CMYK
28 March, 2021 I 13 Shaban, 1442 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XI No 269 I 12 Pages I Islamabad Edition
Tougher resTricTions if covid-19 siTuaTion doesn’T improve: asad g
Minister warns Country May soon Cross peak seen during first wave
ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT
f
ederal Minister for planning, development, reforms and special initiatives asad umar pleaded with people on saturday to abide by coronavirus guidelines to avoid greater restrictions in the face of the country’s third wave of coronavirus infections. in a press conference after a meeting of the national Command and operation Centre (nCoC) called to review the rampant rise in new infections in punjab, khyber pakhtunkhwa, islamabad and azad Jammu and kashmir (aJ&k), asad said the restrictions were tightened two weeks ago due to a surge in fresh infections but observed compliance was not as religious as it should be. the government portal keeping track of the outbreak in the country reported 4,468 new infections of the coronavirus after conducting 44,279 tests, receiving back an alarming positivity ratio of 10.09 per cent. 67 deaths were also reported in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 14,158. asad, who also heads the nCoC,
pakisTan
CONFIRMED CASES:
649,824
LAST UPDATED AT 8:04 AM ON MARCH 27, 2021
NEW CASES:
67
4,468
RECOVERED:
DEATHS:
SINDH:
PUNJAB:
593,282 14,158
264,355 210,095 KP:
83,630
BALOCHISTAN:
19,453
AJK/GB: ISLAMABAD: 12,245/4,990 55,056
Coronavirus infeCts 4,468, kills 67 in a day
lamented people failing to understand how dangerous the situation is. “the new mutations that have been emerged, especially the united kingdom variant [of the virus], are more infectious and deadlier,” he said. the variant–B.1.1.7, also known as voC (“variant of concern”) 202012/01–drove a surge in cases that flooded england’s hospitals, pushed its death toll above 125,000, and triggered travel bans by dozens of countries. Comparing the domestic situation to the rest of south asia, the minister said the same variants appeared to be spreading in india and Bangladesh as well. india on saturday reported 62,258 new infections, its highest since october, taking its tally to 11.91 million. the death toll rose by 291 to stand at 161,240. the government believes the situation has reached a dangerous point now because of the latest hospital admissions [with Covid-related complications],” asad said, adding that it was the most important factor due to the pressure it placed on the country’s already burdened healthcare infrastructure. “in the first wave, the peak of critical care patients was around 3,200 nationwide. in the second wave, it was 2,511; so less than the
coronavirus in
DAY'S DEATH TOLL:
g
first wave. But in the third wave, it is currently at 2,842,” he said, citing government data. “More dangerously, in the past 12 days, this number has increased by 1,000. if this rate continues, then within the next week we will have crossed the level of the first wave.” on friday, pakistan registered more than 4,000 cases in 24 hours for the first time since July, up from 3,946 a day earlier. the majority of the new cases were reported in punjab, accounting for 2,451 (56.1 per cent) of the tally. asad, while observing that hospitals in major cities had not run out of space yet, informed reports have started coming in of people having difficulty in securing hospital admissions. “this information is not being shared to spread fear, but just to inform the public so we can all work together to overcome this,” he said. “we have to unite to combat the pandemic by stopping it from reaching a level where people’s livelihoods are impacted. if we do not take immediate steps, we could reach a point where we have to implement further restrictions. it is my request to all the political leadership, whether ours [pti’s] or the opposition, that this is the time of showing leadership and spreading this message that we together have to once again combat this disease, which is spreading, and defend the people.” on friday, the pakistan people’s party (ppp) had cancelled a demonstration to commemorate the death anniversary of its founder and former prime minister Zulfiqar ali Bhutto, planned for april 4, due to the rise in coronavirus cases in punjab. the nCoC session was attended by punjab and kp chief ministers and islamabad commissioner via video link. provincial chief, home and health secretaries also joined the session virtually. the agenda included a discussion on the rising trend of the contagious disease, implementation status of high impact interventions and state of critical medical facilities, including oxygenated beds, vents and other facilities, the nCoC said.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 05
Maryam berates PPP over ‘sacrificing’ PDM for ‘inconsequential’ Senate post LAHORE STAFF REPORT
a day after pakistan people’s party (ppp) leader yousaf raza gillani was declared as opposition leader in the senate, pakistan Muslim leaguenawaz (pMl-n) vice president Maryam nawaz criticised ppp over “sacrificing” the pakistan democratic Movement (pdM), an anti-government alliance, for a “minor, inconsequential post”. Maryam made the criticism while speaking to the media outside the lahore
CONTINUED ON PAGE 05
PML-N candidate for Senate opposition leader slot was controversial: Bilawal KARACHI: pakistan people’s party (ppp) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on saturday said pakistan Muslim leaguenawaz’s (pMl-n) candidate for leader of the opposition in senate, azam nazeer tarar, was a “controversial” choice. the ppp chairman was speaking at a press conference in karachi after pMl-n vice president Maryam nawaz’s media briefing, wherein she had publicly criticised ppp for sacrificing everything for a “minor, inconsequential office.” “How do you expect, given that we have the majority in the senate, that i ask my party members to make pMl-n’s azam leader of the opposition and not yousaf raza gillani?” the ppp chairman asked in his response to her remarks. CONTINUED ON PAGE 05
Exclusion from climate change summit: FO says Pakistan among lowest emitters ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT
pakistan has said that its commitment to address climate change and prime Minister imran khan's leadership on this account are well accepted and appreciated around the world. in a statement on saturday, foreign office spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Choudhari said the government's landmark initiatives like the Billion tree tsunami have won international acclaim, including from the world economic forum (wef). He said that pakistan is also meaningfully contributing to shape the global climate change discourse, inter alia, as the vice president of the un framework Convention on Climate Change and member of the intergovernmental panel on Climate Change. He added that pakistan also co-chaired the multibillion-dollar green Climate fund, established to support climate actions in developing countries, last year. the leaders' summit on Climate Change hosted by us president Biden reconvenes the us-led Major economies forum on energy and Climate, which brings together leaders from countries responsible for approx-
High Court, where she had gone to submit her bail bond of rs1 million in a case pertaining to alleged illegal acquisition of land in Jati umra. she is on interim bail till april 12 in the case. she, in a reference to her father and deposed prime minister nawaz sharif, said on one side of the line were those who sacrificed their health to protect the people’s right to rule and on the other side were those who sacrificed their principles for the smallest of gains.
more inside
Environmental improvement amongst top priorities: PM STORY ON BACK PAGE
imately 80 per cent of global emissions and gross domestic product (gdp). the spokesperson made it clear that pakistan, despite being among the top ten countries affected by climate change, is one of the lowest emitters - with less than one per cent of the global emissions. “Climate change is one of the defining challenges of our times that can only be countered through inclusive, cooperative and forward-looking policies. pakistan remains fully committed to play its due role in this fight,” the statement said. earlier on friday, us president Joe Biden said that the united states has invited global leaders, including the leaders of China and russia, to participate in a summit on climate
change in april. Chinese president Xi Jinping and russian president vladimir putin are among the 40 world leaders invited to the summit, to be held on april 22-23, according to a white House statement. Biden’s earth day global summit on climate is part of his effort to elevate climate change as a top priority. it will be held virtually given pandemic restrictions and live-streamed for public viewing. However, the omission of pakistan from the list of invitees to the conference raised concerns as the country is among those countries most vulnerable to climate change. twitter users noted that pakistan's efforts have been acknowledged by the wef, which makes its exclusion puzzling.
asif approaches lHC for bail in naB cases STORY ON PAGE 02
US spy agencies warn Biden of possible Taliban takeover of Afghanistan: NYT STORY ON BACK PAGE
govt committed to technology sector uplift: fawad STORY ON PAGE 02
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Sunday, 28 March, 2021
ISLAMABAD
NEWS
ASIF APProAcHeS LHc For bAIL In nAb cASeS LAHORe
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STaff RePoRT
AKISTAN Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Asif on Saturday approached the Lahore High Court (LHC) to seek post-arrest bail in cases pertaining to assets beyond means and money laundering against him. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had arrested Asif in December from outside the Islamabad residence of another PML-N leader, Ahsan Iqbal, on charges of being in possession of wealth beyond his declared sources of income. The former minister contended during his 22-day physical remand with the NAB that he was not confronted with any “direct or circumstantial evidence that would construct the case”. “The application, under section 24(d) of National Accountability Ordinance, 1999, filed by respondent Assistant Director NAB Mohammad Ikram, for seeking physical remand of the petitioner did not disclose any incriminating material supporting the alleged
NAB HAD ARRESTED ASIF ON CHARGES OF BEING IN POSSESSION OF WEALTH BEYOND HIS DECLARED SOURCES OF INCOME commission of the crime under section 9(a)(v) of NAO,” the petition read. “Mere ownership of property/assets did not constitute an offense under section 9(a)(v). It is the failure to explain the source of funds that points towards the commission of the offense. The inquiry is being conducted on conjectures and surmises with a view to rope the petitioner into baseless and unfounded allegations. “In the absence of any plausible reason to reject the detailed explanation offered by the petitioner regarding his ownership of assets and source of income, this case is one of further inquiry and post-arrest bail should be granted.” Asif said he had provided the agency with an explanation of the various sources of wealth, explaining the acquisition of the assets he owns. “Rejection of the explanation, without
JUI-F used like tissue paper by PDM: Hafiz Hussain news desk Former Jamiat Ulema-e Islam (JUI-F) leader Hafiz Hussain Ahmed has said that the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) used the party like a “tissue paper”. He was speaking to the media after inaugurating the JUI secretariat in Peshawar and flanked by Maulana Muhammad Sherani. Ahmed said that the PDM “is in tatters”, referring to the war of words between PPP and PML-N that began with the issue of whether or not the position of the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate should go to Yousaf Raza Gillani. He called on Fazl to help unite the factions of the JUI under the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Pakistan banner and hold intraparty elections. “Maulana Fazlur Rehman should immediately join JUI Pakistan,” said Ahmed. Ahmed also claimed that JUI had tried stopping the Fazlur Rehman from taking part in the 2018 elections but the JUI-F chief decided to contest the elections on the advice of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif. The former MNA alleged that Fazlur Rehman was “busy saving his “reputation”, adding that the recent politics has “harmed the ideological foundations” of the JUI. Sherani and Ahmed were among four leaders expelled last year from JUI-F for going against the party’s decisions. It may be noted here that Maulana Sherani, Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, Maulana Gul Naseeb Khan, and Maulana Shuja-ul-Mulk were expelled from the party following a meeting of the JUI-F in Lahore. In response to the former leader’s statement, a spokesperson of the JUI-F said that the statements and opinions of expelled leaders will not be owned by the party, adding that they had been sent copies of the decision.
PTI’s Haleem Adil Sheikh released from jail after two months
news desk Opposition leader in the Sindh Assembly and PTI leader Haleem Adil Sheikh was released on bail granted by the Sindh High Court (SHC) in two cases on Saturday after spending two months in jail. Sheikh had been ordered to submit two surety bonds of Rs0.2 million each. After his release, the PTI leader said he would first go to the jail to meet four of his workers. It may be recalled that Haleem Adil was arrested on February 16 for bringing weapons to the by-elections in Karachi and for interfering with an operation against encroachments. The case related to the PS 88 by-elections was registered over his alleged involvement in a brawl that took place between PPP and PTI workers. Anti-terror and other provisions were included. The other case related to the disruption he caused in an anti-encroachment drive at a Karachi farmhouse.
any reasonable ground, is itself evidence of the arbitrary exercise of power on part of respondents hence justifying interference by the court and grant of post-arrest bail,” he said. The request nominated the anticorruption agency and its director general as respondents. THE CASE: According to the charge sheet against Asif, NAB was carrying out investigations against him under Clause 4 of the NAB Ordinance, 1999 and Section 3 of the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2010. “Before assuming the public office in 1991, the total worth of Khawaja Asif’s assets was Rs5.1 million which increased to Rs221m in 2018 after serving on different posts that do not match with his known sources of income,” said the statement. “Accused Khawaja Asif claimed to have received Rs130 million from a UAE firm
M/s IMECO, but during the course of the investigation, he failed to present any solid evidence of receiving this amount as a salary,” it said. “This clearly shows that the accused tried to prove his income through fake sources.” Moreover, NAB alleges that Asif was
also running a company, Tariq Mir and Company — registered in the name of his staffer — through his frontmen. It said that an amount of Rs400 million was deposited in the account of Tariq Mir and no sources of this huge amount were disclosed.
Govt committed to technology sector uplift, says Fawad LAHORe TLTP
Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry has said that the incumbent government is making allout efforts for the development of the technology sector. Talking to media persons on Saturday, the minister said, “We will work together with China for the training of people in sami-conductor technology.” He said the country can develop at fast speed with development of science and technology. He emphasised the need for a national environment where policies encourage technological innovations and exploration of new ideas. He highlighted the recent initiatives, including new national drone policy and the establishment of a national board for the regulation of technologies. He said that the unprecedented transformations in speed, accuracy and range of emerging technologies in the contemporary era necessitate their effective and robust
utilisation for sustainable development more than ever. He said that for the first time in the country’s history, the civil and military interface has been created and now both are sharing their research with each other, he added. He said that Pakistan was importing medical equipment when the first wave of Covid-19 hit the country, but now it is among those 18 countries which are manufacturing ventilators. Fawad said that it is important to keep an eye on technological advancements, besides observing which businesses have a good scope in the market, and which are getting obsolete. He said that 5G technology would bring about a big revolution, adding that the country needs a stable internet to benefit from technological advancements. The minister said that the country’s future is linked with technology and added that the merger of technology and biotechnology is of utmost importance.
Imran congratulates Hasina as Bangladesh turns 50 IsLAMABAd STaff RePoRT
Prime Minister Imran Khan congratulated his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina on her country’s golden jubilee and invited her to visit Pakistan. In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Hasina, Khan said Pakistan seeks to build new ties with Bangladesh to bring the future generations of the two countries together for shared prosperity. “On my own behalf, and behalf of the Government and people of Pakistan, I have great pleasure in extending our felicitations on the 50th anniversary of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh,” the prime minister wrote. Bangladesh launched a 10-day golden jubilee on March 17 with parades, fireworks, tributes to founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and visits from neighbouring heads of governments. Khan further said Islamabad deeply values its fraternal ties with Dhaka, “which are based on shared history, common faith, and convergent interests in promoting lasting peace and security as well as sustainable prosperity in our region and beyond”. “The golden jubilee of Bangladesh remind us of the far-sighted vision of reconciliation and friendship between our two peoples, so dearly cherished by the leaders of Pakistan and Bangladesh. Pakistan remains a sincere partner in the fullest realization of this vision,” he added. He stressed the need to jointly work for a better future for the peoples of both countries and further strengthen ties. Khan also extended an invitation to
PM EXTENDS INVITATION TO HASINA TO VISIT PAKISTAN
Hasina to visit Pakistan and said her visit would open a new chapter in their nations’ fraternal relations. The letter was sent after the prime minister received a similar congratulatory message from Hasina on the occasion of Pakistan Day on March 23. In her letter, Hasina said Bangladesh is committed to “peaceful and cooperative” relations with Pakistan. “On behalf of the government and
the people of Bangladesh and my behalf, I would like to extend to you, and through you, to the government and the people of Pakistan, our heartiest greetings on the occasion of Pakistan Day,” she said. “I believe there are immense potentials for our existing relations to be further deepened and diversified in the coming years,” the letter read, adding: “Both of our peoples could benefit from the shared journey towards development
and peace.” “I wish you good health and happiness, and the continued progress and prosperity of the friendly people of Pakistan,” it concluded. In recent months, bilateral ties have improved as Islamabad has actively pursued to build better relations with all neigbours, particularly Bangladesh. The removal of visa restrictions for its nationals and steps to improve trade ties signify Pakistan’s efforts in this regard.
