ISLAMABAD- E paper – March 16, 2020

CMYK

16 March, 2020 I 21 Rajab, 1441 I Rs 20.00 I Vol X No 257 I 16 Pages I Islamabad Edition

Coronavirus reaChes Punjab, overall Cases jumP to 53 g

Lahore reports first case of deadly virus after 54-year-old patient tests positive LAHORE/KARACHI

i

STAFF REPORT

n the biggest single-day jump since the coronavirus was first reported in the country, 20 cases were confirmed on Sunday, taking the total number to 53. Lahore Health Secretary Captain (r) Mohammad Usman on Sunday confirmed that a 54-year-old patient, who had returned to the country from the United Kingdom (UK) on March 10, has tested positive for the virus. The patient had been admitted to the Mayo Hospital on Saturday night after developing symptoms of the virus. The health secretary added that all the contacts of the patients have tested negative for the virus.

g

13 people who recently arrived from Taftan test positive in Sukkur

Meanwhile, spokesperson for the Sindh government, Barrister Murtaza Wahab, said that 13 people from Sukkur who had recently arrived from Taftan tested positive for the virus on Sunday. Following the confirmation of these cases, the total number of cases went up to 34. Wahab added that these people were purportedly kept in quarantine at the border.

Earlier, four new cases of coronavirus were detected in Karachi, said Meeran Yousuf, the media coordinator to the Sindh health minister.

Three of the patients had recently returned from Saudi Arabia, while one has no recent travel history, Yousuf said. Later, the official also confirmed that another patient, who originally belongs to Balochistan and had travelled to

Karachi, has tested positive for coronavirus.

The federal capital’s first secondary transmission case also emerged on Sunday morning. The latest case was of a husband of a woman who recently tested positive for coronavirus at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) after returning from the United States. There are now four COVID-19 patients at the isolation ward in PIMS, according to the health facility’s spokesperson Dr Waseem Khawaja.

CONTAINMENT MEASURES: In order to contain

Pakistan calls for regional mechanism to curb coronavirus spread g

Dr Zafar Mirza urges India to lift lockdown in IOK after confirmation of coronavirus case to facilitate treatment

ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza on Sunday called upon the members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to adopt a calm, calculated, and deliberate response to fight coronavirus.

He said this while speaking at a video conference of SAARC countries to devise a joint strategy to protect people of the region from falling prey to

g

Indian PM Modi proposes setting up an emergency fund to fight coronavirus outbreak, offers $10m to get it going

COVID-19. Stressing the need for prevention and caution, the PM’s aide strongly advised against panic. He said that Pakistan was amongst the first few countries to undertake a joint evaluation of the state of preparedness to cope with health emergencies in the context of international health regulations 2005.

Dr Mirza said that Pakistan had isolated the positive cases and their contacts were being traced proactively. He said that Prime Minister Imran Khan is per-

sonally overseeing these efforts.

Taking notice of the coronavirus cases which was reported in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK), Dr Mirza urged India to lift lockdown from the territory to enable the containment and relief efforts in view of a health emergency.

“It is a matter of concern that COVID-19 has been reported from IOK and in view of a health emergency, it is imperative that all lockdown in the territory must be lifted immediately,” he said.

Highlighting Pakistan’s response strategy, the special assistant said that it has four pillars, which include governance and financing, prevention, mitigation, and communication.

He said that the government has decided to close all our educational institutions for three weeks, entire western border for two weeks, restrict international flights to three airports only and ban all large public gatherings, reinforced screening measures at the airports and at the ground processing.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 02

more inside

Over 30,000 people fail to meet Saudi deadline for return

STORY ON PAGE 03

State Bank ready to battle any market shocks amid coronavirus crisis

STORY ON BACK PAGE

CMYK

the possible spread of coronavirus in Sindh, Mayor Wasim Akhtar directed the closure of parks and other entertainment facilities in the city under the control of Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC). Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) Chief Court’s registrar issued a circular stating that the area’s courts will remain closed from March 16 to April 5 as a precautionary measure to stop the spread of coronavirus. Sindh Information Minister Syed nasir Hussain Shah also denied all rumours of a lockdown that had been circulating on social media. Shah said that neither is there a situation for a lockdown nor is there anything to worry about.

“All government steps are precautionary,” he said.

He added that some “elements” on social media were asking people to gather ration which he said were “unnecessary”.

Shah added that Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah had asked the chief secretary to write a letter to the FIA to register cybercrime cases against those who are spreading rumours. “The people should be confident that their government has the ability to solve all problems,” he added.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 02

02

Monday, 16 March, 2020

NEWS

Indian troops martyr 4 in occupied Kashmir ISLAMABAD: Indian troops martyred four Kashmiri youth in Islamabad district of held Kashmir on Sunday. The youth were killed by the troops during a cordon and search operation in Watrigam area of Islamabad district, Kashmir Media Service reported. The troops have sealed all the entry points of Watrigam, Achabal and Islamabad, and launched massive door-to-door search operations. One of the martyred youth has been identified as Tariq Ahmed. The operation was going on till the last reports came in. APP

Improved peace, stability due to martyrs’ sacrifices, says Gen Bajwa LAHORE: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Sunday visited the family of Wing Commander Noman Akram Shaheed. The COAS prayed for the departed soul and offered Fateha, said an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) press release. ” We owe improved peace and stability to supreme sacrifices rendered by our martyrs. Their sacrifices will not go to waste,” the COAS said. STAFF REPORT

AudIt offICers protest AGAInst dIsCrImInAtorY dIstrIButIon of sALArIes iSLamaBaD

A

SHAHZAD PARACHA

MIDST the pen down strike being observed by the employees of Accountant General Pakistan Revenue (AGPR), the All Pakistan Audit and Accounts Combined Association on Sunday held a protest demonstration against the discriminatory distribution of salaries and other incentives of federal and provincial employees.

Addressing the protesters, Anwar Shah, the chairman of the association, stated that the protest will continue until the fulfillment of their demands of increase in salaries and promotions. He clearly stated that the accounts department of AGPR will remain closed until their demands are met.

The employees demand an increase in salary equivalent to the proposed increments for the employees of Federal Secretariat. In addition to this, they have also asked for a grant of 20 per cent special allowance at par with Federal Secretariat employees which was granted to them in 2013. Moreover, they have also asked for the grant of seat for promotion from the quota pending with the controller general of the accounts office for the past couple of months.

According to the calculations

of AGPR, the monthly pay roll of federal government employees is Rs21.4 billion, out of which Rs10.2 billion is their average basic pay. If the government increases the monthly basic pay of underprivileged departments by 100 per cent, it would have an impact of Rs4.97 billion on the national exchequer.

Similarly, if the government increases the basic of pay of underprivileged departments, then the impact would be Rs1 billion. If the government agrees to their demand for special allowance then the impact would be Rs8.72 million.

The All Pakistan Audit and Accounts Combined Association also held a meeting with secretary finance with regard to their proposals. Officials said that the secretary finance assured them that their salaries would be increased in the next budget as Finance Division has established a committee on the instructions of Prime Minister Imran Khan to end the discriminatory salary behaviour among the federal government departments.

On Thursday, Accountant General Sardar Azmat Shafi had written a letter to the federal finance secretary to forward the demands of the protesting employees.

According to the letter, AGPR employees throughout the country had not received, processed or paid

any claims/bills for the last four days, blocking the payment functions of the federal government and posing a threat to the complete shutdown of government functioning.

The strike is not only limited to the main Islamabad office but also at the sub offices in different provinces.

Meanwhile, the Finance Division had said that on the instructions of Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, separate meetings of secretary finance, as well as special secretary finance, were held with the protesting employees to better understand their perspective and issues. The statement had said that the government understood and acknowledged the difficulties and economic constraints faced by the federal government employees and in view of their concerns which were raised in the meetings, a proposal for a suitable raise in their salaries would be prepared by factoring in the overall economic situation, and available fiscal space and incorporated in the upcoming federal budget 2020-21.

It is pertinent to mention here that the employees of the Federal Secretariat are also on strike for the last few days and on Friday, they had also staged a protest against the government in front of Parliament House.

Pakistan calls for regional mechanism to curb coronavirus spread CoNtiNuED form PagE 01 He informed the participants that the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has been mandated and command and control centres have been established at the federal and provincial levels for effective coordination and surveillance at all levels.

Dr Mirza said that COVID-19 has been characterised as a global pandemic, but at the same time it is deemed controllable, provided timely and appropriate public health measures are put in place.

He said that Pakistan has been involved in the containment efforts right from the outset of the outbreak.

He added that the authorities have been alert to the dangers and have put in place appropriate public health measures and developed required protocols and guidelines for the safety of citizens.

He further urged the member countries to follow guidelines set by the WHO and also learn from the experience of SAARC observer states, “particularly China, which has effectively addressed the COVID-19 challenge, despite being [the country] from where it originated”.

Dr Mirza called attention to the importance of “effective coordination at all levels” in the present situation and warned against “stignatisation and stereotyping”, terming them “counter-productive”.

“The pandemic forces us to think not in terms of nations and states, but as a collective,” he told the heads of the member states. “The unprecedented challenge, therefore, warrants unprecedented responses. We must recognise that national and local responses remain the most critically important. It is equally important to pursue evidence and science-based responses.

Stigmatisation and stereotyping are counter-produc-

tive,” he added. He further said that the challenge at hand, demands sagacity, vision, and synergy.

Dr Mirza proposed that the SAARC secretariat is the best place to coordinate at the regional level, which should be mandated with establishing a working group of national authorities for health information and data exchange as well as coordination for global responses in real-time. He also reiterated Pakistan’s earlier proposal of hosting the SAARC health ministers’ conference at an appropriate time. He added that the regional countries should reach out to specialised development partners, including WHO for mobilisation of technical advice and resources.

Winding up the debate, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi proposed creating a voluntary COVID19 emergency fund in which India would contribute $10 million as well as training of the ‘medical response team’ for SAARC countries.

“Any of us can use the fund to meet the cost of immediate actions,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi told regional leaders, adding that India would also offer rapid response teams and other experts to deal with the crisis.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Bangladesh Prime Minister Hasina Wajid, Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih, Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Nepalese Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, and Bhutan Prime Minister Lotay Tshering also shared their views through video conference and called upon collaborated and joint efforts to overcome the pandemic.

The proposal for a video moot was put forward by the Indian premier on Friday who, through a tweet, called for a strong strategy to fight the pandemic. The tweet, however, came a day after Pakistan had said that it was ready to cooperate and extend any assistance to its neighbors including India to deal with the virus.

Coronavirus reaches Punjab, overall cases jump to 53 CoNtiNuED from PagE 01 On Friday, the federal government had decided to adopt a number of precautionary measures to contain the spread of novel coronavirus, including sealing the country’s western border with Iran and Afghanistan and cancelling the Pakistan Day parade scheduled for March 23.

The National Security Committee (NSC) meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan, was attended by the provincial chief ministers and the civilian and military leadership. The huddle had decided that all educational institutions in the country will be closed till April 5, while Pakistan’s border entry points with Afghanistan and Iran will be closed for two weeks.

According to an order issued by the NSC, the border closure would come into effect on Mar 16 “in the best interest of all three brotherly countries”.

It was decided during the meeting that only three airports in the country — Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore — will be allowed to operate international flights

in limited numbers, while other airports will only allow domestic flights.

CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK: Globally, the coronavirus has infected 156,00 people. Around 75,000 have so far recovered whereas over 5,800 people succumbed to illness. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has announced that Europe has become the pandemic’s current epicenter after reporting more cases and deaths than the rest of the world combined, apart from China where the coronavirus originated last December.

Health officials have urged the people to adopt a number of protective measures such as regularly and thoroughly clean their hands with an alcohol-based hand rub or wash them with soap and water. People have also been advised to maintain at least 1 metre (3 feet) distance between themselves and anyone who is coughing or sneezing. Other protective measures include avoiding touching eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.

CMYK

Lahore-based B2B marketplace gets Y Combinator’s backing NEWS DESK Tajir, a Lahore-based B2B marketplace for mom and pop stores, has finally made it to Y Combinatorto capture local market. It is part of Y Combinator’s ongoing (W20) batch and will graduate from the accelerator on Monday after the demo day. The Pakistani startup has received $150,000 investment from Y Combinator as part of the programme. Founded in 2018 by a brother duo, Babar Khan and Ismail Khan,Tajir makes it easy for the mom and pop store owners in the country to procure inventory for their stores through its marketplace. The startup currently sells FMCG products including soft drinks, biscuits, shampoo, and food staples like rice and wheat. These stores (locally known as kiryana stores) are generally run by a single person who normally buys a large part of their inventory from multiple sources at the wholesale market by spending hours there. It means that whenever they do this, the store remains closed. Tajir solves this and a few other very big problems for these stores by letting them buy through an Urdu-only mobile app that has over 1,000 SKUs with transparent pricing. The startup offers nextday delivery with its own fulfillment service Tajir Express. It also has a third-party marketplace where the sellers handle fulfillment themselves. It claims to have over 15,000 stores currently using its services in the central Punjab (mainly Lahore). It is the only region where Tajir is available right now. For the sellers (which include large FMCG companies and more), it makes it easy to sell to a large number of stores and also handle fulfillment if they choose to use Tajir Express. To put in simple words, they’re trying to bring order to this sector that is informal and fragmented. There are hundreds of thousands of these stores in Pakistan but all of them suffer from similar issues and sellers have always found it difficult to supply to stores. The Khan brothers, who grew up in Lahore but studied and worked abroad, have known these issues from their young age as their father ran an FMCG retail business in Pakistan for 30 years, but decided to take them on less than two years ago.Babar Khan, the co-founder of Tajir, speaking to a news outlet, said, “We’re building the infrastructure for commerce in Pakistan, which means Tajir should facilitate any store to increase their income.

Monday, 16 March, 2020

WHO PraiSeS PaKiStan’S 'timely' reSPOnSe tO tacKle cOrOnaviruS COUNTRY HEAD SAYS PAKISTAN HAS COME UP WITH ONE OF WORLD’S BEST ‘NATIONAL RESPONSE PROGRAMS’ AGAINST COVID-19 PANDEMIC KARACHI

t

STAFF REPORT

ERMIng Pakistan’s measures against novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak as “timely” and the “best national response”, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has urged the government to continue to keep a vigilant eye on new cases and expand testing facilities to various public sector hospitals.

Country Head of the WHO Dr Palitha gunarathna Mahipala, while talking to media in Karachi during his visit to various hospitals and testing labs, said: “At a time when other countries were reporting cases, Pakistan was keeping the virus at bay, which is something quite praiseworthy.”

Mahipala said people should regularly wash their hands with soap and water at least for 20 seconds and use sanitisers when they can’t wash their hands. He also said that adopting coughing etiquette was also very important as it would prevent spreading

the virus to others. The WHO official was in the city to assess the provincial government’s response to the virus and to inspect isolation units set up in various hospitals.

During his visit to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre (JPMC), he met the Executive Director Dr Seemin Jamali and expressed satisfaction over steps taken by the health institute for providing health care to the suspected patients. He called for more testing facilities in the public sector in case the number of patients increased.

Pakistan has come up with the one of world’s best “national response programs” against Covid-19 pandemic, he said and urged the people to follow the precautionary and preventive measures to avoid contracting the virus, which is extremely contagious but not as lethal as some other members of the coronavirus family. The government gave a timely response to the virus, he said and observed the standard operating procedures (SOPs) are being implemented very effectively.

Authorities are doing their job and

Police arrest 2 shopkeepers in Karachi for selling overpriced sanitisers KARACHI: At least two shopkeepers were arrested in Karachi on Sunday for selling overpriced hand sanitisers, thus violating Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

Hand sanitisers are high in demand as health experts have advised people to ensure hand hygiene to prevent the novel coronavirus. The Sindh government had earlier this week imposed Section 144 (power to issue order absolute at once in urgent cases of nuisance or apprehended danger) against over-pricing.

Boat Basin police had raided a pharmacy in Dolmen Mall, Clifton, and arrested the shopkeeper, who was allegedly selling sanitisers at more than four times the original market price.

According to the first information report (FIR), sanitisers that originally cost Rs120 were being sold for Rs500 at the pharmacy in Dolmen Mall, Clifton. The FIR was registered under Article 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Pakistan Penal Code. Action has not yet been taken against the owner of the store. Another raid was carried out in DHA Phase VI by Darakhshan police and the shopkeeper was arrested for the same reason. According to the FIR, police were tipped off about the alleged malpractice by an "informer". Currently, about 35 positive cases of COVID-19 have been detected in Sindh, out of which 18 emerged on Sunday. In Pakistan, the number of people who tested positive for the virus is 53. STAFF REPORT

now it is the responsibility of the people to follow the instructions to avoid contracting the viral disease, Dr Mahipala said. During his visit to the Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) Ojha Campus, he inspected the diagnostic lab of the health facility as well as their isolation facility, and termed them “worldclass diagnostic and treatment facility”.

Dr Mahipala also met Sindh Health Minister Azra Pechuho and inquired about the status of diagnostic kits and personal protective equipment (PPE) and offered WHO’s support in the provision of diagnostic kits for testing suspected Covid-19 patients in Sindh.

Later talking to media, Dr Mahipala said the federal and provincial governments had arranged around 2,000 isolation beds in the country to

keep the suspected patients of Covid19 while extraordinary screening arrangements had been made at the points of entry by the authorities, which were quite helpful to keep the virus away from the country to a large extent.

“At the moment, Pakistan has seven diagnostic labs which are capable of conducting 15,000 tests, but there is a need for more diagnostic facilities in case the number of suspected patients go up,” he said and added that authorities had even established a mobile diagnostic facility that had been dispatched to Taftan to test and diagnose suspected people coming from Iran.

Highlighting the severity of the pandemic, he said even countries with well-advanced health systems like South Korea and Italy had failed to contain the disease. He added that Pakistani authorities timely responded to the threat and took measures which resulted in keeping the virus at bay for a longer time when other counties were reporting its cases. Pakistan has, so far, reported 34 confirmed cases of coronavirus with no casualty. The federal government in collaboration with the provinces, following a meeting of the national Security Committee (nSC) on Friday, has put in place rigorous measures, including a thorough ban on all kinds of public gatherings, to contain the spread of the virus.

Pakistani-American economist offers solution to deal with coronavirus NEWS DESK A Pakistani American economist and Harvard Kennedy School professor wrote a thread on Twitter where he offered tips and solutions on how to deal with the outbreak of the novel coronavirus and how social distancing, at various stages, will help to lessen the economic impact of the infection.

Asim Ijaz Khwaja, Professor of International Finance and Development at Harvard Kennedy School, and director of Center for International Development at Harvard University, posted a 20-tweet long thread on Twitter in which he spoke about the economic impact of the coronavirus, urging people not to panic but to be cautious.

"While we are in a tough situation, using data and some basic reasoning (modeling) can allow us to make fairly informed responses that can save lives," he wrote.

Khwaja clarified in a subsequent tweet

that he wasn't an epidemiologist nor a public health expert but an economist and someone who was trying to make sense of the impact that the virus was having on the world's population. He spoke about dealing with the virus on three levels of it spreading; level 1 (Start), level 2 (Moderate) and level 3 (large fraction of the population gets affected).

