EpaperLHR_21-03-01

Monday, 1 March, 2021 I 16 Rajab, 1442 I Rs 40.00 I Vol XI No 242 I 52 Pages I Lahore Edition

PM rejects OGrA suMMAry tO increAse Oil Prices g

the Prices oF PetroleuM Products will reMain unchanged For the next 15 days

Imran urges to guard heritage sites g

PM visits JheluM to inaugurate heritage trail at nandna Fort to ProMote tourisM ISLAMABAD/JHELUM staff report

ISLAMABAD staff report

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riMe Minister imran Khan has rejected a summary moved by the oil and gas regulatory authority (ogra) to increase the petroleum prices for the next fifteen days, special assistant to Prime Minister (saPM) on Political communication shahbaz gill said on sunday. the prime minister rejected the proposed increase of over rs6 in per litre prices of different petroleum products, saying the people must be given relief. the premier said he is fully cognizant of the burden on the common man and has already geared up the government ma-

chinery to ensure the availability of everyday prices at low prices. he said the welfare of the masses is his prime responsibility. he added that, despite the fact that the prices of petroleum prices in the international markets are going up, he has decided not to accept the proposed raise of ogra and said the people would be able to get the petroleum products at the same prices. according to the information available from the PM house, the ogra had proposed an increase of rs6.22 in the price of Ms Petrol, rs6.82 in the price of high speed diesel, rs6.37 in the price of kerosene oil and rs5.78 in the price of light diesel oil. on the other hand, oil prices are trad-

Prime Minister imran Khan on sunday stressed the importance of preservation of cultural heritage to avoid the risk of losing traditional knowledge as he inaugurated the heritage trail at nandna Fort in Jhelum to promote tourism and generate work opportunities. addressing the ceremony following the inauguration of the landmark tourist attraction, which until recently was grappling with the question of how best to protect the strategic heritage, the prime minister said the safeguard of heritage tourism is necessary for the benefit of future generations. he regretted that the previous governments could not develop a viable model to preserve archaeological sites in the country, radio Pakistan reported. on the occasion, the prime minister also recounted the discovery of the remains of a 1,700-year-old sleeping Buddha image in 2017 in a ceremony he had presided in the capacity as Pakistan tehreek-e-insaf (Pti)

ing at a 14-month high as the us west texas intermediate (wti) crude futures were closed at $61.50 a barrel, Brent at $64.42, the price for opec Basket was recorded at $65.42, and the closing price of arab light remained $65.14. according to the latest outlook by Morgan stanley, prices for Brent crude will reach $70 per barrel in the third quarter on “signs of a much improved market.” at the same time, goldman sachs commodities research raised its expectations for Brent crude by $10 for the second and third quarters of the current year. the bank says that prices will climb to $70 per barrel in the second quarter from the $60 it previously predicted, and $75 in the third quarter from $65 earlier.

PAkistAn

Bilawal predicts surprising results in Senate polls

CONFIRMED CASES:

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cOrOnAvirus in

579,973

LAST UPDATED AT 8:24 AM ON FEBRUARY 28, 2021

DAY'S DEATH TOLL:

NEW CASES:

23

1,176

RECOVERED:

DEATHS:

545,277 12,860 SINDH:

PUNJAB:

258,004

171,349

KP:

BALOCHISTAN:

AJK/GB:

ISLAMABAD:

72,162

19,045

10,198/4,956

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Fazl says all Parties are united to oust governMent

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more inside

Pakistan urges UN to probe massive rights abuses in IIOJK STORY ON PAGE 02

ISLAMABAD

Pti ministers predict win in upcoming senate elections

staff report

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto zardari on sunday predicted “surprising results” in the upcoming senate elections, following Pakistan democratic Movement’s (PdM) recent victories in by-polls held across the country.

“PdM has challenged the government on every front… it defeated the government in bypolls as well. we will send this puppet government and the Prime Minister [imran Khan] packing,” he said at a news conference flanked by PdM head Maulana Fazlur rehman and former premier yousaf raza gillani. the joint presser took place following a meeting between the leadership of PPP and Jamiat ulema-e-isalm-Fazl.

Bilawal said the opposition alliance wants to give a message to the masses that even the members of the government are not with the federal government in senate elections. “we are very much hopeful that our candidates would give surprising results

chairperson. imran said the nation has to protect the sacred sites for our coming generations, as well as the world, to attract tourists from across the globe. tourism, he said, is a big source of employment and revenue, and added the salt range, a mountainous range, was still unexplored. heter also announced to develop the historic Baghanwala site in Jhelum as a modern village as part of his initiative to encourage tourism and project religious harmony. there, he also interacted with the local people and listened to their problems. to a query, Punjab chief Minister usman Buzdar, who was accompanying the premier, assured the public that all their problems will be solved on a priority basis.

Minister for science and technology Fawad chaudhary and sate Minister for overseas Pakistanis zulfi Bukhari were also present on the occasion.

STORY ON PAGE 03

in the senate polls,” he added. he said that the Pakistan Muslim league-nawaz (PMl-n) was also winning by-polls in the na-75 sialkot-iv constituency but the Pti government rigged the elections. to a question about the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) skipping dinner organised by the Pti-led government, Bilawal revealed that they are holding dialogue with MQM and other government allies. “MQM was elected from Karachi. however, the federal government has made Karachi an orphan,” the PPP chief said.

Bilawal claimed that every party in KP, whether a part of PdM or not, is on the same page against the Pti government. “we are united… all parties, including PMl-n, PPP, Jui-F, anP and Ji, are united,” he added. the PPP chairman hoped that the supreme court (sc) of Pakistan would give its verdict on the mode of voting in senate polls “as per the law and constitution”, adding that the alliance is however prepared for both scenarios–secret or open ballot.

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End of FATF uncertainty, LoC ceasefire, falling gold, strong rupee may move PSX north STORY ON BACK PAGE in today’s issue

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Monday, 1 March, 2021

LAHORE

NEWS

PakIStan urgeS un to Probe MaSSIve rIgHtS abuSeS In IIoJk ISLAMABAD

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AKISTAN has urged the UN Human Rights Council to step up efforts to get access for independent observers into Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) to conduct an impartial investigation into reports of multiple violations of human rights in the disputed territory.

Speaking in the 47-member body’s general debate, Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, Khalil Hashmi, said that failure to hold India accountable for human rights abuses in the illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir will erode the credibility of this council, its members, and the global human rights agenda.

The Pakistani envoy thanked the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, for voicing concern

over the rights situation in the Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

He said that just last week, the ‘UN Mandate Holders’ (independent rights experts) warned about continuing demographic changes in IIOJ&K on religious and ethnic basis, as over 3 million illegal citizenship certificates have been issued to non-Kashmiris.

Earlier this week, Ambassador Hashmi pointed out, another group of UN experts termed attacks by Indian forces against Kashmiri human right defenders and journalists as “pattern of silencing independent reporting through the threat of criminal sanction”.

Last year, he added, the UN Experts had characterized the grim human rights situation in IIOJK “in a free fall” and called on the international community to “step up”.

“India continues to use torture and brute force, including pellet guns and inflict collective punishments through

SC to take up Isa’s review petition on Monday ISLAMABAD Staff report

house demolitions as well as cordon-andsearch operations in IIOJ&K.” Over a thousand Kashmiri civilians have been illegally imprisoned since August 2019, the Pakistani envoy said, adding that hundreds of habeas corpus petitions are pending before Indian courts.

Armed with draconian laws, facilitated by a pliant judiciary acting as a veritable arm of occupation and oppression, he said Indian forces continued to act with absolute impunity.

Pointing out that IIOJ&K has no civilian government since 2016, Ambassador Hashmi said that even the thin veneer of autonomy and rule of law now stood effaced. “Indian military and the deep state rule the occupied territory with a ‘license to kill’ any Kashmiri daring dissent. Such gross, systematic and continuing violations meet all the elements of objective criteria for a human rights situation warranting the Council’s attention and triggering its ‘prevention mandate’”, he said.

Senate elections: PM in tight corner as Zardari offers olive branch to PTI’s partners ISLAMABAD Mian abrar

The Supreme Court will take up the request of Justice Qazi Faez Isa which is seeking a larger bench to review a majority judgement in the presidential reference against him. In June, the Supreme Court had dismissed the presidential reference which sought action against Justice Isa for non-disclosure of family members’ properties in his wealth statement. The reference filed in May 2019 alleged that he acquired three properties in London on lease in the name of his wife and children between 2011 and 2015, but did not disclose them in his wealth returns. Justice Isa contested the allegation, saying he is not a beneficial owner of the flats — neither directly nor indirectly. However, seven of the 10 judges on the bench hearing the case ordered the Inland Revenue Department (IRS) and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to seek explanations from the judge’s wife and children on the nature and source of funding for three properties in their names in the United Kingdom and submit a report to the SC registrar. Justice Isa then approached the apex court, seeking a review of the decision. Bar associations, including the Sindh High Court Bar Association (SHCBA), also filed similar petitions.

The petitioners had contended that the three judges — Justice Maqbool Baqar, Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Yahya Afridi — who wrote dissenting notes in the detailed reasons should not be excluded from the bench hearing the review petitions. In December, the apex court reserved its verdict, before releasing it on February 22 wherein it referred the matter to Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed.

Hearing in PPP leader’s bail petition on Wednesday ISLAMABAD Staff report

Supreme Court will take up the bail request of former National Assembly opposition leader and senior Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Khursheed Shah on Wednesday. Shah, along with 18 of his close relatives and associates, has been facing charges of having accumulated assets beyond means in a mega-corruption reference filed by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). He was arrested in September 2019 and since then has been under police custody though he was admitted to the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD), Sukkur, a few days later for treatment. A three-member bench presided by Justice Mushir Alam and comprising Justice Sardar Tariq Masood and Justice Yahya Afridi would hear the separate petition filed by Shah and his son Farrukh Shah.

While fixing the plea for hearing, the court served a notice to on NAB.

Prime Minister Imran Khan, while dealing with the fears of the opposition’s tampering in the upcoming Senate elections, is now being faced with another new challenge in the shape of former president Asif Ali Zardari extending a welcome to the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) coalition partners.

As part of the emerging strategy of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), Pakistan People’s Party Cochairman Asif Zardari is leading the charge and has, according to sources, contacted two coalition partners of the PTI – Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) and the Mutahidda Qaumi Movement (MQM) – and sought their cooperation in lieu of PPP’s accommodation to their candidates in Senate elections.

Sources in the ruling party have informed Pakistan Today that new political manoeuvres by bureaucratic savant Zardari have disturbed the premier, who is already losing coalition partners one by one.

The source said that Balochistan National Party (BNP-M) had already parted ways with the ruling PTI, and now other partners like PML-Q and MQM are also being lured in by Zardari.

“Though the prime minister knows that neither the PML-Q nor the MQM would vote for PPP’s nominee for Senate from federal capital – Yousaf Raza Gilani – but this manoeuvring may encourage PTI dissidents to make waves,” the source said.

The source said that smaller groups of lawmakers in Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Assemblies are unhappy with the party decisions and they are being lured by the opposition through lucrative offers. In this regard, it has emerged that Prime Minister Imran Khan has activated intelligence to monitor them closely.

PPP APPROACHES MQM WITH ROSY PROMISES: Federal Minister for Information Technology Aminul Haq has said that the MQM, PTI and the Grand Democratic Alliance (GDA) have agreed on five seats from Sindh province. He maintained that it is not a difficult task for the ruling alliance to win five out of 11 seats in Sindh in the Senate elections.

Talking to media persons in Hyderabad, he said that the ruling coalition has held 10 different meetings regarding the Senate elections, and three out of five seats went to the MQM, while PTI and GDA would have one seat each.

The MQM-P would be given the

women’s seat, and in return, the MQMP will support PTI in the technocrat seat.

In a new development, a PPP delegation reached the office of MQMPakistan and offered its cooperation to the MQM in the Senate elections.

This offer was made despite the fact that the PTI, MQM and GDA have agreed on five seats from Sindh province for the Senate elections. The PPP has offered to accommodate the MQM on two seats in Sindh Assembly.

PPP leaders including, Nasir Hussain Shah, Sharjeel Memon, Murtaza Wahab, and Waqar Mehdi, in a joint press conference on Saturday, had announced that the party will withdraw two of its candidates in the upcoming Senate election in favour of MQM-P. PPP leader Nasir Hussain Shah said that PTI was scared of PPP in Punjab. He stressed PTI was afraid of not getting the votes of its members in the province. The PPP leader maintained that its candidates from Sindh are ready to withdraw their seats for general and women’s seats.

If the offer is accepted, he said, the MQM will have to vote for Yousaf Raza Gilani in the National Assembly (NA).

The PPP also suggested a broader coalition at the behest of the top leadership.

In a meeting held in Karachi, MQM leader Faisal Sabzwari has said that there is unity on a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the PTI and the MQM wants the federal government to abide by the agreement.

He told the media that cooperation has been sought by PPP for former premier Yousaf Raza Gilani, and the MQM coordination committee will decide. He added that the MQM supports legislation in the public interest.

The vote of the people should be respected, he said, adding that the MQM has been forwarding its complaints to the

government.

The PTI, in response to these rumours, invited the MQM o a luncheon on Sunday in honour of PTI chief organizer Saifullah Niazi.

The luncheon was attended by GDA President Sadruddin Shah Rashdi, Hasnain Mirza, Shehryar Mehr, and others from the alliance. However, no member from MQM showed up, reported a local news outlet.

MQM has convened an important meeting of its Coordination Committee on Sunday evening to consider PPP’s proposal for the Senate polls.

MQM leaders, in this regard, have expressed the view that a vote for Yousuf Raza Gilani would be tantamount to a vote of no confidence against PM Imran Khan and so they are of the opinion that “unity cannot be sacrificed for two Senate seats”.

PPP SEEKS SUPPORT FROM PMLQ IN PUNJAB: Sources in the PPP have claimed that the party leadership has reached out to the PML-Q leader Chaudhry Pervez Elahi and asked for their support in getting votes for Yousaf Raza Gilani in Senate elections. The sources said that the PPP has sought support in lieu of the PPP’s accommodation of Elahi’s request for getting PML-Q leader Kamil Ali Agha elected unopposed.

The sources said that the party leadership meeting also held an important meeting to review the party’s strategy.

According to details, senior party leaders called on party chief Chaudhry Shujaat and discussed Senate elections and political situation.

The meeting was attended by Chaudhry Salik Hussain, Saleem Baryar, Shafi Hussain, Muhammad Khan Bhatti and other leaders.

The source added that Parvez Elahi had contacted Asif Zardari and Pakistan

Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leaders, and asked them to accommodate the PML-Q nominee.

Due to Pervez Elahi’s contacts, all the candidates in Punjab were elected unopposed as senators. It should be noted that all 11 candidates have been elected unopposed in the Senate elections in Punjab so far. The successful candidates include five PTI, five PML-N and one PML-Q candidate.

IN KP, DIALOGUE FAILS AS OPPOSITION WANTS BIGGER PIE: Talks between the ruling PTI and opposition have failed to get Senators elected unopposed per the strength of political parties in the KP Assembly.

Sources told Pakistan Today that the opposition parties were offered two general seats in the by-elections, but the opposition rejected the government’s offer, thwarting efforts to hold unopposed Senate elections in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

In a new development, Jamaat-eIslami (JUI), once an ally of the ruling PTI, has decided to vote for Yousaf Raza Gilani, the joint PDM candidate from Islamabad in the Senate elections.

According to sources, Jamaat-eIslami has announced its support for the joint candidate of the anti-government alliance in the Senate elections. In this regard, JUI leader Abdul Akbar Chitrali says that his party has fielded a joint PDM candidate from Islamabad, and JI would vote for Yousaf Raza Gilani.

The PDM has devised a strategy under which the PDM is hoping to win at least five seats in KP Assembly. The sources said that the PDM has decided that PML-N, JUI, Awami National Party (ANP) candidates will contest on general seats while the PPP nominee would contest the election on technocrat seats and Jamaat-e-Islami would get women’s seat.

TROUBLES PILING UP: A day earlier, PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari had claimed PTI’s members of parliament (MPs) were in contact with his party.

Addressing a public meeting in Kohat, Bilawal had said it was “too late for the PTI to hold a dialogue with its aides (for the Senate elections) as they are already in contact with PPP (to form an alliance).”

