Sunday, 30 January, 2022 I 26 Jamadi-al-Sani, 1443 I rs 15.00 I Vol XII no 212 I 12 Pages I Lahore edition
PM accuses West of double standards on Xinjiang, questions ‘deafening’ silence on KashMir g
'Time-TesTed' PakisTan-China relaTionshiP growing sTronger: says imran khan
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rime minister imran khan saturday said the “selective silence” of the west on human rights violations in indian illegally occupied Jammu and kashmir (iioJk) was “deafening” as he called out their “double standards” in highlighting China’s alleged mistreatment of Uighur muslims in Xinjiang. “what we find very difficult to swallow in Pakistan is that while they talk about Uighurs, they do not talk much in the west about kashmir (indian illegally occupied Jammu and kashmir) because the worst human rights violations are taking place there by india,” the premier said while taking questions during an interview with Chinese journalists here in islamabad. “somehow there is selective silence about human rights in kashmir where around nine million people are basically living in the worst conditions — [it’s] almost an open prison — by these 800,000 indian troops. on one side they talk about Xinjiang, but on the other, there is this silence
on iioJk, which is deafening for us.” The prime minister said that while there was a lot of criticism from the west about the treatment of Uighurs in Xinjiang, Pakistan’s ambassador to China had visited the region and found that “this is actually not true on the ground.” during a previous interview with Chinese journalists in July 2021, the premier had said that Pakistan accepted Beijing’s version regarding the treatment of Uighurs due to “our extreme proximity and relationship”. saturday’s interview with Chinese media comes a few days before the premier’s scheduled visit to China to attend the inaugural session of the winter olympics in Beijing. The visit comes amid a boycott of the event by the United states. while expressing his eagerness to attend the upcoming winter olympics during his visit to China, Prime minister imran khan said the time-tested relationship between the two nations has only grown stronger over the decades. during an interaction with members of the Chinese media, the prime minister said both countries enjoyed bonds of friendship
spanning over a period of 70 years, further cemented by the China-Pakistan economic Corridor (CPeC). he said: “There is a feeling in Pakistan that China always stood with us in times of need and supported us during difficult times. similarly, Pakistan also always stood with China.” khan also referred to the construction of the karakoram highway as a vital milestone in the chapter of Pakistan-China friendship. a number of Chinese workers died during the 13-year period of its construction, he recalled. To a question, he said the most impressive thing about China as acknowledged by the entire world was its success in taking 700 million people out of poverty during the last four decades, adding such a huge achievement is unprecedented in human history. he said it was such a feast that had impressed the world. “it is this fact which also impressed me as it coincides with my objective of steering my people out of poverty,” he added. The prime minister while responding to another question maintained Pakistan would like to emulate the steps taken by China to alleviate poverty. “we want to emulate the Chinese model of inclusive growth. The Chinese economy growth witnessed the prosperity of all Chinese people,” he maintained. he said such inclusive growth excluded the bridge between the rich and the poor. China had been a model for all those countries that wanted inclusive growth, he added. such exponential growth, he said, also contributed to wealth creation. “China remained focused on the economy and when it attained growth, its fruits trickled down to all strata of society.” responding to the west’s critique of China over its reported treatment of ethnic Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region, the prime minister said Pakistan’s ambassador in China visited the region and concluded that such claims were divorced from reality.
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Afghan soil won’t be used against Pakistan, Mullah Hanafi tells Moeed KABUL Agencies
acting deputy Prime minister of afghanistan mullah abdul salam hanafi saturday reassured national security adviser moeed yusuf and other members of the visiting Pakistani delegation that the delegation that afghan soil would not be used against its neighbours, including Pakistan. a Pakistani delegation led by national security adviser moeed yusuf arrived in kabul on saturday to hold discussion with the government of afghanistan on matters of mutual interest. later, moeed held meetings with afghanistan Foreign minister amir khan muttaqi and acting deputy Prime minister mullah abdul salam hanafi. acting minister for Commerce and industry nooruddin azizi received the delegation at hamid karzai international airport. senior officials, including Pakistan’s special representative for afghanistan mohammad sadiq, were also part of the delegation. a statement issued by the presidential palace in kabul quoted hanafi as saying: “The policy of the islamic emirate [of afghanistan] is clear that that we will not allow anyone to use afghan soil against [our] neighbours and other countries.
“we also want similar action from others,” he added while hosting the inter-ministerial delegation in the afghan capital. Pakistan ambassador to afghanistan mansoor ahmad khan said the nsa held a “productive meeting” with muttaqi to kick off the visit. “[he] will have multiple official meetings to strengthen humanitarian and economic engagement,” he tweeted. moeed was earlier scheduled to travel to kabul on January 18 for a two-day visit but the trip was delayed due to bad weather. The purpose of the visit is to ascertain the humanitarian, economic and development needs of afghanistan in various sectors. PAk-AfgHAn border: moeed travelled to kabul at a time of tensions along the Pak-afghan border. earlier this month, a video had surfaced on social media purportedly showing Taliban fighters uprooting a portion of the fence along the Pak-afghan border, claiming that the fence had been erected inside afghan territory. it had drawn a response from interior minister sheikh rasheed, who said that the remaining fencing of the frontier would be completed with the consent of the neighbouring country, stating that “they are our brothers.”
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Sunday, 30 January, 2022 | LAHORE
NEWS
lhC moved to ban PuBg after man, ‘influenced’ by game, kills family LAHOrE Staff RepoRt
A petition was filed in the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Saturday seeking a ban on PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG), a popular online multiplayer battle game, days after a young man gunned down members of his family in their sleep, apparently under the influence of the shooter game. According to Punjab police, who arrested the 18-year-old man — Ali Zain — on Friday, the man had apparently been influenced by PUBG, and tried to “recreate” the game. He got depressed after losing several stages of the game and being scolded by his mother for excessive indulgence. The petitions, which nominated the federal government and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) as respondents, said several people have fallen prey to the violent impacts of the game. “There is no law to regulate online games in Pakistan,” the petition observed. “The violent nature of the game has been the cause of many complaints from all quarters.” It requested the court to ban the game. The telecom regulator had suspended the game in June 2020 as well before revoking the ban two months later after meeting with the legal representatives of Bluehole Studio, the game developer, who assured it of “continued engagement and a comprehensive control mechanism”.
PPP will lose power in Sindh soon: asad nEwS DESK Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar Saturday said that Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) will soon lose its provincial and local governments . Addressing a ceremony in Karachi, the federal minister said that there is a government enforced upon Karachi, which has done nothing for the city. “The people of Karachi will however not spare them and take revenge on them during the elections,” Asad said and added that it is tax collection from Karachi that runs the entire system nationwide. He said that Karachi is deprived of a modern transport system, however owing to the PTI government, the citizens can now travel in Green Line bus service. “Those who ask where is change can go and travel in Green Line bus service to witness the change,” he said. Speaking over the census process, he said that it is PTI that has decided to hold another census in the country within a span of a few years, contrary to the previous trends when the process was held after 17 or 19 years despite a constitutional obligation of holding it after every 10 years. “We are now ready to hold census through modern technique and soon Karachiites will know their real numbers,” he said and added the census results would be finalised by December 2022. He further shared that the transaction structure of the KCR project has been approved while the Centre has also taken the responsibility for completing the K-IV project. “We will be completing the Rs120 billion K-IV Bulk Water Supply project before 2023 end, supplying additional 260 mgd water to the city,” he said.
PIMS Ink agreeMent wIth ChIldlIfe foundatIon to ModernIze ChIldren’S eMergenCy rooM ISLAMABAD
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N agreement was signed between Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) and ChildLife Foundation to establish a state-of-the-art children’s Emergency Room (ER). This ER will provide world-class emergency care to children 24×7 absolutely free-ofcost. The agreement was signed by Dr.
Abid Malik, Chairman Board of Governors FMTI PIMS, and Mr. Iqbal Adamjee, Chairman ChildLife Foundation, on behalf of their organizations. Dr. Abid Malik commended ChildLife Foundation’s efforts for providing emergency care to children in Sindh and Balochistan, where ChildLife operates 10 Emergency Rooms. “We believe this partnership will improve the quality of medical services for children in the federal territory of
Pakistan,” Dr. Malik said. He added that this new project will provide emergency care to children at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), which caters to the underprivileged population of Punjab, KPK & Gilgit Baltistan, in addition to the federal capital. “ChildLife Foundation treats a million children annually completely free of cost through its 11 ERs in major government teaching hospitals, and over 50 telemedicine satellite centers in
Sindh health agency accused of giving expired Covid-19 jabs to police KArACHI Staff RepoRt
Police Training Centre in Khairpur city of Sindh said employees of the provincial health department inoculated 170 officers of the force with expired coronavirus vaccines. According to a preliminary inquiry, five health workers, including one Dr Amar Lal, were held responsible for injecting expired doses into the arms of the police. The jabs, which expired in December, were administered on January 24. It remains unclear if authorities have notified all those affected. While there is no major health risk from the expired doses as long as they did not get contaminated with bacteria, at least four police have reportedly gotten sick after receiving the shots. The inquiry maintains the incident had taken place with the connivance of the storekeeper, technician, male nurse, and vaccinator, and recommended action against the responsible.
PIA lauded for ensuring coronavirus prevention measures abroad ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt
Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) received an appreciation letter from the Xi’an Municipal Committee (XMC) of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) for ensuring prevention and control measures against Covid19 and extending cooperation during its flight operation in the industrial and tech hub of China. After battling a fresh wave of coronavirus for about two months, the northern city, a major tourist destination, lifted a lockdown on Monday that had isolated its 13
Impact of US sanctions on Iran in a multipolar world AMnA nISAr ABBASI Three decades of increasingly restrictive economic restrictions imposed on the Islamic Republic of Iran by Washington have failed to date to achieve their stated objectives of moderating Iranian policies on the key areas of American concern. While there are promising indications of a more conducive context for sanctions today, that is no guarantee of success. Less than a year after the Obama administration began its tenure with unprecedented overtures aimed at engaging Tehran in a comprehensive diplomatic dialogue, the discourse in Washington and around the world shifted away from engagement toward an enthusiastic embrace of punitive measures. This shift attributed to the dramatic developments within Iran since its blatantly manipulated presidential election in 2017. Those developments have splintered Iran’s leadership, further alienated its people, and generated the most vigorous popular movement for political change to confront the Islamic regime since the 1979 revolution that brought it to power. Those domestic dynamics have outraged and inspired the international community and added new impetus to the longstanding concerns about the regime’s policies at home and abroad.
district hospitals across Sindh and Balochistan,” said Mr. Iqbal Adamjee. “This is our 12th project, under which the capacity of the existing children’s ER in PIMS will be doubled and the facilities will be aligned with international emergency care protocols,” he added. It is pertinent to mention that, since its inception in 2011, ChildLife Foundation has provided quality emergency care to over 4 million children across Pakistan.
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and its former president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have inveighed against negotiations as a deceitful ploy intended to rob Iran of its resources and rights and have scuttled a preliminary agreement initially endorsed by their own representatives that would have temporarily mitigated international concerns about Iran’s nuclear ambitions. After this action the US imposed a list of sanctions on Iranian products irrespective of companies and investors origin. Under the umbrella of sanctions imposed by the US, the Iranian authorities have adopted a comprehensive strategy encompassing market-based reforms as reflected in the government’s 20-year vision document and the sixth five-year development plan for the 2016-2021 period, comprised of three pillars, namely, the development of a resilient economy, progress in science and technology, and the promotion of cultural excellence. On the economic front, the development plan envisages an annual economic growth rate of 8 percent and reforms of state-owned enterprises, the financial and banking sector, and the allocation and management of oil revenues among the main priorities of the government during the five-year period. Whereas, the Iranian economy experienced a
downward trajectory on oil exports that fell to half of their 2017/18 levels following the phased reintroduction of US sanctions which culminated in November 2018. The economy is expected to contract by 1.4 percent on average between 2017/18-2020/21, experiencing a fall in exports and consumption on the demand side and a contraction of the industry sector on the supply side. The country is still surviving because there are few countries that are dependent on Iran’s natural resources and by using other mechanisms of trade in the wake of US sanctions they are doing businesses. The Covid-19 (Corona virus) disaster in 2020 hit the economy and health sectors of all the major powers but Iran survived despite enormous sanctions on its health sector. To overcome with such crushing economic phase; First Vice-President Es’haq Jahangiri said business units based in Iran’s free trade zones can use the 500 Trillion Rials (about US$11.9 billion) of facilities that the government is providing to compensate the economic damages of the corona virus outbreak. The price of embarking upon another frustrating failed approach to blunting Tehran’s most destabilizing policies is not insubstantial; if sanctions fail, the available alternatives (military force or externally orchestrated regime change) portend much more dismal
million people for weeks. The office of the Foreign Affairs Working Committee of the XMC, in a letter to Qadir Bux Sangi, PIA country manager in China, acknowledged the careful arrangements, and epidemic prevention and control measures adopted by the flag carrier. The authorities also noted the airline staff at Xi’an Xianyang International Airport was not afraid of risk and troubles and they provided meticulous services such as seat, flight transfer, meal, guarantees and special ticket change etc during the mission. Thanking for the support, the committee expressed sincere respect for the efforts made by the relevant personnel of the airlines.
prospects for American interests and regional stability. The urgency surrounding Iran’s nuclear program and Tehran’s apparent determination to continue expanding its nuclear activities demands that the international community’s revised approach to Iran is framed in such a way that maximizes its prospects for achieving even the minimalist goal of decelerating Tehran’s course on this issue. Equally important, as serious discussion of more rigorous sanctions gets underway, the implications of any new measures for the future of Iran’s nascent democracy movement and for their drowning economy must be considered. Beijing’s recent multibillion dollar project agreements with Iran have opened a new door not only in terms of trade but also China is emerging as a new ally of Iran. The US sanctions are becoming opportunity for Iran to explore other trade partners and the amount of US pressure cannot cripple Iran’s economy now, if China does not want it to happen. Therefore, the opportunity to discuss the prospects and implications of sanctions as a tool for influencing the policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and amidst the renewed clamor for coercive measures, it is important to note that sanctions do not promise inherently better results for advancing U.S. policy outcomes than any other element in the toolkit. The author is a research fellow at the Institute of Regional Studies in Islamabad. She can be reached @amnanisarabbasi@gmail.com
Sunday, 30 January, 2022 | LAHORE
IMran to vISIt ChIna for wInter olyMPICS oPenIng CereMony
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Pakistan wishes winter olympics big success: akram nEw YOrK app
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RIME Minister Imran Khan will visit China next week to attend the opening ceremony of Winter Olympics 2022 in Beijing, the foreign minister said. In a statement, Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the visit is aimed at expressing solidarity with its “allweather” friend as the US and some of its allies have boycotted the event. Certain Western countries will not send their diplomats to the games set to begin on February 4 over what they claimed were China’s rights violations. Amid escalating tensions with the West over Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin is also expected to attend the ceremony. According to Qureshi, Khan, during his three-day visit from February 3-5, will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping
to discuss progress on the ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), as well as exchange views on other issues of importance. He may also interact with the Russian president, sources said. The foreign minister said Pakistan has prepared a “comprehensive” strategy to take the $64 billion project forward, and it will be discussed with the Chinese leadership. While projects under CPEC — a flagship project of China’s Belt and Road (BRI) — are said to have slowed down, Beijing has also conveyed its concerns over recent attacks on its workers in Pakistan. Islamabad also skipped the Democracy Summit hosted by US President Joe Biden late last year in support of China, which has shown displeasure over Taiwan’s inclusion. A source at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told The Guardian that Pakistan did not attend as China was not invited.
