EpaperLHR_22-2-7

Monday, 7 February, 2022 I 5 Rajab, 1443 I Rs 40.00 I Vol XII No 220 I 52 Pages I Lahore Edition

Xi, Khan vow to deepen CpeC development, build ‘Closer Community with a shared future’ g

india’s relentless Pursuit of military PrePonderance Would derail fragile Peace, Warns Pm

BEIJING Mian abrar

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hinese President Xi Jinping and Prime minister imran khan sunday agreed to deepen cPec development and work jointly to accelerate the building of a “closer community with a shared future in the new era”. in a much-anticipated meeting held here at the great hall of the People, Xi Jinping and Prime minister imran khan reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral cooperation and exchanged views on regional and global issues of mutual interest “in a warm and cordial atmosphere”. this was the first meeting between khan

paKistan

CONFIRMED CASES:

1,459,773

LAST UPDATED AT 9:21 AM ON FEBRUARY 6, 2022

DAY'S DEATH TOLL:

NEW CASES:

30

4,874 DEATHS:

1,339,498 29,478 SINDH:

PUNJAB:

551,399

488,603

KPK:

BALOCHISTAN:

202,190

34,785

AJK/GB:

ISLAMABAD:

40,568/10,891

Welcomes chinese investment under cPec, relocation of businesses to Pakistan

and Jinping since the prime minister’s visit to china in october 2019 just before the coronavirus outbreak there.

Xi told khan that china is willing to work with Pakistan to accelerate the building of a closer community with a shared future in the new era. Premier khan expressed concerns over growing polarisation in the world which threatened to unravel global developmental gains and posed serious risks to the developing economies.

Xi said the shared future would “bring benefits to the people of the two countries, provide an impetus for regional cooperation and contribute to world peace”. the prime minister underscored that china was Pakistan’s steadfast partner, a

Coronavirus in

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staunch supporter and an “iron brother”. the all-weather strategic cooperative partnership between the two nations withstood the test of times and the two countries firmly stood side by side in realising their visions and shared aspirations of peace, stability, development and prosperity, he added. khan briefed Jinping on a people-centred geo-economics vision and his government’s policies for sustained growth, industrial development, agricultural modernisation, and regional connectivity. he lauded beijing’s continued support and assistance to Pakistan’s socio-economic development which greatly benefitted from the high-quality development of the chinaPakistan economic corridor (cPec). he also welcomed further chinese investments in the second phase of the cPec which centred on industrialisation and improving people’s livelihoods. he highlighted that insurmountable challenges like climate change, health crises and growing inequalities could only be tackled through the unqualified cooperation of all nations in accordance with the purposes and principles of the un charter. in this regard, khan lauded Jinping’s visionary belt and road initiative (bri) and global development initiatives (gdi) which called for collective action for sustainable development and win-win outcomes. the prime minister highlighted the atrocities being perpetrated in the occupied kashmir and the persecution of minorities in india in advancing the radical hindutva idealogy of the ruling bharatiya Janata Party (bJP) was a threat to regional peace and stability.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

Pakistan witnesses major decline in new COVID-19 cases Pakistan witnessed a major decline in the new covid-19 cases as only 4,874 people tested positive overnight, the national command and operation (ncoc) data showed sunday morning, keeping the country’s coronavirus positivity ratio below the 10% mark for the fifth consecutive day. as per ncoc’s stats, 56,051 diagnostic tests were performed during the last 24 hours, of which 4,874 came back positive. the decline in the daily covid-19 case count pushed the positivity ratio down to 8.69% and active cases to 90,797 in a single day. however, the total number of coronavirus cases rose to 1,459,773. meanwhile, the countrywide covid-19 death tally was placed at 29,478 as 30 more people succumbed to the virus in the last 24 hours.

Pakistan’s special assistant to the Prime minister on health, dr. faisal sultan, asked the public to get their shots if they haven’t already. as Pakistan fights the fifth

PML-N central executive to take up crucial agenda today ISLAMABAD staff report

Pakistan muslim league-nawaz (Pml-n) would meet today to finalise its strategy to oust the imran khan-led Pakistan tehreek-i-insaf (Pti) government.

Pml-n President shehbaz sharif has summoned the central executive meeting following the luncheon meeting with the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) supremo asif ali Zardari and bilawal bhutto-Zardari. in a series of tweets, the Pml-n said that shehbaz sharif telephoned party chief nawaz sharif who is in london these and consulted with him over the proposals raised by the PPP leaders. the Pml-n said that, after consulting nawaz, shehbaz decided to summon a meeting of the party’s central executive committee on february 7 (monday). the party also shared that shehbaz had a conversation with Pakistan democratic movement (Pdm) chief and Pml-n’s top ally maulana fazlur rehman about his meetings with Zardari and bilawal. the Pml-n said that shehbaz sharif told fazl that he

covid-19 wave led by the omicron, dr. faisal sultan had urged people to get their shots. before, he had told people to get their covid-19 booster shots if it had been more than six months since they had their second dose. in this regard, the national command and operation centre (ncoc) chief asad umar shared on sunday that Pakistan has been setting the highest daily vaccination records for three consecutive days. “highest daily vaccination records set three days in a row,” tweeted umar. umar, who also holds the portfolio for the planning ministry, shared that the nationwide mobile vaccination campaign, designed by the ncoc and being “implemented with the help of provinces is producing outstanding results”. “target is to reach all citizens to allow us to finally end all covid-19 related restrictions,” explained umar. news desk

more inside

Kashmir to fight for right to selfdetermination ‘to last drop of blood’: Mushaal STORY ON PAGE 02

would take him into confidence regarding the meetings when he sees him face-to-face in the coming days. during the conversation, both the leaders also agreed to call a Pdm meeting over the issue. the Pml-n said that the date of the Pdm meeting will be announced after consultations. it merits mention that former president Zardari and PPP chairman bilawal reached the residence of opposition leader in the national assembly shehbaz sharif for a luncheon meeting on saturday. following the meeting, PPP and Pml-n agreed to use all

legal and political options at their disposal to dismiss the incumbent Pti-led government.

Pml-n vice President maryam nawaz and leader hamza shehbaz sharif were also present during the meeting. shehbaz had welcomed the father-son duo at his residence while ensuring all covid-19 soPs are practised. it is pertinent to mention here that shehbaz had called bilawal on friday and invited him for a luncheon meeting on the instructions of former prime minister nawaz sharif.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

imf asks sbP to ‘unwind’ housing finance measures STORY ON PAGE 03 in today’s issue

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Contact: 0307-7338168 irfan.farooq@pakistantoday.com.pk

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Monday, 7 February, 2022 | LAHORE

NEWS

Kashmir To fighT for righT To seLf-deTermiNaTioN ‘To LasT droP of BLood’: mushaaL ISLAMABAD

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USHAAL Mullick, the wife of detained pro-freedom Kashmir leader Yasim Malik, said the “supremacist regime” in New Delhi unleashed a wave of state-sponsored terrorism and barbarism to silence the powerful dissenting voices in the India-occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

In a statement issued in connection with

the annual Kashmir Solidarity Day, Mullick said the Narendra Modi government turned the scenic valley into a slaughterhouse and the world’s largest open-air prison.

Killing, arbitrary arrest, torture have become a norm in the region, as innocent and unarmed people are being brutally killed and tortured for their crimes to raise voices against the unlawful subjugation of Indian authorities, she said. Mullick vowed the courage of the brave people of the valley could not be dampened with the brutal and inhuman tactics.

She lamented the world powers duplicity and apathy towards the world worst crisis on earth, as India adopted a ruthless policy of genocide and ethnic cleansing of the Kashmiri people of the occupied valley.

Mullick said the people of Kashmir would never accept the Hindutva regime and would fight for their inalienable right to selfdetermination till the last drop of their blood.

Highlighting the plight of the oppressed Kashmiri people, the Hurriyat leader reminded the world community of its

obligations towards the resolution of the decades-long Kashmir dispute, where the entire population was put under a lockdown on August 5, 2019.

Mullick said the UN is legally and morally bound to secure implementation of its resolutions on Kashmir, adding that settlement of the lingering dispute as per the Kashmiris’ aspirations is imperative for peace and stability in South Asia, as it could trigger a nuclear war between Pakistan and India.

She urged the UN must fulfil its

responsibilities regarding Kashmiris’ right to self-determination as the decades-old unresolved dispute has not only put a question mark on the world body’s credibility but is also a constant threat to regional as well as world peace.

Pakistan-Sri Lanka ties contributing to South Asia peace, stability: Akram NEW YORK Staff RepoRt

Lord Nazir jailed for child sex offences LONDON MonitoRing RepoRt

Lord Nazir Ahmed, a former Labour Party peer of Pakistan origin, has been jailed for five years and six months for sexually abusing two young children, the Independent reported. The 64-year-old was found guilty at a court in the southern city of Sheffield in the United Kingdom in January of the attempted rape of a young girl and sexually assaulting a boy under 11 in the early 1970s. The offences took place when Ahmed was a teenager in Rotherham town. The court heard that Ahmed attempted to rape the girl when he was about 16 or 17 years old. The victim was much younger. He was also found guilty of a serious sexual assault against a boy under one in the same time period. Passing the sentence on Friday, Justice Lavender said his actions had had “profound and lifelong effects” on the victims.

The survivor of the attempted rapes read her own victim personal statement in court, saying: “An overwhelming feeling of shame remained with me throughout my childhood and early adult years. “It was a burden I was made to carry, and it silenced me for many years. It is now time for me to pass that burden to him — the paedophile who I know feels no personal shame.”

Ahmed, who was convicted following a retrial, resigned from the House of Lords in November 2020 after a conduct committee report concluded he had sexually and emotionally exploited a vulnerable woman who sought his help. According to the Guardian, Ahmed’s two older brothers, Mohammed Farouq, 71, and Mohammed Tariq, 66, were also charged with indecent assault in relation to the same boy abused by Ahmed.

Both men were deemed unfit to stand trial, but a jury found that they carried out the acts alleged. Farouq and Tariq were both given absolute discharges after the judge said the only other two options — a hospital order or a supervision order — would not be appropriate in this case.

Bomber killed in KP offensive against TTP ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

A suicide bomber was killed in an intelligence-based operation (IBO) against members of the proscribed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) group in Tank district of Dera Ismail Khan division in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Inter-Service Public Relations (ISPR) said. Security forces conducted the IBO near Dial Road neighbourhood on the intelligence of the presence of TTP fighters there. During the operation, a suicide bomber was killed, the military’s media wing said. “The operation is continuing to eliminate terrorist abettors and accomplices,” it added. In a similar offensive, the army arrested wanted TTP commander Allah Noor in an IBO in Serwekai village of South Waziristan, the ISPR said Saturday. Noor was captured while he was attempting to escape the operation. “Huge cache of arms, ammunition, explosives, and communication equipment recovered from [Noor’s] hideout,” the ISPR added. After its founding in late 2007, TTP grew to become the most dangerous terrorist threat inside Pakistan, taking control of swaths of tribal towns before it was driven out across the border to Afghanistan during 2014 Zarb-i-Azb military offensive.

Pakistan’s UN Ambassador Munir Akram told a virtual event marking Sri Lanka’s 74th independence anniversary the relationship between Islamabad and Colombo was contributing to peace and stability in the South Asian region.

“Pakistan and Sri Lanka enjoy relations of warmth and affection from the highest political level to the relationships between our peoples,” he said while felicitating the nation’s leadership and the people on the occasion. “The relationship between our peoples stretches back 2,500 years to the Buddhist and Gandhara eras.”

In his message, Ambassador Akram said: “We are

both committed to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, in particular the principles of sovereignty, equality, territorial integrity and non-interference in the

internal affairs of other States. “We have assisted each other in recent times in the preservation of these principles in South Asia.”

Sri Lanka, he said, continues to play a vital role in multilateral affairs, adding the two countries believe that in an inter-connected and globalized world, fraught with risk and challenges, the United Nations is the indispensable organisation to address the unprecedented triple crisis we confront today: the health crisis triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic, accompanying the economic crisis that has severely damaged our economies, and the existential threat of climate change. The ambassador added: “Our bilateral relations cover all areas of cooperation including defence, commerce, and culture and are marked by the commonality of interests, a shared vision and mutual trust.”

PM reaches Pakistan after concluding ‘successful’ China visit NEWS DESK Prime Minister Imran Khan and his highlevel delegation arrived in Pakistan on Sunday after concluding their four-day visit, with the Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry terming it “successful.”

The prime minister’s four-day visit included meetings with top Chinese leadership, the business community, the signing of several memoranda of understandings (MoUs), and attending the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics — as a sign of solidarity with Beijing.

Before leaving for Pakistan, PM Imran Khan met President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of People in Beijing — the first meeting of the two leaders since the prime minister’s visit to China in October 2019.

The two leaders reviewed the entire gamut of Pakistan-China bilateral cooperation, while also exchanging views on regional and global issues of mutual interest, a PM Office statement said. The prime minister briefed President Xi on a people-centred geoeconomics vision and his government’s policies for Pakistan’s sustained growth, industrial development, agricultural modernisation, and regional connectivity.

He lauded China’s continued support and assistance to Pakistan’s socioeconomic development which had greatly benefitted from the high-quality development of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

The prime minister welcomed increased Chinese investments in CPEC’s Phase-II which centred on “industrialisation and improving people’s livelihoods”.

PM Imran Khan shared his views with President Xi on growing polarisation in the world which threatened to unravel global developmental gains and posed serious risks to the developing countries.

He highlighted that insurmountable challenges like climate change, health pandemics and growing inequalities could only be tackled through unqualified cooperation of all nations in accordance with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter.

In this regard, he lauded President Xi’s visionary Belt and Road and Global Development Initiatives which called for collective action for sustainable development and win-win outcomes.

The prime minister highlighted that atrocities being perpetrated in the Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJK), and the persecution of minorities in India in advancing the Hindutva mindset of RSS-BJP was a threat to regional peace and stability.

“Rapid militarisation of India was undermining regional stability,” PM Imran Khan said.

PM Imran Khan highlighted that partnership between Pakistan and China was an anchor for peace and stability in the region and thanked China for its unwavering support to Pakistan’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, independence and national development.

The prime minister also reaffirmed Pakistan’s full support to China on all issues of its core interest.

Both leaders acknowledged that a peaceful and stable Afghanistan would promote economic development and connectivity in the region and called on the international community to promptly assist the Afghan people in averting a humanitarian catastrophe, the statement said.

The handout added that both leaders

appreciated the signing of a number of agreements covering industrial cooperation, space cooperation, and vaccine cooperation.

The two leaders reaffirmed their resolve to build the Pakistan-China community for a shared future in the new era, it said, The prime minister renewed his invitation to President Xi Jinping to undertake a visit to Pakistan at his early convenience, the statement added.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi earlier held a meeting with State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing.

The foreign minister was in the delegation accompanying the Prime Minister on a visit to China to attend the 24th Olympic Winter Games.

Recalling their last meeting in Chengdu for the 3rd round of PakistanChina Strategic Dialogue, the foreign minister appreciated the measures taken by the two sides to strengthen the AllWeather Strategic Cooperative Partnership between Pakistan and China.

He thanked his counterpart for China’s firm support to Pakistan’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, independence and national development, and reaffirmed Pakistan’s full support to China on all issues of its core interest.

FM Qureshi underlined that the prime minister’s face-to-face meetings with the Chinese leadership would provide fresh momentum to the bilateral strategic cooperative partnership, add new avenues to practical cooperation, spur high-quality development of CPEC including industrial development, and develop greater synergies between the visions of geo-economics and Global Development Initiative.

The two foreign ministers also discussed the evolving situation in the region and beyond, in particular the grave humanitarian situation in Afghanistan.

Foreign Minister Qureshi briefed State Councilor Wang on the gross human rights violations in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir and systemic assaults on the freedoms of minorities in India.

