EpaperLHR_20-11-30

Monday, 30 November, 2020 I 13 Rabi al-Akhir, 1442 I Rs 40.00 I Vol XI No 151 I 52 Pages I Lahore Edition

PM says PDM’s rallies a biD to Pressurise govt for Nro g

imrAn sAys opposition leAders Are mAking lAst-ditch efforts to sAve their ‘illgotten weAlth’

ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

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rime minister imran khan has said that the opposition parties are holding public rallies to pressurise the government into giving them a national reconciliation ordinance (nro) at the cost of people’s lives amid the second wave of covid-19 pandemic. in a series of tweets on sunday, the prime minister said that the sole and desperate goal of opposition leadership is to save their families’ looted wealth, for which they are making last-ditch efforts to get an nro, and added that they will not succeed. he said that opposition leaders have

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AsAd urges opposition to refrAin from politicising the coronAvirus outbreAk

never worked together before and that their autocratic lifestyle is directly dependent on saving their families’ ill-gotten wealth through robbing and impoverishing the nation. pm imran said that these entitled “leaders”, who are living like royalty in their secluded mansions, have simply inherited their positions because of their families and they have no concern with the lives of ordinary citizens. pm imran said that when the smart lockdown was imposed to save people from becoming destitute and save the economy from total collapse, these “leaders” opposed it and demanded complete lockdown and now when the smart lockdown is again needed to counter a new spike of the disease, they want to hold

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public rallies instead of caring for the lives and safety of people.

A day earlier, the premier, in an interview with a private television channel, said that the government wants accountability of all those who have embezzled public money. he said that investigation and accountability institutions in the country are now functioning independently. it is pertinent to mention here that the opposition parties’ alliance, pakistan democratic movement (pdm), has announced to hold a public meeting on november 30 in multan. separately, while speaking to a private news channel, minister for planning, development and special initiatives Asad umar said that opposition’s alliance – pakistan democratic movement (pdm) – should follow the guidelines issued by the ncoc and avoid large public gatherings. he urged the opposition leadership to refrain from doing politics on the coronavirus outbreak. the minister said that people should adopt standard operating procedures (sops). he added that during his public gathering in sukkur, he had fully followed the ncoc’s directions. similar sentiments were echoed by punjab’s health minister dr yasmin rashid, who urged the opposition parties to give priority to the health of masses and postpone public gatherings.

Addressing a press conference on sunday, the provincial health minister said that non-adherence to sops has intensified the spread of the pandemic in the province. she said that by wearing face masks, the spread of the virus can be reduced by 70 per cent. she added that around 13,638 health professionals have been affected by coronavirus in the province so far.

OIC declaration reaffirms its position on Kashmir dispute: FO ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

A day after the annual meeting of the organisation of islamic cooperation (oic) unanimously reaffirmed support to pakistan on indian-occupied kashmir, the foreign office (fo) on sunday said the inclusion of the dispute in the niamey declaration was yet another manifestation of the muslim bloc’s “consistent support” to the cause. the 47th session of the council of foreign ministers (cfm) on saturday categorically rejected the indian decision to unilaterally strip the disputes region of the semi-autonomous status and demanded it to rescind the illegal measure taken in August last. responding to the declaration, fo spokesperson Zahid hafeez chaudhri said that it explicitly reiterated the organisation’s “principled position” on the 73-year-old dispute “for a peaceful settlement in accordance with the relevant un security council resolutions”. days before the meeting, reports suggesting the removal of lingering dispute from the bloc’s agenda had sparked a public furor, prompting the fo to issue a clarification. sunday’s tweet observed the declaration was “yet another manifestation” of the or-

70pc coronavirus cases present in five major cities, NCOC told

CONFIRMED CASES:

395,185

43

RECOVERED:

2,829

339,810 7,985 SINDH:

PUNJAB:

171,595

118,511

KP:

BALOCHISTAN:

AJK/GB:

ISLAMABAD:

46,877

17,101

6,682/4,637 29,782

more inside

PM appreciates ISI efforts for national security 34 people killed in two suicide bombings in Afghanistan

NEW CASES:

DEATHS:

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

STORY ON PAGE 03

LAST UPDATED AT 8:04 AM ON NOVEMBER 29, 2020

DAY'S DEATH TOLL:

ganisation’s “consistent support to the kashmir cause”.

NIAMEY DECLARATION: the grave human rights situation in indian-occupied kashmir was one of the session’s main points of focus. According to the details issued by the ministry of foreign Affairs, the cfm meeting condemned in the “strongest possible terms the rights violations perpetrated by indian occupation forces […] and other such instances of terrorism that have been the source of unspeakable suffering for the innocent kashmiri people”. it also condemned the statesponsored terrorism and crimes against humanity carried out by indian troops in the region. the participants also denounced extrajudicial killings during fake encounters and search-and-cordon operations and demolition of houses and private properties as a form of collective punishment.

A unanimous resolution also denounced the renewed use of pellet guns against innocent civilians, condemned the harassment of kashmiri women by indian troops. it deplored that new delhi had callously exploited the current covid-19 crisis to intensify its military crackdown and “further advance its unlawful occupation”.

STORY ON BACK PAGE ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

the national command and operation centre (ncoc) was informed on sunday that 70 per cent coronavirus cases were present in five major cities of the country – rawalpindi, islamabad, karachi, hyderabad and peshawar. pakistan recorded 2,829 new cases and 43 deaths due to the covid-19 during the last 24 hours, taking the total cases to 395,185 and fatalities to 7,985. during the meantime, 2,257 patients recovered from the disease, leaving active cases at 47,390. during a meeting chaired

by minister for planning, development and special initiatives Asad umar, the forum learned that around 46 deaths were recorded in the past week, while 237 people were hospitalised every day. the meeting was also informed that the country had the required medical equipment and a proper supply was being managed. the forum directed for stringent enforcement measures to control the spread of the disease. the ncoc said that pakistan’s covid-19 positivity ratio has reached 7.1 per cent. the highest positivity ratio was observed in mirpur at 24.85 per cent, followed by hyderabad at 22.181 per cent and karachi

18.96 per cent. the positivity ratio in various federating units is as follows: Azad Jammu and kashmir (AJk), 16.58 per cent; balochistan, 9.12 per cent; gilgit-baltistan (gb) 5.56 per cent; islamabad 5.30 per cent; khyber pakhtunkhwa (kp) 5.31 per cent; punjab 3.45 per cent; and sindh 15.31 per cent. the meeting noted that 2,186 covid-19 patients across the country were critically ill, and the number was increasing sharply.

According to ncoc’s data, 40,369 tests were conducted across the country during the past 24 hours, taking the tally of tested samples to 5,475,508.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

PDM vows to hold Multan rally despite virus surge STORY ON PAGE 02 in today’s issue

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Monday, 30 November, 2020

02 NEWS

BABA Guru NANAk’S BIrthdAy CeleBrAtIONS BeGIN AmId tIGht SeCurIty NANKANA SAHIB

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HE three-day celebrations of the 551st birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak began on Sunday in Nankana Sahib amid strict security measures.

Over 600 Sikh pilgrims have arrived from India through the Wagah border to participate in the celebrations. The main ceremony of the celebration will be held at Gurdwara Janamasthan in Nankana Sahib

on Monday, which will end after the Nagar Kirtan procession followed by the Bhog ritual at night.

Various departments have already completed necessary arrangements, including security, accommodation, food, healthcare and transport, to facilitate the Sikh pilgrims.

Every year, more than 2,000 Sikhs come to Pakistan to participate in the birth anniversary celebrations of Baba Guru Nanak. However, the number has reduced this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Pakistan to host OIC foreign ministers’ meet next year ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will chair a meeting of foreign ministers, representing all members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), in Islamabad next year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said in a statement. “Positively responding to Pakistan’s offer, the 47th Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM) of OIC in Niger has decided to host the 48th CFM Session in Islamabad in 2021,” the statement said. The move follows the OIC’s decision to include Pakistan in its six-member executive committee “for the next three years” during the CFM meeting in Niamey, Niger on Saturday.

Representatives of the OIC’s 57 members and five observer states participated in the two-day talks which focused on a wide range of topics and issues faced by the Muslim world. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi led the delegation which highlighted the atrocities in Indian-occupied Kashmir. The meeting reaffirmed its strong support for the Kashmir cause, the Foreign Office said. The OIC, it said, categorically rejected the “illegal and unilateral actions” taken by New Delhi in August last when it changed the globally recognised disputed status of occupied Jam¬mu and Kashmir and demanded India rescind the illegal measure. The forum also asked India to cancel the issuance of domicile certificates in the occupied territory to non-residents as well as other unilateral and illegal actions. Staff report

Support to Palestinians cardinal pillar of Pakistan’s foreign policy: Akram ISLAMABAD: In his message on International Day of Solidarity with Palestinian People, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Munir Akram has said that Pakistan has always remained a staunch supporter of Palestinian people. In a statement, Akram said that supporting Palestinian right to selfdetermination and calling for an early creation of a sovereign Palestinian state is a cardinal pillar of Pakistan’s foreign policy. He said that Pakistan will continue its unwavering support to the struggle of the Palestinian people to attain selfdetermination and achieve their independent state. The International Day of solidarity with the Palestinian People was observed on Sunday. In his message, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres urged the Palestinians and Israel to resolve the conflict in line with relevant UN resolutions, international law and bilateral agreements. He regretted that the prospects of the two-state solution to the conflict are becoming more distant. tLtp

The pilgrims will return to India via the Wagah border crossing on December 1 at the end of their pilgrimage. The celebrations will end after the Nagar Kirtan procession on Monday, followed by the Bhog ritual at night.

Meanwhile, the Head Granthi of Gurdwara Janam Asthan, Sardar Janam Singh, has demanded the United Nations to take notice of Kartarpur Corridor closure by India. In a statement, he said that Pakistan opened the corridor on the 550th birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak as a gift to

the Sikh community but India has closed it. Sardar Janam Singh said that the UN must ensure implementation of the agreement reached on the corridor.

Furthermore, Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee President Sardar Satwant Singh has said that the government has provided extraordinary facilities to the Sikh community in the country.

He said that Darbar Sahib Kartarpur has been developed according to its status and all sacred places of Sikhs like Darbar Sahib Nankana Sahib, Darbar Sahib Panja Sahib have not only been beautified but also improved to their original status.

Separately, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, while congratulating the Sikh pilgrims on the birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak, welcomed them in Punjab. He said that the government believes in religious tolerance. All facilities have been provided to the Sikh community for performing their religious rituals and Sikhs are free to live their lives according to their religious beliefs, he added.

Pakistan has rich Sikh heritage and culture with several holy places of the religion in the country.

PDM vows to hold Multan rally despite virus surge MULTAN Staff report

Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) President Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Sunday said the opposition parties’ public meeting in Multan will go ahead as planned on Monday despite the coronavirus restrictions in place to curtail the spread of the contagious disease.

Pakistan on Sunday recorded 2,829 fresh infections after conducting 40,369 tests. The number of active cases stood at 47,390.

Addressing the media alongside Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Punjab President Rana Sanaullah Khan and former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani, Fazl said that the anti-government alliance had initially decided to organise a long march to Islamabad in Jan 2021. “However, it seems like the government wants us to march to Islamabad earlier [than scheduled] and tell them what they are worth,” he said. “The rally will be held at Qila Kohna Qasim Bagh [stadium] and all workers will be there.”

Responding to a question about PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz’s attendance at the meeting, Sanaullah said the PDM had not started the movement with the government’s permission and Maryam did not join after government approval either. “She will attend the rally tomorrow and will

Shehbaz calls for national dialogue to improve economy LAHORE tLtp

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif has said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government has destroyed the country's economy. "The condition of the economy is very bad at the moment. Every sector is at the brink of disaster," he further said while talking to the media persons at his residence on Sunday.

Shehbaz suggested that collective efforts, however, can improve the situation for which there is an urgent need for a national dialogue. “We need to bring all political parties on the same page for the national economy," he said. The PML-N president said that the PTI has "poisoned" national politics and whenever dialogue is initiated, it ends with abuses hurled at the opposition. He said that he felt helpless in prison when he heard the news of his mother Begum Shamim Akhtar's death. "The world can see how I am spending my days and nights in prison. What can be more devastating than hearing about your mother's death while you are behind bars?" he said. Shahbaz said that he was neither allowed access to a physiotherapist in jail, nor was a heater installed in his cell despite the cold. "The government is exacting revenge on me. But this too shall pass," he said.Shehbaz along with his son Hamza Shehbaz was released from jail on a five-day parole for the funeral of Begum Shamim, which took place on Saturday in Lahore's Jati Umra area. Both were arrested and imprisoned after being charged in a moneylaundering case.

Former National Assembly speaker passes away break all barriers. Imran Khan has been saying for three years that he won’t spare anyone. Now we won’t spare him,” he said. It is worth mentioning here that 27-year-old Aseefa BhuttoZardari, the sister of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal BhuttoZardari will make her political debut at the rally. According to Gillani, she would address the participants on behalf of her brother and father as both leaders were unwell.

“I am thankful to the government that they have ensured the rally’s success before it even happened. [Prime Minister Imran] promised on the floor of the House that he will provide containers and food to the opposition if they want to hold rallies. Half that promise has been fulfilled, the containers have arrived.”

He also condemned the arrest of PDM workers by police earlier in the

day, saying that the alliance has mobilised the People’s Lawyers Forum over the arrests. On Saturday, PPP workers had stormed into Qila Kohna Qasim Bagh stadium in order to set the stage and make arrangements for the rally after removing the barriers placed around the venue by the police.

PML-N workers led a rally in Multan and also entered the stadium after it was broken into. According to the PPP Media Cell, their workers had taken control of the administration of the stadium and have also set up a welcoming camp outside.

PPP leader Ali Qasim Gilani, the son of the former prime minister, a former member of the provincial assembly (MPA) Javed Siddiqui, Syed Arif Shah Saad Kanju and 25 other party workers were arrested for violating coronavirus SOPs and breaking gates of Qasim Bagh early on Sunday.

MULTAN Staff report

Former National Assembly (NA) speaker Sahibzada Farooq Ali, ninth speaker of the House, passed away in Multan on Sunday. He was 91. Ali was born on September 5, 1931, and belonged to the Toor tribe and was originally from the Wayanwali village near Ghakhar Mandi in Wazirabad. According to NA website, Ali served as speaker of the House from August 9, 1973 to March 27, 1977 during the tenure of former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. He was preceded by Fazal Ilahi Chaudhry and succeeded by Malik Meraj Khalid. It was under his leadership that the House approved the 1972 constitution. Ali was the chairman of the special committee of the house of the NA proceedings, which unanimously adopted a resolution on September 7, 1974, to declare the Ahmadi Movement and its offshoot, the Lahore Qadiani Movement, as non-Muslim.

Gillani’s son among 10 arrested ahead of PDM’s Multan rally MULTAN Staff report

Police arrested former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani’s sons Ali Kasim Gillani and Ali Haider Gillani and nine other Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) activists late Saturday night for “flouting” coronavirus restrictions and breaking into Qila Kohna Qasim Bagh Stadium, the venue for the November 30 public meeting of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM).

The incident was followed by a storm of charged workers from other opposition parties, mainly Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Jamiat

Ulema-ie-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F). However, gauging the public mood, the law enforcement agencies, that confiscated the crane used by the enthusiastic crowd to remove the containers, avoided offering strong resistance.

The PPP workers were led by Gillani’s sons. Reports suggest police also arrested 30 workers of the PDM parties. Eventually, police succeeded in evicting the opposition workers from the main route leading to the venue. The authorities later released Ali Haider and shifted Ali Kasim to Gulgasht police station. “The rally will be held in Qila Qasim Bagh. Today all the barriers of the police and administration have been broken down. After storming the

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gates, we have taken control of the stadium,” PPP leader Ali Musa said after the arrest. The Multan meeting, which coincides with the PPP founding day anniversary, is the fifth PDM show and is expected to be addressed by Aseefa Bhutto-Zardari, party chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s sister, as well.

Earlier on November 24, the district administration had rejected two applications for holding PPP rallies led by former prime minister Gillani in connection with the PDM meeting. The party had sought permission to hold rallies from Chowk Nawan Shaher to Chowk Ghanta Ghar. The office of the deputy commissioner, in its refusal, stated that the rallies

could not be allowed because of a ban on large gatherings imposed by the government to prevent the spread of coronavirus. “Government of the Punjab, Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department vide Order No. SO(G)/P&SHD/4-1/2020 dated 19th November 2020 has imposed a complete ban on all types of large-scale gatherings and only outdoor gathering is allowed with [an] upper limit of 300 persons,” the notification said. “This order has come into force with immediate effect and shall remain in force till Jan 31, 2021, unless otherwise amended. Moreover, educational institutions have been closed by the government due to Covid-19.”

Monday, 30 November, 2020

Pm APPreCIAteS ISI eFFOrtS FOr NAtIONAl SeCurIty ISLAMABAD

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Staff report

RIME MINISTER Imran Khan has appreciated the tireless efforts of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) for national security and expressed his satisfaction over professional preparedness of the premier spy agency.

The prime minister expressed his satisfaction at the intelligence agency’s work during his visit to ISI headquarters on Sunday.

ISI Director General Lieutenant General Faiz Hamid received the prime minister, federal ministers, services chiefs, and other military officers on their arrival. A comprehensive briefing was given to civil and military leadership on the regional and national security situation.

Federal Ministers Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Asad Umar, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) General Nadeem Raza, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan, Naval Chief Admiral Muhammad Amjad Khan Niazi and Chief of General Staff Lieutenant General Sahir Shamshad Mirza also accompanied the prime minister.