Pakistan allows Indian national to visit brother separated during Partition ISLAMABAD anadolu aGency
Pakistan issued a visa to an Indian citizen who recently reunited with his brother, 74 years after they were separated during the Partition in 1947, the nation’s diplomatic mission in New Delhi said. A video of the reunion of two brothers, Sikka
Khan, a resident of the northwestern state of Punjab in India, and Muhammad Siddique from Faisalabad, went viral on social media earlier this month. The video showed an emotional union after they met for the first time at Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur in Narowal. In New Delhi, Pakistan High Commission said they have issued a visa to Khan to visit his brother and
other family members in Pakistan. “The story of the two brothers is a powerful illustration of how the historic opening of the visa-free Kartarpur Sahib Corridor in November 2019 by Pakistan is bringing people closer to each other,” the commission said in the statement posted on social media. After the first meeting at Kartarpur, the two brothers demanded a visa be issued to them so that they can meet frequently. HOW WERE THEY REUNITED? During the Partition in 1947, Siddique was staying at his home in Jugaraun village in Ludhiana in India with his younger sister and father, when his mother left to meet her family with Habib (who later on got the name of Sikka Khan) in Phulewal village. When Siddique’s village came under attack at the time of Partition, his father fled with him and his younger sister towards Faisalabad. On their way, the father was killed and the sister also later died due to severe illness. On the other hand, the mother was not able to bear the trauma and took her life and child Habib was left one, who was believed to be then aged 10-year-old. In 2019, Nasir Dhillon, a YouTuber from Faisalabad, had uploaded a video in which Siddique looking for his brother was shown. A medical practitioner from the Phulewal village in Indian Punjab, Jasgir Singh, contacted Dhillon and finally, a video call was arranged between the two brothers. Earlier this month, the two brothers met at the Kartarpur Gurdwara temple for the first time in an emotional meeting that melted the hearts across the borders.
GB to become world winter sports destination nEwS DESK Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday expressed hope that Gilgit Baltistan would become a world winter sports destination. In a tweet, he shared a picture of Skardu and another showing girls playing ice hockey there at night.
He wrote: “Skardu at night & our girls playing ice hockey in GB. With an international airport now at Skardu, this area will InshaAllah become a world winter sports destination.” Last month, while addressing a gathering in the city, PM had said that with improved road connectivity and the Skardu International Airport, Gilgit Baltistan
will turn into a top tourist destination, ensuring economic prosperity for the region. He had noted that a significantly improved infrastructure would boost tourism in the region. He had stressed that Pakistan could earn billions from tourism through its scenic northern areas and diverse religious sites.
PM urges employers to raise wages as businesses earn record profits ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt
Prime Minister Imran Khan urged top companies celebrating record profit margins to raise wages, aiming to achieve a virtuous cycle of growth and wealth distribution. In a message he sent out on Twitter, the prime minister appreciated Serene Air for responding to his call and making an announcement of an up to 44 percent increase in the income of its staff. “I appreciate Serene Air […] for responding to my call [and] announcing pay rise of 44% for low paid
employees [and] 15-25% for other employees,” he wrote. “I urge the top 100 corporations in [Pakistan], who made record profits of Rs950 [billion] in the last [year], to also raise their employees’ salaries.” In a previous tweet, the prime minister had appreciated the ARY Group boss Salman Iqbal after he announced a raise in the salaries of his low-income employees. The wage hike appeal is part of Khan’s strategy to tackle wealth disparities and redistribute wealth, while the government is also trying to ease the pain on consumers from rising inflation.
While inflation is at levels not seen in years and corporate executives have been lamenting the rising cost of doing business due to supply-chain disruptions, businesses nationwide have been more discreet about celebrating the record profit margins they have been able to achieve by passing costs on to customers, sometimes by charging even more.
Ambassador Munir Akram, Pakistan’s permanent representative to the UN, expressed his best wishes to China for staging a successful Olympic Winter Games that coincide with the Lunar New Year. “We are confident that, overcoming all difficulties, China will organise the Winter Olympics meticulously and make it a spectacular event for the athletes, the Chinese people and the whole world which will be watching this great event,” he said at the virtual celebration, hosted by the Chinese mission to the UN and held in New York, on Friday (early Saturday in Pakistan). The 2022 Winter Olympics are scheduled to take place from February 4-20 in Beijing and venues near the neighbouring towns of Yanqing and Chongli in China, merely six months after the Tokyo Games. “The global welcome to the hosting of the Winter Olympics in Beijing is a testimony of the world’s high regard for China, and respect for its great achievements, under the leadership of the CPC (Chinese Communist Party) and President Xi Jinping,” Ambassador Akram said. In his remarks, he wished the people and leaders of China and the nation’s UN Ambassador Zhang Jun a “very happy Chinese New Year”, noting that Beijing will have the unique distinction of having hosted both the Summer, which it did in 2008, and Winter Olympics. “The people of Pakistan and Prime Minister Imran Khan greatly admire China’s unprecedented achievements in economic, social, technological and industrial development,” Ambassador Akram said, recalling Khan would personally attend the games at President Xi’s invitation. “Pakistan wishes China and the Chinese people all success in hosting the Winter Olympics and a very happy, peaceful and prosperous year of the Tiger,” he said. During a recent press conference, Secretary General António Guterres lauded the Games as being “an extremely important manifestation in today’s world of the possibility of unity, mutual respect, and cooperation between different cultures, religions and ethnicities”, calling for nations to observe the Olympic Truce, endorsed last week through a resolution of the General Assembly. “I think the Olympic ideal is something that we have to cherish, and that is the reason why I am going […] and it has nothing to do with my opinions about the different policies that take place in the People’s Republic of China,” said Guterres. The Olympic Truce has a 3,000-year-old history, dating from when the Ancient Greeks established the sacred truce of Ekecheiria to allow the participation in the Olympic Games of all athletes and spectators from the over 1,000 Greek City-States which were otherwise almost constantly engaged in conflict with each other. Earlier, General Assembly President Abdulla Shahid appealed to all member states to demonstrate their commitment to the Olympic Truce and to undertake “concrete actions at the local, national, regional and world levels to promote and strengthen a culture of peace and harmony”.
gold falls by rs50 per tola MOnItOrIng rEpOrt Gold remained under pressure and fell by Rs50 per tola at the end of this week, despite expectations that recovery phase will strengthen commodities, stocks and currencies. It is important to know the gold association determines local prices based on rupee-dollar parity and international rates. According to the market practice, local prices of gold usually go down on the rupee’s appreciation against the US dollar and rising prices of commodities in the international market. The gold rates decreased by Rs50 per tola to Rs126,100 and dropped by Rs43 per 10 grams to Rs108,110 compared to Friday’s prices. According to gold rates issued by All Sindh Sarafa Association, gold price was at Rs126,150 per tola and Rs108,153 per 10 grams on Friday. During the week gold gained only Rs100 per tola. However, silver prices in the domestic market remained unchanged at Rs1,470 per tola and Rs1,260.28 per 10 grams today.
Sunday, 30 January, 2022 | LAHORE
04 NEWS SC fixes Rao Anwar’s ECL removal plea for hearing ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt
The Supreme Court (SC) has fixed the hearing of a petition filed by former Malir Senior Superintendent Police (SSP) Rao Anwar, seeking removal of his name from the Exit Control List (ECL). A three-member bench of the apex court led by Justice Aijazul Hasan will hear the case on February 2. SSP Rao Anwar, who received much media attention after becoming a prime suspect in the murder case of 27-year-old Naqeebullah Mahsud from South Waziristan, approached the top court, seeking removal of his name from the Exit Control List (ECL). The Supreme Court had turned down a petition by Anwar, seeking removal of his name from the Exit Control List (ECL) back in 2019. On March 25 last year, the anti-terrorism court (ATC) had indicted former Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Rao Anwar and others in Naqeebullah Mehsud murder case.
Sharmila Faruqui serves Rs 50mn defamation notice on Nadia Khan KARACHI Staff RepoRt
Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) lawmaker Sharmila Faruqui on Saturday sent a Rs50 million defamation notice to prominent TV host Nadia Khan for making a defamatory video against her mother. The PPP sent the notice to TV host Nadia Khan through her lawyers on Saturday. The PPP lawmaker, in a notice maintained that Nadia Khan had published a defamatory video on her Youtube channel in which she mocked her mother Anisa over her makeup look. The notice gives Khan 15 days to not only retract her remarks and tender an apology, but also pay her Rs50 million as compensation.
Farmers warn of reduction in wheat production due to fertilizer crisis PESHAWAR aziz BuneRi
Because of the unavailability of fertilizer for wheat crop in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), the farmers have expressed the fear that grain production will be affected by 40% in the province which is already facing food shortage. The farmers warned that it would also make it difficult for the authorities to control flour rates in the market because of the low local production as the rate of 20 kilo flour bag has already raised by Rs400 to Rs500. Arbab Mohammad Jamil, the head of farmers union Daudzai, said that the farmers were urgently needed fertilizers for wheat crop in September and November but it was not available in the market. He said that it was sold in black due to which it prices was increased manifold. He informed the government has stipulated the urea sack price at Rs1800 but it was available in black at Rs3000 due to the government “incompetence” to maintain the rule of law. Rizwanullah, head of the farmers’ board, said that the issue is not limited to wheat only as they also could not grow fodder for livestock which will also affecting the milk and meat protection in KP. He said that low wheat crop will also means low fodder or bhoosa for livestock Pakistan People Party (PPP) Member Provincial Assembly Ahmed Karim Kundi said that he has brought the issue of fertilizer crisis to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assembly however, the government failed to stop its “artificial shortage” in the market. Kundi warned that now everyone will suffer as this situation continues then there will be severe shortage of wheat and flour in KP which will cause more difficulties for the inflation stricken people.
SEvEN INdIAN FIShERmEN ARREStEd FoR FIShINg ILLEgALLy IN PAKIStANI wAtERS KARACHI Staff RepoRt
Pakistan Maritime Security Agency (PMSA) arrested seven Indian fishermen and impounded a boat after they were found violating territorial water limits of the country. The PMSA spokesperson said Saturday that an Indian fishing vessel namely TULSI MAIYA’ with seven crew on board was apprehended by a PMSA ship during a routine patrol on January 28 which was engaged in poaching inside Pakistan’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). The maritime agency said that PMSA regularly patrols Pakistan’s EEZ to ensure the protection of its own fishermen while ensuring no foreign fishing vessels conducts poaching in the territorial water limits of the country. After observing the Indian fishing vessel poaching inside the Pakistani EEZ, the PMSA issued a warning to its crew but it did not respond which led the maritime agency ship close to the
vessel. The maritime statement read, “After seeing approaching PMSA ship, the Nakwa of the Indian Fishing vessel made evasive and dangerous manoeu-
vre.” Later, the PMSA ship successfully apprehended the Indian fishing boat after chasing it down and compelling it to stop in the name of the law. The Indian fishing boat was towed
to Karachi for further legal proceedings against the poaching of rich resources of the Indus Delta which is a violation of Pakistani law and the UN Convention on Law of the Sea.
Probe ordered after video of OT attendant operating on women goes viral DASKA Staff RepoRt
A video of an operation theater (OT) attendant performing surgeries on women in the absence of any surgeon at the Tehsil Headquarters (THQ) hospital in Daska has surfaced online. Nurses and paramedical staff at the hospital not only reportedly shoot videos of women after administering them anesthesia but also operate upon them in the absence of surgeons in violation of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
The video doing rounds on social media shows the OT attendant, Asim, administering anesthesia and then operating upon the women for appendix and C-section on his own. As the video made it to the newsrooms, Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar took notice of the incident and ordered an inquiry into it. He directed the provincial health minister to submit a report in this regard. Meanwhile, an inquiry team has reached the hospital to probe the matter. OT attendant Muhammad Asim and two nurses have been suspended from service.
Caliphate and Western Democracy: A comparative analysis AfnAn WASIf According to contemporary times, human life is the amalgamation of individual and collective life. Individual life is bifurcated into three domains: Dogma, Rituals and Social Customs. In the same way, there are three spheres of collective life: Social, Economic and Political Systems. It is thought that Religion is only in relation to individual life and it has no concern with collective life. As a result, Secularism has emerged. However, Islam is the perfect and complete code of human life and it provides guidance in all these aspects of life. Particularly, Islam possesses a distinct and unique political and government system. This system is called “Caliphate”. Caliphate is the protection of religion and the management of worldly affairs through it. The upholder of Caliphate is known as Caliph. Caliph (ruler) is selected by the mutual consent of only intellectuals of society and these intellectuals are those who are honest, wise and incorruptible. This system encompasses both individual and collective human life. Such type of comprehensive political and government system is not given by any other religion except Islam. On the other hand, western political and government system is “Democracy”. Simply, democracy is the government of the people, by the people, for the people. It is not an ample system for humans. It has some certain drawbacks. The main flaw here is that everyone is equal while selecting a ruler. His/her caliber or intellectual level is not considered. “Say, O Prophet, Are those who know equal to those who do not know?” (Quran 39:9). Democracy is failed here. DisaDvantages of Western Democracy: West believes that democracy is a distinctively and exclusively Western phenomenon with specific requirements. Non-Western societies that democratize should follow Western patterns and models. The country’s politics is segregated into the opposition party and the ruling party. They both try to defame each other. They always try to create chaos. As a result, no party can rule calmly. Due to the western democracy and its chaotic culture, Pakistan was divided (Fall of Dhaka). Provincial bigotry has reached its peak. Linguistic strife has developed. Assemblies are bought and sold. Robbers kidnap and kill anyone whenever they want. The rich have be-
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come richer and the poor have become poorer. The whole nation has become a fan of athletes and film actors and even the rulers seem to be addicted to them. concept of opposition in islam anD Democracy: Opposition must exist in Western democracies. This democratic system is considered incomplete without opposition. The Western powers tries to incite the opposition to hold the ruling party in its cruel clutches, to comply with its demands and to keep it as its slave. As a result, the ruling party operates at the behest of the Western powers and in such a way that its power remains intact. And so the whole country becomes a slave to non-Muslim Western powers. In the Caliphate, the Caliph is not absolute because the supreme power belongs to Allah. He works under the supervision and guidance of the universal law that is Quran and Sunnah and Shura (council). This Shura is not the opposition but the group which is responsible for keeping the Caliph on the right path. Shura is the alternative of the cabinet. As there is no concept of opposition in Islam but Islam allows for constructive and corrective criticism only. The Shura and general masses have the power that if the head of state is not making the right decision then they can remove him. But it cannot remove the Caliph without reason. “If the situation of the Caliph changes due to which he is not eligible for the post of Caliph, then the Shura can remove him.” islamic anD Western stance about constitution: The constitution of Muslims is the Qur’an and Sunnah. This is the universal law. There is no doubt about it. This constitution is free from change and the world is unable to bring such a constitution. The Holy Prophet said that “I am leaving two things between you, one is the Qur’an and the other is the Sunnah. As long as you hold fast to both of you, you will not go astray.” While in democracy, a particular segment of a country is its paramount sovereign; that they should be governed by the constitution which they themselves have framed. This man-made constitution keeps changing day by day. Every successive ruler continues to scatter the first constitution. caliphate is not a Dictatorship: Some western scholars and ideologues have tried to present Islam as anti-democratic and inherently authoritarian. By misrepresenting Islam in this way they seek to prove that
Islam has a set of values inferior to western liberal democracy and is a barrier to the global progress of civilization. This misconception also promotes Israel’s claim to be the sole democracy in the Middle East. Hazrat Umar (R. A) said, “Caliphate is based on mutual consultation.” It is necessary for the caliph to consult the Majlis-e-Shura. Caliphate is not a dictatorship. People who defame the Caliphate and say that the Caliphate is the name of dictatorship. In fact, they are unaware of the Islamic Caliphate system. Allah Himself says that the work of Muslims is done by mutual consultation. Therefore, to say that the Caliphate is a dictatorship is an assumption based on unawareness of the Islamic system of government. reasons for unacceptability of Democracy: The prevailing form of voting in the democratic world is unacceptable from an Islamic point of view. The reasons for this are as follows. Candidates run election campaigns to get a majority of votes. These campaigns take place in the form of rallies, conventions and meetings which also spread chaos in the country. They spend most of their earnings to make these campaigns successful. After coming to power, they return to the national treasury to make up for that economic loss. Competition between the parties or candidates turns into animosity. Competitive feelings arise against each other. Allah has forbidden it. “The believers are brothers, so make settlement between your brothers. And fear Allah that you may receive mercy” (Quran 49:10). While the current democratic elections destroy this brotherhood. This style of election is a vicious act. “Satan only wants to cause between you animosity and hatred through intoxicants and gambling and to avert you from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer. So will you not desist?” (Quran 5:91) Vote is a precious thing. But eventually, the public is unaware of its importance. Wealthy candidates buy their opinions for money. And the people also sell their opinion and take the price that there is open bribery. Hazrat Abu Huraira (R. A) Reported that The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, “cursed those who offer bribes and accept bribes in judgments.” In this democratic age, freedom of speech is openly allowed. Journalists try to suppress the truth by becoming spokespersons of certain ideologies.
