen million bales which will require import of ten million bales,” he added.

“Cotton import is necessary to keep the textile sector running, therefore, all

Coronavirus pandemic impacts second hand clothing business ISLAMABAD APP

The increase in prices due to the overall inflation, reduced movement of people during the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic and a fear of catching virus from the used clothes have badly impacted the business of second hand clothes in the city along with changing the life styles of the citizens.

Second hand clothes which were considered as the most selling items at the advent of Winter season have become out of reach for the common citizens owing to the increasing prices of each and every commodity and their reduced purchasing power.

While the pandemic related factors, including buyers’s reluctance to visit Landa Bazars as a precaution to avoid rush and not buying second hand clothes for their children due to fear of catching virus were also hindering good sales.

Shaukat Ali, who is a vendor at a stall of second hand clothes at Sunday Market, said the customers for used clothes have been reduced up to 50 percent this Winter season as compared to the last year due to the COVID. Majority of the customers complains that the COVID has affected their businesses and limited their purchasing power in the present price hike situation in the country. The customers even bargain while purchasing a single sweater which cost only Rs 100, he said while talking to APP. Israr, a vendor at ladies’ sweater stall said actually the customers are not visiting the second hand clothes market due to the fear of coornavirus despite strict implementation of COVID Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) by the Capital Development Authority.

He said that the decrease in customers up to 60

percent this year has affected our business. “Our regular customers are from Islamabad and Rawalpindi and they are not visiting the market”.

Many of the customers seems to be hesitant of buying used things considering these clothes will affect them with the virus as these clothes come from other countries which are more affected.

While others buy these with an intention to first wash these with antiseptics before using.

Sayed Ghulam, who is a second hand shoes retailer, said customers of second hand clothes and shoes reduced to a large extent due to the sense of fear prevailing among most the buyers amid COVID as well as less purchasing capacity due to exorbitant price.

He said every customer try to bargain and many of them don’t come back when we refuse to give concession.

Another stall holder, Malook Shah was of the view that during the last year before the first rain of Winter season, a huge number of customers rushed to the market to buy clothes in bulk but now many of them face resistance at the entry point due to not wearing masks while those who visit express fear of catching virus from these clothes.

He also pointed out that one of the reasons for surge in prices of Winter stuff in Landa bazaars is increased import duty and withholding tax.

“If we sell this stuff on the reduced rates, it will inflict loss to us. We are already taking a minimum profit on selling these products despite price hike situation in the country which has affected all segments of society”, he said.

A number of people visit the Landa Bazaars of the city soon after the advent of Winter season to buy warm clothes, woolies, caps, socks, jackets and hoodies for them and their children to save them from chilly weather affects.

Digital technology vital to promote education: AJK president MIRPUR APP

Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan said development and prosperity of the liberated territory cannot materialize until and unless the education system in the state is restructured in accordance with modern technology.

“It is essential to making education being imparted to the new generation job market-oriented and the curriculum compatible to the emerging trends in the world,” the president said while addressing a function in the federal metropolis late Saturday to unveil a gigantic education programme under the auspices of international education technology company “Coded Minds”.

He said that the use of digital technology has become inevitable to bring about a revolution in the education sector, while technologies like artificial intelligence, internet of things, robotics, block chain and cloud computing are now in the hands of the youth.

The president, however, stressed the use of these new technologies for the promotion of education and other positive purposes.

He maintained that the concept of public-private partnership is very charming, but it is easy to implement it. “Various surveys related to education reveal that Azad Kashmir with 88 per cent score is far ahead of remaining areas of Pakistan in terms of enrollment, registration, gender equality and learning but our educational infrastructure is weak and fragile,” he added.

While appreciating the efforts of founder president of Coded Minds Omar Farooqui, the AJK president said that introduction of education technology in 14 countries by a son of Kashmir is a matter of great pride for us, and now they want to work for the promotion of education in Azad Kashmir, and we would extend forthright cooperation to them in this regard.

Speaking on the occasion, founding president and Coded Minds Chief Operating Officer (COO) for South Asia Amina Khaishgi said that in order to turn Azad Kashmir into a valley of learning and knowledge, her company has decided to launch a program to impart education in accordance with the requirements of the 21st century with the support of modern technology.

Tech groups' services could face bans if they breach rules, EU industry chief says FRANKFURT AGENCIES

Technology companies’ services could be banned from the European market if they do not heed EU regulation, Europe’s industry chief Thierry Breton told German weekly Welt am Sonntag, as the European Commission finalizes rules on internet companies.

Breton will announce new draft rules known as the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act together with European Competition Commissioner

Margrethe Vestager on Dec. 2.

The rules will set out a list of do’s and don’ts for gatekeepers - online companies with market power - forcing them to share data with rivals and regulators and not to promote their services and products unfairly.

The new draft rules come as critics of U.S. tech giants, which include companies and industry bodies, question the EU’s rulings against Alphabet GOOGL.O unit Google, saying they have not curbed its allegedly anti-competitive behaviour. Some want EU en-

forcers to go further than just ordering companies to stop such practices.

The draft rules would allow the EU to ban companies or part of their services from the 27-country bloc as an extreme option. Until the draft rules are adopted EU antitrust and digital regulators do not currently have the power to impose such bans.

“Strict rules must be enforceable”, Breton told Welt am Sonntag.

“For this we need the appropriate arsenal of possible measures: Impose fines, exclude companies or parts of their serv-

CMYK

ices from the Single Market, insist that they split up if they want to keep access to the Single Market. Or a combination of all of these.”

He added that these sanctions would only apply to companies that do not respect the EU’s rules, and that the toughest measures would only be used in exceptional circumstances.

In a sign of how much tech firms fear the new regulation, Google unit last month launched a 60-day strategy to get U.S. allies to push back against the EU’s digital chief.

the taxes and duties should be waived,” he maintained.

He said that the government should resolve issues confronting the cotton sector and discourage the trend among farmers of switching to sugarcane crops.

Dr Mughal said that licences should not be issued for new sugar mills as the production is already more than required and instead, the area under cultivation for cotton should be increased.

Pakistan’s Rosewood handicrafts hailed by Chinese buyers at Yiwu Expo BEIJING: Pakistan’s Rosewood handicrafts were well received by Chinese buyers during the recent four-day China Yiwu Import Commodities Fair held in Zhejiang Province, says a report carried by Gwadar Pro on Sunday. Since its establishment, Yiwu Imported Commodities Fair has become one of the best trade platforms for foreign goods to enter the Chinese market. "This is not only my first time to Yiwu city and my first time to the Yiwu expo, but also my first participation of an expo this year," said Usman Anjum, CEO of Sanaullah Handicraft Pakistan. According to Usman, a lot of Pakistani people who do business in China went back to Pakistan due to the COVID-19. There are only 3 Pakistani exhibitors in this year's Yiwu expo, which is much fewer compared with the normal years. Usman has a store in Kunming, where the China-South Asia expo is held every year. This year that expo was canceled as well.