On the issue of Afghanistan, both sides appreciated the important role played by the meeting of the six neighbouring countries in evolving regional consensus and looked forwarded to its third meeting to be held in China.

It was agreed to maintain closer coordination to promote the shared objectives of peace, stability and development in Afghanistan and regional connectivity.

Monday, 7 February, 2022 | LAHORE

NEWS

imf asks sBP to ‘unwind’ housing finance measures

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NEWS DESK

HE International Monetary Fund (IMF) has asked the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) to roll back the two key measures for the promotion of housing and construction activities.

It is pertinent to note that in July 2020, the SBP made it mandatory for banks to increase their share of lending portfolios for housing and construction sectors to five per cent by December 2021. In addition, the SBP changed capital adequacy regulations in June 2021 to lower the applicable risk weight to 100pc from 200pc on banks’ investments in REITs or real estate investment trusts.

The staff report, which the IMF released along with the $1 billion tranche under the resumed loan programme, said the international lender

“urged” the central bank to wind down these measures “out of concerns for financial stability”.

“Banks’ housing lending targets could present risks to financial stability and entail a misallocation of credit,” it said. “The IMF believes such interventions are contrary to the principles of the free market economy. But it’s only a recommendation to be implemented in the medium to long term. We shouldn’t expect the SBP to do away with these incentives tomorrow,” Topline Securities Research Director Syed Atif Zafar stated.

The IMF stated that a “well-targeted budget subsidy programme” for the vulnerable population should be a more effective way to achieve social policy objectives like affordable housing. It called upon the Pakistani authorities to address longstanding structural deficiencies to support private-sector lending.

Pakistan has agreed to establish a working group by the end of February to produce a strategy paper, which will offer solutions to structural problems in the development of housing and construction sectors.

Ismail Iqbal Securities Head of Research Fahad Rauf said the IMF first called for rolling back these incentives back in April 2021. Instead of scaling back, the SBP expanded the scope of incentives even more aggressively in line with the government’s favourable stance towards housing and construction sectors.

“So far, it looks like the IMF and the government aren’t on the same page. Let’s see how the SBP acts going forward given that it’s become autonomous now,” Mr Rauf said.

The government will want the SBP to continue its push for housing and construction, he added. “The IMF programme will end in September. I think

‘Pakistan received warmth in China more than its expectations’ ISLAMABAD Staff CoRReSpondent

any progress on the unwinding of these incentives can be delayed until then. We won’t sign up for another IMF programme before the next general election,” he noted.

If implemented, however, the rollback of incentives for construction and housing can hurt the demand for cement, glass, steel and tiles, he said.

The IMF also asked the SBP to take a “more proactive approach” in addressing the issue of undercapitalisation of two private-sector banks. Although the IMF didn’t name the troubled banks, Mr Zafar of Topline Securities said the international lender is referring to Summit Bank Ltd and Silkbank Ltd, which lack capital adequacy as per the SBP’s criteria.

The two banks can become compliant by either receiving an equity injection from their current sponsors or getting acquired by other cash-rich investors.

Shiekh Rasheed plays down opposition’s aim to oust PTI-led govt APP Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed on Sunday played down the opposition’s decision to use all means to oust the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, saying the opposition is dying on its own.

In a press conference in Islamabad, the minister said the long marches by the opposition will fail.

“These people say they will send our government home, but they will surely fail,” he added.

If they want to bring a no-trust vote against PM Imran Khan they are more than welcome to do so, he said, adding that they can all join hands against the government but they will still fail.

In a comment on Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the head of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), he said Fazl used to say that he will remove Imran Khan from the government “like a fly out of milk”, but now it’s the Pakistan People Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) that removed him in this manner from the Saturday’s meeting in Lahore.

resolving Kashmir and Junagadh issue is prerequisite to peace in south asia: speakers ISLAMABAD

Maulana can try all he wants but the PPP and PMLN will not resign from the assemblies, Rashid claimed.

He further said that the long march will not succeed either. Rasheed said he had asked the opposition to change their protest date but now “I want them to come”. “These people are trying to foment instability,” he alleged.

“These money launderers have put Pakistan in

crisis,” Rasheed said referring to the opposition leaders.

Speaking about the security operation in Balochistan, Rasheed said the state will go after anyone who would pick arms against it. The security forces killed 20 militants over the three-day-long operation and nine army personnel lost their lives as a result of the operation, he added.

The minister said the attackers had received help from India, adding that the government will talk to anyone but not to those who would attack the state installations.

Rasheed said the government will also pick up the issue of prisoners in Gulf countries, particularly Saudi Arabia, during the visit of its interior minister to Pakistan. “We are also in touch with Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait to bring back our citizens imprisoned over petty crimes,” he added.

Saudi Interior Minister Prince Abdul Aziz bin Saud bin Naif is set to arrive in Pakistan on February 7 (tomorrow) at the special invitation of his Pakistani counterpart Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed.

Time has come for PTI govt to be held accountable: Bilawal

Staff RepoRt

Muslim Institute organized a “Solidarity Walk” on the occasion of Kashmir Solidarity Day from China Chowk Blue Area to the National Press Club.

Members of civil society, political and social sectors, students, lawyers, and journalists participated in the walk. A large number of people from various walks of life attended the rally – participants held placards and banners on which condemnation of Indian state terrorism, Kashmiris’ right to self-determination, their struggle for the independence movement, solidarity with Kashmiris were written. Speakers at the rally called on international forums, governments, and human rights organizations to play their part in stopping Indian atrocities in occupied Jammu and Kashmir: Sahibzada Sultan Ahmed Ali Dewan of Junagadh, Brigadier (retd) Abdul Rehman Bilal, Brigadier (retd) Aslam Khan, Dr. Sajida Awan Quaide-Azam University, Dr. Noor Fatima Chairperson IR, International Islamic University and Prof. Dr. Zamir Awan former Pakistani Ambassador expressed their views. The speakers said that Prime Minister Imran Khan has played an important role in raising the Kashmir issue at the international level. He has raised his voice in favor of Kashmiris in every international forum. We hope that the present government will continue playing its role in strengthening this issue and bringing it to the notice of the international community. India must end its illegitimate and illegal occupation of Kashmir and the state of Junagadh.

India is not a country but a region. Like Europe, every nation living here has the right to a separate homeland.

Now is the time to end not only the Indian illegal occupation of Kashmir and Junagadh but also other states in India. One day the sun of freedom will definitely rise. We should be grateful to Quaid-eAzam Muhammad Ali Jinnah for his insight into the extremist Hindu mentality and to make it possible for the Muslims of India to have a separate state. The speakers added that Kashmir is the jugular Vein of Pakistan and Junagadh is the heart of Pakistan.

NASIRABAD Staff RepoRt

PPP Chairman Bilawal BhuttoZardari Sunday said that the time has come for the PTI government to be held accountable before the masses.

“This march will be democracy’s revenge against this selected government,” Bilawal said while addressing a rally in the Nasirabad District of Balochistan.

He reiterated his resolve to oust the PTI-led government on Sunday and said his party would begin the anti-PTI long march on February 27 from Karachi to Islamabad.

Bilawal said that it was “time for Prime Minister Imran Khan to start panicking.”

He said since people have lost their confidence in the premier, the Parliament must also follow the suit.

He added he had sent a message to “the puppet” to inform him that the PPP had “entered the battlefield” to oust the PTI government.

“The kaptaan has snatched roti, kapra, aur makaan from the masses,” Bilawal said. “Khan sahib has robbed the citizens of their economic rights and their right to vote. We can’t stand it any longer, so we have declared war against this government.”

The PPP chairman further said: “We know how to snatch our rights, but we will opt for a democratic and constitutional way to take revenge from the government in the National

03

Assembly.”

“The solution to this country’s problems is a democratic struggle, so we believe in the power of the vote, not weapons,” he said.

Bilawal went on to say that the “Constitution of 1973 is an agreement between the state and the people.”

“Since the selected government came to power, poverty, unemployment, and inflation have increased in the country,” he said as he asked the citizens of Pakistan to give the PPP once more chance to make things right.

“We believe that if all the provinces get their due rights and have their resources, then the federation will be stronger,” he said.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has said that Prime Minister Imran Khan held very comprehensive meetings with the Chinese leadership and reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral ties during his just concluded visit to Beijing. “We are encouraged and received warmth more than our expectations. China has a clear direction in which Pakistan has a prominent position,” he said while addressing the media in Islamabad after his return from China. FM Qureshi was a part of the high-level delegation led by PM Imran that visited China to attend the Beijing Winter Olympic games at the special invitation of the Chinese leadership. During these high-level meetings, leadership of the two countries discussed future prospects of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CEPC), economic integration, and the next phase of CPEC. The foreign minister said, “Without any hesitation, I want to say that these meetings were held extensively and with much clarity”. Over Afghanistan, both the countries shared unanimous opinion. Pakistan’s contributions towards Afghan humanitarian assistance were acknowledged by China, he said, adding that the Chinese leadership viewed the holding of the extraordinary meeting of the OIC on Afghanistan as a successful one.

The foreign minister informed that during the meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi, they agreed to meet again in Beijing in March. The immediate neighbours of Afghanistan would be invited to a meeting including Iran, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and others. He said Pakistan, China and Afghanistan were members of a trilateral forum which would be further strengthened for coordination over Afghanistan. Referring to India, the foreign minister said that they were concerned over treatment of minorities, Muslims, Sikhs, Christians and Dalits as their human rights were being trampled. China and Pakistan shared same opinion and there was no ambiguity over the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) issue, he maintained. During the delegation-level talks, and meeting with Premier Li, they discussed ways and means to move on the economic front, enhance market access, bridge the trade imbalance and increase Chinese investment in different areas.

Qureshi said Pakistan had identified areas where the Chinese companies could get benefits through investment.

“These are the win-win projects”, and they had conveyed such economic prospects to the Chinese companies through a well-prepared booklet, he added. The prime minister, he said, held meetings with about twenty prominent state and private companies in which their authorities had identified interests over investment in key areas of Pakistan. The prime minister also shared Pakistan’s perspective over a host of issues during his interaction with the renowned think tanks in China, he added. The foreign minister said during the splendid opening ceremony of Beijing Winter Olympics, the Pakistani athletes were warmly received by the Chinese people which reflected that this friendship was peoplecentric, as people in both countries regarded each other as brothers and friends. The foreign minister further said that to advance the shared objectives of economic progress and prosperity and bilateral cooperation, they had also devised a follow-up mechanism. Speaking on the occasion, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said that the Chinese leadership had appreciated government’s economic reforms and fiscal discipline.

Monday, 7 February, 2022 | LAHORE

04

NEWS

Sanjrani, Bizenjo viSit FC Camp in nauShki, hail SeCurity ForCeS For repulSing terroriSt attaCkS

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HIeF Minister Balochistan Abdul Quddus Bizenjo on Sunday hailed security forces for repulsing terrorist attacks in Balochistan’s Naushki and Panjgur areas earlier this week and killing terrorists behind the assault.

Terrorists had on Feb 2 attempted to attack security forces’ camps in Panjgur and Naushki in two separate attacks.

However, security forces had repulsed both the attacks and killed 20 terrorists in a subsequent clearance operation.

“We have pride in our forces as they demonstrated exemplary courage in tackling the menace of terrorism,” Bizenjo said while addressing security forces during a visit to the FC camp in Naushki. He was accompanied by Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani and other provincial ministers.

Bizenjo said the way security forces repulsed attacks in Naushki and Panjgur warranted commendation.

“Our security forces have proven with their sacrifices that nobody can harm our beloved country,” the chief minister said. “We stand with our security forces.

The enemy cannot harm us in the pres-

ence of our brave security forces.”

The chief minister, chairman Senate and provincial ministers also paid homage to the security personnel who bravely fought against the terrorists.

They also commended the sacrifices and efforts of FC Balochistan.

ThE ATTACkS: In Panjgur, terrorists had tried to enter a security forces’ camp from two locations. “However, timely response by troops foiled their attempt.

During intense exchange of fire one soldier embraced martyrdom,” the ISPR statement had added.

In Naushki, according to the ISPR, terrorists attempted to enter an FC camp which was “promptly responded”, adding that four terrorists were killed as a result.

The statement had said one officer was injured during the shootout. A day later, the ISPR said the clearance operation in Balochistan, which was launched after the attacks, had been completed.

A total of 20 terrorists were killed during operations following the attacks, the military’s media affairs wing had said in a statement, adding that nine security personnel had embraced martyrdom. StAff RepoRt

Kashmir Solidarity Day observed in Ankara ANKARA AnAdolu Agency

The embassy of Pakistan organised an event to commemorate Kashmir Solidarity Day in Ankara on Saturday.

“Kashmiris will prevail in the fight for their legitimate rights and see the dawn of freedom one day,” Pakistan’s ambassador to Turkey Syrus Sajjad Qazi said.

“In any contest between force and love for freedom, perseverance and love for freedom will always win.

Struggle for freedom is a baton that one generation passes on to the next. One day Kashmir will see the dawn of freedom,” the ambassador said.

“Pakistanis will stand with them until they get their right of self-determination. We know that India has not succeeded for 75 years. It may try this for the next 75 years, but it will not succeed.”

The people of Kashmir and Pakistan around the world observe Kashmir Solidarity Day on February 5 every year to extend moral support to people in the Indian-occupied region.

The ambassador said Kashmir Solidarity Day serves as a “stark reminder of the broken promises and unfulfilled commitments made to the Kashmiri people by India for holding a plebiscite when it took the matter for the first time to the UN in January 1948”.

“If only the UN Security Council resolutions had been implemented, we would all have been spared this tragedy,” he added.

On January 5, 1949, following a full-scale war between Pakistan and India in 1948, the Security Council pledged that an UN-supervised plebiscite would be held to resolve the Jammu and Kashmir dispute, but the exercise was never carried out.

CALL FOR ACCOUNTABILITY: In their messages read out at the embassy’s event, President Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Imran Khan urged the international community to “take practical steps to hold India accountable

pakistan to learn from China to develop, promote winter sports: Fawad Federal Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry on Sunday has said that Pakistan is ready to learn from the Chinese experience to develop and promote winter sports in its scenic northern areas.

In an interview with the China economic Net (CeN), the minister stated that Pakistan and China have good economic and strategic bonds, and now wanted to work on ties in the field of sports.

“Prime Minister Imran Khan invited Chinese companies to set up winter sports venues and facilities in Pakistan. The two countries now have more culture, sports and media interaction,” he said.

Speaking about the opening ceremony of the 24th Olympic Winter Games in Bejing, the minister said that the way the Chinese participants played with lights was mesmerising.

He maintained that the beautiful effects they had created with lights were something the world must learn from them.

Talking about Pakistan’s northern area, Fawad said it “is double than Switzerland in terms of size and has the world’s highest peaks that are suitable for winter sports but our winter sports are not up to the mark.”

The minister hoped that China will help Pakistan set up a framework for winter sports in that region so that this country could produce top athletes for winter games.

It is pertinent to note here that Pakistani athlete Muhammad Karim from Naltar, Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B), is the only skier participating in the Olympics this year and was also the only olympian to have participated in the past two winter games in Sochi, Russia and Pyeongchang, South Korea, as well.

“The chief minister of G-B is very keen to set up winter sports facilities to make the northern area a hub of winter sports in Pakistan”, Fawad mentioned.

He further stated that the Pakistani contingent received a warm welcome from spectators upon their entry into the national stadium in Beijing, which showed love and respect for the country.

Prime Minister Imran Khan, along with other federal ministers attended the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics on February 4. App

anF foils attempt to smuggle heroin at karachi port ISLAMABAD MonitoRing RepoRt

for its “gross human rights violations” in Kashmir and fulfil the promises made through the UN to Kashmir.

Alvi and Khan reiterated that Pakistan would give full political, moral and diplomatic support to the people of Kashmir until the issue is resolved in accordance with UNSC resolutions.