Sunday, 30 January, 2022 | LAHORE
NEWS PM accuses West of double standards on Xinjiang, questions ‘deafening’ silence on Kashmir ContInued from page 01 China has faced an outcry from rights groups, foreign governments and United Nations rights experts over what they say are mass detentions and strict surveillance of the mostly Muslim ethnic Uighur minority in Xinjiang. Beijing has denied accusations, saying it is only cracking down on extremism and “splittism” in the region. Khan said that on the other hand, the West does not talk about the occupied Jammu and Kashmir where gross rights violations have been committed by the Indian forces. “There is selective silence over Kashmir,” he observed, adding the disputed region had been turned into an open prison by 800,000 troops, and such silence on Kashmir was deafening which was based upon double standards. To a query regarding Afghanistan, the prime minister said the nation had suffered for the last 40 years as the outer countries had turned its soil into a battleground. After 40 years, the war-weary country got a chance at peace, he said, adding the international community did not think of the locals after the foreign troops’ withdrawal. They did not think how these impoverished people would survive. Khan said when the Soviets left Afghanistan in 1989, there was utter chaos and casualties. “Now everyone abandoned Afghanistan [after Taliban takeover]. I am talking about 40 million people currently facing worst humanitarian crises,” he said, warning that the same chaos and destruction could return to the soil which occurred after Soviets’ pullout. He called upon the international community to focus on the welfare of Afghan people immediately who needed help as soon as possible without its likes or dislikes for the Taliban. About Pakistan’s focus on geo-economics strategy, the prime minister stressed upon strengthening of its economy which according to him had, unfortunately, never been paid attention to in the past. Regarding the CPEC, the prime minister said its first phase was focused on connectivity and the energy sector, but now they were developing special economic zones and agriculture, seeking Chinese cooperation to help improve their productivity, crops yield and livestock, citing the latest varieties of the cotton crop as developed by China. He also referred to information and technology as another realm of cooperation as the future of the world hinged over the growth of the sector. He opined that China had made strides in the IT field. Talking about another field of cooperation between the two countries, he said that they would be learning from the Chinese experience overbuilding the megacities and coping with the problems of air pollution and waste disposal etc. He said Pakistan had been witnessing urbanisation at the fastest pace and the Chinese model of urban development would be of great help. Replying to a question, he said his upcoming visit to China in the next week would provide him with an opportunity to witness the winter Olympics. Despite being a sportsman for about 20 years, he had not witnessed such an event in the past. Being in politics, he did not get time for sports, he added. Khan said that they would also teach the Chinese nation to play cricket, expressing hope that the Chinese would excel in this game as they had shown excellent performance in the Olympics. He observed that the Covid-19 pandemic had devastated the world and badly affected sporting events. The prime minister said they would also promote skiing in Gilgit-Baltistan and some other parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa which had ideal skiing locations, adding that in this regard, they would be looking towards Chinese cooperation and coordination as the country had performed well in the winter sports. The prime minister also expressed best wishes on his behalf and on behalf of the people of Pakistan to the Chinese government and the people on the advent of the new lunar year.
Afghan soil won’t be used against Pakistan, Mullah Hanafi tells Moeed ContInued from page 01 It is pertinent to mention that Yusuf, in a recent briefing to an NA body, had remarked that Afghan soil is still being used against Pakistan. However, he also maintained that the Taliban government is maintaining cordial ties with Pakistan and recent border fencing troubles are not part of their policy.
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CM SiNdH MuSt rESiGN ovEr ESCAPE of CoNviCtEd CriMiNAl froM CuStody: HAlEEM KaraChI
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Staff report
EADER of the Opposition in Sindh Assembly Haleem Adil Sheikh Saturday asked Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah to resign while acknowledging his failure as Sindh Police was complicit in escape of a convicted criminal form custody. In a video statement issued here on Saturday, Haleem Adil expressed concerns over escape of convicted criminal from police custody, saying that the policing system in Sindh has been shattered and Chief Minister, IG Sindh and their teams were responsible of it. “Who is home minister of Sindh and what is he doing?” Haleem Adil questioned and said that Zohaib Qureshi, the convicted in Dua Mangi
and Bisma cases, had escaped from police custody in connivance with the police personnel who had taken the convict to a shopping mall. “We saw a few days ago Shahrukh Jatoi taking rest in a hospital, Farzand Jafari – a killer was posted in the po-
lice, a culprit in a child abuse case came out to be a policeman, while policemen were also involved in kidnappings in jurisdiction of Surjani police station,” he observed. The Opposition Leader in Sindh Assembly said that a jail superinten-
Tourism Dept, PIMH sign MoU to organize free tours for differently-abled people Lahore Staff report
Special Assistant to Chief Minister and spokesperson of Punjab Government Hasaan Khawar has said that on the directions of CM Sardar Usman Buzdar, free tours are being arranged for the differently-abled people on tourism buses. While addressing the MoU signing ceremony between Tourism Department and Punjab Institute of Mental Health here on Saturday, he said that awarding equal rights to all segments of the society as well as provision of composite development opportunities is the vision of PM Imran Khan and CM Usman Buzdar. Hasaan Khawar said that according to the MoU, the inmates of Punjab Institute of Mental Health will provide free rides on doubledecker buses on historic monuments twice in a month. He further stated that the private sector including FC, by pro-
viding meals for the tourists in this special tour, will support the Tourism department. He said that scope of this Tourism Bus service is being extended to other cities of the Punjab as positive feedback is being received to the department. Keeping in view this positive feedback, the department is considering to increase the number of buses as well so that the citizens could get maximum benefit from this service. The SACM stated that the Punjab government is determined to introduce special services for the middle class segment of the society. Mazdoor Card, Sehat Card and such other initiatives are some hallmarks achieved by the government for ensuring the uplift of living standard of common man. He said that the PM’s vision is to promote public private partnership for bringing improvement in the facilities being provided to the tourists. Therefore, 20 out of 29
public rest houses are being outsourced for the convenience of tourists and for ensuring the quality services to them. He said that there is no deal or relaxation for the culprits of the nation as PTI doesn’t believe such kind of gimmickry and will not break or violate its own rules and principles. Hasaan Khawar said that the opposition has miserably failed to express its point of view in the Senate. However, there are still some people in the opposition who can understand the difference between right or wrong. He further maintained that suggestions and proposals are under consideration for securing the festivals of Punjab including Basant. Responding to a question about RUDA, the SACM said that PTI respects the court’s decision and all the strategy of the government regarding RUDA will be according to the law. Going to SC is our right and all the objections of the court will be answered, he concluded.
Journalist panel wins NPC election for year 2022 ISLAMABAD: Journalist Panel has swept the National Press Club (NPC) elections held for the year 2022 by securing all 11 executive posts. However, opponent panels boycotted the vote count, alleging massive vote fraud and conducting vote count under Police supervision. The results were announced by the chief election commissioner Asim Qadeer Rana Saturday morning. Per the results, Anwar Raza of Journalist Panel was elected as President of the NPC by bagging 1,027 votes while his closest rival and former NPC president Shakeel Qarar of Azad Journalist Panel obtained only 611 votes. The other five candidates could not even cross 160 votes, as the candidate of Matiullah Jan’s Jago panel was at fourth place with 106 votes. The results of the 15 Governing Body seats are expected to be announced on Sunday morning. More than 1,926 members exercised their right and to prevent any untoward incident, the election commission had requested police presence during polling and at the counting of votes. Apart from a large number of independent contenders, there were four panels in the contest, but the competition was between the Journalist panel and the alliance of three PFUJs and three former Presidents the Azad Journalist Panel. The other two panels were “Jago Panel” led by Matiullah Jan and a group “National Journalist Panel”. After the results, Anwar Raza said that the target for the year was to strengthen the NPC as an institution and carry forward the key agenda of press freedom, civil rights and giving the voice to the voiceless.
dent was suspended for arranging luxurious facilities for the inmates while another SSP was relieved from the post after a convicted outlaw escaped while he was taken out for shopping but those actions were taken as formality only for the sake of entry into official record. Nobody knew how many murderers and criminals were roaming freely like this, he said and asked “Should such a criminal be set free who ruined lives of Dua Mangi and Bisma?” “Chief Minister Sindh cannot absolve himself by ordering an inquiry report and he should resign while acknowledging his failure,” Haleem Adil Sheikh said and maintained that if Murad Ali Shah did not resign, he at least relinquish portfolio of Home Minister and assign it to someone else who was not engaged in counting notes of corruption.
KE to undertake routine maintenance of North Karachi Grid today KaraChI pr
As part of its commitment to provide the city with safe and reliable power supply, K-Electric will be conducting a routine maintenance activity at the North Karachi Grid on Sunday, 30th January 2022 from 9 AM to 6 PM. As a result, areas associated with the North Karachi Grid such as Sector 11-B, 11C-2 & 11C-3, Masjid-e-Muhammadi, 8, 9 & 11-A, 11-I, 11-L & 11-K, Glamour Arcade, 11-D, New Bilal Town Bus Stop, Sector 5-K & 5C-4, 9, 10, 7D/1, 7D/2, Bilal Colony Abbasi Store, North Nazimabad Block-J & Shadman Sector 14A may experience a temporary power shutdown during the aforesaid timeframe. All KE operational teams have been aligned to complete the required maintenance work within the stipulated time. Consumers with their mobile numbers registered with the utility have also been notified about the shutdown via KE's SMS service. Any inconvenience that maybe caused due to this temporary maintenance shutdown on 30th January 2022 is highly regretted. The utility would also like to thank its consumer for their patience and continued support. KE as always, will remain available 24/7 for any query or support via call center 118, SMS service 8119, KE Live App, social media platforms, and it's WhatsApp Self-Service Portal. To timely receive power updates by the utility, consumers can subscribe to it by sending a text message at 8119 with REG followed by a space and then 13-digit of their account number which can be found on the top-right hand corner of their monthly bills.
China-Pakistan relations — a journey of friendship By Imran Khan The Pakistan-China partnership is unparalleled among inter-state relations. The history of our friendship is a unique account of unwavering mutual support, mutual trust and mutual respect. Nurtured by successive generations of our leadership and peoples across seven decades, this iron-brotherhood has blossomed into a strong and vibrant AllWeather Strategic Cooperative Partnership. Our relationship is time-tested and timeless; it transcends the normal precepts of inter-state relations and has withstood the vicissitudes of regional and global developments. The grand celebrations to mark the 70th anniversary of our diplomatic ties last year helped in injecting a new vigor and vitality to our friendship. For us in Pakistan, relations with China are the cornerstone of our foreign policy enjoying support across the political spectrum. I can say with great confidence that our people fully un-
derstand the real value of this friendship and enthusiastically contribute to its splendor and glory. No wonder special metaphors have been coined to illustrate its depth and intensity; the expression Ba Tie only reserved for Pakistanis in China is one such example. In the next few days, I will be arriving in Beijing to attend the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games. Being a sportsperson myself, I can very well relate to the spirit that sporting events like Olympics instill in a nation. I strongly feel that sports should be a unifying factor and should transcend politics. I congratulate the leadership and people of China for hosting this mega event and wish all participants safe, healthy and successful games. Since my last visit to China in October 2019, the world has undergone a profound transformation. Covid-19, the biggest contemporary challenge, continues to negatively impact lives and livelihoods across the globe. Climate change is yet another monster staring
down our eyes with the potential to disrupt all that humankind has achieved to date. The imperatives of geopolitics have engendered new alignments in our region, which to many, are reminiscent of ideological confrontation of the last century. Instability and turmoil that plagued Afghanistan for the past 20 years have come close with a hope of peace finally returning to the region. The international community’s engagement is essential to avoid economic meltdown and avert humanitarian crisis in that country. The present challenges, colossal as they be, nevertheless stress the need for international cooperation and call for rekindling the spark of multilateralism for peace and prosperity in our region and beyond. As President Xi Jinping pertinently mentioned in his recent address to World Economic Forum, “Amidst the raging torrents of global crisis, countries are not riding separately in some 190 small boats, but are rather all in a giant ship on which our shared destiny hinges”.
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History bears witness to the fact that Pakistan and China have jointly traversed such epochal changes in the past and emerged successful. Our two countries have always supported each other on matters of core national interests. It is our common vision that enduring peace in South Asia is contingent on maintaining a strategic balance in the region and all outstanding issues like border questions and the Kashmir dispute should be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy and as per norms of international law. Our bilateral cooperation against Covid19 further validates the strength of our friendship. As iron brothers, Pakistan solidly stood by China after the outbreak of the pandemic. From President Arif Alvi’s solidarity visit to Beijing to the dispatch of over 60 planeloads of Chinese anti-epidemic goods to Pakistan, emerged a shining example of mutual support and goodwill. Chinese vaccines have now become the mainstay of Pak-
istan’s ongoing mass vaccination drive. Pakistan is charting a new path for robust and sustainable development and making efforts to harness its potential as a geo-economics hub. The new National Security Policy of Pakistan centers on my government’s vision of people-centric approach for ensuring their prosperity, fundamental rights and social justice. In pursuance of these objectives, we draw inspiration from China’s achievements; be it the miraculous lifting of 800 million people out of absolute poverty or victory in people’s war against the pandemic. As a friend, neighbor and partner, Pakistan has much to offer to the people, enterprises and business persons of China. Pakistan has a rich history, cultural diversity and majestic landscapes. With a population of 220 million people, young and skilled labor force, strategic location, friendly investment regime and warm sentiments for the Chinese people, Pakistan welcomes you for your next investment and next leisure trip.