Earlier on April 23, PM Imran, along with COAS Bajwa paid a visit to the headquarters of the premier spy agency in the federal capital. A comprehensive briefing

covering the entire spectrum of internal and external challenges had been given to the premier during the visit. He was also briefed on the impact of the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

Developing nations push for Covid-19 vaccines without the patents SOUTH AFRICA AND INDIA PLAN TO ARGUE AT THE WTO THAT THE USUAL PROTECTIONS SHOULD BE SUSPENDED IN LIGHT OF THE PANDEMIC ISLAMABAD aGeNCIeS

A group of developing countries, led by South Africa and India, say they will press at the World Trade Organization this week to free Covid-19 vaccines from patent protections so they can be more accessible and affordable for poor countries.

The pandemic requires a temporary suspension of the world’s usual intellectual property system, the countries say they will argue at a WTO council meeting this Friday. If poorer countries aren’t given special access to the vaccines, which are expected to hit the market by the start of next year, the group of developing nations say they will argue, they will continue to be devastated by the coronavirus even as it is stopped in the West.

The proposed waiver pits the developing nations against the U.S., the European Union, Japan and other wealthier countries, as well as western pharmaceutical companies, which say respecting intellectual property rights is key to promoting the rapid development of the vaccines. Developed nations have already struck deals with western pharmaceutical companies to buy up enough vaccines to tie up most of the world’s production capacity until the end of 2021.

If the developed nations don’t relent, South Africa is prepared to try to force the issue through a rare contested vote at the trade organization, said Mustaqeem De Gama, counselor at the South African mission to the WTO. Decisions made at the trade organization are usually done on consensus. “I don’t understand how governments of the world are able to outsource their responsibility for public health to a few companies that are able to hold them all ransom,” Mr. De Gama said.

The countries asking for a waiver from WTO members say there is unused manufacturing capacity in developing nations that could be harnessed to copy vaccines. Existing exemptions in trade law aren’t adequate to quickly allow countries to copy the vaccines or distribute them to other poor countries that have no manufacturing capacity, they say. The most developed countries, which have fought for decades for better patent protection for pharmaceuticals, say the potential profits are an important driver of research and development, and ignoring patents could damage the engine of innovation that has helped develop vaccines so quickly.

“The United States is committed to helping to ensure the swift delivery of potential Covid-19 therapeutics and vaccines around the globe,” the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said. “We believe that facilitating incentives for innovation and competition to develop, test, and produce safe and effective therapeutics and vaccines for the Covid-19 response, including by respecting intellectual property rights, will best achieve this objective.” The European Union says intellectual property “is part of the solution rather than an obstacle,” while the U.K. also says it isn’t clear that patents are a barrier to supply, calling the proposal “an extreme measure to address an unproven problem.”

“Confiscating the intellectual property of innovators will only undermine our efforts to combat Covid19,” said Brian Newell, a spokesman for BIO, a biotechnology industry association, which includes members developing Covid-19 vaccines.

China, which has four vaccines in final trials, has

said it is open to discussions on a possible waiver.

Some of the emerging-market governments are complaining that words about solidarity and fair distribution from richer countries haven’t been matched by action. While the West is looking to vaccinate most of its population by the end of 2021, developing countries fear they may have to wait many years to access the vaccines and funding they will need to inoculate their populations. A Duke University study this month found that mostly rich countries have purchased up to nine billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines. The U.S., which has bought the most, has deals for up to 2.6 billion doses, the report said, for its population of 330 million.

Among the developing nations, India, the world’s biggest manufacturer of vaccines, has lined up the most: 1.6 billion doses, according to the Duke study.

The World Health Organization has set up a voluntary mechanism to share coronavirus-related intellectual property rights. So far, not a single pharmaceutical company has contributed to it. South Africa successfully fought 20 years ago to have patent protections for HIV drugs lifted for poorer countries, allowing generic manufacturers to make much cheaper copies. To succeed with Covid-19, South Africa and allies will need the support of 75% of the member nations of the WTO. “South Africa and India have a strong chance of winning if they can convince the supermajority of countries who are not benefiting from preferential advance purchase agreements and options for Covid-19 health products that their interest lies in bonding together rather than fall prey to threats from rich countries,” said Brook Baker, a professor of law at Northeastern University. South Africa says its stance is gathering support since it floated the proposal in October. The proposed intellectual property-rights waiver would cover not only vaccines but also therapies, equipment and protective gear related to Covid-19, and last as long as the pandemic does.

South Africa plans to convene the WTO’s council to debate the issue on Friday. Mr. De Gama said that given the urgency of the pandemic, there is only a small window of opportunity, for the next two or three months, for rich nations to change their positions, before the issue must be put to a vote.

Among countries backing the proposal are Kenya, Pakistan, Venezuela and Argentina. The initiative is also supported by UNAIDS, a specialist body of the United Nations tasked with tackling HIV/AIDS. Many more countries say they are considering support. So far, among developing countries, only Brazil has opposed it.

A global initiative known as Covax, backed by the World Health Organization, is trying to raise billions of dollars from richer nations to finance collective buying of Covid-19 vaccine for developing nations, while preserving intellectual property rights. Under the Trump administration, the U.S. hasn’t supported Covax but says it has given $1.5 billion in Covid-19-related aid to poorer nations. Covax says it has so far reserved around 450 million doses of vaccine for 92 developing countries, which have a combined population of 3.9 billion. The vaccine typically requires two doses, meaning this would cover around 225 million people.

The nations supporting the WTO waiver welcome Covax but say it isn’t enough.

Originally published on WSJ

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NEWS 03 NAB violating human rights by blackmailing people: Mandviwalla ISLAMABAD tLtp

Senate Deputy Chairman Saleem Mandiwalla has alleged that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is violating human rights by blackmailing people.

Addressing a press conference in the federal capital on Sunday, days after the NAB submitted a report accusing Mandviwalla of being involved in a fake accounts case, the deputy chairman said that NAB resorts to “blackmailing people” during closed-door investigations.

He further said that the National Commission on Human Rights and the Supreme Court (SC) have also criticised the bureau for violating human rights in the past.

“When institutions like NAB violate human rights in this country, why does no one raise voice against them?” Mandviwalla questioned.

“When I raise my voice against the bureau’s wrongdoing, I am served with a notice,” he lamented.

He stated that the Senate is going through a hard time for the first time in history at the hands of the NAB. “The NAB has accused me of making anonymous transactions but I will show to

the world that I have not done any such thing,” he said in his defence, adding that he has been involved with different businesses for the past four generations but the NAB’s Director General Irfan Mangi has accused him of not doing any real business.

“We must ask Engineer Irfan Mangi the basis of his promotion within the NAB. Earlier, I used to write letters to the prime minister but now I will reveal every information I have to the media. All members of the NAB should disclose their assets too and I will raise this matter in the Senate,” Mandviwalla said.

Later in the day, NAB Chairman Justice (r) Javed Iqbal directed the bureau not to take any further action against Mandviwalla before considering all legal points of the case.

The directions were issued by the chairman after taking notice of allegations levelled by Mandviwalla in the presser, said a declaration issued by the anti-graft body.

Justice (r) Iqbal has sought a complete record of the case. The declaration further said that the anti-graft watchdog respects all parliamentarians and a decision about further action will be taken after considering all sides of the case.

Monday, 30 November, 2020

04 NEWS

Why doeSn't GovernMent StAff WorK froM hoMe durinG the Second WAve? PUNJAB PUNCH sHAHAB oMeR

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AST week, government employees in Punjab were allowed to work from home in view of the escalation of the second wave of Covid-19, and the consequent increase in cases.

Punjab Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department had also issued a formal notification that the attendance of employees in government offices should be decreased to 50 per cent, stating that the remaining staff should work from home.

The notification also said that employees over the age of 55 and women, who come to the office with their children, should also work from home.

The government's decision was aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus and keeping people safe, but government offices in Punjab do not appear to be implementing the order.

An official of the Punjab Civil Secre-

tariat, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that the status of orders issued by the PSHC was limited to paperwork as no employee of the Civil Secretariat was allowed to work from home.

The official further added that this situation is not only in the Civil Secretariat but in almost all government and semi-government institutions in Punjab, wherein employees are not allowed to work from home.

A senior official of Punjab Management Professional Development Department (MPDD) informed this scribe that the top officials of his department were deliberately not allowing the staff to work from home.

“Our office employs more than 100 people. A few days ago, the health department also took staff's coronavirus test samples and we were informed that three to four people were positive, but all of them are ordered to come to the office,” he said.

Any employee who objects or speaks of the aforementioned notification of the Health Department, an inquiry is opened by making a case against him and later he gets into trouble, the official explained.

“Our office workers, including women whose children come to day-care, are not allowed to work from home at all. If any important minister or senior official inspects our office, it will become clear that the daycare centre has never been closed since the

notification,” the official maintained.

“Forcibly calling such staff to the office means risking the lives of other people as well,” he said.

When MPDD Deputy Secretary Admin Syed Zameer Ahmed was asked about the at-

tendance of staff in the office, he claimed that he had not gone to the office for the last two days so he did not know the notification is being implemented or not.

Zameer said that another deputy secretary of MPDD, Imran Akram Chauhan, was looking into the matter and he could provide accurate information, but when Chauhan was approached he put all the responsibility on Zameer. Interestingly, another MPDD official said that the attitude of the officers is that they neither work nor take responsibility.

A survey conducted by Pakistan Today also found that the situation is similar in almost all offices. The reason why senior officers call their subordinates in is apparently due to the workload being too high and requiring the presence of the staff members, while some employees believe that only because of stubbornness do the officers force them to come to the office.

An official of the Punjab Health Department confirmed that all government offices, especially government employees in Lahore, are being tested in their offices.

“Many offices have also tested positive for staff, but record-keeping is not being done as it should be. At no level is the data of government employees affected by Covid-19 being collected and if anything, it is not available to anyone. The government initially adopted a mandatory staff attendance policy so, even if an employee is a victim of Covid-19, he did not inform the office. Therefore, accurate data of government employees who are victims of coronavirus cannot be collected,” he said.

Celebrating a Day of Deliverance City Notes M A NiAzi

Anti-polio campaign starts in Punjab, Sindh, KP today LAHORE: Anti-polio campaign of varied duration will start in Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) from Monday. The Punjab government has completed preparations for launching a five-day anti-polio vaccination drive commencing from November 30 (Monday) to December 4. A total of 48,000 teams have been constituted and their training sessions were also concluded following the upcoming anti-polio vaccination drive for administering polio drops to more than 20 million children. According to the Polio Eradication Programme, the concerned authorities have completed the supply of polio vaccines in all districts besides provision of face masks and sanitizers to the polio workers to protect them from coronavirus. More than 4,900 teams have been constituted to take part in the campaign in the provincial capital Lahore to administer polio drops to more than 1.8 million children. More than 2,000 polio teams were constituted for Multan for 0.9 million children and 2,900 teams for 0.9 million children in Rawalpindi. According to the statistics, the total count of poliovirus stands at 14 in Punjab province, whereas, this year’s toll reaches up to 81 across the country. In Sindh, approximately nine million children under five years of age would be administered anti-polio drops during the seven days campaign.

Strict World Health Organisation (WHO)-recommended Covid-19 prevention protocols will be ensured during the campaign. In KP, as many as 6.4 million children would be immunized against the crippling disease. The provincial government has already expressed its resolve to make the province polio-free by reaching out to every child in every nook and corner of the province. stAFF RePoRt

Govt working to expand protected areas for animals: PM’s aide ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam has said that the government is working on the expansion of protected areas for animals to provide them a free environment through the ‘Protected Area Initiative.’ Aslam was talking to media persons at Islamabad Zoo on Sunday, on the occasion of shifting of Kaavan elephant to Cambodia. The adviser said that now Kaavan will be living in a sprawling 25,000-acres sanctuary in Cambodia. He said that a reception committee would receive Kaavan at the Cambodian airport. He said that initially, Kaavan will be kept in a 10-acre area prepared for him, from where he will be able to see others of his species. “Sending him to a place where he can be with other elephants of his kind [...] is really the right choice,” he said. “We will be happy to see him happy in Cambodia and we hope he finds a partner very soon,” he added. stAFF RePoRt

Shafqat Mehmood is in an awkward position. One the one hand, he can’t very well have any objection to the sudden adulation he has been getting now that the coronavirus second wave has forced the closing of schools for the rest of the winter term, with the full winter vacations being allowed, so that schools won’t reopen until next year.

But on the other, the adulation he has been getting has drawn the spotlight away from Imran Khan. Worse, there doesn’t seem to have been any posters going up saying ‘Thank you Qamar Javed Bajwa.’ Instead, one suggestion has been that November 26 (when schools were closed) calling him Youme-Shafqat. I don’t see any merit in that.

He’s alive, isn’t he? Yaum-e-Iqbal and Yaum-e-Quaid were instituted when the Founding Fathers had passed away.

Maybe there should be a different, event-based, approach. Let that date be known as Yaum-e-Najaat. Of course, that deliverance will only be temporary, because the schools, exposing the blackness of their souls, will hold December tests after the holidays. And until the vacations start in late December, will black-heartedly conduct online classes.

I’m not sure why they closed the schools, but left the malls, eateries, shopping centres and other public places open, because that’s where all the schoolboys are headed. Well, at least that’s where my own 15-year-old has gone, along with his friends. Instead of staying at home in a kind of semi-isolation, they’re all out there, eagerly seeking the coronavirus, determined to bring it home. On the plus side, there are no grandparents at home to infect. On the minus side, there’s me.

I know Imran sees it foremost as a way to keep the PDM rallies from happening. But people are dying because of it. I mean, look at how we have lost Ch

Anwar Aziz as well as Ch Ahmed Mukhtar. Both were well past their first youth and had left politics some time ago, but those of us from an earlier era remember both as able politicians who served their country well.

Halfway across the world, in far-off Argentina, Diego Maradona died of a heart attack. He was one of the greats of soccer, and some say he might have used his hand to push in a goal for his side in the 1983 World Cup final. He played some, managed some, and eventually played around with cocaine. He was evidence, if anyone needs it, that cocaine doesn’t keep you alive forever.

Imran should realise that cocaine is not the vaccine. Or a cure. He should also realise that he has not achieved Covid nirvana. Even if we accept that all new cases are because of PDM rallies, it still doesn’t mean that we can dismiss Nawaz Sharif as being responsible and rush off to the next PTI rally. Now that Bilawal BhuttoZardari has caught the virus, another problem has been highlighted. He had to stay

away from sister Bakhtawar’s nikah physically, though he was there online. Still, I don’t think it’s the same thing.

Imran has avoided Covid-19 so far, which is all to the good, as his age puts him in the danger zone. And he can’t admit it, because it might endanger his appeal to the youth vote. I wonder if his meeting with Cher was meant to appeal to the youth vote. But someone should have told him that, at 74, she’s actually older than him. I remember that the last time a filmstar visited a PM, Shaukat Aziz had a photoshoot with Angelina Jolie.

Well, that beat what was going on in Taiwan’s parliament, where they were throwing around pig intestines, to protect pig imports from the United States, in an eerie reminder of the pre-partition practice of Hindu mobs.

It’ll probably have time to take action after handling the current pandemic’s depression. The Indian economy has shrunk for two quarters, and is in recession. But not ours. Imran is handling it just beautifully.

‘Loneliest’ Kaavan heads to Cambodia after Cher campaign ISLAMABAD AGeNCies

Following years of public outcry and campaigning by American pop star Cher, the “world’s loneliest elephant” embarked Sunday on a mammoth move from Pakistan to retirement in a Cambodian sanctuary.

The famed singer and Oscar-winning actress has spent recent days at the Islamabad zoo to provide moral support to Kaavan — an overweight, 36-year-old bull elephant — whose pitiful treatment at the dilapidated facility sparked an uproar from animal rights groups and a spirited social media campaign by Cher.

“My wishes have finally come true,” Cher said in a statement thanking her charity Free The Wild.

“We have been counting down to this moment and dreaming of it for so long and to finally see Kaavan transported out of [the Islamabad] zoo will remain with us forever.”

Kaavan’s case and the woeful conditions at the zoo resulted in a judge this year ordering all the animals to be moved.

“Thanks to Cher and also to local Pakistani activists, Kaavan’s fate made headlines around the globe and this contributed to the facilitation of his transfer,” said Martin Bauer, a spokesman for Four Paws International — an animal welfare group that has spearheaded the relocation effort.

Experts spent hours coaxing a slightly sedated Kaavan into a specially

constructed metal crate — at one point using ropes to help pull him in — that was to be hoisted onto a lorry and taken to Islamabad airport.

From there, Kaavan will be sent via a Russian transport jumbo jet for the lengthy flight to Siem Reap in northwestern Cambodia. The plane will stop for refueling in New Delhi.

Cher spent several days in Islamabad to visit Kaavan before the trip to a 10,000-hectare (25,000-acre) Cambodian wildlife sanctuary, with Prime Minister Imran Khan personally thanking the 74-year-old star.

Cher was due to fly to Cambodia on Sunday to be in the Southeast Asian nation when the elephant arrives.

Officials said Kaavan will initially be kept in a small designated section of the park where he can see other elephants.

“Sending him to a place where he can be with other elephants of his kind […] is really the right choice,”

climate change minister Malik Amin Aslam told AFP. “We will be happy to see him happy in Cambodia and we hope he finds a partner very soon.”

Dubbed by the press as the world’s loneliest elephant, Kaavan is the only Asian elephant in Pakistan — the tiny number of other pachyderms at other zoos are African.

A team of vets and experts from Four

Paws have spent months working with Kaavan to get him ready for the trip to Cambodia, which has included training the elephant to enter the massive metal transport crate that will be placed in a cargo plane for the seven-hour flight.

Zoo officials have in the past denied Kaavan was kept in substandard conditions or chained, claiming instead the creature was pining for a new mate after his partner died in 2012.

But Kaavan’s behavior — including signs of distress such as continual headbobbing — raised concerns of mental illness. Activists also said Kaavan was not properly sheltered from Islamabad’s searing summer temperatures.

Kaavan’s mate Saheli, who also arrived from Sri Lanka, died in 2012.

Rights groups and conservationists have said that the abysmal conditions at the Islamabad zoo resulted in part from the lack of legislation in Pakistan aimed at protecting animal welfare.

