Thursday, 18 February, 2021 I 5 Rajab, 1442 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XI No 231 I 12 Pages I Islamabad Edition
ECP maintains sEnatE ElECtions should only bE hEld through sECrEt ballot g
VOTe CAN'T ReMAIN SeCReT FOReVeR, SAyS SC JUdGe
ISLAMABAD staff report
t
He election Commission of Pakistan (eCP) in a response submitted to the Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday has maintained that the Senate elections should always be held through a secret ballot. This response comes a day after the SC, during a hearing on the presidential reference on the Senate election, expressed dissatisfaction over the report submitted by the eCP and had observed that it is eCP’s constitutional duty to ensure transparent polls. The eCP’s counsel, citing Article 226 of the Constitution, said that votes for the Senate elections would “always remain secret” and the votes that were cast could “not be shown to anyone”. To this, Justice Ahsan inquired into the definition of proportional representation. He pointed out that the seats “in the Senate should be according to the number of their seats in the provincial assemblies.” “The term ‘free vote’ is used in polls for the National Assembly [elections]. The term ‘free vote’ is not included in the law for the Senate elections,” he observed. He asked how the eCP would maintain
this representation and if the votes could ever truly be secret. Referring to electronic voting, he pointed out that anything on the Internet could be traced. Regarding proportionate representation, he said that the eCP itself would be responsible if the party “does not get [a number of seats] in relation to its seats in the provincial assemblies”. The counsel for the eCP elaborated on the measures taken by the commission to prevent fraud, wherein he elaborated that a vigilance committee and an online complaint centre has been set up. Over 1,100 complaints have been received so far, and that immediate action has been taken in those cases, he added. All eligible candidates will be required to take an oath that they would not buy or sell votes, he further said. However, the judge of the top court said that the posed question has yet to be answered. In spite of the counsel’s insistence that taking pictures of votes was illegal and that it followed the Constitution, the justice remarked that the eCP was “talking about secrecy from now till the day of Judgement” and such a thing was not written in the law, the Constitution or court judgements. “Those who are illiterate or ask for help to cast their votes, what happens to their
Coronavirus in
Pakistan
CONFIRMED CASES:
565,989
LAST UPDATED AT 8:09 AM ON FEBRUARY 17, 2021
DAY'S DEATH TOLL:
56
RECOVERED:
NEW CASES:
1,165 DEATHS:
528,545 12,436 SINDH:
PUNJAB:
254,286 165,200 KP:
BALOCHISTAN:
AJK/GB:
ISLAMABAD:
70,123
18,954
9,562/4,943 42,921
secrecy?” he questioned. Furthermore, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Gulzar Ahmed, on the occasion, asked what steps the eCP would take to rectify a lack of proportional representation if it comes to pass, and if the election results should then be declared illegal. “Vote-selling will result in tatters of proportional representation,” Justice Ahsan remarked. “If any party gets seats [not in accordance] with its representation, the system will be destroyed,” he added. The CJP said that the court would also take input from Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Senator Raza Rabbani regarding secrecy of the vote and proportional representation, as well as the issue of freedom of the judiciary and supremacy of the Constitution from the Pakistan Bar Council (PBC). However, the PBC would not be consulted in regard to political matters. Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Khalid Jawed Khan, in response to the country’s query on the government’s stance on the matter of proportional representation, said that the eCP should ask heads of political parties whether any seat adjustment was done. Justice Ahsan remarked that the eCP has the power to stop vote theft, but only acts in a penal manner instead of a preventative one. The AGP said that eCP would “have to wake up from sleep”. Barcodes or serial numbers could be printed on ballot papers, he suggested. It can print specific barcodes on ballot papers, through which only the eCP would be able to identify ballots, he suggested, adding that the secrecy of the vote only applies on the day of the polls. The chief justice then remarked that “those who pay for votes would have a system in place which the eCP knew but was not telling us”. The AGP added that while there are not many that sell their votes, the buyers of such votes are waiting for the judgement from the court, out of fear that an open ballot may be announced.
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PM proposes five-point agenda to end poverty, hunger ISLAMABAD staff report
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday, describing agriculture as “central to human survival”, proposed a five-point agenda to end poverty and hunger from the world. during his address at the inaugural session of the Governing Council of International Fund for Agricultural development (IFAd), he said investing in sustainable agriculture development, ensuring adequate and fair prices of food products, applying new technologies and rethinking patterns of food consumption and production were pertinent to put a stop to world hunger. “I further propose that a new strategy for sustainable food production and consumption should be considered and adopted at the Food Systems Summit next year,” PM Imran said while virtually addressing the event which was held in Rome, Italy. The five points of his agenda, as explained by PM Imran, were as follows: The world needs to install sustainable agricultural infrastructure to facilitate transport, production and distribution of agricultural products — the green lanes set up
Court decisions hindered Pakistan’s technological progress: Fawad ISLAMABAD staff report
Minister for Science and Technology Chaudhary Fawad Hussain has said there is a dire need to change syllabus of Media sciences to cope with the needs of the modern era. Addressing a two-day International Media Conference at Fatima Jinnah Women University in Rawalpindi, the minister said that Pakistan’s relations with digital companies had deteriorated due to some bad decisions in past. He said “we have to prepare ourselves for coming challenging times”. He also said that the country should welcome and invite technology companies to educate and improve the students. Fawad advised students to choose the career they desire. “Those who want to study should study, but others who want to play video games should do that as well,” he said. Gone are the days when a person excelled in life only if they studied hard, he said. “Nowadays, you find even a 20-year-old is a billionaire,” the minister noted. The minister said that women’s participation in media and technology is imperative for the betterment of the country. Fawad said that some previ-
by China are a good example. Governments, more actively, need to ensure adequate and fair prices for agricultural and food products. The so-called magic of the marketplace should be balanced with the help of the state. Farmers should not be left to the mercy of the cooperations, and at the same time, international agricultural trade must be rationalised. Breakthrough technologies must be consciously applied to enhance food production, ensure efficient usage of water and land, and above all, improve seed quality. The adoption of digital technologies is as vital in agriculture as in other economic sectors. ensuring internet and broadband access to rural areas will be vital for their international and global supply chains. Most importantly, leaders must rethink the patterns of food consumption and production. The prime minister, in his keynote address, also spoke on the adverse effects of the Covid19 pandemic on the economies of various countries, especially the developing ones, pushing another 100 million people into extreme poverty.
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more inside
Asad urges frontline workers to register for Covid19 jabs STORY ON BACK PAGE
Send Imran packing with power of the vote, says Maryam STORY ON BACK PAGE ous court decisions had hindered the technological progress in the country. “Technological progress received a big blow in our country due to some previous court decisions,” he said holding these decisions liable for the deterioration of relations with digital companies. Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s (PTA) decision to ban TikTok earlier last year also caused damage to these relations, he added. “Ban culture in the country has affected every sector.” “I plead judges not to hear cases relating to digital media,” he said. Referring to some universities imposing strict dressing codes, Fawad advised against enforcing strict measures.
“Those who want to wear jeans should be allowed to wear jeans. Others, who want to take an abaya should be allowed to do so,” he said. The minister pointed out that Pakistan would not be able to attract foreign investment if it did not alter its state policies. “Unemployment will end when foreign investment will come to Pakistan,” he maintained. Last year, Chaudhry had spoken out when the Punjab Assembly passed the Tahaffuz-e-Bunyad-e-Islam Bill. “This is a dangerous attitude that will throw us into a vicious circle of sectarian and religious extremism,” he had said. “In Pakistan, Islam is neither threatened by TikTok nor books.”
Govt making efforts for transparent Senate elections: Faraz STORY ON PAGE 02
Businesses shut in protest as India takes foreign diplomats to tour occupied Kashmir STORY ON BACK PAGE
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Thursday, 18 February, 2021
islamabad
news
Police seek arrest of two on blasPhemy charges LAHORE
P
STAFF REPORT/AGECNIES
UNjAB police said Wednesday they were seeking the arrest of two Christian men in Lahore on charges of blasphemy. The case against the two young men -Haroon Ayub and Salamat Mansha -- was registered last Saturday on the complaint of a local resident, said a police investigator, who said the accused persons had yet to be arrested. He provided no further details and only said they were still investigating to determine whether the two minority
Christians made derogatory remarks about the Quran and Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) during a discussion on religion. However, Morning Star News, an online portal focused on helping persecuted Christians, reported the two were studying the Bible in Model Town Park on February 13 when a group of people approached and told them not to read the Bible in public. When Haroon told them that they had no right to stop them, the people began questioning them about their faith and asked if they had any reading material to help them understand the Bible, Haroon's attorney Aneeqa Maria told Morning Star News. "On their insistence, Haroon gave them
a Christian book entitled, Zindagi Ka Paani (Water of Life)," said she. “The youths took the book and left Haroon and Mansha for the time being.” Haroon returned home a few minutes later, while Mansha remained in the park. “A few minutes later, the people returned to the spot where Mansha was present and attacked him, claiming he and Haroon had blasphemed against their Holy Prophet (PBUH),” Maria said. “They also summoned the park’s security and lied to them that the two Christians were evangelising to Muslims in the park and had used derogatory words for the Quran and Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).” Maria
said that someone from the group, which was led by one Haroon Ahmed, then called the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP). "TLP supporters/activists arrived, and under their pressure, the police registered a case against the two for "derogatory remarks" against the prophet under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), punishable by death; defiling the Quran (Section 295-B), punishable by imprisonment for life and fine; and deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings (Section 295-A), punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine." “Mansha was taken into custody from the spot, while we have managed to obtain
Govt making efforts for transparent senate elections: Faraz ISLAMABAD APP
Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz on Wednesday said that the government was making efforts that all elections, including the general and Senate, should be held in a transparent manner. Addressing a news conference after the weekly federal cabinet meeting, he said that Prime Minister Imran Khan pointed out that after the 1970 election, there had always been objections about the electoral process. The minister cited the recent United States elections where two presidential candidates had a problem over the process, but after developing consensus on electronic voting the matter was resolved. He recalled that the electoral reforms were carried out in 2017 but the committee, headed by Ishaq Dar, ignored the issue of electronic voting. "We want that the elections should be transparent and impartial," he said, adding that overseas Pakistanis were rendering great services for Pakistan, as well as sending substantial foreign remittances. In the next elections, he said, overseas Pakistanis
would be given the opportunity of electronic voting so that they could have a voice and could participate in the country's polling process. Faraz said that the prime minister took strict notice of the increasing incidents of sexual crimes against women and children despite the passage of Zainab Alert Bill and issued directions to the relevant authorities to take measures to stop such incidents. He informed that the inheritance bill was meant to protect the legal rights of women and to aid in obtaining a succession certificate. "Now the system had been revamped and the heirs of a deceased person could get a succession certificate in 15 days," Faraz added. He stressed that the case for transparency in the Senate elections was also in the Supreme Court (SC). "Now the nation knew who wanted the elections on the basis of merit and capability, and who continued the past practice of use of money," he commented. Replying to the questions of media persons, Faraz said that Prime Minister Imran directed the law minister to immediately reactivate the bill on the issue of missing persons, as the issue ought to be redressed after drastic fall in terrorist acts. He said that the issue was raised in the
cabinet meeting by Federal Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari, who gave a complete overview with regards to the proposed legislation. Faraz said that the prime minister gave a directive to the law minister and recalled that he himself had visited such sit-ins about missing persons to show solidarity with them. The families and relatives of missing persons "only have one demand, which is to know whether their loved one is alive or not," he added, noting that laws should be made for the issue. "PM Imran Khan has given clear instructions to activate the draft bill on this immediately," the minister said. The minister pointed out that almost every country did face security issues but there had to be a mechanism in place. Replying to another question, the minister clarified that, at the time of no-confidence vote against incumbent Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, he was the leader of the house and knew that the chairman had personal relations with Senators and they voted for him. He added that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government believed in the principle of continuity of the chairman, as never in the history had a Senate chairman been removed in this manner.
PTI legislator challenges Rashid's papers for Senate elections LAHORE STAFF REPORT
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) on Wednesday challenged the nomination of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Pervaiz Rashid for Senate. A petition submitted by PTI MPA Zainab Umair to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) contended that Rashid submitted nomination papers for the general seat, whereas the affidavit he submitted was for the technocrat seat. The petitioner termed the action as "self-contrary, concealment, fraudulent, and improper" and argued the former minister was not qualified to be a member of the House. “Rashid has concealed the material facts from qua his criminal records/cases in the declaration form/affidavit. This score alone is sufficient to disqualify the candidate from contesting any election,” the petition said.
It further said the PML-N leader was a defaulter and owned vast sums to the parliament lodges. The petitioner maintained that Article 63-b of the Constitution was clear in this regard and disqualified the candidate from contesting any election. “Rashid has been failed to provide any information in his declaration form/nomination papers which is a clear violation of mandatory requirement and malafides on the Part Mr. Pervaiz Rashid. These facts clearly disqualify the candidate from contesting any election,” stated one of the objections." Rashid has been found to have delivered speeches against the state institutions as well as maintenance of public order, it said “Therefore, as per Article of 63-g of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Mr. Pervaiz Rashid is not competent to contest any election. Hence his nomination papers be rejected.”
Qureshi’s visit to enhance Pak-Egypt multilateral ties, cooperation: Sisi ISLAMABAD TLTP
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has told President of Egypt Abdel Fattah Al Sisi that Pakistan is keen to reinvigorate traditional bilateral relationship, rooted in shared faith, culture and values with the African country. The foreign minister, who is on an official visit to Egypt, called on President Sisi in Cairo on Wednesday and discussed with him Pakistan’s shifting focus from geo-politics to geo-economics. Qureshi conveyed warm greetings of Pakistan’s leadership to the Egyptian president, the Foreign Office (FO)
said in a statement issued here. He appreciated the stability and progress achieved by Egypt under his able leadership. He stressed that the vision of “Naya Pakistan” is predicated on economic connectivity and ensuring peace within and beyond Pakistan’s borders. He said Pakistan would always look to be a partner in peace and progress. Recalling the decades-old warm bilateral ties between the two countries, Qureshi expressed Pakistan’s desire to further strengthen and diversify bilateral ties. briefed the Egyptian president on various opportunities to strengthen mutual ties, in the bilateral and multilateral arena. Expressing satisfaction at the growing
pre-arrest bail for Haroon Masih till February 24,” she said. “Haroon and Mansha were not preaching to the Muslims as alleged in First Information Report [FIR] No. 61/21. In fact, they were reading the Bible and discussing it amongst themselves when a group of Muslim boys, including Ahmed, overheard them and objected to their Bible study.” Under the country's blasphemy laws, anyone accused of insulting Islam or other religious figures can be sentenced to death if found guilty. While authorities have yet to carry out a death sentence for blasphemy, just the accusation of blasphemy can cause riots. According to domestic and international human rights groups, blasphemy allegations in Pakistan have often been used to intimidate religious minorities and to settle personal scores. Former Punjab governor Salman Taseer was killed by his own guard in 2011 after he defended a Christian woman, Aasia Bibi, who was accused of blasphemy. She was acquitted after spending eight years on death row and left for Canada to join her family.
Pia in talks to increase cargo trade with afghanistan NEWS DESK Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) is in talks with the neighbouring country of Afghanistan to increase air links and trade, as well as to expand its flight operations to Afghanistan’s other destinations, a statement issued by the government-owned airline said on Wednesday. PIA Chief Executive officer (CEO) Air Marshal (r) Arshad Malik met Afghan Aviation Head Dr Qasim Wafaizada in Kabul and the two discussed avenues for increasing air links between the two countries. Along with cargo trade, the PIA CEO requested Afghanistan’s Civil Aviation Authority to allow an increase in the airline’s flights to Kabul and approve its flights from Kandahar and Mazar-i-Sharif to further strengthen ties between the two countries. PIA chief also urged Pakistan’s ambassador to Afghanistan to ensure swift guaranteed visa for PIA passengers coming to Pakistan during his visit to Pakistan’s embassy in Kabul. In their meeting, Air Marshal Malik and Dr Wafizada agreed to increase air connectivity between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The latter called on the PIA to play a role in boosting medical tourism in Pakistan. He also met with officials of the Afghan Chamber of Commerce and Industry and proposed expanding PIA’s network to the business centres of Afghanistan. The PIA CEO also paid a visit to the national flag carrier’s office in Kabul and inquired from the visitors about the quality of the airline’s service. He urged the PIA staff to promote the airline’s marketing with an advertisement campaign. The PIA wants to strengthen its operations in Afghanistan as directed by the government. This meeting comes a few days after the airline's failure to pay the retirement dues of around 2,000 employees who had opted for the Voluntarily Separation Scheme (VSS) that ended on December 31 last year. The affected employees asked Prime Minister Imran Khan to intervene and prevent their families from facing a financial crisis, stating that they'd be forced to protest if a swift resolution is not reached. While the PIA has not issued an official statement on the matter, it has been reported that the delay was because of the federal government, which had not transferred the required funds to PIA due to an audit objection raised by the ministries concerned. bilateral defence ties, the foreign minister said that the two countries can also share their experience in countering terrorism and extremism. He briefed the president on the situation in Pakistan’s neighbourhood, in particular Pakistan’s efforts to facilitate the Afghan peace process, the ongoing human rights violations in the Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK), and continued denial of the Kashmiri people’s legitimate right to self-determination. Stressing that Pakistan always supports a resolution of differences through dialogue and diplomacy, the foreign minister appreciated Egypt’s recent efforts in the region. President Sisi reciprocated the warm feelings of the Pakistani leadership and fondly recalled his recent interactions with Prime Minister Imran Khan. He expressed hope that the visit of Foreign Minister Qureshi would pave the way for enhanced bilateral ties and dynamic multilateral cooperation.