06-07 Comments 30 January 2022_Layout 1 30/01/2022 12:13 am Page 1
Sunday, 30 January, 2022
06 COMMENT
Rethinking R&D in Higher Education
A “document of financial surrender” Opposition in disarray
A new idea for Education Day
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FTER getting the mini budget passed, the government has also succeeded in getting the crucial state Bank of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill through the senate. Despite the arrangements made already by the government to get the task assigned by the IMF done, the senate Chairman had to delay the proceedings to ensure the presence of required Coalition senators. This showed the govt had to work harder this time than in the past With the passage of the two bills,the government will be able to seek the $1billion IMF tranche and continue with the Fund’s programme. This will enable it to seek loans from foreign banks and raise funds through international instruments to fulfill its immediate financial needs. Total autonomy to the state Bank including immunity to the sBP governor, deputy governor and directors of the board from accountability through NAB and FIA, is likely to generate problems. The government will no more be able to mobilise the funds needed in times of crisis from the state Bank. As pointed out during the senate debate, while the bill had yet to become a law, the state Bank had issued a notification, requiring commercial banks to consider the possibility of default on government loans while making their loan allocations. It is maintained that the new law will lead to the loss of the federal government’s financial control affecting PEC, while bringing foreign policy and relationship with neighbours under strain. It is also claimed that Pakistan’s nuclear assets and their funding and defence expenditure will henceforth be under the IMF’s scrutiny. The way the government managed to get the state Bank Bill passed underlines the sad state of the Opposition which failed to block it despite its numerical edge in senate. At least eight opposition members including the Leader of the Opposition in the Upper House, Yousuf Raza Gilani, were absent when the crucial bill was passed resulting to both sides getting locked in a tie at 43-43,and the bill getting through by the senate Chairman’s casting vote. This is likely to further embitter relations between the PML(N) and PPP. This also exposes the PML(N) leaders’ claims of a number of the ruling coalition’s parliamentarians showing willingness to join hands with the party. This raises the question if the Opposition would be able to get a no-confidence vote passed against the PM in present circumstances.
Prof. Dr. MuhaMMaD SuleMan Tahir
Education is a human right, a public good and a public responsibility. It is also a process to introduce innovative solutions to the problems in industry and society. Education is the core element for the development and prosperity of a nation. Now the major economies in the world are knowledge-based economies and the economies of the developing countries are gradually emerging based on knowledge and innovation. Pakistan is a growing country and facing economic, political and social challenges. In such countries, the role of education became important to promote participatory democracy, to develop a consensus on political issues and to find the solutions to the prevailing social problems. In Pakistan, a candid and consolidated education policy will determine the future of the nation. The efforts made by the government to develop a single national curriculum are remarkable but a concrete implementation plan is the need of time and sincere consideration is required to get the desired outcomes. In February, the world is celebrating the ‘International Day of Education’ with the theme “Changing Course, Transforming Education”. No doubt, the covid-19 pandemic created a traumatic situation in the whole world. It affected all fields of life, especially education. It was a challenge for the developed as well as for developing countries to provide a learning environment that is compatible with the prevailing pandemic circumstances. It is a fact that education in its usual and formal way has observed a huge gap in the year 2020-21. All activities, especially educational activities, remained
Prisoners running amuck in Sindh Concessions for the powerful and rich
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flagrant disregard for post arrest procedure has been witnessed of late on Karachi. While a national problem rather than an exclusively provincial one, sindh is trying very hard to make it one. The prime suspect in the DuaMangi kidnapping case, Zohaib Qureshi, has escaped with the aid of the Karachi police after two policemen took him to a shopping mall after a court appearance from where he simply walked out, got into a car and fled. A few weeks back, imprisoned convict shahrukh Jatoi, who was involved in the 2012 murder case of shahzeb Khan and sentenced to life imprisonment, was revealed to have been living comfortably in a private hospital in Karachi for several months. Additionally, PPP MPA Jam Awais, who is accused of torturing and murdering journalist Nazim Jokhio, was presented in court without handcuffs, a breach of protocol in such cases that the defense’s lawyer justified by arguing that it was “humiliating” for an elected chief of a tribe to be subjected to such treatment. Either the sindh government is simply unaware of what is going on in its jails or it is simply not bothered and is accepting such blatant violation of the province’s prison laws. Either way, a serious problem of well connected, moneyed and a politically influential individuals being able to shamelessly flout the law with impunity is quite evident. Taking notice of such incidents after the fact only adds to the problem as other inmates get ideas and try to execute them for their few months of luxury as well. That the practice is not only being endorsed but facilitated by the prison police is a bigger cause for concern as it points towards a cancer that may have spread too deeply into the correctional system to be effectively extractable. It is especially unfortunate that such a predicament was avoidable for the sindh government had it identified and addressed the problem in a timely way, but rather opted to look the other way and allow it to exacerbate. A thorough cleanup of sindh’s prison system is urgently required.
ihSaan afzal KhaM
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AKIsTAN has witnessed the highest trade deficit amounting to $24.78 billion from July 2021 to December 2021. The dollar was at Rs 158 on 1st July, whereas, on 31 December it was trading at Rs 178. Yet, the current account deficit even with the adequate support of good remittances from overseas Pakistanis is $9.09 billion from July 2021 to December 2021. Projecting these numbers for the remaining 6 months, a current account deficit of $17 to $19 billion in FY 22 is forthcoming. Which means, we are driven back to square one the scenario painted by the incumbent government itself when the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) left the CAD at $19 billion in 2018. This has been their foremost contention that due to the current account deficit, the economy was in a mess. Nevertheless, the PTI in its fourth year, hoist by its own petard, has brought the CAD to the same turn, with many other crumbling economic indicators. Adding to this stress, the budgeted repayments of external debt including principal and interest were reasonably estimated to the tune of $12.4 billion for the current financial year 2022. A Bulk of this amount, $8.638 billion, has to be paid back in the current half of this financial year January-June 2022. Hence, if the government wants to keep the reserves at the present level and to keep the Rupee Dollar parity at Rs 178 per dollar, it will have to raise almost $16 to $17 billion to cover CAD and debt repayments in the upcoming few months for this financial year. This, in itself, is a herculean task considering the IMF review is still pending amid failure to cut spending. With each passing day, the economic pressure is building up on the reserves and the exchange rate. These dollars are to be raised through the IMF, ADB, World Bank, and by floating bonds in the international market. Any shortfall in this target will result
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will have to come in place with limited financial powers leading to the similar scenarios of rupee devaluain falling of the reserves or else devaluation of the tion. The requirement or shortfall of the dollar is a rupee. In such a case, it will massive challenge on its further exacerbate the high own for the sitting Govinflation trend where CPI ernment or more so for the inflation was at 12.5 % in opposition who is eyeing a December. political adventure. The Any political adventure should be reserves which act as a A short while ago, the mini-budget was passed buffer are not enough to meticulously planned, with withdrawal of tax exhold the rupee-dollar parconsidering all the challenges emptions to the tune of Rs ity, given the debt repayfaced by the economy and the 350 billion. This withments and the projected drawal will inevitably push current account deficit. people of Pakistan. People are up inflationary pressures. Macro stability is currently desperate for relief; any further the main challenge facing Furthermore, rising international petroleum prices and deterioration by a political move the economy of Pakistan. an additional pressure of If the rupee is further will result in blame being shifted devalued, taking the levy on petrol up the purchasing to Rs 30 to achieve the tarfrom the current government to power of the consumer get of Rs 610 billion, inwill further fall due to risthe opposition. It is anybody’s creasing prices of ing costs of imported guess where the dollar will stand items which are a major electricity, are all adding to the inflationary trend. With in the transition period in case of portion of our GDP. Instaan additional burden of inbility of the currency in the a political adventure leading to flation through devaluation past few years and the upof the rupee leading to excoming months have further inflation pensive imports, the result caused uncertainty in the could be devastating for the business environment. middle class and people livContinuous massive inflaing on minimum wages tion has depleted the purwho are already in crisis and unable to make a livable chasing power of the common man, forcing him or monthly budget on their current salaries. her to reduce expenditure on anything beyond necesOn the political side, the opposition is talking sities. about in-house change or general elections. In case of Any political adventure should be meticulously a possible in-house change, the process could take planned, considering all the challenges faced by the weeks to a couple of months for the new government economy and the people of Pakistan. People are and more importantly a new Finance Minister to settle desperate for relief; any further deterioration by a into his office. A new government will have to go to political move will result in blame being shifted the IMF again to assure it that the programme is car- from the current government to the opposition. It is ried smoothly. And if it becomes able to renegotiate anybody’s guess where the dollar will stand in the some terms, the process of doing so will lead to the transition period in case of a political adventure delays on raising required dollars, which will result in leading to further inflation. rupee devaluation or depletion of the reserves. In case the country goes to dissolution of assemThe writer is a LUMS graduate with a deep eye blies and general election, a caretaker government on politics. ihsaan@saahilwood.com.pk
The already battered rupee faces further pressures
Arif Nizami (Late)
M. A. Niazi
To provide resources of research to such higher education institutions, it would be good to develop an R&D fund in collaboration with the community, industry and chamber of commerce under the supervision of district government and university management. The fund will be consumed in research for solving problems in society and industry. It will help to strengthen the research and innovation culture in the university as well as will provide an opportunity to the new researchers to deploy their knowledge to solve realtime problems
Politics of Economy
Dedicated to the legacy of late Hameed Nizami
Editor Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad
undercover and were frozen with the wave of the coronavirus which started in China and closed all educational institutions there, and encapsulated the whole world. Now a ray of hope has appeared when our generation who suffered very much during the covid19 period and thus labeled itself the covid-19 generation, will start going to school, college and universities. In Pakistan, the physical recovery from this pandemic is that we are back at our work and are sound and healthy but mental recovery is only possible when our education may also be back on track which is the most vital thing to do. Education in this regard is so important that we even require education to avoid the contamination of viruses. We need to educate ourselves about health concerns and the health of the whole community. Hence the vitality of education is always there but the core spirit of the 2022 International Day of Education also stresses realizing the fundamental right of everyone to education. This will help to build a more sustainable, inclusive and peaceful future and its importance must be redressed for the large benefit of our generation. To fulfill the needs of the growing Pakistani economy and to cope with the economic challenges it is necessary to innovate the role of higher education institutions. All higher education institutions must develop sound industrial and community linkages to provide students with opportunities to work on real-time problems. It will help them to polish their skills and will also enable them as creative thinkers. In Pakistan, universities can propose solutions to the problems in industry and society by creating new knowledge through R&D but especially in the case
of newly established universities, it would require more resources. For example, Khwaja Fareed University of Engineering and Information Technology is a newly established university of the Government of Punjab in Rahim Yar Khan. It is gradually emerging as an innovative research and development centre in the region. It is contributing to the national development process with its limited resources. It has the potential to impart more innovative solutions to problems for social and industrial development. To provide resources of research to such higher education institutions, it would be good to develop an R&D fund in collaboration with the community, industry and chamber of commerce under the supervision of district government and university management. The fund will be consumed in research for solving problems in society and industry. It will help to strengthen the research and innovation culture in the university as well as will provide an opportunity to the new researchers to deploy their knowledge to solve realtime problems. Universities are like an asset to the community and could play an important role in the development of the region. As society members, it is our responsibility to own such institutions and it is also the responsibility of the industry to collaborate and provide support for the research and development process. As the world is celebrating ‘The International Day of Education, it is a time to rethink the available higher education opportunities as well as the role of industry and community because it is a question of the future of the whole Pakistani nation.
