EpaperLHR_2020-08-10

Monday, 10 August, 2020 I 19 Dhul-Hijjah, 1441 I Rs 25.00 I Vol XI No 41 I 52 Pages I Lahore Edition

PM launChes biggest ever Plantation drive to address CliMate Change Challenges g

ImrAN sAys 'thIs Is jUst the stArt', trees wIll be PlANted IN emPty sPAces Across cItIes

ISLAMABAD

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STAFF REPORT

rIme minister Imran Khan on sunday launched the biggest tree plantation campaign in the history of the country, targeting a plantation of around 3.5 million trees in a

day across the country.

Addressed a ceremony in Islamabad, he thanked all those who had participated in sunday’s campaign. he said that Pakistan is among the top ten countries in the world most affected by climate change. “our wheat production has fallen over the past two years due to

Coronavirus in

Pakistan

CONFIRMED CASES:

284,481

DAY'S DEATH TOLL:

8

RECOVERED:

NEW CASES:

634

DEATHS:

260,248 6,093 SINDH:

123,849

PUNJAB:

94,360

KP:

BALOCHISTAN:

AJK/GB:

ISLAMABAD:

34,692

11,884

2,134/2,321 15,241

climate change and unprecedented rainfall,” the Pm said.

“If we keep continuing on this path, then some of the areas will become deserts,” he said. “It is our responsibility to make the country green for future generations.” “the 3.5 million saplings that we have planted today is just the start. this is a constant, ongoing battle, [but] we are not doing this for us. we are doing it for the coming generations,” he further said. “this is just the beginning. he said, promising that trees would be planted in empty spaces across cities,” he added. the prime minister also urged women to participate. “the women have to participate the most,” he said. he added that the nation also had to focus on cleaning the country’s rivers, in addition to making the country green. “so first we have to make the country green by planting trees, but simultaneously we also have to focus on cleanliness and make our rivers clean once again. Planting trees will also help in cleaning our climate and lessening pollution,” he said. the prime minister concluded his speech by appreciating the tiger Force volunteers. “you are our future. the work you did today, you did it to improve your own and the country’s future,” he added. “today Pakistan is among those few countries that have successfully managed to control the pandemic,” the premier said, adding that that the world now recognises Pakistan’s successful strategy. he also urged the nation to not defy standard operating procedures (soPs) just because the number of cases was falling. “wear a mask every time you leave the house,” he said, adding that not wearing one would amount to being “ungrateful”.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

49 die in three days of monsoon rain across country ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Forty-nine people have been killed across the country after three days of heavy monsoon rain and flash floods.

According to National disaster management Authority (NdmA), 19 people died in rain-related incidents in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, 12 in southern sindh province, eight in Punjab province and 10 in Gilgit-baltistan region in the past three days. heavy rains also lashed many districts in southwestern balochistan province and damaged homes.

According to media reports, at least eight people were killed in the province because of the rain and flooding. “more than a dozen people are still missing in balochistan,” younus Aziz mengal, a spokesperson for the provincial disaster management authority, said. he added that the flooding had damaged bridges and highways, cutting off Gwadar, a port city on the Arabian sea. heavy rainfall began last week and continued on sunday, flooding streets in the eastern city of lahore. It especially disrupted normal life last week in Karachi, the capital of sindh province, where sewage flooded most of the streets, prompting Prime minister Imran

Single day Covid-19 deaths fall to single digit after 113 days ISLAMABAD TLTP

the deaths due to covid-19 in a single day fell to a single digit during the last 24 hours in the country after 113 days, as Pakistan has reported eight more deaths due to the coronavirus disease.

According to the latest statistics issued by National command and operation centre (Ncoc) on sunday, three patients each in Punjab and sindh, while two in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) died of the covid-19 during the last 24 hours. out of these eight people, seven lost their lives in hospitals. the last time when the country reported single digit deaths in a day was on April 17 when eight people had lost their lives due to covid-19.

Fortunately, no death was reported from balochistan, Islamabad capital territory (Ict), Gilgit baltistan and Azad jammu and Kashmir (AjK) during the last 24 hours. with eight more deaths, the death toll in the country due to covid-19 has reached 6,082. so far, sindh has reported 2,262 deaths, while 2,169 people in Punjab, 1,230 in KP, 171 in Ict, 137 in balochistan, 55 in Gb and 58 peoples have died in AjK. According to the Ncoc,

Khan to order the army to assist authorities in handling the situation.

According to the meteorological department, heavy rains are expected to continue next week.

ARMY CONTINUES RESCUE, RELIEF WORK: rescue and relief efforts by Pakistan Army continued on sunday after the recent monsoon rains breached the flood protection bund of the Nai Gaj dam and marooned people residing in surrounding areas.

“Pakistan Army troops [are] busy in relief & rescue efforts in various areas of dadu to help people affected by recent hill torrent and breach of Flood Protection bund of Nai Gaj dam,” said the Inter-services Public relations (IsPr) on sunday.

According to the IsPr, Pakistan Army’s boats are rescuing stranded people and transporting them to “safer places”. It also said that a medical camp has been established to provide care to the affectees and hot meals were being given to people. the IsPr also said that rangers and army personnel have rescued more than 100 people from the johi tehsil of the district. later, the teams of Pakistan Army and Navy visited dadu, jhal magsi along with medical and engineering teams to assist the civil administration to rescue stranded people to safer places.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

more inside

11 of a Pakistani Hindu migrant family found dead in Rajasthan STORY ON PAGE 02

UNGA president-elect arrives in Pakistan on two-day visit the total number of recovered coronavirus patients in the country has reached 260,248 making it a significant count. According to the latest statistics, there are now 17,791 active cases in Pakistan.

A total of 634 new cases were reported over the last 24 hours and 23,390 tests were conducted across the country during this period. out of these tests, 10,001 were conducted in sindh, 7,114 in Punjab, 2,314 in KP, 2,931 in Ict, 697 in balochistan, 117 in Gb, 216 in AjK. According to the Ncoc, there are 153 patients on ventilators in Punjab, sindh, KP and Ict, while no patient is on ventilator in AjK, Gb and balochistan. the country has allocated 1,859 ventilators for covid-19 patients across the country. A total of 1,334 patients are admitted

across the country while 735 hospitals across the country are facilitating covid-19 patients.

A total of 284,121 cases have been detected so far in the country and they include 123,546 in sindh, 94,360 in Punjab, 34,635 in KP, 15,241 in Ict, 11,884 in balochistan, 2,321 in Gb and 2,134 in AjK. Punjab’s Primary and secondary healthcare department said on sunday that 137 new cases of novel coronavirus surfaced during the last 24 hours.

According to the spokesperson of the health department, 49 new cases were reported in lahore, 12 cases in rawalpindi and 13 in Gujranwala districts of Punjab. three more patients succumbed to covid-19, taking the death count to 2,169. moreover, 86,266 patients of covid-19 have recovered in the province.

STORY ON PAGE 03

Afghan jirga recommends release of 400 Taliban prisoners STORY ON BACK PAGE in today’s issue

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Monday, 10 August, 2020

NEWS

PAKiSTAN welcoMeS AFghAN JirgA’S recoMMeNTATioN For PriSoNerS’ releASe ISLAMABAD

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APP

AKISTAN on Sunday welcomed the Afghan Loya Jirga’s recommendation to release remaining 400 prisoners, hoping the step would pave way for early commencement of intra-Afghan negotiations.

After three-day debates, Afghan Loya Jirga, an assembly of elders, chieftains and notables, on Sunday recommended the

Afghan government to release 400 Taliban prisoners.

The release of prisoners is part of the US-Taliban peace deal inked on February 29 in Doha to facilitate the intra-Afghan dialogue. The Afghan government has already released 4,600 inmates.

“We hope that with the implementation of this step relating to the prisoners’ release, as envisaged in the US-Taliban Peace Agreement, the intra-Afghan negotiations will commence at the earliest,”

Fire outbreak in Peshawar leaves two dead, six injured PESHAWAR: Two people died while six got injured as a fire broke out in Thandakot area of Peshawar on Sunday, rescue officials said. The injured people were taken to the hospital, while one of them was transferred to a burns centre, Lady Reading Hospital’s administration said. Officials said that the fire in the three-story building was effectively dealt with, and now the rescue team was making efforts to cool the place down. NEWS DESK

KP to plant 2m saplings in a day: Mahmood PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Mahmood Khan on Sunday said the provincial government has been tasked to plant as many as two million saplings as part of a plantation drive on Tiger Force Day. Speaking at an event organised in connection with the plantation drive, the chief minister said the province will help accomplish the target of planting over 1.2 billion trees under Prime Minister Imran Khan’s plantation drive. Mahmood said the plantation drive is being launched at 853 spots across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and expressed the hope that more than two million saplings will be planted on Sunday.

He said the provincial government will benefit from the Tiger Force volunteers by using their services to improve the condition of shelter homes besides engaging them in the plantation drive. TLTP

Fawad for Nawaz's trial through video-link ISLAMABAD: Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry Sunday suggested that technology be used to pursue graft cases against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif who has been residing in London since November last year on the pretext of medical treatment. The statement comes a day after an accountability court ordered for former president Asif Ali Zardari and other suspects to be indicted in Park Lane estate case through video link and directed the registrar office of accountability courts in Karachi to ensure arrangements in this regard. Chaudhry, through a tweet, termed the court announcement a “welcoming sign” and suggested the same be used to prosecute the former premier. APP

Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson said in a statement.

Pakistan has repeatedly emphasized that Afghan leaders must seize this historic opportunity and work together constructively through intra-Afghan negotiations to secure a comprehensive, broad-based and inclusive political settlement in Afghanistan.

The spokesperson urged the international community to reinforce its support for the success of intra-Afghan negotia-

tions for sustained and durable peace and stability in Afghanistan.

“For its part, Pakistan has consistently supported an Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace and reconciliation process. Pakistan’s positive contribution to the process is internationally recognised,” he resolved. Pakistan reaffirms its support for a peaceful, stable, united, democratic, sovereign and prosperous Afghanistan, at peace with itself and with its neighbours.

11 of a Pakistani Hindu migrant family found dead in Rajasthan JODHPUR TLTP

Eleven members of a family of Pakistani Hindu migrants were found dead at a farm in Jodhpur district of India’s Rajasthan on Sunday morning, police said.

A person of the family, however, was found alive outside the hut they lived at Lodta village of Dechu area, an officer said. “But he claimed to have no idea about the incident, which is believed to have happened in the night,” said Superintendent of Police (Rural) Rahul Barhat.

“We are yet to ascertain the cause and means of death.

But apparently, all the members appeared to have committed suicide by consuming some chemical in the night,”

Rahul Barhat said.

He said there was a smell of some chemical around in the hut, suggesting that they consumed something.

All the family members were Hindu migrants from Pakistan from the Bhil community and had been living on the farm in the village, which they had hired for farming.

“There was neither any injury mark on any of the bodies nor any evidence of any foul play,” the SP said. “But we have roped in the forensic team and a dog squad to arrive at any final conclusion.”

Preliminary information indicated that there was some dispute in the family over some issue.

“Once we interrogate the survivor, we would be in any position to find out what had led to this incident”, he said.

Two killed after shoe factory catches fire in Swabi SWABI INP

At least two people, including a child, were killed and four injured after a house caught fire in Thandkoi area of Swabi in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), rescue officials said Sunday. According to rescue 1122, the shoe factory in the basement of the house caught fire and it spread to the other parts of the residential building. A child was burnt to death and another man died after jumping off the building, rescue 1122 spokesperson told media persons. Three people, who were injured in the incident, are in a critical condition in Lady Reading Hospital, Peshawar. The authorities had dispatched six fire tenders to the spot and it took the fire fighters over two hours to contain the fire, said the rescue 1122 spokesperson.

Maryam Nawaz decides to appear before NAB

Rasheed announces Sibi-Quetta shuttle train as rains damage road infrastructure ISLAMABAD TLTP

Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad has announced to run a special shuttle train to rescue people from the rain-hit area of Balochistan.

The first shuttle train will leave for Sibi from Quetta at 10:00 am on Monday and will return to Quetta on the same day at 4:00pm, said Rasheed on Sunday.

He said that the road network has been damaged badly in the recent torrential rain in Balochistan. “The passengers are facing difficulty in commuting between Quetta

and Sibi,” he said, adding that a large number of people are stranded at Sibi Railway Station.

The minister said that the deputy superintendent (DS) Railways at the Sibi Railway station has been directed to ensure safe transporting facility for the passengers.

The shuttle train will continue to run between Quetta and Sibi unless the road infrastructure in the province is improved, said Sheikh Rasheed.

The decision to run train service for Balochistan came after a spokesman for the provincial government Liaquat Shahwani appealed to the railway authorities to run special trains to rescue people from rain-hit areas.

PTI under criticism from PML-N for celebrating 'Tiger Force Day' NEWS DESK ‘Tiger Force Day’ celebrated on Sunday by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has received severe backlash from Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), who alleged that the volunteer force had people who resorted to bribery and corruption. PML-N Punjab’s Azma Bukhari alleged that three of such people were found in Lahore alone. She further said that “Government should be ashamed of celebrating the Tiger Force day.”

Bukhari also said that the billion-tree tsunami project

of PTI had failed miserably. She said that the local and foreign media has been active in exposing the corruption in the billion-tree tsunami project of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government led by Pervez Khattak.

She said that the Sar Sabz afforestation project has been ineffective, and alleged that the Punjab CM was using it as a source of earning money.

Earlier in July, Prime Minister Imran Khan had called for celebrating a ‘Tiger Force Day’ on August 9 for a massive tree plantation drive to counter pollution and climate change

LAHORE INP

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice-President Maryam Nawaz has decided to appear before the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for questioning in connection with its probe into a case related to “illegally acquiring” hundreds of acres of land in Raiwind.

Party sources revealed that she made this decision after consultation with lawyers, family members and party leaders. NAB has asked Maryam to turn up before its combined investigation team on August 11 along with details of 200 hundred acres of land she allegedly acquired in Raiwind in 2013 in violation of rules. She is required to furnish complete details regarding the sale and purchase of land as well as funds arranged for acquiring the land.

The bureau has asked her to submit details of duty and tax payment for the purchase of the land in question and whether the land had been brought in agriculture or commercial use.

NAB has also decided to probe former DCOs Noorul Amin Mengal and Ahad Cheema in this case. Earlier in May, the NAB Lahore had opened an investigation against the Sharif family for “illegally acquiring” hundreds of acres of land in Raiwind to include it in its Jati Umra residence.

Gov’t resolve, policies stabilise national economy ISLAMABAD APP

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) government’s handling of the Covid-19 as well as the economic crises inherited by the previous government has averted a major catastrophe.

Testing the government’s resolve, from the vantage of an impartial observer, the PTI government’s performance, despite numerous criticisms has been on point, where strategies including fiscal stimuli (Economic package, Construction package) as well as social measures (smart lockdown, Ehsaas programme) have averted a major catastrophe, according to a research paper published

by AKD securities.

The government’s difficult decisions have manifested in a much-improved outlook with major sectors already witnessing growth including cement industry, fertilizer industry, automotive industry, etc. where numbers have consistently picked pace after multi-year lows on account of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Improved business outlook has also been reflected in the country’s benchmark stock index performance with the KSE-100

rising by 42.6 per cent to reach 38,836 points from 27,229 points on March 25, 2020, making it one of the best-performing markets in the world.

Economic metrics on the face were good during the previous government’s tenure, however, Pakistan was a deficit funded economy with a Current Account Deficit (CAD) at 6.3pc (FY18) and a Fiscal deficit at 6.6pc (FY18).

