LAHORE- E paper – March 8, 2020

CMYK

8 march, 2020 I 12 rajab, 1441 I rs 30.00 I Vol X No 249 I 96 pages I lahore edition

Imran unhappy wIth hIs ‘unprofessIonal’ mInIsters g

PM SAyS ‘SOMe MiniSterS Are fOund MOre in KOhSAr MArKet thAn their OfficeS’

ISLAMABAD

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staff report

rime minister imran Khan on Saturday expressed annoyance at the unprofessional conduct of his cabinet members, saying sometimes the opposition doesn’t even need to do something against the government as its ministers’ statements were enough to land it in hot water.

“When the opposition does nothing, some minister makes such a statement that it becomes difficult to handle the fallout,” Pm imran was quoted as saying during a meeting with the PTi’s social media team. “There are even some ministers who are found more in Kohsar market than their offices,” he took a jibe at ministers. in September last year, the Prime minister’s Office (PmO) had issued a “red letter” to 27 ministries for a “critical delay” in the tasks assigned to them. The letter — which is viewed as a final warning and an expression of displeasure — was issued to the secretaries for 27 federal ministries out of a total of 34 ministries.

Speaking about the sugar and wheat crisis, he said a probe report on the wheat and sugar crisis that the country faced lately would be made public and the government would not let anyone off the hook.

A day earlier, in a meeting to discuss the artificial

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SAyS it iS iMPOSSible tO develOP citieS frOM fundS PrOvided tO PrOvinceS

shortage of wheat flour and sugar in the country, the prime minister had ordered that the investigative report regarding the shortage be made public as soon as possible and that exemplary punishment be meted out to those involved. imran said the government faced “fake news items” that were churned out deliberately. Calling for positive criticism on social media, he stressed the need for ascertaining the veracity of news stories before directing criticism at the government on their basis.

The premier said our own people buy into propaganda peddled through fake news. He said despair is forbidden in islam and expressed the optimism that good times are around the corner.

The members of the social media team questioned the premier about the release of corrupt persons on bail to which he said that bails were granted by courts.

“However, this does not mean that the corruption cases against them have ended or they are not corrupt,” he added.

‘IMPOSSIBLE TO DEVELOP CITIES WITH PROVINCIAL FUNDS’: Separately, Prime minister imran has said that it was impossible to develop cities from the funds that were provided to provinces.

The prime minister was addressing an event in Karachi via video link from the federal capital. Pm imran was scheduled to visit Karachi, but he had to

call it off due to bad weather.

“Karachi’s development means Pakistan progresses,” said the prime minister. “i would like to ask imran ismail to inform people about the development projects that we will initiate for Sindh in general and Karachi in particular,” he added.

Pm imran said that it was impossible to improve the system in cities from the provinces’ funds. “Half of Punjab’s budget was spent on Lahore previously due to which other cities of the province suffered,” he said.

The prime minister said that cities around the world were empowered to collect revenues on their own and then start development projects. He cited examples of cities such as New York, London and even mumbai, where cities were run by their own elected governments.

He said that Karachi was the centre of economic activity in the country and that its development meant people got employment opportunities. Pm imran said that the PTi government had brought about reforms in Punjab Police and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police. “in Sindh, the police are not performing which is why there are rangers in the province,” he said. He said that the government was trying to ensure that there was no interference in police matters. referring to the 18th Amendment, the prime minister said within the ambit of this constitutional provision, the PTi government was making all-out efforts for the development of the Sindh province, particularly Karachi.

The prime minister last visited Karachi in January this year during which he held a meeting with Governor ismail and Chief minister Syed murad Ali Shah.

modi’s Hindu supremacist ideology will target other minorities after muslims: Imran

pakistan reopens Iran border for trade g

PAK-AfGhAn bOrder At chAMAn liKely tO be reOPened tOdAy STORY ON PAGE 02

Prisoner release needs ‘transparent mechanism’: Ghani

STORY ON BACK PAGE

saudi arabia detains top royals, including King’s brother, over ‘coup plot’ STORY ON BACK PAGE

Pakistan’s housing backlog touches 10.3m mark STORY ON PAGE 12 STORY ON PAGE 02 IHC says NaB’s uNBrIdled power detrImeNtal to eCoNomy STORY ON PAGE 03

Cppa recommends rs3.5 per unit hike in power tariff

aurat march today amid divisive debate on gender inequality

STORY ON PAGE 11

in today’s issue

Opposition to ‘Aurat March’ Gender parity will bring $30bn to pakistani economy: report STORIES ON PAGES 03, 08 & 11

attention Some readers have complained that they are not getting the magazine with their newspaper copy. Please call or WhatsApp us at the following number to register a complaint.

A woman along with her daughter demands respectable employment opportunities for women ahead of Aurat March to mark the International Women’s Day.

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

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Sunday, 8 March, 2020

NEWS

PaKIStan ReoPenS IRan BoRdeR foR tRade TAFTAN BORDER HAD BEEN SHUT 14 DAYS AGO AFTER SURGE IN CORONAVIRUS CASES IN IRAN ISLAMABAD

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Staff RePoRt

DAy after the Sindh government announced the “complete recovery” of Pakistan’s first coronavirus patient in Karachi, the federal government on Saturday reopened the country’s border with Iran for trade activities, 14 days after it was closed down following an increase in cases of the novel coronavirus in the country.

The government had shut the Taftan border on February 23, as part of its precautionary measures to contain the spread of the mysterious virus, which originated in a vet market of Hubei’s Wuhan city and has since then spread to more than 90 countries of the world, killing over 3,500 and infecting over 100,000, mostly in China thus far.

Iran has reported 21 new deaths from the novel coronavirus and 1,076 fresh cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the overall tolls to 145 dead and 5,823 infected.

The Islamic republic is battling one of the world’s deadliest outbreaks of the disease outside China, where it originated.

The Pakistani government had stopped pilgrims and traders from traveling to and from Iran. Hundreds of pilgrims were called back to Quetta from the Taftan border and special checkposts had been established to monitor their movement.

Authorities have now confirmed that trade activities have begun at the Pak-Iran border after a gap of 14 days. According to local administration, movement of goods laden trucks and trailers has also started following the restoration of trade activities.

Passengers arriving in the country through Taftan border are kept in quarantine at Pakistan House, where the number of travellers has crossed 3,000. Some visitors have been shifted to Town Hall due to space constraints.

On the other hand, the border with Afghanistan at Chaman has also been closed for the last six days following confirmation of fresh coronavirus cases in the westerly neighbours. The two-sided transportation, therefore, remained suspended at Bab-e-Dosti.

The Federal Investigation Authority (FIA) has said the Pak-Afghan border at Chaman is likely to reopen on Sunday.

Travellers entering the country will how-

PAK-AFGHAN BORDER AT CHAMAN LIKELY TO BE REOPENED ON SUNDAY ever be screened for coronavirus accordingly.

PAKISTAN’S FIRST CORONAVIRUS PATIENT RECOVERS: On Friday, the Sindh government announced that Pakistan’s first coronavirus patient, a young student from Karachi, who had contracted COVID-19 as a result of the infection, has recovered completely after being treated in a hospital in Karachi for 10 days. yahya Jafferi is believed to have contracted the virus during his visit to the Iranian holy city of Qum, where he had travelled to as part of a group of 28 pilgrims. He had tested positive for coronavirus on February 26 and was shifted to the isolation ward of a private hospital in Karachi. His family members were also placed in quarantine but were discharged after their tests came out negative.

According to officials of the Sindh government, during the 10 days of treatment, the patient had been tested three times with the last one coming out negative on Friday morning.

As soon as Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah was informed of this development, he congratulated the family of

16 female govt employees confess to benefit from BISP PESHAWAR: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Saturday revealed that 16 female government employees have admitted to being benefited from the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP). The National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) has provided a record of more 343 people who got benefits from the BISP. The officials said 15 out of 16 female government employees appeared before the FIA and confessed to getting financial support from the BISP under names of their family members.

“Majority of the names have been identified in this regard,” the FIA officials added. A six-member team of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) is carrying out the probe from the officers of the different districts. INP

the patient and termed his recovery as a great victory.

While the country’s first coronavirus patient recovered fully, the other two in Sindh are also showing progress.

On Thursday, the provincial health department had reported the country’s sixth case of the novel coronavirus in Karachi.

The patient was identified as a 69-year-old male residing in the city’s District East.

“The patient had returned from Iran on February 25. The health department was already monitoring the situation, so when he started showing symptoms, officials took his samples and sent them for testing.

The patient is currently in isolation at a hospital, while his family members have been quarantined for the time being,” a health official had said, adding that there were now three confirmed cases of coronavirus in Sindh.

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza had confirmed Pakistan’s first two cases of coronavirus on February 26, from Karachi and GilgitBaltistan (GB).

Three days later, the PM’s aide had confirmed two more cases of the virus, once again from Karachi and GB.

JIT head changed in journalist murder case

KARAcHI Staff RePoRt

The Sindh government Saturday removed Additional Inspector General (AIG) Hyderabad Dr Waliullah Dal as head of a joint investigation team (JIT) formed to probe the alleged murder of journalist Aziz Memon.

According to a notification, AIG Karachi Ghulam Nabi Memon will now head the probe body.

The removal came a day after the formation of the nine-member JIT to investigate the case.

Family and journalist bodies had questioned the impartiality of the JIT after the police officer who declared the reported murder of the journalist natural occurrence had been appointed head of the probe body.

An autopsy report of Aziz Memon had revealed that Memon died as a result of asphyxiation.

Memon, a journalist associated with a regional Sindhi channel and newspaper, was found murdered last month in Naushehro Feroze.

Memon’s body was recovered from a river on February 16 with a wire wrapped around his neck. The reporter had earlier accused the regional Pak-

istan People’s Party (PPP) leadership as well as Naushehro Feroze police of threatening him for unflattering reporting of party chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s ‘train march’ in 2019.

The autopsy report came a day after the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Interior was informed that Sindhi journalist Aziz Memon had died a natural death as the medical report did not confirm any violence or poisoning.

Hyderabad Additional Inspector General Police Dr Waliullah Dal and other police officers had briefed the committee, chaired by Raja Khurram Shahzad Nawaz, that journalist Aziz Memon was the patient of hypertension, sugar and his medical report did not confirm any murder.

‘Modi’s Hindu supremacist ideology will target other minorities after Muslims’ ISLAMABAD aPP

Prime Minister Imran Khan has once again warned the international community about dire consequences of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu supremacist ideology, which he said will target all minorities of India after Muslims. “I continue to warn international community that Modi’s Hindu supremacist ideology will target all minorities. Right now prime target is Kashmiri Muslims and Muslims in India; but intolerance and targeting is spreading and will spread to other minority communities,” he wrote in a tweet on Saturday. The premier said this supremacist ideology, if not checked, will target all communities in India including Dalits and eventually anyone who dares to disagree with this fascist ideology will be the target of violence.“The consequences will be felt beyond the region unless resolute action is taken,” he maintained.The prime minister also quoted a news article in which Archbishop Peter Machado of Bangalore condemned the removal of a 12-foot statue of Jesus Christ from a Christian burial place in a rural district of Mumbai by local police.

Rain kills 20 in Balochistan, KP

PESHAWAR/QUETTA Staff RePoRt

Federal censor board on the cards for 'uniform' film policy LAHORE Staff RePoRt

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government on Saturday decided to establish a federal censor board that will work along with the provincial censor boards in order for a “uniform film policy to propagate Islamic values and ideology”.

Addressing a press conference in Lahore, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Firdous Ashiq Awan said: “The matter of a new federal censor board would be presented in the Council of Common Interests (CCI), as after the 18th Amendment, provinces had established different censor boards so a uniform policy could not be created.”

She announced that the government would be recognising cinema as an industry as it had done with film production and added that the positive image of Pakistan was could not be completed without the revival of cinemas.

The SAPM said that people associated with filmmaking had met Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday and informed him of their problems, adding that the government has analysed its priorities regarding a new film policy.

“The prime minister made it clear to the film producers yesterday that Pakistan’s identity, culture, and religion is our pride and we have to return to it … Islamic values and ideology will be propagated through films.”

She said a committee will present a report on the threats and problems affecting the film industry, adding that valid de-

CMYK

mands of the film industry will also be accepted before the announcement of the new policy. “We are going to incorporate all [cinema owners’] valid concerns. No policy can be made without consulting all stakeholders.” While commending the desire of people affiliated with film-making and production to invest in the country and transmit cultural values to the next generation, she said the government wanted to support local producers and connect them to audiences.

“The information ministry will also forward recommendations to the prime minister to exempt film producers and cinema owners from certain taxes,” the government spokesperson said.

Seasoned film producer Syed Noor who was also present at the news conference said that the industry is receiving support from the government for the first time. “I have been in this industry for 50 years but this is the first time I have seen the government doing something … the industry will receive support.”

At least 20 people were killed and dozens more injured after torrential rainstorms collapsed several homes along the Afghan border in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, officials said Saturday. Heavy rains have lashed stretches of the country near the Afghan border since Thursday. Fourteen children and three women were killed in “rain-related incidents” in KP province, local relief official Taimur Ali said. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) confirmed those deaths, adding that three more people had died in Balochistan. In the worst single incident, five children were killed when the roof of their home collapsed in Dargai town. Rain also damaged another 51 houses and snowfall blocked several roads in Azad Jammu and Kashmir, officials said. More harsh weather is expected in the coming days. Many poorly built homes across the country — particularly in rural areas — are at risk of collapse during the annual spring rains. Torrential downpours, avalanches, flooding and harsh winter weather killed more than 130 people across Pakistan and Afghanistan in January.

Sunday, 8 March, 2020

auRat MaRCH to Be Held aMId dIvISIve deBate on gendeR InequalIty KARAcHI

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PLANNED march by women organisations on March 8 to mark International Women’s Day has stirred a nationwide controversy in Pakistan.

A bold Urdu language slogan Mera Jism Meri Marzi (My body, my choice) designed for the all-female walk has triggered a backlash, not only from right-wing groups but form political parties as well, who describe it “obscene “and against country’s cultural ethos.

A venomous televised debate, earlier this week, between a famous play writer, Khalil Qamar, and a known feminist Marvi Sirmed further fueled the debate, currently dominating the country’s media.

“A handful of women are misleading our daughters in the name of so-called Aurat (women) march,” Federal Information Minister Firdous Ashiq Awan told a gathering in Islamabad.

“By coming out on roads and raising slogans that are not permitted in our culture and religion, values or family does not auger well with women’s rights. What kind of power do they [the marchers] want?” she asked.

“We have to see who are these handful of people are busy in misleading the entire nation, especially women, “she added. She argued that the march will eventually harm the women rather than empowering them.

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, a former prime minister, and vice president of the main opposition Pakistan

Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) partially agreed with the minister.

“Aurat march’s slogan seems to be inspired by English [western] phrase my body my choice, which has created [wrong] impression instead of its highlighting real issues”, Abbasi told reporters in Karachi on Friday.

“I request the match organisers to check this slogan, and make it acceptable to all in accordance with Pakistan’s culture and societal values”, he said.

However, another opposition party of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), has lent its support to the march. It has even condemned opponents of the march harboring “anti-women” agenda.

“The PTI [ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf] has proved that it is the latest version of Jamat-e-Is-

lami [country’s mainstream religious party], and is against the women rights,” Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokar, a spokesperson for the party.

He said the Sindh government would provide full security to the participants of the march.

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday dismissed a petition seeking a ban on the march. But asked organisers to exercise their constitutional rights in accordance with the law having regard to conduct that is consistent with the norms of decency.

“In our society, various Islamic laws are being seriously violated.

The court hopes that the petitioner also approaches the court for the enforcement of all these Islamic laws,” the IHC Chief Justice Ather Minallah said in an eight-page judgement.

NEWS The ongoing debate is the sequel of a lingering controversy caused by some provocative slogans raised by participants during a similar march last year. Many women holding banners saying, “divorced and happy” and “no uterus no opinion” and many others had invited ire not only from religious circles but from several women rights activists as well.

An elderly participant was caught on camera suggesting disbanding the institution of Nikkah (marriage).

Both right- and left-wing groups have chalked out a heavy but different agenda to mark the event this year.

The main event of the day will be the “Aurat march” under the banner of “my body my choice”, to be held in all major cities including Islamabad, Karachi, and Lahore.

“The slogan has been misunderstood and misinterpreted”, Farida Shaheed, one of the organisers told a press conference at Lahore Press Club at the launch of the march’s manifesto on Thursday.

“Demanding bodily rights as a basic human right, regardless of age.

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It extended to children as well, and was especially important to think of with regards to the widespread incidents of child sexual abuse and murder, all over the country”, she added.

Jamat-e-Islami, for its part, is going to organise a rival women conference in Karachi apart from holding rallies, and seminars across the country.

The party is observing the day as “Women respect day”.

Banners and billboards engraved with demands for a better environment for women at the workplace, transport, health, and education facilities, due right in the family property, and heavy punishment for honor killings, have been put up across the country by the politico-religious party.

“Those handfuls of women carrying the misleading themes do not represent Pakistani women. They have nothing to do with women’s rights,” said Durdana Siddiqui, the general secretary of Jamat’s women wing. “Our agenda is very clear. We want to ensure the women’s respect in every field of life in accordance with teachings of Islam, and our cultural values,” she added.

IHC says NAB's unbridled power detrimental to economy ISLAMABAD Staff RePoRt

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has criticised the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for its lack of “professional expertise to deal with white-collar crime and abuse of arrest powers detrimental to the economy, investment policies and foreign policy interests of the Pakistani state”.

In a detailed judgement on the 4G licencing case, IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah said that the incompetence,

9 injured in Chaman blast

lack of professional expertise and proper training to deal with white-collar crime, besides jeopardizing constitutional rights, can have deleterious consequences for the governance system.

The judgement stressed that an effective and efficient accountability process or mechanism is an integral part of a democratic system and a precondition for upholding the rule of law.

But, the foundational principle or requirement for an effective and credible accountability entity, such as the bureau, is the trust and confidence of the

people in its fairness, impartiality, professionalism and, above all, that it is free from discrimination. “Arbitrary or indiscriminate exercise of executive powers vested in such entities, instead of achieving the public interest for which it has been established, could greatly harm other public interests,” the court said. Therefore, “across the board accountability in a transparent manner and free from discrimination and arbitrary exercise of powers is inevitable to meet the challenges faced due to the menace of corruption,” IHC said.

fIa probe report on wheat flour crisis sent to PM ISLAMABAD INP

The investigation report in the recent flour crisis in the country has been sent to Prime Minister Imran Khan, according to reports.

According to a media report, the crisis was artificial and occurred as a result of mismanagement. The report further revealed that there was no shortage of wheat in the country but it was artificially created to increase profits. Earlier on Jan 22, Prime Minister Imran had directed the formulation of an investigative body to probe the crisis. Sources privy to the development had revealed that the committee made to tackle the issue would thoroughly examine the recent wheat crisis and give a formal report on the matter to the prime minister. The threemember committee headed by FIA DirectorGeneral Wajid Zia will also include a member from the anti-corruption bureau of Punjab and the intelligence bureau (IB) each.