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06-07 Comments 30 January 2022_Layout 1 30/01/2022 12:13 am Page 2
Sunday, 30 January, 2022
COMMENT 07 Editor’s mail Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan. E-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively
Toxicity of Carbofuran
The battle for rule of law The rich face no checks to contain their cruelty, the poor have no avenues to seek justice
raoof haSan “Had I but died an hour before this chance, I had liv’d a blessed time; for, from this instant, There’s nothing serious in mortality: All is but toys; renown, and grace is dead; The wine of life is drawn, and the mere lees Is left this vault to brag of.” –Shakespeare: ‘Macbeth’
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MUsT confess that I have had a fair inkling of this for a long time, but I was constantly fighting the realisation that a society could actually be in awe of crime and its perpetrators, and that its members would do whatever may be needed to mould themselves after their heroes in the seedy world of vice. The felicity with which crime is committed and the manner in which the act is defended, even eulogised with victory signs, is both humiliating and mind-boggling. It is a sordid spectacle which is enacted virtually on a daily basis, but there is this something within which would still like to believe that all this that one watches on a routine basis is a mirage, and that it actually does not happen in real life. The sharif and Bhutto-Zardari clans have been known commodities with a retinue of minor operators who are all soaked in the juices of corruption of a myriad variety. Instead of singling them out and shaming them, a bulk of the society has taken to emulating them as their leaders and patrons. For some it may be corruption of greed as their lust for piling on mounds of pelf is incorrigible. such people usually hail from the tribe of the beneficiary elite who control the channels of power and who are perched in positions to bend things either way to make room for their silver coins. For others, it could be termed as corruption of need which is driven by the impoverishment and marginalisation of communities who are constantly struggling, barely surviving on the edge. They have been cruelly badgered and bludgeoned by those who are all swollen with feeding on the state largesse. This process is as old as the state, but its intensity has amplified with time. In olden times, the social customs would demand that the cor-
rupt are singled out. With the passage of time, the ones who do not indulge the luxury of corruption are dubbed the odd ones. The drift of the society has changed direction towards legitimising the act of making easy money by all means possible. While we are eager to point fingers at others, one seldom finds someone who is willing to look inwards for even a cursory evaluation of where we would stand on the scale of gauging corruption and our personal affliction with the bounty. Take the case of the sharifs. The retinue of their cronies and sycophants, some of them claiming to have studied at reputable institutions here and abroad, are doggedly busy defending their corruption, day after day, morning stretching to night to morning. These leaders face multiple criminal charges. some of them have also been convicted while others are absconders. Instead of convincing their leaders to come back and defend themselves in the courts of law, false narratives are spun to hoodwink people that they are innocent and are being targeted as part of political victimisation. It is like a sickening circus of people who are denuded of their last shred of shame, dignity and self-respect. since their political survival is linked with that of their leaders, they believe that they don’t have an option but to defend them and facilitate their passage back in the annals of power. The concept of anything being right or wrong escapes them as they remain deeply engrossed in planning to further expand the net of corruption and induce others to join their ranks. The Bhutto-Zardari clan is the other main operator in the realm of corruption. For over 40 years, they have been selling the dead body of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, and later also of Benazir to remain politically relevant among the illiterate and impoverished communities in rural sindh. Keeping in mind the reign of terror which they have unleashed, no one dare ask them about the fulfilment of their slogans promising food, clothes and shelter. As the stalwarts of the clan kept getting richer by forcibly taking over properties they set their sights on, the ordinary people only became more impoverished and more dependent on their throw-away morsels. They will go to any extent to continue keeping people enslaved in rosy promises which they know will never be realised. Their lives have been spent in the hope of better days only to see even the bits they own snatched away cruelly from their grasp. The established fact remains that the grip of the cruel is tightening with time around the necks of the needy. Generations of poor tillers have been mortgaged with the landowners who may do with them as their whims may dictate. While the rich face no checks to contain their cruelty, the poor have no avenues to seek justice. Everything is sold for a price by the corrupt and the powerful which usually comes in the shape of shared profit, exclusively of the illicit kind. Contracts are sold for a price. Justice is sold for a price. Equality and equity are fancy words. Police, bureaucracy and other functionaries at positions of power have a price tag to do their job. Even demanding your inalienable right as contained in the statute book will entail a cost as,
otherwise, you will remain deprived of your dreams and your possessions. No forum will be available where you could agitate your deprivations and the injustices done to you. You will be surrounded by deaf people with a vulture-like gaze, forever ready to pounce upon you to take away any remnants that you may still be left with. It is moral depravity. It is societal degradation. It is people caught up in a web of deceit and deception who cannot find a way out to weigh their options. Their life is ordained by those who boast of unlimited power which they have secured by using fraudulent tactics and methods. The fact is that some of the people control the reins of power while others are victims of their captivity. It is as if they have no control over their lives. They may moan and cry, but there is no one paying heed. They are all entangled in unwieldy webs. They are all victims of an unjust system which has been contrived to hold a nation hostage. so far, it has worked to its optimal effect. The future, too, looks bleak with little hope that they may, after all, be able to find a way out into freedom. The sharifs, the Bhutto-Zaradaris, and their junior partners in the sprawling world of crime have had it all their way. Having come this far, they are absolutely determined to ensure that no one will have the power to take it away from them. They have erected their personal fiefdoms which are insulated from the reach of the law. They live in a protected environment where no one dare cast a threatening glance. They have the goodies in abundance to buy everything that matters, including justice. In order to further legitimise the world of crime, supreme Court Bar Association (sCBA) has moved a petition before the apex court to resuscitate the political career of Nawaz sharif – the don of the world of corruption in the country who was barred for lifetime from politics in the Panama Papers case. This comes when the government has announced a set of revolutionary reforms in the criminal justice system. The proposed amendments in the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), Law of Evidence, Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) and some other laws have set a time limit of nine months for completion of criminal trials. The amendments would simplify the procedures for the common man to secure justice. This has been a long-standing demand of the people in a country where cases have a tradition of dragging on for generations without an outcome. While the government is trying to establish the rule of law and make justice accessible to the poor people, the ones who are disinclined have started a process to pave the way for the dons to come back into contention. This is just about as far as depravity can stretch. This is as far as degeneration can soak in. In such a situation, it becomes incumbent upon the people to speak out – for silence in such circumstances would be criminal. The hour cometh! 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
PEsTICIDEs are the only hazardous substances that are intentionally discharged in a significant amount into the environment. The accumulation of these contaminants in different body organs, eggs, and prey samples of avian species has been reported worldwide. Carbamates, organophosphates, and organochlorines are commonly used pesticides. Organophosphates have been used extensively as pesticides for forty years and form an important category of pesticides. Organophosphates are generally known for their neurotoxic effects, particularly in insects, but they also induce other conditions, including rhabdomyopathy, delayed neuropathy, immunotoxicity, and teratogenicity. Carbofuran belongs to the anticholinesterase carbamate group and commonly being practiced in the agriculture sector. Due to its widespread use in agriculture, water, air, and food is being contaminated, resulting in an adverse impact on humans, the wild, and the aquatic ecosystem. Currently, carbofuran is primarily involved in malicious poisoning. We conducted an experiment in which 150 eggs were collected from different nests (50 eggs/breeding heronry) located in Kot Hara Punjabi, Gondlanwala, and the Daska region of Punjab. Also, 200 cattle egrets were reared for six months at experimental units of the university of veterinary and animal sciences, Ravi Campus, Pattoki. The birds were divided into seven groups; group A: captured from Kot Hara Punjabi, group B: captured from Gondlanwala, group C: captured from Daska, group D: carbofuran treated (0.03 mg/L), group E: carbofuran treated (0.02 mg/L), group F: carbofuran treated (0.01 mg/L), group G: non-exposed to any pesticide (negative control). Parameters including drug residue analysis, hematology, serum biochemistry profile analysis, immune response detection through cytokines analysis, egg quality parameters, micrometry of immune organ, and histopathological analysis of immune organs. It was investigated that carbofuran exposure to cattle egret may result in hemolysis of red blood cells, decreased packed cell volume, increased mean corpuscular volume and mean corpuscular hemoglobin, and decreased mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration, leukocytosis, lymphopenia, eosinophilia, and increased heterophils (%), increased liver and renal parameters, decreased interferon-gamma and interleukin two levels, decrease in egg quality parameters, atrophy of bursa of Fabricius, spleen, and thymus accompanied by microscopic lesion induced in immune organs such as congestion, hemorrhages, necrosis, and atrophy. It can be concluded from the present study that carbofuran exposure to wild birds like cattle egrets has a potentially adverse impact on their health. Therefore, the wide use of carbofuran in the agricultural sector should be discouraged to mitigate the drastic changes in the ecosystem. Dr. KhaliD MahMooD anjuM, lahorE
Empiricism EMPIRICIsM has been one of the most influential movements in the evolution of western philosophical thought. The founding fathers of western empiricism were John Locke in general and David Hume in particular. David Hume, an English philosopher, who took birth in the era of brutality and the dark ages of the west was deeply averse to the Church authorities. He believed that human experience is an unparallel source of getting knowledge of the world. He was the one who denied the concept of casualty which was a benchmark of his predecessors. He reasoned that if we believed that there was some kind of a connection between the events followed by one another, the cycle would keep going on unstoppably. He raised the question that why did man decide on the basis of his habit, memory and experience that every incident of human life is interrelated with his past one? Now, if we take a glimpse over that claim we can easily find some faults. If the past event has no connection with the present one, the whole concept of cause and effect is wiped out. For instance, how does fire engulf the whole forest if there is no cause behind it? How does a ball turn back whenever hit on the wall? Moreover, Hume also negated the existence of God. He said that if God were there, man should not have relied on his help. A man should be able to use his empiricism in order to weather the storms of his life. He himself was a mysterious and doubtful human being. He once said, “There is no certain knowledge of anything.” Despite him being in a state of denial about God, he would sometimes say, “There is someone who is God.” If it were the case, would he be talking about the inner conscience of man? That remains undefined. Once he was asked about the life after death, to which he responded, “Is it possible that the coal is put in the fire and the fire doesn’t catch it up?” Nonetheless, David Hume was the one who rendered the world an impactful philosophical idea of empiricism. He is rightly called “the Voltaire of England.” aWaiS ahMED, lahorE
The future of newspapers THE oldest medium of mass communication we are historically conscious of is the print media. The human experience offers us an example of the first use of signs, banners and pictures to communicate messages. The handmade press was first founded in the 10th century. Book printing began in Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries. since social media developed at the time of imperialism, mass media at first faced a number of constraints. However, in history, the print media, particularly newspapers, are considered revolutionary because when they began they brought a revolution there. In the minds of the rulers, the advent of print media produced doubts and they took it as a challenge to their rule. The rulers believed that citizens would become conscious of their rights and question their authority. so most of Europe’s rulers took it as a rebellion and declared the citizens participating in mass media capital punishment. Without a doubt, newspapers will survive with a further decline in market shares. There are likely to be little literacy shifts or other variables linked to possible readership increases in the near future. All digital features such as the internet, four-colour offset printing, electronic newsrooms and many such devices are available in newspaper publishing houses today. A tablet newspaper with an LCD screen where the content can be collected via telephone lines or cables may be the future of the newspaper. It was possible to view anything on the screen at the click of a button. Another big change may be that it is possible to customize a newspaper, and people will just get to read the items that concern them. In this way, readers can exert a lot of influence over the newspaper’s content, although only a few individuals would have access to such electronics. MuhaMMaD uSMan, islamabad
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WORLD VIEW
Russia’s Red Line IT IS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY THAT MOSCOW HOLDS THE LINE FOR THE SAKE OF A NEW SECURITY ORDER IN EUROPE AND A SUSTAINABLY STABLE WORLD ORDER IN OUR TIME
Consortium nEWs
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Patrick Lawrence
hey must understand,” sergei Lavrov said in one of his many public statements, “that the key to everything is the guarantee that NatO will not expand eastward.” the Russian foreign minister has repeated this thought almost ad infinitum lately. He speaks, of course, of the Biden administration and the diplomats who bear its messages to others. Here is another of Lavrov’s recent utterances: “We are very patient… we have been harnessing [burdens] for a very long time, and now it’s time for us to go.” I do not know quite what Lavrov means by “harnessing burdens.” I suspect it is a translation problem, and he said something closer to “bearing burdens.” But it is perfectly clear what he means when he says it is time for Russia to go: He means it is time to advance beyond the status quo, move on from post–Cold War security arrangements that have allowed NatO, in the name of the atlantic alliance, to aggress toward the Russian Federation’s western borders more or less at will since the soviet Union met its end. all that Lavrov, President Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials have said and done since the Ukraine crisis re-erupted late last year indicate one simple, hard-as-granite reality. In consequence of the many pointedly provocative moves the West, notably the U.s. and Britain, have made in Ukraine over the past year, our planet now has a brandnew red line etched upon it. I hope Russia draws it in the deepest scarlet. as a diplomatic tactic, red lines are not very often advisable: they tend to paint the painter of the line into a corner. this one is absolutely necessary if we are to see a new security order in Europe. a new security order in Europe is essential if we are to achieve a sustainably, stable world order in our time. We read here and there of comparisons between the Ukraine crisis and the crisis across the taiwan strait that the U.s. has similarly conjured of late. Russia is to Ukraine as China is to taiwan, this sort of thing. Geopolitics is not so simple. But while this obscures some things, it illuminates others. Russia does not want to “invade” Ukraine any more than China wants to reassert its legitimate sovereignty over taiwan by force. Beijing’s red line on any suggestion of independence for taiwan is in my view the severest red line any nation has drawn in our time. Only the dumbest of the dumb in Washington — on Capitol Hill, in the Pentagon — refuse to understand this. BEIJING’S LINE OF RED: China’s red line is as old as the Kuomintang’s retreat to taiwan after Mao took Beijing in October 1949. While it does not want a messy, internationally costly conflict across the taiwan strait now, which is wise, this is not to say the line on the sovereignty question is any the less red. It is the same, but also different in the Ukraine case. the last thing the Kremlin wants is to assert sovereignty over the corrupt, crawling-with-Nazis scene in Ukraine. But Moscow has made it plain just in the last month or so that its red line is no more negotiable than China’s in the taiwan
case. Let Russia’s be very red, then. Let it glow in the dark. Why do I say this? It is simple: this latest round of the Ukraine crisis, which began when the U.s. cultivated and ultimately directed the 2014 coup in Kiev, makes it clear that Washington and London, with the Continent’s capitals ambivalently in tow, are not going to stop aggressing eastward to Russia’s frontier until they are made to stop — at a red line. By appearances, it seems that U.s. President Joe Biden, secretary of state antony Blinken and the covert ops people in Washington do not understand this. Biden, in his blurry speeches and public pronouncements, and Blinken, in his numerous diplomatic encounters, make it very plain they will never consider a declaration limiting NatO’s expansion, or any other circumscription of Ukraine’s future relationships with NatO and more broadly the Western alliance. at the Blinken–Lavrov exchange in Geneva last Friday, our guitar-strumming secretary failed to give his counterpart written responses to Moscow’s request for formal commitments on Ukraine and the larger question of security arrangements in Eastern Europe. Instead, he promised Washington would deliver these sometime this week. We must await this. Not hopefully, I must quickly add. I see little to no chance the U.s. and NatO, which also received Russia’s proposals in a separate draft agreement last month, will advance matters on any of these questions regardless of what Washington puts on paper this week. Does this mean the U.s., the U.K. and NatO don’t see the red line? Don’t they understand, in the way Lavrov uses this word, that accepting the new red line “is the key to everything?” Biden, true enough, is a step away from assisted living, if he does not already require it behind the White House’s windows. Blinken, equally so, is somewhere between a schlemiel (the klutz who knocks over a bottle of wine at table) and a schlimazel (he into whose lap the wine spills).
Biden, Blinken, and golf caddies such as NatO secretary–General Jens stoltenberg: It is impossible to accept that they do not know well what Moscow has just done, the depth and hue of line it has drawn. the only exception here is Boris Johnson. Britain’s latest Old Etonian prime minister, who seems to have stepped out of a Monty Python skit, may indeed be too stupid to know what time it is. Now we can judge the current impasse between the anglosphere portion of the West and Russia for what it is. Washington, London, and Brussels see the red line as clearly as anyone else and, resisting the reality of our moment, fight a rearguard action against what it means for Europe’s “security architecture.” A PROVOCATION TOO FAR: they know they cannot win a war against Russia on Ukrainian soil. and they will not fight one, accordingly, unless a grave mistake is made. as scott Ritter just wrote in Consortium News, and Marshall auerback earlier argued in the scrum, Ukraine shapes up as a provocation too far for Washington, London and Brussels. It’s Kiev as Waterloo. It’s the end of Western expansionism. Last week the U.s. delivered the first shipment of $200 million worth of weapons it has promised Ukraine. Britain is as we speak airlifting troops and materiel from depots in England and scotland. and the White House is talking about deploying troops to Eastern Europe. this is on top of all the other assistance these two nations have provided Kiev in recent years — since the 2014 coup, indeed. What about this, one may ask. My answer: this is about maintaining tension and danger at the highest possible pitch for as long as possible. this circumstance, if one steps back to consider it, meets all the West’s core objectives. the last time this happened, readers take note, it went on for four decades. It is a depressing thought but in all likelihood what we are in for. they don’t call it Cold War II for nothing. there is — who could miss it? — the information war
the West, the U.s. and Britain well in the lead, are running on the Ukraine crisis. For its breadth and relentlessness, it may well be unmatched. the thought that Russian troops on Russian soil are aggressing but american and British personnel in Ukraine are just doing the right thing has been with us for many months. In the last week we have read that Russia has sent outof-uniform soldiers or mercenaries into Ukraine, has intelligence operatives preparing a false-flag op against the people in Donbas it supports, and, as of sunday, is getting ready to install a former legislator from the same party as the ousted Viktor Yanukovych as a puppet president in an elaborate coup operation of its own. I will never quite get over how clumsy and rubbishy the propaganda issuing from Western intelligence agencies usually is. THE INFO OP: this info op appears to serve three purposes. In no particular order, these are to blur causality so as to cast Russia as responsible for this crisis, to maintain public fear and ignorance in the West and to keep all options open in the very unlikely event war breaks out. think about this last: Ghost stories about Russian spooks readying to blow up power grids, communications towers and water supplies effectively licenses the madmen in Kiev or covert operatives from the West to spark a conflict and point all fingers at Moscow. In the matter of causality, here is a paragraph from a Reuters piece published Monday afternoon: “Russia denies planning an invasion. But, having engineered the crisis by surrounding Ukraine with forces from the north, east and south, Moscow is now citing the Western response as evidence to support its narrative that Russia is the target, not the instigator, of aggression.” the first sentence of this paragraph is correct. Everything else in it is utterly false, perpendicular to the truth. It is essential to pay attention to these things: It is this kind of lying that allowed Cold War I to go into the history books as somehow the result of Russia’s malign intent – Russia, which had just lost 20 million to 27 million people and whose economy was a shambles. Is there anything good to say about the Ukraine crisis as we enter another week of it? Not much, even if the West proves wise enough to stay clear of a war it cannot possibly win. But there are a few things to watch. One, I hope Russia holds to its red line and in time succeeds in forcing a redrawing of the security map along its western border and into Europe. two, so long as Biden– Blinken insist on a sanctions regime to end all sanctions regimes if Russia “invades” Ukraine, we will see increasing disunity in the atlantic alliance. the more of this the better. the Germans and French want no part of this anglo– american circus, if you have not noticed. Germany, it is worth noting, refused Britain air rights for its weapons transports. Berlin and Paris may not be run by philosopherkings, but a more independent Continent within the Western alliance is without question net positive, as argued previously in this space on numerous occasions. a final thought in this connection. among those be-all, end-all sanctions is one that would suspend Russia from the financial settlement system known as sWIFt. I read now that the U.s. is stepping back from this one because it would prompt Moscow and Beijing to accelerate plans already in motion to develop a system independent of sWIFt and not subject to Washington’s geopolitical whims. For once they are getting smart down there inside the Beltway. that is exactly what it would do. the coalescing of non–Western powers, far from least Russia and China, is a reality well beyond the course of the Ukraine crisis and this or that sanction. the relentless campaigns against the Chinese and Russians in the two-front Cold War these past few years have done a great deal to encourage unity between the two. this will not reverse under any circumstance. Disunity in the West, unity in the non–West. It is wane and wax. Maybe it is red lines — Moscow’s, China’s — that make the difference between the one and the other. Patrick Lawrence, a correspondent abroad for many years, chiefly for the International Herald Tribune, is a columnist, essayist, author and lecturer.