In a series of tweets, he urged people not to panic but to remain cautious of the virus. Khwaja said that when the virus starts spreading, governments must carry out aggressive testing, free of cost, and isolate those who test positive and people they come into contact with. Regarding the next level of the pandemic spreading, Khwaja talks about physical distancing.

How people should not shake hands or come into close contact with each other.

Schools and classes should be moved online and large groups should avoid interacting with each other.

Alvi going to China on two-day visit ISLAMABAD APP

President Dr Arif Alvi will leave for China on Monday (today) on a two-day visit on the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping. A delegation, including Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar and senior officials, will

accompany the president on the visit.

A number of MoUs are expected to be signed between the two countries during the Pakistani delegation’s visit.

This will be Alvi’s first visit to China, which is aimed at conveying strong support of Pakistan to the government and the people of China while Beijing was resolutely engaged in efforts to contain and deal with the spread of Covid-19.

O/A Levels exams not affected by school closure in Pakistan NEWS DESK The schedule for the O and A Level examinations will not be changed despite the global health emergency caused by novel coronavirus pandemic forcing the government to close all educational institutions across Pakistan till April 5.

Cambridge Assessment International Education’s Country Director Uzma Yousuf confirmed on Saturday.

“We are aware of government announcements in Pakistan about school closures. We are talking to relevant government authorities to understand the situation and implications for students sitting exams,” Yousuf said.

“Cambridge exams work on an international timetable which takes 18 months to put together, so we are unable to change it,” she added. She went on to say that they are

working on ways to “support students who cannot take some of all of their exams”.

Schools across the country have temporarily been closed owing to the rising number of coronavirus cases in the country.

The federal government announced a closure till April 5 while Sindh says its schools must be closed till May 31. The decision comes in the wake of 31 coronavirus cases being reported across Pakistan.

NEWS

03

Over 30,000 people fail to meet Saudi deadline for return NEWS DESK More than 30,000 Pakistanis have failed to meet the 72-hour deadline set by Saudi Arabia for its citizens and Iqama holders to return as part of preventive measures to stop the spread of novel coronavirus. According to reports, 45,000 passengers were flown to Saudi Arabia in around 150 flights operated by international and domestic airlines. The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) operated 22 return flights between Pakistan and the kingdom – half of which were special flights. According to PIA Spokesperson the flights landed at Jeddah, Madinah, Riyadh and Damam. The PIA flew 12,000 passengers out of which 6,000 were Iqama holders. Saudi Arabia has temporarily suspended travel of citizens and residents and halted flights with several states, including Pakistan, which also caused passengers to face delay. Aviation authorities of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, including national and private airlines management, requested the Saudi officials to allow more time as they were unable to handle the large number of passengers in the given deadline.

Accepting the request, the kingdom has given till March 18 to repatriate Umrah pilgrims from Jeddah and Madina. Saudi Arabia reported 17 new cases on Saturday bringing its total to 103. Saudi Arabia has already suspended the Umrah pilgrimage and locked down its eastern Qatif region where many infections are located. On Saturday, it also closed popular family entertainment zones located inside many shopping malls. Health ministry spokesperson Mohammed Abdelali urged the population of 30 million to avoid gathering in public, minimize movements and stay at home as much as possible. “(Such) measures slow the growth of cases so that we can control it, while the countries that take delayed measures experience fast growth which the health systems cannot deal with,” he told reporters.

04 ISLAMABAD

Monday, 16 March, 2020

WEATHER UPDATES MONDAY

250C 130C

TUESDAY

260C 100C

WEDNESDAY

270C 110C

PRAyER TimingS FAJR SUNRISE

ZUHR

ASR MAGHRIB ISHA

5:01

12:18

3:39

6:20

6:16

MiniSter, SAPM overSee PrecAutionAry MeASureS At iSlAMAbAd AirPort ISLAMABAD

M

APP

InISTeR for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on Overseas Pakistanis and Human Resource Development Zulfi Bukhari on Sunday visited the Islamabad International Airport.

They reviewed the measures taken to manage the extra load of flights due to international flight operations limited to Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi, as per the national strategy devised to effectively tackle the Coronavirus (COVID-19) threat, a press release said.

Sarwar and Bukhari were briefed about

the preventive steps taken by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) after reports of the coronavirus cases in Pakistan. Sarwar inspected the arrangements in that regard and talked to the health staff deputed there for the screening of inbound passengers from international and domestic flights. He also checked whether the passengers from international flights had filled health declaration forms or not, besides inspecting the education desk and the isolation rooms set up at the airport. He reiterated the Aviation Division’s commitment to ensure the provision of better facilities to passengers at airports across the country.

As per the updates from Saudi Arabia, all international flight operations were scheduled to stop at 1100 hours (KSA standard time) on Sunday. The flight operations would remain

suspended for two weeks.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Overseas Pakistanis said that it provided a meal to the passengers, who spent hours at the airport to take flights for Saudi Arabia so that they could be able to report at their respective workplaces within the deadline given by the Kingdom. On directives of the Prime Minister Imran, Bukhari not only visited the airport but also interacted with the passengers waiting for their flights, it said, adding the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) would operate six additional flights to bring Pakistanis from Saudi Arabia, who went there to perform umrah.

The overseas Pakistanis foundation has set up a special counter at the IIAP for facilitation the air passengers.

Patient discharged from PIMS after testing negative for coronavirus ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

A woman, admitted in Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) due to coronavirus symptoms, was discharged from the hospital after being tested negative on Sunday.

Sources said the woman was tested twice for the coronavirus in a week and was allowed to go to her home after being confirmed that she is safe from the deadly virus. It was learnt that the woman was shifted to PIMS from Rawalpindi on February 28. The woman had to spend a week in quarantine at her home, as a precautionary measure. Two more persons had been tested positive for novel coronavirus (COVID-19), had authorities confirmed yesterday. As per details, the first was reported from Islamabad, while the second case detected in Sindh.

According to the PIMS officials, a 30-year-old

woman had been tested positive for coronavirus on Saturday. The patient from the capital had travelled from the US to Pakistan a few days ago.

Meanwhile, the second coronavirus case was reported in Karachi. According to the Sindh Health Department, the patient arrived from Saudi Arab a few days back and was tested positive. The number of novel coronavirus cases globally stood at 156,533, with 5,835 deaths, across 135 countries and territories by Saturday.

Kumrat Snow Festival called off over coronavirus fears DIR UPPER APP

The two-day Snow Sports and Culture Festival at scenic Kumrat valley called off due to Corona-virus and in light of the decision made by provincial cabinet, DC Dir Upper Khalid Iqbal Khattak said Sunday. Talking to media during his visit to Tourist Center setup by Tourism Corporation, KP in the main Dir bazaar, a gate way to Kumrat valley, Khalid Iqbal said that they have taken the decision for the larger interest of the people albeit hundreds of spectators reached Kumrat valley. He said this year the district administration with the strong support of TCKP had made all arrangement for the smooth sailing but for the prevention and protection of the people it was decided to call-off all festival including Kumrat for this year. When contacted District Sports Officer Mukhtiar Hussain informed that hundreds of spectators alongside 180 players short-listed for the various snow games had reached to Kumrat valley to participate in the games snow wrestling, snow art, horse racing, snow racing, snow culture lighting, snow ball fighting, culture dancing, culture fashion show, motor racing, snowboarding, horseback riding, showcasing locally made handicrafts, horse and cattle show and other colourful events including football, cricket, volleyball.

Public places closed in Peshawar to prevent spread of coronavirus PESHAWAR APP

An extraordinary situation developed in the provincial capital on Saturday as the public gathering places including wedding halls were closed down to prevent spread of corona-virus.

Those scheduled to celebrate weddings were left in a quandary after the sudden order to shutdown the wedding halls.

“The district administration of Peshawar and other districts on Saturday, last, started action on the directives of the provincial government, closing down over 90 hostels, educational institutions, cinemas, public places and wedding halls,” Secretary of the Rehabilitation, Relief and Settlement Department Abid Majeed said.

As many as 26 hostels across Peshawar as well as 32 educational institutions that had not announced vacations despite directives by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government were closed on Saturday, last. Tens of thousands of students were seen waiting at bus and coaches stands as they tried to find seats in passenger vehicles for their hometowns after announcement of vacations to stop the spread of the virus.

7:34

Monday, 16 March, 2020

NEWS CITY NOTES M A NIAZI

i

suppose we are lucky, and do not have any teams quarantined, just playing in front of empty stadia.

That decision probably best told us that the coronavirus is here. But it also told us who really controls cricket: TV. Why do they not cancel the matches?

If they did, what would they put on TV. And remember, the decision to have a PSL was not taken until it was sure that some TV channel would buy the telecast rights. That is why sport after sport is postponing, not cancelling, even though sportsmen are as liable to panic as the best of us. Of course, not everyone has been as exposed as the Arsenal football team, which all went into self-quarantine after meeting a Greek club owner who later tested positive for the virus. Basketball and golf are among the sports affected.

You see, you do not want crowds gathering where the virus could spread from person to person.

That’s why they are shutting down schools. And not just that, not only have the schools been closed till April 6, but the O Levels to have been held in May, have been postponed to November. All that effort to synchronise the O Levels with college admissions have gone down the drain, it seems. Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) has been

EmPty stadia and EmPtiEr schools shut down, because some kid returned from a coronavirus destination, and didn’t want to miss classes just because of a fever and cough. Meanwhile, there have been serious developments, like Mr and Mrs Hanks testing positive in Australia, where Tom had gone to film a movie about Elvis Presley.

Boy, that film’s set must be in a tizzy.

Justin Trudeau’s wife has tested positive, so he is going to go into self-imposed quarantine for 15 days. US President Donald Trump is also going to be tested after an aide got the disease.

A British junior health minister also tested positive the other day, after the Iranian deputy health minister went down with the disease, gamely telecasting health tips from his sickbed. Our Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health, Dr Zafar Mirza has been exposed, but as junior minister seem to get the dread disease, all eyes should be on the parliamentary secretary for health services, Dr Nausheen Afzal.

I see there is a dispute developing between the United States and China about what caused the coronavirus spread. The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman says that maybe US soldiers caused the disease. The best solution is to have the famous epidemiologist and diagnostician Dr Imran Khan decide. Surely the man who

can decide, from a photo of the back of Nawaz Sharif’s head, that Nawaz is well, should be able to decide who started the epidemic. I am sure he will blame it on Nawaz. If not him, then Shahbaz.

Both are conveniently in the UK with doctors, and with access to well-equipped hospital labs. It was around the same time that Dr Adnan Khan was beaten up on a walk in the UK. I know you are not supposed to blame people for treating corrupt elements, but surely someone who helped Nawaz spread the coronavirus deserves what he got? And he should not hang around with corrupt elements. If Nawaz not only was boycotted by doctors, but also by lawyers, where would he be?

Meanwhile, my younger son is trying to fight the coronavirus by gargling. He forgot to put any salt in the warm water, but he deserves an A for effort. Especially since he makes it a point to cough over his siblings. Not only is he home from school, but he has not got the Republic Day parade to look forward to. It is a pity they did not cancel the parade a little earlier.

We lost an F-16 and the wing commander piloting it during the rehearsals.

If someone had realised before the crash that people from Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) could be at the parade coughing their guts out, maybe it would not have happened.

Punjab CM lauds arrangements against coronavirus LAHORE INP

Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar on Sunday paid a surprise visit to Corona Care Center set by his government at Pakistan Kidney and Liver Transplant Institute (PKLI) and inspected advance arrangements being made for the treatment of patients at Corona Care Center and also reviewed availability of beds over there.

Talking on the occasion, Usman Buzdar said that the Punjab government has undertaken all necessary measures for the treatment of corona patients and setting up 30-bedded Corona Care Center at PKLI is a

major link to the advance arrangements being made for the treatment of coronavirus patients.

He observed best arrangements being made for outdoor and indoor patients at Corona Care Center while three floors have also been allocated for the possible corona patients at PKLI. The total number of beds at three floors of PKLI is seventy five, he added.

The chief minister said that in case of any emergency or need there is also scope of five hundred additional beds to be arranged at PKLI. Adopting preventive measures in order to save people from coronavirus is an ample proof of an advance excellent planning being made, he lauded.

No one has looked at the positives.

Like there was no need to sentence Harvey Weinstein to 23 years of imprisonment for rape. You could have just put him in a roomful of coronavirus victims.

The only way he could avoid getting sick would be to hold his breath until he died.

But that wouldn’t have happened. You cannot hold your breath till you die. Because the lack of oxygen will make you faint. And then you’ll start breathing.

But apart from everything, Ali Zafar has protested the sentence. He feels Weinstein should be given a medal, not coronavirus. For the sort of self-sacrifice that went into the founding of the #MeToo movement as he himself has shown in the Meesha Shafi civil suit.

At home, we are seeing the advantages of having a doctor like Imran heading the government, such as the medical emergency declared by Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, even though he is not a medical man himself.

If he had been, he would not have allowed a forward bloc to form in the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

That was an unsafe meeting he had, with the MPAs forming the forward bloc.

Especially considering that politicians spout so much hot air. And hot air is the ideal environment for the virus.

05

Punjab governor urges citizens to adopt safety measures against coronavirus LAHORE APP

Punjab Governor Chaudhry Muhammad Sarwar said on Sunday that coronavirus could be defeated only through precautionary/safety measures for which every single person of the society would have to play his/her role. Talking to the media here, he called for getting prepared to eliminate coronavirus with such determination as being fight with the country’s enemies.

Coronavirus was jeopardizing economies of even developed countries and had become the biggest challenge for the world, while Europe was locked down completely. He mentioned that Prime Minister Imran Khan was monitoring all anti-corona measures and also issuing necessary directives and ensuring release of funds to health and other relevant departments on daily basis. Governor Sarwar said coronavirus had not become a danger for the government or an institution only but for the 220 million people of Pakistan, however, there was no need to get panic over it but adopt precautionary measures only and there should be no laxity in this regard.

Monday, 16 March, 2020

06 WORLD VIEW

In the coronavIrus crIsIs, our leaders are faIlIng us

guardian

I

GordoN BrowN

T need not be this way but one of the most disastrous weeks in the history of global medicine and global economics has ended with country after country retreating into their national silos. They are fighting their own individual battles against coronavirus and in their own way.

Each country has, of course, its own distinctive health systems that it relies on, rightly values its own medical experts and the disease is at a different stage in each. But why is there, as yet, no internationally coordinated medical project – equivalent to the wartime Manhattan Project – mobilising all available global resources to discover a coronavirus vaccine and to fast-track a cure?

Why, as the disease engulfs more than 100 countries, has there been no consistent, coordinated global approach not just to tracking, testing and travel but to openly learning from each other about the relative merits of quarantine and social distancing? And why, when a world recession now threatens, is there not yet an attempt at a combined effort on the part of governments and central banks to deliver a global economic response?

Instead, ours is a divided, leaderless world and we are all suffering from the tendency to go it alone: an initial coverup in Wuhan; China’s delayed reporting to the international community; the World Health Organization (WHO) meekly agreeing that the crisis was “moderate”; and even when on 30 January it apologised and declared an international emergency, still the world continued to receive confused travel advice. It used to be said of the Bourbons that they would never learn by their mistakes. Centuries on, national leaders still seem unable to apply or even absorb the hard-earned lesson that crises teach us, from the Sars epidemic and Ebola epidemic to the financial meltdown: that global problems need global, not just local and national, responses.

In my first days as prime minister in 2007, the Labour

government had to grapple, in quick succession, with an international terrorist incident, floods, a foot and mouth outbreak, avian flu and the first banking crash of the global financial crisis. “There are decades when nothing happens,” Lenin wrote, “And there are weeks when decades happen.”

This succession of challenges taught me that governments will rapidly lose control of events unless they immediately pull out all the stops to get to the root of the problem, and then move with decisive and overwhelming force and resolve. In October 2008, within days of the Lehman Brothers collapse, bankrupt banks, which had been running capitalism without capital, were nationalised and recapitalised. The lesson for today is as stark: you can cut interest rates and payroll taxes and focus your energies on dealing with the after-effects. But you will not succeed unless you can also build confidence that you have a clear-cut medical response to what is a global health emergency.

But the global financial crisis also taught me that while you need the analysis and advice of expert organisations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and now the WHO, you also need political leaders in every continent with the courage not just to lead but to work together. And the best way to do so is in a global forum – in 2008, this was the G20 leaders’ group – within which decisions can be agreed.

These decisions will then carry authority and legitimacy.

But what depth of dialogue has there been today between the main global players – Presidents Xi, Trump, Moon of South Korea, and Prime Minister Conte of Italy – to benefit from each other’s insights on travel restrictions, lockdowns and social distancing? Take testing: while the UK is way ahead of Trump’s America, Britain had, up to 10 March, tested at less than half the rate of Italy and a just over a 10th the rate of South Korea. Slow to test patients who had not been in China, Italy or South Korea, perhaps we had something to learn from China’s decision to test even the most marginal cases? And the delays in testing sum up why fears are still growing for our safety: despite the brilliance of Britain’s medics, the government still seems behind the coronavirus curve.

Of course, the very idea of global collaboration – and

Why closing schools due to the Coronavirus pandemic may not be feasible

BloomBerg aNdrEaS KLuth

Suddenly, every country in the world has to decide whether or not to close schools to slow the Covid-19 pandemic. France will, as of Monday; the U.K. won’t, and so on. Within federal systems like the U.S. and Germany, states or school districts have to make the decision. In Germany, tiny Saarland is shuttering its schools, while other states are holding off. Who’s right and who’s wrong?

The short answer is: It’s complicated. In some cases, it does make sense to close schools. But in the absence of a runaway outbreak, as in northern Italy, there is also a case against closing kindergartens and schools for young children.

There’s certainly no disagreement that the pandemic, which no country can hope to avoid or lock out (that’s what “pandemic” means), must be slowed as much as possible. Even if, theoretically, 100% of the population is destined to become infected eventually, it helps to spread out the caseload.

A spike can overwhelm hospitals. This can put doctors with scarce resources in a position of having to triage whom to try to save. With a slow progression, by contrast, more of those with severe symptoms can hope for decent treatment, and lives will be saved.

Nor is there disagreement that the best way to slow the spread of the virus, besides obvious measures like more hand-washing, is to reduce and even eliminate social mixing. No matter the economic cost, no matter the damper on conviviality, many events — from trade fairs to birthday parties and soccer matches, and probably even the Olympics — should be called off. Where possible, people should, for the time being, eat in and work from home.

But schools are different, in several ways. First, the coronavirus, for reasons we don’t yet understand, seems not to make children very sick. So the young are not the primary population needing to be protected for their own sake. But the spread among the young can accelerate the epidemiological math of the overall outbreak. At some point — and this is the logic of the British coronavirus strategy — a majority of children will have been exposed, knowingly or not, and will have built up antibodies to it. And at that point, a so-called herd immunity prevents the virus from spreading further.

An even bigger difference is the knock-on effects from closing schools versus cancelling adult events. If a trade fair is called off, it just doesn’t happen, and the affected adults can self-quarantine at home, unsupervised.

If a school or kindergarten is shuttered, the kids don’t miraculously vanish. They must be cared for elsewhere.

But where exactly and by whom?