Sunday, 28 March, 2021
ISLAMABAD
NEWS
03
Angry grouP in PML-n wAnTS ShArifS To PArT wAyS wiTh PPP ISLAMABAD
w
MiAn ABRAR
ITH the declaration of Pakistan People’s Party’s (PPP’s) Yousaf Raza Gillani as leader of the opposition in Senate, cracks have emerged within the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan Today learnt on Saturday. On condition of anonymity, a source in the PML-N informed that a large group of lawmakers within the PML-N have asked the party leadership to part ways with the
PPP. According to details, the appointment of Gillani as the leader of the opposition has angered the PML-N group, led by Khwaja Mohammad Asif, Khwaja Saad Rafique and some others. The group, having a history of acrimony with the PPP, has asked the PML-N leadership not to be fooled by the PPP anymore. “The angry group says that PPP’s conduct is spreading frustration among the PML-N lawmakers and workers. They say that due to the PPP’s betrayal, the PML-N is losing its political status and public charm, and becoming a laughing
stock,” the source said. The source added that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has proved its political acumen by using the PPP while the PML-N is being fooled and proved immature. “The angry group says that due to the political moves of Imran Khan, the PPP is enjoying perks in the government while it also has the top slot as an opposition party. They say that the PPP breaks its promise at every occasion,” the source said. “The group has asked the PML-N leadership to adopt a clear strategy and part ways with the PPP so as the fight
against the PTI could be waged.” On the other hand, Ahsan Iqbal, a senior leader of the PML-N, has said that the PPP has hurt his party and it has formed a separate alliance apart from the PDM. During a press conference, Ahsan claimed that the PPP has formed a new alliance with the BAP, Jamaat-e-Islami and ANP. “We are saddened by what the PPP has done. Yousaf Raza Gilani became a senator with the votes of the PML-N but the PPP borrowed senators from the government and got Gilani elected as the leader of the opposition,” said Ahsan Iqbal.
He said that today the whole of Pakistan is suffering due to the PTI government. He said South Punjab was to become a province in 90 days but not even its name has been given so far. “$500 million are being borrowed from the IMF to run the Pakistani economy. The Pakistani financial institutions are being mortgaged for the sake of the IMF,” he criticised the government. He said that the Higher Education Commission has been attacked. The PML-N will challenge the mini budget and the Higher Education Ordinance in a court, he concluded.
Pakistan, Belarus agree to enhance economic, cultural ties ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Belarus have agreed to boost economic and cultural cooperation to further strengthen the friendly relations between the two countries. The understanding to this effect came at a meeting of Pakistan's Ambassador to Belarus Sajjad Haider Khan with Belarusian Minister of Culture Anatoly Markevich in Minsk. Viktoria Ratobylskaya, Head of the International Cooperation and Information Management Department of the Ministry of Culture, Belarus also attended the meeting, a statement received from the Pakistan embassy in Belarus said here on Saturday. The two sides decided to come up with a series of cultural activities and to enhance people to people contacts. The Pakistan's ambassador said the people-to-people contacts will create greater awareness, which would ultimately boost economic cooperation, bilateral trade and investment between the two countries. He highlighted the diversity in cultural, ethnicity and religion in Pakistan; a melting pot of civilizations for thousands of years. And, he said, the both countries need to initiate wellplanned programmes for people-to-people contact to create greater awareness, which would ultimately boost economic cooperation, bilateral trade and investment to the benefits of the two countries. TLTP
SKMT committed to serve, save lives: Aasim
ISLAMABAD: A view of a closed market due to smart lockdown in the federal capital. OnLine
FM conveys condolence to UAE over Hamdan’s demise ISLAMABAD TLTP
LAHORE: In a press conference organised to launch the Zakat campaign of Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust (SKMT), Acting Chief Executive Officer Dr Muhammed Aasim Yusuf revealed that the campaign for this year, titled “Our Children Insist on Living”, is an appeal to the public to give their donations and Zakat to SKMT to help cancer patients get better and live life to the fullest. He said, “We not only focus on saving lives but saving lives with the emphasis on maintaining quality of life and patient dignity in everything we do.” Commenting on the special aspect of treatment, being provided at the SKMT and Research Centres located in Lahore and Peshawar, Dr Yusuf said, “Although there are many other hospitals that simultaneously run charitable operations along with private services, yet, unfortunately, there exists a huge chasm between the quality of care provided as wings for private services are often separate from areas offering services to the poor. “However, at the Shaukat Khanum Hospital, there are no private wards and the entire model of healthcare delivery is structured in a way that is focused on quality and equility, as if every patient is a paying patient.” He further said, “The recent award of re-accreditation by the Joint Commission International (JCI) for SKMCH&RC, Lahore, testifies to the fact that we have been true to our word in providing world-class cancer care to all our patients, over 75 per cent of whom are treated entirely free of charge. The JCI is recognised as a global leader in developing the most rigorous standards for healthcare quality and patient safety in the world.” PR
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi held a telephonic conversation on Saturday with his UAE's counterpart Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and conveyed heartfelt condolences from the government and people of Pakistan on the sad demise of deputy ruler of Dubai and finance minister of the UAE Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al-Maktoum. Offering prayers for the departed soul, the foreign minister paid rich tribute to the life and services of
Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid, remembering him as a good friend of Pakistan. UAE's Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan thanked for the considerate gesture. He also conveyed best wishes for the speedy recovery and good health of Prime Minister Imran Khan. Expressing satisfaction at the progress in bilateral relations, the two foreign ministers agreed to strengthen cooperation in diverse fields, further facilitate the ease of travel between the two countries, and reinforce mutual support in multilateral organisations.
They also agreed to continue high-level exchanges between the two countries. Earlier on Wednesday last, Qureshi condoled with the leadership and the people of the UAE on the death of Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid. “Qureshi was deeply saddened to hear of the demise of Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum,” the Foreign Office had said in a statement. “The valuable services of Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid in the development of UAE will always be remembered.” Sheikh Hamdan had died on Wednesday. He, who was in his seventies, had been unwell for some months.
Climate change set to drive more deadly heat in South Asia, including Pakistan ISLAMABAD Agencies
Deadly heatwaves in South Asia — including Pakistan — are likely to become more common in the future, with the region’s exposure to lethal heat stress potentially nearly tripling if global warming isn’t curbed, researchers said. But the threat could be halved if the world meets a goal set under the Paris Agreement on climate change to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial times, researchers said in a study published this week by the American Geophysical Union, an international scientific association. “The future looks bad for South Asia, but the worst can be avoided by containing
warming to as low as possible,” Moetasim Ashfaq, a climate scientist at the US-based Oak Ridge National Laboratory, said in a statement. Still, with global temperatures already having risen more than 1C, “the need for adaptation over South Asia is today, not in the future. It’s not a choice anymore,” said Ashfaq, the study’s author. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has said global climateheating emissions must fall by about 45 percent by 2030, compared to 2010 levels, to limit warming to below 2C, the higher temperature goal in the Paris Agreement. But updated plans to reduce emissions, submitted by at least 75 nations ahead of planned COP26 UN climate talks in November, barely made a dent in the huge
cuts needed to meet the global climate goals a UN report said last month. The new study used climate simulations and projected population growth to estimate the number of people who could experience dangerous levels of heat stress at warming levels of 1.5C and 2C. It looked at the predicted “wet bulb temperature”, which accounts for humidity and temperature and aims to more accurately reflects what people experience on a hot day. Health experts and scientists say that at a wet bulb temperature of 32C labour becomes unsafe and at 35C the body can no longer cool itself. If warming hits 2C, the number of South Asians exposed to unsafe
temperatures could rise two-fold, and nearly three times as many people could face lethal heat, the study said. In a region home to a quarter of the world’s population that could have a big impact on the ability of workers to produce crops in breadbasket regions such as West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh in India and Punjab and Sindh in Pakistan, study authors said. Workers in increasingly steamy cities such as Karachi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Peshawar could also be affected, particularly as many do not have access to air conditioning, the study noted. Pakistan and India already experience deadly heatwaves, with one in 2015 causing about 3,500 deaths, the study noted. As temperatures rise as a result of climate change, “a policy framework is […] needed to fight against heat stress and heat wave-related problems,” said T.V. Lakshmi Kumar, an atmospheric scientist at India’s SRM Institute of Science and Technology, who was not involved in the study.
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Sunday, 28 March, 2021
ISLAMABAD
NEWS
SiNDh cLoSeS ShRiNeS to PubLic AgAiN AS coviD-19 cASeS SuRge KARACHI
t
TLTP
He Sindh government on Saturday notified the closure of shrines across the province in a bid to curtail the spread of coronavirus as infections witness a steady rise. The decision came during a meeting with Sindh Minister for Auqaf Sohail Anwar Sial in the chair. Sinfh Auqaf chief administrator, in a notification, said all shrines and dargahs would remain closed for 10 days–from March 28 to April 6. Four days ago, the Auqaf department had notified the reopening of all the shrines in the province, however, with an increase in coronavirus cases, the government has decided to
PML-N leader among 160 booked for aerial firing FAISALABAD INP
Police on Saturday booked Municipal Corporation Faisalabad (MCF) Mayor Malik Abdul Razzaq and hundreds of other Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) workers for doing aerial firing while celebrating the restoration of local government (LG) institutions. The case was registered by the police at Ghulam Muhammad Abad police station on the complaint of a sub-inspector against 160 individuals, including the mayor, his father and three brothers. The case was registered under four sections, including aerial firing, firework and public display of weapons. However, no arrests have been made so far. On Thursday, the Supreme Court had ordered the restoration of LG institutions in Punjab after declaring their dissolution as unconstitutional. PML-N LAWMAKER ARRESTED FOR VIOLATING COVID-19 SOPS: Meanwhile, separate police cases were registered against PML-N MPA Mian Naveed Ali and other party leaders for violating the coronavirus standard operating procedures (SOPs) at a convention in Pakpattan. Clauses related to Punjab Sound Systems (Regulation) Act, 2015 were also inserted in the first information reports (FIRs). The cases state the participants at the gathering of about 1,400 to 1,500 people flouted Covid-19 guidelines and violated the Sound Systems (Regulation) Act.
shut them down. In the last 24 hours, Sindh has recorded 252 new coronavirus cases and four deaths, bumping the total infections to 264,606 and moving the death toll up to 4,491. Meanwhile, the Sindh government has announced a public holiday on March 30 on account of Shab-e-Barat. According to a notification issued in this regard, all government and private educational institutions across Sindh will remain closed on March 30. Shab-e-Barat is observed throughout Pakistan with a lot of reverence and humility. While many people participate in special religious gatherings organised throughout the nation, others go to graveyards to say prayers at the graves of their loved ones.
PDA seeks Rs1.61bn for Peshawar’s drainage system PESHAWAR STaff RePoRT
LAHORE: Teachers stage a protest for their demands at Mall Road in the provincial capital. ZubaIR MehfooZ
Markets ready to welcome Ramazan with massive price hike ISLAMABAD
HEC chairman removed after suggestion to halve tenure
TLTP
Consumers will brace for a costlier Ramazan this year as prices of almost all essential items, including meat, sugar, ghee, cooking oil, flour, onion, chicken, and fruits, have seen a significant increase during the last few weeks. The prices of daily-used items have witnessed a sharp increase ahead of Ramazan causing hardships to people looking to stock up for the holy month. Meanwhile, staple rice, gram and chicken, a source of protein for consumers, especially the commoners, also became costlier in the week, augmenting sufferings of the low-income people. In different markets of Karachi, beef is being sold at Rs700 to Rs750 per kilogram, which was Rs600 to Rs650 one week back. Likewise, chicken is being sold at Rs450 a kg, one kilogram sugar is available at Rs105, cooking oil is retailing at Rs280 per litre while the prices of pulses have also witnessed an increase. Similarly, the prices of sugar, chicken, fruits, vegetables, and other essential items have also moved up in the capital city of Islamabad. In Gujranwala, the price of goat meat has gone up to as high as Rs1,100 per kg, as compared to its earlier rate of Rs1,000, while the rate of chicken meat has shot up by Rs25 per kg. Meanwhile, in Peshawar, prices of fruits, vegetables, and pulses have increased on average by Rs10-15 per kg. In Quetta, goat meat is being sold at Rs1,200 per kg after its rate went up by Rs100, and chicken is available at Rs420 per kg. In Multan, the prices of sugar, ghee, fruits, and meat have also gone up in the last week. The citizens are in a dilemma over what to buy and what to forego due to an increase in the price of the essential commodities.
ISLAMABAD STaff RePoRT
The government removed Higher education Commission (HeC) Chairperson Dr Tariq Banuri with immediate effect on Friday, days after a meeting of the cabinet committee proposed to halve the job tenure to two years. “In terms of sub-section (5), read with sub-section (5A), of section 6 of Higher education Commission Ordinance, 2002, as amended vide Higher education Commission (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021, Dr Tariq Danuri has ceased to be the chairperson, Higher education Commission forthwith and is accordingly removed from the said post with immediate effect,” stated the notification. The Cabinet Committee on Legislative Cases (CCLC) had earlier recommended the tenure of HeC chairman should only be two years instead of the existing practice of four years.
The committee’s recommendation will be placed before Prime Minister Imran Khan, who can send recommendations to the president for issuing directions to amend HeC’s ordinance and reduce the tenure. Banuri was appointed to the position in May 2018 by then-prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi for a four-year term and was due to complete his tenure in May 2022. It was reported his working relationship with the federal education ministry, vice chancellors, faculty members, staffers, and media were not cordial. In addition, Banuri had also appointed a number of consultants against heavy salary packages, the report said. Recently, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had started a probe against him. Through an official letter, the NAB had sought details of consultants appointed by him and expenses incurred on the inauguration of a university in the Prime Minister House.
Rape convict attempts to assault minor after release PAKATTAN INP
A rape convict in Pakpattan attempted to molest another minor after he was released from prison. The man, Zulfiqar Machi, is facing four charges of rape and was jailed for two years in an assault case. Soon after being released from jail, he tried to rape another child, a second standard student at a local school, by abducting him. The child was recovered by the police with the help of CCTV footage after his parents registered a
complaint with the police. Pakpattan District Police Officer (DPO) Jameel Zafar has taken notice of the matter and ordered to register another case against the suspect. In December, the government had introduced a rape law, creating special courts to try cases within four months, after protests over the motorway gang rape. The presidential ordinance also provided for antirape cells to provide medical examinations within six hours of a complaint being made and creates a national sex offender registry.
The Peshawar Development Authority (PDA) has requested for allocation of Rs1.61 billion in the next financial year for the project of an alternative drainage system in Peshawar. According to the authority, the said funds must be released next year for the early completion of the project. According to the Local Government Department, it is estimated that the project will cost Rs2.555 billion. PDA sources said Rs1.278b have been allocated by the Ministry of Climate Change for this project, which will be released after the improvement in a situation caused by Covid19 and with the approval of PC-1 of the project. Similarly, Rs75m was allocated for the project in the development programme of the current financial year 2020-21. However, this amount has not been transferred to PDA so far. Now after revision in PC-1, an additional allocation of Rs232m is required in the ADP 2021-22. The PDA sources said that the KP government should allocate this amount for the project in the next financial year 2021-22 so that work on the project can start as soon as possible and be completed in a timely manner. In the light of the Peshawar High Court (PHC) directions, PDA and Water and Sanitation Services Company Peshawar (WSSP) in collaboration with Irrigation Department have formulated an alternative drainage plan for Peshawar. Under the project, drainage water from five canals of Peshawar, Warsak Uplift Canal, Warsak Gravity Canal, Joe Sheikh Canal, Hazar Khawani Canal and Kabul River Canal has been connected to Shahi Katha, Mohammadzai Drain and other drainage canals of Peshawar. Under the project, instead of polluting irrigation canals, the drainage water will be diverted into the main drainage canals.
Accused in journalist’s murder arrested LAHORE INP
Ghulam Akbar Mangryo, the alleged murderer of journalist Ajay Lalwani, was arrested from Lahore on Saturday. Police said the suspect would be shifted to Sukkur after getting his transit remand from the court. Sindh police and Lahore’s Naulakha police jointly carried out a raid at the Lahore railway station and took Mangryo into custody. The sources further disclosed that following the arrest of Mangryo, Naulakha police refused to hand him over to Sukkur police, resulting in an exchange of hot words between the two wings. “The suspect was traced through his mobile number,” sources said, and added Mangryo was also wanted by police in connection with other crimes. They told that Sukkur police had conducted a raid at his home in village Thammi on Friday, but he managed to flee along with his family. Police said Mangryo had been identified with the help of footage obtained from CCTV camera installed near Lalwani’s home. “Mangryo can be clearly seen in the footage doing surveillance outside journalist’s home. Besides that those who fired at Lalwani can also be seen in the footage conversing with Mangryo,” police said. Lalwani, 31, a reporter for a local television station and an Urdu language newspaper, was shot multiple times while having his hair cut at a barber shop on Thursday.