Justices must end anti-Asian discrimination by colleges
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Washington ExaminEr
ast year, there was an unfortunate outbreak of anti-asian hate crimes. During that period, Democrats paid plenty of lip service to how awful it was. they did this with maximum cynicism only because they believed they could use the events to bolster a narrative about white supremacy and structural racism — never mind that it was very difficult to find even one of these high-profile attacks committed by a white person. Of course, the Democrats never cared about the asians being attacked, and they still don't. they continue to demonstrate this with their insouciant treatment of asian american college applicants, against whom they are perfectly happy to discriminate. Many schools, including Harvard, Yale, and the University of North Carolina, systematically discriminate against asians in the name of diversity and "equity." their admissions statistics demonstrate that asian students with top grades and test scores are at a severe disadvantage compared to others with similar academic achievements. One of President Joe Biden's first acts in office was to drop a federal case that had been brought against Yale by the trump administration for discrimination against asians. When asian students sued Harvard, the Biden administration also rushed to the courts to take the university's side against those students. so where the trump administration attempted to make the schools treat them fairly, Biden is defending a racist policy by which these schools deliberately lowball
MANY SCHOOLS, INCLUDING HARVARD, YALE, AND THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA, SYSTEMATICALLY DISCRIMINATE AGAINST ASIANS IN THE NAME OF DIVERSITY AND "EQUITY." THEIR ADMISSIONS STATISTICS DEMONSTRATE THAT ASIAN STUDENTS WITH TOP GRADES AND TEST SCORES ARE AT A SEVERE DISADVANTAGE COMPARED TO OTHERS WITH SIMILAR ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS the personality scores of asian applicants so that they are rejected despite having higher test scores and grades than students who are accepted. a similar odious, racist system was used for decades to exclude Jewish students from the Ivies on the grounds that too many of them were being admitted based on merit. the supreme Court, including Justice stephen Breyer's replacement, will have a chance this fall to right this wrong in the case students for Fair admissions v. Harvard. In the 2003 case Grutter v. Bollinger, the supreme Court ruled that the University of Michigan Law school could claim a legitimate interest in having a racially diverse student body for the sake of students' broader experience. However, Justice sandra Day O'Connor noted in her majority ruling that "race-conscious admissions policies must be limited in time" and that "25 years from now, the use of racial preferences will no longer be necessary to further the interest approved today." after all, racial differences are not all-important — they should really take a back seat to a diversity of economic backgrounds or viewpoints.
By the time this case is decided, it will have been 20 years, not 25, since O'Connor said that. But the need to eliminate racial preferences has never been greater. the rise of critical race theory, colleges' discrimination against asians, and the violent riots of summer 2020 are just ugly symptoms of a much deeper malady in american life today. the Left is striving to generate racial hatred and resentment and turn them into a justification for curtailing constitutional rights and elevating group responsibility above individual responsibility for one's actions. the Left's postmodern catechism disregards personal responsibility in favor of collective punishment for entire supposedly "privileged" classes of people, often whites but increasingly asians and soon enough Hispanics as well, for historical sins committed by people they never knew in times they never experienced. the supreme Court would do the nation a favor by ruling against Harvard in this case simply because, if any hope of civic harmony is to be preserved, this entire way of thinking needs to be repudiated as forcefully as possible. But that's not why the justices should do it. they
should do it because racial discrimination violates the Constitution and the law. No school may lawfully single out specific groups for a separate but equal admissions process. and just because the Left has a history of threatening the court and its justices, it is worth mentioning that such a decision would also be popular. Voters in the bluest of blue states have shown that they loathe race preferences. Just over a year ago, 57% of California voters opted to keep in place their state's 1996 ban on government racial discrimination. In doing so, they went against the advice of dozens of prominent Democratic officeholders, even the ones they elected and reelected the same day. If a race-neutral policy is good enough for Californians, it is good enough for anyone. as Chief Justice John Roberts has previously written, "the way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race." People need to hear this now — to be told that they are not the crazy ones for rejecting the Left's delusion that one can discriminate one's way to a fairer society.
Sunday, 30 January, 2022 | LAHORE
NEWS corporate corner Customs recovers € 0.616 Million from two passengers at Jinnah Airport Karachi Continuing its incessant operations against money laundering and currency smuggling, Pakistan Customs (FBR) in a joint operation with ASF has recovered 616,000 Euros (Rs. 120 million approximately) from two passengers who happened to be brother and sister namely Ubaid Siddiqui S/o Muhammad Afzal and Aqsa Siddiqui D/o Muhammad Afzal. They were travelling to Dubai by Flight EK-605 from Jinnah International Airport, Karachi on 29th January, 2022. Both have been arrested and an FIR has also been lodged. Further investigations are underway and more arrests will be made following leads obtained during interrogation. Finance Minister, Shaukat Tarin, has commended FBR in this successful operation and its ongoing drive against money laundering and currency Smuggling. Chairman FBR/Secretary Revenue Division Dr. Muhammad Ashfaq Ahmed has congratulated Member (Customs Operations), FBR Mr. Tariq Huda and announced cash awards and merit certificates for officials of Pakistan Customs who successfully unearthed this huge amount being smuggled out in money laundering. Needless to add that FBR is following a policy of zero tolerance against money laundering and smuggling of all shades and grades. The country's premier revenue collection organization has introduced a number of innovative interventions both at policy and operational level to promote a culture of tax compliance across the country. pr
SAniA SpeAKS At ShAnghAi CooperAtion orgAnizAtion’S Apex event on poverty AlleviAtion TASHKENT
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ENATOR Dr. Sania Nishtar, SAPM on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation was invited to speak at the apex level event with heads of ministries and agencies of member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) on Poverty Alleviation. Jamshid Kuchkarov, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economic Development and Poverty Reduction, Republic of Uzbekistan hosted the event in Tashkent. The event was attended by heads and representatives of the ministries and agencies of the SCO member states on poverty alleviation, as well as representatives of SCO Secretariat. Speaking at the event, Dr. Sania thanked the SCO secretariat for encouraging all the members for cooperation in the field of poverty alleviation as it was outlined in the Action Plan for 2021-2025 for the implementation of
the SCO Development Strategy until 2025. “Prime Minister Imran Khan during his speech at the meeting of Head of States of SCO which was held in June 2019 in Bishkek articulated his eight-point agenda. This included a proposal to narrow the research-policy gap through the establishment of leading knowledge center for poverty reduction within the SCO framework”, highlighted Dr. Sania at the SCO meeting. Further, she reiterated, “There is an urgent need to establish a permanent
mechanism for regular exchange of experiences and information on the applied innovative measures aimed at poverty alleviation.” Later, Dr. Sania reflected on Pakistan’s experience in poverty alleviation. She said, “In Pakistan, poverty alleviation is a top priority of our government. There are multiple programmes in Ehsaas for 16 target groups, and each programme is aligned with a certain quantifiable goal and 292 initiatives and policies which sup-
port these programmes.” Alongside Dr. Sania, Saidkahhor Kholkhujaev, First Deputy Minister of Economic Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan; Akmadi Adilovich Sarbasov, First Vice-Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of the Republic of Kazakhstan; Hong Tianyun, Deputy Director of the National Rural Revitalization Administration; Kudaibergen Bazarbaev Bazarbaevich, Minister of Labour, Social Security and Migration of the Kyrgyz Republic; O. Y. Batalina, First Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Protection of the Russian Federation; and Ashurboy Solekhzoda, First Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade of the Republic Tajikistan also spoke at the event. The apex event discussed regional approaches to poverty alleviation in the SCO member states. Speakers reviewed a wide range of issues on the state and prospects of development of the SCO member state’s cooperation in poverty alleviation.
15 suspects arrested during grand operation in Shams Colony ISLAMABAD
3124 tickets issued for not fastening seat belt
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As many as 15 suspects were taken into custody by the capital police including one drug peddler during search and combing operation in shams colony area, a police spokesman said. According to details, a search operation wash conducted in different area of
1053 TICKETS ISSUED FOR USING MOBILE PHONES WHILE DRIVING ISLAMABAD: Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP) issued 3,124 fine tickets to road users for using mobile phones during drive and 1053 other motorists for not fastening seat belts, a police spokesman said. Following the directions of Inspector General of Police (IGP) Islamabad Muhammad Ahsan Younis , he said that special campaign is underway to check violations while various squads headed by Senior Superintendent of Police (Traffic) Mazhar Iqbal are performing duties at main roads of the city and taking action against the violators. During the ongoing month, the police spokesman said that action was taken against 3,124 motorists for not fastening seat belt during drive and 1053 motorists for using mobile during drive. The SSP (Traffic) Mazhar Iqbal said that campaign is underway to ensure disciplinary traffic system in the city and he also appealed the citizens to follow rules. He said that ITP personnel have been directed to ensure implementation on traffic rules and regulation irrespective of status and rank and demonstrate patience and politeness while issuing traffic violation tickets to the road users. He said that it has been directed to adopt decent attitude with road users. The SSP (Traffic) said that ITP is also ensuring action against other violating traffic rules . The force issues traffic violation tickets not as a punitive measure but the purpose is to ensure safe road environment in the Capital and secure the lives of the people, he maintained. pr
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shams colony on the direction of IG Islamabad Muhammad Ahsan Younas, in which officials participated under the supervision of SP I-Area Zone Saud Kahn. During the search operation 15 suspects were shifted to police station for verification. During the search operation, 80 houses,10 shops and 115 persons were searched; two motorbikes without docu-
ment were shifted to police station. One drug peddler also arrested with 14 bottles wine and case were registered against him. IG Islamabad Muhammad Ahsan Younas said that the purpose of the search operation was to tighten the noose around the criminals. Search operations are being carried out against criminal elements in different areas of the city.
CEO Bateel Pakistan Mozzam Khan explains to customers about the company products at the launching ceremony of the outlet in Lahore Defence Phase-5. pr
PFMA & PTA chairman Inaugurated 7th Pakistan Mega Leather Show 2022 LAHORE pr
Pakistan Footwear Manufacturers Association (PFMA) in collaboration with Pakistan Tanners Association (PTA) inaugurated 7th Pakistan Mega Leather show 2022 organized with the support of Pakistan Gloves Manufacturers and Exporters Association (PGMEA) and Pakistan Leather Garments Manufacturers & Exporters Association (PLGMEA) to promote the robust leather industry of Pakistan at global level. The Event was graced by Mr. Zahid Hussain, Chairman, Pakistan Footwear Manufacturers Association (PFMA), Mr. Amanullah Aftab- Chairman PTA , Mr. Tasawar Hussain, Chairman, Pakistan Leather Garments Manufacturers & Exporters Association (PLGMEA), Mr. Amjad Hussain Sheikh, Chairman, Pakistan Gloves Manufacturers & Exporters Association (PGMEA), Mr. Muhammad Musaddiq Convener PMLS-2022, Mr. Rashad Islam., Sr. Vice Chairman, PFMA, Co-Convener, Steering Committee of Pakistan Mega Leather Show-2022 and members of Diplomatic Corps, Foreign Guests along with members of all Sector of Leather Trade. Pakistan Mega Leather Show 2022 has attracted many international customers towards the tremendous potential that exists in the leather sector of Pakistan and to provide a viable platform for nurturing stronger ties or collaborations between the allied indus-
tries of the Leather Sector of Pakistan. The event also features a special exhibition of the high-quality products being produced by the leather Footwear-Manufacturing industry and leather goods of Pakistan. The PMLS 2022 has attracted many potential buyers and investors from Italy, Germany, Thailand, Spain, France, Turkey and Netherlands . The rapid growth of this industry reflects a 5% increase in exports of Footwear Sector during 2020 and it has attracted and will continue to attract many international buyers to invest in Pakistan. These investments will improve the technical skills, productivity and export of Footwear products. PFMA Chairman Mr. Zahid Hussain thanked participants for their support to make this event a big success. In his speech,
He praised Government support towards Footwear industry in enhancing the Rebate on Footwear Export from 1.82% to 4.70%. Rebates for the growth of exports are very essential to compete with our competitors of this region. We request the Government to continue giving rebate and ensure timely payments of rebate and LTLD to exporters if rebate is eliminated or reduced from existing percentage then it will have negative impact on export of Footwear. Footwear Industry requires extension of scheme related to local taxes and levies drawback by extending LTLD scheme for next 3 years, waving off Condition of 10% growth to qualify for grant of balance 50% and rate of LTLD be enhanced at 4%, Rationalization of Custom Duty on Footwear Raw Materials, conces-
sionary tariff rates on electricity by including PFMA name in the List of Export Oriented Sector Associations / Annex A to FBR Circular No. 04 of 2020 – Operations (Sales Tax) with retrospective effect from the date of FBR Circular and allocation of 5 Acre Land and financial grant for the establishment of Pakistan Footwear Institute in Lahore as promised by the Ministry. Pre-Feasibility of Pakistan Footwear Institute has been forwarded to the Ministry of Commerce on 28 Sep 2021. We are optimistic that the Government will keep up its promises and honor its commitment to facilitate Footwear Industry by making it the leading export sector of Pakistan”. PTA Chairman Mr. Amanullah Aftab welcomed the Honorable foreign delegates, stakeholders and took the opportunity to share Leather industry important issues which required Government attention to resolve on priority basis. He stated that “With support and cooperation of Ministry of Commerce, finished leather goods of cow, buffalo, sheep & goat skins export has witness steady growth of 39% from July-Nov 2021 as compared to last year, encouraging our country wide members to vigorously committed for further expansion for promotion of exports of finished leather goods. But there are some areas where Leather Industry seeks further support from the Government side like no incentive has been announced in recent STPF 2020-25, Allocation of required funds from EDF for 50% subsidy for the In-
dividual Treatment Plants at Tanneries in Pakistan, which is fundamental requirement for Leather Working Group. This incentive of Rs.500 million for Treatment plants for due reimbursement effective from 2015 till 2022, who already established their treatments at Tanneries. was allowed in last STPF 2009-2014 but unfortunately not continued in recent STPF 2020-2025.similaryRs.900 million for the Treatment Plants which are under construction effective from 2022 onward for facilitation to member exporters concerned. Industry also seeking reduction in Duty Structure on Basic Tanning Chemicals, which is basic ingredients for manufacturing of finished leather with innovation, allocation of remaining funds from EDF out of total requisition for Rs.133 Million for International leather Fairs with increased subsidy percentage from 25% to 50% at least for participation in International Leather Fairs around the globe by PTA member exporters, which is universal tested tool for wide & aggressive marketing for promotion of exports. Government must give a 50% subsidy on Freight Charges, which has already been increased exorbitantly from 200% to 300% during COVID19 adversely affecting the Leather industry growth in the country. Pakistan Footwear and Tanning Industry has shown promising growth over the years as the Government has introduced concessional policies and support for the industry.
