EpaperLHR_2020-07-06

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Monday, 6 July, 2020 I 14 Dhū al-Qa‘dah, 1441 I Rs 25.00 I Vol XI No 8 I 52 Pages I Lahore Edition

aCtive Coronavirus Cases droP to 93,932; 4,712 dead so far g

DR ZAfAR MIRZA SAyS gOvERNMENT IS PuRSuINg A HOlISTIC STRATEgy TO COMBAT THE CORONAvIRuS OuTBREAK ISLAMABAD staff report

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HE nationwide tally of coronavirus cases reached 228,474 with the emergence of 3,191 new cases over the last 24 hours, said the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Sunday.

The death toll from the virus stands at 4,712 with 93 deaths reported over the last 24 hours. A total of 25,527 coronavirus tests were carried out during this period.

As 129,830 patients have recovered from the disease, while the total number of active cases in the country stands at 93,932. The total cases detected in Punjab are 81,317, Sindh 92,306, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) 27,843, Balochistan 10,766, Islamabad 13,409, Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) 1,288, and 1,545 cases have been confirmed in gilgit-Baltistan (gB). A total of 5,130 patients are admitted in hospitals across the country.

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said that 2,222 new cases of coronavirus have been detected from 10,705 tests while 25 more patients have died due to Covid-19 in the province, lifting the death toll to 1,526.

“So far 502,426 samples have been tested against which 94,528 cases were diagnosed all over Sindh. The overall detection rate is 9 per cent,” he said in a statement issued from the Chief Minister’s House.

He added that 777 more patients have recovered, lifting the total number of recoveries in the province to 53,165.

The CM said that currently, 39,837 patients were under treatment, and of them, 37,875 were in home isolation, 340 at isolation centres and 1,622 at different hospitals of the province. He added that 623 patients were stated to be in critical condition, of them, 74 had been shifted onto the ventilators.

Shah said that out of 2,222 new cases, Karachi has 770. He added that Karachi’s district East had 237, South 156, Central

Zulfi Bukhari urges PTDC’s laid off workers to accept Rs1.3bn assistance package g

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126, Korangi 113, Malir 72 and West 66.

The chief minister said that ghotki had 294, Sukkur 128, Kambar 80, Shaheed Benazirabad 75, Dadu 73, Khairpur 61, Badin 57, TM Khan 54, Sanghar 51, Kashmore 50, Hyderabad 50, larkana 48, Mirpurkhas 37, Tando Allahyar 36, Khairpur 33, Jacobabad 15, Matiari 14, Naushehro feroze and Jamshoro 11 each, Thatta six, Sujawal five and umerkot four.

Shah said that the cases of local transmission were on the rise in ghotki, Sukkur, Kambar, Shaheed Benazirabad, Dadu, Khairpur and Badin. He directed district administration of all the districts to take extraordinary measures to control the situation. “The rise in the cases is the result of disregard for the SOPs [standard operating procedures],” he concluded.

Meanwhile, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on National Health Services Dr Zafar Mirza appreciated the efforts of frontline health workers and medical staff in the

Coronavirus in

Pakistan

CONFIRMED CASES:

231,017

DAY'S DEATH TOLL:

93

NEW CASES:

3,191

RECOVERED:

DEATHS:

SINDH:

PUNJAB:

129,830 4,745 94,528

81,317

KP:

BALOCHISTAN:

AJK/GB:

ISLAMABAD:

28,116

PTDC CHAIRMAN SAyS WORKERS WERE lAID Off DuE TO CHANgE IN PTDC’S OPERATIONAl MODEl AND NOT DuE TO COvID-19

10,814

1,288/1,545 13,409

fight against Covid-19.

During a visit to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad, Dr Mirza said that the government is pursuing a holistic strategy to combat the coronavirus with the support of the nation, doctors and paramedics.

“We have made the best sovereign decisions in the best interest of our people with robust national coordination and decision-making mechanism in the national interest,” he said.

He said that the government has gradually eased lockdown, but at the same time, it has focused on the enforcement of Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs).

The special assistant said the government established NCOC under the auspices of National Coordination Committee (NCC) on Covid-19 which takes a holistic view of the situation in coordination with the provinces.

Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) Chairman Sayed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari on Sunday urged PTDC’s laid off workers to accept the assistance package amounting to Rs1.3 billion announced by the government.

“We have offered a handsome golden handshake to the PTDC employees but unfortunately they denied the offer at the behest of union leaders, which discouraged them from accepting the package for their own vested interests,” he said while addressing a news conference in Islamabad.

Zulfikar Bukhari, who also holds the portfolio of Chairman National Tourism Coordination Board (NTCB) and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development, said that the management had tried to negotiate with the union representatives on the instructions of

July 5, 1977, darkest day in Pakistan’s history: Bilawal ISLAMABAD inp

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Sunday termed July 5, 1977, as the most shameful and darkest day in the history of Pakistan.

In his message to the nation, Bilawal said that the people’s elected government and first directly elected prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was ousted by the elements who had either vanished into mid-air or living a shameful life.

“The way all the characters involved in it met their fate proved that crime and sin have no legacy. Still, every illegitimate ruler of the time, like today’s puppet, fails to grasp and realise this universal reality,” Bilawal said.

The PPP chairman said that the constitution was suspended on July 5, 1977, wrapping the country’s democracy, suspending all the civil rights and forbidding the process of development and hoisting the colours of the authoritarianism in all directions.

He said that just by promoting and protecting the dictator’s personal vested interests, the foundation of dictatorial rules was laid through inventing corruption and

PTDC board but the union moved the court against the decision.

He informed that the package included three running basic pays for the complete length of service, provident fund, arrears of pay and allowances for six months and one-year earned leave.

The chairman urged the laidoff workers to accept the offer terming it the biggest golden handshake package in the country’s history.

“The PTDC did not sack its employees due to the coronavirus pandemic,” he clarified.

Zulfikar Bukhari rejected the rumours regarding PTDC shutting down its operation. “The organisation had been running in loss for many years due to its out-dated model of operation, illegal appointments and lacklustre approach of the previous governments,” he added.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

more inside

Civilian injured in Indian ceasefire violation along LoC STORY ON BACK PAGE

PTI leaders ask Centre to end K-Electric’s ‘monopoly ’ STORY ON PAGE 03 unleashing intimidation.

“Dictators have been interested in petty personal gains developing hotbeds of intolerance and extremism,” he added.

Bilawal said that even today after four decades, the scourge of July 5, 1977, is not leaving the Pakistani nation behind and democracy is still in its teething stage, the ground for implementation of provincial autonomy is narrow, the poor are at the mercy of plagues and locusts, the swords of unemployment hanging over the heads of the workers, the bread of two times, justice is expensive and poor is getting poorer by each passing day.

He said that the present puppet regime is the culmina-

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tion of the crime of July 5, 1977, and at the same time, now this chapter in Pakistan is about to be closed forever.

He said that the day is not far when the people’s right to sovereignty and the use of religious extremism, militancy, sectarianism and linguistics as weapons in government buildings to perpetuate their aggressive rule will be removed in the same way that many racist and hate-mongering societies today are tearing down statues of fake greats.

Bilawal said that PPP has made unparalleled struggle and eternal sacrifices for the constitution and democracy of the country, this struggle will continue till the final victory of the people.

Commencing work on M8 motorway top priority: Bajwa STORY ON PAGE 03 in today’s issue

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Monday, 6 July, 2020

NEWS

PTI exPels MPA UzMA KArdAr froM PArTy over dIscIPlIne vIolATIon ISLAMABAD

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AKISTAN Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MPA in Punjab, Uzma Kardar has been expelled from the party for violating party discipline, said a notification issued by the ruling party. The party’s Standing Committee on Discipline and Accountability has issued a written order which states that Uzma’s basic party membership has been revoked.

“You have acted in a very irresponsible manner and your conduct is unbecom-

ing of a PTI member therefore you have been expelled from the basic membership of the party,” the notice read. “As a consequence, you are also not eligible to hold any post or position at the parliamentary level,” it added. Uzma may challenge the decision within seven days with the party’s appellate committee.

According to the notification, a show cause notice was issued by the party to Uzma on June 15 and she was asked to appear before the party’s discipline committee on June 17 but the hearing was postponed after her husband contracted Covid-19. The hearing was subsequently

held on June 27.

The notice observes that Uzma’s formal letter was received, that she was “heard very carefully” and the “audio clips of her conversation” provided to the party were “considered” after which the decision was taken. Uzma had made “disrespectful remarks” about the First Lady Bushra Bibi.

The controversy stems from an audio call leaked on social media wherein the PTI MPA can be heard saying indecent things about Bushra Bibi. She also passed remarks on the role of some Punjab government high officials.

According to the report, a source close

Psx attackers were in touch with handlers in Karachi, reveals investigation to Uzma said that her words were taken out of context, and edited from a private conversation.

Last month, Uzma was removed by Punjab Information Minister Fayyazul Hassan Chohan from the Media Strategy Committee and as a spokesperson for the provincial government.

In the 2018 general elections, Uzma won a reserved seat for women as a candidate from the PTI.

Multan not to be ignored in South Punjab setup: Qureshi ISLAMABAD TLTP

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi Sunday said that Multan will not be ignored in administrative arrangement of South Punjab.

Taking to Twitter, Qureshi dispelled speculation that Multan will be ignored or sidelined in the administrative

arrangement of the new South Punjab province.

“Multan will not be ignored in administrative arrangement of South Punjab.

There will be a functional secretariat in Multan with ACS attending office 3 days a week. The PTI has made tangible progress in its manifesto commitments and will facilitate people of

S. Punjab at their doorstep,” he tweeted.

On Tuesday, Chief Minister Usman Buzdar had approved the setting up of a South Punjab secretariat. The headquarters for the police bureaucracy will be set up in Multan, whereas the civil bureaucracy’s headquarters will be established in Bahawalpur, according to the Punjab government. A few weeks

ago, the chief minister had already approved the appointment of an additional chief secretary and additional inspector general (IG) for South Punjab.

“PTI is on its way to fulfilling its major promise by setting up a South Punjab secretariat,” Buzdar had said. He had further said that the office will help resolve people's problems at their doorstep.

KARACHI INP

An investigation into the attack on the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) has revealed that terrorists who stormed the building had contacts in the port city. Sources said that more data has been retrieved from cell phones of the attackers who, according to the data, were in touch with a specific cell phone number before the attack. The number was used in various parts of District Central, they added. The sources said they have found evidence of the attackers having contacts in Karachi after a forensic examination of their mobile phones.

Four terrorists who had attacked the stock exchange building on Monday were also killed.

A police officer and two security guards also lost their lives while foiling the attack. The outlawed Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attack. Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly (NA) on June 30, Prime Minister Imran Khan had said Pakistan has no qualms that Monday’s terrorist attack on the PSX was orchestrated in India.

“We have no doubt that this [attack] was carried out by India.”

Highest ever hydel electricity generated in 2019-20: Umar

PPP central leader Ayatullah durrani passes away

ISLAMABAD

MASTUNG

STAFF REPORT

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Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar said on Sunday that WAPDA produced the highest ever hydel electricity in 2019-20 with an increase of 20 per cent, compared to the previous year. In a tweet, the minister said that massive hydel capacity increase is taking place with Dasu, Mohmand and Diamir Bhasha Dams being built. “We need to rely on local renewable energy instead of expensive imported thermal fuels,” he added. Earlier, on June 25, Prime Minister Imran Khan had witnessed the agreement signing ceremony of 1124 MW Kohala hydropower project which would be completed at a cost of $2.5 billion. The signing ceremony of a tripartite agreement held in Islamabad for the construction of 1124 MW Kohala hydropower project. While addressing the event, the Premier said that the past governments had not taken interest in hydropower sector for generating electricity through water resources.

The central leader of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and former federal minister, Ayatullah Durrani passed away in a private hospital on Sunday. Ayatullah Durrani was admitted to a private hospital in Quetta after he got severely ill for the last few days. PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari has expressed sorrow over the death of Ayatullah Durrani. He said that Durrani was an ideological and loyal worker. He added that Durrani’s death is a major loss to the PPP Balochistan chapter. Ayatullah Durrani will buried in his hometown Parangabad area of Mastung.

Police produce Jamshoro honour killing suspects before JIT JAMSHORO: Sindh police on Sunday produced two suspects — who were accused of stoning to death a 24-year-old woman, Waziran, in Jamshoro — before a joint investigation team (JIT) constituted to probe the incident. According to details, Waziran was stoned allegedly by her husband, Allah Baksh, and his brother. She later succumbed to her injuries.

The police are reportedly treating the murder as honour killing. According to police, Waziran’s father, Gul Muhammad, had earlier testified that her death was an accident but later retracted his statement, claiming that his daughter was murdered by her in-laws. Muhammad registered a case and nominated his son-in-law and his brother, Kareem Baksh, in the first information report (FIA). A three-member JIT was constituted to probe the incident which recorded Muhammad’s statement wherein he accused the two suspects of killing her daughter through stone-pelting. According to the police, National Highway and Motorway Police on June 27 found a mutilated body with severe head injuries near the Indus Highway. APP

Kuwait inks pact to hire Pakistani healthcare professionals: Bukhari ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari has said that Kuwait has signed a bilateral framework with Pakistan to hire its healthcare professionals on regular basis. In a tweet on Sunday, Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari said that under the agreement, an increased number of Pakistani doctors, nurses and paramedics would be sent to Kuwait for work. According to a news report shared by the Special Assistant, the agreement was signed by Kuwaiti Undersecretary for Health, Dr Mustafa Ridha and Pakistan's Ambassador Syed Sajjad Haider in Kuwait. TLTP

Pakistan to have big electromagnetic industry in 3 years: Fawad ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry on Sunday claimed that Pakistan will have its own big medical and electromagnetic industry in the next three years.

In a tweet on Sunday, the minister for science and technology said that the United States will be Pak-

istan’s major client. Fawad said that Pakistan is already exporting sanitizers and personal protective equipment (PPE) to the United States. He appreciated the US gesture of friendship by providing 100 ventilators to Pakistan. On Tuesday, Fawad informed the National Assembly (NA) that the first consignment of domestically produced ventilators will be handed over to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) till Friday.

President, PM, foreign dignitaries, others inquire after Qureshi’s health ISLAMABAD TLTP

President Dr Arif Alvi, Prime Minister Imran Khan, foreign ministers and politicians inquired after the health of Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi who tested positive for coronavirus on Friday.

According to a press release on Sunday, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, Deputy Chairman Saleem

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Mandviwala, former army chief General (r) Raheel Sharif and NUST Rector Lieutenant General (r) Naweed Zaman also phoned the foreign minister and wished him good health. Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) President and Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif, Ahsan Iqbal, members of the parliament, provincial assemblies also inquired after the health of Shah Mahmood Qureshi through phone calls and messages.

Monday, 6 July, 2020

NEWS

03

PTI leAders AsK cenTre To end K-elecTrIc’s ‘MonoPoly’ KARACHI

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STAFF REPORT

AKISTAN Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Sindh chapter has announced to stage a sit-in in Karachi against prolonged power outages amid scorching heat and demanded the federal government to bring in another electric supply company in the port city to end the monopoly of K-Electric.

Opposition Leader in the Sindh Assembly Firdous Shamim Naqvi, in a press conference outside K-Electric’s office, said that the people of the metropolis are sick of the company. He added that the time has come that another system of electric supply should be given to the city.