Thursday, 18 February, 2021
islamabad
NeWs
PM tasks cabinet MeMbers to lobby for Hafeez sHaikH against 'convicted candidate' of PdM ISLAMABAD
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MIAN ABRAR
RIME Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday tasked the cabinet ministers to lobby and ensure the win of Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh in the upcoming Senate elections. Chairing the federal cabinet meeting, PM Imran directed the ministers and lawmakers to remain vigilant till the Senate elections and use their personal contacts to seek vote for the party's nominees. A source told Pakistan Today that, during the cabinet meeting, a minister
proposed that each minister should seek votes on the basis of relations. The premier said that the candidate of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) Yousuf Raza Gilani has been convicted and has been disqualified before, and hence has no credibility to contest Senate elections. "Hafeez Shaikh is the right choice, there is no case against him," said the premier, and therein tasked the ministers to ensure the Shaikh victory. He said that the ministers should remain active and vigilant till the Senate elections for the government candidates so as no one could use dirty money to influence the Senate elections. The source said that the ministers have
taken the responsibility of soliciting votes based on their personal relationship. It was also decided during the meeting that the government members will also contact opposition members for votes. "All party leaders should pay attention to the Senate elections. The PTI [Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf will win the Senate elections," Prime Minister Imran was quoted as telling his comrades. He also told the cabinet that tickets for Senate elections were given on merit. "Respect the workers, those who oppose the open ballot will express remorse after the election," the source quoted the prime minister as saying. It was further learned that
Karachi police book PTI leader under anti-terror law KARACHI STAFF REPORT
Karachi police have booked Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI) leader and Sindh Assembly Opposition Leade Haleem Adil Sheikh under sections of Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, a day after he was arrested from Malir on charges of violating the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) rules during a by-election.
The first information report (FIR) was filed at the Memon Goth police station late Tuesday night -- becoming the fourth case filed against Sheikh on the same day. Police are expected to produce the PTI leader before an anti-terrorism court (ATC) today to seek his remand. Sheikh was arrested after the ECP ordered his expulsion from Karachi’s constituency of PS88 Malir, where by-polls took place for a seat of
the government is awaiting the decision of the Supreme Court (SC) regarding the open ballot. The prime minister further said that he would respect the decision of the Supreme Court regarding open ballot elections. Moreover, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has submitted a report in the apex court on the transparency of the Senate elections. An affidavit will be taken from each candidate to stop the buying and selling of votes. A vigilance committee has been set up in this regard. It is pertinent to mention here that the returning officer (RO) reserved the verdict in a plea filed by PTI seeking the rejection of the candidate papers of former
the Sindh Assembly. Later in the day, a spokesperson for Sheikh confirmed the MP had been detained by police officials in Darsano Chano neighbourhood of Malir district. The police are yet to comment on the situation. The constituency saw an aggressive election campaign from all political parties, especially the main contestants — the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the PTI. In 2018 elections, Ghulam Murtaza Baloch of PPP had won the seat by bagging more than 22,000 votes against Muhammad Rizwan Khan of the PTI who got 16,386 votes. But the seat fell vacant after Baloch died of Covid-19 in June last. For the by-election, the PPP awarded the ticket to Baloch’s son, Yousuf Murtaza Baloch.
Three terrorists killed in North Waziristan ibO LAHORE STAFF REPORT
Security agencies on Tuesday killed three terrorists during an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in the North Waziristan district of KhyberPakhtunkhwa (KP), a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said. “These terrorists were involved in target
killing, kidnapping for ransom, extortion, fire raid on security forces, and improvised explosive device (IED) explosions,” the military’s media wing added. “Sanitisation of the area was carried out.” On February 3, security forces and police acting on intelligence raided suspected militant and separatist hideouts, triggering shootouts that killed seven insurgents. Kamran Hussain, an official with the counter-
terrorism department (CTD), said in a statement the first raid took place in Dera Ghazi Khan. The raid left three militants from the proscribed Afghanistan-based Balochistan Republican Army (BRA) dead, he said. The group is known for targeting troops, police and gas pipelines in Balochistan. Hussain said officers also seized a cache of weapons in the raid.
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prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani. On Tuesday, the party challenged the nomination of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leader wherein Fareed Rehman, a PTI Senate hopeful from Islamabad, had accused Gillani of concealing the facts in the papers. Gillani, he had said, failed to mention his conviction in a contempt of court case back in 2012. The hearing today was held twice after the RO granted time to the PTI leader’s lawyer to come up with arguments. However, this extra time was opposed by Gilani's lawyer, who stated that the former PM had served his time and that his disqualification ended in 2017. When the hearing resumed at 3 pm, the PTI leader, through his lawyer, contended that the former prime minister does not meet the criteria as defined by Article 62 and 63, adding that Gilani's nomination papers should be rejected as the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) was hearing the Toshakhana reference against him.
video scam probe committee summons dgs of ib, fia for further evidence ISLAMABAD MIAN ABRAR
The cabinet committee formed on the directive of Prime Minister Imran Khan to probe into the alleged vote-trading video during Senate elections has summoned the director-generals (DGs) of two major investigation agencies of the country – Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) – for a hearing. Pakistan Today learned that a meeting of the cabinet committee was held on the directive of the premier, in which private media anchorperson Arshad Sharif appeared before the committee. The vote-selling video had been released by Arshad Sharif. The investigation committee declared that the video was genuine and no evidence of forgery was found, so there was no need to forensically analyse the video. The committee has also decided to summon the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) representative of the Special Branch. The record will be submitted to the video committee. Earlier, the first meeting of the investigation committee on the video scandal was held on February 13, in which Fawad Chaudhry, Shireen Mazari and Shehzad Akbar attended. At the meeting, the committee decided to invite the journalist who released the video to the meeting and said that those who have preliminary information about the video will also be called. Those who have the information will inform the committee in person or in writing. It may be recalled that Prime Minister Imran Khan had constituted a three-member committee to probe the video of MPAs in the 2018 Senate elections. The FIA will also make recommendations on sending anti-corruption. It should be noted that in the 2018 Senate elections, a video came out regarding the purchase of 20 PTI Members of Provincial Assembly (MPAs) of KP. In the video, the MPAs could be seen counting notes and putting them in bags.
Covid-19 deals blow to polio eradication effort PESHAWAR AGENCIES
After decades of work, polio had been wiped out almost everywhere in the world. All that was left were pockets in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Medical experts hoped 2020 would be the last year that the main form of the virus, which can permanently paralyze or cause death, posed a threat. The coronavirus pandemic put a halt to that progress. In March, house-to-house vaccination teams working across Pakistan were forced to stop their work because of Covid-19. As a result, polio resurged, including a mutated form of the virus. It has now been detected in samples taken from sewers in 74% of Pakistan in late 2020, up from just 13% in early 2018. “Now the virus isn’t just in select pockets. The risk is everywhere” in the country, said Rana Safdar, the doctor in charge of Pakistan’s polio campaign. The decadeslong battle to eradicate polio around the world is one of the most ambitious and expensive public-health campaigns in history. The mass-vaccination drive and its progress toward arresting a malady that has disabled or killed millions of people point to the success possible in the efforts to inoculate people around the world against Covid-19. But even with an established vaccine, billions of dollars invested and international support, the polio effort has struggled. And in a cruel twist, the coronavirus pandemic has pushed the polio fight off course. “The pandemic has been at least a oneyear setback” to the polio eradication goal, said Bill Gates, whose charitable foundation is a major funder of the effort. Vaccination teams resumed polio inoculations in Pakistan in September. They confronted both a reinvigorated poliovirus and psychological resistance to vaccinations
worsened by grievances over the economic damage of Covid-19 lockdowns. Those problems added to the old hurdles of misinformation and concerns the polio drops violate Islamic dietary laws or were a conspiracy to harm Muslims. Sitting on the steps of a kitchenware shop in a polio hot spot in the northwest city of Peshawar, Watan Dost spoke to a vaccination team accompanied by an Islamic cleric for an hour as they tried to persuade him to allow his four children to get the free inoculation. They failed. “It is fate, God’s will. If my child gets paralyzed, so be it,” said Dost. “Why would I give my child medicine if he isn’t sick?” Around him, inner-city Peshawar’s winding alleyways provide the conditions in which the virus thrives: rows of rickety homes packed with large extended families, and open sewers running alongside footpaths where children, some barefoot, play. The virus is carried in faeces and primarily infects young children after they touch contaminated water or dirt and then put their fingers in their mouths. From there, the virus can invade the brain and spinal cord, leading to paralysis and, in some cases, death. Adults are less at risk of infection, because of less exposure to the sewage and a greater likelihood of being vaccinated. Historical polio outbreaks share similarities with the current coronavirus pandemic. In the late 1940s, polio waves in the U.S. disabled an average of more than 35,000 people each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Parents were frightened to let their children play outside in the warm summer months when the virus was spreading most. Infected children were isolated. Public health officials instituted travel restrictions between affected cities and quarantines in places where polio was diagnosed, and they learned that
asymptomatic carriers could spread the virus. During a 1934 epidemic in Los Angeles, 5% of doctors and 11% of nurses who treated polio patients contracted the disease. Officials say that, as with polio, Covid19 won’t be tamed until vaccines are distributed globally with near-universal coverage, especially with the rise of new viral variants that are spreading quickly around the world. The March of Dimes—founded by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who himself was diagnosed with polio—funded development of the first vaccines, which were created in the 1950s. Polio numbers in the U.S. fell off dramatically, with the last recorded case in 1979, although it remains standard for children to be inoculated. Around the world, infections were still widespread. Rotary International and the United Nations established the Global Polio Eradication Initiative in 1988. That year, 350,000 people across 125 countries were paralyzed by the infection. The group aimed to make polio the second human disease after smallpox to be vanquished. The alliance was joined later by more partners including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and it has poured more than $17.3 billion into the cause, including $1.2 billion for efforts in Pakistan since 2016. By the start of 2020, the virus had been largely eliminated. Vaccination teams were pushing through final areas that weren’t protected, especially because incomplete coverage can lead to both a resurgence of the main and most dangerous form of the virus, which is called the “wild” virus, and also a mutated virus that can be fostered by the type of vaccine used outside the U.S. and other developed countries. That vaccine uses a weakened, live virus, and is given by drops into the patient’s mouth and requires multiple doses. (In the U.S., the vaccine uses a killed virus that is
injected, also with several doses.) The oral vaccine is easier to administer and doesn’t require needles, and provides better immunity protection for the community in areas where the virus is widely circulating. But the oral vaccine puts the weakened live virus back into sewage—emitted by the inoculated person—that under rare circumstances can mutate and cause harm to children who aren’t immunized. While the wild form of the virus remains only in Pakistan and Afghanistan, the vaccine-derived, mutated form has been a growing danger there and in other countries, mostly in Africa. In November, the World Health Organization issued an emergency use recommendation for a new oral vaccine that uses a form of the live virus less likely to mutate and become a danger. In Pakistan, wild cases surged in 2019 amid misinformation that stopped inoculations. In 2020, after vaccination campaigns were postponed or teams temporarily shifted to focus on the Covid-19 pandemic, the wild cases spread to new parts of the country and vaccine-derived cases showed an alarming increase. An independent panel of global health experts who monitor polio eradication efforts issued a report in July warning the program in Pakistan needed to broaden its approach, such as by offering services in addition to distributing the polio drops. “If those changes do not get rolling, the wheels will come off the Pakistan bus,” the panel wrote. Late last year, officials with the Global Polio Eradication Initiative warned that resources diverted to fight Covid-19 had left the global polio effort’s budget in 2020 and 2021 short by up to $400 million. When efforts restarted in Pakistan, more than a quarter of a million vaccinators, mostly women, fanned out across the country. They navigated slums and trekked through rural areas, waded through monsoon floodwaters and climbed to remote mountain
villages to reach the nation’s 40 million children under 5 years old. One of their biggest problems was online misinformation, especially on Facebook and WhatsApp. Pakistani officials said elements of the misinformation appear organized, and that it soars when scheduled vaccination campaigns are on. Antivaccine material from overseas, including from the U.S., subtitled in the local language of Urdu, is also passed around. Videos originating in Peshawar in April 2019 showed children fainting, vomiting and holding their stomachs in pain after receiving polio drops. The fake videos boomeranged around the country on Facebook and WhatsApp. Parents of children who had received the inoculation that day panicked, rushing 45,000 children to hospitals in Peshawar, overwhelming the facilities. Pakistan had to suspend its campaign for eight months while it assured parents that no children had died in Peshawar that day. Still, some cling to that myth. “India eradicated polio when there was no WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook, and no Taliban,” said Aziz Memon, head of Rotary in Pakistan, referring to the added challenge presented by the misinformation. The neighbouring country, which shares similar levels of poverty and has more than six times the population, eliminated the poliovirus in 2011. Last year, the wild virus was also declared eliminated from the continent of Africa. Facebook announced this week that it will now remove certain false claims about vaccines, including posts saying vaccines aren’t effective or dangerous. It was already deleting content that could lead to offline harm, such as posts that called polio vaccinators CIA agents. Pakistan’s polio program has a team countering digital falsehoods in real-time and pushing positive messages about the vaccine on social media.
Thursday, 18 February, 2021
04 NEWS
ISLAMABAD
BuzDAr GIveS ApprovAl to revAmp DGpr to meet moDern-DAy neeDS LAHORe
p
STAFF REPORT
UNJAB Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar on Wednesday accorded approval to revamp the province’s Directorate General Public Relations (DGPR) department. The approval was granted at a meeting to review the future roadmap, which was attended by Provincial Finance Minister Hashim Jawan Bakht, Special Assistant to Punjab Chief Minister Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, provincial chief secretary, and chairmen of DGPR and P&D. The CM approved procurement of two digital satellite news gathering (DSNG) vans along with the establishment of a state-ofthe-art studio, besides technologising four directorates to meet the modern-day needs. It was decided in the meeting that the print media, electronic media, digital media, administration, advertisement, legal and information technology sections will be rejigged and all the directorates will be provided with the latest information and communication technology tools to perform optimally. It was
also decided to grant a special allowance of 25 per cent of basic pay to the officers and officials of the department. The chief minister directed that the cabinet standing committee for finance and development will give final recommendations after a detailed review. He also approved monetisation policy for the DGPR employees to procure leased vehicles from the Bank of Punjab. He directed that the estimates for modernisation and improvement in the DGPR building be collected from Infrastructure Development Authority (IDA). The participants also deliberated over the proposal of a media tower's construction in the DGPR department through a publicprivate partnership. The CM also directed to ensure consultation before initiating the proposal of the chief minister’s internship programme for young media graduates. Buzdar said, “The multifarious importance of the DGPR department has increased over the time and every sort of resources are being provided to modernise the department for meeting the emerging
challenges of the 21st century. The information and communications technology boom has brought an ever-increasing globalised information revolution. That is
why, good command over the use of digital media and IT tools is imperative for the DGPR officials. The department will be revamped to meet the electronic and so-
Seven die in truck-passenger coach collision due to fog
SC seeks zoning rules from CDA IsLAMABAd TLTP
While refusing stay order against the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) verdict to restore NOC to Park View City Housing Society, the Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday sought zoning rules from the Capital Development Authority (CDA). Appearing before a threemember bench led by Justice Umer Ata Bandial, the counsel for the housing society, owned by PTI’s Aleem Khan, urged the court to grant interim relief of NOC till final decision in the matter. He alleged that the civic agency had not issued any notice to the housing society regarding construction of road despite lapse of two years. At the outset of the hearing, the court also sought a report on the road dispute between the society and the CDA, besides directing the additional attorney general (AAG) to assist the court on the matter of public interest. Justice Bandial observed the CDA was not fulfilling its duty, saying if the CDA itself had not provided housing facility, it should not harass private investors. The CDA counsel was of the view that the society has constructed an illegal road from Kurri Road to the society. Appearing before the bench, a private land owner alleged that the society not only took over his land but also attacked him, adding that employees of the society have murdered one man and injured another. To which, Justice Bandial asked the land owner to hire services of an advocate to plead the case. Justice Bandial also observed that the society was accused of political interference, policing and encroachment on private land. Later hearing of the matter was adjourned till date in office.