Growth as such was unsustainable given the occurrence of debt. The trade deficit in FY18 stood a monumental 9.9pc of GDP, showcasing Pakistan’s leverage-based consumption growth, resulting in imports exceeding exports by 2.3x. Currency had also artificially been kept stable.

SBP Reserves, which had fallen to $9.76 billion by FY18 end from $18.1bn in FY16, recovered to currently stand at $12.1bn. With the economy slowly but surely on a mend, the Covid-19 pandemic hit, derailing the economic recovery.

Despite numerous criticisms from all spheres, the way the government tackled the coronavirus crisis has to be lauded. Pakistan was among the first, if not the first, in a number of steps including announcing an eco-

nomic package worth Rs1.2 trillion in March 2020, being among the first to suggest the concept of smart lockdown, and being among the first countries to lobby for international debt deferment for emerging economies.

With a view of combating the financial repercussions, the SBP initiated one of the most aggressive monetary easing cycles in the world, reducing interest rates to 7.0pc from a high of 13.25pc.

The announcement of the construction sector package has the potential to kick start the economic wheel. The Rs30bn subsidy and the abolishment of 90pc taxes within the Naya Pakistan Housing Scheme (NPHS) should already boost the PM’s much-touted project and help generate additional demand.

Additionally, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects have gained pace once again with the recent signing agreement for two hydropower projects in Kashmir (Kohala and Azad Pattan Hydropower Project) having a total investment outlay of $3.9bn while work on ML-1 is expected to commence soon which will be the costliest project of CPEC so far, having total investment outlay of $7.2bn.

All these big-ticket infrastructure projects are only going to propel the construction demand, encouraging investment in construction and allied industries, moving forward. Similarly, in the Energy sector resolution of circular debt was one of the major steps as two energy Sukuk have been issued, clearing a total of Rs400bn in a year.

The incentives for exporters helped arrest the decline in Textile exports which fell to $1.2bn in May 2020 on account of Covid19 with a subsequent rebound to $1.58bn in June 20. Already, textile exporters in Pakistan have multiple big ticket orders in place ranging from apparel to face masks.

In terms of other sectors, to ensure support to the Agriculture sector, the government announced a Rs50bn agriculture package while Gas Infrastructure Development Cess (GIDC) was also removed in January 2020, resulting in fertilizer prices falling by Rs400 per bag.

In conclusion, if decided on merit, the PTI government’s performance while not perfect has fared particularly well and the criticism on performance appears unjustified.

The economic structural issues particularly the dollarisation of the economy had al-

ready caused considerable loss before the incumbent government came into power.

Over the longer term, the government needs to take a leaf out of old friend Saudi Arabia’s book where Crown Prince Salman’s Vision 2030 entails a complete revamp of the Saudi economy.

In this regard, the recently signed FTA II with China is a feather in the government’s cap while an FTA with Turkey is also in the pipeline.

From a sustainable growth point of view, however, planning for the longer term is the need of the hour where Pakistan should capitalise on trade disruptions between China and the US by setting up manufacturing facilities in the country, as is already being done by India and Vietnam.

At the same time, the IT industry still remains in infancy in Pakistan, where setting shops may bode well for future servicebased exports.

Pakistan still has a long way to go in this regard where compared to India for example, Pakistan’s IT exports remain negligible with India’s IT industry export standing at $99bn in 2018 compared to Pakistan’s $1.3bn in 11 months of FY20.

Monday, 10 August, 2020

NEWS

govT lAuNcheS APP To TrAcK oNgoiNg PlANTATioN drive THE APP HAS BEEN PREPARED WITH THE HELP OF PITB TO KEEP RECORD OF EACH SAPLING BEING PLANTED UNDER THE COUNTRY’S FIRST-EVER DIGITAL PLANTATION CAMPAIGN INP ISLAMABAD

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PECIAL Assistant to the Prime Minister on Youth Affairs Usman Dar on Sunday an-

nounced that the government has launched an application to track the ongoing plantation drive in the country through geo-tagging technology.

According to a press statement, the application was pre-

Asim Bajwa urges people to join tree plantation for green, clean Pakistan ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to Prime Minister Imran Khan for Information and Broadcasting and Chairman China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority Lt General (r) Asim Saleem Bajwa has urged people to join tree plantation campaign for green and clean Pakistan. According to details, on social networking site twitter he said that for our survival, for our future generation the only way to fight climate change is to plant trees. Bajwa also shared a link of maps to show where Pakistan stands in tree count as compare to other countries. INP

Shibli urges people to make tree plantation drive successful ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for information and Broadcasting, Senator Shibli Faraz has said that planting trees is the Sunnah of Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him). In a tweet on Sunday, the information minister urged the people to make the tree plantation campaign of Prime Minister Imran Khan successful by joining this good deed. In another tweet, Shibli Faraz said that international institutions have acknowledged Pakistan government’s economic management despite Covid-19 which is an outstanding achievement. The minister tagged a newspaper report about Moody’s, wherein the rating agency upgraded Pakistan’s outlook to ‘Stable’ from ‘under review for downgrade’. Moody’s Investors Service on Saturday confirmed Pakistan’s B3 credit rating with a stable outlook, as it concludes the review for downgrade initiated on 14th of May 14, 2020. TLTP

Pakistan, china working for transparency in cPec: NAB chief ISLAMABAD: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Justice (r) Javed Iqbal has said that Pakistan and China are working together for transparency in China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). A statement issued by the Chairman NAB said that the National Accountability Bureau is the focal body of the United Nations (UN) in Pakistan and bringing mega corruption cases to a logical conclusion is the top priority of the NAB. He said that Pakistan was the only country that had signed a MoU with China to end corruption. Pakistan and China are working together for transparency in CPEC. Justice (r) Iqbal said that all the institutions including World Economic Forum, Transparency International appreciated the performance of NAB. INP

pared with the help of the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) to keep the record of each sapling being planted under the country’s first-ever digital plantation campaign.

A special feature of geo-tagging has been incorporated in the application, enabling the forest departments’ officers to keep the plantation record.

Usman Dar said that live location and number of planted

uNgA president-elect arrives in Pakistan on two-day visit saplings will be identified through the application.

Moreover, a green selfie feature has also been introduced in the application to enable the volunteers to upload their pictures while planting a sapling, he added.

He said that it is the first time in the country’s history that modern technology is being used to carry out a plantation drive in the country.

118 stranded Indians to return home via Wagah today LAHORE TLTP

As many as 118 Indian nationals stuck in Pakistan due to the closure of the country’s frontiers will head back home through the Wagah border crossing on Monday.

The government of Pakistan has intimated to the Indian Embassy in Islamabad a scheduled return of the Indian citizens on August 10. Prior to this act, the embassy had requested the government to make arrangements for

the stranded Indian nationals’ repatriation to their home country.

They had come to Pakistan to visit their relatives here and perform religious rites but got stuck due to lockdown restrictions.

Earlier, on July 9, 114 Indian nationals stuck in Pakistan had returned to their homeland via the Wagah bordering crossing.

Prior to that as many as 250 Indian nationals stranded in the country were repatriated in June.

World appreciating Pakistan’s initiatives against global warming: Qaiser SWABI TLTP

National Assembly (NA) Speaker Asad Qaiser has said that the whole world is lauding the initiatives of Pakistan against global warming and environmental changes.

Inaugurating the monsoon tree plantation campaign here on Sunday, the NA speaker urged the nation to play its role in making the campaign a success.

Qaiser said that every individual should plant a tree which is not only Sunnah of Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) but also a positive contribution to preserve the ecology of the county. He said, “We collectively have to fulfill the dream of making Pakistan a clean and green Pakistan.”

The speaker urged the entire Pakistani nation to come together and play their part in this campaign to make it successful. He said that Pakistan being a responsible member of the international community has initiated the tree plantation initiative under the patronage of Prime Minister's ‘Clean & Green Pakistan\ initiative, which had been acclaimed worldwide.

He said that the parliament will play its full role in legislating for the public good. He said that Pakistan is aware of its international responsibilities and had resolved to continue playing its positive role.

He said that recent legislation regarding the Financial

TLTP

Special Assistant to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister for Information and Local Government Kamran Bangash on Sunday said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government will save the country not only from corruption but also from pollution.

The special assistant said this while inaugurating the urban forestry campaign by planting a tree at Chamtar Ada. Member Provincial Assembly Abdul Salam, Secretary Local Council Board Hazrat Hayat, PTI workers and Tiger Force volunteers attended the function.

Talking to media on the occasion, Kamran Bangash said, “Today, Prime Minister Imran Khan's vision of Clean and Green Pakistan is being implemented.” He

ISLAMABAD: United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) President-elect Volkan Bozkir arrived in Islamabad on Sunday on a two-day visit. According to a statement issued by Foreign Office (FO), Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi will have wideranging talks with President-elect Volkan Bozkir on issues relating to the three main pillars of the United Nations’ work, including peace and security, development, and human rights. The visiting dignitary will also call on Prime Minister Imran Khan. STAFF REPORT

Saplings planted on disputed land in Khyber uprooted KHYBER: Scores of people uprooted trees planted in Khyber district by the government as a part of a countrywide plantation drive on Sunday. Chaos ensued immediately after Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmaker Iqbal Afridi’s campaign — part of the 10 Billion Tree Tsunami initiative being commemorated on Tiger Force Day — concluded and residents of the area arrived at the site to remove the newly-planted trees. They staged a protest against the local administration for planting the trees on disputed land without seeking permission. The protesting men had black flags in their hands and chanted slogans against the government. MNA Iqbal Afridi tried to pacify the protesters but they did not listen to him and started uprooting the recently planted trees.

More than 6,000 new trees were planted in the area, according to the district administration. Deputy Commissioner Khyber Mahmood Aslam said there was a dispute between two groups over land owned by the Sipah tribe. “One of the groups gave permission for the plantation drive; the other uprooted them,” he said. Aslam added that authorities were reviewing the situation in order to proceed with legal action over the matter. KP Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, on the other hand, has taken notice of the incident and ordered action against those responsible for uprooting the newly-planted trees. TLTP

PiA plans direct flight from Karachi to Skardu

Action Task Force (FATF) was a continuation of this resolve. He said that the Indian conspiracy to push Pakistan into the FATF's grey list will never succeed.

Talking about the government's recent contacts with the opposition, the speaker said that other pending laws will also be passed soon with consensus.

The NA speaker later also administered polio drops to children to eradicate disease in Swabi.

Earlier, the speaker planted a sampling of a pine tree at Gaju Khan. Prayers were also offered for the progress and prosperity of the country and success of the tree plantation drive being carried out across the country with the help of Tiger Force.

PTI to purge country of corruption, pollution: Bangash MARDAN

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added that even before this, with public support, the PTI government had successfully planted one billion trees in KP, which has been praised at international fora. He maintained that this time the Ten Billion Tree Tsunami project will also be successfully completed.

Talking about the ongoing tree planting drive in KP, Bangash said that tree plantation drive is underway at 850 places in the province for which the services of Tiger Force, general public and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf workers (PTI) are being utilised.

Appreciating the role of Tiger Force and the people in the tree plantation campaign, Bangash said that the role of the people and Tiger Force in the plantation campaign is commendable, which will be remembered in golden words in history. He said, “The opposition has always criticized the formation of the Tiger Force but today the fruits of it are in front of you.”

KARACHI: The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Sunday said that it plans to operate direct flights from Karachi to Skardu. PIA Chief Operating Officer Arshad Malik directed PIA sales manager to make arrangements for direct flights between the two cities, a TV channel reported. The national carrier will operate Airbus 320 for the twice a week flights between the southern port city of Karachi and Skardu. According to reports, it has been decided that in case of bad weather flights will be diverted to the Islamabad International Airport. According to a PIA spokesperson, Gilgit Baltistan residents in Karachi will get special facilities to avail the direct flight from Karachi to Skardu. Prior to this announcement, one flight per day from Islamabad to Skardu was already in operation. INP

KP reopens restaurants, remaining closed businesses PESHAWAR: With the declining number of fresh Covid-19 cases in the province, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government Sunday decided to reopen the remaining businesses including restaurants and gyms from Monday following a proposal by the National Coordination Committee (NCC).

According to a notification from KP Home Department, restaurants have been granted permission to reopen from Monday. However, marriage halls and schools will remain closed until further notice. The notification also announced the resumption of all types of public transport. To hold public gatherings or rallies, it said, permission will have to be taken from concerned authorities. The decision comes as thousands of tourists from across the country thronged to northern areas including Galyat, Thandyani, Kaghan and Naran following the opening of the tourism sector last week. APP

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Monday, 10 August, 2020

news

Voluntary rePatriation of afghan refugeeS reStartS today ISLAMABAD

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TLTP

He voluntary repatriation of Afghan refugees from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) to Afghanistan will restart on Monday. The process of voluntary repatriation of registered Afghan refugees from Pakistan was suspended in March this year owing to the fears of spread of coronavirus.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that the centres for payment of money to returning Afghan refugees in Azakhel in Nowshera

and Baleli in Quetta will also open on Monday and Tuesday next. These centres will provide guidance and help to the returning refugees during all procedures.

The UNHCR said that the refugees not returning through the voluntary return centres will not be entitled to financial assistance and they will not have the facility to approach the similar centres in Afghanistan.

It that said the refugees who have not received financial assistance so far will receive $250 in the head of return charges.

The UN refugee agency said that the refugees having coronavirus or any other disease have been advised not to come to

Man shoots dead father, grandfather, uncle in Swabi A man murdered his father, grandfather and uncle by spraying bullets on them over a domestic dispute on Sunday. Infuriated by the dispute involving a female, accused Alam Jan shot dead his 50-year-old father Alamzeb, 65-year-old grandfather (maternal) Siraj Umar and 28-year-old uncle (maternal) Anwar Ali Umar in Swabi’s Zaida Gaar Chamarea area. Police, after registering a case, have started to carry out raids for the arrest of the triple murder accused. In 2010 also, Alam Jan shot and injured his father. On Saturday last, five people, including a passer-by, were killed as armed men targeted bike riders in the Maneri Payan area of Swabi. The killings were a result of an old enmity over land and other related disputes. The four bike riders were ambushed as soon as they passed through the locality by three attackers. As a result, they died on the spot after receiving multiple bullet wounds. Meanwhile, a passer-by also fell prey to the indiscriminate fire while he was standing outside a shop. It was reported that one of the targeted men – Salman Shah, a resident of Charsadda – was nominated in a murder case and wanted by the Saru Police Station.

refugees in one way are benefiting Pakistan in the head of labour, taxes and business activities.

After the Russian attack on Afghanistan in 1979, a large number of refugees came to Pakistan and most of them settled in KP and still the number of refugees is much higher in KP than other areas of the country.

According to the UNHCR record, most Afghan refugees in Pakistan are settled in KP. At present, there are a total of 825,000 registered Afghan refugees in KP, Balochistan has 325,000 refugees, Punjab has 160,000 and Sindh has 65,000 refugees.

Intermittent rains inundate Karachi, disrupt traffic flow KARACHI INP

SWABI INP

any centre for voluntary return.

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) spokesman Qaiser Khan Afridi said that 1.4 million Afghan refugees are registered in Pakistan, including 800,000 in KP. Afridi said that the centres for repatriation of Afghan refugees have been set up in Nowshera and Quetta. He said that after registration at these centres, the returning families receive financial assistance from the UNHCR and return to Afghanistan.

