EpaperLHR_22-1-17 by Pakistan Today

Monday, 17 January, 2022 I 13 Jamadi-al-Sani, 1443 I Rs 40.00 I Vol XII No 200 I 48 Pages I Lahore Edition

Why three aides of PM Khan unleashed a targeted attacK on four sharifs?

ISLAMABAD Mian abrar

n a surprise move, three close aides of Prime Minister Imran Khan, over the weekend, unleashed a targeted attack on top four leaders of Sharif family. The attack was led by Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed who launched the attack. This attack was followed up with salvo by Minister for Information Chaudhry Fawad Hussain and Special Assistant to Prime Minister Shahbaz Gill. At least three close confidants of Prime Minister Khan have made almost same statements, attacking PML-n supremo nawaz Sharif, PML-n President Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shehbaz and party’s vice president and de-facto leader Maryam nawaz. Though the attacks were not stealth and rather straight in nature but were vicious in depth and hit the target right. Hence, there was no or little response from

the Sharifs. The only response which came, it was from Tallal Chaudhry which damaged the party more rather than defended it. Minister for Interior Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed claimed that “all four members” of the Sharif family should consider themselves “subtracted” from Pakistan’s politics. Although the interior minister did not specify who exactly these four members are, he was likely referring to the four Sharifs who have remained active as politicians, namely, nawaz Sharif, Maryam nawaz, Shehbaz Sharif and Hamza Shehbaz, of which the first two were disqualified to hold public office in 2017. Ahmed said: “The four Sharifs want that the hand of mercy that is [sheltering] the head of Imran Khan may shift to their heads. That hand may well end up on their necks, but (would) never be at their heads.” Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry was next to follow. At a media briefing in Lahore, Fawad said that there is a “rat race” underway among four leading

coronavirus in

PaKistan

members of the Sharif family to get a deal. “When the four big leaders went to meet ‘someone’, they said that ‘nawaz Sharif did not do right by the country, why don’t you consider us [for the top slot]?’,” the minister claimed further. Fawad went on to say that these Sharif family members are ‘hell-bent on removing nawaz Sharif’ from the party. The federal minister even claimed that the four members he was referring to “even went out to meet someone and confessed that since nawaz had treated the country in a bad manner, they should instead be given a chance to lead the party”. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Political Communication Shahbaz Gill followed up and told an audience in Faisalabad that Leader of the Opposition in the national Assembly Shehbaz Sharif has “asked for a deal for four people of Sharif family”. Gill said to the Sharifs: “However much of a deal and leeway you had to be provided, you have been.” Further addressing the Sharifs, Gill said that it is “not as if you are out on a shopping trip, that you are seeking a deal”. Gill said that the Sharif family will never be given a deal. “You have Imran Khan standing in your way,” he said. “He did not let go of them when he was in the Opposition, how will he let go of them now?” he added. Speaking of the particulars of the socalled “deal”, Gill claimed that it is sought for nawaz, “his daughter”, Shehbaz, and “his son”. He went on to claim that the request is for the latter three individuals to be allowed to leave the country, whereas “Shahid Khaqan Abbasi will stay”. “We won’t even give you a boiled potato, and here you are asking for a chicken burger deal,” he remarked, adding: “The Sharif family is asking for a burger deal which also includes a toy.”

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

Probe team recommends crackdown on encroachments in Murree ISLAMABAD Staff report

An investigation body probing the death of 22 people after being stuck in their vehicles overnight during a heavy snowstorm in Murree decided to seal commercial establishments lacking designated parking spaces. The body visited multiple neighbourhoods in the popular mountain resort town and decided to shut down hotels purportedly built illegally, shopping centres and apartments in addition to any establishment that does not offer a parking facility. The body observed that encroachments along the roads leading to the town are a major source of traffic congestion in Murree and recommended action against them. The team is expected to record

Shehbaz lambasts govt over hike in petrol price

CONFIRMED CASES:

1,324,147

statements of more affectees of the tragedy later today. Days after the deaths, the Rawalpindi administration allowed from January 17 the entry of travelers’ vehicles into the town subject to conditions. A notification was also issued by the Rawalpindi commissioner’s office in this regard. According to the notification, 8,000 vehicles would be allowed to enter the town daily from all points in normal weather conditions. The ban on entry of vehicles will not be applicable to the residents of Murree and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, while the chief traffic officer (CTO) will be responsible for formulating a traffic plan. Tourists will not be able to enter the hill station between 5:00 pm and 5:00 am. The CTO will be in touch with the meteorological department.