MIANwALI TLTP
At least seven people died and nine others got injured on Wednesday morning, when a mini-truck rammed into a passenger coach due to dense fog on the Quaidabad-Khushab Road. The police said that six men and one woman were among the dead. According to the police, the accident occurred at the Khushab Road near Mianwali, when the speeding truck collided with a van. As soon as the accident took place, the rescue teams arrived on the scene to initiate relief efforts and help shift the injured to a nearby hospital for medical treatment. Later, the Rescue officials said six persons were died on the spot after the accident and 10 others were injured. One of the injured was died during medical treatment, raising the death toll to seven.
cial media challenges.” Earlier, secretary information briefed the participants about the department’s performance and modernisation plans.
LAHORE: A view of traffic amid dense fog in the provincial capital. ZubAIR MEhFOOZ
Three siblings burnt with acid in Faisalabad FAIsALABAd TLTP
In a horrific incident, an unknown person threw acid on three siblings in Faisalabad’s Karkhana Bazaar area on Wednesday morning. According to rescue officials, the three victims sustained burn wounds as a result of the acid attack and were shifted to Allied Hospital for medical attention. The man who poured acid over them managed to flee. The siblings were identified as 17-year-old Amina, 14-year-old Khadija and 12-year-old Yousuf.
Earlier on Friday last, a person from transgender community suffered severe burns after an accused threw acid on him at Tibbi Mochi village in Kot Addu, police said. A man namely Muzammil, who happened to be a friend of transgender Sarfraz alias Chandni, was involved in the attack, police said adding that he has been arrested after he had escaped from the crime scene. The injured was rushed to a nearby hospital, however, doctors advised to shift him to the Burn Unit of Nishtar Hospital in Multan. He had suffered burns in his face with damage to eyes and hands.
Information hub launched in federal capital
Police said they have registered an FIR under relevant sections relating to offense involving acid and pledged to get him punished as per law. The National Assembly had passed the Acid Control and Acid Crime Prevention Bill, 2011, which says that offenders would have to face a minimum of 14 years to maximum life imprisonment along with a fine of Rs1 million. Then, in 2018, the assembly unanimously passed the Acid and Burn Crime Bill, 2017, which offers free medical treatment and rehabilitation for survivors, besides strict punishment for the accused.
Govt reduces passport fee IsLAMABAd INP
The federal government on Wednesday notified a cut in the fee of a 10-year validity passport after Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed announced the decision a day before. According to the notification, the fee of a 10-year validity passport is set at Rs4500 under the normal procedure and Rs7500 under the urgent procedure. Earlier, according to the online portal of the Directorate General of Immigration and Passports, Rs5400 were charged for the routine process of a 10-year passport while Rs9000 were charged for the urgent procedure. The charges for the five-year validity passport remained unchanged as per the notification. The authorities would charge Rs3000 for the routine process of a five-year passport while Rs5000 would be charged for the urgent process.
Honeybee research lab inaugurated as beekeeping becomes thriving business IsLAMABAd
News desk
STAFF REPORT
DND Thought Centre, an information hub, has been launched in Islamabad with the purpose of providing a readily accessible database of analytical and critical writings, researches, and general content about Central Asia, Eastern Europe, and South Asia. This will provide researchers, academia, decision-makers, and parliamentarians of the regions an ability to link, and will carry out its work with researchers and analysts who are Masters and PhD students, PhD Candidates and holders of doctoral degrees, administrative personnel, and seasoned diplomats. This centre is a wing of the DND news agency, which aims at providing strategic solutions through public diplomacy.
As commercial beekeeping is fast becoming a thriving business in rural areas, Pakistan has established a Honeybee Research Laboratory with the cooperation of Turkey to bolster the production of quality honey in the country. The laboratory was inaugurated at a ceremony at the National Agriculture Research Centre here on Wednesday. Speaking on the occasion, Turkish Ambassador to Pakistan
Ihsan Mustafa Yurdakul expressed the commitment to further promote cooperation with Pakistan in different fields. He pointed out that all the countries in the world are faced with the issue of food security. He said both Pakistan and Turkey can work together to ensure their food security. In his remarks on the occasion, Pakistan Agriculture Research Council Chairman Muhammad Azeem Khan thanked for the Turkish assistance in the establishment of the laboratory. He said Pakistan is produc-
ing quality honey and the establishment of the laboratory will help it further enhance the production of quality honey as per the modern standards. Azeem informed that training of beekeepers is part of Pakistan-Turkey cooperation. He said, “We can get better price of our honey in the world market by acquiring the international certification.” According to the All Pakistan Beekeepers Trade and Exporters Association (APBTEA), besides providing new job opportunities to thousands of men
and women, the beekeeping business is helping the country earn foreign exchange through exports, mainly to Middle Eastern countries. Around $6 million in foreign exchange is earned annually through honey exports to Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, said the association. Pakistan currently produces around 7,500 metric tons of honey annually, with more than 8,000 beekeepers rearing exotic species in one million beehives, according to the Honeybee Research Institute (HBRI).
Thursday, 18 February, 2021
ISLAMABAD
NEWS
PM proposes fivepoint agenda to end poverty, hunger contInueD froM pAge 01 He pointed out that 600 million people suffered from hunger even as the global population was about to hit eight billion, adding that more than 20 countries were food insecure, while the World Food Programme had warned of the danger of famine in some of the poorest countries and conflict zones. “The world faces multiple challenges in recovering from the pandemic and achieving [the] vital first two sustainable development goals (SDGs) — no poverty and zero hunger,” Imran said. He also shared with participants Pakistan’s experiences and efforts to mitigate the sufferings of poor people, including the historic $8 billion relief package given by his government during the Covid-19 pandemic. “We need a revolution in our vision of our future. The Covid-19 pandemic and the climate crisis should drive home the message to all rich and poor, weak or powerful that their destinies are intertwined. We will perish or survive together,” he underscored. He pointed out that the pre-existing strategies on regional or global domination, political advantages of foreign intervention and occupation, and the oppression of peoples are “outdated and will soon be seen as irrelevant”. He highlighted that his government’s Ehsaas Programme helped the poor people and farmers of the nation who were affected by the pandemic and locust attacks on farms. “We are also engaged in one of the largest reforestation programmes in the world [through which] we plan to plant 10 billion trees over the next three years,” he said, adding that Pakistan would also set aside eight large areas to build national reserves or parks.
DRAP approves licencing, marketing of CanSinoBIO vaccine ISLAMABAD APP
The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has granted 'emergency use approval' to the CanSinoBIO Recombinant Covid-19 Vaccine Adenovirus Type 5 Vector (Ad5-nCoV) and its marketing through private and public sector. According to a DRAP official, the approval has been granted following the communication regarding interim analysis of the global phase III clinical trial of Ad5-nCoV to the health ministry by the Independent Data Monitoring Committee (IDMC). He said that the Ad5-nCoV has successfully met its prespecified primary safety and efficacy criteria in the interim analysis. "There were no vaccinerelated serious adverse events (SAE) and therefore CanSinoBIO has been allowed by IDMC to continue to advance the global phase III clinical trial of the Ad5-nCoV." The final CanSino Biologics Inc’s experimental coronavirus vaccine stage clinical trial had an efficacy rate of 65.7pc at preventing symptomatic cases based on an analysis of 30,000 global participants. The vaccine was 90.98pc effective in preventing severe disease. In the Pakistan subset, efficacy at preventing symptomatic cases is 74.8pc and 100pc at preventing severe disease. A vaccine needs to afford at least a 50pc protection rate to be considered effective, as mandated by the world’s leading drug regulators and the World Health Organisation (WHO). This phase III clinical trial of Ad5-nCoV is a global multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled, and adaptive designed phase clinical trials are being conducted to evaluate the efficacy, safety and immunogenicity of the Ad5nCoV in adults over 18 years of age. All participants received a single dose of either Ad5-nCoV or a placebo vaccine on Day 0 and followed to monitor vaccine candidate efficacy and incidence of SAE for a duration of 52 weeks.
05
PPP's YOUSUF MURtAzA BAlOCh wINS KARAChI BY-POll KArAcHI
Y
STAFF REPORT
OUSUF Murtaza Baloch of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) won the by-election held for the Sindh Assembly’s constituency PS-88 (Malir-II) on Wednesday, according to unofficial results. According to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Baloch secured more than 24,000 votes, followed by Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan’s (TLP) Syed Kashif Ali Shah with a little over 6,000 votes. Jan Sher Junejo of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) trailed behind with close to 5,000 votes. Baloch is the son of Ghulam Murtaza Baloch who
had won the seat in the 2018 general elections by bagging more than 22,000 votes against Muhammad Rizwan Khan of the PTI who got 16,386 votes. The seat fell vacant after Baloch died of Covid-19 in June last. The constituency that mainly consists of the city’s suburbs experienced an aggressive election campaign from all political parties, especially the PPP and the PTI. Polling for the election was marred by claims of vote-rigging and violence as all contesting parties traded charges against each other. Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah congratulated Baloch on his victory and said Malir was the party’s stronghold. “The people of PS-88 have expressed confidence in the party’s leadership,” he said.
PTA asks FBR to stop illegal import of GSM boosters ISLAMABAD GHULAM ABBAS
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has asked the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to stop illegal import of GSM boosters, as the practice is causing an interference in frequency bands of mobile companies, besides deteriorating quality of mobile services in the area these amplifiers are installed in. "It has been observed through field experience, complaints from operators and subsequent field
monitoring by Frequency Allocation Board (FAB) that there is an increase in use of substandard GSM boosters/amplifiers/repeaters by the general public,” a PTA letter sent to the FBR read. "Only licenced cellular mobile operators (CMOs) are authorised to install such devices at the users' premises." The PTA said that the majority of the GSM amplifiers being installed are Chinese made and do not have manufacturer and model numbers written on them. The letter was written after
CMOs had informed PTA that around 25pc of complaints regarding poor quality of signals were due to the GSM amplifiers installed in those areas. CMOs also stated that the devices were being offered through online shopping, wherein the general public purchases such equipment while shipment of the same is delivered after custom clearance. The letter requested the FBR to issue instructions to all their domains to allow import of GSM amplifiers by CMOs only.
UAE keen to invest in Pakistan's energy sector: envoy ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT
Energy Minister Omar Ayub Khan on Wednesday met Ambassador of United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Pakistan Hamad Obaid Ibrahim Salem Al-Zaabi to discuss ongoing cooperation in the petroleum sector and explore priority areas of mutual interest in the energy sector. During the meeting, Omar Ayub congratulated and lauded the UAE leadership for sending a space mission 'Amal' to Mars and its successful entry into Mars' orbit. Thanking and extending his gratitude for the minister's pleasant remarks, the envoy expressed the UAE's keenness of further its investments in Pakistan's energy sector. He said collaboration in the energy sector would provide an impetus to economic ties between the two brotherly countries. Earlier this week, the UAE ambassador had expressed a keen interest to invest in the health and construction sectors of Punjab. The UAE ambassador had called on Punjab Chief
Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar on Monday to discuss ways promote bilateral relations. "The UAE companies are are ready to invest in SEZs in Pakistan," he had said. "A UAE visa centre will also be opened soon in Lahore." Meanwhile, in a separate meeting with Ambassador of Czech Republic Tomas Smetanka on Wednesday, Omar Ayub said the government was committed to diversifying the outlook of the energy market while making it more competitive and efficient. Referring to the exploration and production activities, the minister said the government has recently carried out the bidding of 15 oil and gas blocks; minimum investment in these blocks will be over $21 million in three years. He said the government will be offering more new oil and gas blocks by the end of this year. “The government is focusing on exploiting indigenous resources for electricity generation,” he added. During the meeting, the Czech ambassador explored the areas of mutual interest in the energy sector, including investment in the oil sector and business in the LNG supply chain for a group of Czech companies visiting Pakistan by the end of next month.
10 airlines join hands with UNICEF to support vaccine roll-out ISLAMABAD: The world’s leading airlines are backing a landmark UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) initiative to prioritise delivery of Covid-19 vaccines, essential medicines and other critical supplies across the globe. According to a statement, more than 10 airlines are signing agreements with the UN agency to support its ‘Humanitarian Airfreight Initiative’, which will also act as a global logistics preparedness mechanism for other humanitarian and health crises over the longer term. “Delivery of these life-saving vaccines is a monumental and complex undertaking, considering the sheer volumes that need to be transported, the cold chain requirements, the number of expected deliveries and the diversity of routes,” said Etleva Kadilli, Director of UNICEF Supply Division. Airlines covering routes to over 100 countries will support the COVAX Facility – the global effort aimed at equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines. Beginning this year and subject to all requirements being met and allocation plans finalized, 145 countries will receive doses to immunize an average of three per cent of their populations. This is according to the COVAX facility’s first-round allocation plan. In addition to prioritizing the shipments of life-saving supplies, the airlines will take measures, such as temperature control and security, while also adding freight capacity to routes, as needed. UNICEF stressed that their commitments are essential to the “timely and secure delivery” of vaccines and critical supplies. “Safe, timely and efficient transportation of life-saving supplies is critical to supporting access to essential services for children and families”, said UNICEF. Moreover, COVAX deliveries and the subsequent vaccination of frontline workers will support health and social care systems to safely resume these critical services. TLTP
ECP maintains Senate elections should only be held through secret ballot contInueD froM pAge 01 “Money earned from narcotics and other black means are being used to buy and sell votes,” he told the court, referring to the new system of buying votes as exposed by the video leaked recently from the 2018 elections. “The fate of the country is in the ECP’s hands, it should understand its responsibility,” CJP Ahmed said. He further asked whether the CEC had read the court’s judgement in the case related to the Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) to which the ECP official replied in the negative. “If you haven’t read such an important judgement, what should we talk about with
you? The judgement has laid out the full process for holding elections,” the CJP said. At this point, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) advocate general pointed out that the court had already given a judgment regarding the matter of keeping the votes secret. Based on this precedent, he argued that the e Constitution cannot be read separately. “Action on every part of the election process is done [on an] overall basis,” he maintained. Justice Umar Ata Bandial said the courts wanted to see the ECP as a “completely independent” institution. Justice Yahya Afridi questioned why elections were needed if there was to be proportional representation.
The court adjourned the hearing of the case till tomorrow. Meanwhile, ECP has kickstarted the scrutiny of nomination papers submitted by candidates for the March 3 Senate elections. The process will continue till Thursday, February 18. As per details, a total of 170 candidates have filed their nomination papers with the ECP among which 29 are from Punjab, 39 from Sindh, 51 from KP, 41 from Balochistan, and 10 are from the federal capital. The nomination papers of PPP’s Saleem Mandviwala and Sadiq Memon have been accepted. Moreover, PPP’s Sherry Rehman’s nomi-
cMYK
nation papers were accepted for the general seat and Palwasha Khan’s for the women’s seat. Provincial Election Commissioner (PEC) Sharifullah and the KP Senate election returning officer (RO) have completed scrutiny of nomination papers of Farhatullah Babar, Zubair Ali, Rehan Alam Khan, Muhammad Humayun Mohmand, Muhammad Iqbal Khalil, Dost Muhammad Khan, Shaukat Jamal and Muhammad Ali Saif. Likewise, on general seats, scrutiny of nomination papers of Malik Najab Gul Khalil, Farhatullah Babar, Hidayatullah Khan, Faisal Saleemur Rehman, Abbas Afridi, Dost Muhammad Khan, Najiullah Khattak, Hamidul Haq and Ataur Rehman completed.
Similarly, on women seats, the scrutiny of nomination papers of nine candidates including Tasleem Begum, Saima Khalid Hameeda Shahid and Asmat Ara Khattak were completed besides all candidates for reserved minority seat. In order to ensure transparency in the Senate polls, a code of conduct has also been prepared by the ECP. In this regard, the ECP has invited political parties to consult on the code of conduct on February 22 which will be issued after consultation from all political parties, the statement notified. It has to be followed by political parties, candidates, voters, and election agents read a statement issued by the commission.