Sunday, 30 January, 2022 | LAHORE
10 FOREIGN NEWS
SUpport of taiwan indEpEndEncE coULd SparK US miLitary confLict with china: ambaSSador WAsHiNgTON
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HINA and the United States could end up in a military conflict if the United States encourages Taiwan’s independence, Beijing’s ambassador to Washington said in a US radio interview broadcast on Friday. China considers the neighbouring island of Taiwan its “sacred” territory and has never renounced the use of force to ensure eventual unification. “Let me emphasise this. The Taiwan issue is the biggest tinder-box between China and the United States,” Qin Gang told National Public Radio. “If the Taiwanese authorities, emboldened by the United States, keep going down the road for independence, it most likely (will) involve China and the United States, the two big countries, in a military conflict,” he
Qatar looks to profit from Europe gas fears over Ukraine DOHA AFP
Europe’s fears of losing Russian gas supplies in the Ukraine crisis will loom large when Qatar’s emir meets the US president on Monday but the powerful Gulf ruler has no “magic wand”, analysts say. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani will ensure some kind of assistance, however, as he seeks a bigger share of the European market for Qatar’s burgeoning offshore gas production and to score valuable points over its neighbours in becoming the key US ally in the Gulf. The sheikh, whose tiny country has increased its diplomatic initiatives to match its status as an energy colossus, has the Ukraine crisis, efforts to engage the hardline Taliban administration in Afghanistan and backroom talks on reviving a nuclear accord with Iran on the agenda for his White House meeting with President Joe Biden, officials said. Gas supplies are one of the key areas that Europe fears could be cut if Russia decides to take military action in Ukraine. The United States is also in contact with Australia about providing alternative supplies and could send more of its own production, diplomats said. Australia, Qatar and the United States are the world’s biggest gas exporters. “Talks are going on” over diverting some liquefied natural gas from Asian markets to Europe if President Vladimir Putin cuts supplies to western Europe, a Qatari official told AFP ahead of the meeting. There are precedents for Qatar helping friends in need. It sent supplies to Japan after the 2011 tsunami and four special cargoes to Britain in October to address sudden shortages.
London police deny delaying UK government report into ‘partygate’ LONDON AFP
London police on Friday denied delaying a long-awaited government report into lockdown-breaking parties in Downing Street that have put Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s future in jeopardy. Weeks of so-called “partygate” revelations forced Johnson to order a senior civil servant to look into the claims, and the report was due to be published this week. But the fact-finding investigation has yet to appear, prompting speculation the involvement of police this week could prevent full details from emerging. Johnson’s spokesman has said the government wanted to be sure the internal report did not “cut across” the police probe, so as not to prejudice any future legal proceedings. “We are in no way seeking to block the report,” he told reporters. The Metropolitan Police said in a statement on Friday evening: “We have not delayed this report and the timing of its release is a matter for the Cabinet Office inquiry team.” Police said late Friday that detectives leading the investigation had received materials they requested from the Cabinet Office, the government department that supports the prime minister. Commander Catherine Roper said officers would examine these “in detail” and “without fear or favour”. Those suspected of breaching regulations will be asked in writing “to explain their actions, including whether they feel they had a reasonable excuse,” she said. Police have said they do not want details emerging as they probe potential breaches of coronavirus legislation, which could be punishable by fines. They said they asked for the Cabinet Office report to make “minimal reference” to the events concerned, “to avoid any prejudice to our investigation.” The “partygate” revelations have seen calls for Johnson to quit, due to widespread public and political anger about the breaking of rules the government itself had set. The delay of the report has given the embattled prime minister some breathing space, after he promised to address Parliament as soon as it was published.
said. Asked to comment, the US Defense Department said the United States remained committed to its “one China” policy and its commitments under the US Taiwan Relations Act. Under the long-standing policy, Washington officially recognises Beijing rather than Taipei, while the act requires the United States to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself. “We will continue to assist Taiwan in maintaining a sufficient self-defence capability while also maintaining our own capacity to resist any use of force that would jeopardize the security of the people of Taiwan,” a Pentagon spokesperson said. The US State Department and White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Qin’s remark, which came just hours after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi discussed the crisis over Ukraine. While Chinese officials have warned of military ac-
tion over Taiwan, it is unusual for them to link it directly to the United States. Tensions between Beijing and Taipei have escalated in recent months as China’s military has conducted repeated air missions over the Taiwan Strait, the waterway separating the island from China. US President Joe Biden has said that the United States was not encouraging independence for Taiwan, but he caused a stir in October when he said it would come to the island’s defense if China attacked. The latter remark appeared to depart from Washington’s long-held policy of “strategic ambiguity” — not making clear how the United States would respond — though the White House quickly said Biden was not signalling a change in policy. The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, told Congress last year China wants the ability to invade and hold Taiwan within the next six years but might not intend to do so in the near term.
Iran condemns ‘destabilising’ attack on Baghdad airport AgeNcies Iran’s foreign ministry on Saturday condemned a rocket attack against Baghdad airport that took place the previous day as an act that seeks to “destabilise” Iraq. Six rockets were fired on Friday at the Iraqi capital’s airport, causing damage to one runway and two civilian planes but no casualties. It was the latest in a string of attacks that the US blames on Iran-linked armed groups. The attack was not immediately claimed. Iran condemns “the targeting of Baghdad airport” in an attack that aims to “destabilise” Iraq, foreign ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said in a statement. “Such suspicious actions have created insecurity and unrest in Iraq, paving the way for the ill-wishers and the insurgents, and affecting the government’s services to the Iraqi citizens,” he added. The rockets fell around civil installations at the airport, damaging an outof-service Boeing 767 belonging to state-owned Iraqi Airways. The attack prompted Kuwait Air-
ways to suspend its flights to Iraq, the airline said on Twitter. Recent months have seen rocket and drone attacks target the United States embassy in Baghdad’s high-security Green Zone, a US diplomatic facility at the airport and troops belonging to a USled coalition stationed at Iraqi bases. Such attacks mounted after the US assassinated the commander of the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards, Major General Qassem Soleimani, and his Iraqi lieutenant Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, in a January 2020 drone strike near Baghdad airport. The attacks are rarely claimed but they are routinely pinned on pro-Iran factions, who demand that US troops deployed to help Iraqi forces fight the militant Islamic State group leave the country. The US-led coalition ended its combat mission in Iraq in December, but has kept roughly 3,500 of its soldiers in the country to offer training, advice and assistance to national forces. Recent rocket attacks in Iraq have also come amid a tense domestic political situation there.
Violence has lately targeted Iraqi politicians and parties, mainly consisting of grenade attacks, but also extending to one rocket assault near the home of a key politician, amid tensions surrounding the formation of a new government. An election in October saw the Fatah (Conquest) Alliance, the political
wing of pro-Iran ex-paramilitary coalition Hashed al-Shaabi, lose most of its seats. It alleged the polls were rigged. “The Islamic Republic of Iran has always supported the establishment and maintenance of security in Iraq… and supports the actions of the Iraqi government in ensuring stability,” Khatibzadeh added.
Lawmakers from over 20 countries wish Beijing 2022 success at CMG Forum MiAN AbrAr More than 30 lawmakers from over 20 countries across the world have expressed their wishes for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics and voiced opposition to the politicization of the Games. The lawmakers made the remarks at a special program of CGTN dedicated to Beijing 2022, which was broadcast on Saturday. The program, themed “The Beauty of the Winter Olympics: A Celebration of the Human Spirit,” is part of the China Media Group (CMG) Forum.
The lawmakers spoke highly of China’s efforts to host a “simple, safe and splendid” Winter Olympics despite challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and wished the Games a success. CMG President Shen Haixiong welcomed the lawmakers to take part in the program. He said peaceful development and shared destiny are key elements of building a community with a shared future for mankind – a vision advocated by Chinese President Xi Jinping – and also ideals of the Olympic movement. “The Beijing Winter Olympics embodies mankind’s yearning for peace and excellence,” Shen said. “It is
more important than ever for us to come ‘Together,'” he stressed. Gong Taparanci, former deputy prime minister of Thailand, expressed confidence that the Games will achieve a great success. Despite the lack of ice and snow in Thailand, the country has decided to send a delegation to attend the Winter Olympics, he said. Wang Yanxia, member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee and deputy minister of the Sports Department of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, said the smooth preparations for the event owe a great deal to the Chinese people’s love for winter sports, the support from the Chinese government, and the help offered by experts and technicians from various countries. Filatova Irina Anatolyevna, member of the Russian State Duma, said China and Russia are friendly neighbors. The significance of their mutual trust has been demonstrated through sports, she added. Sainkhuu Ganbaatar, member of parliament of Mongolia, said the Olympic Games should not be obstructed by COVID-19 or political issues. The Games organizers have made orderly preparations for the event under “almost impossible” circumstances, winning respect and support from the world, he said. Mushahid Hussain Sayed, chairman of the Pakistani Senate’s Defense Committee, said Pakistan and other Asian countries firmly oppose the boycott of Beijing 2022 in any form and any attempt to instigate confrontation and division. The Olympic spirit calls for friendship and cooperation, he said. Lawmakers from countries such as Germany, Italy, Canada, Turkey, Brazil, Spain, New Zealand, Japan and South Africa also expressed their wishes for the Games. The Beijing Winter Olympics will take place from February 4 to 20, followed by the Paralympic Winter Games from March 4 to 13.
Sunday, 30 January, 2022 | LAHORE
SPORTS 11
HBL PSL 2022: MuLtan SuLtanS Beat LaHOre QaLandarS By fIve wIcketS
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ULTAN Sultans registered a sensational fivewicket win over Lahore Qalandars in the third match of the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL) 2022 at National Stadium in Karachi on Saturday. The match swung like a pendulum as Sultans required 16 off six balls when Khushdil Shah hit three fours and a six in the last over.
The groundwork had already been laid by skipper Mohammad Rizwan and Shan Masood as they smashed unbeaten half-centuries. The match turned on its head in the 17th over when Rizwan, who scored 69 off 42 balls, fell to Shaheen Shah Afridi. The Qalandars’ bowlers could not perform up to the mark in the early overs; however, they picked up pace in the last five overs, taking back-to-back wickets. QalanDars’ innings:
Fakhar Zaman’s hard-hitting helped Qalandars put up an impressive score on the board. Shaheen had been put to bat first after losing the toss, but the decision did bear fruit, and the Qalandars were able to make their highest ever score of 206 for the loss off four wickets. Fakhar Zaman made 76 off 35 balls, with the help of 11 fours and two sixes, while Kamran Ghulam smashed 43 off 31 balls with the help of two fours and three sixes.
The fall of wickets began in the ninth over when Khushdil Shah picked up the first and crucial wicket of Abdullah Shafiq (24), who was on a roll with his opening partner Fakhar Zaman. Later in the 12th over, Imran Tahir took the wicket of Fakhar (76), piling up pressure on the Qalandars. Mohammad Hafeez was the third man to go for 16 of 12 balls and the man to dismiss him was Kushdil. Meanwhile, David Willey picked up the fourth wicket of Kamran Ghu-
lam (43) in the 18th over. Teams: multan sultans: Shan Masood, Mohammad Rizwan (c), Sohaib Maqsood, Rilee Rossouw, Tim David, Khushdil Shah, David Willey, Imran Tahir, Imran Khan Sr,
Shahnawaz Dahani, Ihsanullah. lahore Qalandars: Fakhar Zaman, Abdullah Shafique, Mohammad Hafeez, Kamran Ghulam, Ben Dunk, David Wiese, Samit Patel, Rashid Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Zaman Khan.
Ashab outclasses Uzair in final of Combaxx Sport-Sindh Satellite Squash Championship KARACHI
Shabbir Iqbal leads on third day of 48th Pakistan Open Golf 2022 PR Karachi 29th January, 2022: The third day of UMA 48th Pakistan Open Golf Championship 2022 played on Saturday saw a big change in leader board when Pakistan’s Ace Golfer Shabbir Iqbal from Islamabad finished 13 under par to claim his lead. Ahmed Baig from PAF SKY did seven under par for reaching second position. Matloob Ahmed of LGG is on third position with six under par. Waheed Baloch of Karachi Golf Club who maintained lead during first two days played three under thus reaching a gross of four under on third day. In the senior professionals category Irfan Mehmood of Rawalpindi is holding first position with two over par. He is being followed by Naseer Khan of Peshawar and Muhammad Akram of Lahore with their gross score of three over par are jointly holding second lead. After today’s cut, 15 players will play the final rounds on Sunday in the senior professional category. In the Junior professionals category Muhammad Saqib of LGG is leading with three over par. Nabeel Khan of Airmen Golf Club is following Saqib with six over par. After today’s cut in junior professional category, 10 golfers with compete in the final round. Amateur Omar Khalid of KGC while competing amongst Professionals is holding 29th position with five over par. Next Amateur is Salman Jehangir from Lahore Gymkhana with ten over par. CEO of Karachi Golf Club Commodore Ghazanfar Abbas said, “The greens of KGC are in best shapes. Leading Golfers from all over Pakistan have appreciated the quality of course-way we have maintained for them. Players are enjoying playing in Karachi’s pleasant weather and clear visibility.” UMA 48th Pakistan Open Golf 2022 has the highest prize money of PKR 10 Million, with return Dubai ticket along with golf rounds as Hole-inOne prize for the first claim. The final rounds of the Championship will be played on Sunday.