“It is an opportunity for them (coalition parties) to prove if they are with the public or with the puppet government,” he had added.

He had said the government was upset about the nomination of the former prime minister and PPP leader Yousaf Raza Gillani as a joint candidate of PDM parties from Islamabad. The PPP has been echoing these sentiments increasingly over the past week.

Monday, 1 March, 2021

LAHORE

PtI MInISterS PredICt WIn In uPCoMIng Senate eleCtIonS ISLAMABAD

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PTI TO EMERGE VICTORIOUS IN SENATE POLLS, CLAIMS MURAD

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INISTER for Interior Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed on Sunday said Pakistan would come out of the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) as it has complied with almost all points in the global watchdog’s action plan.

Addressing a press conference here, the minister said Pakistan has complied with 24 out of 27 points of FATF and it would come out of its greylist. The remaining three points would also be cleared soon and the country would succeed in exiting the FATF’s grey list during its next meeting, the minister opined.

Regarding the Senate elections on Islamabad seat, the minister said Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh would succeed on it as he worked hard in the economic team of Imran Khan to stabilise the economy.

Sheikh Rashid said Hafeez Shaikh studied from the best universities of the world, including Oxford and Cambridge, and earned a doctorate degree in economics.

The current account deficit of $20 billion was converted into surplus and the exchange rate also improved due to the efforts of

Hafeez Shaikh, he said, adding that his forefathers also remained active in politics in their times. After winning the Senate elections, he (Hafeez) would be in a better position to contribute productively to the prosperity of the country.

He said Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) senior leader Yousuf Raza Gilani tried to protect the corruption of former president Asif Ali Zardari and was disqualified. Gilani, he said, gave the necklace donated by Turkey’s first lady in 2010 for flood victims to his wife which was later returned after the issue was highlighted.

Sheikh Rasheed termed the visit of Prime Minister Imran Khan to Sri Lanka as `historic’ and said that Imran Khan offered a role for improving the ties between China and the United States.

He maintained the civil-military relations are exemplary and precedent has been set for better understanding between both of them in future to put the country on the right track of development.

He stressed that Pakistan under the

leadership of Imran Khan is enjoying good relations with the United States, China, Russian, Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries. Peace in Afghanistan is very much crucial and Pakistan always wished stability there, he added.

The minister for interior further stated Pakistan has got a significant position among the comity of nations as naval exercises of around 40 countries have been conducted here.

He said a successful discussion with India would only be possible when India restored Jammu and Kashmir’s status and included it on the agenda of talks. Setting aside the Kashmir issue would be disloyalty, he added.

The minister stated that the Armed Forces and the people of Pakistan had rendered great sacrifices for the country and no one would be allowed to undermine it.

Recalling the successful operation by Pakistan Air Force on February 27, 2019, he said, “Our great force achieved victory and foiled the nefarious designs of India on that day.” The minister said the Supreme

Court’s decision regarding Senate elections would be exemplary. He added adjustment on Punjab seats in Senate was made as per proportionate of parties’ seats in the Punjab legislature and nothing unusual would happen in other provinces and Islamabad.

Meanwhile, Federal Minister for Communication and Postal Services Murad Saeed has said that Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaaf (PTI) believes in transparency in elections and will emerge victorious in upcoming Senate polls.

Talking to the media persons on Sunday, Murad Saeed said that PTI tabled a constitutional amendment in the parliament to change the system of secret balloting to open vote to end horse-trading and salepurchase of voters, but the opposition did not cooperate in getting the law changed.

He added that this has exposed the opposition that it is not serious in bringing transparency in the election process.

The minister said the people of Pakistan have rejected the negative politics of the opposition in the Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) elections, and by staying away from its public rallies in Lahore and Peshawar. He said that the opposition is trying to get NRO from the government, but Prime Minister

International forces trying to destabilise country internally: FM Qureshi MULTAN app

Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Hussain Qureshi Sunday said that some international forces were trying to destabilize Pakistan by creating chaos in the country.

These powers wanted to weaken Pakistan internally by pushing it towards extremism, he said while talking to Pakistan Sunni Tehreek (PST) chief Moulana Sarwat Ejaz Qadiri in Multan, said a news release issued here.

The foreign minister said these powers wanted to harm the peaceful environment in the country.

“We will have to keep ourselves safe and secure and also foil nefarious designs of such forces,” he added.

He maintained that Prime Minister Imran Khan emerged as a great leader of the Islamic world. As head of state, Prime Minister Imran Khan for the first time in the last 74 years raised an effective voice for Islam at different international forums.

The incumbent government raised the voice against the publication of blasphemous images.

Similarly, it was also for the first time that Prime Minister Imran Khan talked about Islamophobia. He stated that Pakistan would continue to raise a voice for Islam.

PM Imran praises China’s miraculous victory over poverty ISLAMABAD Mian abrar

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday took to popular social media site Twitter to felicitate Chinese President Xi Jinping and the Chinese government on what he called the ‘momentous achievement’ of eradicating extreme poverty across China. Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday declared ‘complete victory’ on eradicating extreme poverty in China at a national commendation conference – four months before the centennial of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC) – marking another great miracle the Party leading the world’s most populous nation has accomplished. The convening of the commendation conference to honour the country’s outstanding poverty alleviation fighters at the time showed China’s development is entering a new phase with a more ambitious goal expected in the second hundred years under the leadership of the CPC, and the declaration of the victory can also boost confidence in the world which is on the hard battle with the Covid-19 pandemic, poverty and food scarcity, say experts. “I want to congratulate President Xi Jinping & the Chinese govt for the momentous achievement of eradicating extreme poverty in their country. Never before in history have 750 million people been taken out of extreme poverty in a span of 35 years,” said the prime minister in his tweet. In a subsequent tweet, PM Imran said that for developing countries like Pakistan, there are lessons to be learnt and said that Pakistan can replicate the Chinese achievement by rooting out poverty from Pakistan.

“With determination and commitment, we can do the same for our people,” he added. This is not the first time that Prime Minister Khan has lauded the Chinese President’s quest to eradicate poverty from China. On January 1, 2021, praising the Chinese development model, Prime Minister Imran Khan had said his government wants to learn from China’s industrial development to accelerate economic growth and eradicate poverty. “If we can learn from any one country in the world, it is China. Their development model suits Pakistan the best,” Imran Khan said while speaking at a ceremony in Islamabad.

Qureshi mentioned that the role of Ulema and Mashaikh was very important in the international hybrid war against the country.

The Ulema and Mashaikh will have to play a positive role in the ongoing circumstances, he added. The extremism and sectarianism were very much dangerous so Ulema and Mashaikh will have to evolve such policies which could help to discourage extremism and sectarianism.

Earlier, the foreign minister addressed different ceremonies and stated that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government wanted an open ballot in Senate elections for transparency.

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Imran Khan will never give them any relief in this regard.

Murad Saeed said the incumbent government under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan is committed to ending horse-trading and the use of money in the Senate elections. He maintained that former prime minister Benazir Bhutto desired to bring transparency in elections process but, unfortunately, her political party has overlooked the matter.

He said PTI had expelled 20 of its MPAs after they were found guilty of taking money in the 2018 Senate polls. He said the opposition is involved in money laundering, corruption and illegal occupation on state lands. He stressed the incumbent government has taken various steps for the welfare of the masses. The minister said health cards, Ehsaas program, Langarkhanas and low-cost housing will benefit the underprivileged class of the country.

Similarly, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Shibli Faraz has said that Prime Minister Imran Khan stands firm with his unwavering commitment to transparency in the electoral process. In a tweet on Sunday, the information minister said that the opposition parties are against the open ballots as they want to perpetuate a corrupt electoral system in the country. He said the entire nation knows who stood on which side in history on the important issue of transparency in the electoral system.

Shibli Faraz said the opposition supports the system of rigging and is a big hurdle in the way of transparency. He said that the ruling PTI has transformed the demand for transparency in the system and eradication of corruption in the country into a movement. He said Imran Khan will not back out from his struggle to achieve the goal of transparency in the electoral process.

Protest against JuI-F leader's assassination called off after negotiations ISLAMABAD: Negotiations with the protesters from the Jamiat Ulema-eIslam-Fazl (JUI-F) – who had been blocking the Murree Road (N-75) – were successfully carried out by Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Hamza Shafqaat and the senior superintendent of police (SSP) for operations.

“Murree Road has been reopened to traffic after talks with the administration and police,” Shafqaat said on popular micro-blogging site, Twitter. He also apologised for the inconvenience caused. However, the protestors stated that “If the culprits are not arrested, we will hold a protest again”. A trio of gunmen shot and killed a cleric, his teenage son, and a student on the outskirts of Islamabad, police said. A police official, Shahzad Khan, said the killing took place in the Bhara Kahu when JUI-F leader Mufti Ikramur Rehman was heading toward his car with his 13-year-old son and a seminary student late on Saturday night. Khan said three assailants fired several shots before fleeing the scene. The cleric, his son, and the student received multiple gunshot wounds and died at a hospital. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack and Khan said an investigation was underway to ascertain the identity of the assailants and the motive behind the killings. Staff report

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Monday, 1 March, 2021

LAHORE

NEWS

Sindh oPPoSES CEntrE’S dECiSion to rESumE 5-day rEGular ClaSSES KARACHI

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HE Sindh government on Sunday opposed the decision of the federal government allowing schools to resume 5-day regular classes from March 1, saying the announcement has created confusion among the students.

Speaking to the media, Sindh Education Minister Saeed Ghani said as per the decision by the provincial government, “Schools will allow 50 per cent attendance and we can not resume regular classes due to the coronavirus pandemic.”

Ghani said that 100 per cent student attendance in schools across the province will not be allowed until the coronavirus pandemic is eliminated. “How will social distancing be observed if we allow the resumption of 100pc at-

tendance in schools?” the minister questioned.

Ghani said the government will speed up the process of recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff in the education department.

The Sindh government is also working on making the transfer policy more “transparent”, Ghani said, adding that three categories have been made in this regard. Transfers have begun across the province in 7,000 schools that have been closed for the past several years due to teacher recruitment restrictions, but the remaining transfers will take place in August after the new academic year, he told reporters.

He said that due to Covid-19, educational institutions had remained closed for the past one year and the provincial government was facing difficulties in recruitment due to non-functioning of Sindh Public Service Commission Earlier, Federal Education

Expatriates show concerns over ‘continuous unpleasant events’ in Pakistan ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Overseas Pakistani Forum (OPF) Canada Chairman Burhan Khan has pointed out a weaker link among Pakistan, its institutions and expatriates, saying current situation and continuous unpleasant events in different parts of his homeland are a matter of concern for all the overseas Pakistanis. “We expatriates expect from every government in Islamabad and all provincial administrations that they will make Pakistan a prosperous, developed and stable country in the South Asian region,” he said in a statement.

“Everyone must remember that overseas nationals will continue their support and vital role in Pakistan’s development,” Burhan said that the new generation of expatriates will no longer be able to defend Pakistan and its ideology in the presence of continuous unpleasant events. He added that their problems are deep rooted and require a quick look from higher authorities. “We are thinking and expecting to see better things in Pakistan,” he said, adding that they are living outside of the homeland but always trying to create a softer image of Pakistan as a society and as a country. He said that the expatriates have to face a very tough situation due to bad news emerging on international media. “We believe that Pakistan will never leave us high and dry despite the fact that we have left our homeland for mostly the economic reasons,” he said. “We always try to use label of Pakistani Canadians with all the pride.” Besides blue-collar jobs, Burhan said that the Pakistani Canadians are working as doctors, engineers, entrepreneurs and earning good names as professionals in different fields. “Whenever we have enough money, we always choose Pakistan as our destination and contribute financial support in different ways,” he said. Recent data of the State Bank of Pakistan showed that remittances remained above two billion dollars for the eighth straight month in February. “Yet, we are facing some horrible experiences as young girls are being raped and killed. Even a mother was raped on a motorway, once considered as the safest route, in front of her children,” he said. He said that the horrible stories make things worse. Pointing out at a recent event, he said that a judge was attacked and humiliated in his chamber by some lawyers in Islamabad.

“We overseas Pakistanis were left to deal with this embarrassment, as this news was circulated by all the major news networks across the world. Resultantly, the image of the judiciary and the bar council was damaged,” he concluded.

Minister Shafqat Mahmood had tweeted about the resumption of 100 percent student attendance in all education institutions across the country from March 1 (today).

“Important announcement. All schools will go back to regular 5 day classes from Monday March 1,” he wrote on his official Twitter handle. “Restrictions imposed in some major cities on schools to conduct staggered classes was only till Feb 28.”

The tweet came after the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) relaxed a number of restrictions on commercial activities and official work in view of the declining trend of Covid-19 cases in the country.

According to the NCOC, the time limit on commercial activities has been lifted and the condition of 50 percent attendance at workplaces removed with immediate effect.

5G Properties host dinner for Smart City management

PDM only wants to protect its interests, says Buzdar LAHORE iNp

Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar on Sunday said the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), the umbrella alliance of 11 opposition parties seeking to oust the federal government, only wants to protect its interests.

In a statement, Buzdar said the anti-government alliance is working on an anti-national agenda as it does not want the country to progress but on the other hand, the public supports progress and prosperity.

He further said the economy is now on the right track and the country is making progress under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan. The chief minister criticised the role of opposition parties and said under current circumstances, there is no place for politics of unrest.

He urged the opposition leadership to come to senses and denounce negative politics in the greater national interest.

NEWS DESK

Man arrested for murdering couple in Karachi KARACHI Staff RepoRt

Karachi police on Sunday said to have arrested a man for murdering a couple in a New Karachi neighbourhood. Jamil, 70, and his wife Farhat were found dead in their house earlier this week. The post-mortem report suggested the two were murdered 10 days ago. During investigations, the police detained a suspect who had taken a loan from the cou-

ple. The suspect had taken Rs1.4 million from Jamil and agreed to return the money in installments, the investigation officer in the case said. However, a few months ago, he suffered a loss in business due to which he was unable to pay back the amount. This is when he decided to commit the crime, the IO said and added that during interrogation, the suspect confessed to the crime. A case has been registered against the suspect and he has been taken into custody, police said. Further investigations are underway, the IO added.

5G Properties hosted an honorary dinner for the management of Smart City for the approval of a no-objection certificate (NOC) from the Lahore Development Authority (LDA). Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Muhammad Usman Khan and Habib Rafiq Limited (HRL) Managing Director (MD) Jahnazaib Zahid attended the ceremony. Lahore Smart City has recently received its NOC, which has now been approved by the LDA. This NOC is claimed to have been issued in a record time within the entire history of LDA. For this great achievement, 5G Properties arranged an event on February 25 at Pearl Continental, Lahore in honour of HRL. MD Jhanzaib and General Manager (GM) Marketing & Sales Mujeeb Ahmed Khan of HRL appreciated the hard work and dedicated efforts of 5G Properties, as they were the top sellers for the past few years.

The GM expressed his desire to do more work in future. CEO Usman, MD Umair Ilyas and Director Umair Zai thanked the management of Lahore Smart City.

Adding insult to injury City NoteS M a Niazi By ordering a re-poll in NA-75, the Election Commission has merely added insult to injury. For some reason, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is under the misconception that the governing party does not have the right to do whatever it wants in a by-election.

Whatever may happen in a general election, one of the privileges of office is victory in by-elections. That grand truth, that bedrock of received wisdom, is supposed to inform the actions of all the officials of the state, including those schoolteachers, who – as the government so poetically put it – got lost in the fog. I suppose there’s some fog about, even though there shouldn’t be now. And it is somewhat moot if we want polling staff manned by people who can’t navigate a bit of fog.

So I suppose it’s Nawaz Sharif’s fault, as usual, for having employed schoolteachers in violation of merit, and probably on the recommendation of the man whose death caused the by-election in the first place, Syed Iftikharul Hasan Shah of the Pakistan Mulism LeagueNawaz (PML-N).

Not being able to navigate a fog is as proverbial as not being able to fight one’s way out of a paper bag, which is something I’m not sure the average presiding officer would be good at. The ECP does seem to have

gone too far by summoning such august personages as the IGP and the Chief Secretary. Might as well tear down the rest of the fabric of society, and summon the Station Commander of Sialkot Cantt. Not the Div Commander, though. Even the chief election commissioner (CEC) must have some limits, mustn’t he?