In most cases, at home and by parents, of course. That’s inconvenient but feasible for families with two spouses, where a breadwinner goes to work and the other stays home. Or for those with white-collar jobs that can be done from home on a laptop with good WiFi, provided the kids let it happen.

Not all families are so lucky.

What about single parents, the selfemployed or those in the gig econ-

omy, or anybody in the blue-collar or manufacturing sector? And what about the many parents who are doctors or nurses? Their absence from work could trigger the very breakdown of the medical system policy makers were trying to prevent. It’s important to ask if that’s a risk worth taking for the sake of keeping some children from being infected.

With these scenarios in mind, there’s already talk in some places of exceptions for some children. But administering partial school closures could quickly become a nightmare, and in any case would be self-defeating.

Worse, a different sort of arrangement may instead prevail, the oldest one known to humankind. In a struggling family, mom might still go to work to make ends meet, while grandma and grandpa look after the kids at home. At this point a policy meant to slow an epidemic and prevent systemic breakdown would contribute to causing exactly that. For it’s the grandparents who are most at risk, who end up in intensive care and hospital beds.

A better way to determine when and where to close schools would be to expand testing — in schools and everywhere — to observe and track the virus. By all means, when there’s a spike in a particular school, or town or region, shut the schools down.

But in the meantime why not help all the other schools to do better what they’re already good at? This is looking after, and teaching, kids. Let’s use the stimulus packages being announced to invest in schools and their teachers. Let’s also buy them medical kit and give them new staff trained to prevent contagion. And let’s also enlist the wee ones in a heroic hygiene mission they’ll still be bragging about to their grandchildren. Above all, let’s keep them away from their grandparents. For that — separation — is ironically the way to show solidarity in this pandemic.

the convening of what would be a “virtual” G20 – sits uneasily with the “America first”, “China first”, “India first” and “Russia first” populist nationalism that has been subdividing our world. Since the high point of cooperation in 2009, nationalists have been in the ascendant – building walls, closing borders, clamping down on immigrants and imposing tariffs. And what was first a protectionist nationalism has morphed into an aggressive us-versus-them unilateralism. Our willingness to cooperate is becoming inversely related to our need to do so, and this insularity means we are fighting today’s pandemic with under-resourced international institutions, not least a WHO to which ever more responsibilities have been added without the financial means to discharge them. In fact, despite a number of laudable post-Ebola initiatives – including the new vaccine fund (Cepi) – we are $9bn short of the funding needed for medical R&D and contingency planning. Sadly, leaders either panic, as now – or, until disaster hits, follow the course of least resistance: inattention and neglect.

What’s more, this us-versus-them nationalism has spawned a blame culture, with under-pressure governments holding everyone but themselves responsible for anything that goes wrong. And yet an ideology of “everyone for himself” will not work when the health of each of us depends so unavoidably on the health of all of us.

In the financial crisis, governments did come together – with globally coordinated interest rate cuts, fiscal stimuli, currency swaps and anti-protectionist deals. A decade on, rising nationalism will likely block central bank cooperation and an early easing of trade restrictions. Today, also, interest rates are currently so low that there is far less scope for monetary activism. The world’s central banks – for the last 10 years just about the only game in town – are increasingly exposed as emperors with few clothes.

I believe a concerted global, governmental response is still possible. Each country should commit to removing blockages in supply chains; be ready to ease tariffs (and certainly not add to them, as rushing at the Brexit deadline might do); extend credit, as the UK has rightly announced to businesses, including a moratorium on tax payments; and

AS I LEARNED IN THE 2008 CRASH, A GLOBAL PROBLEM REQUIRES GOVERNMENTS TO WORK TOGETHER. TODAY’S POPULIST NATIONALISM PUTS US ALL AT RISK guarantee upfront financial support for workers sent home or on short time. And where countries cannot afford to do so, the IMF and World Bank should be asked, as in 2009, to step up. But the economic shock we face today – a ruptured international supply chain and, soon, millions able to work only from home – demands innovative thinking that is more in tune with our digital age. An industrial policy, backed up by fiscal firepower, could accelerate the workplace revolution that is already under way: from making business decisions via teleconferencing to the provision of online education, health and other services. Thus allowing millions to continue to work, study, organise their lives and make a living from home.

Yet no individual initiative will substitute for a collective declaration that, working together, the world’s governments will do whatever it takes. Coronavirus will not be the last, nor the worst, pandemic. But if the Manhattan Project could bring people together in the 1940s to create the most lethal weapon in human history, surely we can come together, in the 21st century, to save both lives and the livelihood of millions. We may not be able to repeat Roosevelt’s New Dealera promise that there is nothing to fear but fear itself, but confidence in the future can be regained only by bold international actions that build confidence today.

Gordon Brown was UK prime minister from 2007 to 2010.

As communal riots exploded in Delhi, elected representatives were missing on the ground when residents needed them most

Times of india Sidharth Luthra

Delhi has 70 MLAs, seven Lok Sabha members and three Rajya Sabha members. Each one of them is required to swear allegiance to the Constitution in their oath of office. They undertake to uphold the integrity and sovereignty of India. When those elected functionaries question the integrity of this country by pitching community against community, religion against religion and spreading fear and mistrust amongst residents of Delhi with their divisive and inflammatory words – is it not a breach of the oath they took?

In the past few weeks, Delhi was disturbed initially with deadly riots in parts. Thereafter there has been a spate of rumour mongering leading to heightened tensions and fear of renewed violence.

People in the grossly affected parts of Delhi are living in camps or have left their homes in fear or locked themselves in (wherever possible) apprehending fresh violence.

In the initial incidents in north-east Delhi, the administration’s response was abysmal. But what is more disturbing to me as a voter is that of our 80 elected representatives – and we cannot forget the elected municipal councillors and others – none have been diligently discharging the role of being people’s representatives.

Though their job it is to be the voice of those they represent, yet they were conspicuously silent in this time of crisis, rather than speaking up for the rights of the affected victims, irrespective of community or religion. Random tweets and messages on social media

apart, our elected representatives were missing on the ground when the residents of Delhi needed them most.

What is disturbing is that irrespective of political party or affiliation, the action on the ground to secure Delhi’s residents has been seen at the level of residents themselves or citizen volunteers from other parts of Delhi – who in an age-old tradition of living together reached out to each other to protect their neighbours and friends, unmindful of religious divide. It was a reminder to those of us who lived through the 1984 riots and spent nights patrolling the entry points to our colonies and mohallas, of what happens when disaster strikes our beloved capital.

When the incidents of violence, injuries and even death and arson took place it was the self-restraint exercised by those individuals, more than feeble and belated police action, that preserved the remaining feeling of community and harmony that is today severely under challenge.

Our MLAs and MPs have constitutionally defined powers, privileges and protection. They are chosen for a five-year term during which they are entitled to houses, benefits, salary and allowances. They have access to development funds in large amounts for use of the benefit of the residents of their constituencies. For these 80 men and women, ‘public service’ should mean service for and of the electorate.

But when they are not available on the ground in affected and even other areas in times of crisis, then they cannot claim to have discharged the duty vested in them every five years by a hopeful electorate.

The voter seeks from his MLA or MP not just representation and hopefully access to legislative and administrative processes, but also that these representatives, through direct interaction with constituents, understand their needs and concerns and be the source of greater information – both qualitative and quantitative – about their constituencies.

The voter alone can judge (every five years) the keeping or failure of promise. In the absence of a legal mechanism for enforcement and a recognition of the solemn responsibility that is imposed on the elected representatives under the Constitution and the oath they take to abide by the Constitution, it is time to look at making a breach or failure to honour the oath each MLA and MP or minister takes under the Third Schedule subject to sanctions. And this breach occurs both when they question the integrity of this country, and fail to speak up against those of their ilk who have done so.

Monday, 16 March, 2020

FOREIGN NEWS 07

IraN CoroNavIrus fIght 'severely haMpered' by us saNCtIoNs, says rouhaNI TEHRAN

I

AGENCIES

ranian President Hassan rouhani said iran’s fight against the coronavirus was being “severely hampered” by US sanctions. iran is battling one of the worst outbreaks outside China, with nearly 13,000 confirmed cases and more than 600 fatalities.

The real number of infections could be even higher, as questions have been raised about the government’s transparency.

State media said rouhani wrote to a number of world leaders, without naming them. “in (a) letter to counterparts @Hassanrouhani informs how efforts to fight #COViD19 pandemic in iran have been severely hampered by US sanctions, urging them to cease observing them,” iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Twitter. “it is iMMOraL to let a bully kill innocents,” Zarif said. “if the trend continues, there will not be enough capacity,” ali reza Zali, who is leading the campaign against the outbreak, was quoted as saying by the state-run irna news agency. iran is believed to have around 110,000 hospital beds, including 30,000 in the capital, Tehran. authorities have pledged to set up mobile clinics as needed.

Zali also acknowledged that “many” of those who have died from the COViD19 illness caused by the virus were otherwise healthy, a rare admission by local authorities that the virus does not only prey on the sick and elderly.

The Health Ministry released figures showing that while 55% of fatalities were in

Malta rescues 112 migrants from sinking boat VALLETTA AGENCIES

their 60s, some 15% were younger than 40.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.

Most people recover in a matter of weeks. But the virus is highly contagious

and can be spread by individuals with no visible symptoms. iran, the worst-affected country in the Middle East, said on Thursday it had asked the international Monetary Fund (iMF) for $5 billion in emergency funding to combat the coronavirus outbreak.

The escalating outbreak has damaged iranian businesses and is bound to hit its

non-oil exports after many neighbouring countries and trade partners shut their borders. iran’s economy was already battered

by US sanctions that curb oil and gas exports crucial for government revenues. a slowdown in economic activity caused by the virus outbreak and a sustained closure of its borders are expected to lead to a contraction this year, analysts have said.

Israel postpones Netanyahu graft trial by 2 months over virus

a group of 112 north african migrants was rescued from a sinking dinghy and landed in Malta early on Sunday, supervised by troops in special protective clothing against possible coronavirus infection, authorities said. The dinghy was spotted in Malta’s search and rescue region north of Libya on Saturday. Those on board included several women and children. The armed forces said the nationalities of those aboard was not immediately known.

Maltese soldiers who transferred them to a patrol boat wore special suits to protect them from possible coronavirus infection. all the migrants were given a medical checkup upon landing before boarding buses to be taken to a reception center. Malta has seen a surge of migrant arrivals this year. Some 1,500 had arrived by early March, compared to 3,400 for the full year last year. italy has also seen a sharp annual rise since the start of the year.

But arrivals have fallen off sharply since the outbreak of the coronavirus crisis in northern italy late last month, with only 43 arrivals so far recorded in March.

New Zealand marks anniversary of Christchurch mosque shootings CHRISTCHURCH

TEL AVIV AGENCIES

AGENCIES

israeli Prime Minister Benjamin netanyahu’s corruption trial has been postponed until May 24 due to concerns about coronavirus, Jerusalem’s District Court said Sunday. netanyahu, the first israeli premier ever to be indicted in office, had been scheduled to stand trial from Tuesday over alleged bribery, fraud and breach of trust. in a statement, the court noted that given the coronavirus pandemic it had been instructed to hear “only urgent matters”.

“We have decided to postpone the first hearing (in netanyahu’s trial) until May 24,” the court said. israel has 200 confirmed cases of the virus with tens of thousands of people in home quarantine. netanyahu has been charged with a range of offences including receiving improper gifts and offering a media mogul lucrative regulatory changes in exchange for favourable coverage.

He denies wrongdoing.

Despite the indictments, netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party won the most seats in March 2 elections and he is aiming to form a new government.

But Likud and its allies fell short of the 61 seats

People in the new Zealand city of Christchurch honored the 51 worshipers who were killed in a mass shooting a year ago in small but poignant ways on Sunday after a planned national memorial event was canceled due to fears it might spread the new coronavirus. Outside the al noor mosque, dozens of leather-clad bikers from the Tu Tangata club performed a traditional Maori haka. They were welcomed by mosque imam Gamal Fouda, who said people of all beliefs and cultures were stopping to pay their respects, and they were all united as new Zealanders. One of those who survived the shooting at the Linwood mosque was Mazharuddin Syed ahmed, who said that marking anniversaries was not typically a Muslim tradition but they were doing it so the wider community could grieve and remember. He said the shootings had provoked an outpouring of love and compassion. “Of course, we lost our loved friends, family, people and community,” he said.

needed for a majority in the Knesset, or parliament. it was israel’s third inconclusive vote in less than a year. netanyahu has called on his main challenger Benny Gantz of the centrist Blue and White party to form an

emergency, national unity government to tackle the coronavirus crisis.

Gantz has said he is open to discussing the proposal, with negotiations set for this week.

Syria's brutal war enters 10th year IDLIB AGENCIES

Syria’s brutal conflict enters its 10th year Sunday with President Bashar al-assad’s regime consolidating its hold over a warwracked country with a decimated economy where foreign powers flex their muscle.

When Syrians took to the streets on March 15, 2011, they could scarcely have imagined their anti-government protests would turn into a complex war entangling rebels, jihadists and outside forces. at least 384,000 people have since died, including more than 116,000 civilians, the Syrian Observatory for Human rights war monitor said Saturday.

The conflict has displaced more than 11 million people internally and abroad. “nine years of revolution illustrate the extent of the suffering we have known, between exile, bombings and deaths,” said Hala ibrahim, a rights activist who now lives in the town of Dana, in idlib province. “i left my university, my house which

was bombed,” the woman in her 30s said.

“We’ve lost everything.”

Originally from the northern city of aleppo, ibrahim left in late 2016 after the regime retook rebel-held areas and she sought refuge in idlib. The northwestern region — Syria’s last rebel stronghold — is the regime’s latest target.

Thanks to the military support of russia, iran and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, assad has clawed back control of over 70 percent of the war-torn country. a fragile ceasefire came into effect in the northwest earlier this month, and Turkish and russian officials have agreed to start joint patrols in idlib.

Syrian forces and russian warplanes have heavily bombarded the region since December, killing nearly 500 civilians, the Observatory says, and forcing nearly a million to flee, according to the United nations.

RUIN AND MISERY: Siham abs and seven of her children have been living for the past two months in a camp for idlib’s displaced near Bardaqli, not far from the Turk-

ish border. Many of those unable to find space in camps have been sleeping in fields or have sought shelter in schools, mosques and unfinished buildings. in the Bardaqli camp, tents made of plastic sheeting are lined up along muddy paths. abs said she and her family would like to wash, but don’t know where. “i am 50 years old and i’ve never known such difficult times,” she said.

The Un special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, said on the eve of the anniversary: “The suffering of the Syrian people during this tragic and terrible decade still defies comprehension and belief.”

The Syrian conflict was born of unprecedented anti-government demonstrations in the southern city of Daraa nine years ago.

Protests spread across Syria, but a violent crackdown soon saw rebels take up arms with backing from Gulf nations and wrest key areas from government control.

Jihadist groups also emerged, notably the islamic State group which swept across large parts of the country and

neighbouring iraq in 2014. “a decade of fighting has brought nothing but ruin and misery,” Un SecretaryGeneral antonio Guterres wrote this week on Twitter. “There is no military solution. now it is the time to give diplomacy a chance to work.” But in recent years, such efforts have failed. Five foreign powers operate in Syria, with russia and iranian forces supporting the regime. Despite an announced withdrawal of US forces last year, american troops are still stationed in the country’s northeast, in a semi-autonomous Kurdish zone. after the fight

against iS, Washington’s main objective has turned to curbing iranian influence. $400 BILLION IN DESTRUCTION: israel regularly carries out air strikes on Syrian, Hezbollah and iranian military positions. and neighbouring Turkey, which supports local armed groups, has deployed its troops across the border.

“The horrific and enduring nature of the conflict is proof of a collective failure of diplomacy,” Pedersen said.

The war has ravaged Syria’s economy and infrastructure.

Monday, 16 March, 2020

08 COMMENT

Designing better public spaces

SAARC coronavirus cooperation

Improving liveability and economic activity

Teleconferencing provides an opportunity for the future

T

hAT the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) should have a summit held by teleconferencing in accordance with the spirit of the times, when human-to-human contact, even of such exaggerated and formal nature as at a summit, has been prohibited by a desire to avoid falling victim to COVID19, the ungainly name given by the WhO bureaucracy to the illness caused by the coronavirus. As the SAARC members are all under threat from the illness, it does make sense for them to concert measures to combat the disease. It is also worth remembering that two members (Pakistan and Afghanistan) neighbour Iran, which is now acknowledged as a centre from which the disease is spreading, and three more (India, Nepal and Bhutan) China, where the disease first appeared, and which still has the most cases, and has suffered the most deaths, in the world.

It was an irony that the man convening the teleconference, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was responsible for sabotaging the last SAARC conference just because its location had rotated round to Islamabad.

SAARC had played no part in his foreign policy, especially since he maintained a hawkish anti-Pakistan stance, with a war scare last year that helped him to re-election, and an anti-Muslim stance which saw him push through first a lockdown of India-Occupied Kashmir which has lasted since August 4 last year, and then a controversial CAA and misuse of the NRC. him feeling the need to convene the teleconference was a sign that the coronavirus threat was such that it overcame the kind of sectarian or ethnic divisions which people like him use for electoral gain.

Mr Modi’s own proposals, of a fund, as well as of a ministerial-level conference, are unexceptionable, as is the need to exchange information, but the need to end the lockdown in Occupied Kashmir was raised by Prime Minister’s Special Assistant for health Services, Dr Zafar Mirza, who represented the country, the only non-head of government to take part. Prime Minister Imran Khan’s absence may have been caused by his old decision not to talk to Mr Modi until relations between the two countries are more amenable but nevertheless, in the present atmosphere, attendance at the SAARC videoconference moot was desirable.

dr OMer Javed

P

AKISTAN has gone through a strong phenomenon of rural-urban migration over the years. having said that, the public spaces of its hundred-plus cities have not seen much improvement. This has led to an increase in the mental and physical stress of its inhabitants, and has also deprived them of many economic activities or opportunities associated with well-developed public spaces. The World Bank Group recently came out with a report ‘The hidden wealth of cities: creating, financing, and managing public spaces’, which explores ways in which better development of public spaces, even in the most dense cities, could be achieved. It would make sense, therefore, that urban planners in Pakistan draw lessons from this Report. here, the Report points out that the importance of public spaces is highlighted by the United Nations (UN) as well through its Sustainable Development Goal 11, by calling for ‘universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces, in particular, for women and children, older persons and persons with disabilities.’

Moreover, the Report indicates that UN defines ‘public spaces’ as ‘the spaces between buildings and facilities that are open to the public, consisting broadly of three types of urban spaces: streets and pedestrian access; open and green spaces, including parks, plazas, waterbodies, and waterfronts; and public facilities like libraries, community centers, and municipal markets (UN-habitat 2015).’