QUETTA Staff RePoRt

At least nine people were injured after an explosion occurred near the Levies Lines in Balochistan’s Chaman area on Saturday. The blast took place on Taj Road in Chaman, which is located just kilometres away from the country’s border with Afghanistan. The blast was directed towards Levies Risaldar Major Naseebullah who remained safe in the incident. He was travelling in his car along with his security guards when the explosion occurred. The bomb was planted in a motorcycle according to initial information.

Chaman is considered a sensitive town in Balochistan as it shares a border with Afghanistan’s volatile Kandahar province.

Pakistan rejects Indian claims of military supplies aboard Karachi-bound vessel ISLAMABAD Staff RePoRt

Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson Aisha Farooqui on Saturday rejected claims made by Indian authorities regarding an item seized from a detained Pakistan-bound Chinese merchant vessel, saying claims regarding the possible military dimension of the item in question were “factually incorrect”.

In a press release issued here, the spokesperson said: “We have noted the reports about inspection and seizure by the Indian authorities of an item from a Pakistan-bound commercial vessel. In this regard, we have also been approached by the private company in Pakistan which had imported the item under question.”

Farooqui clarified that the item was a

“heat treatment furnace casing system” with “several industrial applications”.

Indian authorities had detained Chinese merchant vessel MV Da Cui yun in the first week of February at Deendayal port, formerly known as Kandla port, alleging that it carried an autoclave which had been misdeclared in the cargo manifest. It was claimed that the autoclave could be used in the manufacture of missiles.

“It is not listed in any international export control list. Contrary to what is being claimed, the item was correctly declared in the relevant documentation and there was no attempt to hide or conceal any information,” she said.

“Similar furnaces are being used in several industries in Pakistan and the world

over,” she added.

On Thursday, China had strongly rejected the Indian allegation that the detained vessel had carried cargo that breached non-proliferation and export control restrictions.

“The Pakistan-bound merchant vessel from China was detained by India, but the autoclave on the ship that India claimed to be material for ballistic missiles is neither military supplies nor dual-use items under non-proliferation and export control,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lijian Zhao had said at a media briefing in Beijing. The spokesman had said that the operators of the ship had truthfully declared the cargo to Indian authorities and, therefore, there was no concealment or false declaration.

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Sunday, 8 March, 2020

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Massive operation against defaulter vehicles on the cards LAHORE

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n order to meet the Motor and Vehicle (MV) revenue targets, the Excise Taxation and narcotics Control (ETnC) has decided to launch massive operations, starting from Monday, against defaulters in the provincial capital, Pakistan Today learnt on Saturday.

Well-maintained sources in ETnC informed this scribe that the department was facing a huge deficit in revenue from the M&V sector.

Sources said that the set target of MV for the current Fiscal Year (2019-20) was Rs9.1 billion, however, the department only collected Rs3.9 billion rupees during the last six months and it seems difficult to meet targets now.

Sources believe that the main reason for the deficit was low production of commercial and non-commercial vehicles and motorcycles which means that not much revenue is being collected from registrations either.

Similarly, tax evasion remains a major factor in the shortfall as most people did not pay annual vehicle tax to the department.

Speaking to Pakistan Today, ETnC Director General (DG) Suhail Shahzad said, “To collect the MV annual taxes we have planned the operations across the province and massive operations are already being conducted in Bahawalpur and Rawalpindi and from Monday the operations will start from Lahore”.

On inquiring about the unavailability of new number plates he said, “We are actively working on it. There were some technical issues on the issuance of new plates but

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sanaullah’s indictment in narcotics case delayed

now the issue has been resolved and is in its final phase.

We will start the issuance soon”.

“Many people are not aware of MV taxes and do not bother to pay it. These operations are symbolic as we would spread awareness among the people about the importance of this tax,” he maintained.

He added that millions of cars were registered through ETnC but there were still a number of unregistered vehicles that roam the streets. “We are trying to register nonregistered cars as it is a crime to drive a car without any identity. Through road checking, our teams can compound a non-registered and defaulter vehicle in the nearest parking area and it can only be taken back after paying taxes”.

“We are also trying to give amnesty on MV tax improving our procedure of collection to encourage people to pay taxes,” he concluded.

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-nawaz (PML-n) Punjab President Rana Sanaullah Khan could not be indicted in narcotics case against him on Saturday as the court summoned lawyers of all parties for arguments in the next hearing. According to details, the hearing was presided over by Judge Shakir Hassan.

Sanaullah has filed an application to obtain a copy of the statements given against him by witnesses. The other accused in the case, Usman Farooq, requested the court to allow his new counsel to represent him. The Anti-narcotics Force (AnF) prosecutor maintained that the suspects were “wasting the court’s time”.

The hearing was then adjourned till Mar 28.

Following the hearing, Sanaullah, during a media talk, said former prime minister nawaz Sharif’s treatment will be completed in March, and national Assembly Opposition Leader Shahbaz Sharif will return to Pakistan by the end of March. He claimed that drug peddlers were forced to give statements against him. The incompetent government has done nothing but inflating prices and businesses of people have been affected, he said. The PML-n leader also expressed his support for the Aurat March. The march should be allowed and women should be given their rights, he stressed. STAFF RePoRT

police arrest eight, recover illegal weapons

LAHORE: People use prohibited method to transfer goods from inside the railways station premises. online

Govt taking steps to eliminate gender discrimination, says CM LAHORE APP

Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar has said that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government was taking steps for elimination of gender discrimination, safeguarding rights of women and to ensure them socio-economic empowerment.

In his message on the eve of the World Women Day, being observed on Sunday, he said that empowering women was among priorities of the incumbent government.

He said that daycare centres had been set up for facilitating working women at public-private

institutes in the province. The Punjab women helpline 0143 has been set up for providing guidance to the women whereas digital Online Magazine has been launched for creating awareness among women.

Govt taking steps to strengthen Punjab Police: law minister LAHORE APP

Provincial Minister for Law, Parliamentary Affairs and Social Welfare Raja Basharat said on Saturday the Punjab was implementing a rigorous monitoring mechanism along with giving Rs 48 billion in four phases to bring about a clear change in the attitude and performance of the police.

He was addressing a press conference at DGPR (Directorate General Public Relation) along with Provincial Minister for Population Welfare Colonel (R) Hashim Dogar. The Provincial Law Minister said that according to the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan, revolutionary changes had been

initiated in the government departments and Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar has approved several steps to strengthen Punjab Police. Raja Basharat said that in addition to more than ten thousand recruits, 500 new vehicles were being purchased for police stations and 68 new vehicles for petrol police, which can be used for official duty only. The minister elaborated that under construction of 49 police stations would be completed and activated while the construction of new buildings of 101 Police stations would be started after transferring state land to them. He said the investigation budget per murder was being increased to improve the investigation process while outdated wireless systems and digital devices

The chief minister said equal opportunities have been provided to women in practical life that was why women were working shoulder to shoulder with men in all spheres of life.

He said provision of resources for empowering the women was a beneficial investment for setting up of enlightened society. He said that role of women in practical life for socio-economic development of the country cannot be neglected.

He said no society can move forward without proper participation of women in life. Pakistani women are hard-working and capable and earned the name in different sectors. Even rural women are working side by side with men. were being updated. He added that by restoring the executive allowance of the police, their salaries were being brought in line with the PAS (Pakistan Administrative Service) officers. Responding to questions, he said the Punjab government was acting according to law to punish those responsible for the Model Town tragedy while the perpetrators of Sahiwal incident were also sentenced by the court though both parties reconciled at their own after wards.

To another query, he said that if the district administration had allowed the march, the government would take steps according to the law in terms of security. Rao Hashim Dogar said that for ten years no government paid attention to provide the police required resources. The Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf government has taken this step and now we may expect good results from the police. He added that the system of police khidmat centers was also being improved.

SARGODHA: Punjab police on Saturday arrested eight suspects and recovered liquor and illegal weapon from their possession. According to a spokesman, on the direction of Sargodha District Police Officer (DPO) Ammara Ather, Station House Officer (SHO) Phularwan Muhammad Ilyas along with his team conducted raids at various areas of Phularwan and recovered two 12bore guns, four 30 bore pistols, one riffle of 444 bore and 20 bottles of liquor from the accused. Police have registered separate cases against the accused and started investigation. APP

Sunday, 8 March, 2020

NEWS

Punjab govt not giving bail extenSion to nawaz SHarif, iHC informeD ISLAMABAD

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STAFF REPORT

HE Punjab government on Saturday rejected Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) founder Nawaz Sharif’s request for a bail extension in an official response submitted to the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Saturday. In its reply to the court, the government said that PML-N leaders failed to provide fresh medical reports of their party supremo whereas the extension in bail was rejected on the committee’s recommendation.

It may be noted here that the provincial government’s move did not come as a surprise as Law Minister Raja Basharat, during a press conference in the last week of February, had said that the Punjab cabinet had decided against extending Nawaz’s bail.

It may be noted here that the former prime minister was allowed to fly to London for his treatment after being awarded bail on medical grounds by the LHC. Earlier this week, the government of Pakistan had sought deportation of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif from London.

Nawaz Sharif is convicted and he is no more on the bail, therefore, he should be deported to Pakistan, the letter reads.

The letter stated that Sharif had failed to satisfy the Punjab government’s committee on medical grounds regarding his health.

The committee sent its recommendations to Punjab government which rejected the former prime minister’s bail extension.

Last month, Punjab health minister Yasmin Rashid had said that the former prime minister had not provided his updated medical reports to the provincial government.

Pakistan’s ‘biggest feminist’ under fire after sexist tirade KARACHI AGENCIES

He calls himself “Pakistan’s biggest feminist”, but soap-opera writer Khalil-urRehman Qamar sparked a national row this week after he hurled abuse at a women’s rights activist on live television.

The invective-laden diatribe came just days before thousands of people are expected to march in cities across Pakistan to mark International Women’s Day, adding fuel to growing calls for greater freedoms in the ultra-conservative nation where pushback against such demands can sometimes be vicious. Qamar’s tirade targeting activist Marvi Sirmed quickly went viral, highlighting Pakistan’s acrimonious conversation around women’s rights and cultural values.

While appearing on a television panel to discuss the upcoming Aurat (women’s) march, Qamar took aim at its slogan, “My body, my choice”. He told Sirmed that “no one would even spit on your body” — adding she was a “cheap woman” who should “shut up”.

Reaction was swift, with local media giant Geo Entertainment — which recently signed Qamar to write soap operas — suspending his contract, while politicians and celebrities condemned him on social media.

Drama critic Sadaf Haider told AFP that Qamar held “deeply misogynistic” views that he wove into his soaps, arguing that such narratives are “not helping the cause of women’s rights” in Pakistan.

Qamar declined repeated requests for comment, though he has appeared on other talk shows and refused to apologise, blaming Sirmed for interrupting him on air. Pakistani soaps have been criticised for their depiction of female protagonists — often damsels in distress silently accepting abuse from their in-laws and husbands, and that is shown as a strength.

Female villains are usually the opposite: they do not want to settle down, do not want to conform and end up creating problems by seducing the virtuous heroine’s husband. While Qamar has come under fire for the negative portrayal of women in his soap operas, his latest work, “Meray Paas Tum Ho” (“I have you”)

broke viewership records in Pakistan.

WHOSE BODY? The “my body, my choice” slogan during last year’s event generated criticism in a Muslim country largely unaffected by the global #MeToo movement.

Organisers and participants were accused of promoting Western, liberal values and disrespecting religious and cultural sensitivities.

Some of the more provocative posters and slogans from the march discussing divorce, sexual harassment and menstruation drew a quick backlash and a slew of threats against the organisers.

Last month, anti-march campaigners filed a petition in Lahore to block this year’s event, which is set for Sunday.

Lawyer Azhar Siddique alleged it is being funded by “various anti-state parties” with the aim of sowing “anarchy” in society. The judge ruled that a ban would be unconstitutional, but warned marchers to refrain from spreading “hate speech and immorality”. A separate petition in Islamabad calling for a ban on the march was also dismissed Friday.

Nighat Dad, part of the Aurat march organising committee, was unfazed by the backlash to previous events.

“In reality, men like Khalil-urRehman Qamar are threatened, which is why they are coming up with all kinds of ridiculous arguments against the women’s movement,” she told AFP. Women have long fought for basic rights in Pakistan, where activists often face harassment and threats for the work they do.

Sirmed, the activist, is known to have received multiple death threats.

In 2012, she escaped unharmed when unknown assailants fired upon her car. Her home was ransacked in 2018 and her laptops, passport and other travel documents were taken. Amnesty International expressed support for the Aurat march, saying in a statement that the “horrific threats of violence, intimidation and harassment of the marchers must stop”.

Much of Pakistani society operates under a strict code of “honour”, systemising the oppression of women in matters such as the right to choose who to marry, reproductive rights and even the right to an education.

SHC reserves verdict on appeals of Daniel Pearl murder convicts KARACHI: The Sindh High Court has reserved its judgement on appeals filed by Ahmed Omar Sheikh and three others against their conviction in the kidnapping and murder case of American journalist Daniel Pearl. After five days of consecutive hearings, a high court division bench led by Justice KK Agha reserved its ruling on Friday. Pearl, a US national and the South Asian region bureau chief of the Wall Street Journal, was kidnapped on January 23, 2002, in Karachi and later beheaded by his captors when their demands were not met. The main convict, Ahmad Omer Sheikh, was sentenced to death for kidnapping and killing the journalist, and his three accomplices – Fahad Naseem, Syed Salman Saqib and Sheikh Muhammad Adil – were sentenced to life imprisonment with a fine of Rs500,000 each by a Hyderabad anti-terrorism court on July 15, 2002. The lawyers for the four men contended that the prosecution had failed to provide enough evidence to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that their clients participated or abetted in the crime. STAFF REPORT

05

She criticised the PML-N leader and said that pictures of him dining out in London had cast doubt about his health condition.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting, Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said on Thursday that the government had written a letter to the UK authorities, asking them to deport the former prime minister. “The letter to bring a foreigner back home has been sent”, she had said, referring indirectly to the former prime minister.

PML-N Vice President and Nawaz’s daughter Maryam has filed a petition at the Lahore High Court (LHC) to have her name removed from the Exit Control List (ECL) so she can take care of her father in the UK. However, several government officials, including federal minister Faisal Vawda have said that the PML-N leader will not be allowed to leave the country as she is a convict.

Farmers struggle to combat devastating locust plague

ISLAMABAD AGENCIES

Pakistan’s farmers are struggling to combat the worst locust plague in nearly three decades as insect swarms decimate entire harvests in the country’s agricultural heartlands and send food prices soaring.

Heavy rains and cyclones sparked “unprecedented” breeding and the explosive growth of locust populations on the Arabian peninsula early last year, according to the United Nations.

The insects have since fanned out and wreaked havoc on farms from East Africa to India before making their way into Pakistan from the desert on the country’s southwestern border with Iran.

The crisis is so severe that the government has declared a nationwide emergency and urgently appealed for help from the international community.

Officials in southern Sindh province fear the infestation will devastate the supply of cotton, the local cash crop, ahead of its harvest in the coming months.

Local surveys of the damage are continuing, but the Sindh Chamber of Agriculture says nearly half of all crops have been destroyed near the port city of Karachi.

“I have not seen an infestation like this one in my career,” said Shehbaz Akhtar, an agricultural official charged with locust eradication efforts in the village of Pipli Pahar in central Punjab province.

‘COMBAT OPERATION’: Local authorities had “launched a combat operation” to clear the area of infestation with pesticide sprays, he said.

Clouds of the noxious gas envelop the nearby fields each morning, where villagers gather the husks of dead insects for an official bounty of 20 rupees (13 cents) per kilogramme bag. “We spray twice a day here,” says Fayyaz Azeem, clad in a face mask and thick industrial gloves on top of a tractor discharging pesticide into rows of crops.

But the process is slow and time-consuming, and by the time locusts are killed off in one field they have often already destroyed the next.

The pesticides used by officials are also dangerous for consumption, so even when the locusts are dead the remaining crops have to be discarded.

Some farmers have been forced to opt for more desperate solutions while waiting for their fields to be sprayed and have attempted to scare off the swarms by shouting and banging pots.

A team of Chinese experts has arrived in Pakistan to survey the crisis, food security ministry chief Muhammad Hashim Popalzai told AFP. Beijing could also offer aerial spraying — a much faster and more efficient method of pest control — and Pakistan may also import pesticides from China.

Earlier reports circulating online suggested China was planning to send thou-

sands of ducks to Pakistan to devour the scourge. Pakistani officials said no such plans were being considered.

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization has also set up meetings between India and Pakistan to prevent the swarms from spreading, Popalzai said.

‘WHAT CAN I DO?’ Agriculture accounts for 20 per cent of Pakistan’s GDP but the sector has already struggled for years in the face of drought and dwindling water supplies.

The country is also experiencing 12year inflation highs, with the cost of sugar nearly doubling and flour prices jumping 15pc in the past year. Years without a locust attack meant the government “had become complacent” about the risks of a new infestation, said Pakistan Farmers Bureau president Zafar Hayyat.

Though he applauded the steps being taken to fight the plague, Hayyat warned of the risk that swarms would return mid-year after the next locust breeding season.

For many farmers in Pipli Pahar, the extermination campaign has already come too late. Sitting in the corner of a wheat field with her cow, Rafiya Bibi watches the flurry of pesticide spraying around her.

The locusts have already destroyed her crops of canola, sunflower, chili and tobacco, which she had bought after borrowing 45,000 rupees from the government.

With no harvest, she has no way to repay the loan.

Sunday, 8 March, 2020

06 WORLD VIEW

Ban men? If only It were that easy FOR STRAIGHT WOMEN, THE IRONIC, ‘UGH-MEN’ BRAND OF FEMINISM IS JUST ANOTHER MOVEMENT TELLING US OUR DESIRES DON’T MATTER AND SHOULD BE SUPPRESSED. LET’S FOCUS ON SUPPRESSING SEXISM INSTEAD GLOBE AND MAIL

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PHOEBE MALTZ BOVY

his year, the magazine slate published an advice column that began as follows: “i’m a cis woman in kind of a classic millennial sex pickle: i’m really repelled by heterosexuality politically and personally." And yet, she explained in graphic terms, men turn her on. The letter-writer wondered if it would be okay for her to avail herself of hookup apps for gay men, thereby leaving heteroland behind while still getting to date dudes.

While this particular solution had several flaws, including the pragmatic (why bark up the wrong tree?), this woman wasn’t so far off in describing her woes as generational. straight women – at least the self-respecting, politically engaged sort – are meant to be fed up with men. if there’s anything imagined to unite women of all demographics, along with that handful of allies who “get it," it’s that men are trash.

A 2019 NBC News op-ed pronounced that women “are increasingly realizing not only that they don’t need heterosexuality, but that it also is often the bedrock of their global oppression.”

Like so much that presents itself as empowering, what i call Ban Men feminism is quite the opposite. But before i get to why, a word on what Ban Men feminism is not. it is not a sincere (let alone successful) attempt at ridding men from the public sphere or anyone’s bedrooms. Men still exist, still find girlfriends and still hold most positions of power.