Usman this time had to use buses to transport goods from Kunming to Yiwu. The products that he sold are mostly big wooden furniture. The transport is quite expensive. He hoped that the sale this time will be good.

"In Usman's expectation, the four day's sale during the whole Yiwu expo should be 100,000 Yuan. "Chinese customers love Pakistani wooden furniture. It's handmade and made of Pakistani rosewood, and it's much cheaper than Chinese ones." "This little box is 80 yuan, while the same size one in China made of Chinese rosewood is around 800 yuan." Pointing a delicate wooden box, Usman said. "Hearing the price, many people's first instinct is that it must be fake." According to Usman, the hardness and stability of Chinese rosewood and Pakistani rosewood are the same, while the color and the scent might be a bit different. Usman stated that now more and more Chinese people know about Pakistani rosewood. "When we go to different cities, people ask where you come from. We told them we are from Pakistan; the wood is also from Pakistan. Through participating in more and more exhibitions, we gradually gain trust from Chinese customers, “he added. INP

KP Labour Dept fails to utilise development budget again

By AzIz BuNErI: Like previous years, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Labour Department has once again failed to utilise its development budget allocated for uplift projects in the province. According to the details, the provincial government had allocated Rs235 million for development schemes in the annual development programme (ADP) of the current financial year (FY2021) whereas more than Rs31 million of this budget was released by the Finance Department in the first quarter. Rs154 million were allocated in the budget to strengthen the government's efforts to fight child labour through the Child Labour Survey in KP in collaboration with UNICEF, but the amount has so far not been released. Similarly, Rs10 million has been released out of the Rs40.451 million allocated for the establishment of professional health centres while not a single penny of this fund has so far been used. Further, despite the release of Rs6 million out of the Rs30.218 million allocated for the modernisation of inspection facilities and mobilisation of the weight and measurement cell’s inspection staff, the department did not spend anything. According to sources in the Labour Department, many important projects were delayed due to the government’s lack of interest which led to increased costs or the projects bring scraped off completely. PESHAWAR

Trade delegation to visit Afghanistan today ISLAMABAD: Advisor to Prime Minister on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood on Sunday said that a trade delegation would leave for Afghanistan today. The delegation’s visit would focus on further boosting bilateral trade ties. “The delegation will start discussions on a new era of trade and investment cooperation so that the two economies may integrate more and further enhance our exports to Afghanistan and beyond,” the advisor said in a tweet. APP

Monday, 16 November, 2020

10 forEigN NEws

Israel attacks HaMas PosItIons aFter alleged rocket attack FroM gaza TEL AVIV

I

AGENCIES

SRAEL’s military has said that it attacked positions in the Gaza Strip following rocket fire from the area.

Two rockets were fired into southern Israel from the Gaza Strip late on Saturday, the Israeli army said, although there were no immediate reports of casualties or any damage.

The Israeli army tweeted that it “struck Hamas underground infrastructure and military posts in Gaza” on Sunday morning – using fighter jets, helicopters and tanks – and it “is conducting an ongoing situational assessment & remains prepared to operate against any terror activity”.

Security sources in Gaza said there

were a number of air raids overnight, including in Khan Younes, Rafah, and Beit Hanoun, without reporting any casualties.

Israeli helicopters bombed the southern city of Rafah and tanks bombed areas in the east, as well as the western resort of Beit Lahia.

In a statement, the Israeli military said two rockets were launched into Israel with one reaching the southern Israeli city of Ashdod and the other stretching into central Israel. The projectiles landed in open areas. There was no immediate comment from Hamas officials.

The rocket fire from Gaza – which has not been claimed – comes days after the anniversary of the assassination of senior Islamic Jihad leader Bahaa Abu al-Ata, who was killed in an air strike on his home

Peru president faces calls to resign after protesters killed LIMA AGENCIES

Peruvian interim President Manuel Merino is under growing pressure to resign after half his new cabinet stepped down following the deaths of two people in protests over the sudden removal of his predecessor.

Thousands have taken to the streets in days of protests against Merino following the removal of his predecessor, Martin Vizcarra, who was impeached on corruption allegations on Monday, accusations he denies. “I ask Mr Merino to evaluate his immediate resignation,” Congress head Luis Valdez said in a statement to Channel N television. Lawmakers will meet in an emergency session at 8:00am, a statement on Congress’ Twitter account said. The ultimatum came after news of the death of two protesters during a massive peaceful march in the capital Lima, which was violently repressed by police firing shotgun pellets and tear gas. The Ombudsman’s Office said the first fatality, a 25-year-old man, was killed by pellet shots to the head and face. The health ministry said 94 people were hospitalised with injuries sustained during the protests. The police tactics have been criticised by the UN and rights organisations such as Amnesty International since the protests began on Tuesday. Nine of the 18 ministers in Merino’s cabinet announced their resignation after the police crackdown. Prime Minister Antero Flores-Araoz told reporters that Vizcarra’s removal had been legal. He said Merino had no intention of caving to demands from protesters that he resign. “This was a constitutional change,” Flores-Araoz said. “We ask people for understanding. We don’t want to descend into chaos and anarchy.” Thousands took to the streets on Saturday in opposition to Merino, the former Congress speaker who assumed office on Tuesday as Peru’s third president in four years. The mostly young protesters gathered in various cities to oppose what they call a parliamentary coup against Vizcarra. The largest march in Lima attracted thousands of people with police again using tear gas fired from helicopters to disperse protesters who were threatening to march towards the Congress building. They yelled slogans and carried signs reading “Merino, you are not my president” and “Merino impostor”. Municipal authorities in Lima turned off the public lighting in Plaza San Martin, leaving the crowd gathered there in darkness. When he took office on Tuesday, Merino said he would respect the time set for the next general elections, April 11, 2021, and would leave power on July 28, 2021, the day when Vizcarra’s mandate was to end. Vizcarra had broad popular support since succeeding Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, the former Wall Street banker who was forced to resign under threat of impeachment over corruption allegations in 2018.

in Gaza City on November 12 last year. Islamic Jihad is one of the armed groups operating in Gaza, which is ruled by Hamas.

Ahead of the anniversary, the Israeli military was reportedly on high alert and monitoring the Strip, where roughly two million Palestinians live. Israel and Hamas have fought three wars and several smaller skirmishes since 2007.