Monday, 30 November, 2020

INdIaN Farmers deFIaNt agaINst reFOrm as mOdI trIes tO Calm aNger neW deLHi

t

AGENCIES

HOUSANDS of Indian farmers, angry over reform of the agriculture sector, held a third day of protests on the outskirts of the capital on Sunday, blocking roads into the city and defying a government appeal to move to a designated site.

The government on Saturday invited farmers’ union leaders for talks on new legislation to deregulate agricultural but that has not calmed farmers’ anger over what many see “anti-farm laws”, and

their action appeared to be spreading.

“We will stay put here today,” said Rakesh Tikait, spokesman of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, one of more than 30 protesting unions, as he and his members blocked a road on the eastern approaches to Delhi.

The farmers object to legislation introduced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in September that would let farmers sell their produce anywhere, including to big corporate buyers like Walmart, not just at government-regulated wholesale markets where growers are assured of a minimum price.

Small growers worry they will be left vulnerable to big business and could eventually lose price support for staples such as wheat and rice. Modi sought to allay farmers’ concerns on Sunday.

“From these reforms, farmers will get new rights and opportunities,” he said in his monthly radio address.

But one farm union leader said many protesters were demanding that the government withdraw the laws.

“The farmers’ leaders will meet later on Sunday to decide their response to the government,” he said, referring to the government’s call for talks.

The protests began with farmers from the northern states of Haryana and Punjab on the outskirts of New Delhi on Friday, when police fired tear gas and water cannon in a bid to disperse them.

But instead farmers from the neighbouring state of Uttar Pradesh joined in over the weekend, blocking roads to the east of the capital.

Media reported protests by farmers in the southern states of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala on Saturday.

Prices of fresh produce prices at wholesale markets in the city began to tick up and commuters have faced travel disruption.

China regains clout in Sri Lanka with family’s return to power COLOMBO AGENCIES

China is poised to start building a $13 billion city on Sri Lanka’s seafront, as the island nation located near some of the world’s most important shipping lanes deepens its ties with Beijing despite U.S. efforts to gain The Port City, which will be built on 660 acres of land reclaimed from the sea close to Colombo’s city center, had been delayed and debated under a previous government, as the country tried to decrease its dependence on China. Now the family of Mahinda Rajapaksa, who had earlier overseen a tightening of ties with China, has returned to Once completed, Port City could become an important symbol of the power of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, which seeks to spread Chinese influence across Asia and beyond by unleashing its financial and construction Sri Lanka is trying to rebuild after a devastating civil war and the more recent combined economic fallout from terrorist attacks and Covid-19. It says that the U.S. is offering little financial support while seeking to dictate its foreign relations, a complaint played out across Asia.

“We turned to all our friends, including the World Bank and India,” said Palitha Kohona, Sri Lanka’s ambassador-designate to China. “The one entity that came to our assistance hastily was Sri Lanka is also taking new loans from Beijing, despite a visit from the U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo last month, when he warned the nation of 22 million people against forging closer ties with China, which he called a predator. Washington says it wants to keep the Indian Ocean free and open from Chinese The Rajapaksas staged a political comeback during the past year. Mahinda Rajapaksa’s younger brother, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, was elected president in November 2019, while the elder brother was elected prime minister in August 2020, taking two-thirds of the seats in parliament. Authority is split between the two positions in Sri Lanka, though the president, who is head of state, is more powerful. Under the previous proWestern government headed by Rajapaksa opponents, Sri Lanka had cooled toward During the Rajapaksas’ first stint in power, between 2005 and 2015, they signed

up for multiple Chinese infrastructure projects, including a Chinese-built port in their home constituency of Hambantota, and started the land reclamation for the Port City development in Washington has held up Sri Lanka as a prime example of what it calls China’s “debt trap diplomacy.” Hambantota was subsequently sold to China on lease in order for Sri Lanka to lower its debt burden. China denies its projects are created to entrap borrowers or spread its control of countries.

After meeting Mr. Pompeo in October, President Rajapaksa said that China had helped develop his country since the end of the civil war and reiterated that Sri Lanka wasn’t caught in a debt trap as a result.

The Rajapaksa government has rejected a proposed $480 million U.S. economic aid package and a military agreement because it says they came with too many conditions, such as mapping all state-owned land and providing immunity from prosecution for American military personnel in the country, which critics claimed impinged on Sri Lanka’s sovereignty.

“The international community will come to our assistance but with a demand for fiscal discipline and upholding the rule of law,” said Eran Wickramaratne, an opposition member of parliament and former deputy finance minister. “China will make no such demands but provide debt at a high cost.”

Last year, 43% of loans for major projects came from China, according to the Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

Most of the country’s overall foreign debt is from international bonds, with around 10% owed to China.

Fitch Ratings downgraded Sri Lanka’s sovereign debt Friday, saying its debt would rise this fiscal year to 100% of gross domestic product, from 87% last year.

The ratings company warned of increased risk created by the coronavirus economic shock, low foreign-exchange reserves and large debt payments due over the next few years. The Sri Lankan government called the downgrade “ill-informed,” saying it was made without “any evidence-based and objective analysis.”

The Rajapaksas say they are seeking equity investments for this round of projects, including for the Port City. China’s global initiative has up to now been marked by borrowings taken on by the host country.

Government officials point out that the investments aren’t restricted to China.

The U.S. has pushed for tough economic overhauls in Sri Lanka to make the country more attractive for American private-sector investment.

“We would welcome investment from the United States. But that doesn’t mean we exclude anyone else who is keen to invest,” said Ajith Nivard Cabraal, state minister of money, capital markets and state enterprise reforms.

Sri Lanka is negotiating a $700 million loan from China, as well as a $1.5 billion currency swap facility, Mr. Cabraal said. Earlier this year, China provided a $500 million loan and a $90 million grant.

This month, the first factory for Hambantota was announced, a $300 million tire plant from a Chinese company, Shandong Haohua Tire. The authorities are hoping to attract more manufacturers to a 19-square mile industrial zone next to the port.

Among the other large projects that will be started or finished with Chinese backing is the $1 billion road from Colombo to the central city of Kandy and a $300 million coal-fired power plant in Norochcholai on the west coast.

The government is planning to introduce new legislation in parliament in January to make special laws for Port City. The move, it says, will provide smooth transactions and tax breaks to encourage investment and commerce from the new city.

China will run the Port City, which will have offices, apartment blocks and a marina, on a 99-year lease. It is envisaged as a financial services and technology hub, in contrast to the industrial zones being created by China for its factories in other countries.

Luo Chong, spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Colombo, said that after August elections, which put the Rajapaksas solidly back in control of the country, China “can now go for megaprojects.”

He said that work on a $1 billion international financial-center complex for the Port City, built by a Chinese company as an investment—not a loan—could begin in early 2021.

Originally published on WSJ

NEWS

05

OIC declaration reaffirms its position on Kashmir dispute: FO COntinued frOM pAge 01 India was also asked to adhere to its international rights obligations and allow the OIC special representative on Jammu and Kashmir and the OIC Fact-finding Mission to visit occupied Kashmir and implement recommendations of the two reports of the UN high commissioner for human rights on Jammu and Kashmir. It asked India to cancel the issuance of domicile certificates to non-Kashmiris as well as other unilateral and illegal actions. These measures include Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation Order, 2020; Jammu & Kashmir Grant of Domicile Certificate Rules, 2020; Jammu and Kashmir Language, Bill 2020 and amendments to the land ownership laws. The bloc also asked India to refrain from taking any steps to alter the demographic structure of the disputed territory.

The OIC asked the international community to review its engagements with India as it was violating and disregarding the international law, the international humanitarian law, and international resolutions.

70pc coronavirus cases present in five major cities, NCOC told COntinued frOM pAge 01 Meanwhile, the NCOC, in its report, said that 7,986 deaths occurred to Covid-19, which takes the Covid Fatality Rate (CFR) to 2.02 per cent against the global average of 2.33 per cent. It added that 71 per cent of the deceased were males, and around 76 per cent patients were over the age of 50. The analysis highlighted that 72 per cent patients who died of coronavirus had comorbidities, i.e. different diseases coexisting for a long period of time. The report stated that 91 per cent of the deceased had been hospitalised, and out of them 58 per cent were on ventilators. As per the Mortality Analysis, during the past 24 hours, out of 43 Covid-19 patients who had succumbed to the deadly virus, 37 had been hospitalised, while six had died at their homes. The report added that 28 of those hospitalised were on ventilator and 29 of the deceased were males. It further stated that 79 per cent of the deceased had comorbidities.

CITIZENS ADVISED TO TAKE PRECAUTIONS: The Ministry of National Health Services on Sunday asked the citizens to rigorously follow SOPs in markets, food establishments and restaurants in the country to help curb the spread of the virus. According to an official of the ministry, these guidelines help in addressing specific health and safety concerns related to the spread of Covid19. He said that the pandemic has struck the world due to rapid human-to-human transmission and preventive measures play an important role in limiting the spread of a disease, and can help reduce the transmission rate and rid the healthcare facilities of unnecessary burden.

A Prospective Study of the Pakistani Anglophone 9/11 Fiction

By Syed AfSAr SAjid Title: National Imagination and Diasporic Identities in in ‘Pakistani Anglophone 9/11 Fiction’ Author: Aamer Shaheen Published by: Misaal Publishers, Faisalabad Pages: 202 – Price: Rs.795/-

(Dr.) Aamer Shaheen’s ‘National Imagination and Diasporic Identities in ‘Pakistani Anglophone 9/11 Fiction’ is purported to be a converted (and abridged too) version of his PhD thesis earlier submitted to The Islamia University, Bahawalpur. He is currently teaching English Literature at GC University, Faisalabad and has a dozen of academic research papers in various national and international research journals, to his credit.

The gruesome event of 9/11 was not only a cataclysmic act of disruption and sabotage in the United States, it also wrought an unprecedented wave of terror across the world. The ominous repercussions of the sordid episode continue to haunt both hemispheres of the globe with a horrific ferocity.

The 9/11 fall out coevally impacted the domains of film, literature and culture also.

The book in its present form seeks to highlight the traumatic fictional representations of the event by both the native American fiction writers in general, and the ones belonging to the diaspora in particular. The question on which rests the whole web of the present narrative is: Has Pakistan, being hit

badly by terrorism, seen to any nationalistic imagination envisaging the trio of loss, pain and trauma accruing from 9/11 and its auxiliary War on Terror? This is also the rationale of the book aimed to measure the impact of the phenomena upon the Pakistani Anglophone fiction. The book also tends to illustrate ‘the reflections of Pakistani Anglophone writers’ with respect to ‘their consciousness of Pakistani identity and its depiction through their fictive representations of the Pakistani citizens, the Pakistani expatriates and the Pakistani-Americans at nationally territorialized locations of Pakistan and America’.

The book comprises five broad chapters titled ‘Introduction’, ‘National Imagination in ‘Pakistani Anglophone 9/11 Fiction’, ‘Pakistani Anglophone 9/11 Fiction’ and the Identity Crises of Pakistani Expatriates in Post-9/11 America’, ‘Pakistani Anglophone 9/11 Fiction’ and the Narratives of Adjustment of Pakistani Immigrants in America’, and finally the ‘Conclusion’, followed by a glossary of the works cited in the book.

Renowned academics Dr. Muhammad Ayub Jajja, Dr. Ali Karakas, and Dr. Zahir Jang Khattak have admired Aamer Shaheen for his ability to sift the constituent material at hand and weave it into a well-knit narrative encompassing its raison d’etre with necessary analyses and explanations.

Aamer Shaheen has selected ten novels listed below for a close reading with a view to analyzing their cumulative impact on the theoretic perspectives or notions of national

imagination, diaspora and identity: Nadeem Aslam’s The Blind Man’s Garden, Fatima Bhutto’s The Shadow of the Crescent Moon, Bilal Tanweer’s The Scatter Here is Too Great, Bina Shah’s A Season for Martyrs, Omar Shahid Hamid’s The Spinner’s Tale, Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist, H. M. Naqvi’s Home Boy, Shaila Abdullah’s Saffron Dreams, Nafisa Haji’s The Sweetness of Tears, and Jabeen Akhtar’s Welcome to Americastan. The writer avers that these novels ‘contribute to the national imagination a horizontal sharing of national pain and trauma and unite the whole nation

CMYK

against terrorists by tearing apart their pseudo-religious cloaks behind which they often hide’. Terrorists have been projected as ‘others’ in these novels, segregated from the peaceful Pakistani citizenry. The avowed aim of national solidarity is thus reinforced in the post-9/11 intra-national scenario.

Daniel O’Gorman in his analysis of the ‘Pakistani Post-9/11 Fiction in English’ observes that Pakistani post-9/11 fiction in English texts also demonstrates, intentionally or unintentionally, a mildly Orientalist appetite for didactic international writing on Islam and the ‘Islamic world’ after 9/11. He seems to be engaged in tracing an ambivalence, as per his own narrow perception, in these novels by raising consciousness and simultaneously disrupting confidence in consciousness-raising.

To revert to the subject, it would be observed that Aamer Shaheen seems to have studied these texts (of the afore-mentioned ten novels) in many modes like deconstructive, psychoanalytic and narratological. In line of the Arab Anglophone tradition, he has also relied on the concept of ‘home and memory’ which ultimately merges into the issues of ‘identity, representation, and double consciousness’, if not racialization.

There are other writers also of Pakistani origin like Muhammd Hanif, Kamila Shamsie, Ali Sethi, Uzma Aslam Khan and Daniyaal Mueenuddin who have integrated in their work ‘all the major three thematic strands characterizing the genre of post-9/11 Anglophone fiction of portrayal of ethnic back-

ground, identity issue and impact of 9/11 at a considerable length’.

These selected works may be taken as indicators for thrashing some most prominent issues of the post-9/11 world in fiction.

Contemporary fiction writers around the world have dealt with one or two of the major thematic strands at a time in their works. But it is only these selected Pakistani novelists who have touched all the themes raised as current concerns of the contemporary world. Thus they have attempted to redefine the South Asian literature as well.

It would be interesting here to enumerate some really good books by American writers too, aside from the indigenous/diasporic writers discussed above, on the 9/11 episode like ‘The Emperor’s Children’ by Claire Messud, ‘A Disorder Peculiar to the Country’ by Ken Kalfus, ‘The Zero’ by Jess Walter, ‘Falling Man’ by Don DeLillo, ‘The Submission’ by Amy Waldman, ‘Oblivion’

by David Foster Wallace, ‘The Effect of Living Backwards’ by Heidi Julavits, ‘A Better Angel’ by Chris Adrian et al. These writers in general seem to have taken a prospective view of the horrendous event without unnecessarily bewailing its tragimelancholic contours.

At the end, I cannot but subscribe to the view of one of his learned admirers that ‘Aamer Shaheen’s book brings very vividly the Pakistani side of the loss vis-à-vis the event of 9/11 and its aftermath and deserves a wider global audience given its impenitent and unapologetic national fervour’.

Monday, 30 November, 2020

06 COMMENT

Covid-19 - A national security crisis

Who’s minding the store?

Imran Khan says he gets no dictation

I

n an interview with a private TV channel broadcast Friday, Prime Minister Imran Khan did not mention the Covid-19 pandemic resurging in its second wave, not even to blame the opposition rallies which he had earlier accused of spreading the disease, ignoring the rallies he himself has been holding of late. However, he did take the opportunity of attempting a claim of independence by saying that he had not received any pressure on either foreign policy, or in making appointments, from the armed forces. This defence of the military might be seen an attempt to return to the narrative of the past, whose going missing in recent days was causing comment, of the government and the military being on the same page. It might also be seen as an attempt to counter the opposition narrative, of the military being responsible for the present state of the nation because it had interfered in politics and had brought forth an incompetent leadership, in the shape of Mr Khan and his colleagues.

Apparently in his anxiety to show the absence of any means of pressure on him, he made a strange admission: “The ISI and IB know whatever I do and whoever I talk to on telephone.” His claim that the CIA and other agencies did the same to their leaders cannot be conceded because he has a track record of mangling facts (such as his faux pas placing Germany and Japan next to one another), but even if it was true, such a practice would not be justifiable because of a Western example. Both the ISI, and IB, he might remember, are subordinate to him, not indirectly, but in the very real sense that their respective Directors General are supposed to report to him. He should not have been so casual about revealing an arrangement where subordinate agencies spy on him.

Mr Khan might have felt that making such subordination public would win him brownie points among the military, but he should also realize that disclosure of operational details, or at least their confirmation at his level, cannot do any good to either the ISI or the IB. He has also revealed, though inadvertently, that the room for maneuver of future PMs in diplomacy, will be reduced, for foreign leaders, will know that the conversation is being monitored.

A national action plan is needed Abdul Aziz bhurgri

C

OVID-19 is quickly becoming a threat to our national security. The second wave of TE coronavirus is in progress and the positivity rate in Pakistan has spiked and reached a disconcerting 7.46 percent. The second wave of coronavirus is well and truly here and it is wreaking more havoc than the first wave. It is time that we start prioritizing and treating covid19 as a national security emergency. To see how covid-19 qualifies as a national security crisis, one has to look at the existing history and paradigm of national security. national security as a concept was introduced in the 17th century after the Treaty of Westphalia that ended a 30-year-old religious war in Europe. Following which, nation-states were considered sovereign and they had complete control over their internal borders. Moreover, they were also responsible for the external security of their territory and people. During its early days, national security mainly dealt with military matters exclusively; however, that reality has now changed especially after the end of World War II. Today, national security can broadly be defined as “the safekeeping of a nation as a whole”. While traditional military threats do continue to exist, they aren’t the only threats affecting a nation. The threat of the global pandemic referred to as covid-19 today, is the single biggest threat to the safekeeping of the Pakistani nation that has so far affected 392,356 people and claimed over 7,940 lives.

Covid-19’s severity can only be understood by comparing it to previous natural disasters that have struck Pakistan. The tsunami of 1945 in Balochistan led to the death of more than 4000 innocent lives.