more inside

FBR fixes new valuations of immovable properties in Islamabad STORY ON PAGE 02

LAST UPDATED AT 7:48 AM ON JANUARY 16, 2022

DAY'S DEATH TOLL:

NEW CASES:

4,027

RECOVERED:

Rashid says ‘notrust motion against PM Imran Khan will fail’

DEATHS:

1,263,584 29,012 SINDH:

PUNJAB:

499,830

452,261

KPK:

BALOCHISTAN:

182,199

33,699

AJK/GB:

ISLAMABAD:

34,750/10,445

110,963

Pakistan Muslim Leaguenawaz (PML-n) President Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday lambasts the incumbent government for increasing the prices of petroleum products and power tariffs amid hyperinflation in the country. It is pertinent to note that the government on Saturday increased the prices of petroleum products by up to Rs3 per litre effective from January 16. “The increase of Rs3 in per litre price of petroleum product is utter brutality and akin to

economic murder of poor people,” the PML-n president said in a tweet. He said that the government doesn’t provide relief to the public when international oil prices decrease but it is quick to increase POL prices as soon as the global prices go up. The people of Pakistan are paying for the incompetence and corruption of this government, Shehbaz added. In response to a question, the opposition leader also said that he was Imran Khan’s

‘worst nightmare’. The long march to be taken out by the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) is to save the people from inflation and economic crisis, he added. The PML-n leader said that in over three-and-half years, PM Imran Khan’s actions resulted in inflation and an increase in power and energy prices. Shahbaz said that the current state of the economy has made people’s lives miserable. “It is the result of the worst negligence and corruption.” newS DeSk

STORY ON PAGE 03 in today’s issue

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Monday, 17 January, 2022 | LAHORE

NEWS

FBR FixEs nEw valUations oF immovaBlE pRopERtiEs in islamaBad ISLAMABAD

shahzad PaRacha

HE Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has lowered the fair market value of immovable properties in Islamabad after consultation with stakeholders, including the Federation of Realtors Pakistan (FRP). According to the details, the value of up to five year old residential and commercial superstructures in the federal capital shall be Rs2,000 per square foot and Rs1,000 per

square foot if the superstructure is more than five years old. The value determined by FBR in sector E7 would be Rs1,50,000 per square yard whereas the tax department had notified Rs250,000 per square yard of any size in E7 on December 15, 2021. Meanwhile, the value of an immovable property determined by FBR, with or without possession of a plot in B17 Islamabad would be Rs20,000 and Rs12,000 whereas FBR had fixed Rs55,000 value of land in this society. Likewise, the rate of immovable

Faisalabad Youtuber reuniting families divided between pakistan, india LAHORE anadolu aGency

At a time when relations between Pakistan and India are marred due to hostilities, a Pakistan-based YouTube channel is reuniting families separated during the partition of the subcontinent in 1947. In the latest such reunion, Nasir Dhillon, 37, who runs a YouTube channel named Punjabi Lehar, has successfully reunited two brothers living in Pakistan and India after a 75-year gap. A video of the reunion of two brothers, Muhammad Siddique, who lives in Faisalabad, and Sikka Khan, a resident of the northern state of Punjab in India, has gone viral on social media. The video shows an emotional union after they met for the first time earlier this week at the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur in Narowal. Dhillon, who is based in Faisalabad and runs the channel along with his Sikh friend, told Anadolu Agency that he has already reunited more than 200 families. “We run this web channel as a hobby. Our main focus is on the stories related to the partition,” he said. Dhillon said that in November, he reunited two childhood friends who got separated during the partition. “Sardar Singh is now settled in America and his friend Raju’s family is living in Pakistan. We also facilitated the visit of Indian Punjabi singer Gippy Grewal to his native village Chak 47 Mansooran in Faisalabad,” he said. Dhillon said they came across many cases in the past where parents were left in Pakistan and children migrated to India or vice versa, and the Kartarpur corridor has facilitated the meeting of divided families. Despite a chill in bilateral ties over disputed Kashmir, Islamabad and New Delhi signed a landmark agreement in November 2019 to open the Kartarpur corridor to allow Indian pilgrims to visit the holy Sikh shrine in Pakistan. STORY OF TWO BROTHERS: The emotional story of the two brothers, Siddique and Khan, has become the talk of the town across the borders. A few days after the first brief meeting at Kartarpur, they are now waiting for visas and want to spend some time together. In Faisalabad, Siddique, now in his late 80s, says he remembers the incident vividly when he got separated from Habib, who later on got the name of Sikka Khan. During the partition, Siddique was staying at his home in the village of Jugaraun in India with his younger sister and father, while his mother, along with Habib, left to meet her family in the Phulewal village. When Siddique’s village came under attack at the time of the partition, his father fled towards Faisalabad, taking along him and his younger sister. On their way, the father was killed and the sister also later died due to severe illness. On the other hand, the mother was not able to bear the trauma and took her life and left behind child Habib. “I knew that my brother was alive,” Siddique told Anadolu Agency. “I am thankful to the family who took care of him. The moment I saw him, I ran towards him and hugged him. We cried for almost half an hour and inquired about each other’s journey.” Still emotional, Siddique said he is now waiting for both countries to give visas, so they can frequently meet. “I want to request the prime ministers of both countries to grant us special visas so we can meet each other for the rest of our lives,” he said.