Egypt and Qatar have brokered an informal ceasefire in recent years in which Hamas has reined in rocket attacks in exchange for economic aid and a loosening of an Israeli-Egyptian blockade, but the arrangement has broken down on a number of occasions. Israel and Egypt have maintained a crippling blockade on Gaza since Hamas seized control of the territory in 2007.

A number of Palestinian armed groups operate in Gaza, but Israel holds Hamas responsible for all attacks and typically responds to rocket fire with air raids.

Security sources in Gaza said there were a number of air raids overnight, including in Khan Younes, Rafah, and Beit Hanoun, without reporting any casualties.

Turkey’s news agency said Israeli helicopters bombed the southern city of Rafah and tanks bombed areas in the east, as well as the western resort of Beit Lahia. In a statement, the Israeli military said two rockets were launched into Israel with one reaching the southern Israeli city of Ashdod and the other stretching into central Israel. The projectiles landed in open areas.

There was no immediate comment from Hamas officials.

Palestinians torn as Israel seeks Gulf tourists in Jerusalem JERUSALEM: When the United Arab Emirates agreed to normalise relations with Israel, the Palestinians decried the move as a “betrayal” of both Jerusalem, where they hope to establish the capital of their future state, and the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, the city’s holiest Muslim site.

But with Israel now courting wealthy Gulf tourists and establishing new air links to the major travel hubs of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, Palestinians in east Jerusalem could soon see a tourism boon after months in which the coronavirus transformed the Holy City into a ghost town.

“There will be some benefits for the Palestinian sector of tourism, and this is what I’m hoping for,” said Sami Abu-Dayyeh, a Palestinian businessman in east Jerusalem who owns four hotels and a tourism agency. “Forget about politics, we have to survive.”

Palestinian leaders have sharply rejected the recent decisions by the UAE, Bahrain and Sudan to establish ties with Israel because they severely weakened a longstanding Arab consensus that recognition only be extended in return for Palestinian statehood.

The Palestinians hope to establish a state including east Jerusalem and the West Bank, territories occupied

by Israel in the 1967 war. Arab support, seen as a key form of leverage in decades of on-again, off-again peace negotiations, now appears to be evaporating, leaving the Palestinians arguably weaker and more isolated than at any point in recent history.

In a striking development last week, a delegation of Israeli settlers visited the Emirates to discuss business opportunities. The Palestinians view settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem as the main obstacle to peace, and most of the international community considers them to be illegal.

But the prospect of expanded religious tourism could end up benefiting Israelis and Palestinians alike, as wealthy Gulf tourists and Muslim pilgrims from further afield take advantage of new air links and improved relations to visit Al-Aqsa and other holy sites.

Israel considers all of Jerusalem

to be its capital, and its Jerusalem Municipality is organising conferences and seminars to help tourism operators market the city to Gulf travelers.

“I’m very excited because I think it opens us up to a new era of Muslim tourism that we never really had,” said Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, the deputy mayor of Jerusalem. “Even though we have peace with Jordan and Egypt, I’ve never really seen any Egyptian tourists or Jordanian tourists because the peace wasn’t a warm peace.”

Hassan-Nahoum, who recently visited the Emirates and is a cofounder of the UAE-Israel Business Council, said the municipality is reaching out to local Arab tour operators to ensure the benefits extend to all.

“You have mixed feelings,” she said. “Some of them are a little bit suspicious, [but] most of them understand that this is going to be incredibly prosperous for them because ultimately they’re Arab speaking and so they have, I think, a unique advantage.”

Abu-Dayyeh expects up to 28 flights a day arriving in Tel Aviv from Dubai and Abu Dhabi, global travel hubs for long-haul carriers Emirates and Etihad, making it easier for travelers from the Far East and South America to reach the Holy Land.

He’s confident Palestinian operators will be able to compete. “We’re on the ground here and we’ve been giving this service for many years, for hundreds of years,” he said.

Other Palestinians appear to be more skeptical. More than a dozen Palestinian shop owners in Jerusalem’s Old City, which is largely shut down because of the coronavirus, declined to comment on the push for Gulf tourism, saying it was too politically sensitive.

There are also concerns that an Israeli push to promote tourism to AlAqsa could heighten tensions.

The hilltop esplanade in the Old City, home to the Al-Aqsa mosque and the iconic Dome of the Rock shrine, is the third holiest site in Islam.

It is also the holiest site for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount because it was the location of the two

Istanbul's historic Vanikoy Mosque damaged in blaze ISTANBUL AGENCIES

A historic wooden mosque in Istanbul was damaged in a large fire on Sunday. The Vanikoy Mosque, built in the 17th century during the reign of Ottoman Sultan IV Mehmed, is located on the Asian side of Istanbul along the Bosporus Strait. Videos taken from the river and shared on social media showed bright orange flames and heavy smoke pouring from the structure. Images taken in the aftermath showed blackened walls and debris spread across the street as firefighters sprayed water to cool the building.

Istanbul’s Fire Department tweeted the fire had been extinguished and cooling efforts were ongoing. The extent of the damage and cause of the blaze has not yet been determined. The city’s governor said an investigation had been launched. The firefighters prevented the fire from reaching a forest behind the mosque and the neighbouring houses that line the Bosporus. They were aided by the coast guard.

The mosque is a wooden structure with a single minaret.

biblical temples in ancient times.

The site is a raw nerve in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and tensions have soared in recent years as religious and nationalist Jews have visited in ever-larger numbers, escorted by the Israeli police.

Last month a delegation of Emirati officials visited the site, entering through a gate normally used by Israelis and under an Israeli security escort. A small group of Palestinians heckled them. In August, Palestinian demonstrators burned a portrait of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan near the Dome of the Rock.

Officials from the Waqf, the Jordanian religious body that oversees the mosque compound, declined to comment on Israel’s efforts to promote Gulf tourism to the site, underscoring the political sensitivities.

Ikrema Sabri, the imam who leads Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa, said any visits must be coordinated with the Waqf so that they do not advance any Israeli claim to sovereignty over the site. The Palestinians have long feared that Israel intends to take over the site or partition it. The Israeli government says it is committed to the status quo.

“Any visitor from outside Palestine must coordinate with the Waqf,” Sabri said. “But any visitor from the side of the occupation, we do not welcome or accept them.”