Massive urbanization has taken place throughout the world during the last half-a-century or so, where the Report highlights ‘Between 1960 and 2017, the world’s urban population quadrupled from about 1 billion to more than 4 billion people. Today, some 55 percent of the world’s population live in cities, and this figure is slated to increase to about two-thirds

Dr Mubashir Hasan The passing of a gentleman

D

R Mubashir hassan’s death marked the end of a full life. That he was 98 only meant that he had packed much into those years. he was by education a civil engineer, and had obtained a doctorate in that subject from Columbia University. he began a teaching career when he returned to a newly independent Pakistan. he became inclined to political activism, and joined forces with Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and it was at his house in Lahore in 1968 that the Pakistan Peoples Party was founded at a convention. When elections were held in 1970, the country went through the painful experience of the 1971 War. When Bhutto formed the government, he picked Dr Mubashir to be Finance Minister. he resigned from the post in 1974, because of differences with Bhutto over his treatment of Meraj Muhammad Khan, but he remained a supporter, and by then he had overseen the generalised nationalisation of industry that is the hallmark of the first PPP government. he remained in touch with PPP Co-Chairman Benazir Bhutto, but did not join her government. Instead, when the PPP (Shaheed Bhutto) was formed he joined it. he was a gentleman of the old school, and brought to politics a kind of decency, a sort of politeness, that is not seen any longer. he brought to politics a kind of intellectual rigour, a kind of ideological commitment, which is no longer seen. Dr Mubashir was a formidably well-read man, which might help explain the friendship he had with the late hameed Nizami, the founding editor of Nawai-iWaqt, which lasted until the latter’s death in 1962.

The contributions of Dr Mubashir, particularly in the 1970s, were such as moved the direction of national policy. his role in the Bhutto nationalisations is well known, but his role in Pakistan’s nuclear programme is not so well known. As a professional engineer he had been an informal adviser on scientific matters, into which the programme came. his role was formalised when he resigned as Finance Minister. he will be sorely missed, both for his personality and his contributions to national life, but also for the decency and politeness he represented.

MuhaMMad abbas

T

he 18-year-long war on Afghan soil is ending after the signing of a historic peace-deal between the USA and the Taliban in the Qatari capital of Doha on February 29, which entails the following main points; first, Afghan soil would not be used against the USA or its allies by any international terrorist groups or individuals; second, the USA and the members of its supporting coalition will withdraw all their troops within 14 months on the condition of the Taliban fulfilling the promises they made in the agreement; third, the Taliban and the Afghan government will negotiate and enter into an intra-Afghan dialogue to settle all its disputes and to fix its political future; and fourth, a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire.

The development came after a week of a commitment to a reduction in violence by both forces of the USA and its coalition partners and of the Taliban.

A month after the 9/11 terror attack, the USA-led coalition forces invaded Afghanistan in 2001 by declaring a “War on Terror”, when the Taliban refused to hand over Osama-Bin-Laden, the Al-Qaeda leader and mastermind of the 9/11 attack. The “War on Terror” took many precious lives of tens of thousands of Afghan civilians, Taliban fighters and Afghan soldiers, as well as about 2400 American soldiers. Apart from that, many innocent Afghans went to neighboring countries to take refuge after their homes and business were destroyed in the ruthless war.

Moreover, Afghanistan is populated with a number of ethnic and linguistic groups, so, is only signing an agreement enough to bring peace and stability in Afghanistan? Are the Afghan government and the Taliban able to settle all their disputes? Can they (the Afghan government and the Taliban) adopt a culture of “give and take” to bring peace to their homeland?

Is there any timeline fixed for the evacuation of

Editor Umar Aziz

Asher John

Executive Editor

Deputy Editor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965

the streets, city to city, country to country asking “what was our fault?” They both (the USA and the Taliban) have hugged each other and shook hands, but who will provide justice to them?

Furthermore, the September 28 Afghan presidential election, according to Independent election Commission’s result, had won by Ashraf Ghani, which had later rejected by Afghan ex-chief executive Dr AbdulAfghan refugees from neighboring countries and lah Abdullah who was an opposing candidate. Such a from all over the world? situation within the political horizon of Afghanistan however, Afghan society is deeply rooted in folk put the war-torn country into danger once again. Beculture like; “honor and respect”, and a desire to live fore the withdrawal of all-US troops from Afghanistan, by their own “traditions and standards” which are if the Taliban will not meet its obligations under the mostly unknown to those Afghans who have been liv- deal, the USA will not “hesitate” to “nullify” as US ing for many years in other parts of the world. Simi- Defense Secretary Mark T. esper said in Kabul. But larly, those who never left their soil are deeply rooted later John Bolton (ex- National Security Adviser) in a in the tradition of revenge, tweet called the deal an “unwhere the people wash acceptable risk” to the US blood with blood. When civilian population and he they will all come together marked it as a “wrong signal” All stakeholders within and there would be a huge social to ISIS and Al-Qaeda terrorchange within the ists, and to all the USA’s enoutside Afghanistan need to Afghanistan, and it will be emies. All the stakeholders daunting too for both parties within Afghanistan need to make serious efforts to finish to adjust with each other as fully meet their obligations this long path to peace and to an entire generation after the under the deal and bring start of the “War on Terror” peace to the country, which is stop more bloodshed in has grown up with a totally hungering for peace. different mentality.

Later on, Afghan PresiAfghanistan.

The Afghan Contrary to that, as dent Ashraf Ghani rejected mentioned before, Afghan society does not afford more the condition of releasing society is deeply rooted in 5000 prisoners under the war as it spent four generations deal, the tradition of revenge, so and he remarked it was those who have lost their a sovereign state’s decision. in search of peace and stability loved ones, and those whose Responding to the Afghan houses had been destroyed president’s decision, Taliban in the “War on Terror” and spokesman Zabiullah Musuffered from Taliban brujahid said “there will be no talities before the US invasion. So how would they intra-Afghan talks, if our prisoners do not get re(the sufferers) be dealt with? Why neither the USA leased.” The Taliban ordered its militants to “resume” nor the Taliban have raised concerns about the people attacks against Afghan soldiers and police forces until who have suffered due to this situation? an Islamic system of the government was restored.

Similarly, for some the peace agreement is a vicBesides that, the Taliban will try to put pressure tory for the USA, but for many it is a victory of the as much as they can do to force the Afghan governTaliban. Who won this bloody war? history will de- ment to accept their conditions on the negotiation cide. But, by signing a deal justice did not prevail, table, the same tactic they applied in the Doha-talks those innocent civilians who lost their lives in the with the USA. name of Islam, peace or whatever, their murderers are still alive, but the souls of the killed ones are roaming Muhammad Abbas is a freelance columnist

The Taliban will use the same methods as helped them in Doha

Arif Nizami

Joint Editor

Omer Javed holds PhD in Economics degree from the University of Barcelona, and previously worked at International Monetary Fund. He tweets @omerjaved

Unfinished road to Peace

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

with the expected addition of another 2.5 billion people to urban areas by 2050. Close to 90 percent of this urbanization process will take place in Asia and Africa (UN DeSA 2019).’ This situation requires that a strong emphasis is placed on improving the public spaces, especially in developing countries that have lagged behind in this regard. hence, while urbanization has led to achieving many economic advantages– like agglomeration economies, greater innovation, increase in employment levels and services– but at the same time, this has come at the cost of primarily greater pressure being placed on natural resources and land, which has produced many adverse consequences ‘from housing shortages and unaffordability to poor basic services, increased pollution, and traffic congestion.’

Reaching sustainable cities, therefore, requires managing ‘the trade-offs between the benefits of urban agglomeration and the costs that an unplanned urbanization process creates.’

Research in urban economics has amply highlighted that better management of public spaces has a direct positive impact on both the mental wellbeing of residents, and also on the economy, whereby the Report highlights ‘Poor-quality, uncomfortable, and unhealthy urban environments and public spaces have thus taken a toll on liveability, resilience, and competitiveness in many of the world’s densest cities. As a result, citizens who rely on public spaces to access jobs and services, enjoy open spaces and greenery, or earn their livelihoods– such as the street markets and vendors that form a sizable part of the informal economy (Skinner, Orleans Reed, and harvey 2018)– are affected disproportionately. Meanwhile, cities that have managed to deliver well-designed and maintained public-space assets fare better. Increasingly, the presence of highquality public spaces and greenery has become a barometer of a city’s quality of life, economic vibrancy, and innovation.’

The Report recommends, firstly enhancing the usability of streets in urban areas for increasing earning livelihood opportunities, and enhancing the environment-friendliness of the cities. For instance ‘Copenhagen, for example, aspires to combat climate change by becoming carbon-neutral by 2025— a core strategy being the targeting of 75 percent of all trips to be on foot, by bike, or public transport (City of Copenhagen 2012).

The second areas of focus should be on ‘open and green spaces’ in an overall effort to improve the quality of urban public spaces. The Report cites two pieces of research, whereby ‘[a] The World health Organization (WhO) estimates that physical inactivity, linked to poor walkability and lack of access to recreational areas, accounts for 3.3 percent of global deaths (WhO 2016)... [b] A recent study of US cities suggests that tree cover reduces heat-related mortal-

ity, morbidity, electricity consumption, and the need for cooling. Tree cover in urban areas in the United States saves $5.3 billion to $12.1 billion annually (McDonald et al. 2019).’

The third area indicated in the Report pertains to ‘public facilities’. In this regard, the Report highlights that ‘Public facilities and amenities such as libraries, community centres, and sports facilities not only serve as amenities for communities but also help create a sense of place and build social cohesion. Studies have indicated that people who live close to highquality public spaces and amenities are more trusting of others, feel less socially isolated, and have more faith in the government (Cox and Streeter 2019).’

The Report presents many examples of cities where use of public spaces was improved, and in turn documents some of the positive consequences of these on local inhabitants in terms of liveability and opportunities for earning livelihood, whereby some examples indicated include ‘[a] In Seoul, the creative reuse of abandoned railway infrastructure land to create the Gyeongui Line Forest Park connecting several neighbourhoods saw a doubling of adjacent local businesses, between 2015 and 2017, with average monthly sales per shop increasing by more than 150 percent... [b] In Beijing, the restoration and adaptive reuse of historic buildings and a regeneration initiative on Yangmeizhu Lane led to a significant growth of new culture- and design-driven businesses and commercial enterprises in the area.

Reportedly, the total sales revenues grew from less than RMB 1 million ($151,000) in 2012 to RMB 85 million ($12.9 million) in 2018. Property values in the area more than doubled between 2012 and 2018 after the completion of the project... [c] In Tbilisi, Georgia, the rental prices and property values along the rehabilitated and pedestrianized Aghmashenebeli Avenue doubled between 2015 and 2017, and consequently property tax revenues from commercial establishments adjacent to the rehabilitated street drastically increased.’

Moreover, the Report highlights that ‘With effective management, public spaces can be financially sustainable without dependence on public budgets.’

The Report also presents a case study on the quality of public spaces in a number of cities, including Karachi, which could provide a good learning curve to urban planners in Pakistan. With regard to Karachi, the Report indicates ‘Although Karachi has long been the economic and cultural center of Pakistan, public spaces in the city have lost their vibrancy and support less social activity than in the past because of deprivation and safety issues. The three case studies in Karachi illustrate how declining social trust can be repaired by reclaiming public spaces through citizen mobilization.’

I

Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9

I

Islamabad – Ph: 051-2204545

I

Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk

I

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Monday, 16 March, 2020

COMMENT 09 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

Current health crisis

Charity sans Dignity The sufaidposh may have nothing but their self-esteem and providing too much to feed, clothe and meal a day becomes a distant goal for have-nots house a bourgeoning human population with as all income sources are burned out or prove too much beyond their access. This comes as dignity and on sustainable basis. unlike other eras when production was more horrific than death for those sufaidposh aimuddin (name changed to pro- mainly manual and (decent poor), who are tect his identity), a poverty ridden labour-intensive, and restrained by their conwhite-bearded weak man in his 60s, was hard enough to science from bowing regularly roams around in our neigh- sustain basic human nebefore, or spreading Sadly, our society is borhood and looks for manual labour cessities, the productivtheir hands in front of, where he could make one or two hundred rupees ity these days has others for help. They not conscious about the in a bid to support his family. He spent his whole witnessed a revolutionare then among neither life in making his living by doing labour in con- ary and unprecedented living nor dead. They blows to the self-esteem and struction works. now an old man, he used to growth both qualitadie each day inside. dignity of the needy when his look for part-time work where he would not tively and quantitaimagine for a while for have to work so hard. mainly he was to be seen tively, a person without any thanks to picture along with the giver is arranging logs in a timber shop. many a time, he scientific and technoincome source getting has to go home without getting any work. sandwiched between logical revolution. publicly advertised. Unlike One day he visited me and had half-an- Though the fertilizers, their pale-faced hour’s conversation. i asked him if he had chil- and other hybrid techhunger-stricken and the haves who die once, the dren capable of earning, he said that as his nological and modernmalnourished children poor and destitute are made to children were too young to earn, he was the sole ization looking for food, and a of food bread-earner despite being fragile and aged. He production, advanced cursing conscience! die every day by such acts of used to visit me almost every day out of respect healthcare and educaBeing trapped between and i feel great pleasure and inner satisfaction tional standards are unthe two and moved by cheap advertisement and that i could help him, no matter how little. But precedented in their the screams of the chilpublicity, because for the he himself never asks for help! He used to nar- proportion, many a dren, he is left with rate how worthless he was felt by people around man each day goes to nothing but to put his latter self-esteem and dignity and how painfully his labour is underpaid be- bed without having a conscience to death cause he is aged. ‘are aging and poverty my morsel, consumed by and hold out his hand is the only asset fault?’ He used to ask me. to others. disease, deprived of There are many sufaid posh (decent poor) clothing and shelter, let This is where the like Qaimuddin, the victims of ultra-materialistic alone education and ‘haves’ get a fulland greedy society bent on hoarding money and recreation. The quesfledged and unreresources at the cost and death of others. The tion arises that why is it that despite so much strained chance to exploit these needy in more today’s man achieves progress in the ma- food production, and such advanced healthcare multiple ways. more sadly enough, the haves of terial sense, the more he loses compassion, em- and educational systems, we failed to provide our society wait to exploit and celebrate the pathy and respect for his underprivileged and food, shelter, clothing, healthcare and schooling pains and pangs of the needy and destitute suvoiceless fellows. Today’s man discovered stars to all? The answer to this is as man ascended to faidposh (decent poor), because most didn’t unand planets million and trillions miles away, but the pinnacles of material progress and prosper- dergo the plight of having nothing in this not the trials and tribulations of immediate ity, his compassion, ethos and empathy turned ultra-materialistic, rich and excessively statusneighborhoods. This into the deepest and bar- conscious world. irony is quite contrary The saddest part in this story is that a sufaidracuda-like greed, and a to the fact that man’s posh (decent poor) does not suffer as much from Himalayan ego. struggle -from primia ceaseless greed, a the pains of poverty as from people’s behaviour There are many sufaid posh tive to modern civilizacorrupt and adulterated and the fun they make of their needs. The tions was meant to approach to the basic re- pseudo-magnanimous advertise whenever and (decent poor) like Qaimuddin, ensure subsistence for sources Earth is filled whatever they offer to a needy and destitute perall. the victims of ultra-materialistic with, has prevented an son. We seek ‘cheap fame and popularity’ at the The contemporary egalitarian and people- cost of the takers’ self-esteem and dignity, for and greedy society bent on postmodern 21st cenfriendly resources dis- most of time we don’t help others out of sympatury is nothing but an tribution system, thy for their sufferings but to be known to others hoarding money and resources advanced and evolved ultimately ending in a as a sakhi (generous person). Hence we are apt form of life emerging at the cost and death of others. scenario where a few to put our good deeds on the social media rather from primitive hunterhold all the resources in than dropping them in a river, as an old adage The more today’s man achieves the world, while most goes. Countless posts and videos of “magnanimgatherers and evolving through pastoral, have none. in other ity” in social media are evidence of this fact. progress in the material sense, horticultural, agriculSadly, our society is not conscious about the words, the divide betural, industrial and tween the rich and poor blows to the self-esteem and dignity of the needy the more he loses compassion, technological forms of or between haves and when his picture along with the giver is publicly sustaining life on have-nots seems far be- advertised. unlike the haves who die once, the empathy and respect for his earth. Though reliyond bridging in the poor and destitute are made to die every day by underprivileged and gion, arts and festivisuch acts of cheap advertisement and publicity, foreseeable future. ties made their place, Forced and com- because for the latter self-esteem and dignity is voiceless fellows most of the efforts in pelled by needs, the the only asset. all eras were directed if we are to give charity with dignity, we poor have to struggle to towards ensuring death only to provide would have to act on the words of Prophet meeting the basic two loaves to their hap- muhammad’s (Peace Be upon Him) that Charity needs from food to clothing and shelter of hu- less children. But as time passes by, the socioe- should be given in a way that our left hand doesmans. With only a few differences from their conomic constraints grow in their way to earn n’t know what our right hand has spent. primitive fellows, the primarily objective of even that meagre sum by their day-long and modern man is similar in terms of producing even overnight work. Subsequently, even a Ali Hassan Bangwar is a freelance columnist

ALI HASSAN BANGWAR

Q

THErE are many reasons for drug addiction but major among them is that it destroys families. When a person starts taking drugs for any reason, he or she doesn’t think about the consequences. The addiction starts with soft drugs like chhaliya, gutka and pan and then moves to hard drugs like opium, etc. There are specific agents or dealers inside and outside institutions, who encourage students to buy this ‘curse.’ Their contact details are easily exchanged from one person to another and one can easily meet them in hostels, hotels and other places which are generally hidden from the eyes of law enforcing agencies.

The youngsters in Pakistan are mostly affected by drugs and alcohol.

The number of addicts are on the rise at the rate of 40, 000 per year making Pakistan one of the most affected countries in the world. The most disappointing fact is that many heroin addicts are below the age of 24. The growing use of drugs in educational institution is a serious threat to the lives of the students who are using drugs ‘freely’ and ‘openly.’ according to a survey, one out of every 10 college/university students is a drug addict and almost 50 per cent students of elite schools and colleges based in islamabad and Lahore are drug addicts. They have free access to drugs and have no issue of affordability. The widespread availability of drugs is making the lives of youngsters lifeless and we need to curb this menace. recently, the Supreme Court of Pakistan on hearing a suo motu case related to drug usage in private and government educational institutions rejected the report presented by the Lahore Police and ordered to launch an advertisement campaign on social media against drugs. The court directed the four provincial chief secretaries, the in-charge of the anti-narcotics division, and secretaries of other relevant ministries to devise an action plan to eradicate this disease from academic institutions. Similarly, the government has decided to launch a narcotics campaign in schools to make students aware about this abuse.

The united nations international day against drug abuse and illicit Trafficking held on June 26 every year introduced a theme of ‘Listen First’ in 2018. The aim of the initiative was to make school children and youth aware about drug use and increase support for its prevention for the wellbeing of their families and communities. if you know anyone who is going through drug addiction, it is important to help them in the best possible manner because most of the time, they cannot make a decision as drugs have ruined their minds. Being violent with them will only aggravate the situation.

First of all patient, should be sent to rehab where qualified medical personnel can address their needs. One has to keep in mind that addiction is complicated but treatable and it will affect your brain and behavior. The treatment is long and critical but necessary for critical recovery. The commonly known treatments are counselling and other behavioral therapies. medication is also required to be taken during withdrawals. The treatment has to be planned according to the patient’s need and must address mental disorders. detoxification is the first stage of treatment and drugs taken during treatment should be monitored and reduced with the passage of time. after the treatment, it is the responsibility of teachers and parents to keep an eye on youngsters and don’t let them think about the reasons which led them to drugs. appreciate their recovery as an achievement and motivate them to think and act positive.