Additionally, in the tragic 1974 Hunza Earthquake, 5300 people lost their lives. Other natural disasters that devastated the country include the 2010 floods, which are considered as one of the worst floods to have ever affected Pakistan in which over 2000 people lost their lives.

While every human loss is a setback and a huge loss for the country, the numbers above look pale in comparison to the effect Covid-19 has had so far.

Covid-19 is among the most dangerous and destructive natural calamities to have hit Pakistan. This is outside of the impact that Covid-19 has on the economy which will be affecting the lives of millions of working-class Pakistanis.

Success in Niamey Kashmir support in conference, UAE visas in sidelines

P

Abu hurAirA

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n 13th August, 2020 a joint statement known as Abraham Accords was issued by the USA, UAE and Israel formally announcing the normalization of relations between the latter two. Since then, two more Arab countries, Bahrain and Sudan, have announced the normalization of ties with Israel. now the pressure is building on Pakistan to recognize Israel. According to a website, Middle East Eye(MEE), quoted the prime minister of Pakistan as saying that “there is great pressure from US on Pakistan to recognize the state of Israel, especially in the wake of Abraham accords signed between Till Aviv and several Arab countries”. He also ruled out any possibility of recognition of Israel by saying that this will not be possible until there is a just settlement which is acceptable to Palestine. This report was subsequently denied by the Foreign Office.

The rivalry between both the countries had existed since the creation of Israel on 14 May 1948.

Pakistan and Israel are the only two countries of the world which were created on the basis of their religion. Israel tried several times to establish diplomatic and economic relations with Pakistan but in vain. The first Prime Minister of Israel, David Ben Gurion, wrote a letter to Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah asking to establish diplomatic and economic ties between the two countries so they can “trade”. Quaid wrote this as a reply!

“Every man and woman of the Muslim world will die before Jewry seizes Jerusalem. I hope the Jews will not succeed in their nefarious designs and I wish Britain and America should keep their hand off and then I will see how the Jews conquer Jerusalem.

The Jews, over half a million, have already been accommodated in Jerusalem against the wishes of the people. May I know which other country has accommodated them? If domination and exploitation are carried now, there will be no peace and end of wars”.

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Muhammad Zafarullah Khan in 1952 took a hard stance towards Israel and advocated unwavering support of Pakistan for Palestinians in the light of the Arab-Israel war in

Arif Nizami Editor Umar Aziz

Asher John

Executive Editor

Deputy Editor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965

It is important to stay hopeful about the possibility of a global vaccine ending the pandemic, but we must not let our guard down. It is time to act collectively not just for ourselves, but for our families and our nation.

Pakistan has in its past faced existential threats but it did successfully come out of them and there is no reason to believe that covid-19 will not also eventually be contained.

But at what cost, it still depends on us

Abdul Aziz Bhurgri is a freelance columnist

Recognition minus assurances on Palestine issue not possible

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Joint Editor

only be successfully dealt with if all stakeholders in Pakistan come together and collectively treat covid19 as a national security crisis.

In times of national security crisis, Pakistan has in the past come up with a national Action Plan for the menace of terrorism and for water scarcity. It is time that all political forces in the country let go of their political differences and come up with a national Action Plan that prioritizes the commitment to protect working-class Pakistanis from the threat of covid-19. The time to control the pandemic may run out if all stakeholders don’t collectively act soon. Just like terrorism, we need a national Action Plan to deal with covid-19 on which all stake holders agree.

Some people might point out the fact that there have been vaccines that have been announced in the West by Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca. The logistics of distribution and storage will still be a challenge for developing countries like Pakistan. On the other hand there are Chinese vaccines whose trials are presently ongoing in Pakistan, which may be more suitable for our region. However, it is estimated that once these trials are finished the results will go back to China for processing and this entire process by itself will take at least a few months before any vaccines can be approved by the healthcare regulators.

It is important to stay hopeful about the possibility of a global vaccine ending the pandemic, but we must not let our guard down. It is time to act collectively not just for ourselves, but for our families and our nation. Pakistan has in its past faced existential threats but it did successfully come out of them and there is no reason to believe that covid-19 will also eventually be contained. But at what cost, it still depends on us.

Pakistan’s Israel Dilemma

AKISTAn was able to achieve three important things at the Council of Foreign Ministers session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in niger’s capital of niamey. First, it was able to achieve the passage of a resolution on Kashmir, which had been in doubt because of the closeness of the relations between India and the Arab states, including Saudi Arabia, which has been treating the OIC as its own special bailiwick, meant to support its national interests. This is the first notice taken by the OIC of the Indian shutdown of Kashmir last year, and the subsequent lockdown there, but it has condemned Indian human rights violations in very strong terms. However, it might be noted that the OIC Contact Group on Kashmir did not meet. That might be rectified at the next meeting, which Islamabad has succeeded in being scheduled to host. It is also likely that the last-minute palpitations over Kashmir can be avoided, and it will be easier to get a resolution passed.

It was also a Pakistani success that the meeting passed a resolution condemning Islamophobia with the text provided by Pakistan, because it wanted a resolution which would not exclude Indian actions, not just against Kashmiris, but against its Muslim citizens. Just because the resolution was motivated by the events in France, did not mean that meeting could ignore what India had been doing against its Muslim citizens.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi also had a fruitful meeting with UAE Minister of State for international Cooperation Raim Al-Hashemi about the denying of visas for ‘security reasons’ which would have meant that Pakistan would be denied sending labour to the UAE. As a result of the meeting, Pakistan’s concerns were conveyed, as well as the problematic exclusion of India from the list of banned countries, and the continuing of the visa-onarrival facility for European countries. The ‘security reasons’ claimed clearly that they do not have anything to do with the coronavirus pandemic, or else restrictions would have been slapped on those countries first.

Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

An example of the effect of natural disasters on the economy can be seen in the study that was conducted which analyzed the impact of natural disasters on economic growth in Pakistan by using time series data from 1975 to 2010. The study concluded that natural disasters slowed the GDP growth by 1.483 percent and the industrial production rate descended to 2.1 percent.

Today, Pakistan’s economy for the first time in 68 years is expected to go through to the next fiscal year with a negative growth rate of 0.38 percent. The impact of slow growth directly affects the working-class population of Pakistan, which forms the majority of the country. A nation-state’s biggest concern outside protecting its borders is to ensure a healthy and prosperous people within its borders. Covid-19 is actively making an impact on a large number of people which will inevitably not just overburden our healthcare system but also increase unemployment and result in economic instability. Any domestic instability will directly impact Pakistan’s national security paradigm and put the entire nation at risk.

It is also important to remember that covid-19 is an ongoing crisis and that these numbers are likely to increase. The question is how quickly do we realize the magnanimity of this threat and treat it with the emergency that is needed. national and provincial governments did an effective job in controlling the first wave of the pandemic however, the second wave of the pandemic is a much bigger political, as well as an economic and social, challenge. There are warnings that if covid-19 cases continue to multiply, the country might have to go into a complete lockdown again.

These warnings come in the background of the fact that leaders of political parties continue to hold rallies amid increasing covid-19 cases. Today covid-19 can

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Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9

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1952. Pakistan supported Arab countries in all of their wars with Israel and even provided military aid. It is said that during Six-Day War in 1967, a Pakistani fighter pilot downed four Israeli jets. (He recently passed away in Bangladesh, in woe air force he retired as an air commodore).

Pakistan also gave training to fighters of the Palestinian Liberation Organization.

Israel, after unsuccessful attempts to stop Pakistan’s nuclear programme, planned an operation to attack the nuclear sites of Pakistan on the pattern of operation Opera/Babylon carried out by Israel in Iran on 7 June 1981.

Mossad asked help from India but did not got the desired response because India feared that this kind of attack may not cause Israel to face a full-fledged war with Pakistan, but it will lead to a fourth war between India and Pakistan, and this time it might be nuclear. Along with the Indian response, Pakistan’s inter-services intelligence got information and prepared retaliatory attacks on Israeli nuclear sites, thus leading to the failure of the plan of Israel.

Despite this rivalry, there have been several efforts to normalize ties between both countries from both sides. But the religious pressure groups of Pakistan have prevented any government from doing so. A well known analyst Ayesha Siddiqa (Researcher at South Asia Institute) said that Pakistani establishment was keen to establish diplomatic relations with Israel in order to challenge and counter the strong diplomatic ties between the USA and India. Former dictator president Parveiz Musharraf pub-

Islamabad – Ph: 051-2204545

licly spoke in favour of developing relations with Israel.

In 2017, Israeli president Benjamen natenyahu on his official visit to India said that “we are not the enemy of Pakistan and Pakistan should not be our enemy either.”

In 2018, news spread about an Israeli jet arriving at Islamabad airport. In 2019, Pakistan’s foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi appeard on an Israeli media network and said that we would like Israel to join our friends’ circle in this region and wished best of luck to Israel.

Recently, the statement of Imran Khan shows that efforts are going on to normalize relationships but the extremist religious parties would never allow it. The religious sentiment is evident from the funeral of Maulana Khadim Hussain Rizvi (Chairman TLP). His funeral is considered to be the largest gathering in the history of Lahore city, clearly giving message that religious extremism is still at its peak in Pakistan. The religious parties and even the rightwing parties like the PML(n) criticized the steps to normalize relations with Israel. Despite all the pressure from global powers, the ground situation in Pakistan clearly shows that it is in the current scenario impossible for Pakistan to recognize Israel as a legitimate state and develop diplomatic ties with it.

It must not be forgotten that it is not just solidarity with Palestinians, but the similarity of their plight wit that of the Kashmiris. That parallel is also on the mind of Indian decision makers as they further ties with Israel.

Recently, the statement of Imran khan shows that efforts are going on to normalize relationships but the extremist religious parties would never allow it.

The religious sentiment is evident from the funeral of Maulana Khadim Hussain Rizvi (Chairman TLP). His funeral is considered to be the largest gathering in the history of Lahore city, clearly giving message that religious extremism is still at its peak in Pakistan

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Abu Huraira is a freelance columnist

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Monday, 30 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

Covid-19 and education IF one opens the golden pages of history, many diseases had come human’s lives, allergies & asthma, cancer, celiac disease, crohn’s & colitis, heart disease etc victimized the persons. Likewise, covid-19 pandemic spread all over the globe. According to news channels, several of them died due to this disease. After all, intellectuals argued that, social distance, wearing masks and following the SOPs people can protect themselves.

Besides this, all institutions and activities closed for some months. In Pakistan, also due to this horrible disease people were facing bundle of problems during Corona virus. Accordingly, the ratio of increasing cases the education Federal Minister Shafqat Mohmood has announced all educational institutions stay closed from 11th January. Only it was the decision of institutions nor for the other places why?

Iqra mohammad haSSan TurbaT

Mobile networks but useless

Punishment for Rapists Chemical castration is not a very good idea zAfAr Aziz

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RIME MInISTER Imran Khan on 24th november this year approved in principle a law on chemical castration of rapists and fast tracking of sexual assault cases. This decision was made after massive uproar in Pakistan over a recent gang-rape case, in which Prime Minister’s immediate reaction was that deterrent punishments should be prescribed in the form of chemical castration and public execution for rapists.

Rape is a sensitive and heinous offence which is seldom reported to the Police. In a recent rape-and-murder case of a seven-year-old girl in Lahore in January 2018, and more recently the motorway gang-rape in Lahore, sparked a debate on the severity of punishment for rape to prevent sexual assaults. In the motorway case, a Pakistani woman was allegedly gangraped in front of her children by robbers on a motorway in Punjab, the Sialkot bypass, on September 9 this year, triggering a public outcry and sending shockwaves across the nation.

To combat rising cases of sexual attacks on women and children in Pakistan, the federal Cabinet has approved in principle two anti-rape ordinances aimed at handing out exemplary punishment, including chemical castration and hanging, to rapists, according to a media report.

Their details have not so far been released, but the Information Minister declared that The AntiRape (Investigation and Trial) Ordinance 2020 and Pakistan Penal Code (Amendment) Ordinance 2020 would be finalized in a week to be promulgated. It is presumed that these statutes will be first enforced through ordinance, and later debated and approved by Parliament. It was also indicated that for the first time in the history of Pakistan, the definition of rape has been changed by incorporating “transgender” and “gang-rape” in it, the report said.

In 1996, California for the first time enacted death penalty and chemical castration as a punishment for rapists, and later many countries around the world followed suit. However, such laws were branded as draconian and a “return to the Dark Ages.” Amnesty International branded it as “the ultimate denial of Human Rights”. The death penalty is a kind of retributive form of justice. At present, 58 nations actively practice it, including Pakistan, India, China and the USA, while nearly 140 countries have abolished it, including the European Union. The American Supreme Court held that the Eighth Amendment does not permit the State to punish the crime of rape of even a child with the death penalty. Thus in the USA, the death penalty is

limited to espionage, treason, terrorism and major drug offences.

The history of the law of rape in Pakistan shows that prior to 1979, Section 375 of the Pakistan Penal Code stated that girls younger than the age of 14 were prohibited from sex acts even if consent was acquired. Despite this, the previous laws also claims that rape during marriage is not considered rape as long as the wife is over the age of 14.

In 1979, the Pakistani legislature (the President and CMLA) passed Enforcement Of Hudood Ordinance, 1979, and prescribed harsh punishments for sex offenders. But due to severity of punishments and requiring four witnesses to prove the offence of rape, this legislation became unpopular. Thus in november 2006, the national Assembly of Pakistan passed Women Protection Bill to amend the heavily criticized 1979 Hudood Ordinance laws. Under the new bill, the death penalty for extramarital sex, and the need for victims to produce four witnesses to prove rape cases, were removed. Death penalty and flogging for people convicted of having consensual sex outside marriage was also removed.

However, Consensual sex outside marriage was still treated as a criminal offense with a punishment of five years in prison and fine.

Thus the Women Protection Bill of 2006 described rape by saying that “A man is said to commit rape who has sexual intercourse with a woman under circumstances falling under any of the five following descriptions,(i) against her will. (ii) without her consent (iii) with her consent, when the consent has been obtained by putting her in fear of death or of hurt,(iv) with her consent, when the man knows that he is not married to her and that the consent is given because she believes that the man is another person to whom she is or believes herself to be married; or (v) With or without her consent when she is under sixteen years of age.”

The punishment for rape under the 2006 Women Protection Bill was either death or imprisonment between 10 and 25 years. For cases related to gang rape, the punishment was either the death penalty or life imprisonment.

The punishment for rape under the 2006 Women Protection Bill was either death or imprisonment between 10 and 25 years.

For cases related to gang rape, the punishment was either the death penalty or life imprisonment.

On 7 October 2016, Parliament unanimously passed a new anti-rape and anti-honour killing law called the Criminal Law (Amendment) (Offense of Rape) Act 2016 which introduced harsher punishments for the perpetrators of such crimes. According to the new law, anyone who rapes a minor or a mentally or physically disabled person will be liable for the death penalty or life imprisonment. This law made DnA testing mandatory in rape cases. The media was also restricted from publishing or publicising the names of victims or any information that would reveal the identity of a victim. The trial for rape had also to conclude within three months.

Child sexual abuse is widespread in Pakistani schools. In a study of child sexual abuse in Rawalpindi and Islamabad, out of a sample of 300 children, 17 percent claimed to have been abused, and in 1997 one child a day was reported as raped, gang raped or kidnapped for sexual gratification.

There are at least 11 rape cases reported in Pakistan every day with over 22,000 rape cases reported to the police across the country in the last six years, according to official statistics.

However, only 77 accused have been convicted which comprise 0.3 percent of the total figure.

Why is the rate of conviction in rape cases so pathetically low? On the other hand, the incidence of occurrence of illicit sex is very large as compared with the cases of rape reported to the police. Beside various other reasons for so few rape cases, one primary reason is that in most cases, the sexual act takes place with the consent of the girl. In such a case, the act becomes fornication and not rape.

When the incidence of such consensual but illicit sex become publicly known, these cases of fornication are distorted into rape by the girl’s parents as a matter of vengeance. Hence genuine cases of rape are very rare. normally in such cases, during the course of trial, the parties or the witnesses are won over and the case of rape falls flat. But when rivalries between the parties are old and strong, then the cases end in conviction. In such a background, castration of convicts should not be resorted to, as it is rather cruel and inhuman.

Another argument against castration is even more solid. Castration of a male is not only a punishment for him, but also indirectly a punishment for his legally wedded wife who is permanently deprived of her conjugal rights. If a convict after castration is feared to become a terrorist or a serial killer, his wife too will hanker after illicit sex and corrupt the society.

Castration of a male is not only a punishment for him, but also indirectly a punishment for his legally wedded wife who is permanently deprived of her conjugal rights. If a convict after castration is feared to become a terrorist or a serial killer, his wife too will hanker after illicit sex and corrupt the society

Zafar Aziz is a freelance columnist

I would like to draw concerned authorities’ attention towards the issue of weak and useless mobile networks of Turbat which have been creating uninvited troubles to residents. Turbat is the second biggest city of Balochistan in regards to population, for a massive population, mobile networks become one of the basic necessities, we have mobile networks of Jazz, Warid, Mobilink, Zong and Ufone, but unfortunately, instead of getting benefits, we get disadvantages. A call we want to be received by our beloveds is transferred to an unknown person and when our beloveds try to have communications with us, the same, instead of us they get communicated to unknowns. It sometimes creates lots of issues when it goes to a powerful and dangerous person, because he might think that it is being done for causing him harm. Turbat residents have demanded to have 4G connections back in the city, if we cannot get 4G does not matter, at least, we should have good networks that shall not suppose us to have dangers. adnan maqSood TurbaT

Useless words POLITICAL rivalries apart, it is the choice of words used by spokesmen, or spokeswomen, of political parties which reflects the mindset of their leadership, their democratic credentials or fascist tendencies.