He acknowledged that the visiting Emiratis may have been unaware of the complex arrangement and said the heckling was a “reaction” by individuals to them entering with Israeli security. “If they come to do business with the occupation, they are free. But when they come to Al-Aqsa, they must come in coordination with the Islamic Waqf,” he said. Hassan-Nahoum, the deputy mayor, said authorities are currently seeking recommendations from security companies to ensure that Emirati and other pilgrims can visit the site safely. “I don’t think it’s going to raise too many tensions,” she said. “What I want is for the average Emirati tourist to have a pleasant experience of going and praying at Al-Aqsa for the first time.” AGENCIES

Five injured as Vamco hits Vietnam HANOI AGENCIES

Storm Vamco has barrelled into Vietnam, damaging buildings and injuring at least five people after wreaking devastation in the Philippines. The storm made landfall on Sunday with winds of up to 90 kilometres per hour (56 mph), according to media reports, uprooting trees and blowing the roofs off houses and schools. Vamco is the latest in a series of storms that have pummelled Vietnam over the past six weeks, causing flooding and landslides that have killed at least 159 people while 70 others have gone missing. Initial reports from the Disaster Management Authority on Sunday said five people had been injured while they were trying to secure their houses. Vamco has weakened since hitting the Philippines as a typhoon, with winds of up to 155km/h (100 mph), but state media said it still caused significant damage, though details were not immediately available. Authorities evacuated nearly 650,000 people from seven coastal provinces to higher and safer ground before the storm hit to try to reduce casualties.

Agriculture and Rural Development Minister Nguyen Xuan Cuong told the media that he hoped the precautions would minimise the storm’s impact. Damage from Vamco was severe in the Philippines, the storm causing flooding that affected more than 340,000 people. Philippine authorities said Sunday the death toll had risen to 67, though floodwaters are now receding, giving hope the worst could be over. In Vietnam, weeks of severe weather have damaged or destroyed more than 400,000 homes, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Roads and bridges have been washed away, power supplies disrupted, and crucial food crops destroyed, leaving at least 150,000 people at immediate risk of food shortages.

Ethiopian conflict, Biden win signal choppy waters in Nile talks ADDIS ABABA AGENCIES

The long-protracted negotiations over a controversial Nile dam being built by Addis Ababa could be headed into uncharted waters, making the chance of a breakthrough more remote given turmoil in Ethiopia and a change of the guard in Washington.

Ethiopia moved a step closer to war when its federal troops began battling fighters loyal to rebel leaders in the northern Tigray region.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump – who has actively pursued a resolution to the threecountry dispute over the dam – was defeated by former vice president Joe Biden.

These seismic events come at a time

when downstream nations Egypt and Sudan have been voicing growing frustration over Ethiopia’s persistent refusal to commit to a legally binding pact over the operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

The turmoil in Ethiopia as a result of the fighting in Tigray was not beneficial to either Egypt or Sudan when it comes to the dam issue, said Nabil Fahmy, a former Egyptian foreign minister and ambassador to Washington who has dealt with the president-elect during his years as a senator.

“Ethiopia imploding will not help. Difficult and important decisions are not made by weak states,” he said.

Egypt and Sudan want mechanisms to govern the operation of the dam during

years of drought and to resolve future disputes. Ethiopia, which maintains that power generated by the hydroelectric dam would alleviate the poverty of millions of its people, has baulked at these demands, claiming they amounted to an encroachment on its sovereignty.

Sudan’s chief fear is that without the exchange of real-time data with Ethiopia on the operation of the GERD, its own hydroelectric dams on the Blue Nile would be in jeopardy and repeats of the devastation caused

by Nile floods this year could be repeated.

Egypt’s concerns are far more serious since it depends on the Nile for almost all its water needs.

A significant drop in its share of the Nile

waters could cost Egypt hundreds of thousands of jobs and disrupt the delicate food balance for its 100 million people.

“I don’t see Biden taking up the issue of the dam soon after taking office,” predicted Mr Fahmy. “It’s not a priority question for Biden,” he said, arguing that the former vicepresident would be preoccupied with domestic political issues.

The latest round of the decade-long negotiations between the three Nile basin nations ended earlier this month with them again unable to agree on a new negotiating approach to resolve the dispute. The impasse followed a meeting between their foreign and irrigation ministers at the invitation of South Africa, the current leader of the

African Union that has sponsored the talks.

“Sudan demanded a new method of negotiations because the talks have been going in vicious circles,” said Saleh Hamad Hamed, a senior Sudanese negotiator. “We are expecting South Africa to call soon for a tripartite summit to find a breakthrough,” he told the media in Khartoum.

The failure of the latest round of talks came amid heightened tension over Mr Trump’s comment last month that Egypt, one of Washington’s closest Arab allies, could end up “blowing up” the dam, which Cairo has called an existential threat. The comment angered Addis Ababa and raised questions about Washington’s credentials as a neutral mediator.

Monday, 16 November, 2020

Wiese, Rauf set up LahoRe QaLandaRs vs KaRachi Kings psL finaL cLash KARACHI

t

aGeNcIeS

HE game the PSL was perhaps created for will happen, after all. Lahore Qalandars will vie for the title against Karachi Kings on Tuesday, having swept aside Multan Sultans by 25 runs in the eliminator.

David Weise was at the heart of all they did tonight, his 21-ball 48 helping his side post 182 - 30 runs more than Multan Sultans have ever successfully chased. Before he came in, Lahore Qalandars innings was a stop-start affair, having burst into life at the top thanks to

a delightful cameo by Tamim Iqbal and a 36ball 46 by Fakhar Zaman. It had fallen away since, Multan's bowlers - notably Shahid Afridi with 2-18 - making their presence felt, winning the middle overs and removing Mohammad Hafeez and Ben Dunk cheaply. However, as their disciplines fell away in the last three overs, Weise found his chance to capitalise. Multan plundered 46 off the final 14 balls, and momentum was on their side.

But Multan Sultans, the best side in the group stages, had by no means given up the ghost, Adam Lyth getting them off to a flyer with a 28-ball half-century. He took the attack to Shaheen Afridi, who went off with a

Joan Mir wins his first MotoGP world championship

VALENCIA aGeNcIeS

Suzuki’s Joan Mir won the MotoGP world title on Sunday a week after finally securing his maiden Grand Prix triumph at the same Valencia circuit.

The 23-year-old from Mallorca inherited the crown left vacant by the injured six-time champion Marc Marquez when finishing seventh in the Valencia Grand Prix won by Italy’s Franco Morbidelli.

The champion celebrated by pulling wheelies and screeching his smoking tyres in front of the paddock where his family awaited him to celebrate. “I’ve been fighting for this all my life, I can neither laugh nor cry but I’m flooded with emotions,” said Mir. This was the first MotoGP title won by a Suzuki rider since 2000.