Thursday, 18 February, 2021
06 COMMENT
Hockey in Politics
Little justification for celebration The agreement with IMF
Playing to win
F
INALLy Pakistan and IMF have reached an agreement on reforms which would release around $500 million. According to the IMF statement, the Pakistani authorities remain committed to ambitious policy actions and structural reforms to strengthen economic resilience, advance sustainable growth, and achieve the EFF’s medium-term objectives. Finance Minister Dr Hafeez Sheikh has called it a good development for Pakistan. Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar hopes the country’s economy, which according to him had successfully gone through a stabilization phase, would now enter the growth period. There are a lot of questions about the claims. First, about where the economy currently stands. Pakistan has no doubt made progress in the industrial sector which has shown growth during the last six months. What must not be forgotten however is that in April last year industrial production had gone down 40 percent. A low base effect has played a role in the determination of 8 percent growth. Compared to growth figures three years back, however, the increase is only 3 percent. yes, the remittances have increased by 19 percent. What is worrisome is that in the case of remittances from the Gulf the rate of increase is steadily declining, reaching 6 percent now. Meanwhile agriculture has undergone historic losses. Cotton crop has suffered the most with production coming down to 34 percent, and less than 60 percent if compared to the highest record of production. Shortages in agricultural products have led to increases in imports, creating a trade deficit which is going to increase further with the oil price increasing to $61 per barrel. It may not be possible to achieve the tax revenue target. The government will have to shore up a yawning fiscal deficit by imposing more taxes and seeking costly loans. As the country enters the IMF programme, it will be required to raise power, gas and petrol prices and follow policies that restrict growth and cause more unemployment. Even if the interest rate is not hiked, It may not remain possible to subsidize loans to export industries or offer relief by removing ‘peak hours’ electricity rate. No more overriding Ogra summaries seeking increases in petrol rates. There is little hope of the PTI government being able to provide relief to the common man during the rest of its tenure.
Dr FariD a. Malik
M
y friend Sardar Ayaz Sadiq made an interesting revelation last Sunday during a press conference with Khawaja Saad Rafique, he said; “We are playing hockey, not cricket. We will dribble, dodge and pass but will finally hit the goal post or the net.” In our schooldays I have played table tennis with Ayaz but not hockey. I do not even know about his credentials in this game of dribbling and dodging, and he may have learnt it after joining Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N). Coming from a sports family we were told that, ‘Cricket is by chance, Football by power, Hockey by Chalaki ( deceit and dodging)’. I respect his honesty, for indeed the Sharifs introduced this new trend in political arena, and before them the Chaudhrys of Gujrat had monopolized this brand of politics but at a smaller scale. At best Chaudhry Zahur Elahi, the founder of this dynasty, managed to become a federal minister for a few days while his son Shujaat Hussain remained a part of the Cabinet, finally landing in the position of the Prime Minister for a short period. Chaudhry Pervez Elahi rose to be the Chief Minister of Punjab. While the Chaudhrys have remained loyal to their benefactors and creators, the Sharifs have tried to outsmart them while continuing with their politics of self-interest. Agencies have dossiers on their corruption yet they dare to defy, hoping for a miracle to save them. Now they have openly
Presidential reference
The sifarish culture
Why not get the ECP to do the job in the first place?
Sifarish makes nonsense of merit, but is rooted in our family values
T
HE direction of the Supreme Court to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to ensure the sanctity of the upcoming Senate election seems something of a statement of the obvious, for that is what the ECP is supposed to do: hold fair polls, which mean polls in which voters do not sell their vote. In Tuesday’s proceedings, the Supreme Court also got the ECP to admit that it had taken cognizance of the making public of a video purportedly showing KP MPAs selling their votes in the 2018 Senate elections. The members of the bench did not express any support for an open ballot by the Senate, and by asking the ECP to examine the matter; the Supreme Court had put up its guard against the government making it give it its seal of approval. There seems an odd reluctance by both the government and the Supreme Court to deal firmly with the matter. The government seems to want to be able to shift the blame from itself, by promulgating an ordinance, as well as moving a reference before the Supreme Court, not so much for vote-selling by its MPAs, as for the inaction on its part. And if the Supreme Court was going to dump everything in the lap of the ECP, it could very well have done so in the beginning of the hearing, and ruled that it did not have jurisdiction until the ECP had not passed an order, and then only if an appeal was preferred against it. The government should realize that it should not put the Supreme Court in the position it has, by bringing before it an essentially party matter. Since 2013, and thus for the 2015 and 2018 Senate elections, the PTI has been in the majority in the KP Assembly, which means that its stalwarts were voters in these elections, and any voteselling should have been stopped by the PTI itself, and also by the ECP. For the former to make the Supreme Court get involved is not the best of strategies. It is for the Supreme Court to deliver a judgment which saves the credibility of the entire judiciary.
Zainab naZir
W
E are at the mercy of ‘sifarish’. Something so deleterious yet so widespread. It forces one to question his sanity and ask, “Why are we injecting this poison in our society as if our lives depend on it?” We can hide behind different psychological and cultural explanations of this social injustice and mockery of the merit system. How long will we continue to fool ourselves? We have started to resemble dumb-bells. The consanguinity between structural problems of an administrative system and a sifarish-based culture is a synergetic one. Sifarish is one aspect of malign dishonesty that has corrupted our system, and it goes back a long way. There is hardly any field or institution left out in Pakistan which is free from sifarish by self-seeking people. From educational institutions to hospitals, from the public sector to the private sector, from politicians to police officers; personal relations count everywhere. Consequently, our nation is deprived of the services and intellect of the intelligent. Democracy in our country has never been smooth. The culture of sifarish is discriminatory and unscrupulous in a democracy and is everywhere by definition iniquitous. It has hampered the process of progress and development in Pakistan. Whenever the evil of sifarish is discussed, the administrative system rightly or
Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami
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admitted their game of Chalaki, which they play very well. Ever since Mian Sahib landed in London no one knows about his latest platelet count. Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah played billiards, the game of gentlemen. As President of the All-India Muslim League, he delivered Pakistan through honest hard work. Singlehandedly he overcame the Hindu politics of chalaki. I.H. Ishpahani, who was the Quaid’s personal assistant, wrote that “Only when I worked with the Quaid, I realized that there could be honesty in politics as well”. The Father of the Nation must be turning in his grave at the current state of his party. Honesty and integrity were the hallmark of our politics, before the game of hockey was introduced into the political arena by the dictators and usurpers, and now their leftovers have the audacity to proclaim their deceit publicly on the electronic media and in the press conferences. Their Chalaki no longer sells, those days are over. Even by the standards of hockey, which is our national game, the performance of the PML(N) has been dismal. Instead of being led by goal-scoring spearheads like Hassan Sardar and Rashid Junior who were known for their skills once they had the ball in the circle ( ‘D’) of the opponent, their leadership has been scoring against their own nation through massive corruption. Dribbling and passing without a centre-forward who can score is counterproductive, as has been the case in the land of the pure for the last 40 years. The Sharifs, Zardaris and the Maulana are used to playing with the help of the umpires, together with outside support which is no longer there for them. The entire opposition leadership stands exposed. Despite the lacklustre performance of the current government, no one is willing to support the corrupt. People feel that the country is moving in the right direction though slowly. Institutional damage takes time for its correction, it is an arduous task. Recently one of the best grass hockey grounds (Jaffer Memorial) at Aitchison College has been coverted to astroturf. Chalaki in hockey has now given way to fitness and speed, and dribbling and dodging is a thing of the past. There was time when we were the world champions in our national sport. When Air Marshal Noor Khan introduced the World Cup, the final was played at Lahore between Pakistan Senior and Junior teams as they outclassed the others. It was a thrilling encounter at the Gaddafi Stadium. The Junior side was the first to score but then the Seniors equalized and won. Those were days of glory before the Zia Dark Ages engulfed the land of the pure with its third-
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wrongly, becomes the focus of attention; not necessarily due to its rampancy but because of the common belief that “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”. It is surprising that people who consider themselves righteous and above any monetary temptations think that there is nothing inapt about exercising sifarish for appointments, admissions, transfers, postings and jobs. It has undoubtedly become a part of our psyche. The cancer of sifarish has become an accepted social norm. This culture has been living deep in our roots and flowing through the veins of all levels of private and public institutions. The more social connections people have, the more attention and respect they receive for a sifarish. By promoting sifarish over calibre and putting square pegs in round holes, we have promoted mediocrity and ineptitude and this is the main reason for our moral and intellectual decline. Today, our youth has accepted the fact that no matter how qualified they are, they cannot get a job without sifarish. The poor and sick have accepted the fact that they cannot get a satisfactory treatment without sifarish. The children of the middle-class people have digested the fact that they cannot get admissions in the top institutions without sifarish. Unfortunately, sifarish is omnipresent in our police department as well. This state of affairs is very alarming and does not offer anything good for the stability of our nation. It is quite visible that the people in authority are flagrantly indulging in favouritism, nepotism and promoting the culture of sifarish, least caring about merit. Despite all speaking the same language about merit as the only yardstick to measure the excellence of candidates for state service, the system of sifarish goes on in our government and society. Fortunately, in Pakistan, the CSS is still one of those few paths which provides equal opportunities to all, allows people to compete on merit and climb the ladder of social cachet.
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rate political players who can only score against their own team. I suggest that Sardar Sahib should visit his school ground to get updated on the Astroturf game. The ‘Abba Ji’ brand of hockey is now history. 4 February 2021 will go down in history as a dark day for democracy. While the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) leadership met in the capital its elected members tried to disrupt the proceedings of Parliament. First they threatened to resign, when their bluff was called they resorted to hooliganism Gullu Butt-style. A bill can be passed with a simple majority, while a constitutional amendment requires a twothirds majority, which the party in power does not have. What is the opposition afraid of if they have the votes? It seems the house is divided, and the politics of confrontation is not easy. Only the PPP understands the hurdles of this approach as it is the only genuine political entity within the PDM’s ranks, but perhaps hockey is not their game. Zardari once claimed to be a polo player, and he even kept horses in the Prime Minister’s House. The Opposition has decided on a Long March in March. It will be interesting as the Maulana wants to take on Rawalpindi instead of Islamabad. As a very seasoned marcher, I see no potential or thunder in this march. The Long March of 2007 for the restoration of the judiciary was very ably led by Comrade Aitzaz Ahsan. He has a great political mind. So far he has not thrown his weight behind this ill-planned protest led by the corrupt and frustrated political players. Nawaz Sharif has always led by proxy while the Maulana relies on hidden support. Chaudhry Aitzaz will be the man to watch, a lot rests on his strategy. In the game of hockey the centre-half position is very important as he feeds the forwards who then have to score, so he is considered to be the pivot of the game. I consider Comrade Aitzaz to be one of the most outstanding centre-halves of politics of our times. With no credible forward players to score, the game will played in the midfield only. In the words of Sardar Sahib, we will dribble and dodge till we can throw the ball into the net but for that to happen the five forwards have to be in position (left-out, left-in, centreforward, right-in, right-out ) to score. Where are the forwards? Mian Nawaz Sharif is in London, trying to get his lost platelets back, Shahbaz Sharif is in the jail for money-laundering, Zardari is avoiding conviction through medical reports and expensive lawyers, so this leaves the field open for the Maulana as both Maryam and Bilawal are yet to build the stamina for the leadership run. Will Comrade Aitzaz feed the ball to the Maulana to score? I don’t think so. The writer is ex-Chairman, Pakistan Science Foundation. He can be contacted at: fmaliks@hotmail.com.
But, the aspiring youth is sometimes afraid to take the exam because there is no guarantee that they will not be politically and socially victimized even after acing the exam on merit. In today’s world, honesty has become a rare attribute and integrity is almost de trop. One of the biggest challenges of Pakistan is to end this culture of sifarish. Our political parties are fragile and undemocratic in nature. Cases of irregularities, mal-administration, nepotism, embezzlement of public funds and corruption are making us weak. The political chaos in our country is the result of this political sifarish culture. The country needs scrupulous and conscientious leadership which could have a control over all the malpractices. Sifarish or nepotism is a parasite which feeds on the family system. In order to eliminate this culture of stealing food from others, we would have to put an end to the family unit. This would be impossible for any country, especially Pakistan, which prides itself on its strong family ties and values. The benefits of a family system clearly outweigh the disadvantages no matter how hard a pill it sometimes becomes to swallow. By default, anyone in a power position would look for ways to accommodate his or her family member or friend. As we grow and experience life, without realizing, our mindset and ideology gets taken over by biases and favouritism. We become inclined towards the people related to us. We cannot defeat human nature, we cannot defy nepotism or sifarish which has become an innate part of us, and no matter how hard we try to introduce a system of merit, there will always be that guy who would appear in a whiff of smoke and take the position you thought you deserved so greatly. What is the need of the hour is that we first study the causes of sifarish and then adopt remedies which suit us. Fairness and rectitude has become an artificial concept. In our society where merit should be the key to power and status, we have many meritless people pushing themselves into power and puffing things to suit themselves. To overcome this grim situation which the country is facing, the people must join hands and the sincerest efforts must be made at all levels to kill the menace of sifarish.
We cannot defeat human nature, we cannot defy nepotism or sifarish which has become an innate part of us, and no matter how hard we try to introduce a system of merit, there will always be that guy who would appear in a whiff of smoke and take the position you thought you deserved so greatly.
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The writer is a freelance columnist
Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk
Thursday, 18 February, 2021
COMMENT 07 Editor’s mail Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan. E-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively
Govt schools in total neglect
Extracting the price The more Pakistan highlights the Kashmir issue, the more India resorts to violence
MurtiZa ugguana
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BRAHAM Lincoln said, you can fool all the people some of the time, and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time, which rightly describes the situation of Kashmir. How long will India fool the world about the Kashmir issue? Or will the brutalities of the Indian forces remain unchecked in the Age of Information? February 5 is marked across the world to pay homage to the Kashmiri people who have been resisting the fascist policies of India since 1947. Our leadership marked this day with great zeal. The Prime Minister of Pakistan addressed a mammoth rally in Kotli to highlight the sufferings of the voiceless people of Kashmir. The opposition leaders led some rallies to pay homage to the Kashmiri people. What have we achieved through marking this day since 1990? So, can we end the sufferings of Kashmiri people through holding rallies or addressing huge crowds or we need to change our plan of action for the right of self-determination of the Kashmiri people? In addition to, has Kashmir committee achieved any milestone since its formation or it is just a platform for political parties for fiery speeches? In the recent past, the interior ministry of USA issued a statement regarding Kashmir which irked our military as well as civilian leadership. It goes without saying that India has successfully equated the freedom struggle of Kashmiri people with terrorism which clearly shows our failure in the international arena .Despite the tall claims of our successive military rulers and civilian leader alike, we have miserably failed to stop India from the persecution of the Kashmiri people. Hence, our flawed strategies have further emboldened the leadership of India to suppress the voices of an already voiceless people. Also, when Imran khan took the reins of Pakistan, he offered olive branch to India about Kashmir imbroglio, but Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi rejected the offer of his counterpart. Why is the world is turning a blind eye to the persecution of the Kashmiri people in the age of secularism? Is the world ready to accept Pakistan’s concerns about Kashmir or has India successfully convinced the world through its economic clout to repudiate Pakistan’s mantra? So, instead of becoming an ambassador of Kashmir, our Prime Minister should have found anomalies in our
Kashmir policy, which has many flaws. Moreover, since 5 august 2019, Kashmiri people have been facing oppression at the hands of military personnel. They are being denied their fundamental rights. Internet service has been suspended for many months. They are not allowed to attend the funeral ceremony of their beloved ones .Kashmiri women are being raped to disgrace the people who are demanding their fundamental rights. They are using pellet guns against unarmed people which is against the dignity of humanity. While addressing the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Imran khan rebuked india for suppressing the voices of the Kashmiri people and urged the world to stop India from its dangerous policies as they might prove detrimental for the peace of South Asia. So, have our hollow promises brought any relief for the Kashmiri people, or we are waiting for a miracle to end the sufferings of this community? Moreover, some members of the House of Commons criticized Pakistan over its bad record for human rights in Azad Kashmir which clearly shows apathy of the world to the sufferings of the Kashmiri people. Why is the world paying lip service to the rights of minorities in India? There are many reasons for the bad plight of minorities in India because it is one of the leading economies of the world, one of the largest importers of arms, the second most populous country of the world and has the potential to challenge supremacy of China in this region, which is the foremost interest of West . Is the phrase ‘survival of the fittest’ still valid for the Kashmiri people who are being persecuted because they belong to a weaker section of society? Thus, our irrational policies have further exacerbated the problems of Kashmiri population. Why has Pakistan failed to solve the Kashmir conundrum? First, the world falsely believes that Pakistan harbours terrorism while India is playing a proactive role to wipe out militancy from the region. India falsely alleges that Pakistan has been providing weapons as well as finances to militant groups of Kashmir so the world is reluctant to support our narrative due to
the effective lobbying of India. Secondly, Pakistan has failed to garner support from Muslim countries regarding the Kashmir cause. They cannot afford the animosity of India due to many reasons. Despite the fact that some Muslim countries fought major wars with Israel in the 2oth Century, now they have abandoned the two-state solution forPalestine because of their own vested interests. How can we expect any relief from Muslim countries for Kashmiri people, when they themselves have a bad record in terms of human rights and freedom of speech? Thirdly, the USA has made Pakistan a scapegoat for its failure in the Afghanistan quagmire. So Pakistan doesn’t get support from the Western countries regarding this humanitarian crisis .The previous US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, said, “ The CPEC passes through disputed territory” which clearly shows the indifference of the West towards the rights of Pakistan. Fourthly, the performance of our Foreign Office has been abysmal regarding the Kashmir cause. The UNHCR issued three reports about the brutalities of Indian forces In Kashmir and exposed the true face of India while Pakistan has failed to get the support of the world over this issue. Our policymakers are in deep slumber and they are not interested to expose the nefarious designs of India through effective foreign policies. India froze the accounts of the UNHCR to punish its officials who brought utter embarrassment for the largest democracy of the world, while Pakistan’s response to this episode is deplorable. The thoughts of Bronnie Ware, as expressedin her book The Top Five Regrets Of The Dying, should be a wakeup call for our legislators. In it she said, “I wish I would had the courage to live a true life to myself, not the life others expected of me.” I wish Pakistan had the courage to deter India through its diplomatic ventures and save Kashmiris from persecution, not look towards others for support for the Kashmir cause .