He added that there are 5,400 projects for registered Afghan refugees in which they are given facilities of education, health and other needs. He further said the

Intermittent rains Saturday once again inundated the streets of Karachi and disrupted the traffic flow, making the lives of people difficult. Water entered into homes as sewerage nullahs overflew. Malir Nadi (river) was flooded and traffic was stuck from Qayyumabad to Korangi Causeway due to rainwater. City court, Shahrah-e-Faisal, Bhittai Colony and low-lying areas remained inundated. Pakistan Army reached the affected areas to help the civil administration, which acted like a mere spectator, as the new monsoon spell disrupted routine life in the metropolis.

The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that the army had started relief operation in Karachi as rescue teams were active in affected areas with dewatering pumps and necessary safety equipments. Rainwater was being drained out from low-lying areas and stranded people were being rescued. Further rescue teams had been alerted in the wake of possible flooding or any other emergency situation. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) spokesperson told that three nullahs were completely cleaned and work in other places was ongoing. On the other hand, the number of people who were electrocuted in rain related incidents surged to nine. The mishaps occurred in Ittehad Town, Gulistan-e-Johar, City Court Road and Jam Colony.

18 Sindh cops die of Covid-19 so far KARACHI TLTP

As many as 18 police personnel have died of Covid-19 in Sindh province so far. A total of 3,240 cops have contracted coronavirus in the Sindh province and out of them 125 police personnel got infected with the virus during the last nine days. Out of these, 990 cops are under-

going treatment while 2,232 of the infected personnel have recovered.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Sindh province has witnessed a sharp decline in coronavirus cases.

The total count of the infected people in the province stands at 123,849.

Majority of the patients have recovered, while 5,836 are currently under treatment.

Ravi River Front project a game changer for Punjab: Aleem LAHORE: Senior Punjab Minister Abdul Aleem Khan has said that the Ravi River Front Project would prove to be a game changer not only for Lahore but also for the entire Punjab. Talking to a delegation of party workers on Sunday, Aleem Khan said that the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan is a prosperous and stable Pakistan for which he is working day and night despite all hurdles. He said that Pakistan being rated as stable by Moody’s is a big achievement which would leave positive effects on the national economy. He said that the beloved homeland has come out of difficulties and is on the path of real development. The government will fulfil all the promises made to the people and PM Imran, who has a strong commitment to the nation, will make the country truly self-reliant. He appealed to the citizens to take part in the tree planting drive launched by the prime minister so that the future generations could be safeguarded by preserving the environment. He pledged to plant thousands of fruit trees, out of which in Kot Lakhpat Jail alone 1,200 fruit trees have been donated so far. Aleem said that a difficult time had passed and good news will come for the country and the nation in the days to come but every citizen has to play his positive role for real change in the country. TLTP

Punjab to plant over 1m trees: Buzdar LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar on Sunday launched the tree plantation campaign on the occasion of Tiger Force Day by planting a sapling here at Shadman Market Park.

Talking to media persons on this occasion, the chief minister said that the incumbent government is committed to completing the target of planting ten billion trees in the country by 2023 in line with the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan. “Punjab will plant over one million trees during the ongoing plantation campaign,” he added. Buzdar said that the government is working to provide a neat and clean environment to the forthcoming generations, adding that Pakistan is facing the challenge of climate change besides Covid-19. “Timely steps are needed to provide a healthy environment to people,” he added. He said that the provincial government has organized 520 ceremonies in different cities and towns to mark Tiger Force Day and termed the Ravi River Front Urban Development Project as a game-changer project for Pakistan. TLTP

5 injured after house roof collapses in Quetta QUETTA: At least five people, including three children, were injured after the roof of a residential quarter collapsed in Quetta’s Railway Colony. The residents of the colony said that the officials in the city spend money on their bungalows and have servants at their home but they do nothing for the poor families “They build their bungalows and construct their homes,” a woman in late 40s told media men. “They are spending money on their houses but they do not have money for poor people,” she added. The residents said that there are about 800 residential quarters in Railway Colony and many of them could collapse any day. INP

Monday, 10 August, 2020

NEWS

KP PEtrOl PuMPs sEEK PErMissiOn tO fACilitAtE CustOMErs withOut hElMEts StaFF RepoRt

P

PESHAWAR

ETROL pump owners in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) have expressed concerns over the imposition of heavy fines, arrests of petrol pump workers and sealing of petrol pumps on the pretext of violating the ban on sale of petrol to bikers who don’t wear helmets. Owners of petrol pumps in Peshawar termed the ban imposed by the district authorities on sale of petrol to bikers without helmets as ‘anti-business’ adding that the ban should be lifted immediately.

They said that bikers physically harm petrol pump managers and other staff members on refusal to provide petrol.

The office bearers of the petrol pumps association and filling station owners raised these reservations during a meeting with Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) President Engineer Maqsood Anwar Pervaiz.

Auqaf manager suspended for illegal video shoot in wazir Khan Mosque LaHoRe TLTP

A manager of the Auqaf department was suspended on Sunday for allowing an illegal video shoot of a song, played by renowned actress Saba Qamar and actor Bilal Saeed at the historic Wazir Khan Mosque. According to details, Provincial Minister for Auqaf suspended Manager Auqaf Ishtiaq Ahmed over allowing an illegal video shoot at the Wazir Khan Mosque in Lahore. The accused is directed to appear before the director inquiry to respond to the allegations levelled against him.

Earlier, Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar took a stern notice of the sorrowful song picturing incident in Masjid Wazir Khan. He sought a report from Provincial Auqaf Minister and Secretary Auqaf in this regard. Usman Buzdar directed that a comprehensive investigation should be undertaken about the incident and those responsible should be ascertained. He further directed that whosoever is found responsible for this tragic incident should be proceeded according to law. The chief minister remarked that such an incident cannot be tolerated under any circumstance. He maintained that a mosque is the holiest place and no one can be allowed to trample over its sanctity. The chief minister asserted whosoever is found responsible will not go scotfree. He pledged that he would not let the sanctity of the mosque to be damaged under all circumstances. Moreover, responding to the issue, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leader Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain asked as to why those who violated the sanctity of the Wazir Khan Mosque still roam free. “Arrest those responsible for the act as soon as possible,” he demanded while condemning the video shoot inside the mosque premises. He said that even those who allowed the video shoot are yet to be put behind the bar.

KP BUSINESS COMMUNITY TERMS BAN ON SALE OF FUEL TO BIKERS WITHOUT HELMETS AS ‘ANTI-BUSINESS’ “It is the duty of traffic, excise department and other relevant government departments to enforce road safety rules instead of forcing petrol pumps owners and business community members to implement such rules,” the SCCI president said.

SCCI chief claimed that the district administration has charged fines from Rs5,000 to Rs10,000 per pump on the pretext of violation of ban on sale of petrol to motorbike owners without helmet.

He said that the fines are unjust as the business community has already been badly affected by the coronavirus

lockdowns.

On the other hand, the SCCI president said that incidents of cash snatching on petrol pumps have also increased due to lack of adequate security, which puts a question mark on the performance of the concerned government departments.

Maqsood Pervaiz urged the district administration to stop imposing heavy fines and arrests of petrol pump staff members adding that the business community will launch a protest in Peshawar if its demands are not met.

He said that the policy had been implemented by district authorities without taking the business community into confidence. He asked the government to devise business-friendly policies to resolve issues of the business community.

The SCCI president demanded the district administration to withdraw its notification regarding the ban on sale of petrol to bikers without helmets.

Theaters, cinemas to reopen in Punjab today LaHoRe STAFF REPORT

The Punjab government has decided to reopen cinemas and theatres on Monday, August 10, under strict enforcement of the standard operating procedures (SOPs).

The Punjab Primary and Secondary Health Department has issued a notification and specified all the SOPs under the instructions of the Punjab government.

According to the notification, none of the customers will be able to enter without a mask and will they will have to maintain a sixfoot distance.

In order to maintain social distancing, six feet distance has been made mandatory in the cinemas

and theaters. No one will be allowed to enter the cinemas without wearing masks.

The visitors are advised to avoid touching surfaces unnecessarily. The owners have been asked to maintain sufficient stock of hand sanitizers at cinemas and theatre halls.

The hall occupancy will be limited to 40 per cent of total capacity. The SOPs advised visitors to prefer open air theatre over indoor closed hall as well as online ticketing.

The owners of cinema and theaters are asked to offer shows of shorter dura-

tion (40-60 minutes) and ensure adequate ventilation of the halls The inter-show interval should be of at least 60 minutes in order to ensure proper cleanliness and disinfection. The temperature checking at entry points should be ensured, according to the SOPs. Earlier, the Punjab government on Saturday issued a list of standard operating procedures (SOPs) for restaurants and fast-food outlets in the province.

In a notification, the Primary and Secondary Healthcare secretary said that social gathering will not be allowed in the eateries. There will be a complete ban on entry of people above the age of 60 in the restaurants.

05

PM launches biggest ever plantation drive to address climate change challenges continued on page 01 He also requested people to take precautionary measures. “This is a time for precaution. If God has blessed us, then we need to be thankful and wear a mask,” he said. Earlier, in a tweet, the premier had invited everyone to join him today in planting trees all over Pakistan. He had also asked the parliamentarians, ministers, chief ministers, and Tiger Force volunteers to participate in the biggest tree planting campaign. “The target is 35 lakh trees in a day though we will try to exceed it,” the prime minister had said. International ambassadors such as the Chinese Ambassador Yao Jing, Azerbaijan Ambassador Ali Alizada, and Turkish Ambassador Ihsan Mustafa Yurdaku also contributed to the drive by planting saplings at their respective embassies.

Addressing a press conference on Saturday, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam had said that two million saplings would be planted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 1.2 million in Punjab, 303,646 in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), 57,000 in Balochistan, and 15,000 in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB). A total of 682 events have been organised across the country with the participation of national and international NGOs, educational institutes, and local communities. Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Youth Affairs Usman Dar urged the opposition parties to the drive and express solidarity. Speaking to a press conference in Lahore on Saturday, he invited leaders of opposition parties to join hands with the government on this plantation drive. He added that the Tiger Force could create history by planting around 2 million trees in one day. He also appreciated the 350,000 young members of the force who performed their duties during the pandemic.

200,000 Pakistani workers could not go abroad due to Covid-19, says POEPA chairman iSLaMaBad

49 die in three days of monsoon rain across country continued on page 01 “Hot meals served to 1,000 stranded people. Jhal Magsi -Gandawah main colonies have been connected,” the ISPR said. It added that Pasi Bridge has been opened for all kinds of traffic. “In Jhal Magsi all Hindu families struck in Wangu hills have been rescued and moved to safer places after eight hours-long rescue operation,” the ISPR said. Giving an update on the damage, the ISPR said the N-65 near Bibi Nani bridge and Pinjra Bridge have been blocked due to the high level of water. “Main gas transmission line damaged near Bibi Nani bridge due to rain, while Quetta-Jacobabad, Gwadar-Karachi and Sibbi-Kohlu have been blocked at various places,” it added. Meanwhile, the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) of Sindh said it has dispatched six motorboats and more than 5000 rescue and relief items including tents, mosquito nets, jerrycans, water coolers and kitchen sets to Deputy Commissioner Dadu on Saturday to facilitate those affected by the flash floods in Johi area. The PDMA also said that it is in continuous contact with the army and navy to initiate air assistance and rescue through helicopters of stranded people. Rescue efforts by the army in Dadu had begun on Saturday after heavy rains breached the Nai Gaj Dam flooding the nearby villages.

SHAHZAD PARACHA

Pakistan Overseas Employment Promoter Association (POEPA) Chairman Sarfaraz Zahoor Cheema on Sunday said that over 200,000 Pakistani workers could not go abroad due to the coronavirus pandemic. The POEPA chairman said that the overseas Pakistani fear being laid off from their job due to the Covid-19 pandemic, however the government has done nothing to mitigate their problems. He said that at present overseas Pakistanis remit around $20 to $22 billion annually adding that overseas Pakistanis can double the remittances in one year if the government gives them the status of an industry.

sACrifiCing duAl nAtiOnAls in OffiCE CiTy NOTES M A NiAZi

i

MRAN Khan is hampered at every turn by the malign influence of Nawaz Sharif and the mafias.

Did anyone notice the sacrifice he made this Eid of two special assistants? Tania Eidrus and Dr Zafar Mirza resigned because of their inability to take the pressure being put on them because of their dual nationality. That would imply that the five other SAPMs who have dual nationality or foreign residency either have no shame and are very well able to deal with the pressure, thank you, or are too obscure to merit any pressure.

It was all a conspiracy of Mian Nawaz Sharif, of course, the two have been especially infiltrated into Imran’s Cabinet (presumably with the task of stealing his false teeth out of his mouth while he snored at his desk). By resigning, they showed they were corrupt elements, who were to be swept aside with an iron hand. Dr Mirza has been replaced by the CEO of Shaukat Khanum, Dr Amir Sultan. Short of replacing him with a medical major general, Imran couldn’t have made a more patriotic choice. It is a given, of course, that Dr Amir is not part of any mafia.

Look at the sugar mafia, which apparently sponsored Jahangir Tareen. Imran should have been suspicious of him because he had headed Shehbaz Sharif’s task force on agriculture back in the day. But taking

on Shaukat Khanum staff shows that Imran will finally have people around him he can trust.

There are rumours that Usman Buzdar is trying

CMYK

for a ward boy’s position, but is being told that that is a position of responsibility, and thus requires intelligence.

Now that Dr Amir has made his way, the next step is to pick a foreign affairs specialist from among the staff. What to do with Shah Mehmood Qureshi? Well, there is more than one Shaukat Khanum hospital, so there are positions all over the country.

And anyway, we need Shah Mahmood where he is. Now that Modi has been sent tethering by our new map, it’s just a matter of time before he runs scared.

Buzdar has driven the final nail in his coffin and has more or less liberated Kashmir, by his announcement that there would be a Srinagar Road in every division.

That was to parallel the federal move, which renamed the Kashmir Highway the Srinagar Highway.

That was a masterstroke which had Modi scurrying to Ayodhya, where he took refuge in a Ramjanambhoomi Pujan. We can imagine the BJP leaders cowering in that temple, while Imran strides into Srinagar, beating away all resistance with a rolled-up map.

The map idea seems to have been borrowed from Nepal, which had its parliament pass a map showing the areas it disputes with India as disputed areas. Of course, the PTI government made no such compromise with the corrupt elements that call themselves the opposition, and it apparently only involved Buzdar in the cartographical exercise.

But there are other things abroad that Qureshi will have to deal with. The onus of proving that Pakistan had nothing to do with the blast rests with him. Pak-

istan, you ask. Well, it was a blast, wasn’t it? Who else gets blamed? To top it all, it was caused by tons and tons of fertilizer. It should be noted that our DAP fertilizer is the one containing ammonium, as a phosphate, not a nitrate, but we can’t stop Indian propaganda against Fauji Fertilizer.

We’ve got a hold on coronavirus deaths, which the USA has not, and we’ve avoided doing what Kenya has had to do, which was to cancel the school year.

Kenyan kids will have to do over the school year because there won’t be any freebie promotions like we did. One of their complications is that the school year runs January to December, not September to May. Having got a hold on the coronavirus, because of the sagacious leadership and personal interest of the Prime Minister, we will hopefully avoid him having to say about the number of dead as US President Donald Trump had to, saying “It is what it is.”

I wonder how the traders who wanted to avoid the pre-Eid Punjab lockdown felt. I’m not sure the lockdown worked, because the number of Covid-19 infections has been rising. And that I think is because of the curse of the police. They’ve been waiting for months now to implement any or all SOPs, looking the other way for a suitable fee. They have not been given that chance. The police are unhappy because the government has not yet found a way for them to make money the way they previously did.

They look at Kenya, not because the school year has been lost, but because the cops there have been allowed to shoot lockdown violators.