Ban Men feminism is a trend within feminism-broadly-defined, extending from social media to mainstream books and television shows, that encourages women – straight ones especially – to play up any “ugh-men” sentiment we may experience. it’s ironic misandry and bonding over straight male refusal to purchase anything beyond dorm-room decor, but also earnest discussions of toxic masculinity. in its essentialism, Ban Men feminism converges with benevolent sexism. According to both outlooks, men are garbage, women child-like innocents. in 2013 – four years pre-#MeToo – comedian Louis C.K. was being celebrated for his “feminist comedy.” "how do women still go out with guys,” he’d asked in a stand-up routine, “when you consider that there is no greater threat to women than men?”

The idea that women should quit men is not new, but is undergoing a major revival. Jokey man-hating had a cultural moment around 2014 or so, but remained niche. something flipped with the 2016 U.s. presidential election (protested internationally by a Women’s March), and the #MeToo movement the following year.

Fury at President Donald Trump (still very much in office and perhaps poised for another term) and film producer harvey Weinstein (recently – against all odds – convicted of sexual assault) sparked a broader reckoning. straight women’s continued existence began to pose a conundrum: if we hate men, what are we doing with them? some urged sex strikes. Context-free, a woman declaring “i like men” went from insinuating a high sex drive to a declaration of allegiance with the enemy. suddenly, professed man-hatred went mainstream. Popular non-fiction books about male awfulness addressed an audience of mainly straight, cisgender women: What Do We Need Men For?, from former Elle advice columnist E. Jean Carroll, offers a swiftian “modest proposal” to get rid of all men. Blythe Roberson’s how To Date Men When You hate Men presents similar ideas, but from a millennial perspective. TV shows poke gentle fun at the Ban Men mood: A Baroness Von sketch skit depicts a futuristic all-women utopia, where the punch line is that the women have stashed away their own male partners. Crazy ExGirlfriend has a satirical musical number, Let’s Generalize About Men, that halfmocks, half-embraces the thing where female friends get together to discuss how men are the worst.

The refrain that “there are no good men” has gone from a lament about slim pickings

to a condemnation of an entire gender.

A tweet that reads, “EVERY WOMAN iN MY LiFE: juggling 3 jobs, does yoga, cooks, goes to therapy, remembers everyone’s birthday” followed up with, “ThEiR BOYFRiENDs: once almost made a dinner reservation but turns out the place was closed” has been favourited more than 100,000 times. Another viral tweet prompts women to “imagine that for 24 hours, there were no men in the world.” A Paris Review essay, titled On Being a Woman in America While Trying to Avoid Being Assaulted, enumerates the day-to-day burden of womanhood, a potentially menacing man around every corner. straight women have had it with manchild Tinder dates, while hetero marriage is its own tragedy, pairing overworked women with men who demand emotional labour and assume soap dispensers just refill themselves. (Books in this genre include Gemma hartley’s Fed Up: Emotional Labor, Women, and the Way Forward and Darcy Lockman’s All the Rage: Mothers, Fathers, and the Myth of Equal Partnership). straight women are apparently not clear ourselves about why we’re bothering with men to begin with.

As indiana seresin points out in a 2019 New inquiry essay, titled On heteropes-

For most women, wishing away men is not liberation, but erotic self-censorship. it’s taking the thing that’s the source of some of our greatest pleasure and announcing we should feel bad about it. While Ban Men does not much impact (let alone ban) men, it burdens women by insisting our desires for men are negligible.

Female heterosexuality doesn’t need revamping, let alone discarding, just reinterpreting. it should be properly understood as a woman’s desire for men. it is not about wanting to be thought beautiful, or to live a conventional life. in feminist discussions of heterosexuality, the focus needs to shift to female opposite-sex desire, and away from female desirability. if Ban Men has been the wrong answer, the problems it seeks to address are all too real. #MeToo is best understood as a response not merely to Mr. Trump and Mr. Weinstein – that is, to male toxicity at its most grave – but to a version of sex positivity that dominated just prior. Progressivism had meant celebrating what was once deemed caddish behaviour (older men pursuing much-younger women, negotiated nonmonogamy at a man’s instigation, etc.) as consenting adults doing their thing. The conditions under which this consent occurred –

to look for ways that even in our flawed society, our lives could be more fun.

Ban Men feminism is made possible by a society that baseline never quite convinced itself that women desire with the intensity or certainty that men do. straight womanhood, in the culture, isn’t about wanting men. it’s creating a Pinterest about engagement rings, in case your boyfriend takes the hint. Does the straight woman even exist? The culture is not too sure about this. in The invention of heterosexuality, historian Jonathan Ned Katz writes, “Because of their supposed greater eroticism, men are considered closer to heterosexuality.” Gender studies scholar Jane Ward’s Not Gay expands upon this idea: “The notion that women cannot be full sexual agents, whether heterosexual or lesbian, clearly persists today, expressed through characterizations of women’s sexuality as fundamentally docile, receptive, or motivated by emotions over lust” as well as “innately more sexually fluid.”

These beliefs set the stage for men getting classified as a problematic fave that right-thinking women could readily transcend.

This has major implications where consent is concerned. The corollary of women

simism, the “performative disaffiliations with heterosexuality” so popular these days among straight women – social-media posts expressing regret for one’s attraction to men – are a way of avoiding having a more constructive discussion of what heterosexuality could be. Ms. seresin implies that heterosexual women have chosen their orientation. i do not think choice enters into it. if Ban Men feminism puts me off, it’s because i like men. Not all men (heh), but man-liking has been a consistent feature of my life and the source of much happiness. The tendency has persisted despite encounters with male awfulness, but has not made my life awful. Like all feminists, i’d like to see sexism disappear. sexism, but not men.

My immediate reaction to why-evenare-there-men rhetoric isn’t to counter with references to courageous firemen, nor to remind that plenty of men are themselves marginalized, but rather the self-serving thought that a world without men would mean, for me, one without sex and romance. self-serving, perhaps, but commonplace: My heterosexuality is the least unusual thing about me. Almost everyone is straight, with gay, lesbian, and bisexual selfidentification around 3 per cent for Canada, and the LGBTQ population at 4.5 per cent in the United states. some who are straightidentified would, in a freer world, come out, but there’d still be a whole bunch of us straight ladies remaining.

a society where men hold most of the power – went largely unexplored. To mention this was sex-negative, puritanical, unfashionable.

Fashions have changed. it no longer seems sophisticated to compartmentalize about male artists’ transgressions; this is now regarded as allowing a bad man to get away with abusive behaviour. French politicians’ dalliances were once meant to symbolize a more evolved culture; today, one hears how problematic France is, what with actor Catherine Deneuve questioning #MeToo. it no longer marks you as a rightwinger – hardly – to criticize a powerful man’s personal conduct.

Rather than all sex being okay unless non-consensual, all heterosexual encounters are now fraught. A 31-year-old woman called into Dan savage’s sex advice podcast to ask whether she’d be a bad feminist if she were to date a man who had been her professor … a decade earlier. Radical feminist Andrea Dworkin – known for her critique of sexual intercourse – has been reissued. so it’s not, or not exactly, that feminism has gone too far. it’s certainly not that bad men have been punished too harshly; see the regular reports of men “cancelled” by #MeToo but now back on the scene. Rather, i’d argue, the feminism of the moment has inadvertently attacked the wrong culprit.

Ban Men feminism of course does not prevent women from forming relationships with men. it does, however, ask straight women to view our sexuality as joyless, rather than

supposedly not experiencing true lust is the belief that there’s no one we’re sure we wouldn’t sleep with. Acknowledging the certainty of female desire would fundamentally reframe what it means when a woman turns someone down.

Female heterosexuality is an ambiguous sort of privilege. it’s not simply that straightness is advantage, femaleness disadvantage. it’s that for women, liking the opposite sex is both expected and denigrated.

A musician, T.i., recently claimed he has his 18-year-old daughter’s virginity checked at medical appointments, but he also said he was fine with a 14-year-old son being sexually active. Meanwhile – and i do not say this to equate the two – in progressive households, girls may learn that boys are a distraction from ambition. Among adult women, it’s rewarded to have a male partner (sort of; just don’t wear that engagement ring to a job interview), but still shameful to need a man. it sounds so … needy. it does not – like “needs a woman” – imply a robust sexual appetite.

Things are complicated for straight women, whose assumed social role is one of acquiescence. in her new book, Females, Andrea Long Chu “define[s] as female any psychic operation in which the self is sacrificed to make room for the desired of another,” explaining, “These desires may be real or imagined, concentrated or diffuse – a boyfriend’s sexual needs, a set of cultural expectations, a literal pregnancy – but in all

cases, the self is hollowed out, made into an incubator for an alien force.” What Ms. Chu describes as the “female” experience is questionable, but makes for a spot-on definition of how female heterosexuality is understood in the culture. The straight woman loses herself in a man.

The notion of female heterosexuality as a desire to be desirable has become a truism.

Popular scientific articles insist that “women are most turned on by their partners’ desire for them.” A passage from Kristen Roupenian’s New Yorker short story Cat Person – famed for its depiction of hetero bleakness – conveys that sort of internal monologue: “As they kissed, she found herself carried away by a fantasy of such pure ego that she could hardly admit even to herself that she was having it. Look at this beautiful girl, she imagined him thinking. she’s so perfect, her body is perfect, everything about her is perfect, she’s only twenty years old, her skin is flawless, i want her so badly, i want her more than i’ve ever wanted anyone else, i want her so bad i might die.”

The notion that a woman’s most primal desire is to be thought beautiful is a curious one. it makes perfect rational sense for a woman to want this. in our society, beauty and youth are, for a woman, relevance. Even women who aren’t interested in men benefit (and suffer) from being interesting to men.

But the Cat Person scene is only one of infinite possible thought processes a woman might have regarding a man. sometimes, i have heard, women are more interested in looking at the man they’re with than in what they themselves look like.

The moment it’s male sexuality up for discussion, one lands in a whole different discourse: Men like what they like. Evolutionary psychology gets invoked to explain why straight men of all ages prefer 20-yearolds with hourglass physiques, as though if you question why leading ladies are decades younger than male leads, your quarrel is not with hollywood but with science. if Louis C.K.’s reputation as a progressive did not survive #MeToo, his interpretation of gender relations in that joke virtually defines it.

Think of stephen Marche writing interchangeably about “the brutality of male libido” and “human desire,” or Mr. savage referring to men as “testosterone-soaked monsters.” i get that such assessments are meant to affirm women’s experiences, but it’s impossible to offer men-are-like-so assessments without similarly pigeonholing women.

These interpretations remind me of a lifetime of hearing that my own desires surely can’t exist, because i am, after all, a woman. (i think of the claim that sex and the City was surely using straight women characters as a proxy for gay men, as if women couldn’t possibly be that raunchy. As if my late grandmother did not – why do i know this – especially appreciate samantha.)

As philosopher Andy Lamey points out, the testosterone theory of sexual harassment attributes to hormones what would be more appropriately ascribed to power relations.

B.D. McClay is correct when she writes, “Women, much like their male counterparts, feel desire, even unwise desires or desires that seem to overthrow reason.”

Explanations of male aggression that land on the “fact” that men get horny will always, however well-intended, define women as something other than the body-inhabiting human beings we are. is it that straight women don’t gaze or pursue because we’re just not so inclined?

Or is it that we’re told, for so many different reasons, that pursuing men is dangerous as well as an embarrassing thing to need to do?

There would be no need to warn women off chasing men if there were not the will, among so many of us, to do just that. What if “men are visual creatures” is about what men but not women are allowed? straight women should not go off men (as if we could), nor should we waste time trying to articulate what it is we like about men, as though something as intrinsic as sexual orientation could be chalked up to enumerable qualities of an entire gender. We should free ourselves from the cultural script that insists female heterosexuality is about seeking male approval.

A straight woman on a date should prioritize the question of whether he does it for her, or at the very least, should not think there’s something inherently male about focusing more on a partner’s allure than one’s own.

The time has come to bring woman-asdesirer back into view. Not instead of denouncing predatory men, but as part of the same feminist effort. Yes, it’s possible to exact revenge on the patriarchy by objectifying men, and if that’s your motivation, have at it. But it’s also fine to just do so because some men are hot.

Phoebe Maltz Bovy is a Toronto-based writer and author of The Perils of “Privilege”: Why injustice Can’t Be solved by Accusing Others of Advantage.

Sunday, 8 March, 2020

FOREIGN NEWS 07

UN calls for immediate freeze of military operatioNs iN yemeN MARIB

U

AGENCIES

N Special Envoy Martin Griffiths on Saturday called for an immediate end to military action by Yemen’s warring parties as renewed violence between the Houthi movement and a Saudi-led coalition threatened peace efforts.

Fierce battles have resumed in al-Jawf province since last month and culminated with the Houthi group taking control of its capital al-Hazem last week, as the Saudi-led coalition resumed air strikes against the region’s towns and villages.

The fighting in al-Jawf in northern Yemen has displaced around 70,000 people, or 10,000 families, to neighbour-

ing Marib province, the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Saturday.

“Last week I issued a public call for a freeze on military activities. Today, I am reiterating that call for an immediate and unconditional freeze… .Yemen simply cannot wait,” Griffiths told reporters in the central city of Marib.

The recent escalation has

shattered more than three months of calm in the five-yearold conflict.

This had raised peace prospects after Saudi Arabia significantly reduced its air strikes on Yemen and the Houthis halted missile and drone attacks on the kingdom. The flare-up in violence led this month to renewed Houthi missile attacks on Saudi Arabia and retaliatory air

Latin American women prepare for record feminist marches

strikes by Saudi Arabia, illustrating the challenge Riyadh faces in trying to exit a costly and unpopular war.

The coalition, which intervened in the war in 2015 to try to restore the ousted Sanaa government, has carried out thousands of air strikes that have killed thousands of civilians at hospitals, schools and markets, drawing international criticism.

SANTIAGO AGENCIES

Millions of women are expected to hit the streets across Latin America on Sunday to mark International Women’s Day, against a backdrop of wider social unrest in the region. This year’s event coincides with attempts to pass laws to penalize femicide, legalize abortion, and give women an equal voice in drafting a new constitution. On Monday, women around the region are planning to stay home from work, school, and university to illustrate what public life would look like without them. In Chile, some have called for men to be blocked from the planned marches. The demonstrations are expected to be bolstered nonetheless by participants in broader protests against social inequality that began in October and at their peak included more than one million people. A particular focus this year will be justice for women hurt during those protests. According to Chile’s Institute for Human Rights, 439 women were injured. It has laid six complaints against police for sexual assault.

Sunday, 8 March, 2020

08 COMMENT

Return of the Sharifs

A sense of déjà vu

Withdrawing US troops without a sustainable set-up in Kabul i bad for Afghanistan, but also for Pakistan and the region

An elusive goal

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OURS after a terrorist attack in Kabul claimed at least 35 lives, US President Donald Trump hinted at US and allied troops leaving Afghanistan even if it was to lead to a takeover of the country by the Talban. In a statement that would be highly demoralising for the Afghan people, President Trump talked about withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, maintaining that it was the responsibility of the Afghan government rather than of the USA, to protect its people. Asked if the Taliban could eventually seize power, President Trump said it is “not supposed to happen that way but it possibly will”. US public opinion cared little when President Trump abandoned his Kurdish allies last year. It is likely to look the other way again if he does the same in the case of the Afghan government.

President Trump’s Afghan policy is not guided by any moral or ideological considerations. It is mainly determined by his election concerns. with just eight months to go for the exercise, President Trump is keen to fulfil the promise of the return of US troops even if this amounts to leaving the country in turmoil and consigning the region to disturbance. The US military establishment too would endorse the withdrawal, albeit for a different reason. Not long ago, Defense Secretary Mark esper had said that he wants to reduce the number of US troops in Afghanistan with or without a peace agreement in order to give higher priority to strategic competition with China.

An abrupt withdrawal of troops without an agreement on a post-withdrawal set-up that enjoys a modicum of stability could create a security vacuum leading to a civil war between militant factions, warlords and ethnic and sectarian outfits. Terrorist groups like the TTP, Jamaatul Ahrar and IS could increase attacks inside Pakistan while the revival of hostilities in the neighbouring country may lead Pakistan to be flooded once again by Afghan refugees.

Those in Islamabad who have all along supported talks with the Taliban, may now find Pakistan has been left holding the baby as before.

aRif Nizami

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URIOUSlY, US president Donald Trump’s reiteration of his offer to mediate on Kashmir on Indian soil during his recently concluded visit was hailed as a diplomatic snub to Narendera Modi. Predictably, the ruling PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf) propaganda machine and captive media went ecstatic. Various spokespersons were claiming that this was another proof of success of Khan’s proactive diplomacy. Trump, who excels in hyperbole, brought further joy for the PTI supporters by claiming that the Pakistani prime minister was his friend and he was very fond of him. while the deadly coronavirus global pandemic is knocking at the doors, and going by the prime minister’s own claim that the system is not delivering, special assistant to the prime minister on information Firdous Ashiq Awan- who rarely lets facts come in her in the way of her chosen narrative- is leading the onslaught against the Sharifs.

It’s neither the economy nor governance; rather it seems the biggest issue facing the country is the immediate return of the ‘corrupt Sharifs’ to face their nemesis.

According to Ms. Awan, Sharif being allowed to go to london four months ago for medical treatment was a ‘fixed match’. The fact that it was the government that allowed him to leave ‘on humanitarian grounds’ is conveniently papered over.

To further strengthen her jaundiced view, it is claimed that the medical reports on the basis of which Sharif was allowed to leave were doctored. whereas the Punjab health minster Yasmeen Rashid who was overlooking the whole process of Sharif’s treatment insists that the tests were authentic.

A government appointed medical board was overlooking Sharif’s treatment when he was hastily shifted from Kot lakhpat jail to the Services hospital lahore last October in the middle of the night when his condition suddenly deteriorated. But after the traditional horse had bolted, Khan quietly ordered his interior ministry to probe the personal accounts of some highly respected doctors and their immediate family members on the medical board, to find out whether they were bribed by the Sharifs or not. The doctors were also interrogated for hours by the FIA (Federal Investigation Agency). Of course, nothing was found amiss. But the whole episode betrayed a vindictive mindset.

In this backdrop the ruling PTI’s (Pakistan Tehreek

Opposition to ‘Aurat March’ Male-dominated criticism screams hypocrisy

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ODAY’S ‘Aurat March’ has been allowed to take place by both the lahore and Islamabad High Courts, which have rejected petitions demanding that it be banned. One ridiculous assertion, that has thankfully gotten the least amount of traction, is that somehow the march is being sponsored by some sinister anti-state elements. However, unfortunately, the conversation, rather than focusing on the real purpose of the one-day demonstration, is around the perceived ‘vulgarity’ of the slogans that will be chanted and placards that will be displayed, especially ‘mera jism, meri marzi’ (my body my choice). One of the vilest examples of this intolerance was playwright and serial misogynist Khalil-ur-Rehman Qamar’s uncalled for abusive outburst at activist Marvi Sirmed on live television. Although Ms Sirmed did speak out of turn, saying those dreaded four words, which was easily avoidable as Mr Qamar had not interrupted her earlier when she was speaking, his response was outrageously disproportionate.