“K-Electric does not have the capac-

Balochistan govt cancels fake domiciles QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan said on Sunday that his government has initiated action against fake domicile holders and suspended 400 unverified or fake local domicile certificates. In a Tweet, Khan said that Mastung Deputy Commissioner has canceled domiciles of 400 people who had obtained jobs in the federal government’s departments on the Balochistan quota. “This is the first decision of its kind and for the first time in Balochistan any government has taken such a step,” he wrote. The move was initiated after the Sindh government earlier this month constituted a high-powered committee to probe the issuance of allegedly fake domiciles to non-residents of the province. APP

sindh govt drafts advertising policy KARACHI: The Provincial Information Department of Government of Sindh, in order to establish the distribution of government advertisements on a comprehensive, fair, equitable and transparent basis, has drafted an advertising policy and sent it to all stakeholders, including Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE). CPNE has immediately expressed its views and recommendations, while a response from the remaining stakeholders is awaited.

The draft advertising policy will be finalised soon in light of all appropriate amendments and recommendations and will be implemented after approval from Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and Sindh Information Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah. PRESS RELEASE

ex-Md of Pso declared fugitive in lnG case ISLAMABAD: An accountability court of Islamabad has declared Shahidul Islam, former managing director of the Pakistan State Oil (PSO), a proclaimed offender in a case pertaining to the LNG scam that also involved former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi. The accountability judge ordered the authorities concerned to block his national identity card. The decision to start the proceedings of proclamation of the accused was taken after a National Accountability Bureau (NAB) prosecutor informed the judge that the accused had fled abroad. The prosecutor said the accused had intentionally flown out of the country to avoid the trial proceedings. Meanwhile, the bureau has decided to move an application in the accountability court seeking its permission to seize all moveable and immoveable assets of the former PSO MD in the country. INP

ity to take more than 600 megawatts of electricity from the national grid,” said Naqvi. He added that distribution should be given to other companies through a tender before 2023.

The people of Karachi have been suffering from power outages since the start of the summer.

Even though KE assured Sindh Governor Imran Ismail last month that unannounced load-shedding in the city would come to an end in 48 hours and an increase in the power supply from the national grid from the usual supply of 650 megawatts (MW) to 800MW, the loadshedding of more than 12 hours continues in the city unabated.

Several areas of the city braved eight to 12 hours of power outages on Saturday. In the wee hours of the day, most areas of the city were without power.

Zardari, others to be indicted in Park Lane case today ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

An accountability court in Islamabad will indict Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari in Park Lane estate case on Monday.

The former president has been accused of being involved “in extending a loan and its misappropriation by M/s Parthenon Private Limited, M/s Park Lane Estate Private Limited and others”. The court has decided to frame charges against Zardari in a virtual hearing. Registrar of the accountability court has written a letter to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB),

Karachi for finalising arrangements for his indictment. The court has directed the agency to ensure the presence of Zardari and the other accused on the

video link. The court, in its letter, said that the Karachi NAB should make arrangements for the indictment of Anwar Majeed, Farooq Abdullah and other accused.

The bureau was also directed to nominate its representatives for the identification of the accused, adding that charges will be framed against all accused on Monday. In the previous hearing, the court had deferred Zardari’s indictment in the said case.

The defense had submitted an application seeking an exemption from the court appearance due to Zardari’s ailment and the Covid-19 situation in the country.

Shehbaz has recovered from coronavirus: Marriyum LAHORE STAFF REPORT

National Assembly Opposition Leader and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif has recovered from the coronavirus, party spokesperson

Marriyum Aurangzeb said on Sunday. Aurangzeb said that the result of Sharif’s latest test had come back negative. “By the grace of God and the nation’s prayers, Shehbaz Sharif has tested negative,” she said in a statement.

The PML-N president had tested positive on June 11 and had immidiately isolated himself at home.

commencing work on M8 motorway top priority: Bajwa ISLAMABAD: China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority chairman retired Lt Gen Asim Bajwa said on Sunday that commencing work on the M8 Motorway was the top priority of the government. Bajwa, in a tweet, said the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) has approved Rs26 billion for a 146km long highway stretched between Hoshab, Kech and Awaran in Balochistan. According to Bajwa, the highway, situated in the remote districts of Kech, Awaran, “is a beacon of light for the impoverished people of South Balochistan and will change their lives”. A day earlier, the CPEC chief had announced that the construction work of Gwadar International Airport was underway.

He reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to launching and completing all projects in Gwadar, “in line with Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision”. STAFF REPORT

Kargil War hero sher Khan remembered on 21st martyrdom anniversary SWABI: The 21st martyrdom anniversary of Kargil War hero, Captain Karnal Sher Khan Shaheed, was observed on Sunday. He was born in district Swabi of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) in 1970. Captain Karnal Sher Khan was one of the ten recipients of country’s highest military award, Nishan-e-Haider. He was born on January 1, 1970. After completing his intermediate education at a government postgraduate college in Swabi, he first joined Pakistan Air Force (PAF) as an airman but later joined Pakistan Army as a commissioned officer in 1992. He was commissioned in 27th Sind Regiment on 14 October 1994. Captain Karnal Sher Khan emerged as the symbol of mettle and courage during the Kargil conflict at the Line of Control (LoC). He set up personal examples of bravery and inflicted heavy losses on the enemy. He defended five strategic posts, which he established with his soldiers at the height of 17,000 feet in Gultary area. On July 5, 1999, Indians, with the help of two battalions, managed to capture some portion of one of his post.

Despite facing all odds, he led a counter-attack and recaptured the lost portion. Captain Karnal Sher Khan also chased the enemy and conducted many raids in enemy area. During one such raid, he went inside enemy camp where he inflicted heavy losses. During the battle he received burst of fire in the chest and embraced martyrdom. STAFF REPORT

AGP unearths Rs1.14bn irregularities in Ministry of Water Resources THE AGP HAS ASKED THE MINISTRY TO STRENGTHEN INTERNAL CONTROLS, IMPROVE SERVICE DELIVERY AND INCREASE RELIANCE ON IT BASED APPLICATIONS ISLAMABAD SHAHZAD PARACHA

The Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) in its Audit Report 2019-20 has unearthed Rs1.14 billion in financial irregularities pertaining to the Ministry of Water Resources.

According to the audit report, the financial irregularities are related to procurement, contract management and accounts of the ministry.

In total, 79 cases amounting to

Rs768,675 million in irregularities related to procurement and contract management were observed. Similarly, 16 cases containing asset management issues amounting to Rs65,081 million were also pointed out.

Additionally, three cases amounting to a total of Rs171.21 million pertaining to issues in management of accounts with commercial banks, four cases amounting to Rs11,056.53 million pertaining to employee related issues, 18 cases amounting to Rs287,937.59 million relating to value

for money and service delivery and nine other cases amounting to Rs9,096 million were observed.

Meanwhile, the AGP has asked the Ministry of Water Resources to comply with the Public Procurement Rules, 2004 and the WAPDA Procurement and Contract Manual, 2014 for procurement of goods and services.

Additionally, the ministry has also been advised to devise a strong and reliable mechanism for renewal, encashment

and verification of performance bank guarantees to avoid financial losses and fraud.

Furthermore, the AGP has also urged the ministry to take necessary steps to ensure realistic feasibility studies and detailed designs for acquisition of land before awarding contracts or commencing work.

According to the document, the ministry needs to proactively resolve land acquisition issues, avoid reliance on cash transactions and adapt Information Technology (IT) based solutions.

“The department needs to strengthen its administrative and operational internal controls to improve service delivery and to obtain fair value for money through public spending and improve its reliance on IT based applications,” document said.

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Monday, 6 July, 2020

NEWS

REsignAtions of 48 PunJAB doCtoRs ACCEPtEd AMid PAndEMiC LAHORE

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HE resignations of 48 doctors across Punjab have been accepted by the provincial government, according to a notification of Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education (SHCME) Department.

The doctors who stepped down had tendered their resignations at various times this

year. Of the 48, 11 had resigned before Pakistan reported its first coronavirus case on February 26, 2020.

Among the doctors to have stepped down, 14 were from Lahore's Mayo Hospital, seven from Jinnah Hospital, six from Children Hospital, four from Teaching Hospital Dera Ghazi Khan and three from Lahore General Hospital.

Two medics each also quit at Allied Hospital Faisalabad, Sheikh Zayed Med-

Another doctor succumbs to coronavirus in KP PESHAWAR: Another doctor died of the coronavirus in Peshawar on Sunday, taking the number of Covid19 fatalities among healthcare workers in Khyber Pakhtunkwa (KP) to 17, as per the Provincial Doctors Association. Dr Hidayatullah Wazir was undergoing treatment at the Hayatabad Medical Complex before he succumbed to the disease, said sources. He was laid to rest at a graveyard in his hometown of Azeem Qi, they said. According to a report released by the National Emergency Operations Centre, the number of doctors, nurses and paramedical staff infected with coronavirus across the country has reached 2,561, while at least 25 health workers have lost their lives fighting the pandemic. Doctors' associations and media have reported even higher numbers of Covid19 cases and fatalities among healthcare workers. Numerous protests have also been held demanding the provision of personal protective equipments, protection, benefits, as well as improved working conditions as the pandemic adds strain to an already burdened healthcare system. Protesters were met with baton charge and arrests by the police in some cases and reportedly released later. INP

Buzdar vows to end corruption as ACE recovers Rs4.42bn in June LAHORE: Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar has said that ongoing zero-tolerance policy against corruption is being strictly implemented in the province and vowed to eradicate corrupt mafia at every level. The chief minister said this on Sunday as Punjab Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) by launching a stern action has made a historic recovery worth Rs4.42 billion in the month of June. The chief minister lamented that massive corruption committed in the past ruined the country. He pledged that under the vibrant leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan, indiscriminate action against corrupt mafia will continue. The ACE also made cash recovery amounting to Rs103.98 million in one month. ACE also retrieved 4,856 kanals and 16 marlas of state land from the land grabbers worth Rs3.36 billion. ACE made indirect recovery worth Rs954 million in one month. Punjab Anti-Corruption DG Muhammad Gohar Nafees, on the occasion, said, “We are waging a struggle to make corruption-free Punjab.” He stressed that the masses should indicate corruption and corrupt elements on Report Corruption App. He directed that officers should adopt a zero-tolerance policy against corrupt elements. STAFF REPORT

Marriage halls association announces countrywide protest KARACHI: The Marriage Halls Association has announced a countrywide protest on July 13 to press the government into accepting their demand of allowing wedding halls to reopen under standard operating procedures (SOPs) amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The announcement came after an emergency video-link meeting of representatives of wedding lawn owners’ body from across the country. They deliberated on the issue of closure of marriage halls across the country.

They decided to hold protest demonstrations outside press clubs across the country at the same time to demand reopening of halls. Marriage Halls Association President Rana Raes said marriage hall owners will march towards press clubs in all major cities, where they will hold a protest demonstration. He claimed hundreds of thousands of people will join their protest. He regretted that the government has turned a deaf ear to their demands despite being repeatedly approached. He assured that protesters will abide by the SOPs during their protest. Last Sunday, Workers of Karachi Marriage Halls Labour Union had staged a protest at Five Star Chowrangi of the city, demanding reopening of marriage halls. INP

ical College (SZMC) Rahim Yar Khan, Government Nawaz Sharif Teaching Hospital Yakki Gate, and Services Hospital, Lahore.

In addition, the resignations of one doctor each at the Civil Hospital Bahawalpur; Lady Aitchison Hospital, Lahore; Government Kot Khawaja Saeed Teaching Hospital, Lahore; Government Teaching Hospital, Shahdara; and Government Mian Munshi DHQ Teaching

Hospital, Lahore were accepted.

Separately, doctors across the nation have been protesting over unavailability of personal protective equipment (PPEs), as well as over violence faced at the hands of both police — during demonstrations — and aggrieved families of those who lost their lives to the deadly disease. A day earlier, the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) chapter of the Young Doctors Association (YDA) had said the

association "will emerge stronger" a day after several medics were "subjected to violence" and arrested during a “peaceful protest”.

In a joint press conference, the YDA and Grand Health Alliance (GHA) had condemned the government’s “non-democratic” behaviour, with the GHA chairperson warning of a "country-wide movement" if the healthcare professionals' issues were not resolved.

“Violence against young doctors will only strengthen us,” the president of YDA Kashmir said, while Dr Salman of YDA Punjab stressed that they would "stage a sit-in in front of Kashmir House in Islamabad" if the issues were ignored.

GHA Punjab President Dr Fazle Rabbi noted that doctors were dying of coronavirus due to non-provision of facilities.

KP govt allocates Rs800m for marble industrial estate in Buner PESHAWAR AZIZ BUNERI

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has allocated Rs800 million in the annual development programme for FY21 for the establishment of a marble industrial estate in Buner.

The Rs800 million will be used to purchase land for the marble industrial estate in the district.

Buner district currently houses 350 marble factories and contributes 60 per cent to the total marble production in the country. However, despite such a large quantum of production the district lacks an industrial zone for marble factories which leads to lower production levels and harm to the environment.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Economic Zones Development Company (KPEZDMC) Chief Executive Javed Khattak, told Profit that the establishment of the marble city in Buner will not only reduce the issue of environmental pollution but will create additional employment opportunities for the locals.

THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE INDUSTRIAL ESTATE IS EXPECTED TO INCREASE MARBLE SUPPLY, CREATE JOBS AND REDUCE ENVIRONMENTAL FOOTPRINT According to Javed Khattak the marble city will provide the best facilities to attract thousands of marble industrialists.

“One of our top priorities is to start work on this industrial estate as soon as possible so that we can attract more investment due to the timely completion of this project,” said Khattak.

Buner Marble Industry General Secretary Arshad Iqbal said that the establishment of a marble industrial estate in Buner will bring marble factories located all over the district under a single industrial estate and protect the investment of people associated with the marble industry.

“If all the factories across the district are brought together at one place, the transportation and supply of marble will

be simplified and roads in other parts of the district will not be damaged,” he said.

According to sources, currently marble factories are able to run their operations for around eight hours in the day due to prolonged electricity outages, which reduces marble supply and leads to unemployment. However, marble factories located in industrial estates can remain operational throughout the 24 hours which is expected to increase supply and create additional jobs.

According to Arshad Iqbal with the establishment of the marble city, the number of laborers working in marble factories will potentially increase by three hundred per cent.

Arshad Iqbal further said that the marble industrialists in Buner have been

Work on CRBL canal, Peshawar-DI Khan motorway to commence soon: Wazir DI KHAN TLTP

Advisor to Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) for Information Ajmal Wazir has said that work on Chashma Right Bank Lift (CRBL) Canal and Peshawar to DI Khan motorway will commence shortly, adding the projects will usher in new era of development in southern districts, particularly DI Khan.

The advisor expressed these views while talking to media persons here on Sunday after inspection of District Headquarter Teaching Hospital in connection with paying homage to frontline workers against Covid-19.

He said that the role of doctors and paramedics in this regard is highly appreciable. He added, “By the grace of Almighty Allah and with the assistance of these healthcare providers, we are bravely combating this

global challenge and are still on war footing against this deadly disease.”

He said that his visit is in line with the directive of KP CM to pay homage to doctors, paramedics and all other health staff including class-IV employees to commemorate 100 days of nation’s resolve against Covid-19.

He said that this visit was aimed at to personally review the arrangements regarding coronavirus control.

He termed the arrangements as satisfactory. He further said that the results of smart lockdown are very encouraging in DI Khan which is evident from the results. He added that as a whole of the province, the recovery rate is increasing which is a positive sign.

The adviser disclosed that in new financial budget record Rs124 billion have been earmarked for the health sector. He reiterated the government’s resolve to be on the beck and call of the nation in this hour of trouble.

demanding the establishment of an industrial estate for several years but the previous governments had paid no heed to their requests.

According to senior journalist Amir Mohammad Khan Chagharzai with the establishment of a marble industrial estate in Buner, all factories would be required to build underground tanks to prevent marble sludge from flowing into rivers which would be beneficial for agriculture and aquatic life.

Currently, marble factories in the district direct contaminated water into streams which pollutes the water.

Chagharzai further said that with the establishment of a marble industrial estate marble factories will be exempt from load shedding as power supply for marble the estate will be arranged independently of the rest of the district.