property per square yard in Bani Gala would be Rs28,000 whereas FBR had notified Rs36,363 square yard value earlier. Documents state that the value of immovable properties including flats and apartments will be Rs25,000 per square foot in F-8 whereas the FBR had notified Rs260,000 value of flat per square foot. Furthermore, FBR had fixed Rs6,80,420 per square foot of commercial immovable property rate in Blue Area whereas the new value rates of commercial property including shops would be Rs48,611 per square foot.

The rates of industrial immovable properties in I9, I10 and Kahuta Triangle would be Rs10 million, 10 million, and 0.6 million per kanal, respectively as opposed to FBR’s earlier notified price of Rs40 million in I9, Rs40 million in I10 and Rs10 million in Kahuta Triangle. Meanwhile, new immovable property rates of agro, poultry, and vegetable farm would be Rs8 million in Chak Shahzad whereas the tax department had notified a Rs10 million rate last month. The valuation of backside shops of an

No 4G in AJK, GB despite spectrum auction ISLAMABAD Ghulam abbas

Cellular companies that participated in the auction of next-generation mobile services in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit Baltistan (GB) in September 2021, have not taken practical steps to provide the 4G internet services in the mountainous region as yet. Talking to the media here on Sunday, GB Chief Minister Muhammad Khalid Khurshid claimed that despite the lapse of around four months, cellular companies have not made any investment or upgraded their equipment in the area to provide fast internet services in the region. “The Special Communication Organization (SCO) has alone been criticized for not providing fast internet services in GB and AJK whereas private cellular companies are equally responsible for not showing any progress in this regard,” he said, adding that the Ministry of Information Technology and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) should ask these companies to ensure the provision of 4G services in the northern regions.

According to insiders, cellular companies are reluctant to install new equipment and are instead making other arrangements in the remote areas keeping profitability in view. In September 2021, the first-ever cellular spectrum auction held for next-gen mobile services in AJK and GB fetched $30.3 million. All four major cellular mobile operators, including Telenor Pakistan, Ufone, and Zong participated in the bidding process. Except for Jazz, the remaining three companies won a certain

Russian central bank to seek ban on investment in cryptocurrencies MOSCOW ReuteRs

The Russian central bank would like to ban investments in cryptocurrencies in Russia, seeing risks to financial stability in the rising number of crypto transactions, two financial market sources close to the central bank said. Russia for years spoke against cryptocurrencies, saying they could be used in money laundering or to finance terrorism. It eventually gave them legal status in 2020 but banned them from being used as a means of payment. The central bank is now in talks with market players and experts about the possible ban, which, if approved by lawmakers, may apply to new purchases of crypto assets but not to those bought in the past, one of the financial market sources said, asking not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter. Another source close to the Bank of Russia said the central bank’s current position is a “complete rejection” of all cryptocurrencies. In a reply to Reuters request, the central bank said it was preparing an advisory report to voice its stance on the issue. It did not comment on specifics. The annual volume of transactions with cryptocurrencies that Russians carry out is about $5 billion, according to the central bank. Its increasing popularity causes concerns about risks to financial stability, Central Bank