Sunday, 28 March, 2021
ISLAMABAD
NEWS
Tougher restrictions if Covid-19 situation doesn’t improve: Asad continued from page 01 Violations were reported from the transport and hospitality sectors, and from weddings, commercial activities and public gatherings, the NCOC added. BUZDAR EXPRESSES CONCERN: In the last 24 hours, Punjab reported 48 deaths due to the coronavirus, raising casualties to 6,190. It also reported 2,330 new infections, taking the tally of confirmed cases to 210,095. Provincial authorities recorded the transmission rate at 14.14 per cent after conducting 16,473 tests. With 1,245 new recoveries, 182,596 people have recovered from the pandemic. In a statement issued after a meeting held to review the coronavirus situation in the province, Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar expressed concerns over the rising number of cases and directed the authorities to implement government-devised health protocols rigorously. He said no negligence would be tolerated on standard operating procedures (SOPs). He said the third wave of the pandemic is more dangerous than the previous two and it could be overcome with the cooperation of the people. He also urged people to wear face coverings in public places. During the meeting, Punjab Chief Secretary Jawad Rafique Malik briefed Buzdar about the latest Covid-19 situation and measures taken to control its spread. LOCKDOWN IN LAHORE AREAS: Following an alarming rise in the city’s coronavirus positivity ratio, the government imposed lockdowns in several areas of Lahore till April 9. The areas include PIA Society, Architect Society, NFC Society, and some blocks of DHA, Allama Iqbal Town, Johar Town and Valencia Town amongst others. Moreover, the Lahore administration announced that anyone not wearing a mask will be thrown in jail. A meeting was held on Saturday under the chairmanship of the Lahore police chief and Commissioner Lahore Muhammad Usman, in which the coronavirus situation was discussed and important decisions were taken. The commissioner ordered strict implementation of the mask-wearing rule. He said that those who do not wear masks will be detained and may face a jail term of up to six months. According to the commissioner, violators will have a case registered against them and this new injunction will go into effect from today (Saturday). Usman said that for this purpose, the Lahore administration officials and police will routinely patrol the streets and take stern action against those not adhering to the rule. Separately, Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Lahore Ghulam Mehmood Dogar ordered the police to ensure the implementation of all government guidelines, especially in marriage halls and public places. In this regard, the CCPO has also warned that any vehicles whose passengers are found seated without a mask will be impounded. “Citizens must ensure they wear a mask before they leave their homes,” he said. He ordered all traffic police on the roads to issue warnings to motorcycle and rickshaw drivers if found not wearing a mask.
Global cloud gaming market to grow 125pc in 2021: report ISLAMABAD: Global cloud gaming revenue is expected to reach $1.4 billion by the end of this year, up 125pc than last year, according to a new report. Fuelled by the stay-at-home situation brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic, the market is on track to cross the $5bn mark in 2023 as technology and infrastructure continue to improve, said Amsterdam-based market research company Newzoo. “Continuous developments and innovation across the sector mean the cloud gaming market’s revenues and potential will continue to skyrocket,” Guilherme Fernandes, market consultant at Newzoo, said. “Part of 2021’s massive jump in revenues is due to increased cloud gaming activity from companies big and small, as we expected in last year’s report … simply put, cloud gaming is here to stay, and its importance and prominence will only grow,” he added. TLTP
05
CAbIneT rATIfIes 6pC InCreAse In OMCs’ MArGIn On peTrOl, dIesel iSLamaBad
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AHMAD AHMADANI
HE federal cabinet has ratified a decision of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet with regard to 6pc increase in the margins of Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) and dealers on the sale of petrol and diesel across the country. According to sources, dealers’ margin on petrol has been increased by Rs0.22 to Rs3.92 per liter, while the same on diesel has been Rs0.19 to Rs3.31 per liter. Similarly, OMCs would now charge Rs2.98 on sale of each litre of petrol and diesel instead of the existing rate of Rs2.98 per liter, showing an
increase of 17 paisa. The revision in the margins of OMCs and dealers was worked out based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) – from June 2019 to October 2020 — duly published by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics. However, the ECC increased margins by 6pc as an interim arrangement. The ECC, in its decision, had also constituted a committee under the chairmanship of the then Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Petroleum Nadeem Babar to revisit the existing mechanism for determination of margins for OMCs and dealers on MS/HSD in a holistic manner, and to devise a revised mechanism for purpose ensuring interests of all stakeholders, particularly the consumers.
In addition, the Petrol Dealers Association, in a letter, had requested the Petroleum Division that instead of delaying or denying the increase, it should continue with the inflation-based method until the PIDE study is completed. Earlier, federal cabinet’s economic coordination committee (ECC) had approved 17 paisa increase in the margin of OMCs for sale of petrol and diesel while 22paisa increase in the margin of dealers for sale of petrol and 19paisa increase in the margin of dealers for sale of diesel (HSD). Later, this ECC decision was presented before a meeting of the cabinet for ratification where the then Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Petroleum Nadeem Babar asked for examination of the margin of OMCs
for sale of petrol and diesel. Similarly, some of the members objected to increase in margin of OMCs and suggested that the same should not be allowed till the recommendations of the committee constituted to examine the Petroleum Commission’s report are received while majority of the members were of the view that if the government was bound by the rule to periodically revise the OMCs margins, the same could not be linked with the Petroleum Commission’s report, said sources. It is relevant to note that the Petroleum Division had earlier proposed a Rs0.45 per litre hike in OMCs’ margin on MS and HSD to ECC while for dealers, a revision of Rs0.58 per litre was sought on MS and Rs0.50 per litre on HSD.
Maryam berates PPP over ‘sacrificing’ PDM for ‘inconsequential’ Senate post continued from page 01 “I am glad that this line [between PML-N and the PPP] has been drawn and that everyone recognises who is standing on whose side,” she said. At a press conference prior to the election, Maryam had said her party representative Azam Nazir Tarar would be the leader of the opposition in Senate as it was decided “in principle” at the PDM huddle ahead of elections for chairman and deputy chairman slots. But on Saturday, when asked about the alliance’s future course of action, Maryam said she would wait for PDM President Maulana Fazlur Rahman to make public his position on the matter of Gillani’s election. “But, I deeply regret the fact that despite understanding the gravity of the situation […] you [PPP] have dealt a massive blow to democracy, our [PDM’s] cause, and the public’s struggle for their right to rule for a minor and inconsequential office. If you [PPP] really wanted the office of the opposition leader, you could have asked Nawaz Sharif for it,” she said. “Nawaz Sharif gave you all 83 of PML-N votes to elect Yousaf Raza Gillani [on a technocrat seat from Islamabad]. If he can also give you all 17 of his sena-
tors for the chairman’s election, he [Sharif] would have given this to you as well if you had just asked him for it. What good is it [the post] any way? It’s not like PML-N could have formed a government if it had won the post. This is a very meaningless, very transitionary victory [for the PPP]. I regret that for this petty victory, you have taken votes from BAP [Balochistan Awami Party].” The damage has been done to you [PPP], she said, and added people are watching which party is standing where and who is continuing to struggle for supremacy of the democracy. “This defeat is not of PDM’s, of which the PML-N remains a part. It is the defeat of the people who sacrificed their principles for an inconsequential office. Instead you took votes from BAP? The same BAP that doesn’t side with anyone without its patrons’ orders?” Maryam also claimed PML-N candidate for the post, Tarar, had received a phone call from Senate chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, who she said offered him the support of “three or four senators of BAP party”. “He [Tarar] told him that his votes are not required. He stands with his party and his party has a narrative that he will not betray. He cannot betray the
PDM,” she said. “If you feel that the public will not know [what you’ve done] if you call them [BAP senators] ‘independents’, then I think you’re only fooling yourself,” she said, referring to a press conference a day earlier in which Gillani had explained his party’s rationale and reasons for securing the post. PML-N HAD REJECTED PPP’S PROPOSAL OF CHANGE IN PUNJAB: Maryam revealed that PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari had presented a proposal, purportedly backed by the establishment, of change of government in Punjab. She said the PPP co-chairman had “made this proposal inside the PDM that if PML-N wants, then we [PPP], because selectors also want this, want a [change of government] in Punjab”. “They said they can bring a change in Punjab though a vote of no confidence [against the Punjab chief minister] and make Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi or someone else the chief minister,” she said. She further revealed that Nawaz had rejected the proposal and answered that he would not sacrifice his principles or work together with the “selectors” to attain political power.
PML-N candidate for Senate opposition leader slot was controversial: Bilawal continued from page 01 Bilawal said it was a parliamentary tradition and a historic fact that the single opposition party in the Senate had the right to get its candidate elected as Leader of the Opposition. “Everyone had aspired for Yousuf Raza Gillani to be the Senate chairman. There should have been no reservations in him getting elected as the Leader of the Opposition,” he said. While responding to a question regarding the critical role of four votes from the Balochistan Awami Party in this regard, Bilawal said we all should know how difficult it was to get the former prime minister elected as a senator from the National Assembly. “The victory of Gillani on March 3 was a historical one,” he said adding it was the first defeat of the “selected regime” at
the hands of the Opposition. In response to a question, the PPP leader said that he hopes to see the opposition’s alliance united as he had laid its foundation, adding that he knows how to use his coined term ‘selected’. Bilawal hinted about issues within the PML-N, which had them to take up issues with the PPP, and said that the party would continue its struggle against the election of Senate chairman. “Our struggle against the Senate chairman election will continue and we will use our legal right. We will request for a judicial review against [the IHC court] verdict,” he said. “We are of the view that the presiding officer gave a biased and controversial decision and the post was snatched from him illegally.” Talking about the recently-promulgated State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) ordinance, Bilawal termed it “illegal and an attack on Pakistan’s sovereignty.”
He said that the PPP intends the central bank to be independent and wants it to make decisions that are in the interest of Pakistan and the people of Pakistan. “The ordinance doesn’t make the SBP independent, but it makes it independent from Pakistan’s law and parliamentary and judicial oversight,” he added. He demanded the government to withdraw the ordinance. Commenting on SAPM Babar Nadeem’s resignation, the PPP chairman said that the government made him “a scapegoat” in the petrol fiasco, whereas it was the whole federal cabinet that needed to be blamed as decisions were made by all of them. “We demand that all those ministers who were part of the decision-making process step down.” He said that was “a historical scandal” and we will not accept this robbery.
China and Iran sign 25-year strategic cooperation agreement The Chinese and Iranian foreign ministers on Saturday signed a 25-year cooperation agreement between the two allies in a ceremony carried live on state television. "Our relations with Iran will not be affected by the current situation, but will be permanent and strategic," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi was earlier quoted by Iranian news agencies as saying. "Iran decides independently on its relations with other countries and is not like some countries that change their position with one phone call." Wang met President Hassan Rouhani ahead of the signing of the agreement, which is expected to include Chinese investments in key sectors such as energy and infrastructure. The accord is an example of “successful diplomacy,” Rouhani’s adviser Hesameddin Ashena was cited by Iranian media as saying. AGENCIES
Developing nations seek alternates after India restricts Covid-19 vaccine exports: report WaSHington AGENCIES
Developing countries scrambled to keep their Covid-19 vaccinations on track Friday after India—a critical supplier to a United Nationsbacked and Western-funded vaccine campaign—temporarily restricted exports, according to a report of the Wall Street Journal. The new vaccine limits by India, which is dealing with a resurgence of cases at home, intensified an already frenetic global race to secure vaccine doses, and could leave developing countries more dependent on China or Russia for their immunizations. The Serum Institute of India, a private company, signed up to supply the vaccine developed by AstraZeneca PLC and the University of Oxford to 64 developing nations through Covax, the initiative created by the
World Health Organisation and two organisations working on vaccines. Covax says it has shipped vaccines to more than 60 countries, including 28 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine made in India. The suspension of additional supplies means that a further 90 million doses due to be delivered in March and April will be postponed. John Nkengasong, director of the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the disruption of vaccine flow, which exacerbates existing shortages on the continent, “leaves me personally with a sense of helplessness.” He said: “There is absolutely no need for us as the world…to go to a vaccine war.” Governments around the globe have imposed export restrictions on the vaccines or the raw materials needed to make them as they struggle to contain the virus within their borders.
So far, more than 60 million doses made in India have been supplied to over 75 countries, including through Covax, more than from any other country, said an Indian official with direct knowledge of vaccine exports. “We remain committed to help the world with vaccines,” the official said. “Given our current manufacturing capacity and requirements of national vaccination programs, there may be a need to calibrate the supply schedules from time to time.” Pakistani Health Minister Faisal Sultan said his country had been banking on vaccines from Covax to form the mainstay of its immunization programme, with doses due to start arriving in early March. But now that it is unclear when supplies will start the country will look to China instead. “We’re having to re-engineer and rethink our strategy,” Dr. Sultan said. “This will
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slow our deployment very significantly.” In the initial supply from Covax, Pakistan was the country due to receive the most, almost 15 million doses by the end of May. Dr. Sultan said he hoped Covax could still deliver later in the year. Pakistan is now fighting its third wave of infections, with cases and deaths reaching the highest levels since summer last year. So far, the only vaccine Pakistan has received are 1.5 million doses donated by China, which are being used for health workers and older citizens. It hopes to purchase several million doses from China now, but it is finding it difficult to secure supplies as it buying at the last minute for use in the next few weeks, officials said. Sabin Nsanzimana, the director general of the Rwanda Biomedical Centre, said his
country had already administered all 342,960 doses it received from Covax and, not knowing when the next shipment would arrive, was holding up its vaccination campaign. “We are expecting [the] next doses but we don’t know exactly which date and time,” he said. “I just hope it will be very soon.” Richard Mihigo, who runs the WHO vaccination programme in Africa, said the WHO and the other agencies behind Covax were in intense talks with the India government to at least release vaccines planned for March and April. “This is a very complex situation [that is] putting additional pressure on the constrained supply situation globally,” he said. “We hope that a quick solution would be found for this situation.”
Sunday, 28 March, 2021
06 COMMENT
Hindu, not non-muslim
Finally, probing the corruption within With threats of handcuffs and jail
Political correctness reached Dr Seuss
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t long last SAPM Nadeem Babar has been asked to step down over last year’s fuel crisis. In summer 2020 there was a man-made petroleum crisis followed by a man-made gas crisis causing billions of rupees of losses to the national exchequer, raising prices and making the lives of millions of common people miserable. there should have been no reason for the big rise in petroleum prices in May because in March oil prices fell to their lowest level in 17 years, dropping below $25 a barrel in the international market. In April the US oil benchmark crashed below $0 a barrel to mark a historic plunge. this was the time to import oil in bulk and store it for coming months. Curiously the energy ministry directed all Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) to stop imports of petrol, claiming that they had sufficient inventory of petroleum. the result: In May diesel was sold in Pakistan at rs 80.10 per litre while going by its international price it should have been available to local customers at rs16.37 per litre. the issue was raised by the media which criticized the ban on imports as well as the failure to maintain adequate reserves. the government rejected the criticism as propaganda by elements hostile to the PtI. In winter came the gas crisis. Winter being the peak season for gas demand, arrangements are made for LNG imports for December, January and february in advance. failure to make advance arrangements means higher costs. And that is exactly what happened. In October SAPM Nadeem Babar gave the impression that the country would not face a major gas shortage this winter. the opposite took place as the PtI government had failed to float tenders at the right time. Gas had to be purchased at a time when its prices had peaked. While the government was busy alleging corruption and malfeasance against its predecessors in the long-term supply agreement with Qatar, it lost up to $200 million by mismanaging its LNG imports for the winter season. the Prime Minister continued to shield his special assistant for nearly a year while the sycophants acting as his spokespersons poked fun at media persons for exposing the energy Ministry. One wonders whether the action is due to a change of heart in the PM or dictated by his mentors.