The event also included an exhibition of pictures meant to show the treatment of Kashmiris by Indian forces, including a photo of the infamous April 2017 incident when a Kashmiri man was tied to an Indian army vehicle as a human shield.

DISPUTED REGION: Kashmir, a Muslim-majority Himalayan region, is held by Pakistan and India in parts

and claimed by both in full. A small sliver of Kashmir is also held by China.

Since they were partitioned in 1947, India and Pakistan have fought three wars — in 1948, 1965 and 1971 — two of them over Kashmir.

Their troops have also fought intermittently in the northern Siachen region since 1984. A cease-fire took effect in 2003.

Pro-freedom groups in Jammu and Kashmir have been fighting against Indian rule for independence or for unification with Pakistan.

According to several human rights organisations, thousands have been killed in the conflict since 1989.

The Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) foiled an attempt to smuggle 360 kilogrammes of heroin at the Karachi port, said an official statement.

According to the statement, a raiding party conducted an intelligence-based operation at the port and seized heroin from containers of cargo.

The authorities thoroughly searched the cargo in containers and found narcotics concealed in 1,200 sanitary pipes, said the statement.

The ANF said teams had been formed for the arrest of the man accused of the crime.

The authorities have also registered a case and launched further investigations.

Militancy, once driven out, returns to Balochistan QUETTA AnAdolu Agency

Regrouping of militant groups, the volatile situation in neighbouring Afghanistan and foreign support are key factors behind a new flare-up of violence in Balochistan, according to local political and security analysts.

Terrorism has reared its head in the mineral-rich province as dozens of security personnel and militants have been killed in ambushes, clashes, and bomb blasts across the region in recent months.

Retired Lt Gen Talat Masood, an Islamabad-based security analyst, told Anadolu Agency the resurgence of terrorism in the province is not unexpected, given the vastness of the region, loose control of the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, and involvement of foreign elements.

At least 20 soldiers were martyred in attacks on security check posts and clashes with suspected militants in several parts of the province, a key route of the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan economic Corridor (CPeC) in the past week alone, in a clear indication of the return of otherwise dwindling violence.

The martyrdom of 10 army troops in an

attack on a security checkpoint in the Kech district near Iran’s border on January 28 was the deadliest incident in months.

The Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF), a proscribed militant group, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Another seven army troops and 13 suspected militants were martyred in two separate security operations in the Panjgur and Noshki districts on February 3.

“There is no support (for terrorism) from the Afghan government but it’s because of the loose border control, of which the militants are taking advantage not only in Balochistan but in the northwestern tribal region,” said Masood, who served in the army from 1956 to 1992.

Pakistan has also seen a surge in terror attacks in the tribal region, mainly North Waziristan, which borders Afghanistan, since the Taliban took control of Kabul last August.

Mineral-rich Balochistan is also a key route of the $64-billion CPeC project, which aims to connect China’s strategically important northwestern Xinxiang province to Gawadar port through a network of roads, railways, and pipelines for cargo, oil, and gas transportation.

With its 600-kilometre (373-mile) coastline, Gwadar is an important deep seaport currently operated by China, which aims to attain direct access to the Indian Ocean via the seaport.

The economic corridor will not only provide China cheaper access to Africa and the Middle east but will also bring billions of dollars to Pakistan in the form of transit fees from the world’s second-largest economy.

COMPLACENCE: The vastness of the province, which makes up 42 percent of Pakistan, according to Masood, is another advantage terror groups have been taking to regroup after short and long intervals.

“Balochistan is a vast province, and hard to fully control. Therefore, it is not very difficult for them (militants) to regroup,” he said.

Supporting the view, Ikram Sehgal, a Karachi-based defense analyst, observed that a no man’s land between Pakistan and Iran has long been serving as a “safe haven” for militants.

“The security forces should not have been complacent after subsiding the insurgency in recent years. They have reared their head also because of lack of preparedness from the security forces,” Sehgal, who edits

CMYK

the reputed Defense Journal of Pakistan, told Anadolu Agency.

He called for doubling the number of troops within Balochistan and at borders with Iran and Afghanistan to check the “cross-border movement of terrorists.”

UNIFICATION OF MILITANTS AND INDIAN hAND: Anwar Sajidi, a Quettabased political analyst, sees the “unification” of several militant groups as a key reason behind the fresh wave of violence across the province.

He said different separatist outfits have recently formed the Baloch National Alliance (BNA), an umbrella group, which has improved “coordination” and “access” in terms of attacks. Sehgal and Masood also claim the “Indian hand” behind the rise in terror attacks, whereas Sajidi, too, does not rule out the possibility.

Masood said New Delhi is “opening new fronts in Balochistan with the help of dissident elements along the borders to settle the score on Kashmir.”

Sehgal contended that India has “reactivated its network” in Balochistan, which is responsible for the latest wave of violence in the region.

Sajidi said the possibility of the involvement of a foreign hand in the latest string of attacks in Balochistan is “there”.

In 2016, Pakistan arrested a spy Kulbhushan Jadhav — who at the time was a serving officer in the Indian Navy — in Mashkel in Balochistan, a few miles from the border with Iran.

Disguised as Mubarak Hussein Patel, a Muslim, he was running a spy network for the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), India’s premier intelligence agency, from the Iranian port of Chabahar.

Video confessions of his activities were released to the press.

In 2017, a military court sentenced Jadhav to death on espionage and terrorism charges. His appeal is pending in the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

“These waves of terrorism will keep on coming and going unless the actual cause of terrorism, which is a sense of alienation (in Balochistan) is rooted out,” said Masood.

“Baloch (people) think they are deprived and out of the power structure. They need to be brought into the power structure.”

“If it happens, the waves of violence will automatically die down.”

Monday, 7 February, 2022 | LAHORE

NEWS

05

3410 wheat bagS SeIzeD aS MeaSUreS to cUrb SMUggLINg LAHore

Fake fertilizer factory sealed, two held in D.I. Khan DerA ISMAIL KHAn staff report

A fake fertilizer factory was sealed and two culprits were arrested by police here in DI Khan on Sunday.

According to details, the police on a tip-off raided a fake fertilizer factory established in a rented house located in Dera Ismail Khan city. During the raid, hundreds of bags of fake fertilizer, chemical drums, printed empty bags, sewing machine and digital scales were recovered.

The police confiscated the recovered items, sealed the factory and arrested two accused identified as Ibrahim and Saeed Khan.

A case was registered against the detainees and they were being investigated.

Sindh launches drive against tax defaulting vehicles from today KArAcHI staff report

Sindh Minister for Excise & Taxation and Narcotics Control Department Mukesh Kumar Chawla has said that a road checking campaign will be launched from February 7 (tomorrow) to collect taxes from tax defaulting vehicle owners.

The campaign will continue till February 18. Chawla said 10 teams have been constituted for the drive in Karachi which will check the vehicles of owners at 37 spots of Karachi from Monday (today).

The drive is being launched to collect tax from the default vehicles’ owners. The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by Mukesh Kumar Chawla. Secretary Excise & Taxation and Narcotics Control Department Atif Rehman, Director Generals Iqbal Ahmad Leghari, Aurangzeb Panhwar earlier this week.

The meeting decided to take action against the owners of tax defaulting vehicles. It was informed that action would be taken against the owners of open letter, unregistered and tax defaulting vehicles during the road checking campaign.

Addressing the meeting, Provincial Minister Mukesh Kumar Chawla requested the owners of tax defaulting vehicles to deposit their due taxes to avoid any untoward situation as driving on open letter and without registration is a crime.

PML-N central executive to take up crucial agenda today contInueD froM pAge 01 Agreement on no-confidence motion against NA speaker Sources privy to the meeting between the PPP and PML-N leaders say that both the parties have agreed to move a noconfidence motion against National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser.

However, the sources added that the timing of moving the motion will be agreed upon later. On the other hand, sources said Bilawal and Zardari had visited the Shehbaz’s residence to extend an invite to them for their long march.

The sources added that the PML-N, after receiving the invite, demanded that after the march, a sit-in should be held in Islamabad.

But the sources said that the PPP rejected the idea of a sit-in.

Sources also shared that, during the meeting, Maryam made Zardari talk to her father, Nawaz Sharif, over the phone.

The source added the PPP leaders shared the PML-N the names of 20 disgruntled PTI MNAs who may change their loyalties if a no confidence motion is tabled.

a

staff report

S many as 3410 bags of wheat being illegally shipped out of Punjab were seized at Mianwali and Bhakkar check-posts as authorities continue administrative measures to curb the smuggling of wheat and urea fertilizer.

The Punjab Chief Secretary, Kamran Ali Afzal shared these details at a briefing during a video-link meeting of divisional commissioners and deputy commissioners at Civil Secretariat on Sunday. The meeting reviewed the prices of essential commodities, steps to prevent smuggling and public welfare initiatives.

The Chief Secretary directed the

deputy commissioners to keep a close watch on the movement of wheat and fertilizer in the border districts and continue monitoring the supply chain

of fertilizers. He also asked the officers to take stern action against the fertilizer dealers involved in hoarding and profiteering. He said that those

fleecing consumers by creating artificial price-hikes deserve no leniency.

Kamran Afzal also issued instructions regarding strict implementation of restriction of one-dish and timings in wedding ceremonies. He said that in case of violation, action should be taken without any discrimination as per the Marriage Act. The divisional commissioners gave a detailed briefing to the meeting through video link.

The meeting was told that sale points have been established at union council level throughout the province to ensure availability of urea fertilizer at fixed rate. The administrative secretaries of different departments, including food, agriculture, and industries, Additional IG Special Branch and officers concerned attended the meeting.

SNGPL, SSGC repair 887km pipelines ISLAMABAD news desk

The Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) and Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) have collectively repaired around 887-kilometer faulty pipelines and rectified 1447,342 leakages in line with the government strategy to bring down the Unaccounted for Gas (UFG) ratio.

Besides, the companies’ experts inspected around 13,388 Town Border Stations (TBSs) and rectified 633 stations after finding them leaked.

The state utilities have installed Electronic Volume Corrector (EVC) meters at all industrial connections and high pressure commercial connections that calculate actual volume of gas consumption, maintain record of hourly/daily gas consumption and

generate tamper alarm in case of an attempt of magnetic interference with meter or other infrastructure.

Around 1,850 out of 3,655 industrial connections have been integrated with Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) for remote monitoring of industrial consumers for timely identification of gas theft and measurement errors, if any.

To control the line losses and bring down the UFG ratio, the cyber locks are being installed at industrial meter stations to restrict the access of consumers to the meters and regulators to reduce chances of gas theft.

The companies are also using Laser Leak Detectors, the best available technique and gadgets, for identification of underground leakages. “High flow samplers are being used for quantification of leakages.”

The UFG losses of SNGPL and SSGC stood at

Punjab Governor, Namangan counterpart discuss expansion of bilateral trade LAHore staff report

Punjab Governor Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar along with a delegation of Pakistani business community met with Governor of Namangan Province of Uzbekistan Shaukat Abdul Razzaq during his visit to Uzbekistan.

During the meeting, both agreed to further strengthen bilateral relations and to formulate a strategy for the exchange of business community delegations of Namangan and Punjab for promotion of investment.

According to a spokesman for Governor House here Sunday, they also decided to take steps to enhance political and diplomatic ties, trade and economic cooperation.

Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar also invited the Uzbek business community to invest in Pakistan. Issues including strengthening of relations between the two countries were discussed.

During his visit to Uksalish Free Industrial Zone accompanied by a delegation, Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar also reviewed the under construction project of ‘Namangan New City’.

Deputy Governor of Namangan Province and others were also present on the occasion who briefed the Governor of Punjab in detail about the project.

He also visited various factories along with the delegation of Pakistani business community and called upon the business community of both the countries to work together.

Punjab Governor said that Pakistan and Uzbekistan are getting closer with each pass-

ing day and relations between the two countries are getting stronger.

Mutual cooperation in the fields of education, culture and tourism in Uzbekistan and Pakistan needs to be further expanded, for which we are ensuring all measures. Namangan Province and Punjab will cooperate in economic development and other areas.

He added that both the countries need to work together in the agricultural sector as well.

There are better investment opportunities in all parts of Pakistan including Punjab for Uzbek business community. “We invite Uzbek business community to invest in Pakistan. We will also provide security and other facilities to Uzbek investing in Pakistan,” he assured.

The love of the people of Uzbekistan for the people of Pakistan is also commendable.

The exchange of delegations between the two countries will be further intensified in the coming days.

Shaukat Abdul Razzaq, Governor of Namangan Province of Uzbekistan, said that Pakistan and Uzbekistan have brotherly relations.

He said, “We welcome the Pakistani delegation led by Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar.

In the coming days, Namangan Province and Punjab will come closer to each other. The Uzbek business community is planning to invest in various projects in Punjab and we will also give full support to the Pakistani business community in investing in Uzbekistan.”

Governor Shaukat Abdul Razzaq also lauded the steps being taken by Pakistan under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan to eradicate terrorism and bring peace to Afghanistan.

8.83 per cent and 15.85 percent respectively during the fiscal year 2020-21.

“Volumetric loss of SNGPL remained at 34,021 million cubic feet (mmcf) of gas and SSGC 67,476 mmcf of gas, mainly because of gas leakages, measurement errors and theft.” In 2019-20, the SNGPL and SSGC had prevented a volumetric loss of around 9,938 mmcf gas against the UFG reduction target of 14,806 mmcf gas.

The UFG is a phenomenon of gas loss that occurred due to various technical factors when gas flowed from fields to end consumers. It is calculated as the difference between metered gas volume injected into the transmission and distribution network (Point of Dispatch/Delivery) and the metered gas delivered to the end consumers (Consumer Meter Station) during a financial year.

Immediate disciplinary proceedings recommended against JUI-F chief’s brother ISLAMABAD staff report

The Provincial Election Commissioner Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Sunday asked the Chief Secretary KP to initiate necessary disciplinary proceedings immediately against government officer Zia-ur-Rehman on participating in local government elections campaign of Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam (JUI-F) candidate in D.I.Khan. According to ECP sources, a letter was written in this regard under Section-24 of the Government Servants Efficiency and Disciplinary Rules, 1964 against the concerned officer under intimation to this office for its onward submission to the Election Commission. As per details, Zia-urRehman, brother of the chief of Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam (JUI-F) Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman had addressed the political gathering arranged in Iqbal Marriage Hall, Zafarabad Colony, Tehsil and District D.I.Khan on February 03 as part of the election campaign of JUI, candidate, namely, Muhammad Kafel Nizami. The letter said that being a public office holder (PMS Officer, Government Servant), his participation in such political activities is a sheer violation of section 187 of the election act 2017 which is reproduced. It said that a notice was already issued to the officer concerned by the District Monitoring Officer, D.I.Khan on the ground that a person in the service of Pakistan is guilty of the violation of official duty in connection with an election if he misuses his official position in a manner calculated to influence the results of the election. The violation of such provision of law is punishable with imprisonment for a term that may extend to two years or with a fine that may extend to one hundred thousand rupees or with both. The participation of the officer concerned is also the violation of Para-25 of the Code of Conduct and the directions of the Election Commission of Pakistan contained in Para2(1V) of ECP, Islamabad’s Notification No.F.16(1)/2021-LGE-KP, dated the 3rd January 2022.

Xi, Khan vow to deepen CPEC development, build ‘closer community with a shared future’ contInueD froM pAge 01 He said that the rapid militarisation of India was also undermining regional stability.

The prime minister highlighted that partnership between Pakistan and China was an anchor for peace and stability in the region and thanked China for its unwavering support to Islamabad’s sovereignty, territorial integrity,

independence and national development.

He also reaffirmed Pakistan’s full support to China on all issues of her interest.

Both leaders acknowledged that a peaceful and stable Afghanistan would promote economic development and connectivity in the region and called on the international community to promptly assist the Afghan people in averting a humanitarian catastrophe.