Oddly, there are as many people who find nothing wrong with Qamar’s actions as there are those who have condemned it outrightly. That most of Mr Qamar’s supporters are males speaks to the severity of the underlying problem.

Political parties seem to be divided over the issue as well.

The PTI and PMl(N) think that the march should go on so long as ‘the march would not harm honour and dignity of the country’ and that ‘the organisers to take a stance which was culturally acceptable to society’. The PPP is the only party that has expressed outright support, no strings attached. Religious parties like the JUI(F), quite expectedly, are opposed to the march, threatening to stop it by force themselves if the state does not.

It is an undeniable fact that women in Pakistan are persecuted, facing dangers that can range from domestic abuse to rape and murder. Regressive, unlawful practices such as karo kari (a form of honour killing), underage marriages, forced conversion of girls belonging to already marginalized minorities and widespread sexual harassment at the workplace and home, are just a few examples.

There is a plethora of statistics that paint a disturbingly clear and accurate picture of women’s rights, or lack thereof, in Third-world countries like Pakistan. Aurat March’s core body has correctly highlighted the hypocrisy in the state allowing a bigoted extremist like TlP chief Khadim Rizvi to spew his violence-inducing toxicity for days on end, but finding that women taking to the streets to peacefully demand their rights, is taking it too far. The march should go on undeterred so long as it is lawful and peaceful. All provincial administrations should provide ample security to the marchers so as to avoid any untoward incidents.

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Umar Aziz

Asher John Deputy Editor

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Rabia ahmed

well-known male playwright’s despicable invective against a female activist on a television show has a horrifying number of supporters. You wonder which of his words make people support him. Is it asking a woman to ‘go take a look at your body!’ and ‘what the hell is it like?’ Is it telling her that he would ‘spit on her’? Or is it calling her an ‘ulloo ki patthi’, a foul phrase of abuse? That was not all the ‘man’ said to the woman on the show, but it was enough to indicate the stuff he is made of, and it is nothing smart, civilised or humane.

As for the lady who has been attacked, she has stood up for many aspects of women’s rights over the years and has been greatly persecuted as a result. She is probably used to it, which does not excuse any of it.

It has been said that this was a ploy for free publicity, that she provoked him by interrupting him repeatedly while he spoke… none of which excuses him. No decent man would speak anyone this way, let alone to a woman. His words should actually be enough to make all self-respecting television channels refuse to carry his plays or seek out his opinion.

Perhaps the episode served a purpose by putting the Aurat March in the spotlight, and in perspective. Certainly, with opinions such as the playwright’s and his supporters, the March becomes even more pertinent. what, after all, does the Aurat March demand as per its charter?

Editor Executive Editor

Arif Nizami is Editor, Pakistan Today. He can be contacted at arifn51@hotmail.com.

Today is International Women’s Day

Arif Nizami

Joint Editor

(Grand Trunk) Road route to lahore. Sharif’s strident narrative was supplanted by his daughter Maryam’s highly critical rhetoric.

The younger Sharif did not endorse his brother’s belligerent narrative imploring with him that the PMlN will not be able to sustain this kind of militancy for long. But in the process Shahbaz lost some credibility with his interlocutors in the miltstablishment.

After all what use was he, if he could not deliver his brother. Post elections with the PTI government in place it finally did happen but perhaps a tad too late for the younger Sharif. In the changed political scenario- perhaps to increase the comfort level of Khan- it is surmised that the Sharifs were allowed by those who matter in such matters, to go into a mini-exile to their favourite haunt, london. The question that begs an answer is that when will Shahbaz Sharif be back to play his role as the head of the Party and leader of the opposition in the National Assembly? It seems not any time soon. According to him not before ‘bhai jan’ (elder brother) is medically out of the woods. In the meanwhile, former prime minister and party vice president Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and secretary general Ahsan Iqbal’s recent release from prison on bail is a shot in the arm for the Party. They will hopefully try to fill the vacuum created by continued absence of the party president from the scene.

A high-powered delegation led by Abbasi that included Ahsan Iqbal and Maryam Aurungzeb reaching out to MQM-P (Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan) in Karachi, should be seen in this context. Interestingly Abbasi is striking a very dovish chord post his release.

In consonance with the new Party line, he believes that the government should complete its five years term.

In the meanwhile, he wants a dialogue between stakeholders to develop a consensus on structural problems afflicting the country. Ostensibly, these are noble goals but perhaps it could be a subtle way to test the waters to tinker with the fragile majorities the PTI holds at the centre and the Punjab. In this context the PMl-N holding a similar meeting with their erstwhile nemesis in Punjab the Chaudhrys, cannot be entirely ruled out.

But why is the PTI so nervous about such a mild opposition that is simply waiting in the wings unable to or unwilling to upset the apple cart. Khan should be concentrating on governance issues and fixing the economy instead of chasing mirages like trying to bringing the Sharifs forcibly back. Time is not on his side. He has to deliver in order to survive. And why is Fawad Chaudhry and others of his ilk so worried about Shahbaz Sharif’s quick return to the country? Speaking allegorically, they should be wishing: let sleeping dogs lie‫۔‬

The Aurat march in perspective

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

e Insaf) propaganda juggernaut has gone into overdrive.

However, adding insult to injury is the minister of foreign affairs Shah Mehmood Qureshi writing a letter to the UK authorities for extradition to Pakistan of the former prime minister as he was a fugitive from law.

Qureshi who is a mature and experienced politician and has been in and out of governments and ruling parties for the past four decades should have known better.

No extradition treaty exists between Pakistan and the UK. If it was so, Ishaq Dar the fugitive former finance minister would be in the slammer here than in london.

Surely Qureshi must have been arm twisted by his boss to write to the British authorities. But he should have reasoned that this kind of infantile behaviour only demeans the country in the eyes of the world.

This is not to condone the Sharifs’ conduct while in london. Government spokesmen are right to point out that ‘critical Sharif’ has not yet spent a single night in the hospital for tests or treatment.

Prime facie it is a lame excuse that unless his daughter Maryam joins her father, he will not get any invasive treatment done. If Sharif’s life is at stake why would he delay the urgently needed medical procedures?

In any case Sharif’s mother, two sons, one of his daughters, and his younger brother are all around him to take care of him. According to his doctor, he needs an angiography and later another procedure for his carotid arteries. Owing to his past medical history, his is a complicated case. Nonetheless, the manner in which his medical issues have been handled in the past four months have raised a lot of questions. Now reportedly Sharif is just waiting for his medical appointment to get the procedures done sans his eldest daughter.

The curious case of Shahbaz Sharif languishing in london for the past eight weeks virtually doing nothing is even more intriguing. At a crucial juncture in the country’s history the leader of the opposition prefers to stay away raising a lot of eyebrows in the process. while the Sharifs are absent from the scene, the PMl-N (Pakistan Muslim league -Nawaz) is drifting like a rudderless ship. even senior party leaders are clueless about the younger Sharif’s plans.

But is there a method in this madness? Most informed pundits contend that the Sharifs extended stay in london is part of a bigger understanding with the ubiquitous powers that be.

The younger Sharif has never hidden his penchant for doing pro-establishment politics. when Nawaz Sharif was removed as prime minister by the apex court in the Panama Papers case in 2017, against the advice of his brother and old associate Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, he decided to take a hard line against the military establishment. Chanting the slogan: mujhay kiyun nikala (why was I ousted), he took the GT

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The charter calls for environmental justice, rights to the city, greater political participation of women, transgender and non-binary people, an end to the sexist treatment of women and transgender persons, and rights for the disabled. Despite laws for the provision of disabled services, exceedingly few places provide them in Pakistan. And despite the fact that transgender persons are now eligible for identity cards, they are subject to a great deal of discrimination.

In 2018, the State of Nevada in the USA became the first State in the country with a majority of women in the legislature. The results were as follows: Firefighters, who have a higher rate of cancer due to exposure, were given suitable compensation in case of this illness. employees were allowed at least 40 hours of paid leave, including sick leave, per year. Gender discrimination in salaries became illegal. laws relating to sexual violence and assault and sex trafficking were passed. So, back to the Aurat March, whose charter also demands economic justice.

According to a study of a 149 countries, Pakistan comes out second from the bottom regarding gender equality. Only 25 percet women may be found in the workforce, while the world average is almost double that figure. One reason of course is that while Pakistan’s overall literacy rate is just around 58 percent, only a small proportion of this consists of females. The greater proportion is male. what’s more, according to a world Bank Global Index Report in 2017, only seven percent of women in the country have financial accounts.

The charter demands minority rights and an end to forced conversions for all, but in this case, of course, particularly for women.

There is little protection for women in Pakistan (witness the way the playwright spoke to the Activist… and got away with it) but minority women have the additional dagger of forced marriages, conversions and allegations of blasphemy hanging above their heads, the latter for both men and women. let’s not forget Aasia Bibi, a Christian woman, accused and in prison for years following charges of blasphemy on exceedingly flimsy evidence. She has since found asylum in another country. A matter of great shame for Pakistan. In addition there are the cases of Hindu women, allegedly abducted and forced to marry Mus-

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lim men, and minority women (and men) killed with few repercussions for the killers.

The charter demands an end to violence and sexual harassment of women. A study by Human’s Rights watch carried out a few years ago “estimated that 20 to 30 percent of women in Pakistan have suffered some form of abuse. An estimated 5000 women are killed per year as a result of domestic violence, with thousands of others maimed or disabled.”

According to a survey conducted last year by the Punjab Bureau of Statistics and the Punjab Commission of the Status of women, in Punjab alone one in every three women between the ages of 15 and 64 has faced some form of violence.

Once again, according to a report produced by Pakistan’s Family Planning and Services Commission, ‘in Pakistan one in every five women wish to use contraceptives but do not have access to them.” As a result the country has around 10 percent of global unsafe abortions and a very high maternal and newborn mortality rate. which of these demands is indecent, and not supported by the religion of the majority of this country?

All the above also makes the Aurat March slogan: Mera Jism Meri Marzi extremely pertinent.

There is a simple reason for constraints, discrimination and persecution of any sort, and that reason is Fear. The furore against the Aurat March, the paranoia against immigration, and religious intolerance, it is fear that leads to all of these. The end result is never positive. europe saw its era of persecution. Under Nero, Rome started a policy of persecuting monotheists. This ended a few years later, following which Christianity became the official religion of the Roman empire in 380 AD. After the Jewish Holocaust in Germany the Jews managed to get their own homeland. women fought and obtained the right to suffrage, and God willing they will also obtain their rights in Pakistan, along with justice and non-discrimination, despite men who condemn these fundamental human rights– not for themselves but for women– only because they fear that this will spell an end to their right to treat women with disrespect, dishonor, and cruelty.

Rabia Ahmed is a freelance columnist. Read more by her at http://rabia-ahmed.blogspot.co

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Sunday, 8 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

Whither humanity ?

Fait accompli Buried under heaps of invective, a nation is lost for direction

Candid Corner Raoof hasaN “Confronted with such flagrant acts of intolerance, such abuses of the freedom of speech, a free society must surely do more.

For, intolerance is the one thing that a free society cannot afford to tolerate.”

—Ayaan Hirsi Ali

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elebrating diversity, showing tolerance for the counterview, shunning violence and remaining compassionate under the most trying of circumstances are some of the virtues which define the character and ethos of a nation. A society that is found wanting in any of these qualities is the one that has lost its way and is in dire need of help. Acts of gory violence and gross intolerance are a daily occurrence in the country. Instead of voicing collective displeasure and forcing the authorities to take steps to arrest this heinous plunge, the society seems resigned to perpetuation of such vile behaviour. It is like a contagion which has impacted every living soul to varying degrees. Instead of exercising caution to combat the scourge, the bulk of the people have espoused it to do to others what they may have been subjected to through their interactions under different conditions and circumstances. It is a malaise which is boldly inscribed on the face of the society.

It is not just you. It is not just me. It is the whole spectrum of people who have been influenced by this infirmity. even children are not spared the torment. There are frequent stories of them being subjected to belittling and inhuman punishments by their teachers, even parents. It is like a whole lot of people are venting their pent-up frustrations on those who are weak and not able to defend themselves.

Sexual exploitation of children is a phenomenon which has spread like pestilence.

There are mafias who subject the innocent souls to indescribable brutality and throw their mutilated bodies on heaps of debris for animals to nibble at. Then there are stories unfolding on a daily basis of prayer leaders subjecting their students to brutal sexual assaults. But the conscience of the nation is not

pricked as incident after such incident is ab- spective cause to the exclusion of others, sorbed as the bounty of fate itself. There is no and all tactics, without a thought about way one can rationalise such pattern of think- their cruelty and crassness, are employed ing. It is like they expect no justice in this in a rush to the finishing line. This is the world and bequeath their fate, and that of only approach which appeals to the majorthose who may not be alive any longer, in the ity, so it is vastly accepted and practised hands of the Creator for that is the only hope by all shades, all sections and all classes of the society. they continue to nurture. The rest is all dark. like I said earlier, this is not how things It is no small pity that we are fast becoming a society that is inseparably rooted in vio- used to be. There was humaneness which one lence. It is all but certain that we are losing could see and feel around. It did not carry a the power of the spoken word and are fast tak- price tag. People could depend on it knowing ing to inflicting the pain that is born of the full well that help and understanding would vileness of the tongue. The latest enactment come from within the community of people of this crude macho art on the television they were part of. Abuse was not heaped upon screens is a testament to how far we have de- others in full view of everyone, like there is generated as a collective bunch of people. The no guilt, no embarrassment. People were not abuse was not just confined to the two perpe- shunned. Instead, there was humility and trators. what transpired on the social media in humbleness. They knew that, as a family of its aftermath and the kind of brutal ugliness people, they needed to knit together to be that was displayed as a consequence of the stronger and vibrant. Selfish tendencies were curbed in subservience to original brawl cannot be the cause of combined described in printable good. No one could words. The crass and roughshod others. Moral thoughtless espousal of pressure had more weight one or the other narrative What obscene than bruising and battering reflected our plunge into manifestation of people others with the venom of the deepest and the dirtiwords. est of the pits. we have become But, then, life is never This is not the kind of society that I grew up for the world to watch? static. Time does not last beyond its natural cycle. It in. But for some odd exWhat vile reflection of is swamped by the demands ceptions, by and large, of times that follow, each there were compassionabuse do we portray bringing its own dictates, ate people who shared each bringing its own attiothers’ grief and happito others?

What tudes and mannerisms. In ness, who had a sense of justice that would be adinfectious dehumanisation spite of this core realisation, one never imagined ministered without cutdo we suffer that the human mindset ting throats and taking would be consumed so recourse to such other from? We belittle wholesomely by abuse and extreme measures. They expletives which often find believed in a collective humanity by calling expression in profanities, destiny and had time to ourselves human. more so by individuals who invest in realising that. claim to be the role models They stood by others in of their respective clans. their times of need and That they are not, that they lived like a community cannot be. where each could depend As a nation, we are immersed so deep in on the other for support and sustenance. No the receptacle of shame that there is no commore of that, no more.

It is now an unchartered charge for attain- ing out. And it appears that no one is intering exclusively selfish motives without a care ested in doing so. Since we have stayed there whether such wicked indulgences would ad- long enough, we have got used to the stink of versely impact others which could be avoided. our surroundings. That is the kind of life we If at all, such thoughts are a rarity now. My feel comfortable living. So, that is the kind of mind races back in time and multiple incidents life we shall have. what obscene manifestation of people we flash past, each showing one’s deep sensitivity towards the others and their needs and cares. have become for the world to watch? what It never was like you could have your bit with- vile reflection of abuse do we portray to othout first determining whether that could be ers? what infectious dehumanisation do we done without harming others and their inher- suffer from? we belittle humanity by calling ent interests. If any such incident ever oc- ourselves human.

Gutter mentality gets one only as far as it curred, the elders of the relevant community of people would gather to take stock and ad- does. let’s not forget that, in the end, we shall minister what would be a just solution - and it reap only what we sow. Pity! would be accepted by all.

The writer is a political and security we don’t live as a collective of people any longer. we live as individuals as if no strategist, and heads the Regional Peace Inone else is around. The prospect of others’ stitute – an Islamabad-based think tank. pain or suffering does not cross our minds. Email: raoofhasan@hotmail.com. Twitter: we are too engrossed in advancing our re- @RaoofHasan

we live in a police state. Cases of Naqeeb Ullah Mehsud, Professor Arman luni, Sahiwal killings and Salahudin are exceptional only in terms of the publicity they manage to generate. Otherwise, fear, humiliation, torture and corruption remain the norm in citizen-police encounters, signaling the grip of coercive apparatuses on everyday life in Pakistan.

Torture in particular is a unique mode of policing. Its purpose is not to serve justice adequate to a particular crime. Instead, it aims to annul citizenship out of the victims body through the use of excessive pain.

Tortured bodies are the stamps carrying dirty secrets of the state to remind the public that beyond all rhetoric of rights and responsibilities, there remains the sovereign's primordial right to kill. It melts away any remnants of dignity in people's live and elevates the anxiety of death as the supreme emotion in society. what is worse is that the state now has mechanism to deal with the periodic rage that spills out. In moments of public outpouring of anger, even ministers will join the chorus to condemn a particular act. The aim is always to ensure that the rage is contained within the parameters defined by the state. But the moment a campaign develops to challenge the underlying logic of systemic violence, the state will allege treason and use the same police to fix those who cross the line.

PTI governments, much like previous governments, appears helpless in front of the system that reduces citizens to inexistence. This is the third major incident of police violence in Punjab since CM Buzdar took over.

Few months ago, we worked with families of Sahiwal incident and observed how bribes and threats were all that the government could offer to protect 'state institutions' from any serious accountability. walter Benjamin taught us that despite all obfuscations by government officials, rage continues to store in the collective unconscious of the masses.

There are then moments in which this accumulated rage bursts into the open to impose divine justice. The suffering of victims has been repressed but has not disappeared. Their limits are being tested. Despite the long night of tyranny, we may not be too far from a sudden eruption of anger that will paralyze the violent apparatuses. when enough of us will muster the courage to declare that the emperor is naked, we will begin to dismantle the police state that has turned our entire society into a death zone. Just heard of another case of police violence. This time in Peshawar. An alleged thief died in police custody. There was foam coming out of his mouth. In fact, virulent victims of people in Pakistan has become routine of times. Government is sleeping. every passing day, comes with heartwarming dilemma. Government should leave deep slumber and provide justice to people who are dying by powerful.