When spokesman/spokeswoman, while trying to please their masters, descend to the lowest pits of decency, devoid of all morals and ethics it falls in the category of Verbal Hemorrhoids. The unacceptable reference to the mode of transportation of mortal remains of the mother of nawaz and Shahbaz has hurt the sentiments of many who have brought back for burial the mortal remains of their loved ones, as per their wish to be interred in the soil of their motherland. There are IATA/ICAO rules which define the mode of transportation and procedures, such as hermetically sealed coffin etc., which must be followed for transportation of mortal remains in cargo holds of commercial aircraft, which are followed universally.

Pakistan aviation is already facing sanctions with threats of restricting their overflight or landing at major airports. In the assessment of EASA, we have failed to enforce regulation and implement Safety Management System which includes carriage of dangerous goods and strictly following emergency procedures, and serviceability equipment and certification of personnel involved in operation and handling of commercial aviation. Pakistan CAA has lost credibility and in the opinion of EASA, those assigned to regulate its various functions lack competence, skills and experience which is required for regulation and ensuring safety. malIk TarIq alI lahorE

Bribe in the MDCAT SInDH high court rejected the application of delaying exam of MDCAT, as it was already delayed in many times, and it happens in 29th november, many students of entry test works hard to get short listed in the merit, as they give almost much time to their education, but very unfortunately to say that it is sold to rich students every time, the private teachers, govt teachers, and educational undertaker fix the rate of this test, and now it is also happened in this test, many teachers contacted to their students for purchasing answer sheet, and the affordable students bought it without any single hesitation, they are destroying the efforts and hardworking of intellectual students, and its the humiliation for poor students who are not the part of this crime due to not affording the answer sheet, while those who will purchase the answer sheet and will be the barber not doctor, their preference will be first to collect the given many and than to earn more money for their secure life, these doctors we see in all around and have no sympathy for patients and also have no keen to serve the nation’s people, how sad it is that they do such crimes without thinking for others, we are not hiring the passionate and sympathetic doctors but the cruel and the businessman for future, Govt should take action against such crimes otherwise this social disease will discourage the efforts of intellectual, passionate and enthusiastic peoples who works with zeal and zest.

SIraj ahmEd abbaSI kaShmorE

Journalists not safe PAKISTAn is a country where journalists are not safe at all. The journalists are killed or disappeared when they expose the bitter realities of the inexorable government and are murdered due to other several reasons.

Dishearteningly, in 2018, five journalists were killed. Eight journalists were killed during 2019 and 2020. However, these are just some reported cases of journalists but there are thousands of such murder cases that have not been reported. Adorably, the journalist work so hard in order to keep us updated about everything happening in our surrounding. Is their reward of the service for the society is death?

Farahnaz Farooq ahmEd TurbaT

Monday, 30 November, 2020

08 WORLD VIEW

Should AmericA Still police the world?

“YOU GUYS WANT ME TO SEND TROOPS EVERYWHERE,” TRUMP REPORTEDLY COMPLAINED TO HIS TOP NATIONAL-SECURITY AIDES AS THEY PROPOSED MORE FORCE IN NORTH AFRICA. “UNFORTUNATELY, SIR,” SECRETARY OF DEFENCE JIM MATTIS REPLIED, “YOU HAVE NO CHOICE” “IF WE HAVE TO USE FORCE, IT IS BECAUSE WE ARE AMERICA; WE ARE THE INDISPENSABLE NATION,” MADELEINE ALBRIGHT, BILL CLINTON’S SECRETARY OF STATE, EXPLAINED, IN A FAMOUS FORMULATION. “WE STAND TALL AND WE SEE FURTHER THAN OTHER COUNTRIES INTO THE FUTURE” New Yorker

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Daniel immerwahr

n 1939, shortly before the German invasion of Poland, a British emissary, Lord Lothian, visited the White House with an unusual request. The United Kingdom was unable to protect the world from the nazis, Lothian told President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. “Anglo-Saxon civilization” would thus need a new guardian. The scepter was falling from British hands, Lothian explained, and the United States must “snatch it up.” Though informally made, it was an extraordinary entreaty. London was willing to step aside and let Washington lead the world.

But F.D.R. was not interested. Indeed, he was offended. “I got mad clear through,” he wrote. Who were the British to dump their burdens onto his lap? Saving civilization was their job. The United States’ army at the time was only slightly larger than Bulgaria’s, with little ability to hold back illiberal forces in Central Europe.

“What the British need,” F.D.R. concluded, was to buck up with “a good stiff grog.”

That was perhaps the last time a President would be so blithe about U.S. hegemony. As Stephen Wertheim explains in his new history, “Tomorrow, the World,” the Second World War is what changed Roosevelt’s mind, and the minds of nearly all those around him. The fall of France, in 1940, convinced U.S. leaders of the need to enter the fray. In 1941, the publisher Henry Luce went further and proposed an “American Century,” a postwar global order led by the values, institutions, and ultimately the military force of the United States. Luce’s idea was controversial at first, yet by the end of the war it seemed inevitable. By then, the hastily expanded U.S. military had gained footholds all over the planet, and Washington was reluctant to give them up. As Roosevelt’s successor, Harry Truman, put it to Congress, in late 1945, “We must relentlessly preserve our superiority on land and sea and in the air.”

And relentless that preservation has been. Today, the Pentagon controls around seven hundred and fifty bases in some eighty foreign countries and territories—a pointillist empire that spans the globe. Last spring, Mike Pence told West Point’s graduating class that it was a “virtual certainty” they would see combat. (He then offered an expansive list of possible locales, from the Americas to the Korean Peninsula.) Even in the absence of troops on the ground, U.S. drones hover overhead, surveilling people and occasionally firing missiles at them. By the calculations of the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, the United States has killed more people in the past five years by air strikes than by police shootings.

The argument for this widespread application of violence is a familiar one. Were it not for the U.S. military, we are told, the world would be lawless and dangerous.

“If we have to use force, it is because we are America; we are the indispensable nation,” Madeleine Albright, Bill Clinton’s Secretary of State, explained, in a famous formulation. “We stand tall and we see further than other countries into the future.”

Such self-aggrandizement has often provoked eye rolls, but never more than now. Among the political pieties that Donald Trump shredded, in his four years as President, is the notion that the United States stands for anything but stark self-interest. He scorned international agreements, romanced dictators, and made laughable the notion that the United States might be an impartial umpire in world affairs. Though he seemed less focussed on global leadership than his predecessors, this was not out of deference to international norms. When asked to define the Trump Doctrine, one senior Administration official put it plainly: “We’re America, bitches.”

Just as George Floyd’s killing sharpened a crisis of legitimacy for police departments, Trump’s reign sharpened one for Washington’s foreign policy. For billions abroad, it’s made certain questions hard to ignore. Why does this one country have the power it does? When that power is abused, can the United States be held to account? By whom? There’s never been a time, in the past decade, when a majority of people around the world approved of U.S. leadership, but that number is now less than a third, according to Gallup’s polling. In other words, the United States is markedly less popular globally than Trump is domestically.

Surely Joe Biden, who has promised to end the crass posturing and cultivate allies, will restore some international favor. But will his election change anything on a deeper level? Two recent books shed some light. One, by the former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, sees the United States as a “beacon to oppressed peoples everywhere” that, under Trump, temporarily strayed from its mission. The other, by the conservative AustralianBritish political scientist Patrick Porter, regards such talk as a gauzy fiction. For Porter, Trump is “less an aberration than a culmination.”

Robert Gates’s first memoir was titled “From the Shadows,” and that is an apt description of where Gates has comfortably resided. He is not a flashy man—a colleague once likened him to “the guy at P. C. Richards who sold microwave ovens”—but he has been for decades a quietly persistent presence in foreign policymaking. Gates has served as the Defense Secretary, C.I.A. chief, and deputy national-security adviser, among other roles. Unusually, he has occupied high positions under both Democratic and Republican Presidents. After George W. Bush placed him in charge of the Defense Department, Barack Obama kept him there as a trusted source of counsel. He has called Biden “a man of genuine integrity” and Trump “unfit to be Commander-in-Chief.”

Gates’s latest book, “Exercise of Power,” offers a stark view of the world. The country is “challenged on every front,” Gates believes. The places the United States must police are, in his various descriptions, a “bane” (Iran), a “curse” (Iraq), a “primitive country” (Afghanistan), and a “sinkhole of conflict and terrorism” (the Middle East). Its adversaries form a rogue’s gallery of “bad guys,” “thugs,” “serial cheaters and liars,” and “ever-duplicitous Pakistanis.”

The United States, by contrast, Gates sees as “the most steadfast example and proponent of human rights and individual liberty, and defender of the repressed everywhere.” Its willingness to put ill-intentioned actors in their place has been, by his reckoning, an enormous boon. Direct confrontations between the so-called “great powers” are routinely the deadliest wars, yet we are living in the longest stretch free of them since the Roman Empire. Wars of conquest are nearly a thing of the past, and, though the world possesses more than ten thousand nuclear weapons, not one has been detonated in anger in three-quarters of a century.

Gates believes that U.S. primacy has been essential to this relatively calm state of affairs. Which is why its erosion—straying allies, defiant enemies—concerns him so much. Gates blames the crisis on “recent political leaders” who have wielded power ineptly. They have leaned too heavily on the military and neglected such other “instruments of power” as persuasion, trade, aid, sanctions, public relations, and covert action. What Gates seeks, in essence, is reform: fewer choke holds, more community policing. A more supple exertion of influence, he argues, will shore up the United States’ flagging supremacy and “ensure that authoritarianism, twice defeated in the twentieth century, does not prevail in the twenty-first.”

Gates’s sense that the United States has relied too much on its armed forces is widely shared. Biden has also complained of it, and a recent Gallup poll found people nearly twice as likely to say that Washington is spending too much on its military as too little. They’re right. U.S.A.I.D., the governmental agency for distributing aid, has some three thousand five hundred employees, making it the size of a large newspaper or small university. The Defense Department, the agency for distributing force, is, by contrast, the world’s largest employer. It counts 2.1 million in uniform, plus more than seven hundred thousand civilian workers—it’s more than eight hundred times U.S.A.I.D.’s size. Gates describes the foreign-facing side of the government as “a nineteenth-century tricycle, with a giant front wheel (Defense) and tiny back wheels (everything else).”

Turning away from militarism means accepting limits on U.S. influence. At one point, Gates discusses north Korea, which continues to develop its nuclear arsenal.

In 2017, Trump, in his first address to the United nations, threatened to “totally destroy” the country. But Gates believes that north Korea will never voluntarily relinquish its nuclear weapons and that any attempt to force the issue could trigger a major war. “Perhaps, then, we should change the goal, lower our sights, and seek an agreement that limits the north’s nuclear weapons arsenal,” he writes. It would be no chest-thumping victory, but Gates appears to have little interest in those.

It’s refreshing to see Gates cast a skeptical eye on received truths. Yet there is one political axiom he refuses to question: U.S. primacy. Peace and safety, in Gates’s final estimation, are not goods secured coöperatively by well-meaning countries. They depend, rather, “almost entirely on long-term American strength, engagement, and leadership.”

But why should this be? A justification is hard to make out, beyond Gates’s insistence that the United States is uniquely “on the side of liberty and human dignity.”And even that assertion fits oddly with his hardbitten realism. U.S. Presidents should avoid intervening with force, Gates writes, unless there is “a threat to American vital interests.” If intervention is ultimately a question of interests, though, why should other countries have any faith that Washington is protecting the collective good? It’s like trusting a police chief who brags

about sending out officers only when the department’s budget is on the line.

Such questions lie at the heart of Patrick Porter’s bracing book, “The False Promise of Liberal Order.” In Porter’s view, the issue is not that policymakers like Gates are hypocritical; it’s that the very idea of a “liberal order” is contradictory. Liberalism, in the context of international relations, means freedom, equality, and consent, whereas world orders are hierarchies that rest “on the threat of force.” The United States, Porter writes, is the “gentlest hegemon thus far.” But it’s still a hegemon, and hegemony entails domination.

Consider the matter of the International Criminal Court in The Hague—which was created, in 1998, in the wake of the Rwandan genocide. The court promised to be a pillar of a rules-based system, bringing war criminals to justice no matter their nationality. Yet when it became clear that the rules would apply to the United States, Washington balked. “American armed forces have a unique peacekeeping role, posted to hot spots around the world,” David Scheffer, the country’s first ambassador-at-large for war-crimes issues, explained.

What if U.S. service members were arrested for war crimes or crimes against humanity? “We simply cannot be expected to expose our people to those sorts of risks,” Scheffer insisted. “It is an absolute bottom line with us.”

Scheffer wasn’t bluffing. In the year that the court opened its doors, Congress passed a law banning military aid (with exceptions) to any country willing to comply with the court. The law also authorized military force to free U.S. or allied personnel imprisoned by the court, earning it the nickname The Hague Invasion Act. In the name of preserving order, Porter writes, “the superpower sought immunity from the ICC, reserving the right literally to attack its institutions.” He notes that even such champions of internationalism as Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and John Kerry voted for the law.

Such is the way of hegemony, argues Porter. Rulemakers aren’t generally rule-takers. Porter, a realist in the classical tradition, is untroubled by this. What bothers him is the “false promise” that hegemony can be benevolent—a delusion, he believes, that warps the world view of U.S. leaders. From their perspective, the international order created in 1945 has been a blessing.

They have thus struggled to understand why foreigners might not be content or might perceive U.S. policing as a threat. Puffed up on their own hype, policymakers in Washington have been repeatedly “shocked” when their “obviously benign actions result in resistance,” Porter writes. Seeing themselves as pure, they can explain opposition only by seeing the world as wicked: a sinkhole teeming with thugs, bad guys, and ever-duplicitous Pakistanis. “You know why they hate us?” George W. Bush asked after Al Qaeda’s attacks on September 11, 2001.

“They hate us because we love freedom.”

Such a world view leads easily to the conclusion that Something Must Be Done. Bush started Middle Eastern wars in the name of freedom—wars that, in different forms, Obama and Trump continued. The titles of the military missions read like tombstones in a graveyard of liberal ambitions: Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, Operation new Dawn. We’re now at Operation Inherent Resolve, the ongoing mission to extirpate the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. It’s the first one whose name makes no reference to freedom or transformation, yet it

would be optimistic to interpret this as a backing down.

Recent years have shown Washington’s military commitments to be wedged tightly in place. This past September, on the same day that Trump declared “we are out of Syria” other than to guard its oil fields, the Pentagon announced that it was increasing troop levels by twenty per cent.

“You guys want me to send troops everywhere,” Trump reportedly complained to his top national-security aides as they proposed more force in north Africa.

“Unfortunately, sir,” Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis replied, “you have no choice.”Does the United States, in the end, have a choice? not really, writes Gates. With U.S. primacy, the world is a place where differences can be resolved peaceably. Without it, the planet “descends into a dog-eat-dog, might-makes-right environment.”

The question for Gates is not whether the United States should reign but how it should do so. A defter hand, he hopes, will restore the country to its necessary role. This restoration would, as Biden has put it, “place America back at the head of the table.”

Porter has different advice: abandon the seat. The U.S.-centered system was built at the end of the Second World War, when the U.S. economy was larger than the four next-largest economies combined. Today, by some measures, it is smaller than China’s. The crisis of U.S. supremacy has been in the making for decades, though Porter thinks that it has now reached its culmination. For the United States to hang onto its increasingly untenable position would only leave it “a militarized, overextended empire in a permanent state of alarm,” perpetually threatening the peace it claims to protect. A better course for the obsolescent hegemon, Porter proposes, would be to “decline gracefully.”

What might a graceful decline look like? It would require Washington to give up the notion that its troops or its values should dominate the planet. This wouldn’t mean retreating from worldly affairs, just adjusting to a more level international field. Relieved of having to frantically defend its leadership, Porter notes, the United States could focus, as it had before the Second World War, on the more achievable goals of protecting itself from physical attack and defending its republican institutions.

Both tasks would be easier with a smaller military.

It’s hard to be a calm and secure republic with armed forces stationed everywhere, stirring up resistance. A dethroned Washington would still need to maneuver against powerful rivals—Porter recommends that the United States contain China and block it from forming a strong alliance with Russia. Yet it would no longer have to compulsively monitor the map for threats to its primacy.

Relinquishing that primacy—giving up the seat at the head of the table—is about as palatable to U.S. policymakers as defunding police departments. It’s not just that the position is unpopular among them; it’s that, until recently, it was in many circles unthinkable. But is that because the idea is so horrendously bad that it would quickly trigger global catastrophe, as Gates believes? Or is U.S. hegemony yet another relic from a bygone era, long overdue for reappraisal?

Daniel Immerwahr teaches history at Northwestern University and is the author of “How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States.”

Monday, 30 November, 2020

BUSINESS 09

Pakistan to remain special partner in next year’s CAEXPO BEIJING STAFF REPORT

Pakistan would remain a special partner country for the 18th CAEXPO next year as well, according to local media outlets. In this regard, Pakistan’s Ambassador to China Moin-ul-Haque met with CAEXPO Secretary General Wang Lei on the sidelines of 17th China-ASEAN Expo in Nanning on Sunday. The two parties also discussed ways and means for enhancing Pakistan’s footprint in the premier trade and investment platform, China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) which represents 11 countries with a combined GDP of $17.5 trillion and a consumer market of around 2 billion people. Secretary General Wang welcomed Pakistan’s participation as a special partner for the first time and admired the impressive pavilion and booths displaying quality merchandise and attractive handicrafts by TDAP and Pakistani businesses. He hoped that Pakistan’s Trade and Investment Promotion Conference held on the Expo’s sidelines would introduce Pakistan’s vast market to Chinese and ASEAN entrepreneurs. Underlying CAEXPO’s significance for regional trade and investments, Ambassador Haque referred to President Dr Arif Alvi’s video address in the inaugural ceremony in which he proposed a ChinaASEAN-Pakistan trade triangle. The Pakistani ambassador also welcomed the decision to include Pakistan in next year’s expo, expressing the hope that pandemic related travel restrictions would ease by that time, allowing high level officials and trade delegations from Pakistan to take part in the event.