A

Monday, 10 August, 2020

06 COMMENT

Interesting Times; Worrisome Times

Teetering on the brink As the economy reopens, the IMF ratchets up the pressure

Learning the lesson of the tragedy

I

T might seem to the country’s economic managers that the relief afforded by the covid-19 pandemic is wearing off. The latest credit rating by Moody’s is a retention of the current B3 rating. Despite official tubthumping, the best that can be said about it is that there was no downgrade, for the rating itself is nothing to write home about. Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has resumed asking tough questions about the economy after not just holding off for a while, but providing emergency lending over and above the extended Fund Facility (eFF) package it had already given. Indeed, it was with regard to the eFF package that it has once again begun asking questions about revenue slippages, tariff changes and tax reforms that the country not carried out, even though it had committed it to the IMF. revenue slippages were explained away when the covid-19 pandemic began, by the pandemic, but the IMF sees that excuse as wearing thin.

It is not just revenue. The IMF is raising questions about the power sector, where circular debt has reached rs 2 trillion. There has also been difficulty about power sector reforms, as shown by the fate of the NePrA Act, which the government could not get through even the National Assembly, let alone Parliament. There is also State Bank reform, where the Finance Ministry opposes giving it full autonomy.

The country going into an IMF program would mean forex improvement, but it seems not this time. The withdrawal by Saudi Arabia of its $1 billion deposited with the State Bank may have to do with its political concerns, but it does reflect the danger of relying on foreign economic props. Getting China to fill the gap leaves Pakistan open to a similar withdrawal, especially if, as now because of the pandemic, governments are strapped for cash. It cannot help Pakistan with the IMF that it is greylisted by the Financial Action Task Force and thus threatened by blacklisting. Pakistan’s economic problems, the reason why it put itself in thrall to the IMF, were because of foreign exchange difficulties. Those difficulties will not go away with the re-opening of the economy, because Pakistan will not begin to earn foreign exchange until the rest of the world starts buying and selling again.

Humayun GauHar

T

here is nothing new in this famous Chinese curse, “May you live in interesting times.” Interesting times are worrisome times when things start changing fast leaving people little room to adjust fast enough.

These interesting times are upon us all over the world and they are coming so fast that entire civilizations and ways of life are rebooting. What is interesting is the time it takes to pause so that people not only comprehend but adapt to change.

Covid-19 alone has changed our way of life. Socializing is different now even within families. Travel and the mode of travel has become very different. I know people and whole families who are driving from Karachi to Islamabad and finding the journey quite acceptable. The world’s airlines are going under and travelling on the few has become a great pain. A passenger has to have an annoying Covid test, which has to come out negative, buy two seats and travel with a mask on.

After this hassle one has to quarantine for two weeks at one’s destination. Still many destinations are out of bounds as they are covid-ridden. Times were that people could hop onto a flight like one hops onto a train.

Talking of trains, there are fewer too and the same sort of social distancing applies there. So too in hotels, resorts and office buildings. In short, it’s a new world and whether it is brave or not remains to be seen.

Poor Lebanon. Poor Beirut. The ammonium nitrate blast that took place there was akin to the mother of all bombs. 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate exploded, the size of a small nuclear bomb, which recorded more than 3 on the richter scale. It was like a mini-earthquake. It has killed 158 people so far and injured nearly 3,000 and the numbers are rising. Losses amount to $5 billion but this cold figure does not include the value of a human life, which cannot be calculated. Lebanon is a country trashed not just by the blast but by its economic degradation and its fractured polity. Lebanon has become a tragic example of what happens to a country

Loss at Old Trafford Avoidable and disappointing

T

he loss of the First Test against england was a disappointment at many levels. It was an unwelcome return to international cricket for the country. At a cricketing level, it showed a sudden failure of a vaunted bowling attack. The target of 277 should have been enough on a fourth-day Old Trafford wicket, and while not enough for a really crushing victory, should have been enough. The bowlers alone are not to blame, though their failure to break the Woakes-Buttler partnership was fatal, for the target was not set higher because Pakistan was bowled out for 169. Still, when england was 117-5, with all the specialist batsmen back in the pavilion, it seemed to be all over bar the shouting.

Credit must not be taken away from the Buttler-Woakes pair, all the more deserving of credit because they scored the runs, and remained at the wicket while specialists could not, but the Pakistani bowling lost its fire at the wrong moment. To add icing to the cake, not only did skipper Azhar Ali fail to get among the runs in either innings, but he failed to show any imagination in the passage of play after england lost its fifth wicket. A few more runs, another dismissal; the game was Pakistan’s to lose, and they duly did. The narrowness of the final result, three wickets, says it all.

Though Pakistan lost, it is not as if they were mauled.

The series is still open, though Pakistan will have to win back-to-back Tests to win it. That is not impossible; after all, england did it weeks ago, though admittedly against the West Indies. The task may be daunting, but it demands that Misbahul haq, both as coach and chief selector, improve his performance. he has been a successful captain in england, as has been his batting coach, Younus Khan. While they should pass on the fruit of their experience, the players should go out of their way to benefit. Both coaches and players must realize that the resumption of international cricket after the covid-19 pandemic has meant an even greater viewership than usual, which would be frittered away if they were to keep on losing.

Is Covid-19 an alternative to World War III? All are using the analogy to war abdul Sattar raHuja

T

he 21st century has been earmarked as the era of technological advancements and human efficiency reaching unprecedented heights of living standards. Twenty years into it and it spoke volumes of the evolution of the evolution made by humans in every field, particularly in technology, artificial intelligence, and healthcare. however, nature always has plans uncalled for. The pandemic, rising from Wuhan, China, has engulfed the entire world, shaken the international powers to their core, and has disrupted, maybe for good, every aspect of life that was possible.

It has brought international powers and emerging leaders, all to their knees, probably exposed the reality of how feeble “power” can be. More than 700,000 people had lost their lives fighting the covid-19 pandemic till Sunday, millions were still suffering from it, finding themselves in constant fear of losing their lives while the rest are either cured or are trying their best not to get caught up with this pandemic. The “sky-high” standards of healthcare in developed and developing countries alike are facing an extreme emergency to cope with the rising tide of disease. economies and industries are in danger of being crippled over by it. humanity faces terrifying insecurity in terms of health and wealth with seemingly no way out.

Millions of death, crippling economies, and terror everywhere, is this not a scenario humanity has seen before? Is this something that resembles a world war?

Can we call it would World War III? These and so many other questions pop up when we eye the current COVID-19 fiasco with what humanity has dealt with in world wars fought in the 20th century. even if it would not be a question to come up, the international leaders used an analogy with war, probably to create a sense of urgency and responsibility among the general public but the question needs to be answered if we can have the audacity to call it a World War III? Let us have an in-depth analysis and find out for ourselves.

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

Lahore – Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965

that not only allows but also elects corrupt governments you are reading it in his language. The only saving one after another that are perpetually on a rampage of grace is that actually english has become the interlooting and plundering. What’s worse, the people con- national lingua franca and nearly all countries in the tinue to tolerate this for want of a better and more native world are learning it. The latest education, knowledge system that they cannot find. This should give us Pak- and communications are in english and have to be istanis and others food for thought. rived by 18 sects, translated into russian or German or Chinese. Thereideologies and turf wars, Lebanon does not show any fore, there is so much emphasis on having english signs of becoming a nation or a united polity. that lends itself to knowledge acquisition. This is not Pakistanis should pause a while and ponder the sit- to say that the vernaculars are irrelevant. One must uation of their country. We have also suffered from know them and know them well to remain embedded looting, plundering, pillaging politicians in and out of in one’s times, history and culture even if they do not government since 1971. Our economy too has been lend themselves to knowledge acquisition. brought to its knees. The corruption was on such a Lebanon is also a lesson in what happens to a scale that if one thinks about how to resurrect the Pak- country that is plagued by rampant corruption. Coristani economy one is left beruption begets many ills, for fuddled. how do you get rid example, patronage and abof such a huge debt which sence of merit which leads gobbles up nearly half your to incompetence on a major Lebanon is also a lesson in budget? What do you do scale. Virtually every ill of about rising prices which are society can be traced what happens to a country that our caused by corrupt and inept back to corruption, and corfood supply chains? Karachi ruption can be traced back to is plagued by rampant is a drowned city with little our political system which corruption. Corruption begets electricity, not enough good searches for the worst hospitals, no drainage, no amongst us instead of the many ills, for example, sewerage and I fear, no hope. best as God enjoins.

The possibility of altering its “Choose from amongst patronage and absence of status to a federally adminisyourselves and choose from merit which leads to tered territory that it once amongst the best.” Our syswas is not so bizarre it seems. tem throws up only the incompetence on a major At least it will take it out of worst of choices. The blame the clutches of Bhutto’s Peoalso lies on the people who scale. Virtually every ill of our ple’s Party that put the whole regularly elect poor governsociety can be traced back to country on the path to dements with all their accomstruction, having successevils so change of corruption, and corruption can panying fully helped to break it apart. system has become an imFurthermore, it needs to be perative if we are to survive. be traced back to our political taken out of the clutches of Otherwise don’t forget how the 18th Amendment which system which searches for the many states in history have existed on the land where devolved power and authorworst amongst us instead of you sit. We have been ruled ity to inept provincial govby hindus, Muslims, Budernemnts that do not have the the best as God enjoins dhists, Arabs, for a while wherewithal or capacity to Sikhs, Pathans, Mongols, wield this power. Bhutto’s not to forget the British with nationalization spree was no their lasting influence, and less than larceny on a grand lately by the Muslims of North-Western India. There scale from which the country is yet to recover.

Of course Bhutto was succeeded by his progeny were many more but this should suffice. Sitting in Isand his progeny’s in-laws and by the political son of lamabad, how can I forget the raja of Margalla who Bhutto’s nemesis, Ziaul haq, namely one Nawaz ruled this land until the Macedonian Alexander shook Sharif, his family and progeny and even one son-in-law. the place after defeating Porus. Alexander’s influence In all this, rapine and plunder, Imran Khan came like a and that of many others like the Arabs, the Persians, breath of fresh air simply because he was of a different the Afghans and now increasingly the Chinese and of political ilk, but he has to live up to the expectations he course, thanks to television, the Americans, lingers on. It is in such a cauldron that civilizations and culraised sky-high with his extravagant promises.

Actually Pakistan’s salvation will never come tures are constantly made and remade. So a little huuntil it gets rid of the political system that it is aping mility please while we dream about conquering the from the British colonizer. Pakistan may have got in- world and foisting our way of life on it. dependence on 14 August 1947, but it has yet to win Humayun Gauhar is a veteran columnist in mental and intellectual independence. Look, I’m writing this article in the language of the colonizer and Pakistan and editor of Blue Chip magazine.

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Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9

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One must keep in mind that world wars always maximum profit out of the pandemic, besides attempthad a side that was looking up for the attainment of re- ing to repair its global image.

Covid-19 has been a wild card entry in the ongosources and land, thereby extending the rule of the combatants. It was driven by a sense of wanting to feel ing undeclared third world war. It has exposed the vul“important” on the international stage, and was guided nerability of great powers; the USA’s massive trust deficit for China has been by combatants’ insecurities shown worldwide; henceand terminated by the expulforth the belief of any state in sion of power, either of themaccepting one or two counselves or of oppressed ones.

To put it in perspective, it had The eastern hemisphere seems tries as great powers or dominant leader may be outdated always one against another, to be having an edge in the war down the road. The new parbut not all. The entire world will be not like earlier never had to physically face against covid-19. The next few adigm World Wars, where all counthe wrath of the war itself. tries were not at war, because Some countries always redecades will see the pivot all of them may not have mained neutral. here against agreed to the mutual narracovid-19, it is one against all. shifting towards the East, tives of key players, hence There is no class, no group, which has fastest growing some countries would be at no nation, and no individual hot war, some in military who can be assured safety economies and population posturing stage, and some from it. It is the whole of the using other dimensions and world, trying its best to encentres. It can, therefore be instruments of war, simultacounter covid-19 in any way. argued that the battleground neously. A new global order Let this perspective be will emerge post-covid-19, put aside for a moment and let for ‘Undeclared Third World which need not be US/China us consider a wider perspective. Strategically, China is War’ could be the Indo-Pacific, centric. The world may see a shift in manufacturing hubs taking advantage of the panand the world has already and tendencies to be self-redemic when the entire world liant in critical manufacturis fighting against covid-19. entered in preparatory phase ing. The eastern hemisphere China launched aggressive seems to be having an edge offensive posturing by sendof it, without recognizing or in the war against covid-19. ing airplanes near Taiwan, The next few decades will knocked off fishing boats of declaring it to be so see the pivot shifting towards Vietnam and Malaysia to the east, which has fastest strengthen its control on the growing economies and popSouth China Sea. It exposed ulation centres. It can, therethe dangerousness of any possible biological weapon to the world, adding a new di- fore be argued that the battleground for ‘Undeclared mension in the ongoing undeclared third world war. Third World War’ could be the Indo-Pacific, and the China, having declared victory over the pandemic, was world has already entered in preparatory phase of it, quick to put back its manufacturing in place, trying to without recognizing or declaring it to be so. boost a ‘Covid-19 economy’ by creating a ‘health Silk Abdul Sattar Rahuja is a Scholar at the National road’ and re-activating a most-needed supply chain of medical equipment and medicines, as an attempt to earn Defense University, Islamabad.

Islamabad – Ph: 051-2204545

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Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Monday, 10 August, 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

Committees PUTTING committees, God knows where this ritual started, when it happened, why it happened, no one knows. ritual said that the women of the middle and slum population now adopt the style of making it so that the committee is being formed without saying anything. I wonder how these women can put up such long committees, and even receive a word of pleasure and no one dies before the committee! This is probably the secret of women’s longevity. To this day, I have not seen a woman whose committee is yet to come out and who has died before the committee.

Women’s committees are not just committees, they are written history.

Their committees are so long that it can be inferred from this that the virgins of that time now come to their house with three children and go back to their in-laws after giving the committee. See the importance.

ShEhzadi haSan ali Karachi

Corona situation

Muslim brotherhood The Kashmir cause is a Muslim cause, but sees Arab reluctance

Syed KaSwar Gardezi

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NITY and harmony are two of the virtues professed by Islam. especially when it comes to brethren within the fold of Islam, unity is mandated and emanates out of the holy Quran. Divine command ordains us to support each other and to never wrong each other. With this command in mind, the Muslim community around the world, on the face of it, claims to be bound by brotherhood. Though such brotherhood is far from reality and has never materialized in its truer sense.

One of the most important rallying points, or at least it should be, is the Kashmir issue and the continued illegal occupation and now annexation by India. Not even a minute passes without atrocities being committed by India in occupied Kashmir. Our brothers and sisters in faith and humanity are subjected to inhumane torture and are threatened, raped and killed within the sanctities of their homes, and yet, the Muslim brotherhood fails to extend an olive branch to them.

Despite condemnations, rallies and banners, no concrete steps have been taken which would pave way for betterment in the Kashmir Valley.

With the Kashmiri people in distress, one would expect the Arab world, being pivotal to the Muslim brotherhood, to step forward in its aid. however, the Arabs continue to disappoint and in fact display their hypocritical tendencies. rather than opposing the Indian occupation, the Arabs maintain cordial relations with the Indians and shy away from criticizing and condemning the Indian atrocities in occupied Kashmir. On the contrary, awards are conferred on the Indian Prime Minister and warm hugs are exchanged.

