EpaperLHR_2020-07-18

Saturday, 18 July, 2020 I 26 Dhū al-Qa‘dah, 1441 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XI No 20 I 12 Pages I Lahore Edition

PM iMran reiterates aPPeal to observe Covid-19 soPs on eidul azha SayS he haS ordered Strict implementation of govt SopS to prevent eidul fitr-like Situation g

newS DeSk

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RIME Minister Imran Khan on Friday reiterated his appeal to the nation to observe standard operating procedures (SOPs) on Eidul Azha to avoid a spike in Covid-19 cases in the country.

In two-part tweets on Friday, Imran highlighted that Pakistan was “amongst the fortunate countries where Covid-19 cases in hospitals, especially in intensive care and death rate have gone down, unlike in our unfortunate neighbour India”.

He attributed the falling number of cases to the “smart lockdown policy and the nation observing government SOPs” and urged people to continue taking preventive measures that are “essential to sustain our positive trend”.

The PM reiterated the importance of celebrating the upcoming Eidul Azha with “sim-

plicity so as not to repeat what happened last Eid when SOPs were ignored and our hospitals were choked”.

“I am ordering strict implementation of government SOPs,” he added.

Earlier this month, the prime minister had made a similar appeal to the nation after inaugurating the Isolation Hospital and Infectious Treatment Centre (IHITC) in Islamabad.

Speaking to the media, he said that “carelessness” on Eidul Fitr in May had led to a spike in cases in across the country.

“This led to pressure on our hospitals, our frontline workers also faced immense pressure, we unfortunately lost lives and the virus peaked.

“Today, I want to make a special appeal to you all: if we are careless on Eidul Azha, the virus could spread again and there could be a fresh spike in the number of infections.

Hospitals will come under pressure again. So

Coronavirus in

Pakistan

CONFIRMED CASES:

261,372

DAY'S DEATH TOLL:

NEW CASES:

49

2,085

RECOVERED:

DEATHS:

SINDH:

PUNJAB:

183,737 5,514

111,238

89,023

KP:

BALOCHISTAN:

AJK/GB:

ISLAMABAD:

31,669

11,405

1,808/1,775 14,454

I’m appealing to you all to mark this Eid with simplicity.”

Citing the risks the virus can pose to the elderly and middle-aged people, the premier added: “I appeal to the entire nation to observe Eid with simplicity — for the sake of your country, its economy and especially the elderly and at-risk members of the society.

“If we take care now, then we can manage, God willing, to come out of this pandemic better than other countries.”

In recent weeks, new coronavirus cases in Pakistan have continued to decline — a development the government of Prime Minister Imran dubbed as the result of its “successful” anti-Covid-19 strategy.

On Tuesday, the country recorded slightly below 2,000 new cases, the lowest number of daily cases in months, compared to between 5,000 and 6,000 in May and June.

pakistan offers india consular access to Jadhav for a third time ISLAMABAD: Pakistan offered on Friday to grant consular access to convicted Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav for a third time, a day after Indian diplomats stormed out of a meeting with the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) agent.

Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Aisha Farooqui said that this time Pakistan has offered to give consular access without the presence of a security guard. She said that the offer was made as a “goodwill gesture”.

The development comes a day after two officials from the Indian High Commission in Islamabad — who had been provided consular access for a second time to Jadhav at New Delhi’s request — left without hearing him out, claiming they were not provided “unimpeded” consular access.

The Indian diplomats were allowed to hold a meeting with Jadhav a week after the disclosure that the spy had turned down an offer to file a review petition against his conviction.

The development was seen by many as a sign that some Indian diplomats may consider availing the concession offered through an ordinance promulgated on May 20, which allowed Jadhav to file a review petition — directly or through the Indian government or his legal representative — in Islamabad High Court (IHC) within 60 days. The limit expires on July 19.

In a statement on Thursday, the FO spokesperson said two consular officers of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad were provided “unimpeded and uninterrupted access to Jadhav at

rs254m embezzled in wheat subsidy of 2018: Shahzad akbar ISLAMABAD app

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Accountability Barrister Shahzad Akbar on Friday said Rs254 million of Ramzan Package 2018, had been misappropriated by 149 flour mills tasked to provide wheat flour to people on subsidised rates.

Talking to the media, he said that out of Rs254m, a sum of Rs190m has already been recovered and deposited into the national exchequer while action was also being taken against 156 officials of the food department. The anti-corruption department has started criminal proceedings against 70 officials of food department, who were directly involved in misappropriation of wheat subsidy.

He said that 149 flour mills were involved in the embezzlement of wheat from out of a total of 687 mills.

“Right now, due to strict measures taken, a 20 kg flour bag was available at Rs860. In case of complaint helpline of Punjab government could be contacted,” he said.

He said that the Supreme Court (SC) had vacated the stay orders of Sindh High Court (SHC) on the report of Sugar Inquiry Commission.

Stay orders were sought by Pakistan Sugar Mills Association, he added.

The PM’s aide said that the apex

1500 hours”. “The first consular access under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, 1963 was provided by Pakistan on Sept 2, 2019. The mother and wife of Jadhav were also allowed to meet him on Dec 25, 2017,” the FO statement read.

“India’s ill intentions have come to light,” Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said after the diplomats left without meeting Jadhav. “They didn’t want consular access. [Jadhav] kept asking the Indian diplomats to talk to him and they left.” The Indian Ministry of External Affairs, however, said its diplomats had protested and left the meeting with Jadhav, claiming that an agreement to allow “unimpeded” consular access had not been honoured by Pakistani officials, Reuters reported.

“Pakistani officials with an intimidating demeanour were present in close proximity of Shri Jadhav and Consular Officers despite the protests of the Indian side,” the Indian MEA said in a statement, adding that the conversation was also recorded. Indian officials said they were prevented from obtaining Jadhav’s written consent to arrange legal representation, necessary for a review of his case. staff report

Govt facilitating Jadhav through ‘secret’ ordinance, Bilawal alleges STORY ON BACK PAGE

more inside

Pakistan allows Muharram processions with strict SOPs STORY ON PAGE 02

pakistan lauds unSc decision to add ttp chief on sanctions list STORY ON BACK PAGE court had also directed the high courts to decide pending petitions relating to sugar commission within three weeks period. Over 100 stay orders regarding sugar mills were still pending in different courts since the last 11 years, he added.

He also said that the government had made public sugar inquiry commission report first time in the history.

The special assistant said that the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had also vacated sugar mills association’s stay order after vigorous pursuasion by the government. On receiving Sugar Inquiry Report, he said, the federal cabinet had approved a strategy including roadmap of taking punitive action, introducing reforms and rationalis-

ing the price of sugar.

He also said that a committee headed by Minister for Industries Hammad Azhar has been constituted to finalise the reforms in sugar policy and rationalise prices of sugar. The committee has started negotiations with sugar mills association in this regard, he added.

“Provincial governments, Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP), State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) have been directed to investigate violations by sugar mills in accordance with their rules and report within a period of 90 days,” he further said.

Cynthia Ritchie not involved in antistate activities, govt tells court

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STORY ON BACK PAGE

STORY ON PAGE 03

3 martyred, 7 injured in crossborder firing from afghanistan

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Saturday, 18 July, 2020

NEWS

ImprovIng tIes wIth south AsIAn stAtes A prIorIty, nA told ISLAMABAD

t

TLTP

he lower house of the parliament was informed on Friday that improving bilateral relations with South Asian countries remains a priority of national foreign policy.

Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs Andleeb Abbas told the National Assembly (NA) during question hour that despite hostile Indian attitude, Pakistan took a milestone step by deciding to open the Kartarpur Corridor and released captured Indian pilot after Indian misadventure of Balakot as a peace gesture.

She said Pakistan wishes to resolve all outstanding issues with India including the Kashmir dispute through peaceful means. She, however, said that India must create an enabling environment for a result-oriented dialogue to take place.

The parliamentary secretary said that India wanted to isolate Pakistan at the international level, however, Pakistan significantly improved its relations with neighboring countries including Iran and Afghanistan over the last two years.

“We have reopened borders with Afghanistan and trade has witnessed an increase of 25 per cent with the neighboring countries,” she said, adding that

at present India is facing isolation due to various reasons. She added that India is the biggest aggressor in the South Asian region.

Minister for Communication Murad Saeed informed the house that several new road infrastructure projects measuring 1700 kilometers have been approved for execution. he said that five major road projects will be executed under public-private partnership. he said the government is giving special importance to the construction of western route of China-Pakistan economic Corridor (CPeC).

The minister said that 95 per cent work has been completed on the metro

bus project from Peshawar-Morr to New Islamabad International Airport. he said that the revised cost of the project is Rs13 billion and it is expected to be completed by next month subject to the arrival of necessary equipment from China.

Parliamentary Secretary for Petroleum Khial Zaman said there is no shortage of petroleum products in the country. he said that the prices of petroleum products were enhanced as per the rising trends in the international market. “We are also working with oil market companies to enhance the storage capacity of petroleum products,” he said.

Minister for Power Omer Ayub laid before the house the Modaraba Companies and Modaraba (Flotation and Control) (Amendment) Bill, 2020.

Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhar Imam said that there is a plan to provide quality seeds to the farmers in order to enhance per acre yield of major crops such as wheat and cotton.

Advanced metering system being introduced to control power pilferage, Senate told ISLAMABAD TLTP

Minister for Power Omar Ayub Friday told the upper house of the parliament that the government is introducing advanced metering infrastructure system to control power pilferage.

Responding to questions during the question hour, the minister said that a campaign has been started to check power pilferage across the country.

he said that distribution companies have been directed to control line losses. he said that efforts are being made to rehabilitate the transmission and distribution infrastructures to reduce technical losses. The minister said that the incumbent government has enhanced transmission of electricity from 18000MW to 23500MW in two years.

Minister for human Rights Shireen Mazari told the house that the government is committed to curbing domestic child labour. She said that the ministry has intro-

duced law to curb child abuse.

Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan said that China-Pakistan economic Corridor (CPeC) is a project of the country. he said that Pakistan will not accept any dictation from any country to decide its future. Responding to a call attention notice, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan categorically rejected the rumours regarding curtailing the retirement age of the government employees from 60 to 55 years.

Pakistan allows Muharram processions with strict SOPs ISLAMABAD: The federal government has allowed devotees to hold Majalis and processions during Muharram as long as they strictly implement precautionary measures. The decision was made in a meeting between President Dr Arif Alvi and Shia Ulema at Aiwan-e-Sadr on Friday.

The president hailed the role of religious scholars in containing the spread of the novel coronavirus in the country during Ramzan and eidul Fitr.

Minister for Religious Affairs Noorul haq Qadri, in a statement, said that unanimous SOPs have been formulated in the light of proposals and will be sent to the provinces and ulema after approval of the National Command and Operation Centre. STAFF REPORT

Two women injured in Indian firing across LoC RAWALPINDI: Two women were left injured after Indian Army resorted to unprovoked firing along the Line of Control (LoC) on Friday, the Inter-Services Public Relations said. “Indian Army troops initiated unprovoked ceasefire violation in Rakhchikri & Baroh Sector along LOC targeting civilian population,” the ISPR said in a tweet. The injured women are residents of Kirni and Gahi village. The Indian Army has committed ceasefire violations at least 1,697 times in 2020 alone, the ISPR added. earlier this week, an elderly woman was wounded after Indian forces opened unprovoked fire across the LoC, the military’s spokesperson said. STAFF REPORT

Saturday, 18 July, 2020

NEWS

CynthIA rItChIe not Involved In AntI-stAte ACtIvItIes, govt tells Court ISLAMABAD

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STAFF REPORT

he Interior Ministry on Friday informed the Islamabad high Court (IhC) that American blogger Cynthia Ritchie is not involved in any anti-state or illegal activity and can stay in Pakistan till August 31 as per the law.

The report by the ministry was submitted to IhC in a petition seeking the deportation of the American citizen.

The ministry told the court that Cynthia is not involved in anti-state and illegal activities and the visa for foreigners

was extended by the government till August 31. The IhC was informed that the American has already filed an application seeking an extension in her visa and the decision regarding the matter will be taken after August 31.

The court also directed the ministry to share the report with the petitioner.

Former Punjab governor and lawyer Latif Khosa, while commenting on the report, stated that the party was not satisfied with the document presented by the ministry.

Khosa alleged that the Interior Ministry had tried to mislead the court. The former Punjab governor also alleged that

interior secretary was not taking action according to law. “The secretary interior should be forced to take action according to law,” he said.

Khosa said the report had stated that Cynthia’s visa was valid and also that she was not involved in any anti-state activity.

“We will prove that the visa is incorrect and also that she is involved in antistate activities,” said Khosa, adding that the American blogger will have to be deported after being convicted.

Last week, IhC had asked the interior ministry to take a decision according to law, on a Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) petition seeking to deport the

American blogger.

The IhC also urged the ministry to decide upon Cynthia’s stay in Pakistan and the extension of her visa until July 15 and then inform the court.

Cynthia’s matter landed in the court after the blogger in a video broadcast live on Facebook several weeks ago, alleged that senior PPP leader Rehman Malik had raped her while two others had “manhandled” her at a separate occasion.

She had stated that the incidents occurred in 2011 when the PPP was in power, and when the individual she accused of rape had been a senior minister.

Ritchie had further alleged that two other senior party leaders — a federal minister and former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gillani (who has publicly responded to the allegation) — had “physically manhandled” her when the latter “was staying the President house”.

LHC directs DRAP to ensure supply of medicines in three days LAHORE INP

It may take more than a year to control Covid-19 in pakistan: survey NEWS DESK Pakistan Islamic Medical Association and Gallup Pakistan published the results of a new survey on Friday according to which the respondents felt it may take more than a year to control the coronavirus in the country. The 400 respondents of the survey — conducted by the Pakistan Islamic Medical Association and Gallup Pakistan — were doctors and those associated with the health profession. In response to the question as to when the world will be able to control the pandemic, 55% responded by saying that it would take more than a year while 41% were of the view that the Covid-19 situation will be brought under control in a few months. Only 4% thought it would take a few weeks for the situation to be controlled throughout the world. Sixty-six percent of the respondents urged the government to impose a lockdown till the situation did not improve. Four percent were of the view that the lockdown should be imposed till eidul Azha while 8% thought it should be lifted immediately. The survey’s results stated that 60% of the respondents, who were doctors, were not happy with the country’s response to the pandemic while 39% were satisfied. Among those who expressed dissatisfaction with the response to the Covid-19 challenge, 65% are doctors were from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Among the same provinces, 34% doctors were satisfied with the government’s response. In Sindh, 63% doctors said they were not happy with the government’s response while 34% were not. In Punjab, 49% of the respondents said they were not happy with the way the crisis had been managed while 50% were satisfied.

The Lahore high Court (LhC) on Friday directed Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) to ensure supply of medicines in three days for the treatment of patients suffering from coronavirus.

During the hearing, the court said that no one, even a federal minister, was getting the injection for treatment of the disease. everyone is facing difficulties due to shortage of medicines, it remarked.

The court strictly ordered the concerned department to provide medicines to the hospitals. “We cannot be silent on this matter,” the judge stated.

The reaction came after Pakistan confirmed 49 deaths in a single day by novel coronavirus as the number of positive cases has surged to 259,999. The nationwide tally of fatalities has jumped to 5,475 on Friday.

According to the latest figures by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) 2,085 persons have been tested positive for Covid-19 in 24 hours.

Sindh remains the worst-hit province by the pandemic in terms of cases followed by Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Islamabad.

Till now 110,068 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Sindh, 89,023 in Punjab, 31,486 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 11,385 in Balochistan, 14,454 in Islamabad, 1,775 in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and 1,808 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

Furthermore 2,059 individuals have lost their lives to the epidemic in Punjab, 1,922 in Sindh, 1,124 in KP, 128 in Balochistan, 157 in Islamabad, 39 in GB and 46 in AJK. Pakistan has so far conducted 1,676,090 coronavirus tests and 23,907 in last 24 hours. 183,737 coronavirus patients have recovered in the country whereas 1,895 patients are in critical condition.