The re-polling in the whole constituency means that all you need to do is fire a little. In the good old days, to get a poll countermanded, you had to kill a candidate.

Now, it seems, all you have to do is fire in the air. This lends credence to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) theory that Nawaz snuck into country from UK, fired off a few rounds, and then hared back to the UK. Of course, not all PTI workers believe that. They believe that it was Shehbaz who did the firing, which he managed despite being in jail (from which he had been let out by someone he had recruited as CM).

Shehbaz must be torn by the by-election. As a PMLN leader he would be happy that his party had won, but as a former CM, he must be sad to see the erosion of his office. While he was CM, you didn’t catch any lapse during by-elections.

Even if the PTI wins the constituency, Buzdar should be asked to do the honourable thing, and fall on his sword. I mean, if he had done what a CM is supposed to, and win the first time, there wouldn’t have been any of this re-polling nonsense. With the Senate elections around the corner, it was all the more important that a strong signal was sent. Now there are doubts being ex-

pressed about the ‘same-page’ situation. That can only create doubts in minds that shouldn’t have them.

Of course, Imran didn’t want the Daska election rigged. After all, he had hoped that the electors of the constituency would vote in droves for his knight in shining armour, only the people on ground seemed to know that there was too deep a penetration of those corrupt elements who had not built a cancer hospital nor won a World Cup for Pakistan. Only they seem to have gone too far for the Election Commission to go along with events, it appears.

And the situation could not be handled properly, because Imran was in Sri Lanka, where he was not allowed to address its Parliament. That was perhaps because he insisted that his speech would tell the home truths about Kashmir that they were supposed to hear. Sir Lanka’s have a Senate, so it won’t know the headaches he’s having, especially as the Supreme Court hasn’t allowed the jettisoning of the secret ballot.

During the heyday of the USSR, they had elections and under secret ballot. The secret ballot in favour of the party was sealed in an envelope and handed to the voter when he came in to cast his ballot. He then cast it. If he wished to vote against the party’s candidate, he could ask for a fresh, unmarked ballot, which he then took to a polling booth where he secretly marked it, and came out and cast it. He would later be arrested by the KGB. Now that’s how you ensure both secrecy of the ballot and a proper exercise of the vote.

Monday, 1 March, 2021

LAHORE

Iran dISmISSeS Idea oF talkS wIth eU and US to revIve 2015 nUclear deal duBai

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agencies

RAN on Sunday ruled out holding an informal meeting with the United States and European powers to discuss ways to revive its 2015 nuclear deal with major powers, insisting that Washington must lift all its

unilateral sanctions.

“Considering the recent actions and statements by the United States and three European powers, Iran does not consider this the time to hold an informal meeting with these countries, which was proposed by the EU foreign policy chief,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said, according to Iranian media.

Iranian officials had said Tehran was studying a proposal by European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell to hold an informal meeting with other parties to the nuclear pact and the United States, which reimposed sanctions on Iran after then-president Donald Trump quit the deal in 2018.

Iran and the new U.S. administration of President Joe Biden have been at odds

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Imran had arrived in Jhelum in the morning to launch Al-Beruni Radius, a tourism project. The site’s archeological significance dates back to the 11th century when famous scholar Abu Rehan Al-Beruni quantified the circumference of the earth during his visit to the place, Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said in a statement.

The premier, the statement said, has taken a special interest in the preservation and conservation of the site. Al-Beruni also wrote a famous book about the region, mentioning Nandana as a great centre of learning. Earlier, as part of his initiative to promote tourism, the prime minister had witnessed an agreement signing between the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government and World Bank for eco-tourism under which the government would expand road networks to boost tourism.

Trump has discussed privately running again for president in 2024, according to advisers, but the speech excerpts gave no hint of what he might do.

“That’s going to be a decision he makes down the road,” Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel told CBS’s 'Face the Nation'. In the short term, he is making plans to set up a superPAC political organisation to support candidates who mirror his policies, an adviser said.

Trump’s speech will include attacks against Biden to

try to position himself as the lead critic of the new president, including on immigration and security along the US border with Mexico, and the slow reopening of schools closed due to the pandemic.

“We all knew that the Biden administration was going to be bad — but none of us imagined just how bad they would be, and how far left they would go,” Trump will say. “Joe Biden has had the most disastrous first month of any president in modern history.”

Russia agencies

The state news agency TASS specified that Navalny will serve his term in penal colony number 2 in the town

of Pokrov, about 100 km (60 miles) east of Moscow.

Reuters pictures showed metallic

grey buildings behind a grey fence and barbed wire inside the colony, as well as the gold domes of a church. A guard at the gate asked reporters to keep a distance of at least 100 metres (yards) if they wanted to film it.

Ruslan Vakhapov, a local activist of the prisoners’ rights group Jailed Russia, described conditions as particularly severe.

“In short, it’s a bad colony,” Ruslan Vakhapov told Reuters by phone.

Many prisoners cooperate with the colony administration and help them to control other inmates closely, abusing them if they violate a strict daily schedule, Vakhapov said.

“If there is a need to prevent Navalny from communicating with others, nobody would talk to him,” the activist said. “(If anything happens), he wouldn’t be able to ask for help until his lawyer arrives,” he added.

Thai protesters, police clash near base of army unit king controls BangKoK agencies

Thai police used tear gas and water cannon against protesters marching on a military base in Bangkok on Sunday to call for King Maha Vajiralongkorn to give up direct command of the army unit housed there.

Protesters threw bottles at police and marched right up to a barricade of shipping containers and barbed wire at the entrance to the base of the 1st Infantry Regiment in Bangkok, one of several army units that gov-

Imran urges to guard heritage sites continued fRom page 01

Kremlin critic Navalny moved to penal colony outside Moscow to serve jail term Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has been transferred to a penal colony outside Moscow to serve his prison sentence, a public commission said on Sunday, weeks after he returned to Russia after being poisoned.

Navalny’s whereabouts had been unknown since Thursday when his allies learned that he was transferred out of one of Moscow’s most infamous jails to an undisclosed location.

Navalny, 44, was arrested on his return from Germany last month and has been sentenced to more than 2-1/2 years for parole violations that he said were trumped up.

He has been transferred to a penal colony in the Vladimir region, the Moscow Public Monitoring Commission that defends the rights of prisoners and has access to people in custody, said on its website.

05

over who should take the first step to revive the accord. Iran insists the United States must first lift sanctions while Washington says Tehran must first return to compliance with the deal, which it has been progressively breaching.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif sketched out a potential choreography on Feb. 1 to overcome the impasse.

Trump to proclaim himself as the future for Republicans in speech ORMER United States President Donald Trump will soon declare himself the dominant figure in the fractured Republican Party and attack President Joe Biden in his first major appearance since leaving the White House nearly six weeks ago, it learnt on Sunday.

“I stand before you today to declare that the incredible journey we began together four years ago is far from over,” Trump will tell the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida, according to speech excerpts released by his team.

“We are gathered this afternoon to talk about the future — the future of our movement, the future of our party, and the future of our beloved country,” he will add.

Trump’s tumultuous final weeks in office saw his supporters launch a deadly attack on the US Capitol on January 6 in an attempt to block Congress from certifying Biden’s election victory, a win that Trump falsely claimed was tainted by widespread fraud.

A civil war has erupted within the Republican Party with establishment figures like Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell eager to put Trump in the rear-view mirror and others, like Trump ally Senator Lindsey Graham, believing the party’s future depends on the energy of the pro-Trump conservative base.

“The Republican Party is united. The only division is between a handful of Washington D.C establishment political hacks, and everybody else all over the country,” Trump will say. Trump fervour at the four-day CPAC event has been so strong that Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. declared it “T-PAC” and participants rolled out a golden statue of the former president.

NEWS

ernment of Prime Minister Prayuth Chanocha transferred to the king’s control in 2019.

The Thai youth-led political movement rose up last year to demand Prayuth’s resignation and broke taboos by calling for reforms of the monarchy.

Protesters also showed support for anticoup demonstrations in Myanmar, which has been in chaos since the army seized power and detained elected government leader Aung San Suu Kyi. “Prayuth welcoming a Myanmar official

from their military government to Thailand earlier this week also show that he is supporting the dictator there,” Chukiat Sangwong, a Thai protest leader told Reuters, referring to Prayuth “This is not ok with the Myanmar people, so they have joined us here,” he said.

Public criticism of the king is illegal in Thailand, with insults to the monarchy punishable by up to 15 years in prison under the country’s strict lese majeste law.

The Royal Palace has made no comment since protests began.

cmYK

Bilawal predicts surprising results in Senate polls continued fRom page 01 Speaking on the occasion, Fazl said that the PDM is not just an electoral alliance but a movement, adding that all the parties are united to oust the ‘puppet government’. “It is good news that the PDM is fighting elections with a united strategy in all the four provinces,” he maintained. He said that there will be a meeting of PDM after the Senate polls to devise a future strategy of the alliance. “Getting rid of such rulers would be a big service to the people of Pakistan,” he said. The JUI-F chief further said that the government benches are disappointed and fear their loss in Senate elections. “There was some apprehension that the parties in PDM may lose their candidates to each other but now we are confident that no such thing will happen.” He lamented the killing of three of his party workers, saying that Pakistan is becoming a lawless country with incompetent rulers at the helm. It is pertinent to mention that the SC is expected to issue its opinion on Monday (today) on the presidential reference seeking the apex court’s view on holding Senate elections through open ballot. The opinion will be announced by a five-member bench, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed. The top court had reserved its opinion on the issue on Thursday after concluding the arguments.

Monday, 1 March, 2021

06 COMMENT

Tourism and the pandemic

Keeping up one’s guard Need to vaccinate everyone

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The tourism sector will have to change

hOUGh March 1 (today) marks the lifting of all remaining restrictions due to the coviid-19 pandemic, this should not be a signal for irresponsible behaviour. More importantly, this should not distract from the rollout of the vaccine, and there should be no slackening in the effort to get all 200 million Pakistanis inoculated. The arrival of the vaccine, and the initial inoculations, may have prompted the government to take this step towards normality, but it should not be forgotten that the two-dose requirement means that the real challenge will be ensuring that people complete their protection by getting their second dose. That is not the only task facing the government. It will have to procure the doses, which is a huge exercise for such a large population. It should not be forgotten that even if a few people are left unvaccinated, the virus could surge again. The national experience with the poliovirus has been unedifying.

Another problem is that the virus is still evolving, which means that the vaccines which are being ordered do not provide lifetime protection. It seems that the present vaccine will not work after a while, and those who receive it will probably need a booster dose after some time. The government needs to prepare for that. The government also needs to be careful and canny about which vaccination it orders. It does not want to end up like South Africa, where a local variant has rendered the vaccine imported useless. Incidentally, the spread of a UK variant should warn the government that it cannot keep the South African variant out forever.

The government should not squander the natural advantage given it by the fact that Pakistan has not been as badly hit as other countries. It does not have to do what so many countries have had to, which is restrict the spread. however, it has still got to ensure that its population is vaccinated. For that, it needs to pay attention to what is being done in countries which have carried out an earlier rollout. The pandemic has not hit Pakistan as hard as might have been expected, considering how dilapidated the healthcare system was, and thus how vulnerable the country was. however, the country cannot continue to presume on being given a free ride. The government must be wary.

Dr Omer JaveD

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he COVID-19 pandemic, a global crisis like no other in modern history, has led to a sudden stop in travel and a collapse in economic activity worldwide. A major economic driver, tourism accounts for more than 10 percent of the global economy and in many countries a large share of exports and foreign exchange earnings. The industry is also highly interconnected; multiple sectors are dependent on its performance. The pandemic has had severe repercussions on the complex global tourism supply chain, putting millions of tourism jobs at risk. Informal and migrant workers, particularly women and youth, have suffered disproportionately from diminished employment opportunities and lack of access to social safety nets, leading to increased poverty and slowing progress toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals.’ – Excerpt from a recent report by the International Monetary Fund ‘Tourism in the PostPandemic World: Economic Challenges and Opportunities for Asia-Pacific and the Western Hemisphere’ In an article ‘Wish you were here’, Adam Behsudi traced the rise of tourism over the last 70 years, and that how the pandemic virtually caused nose-dive of the sector. In this regard, he pointed out ‘Before COVID-19, travel and tourism had become one of the most important sectors in the world economy, accounting for 10 percent of global GDP and more than 320 million jobs worldwide.

In 1950, at the dawn of the jet age, just 25 million people took foreign trips. By 2019, that number had reached 1.5 billion, and the travel and tourism sector had grown to almost too-big-to-fail proportions for many economies.

The global pandemic, the first of its scale in a new era of interconnectedness, has put 100 million jobs at risk, many in micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises that employ a high share of women, who

Backbreaking inflation Prices keep rising no matter what the government does

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he Sensitive Price Index has gone up, 2.4 percent in the week ending Thursday, which shows that the government’s efforts to control inflation have not worked. Another element which is adding disquiet to the man in the street is the disappearance of sugar from the utility stores, which is only available to consumers ready to pay a premium of Rs 30-35 per kilo extra. If the OGRA recommendation of a petrol price increase of Rs 20.70 per litre is given full effect, the ordinary consumer will be pushed against the wall. The raging inflation shows no sign of coming under control. The government may have weathered the recent wheat shortage, but the sugar shortage has been caused by the PTI’s government’s own decisions. Prime Minister Imran Khan’s initial promise to pursue the mafias causing the shortages have petered out into the current shortages, which depend on imports to bring them to an end.

One of the factors responsible for the government’s failure to control prices is the feeling of impunity it is giving by its inaction. Apart from those within its ranks who benefited from poor decision-making, none of the officials responsible for the present pass has even been transferred out. The implication is that it is not their fault, which then raises the inevitable question of who is actually responsible.

The government cannot merely hope that time will solve the problem. It is not merely a blip which will correct itself. There is a broad swathe of commodities whose prices are rising, or which are disappearing from the market. Study after study has shown that the worst thing for an economy is inflation, and study after study has shown that this is the phenomenon most heavily punished at the hustings. One reason for this is that inflation is particularly harsh on those who depend on a salary, and the salaried are also those likeliest to seek to make a change by voting. The PTI should remember that apart from direct involvement by the sugar barons and wheat monopolists in its ranks, the devaluations it carried out to satisfy the IMF also contributed significantly. The price may well be electoral defeat.

Abrogation of special status and COVID-19 hit in succession

raYeeS aHmaD KUmar

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ChOOLS in every nook and corner of Kashmir are opening. It has been a decadesold practice to announce winter vacation in December every year for a period of about three months and in the month of March next year, all educational institutions reopen for normal functioning. Colleges of the valley have started theIR academic activity from February 15 while schools up to higher secondary level are reopening from March 1st.

This year the reopening of these institutions is analysed differently in view of the challenge of COVID infection. All these educational institutions in the Valley were closed last year after the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic and the announcement of lockdown. After the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A by Indian Parliament on 5 August 2019, schools across whole JK remained off for about six months.

So this year in the month of March these schools are opening after an academic loss of about two years.

Arif Nizami Editor Managing Editor

Joint Editor

Umar Aziz Executive Editor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965

‘Global cooperation and guidelines on health and safety protocols, and secure platforms that unify a consortium of individuals, governments, and the travel industry in sharing information would provide tourists with good practice guides and information on travel requirements– such as a negative viral test and health insurance coverage’

The writer holds PhD in Economics degree from the University of Barcelona, and previously worked at International Monetary Fund.Prior to this, he did MSc. in Economics from the University of York (United Kingdom), and worked at the Ministry of Economic Affairs & Statistics (Pakistan), among other places. He is author of Springer published book (2016) ‘The economic impact of International Monetary Fund programmes: institutional quality, macroeconomic stabilization and economic growth’.He tweets @omerjaved7

Re-opening of schools in Kashmir Valley

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Yousaf Nizami Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

represent 54 percent of the tourism workforce, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).’