Staff RepoRt
The forthcoming young talent Ashab Irfan on Saturday outclassed unseeded Uzair Shaukat in the final in COMBAXX Sport-Sindh Satellite Squash Championship to lift the coveted trophy of men’s singles here at the Roshan Khan-Jahangir Khan Squash Complex. In an excellent display of the game which lasted for about 22 minutes and seemed to be totally one-sided affair, he defeated Uzair Shaukat in three straight sets i.e., 11-7, 11-2 and 11-6, rendering his opponent totally helpless in front of his classic game. It may be mentioned here that Ashab Irfan also won the U-19 title, donning the double crown in this coveted event. In the women’s category, women’s top player Zaynab Khan outclassed Noorul Huda in straight sets to
win the title in style. The women’ final score was 11-5, 11-4 and 11-3, showing the superb display of the game by Zaynab, who rendered her opponent helpless in front of her classy game. Squash legend Jahangir Khan, who was chief guest of the final ceremony, gave away the winners and runners trophies and other awards along with CEO Combaxx Sports Umar Saeed, POA Media Advertiser Asif Azim, Sindh Squash Association President Adnan Asad, Secretary Muhammad Rashid, and Combaxx Sports GM Zubair Macha. Speaking on the occasion, Jahangir Khan said that our country is rich in squash talent. “What is needed to provide modern infrastructure and training facilities to youth to nurture their talent to a level to turn tables on their opponents at international level,” he said.
He eulogized the role of Combaxx Sports in patronizing sports including Squash and called upon other institutions to follow their example to provide patronage to squash so that we can regain past glories in squash at world level. Jhanagir Khan also praised the Pak Navy RKJK Squash Complex which is a state-of-the-art facility for the squash players. Speaking on the occasion, CEO Combaxx Sports Umar Saeed said that Combaxx is an online sporting goods institution and store providing high quality; professional and branded genuine sporting goods direct to the athletes; Clubs, Academies and the National Federations at reasonable and affordable prices. “We patronize sports for the sake of promoting positive thinking and healthy approach of our youths in society,” Umar Saeed said.
Battling Barty breaks 44-year hoodoo to win Australian Open AFP An imperious Ashleigh Barty became the first Australian to win her home Grand Slam in 44 years on Saturday, halting the charge of fearless American Danielle Collins in straight sets. The world number one was 5-1 down in the second set but came storming back to win on a tiebreak and sweep past the 27th seed 6-3, 7-6 (7/2) to be crowned Australian Open champion in front of an expectant Rod Laver Arena crowd. It was a third Slam title for the 25-year-old after her breakthrough French Open success in 2019 and Wimbledon last year, joining Serena Williams as the only active players to win majors on all three surfaces. “It’s a dream come true for me and I’m just so proud to be an Aussie,” said Barty. “As an Aussie, the most important part of this tournament is being able to share it with so many people and you guys in the crowd have been nothing shy of exceptional. You relaxed me and forced me to play my best tennis against a champion like Danielle. I knew I absolutely had to bring that today. “And congratulations to Danielle, it’s been an amazing fortnight and you’re back in the top 10 where
you belong,” she added. Barty achieved the feat with Christine O’Neill, the last Australian man or woman to win in Melbourne, watching in the stadium. O’Neill won the title in 1978 and told reporters before the match: “I’m probably her (Barty’s) biggest fan. I’d be happy to hand it over to her because she’s so deserving of it. She is an absolute thinker, she’s a craftsperson, a bit like a chess player with how she constructs the points.” There were fears she might be overwhelmed by the weight of expectation, but the
Australian has dealt with intense pressure before, none more so than at Wimbledon last year. Winning at the All England Club was the one trophy she wanted more than any others, and she handled the occasion with aplomb. Dizzying array: She applied the same tactical acumen with the resurgent Collins, who has enjoyed a new lease of life after surgery last year for endometriosis left her pain free, storming to her first two WTA titles. “Big congratulations to Ash on a formidable tournament, a formidable few years really,” said an emotional Collins, who is projected to break into the top 10 for the first time when the new world rankings are published on Monday. “The way you play and the variety of shots, hopefully I can implement some of that into my game.” Barty countered the 28-year-old’s power-hitting and big serves with her dizzying array of slices, pinpoint serving, speed and a seamless forehand, but she had a major fright. Both players comfortably held their early service games, offering few chances as they got a feel for each other. But Collins was employing her heavy groundstrokes and they were causing trouble.
Canada ready for World Cup ‘battle’ with US LOs ANGeLes afp
Canada coach John Herdman has told his team to prepare for battle as they take on the United States in a pivotal CONCACAF World Cup qualifier on Sunday. The Canadians have emerged as the surprise package of Central America, North America and the Caribbean’s qualifying competition, unbeaten in nine matches and leading the eight-team final round with 19 points. A victory over the second-placed United States in Hamilton, Ontario, on Sunday, would put clear daylight between Canada and the chasing pack. With only four games remaining after Sunday, victory could leave ‘Les Rouges’ firmly on course for their first trip to the World Cup in 36 years. Sunday’s game takes place at the compact Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton. Due to local Covid-19 regulations, capacity for the game has been halved to around 12,000, but Herdman hopes the smaller crowd will nevertheless create a hostile environment for the visitors. “It’s going to feel tight and compact. We want the US to feel that,” he said. “It’s a battle. It’s two teams that are desperate for three points and will do anything for it,” said Herdman, the 46year-old Englishman who took over as Canada’s men’s coach in 2018 after managing the women’s side for seven years. For so long the whipping boys of CONCACAF’s World Cup qualifying – prior to this campaign, Canada
had not reached the final round of regional qualifiers since 1998 — Herdman has forged a close-knit group who are anything but pushovers. They served notice of their capability in November
with a 2-1 win over Mexico, and on Thursday grabbed a 2-0 win on the road over Honduras. Herdman believes the win over Honduras on Thursday embodied his team’s spirit. “To get a 2-0 on the road was important for the team, to get our first win on the road, as well,” he said. “More than anything, it was just about three points — that’s all it comes down to. We bent a little bit, but we didn’t break. I think that’s the story of the identity of this team,” Herdman said. “It’s a special story that’s unfolding. It seems like every (player) is able to contribute on the journey,” he added. “We’ll keep relying on that mettle, that camaraderie, that brotherhood and we’ll fight, that’s what it will be in any game against the US. You’ve got to bring the battle, it’s a cup final at home.” The US meanwhile arrive in Canada after an unconvincing 1-0 home win over El Salvador in Columbus on Thursday. A victory over the Canadians on Sunday would give coach Gregg Berhalter’s side valuable breathing space, however. While they remain well-placed to qualify, the USA still must travel to Mexico and Costa Rica in March, traditionally awkward away games against two teams who are desperate for points. Mexico, who needed two late goals to overcome Jamaica 2-1 on Thursday in Kingston, host Costa Rica in a vital clash at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City on Sunday. Panama, who are fourth in the standings behind Mexico, face a home game with Jamaica while Honduras host El Salvador in Sunday’s other game.
First Muslim in women’s Aussie Rules league boycotts Pride Round sYDNeY ReuteRS
The first Muslim player in the Australian Rules women’s football league (AFLW) said it was a difficult decision to sit out Friday’s game, which media reports attributed to her religious objections to wearing a special Pride Round jersey. Haneen Zreika has several openly gay teammates at her club, the Greater Western Sydney Giants. “As the first Australian Muslim woman in the AFLW, I have a responsibility to represent my faith and my community. I respect people regardless of their sexual orientation,” Zreika wrote on Instagram, without explaining the details of her decision. “This decision was extremely difficult and I appreciate the support of AFL, Giants, my teammates. “Inclusion is about creating a space where people are able to respect their right to choose how they live their life as long as they don’t advocate hate and division.” Giants coach Alan McConnell said he empathised with Zreika over what for the player was a “complex” issue. She would be welcomed back into the team for the remainder of the season.
Sunday, 30 January, 2022
prayer timiNgs
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SC iSSueS detaiLed judGeMent in juStiCe iSa CaSe ISLAMABAD
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News Desk
HE Supreme Court on Saturday issued a detailed judgement in the case pertaining to review petitions filed by Justice Qazi Faez Isa in the apex court against the verdict on presidential reference against him and observed that now judge must obviate any attempt to damage the judiciary. “Unfortunately our chequered history has seen numerous attempts to trample upon judicial independence during both, civilian as well as military governments. Nonetheless, we must not become prisoner of our past and must now obviate any attempt to damage the judiciary,” the apex court observed. By a majority of 6:4, the apex court accepted the review petitions of Justice Isa and others against the June 19, 2020 order wherein FBR was directed to conduct an inquiry in the matter related to the foreign properties of SC judge family members. The 45-page judgement was authored by Justice Maqbool Baqir, Justice Mazhar Alam, Justice Aminuddin and
Justice Sajjad Ali Shah and an additional note was penned by Justice Yahya Afridi. “This judgment must announce loud and clear that no one, including a Judge of the highest court in the land, is above the law. At the same time, no one, including a Judge of the highest court in the land, can be denied his right to be dealt with in accordance with law,” the judges remarked at the start of the verdict. “History is witness to the fact that the fundamental rights, particularly of those who are the most vulnerable, becomes the first causality in societies where the judiciary comprises those who were compromised and thus susceptible to being influenced by those wielding power and influence. The edifice of judicial independence rests on the assumption that every Judge besides being fair and impartial is fiercely independent and is free to uphold his judicial views.” “This judicial freedom is fundamental to the concept of the rule of law. Any attempt to muffle judicial independence or to stifle dissent shakes the foundation of a free and impartial judicial system, thus eroding public confidence on which the entire edifice of judicature stands. Public confidence is the most precious
PPP decides to move court against SBP Bill KARACHI staff report
asset of this organ of the state, which controls neither the sword nor the purse. A judge whose decisions are dictated not by the fidelity to the letter and spirit of the law but based on what he deems to be palatable to the Government would cause irretrievable damage to the public confidence in the judiciary, and consequently jeopardize its credibility and moral authority. Judges should not be, in the words of Lord Denning, “diverted from their duty by any extraneous influence, nor by hope of reward nor by fear of penalties, nor by flattering praise, nor by indignant approach,” further stated the judgement. TAx MATTerS of SArInA ISA: In a comment on the SC ruling that asked the tax commissioner to probe Sarina Isa’s assets, the judges remarked that the children and wife of Justice Isa were private citizens and the court acted beyond its jurisdiction by issuing such an order. “The tax matter of the petitioner, Mrs. Isa, could not have been referred to the Council as the role and jurisdiction of the Council is limited to the matters relating to the conduct and capability of the superior Court Judges.” “The impugned directions also create
Indian policy of denial of bodies of Kashmiri martyrs failing badly SRINAGAR
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has decided to challenge the State Bank of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill 2022 in the court a day after Senate approved it with a one-vote majority. It is pertinent to mention here that the Senate on Friday passed the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Amendment Bill, with the majority vote. According to sources privy to the development, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has begun consultations over the bill and would consult Aitzaz Ahsan and Latif Khosa over the matter. “The State Bank amendment bill is against national security,” he said and added that controversial bill could not be accepted at any cost. The government approved the bill in Senate through forgery, Bilawal Bhutto said and announced that the party would not accept the bill and will challenge it in court. The bill was presented by Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin amid ruckus in the house by the opposition members.
an anomalous situation… If in the event the Council, on the basis of the report submitted by the Chairman FBR…recommends removal of Justice Isa, but subsequently Mrs Isa, succeeds in her challenge to the order of the Tax Commissioner, and the said order is found not sustainable, the time for the retrieval may have passed as by then Justice Isa may have reached the age of superannuation… In a reverse scenario where the Council may not agree with the findings of the Tax Commissioner, but such findings are upheld by the forums, including this Court, before which the Tax Commissioner’s findings are amenable to correction, an anomalous and embarrassing situation may occur.” The ruling said Justice Isa couldn’t be held responsible for the deeds of his spouse or children. “Needless to remind the salutary principle of law that everybody is responsible for his own deeds or misdeeds, acts and omissions, and nobody incurs any liability on account of any wrong committed by any other person.” InDepenDence of SJc: It further said that suo motu powers used to dictate the forum infringed the independence of the Supreme Judicial Council.
News Desk
Though Indian occupational forces in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) claim that its policy of denial of bodies of Kashmiri freedom fighters (militants) to their families has prevented recruitment of youth into militant ranks in Kashmir, statistics reveal that the move has not given a major dent in the recruitment of local youth into militant ranks. To surprise the occupational regime in the IIOJK, as many as 126 local youth joined the militancy in 2019 and 180 joined in 2020. On January 25, IGP, Kashmir, Vijay Kumar told the High Court of IIOJ&K and Ladakh that returning the
body of martyr Amir Magray to his family would pave way for “plethora of petitions that will have adverse ramifications upon larger security concerns”. On November 15, Magray, along with a fellow militant and two local civilians Altaf Bhat and Dr Mudasir Gul, was killed in a gunfight in Hyderpora. Their bodies were buried in Zachaldara Wudar in Handwara, triggering protests and forcing authorities for the first time to return the bodies of Bhat and Gul. Magray’s family filed a petition seeking his body. IGP Vijay Kumar, through additional advocate general Asifa Padroo, opposed the petition. Since April 2020, the police
have not handed over the bodies of militants and civilians killed in antimilitancy operations to their families, citing Covid restrictions. Reportedly Kumar has described the decision to deny bodies of militants to their families as a historic step to curb militancy. Though last year saw a dip in the recruitment of youth with only 130 youth joining the militant ranks. Of them, 73 have been martyred and 17 arrested. In 2020, at least 158 people, mostly militants, were buried in these locations while the last year the number was 180. The government had initiated a magisterial probe into the controversial Hyderpora operation but its outcome is yet to be made public.
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Sindh CM summons cabinet meeting to amend LG law The Sindh government has decided to amend the contentious local government law in compliance with the agreement reached with the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) a day earlier, a news outlet reported on Saturday. According to the report, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah has summoned a meeting of the provincial cabinet on February 2 and the provincial government has also decided to postpone the local government polls till July. Earlier on Friday, the JI had announced to end its 29-daylong sit-in outside the Sindh Assembly after the Sindh government agreed to amend the local government act. The announcement to end the sit-in was made by JI leader Hafiz Naeemur Rehman after successful talks with a delegation of the Sindh government. The delegation of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) was led by Sindh Minister for Local Government Nasir Hussain Shah. The two sides had reached an agreement, according to which, the Karachi mayor will be chairperson of the water and sewerage board while all departments of the education and health sectors, including hospitals and dispensaries, will be handed back to the Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC). Speaking to media, Nasir had said that PPP and JI have agreed to empower the mayor of Karachi. Rehman had congratulated the participants of the sit-in for their movement to empower Karachi and added that the workers had started the protest for basic rights. News Desk
Govt mulls plan B to execute ML-1 amid China’s indecisiveness Amid the Chinese authorities’ indecision to initiate the tendering process for the long-awaited Main Line-I (ML1) railway project of the CPEC, the government has started giving serious consideration to plan B to bring investment for the multi-billion dollar project. An official of the planning ministry informed the National Assembly on Thursday that the negotiations with China will yield positive results and work on the construction of the longdelayed ML-1 project will start soon. However, the official said that in case the talks with China remain unsuccessful, plan B is to engage Russia or any other country to bring the investment for the multi-billion dollar project. It is pertinent to mention here that since the $6.8 billion project has already been approved by the government, the decision now is with the Chinese authorities.. There is nothing pending on part of Pakistan. tLtp
Pakistan records second-highest daily rise in Covid-19 cases ISLAMABAD: The nation reported 7,963 new Covid-19 infections and 27 deaths on Saturday, down from a record 8,183 registered the previous day, as the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) extended the existing social restrictions until the second week of February. staff report
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