FIA arrests manager of forex company accused of funding RAW KARACHI STAFF REPORT

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Friday arrested the manager of a money exchange company which is accused of providing financial help to agents of the Indian intelligence agency Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). The anti-terrorism wing of the FIA arrested Yaseen, an accused linked to the international network of hawala/hundi operators during an operation in the city’s Saddar area.

The accused was allegedly distributing funds to RAW agents in Karachi. According to the authorities, Yaseen was arrested after his whereabouts were revealed by the suspects who were apprehended by the

FIA a day earlier. According to the FIA, money was being provided to anti-state elements through a secret international network of hawala/hundi operators.

FIA officials said a laptop and mobile phone were recovered from the suspect’s possession, while raids are being carried out in search of other suspects linked to the hawala/hundi operators network. Officials said that the details of the suspects have been provided to airports across the country. The FIA on Wednesday arrested a suspect for committing targeted killings and being involved in bombings at the behest of RAW. According to FIA officials, the suspect, identified as Zafar Khan, was a member of the Karachi fire brigade and had been in India for 14 months where he had received training and is an expert in making bombs and using advanced weapons.

Pakistan's national parks aided by 'indigenous knowledge' but need laws ISLAMABAD AGENCIES

For 20 years, Khunjerab National Park was a point of tension between Pakistan’s government — which established the park in 1975 as a sanctuary for rare species — and locals who had grazed their livestock on the land for generations.

As disputes over the land raged, poachers decimated Khunjerab’s wildlife, villagers say — until 1995, when local people and the authorities decided to work together to better protect the park.

“Our communities knew about natural resource management (and) we were well organised,” said Muzaffar ud Din, a founding member of the local Shimshal Nature Trust, which contributed members to a community-led management group set up to run the park. “Now, I would say Khunjerab is better managed than many other parks in the country. The local people look after it. The wildlife population has increased manifold,” he said.

In its latest move to generate jobs amid the Covid-

19 pandemic while boosting conservation and curbing the impacts of climate change, Pakistan has announced the creation of Pakistan’s first National Parks Service, modeled in line with the US agency.

Under it, the country aims to get more local communities involved in running national parks and earning an income as they protect nearby conservation areas.

The first phase of the Protected Areas Initiative, launched on July 2, will focus on 15 national parks that make up a total of 7,300 sq km (2,800 sq miles), spanning from Khunjerab in the north to the area around Astola Island in the south.

The project aims to create up to 5,000 new jobs, mainly for young people who will work as park guards and custodians, and boost eco-tourism in the country, authorities said, when the initiative was announced.

Malik Amin Aslam, climate change adviser to Prime Minister Imran Khan, said the parks plan fits into Pakistan’s post-coronavirus “green stimulus” vision, which also includes hiring thousands of unemployed day labourers to plant trees as part of the country’s 10 Billion Tree Tsunami programme.

“The dual objective is to protect nature while also generating jobs for unemployed youth,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “All this green activity will aid in addressing the unexpected spike in Covidlinked unemployment across the country.”

‘PAPER PARKS’: Pakistan currently has about 30 national parks that are supposed to be protected and preserved by law. But most are “paper parks” — areas classified as national parks but with little or no management, said Aslam, who helped design the new initiative.

Conservation expert Anis-ur-Rahman estimates only about 5% of the country’s parks are properly managed. The others suffer from clashing priorities and a lack of cooperation between the government and the communities that live around them and rely on them for grazing, hunting and firewood, he explained.

“In many cases, the government changed the status of these old community-managed forest areas or grazing areas into national parks where (suddenly) everything is prohibited by law,” said Rahman, who heads the management board for Margalla hills National Park, one of those included in the new project.

03

Coronavirus cases number around 290,000 in Islamabad, nIh survey suggests ISLAMABAD: The National Institute of health (NIh) estimates, based on a recent survey, that the number of coronavirus cases in Islamabad can be as high as 290,000 — much higher than the official tally of infections in the federal capital, which stands at 14,454. For the survey, the NIh team visited seven areas of the federal capital: Chathar, Mohrian, Tarlai Khurd, Tamair, Kirpa, Kiri and Alipur. The surveillance team took samples from 4,328 people, of which 626 people tested positive for Covid-19. The survey revealed that people in the age group of 31-50 were most affected by the virus. It also deduced that men had a two times higher rate of infections than women. Meanwhile, according to data from the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC), only 14,400 people so far have been confirmed as coronavirus-positive in the capital. In its conclusion and recommendations, the survey mentioned: “Calculated prevalence of Covid-19 is 14.5%, which depicts that the actual number of infected persons in Islamabad are 290,000”. It further said that the most affected age group is ’30-60 years’, and that rural areas are most hard-hit. INP

Indian troops martyr 3 more Kashmiri youths in Kulgam ISLAMABAD: Indian troop, in their fresh act of state terrorism, martyred three Kashmiri youngsters in Kulgam district of occupied Kashmir on Friday. The troops martyred the youth during a military operation in the area. Meanwhile, the troops launched cordon and search operations in several areas of Pulwama, Shopian, Islamabad, Kupwara, Baramulla and Bandipore districts. On Thursday, Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Aisha Farooqui had reiterated for enhanced international monitoring and continued United Nations (UN) reporting on the human rights crisis in Indian occupied Kashmir to save lives, dignity and freedoms of Kashmiris. In her media briefing in Islamabad she had said that the people of occupied Kashmir have been under illegal Indian occupation for over seven decades. The spokesperson said that UN human rights machinery, in recent months, had highlighted India’s non-compliance with its international human rights obligations. TLTP

nAB court directed to arrange indictment proceedings for Zardari on Aug 4 KARACHI: Accountability court in Islamabad on Friday has written a letter to registrar at Karachi branch for indictment of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) co-chairman and former president Asif Ali Zardari in Thatta water supply reference on August 4. According to details, directives have also been forwarded to appoint judicial representative for identification of Zardari on the day of indictment. The court has further ordered to arrange video-link proceedings for the former president and 13 other accused. National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Karachi has also been tasked to ensure Zardari’s appearance on August 4 at any cost. In December 2019, former president Zardari was released on medical grounds after an accountability court in Islamabad issued separate robkars [mandamuses] in the Park Lane estate Company and the money laundering through fake bank accounts cases against him. The charges in the latest case centre around allegations Zardari laundered vast sums of money through suspect bank accounts and companies. NAB is conducting investigations in pursuance of the Supreme Court’s (SC) verdict in the money laundering of billions through fake accounts case wherein it forwarded the Joint Investigation Team’s (JIT) report with directions to investigate and file references. Zardari has repeatedly dismissed allegations he had a hand in the scheme. INP

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Saturday, 18 July, 2020

NEWS

New Covid-19 CASeS droP By 60PC iN LAhore LAHORE TLTP

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OORDINATED efforts against coronavirus are bearing fruit as Lahore has witnessed a 60 percent drop in Covid-19 cases during the last one week.

According to a report issued by the Punjab Health Department, around 4,000 samples were being tested at eight government laboratories in the city against which around 200 people were being diagnosed with Covid-19 daily during the past week.

In June, over 1,000 people were being

Police station attack: Court issues Uzair Baloch’s production order KARACHI INP

An anti-terrorism court here on Friday directed jail authorities to produce Lyari gangster Uzair Baloch before it in a case pertaining to an attack on Kalakot police station. Jail officials told the court that they could not produce him and other accused in court because of the coronavirus fears. At this, the court issued production order of Uzair Baloch with directives for the officials to present him in court at the next hearing. According to the FIR, the Lyari gang kingpin along with others attacked the Kalakot police station in Lyari in 2012. On July 13, Uzair Baloch had revealed before the anti-terrorism court that he had not given any confessional statement under section 164 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). Over the course of the hearing of 16 cases, including Arshad Pappu murder case, against him and others today, he told the judge that he has not recorded any confessional statement before a judicial magistrate who, he claimed, made fallacious assertions in this regard. The judge, pointing to the Lyari gang kingpin, said that he has been accused of murdering Arshad Pappu and asked whether or not he has committed the offense so the court could proceed with indicting him in the case. “I swear to God, I have committed no murder,” he replied.

tested positive for Covid-19 daily in the city, read the report.

Secretary Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department, Muhammad Usman said that the laboratories are conducting tests as per routine in the city, adding that the number of Covid-19 cases has dropped in the city.

Earlier on June 25, the number of coronavirus cases and associated deaths had seen a drop after a smart lockdown had been enforced in Covid-19 hotspots across the province to prevent further spread of the virus, officials had told the Punjab chief secretary.

Chohan defends Buzdar's performance, says Punjab CM 'working at his own pace' ISLAMABAD INP

Punjab Information Minister Fayyazul Hassan Chohan on Friday defended provincial Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, who has recently come under criticism for his 'below-par' performance, saying Buzdar has been delivering on his responsibilities with ease.

While talking to media in Lahore, the provincial minister highlighted that the Punjab government, under the supervision of Buzdar, had provided tax relief of Rs56 billion in its recent provincial budget.

Claiming that international media has been commending Buzdar's performance, Chohan said: "Buzdar is the only chief minister who has come to the forefront to serve the people of the country."

Taking a jibe at the former leadership in the province, the federal minister said: "The so-called Khadim-e-Aala would stand in the rainwater wearing a fancy hat and carrying an umbrella, pretending to serve the people of the country." "The previous governments did nothing to deal with the monsoon," he asserted. The federal minister went on to add that Buzdar has made a constructive plan to deal with a rainwater crisis that threatens the province during the ongoing monsoon season.

"Usman Bazdar is serving the people at his own pace without making decisions in a hasty manner," he added.

On Thursday, Minister for Information Shibli Faraz had refuted reports of Chief Minister Punjab Uzman Buzdar being removed from his position.

A local TV channel, citing sources, had aired the news

that the chief minister was being removed.

Faraz, taking to Twitter, said that Buzdar is "going nowhere".

"All speculations regarding his departure are malafide and baseless," the information minister had said.

Earlier, in January, Prime Minister Imran Khan had outright refused to remove CM Buzdar, saying he knew who the "conspirator" behind pressure to remove CM Punjab is, sources had informed.

The sources had added that while addressing a meeting of the PTI members of the Punjab Assembly, PM Imran said Buzdar would remain the Punjab CM and he will not be removed at any cost.

The prime minister added that he knew who was creating the controversy to oust Buzdar and that the conspirator wanted the post for himself.

Shah directs for preparations to cope with rains KARACHI TLTP

Sindh Minister for Local Government and Information, Forests and Religious Affairs Syed Nasir Hussain Shah on Friday directed all local government officials to continue the process of cleaning all storm drains in the city due to recent rains.

“Make sure the staff is always ready to deal with any situation,” he gave these instructions to all the local body officers of Karachi while personally reviewing the situation in the city after the recent rains.

Shah directed the secretary local government and concerned local government officers to complete all possible preparations for the new spell of rains in their respective dis-

tricts. Appointment of solid waste management staff and other relevant staff on central and sub-drains be ensured, he directed.

He said that de-watering machines must be installed at key intersection points to enable immediate drainage of water during rains. He further directed that special attention

be paid to maintain the flow of underpasses and the city. The situation should return to normal after the rains, the minister directed.

He said that complaints of water logging have not been received due to integrated strategy.

He directed that if any complaint is filed anywhere, it should be resolved immediately.

Shah has also issued instructions to the municipal commissioners for liaison and monitoring in their respective districts in this situation.

In any case, all the LG officers under a joint strategy for drainage of rain water, flow of underpasses and ensure the installation of dewatering machines with the necessary staff and monitor the situation and save the people from troubles.

Sindh Police reports 155 new Covid-19 patients in two days KARACHI: With 155 new cases reported in last two days, around 2515 personnel and officers of Sindh Police have been infected with coronavirus so far, informed spokesman to Sindh Police on Friday. Currently, he said, 1593 officers and personnel are under treatment while 906 have returned to their homes after recovering from the disease. The spokesman said 16 officers and personnel lost their battle against Covid-19, out of them 14 belonged to Karachi Range and two from Hyderabad Range. APP

Khawaja Asif appears before NAB in housing scandal LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) senior leader Khawaja Asif appeared before National Accountability Court (NAB) in Sialkot’s Kent View Housing Society scandal.

According to sources, the PML-N stalwart was grilled for two and half hours by NAB team Lahore. The former federal minister was asked to appear before the anti-graft watchdog at 11am today but he reached at 10am, sources said. Asif is accused of illegally building a private housing scheme, Kent View Housing Society, in Sialkot. He is required to provide the money trail of the funds invested in the scheme. He had been questioned for the sale of 137 canal land during the interrogation session on the previous appearance but he failed to satisfy the team, sources said. The anti-graft watchdog had provided another questionnaire to Asif which sought more details of his income sources besides asking him to appear before the investigators again on July 17 (today) at 11:00 am along with the required documents. INP

Mumbai hotel attack case adjourned till July 22 ISLAMABAD: An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Islamabad hearing the Mumbai hotel attack case on Friday adjourned proceeding till July 22. In Friday’s hearing, taken up by the ATC judge Raja Jawad Abbas Hassan, the prosecution completed its arguments in a separate plea filed for seeking three months' time for the production of foreign witnesses. The court after listening to the arguments reserved its verdict on this plea that will be announced on July 22. However, the main case was also adjourned till date. It is worth mentioning here that over 96 witnesses had been testified by the court so far in this case. APP

Power outages follow rain in Karachi KARACHI: The port city faced power outages as multiple areas experience rainfall on Friday.

Electricity was cut as soon as light rain started in Kharadar, Akhtar Colony, Kashmir Colony, and Defence View areas of the city. Areas that received rainfall included Jamshed Road, Model Colony, Saddar, Clifton, Malir, Gulistan-e-Johar, Dhoraji, Bahadurabad, PECHS, Soldier Bazaar, University Road, Gulshan-e-Hadid, Abdullah Haroon Road, Shah Faisal Colony, Shahrah-eFaisal, Fawwara Chowk, M.A. Jinnah Road, and Garden. On the other hand, there were traffic jams on numerous thoroughfares in the city, including Shahrah-e-Faisal, Johar Morr, Saddar, I.I. Chundrigar Road, Denso Hall, Zainab Market, and M.A. Jinnah Road. TLTP

Locust breeding starts in Tharparkar, Cholistan, warns minister RAWALPINDI TLTP

Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research, Syed Fakhar Imam has said that locust breeding has started in Tharparkar and Cholistan.

This was stated by the food minister while chairing a meeting at National Locusts Control Centre (NLCC) on Friday.

Lieutenant General Moazzam Ejaz,Coordinator NLCC, co-chaired the meeting along with the minister.

The briefing was started with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) locust forecast. As per the forecast, summer breeding has commenced

along both sides of the Indo-Pakistan border where numerous swarms are present mainly in Rajasthan, India.

Hatching and band formation will increase during this month in Rajasthan and northern Gujarat, India, as well as adjacent areas of Tharparkar, Nara and Cholistan deserts in Pakistan.

New reports of desert locust swarms in northern Somalia suggest that migration from northeast Somalia across the Indian Ocean to the summer breeding areas along both sides of the Indo-Pakistan border could be imminent. More swarms are likely to form in northern Somalia in the coming weeks.

India and Pakistan have been

warned accordingly and they continue to take preparatory Pakistan Meteorological Department mentioned that there are seasonal low lies over western Balochistan. Moist currents are penetrating upper and central parts of the country from Bay of Bengal. More monsoon currents are likely to penetrate in upper and central parts of the country from Sunday.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) mentioned that Saudi Arabia and Kenya are interested in exchange of information on locusts bilaterally. The NLCC has also developed a rate integration map, which is shares with all provinces daily. It was also discussed

during the meeting that there is a dire need to generate large scale provincial maps to include tehsil level migration forecast.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) mentioned that since July 2 there has been no locust activity in the province. In the last 24 hours, 171,911 acres have been surveyed.