The pandemic has had a particularly high negative impact on economic growth of countries that are highly dependent on tourism, for instance, many countries in Latin America, and the Caribbean. Published in August last year, eric Parrado in an article ‘Latin America’s triple sudden stop’ had pointed out ‘Travel restrictions have also affected international businesses and tourism. According to the Latin American and Caribbean Air Transport Association, airlines operating in the region carried just 1.08 million passengers in April, down from 35.3 million the previous year. Tourism, which accounts for one in ten jobs and an average of 18 percent of GDP in the smaller LAC [Latin American and Caribbean] countries, is also in a slump. It is still unclear when the sector will be able to reclaim its vital role in the region.’ Similarly, in the same article, Adam Behsudi highlighted ‘Tourism-dependent countries will likely feel the negative impacts of the crisis for much longer than other economies. Contact-intensive services key to the tourism and travel sectors are disproportionately affected by the pandemic and will continue to struggle until people feel safe to travel en masse again.’

As things panned out, the same IMF Report, published a few days ago ‘This departmental paper focuses on tourism-dependent countries (TDCs), where the contribution of tourism and related sectors was above 10 percent of GDP during 2016–18 and accounting for a large share of export revenues. Tourism also contributes significantly to employment, with above 300 million globally, … The COVID-19 pandemic has had an enormous impact worldwide on the travel and tourism industry. The widespread containment and mitigation measures to slow the spread of the virus have severely affected travel and tourism. Although countries are slowly moving toward a phased relaxation of measures, the risk of sudden policy changes around air travel, visas, and quarantine requirements remain elevated, together with long-lasting confidence effects, especially among the older and more affluent travellers. The large economic and social costs of the pandemic will likely result in

permanent scarring effects on TDCs—ushering in a post-pandemic “new normal.”’

In terms of specific impact of the pandemic on tourism industry globally, the same Report pointed out ‘According to preliminary data published by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (WTO), strict containment measures imposed to prevent and slow the spread of COVID-19 have already caused a fall of 70 percent in international tourist arrivals in the first eight months of 2020, with an 80 percent drop in August, compared to the same period in 2019.

UNWTO (2020) also suggests that a drop in tourist arrivals of 78 percent in 2020 would translate into a loss in visitor spending of $1.2 trillion, placing more than 100 million direct tourism jobs at risk…’ hence, it is important that countries whose economies are overly dependent on the tourism sector, going forward should look to diversify, so that shocks like the current pandemic do not impact in such a manner. In this regard, the same Report pointed out ‘Countries will need to rethink the tourism model, while creating opportunities for diversification within and beyond the industry, through policy support and structural reforms. No one-size-fits-all solution can rejuvenate the tourism sector in every country. The new normal for international tourism will certainly differ from country to country—and even within a country. … Beyond the initial response designed to mitigate the immediate impact of the pandemic, the focus needs to be on developing long-term policy solutions to heal the scars of COVID-19 and create the new normal for the tourism industry by strengthening healthcare systems, shifting to sustainable tourism models, investing in new technologies, and diversifying within and away from the tourism industry to avoid dependence on a single sector of the economy. …

Global cooperation and guidelines on health and safety protocols, and secure platforms that unify a consortium of individuals, governments, and the travel industry in sharing information would provide tourists with good practice guides and information on travel requirements – such as a negative viral test and health insurance coverage.’

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Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9

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The administration of Kashmir has made strong preparations for the opening of schools. Keeping schools open to sanitize and clean the building and classrooms before the target date speaks volumes about the magnitude of preparation level of administration.

Announcing SOPs to be followed during real classroom teaching is also one of the steps te administration has taken before these institutions are opened.

The government has played its role, and parents are also eagerly waiting to see their kids studying in schools after a very long time and they are cooperating both with the administration as well as the school authorities in this endeavour. But the most important thing is for the teachers to get themselves fully geared and prepared to compensate the huge academic loss of students. For this purpose both the school authorities and the teachers have to follow some fruitful procedures.

The buildings and the campuses of our schools are clean, sanitised and ready for the academic activity now because the administration has already ordered for their cleaning and sanitization. What we need to do now is to take the steps for better classroom activity so that fruitful results can be achieved.

On the very first day of school reopening, a balanced class timetable must be framed based on mutual consensus of the teaching faculty without wasting further the precious time of the students. A balanced timetable can be synthesized only when the interest and the specialisation of teachers is given a due weightage. After following this principle, we can expect better results.

Making students aware about the current scenario of COVID, advising them to follow SOPs and mitigating their grievances with regard to the pandemic is need of the hour.

Children of economically weaker sections must be identified from each class within a couple of days after school reopening so that financial aid can be provided to them from the school poor fund account. Notebooks, pens, pencils and other much-needed stationery items can be purchased from this aid so that in the whole ac-

Islamabad – Ph: 051-2204545

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Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk

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ademic year they won’t face any financial problem.

After the timetable has been set up, teachers need to study and analyze the contents of the books they have been assigned. If they feel any kind of difficulty or issue, thorough discussions with fellow teachers and getting comprehensive study materials from the school library or nearest market can prove a successful activity both for the teachers as well as the student community.

Break in between the two meetings of the daily activity shouldn’t be more than an hour in which both teachers and the students make themselves fresh and energised.

During morning assembly, precautionary measures with regard to check the covid-19 infection, maintaining SOPs and following administrative guidelines need to be the main parts of speeches.

Apart from this, 10 to 15 minutes should be kept reserved each day for giving moral lessons. This will not only make the personality of students fully developed but the future of our next generation would also be bright. humans, especially students, without morality are like beasts of the jungle. So in order to inculcate the real humanistic values among the students, we need to teach them moral lessons.

Different kinds of student, teacher and other information is sought almost on daily basis both by the zonal as well as district offices. In order to minimise the time loss and to do such correspondences with ease, it is better to adopt the online internet-based communications with the offices instead of sending each day one staff member to these offices with the required information, because in most of our schools there is dearth of class 4 officials.

Most important thing is that teachers must keep in mind that they are dealing with those children whose parents cannot afford to send their wards to private schools. It is our prime duty to teach them with utmost dedication, honesty and to mitigate their each issue because we draw handsome salaries from state exchequer only for this job.

The writer teaches at Govt Secondary School Anderwan Ganderbal, Indian Union Territory of Kashmir

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Monday, 1 March, 2021

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

No library in Herronk

Kashmir: Symbol of Multiculturalism Kashmiris of all faiths live together in amity

Dr GHUlam Nabi Fai …It is really difficult for me to distinguish between a hindu Kashmiri and a Muslim Kashmiri. You people speak one language and have one culture.

While the rest of the country burns in communal fire, I see a ray of hope in Kashmir only…” Mahatma Gandhi, August 1947.

“The alternative to chaos in international relations– and in the global mind itself– is a world order governed by rules and principles. All the major principles essential for international sanity are attracted by the Kashmir dispute: the two major ones are the sanctity of international agreements and the self-determination of peoples.” Ambassador Yusuf BuCh, former advisor to the UN Secretary General.

Kashmir is internationally recognized as a disputed territory whose final status is yet to be determined by the people. Both India and Pakistan have nuclear weapons and have fought three wars during the past 73 years. This is a matter that urgently needs a just and viable solution.

Any effort to resolve the conflict requires confronting the issue directly and honestly, which seems difficult for the Government of India to do. India does not want to resolve it but to dissolve it. India wants Kashmir issue to be buried under the rug when the issue is raised in the international community by alleging that it is a bilateral issue between India and Pakistan and no one else’s business. It could be strictly a bilateral issue if forthrightness was involved.

It may also be mentioned here that India presents a wholly false picture of the situation in Kashmir. The agenda of the Indian government and its various mouthpieces to mislead the public about the conflict in and about Kashmir continues unimpeded.

New Delhi has tried to weave a smokescreen with some unfounded myths, which seek to discredit the genuine struggle of the people. But these ploys will never cover up the reality and sufferings of people in Kashmir. India has particularly failingly tried to equate Kashmiri peo-

ple with fundamentalism. I want to debunk this myth created by India that Kashmir is an issue of fundamentalism.

The term fundamentalism is quite inapplicable to the Kashmiri society. A hallmark of Kashmir has been its long tradition of tolerance, amity, good will, and friendships across religious and cultural boundaries. It has a long tradition of moderation and non-violence. Its culture does not generate extremism or fundamentalism. Its five chief religious groups; Buddhists, Sikhs, hindus, Muslims and a tiny minority of Christians, have for centuries flourished in harmony and mutual bonds: no religious ghettoes; no religious apartheid; no economic or sharp cultural divides. All religious persuasions rejoiced at each other’s holidays and times of joy, attended social gatherings together, lived as neighbors in harmony, and treasured their mutual trust.

The various faiths of Kashmir eschew fanatical or extremist dogmas that distort and debauch their doctrinal origins. Tolerance and mutual respect are their watchwords. For example, Kashmiri Sikhs feature no antagonism towards other religions. Indeed, their trust in Muslims is so strong that they have refused bribes from the Indian army to blame Muslims for the killings of 36 Sikhs at Chittisinghpura, Kashmir, on 20 March 2000 during President Bill Clinton’s visit to New Delhi, that had been covertly organized by the Indian military itself.

Kashmir has been haloed as the land of saints. Its culture celebrates diversity, and Kashmir has been the confluence of a rich mixture of philosophies and ways of life that merge without losing their distinct identities. here are few latest shining examples of diversity in Kashmir.

The daily Kashmir Observer reported that Muslims helped a hindu family in the cremation process of a man who died in the Maisuma area of Srinagar city on 8 February. When Rakesh Kumar breathed his last on Monday, Muslim neighbours arranged everything required for the cremation. Locals said they arranged a priest and shouldered the dead body upto the cremation ground.

The Hindustan Times reported on 1 May 2020 Muslim men help a hindu man’s kin conduct his funeral rites in Uri. Due to the lockdown, the relatives of the deceased could not reach the place for his funeral and no vehicle was available to carry the body to the cremation ground. Members of the Muslim community helped in performing the last rites of their hindu neighbour (54-year-old Shekhar Kumar) amid the nationwide lockdown. Deceased’s son Gautam Kumar said that the Muslim community has always helped them in tough times. ‘It was not possible to perform my father’s last rites without their support,’ he said.

Another daily, The Hindu, reported on 5 June 5 “Local Muslims made special arrangements to perform the last rites (of Mrs. Rani Bhat– a hindu). Firewood was arranged for cremation. The body was also shouldered by Muslims. ‘It’s our duty to ensure that we are with our Pandit neighbours in thick and thin,’ Abdul

Qadir, a Muslim villager, said.

Joginder Singh Raina of the All Party Sikh Coordination Committee said, “Kashmir is about Kashmiriyat which means brotherhood…

Sikhs settled in city during the turmoil but never went away but now Kashmiri Pandits should also come and live together like us.”

I believe the best solution of this dilemma is that the Pandit brethren should return to the Valley and the majority community must open their hearts and minds in order to give them moral support and sense of security. The rights and culture of Kashmiri Pandits must be respected and protected at all costs.

Dr. Syed Nazir Gilani, President, JKChR, has expressed the sentiments of the majority community in these words. “My teachers at the higher secondary school, college and at the university were Kashmiri Pandits. Men and women of great character and stature. Many close friends were Kashmiri Pandits. They would let me into their homes except their kitchen. It did not bother me. The trusting atmosphere was overwhelming and I did not have time to consider the merits of ‘kitchen’ being a no-go area.

I felt sorry for their exodus in 1990. The sense of glee and emotion is uncontrollable, whenever a Kashmiri Pandit visits his or her home in Kashmir. Therefore, I raised the issue of their rights at the UN human Rights Commission and Sub Commission in Geneva.”

The people of Kashmir are fully aware that the settlement of the Kashmir dispute cannot be achieved in one move. Like all qualified observers, they visualize successive steps or intermediate solutions in the process. It is one thing, however, to think of a settlement over a relatively extended period of time. It is atrociously different to postpone the beginning of the process on that account.

The people of Kashmir do not wish anybody to take a partisan side. Kashmiris are convinced, nevertheless, that impartial observers would support the Kashmir cause based on universal principles, democratic values, rule of law and international justice. It is high time that all concerned parties̶—— India, Pakistan and the Kashmiri leadership—— sit together and chalk out a strategy for the sake of peace and stability in the region of South Asia. Because ultimately, negotiations, not violence, is the only way to resolve the Kashmir conflict, and the acceptance that Kashmiris cannot be excluded from the negotiating table if a peace process is to be serious, meaningful and result-oriented.

The Biden Administration faces two options with regard to Kashmir. First, it can continue the Trump Administration policy of ignoring the Kashmiri dispute while warning India and Pakistan against going to war with each other. Besides condoning the atrocities being committed in Kashmir, this policy rests on a tacit agreement between India and Pakistan that war between them is unacceptable. With the growth of fascist ruling party in India, however, such an agreement is extremely vulnerable. The prospect of a nuclear exchange in the Subcontinent, which contains a fifth of the world’s population, cannot be dismissed in the event of an outbreak of hostilities.

The second US option is to play a more activist mediating role by initiating a new peace process for Kashmir. This could take the shape of a quadrilateral dialogue involving the USA, India, Pakistan and Kashmir, or an appropriate use of the new mechanisms and abilities of the United Nations. In either case the USA would supply the necessary catalyst for a settlement.

The writer is Secretary General of the Washington-based World Kashmir Awareness Forum and can be reached at gnfai2003@yahoo.com

IN recent decades, herronk has been through multifarious phases of deprivations and yet no extrinsic assists have reached so far to resolve these specified issues. The total population of herronk is approximately 15,000 and availability of resources or facilitations for such a little population should not have been an issue. Despite of being situated nearly 60 kilometers from the second biggest city of Balochistan (Turbat), it is still cryptic to perceive that the residents of the village clench the occupation of twenty-first century remains still cultivation, tending sheep, and shop-keeping. Apart from the failed education system herronk also lacks the number of library.Library is reckoned the most integral facet of any society in term of gaining knowledge and it too is a huge prospect of learning mechanism. Library has an educational environment and such circumstances create congruous motivations for students and it also creates an educational mentality among the students. In library, students initiate engaging with multitudinous collections of the knowledgeable books and sometimes even they would be counselled by scholars and intellectuals within the library. haplessly, herronk has a single library without any well-organized facilitations and a very shabby structure with limited chairs and tables including a few course related books and most of the books are locked in the shelves and are not given to the students. The library opens at 9:00 PM and closes at 1:00 PM which is a critical timing for school students as they are in schools. The timing is just suitable for graduate students and most of them are out of the village. The total number of the students in the library are nearly three or four and sometimes there is no students in the library. Moreover, the library does not have enough access to water and without any toilets. The unavailability of newspapers in the library is also a tremendous issue and students are unable to be in touched with the current issues and the absence of internet has even made it worse. The management is comprehensively failed to make the library fully functional for the students.Resultantly, the bad scenario of the library in herronk has discouraged the zealous interest of reading within the students. The government should work on the provision of the necessary facilities for the library and take some measures to ensure the wellfunctioning of the library and its management.

MEHrAJ ALTAF HErrOnK

Vaccine concerns SIR, as the rollout for the vaccine to combat covid-19 begins in earnest in the country, the government has announced to equip and spread the vaccine soon to the health works and other victims successfully. But there should not be the concept of excitement in the country. Our government's words never turn into real actions. Government's announcement about vaccine is like a daydream without any achievement. This is mysterious.

The covid-19 pandemic has destroyed life around the world and changed the manner in which we live for the worse . It has also caused an economic meltdown in many countries, with nations everywhere struggling to recover. Government must make promises to vaccinate the victims of covid-19 pandemic around the country and take this problem serious till covid-19 pandemic should be eradicated soon .

IMTAIz JAvID AWArAn

Standing for peace PRIMe Minister Imran Khan on Saturday said Pakistan always stood for peace and remained ready to move forward to resolve all outstanding issues with India through dialogue. The Prime Minister congratulated the nation and saluted the armed forces on the second anniversary of the country's response to India's illegal, reckless military strikes against Pakistan. "As a proud and confident nation, we responded with determined resolve at a time & place of our choosing," he said in a series of tweets. Imran Khan said, "We also demonstrated to the world Pakistan’s responsible behaviour in the face of India's irresponsible military brinkmanship, by returning the captured Indian pilot." he welcomed restoration of ceasefire between Pakistan and India along the Line of Control."The onus of creating an enabling environment for further progress rests with India," he said. The Prime Minister stressed that India must take necessary steps to meet the long-standing demand and right of the Kashmiri people to self determination according to the United Nations Security Council resolutions.