Naveed Abbas Maitlo Islamabad

A talented boy I would like to draw the attention of our politicians towards a talented boy of lyari (Karachi). when last night I was watching one of the news channels so one of the anchors reported that a 17 years old boy invented a motorcycle which could be started by finger sensor system. Addingly, the boy just bought some old materials from some kabadies (old materials shops) and got his motorcycle invented. when the boy was asked that how much he spent to invent the motorcycle! He said that he had just spent 17000 thousands. Further, the boy mentioned that if he is given help by government so he could develop such motorcycles which could run by water rather than petrol. I see no doubts that if our youth is given a little attention so our youth can do much for the country. Our youth is not less than anyone. I request the accountable authorities to give a little attention to our youth. There is no denying the fact that our youth has the potential to do anything because of being multiple talented.

Riaz Ahmed Quraish Ahmed Bolani

Let’s Make Karachi Clean DUe to the recent monsoon rains the city of lights Karachi was in turmoil because of the closed sewage system, plastic bags, and other rubbish on the roads. Many innocent people lost their lives after getting heavy electric shocks. This time was not less than hell for the people of Karachi.

But, this unbearable situation is not going to be so in the coming time as a campaign "let's Make Karachi Clean" has been initiated by the great PM of Pakistan Mr. Imran Khan. I believe it is a praiseworthy step taken by the government of the time. It is not a hidden fact that the previous leaders of Pakistan were just busy in increasing their bank balance. The campaign, "let's Make Karachi Clean" will be supervised by the provincial government and the concerned authorities and the PM will be keeping an eye on the campaign as well.

Riaz Quraish Maqsoodi Turbat

whiteLies

For feedback, comments, suggestions and, most importantly, tips, contact us at whitelies@pakistantoday.com.pk

Apollo

The virus seems to have desiccated commercial activities in China.

Air traffic over China alone is a wiry mesh of what it used to be just a month ago. A German minister refused to shake hands with his Chancellor for fear of the virus. And French Uber drivers have built separate cellophane ’compartments’ in their vehicles to shield them.

Meanwhile, life goes by normally in Pakistan, with the wedding season still in full swing. The PSl is also rousing up the populace, with record spectators at the stadiums.

Deluxe trips to destinations like egypt are also as in fashion as they used to be, with our embassy obliging Pakistani travellers, as good embassies should.

Virus? what Virus? * * * * * * * * * He’s a bit of a family man, the prime minister is. After a long day of whatever he thinks passes of as work, he signs out at 7:00 PM and heads home to spend time with the Mrs. Is partial to some good old Netflix & Don’t Chill these days, being hooked on to a Turkish serial The Resurrection.

Sunday, 8 March, 2020

10 FOREIGN NEWS

migraNts, police iN fresh clashes at tUrKey-greece border ATHENS

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AGENCIES

REEK police fired tear gas in clashes with migrants at the Turkish border on Friday, as Athens said a 2016 EU-Ankara deal limiting migration to Europe was “dead”. Thousands of people have gathered at the border since Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said last week that his country would no longer stop refugees from trying to leave.

Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis accused Ankara of “assisting” an ongoing surge of desperate people gathering at the border.

“Right now, let’s be honest, the agreement is dead,” Mitsotakis told CNN, referring to the EU-Turkey accord.

“And it’s dead because Turkey has decided to completely violate the agreement, because of what happened in Syria,” he added.

Turkey agreed in 2016 to stop letting migrants leave in exchange for six billion euros — but Ankara says other parts of the EU deal including improved visa and trade rules were never fulfilled.

Mitsotakis said Turkey was doing “the exact opposite” of its obligation to hold back asylum-seekers.

OPEN THE GATES: Friday’s brief clashes

occurred as migrants tried to break through the fence, according to AFP journalists at the scene, but they quickly ended the volley of rocks and instead sat peacefully chanting “freedom” and “open the gates”.

Greek forces say they have prevented nearly 39,000 people from crossing the border. Turkey claims the real number is more than three times higher.

Many migrants say they are being pushed to attempt illegal entry to Greece.

“They (the Turkish military) told us that if you don’t go to the border… you will be forced to come back to Turkey and people don’t want to come back because they don’t have any good opportunities, there isn’t anything,” Ali, an Iranian, told AFP. The EU’s diplomatic chief made a direct appeal to the migrants not to go to the Greek border. “The border is not open,” EU High Representative Josep Borrell said after a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Zagreb.

Turkey and Russia agreed a ceasefire in Syria on Thursday, but Ankara is still threatened by a potential new influx of refugees from the last rebel stronghold of Idlib and has sought to pressure Europe into providing greater assistance. Turkey already hosts some four million refugees, and recent advances by the Syrian army, backed by Russian army, have pushed close to a million more towards its border.

Later Friday, the Greek government re-

leased footage which it said showed Turkish riot police firing a tear gas barrage at Greek border guards.

It came after the release of separate footage from Turkish state TV TRT which it said showed asylum-seekers stripped and beaten by Greek forces.

A Greek police source disputed the claim, telling AFP: “We are not letting them through the border, so how can we be doing that to them?”

Ankara has officially accused Athens of using undue violence against asylum-seekers, killing several and injuring many. Greek officials have repeatedly dismissed this as untrue.

COORDINATED ATTACKS: Earlier Friday, Greek officials accused Turkey of providing cutters to migrants to break through fencing. “There are coordinated attacks this morning,” a Greek official told AFP. “Apart from intimidation, these attacks are taking place from the Turkish police to help migrants cross the fence border line.”

Meanwhile, two Greek men were convicted of threatening aid workers on the island of Lesbos, where there has been a violent backlash against those helping the swelling number of arrivals.

“I will continue to defend my country.

Most of the (aid groups) operate like spies.

These gangsters should leave the island,” said 73-year-old Konstantinos Alvanopoulos after being given a three-month suspended sentence.

Two test positive for virus at pro-Israel conference attended by Pence, Pompeo WASHINGTON D.C. AGENCIES

North Korea slams european nations for 'illogical thinking' over missile launches SEOUL: North Korea accused European nations of “illogical thinking” on Saturday after they called a closed-door UN Security Council meeting to condemn missile launches by the reclusive state earlier this week. Britain, Germany, France, Estonia and Belgium raised North Korea’s latest missile firings at the UN Security Council on Thursday, calling them a provocative action that violated UN resolutions. North Korea fired two short-range missiles off the east coast into the sea on Monday after a three-month halt. The launches, which officials have said were routine military drills, were personally overseen by its leader Kim Jong Un. “The illogical thinking and sophism of these countries are just gradually bearing a close resemblance to the United States, which is hostile to us,” a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in a statement to the state-run KCNA news agency. The spokesperson, who was not named, described the European action as “reckless behaviour… instigated by the United States.” Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korea’s leader and a senior government official, defended Monday’s launches as military drills, saying they were not meant to threaten anyone. AGENCIES

Two people have tested positive for the new coronavirus after taking part in a proIsrael lobby group’s conference in Washington which Vice President Mike Pence, State Secretary Mike Pompeo and dozens of lawmakers also attended.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) said in an email to attendees, speakers and congressional offices that the infected pair had traveled from New York to go to the event held from Mar 1 to 3.

“We have confirmed that at least two attendees from New York have tested positive for the coronavirus,” AIPAC said in the message, posted to its Twitter account.

Officials said on Friday that 22 new

cases had been confirmed in New York state, mostly in a Westchester County cluster north of New York City, bringing the total to 44.

“We have continued to remain in constant communication with the Westchester county health department and the DC health department which is coordinating with the New York health department, and national health authorities,” AIPAC added.

AIPAC circulated a statement later on Friday it attributed to Washington health authorities saying no immediate risk to attendees had been identified. DC public health was unavailable for comment.

The event attracted several high profile attendees including Pence, Pompeo, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, and former White House hope-

ful Mike Bloomberg.

Pence is leading the US response to the novel coronavirus.

Lawmakers from all political stripes make an annual pilgrimage of sorts to AIPAC to pledge their support for the state of Israel on a grand stage.

About 18,000 people had been expected to travel from across the US to attend the conference, which typically attracts around two-thirds of the members of Congress.

Attendees swamped Capitol Hill in their hundreds during the event.

“If you test positive for Coronavirus, we urge you to inform your local health authorities so they can properly coordinate the response to this situation with the appropriate health authorities,” AIPAC said.

The virus has now killed more than 3,450 people and infected more than 100,000 across 92 nations since the outbreak first emerged in China in December. Over 3,000 of those deaths have been in China.

Pope cancels main public appearances to stop crowds gathering VATICAN CITY AGENCIES

Pope Francis has canceled his regular appearances in public to stop crowds gathering to see him and will stream them on the internet from inside the Vatican because of the coronavirus outbreak in Italy.

The Vatican said that on Sunday the pontiff will not address crowds from a window overlooking St. Peter’s Square, and will also not hold his general audience from there this Wednesday. Both attract tens of thousands of people.

It will be one of the few times in the

past 66 years that a pope will not appear at the window, a ritual deeply engrained in Roman tradition, with some families attending every week.

Both the address and general audience will be held without public participation inside the official papal library in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace and will be viewable on the internet or television, the Vatican said in a statement on Saturday.

Popes began giving regular Sunday blessing from the window in 1954 and have done so nearly every Sunday since, except for when the pontiff is sick or out of Rome.

On May 17, 1981, four days after he

nearly died in an assassination attempt, Pope John Paul delivered the blessing with a feeble voice from his bed at Rome’s Gemelli hospital.

The Vatican also said that the participation of the faithful at Francis’ morning Mass in his residence has been suspended until at least March 15.

The 83-year-old pope canceled a Lent retreat for the first time in his papacy, but the Vatican has said he is suffering only from a cold that is “without symptoms related to other pathologies”.

A Vatican employee tested positive for coronavirus on Friday, the first case in the

Battling coronavirus myths HONG KONG AGENCIES

A friend of a friend in Hong Kong recently said that he didn’t believe the novel coronavirus could be transferred from human to human through airborne droplets. The young, educated professional said this confidently, without irony, to a group of colleagues while wearing a disposable face mask. His source for the claim? A WhatsApp group message that cited an unknown doctor. I was stunned when my friend told me the story. An educated professional falling for such blatant misinformation?

The world is enduring a global epidemic after the novel coronavirus, which causes the COVID-19 illness, spread to more than 60 countries. Simultaneously, we’re facing a similar epidemic of misinformation about the virus online, as social media users share misleading reports and conspiracy theories.

I work as a fact-checker, so I am used to misinformation. It’s generally rife online and it almost always spikes during a major news event. And anyone can fall

for it, as I’m once again seeing with this outbreak.

On the plus side, the deluge of disinformation means that work for me and my colleagues on the fact-check editing desk in Hong Kong is never dull. I work with a team of reporters and editors in ten countries and territories in the Asia Pacific region.

We publish articles on our fact checking blog and Twitter account every day, and for at least the past month, our news agenda has been dominated by misinformation about COVID-19. We’ve debunked dozens of claims in English alone across the globe, with my patch of Asia being particularly busy.

We’ve tackled everything from dodgy advice for possible prevention methods and cures; hoax reports about new cases in various cities and countries; conspiracies about the origins of the virus and how it is being dealt with in China; as well as outlandish claims about how doctors predict it will develop.

Sadly, the wave of misinformation has also regularly been accompanied by a deliberately xenophobic commentary about Chinese people and their culture,

which falsely suggests the virus is somehow innately related to Chinese ethnicity.

When I’ve not been helping to debunk falsehoods circulating online about the virus, I’ve been enduring the impact of coronavirus misinformation in my dayto-day life. The situation in Hong Kong during recent months has felt a bit surreal at times.

A hoax message that circulated on WhatsApp, WeChat and Facebook suggested there was a danger that toilet paper might run out in the city because of

tiny city-state that is surrounded by Rome.

A Vatican source said the patient had participated in an international conference hosted by the Pontifical Academy of Life last week in a packed theater several blocks from the Vatican. Participants at the three-day conference on Artificial Intelligence included top executives of U.S. tech giants Microsoft and IBM. The death toll from the new coronavirus in Italy, the worst-hit European country, stood at 197 on Friday with more than 4,600 cases, most of them in the north. In Rome province, 49 people have tested positive and one has died.

supply problems in mainland China caused by the virus outbreak. One message circulated amongst Hongkongers in Chinese read in part: “Breaking news!

At least for two months [China] will not produce…toilet paper! Mainland will not provide raw materials of toilet paper for other places either…Because nobody goes back to work in factories!”

The false claim that circulated ironically sparked a panic buying frenzy, resulting in many supermarkets selling out of loo roll completely. Observers suggested subsequent videos and photos of the panic buying shared on social media sparked further panic buying.

As a journalism professor friend of mine said, the message was a “self-fulfilling prophecy”; if there wasn’t any danger of a shortage to begin with, there would be by the end of the crisis.

The other concerning trend has been the panic buying of face masks in Hong Kong, as fears over the virus’ spread grow here. Near my home, it has become common to see hundreds of people queuing up to buy disposable surgical face masks on a Saturday morning as soon as a given pharmacy receives a bulk delivery of them. Some shops have subsequently been charging exorbitant prices for masks as anxiety reaches record levels.

Sunday, 8 March, 2020

BUSINESS 11 US financial regulators start contingency planning as virus reaches Washington WASHINGTON AGENCIES

US financial regulators are preparing contingency arrangements, including travel restrictions and homeworking, to ensure they can effectively oversee the financial markets as the coronavirus closes in on the US capital. On Friday, U.S. officials said the first three cases of the flu-like disease had been diagnosed in Montgomery County, Maryland, home to thousands of federal workers who travel into offices in nearby Washington daily.

Agencies including the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the banking regulators also have offices in New York, San Francisco and New Jersey where other cases have been reported. As New York banks start triggering their contingency plans, their watchdogs have also begun to take precautions, allowing more homeworking, cancelling and limiting travel, calling off conferences, and restricting some external meetings.

“The safety and health of CFTC employees is our top priority,” Michael Short, director of public affairs at the agency said on Friday. “The CFTC continues to make all necessary preparations to accommodate scenarios that might arise.” The derivatives watchdog has canceled some foreign travel and is allowing essential overseas trips on a case-by-case basis, he said. Domestic travel is still permitted, but staff are free to reschedule trips unless it is mission critical. Likewise, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation said it had taken steps to limit nonessential international travel. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) said it had reviewed its contingency plans, without elaborating. On Thursday, the OCC along with the Federal Reserve and the FDIC canceled a joint conference on fair lending scheduled for next week “out of an abundance of caution,” they said.

Reuters also reported on Friday that the US Federal Reserve had taken the unusual step of quarantining US dollars it receives from Asia for up to 10 days. A spokeswoman for the SEC said the agency was following government advice that staff stay home when they are sick or when they have returned from coronavirus hotspots. “The agency also is focused on ensuring telework readiness and adjusting travel arrangements where appropriate,” she added.

JUGGLING: The coronavirus has spread to 85 countries, infecting more than 100,000 people, according to a Reuters tally based on statements from health ministries and government officials. US Treasury debt yields plunged to historic lows on Friday, while US stocks tanked and the Dow Jones shed more than 800 points before paring losses. The US Office of Personnel Management, which oversees federal workers, trains federal agency staff annually on contingency plans for disruptions like a lapse in funding or epidemic-type scenarios. “The first level of planning is behind the scenes and to make sure that you’ve got a contingency plan for anything and everything that can happen,” said Thomas Vartanian, a George Mason law professor and former senior OCC official. Still, the market turmoil is adding to the regulatory workload, requiring officials to ramp-up market monitoring, and communicate daily with one another and the industry. Short said the CFTC’s market intelligence team was providing multiple daily briefings, while the OCC said it had stepped up scrutiny of banks to ensure their plans are “relevant” and reflect a “comprehensive understanding” of their specific risks.

The agencies are also grappling with other issues, including how companies should disclose financial risks created by the virus, and which trading and lending rules may need to be relaxed to accommodate the disruption.

On Friday, the Fed said it was considering how it could encourage financial firms to ease loan repayment terms for people adversely affected by the virus. The central bank, alongside the OCC and FDIC and other agencies, also on Friday issued updated contingency planning guidelines to the industry.

LAHORE: An elderly woman sells fresh vegetables at her roadside setup ahead of International Women’s Day. o Nl IN E

CPPA reCommendS rS3.5 Per Unit hike in PoWer tAriff ISLAMABAD

t

AHMAD AHMADANI

HE country's power tariff may witness an increase of Rs3.506 per unit under the monthly fuel price adjustment mechanism, as the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has accepted the plea of Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA) in this regard.

According to sources, after accepting the CPPA application, NEPRA has called a public hearing to consider the proposed adjustments for the months of December 2019 and January 2020.

"All the interested/affected parties are invited to raise written/oral objections as permissible under the law at the public hearings, which would be held on March 25 at the NEPRA headquarters," NEPRA stated in its public notice.

As per details, the CPPA, on behalf of power distributing companies (DISCOs), has requested

NEPRA to increase power price by Rs1.4883 per unit for December 2019 and Rs2.0177 per unit for January 2020 due to variations registered in reference fuel charges and actual fuel charges during the said two months.

It is relevant to note that NEPRA had earlier set reference fuel charges at Rs4.4602 per unit for December 2019 and Rs5.7576 per unit for January 2020.

The sources used to generate energy in the month of December 2019, including hydel, coal, high-speed diesel, residual fuel oil, gas, re-gasified liquefied natural gas, nuclear, import (Iran), wind, bagasse, solar etc, contributed 7,556.87 gigwhat hours (GWh) at a cost of Rs37,843 million (Rs5.0078 per unit) while net delivered to DISCOs was 7,309.49GWh at a cost of Rs47,350 million (Rs6.4779 per unit).

Similarly, total energy generated in the month of January 2020 with above mentioned sources was 7,793.67GWh at a cost of Rs53,129 million (Rs5.9858 per unit) while net delivered to DISCOs

was 7,332.37 GWh at a cost of Rs53,129 million (Rs7.2459 per unit).

As per the sources, the [power regulatory authority, after hearing the CPPA's plea, is likely to reserve its judgment instead of announcing the decision on the matter apparently due to a decision of the federal cabinet to keep the power prices unchanged till June 2020.

It is pertinent to mention that the federal cabinet, during its Feb 25 meeting, had reaffirmed its earlier decision to keep the prices of gas and electricity unchanged till June 2020.

Pursuant to Section 31 (7) of the NEPRA Act (XL of 1997) and the mechanism for monthly fuel price adjustment prescribed by the authority in the tariff determinations of ex-WAPDA DISCOs, the authority may on account of any variations in the fuel charges and policy guidelines as the federal government may issue and notify the tariff so adjusted in the official gazette.

‘GSP+ extension to increase Pakistani exports by 9pc’ BUSINESS DESK Punjab Governor Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar on Saturday extended gratitude towards the European Union (EU) for extending the Generalized Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+) status to Pakistan.

"Extension of the status demonstrates the EU's confidence on the economic policies introduced by Prime Minister Imran Khan," Sarwar said while talking to an EU parliamentary delegation at the Governor House. "It [GSP+] will help the country improve its exports by 9.5pc."

He said despite all efforts from India, Pakistan was able to get an extension in the GSP-Plus status.

"We are committed to strengthening the country's economy as per the vision of the prime minister," he said, adding that the GSP-Plus extension would

greatly help the government fulfil its commitment.

It is pertinent to mention that Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood on Friday had announced that Pakistan would continue to enjoy tariff preferences in EU under the GSP-Plus status.