They also appreciated the signing of a number of agreements covering industrial cooperation, space cooperation, and vaccine cooperation. Prime Minister Khan congratulated the leadership and people of China on the successful hosting of the Winter Games in Beijing and extended his best wishes on the Chinese New Year.

He also renewed his invitation to Presi-

cMYK

dent Jinping to undertake a visit to Pakistan at his early convenience.

The meeting was also attended by Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry. Following the meeting, which was held on the last day of the visit, Khan left for Pakistan, he said.

Khan arrived in Beijing on Thursday for the opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter

Games to show “solidarity” with China after the event was boycotted by some Western nations.

Amid geopolitical tensions, the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia announced a diplomatic boycott of the event, citing alleged violations of human rights in China.

Their athletes are still participating in the games, but no government official is present.

06-07 Comments - 7th February 2022_Layout 1 2/7/2022 12:48 AM Page 1

Monday, 7 February, 2022

06 COMMENT

Promoting National pride through library culture

IMF Conditions Rupee appreciates, but for how long?

T

he appreciation of the rupee after the IMF Board’s approval of the tranche for Pakistan was only to be expected. however, while the rally is not necessarily yet over, it should hide either the factors that were driving it down, or that they have not yet been removed. As such, they reflect the possibility, indeed the probability, that they will drive down the rupee once again. The IMF tranche seems just a bandage over a deep wound. The bleeding may have been stopped, but will the wound heal?

The recent appreciation raises the question of where exactly does the fair value of the rupee lie. The recent appreciation lends fuel to the theory that the rupee was undervalued, and greed of speculators had meant that the consumer would have to pay more for the products that were imported. Pakistan’s fundamental problem is that its imports are highly inelastic, though the same cannot be said about its exports. It has not helped that the present government has ended our autarky in wheat and sugar, and added those items to the import bill. Pakistan imports edible oil, which is made more expensive by the upward trend in world commodity prices. Then there is fuel, with oil prices also being driven upwards by post-epidemic raises in demand.

There is also expected to be an end to the rise in remittances from overseas Pakistanis, which was the result of the covid-19 epidemic. The result is continued downward drift in our forex reserves. The policy of the State bank maintaining the value of the rupee not by intervening in the market, but by sitting on a stash of borrowed dollars has been mandated by the IMF, the only problem being that no one knows for sure whether the rupee is being driven up or down by genuine supply and demand, or just speculative pressure. Pakistan must correct its fundamentals, restructure the relationship of the government to the economy as a whole. IMF Programmes are not the solution; they are merely supposed to provide a breathing space while a solution is applied. Once again, it seems that breathing space has not been used, and one result will be that the rupee will once again come under pressure, whenever the pressure from the current account deficit becomes unbearable.

Libraries act in many ways

Abid HussAin

T

he key to national development lies in cultivating talents, practical virtues. Sophisticated skills, desirable attitude, and the awakened mind and proper knowledge. Above all, the right knowledge can be attained with the help of the right resources and the right resources require a handsome amount. Libraries are actual treasurers for the correct information to the right people at the right time.

Traditionally, the role of Archives, museums, and libraries was intermediary between users, distributors and creators. But, advanced technology altered the role of publishers, creators and users. Now people produce, publish and disseminate the information in digital formats based anywhere and anytime. The role of libraries is to preserve the records in digital and printed formats.

The advanced technology irrevocably and dramatically altered the linear nature of the traditional process.

Now, the creator has become the distributor in the digital environment. People nowadays publish and communicate their published work through different platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other research blogs like Research gate, academia, etc.

Today's every country improves their GDPs and ex-

Omicron recedes People must not be lured into false sense of security

T

Sri- Lankan ties with China go back a long way AHmAd FArAz

T

he stamp issued to mark the historic Rubber-Rice Pact between Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) and the People’s Republic of China signed on December 18, 1952. Recently, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi paid a visit to Sri Lanka to commemorate the 65th year of bilateral ties between the two countries, but another landmark history remained silent over the warm visit -70th anniversary of historic Rubber- Rice pact.

The accord is widely regarded as one of the world’s most successful and long-lasting trade agreements. Despite the agreement bgein terminated in 1982, the spirit of the accord symbolizes the vitality of Sino-Lanka bilateral ties.

Wang during his visit quoted “The spirit of the pact characterized by independence, self-reliance, Unity and mutual support is deeply rooted in the heart of two peoples' and such spirit should be carried forward’’.

1952 was a bad year for Sri Lanka; the country faced a global rice scarcity because rice from the country's regular suppliers, Burma, Thailand, and IndoChina were unavailable. Between 1951 and 1952, the world market price of rice increased by 38 percent.

In 1952, the Lankan government faced a foreign exchange crisis as a result of a sharp drop in export prices precipitated on the rapid end of the Korean War boom. Between 1951 and 1952, Sri Lanka's export price fell by 23 percent as a result of the West's reduced acquisition of commodities, particularly natural rubber by the USA, resulting in a trade surplus of Rs 345 million in 1951 turning into a trade deficit of Rs 200 million in 1952.

In that desperate position, Sri Lanka attempted, but failed, to arrange a loan of $50 million from the USA, as well as favorable rates for a few rubber exports and rice imports. Moreover, she was forced to buy 60,000 tons of rice from the USA at a hefty price since she couldn't find enough rice to feed her people. however, in 1952, China agreed to sell rice to Sri Lanka in exchange for rubber, and the "Rubber-Rice Pact" was signed. China was also in need of rubber

Dedicated to the legacy of late Hameed Nizami

Arif Nizami (Late) Founding Editor

Yousaf Nizami M. A. Niazi

Umar Aziz

Joint Editor

Joint Editor

Executive Editor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965

The writer is a library officer at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad, a think-tank based in Islamabad.

He can be reached at abidhussain@issi.org.pk.

Hiding ‘‘Rice- Rubber Pact’’, Hyping ‘‘Hambantota Fib’’, Depicts Unfair Judgement

hAT the omicron variant of the coronavirus is not producing as great a public health crisis as previous variants such as the delta variant, has led to some voices, and not just uninformed ones with an antivaccine agenda, saying that the epidemic is over. however, that should not serve as an excuse for relaxation, especially of the measures which have brought the country to this point.

The omicron variant has proved more infectious than previous ones, but there has not been as much of an effect on the health system. This may reflect the fact that it simply does not cause the development of as severe symptoms in those infected as previous variants, but more likely is that it has been driven off by the spread of vaccination. Vaccination is not a guarantee against infection, but it does seem to act as a defence against developing the illness, and certainly against being killed by it. It is significant that only the unvaccinated are now passing away. however, the death of Indian film playback singer Lata Mangeshkar should provide an object lesson. She passed away because of a covid-19 infection. She was aged 92, with her age alone putting her into a high-risk category. At her peak, she had dominated India’s film playback industry in a way that no one did before or since. Pakistan’s Noor Jehan achieved a similar dominance, but it was over a much smaller industry. Ms Mangeshkar dominated Bollywood, but she also had a vast body of work in regional languages as well. She did not deserve to be remembered as a victim of covid19, which is unfortunately how she will be remembered. The epidemic had earlier almost regularly been claiming victims in all fields of life, particularly politics, where age made the large majority of leaders automatically high-risk, even if they were free of such common underlying conditions as heart disease and diabetes. Ms Mangeshkar will hopefully be the last.

Editor Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

ports their goods to bring prosperity, peace, and social harmony to their nations. They planned a national agenda programme to develop their economic growth for national development. Many countries demonstrate further development through broadband, digital inclusion and social development plans. Many countries focus on knowledge-economy and for this, they produce a handsome amount of research framework in a different discipline.

Planning these research activities required up-todate knowledge and libraries to make across the goal framework through campaigns and meeting the government officials. Libraries are playing a tremendous role in achieving the goals of national development. In making any national strategize, the role of libraries can never be denied because libraries offer access to the right information before formulating government agenda.

It is a fact that all societies can have libraries, but broadly, libraries are built for three conditions, centralized populations, economic development, and political stability. Centralized populations meant a place where people reside on large scales like cities, towns, and suchlike conurbations. however, even small stable populations are also excellent sources for library buildings like universities, research institutions, and so on. Similarly, libraries cannot prosper when the primary energies and resources of the community are devoted to subsistence.

Because building a library required a certain level of wealth and leisure to read. Opposed to the chaos and conflict environment; libraries are built-in peaceful lands, where there is no war and another kind of armed conflict. Because revolt and warfare lead libraries to destruction which can be seen in history. Many great libraries have been destroyed when empires fell or in times of war or other armed conflicts.

The national libraries are good symbols for promoting national pride. National libraries are an old concept that can be traced back to the 17th century in england, France, Denmark, Germany and Scotland, some newly built libraries in the mid of the 18th century like Austria, Italy, Greece, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Ireland, among others, which stored and preserved enormous collections for the general masses. They collected huge collections of repositories and have maintained the cul-

tural heritage of their countries. These heritages are published books, manuscripts, documents and other records in different formats Several nations passed a law that each publication published around the country would be sent to the National Library. It creates a handsome collection, prepares a national bibliography, and then shares it with publishers at national and international levels. In some places, the National library also grants ISBN Services (A unique number to identify a product by publishers, booksellers, internet retailers and librarians, and others concerned. One can trace the title, edition and format of a book with the help of an ISBN Number.) In short, the role of the National library in national pride is highly commendable.

Another sound library that offers services to the community members without caste, creed and religions to meet the information needs of their community is named public libraries. These libraries are also known as public universities, where people get the desired information without caste and discrimination. It offers services to people of all ages, genders, races, religions, languages, etc. Public libraries preserve man's thoughts and ideas and make them available free to the entire community. It is known as a breathing force for education, culture and information and is an indispensable agent for nurturing peace and spiritual well-being of society. The role of Public libraries in national pride is unique and up to the mark.

To bring people out of poverty, unemployment, racism, and another form of discrimination and complexity of social and cultural life. The government should build libraries at the provincial and national levels. The librarians need to be aware of making simplistic assumptions with the help of informed decisions for the entire community.

Libraries drive the citizens through a visionary mind.They are excellent sources for collecting organizations and disseminating information that society accesses and uses to inform themselves with robust knowledge organized in the library. In short, the libraries are tangible assets for national pride.

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Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9

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at that time, as she was unable to receive it due to a ban on rubber export from Malaya imposed by a United Nations resolution prohibiting the sale of rubber to communist China.

China promised to pay a higher price for rubber than the market price and to deliver rice to Sri Lanka at a lower price than the market price. As a result, the agreements benefited Sri Lanka in both directions. even when other markets were willing to offer rubber at a cheaper price, China continued to buy it at a premium. even when she didn't have an exportable surplus, China supplied Sri Lanka with rice directly from Burma under triangle trade agreements, charging only the amount she paid Burma, not a penny more — even when she had incentive to charge more.

The US government retaliated by enacting the "Battle Act," which resulted in the suspension of aid to Sri Lanka without taking into account the country's precarious economic situation. She also ceased distributing sulphur, which is required by Sri Lanka's Rubber Plantation.

"We noted on the Chinese side the absence of the spirit of bargaining and arguing on fairly trivial things," said RG Senanayake, Sri Lanka's then Trade and Commerce Minister. “ They gave us the sense, on the other hand, of being open-minded and frank in their dealings.”

Sri Lanka has also been dealing with a serious financial and foreign exchange crisis in recent years, which has been exacerbated by the loss of tourist income during the pandemic. According to the Chinese Ambassador to China, "China has already assisted and will continue to support”. The China Development Bank (CDB) already offered a $500 million

Islamabad – Ph: 051-2204545

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Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk

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loan and another loan of 2 billion Chinese yuan in 2021.The two central banks signed a currency swap for 10 billion yuan which is equal to $1.5 billion.

Within March, 2022, Sri Lanka will receive 1 million metric tons of rice as a contribution from China, according to Co-Cabinet spokesman Minister of Sri Lanka Ramesh. The gift is being made to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the RubberRice Pact.

The Chinese Debt Trap propaganda over Sri Lanka is always promoted by the Western media.

The "hambantota Myth" is being used to hide Sino-Lanka supportive diplomacy. According to western propaganda, Sri Lanka was unable to repay the money used to build the port, therefore it was given over to China. however, because the port was losing money under government control, the Sri Lankan government chose to lease an 85 percent part in the port to China Merchants Ports holding Company in order to raise foreign currencies in 2016. The $1.12 billion received from China Merchant Ports was used to boost Sri Lanka's US-dollar reserves and pay off short-term foreign debts unrelated to the port, primarily foreign bond interest.

The Ceylon-China Commercial Agreement of 1952 was unquestionably one of the most beneficial trade deals ever negotiated between China and Sri Lanka, and it exemplified China's open-minded diplomacy. The Western youth has a right to know about the ancient benign links between China and Sri Lanka, not simply the phony "hambantota Debt Trap" rhetoric.

The writer can be ahmad.farazpk01@gmail.com

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

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06-07 Comments - 7th February 2022_Layout 1 2/7/2022 12:48 AM Page 2

Monday, 7 February, 2022

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

Digital War in Naya Pakistan

The future of futile HEC The Tenure Track System has pitted one group of university teachers against another

dr imtiAz AHmAd

U

NFORTUNATeLY, the higher education Commission of Pakistan (heC), like the rest of higher education in Pakistan, is in severe crisis.

Indeed, both depend on each other and depend on their laboratories, universities and the hired forces therein, the teachers. All are facing severe complications, and all are striving to put their failure on the shoulders of the others. Why the situation is worsening one day after another, and no perfect remedy is seen for the future? Soon everyone will be able to put their hands on a specific involved person or body or the commission, as the failure is explicitly disclosed even by the heC and the commission itself.

The commission, unfortunately, violated its ordinance at the time of its birth in 2003 when it divided the teachers at the universities without justification on the expectation of surprise achievements through huge investments through research without industries like a “business without a market”.

The idea was surprisingly indeed proposed by a businessman who was a member of the commission at that time. I am extremely surprised how the educationists agreed with the idea of dividing the teaching community as eager for research. Unfortunately, various factories and industries of the country were converted into new universities to pirsue the eager cause at the cost of standard education.

The strategic planning for standard higher education in the heC Ordinance was bartered for research. Illegal ways, cruel rules, and violations of basic rights were introduced for teachers. What was the aim of such division of teachers into the TTS (Tenure Track System) and the BPS (Basic Pay Scales)? The majority of readers now know the outcomes.

Let’s now discuss the two options of the illegal division of teachers for the same nature of duties but discriminatory salaries and facilities

for one group.

Option A: To be very realistic as an analyst, for instance, let me agree with the investment as much research is done until now through the business. Amazingly, more is done by the BPS teachers, but what is achieved for the country? It must be shared with the public as a lot of public money is paid to them apart from other discriminatory promotions, 13th salary, and now amazingly double enhanced salaries.

The double salaries (up to Rs 2.0 million per month) are introduced and approved for teachers of the favored group by these wise businessmen at the commission. Indeed, much is availed secretly but not shared with the public. We may further appreciate increasing the investment in them if the answer is yes and it must be yes, as this decision was made recently even when this issue of discrimination was communicated to the commission and the government in writing by the association of the other larger group, (APUBTA) of 90 percent BPS teachers. I appreciate the courage of the commission and the generosity of the government and request for more to be paid to them if the outcome is achieved.

The drama of international agencies regarding fake substandard research of these contract teachers and the dignity of the country will be restored by a challenge in the international court. In addition, the same facilities may also be allowed to the other group if they do such desired work.

Option B: If it is not the case, the culprits behind this horror movie maybe investigated, the taxpayers’ money may be recovered and the project may be closed immediately, and these contract employees may be relieved, as the illegally discriminately promoted blue eyed shall ruin the unbalanced system.

The billions paid for publishing research in foreign paid journals may be recovered and links of the heC officials and commission

members/businessmen may be investigated for such black business, whose impact is not seen even after 20 years, nor it is expected in the next 20 years to help in the socio-economic growth of the country.