First Deputy Governor Ksenia Yudaeva said earlier in December. “The situation in developed market countries more and more resemble the so-called shadow financial system,” Yudaeva wrote in an article, adding that the use of cryptocurrencies lowers the efficiency of monetary policies. Yudaeva, pointing at China’s experience, said Russia needed a further adjustment of cryptocurrency regulation. In September, China intensified a crackdown on cryptocurrencies with a blanket ban on all crypto transactions and mining, hitting bitcoin and other major coins and pressuring crypto and blockchainrelated stocks. Meanwhile, the Bank of Russia is planning to issue its own digital rouble, joining the global trend to develop digital currencies to modernise financial systems, speed up payments and counter a potential threat from other cryptocurrencies.

portion of the available spectrum. In the category of electronic auction, two cellular services operators CMPak (Zong) and PMCL (Jazz) participated for 1800 MHz band. After 18 rounds of electronic auction, Zong was declared as the winner of 10 MHz (2 blocks of 5 MHz each) against the price of $14.398 million. In addition, Telenor, Ufone and Zong also made successful bids for 1.2 MHz in the 1800 MHz band. As for the 2100 MHz band, Telenor Pakistan returned successfully for a spectrum of 15 MHz against the set base price. In reply to a query, the GB chief minister claimed that his government was actively pursuing the case related to extension of projects under Universal Service Fund (USF) to GB as the USF, a subsidiary of the federal information technology ministry, has declined to launch telecom projects in the region for disputed territorial position of GB and AJK. “We have been informed that only four provinces are included in the USF’s domain. But the forum’s intention is apparently something else. We are pursuing the case and are hopeful that the projects would be extended to GB,” he said while referring to reports about USF’s refusal to introduce projects in GB.

Facebook to win conditional EU nod for Kustomer buy BRUSSELS ReuteRs

Facebook is set to gain EU antitrust approval for its acquisition of Kustomer after offering remedies that allow rival products to function with those of the US customer service startup, people familiar with the matter said. A buying spree of startups by big companies has triggered concerns on both sides of the Atlantic, with regulators worried about so-called killer acquisitions aimed at shutting down potential rivals before they are big enough to be a threat. The world’s largest social network announced the deal in November 2020, which would give it another tool to attract more sellers to its platforms. Kustomer, which sells CRM software to businesses so they can communicate with consumers by phone, email, text messages, WhatsApp, Instagram and other channels, would help Facebook scale up its instant messaging app WhatsApp, which has seen usage soar during the COVID-19 pandemic. Facebook has given remedies which focus on interoperability issues allowing different products and technology to function together, one of the people said. The European Commission, which has said the deal could hurt competition and boost Facebook’s power in online advertising, subsequently sought feedback from rivals and users, they said. The EU executive took up the case after the Austrian competition agency asked it to, even though the deal falls below the EU turnover threshold. The watchdog is using a rarely used power known as Article 22 that gives it some discretion. The EU competition enforcer, which is scheduled to decide on the deal by Jan. 28, declined to comment.

Global crude oil prices rise up to 5.27pc for fourth week ISLAMABAD tltP

Global crude oil prices rose up to 5.27 percent for the fourth straight week, climbing to a nine-week high. The global oil prices were lifted by tight supply, easing concerns over the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant, and a weaker US dollar. In the previous three weeks, the global crude oil prices surged up to 8.85 percent, 2.15 percent and 4.13 percent, respectively. According to details, the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) reached $83.82 from

immovable property in the fruit and vegetable market in I11 would be Rs1,25,000 which was Rs1,82,476 per the per square yard notified by FBR. Moreover, FBR has also lowered the valuation of residential immovable property in Bahria Enclave Islamabad. The value per square yard in Sectors A, B & C Bahria Enclave will be Rs40,000 which was Rs62,809 earlier. The tax department has fixed Rs10 million with possession and Rs8.5 million without possession per kanal of farmhouses in Gulberg Greens. It is pertinent to mention here that FBR on December 15, had notified an up to 700 per cent increase in fair market value of immovable properties in 40 cities including Islamabad. Later, the department had suspended the valuation rates till January 15, 2022, when stakeholders including the Federation of Realtors Pakistan staged a demonstration against the new valuation rates outside the FBR building.