Balochistan mentioned that the province has worked really hard in eli minating locusts. In the last 24 hours, 22 districts were found with locust and, as a resultant operation was done on 222 acres of land.

Punjab mentioned that in the last 24 hours a survey was done on 260,516 acres and no locust was found. Teams are working in Cholistan. Apart from this, teams are also working in Pakpattan and Lodhran.

Sindh mentioned that in the last 24 hours a survey was done on 94,807 acres.

Teams are working in Tharparkar and Nara desert.

Saturday, 18 July, 2020

PM ReFRAined FROM ReduCing levy On POl PROduCtS lASt MOntH ISLAMABAD

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AHMAD AHAMADANI

RIME Minister Imran Khan, while approving up to Rs25.58 per litre hike in prices of petroleum products (POL) last month, had refrained from considering a reduction in the rate of petroleum levy imposed on the per litre price of POL products.

These revelations were found in a summary of the Finance Division.

According to sources, Pakistan State Oil had projected Rs31.58 per litre increase in the price of motor spirit (MS) and Rs24.31 per litre hike in high-speed diesel (HSD) for the month of July. However, the Finance Division proposed the PM to provide relief to public by slashing the price

by Rs6 per litre for MS and Rs3 per litre for HSD either by reducing the rate of petroleum levy, which was already touching the maximum level of Rs30 per litre, or by implementing the proposed increase for 36

Oil tankers association ends strike on govt assurances KARACHI: The Oil Tankers and Contractors Association on Friday called off its strike after receiving an invitation for talks from the Petroleum Division. The association was protesting against the increase in income tax, provincial service and toll taxes on petroleum products. The office-bearers of the association have now been called to Islamabad on July 20 so that an amicable solution to the issue could be chalked out. The Petroleum Division has ensured to communicate their due demands to the concerned authorities. It may be noted that the supply of petroleum products remained suspended across the country due to the strike of the Oil Tankers and Contractors Association. The association on Wednesday announced that it would discontinue supply across the country to protest an increase in income and toll taxes. "There is no business and they [government] have increased the tax," association's president Abidullah Afridi had said. TLTP

‘Food ministry committed to facilitating wheat importers’ ISLAMABAD: The Ministry of National Food Security and Research on Friday said that it will facilitate wheat importers in order to meet the domestic demand for wheat. According to a statement issued by the Ministry of National Food Security and Research, taxes and duties on wheat imports, including a 60 per cent regulatory duty, 11 per cent custom duty, 17 per cent sales tax and a 6 per cent withholding tax have been abolished.

Moreover, imported wheat will be exempted from the Anti Hoarding Act imposed by the provincial governments on the production of verified import records by the importer. In this regard key decisions were taken in the Economic Coordination Committee’s (ECC) recent meeting.

Similarly, the Sindh government has also waived off a 1.25 per cent charge on the value of imported wheat. Furthermore, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) would also arrange an inter-bank dollar exchange cover for wheat importers, in line with what is provided to other industries. Price mechanism for imported wheat will be considered, in a meeting to be held between importers and the Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue. Up till now, in compliance with an earlier decision of the ECC the Department of Plant Protection (DPP) has issued import permits to the private sector in two phases. The Ministry of National Food Security and Research has constituted a monitoring committee to look after issues pertaining to the import of wheat. APP

days (five days of June and 31 days of July) in the country.

The Petroleum Division had also proposed that the change in prices of petroleum products be made immediately effective from 26 June 2020, instead of the usual practice of announcing the change on the last day of the month.

Based on the above information, the PM made the increase in prices of POL products effective from June 26, and did consider reducing the rate of petroleum

levy, said sources.

By making the prices effective from June 26, the government would earn an additional revenue of Rs26 billion.

Sources said the Petroleum Division had explained to the Finance Division that the proposed increase for 36 days period will, however, have a slight negative impact on oil marketing companies (OMCs) and refineries as they would recover less revenue in July 2020 and more revenue in remaining five days of June 2020.

NPMC urges provincial govts to control increasing prices, cartelisation ISLAMABAD APP

The National Price Monitoring Committee (NPMC) on Friday advised relevant authorities and provincial governments to ensure smooth supply of essential food items at affordable prices and play a proactive role towards keeping cartelisation in check.

The meeting of the NPMC to discuss prices of essential food items was held at the Finance Division under the chairmanship of the additional finance secretary.

Earlier, the meeting was informed that Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation was recorded at 8.6 per cent in June 2020 year on year over June 2019 and July to June CPI inflation on average rose to 10.7 per cent.

Inflation in the country had been on a declining trend since May 2020,

however, it rose slightly during June 2020 in line with rise in prices in the international markets due to easing down of Covid-19 lockdowns that increased demand.

The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) which monitors the price movement of 51 essential items on a weekly basis, recorded an increase of 0.98 per cent for the week ended on July 9, 2020.

The meeting was informed that the federal government in consultation with all stakeholders is taking proactive measures to control the general price level of daily use items at the federal, provincial and district levels.

The NPMC chairman discussed the rise in prices of poultry products with all stakeholders and examined the demand and supply dynamics. Provincial governments and Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) administration were directed to take necessary measures to

ensure smooth supply of poultry products at reasonable prices.

The meeting also discussed the difference in pre Covid-19 and post Covid-19 prices of face masks, sanitisers and oxygen cylinders. The provinces and ICT administration were asked to take necessary measures for the provision of such items at reasonable prices.

The role of middle men was also discussed in detail and it was stressed that high profit margins being charged by middle men were responsible for the increase in general price level of commodities.

The NPMC chairman appreciated ICT, Sindh and Punjab governments for initiating an online delivery system for essential food items on wholesale prices. The chairman stressed that the same should be replicated by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan.

Shibli urges press officers to uphold Pakistan's name in comity of nations ISLAMABAD APP

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz Friday called upon the press officers to perform with commitment and devotion to uphold the name of motherland in the comity of nations.

He said this while addressing an orientation and sendoff ceremony for information group officers who had been posted in information sections of various Pakistan’s missions abroad.

The information minster said the country’s advancement in different fields, as a pre-requisite, required positive image building of Pakistan in international media.

Shibli said the information ministry had an important role to play in terms of projection of government’s initiatives and country’s image building. He said it should also play its role in fully addressing the challenges of modern times and keeping abreast of the latest media trends.

He asked the officers to equip themselves with the requisite know how and relevant media tools to promote and project the soft image of Pakistan at the international level.

He said the officers should be well-informed about national narrative on the key areas like Kashmir issue, war on terror, socioeconomic uplift of the society, care for the poor and needy, protection of the rights of minorities, youth development, so on and so forth.

The minister also emphasized the need to learn the language of the host country as it would provide an advantage to the officers to better serve the cause of the country.

The minister said the press officers posted to different missions must focus on countering propaganda against Pakistan through proactive engagement with media, think tanks, media organizations, social media activists, intellectuals, prominent personalities as it would help build positive image of the country.

Information Secretary Akbar Durrani congratulated the officers posted abroad and hoped that they would perform according to their best of abilities.

NEWS

05

Pakistan reaffirms support for China’s HK national security law ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday reaffirmed its support for China’s new national security legislation for its Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, saying Hong Kong is a part of China and it is important for China to safeguard its sovereignty, territorial integrity, and protect the lives of its citizens. “Pakistan’s position on Hong Kong is principled, consistent, and clear. Pakistan adheres to One-China policy.” Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Aisha Farooqui said at a news briefing. Aisha added that Pakistan reaffirms that matters related to Hong Kong are China’s internal affairs and reiterates it is important to uphold international law and adhere to the basic norm of non-interference. INP

Rs254m embezzled in wheat subsidy of 2018: Shahzad Akbar contInueD on pAge 01 The PM’s aide said that a reference has been sent to National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to investigate the misappropriation in subsidies given to sugar mills according to NAB ordinance 1999. “The CCP would probe last 10 years cartelisation in sugar industry, SBP will investigate sugar mills wilful loan defaults, pledged sugar stocks according to their rules,” he said, adding that the FIA will inquire the fake export of sugar to Afghanistan and report within 90 days period. He added that the provincial governments have been asked to probe violations by sugar mills including paying less price of sugarcane to farmers and other violations. Responding to a question, he said that the delay in action against sugar was due to litigation punitive actions.

FBR reshuffles senior officials ISLAMABAD SHAHZAD PARACHA

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Friday, reshuffled key members of Inland Revenue Service (IRS). The reallocated members include members of the administration, policy, Facilitation and Taxpayer Education (FATE), Human Resource Management (HRM), Reforms and Modernisation and Strategic Planning Reforms and Statistics (SPR&S) wings. According to notification issued by the FBR, administration wing member Dr Faiz Illahi Memon has been transferred and posted as director general special initiative in Karachi. Similarly, Bakhtiar Muhammad has been transferred from his previous assignment at FATE and posted as new member of the administration wing.

Moreover, Hafiz Muhammad Ali Indhar BPS22 officer of IRS was transferred from SPR&S wing to the HRM wing. Similarly, Dr Hamid Ateeq Sarwar was posted as member SPR&S wing, while Muhammad Tarique was posted as member policy wing. The notification further added that Dr Lubna Ayub has been posted as chief commissioner Regional Tax Office (RTO) Quetta from her previous posting at FBR Headquarters while Ambreen Iftikhar has been posted as member reforms and modernisation wing from her previous posting as member HRM wing. According to sources Dr Muhammad Ashfaq Ahmed, who is currently serving as member IR operations in Islamabad is behind this reshuffle in FBR. They further alleged that Dr Ashfaq Ahmed’s favorites have been appointed on key posts in the FBR.

Lockdowns, power cuts add to KP furniture industry’s woes peSHAWAR AZIZ BuNeRI

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) furniture industry is bearing the adverse economic impact of prolonged coronavirus lockdowns and electricity load-shedding and power cuts that have led to a slowdown in business.

According to sources, almost 50 per cent of furniture manufacturing units in KP run the risk of coming to a standstill if uninterrupted power supply is not ensured.

Currently, thousands of families in Peshawar, Upper Dir, Lower Dir, Swat, Mardan, Shangla, Chitral, Charsadda Buner and other cities of the province are associated with the furniture industry.

Mohammad Qasim, who owns a furniture business in KP, told Profit that more than a thousand small and large factories employing around 6,000 to 8,000 artisans are

currently operating in the province.

Mohammad Qasim said that despite the furniture industry providing employment to thousands of individuals, no incentives were provided by the past and present government’s to further develop the industry and enhance skills of artisans associated with it.

“Due to the coronavirus lockdowns and increased load-shedding and power cuts, almost 50 per cent of the furniture industry is on the verge of shutting down, which will render thousands of people jobless,” said Qasim.

He further said that Covid-19’s adverse economic impact and the surge in inflation have reduced the purchasing power of consumers which has led to a fall in sales of furniture factories across KP. According to Qasim, around 30 per cent of the labour force associated with the furniture industry has lost their jobs due to the slowdown in demand.

He urged the government to announce a comprehensive financial package to revive KP’s furniture industry.

Anwar, who works as a labourer at a furniture factory in KP, told Profit, that orders received by the furniture businesses in the province have gone down considerably compared to the level of orders received in the past.

“In the past, artisans working in furniture factories could easily earn Rs40,000 to Rs60,000 per month. However, due to the recent reduction in sales, even senior artisans are being forced to quit the furniture industry,” he said.

In the past, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) used to provide training to the artisans working in KP’s furniture industry, however, such training activities have been discontinued.

Craftsmen and business owners associated with KP’s furniture industry while talk-

CMYK

ing to Profit, demanded the resumption of training activities for artisans. They further urged the government to ensure uninterrupted supply of electricity and timber so that KP’s furniture industry can operate

without interruption.

They also urged the government to reform the tax system for the furniture industry and ensure that the industry only has to pay taxes to a single authority.

Saturday, 18 July, 2020

06 COMMENT

A review of the pandemic in South Asia

Exposure of weaknesses strengthens system Extra curbs on media

cases with 183,737 recoveries and 5475 deaths.

Bangladesh was not isolated from the pandemic and the first confirmed case was reported on March 8. was also set up. But despite lots of arrangements and it remained low in March but began to increase in April. preventive measures, four phases of lockdowns, con- As of 17 July, the total number of confirmed cases were firmed cases rose to lakhs and death tolls in thousands. 199,357 with 108,725 recoveries and 2547 deaths. To As of 17 July, in india there are 1,036,497confirmed check the pandemic the Government of Bangladesh decases of coronavirus with recorded deaths of 26,267 cided to halt the on-arrival visas to the Chinese visitors. and 651,308 recovered. its fatality rate is 2.53 percent Further on 14 March visas for all countries were suspended to control the spread. Failing to curb the spread, against the 6.13 percent of global data. in Pakistan, a student arrived the country from iran when confirmed cases rose to eight on 17 March, the was found positive on 26 February and less than a government ordered the closure of all schools and colmonth by 18 March, the coronavirus had reached all leges till further order, but it was unsuccessful in imfour provinces, two autonomous territories and in fed- plementing the closure of mosques as per guidance of eral territory of islamabad with a total of 302 confirmed the islamic Council. it also declared 10 days nationwide holiday (March 26positive cases and only April-4), a step considered two fatalities. With the by the media as the “lockrise of confirmed cases in down”. several provinces of the On other fronts like country, many of them, It is pertinent to mention here that precaution, testing, treatincluding Baluchistan, GB had been facing legal ment, and economy the declared a health emerGovernment of gency and imposed a ban challenges due to extraBangladesh also took on public transport to measures to minimize the check spread of the virus. constitutional reforms. It is still a effects of the coronavirus.

Between 22 and 28 March, several provincial presidential order written on black On April 4 the government issued an advisory governments-imposed and white pages with no to maintain social distanclockdowns in their territoing and stay at home and ries and requested all conconstitutional binding, which is a the army was told to get it cerned to help the covid-19 sufferers and major hurdle to introduce reforms. obeyed. in line, five days later on April 9, they the laid emphasis on various government imposed precautionary measures, complete lockdown near like social distancing, the Rohingya camp and regular washing of hands, compulsory wearing of masks, use of hand sanitisers “No entry no exit” rule was implemented. To save the and prohibition of gatherings on religious or other oc- people from daily economic misery, the governments casions. Despite adopting all this, when cases kept on did not allow the garment factories to closue during rising the federal government decided on April 14 to the lockdown and also gave several stimulus ecoextend the country-wide lockdown by two weeks, but nomic packages for the help of common people.

The status of Covid-19 is better in Sri Lanka than on April 24 it was further extended till May 9. earlier to this at the close of April, senior doctors in other South Asian countries and up to July 17 there in Pakistan and of foreign countries also urged reli- were 2689 confirmed cases with the death of 11 peogious leaders and the government as well not to open ple and 2012 recovered in the country. But despite mosques in the period of Ramadan particularly be- the lower number of found cases it clamped a long cause 80 percent of those attending would be in their curfew and almost lockdown situation on March 20 60s and 70s, the most vulnerable age group for covid- to May 11. Thereafter, the people were allowed to go 19. However, without getting any significant relief, office but wear mask and strictly maintain social diswhen the number of infected people crossed 5,000 tancing. Others alike, the Government of Sri Lanka and death toll was above one thousand, the lockdown also announced relief packages to help the poor peoin the country ended on May 9. Although, initially the ple and boost the economy of the country.

Government of Pakistan took a number of precauDr Rajkumar Singh is head of the political tionary measures, like closing the international border with Afghanistan and suspension of international science department of the B.N.Mandal University, flights, the condition continued deteriorating further. Madhepura, Bihar, India and can be reached at As of July 17, there have been 259,999 confirmed rajkumarsinghpg@gmail.com

There has been much regional variation

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OR the last many weeks Federal Minister Asad Umar has been telling everyone that covid-19 is under control and the feat has been accomplished by employing the PM’s novel strategy of smart lockdowns. The NCOC under him has allowed cattle markets to be set up outside the cities while a go-ahead has been given to extra-large gatherings and processions during Moharram. Provincial governments have been directed to ensure that SOPs are observed in the markets, imambargahs and the streets.