After a season of solid consistency, Mir held a 37-point lead meaning he only needed to finish on the podium in the penultimate race to secure the title, while fourth would have been enough if neither Alex Rins nor Fabio Quartararo won.

Frenchman Quartararo ruined any chance he had of prolonging the title race with a fall that put him out of the race. The 21year-old had often looked the most likely inheritor to Marquez.

But the Yamaha-SRT rider championship was already in a serious wobble when he hit the deck on the first lap of last weekend’s race and his luck did not improve on Sunday.

Morbidelli won the penultimate race of the season, leading from pole until the very last lap when he came under intense pressure from Australian Jack Miller.

“I just came up short,” said the Australian. “There was quite a bit of tailwind that just stopped me getting the win but we’re happy to back on the box (podium) though.”

Morbildelli and Miller played cat-and-mouse overtaking each other several times over the final tight corners.

Earlier Sunday Spain’s Jorge Martin stole in at the death to win the Moto2 GP overtaking his compatriot Hector Garzo and Italy’s Marco Bezzecchi just ahead of the finish line.

This marked a second win of the season for Martin, who was Moto3 champion in 2018. The title itself will go down to the wire in Portugal next week with championship leader Enea Bastianini of Italy on 194pts after his sixth place in Valencia leading British rider Sam Lowes by 14 points.

In the lower ranks starting 13th on the grid Italy’s Tony Arbolino won the moto3 GP to climb third in the standings with 159 pts. Spain’s Albert Arenas was third on the day and leads the championship on 170pts ahead of Japanese rider Ai Ogura of Honda 162.

side strain - though he did come back to finish his spell. But Weise wasn't to be kept out of the action, coming into the attack and getting rid of Lyth; his figures would end up reading 4-0-28-3. For good measure, he even took a stunning catch on the boundary to get rid of Rilee Rossouw in an astonishing individual performance that dragged his side to the brink of glory.

It might seem like a straightforward win for Lahore in the end, but there were key moments in the first innings Multan might rue their indiscipline. Having weathered the arly storm and made key breakthroughs in the middle, Multan, for all their focus on

SPORTS 11 Scoreboard LaHore QaLaNdarS INNINGS (20 oVerS MaXIMUM) Tamim Iqbal c Khushdil Shah b Junaid Khan...........................30 Fakhar Zaman c Sohail Tanvir b Lyth ........................................46 Sohail akhtar (c) rossouw b M Ilyas.........................................5 Mohammad Hafeez c Lyth b Shahid afridi...............................19 br dunk † b Shahid afridi ...........................................................3 Sr Patel c Shan Masood b Sohail Tanvir ..................................26 d Wiese not out.............................................................................48 Muhammad Faizan not out ..........................................................0 eXTraS: (lb 1, nb 1, w 3)...............................................................5 ToTaL: (20 ov, rr: 9.1)..................................................................182/6 dId NoT baT: Shaheen Shah afridi, Haris rauf, dilbar Hussain FaLL oF WIcKeTS: 1-46 (Tamim Iqbal, 4.5 ov), 2-54 (Sohail akhtar, 5.5 ov), 3-94 (Mohammad Hafeez, 12.1 ov), 4-105 (Fakhar Zaman, 13.3 ov), 5-111 (ben dunk, 14.2 ov), 6-170 (Samit Patel, 19.4 ov) boWLING a Lyth 2-0-22-1, Sohail Tanvir 4-0-52-1, Mohammad Ilyas 2-0-171, Junaid Khan 4-0-42-1, Imran Tahir 4-0-30-0, Shahid afridi 4-0-18-2 MULTaN SULTaNS INNINGS (TarGeT: 183 rUNS FroM 20 oVerS) Zeeshan ashraf † c †dunk b Haris rauf...................................12 a Lyth c Fakhar Zaman b Wiese.................................................50 Shan Masood c †dunk b dilbar Hussain...................................27 rr rossouw c Wiese b Haris rauf............................................18

data and analytics, would have known Lahore arguably bat a batsman light. So when Ben Dunk was removed in the 15th over with the score on 111, Multan were one wicket away from forcing Mohammad Faizan, and then three number 11s, out to bat. For that, however, they needed to break

rS bopara c †dunk b Wiese .......................................................1 Khushdil Shah c M Hafeez b Shaheen Shah afridi .................30 Shahid afridi b Haris rauf............................................................0 Sohail Tanvir b Wiese ...................................................................3 Mohammad Ilyas c †dunk b Shaheen Shah afridi..................9 Imran Tahir c Fakhar Zaman b dilbar Hussain ........................1 Junaid Khan not out......................................................................0 eXTraS: (lb 3, nb 1, w 2)..............................................................6 ToTaL: (19.1 ov, rr: 8.19)...............................................................157 FaLL oF WIcKeTS: 1-47 (Zeeshan ashraf, 4.2 ov), 2-80 (adam Lyth, 8.3 ov), 3-102 (Shan Masood, 11.6 ov), 4-109 (ravi bopara, 12.5 ov), 5-116 (rilee rossouw, 13.4 ov), 6-116 (Shahid afridi, 13.5 ov), 7-122 (Sohail Tanvir, 15.3 ov), 8-155 (Khushdil Shah, 18.3 ov), 9-155 (Mohammad Ilyas, 18.4 ov), 10-157 (Imran Tahir, 19.1 ov) boWLING Shaheen Shah afridi 4-0-36-2, Mohammad Hafeez 4-0-32-0, Haris rauf 4-0-30-3, dilbar Hussain 3.1-0-29-2, d Wiese 4-0-27-3 MaTcH deTaILS: ToSS: Multan Sultans, elected to field first PLayer oF THe MaTcH: david Wiese result: Lahore Qalandars advanced Umpires: Michael Gough, aleem dar TV Umpire: Shozab raza reserve Umpire: asif yaqoob Match referee: Mohammed anees

the Samit Patel-David Weise partnership, upon which the game hinged for Sohail Akhtar's side.Multan seemed to be doing all right in terms of keeping the runs on a leash until the last two balls of the 18th over, when Samit Patel worked away Sohail Tanvir for two boundaries to push Lahore up to 144.

ForMula 1

Hamilton clinches record-equalling seventh title at Turkish GP AGENCIES A stunning drive from Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in the Turkish Grand Prix gave him his 10th victory of the season – and, more crucially, saw him claim the seventh drivers’ title of his career, to equal the record of Michael Schumacher, as Racing Point’s Sergio Perez and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel completed the podium after a thrilling race in Istanbul.