DUA SHEIKH Karachi

Why Divide Punjab Only ?

WHy not other provinces too...and finally the federation of Pakistan .

Once again PTi government has started playing the orchestra of a new province of South Punjab which will be carved out within Punjab by dividing it into two pieces. PPP which considers Sindh as dharti maan which can not be cut into two has no objection in slashing a part of Punjab which is dharti maan of 12 crore Punjabis . Punjab based Pml n and PmL Q are also on the same page with PTi and PPP . The demand for a separate province is a pure lingual demand in the guise of administrative reasons to benefit the already ruling elite of so called Saraiki wasaib . after the completion of motorways the excuse of long distances no longer exists . as for the meager allocation of funds for the southern part of Punjab, it is the responsibility of the present government whose head belongs to the so called Saraiki Wasaib to satisfy the people of his region . now we examine the lingual factor behind the demand for a separate province , which is much trumpeted in social media but less voiced in print media. Sindh accommodates a considerable ratio of urdu and ( socalled ) Saraiki speaking population besides Sindhi which is the native language of Sindh . KPK boasts of two major languages Pashto and Hindko and innumerable small languages on it’s soil .. Balochitan has passed a language bill aiming at the teaching of six languages including Punjhabi in the province.

BuT Punjab is the only monolingual and mono cultural federating unit of Pakistan and there is no justification to divide it into two or more provinces on lingual basis or under any pretext ..70 years past it’s division on religious grounds for creation of a separate state for muslims ensued the biggest holocaust in history . We Punjabi can not afford one more bloody line within Punjab. if Punjab is broken , fragmented or divided , the story will not end here , there would be much more left to be broken , fragmented and divided.

TArIq MAHMUD Lahore

Corona and sports THE Pakistan cricket board (PCB), On Friday, decided to cut short the ongoing Pakistan super league (PSL) 2020. in addition to decreasing the length of the competition and hold the final match of the tournament on march 18 instead of march 23.

The PCB and the team owners, as part of their duty of care, all the players participating in PSL 2020 have been given the option to pull out of the tournament amid growing fears of the coronavirus. according to an official statement by PCB, ten international players and one coach have withdrawn from the tournament.

On the other hands, the india - South africa and australia - new Zealand Odi serious are being played behind closed doors. in addiction of the aforementioned serious and tournament a number of other competitions have been postponed or cancelled too. rAzI rEHMAn Lahore

Monday, 16 March, 2020

10 FOREIGN NEWS

US, Germany battle For virUS vaccine SUrpremacy BERLIN

b

AGENCIES

ERLIn is trying to stop Washington from persuading a German company seeking a coronavirus vaccine to move its research to the United States, prompting German politicians to insist no country should have a monopoly on any future vaccine.

German government sources told Reuters on Sunday that the U.S. administration was looking into how it could gain access to a potential vaccine being developed by a German firm, CureVac. Earlier, the Welt am Sonntag German newspaper reported that U.S. President Donald Trump had offered funds to lure CureVac to the United States, and the German government was making counter-offers to tempt it to stay.

“The German government is very interested in ensuring that vaccines and active substances against the new coronavirus are also developed in Germany and Europe,” a Health Ministry spokeswoman said, confirming a quote in the newspaper.

“In this regard, the government is in intensive exchange with the company CureVac,” she added.

Welt am Sonntag also quoted an unidentified German government source as saying Trump was trying to secure the scientists’ work exclusively, and would do anything to get a vaccine for the United States, “but only for the United States.”

A German Economy Ministry spokeswoman also said Berlin “has a great interest” in producing vaccines in Germany and Europe.

She declined to comment on any takeover possibilities but referred to Germany’s foreign trade law, under which Berlin can examine takeover bids from non-EU, so-called third countries “if national or European security interests are at stake”.

There was no comment immediately available from the U.S. embassy in Berlin when contacted by Reuters on Sunday over the report, and nobody was available to comment at CureVac. Welt am Sonntag

said CureVac declined to comment.

EXPERIMEnTAL VACCInE: Florian von der Muelbe, CureVac’s chief production officer and co-founder, told Reuters last week the company had started with a multitude of coronavirus vaccine candidates and was now selecting the two best to go into clinical trials.

The privately-held company based in Tuebingen, Germany hopes to have an experimental vaccine ready by June or July to then seek the go-ahead from regulators for testing on humans.

On its website, CureVac said CEO Daniel Menichella early this month met Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, mem-

bers of the White House Coronavirus Task Force and senior representatives of pharmaceutical and biotech companies to discuss a vaccine.

Karl Lauterbach, a professor of health economics and epidemiology who is also a senior lawmaker with Germany’s Social Democrats, tweeted in reaction to the Welt am Sonntag report: “The exclusive sale of a possible vaccine to the USA must be prevented by all means. Capitalism has limits.”

CureVac in 2015 and 2018 secured financial backing for development projects from its investor the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, working on shots to prevent malaria and influenza.

In the field of so-called mRnA therapeutics, CureVac competes with U.S. biotech firm Moderna and German rival BionTech, which Pfizer has identified as a potential collaboration partner.

Drugs based on mRnA provide a type of genetic blueprint that can be injected into the body to instruct cells to produce the desired therapeutic proteins. That contrasts with the conventional approach of making these proteins in labs and bio-reactors.

In the case of vaccines, the mRnA prompts body cells to produce so-called antigens, the tell-tale molecules on the surface of viruses, that spur the immune system into action.

Companies working on other coronavirus-vaccine approaches include Johnson & Johnson and InOVIO Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Apple, some US retailers close stores to contain virus Apple Inc said it is closing all its retail stores, except those in Greater China, for the next two weeks to minimize the risk of coronavirus transmission, a move that was followed by several U.S. retailers on Saturday.

The announcements escalated the global response to the outbreak, as most companies had previously kept stores open.

"We will be closing all of our retail stores outside of Greater China until March 27," Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote in a letter posted on the company's website

late on Friday.

Apparel retailer Urban Outfitters Inc, which owns brands including Anthropologie and Free People, said on Saturday it was closing all its consumer stores worldwide until at least March 28.

Verizon Communications Inc said it was temporarily closing “a number of its stores” across the United States in order to expand its work from home policy to include some of its retail employees.

T-Mobile US Inc said it will temporary close its stores that are located in a shopping mall starting March 16.

Apple reopened all 42 of its branded stores in China on Friday as the number of new cases fell in the country where the coronavirus outbreak originated.

Some 153,000 people have been infected around the world and 5,788 have died, according to a Reuters tally.

Retailers are bracing for a blow to sales as virus-wary shoppers in Europe and the United States stay home.

U.S. retailers including Macy’s Inc, Saks Fifth Avenue and Gap Inc’s Banana Republic sent notices to shoppers on Thursday saying they were open for busi-

ness in a move to stem losses due to a steep drop in traffic.

Apple’s hourly workers will continue to receive pay in alignment with business as usual operation, Cook said, and online sales will continue as usual.

“In all of our offices, we are moving to flexible work arrangements worldwide outside of Greater China,” he added. “That means team members should work remotely if their job allows.”

Philadelphia-based Urban Outfitters also said it would continue to pay its store employees while stores are closed. GENCIES

Ferrari suspends production over coronavirus ROME AGENCIES

Italian luxury carmaker Ferrari said Saturday it was suspending production for two weeks at two of its factories, citing “serious difficulties” related to Italy being in lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. Production will stop immediately at the Maranello and Modena factories until March 27, Ferrari said in a statement. “This measure has been taken in the interest of employees and following a series of rigorous measures already taken to ensure onsite security,” the firm said. The company’s home region of Emilia-Romagna is after Lombardy the region worst hit by the crisis, with around 200 deaths and some 2,200 cases, according to local authorities. Ferrari had attempted to carry on even as Italy found itself the most affected country other than China.

The Italian government ordered a nationwide lockdown last week. But supply chain problems have emerged to the degree that the automaker “cannot ensure continued production,” although operations not linked to production will continue, the company added. CEO Louis Camilleri said that Ferrari would look to restart production as soon as feasible.

Ford to shut Spanish factory for one week due to coronavirus outbreak MADRID: Ford said on Sunday it would shut its Spanish plant in the eastern region of Valencia for one week starting on Monday after three employees tested positive for coronavirus. “We have had three positive cases of COVID-19 in the Ford Valencia plant in the past 24 hours,” the company said, adding it was following protocol by isolating all employees that had contact with the infected workers. The plant, one of Ford’s largest outside the United States, employs over 7,000 workers and produces over 400,000 vehicles a year including the Mondeo and Galaxy models.AGENCIES

The plumbing behind world's financial markets is creaking loudly LONDON AGENCIES

The coronavirus panic is jolting stock markets, with steep drops in major indexes grabbing the public’s attention. But behind the scenes, there is less understood and potentially more worrying evidence that stress is building to dangerous levels in crucial arteries of the financial system.

Bankers, companies and individual investors are dashing to stock up on cash and other assets considered safe in a downturn to ride out the chaos. This sudden flight to safety is causing havoc in markets for bonds, currency and loans to a degree that hasn’t been seen since the financial crisis of a dozen years ago.

The key concern now, as in 2008, is liquidity: the ready availability of cash and other easily traded financial instruments and of buyers and sellers who feel secure enough to do deals.

Investors are having trouble buying and selling U.S. Treasuries, considered the safest of all assets. It’s a highly unusual occurrence for one of the world’s most readily tradable financial instruments. Funding in U.S. dollars, the world’s most traded currency, is getting harder to obtain outside the United States.

The cost of funding for money that companies use to make payrolls and other essential short-term needs is rising for weaker-rated firms in the United States. The premium investors pay to buy insurance on junk bonds is increasing. Banks are charging each other more for overnight loans, and companies are drawing down their lines of credit, in case they dry up later.

Taken together, warn some bankers, regulators and investors, these red flags are

starting to paint a troubling picture for markets and the global economy: If banks, companies and consumers panic, they can set off a chain of retrenchment that spirals into a bigger funding crunch - and ultimately a deep recession. Francesco Papadia, who oversaw the European Central Bank’s market operations during the region’s debt crisis a decade ago, said his biggest fear is that the “illiquidity of markets, generated by extreme uncertainty and panic reaction” could “lead to markets freezing, which is an economic life-threatening event.”

“It does not seem to me we are there already, but we could get there quickly,” Papadia said. A sign of the times is a hashtag now trending on Twitter: #GFC2 - a reference to the possibility of a second global financial crisis.

The warning signals so far are nowhere near as loud as they were in the 2008-2009 financial crisis, or the 2011-2012 euro zone debt crisis, to be sure. And policymakers are acutely aware of the weaknesses in the financial-market plumbing. In recent days, they have ramped up their response.

Central banks have cut interest rates and pumped trillions of dollars of liquidity into the banking system. This week, the new York Federal Reserve, which spearheads market-stabilization efforts for the U.S. central bank, offered $1.5 trillion in short-term loans and said it would start purchasing a broader range of U.S. Treasury securities. It cited “highly unusual disruptions in the market for Treasury securities associated with the coronavirus outbreak.”

“The one thing central banks know how to do following the experience of 2008 is to prevent a funding crisis from happening,” said Ajay Rajadhyaksha, head of macro re-

search at Barclays Plc and member of a committee that advises the U.S. Treasury on debt management and the economy.

TODAY VS 2008: While the panic sweeping markets is reminiscent of the 2008 financial crisis, comparisons only go so far.

Central bankers have last decade’s shocks fresh in their memories. Another key difference: Banks are in better shape today.

In 2008, banks had far less capital and far less liquidity than they have now, said Rodgin Cohen, senior chairman of Wall Street law firm Sullivan & Cromwell LLP and a top advisor to major U.S. financial firms.

Instead, investors and analysts said, the risk this time comes from the pandemic’s impact on the real economy: shuttered shops, travel bans and sections of the labor force sick or quarantined. The freeze means a severe blow for corporate revenues and earnings and overall economic growth, and for

now, there is no end in sight.

Countrywide quarantines to block the virus, such as Italy’s, mean “businesses are going to be hit really hard when it comes to receipts, to revenue,” said Stuart Oakley, who oversees forex trading for clients at nomura Holdings Inc. “However, liabilities are still the same: If you own a restaurant and you borrow money for the rent, you’ve still got to make that monthly payment.”

JPMorgan Chase & Co economists expect first-half contractions in growth across the globe. And this is as the U.S. response to the coronavirus is only getting started.

RED FLAGS: Investors and regulators have been alarmed, in particular, by liquidity problems in the $17 trillion U.S. Treasuries market.

There are several signs that something is off. Interest rates, or yields, on Treasuries and other bonds move in inverse relation to their prices: If prices fall, the yields rise.

Changes are measured in basis points, or hundredths of a percent.

Typically, yields move a few basis points a day. now, large and unusually quick swings in yields are making it hard for investors to execute orders. Traders said dealers on Wednesday and Thursday significantly widened the spread in price at which they were willing to buy and sell Treasury bonds - a sign of reduced liquidity.

“The tremors in the Treasury market are the most ominous sign,” said Papadia, the ex-ECB official.

Another alarming signal is the premium non-U.S. borrowers are willing to pay to access dollars, a widely watched gauge of a potential cash crunch. The three-month euro-dollar EURCBS3M=ICAP and dollar-yen JPYCBS3M=ICAP swap spreads surged to their widest since 2017, before dropping on Friday after central banks pumped in more cash. A measure of the health of the banking system is flashing yellow. The Libor-OIS spread USDL-O0X3=R, which indicates the risk banks are attaching to lending money to one another, has jumped. The spread is now 76 basis points, up from about 13 basis point on Feb. 21, before the coronavirus crunch began in the West. In 2008, it peaked at around 365 basis points.

WEAK CORPORATE LINK: As funding markets creak, heavily indebted companies are feeling the heat. Credit ratings firm Moody’s warns that defaults on lower-rated corporate bonds could spike to 9.7% of outstanding debt in a “pessimistic scenario,” compared with a historical average of 4.1%.

The default rate reached 13.4% during the financial crisis.

Monday, 16 March, 2020

BUSINESS 11

Govt collEctS RS385bn fRoM pEtRolEuM lEvy in two yEaRS ISLAMABAD

SEZs to lift exports to $1.5bn per annum: Mian Kashif LAHORE: The Special Economic Zones (SEZs) would help Pakistan enhance its exports by $1 billion to $ 1.5 billion per annum in the short-run through an effective and comprehensive planning. “Prime Minister Imran Khan has directed all the concerned departments to remove hurdles in the way of developing SEZs and establish them on priority basis,” said Faisalabad Industrial Estate Development and Management Company (FIEDMC) Chief Executive Officer Mian Kashif in a news statement issued on Sunday. He said FIEDMC-a combination of public and private sectors partnershipwould ultimately turn into an economic engine through the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) initiatives.

Fortunately, Kashif said almost hundred per cent plots in the M-3 Industrial Estate had already been sold out, while hundreds of units had become operational and were playing its role in providing exportable surplus in addition to accommodating thousands of workers. The industrial city would house more than 400 textile, steel, pharmaceutical, engineering, chemical, food processing, plastic and agriculture appliances units in addition to providing jobs to 250,000 workers, he added. Kashif claimed the city was also expected to attract Rs400 billion worth local and foreign direct investment (FDI), which would help Pakistan to stabilize its economy. He further said Faisalabad was strategically located in the heart of Pakistan and was flanked by two motorways passing from its eastern and western sides, adding this city had a unique privilege to contribute 60pc towards textile exports and 45pc towards total exports of the country. The FIEDMC chairman further said investors from China, Turkey, Korea and Britain had pumped $1.10 billion in Pakistan and their growing confidence in Pakistan was also bringing more investors from their respective country to invest in SEZs. He said these investors expressed their eagerness to explore the possibility of investment in diverse sectors of Pakistan especially in ceramics, chemicals, steel, food processing and automobiles. Kashif said the premier had clearly directed them to focus on developing such industry in SEZs, which is based on export and import substitution to restrict the import bill. He said a number of Chinese industries has started pumping investment in SEZs and the apparent reason is growing production cost in China. Another contributing factor to the country’s benefit is on-going trade war between the US and China, Kashif added. He said industries operating in FIEDMC would have an immediate access to high-quality infrastructure, un-interrupted power supply, public facilities and support services along with simpler ease-of-doing-business (EODB). INP

t

APP

HE federal government has collected around Rs385 billion on account of the Petroleum Development Levy (PDL) in the last two years to meet the country’s budgetary revenue targets.

The petroleum levy collection stood at Rs178.874 billion and Rs206.280 billion during fiscal years 2017-18 and 2018-19 respectively, said an official document.

The government often revises oil prices upward and downward through

adjustments in the petroleum levy keeping in view the fluctuations in the international oil prices for providing relief to the public.

For the current month, the price of petrol had been decreased by Rs5 per liter, high speed diesel by Rs5, kerosene oil by Rs7 and light diesel oil by Rs7 per liter.

As per the document, the previous government had been increasing the prices of petroleum products whenever the international market went up, but when the prices would go down, it often did not pass the full benefit to the consumers by increas-

ing the tax rate. For example, the document stated the GST on high speed diesel was increased to as high as 57 per cent in 2015-16 when the prices collapsed.

However, when the present government took office, it felt necessary to bring some price stability and transparency. From July 2019, the GST has been fixed at 17pc of the prices. The PDL is also fixed generally around Rs15 per liter.”

Normally, when the changes in the international prices are slight, the government makes minor adjustments in the petroleum levy to keep prices

stable but any major variation, up or down, is usually passed on.

On the other hand, the government has already increased up to 106pc the rate of petroleum levy on various oil products to raise an additional revenue of Rs10 billion per month, or at least Rs40 billion by June 30.

The Ministry of Finance increased the petroleum levy on high speed diesel (HSD) by Rs7.03 to Rs25.05 per litre for March 2020, from Rs18 per litre in February with an estimate to generate an additional revenue of Rs4.6 billion per month.

Saudi Aramco profit slides 20.6pc on lower crude prices RIYADH AGENCIES

Saudi Aramco reported Sunday a 20.6 per cent drop in 2019 net profit due to lower crude prices and production levels, in its first earnings announcement as a listed company amid an escalating price war.

The world's most valuable firm also announced it was slashing its capital expenditure for this year, as the price war with Russia and the spreading coronavirus pandemic rattle energy markets.

These are the first financial results after Aramco's historic $29.4 billion initial public offering and listing on the domestic Tadawul exchange last December. Last week, Aramco shares slipped below the IPO price for the first time. "Net income was $88.2 billion for the full-year 2019, compared to $111.1 billion in 2018," Aramco said in a statement.

"The decrease was primarily due to lower crude oil prices and production volumes, coupled with declining refining and chemical margins."

The company also declared $1.6 billion of impairment provisions for losses associated with Sadara Chemical Company, an Aramco subsidiary.

Despite a drop in earnings, Aramco said it distributed a dividend of $73.2 billion in 2019. Based on its commitment under the IPO it intends to declare an annual dividend of $75 billion in 2020, it added.

"2019 was an exceptional year for Saudi Aramco. Through a variety of circumstances -- some planned and some not -- the world was offered unprecedented insight into Saudi Aramco's agility and resilience," CEO Amin Nasser said in the statement.