The federal government’s premature declaration of victory is aimed at gaining political mileage. This would however send a wrong message to the common man who is likely to become less careful which could be fatal at a time when scientists have repeatedly warned of a second surge of Covid-19 infections. Last month, authorities in China imposed shelter-in-place restrictions on close to half a million people in a city near Beijing, hit by a new increase in pandemic cases. There are signs of a second wave hitting Singapore, Australia, israel and some of the US states that were opening up under the impression that they had weathered the storm. Since the Uk government began lifting the lockdown restrictions, there have been reports about parts of the country that have seen the R number– a key measure of the spread of the disease– rise above the crucial threshold of 1, which would mean case numbers start rising again.

Despite its outward confidence the government feels insecure. it suspects that some people are out to harm it by disseminating false information through media, both mainstream and social, about the spread of covid-19 to create fear, panic and insecurity. The government has set up a committee, which was unnecessary in the presence of related laws, to deal with the imaginary menace. On a report from the ‘health experts’, the committee will ask the PTA or PeMRA to approach the person responsible and if he does not remove the content the FiA would take care of him. Pakistan is not the only country facing the pandemic. The setting up of the unique committee would create a perception at home and abroad that those given the charge of controlling the pandemic do not want their deficiencies or failures to be reported in the media.

Dr rajkumar Singh

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ike the rest of the globe, the countries of South Asia are struggling hard to control the coronavirus disease whose fatalities crossed 300,000 worldwide and over 10,000 in four major countries of the region– india, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The outbreak of this fatal virus in all the four countries was not on the same date. in india it first reported on 30 January 2020, in Pakistan on 26 February, in Bangladesh on 08 March and in Sri Lanka on 27 January. in comparison these countries are vastly dissimilar to each other in total population, population density, society, economy, but above all in capability and health management systems. All these variations make them capable or incapable in checking the spread of covid-19. Not to talk of the health system of underdeveloped or developing countries, the recent pandemic has exposed the health facilities and soundness of the superpowers’ and most developed countries of the european continent.

Originating in Wuhan, China, the covid-19 was first reported in india on January30, 2020, and continuously remains on the rise, today being the highest number of cases in Asia. To check its spread india implemented its first phase of complete lockdown beginning on March 24 for the period of 21 days and the step affected 1.3 billion people of the country which was extended on April 14 till May 3 followed by a two-week extension up to May 17 with more relaxation in economic activities. The last phase of lockdown ended on 31 May with opening of all activities except in containment zones. Currently, the country is under unlock phase-1 which began on June 1, and will remain there till the end of the month.

Presently, the unlock period has been divided into three stages- first from June 1, second from July 1 and the third from August 1. The Government of india desires to open all activities in a phase-wise manner according to the situation of the coronavirus.

To check the entry of the coronavirus, even before the confirmed case on 21 January, india began thermal screening of passengers arriving from China. in next month the testing extended to those coming from Thailand, Hong kong, Japan, South korea, Nepal, Vietnam, indonesia, and Malaysia. However, the cases increased in March, so the Government chalked out a detailed plan which included seven ministries which were asked to decide quarantine and treatment facilities. On 17 March the government requested all states to maintain social distancing, cancelled the leaves of central armed forces and a Covid-19 economic Response Task Force

Court strictures Now the Courts are joining in the criticism of the government

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He government did not have a good day in any court on Thursday, even going by the low standards it has set. Whereas the Sind High Court expressed the gravest doubts about its laying off of Pakistan Steel Mills workers, the Lahore High Court said it saw the government as being run by unelected advisors, as it blamed one for the fuel crisis which led to the recent price hike. However, the strictures by the Sindh High Court perhaps would have been most galling, for they indicated an expectation of incompetence that the government would not like to be associated with. The assumption that the decision would lead to litigation was perhaps reasonable, but the court remark that there were only going to be reinstatements indicated a lack of confidence that the government could come up with a severance package that would stick in court. it also indicated a problem the government has, of announcing a plan, in this case, of the severance of nearly 8000 employees, leaving behind only 1000. The Court demanded the revival plan that it had. it is still not clear whether the government wishes to get rid of the workers prior to privatization, or as part of a revival plan, as claimed in court, Another problem has been the prevalence of unelected officials. The Lahore High Court, while examining the recent petrol crisis, found the person with prima facie responsibility, was the SAPM on Petroleum, Nadeem Babar, who was running the Petroleum Division of the energy Ministry. The LHC has placed its finger on a basic issue. There is a belief that unelected experts make better heads of departments than elected backwoodsmen.

However, such persons not only do not have to face the electorate but have gained their expertise by being insiders. They need not be lobbyists for anyone; they just have baggage that may well outweigh any expertise they may have.

Still, none of them would be where they are if they had not been selected by the head of the team. Thus any criticism of Mr Babar is automatically a criticism of the PM whose Special Assistant he is. As the PM has to face the electorate, it is his interest to have a team of people who have the welfare of the people uppermost, rather than any particular lobby or cabal.

A federation without representation Gilgit Baltistan remains in constitutional limbo rabbia hayat

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OMeONe rightly said, “Federation envisages a union rather than unity”. An ideal federation happily feeds its units with greater autonomy, and a distinct entity within their sphere. But Gilgit Baltistan has been grasping at straws, even while treated as a non-entity— just like administrative units in a unitary State.

The fate of Gilgit Baltistan is soon going to be decided in elections next month. Meanwhile, GB has been shown as a part of the federation by Pakistan.

But in reality, it is a victim of “Doctrine of Colorable Legislation”— due to the dormant role of its legislative assembly. The people of GB have lacked equal representation in the written constitution of Pakistan for decades. Now, religious extremism and ruthless sectarianism have added salt to the people’s injuries.

GB had been riding a political rollercoaster of socalled reforms since its inception. Like that of Z.A Bhutto’s 1974 abolition of the Frontier Crime Regulations, when Gilgit declared Zone e by Zia’s Martial Law, the Legal Framework Order 1994 by Benazir Bhutto, and the failure of the 2018 and 2020 reforms.

However, the Gilgit-Baltistan (empowerment and Self-Governance) Order, 2009, was finally passed sunfrrPresident Asif Zardari. interestingly, the Order added more ambiguity to its status by introducing a parallel system of legislation. By virtue of article 33, it created the Gilgit Baltistan Council, with a controversial composition of members. in reality, the Prime Minister enjoys excessive powers as its chairman. The order constituted the GB Assembly under article 35.

Meanwhile, if one reads both the legislative lists thoroughly, important matters such as electricity, water etc. are the subjects of the council legislative list. And so, in every important decision, council dominates the GB Assembly. Besides, the Centre had been collecting the revenues in the divisible pool from vehicles, forests, agriculture income, rent of buildings, electricity charges and other indirect taxes ( mentioned in the GB Assembly List; fourth Schedule) by Gilgit. That means, the locals of GB have no actual representation,

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Arif Nizami Editor Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

Umar Aziz

Asher John

Joint Editor

Executive Editor

Deputy Editor

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Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9

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and the elections are nothing but mere a political play.

After the 18th amendment, the center has been distributing revenues between the four provinces through NFC under article 160. These revenues are exactly the same as those mentioned in Council namely, taxes on income, capital value tax; taxes on sales & purchases of goods imported, exported, produced, ad custom duty or consumed and custom duties. Unfortunately, there is no specified share of Gilgit under NFC award because of its non-entity and vacuumed status in 1973 constitution. interestingly, article 47(3) gives excusive legislative Powers to the Government of Pakistan to make laws in any matters that is not mentioned in both lists.

Taxes on oil, gas and minerals are not mentioned in any of the lists. it is assumed that federal can legislate upon these matters. However, obscurities in laws and political will has shattered the confidence of energy segments in GB. GB has no oil storage and depot facility except one in located in Jaglot. eX-depot pricing formula in oil pricing mechanism includes, petroleum levy, iFeM and dealers’ and distribution margin. Regrettably, locals of the GB have been paying petroleum levy on HSD and petrol to centre as per the Petroleum Products (Petroleum Levy) Ordinance, 1961.

After the 18th Amendment, the Centre is authorized by virtue of Article 70(4) powers to legislate on mineral resources necessary for the generation of nuclear energy. On the other hand, under GB Mineral Policy, 1995, the Centre is authorized to make laws, policies, and to generate basic geological data. This task has been assigned to a state agency, the Geological Survey of Pakistan, to explore the minerals. GB has no control over it. However, the mineral sector of GB pays 1 to 10 percent of the royalty to the Centre. it is imperative to say that the location of GB is geostrategically very importany. earlier, we have seen india’s claim over it. it is a land embedded in precious resources. But still the Mineral sector is striving under GB’s poor fiscal regime. Mineral processing units rely on electricity and hydel power. Moreover, the roads are poorly constructed, and there is no manpower and energy infrastructure planning in GB. Due to hilly areas and extreme weather conditions in Gilgit, it is impossible to set up an ideal pipeline and distribution network in GB. Locals in GB preferred

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LPG for household usage over expensive resources.

According to the OGRA petroleum industry report 2017-18, LPG accounts for 1.3 percent of the supply of energy throughout the country. it has 4 to 5 percent regional share amongst all provinces. GB’s domestic consumption stood at 39,754 annual tonnes in the year 2017-18 which is less than the year 2015-16 when it stood at 47,470 annual tonnes. Under new LPG policy 2016, LPG was regulated; hence the LPG became very costly for distributors to supply it throughout the Northern areas because of high freight charges (transportation cost). The reason why energy supply/ chain mechanism is another looming hurdle for Gilgit is that the government also did not pay any heed to initiate any new project to meet energy demands through the utilization of accessible renewable resources.

Apart from the harshest energy situation, the Self-governance Order, 2009, does not contain any provision related to the right to fair trial, the right to education and the right to information. The locals are deprived of schools and good universities. There is no iT infrastructure and technological advancement, and a very a smaller number of judges in the court.

Very little has been done due to the lack of resources and the tumbling economy of GB. Above all, the order is silent on its representation in the major forums such as the Council of Common interest, National economic Council, National Finance Commission and Supreme Judicial Council.

Neither government has made a single attempt to make any like forum for GB, nor have the provinces come up with any unified policy to address the GB’s deteriorating situation. it is pertinent to mention here that GB had been facing legal challenges due to extra-constitutional reforms. it is still a presidential order written on black and white pages with no constitutional binding, which is a major hurdle to introduce reforms. Due to political and parliamentary obstacles, yet, it has not been approved as an act.

Thus, it is just a hollow piece of paper far from reality of being amended. it is dominated by nothing but the colorable legislation! if GB lacks political ability, legalism, common economic interest, basic principle of distribution of powers, and equality among the component units, then how is Pakistan even a true federation?

Rabbia Hayat is a freelance columnist

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Saturday, 18 July, 2020

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

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

Who is responsible?

THeRe are kids who beg on streets when they are suppose to go to schools. A man returns to home without any food and a man who has no home. Have we ever imagined their lives? Who is responsible for their situations? Our answers will obviously be government. But government is not responsible for everything. There are a lot of things you and i can do as well. Unfortunately, we are busy filling our pockets and wishing for more.

Most of the time we can be the reason to change someone’s life only if we realize that we have some responsibilities of others too.

Afroz MJ TurbAT

Political civil war PAkiSTAN is a country filled with political parties and all of them are running behind seats and power. They aren’t ready to negotiate or work for Pakistan’s betterment rather fighting a war against each other. This civil war between our leaders have worsened the conditions of Pakistan. each one of them just insults the other in front of media. We are confused, if the aim for all of you is a better Pakistan, why not with unity?

AiShA fArooq LAhorE

Mandela Day And the so-called correctional facilities of today Saima ahaD

S

iNCe 2009, the world community has been celebrating July 18th as Mandela Day in the memory of the leader who fought to end brutal apartheid and stood for truth and reconciliation instead of retribution and retaliation. in order to commemorate the long term of 27 years served in jail, the UN’s Rules of Minimum Standards for the prisoners were named after him in 2015.

Our political leaders also carry a legacy of incarceration, both in the pre and the post-partition periods and on coming to power they had been alive to the condition of prisoners. Building new prisons to overcome overcrowding and increasing the budgets had been among the reforms, but, without any significant improvement in the condition of the prisons and the prisoners.

Therefore, here the problem is not as much of the neglect from the government as a need of radical changes in the whole system which is rotten to the core and setting the priorities right e.g. is it necessary to build more prisons to address overcrowding or to find alternatives through legislation and delegated legislation; correction of convicts has to be based on the presumed model of deterring punishments or better training at social reintegration etc.

The observations of the classic Stanford Prison experiments are easily generalizable across the globe and our prisons are no exception, the only variable here may be the intensity and extent of the abusive behavior of the prison staff and the depressive condition of the prisoners.

These experiments have often been criticized by the academics for their ecological validity and the selection bias but in our environment where the existing prisons are not successors of the colonial prisons, but a direct continuation, even if the ecological validity is removed, the results can safely be presumed to be capable of revealing even darker side of human psyche. Abu Gaharaib and Guantanamo Bay prisons are not the relics of history but very recent indictments of the world conscience testifying to the fact that when the prison administrations are allowed to operate independently, beyond public scrutiny, and are left to the conscience alone, the results may well be unconscionable.

Once commenting on the prisons under the apartheid regime, Nelson Mandela observed, “But all of us do know that it was a prison system with no room for human rights, one designed to rob each prisoner of his human dignity and which thereby in the end also took away the human dignity of the prison authorities and personnel themselves”. This was true in South Africa, was proved true in the Stanford Prison experiments and is still true for our prisons today.

The first rule of the Minimum Standards, to which we are a party too, is about the dignity of the prisoners as human beings and how under no circumstances this dignity shall be violated. isn’t the dignity of the prisoners the first victim of our criminal justice system and the so-called correctional facilities? From the day a prisoner, whether convict or an under-trial prisoner enters the prison, he is made to realize that he holds no respect and dignity as a prisoner. This cruel and degrading treatment starts right from the humiliating manner of search where the prisoner is frisked and the insensitive hands pass over

whole of his body leaving out no part and that under Rule 572, it makes acts like “showing distoo in full view of the fellow prisoners queued respect to any prison officer” (a very subjective for body-search. Similar, shameful practices clause) to assisting any fellow prisoner in tasks continue throughout the day in order to mortify allotted to him, all amount to prison offences. the prisoners and when the hapless prisoner lies Despite a number of reform committees since down on the bare floor in the night, as the mat- 1950 when the task was first undertaken in the tress is allowed to the prisoners in the better newly created state, these prison rules, which are class only, his ordeal for the day does not end, quintessentially colonial, and also against the since our prisons are overcrowded and fans constitutional protections available to all citiavailable on the discretion of the prison higher zens, have been allowed to stay in black and authorities only (mind you no mention of air white. Who does not know that that the prison coolers in the prison rules so those are simply staff does not need any special sanction or blessout of bounds for the prisoners), so the prisoner ings for their excesses through these statutes and may not even catch a moment’s sleep due to rules. This only serves to protect their brutal bepressing heat and the insects bites due to sleep- havior if any case surfaces where the excesses ing on the floor. No one seems to realize that committed routinely even exceeds the “routine”. if these violations of the dignity of person merely taking away the liberty of a person is in itself so much of a punishment that devising in- are carried out with full immunity as part of the novative methods of punishment are not re- culture and tradition of the jail administration, then what use is ratquired. every prison ifying the Minimum has got a punishStandard Rules. Are ment block where all these ratifications the prisoners of international deemed to be violatThese cruel and degrading human rights ing any of the rules practices were adopted by the treaties and convenof the prison are only to win a kept. This is a place White colonizers to strike terror in tions GSP plus status and where in a cell for no more? Do meant for three perthe hearts of the “savages” in commercial intersons, seven to eight order to deliver the white man’s ests trump all persons are kept, human considerawho cannot lie burden effectively. It was deemed tions? down or stretch in our prisons a their legs and fall appropriate that theses “brutes” very superficial difasleep while sitting. shall be treated by demeaning and ferentiation is made These prisoners, unbetween the convicts dergoing punishdemonizing them and making and the under-trial ment within prisoners, therefore, punishment, are deharsh prison rules for their the same harsh treatprived of all the ment to the underparaphernalia of a confinement wherever and trial prisoners as to human existence whenever required by the the convicts like their plates and amounts to advance glasses, as part of “administrative expediency”, a punishment which is their punishment. against all norms These cruel and term which in fact means the and principles of degrading practices whims and caprices of the jailers. justice and fair play. were adopted by the This is a different White colonizers to debate altogether strike terror in the that why the discrehearts of the “savtion to grant bail ages” in order to deliver the white man’s burden effectively. it was needs to be exercised generously and the relevant deemed appropriate that theses “brutes” shall be laws interpreted liberally to avoid the miscarriage treated by demeaning and demonizing them and of justice, so the argument here would be limited making harsh prison rules for their confinement to pointing to the fact that the overwhelming mawherever and whenever required by the “admin- jority of population in the prisons is those of istrative expediency”, a term which in fact under trial prisoners. By releasing the under-trial means the whims and caprices of the jailers. prisoners, deciding on case to case basis obviNow the prisons administration is a provincial ously, overcrowding can be eased without emsubject, and with little difference, the prison ploying new resources which are already rules in all the provinces are the same and derive deficient in any case. Similarly, the practice of most part of their significant definitions from the probation needs to be restored for the convicted Prisons Act, 1894 and the Prisoner’s Act 1900. offenders in order to socially reintegrate them beit may surprise many that merely looking into sides solving the problem of inadequate space in the eyes of the Superintendent during his visit of the prisons. And also, the remissions earned by the prison makes a breach of the good conduct the prisoners on account of good conduct, attainby the prisoner and is sufficient justification to ment of an educational certificate, or announced get punished for this “disrespect”. Rule 940 of on national days and other religious festivals the Prison Rules empowers the Superintendent shall be allowed as per historical practice and to “enquire into and adjudicate upon all prison recorded carefully to release the prisoners deoffences and breaches of discipline, and to pun- tained without any ethical justification. ish those who are found guilty of committing Saima Ahad is a researcher in human rights any prison offence or breach of discipline”, and when you see the list of the prison offences and gender and a civil liberties campaigner)