Hamilton had started the race in sixth, risen to third midway through the first lap and then dropped back to sixth by the end of Lap 1 after an error at Turn 9. But a decision to change his intermediate tyres just once saw Hamilton drive a masterful race to claim victory by over 25 seconds from Perez.

The win alone was enough to claim championship #7, but it was even more assured after a disastrous race for Valtteri Bottas - the only man who could have stopped Hamilton winning the title today - who spun six times en route to a P14 finish.

Behind Hamilton, a dramatic last lap saw Sergio Perez overtaken by Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc for P2, only for Leclerc to overcook it at Turn 12, with Perez retaking second as Vettel made it through on his team mate to claim a first podium of the season.

Leclerc was left to cross the line P4 ahead of the McLaren of Carlos Sainz, while a spin-filled afternoon for the Red Bull pair left Max Verstappen and Alex Albon P6 and P7 at the flag, ahead of the second McLaren of Lando Norris.

Norris had claimed that place after a late pass on the second Racing Point of Lance Stroll, who’d secured a brilliant maiden pole position and Saturday and led much of the early part of the Grand Prix, only for his race to unravel after a difficult third stint on intermediate tyres. That left him ninth at the flag, as Renault’s Daniel Ricciardo completed the podium. For all that though, all eyes were on Hamilton, who was in tears as he was congratulated on his slow-down lap, after well and truly cementing himself into Formula 1’s record books.

AS IT HAPPENED: After qualifying, Daniel Ricciardo told the media: “I would bet a lot of money that it is not going to be a boring, straightforward race tomorrow… sit tight!” You never spoke a truer word, Daniel. The wet laps to the grid were dramatic enough, as Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovinazzi slithered into the gravel, while George Russell wiped off his front wing… driving into the pit lane.

At the start, Stroll and Perez got away well off the line, but Verstappen alongside Stroll on the front row went nowhere and was swallowed up by the pack.

The Renaults were two of the best cars away, Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon jumping up to third and fourth behind the two Racing Points going into Turn 1.

But Hamilton had got away well, too, and as he dived up the inside of Ricciardo into Turn 1, the Australian twitched his steering wheel, appearing to tag Ocon into a spin, with Valtteri Bottas spinning himself into Turn 1 (the Finn would spin again later in the lap too). Sebastian Vettel, starting P11, was the main beneficiary, the 2011 Turkey winner incisive off the line as he climbed to P4.

After all that, midway around Lap 1, it was Stroll from Perez, with Hamilton and Vettel behind.

That was until Hamilton slewed off the track at Turn 9, allowing Vettel, the recovering Verstappen and Albon through to take P3, P4 and P5, Hamilton slotting back into sixth, while after his strong start, Ricciardo was now seventh. Meanwhile, at the end of Lap 1, Sainz and Gasly were the biggest climbers bar the sensational Vettel, Sainz jumping from P15 to P9, while Gasly went from P19 to P13.

Williams had opted to start both Russell and Nicholas Latifi from the pit lane and on intermediates – the only two drivers to not start on full wets.

It was a bold call to go on the green-walled rubber, but by the end of Lap 6, many of the field were start-

CMYK

ing to think along the same lines, Leclerc and Bottas the first to try it, before the rest of the field followed suit. Race leader Stroll had done brilliantly in the opening laps, steadily and calmly building his lead to the point where, by the time all the field had pitted by Lap 13 of 58, Stroll had a 10-second lead over Perez (who’d had a slow stop for inters), Verstappen third – having managed to jump Vettel in the pit stops, despite his own 4s stop – with Vettel, Hamilton, Ricciardo and Sainz behind, while Leclerc and, surprisingly, the Haas of Kevin Magnussen rounded out the top 10.

Giovinazzi’s already difficult Sunday came to an end with a mechanical retirement, bringing out a two-lap Virtual Safety Car out on Lap 13. When the racing resumed on Lap 15, Hamilton was all over the back of Vettel but locked up into Turn 12, allowing Albon through, with the Thai driver then passing the Ferrari to claim P4.

In fact, the Red Bulls were looking very much the fastest cars at this stage of the race, Verstappen all over the back of second-placed Perez, after the Mexican had had a slow exit from Turn 10 on Lap 18. Verstappen was too rash, though, and as he got under the rear wing of Perez going through the sweep of Turn 11, Verstappen edged onto the slippery run off and spun wildly, flat-spotting his tyres and diving into the pits for new inters after getting back on track, emerging P8. That left Albon leading the Red Bull charge in P3 behind the Racing Points of Stroll and Perez, who appeared to be struggling to keep their intermediate tyres cool.

By the halfway point of the race on Lap 29, and with the track appearing to dry out incrementally, it was Stroll out front, but with a lead that had been eroded to just three seconds over Perez, with Albon, Vettel and Hamilton behind – this top five covered by just 10.5 seconds – with Ricciardo leading a second train a further 10 seconds down the road, ahead of Sainz, Verstappen, Leclerc and Norris, who’d passed Russell and Magnussen in quick succession a few laps earlier to get himself into the points positions. In terms of the championship battle, meanwhile, Bottas was having a tough afternoon, adding a third spin to his tally on Lap 21, meaning that at this point he was P17 out of 19 runners.

The agony for the drivers at this stage of the race was a track that was drying out, but not enough

to go for slicks, while most drivers’ inters were starting to suffer. Sainz passed Ricciardo after an error for the Australian at Turn 10, forcing the Reanult man in for new intermediates. Albon then spun at Tun 4 on Lap 34, coming in for his own new inters, with both Ferraris having also stopped for new green-walled tyres.

Stroll stopped himself on Lap 36, leaving Perez with a narrow lead over a hard-charging Hamilton.

The Mercedes driver decisively snatched the lead a lap later on the run down to Turn 12, before quickly gapping the Mexican, while Verstappen was now third – with Hamilton at the front seemingly happy on his aging rubber.

Stroll wasn’t content on his new tyres, though, with Vettel, Leclerc, Albon and Sainz demoting him to eighth place by Lap 41 – Leclerc then passing Vettel for P4. That was P3 for Leclerc a few laps later, as the Monegasque passed Verstappen, forcing the Dutchman in for new intermediates at the end of the that lap, Verstappen emerging P7, behind Albon and Sainz – or rather Sainz and Albon, as the Spaniard passed into Turn 12 on Lap 44.

Twelve laps from the end, Bottas’ disaster race came into sharp focus as Hamilton, now 18s up the road from Perez, lapped the Finn.

Five laps to go and there was plenty of radio chatter about possible rain coming on the last lap, with Verstappen even seen spinning at Turn 4, suggesting that part of the track might be starting to slick up. Hamilton was over 20s clear of Perez at the front, and well aware that, if the rain came, he’d effectively be left out on the track on slicks.