The company is bracing for financial pain as the coronavirus outbreak saps global demand for crude and the ongoing price war between Riyadh and Moscow sends oil markets into a tailspin.

Nasser said the company had taken steps to "rationalise" its planned 2020 capital spending. Aramco's capital spending last year dropped to $32.8 billion from $35.1 billion in 2018, the statement said. It expects capital spending, which includes expenditure on projects, to be between $25 billion and $30 billion this year "in light of current

market conditions and recent commodity price volatility".

"The recent COVID-19 outbreak and its rapid spread illustrate the importance of agility and adaptability in an ever-changing global landscape," Nasser said. The price war, likely to weaken Aramco's 2020 first quarter earnings, was triggered by Russia's refusal to agree on additional output cuts to support prices dented by the coronavirus outbreak.

An apparently furious Riyadh responded with a massive production hike and the biggest cuts to prices in two decades, moving to snatch some of Russia's market share and triggering market turmoil.

The kingdom said last week Aramco will pump 12.3 million barrels of oil per day, boosting output by at

least 2.5 million bpd. It also announced plans to raise production capacity from 12 million bpd to 13 million bpd.

"The real question everyone wants to know is what's happening in Q1 2020," said Ellen Wald, author of the book "Saudi Inc.""The... insight won't arrive until the next earnings call when we learn how Aramco dealt with the current oil market drama and Saudi politics."Riyadh's shock and awe strategy has wide-reaching consequences for global oil producers, already reeling from a slump in demand.

In its latest monthly report, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries lowered its forecast for global average daily demand by 0.92 million barrels to 99.73 million barrels.

Saudi Arabia also raised political uncertainty after a royal purge that saw King Salman's brother and nephew detained. Sources said they were accused of plotting a palace coup to unseat the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, heir to the Saudi throne and de facto ruler. Aramco shares rallied immediately after the listing on December 11, rising by 19 percent to 38 riyals ($10.1) and temporarily lifting the company's valuation above the $2 trillion mark, which was sought by the crown prince.

But as oil prices tumble, Aramco shares have lost 29 percent from its highest point, slipping below the listing price.

On Thursday, Aramco's market value dropped to around $1.55 trillion, but it still remains the world's largest publicly listed company.

Australia, South Korea call for G-20 talks amid market rout AGENCIES Australia and South Korea on Sunday called for meetings of leaders and finance chiefs from the world’s top industrial and emerging nations as the coronavirus outbreak triggers panic on global markets.

The moves suggest a new urgency among government leaders to tackle the spreading virus that threatens to tip the world economy into its first recession since the financial crisis.

Australia Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he supported a proposal by India Prime Minister Narendra Modi to organize a linkup between G-20 leaders. He also held a call with UK counterpart Boris Johnson and both agreed that finance chiefs need to meet too.

“The Prime Minister (Boris Johnson) and I agreed last night that an even more urgent meeting that would be needed would be a further meeting of the G-20 finance ministers and central bank governors,” Morrison told reporters in Sydney. Citing market volatility, Morrison said the G-20 should coordinate actions similar to ones rolled out during the global financial crisis.

“We’ve seen some highly volatile, quite disruptive activity on our financial markets,” Morrison said. “We want to be assured through our cooperation -- as occurred through the GFC among that G-20 group -that we can make sure that there is no further damage or undermining of financial markets and the central bank governors and financial ministers are in best place to do that.”

South Korean President Moon Jae-in proposed to U.S. President Donald Trump to hold a G-20 teleconference summit to discuss how Korea had combated the spread of

the novel coronavirus, according to a statement from Moon’s office.

At the proposed meeting, South Korea plans to share information on its “experience on tackling” the nationwide spread of the novel coronavirus, results on clinical tests, as well as discussing response measures of the outbreak on the global economy, according to the statement.

Also Sunday, Japan’s Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura warned the economic hit from the coronavirus could be worse than the financial crisis and called for a strong policy response.

“This may be on a par with the Lehman shock, or even worse,” Nishimura told Fuji Television. “We need measures on the same scale, they should be bold and not limited by

what’s been done before.”

Leaders from the Group of Seven have already signaled they would hold a video conference on the coronavirus early next week. Canada’s Justin Trudeau said the members agreed to coordinate their response.

The moves come amid market panic and daily signs the global economy is powering down as countries enforce new restrictions

on travel and movement.

A rush by central banks and governments to slash interest rates and unleash more than $130 billion in fiscal stimulus hasn’t been enough to stop the rout.

Trading volatility spiked to levels not seen since the financial crisis in 2008 as the S&P 500 Index’s historic bull run came to an end -- the gauge fell the most since 1987 before retracing some of those losses.

Signs of illiquidity also emerged across global credit markets and the $17 trillion US government-bond market, while the dollar staged its biggest jump in 12 years.

The G-20 released an emergency statement on March 7 that echoed one released by the G-7 nations, which ultimately disappointed investors.

‘FAST-MOVING EVENT’: “This has been a very fast-moving event,” Morrison said.

The G-20 accounts for about 90pc of the world economy and unites industrial and emerging economies in a way the G-7 doesn’t.

It was first organised as a forum of finance ministers and central bankers with the initial gathering taking place in Berlin in December 1999.

It took the financial crisis for leaders to get involved, with President George W. Bush hosting the first summit in November 2008 as the world economy tumbled into recession. The following April, leaders reconvened in London, an event now seen as helping end that recession as governments showed a joint commitment to doing so.

In September 2009, leaders agreed at talks in Pittsburgh that the G-20 would replace the G-7 as the main international economic policy forum.

Monday, 16 March, 2020

12 BUSINESS

Investors prepare for more market swings as virus spreads in the US AGENCIES With one of Wall Street’s wildest weeks in recent memory now in the history books, investors are bracing for more uncertainty and big market swings ahead. Overwhelmingly, caution remains the watchword for investors and analysts reeling from a week that saw all three US exchanges confirm bear markets, oil prices plummet to multiyear lows and wild fluctuations in bond yields and currencies.

Investors still have little clarity on the possible trajectory of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States, the effectiveness of the government response and the eventual damage the virus will cause to the nation’s economy and individual companies. The White House on Saturday said it would extend a travel ban to include the United Kingdom and Ireland, a move that could further hurt oil prices and airlines already battered by a ban announced last week.

“Right now, we view investing in the current environment using the hackneyed phrase of ‘catching a falling knife,’” said Richard Bernstein, chief executive of Richard Bernstein Advisors in a note to investors and conference call. “We see no need to rush into markets.” Bernstein said the rush into US government bonds sparked by recent market swings has overstretched the prices of Treasuries, which now sport yields near record lows. His portfolio holds shorter-dated US debt and equities in the consumer staples and health care sectors, among others. Analytics firm Oxford Economics also discouraged dip buyers, noting in a report that companies’ price-to-earnings ratios remain elevated and corporations may eventually find it difficult to service their debt at a time when leverage is near all-time highs. The firm urged investors to trim exposure to a broad variety of asset classes, including European stocks and the local currency debt of emerging markets. They are also warning investors to brace for more alarming headlines concerning the virus’ spread in the US. “In the foreseeable future, and with a vaccine for the virus still nowhere in sight, it is reasonable to assume that Western containment strategies are unlikely to succeed and the peak in the incidence is at least some weeks, if not months, away,” the firm said. The United States has in recent days received a taste of the types of disruptions that the virus has wrought in other countries, including Italy and South Korea. Daily routines have been upended as businesses including Amazon.com (AMZN.O) urge employees to work from home, schools and universities close, and sporting events and church services are paused across the country. In response to the run on certain items, major retailers have imposed some purchase limits. Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on Saturday that the country has recorded 2,226 case of the new coronavirus but has not yet reached the peak of the outbreak. Investors have cheered moves by the Federal Reserve to add liquidity to markets and promises of fiscal support from the US government, with markets ripping higher on Friday as President Donald Trump declared a national emergency. The central bank is expected to announce an interest rate cut of at least three quarters of a percentage point, with financial markets predicting the Fed will be forced to cut to zero by April to boost the economy.

Retail investors appear to be somewhat more optimistic than their institutional counterparts, a poll by wealth management research firm Spectrem Group showed. Fewer than 10pc of investors polled by the firm earlier this month sold equities while 17pc purchased stocks in the recent selloff, the poll showed. “This infers that institutional investors are causing the market volatility rather than retail investors,” the firm said in a report. Meanwhile, business owners saw the coronavirus as a serious threat to the economy, a survey from Wilmington Trust showed. Thirtysix percent of the respondents in the survey, which targeted owners with businesses generating more than $5 million in revenue, said they anticipated reducing employment levels in the first half and 39pc said they would cut back capital expenditures.

Centre, provInCeS to Create body to reSolve mUltIple taxatIon ISSUeS GHULAM ABBAS

a

ISLAMABAD

S Pakistan is yet to move forward on easing taxes for businesses- one of the major hurdles impeding the country’s position in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Indexthe federal government and four provinces have recently agreed to mutually resolve long standing issues through creating a national tax body.

During a recent meeting held at the Ministry of Finance (MoF), the federating units agreed to resolve the taxation issue as the fragmented Sales Tax is currently resulting in a large tax gap, high compliance cost for businesses, and multiple taxations.

According to reliable sources, the meeting, which was attended by the finance ministers and other concerned officials of the four provinces, was informed that the current ST regime fragments Pakistan into five competing tax juris-

dictions-the centre and four provinces- that is creating difficulties for businesses.

The existing tax base is spatially fragmented as each province has the power to tax services supplied within its jurisdiction and levy its own tax rates on these services, which result in high cost of compliance for business and discouraging inter-province sales.

According to officials, with a tax gap of 87 percent (compared to best performers with the same level of income), the businessmen were required to file 60 ST returns a year.

The businessmen, by this way, were filing returns 12 times a year in five jurisdictions.

Under the existing taxation system, the businessmen/traders are facing different taxation principles owing to varying definitions of goods and services, and application of different rates for services across different jurisdictions, officials add.

During the meeting, it was suggested by the ministry’s officials to

have a seamless policy and administration for the entire country, a unified ST base, same tax rate structure, consistent definitions of goods and services, similar sales tax legislations across all provinces and the federal government, and a common tax return.

Besides, it was also suggested that the revenue collection be made through a common portal and distributed as per the constitution under which ST revenues from goods are collected by the federal government, whereas the revenues from sales tax on services are collected by the provincial government.

It was mutually decided after due deliberations to form a national tax body to resolve the multiple taxation issues. Under the umbrella of the national body, the federating units were agreed to form a mechanism to resolve disputes arising on matters relating to powers vested by it on tax matters, and overlapping of taxes like FED, ST. It may be recalled here that the

previous government was also suggested to go for a single tax collection system while introducing a software for automatic collection and credit to the relevant agency.

Artificial intelligence has been playing wonders in many parts of the world and there is no reason why Pakistan cannot adopt a digital strategy for the government, officials say.

The ruling government had earlier claimed to simplify taxation system and reduce the number of taxes, by merging the withholding tax, sales tax, excise duty and EOBI into one, they further say and addthis cannot be done through executive or administrative orders and requires legislation.

The government, however, instead of any legislation, is now trying to make headway regarding multiple taxes through the national tax body.

According to officials, the PTI government has also yet to introduce reforms in the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR).

Airlines ask for British govt help to survive crisis AGENCIES LONDON

Airlines called on the British government to help ensure their survival during the coronavirus crisis on Sunday after the US extended restrictions on European travelers to include Britain.

British Airways, part of International Consolidated Airlines Group (ICAG.L), had warned on Friday of the threat posed by the coronavirus which has grounded flights worldwide.

Things worsened over the weekend as holiday destinations such as Spain declared a state of emergency and the Trump administration added Britain and Ireland to its list of countries facing travel curbs.

“The time for action is now,” said Airlines UK, a trade body for airlines with UK-registered operations, whose members include British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Norwegian and Ryanair.

“We’re talking about the future of UK aviation - one of our world-class industries - and unless government pulls itself together who knows what will be left of it once we get out of this mess,” it added. The chairman of Virgin Group, the majority shareholder in airline Virgin Atlantic, is expected to ask the government for as much as 7.5 billion pounds ($9.2 billion) to prop up the industry, Sky News reported.

The government has been meeting airline industry leaders and further discussions are expected this week.

“We recognize how difficult the

current situation is for the aviation sector and, across government, we are engaging with the sector’s leadership to support workers, businesses and passengers,” a government spokesman said.

CALLS FOR HELP: Coronavirus has slashed demand, prompting airlines to cancel flights and cut costs and ask governments and regulators for help as they battle to get to grips with what they hope will be short-term, rather than long-term, disruption. In the United States, Delta Air Lines

(DAL.N), American Airlines (AAL.O) and United Airlines (UAL.O), the three largest U.S. carriers, said on Friday there were in talks with the U.S. government about potential assistance.

German airline group Lufthansa (LHAG.DE) said on Friday it would ask several European governments for liquidity help to counter the effects of the coronavirus crisis.

The appeal for assistance from some of the world’s largest carriers highlights the dramatic upheaval in the airline industry amid the spread of

the virus, with the head of British Airways calling it the industry’s worst crisis, surpassing 9/11.

U.S. carriers have traditionally accused foreign rivals, particularly in the Gulf, of benefiting from state support, while some foreign rivals say big U.S. airlines have benefited from takeover protections and Chapter 11 bankruptcy laws. But IAG Chief Executive Willie Walsh told a conference in early March that struggling airlines should not be given state aid to enable them to survive the drop in demand.

Oil giants set work-at-home rules for offices, health checks for critical staff HOUSTON AGENCIES

Major energy companies in the United States imposed work-from-home rules for office staff and began health checks for remote or critical workers as coronavirus spread across the United States and threatened an industry reeling by falling demand and profits.

BP, Exxon Mobil, Kinder Morgan, Motiva Enterprises and Royal Dutch Shell told non-essential staff to work from home starting Monday, workers and officials said.

Shell and Chevron have begun routine health checks of workers and visitors at some key U.S. facilities, spokesmen said.

Offshore rigs, refineries and pipelines require on-site teams and group workers in close quarters, making them vulnerable in a Covid-19 outbreak. Such businesses cannot be run remotely and health checks could prevent forced shutdowns that could lead to big losses or local fuel shortages.

The pandemic has infected more than 156,000 people worldwide including some 2,900 people in the United States, killed more than 5,800 globally and slashed fuel demand amid shuttered schools, churches, offices and some retail stores. There is only one known case of Covid-19 to hit a US refinery. Marathon Petroleum Corp, the nation’s largest refiner by capacity, last week removed some staff at its Carson, California, plant after an employee became ill.

OIL DEMAND FALLS: But falling demand and a price-war that slashed crude prices by about 50pc this year has put the industry in a tailspin. Many oil firms have abruptly cut spending and staff to cope with the downturn.

BP and Shell on Friday gave workers work-at-home assignments following similar social-distancing measures at Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft’s Silicon Valley offices.

The rules affect about 15,000 US Shell workers.

Shell has begun screening staff who travel to its US Gulf of Mexico production rigs “to ensure that we minimize the risks of COVID-19 transmission,” said spokesman Curtis Smith.

Refiners including LyondellBasell Industries and Chevron Corp are considering health checks for employees as they begin their workday, said people familiar with the deliberations.

“We are taking precautionary measures to reduce the risk of exposure, including screening workers and visitors,” Chevron spokesman Braden Reddall said. Local offices will set their own rules with health officials, he added.

Work-at-home rules, fewer car and plane trips are expected to reduce US petroleum demand by up to 2.5 million barrels per day (bpd). For the full year, it could cut motor fuel use by roughly 300,000 to 400,000 bpd.

SIX FEET APART: The sweeping precau-

tions affect refinery, oil and gas export terminal and gas pipeline operations. Kinder Morgan Inc, one of the largest North American pipeline and export firms, asked most of its 11,000 employees to work from home beginning Monday. It will reevaluate the situation weekly, said spokeswoman Melissa Ruiz.

Non-essential workers at BP’s US refineries, Exxon’s Baytown, Texas, refinery and Shell’s Convent and Norco, Louisiana, plants also will work from home beginning Monday, according to people familiar with the matter. BP may keep the measures through mid-April, one of the people said.

There have been no refining or chemical plant shut-ins caused by coronavirus. Still, companies are drafting plans to keep running through an outbreak at one or more facilities, said the people.

Shell asked salaried staff at its Louisiana refineries to begin shadowing hourly plant operators to prepare managers to run units if necessary, the people said.

Exxon will allow only trained operators into control rooms at its Baytown plant, and they must remain at least six feet apart from one another, people familiar with plant operations said.

Exxon would not comment on specific actions. It is focused “on ensuring the safety and health of our entire workforce and to do our part to limit the spread,” said spokesman Todd Spitler.

Marathon Petroleum launched “business-continuity plans to accommodate staffing needs in the event of illness-related absenteeism,” spokesman Jamal Kheiry said.

The procedures are similar to managing through a hurricane or labor dispute. Among measures being weighed are assigning small crews to keep refineries operating during an outbreak, the people said. Crews would not leave until the crisis passed.

Most refineries can operate with about half their normal staff, the people said, but may have to scale back production.

What does the extended travel ban mean for air travelers?

The Trump adminisTraTion widened The Travel ban To include The uniTed Kingdom and ireland. here’s a guide on which counTries are affecTed, and The changes To flighTs already occurring

o

AGENCIES

N Saturday, the Trump administration extended the ban on foreign nationals from certain European countries to include those traveling from the United Kingdom and Ireland. The latest restrictions go into place on Monday at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time.

The ban on travelers from the European continent, which went into effect on Friday at 11:59 p.m. Eastern time, does not apply to United States citizens, green card holders or their immediate family members. The same will be true of the extended ban. But regardless of nationality or residency, all travelers could still be affected — by increased security screenings, air-

line service reductions or other effects of the coronavirus outbreak.

Here’s a guide on which countries are affected, and what changes to air travel and airfare could occur.

WHICH CoUntRIEs ARE AFFECtED? The countries affected are those that are in the Schengen Area, which allows travel among its member nations without passport checks or restriction, plus the United Kingdom and Ireland.

The Schengen Area countries are: Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzer-

land. Most of the countries in the area are members of the European Union.

Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Lichtenstein are not, but they opted into the Schengen Area and are included in the travel ban. The United Kingdom includes England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

WHICH AIRLInEs WILL BE Most AFFECtED? The travel ban will affect all 28 trans-Atlantic carriers, which collectively make around 1,500 flights per week from Europe and carry more than 400,000 passengers.

Delta Air Lines, the largest transAtlantic carrier, has 266 flights from Europe to the United States weekly, according to Cirium, an airline data research firm. In a memo released Fri-

day, Ed Bastian, Delta’s chief executive, said the airline would halt flights to and from continental Europe for 30 days, beginning Sunday.

The number of flights to the United States from London’s Heathrow Airport — the largest airport in Europe by passenger volume — will likely slow dramatically in the coming days as airlines reduce capacity. The major airlines have not yet announced service cuts in response to Saturday’s development, but passengers should monitor the situation closely.