Honor killing in Sindh OVeR the years the imprecation of honor killing is swallowing precious lives in Sindh. it is quite unfortunate that many in Sindh do not even view it as a crime rather they call it a revenge for trampling their so called ancestral pride. karo kari is a formal term used for honor killing in Sindh. if a woman is declared kari ( Accused of treading family,s Honor and Pride) her family members find themselves authorized to kill her along with the co-accused man (karo). Study has revealed several causes which lead to the pretext of unabated killings such as elopement, refusal of an arranged marriage, being victim of sexual assault or rape, seeeking divorce from a hostile husband, committing adultery, aleged illicit relationship and flirting. Other factors which contribute to the genocide are Taking revenge from an old enemy by declaring him karo, preserving a disputed property and to discharge prolong dominance in the area. This sort of killing is practiced across the country but statistics show that Sindh is the most affected province. Police reports show that around 769 people including 510 females have been stabbed in the name of honor from 2014 to 2019 while 108 women fell victim to it last year.

Because of loopholes in our criminal Justice System the ratio of these killings is increasing with every passing day. The percentage of conviction in these cases stands merely 2% while on the other hand the proportion of acquittal is almost 22%, incomplete and improper investigation at the end of Police make these cases weak right from the inception. Civil Society and Other organizations pertaining to work for implementation of Human rights in the society seem silent over this spewing conundrum. This justice system is in dire need of special legislation to prevent this barbaric practice KAMrAn KhAMiSo KhowAJA SuJAwAL

Opposition barrage YOU are well-known that the restrictions on the opposition parties speeches is usually based on the country’s responsible and especially Prime Minister Policies and efforts. Well, yet now PTi’s government khan has its own governmental rules . even during the COViD-19 challenge, economic shutdown, mafias, smuggling if foods , terrorism, khan is approximately blamed by the opposition. Yesterday when i listened the speech of Bilawal’s. i was really astonished . Did you know what does he narrated? “PM should see the writing on the wall and resign himself “. in this appropriate time to get united, oppositions are envolved blaming the government’s laws and regulations. What’s happening in the country? if daily i see news headlines , khan is the only man blamed of not maintaining his responsibilities. if we see the country’s situation we are not happy with and opposition are a more dangerous virus even risky than COViD-19 which is made a business to make us fool and inorder to eke out alot of money. bArKATuLLAh TurbAT

What is justice?

ON the international day of justice 17 july, i would like to address the readers about what justice really means in our life. every person, has given equal dignity by Allah, one should defend those rights, life, liberty, and the pursuit of justice.

Personally, each of us must recognize every one as a person and not an object. From sidewalk sexual harassment to the hurdles of justice, all abuse of power involve an injustice willingness. Justice also fails by judging ourselves to be less than we truly are, we should not let humility interfere the intellectual courage required to call out injustice. On national level, justice for a Pakistani means righteousness and equitableness, justice must be provided without any discrimination of weak and strong, rich and poor, all are equal before law. We need leaders motivated by love of justice and not merely self-aggrandizement. Leadership without an inner moral compass reliably ends in the abuse of power. On the annual day of international Justice we as a “Pakistani” should start practicing justice , so that no rape cases arises , no target killings are noted let us all practice justice and compel our courts to punish criminals that nobody will ever dare to rape , murder ,burglary, assault, abuse , kidnap or even think to do any criminal act ! No one is allowed to maltreat the nationality or humanity.“ Well develop justice requires expertise in making hard judgment calls “. everyone should be a non-self-deceptive person. Let the world know that we PAkiSTANi do as we say and say as we do, our words should be our bond. international relations has traditionally been overly concerned with global disorders. Global justice as an issue has been under-represented in the world but has not yet reached the same prominence as other theories.

The states seems to be more focused on conflict, distrust and disorder than on reaching global agreements and treating each other fairly .We should ought not only “think” in fair manner but also “acts” accordingly.

SyEdA ruqiyA fATiMA KArAchi

Saturday, 18 July, 2020

08 WORLD VIEW

The undeclared war againsT iran DO NOT BE DECEIVED BY THE IRANIAN REGIME’S DOWNPLAYING OF THE RECENT ATTACKS AND ITS RESTRAINT—SO FAR—REGARDING RETALIATION

naTional inTeresT

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PAul r PillAr

series of violent attacks, involving explosions and fires, has been hitting iran. The incidents have been too frequent and intense to be random accidents. They are part of an organized effort.

Caution is always advisable in attributing responsibility for such unclaimed acts, especially for all of us outside the government channels that possibly have better information about what is going on. but circumstances point strongly, as some mainstream press reporting reflects, to either or both of two suspects: the Netanyahu government in israel, and the Trump administration in the United states. both of those suspects have track records that point that same way. The most conspicuous relevant act by the Trump administration was its assassination in January, with a drone-fired missile at the baghdad airport, of Qassim suleimani, one of the most prominent political and military figures in iran. The israeli record of aggressive acts against iran has included a series of assassinations of iranian nuclear scientists. Those murders were part of a larger, longstanding israeli campaign of assassinations throughout the Middle east. That campaign is in turn part of an even larger israeli record of aggressive acts throughout the region—including, over the past couple of years, scores of

aerial attacks in syria.

Neither the israeli government nor the Trump administration has formally declared war against iran, but the rhetoric of each has stopped only slightly short of such a declaration. The Trump administration has made clear its intention to inflict as much pain as possible on iran, including with, but not limited to, economic sanctions. The Netanyahu government’s voluminous rhetoric on iran has been every bit as hostile as what has come out of Washington, or as what has come in the opposite direction from Tehran.

Make no mistake about what is going on. This is not a set of actions “short of war,” as some people have described it. it is war.

We certainly should worry about the conflict escalating into something so big that everyone will describe it as a war. but that does not make what already has transpired anything less than acts of war. in this regard, do not be deceived by the iranian regime’s downplaying of the recent attacks and its restraint—so far—regarding retaliation. a date that is circled on iranian policymakers’ calendars is January 20, 2021.

The iranians can read american polls, and the dominant thread at the moment in iranian thinking about security policy is to tough it out until there is regime change in Washington. iranian leaders don’t want to be suckered into the sort of October (or July) surprise that would generate a rally-roundthe-flag effect in america and could rescue Donald Trump’s fading re-election chances, although they realize the restraint does risk making them appear weak.

NO JUSTIFICATION FOR THE WAR: although the current war has not been formally declared, it ought to be assessed by the same standards as one that has. Per international law and the Charter of the United Na-

How ‘cancel culture’ has turned liberals against each other and is rocking newsrooms

tions, the war would be justified only in selfdefense, as a response to, or possibly preemption of, an attack in the other direction.

That is not the current circumstance with iran. There is no sign that iran is about to attack either israel or the United states. Given that iran would be hopelessly outclassed militarily against either of those foes, it would be foolish for iranian leaders to contemplate such an attack. self-defense does not come into play when considering proxies or other asymmetric means through which iran might want to impose its will. a salient aspect of the large amount of ordnance that israel has been flying across the border and dropping on targets in syria (many of those targets reportedly connected to syria’s ally iran) is how there has been almost no ordnance crossing the border in the other direction, other than an odd air defense missile or two.

The weakness of any U.s. case based on self-defense was underscored by the confused official justifications for the killing of suleimani. Hints dropped publicly about pre-empting a supposedly imminent iranian attack never led to any evidence to that effect. in the end, the U.s. administration’s rationale rested mainly on suleimani’s past role in supporting iraqi militia operations that incurred american casualties during the fighting in iraq. That fighting was a direct result of an offensive war—an act of aggression—that the United states launched in 2003. iran’s nuclear program has been a focus of attention in recent years, and one of the most publicized of the recent attacks on iran was at the nuclear facility at Natanz. but the multilateral agreement known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of action, which placed severe restrictions on the iranian program, did a far better job of

iberals are at war with each other and this is due to growing polarisation, a push for ideological conformity and the ‘cancel culture’, said ThePrint’s editorin-Chief shekhar Gupta in episode 523 of ‘Cut The Clutter’.

Cancel culture is when someone is politically incorrect and is ‘cancelled’ as a result. at this point, cancel culture goes beyond just unfollowing them and is threatening livelihoods with several people forced to resign for their diverging opinions.

Two letters have expressed concern over these trends. The first is the strongly worded resignation letter of bari Weiss, former editor and writer in the Opinion section of The New York Times.

Weiss accused the Us newspaper of choosing stories to pander to a narrow audience due to its misjudgement about Hilary Clinton in the 2016 Us Presidential elections. Weiss said “Twitter is not on the masthead of The New York Times” but it’s become its “ultimate editor” that has eroded an environment for diverse opinion.

This comes just a month after the resignation of James bennet, the former New York Times Opinion editor, after the publishing of a controversial op-ed by senator Tom Cotton. senator Cotton had called for a wide-scale military crackdown on the black lives Matter protests in the Us. THE ‘CANCEL CULTURE’ LETTER: The second is an open letter recently published by Harper’s Magazine. it was jointly written by over 150 eminent and ‘liberal’ voices including authors J.K. rowling and salman rushdie, feminist critic Gloria

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steinem, linguist Noam Chomsky and political scientist Fareed Zakaria.

They argued that an intolerance of public views is emerging in the Us discourse, which is a threat to free speech.

They also noted that ‘cancel culture’ is a threat to liberalism that seeks to silence opinions and cost them their jobs.

For instance, the president and some board members of the National book Critics Circle recently resigned amid claims of racism. This was after a colleague posted screenshots of an internal email correspondence, exposing the president’s controversial opinions on the black lives Matter protests.

Harvard Professor steven Pinker, one of the signatories of the letter, called cancel culture “Orwellian” and said, “Twitter is not an example of literate humanity”.

On the other hand, critics like author Pankaj Mishra have argued that those attacking cancel culture are fighting more for their own freedom than the freedom of free speech of everybody else because they feel threatened.

However, Gupta noted, journalism and newsrooms in particular are supposed to be a large tent of diverse opinions. expelling people from the ideological vertical for speaking out will turn journalism away from ‘factivism’ and towards activism.

Global liberalism has clearly broken out into anarchy and is fighting itself, he added.

This is liberal cannibalism and look who’s smiling — the ideological right.

Us political commentator David rubin has described this as the liberal “mob” which used to attack the right but has now turned on itself.

ISRAELI OBJECTIVES: To the extent the Trump administration is condoning, turning a blind eye toward, or even colluding with israeli attacks on iran, this is bad news for U.s. interests. U.s. interests are different

Paul Pillar retired in 2005 from a twenty-eight-year career in the U.S. intelligence community, in which his last position was National Intelligence Officer for the Near East and South Asia. Earlier he served in a variety of analytical and managerial positions, including as chief of analytic units at the CIA covering portions of the Near East, the Persian Gulf, and South Asia. Professor Pillar also served in the National Intelligence Council as one of the original members of its Analytic Group.

Gold is still the gold standard TECHNICALLY, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS THE GOLD STANDARD

GLOBAL LIBERALISM HAS CLEARLY BROKEN OUT INTO ANARCHY AND IS FIGHTING ITSELF, HE ADDED. THIS IS LIBERAL CANNIBALISM AND LOOK WHO’S SMILING — THE IDEOLOGICAL RIGHT ThePrinT Team

keeping a possible iranian nuclear weapon out of reach than anything the Trump administration has done since reneging on the agreement two years ago, after which iran accelerated its nuclear activity. as Mark Fitzpatrick of the international institute of strategic studies observes, the JCPOa did a better job in that regard than attacks such as the one on Natanz.

The attacks also do nothing to deter aggressive or otherwise undesirable iranian actions. Deterrence requires conditionality: pain is inflicted after bad behavior and avoided after good behavior. but the U.s. and israeli governments seem determined to inflict pain no matter what iran does—as underscored by the Trump administration’s reneging on the JCPOa and launching its “maximum pressure” campaign even though iran was fully complying with its obligations under the agreement. iran is being given an incentive only to retaliate, not to behave well. eventual retaliation, despite Tehran’s relative restraint so far, is one of the risks of the current undeclared war. escalation into something bigger and more destructive is another risk. even without such escalation, the current campaign extends indefinitely one of the fronts in america’s “forever war” in the Middle east. additionally, there isn’t any good coming out of the attacks in terms of weakening iran or shifting a regional balance of power in america’s favor. instead, it strengthens iran’s reasons to find support from—and in so doing foster the influence of—the likes of russia and China.

from those of israel, and even more different from those of the current benjamin Netanyahu-led government.

That government has an interest in perpetuating high tension with iran to keep iran as a bête noire blamable for all the ills of the Middle east, to preclude any rapprochement between Washington and Tehran, to promote israeli relations with the Gulf arab states, and to distract attention from issues that bring international scrutiny and criticism on israel. at the moment, Netanyahu’s incentives in this regard are stronger than ever, which may help to explain the timing of the recent wave of attacks. The distraction value of stoking the conflict with iran has increased as Netanyahu contemplates formal annexation of parts of the West bank and the international condemnation that will come with it.

Netanyahu also, like the iranians, is aware of the U.s. electoral calendar and american opinion polls. He may see the next few months as an optimum and limited time for stirring the regional pot even more than israel has in the past, while his friend Donald Trump is still in power. To the extent the stirring helps his friend’s re-election chances, so much the better from his point of view.

Netanyahu is unlikely to be worrying about escalation into a bigger war, which would serve his purposes even more dramatically. Goading iran into retaliating in a way that would spark such a war may have been one of the objectives of the recent attacks. and it would not be Netanyahu’s job to count the ensuing american casualties.

american insTiTuTe for economic research AlexAnder SAlter

OHN Maynard Keynes, the progenitor of modern macroeconomics, famously dismissed the gold standard as a “barbarous relic.” Commodity monies have been held in low regard by economists ever since. The disdain has spread to noneconomists in policy making circles, as well.