“In the past, governments have announced the establishment of a marble industrial estate but no practical steps were taken after that. The current government should work on practical implementation of the estate,” he said.

Talking about the mega projects taken in hand by the present government at provincial as well as federal level, he said that work on Peshawar-D I Khan motorway and Chashman Right Bank Lift Canal irrigation scheme will commence shortly. Both the mega projects were discussed by CM KP Mahmood Khan with Prime Minister Imran Khan in recent meeting held few days back, he said adding that prime minister assured full support to materialize these fate changer projects of D I Khan.

He said that the next financial budget allocation has been made for issuance of Sehat Insaf Card to every citizen of the province which would definitely be a big achievement towards materialization of election manifesto of PTI. The advisor further said that hitherto neglected areas of merged tribal districts will be brought at par with other parts of the country in order to address their sense of deprivation.

The advisor disclosed that all decisions in National Coordination Committee (NCC) on Covid-19 are made on the recommendations of the participants. He added that National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) is working in very effective manner.

Flour crisis emerging due to Punjab’s wrong policy: ICCI ISLAMABAD TLTP

Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) Sunday said that flour crisis is emerging due to the wrong policy of the Punjab government as it is forcing the flour mills to sell flour at retail price of Rs42.5 per kg despite the fact that flour mills have to purchase wheat at Rs48.75 per kg.

ICCI President Muhammad Ahmed Waheed raised the question as to how the flour mills could provide flour at a cheaper price by purchasing wheat at higher price. He said that the Punjab government had set a wheat procurement target of 4.5 million tonnes, which could not be met despite the fact that the Punjab government seized the wheat procured by the middlemen and flour millers under the pretext of hoarding ordinance.

He said that the official rate of wheat procurement has been set at Rs1,475 per 40 kg while the private sector has to buy

wheat at Rs1,950 per 40 kg and urged that the government should address this problem. Waheed said that it is not possible for the flour millers to sell a 20 kg bag of flour at retail price of Rs850 by purchasing wheat at Rs1,950 per 40 kg.

He said that no business could sell finished goods at cheaper rate by buying and processing material at expensive rate and government should realize this fact.

He also said that the government has

allowed the private sector to import wheat but at least three months are required to import wheat. He further said that the government should issue wheat quota to the flour mills up to their capacity to address flour shortage issue and warned that the flour crisis could escalate if coercive tactics are used in the matter.

The ICCI president appealed to the prime minister and the Punjab chief minister to take the flour mills association into

confidence for formulating wheat issuance policy as they were the key stakeholders in this matter and wheat policy should be finalized in consultation with them.

He said that in 2018-19, Punjab Food Department used to issue 55,000 tonnes of wheat daily while in 2019-20, 35,000 tons wheat was issued daily which created shortage and price hike.

He said that now the government wants to issue only 15,000 tonnes of wheat daily at Rs1,475 per 40 kg and is asking flour mills to keep retail price of flour at Rs850 per 20 kg which is not possible for them as they have to buy wheat at Rs48.75 per kg to meet their requirement.

He said that for the last six months, crises have been arising in the country and now the flour crisis is emerging. He appealed to the prime minister to take notice of this situation and issue orders to the relevant authorities for issuance of wheat quota to flour mills up to their capacity in order to avoid any flour crisis in the country.

Monday, 6 July, 2020

WaR anD TeRRoR in The PanDemiC CiTy NoTes

o

M A NiAzi

Ne would have thought that the sacking of Judge Arshad Malik by the Lahore High Court’s (LHC) administrative committee would have won the applause (raucous, no doubt) of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

After all, a corrupt element was biting the dust, getting due comeuppance for his association with the head of the Sicilian Mafia, Don Nawaz himself.

The only problem is that the finding means that the LHC does not believe the good judge’s claim that the videos of him were a concoction. Which means that it believes that somebody had videos which did indeed force him to give a guilty verdict in the Al-Azizia reference. Now the committee should pay attention to what happened to Justice Qazi Faez Isa, and is still happening to his family, before criticizing, even by implication, any national institutions that might happen to have incriminating tapes.

Shehbaz Sharif was showing a misplaced joy, by asking Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) workers to offer thanks to the Almighty for the decision. Why is it being assumed that this was a put-up job meant to embarrass certain national institutions by reversing their decisions? And only if Nawaz Sharif’s conviction is quashed will it be possible to argue that national institutions are being made to face embarrassment

by Indian agents.

India must be pulling out all stops now because of the embarrassment it faced in Ladakh at the hands of China. Perhaps India has learnt enough from that episode to decide that it will not fight with China. The United States has been beefing up India to counter China, but it seems that India has not given up a 58-year-old habit. If anyone remembers the 1962 Indo-China War, it ended with India getting a pasting and turning to the US for help in getting it out.

Besides, at the time of the 1962 war, there was no pandemic. The Ladakh battleground is inaccessible enough without any attempts at social distancing. About two

centuries ago, it was expected to have more casualties caused by illness than by enemy action. Of course, that changed with the discovery of antibiotics. But it seems we are going back to that era. You might see a victorious division laid low by the coronavirus. Can you bring enough firepower to bear on the enemy while maintaining social distancing?

Well, apart from China and India giving a demonstration of combat in the pandemic, we have also had a demonstration of terrorism under conditions of social distancing, but it was not the usual militants, but people from the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA). There have been no new infections reported from the attack they carried out at the Pakistan Stock exchange (PSX), but I cannot imagine that the attacks were not accompanied by a crowd murmuring ‘kya hua?’ and jostling the others as they edged forward for a closer look. I would not be surprised if they did not take selfies, just to prove they were at the scene.

I wonder why the BLA chose the PSX. I mean, militants belonging a certain religion

might be expected to, because they believe that joint stock companies are un-Islamic, and trading I their shares is prohibited. Of course, they might prefer going after a bank, what with so many banks having headquarters in Karachi. These militants, as a matter of fact, are against modern capitalism, which rests on the banking system as well as joint stock companies. I did not know that the BLA was particularly anti-capitalist. In fact, since there’s a soft spot for it in the US Congress, I assumed that it was pro-capitalism.

Unless its Indian trainer and sponsor, RAW, retains a streak of the Nehruvian socialism that I had thought it had abandoned with the advent of the BJP, which is very pro-capitalist in its ideology.

The monsoon is not breaking. There has been a little rain, but the Met Office said that it was pre-monsoonal. The weather is muggy enough though. You mean it will get worse in the monsoon itself? Can it get any worse?

We are apparently trying to get #BlackLivesMatter to take in Kashmiris. I wonder how Kashmiris like being described as Black.

PBF wants Pak-India trade only after restoration of IOK special status LAHORE TLTP

Pakistan Businesses Forum (PBF) President Sahibzada Usman Zulfiqar on Sunday urged the government not to talk with India on restoration of bilateral trade unless the latter lifts curfew and restores the special status of Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK), as India is major beneficiary of this almost “one-way trade.”

Talking to the media, the PBF president said that for 70 years of bilateral trade had largely favoured India which is even against the wisdom of SAFTA agreement. Indian exports continued unabated at a monthly average of $150 million while Pakistan’s decreased from $30 million to $4 million. Pakistan’s decision to suspend bilateral trade has pulled the plug on this one-way trade.

Neither Pakistan nor India is critically dependent on each other’s market, though the suspension of bilateral trade might, in the medium term, affect the consumer welfare by increasing prices of a few agricultural and other products, he explained.

As in absolute terms, India stands to lose a market of $2 billion compared with Pakistan’s loss of $0.38 billion. Pakistan’s exports of $383 million to India in 2018 constituted 1.6 per cent of Pakistan’s global exports. Since Pakistan’s value-added products are systematically excluded through NTBs, Pakistan’s exports to India are concentrated in a few primary and intermediate products — dried dates ($92 million), cement ($63 million), sugar ($23 million), gypsum ($19 million), sesame seed ($15 million), leather ($14 million), steel scrap ($13 million), disodium carbonate ($12 million) and surgical instruments ($11 million), he maintained.

There is little dependence of Pakistan’s exports on the Indian market for these products except for dried dates, though the reliance has been reduced through an aggressive market diversification strategy since February 2019.

Though India’s level of trade restrictiveness under the Overall Trade Restrictiveness Index (47.6) is more than double the Pakistani restrictiveness (22.2), the concealed Pakistan-specific NTBs have been the most constricting. A hostile mindset (considered to be the most restrictive of the NTBs), limiting visa policies, long waiting periods at bor-

ders and, above all, the harassment of Indian importers doing business with Pakistan have greatly restricted trade.

He said to India’s misfortune, it has been taken over by extremists and racists. “Only a person with an extremist mindset would do what they have done in Kashmir by keeping it under curfew for the last 10 months. Now Prime Minister Narendra Modi is offering Kashmir’s domiciles to Indian business community, which will further aggravate the situation,” he added.

Zulfiqar said that even in a recent report by the Indian Ministry of Commerce, acknowledged that Indian businessmen importing from Pakistan were subjected to surveillance

by Indian intelligence agents and their import goods were subjected to multiple security screening. Unsurprisingly, every round of trade liberalisation during the last two decades led to only one-side gains.

He also called upon SAARC CCI President to take up the Pakistan’s and Kashmir stance in front of Indian business community loud and clear so that they know the real picture of New Delhi, who impressed with the ideology of RSS.

NEWS

05

Zulfi Bukhari urges PTDC’s laid off workers to accept Rs1.3bn assistance package cOntinuEd On pAgE 01 He said that the decision regarding the restructuring of PTDC was taken by the federal cabinet in order to transform it into a vibrant and profitable organisation, and generate additional employment through effective promotion of tourism in Pakistan and across the globe. “The restructuring of PTDC is meant to shift its model from an operator to a policy maker and regulator,” he remarked. Zulfikar Bukhari said that after the restructuring, PTDC would work as an execution arm of the NTCB which was set up by the government with an aim to develop coordination among the federating units. “Tourism is a devolved subject so strong coordination among the provinces is imperative to boost the sector,” he added. He said a top consultant was hired to carry out the restructuring of PTDC, who had helped the organisation in formulating the policy in that regard. He said that a 10-year road-map (2020-2030) had been prepared to invigorate the tourism industry to ensure maximum utilisation of its huge resources for sustained economic growth, poverty alleviation and reduced social inequalities. A 5-year action plan is also being finalised to implement the government’s plan regarding tourism promotion, he added. He said the government would soon launch ‘Brand Pakistan’ to promote the tourism industry as a customised brand. An e-portal to inform tourists about the hotels’ ratings, weather, traffic and other information has also been prepared. Zulfikar Bukhari said all the initiatives are ready and would be rolled out after the Covid-19 pandemic is brought under control. He informed that a tourism promotion endowment fund with seed money of Rs1 billion has also been set up. He said the country would host the World Tourism Forum in 2021, whereas D8 Summit would also be held in Pakistan in 2022. He said the tourism ministers of D-8 member states had expressed keenness for attending the three-day conference.

Monday, 6 July, 2020

06 COMMENT

Slavery everywhere

The judge’s accountability Judge Malik’s sacking does not mean relief for Mian Nawaz Sharif

Slavery became peonage

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He sacking of Judge arshad Malik by the lahore High Court’s administrative committee was perhaps an inevitability, for the original accusation against him was that he had given a verdict against ousted Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif while sitting as an accountability judge, out of pressure from certain institutions which had in their possession a compromising video, and his defence, that he had met both Mian Nawaz and his son during the pendency of the case, both reflected improper conduct on his part. He can go into departmental appeal, which will be heard by the committee, and after that he can appeal to the Punjab Subordinate Judiciary Services Tribunal (which consists of three lHC judge). If still unsatisfied, he can then go to the Supreme Court.

Until he has exhausted these avenues of appeal, his decision in Mian Nawaz Sharif’s reference stands. even afterwards, Judge Malik’s dismissal does not mean acquittal, constituting nothing more than grounds for a retrial. It is for the higher judiciary to consider whether a fresh trial will result in any further improper pressure.

Indeed, it concerns all, what the case means. The superior judiciary as a whole, not just the high courts’ administrative committees or the Judicial Commission of Pakistan, to concert measures to prevent any person or organization from being able to exert pressure on subordinate judges. We have not reached a point where such interventions are dismissed out of hand by all rightthinking persons, because the conduct of judges is so aboveboard. also, the institutions alleged to have blackmailed Judge Malik should make sure that they stop using such ham-handed methods, because the truth will come out eventually, whether they like it or not, and in ways which may not suit their convenience. The unseating of a Prime Minister may have given some a lift, but it actually almost derailed democracy.

Mian Nawaz’s retrial now seems inevitable. If any institutions tried to influence the result of the first trial, it would be counter-intuitive to expect them to allow him to be acquitted so easily. It will then be up to the superior judiciary to ensure the integrity of that trial, something that was not done the first time around.

Humayun GauHar

S

lavery was ended in the United States in 1866, one year after the Thirteenth amendment. But the states of alabama, Texas, louisiana, arkansas, Georgia, Missouri, Florida, Tennessee and South Carolina found a way around it. It was called ‘peonage,’ from which the British introduced the word, ‘peon’ as an office boy in the sub-continent and the word is still used in some places in India and Pakistan. Peonage meant that arrested Blacks could be leased out to work for White men who could then use them for all kinds of work as they did the slaves. To enable this, they established ‘laws’ known as Black Codes. For example, in louisiana, it was illegal for a Black man to preach to a Black congregation without obtaining permission from the police. If they were caught, they could be arrested and fined. and if they could not pay the fine, which needless to say was stupendously high, the Black man was forced to work for an individual or go to jail where he would work until his debt was paid off. an unemployed Black person, he or she, could be arrested and imprisoned for vagrancy and loitering. It

was worse in South Carolina where if the parent of a Black child was considered a vagrant, the judicial system allowed the police or some other government agency to “apprentice” the child to an “employer.”

Black men could be held until they were 21 and females until they were 18. Their so-called owner had the right to inflict punishment on the child even for disobedience and to recapture them if he or she ran away. Peonage is systemic racism. It was established and perpetrated by government systems. Such acts of racism were inbuilt into the systems hence systemic racism. So peonage meant the re-enslavement of Blacks through the prison system and at one time, more than 800,000 Blacks were part of the peonage system. It ended around 1940. What enabled it was the wording of the Thirteenth amendment which said that, “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States…” What hypocrisy! Thus the smallest of transgressions was made into a crime. Once again, this is peonage. Because every white Southern farmer hated the ending of slavery, Black courts were introduced as a way to appease them.

I submit that slavery and peonage are still embedded in Man’s DNa. We have been going on about US slavery for the last two or three articles, but lest we start gloating, we should remember that everyone is a victim of it in one way or another. Slavery was actually started by the arabs and is also referred to in the Holy Quran but not called an ‘abomination.’ The first slaves in africa were captured by arabs and because the British were then the global overlords, they took them and sold them to White americans. The arabs even brought slavery to the Indian subcontinent. The first slaves were brought and sold by an arab raider, Mohammad bin Qasim to Sind, then in British India. He converted many people to Islam, whom he called ‘Momins,’ which means ‘true believer.’ This is from where the word ‘Memon’ comes from. The graves of his soldiers can still be found in a place called Makli, near Karachi.

In human crimes against people continuing to this day, a few days ago, a woman in Pakistan was stoned to death by her husband and his brother, because she was somehow violating the law of ‘vani’

which is a family against whom something is proved to a village court and the punishment is to hand over one or more girls regardless of how old they are to the so-called victim. another local law is the exchange of women as wives which is called ‘karo kari.’ In Islam, no one especially a girl, can be forced into marriage by anyone except by choice. and the most horrible practice of all is so called ‘honour killing’ which should more aptly be called ‘dishonour killing’ in which even the mother and father of the victim participate. What kind of mindset is that?