Passengers on low-cost carriers in particular may want to consider backup travel arrangements; those airlines will be most immediately affected by the loss of passenger revenue and are the most likely to cut flights.

us box office plunges to lowest level in over two decades amid coronavirus pandemic AGENCIES Much of public life in the United States essentially ground to a halt this week. In the entertainment world, theme parks shut down, Broadway went dark, studios pulled major tentpoles from their release calendar, and virtually all Hollywood movies and TV shows halted production as coronavirus continues to rapidly spread across North America. The exhibition industry, a sector of the film business reliant on the communal experience, has been the one institution reluctant to entirely close its doors amid the ongoing public heath crisis. Prior to Friday, fears of coronavirus didn’t appear to impact moviegoing. But this weekend’s box office results display that significantly fewer people are going to their local multiplex. Ticket sales in North America hit the lowest levels in over two decades, generating roughly $55.3 million between Friday and Sunday. Only one movie, Disney-Pixar’s “Onward,” made more than $10 million over the weekend. The last time revenues were this depressed was a weekend in mid-September of 2000 ($54.5 million). The steep decline pushed the year-to-date box office down almost 9%, according to Comscore. Domestic receipts were inevitably going to plummet this weekend because AMC and Regal, two of the biggest movie theater chains, and several other circuits like Alamo Drafthouse and Arclight, cut capacity in individual auditoriums by 50% to avoid crowding. Reducing the number of tickets sold per theater helped multiplexes comply with Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations for “social distancing.” Theaters also kept room between rows and seats to ensure patrons had ample space. So in all, low ticket sales were a combination of audiences staying home and theaters capping seating capacity. “The impact of this unprecedented situation was apparent across many industries,” said Paul Dergarabedian, a senior media analyst with Comscore. “Of course, movie theaters, amidst reduced capacity and an ever-evolving set of circumstances, had a very challenging weekend.” Last weekend’s champion, Disney-Pixar’s “Onward,” remained the No. 1 movie at the domestic box office, as three new films opened to varying degrees of disappointment. “Onward” pulled in $10.5 million in its second outing, a brutal 73% decline from its inaugural weekend. After two weeks of release, “Onward” has made $60.8 million in North America and $101 million globally. Faith-based drama “I Still Believe,” from Lionsgate and Kingdom Story Company, pulled in the biggest haul among newcomers and placed second on box office charts. The film, starring KJ Apa as Christian singer Jeremy Camp, earned $9.5 million from 3,250 theaters, slightly below expectations. “I Still Believe” was directed by brothers Andrew and Jon Erwin, whose last collaboration, 2018’s “I Can Only Imagine,” debuted to $17 million and ended up grossing $86 million. “I Still Believe” has an “A” CinemaScore and is performing strongest in the south and midwest. Among opening weekend audiences, 74% were female and 73% were over the age of 25. Sony’s superhero thriller “Bloodshot,” starring Vin Diesel, launched at No. 3, bringing in $9.3 million from 2,861 venues. Though only slightly behind the studio’s projections, it’s still a disappointing result for a film that cost $45 million to produce. “Bloodshot” — which earned a “B” CinemaScore from audiences — was co-financed by Columbia Pictures, Bona Film Group and Cross Creek Pictures.

Diesel has had trouble attracting crowds to non-“Fast and Furious” endeavors, although in this case, the virus certainly didn’t help draw ticket buyers. “The Hunt,” an R-rated political satire from Universal and Blumhouse, came in fifth place with $5.3 million from 3,028 locations, about half of what was expected heading into the weekend. It carries a $14 million price tag. “The Hunt” had been the subject of controversy since it was initially slated for last September. But Universal scrapped its release in wake of three mass shootings, as well as intense media scrutiny after President Donald Trump criticized it on Twitter.

Coronavirus has caused a hand sanitizer shortage. What should you do? using hand saniTizer helps prevenT The spread of coronavirus. so whaT do you do when iT’s sold ouT? AGENCIES Alarm over coronavirus has caused a run on hand sanitizers. And now, sanitizers from Purell and other brands are exceedingly hard to come by. Where it isn’t sold out, enterprising sellers are charging outrageously inflated prices simply because they can. If you don’t have any hand sanitizer, you’re not likely to get some while the manufacturers create enough supply to meet the frenzied demand caused by panic over coronavirus. (To be clear, we don’t think anyone should panic.)

While using hand sanitizer is a smart way to slow and prevent the spread of viruses, keep in mind that washing your hands thoroughly with soap is more effective than using hand sanitizer. (Here’s a fun list of choruses that work from Twitter if you don’t want to sing “Happy Birthday” to reach at least 20 seconds of handwashing.)

But if you’re on a train and a sudden lurch forces you to grab a pole, we can understand wishing for a squirt of something purifying

while you’re enclosed for the rest of your trip. So what do you do if you can’t get your hands on the most popular hand sanitizers?

In collaboration with Wirecutter, a product review website owned by the New York Times, here’s our advice: Dos:Do wash your hands frequently and thoroughly. This is the smartest thing you can do to prevent the spread of viruses.

Do make sure that if you are able to buy a lesser-known brand of hand sanitizer, it’s made of at least 60% alcohol, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (C.D.C.) That rules out some of the so-called “botanical” options and popular kid-friendly options.

Do make sure that if you decide to try and make your own hand sanitizer, it also contains at least 60% alcohol. This recipe (two parts rubbing alcohol, one part aloe) sounds like it should achieve 60% alcohol.

Keep in mind that some recipes call for using liquor (like vodka), which is usually 40% alcohol, and might not reach the threshold you

need. For instance, Tito’s Vodka has been urging people not to use its product in DIY sanitizer solutions.

Do dry your hands before applying any hand sanitizer. A 2019 study published in the American Society for Microbiology’s publication, mSphere, found that wet mucus protected the influenza A virus, rendering hand sanitizer less effective.

Don’ts: Don’t rely on DIY recipes based solely on essential oils. They won’t work.

Don’t be conservative with your sanitizer, even if you’re down to one small travel-size bottle. For it to work, you need to cover every surface of both hands entirely with the sanitizer and rub until dry, according to the C.D.C. Don’t use any hand sanitizer on greasy or dirty hands; it’s less effective, according to the C.D.C. Don’t assume all anti-bacterial wipes will do the job. Benzalkonium chloride, the active ingredient in Wet Ones, was found to be less effective than ethanol (as in alcohol, the active ingredient in some sanitizers), hydrogen peroxide, or sodium hypochlorite on coronaviruses in an analysis of 22 studies published in February 2020.

Don’t expect baby wipes to work as well as handwashing or hand sanitizer.

Baby wipes don’t have alcohol in them,

and rubbing won’t remove germs from your hands the way simple soap and clean running water can.

Monday, 16 March, 2020

14 SPORTS

Serie A doctorS wArn AgAinSt return to trAining AS 11 plAyerS cAtch coronAviruS

S

roMe Agencies

ERIE A doctors have issued a joint warning advising against a return to club training after four more players on Saturday tested positive for coronavirus, bringing the tally in the Italian top flight to 11. Fiorentina's Patrick Cutrone and German Pezzella contracted the virus, the Tuscan club said, with Sampdoria's Fabio Depaoli and Bartosz Bereszynski later confirming they had also been diagnosed.

Serie A doctors said they had "strong concerns" and "unanimously advise not to resume training until a clear improvement" in the situation.

Four Fiorentina team members were diagnosed with Serbia forward Dusan Vlahovic also testing positive on Friday, along with a club physiotherapist.

Seven Sampdoria players have tested positive, including Italian midfielder Depaoli and Polish defender Bereszynski on Saturday, along with Juventus defender Daniele Rugani this week.

Vlahovic, 20, revealed that he had not realised anything was wrong until he became feverish and his temperature rose to 39 de-

grees, and he went to hospital. "Anyway, I'm fine now," he said on Instagram.

"What to do now? Nothing, just rest. I

just have to stay away from people."

Serie A as well as all sport in Italy has been suspended until April 3.

But the Italian Players' Association (AIC) on Saturday slammed a "paradoxical situation" whereby pressure was being put

Players treated like 'guinea pigs' over coronavirus: Rooney Manchester

garay becomes first liga player known to have coronavirus Buenos aires Agencies

Valencia's Argentinian centre-back Ezequiel Garay said on Sunday he had tested positive for coronavirus, becoming the first player in the Spanish Liga known to have the disease. "It's clear that 2020 has started on the wrong foot," he posted on Instagram alongside a smiling selfie giving the thumbs up. "I tested positive for coronavirus, I feel very well and now all that's left is to do what the health authorities say, which is to isolate myself." Garay, 33, was in the stands on Tuesday for the Champions League round-of-16 second leg match behind closed doors at the Mestalla where Valencia lost 4-3 to Atalanta, who are from Bergamo in Lombardy, and were eliminated by an aggregate score of 84. By Sunday morning, Spain had recorded 6,391 cases and 196 deaths. All football is suspended. Real Madrid's professional football and basketball squads were placed in quarantine on Thursday after a player from the basketball team tested positive for coronavirus. Barcelona said on Friday they would "suspend all activity until further notice" as a precautionary measure.

Agencies

Former Manchester United star Wayne Rooney claims the British government and football authorities have treated players like "guinea pigs" during the coronavirus crisis.

While the rest of European football was shutting down due to the growing threat of the global pandemic, Rooney is angry it took several days for the Premier League and Football League to postpone their matches until April 3.

It was only when Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta and Chelsea winger Callum Hudson-Odoi tested positive for the virus on Friday that football's UK governing bodies called a temporary halt to the season. Rooney, currently playing for second tier Derby, felt they should have acted quicker and the former England captain said he would "never forgive" the authorities if his family fell ill as a result.

"Why did we wait until Friday? Why did it take Mikel Arteta to get ill for the game in England to do the right thing?" Rooney wrote in the Sunday Times.

"For players, staff and their families it has been a worrying week - one in which you felt a lack of leadership from the government and from the FA and Premier League. "After the emergency meeting, at last the right decision was made - until then it almost felt like footballers in England were being treated like guinea pigs.

"I know how I feel. If any of my family get infected through me because I've had to play when it's not safe, and they get seriously ill, I'd have to think hard about ever playing again. I would never forgive the authorities."

Many matches at non-league level were going ahead as scheduled in Britain this weekend and Rooney believes

on players by some clubs to return to training. "Today in Italy there are still football clubs which are either shamefully irresponsible, or live on Mars, or lack a minimum of dignity," the AIC wrote.

On Saturday evening Italian authorities said 3,497 cases had been recorded in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 21,157.

The death toll now stands at 1,441, up from 1,266 on Friday. Italy international Cutrone, 22, who joined Fiorentina on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers last January, took to Instagram to reassure fans on his condition. "Thanks to all of you for the support and your messages of affection," the former AC Milan player said.

"I'm fine, and at this moment I stay at home following the protocol I received. I recommend you strictly observe the indications provided every day by the Institutions. #StrongerTogether #StayatHome Thank you, Patrick."

Argentine Pezzella said earlier on Instagram: "The symptoms disappeared and I am at home following the procedures indicated by my club's medical staff.

"This will certainly soon be just another story. Look after your health and that of those around you. Hugs."

Prime Minister Boris Johnson "dodged" the issue by letting football make its own decision about playing on.

The 34-year-old claimed money was key to the authorities' reluctance to cancel games.

"The rest of sport - tennis, Formula One, rugby, golf, football in other countries - was closing down and we were

being told to carry on," Rooney said. "I think a lot of footballers were wondering, 'Is it something to do with money being involved in this?'" Once the virus is under control, Rooney wants a radical schedule shake-up which could see the current season being concluded as late as September, and the next two kicking off in winter-time as a result.

van dijk fears liverpool will win title in empty stadium LiverpooL Agencies

French football president tells chairmen to shut up about virus

paris Agencies

French Football Federation (FFF) president Noel le Graet on Sunday said a call by Lyon president JeanMichel Aulas to annul the season was "ridiculous, stu-

pid, clumsy and inappropriate."

He also told Aulas and other club officials to stop bickering during the coronavirus epidemic which has forced the cancellation of all the competitions French clubs are in.

On Friday, Aulas told Le Monde newspaper: "The most logical thing would be to say: we'll cancel everything and go back to the situation at the start of the season."

On Saturday, he tweeted that "Karren Brady, vicechairman of West Ham, foresees that the Premier League will be cancelled." Le Graet joined the chorus of opposition on Sunday on French television.

"I don't want any controversy. It's the French Football Federation that will decide if it continues or not, the only enemy today is the virus," he said.

In his Le Monde interview, Aulas, a member of the FFF executive committee, called for a "blank season", with no title at the end.

Lyon's great rivals Paris Saint-Germain are on course for another title. They are 12 points ahead of secondplaced Marseille.

There would be no relegation, said Aulas, who represents Ligue 1 clubs on the French league (LFP) committee, to prevent "those at the bottom of the table"

taking legal action.

Aulas also said the Champions League places should be "allocated to the same clubs as last season".

After finishing third last season, Lyon are struggling in seventh place, 10 points off a Champions League place.

Marseille president Jacques-Henri Eyraud responded in a column for the Journal du Dimanche condemning "the obscenity (of an) opportunistic proposal" and "the selfishness of someone whose only compass is his participation in the Champions League".

Le Graet said the FFF executive committee would decide.

"There's an executive committee at the French Football Federation and it's this executive committee that will decide," Le Graet said. "So all the interviews that are done on the left or on the right, where people want to shine or not shine, don't matter."

"I find it quite ridiculous, stupid, clumsy and inappropriate to what's happening," he added, asking the two club presidents "to calm down and be dignified in their statements, which make no sense and don't make them any bigger."

The FFF, he said, was "in the real fight. The other fight - who's playing in a European Cup - is stupid."

Virgil Van Dijk fears Liverpool will be forced to celebrate their first English title for 30 years in an empty stadium as a result of coronavirus chaos.

All Premier League games have been postponed until at least April 3 due to the spread of the global pandemic. Premier League chiefs are set to meet on Thursday to discuss if it will be possible to continue the season and, if so, in what format. Games could be played behind closed doors, which would mean Liverpool, who are 25 points clear of second placed Manchester City, winning the title without their fans being present. That is a depressing prospect for Liverpool defender Van Dijk. "If we won it in an empty stadium and the fans weren't there, I'd be gutted for them," he told several British newspapers on Sunday. "Obviously, if there are no fans at Anfield, then it will be a bit of a blow. No one wants to play games without the fans. "Until a decision is made on how we go on from here, then we just have to deal with it. But when it happens, we are still bringing the title to our fans, definitely." Liverpool could have wrapped up the title on Monday with a win at Everton if Manchester City were beaten by Burnley on Saturday, but both those games were postponed, along with the rest of the Premier League programme. Some have suggested the season should be scrapped for safety reason, which would leave Premier League chiefs to decide if Liverpool should be given the title even though the campaign did not reach its scheduled 38-game conclusion.

Monday, 16 March, 2020

SPORTS 15

ChriS Lynn'S 55-BALL 113 tAkeS LAhore QALAndArS to mAiden Semi-finAL LAHoRe

t

HbL SCORECARD MULTAN SULTANS INNINGS (20 OvERS MAxIMUM) M M Ali b Shaheen Shah Afridi ...............................................................................................................1 Zeeshan Ashraf † c Sohail Akhtar b Mohammad Hafeez ..........................................................2 Shan Masood (c) b Wiese ........................................................................................................................42 RS Bopara c Fakhar Zaman b Wiese ...................................................................................................33 Khushdil Shah not out ...............................................................................................................................70 Asad Shafiq run out (Dilbar Hussain/†Dunk) ...................................................................................1 Rohail Nazir b Shaheen Shah Afridi .....................................................................................................24 Bilawal Bhatti not out ................................................................................................................................1 Extras: 12 (b 4, lb 2, nb 1, w 5) TOTAL: 186/6 (20 Overs, RR: 9.3) Did not bat: Ali Shafiq, Junaid Khan, Usman Qadir BOWLING Shaheen Shah Afridi-4-0-23, Mohammad Hafeez 4-0-22-0, Dilbar Hussain 3-0-37-0 SR Patel 1-0-13-0, Haris Rauf 3-0-50-0, Raja Farzan 2-0-11-0, D Wiese 3-0-24-2 LAHORE QALANDARS INNINGS (TARGET: 187 RUNS fROM 20 OvERS) Fakhar Zaman st †Zeeshan Ashraf b Usman Qadir 57 CA Lynn not out 113 Sohail Akhtar (c) not out 19 Extras: 2 (w 2) TOTAL: 191/1 (18.5 Overs, RR: 10.14) BOWLING: Junaid Khan 4-0-36-0 Ali Shafiq 2.-0-40-0 Bilawal Bhatti 3-0-41-0 MM Ali 1-0-17-0-17.00 RS Bopara 2-0-17-0 Usman Qadir 4-0-24-1 Khushdil Shah 2-0-16-0 Match Details: Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore Series: Pakistan Super League Toss: Lahore Qalandars , elected to field first Player Of The Match Lahore QalandarsChris Lynn Season: 2019/20 Hours of play (local time) 14.00 start, First Session 14.00-15.30, Interval 15.30-15.45, Second Session 15.45-17.15 Match days: 15 March 2020 (20-over match) Umpires: Pakistan Shozab Raza Pakistan Aleem Dar TV Umpires: Pakistan Asif Yaqoob Reserve Umpire: Pakistan Nasir Hussain Points: Lahore Qalandars 2, Multan Sultans 0

AGENCIES

He dynamic opening duo of Fakhar Zaman and Chris Lynn terrorised a second-string Multan Sultans bowling unit, pummeling 72 runs in the powerplay during a 100-run partnership to mow down a target of 187 as Lahore Qalandars clinched their firstever playoff berth in the fifth season of the Pakistan Super League with a nine-wicket win. A blazing half-century by Zaman was followed by Lynn's match-clinching ton, the first-ever by a Qalandars batsman in their five-year history in the tournament.

Qalandars were off to a shaky start again early in the tournament this season after losing their first three matches but a stunning resurgence propelled in their fourth match by the ferocious hitting of Ben Dunk dug them out of the cellar. The pyrotechnics of Zaman and Lynn in their season finale against Sultans ensured Dunk's prior efforts were not in vain. Bouncing back from a 10-wicket drubbing at the hands of Karachi Kings on Thursday, Zaman and Lynn seized on the fact that Sultans could afford to rest several of their frontline bowlers after having clinched first place outright 48 hours earlier.

Zaman led the initial onslaught, bringing up a 25-ball half-century during a brutal seventh over assault on Moeen Ali's offspin. After Zaman was stumped following a charge gone awry to Usman Qadir's legspin in the 9th, Lynn took centrestage with more belligerent hitting.

The Australian brought up a 22-ball half-century in the 10th over swatting Ravi Bopara over cow corner for six. The maximum barrage continued against Khushdil Shah in the 14th, who was carted for backto-back straight sixes to take Lynn into the 80s. Another heave over cow corner off Bilawal Bhatti took him to 98 before a pair of singles off Junaid Khan brought up the first century by a Qalandars batsman in their five-year history. Lynn then ended the match by heaving Ali Shafiq twice over the leg side rope in the 19th to seal his side's maiden playoff appearance with seven balls to spare.

Momentum was with Sultans after a sloppy bowling display in the latter half of the first innings allowed Khushdil to feast his way to an unbeaten 70 off 29 balls. But Zaman and Lynn stole it right back with their

thunderous powerplay. A consistent short ball plan to Zaman failed repeatedly as he hooked and pulled for boundaries at will.