Dr. Judy shelton is a rare exception. she is a well-known defender of the gold standard. For this reason, her nomination to the Federal reserve’s board of Governors has been somewhat controversial. even the republicans on the senate banking Committee seemed concerned about her support for gold. (shelton directed the sound Money Project, before it was acquired by aier. i have been associated with the project since 2014.)

The legislators’ hesitance to confirm Dr. shelton’s nomination seems to have waned.

The committee confirmation vote has been scheduled. Nevertheless, it is both interesting and distressing that supporting the gold standard runs the risk of making one a persona non grata, even in supposedly pro-market circles.

The low regard economists and policymakers have for the gold standard is unfounded. sadly, many of these supposed “experts” are almost completely innocent of monetary history. To the extent that they are schooled in monetary economics at all, their education is largely theoretical. They can recite the standard academic boilerplate about how a perfectly managed fiat money system outperforms a perfectly operating commodity money system. it seems never

J

to have occurred to them that the relevant comparison is actually existing fiat systems versus actually existing commodity systems. On this margin, the historical evidence is strongly suggestive if not definitive. in practice, the gold standard provides a better anchor for inflation expectations without an obvious cost in terms of lower output or higher unemployment.

Technically, there is no such thing as the gold standard. There were many gold standards. some use the term to denote a system where physical gold coins are used as money. Others use it to mean any system where a given volume of gold is the unit of account and the medium of redemption for bank liabilities. and others still use it to refer specifically to the “classical” or “international” gold standard, which prevailed from 1879-1914. For the purposes of this essay, i use “gold standard” to mean the Us experience under the National banking system (1863-1914), starting in 1879, when the Us retired the last of its lingering Civil War liabilities (greenbacks) and resumed gold redeemability. if the gold standard were really so inferior to fiat money managed by modern central banks, you would expect it to show up in the historical time series. as it turns out, the evidence suggests the opposite. in a 2012 paper, George selgin, William lastrapes, and lawrence White rigorously compared the pre- and post-Fed periods in Us economic history. Their findings are clear: even if you ignore the “learning curve” period from 1913 to 1945, there is scant evidence the Fed helped to stabilize markets. in addition to the long-run decline in the purchasing power of the dollar, the Fed period saw more instances of macroeconomic stability, not less. Furthermore, even over the short run, the purchasing power of money (the inverse of the price level) became less predictable.

The comparison provides an even more damning criticism of fiat money systems when one considers that (1) the Us dollar has been one of the better-managed fiat

monies and (2) the National banking system had several known deficiencies. examples include the requirement that banknotes be backed by government bonds and prohibitions against branch banking, which made the system rather unstable. and yet, the Fed was not an obvious improvement.

Many of these results were confirmed by my aier colleague, Thomas Hogan, in a 2015 paper. Hogan also subjects the preand post-Fed periods to scrutiny. Once again, discretionary central banking is found wanting. inflation has been higher under the Fed, while GDP growth has been lower. inflation volatility, a key measure of monetary predictability, was worse under the Fed, too. and, yet, GDP was no less volatile under the Fed. so much for the superiority of fiat money. as my friend and coauthor bryan Cutsinger puts it, the gold standard apparently is “superior in some respects and no worse in others.” rather than an antiquated holdover retarding economic performance, the gold standard was a crucial component of the impressive economic growth that occurred during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. it is a period in Western history sometimes referred to as la belle Époque: an era of peace and prosperity, driven largely by the growth of commerce and the extension of markets. That, in turn, depended upon the Western nations’ commitment to sound money, in the form of gold redeemability.

The inescapable conclusion is that gold is no “barbarous relic,” as Keynes maintained. if anything, it is a civilizing force. Don’t let anyone tell you the gold standard is a macroeconomic burden. it just isn’t true.

The gold standard isn’t perfect. No system is. but it has many virtues. a strong case can be made that it’s the best of all feasible institutional alternatives. as my dissertation adviser, lawrence White, puts it: The gold standard is still the gold standard among monetary systems.

Alexander W. Salter is an Assistant Professor of Economics in the Rawls College of Business and the Comparative Economics Research Fellow with the Free Market Institute at Texas Tech University.

Saturday, 18 July, 2020

BUSINESS 09

CORPORATE CORNER

Al Meezan Investments launches mobile app for paperless solutions KARACHI: Al Meezan Investment Management Limited, subsidiary of Meezan Bank, launches an allnew state-of-the-art mobile application. The application is designed as a one-stop solution to deliver absolute convenience to existing and potential investors. Investors can easily manage their existing investment or make new investment through the app in addition to monitoring all their transactions on a comprehensive dashboard. Announcing the launch of the app, Mohammad Shoaib, CEO of Al Meezan Investments, said, “We are extremely proud of the newly launched application especially at a time where our investors needed it the most in as social distancing environment. These are unprecedented times and to facilitate you under these challenging circumstances, we have rapidly built the technological infrastructure to better serve you remotely and to equip you to self-manage investments using our Risk Profile feature on the app.”

Bahria Town, Airlift end transport accord upon CCP's intervention ISLAMABAD SYEDA MASOOMA

Upon the intervention of the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP), Bahria Town Lahore has terminated its exclusive agreement with Airlift Pvt Ltd to solely provide public transport within the town, which had created an entry barrier for Airlift’s competitors and deprived the residents of transportation choices. The residents of Bahria Town Lahore had sent a complaint to the CCP regarding the exclusive rights given to Airlift Pvt Ltd to provide public transportation services within the residential society. They had informed that these exclusive rights given to Airlift through a Memorandum of Understanding had deprived them of any alternate or competing service provider in the area. The Bahria Town management, in response to the CCP's letter seeking an explanation on the matter, admitted to having entered an exclusive agreement with Airlift, but assured that the agreement had been terminated and legal formalities in this regard were being fulfilled. Bahria Town also provided the copies of the public notices published in various newspapers regarding the termination of the said agreement. The termination of the said agreement

by Bahria Town came about in appreciation of the CCP’s stance on such matters, fully admitting the anticompetitive implications of these agreements (high entry barriers and denial of a level playing field). The revocation of the said agreement was therefore done in the spirit of compliance with the Competition Act, 2010.

After addressing the competition concerns and compliance by Bahria Town with the provisions of the act, the case has been closed. The Competition Act prohibits those business agreements that have the object or effect of preventing, restricting or reducing competition within the relevant market. However, the CCP grants exemptions under Section 5 of the Competition Act to notify agreements between companies from the prohibition of Section 4 of the Act, on the basis of an individual assessment.

Cutlery exports fall 9.4pc in FY20 ISLAMABAD APP

The export of cutlery from the country witnessed a decrease of 9.39pc during the fiscal year 2019-20, as compared to the corresponding period of last year.

According to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), Pakistan exported cutlery worth $82.638 million in FY20, as against the exports of $91.205 million in FY19. Meanwhile, on a year-on-year basis, the cutlery exports decreased by 19.17pc in June 2020 as compared to the same month of last year. Cutlery exports were recorded at $5.917 million in June 2020, as compared to $7.320 million in June 2019. On a month-on-month basis, however, the export of cutlery witnessed a growth of 23.32pc in June 2020, as compared to the exports of $4.798 million in May 2020.

It is pertinent to mention that the country's trade deficit witnessed a significant reduction of 27.12pc in FY20 as compared to the corresponding period of last year. The country's overall exports dropped by 6.81pc to $21.394 billion YoY, whereas imports plunged by 18.61pc to $44.574 billion.

SSGC To SuPPlY GAS To loCAlITIeS wIThIn 5kM oF GAS FIeldS ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

The Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) would gasify localities and villages falling within a five kilometre (km) radius of gas producing fields being operated by Exploration and Production (E&P) companies in different parts of Sindh and Balochistan under a project costing an estimated Rs4.912 billion.

“The company is in the process of preparing Project Cycle-1 (PC1) to undertake the first phase of the project which will be submitted to the Departmental Development Working Party (DDWP) for approval,” a senior official privy to petroleum sector developments told APP on Friday.

He said that the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabi-

TOTAL COST OF THE PROJECT IS ESTIMATED AT RS4.912BN, OUT OF WHICH RS1BN WILL BE GIVEN TO SSGC DURING FY21 net in its recent meeting had allowed the Finance Division, on a summary submitted by the Petroleum Division, to release Rs1 billion to SSGC for undertaking the gas supply project in the localities situated within a five kilometre radius of gas fields. He further said that ECC’s decision is in compliance with the decision of the Supreme Court and the High Court.

The total cost of the project is estimated at Rs4.912 billion, out of which SSGC would get Rs1 billion during 2020-21, while the remaining amount

will be given to the company in the subsequent fiscal years.

Meanwhile, according to an official document available with APP, the company would provide around 144,371 new gas connections including 143,023 domestic, 1,164 commercial and 184 industrial connections during the current fiscal year as per its annual network expansion plan. The SSGC has also planned to lay 1,418 km of additional distribution and transmission lines in the fiscal year 2020-21.

During the last fiscal year, the

SSGC had issued as many as 123,900 domestic, 700 commercial and 95 industrial gas connections besides laying 850 km of additional distribution and supply lines on its network.

The company would lay down a 9 km pipeline for the supply of 13.5 Million Cubic Feet per Day (MMCFD) gas to Dhabeiji Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at Town Border Station, Sindh, besides laying a 3.5 km supply line to supply 13 MMCFD gas to Bin Qasim Industrial Park at TBS, Sindh.

The SSGC has also planned to install one new gas turbine driven centrifugal compressor at HQ Shikarpur, Sindh, lay down 125 km pipeline from Sindh University, Jamshoro to Karachi and a 31 km pipeline from Attock Cement Pakistan Limited (ACPL) Clifton to Surjani Town, Karachi.

MARKET DAILY

Bourse maintains bullish sentiment; index adds 329 points AFTER ENDING FOUR OF THE FIVE SESSIONS IN GREEN, THE BENCHMARK KSE-100 INDEX REGISTERS A WEEKLY GAIN OF 3.15PC KARACHI STAFF REPORT

Positive sentiments continued to surround the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday, with the indices moving north all-day long and volumes breaching the 400 million-mark yet again.

After ending four of the five sessions in green, the benchmark KSE-100 Index gained 3.15pc during the ongoing week.

Global equity markets, on the other hand, displayed a negative trend on Friday, with crude oil prices also slipping lower from the last close; WTI crude price declined 0.76pc to $40.45, while Brent crude price fell by 0.85pc to $43.00.

"The refinery sector led the rally at PSX, with Pakistan Refinery Ltd and National Refinery Ltd hit-

ting upper circuits following the news of recent disruption in oil supplies," said a report issued by AHL Ltd. "Steel sector also performed well on expectations of an increase in steel prices."

The banking sector, however, remained muted throughout the session.

MARKET SUMMARY: In line with the recent trend, the KSE-100 Index remained in the green throughout the day, recording its intraday high at 37,354.15 after gaining 352.71 points. It closed higher by 329.41 points at 37,330.85.

Among other indices, the KMI-30 Index accumulated 376.68 points to end at 60,264.78, while the KSE All Share Index gathered 279.30 points, settling at 26,741.21. Of the total traded shares, 236 advanced and 94 declined. The overall market volumes improved further from 402.55 million shares in the last

session to 466.04 million shares. Average traded value, however, declined by 2pc, from $96 million to $94.6 million. Hascol Petroleum Limited (HASCOL +1.59pc), Lotte Chemical Pakistan Limited (LOTCHEM +6.83pc) and Unity Foods Limited (UNITY +5.96pc) led the volume chart, exchanging 87.26 million, 24.86 million and 22.15 million shares, respectively. Sectors that painted the benchmark index green included investment banking (+59.60 points), fertilizer (+52.49 points) and power generation & distribution (+39.53 points). Among the companies, Dawood Hercules Corporation Ltd (DAWH +57.65 points), Engro Corp (ENGRO +48.27 points) and Hub Power Company (HUBC +41.81 points) remained the top contributors.

Adding 7.06pc to its cumulative market capitalization, the refinery sector ended as the session’s top gainer, with Byco Petroleum Pakistan Limited (BYCO +6.82pc), Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL +8.04pc), National Refinery Limited (NRL +7.50pc) and Attock Refinery Limited (ATRL +7.02pc) posting decent gains. Meanwhile, Hascol Petroleum Limited (HASCOL +1.59pc) declared its financial performance for FY19. The company reported a gross loss of Rs1.85 billion, as distribution cost surged by 15.24pc YoY and other expenses increased from Rs1.09 billion in FY18 to Rs8.79 billion. The company's earnings per share deteriorated from Rs-1.08 last year to Rs-129.94.

OGRA dysfunctional as chairperson Uzma Adil retires ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

The Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has become dysfunctional after its chairperson retired on Friday.

Uzma Adil was appointed by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif as OGRA chief in 2016 for a period of four years. After her retirement, the OGRA quorum is now incomplete.

It may be noted that the authority requires a chairman and three members to run its operations. The presence of at least three members is a must to handle

regulatory affairs and take important decisions.

The post of OGRA Member Oil has already been vacant and now after the departure of the chairperson, the authority is left with only two members: Member Finance and Member Gas. Member Finance Noorul Haq is also the Vice Chairman of OGRA. With an incomplete quorum, the authority will not be able to perform regulatory duties such as issuance of licences and decisions pertaining to tariff.

Uzma Adil, who was a chartered accountant by profession, had joined the OGRA as its first-ever female chairperson in 2016 and took very bold steps in regulating the oil and gas sectors.

Prior to joining OGRA, she was Chief Financial Officer at the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited.

During her four-year tenure at OGRA, she refused to issue the oil marketing licences to OMCs directly and forced the applicants to first acquire construction licence to build the fuel storages and then get it examined by third party.

Uzma Adil Adil was also facing NAB investigation regarding her appointment as OGRA chairperson and also with regard to the approval of an LNG contract. She had clarified in her statement to NAB that she got selected through a transparent manner in a competitive environment.

JOYY Inc aims to capture Pakistan’s $100m digital advertising market THE COMPANY’S SHORT-FORM VIDEO APP, LIKEE, INTENDS TO COMPETE AGAINST TIKTOK BY MODERATING CONTENT TO ENSURE BRAND SAFETY ISLAMABAD BABAR KHAN JAVED

JOYY Inc, a leading global videobased social media platform, is looking to expand into the Pakistan market after a surge in downloads in the country for its LIKEE application.

Similar to TikTok, with short-form videos created by users, LIKEE has crossed over a million downloads in Pakistan, prompting the Chineseowned business to commence hiring local talent in channel sales development, influencer talent management, content operations, and brand safety teams.

According to JOYY Inc Chairman David Xueling Li, LIKEE globally grew its Monthly Active Users (MAU) by 121.9 per cent year over year by Q1 2020, as it accelerated its expansion in developed markets and further strengthened its leading position in the

key developing markets.

Categorically going up against TikTok in Pakistan, which has over 23 million MAUs in the country according to a sales deck seen by Profit, LIKEE intends to moderate content to ensure brand safety is a priority, while managing influencer relationships using branded deal guarantees.

According to a post Covid-19 forecast, advertisers in Pakistan are expected to spend a total of $440 million

by FY 2021, of which $114 million will be across search, mobile, online video, and social media.

LIKEE is comparable to both TikTok and Snapchat, boasting short video creation capabilities for its users, who can in turn apply special effects to their content - which includes four-dimensional effects, dynamic stickers, and a video editing tool.

Like TikTok, the application was recently de-listed from India’s applica-

tion stores across Google and Apple, complying with the government ordered ban. This is because, while LIKEE is under the ownership of Bigo Technologies which is based in Singapore, Chinese-owned JOYY Inc is the parent company for both.

Speaking to Profit, digital media planners said that LIKEE poses a serious threat to children due to the absence of an age restriction, with the application accessible to children as young as 12 years of age, while the content on the application has no filter and is often adult in nature.