Sadly, such practices exist everywhere. In Indian villages, ‘satti’ or wife burning on the husband’s funeral pyre still occurs. Such things are pre-Stone age.

What can one say? I suspect that even cannibalism exists in certain parts of God’s world. actually, one of the main purposes of life is to gather knowledge and shun ignorance. Ignorance is a sin of one of the worst kinds. One of the fundamental human rights in Islam is that every person should be able to develop his or her mind to the fullest and it is the duty of the State to provide the wherewithal for that, and yet in this Islamic republic of ours, we have customs and even laws which would make even people from the age of Ignorance, which is called ‘jahiliya,’ blush. The pre-Islamic era is called jahiliya and from there stems the word jahalat which means ‘ignorance,’ though I am assured by people who claim to know better that even the jahiliya was an age of the flourishing of arts and culture.

The point is that jahalat abounds in this Islamic republic of Pakistan from the highest levels of government down to the ‘peon’ as it were. you see it all the time and can only lament. In their ignorance, they also violate some of the fundamental human rights which are universal.

Thomas Jefferson was a great political mind. But he was also a slave owner. So today the debate rages in the USa whether his memorabilia should be removed. We should all remember that human beings are products of their time and what is considered terrible today by society was considered acceptable then.

Humayun Gauhar can be reached at: humayun.gauhar786@gmail.com

Institutions, organizations, and markets

Islamabad temple Why drag in the CII?

Will anyone do the needful?

B

y turning over the question of the construction of a Hindu temple in Islamabad to the Council of Islamic Ideology, the government is not only abdicating an important responsibility, but is also providing a reminder of the Zia era, which seems responsible for the perversion of religious sentiment which made it inevitable that there should be such an ignoring of the Quaid-eazam’s injunction, made right at the inception of Pakistan, to allow religious freedom for minorities.

It does not seem very sensible for the government to fail to take a decision according to the law and the Constitution, but instead to refer the matter to the CII for a decision according to Shariah. It should not be forgotten that perhaps the most important religious question so far, that of what to do about Qadianis, was not referred to the CII for decision, but was tackled by Parliament itself. It should be remembered that whatever the merits of the final decision, it did require a constitutional amendment, something which the CII could not have undertaken, its jurisdiction being at best recommendatory. While the Islamic provisions might be a relevant guide to the direction that public sentiment might take, it is for the government to take a decision based on the law of the land as based on the Constitution, not the recommendations of a body which is itself a creation of that Constitution.

The government must not cave in to the kind of obscurantist and formalistic religiosity represented by the Zia era. It is perhaps a coincidence that the reference was made on the 43rd anniversary of Zia’s coup, but it is symbolic of how much the PTI represents that regime.

The controversy over the temple seems problematic, especially since the government did not see any need to refer the question of what to do about the Kartarpur Corridor to the CII. The government is laying itself open to charges of discriminating between religions, of being sure enough about a Sikh Gurdwara to take decisions itself, but uncertain enough about a Hindu Mandir to require CII intervention. at a time when Muslims are facing unprecedented and systemic persecution in India, Pakistan should refrain from the kind of anti-Hindu action that might appear an attempt at a tit-for-tat response either.

Dr Omer JaveD ‘This nation asks for action, and action now’– Franklin D. roosevelt’s inaugural address

T

Here is crisis after crisis facing the people, may that be for instance, the sudden price hike of sugar, wheat, and more recently oil, at the back of either reportedly artificial disruptions in supply chains by cartels within each sector, or lack of policy response, or on the other hand inability of the government to improve the workings of state-owned enterprises (SOes) or effectively deal with inefficiencies in power sector utilities. resultantly, the government continues to play the ‘nanny state’ by bailing out the inefficiencies of these sectors, through the use of precious public money, which should otherwise have been used for the welfare of the multitude of poor– with significant increase in their numbers, ushered in by the current pandemic. Instead, lack of policy, possibly at the back of collusion of politico-economic elites, leads to welfare of these rich!

The PTI came into power on the promise of bringing ‘change’– bringing a structural change, and even a break in certain ways, from the past. Change requires policy response; rhetoric alone does little. and there remains a serious lack of policy response. a better performance in this regard, would have even allowed better preparedness to deal with the current pandemic even.

One of the main differences between democracy and dictatorship, is the existence of working communication lines between the elected and the electorate.

That ensures a two-way learning system, and a natural vent for grievances of the aggrieved parties. This is still very weak. Words go unheard, because other-

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wise there have been so many hue and cries, through to get around to creating a team of cabinet ministers both written and spoken words in media, and other and advisors that can deliver in this. So what will interactions of economic and political agents, that a change this? is what the PM should ask himself. like better listening government would respond. volca- he is– an open and straightforward person, as much amplified by his very first speech after becoming noes erupt, channels ensure flow.

So what does an economic agent wants: better in- PM– he should share with the public an honest decstitutions, improved organizations, and efficient mar- laration of how he will improve his team, and how, broadly speaking, the instikets. Fall short on these in tutions, organizations, and any significant way, and the markets be improved. He result is frequent fire-fightshould enumerate main poling of issues of a similar naCan the PM come up with a icy steps in terms of goverture; similar, because, the nance and incentive roots of all these crises are ‘New Deal’ reform for structures that will bring immostly in the same three oriPakistan, one that is also provement in all three. gins– institutions, organizaThe current pandemic tions, and markets. Fix the green? For this, among other has all the more exacerbated roots, and the fruits will be a the overall acute and lot better. It cannot be the thing, he will need to chronic economic issues other way round. that were already facing the Institutions are the understanding the correct country. There is no more ‘rules of the game’. Institulimits of the public sector– time to delay the policy retions are embodied in the sponse needed. Will the PM practical sense by ministries and not minimal, as the answer this loud and clear at the federal level, and decall, amplified all the more partments at the provincial neoliberal mindset, to the by the crisis, and rise to the level. They make the polgreat disadvantage of country challenge? In recent history, icy– the environment– D. roosevelt rose under which both organizaafter country, tried to do over Franklin to the occasion, and tions– the ‘players of the game’– and the markets opmany decades now. Moreover, changed the destiny of an entire nation suffering erate to their optimal levels. he will have to remove the deeply by the Great DepresBoth the organizations and of the 1930s. markets allow interaction of class system, in the shape of sionCan the PM come up economic agents to reach with a ‘New Deal’ reform ‘economic exchange’ of civil and government service, for Pakistan, one that is also goods and services. Institugreen? For this, among other tions therefore aim to ensure and push to approach one thing, he will need to underthe least disruptive and reformed public service. standing the correct limits of costly exchange. the public sector– and not Now take some of the Once again, all will require minimal, as the neoliberal recent issues that made mindset, to the great disadheadlines. The wheat, sugar, policy, and before that, will. vantage of country after and oil crises, apparently Yet before anything can country, tried to do over caused by inefficient institumany decades now. Moretional environment, did not make a roll-on, the PM will over, he will have to remove upgrade organizations to enthe class system, in the sure seamless economic exhave to be more inclusive of shape of civil and governchange. lack of policy, and others’ ideas ment service, and push to non-neoliberal in that, kept approach one reformed pubinstitutions weak. That is the lic service. Once again, all rot at the roots, which the will require policy, and begovernment has not been able to fix through policy. Such policy vacuum, ac- fore that, will. yet before anything can make a rollcording to many, is even by ‘design’, of the likes that on, the PM will have to be more inclusive of others’ ideas, like being made in this column. the PM likes to identify as ‘elite capture’.

Only needed policy could have weakened these Dr Omer Javed holds PhD in Economics degree politico-economic collusions of the elites, and thwarted their extractive institutional governance from the University of Barcelona, and previously and incentive structures, that they have put in place worked at International Monetary Fund. He tweets over many decades. yet the PM has remained unable @omerjaved

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Monday, 6 July, 2020

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

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Tragic train collision

Bigotry & Intolerance The Islamabad temple episode shows the resistance of Zia's influence

SyeD KaSwar GarDezi

“Y

OU are free to go to your temples, you are free to go to your mosques or to any other place of worship in this state of Pakistan. you may belong to any religion or caste or creed, that has nothing to do with the business of State” concluded the Quaid when he delivered Pakistan to the people. Freedom of religion was the first fundamental right which was recognized and affirmed by our founder. In very simple terms, he explained that religious association had nothing to do with the affairs of the state and rightly so.

Unfortunately, these words were blown in the air soon after. Pakistan became the first country to introduce constitutional amendments outlining the faith of the people. Thereafter, General Zia cursed us with his presence and put an end to Pakistan’s journey towards progression. The policies he introduced were so deeply entrenched that they continue to haunt us till date. Intolerance towards others was sponsored by the state during his reign. Though his initial attack had been towards democracy however, during the process he completely annihilated the idea of a secular and progressive Pakistan, one where people would feel secure and be considerate and tolerant towards the others. although a blast of fire followed by a puff of smoke took General Zia with it however, his imprint left on our society have grown even stronger over time. The religious intolerance which he introduced continues to be fathomed even by so called democratic governments. Just this past week, news surfaced of a Hindu temple being constructed in the federal capital. The news was welcomed by progressive activists as a step in the right direction in order to promote religious harmony and tolerance, keeping in mind Quaid’s promise; you are free to go to your temples. But the jubilation was short lived as this news was not well received by the many

sons of the Zia legacy. There was uproar. How human race but merely extends an invitation could the Muslim theologians and zealots toler- which a person should accept out of his or her ate the construction of a Hindu temple in the own free will. The concept of forced conversion is alien to Islam and has nothing to do with it. It federal capital?

The thin shackles of their faith, once again, is the bigoted mindset of the children of General came under threat. Constructing a temple goes Zia’s legacy who have introduced fanaticism in against the spirit of Islam, claimed most of the the name of Islam which has ruined even the objectors. Some political parties, always looking image of our beloved religion.

For those who are not convinced with simto cash in on situations, joined in support. That being the case, the Quaid-e-azam, according to ple Islamic interpretations and would prefer to our current religious clerics, would be an infidel stick to worldly laws, there is a need to review given his views regarding religious tolerance. our Constitution. The basic chapter of fundaHow could he allow the people to go to their mental rights unequivocally protects the rights of minorities and their temples? after all, it ability to “practice” went against the very and “profess” their respirit of Islam. Obviligion. In the presence ously, General Zia was A government which itself of a clear protection, a much better leader opposing the creation than the Quaid. He continues to bow down to of temple is absurd gave us a better legacy bigotry and intolerance every and highlights the to follow. One which of General wears bigotry as a now and then cannot protect remnants Zia in our society. crown jewel.

Imran Khan, even Which leaves us to its citizenry against it. The though he claims to be come to the democratic halting of the construction of an upright leader, governments which lacks the nerve to came after Zia. One of the temple signifies the stand up to extremist the two was a creation ideologies. The entire of Zia itself, so it basidaunting prevalence and the nation is aware of his cally cemented Zia’s earlier escapades perlegacy under the garb of power of bigotry in our taining to religious exdemocracy. The other country. Ch Pervaiz Ellahi tremists. In fact he has one was too corrupt to had a soft corner for the core to make an should probably change the the religious zealots everlasting impact on for far too long. The the people. Democracy name of his political party Prime Minister is yet proved to be a failure. It from Q for Quaid to Z for Zia to issue a clarification failed to educate its in regard to calling masses over the past because what it currently Osama Bin laden a three decades and sysmartyr. His spokespertematically drain out stands by has nothing to do son did not even the intolerance and exwith what the Quaid bother to term it a slip tremist mindset of the tongue and merely people. On the contrary, professed. Unfortunately, our of insisted that he used the extremist mindset words “killed” has in fact been conrevered old man was wrong; the twice. Therefore, not doned.

Government after government has you are not free to go to your much can be expected from such a leader in bowed down towards temples in Pakistan when it comes to reliextremist sentiment. gious tolerance.

The most classic exama government ple being the incumbent which itself continues government lead by Imran Khan. Within two years, it has bowed to bow down to bigotry and intolerance every down towards religious extremism a number of now and then cannot protect its citizenry against times with the temple in Islamabad being the lat- it. The halting of the construction of the temple est. Within hours of resentment by bigoted quar- signifies the daunting prevalence and the power ters, the PTI government halted the construction of bigotry in our country. Ch Pervaiz ellahi of the temple indefinitely and referred the matter should probably change the name of his political for a decision by the Council of Islamic Ideology. party from Q for Quaid to Z for Zia because It failed to stand firm on a decision already made what it currently stands by has nothing to do only because the religious sentiment of a few in- with what the Quaid professed. Unfortunately, our revered old man was wrong; you are not free tolerant segments had been hurt.

These zealots, probably, first need to take a to go to your temples in Pakistan. backseat and revise the teaching of Islam. Our Syed Kaswar Gardezi is a lawyer and a religion, the best amongst all if followed in its true essence, preaches tolerance, harmony and columnist. He can be contacted at peace. It does not force its teachings on the kaswargardezi@gmail.com

THe responsibility of the dire mishap that took place as a result of the fateful collision between the train and the bus carrying Sikh pilgrims lies with the Pakistan railways. If we search the track record of Pakistan railways we will come to the conclusion that it is not the first nor it is going to the last tragic incident unless and until the authorities involve realize the gravity of their faltering infrastructure and start taking action to avoid such happenings in future. accidents that involve train on railways crossing are no new story.

Trains ramming on passenger bus on an unmanned crossing in rohri leading to a loss of 19 lives followed by a similar incident last May near Pattoki resulting in the death of two newly married couples. Moreover the infamous Shalimar express collision with a cargo train on an en route to lahore from Karachi bodes testimony to the sheer negligence of the railways department.

The long history of Pakistan’s railway accidents are accredited to the years of lack of investment in the concerned sector and a blithe disregard for passenger safety operations and standards. Pakistan railways is already has a bad reputation for passenger service and facilitation and the appalling accidents make the sector even more under-performed. In the coming years, owing to depleting infrastructure, engine failure and derailment the accidents are increasing in frequency and number. The year 2019 was considered the most fateful year in the history of Pakistan railways because of the spike in railway accidents. Media too has stopped reporting the frequently occurring mishaps because either the people have become too desensitized or the accidents are viewed as routine.

Thus, the government instead of launching new train routes, should invest in its faltering infrastructure and updating its operational safety guidelines. This will lead to securing unmanned crossing to prevent fatal mishaps in the future.

Hadia MukHtar karacHi

Eid ahead eID-Ul-aDHa; an event of fun and joy, mostly famous for its ritual of buying sacrificial animal has now become a challenge for the government. Well the most important part of this event is considered to be, setting up the animal markets in big cities all around the country, which has started. During this crucial time in Pakistan, SOPs implementation is going to be a tough task for the government to tackle.

Most of the animal traders who put their hard work and time in petting their animals; come to these markets from different areas of country. On the other side gathering of all these traders and buyers is too risky. If the SOPs left unimplemented, the chances of pandemic to rise again will increase. Maintaining discipline, social distancing and the number of people allowed in markets will play an important role in getting through it. The situation should not be dealt with carelessness, otherwise the number of new cases per day which are decreasing now can fluctuate back to its previous levels and it can be terrifying turning point for whole nation.

Mian aizaz aHMEd SHadakot

Don’t open schools aS we all know that the pandemic situation is going all over the world.

This is the worst time for everyone because COvID-19 has left us in great lose. like our health, economic and educational system is destroyed very badly. In Pakistan all schools were closed on February 26 after first case of corona was found. So that’s why all the educational institutions closed and destroyed the whole educational system. But as a number of cases arose all the educational institutes were closed then most of the universities, colleges and schools started online classes which resulted in good. Introducing online classes was a great initiative as this helps alot to students to learn from home. PTv also introduced online learning videos which also helped teenagers especially. Now school owners are asking to reopen schools but the thing which we and they need to understand is that nowadays where people are not following SOP’s in markets how will they follow in school. If you want to resume the education system then first reopen university because reopening universities and colleges are another thing because in university and college there are adult students and they shall follow SOP’s but not school. I request the PM and Federal education minister and all related authorities to pay some attention upon this.