Pakistan for the most part, owing to its weak standing, could not call out the Arabs on not raising the Kashmir issue. In spite of this reluctance

on the part of our Arab ‘brothers’, Pakistan has in order to firstly, educate the world regarding the always bowed its head in obedience before them Indian atrocities and secondly, to deliver the cries and has never dared to call them out. The Saudi- and demands of the Kashmiri people to the world.

It is high time the Arab world and the OIC led Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which is supposed to unify the Muslim brother- is called out on their hypocritical stance of brothhood, has maintained silence over the Kashmir erhood. Not once have they raised a proper voice issue. No brotherhood has ever been extended in support and favour of the Kashmiri people in when it comes to Kashmir yet, but Pakistan spite of which, we claim to be obedient and praccould not muster the courage to voice its con- tising Muslims. We fail to follow divine commands and yet, consider ourselves to be the cerns before them. however, in a surprising turn of events and epitome of Muslims. This silent spectating cana historic change in foreign policy, the Pakistani not and must not continue. In the end, Saudi AraForeign Minister lashed out at the OIC and bia maintains its silence owing to its own Saudi Arabia for their silence on the Kashmir national interest and its problems with Turkey issue. For the first time in recent history, Pak- cozying up with Pakistan. It’s time we express our resentment over istan has taken a princitheir relations with pled stance on the India too.

Saudi-led silence and As opposed to the inaction. hitting hard, As opposed to the OIC, we OIC, we should rather Shah Mehmood stick close to those who Qureshi expressed serishould rather stick close to value the Muslim ous reservations over those who value the Muslim brotherhood far more, the continued silence of including Turkey and the OIC and hinted at brotherhood far more, Malaysia. Clinging on parting ways with the to the Saudi-led OIC same, if the need be; a including Turkey and serves no purpose if it stance never taken beis not going to stand before. even though any Malaysia. Clinging on to the side us in our times of consequences for the Saudi-led OIC serves no need. Money cannot be Kashmiri people are the solution to all the still a long way to go, purpose if it is not going to problems in the world. however, sincere efforts for the first time are stand beside us in our times Sometimes other steps are required which unbeing witnessed as forof need. Money cannot be the fortunately, the Arabs eign relations change have never been willing course. Despite Paksolution to all the problems to take for us. istan’s reliance on the In spite of their economic aid from the in the world. Sometimes other evident failures, Arabs, Pakistan has not other steps are required the Khan led governshied away from standment has taken the first ing up to them, an exerwhich unfortunately, the right step as far as its cise which was long foreign policy is conoverdue.

Pakistan, Arabs have never been cerned by taking a prinwhilst acting on incipled stance on structions from Saudi willing to take for us Kashmir rather than Arabia, missed out on bowing its head in obethe Malaysia summit dience. Let’s hope this obediently, only to be change in policy is not betrayed in the shape of short-lived and is maintained till its actual purKashmir later.

The strong stance adopted by the Foreign pose is achieved. We have time and again Minister comes during a time of uncertainty and swayed the undying hopes which the Kashmiri has sent shockwaves throughout the Saudi lead- people have pinned on us, those cannot be ership. They never predicted a hard stance to be served by our vocal chords but rather require detaken by Pakistan and seem to have been taken cisive steps to be taken. Step by step, the noose aback by the sudden shift in policy. ‘You are ei- is being tightened around the Kashmiris. It is our ther with us or against us’, is somewhat the mes- duty and responsibility to step forward and stand sage being delivered by Pakistan and it is crucial up for them. If it means going to war, then so be that such a message be delivered to the interna- it. Peace at the cost of Kashmiri blood is not tional community in a bid for sincere efforts to- going to serve our conscience. For a lasting wards the freedom of the Kashmiri people. Till peace, fight we must! now, we have been fighting on the wrong battleSyed Kaswar Gardezi is a lawyer and a field. Mere condemnations and songs in support are also not sufficient to effectuate change. A de- columnist. He can be contacted at cisive international narrative needs to be set forth kaswargardezi@gmail.com

COVID-19 situation on 1st Aug 2020 (Source: WhO Islamabad): “Pakistan reported 841 new cases of COVID-19 on 31 July 2020. The total number of cases notified since the beginning of the outbreak is 279,146 with 5,970 deaths (CFr: 2.13%).”COVID-19 indicators in Pakistan are showing an improving trend in Pakistan. however, the impact of the eid holidays during the current weekend and the upcoming Moharram congregations will be crucial in determining if this positive trend is maintained or otherwise. The possibilities of a second wave are considered real. No major relaxation of social lockdown is foreseen in the near future.

British Airways has announced the resuming of its flight operations (heathrow-Islamabad) by restarting its 3-flights per week schedule from 15 August. While the COVID19 numbers show a relative slowdown, it cannot be translated as the pandemic having reached a peak. Therefore, the government has imposed lockdown again in selected area in various large cities (Lhr, ISB) according to emergence of new cases.

Shafiq chohan lahorE

Independence day PAKISTAN’S Independence Day, which is annually held on August 14, celebrates the country’s independent from the British rule on that date in 1947. This day is an occasion to promote patriotism and national unity.

Independence Day is a public holiday. It is a day off for the general population, and schools and most businesses are closed.

People’s all over pakistan celebrate Independence Day with patriotic zest. Many people who attend the Independence Day parades dress up in green and white, which are the pakistan flags colours Pakistan’s national flag is hoisted on public, private buildings residences and monuments at dawn. Official buildings including parliament house, are decorated and colorfully lit. The prime minister and president address and congratulate the nation and talk about the day’s significance. Streets and houses are decorated with candles, oil lamps and pennants. Firework shows are put together on the eve of Independence Day. Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who is considered by many as Pakistan’s founder and Quad-e-Azam (supreme leader). events held during the day include special theatre shows, national song competitions, concerts and Independence Day pageants.

MuhaMMad naEEM Karachi

Water scarcity WATer is one of the most important key elements of life for every living being on this planet. While the sources of water may seem to be abundant, less than one percent of the world’s water is actually for basic human needs.

Our water resources, irregularly distributed in space and time, are under pressure due to major population change and increased demand. The World Wide Fund for Nature said that almost two thirds of the world’s population could suffer from water shortage by 2025. The reasons for this imminent catastrophe vary from altered weather patterns to increased pollution, perhaps the most important factor is the uncontrolled population of the human species. There is an urgent need for effective policies to be drafted to combat population growth. Increasing access to voluntary family planning services can help slow population growth, and complement ongoing efforts to ensure adequate and clean water for all. Currently Pakistan is categorized as a water scarce country because the yearly water availability is less than 1,000 cubic meters per person if it reaches 500 cubic meters it will become a country with absolute water scarcity by 2025.

Punjab health Minister Dr Yasmin rashid on Friday cautioned that an increase in population may lead to scarcity of water, the minister urged people of Punjab to avoid wasting water, as they may face shortage of it.

Yasmin rashid lauded the authorities of WASA for developing underground rainwater storage projects. Let’s do the earth a favor and be a water saver! irfan Khan Karachi

Plantation campaign PM imran khan has appealed the nation to join the Plantation campaign tomorrow! Prime Minister said from tomorrow we’ll be starting Plantation campaign all over the country.. he had further said that this Plantation will be the biggest planting campaign in Pakistan’s history and has decided to accomplish the target of planting 35 lakh trees in a day. Let me mention that why Plantation is essential ! First of all it is important because Muhammad (PBUh), has ordered us to plant trees even as the world comes to an end, “If the end of the world approaches and one of you has a seedling (or plant) in his hand, if he can plant it before the end comes, let him do it.” he also says, “If a Muslim plants a tree or sows seeds, and then a bird, a person or an animal eats from it, it is regarded as a charitable gift for him until the Day of Judgment.”

And secondly Trees give benefits to our health, our environment. Trees boost wildlife, trees strengthen communities, trees grow economy and protect the future etc.. Plantation and trees are beneficial in all ways. arifa SaEEd Tunio Karachi

Monday, 10 August, 2020

08 WORLD VIEW

Dismantle the Department of homelanD security ITS TACTICS ARE FEARSOME

usa Today

a

anThony d romero

S an organization dedicated to civil liberties, civil rights and the rule of law, we at the American Civil Liberties Union believe that the government has both the authority and responsibility to enforce its laws — laws that promote justice, equality and the general welfare. In recent weeks, the actions of federal agents have shown us all that the Department of Homeland Security isn’t capable of acting consistently with the constitution, and should no longer exist in its current state.

The scenes unfolding in Portland and elsewhere are a reminder of the red flags many have raised about DHS throughout its history: that its powers are too great, and it

lacks the oversight and management to be effective. We can preserve our freedoms and our security better by dismantling DHS and beginning anew.

People across the political spectrum watched in disbelief as unidentified federal agents were deployed to American cities — despite objections by mayors and governors — to escalate violence against protestors.

Paramilitary forces abducted people exercising their constitutional rights in Portland, placed them in unmarked vehicles and took them to undisclosed locations. The tactics deployed by DHS agents are unlawful and shocking, but they are no surprise: back in 2002, we at the ACLU called the initial blueprints for the behemoth bureaucracy “constitutionally bankrupt.”

DIRE WARNINGS BECOME DHS REALITY: And for nearly 20 years, we have seen many of our warnings about DHS become tragic realities. We objected to a knee-jerk plan that failed to respond to the intelligence law enforcement failures that contributed to the tragedy of 9/11. We believed that DHS would use the veil of “security” to target communities of color and immigrants, and urged greater civil liberties

oversight. Now, of course, we know that DHS has surveilled Black Lives Matter activist circles; descended into mosques and community centers to infiltrate Muslim communities; shot and killed foreign nationals across the border; and monitored protests using fusion center intelligence sharing hubs. DHS is also responsible for the separating children from their parents at our borders — a tragedy we continue to litigate. The short history of DHS has been filled with violence, the stoking of fear, and a lack of oversight. The department’s horrific tactics are being used in cities across the country.

The fearsome tactics of DHS are well known to the communities against whom they are used. Its dysfunction is one of the Beltway’s worst kept secrets. DHS’s overbroad mandate and unchecked powers have turned it into a tinderbox, now ignited by a president willing to trample on the constitutional limits of presidential powers. While calls for reform have been loud and clear for years, new signals are now coming from the highest levels of the DHS diaspora. Tom Ridge, the first Secretary of Homeland Security, said recently that DHS “wasn’t designed to become the president’s personal militia.” Former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff asserted that Trump’s deployment of agents to U.S. cities is “damaging to the department.” And Richard

Global power games could blow the whole Middle East apart A FAILED STATE IS DEFINED AS ONE UNABLE TO PROTECT, FEED AND EMPLOY ITS PEOPLE, DEFEND ITS BORDERS OR PAY ITS DEBTS. LEBANON MEETS ALL THESE CRITERIA

GuardIan Simon TiSdall

The huge explosion that destroyed much of central Beirut is a daunting metaphor for the perils facing failing Middle East states.

For years, the region has been described as the world’s most unstable, as a powder-keg primed to detonate at any moment. Last week’s awful tragedy begs a bigger question about how many shocks such fragile, vulnerable countries can absorb before they fracture, crash and blast apart. Is the Middle East as a whole about to explode?

Nearly 10 years after the Arab spring’s hopes of reform were dashed in a storm of violence and counter-revolution, and at a time when regional tensions are again approaching boiling point, a possible watershed nears.

As Thursday’s visit by French president Emmanuel Macron and global offers of assistance suggest, the world is suddenly paying renewed attention.

Perhaps this will supply a wider impetus for the sort of fundamental changes many in Lebanon and neighbouring countries now angrily demand.

By many measures, the Lebanese republic, founded in 1943 at the close of the French Mandate, was already in existential crisis. A failed state is defined as one unable to protect, feed and employ its people, defend its borders or pay its debts. Lebanon meets all these criteria.

The official negligence that allegedly caused Tuesday’s disaster is typically a product of governance systems hollowed out by factionalism, sectarianism, corruption and lack of democratic accountability. Again, the Beirut government ticks the boxes.

Yet of all these many ills, the blight of foreign interference is perhaps the most pernicious – and Lebanon is a prime victim.

The 1975-1990 civil war left a legacy of division and territorial occupation by Israeli and Syrian forces.

It was ill-equipped to deal with large Palestinian and Syrian refugee influxes. Its economic well-being depends on the kindness, or self-interest,

of strangers. Power-sharing Lebanese leaders, more confessional than professional, pick sides between the US, the Saudis, Iran and its local Shia ally, Hezbollah.

Lebanon is regularly buffeted by skirmishing between Israeli forces and the Islamist militia. No surprise, then, that many in Beirut initially assumed Tuesday’s explosion was caused by an Israeli air strike. In 2017, then Sunni prime minister, Saad Hariri, was abducted and forced to resign by the Saudi regime. Right now, Lebanon’s economy faces fresh damage from US sanctions aimed at Syria and delays to a $20bn IMF bailout dictated by a foreign agenda.

In the decade following the Arab spring, regional interventions and manipulation by multiple outside actors have intensified.

Oddly, this process has been accelerated by the gradual disengagement of the biggest meddler of all.

The US has left a vacuum others compete to fill. If Lebanon cracks under present strains, or descends into renewed civil strife, incessant foreign meddling and string-pulling will be greatly to blame.

A disturbingly similar picture is seen in Iraq where a new prime minister, Mustafa al-Kadhimi, is struggling to shake off the twin legacies of American military intervention and regional power-games involving Iran, Turkey and the Gulf Arabs. Kadhimi has called for early elections in response to protesters who, like their Lebanese counterparts, rose up last year in huge numbers to demand a wholesale dismantling of the political system.

Sectarian rivalries between Sunni and Shia parties and affiliated militias, corruption, and economic pain, exacerbated in Iraq’s case by falling oil revenues and failure to invest in jobs and infrastructure, also feed instability. But so, too, do foreign states.

The Iran-backed Kata’ib Hezbollah militia is blamed for recent attacks on residual US forces fighting Isis.

Iran itself is determined to maintain the dominant influence it gained during the chaos following the US invasion.

Like his post-2003 predecessors, Kadhimi faces an uphill struggle to save Iraq’s dysfunctional democracy

from collapse – and with it, the Iraqi state. His plan for early polls could yet be thwarted in parliament. His attempts to loosen Tehran’s grip have not been helped by cuts in US financial aid. And his personal safety may be at risk after last month’s assassination of a top counter-terrorism adviser, Hisham al-Hashimi.

Iraq has already broken apart, in the sense that the de facto autonomous, Kurdish-controlled northern region barely answers to Baghdad. A key player here is Turkey, which has exploited Iraq’s sovereign weakness, ostensibly in pursuit of a vendetta against Kurdish PKK separatists. With his armed interventions in Iraq, Syria and Libya, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s president, recalls the Ottoman sultans of old.

What holds true for Lebanon and Iraq holds true across large swathes of the Middle East. Syria is held together only by the limitless brutality of the Assad regime, abetted by another neo-imperialist predator, Russia’s Vladimir Putin. Yet Idlib province remains defiant and there are signs of renewed opposition elsewhere.

Whether the Syrian state will survive intact is still an open question.

Foreign meddling is also central to Libya’s endless agony, where Russia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE have lined up against Turkey, Qatar and Islamist groups.

The fact Britain, France and Italy have been sidelined from this oil-fired feeding frenzy speaks to a bigger shift. The old colonial powers who set the rules and drew the borders a century ago have given way to a new generation of oppressors and exploiters. Selfish motives and ruthless methods are the same. Only the names have changed.

This oscillating arc of deepening instability includes Yemen, a defenceless failed state and bloody playground for rivalrous regional powers.

Could vulnerable Jordan be next? Or might Iran, a country comprising myriad religious and ethnic groups, finally break asunder, succumbing to the relentless hostility of its enemies?