EU, UNHCR to provide €10m for poor, refugees during second Covid-19 wave: envoy

GOvt ROllS OUt REStRUCtURiNG PlAN fOR PAkiStAN StEEl MillS ISLAMABAD

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APP

EDERAL Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar on Saturday rolled out a restructuring plan for Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM), according to which the mills would be run through private sector management to make it into a profit-earning organisation.

Addressing a press conference, the minister said that the government had to take hard decisions to check losses inflicted on the national exchequer through State-owned Entities (SOEs) which he said amounted to around Rs200 billion, more than the country’s defence budget.

The minister said the government wanted to make it profit earning organisation by involving the private sector and reducing over-staff.

He said the government would hire a financial advisor, through a transparent bidding process, with whose consultation the Privatisation Commission would proceed forward to bring the PSM under private sector management.

Initially, he said, around 4,500 employees out of 9,500 would be laid off in the first phase, followed by

the next phase that would result in laying off of 95 existing employees of the mill. Each employee would get an amount ranging from Rs2 million to Rs 3 million. The total dues to be paid have been estimated at around Rs10 billion which would be paid timely.

He said that out of 19,000 acres of land owned by the PSM, 13,000 would be leased to bear these expenditures.

He was of the view that had the decision been taken at an appropriate time, billions of rupees would have been saved that could have been utilised in development funding.

Azhar lamented that PSM had been non-operational for the last five-and-half years yet the government had to pay employees’ salaries and pensions totalling billions.

“The government had to pay Rs35 billion as salaries of a closed mill and Rs20 billion in pensions to retired employees, bringing the total amount to Rs55 billion,” he said.

“PSM’s operational capacity was reduced to 40 per cent during the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) government in addition to registering a loss of around Rs100 billion in the party’s tenure,” Hammad Azhar said, adding that the PPP had inducted thousands of employ-

ees in the mills which was beyond its capacity.

Likewise, he added, operational capacity was further reduced to 20pc and then to a meagre 6pc and ultimately during the Pakistani Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government’s tenure before being closed down in 2015.

The federal minister said that the political parties that were responsible for making the PSM a loss-making organisation would now play politics on the issue, however, the government’s decision was in the national interest.

In addition, he said that PSM had Rs230 billion debt liabilities and was inflicting losses of Rs15-20 billion annually, while Rs750 million were being paid to employees as salary. In addition, Rs92 billion were spent on bailout packages of the mill.

In response to a question, the minister was of the view that managing a business was not the government’s job, hence the PSM would be managed by the private sector with the proper technology, proper management and adequate manpower.

He said that the private management would transform the Pakistan Steel Mills from a loss-making organisation into a profit-earning mill in addition to getting it to stand on its own feet.

Taxes collected on imported cell phones double to Rs54bn

ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

European Union (EU) Ambassador to Pakistan Androulla Kaminara on Sunday said that the EU has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with UNHCR, committing to provide €10 million to boost the latter’s assistance operations for Afghan refugees and their host communities in Pakistan. Talking to local media, she said that the EU was trying to help the most vulnerable segments of the society by ensuring basic amenities of lives at their doorsteps, including health, clean drinking water, sanitation and hygiene environment amid a surging second wave of Covid-19. The three-year project would be implemented across the country and is expected to benefit some 370,000 Afghan refugees and Pakistani host communities. Meanwhile, UNHCR’s Representative in Pakistan Noriko Yoshida said that UNHCR’s overall emergency response was in support of efforts by the government of Pakistan to prevent and respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. "UNHCR had been advocating for the inclusion of refugees in the government’s Covid-19 Prevention and Response Plan," she added. It may be mentioned here that the EU, in May, had announced a €150 million package to support Pakistan’s efforts in addressing the short-term and long-term public health and socio-economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, including the new funding of €10 million for UNHCR. This funding would be channelled towards three sectors: health, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) and social protection. "In the health sector, it would boost health initiatives by helping to provide personal protective equipment, medical supplies and other relief items to health facilities in support of refugees and host communities," she said. Similarly, in the WASH sector, the EU’s contribution would help enable UNHCR to upgrade or construct facilities such as toilets, handwash basins and water pumps in schools, health centres and communal facilities in or close to refugee villages – benefitting both the refugees and Pakistanis.

In terms of social protection, the one-time cash assistance will contribute to UNHCR’s emergency cash programme for the most vulnerable registered Afghan refugees in Pakistan.

Govt to launch Sialkot’s largest development project to date: Dar SIALKOT APP

Pakistan Customs collected Rs54 billion on the import of mobile devices through Device Identifica¬tion, Registration and Blocking System (DIRBs) in the past year, which is 145 per cent higher over the preceding year.

According to a report by Dawn, data released by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) states the government's withdrawal of the facility of bringing duty-free mobile handsets under the baggage rules from abroad.

FBR's data shows that travellers brought as many as 1,389,707 mobile handsets into the country during FY20 under baggage and registered it with DIRBs. As a result, the Pakistan cus-

toms raised more than Rs5.8bn in the last year from expatriates and travellers on import of mobile phones under baggage.

The report states that 17 companies are now manufacturing mobile phones in the country, while a few foreign companies are also planning to invest in Pakistan’s mobile manufacturing industry.

At the same time, there is a clear policy for mobile phones import commercially. Under the commercial imports, as many as 19.80m handsets were imported during the period FY20 at a total value of Rs209.316bn with the FBR collecting Rs39.414bn revenue on it.

Earlier in May, the government approved the mobile phone manufacturing policy so that the local handset industry may grow to be internationally competitive.

Under the policy, the government will give 3pc to local manufacturers for exports of mobile phones whereas locally-assembled sets will be exempted from 4pc withholding tax on domestic sales.

Further, amendments have also been introduced in the Customs Act 1969 to award harsh punishment including forfeiture of property, godowns used for storage of smuggled goods, penalty and imprisonment up to 10 years. MONITORING REPORT

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Youth Affairs Muhammad Usman Dar on Sunday announced that the government was going to launch Punjab Intermediate Cities Improvement Investment Programme which was the largest development project in the history of Sialkot.

Addressing a high level meeting here at Committee Room of Tehsil Council, Dar said that under the programme, water supply lines and sewerage lines would be replaced while road infrastructure and parks would be constructed at a cost of Rs15 billion in Sialkot.

Provincial Minister Chaudhry Akhlaq and Gujranwala Division Commissioner Gulzar Hussain Shah, Provincial Anti-Corruption Committee (PACC) Vice Chairman Brigadier (r) Muhammad Aslam Ghumman, Additional Deputy Commissioner Revenue Mir Muhammad Nawaz, Additional Deputy Commissioner Finance and Planning Farooq Sadiq, Punjab Intermediate Cities Improvement Investment Programme (PICIIP) Infrastructure Engineer Sialkot Ghulam Murtaza, Sialkot Municipal Corporation CO Faisal Shehzad and local officials from Nespak, Highway Department and M&R were present in the meeting. Dar directed the local authorities of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL), Pakistan Telecommunication Company Ltd. (PTCL) and Water & Power Development Authority (WAPDA) to complete development work related to their departments. He said that management committees would be formed at union council level to work with the District Administration to ensure timely completion of the projects under the PICIIP.

Tourism sector pleads for bailout package again ISLAMABAD APP

Tourism experts have pleaded for a grant of soft loans and cash assistance for tourism businesses and low-paid workers under the government's loan and emergency cash schemes for ensuring the sector's survival next year.

"Anticipating global recession due to the second and third waves of coronavirus pandemic, low-paid workers and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) should be included in the Ehsaas Emergency Cash Programme and Prime Minister's Kamyab Jawan Programme to provide the required support to the ravaged sector," said Sustainable Tourism Foundation Pakistan (STFP)

President Aftab Rana.

"Cash grants to the daily wagers associated with tourism, relief package for travel and hotel industry, and concessionary loans for SMEs are the need of the hour to protect the sector to fight against the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic," he said, urging the government to focus the domestic tourism which in his opinion was a sole option to achieve the sector's rebound in the coming years.

Rana, who is also a member of National Tourism Coordination Board (NTCB), said that although the government had introduced some loan schemes for the sector, their criteria was not accommodative for a large number of unregistered entrepreneurs.

"There is no need to take short-term measures for foreign tourists as it dipped by

90 per cent in the country due to worldwide travel restrictions," he said, adding that less than 100,000 foreigners had visited Pakistan during this season.

“In pre-Covid times, the country usually received 700,000 to 800,000 foreign tourists per season,” he added.

Highlighting the coronavirus impact on domestic tourism, he said tourism in northern areas plunged significantly as only 500,000 tourists visited the scenic spots in that area after the government lifted mobility restrictions from the tourism sector in August.

“At least 1.5 million tourists visited the northern parts of the country in the last season,” he added.

Rana said that international arrival had declined by 90 per cent, mainly due to travel

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restrictions while the demand of a Covid certificate and economic recession caused a reduction in buying power of the people.

"2021 should be dedicated to domestic tourism to ensure its survival and 2022 for formulating future plans and extensive promotion and marketing to make sure the sector's rebound," he stressed.

National Tourism Committee (NTC) member Qamar Abbas said the situation of hotel and travel industry was bleak as its occupancy rate had declined by 62 per cent in recent month. The tourism businesses totally relied on domestic tourism and all the restaurants and hotels had adopted a safe-to-stay policy to attract customers. "Domestic tourism is leading the recovery in the postCovid scenario," he added.

He said the hotels had to bring flexibility in their policy such as refund on cancellation of bookings and introduce some incentives for tourists to prevent the economic impact of Covid. Qamar also called for promoting online platforms for the travel agents so that they could reach potential customers through digital channels.

On the other hand, an official from Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) said a comprehensive tourism promotion package would be rolled out soon to promote the country's tourism as a customised brand.

He said the federal and provincial governments were taking measures to mitigate the financial impact of coronavirus on the tourism businesses.

Monday, 30 November, 2020

10 fOrEigN NEws Lebanon storms cause Ethiopia SayS miLitary opEratioN iN tiGray floods, power cuts rEGioN iS ovEr, huNt for tiGray LEadErS bEGiNS BEIRUT

AGENCIES

ADDIS ABABA/NAIROBI

The weakness of Lebanon’s infrastructure was laid bare again after heavy rain flooded highways and lightning struck four high-voltage lines, causing power cuts across the country. A video of a torrent of muddy water sweeping a delivery man off his scooter went viral on Twitter under the hashtag “Lebanon is sinking”. But many social media users also noted with grim humour that flooding was a recurring problem that successive governments failed to address.

“The 2nd most predictably recurring event in the modern history of Lebanon," tweeted local newspaper director Michel Helou alongside a video of a flooded tunnel in Jounieh, a densely populated area north of Beirut. “The 1st one being my Teta asking me if I’m hungry,” he added, using the local word for grandmother. After the 1975-1990 civil war, Lebanon received millions in loans and grants from international donors to rebuild its infrastructure. But governments, widely accused of incompetence and corruption, have done a poor job of maintaining the country’s roads and electricity network. “We were happy to claim that we were spending money on upgrading infrastructure but very little was spent on maintenance,” said Nadim Farajalla, director of the climate change and environment programme at the Issam Fares institute at the American University of Beirut. Dr Farajalla said he remembered cars floating in water on the Zalka highway north of Beirut in 1999. “The only thing that was worse this year was the amount of rain that fell,” he said. Quoting the meteorological department at Beirut’s international airport, the Ministry of Public Works said on Saturday that 30 millimetres of rain fell on Jounieh in less than an hour, and that 12mm fell in the southern suburbs of the capital.

According to Dr Farajalla, this was equivalent to roughly 5 percent of the usual annual rainfall. “That’s a huge amount of rain,” he said. The ministry said its technical teams had unblocked drainage pipes near most motorways by midafternoon on Saturday. The Lebanese government oversees maintenance of drainage on the networks of the country’s main motorways. Municipalities look after secondary roads.

Govts urged to bridge digital divide as connectivity becomes essential PARIS AGENCIES

Countries around the world have been called on to do more to bridge the digital divide as internet connectivity becomes more important for remote working and learning amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Internet service providers reported a 60 percent growth in traffic since the pandemic began as millions of people worked from home and pupils learnt online, according to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s latest Digital Economy Outlook. However, the pandemic has thrown light on digital gaps within the 37-member bloc and developing economies. The report shows that even within the OECD, the share of fixed broadband subscriptions varies widely. South Korea and Japan, which have sophisticated digital economies and smart cities, have adoption rates of 82 percent and 79 percent, respectively. In comparison, Austria, Belgium, Germany, Greece, Israel and the UK have adoption rates that are below 5 percent, with rural areas particularly underserved. The OECD countries typically have twice the level of high-speed mobile internet subscriptions per person and three times the number of fixed broadband subscriptions of non-OECD nations. OECD deputy secretary general Ulrik Knudsen said digital technology had helped countries in the bloc avoid a complete standstill during the Covid-19 crisis, and enabled them to learn more about the virus, hasten efforts to find a vaccine and track the development of the pandemic. “We are at a turning point in the digital transformation, and the shape of our economies and societies post-Covid will depend on how well we can progress and narrow these divides,” he said. The latest digital outlook showed that OECD economies had 113 high-speed mobile internet subscriptions per 100 inhabitants as of June 2019, up from 32 per 100 a decade earlier.

AGENCIES

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HE Ethiopian government launched a manhunt on Sunday for leaders of a rebellious faction in the northern region of Tigray after announcing federal troops had taken over the regional capital and military operations were complete.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed government has been trying to quell a rebellion by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), a powerful ethnically-based party that dominated the central government from 1991 until Abiy came to power in 2018.

He said on Saturday evening federal troops had taken control of the Tigrayan capital Mekelle within hours of launching an offensive there, laying to rest fears of protracted fighting in the city

of 500,000 people.

The prime minister, who refers to the three-weekold conflict as an internal law and order matter and has rebuffed international offers of mediation, said federal police will try to arrest TPLF “criminals” and bring them to court.

However, TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichael told Reuters in a text message on Saturday evening that TPLF forces would fight on, raising the prospect that the conflict could drag on.

Thousands of people are believed to have been killed and nearly 44,000 have fled to Sudan since the fighting began on Nov. 4. The conflict has been another test for Abiy, who took office two years ago and is trying to hold together a patchwork of ethnic groups that make up Ethiopia’s 115 million people.

The flow of refugees and attacks by the TPLF on

OPEC+ may prolong existing cuts despite rising prices: reports RIYADH AGENCIES

Members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and their allies led by Russia, known as OPEC+, may further hold back oil supplies amid concerns over demand.

The coalition is leaning towards maintaining crude oil production cuts at the current level of 7.7 million barrels per day (bpd) for another two or three months, the Wall Street Journal reported citing officials. Similar intentions were earlier reported by other media outlets who cited delegates and sources close to OPEC+.

The group is expected to hold informal talks on Sunday before making the final decision on the fate of production curbs at a ministerial gathering next week.

The informal online meeting was reportedly requested by OPEC’s de-facto leader Saudi Arabia and one of the main non-OPEC parties of the deal, Russia.

OPEC+ was scheduled to start adding 2 million barrels per day

(bpd) to the market – about 2 percent of global consumption – in January, according to the next stage of their historic oil accord. Some of the largest crude suppliers, including Russia, earlier signalled that the cuts could be extended if necessary.

This weekend's unofficial meeting comes after oil prices secured gains for a fourth straight week. Despite edging lower on Friday, futures for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) were up eight percent over the week, while Brent rose more than seven percent.

The price rebound may be driven by optimism about the possible rollout of a Covid-19 vaccine, as several companies announced over 90 percent effectiveness of their products earlier this month.

Meanwhile, some analysts warn that oil market fundamentals are still weak, and demand is not expected to get back to pre-pandemic levels for another year.

“It is far too early to know how and when vaccines will allow normal life to resume. For now, our forecasts do not anticipate a signif-

icant impact in the first half of 2021,” the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in its report.

However, not all the OPEC+ members could be in favour of extended cuts despite those concerns.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE), which was recently rumoured to be considering withdrawing from OPEC, is reportedly eager to ramp output back up and asked for a higher production quota. Nigeria, criticized by other members for failing to comply with the deal, also wants a higher quota. Another key breakaway from the deal and the second-largest OPEC producer, Iraq, was previously seeking an exemption from 2021 reductions.

OPEC+ would still push all the over-producers to compensate for extra supplies, some delegates quoted by the Wall Street Journal said. In addition to non-compliant parties of the deal, OPEC+ efforts are partly hindered by the resumption of oil production in Libya. Being exempt from the current oil curbs, Libya has recently boosted oil output by over 1 million barrels per day.

Participant in India’s vaccine trial sues after experiencing ‘severe adverse effect’ NEW DELHI AGENCIES

An Indian man who helped test a coronavirus jab based on AstraZeneca’s candidate vaccine has filed suit, claiming that he suffered extreme side effects during his participation in the trial.

The plaintiff, identified in media reports as a 40year-old man from Chennai, is suing the Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII) for Rs 5crore ($676,000 USD). The individual alleges that he suffered serious neurological damage after taking part in the phase three trial of Covishield, the SII’s version of the Covid-19 jab being developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford. The man was purportedly told that the vaccine was safe and chose to participate in the program in “the spirit of public service.” The lawsuit also demands that SII, AstraZeneca and the Oxford Vaccine Group immediately halt vaccine trials, in which some 1,600 volunteers are currently enrolled.

Ten days after receiving the shot, the man complained of a pounding headache and experienced vomiting, his wife told local media. He was bedridden and acting abnormally before being transferred to the emergency ward of the Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Hospital. A review by the hospital concluded that the medical problems were not linked to the vaccine, and a medical official cited by Indian media claimed that the patient was “now alright” and had not incurred any expenses stemming from the health episode.

The man’s discharge summary said he requested to leave the hospital and was recovering from “acute encephalopathy”. He also suffered from deficiencies of Vitamin B12 and Vitamin D, and was suspected of having a “connective tissue disorder.”