Amazingly, the Chairman heC, the commission members, and the businessmen who floated the idea are mourning the same failed project and are against it and now asking us for an alternate solution and the next strategic plan.

Indeed, we being the real stakeholders are here to help them, but a representation of teachers must be given first in the commission so that in the future no such blind activities are exercised and followed even after its failure.

In these circumstances, the heC is badly failed to keep even the standard of higher education. The standard of passing ratio of competitive examination for degree holders is dropped to 2% from 12% as reported. The research standard is declared fake by heC itself and the international community even to whom we pay huge public money. The chairman is against the output of the current system and the government/businessmen are against him. The teachers are against the discriminatory division and the commission, and the two groups of teachers are against each other due to discriminatory behaviors and policies by the heC. The grouping has made a great mess in the universities and soon shall collapse the system as the horrible movie of ONe COUNTRY TWO SYSTeMS has always such a terrible end. In this situation when no one is hearing each other, I would like to request the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan to take suo-motu action for restoring the dignity of teachers, universities, and higher education.

Amazingly, the Chairman HEC, the commission members, and the businessmen who floated the idea are mourning the same failed project and are against it and now asking us for an alternate solution and the next strategic plan. Indeed, we being the real stakeholders are here to help them, but a representation of teachers must be given first in the commission so that in the future no such blind activities are exercised and followed even after its failure

The author is a Ph.D. from the University of Essex, United Kingdom, and working as an Associate Professor of Mathematics at the University of Malakand.

Email: iahmaad@hotmail.com

ThIS is an era of digital media. It has become one of the most powerful weapons used by the governments nowadays. It is greatly influencing the policies and the policy makers sitting in powerful corridors worldwide. Just before the 59th US quadrennial presidential election held in 2020, there was a big war between Donald Trump and his opponents. A major portion of the war was fought on digital media. Trump’s Facebook, Insta-gram and twitter accounts were suspended and the suspension is still active.

This digital media is playing a huge role in diplomacy these days.

Twitter is the most active and vital part in digital diplomacy. YouTube is the most important video based platform in the world. Countries are using twitter and YouTube to expand and extend their agendas. Pakistan and India are famous and active opponents of each other since their births.

Both countries have been trying to undermine each other. Since the arrival of the digital world, the two are trying to fight the war on this platform too.

YouTube administration terminated 20 YouTube channels of Pakistani influencers on Indian complaints in December, 2021. Some of those were restored later after the efforts of the Pakistani government. YouTube channels of Najam Ul hassan Bajwa and Zain Ali were among these famous channels which got restored. In January this year, the In-dian government again became active against Pakistani content crea-tors. 35 YouTube channels and 2 websites were banned in India. Their streams cannot be seen within Indian territory. One thing is common in all channels and websites which are banned and that is “their Indian centric content.” All were those which talked about India and brutalities in Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kash-mir.

Faisal Tarar Speaks, Maleeha hashmey, haqeekat ki Dunia, Mera Pakistan With Shahab, Sajid Gondal and DNow were among the famous YouTube channels which were banned to stream in India by the Indian government.

Some websites, twitter and Instagram accounts were also banned by the Indian government. The Twitter account of journalist Abid Andleeb also got suspended by the twitter administration on Indian requests.

The Pakistani government has established a Digital Media Wing in the Press Information Department which is looking into these crucial matters of banning Pakistani content in India. PTI’s government is much more powerful in handling digital media as compared to the previous ones. The prime minister’s focal person on digital media, Dr Arslan Khalid is trying to bring these social media giants to Pakistan. If the government gets success in it, a great impact will be seen. Until then, Pakistan’s stance on Kashmir and Indian brutalities is weaker.

UMER INAM, LAhoRE

Disregarded education GOVeRNMeNT Boys higher Secondary School Talhar (SeMIS Code 401050303) is among the oldest schools in district Badin. This is the Taluka headquarter main higher secondary school, having an enrolment of more than 1000 students, mostly belonging to rural areas poor families.

This school has been ignored by education authorities and elected members of the area as well.

At present this school is in dire condition, with no proper furniture, no lab material, no proper drinking water, most ceiling fans are out of order, and mainly shortage of classrooms have forced many students out of school. In this modern age, one can find every kind of furniture in this school like chairs, dual desks, 3 person desks and even flat benches but most of them are unfit to use. Under these conditions, many students are regular absentees and their right to education is being violated.

It looks like no official from the district education department visits this school and takes notice of the pathetic condition of the school. The requests made by the school management are being thrown in the dustbin as well. It is requested to CM Sindh, Provincial education Minister, relevant MPAs, MNAs, DC Badin and District education Officer to take notice of this and provide immediate support to this school from e & P Companies Production Bonus amount.

ABDUL JABBAR, SINDh

Drug usage in educational institutions

ThROUGh the columns of your esteemed newspaper “The Nation”, I would like to draw the attention of the concerned authorities towards the growing trend of drugs in educational institutions. The trend of drug addiction among teenagers in educational institutions is on the rise.

Parents send their children to educational institutions to get a good education but due to mismanagement in educational institutions, they become addicted to drugs and forget the basic purpose of education. They not just wasted their money but also their health and after that, they are involved in illegal or criminal activities to make money. Because of this addiction, they also lose contact with their families and the bad consequences begin to come. When students use these drugs for long periods of time, they get mental and physical illnesses. They are all aware of the ill effects of drugs but in an environment where drugs are easily and without interruption available then they become addicted. Therefore, the concerned authorities are requested to take strict action against drug peddlers and solve this issue on a priority basis.

NooRULLAh BAChA, ISLAMABAD

Negligent administration WheN motorways can be closed for the safety of all traffic due to fog and poor visibility, the same can and should have been done for all traffic entering Murree, Nathiagali, etc., through toll tax check-posts. The administration should maintain a check on the total number of cars entering these checkposts. The state collects taxes i.e. toll tax, vehicle tax, etc, to facilitate people. Therefore, it is the state’s responsibility to ensure safety of all citizens that travel on motorways, roads, etc. The meteorological department had already warned of heavy snowfall in several parts of the country.

Given the inadequate equipment and services, the government and relevant administrative authorities should have already issued warnings and informed people of the possibility of heavy snowfall that could cause disruptions, especially considering that Murree and the adjoining Galiyats have limited capacity for parking vehicles.

TARIq ALI LAhoRE

Monday, 7 February, 2022

08 WORLD VIEW

Russia, ukRaine, and The naTO Of TOday IF A LOT HAS CHANGED SINCE THE END OF THE COLD WAR, THERE’S MUCH THAT HASN’T

New YOrker

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Jeffrey frank

heRe’S something oddly familiar about the Ukraine situation, perhaps because it’s part of an ongoing story involving eastern europe and the West. During and after the Second World War, the Soviet ruler Joseph Stalin regarded the boundaries and governance of Poland as a matter of great importance. The question was raised at seven of the eight plenary sessions at the Yalta Conference, in early 1945, and wasn’t settled there or at the Potsdam Conference that summer. President Franklin Roosevelt understood (and his successor, harry Truman, soon learned) that Stalin regarded Poland’s geography as inseparable from Russian security—much as Vladimir Putin, the current Russian leader, regards Ukraine, which shares a twelvehundred-mile border with Russia. Stalin reminded Roosevelt that Poland had twice been used as a corridor to invade Russia, and, as he put it in a snippy cable, “the Soviet Union is entitled to seek in Poland a Government that would be friendly to it.”

The end of the war also brought problems with the defeated Germany, which was divided among the war’s victors: in the east, the Soviet Union; in the west, the Allied powers, the United States, the United Kingdom, and France. The city of Berlin, similarly divided, was like an island within a Russian sea—the Soviet zone. By 1948, Truman’s chief of staff, Admiral William Leahy, was getting unconfirmed reports that Russia was preparing for military action in Western europe. Instead, in June, 1948, the Soviets blockaded roads, rails, and waterways to the Western zones of Berlin, leaving only three air corridors unimpeded. The blockade precipitated a crisis that could have escalated into a war no one wanted, fought over a city that was too politically important to surrender but considered militarily indefensible. Leahy judged the U.S. military situation to be “hopeless because sufficient force is not available anywhere for us”—by which he meant conventional lethal force.

The risk of war receded, thanks in part to a creative response: an airlift that, for nearly a year, brought food and fuel to the two and a half million residents of West Berlin. But periodic “Berlin crises” became a staple of the Cold War until November, 1989, when the Wall— a barrier built between east and West Berlin in 1961— was torn down. A year later, Germany was reunited; a year after that, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics dissolved.

If a lot has changed since then—and since the midnineteen-forties—there’s much that hasn’t. A Russian wish to restore the dubious glory of the Soviet Union endures. So does the language of a Cold War that never quite ended. When Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, as he did recently, that the U.S. is prepared to impose “massive consequences” on Russia if it chooses to invade Ukraine, there were echoes, presumably unintentional, of Cold War brinkmanship, as when, in 1954, Sec-

Britain’s growing cost of living crisis WHILE THE TORIES FEUD OVER BORIS JOHNSON, THE COUNTRY EDGES DEEPER INTO AN ECONOMIC MIRE THAT WILL CAUSE HARDSHIP FOR THOUSANDS Observer

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he Bank of england last week published a set of grim economic forecasts that project inflation will peak at over 7% this year and real household incomes will fall by an average of £1,000 by the end of 2022. Meanwhile, the energy price cap will have risen by hundreds of pounds over the same period. Without another Covid wave, it is the cost of living crisis and particularly its impact on families already struggling to meet their rent, put food on the table and pay their heating bills that will dominate people’s lives in the next two years.

Yet Boris Johnson remains mired in the depths of political crisis, debilitated in his role as prime minister, while his potential successors are more concerned with their campaigns to succeed him than addressing the challenges faced by the country. Westminster politics reached a new nadir when, in order to try to shift focus from his own woes, he falsely accused Keir Starmer of failing to prosecute the child abuser Jimmy Savile, a made-up allegation with no grounds in reality. Savile’s victims have spoken out about their distress at seeing their abuse politicised by the prime minister in this way and the unfounded slur prompted the resignation of his long-serving policy chief, Munira Mirza, who accused him of “scurrilous” behaviour.

Johnson is no stranger to misinformation. he has made liberal use of it in the past – the Leave campaign he chaired made claims that the UK Statistics Authority later ruled “a clear misuse of official statistics”, while as prime minister he has repeatedly spread false information, lying about the implications of his Brexit deal for Northern Ireland. The UK Statistics Authority said his claim made in the house of Commons last Monday that crime had fallen by 14% was wrong. But for the prime minister to try to mislead the country about why the victims of a paedophile never saw justice for his own political advantage is despicable and shames the whole nation.

Johnson’s behaviour has been met with a renewed sense of anger among ministers and his parliamentary party. Several senior aides resigned, to be replaced last night by hastily assembled replacements. And his relationship with the truth is now so loose that it is unclear how voters are supposed to distinguish between government announcements that are true or false statements designed to distract from the disintegration of his premiership.

The government’s measures to address the rising cost of energy bills go nowhere near far enough. Lowincome families have been at the sharp end of tax

credit cuts and benefit freezes over the last decade, with many low-paid parents losing thousands of pounds a year as a result. The savings paid for income tax cuts that disproportionately benefited better-off households; they were a political choice made by successive Conservative chancellors, supported between 2010 and 2015 by the Liberal Democrats. The cuts have left less affluent households particularly vulnerable to this cost-of-living squeeze and are a large part of why child poverty rates have risen and growing numbers of people are using food banks.

Government support to help with rising energy bills should be targeted at those who need it most, through the tax credit and benefit system. Instead, the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, has chosen to prioritise Conservative voters – and hence his own leadership prospects – by distributing it through a flat-rate, poorly targeted council tax rebate that 80% of households will benefit from; more than 40% of its value will go to households in the top half of the income distribution, while more than 600,000 low-income households will miss out. The £200 rebate for all households will be taxed back through a £40-a-year surcharge for the next five years, which will push today’s cost pressures into the future.

This assumes rosier economic times are just around the corner. Yet Brexit, the great unacknowledged economic dampener, will continue to depress economic growth in the coming years, whether or not voters associate these costs with leaving the eU. Worse still, Brexit is very likely to widen the gap in economic performance between London and the south-east and the rest of the country. This will only further accentuate the impact of cuts in government grants that fund local services, which have hit the least affluent areas of the country much harder than areas that enjoy higher council tax and business rates revenues. The incremental measures in the government’s “levelling up” plan published last week will do very little to close the gap in investment and productivity; in 2021, the equivalent of just £32 per person was awarded from the Levelling Up Fund for the north of england, which pales in comparison with the £413 per person drop in council spending since 2011.

This is the parlous situation in which the country now finds itself just over five years after a referendum that paved the way for Boris Johnson to become prime minister and irrevocably damage standards in public life. Whether he is forced out tomorrow or in a few months, a weakened Conservative party will remain consumed by its own internal politics while many already hard-pressed families face the worst threat to their economic wellbeing for many years. It is not what Britain deserves.

retary of State John Foster Dulles promised to respond to Communist aggression in eastern europe with “massive retaliatory power.” Blinken, though, was talking about “massive” economic sanctions. on Monday, when the Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya accused the U.S. of “provoking escalation” in Ukraine, it was almost an echo from 1947, when, in an overheated, ninetyminute speech to the United Nations General Assembly, Andrey Vyshinsky, the deputy Soviet foreign minister, denounced a “war psychosis” in the U.S. President Biden’s decision, announced on Wednesday, to move some three thousand American soldiers to Germany, Poland, and Romania is not likely to reduce tensions in the region; the three countries are members of the North Atlantic Treaty organization. But the NATo of today is not the NATo set up in 1949 by the U.S., Canada, and ten Western european nations for the “collective defense and for the preservation of peace.” Truman tried to make the new entity sound almost homey.

“We are like a group of householders, living in the same locality,” he said, at a signing ceremony, who have an interest in “entering into a formal association for their mutual self-protection.” The NATo of the Cold War was a much larger, more heavily armed, and more cohesive alliance. At the end of the Cold War, there were roughly two hundred thousand American troops on German soil.

For decades, NATo succeeded in maintaining a tense stability in Western europe and beyond—a legacy of Truman’s time in office.

NATo’s post-war identity has changed a lot; today, there are approximately thirty-eight thousand U.S. troops in Germany, a fifth of the number during the Cold War— and a force that is no match for Russia’s rejuvenated, nine-hundred-thousand-strong military. NATo now has thirty member states, including some from the former Soviet bloc. As the organization expanded, a quarter century ago, it took in regimes, such as hungary’s, that

haven’t recently shown a great deal of respect for democratic values—nor even have much in common with one another. The organization’s growth alarmed Soviet experts, such as the diplomat and historian George Kennan—an early, influential advocate of “containing” the Soviet Union—who, in 1997, wrote in the Times that “expanding NATo would be the most fateful error of American policy in the entire post-cold-war era.” he believed that the decision would likely “inflame the nationalistic, anti-Western and militaristic tendencies in Russian opinion,” and noted, from his decades of experience, that “Russians are little impressed with American assurances that it reflects no hostile intentions.”

Madeleine Albright, Bill Clinton’s Secretary of State, took the happier, and premature, view that “thanks in no small part to NATo, we live in a different world. our Soviet adversary has vanished. Freedom’s flag has been unfurled from the Baltics to Bulgaria.” But what Kennan wrote was the more accurate assessment, and it remains valid today.

NATo is still obliged, per Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, to defend any “household” under attack.