Hamilton took a brave pill, though, and refused Mercedes’ offer of new intermediates. It turned out to be the right call, with Hamilton pumping out his final laps to cross the line 31.633s ahead of Perez – and claim the championship after a mesmeric performance. “I’m lost for words,” said an emotional Hamilton, having climbed out of the car after what was, without doubt, a true champion’s drive. “We dreamed of this when I was young… and this is way, way beyond our dreams.”

It was an amazing outcome, particularly for a driver who had looked nowhere during parts of this unpredictable weekend. It was a drive that was more than worthy of Michael Schumacher, the driver with whose title wins Hamilton is now tied with.

Monday, 16 November, 2020

PrAyEr TImINGS

NEWS

AsIA forms worlD’s bIggEst trADE bloc, A chINA-bAckED groUp ExclUDINg Us HANOI

15

AGENCIES

Asia-Pacific economies formed the world’s largest free trade bloc on Sunday, a China-backed deal that excludes the United States, which had left a rival AsiaPacific grouping under President Donald Trump.

The signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) at a regional summit in Hanoi, is a further blow to the group pushed by former US president Barack Obama, which his successor Trump exited in 2017.

Amid questions over Washington’s engagement in Asia, RCEP may cement China’s position more firmly as an economic partner with Southeast Asia, Japan and Korea, putting the world’s secondbiggest economy in a better position to shape the region’s trade rules.

The US is absent from both RCEP and the successor to the Obama-led Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), leaving the world’s biggest economy out of two trade groups that span the fastest-growing region on earth. By contrast, RCEP could help Beijing cut its dependence on overseas markets and technology, a shift accelerated by a deepening rift with Washington, said Iris Pang, ING chief economist for Greater China.

RCEP groups the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. It aims in the coming years to progressively lower tariffs across many areas.

The deal was signed on the sidelines of an online ASEAN summit held as Asian leaders address tensions in the South China Sea and tackle plans for a post-pandemic economic recovery in a region where U.S.-China rivalry has been rising.

In an unusual ceremony, held virtually because of the coronavirus pandemic, leaders of RCEP countries took turns standing behind their trade ministers who, one by one, signed copies of the agreement, which they then showed triumphantly to the cameras. “RCEP will soon be ratified by signatory countries and take effect, contributing to the post-Covid pandemic economic recovery,” said Nguyen Xuan Phuc, prime minister of Vietnam, which hosted the ceremony as ASEAN chair. RCEP will account for 30 per cent of the global economy, 30 per cent of the global population and reach 2.2 billion consumers, Vietnam said.

‘HISTORICAL BREAKTHROUGH’: China’s finance ministry said the new bloc’s promises include eliminating some tariffs within the group, including some immediately and others over 10 years.

There were no details on which products and which countries would see immediate reduction in tariffs.

“For the first time, China and Japan reached a bilateral tariff reduction arrangement, achieving a historic breakthrough,” the ministry said in a statement, without giving further details. The deal marks the first time rival East Asian powers China, Japan and South Korea have been in a single free trade agreement.

Despite being outside RCEP and having been in the administration that propelled the TPP, President-elect Joe Biden – Obama’s vice president – is unlikely to rejoin the TPP anytime soon, analysts said, as his government will have to prioritise handling the Covid-19 outbreak at home.

“I’m not sure that there will be much focus on trade generally, including efforts to rejoin” the TPP successor grouping, “for

Armenia cedes disputed land to Azerbaijan in Karabakh peace deal AGENCIES Armenia on Sunday was due to begin handing over disputed territory to Azerbaijan as part of a peace accord that ended six weeks of fierce fighting over the NagornoKarabakh region.

Residents of the Kalbajar district in Azerbaijan that was controlled by Armenian separatists for decades began a mass exodus of the mountainous province in the days leading up to the official withdrawal day.

AFP journalists saw fleeing residents pile furniture and kitchenware into vehicles before leaving for Armenia and some among the departing ethnic-Armenians said they had exhumed graves they feared would be desecrated by Azerbaijanis. Thick plumes of smoke were rising over the valley near the village of Charektar after residents set their homes on fire preferring to leave devastation in their wake and homes that would be uninhabitable by Azerbaijanis.

A Russian peacekeeping contingent deployed this week to Nagorno-Karabakh.

They set up checkpoints and positions in the region’s

administrative centre, Stepanakert, as part of the terms of the accord that sees Armenia cede swathes of territory that Azerbaijan’s forces gained in the fighting.

Moscow’s peacekeeping mission, which the military said included soldiers that previously were stationed in Syria, comprises some 2,000 troops for a renewable fiveyear mission. The ex-Soviet rivals agreed to end hostilities earlier this week after efforts by Russia, France and the United States to get a ceasefire fell through during the nearly two months of clashes.

A key part of the peace deal includes Armenia’s return of Kalbajar, as well as the Aghdam district by November 20 and the Lachin district by December 1, which have been held by Armenians since a devastating war in the 1990s.

OUTRAGE OVER PEACE DEAL: Armenia conceded on Saturday that 2,317 fighters were killed in clashes in which both sides accused the other of targeting civilian infrastructure. Azerbaijan has not revealed its military casualties and the real toll after weeks of fighting is expected to be much higher.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday said the

the first year or so because there will be such a focus on Covid relief,” Charles Freeman, senior vice president for Asia at the US Chamber of Commerce said this month. RCEP “will help reduce or remove tariffs on industrial and agricultural products and set out rules for data transmission,” said Luong Hoang Thai, head of the Multilateral Trade Policy Department at Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The pact will take effect once enough participating countries ratify the agreement domestically within the next two years, Indonesia’s trade minister said last week.

For China, the new group, including many US allies, is a windfall largely resulting from Trump’s retreat from the TPP, said ING’s Pang.

India pulled out of RCEP talks in November last year, but ASEAN leaders said the door remained open for it to join.

number of fatalities had surpassed 4,000 and that tens of thousands of people had been forced to flee their homes.

Before departing en masse, Armenians flocked to the Dadivank monastery nestled in a gorge in Kalbajar for a final visit before it was ceded to Azerbaijan, with AFP journalists witnessing a dozen women ask to be baptised at the religious site.

Kalbajar was almost exclusively populated by ethnic Azerbaijanis before they were expelled by Armenians in the 1990s war following the breakup of the Soviet Union, and a majority of the homes being abandoned previously belonged to Azerbaijanis. The Armenian government controversially subsidised the region’s settlement by ethnic Armenians. The peace accord with Azerbaijan has sparked a week of protests in Armenia where demonstrations and opposition parties are calling for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to resign.