He made this announcement in a post on Twitter and thanked the EU institutions for allowing the country to avail from the status.

The adviser had also applauded federal and provincial authorities, particularly the Ministry of Commerce's treaty implementation cell, for striving hard in meeting the GSP-Plus obligations.

"This will strengthen our resolve to improve the social and economic conditions of our people. I urge the business community to diversify their exports to capitalise on this opportunity to the optimum."

Gender parity will bring $30bn to Pakistani economy: report KARACHI ARIBA SHAHID

Pakistan can add more than $30 billion to its GDP if it can improve parity between men and women, says reports on gender equality.

According to a 2018 report titled ‘The Power of Parity: Advancing Women’s Equality in the Asia Pacific’, released by McKinsey Global Institute (MGI), Pakistan will be able to add more than $30bn based on trends established through data from 2014 — equivalent to 7.1 per cent of Pakistan’s GDP. The report noted that advancing women’s equality in those countries could add $4.5 trillion to their collective GDP annually by 2025, or a 12 per cent increase over a business-as-usual GDP trajectory.

This additional GDP would be equivalent to adding an economy to the combined size of Germany and Austria each year.

According to the survey, this significant boost in growth can be achieved if policymakers set out to increase the female labour

GALLUP SAYS WOMEN EARN ROUGHLY 40PC LESS THAN MEN ON AN AGGREGATE AVERAGE force participation, the number of paid hours women work and raise women’s productivity in relative terms to men by introducing more women to higher-productivity sectors.

Increasing the number of women working would account for 58 per cent of this opportunity to add $4.5tr to the global GDP, whereas 17 per cent and 25 per cent would be added by the other two targets economies need to focus on.

Pakistan has a long way to go in improving parity. In comparison to its counterparts in the region, the opportunities for Pakistan remain low. In 2015 MGI said Pakistan is the worst in the region with regards to gender equality.

Pakistan ranks second highest with regard to gender inequality to physical security.

According to the most recent Labor Force Survey 2017-2018, released by the

Pakistan Bureau of Statistics in 2019, the labour force participation rate is mere 20 per cent for women. Only 25.6 per cent of rural women participate in the labour force, while only 11 per cent of urban women participate in the labour force.

If we compare provinces, Punjab has the highest female participation rate at 26.5 per cent, while Balochistan has the lowest at 7.9 per cent.

Compared to the previous survey conducted for 2014-15, the proportion of women working in manufacturing, construction, wholesale and retail trade, transport/ storage and personal services, and community social and personal services, registered an increase; while the proportion of women in agriculture declined.

According to the 2019 Gallup Pakistan

report titled ‘Wage Differentials in Pakistan’, on an aggregate average, women earn roughly 40 per cent less than men; or to put it in another way, the average Pakistani woman is paid only Rs600 for every Rs1000 paid to an average Pakistani man.

Out of the already weak number of women that are in the labour force, approximately only 0.1 per cent are employers in comparison with 1.7 per cent of men who are employers.

Additionally, only 0.5 per cent of women in the labour force are managers, in comparison to 2.8 per cent of men. In fact, Executive Director Gallup Pakistan Bilal Gilani notes, “An employed male is 400 per cent more likely to be a manager than an employed female in Pakistan.”

A greater percentage of women can be seen working in skilled agriculture, forestry, and fishery at 54.6 per cent; followed by crafts and related works at 14.4 per cent. The least per cent of women worked as clerical support workers at 0.1 per cent; plant and machine operators and assemblers at 0.3 per

cent; whereas 71.8 per cent of women in the labour force belong to the informal sector.

A key reason behind this gap between women and men could be attributed to the heavy underrepresentation of women in leadership positions. On a worldwide comparison, less than four women hold leadership positions for every ten men in business and politics. The situation in Pakistan is likely to be much worse. Experts believe that this waste of talent is something Pakistan cannot continue to afford.

Hafeezur Rehman Hadi, Fellow at Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE) says, “This gender asymmetry in leadership positions—skewed towards men—is furthered by the systematic authorisation of women powered by socially constructed notions that women are not born-leaders and are not to be primary bread-winners.

The coupling of international biases and local constructs have barred women in large number to assume leadership positions in Pakistan, which is gravely unfortunate.

Sunday, 8 March, 2020

12 BUSINESS

LeSS ConSUmPtion of rLnG PUtS SnGPL infrAStrUCtUre At StAke ISLAMABAD

PtA, PAShA discuss ways to promote digital economy BUSINESS DESK The Pakistan Telecomm Authority (PTA) chairman on Saturday held a meeting with the representatives of Pakistan Software Houses Association (PASHA) to discuss matters pertaining to digital economy and ease of doing e-commerce in the country.

Challenges being faced by the regulator to manage unlawful online content were also discussed in detail. There was a consensus regarding a balanced approach between freedom of speech and content regulation. Broad-based consultation on Citizen Protection (Against Online Harm) Rules 2020 with all stakeholders including foreign tech-companies, AIC and civil society was recommended during the meeting.

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AHMAD AHMADANI

HE Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) has warned that the reduced consumption of Re-gasified Liquefied Natural Gas (RLNG) by the country's power sector may cause an untoward situation and damage to the SNGPL's infrastructure, Pakistan Today has learnt.

The SNGPL, through a letter sent earlier this week to the energy ministry's additional secretary, had requested immediate intervention to ensure power sector offtake (per allocated volume) to ensure system integrity and to avoid financial exposure.

"Immediate increase in RLNG offtake by the power sector is critical to avert/reduce financial loss to the national exchequer," SNGPL had mentioned in the letter.

The Power Division was informed that low consumption of RLNG was resulting in compromising the system's integrity, as the pressure had reached an alarming level due to oversaturation of system pack (consequent upon unpredictable reduction in domestic consumption as against the consumption of corresponding period of last year).

"Despite repeated requests to the Power Division, the situation could not be improved," the SNGPL complained.

It is pertinent to mention that the Power Division had demanded 234 million cubic feet per day (MMCFD) gas for the month of March 2020; RLNG procurement was accordingly firmed up.

However, RLNG consumption by the power sector on 1st March remained only at 98MMCFD, resulting in further accumulation of 136MMCFD. As a consequence of reduced consumption by the power sector, SNGPL's pack system has reached

5,095MMSCF as against the permissible pack limit of 4,600MMSCF. "Owing to such reduced consumption of RLNG by the power sector, SNGPL is facing operational difficulties as our system is operating at an alarming level and may cause damages to our infrastructure," the letter read.

The state company further apprised the Power Division that due to high pressures at Swan, RLNG received from terminals could not be taken off and was therefore retained by Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC), while upon the saturation of SSGC’s system pack, terminals were forced to reduce gas rates. “The reduced regasification rates ultimately resulted in delaying the offloading of cargos, as well as the berthing of upcoming cargoes, triggering demurrages/take or pay hits.”

SNGPL also conveyed that any financial loss arising due to less RLNG consumption by the power sector shall be to the account of the Power Division.

Pakistan’s housing backlog touches 10.3m mark

LAHORE HASSAN NAQVI

Despite the government's ambitious agenda to build five million affordable houses in the next five years, it seems that the availability of affordable housing still remains a distant dream for lower and middle-income people in the country. According to estimates, Pakistan is currently facing an overall housing backlog of 10.3 million housing units. Of the total, urban housing shortage is estimated to be around 3.4 million housing units, while rural housing shortage is over 7 million housing units. Provincial data shows that housing shortage in Punjab is estimated to be around 5.5 million housing units, followed by Sindh (3.1 million housing units), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (1.3 million) and Balochistan (0.5 million). In relative terms, Sindh has the highest shortage (57pc of current housing stock), followed by Balochistan (42pc), Punjab (40pc) and KP (37pc).

FUTURE NEEDS: According to sources, various factors determine the demand for housing in the country, including population growth, urbanization and economic development.

Population in Pakistan is expected to touch 250 million by 2025 with an average growth rate of 2.4pc. Sources expect more than 50pc of the population to be living in urban areas by 2040.

Based on expected population growth, declining household sizes, rising urbanization, migration trend and replacement of existing housing units, it is expected that the housing demand will grow from 1.07 million housing units per year in 2020 to 1.24 million housing units per year in 2025. They said keeping in view the current backlog of 10.3 million housing units, the future housing demand would increase from 11.4 million in 2020 housing units to 17.2 million housing units in 2025. The demand is primarily driven by the economically weaker segments of the population, they added.

KARACHI: An elderly woman, incognizant of her basic rights, prepares cement blocks on the eve of International Women’s Day. o Nl IN E

Railways to give nine more trains to private sector LAHORE SHAHAB oMER

Railways Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed said on Saturday that after giving three freight trains to the private sector, nine more trains would be given to the sector in the coming days.

Talking to media at the Railway Headquarters, Sheikh Rasheed said, "We have given a business plan and a free track policy for the first time in the history of Pakistan and now we will also introduce an infotainment policy."

Elaborating further, he said under the free track policy, any private party

could run its engine or freight wagons on railway tracks and that the department would only charge the track fare.

Under the tenders of infotainment, the contract of waste management or cleanliness would be allotted to the private sector, he added.

"We have already given the responsibility of waste management of three trains to the private sector. In the upcoming tenders, the party that will supply food to the trains will also be responsible for their cleanliness."

On a query, the minister stated that the department was bound to court orders and "if the ministries of

planning and finance give us the required funds, we will try to run the Karachi Circular Railways within six months".

Sheikh Rasheed mentioned that a 25pc subsidy was recently announced on train fares, adding that the time period of subsidy would be two months (till 15th of Ramadan).

He opined that changes in fares should make after every 15 days. "The fare should be low for trains where the flow of passengers is low, and the fare should be high where the flow of passenger is high. In the economy class coaches, the inflow of passenger is

more, and I don’t think there is a need to reduce the fares."

The minister said the trains that were previously in deficit have now been closed, whereas positive feedback was being received for the Gujranwala shuttle train.

"After the new recruitment policy of Pakistan Railways, 5,000 jobs will be given on merit from grade one to grade five," he claimed.

On another query, he maintained that Pakistan Railways "cannot change without the successful execution of Karachi-Peshawar Main Line1 (ML-1) project".

China’s exports tumble, imports slow as coronavirus batters trade and business BEIJING AGENCIES

China’s exports contracted sharply in the first two months of the year, and imports slowed, as the health crisis triggered by the coronavirus outbreak caused massive disruptions to business operations, global supply chains and economic activity.

The gloomy trade report is likely to reinforce fears that China’s economic growth halved in the first quarter to the weakest since 1990 as the epidemic and strict government containment measures crippled factory production and led to a sharp slump in demand.

Overseas shipments fell 17.2pc in January-February from the same period a year earlier, customs data showed on Saturday, marking the steepest fall since February 2019.

That compared with a 14pc drop tipped by a Reuters poll of analysts and a 7.9pc gain in December.

Imports sank 4pc from a year earlier, but were better than market expectations of a 15pc drop. They had jumped 16.5pc in December, buoyed in part by a preliminary Sino-US trade deal.

China ran a trade deficit of $7.09 billion

for the period, reversing an expected $24.6 billion surplus in the poll.

Factory activity contracted at the fastest pace ever in February, even worse than during the global financial crisis, an official manufacturing gauge showed last weekend, with a sharp slump in new orders. A private survey highlighted similarly dire conditions.

The epidemic has killed over 3,000 and infected more than 80,000 in China. Though the number of new infections in China is falling, and local governments are slowly relaxing emergency measures, analysts say many businesses are taking longer to reopen than expected, and may not return to normal production till April.

Those delays threaten an even longer and costlier spillover into the economies of China’s major trading partners, many of which rely heavily on Chinese-made parts and components.

China’s trade surplus with the United States for the first two months of the year stood at $25.37 billion, Reuters calculation based on Chinese customs data showed, much narrower than a surplus of $42.16 billion in the same period last year.

Soybean imports in the first two months

of 2020 rose by 14.2pc year-on-year as cargoes from the US booked during a trade truce at the end of 2019 cleared customs.

After months of tensions and tariff hikes that dragged on bilateral trade, the world’s two biggest economies agreed an interim trade deal in January that cut some US tariffs on Chinese goods in exchange for Chinese pledges to massively increase purchases of US goods and services.

The US expects China to honor these commitments despite the coronavirus outbreak, a senior US official said in February.

VIRUS THREATENS GLOBAL RECESSION: The supply and demand shocks in China are likely to reverberate through global supply chains for months, and the rising number of virus cases and business disruptions in other countries is raising fears of a prolonged global slowdown or even recession.

In response, global policymakers have stepped up efforts to cushion the economic blow of the epidemic, with the US Federal Reserve delivering an emergency rate cut last week.

Shortages of vital parts and components from China last month cost other countries and their industries $50 billion, a United Na-

tions agency said on Wednesday.

The virus outbreak escalated in late January just as many businesses were winding down operations or closing for the long Lunar New Year holidays, and as hundreds of millions of Chinese were returning to their hometowns.

China customs said last month it would not release separate figures for January and would combine January and February instead, in line with how some of the country’s other major indicators are released early in the year, which is intended to smooth distortions created by the holidays.

Tough public measures such as restrictions on travel and quarantines meant many of these people were unable to return to their jobs in offices, factories and ports until only recently.

Some firms which have reopened have faced shortages of parts and other raw materials as well as labor, while others report inventories of finished goods such as steel are piling up as downstream customers like car plants slowly crank up production again.

Iron ore imports rose 1.5pc over the first two months, supported by firm demand at steel mills even though the coronavirus outbreak had disrupted downstream sectors.

Parts of central Hubei province, the epicenter of the outbreak and a major transport and manufacturing center, are expected to remain under lockdown well into March.

Analysts at Nomura estimate only 44pc of the businesses worst affected by the outbreak had resumed operation as of March 1, and 62.1pc across the economy as a whole.

As such, they forecast economic growth will slump to 2pc in the first quarter year-on-year, from 6pc in the previous quarter.

Beijing has already stepped up support measures, including offering cheap loans to affected businesses, and policy sources have told Reuters that more steps are expected as authorities try to cushion the epidemic’s impact on the economy.

China’s commerce ministry said on Thursday that more than 70pc of foreign trade companies in the coastal provinces have resumed work.

But financial magazine Caixin reported this week that some companies were keeping machines running and lights open throughout the day even though they have no goods to produce, in a bid to allow managers and local officials to inflate the official work resumption rate.

C M YK

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Sunday, 8 March, 2020

From Coughing Fits to Closings, Cultural World Girds for Coronavirus

U

The New York Times

By JuliA JAcoBs

SHerS in some theaters are wearing latex gloves.

Museums are installing hand sanitizer dispensers as if they were pieces of art. audience members are being told: if you have a cough, please, trade in your tickets and stay home. as the coronavirus spreads in the United States, theaters, museums and concert halls are hyperaware that their establishments could become petri dishes for a virus that is spread person-toperson through respiratory droplets. these institutions are nervously looking at what has happened overseas, in places like China and italy, where museums have been closed, concerts canceled and movie theaters shuttered. in the entertainment industry, where ticket sales are often critical to financial survival, companies are hoping that the outbreak doesn’t get significantly worse.

But administrators are already steeling themselves for every imaginable scenario: public health officials’ prohibiting large gatherings, patrons’ deciding that a night at the theater is too much of a risk, performers too ill to take the stage. labor tensions are possible, too.

Unions say they will work to ensure their members have protections on the job and are paid even if they cannot work. in Paris, the louvre closed for more than two days for negotiations between workers and officials. one agreement to come out of the talks is that guards will no longer have to circulate in the packed room where the Mona lisa hangs. “everyone is exploring what to do if things get worse,” said Jennifer Bielstein, the president of the league of resident theaters, a national

organization.

Most institutions are familiar with what happens if a storm or strike interrupts their operations, but a viral epidemic is new territory. Jan newcomb, the executive director of the national Coalition for arts’ Preparedness and emergency response, has advised organizations on how to survive hurricanes, tornadoes and fires, but never an epidemic. that means many museums, theaters, music venues and dance companies are having to educate themselves on what a viral outbreak will mean for their businesses. Do their insurance policies cover infectious diseases? if performances are canceled, will artists be paid? For how long? “the loss of performances can be devastating,” Ms. newcomb said. “organizations sometimes don’t recover.”

For now, as coronavirus cases tick upward in Washington State, California and new York, it’s generally business as usual at museums and theaters — but with much more disinfectant. institutions have adopted a variety of creative tactics to help avoid becoming sites for disease transmission. at the Whitney Museum of american art in new York, the maintenance workers have doubled the number of times per day that they clean door knobs, railings and other surfaces. the Hammer Museum in los angeles has its staff opening doors so that visitors don’t have to touch anything. the Westport Country Playhouse in Connecticut has issued its ushers cotton gloves, and the american Conservatory theater in San Francisco has reminded ushers that they don’t have to physically take tickets from people — just scan them. at new York theater Workshop,

patrons who “demonstrate severe coughing or other flulike symptoms” can be asked to leave. occasionally, at Broadway theaters, ushers hear from audience members who want to change seats because a person next to them is coughing, said Charlotte St. Martin, the president of the Broadway league. “if they can move them, they do,” she said. “People are nervous, but not nervous enough to leave.” institutions often post signs reminding visitors to wash their hands.

Some try to make disease prevention seem more fun than it is. theatreWorks Silicon Valley has made it easy for patrons to exchange their tickets for another date. and the american Guild of Musical artists, a union that represents performers, is working with dance companies to make sure dancers are encouraged to stay home when they have

viral symptoms, since it isn’t possible to eliminate physical contact during their rehearsals.

For the Metropolitan opera — which relies heavily on singers, directors and other artists who live and work around the world — the coronavirus crisis poses special challenges. the company issued new guidelines this week telling both employees and visiting artists who have recently been to a country flagged for coronavirus outbreaks by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention not to come to work at the Met for 14 days. that includes people who visited italy, an opera capital. (on thursday, the city asked all new Yorkers who had been to those countries to isolate themselves.) that may mean changing flight plans or rehearsal schedules so that artists can fit in a two-week quarantine, Diane Zola, one of the Met’s assistant general managers, said in an email this week to

artists’ representatives. the spread of the virus has also raised questions about how artists and other staff members of arts organizations would be paid if their events had to be canceled. a company could invoke a provision of a union’s collective bargaining agreement called “force majeure” in the case of unforeseen circumstances, like a natural disaster, said len egert, the executive director of the american Guild of Musical artists. in that case, the company would cease operations and the union would fight the invocation or negotiate with the company over workers’ pay and benefits. a critical issue in the coronavirus crisis, Mr. egert said, will be maintaining workers’ health insurance.