However, the man’s wife insists that he has not fully recovered and is unable to work as before.

In September, SII briefly paused its clinical trials of Covishield after a recipient of the AstraZeneca jab showed adverse symptoms.

‘Ban on filming police brutality’: Paris protesters torch cars, bank amid clashes PARIS AGENCIES

Violent clashes and arson have erupted in Paris amid mass protests against police brutality and a draft law that would ban filming officers “in certain circumstances,” after a video emerged of cops beating a black music producer.

Thousands of people rallied against the controversial bill in more than 70 French cities on Saturday, with the organisers claiming over half a million participants and authorities estimating the number at around 150,000. The daytime rallies went

off peacefully, but by early evening clashes erupted in multiple cities, including Rennes, Lille, Bordeaux and Lyon.

Paris descended into chaos, forcing police to deploy tear gas, flashbangs and water cannons after black-clad masked protesters launched fireworks and pelted cops with stones.

Multiple videos also showed rioters smashing vehicles and shop windows, and torching cars and a motorcycle.

At one point, protesters set the entrance to France’s central bank on fire, while firefighters struggled to reach the scene through the streets blocked by po-

lice fencing, makeshift barricades and burning trash.

Sporadic clashes with smaller groups continued into the night, long after the bulk of the demonstrators had left the Place de la Bastill, with hundreds of officers in full riot gear seen chasing protesters down side streets, struggling to contain the unrest.

While it was not clear how many protesters were injured in clashes, local media reported at least 37 officers received injuries across France, while making at least 46 arrests.

The demonstrators are voicing their anger over a draft law on public security,

which was approved by the lower chamber of parliament this week. The controversial Article 24 of the bill seeks to protect police officers from doxing and harassment, and bans filming of cops on duty and sharing their images online with the "intent to harm."

Critics say the bill infringes on journalistic freedom and would be used to intimidate those who want to expose police brutality and other misconduct. One such incident went viral this week after footage emerged showing French police beat and racially abuse a black man, apparently for not wearing a face mask.

neighbouring Eritrea have also threatened to destabilize the wider Horn of Africa region.

Claims from all sides are difficult to verify since phone and internet links to Tigray have been down and access tightly controlled since the fighting began.

The police late on Saturday issued arrest warrants for 17 more military officers charged with crimes in connection with the conflict that include treason and embezzlement of public properties, state-affiliated Fana TV reported. They add to the 117 warrants issued for senior military officers it says are connected to TPLF since the conflict broke out.

It was not clear if any TPLF leaders had surrendered, their whereabouts or their next plans.

“Their brutality can only add (to) our resolve to fight these invaders to the last,” the TPLF’s Debretsion told Reuters in a text message on Saturday.

Chinese private corporate giants rocket in value despite pandemic BEIJING AGENCIES

The coronavirus pandemic that is raging across the planet has not stopped China's biggest privately run corporations from soaring in value, the Hurun Research Institute reported. The average value of the country's top 500 private enterprises increased by 55 percent to a record $16.5 billion (108 billion yuan) year-on-year, according to a report released by the institute earlier this week.

China's five biggest technology titans – Tencent, Alibaba Group, Meituan-Dianping, Pinduoduo and JD.com – benefitted from a global stock market rally as the pandemic started receding in the country earlier this year. Each firm added over $100 billion in value over the year. "The main reasons for the rapid increase were the rise of the new economy, especially after the pandemic, a sharp rise in the stock markets and a flurry of new listings," said Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher at Hurun. Since the outbreak of Covid-19, investors have been piling into technology and pharmaceutical stocks globally, seeking growth and certainty.

The stocks were also pushed by unprecedented liquidity created by central banks. Social media and online games operator Tencent, valued at $743 billion, outpaced e-commerce holding Alibaba's market value of $713 billion to become the most valuable Chinese company. Online food delivery services provider Meituan became the third-biggest private firm in the country with a market cap of $243 billion. Ping An Insurance ($221 billion) and Ant Group ($209 billion) rounded off the top five.

Construction of Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline restarts next month MOSCOW AGENCIES

Despite rising US pressure on the Nord Stream 2 project, the company behind Russia’s natural gas pipeline to Germany has announced plans to resume pipe laying works in the Baltic Sea in December after a year-long break. “We are planning to resume pipe-laying work using an anchor-positioned vessel in Germany’s exclusive economic zone this year,” the operator of the project confirmed to Russian media. The company did not reveal the name of the ship it will use, but promised to announce it later. Two Russian-flagged ships – the Akademik Cherskiy and Fortuna – could be the main candidates for this job. The former was considered the only vessel to meet all the necessary technical requirements to complete the construction of the pipeline, before the Danish Energy Agency (DEA) greenlighted the use of ships with anchor positioning, which had been banned from the works under previous rules. According to MarineTraffic data, the Akademik Cherskiy departed from the German port of Mukran on Thursday and is currently under “restricted maneuverability” status in the Baltic Sea off the coast of Russia’s Kaliningrad region. Meanwhile, Fortuna was spotted in German waters near Wismar Port.

Monday, 30 November, 2020

SPORTS 11

AustRAliA’s bAtting might led by steven smith centuRy gives them seRies SydNEy

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aGeNcIeS

URInG the innings break the host broadcaster crossed for a segment with cricket’s one of a kind YouTube curator Rob Moody, in what is set to be a regular feature as he takes viewers through highlights both brilliant and amusing.

Moody’s memory is near enough to photographic, but in years to come he will be forgiven for confusing elements of the second ODI between Australia and India at the SCG with the first fixture of the series two days before. On both occasions Steven Smith crashed a century from an identical number of balls, on both occasions Australia’s batting functioned more or less as the captain Aaron Finch would want it to, and on both occasions India’s chase faltered and then petered out after a modicum of a contest into the middle overs.

More worryingly for the Australians were parallel losses to injury, as David Warner followed Marcus Stoinis into the treatment room when he pulled up sharply with an apparent groin injury that has the potential to not just scupper his white ball duty but severely affect his Test summer as well.

India’s salient concerns were less to do with injury than quality of performance; twice now their bowling attack has been severely mauled, an experience shared only by Mitchell Starc on the Australian side.

A crowd of 17,573 was able to savour Australia’s first bilateral ODI series win at home since 2016-17 against Pakistan.

There were a few differences: Marnus Labuschagne, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul each made their first substantial contributions of the tour, and Moises Henriques’ return to international cricket for the first time since 2017 was punctuated by a batting cameo, some handy overs through the mid-

dle and a sublime catch at midwicket to account for Kohli. Given a decent platform and strong support from Labuschagne, Smith and Glenn Maxwell were arguably able to improve upon their efforts in the opener.

Kohli was left to shuffle his bowlers with something like resignation as they were again exposed on a good pitch by in-form Australian batting. Mohammed Shami was the closest to providing a genuine test for the hosts, but he and Jasprit Bumrah were still expensive. navdeep Saini, meanwhile, has conceded 153 runs from 17 overs so far.

In hot, blustery conditions, Warner and Finch were again into stride quickly, and for much of their stand purred along at a better rate than they had managed in the series opener. Once again Saini’s seamers were targeted relentlessly, either side of a high full toss that hit Finch in the stomach, while Warner again pushed extremely hard between the wickets and again saved himself on one occasion with a full-length dive.

Australia’s openers took their union to 142, meaning they had tallied more than 400 runs from their past three partnerships combined, before Finch was deceived by Shami - once more India’s best bowler - and lobbed a leading edge to mid-off. Warner was clearly seeking the century his opening partner had achieved on Friday, but found himself exiting for 83 when he challenged Shreyas Iyer’s arm from the deep and was confounded by a direct hit.

At 2 for 156 in the 26th over, the innings was in some danger of losing momentum, but instead the SCG crowd was treated to the first of what is likely to be numerous key partnerships between Smith and Labuschagne this summer. On a somewhat slower pitch, Smith recalibrated so beautifully that his scoring rate lost nothing next to the coruscating effort two days before, and in Labuschagne he had a partner more than willing to hustle a two to

get the senior man back on strike.

Australia’s acceleration was steady at first before getting increasingly dramatic, typified by how Smith motored from 50 to 100 in 24 balls, delivering a wondrous double of consecutive ODI centuries on his home ground. Warner was the previous Australian to do the trick in 2016, but no one has ever managed to put together a pair of such thrillingly inventive hundreds as Smith did here. Incredibly, he was seen to remonstrate with himself more than once when shots occasionally failed to find the gap of his choosing; spectators were in the presence of otherworldly talent.

Kohli’s desperation for respite led him away from his frontline bowlers, as Mayank Agarwal and Hardik Pandya were both tried - the latter after a lengthy injury layoff and an apparent change in his bowling action to be more front-on. Pandya’s use of offcutters forced some of the few false shots seen all innings, and resulted ultimately in Smith’s exit, slicing to short third man. Pandya, though, went off the field following his spell, and Kohli had to go back to Saina for the 50th over of the innings.

Maxwell walked to the middle with 52 balls remaining, and he was able to treat the SCG to another exhibition of audacity and ball-striking. Maxwell’s innings was the ideal capstone on the 50 overs, which again lagged behind schedule, this time with four overs still required at the nominal 6.10pm finish.

Thanks to Labuschagne and Maxwell, Australia managed to comfortably better their initial effort, and 15 from the final over gave them 114 from the last 10 overs and their highest tally in an SCG ODI. A cool change arrived obligingly for Australia as the second innings began, meaning far friendlier climes for their bowlers and fielders.

This did not overly aid Starc, who was a little more accurate than he had been in an

Scoreboard

INdIa INNINGS (TarGeT: 390 rUNS FroM 50 oVerS) Ma agarwal c †carey b cummins............................................28 S dhawan c Starc b Hazlewood................................................30 V Kohli (c) c Henriques b Hazlewood......................................89 SS Iyer c Smith b Henriques .....................................................38 KL rahul †c Hazlewood b Zampa............................................76

unpleasant opening over of the series but still struggled for a decent semblance of rhythm, consistency and confidence as a result: at one point relieving evident frustrations while hiding his cap over his face. Josh Hazlewood has been steadier, and his subtle variations of pace and length ultimately drew a miscalculation from Shikhar Dhawan and a catch at mid-on after India had made it to 58.

Two runs later and Agarwal was edging Pat Cummins through to Alex Carey, setting up a skittish stand between Kohli and Iyer.

For a time they kept up with the kind of run rate needed to build from, but without anything like the same sense of command enjoyed by the hosts earlier in the day. A wicket always seemed likely, and it arrived when Iyer smeared Henriques to the right of Smith at midwicket for a goalkeeper’s take.

Kohli’s innings brought still more high-scoring milestones, but was to be

Dawid Malan paces tricky chase to perfection to seal the series for England Paarl aGeNcIeS

Dawid Malan justified his standing as the top-ranked batsman in T20I cricket with a match-winning half-century in the second match of the series against South Africa in Paarl.

On a surface upon which nobody else could pass 30, Malan produced an innings of 55 from 40 balls to see England to a victory which gave them an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. The final game takes place in Cape Town on Tuesday. This was not, in many ways, a typical T20. With the pitch offering just a little grip, run-scoring proved problematic throughout the game and England's reply looked some way off the pace until well into their chase.

So, instead of the skills for which this format is famed - the big hits, the audacious strokes, the outrageous strike-rates Malan was instead obliged to demonstrate a calm head and an ability to pace the innings. He did so beautifully. After 30 deliveries, Malan had scored just 25. But he held his nerve and, from his next nine balls, thrashed five fours and a six as he timed England's chase to something close to perfection.

Although he wasn't quite able to see

Scoreboard SoUTH aFrIca INNINGS (20 oVerS MaXIMUM) T bavuma b archer......................................................................13 Q de Kock (c) †c TK curran b Jordan......................................30 rr Hendricks b rashid ...............................................................16 F du Plessis st †buttler b rashid ............................................11 He van der dussen not out .......................................................25 H Klaasen c Stokes b TK curran..............................................7 GF Linde run out (Stokes/Jordan)............................................29 K rabada not out ........................................................................5 eXTraS: (b 1, w 9).......................................................................10 ToTaL: (20 ov, rr: 7.3) ..........................................................146/6 dId NoT baT: a Nortje, L Ngidi, T Shamsi FaLL oF wIcKeTS: 1-33 (Temba bavuma, 3.4 ov), 2-48 (Quinton de Kock, 5.2 ov), 3-65 (reeza Hendricks, 8.6 ov), 475 (Faf du Plessis, 10.1 ov), 5-95 (Heinrich Klaasen, 13.4 ov), 6-139 (George Linde, 18.6 ov) bowLING: SM curran 2-0-24-0, Jc archer 4-0-18-1, TK curran 4-0-37-1, cJ Jordan 4-0-29-1, aU rashid 4-0-23-2, ba Stokes 2-0-14-0 eNGLaNd INNINGS (TarGeT: 147 rUNS FroM 20 oVerS) JJ roy c Klaasen b Ngidi............................................................14 Jc buttler † b Shamsi.................................................................22

England home - he was quite brilliantly caught by Reeza Hendricks, demonstrating both the presence of mind and athleticism to keep the ball in play on the long-off boundary - by the time he was dismissed, his side required just a run a ball. Despite a characteristically excellent final over from Kagiso Rabada, which brought the dismissal of Sam Curran, Chris Jordan was

dJ Malan c Hendricks b Ngidi....................................................55 JM bairstow c Hendricks b Shamsi..........................................3 ba Stokes c †de Kock b Shamsi...............................................16 eJG Morgan (c) not out ..............................................................26 SM curran b rabada ...................................................................1 cJ Jordan not out ........................................................................3 eXTraS:(lb 4, w 3)......................................................................7 ToTaL: (19.5 ov, rr: 7.41) ...................................................147/6 dId NoT baT: TK curran, Jc archer, aU rashid FaLL oF wIcKeTS: 1-25 (Jason roy, 3.6 ov), 2-51 (Jos buttler, 7.4 ov), 3-55 (Jonny bairstow, 9.1 ov), 4-83 (ben Stokes, 13.2 ov), 5-134 (dawid Malan, 17.5 ov), 6-144 (Sam curran, 19.2 ov) bowLING: GF Linde 4-0-27-0, K rabada 3.5-0-25-1, a Nortje 4-0-21-0, L Ngidi 4-0-51-2, T Shamsi 4-0-19-3 MaTcH deTaILS ToSS: england, elected to field first PLayer oF THe MaTcH: dawId MaLaN SerIeS: england tour of South africa SerIeS reSULT: england led the 3-match series 2-0 UMPIreS: adrian Holdstock, Shaun George TV UMPIre: allahudien Paleker reSerVe UMPIre: bongani Jele MaTcH reFeree: andy Pycroft

able to squeeze the penultimate ball of the match behind square for the run England required to seal the result.

It was the ninth time Malan had passed 50 in his 18 T20I innings. And, on the ground where he made his first-class debut back in 2006, you suspect it would have been one of the more satisfying ones. It was also the sort of performance which

justifies his on-going selection ahead of Joe Root. And while England may feel there is still room for improvement in their performance, they may take satisfaction from winning a tight game on this sort of surface. With the T20 World Cup scheduled to played in India, this is the sort of pitch - and, perhaps, the sort of low-scoring match - to which they will need to become accustomed if they are to fulfil their dream of holding both the 50-over and 20over World Cups at the same time.

South Africa started well enough. They were 49 for 1 after one delivery of the sixth over (England were 29 for 1 at the same stage) and surely targeting a score in excess of 160. But their over-reliance upon Quinton de Kock and Faf du Plessis was underlined once more by the struggles of the middle-order.

Once de Kock was dismissed, from the second delivery of that final powerplay over, South Africa only managed two boundaries off the bat in the next 12-anda-half overs (there was one set of wides that went to the boundary) and none at all from the first ball of the 10th until the fourth ball of the 18th. Rassie van der Dussen, who faced 29 deliveries for 25 unbeaten runs without managing a boundary, found life especially difficult.

‘In my heart I am Palestinian’: Maradona’s activism remembered aGENCIES As the world mourns the death of football’s legendary player, Diego Maradona, many people are also paying tribute to his vocal support for the Palestinian cause.

The former Argentinian player and World Cup winner died on Wednesday from a heart attack at just 60 years old, following years of health problems.

His death came two weeks after being released from a Buenos Aires hospital following brain surgery.

Maradona has been hailed as an antiimperialist, left-wing socialist, who has supported progressive movements. He counted among his friends the late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez, Cuba’s late President Fidel Castro, and Bolivia’s

THE ARGENTINIAN FOOTBALLER, WHO PASSED AWAY AT 60, PROUDLY EXPRESSED HIS SUPPORT FOR PALESTINE ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS Evo Morales. He was seen on more than one occasion accompanying Chavez, wearing an anti-George Bush shirt.

He unapologetically supported Palestine, even after hanging up his football boots. Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri tweeted his condolences to Maradona’s family and fans across the world.

“We are so sad for the death of one of the greatest footballers, ‘Maradona’, who is known for his support of the #Palestine cause,” he wrote.

In 2012, Maradona described himself as “the number one fan of the Palestinian people”. “I respect them and sympathise with them,” he said. “I support Palestine without any fear.” Two years later, during Israel’s summer offensive on the besieged Gaza Strip that killed at least 3,000 Palestinians, Maradona expressed his outrage and criticised Israel.

“What Israel is doing to the Palestinians is shameful,” he said in a statement. A year later, reports circulated that Maradona

CMYK

HH Pandya c Smith b cummins................................................28 ra Jadeja c Maxwell b cummins.............................................24 Na Saini not out ..........................................................................10 Mohammed Shami c & b Maxwell ...........................................1 JJ bumrah lbw b Zampa ............................................................0 yS chahal not out .......................................................................4 eXTraS: (nb 2, w 8) ...................................................................10 ........