The former head of Armenia’s national security service Artur Vanetsyan was arrested on Saturday on charges of plotting to kill Pashinyan and seize power.

Azerbaijan has pushed for Ankara’s involvement in the settlement and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said this week his country would jointly supervise the ceasefire with Russia.

Turkey, a key ally of Azerbaijan, was widely accused

by Western countries, Russia and Armenia of dispatching mercenaries from Syria to reinforce Azerbaijan’s army.

But Russia has ruled out Ankara’s direct involvement in the peacekeeping mission and instead insisted Turkey would instead monitor the mission from an observation centre on Azerbaijan’s territory.

FAJR SUNRISE

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Northern India chokes on toxic smog day after Diwali festival CHENNAI/NEW DELHI: Hundreds of millions of Indians in north India woke up on Sunday to toxic air following Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, after many revellers defied bans on using firecrackers to celebrate.

The capital New Delhi was blanketed with a thick haze, with the average pollution level over 9 times what is considered safe by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Delhi’s Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had banned the use and sale of firecrackers ahead of Diwali, but the policy has been difficult to implement. Revellers in the capital let off huge amounts of fireworks well into Sunday morning, prompting angry residents and environmentalists to complain on social media of breathing difficulties and stinging eyes.

Some defended firecrackers as an essential part of a religious tradition celebrated by millions across the country. “Are you realizing how all of India, all places stood up in defiance against the cracker ban? It’s like a form of Hindu- freedom battle cry,” Tarun Vijay, a leader of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, tweeted. New Delhi’s air pollution typically worsens in October and November due to farmers burning agricultural waste, coal-fired power plants, traffic and windless days. The raging coronavirus epidemic, with more than 400,000 cases in the city of 20 million people, has also heightened alarm over the smog. Doctors have warned of a sharp increase in respiratory illnesses. Cities in the states of Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Bihar, and New Delhi – which have already been suffering from some of the worst air in the world – saw even higher levels of pollution than on the morning after Diwali last year, government data analysed by Reuters showed. An average of air quality indices measured at different places within the major cities in these states was higher than last year, according to data from the Central Pollution Control Board. AGENCIES

UAE widens 10-year residency 'golden' visa eligibility DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates will extend its “golden” visa system — which grants 10-year residency in the Gulf state — to certain professionals, specialised degreeholders and others, the UAE’s vice president said on Sunday. Foreigners in the UAE usually have renewable visas valid for only a few years tied to employment. The government in the past couple of years has made its visa policy more flexible, offering longer residencies for certain types of investors, students and professionals. All holders of doctorate degrees, medical doctors and also computer, electronics, programming, electrical and biotechnology engineers are eligible, UAE Vice President and the ruler of Dubai Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum said in a statement. Also eligible are those with specialised degrees in artificial intelligence, big data and epidemiology, as well as high school students living in the UAE who rank top in the country and students from certain universities with a GPA of 3.8 or higher. After first announcing a long-term visa plan in 2018, the UAE in 2019 started granting 5- and 10year renewable visas to certain foreign investors, entrepreneurs, chief executives, scientists and outstanding students. The emirate of Dubai, a Middle East trade and tourism hub, in September said it would grant visas renewable every five years to wealthy foreign retirees. AGENCIES

Trump still refusing to concede to Biden, inflaming supporters and delaying transition AGENCIES The transition to United States Presidentelect Joe Biden’s administration remained in political limbo on Sunday, a day after tens of thousands of President Donald Trump’s supporters poured into the nation’s capital to echo his false claims of election fraud.

Biden, the Democratic former vice president, has spent days huddled with advisers as he weighs whom to appoint to his cabinet, fields congratulatory calls from world leaders and maps out the policies he will pursue after being sworn in on Jan. 20. He is expected to continue meeting with advisers in private on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Republican Trump has refused to concede and instead pressed unsubstantiated allegations of fraud, stalling the government’s normal process of prepar-

ing for a new presidential administration.

His campaign has filed lawsuits seeking to overturn the results in multiple states, though without success, and legal experts say the litigation stands little chance of altering the outcome of the Nov. 3 election.

Election officials of both parties have said there is no evidence of major irregularities.

The “Million MAGA March,” referring to Trump’s campaign slogan of “Make America Great Again,” drew a crowd of flag-waving supporters to downtown Washington on Saturday.

“Hundreds of thousands of people showing their support in D.C. They will not stand for a Rigged and Corrupt Election!” the president wrote on Twitter, though most crowd estimates were well short of Trump’s figure.

Trump’s motorcade passed through the crowd on its way to his golf course in Vir-

ginia, producing cheers from demonstrators as the president waved from the back seat.

The march was largely peaceful, though numerous scuffles broke out between Trump supporters and counter-protesters that continued after dark. One person was stabbed and taken to a trauma center, the city’s fire and emergency medical services department said. The Washington Post reported the stabbing occurred amid a brawl that broke out after 8 p.m.

Dozens of Proud Boys, a far-right group, marched in the streets, some wearing helmets and ballistic vests, while members of the loose far-left movement known as antifa staged their own counter-demonstrations.

The city’s police force arrested at least 10 people, including several who were charged with assault. Biden has won 306 votes in the state-by-state Electoral College

system that determines the presidential winner, according to Edison Research, far more than the 270 needed to secure a majority.

Trump earned the same number of electoral votes in 2016 over Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, a victory he has called a “landslide” despite the fact that she won the national popular vote. Biden has also won the popular vote: with a few states still counting ballots, he leads Trump by more than 5.5 million votes, or 3.6%.

With his chances of reversing the outcome virtually extinguished, Trump has discussed with advisers potential media ventures that would keep him in the spotlight ahead of a possible 2024 White House bid, aides said. But his public claims of a “rigged” election have prevented Biden and his team from gaining access to government office space and funding normally afforded

to an incoming administration to ensure a smooth transition. The federal agency in charge of providing those resources, the General Services Administration, has yet to recognize Biden’s victory.

States are in the process of certifying their election results. The Electoral College meets to vote for the new president on Dec. 14. Biden’s pick for White House chief of staff, Ron Klain, said this week that a rapid transition is necessary to ensure the government is prepared to roll out a potential coronavirus vaccine early next year.

The raging pandemic will likely be Biden’s top priority. The United States set a new daily record of new cases on Friday for the fourth straight day.

More than 244,000 people in the country have died of the coronavirus since the pandemic began.

Published by Arif Nizami at Qandeel Printing Press, 4 Queens Road, Lahore, for PT Print (Pvt) Limited. Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965. Email: newsroom@pakistantoday.com.pk