When it comes to the prospect of temporarily shuttering during the outbreak, organizations generally say that they are relying on the direction of the local and national public health authorities. “it is our expectation that we would only close because of a government mandate,” said Susan Medak, managing director of Berkeley repertory theater, in California. a direct order from the government can in many cases determine whether insurance covers institutions closed down by the virus. if a Broadway production cancels shows voluntarily, it will not receive coverage for loss of income. But with a government mandate, losses incurred after two closed shows could be covered, said Peter Shoemaker, a managing director at DeWitt Stern, an insurance brokerage firm that works with Broadway shows as well as ballet companies and other performing arts organizations. g

movies

‘Look Up Here!’: 5 Female Directors Reject the Male Gaze

I

The New York Times

By John Anderson

nternational Women’s Day arrives Sunday on the heels of another season of #oscarSoMale and another prize for the director roman Polanski, who fled the United States in 1978, after he was convicted of unlawful sex with a minor. and yet, there are bright spots. “i went to see ‘Portrait of a lady on Fire’ yesterday,” said the filmmaker and Calarts film professor nina Menkes, “and there were trailers for three other films by women. it’s impossible! it’s the first time anything like this has happened in my life.”

Menkes is the creator of “Sex and Power: the Visual language of oppression,” a lecture and clip show she has been staging at film festivals around the world. in it, she uses scenes ranging from Hitchcock’s 1946 “notorious” (1946) to Sofia Coppola’s 2003 “lost in translation” (with its opening shot of Scarlett Johansson’s barely clad backside) to demonstrate the nuances of objectification, the male gaze and how it’s perpetuated. and not just by men. “i’ve had women students come in and show footage that begins on the woman character’s face,” Menkes said, “then for no apparent reason it cuts down to her low-cut shirt. and goes lower. and then back up. and i’d say, ‘Why did you film that way?’ and there’d be this deer-in-the-headlights look. they were doing what they’d seen a million times. and weren’t even aware of it. Heterosexual male actors are almost never filmed that way.” right now there’s a surge in cinema made by women — not just “Portrait,” but also recent and forthcoming movies like “Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey,” “the assistant,” “lost Girls,” “never rarely Sometimes always,” “Zola” and Menkes’s documentary “Brainwashed.” i spoke to the directors to find out how they have been incorporating Menkes’s lessons into their work.

Liz Garbus, ‘Lost Girls’ Garbus, a veteran documentarian, is making her narrative feature debut with a drama (due March

13) about the case of unsolved serial killings on long island. She tells her story through one victim’s mother, played by amy ryan and based on the real-life Mari Gilbert.

Given that the dead women were involved in sex work, Garbus said, a male director might have approached things differently. “But the point of view of my protagonist, her subjectivity, informed the shooting almost entirely. in the scenes with her family, we would break her off and put her at a distance, but in terms of her walking into a man’s world — which is everywhere apart from her family — that informed everything.” Mari is never scrutinized by the police, for instance, and their disregard for the killings is read through her. “this is about making women’s voices heard, so it’s ingrained in the entire movie.” the perspective does shift in a sequence involving a retirement party for a detective named Dormer (Gabriel Byrne). “the cops call strippers to the party and there was an opportunity to objectify a lot of beautiful women,” Garbus said. “But that scene is told through his point of view, which involved a growing sense of alienation and disgust with his colleagues. it’s one of the few scenes not anchored by Mari’s perspective, but Dormer is coming to a realization, and is looking at his colleagues in a different way.”

Cathy Yan, ‘Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey’ in this recent follow-up to “Suicide Squad” focusing on Margot robbie’s antiheroine Harley Quinn, there’s a moment when a Gotham billionaire (ewan McGregor) forces a woman to get on a table and strip. “We were pretty conscious not to muddy what the scene was meant to be about, by not offering anything remotely vulnerable or titillating,” Yan said. “there are choices like that which felt very deliberate; we were making sure we were protecting our female actors, even in a scene that was about humiliation.” But she said other choices were more intuitive: “it was less, ‘i’m going to unpack and reject the male gaze of every director who’s come before me’ and more of an unconscious, innate reaction about what feels right.” all the while keeping the camera on her actors’ faces. “that’s where you tell the story,” Yan said. “‘look up here! i’m talking to you!’”

Janicza Bravo, ‘Zola’ “Zola,” which recently debuted at the Sundance Film Festival and is set for a summer release, is based on a notorious twitter thread about a waitress and a stripper on a real-life road trip. it’s told from the server’s perspective, Bravo said, but “takes place inside of sex work. i wanted it the moment i read it. no one was going to protect this narrative like i would.”

Bravo said she did her homework: “Most of what was out there that dealt in this space was prescribing to a male audience. By men, for men. i made what i wanted to see. i know what a breast looks like. i have a vagina. i didn’t feel i needed to add more to what is already a strong library of these images.”

Eliza Hittman, ‘Never Rarely Sometimes Always’ Female filmmakers are working to reclaim their point of view, Hittman argued. She does that in her new drama, opening March 13, by studying the faces of her lead characters: a young Pennsylvania woman (Sidney Flanigan) trying to obtain a legal abortion in new York City with the help of her cousin, Skylar (talia ryder). the exception to that focus is a scene in which Skylar is about to roll a bowling ball down an alley and the camera — shifting to the perspective of a guy they’ve met on the bus — follows her longingly. “that’s the one point where the movie plays with the male point of view. You’re supposed to see him watching and desiring.” But that one moment is a long way from some of Menkes’ favorite examples of gratuitous voyeurism, like the naked locker-room romp at the start of “Carrie.” “i do think there is a systematized approach to making a studio film in terms of the expectations of how a film is shot and edited,” Hittman said. “But i do think there’s room within that to control the points of view of the film.”

Kitty Green, ‘The Assistant’ Green’s film, released in January, was directly inspired by the Weinstein saga. “it’s told from the perspective of the youngest female at a production company, the person with the least amount of power at that company,” she said. outside the office of a predatory executive (who remains offscreen), the woman (Julia Garner) watches as other women go in and out of his office, but, Green said, “i was very careful not to linger or zoom or do close-ups of their bodies, but rather see them the way a young woman would see them, without leaning into any of those traditional tropes of the male gaze, seeing them as objects and not human beings.” g

Sunday, 8 March, 2020

14 SPORTS

Fist BumPs REPlacE handshakEs, swEaty towEls oFF limits in davis cuP madrid

d

Agencies

AvIS Cup qualifying started Friday under the shadow of the deadly coronavirus with fist bumps instead of handshakes, ball boys and girls keeping their distance from sweat-stained towels and two ties even played out in eerilyempty arenas. With matches taking place from Australia to Japan to Europe and in South America and Hawaii, 12 teams are bidding to join defending champions Spain, 2019 runners-up Canada, semi-finalists Great Britain and Russia, as well as wildcards France and Serbia in the Madrid finals in November.

Two of Friday's encounters had to be

staged behind closed doors with spectators banned in Miki, where Japan are hosting Ecuador, and in Cagliari as Italy faced South Korea. "Conditions were strange," said Italian number one and world 11 Fabio Fognini after cruising past 251ranked Lee Duck-hee 6-0, 6-3 in just over an hour at the Circolo Tennis venue.

"It was not difficult to focus but it was a bit strange to play in front of 100 people.

But safety first and then sport," Fognini told daviscup.com. Italy has been the worst-hit European country with 197 deaths from the coronavirus.

As a result, all sporting events are being played behind closed doors for the next month. On Friday, only teams, media and support staff were allowed into the arena where world number 79 Gianluca

Ex-Brazil football star Ronaldinho, brother arrested in Paraguay

Mager then extended the Italian lead to 20 overnight after a 6-3, 7-5 debut win over Nam Ji-sung. "There's too much silence for a Davis Cup crowd," said Italy skipper Corrado Barazzutti after a day in which players and backroom staff exchanged fist bumps rather than the traditional post-match handshake in an effort to reduce the risk of a virus spread. In Miki, Japan, without their top two singles players Kei Nishikori -- who hasn't played Davis Cup since 2016 -- and Yoshihito Nishioka, slipped 2-0 down to Ecuador. Emilio Gomez defeated Go Soeda 7-5, 7-6 (7/3) while Roberto Quiroz shrugged off a gap of 186 places in the rankings to beat Yasutaka Uchiyama 7-6 (7/4), 2-6, 7-6 (10/8).

DO NOT TOUCH: Ball boys and girls

wore gloves to handle the balls and used baskets for players to toss their towels.

Japan has reported 360 confirmed cases of coronavirus and six deaths. It all added to a miserable day for Japan who were without Nishikori, still recovering from an elbow injury which has sidelined him since the US Open, and Nishioka. World number 48 Nishioka decided not to join the national team to avoid the possibility of being quarantined on his return to the United States ahead of next week's ATP event in Indian Wells. Elsewhere, 28-time Davis Cup champions Australia were 2-0 up on Brazil in Adelaide. Jordan Thompson saw off Thiago Monteiro 6-4, 6-4 before John Millman recovered from a set and 5-3 down to defeat last week's Santiago ATP champion, 19-year-old Thiago Seyboth Wild 4-6, 76 (7/0), 6-2.

"That's what Davis Cup is all about, never giving up," said Millman.

In Zagreb, 2005 and 2018 champions Croatia were 2-0 up on India after Borna Gojo beat Prajnesh Gunneswaran 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 and former US Open winner Marin Cilic saw off world number 182 Ramkumar Ramanathan 7-6 (10/8), 7-6 (10/8).

In Bratislava, three-time champions Czech Republic were 2-0 ahead of Slovakia in their first meeting since the countries split into two independent nations in 1993.

Sweden were 1-1 with Chile in Stockholm on a contrasting day for the home side's Ymer brothers. Mikael beat Marcelo Tomas vera 6-2, 6-3 but older brother Elias lost to Alejandro Tabilo 6-4, 6-3. Other ties were also locked at 1-1 -- Kazakhstan v Netherlands, Austria against Uruguay, Hungary at home to Belgium, Germany's tie with Belarus and Colombia v Argentina.

labuschagne hits century on return to roots PotchefStroom Agencies

San Lorenzo Agencies

Former Brazilian football star Ronaldinho and his brother were arrested Friday in Asuncion, Paraguay's public ministry said, after entering the country on fake passports. "The Attorney General's office issued a warrant for their arrest, charged the player Ronaldinho with using a public document with false content and requested preventative detention," the ministry tweeted.

The two men will be held overnight at a police station. Sources from the public prosecutor's office told AFP that the brothers will be summoned for a hearing on Sunday to impose measures.

Ronaldinho and his brother Roberto de Assis Moreira had finished a court appearance and left the Palace of Justice Friday night at 8:15 pm (2315 GMT). Ronaldinho declined to comment to reporters as they left the building. The state attorney general decided to rectify a request for "opportunity criteria" in favor of the 2005 Ballon d'Or winner and changed prosecutors for the case.

Applauded by a large group of his South African family at Senwes Park, Labuschagne made 108 in an Australian total of 254 for seven after they were sent in to bat.

Labuschagne was born in Klerksdorp, 50km away, and started school in Potchefstroom before his family moved to Australia when he was nine years old. He said it was "very special" to score a century so close to the town where he was born. "I carried on like a bit of a goose," he told SuperSport television of his emotional celebration on reaching his hundred, "but it was amazing. I have 50 of my family members out there from all over South Africa."

But he was quick to add there were no divided loyalties. "I left so young, I love Australia, it's my country," he said. "Although I was born in South Africa and there's a little spot in my heart for the country, I'm Australian through and through."

With South Africa having already clinched the series, Australia were fac-

AustrAliA 254 for 7 (lAbuschAgne 108, nortje 2-35) v south AfricA ing a series whitewash at 55 for three before Labuschagne, with help from D'Arcy Short (36), Mitchell Marsh (32) and Jhye Richardson (24 not out), rebuilt the innings. Labuschagne and Richardson put on 64 for the seventh

wicket off 45 balls to give the innings late impetus. Labuschagne made 108 off 108 balls with eight fours before being bowled by Anrich Nortje off the penultimate delivery of the innings, going for a big hit.

influential Fernandes set for first taste of manchester derby mancheSter Agencies

Bruno Fernandes can cement his status as Manchester United's new talisman when the Portugal midfielder gets his first taste of the derby rivalry with Manchester City on Sunday.

Fernandes has made a flying start with United following his January move from Sporting Lisbon for an initial ÂŁ47 million ($61 million).

The 25-year-old has scored three goals and provided two assists in his seven appearances, helping Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's team extend their unbeaten run to nine games in all competitions. Since the Alex Ferguson era ended in 2013, United have struggled to find players with the personality and presence to cope with the pressure of trying to emulate those golden days. But the influential Fernandes already appears a perfect fit. He has shown no signs of being intimidated by the task of becoming United's leading man. Said to be a vocal presence in training sessions, Fernandes displayed his leadership qualities with several animated discussions with Diogo Dalot, Scott McTominay and Fred during Thursday's FA Cup fifth-round win at Derby. "I like to see that in a player, he doesn't change coming into a new team. He's the same as he was at Sporting," Solskjaer said. "That's a boy with confidence, with quality, good form and that's his personality. Everyone should be themselves. He's come in as a leader and he's shown he's a leader." United reportedly balked at Sporting's summer asking price for Fernandes, but the fee they paid in the January window is already looking a bargain.

tiger to miss Players championship with back issue miami Agencies

Reigning Masters champion Tiger Woods will miss next week's US PGA Tour Players Championship with a back issue as the 15time major winner's return to defend his crown at Augusta National looms.

Woods, according to the tour website, told PGA commissioner Jay Monahan he would skip the signature event at TPC Sawgrass, which typically boasts one of golf's strongest fields, just before agent Mark Steinberg announced his 44-year-old client still suffered back troubles.

"Back just not ready," Steinberg told Golf Digest and ESPN. "Not concerning long term, just not ready."

It's the short term that is becoming of concern for Woods, who will miss the biggest Masters tuneup and have only three weeks of competition before chasing a sixth career green jacket -- if he's able to play by round one on April 9.

"The idea is to peak around Augusta," Woods told reporters last week in a conference call. Woods, ranked 11th, skipped this week's Arnold Palmer Invitational with what Steinberg said was back stiffness. Woods also missed last week's Honda Classic and the WGC Mexico Championship the week before that. The last time Woods played was in the Genesis Invitational at Riviera three weeks ago, when he placed 68th. His only other 2020 start came at Torrey Pines in January when he shared ninth.

Woods would have the valspar Championship on March 19-22 and the WGC Match Play in Austin, Texas, on March 25-29 as well as the Texas Open on April 2-5 before official Masters practice sessions begin, but he typically skips playing the week before the Masters.

Woods won The Players Championship in 2001 and 2013, with only three-time winner Jack Nicklaus having captured more titles in the Ponte vedra Beach, Florida, event.

Woods has played a lighter schedule in

recent seasons in the wake of multiple back surgeries, including a spinal fusion operation in 2017. He slowly worked his way back into form after that, including a runner-up effort at the 2018 PGA Championship and victory at the 2018 Tour Championship, setting the stage for his first major win in 11 years last April at Augusta National, completing an epic comeback saga. Woods won the Zozo Championship last October in Japan for his 82nd career US PGA title, matching Sam Snead atop the all-time tour win list.

He then went on to finish fourth at the Hero World Challenge he hosts in the Bahamas before flying to Australia and serving as a playing captain in the US team's victory over the Internationals at Melbourne.

Woods is ranked seventh among American players, three spots behind where he would need to be in June to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. Even with Dustin Johnson saying he will not compete in Japan, Woods would still need to pass two compatriots to grab a berth in the Olympics.

Jazz Golf Tournament 2020 concludes in Lahore on Saturday.

Sunday, 8 March, 2020

SPORTS 15

ElEctRic shadaB khan lEFt to RuE thE Rain as PEshawaR Zalmi win

hbl Psl toDAY’s mAtch vs 2:00 Pm multan sultan

islAmABAd united innings (20 overs mAximum) l ronchi c Wahab riaz b rahat Ali ........................................................................................06 c munro c livingstone b Brathwaite......................................................................................52 rizwan Hussain b Hasan Ali.....................................................................................................5 shadab Khan (c) c livingstone b Wahab riaz ....................................................................77 cA ingram c livingstone b Hasan Ali.....................................................................................41 Asif Ali not out.............................................................................................................................3 Faheem Ashraf not out ..............................................................................................................3 extrAs: 8 (b 4, lb 2, w 2) totAl: 195/5 (20 overs, rr: 9.75).........................................195 FAll oF WicKets: 1-6 (luke ronchi, 0.5 ov), 2-41 (rizwan Hussain, 4.1 ov), 3-108 (colin munro, 10.5 ov), 4-184 (colin ingram, 17.6 ov), 5-189 (shadab Khan, 18.6 ov) o m r W BoWling: rahat Ali 4 0 41 1 shoaib malik 3 0 23 0 Hasan Ali 4 0 36 2 Yasir shah 2 0 30 0 4 0 37 1 Wahab riaz 3 0 22 1 cr Brathwaite PesHAWAr ZAlmi innings (85/2 (9/9 ov, tArget 79)) Kamran Akmal †c Faheem Ashraf b Zafar gohar ..............................................................37 imam-ul-Haqc Zafar gohar b rumman raees ...................................................................7 t Banton not out.........................................................................................................................20 Haider Ali not out........................................................................................................................16 o m r W BoWling: 2 0 15 0 dW steyn rumman raees 2 0 20 1 Faheem Ashraf 2 0 26 0 Zafar gohar 2 0 11 1 shadab Khan 1 0 11 0

Australia eye fifth t20 world title in front of huge crowd meLbourne Agencies

Australian captain Meg Lanning says her team are "pumped" for their defence of the women's Twenty20 World Cup against India on Sunday with hopes high that more than 90,000 fans will cram the cavernous Melbourne Cricket Ground. They go into the final as favourites, courtesy of being the sport's dominant side, winning four of the six tournaments so far, in contrast to Harmanpreet Kaur's India, who are in their first decider. But with large numbers of Indian fans expected in the 100,000-capacity arena, there will be little in the way of home advantage. Organisers have set their sights on beating the official world attendance record for a women's sporting fixture on Sunday, to coincide with International Women's Day. That was set at the 1999 football World Cup final, when 90,185 watched the United States beat China at the Rose Bowl in California. While widely accepted as the benchmark, an estimated 110,000 are said to have attended the Mexico-Denmark women's World Cup Championships final in 1971, but it was not a sanctioned event. Pop superstar Katy Perry, who this week revealed she is pregnant, has been recruited to help get punters through the turnstiles, performing before and after the game. As of Friday, more than 75,000 tickets had been sold for a match that marks the culmination of a 17day, 10-team, tournament that has proved both entertaining and competitive. "It seems like it has sort of fallen into place a little bit, and Sunday is going to be massive," said Lanning ahead of Australia playing their sixth successive final.

rawaLPindi Agencies

Peshawar Zalmi 85 for 2 (Akmal 37) beat Islamabad United 195 for 5 (Khan 77, Munro 52) by seven runs (D/L method) Shadab Khan's sizzling 77 off 42 balls vaulted him into second place on the PSL top scorers list for 2020, but the Islamabad United captain's knock was in vain as rain arrived with Peshawar Zalmi seven runs ahead of the DLS par score at the nine-over mark of their chase, taking the fizz out of what was shaping up to be an exciting game in Rawalpindi.