ToTaL: (50 ov, rr: 6.76)............................................................338/9 FaLL oF wIcKeTS: 1-58 (Shikhar dhawan, 7.4 ov), 2-60 (Mayank agarwal, 8.3 ov), 3-153 (Shreyas Iyer, 23.1 ov), 4-225 (Virat Kohli, 34.5 ov), 5-288 (KL rahul, 43.4 ov), 6-321 (ravindra Jadeja, 46.1 ov), 7-321 (Hardik Pandya, 46.2 ov), 8-326 (Mohammed Shami, 47.3 ov), 9-328 (Jasprit bumrah, 48.3 ov) bowLING: Ma Starc 9-0-82-0, Jr Hazlewood 9-0-59-2, PJ cummins 10-0-67-3, a Zampa 10-0-62-2, Mc Henriques 7-0-341, GJ Maxwell 5-0-34-1 MaTcH deTaILS ToSS: australia , elected to bat first PLayer oF THe MaTcH: Steven Smith SerIeS reSULT: australia led the 3-match series 2-0 UMPIreS: Gerard abood, Paul reiffel TV UMPIre: bruce oxenford reSerVe UMPIre: Sam Nogajski MaTcH reFeree: david boon

aUSTraLIa INNINGS (50 oVerS MaXIMUM) da warner run out (Iyer) ...........................................................83 aJ Finch (c) c Kohli b Mohammed Shami ...............................60 SPd Smith c Mohammed Shami b Pandya.............................104 M Labuschagne c agarwal b bumrah ......................................70 GJ Maxwell not out.....................................................................63 Mc Henriques not out ................................................................2 extras: (lb 2, nb 1, w 4)...............................................................7 ToTaL: (50 ov, rr: 7.78)............................................................389/4 dId NoT baT: aT carey †, PJ cummins, Ma Starc, a Zampa, Jr Hazlewood FaLL oF wIcKeTS: 1-142 (aaron Finch, 22.5 ov), 2-156 (david warner, 25.3 ov), 3-292 (Steven Smith, 41.2 ov), 4-372 (Marnus Labuschagne, 48.5 ov) bowLING: Mohammed Shami 9-0-73-1, JJ bumrah 10-1-79-1, Na Saini 7-0-70-0, yS chahal 9-0-71-0, ra Jadeja 10-0-60-0, Ma agarwal 1-0-10-0, HH Pandya 4-0-24-1

was in negotiations with the Palestinian Football Association over the possibility of coaching the Palestinian national team during the 2015 AFC Asian Cup. In July 2018, he met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a short meeting in Moscow, again reiterating his long-standing support for Palestinians.

“In my heart, I am Palestinian,” he told Abbas as he embraced him in a clip that was uploaded on his Instagram page.

In the same year, Maradona expressed his opinions on the US’s role in Syria, which was in its seventh year of civil war as President Bashar al-Assad consolidated his control over the majority of the country. “You don’t need to go to university to know that the United States wants to wipe Syria out of existence,” he said.

ended by an arguably better catch from Henriques when he subbed into Smith’s position. The rest of the innings melted away slowly at first and then with increasing speed, albeit with enough time for Starc to suffer another belting, this time from Ravindra Jadeja. Cummins fared better the following over, claiming two in two balls, and the game wound down to Australia’s series win with all the excitement of a slowly deflating balloon.

A few highlights, particularly from Smith and Maxwell, were well worthy of a Moody segment. But as contests these two opening games were primarily reminders of how formidable Australia can be to beat at home when their opponents have anything but the best possible preparation and team balance. In the year of Covid-19, India were never going to have the former, and appear to have been unable to achieve the latter.

Zidane laments Real's awful start, lack of consistency MADRID: Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said he was concerned about his side’s inability to turn matches around after they were beaten 2-1 at home by Alaves in La Liga after what he described as their worst start to a game all season. Madrid should have been feeling confident after beating Inter Milan 2-0 on Wednesday in the Champions League but they fell behind in the fifth minute to a Lucas Perez penalty. The champions should have conceded again soon after when Perez beat the offside trap but the forward was foiled by Thibaut Courtois. The keeper made a terrible error early in the second half by sending a stray pass to Alaves forward Joselu, who scored easily. “I have no explanation, the defeat wasn’t down to our attitude or how well we played given out performance last week, but you cannot afford to start a match like we did today. That was the worst start we have made this season,” Zidane said. “When you concede such an early goal you have time to get back into the game but things got very difficult for us after the first goal. It’s very difficult to understand. aGeNcIeS

Pirlo wants Juventus to be less dependent on Ronaldo BENEVENTO: Juventus need to be less dependent on Cristiano Ronaldo, coach Andrea Pirlo said on Saturday after they again failed to win a league game without their talismanic 35-year-old. “It does not seem to me that the other teams where Ronaldo played were not also dependent on him,” said Pirlo following the 1-1 draw away to Benevento.

“He is a catalyst of attacking moves, of goals and it is natural that when a player is as strong as he is, the team’s development is based on him. “But sometimes, it happens that he is not there and we have to improve in these matches.” Ronaldo, who was rested for Saturday’s match, has missed two other Serie A games this season and they also ended 1-1, away to Crotone — another promoted side — and Verona. Pirlo was frustrated that his team conceded an equaliser in first-half stoppage time, and that they allowed Benevento to knock them out of their stride in the second half. aGeNcIeS

Monday, 30 November, 2020

PrAyEr TImINGS

NEWS

34 people kIlled In Two suIcIde bombIngs In AfghAnIsTAn

A

T least 34 people have been killed in two separate suicide bombings that targeted a military base and a provincial chief. In eastern Ghazni province, 31 soldiers were killed and 24 others wounded on Sunday when an attacker drove a military vehicle full of explosives onto an army commando base before detonating it, according to an official in Afghanistan’s national security council, who spoke anonymously because he was not permitted to speak directly to the media.

The attack was also confirmed by inte-

DOZENS OF SOLDIERS KILLED AND WOUNDED AFTER ATTACKERS DETONATE VEHICLES FULL OF EXPLOSIVES rior ministry spokesman Tariq Arian, though he did not provide details on casualties. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, when contacted by Reuters news agency, did not confirm or deny responsibility.

Afghanistan has seen a spate of car bombings over the last few months, despite peace talks currently under way be-

Agreement reached on framework for Afghan peace talks: Taliban

tween the Kabul government and the Taliban in Qatar. This is the first time the two sides hold face-to-face talks to try to end the country’s decades-long war.

TALIBAN TALKS: In southern Afghanistan, a suicide bomber targeted the convoy of provincial council chief Attajan Haqbayat in Zubal, killing at least three

people and wounding 12 others, including children. Haqbayat survived the Sunday attack with minor injuries, though one of his bodyguards was among those killed, said provincial police spokesman Hikmatullah Kochai. There were no immediate claims of responsibility. Attacks have killed more than 50 people in the capital Kabul in recent weeks, including two assaults on educational centres and a rocket attack.

The three Kabul attacks were claimed by the armed group ISIL (ISIS), but Afghan officials blamed the Taliban – which has denied any involvement.

Syria condemns ‘Zionist terrorist attack on science’ DAMASCUS AGENCIES

DOHA AGENCIES

Afghanistan's Taliban have said they have reached an agreement with the government on the framework for peace negotiations, more than two months after the two sides began direct talks in Doha. The terms for the negotiations, comprising 21 articles, have been approved by both parties, Mohammad Naeem, a spokesman for the Taliban's political office in Doha, said on Twitter. The Afghan government did not immediately comment.

The talks aim to end 19 years of conflict following the 2001 US-led invasion that toppled the Taliban region. However, there has been no let-up in insurgent attacks since the talks began despite repeated government calls for a ceasefire. A key disagreement in Doha has been whether a US-Taliban deal should serve as the basis for the Afghan-Taliban talks, a position rejected by the government. The peace deal the United States signed with the militants on February 29 requires the Taliban to cut ties with all terrorist groups, including Al Qaeda, in exchange for troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. The US has started withdrawing forces from the country and will reduce its troops to 2,500 from 4,500 by January 15, with more scheduled leave by May. The Afghan government has expressed concern over what it considers a premature withdrawal that could leave the country in civil war. The United Nations has noted a dramatic surge in violence by the Taliban since the talks opened on September 12, ranging from attacks on Afghan army bases to attempts to capture key cities including Kandahar.

Other militants have launched assaults on Kabul University and other educational centres, killing dozens of students. On September 21, unknown assailants fired a deadly barrage of rockets that struck residential areas in the capital.

Syria has condemned the assassination of top Iranian nuclear physicist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, calling it a chilling “terrorist attack on science”, as Israel denies involvement.

Syria’s Foreign Minister Faysal Mikdad denounced what he called a “cowardly act” in a phone call with his Iranian counterpart, Javad Zarif. Offering his nation's condolences to Iran over the incident, Mikdad said that the murder was an attack against scientists and researchers the world over.

While Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was a senior Iranian nuclear physicist with alleged close connections to the defense industry, the Syrian minister praised his efforts in “advancing science and knowledge.” Earlier, Iran’s UN envoy said in a letter to the UN Secretary General that the scientist had played an “outstanding role in the development of the first indigenous Covid-19 test kit” in Iran.

Amid widespread speculation of Israeli involvement in the assassination plot, Israeli cabinet minister, Tzachi

ISRAEL SAYS HAS NO CLUE ABOUT IRANIAN SCIENTIST’S MURDER; GERMANY WARNS AGAINST ESCALATION Hanegbi, said that Tel Aviv had nothing to do with the attack and has no information about who could be behind it.

“I have no clue who did it. It’s not that my lips are sealed because I’m being responsible, I really have no clue,” the minister, considered to be a confidant of the Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu, told N12’s Meet the Press show.

Back in 2018, Netanyahu claimed Fakhrizadeh was in charge of Iran’s supposed nuclear arms project dubbed ‘Amad’ (‘Hope’). However, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency, which monitors Iran’s nuclear sites, a project by that name was long defunct by that time, while Tehran has repeatedly stated that its nuclear program is for peaceful energy purposes only.

Meanwhile, Berlin has urged “all parties” to avoid escalating tensions following the assassination of a sen-

ior Iranian scientist in what Tehran suspects to be an Israeli operation.

Iran’s leader has pledged to go after those responsible.

“A few weeks before the new US administration takes office, it is important to preserve the scope for talks with Iran so that the dispute over Iran’s nuclear programme can be resolved through negotiations,” a spokesman for the German Foreign Ministry said.

"We therefore urge all parties to refrain from any steps that could lead to a further escalation of the situation."

Germany is among the signatories of the JCPOA deal and has been vocally arguing for its preservation. However, the US withdrawal put European companies under threat of being sanctioned for doing business with Tehran. Iranian officials blame the European government for caving in to ‘bullying’ by Trump.

FAJR SUNRISE

ZUHR

ASR MAGHRIB ISHA

5:17

11:51

2:41

6:41

5:00

6:25

Iran to give a 'calculated' response to nuclear scientist killing, says official AGENCIES Iran will give a “calculated and decisive” response to the killing of its top nuclear scientist, said a top adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, while a hardline newspaper suggested Tehran’s revenge should include striking the Israeli city of Haifa.

“Undoubtedly, Iran will give a calculated and decisive answer to the criminals who took Martyr Mohsen Fakhrizadeh from the Iranian nation,” Kamal Kharrazi, who is also head of Iran’s Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, said in a statement.

Fakhrizadeh, long suspected by Western and Israeli government of masterminding a secret nuclear weapons program, was ambushed on a highway near Tehran on Friday and gunned down in his car. Iran’s civil and military rulers have blamed the Islamic Republic’s longtime enemy, Israel, for the killing. Iran has in the past accused Israel of killing several Iranian nuclear scientists since 2010. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has declined to comment on the killing. An Israeli cabinet minister, Tzachi Hanegbi, said on Saturday he did not know who carried it out. Iranian hardline media called on Sunday for a tough revenge. The hardline Kayhan daily called for an attack on the Israeli port city of Haifa, if an Israeli role in Fakhrizadeh’s killing is proven. “The attack should be carried out in such a way that in addition to destroying the facilities, it should also cause heavy human casualties,” wrote Saadollah Zarei in an opinion piece.

However, Iran’s rulers are aware of daunting military and political difficulties of attacking Israel. Such an attack would also complicate any effort by U.S. President-elect Joe Biden to revive detente with Tehran after he takes office on Jan. 20.

Tensions have been high between Tehran and Washington since 2018, when President Donald Trump exited Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with six major powers and reimposed sanctions that have hit Iran’s economy hard.

In retaliation, Tehran has gradually breached the deal’s curbs on its nuclear programme. Biden has said he will return the United States to the deal if Iran resumes compliance. Iran has always denied pursuing nuclear weapons.

On International Day of Solidarity, UN chief urges commitment to Palestinian people NEW YORK AGENCIES

Commemorating the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, United Nations SecretaryGeneral António Guterres said that he remains committed to resolve end the Israeli occupation in line with relevant UN resolutions.

In a message marking the occasion, the UN chief cautioned that prospects for a viable two-state solution are becoming “more distant,” urging Israeli and Palestinian leaders to explore every opening to “restore hope” for that solution. “A host of factors continue to cause great misery, including: the expansion of illegal settle-

ments, a significant spike in the demolition of Palestinian homes and structures, violence and continued militant activity,” said Guterres.

“Israeli and Palestinian leaders have a responsibility to explore every opening to restore hope and achieve a two-State solution.”

The UN chief said that he remains committed to supporting Palestinians and Israelis to resolve the conflict and end the occupation in line with relevant UN resolutions, international law and bilateral agreements in pursuit of the vision of two states – Israel and an independent, democratic, contiguous and sovereign Palestine – living side by side in peace and security, within secure and recognized borders, on the basis of the pre-1967 borders, with

Jerusalem as the capital of both States.

“I hope that recent developments will encourage Palestinian and Israeli leaders to re-engage in meaningful negotiations, with the support of the international community, and will create opportunities for regional cooperation,” he said. “Let us together resolve to renew our commitment to the Palestinian people in their quest to achieve their inalienable rights and build a future of peace, dignity, justice and security,” added the secretary-general.

In the message, Guterres also extended his condolences on the passing, earlier this month, of Saeb Erakat, Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Secretary-General and Chief Negotiator for Palestinians in the Middle East Peace Process.

Eviction of Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah part of Israeli policy AGENCIES For at least a dozen Palestinian families living in the occupied East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah, the threat of eviction from their homes looms over their heads, paralysing any thoughts of the future.

In October, the Israeli magistrate court of Jerusalem ruled to evict 12 of the 24 Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah and to give their homes to Israeli Jewish settlers.

The court also ruled that each family must pay 70,000 shekels ($20,000) in fees to cover the settlers’ legal expenses.

The families were given 30 days to file an appeal, but most expressed little hope for a ruling in their favour, saying the Israeli judiciary is no more than an instrument of the Israeli occupation policy of forcibly displacing and erasing the Palestinian presence in Jerusalem.

“Since the eviction order, we’ve been living with the daily anxiety of not knowing

when the Israeli army will come and evict us from our home,” said Ahmad Hammad, a resident of Sheikh Jarrah.

“All of my memories are here. I was born here and my father, aunts, uncles and grandparents all lived in this house.”

Sheikh Jarrah, located on the slopes of Mount Scopus just north of the Old City, is home to 3,000 Palestinians, all refugees who were ethnically cleansed from their homes in other parts of historical Palestine during the 1948 Nakba.

The neighbourhood is a juxtaposition of affluent and poorer areas, home to the American Colony and Ambassador hotels. But the part where the refugees and their descendants live is marked by unpaved roads and homes that are in disrepair because the Israeli municipality in Jerusalem prevents any kind of renovation work.

The refugees, 28 families displaced from their homes by Israel, were able to relocate to Sheikh Jarrah in 1956 after Jordan, which

had a mandate over the eastern part of Jerusalem, built housing projects for them there. An agreement between the United Nations and Jordan stipulated that the families would receive the houses in return for renouncing their refugee status with the UN refugee agency and that after three years the Jordanian government would transfer ownership titles to the families.

However, that did not happen and by 1967, Israel had captured East Jerusalem.

According to Grassroots Jerusalem, an NGO that is a platform for Palestinian community-based mobilisation, there has been an influx of Jewish settlers since 2001 “who have been responsible for forced evictions and terrorism in the neighbourhood”.

According to Fayrouz Sharqawi, global mobilisation director for Grassroots Jerusalem, it is “absurd” to count on the Israeli judicial system to protect Palestinian rights. “This system is an integral part of the Zionist colonial state, which identifies as a

‘Jewish state’ and accordingly and systematically oppresses, dispossesses and displaces Palestinians,” she told Al Jazeera.

“Rulings that momentarily suspend eviction or demolition orders serve only Israel, as they create the illusion that it is a democratic state where courts hold the government or army accountable and prevent violations of Palestinian rights,” she continued.

Sharqawi said even in the best-case scenarios, more than 70 years of occupation prove that court decisions postpone but rarely reverse such orders, which are eventually implemented. “Palestinians, especially in Jerusalem, have to face a well-oiled colonial machine: the Israeli military, bureaucratic and judicial systems, who work hand in hand on dispossession and displacement of Palestinians,” she said.

EVICTIONS PART OF ISRAELI ‘DEMOGRAPHIC BALANCE’: For Hammad, he knows the reality all too well.

“I’m not optimistic regarding the appeal,”

he said. “I just feel like it’s buying more time but only for the inevitable to happen.

“We have all the documents and proof needed,” he added. “But the overwhelming feeling is that of fear and seeing our home being taken away from us and given to settlers.” Since the 1970s, the Israeli government has been working on implementing a “demographic balance” in Jerusalem at a 70-30 ratio, limiting the Palestinian population in the city to 30 percent or less.

This urban planning has been executed by a number of policies such as land confiscation, displacement, and colonisation of Palestinian neighbourhoods. On November 26, the Jerusalem District Court authorised the eviction of 87 Palestinians from the Batan al-Hawa area in occupied East Jerusalem’s Silwan neighbourhood in favour of the Israeli settler group Ateret Cohanim. The 87 Palestinian residents of Batan al-Hawa have been living in their homes since 1963.

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