Pakistan has failed to garner support from Muslim countries regarding the Kashmir cause. They cannot afford the animosity of India due to many reasons. Despite the fact that some Muslim countries fought major wars with Israel in the 2oth Century, now they have abandoned the two-state solution for Palestine because of their own vested interests. How can we expect any relief from Muslim countries for Kashmiri people, when they themselves have a bad record in terms of human rights and freedom of speech? Also, the USA has made Pakistan a scapegoat for its failure in the Afghanistan quagmire.
The writer is a freelance columnist
THE educational process has been abominably affected following incomplete renovation work at Government High School Tarr Khowaja. The school that has produced highly-skilled professionals in different walks of life is facing total neglect at the part of the authorities concerned. The Government High School with a current enrollment of 110 students is situated in Tarr Khowaja some 30 kilometers away from the coastal town Jati of district Sujawal. Tarr Khowaja the native village of the renowned scholar Dr. Ghulam Ali Allana, Environmentalist, Dr. Mansoor Khowaja, and Dr. Sumeera Aziz-completed her PHD last year from University of california carries significant importance in the district with around 95% literacy ratio. The School was set up in 1988 and Mr. Mumtaz Ali Khowaja was installed as its first headmaster who took this school to the heights of success and fame followed by Abdul Rahim Khalifa, Siddique Thaheem, Ashiq Ali Kumbar, and Ashgar Ali Khowaja who also contributed to the progress of this School. The sitting Headmaster of the School Mushtaq Khowaja told this correspondent who was also the student of this school that; He had assumed the charge a year ago and resumption of the renovation work of the building would be his priority. Qasim Ali Khowaja a teacher teaching in this school for 14 years said that; Natural disasters particularly the cyclone during the year 1999 and heavy rains in 2003 landed substantial defacement to the building but after the flash flood in 2010 the building was no more suitable for educational activities and the roof of the building was on the verge of collapse. He further said that; Following the imminent danger of collapse the school was made functional in the building of the nearby primary school. The tender for the reconstruction was approved soon and the work started in 2011. The contractor stopped the reconstruction work after the removal of the roof, giving different reasons. Two years later the roof of the building was restored with the efforts of Asghar Khowaja, the then head Master of the School. The headmaster said that; Large cracks had developed in the walls of the building and in the roof that was restored while potholes in the ground made it difficult for the students to walk, all that was a constant threat to the lives of students as well as the teachers. He further said that; The school was the only source of quality education for the 20 thousand population of union council Begna, Shah Kapoor, and Maro Bhulla Khan. Taluka education officer Muhammad Zakir Muhammadani said that; He had time after time approached the deputy commissioner District Education Officer and the Department of Works and services for construction work resumption but to no avail. Kamran KhamiSo Khawaja Sujawal
Post-colonial elitism RECENTLy, a video went viral on social media of two restaurant owners of Islamabad, who were interviewing their restaurant manager in English language and asked him to introduce himself in English, facing the camera. The reason for this nonsense was to get entertainment because they were bored. Rather he responds well enough in English, but his accent was not much perfect as the western accent. They both laughed at him saying, is this the result of his English language courses for which he was paid with a high salary. This is seriously disgusting and the sign of low mentality, to tease a man for his speaking accent in front of the camera. This video is a clear picture of bullying and harassment. It also highlights the relationship between class and language. English, the language of the elite class is seen as a marker of success and prestige. An English spoken man is considered superior over others. Some institutions mandate students to speak English language none another one. Elite class children tend to speak English by birth and all their education is done in English, so what he/she learn from it! That result in instances like the one in the restaurant. Urdu speakers are still considered as uneducated or inferior because their accent is not much perfect as the western accent. In a society, speaking English is a sign of proud and superiority. Firstly we need to change our minds about this. Instead of judging people, we should appreciate them as much. This severe issue should be resolved by taking all the required measures against it. uSwa naEEm lahorE
Radio: The real attraction WORLD Radio Day has been celebrated every 13 February. Kudos to the entire UNESCO group for this new interesting initiative. Now, it is understandable that this special big day has been celebrated and welcomed by almost all the people across the world stage. Even many a political bigwig across the international community has been fondly praising the importance of the radio. I hopefully think the many of the mainstream and world-famous TV channels had started their forays with launching many radio programmes way back in the past. In fact, one can only feel the new breeze emerging from the radio programmes. Incidentally, the timing of this email letter writing coincided with some interesting tidbits being broadcast on radio from outside my house. Interestingly, I have studied that the radio has been playing a very crucial role in the matter of making great communication with ships and even aeroplanes through radio signals. There has been the wide spread of radio listeners in my native areas like Tuticorin, Korkai, Tiruchendur, Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu. All these years down the road, there has been no ending of the passion of the people. Most of them in Tuticorin,Tirunelveli, Tiruchendur, Coimbatore, Chennai, Mumbai and Hyderabad have long been getting their favorite newspapers and magazines even from outside their dwelling areas by means of special subscriptions and exclusive inter-state delivery system. In Asia, countries like Sri Lanka, meaning those channel owners, have been successfully running Tamil FM radio stations aimed at the locals and the diaspora of fans abroad. Likewise, the availability of English newspapers and magazines from the outside countries must be made even much easier across the Asian area and at the world stage. Maybe, call it the transborder newsstand for the global knowledge! The radio has been the real attraction to all. During my 1998 college days in Tiruchendur, the local radio stations had played a big role in moulding my English knowledge through daily news bulletins. Apart from my family and others, I have my best elder friend constantly following all the radio programmes, thereby having been conducting quiz events locally for more than twenty years up till now. In this Internet world, the radio services are available in the various forms on the mobile apps. P SEnthil Saravana Durai mumbai
Thursday, 18 February, 2021
08 WORLD VIEW
AmericA’s indiA problem is All About russiA FORGET US SANCTIONS OVER ARMS DEALS. INDIAN-RUSSIAN ALIGNMENT IS IN WASHINGTON’S BEST INTEREST
FOREiGn POLicy
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SALVATORE BABONES
he United States has an India problem, and it’s all about Russia. In 2018, India agreed to buy five Russian S-400 missile systems for the whopping price of $5.4 billion. The highly advanced S-400 system is considered on par with the United States’ best air defense weapons system, the Patriot missile. It’s the same missile system that led the outgoing Trump administration to impose U.S. sanctions on Turkey in December 2020. now, India is next in line for similar sanctions—and that prospect has seriously strained bilateral relations, threatened the United States’ own defense sales in India, and called into question President Joe Biden’s commitment to working with allies to confront China. Of course, the sanctions issue is not really about India. It’s about Russia. The Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), passed by Congress in 2017 to punish Russia for interfering with the 2016 U.S. elections, comes very close to requiring the president to impose sanctions on any country that makes “significant” purchases of military equipment from Russia. But it would be a big mistake for Biden to impose sanctions on India.
Quite the contrary: The United States should actually welcome India’s purchase of Russian arms. When it comes to confronting China across eurasia, the United States needs India much more than India needs the United States. For India, the United States is a welcome and valued security partner but too far away and not particularly reliable. For the United States, India is its only friend in the region that is willing and able to act as a counterbalance to China. If Washington wants new Delhi’s help in solving the region’s many smoldering conflicts, it will have to show some forbearance on sanctions. Better to let Russia off the sanctions hook than to catch India in the CAATSA net. India is the world’s largest democracy and the world’s sixth largest economy, soon to become the fifth largest. It is also about to pass China as the world’s most populous country. India is a champion of stability in the Indian Ocean region and an important bulwark against Chinese expansionism. It is the cornerstone of America’s Indo-Pacific strategy and a founding member of the Quad, an alignment of Indo-Pacific democracies. It was the leader of the non-Aligned Movement during the Cold War. And it is also a major purchaser of Russian military equipment. It’s not just the S-400 that India has on its shopping list. India has been buying from Russia since the days of the Soviet Union. The Indian Air Force flies MiG-29 and Su30 combat jets. Its navy flies Russian-made jets based on a Russian-made carrier. It also has several Russian frigates and has ordered a Russian nuclear-powered attack submarine. And despite a recent modernization and “buy Indian” program, the Indian Army is
A “love project” to counter religious stereotypes in indiA AS THE RULING HINDU-BASED PARTY PASSES LAWS BANNING INTERFAITH MARRIAGE, COUPLES OF DIFFERING FAITHS SPEAK OUT IN FAVOUR OF TRUE MARRIAGE chRistian sciEncE MOnitOR
equipped mainly with Russian main battle tanks and other armored vehicles. But India has never been a Russian or Soviet satellite state. It buys from Russia because Russia is a reliable commercial supplier of high-quality equipment. India also buys from France, Israel, and increasingly the United States. But even without the S400 purchase, India would already be on the CAATSA bad countries list for all the other equipment it buys from Russia—and will continue to buy from Russia. Sanctioning India for its Russian purchases won’t lock in a future U.S. ally. It will merely drive away a potential partner—and increasingly lucrative military customer. And for what? The strategic geography of eurasia ensures that India’s S-400s will never turn on the United States or its allies. And unlike Turkey’s S-400s, they won’t reveal F-35 stealth secrets because India is not an F-35 customer and unlikely ever to be attacked by an air force that is. The sole purpose of applying CAATSA sanctions to India would be to use the law for the purpose for which it was enacted: to punish Russia. And that just goes to show what can go wrong when the U.S. Congress tries to legislate foreign policy. The primary purpose of the Russia-related provisions of CAATSA was to exert pressure on Russia to suspend its global programs of cyber-espionage and cybermanipulation with sanctions on its defense industry thrown in for good measure. (Separate provisions of the law target Iran and north Korea.) Congress may well believe that any tool that limits Russian defense exports is good for the United States, perhaps even for the world as a whole. But a careful analysis of eurasian geopolitics suggests otherwise.
States winds down its presence in Afghanistan, it is unlikely that substantial U.S. ground forces will ever return to the Asian mainland other than the 8th Army still stationed in South Korea. A solid RussianIndian relationship is the best guarantee that China won’t exert undue influence over the relatively vulnerable countries of Central Asia. It is also the most likely route to a stable future for Afghanistan, a country where India has a strong diplomatic presence. A flourishing relationship between India and Russia is also preferable to the alternative scenario in which India becomes a staunch U.S. ally while a desperate Russia is forced to become a junior partner in a renewed Sino-Russian alliance. India’s main value to the United States is as an independent power in its own right; Washington has absolutely no interest in taking on new security obligations in Kashmir or the himalayas. Meanwhile, Russia’s relatively equal relationship with India promises a stable partnership that can keep the peace without either country gaining the upper hand. Biden cannot in good faith maintain that India’s procurement of Russian weapons is not “significant” in scale—the main criterion for applying sanctions. To enforce the law, he must invoke CAATSA. But once he starts the procedure, he can and should waive the implementation of sanctions under the national security exception built into the legislation. That exception is narrow, and it would probably require him to apply some creative labeling to make the exception stick. That said, the overriding U.S. interest in keeping India on its side is so strong that a little executive sleight of hand would go a long way toward preventing a serious security blunder against itself. Salvatore Babones is a Foreign Policy columnist and an adjunct scholar at the Centre for Independent Studies in Sydney.
Twitter should stick to its guns in India THE COMPANY SHOULD STAND FIRM. IT HAS THREE IMPORTANT FACTORS ON ITS SIDE — THE LAW, ITS OWN PRINCIPLES AND ITS REACH
EdITORIAL BOARd
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OST governments try by varying degrees to instill fairness into their systems of justice, land ownership, education, and health care. But progress toward equity is uneven and – in some places, in reverse. In India, for example, the ruling hindu nationalist party, the Bharatiya Janata Party, continues to limit the rights of Muslims. The latest example is a string of new restrictions on interfaith marriage in states it controls through laws banning religious conversion. Since november, three BJP-controlled states have enacted laws making such conversions a criminal offense. At least two more have drafted similar legislation. The real intent of such laws is to ban what is called “love jihad.” The term falsely depicts Muslim men as predators out to convert vulnerable hindu women through marriage. Activists have cried foul. India has a secular constitution. The 1954 Special Marriage Act protects unions of couples from different religious communities. Although the Supreme Court has twice refused to hear petitions this year challenging the constitutionality of the new religious conversion laws, some opponents are pushing back with a different weapon: love stories. Last October, as the country’s most populous state was preparing a law that would impose prison terms of up to 10 years for anyone found guilty of using marriage to force someone to change their religion, three former Indian journalists launched a campaign called the India Love Project. It invites couples married across the lines of religion, caste, and ethnicity to tell their stories through social media. “There is a narrative that there are other, more insidious motives for marriage – that love is being weaponized,” Samar halarnkar, one of the campaign founders, told the BBC. In practice these restrictions address a phantom issue among a population of 1.35 billion. According to a 2013 study by the government-run International Institute for Population Sciences, based on the most recent comprehensive survey of Indian households, only 2.2% of all married women between the ages of 15 and 49 had married outside their religion. A Statista poll last May found that 75% of Muslim women in India “strongly disagree” with interfaith marriage. But the conversion laws fit into India’s long history of hindu-Muslim strife and their adverse effects were almost immediately tangible. Since the first law’s adoption in the state of Uttar Pradesh, dozens of Muslim men have been accused of “enticing a woman and forcing her to convert to Islam.” In the city of Lucknow a wedding was halted. hindu women face harassment and violence if they are found with Muslim men. Interfaith couples trying to register their marriage face daunting bureaucratic hurdles. nivedita Jha, an author and journalist who posted her own story of interfaith marriage, told Al Jazeera that “love jihad” laws violate “the soul” of the constitution. “Jihad is [only] done when we go to war,” she said. “In love, there is no war.” The India Love Project is modest as protest movements go, but sometimes the call for justice has to rise up from the grassroots, reminding governments of their true role. Marriage is common to all human cultures. It embodies shared ideals of steadfast commitment, selflessness, a safe environment for children, a home for each heart. Where it flourishes unrestricted by discrimination or exclusion, it can be a source of stability for societies as well as individuals.