Ali KhAn iSlAmAbAd

The Tiger Woods rollover IT is unfortunate to note that the world-renowned golfer Tiger Woods had got injured in a dramatic rollover crash involving his SUV. All the media houses worldwide had started flashing this news piece soon afterwards. In fact, the American golfer was lucky enough to get the immediate help in the accident spot from the authorities nearby. I have been a big admirer of Tiger Woods. I would usually collect and follow so many news tidbits of Woods especially when I had been working in hyderabad and Cyberabad between 2005 and 2010. In life, an accident is unavoidable but a great measure of precaution will surely avert it. Personally speaking, the memories of a road accident with no casualties involving my many family members are fresh in mind even now. As for such accidents, the first aid, immediate timely treatment and helping hands always play a major role in recovering the victims. I am hoping that many sport personalities like Woods take to and turn to driving as a way away from the tense situations, meaning stressbuster tactics. Rather than driving madly and crazily, there have been various ways to chill out and beat the stress. Water therapy like taking a deep plunge into waterbodies, visiting natural vistas and watering a garden are all some of those ways. Also, Asia has been having plenty of such natural gifts as mountains and seas. My native areas like Korkai, Tiruchendur, Tuticorin, Tirunelveli, Nagercoil and Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu have been the hubs of beaches, trees, rivers, mountains, seas and greenery activities. The people from all walks of life must visit such places elsewhere for the sake of healthy lifestyle. having played many a difficult match and having been working hard for longer time, Tiger Woods who has often been the big bet for catchy headlines in the world media circle will recover fully from this current situation soon. Good wishes and good health to Tiger Woods!

P SEnthil SArAvAnA durAi mumbAi

Monday, 1 March, 2021

08 WORLD VIEW

What has kIlled more people In France sInce 2000? opEn dEmocracy

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ChriS MyAnt

n recent weeks France has seen much publicity about la chasse (“the hunt”), after a young man of 25 years old was shot dead while chopping firewood near his house in lot, in the country’s south-west, on 2 December. His killer caught sight of a “dark mass” and fired, thinking he would hit a wild boar. instead, his over-eager trigger finger took the total of human deaths at the hands of chasseurs to 11 for 2020. according to figures from the French national office for Hunting and Wild animals just after his death, more than 420 people have died at the hands of hunters so far this century. that office now no longer has an independent existence. Since the start of this year, the department has been merged into a new French office for Biodiversity. the new title is just one of the ways in which President emmanuel Macron has played to the gallery of the hunting community since being elected. la chasse is big in France, and its followers are generally on the right of the political spectrum and they assume that they can act as they like across the countryside.

Visit the media presence created by friends of Morgan Keane, the December 2020 victim, to get a flavour of the anger this can stir up.

Walking out at night from our house in the pinewoods of Provence is not an option during much of the late summer and autumn when la chasse is at its height. a silent figure in camouflage fatigues with a rifle slung over his shoulder passed us noiselessly in the dark late one evening. the shots a few moments later took us quickly inside.

PLAYING TO THE GALLERY OF ANTI-MUSLIM PREJUDICE IS SOMETHING THAT SUCCESSIVE FRENCH PRESIDENTS HAVE ENGAGED IN SINCE THE FORMER FRONT NATIONAL MOVEMENT BEGAN ITS RISE IN THE 1980S PLAYING TO THE GALLERY: Macron celebrated his first Christmas at Chambord, the loire valley hunting castle of the 16thcentury French king, François 1, while announcing that the licence fee for hunters would be halved and promising to restore the ritual of the “royal hunt” in the forests around the chateau. it in no way excuses or minimises the deliberate horror inflicted by islamist terrorists to note that they have killed fewer than 300 people since 1990, when they became a factor in modern French life. the overtly political nature of their mayhem places it in a different realm to that of the hunters whose killings become “accidents” rather than a challenge to the “French way of life”. the terrorists’ actions have aggravated, though certainly not created, the atmosphere in which islam has become a problem in France, rather than French discrimination against Muslims being a problem for islam.

Playing to the gallery of the inheritance of anti-Muslim prejudice is something that successive presidents have sedulously engaged in since the Front national movement of Jean-Marie le Pen began its rise in the 1980s. His daughter, Marine, now the leader of the movement under the name of rassemblement national, has taken islamophobic rhetoric to new heights. Politicians across the traditional right and centre of French politics have trailed in her wake.

Immunising the world: Can we do it?

GLOBAL GOVERNANCE ON IMMUNISATION AGAINST COVID 19 HAS FAILED QUITE BADLY SO FAR. THE WEST WILL EXPERIENCE A BLOWBACK GlobalIst

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AndréS ortegA

t is not only a matter of morality — but also an issue of general protection and even of geopolitics: it is necessary to immunise the world, or at least to try to, and to this end to launch a global vaccination campaign against CoViD 19.

Western leaders have been slow to react — but they at last seem better disposed towards the proposal, as became clear at the recent virtual G7 summit. it was not a foregone conclusion — nor are all the guarantees on offer. in any event, while the method is multi-lateralism, the goal is the universalism of the kind that has become a common or collective good. immunisation does not necessarily mean vaccinating everyone — but certainly a large proportion, with another portion having suffered and overcome the infection.

IS GLOBAL VACCINATION FEASIBLE? But universal immunisation, for the planet’s 7.8 billion people, does not seem feasible — even if everyone wanted to have the vaccine, which they do not, and given that there are as yet no vaccines for children.

Until now, it has been possible to eradicate only one infectious disease (smallpox) — although others (such as polio) have been successfully wiped out regionally. the West’s blunder at the start of CoViD 19 was in supposing it was another epidemic that would remain confined to asia. and it has hit the West hard.

Back in 2009, the H1n1 swine flu spread from Mexico and extended to more than 200 countries, causing at least 18,000 recognized deaths. even back then, the wealthy countries commandeered most of the vaccines — depriving the poor ones. this time, 2020 saw the launch of CoVaX, the Vaccine alliance (Gavi) and

the aCt accelerator, which essentially exist for the purchase of large batches of vaccines, tests and treatments for some 2 billion people — to administer them free of charge to 92 medium and low-income countries collectively accounting for some 4 billion people.

FALLING SHORT: But the initiatives have fallen short in terms of budgets and doses. as an immediate measure, the French President emmanuel Macron has urged the eU and the United States to send at least 5% (only 5%?) of its vaccines without delay to africa.

For his part, Joe Biden has pledged that the United States will provide $2 billion this year and $4 billion in total over two years — a donation that his country had already approved before he took office. in general terms, the G7 pledged to double its contributions to the global fight against CoViD 19 to $7.5 billion — in order to vaccinate 20% of the poorest countries this year, meaning the money available so far will total $10.3 billion (less than half the minimum needed).

WESTERN STOCKPILING: China has accused the West of stockpiling doses. antónio Guterres, the Un Secretary General, described the vaccination campaign as “wildly uneven and unfair,” when he noted recently, that 10 countries had administered 75% of the vaccines — and 130 countries had not received a single dose (though other studies reduce the percentage to 56%). the issue has acquired inordinate importance on the global agenda. Given a problem of production bottlenecks worldwide, this is even more the case when output has to be adapted to the new challenges that are emerging. the priority for all governments is naturally their own citizens. But the rest of the world will continue having an impact

Higher education minister Frederique Vidal sent a St Valentine’s Day card to academia in a radio and tV interview just before the Parliament in Paris passed Macron’s law on “reinforcing republican principles”, a euphemism for making it harder for Muslims to follow the practices of their faith.

Vidal’s message picked up on an insult term increasingly bandied about in an attempt to pin on the left an accusation that it is soft on islamist violence: ‘islamogauchisme’, literally islamo-leftism. in practice, the term is carefully never defined by those who use it. Vidal’s boss, education minister Jean-Michel Blanquer has been using it for months.

Vidal’s point was that “islamogauchisme is eating away at our society and universities are not immune.” France’s social sciences research body should prepare her a report on who was researching what when it came to racism, post-colonialism, etc, to get rid of “activism and opinion”. though the university world exploded, she did not back down – which told us all that Macron was behind her move. as with the hunters who really are prime patrons of biodiversity, things were turned on their head. Vidal declared that all she wants to do is “protect the pluralism of ideas in the university, deconstruct the idea that there should be a single approach on certain subjects.”

on them.

VACCINE NATIONALISM: ngozi okonjo-iweala, the new head of the World trade organisation (Wto) — the first woman and african in the role — has warned against vaccine nationalism.

She has indicated that her top priority will be to ensure that the Wto does more to address the pandemic. the Wto has some say in the matter, because its director-general is proposing to make vaccinemanufacturing licences available at affordable prices.

Underlying the vaccination policies, there is also an entire geopolitics of vaccines. it involves instruments not only of healthcare — but also of political power. this has been seen with China and russia and its Sputnik V, backed by a study published in the lancet (fewer data are available for the Chinese Sinovac vaccine).

Beijing and Moscow are using their vaccines as a “new diplomatic currency,” according to the new York times. China refers openly of “vaccine diplomacy,” and even of a “health silk road.” it has delivered hundreds of millions of doses to a wide range of countries. india, the largest manufacturer of vaccines in the world — and also a producer of the astraZeneca vaccine at its Serum institute — has developed the CoVaXin vaccine, for which confirmed data are so far lacking, and is donating it to various neighbors.

THE WEST REACTS: the West has realized that it has to react. Spain, for example, is mulling whether to push for medium-income countries’ access to vaccines at the ibero-american Summi — to be held in andorra in april. in africa, where owing to the youthfulness of the population the vaccine campaign seems less urgent — but also necessary for both the continent and for europe — the african Union has taken up the issue. a new brand of wholesale global cooperation is required — both for vaccines, and for treatments. Global governance has failed. after an initial “every man for himself,” at least on a regional basis — the eU acted correctly by centralizing purchases — despite managing them badly. the G20, notwithstanding the Plan of action it agreed, has not worked as it should. the vaccines will help immensely — but the world will have to adapt to a new reality, involving the need to cooperate and engage in a constant fight against this (and other) types of virus — and their variants.

But, at least, the idea that we are all in the same boat has gained ground.

Editor’s note: This article is based on an analysis published at Elcano Royal Institute: The global agenda: immunising the world.

BLOODHOUNDS OF THE RIGHT: Vidal’s colleague, interior minister Gérald Darmanin found another enemy during the week. the Green mayor of lyons, Grégory Doucet, ordered local schools to serve meals without meat. “a scandalous ideology … an unacceptable insult to French butchers,” Darmanin declared. nothing of the sort, of course. Because of the CoViD-19 epidemic rules, complex menus are unworkable in our schools, the municipality explained. in any case, Doucet’s predecessor had done the same a year earlier. and who were they? none other than Gérard Collomb, Macron’s first interior minister. the atmosphere of hysteria, promoted by the bloodhounds of the right, Darmanin and Blanquer, selected for that job by Macron, characterises much of French national politics. this atmosphere of hysteria, promoted by the bloodhounds of the right, Darmanin and Blanquer, selected for that job by Macron, characterises much of French national politics at the moment. it will get worse as Macron moves to make life harder for the left, as he steals policies from the far right in the run-up to the presidential poll, which is just 18 months away. Macron is playing to, and so helping augment, a staged backlash against the past year’s outburst of public anger and activity over sexism and racism in France.

SPRINGTIME: Down in Marseilles, other voices were to be heard. With a new left and Green majority, ‘Marseilles’ Spring’ elected to the city council last summer and the previous mayor, Jean-Claude Gaudin, now under investigation for alleged corruption, a poignant ceremony took place on 21 February. at the spot where, 26 years earlier to the day, 17-year-old ibrahim ali had been shot in the back and killed by a le Pen activist, his name was finally fixed to the wall, with the street renamed ‘avenue ibrahim-ali’. renaming the road so that the crime would never be forgotten was a demand of his family and the anti-racist movement in the city for the whole quarter of a century that Gaudin ruled the roost in the city hall. the new majority alliance hopes that its demonstration of successful popular unity will both be an answer to racist prejudice and violence and to Macron’s manoeuvres. another anniversary was marked in Marseilles that weekend with the commemoration of the execution by a nazi firing squad of the 23 members of the group of resistance fighters led by Missak Manouchian on 21 February 1944. ibrahim ali came from the Comores islands in the indian ocean.

Missak Manouchian was from armenia.

Both died at the hands of racists in France. at the Manouchian remembrance, a poem from the surrealist, later Communist, poet Paul eluard was cited: “Si nous les oublions, leur combat est perdu” (if we forget them, their combat will be lost). Which is why, in the past fortnight, so many were so deeply angered by Vidal’s, sorry, Macron’s assault on those who try to unpick racism, to explore the scars left by colonial oppression and to analyse the workings of the discrimination and prejudice which still cause so much pain across France.

The Hindutva challenge to women’s rights

IndIan ExprEss

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Jyothi S

nternational Women’s day is approaching. But do women in the country have a lot to cheer about? a success story in the indian Me-too movement through the Priya ramani verdict will boost the morale of many and give them courage to share their stories. Bail granted to Disha ravi on sedition charges will encourage young girls to fight for the causes close to their hearts. However, the upsurge of Hindutva politics is a matter of concern for women’s rights. instead of fighting for their basic human rights, women of this country are sadly divided into pro-government and anti-establishment voices. it is time to ask if the increasing space for religion in public discourse complementing women’s empowerment or pushing them backwards?

Fundamentally, all major organised religions have not given equal rights to women. as these scriptures were written by men, regulating women was essentially part of their endeavour. Societies in almost every part of the world have constantly monitored any drift from established notions and punished those who questioned the system. as the fields of education and employment opened up, women’s experiences became part of the world outside the home. However, the major apprehension for women today is that will all the hard work, sweat and blood as well as strenuous efforts put up by women activists go waste now with increased vigilantism?

With women’s day approaching we need to debate if the current political, social and cultural climate, dominated by fundamentalist forces, is conducive for free thinking women? Hindutva, like all religions, advocates a patriarchal system. Here, a woman’s role as a torchbearer of culture and tradition is glorified. the burden of preserving traditions but without the freedom to think and act on her own is the hallmark of such a value

system. as a result, whatever little has been gained in terms of women’s freedom — thinking, acting, speaking, dressing or living according to her inner voice — is questioned. on the one hand, the government says, “Beti Bachao Beti Padao”, it curbs their freedom of expression, as in the case of Disha ravi, on the other. reports of restrictive dress codes on women are frequent. During communal riots, women are the first targets of mob violence. another interesting phenomenon is with respect to the demand for 33 per cent reservation for women in politics. the question here is, do we need votaries of Hindutva, including those who have extremely regressive views, as representatives of modern, independent women — in case the women’s quota receives Parliament’s sanction? the possibilities of women with a voice of their own as our representatives are dwindling. in the context of “love jihad”, in the name of “safeguarding” Hindu women, freedom of free movement and choice are severely curtailed. in the process, a woman’s freedom to own her body and mind are taken away. an empowered and independent woman is always a threat to the regressive establishment. therefore, efforts are made to typecast a role model for women — ones who are educated, vocal and articulate but strongly immersed in Sanatana Dharma. they claim to represent all women in public spaces, but strongly support fundamentalist values even if they are against the basic dignity of women.

Women are trained as volunteers to spread Hindutva’s core values. For instance, when women activists attempted to enter the Sabarimala temple based on court verdict, there were women who quoted religious texts and defended the temple ban in public. in this way, women are unleashed against women and the protection of basic women’s rights gets imperilled. Women are made to believe that Hinduism has placed women in the position of deity. However, there is silence on several practices — dowry system, ill-treatment of widows. on occasions, even practices such as Sati are glorified and women who took the pyre are extolled. Patience in a woman is considered a great virtue, no matter how others or the world treats her. Sadly, television serials too typecast women in a similar fashion.

When regressive values gain ground in public life, with the patronage of the establishment, and women become guinea pigs in a social lab, “azadi” is lost.

The writer is Assistant Professor of English, Tumkur University.