WaliullaH noonari larkana

Religion and corona ISlaM is religion of peace and humanity which teaches us each and every manner and SOPs of world, From the very beginning of corona there has been a fight between religion and safety. as we all know this virus reacts when touched, islam teaches us to be at home if you have a disease which spreads by touching. everyone was blaming Non muslim countries as if it’s their trick to stop muslims from worshipping but there is a circle of discipline to understand islam because at some points islam wants us to be strict or to ease ourselves because there are more than one way to go through a problem.

Same for corona, we were surrounded by numerous thoughts stuck in our mind to go to masjid or not, shake hands or not, to hug or not but no one was giving a particular statement proven by islam because these things are related to our culture and pakistanis knows perfectly to manifest cultures. People were really confused and were not performing their roles in (no hand shakes and hugs). They were just chilling here and there, no follow up for hygiene. after sometime virus was taken seriously then Molana’s and Mufti’s showed up and told people what islam says to do during pandemic and everything is going nicely along with SOPs. SuHail SaEEd tunio larkana

Monday, 6 July, 2020

08 WORLD VIEW

The case for Kissinger AS AMERICA CONTINUES TO LURCH WILDLY IN FOREIGN AFFAIRS, IT SEEMS SAFE TO SAY THAT THE CASE FOR HENRY KISSINGER IS BECOMING STRONGER THAN EVER

NatioNal iNterest

h

Jacob Heilbrunn

ENRy Kissinger, who recently turned ninetyseven, is America’s most celebrated living statesman. None of his successors has come close to matching the extraordinary blend of acclaim and notoriety, admiration and criticism that he attracted as national security adviser and secretary of state to Richard M. Nixon and secretary of state to Gerald Ford. The British Foreign Office referred to him at the time as “the Wizard of the Western World'” and Playboy Bunnies voted him the man they would prefer to date in 1972—no small accomplishments for an expert on the Congress of Vienna who spent much of his early career at Harvard, where his cohort included the likes of Samuel Huntington, Stanley Hoffmann, and Zbigniew Brzeziński.

But Kissinger’s foreign policy wizardry was always accompanied by reproaches and rebukes, both public and private. The posthumously published The Letters of Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., for example, reveal that in a lengthy November 5, 1974 missive to Kissinger, Schlesinger expressed his dismay to his old friend about the direction of American foreign policy during the Nixon administration: I cannot but feel that our foreign policy in recent years removed the United States from what historically has been the source of our greatest impact on mankind. We have most influenced the world as a nation of ideals, conveying a sense of hope and faith in democracy… It may well be said that such hope was often delusory and that it often concealed a tough sense of American self-interest. […] The conception of world affairs as a chess game played by foreign secretaries contains an instinctive preference for authoritarian states, where governments can be relied on to deliver their people, as against democracies, where people might always turn on their governments.

The Left and Right united in attacking him as an amoral practitioner of realpolitik who had subverted American ideals: to the former he was a war criminal who had wantonly deployed American power abroad; to the latter, an appeaser who had not deployed it enough.

Ronald Reagan declared at the Republican Convention in Kansas City in 1976 that “Henry Kissinger’s recent stewardship of U.S. foreign policy has coincided precisely with the loss of U.S. military supremacy… Under Kissinger and Ford this nation has become No. 2 in military power in a world where it is dangerous—if not fatal—to be second best.”

Kissinger was undaunted. His two volumes of memoirs, which were published in 1979 and 1982, were bestsellers. In 2014, in a poll of American international relations scholars, he was named the most effective secretary of state in the previous fifty years. He has remained a coveted presence in the Oval Office, advising presidents from Jimmy Carter to Ronald Reagan, from George W. Bush to Donald Trump. Vice President Dick Cheney said, “I probably talk to Henry Kissinger more than I talk to anyone else.” Kissinger also advised Hillary Clinton when she was secretary of state, observing “She ran the State Department in the most effective way I’ve

ever seen.” Clinton reciprocated the sentiments in a 2014 review in the Washington Post of his book, World Order: “Kissinger is a friend and I relied on his counsel when I served as Secretary of State.” yet in 2016, when she ran for the Democratic nomination, she became embroiled in a nasty dispute with her rival Bernie Sanders over her admiration for Kissinger. Sanders declared during a debate in February, “I am proud to say Henry Kissinger is not my friend” (as though he had a real choice in the matter). Decades after he exited government service, Kissinger continued to provoke disputes about his legacy and reputation.

As America lurches wildly in foreign affairs, it seems safe to say that the case for Kissinger is becoming stronger than ever. The belief that America should function as a missionary nation-state, exporting democracy whenever and wherever it chooses, has suffered a brutal buffeting in recent decades, as what once seemed indispensable has begun to look decidedly dispensable, at least when it comes to intervening abroad. Indeed, in Iraq and Afghanistan, hubris has substituted for discernment, folly for strategy. Perhaps, then, it should come as no surprise that realism has begun to come in for a second look in recent years. What was once dismissed as amoral has begun to appear as a higher species of morality. In recent years, a flurry of books has thus started to offer a decidedly revisionist take on Kissinger, extolling his foreign policy acumen and diplomatic prowess. This effort to counter the series of dyslogistic books on Kissinger and to restore a sense of proportion, even—dare one say it?—an equilibrium, in assessing Kissinger may be said to have begun with the historian Niall Ferguson’s recent biography which attempted to depict him as an idealist throughout his career. Now, Barry Gewen, an editor at the New york Times, in a much superior book called The Inevitability of Tragedy, explains why Kissinger’s thinking—his view of history, power, and democracy—should command our attention.

Gewen does not merely come to praise Kissinger, but rather to explicate his intellectual odyssey—from his formative years at Harvard to his immersion in world affairs in Washington to his tutelary role as an elder statesman. Gewen deftly sets him in the wider context of the rise of totalitarianism in the past century, seeking to understand Kissinger as he understood himself. Above all, he knows that realism demands a realistic appraisal of Kissinger. As Gewen puts it, He is more than a figure out of history. He is a philosopher of international relations who has much to teach us about how the modern world works—and often doesn’t. His arguments for his brand of Realism—thinking in terms of national interest and a balance of power— offer the possibility of rationality, coherence, and a necessary long-term perspective at a time when all three of these qualities seem to be in short supply.

Perhaps nothing impressed upon Kissinger, much of whose thinking has revolved around the dilemmas of power that plagued central Europe, the importance of a balance of power and the fragility of democracy more than the rise to power of Hitler in January 1933. Hitler was installed by the conservative German elites who loathed Weimar democracy as a Western import that was alien to the true Teutonic spirit and who believed that in Hitler they had discovered a pliant instrument to lay the basis for a return to the old order. They were wrong.

Hitler not only destroyed democracy, but also Germany itself. In striving for a new German empire, he reversed Bismarck’s unification of Germany, leaving it sundered,

the plaything of Russia and the Western powers.

“Hitler’s advent to power,” Kissinger wrote in his masterwork Diplomacy, “marked one of the greatest calamities in the history of the world.” Kissinger, whose family emigrated from Germany in 1938, saw the ease with which a sinister demagogue such as Hitler could turn democratic practices against a democracy. Kissinger himself later recalled, “I had seen evil in the world.”

Gewen suggests that these experiences prompted Kissinger to gaze not only with an appropriately wary eye at the export of democracy, but also at America itself. His wariness was shared by others who had fled the Third Reich for America. For prominent thinkers such as Leo Strauss, Hannah Arendt, and Hans Morgenthau, democracy wasn’t an answer, but a conundrum that they tried to address. They, too, had seen that liberal democracy might serve as pit-stop rather than a road block on the path to totalitarian rule. “Government of the people, by the people,” Gewen writes, “is a fine thing when it works. But the fact is, as Kissinger knew so well, frequently it doesn’t.”

It was Kissinger who became the supreme exponent of realpolitik in American foreign policy. In this regard, he drew deeply upon the work of Morgenthau, who considered Kissinger one of the greatest secretaries of state in American history. “We shared almost identical premises,” Kissinger once wrote. They remained lifelong friends, and in 1983 Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., awarded Kissinger the Morgenthau Memorial Award of the National Committee on American Foreign policy, noting that America needed Kissingers and Morgenthaus—intellectuals willing to work inside of government as well as scholars content to remain outside to offer bracing criticisms.

Though Morgenthau was an early opponent of the Vietnam War—in 1965 he asked, “What will our prestige be like if hundreds of thousands of American troops be-

come bogged down in Vietnam, unable to win and unable to retreat?”—he remained steadfast in his admiration for Kissinger’s tenure during the Nixon administration. In his focus on the “national interest” and skepticism about an international community of nations in his classic work Politics Among Nations, Morgenthau influenced a host of realist thinkers, including George F. Kennan, Walter Lippmann, Raymond Aron, and Reinhold Niebuhr. Richard Nixon, too, echoed Morgenthau when he declared, “The only time in the history of the world that we have had any extended period of peace is when there has been balance of power.” America's objective should not be to overcome or subdue tragedy and evil in international affairs but to preserve its freedom of maneuver under the force of circumstance. This was the principle that animated Nixon and Kissinger as they sought to extricate America from Vietnam, forge a détente with Moscow, establish diplomatic relations with China, and seek peace in the Middle East. Had Nixon and Kissinger not successfully improved relations with the Soviet Union, the Cold War would never have come to a peaceful end. Nor would the Camp David accords in 1978 between Israel and Egypt have been possible absent Kissinger’s imaginative shuttle diplomacy in the Middle East.

In a surly essay in the New yorker, Thomas Meaney brands Kissinger a mere “careerist” who lacks imagination: Since leaving office, too, Kissinger has rarely challenged consensus, let alone offered the kind of inconvenient assessments that characterized the later career of George Kennan, who warned President Clinton against nato expansion after the Soviet Union’s collapse.

It is instructive to measure Kissinger’s instincts against those of a true realist, such as the University of Chicago political scientist John Mearsheimer. As the Cold War ended, Mearsheimer was so committed to the “balance of power” principle that he made the striking suggestion of allowing nuclear proliferation in a unified Germany and throughout Eastern Europe. Kissinger, unable to see beyond the horizon of the Cold War, could not imagine any other purpose for American power than the pursuit of global supremacy.

But does deeming something a “striking suggestion” mean that it is also a sensible one? Surely Meaney does not himself mean to suggest that Central Europe would be better off if it were studded with nuclear weapons?

Anyway, Kissinger, far from preaching American dominance, has sought to preserve, as far as possible, its power and was consistently condemned, at least on the right, for not seeking hegemony. It was George W. Bush, not Nixon and Kissinger, who sought to realize that vision. Since then, Kissinger has consistently called for averting a new clash with Beijing, warning that unrestrained competition could prompt China to morph into a modern-day Wilhelmine Germany that ends up in a catastrophic conflict with America. The same holds true for the prospect of a clash with Russia, where, as Michael C. Kimmage and Matthew Rojanksy observe in this issue, “conflict should be contained and balanced against cooperation. Russia, our third neighbor, must be a country with which the United States can manage to live.”

Other realists such as Fareed Zakaria are warning about the prospect of the “self-destruction of American power.”

Decline is not inevitable. In a robust riposte to those predicting the demise of American power, Columbia University scholar Gregory Mitrovich asserts in this issue that “the intrinsic strength of the United States will, like that of Britain a century ago, enable America to retain its dominance.” But it will require a focus on national interests, rather than crusades, to ensure that America does not enfeeble itself. As the Trump administration seeks confrontation with China and jettisons the arms-control treaties that helped to constrain and regulate the dangers of a nuclear clash with Russia, Kissinger’s emphasis on the importance of maintaining order in international politics seems increasingly urgent. America is in danger of squandering its patrimony. To heed Kissinger’s counsel is not idolatry but prudent self-interest.

Jacob Heilbrunn is the editor of The National Interest.

The ‘spies and commandos’ of Afghanistan

Geopolitical Futures GeorGe Friedman

The media exploded late last week with reports that Russia had paid the Taliban bounties to kill U.S. and Afghan troops. The plot was revealed by “spies and commandos” who had, among other things, discovered a large cache of U.S. dollars in a Taliban base and traced it back to Russia. The use of the terms spies and commandos is a bit odd, as they are not terms that American intelligence would normally use; U.S. operatives are not normally referred to as spies, and foreigners working for U.S. operatives are typically called “sources.” Commando is a British

term adopted by the U.S. for a while but since abandoned for “special operations forces.” It’s a small but curious rhetorical point, one that could simply be explained by communication error in the translation, transmission, vetting and eventual publication of sensitive intelligence.

What’s important is that, whatever the source or path, neither the State Department nor the intelligence community has categorically denied the report. President Donald Trump claimed he had no knowledge of it, while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has accused him of again conspiring with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Thus is the nature of election years.

Even so, the story must be taken seriously unless disproven, so the question is why the Russians would do what they are alleged to have done. Any covert operation can be blown; this one could lock the U.S. into long-term hostility with Russia. The U.S. is neither economically nor militarily without options if it chooses to retaliate. Washington has been content with the status quo with Russia for a while, but if these reports are true, or at least convincing, that will have to change. Paying bounties to kill Americans crosses a line from which retreat is difficult.

In addition, the long-running search for an understanding between Russia and Germany will have to be delayed. It is one thing for the Germans to seek accommodation with Russia at a time when the U.S. is distracted from Europe. It is another thing to seek accommodation with a nation that is paying for the deaths of the troops of a NATO partner, in a country where German troops had been deployed alongside Americans no less. Russia badly wants a better relationship with Germany, but Germany cannot break with the U.S. over this.

So when looked at rationally, this Russian operation would appear to be a huge risk for relatively little payoff. The United States is desperately trying to withdraw from Afghanistan, so if you squint you could see this as a prelude to Russia’s filling the eventual power vacuum. Except the Russians were defeated in Afghanistan before and withdrew as the Soviet Union was starting to collapse. Russia is certainly trying to position itself as a major power, but being sucked back into the quagmire of Afghanistan makes little sense.

It’s possible that the Russians either want the Americans to stay and bleed in Afghanistan or make it seem as though the

U.S. is fleeing because of these bounties, thereby undermining U.S. standing. But this too is unlikely. It’s unclear how many deaths this program was responsible for, but for the program to be successful, it would have to be a visible and alarming number. That doesn’t seem to have been the case.

The problem is that we do not know the level inside the Russian system at which the operation was authorized, if in fact there was an operation at all. Nor do we know how much money was found, which could provide a sense of who greenlit it and how important it was. It doesn’t take many dollars to constitute a lot of money in Afghanistan, so it’s possible that this was something cooked up in the field or at some level far away from decision-makers. That might mean that there was no strategic plan, nor any thought given to the consequences. It could have been cooked up in Afghanistan, with a request for cash from military intelligence, which could mean Putin found out about this at the same time Trump claims to have found out.

Granted, that is a lot of “could haves” and “maybes.” Except for a plan cooked up

by Russian operatives in Afghanistan, it is very difficult to see senior leaders authorizing

this. Since this was meant to be secret, it would have no domestic effect and therefore no international impact. That raises the question of whether Russians leaked the operation in an attempt to influence the U.S. election by shining a light on the failure of the Trump administration to detect and respond to it.

The problem is that the Russians could not be sure anyone would notice, and if it was noticed, that it would even reflect badly on Trump. It’s entirely possible that Trump was not briefed on the operation if the intelligence community regarded it as unsubstantiated.

It’s also possible Trump is lying.

This story does not fit together easily. If it is true, it places the U.S. in an even more hostile position than before and massively increases pressure on allies to curtail relations with Russia. It won’t be the politicians but the public that will drive them. Russian leaders knew how dangerous this could be.