The complicating factor is China. In recent years, India has been Russia’s biggest export destination for military hardware by far, accounting for nearly one-third of annual Russian arms exports, on average, between 2010 and 2019, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Until 2018, Beijing’s purchases of advanced Russian arms were rapidly catching up to new Delhi’s as China struggled to develop its own high-technology components such as jet engines. But the defense procurement relationship between the two countries stopped in 2019 over Russian allegations that China was reverse-engineering proprietary technologies. As a result, Russia has become reluctant to sell small batches to China, lest China copy the samples instead of placing large follow-up orders for the real thing. India’s status as Russia’s best customer—and an honest customer to boot— gives India enormous leverage over the perennially cash-strapped Russian regime. Thus, when fighting broke out between India and China last year in Ladakh, Russia seemed to have acceded to Indian pressure to stop supplying S-400 technology to China. Indian demand is especially crucial for ensuring that Russia can keep military production lines and maintenance operations going at an industrial scale. That may not sound attractive to the United States. But because Russia also supplies weapons to other countries that are nervous about China’s growing ambitions, Russia’s arms industry actually promotes U.S. interests all across eurasia’s interior. When it comes to confronting China across eurasia, the United States needs India much more than India needs the United States. If the United States wants to contain China, Russia, or both, it needs other countries to do the heavy lifting—at least on land. U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy is essentially maritime, and as the United
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MIHIR SHARMA
hen India’s minister for commerce and industry recently urged his followers to “connect with me” on Koo, an “Indian micro-blogging platform,” he did so on Twitter. That should be a lesson to the U.S. social media giant: In its battles with India’s government and others around the world, the platform needn’t surrender its principles too easily. The implied threat from ruling party officials to switch en masse from Twitter to India’s version of Parler is the latest salvo in a not-so-secret war. Like much else in Indian politics in recent weeks, the conflict has been sparked by the agitation against new farm laws, which continues to smolder on the outskirts of Delhi. The government is pressing Twitter Inc. to shut down accounts which recently used a hashtag that — inaccurately and unfairly — accused India’s prime minister of committing a “farmer genocide.” The targets include a magazine that just won harvard University’s neiman Foundation award for journalistic integrity, as well prominent politicians and journalists. Twitter initially complied with the demand, then later unblocked some of the accounts, including those of journalists,
activists and politicians. The government had threatened Twitter executives in India with up to seven years in jail if they didn’t reverse themselves. The country’s technology minister issued a veiled threat, saying social media companies were welcome to operate in India only if they adhered to Indian laws. The company should stand firm. It has three important factors on its side — the law, its own principles and its reach. First and foremost, Twitter is correct in saying that the orders from the government are not “consistent with Indian law.” If any Indian is denied access to the internet by government fiat, they are supposed to be given a valid reason, in writing, so they can then challenge the order in court. In this case, it’s hard to see how an unfounded accusation, inflammatory though it was, justifies a “reasonable restriction,” as the Constitution puts it, on online political speech. When the law was originally passed, civil rights advocates worried that the social networks would have little incentive to challenge government orders. The fact that Twitter has is not just a pleasant surprise — it’s how the law was meant to work. Second, as a matter of principle as well as sound business, companies should generally avoid shifting their standards with each time zone. In a globalized world, multinational corporations, particularly the big tech platforms that service the democratic public sphere, simply can’t afford to adopt different norms in different markets. Yes, plenty of companies in the past have pretended to sainthood at home while propping up autocrats abroad. That possibility no longer exists, however, partly because these same globe-spanning platforms have knit the world together. The next time tech CeOs are called before the U.S. Senate, some member of the committee might at least ask what norms they are exporting to other countries. And taking a stand in India is more im-
portant than ever. nobody can question the country’s democratic credentials: elections remain free, if not 100% fair. But it is hard to deny that civil liberties are being eroded in the country. elderly activists are being held in jail, without bail, based on evidence that U.S.-based experts claim was “digitally planted.” Amnesty International has been forced out of the country; independent news organizations are being accused of “money laundering” and subjected to day-long raids. Companies that want to operate in such an atmosphere will naturally face pressure to make compromises. That is and always has been the price of doing business in illiberal regimes. But the new tech giants, whose decisions determine the vibrancy of the global public sphere, are particularly important. If they bend too far, they risk becoming arms of the Indian state in its attempts to intimidate citizens — and other companies. It would also be self-defeating, as they will expose themselves to further pressure. The moment such companies start making compromises with governments, they lose any claim to special protection from interference. Facebook Inc., which according to The Wall Street Journal has resisted pressure to cut off members of India’s ruling party for alleged hate speech, may yet come to regret its decision. For now, the best hope for both Facebook and Twitter to escape the wrath of the Indian state is the fact that politicians have become accustomed to seeing their fortunes in the ruling party rise based on how many followers they have. Giving up all that social capital isn’t easy. And the best way for the platforms to ensure that they remain indispensable to political discourse in India is to show that they’re standing up for the rights of ordinary Indians to speak and debate freely. If they’re not indispensable, it will be all-too-easy for officials to dispense with them. Mihir Swarup Sharma is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist.
Thursday, 18 February, 2021
BUSINESS 09
ISLAMABAD corporate corner neSPaK sets up energy Section LAHORE: NESPAK has set up a new section titled ‘Energy Section’ keeping in view new initiatives in the energy sector, said Dr Tahir Masood, Managing Director of NESPAK, in a press communiqué on Wednesday. The Energy Section will provide engineering consultancy services in the oil & gas and renewable energy sectors especially in the domain of solar, wind and small hydel sectors. In the wake of implementation of new energy policy in the country, this move would help curtail our reliance on fossil fuels and meet energy needs through cheap natural resources through expert engineering consultancy services by NESPAK. NESPAK, being an international level consultant already possesses a lot of experience in this sector as it has provided services for a number of projects in Pakistan and abroad. PRESS RElEASE
iFwa, austrian embassy welcome int’l freeskiing athlete nadine wallner to Pakistan ISLAMABAD: Islamabad Foreign Women’s Association (IFWA) and the Austrian Embassy on Wednesday held a press conference to welcome the international athlete Nadine Wallner to Pakistan. Renowned freeskier Wallner has come to visit Pakistan to explore the local winter sports scene, as well as compete in the Red Bull Homerun to be held on February 13, 2021. The Austrian Red Bull athlete will also be visiting other winter sports hot spots in Pakistan. Wallner spoke how excited she was to be in Pakistan: “We’ve received a really warm welcome. I got a chance to ski with some kids in Bagh, Kashmir. They showed progress immediately and were happy to ski.” PRESS RElEASE
Digital health association gets registered LAHORE: The Digital Health Association, a support group involving the leading health-tech players in Pakistan, has been officially registered as a non-profit society in accordance with Section 42 of the Companies Ordinance Act to address healthcare concerns in Pakistan, with a strong emphasis on governmental and private sector support to make healthcare more accessible for all with the ease of technology. The office bearers of DHA include Dr Azfar Malik – CEO Hayaat.pk (founding president), Dr Asher Hasan – Co-founder Docthers, Naya Jeevan (Vice President), Waqas Pitafi – CEO DevBatch, CEC Members P@SHA (Finance Secretary), Dr Ali Azeem – CEO and Founder Mentor Health (Information Secretary), Bilal Mumtaz – Cofounder and CMO Sehat.com.pk (General Secretary), Fahad Kakahel – Founder Pak Healthcare Consultants (CEO) and Muhammad Ansaar – Head Adamjee Takaful Health Insurance (Office Secretary). PRESS RElEASE
KARACHI: Himalaya, a leading health and wellness company, and a pioneer in herbal personal care products, has announced critically-acclaimed Pakistani actress, Ayeza Khan, as the new brand ambassador for its “Purifying Neem Face Wash” – the brand’s flagship product – during its new TVC launch ceremony held in Karachi. PR
PaCt with iMF entailS eConoMiC BeneFitS For Country: FM ISLAMABAD
F
STAFF REPORT
INANCE Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh has said that Pakistan’s agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will not only help boost exports but will also ensure economic growth. “Making the people of Pakistan prosperous is Prime Minister Imran Khan’s foremost priority,” he said while speaking to the media on Wednesday after his appearance before the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECC) in connection with the scrutiny of his nomination papers for the upcoming Senate elections. The finance minister said that investors and capital markets over the world would be attracted towards
Egyptian firms urged to explore investment opportunities in Pakistan ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has urged Egyptian companies to benefit from lucrative investment opportunities in various sectors of Pakistan, including construction, energy and health. The foreign minister was talking to a delegation of distinguished Egyptian businessmen and entrepreneurs, who called on him in Cairo, said a press statement issued on Wednesday. The foreign minister assured the Egyptian investors and businessmen of the government’s every possible cooperation and facilitation in their profit-oriented business and investment activities in Pakistan. He said Pakistan’s improved rating in terms of ease of doing business at international level depicts full confidence of the international community in the policies of the present government. He
PESHAWAR AZIZ BUNERI
The rising prices of flour, sugar, ghee and pulses in Peshawar’s open market have made it difficult for ordinary citizens to run their kitchens. In the open market, a 20kg bag of flour has gone up to Rs1,400, whereas the price of pulse (gram) has increased to Rs170, pulse mash to Rs260, ghee Rs270 per kg, and sugar Rs100 per kg. Citizens say that the federal and provincial governments claim to control inflation across the country on a daily basis, but in practice, neither the district administration nor the federal and provincial governments have succeeded in controlling inflation. According to Inam Khan, a resident of Pe-
shawar, despite the government’s rejection of OGRA’s summary to increase the prices of petroleum products, neither the government nor the district administration has played an effective role in curbing inflation. On the other hand, shopkeepers say that the increase in the prices of groceries is also affecting their business. “How can we sell cheap if we buy expensive items? Rising inflation has exacerbated the plight of the low-income class,” said a shopkeeper. SAARC Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vice President, Haji Gulam Ali, said that the government has broken the record of the country’s 73-year history in inflation. “If the government does not control employment and inflation, people will be forced to take to the streets,” he said.
An agreement was also reached on the measures required to complete further reviews of the reform programme, which should eventually bring Pakistan $6 billion from the IMF’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF). Moreover, the IMF said economic reforms prior to the Covid-19 shock had started to reduce Pakistan’s economic imbalances and created the conditions for better economic performance. “As a result of the authorities’ actions, the Covid19 first wave started to abate over the 2020 summer and the impact on the economy was significantly reduced. The external current account improved due to stronger-than-expected remittances, import compression, and a mild export recovery,” the fund said. It projected economic growth of 1.5pc in fiscal 2020/21.
MoC to organise trade, investment conference in Colombo ISLAMABAD: Adviser to Prime Minister for Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood announced on Wednesday that the Ministry of Commerce would organise a trade and investment conference in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on February 24. Taking to his official Twitter account, the adviser said that the event would coincide with Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to Sri Lanka. He revealed that a delegation comprising prominent businessmen would also attend conference. “We hope that this will further deepen the excellent relations between the two countries and will further enhance trade through the Pakistan-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (FTA)” he added. APP
Soneri Bank posts 25.9pc jump in profit The Board of Directors of Soneri Bank Limited on Wednesday approved the bank's financial statements for the year ended 31st December 2020. The bank posted profit before tax (PBT) of Rs4,035 million and profit after tax (PAT) of Rs2,400 million for the year 2020, as compared to Rs3,247 million and Rs1,906 million in 2019, reflecting a growth of 24.27pc and 25.93pc, respectively. The bank's earnings per improved to Rs2.1772 per share in 2020 from Rs1.7289 last year. The board has also recommended cash dividend for 2020 at 12.50pc i.e. Rs1.25 per share. The bank’s Net Interest Income (NII) was reported at Rs10,655 million, improving by 34.43pc, driven by volumetric increase and maintained spreads. Non fund based income (NFI) was reported at Rs3,807 million, indicating a YoY growth of 33.08pc percent. Profit before provisions and taxation was reported at Rs5,436 million, reflecting an impressive growth of 104.54pc against the corresponding year. Growth in expenses was restricted at 11.03pc as compared to the prior year, with non-markup expenses reported at Rs9,026 million for the year ended 31 December 2020. The bank’s net advances portfolio stood at Rs164,545 million as at 31 December 2020, 19.7pc lower than the year end 2019 level. However, net investments witnessed a significant volumetric increase of Rs72,900 million or 41.17pc YoY. NEWS DESK
marKEt daily
Profit-booking drags KSE-100 down KARACHI
KARACHI: Byco Petroleum Pakistan Limited has signed an MoU with Sehat Kahani to provide telemedicine facilities through remote medical consultations for Byco’s workforce of over 800 employees and their immediate families. PR
said the existing brotherly relations between Pakistan and Egypt can be translated into strong bilateral trade and economic ties by exploring the true investment potential. Representatives of the Egyptian companies expressed their interest in investment in Pakistan’s healthcare, energy and construction sectors. President and chief executive officer (CEO) of renowned Egyptian company Elsewedy Electric Ahmed Elsewedy also called on Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi in Cairo and showed the company’s interest in investment in Pakistan. Talking to him, the foreign minister said that Pakistan is an emerging market and business companies from around the world are showing interest in investment in Pakistan due to prudent economic policies of the government. The foreign minister is on a two-day official visit to Egypt on the invitation of his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Hassan Shoukry.
Food inflation surges in KP
STAFF REPORT
KARACHI: Due to the staggering growth of diabetic patients coupled with the comparatively low scale of awareness among the masses, Roche Diabetes Care has taken a groundbreaking initiative in collaboration with DoctHERs, titled Project Kaarvaa. PR
investment opportunities the country will soon boast as a result of the agreement. Earlier on Tuesday, the international financial institution and Pakistan reached a staff-level agreement that Pakistan had completed reforms required for the release of around $500 million in funds that had been suspended for about a year. “The package strikes an appropriate balance between supporting the economy, ensuring debt sustainability and advancing structural reform. Pending approval of the Executive Board, the reviews’ completion would release around $500 million,” the Fund said in a statement issued by both sides. Financial analysts are of the opinion that the hold-up was due to questions around fiscal and revenue reforms.
Breaking its two-day winning streak, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) closed in the red on Wednesday, with the indices failing to sustain early gains amid profit booking. Equity markets around the world showed a mixed pattern, whereas crude oil prices continued with its northward journey; WTI crude price rising 0.80pc to $60.53 while Brent crude price increasing 0.99pc to $63.98 (as at 3:51pm PST). "The market opened on a positive note but lost its momentum in the latter half. HBL's announcement of financial results became a major dampener for investors who bought the share in anticipation of hefty dividend. PSO and ENGRO were also due to announce results today, but were deferred till tomorrow due to shortage of time. Among others, profit booking was mainly observed in cement, steel and power sectors," a report issued by Arif Habib Ltd read. SUMMARY: The benchmark KSE-100 Index endured a volatile session on Wednesday, recording its intraday high at 47,305.86 (+437.91 points) and low at 46,726.85 (-141.10 points). It settled lower by 99.81 points at 46,768.14. Among other indices, the KMI-30 Index gained 192.07 points to close at 77,944.20, while
CMYK
the KSE All Share Index added 93.15 points, ending at 32,048.68. The overall market volumes surged from 514.04 million shares on Tuesday to 699.05 million shares (+36pc). Average traded value also increased by 12pc, from $159.2 million to $179 million. Hum Network Ltd (HUMNL -1.55pc), Telecard Ltd (TELE +1.70pc) and Dost Steels Ltd (DSL +17.86pc) led the volume chart, exchanging 77.89 million, 76.13 million and 52.95 million shares, respectively. Sectors that dragged the benchmark index lower included banking (-176.01 points), power generation & distribution (-40.60 points) and oil & gas exploration (-37.75 points). Among the companies, Habib Bank Ltd (HBL -199.46 points), Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd (OGDC -34.41 points) and Hub Power Company Ltd (HUBC -34.36 points) dented the index the most. Losing 0.98pc from its total market capitalization, the banking sector ended as the session’s worst performer, with HBL (-5.58pc), MCB Bank Ltd (MCB -0.55pc) and SCBPL (-3.76pc) ending in the negative. Meanwhile, in a notification informed the exchange, Kohat Cement Company Ltd (KOHC +2.32pc) informed that its board has approved to set up a 7,800-10,000tpd cement plant with 810MW waste heat recovery and 25MW coal power plant for estimated cost of Rs30 billion.