Monday, 1 March, 2021

BUSINESS 09

LAHORE

ImPoRt oF IndIAn cotton lIKely to Be ReSumed

Kyrgyzstan invites Pakistani businessmen to invest in various sectors Ambassador of Kyrgyzstan to Pakistan Erik Beishembiev has said that Kyrgyz market is open for Pakistani businessmen, adding that investment in the Kyrgyz Republic is profitable and this opportunity should be availed by Pakistani business community through joint ventures in pharmaceutical, rice agriculture, education, tourism and various other sectors. "Kyrgyzstan is not developed in pharmaceutical sector and offers great opportunities to the Pakistani pharma companies," the Kyrgyz ambassador said in a meeting with Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) President Mian Tariq Misbah on Saturday. The ambassador said that direct flights between the two countries on regular basis would help improve trade and cooperation in tourism sector. He said that both the countries were rich in mineral resources, have high skilled human resources, excellent opportunities for developing industry and agriculture, attracting foreign investments for joint production and supply of goods, including for export. He said that Kyrgyzstan is interested in development of short transportation links through its territory between Central Asia and China and Pakistan with access to the Gwadar and Karachi ports, using railway and automobile roads, which are being constructed in the framework of ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). While answering a question by the LCCI president, the Kyrgyz ambassador said that Pakistani businessmen can invest individually or through joint ventures in Kyrgyzstan. He highlighted that Pakistan can use Kyrgyzstan as a gateway to enter the EU market and avail benefits from GSP Plus status. NEWS DESK

Punjab to continue crackdown on price hikers, hoarders LAHORE TLTP

The Punjab government will continue its crackdown against price hikers and hoarders across the province under the directions of Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan.

This was announced by Punjab Minister for Industries, Mian Aslam Iqbal, while chairing a meeting here on Sunday. Mian Aslam said that the Punjab government is providing subsidy worth billions of rupees on flour and its 20kg bag is available at the rate of Rs860 everywhere.

Speaking on the occasion, provincial Agriculture Minister Syed Hussain Jahanian Gardezi directed the authorities concerned to make a plan regarding the demand and supply of daily use items in advance, keeping the arrival of Ramzan in view. Earlier on Thursday, Mian Aslam had emphasised that 100 per cent colonisation of 23 small industrial estates is a governmental policy, adding that PSIC Small Industrial Estates Policy 2019 was formulated for this purpose and a package worth Rs5.8 billion was also offered to the allottees, while offering an incentive of 50pc discount in non-constructional charges for establishing industrial units at vacant plots. “Similarly, a soft loan facility has also been offered under Punjab Rozgar Scheme to establish industrial units in small industrial estates,” he added. The minister said new small industrial estates will also be set up in DG Khan, Mianwali, Jhang, Sahiwal, Mandi Bahauddin, Sialkot, Lahore Motorway, Sargodha and Khewra along with the establishment of Sialkot Surgical City. “The government has introduced a composite policy to promote industrialization for increasing gross domestic products through poverty alleviation,” he added.

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AKISTAN may allow cotton import from India through land route as prospects of gradual restoration of bilateral trade ties have brightened after the new ceasefire agreement along the Line of Control (LoC).

According to a local media report that cited sources in the Ministry of Commerce, Adviser to the Prime Minister on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood may take a decision on whether to import cotton and yarn from India next week.

The report claimed that the issue of cotton shortfall had been brought to the notice of Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan whereas a formal summary will be presented before the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the federal cabinet after a principled decision is taken in this regard. “In-house deliberations have already begun but the final decision would be taken only after seeking the premier’s approval.”

The arrival of seed-cotton into ginneries plunged 35pc to 5.57 million bales as of January 31, 2021, the lowest level witnessed in Pakistan’s history in the last two decades.

Given the situation, this year’s cotton imports may

touch the highest levels seen in the country’s recent past, putting an extra burden on current account position. Cotton production was recorded at 8.487 million bales in the same period of last year.

Of the total production, textile mills bought 5.046 million bales while 70,200 bales were picked up by exporters. Currently, only 90 ginning mills are functioning in the country.

Cotton outputs in the country have plunged historic lows mainly due to poor seeds and lack of technology and innovations, threatening the livelihoods of growers and textile sector’s viability.

Pakistan had severed trade ties with India after New Delhi unilaterally annexed Jammu and Kashmir by ending its special status granted under Article 370 of Indian constitution. The trade ties between both the countries can help minimise cost of production and ensure sustained food supplies. NEWS DESK

Oil set for gains this week ahead of OPEC+ meeting ISLAMABAD AGENCIES

Oil is poised for further gains this week ahead of a meeting of Opec+ producers and continued tightening on the market.

Brent, the most widely-used crude benchmark, has risen steadily since the year began, registering gains of about 24 percent. The marker rose by about 17 percent over the past month as disruptions across the US, which affected 4 million barrels per day of oil production due to a winter storm, also helped tighten supply.

West Texas Intermediate, the US benchmark, is now trading above $60 per barrel, up 26 percent since January. It has registered a gain of 17.5 percent over the past 30 days.

The continued squeeze on US production, which was about 11 million bpd before the disruptions across Texas and other southern states, has proved to be a boon for oil markets. Investment banks forecast continued gains for crude amid a persistent commodities supercycle that has driven metals such as copper to nine-year highs.

Both Brent and WTI finished the last week of February down by 2.56 percent and 3.2 percent at $64.42 a barrel and $61.50 a barrel, respec-

tively. However, with fundamentals remaining sound and producers expected to meet later this week, the markers are set for a rebound.

“US crude paused its rally, although the main catalysts of the actual market turmoil, which is the positive economic outlook and expectations of higher spending, are fundamentally supportive of oil prices,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote.

Brent is poised for long-term gains and expected to rise at its fastest pace since the 1970s over the next three years, according to Bank of America.

The benchmark could hit $100 a barrel, while averaging between $50 and $70 a barrel between now and 2026. Goldman Sachs is also bullish about Brent, expecting it to surge to $75 a barrel by the third quarter of the year.

“The technical picture for both contracts remains bullish, with overbought indicators easing back towards neutral territory,” said Jeffrey Halley, senior market analyst for the Asia Pacific at Oanda.

Oil markets will also brace for fresh supply to be brought by Opec+ over the next quarter as it eases some of its curbs.

The group, which is holding back 7.2 million bpd of production, was earlier set to add 2 million bpd, which can now be expected.

McDonald’s says mulling partial sale of digital unit WASHINGTON AGENCIES

McDonald’s is weighing the sale of part of digital start-up Dynamic Yield, which it bought two years ago in a bid to boost drive-through and inrestaurant kiosk orders, the two companies confirmed Saturday.

McDonald’s had originally looked to the artificial intelligence business to provide personalized digital promotions to consumers, which would vary

depending on time of day, weather and wait times.

A potential partial sale of the company had “been discussed from the outset, and now feels like the right time to explore that possibility,” Dynamic Yield’s founder and CEO Liad Agmon said in a statement to AFP confirming an earlier report in the Wall Street Journal.

“We don’t have a set timeline for the potential sale,” the company added.

In its own statement to the AFP, McDonald’s said it had

put Dynamic Yield’s technology to use in a number of markets around the world and would continue to do so.

It said it would continue to test “new approaches” in order to better serve its clients’ changing needs.

The 2019 purchase of Dynamic Yield by McDonald’s for more than $300 million represented the US-based group’s largest purchase in years.

Company executives portrayed it as a key element of McDonald’s digital strategy.

Pakistan, Saudi Arabia to sign customs pact Pakistan and Saudi Arabia will soon ink a comprehensive agreement on Customs cooperation and assistance to promote bilateral trade and control illicit drug trafficking between the two countries. In this regard, a meeting between the Ambassador of Saudi Arabia in Pakistan, Nawaf Saeed Al-Malikey and Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman, Muhammad Javed Ghani, held a meeting here on Saturday wherein matters of mutual concern pertaining to cooperation on customs and tax were discussed. The agreement will be implemented after approval from Saudi Arabia. “We are working very rapidly on the text. We have already sought comments from relevant department,” the envoy said during the meeting.

According to press statement issued by the board, the FBR chairman briefed the Saudi ambassador about the FBR's recent measures for the mobilisation of revenue and facilitation of taxpayers. The ambassador appreciated the recent performance of FBR in the first seven months of current financial year (7MFY21) and hoped that it would successfully achieve its future targets as well. Ambassador Al-Malikey said this agreement will further strengthen the relationship between the two countries. “We are keen to finalise it early,” he said. NEWS DESK

FBR notifies Rs1,000 surcharge for individuals The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has clarified that a lower rate of Rs1,000 will be charged from individuals (salaried and non-salaried) on late filing of income tax returns for the tax year 2020 for inclusion in the Active Taxpayers’ List (ATL). The FBR’s spokesperson has clarified that surcharge for inclusion in ATL for late filing individuals is Rs1,000 and not Rs10,000. “This mistake occurred because of an error in a press release issued on Feb 24,” he added. Companies will have to pay a surcharge of Rs20,000 and association of persons Rs10,000 for inclusion in ATL, which will be published on March 1. NEWS DESK

UK to provide 5 billion pounds to pandemic hit businesses in budget LONDON AGENCIES

The United Kingdom (UK) government will announce 5 billion pounds ($7 billion) of additional grants to help businesses hit hard by pandemic lockdowns in the budget statement next week.

Shops, bars, clubs, hotels, restaurants, gyms and hair salons would be among nearly 700,000 companies eligible for new direct cash grants of up 18,000 pounds.

The government said the funding takes the total spent on direct grants to businesses during the crisis o 25 billion pounds.

Encouraged by the rapid roll-out of vaccines, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson

has unveiled a route out of lockdown for England. However, some businesses will need to remain shuttered until the summer.

“There’s now light at the end of the tunnel and this 5 billion pounds of extra cash grants will ensure our high streets can open their doors with optimism,” said Sunak.

Local authorities in England will also get an extra 425 million pounds to distribute grants to businesses not eligible for the restart grants, while the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will receive 794 million pounds of extra funding.

The government has already racked up more than 280 billion pounds in coronavirus spending and tax cuts, pushing Britain’s borrowing to its highest level

since World War Two. While Sunak’s March 3 budget will include more spending to prop up the economy during what he hopes will be the last phase of lockdown, he will also probably signal tax rises ahead to plug the huge hole in the public finances. In an interview with the Financial Times, Sunak said he would use the budget to level with the public over the “enormous strains” in the country’s finances, warning that a bill will have to be paid after further coronavirus support.

Earlier on Saturday the government said Sunak is also expected to announce an initial 12 billion pounds of capital and 10 billion pounds of guarantees for the new UK Infrastructure Bank.

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Monday, 1 March, 2021

10 FOREIGN NEWS

LAHORE

At leASt 18 killed in MyAnMAr on BloodieSt dAy of proteStS AgAinSt coup YANGON

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AGENCIES

yANMAR police fired on protesters around the country on Sunday in the bloodiest day of weeks of demonstrations against a military coup and at least 18 people were killed, the UN human rights office said.

Police were out in force early and opened fire in different parts of the biggest city of yangon after stun grenades, tear gas and shots in the air failed to break up crowds.

Soldiers also reinforced police.

Several wounded people were hauled away by fellow protesters, leaving bloody smears on pavements, media images showed. One man died after being brought to a hospital with a bullet in the chest, said a doctor who asked not to be identified.

“Police and military forces have confronted peaceful demonstrations, using lethal force and less-than-lethal force that – according to credible information received by the UN Human Rights Office – has left at least 18 people dead and over 30 wounded,” the UN human rights office said.

Myanmar has been in chaos since the army seized power and detained elected government leader Aung San Suu Kyi and much of her party leadership on February 1, alleging fraud in a November election her party won in a landslide.

The coup, which brought a halt to tentative steps towards democracy after nearly 50 years of military rule, has drawn hundreds of thousands onto the streets and the condemnation of Western countries.

Among the dead were three people in Dawei in the south, politician Kyaw Min Htike told Reuters from the town.

The Myanmar Now media outlet reported two people had been killed in a protest in the second city of Mandalay. Security forces fired again later in the day and one woman was killed, Mandalay resident Sai Tun told Reuters. “The medical team checked her and confirmed she didn’t make it. She was shot in the head,” Sai Tun said.

Police and the spokesman for the ruling military council did not respond to phone calls seeking comment.

The dead in yangon included a teacher, Tin New yee, who died after police swooped to disperse a teachers’ protest with stun grenades, sending the crowd fleeing, her daughter and a fellow teacher said.

Police also hurled stun grenades outside a yangon medical school, sending doctors and students in white lab coats scattering. A group called the Whitecoat Alliance of medics said more than 50 medical staff had

been arrested.

Police broke up protests in other towns, including Lashio in the northeast, Myeik in the deep south and Hpa-An in the east, residents and media said.

‘OUTRAGEOUS’: Junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing said last week authorities were using minimal force to deal with the protests. Nevertheless, at least 21 protesters have now died in the turmoil. The army said a policeman has been killed.

The crackdown would appear to indicate determination by the military to impose its authority in the face of defiance, not just on the streets but more broadly in the civil service, municipal administration, the judiciary, the education and health sectors and the media. “The Myanmar security forces’ clear escalation in use of lethal force in multiple towns and cities ... is outrageous and unacceptable,” Phil Robertson, deputy Asia di-

rector of New york-based Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

The Canadian Embassy said it was “appalled by a trend of increased violence and use of force against protesters” and Indonesia, which has taken the lead within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in efforts to resolve the turmoil, said it was deeply concerned. State-run MRTV television said more than 470 people had been arrested on Saturday when police launched the nationwide crackdown. It was not clear how many were detained on Sunday.

‘INSTIL FEAR’: youth activist Esther ZeNaw said people were battling the fear they had lived with under military rule.

“It’s obvious they’re trying to instil fear in us by making us run and hide,” she said.

“We can’t accept that.” State television announced on Saturday that Myanmar’s UN envoy had been fired for betraying the country, after he urged the United Nations to use “any means necessary” to reverse the coup.

The ambassador, Kyaw Moe Tun, remained defiant. “I decided to fight back as long as I can,” he told Reuters in New york.

While Western countries have condemned the coup and some have imposed limited sanctions, the generals have traditionally shrugged off diplomatic pressure.

They have promised to hold a new election but not set a date.

US approves Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot Covid-19 vaccine WASHINGTON AGENCIES

The US government on Saturday approved Johnson & Johnson's single-dose Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use, giving a boost to the international efforts in controlling the deadly pandemic.

The J&J vaccine is the third authorised in the United States, following ones from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, both of which require two doses.

The US Food and Drug Administration announced the emergency use authorization of the J&J vaccine for adults aged 18 and older following Friday's unanimous endorsement by the agency's panel of outside experts.

President Joe Biden hailed the move but cautioned Americans against celebrating too soon. "Things are still likely to get worse again as new variants spread," he said in a statement, urging people to continue washing their hands, wearing masks, and maintaining social distancing.

"There is light at the end of the tunnel, but we cannot let our guard down now or assume that victory is inevitable," he said.

Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which are based on new messenger RNA technology, showed higher efficacy rates in pivotal trials that used two doses versus

J&J's single-shot vaccine. Direct comparison, however, is difficult because the trials had different goals and J&J's was conducted while more contagious new variants of the virus were circulating.

"We believe that people should take the vaccine they are able to access," the FDA's acting commissioner, Dr Janet Woodcock, said in a call after the authorisation, noting the three vaccines had not been studied headto-head.

"We feel that each of these vaccines will be effective, will prevent hospitalisation, deaths and should be used," she said.

In J&J's 44,000-person global trial, the vaccine was found to be 66 per cent effective at preventing moderate-to-severe Covid-19 four weeks after inoculation. It was 100 per cent effective in preventing hospitalisation and death due to the virus.

There were very few serious side effects reported in the trial, which also offered preliminary evidence that the vaccine reduced asymptomatic infections.

More study is expected. The FDA on Saturday dismissed the idea that evidence proved the vaccine prevented transmission between people and added there was no data to determine how long the vaccine's protection lasted.

J&J's vaccine is expected to be used widely around the globe because it can be

Biden says Saudi announcement to come today WASHINGTON AGENCIES

President Joe Biden on Saturday said his administration would make an announcement on Saudi Arabia on Monday (today), following a US intelligence report that found Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had approved the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The Biden administration has faced some criticism, notably an editorial in the Washington Post, that the president should have been tougher on the crown prince, who was not sanctioned despite being blamed for approving Khashoggi’s murder.