They said that if JOYY Inc wants to win over brand marketers in Pakistan, it needs to not only delete adult content from the application but also make sure that the Google Play Store has an age restriction to limit a controversy similar to PUBG. The LIKEE application falls under JOYY Inc’s business division known

as Bigo. Azfar Kashif, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Evertone, has been named the new business development manager for Bigo. He will lead relationships with advertisers and agencies in the country. Azfar Kashif is also responsible for the introduction and cooperation of Pakistani pan-entertainment brand channel resources.

He will lead the addition of channel partners and help the Singapore headquarters understand how best to customise content guidelines and advertising products to best serve the Pakistan market.

As reported by Business Insider India, two weeks ago Facebook launched Reels - its TikTok replica - in India after Bytedance was forced to exit the country due to a ban on Chinese applications.

Sources told Profit that the Reels application access was sent to leading Instagram influencers in Pakistan for testing and for abandoning TikTok in the country. This means that JOYY Inc will compete with Facebook as well as Bytedance for the short video platform market in Pakistan.

Saturday, 18 July, 2020

10 FOREIGN NEWS

EU mEETs on virUs rEsCUE plan as india passEs onE million CasEs BRUSSELS

E

APP

U leaders met face to face Friday to try to rescue Europe's economy from the ravages of the coronavirus pandemic, as India became the third country to record one million cases, joining Brazil and the United States.

The virus has now killed more than 585,000 people and infected over 13,600,000 as it continues to surge across the globe despite months of unprecedented measures aiming to stop its spread.

The pandemic has also shattered economies worldwide, and the mood was sombre as European Union leaders met in person for the first time in five months hoping to overcome divisions about a planned 750-billion-euro ($855 billion) stimulus package. Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel said Thursday that the differences between EU member nations were still very large so she expected "very, very difficult negotiations".

French President Emmanuel Macron described it as a "moment of truth".

"It's our European project which is in play here," Macron warned before meeting Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who

leads a group of northern European countries holding out against handing cash to southern nations without strict conditions.

'I HAVE TO KEEP FIGHTING': Elsewhere COVID-19 is spreading at an ominous pace, with India surpassing one million infections just a day after Brazil's number topped two million.

And the United States, which has recorded more cases than both countries combined with over 3,560,000, on Thursday posted yet another record number of new infections in one day with 68,428.

More than 600 people are dying daily in India, where lockdowns have been reimposed on millions of people.

India's main hotspots had previously been the megacities of Mumbai and New Delhi, but smaller cities and rural areas -where 70 percent of Indians live -- have recently begun to raise the alarm.

The coastal tourist region of Goa is the latest Indian state to go under lockdown, imposing a three-day shutdown and a nightime curfew until August 10. With per capita spending on health care among the lowest in the world, India's hospitals are reeling.

"The fear of catching the infection is very real as I am in a high-risk zone almost round the clock," Showkat Nazir Wani, a

doctor working at an intensive care unit at Sharda Hospital just outside the capital New Delhi, told AFP. "It's not going to go away till a vaccine comes... I have to keep fighting and trying to save every single life."

VACCINE HACKING: After two studies this week raised hopes for a potential vaccine, the United States, Britain and Canada accused Russian-linked hackers of targeting labs in their countries conducting coronavirus vaccine research.

The three governments pointed the finger at the Kremlin, saying that the hacking group involved was "almost certainly" linked to Russian intelligence.

Moscow rejected the accusations as "groundless". In the US, the state of Florida has become the country's new epicentre as well as a key battleground in a partisantinged national fight over reopening schools.

Florida's governor Ron DeSantis has insisted schools reopen next month despite his state registering 156 COVID-19 deaths and nearly 14,000 new infections on Thursday alone.

The Republican governor's demand mirrors that of President Donald Trump, who has threatened to cut federal funding for schools that refuse to open their doors.

Authorities in many countries have been reimposing lockdowns in the hopes of heading off a second wave of the virus.

On Thursday Israel imposed weekend restrictions, while Spain's Barcelona urged residents to stay home due to rising infections in the hard-hit country.

Asia, which was largely more successful in suppressing the first wave than many areas of Europe and the Americas, has started recording fresh outbreaks.

In China -- where COVID-19 first emerged late last year -- flights were curtailed and public transport shut down in Urumqi, the capital of the far-western Xinjiang region, after new infections were detected.

Bars and schools have been closed in Hong Kong as infections in the densely populated city started to climb, although the number of new cases -- in the dozens -- is still far lower than other parts of the world.

A record 293 cases were also reported in Tokyo on Friday. In Melbourne, Australia's second-biggest city, a second wave continues to worsen despite the reimposition of a lockdown. After a daily record of 423 new cases were confirmed on Friday, authorities warned tougher restrictions could be to come.

Indian defence bosses review troops in Ladakh NEW DELHI: India wants peace but there is no guarantee of the final outcome of talks with China, said Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday in eastern Ladakh region as he reviewed the ground situation of troops in the hostile border areas.

India and China are engaged in military and diplomatic deliberations to deescalate the tense situation at the border areas on the LAC. The two countries are locked in a 10week-long standoff at multiple points, hitherto unprecedented, along the Line of Actual Control.

Singh accompanied by Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat and Army Chief General Manoj Mukund Naravani, while addressing troops in Lukung close to Pangong lake, said, “Talks are on for a resolution. But I can’t give a

guarantee to what extent it can be resolved. India never eyes the land of another country. We want peace, that’s been our character. We never hurt any nation’s pride but will respond if someone hurts our pride. 1.3 billion core Indians mourn the sacrifices.” The minister assured that not one inch of India’s land can be taken by any power in the world.

In an attack carried out by Chinese People’s Liberation Army troops on June 15 in Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh, India lost 20 soldiers and the Chinese PLA too had casualties, though its figures are still unknown.

The minister said, “Our soldiers are the pride of the country. I am happy to be here but at the same time sad about losing our braves at Patrolling Point 14. We will never forget their sacrifice. The Prime Minister has also

said their sacrifice will not go in vain.”

He further stated: “Our nation’s pride gets hurt if someone casts an eye on our land.” Singh also interacted with the soldiers and reviewed the operational preparedness of the force. The minister witnessed an exercise by the troops, including some battle drills by troops of the Ladakh Scouts. He was briefed on the situation including the actual position of the troops on both sides.

Before that Singh visited Stakna, near Leh. He witnessed the para dropping skills of the armed forces, tank manoeuvres and also tried his hand on Pika machine gun.

Indian Army’s T-90 tanks carried out exercises and armoured combat vehicles also displayed their prowess during the exercise. TLTP

UN seeks $3.6bn more for virus plan, criticises inaction UNITED NATIONS APP

The United Nations is seeking an additional $3.6 billion for its Global Humanitarian Response Plan to battle the pandemic, warning developed countries on Thursday of "the price of inaction" if poorer nations don't receive help.

"There is a serious risk of multiple famines later this year and early next year.

We need to invest now to prevent that," Mark Lowcock, the UN under secretarygeneral for humanitarian affairs, told a news conference.

In addition to Somalia, South Sudan, Yemen and Nigeria, which have already been hit by food shortages, he expressed growing concern over Sudan, Zimbabwe and Haiti.

As well as combating famines accentuated by the pandemic-induced economic crisis, the additional funds would pay for medical equipment, information campaigns and establish humanitarian air bridges in Africa, Asia and Latin America. "The response so far of wealthy nations ... to situations in other countries has been grossly inadequate," said Lowcock.

"The massive problems the world faces can be addressed with relatively little money and a lot of imagination."

It was the third appeal for donations

from the UN since it launched the plan in March, when it was looking for $2 billion.

The new request brings the total wanted to $10.3 billion. Since March, only $1.7 billion has been donated.

Lowcock spoke of discussions in the US Congress and the European Union, and deplored the fact that aid from Gulf countries was long overdue.

"We do want see these countries get back to play the role they had played in the previous two or three years," he said, highlighting the "risk of significant reduction in UK assistance."

China has recently pledged to spend two billion dollars on poorer countries and it would be good if "some significant proportion of those resources could be used directly to support" the UN plan, he said.

According to a projection by the UN and the University of Oxford, 121 million more people could be affected by food insecurity by December if nothing is done.

Failure to act could also lead to instability or conflict in countries such as Lebanon, Senegal, Belize, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Burundi, according to the United Nations.

In poor countries, the human cost could be devastating if the virus is not brought under control. It could kill 1.67 million people in 30 low-income countries, according to UN projections.

Germany's top court reins in state access to online data FRANKFURT: Germany's highest court on Friday said security services had too much unfettered access to people's online data and ordered legislation to be revised to set higher hurdles. German intelligence services and police agencies currently have the right to ask telecom and internet companies for user info ranging from names and birth dates to passwords and IP addresses, to help their investigations in areas like counterterrorism and cybercrime. But the Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe agreed with complaints brought by privacy activists that the access to data was excessive and an unconstitutional violation of citizens' right to telecoms privacy. In their ruling, judges said the current powers to retrieve data were "disproportionate". APP

Twitter vows aggressive steps to secure systems after hack attack CALIFORNIA TLTP

Twitter Friday announced the number of accounts affected by this week’s online attack in which high-profile pages were hijacked by hackers, saying only “a small subset of these accounts” was taken over.

“Based on what we know right now, we believe approximately 130 accounts were targeted by the attackers in some way as part of the incident,” Twitter’s support team wrote a day after a rash of verified accounts, including those of Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Joe Biden, Jeff Bezos, Barack Obama, and Kanye West, fell victim to a massive security breach. The service said it has reached out to the owners of the accounts affected, checking if their “non-public data” was compromised. “We have also been taking aggressive steps to secure our systems while our investigations are ongoing,” it stated without elaborating. As a precaution, Twitter has locked down accounts whose users have changed their passwords during the past 30 days. The step was taken “out of an abundance of caution” to protect account safety, the company said. Hackers sent out compromised posts in an apparent bid to swindle followers out of their cryptocurrency assets. They were able to hijack “a small subset of these accounts and then send Tweets from those accounts,” Twitter said on Friday. On Thursday, hackers claiming to be behind the mega-attack told Motherboard that they “used a rep that literally done all the work for us.” The Twitter insider in question was bribed to gain access to an internal tool instrumental for launching the hack, they explained. TLTP

Cuba to eliminate dollar tax to boost economy HAVANA APP

Cuba will eliminate Monday the 10 percent tax it has previously levied on the use of the US dollar -- and widen the categories of products for which it can be used to pay -- in response to the country's economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic and Washington's ongoing embargo. "We are going to eliminate that 10 percent levy even despite the hostility and the intensifying of the blockade of the United States," Economy Minister Alejandro Gil told state TV. The use of the dollar has been accompanied by a financial penalty since 2004, with the government justifying the move by pointing to the difficulty of operating in US currency in the face of sanctions. Facing a cash shortage as the embargo tightened and its own economic reforms were delayed, Cuba last year began allowing citizens to purchase household appliances and cars with dollars via bank cards.

Despite the high demand for using dollars, consumers had to deposit their money -- often received through remittances -- into a bank before they could use it. With the penalty, only 90 cents of every dollar made it onto their cards. With the tax canceled as of July 20, demand could increase even more. "It is a fair and logical measure," economist Omar Everleny Perez told AFP. "To continue supplying stores, the country needs a currency that allows it to do so." The new rules will allow certain high-end groceries and hygiene products to be purchased using dollars in some stores, though it is so far unclear which ones.

"There is a segment of the market with economic solvency," Perez said, pointing to the purchases some in Cuba are able to make. The sale of groceries in both currencies -- with one CUC equivalent to one dollar and 24 CUP equivalent to one dollar -- will continue. The Economic Commission for Latin America (CEPAL) predicts Cuba's GDP will contract 8 percent in 2020 thanks to the pandemic.

Saturday, 18 July, 2020

SPORTS 11

ZidANe siLeNces the doUbters by briNgiNg reAL MAdrid bAck to LiFe MADRID APP

Few expected Zinedine Zidane to leave Real Madrid and even fewer expected him to come back as coach.

And yet almost 500 days later, he has won the La Liga title, without fuss, without even the improvements he was promised.

On Thursday, in an empty Alfredo di Stefano Stadium at Real Madrid's training ground, he hoisted another trophy, his second in La Liga and 11th overall as coach.

Zidane currently wins a trophy every 19 games on average and while three Champions League titles out of

72 NFL players positive for virus LOS ANGELES APP

Seventy-two NFL players have tested positive for Covid-19, the league's players union confirmed Thursday. In the first major announcement of coronavirus results concerning the NFL, the NFL Players Association said dozens of players had tested positive as of July 10. The tally was revealed in a database described as a "one-stop shop of information" for players. It was unclear, however, how many of the league's roughly 2,900 rostered players had been tested or how often. The test results come as the NFL and NFLPA are locked in negotiations over the terms and conditions of pre-season training and exhibition games. Players have requested more time to address fitness concerns and want no pre-season games in August.

NFLPA president J.C. Tretter, a center for the Cleveland Browns, accused the NFL last week of failing to prioritize player safety in the face of the pandemic. The league rejected a 48-day training camp recommendation from a joint NFL-NFLPA committee in favor of a 23-day session before the first of two pre-season games, down from four in prior years. However Tretter said league chiefs were risking the entire season if they failed to fully address concerns over the virus.

three was historic, this might be his most impressive yet.

When he was reappointed in March last year, Madrid president Florentino Perez said Zidane had come again to launch "a glorious new era".

But standing next to him was Madrid's third coach of the season, taking over a team 12 points behind Barcelona, having just been knocked out and outplayed

by Ajax in the Champions League.

Most thought it was a mistake, the coach that had gone out on the highest of highs returning to a team in tatters.

Cristiano Ronaldo was gone and it seemed those that remained had lost the hunger. "We will change things, for sure, and for the years to come," Zidane said.

Change, though, would have to wait and then it never really came at all. Zidane saw out a miserable 11 games of last season where performances grew worse not better.

Anticipation of a summer overhaul increased as Madrid's newspapers published polls revelling in which of the world's best players should arrive.

Kylian Mbappe or Neymar? "I would like them both," said Perez.

Zidane did not want them all but there was one he desperately wanted, Manchester United's Paul Pogba, who he was convinced could change everything.

Yet Pogba stayed put and so too did Gareth Bale, who Zidane was assured would be sold. "It would be best

for everyone," he said. Hazard did sign, for 100 million euros, but arrived overweight and then got injured, the opening sequence of his nightmare first year in Spain.

Instead of a sparkling new era, Zidane was handed more of the same but when the inevitable questions came about broken promises, he refused to stoke the fire.

"The decisions that are up to me are on the pitch," he said. The trouble was those were no better. Draws against Valladolid and Villarreal were followed by humiliation in Paris. Defeat by Real Mallorca in October left Zidane on the brink of the sack.

"I know how this works," said Zidane, with Jose Mourinho ready, but perhaps that jolted the players, who beat Galatasaray 1-0 and began to turn the tide.

NFL's Redskins open probe after 15 women allege harassment WASHINGTON APP

The Washington Redskins launched an independent investigation on Thursday after 15 female former employees alleged they had been subjected to sexual harassment during their time at the club.

A Washington Post report said the allegations spanned a 13-year period from 2006 to 2019 and had already led to the departure of three team employees in the past week.

One of the 15 women, Emily Applegate, told the Post she had been verbally abused by a former senior executive while being ordered to wear tight-fitting clothes during meetings with clients.

Applegate added that the club had been indifferent to complaints from a female employee who alleged she had been groped by a wealthy suite holder.

Applegate, 31, was the only victim

the recently departed Redskins employees as Larry Michael, the team's longserving in-house radio commentator, and Alex Santos, the director of pro personnel. Applegate described her time with the Redskins as "the most miserable experience of my life."

"And we all tolerated it, because we knew if we complained -- and they reminded us of this -- there were 1,000 people out there who would take our job in a heartbeat," she told the Post.

Team owner Dan Snyder, a polarizing figure in the NFL, was not among those executives accused of inappropriate behavior.

The allegations come two years after the Redskins were accused of exploiting the team's cheerleading squad.