This latest fragmentation of the post-1918 Middle East order is no less dangerous because it’s familiar. Expect more explosions. As Beirut picks up the pieces, things could fall apart.

Clarke, who served on the National Security Council for Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush has called for dismantling DHS. Nearly 20 years of abuse, waste, and corruption demonstrate the failure of the DHS experiment. Joining 22 agencies with conflicting missions — including border security, disaster relief, and immigration enforcement, among others. Many insiders knew DHS to be an ineffective superagency, but President Trump has converted DHS into our government’s most notable badge of shame.

BREAK DHS INTO PARTS: Dismantling DHS, breaking it apart into various federal agencies, and shrinking its allocation of federal dollars will allow for more effective oversight, accountability and public transparency. The spun-off agencies will have clearer missions and more limited functions.

A behemoth of a federal agency too easily hides its problems and failings. Congressional oversight can be more readily divided among various congressional committees.

Smaller agencies with clearer mandates will make the cabinet-level jobs more attractive to top-notch professionals. There is also the added benefit that breaking up DHS will provide a larger number of Cabinet posts to reflect our country’s diversity.

Most importantly, the very premise of a

“homeland security” bureaucracy is chilling and ought to be questioned. Defense of the “homeland” became a rallying cry for hawks and some doves in the aftermath of 9/11, but that frame betrays the broader values that ought to infuse our democracy. Why, for example, is an agency responsible for citizenship and immigration under a threat-oriented department? Immigrants are not a threat to the “homeland.”

Years of chaos and impunity make a clear case for the dismantling of DHS. President Trump’s use of DHS as his personal militia should be enough to start a meaningful bipartisan debate about DHS’ future. If there is one thing we have learned from the authoritarianism on display in Portland, it’s that we have to remove the loaded weapon that sits on the proverbial coffee table in the Oval Office.

Donald Trump should not be allowed to provide a precedent for future presidents with authoritarian tendencies to repeat the injustices we are currently enduring. Dismantling DHS into its component parts would restore greater balance to our system of checks and balances. And rather than tolerating misinterpretation of “homeland security”, we need our government to advance a “more perfect union.”

Anthony D. Romero is the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Economic mismanagement, pandemic and confrontation with China exposed India’s weaknesses LARGE BUSINESSES HAVE PUBLICLY ANNOUNCED THEY WILL CUT BACK CAPITAL EXPENDITURE AND CONSERVE CASH

IndIan ExprEss P Chidambaram

A few days ago, Dr Manmohan Singh co-authored with Mr Praveen Chakravarthy (The Hindu, August 3, 2020) an essay on reviving the Indian economy. It contained three simple objectives: restoring confidence among people, restoring confidence among bankers, and restoring confidence among international organisations. The prescription under each was detailed, but not beyond the comprehension and capacity of a caring, competent government.

Predictably, there has been no official reaction to the essay. Of course, one can ask ‘should the government react to every essay’? The answer is, no, but this was no ordinary essay. It was co-authored by Dr Singh, the author of India’s path-breaking economic reforms and a former finance minister (5 years) and former prime minister (10 years).

Be that as it may, are the Singh-Chakravarthy prescriptions valid? Each one of you may relate the ideas therein to the reality you see around you. I have tried to do that in my native Sivagangai district and neighbouring districts of Tamil Nadu. Here are the voices from the ground.

AMONG THE PEOPLE: Among the people, there is fear of spending. They don’t have enough money, many have lost their jobs or fear losing jobs, and what if someone falls ill and needs to be hospitalised? People are hoarding the little money they have. If some have large amounts of cash, they are putting it in gold (buying gold reflects uncertainty).

Currency with the public was Rs 26,72,446 crore on July 31. Demand and Time deposits have grown 12.0 per cent and 10.5 per cent respectively in 12 months.

The only places where the people are willing to spend are kirana stores, vegetable and fruit shops, and pharmacies. As a result, many retail outlets are without customers — clothing, footwear, furniture, toys, diners/restaurants, electronics etc.

The fear of infection is so pervasive that many people don’t visit doctors or hospitals. Many general practitioners have shut their clinics. Local vaids are in demand for kashayam. AYUSH is making a comeback.

How will demand revive in such circumstances?

Hence, Dr Singh has reiterated the need for cash transfers to the people. India is perhaps the only large country that has shunned cash transfers, even while it is feared that millions of people just above the poverty line may slide into poverty.

AMONG BANKERS (AND BORROWERS): No one I have spoken to gives a tuppence for the exhortations of the finance minister. Bankers listen to the RBI that has warned that NPAs may rise to 14.7 per cent by March 2021. No banker will lend on the

strength of the current balance sheets of potential borrowers. Look at the fate of the ‘Rs 3 lakh crore credit guarantee scheme’ announced amidst great fanfare. We were led to believe that the government will guarantee to the banks that it will pay up to Rs 3 lakh crore against loan defaults. We believed that the total lending can be up to Rs 30 lakh crore (assuming an NPA of 10 per cent). Apparently, we were wrong.

Government has now hinted that it had promised only total loans up to Rs 3 lakh crore; of which Rs 1,36,000 crore have been sanctioned and Rs 87,227 crore have been disbursed! I am reminded of the Tamil proverb that the donkey has reduced itself to a black ant!

Amidst little enthusiasm for lending and more fanfare, the scheme has been enlarged to lend to bigger businesses and self-employed professionals.

However, there is no confidence among borrowers. The Tiruppur garment industry is producing at 30 per cent of capacity. Job work units are working at 60 per cent of capacity. A hardware merchant, cement dealer or tyre dealer struggles with a turnover of 20 per cent of normal in order to keep his dealership. The potential borrower is worried he would not be able to repay the loan. If he has his own money, he ploughs it into the business; if not, he is content to operate at lower capacity. Large businesses have publicly announced they will cut back capital expenditure and conserve cash. Renowned business houses have declared their intention to become debt-free. All this will tell on growth and job-creation.

AMONG INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS: The way the government has discredited free trade has created deep suspicion around the world. India speaks openly about breaking WTO rules and has positioned itself against multilateral and bilateral trade agreements.

Import substitution is the new (old?) road to prosperity.

Quantitative restrictions, high tariffs and non-tariff barriers are back. I call it the Trump effect, government calls it Atmanirbhar, no different from the autarchic policies followed between 1960 and 1990.

Take a count of the institutions that are a pale shadow of what they ought to be: Information Commission, Election Commission, Competition Commission, Niti Aayog (formerly Planning Commission), PM’s Economic Advisory Council, Office of Chief Economic Adviser, Office of Comptroller & Auditor General and more. The various Rights Commissions are in deep slumber, none more than the Human Rights Commission. Today, opinion about India among businesses, Institutional investors, Pension funds and Wealth funds is generally negative.

The triple crises — the mismanagement of the economy, the spread of the pandemic and the confrontation with China — have exposed India’s weaknesses.

Dr Singh, a patriot to the core, and Mr Chakravarthy have shown a practical and feasible way to navigate India out of the economic crisis.

P Chidambaram is former Finance minister of India.

Monday, 10 August, 2020

BUSINESS 09

Oil giAntS cut prOductiOn, pOSt MASSive writedOwnS t Saudi Aramco's profit plunges, sees signs of oil market recovery DUBAI AGENCIES

State oil giant Saudi Aramco’s profit plunged 73 per cent in the second quarter of the year, as a slump in energy demand and prices due to the coronavirus crisis hit sales at the world’s biggest oil exporter. But the company stuck with plans to pay $75 billion in dividends this year and CEO Amin Nasser said global oil demand was recovering. All major oil companies have taken a hit in the second quarter as lockdowns to contain the coronavirus limited travel, which reduced oil consumption and sent prices tumbling to levels not seen in nearly two decades. Aramco, which listed in Riyadh last year in a record $29.4 billion flotation, said the rapid spread of Covid-19 globally had significantly reduced demand for crude oil, natural gas and petroleum products. Nasser told reporters he had seen a partial recovery in the energy market and a pick up in demand as economies gradually open after the easing of coronavirus lockdowns. “Look at China, their gasoline and diesel demand is almost at pre-Covid 19 levels. We are seeing that Asia is picking up and other markets (too),” he told reporters after announcing the company’s quarterly results. “As countries ease the lockdown, we expect the demand to increase.” Nasser said Aramco was committed to its 2020 dividend. “We intend to pay the $75 billion, subject to board approval and market conditions,” he said. The group’s dividends play a critical role in helping the Saudi government to manage its fiscal deficit. Aramco reported a 73.4 per cent fall in second-quarter net profit, a steeper drop than analysts had forecast, and said it expected capital expenditure for 2020 to be at the lower end of a $25 billion to $30 billion range. Net profit fell to 24.6 billion riyals ($6.57 billion) for the quarter to June 30 from 92.6 billion riyals a year earlier. Analysts had expected net profit of 31.3 billion riyals, according to the mean estimate from three analysts, provided by Refinitiv. “Aramco figures are healthy compared to other global peers,” Mazen al-Sudairi, head of research at Al Rajhi Capital, said. “This was the worst quarter in the modern history of oil industry, and surviving it with healthy figures points to a very positive outlook.”

Aramco shares were up about 0.4 per cent in early trade. The group is currently the world’s second most valuable publicly traded company after Apple. Aramco said it will pay a dividend of $18.75 billion for the second quarter of this year, in line with plans for a $75 billion dividend for 2020. BP earlier this month cut its dividend for the first time in a decade after a record second-quarter loss, while Royal Dutch Shell in April cut its dividend for the first time since World War Two. Aramco’s free cash flow stood at $6.1 billion in the second quarter and $21.1 billion for the first half of 2020, respectively, compared with $20.6 billion and $38.0 billion for the same periods in 2019. Aramco’s gearing ratio was 20.1 per cent at the end of June, mainly reflecting the deferred consideration for the acquisition of Saudi Basic Industries Corp and the consolidation of SABIC’s net debt on to Aramco’s balance sheet.

HE world’s five largest oil companies collectively cut the value of their assets by nearly $50 billion in the second quarter, and slashed production rates as the coronavirus pandemic caused a drastic fall in fuel prices and demand.

The dramatic reductions in asset valuations and decline in output show the depth of the pain in the second quarter.

Fuel demand at one point was down by more than 30 per cent worldwide, and still remains below pre-pandemic levels.

Several executives said they took massive writedowns because they expect demand to remain impaired for several more quarters as people travel less and use less fuel due to the ongoing global pandemic that has killed more than 700,000 people.

Of those five companies, only Exxon Mobil did not book sizeable impairments. But an ongoing re-evaluation of its plans could lead to a “significant portion” of its assets being impaired, it reported, and signal the elimination of 20 per cent or 4.4 billion

barrels of its oil and gas reserves.

By contrast, BP took a $17 billion hit. It said it plans to re-center its spending in coming years around renewables and less on oil and natural gas.

Weak demand means oil producers must revisit business plans, said Lee Maginniss, managing director at consultants Alarez & Marsal. He said the goal should be to pump only what gen-

erates cash in excess of overhead costs.

“It’s low-cost production mode through the end of 2021 for sure, and to 2022 to the extent there are new development plans being contemplated,” Maginniss said. London-based BP has previously said it plans to cut its overall output by roughly 1 million barrels of oil equivalent (boepd) by the end of 2030 from its current 3.6 million boepd.

Of the five, Exxon is the largest producer, with daily output of 3.64 million boepd, but its production dropped 408,000 boepd between the first and second quarters. The five majors, which include Chevron Corp, Royal Dutch Shell and Total SA, also cut capital expenditures by a combined $25 billion between the quarters.

Crude output worldwide dropped sharply after the market crashed in April. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, led by Saudi Arabia, along with allies including Russia, agreed to cut output by nearly 10 million barrels a day to balance out supply and demand in the market. AGENCIES

Twitter expresses interest in buying TikTok's US operations

Mukesh Ambani becomes world’s 4th richest man

EXPERTS RAISE DOUBTS OVER TWITTER’S ABILITY TO PUT TOGETHER FINANCING FOR A POTENTIAL DEAL

AMBANI HAS SLOWLY BEEN SHIFTING HIS FOCUS TO E-COMMERCE WITH TECH GIANTS SEEKING TO TAKE A PIECE OF INDIA’S FAST-GROWING DIGITAL BUSINESS

Twitter Inc has approached TikTok’s Chinese owner ByteDance to express interest in acquiring the US operations of the videosharing app, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters, as experts raised doubts over Twitter’s ability to put together financing for a potential deal.

It is far from certain that Twitter would be able to outbid Microsoft Corp and complete such a transformative deal in the 45 days that US President Donald Trump has given ByteDance to agree to a sale, the sources said on Saturday.

The news of Twitter and TikTok being in preliminary talks and Microsoft still being seen as the front-runner in bidding for the app’s US operations was reported earlier by the Wall Street Journal.

Twitter has a market capitalisation of close to $30 billion (23 billion pounds), almost as much as the valuation of TikTok’s assets to be divested, and would need to raise additional capital to fund the deal, according to the sources.

NEW DELHI TLTP

“Twitter will have a hard time putting together enough financing to acquire even the US operations of TikTok. It doesn’t have enough borrowing capacity”, said Erik Gordon, a professor at the University of Michigan.

“If it (Twitter) tries to put together an investor group, the terms will be tough. Twitter’s own shareholders might prefer that management focus on its existing business”, he added.

One of Twitter’s shareholders, private equity firm Silver Lake, is interested in helping fund a potential deal, one of the sources added.

Twitter has also privately made a case that its bid would face less regulatory scrutiny than Microsoft’s, and will not face any pressure from China given that it is not active in that country, the

sources said.

TikTok, ByteDance and Twitter declined to comment.

TikTok has come under fire from US lawmakers over national security concerns surrounding data collection.

Earlier this week, Trump unveiled bans on US transactions with the China-based owners of messaging app WeChat and TikTok, escalating tensions between the two countries.

Trump said this week he would support Microsoft’s efforts to buy TikTok’s US operations if the US government got a “substantial portion” of the proceeds.

He nevertheless said he will ban the popular app on September 15.

Microsoft said on Sunday it was aiming to conclude negotiations for a deal by mid-September. AGENCIES

India’s Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani has become the world’s 4th richest man after he amassed $22 billion this year. The Reliance Industries chairman is now worth $80.6 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Ambani has overtaken France’s Bernard Arnault, whose LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton has suffered from customers curbing high-end fashion purchases faster than the company's bid to cut costs.

Ambani, the India’s richest person, has already surpassed some of the biggest tycoons in recent weeks – a list that includes Silicon Valley titans such as Elon Musk and Alphabet co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, as well as the socalled Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett. While Ambani’s conglomerate with a huge energy empire suffered because of a slump in demand for oil amid Covid-19, its shares have more than doubled from a low in March as its digital unit attracted billions in investments from companies including Facebook and Google.

Ambani has slowly been shifting his focus to ecommerce, with tech giants seeking to take a piece of India’s fast-growing digital business.

Google said last month it will spend $10 billion in the coming years to help accelerate the adoption of digital technologies in the world’s second-most populous nation.

Coronavirus punishes Warren Buffett as Berkshire Hathaway takes big writedown Berkshire Hathaway Inc on Saturday announced a $9.8 billion writedown and 10,000 job losses at its Precision Castparts aircraft parts unit, as the coronavirus pandemic caused widespread pain at Warren Buffett’s conglomerate.

Despite the writedown, Berkshire said second-quarter net income surged 87 per cent because of gains in stock investments such as Apple Inc as markets rebounded.

Operating profit fell 10 per cent cushioned by a temporary bump at the Geico auto insurer, as the pandemic caused “relatively minor to severe” damage to most of Berkshire’s more than 90 operating businesses.