Asked about punishing the crown prince, Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, who is also known as MbS, Biden said: “There will be an announcement on Monday [today] as to what we are going to be doing with Saudi Arabia generally.” Biden did not provide details. But a White House official suggested no new significant steps were expected. “The administration took a wide range of new actions on Friday. The president is referring to the fact that on Monday (today), the State Department will provide more details and elaborate on those announcements, not new announcements,” the official said. Khashoggi, a US resident who wrote opinion columns for the Washington Post critical of MbS policies, was killed and dismembered by a team of operatives linked to the prince in the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul in October 2018. The Saudi government, which has denied any involvement by the crown prince, on Friday issued a statement rejecting the US report’s findings and repeating its previous statements that Khashoggi’s killing was a heinous crime by a rogue group. Among the punitive steps, the United States took on Friday was the imposition of a visa ban on some Saudis believed to be involved in the Khashoggi killing and sanctions on others, including a former deputy intelligence chief, which would freeze their US assets and generally bar Americans from dealing with them.

shipped and stored at normal refrigerator temperatures, making distribution easier than for the Pfizer/BioNTech SE and Moderna vaccines, which must be shipped frozen.

"It potentially could play a very substantial role if we have enough doses because it's only a single-dose vaccine and that will make it attractive to people who are difficult

to reach," said Dr William Schaffner, an infectious disease expert at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville. "It's one and done."

The US government, which has purchased 100 million doses of the J&J vaccine, plans to distribute about 3 million to 4 million next week. That would be on top of the around 16 million doses of the Pfizer/BioN-

Tech and Moderna vaccines the government already planned to ship across the country.

"We are ready to roll it out," White House senior adviser Andy Slavitt wrote on Twitter after the authorisation. Johnson & Johnson said it had begun shipping vaccines to the government.

J&J plans to provide a total of 20 million doses by the end of March, which along with the more than 220 million total doses expected from Pfizer and Moderna would be enough to fully vaccinate 130 million Americans.

So far, the United States has distributed more than 90 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines, some of which have been used for second shots. About 14 per cent of Americans have received at least one dose, according to US government data.

Covid-19 has claimed more than half a million lives in the United States, and states are clamouring for more doses to stem cases, hospitalizations, and deaths.

Public health officials have warned about a rise in the prevalence of more contagious variants of the virus, adding to the urgency to get millions more people vaccinated as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, they said, mask-wearing and other measures to curb the virus spread should remain in place as recent declines in Covid-19 cases appear to be levelling off.

Nigerian schoolboys freed as forces search for 300 abducted girls JANGEBE AGENCIES

Gunmen in Nigeria on Saturday released 27 teenage boys who were kidnapped from their school last week in the north-central state of Niger, while security forces continued to search for more than 300 schoolgirls abducted in a nearby state.

Schools have become targets for mass kidnappings for ransom in northern Nigeria by armed groups. On February 17, 27 students, three staff and 12 members of their families were abducted by an armed gang that stormed the Government Science secondary school in the Kagara district of Niger state, overwhelming the school’s security detail.

One boy was killed during the raid.

After their release, boys were seen by a Reuters witness walking with armed security through a dusty village, some struggling to stand and asking for water. A government official said the boys were aged between 15 and 18.

The release comes just a day after the raid on a school in Zamfara state where gunmen seized 317 girls. Police on Saturday mounted a hunt for the girls, while parents waited in the school compound for news on their daughters.

One of them, Lawal Muhammed, was hopeful his daughter would be released, saying the abductors wanted a ransom which could be paid.

“These ones ... are already after ransom, so I know and believe that when the government settles with them, they will be able to release our daughters,” he told Reuters.

School kidnappings in Nigeria were first carried out by the Boko Haram group, but the tactic has now

been adopted by other group whose agenda is unclear.

In a statement late Friday, the presidency said President Muhammadu Buhari had urged state governments “to review their policy of rewarding bandits with money and vehicles, warning that the policy might boomerang disastrously.”

The unrest has become a political problem for Buhari, a retired general and former military ruler who has faced mounting criticism over high profile

attacks by the gangs known locally as “bandits”.

Buhari replaced his long-standing military chiefs this month amid worsening violence.

In December, gunmen raided a school in northwesternKatsina state and kidnapped nearly 350 boys, who were subsequently rescued by security forces.

The highest profile school kidnapping was that of more than 270 schoolgirls abducted by Boko Haram from the town of Chibok in 2014. Around 100 of them remain missing.

Monday, 1 March, 2021

LAHORE

LAhore QALAndArS doWn KArAChI KIngS By SIx WICKeTS KARACHI

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AGENCIES

N a game that had all the ingredients fit for a contest between franchises representing the two biggest cities in Pakistan, Lahore Qalandars came out on top, defeating Karachi Kings by six wickets - in the final over - to move into the top two of the PSL points table. Qalandars' win made it 11 in a row for chasing teams this season, with the side batting first still searching for victory in PSL 2021. It was a fascinating match that had plenty of chirping, a whole lot of sixes, and an overdose of entertainment, fit for a ground that now allows up to 50% attendance for fans.

The second innings began with the Kings roaring on the back of three wickets in the Powerplay, but a 119-run fourthwicket stand between Fakhar Zaman (83) and Ben Dunk (57) brought the Qalandars back into the match. When Zaman fell, Kings had a sniff once again, but David's Wiese's nine-ball cameo of 31 extinguished those hopes, securing a Qalandars win with four balls to spare.

Kings' first-innings performance, where they reached 186 for 9, was quite similar to the chase. Like the Qalandars, they lost three wickets in the Powerplay before half-centuries from Sharjeel Khan (64) and Mohammad Nabi (57) lifted their innings. However, they could add only 24 runs in their last four

After bowling two of the first three overs while setting a total, and in the end, that was the difference between the two overs, Shaheen was taken out of the attack. sides. A big reason why Kings scored at only He returned at the end of the 17th with Kings six per over in the death overs was because at 168 for 6 and then proceeded to trouble of Shaheen Shah Afridi's accurate bowling. the Kings' lower-order batsman. Shaheen nearly dismissed Waqas Maqsood with backHe finished with 3 for 27.

SHAHEEN CRANKS IT UP: After con- to-back yorkers in the 18th finally removed ceding two boundaries in his first three de- him in the 20th with the same ball. He then liveries with the new ball, Shaheen eked out proceeded to york Mohammad Amir as well - with a massive celebration once the early chance for a breakthrough again. He ended the innings when Sharjeel mistimed a shot with a 151kph delivery to reto mid-on, only for QalanLAHORE strict Kings to 186 for 9. dars captain Sohail Akhtar QALANDARS 189 FOR 4 Sharjeel, Nabi domito drop the catch. Shanate between Shaheen's heen's second over was (ZAMAN 83, DUNK 57 NOT spells: consistently quick. He OUT, WIESE 31 NOT OUT) BEAT After Azam fell in nearly got a run-out in Shaheen's third over, the second ball of the KARACHI KINGS 186 FOR 9 Kings slid further when third over when he tried (SHARJEEL 64, NABI 57, they lost Joe Clarke and to kick the ball onto the SHAHEEN AFRIDI Colin Ingram off back to stumps at the strikers' end. back deliveries in the fifth.

Two balls later, a second 3-27) Clarke was run-out for 4 trying chance was dropped off Shato complete a single while Ingram heen, when Babar Azam flayed an edge to wide first slip. Then Shaheen con- was out to an Ahmed Daniyal yorker for a ceded five wides when he missed the yorker first-ball duck.

That brought Sharjeel and Nabi together only for it to slide down the leg side. But he had the last laugh in his opening spell, when and they responded by smoking 16 runs off he knocked Azam's middle stump back with the sixth over, delivered by Mohammad a length ball that moved in and went past the Hafeez. Sharjeel was the aggressor, hitting inside of the batsman's blade. Shaheen en- sixes off Haris Rauf and Wiese in the followjoyed the wicket a lot, perhaps a bit too ing overs, the latter bringing up his half-cenmuch, such that once he recovered from the tury in the tenth over off 34 balls. Nabi then hammered Samit Patel for two sixes and a high of the dismissal, he hugged Azam.

four in an 11th over that leaked 21 runs before Sharjeel fell at the start of the 13th trying to look for another big hit. Sharjeel's 39-ball 64 had 56 runs that came off either fours or sixes.

Nabi then took over from where Sharjeel left, hitting Wiese and Rauf for plenty in the late middle overs, helped by some wayward deliveries that included a useful mix of full tosses and short balls. However, he fell in the 16th over for his 35-ball 57 when he sliced a Rauf slower ball to extra cover. Christian brought out his long handle to clobber a 14ball 27 but his dismissal, coupled with Imad Wasim's deflated Kings' charge into the death overs. They went at just six per over from overs 16 to 20 to set a total far lesser than the 200-plus they were aiming for at one stage.

AMIR'S MIXED DAY: Shaheen's over-thetop celebration at dismissing Amir, who batted at No. 10, probably fired the senior bowler up because when he took the new ball in the chase, he was raring to go. With Zaman not finding a run off the first three balls, Amir went up to the batsman to say a few words, and off the fourth ball eked out a wicket. Zaman, trying to get Qalandars off the mark, tried to take a single, only to cause a run-out that saw Sohail out for a duck without facing a ball. Amir then bowled a full ball to No. 3 Joe Denly to bowl him for a first-ball duck as the first over was a doublewicket maiden. His second over - the chase's

Messi, Dembele on target as Barcelona brush aside Sevilla to reignite title race SEVILLE AGENCIES

Barcelona reignited their title hopes after Lionel Messi and Ousmane Dembele scored in a 2-0 victory over Sevilla on Saturday to put them two points behind Atletico Madrid.

Barca looked dead and buried a few weeks ago but this was their ninth win out of 10 in La Liga, a surge that has put them back in contention, with Atletico playing against Real Madrid next weekend.

“We’ve taken some big hits and we have got up again,” said Barca’s Gerard Pique. “Of course the title race is on, there is confidence and a lot of hope in this team.” Sevilla started the day as arguably the form team at the top, having won all of their last six league games, the last five of those without conceding a goal. But they were second best at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan, a dominant performance from

Barcelona exposing them still as slightly short of Spain’s top three.

It also creates an intriguing back-drop to Wednesday’s Copa del Rey semi-final second leg when these two teams meet again, with Barca hoping to overturn a 2-0 deficit at Camp Nou. Although Pedri and Ronald Araujo could be doubts after both were substituted in the second half with injury problems.

“We believe we can come back but Wednesday is a different game,” said coach Ronald Koeman. “We have to play a perfect match, only then do we have a chance.”

Koeman could well stick with his new 3-5-2 system, which saw Jordi Alba and Sergino Dest playing as wing-backs ahead of a back three and Dembele deployed up front alongside Messi.

Without Antoine Griezmann, who dropped to the bench, Koeman sacrificed some creativity in the final third for control through the middle, not to mention the

threat of Dembele in behind.

Certainly for the best part of an hour Sevilla struggled to escape Barcelona’s press or establish any sustained pressure, even after Julen Lopetegui introduced three substitutes at half-time and switched formation to match their opponents.

Marc-Andre ter Stegen was passed fit to play by the team doctor despite hurting his right thumb in the warm-up and in truth it was hardly tested in the first half.

Barca controlled the game and while Alba and Dest never really advanced as much as Koeman might have liked, Frenkie de Jong and Pedri were a constant threat through the middle, with the speedy Dembele just in front. Chances, though, were few and far between and it took a counter-attack for Barcelona to take the lead.

Fernando gave the ball away cheaply up front and two passes were enough, Messi curling the decisive one through for

Dembele to race clear and finish.

Lopegtegui reacted with three changes at half-time and two more after the hour but even by matching Barcelona’s system, Sevilla struggled to gain a foothold.

Alba came up just short of De Jong’s cross, Dest slammed against the post and Messi blazed over after another surge from Dembele. One of Lopetegui’s substitutes Youssef En-Nesyri had Sevilla’s best chance but headed over.

Yet without a second goal, a nervy finale was always likely and En-Nesyri found the corner on the turn but had the goal ruled out for a handball, his tussle with Araujo seeing Barca’s defender go off and he booted some chairs over in frustration. But Sevilla’s push was brief, ended

by Messi with six minutes left.

He traded passes with Ilaix Moriba, nipped inside Diego Carlos and tried to finish with a chip. Bono saved but the ball came to Messi, one yard out.

Ronaldo scores season’s 19th goal but Juventus held in Verona VERONA AGENCIES

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 19th goal this campaign but champions Juventus had to settle for a 1-1 draw at Hellas Verona in Serie A on Saturday.

“We managed to take the lead, which was the hardest part, it’s a pity not being able to hold it,” said Juve coach Andrea Pirlo. Pirlo’s side paid for their many absences and a redesigned defence with Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini out injured and Danilo suspended. Also missing were Juan Cuadrado, Arthur and Paulo Dybala to injury with Alvaro Morata recovering from a viral infection.

“We lacked experienced players, we had many youngsters on the pitch and there are details that they don’t understand,” continued Pirlo. “I asked Ronaldo and Alex Sandro to make their voices heard, but it wasn’t enough.”

Goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny and the post saved Juventus just minutes into the game at the Stadio Bentegodi following a Davide Faraoni header. Ronaldo broke through four minutes after the break connecting with a perfect lay-off from Federico Chiesa to fire in.

Aaron Ramsey missed a chance for a second before the hour mark after a Dejan Kulusevski pull-back which the Verona defence closed down. Antonin Barak headed in an equaliser with quarter of an hour to go and the hosts were denied a late winner with Szczesny deflecting a Darko Lazovic effort onto the crossbar.

IMMOBILE PENALTY MISS: Lazio’s European ambitions took a knock with a 2-0 loss at Bologna, days after a

heavy defeat by Bayern Munich in the Champions League.

Ciro Immobile missed a penalty with goals in either half from Ibrahima Mbaye and Nicola Sansone sealing all three points for Bologna who snapped their 15-match winless league run against the Romans. “The missed penalty set the tone for the game,” said Lazio coach Simone Inzaghi. Inzaghi’s side showed signs of fatigue as they came off a 4-1 Champions League last 16, first leg loss to holders Bayern Munich. “We must forget about these two defeats which hurt. An ambitious team like ours needs to roll

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up our sleeves and do better.” Lazio have lost momentum since losing to Inter Milan in the league two weeks ago, and next host Torino before travelling to Juventus.

Last season’s European golden shoe winner Immobile had a chance to score from the spot after Joaquin Correa was tripped in the box with goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski easily holding the striker’s weak effort.

And 11th-placed Bologna got the breakthrough two minutes later when Mbaye tapped in a rebound after Pepe Reina parried a Riccardo Orsolini volley.

SPORTS 11 third - was equally entertaining but yielded seven runs. However, the opening spell was menacing.

Like Shaheen, Amir was taken off the attack after two overs and only returned at the death. On that occasion, though, his fortunes changed. Although he conceded just seven in the 17th over, the 19th went for plenty. Dunk set the tone for the 19th with a four off a wide delivery after which Wiese hit him for two fours and a six. When Amir came to bowl his final over, Qalandars needed 30 off 12. When he was done, they needed 10 off six.

ZAMAN, DUNK SET UP THE WIN: When Zaman and Dunk came together at 33 for 3, it seemed that for the first time the chasing side would lose a PSL 2021 match.

The in-form Hafeez and Clarke were already gone, and Dunk was not in form. However, Zaman was hitting it clean. He struck two sixes and three fours off Mohammad Ilyas, and two sixes of Arshad Iqbal in the first eight overs to keep the asking rate in check.

He then tore into Nabi, Christian and Maqsood to sprint to a 36-ball fifty while Dunk was still struggling at a run-a-ball 26.

After the 12th over, though, with Qalandars needing 93 off 48, both batsmen stepped up a gear. Dunk matched Zaman stroke for stroke against Nabi and Maqsood such that by the 17th over came, the Australian had reached his fifty in 39 deliveries and Qalandars needed 36 off the last three overs.

Zaman then fell to Christian courtesy a slower ball, but the momentum had already shifted Qalandars' way courtesy the century stand for the fourth wicket. Wiese came in to bat firing all cylinders and Dunk then turned into spectator. Wiese's annihilation of Amir's final spell left only 10 to get off the final over, and he needed just two balls in the 20th - delivered by Christian - to take Qalandars over the line. Dunk finished unbeaten on 57.