At Biden’s marathon press conference last month, he said that, if Putin moves against Ukraine, “We’re going to actually increase troop presence in Poland, Romania, et cetera . . . because we have a sacred obligation in Article 5 to defend those countries.” he added, “we have great concern” about Ukraine, but “great concern” is not the same as a “sacred obligation,” which was a way to announce that there are red lines—those certain to provoke Russia—that the U.S. still won’t cross. “The likelihood that Ukraine is going to join NATo in the near term is not very likely,” Biden said. Like Leahy seventyfive years ago, Biden understands that, if there were war in eastern europe, the Russians, with huge geographical and logistical advantages, would, as he put it, “be able to prevail over time,” but only at an immense cost—in lives lost and destruction. Putin, too, must know that the situation could turn catastrophic.

Jeffrey Frank, a senior editor at The New Yorker from 1995 to 2009, is a regular contributor to newyorker.com.

Who is destroying the rule of law?

THE ISRAELI SOFTWARE’S COMPLETE INVASION OF PRIVACY IS OUTRAGEOUS AND REPULSIVE, BUT SOME OF THE WEAPONS ISRAEL EXPORTS ARE FAR MORE GRUESOME, AND NO PUBLIC DEBATE IS HELD ON THEM

Haaretz

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Gideon Levy

ho is destroying the rule of law in Israel?

After years of hearing a particularly shrill choir scream about the existence of one enemy to the justice system, the archSatan, demon of destruction, Benjamin Netanyahu by name, suddenly we learn that the true enemy comes from within the system. The police used the Pegasus software to track (at least) one of the state’s witnesses against Netanyahu.

The scope of the rot is yet to be fully revealed, as is the degree of involvement by the prosecution and the scope of malicious surveillance. The lies of the police, its officers, and the minister overseeing them are a grave matter, but one conclusion is already clear: The police, and perhaps the prosecution as well, have decided to incriminate Netanyahu by nearly any means necessary.

It is becoming clear that his and his supporters’ claims were true, at least to some degree. Perhaps not outright framing – that will be revealed in the trial – and not the overthrow of a sitting prime minister by the justice system, but certainly an unbridled manhunt to incriminate him. Someone wanted to see Netanyahu brought to justice. Wanted it very, very much.

In a grim twist of fate, the man who promoted the sale of NSo’s products to dark regimes for diplomatic benefit to Israel, fell victim himself to the same filth. The Golem has risen on its maker in a particularly ironic manner. But this does not minimize the gravity of using this poisonous tool against him. It would have been best had

Pegasus never been born, or at least not in Israel, and still – there is a difference between countries using it against external enemies and using it to incriminate its own citizens – in some countries, dissidents; in another, a sitting prime minister.

There is excessive, sanctimonious hysteria in Israel over NSo. Double standards are working overtime. A country that sells almost any regime devastating devices of destruction – including some particularly vicious weapons, from unmanned drones that wipe out lives with the touch of a joystick, to various types of cluster bombs – cannot get in a tizzy over spyware. At least spyware doesn’t kill; not directly, anyway.

In addition, a country that assassinates dissidents in its occupied territories and enemy scientists in other countries cannot get excited over the murder of a Saudi journalist. Indeed, the Israeli software’s complete invasion of privacy is outrageous and repulsive, but some of the weapons Israel exports are far more gruesome, and no public debate is held on them. on the contrary, they are the pride and joy of the nation. The fact that five million people live their lives exposed to some Israeli Pegasus or other, day and night, in Gaza and in the West Bank, annuls the moral right to be appalled by the use of these tools within sovereign Israel.

But in any event we must not minimize the gravity of the use of invasive surveillance to incriminate citizens, let alone without authorization. And when it concerns a sitting prime minister this problem only grows more urgent, due to the political implications of the effort to overthrow him. That’s how it always is with a slippery slope.

You invent a monstrous weapon to fight terrorism, and eventually use it against a prime minister. once the forbidden weapon is in the arsenal, it will be used for any purpose. Skunk water in the territories? Now they use the skunk against the haredim too. NSo’s skunk is particularly malodorous. It was used on Netanyahu.

The Netanyahu trial is ongoing. Thus far it has been hard to point to the smoking gun that would justify the serious charges and the hateful public atmosphere, but there’s a long way still to go. There will always be the next state’s witness, who will be described by prosecutors and Netanyahu’s foes as the man who will deliver the goods. Now the surveillance target Shlomo Filber is center-stage. Tomorrow it will be someone else. That is why this surveillance is so destructive. It strengthens the public feeling that Netanyahu is indeed being persecuted.

Netanyahu himself sounded upset over the weekend.

People around him talked hyperbolically of an earthquake. But underneath the pretense of a storm, which they know how to harness to their benefit, there lay the feeling that another Pegasus is yet to come, and with it his trial will implode. Now it will be even harder to refute that.

Monday, 7 February, 2022 | LAHORE

NEWS

09

Z-PaRk-STZa agREEmENT TO DEvELOP mODERN TECH ECOSySTEmS IN PakISTaN ISLAMABAD

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POWER SUSPENSION SCHEDULES FOR 07th February 2022 According to Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO)’s spokesman, System Maintenance/Development Work is in process. Therefore power supply of below mentioned feeders/areas will be temporary suspended as per given schedule: On 07th February, 10:00 AM to 04:00 PM NCI (Tuba), Feeder, From 09:00 AM to 02:00 PM, Holi Family, FBlock, Kataria, Bani, Bella Road, I-8 Markaz, I-8/3, FHS, Kohsar Valley, Brahma, Malhawali, Sony, Karpa, City, Maniwala, Mathial, Zeeshan Colony, Koral, Sohdran, Abbasi Market, I-10/4, Pir Mehr Ali Shah, Athal, Bhara Kahu, T&T, Golf City, Treat , NIH, Angoori, Chakri, Arsalan Poultry Farm, SPD, Padial, Gagan, Chahan, Mahota Feeders, From 08:00 AM to 05:00 PM, Beirut Gala Darbar Mai Toti, Khoi Ratta City, Dana Bhal , Siri, City, Karila, Jandroot Dabsi, Dotot, Majan, Nomanpura, Charohi, Bahtar Feeders and surroundings will remain off. IESCO management apologizes to its esteemed customers for the power outage. If the work is completed ahead of time, the power supply can be restored even before the scheduled time. pr

ITP’s enforcement and education campaign in full swing to control lane violation ISLAMABAD: The campaign of Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP) launched to check lane violation is in full swing and Issued 7660 Fine tickets to Drivers during last one month and also road users are being educated to follow traffic rules and minimize the accident ratio. The main objective of this road safety campaign is to ensure safety to people and road users are being educated for lane discipline during drive. Following directions of Inspector General of Police (IGP) Islamabad Muhammad Ahsan Younis , Senior Superintendent of Police (Traffic) Rai Mazhar Iqbal has constituted special squads to control lane violation on various roads and ensure smooth flow of traffic in the city. ITP’s squads remain present on all important roads including Islamabad Expressway, Srinagar (Kashmir) highway to educate road users about traffic rules.

Pamphlets and leaflets are being distributed to create awareness among citizens while teams of education wing headed by SSP (Traffic) Rai Mazhar Iqbal are creating awareness about traffic rules. ITP’s FM Radio 92.4 is also disseminating the messages about road safety and to educate audience about traffic rules. Senior Superintendent of Police (Traffic) has appealed the citizens to cooperate with the force by following traffic laws. He said that action would be taken against those not following lanes during drive as the sole purpose is to ensure safe road environment in the city. He hoped that citizens will follow traffic rules and help ITP through their cooperation in ensuring secure traffic system in the city. Those violating traffic rules will be fined and safer road environment would be ensured through constant monitoring, he maintained. pr

Staff CorreSpondent

HE Prime Minister Imran Khan-led delegation visit to China has provided an opportunity for Pakistan to enhance and undertake the development of a modern tech ecosystem across the country.

According to reports, one of the top outcomes of the premier’s visit is the signing of an agreement between Pakistan’s Special Technology Zones Authority (STZA) and Zhongguancun Science Park (Z-Park).

“Under the agreement signed between Pakistan and China, Z-Park and STZA will undertake the development of modern tech ecosystems across Pakistan,” according to STZ’s statement, adding the agreement with Z-Park was made possible as a result of extensive efforts made by the Pakistan Embassy in China, Chinese partner STZA’s team.

Established in 1988, Z-Park is one of the first science parks and first national innovation demonstration centers in China, which focuses on electronic information, biomedicine, energy, and environmental protection, new materials, advanced manufacturing, aerospace engineering, R&D, and services.

In recognition of the crucial need to harness the opportunities of the digital age, STZA was established under the STZA Ordinance 2020 to provide

legislative and institutional support for the development of the national technology sector.

STZA is on the fast-track towards its goal of transforming Pakistan’s human capital into a highend future workforce. Prime Minister Imran Khan in-

augurated STZ Islamabad in January 2021 and Lahore Technopolis STZ on December 27, 2021.

The STZs promise a boost in tech export and an acceleration in transitioning towards a knowledgebased economy.

OGRA condemns brutalities of Indian government and its forces in Illegally Indian Occupied Kashmir

Eight suspects arrested during search and combing operation ISLAMABAD pr

OGRA team (Oil & Gas Regulatory Authority) organized a walk ON February 5, 2022 to show solidarity with Kashmiri brethren and condemn the cruelties of Indian Government and occupied forces in Kashmir. Chairman

OGRA said that Indian Government has illegally occupied that Jammu & Kashmir and is continuously violating human rights, killing innocent Kashmiris. He said that giving Kashmiris the right to self-determination is a

basic right. The people of Kashmir must be given the right of plebiscite according to UN resolutions. The Chairman said that the entire Pakistani nation stand with the people of Kashmir till last breath. pr

Eight suspects were taken into custody by the capital police, 03 motorbikes without document were shifted to police station during a massive search and combing operation conducted in limits of secretariat police station, said a police spokesman on Sunday. According to details, a search operation was conducted in areas of Secretariat police station on the direction of IG Islamabad Muhammad Ahsan Younas, in which heavy contingent of police force participated under the supervision of SP City Zone Kamran Amir Khan. During the search operation 08 suspects were shifted to police station for verification. During the search operation, 179 houses and 270 persons were searched;03 motorbikes without documents were shifted to police station. IG Islamabad Muhammad Ahsan Younas said that the purpose of the search operation was to tighten the noose around the criminals. Search operations are being carried out against criminal elements in different areas of the city adding that the security in the federal capital is enhanced.

Not hate but harmony needed for peaceful, stable society: Ahsan Iqbal ISLAMABAD pr

The 2nd Paigham-e-Pakistan Youth Symposium concluded here at Islamic Research Institute (IRI) of International Islamic University Islamabad (IIUI) at Faisal Masjid campus. Ahsan Iqbal, former Federal Minister and Member National Assembly was the Chief Guest of the concluding session, while opening session of the symposium was chaired by Prof. Dr. Masoom Yasinzai, Rector, IIUI. The students from various universities from Sindh, Punjab, Baluchitsan, GB and KPK attended this symposium. The symposium concluded with the recommendations from youth, these recommendations will be forwarded to the government of Pakistan. Ahsan Iqbal in his address highlighted various challenges that are faced by Pakistani society. He was of the view that raising hatred in society must be addressed, while harmony must be promoted to build a peaceful society. Former Minister called for encouraging inclusiveness in the society . “We need to learn that how we can disagree in an agreeable way” he maintained. He opined that we need to be united on core issues so that Pakistan can progress and we can have bright future. He was of the view that economic development of Pakistan will depend on social peace which cannot be achieved

without rule of law. He was of the view that dialogue at every level is a key for peaceful coexistence. He also asked the participant youth of the symposium to work on discouraging hate speech. Rector IIUI, in his address said these are high times to promote peace, inclusiveness and harmony in the society and Pakistani youth through latest mediums such as social media can do wonders to achieve these goals. He opined that there is a dire need to promote and propagate

the message of peace and unity. He agreed with the recommendations of the young participants of symposium that curriculum should be a continuous process, while he also hailed Government’s steps for a revamped and single national curriculum initiative .“We are living in the age of drastic changes, we cannot afford to be stagnant rather we must be well prepared to respond to the everyday changing challenges” said Dr. Masoom. He said Knowledge and skill

with inculcation of Islamic values is must for Pakistani youth. He said that narrative of Paigham-e-Pakistan is vital for society as tolerance and peace lead to stability and prosperity. He urged the youth to adopt Seerah of Holy Prophet (PBUH). He said His (PBUH) life is all about tolerance and peace. “We have no deficit of guidelines and values, Seerah is a comprehensive conduct of peace, tolerance and lover for creatures” he added. Prof. Dr. Masoor Akbar Kundi,

Vice Chancellor BZ University, Multan also spoke to the symposium. He said we must say no to Differences and yes to unity. He urged the youth to disseminate the Paighame-Pakistan’s message that he opined is all about Inclusiveness, peaceful co-existence and unity. He was of the view that rights of the our minorities must be protected.

Earlier, Prof. Dr. Muhammad Zia-ulHaq, Director General, IRI welcoming the guests, he elaborated activities of IRI under Paigham e Pakistan initiative. He shed light on the special training programs in the light of the narrative. He stated that for these training programs, the Institute has prepared customize tailor made training manuals. He added that through these training programs, various segments of the society such as parliamentarians, ulema, Faculty Members, members of the civil society, and youth are trained on peace building, peaceful coexistence, and inclusiveness in the contexts of Paigham-e-Pakistan. At the end, Prof. Ahsen Iqbal distributed certificates among the participants. Various parliamentarians, experts and faculty members such as Prof.Dr.Abdul Qadus Suhaib Chairman department of Islamic Studies Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Mr Khurshid Ahmed Nadeem, Dr. Muhammad Khan, Dr. Rizwan and Prof.

Dr. Muhammad Zia Ul Haq DG, IRI were resource persons of the symposium.

Monday, 7 February, 2022 | LAHORE

10 FOREIGN NEWS

Rallies in aCRoss eU, UK maRK KashmiR solidaRity day LOnDOn

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News Desk

uNdrEdS belonging to Pakistani and Kashmiri diaspora in the united Kingdom (uK) and Europe gathered in various cities to express solidarity with people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK).

The Kashmir Solidarity day events were organised by the Tehreek-e-Kashmir (TeK) in different European countries to express solidarity with the people of IIOJK, who are being denied their basic and fundamental human right of self-determination by the so called largest democracy in the world, India.

TeK uK chapter President raja Fahim Kayani said that his organisation is not only holding Kashmir solidarity rallies and conferences but also launched Kashmir digital campaign to highlight the plight of the people of IIOJK. The slogans such as “Hold India accountable for war crimes in Kashmir,” “End Indian occupation of Kashmir” and many others were displayed on a digital van.

The digital van toured London, Luton and Birmingham where a large number of British Kashmiris and Pakistanis took to the streets along the van to condemn India’s state terrorism in IIOJK. Kashmir solidarity events were also held in danish parliament in Copenhagen, Oslo,

Glasgow, Birmingham and other cities of Europe.

Addressing the Kashmir solidarity conference in Itlay, the TeK president said, “India can silence our voices in IIOJK through its military might of over one million right-wing Hindutva-driven military, police and paramilitary forces who have imposed a siege there but not at international level. Kashmiri and Pakistani diaspora has exposed fascist face of Modi at international level by playing an active role at all available international platforms.”

Kayani added that the false narrative of India has been rejected by the world community and hundreds of articles have been published by international media against In-

dian Premier Narendra Modi regime backed by rSS. The Genocide Watch has also warned the world that Indian government may start

genocide in IIOJK “so it is the duty of world community to put pressure on New delhi to stop human rights violations in IIOJK,” said the TeK leader.

Twitter may soon remove its 280 characters limit Agencies

Qatar and Uae leaders meet for first time since Gulf thaw Agencies

Microblogging site Twitter, which is quite popular among not only politicians, celebrities and other personalities, but also among the public when it comes to jotting down thoughts or to find out top trends and news.

As we know, Twitter users are currently restricted to posting tweets only up to 280 characters, which is most of the time a sufficient character limit.

However, MailOnline has cited a report suggesting that Twitter is planning to remove the 280-character limit and allow users to post lengthier Tweets.