So it either took shape at echelons below the powers that be, or it didn’t happen the way the media is telling it. Or the senior Russian leadership wants a confrontation. And then there is the question of what the intelligence community did in the months before learning of this. It has authorization on this level to act without presidential authorization. But if it’s true, a very Cold War follows.

George Friedman is an internationally recognized geopolitical forecaster and strategist on international affairs and the founder and chairman of Geopolitical Futures.

Monday, 6 July, 2020

BusinEss 09

CORPORATE CORNER Naveena Group to launch steel plant at Port Qasim KARACHI: Naveena Group, a conglomerate dealing in textile exports, spinning, wind power and other business sectors announced the launch of Naveena Steel, a green field plant located at Port Qasim, Karachi. The group will be introducing its Italian plant with Pakistan’s first induction heating system using the revolutionary direct rolling technology to consistently produce international standard pure steel rebars for all types of construction.

Growing consumer needs have entered Pakistan into an era of modern construction ideas based on global standards. This new era requires expertise, modern technology, quality and precision and according to Naveena Group its new plant will be a stepping stone in that direction. PRESS RElEASE

OGDCL issues clarification regarding Uch land rent payment ISLAMABAD: In view of media reporting based on incomplete information regarding payment of land rent

by Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) to the landowners at Uch Gas Field, it is necessary to place on record the factual position to avoid unnecessary speculation, hype and ambiguity. The actual facts and circumstances are as follows. OGDCL’s Uch Gas Field in Dera Bugti is one of the major fields with average daily production of 330 mmscf generating annual revenue of Rs28 billion through sale of gas. The field contributes one third of the total gas production of the company.

Uch Gas Field is a strategic asset and plays a significant role in mitigating the country's energy demand.Company installations include thirty one wells, plans, allied facilities, offices and residential enclaves. The field is situated in a security sensitive area. In order to ensure uninterrupted and optimum operations, OGDCL has deployed elaborate security setup. Under an arrangement agreed with late Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, OGDCL initially in 1995 obtained 730 acres which was subsequently enhanced to 1,325 acres of land. In view of the security situation it finally increased to 4,300 acres in 2001. Out of the said 4,300 acres family of Late Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti owns 3,204 acres. OGDCL is required to pay rent on leased land with yearly escalation of 12 per cent. Ever since, the company is making payments to the land owners as per the aforesaid arrangement. PRESS RElEASE

UK minister says Huawei must meet conditions for involvement in 5G network LONDON AGENCIES

China’s Huawei has clear conditions to meet for Britain to continue to allow its involvement in the development of 5G telecoms infrastructure, Britain’s health minister said on Sunday, after a report that the firm would be banned from the project. Officials are drawing up proposals to stop installing Huawei Technologies equipment in as little as six months, the Sunday Telegraph reported, in a reversal of a decision earlier this year. Asked about the report, health minister Matt Hancock declined to comment on it specifically but said the initial recommendation had always been conditional. “I wouldn’t comment on leaks of that kind. What I can say is that when we came out with an interim report on this earlier in the year, there are a number of conditions that needed to be met,” he said.

“I’m sure that the National Security Council will look at those conditions, and make the right decision on this, to make sure that we have both a very strong telecoms infrastructure... but also that it is secure.” Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who in January allowed Huawei a limited role in Britain’s 5G network, has faced intense pressure from the United States and some British lawmakers to ban the telecommunications equipment maker on security grounds. On Tuesday he toughened his rhetoric on Huawei, warning China he would protect critical infrastructure from “hostile state vendors”. Ministers have also cited US sanctions as being likely to have an impact on the viability of Huawei as a 5G provider. The Sunday Telegraph report said that the National Cyber Security Centre had changed its recommendations on Huawei as the sanctions would force the company to use untrusted technology.

GOvT TO INITIaTe BIO-COmPOsT PrOjeCT TO CONTrOL LOCUsTs IN THar, CHOLIsTaN ISLAMABAD

T

STAFF REPORT

HE government is going to initiate a bio-compost project aimed at controlling locust, in Cholistan and Thar. The pilot project of developing bio-compost to use the millions of locusts and promote organic farming in the country is in approval process.

According to officials of Ministry of Food Security and Research, the pilot testing of the project will initially be carried out in Cholistan and Thar, and if 10 per cent of the population in the two areas becomes active, the Ministry of National Food Security and Research expects a force of 222,000 people in local community would be available to combat the attack of desert locusts.

The ministry expects that the project will result in protection of biodiversity and full mobilisation of the local community to develop a well-informed system to protect 23.6 million hectares of cropped area.

The economic benefit of the project will be the introduction of low cost – 60 to 70 per cent lower – compost and expected return will be around Rs2.80 billion in two years, according to the ministry.

It will also result in improving soil organic matter (SOM), soil fertility and soil health. The locust-based fertilizer will have added advantage of more N (9 per cent) and P (7 per cent). Initially locust will be unruf-

fled through community mobilization under an incentivised scheme.

The ministry says that the facility developed for compost production will be functional with or without locust components in the long run, and it has been estimated that Rs1 billion worth of compost will be produced during the first year of the project.

If 1 per cent of crop loss is controlled under the project, it will accrue the benefit of Rs32 billion. Out of 100,000 tons of locust, 70,000 tons compost will be formed. A single family can earn Rs6,000 on average per month. The full cost of the project will be recovered in three years.

A four-point implementation mechanism has been devised, under which pilot testing of the project will be carried out in Cholistan and Thar deserts during next three to four summer breeding months.

The objectives of community-based locust control will be to collect locust through community mobilization under an incentivised scheme. For the mobilisation of community, regional civil society organisations will be involved. Professionals from research, extension, academia and civil society in compost processing activities will be involved.

According to the ministry, payment to the community will be channelized through the ‘Ehsaas’ programme at the designated collection points.

This will help develop standard compost from a mix of locust and other bio-waste material. Marketing

IsDB approves $60m supplementary aid for Pakistan’s polio eradication efforts ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

The Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) has approved a $60 million supplementary fund for Pakistan to support the country’s polio eradication programme.

This includes a $39 million IsDB Murabaha and a $21 million grant from the IsDB-managed Lives and Livelihoods Fund (LLF). The sum has been approved by the IsDB Board of Executive Directors at the virtual meeting held in Jeddah chaired by IsDB President Dr Bandar Hajjar early this week.

As the Islamic bank had previously contributed $100 million to the same project, the new supplementary funding takes its total contribution up to the $160 million mark.

Meanwhile, the 25th meeting of the Emergency Committee under the International Health Regulations (IHR) on the international spread of poliovirus

held in Geneva observed that there is still much more work to do to end polio transmission in Pakistan and Afghanistan. The polio infrastructure that has been developed in Pakistan and Afghanistan has been used to assist with the tracking and tracing as part of the Covid-19 pandemic response.

A statement issued by the IHR Emergency Committee stated that in Pakistan, polio transmission continues to be widespread, as indicated by both acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) surveillance and environmental sampling.

Wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) transmission continues to be widespread, with southern KhyberPakhtunkhwa (KP) becoming a new WPV1 reservoir, and some areas such as Karachi and the Quetta block having uninterrupted transmission, the statement added.

It further said that there has also been expansion of WPV1 to previously polio free areas in Sindh and Punjab.

Britain nears 500 million pound deal for Sanofi, GSK Covid-19 vaccine LONDON AGENCIES

Britain is close to agreeing a 500 million pound ($624 million) supply deal with Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) for 60 million doses of their potential Covid-19 vaccine, the Sunday Times reported.

The newspaper said that Britain was considering taking an option to buy the vaccine should it work in human trials, which are due to begin in September.

Sanofi was not immediately available to comment on the report, while a spokesman for GSK

declined to comment.

A spokeswoman for Britain’s business ministry, which is handling Britain’s supply of potential Covid-19 vaccines, said talks were ongoing with different parties about access but did not confirm if the Sanofi/GSK project was among them.

“The Government’s Vaccines Task Force is actively engaging with a wide range of companies both in the UK and abroad to negotiate access to vaccines,” she said.

“Appropriate announcements of these arrangements will be made as and when agreements

with any of these companies are finalised and signed.”

Sanofi is working on two possible Covid-19 vaccines, one of which uses an adjuvant made by GSK to potentially boost its efficacy.

Its timeline for clinical trials is behind the likes of Moderna Inc, the University of Oxford in collaboration with AstraZeneca Plc, and an alliance of BioNTech and Pfizer Inc, whose projects all grabbed headlines by moving to human trials as early as March.

Sanofi and GSK have both said they are prioritising quality over speed in developing a vaccine.

and distribution mechanisms for promoting the use of compost in high value and organic agriculture will also be developed. An amount of Rs2.5 billion will be spent for community-based locust eradication as proposed by the National Locust Control Centre under the plan. It is stated in the plan that community involvement is inevitable where both human and animal settlements are present in Tharparkar, Nara, lower and upper Thal and Cholistan.

The research establishments of Pakistan Agricultural Research Council at Bahawalpur, Umerkot and Dera Ismail Khan will be involved in implementation of the project. The Kharan Dryland Centre and agriculture research institutes of PARC at Turbat, Lasbela and Khuzdar will also be involved in the execution of the project. The laboratories of the land resources research institute and the Ecotoxicology Programme of PARC will provide scientific backup for the production of standard compost.

It has been planned that 14 processing sites will be identified in Tharparkar, Cholistan, Turbat and Lakki Marwat. Around 50 per cent locust, 35 percent manure, and 15 per cent plant residue will be used to produce compost with standard ratio.

PARC Agrotech Company (PATCO) in partnership with the private sector will perform labelling, packaging, promotion; marketing and branding functions at national level. The certified compost products will be promoted for export purposes.

TikTok distances from Beijing in response to India app ban NEW DELHI AGENCIES

Social media app TikTok distanced itself from Beijing after India banned 59 Chinese apps in the country, according to a correspondence seen by Reuters. In a letter to the Indian government dated June 28 and seen by Reuters on Friday, TikTok Chief Executive Kevin Mayer said the Chinese government has never requested user data, nor would the company turn it over if asked. TikTok, which is not available in China, is owned by China’s ByteDance but has sought to distance itself from its Chinese roots to appeal to a global audience. Along with 58 other Chinese apps, including Tencent Holdings Ltd’s WeChat and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s UC Browser, it was banned in India this week following a border clash with China. “I can confirm that the Chinese government has never made a request to us for the TikTok data of Indian users,” Mayer wrote, adding that data for Indian users is stored in servers in Singapore. “If we do ever receive such a request in the future, we would not comply.”

The letter was sent ahead of a likely meeting next week between the company and the government, one source familiar with the matter told Reuters. One Indian government source told Reuters this week the ban was unlikely to be revoked soon. Lawyers have said a legal challenge was unlikely to be successful, given India has cited national security concerns for the ban. The ban, which upset India’s growing legion of TikTok stars, has also given a lift to local rivals such as Roposo, which added 22 million new users in the 48 hours after the ban took effect. TikTok has committed to spend $1 billion in the region. Since its launch in 2017, it has become one of the fastestgrowing social media apps. India is its largest market by user, followed by the United States. In the letter, Mayer played up the company’s investment in the region, highlighting more than 3,500 direct and indirect employees and content available in 14 languages. “The privacy of our users, and the security and sovereignty of India, are of utmost importance to us,” Mayer wrote. “We have already announced our plans to build a data centre in India.”

End of the runway for 747 jumbo as Boeing placed final part orders SEATTLE AGENCIES

Boeing Co and suppliers set the final number of parts it would need for the 747 jumbo jet program at least a year ago, signaling the end for a plane that democratized global air travel in the 1970s but fell behind modern twin-engine aircraft, industry sources said on Friday.

Boeing’s “Queen of the Skies”, the world’s most easily recognized jetliner with its humped fuselage and four engines, marked its 50-year flying anniversary in February 2019, clinging to life thanks to a cargo market boom fueled by online shopping.

But the end for the program has been

hanging in the air for years amid falling orders and pricing pressure. The coronavirus pandemic has also crushed passenger travel and demand for new jets.

The last order for a passenger version came in 2017, when the US government asked Boeing to repurpose two 747-8 jetliners for use as Air Force One by the US president.

Boeing declined to confirm that it was pulling the plug on the 747 program, first reported by Bloomberg News on Thursday.

“At a build rate of 0.5 airplanes per month, the 747-8 program has more than two years of production ahead of it in order to fulfill our current customer commitments,” a Boeing spokesman said.

“We will continue to make the right decisions to keep the production line healthy and meet customer needs,” he added.

The end of the 747 would follow Airbus SE’s phasing out of its A380 jumbo jet. In

June, the last convoy of outsize parts for the world’s largest airliner crawled towards an assembly plant in southwest France.

The death of the 747 program could also mean charges and layoffs for halting produc-

tion at the mammoth wide-body plant outside Seattle. It could also have financial implications on newer programs such as the 787 Dreamliner and the latest model of 777, which would have to bear a larger share of the plant’s huge overhead if the 747 line went dark.

One supplier source said he was not sure when Boeing made a formal decision to end the program but said the final number of ship sets - as complete sets of parts are known was agreed to with the supply base at least a year ago. Boeing has also removed language from financial filings that said it would continue to “evaluate the viability” of the 747 program, which one industry source said was a tell-tale sign of its plans.

Monday, 6 July, 2020

10 FOREIGN NEWS

For nation’S Birthday, trUmp StoKeS the diviSionS Within US WASHINGTON

o

AGENCIES

N a day meant for unity and celebration, President Donald Trump vowed to “safeguard our values” from enemies within — leftists, looters, agitators, he said — in a Fourth of July speech packed with all the grievances and combativeness of his political rallies.

Trump watched paratroopers float to the ground in a tribute to America, greeted his audience of front-line medical workers and others central in responding to the coronavirus pandemic, and opened up on those who “slander” him and disrespect the country’s past.

“We are now in the process of defeating the radical left, the anarchists, the agitators, the looters, and the people who, in many instances, have absolutely no clue what they are doing,” he said. “We will never allow an angry mob to tear down our statues, erase our history, indoctrinate our children.

“And we will defend, protect and preserve (the) American way of life, which began in 1492 when Columbus discovered America.”

He did not mention the dead from the pandemic. Nearly 130,000 are known to have died from COVID-19 in the U.S. Even as officials across the country pleaded with Americans to curb their en-

‘West Bank annexation may prompt third intifada’ RAMALLAH: If Tel Aviv goes ahead with its plan to annex parts of the West Bank, the region is set to see a new, all-out uprising of Palestinians backed by most of the Arab world, warned an aide to the Palestinian Authority president. “When things flare up and it becomes a fully-fledged intifada, we will see a combination of forces between Gaza and the West Bank,” Nabil Shaath, a senior adviser to President Mahmoud Abbas, told media. And the new uprising is likely to receive broad financial support from the Arab world, the official said. This week, the two rival Palestinian factions – Gaza Strip-governing Hamas, and Fatah, which is in charge of the West Bank – pledged a joint campaign against Israel’s annexation plan. Earlier, Abbas withdrew from security agreements with Israel over the impending land grab, removing the legal obstacles impeding those willing to take part in anti-Israeli violence. While the coexistence of the Israelis and the Palestinians has never been particularly peaceful, any major flare-up or sustained uprising is referred to as an ‘intifada.’ The first lasted from 1987 to 1993, and resulted in the deaths of 2,000 Palestinians and nearly 300 Israelis, both civilians and security personnel. The second, which occurred in the early 2000s, was even bloodier, leaving 3,000 Palestinians and more than 1,000 Israelis dead. The annexation plan, championed by PM Benjamin Netanyahu, envisages the incorporation of all the Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank into Israel. More than 460,000 Jews live in these settlements, built in violation of international laws, and the annexation will strip the Palestinians of a significant chunk of their territory. AGENCIES

Kanye West announces 2020 US presidential run NEWS DESK: Rapper-turned-businessman Kanye West has declared his candidacy for US president, The Guardian reported late Saturday night. The unlikely challenger to Donald Trump – of whom he has been a vocal supporter – and Joe Biden, chose American independence day to make the surprise announcement on Twitter, triggering a social media storm. “We must now realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future,” West wrote. “I am running for president of the United States.” The post was accompanied by a stars and stripes flag, an exclamation mark and “#2020VISION”. His wife, Kim Kardashian West, replied to the tweet with an American flag.

thusiasm for large Fourth of July crowds, Trump enticed the masses with a “special evening” of tribute and fireworks staged with new U.S. coronavirus infections on the rise.