$78.90, up by 4.97 percent during the week. The lowest closing for the week, $78.23, remained on Monday while the highest closing for the week was on Friday at $83.82. Similarly, Brent, the international benchmark for two-thirds of the world’s oil, increased 5.27 percent during the week to reach $86.06 from $81.75 a barrel. The lowest closing for the week was $80.87 on Monday while the highest closing was observed on Friday at $86.06. The price for Opec Basket surged 4.85 percent from $80.80 to $84.72 a barrel, Arab Light price increased 2.39 percent to

reach $84.24 from $82.27 and the price of Russian Sokol jumped 3.75 percent to $86.49 from $83.36 a barrel during the last week. The US dollar headed for its largest weekly fall in eight months, turning commodities into a more affordable purchase for holders of other currencies. The US dollar index was 0.1 percent higher at 94.931, but finished the week down by about 0.9 percent, representing its worst weekly showing in eight months. In addition to the weak dollar, oil markets have also been taking comfort from a boost in demand optimism, as early signs

that Omicron cases are levelling off in US cities where the new variant first emerged suggest the US is approaching its infection peak. Global crude prices have also been affected by the weekly report by the US Energy Information Administration showing that US commercial crude oil stocks declined by 4.55 million barrels to 413.3 million barrels in the week to January 7. Supply constraints and worries of a Russian attack on neighbouring Ukraine also pushed prices towards their fourth weekly gain despite reports that China is set to release crude reserves around the Lunar

New Year – starting February 01 – as it joins the US-led plan to drive down global oil prices. The exact volume to be released has not yet been disclosed, and will reportedly be dependent on oil price levels. The Biden administration conducted a series of talks in November last year with Japan, India, South Korea, and the UK, all major oil consumers, to launch a coordinated release of oil stockpiles, intended to help drive down rising prices as restricted supplies put a squeeze on the market. While China typically keeps its oil reserves under wraps, in September last year the nation had its first ever public crude oil reserves auction, selling off 7.4 million barrels. Japan and South Korea have also announced their plans for crude sales this year.

Monday, 17 January, 2022 | LAHORE

Rashid saYs ‘no-tRUst motion against pm imRan Khan will Fail’

NEWS DESK

NTERIOR Minister Sheikh Rashid said on Sunday that the potential notrust motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan will fail as over two dozen lawmakers from the opposition benches will not support it. Speaking about 12 government lawmakers who didn’t vote for the minibudget in the National Assembly session held on Thursday, the interior minister told reporters that if the opposition wanted to bring a no-trust move against PM Imran Khan with the help of these members, then it should be ready to lose around 26 votes from its side. He said that the in-house change will not happen and Imran will complete his five-year term. According to Rashid, after April, the

government will present a “friendly budget”, saying the next three months were very important. He also said that the government was fully prepared to handle the long marches to be taken out by the anti-government alliance, the Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) in March and February, respectively. The opposition parties are mulling the option of moving a vote of no confidence against PM Imran. On Wednesday, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif met Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman at his residence in Islamabad and the two opposition leaders considered bringing a noconfidence motion against the premier. The minister said that he didn’t believe

president apologizes to an aged taxpayer over administrative injustice of FBR APP President Dr Arif Alvi has expressed dismay over the treatment of an 82-year-old tax payer by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and directed FBR chairman to take punitive action against the entire chain of decision-makers involved in the case. Apologizing to the senior citizen Abdul Hamid Khan, the president said that their heads should hang in shame for the inconvenience caused by the FBR to a senior citizen. The president took exception to the decision of FBR against the senior citizen in which the bureau had refused to refund a paltry sum of Rs 2,333 on frivolous grounds and dragged him into unnecessary litigation spanning over a year. The FBR chief was further directed to look into the entire system of irresponsibility and corruption. “Punitive action must be taken along the entire line of decision-makers in this case and Chairman FBR should ensure that those responsible, in particular, and others, in general, go through courses to teach them priorities and courtesies, he directed. The president while rejecting FBR’s appeal in the instant complaint observed that it appeared that unlawful treatment meted out in the instant case with a view to irritate and humiliate the aging pensioner. Abdul Hamid Khan (the complainant), a senior citizen of 82 years of age, had claimed a refund of Rs 2,333 on his income tax return for the year 2020 and submitted requisite documents of advance tax deduction of the PTCL and cell phone company bills on 19.10.2020. The complainant e-filed refund application on 19th October, 2020 followed by representation to FBR Chairman on 24th December, 2020. The Unit officer of FBR rejected his refund claim, on 29.01.2021, on the grounds that the applicant had failed to furnish the original certificates required for authentication. The complainant then took up the matter with the Federal Tax Ombudsman (FTO) to seek redressal of his complaint. The FTO investigated the matter and ordered FBR on 02.06.2021 to revisit the impugned order dated 19.01.2021 and pass a fresh order under section 170(4) of the ordinance, after providing the complainant the opportunity for hearing as per law.