KARACHI: TPL Insurance, Pakistan’s first direct insurance company, has entered into a strategic partnership with Let’s Compare. An MoU in this regard was signed between the two companies at the TPL Insurance Head Office in Karachi. PR
LAHORE: The Bank of Punjab has decided to capitalize upon the opportunity of availing specialized, nonconventional remedial management expertise of Pakistan Corporate Restructuring Company Limited (PCRCL) established under the CRC Act. In this regard, the bank has signed an MoU with PCRCL for expeditious resolution of its long standing NPAs, as well as to play its role in the revival of sick industries. PR
Thursday, 18 February, 2021
10 FOREIGN NEWS
ISLAMABAD
MyanMar coup protesters Mass to reject arMy claiM of support NAYPYITAW
H
AGENCIES
UNDREDS of thousands of people marched in Myanmar on Wednesday, rejecting the army’s assertion that the public supported its overthrow of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and vowing they would not be cowed in their bid to end military rule. Opponents of the February 1 military coup are deeply sceptical of junta assurances, given at a news conference on Tuesday, that there would be a fair election and that it would hand over power, even as police filed an additional charge against Suu Kyi. “We love democracy and hate the junta,” Sithu Maung, an elected member of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD), told tens of thousands of people at the Sule Pagoda, a central protest site in the main city of Yangon. “We must be the last generation to experience a coup.” Protests in cities across the Southeast Asian country were some of the biggest since daily demonstrations began on February 6 to denounce the coup that halted an unsteady transition to democracy from half a century of army rule and isolation. Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun, spokesman for the ruling council, told the Tuesday news conference that the army would not be in power for long and that 40 million of Myanmar’s 53 million population supported the coup. Sithu Maung poked fun at that, saying: “We’re showing here that we’re not in that 40 million.” As well as the demonstrations across the ethnically diverse country, a civil disobedience movement has brought strikes that are crippling many functions of gov-
ernment. The army announced on Wednesday that police complaints had been filed against six local celebrities under an anti-incitement law for encouraging civil servants to join in the protest. The charges can carry a twoyear prison sentence. “OUR FUTURE”: “If we don’t win this battle, our future, the future of our generation, the future of our chil-
dren, will be lost,” actor Pyay Ti Oo, one of the six, told protesters. The army seized power after the electoral commission dismissed its allegations of fraud in a November 8 election swept by Suu Kyi’s party. The army said its seizure of power was in line with the constitution and it remained committed to democracy. The Nobel Peace laureate, detained since the coup,
Gunmen storm Nigerian school, kidnap 27 students KADUNA AGENCIES
Unidentified gunmen abducted 27 students and some staff and their family members in an attack overnight on a secondary school in Nigeria’s Niger state, the state governor’s spokeswoman said on Wednesday. The assailants stormed the Government Science College in the Kagara district at around 2 a.m., overwhelming the school’s security detail, according to local residents.
The state governor ordered the immediate closure of boarding schools in the area. It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the attack. President Muhammadu Buhari condemned the raid and dispatched security chiefs to coordinate rescue operations, his spokesman said. Several militant groups are active in northern Nigeria, but kidnappings by other armed groups mostly for ransom - are also common. Gunmen also stormed a secondary school in northwestern Katsina state two months ago and kidnapped nearly 350 boys, who were subsequently
rescued by security forces. About 100 of more than 270 schoolgirls abducted from the town of Chibok in 2014 are still missing. Such attacks have raised concerns about rising violence by armed gangs and fuelled widespread criticism of Buhari’s handling of national security. In January, the president appointed a new military high command. Violence and insecurity have compounded the economic challenges faced by citizens in Africa’s most populous country, which is struggling to cope with a fall in revenues due to an oil price slump on top of Covid-19.
Mumbai court stops arrest of Thunberg ally MUMBAI AGENCIES
Police had sought the arrest of Nikita Jacob, a Mumbai-based lawyer, for allegedly working together with activist Disha Ravi on a “tool-kit” or a document that it said was used to foment violence during a mass protest by farmers in Delhi last month. Ravi, an activist linked to Swedish climate change campaigner Greta Thunberg, was arrested over the weekend on charges of sedition and remains in police custody. But Jacob petitioned a court in Mumbai to stop the police from carrying out her own arrest warrant.
“The court has granted her three weeks interim relief,” Sanjukta Dey, Jacob’s lawyer, told reporters outside the court. “There is nothing in the tool kit about violence, it is only for creating awareness about farm laws, it’s not for creating violence,” Dey added. Dey said that Jacob had already been questioned by police on the document and she was ready to cooperate with them in their investigations into the events of January 26, when farmers stormed the historic Red Fort in the old quarter of Delhi while the country was marking the Republic Day. Thunberg tweeted a link to the “tool-kit” in early
February, drawing international attention to the farmers’ campaign against the Indian government’s move to deregulate agriculture produce markets and open them to private players. She later deleted that post. Politicians, students and activists have held protests against the arrest of Ravi, a founding member of the local arm of Thunberg’s Fridays for Future climate change movement. On Wednesday, the student wing of the main opposition Congress party staged a protest in Delhi demanding her release. A lawyer for Ravi has declined to comment. Her arrest comes at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government faces allegations it is suppressing dissent.
now faces a charge of violating a Natural Disaster Management Law as well as charges of illegally importing six walkie talkie radios. Suu Kyi, 75, spent nearly 15 years under house arrest for her efforts to bring democracy. The takeover and the arrests of Suu Kyi and hundreds of others have also drawn strong Western criticism, with renewed anger from Washington and London over the additional charge for Suu Kyi. Although China has taken a softer line, its ambassador in Myanmar on Tuesday dismissed accusations it supported the coup. Despite that, protesters also gathered outside the Chinese embassy. Tens of thousands took to the streets of the city of Mandalay, where some people also blocked its main rail link, and crowds gathered in several other places. Photographs from the small central town of Khin U showed a sea of people in straw hats and coronavirus masks listening to speeches. Thousands marched in the capital, Naypyitaw, and hundreds in the southern town of Mawlamyine, witnesses said. Both places saw clashes last week. There were no reports of serious trouble on Wednesday. In Yangon and elsewhere, motorists responded to a “broken-down car campaign” spread on social media, stopping their supposedly stalled cars, with bonnets raised, on streets and bridges to block them to police and military trucks. The unrest has revived memories of bloody suppression of protests under previous juntas. Police have opened fire several times, mostly with rubber bullets, to disperse protesters. A protester who was shot in the head in Naypyitaw last week is not expected to survive. A policeman died of injuries sustained in a protest in Mandalay on Monday, the military said.
six killed in fire at gold mine in eastern china BEIJING AGENCIES
Six people were killed in a fire at a gold mine in eastern China’s Shandong province, while four others were rescued, state media reported on Wednesday. The fire occurred at around 6 a.m. local time (2200 GMT on Tuesday) during maintenance at the Caojiawa gold mine in the city of Zhaoyuan, the official Xinhua news agency reported, citing local authorities. Ten miners were trapped by the fire, Xinhua said, adding that the four who were rescued had been sent to hospital for medical treatment. The fire was the second major incident at a Shandong gold mine in little over a month. In January, 11 workers trapped by an explosion at the Hushan mine were dramatically pulled out alive after spending two weeks underground. At least 10 miners were killed, however, prompting authorities to launch more safety inspections. China’s mines are among the world’s deadliest. The country recorded 573 mine-related deaths in 2020, according to the National Mine Safety Administration.
Queen elizabeth's husband, philip, admitted to hospital LONDON AGENCIES
Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth’s 99-year-old husband, was admitted to hospital on Tuesday evening as a precautionary measure with an ailment that is not Covid related. “The Duke’s admission is a precautionary measure, on the advice of His Royal Highness’s Doctor, after feeling unwell. The Duke is expected to remain in hospital for a few days of observation and rest,” the statement said. The prince had been feeling unwell for a short period and he walked into hospital unaided, a royal source said. He does not have a Covid19 related illness, the source added. Queen Elizabeth and the prince have been staying at Windsor Castle, west of London, during Britain’s coronavirus pandemic.
Biden plans to ‘recalibrate’ relations with Saudi Arabia and downgrade MBS WASHINGTON AGENCIES
President Joe Biden plans to shift US relations with Saudi Arabia and will conduct diplomacy through Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz rather than his powerful son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the White House said on Tuesday. The announcement by White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki was an abrupt reversal in US policy from Biden's Republican predecessor, President Donald Trump, whose son-in-law and senior adviser Jared Kushner maintained steady contact with
the crown prince. "We've made clear from the beginning that we are going to recalibrate our relationship with Saudi Arabia," Psaki told reporters. While her comments about the crown prince were likely to be seen as a snub, Psaki moved to clear the air on another controversy in the region, saying Biden would soon have his first phone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The crown prince, widely referred to as MBS, is considered by many to be the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia and next in line to the throne held by the 85-year-
old King Salman. His prestige suffered a blow after the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in 2018 at the hands of Saudi security personnel seen as close to the crown prince. The Biden White House has been pressuring Saudi Arabia to improve its record on human rights, including the release of political prisoners such as women’s rights advocates from jails. The Trump White House had found MBS the leader to deal with in Saudi Arabia and worked with him on a variety of areas, such as resolving a rift between Qatar and other Gulf nations.
As for questions about whether Biden would speak to the crown prince, Psaki said Biden is returning to "counterpart to counterpart" engagement. "The president's counterpart is King Salman and I expect at an appropriate time he will have a conversation with him. I don’t have a prediction on the timeline for that," she said. Psaki said Saudi Arabia has critical selfdefence needs and the United States will work with the Saudis on this "even as we make clear areas where we have disagreements and where we have concerns. And that certainly is a shift from the prior administration."
Trump was a close ally of Netanyahu and moved US relations to a strong pro-Israel position with little to no contact with the Palestinians. Psaki said Biden's first call with a leader in the region will be with Netanyahu and it will be soon. Critics had accused Biden, a Democrat, of snubbing Netanyahu by not having spoken to the leader of the top US ally in the Middle East. "Israel is of course an ally. Israel is a country where we have an important strategic security relationship, and our team is fully engaged, not at the head of state level quite yet but very soon," she said.
Thursday, 18 February, 2021
SPORTS 11
ISLAMABAD
CHAMPionS LeAgue: LiverPooL FinD ForM To BeAT rB LeiPzig in LAST-16 Tie BUDAPEST
L
AGENCIES
IveRPOOL rediscovered lost form and seized the initiative against RB Leipzig in the first leg of their Champions League last-16 clash by cruising to a 2-0 win in a chilly Budapest on Tuesday. Clinical early second-half strikes from Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, both courtesy of dreadful defensive errors, proved decisive and left the German side facing a formidable task in the return leg on March 10. The win moves Jurgen Klopp’s men to the brink of the Champions League quarterfinals and also ends a run of three straight defeats that has left the english champions 13 points behind leaders Manchester City in the Premier League. The first leg was moved from Leipzig to the Hungarian capital due to Germany’s strict Covid-19 travel restrictions. Despite the enforced relocation, Julian Nagelsmann’s side, on a four-game winning streak at home where they are second behind Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga, started briskly and almost went ahead on four minutes. Marauding left-back Angelino teed up fellow Spaniard Dani Olmo for a close-range diving header past Alisson but the effort only rattled the post. Soon after Angelino again exploited
space on the left but his left-footed volley skewed harmlessly across the goalmouth. Instead it was Liverpool, striving to reverse their slump and badly in need of a Champions League lift, who gradually created more chances, often benefitting from loose defending. First, Salah, busy throughout, forced a block from Leipzig’s Hungarian goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi on the quarter hour. Ten minutes later Mane, outjumping Nordi Mukiele, headed a Firmino cross just over after the Brazilian striker and Salah had combined well on the right. Shortly before half-time, Andy Robertson shaved the crossbar when his lob from distance almost caught out the Budapestborn Gulacsi dashing back after making a clearance outside his box. Although Leipzig perked up on the restart with Alisson Becker saving from Christopher Nkunku, the German side, were made to pay for two calamitous mistakes early in the second half. In the 53rd minute, Salah pounced on a sloppy back-pass by Austrian midfielder Marcel Sabitzer and ran unchallenged to smoothly slot past Gulacsi. Five minutes later, Mane doubled Liverpool’s lead in similar fashion, smartly finishing after Mukiele had scuffed a clearance. With Swedish playmaker emil Forsberg sidelined by a knee injury and lacking a talismanic goalscorer, Leipzig rarely threatened
to pull one back. Liverpool were left to cruise to victory, keeping alive their hopes of silverware via Champions League glory this season despite their domestic woes. MBAPPE SHREDS BARCELONA WITH HAT-TRICK TO PUT PSG IN SIGHT OF QUARTER-FINALS: Meanwhile, Kylian Mbappe ripped Barcelona apart by scoring a stunning hat-trick in a 41 rout to put Paris Saint-Germain on the brink of the quarter-finals. Mbappe underlined his status as the rising superstar of world football with a ruthless display of finishing at Camp Nou that will go down as one this competition’s most devastating individual performances. The 22-year-old eclipsed Barca’s Lionel Messi, whose opening goal from the penalty spot had been reduced to nothing more than a footnote by the final whistle. Moise Kean also headed in midway through the second half, carelessly left unmarked from a free-kick as PSG pulled away to win this first leg, and perhaps the tie. Barcelona will no doubt draw upon the spirit of their astonishing ‘Remontada’ in 2017, when they won the second leg 6-1 to overturn a 4-0 deficit from the opening game in Paris. It will certainly serve as a warning for PSG but without fans, and with Mbappe, any hopes of a repeat for Ronald Koeman’s side from look faint at best. Mbappe ran them ragged all night long.
Koeman had gambled on the fitness of Gerard Pique, who had not played a game in almost three months due to a knee ligament injury. But to rub salt into the wounds, Pique trudged off late on just as PSG were running riot. This was a chastening experience for Koeman’s youthful side, who had shown signs of a resurgence in recent weeks in La Liga but were exposed against an opponent of an altogether different class. Koeman was even asked if he wanted to continue as coach but was defiant. even without the injured Neymar and Angel Di Maria, PSG were too strong, a breathless, entertaining first half giving way to a French obliteration in the second. PSG’s new boss Pochettino pumped a fist at the end, after a huge early boost to his credibility. EARLY WARNING SIGNS: The warning signs for the hosts came early as Mbappe sped in behind their central defence after 52 seconds, only for Marc-Andre ter Stegen to clear just in time. For half an hour, the chances just kept coming, at both ends. Antoine Griezmann scuttled through but was denied by Keylor Navas at the near post and then Pedri made up for a miscontrol by dashing back to prevent Mauro Icardi’s finish from trickling in. Messi’s pass led to Barca’s opener, a clipped ball over the top attracting the gaze of Layvin Kurzawa as he tracked back and
Relentless Medvedev beats the heat and Rublev to reach semi-finals
MELBOURNE AGENCIES
Daniil Medvedev came out on top of a brutal all-Russian clash on Thursday against Andrey Rublev to move into his first Australian Open semi-final and inch closer to
a first Grand Slam title. The fourth seed had more firepower than his younger, seventh-seeded rival in scorching conditions on Rod Laver Arena, grinding him down 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 to extend his win-streak to 19 matches. “I would say the three last points when
BrADy rALLieS To BeAT PeguLA, reACH SeConD grAnD SLAM SeMi-FinAL MELBOURNE: Big-serving Jennifer Brady staged a comeback three-set victory over fellow American Jessica Pegula Thursday to book an Australian Open semifinal with Karolina Muchova. The 22nd seed cast friendship aside and finished strongly with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 win on Rod Laver Arena and will now face Czech 25th seed Muchova, who earlier stunned world No 1 Ashleigh Barty. Brady is the last woman standing among those forced into a hard 14-day quarantine after arriving in Australia. “We’re such good friends. I know we will having many more tough battles,” she said of Pegula, whose billionaire father owns the Buffalo Bills NFL franchise. “I felt the pressure from her. She’s such an aggressive player,” added Brady, who hit 22 winners and seven aces. “I was looking to push her back and get more on offense. I think I played a really good third set.” Brady, who had only been broken twice in the tournament before the match, was under pressure from Pegula, who won 14 points in a row to dominate the early exchanges in humid conditions. Brady, 25, slammed down four straight aces in the seventh game but her serve then became errant as Pegula sealed the first set. Brady skipped out to a 3-0 lead in the second as she eyed forcing a decider but relinquished her advantage and threw her racquet in frustration after losing a point. The outburst, much like Novak Djokovic on Tuesday, seemed to refocus Brady, who then ran away to take it to a deciding set. The see-saw continued in the third set with breaks traded before Brady took control of Pegula’s serve to reach the final four of a Grand Slam for the second time. Before last year’s US Open, where she lost an epic semi-final to eventual champion Naomi Osaka, Brady had been bounced out of the first round four times in her previous five majors. AGENCIES
I was getting ready for the serve I could not really move my left leg,” he said, with both players cramping in the “super-tough” conditions. “But I’ve known him a long time and I know how to neutralise his big shots. That’s definitely one of the best matches I’ve played lately, not even just here but last year,” Medvedev added. “It was unbelievable, because he was playing really good and I managed to beat him in three sets.” Medvedev is now riding a 19-match run dating back to November, taking in titles at the Paris 1000, the ATP
Finals in London and the ATP Cup with Russia in the lead-up to the opening Grand Slam of the year. He is into his first semi at Melbourne Park as he continues to knock on the door of Grand Slam success, having reached the 2019 US Open final and the last four in New York in 2020. Medvedev owned a 30 advantage against his former junior foe ahead of their clash, having beaten him over three tough sets at their last meeting in the 2020 US Open quarter-finals. And little separated them in the opening set on Thursday as they traded long baseline rallies until a stunning passing shot gave Medvedev his first break points in game 12, which he calmly converted to take the set. Using ice-towels to keep his temperature down, Medvedev was relentless. After a marathon, 43-shot rally, where he covered 130 metres around the court, he earned another break point at 3-2 in the second set, but Rublev hung on. However, it was only a matter of time before he struck again and after Rublev hit a stray forehand in game eight to give him a 5-3 lead, Medvedev served out for the set. Rublev, who had made three Slam quarter-finals before but never gone further, looked exhausted and Medvedev broke straight away in the third set. Rublev quickly went 0-3 down, shaking his head at the changeover as he sloshed water on his face to try to revive himself. But he was spent and Medvedev shut out the pain of cramping leg to reach the finish line.