The publication quoted news leake Jane Manchun Wong as claiming that Twitter may soon roll out a new feature “Twitter Articles”, which won’t restrict tweeps from posting longer than 280 charac-

US officials warn Russia is preparing full-scale invasion of Ukraine

Qatar’s emir met the de facto ruler of the united Arab Emirates during an official event at the Beijing Winter Olympics, in the first such interaction between the two Gulf leaders since four Arab states agreed to end a dispute with doha over a year ago. Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani met Abu dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan on the sidelines of a lunch hosted by China’s president on Saturday, Qatar’s state news agency said. uAE news websites published a video clip of the two leaders speaking. Abu dhabi has yet to restore diplomatic ties with doha since Saudi Arabia, the uAE, Bahrain and Egypt agreed in January 2021 to end a row that led them to boycott Qatar in mid-2017, though a senior Emirati official visited doha last August. Saudi Arabia and Egypt last year appointed ambassadors to Qatar. All but Bahrain have restored travel and trade links. The dispute erupted over accusations that doha supported terrorism — a reference to some groups — and its ties with regional adversary Iran and Turkey. doha denies the charges. The uAE, under a more conciliatory foreign policy driven by economic priorities, is engaging with both Tehran and Ankara, with which ties were badly strained over the role of Islamist groups following 2011 Arab Springs uprisings.

MOscOW AFP

russia has stepped up preparations for an all-out invasion of ukraine but it is not clear if Moscow has decided to take such a step, uS officials have said citing intelligence assessments. russia has assembled 110,000 troops along the border with its pro-Western neighbour but uS intelligence has not determined if President Vladimir Putin has actually decided to invade, according to the officials who in recent days briefed members of Congress and European allies.

The officials warned lawmakers that the assembled russian force on the frontier is growing at a rate that would give Putin the force he needs for a full-scale invasion — some 150,000 soldiers — by mid-February.

They said Putin wants all possible options at his disposal: from a limited campaign in the pro-russian donbas region of ukraine to a full-scale invasion. russia denies that it is planning to invade ukraine.

If Moscow does opt for a full-scale attack, the invading force could take the capital Kyiv and topple President Volodymyr Zelensky in a matter of 48 hours, the officials said. They estimated such an attack would leave 25,000 to 50,000 civilians dead, along with 5,000 to 25,000 ukrainian soldiers and 3,000 to 10,000 russian ones.

It could also trigger a refugee flood of one to five million people, mainly into Poland, the officials added.

Elizabeth II says wants Camilla to be Queen Consort as Platinum Jubilee starts LOnDOn AFP

Queen Elizabeth II on Sunday became the first British monarch to reign for seven decades, marking the landmark date with an announcement that she wants Camilla, the wife of her heir Prince Charles, to ultimately be known as Queen Consort.

The 95-year-old monarch begins her Platinum Jubilee in subdued fashion at her Sandringham estate in eastern England, where she traditionally spends anniversaries of her accession. Four days of festivities are planned for early June, coinciding with the anniversary of her 1953 coronation, including a military parade and music concert, street parties, a nationwide “Big Jubilee Lunch” and a “Platinum Pudding Competition”.

Commemorative coins have been minted to mark Sunday’s unprecedented milestone and eight new celebratory postage stamps have been issued by the royal Mail. On Monday, there will be ceremonial gun salutes in London’s Green Park, close to Buckingham Palace, and at Edinburgh Castle in Scotland. Traditionally these are not held at weekends.

Addressing the nation in a written statement late Saturday, the Queen said she wanted Camilla, the wife of her heir Prince Charles, to ultimately be known as Queen Consort.

The statement shows that the Queen is planning for the future after her death and holds Camilla, who married Charles in a civil ceremony in 2005, in high esteem.

ters.

Here is a screenshot, provided by Wong, of what the rumoured feature may look like.

Twitter may soon remove its 280 characters limit You may also have a look at the range of potential uses of “Twitter Articles”, suggested by Wong. n Exclusive articles n Newsletter n In-app uX n On-platform conversation, n Syndicated articles (by news sites) n News-reading subscription model Tweets were restricted to only 140 characters when Twitter was first introduced in 2006. The limit was doubled to 280 in 2018, allowing users to express themselves in a better way.

‘Tireless service’: Britain’s longest-serving monarch acceded to the throne on February 6, 1952, following the death of her father King George VI. Aged just 25, she learned of the news while watching wildlife in a remote part of Kenya with her now late husband, Prince Philip. during her subsequent decades-spanning reign, she has remained the one constant through periods of huge social and political upheaval, a living link to Britain’s post-war and imperial past.

In September 2015, she surpassed Queen Victoria’s 63 years and seven months on the throne and, despite some health concerns over the past year, has appeared determined to continue her record-breaking reign.

Speaking in parliament this week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Sunday was “a moment of national cel-

ebration” while noting it was “a day of mixed emotions for Her Majesty”. “I know the whole House (of Commons) will want to join me in thanking Her Majesty for her tireless service,” he added.

“We look forward to celebrating her historic reign with a series of national events in June.”

‘Ma’aM you’re The Tops’: On Saturday, the Queen held a reception for local people at her Sandringham estate in eastern England, reportedly her largest inperson public engagement since she suffered health problems last autumn.

The monarch smiled as she cut a cake decorated with the jubilee emblem and received a posy featuring the same flowers as her Coronation bouquet.

The guests included Angela Wood, a woman who was involved in creating the recipe for coronation chicken in 1953. The bright yellow mildly curried dish was reportedly on the menu on Saturday. After Philip’s death in April last year, the queen returned to public and official engagements, including hosting world leaders at the G7 summit in Cornwall, southwest England.

But she was forced to slow down on advice from doctors, after an overnight hospital stay in October sparked public concern. Since then she has largely stayed at Windsor Castle and made few public appearances. The queen was filmed last month at Windsor viewing an array of memorabilia created for previous jubilees from the royal Archives. These included a homemade card created by a child for her Golden Jubilee in 2002 with bottle caps glued to its front, alongside the message: “Ma’am you’re the tops.” “That’s good: simple but ingenious,” the Queen said at last month’s viewing when she was also accompanied by one of her dogs — a corgi and dachshund cross-breed called Candy. She was also shown Queen Victoria’s famed “autograph fan”, gifted to that monarch in 1887 for her Golden Jubilee by the Prince and Princess of Wales, who became King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra.

special forces: President Joe Biden has decided to send American forces to Poland to protect NATO members, as diplomats work furiously to try to persuade russia to pull its troops back from the border with ukraine.

The first contingent of uS soldiers arrived Saturday. russia has also announced what it calls joint military manoeuvres with Belarus, where it has sent several battalions to the north of Kyiv and in the Brest region, not far from the border with Poland. uS intelligence has concluded that russia is continuing to muster a major military force on its border with ukraine. Two weeks ago, a total of 60 russian army battalions were positioned to the north, east and south of ukraine, particularly in the Crimean peninsula, which russia annexed after an invasion in 2014. But on Friday, there were 80 battalions and 14 more were en route from elsewhere in russia, uS officials said. They added that some 1,500 russian special forces soldiers known as Spetsnaz arrived along the ukraine border a week ago.

Naval forces asseMbliNg: A major russian naval force is also positioned in the Black Sea, equipped with five amphibious vessels that could be used to land troops on ukraine’s southern coast, the uS officials said.

They added that another six amphibious craft were observed leaving the Barents Sea north of russia, sailing past Britain and through the Strait of Gibraltar, apparently on their way to the Black Sea.

Google Chrome to change its logo for the first time in eight years Agencies Chrome is changing its logo design for the first time in eight years. The difference is hard to tell, because the changes are quite subtle. Elvin Hu, designer for Google Chrome, shared the information on Twitter and initial look at the redesign in progress. According to Hu, Google has simplified the main icon by ‘removing shadows, refining proportions and brightening colours.’

If you squint hard, you may notice that the colours are more vibrant and the circle in the center seems bigger.

“We simplified the main brand icon by removing the shadows, refining the proportions and brightening the colors, to align with Google’s more modern brand expression,” Hu tweeted. “Fun fact: we also found that placing certain shades of green and red next to each other created an unpleasant color vibration, so we introduced a very subtle gradient to the main icon to mitigate that, making the icon more accessible.” Google has also created ‘OS-specific customizations’ according to Hu, who explained that Google wants the icons to ‘feel recognizably Chrome, but also well crafted for each OS. For example, on Windows, the icons take on an obviously gradated look, appearing at home on Windows 10 & 11’. Answering the question probably on your mind; “why bother with sth. so subtle?”, Hu said: “We tailor Chrome’s experience to each OS, with features like Native Window Occlusion on Windows, day-one M1 support on macOS, Widgets on iOS/Android, and Material You on Android.

Monday, 7 February, 2022 | LAHORE

SPORTS 11

Ben Dunk, JAmeS FAulkner StronGly BAck AuStrAliA’S tour to PAkiStAn LAHORE

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News Desk

USTRALIA men’s cricket team’s tour of Pakistan got a big thumbs-up from compatriots Ben Dunk and James Faulkner, who said the visitors will enjoy the atmosphere, the fanatic fans and a quality opposition during their tour of three Tests, three ODIs, and a one-off T20I from March 4 to April 5.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to speak to a few of the guys who are planning on coming over here. It’s cer-

tainly different to what we are used to at home. But, it’s important that cricket does come back to Pakistan and you get to play at home like you play away.

“So, for the boys that are coming out, I think they can expect a population that loves cricket and good performances, whether they’re from the home team or the away team. It would just be an amazing thing for world cricket,” Dunk, who played five T20Is for Australia and a Lahore Qalandars’ regular, told PCB digital.

Faulkner, who played a Test, 69 ODIs and 24 T20Is for Australia and is presently representing Quetta Gladiators in the Pakistan Super League 2022, backed Dunk when he said: “I’m excited to watch Australia play Pakistan.

“There are going to be challenging wickets in the Test matches to feature two very good teams. I am sure

the Australian players are going to be tested and will enjoy playing against some quality players.

“It has been a long time since Australia came to Pakistan. In fact, it was probably the same year I came over for an under-19 trip when I was 17. I think it is important for cricket to be back in Pakistan, hence, why I’m here as well. I have traveled all around the world, so there is no exception for me not to come here.”

On Friday, the CA Board approved their national men’s team’s first tour of Pakistan in 24 years, while a day before on Thursday, Test captain Pat Cummins confirmed most players were comfortable with the tour going ahead.

“I think it’s great for cricket in general. Having played here in Pakistan for almost four years, I’ve got to experience a bit of the culture.

“Certainly before COVID, the crowds and the atmosphere that would flood into our games. So, I’m hoping the COVID situation allows as many fans to get into the grounds as possible because I think it would be a really amazing atmosphere for a lot of the Australian players to experience,” Dunk said.

Dunk echoed Faulkner’s views and agreed major Test playing nations needed to do more to ensure the smaller nations get enough Test cricket to survive and grow.

“It’s hugely important that some of the more established Test playing nations lift their weight and help out the other Test playing nations that aren’t as fortunate.

We’re seeing quite often around the world that some of the smaller Test playing nations aren’t getting enough cricket to survive.”

China win AFC Women’s Asian Cup title after 16 years lapse MIAN ABRAR China overcame a 2-0 deficit to defeat South Korea 3-2 in the 2022 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Women’s Asian Cup final at DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, India, to win their first title in 16 years on Sunday. It’s also China’s ninth Asian Cup trophy, the most among all teams.

Though China have never lost to South Korea in their past seven matchups, the first half of Sunday’s game couldn’t have been more bleak for the “Steel Roses”.

South Korea sent a 3-5-2 formation onto the field, pressuring hard in the midfield. Meanwhile, China lacked enthusiasm during the first half and moved the ball too much between small groups of two and three instead of pushing forward. The lack of aggressiveness gave South Korea enough time to switch to a 5-3-2 formation when China finally approached the box.

Tang Jiali (#18) of China shoots a penalty kick in the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup final against South Korea at DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, India,

Giroud shoots open Serie A title race MILAN News Desk

Olivier Giroud bust the Serie A title race wide open on Saturday with a quick-fire derby brace in a 2-1 win which moves AC Milan to within one point of leaders Inter. France international Giroud poked Milan level with 15 minutes remaining of a thrilling encounter after Ivan Perisic had given champions Inter a deserved first-half lead with a perfectly placed volley from Hakan Calhanoglu’s corner. And three minutes later the 35-year-old sent the Milan fans at the San Siro wild with a neat turn and low finish after collecting Davide Calabria’s pass. “We were in difficulty for the first half. The second 45 minutes we got back in the game, and I was hoping for one or two chances in the area,” Giroud said to DAZN. “The first was a bit lucky but the second was a good ball from Cala (Davide Calabria) and great for our fans… I don’t know what to say. I’m very happy and proud of this team which never gave up.” Giroud was only playing because Zlatan Ibrahimovic was out with an Achilles tendon injury but pounced just as Inter looked to be headed for what up to that point would have been a deserved win. Milan had hardly created anything until Giroud pushed Brahim Diaz’s mishit and deflected shot past Samir Handanovic but are now right back in a title race which seemed to be heading in Inter’s favour. Inter travel to Napoli next weekend in a huge fortnight for them which also includes the visit of Liverpool for the first leg of their Champions League last 16 tie. The defeat will be deeply disappointing for Inter, who were by far the better team for much of the match, and if it hadn’t been for Mike Maignan could easily have been a couple of goals ahead by the time Giroud struck. France stopper Maignan prevented Denzel Dumfries from putting away a simple one-onone chance in the first half and kept Milan in the game long enough for them to inflict on Inter a first league home defeat since October 2020. “It was oneway traffic for 70 minutes… If we played the match again 10 times we might lose once,” said Inzaghi.

“We didn’t deserve to lose, but that’s football.” Jose Mourinho said Roma were seen as “small” by Italy’s footballing powers after Nicolo Zaniolo was denied a last-gasp winner in his team’s goalless draw with 10man Genoa which leaves their already slim Champions League hopes hanging by a thread.

February 6, 2022. /CFP South Korea’s pressure paid off on offense as well. On a fast counterstrike, a pass from Lee Geum-min resulted in a 1-0 lead as

Choe Yu-ri found the back of the net. During the play, most of China’s players were outpaced by their South Korean counterparts.

China suffered another blow in

the final minute of stoppage time to end the first half. Yao Lingwei was called for a deliberate handball, leading to a penalty shot for South Korea. Ji So-yun scored to make it a 2-0 game before the break.

Zhang Linyan (R) of China celebrates after scoring the second goal for her team in the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup final against South Korea at DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, India, February 6, 2022. /CFP Despite trailing 2-0, China did not give up. On the contrary, the deficit made the players more determined and bolder. They kept charging South Korea’s defense from the two wings.

In the 66th minute, Zhang Linyan’s crossover from the left was deflected by the hand of Lee Youngju. The referee gave China a penalty kick with no hesitation. Tang Jiali scored for China, cutting the deficit to one goal (2-1).

As the game continued, South Korea began to move at a slower

pace after exerting so much energy in the first half, which made it harder for them to defend against China’s attack. Four minutes after the first goal, Tang returned the favor by assisting Zhang to score a powerful header, tying the score 22 for China.

Xiao Yuyi of China celebrates after scoring the third goal for her team in the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup final against South Korea at DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai, India, February 6, 2022. /CFP The Steel Roses were in full control of the game in the last 15 minutes. Their fast movement of the ball in front of the box in the 92nd minute pierced the defensive line of South Korea before Xiao Yuyi broke the opponents’ goal for the third time.

It was China’s third straight comeback win in the tournament.

They trailed first in each of the three games in the elimination stage, but managed to rally in all of them to pocket the final victory.

Ireland’s Maguire captures first LPGA title by three strokes MIAMI AFP

Ireland’s Leona Maguire captured her first LPGA title on Saturday, firing a five-under par 67 to win the Drive On Championship by three strokes.