Khan partnered with the two Colin's, Munro and Ingram, for a pair of half-century partnerships to set a target of 196 in what was an incredibly sloppy fielding performance by Zalmi. But in spite of five dropped chances, including two each off Khan and one apiece off Ingram and Munro, Zalmi's bowlers managed to haul back the United innings with some brilliant death bowling.

A typically pugnacious start to the chase by Kamran Akmal (37 off 21) kept Zalmi well ahead of the DLS par score, even after both he and Imam-ul-Haq fell.

Khan protested with the umpires when drizzle increased to the

point that the covers were brought on with United 85 for 2, feeling that they could have played on though it was clear he making a hard sell knowing his side were behind on DLS. The match had already been delayed 15 minutes at the start due to early afternoon rain and a wet outfield. After a further 55minute delay, Zalmi were set a revised target which left them needing 21 off two more overs.

But just as the players were about to take the field once again, the rain returned to cement Zalmi as winners on the day.

Turning point The wicket of Ingram to end a 76-run stand with Khan. United had been cruising at more than 10 an over throughout their innings, but Ingram couldn't clear long-on trying to smash a Hasan Ali full toss.

Liam Livingstone took the catch, which triggered a bizarre stalling of the innings. Khan fell six balls later smashing a length ball from Wahab Riaz to Livingstone again; it was his third catch of the day. Rahat Ali then followed up by conceding just six runs in the final over, wrapping up a sequence in which United scored just 11 runs off the final 13 balls despite having seven wickets in hand. So, instead of sailing past 200, United finished with a comparatively gettable 195 for 5.

Though it came in a losing effort, Khan's half-century - his third of the season to put him level with Munro - continued to build a very strong case for his ending up as Player of the Tournament. He is now joint-second on the PSL scoring chart alongside Akmal with 237 runs at 47.40 and a strike rate of 170.50.

Khan is just 11 runs behind United team-mate Luke Ronchi for the overall scoring lead and after striking four more sixes in this contest, he now has a tournament best 15 maximums.

Though there were five drops in the United innings, the lone drop in the Zalmi chase was perhaps the clumsiest of all. Tom Banton was on 16 in the seventh over when he top-edged a sweep off Zafar Gohar's left-arm spin to Akif Javed at short fine leg.

Though it was not by any means a steepler, the ball slipped through Javed's hands as he snatched at it.

Where the teams stand Zalmi joined Multan Sultans at the top of the PSL table on nine points, though Sultans hold a massive advantage on net run rate and also have two matches in hand. United are third on the points table with seven points and a superior net run rate to Karachi Kings, though the Kings have two matches in hand.

Has the PSL really moved back to Pakistan, and is this a T20 league?

Today, on a pitch redolent of the most treacherous surfaces in the UAE, Samit Patel, aided by a contingent of Lahore Qalandars spinners who happened to come in handy, blew Quetta Gladiators top order away, reducing them to 21 for 6.

The pitch was ragging square, and there was little Quetta could do but cautiously bat out the 20 overs from that point on. They limped to 98, which appeared impressive in the circumstances, but when the second innings rolled around, Quetta's slower bowlers simply didn't possess the same bite. A 62-run partnership between Mohammad Hafeez and Ben Dunk put any early fears to rest, and Lahore cantered to a crushing win with 8 wickets and nine overs to spare. Well, where

did this surface come from? The last two days have seen Lahore peppered by intermittent rain; it was responsible for the abandoned game between Multan and Karachi last night. And when the fast-improving Shaheen Afridi's exceptional first over saw Shane Watson depart for a golden duck, it looked as if the strip would favour bowlers who could move the ball at pace far more than the spinners. But that's where Patel came in. The first ball to Jason Roy looped and beat the outside edge; it was a harbinger for what was to follow. Roy would be removed by an identical delivery that beat him so comprehensively he actually had to check with the keeper to confirm it had dislodged his off bail. It was one of four wickets Patel took, with his figures reading a 4-1-5-4.

From thereon, Quetta hunkered down and focused on batting out the overs, Sohail Khan biding his time

CMYK

lAhore

lahoRE QalandaRs

ankle sprain rules naseem shah out of Psl for a week Lahore Agencies

The injury suffered by Naseem Shah on March 5 during the PSL game between Quetta Gladiators and Peshawar Zalmi will see him miss the next week of games as doctors have advised him to rest for seven days. In the game, he walked off the ground after bowling two overs, and didn't take the field again. It was later learnt that he had sprained his left ankle. The Quetta management informed the Pakistan Cricket Board about Shah's situation and put him on rehabilitation with physiotherapist Nisar Khan. The management confirmed that his sprain is minor and not serious enough to ask for an immediate replacement. However, they named legspinner Zahid Mahmood as cover for Shah while he recuperates. ESPNcricinfo understands that the Pakistan national team's management has raised concerns about Shah's workload of playing back-to-back games in the PSL. Shah is an integral part of Pakistan's plans for the World Test Championship, and the management had earlier urged the PCB, among other suggestions, to even monetarily compensate the teenager for the PSL games he was going to miss, to preserve him ahead of the national assignments. Late last year, Shah was pulled out of Pakistan's Under-19 World Cup squad for the same reason. "We haven't decided about any replacement yet because we are hopeful that he will recover before our game against Multan Sultans in Lahore [on March 11]," Azam Khan, Quetta manager told ESPNcricinfo. With all the success, injuries have continued to follow him too. After debuting in the first Test of the series in Australia last year, he missed the second Test, as a precaution after he complained of a knee niggle in the nets.

samit Patel and lahore Qalandars finds joy on square turner SPortS deSk

islamaBad unitEd

vs 2:00 Pm kaRachi kings

HBl scorecArd

rAwAlPinDi

HBl scorecArd

and cashing in towards the end. When he hit Dilbar Hussain for 18 in the 18th over, it seemed like a matchturning moment. However, there was no one in the Quetta ranks who played the superhuman role Patel had for Lahore, with the early bedlam responsible for consigning them to a fourth successive defeat.

Samit Patel stuns There is no doubt the surface was a dream to play on, but it is notable Patel's performance so far exceeded those delivered by any of his peers.

There wasn't a delivery that didn't hit the spot, Patel confident enough to give it plenty of flight, continuously bringing the outside edge of the righthanders in play. That is how Sarfaraz

QuettA glAdiAtors innings (20 overs mAximum) l JJ roy b Patel............................................................................................................................6 sr Watson lbw b shaheen shah Afridi.................................................................................0 Ahmed shehzad c Patel b shaheen shah Afridi.................................................................9 sarfaraz Ahmed (c) † c dunk b Patel ....................................................................................1 mohammad nawaz(3) c dilbar Hussain b raja Farzan.....................................................10 Azam Khan c dunk b Patel.......................................................................................................0 BcJ cutting c shaheen shah Afridi b Patel.........................................................................0 sohail Khan b salman irshad...................................................................................................32 Fawad Ahmed st †vilas b raja Farzan...................................................................................4 Zahid mahmood not out............................................................................................................19 mohammad Hasnain not out ...................................................................................................2 extrAs: 15 (lb 1, nb 2, w 12 totAl:98/9 (20 overs, rr: 4.9) ...........................................98 BoWling: o m r W rshaheen shah Afridi 4 0 20 2 sr Patel 4 1 5 4 mohammad Hafeez 3 1 15 0 raja Farzan 4 0 24 2 dilbar Hussain 4 0 24 0 salman irshad 1 0 9 1 lAHore QAlAndArs innings (85/2 (9/9 ov, tArget 79)) Fakhar Zaman b mohammad nawaz .....................................................................................20 sohail Akhtar (c) st †sarfaraz Ahmed b mohammad nawaz..........................................5 mohammad Hafeez not out.....................................................................................................39 Br dunk not out..........................................................................................................................30 BoWling: o m r W dmohammad nawaz(3) 3 0 9 2 mohammad Hasnain 2 0 33 0 Fawad Ahmed 4 0 27 0 Zahid mahmood 2.5 0 26 0

Sunday, 8 March, 2020

NEWS

Prisoner release needs ‘transParent mechanism’, says afghanistan’s ghani AFGHAN PRESIDENT ALSO CALLS FOR ‘EXECUTIVE GUARANTEE’ THAT TALIBAN PRISONERS WILL NOT RETURN TO VIOLENCE AFTER THEIR RELEASE kABUL Agencies

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Saturday said that there is a need for a “transparent mechanism” to release the Taliban prisoners – as part of a peace deal between the US and the Taliban. Addressing a ceremony on the second anniversary of the 17th National Assembly, Ghani also said that there is a need for an “executive guarantee” for the release of the prisoners.

Based on the US-Taliban agreement signed on Feb. 29 in Qatar, up to 5,000 prisoners of the Taliban in the Afghan government’s custody should be released

by March 10 ahead of the intra-Afghan negotiations. Saturday’s event was attended by Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and Second Vice President Mohammad Sarwar Danish and members of the two parliament houses – the Wolesi

Jirga and the Meshrano Jirga.

Calling the current condition “critical” in terms of an opportunity for peace, Ghani said the people’s request is that there should be an executive guarantee so that these people (prisoners) will not re-

former india Pm says india situation 'grim and morose'

turn to violence once they are released.

Ghani said discussions were made last week about the negotiating team.

“Our negotiating team will be ready by March 10,” Ghani said.

Ghani called on MPs to announce a

selection of two members from the Meshrano Jirga (including one woman) and five members of the Wolesi Jirga (including two women) to participate in the High Council of Reconciliation.

But President Ghani did not make it clear whether he will conduct consolations with the seven lawmakers, or if he will include them on the negotiating team.

“Afghanistan is in a critical stage and is in dire need of unity. We can only overcome challenges with the perspective of national unity,” Ghani concluded. On March 1, a day after the signing of a historic peace deal between the Taliban and US, President Ghani had rejected the Taliban demand for the release of the 5,000 prisoners as a condition for talks with Afghanistan’s government and civilians.

Under the accord, the US and Taliban are committed to work expeditiously to release combat and political prisoners as a confidence-building measure, with the coordination and approval of all relevant sides. The agreement calls for up to 5,000 jailed Taliban prisoners to be released in exchange for up to 1,000 Afghan government captives by March 10.

Saudi Arabia detains top royals, including King's brother, over 'coup plot' RIYADH Agencies

New DeLHI Agencies

Former Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh said India’s situation is “very grim and morose”, warning that “wilfully stoked communal tensions, gross economic mismanagement and an external health shock are threatening to derail India’s progress and standing”. In a strongly-worded op-ed published in The Hindu on Friday, Singh maintained that currently, India was facing threats from “the trinity of social disharmony, economic slowdown and a global health epidemic”. Commenting on the deadly communal violence that swept through the Indian capital recently, the former prime minister said: “With no checks, the fire of social tensions is rapidly spreading across the nation and threatens to char the soul of our nation. It can only be extinguished by the same people that lit it.” “Just in a matter of few years, India has slid rapidly from being a global showcase of a model of economic development through liberal democratic methods to a strife-ridden majoritarian state in economic despair,” he wrote. Singh called on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to convince the nation not just through his words, but also through his actions. “Every act of sectarian violence is a blemish on Mahatma Gandhi’s India,” wrote Singh, who remained prime minister of India from 2004 to 2014 until he was replaced by Modi at the helm. “Modi must convince the nation […] that he is cognizant of the dangers we face and reassure the nation that he can help us tide over this as smoothly as we can.” “The India that we know and cherish is slipping away fast. It is time to confront the harsh reality of the grave risks we face as a nation and address them squarely and sufficiently,” he wrote.

Saudi authorities have detained three princes, including King Salman’s brother and nephew on charges of plotting a coup, the Wall Street Journal reported late Friday night, signaling a further consolidation of power by the Kingdom’s de facto ruler, Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman (MbS). The detentions cast aside the last vestiges of potential opposition to the crown prince and come as the kingdom limits access to Islam’s holiest sites in a highly sensitive move to contain the fast-spreading coronavirus.

Prince Ahmed bin Abdulaziz al-Saud, a brother of King Salman, and the monarch’s nephew Prince Mohammed bin Nayef were accused of treason and taken from their homes early Friday by black-clad royal guards. The Saudi royal court has accused the two men, once potential contenders for the throne, of “plotting a coup to unseat the king and the crown prince” and could face life imprisonment or execution, the newspaper said.

The New York Times also reported the detentions, adding that Prince Nayef’s younger brother, Prince Nawaf bin Nayef, had also been detained. Saudi authorities did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The detentions mark the latest crackdown by Prince Mohammed, who has consolidated his grip on power with the imprisonment of prominent clerics and activists as well as princes and business elites. Prince Mohammed has also faced a torrent of international condemnation over the murder of critic Jamal Khashoggi inside the kingdom’s Istanbul

consulate in October 2018. Already viewed as the de facto ruler controlling all the major levers of government, from defense to the economy, the prince is widely seen to be stamping out traces of internal dissent before a formal transfer of power from his 84year-old father King Salman.

“Prince Mohammed is emboldened — he has already ousted any threats to his rise and jailed or murdered critics of his regime without any repercussion,” Becca Wasser, a policy analyst at the US-based RAND Corporation, said of the latest crackdown.

50 Pakistani fighters killed in turkish strikes in syria News Desk Up to 50 Pakistani fighters have been killed in military action by the Turkish army and Syrian regime forces in Syria’s last major rebel stronghold in the northwest of the country, officials told Arab News this week. Fighting has escalated dramatically in recent days in Idlib in northwest Syria, where Turkey has sent thousands of troops and military vehicles in the last month to counter Syrian government forces’ advances in the last remaining bastion held by rebels. On the opposite side in Syria’s nine-year conflict is Russia, which supports President Bashar Assad and has also carried out airstrikes in recent days. On Thursday, Turkey and Russia agreed to a cease-fire deal after talks in Moscow to contain a conflict that has displaced nearly a million people in three months. “The number of those [Pakistanis] killed is more than 50,” an official told Arab News on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media about the issue. Another government official confirmed that 50 Pakistanis had been killed. Pakistan’s foreign office did not respond to Arab News queries when contacted to comment on this news. The deceased likely belong to Zainebiyoun Brigade, a militant group that was placed on the US Treasury’s financial blacklist in January 2019 and comprises Pakistani Shias fighting in Syria and Iran. According to media reports, Zainebiyoun Brigade has over 800 Pakistanis fighting in Syria. The group’s fighters are allegedly trained by Iran’s Quds Force, the military unit responsible for projecting Iran’s influence via proxies across the Middle East. “Following the clashes in Syria’s Idlib [region], 21 members of Fatemiyoun and Zainebiyoun brigades were martyred,” Iran’s Hawzah News Agency reported on Sunday, adding that 18 of the deceased belonged to the Zainebiyoun Brigade. “This is not the first incident where Pakistanis have been killed in Syria,” Pakistani security analyst Muhammad Amir Rana said, adding that Pakistani militants fighting for both Daesh and Assad’s forces, had been killed in Syria in the past. He said many Pakistanis had also been arrested upon their return from Syria but could not provide an exact number of fatalities. Defense analyst Brig. (R) Mahmood Shah said a small number of Sunni militants had also gone to Syria to join Daesh.

21 coronavirus cases found on ship off San Francisco

sAN FRANcIsco Agencies

Twenty-one people aboard a cruise ship that was barred from docking in San Francisco have tested positive for coronavirus, US officials said on Friday, adding to the more than 100,000 cases of the fast-spreading illness across the world.

Vice President Mike Pence, recently appointed as the US government’s point man on the outbreak, said the cruise ship Grand Princess will be brought to an unspecified

non-commercial port where all 2,400 some passengers and 1,100 crew members will now be tested.

“Those that need to be quarantined, will be quarantined. Those that require additional medical attention will receive it,” Pence told reporters at the White House.

The outbreak has killed more than 3,400 people and spread across more than 90 nations, with seven countries reporting their first cases on Friday. The economic damage has also intensified, with business districts starting to empty and stock markets contin-

uing to tumble. Iran’s death toll from the virus jumped to 124, as more than 1,000 new cases were diagnosed over 24 hours.

The Vatican reported its first case, a patient in its health services, worsening the prospects of the virus having already spread further in the Italian capital, since most employees in the walled city-state live in Rome, and those who live in the Vatican frequently go in and out to the city that surrounds it.

Italy is the worst-hit European country, with a death toll as of Friday of 197.

South Korea on Saturday reported 174 additional cases from late Friday, taking the national tally to 6,767. Mainland China, where the outbreak started, reported 99 new confirmed cases but about a quarter of them came from outside the country, data showed.

About 3.4% of confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, have died, far above seasonal flu’s fatality rate of under 1%, the WHO said this week.

FIRST CAMBODIAN TESTS POSITIVE: The first Cambodian has tested positive for the new coronavirus on Saturday.

The 38-year-old man was one of four people tested because he had direct contact with a Japanese visitor who later tested positive for the virus, Health Ministry spokesman Or Vandin told a news conference. The Japanese man had left Cambodia from Siem Reap, close to the ancient Angkor

Wat temple, one of the region’s top tourist attractions. Cambodia had earlier reported a virus infection in a Chinese man. He recovered and went home.

GULF STATES REPORT NEW RISE CASES: The number of coronavirus cases in the UAE rose to 45 from 30 on Saturday as other countries in the Gulf region also reported new infections.

Kuwait recorded three new cases of the coronavirus, bringing its infection tally to 61, while Qatar reported its 12th case.

Saudi Arabia reported two new cases on Saturday, a woman coming from Iran, via Bahrain, and another one from Iraq, via the UAE, bringing the total number of infection in the kingdom to seven. The United Arab Emirates, a major air transit center, business and tourism hub, has advised citizens and residents against travelling abroad and all schools are closing for a month from Sunday.

Saudi Arabia has closed its land borders with the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain, with an exception for commercial trucks, and is only permitting flights from those countries to three of its airports.

Kuwait has suspended flights to and from Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Bangladesh, the Philippines, India and Sri Lanka for a week, and has banned the entry of foreigners who have been to those countries in the past two weeks.

Published by Arif Nizami at Qandeel Printing Press, 4 Queens Road, Lahore. Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965. Email: newsroom@pakistantoday.com.pk

GERMAN CASES JUMP TO 684: The number of coronavirus patients in Germany jumped to 684 on Saturday morning. The total is more than 10 times larger than it was a week ago. There were 66 cases in Feb 29.

Western Europe’s most populous country, Germany has the second largest number of registered cases on the continent after Italy. So far, no deaths have been reported.

SUPPLY CHAINS BROKEN: Moves by some major economies, including the United States, to cut interest rates and pledge funds to fight the epidemic have done little to allay fears about the spread of the disease and the economic fallout. Supply chains have been crippled around the world.

“There’s concern that while there has been a response from the Fed, given the nature of the problem, is this something the central bank can really help with?” said John Davies, G10 rates strategist at Standard Chartered Bank in London.

In New York, JPMorgan (JPM.N) divided its team between central locations and a secondary site in New Jersey, while Goldman Sachs (GS.N) sent some traders to nearby secondary offices in Greenwich, Connecticut, and Jersey City. Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) is splitting its trading force from Monday and sending 100 New Yorkbased staff to nearby Stamford, Connecticut, sources familiar with the matter said.