“The writedown was prudent,” said Cathy Seifert, an equity analyst at CFRA Research. “It’s a recognition of what the market has long believed, that the purchase price was rich, and the integration not as smooth as many would have hoped.”

Berkshire, which paid $32.1 billion for Precision in 2016 in its largest acquisition, and which Buffett at the time called a steep price, said Covid-19 caused airlines to slash plane orders, significantly curbing demand for Precision’s products.

Buffett himself soured on airlines during the quarter, selling $6 billion of their stock and telling shareholders on May 2 the industry’s future had become “much less clear to me.”

Berkshire said Precision, which also makes industrial parts, saw revenue fall by one-third and plans an “aggressive restructuring” to shrink operations. Precision ended 2019 with 33,417 employees, and has shed 30 per cent of its workforce.

During the quarter, Buffett, who turns 90 on August 30, also took advantage of Berkshire’s underperforming shares by repurchasing $5.1 billion of stock, even as the pandemic reduced other companies’ ability

to buy back their own shares.

Berkshire’s stock has significantly underperformed broader markets since the end of 2018, and Seifert said investors should welcome the buybacks.

“Berkshire tends to go against the grain, and when so many companies suspended buybacks, Berkshire did the opposite,” she said. “The market should react positively, because it shows Berkshire is confident in its prospects.”

Those repurchases confirmed Berkshire’s hint in a July 8 regulatory filing it had become more aggressive with buybacks after loosening its buyback policy in 2018.

Pandemic damage: Berkshire businesses suffering from the pandemic also include the BNSF railroad, which saw lower shipping volumes, and retailers including See’s candies that temporarily closed stores.

Companies in which Berkshire recently

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made large investments have also been struggling.

Berkshire recorded a $513 million loss on its 26.6 per cent stake in Kraft Heinz Co, after the food company took several writedowns including for Maxwell House and Oscar Mayer.

Meanwhile, Occidental Petroleum Corp, where Berkshire invested $10 billion last August, has also pummeled by sinking oil prices.

Berkshire’s overall quarterly net income rose to $26.3 billion, or $16,314 per Class A share, from $14.07 billion, or $8,608 per share, a year earlier. That followed a $49.75 billion first-quarter loss.

An accounting rule requires Berkshire to report unrealised stock gains and losses with net results, causing huge swings that Buffett considers meaningless.

Second-quarter operating profit fell to

$5.53 billion, or about $3,463 per Class A share, from $6.14 billion, or $3,757 per share, a year earlier.

Revenue fell 11 per cent to $56.8 billion, despite gains in some businesses including Duracell batteries, which rose 16 per cent.

Geico’s pretax underwriting profit increased fivefold to $2.06 billion because people drove less, resulting in significantly fewer accident claims.

But Berkshire said Geico could suffer underwriting losses for the rest of the year, as it awards drivers $2.5 billion of credits on auto and motorcycle policy renewals.

Berkshire ended June with a record $146.6 billion of cash and equivalents, and bought just $797 million of equities in the quarter.

Buffett has since deployed some cash, agreeing to buy some Dominion Energy gas assets for $4 billion and adding more than $2 billion of Bank of America Corp stock. AGENCIES

Monday, 10 August, 2020

10 FOREIGN NEWS

South Korea floodS Kill dozenS, diSplace thouSandS SEOUL

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TLTP

T least 30 people have died, and 12 remain missing after 46 days of heavy rains in South Korea, with the country's longest monsoon in seven years causing more flooding, landslides and evacuations on Sunday.

Close to 6,000 people had also been evacuated as of Sunday, according to the country's Yonhap news agency, as rains battered the southern part of the Korean Peninsula.

Yonhap also quoted the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters as saying that at least eight people have been injured in the disaster.

The death toll did not include the casualties from three capsized vessels at Uiam Dam in Chuncheon, 85 kilometres (53 miles) east of Seoul, which left three dead and three missing on Sunday. It was categorized as a marine accident.

More than 5,900 people from 11 provinces and cities left their homes, and some 4,600 of them remain at temporary shelters following warnings of disasters, according to Yonhap.

An estimated 9,300 hectares (22,980 acres) of farmland were swamped or buried, while 9,500 cases of damage to public and private facilities were reported.

The country's forestry agency has raised landslide warnings to its highest level in every region except the holiday island of Jeju.

Five homes were buried in a

landslide on Friday from a mountain behind a village in Gokseong, South Jeolla province, killing five people.

Three people have been rescued.

Twelve local flights were cancelled at the regional Gwangju airport near the southwestern tip of the peninsula after the runway was flooded, according to Yonhap news agency.

The city of Seoul warned people to stay away from basements, valleys and rivers as further torrential rains were expected on Saturday night.

South Korea's longest monsoon on record was 49 days in 2013. Current weather forecasts predict that this year's monsoon may last longer.

Jangmi, the season's fifth tropical cyclone, is expected to hit the southern region of the Korean Peninsula from Monday, bringing about more rain in the flood-hit areas.

Thousands of Israelis join anti-Netanyahu protests JERUSALEM TLTP

Thousands of demonstrators have once again filled the streets near the official residence of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a renewed show of strength as weeks of protests calling for his resignation showed no signs of slowing.

The protesters were angry at the government's handling of the coronavirus crisis and said Netanyahu should not remain in office while on trial for corruption charges.

In central Jerusalem on Saturday evening, protesters held Israeli flags, blew horns and chanted slogans against Netanyahu.

Some held posters that said "Crime Minister" or called him "out of touch", while dressed up as visitors from outer space, in a move

aimed at mocking comments by Netanyahu's son, Yair, who caused a public uproar this week when he described the demonstrators as "aliens".

Though Netanyahu has tried to downplay the protests, the gatherings only appear to be getting stronger -they are the largest since protests erupted in 2011 against the country's high cost of living. After moving quickly to contain the coronavirus earlier this year, critics believe Israel reopened its economy too quickly.

The country is now facing a surge in infections - confirmed cases have surpassed 82,000, including 592 deaths - while unemployment has jumped to more than 20 percent.

Self-employed workers, whose businesses have been hurt amid the economic fallout of the pandemic,

also joined Saturday's protest.

Netanyahu has dismissed the demonstrators as "leftists" and "anarchists" and accused local media of strengthening the protests by giving them heavy coverage.

The Israeli prime minister was sworn in for a fifth term in May after clinching a coalition deal four months ago with centrist Benny Gantz, his main rival in three inconclusive elections since April 2019.

Netanyahu, who heads the rightwing Likud party, has often complained of press bias against him, and some of the charges he faces in a corruption trial related to alleged attempts to seek favourable coverage from media barons in return for state favours.

The prime minister has denied wrongdoing in the three corruption cases against him.

Trump's orders to extend Covid-19 relief draw criticism WASHINGTON TLTP

The US President Donald Trump's orders to extend certain Covid-19 economic relief have sparked sharp

criticism from Democrats, who might challenge the legality of the president's executive action.

As White House officials and Democratic lawmakers remain deadlocked over the new relief bill, Trump signed four actions on Saturday, trying to move around Congress and assert executive power.

One of the actions will extend extra unemployment benefits through the end of the year at a reduced level of 400 US dollars per week, instead of the 600 dollars approved by Congress in late March, which expired at the end of July.

Trump said the reduced level of extra benefits will give people "a great incentive" to go back to work.

The new order also demands states cover 25 percent of the 400-dollar weekly benefits. "Instead of passing a bill, now President Trump is cutting families' unemployment benefits and pushing states further into a budget crisis, forcing them to make devastating cuts to life-or-death services," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said in a joint statement.

The Senate Republicans' 1-trillion-dollar Covid-19 relief proposal, unveiled in late July, would slash the federal benefits to 200 dollars through September, and then give an unemployed worker about 70 percent of previous wages when combined with state benefits, while Democrats want to maintain the 600-dollar benefits through January.

Another sticking point in the negotiation is direct aid to states and cities, as Democrats proposed a 1trillion-dollar aid for struggling state

and local governments in their previously unveiled 3-trillion-dollar relief proposal, while Republicans planned to offer no new money.

Earlier in the week, Democrats offered to cut their $3 trillion relief proposal by $1 trillion if Republicans would agree to increase their roughly 1-trillion-dollar package by the same amount, but were rebuffed.

The other three actions Trump signed Saturday include a memorandum to defer certain payroll tax obligations, a memorandum to defer student loan payments and an executive order to reinstate the federal moratorium on evictions, which also expired at the end of July. The payroll tax deferment, which Trump repeatedly advocated, has met bipartisan opposition. Trump's orders will likely face a legal challenge, as Congress has the constitutional authority to determine federal funding, according to the US media.

"Today's meager announcements show President Trump still does not comprehend the seriousness or the urgency of the health and economic crises facing working families. These policies provide little real help for families," Pelosi and Schumer said.

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden also lashed out at Trump's executive actions, calling them "half-baked."

"These orders are not real solutions. They are just another cynical ploy designed to deflect responsibility. Some measures do far more harm than good," Biden said in a statement, noting that Trump is putting social security "at grave risk" with the payroll tax plan.

Monday, 10 August, 2020

SPORTS 11

We had the game in the palm of our hands: azhar ali

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SPORTS DESK

EST cricket is a peculiar game, but Pakistan cricket is odder still. In front of an eerily empty Old Trafford, Chris Woakes squeezed - edged, let's be honest - Shaheen Afridi through third slip where, for some reason, a catcher wasn't present. The ball rolled away for four, and England celebrated a famous win against a Pakistan side that had this match sewn up so often it was impossible to follow where it all came loose.

Four days ago, there may even have been a sense of faint pride about the side taking England to the brink.

Pakistan, after all, came into the series firm underdogs, having not won an away Test match since the last time they visited England two years ago. They were going through a transition of sorts, having axed the captain last year, and trying to blood a raw, albeit deliciously exciting, pace attack that has its best years ahead of it. They had played no cricket at all in months, while England were still cooling down after a high-intensity threematch series against West Indies, having just finished playing two successive Tests at Old Trafford, the venue of the first match against Pakistan.

Once the dust has settled, the more measured voices in the camp, like head coach Misbah-ul-Haq, may try and remind them about all that in a bid to avoid spirits taking a hit before the second Test begins in just four days. Maintaining that sense of perspective will be particularly difficult, however, as Pakistan remember the number of times they could have killed England off before the match got to its climax. Barely 24 hours earlier, they found themselves batting again on a 107-run lead, and anything like the grit the visitors had shown in the first innings would have ensured they would not walk

away from Manchester trailing the three-match series.

Earlier on day four, Azhar Ali's men found themselves in a what seemed an equally unassailable position, having dismissed half of England's side with 160 runs still left to get. Jos Buttler, having endured a difficult Test match, found himself batting alongside Woakes, who averaged 5.22 with the bat over his past seven Tests. That his side threw away such sizeable advantages particularly stung captain Azhar, who bemoaned Pakistan's inability to kill off the game when they had the chance.

"I wouldn't say we lost the match in [our] second innings, but we missed a chance to knock England out of the game there," he said. "That is a missed opportunity.

But only once has such a huge total ever been chased at Old Trafford. We were on top and with the tail coming in, we were sure we'd wrap it up if one more wicket fell.

But they attacked from the off and snatched the game away from us. We do regret losing an opportunity to build partnerships in that second innings, which meant we couldn't set them a chase of 300-plus, and that was a factor in us losing.

"I've been playing Test cricket for a long time and I know that Test cricket is hard. It's never over until it's over. This has been shown again today. The good thing is everyone stuck to their task and unfortunately we were outdone by a brilliant partnership. Yes, in hindsight a lot

of things can be done, but when they came and attacked the spinners, playing sweep shots and reverse sweeps. It all worked for him. Unfortunately, nothing worked for us and when you play innings like that, you have to be a little lucky and fortune favoured them. Sometimes you just have to give credit to the opposition."

There will be sections in Pakistan, however, unlikely to be appeased by the generous praise for Buttler and Woakes, instead honing in on some of the decisions Azhar took when the game got twitchy. Michael Atherton, on Sky's commentary, pointed out earlier in the day that Azhar had never captained the side in a Test match that went down to the wire, and wondered if that lack of experience may hurt Pakistan should the visitors find themselves under pressure. The call to delay handing Yasir Shah the ball for 40 minutes after tea was both unexpected and unsuccessful, as were some of the fielding positions, not least the absence of the third slip through which Woakes edged England to victory.

His loss of personal form over the past couple of years with the bat is a compounding factor. Azhar has managed 139 runs in his past 12 away Test innings, never crossing 40 during this time. It's a run that has seen him score three ducks, including one in the first innings here, and fail to cross single digits eight times. He may have lacked a certain astuteness in the field here, but the fact he was only handed the captaincy because Pakistan felt Sarfaraz Ahmed's worrying drop in batting form made his position untenable is one he will be keenly aware of.

"After playing international cricket for ten years, I understand when I need to take certain decisions. When I bat, I'm not thinking about the captaincy, whether or not I'm out of form. And when I'm captain, I don't think about my batting at all, whether I scored a 100 or 0.

That's the job of the captain.

Bayern set CL quarter-final date with Barca after messi inspires Catalans to victory

SPORTS DESK Bayern Munich are relishing their Champions League quarter-final against Barcelona in Lisbon after Robert Lewandowski played a pivotal role and netted twice to seal a 4-1 home win over Chelsea on Saturday.

"The anticipation is enormous.

Barcelona has a good team with very good players, but if you look at the last few weeks, we can fly to Portugal with a lot of confidence," said Bayern defender David Alaba.

Lewandowski, the Champions League´s top-scorer, bagged his 12th and 13th goals in Europe this season and played a part in all four Bayern goals in Munich on Saturday.

Leading 3-0 from the first leg at Stamford Bridge in February, before the coronavirus pandemic halted the competition, Bayern progressed 7-1 on aggregate. "We can be pleased, it was our first game for a month and it´s not easy to keep the rhythm," added Alaba.

"We have prepared for this for the last two weeks and you could see the result." The Bundesliga and German Cup champions will meet Barcelona next

Friday in Lisbon for a place in the semifinals. Lewandowski netted a penalty with just 10 minutes gone at the Allianz Arena. Winger Ivan Perisic then doubled Bayern´s lead before England striker Tammy Abraham tapped home a loose ball to give Chelsea brief hope.

However, replacement midfielder Corentin Tolisso put the result beyond doubt when he fired home a Lewandowski pass with 14 minutes to go. "I am really happy with how we played over the 90 minutes, the first 30 minutes we shut Chelsea out," said Bayern head coach Hansi Flick.

This was a world-class display from Lewandowski who added a late header to his pair of assists.

He is now four goals short of Cristiano Ronaldo´s record of 17 Champions League goals in 2013/14. "It´s not a goal of mine," said Lewandowski when asked about Ronaldo´s record.

"We have a few more games in the knock-out round and I am just as happy creating goals as scoring them."

The Poland star was also coy when asked about a rivalry with Barcelona star Lionel Messi. "We have to perform well and show our quality as a team

against a good Barcelona side, it´s a big game for everybody."

EARLY PENALTY: After a ruthless display in the first leg, Bayern picked up where they left off six months ago.

They took the lead when Serge Gnabry, who scored twice in London, spotted the run into the box of Lewandowski, who was tripped by Chelsea goalkeeper Willy Caballero.

The Poland striker was initially flagged offside, but VAR ruled otherwise.

Caballero was booked and Lewandowski converted the resulting penalty for his 12th goal in seven Champions League games.