LAHORE: Mughal Steel Chairman Javed Mughal and Lahore Qalandars CEO Rana Atif pose for a photo after signing a partnership agreement for the HBL PSL 2021. PR
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inadvertently tripped Frenkie de Jong in front of him. Messi slammed the penalty into the top corner. PSG were briefly shell-shocked and for the next five minutes, Koeman’s men chased a second, with Messi freeing Ousmane Dembele in the area but he failed to connect. Yet as they gained in confidence, they also left gaps and PSG hit back. Mbappe had already seen a flicked finish blocked by Pique and moments later he made sure, taming Marco verratti’s astute pull-back with one touch before feathering another expertly around Clement Lenglet in the six-yard box and unleashing past Ter Stegen. Now the Parisians were on top, with Kurzawa thwarted by Ter Stegen’s fingertips and Barca relieved to reach half-time. But Mbappe was relentless, motoring past opponents every time he got the ball and never letting up. Ter Stegen had to save a deflected shot from Kean before PSG took charge with two goals in five minutes. Pique could only hack away Alessandro Florenzi’s cross to the feet of Mbappe, who clipped in his second, and then Kean headed home, left free at the back post by Lenglet. Navas almost gifted Barcelona a lifeline when his clearance met Griezmann’s left foot and the ball drifted just wide of his own post. Instead, Mbappe landed the knock-out blow, teed up on the counter-attack and curling beautifully in the far corner.
South Africa’s Du Plessis retires from Tests to focus on T20 World Cups CAPE TOWN AGENCIES
Former South Africa captain Faf du Plessis has announced his retirement from Tests to make T20 International cricket his priority with successive World Cups in the next two years. Middle-order batsman Du Plessis, 36, was the most senior member of the South Africa Test squad that lost the recent series 20 in Pakistan, and finishes with an average of a shade over 40 after 69 matches, with 10 centuries and 21 fifties. “My heart is clear and the time is right to walk into a new chapter,” Du Plessis said in a statement on Wednesday. “It has been an honour to play for my country in all the formats of the game, but the time has come for me to retire from Test cricket. “The next two years are T20 World Cup years. Because of this, my focus is shifting to this format and I want to play as much of it as possible around the world so that I can be the best player I can possibly be. “This does not mean that ODI (One-Day International) cricket is no longer in my plans. I am just making T20 cricket the priority in the short term.” Du Plessis made his Test debut against Australia in Adelaide in 2012, scoring 78 and a memorable 110 in the second innings, in which he faced 376 deliveries on a wearing wicket to help South Africa secure a draw in a series they won 1-0. He captained the side in 36 Tests but gave up the armband in February 2020 after a string of poor results.
Fatima Fertilizer, Multan Sultans join hands for HBL PSL 2021 LAHORE: Fatima Fertilizer Company Ltd (FFL) has partnered with Multan Sultans for the sixth edition of the HBL Pakistan Super League (PSL). The Multan Sultans team boasts a stellar list of best available players for the tournament, starting from February 20. Speaking on the occasion, Khurram Javed Maqbool, Director Marketing and Sales at Fatima Group said, “Fatima Fertilizer is thrilled to be supporting Multan Sultans in the sixth edition of the HBL PSL 2021. We are very confident that under Mohammad Rizwan’s captaincy, the squad filled with match winners will be performing in their best form and will keep the local and international cricket aficionados hooked to each game.” PR
Thursday, 18 February, 2021
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STAFF REPORT
AKISTAN Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz on Wednesday purported that it was time for the public to send the sitting prime minister packing with the power of the vote. Addressing a rally of the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) organised by her party, Maryam expressed that she feels deeper sympathy for the region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) when compared to the other provinces, as they had been facing “theft” for the last eight years. Maryam said that the stove of the poor was burning in the era of PML-N, in the previous government flour, sugar, pulses, eggs were cheap including gas and petrol. She pointed out that the economic growth rate during the rule of Nawaz Sharif had been 5.8 per cent. Comparing this to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, she said that that the growth rate “had gone underground”, underscoring that the price of flour had risen from Rs35 per kg to Rs80, and how a simple roti that used to cost Rs5 now costs Rs20. The PML-N vice-president said that wherever the PTI members would contest the elections, they would be defeated. I want to tell the people that when PTI come to ask for votes, show them the electricity and gas bills and medicine slips and tell them with what grace they have come to ask for votes, she added. Earlier in the day, Maryam urged the government to resolve the issue of
MARYAM URGES GOVT TO RESOLVE ISSUE OF 'MISSING PERSONS'
purportedly missing persons, wherein she “appealed” to the government to “at least inform” their families if their relatives were “dead or alive”. Maryam was speaking to reporters at D-Chowk in Islamabad where the families of missing persons in Balochistan have gathered for days now in a camp outside the National Press Club, demanding the recovery of their loved ones. Urging the top military leadership to resolve the matter, she said: “I want to say this to the army chief and DG ISI [Inter-Services Intelligence] as well: They are citizens of your country, they are your daughters, your mothers.” “Produce people, who are alive, in courts and those are not [alive], at least
tell the families that they are dead.” At the protest site, Maryam also met Sammi Baloch, daughter of Dr Deen Muhammad, who was “abducted” by unknown men in 2009. For over 11 years, Baloch, now 22, gathered outside the Quetta Press Club, wanting to know who took her father. On the occasion, Maryam also censured the PTI government for failing to reach out to the protestors. “If you cannot recover their loved ones, at least [… ] inform them where their loved ones, who are in torture cells, are,” she said. “They won’t do anything, they will just cry and fall silent but at least the agony that they experience every day will end.” Maryam also asked Prime Minister
Imran Khan to visit the protestors. “[…] Prime Minister House is […] hardly five minutes away [from here],” she said. “These girls told me they have been sitting out here for a week. You don’t have to answer the [security] agencies, you have to answer God.” The PML-N VP also indirectly spoke out against federal ministers Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed and Fawad Chaudhry, though she did not name either of them. “The oppressed do not have a province. Sindhi, Punjabi, even if someone is from KP or Balochistan, an oppressed person is oppressed [despite their province],” she said regarding the minister’s comments on the law and order situation. “For God’s sake don’t sprinkle salt on their wounds. At least tell your ministers not to worsen their grief and you should come and put your hand on their heads.” When asked why the PML-N government did not take any step to resolve the matter during its tenure, Maryam said: “All I can do right now is express solidarity […] I can let them know that they are from Balochistan but they are not alone.” “It’s not right to abduct them in the middle of the night and not tell their families of their whereabouts for 10 years,” she maintained. She also pointed out that courts were functional in the country and anyone suspected of being involved in a crime can be produced before them. Independent political observers believe some missing persons may have joined militant groups, sponsored and trained by India to promote insurgency in Balochistan, and not every person missing is attributable to the state.
Asad urges frontline workers to register for Covid-19 jabs ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT
Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar has appealed to all frontline healthcare workers to register to receive the vaccine which the government said would be given free to all in the country. Pakistan began its Covid-19 vaccine drive on February 2, with more than 400,000 doctors and frontline healthcare workers, teachers, and social workers receiving the shots in the first phase because they run the highest risk of exposure to the contagious disease. After that, the shots will be provided to citizens over the age of 65, who generally face a higher mortality risk from the virus. Asad, as per a statement issued by the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC), said that the government will take every measure to ensure the safety of medics. “Frontline workers are our priority,” said the minister, who also heads the NCOC. Cases have come down in recent months. In the last 24 hours, the nation documented 1,165 fresh infections of the coronavirus after conducting 33,196 tests, receiving back a transmission rate of 3.51 per cent. Despite passing through two waves of Covid-19, Pakistan has yet to fully utilise its testing capacity of 59,981, with daily testing significantly below numbers proposed by global health experts. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the country’s testing policies only record the most symptomatic patients — a belief substantiated by a Punjab government official as the “most efficient use of resources.” Pakistan received its first tranche of the Sinopharm jabs, given by China as a “gift”, earlier this month. The shipment marked the first shots to be imported into the country where more than 565,989 cases of the disease have been reported since the outbreak in February last.
In addition, the government is due to receive a further 1.1 million doses of the Sinopharm vaccine by the end of this month, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi had announced last month. Separately, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on National Health Services Dr Faisal Sultan announced that the government has secured 17 million doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine through the WHO’s COVAX initiative. Of these, he said, about seven million doses will be available in the first quarter of the year and the rest by the end of 2021. COVAX is a global program to vaccinate people in poor and middle-income countries against the pandemic. The plan aims to deliver at least two billion free vaccine doses by the end of 2021 to cover 20 per cent of the most vulnerable people in more than 90 nations across the globe. Moreover, the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has granted ‘emergency use approval’ to the CanSinoBIO Recombinant Covid-19 Vaccine Adenovirus Type 5 Vector (the “Ad5-nCoV”) and its marketing through the private and public sector. According to an official of DRAP, the approval has been granted following the communication of the results of the interim analysis of the global phase III clinical trial of Ad5-nCoV to the Health Ministry by the Independent Data Monitoring Committee (IDMC). He said that the “Ad5-nCoV” has successfully met its pre-specified primary safety and efficacy criteria in the interim analysis. There were no vaccine-related serious adverse events (SAE) and therefore CanSinoBIO has been allowed by IDMC to continue to advance the global phase III clinical trial of the Ad5-nCoV. The final CanSino Biologics Inc.’s experimental coronavirus vaccine stage clinical trial had an efficacy rate of 65.7 per cent at preventing symptomatic cases based on an analysis of 30,000 global participants adding a one-shot candidate to the world’s growing ar-
senal against Covid-19. And it was 90.98 per cent effective in preventing severe disease. In the Pakistan subset, efficacy at preventing symptomatic cases is 74.8 per cent and 100 per cent at preventing severe disease. A vaccine needs to afford at least a 50 per cent protection rate to be considered effective, as mandated by the world’s leading drug regulators and the World Health Organisation (WHO). This phase III clinical trial of Ad5-nCoV is a global multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, and adaptive designed phase clinical trials are being conducted to evaluate the efficacy, safety and immunogenicity of the Ad5-nCoV in adults over 18 years of age. All participants received a single dose of either Ad5-nCoV or a placebo vaccine on Day 0 and followed to monitor vaccine candidate efficacy and incidence of SAE for a duration of 52 weeks. The primary efficacy objective is the efficacy of Ad5nCoV in preventing virologically confirmed (PCR positive) symptomatic Covid-19 disease, regardless of severity, occurring 28 days to 52 weeks after vaccination. Covid-19 disease rates in Ad5-nCoV group are compared with Covid-19 rates in the control group. The primary safety objective is to evaluate the incidence of SAE and medically attended adverse events within 52 weeks after vaccination in all participants. The phase III clinical trial of Ad5-nCoV, part of the multi-country multi-centre clinical trial being conducted by CanSinoBIO, was initiated in Pakistan on September 22, 2020. Later the study was extended to Mexico, Russia, Argentina and Chile. CanSinoBIO has agreed to supply 35 million doses to Mexico while Malaysia is in talks to get 3.5 million shots. In June 2020 the vaccine was used in China for immunizing its military following its Emergency Use Approval in China.
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We must remain vigilant to respond befittingly to enemy's misadventure: COAS RAWALPINDI STAFF REPORT
Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Wednesday said that “we should remain vigilant to respond befittingly to any misadventure by the adversary”. The army chief expressed these views while paying a visit to Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Air War College Institute (AWCI) at Karachi which was the highest learning pedestal of PAF, said an Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) press release. Addressing the participants of 34th Air War Course, COAS appreciated thorough professionalism of PAF and its enviable achievements. He urged the officers to make consistent efforts to keep up with modern developments and maintain cutting edge advantage. "Superiority in modern day battlefield can only be maintained if we remain alive to contemporary challenges and are prepared to tackle them in line with emerging modern concepts," the COAS reiterated. Earlier, COAS visited Central Ordnance Depot Karachi. The army chief was briefed about upgradation of existing century old infrastructure of the depot on modern lines for provision of smooth logistics support. He appreciated the efforts of Ordinance Corps for its commitment in the field of logistics to enhance operational efficiency.On arrival at COD Karachi, the COAS was received by Chief of Logistics Staff Lieutenant General Azhar Saleh Abbasi and Corps Commander Lieutenant General Nadeem Ahmed Anjum.
Imran begins plantation drive in Islamabad ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government will make a “green Pakistan” as he launched a tree plantation drive in Islamabad. Speaking at the Spring Tree Plantation Campaign 2021, the prime minister, after planting a sapling, repeated his vow to revive and restore the forests in the country through the plantation of 10 billion trees across the country before the completion of his term. He regretted that in the past decades, megacities like Lahore and Peshawar that were once known as “garden cities” had turned into “concrete, cement jungles” because of “merciless” deforestation as, in Punjab, rural migrants to cities sought to adopt city-based lifestyles. Imran is aiming to fight climate change and pollution by planting trees. He hopes to scale up the success of the “Billion Tree Tsunami” — which restored 350,000 hectares of forests and degraded land — in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
Businesses shut in protest as India takes foreign diplomats to tour occupied kashmir SRINAGAR AgEnciES
Diplomats from nearly two dozen countries visited India-occupied Kashmir on Wednesday as residents of the region’s main city closed their shops and businesses in a sign of protest. This is the third visit by a group of foreign envoys stationed in India’s capital since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government stripped Kashmir of its semi-autonomous status in August 2019 and enforced the change with a harsh crackdown that for a time included a complete communications blackout. The diplomats were driven by Indian authorities in a motorcade amid tight security from the airport in Srinagar city to the western town of Magam, where they met officials and a select group of recently elected village councillors. Shops and businesses in Magam also shut in protest. The diplomats were also scheduled to meet select groups of civil society members, traders, pro-India politicians, and journalists. They were scheduled to fly to Jammu, the region’s winter capital, on Thursday.
Pakistan renews opposition to new permanent UNSC seats AKRAM SAYS ANY ATTEMPTS TO UNDERMINE OR DERAIL THE IGN PROCESS WILL PROVE COUNTERPRODUCTIVE NEW YORK CITY APP
Pakistan has warned that attempts by the aspirants of permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to railroad efforts to reform the 15-member body would kill the consensus-based process to make it more effective, representative and accountable. “More permanent members will com-
pound the Council’s inequality and dysfunctionality,” Islamabad’s permanent representative in UN Ambassador Munir Akram said while reaffirming the government’s strong opposition to including new permanent members. “Pakistan is opposed to expansion in the permanent category along with veto,” he said. “Permanent membership contradicts the fundamental precepts of sovereign equality,
democracy, representativeness and accountability,” the envoy said, adding: “It is only through an expansion in the non-permanent category that the ideal of a comprehensive reform can be met.” With that in view, Ambassador Akram said that the Italy and Pakistan-led Uniting for Consensus (UfC) group, which opposes adding any permanent members, has proposed 11 new elected members to the Council. Full-scale negotiations to reform the Security Council began in the General Assembly in February 2009 on five key areas — the membership categories, the question of veto, regional representation, size of an en-
larged Security Council, and working methods of the council and its relationship with the General Assembly. Despite a general agreement on enlarging the Council, as part of the UN reform process, member states remain sharply divided over the details. The G-4 have shown no flexibility in their push for expanding the Council by 10 seats, with six additional permanent and four non-permanent members. On the other hand, the UfC group has proposed a new category of members — not permanent members — with a longer duration in terms and a possibility to get
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re-elected. The UNSC is currently composed of five permanent members — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — and 10 non-permanent members elected to serve for two years. In his remarks, Ambassador Akram said, “If progress is to be made in the Security Council reform process, it is only by searching for areas of the agreement through painstaking discussions in the IGN and through sober consultations, mutual accommodation and innovative compromise. “It cannot be railroaded by bullying and coercion,” he added.