sherry contracts coronavirus KARACHI monitoRinG RePoRt

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Senator Sherry Rehman tested positive for coronavirus on Sunday, media reported. The Covid-19 test of the former minister came back positive on Saturday. She has isolated herself at home. A number of high-profile politicians, including the prime minister and president, have tested positive for the contagious disease since it was first detected in the country in February 2020. Prime Minister Imran Khan, President Arif Alvi, Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif and PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari are among the politicians who contracted the disease so far. The metropolis of Karachi is experiencing a surge in new infections driven by the Omicron variant as within days, the positivity ratio has shot up to over 39 percent. It recorded an increase of 6.5 percent in positivity rate on Saturday alone. The Sindh government has decided to accelerate the vaccination drive across the province.

these protests will give the government a “tough time” as this was not the first time the opposition was marching on Islamabad. Rashid said that the government will block the entry points to the federal capital due to the march if the opposition tried to take the law into their hands. He also advised the opposition to consider the Omicron spread before starting a long march towards Islamabad. The minister also downplayed the alleged rift in the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), saying Imran Khan is the sole leader of the PTI as he “singlehandedly built the party”. Speaking about the deaths in Murree due to a blizzard earlier this month, Rashid claimed that had he not gone to the resort town, “30-40 people would have died” due to a lack of facilities in the hill station.

According to Rashid, he spent two days in Murree to rescue the stranded tourists even though this was not the job of the interior ministry. He also criticised former premier Nawaz Sharif for going to London, saying that Nawaz spent more time on efforts to escape to London than to oust Imran Khan’s government. He reiterated that the Sharif family has no place in national politics anymore. “Earlier there were rumours of a deal but now there won’t be any deal either,” he added. About the tough conditions by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) imposed in the recently passed Finance (Supplementary) Bill 2021 and SBP Amendment Bill 2021, Rashid said that Pakistan keeps going back to the IMF and with every package, the Fund has made its conditions tougher.

NEWS

Govt to complete its constitutional tenure: Ali Muhammad ISLAMABAD aPP

State Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan on Sunday said the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government would complete its constitutional tenure under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan as it was not scared from any move of the opposition parties. Talking to a private news channel, he said the people had great confidence on the prime minister leadership as they knew that Prime Minister Imran Khan was the only political leader who had full capabilities to resolve their problems amicably. The opposition had faced badly defeat at every front against the government, he added. He said the government would not give any deal or adopt lenient policy against the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, adding everyone knew that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif went to abroad for medical treatment but he did not admit in any hospital in London for that purpose till date.

Monday, 17 January, 2022 | LAHORE

NEWS

TalIban Pledge all gIrls In schOOls sOOn KABUL

The AssociATeD Press

FGHANISTAN’s new Taliban rulers say they hope to be able to open all schools for girls across the country after late March, their spokesman told The Associated Press on Saturday, offering the first timeline for addressing a key demand of the international community. Since the Taliban takeover in midAugust, girls in most of Afghanistan have not been allowed back to school beyond grade 7. The international community, reluctant to formally recognise a Talibanrun administration, is wary they could impose similar harsh measures as during their previous rule 20 years ago. At the time, women were banned from education, work and public life. Zabihullah Mujahid, who is also the Taliban’s deputy minister of culture and information, said their education departments are looking to open classrooms for all girls and women following the Afghan New Year, which starts on March 21. Afghanistan, like neighbouring Iran, observers the Islamic solar Hijri Shamsi calendar. Education for girls and women “is a question of capacity,” Mujahid said in the interview. Girls and boys must be completely segregated in schools, he said, adding the

biggest obstacle so far has been finding or building enough dorms, or hostels, where girls could stay while going to school. In heavily populated areas, it is not enough to have separate classrooms for boys and girls — separate school buildings are needed, he said. “We are not against education,” Mujahid stressed, speaking at a Kabul office building with marble floors that once housed Afghan attorney general’s offices and which the Taliban have adopted for their culture and information ministry. The Taliban dictates so far have been erratic, varying from province to province. Girls have not been allowed back to classrooms in state-run schools beyond grade 7, except in about 10 of the country’s 34 provinces. In the capital, Kabul, private universities and high schools have continued to operate uninterrupted. Most are small and the classes have always been segregated. “We are trying to solve these problems by the coming year,” so that schools and universities can open, Mujahid said. The international community has been sceptical of Taliban announcements, saying it will judge them by their actions — even as it scrambles to provide billions of dollars to avert a humanitarian catastrophe that the UN chief this week warned could endanger the lives of millions. With a breakdown of services and only sporadic electricity in the bitterly