He turned provider on 24 minutes as Bayern kept up the pressure. After Mateo Kovacic lost possession near the halfway line, the ball was worked to Lewandowski who squared for Perisic to fire home. Callum Hudson-Odoi, who was linked with a move to Munich at the start of the season, beat Manuel Neuer on 28 minutes only for the goal to be ruled out by VAR for an offside.

However, Chelsea pulled a goal back just before half-time.

Bayern goalkeeper Neuer could only parry a shot by Hudson-Odoi and Abraham tapped home the loose ball on 44 minutes to make it 2-1 at the break.

Mason Mount forced Neuer into a low save early in the second half, while Bayern lost defender Jerome Boateng to a leg injury with an hour gone.

He was replaced by Niklas Suele as Perisic made way for Brazil playmaker Philippe Coutinho. Flick also changed both defensive midfielders, Thiago Alcantara and Joshua Kimmich, for the final 20 minutes.

It paid off two-fold as moments later Tolisso, on for Alcantara, made it 3-1 when he turned home Lewandowski´s pass on 76 minutes. Alvaro Odriozola, on for Kimmich, then supplied the silky cross on 84 minutes which Lewandowski headed home for his 53rd goal in 44 games this season.

Covid-19 impaCt

zimbabWe v afghanistan t20i series called off Zimbabwe's five-match T20I series against Afghanistan, scheduled to be held in Harare later this month, has been called off in the wake of the latest spike in Covid-19 infections in the African nation, which has led to its government putting in place additional measures to check the spread of the virus. Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) had applied for a waiver to proceed with the series in a strictly controlled environment, but an increase in the caseload in the country has put paid to all that, with the government advising that the country was not ready to host any visiting sports teams yet. "We were keen to see the imminent and safe return of cricket, but we understand the government's health concerns and accept that cancelling the proposed tour is sensible and in the best interest of players, match officials, volunteers, service providers, fans and the wider community," ZC acting managing director Givemore Makoni said in a statement. India, too, were scheduled to visit Zimbabwe in August for three ODIs, but that series has been cancelled as well. As for away assignments, Zimbabwe's three-match ODI tour of Australia, scheduled for early August, has also been postponed. SPORTS DESK

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australia v india: 'Will do everything we can' to play Boxing day test at mCG, says Ca CEo SPORTS DESK Cricket Australia (CA) is willing to wait until much later into the year to make a decision on whether the Boxing Day Test against India will be staged at the MCG, and are currently "full steam ahead" with plans for the game to be in its traditional Melbourne home.

The city is in a Stage 4 lockdown following a second wave of Covid-19 cases with tight restrictions set to be in place until mid-September at the earliest. Unlike some other major cities around Australia, Melbourne has not been able to host any crowds at sports events since the original pandemic restrictions took hold in March.

Currently Perth Stadium, which missed out on getting an India Test in the original schedule, is able to hold 25,000 spectators for AFL matches while smaller crowds of up to 10,000 are permitted in Brisbane, Sydney and Adelaide although there is a close watch being maintained on the Covid-19 situation in New South Wales.

Under the current schedule, India are due to play Tests in Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney from early December to early January.

ALSO READ: Where does the Australia summer stand?

Nick Hockley, the interim CA CEO, said there are contingency plans being worked out on for all aspects of the Australian summer but every effort will be made to enable the Melbourne game to go ahead. "In terms of Boxing Day, it's one of the most iconic events on the Australian sporting calendar. Certainly at this stage we are planning full steam ahead," he said. "As long as circumstances allow, we will be doing everything we can to play the Test at the MCG. Error! Filename not specified.India are due to play Tests in Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney from early December to early January Getty Images "It comes down to if we can get a crowd at the MCG, we'll play at the MCG. There's a long way to run, over four and a half months; [I] think it's very premature to be talking about this. All

the restrictions that are ongoing - we are just hopeful that they take very quick effect and we get back on top of the situation and people can get out and about, we can get back to crowds and get back to live events. "We are having to remain agile, certainly we're looking at contingency planning across the entire summer. As things change we're doing everything we can and we have all the back-up arrangements to make sure we get cricket played. We are a number of months off having to make any change to the published schedule in respect to Boxing Day." The India series remains the vital part of the summer for CA, but is just one of many sets of fixtures they are trying to stage. Under normal circumstances, the domestic season would be starting in around six weeks but there are currently no confirmed schedules for the Sheffield Shield, Marsh Cup or the Women's National Cricket League (WNCL). New Zealand's women team are due to be the first international visitors of the season from late September for T20Is and ODIs. "There's a huge amount of work going on in the background at the moment. It is very complicated," Hockley said. "If you think about the summer of cricket [and] all the different formats, there's a huge amount of complexity in all of that because each of those competitions are reliant on inter-state travel. The absolute starting point is that we get as much of the schedule away as possible and that's what we are working towards."

The more immediate schedule that needs final approval is the men's limited-overs tour to England with T20Is and ODIs set to be played in bio-secure grounds in September. The tour is expected to proceed but there are a few final elements that require government sign-off given Australia currently has closed international borders and heavy restrictions on inter-state movement. "There is a bit more work to be done around travel exemptions, but we're committed to making that tour happen," Hockley said. "We'll be making some announcements on that in the next couple of weeks and confirming that tour as soon as we're able to."

Monday, 10 August, 2020

PRAyER TImINGS

NEWS

AfghAn jIrgA rEcommEnDS rELEASE 400 TALIbAn prISonErS KABUL

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lead negotiations with the Taliban.

The prisoners’ fate has been a crucial hurdle in launching peace talks between the two warring sides, which have committed to completing a prisoner exchange before the talks can start.

The Afghan government has released

Donors pledge ‘major’ emergency aid for blast-stricken Lebanon FORT BREGANCON: World powers agreed at an emergency donor conference on Sunday to provide “major resources” to help Beirut recover from the massive explosion that destroyed swathes of the city, pledging not to fail Lebanon’s people. Lebanon was already mired in political and financial crisis before Tuesday’s port explosion that killed 158 people. Foreign countries demanded transparency over how the aid is used, wary of writing blank cheques to a government viewed by its own people as deeply corrupt. The “assistance should be timely, sufficient and consistent with the needs of the Lebanese people ... and directly delivered to the Lebanese population, with utmost efficiency and transparency,” the final communique stated. The communique did not give a figure for the pledges made.French President Emmanuel Macron, who visited Beirut on Thursday, hosted the conference by video-link and in his opening remarks urged participating nations to put aside their differences and support the Lebanese people.The international response should be coordinated by the United Nations in Lebanon, he added. The offer of assistance included support for an impartial, credible and independent inquiry into the blast.

Public anger over the explosion has prompted some Lebanese to call for a revolt to topple their political leaders. “Our role is to be by their side,” Macron said from his summer retreat on the French Riviera. President Donald Trump told the conference the United States was ready to continue providing aid to help the Lebanese, the White House said. “The President called for calm in Lebanon and acknowledged the legitimate calls of peaceful protesters for transparency, reform and accountability,” a White House statement said.

The explosion gutted entire neighbourhoods, leaving 250,000 people homeless, razing businesses and destroying critical grain supplies. Rebuilding Beirut will likely run into the billions of dollars. Economists forecast the blast could wipe up to 25 per cent off of the country’s GDP. AGENCIES

almost 5,000 Taliban inmates, but authorities have baulked at freeing the final prisoners demanded by the Taliban.

According to an official list seen by AFP, many of the inmates are accused of serious offenses, with more than 150 of them on death row.

The list also includes a group of 44 insurgents of particular concern to the United States and other countries for their role in “high-profile” attacks. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pushed for the release of the detainees while recognising the decision would be “unpopular”.

NA committee to deliberate proposed amendments in anti-money laundering act ISLAMABAD SHAHZAD PARACHA

National Assembly (NA) Finance Committee will deliberate on the proposed amendments in the Anti Money Laundering Act 2010 in a meeting on Monday August 10.

The meeting of the NA Finance Committee will be chaired by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Member National Assembly (MNA) Faiz Ullah.

According to documents, the government on the recommendations of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has proposed to regulate the jewelers, lawyers, real estate agents including builders, developers, property dealers and housing authorities, chartered accountants and people involved in businesses related to precious stones.

Under the proposed bill, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), National Savings and Pakistan Post will work as regulators.

Moreover, people purchasing jewelry and precious stones in excess of Rs2million will have to provide information related to their source of income and their CNIC number. Similarly, lawyers and accountants will also have

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jirga comprising thousands of prominent Afghans recommend release of 400 Taliban prisoners who were involved in attacks on the country’s people and foreigners, “for the good of the people”.

The resolution recommending the release of the prisoners was passed at the end of a three-day loya jirga — a traditional Afghan meeting of tribal elders and other stakeholders sometimes held to decide on controversial issues. “In order to remove the hurdles for the start of peace talks, stopping the bloodshed, and for the good of the public, the jirga approves the release of 400 prisoners as demanded by the Taliban,” a member told the gathering.

Any foreign nationals among the prisoners should be handed over to their respective countries, the resolution stated.

“The decision of the loya jirga has removed the last excuse and obstacles on the way to peace talks. We are on the verge of peace talks,” said Abdullah Abdullah, who has been appointed by the government to

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to prepare transaction records of consumers.

The government has also proposed to increase the punishment and fine for involvement in money laundering.

The fine has been proposed to be increased to Rs2.5 million-Rs 5million while the punishment has been proposed to be increased to 10 years.

Similarly, in case of companies the fine has been proposed to be increased to Rs100 million while the punishment has been proposed to be extended to 10 years.

The government has also proposed to include the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), FBR, SECP, SBP, Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF), Customs and Income Tax Intelligence and other provincial departments in money laundering investigations.

On the other hand, a national executive committee under the chair of the finance minister has also been proposed to be established which will provide policy directions in order to stop terror financing.

The government has also proposed to increase the powers of the Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU). The unit will immediately report suspicious transactions to law enforcement agencies and other departments while departments will be bound to provide feedback to FMU.

WASHINGTON: The United States plans to cut its troop levels in Afghanistan to “a number less than 5,000” by the end of November, Defence Secretary Mark Esper said in an interview broadcast on Saturday, adding detail to drawdown plans US President Donald Trump announced earlier this week. The US currently has about 8,600 troops in Afghanistan. Trump said in an interview released Monday by Axios that the US planned to lower that number to about 4,000. Esper also said that criticisms of the US troop reduction in Germany are unwarranted, claiming that many of these forces are simply being relocated further east in order to serve as a more effective ‘deterrent’ against Russia. The Pentagon chief said that military personnel leaving Germany would be put to better use once they are stationed along Russia’s border. “We are moving many troops further east, closer to Russia’s border, to deter them,” he said, adding that moving troops eastward is only logical because “the border has shifted as the alliance has grown.” He also accused Germany of not paying its “fair share” for defense, noting that the NATO ally was still the largest “recipient” of the US troops. “It is collective security, it is about our collective responsibility to stand up to the Russians,” Esper argued. The Pentagon is planning to withdraw a third of its forces stationed in Germany. The troops will be redeployed across other NATO countries, including Poland. Romania and the Baltic states could also receive a boost in US forces, Esper said.

The defence secretary has been vocal about his belief that NATO members should be coughing up more cash in order to “deter” Russia. He even suffered an unfortunate gaffe in one of his recent sales pitches, after stating in a speech that sharing the alliance’s financial burden would help “avoid peace in Europe.” AGENCIES

India to halt imports of 101 defence items, says minister NEW DELHI: India will hold off on importing 101 items of military equipment in an effort to boost domestic defence production, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said Sunday. Singh said a separate budget of nearly Rs520 billion ($7 billion) has been created for domestic capital procurement this fiscal year. “The embargo on imports is planned to be progressively implemented between 2020 to 2024,” Singh wrote in a series of tweets. “Our aim is to apprise the Indian defence industry about the anticipated requirements of the Armed Forces so that they are better prepared to realise the goal of indigenisation.” AGENCIES

Barclays being probed by UK privacy watchdog on accusations of spying on staff Barclays Plc is being probed by the United Kingdom’s privacy watchdog, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), over allegations that the British bank spied on its staff, the agency said on Sunday.

Earlier this year, Barclays said it was changing a system that the bank was piloting, which tracked how employees spent their time at work, after critical media reports accused the bank of spying on its staff.

The ICO said on Sunday a formal probe was ongoing but it could not say when the investigation would conclude. “People expect that they can keep their personal

lives private and that they are also entitled to a degree of privacy in the workplace,” an ICO spokesman said.

“If organisations wish to monitor their employees, they should be clear about its purpose and that it brings real benefits. Organisations also need to make employees aware of the nature, extent and reasons for any monitoring”, he added. The probe was reported earlier by The Sunday Telegraph newspaper.

Late in February, Barclays said it was changing how it used the Sapience software so it would now track only anonymised data, in response to staff feedback that the

system was intrusive.

Sapience gives companies “insights into work patterns” and tracks employee productivity by monitoring their computer usage, according to its website.

Such systems are becoming increasingly common among banks and other financial firms, which use voice recognition and other behaviour-tracking tools to watch for unusual behaviour that could indicate misconduct.

In 2017, Barclays faced widespread criticism when it rolled out a system known as OccupEye, which tracked how long people spent at their desks. AGENCIES

Nagasaki urges nuclear weapons ban on 75th anniversary of US A-bombing TOKYO AGENCIES

The Japanese city of Nagasaki on Sunday marked its 75th anniversary of the US atomic bombing, with the mayor and dwindling survivors urging world leaders including their own to do more for a nuclear weapons ban.

At 11:02 am, the moment the B-29 bomber Bockscar dropped a 4.5-ton (10,000pound) plutonium bomb dubbed “Fat Man,” Nagasaki survivors and other participants stood in a minute of silence to honor more than 70,000 dead.

Aug 9, 1945, bombing came three days

after the United States dropped its first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, the world’s first-ever nuclear attack that killed 140,000.

On Aug. 15, Japan surrendered, ending World War II. At the event at Nagasaki Peace Park, scaled down because of the coronavirus pandemic, Mayor Tomihisa Taue read a peace declaration in which he raised concern that nuclear states had in recent years retreated from disarmament efforts.

Instead, they are upgrading and miniaturizing nuclear weapons for easier use, he said. Taue singled out the US and Russia for increasing risks by scrapping the Intermedi-

ate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.

“As a result, the threat of nuclear weapons being used is increasingly becoming real,” Taue said. He said that “the true horror of nuclear weapons has not yet been adequately conveyed to the world at large” despite struggle and efforts by hibakusha, or atomic bombing survivors, to make Nagasaki the last place of the tragedy.

He also urged Japan’s government and lawmakers to quickly sign the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has repeatedly refused to sign the treaty, saying Japan’s approach is not to take sides but to serve as

a bridge between nuclear and non-nuclear states to encourage dialogue to achieve a total nuclear ban. Survivors and pacifist groups say Japan is virtually siding with the US and other nuclear states.

“Among the nuclear-weapon states and countries under the nuclear umbrella, there have been voices stating that it is too early for such a treaty. That is not so,” Taue said.

“Nuclear arms reductions are far too late in coming.”

While Tokyo renounces its own possession, production or hosting of nuclear weapons, as a US ally Japan hosts 50,000 American troops and is protected by the US

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nuclear umbrella. The post-WWII security arrangement complicates the push to get Japan to sign the treaty as it beefs up its own military to deal with threats from North Korea and China, among others.

An aging group of survivors have expressed a growing sense of urgency to tell their stories, in hopes of reaching younger generations to continue their effort toward establishing a nuclear-free world.

Many peace events, including survivors’ talks leading up to the anniversary, were canceled because of the coronavirus, but some survivors have teamed up with students and pacifist groups to speak at online events.