But the crowds wandering the National Mall for the night’s air show and fireworks were strikingly thinner than the gathering for last year’s jammed celebration on the Mall.

Many who showed up wore masks, unlike those seated close together for Trump’s South Lawn event, and distancing was easy to do for those scattered across the sprawling space.

Trump did not hesitate to use the country’s birthday as an occasion to assail segments of the country that do not support him.

Carrying on a theme he pounded on a day earlier against the backdrop of the Mount Rushmore monuments, he went after those who have torn down statues or think some of them, particularly those of Confederate figures, should be removed.

Support has been growing among Republicans to remove Confederate memorials.

“Our past is not a burden to be cast away,” Trump said.

Outside the event but as close to it as they could get, Pat Lee of Upper Dublin, Pennsylvania, gathered with two friends, one of them a nurse from Fredericksburg, Virginia, and none in a mask.

“POTUS said it would go away,” Lee said of the pandemic, using an acronym for

president of the United States. “Masks, I think, are like a hoax.” But she said she wore one inside the Trump International Hotel, where she stayed.

By the World War II Memorial, the National Park Service handed out packets of five white cloth masks to all who wanted them. People were not required to wear them.

Another nurse, Zippy Watt from Riverside, California, came to see the air show and fireworks with her husband and their two daughters, one of whom lives in Washington. They wore matching American flag face masks even when seated together on a park bench.

“We chose to wear a mask to protect ourselves and others,” Watt said. She said her family was divided on Trump but she is “more of a Trump supporter. Being from southern California I see socialist tendencies. I’m tired of paying taxes so others can stay home.”

Pat Lee made the trip from north of Philadelphia after seeing last year’s Mall celebration on TV. She said the protests over racial injustice that unfolded near her were so threatening that people in her suburban neighborhood took turns staying up all night and those who didn’t own guns stationed bats and shovels in their garages.

Her friend from Pennsylvania, who didn’t want to be identified, said she spent more than three hours in line to buy a gun.

“I want people to stop calling us racists,” Lee said. “We’re not racists. Just because you love your country, love the people in your country, doesn’t make you a racist.”

Trump’s guests on the South Lawn were doctors, nurses, law enforcement officers and military members as well as officials from the administration, said Judd Deere, deputy White House press secretary. He said the event was a tribute to the “tremendous courage and spirit” of front-line workers and the public in the pandemic.

In many parts of the country, authorities discouraged mass gatherings for the holiday after days that have seen COVID19 cases grow at a rate not experienced even during the deadliest phase of the pandemic in the spring.

In New York, once the epicenter, people were urged to avoid crowds and Nathan’s Famous July Fourth hot dog eating contest happened at an undisclosed location without spectators on hand, in advance of the evening’s televised fireworks spectacular over the Empire State Building.

In Philadelphia, mask- and glove-wearing descendants of the signers of the Declaration of Independence participated in a virtual tapping of the famed Liberty Bell on Independence Mall and people were asked to join from afar by clinking glasses, tapping pots or ringing bells.

Yet Trump continued to crave big crowds when it came to his events.

Fire breaks out at Iranian power plant DUBAI AGENCIES

A fire broke out at a power station in southwestern Iran on Saturday, Iranian media reported, the latest in a string of fires and explosions, some of which have hit sensitive sites.

The blaze, which affected a transformer in the power station in the city of Ahvaz, was put out by firefighters and electricity was restored after partial outages, Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi, a spokesman for state-run power company TAVANIR, told the semi-official news agency Tasnim. There have been sev-

eral other incidents at facilities across the country recently.

A chlorine gas leak occurred at a unit of the Karoon petrochemicals plant near the port of Bandar Imam Khomeini on the Gulf on Saturday, injuring dozens, the semi-official ILNA news agency reported.

“In this incident, 70 members of the personnel who were near the unit suffered slight injuries (due to chlorine inhalation) and were taken to a hospital with the help of rescue workers,” the plant’s spokesman, Massoud Shabanlou, told ILNA, adding that all but two had been released.

On Thursday, a fire broke out at

Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility but officials said operations were not affected.

A former official suggested the incident could have been an attempt to sabotage work at the plant, which has been involved in activities that breach an international nuclear deal.

On Tuesday, 19 people were killed in an explosion at a medical clinic in the north of the capital Tehran, which an official said was caused by a gas leak.

On June 26, an explosion occurred east of Tehran near the Parchin military and weapons development base that the authorities said was caused by a leak in a gas storage facility in an area outside the base.

20 feared dead in Japan heavy rain TOKYO AGENCIES

Twenty people feared dead, local media said Sunday after torrential rain in western Japan triggered massive floods and mudslides.

A woman and a man in their 80s in different towns in the western Kumamoto region died in mudslides, according to national broadcaster NHK and other Japanese media, although they gave no other details.

Eighteen others remained in a state of "cardio-respiratory arrest", NHK said, using a term often used in Japan before a doctor officially certifies death.

Of those, 14 were residents of a nursing home, as announced by Governor Ikuo Kabashima on Saturday.

Officials at the regional government and municipal offices,

which have been directly affected by the disaster, could not immediately confirm the reported deaths.

But they said they were taking measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus at evacuation shelters set up across the region, such as handwashing and keeping distance between families.

Emergency crews and troops from the Self-Defence Forces have been out all night looking for missing people and rescuing those trapped in their homes.

Although the rain had eased in Kumamoto by Sunday morning, collapsed bridges and blocked roads due to broad flooding and mudslides have isolated many communities in the region, NHK said. Deep floodwaters and the risk of more mudslides hampered search and rescue operations in southern Japan, including at elderly home facilities where more than a dozen perished and scores are still stranded.

iran records highest daily death toll from Covid-19 TEHRAN: Iran recorded its highest number of deaths from Covid-19 within a 24-hour period, official health ministry figures showed on Sunday. The 163 deaths reported on Sunday exceed the previous record from last Monday, when the health ministry reported 162 deaths in a day. The Islamic Republic has recorded a total of 11,571 deaths and 240,438 infections from the coronavirus, health ministry spokeswoman Sima Sadat Lari said in a statement on state TV. There have been 201,330 recoveries, she said. The number of new daily infections and deaths has increased sharply in the last week following the gradual lifting of restrictions that began in mid-April.

Iranians who do not wear masks will be denied state services and workplaces that fail to comply with health protocols will be shut for a week, President Hassan Rouhani said on Saturday as he launched new measures to try to curb the coronavirus. AGENCIES

death toll in ethiopian protests after killing of singer jumps to 156 ADDIS ABABA: The number of people killed in protests in Ethiopia following the slaying of a popular singer has jumped to 156 from the initial tally of 80, a senior regional security official told Reuters on Sunday. The protests were sparked by the assassination of musician Haacaaluu Hundeessaa on Monday night and spread from Addis Ababa to the surrounding Oromia region. Jibril Mohammed, head of the Oromia Security and Peace Bureau, said the 156 are those who died just in the Oromia region, which was the worst hit by the protests. He said more deaths might be reported due to the number of injuries being treated in hospitals. Some 145 of the casualties are civilians while 11 are security personnel, he added. AGENCIES

neutral hydrogen from other galaxies detected for first time GUIZHOU: In a development that could finally shed light on dark matter, an international team of scientists have detected neutral hydrogen atoms, from a galaxy other than our own, for the very first time. The finding came thanks to the enormous Fivehundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), which sits in a hilly, green natural basin in southwest China’s Guizhou province. The researchers detected the hydrogen coming from three extragalactic galaxies with only five minutes of exposure, a feat that demonstrates the exceptional sensitivity of the telescope. It is the first time neutral hydrogen from outside the Milky Way has been detected. “With measurements of neutral hydrogen and carbon monoxide, scientists can estimate the dynamical mass of galaxies at different radii, and they can further study the distributions of baryons [a type of subatomic particle] and dark matter,” explained Dr Cheng Cheng, first author of the research.

Dark matter is a form of matter that’s believed to account for 85 percent of the matter in the universe but it has yet to be detected directly, despite the best efforts of researchers. AGENCIES

India to reopen Taj Mahal with social distancing, masks NEW DELHI AGENCIES

Visitors to the Taj Mahal will have to wear masks at all times, keep their distance and not touch its glistening marble surfaces when India’s 17th-century Mughal monument to love reopens on Monday after a three-month Covid-19 shutdown.

Only 5,000 tourists will be allowed in a day, split into two groups, a far cry from peak levels of 80,000 a day who would swarm the mausoleum built in the northern city of Agra by Mughal emperor Shah Jahan for his wife, in a 22-year effort.

“All centrally protected monuments & sites shall be bound by the protocols like sanitisation, social distancing & other health protocols,” the federal tourism ministry said in a tweet.

Authorities are reopening the Taj and other monuments, such as New Delhi’s historic Red Fort, just as India’s coronavirus

infections are rising at the fastest pace in three months.

On Sunday, the health ministry reported a record single-day spike of 24,850 new cases and more than 600 deaths, push-

CMYK

ing the overall case tally to 673,165, closing in on Russia, the third-most affected country globally.

But the government has been lifting a vast lockdown of India’s 1.3 billion people

that has left tens of thousands without work and shuttered businesses.

While international flights remain suspended, domestic travel has been opened up, and the government is hoping visitors will start to trickle back to some popular destinations.

Agra, one of India’s first big clusters of the virus, remains the worst-affected city in Uttar Pradesh, the country’s most populous state.

“All around the Taj are containment zones,” said a local district administration official, requesting anonymity, ahead of the monument’s planned reopening.

Containment zones, areas identified as most affected by the virus, remain under strict lockdown, with restricted access and movement of only essential goods and services.

“We don’t expect visitors here because clusters around the Taj, including shops and hotels are closed,” the official said.

Monday, 6 July, 2020

CheLSea, ManCheSTer UnITed WIn aS baTTLe for PreMIer LeagUe ToP foUr heaTS UP LONDON

C

AGENCIES

HELSEA beat Watford 3-0 on Saturday to hold on to their place in the Premier League’s top four after Manchester United briefly powered past with a 5-2 rout of struggling Bournemouth.

Third-placed Leicester also got back on track with Jamie Vardy reaching 100 top-flight goals in a comfortable 3-0 win against Crystal Palace, while Arsenal dealt a blow to Wolves’ Champions League chase by winning 2-0 at Molineux on Saturday. United’s fearsome front four of Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, Bruno Fernandes and Mason Greenwood, who netted twice, were all on the scoresheet as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men hit five goals in a home Premier League game for the first time since 2011.

“Confidence is sky high. You get energy and confidence by performances and results and we are getting that at the minute,” said Solskjaer, who is feeling the benefits of a 16-match unbeaten run.

“I have enjoyed the last few games to be honest and it is healthy. You don’t age as quickly!” Bournemouth are moving fast

in the other direction as they remain second bottom and the Cherries’ defensive problems were quickly exposed after they took a shock 16th-minute lead through Junior Stanislas.

Greenwood got the comeback started as he smashed home from Fernandes´s pass before Rashford, from the penalty spot and Martial, with a stunning shot into the top corner, scored their 20th goals of the season, “Mason is one of the best if not the best finisher I have worked with and

Sri Lanka minister offers ICC evidence to prove World Cup 2011 was fixed

seen,” added Solskjaer. “He is so calm. He knows where to finish if it is on the training ground, here or in his garden at home.”

Bournemouth were given hope when Josh King scored from the spot after Eric Bailly handled inside his own box just four minutes after coming on as a half-time substitute. But there was no stopping Solskjaer’s men going forward and Greenwood restored their two-goal cushion with another powerful drive, this time on his weaker right foot, before Fernandes then

capped another influential display with a fine free-kick.

Chelsea shrugged off a shock 3-2 defeat at West Ham in midweek with a routine win at Stamford Bridge.

Olivier Giroud was recalled up front and repaid Frank Lampard with a smart finish to break the deadlock before Willian´s penalty made it 2-0 before halftime. Ross Barkley added the third in stoppage time to move Chelsea back two points ahead of fifth-placed United.

A third defeat in four games since the restart leaves Watford still just one point above Bournemouth and Aston Villa in the battle to beat the drop.

Arsenal kept their hopes of European football next season alive moved by ending Wolves’ eight-game unbeaten run in impressive fashion to move up to seventh.

Bukayo Saka celebrated signing a new long-term deal this week by hooking in the opener just before half-time and Alexandre Lacazette came off the bench to seal all three points for Mikel Arteta´s men four minutes from time. “Every game you have no margin for error, we know that we try to win every game,” said Arteta of Arsenal’s top-four chances. Defeat leaves Wolves five points behind Chelsea.

Conflict of interest complaint against Virat Kohli

COLOMBO: Former Sri Lankan sports minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage has said he has more evidence to International Cricket Council (ICC) that he says shows the 2011 World Cup was fixed. Aluthgamage’s remarks come a day after local police dropped an investigation into the claims, citing a lack of evidence that Sri Lanka deliberately lost the final to hosts India. Police had grilled former chief selector Aravinda de Silva, opening batsman Upul Tharanga and the 2011 captain Kumar Sangakkara — the latter for nearly 10 hours. But Aluthgamage, who was sports minister at the time and is now state minister for energy, said there were “powerful people who are spending huge sums of money to hush up the investigation”. He said that he has informed Alex Marshall, anti-corruption chief at the International Cricket Council (ICC), that he was ready to provide more evidence showing the match was thrown. Aluthgamage said police had failed to probe the claims properly and urged Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to intervene and pressure the ICC to reopen an investigation. Marshall had said in a statement on Friday that “at this time” the ICC has “not been presented with any evidence that supports the claims made or which would merit launching an investigation”.

But he said that the ICC takes “allegations of this nature extremely seriously and should we receive any evidence to corroborate the claims, we will review our current position.” AGENCIES

MUMBAI AGENCIES

A conflict of interest complaint has been filed against Virat Kohli for his positions in two business ventures.

Complainant Sanjeev Gupta, a life member of the Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association, wrote an email to BCCI ethics officer-cum-ombudsman Justice (r) DK Jain and a number of BCCI executives, including president Sourav Ganguly and CEO Rahul Johri, arguing that Kohli’s various posts were in violation of the BCCI constitution. In his complaint filed on July 4, Gupta said that Kohli’s co-directors at Virat Kohli Sports (LLP) and Cornerstone Venture Partners (LLP) were also directors in Cornerstone Sport and Entertainment Private Limited, a talent agency that contracts Indian cricketers and handles their branding and commercial interests. Justice Jain said he was examining the complaint.

“Shri Virat Kohli is occupying two posts at a time in blatant violation to BCCI Rule 38 (4) approved by Supreme Court of India. As such, he must relinquish his one post at once in compliance. His two posts are covered as under: A - 38(4)(a) - Player and B 38(4)(o) - Contractual Entity, to be read with BCCI Rule 38(1) (iii),” Gupta’s complaint said.