Rabia ahmed
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e attempt to protect society and particularly children from witnessing wrong actions and ideas. We make sure they have suitable friends, watch the right shows, and read the best books, with stories and ideas that inspire them towards better values. Dr Seuss died in 1991. His books are a great favourite among english-speaking children. He wrote more than 60 books for kids, and they contain some fabulous lines such as ‘You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose,’ ‘Don’t cry because its over, smile because it happened,’ and ‘Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.’ It would be hard to find more dynamic, stirring messages than these. And yet apparently six of Dr. Seuss’ books are being pulled from publication because of certain lines within them that are considered racist. One of them is the book called ‘And to think I Saw it on Mulberry Street,’ in which a character described as Chinese has ‘two lines for eyes’. Perhaps the fear is that children will see this description as a taunt, and likewise taunt people with small eyes. Or some such thing. We are trying to be more and more politically correct in this generation. Sometimes this correctness makes sense, sometimes it does not. It’s difficult to work out how far political correctness should go.
there are millions of books with racist or other discriminatory references, some more some less. things were different once, in some good ways and in some bad. People spoke differently and treated each other differently. Books written in such times by people who lived then took those values in their stride, or even if they did not, they missed a bit here and there. So although once it was acceptable to say ‘handicapped’ for anyone with a disability it is now not so. It is considered correct to say disabled, or even better to say ‘differently abled’. there was also a time when one used the ‘n’ word which has now morphed into ‘black’ or ‘coloured’. Can and should all books using the old words be dumped? ‘Bad’ values are nothing but bad values unless people learn a lesson from them. that is when they cease to be ‘bad values’ and become a feature of the evolution of mankind. Naturally this applies to relatively minor examples, not to outright manic rants or Alt-right groups such as the Proud Boys, or the Lashkars, where people are incited to kill and torture. If all writing containing ‘bad value words’ are deleted the process is likely to start all over again. And also, the fact of something being deleted makes it unbelievingly enticing for people. that is human nature. Political correctness has not made its way to Pakistan as yet, and we make many mistakes. We still speak of each other in ways that make a decent person’s face burn, we still condemn and hurt people because of their religious beliefs, we scorn others because of the colour of their skin and because of their financial status. In the Punjab the caste system is alive and well and people actually marry or do not marry on the basis of being, rajput, Syed… whatever, or because of not being one of those things. the same is true of many other countries, including as we are now witnessing the USA, where such bigotry is just as alive as in Pakistan, and almost as present as before in some segments of society. If all books with insensitive references to race, religion, caste, or social status are removed from the shelves will we stop being racist, and bigoted? Will fair and Lovely (now called something else) go out of business? Will rajputs marry Arains, and Gujjars marry Bhattis?
If this were so people would look upon trump as an anomaly, upon Amir Liaqat as a nice guy, upon our PM as a very intelligent man. But half of the USA voted for trump, and Amir Liaqat, a popular television personality and the holder of several fake degrees, has been accepted into the PtI. What did we miss? Books are important. Yes they are very important, but there are other things too that make a difference such as what we witness around us and what we hear being said. Our families, society and leaders. those are the most important role models. If a child reads ‘tummak tala tummak tala, Billi ka mun ho gaya kala’, will he or she become racist because the rhyme refers to a cat’s face being black? Hardly. But he or she is very likely to notice and take it on board when mum and dad find Amir Liaqat’s Hindu deity reference amusing with regards to Mariam Nawaz. When a child is told to wear his mask and stay away from people who are infected with covid-19, he or she will question why the PM had a meeting and sat with people in the same room when “Aboo said he tested positive.” People need to teach their children to speak politely to everyone, regardless who they are. they need to see the human and not the label, to be taught this from the time they are able to speak. In this context there is an extremely thought provoking tweet by a lady called Priyanka which said: I am a Hindu, not non-Muslim. A Hindu lives, breathes and has needs like all of us. A non-Muslim implies everything that is not, like a great black hole. terminology matters, but its use must be taught intelligently, not by snatching away words from under someone’s nose. When adults show respect children will learn. Children forget Humpty Dumpty or tot Batot, but a child does not forget the sight of a dead man, of someone taunting a woman’s appearance, of the ill-treatment of that woman or another child, or the simple sight of someone doing the very thing he has been asked not to do. Children are intelligent. Rabia Ahmed is a freelance columnist. Read more by her at http://rabia-ahmed.blogspot.com
PPP’s strategy And PDM’s future
Oil production, consumption & prices
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HAt the harmonious alliance between the PML(N) and the PPP would come to an abrupt end was perhaps an undeniable eventuality given the political history they share. this is not the first time both parties have danced this dance of aligning common interests until they diverge and one is stabbed in the back by the other. the recently held Senate election has proven to be the straw that broke the camel’s back; making the future of the opposition-led multi-party alliance, the PDM, quite uncertain. Yousaf raza Gillani caused a major upset to the PtI by beating its candidate from Islamabad Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, only to be dished back much of the same at the hands of the powers-thatbe, losing the contest for chairman, despite having the full support of the PML(N) throughout, and thereby, the numbers required. Quite understandably then, the PML(N) wanted its candidate to become Leader of the Opposition in the Senate but much to its anger and dismay, the PPP, with the support of 31 Senators successfully got Gillani the only remaining meaningful seat in the Upper House. Cracks in the PDM first appeared over the matter of resigning from assemblies en masse and going for a long march to the capital, a strategy the PML(N) and JU(f) were keen on executing, but for which the PPP was reluctant as the latter has more to lose as it heads the Sindh government and is the largest opposition party in the Senate. then there are the fresh allegations of the PPP being in bed with the enemy, namely the establishment, with the party leadership cutting some deal to get relief in corruption cases while also some more political legroom to become a party no longer restricted to Sindh. While much of this can be construed as conjecture, it has hurt the unity within the PDM, which had so far shown resilience, with both sides understanding that the effectiveness of the alliance was largely reliant on putting up a united front against the government. With the PPP trying to take the conservative approach of bringing a no-confidence motion in Parliament first before going for the alternate hastier plan, the PDM will not pack the same punch as it has for the past year. However, considering how all major parties within the PDM are interdependent, with each bringing something unique to the table, to call it the end would be premature.
Pakistan imports $15-$16 billion a year
muhammad Zahid Rifat
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fter the end of World War II, the Middle east countries also took the lead in oil production from the USA. Petroleum exploration in areas comprising Pakistan began more than a century ago. the first well was drilled in 1866 at the oil seepage in Kundal in Mianwali district, seven years after the world’s first well. Activities continued during the last quarter of the 19th century with sporadic attempts to drill shallow boreholes, for as in the rest of the world, the earlier exploration focused on seepages. Discovery of oil at a location in Balochistan was the main success where 13 shallow wells had produced 25,000 barrels of oil between 1885 to 1892. the Indian Government controlled the drilling activities during this early phase. Up to 1883, a number of shallow wells were drilled by the government agencies, all near seepages. However, due to rapid decline in production, the government agencies subsequently lost their interest in oil exploration. Pakistan’s first oil field was discovered in the late 1952 in Balochistan near the giant Sui gas field. the toot oil field, located in the Pothohar region, is one of the oldest oil producing regions in Pakistan where the first oil well was drilled in 1964 when President Ayub Khan had encouraged a mineral development policy. there are about 60 million barrels of oil in place, out of which 12 to 16 percent is recoverable. At the peak during 1986, the field was producing approxi-
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mately 2400 barrels of oil per day. It has grown steadily since then, producing both oil and to a lesser degree, natural gas. Oil production was entirely continued in Pothohar Plateau till 1981 when Union texas Pakistan discovered the first oil field in Lower Sindh . the Oil and Gas Development Corporation (OGDC) discovered tut oil field in 1967, Pakistan Oil Limited discovered Meyal oil field in 1968 and encouraged by these discoveries, a number of foreign companies started showing interest in Pakistan. there have not been any major oil and gas discoveries in the country for a number of years. there is dire need for accelerating oil drilling and exploration to boost domestic oil production and also for formulating and strictly enforcing POL Products Conservation Policy for gradually reducing the country’s oil import bill as much as possible. Pakistan hardly meets about 15 per ent of its energy needs through local oil and gas production and the remaining requirements of about 85 percent are met through expensive imports from oil producing countries in the international market. the oil and gas imports alone cost Pakistan around one-fourth of its total import bill every year. And only recently, more than a couple of years back, Pakistan has also emerged as one of the largest Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) importers at the international level. the consumption of petroleum products (energy products) in Pakistan is 19.68 million tonnes per annum against supply of 11.59 million tonnes per annum from local refineries, while rest of the 8.09 million tonnes is being imported annually to meet the ever-growing demand domestically. Pakistan imports $15-$16 billion worth of oil annually. In terms of POL products consumption, one can just have a look at all the sorts of vehicles plying on the roads in the urban and rural areas. POL products consumption is done both in the public and private sectors to meet the essential as well as non-essential requirements as more and more vehicles keep coming on the roads and lesser numbers are going off the road. One sees vehicles, both light and heavy, on the roads everywhere which include motorcycles (twowheelers), rickshaws (three-wheelers), motorcars, jeeps and station wagons, motor-cabs/ taxis, buses, trucks and others. figures are available but are being left out so as not to bother the readers quite unnecessarily in this regard. Ours is a nation, one can mention this regretfully, which consumes a lot and produces very little, and
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the increasing demands in all respects are met through imports. economically supply and demand causes the price hike when the supply is less than the demand. As far as price structure of POL products is concerned, it is regulated by Oil and Gas regulatory Authority (OGrA). Sometime back POL products prices were upped or lowered by OGrA on monthly basis. But now, this exercise is being undertaken on a fortnightly basis in accordance with the prevailing trends in the international market. OGrA sends its recommendations for consideration and approval or otherwise by the Prime Minister, and afterwards new prices are notified by the finance Ministry. the PtI’s federal Government headed by Prime Minister Imran Khan, needless to say, is focusing on the welfare of the people right from the first day of its coming into power against all heavy odds and problems. this is also ensured in the determination of the prices POL products prices fortnightly in the country. It may be mentioned here that the Prime Minister has already turned down OGrA’s summaries for upward revision of POL prices more than thrice in a row during last couple of months. In doing so, the federal government itself bears the difference in the POL product prices between the prevailing rates in the international market and in the local market. the government as such has no control over fluctuation of oil prices in the international market. the federal government is determined and committed to only pass on the increase in the POL products prices to the people only when it is left with no other choice. It is also worth pointing out that the POL products prices so fixed by the incumbent government are comparatively the lowest compared to those fixed by the two previous governments during their tenures, showing no consideration for the peoples’ welfare. Previous governments had also kept the dollar artificially lower than the market value, thus causing frequent depreciation of the Pakistani rupee. exchange rate of the rupee against the dollar has since been made quite realistic and still the government is ensuring to the maximum extent to maintain the POL products prices at the reasonable level. Pakistan ranks 18 while India is at 31, Sri Lanka 21, Nepal 22, Bangladesh, China 26, United Kingdom 36 and Germany 33 in the ranking of the cheapest petroleum countries out of 167 countries. The writer can zahidriffat@gmail.com
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Sunday, 28 March, 2021
COMMENT 07 Editor’s mail send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan. e-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk Letters should be addressed to Pakistan today exclusively
PM’s quarantine
End of the road for PDM Bruised, badgered and just about buried
Candid Corner Raoof Hasan “You walk through a series of arches, so to speak, and then, presently, at the end of a corridor, a door opens and you see backward through time, and you feel the flow of time, and realise that you are only part of great nameless procession.” –John Huston
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ith the virtual dismantling of the PDM, as some would rejoice, the inevitable has happened. Conceived with an excess of malfeasance, it was only a matter of time before it would come down under the piling mountain of its hubris. Yet others would contend that it was stillborn with little more than its overflowing toxicity to contend with. Whatever the reasons, the fact remains that the wobbly structure has crumbled, with the two leading parties blaming each other for the debacle. While some inherent contradictions can be traced to its very inception, it never quite took off as it could garner little public support even in the so-called heydays of its existence. the fall was always on the cards and it started happening during the early days of agitation when, in the heartland of its political capital, the PML(N) was unable to gather a substantial number of people by way of sustaining and promoting its charter of demands. it was actually at that juncture that the whole movement began to come apart. in fact the coming together of the PPP and the PML(N) to wage a struggle for democracy was an act reflecting disdainful hypocrisy. the two have had a history of always being at each other’s throats. Both were the product of military dictators and both thrived by showing each other the mirror. it was Nawaz Sharif who exploited the worst of times for the PPP, when Bhutto was hanged, to actually become the political manipulator that he turned into. his was one of those parties which openly celebrated the Bhutto hanging and made lucrative capital as a consequence by playing lackey to General Zia and laying the foundations of the illicit business empire that he was to build during later times. this is how the politics of money was introduced in the country. the hatred that the two exuded for each other did not leave a margin for cooperation. But strange are the ways of politics. the romance started back in 2006 when the two parties signed the Charter of Democracy (CoD) to initiate joint
the PM of Pakistan is required to serve as a role model for all citizens, viz-a-viz following SOP for COViD19 positive tested individuals, after it was announced that he and first lady have both tested positive. As Muslims we need to follow the holy Prophet Muhammad PBUh hadiths on this that those living within a pandemic infected area must isolate themselves, while those living outside such an area must never venture to go into an infected zone. When the PM tested positive, the whole country offered prayers for his recovery. it was also announced that he and the first lady had quarantined themselves within Bani Gala residence. the photograph released to the media and all tV channels shows the PM wearing a mask meeting his aides, including his media team. Whoever advised the PM has done no service to him or the citizens of this country. in case the PM wants to perform important office work of significance to national interests, he should do it On-Line with members of his cabinet. this sends a wrong message especially when a lethal third Wave of this pandemic has infected lots of citizens. Almighty Allah SWt has been very kind and gracious that COViD19 has not inflicted fatalities to the extent that it has in other countries in the region, like india, iran etc. We have already made many mistakes like offering direct flights to UK based airlines, at a time when British variant of COViD19 forced many countries within europe, Far east, and American continent to place restrictions on flights to england. One hopes that preventive measures are adopted to restrict all flight operations carrying passengers to and from South America and Brazil etc. Malik Tariq ali laHore
Illegal use of GSM Boosters
struggle against dictatorship. the vow was buried among the pages of the document before the ink dried on them as, shortly thereafter, with the support of some international interlocutors, Benazir Bhutto initiated negotiations with the incumbent dictator to facilitate her passage back to the country. the Sharifs followed suit in due course. Later, the two moved to violating just about every clause of the CoD as times demanded. there was not a shred of remorse or shame at the blatant manner in which they had both hoodwinked the people in the name of democracy to lay the foundations for raising their respective family oligarchies. the Bhutto-Zardari and Sharif dynasties took turns to plunder the country mercilessly of its assets and promise and, in 10 years, the country was reduced to a skeleton sprawled by the wayside with a begging bowl to fend for its survival. But their personal coffers had kept overflowing with pelf and all its attenuating appendages. the promise of democracy had been consumed by incorrigible greed. Nothing was spared in the process as every state edifice was dismantled that would resist their incursions. it was a total and all-consuming infatuation with rendering themselves invincible so that power could keep passing from generation to generation with the country remaining captive in their corrupt and lustful siege. this is what Prime Minister imran Khan inherited when he assumed the mantle of power after winning the elections in 2018. the state exchequer was empty with nothing left to even pay the interest on billions worth of outstanding loans. the whole country had been mortgaged. the corrective process was painful as the Prime Minister took to addressing the malaise which had penetrated deep with every soul sold out for personal gains. the political elite, bureaucracy, national institutions— every facet of the government had crumbled. People implemented orders only if they would make a fat buck for their own advancement. When they realised that times had changed and there was nothing for their personal enrichment, they took to subverting the working of the government. the whole country presented a pen-down spectacle. A plethora of excuses were furnished in an endeavour to justify their goslow to no-work syndrome, the principal one being that they would not like to face the NAB axe. the whole government machinery virtually ground to a halt. that is how the imran Khan tenure started. it was like building the whole structure starting with laying the first brick. there was nothing left to make use of. it was a battle all the way, from the scratch upwards, to build the country again.