Pakistan urges world to hold India accountable for harassment, arrests of journalists in IIOJK The Foreign Office on Sunday in a statement, called out the reported attack on the Kashmir Press Club (KPC) on Saturday, saying it “manifestly reflects India’s entrenched use of brute force and coercion to forcibly silence those raising voices against its horrendous crimes and egregious human rights violations in IIOJK”. The FO condemned increasing harassment, illegal arrests and registration of “fake criminal cases” against journalists and civil society activists in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOK) and called upon the international community to hold New Delhi accountable for its actions. According to local media, “unfamiliar” activities were seen at the KPC on Saturday when a few journalists accompanied by policemen reached there and claimed to be the club’s “new management”. The policemen claimed to be personal security officers of one of the journalists who released a statement to the media stating that “some journalist forums” had chosen them to be the new office-bearers. The claims of the interim body were disputed soon by a statement issued by around nine journalist bodies in IOK who denounced the forcible takeover of the KPC office with “open support from the administration” and termed it “a wrong and dangerous precedent”. In its statement, the FO said the increasing use of draconian and inhumane laws including the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, Public Safety Act and Armed Forces Special Powers Act with impunity in IOK reflected India’s “colonial mindset”. “India’s state-sponsored terrorism can never weaken the resolve of the Kashmiris for their right to selfdetermination,” it added. News Desk

cold Afghan winters, most people rely on firewood and coal for heat. Among the hardest hit are some 3 million Afghans who live as refugees within their own country, having fled their homes because of war, drought, poverty or fear of the Taliban. Earlier this month, the United Nations launched a $5 billion appeal for Afghanistan, the single largest appeal for one country. Washington has spent $145 billion on reconstruction and development projects in Afghanistan since the 2001 US-led invasion that ousted the Taliban regime. Yet even before the Taliban recaptured the country, the poverty rate was 54 percent — and a 2018 Gallup poll revealed unprecedented misery among Afghans. Mujahid appealed for economic cooperation, trade and “stronger diplomatic relations.” So far, neither Afghanistan’s neighbours nor the United Nations seem ready to grant formal recognition which would help open up the Afghan economy. However, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has called for greater economic development, saying it’s critical to rapidly inject liquidity into the Afghan economy “and avoid a meltdown that would lead to poverty, hunger and destitution for millions.” The international community has called for a more representative government that includes women as well as eth-

nic and religious minorities. While all members of the new Taliban Cabinet are men and most are Taliban members, Mujahid said there are exceptions such as the deputy finance minister and officials in the economics ministry who are holdovers from the previous, US-backed administration. Mujahid also said 80 percent of civil servants who have returned to work were employees under the previous administration. Women are working in the health and education sector and at Kabul International Airport in customs and passport control, he added. He did not say if or when women would be allowed to return to work in government ministries. He also told the AP that most of the new government’s revenue will come from customs that the Taliban will collect at border crossings with Iran, Pakistan and the Central Asian nations to the north. Without offering figures, he claimed the Taliban have brought in more revenue in their first four months in power than the previous government in over a year. He appealed to Afghans who have fled to return to their homeland. Since the takeover, there have been cases of opponents arrested, journalists beaten, rights workers threatened and demonstrations by women dispersed by heavily armed Taliban troops firing in the air.

Expect more worrisome variants after Omicron, scientists warn WASHINGTON The AssociATeD Press

Get ready to learn more Greek letters. Scientists warn that Omicron’s whirlwind advance practically ensures it won’t be the last version of the coronavirus to worry the world. Every infection provides a chance for the virus to mutate, and Omicron has an edge over its predecessors: It spreads way faster despite emerging on a planet with a stronger patchwork of immunity from vaccines and prior illness. That means more people in whom the virus can further evolve. Experts don’t know what the next variants will look like or how they might shape the pandemic, but they say there’s no guarantee the sequels of Omicron will cause milder illness or that existing vaccines will work against them. They urge wider vaccination now, while today’s shots still work. “The faster Omicron spreads, the more opportunities there are for mutation, potentially leading to more variants,” Leonardo Martinez, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Boston University, said.