The 27-year-old former amateur world number one sank seven birdies against two bogeys to finish on 18-under 198 for the 54-hole event at Crown Colony in Fort Myers, Florida. “It has been a long time coming. You don’t know if it’s actually going to happen until it does,” Maguire said.

“I tried to stay really patient today and didn’t get ahead of myself. Wanted to go out and just shoot a number. I didn’t want anybody to have to hand it to me. I wanted to go out and win it myself.”

Maguire kept calm under the pressure of delivering the biggest triumph of her career.

“Just really proud of the way I played,” she said. “I was trying to go out and shoot 20-under par. That

was my goal today. I was feeling really calm. Was staying in the moment.” American Lexi Thompson fired a final-round 65 to grab second on 201, one stroke ahead of compatriot Sarah Schmelzel, who shot 64.

China’s Lin Xiyu, who had a 63, shared fourth on 203 with Thailand’s Patty Tavatanakit and Americans Stacy Lewis, Marina Alex and Brittany Altomare.

Maguire, the first Irish winner of an LPGA event, had the lowest final-round score in a major by any man or woman with a 61 at last year’s Evian Championship in France.

“She’s such an amazing player, Thompson said of Maguire. “She has been striking it well and has made some great putts out here this week. She’s an amazing talent and I think (the victory) will help her out a lot.”

Early birdiEs ‘hugE’: Alex and Maguire shared the lead when the final round began and both birdied the par-4 second hole.

Maguire took a bogey at the par-3

third but Alex fell back as well with a bogey at the sixth.

Maguire birdied the par-3 seventh to seize the lead and both women birdied the eighth and parred the ninth to make the turn with the Irish standout ahead by one.

“That birdie on seven was huge and that birdie on eight was huge,” she said. “I knew someone was going to go low.”

Maguire began the back nine with back-to-back birdies to lead by three over Alex and Thompson, who charged into contention with birdies at the par-5 fifth and par-4 sixth holes and a birdie-eagle-birdie run at the ninth through 11th holes.

“Holing out at 10 and then making the birdie at 11, I knew I had to be somewhat close,” Thompson said. “I just tried to stay in the moment. focus on my pre-shot routine.

I knew I had to make birdies.”

Thompson and Alex birdied the par-4 13th, but Maguire did the same to restore her three-stroke edge.

Bogeys by Alex at 15 and Thompson at 16 plus a birdie for Maguire at 16 allowed the Irish standout to cruise down the stretch, able to finish with a bogey at 18 and still win comfortably.

“You say you want to enjoy it but it’s hard until that final putt drops,” said Maguire. “Little disappointed to bogey the last, but it happens.”

Thompson pulled a back muscle in Thursday’s opening round and was sore the last two days.

“It was overall a great week. I played well,” she said. “I was just happy to be out there.”

Del Potro close to retirement as injuries take their toll BUENOS AIRES ReuteRs

Argentine tennis player Juan Martin Del Potro is considering an imminent retirement from the sport, saying recurring injuries mean two tournaments in Argentina and Brazil this month will “possibly” be his last. “This is one of the hardest messages I’ve ever had to face up to and communicate,” the 33year-old told reporters in Buenos Aires on Saturday. “Everyone knows and hopes that I return to tennis. Possibly it won’t be like that and that it will be more of a farewell than a return.” The former world number three last played a tournament match in June 2019 at Queens in London. He injured his knee and has been struggling to regain full fitness ever since. “The knee has been a nightmare,” said the 6-foot-6 big hitter. “I’ve been trying alternatives and ways to resolve it for years and today I just can’t manage it,” he said. “I never imagined retiring from tennis anywhere other than out there on the court.” Del Potro has won 22 ATP titles since turning professional in 2005, including the 2009 U.S. Open, his only major win. He has a wild card entry into Argentina and Rio de Janeiro Opens, both of which take place this month. Del Potro will face countryman Federico Delbonis in his first match in Buenos Aires on Tuesday. The Rio de Janeiro Open begins on February 12.

Monday, 7 February, 2022

pRayeR tiMiNgs

NEWS

Qureshi, China COunterpart disCuss regiOn, raise aLarM Over afghanistan Crisis BEIJING/ISLAMABAD

f

staff RepoRt

OREIGN Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Sunday discussed the evolving security situation in the South Asian region and beyond, and expressed concern over the looming humanitarian catastrophe in war-ravaged Afghanistan.

The foreign minister is accompanying the prime minister on a four-day visit to China to attend the 2022 Winter Games.

On Afghanistan, the two leaders appreciated the important role played by the meeting of the six neighbouring nations in evolving regional consensus, and looked forward to the third meeting scheduled to be held in China.

It was agreed to maintain closer coordination to promote the shared objectives of peace, stability and development in Afghanistan and regional connectivity, a press statement said.

Qureshi underlined that Imran Khan’s meetings with the host leadership would provide fresh momentum to the

bilateral strategic cooperative partnership, add new avenues to practical cooperation, spur high-quality development of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) including industrial development, and develop greater synergies between the visions of geo-economics and the Global Development Initiative.

He briefed Yi on the rights violations

Oil edges toward $100 per barrel

in occupied Jammu and Kashmir and systemic assaults on the freedoms of minorities in India.

Recalling their last meeting in Chengdu for the third round of the Pakistan-China Strategic Dialogue, the foreign minister appreciated the measures taken by the two sides to strengthen the strategic partnership between Pakistan

and China.

Qureshi thanked his counterpart for China’s firm support of Pakistan’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, independence and national development, and reaffirmed Islamabad’s full support to Beijing on issues of its interest.

He also congratulated his Chinese counterpart on the successful hosting of the Winter Olympics and conveyed his best wishes for the Chinese New Year.

PORTAL LAUNCHED: Meanwhile, Qureshi also inaugurated a portal to facilitate students and professionals, APP reported.

During the launching ceremony, Ambassador Moeen ul-Haque also accompanied the foreign minister.

Qureshi said the portal would enhance the technical linkage between the students from Pakistan and the Chinese experts and serve as a bridge between them.

The portal would provide support with regard to the latest innovative research and inventions, Qureshi said, adding it would also highlight the contributions of students and professionals in the relevant fields.

5 soldiers martyred in terrorist attack from Afghanistan: ISPR

LONDON News Desk

Oil prices continue to move toward the $100 a barrel threshold amid growing supply concerns, as OPEC and allied producers are slow to boost output. Ransomware attacks on German storage facilities and winter storms in the US are also pushing prices higher.

Foreign media reported that European benchmark Brent Crude closed around $92.8 per barrel on February 04, its highest level in more than seven years, surging 1.8%. European oil majors Shell and BP also rallied on Brent gains, jumping 3%. Shell earlier reported that its annual profits quadrupled in 2021.

The Brent rally followed ransomware attacks on two German fuel storage facilities, Mabanaft and Oiltanking, earlier this week. A number of other storage sites across Europe also reported IT issues, but those have not been confirmed as related to the attacks in Germany.

Meanwhile, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) also hit its peak since 2014, jumping nearly 2% and topping $91.9 a barrel. Experts link the gains to the winter storm that enveloped central and northeast regions of the US on Thursday and partly stalled oil production in the Permian Basin, the US’ largest shale site.

Five Pakistani soldiers were martyred after terrorists inside Afghanistan opened fire on troops in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kurram district, the military’s media affairs wing said on Sunday.

“Terrorists from inside Afghanistan, across the international border, opened fire on Pakistani troops in Kurram district,” a statement by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said, adding that Pakistani troops responded in a “befitting manner”.

“As per intelligence reports, due to fire of [our] own troops, terrorists suffered heavy causalities,” the statement said.

However, five soldiers were martyred during exchange of fire.

They were identified as 34-yearold Lance Naik Ajab Noor, 22year-old Sepoy Ziaullah Khan, 23-year-old Sepoy Naheed Iqbal, 18-year-old Sepoy Sameerullah Khan and 27-year-old Sepoy Sajid Ali. “Pakistan strongly condemns

the use of Afghan soil by terrorists for activities against Pakistan and expects that [the] interim Afghan government will not allow conduct of such activities against Pakistan in future,” the ISPR statement said.

The Pakistan Army is determined to defend Pakistan’s borders against the menace of terrorism and such sacrifices of our brave men further strengthen our resolve, it added.

Suicide bomber killed during Tank IBO Meanwhile, security forces conducted an intelligence-based operation (IBO) near Dial road in Tank, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and killed a suicide bomber, the ISPR said.

Security forces conducted the operation on “confirmed intelligence reports of presence of” terrorists belonging to the proscribed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

“During the operation, a suicide bomber has been killed,” the statement added.

The ISPR said the operation to eliminate the terrorists’ abettors and accomplices “was continuing”.

In a separate statement on Saturday, the military’s media wing said the security forces conducted an IBO in Sarwakai village in South Waziristan and arrested a TTP terrorist identified as Allah Noor.

According to ISPR, the TTP terrorist was trying to escape while clad in a burqa, however, the forces caught him.

During the IBO, a huge cache of arms, ammunition, explosives, improvised explosive devices, mortars, grenades and communication equipment were recovered from the hideout.

In another such operation in Makeen area of South Waziristan, law enforcement personnel recovered M-16 rifles and ammunition.

Four individuals who were transporting weapons and ammunition to Dara Adam Khel were also arrested, the military said. News Desk

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Beloved Bollywood singer Lata Mangeshkar dies at 92 Bollywood superstar singer Lata Mangeshkar, known to millions as the “nightingale of India” and a regular fixture of the country’s airwaves for decades, died on Sunday at the age of 92. She passed away in a Mumbai hospital after being admitted to its intensive care unit on January 11 with Covid-19 symptoms.

“I am anguished beyond words,” India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on Twitter. “The kind and caring Lata Didi has left us. She leaves a void in our nation that cannot be filled.”

Prime Minister Imran Khan said the subcontinent had lost “one of the truly great singers the world has known”, “Listening to her songs has given so much pleasure to so many people all over the world,” he said.

Public broadcaster Doordarshan announced a state funeral and two days of national mourning for the singer after news of her death broke.

Mangeshkar was born in 1929 and started her musical training early under the tutelage of her father Deenanath, singing in his theatrical productions when she was just five.

Her father’s death when she was only 13 forced her to take on the role of breadwinner to support four younger siblings, and the family eventually moved to Mumbai in 1945.

There she pursued a career as a playback singer, recording tracks to be mimed by actors, and her highpitched voice soon became a staple of Bollywood blockbusters.

In a move reflecting her huge following, she was invited by the government to sing a patriotic tribute to the soldiers killed in the 1962 Indo-China war at India’s Republic Day commemorations in January 1963.

Her rendition of “Oh the People of my Country” reportedly moved then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to tears.

In the following decades, composers and film producers alike vied to sign the prolific Mangeshkar for their movies.

“I composed keeping Lata Mangeshkar’s range and voice quality in mind,” composer Anil Biswas said of her in an interview published in the “Encyclopedia of Hindi Cinema”.

“She had a wide range, and one could think of more complicated melodies than with the earlier untrained singers,” he added.

‘Stalwart of Indian culture’ Together with her younger sister Asha Bhonsle — a superstar in her own right — Mangeshkar dominated Bollywood music for more than half a century and is considered by many to be the Indian film industry’s greatest-ever playback singer. Mangeshkar was not shy about taking a stand when it came to raising her prices or asking for a share of the royalties earned on her songs. Her longevity and discipline saw her lend her voice to teenage actresses who were 50 years her junior. Critics complained that her dominance left little room for newer singers to thrive but her audience remained loyal, ensuring that her songs ruled the charts. afp

Historic Visit: China, Pakistan ink agreements to expand bilateral cooperation in all spheres ISLAMABAD MiaN abRaR

During Prime Minister Imran Khan’s historic visit, China and Pakistan signed a number of agreements and MoUs covering bilateral cooperation in areas of economic and technical, industry, investment, infrastructure, space, vaccine, digitalization, standardization, disaster management, culture, sports and vocational education.

Before departing for Pakistan, China and Pakistan issued a 33-point Joint Communiqué, perhaps the longest in the bilateral relationship of two neighbours’ history. Noting close bilateral cooperation in the areas of health, environment and ICT, the two sides agreed to launch the China-Pakistan health, industry, trade, green and digital corridors.

China also agreed to arrange for Pakistani students to return to China and resume classes in a prudent manner.

GwADAR DEvELOPmENT: For the first time, specific focus was laid on development projects for Gwadar and its people.

The two sides highlighted the significance of Gwadar as a central pillar of CPEC and important node in regional connectivity.

According to the “1 + 4” layout, the two sides agreed to jointly accelerate the construction and operation of Gwadar Port and build Gwadar low-carbon circular industry zone.

They agreed to build high-quality livelihood projects for the socio-economic development of Gwadar city and its residents.

SECURiTy Of CPEC: Both sides expressed their strong determination to safeguard CPEC from all threats and negative propaganda. Pakistan reaffirmed its commitment to making all-out efforts for the security of all Chinese personnel, projects and institutions in Pakistan and the Chinese side expressed its appreciation for the measures taken by Pakistan in this regard.

Both sides observed that CPEC was a win-win enterprise and pivotal for regional prosperity and enhanced connectivity. As an open and inclusive initiative, third parties were welcome to benefit from investment opportunities in CPEC SEZs.

COviD-19 mEASURES: The two sides reviewed with satisfaction bilateral cooperation and mutual support after the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. Prime Minister Imran Khan thanked Chinese leadership for provision of COVID-19 vaccines to Pakistan which have been a mainstay of national mass vaccination drive. Both leaders agreed that their mutual support, cooperation and solidarity amidst the COVID-19 pandemic was in keeping with the time-honoured traditions of Pakistan-China friendship and that both sides would continue supporting efforts to overcome the pandemic.

The two sides reaffirmed their resolve to continue and enhance their existing cooperation for developing emergency response systems, public health infrastructure and joint ventures for development of pharmaceutical industry in Pakistan to tackle similar challenges in future.

TRADE & COmmERCE: The two sides noted with satisfaction the record increase in bilateral trade volume in 2021. They agreed to further consolidate and expand bilateral trade relations by fully utilizing the 2nd

Phase of Pakistan-China Free Trade Agreement. The Chinese side welcomed more of Pakistan’s high-quality food and agricultural products to the Chinese market.

Welcoming the establishment of Pakistan’s pavilions on Chinese e-commerce platforms, the two sides agreed to further strengthen cooperation in e-commerce, setting up online payment systems and cooperating in logistics, warehousing and customs facilitation.

The two sides noted with satisfaction the successful holding of the 15th Session of Pakistan-China Joint Committee on Economic, Trade, Scientific and Technical Cooperation in December 2021. They agreed to leverage this important mechanism to further enhance overall bilateral economic engagement between the two countries.

POvERTy ALLEviATiON: The Pakistan side appreciated China’s unrivaled achievement of lifting 770 million people out of absolute poverty and wished the Chinese Government and people greater success in achieving the goals of socialist modernization and national rejuvenation. The Chi-

nese side appreciated Pakistan’s Ehsaas Programme for poverty alleviation and reiterated its resolve to support Pakistan for infrastructure development in several fields including agriculture, education, health, safe drinking water and vocational training.

EDUCATiON CORRiDOR: Both sides noted with satisfaction robust cooperation between Pakistan and China in education sector, and committed to further enhance cooperation between the educational institutions of the two countries. Pakistan side highlighted that China has become a popular education destination. While ensuring safety against COVID-19, China will arrange for Pakistani students to return to China and resume classes in a prudent manner.

TOURiSm ExCHANGES: Both sides reiterated the importance of people-to-people contacts, tourism cooperation and cultural exchanges for strong bilateral relations. Building on the MoU on Tourism Exchanges and Cooperation signed in November last year, the two sides agreed to celebrate Pakistan-China Year of Tourism Exchanges in 2023.

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