But the challenge of the adversaries was not over yet. Deprived of their seats in power and their hold on its levers, these political charlatans assumed the role of draconian mafias to sabotage the initiatives the government undertook in various sectors. they had the billions to pay for buying everyone along. they became the agitators and manipulators behind the sugar mafia, the oil mafia, the bureaucracy mafia, et al. the fabrication of the PDM was a key keg in that game plan. the battle has only just begun in earnest. the good part is that these mafias are faced with a person who is not a purchasable commodity. And, more so, with each passing day, he becomes ever more determined for putting the country on path to genuine progress and remedying the grievances of the impoverished and the marginalised communities. he remains undeterred by all the vile and wicked tricks that these mafias have hurled in his way. it has only enhanced his indomitable resolve and his unflinching determination. Much may have been put right, but much more remains to be done. the path ahead is tortuous and sown with obstacles which may be difficult to surmount. it would require the absolutes of candour and courage to overcome. Meticulous planning would be required at every step with a capable, committed and vibrant team of people to take it forward. there should be no caveats, no blanks for the mafias to stage a comeback. Now that the jostling for the opposition leader’s seat in the Senate has triggered the dormant contradictions between these bloodsucking maggots, it is important that the pace of curative work quickens to achieve in months what may ordinarily have taken years for accomplishing. time would be of the essence as would be the quality of planning and implementation. there is no looking back. Given half a chance, these vultures will pounce to devour whatever may have been left by way of a country. they have already torn the flesh. But their greed would not spare even the bones. Nearing their end, these predators are waiting for the measly remnants. they have to be denied the pleasure. Pakistan has been much wronged, but it shall emerge from these testing times stronger than ever before, fully committed to realise its foundational ideals. Like the proverbial phoenix, Pakistan shall rise. Pakistan shall overcome.
Now that the jostling for the opposition leader’s seat in the Senate has triggered the dormant contradictions between these blood-sucking maggots, it is important that the pace of curative work quickens to achieve in months what may ordinarily have taken years for accomplishing.
The writer is a political and security strategist, and heads the Regional Peace Institute – an Islamabad-based think tank. Email: raoofhasan@hotmail.com. Twitter: @RaoofHasan
it angers me immensely, to see people being so self-centered and gain an advantage at the sake of others. i am talking about the new illegal trend of putting up GSM boosters to strengthen wireless coverage. these boosters, while enhancing their internet, rob others nearby of their mobile signals. According to law anyone installing it, importing, selling, or buying them will face strict legal action, which can be imprisonment of up to three years and a fine of ten million rupees or maybe even both. But this doesn’t seem to deter them. i am a therapist and use my cellular data for all my online consultations, which exceed far more than my physical ones given the current pandemic situation. Recently, connecting to WhatsApp and Zoom calls for my consults has been impossible. i found out is it is due to someone in my own neighborhood installing a booster. these educated, apparently cultured people living in a posh locality of Lahore, have no care for their neighbors! how can a person be so selfish and brazen towards the law! i urge the government to run a rigorous campaign, to catch these transgressors, punish them, and make it public so that others think twice before committing this crime. GulsHan naz islaMabad
Great Teachings Will Do iN the english language, there are interesting phrases like “last time around,” “this time around,” and “next time around.” incidentally, all such phrases can be aptly used to describe the gun culture in the US. this time around, at least 10 people including a police officer have been killed in the deadly shooting at a supermarket in Colorado. Shooting after shooting such sad incidents have been creating panic and fears among the people. Clearly enough, the gun culture has been in existence in America regardless of the ruling regimes. Of course, the Biden administration has to look into other ways and means to stop the menace. A man with a machine cannot be a human, meaning that America has to shift away from the prevalent machine or machine-made lifestyle. Undoubtedly, technology has been good for all and America has been contributing a lot to the technology world. But it should think and go beyond that. For example, great teachings have been instrumental in making positive impacts on society. expanding education sector, establishing more libraries and shunning nasty things in hollywood movies could be all steps forward in the right direction. the Asian continent has been the real hub of all great teachings and cultural beauty in terms of various languages and people out there. in my native areas like tirunelveli, Kanyakumari, Korkai, tuticorin and tiruchendur in tamil Nadu, big school, college and public libraries have been all common sights to spread the knowledge and great teachings. the ancient America had indeed been thriving on such great things because of the then social reformers and beautiful culture. But this new America is a bit different, full of chaos and confusion created by modern machine lifestyle. there are many more ways out of the current gun culture in America. the US should take steps to emulate such great ancient things and follow holistic approach across the board to end the shooting menace at once. P senTHil saravana durai MuMbai
Sexual misconduct SexUAL violence is a serious public health problem and has a profound short or long-term impact on physical and mental health, such as an increased risk of sexual and reproductive health problems, an increased risk of suicide or hiV infection. Futhermore, assassinate occurring either during a sexual assault or as a result of an honor killing in response to a sexual assault is also a factor of sexual violence. though women and girls suffer disproportionately from these aspects, sexual violence can occur to anybody at any age; it is an act of violence that can be perpetrated by parents, caregivers, acquaintances and strangers, as well as intimate partners. it is rarely a crime of passion, and is rather an aggressive act that frequently aims to express power and dominance over the victim. raHiM HuMraz JaTH balniGwar
Sunday, 28 March, 2021
08 WORLD VIEW
Why are social media plaTforms sileNciNg Kashmiri voices? BY SHUTTING DOWN THE ACCOUNT OF KASHMIR CIVITAS, SOCIAL NETWORKS ARE DOING THE BIDDING OF THE INDIAN GOVERNMENT
al Jazeera
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faRhan MujahiD Chak
OR decades, India has sought to obfuscate what is happening in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK). Since 1947, it has worked hard to appropriate Kashmir’s history, culture, and identity and distort them. It has sought to muffle Kashmiri voices speaking out against the oppression of the Kashmiri people and whitewash its crimes. With the advent of social media, Kashmiris found a much-needed platform for free expression where they were able to share their plight with the world. Kashmiri solidarity pages proliferated and conversations about the Kashmiri struggle moved online. But this newly found freedom did not last long. Social media platforms, under the pressure of the Indian government, started shutting down Kashmir-related pages and the
accounts of Kashmiri activists. In 2016, amid a crackdown on protests in (IIOJK), Facebook took down pages focusing on Kashmir and posts about the ongoing events. Journalists reported that videos of police brutality were blocked. Academics and intellectuals also saw their accounts disabled. Following the Indian government’s abrogation of IIOJK’s special status on August 5, 2019, and the imposition of a brutal lockdown, social media platforms were quick to censor content on IIOJK once again. As IIOJK was cut off from the world, with the internet and mobile communications suspended, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter started to remove posts, block videos and shut down accounts trying to shed light on the dire situation in the region. Since then, the Indian government has partially lifted the lockdown on IIOJK, but social media platforms have continued to purge Kashmir-related content. In the latest episode of censorship, Twitter shut down the accounts of Kashmir Civitas, Stand With Kashmir, the Kashmir Podcast, the account of young Kashmiri academic Ifat Gazia, and my personal Twitter account @fchak in March. By removing content and accounts critical of India’s policies in IIOJK, Facebook and Twitter are complicit in suffocating those Kashmiri voices that are resisting the military occupation and settler-colonialism
of their land. By censoring these voices, social media networks are curtailing the right to freedom of speech. Our organisation, Kashmir Civitas is a non-governmental civil society and strategic advocacy entity registered in Canada and committed to the socio-political, and economic empowerment of the peoples in the disputed IIOJK. It is an open, transparent organisation that peacefully challenges the false narratives that India has been propagating about the disputed region. It campaigns for the fundamental right of self-determination for the Kashmiri people. No democratic polity or principled individual, group or nation would credibly deny that right. Moreover, the organisation’s foundational decree is not only premised on the Kashmiris’ inalienable rights as enshrined in the United Nations Charter, but is based on the principles expressed in a total of 18 United Nations (UN) resolutions on Kashmir, including Security Council Resolutions 39 and 47, adopted in 1948. Both unequivocally recognise the inherent right of self-determination for the Kashmiri people and provide for the status of Kashmir to be decided in a free and fair plebiscite under the auspices of the UN. Our organisation firmly believes that the Kashmir dispute is not a bilateral issue between Pakistan and India. Rather, it is an in-
It's time to admit that the US is no longer #1 daily beasT
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DaviD Rothkopf
ROM BIRTh, we here in the US are raised to think of this as the greatest country in the world. Well, it’s time to think again. We no longer live up to our own hype by almost any metric. This past week has seen two new studies that have got to cut flagwaving Uncle-Sam-has-abs-of-steel boosters to their jingoistic quick. In the latest World happiness Report, America ranked 19th. In the most recent Freedom house World Democracy Rankings, the US plummeted to a position right behind Argentina and Mongolia and on a par with Panama, Romania and Croatia. On top of that at President Biden’s inaugural press conference, he made reference to how poorly America’s infrastructure ranks when compared to other countries—13th in the world as it turns out. Now look, there’s no shame in being in the top 10 percent of countries. But that’s not how we have been selling ourselves for the past century. “We’re number 19,” just doesn’t have the same ring, does it? It’s going to be darned hard for Toby Keith to turn that into a song lyric, isn’t it? Gonna be hard to thump our chests about the legacy of the Founders when we now have a system of government on a par with places like Mongolia and Romania, countries that began their marches to democracy barely two decades ago. Two rankings hardly make or break a country’s standing in the world, of course. But these two are not outliers. A quick scan of the other major metrics by which countries are measured reveals that we are definitely not who we think we are. Beginning with the basics, and you probably already knew this, but we are not the largest country in the world. In fact, we are only third largest by population and fourth largest by land area. We like to say we are the richest and in terms of nominal Gross Domestic Product, we are. But upon closer inspection that number is misleading. If you look at our GDP in what economists call “purchasing power parity” terms, an adjustment that reflects what citizens and companies can buy for the money they have, then we fall to second after China. On a per capita basis, rankings vary, but we come in somewhere between fifth and eighth. And when you look at that number on a PPP basis, we fall
ACCORDING TO THE WORLD PRESS FREEDOM INDEX, THE US RANKS 45TH IN THE WORLD to between seventh and 13th. We rank 15th in the world in terms of economic stability, according to US News and World Reports, and from a different perspective, that of the right-leaning heritage Foundation, we rank 20th in terms of economic freedom. Of course, money isn’t everything. Quality of life is what is most important. According to US News, we rank 15th in the world on that front. According to the U.N. Development Program’s human Development Index, we rank 17th. We like to think that this is the land of opportunity. But in reality, even there we lag the world. According to the Institute for Management Development’s global competitiveness ranking, on which we led the world as recently as 2017, we’ve fallen all the way to number 10 last year. The World economic Forum says our performance is impeded by the fact that we are not even in the top 10 in technology adoption or digital skills. They argue that the skill sets of our graduates actually declined between 2016 and 2020. We currently rank 27th in global internet connectivity and a dispiriting 24th as environmental stewards, according to the Yale-Columbia environmental Performance Index. The Organization for economic Cooperation and Development ranks us only eighth out of 40 countries in educational attainment, 26th out of 40 in years our students spend being educated, and 21st out of 40 in terms of the social inequality within our economic system. In 2017, a Pew Study showed those students ranked 24th in the world in science scores, 24th in reading scores and 39th in math scores. And a 2019 US News study showed our students at 30th in math, eighth in reading and 11th in science. That is no way to reclaim the top spots when it comes to economic leadership or better quality of life. But we face other challenges on that front. According to the World economic Forum, the U.S. ranks 27th on its global social mobility index. What that translates into is that on average it will take low-income Americans four generations to reach the mean income of the country. That’s nothing to brag about, though we’re still higher up there than on the
Global Peace Index ranking the world’s safest countries, where we come in 128th, right after Myanmar, Niger, and South Africa. Global perceptions of how dangerous life here are also abysmal, with the U.S. ranked number 32. (This past fall, we were ranked as 58th in the world on COVID safeness, according to Forbes.). As the recent mass shootings in Atlanta and Boulder underscore, this is all due in part to the fact that we have a crime index that places us after 79 other countries. One place we’re almost number one is total gun deaths, where we’re behind only Brazil. On a per capita basis, we’re seventh. According to Politifact, “Americans are 10 times more likely to die as a result of a firearm compared with residents of (the other 26 OeCD high-income) countries.” With 120.5 firearms for every 100 people we, by far, have the most guns per capita, twice the level of the runners-up, the Falkland Islands and Yemen. (The fact that we also lead the world in prisoners incarcerated, with 655 per every 100,000 people, is not, apparently, helping.) For the first time ever, in the 2020 World Justice Project Rule of Law Index, the U.S. fell out of the top 20 countries in the world. This is linked to the fact that, according also to the WJP, the US ranks 11th in the world in terms of open government. That may sound shocking. After all, we pride ourselves on our freedoms. But the economist Intelligence Unit ranked this country as a “flawed democracy,” only the 25th most democratic country in the world. As the Freedom house report mentioned earlier underscored, “The presidency of Donald Trump brought heightened attention to the institutions of democracy that he most often attacked, including the press, the judiciary, safeguards against corruption, and the constitutional authority of Congress.” A related ill is that now, according to the World Press Freedom Index, the U.S. ranks 45th in the world. Coping with any or all of the above is not made easier by the fact that our health care also lags the world. Life expectancy in the US is 46th longest, with women living an average 81.65 years and men 76.61. But racial disparities make outcomes much worse for Americans of color. Black American males die, on average, 12
ternational issue. Still, the most important stakeholders are the Kashmiri people – the “state subjects” of the disputed territory, who have every right to resist, by all lawful means, the colonisation of their land by Indian occupation forces. As such, our organisation champions the democratic principles of freedom, equality and the inherent dignity of all human beings, irrespective of race, religion, gender or creed. It aims to lobby, facilitate and work for the moral, educational, economic, cultural and political uplifting of Kashmiri society on both sides of the ceasefire line and among the diaspora. Why would Facebook and Twitter silence those who are speaking truth and fact, then lionise those who operate in deceit? We sent several inquiries to Twitter, but they never explained to us why our account was shut down. Then, suddenly, it was reinstated, as were the other suspended accounts. Twitter’s censorship comes amid India’s unprecedented campaign to silence Kashmiri voices, strip the Kashmiri people of their rights and remove the Kashmir issue from the international agenda altogether. Since the abrogation of Kashmir’s special status in 2019, which removed its selfgovernance rights and paved the way for the settlement of non-Kashmiris on Kashmiri land, more troops have been deployed to the region. Repression has increased. Journalists
years sooner than their white counterparts. Our maternal mortality rate, at 16.9 deaths per 100,000 live births, is almost four times higher than in peer countries and it is three times higher for Black women than for white women. In 2016, we ranked last among peer countries in amenable mortality, a key measure of health care access and quality. US News ranks our public health care system 15th in the world, World Population Review ranks it 37th. Thanks, Boomers. The country that at the end of World War II was the undisputed largest economy in the world, through which almost half of all world trade flowed, that was the most powerful by far, the most admired, whose democracy shined as an example (even with all it glaring flaws), and that helped europe and Japan build back up after they were devastated by war now lags, by many measures, the countries we helped rebuild. Many of us are still thumping our chests. But when you look at the data, it is clear these days we most resemble an aging former high school quarterback telling stories in a bar about by-gone days. even we can’t believe what we’re saying any more. “The world’s greatest democracy!” “The Senate is the planet’s greatest deliberative body!” “A shining city on a hill.” If you are paying attention you have to suppress a sigh or a moan. No, that’s who we were, not who we are. As for who we might become, that will depend on whether we are actually able to see where we have faltered, see who has succeeded and have the humility to be able to learn from both our lessons and theirs. Seeing that we lag can be, as it appears to be for advocates of building back better, motivation for reinvesting in our country and fixing what is broken. So, as it turns out, the MAGAs were right. We do need to be made great again. But, also as it turns out, the way to do that is to do the opposite of almost everything else they advocated: It would mean investing in health care and green infrastructure, supporting democracy and the rule of law, and believing science and math should be taught in the schools. Right now we may reconcile ourselves to the fact that we are now something like a jumbo-sized Luxembourg—doing fine but hoping that some day we may be Norway (which does very very well on a lot of these lists, as does much of Scandinavia). Or we can ignore the data and what actually works on this planet and settle for being the Jared Kushner of nations, arrogant and clueless about what we have inherited, or we can get to work maintaining and building upon it. We get to decide which it is. But what is certain is that for now we should probably not be selling as many big foam fingers saying “We’re #1” as we once did.
trying to report on the situation in IIOJK have faced censorship and intimidation, while politicians, activists and even ordinary citizens, including children, have been arrested by the thousands. even before this escalation, IIOJK was the most militarised place on the planet. Currently, more than one million Indian soldiers are deployed in the valley. The Kashmir issue is one of the longest unresolved conflicts on the agenda of the UN. More than 95,000 people have been killed since the early 1990s, and around 6,700 unmarked and mass graves have been uncovered. An untold number of women have been harassed and sexually assaulted. It is in this in dire situation that platforms like Twitter and Facebook are choosing to side with the repressive Indian government, which – amid its rising authoritarianism – still claims to be democratic. Among the most admirable aspects of democracy – along with freedom, equality, pluralism and inclusion – is the empowerment of civil society which holds the powerful to account. A free, vibrant civil society is not only able to curb the abuse of power, but also to promote healthy civic engagement and participation, which is the bedrock of democratic, participatory polities. By shutting down the accounts of collectives like Kashmir Civitas and Stand With Kashmir, Facebook and Twitter are siding with undemocratic forces that seek to silence not just Kashmiris but anyone who dares to oppose them. Although the accounts are now reinstated, we must remain vigilant and ensure that power does not remain unchecked. By doing the bidding of the Indian government, Twitter and Facebook have gone against their own “commitment to freedom of expression” and to “defending and respecting the user’s voice”. Farhan Mujahid Chak is an associate professor of international affairs at Qatar University. His latest publication, 'Islam and Pakistan's Political Culture' was published by Routledge in October 2014.