SPORTS 11

ICC T20 CWC must not be sidelined to give room for a league or series: Inzamam

ISLAMABAD: Former skipper Inzamamul Haq believes the ICC Twenty20 Cricket World Cup should not be sidelined, as to give room to a league or series, saying this would divert the focus of players on private leagues, instead of international matches, which was not good for the game. “These are the things that sources and internal people are talking about that it is decided the T20 World Cup won’t happen. Australia can say that it was difficult for it to manage 18 teams for the mega event as it is not easy. Likewise, the Pakistan team was in England in a hotel and all faculties were being provided there, therefore it had not been easy to manage 18 teams,” he said in a video on his YouTube channel. The tournament was scheduled to take place from October 18 to November 15 in Australia but was under threat due to novel Covid-19 pandemic. Inzamam, who scored 8,830 runs in 120 Tests, said if New Zealand and Australia would have hosted the World Cup jointly then it could have been managed. “There are rumors’ that the World Cup was clashing with the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the Australia-India series therefore it is won’t take place.” “Indian board is strong and has control in the International Cricket Council (ICC). If Australia says that we cannot hold the World Cup because of the Covid-19 pandemic then their stance will be easily accepted, but if any such kind event happens during the same time then questions will be raised,” he said.

Inzamam, who scored 11,739runs in 378 ODIs, said then people would think that if a country could host 12 to 14 teams then why ICC could not look after teams. “ICC should not be allowed to give priority to private leagues on international cricket. This will lead to young players forcing on private leagues other than international matches,” he said.

Inzamam, who was appointed as the chief selector of Pakistan team in April 2016, said he was not saying that ICC was doing any such kind a thing, but even if this kind of an impression was seen than it would not be good for cricket. APP

Kusal Mendis arrested after being involved in fatal road accident

Rule 38(4) of the BCCI constitution prevents individuals from holding more than one of 16 posts: player (current), selector/member of cricket committee, team official, commentator, match official, administrator/office bearer, electoral officer, ombudsman & ethics officer, auditor, any person who is governance, management or employee of a franchisee, member of a standing committee, CEO & managers, office Bearer of a Member (state association), service provider (legal, financial etc.), contractual entity (broadcast, security, contrac-

tor etc.) and owner of cricket academy.

“I have received a complaint,” Justice Jain told PTI on Sunday. “I will examine it and then see if the case is made out or not. If yes, then I have to afford an opportunity to him (Kohli) to respond.” Gupta had previously filed conflict of interest complaints against Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman and also Rahul Dravid. In each of those instances, the ethics officer had served notices based on the complaints, but the former cricketers were eventually cleared.

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka cricketer Kusal Mendis has been arrested after the vehicle he was driving hit and killed a 64-year-old cyclist at around 5am on Sunday. The police media unit confirmed the accident had occurred in Panadura, just south of Colombo, and that the victim had been a local resident who sustained serious injuries and died as he was being admitted to hospital. Mendis will appear before the Panadura magistrate - likely in the next 48 hours - while police conduct an investigation. The initial police statement made no mention of whether either Mendis or the victim were under the influence of alcohol. As Sri Lanka’s lockdowns and curfew have now ceased, Mendis was allowed to be on the road at the time. He had been part of Sri Lanka’s residential training camp at Pallekele, which ended on Wednesday. AGENCIES

Every cricket team needs a dressing-room pest LONDON AGENCIES

International cricket is finally returning after a Covid-19-induced hiatus with an England v West Indies Test series. It won’t quite be cricket as we’ve known it, but nevertheless it will be something to watch - at least on television - after months of lockdown and longing. For the players it will be a case of trying to perform at their best in a bio-secure bubble without crowds.

This will require the obligatory talent and determination to prosper at the highest level, along with the odd slice of luck. However, there’s another ingredient that teams may find helpful in an era of extra tension: the dressing-room pest.

The guy who, despite all the pressure that builds during a five-day contest, still retains the ingenuity to drive his team-mates to distraction with a series of practical jokes.

Oh, and it also helps if that same guy can hold up his end of the bargain on the field; it’s better his team-mates are laughing with him and not at him.

In an era of lockdowns, isolation and

bio-secure bubbles, this type of character will be even more important to a team’s success. I had the good fortune to play with such a cricketer for the bulk of my career: Kevin Douglas Walters.

First off, Walters was a match-winner. A player of exceptional skill who scored a century in each of his first two Tests and often had the happy knack of claiming a “B-b-bbloody beauty, one for none” when thrown the ball. A player who, despite impersonating an owl (he did a lot of hootin’ and hollerin’ late at night), still managed to average 48 in his Test career.

Just for good measure, three of his 15 Test centuries were completed inside a session. He was also the first Test batsman to score a double and a single century in the same match. That’s his cricketing credentials out of the way. Now for another of his talents - enacting the role of dressing-room pest.

On tours of the UK, his first stop was Carnaby Street, not because he sought the fashions of the day, no. He headed straight for the magic shop where he gleefully pounced on such unconventional items as itching powder and disappearing ink.

When he wasn’t playing cards and smoking in the dressing room, he would wander around patting team-mates on the back of the neck. This apparent gesture of encouragement was greatly appreciated until his team-mate realised they now had an itch they couldn’t scratch.

Our amiable assistant manager on the 1968 tour, Les Truman, purchased a white suit, which was more appropriate for the warm climes of his hometown Perth than a grim London day in May. Truman erred in proudly displaying his new purchase in the Lord’s dressing room at a time when Doug was writing his daily letter home.

Suddenly in dire need of a refill for his fountain pen, Doug tripped on a strategically placed cricket bag and spilled the contents of his ink bottle over Les’ brand new suit.

Les was apoplectic, cursing Walters with, “Who uses a fountain pen these days anyway?”

Doug was apologetic and quickly grabbed a towel to mop up the stain. Despite Les’ howls of “get away from me”, Doug insisted on helping and asked, “Now, where’s the spot on your suit?”

CMYK

When Les pointed to the area, all that remained was a small, clear wet spot. At this point the dressing room erupted in laughter and Les, like many an Australian player before him, was forced to choose between joining the frivolity or smacking Doug on the jaw.

This was Doug Walters on a normal

cricket tour; I hate to think what dastardly deeds he would devise with the extra time on his hands provided by lockdown mode.

I sense that nothing would change my tune. I’ve often said I would have hated to tour without Walters. Every team needs one, a dressing-room pest who keeps the team loose in times of great tension.

Monday, 6 July, 2020

NEWS

WHO HALts HyDrOxyCHLOrOquIne, HIV Drugs In COVID-19 trIALs After fAILure tO reDuCe mOrtALIty GENEVA

t

aGENCIES

HE World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Saturday that it was discontinuing its trials of the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine and combination HIV drug lopinavir/ritonavir in hospitalised patients with COVID-19 after they failed to reduce mortality.

The setback came as the WHO also reported more than 200,000 new cases globally of the disease for the first time in a single day. The United States accounted for 53,213 of the total 212,326 new cases recorded on Friday, the WHO said.

“These interim trial results show that hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir/ritonavir produce little or no reduction in the mortality of hospitalised COVID-19 patients when compared to standard of care.

Solidarity trial investigators will interrupt the trials with immediate effect,” the WHO said in a statement, referring to large multicountry trials that the agency

is leading.

The U.N. agency said the decision, taken on the recommendation of the trial’s international steering committee, does not affect other studies where those

drugs are used for non-hospitalised patients or as prophylaxis.

Another branch of the WHO-led trial is looking at the potential effect of Gilead’s antiviral drug remdesivir on

COVID-19. The European Commission on Friday gave remdesivir conditional approval for use after being shown to shorten hospital recovery times.

The solidarity trial started out with five branches looking at possible treatment approaches to COVID-19: standard care; remdesivir; hydroxychloroquine; lopinavir/ritonavir; and lopanivir/ritonavir combined with interferon.

WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters on Friday that nearly 5,500 patients in 39 countries had been recruited so far into its clinical trials and that interim results were expected within two weeks. Some 18 experimental COVID-19 vaccines are being tested on humans among nearly 150 treatments under development.

Mike Ryan, WHO’s top emergency expert, said on Friday that it would be unwise to predict when a vaccine could be ready. While a vaccine candidate might show its effectiveness by year’s end, the question was how soon it could then be mass-produced, he said.

PM Imran to deliver keynote address at International Labour Organisation’s special session

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A 22-year-old civilian was injured after Indian Army troops resorted to an unprovoked ceasefire violation in Battal Sector along the Line of Control (LoC), said Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) on Sunday. ISPR Director General Major General Babar Iftikhar, in a tweet, said, “Indian Army troops’ unprovoked ceasefire violation in Battal Sector along LoC, targeting a civilian population with mortars and heavy weapons, late last night”.

He added that a 22-year-old civilian was also injured in the attack. The military’s media wing stated that Pakistan Army troops responded effectively to the Indian firing following the ceasefire violation. Earlier this week, a young boy was martyred due to the unprovoked ceasefire violation by Indian Army targeting the civil population on Tuesday night along the LoC. The ceasefire violation took place at the Lipa Sector along the LoC. “A young boy resident of Talwari village martyred due to Indian indiscriminate firing,” said the military’s media wing.

Afghanistan’s Abdullah Abdullah likely to visit Pakistan

Deadly lightning strikes kill 147 people in India's Bihar state in last 10 days PATNA: Lightning strikes killed 147 people in the north Indian state of Bihar over the last 10 days, officials said on Sunday, warning of more extreme weather conditions to come, driven by climate change. Around 215 people — farmers, rural labourers and cattle grazers — have now died from strikes in the country’s poorest state since late March, authorities said. “I was informed by weather experts, scientists and officials that rising temperatures due to climate change is the main cause behind the increasing lightning strikes,” Bihar’s Disaster Management Minister Lakshmeshwar Rai told AFP. Twenty five people died on Saturday, he said. The Indian Meteorological Department has warned of more lightning in the next 48 hours. Lightning strikes during the annual monsoon that runs from June to September are fairly common in India. But officials said this year’s toll in Bihar has already surpassed the total number of deaths recorded annually for the state over the past few years, even though the monsoon season has just started. Last year, 170 people were killed in lightning strikes during the monsoon period. Bihar agrometeorologist Abdus Sattar told AFP the lightning and thunder was caused by large-scale instability in the atmosphere, fuelled by temperature rises and excessive moisture. State authorities rolled out a mobile phone app they said helps predict possible lightning strikes. But many poor farmers do not own smartphones. In neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, just over 200 people have been struck and killed by lightning since April, according to officials. More than 2,300 people were killed by lightning in India in 2018 according to the National Crime Records Bureau, the most recent figures available. The monsoon is crucial to replenishing water supplies in South Asia, but also causes widespread death and destruction across the region each year. aGENCIES

Civilian injured in Indian ceasefire violation along LoC

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The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has agreed to Pakistan’s request to convene a special session of its member states on July 8 to evolve strategy for well-being of labourers in the post-coronavirus scenario and invited Prime Minister Imran Khan to address on this occasion.

The Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development (OP&HRD) said this on Sunday in a statement. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on OP&HRD Sayed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari forwarded the request to the ILO on the occasion of World Labour Day for holding a session of its member states on urgent basis to discuss impact of the coronavirus pandemic on labourers and workers across the world.

“The prime minister has accepted the ILO’s request and will deliver a keynote address at the international forum on July 8,” the OP&HRD ministry said.

The government, at the forum, would underline the need for taking immediate steps for workers and labourers, it said. The member states would launch discussion on new action plan for the workforce and labourers.

In a letter, forwarded to ILO Director General Guy Ryder, the SAPM highlighted the issues faced by the workers in Pakistan and across the globe due to the

coronavirus pandemic.

He called for initiating a global dialogue to develop a way forward which could help minimize impact of the global pandemic on the labour class.

Highlighting the issues of Pakistan in the midst of coronavirus, he said it was not his country alone where the coronavirus posed a great challenge to the labourers. All the developing economies in the region and world faced the similar challenges, he added.

“This is an emergency situation for governments around the world, and on the occasion of Labour Day 2020, it is most important that there is start of a global dialogue leading to a global recovery,” he said.

“To enable a strategic dialogue to discuss ‘The Future of Work in a Post-Covid World’ for all workers, especially those in the developing world, I urge you to call a special virtual session with representation from all ILO member countries, agencies, enterprises, organisations, groups/individuals to establish a way forward in a world emerging from a global crisis,” he maintained.

The SAPM also informed the director general about the major concerns of his ministry regarding the Pakistani labourers. He pointed out that a quarter of population in Pakistan lived below the poverty line and another portion of the society was prone to fell into the extreme poverty due to the virus impacts on economy.

“This alone leads us far behind from achieving the ILO 2030 agenda,” he warned.

High Council for National Reconciliation of Afghanistan Chairman Dr Abdullah Abdullah is likely to visit Pakistan at the invitation of Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to discuss with country's leadership the bilateral and regional ties as well as Afghan peace process. Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Afghanistan Ambassador Muhammad Sadiq announced that FM Qureshi had invited Dr Abdullah who would visit Pakistan at the mutually convenient dates. “Pakistan-Afghanistan relations are moving forward. Foreign Minister S. M. Qureshi has invited the Chairman of the Supreme National Reconciliation Council, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, to pay an official visit to Pakistan. Dr. Abdullah Abdullah will visit at mutually convenient dates,” the ambassador said on his Twitter handle. Dr Abdullah also referred on Twitter to his meeting with Pakistan’s Ambassador to Kabul Zahid Nasrullah Khan on Sunday wherein they discussed the peace process and regional engagements toward a comprehensive settlement. “I thanked him for the official invitation extended to visit Pakistan at an opportune time,” the Afghan leader said. The development took place ahead of the imminent intraAfghan dialogue and almost a week after the visit of United States Special Representative for Afghanistan Reconciliation Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad to Pakistan. Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, accompanied by Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Director-General Lieutenant General Faiz Hameed and Ambassador Muhammad Sadiq had also visited Afghanistan last month when he had met both Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Dr Abdullah. The army chief had expressed Pakistan's support for the earliest possible start of intra-Afghan talks. “I told him that we are ready to engage with the Taliban on our common issues and to end the conflict and live together in peace. I reiterated Pakistan’s constructive role in this regard,” Dr Abdullah remarked following the meeting with army chief.

12-month halt in international travel to cost tourism $3.3tr: UNCTAD ISLAMABAD aGENCIES

The Covid-19 pandemic is set to cost global tourism up to $3.3 trillion if the sector, which is vital for many countries’ economies, remains halted for one year due to coronavirus restrictions, a recent UN study concludes.

In its report highlighting the impact of the Covid-19 on global tourism, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) considered three possible scenarios for the industry. While all of them would result in huge losses, the depth of the crisis will depend on how long holidaymakers are deprived of the opportunity to travel.

If lockdown measures last four months,

the world’s tourism sector could lose at least $1.2 trillion, or 1.5 percent of the global gross domestic product (GDP). Should the standstill last four months longer, the losses would rise to $2.2 trillion or 2.8 percent of the world’s GDP. According to the gloomiest scenario, a 12-month halt in international travel could wipe out $3.3 trillion or 4.2 percent of global GDP. The tourism sector is a major source of employment and government revenue for many nations. According to the agency estimates, a country’s national income could drop by up to $3 million for every $1 million lost in international tourism revenue.

The crisis poses an enduring risk for the livelihoods of people in developing countries

as they are set to face the steepest GDP losses.

Even under the most optimistic scenario, the economies of Jamaica and Thailand are set to shrink by 11 percent and nine percent respectively. Croatia will also be among the three most affected countries, losing at least eight percent of GDP. The world’s leading economies will not be spared from the economic downturn linked to the COVID-19 impact on tourism, the report noted. The US is predicted to suffer the highest losses, with a $187 billion drop in the moderate scenario, followed by China with $105 billion. Major tourist destinations such as Thailand, France and Germany stand to lose approximately $47 billion each in GDP due to the contraction in tourism.

Published by Arif Nizami at Qandeel Printing Press, 4 Queens Road, Lahore. Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965. Email: newsroom@pakistantoday.com.pk