T20 World Cup 2021: PCB seeks written guarantee from ICC for Indian visas NEWS DESK Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ehsan Mani on Sunday said that the cricketing body has sought a written guarantee from the International Cricket Council (ICC) for the players' visas ahead of the 2021 ICC Men's T20 World Cup, scheduled to be held in India.

Addressing a press conference, Mani said that the ICC has been asked to confirm in writing that the Pakistani players, journalists and spectators will be provided visas. He added that the issue will be raised again in the virtual meeting of ICC. He stressed that if the T20 World Cup is to be held in India, then the country would have to extend full cooperation, including visas and full security, to Pakistan.

“Either we will be going to the event with full protocols or it will have to be moved elsewhere,” he maintained. The chairman also said if India qualifies for the World Test Championship final, it would be impossible for the Asia Cup to be held this year as planned due to a clash of dates. “The way things look, most probably the Asia Cup will be postponed until 2023,” he said.

Popyrin fights back to win maiden ATP title in Singapore SINGAPORE: Australia’s Alexei Popyrin stormed back from a set down to beat Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan 4-6 6-0 6-2 and clinch his first ATP Tour title at the Singapore Open on Sunday. Popyrin fired 11 aces and broke serve five times to hand fourth seed Bublik -- who is still searching for his first title -- a fourth defeat in a final. “We put in a lot of hard work in pre-season and it’s paying off,” Popyrin said in an on-court interview. “Also my family behind the scenes ... they’ve sacrificed so much for me and to finally win a tournament just shows how much hard work they put in with me also and this is for them, this is for them 100 per cent.” The 21-year-old, who upset Marin Cilic in the lastfour, made a slow start and dropped the opening set but produced an instant response, breaking Bublik’s serve three times in the second to hand out a rare bagel. The former junior French Open champion did not let up in the third, surging to a 4-2 lead before closing out the victory when Bublik double faulted.

He became the second player to win a maiden title this year after Briton Dan Evans had triumphed at the Murray River Open. AGENCIES

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staff report

fter shedding 362 points (-0.8 per cent) during the last week amid the financial Action task force (fAtf) plenary session, the Pakistan Stock exchange (PSX) is likely to remain in green this week as clouds of fAtf-led uncertainty have dispersed.

Moreover, a ceasefire at the Line of Control (LOC) agreed upon between the director generals military operations (DGsMO) of Pakistan and India may further boost investors’ sentiments.

Against the falling gold prices, the stability of the Pakistani rupee against the US dollar and increasing prices of crude futures may keep the market green this week.

Gold price in the international market plunged and it was closed at $1,735.60 an ounce on friday last after shedding $35.50 an ounce in its value as compared to its value on thursday last.

International ratings agency fitch has predicted the price of gold will fall to $1,600 per ounce this year and slide further down to $1,400 in 2022 “on increased demand due to investment flows and central bank purchases.” the Pakistani rupee appreciated by rs1 against the US dollar during the week. the local currency made gains against the greenback during all five days.

On the other hand, oil prices are trading at a 14-month high as the US West texas Intermediate (WtI) crude futures were closed at $61.50 a barrel, Brent at $64.42, the price for Opec Basket was recorded at $65.42, and closing price of Arab Light remained $65.14.

According to the latest outlook by Morgan Stanley, prices for Brent crude will reach $70 per barrel in the third quarter on “signs of a much-improved market.” At the same time, Goldman Sachs Commodities research says that prices will climb to $70 per barrel in the second quarter from the $60 it previously predicted, and $75 in the third quarter from $65 earlier. the benchmark KSe-100 Index closed at 45,865.02 points last week against its closure at 46,227.65 points on the preceding week. Among other indices, the KSe All Share Index closed at 31,436.15 points against its closure at 31,851.18 points on a week-on-week (WoW) basis.

Likewise, the All-Share Islamic Index closed at 22,806.72 points against 23,041.25 points on a WoW basis.

Analysts at Arif Habib Limited said that the market to remain positive in the upcoming weeks as clouds of fAtfled uncertainty have dispersed and with only 3 action plans to be addressed, the likelihood of Pakistan exiting the grey list in June 2021 is very bright.

Moreover, a ceasefire across the LoC with India is a massive feat on the political front and will further aid sta-

bility in the regional climate. the benchmark KSe-100 index of the Pakistan Stock exchange is currently trading at a Per of 7.2x (2021) compared to the Asia Pacific regional average of 17.1x and while offering a DY of ~6.8 per cent versus ~2.5 per cent offered by the region. the index remained under pressure this week in anticipation of fAtf’s plenary meeting (scheduled february 22 to 25, 2021), whereby Pakistan retained its status in the greylist and has until June 2021 to meet 3 of the 27 initial action points. Albeit, a relief rally was witnessed on thursday as valuations opened up and a robust dividend announcement from UBL lured bulls.

Moreover, another current account deficit (CAD) was posted in January 2021 at $229 million in January 2021 versus $652 million in December 2020 while fDI for 7MfY21 underwent a 27 percent dip YoY to USD 1.145 billion compared to USD 1.577 billion in SPLY. Sector-wise negative contributions came from oil & gas exploration companies (107 points), commercial banks (105 points), and oil & gas marketing companies (78 points). Whereas sectors that contributed positively include cement (119 points), technology (53 points), and textile weaving (7 points). Scrip-wise negative contributors were OGDC (92 points), PSO (42 points) and NBP (41 points) while positive contributors included LUCK (160 points), trG (56 points) and MeBL (28 points). foreign buying this week clocking-in at $0.3 million compared to a net sell of $0.6 million last week. Buying was witnessed in cement ($2.6 million) and technology and communication ($2.2 million). On the domestic front, major selling was reported by Broker Proprietary trading ($10.7 million) and Mutual fund ($4.9 million). Average volumes arrived at 589 million shares (down by 1 per cent WoW) while the average value traded settled at $159 million (up by 0.01 per cent WoW).

FBR SURPASSES 8-MONTH REVENUE COLLECTION TARGET: In other financially positive news about the economy, the federal Board of revenue (fBr) surpassed the revenue collection target for the first eight months (July-february) of the current financial year 202021 by rs18 billion. the fBr has released the provisional revenue collection figures for the first eight months of the current fiscal year.

According to the provisional information, fBr has collected net revenue of rs2,916 billion during July-feb period, which has exceeded the target of rs2,898 billion. this represents a growth of about 6 per cent over the collection of rs2,750 billion during the same period of the last year. the net collection for the month of february was rs343 billion against a required target of rs325 billion, representing an increase of 8 per cent over last february and 106 per cent of the target. When finalised after book adjustments,

the collection figures are likely to improve further.

On the other hand, the gross collections increased from rs2,823 billion during this period last year to rs3,068 billion, showing an increase of nearly 9 per cent. the number of refunds disbursed was rs152 billion compared to rs79 billion paid last year, showing an increase of 97 per cent. this is reflective of fBr’s resolve to fast-track refunds to prevent liquidity shortages in the industry. the improved revenue performance is a reflection of growing economic activities in the country despite facing the continued challenge of the second wave of Covid-19.

During March-June 2021, it is expected that this revenue performance would be improved substantially compared to 2020 when economic activities were disrupted.

Meanwhile, fBr’s efforts to broaden the tax base are picking up pace. early signs suggest such efforts are bearing fruits. On 28-2-2021, income tax returns for the tax year 2020 have reached 2.62 million compared to 2.43 million last year, showing an increase of 8 per cent. the tax deposited with returns was rs49.6 billion compared to only rs31.0 billion, showing an increase of 60 per cent.

It may be recalled that last year the final date for submission to returns was february 28. fBr’s decision to adhere to 8th December as the last date has been vindicated as more returns and higher tax payments have been recorded during the tax year 2020 compared to 2019.

Moreover, the fBr has issued notices to nearly 2.1 million taxpayers who were supposed to file returns, or have filed a nil return, or mis-declared their assets or have not been filing returns for sales tax to comply with their legal obligations. the exercise is eliciting encouraging responses. However, those who are not complying would be pursued diligently until compliance is achieved. the fBr has also released information about tier-I retailers who have been integrated with the POS system.

According to the information, 9952 sales points have been integrated with the Point of Sales (PoS) Linked Invoicing System.

Pakistan Customs has initiated a focused countersmuggling drive. In february 2021, smuggled goods worth rs. 4.08 billion have been seized while in february 2020; smuggled goods worth rs. 3.02 billion were seized, thus showing a monthly increase of 35.18 per cent.

Similarly, during the last 8 months (July 2020-feb 2021) of the current financial year smuggled goods worth rs39.52 billion have been seized as compared to rs25.10 billion from July 2019 to february 2020 of the last financial year thus showing an increase of 57.45 per cent.

Moreover, the value of seized goods of rs39. 52 billion in 8 months of current fY has crossed the total value of seized goods of last year. In fY 2019-20, smuggled goods worth rs36 billion were seized.

Parliament may lay down criteria for SAPMs: SC IslAmAbAd staff report

the Supreme Court in a judgement maintained that the members of parliament should introduce some criteria vis-a-vis the discretionary power of the prime minister in the appointment of his special assistants.

“We would like to observe that parliament may at an appropriate time consider laying down some criteria, minimum standards, educational qualifications, fields of expertise and level of experience for the appointment as special assistants to prime minister (SAPMs), says a 17- page detailed judgment. the verdict authored by Justice Ijazul Ahsan in a case wherein the appointments of SAPMs was challenged in the apex court, adds, “[this is necessary] in order to ensure that the exercise of discretion by the prime minister in this regard is properly structured, streamlined, circumscribed and systemised. “this court has repeatedly acknowledged the contributions of overseas Pak-

istanis towards nation-building which cannot be ignored, debarred or questioned on the basis of frivolous and baseless assumptions and hypothesis which have no constitutional, legal or factual basis just in order to advance personal or political

agendas,” the judgement added, clarifying that there was no restriction or prohibition against Pakistanis with dual nationalities. “therefore, the court held that a person having dual nationality is neither ineligible nor barred from appointment as

SAPMs.” the judgment laid special emphasis on the fact that the premier, due to his multifaceted duties and obligations on the macro and political level and towards various specialised fields, would need “deeper and specialised knowledge, and understanding and experience in various areas and fields which he may not possess and is not required to possess”. As such, it maintained that frequent judicial interference in such matters would hamper the premier in the effective discharge of his functions and obligations. “therefore, to enable the prime minister, who has been elected on the basis of popular mandate notwithstanding his qualifications or expertise in different areas to run the affairs of the state in an efficient, effective, systematic and methodical, well-considered and well-planned manner, he ought to access and give a free hand to appoint those whose ability, knowledge, experience and expertise he trusts for assistance in running the affairs of the state.”

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Arrival of ‘sticky bombs’ in occupied Kashmir sets off alarm bells sRINAGAR agencies

Security forces battling a decades-long insurgency in Indian-occupied Kashmir are alarmed by the recent arrival in the disputed region of small, magnetic bombs that have wreaked havoc in Afghanistan. “Sticky bombs”, which can be attached to vehicles and detonated remotely, have been seized during raids in recent months in the held region of Jammu and Kashmir, three senior security officials told reuters. “these are small IeDs and quite powerful,” said Kashmir Valley police chief Vijay Kumar, referring to improvised explosive devices. “It will certainly impact the present security scenario as volume and frequency of vehicular movements of police and security forces are high in Kashmir Valley.” the Indian government flooded Kashmir, already one of the world’s most militarised regions, with more troops in August 2019, when it split the country’s only Muslim-majority state into two union territories in a blatant violation of bilateral agreements with Pakistan and relevant UNSC resolutions. the arrival of the sticky bombs — including 15 seized in a february raid — raises concerns that an unnerving tactic attributed to the taliban insurgents in nearby Afghanistan could be spreading to the India-Pakistan conflict.

Afghanistan in recent months has seen a series of sticky-bomb attacks targeting security forces, judges, government officials, civil society activists, and journalists. the attacks — some as victims sat in traffic — have sown fear while avoiding substantial civilian casualties. None of the devices seized in held Kashmir was produced there, a senior security official said, suggesting they were being smuggled from Pakistan. “All of them have come via drone drops and tunnels,” he said, asking not to be named. Kashmir has long been a flashpoint between nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan, which each claim all of the Himalayan region but rule only parts of it. India accuses Pakistan of backing the freedom movement in Kashmir, which has claimed tens of thousands of lives since the 1990s. Pakistan denies the charge, saying it gives only moral and diplomatic support to Kashmiri people fighting for selfdetermination. New Delhi has attempted to maintain a tight grip over the Kashmir Valley, where high-speed mobile internet was suspended for 18 months until earlier in february, but the freedom movement has simmered on. Officials said the bombs are particularly worrying because they can be easily attached to vehicles using magnets, potentially allowing militants to carry out assassinations or target military convoys that regularly criss-cross the valley. In february 2019, a suicide bomber drove a car laden with explosives into a convoy in Kashmir’s Pulwama, killing 40 soldiers — the deadliest attack on Indian forces in the region — bringing India and Pakistan to the brink of another war. Police chief Kumar said that security forces were changing protocols to deal with the new threat. the measures included increasing the distance between private and military traffic, installing more cameras on vehicles and using drones to monitor convoys. A difference between fighters in Kashmir and militants in Afghanistan is that the taliban have tremendous ability to move around in urban and rural areas, which, along with the easier availability of explosives, make the bombs a potent threat.

Explainer: US seeks to put Saudi crown prince in his place — for now dUbAI agencies

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman may have been spared direct punishment after a US intelligence report implicated him in the killing of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, but he has not emerged unscathed. the declassified report, based on CIA intelligence, concludes that the prince approved an operation to “capture or kill” Khashoggi, who was murdered in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.

President Joe Biden’s decision to publish a report that his predecessor Donald trump had set aside brings with it a broad refocusing of Washington’s stance on dealing with the kingdom, on its human rights record, and

on its lucrative arms purchases.

By pointing the finger so publicly at Prince Mohammed, the kingdom’s ruler in practice but not in name, Washington has also made it harder for its Western allies to deal with him directly.

But while it may want to cut the 35-yearold crown prince down to size, Washington knows it can ill afford to break entirely with its oldest Arab ally and the main counterweight to Iran in the region.

“What we’ve done […] is not to rupture the relationship but to recalibrate it to be more in line with our interests and our values,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters. elisabeth Kendall, a senior research fellow in Arabic and Islamic studies at the University of Oxford, said the report was “supremely em-

barrassing for Saudi Arabia” and “places other world leaders in the awkward position of having to decide if, when and how to continue dealing with the crown prince”.

HUMAN RIGHTS IN FOCUS: Prince Mohammed has denied any involvement in Khashoggi’s killing, for which eight people were jailed in Saudi Arabia last year, but has said he bears ultimate responsibility because it happened on his watch. the US administration imposed sanctions on 76 Saudis, including close collaborators of the prince, sparing the crown prince himself.

But Biden has indicated he will look more widely at human rights in Saudi Arabia, where the prince has crushed dissent and sidelined or even imprisoned rivals, including close relatives, in his drive to consolidate power.

Biden said on friday he had made it clear, in a call with King Salman, that killings of political opponents were not acceptable and that human rights abuses must be tackled.

Already, two Saudi political activists with US citizenship have been freed on bail pending trials. Prominent women’s rights activist Loujain al-Hathloul was also freed after nearly three years in prison, where her relatives said she had been tortured, something the authorities denied.

A source familiar with riyadh’s thinking said both moves were “part of leverage for a new relationship with the Biden administration”. the call to King Salman was evidence of Biden’s stated intention to revert to a stan-

dard protocol by communicating with the ruler, not his heir.

“It is just symbolic enough to show that trump put Prince Mohammed in a position that he doesn’t deserve, not one that fits him, and it is time to put him back where he belongs,” said a Western diplomat in riyadh.

ARMS FOR OIL: Biden may well go beyond the symbolic, as his administration has signalled that it may cancel arms sales to one of its biggest buyers if they pose human rights concerns, and limit future deals to “defensive” weapons only.

Washington has also lifted trump’s ban on dealing with the Iranian-backed Houthi movement that ousted a Saudi-supported government in Yemen and is now at war with Saudi forces and their allies.

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