New nadir of bigotry THE SHOCKING VIGILANTE ACTION AGAINST NUNS IN UP Tribune, india
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he outrageous incident on March 19 at the Jhansi railway station where four legitimate travellers were forced out of the train by vigilantes is the new nadir in India’s slide into the abyss of lawlessness and bigotry. This is not just a case of four women getting heckled by rowdy men, which is a miserable, everyday reflection of our patriarchy. This is about a few Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad activists, who have no business to examine travel documents or personal identification of fellow travellers, arrogating to themselves the powers of the State with the railway employees and the police obsequiously obeying them. Two nuns of the Delhi-based Congregation of the Sacred heart were accompanying two 19-year-old students or postulants en route home to Rourkela in Odisha after they had completed their course. The two teenagers were hoping to don the habit soon. But the ABVP workers travelling from Rishikesh to Jhansi insisted that the nuns were ‘taking’ the two youngsters to get them converted. According to news reports, the vigilantes called in the police and forced the women to get down at Jhansi, their own destination, where the women were kept at the Government Railway Police station till 11 pm. had it not been for the local St Jude Church, the travellers would have had to spend the night at the railway police station because of the assumption made by some hindutva hotheads. They were let off after the parents confirmed that the youngsters were born Christians, and resumed their journey the next morning. Is this the new Indian normal? have our constitutional rights of freedom of life, movement, speech and religion been withdrawn? Will the State machinery act according to the assumptions and prejudices of political activists? It is heartening to note that home Minister Amit Shah, while campaigning for former Union minister KJ Alphons at a Christian-dominated constituency in Kerala, assured that the government of Uttar Pradesh will bring the culprits to justice. BJP’s attempt to grow beyond the cow belt should make it more representative, and accountable towards minorities and their rights as citizens of this country.
Sunday, 28 March, 2021
BUSINESS 09
ISLAMABAD
PSMA SeekS IncLuSIon of InLAnD Revenue offIcIALS In PRoBe AgAInST SugAR MILLS
corporate corner
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KARACHI: A A Adviser to Sindh CM on Law, Environment, Climate Change & Coastal Development Barrister Murtaza Wahab and K-Electric CEO Moonis Alvi inaugurate the Mohammad Ali Sadpara Park in Korangi in the presence of Karachi Commissioner, DC Korangi, and residents of the area. PR
Soneri Bank shareholders approve 2020 annual results
GHULAM ABBAs
S the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has unearthed Rs404.20 billion worth tax evasion by sugar millers in the country from 2015 till 2019, sugar millers have sought the inclusion of some specific FBR officials in the investigation process so that the "reals facts behind this evasion could be determined". A special audit team of the FBR had recently sent tax evasion notices to 81 sugar mills, some of which were directly owned or co-owned by politicians. As per details, the FBR had initially started the probe against 89 sugar mills after the Sugar Inquiry Commission (SIC) pointed out irregularities during its investigation in 2020. After a thorough probe, the audit team issued notices to 81 sugar mills (out of 89) for
paying less than the considered income tax on sugar production, with non-payment of income tax amounting to Rs404.20 billion. In response to the notices issued by FBR, the Pakistan Sugar Mills Association (PSMA) wrote a letter to the revenue board seeking inclusion of officials belonging to FBR’s Inland Revenue (operations) department, as well as those officers posted in sugar
mills, in the inquiry process so that the difference between actual production and the quantity declared could be determined. According to PSMA Chairman Iskendar Khan, inquiry should first start from the Member IR (Operations) as the matter was related to this department. "Officers who chaired the post of member IR (operations) from 2015 to
FIA FREEZES OVER 100 BANK ACCOUNTS OF ‘SUGAR MAFIA’ The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has held over 100 bank accounts of 40 alleged important personalities part of the 'sugar mafia', it emerged on Saturday. Earlier this week, the FIA had registered cases against 10 major sugar mafia groups in the country, which, in connivance with mill owners, earned approximately Rs110 billion during the last one year through ‘speculative pricing’ commonly known as ‘Satta’. According to media reports, the FIRs were registered against important personalities belonging to Malik Abad Satta Group, Multan Satta Group, Maulvi Zaheer Satta Group, Malik Majid Satta Group, Khurram Dawai Satta Group, Mirza Sugar Satta Group, Tufail Goga Satta Group, Bhalli Satta Group, Paracha Satta Group and Butt Sugar Satta Group. The accused gambled for some "prominent sugar players", sources said, adding that money laundering on a very large scale was also committed in this Satta process. news desk
Govt to release info memorandum for sale of additional telecom spectrum ISLAMABAD sHAHZAd PARACHA
KARACHI: A A The annual audited financial statements of Soneri Bank Limited for the year ended 31 December 2020 were approved by the shareholders of the bank in their 29th AGM held simultaneously via Zoom in Lahore and Karachi. The meeting was chaired by Alauddin Feerasta, Chairman of the Board, with Muhtashim Ahmad Ashai, President and CEO. The bank posted profit before tax (PBT) of Rs4,035 million and profit after tax (PAT) of Rs2,400 million in the year 2020, as compared to Rs3,247 million and Rs1,906 million in 2019, which represented an increase of 24.27pc and 25.93pc, respectively. Earnings per share (EPS) for the year was reported at Rs. 2.1772 per share. The shareholders approved the final cash dividend at 12.50pc i.e. Rs1.25 per share, as recommended earlier by the BoD. PRess ReLeAse
Amreli Steels celebrates Pakistan Resolution Day KARACHI: A A Amreli Steels celebrated Pakistan Resolution Day at Amreli Steels Circle near Dolmen Mall Clifton, Karachi, by recreating Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s presidential address from 23rd March 1940. Speaking on the occasion, Chief Operating Officer of Amreli Steels, Hadi Akberali said, “Amreli Steels has always resolved to strengthen the economy and society by producing the best quality steel, creating equal opportunities for over 1,300 people that are part of our team, and contributing to society in numerous ways. One of our contributions is this Amreli Steels Circle with the portrait of Quaid-e-Azam that has been made with steel bars. It is here to remind us of the values from which our great country was born – equality, tolerance, peace and progress.” PRess ReLeAse
Bank AL Habib declares 45pc cash dividend KARACHI: A A The Annual General Meeting of Bank AL Habib Limited was held on March 25, 2021. The shareholders approved the annual accounts for the year ended December 31, 2020, and a Final Cash Dividend of 45pc. Deposits of the bank as on December 31 2020 were Rs1,099,686 million and profit after tax was Rs17,812 million. PRess ReLeAse
2019, even if retired, should be included in the inquiry to know the facts as to why the department kept the files closed during that period," the letter read. Meanwhile, an FBR official informed this scribe that the total pending tax amount could exceed Rs1,000 billion as proceedings against the country’s 20 major sugar mills were underway.
The federal government is likely to release an information memorandum for the auction of additional telecom spectrum during the first week of April. Sources said that the third meeting of the auction advisory committee will be held under the chair of Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh next week to finalize matters pertaining to the auction of additional spectrum. Subsequently, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority will release the information memorandum for the auction of telecom spectrum, following the authority will give onemonth time to parties to submit their replies against the said memorandum. PTA had selected one international consultant with regard to auctioning the remaining spectrum of 3G and 4G services in the country. The government is optimistic that it would generate $1 billion revenue from the auction of an additional 1800, 2100 MHz bands of spectrum. On the other hand, the telecom companies are
asking the Frequency Allocation Board as well as Pakistan Telecommunication Authority to solve the temporary allocation problems before going into the auction. Sources said that the government had allocated 6.6MHz as temporary allotment to Zong with respect to the compensation/cross boarder interference with the neighbouring country in the 900 MHz band. That temporary allocation is subjected to specific regions; however, Zong considers it for all provinces, sources added. Sources said that the temporary allotment problem should be solved before the auction as the government might not only get more than $200 million in additional revenue but the confidence of telecom investors would be restored. Presently, Jazz and Zong have captured the Pakistani telecom market with over a Rs100 billion revenue on a yearly basis. The scribe approached the PTA spokesman for comments but no reply was received till the filing of this story.
Capital traders lament NCOC's 'unilateral decision' on market closures ISLAMABAD sTAFF RePORT
The business community of the federal capital has said that they cannot afford closure of businesses for two days a week and urged the government to notify closure of businesses only on Sundays. Representatives of different market associations in a meeting chaired by Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan, President of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI), said on Saturday that they have already suffered huge business losses due to previous lockdowns and restrictions of timings; therefore, it is unaffordable for them to keep businesses closed for two days a week. Addressing the meeting, Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan noted that governments in many countries are providing significant financial relief to businesses in order to enable them combat the impact of Covid19 pandemic, "but in Pakistan, instead of providing relief, businesses are being closed twice a week, which will prove very harmful for the economy as
it will cause permanent closure of a large number of businesses and render thousands of people jobless". He said that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has also been requested multiple times by ICCI to allow tax filers to pay their taxes in instalments or offer taxpayers a deferred filing date in order to give some relaxation to businesses that have suffered losses in billions of rupees. He said that the business community is satisfied with Chief Commissioner Islamabad Amir Ali Ahmed and Deputy Commissioner Hamza Shafqaat because they have adopted a cooperative approach towards businesses and have facilitated them throughout the entire Covid-19 scenario; however, the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) is making decisions for business closure without any consultation with the business community, which is not a wise approach. He said being the key stakeholders of the economy, the government should take all important economic decisions in consultation with the business community, especially the chambers of commerce, so as to save the economy from further contraction.
Tax ordinance makes return filing mandatory for IT exporters ISLAMABAD TLTP
The Tax Laws (Second Amendment) Ordinance, 2021, has made the filing of income tax return mandatory for people engaged in exporting computer software to avail 100pc tax credit. According to details, exemptions for IT and ITenabled services have been withdrawn through the ordinance; however, a tax credit equal to 100pc has been granted to facilitate the software exports. Certain conditions, including making return filing mandatory and provision of income tax audit, have been added through the latest amended ordinance. The new section added to the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 through Tax Laws (Second Amendment) Ordinance, 2021, reads, “Income of following taxpayers shall be allowed a tax credit equal to 100 per cent of the tax payable under any provisions of this Ordinance: (a) persons engaged in coal mining projects in Sindh supplying coal exclusively to power generation projects; (b) a startup as defined in clause (62A) of section 2 for the tax year in which the startup is certified by the Pakistan Software Export Board and the next following two tax years; (c) persons deriving income from exports of computer software or IT services or IT enabled services up to the period ending on the 30th day of June 2025, provided that 80 per cent of the export proceeds are brought into Pakistan in foreign exchange remitted from outside Pakistan through normal banking channels.” As per the ordinance, IT services include software development, software maintenance, system integration, web design, web development, web hosting and network design, while IT-enabled services include inbound or outbound call centres, medical transcription, remote monitoring, graphics design, accounting services, HR services, telemedicine centers, data entry operations, locally produced television programs and insurance claims processing. “Tax credit under sub-section (1) shall be available subject to fulfillment of the following conditions, namely:- (a) return has been filed; (b) tax required to be deducted or collected has been deducted or collected and paid; (c) withholding tax statements for the immediately preceding tax year have been filed; and (d) sales tax returns for the tax periods corresponding to relevant tax year have been filed: Provided that nothing contained in this section shall preclude the applicability of section 214C or section 177,” the ordinance read.
Suez Canal closure adds more strain to global supply chains: Moody’s The temporary closure of the Suez Canal after container ship Ever Given ran aground could lead to supply chain delays, particularly for European manufacturers and auto makers, according to a report by Moody’s Investors Service. Supply chains across the world are already strained and “highly vulnerable” to even the smallest of external shocks due to a very high consumer and industrial demand, a global shortage of container capacity and low service reliability from global container shipping companies, the credit rating agency said. The canal’s temporary blockage could ex-
acerbate this as around 10 per cent to 15 per cent of the world's container throughput is expected to be affected, according to Moody's. Europe's manufacturing and auto suppliers are expected to be hit most by the Suez Canal snarl since "they operate ‘just-in-time’ supply chains", Daniel Harlid, a vice president at Moody’s, said. “This means they do not stockpile parts and only have enough on hand for a short period, and source components from Asian manufacturers.” The Ever Given, a 200,000 deadweightton ship carrying 20,000 containers, got stuck in the Suez Canal on March 23 after
high winds blew it off course – blocking a vital waterway for global trade. Nearly 19,000 ships, or an average of 51.5 ships a day, pass through the canal with a net tonnage of 1.17 billion in 2020 alone, according to the Suez Canal Authority. Tariffs paid by ships entering the waterway are also a major source of income for Egypt. The blockage could cost global trade $6 billion to $10bn a week, according to a study by German insurer Allianz on Friday. “Even if the situation is resolved within the next 48 hours, port congestion and further delays to an already constrained supply
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chain is inevitable,” Harlid said. Alternative modes of transportation are also out of the question since airfreight capacity is already tight owing to the coronavirus pandemic and rail transportation between China and Europe is very limited, the credit rating agency said. The canal, which connects the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, provides the shortest sea link between Asia and Europe. Moody’s does not expect the disruption caused by the Suez Canal blockage to affect Egypt’s balance of payments. Suez Canal receipts amounted to almost 2 percent of
Egypt’s gross domestic product on average before the pandemic, providing a significant contribution to total current account receipts. However, Suez Canal receipts declined to 1.3 percent of GDP during the acute phase of the pandemic, according to Moody’s. “A temporary disruption will not materially change our expectation of a return to precrisis canal receipts as global trade recovers,” Harlid said. The Moody’s report added that oil-exporting countries in the Middle East that rely on the Canal for hydrocarbon exports “are unlikely to be affected in the absence of an extended disruption”. AGenCIes
Sunday, 28 March, 2021
10 FOREIGN NEWS Lebanon's largest Christian bloc warns against sidelining president BEIRUT AGENCIES
Lebanon’s largest Christian bloc, the Free Patriotic Movement (FPM), warned prime minister-designate Saad alHariri on Saturday against sidelining President Michel Aoun and other parliamentary blocs in talks over forming a cabinet. Hariri and Aoun have been at loggerheads over the cabinet for months, dashing hopes of a reversal of Lebanon’s deepening financial meltdown. Hariri has said Aoun’s party is trying to dictate cabinet seats in order to gain veto power. The FPM, which is headed by GebranBassil, who is also Aoun’s son-in-law, accused Hariri of trying to orchestrate a majority for his own supporters. “The political committee warns of the dangers of sidelining methods that the prime minister-designate is using when dealing with the president and concerned parliamentary blocs,” an FPM statement said. Veteran Sunni politician Hariri was nominated in October to form a cabinet after Hassan Diab’s government resigned in the wake of the Beirut port blast, which killed 200 people and damaged large swathes of the city. Diab’s government has stayed on in a caretaker capacity. On Monday, the 18th meeting between Hariri and Aoun failed to produce any concrete results. Lebanon is in the throes of a deep financial crisis that is posing the biggest threat to its stability since the 1975-1990 civil war. A new cabinet is needed to carry out reforms that could unlock foreign aid.