The team's cheerleaders alleged they were required to pose topless during a calendar shoot in Costa Rica, while some members said they were required to escort male sponsors during a trip to a nightclub.

named by the Post. The 14 other women spoke on condition of anonymity citing fear of litigation as some had signed non-disclosure agreements.

Washington, which this week announced it was dropping its controversial Redskins name following pressure from sponsors, said in a statement that the team had appointed outside lawyers to investigate the allegations.

Attorneys would "conduct a thorough independent review of this entire matter and help the team set new employee standards for the future," the statement said.

"The Washington Redskins football team takes issues of employee conduct seriously," it added.

"While we do not speak to specific employee situations publicly, when new allegations of conduct are brought forward that are contrary to these policies, we address them promptly."

The Post report identified two of

Sanchez helps Inter move within six points of Juve MILAN APP

Antonio Conte hailed in-form Alexis Sanchez as an "extra weapon" as the Chilean inspired Inter Milan to a 4-0 win over lowly SPAL to move second in Serie A, six points behind leaders Juventus.

Sanchez's Inter career started off badly, with injuries holding him back, but the onloan forward is now proving to be a key player in Inter's title challenge.

"He is a rediscovered footballer, with the right hunger," said Conte.

"He suffered a lot, he is now well, he is an extra weapon for us."

Conte's side revived their title chal-

lenge, taking advantage of defending champions Juventus' draw with Sassuolo on Wednesday, with Atalanta a further point adrift in third with five games left to play. Former Manchester United and Arsenal forward Sanchez teed up Antonio Candreva for the opener eight minutes before the break in Emilia-Romagna.

Cristiano Biraghi added a second on 55 minutes and then crossed for Sanchez to head in on the hour mark.

Ashley Young picked out Roberto Gagliardini to tap in a fourth with 16 minutes to go.

"It was important for us to give a signal of consistency, conviction, desire and determination," said Conte.

Man Utd stay in touch with Leicester in top-four battle, Villa in trouble LONDON APP

Manchester United beat Crystal Palace 2-0 to keep the pressure on Leicester after their top-four rivals defeated Sheffield United as the battle for Champions League qualification heated up on Thursday.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side had no margin for error after Leicester's 2-0 victory earlier in the day and they responded thanks to goals from Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial. United's fifth win in their last six league games leaves them in fifth place in the Premier League. They are level on points with fourth-placed Leicester, trailing them on goal difference, and one point behind thirdplaced Chelsea. With the financial implications of failing to reach the Champions League certain to be painful for United, Solskjaer's men will be under intense pressure in their final two league games. After Sunday's FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea, United host West Ham on Wednesday before a decisive showdown at Leicester on July 26.

United could also qualify for the Champions League if they win the Europa League, which is set to resume in August. Rashford broke the deadlock in first-half stoppage-time when the England forward cleverly deceived two Palace defenders with a drag-back and slotted home from close range.

"These games on paper may seem obvious or easy, but we know they are not and as long as SPAL remained in the game they were tough. "We wanted to secure a Champions League berth, to get back to second place and to get close to those who are ahead, who are still far away.

"Juve's six points are still many."

Juventus have taken just two points in their last three matches, but have the advantage of a superior head-to-head record over Inter.

Maurizio Sarri's champions next play fourth-placed Lazio, still only eight points off the pace themselves, while Inter take on fifth-placed Roma this weekend.

Inter are bidding for their first Scudetto

since winning the treble in 2010 under Jose Mourinho.

Luigi Di Biagio's SPAL are bottom of the table, 11 points from safety, with a return to Serie B looming.

Torino, in 15th, moved eight points clear of the drop zone with a 3-0 win over relegation rivals Genoa.

Brazilian Bremer rose highest to nod in for the hosts after half an hour.

Andrea Belotti set up Serbian substitute Sasa Lukic to fire in his first goal this season with 14 minutes left, with the Torino captain then scoring himself. Genoa are hovering one point above Lecce, who occupy the final relegation place, with the two teams meeting on Sunday.

Man City resume hostilities with Arsenal, Man Utd eye Chelsea clean sweep in FA Cup semis LONDON APP

The cavernous setting of an empty Wembley stadium will play host to two FA Cup semi-finals this weekend as holders Manchester City face Arsenal in a week when old animosities between the clubs were flamed, while Chelsea and Manchester United switch focus from their battle for a place in next season's Champions League.

City and Arsenal are first up on Saturday (1845 GMT) as the Gunners attempt to spring a surprise for the second time in a week after downing English champions Liverpool 2-1 on Wednesday.

That an Arsenal victory would be considered a shock says it all about the way City have overtaken one of English football's traditional superpowers over the past decade.

Only once in the past 10 years have Arsenal finished above City in the

table and Pep Guardiola's men have won the past seven meetings between the two by a combined score of 20-2.

Arsenal cannot come close to matching Abu Dhabi-backed City's resources, especially as they now face a fourth straight season without Champions League riches after 19 consecutive years in European football's elite competition under Arsene Wenger.

Guardiola made reference to the legendary former Arsenal boss after City overturned a two-season ban by UEFA from European competitions for alleged breaches of Financial Fair Play in the Court of Arbitration for Sport this week.

"I know that for elite clubs, respectful clubs like Liverpool, Man United and especially Arsenal, it is uncomfortable us being here," said Guardiola. "But they have to understand we deserve to be here."

Mikel Arteta played his part in

CMYK

back-to-back league titles for City in the past two seasons as Guardiola's assistant, but now has the tough task of beating his former boss.

Beating Liverpool was a perfect confidence booster, but victory came thanks to two uncharacteristic errors from Virgil van Dijk and Alisson Becker as Jurgen Klopp's men camped inside their half for much of the match with nearly 70 percent possession and 24 shots to Arsenal's three.

"The gap is enormous but the gap in many areas we cannot improve in two months," Arteta said of closing the chasm to Liverpool. "The gap between the accountability, the energy, commitment and fight of the two teams is now equal and before it wasn't like this."

Arsenal need to bridge a similar gap against a City side that has been in ominous form since a 3-0 win when the sides last met on the first night of the Premier League's restart last month.

My father wanted me to play for Pakistan: Usman Qadir ISLAMABAD APP

Pakistani spinner Usman Qadir, has expressed disappointment for being dropped from the national squad, saying his father late legendary spin-wizard Abdul Qadir wanted him to play for Pakistan. Usman opened up on being dropped from the Pakistan squad without featuring in a single match. The 26-year-old was part of the Men in Green squad during Australia tour, last year, and the T20I series against Bangladesh earlier in 2020. “I was disappointed and hurt after being dropped from the side without playing a single match. I have achieved my goals in U19 cricket and Big Bash League and will continue to put in the hard yards, in order to ensure that I can go on to play for Pakistan,” cricketpakistan.com.pk quoted him as saying. Usman, who left Pakistan in order to pursue his ambitions in Australia during 2018, also spoke about the lack of chances in domestic cricket. “I had moved to Australia, because of lack of chances in domestic cricket, but my father wanted me to play for Pakistan which is why I came back,” he said. “The same thing has started happening again (lack of chances) but it will create a controversy if I speak more on this,” he said.

Usman also spoke about his experience of playing in Pakistan Super League and Big Bash League. “BBL already have a structure in place but we PSL is currently working on that. It will only be fair to compare the two, when we have the developed the structure.

Right now, there is a major difference in terms of pitches, players and management.” “The fifth season was better than the previous editions because earlier, when I played in the second season, there were a lot of flaws in it,” he said. He also expressed his desire to get the wickets of few of the best batsmen in the world, if he gets a chance to bowl against them. “I would like to take the wickets of Babar Azam, Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers, if I get the opportunity to bowl against them. I wanted to bowl to Brian Lara as well because I admire him a lot but unfortunately, he is retired now,” he said.

Arsenal's Martinelli ruled out until end of 2020 LONDON APP

Arsenal forward Gabriel Martinelli will be out of action until the end of 2020 after undergoing knee surgery. Martinelli injured his left knee in training last month and Arsenal confirmed on Thursday that the Brazilian will not return until well into the 2021-21 campaign. The 19-year-old had scored 10 goals in 26 appearances this term to establish himself as an important member of Arsenal's squad in his first season with the club. "Martinelli currently recovering in a knee brace after his operation, which took place during the last week of June," a statement on Arsenal's website said. "Surgery was successful, with consultants and our medical team very encouraged with Gabi's current progress at this stage of his recovery. "He will continue his recovery throughout the close season, with the aim of a return to full training by the end of 2020." Arsenal defender Pablo Mari is expected to return to training in September after spraining ankle ligaments at Manchester City last month. Mari is off crutches and has returned home to Spain to undergo a short period of "specialist attention and extensive therapy." "He will return to the UK later in July to resume his rehabilitation at our training centre throughout the close season, with the aim of returning to full training in September," Arsenal said.

Saturday, 18 July, 2020

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GOvT fACiliTATiNG JAdhAv ThrOUGh 'SeCreT' OrdiNANCe, BilAwAl AlleGeS

ASR MAGHRIB ISHA 5:02

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ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

KARACHI STAFF REPORT

ernment’s catastrophic decisions, the latest one is “unprecedented”.

“If there was any compulsion to pass the ordinance then the people of the country and the opposition parties should have been consulted on this important matter,” the PPP leader said. On Thursday, Pakistan had provided consular access to Jadhav for the second time at the Indian request but the Indian diplomats left the meeting without hearing the naval officerturned-RAW agent, compelling Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi to conclude that

ZUHR 12:09

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Pakistan lauds UNSC decision to add TTP chief on sanctions list

PPP CHIEF SAYS GOVT INTRODUCED INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE REVIEW AND RECONCILIATION ORDINANCE WITHOUT TAKING OPP ON BOARD Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Friday said that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led government “secretly” introduced an ordinance in parliament to facilitate Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav.

Jadhav, a serving commander in the Indian Navy and working for the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), was arrested on March 3, 2016 in Balochistan on charges of espionage, and condemned to death by a military court the following year. In view of the ICJ judgement in July last year, the federal government had promulgated the International Court of Justice (Review and Reconsideration) Ordinance, 2020 on May 20 for an effective review of the case.

The ordinance read that a foreign national — either themselves or through their authorised representative or through a consular officer of mission of their country — might file a petition before a high court for a review and reconsideration in terms of Section 3 of an order of conviction/sentence of a military court operating under the Army Act 1952.

Bilawal said the enactment of ordinance is illegal and unconstitutional after the expiry of deadline. “According to my information the Indian spy has refused to avail the concessions offered in the ordinance.”

He said among all of the incumbent gov-

FAJR SUNRISE 3:34

New Delhi was never interested in the consular access. “Two consular officers of the Indian High Commission in Islamabad were provided unimpeded and uninterrupted consular access to Commander Jadhav at 1500 hours,” said a statement issued by the Foreign Office.

Previously, Pakistan provided the consular access on September 2, 2019 under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR) 1963. “The mother and wife of Commander Jadhav were also allowed to meet him on 25 December 2017,” the statement added.

The Foreign Office (FO) on Friday lauded the decision by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to add Tehreeke-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Mufti Noor Wali Mehsud to its sanctions list. “Pakistan welcomes the designation of Noor Wali […] by the United Nations Security Council 1267 Sanctions Committee on its ISIL and Al Qaeda sanctions list,” FO Spokesperson Aisha Farooqui said in a statement. “The sanctions are being implemented by Pakistan in compliance with the relevant UNSC resolutions and we hope that other countries will also follow suit.” The spokesperson said that the TTP was already a UN-designated terrorist organisation and was responsible for numerous terrorist attacks in Pakistan. “Pakistan has defeated the TTP through comprehensive security operations in the country. However, the TTP continues to operate from outside Pakistan’s borders with support from its third-country facilitators. “Pakistan will continue to pursue its policy of fighting against those involved in participating, financing, planning, facilitating and perpetrating terrorism,” the statement concluded. The decision was also welcomed by the US. In a tweet, the US State Department said the TTP was “responsible for many deadly terrorist attacks in Pakistan”. “The United States domestically designated Noor Wali as a terrorist in September 2019,” it added. In 2019, US President Donald Trump had issued an executive order to expand the administration’s ability to go after suspected terrorists and their financiers and supporters. The list of 11 men the administration termed as “global terrorists” included Noor Wali — who was named the leader of the TTP in June 2018 following the death of former leader Mullah Fazlullah.

3 martyred, 7 injured in cross-border firing from Afghanistan

Operators decry restrictions on tourism sector despite PM’s directives

BAJAUR

ISLAMABAD

TLTP

GHULAM ABBAS

As the government is reopening different sectors of the economy despite an increase in the number of coronavirus affectees, the country’s tourism industry was still faced with unnecessary restrictions, leaving many associated businesses on the verge of bankruptcy. The tour operators, especially those who depend on the five-month summer season, have decried that the concerned authorities were yet to reopen the industry despite orders from the prime minister. In a letter sent to Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Overseas Pakistanis Syed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari, Pakistan Association of Tour Operators (PATO) stated that local administration was not lifting restrictions on tourism and associated businesses despite the PM’s clear directives in this regard during the first week of June. The association recalled that the decision to reopen the industry was taken by the PM after consultation with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan governments to revive the tourism-led economy of these areas. “But the local administration is yet to implement the instructions of the PM,” the letter by PATO added. PATO informed that many businesses in KP and GB were on the verge of bankruptcy due to the imposition of Covid restrictions.

At least three Pakistanis were martyred and seven others got injured in cross-border firing from Afghanistan in Bajaur on Friday. According to the initial reports, three Pakistani residents were martyred in firing from Afghanistan, while seven others including two security forces personnel sustained injuries.

The injured were rushed to a nearby hospital.

In 2017, with an aim to improve the security situation in the country, Pakistan had commenced the fencing of the entire border with Afghanistan. The measures have been taken to improve along the Pak-Afghan border in line with directives of Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa. Pakistan Army and Frontier Constabulary Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, besides fences, are also constructing new border posts to improve surveillance and defense. A secure boundary area is common interest of both countries, and a wellcoordinated boundary security mechanism is essential for enduring peace and stability.

World Bank economist pushes for G20 to provide debt relief to poorest nations NEW YORK AGENCIES

The G20 countries should provide debt relief to the poorest nations across the globe amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, a top official at the World Bank said Friday, noting that true economic recovery from the current crisis remained “in the distant future”.

Cautioning policymakers not to “confuse rebound with recovery,” newly-installed World Bank chief economist Carmen Reinhart called for an extension to the existing debt moratorium.

G20 finance ministers are set to hold a virtual meeting Saturday wherein they are expected to discuss the status of the debt relief initiative.

She called the initial step “useful” but said, “Sadly, that step hasn’t gone as far as it has been hoped.

“We are still awaiting private sector participation and the participation of members outside the Paris Club. It also has not been as extensive as hoped.”

Governments in more developed nations need to have “the willingness to do something more encompassing” that includes “a greater share of the emerging markets, as well as the developing countries.”

But Reinhart said she is “somewhat skeptical,” and noted that China is a bigger creditor than the rest of the Published by Arif Nizami at Qandeel Printing Press, 4 Queens Road, Lahore. Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965. Email: newsroom@pakistantoday.com.pk

Paris Club combined, but offers little transparency on the amount of debt or relief being given.

She also called on the private sector to do more.

The Group of 20 governments in April agreed to a one-year debt standstill that the IMF and World Bank had pushed for to help the 76 most vulnerable economies and called on private creditors to join in.

But the Institute of International Finance — a global private banking group — this week issued a progress report on the debt standstill for private creditors, which noted that only a few borrowers have approached creditors with informal requests to avail themselves of the relief.

Reinhart said she also is concerned about “the disconnect between the raging Covid pandemic” with its serious impacts on economic activity and the behavior of financial markets, which have not reflected the “depth and duration of the deep economic downturn that we’re in.”

Stock markets have been buoyed in recent weeks by signs of resurging activity as economies have begun to reopen, but Reinhart said: “I think we have a tendency to confuse rebound, with recovery, a rebound after a collapse.” While output has bounced back, that “is not the same as true recovery” which remains “in the distant future.”