However, the most savage treatment by Zaman was meted out immediately after the first six when he attacked Ali in the seventh over. He charged Ali's second ball, driving him hard over mid-off for six. An attempted to bowl fuller, flatter and wider next ball was negated when Zaman swept him through the leg side for four. Two balls later, Zaman

was galloping down the wicket again to lift Ali over long-on for another six. At 89 for 0 with the required run rate down to 7.53, Sultans were left completely deflated.

Lynn has had a monster reputation on the T20 franchise circuit over the last several years, particularly in the Caribbean Premier League and Big Bash. But amazingly, this performance was his first century in T20 franchise cricket outside of Australia. There was a great maturity to the knock as well. With Zaman applying the early pressure, Lynn was content to rotate the strike and only attack when there was a genuine loose ball. Though he had several close shaves early on with a couple of inside edges missing the stumps on the way to the fine leg boundary, Lynn got his eye locked in midway through the chase and from there on showed no mercy.

The arsenal of bowling guns were rested today

by Sultans. The first time these two sides played in their opening match of the season, Imran Tahir was named Man of the Match for his two key wickets while Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Irfan and Shahid Afridi were no less impactful in a match that was clinched with 29 balls to spare chasing a target of 139. Their collective absence was noticeable in the toothless display produced by much of the Sultans bowling unit that took the field on Sunday afternoon.

HBL PSL 5

Quetta Gladiators defeat Karachi Kings by 5 wickets KARACHI AGENCIES

Quetta Gladiators, who entered the tournament as defending champions, walked out of the Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2020 on Sunday with a five-wicket win over Karachi Kings.

The Gladiators cruised towards victory as they scored 154 runs in just 16.2 overs, at the loss of five wickets.

The Karachi Kings had posted 150

runs on the scoreboard during their innings earlier, when they had won the toss and opted to bat first.

Shane Watson was awarded the Player of the Match for his 66-run knock off 34 balls. His 118-run partnership with Khurram Manzoor (63) kept the team from getting derailed after Ahmed Shehzad's early wicket.

Shehzad had walked off the stadium for naught.

Chadwick Walton (62) was the highest scorer for the Kings, who

could not do much with the bat.

Karachi Kings will face Lahore Qalandars at the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore on March 17 at 7pm. On the same day at 2pm, Multan Sultans will play against Peshawar Zalmi.

Despite their victory, Gladiators failed to reach the semi-finals due to low points. They did manage to lift themselves from the bottom of the table and finished second-last with nine points. Islamabad United finished last with seven points.

CMYK

PSL POINTS TABLE TEAM................................M..............W ...............L .............T..................N/R...........PT .........NPR Multan Sultans ..............10 .............6 .................2.............0..................2................14 ..........1.031 Karachi Kings.................9...............5.................3 .............0..................1.................11...........0.014 Lahore Qalandars .........10 .............5.................5.............0..................0 ...............10........-0.072 Peshawar Zalmi ............10 .............4.................5.............0..................1.................9 .........-0.055 Islamabad United..........10 .............3 .................6 .............0..................1.................7...........0.185 Quetta Gladiators.........9...............3 .................5.............0..................1.................7 ..........-1.052

i just had very, very mild cold: ferguson after corona scare AucklANd: There's been a few times that Lockie Ferguson had been down with a cold in the course of his career, but it was different this time. After reporting a sore throat to the New Zealand team management on Friday, he was sent for COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) tests and then asked to isolate himself in his hotel room. Now he's back home with his family, who wasted no time checking up on him. "Certainly got a few texts on Saturday but I was quick to announce that it was only a few cold symptoms and happy to be home now," he said upon arrival in Auckland on Sunday. Ferguson was in Sydney to play a three-match ODI series, but with the New Zealand government increasing travel restrictions, including a mandate that said people coming back from Australia had to go under self-isolation for 14 days, the series was called off a third of the way through. AGENCIES

Biles takes aim at USA Gymnastics in birthday tweet New York: Four-time Olympic gold medallist Simone Biles wants more than good wishes from USA Gymnastics. The US federation wished Biles a happy 23rd birthday on social media on Saturday. Biles -who also owns 19 world titles and is expected to be among the stars of the Tokyo Olympics -- used their tweet as a chance to demand an independent investigation into the Larry Nassar sex abuse scandal. "how about you amaze me and do the right thing ... have an independent investigation," Biles snapped on Twitter after the federation's birthday tweet. "HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the most decorated gymnast of all time, @simonebiles!" USA Gymnastics wrote, posting a video of Biles in action in a floor exercise. "We know you will only continue to amaze us and make history!"

Former national gymnastics team doctor Nassar was jailed for life for abusing more than 250 athletes, including stars of the United States' 2012 and 2016 gold medal-winning Olympic teams. AGENCIES

HbL SCORECARD KARACHI KINGS Sharjeel Khan b Naseem Shah ..............................................................................................................0 Babar Azam (c) c Mohammad Nawaz b Fawad Ahmed ..............................................................32 Iftikhar Ahmed c Watson b Sohail Khan ............................................................................................21 CS Delport b Mohammad Hasnain ......................................................................................................62 CAK Walton c Mohammad Hasnain b Naseem Shah ..................................................................26 Mohammad Rizwan † not out ...............................................................................................................0 Usama Mir not out ......................................................................................................................................1 EXTRAS: (lb 5, w 3) 8 TOTAL: 150/5 (20 Overs, RR: 7.5) DID NOT BAT: Ali Khan, Waqas Maqsood, Umer Khan, Arshad Iqbal FALL OF WICKETS: 1-0 (Sharjeel Khan, 0.2 ov), 2-30 (Iftikhar Ahmed, 4.5 ov), 3-72 (Babar Azam, 11.5 ov), 4-145 (Chadwick Walton, 18.6 ov), 5-147 (Cameron Delport, 19.3 ov) BOWLING Naseem Shah 4-0-17-2, Sohail Khan 4-0-38-1, Mohammad Nawaz (3) 4-0-32-0, Fawad Ahmed 4-0-27-1, Mohammad Hasnain 4-0-31-1 QUETTA GLADIATORS Ahmed Shehzad c Mohammad Rizwan b Waqas Maqsood ......................................................0 SR Watson c Babar Azam b Arshad Iqbal .........................................................................................66 Khurram Manzoor c Usama Mir b Waqas Maqsood .....................................................................63 Sarfaraz Ahmed (c) † c Walton b Ali Khan .......................................................................................2 Azam Khan not out ....................................................................................................................................12 BCJ Cutting c Walton b Arshad Iqbal ..................................................................................................0 Mohammad Nawaz (3) not out ..............................................................................................................8 EXTRAS: (lb 1, w 2) 3 TOTAL: 154/5 (16.2 Overs, RR: 9.42) YET TO BAT: Sohail Khan, Fawad Ahmed, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah FALL OF WICKETS: 1-0 (Ahmed Shehzad, 0.2 ov), 2-118 (Khurram Manzoor, 11.1 ov), 3-121 (Sarfaraz Ahmed, 12.1 ov), 4-139 (Shane Watson, 14.1 ov), 5-139 (Ben Cutting, 14.2 ov) BOWLING Waqas Maqsood 4-0-19-2, Ali Khan 3-0-36-1, Umer Khan 3-0-31-0, Arshad Iqbal 3.2-0-37-2, Usama Mir 3-0-30-0

Monday, 16 March, 2020

NEWS

SpAiN, fRANce iMpoSe TighT coNTRolS AS gloBAl iNfecTioNS pASS 150,000 ITALY RECORDS 368 DEATHS IN A SINGLE DAY PARIS

f

AGENCIES

RANCE and Spain became the latest European nations to impose lockdowns, while Australia joined New Zealand in ordering self-isolation for all arrivals Sunday as the number of coronavirus infections around the world passed 150,000, with nearly 6,000 deaths. France ordered the closure of restaurants, bars, cinemas and nightclubs — but said food shops, pharmacies and banks would remain open, and pressed ahead with voting for local elections on Sunday despite the virus threat. Spain imposed a near-total nationwide lockdown, banning people from leaving home except to go to work, get medical care or buy food.

COVID-19 has so far claimed 196 lives in Spain, making it the worst-hit European country after Italy. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s wife is among those infected. In a sign of growing alarm, the US extended a travel ban on European nations to the United Kingdom and Ireland, starting midnight on Monday.

The restrictions threw airports across the US into disarray, with incoming travellers forced to wait hours for medical screenings.

US President Donald Trump tested negative for the disease, having come into contact with several members of a Brazilian presidential delegation who have since tested

positive. “One week after having dinner with the Brazilian delegation at Mar-a-Lago, the president remains symptom-free,” Trump’s physician Sean Conley said.

The number of COVID-19 cases worldwide has gone past 156,000 worldwide with more than 5,800 deaths, according to a tally

by Johns Hopkins University.

BORDERS, AIRPORTS CLOSED GLOBALLY: A week that saw schools and businesses shut down indefinitely, millions of travellers barred from crossing borders, celebrities and politicians infected and the whole of Italy locked down ended with a flurry of government announcements. Australia on Sunday announced all arrivals in the country will face mandatory 14-day self-isolation, starting at midnight (1300 GMT Sunday).

“We are going to have to get used to some changes in the way we live our lives,” said Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

Trump declared a national emergency and announced a $50 billion package, with similar measures being taken by governments from Austria to Canada.

European nations ramped up border controls, while Chile has quarantined more than 1,300 people aboard two cruise ships after an elderly Briton aboard one of them tested positive for the coronavirus. Squares and streets from Milan to Madrid were deserted on Saturday as government calls to stay at home were heeded by most.

Some Italians took to singing to each other from their windows to beat the isolation, while the Vatican said Sunday that its traditional Easter week celebrations would be held without worshippers. The country

that saw the biggest increase over the last 24 hours was Italy, which recorded 368 deaths, while Iran had 113 and Spain 105. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has confirmed Europe as the new epicentre of the pandemic after a dramatic slump in domestic cases in China, where the virus first emerged in December last year. China on Sunday reported 16 new imported cases of the coronavirus, the highest in over a week. In a bid to stop imported infections, Beijing authorities said all international arrivals in the Chinese capital will be sent to quarantine facilities.

PUBLIC HEALTH DILEMMAS: The human cost is rapidly being matched by the economic cost — financial markets endured a rollercoaster ride all week with spectacular losses triggered by fears of a global recession followed by huge gains after government spending pledges.

Tech giant Apple closed all of its stores outside China until March 27 while British Airways became the latest global firm to hint at drastic action to come, with CEO Alex Cruz telling staff to expect job losses.

Airlines have cancelled thousands of flights worldwide and some airports have shut terminals.

As economies reel and finance experts mull the impact, governments are also facing public health dilemmas — whether to try to stamp out the disease entirely with drastic restrictions or try to manage its spread.

British officials have argued for trying to flatten the curve — managing the outbreak to push the peak of the crisis to summer when hospitals will be able to cope better.

TRuMp TeSTS NegATive foR viRuS AS uS expANdS euRope TRAvelleR BAN WASHINGTON AGENCIES

US President Donald Trump has tested negative for the novel coronavirus, his physician said on Saturday, following concerns over his exposure to a disease that has paralyzed the globe. Trump agreed to the test after coming in contact with several members of a Brazilian presidential delegation visiting his Florida resort who have since tested positive for the virus. “This evening I received confirmation that the test is negative,” the president’s physician Sean Conley said in a memo. “One week after having dinner with the Brazilian delegation at Mar-a-Lago, the President remains symptom-free,” he said.

Trump, 73, had dismissed concerns over his exposure to the disease which has killed at least 51 Americans and upended the rhythm of daily life across the country, with millions working from home and schools shuttered. New York, the most populous US city, saw its first coronavirus death on Saturday, as store shelves were stripped bare after days of panic buying. “I have been through Hurricane Sandy […] through 9/11, I have never seen shopping like this,” said Larry Grossman, manager of a Manhattan supermarket. Vice President Mike Pence on Saturday announced a further restriction on travel to the United States, saying a travel ban imposed on European nations over the pandemic would be extended to the United Kingdom and Ireland Tuesday. Trump advised against non-essential travel, and said officials were considering imposing travel restrictions within the United States. “If you don’t have to travel, I wouldn’t do it,” Trump said at a White House news conference. “We want this thing to end. We don’t want a lot of people getting infected.”

Trump declared a national emergency on Friday in what critics say was a long-delayed admission of the gravity of the crisis, freeing up some $40 billion in disaster relief funds.

Late Friday, the US House of Representatives passed a bill — crafted by Democrats in consultation with the Trump administration — to provide billions of dollars for free virus testing, emergency paid sick leave and family leave related to the epidemic. Supported

by Trump, it is expected to easily pass the Republican-controlled Senate next week.

News of Trump taking the test marked a further turning point, after days of resistance to the suggestion.

AN END TO HAND SHAKING: The coronavirus pandemic has claimed more than 5,700 lives in some 137 countries.

State Bank ready to battle any market shocks amid coronavirus crisis

NEWS DESK The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has said it is ready to take action to support financial markets during COVID19 pandemic outbreak – a mysterious pneumonia-like disease caused by the novel coronavirus that has affected

nearly 150 countries so far.

The global pandemic, which has led to a sell-off in the country’s bond, has also pushed Pakistan’s net sales of $772 million in short-term rupee debt this month after eight successive months of purchases that totaled $3.1 billion, Bloomberg reported on Sunday.

So far Pakistan has reported 53 COVID-19 cases – 35 in Sindh, 10 in Balochistan, 4 in Islamabad, 3 in Gilgit-Baltistan and 1 in Punjab. “The current market volatility in Pakistan is externally driven and the strengthening in the fundamentals of Pakistan’s economy that drove the improvement in Pakistan markets before the outbreak of coronavirus remains intact,” SBP Governor Reza Baqir said in an email to the publication.

The central bank ‘is monitoring the situation closely and remains ready to take any actions needed to address disorderly market conditions’, he added.

On Friday, the central bank of Pakistan helped the rupee advance 0.1 per cent after a four-day decline, according to people familiar with the matter.

Global central banks stepped up their crisis-fighting measures last week in a campaign to keep markets functioning and economies growing, including interest-rate cuts, asset purchases, currency interventions and liquidity injections.

The country’s economy is stabilising under a $6 bil-

lion bailout programme by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after a deficit blowout. However, to contain the damage, the nation doubled its interest rate and devalued its currency by half since late 2017.

High interest rates encouraged investors to pile into the nation’s local-currency bonds like never before but the latest global turmoil started an outflow.

“The selling “shows that this money can be fickle and can move based on concerns other than Pakistan,” said Abdul Kadir Hussain, head of fixed-income asset management at Arqaam Capital Ltd. in Dubai that handles assets worth $450 million.

“It’s not necessarily a bad thing to have foreign interest in the local bond market, it just means that the central bank has to be very nimble and be prepared for periods of volatility like we are currently experiencing,” Hussain said, adding that if investors are able to enter and exit seamlessly in this period of volatility without major moves in the rupee, it will only increase investor confidence in the viability and depth of the market for foreign investors.

Commenting on how the central bank plans on tackling disorderly market conditions, Baqir said: “The central bank “is committed to a market-based exchange rate and intervenes when necessary to address disorderly market conditions.”

NAB summons Nawaz Sharif in MSR case on March 20 NEWS DESK Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has been summoned by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to appear before it in a case pertaining to the alleged allotment of a piece of land to Editorin-Chief of Jang/Geo Media Group Mir Shakilur Rehman. NAB claims that Nawaz — when he was the Punjab chief minister — allotted a 54-kanal plot of land in 1986 to MSR. The former prime minister has been summoned by the anti-graft watchdog at 11:00AM on March 20. Nawaz is currently in London where he is undergoing treatment for various illnesses. Rehman was arrested by NAB a few days ago when he appeared before the Lahore office of the bureau in relation to the private property case.

According to Rehman, the property in question had been bought from a private party and all the evidence, including legal requirements like duty and taxes, were provided to the anti-graft body. Rehman had gone on Thursday on a call-up notice for verification of the complaint, but the arrest was made.

Coronavirus to deliver fresh hit to staggering media sector PARIS AGENCIES

The ailing news industry is bracing for more turmoil with the coronavirus pandemic expected to deliver an economic shock to the sector — just when people need credible information the most.

The impact is expected to be especially difficult for the newspaper sector, which has endured a decade where thousands of publications have disappeared and newsroom jobs have fallen by half. News organisations are expected to take a hit from drops in advertising in an economic downturn and could see declines in subscription revenue as readers pare expenses.

Conferences and events that some organisations have used to supplement their incomes is also likely to disappear as long as the health emergency persists.

“If you’re ad supported and now heading into a period of short-term economic contraction that’s very bad for your business,” said Gabriel Kahn, a journalism professor at

the University of Southern California who follows industry economic trends.

“For smaller local players that’s a direct hit they can’t easily recover from.”

The free Seattle weekly The Stranger this week warned of an impending crisis and asked readers for donations, noting that “90 percent of our revenue — advertising, tick-

eting fees, and our own events — is directly tied to people getting together in groups. The coronavirus situation has virtually eliminated this income all at once.”

CRISIS HIGHLIGHTS VALUE: At the same time, the epidemic offers “an opportunity to turn the tide of the past few years” and rebuild trust with readers, University of

Oregon journalism professor Damian Radcliffe said. “At a time of a national and international public health crisis, communities need reliable, informed journalism more than ever.” Radcliffe said several news organizations have dropped paywalls as an effort to show “journalism as an act of public good.” Kahn agreed that for many newsrooms, “this is the moment they can develop a connection with their audience and establish their value.”

Joseph Lichterman, head of editorial and digital strategy at Lenfest Institute, which owns the Philadelphia Inquirer, said news organizations will face huge challenges in covering the crisis as well as an opportunity.

“People tend to trust local media more than national media, so you want to have strong local news organizations,” he said.

But he added that news organizations are being pressed to expand coverage as the health crisis worsens, creating additional problems. “They have to deal with the logistics of keeping the business afloat and making sure their staff is safe,” he said.

Published by Arif Nizami at Plot # 7, Al-Baber Centre, F/8 Markaz, Islamabad. Ph: 051-2204545. Email: newsroom@pakistantoday.com.pk

CMYK

CRITICAL FOR PUBLIC HEALTH: Some research has pointed to the importance of local media in dealing with an epidemic, among other public interest matters. A 2018 study by University of North Carolina researchers noted that trackers at the Centers for Disease Control rely on local news reports to monitor the spread of many diseases.

“The CDC relies on the news stories in local papers to provide them with an early warning system, which is critical in containing the spread,” the report said. “So far, social media has been much less reliable.”

The research noted that many US communities had become “news deserts” without a local news organization.

Kahn said the crisis could exacerbate the divide between the news industry’s winners and losers, with the stronger ones emerging.

“The best in class probably come out ahead and the herd gets winnowed,” he said.

Many local and regional newspapers have been in flux with the merger of the Gannett and Gatehouse chains, and the bankruptcy of another major player, McClatchy.

Joshua Benton, who heads the Nieman Journalism Lab at Harvard University, said it remains unclear if the corporate owners will be more interested in their bottom line than their journalistic mission.