Egypt buries train crash dead, toll revised to 19 TAHTA AGENCIES
Egypt buried the dead Saturday from a train collision that killed at least 19 people and injured 185, according to a revised toll, as investigators probed the country's latest deadly rail crash. Health Minister Hala Zayed told reporters that an initial toll of 32 killed in Friday's crash was revised down, while the number of injured rose from 165. "After we honed in on the details of those killed and injured... at this moment there are 185 injured and 19 corpses and three bags of body parts," Zayed said, without giving further details. Surveillance camera footage of the accident seen by AFP showed a speeding train barrelling into another as it rolled slowly down the tracks, sending a carriage hurtling into the air in a cloud of dust. Most of those injured in Friday's crash that occurred in the Tahta district of southern Sohag province suffered fractures. The first victims were laid to rest early on Saturday with small groups of family and friends in attendance as residents, who appeared mistrustful of outsiders, kept the media at bay. Other burials were expected to take place following mid-day Muslim prayers, an AFP reporter said. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi pledged tough punishment for those responsible for the crash, the latest in a series of rail accidents to plague Egypt. Such incidents are generally attributed to poor infrastructure and maintenance. 'CARNAGE': It came as the most populous Arab nation struggles with another major transport challenge -- a giant container ship blocking the Suez Canal, a vital shipping lane for international trade. Early on Saturday Egypt was again struck by tragedy when a building collapsed in the capital Cairo, killing at least five people and injuring 24 others, according to officials. At the scene of the rail disaster, technicians worked through Friday evening to remove five dislocated and damaged carriages. By morning the crash area was cleared of twisted metal and debris. Rail traffic also resumed ahead of the burials. Witnesses and survivors recounted horrifying scenes. "We were at the mosque then a child came and told us (about the incident). We heard the collision, so we rushed and found the carnage," said a 59-yearold man speaking on condition of anonymity. The first ambulances to reach the scene arrived "around half an hour" after the crash, he said. "There were children who removed (debris) using wooden ladders," added the witness, who spent the day helping rescue workers. One train was travelling between the southern city of Luxor and Alexandria on the Mediterranean coast, and the other between the southern city of Aswan and Cairo. Kamel Nagi, a 20-year-old conscript, was on the Cairo-bound train after enjoying a few days of leave. "Our train suddenly stopped and a quarter of an hour later, the second arrived and struck us," said Nagi, who suffered multiple broken bones. "I saw it coming, screamed, then found myself on the ground in great pain," he said from his hospital bed as a nurse gave him an injection to alleviate his pain. 'ACCIDENTS CAN HAPPEN': Authorities opened an investigation to determine the circumstances of the accident, while the rail authority blamed the crash on unidentified passengers who "activated emergency brakes" in one train. The prosecution said it would interrogate several rail employees, including the two train drivers, their assistants and the signalman. They will also have to undergo drug testing and their mobile phones have been seized by the authorities to examine their call logs, it added. But media reports on Saturday claimed both train drivers had died of injuries sustained in the crash. The rail authority said one train hit the last carriage of the other, causing at least two carriages to overturn between the stations of Maragha and Tahta. Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli said the government will disburse 100,000 Egyptian pounds (around $6,400) to each family who lost a loved one and between 20,000-40,000 to those injured. The government has spent "hundreds of billions of pounds" to upgrade the railway system over the past four years, he said, acknowledging that the network "has suffered from decades of negligence". Egypt's railway network is one of the oldest in Africa and the Middle East and improving it "will take time", Madbouli told reporters Friday after visiting the crash site.
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China sanCtions Us and Canadian bodiEs ovEr Xinjiang
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EIJING has been pushing back against sanctions imposed by the United States, European Union, Britain and Canada for what they say are rights violations against Uighur Muslims and other Turkic minorities in the western Chinese region of Xinjiang. China will take measures against the chair and vice-chair of the US government’s advisory Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), Gayle Manchin and Tony Perkins, the foreign ministry said in a
statement. It also sanctioned Canadian member of parliament Michael Chong, vicechair of parliament's Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development (FAAE), as well as the FAAE's Subcommittee on International Human Rights, which has eight members and this month presented a report here concluding that atrocities had been committed in Xinjiang that constitute crimes against humanity and genocide. “The Chinese government is firmly determined to safeguard its national sovereignty, security and devel-
opment interests, and urges the relevant parties to clearly understand the situation and redress their mistakes,” the ministry said. “They must stop political manipulation on Xinjiang-related issues, stop interfering in China’s internal affairs in any form and refrain from going farther down the wrong path. Otherwise they will get their fingers burnt.” The individuals are banned from entering the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macau, the ministry said, and Chinese citizens and institutions are prohibited from doing business with the three individuals or having
any exchanges with the subcommittee. China’s previous sanctions on US individuals who it says have seriously undermined China’s sovereignty and interests on Xinjiang-related issues remain in effect, according to the statement. Activists and UN rights experts say at least a million Muslims have been detained in camps in Xinjiang. The activists and some Western politicians accuse China of using torture, forced labour and sterilisations. China has repeatedly denied all accusations of abuse and says its camps offer vocational training and are needed to fight extremism.
Venezuelans fleeing to Colombia accuse soldiers of abuses ARAUQUITA MUNICIPALITY AGENCIES
Venezuelans fleeing to Colombia to escape clashes between the Venezuelan military and irregular armed groups have accused soldiers of abuses, including killing civilians. The flow of thousands of refugees began on Sunday after Venezuela’s National Bolivarian Armed Forces launched an offensive against illegal armed groups in La Victoria, a municipality in Venezuela’s Apure border province. Venezuela is investigating the accusations that members of the military committed abuses, including detaining and killing civilians, as well as looting and burning homes. “They raided our house and took everything from us. When they arrived they broke everything, the doors, they entered and took everything I had in the house, the workshop,” mechanic Jose Castillo, who arrived in Colombia with his pregnant wife and 12year-old daughter on Friday, told Reuters. “I couldn’t stay because they are killing people. They killed some neighbors and dressed them in Venezuelan army uniforms to pass them off as guerrillas,” Castillo said. Reuters could not independently verify Castillo’s accusations, or those of other displaced Venezuelans who showed photos on their cell phones of dead people wearing camouflaged uniforms with weapons next to their hands. The victims were residents of La Victoria and its surroundings, they said. The government did not immediately comment on the accusations. However, the country’s chief prosecutor Tarek Saab wrote in a Twitter message on Friday that Venezuela will investigate events in La Victoria, and punish those responsible if abuses of human rights are discovered. Hundreds of children, women, elderly, and men
are staying on mattresses and in makeshift tents, set up in sports centers in Arauquita, in Colombia’s Arauca province, where they have access to food and sanitation. Earlier this week two Venezuelan soldiers were killed in clashes in Apure, as was the leader of an illegal armed group, while 32 people were captured, the Venezuelan government said on Monday. Dissidents of the demobilized Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), who reject a 2016 peace deal with the Colombian government, are the targets of the military operations, according to the
civilians fleeing across the river that divides Colombia and Venezuela. Some 4,000 people have arrived in Colombia from Venezuela since Sunday due to the clashes, Juan Carlos Agudelo, government secretary of Arauquita, told Reuters. “The situation is confusing, delicate,” he said. Colombian President Ivan Duque has accused the government of his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro of sheltering FARC dissidents and members of the National Liberation Army (ELN) in Venezuela, something the government in Caracas denies.
European countries tighten virus curbs, France ‘critical’ PARIS AGENCIES
France, Belgium and Poland on Saturday tightened curbs as coronavirus cases surged in Europe while the Philippines prepared for a giant lockdown and Chile confined over 80 percent of its population. France has admitted that the situation is "critical" and added three more departments to the 16 already under tight restrictions. Around 20 million people in France, including those in the greater Paris region, are classed as living in high-infection zones. They are not allowed to travel further than 10 kilometres (six miles) from their home unless they have an essential reason. Checks at train stations, airports and toll-paying motorways began Saturday to enforce the travel restrictions. "About 10 police teams have been deployed against two in normal times" in Paris's busy Montparnasse station, a police officer told AFP, adding that these numbers would be increased during busy hours. Only shops selling food, and book and music stores are open and classrooms in high schools are only running at half the capacity. Daily cases in France have nearly doubled since the start of the month and there have been more than 200,000 new cases every week. Belgium meanwhile closed all businesses involving non-medical physical contact such as hairdressers for four weeks from Saturday. Shops offering "non-essential" services can only receive clients with appointments. Poland closed
creches, playgrounds, furniture and DIY stores, as well as beauty salons and barber shops. 'THE VIRUS IS THE ENEMY': Social distancing in churches in the predominantly Catholic nation has also been tightened with one person allowed in every 20 square metres (200 square feet) instead of 15 square metres earlier. The Philippines announced Saturday that more than 24 million people in and around Manila will go into lockdown next week. "The virus is the enemy, not the government," presidential spokesman Harry Roque said. "While we're at home we expect the infection rates to slow." From Monday, people will have to work from home unless they are considered essential workers, and public transport will be halted. All mass gatherings will be banned, night-time curfews from 6:00 pm to 5:00 am will be enforced and non-essential businesses will be shut. Chile also started a new and strict lockdown for more than 80 percent of its population, with shopping trips for even basic products banned during weekends. VACCINATION DISPARITY: The pandemic has killed over 2.7 million people since December 2019, according to an AFP tally on Saturday. The United States is the worst-affected country with 548,089 deaths followed by Brazil with 307,112 fatalities, Mexico with 200,862, India with 161,240 and Britain with 126,515 deaths. Health officials have rolled out more than 510 million coronavirus vaccine doses around the world, but with big gaps between countries. The World Health Organization on Friday appealed
to richer nations to donate vaccines to help poorer ones start inoculations. The deployment of vaccines has been glaringly unequal, with the United States accounting for more than a quarter of the global total and poorer nations lagging far behind wealthier ones. While rich EU countries are still struggling to get their inoculations into overdrive, France made clear it sees vaccine policies feeding not just European, but global competition for influence. "We are looking at a new type of world war," President Emmanuel Macron said after an EU summit. "We are looking in particular at Russian and Chinese attacks and attempts to gain influence through the vaccine." 'BIGGEST GENOCIDE': However, Moscow -whose Sputnik V shot is being rolled out in numerous countries across the world -- quickly hit back, with Kremlin officials saying they "absolutely disagree" with Macron's comments. But Berlin said it would be happy to use Sputnik V if it gets approval from EU regulators. Germany also classified the whole of France as a high-risk zone, which means travellers need to show a negative Covid test and quarantine upon arrival. Kenya became the latest African country to order a partial lockdown on Friday, shutting schools and bars in and around the capital Nairobi. "I am convinced that the cost of not acting now would be far greater," said President Uhuru Kenyatta. In India, too, a sharp rise in infections will see new measures with worst-hit state Maharashtra, including its mega-city Mumbai, put under night curfew from Sunday.
Sunday, 28 March, 2021
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SouTH AfricA plAyErS To lEAvE for ipl AfTEr SEcond odi AgAinST pAkiSTAn: rEporT
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NEWS DESK
OUTH African players, who feature in the IPL, will be allowed to leave for India after the second ODI against Pakistan on April 4, reported ESPNCricinfo. These include players such as Kagiso Rabada (Dehli Capitals), Quinton de Kock (Mumbai Indians), Lungi Ngidi (Chennai Super Kings), David Miller (Rajasthan Royals) and Anrich Nortje (Dehli Capitals). These players were already not part of Proteas squad for the upcoming T20I series against Pakistan. A contract with the Board of Control for Cricket in India
(BCCI) has been cited as a reason for their non-inclusion. Pakistan will play three ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup Super League matches against South Africa from 2-7 April, whereas IPL begins from April 9. Report further added that IPL franchises are in talks to arrange a chartered flight to fly out the aforementioned players from South Africa to India, in time for their respective team’s first game. Former Pakistan captain Rashid Latif recently slammed Cricket South Africa (CSA) for leaving out their five main players for the upcoming T20I series against Pakistan.
“If Pakistan had left out their five main players, would South Africa have still played with us? Then why are we playing with them?” Rashid questioned on PTV Sports. Questions are also being raised in South Africa about giving preference to the IPL over national duties. Veteran pacer Dale Steyn was one of the voices that spoke against the development. “I missed the reason why our big dogs aren’t playing the T20s against Pak?” Steyn questioned on Twitter. As per BCCI's SOPs for IPL 2021, all players (except for those from the IndiaEngland series), support staff, and man-
agement entering the bubble need to undergo a seven-day quarantine period in their hotel rooms. Last month, New Zealand Cricket (NZC) said that it be would be granting No-Objection Certificates (NOCs) to its players for the upcoming IPL edition. Along with granting NOCs, it has also been confirmed that the Kiwis would be available for the entire edition of the T20 tournament. New Zealand Cricket spokesperson Richard Boock confirmed to ANI via email that the board would be granting NOCs and the players would be available for the entire edition of the IPL.
Bangladesh search for change of fortunes against new-look New Zealand NEWS DESK Bangladesh will hope a change of format can bring a change in their fortunes in New Zealand after they were swept 3-0 in the ODIs. The three-match T20I series begins in Hamilton on Sunday afternoon, with the home side likely to present a very new look. New Zealand will be without their regular captain Kane Williamson, Trent Boult, Kyle Jamieson, Jimmy Neesham, Mitchell Santner and Tim Seifert, who have all been rested to prepare for a grueling IPL schedule. But they will have the experienced Tim Southee, who is leading the side in Williamson's absence, as well as Martin Guptill and Ish Sodhi. Bangladesh too are in a similar situation now that they are without Tamim Iqbal, who is not available due to per-
sonal reasons. Already without Shakib Al Hasan, Bangladesh's squad has only Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah as experienced players. They will be hopeful that Mohammad Mithun can continue his good form from the ODI series, while Liton Das and Soumya Sarkar can recover from the lean patch. Bangladesh have the likes of Mohammad Naim, Mosaddek Hossain, Najmul Hossain Shanto and Afif Hossain among the young batsmen who didn't play the ODIs. Their bowling has also looked sharp at times, particularly pacer Taskin Ahmed and offspinners Mahedi Hasan and Mehidy Hasan Miraz. But Mustafizur Rahman wasn't his old self during the ODIs, while Rubel Hossain, Mohammad Saifuddin and Hasan Mahmud played only one game each.
Bangladesh, however, will be most worried about their fielding. They dropped five catches in the second and the third ODIs, while looking lackluster at the back-end of both matches. New Zealand are a much better fielding side by comparison, and with the injection of newcomers, can expect the standard to rise a bit more. Finn Allen is the most exciting of all the youngsters after his productive Super Smash tournament earlier in the season. Fireworks will also be expected from Guptill, Glenn Phillips and Mark Chapman, who will be batting in the top five. Southee will have Hamish Bennett, Lockie Ferguson and Adam Milne in his pace attack. Legspinners Sodhi and Todd Astle will also be wicket-taking options for the home side.
Bairstow can break batting records, says England leader Buttler PUNE AGENCIES
England's stand-in captain Jos Buttler has backed top batsman Jonny Bairstow to become the country's leading century scorer after his 124 against India helped England level the series going into Sunday's final game. Bairstow -- with Ben Stokes' 52-ball 99 -- powered England to victory in the second of the three-game series, and he said afterwards that he wanted to have the most one-day hundreds for England. He now has 11 centuries from 85 games, five behind Joe Root, who leads with 16, and just behind Marcus Trescoth-
ick on 12 and Eoin Morgan on 13. "Jonny has been in unbelievable form for the last few years for us, he has been one of the world's leading batsmen in ODI cricket and he has been amazing to watch," said Buttler, who is replacing the injured Morgan as captain. Buttler said the England team wanted to push back "boundaries" with their attacking play and the record was there for the taking for Bairstow, who has been in the world's top 10 for several years. "It is fantastic the form that Jonny is in and there is no reason why he should not go on and break all those records." The batsman has been unable to pin down a regular Test place but has become
a first choice in limited overs. "He is certainly not under-appreciated in our side," said Buttler. "He is our leading player really." "He is very intimidating to bowl at. I know having played against Jonny in the IPL, in the bowlers' meeting they say 'what shall we do to this guy' and there are not too many answers to be honest. "He is hugely appreciated in our side and I think everyone knows what a special player he is." After being hammered in the first game, England's batting fireworks to level the ODI series have made Sunday's final game of the tour another playoff after the T20 series also went to the wire. "It's great to be in another final," said Buttler. "They are great games to be in-
volved in." "It was an excellent performance yesterday so we take a lot of confidence into the game on Sunday." England, who still have injury doubts over fast bowler Mark Wood and batter Sam Billings, have an added incentive to win as the World Cup holders could lose the number one spot in the world rankings to India if they lose. Buttler insisted that the pressure would not change their game plan. "We want to push the boundaries of what we are capable of and live true to that," he said. "It is probably what I am most proud of as a member of this squad, that we got some criticism from the first game but we came out and played in exactly the same fashion."
SPORTS 11 England paceman Archer to have hand surgery LONDON AGENCIES
Paceman Jofra Archer is set to have hand surgery on Monday and has received a further injection to manage his ongoing elbow injury, England cricket chiefs have announced. Archer, 25, left England's tour of India after the Twenty20 series as a result of pain in his right elbow, which ruled him out of two Test matches earlier in the trip. A medical consultation determined an operation would not be necessary at this stage but the fast bowler will go under the knife to correct an issue that dates back to January and had not previously been made public. The England and Wales Cricket Board said on Saturday that Archer suffered a cut to his hand while cleaning at his home in January shortly before flying to India. The injury was managed by its medical team and did not impact on his availability. "Jofra Archer will undergo a procedure to his right hand following a scan and subsequent consultant review since he returned to the UK on Tuesday," said a spokesman for the ECB. "He has also had a further injection for the right elbow injury that had seen him declared unfit for selection for the current ODI (one-day international) series versus India. "The procedure on Jofra's hand will take place on Monday, 29 March so he can recover during the planned break following his elbow injection."
Third-ranked Halep pulls out of Miami with shoulder injury MIAMI AGENCIES
World number three Simona Halep withdrew from the WTA and ATP Miami Open on Saturday because of a right shoulder injury, sending Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova into the round of 16. The 29-year-old Romanian isn't set to play again until next month's Billie Jean King Cup, formerly the Fed Cup. "I'm very sorry I have to pull out of singles and doubles at the Miami Open, but my injury doesn't let me play here as expected," Halep said in a statement. "I'm sad that I can't continue. I wanted to come here to give my best and play many matches but unfortunately I can't. Hopefully next year I will be back healthy and better." Halep, the 2018 French Open and 2019 Wimbledon champion, was the third seed behind world number one Ashleigh Barty of Australia and Japan's second-ranked Naomi Osaka, who won last month's Australian Open title for her fourth Grand Slam crown. Halep rallied to defeat France's 51st-ranked Caroline Garcia 3-6, 6-4, 6-0 in her opening Miami match to reach the third round. Sevastova received a walkover into the fourth round, where she will face either 15th-seeded Polish teen Iga Swiatek, the reigning French Open champion, or 338th-ranked Ana Konjuh of Croatia.
Verstappen beats Hamilton to pole at season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix SAKHIR AGENCIES
Max Verstappen claimed pole position for Sunday's season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix with a flawless final lap in a tense qualifying session on Saturday, beating defending champion Lewis Hamilton by three-tenths of a second. The Dutchman grabbed the fourth pole position of his career for Red Bull with an emphatic demonstration of speed to deliver a front row start alongside seven-time champion Hamilton in his Mercedes. Verstappen clocked a best lap in one minute and 28.997 seconds to outpace Hamilton by 0.338 seconds with Valtteri Bottas third in the second Mercedes. Charles Leclerc was fourth for Ferrari ahead of Pierre Gasly of AlphaTauri and the McLarens of Daniel Ricciardo and Lando
Norris. Carlos Sainz was eighth in the second Ferrari ahead of two-time champion Fernando Alonso, on his return to F1 with the Alpine team, and Lance Stroll, who was 10th for Aston Martin. Stroll's new team-mate four-time champion Sebastian Vettel struggled and qualified 18th, failing to make it out of Q1. "Of course, we had a great test last week, but there are no guarantees here," said a smiling Verstappen. 'GREAT START' "The car worked really well and it was enjoyable to drive. It's a great start." Hamilton, who showed much-improved speed compared to the pre-season test, congratulated his rival. "He was so fast on that last lap. I gave it everything, but it wasn't enough. "There is always more, but that was the best I could do in getting it out of my car."
Verstappen said he felt confident in the long run performance of his car. "I am looking forward to the race. I've got a good car and just hope for a good clean start. I'll keep on pushing." After a hot day at the Bahrain International Circuit, the track temperature was 35 degrees and the air was 30 as the floodlit session began with George Russell of Williams leading the way. He pitted immediately without logging a time and it was left to Mick Schumacher to take that honour, in the process putting the letters MSC on top of the lists for the first time since his father seven-time champion Michael retired in 2012. The usual suspects were soon joining in with Hamilton and then Verstappen going top before Japanese rookie Yuki Tsunoda split them in his AlphaTauri to take second with an impressive lap.
At 20, the feisty Tsunoda is the first driver born this century to race in F1 and he made an immediate impact. Encouraged by his early speed, Hamilton chose a set of worn tyres for his second run while Verstappen rued some damage to his car after running over a kerb. At the top it remained unchanged, but there was a shock among those taking an early exit with Vettel eliminated in 18th along with Alpine's Esteban Ocon, Williams' Nicholas Latifi, and the Haas pairing of rookies Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin. Maranello new boy Sainz squeezed through in P15, but his engine cut out as he limped back to the pits before Q2 began with the leaders running on mediums. Hamilton topped the first runs with a three-tenths advantage on Verstappen ahead of Bottas while Red Bull's Sergio Perez and Ricciardo, still adjusting to their new teams
and cars, lost their laps by running off at Turn Four. The second runs saw Ferrari, choosing to run on softs, sweep to the front with Leclerc and then Sainz going fastest, ahead of Hamilton, Norris and Bottas on mediums. The Ferrari pair represented Ferrari's youngest line-up since 1968 and have clearly reinvigorated the Italian team. Verstappen secured his place in the topten shootout in seventh, but Perez missed the cut in 11th. Tsunoda qualified 13th. Q3 began with Gasly setting the pace before Hamilton went top until Verstappen, hunting him down, beat his time by just 0.023 seconds. Bottas was fourth behind Gasly and Sainz fifth. Bottas led the train ahead of Hamilton for the final run, but neither could stop Verstappen who delivered an emphatic final flying lap.
Sunday, 28 March, 2021
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EnvironMEntal iMprovEMEnt aMongst top prioritiEs: pM ISLAMABAD
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HE lights of the Prime Minister's office were switched off for one hour on Saturday in connection with the Earth Hour to increase awareness of environmental challenges and the growing impact of climate change. On the directions of Prime Minister Imran Khan, all non-essential lights of the PM House were turned off from 8:30pm to 9:30pm, descending the planet in darkness. In his message, the Prime Minister said that environmental improvement is amongst top priorities of the government.
He also appealed to the nation to vigorously support the government for a clean and pollution-free environment. The Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) had launched the initiative in 2007, calling for action to ward off the impact of climate change, protect a healthy green environment and conserve energy. Earth Hour is celebrated every year across the world during which unnecessary lights and electric appliances are turned off for one hour between 8:30pm to 9:30pm. The event is aimed at increasing awareness about how excessive and unneeded electricity usage drives the demand for more electricity, the production of
which contributes significantly to environmental pollution. Greenhouse gases emitted by the powerhouses accumulate in the atmosphere and disturb the natural weather patterns, resulting in the abnormal severity of weathers with each passing year. Complaints of Balochistan: Separately, the premier directed officers of the federal departments to ensure their attendance in meetings related to public complaints of Balochistan. Expressing annoyance over the quarterly progress report on implementation regarding Balochistan on Prime Minister’s Citizens Complaints Portal, the PM directed the delivery unit to issue a letter to
all concerned officers. Governor Balochistan Amnaullah Yasinzai had complained about the absence of federal officers in meetings held for redressal of public complaints. The PM warned that strict action will be taken against those officers who will not attend the meetings related to welfare of people. During the review on public complaints, the performance of officers of seventeen federal departments was evaluated on the dashboard. According to the report, 11,000 complaints have been received from Balochistan and ninety per cent of them have been resolved with a 37 per cent satisfaction rate of people.
US spy agencies warn Biden of possible Taliban takeover of Afghanistan: NYT WASHINGTON agencies
Facebook services down in Bangladesh amid protests against Modi visit COX’S BAZAR agencies
Facebook said its services in Bangladesh were shut down on Saturday, as hundreds of protesters affiliated with religio-political parties marched across the country, angered by the police killing of their supporters who had protested against a visit by Indian premier Narendra Modi. The government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina did not comment if it had blocked Facebook and its messenger app, but it has previously used internet shutdowns as a tool to curb the spread of protests. Four supporters of the Hefazat-e-Islam were killed on Friday after police opened fire when protesters allegedly attacked a police station in the southeastern town of Chittagong. They were demonstrating against Modi, whom the group accuses of alienating minority Muslims in India. Dozens were also hurt on Friday in the capital Dhaka where police used rubber bullets and teargas in clashes with violent protesters. “We’re aware that our services have been restricted in Bangladesh,” Facebook said in a statement. “We’re working to understand more and hope to have full access restored as soon as possible.” Facebook also said it had serious concerns about the manner in which it was being restricted in Bangladesh at a time when effective communication was necessary to tackle the coronavirus pandemic. On Saturday, hundreds of members of Hefazat-e-Islam and other groups marched on the streets of Chittagong and Dhaka protesting the deaths of their supporters. “Police opened fire on our peaceful supporters,” the group’s organising secretary, Azizul Haque, told the rally in Chittagong. “We will not let the blood of our brothers go in vein.” Hefazat-e-Islam, which translates into protection of Islam, has called for a nationwide strike on Sunday to protest the killings. Non-profit Amnesty International also criticised the police action in Chittagong. “The right to peaceful protest has come under concerted attack, particularly during the coronavirus pandemic, culminating in this type of bloody repression,” Sultan Mohammed Zakaria, Amnesty International’s South Asia Researcher, said in a statement. Modi landed in Dhaka on Friday for a two-day visit, his first international trip since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic last year, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the nation’s independence. He was supposed to hold formal talks with Hasina on Saturday. “We don’t want to see Modi in Dhaka,” Hefazat leader Sultan Mohiuddin said, addressing supporters in the capital city. “He must leave Bangladesh soon.”
US intelligence agencies have told the Biden administration that the Taliban could overrun most of Afghanistan within two to three years if US troops leave before a power-sharing deal is reached between the warring sides, a news report said on Friday. Such a takeover potentially would allow al Qaeda to rebuild in Afghanistan, the New York Times reported, quoting anonymous US officials. President Joe Biden is deciding whether to meet a May 1 deadline for the withdrawal of the last 3,500 American troops that was set in a February 2020 accord struck with the Taliban under his predecessor, Donald Trump. Some US officials who favor keeping US troops in Afghanistan are using the intelligence report to argue that the soldiers should remain beyond the deadline, the Times said. The White House declined to comment. The classified intelligence assessment was prepared last year for the Trump administration, the Times said.
Biden on Thursday told his first White House news conference that it would be hard to comply with the deadline, which also requires the departure of some 7,000 allied forces. At the same time, Biden said he
“could not picture” US troops being in the country next year. The Taliban on Friday said it would resume hostilities against foreign forces – which ended under the US-Taliban deal – if they remain beyond the deadline.
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Myanmar security forces kill over 90 in ‘horrifying’ day of bloodshed YANGON: Security forces killed more than 90 people, including some children, across Myanmar on Saturday in one of the bloodiest days of protests since a military coup last month, news reports and witnesses said. The lethal crackdown, which took place on Armed Forces Day, drew strong renewed criticism from Western countries. British Ambassador Dan Chugg said the security forces had “disgraced themselves” and the US envoy called the violence horrifying. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the junta leader, said during a parade to mark Armed Forces Day that the military would protect the people and strive for democracy. State television had said on Friday that protesters risked being shot “in the head and back”. Despite this, demonstrators came out on the streets of Yangon, Mandalay and other towns, as they have done almost daily since the Feb. 1 coup that ousted elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The Myanmar Now news portal said 91 people were killed across the country by security forces. At least 29 people, including a 13year-old girl, were killed in Mandalay, and at least 24 people were killed in Yangon, Myanmar Now said. A boy as young as five was earlier reported among the dead in Mandalay but there were conflicting reports later that he may have survived. Another 13-year-old was among the dead in the central Sagaing region. “Today is a day of shame for the armed forces,” Dr. Sasa, a spokesman for CRPH, an anti-junta group set up by deposed lawmakers, told an online forum. Meanwhile, one of Myanmar’s two dozen ethnic armed groups, the Karen National Union, said it had overrun an army post near the Thai border, killing 10 people – including a lieutenant colonel – and losing one of its own fighters. A military spokesman did not respond to calls seeking comment on the killings by security forces or the insurgent attack on its post. “They are killing us like birds or chickens, even in our homes,” said Thu Ya Zaw in the central town of Myingyan, where at least two protesters were killed. “We will keep protesting regardless… We must fight until the junta falls.” The deaths on Saturday would take the number of civilians reported killed since the coup to well over 400. ‘TERROR AND DISHONOUR’: US Ambassador Thomas Vajda said on social media: “This bloodshed is horrifying,” adding “Myanmar’s people have spoken clearly: they do not want to live under military rule.” British foreign minister Dominic Raab said the killing of unarmed civilians and children marked a new low, while the EU delegation to Myanmar said Saturday would “forever stay engraved as a day of terror and dishonour.” News reports said there were deaths in Sagaing, Lashio in the east, in the Bago region, near Yangon, and elsewhere. agencies
Modi’s BJP seeks big win as two key Indian states vote NEW DELHI agencies
Two Indian states with sizeable Muslim populations began voting in local elections Saturday in a test of strength for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose Hindu nationalist agenda is being challenged by monthslong farmer protests and a fresh wave of the coronavirus pandemic. Top Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, including Modi, have campaigned heavily to win West Bengal for the first time and dislodge the state’s chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, as well as retain power in northeastern Assam state. The BJP has for years been accused of stoking religious polarisation and discriminating against minorities and faces stiff challenges in both states with nearly 30 percent Muslim population. Nationwide, Muslims comprise nearly 14 percent of the 1.4 billion people, while Hindus make up 80 percent. “The BJP’s success depends on if it is able to polarise Hindu votes to a huge extent, and get half of the 70 percent of Hindu votes,” said Subir Bhowmik, a political analyst. Manmohan Singh, a former prime minister and an opposition Congress party leader, criticized the BJP’s Hindu nationalism, saying that society is being divided on
the basis of religion, culture and language. “The basic rights of the common man are being denied and there is an atmosphere of tension and fear.” Thousands of paramilitary soldiers and local police are guarding voting stations to prevent clashes between rival supporters. In West Bengal, rival groups have attacked each other with sticks and rocks and set vehicles on fire during campaigning. Images of a fiery Banerjee, 66, who’s been addressing massive crowds from a wheelchair after a leg injury, have set the tone for a tough battle. Banerjee heads a powerful regional party, the All India Trinamool Congress, which came to power 10 years ago years after unseating more than three decades of Communist Party rule. The elections are seen as crucial for the BJP to gain a foothold in the northeast and south. The vote comes as tens of thousands of farmers have rattled Modi’s government with prolonged protests on the fringes of the capital, New Delhi. And India’s economy is still struggling to emerge out of the coronavirus crisis — another pivotal challenge for Modi, who came into office partly on promises of economic development — just as cases are rising again amid vaccinations.
In West Bengal and Assam, the BJP is banking on its strong Hindu nationalist ideology to draw votes. The party is trying to galvanise Hindu support by promising to deport hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshi Muslims who fled their homes decades ago. In 2018, Home Minister Amit Shah described them as “termites” eating into India’s resources. The BJP also enacted a controversial citizenship law in 2019 that provides a fast track to naturalisation for some migrants who entered illegally while fleeing religious persecution. But it
Published by Arif Nizami at Plot # 7, Al-Baber Centre, F/8 Markaz, Islamabad, for PT Print (Pvt) Limited. Ph: 051-2204545. Email: newsroom@pakistantoday.com.pk
excludes Muslims, which critics say is discriminatory and a violation of India’s Constitution. In southern India, Modi’s BJP party is vying for a third spot in Kerala, currently ruled by a Communist Party-led government. And in legislative elections in Tamil Nadu, both the BJP and Congress have allied with powerful regional parties as junior partners. Voting in Kerala and Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry will be held next month with all the results declared May 2.