Since it emerged in mid-November, Omicron has raced across the globe like fire through dry grass. Research shows the variant is at least twice as contagious as delta and at least four times as contagious as the original version of the virus. Omicron is more likely than delta to reinfect individuals who previously had Covid-19 and to cause “breakthrough infections” in vaccinated people while also attacking the unvaccinated. The World Health Organisation (WHO) reported a record 15 million new Covid-19 cases for the week of January 3-9, a 55 percent increase from the previous week. Along with keeping comparatively healthy people out of work and school, the ease with which the variant spreads increases the odds the virus will infect and linger inside people with weakened immune systems — giving it more time to develop potent mutations. “It’s the longer, persistent infections that seem to be the most likely breeding grounds for new variants,” said Dr. Stuart Campbell Ray, an infectious disease expert at Johns Hopkins University.

“It’s only when you have a very widespread infection that you’re going to provide the opportunity for that to occur.” Because Omicron appears to cause less severe disease than delta, its behaviour has kindled hope that it could be the start of a trend that eventually makes the virus milder like a common cold. It’s a possibility, experts say, given that viruses don’t spread well if they kill their hosts very quickly. But viruses don’t always get less deadly over time. A variant could also achieve its main goal — replicating — if infected people developed mild symptoms initially, spread the virus by interacting with others, then got very sick later, Ray explained by way of example. “People have wondered whether the virus will evolve to mildness. But there’s no particular reason for it to do so,” he said. “I don’t think we can be confident that the virus will become less lethal over time.” Getting progressively better at evading immunity helps a virus to survive over the long term. When SARS-CoV-2 first struck, no one was immune.

600mn saplings to be planted in spring: minister ISLAMABAD APP

Minister of State for Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam said over 600 million saplings would be planted during the spring drive. He said the government had set a plantation target of one billion trees for all the provinces in 2022. Directives had been issued that no agricultural land could be converted into housing societies, he added. Previously, the approval for a housing society was given at the commissioner level but now, the provincial cabinet would approve such projects. The step had been taken to make the approval to convert agricultural land for housing projects a difficult task so that the agricultural land could be protected, he added. He said there was no master plan for any city. After 1960, no master plan was formulated for any city. But now, on the directives of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the master plans of 80 cities were being devised which would be finalised within five to six months, he added. These plans would help contain the limits of the cities and there would be no expansion of the cities beyond their limits. The government was encouraging the construction vertically to save agricultural land, he said. About the installation of sewerage plants and plantations by the housing societies, he said: “The government is going to issue an order for environmental audit of all the housing societies and strict action would be taken against those violating the rules.” He informed that urban Miyawaki Forests were being set up in congested city areas in accordance with the ten billion tree tsunami vision of Prime Minister Khan. He said: “We have established nearly 100 urban Miyawaki Forests in Lahore and more than 100 Miyawaki Forests were also set up in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.” Aslam said: “The plantation under ten billion tree tsunami project was being carried out over 9500 sites which will be uploaded on the website so that the citizens could be able to check the plantation activities. The step is being taken to ensure complete transparency for the project.” He said more urban Miyawaki Forest projects would also be set up in Rawalpindi to provide the citizens clean and green environment. He informed that an operation was launched earlier in Kotli Sattian and strict action was taken against those involved in the illegal cutting of trees from the forest areas. Aslam said a comprehensive strategy was being evolved to protect the forests. Local residents of the forest areas would be appointed as forest guards to prevent fire incidents in the forest areas. Such a project was implemented in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa which remained successful, he informed. A plan in this regard had been formulated and the project would be implemented soon, he added.

Federal govt urges Sindh to adopt national health card program LAHORE sTAff corresPoNDeNT

Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry has urged the Sindh government to adopt Prime Minister Imran Khan’s National Health Card programme for effective provision of health facilities to all and sundry. Speaking during ‘Meet the Press’ programme here at the Lahore Press Club on Sunday, Fawad said the National Health Card programme would incur half the amount Sindh government is currently spending on provision of health facilities, adding that a huge sum of funds is spent on construction of hospital buildings only while a medical superintendent is hired for millions of rupees by the Sindh government. He said this amount should be spent on medical treatment in a better way by intro-

ducing National Health Card. The information minister said the health card covers a health insurance of one million rupees of a family at private and public sector hospitals, adding that it is tracked through National Identity Card (NIC) and it will take care of all hospitalization expenses of journalists. He said journalists should stay assured that their health needs have been taken care of by the government. “The National Health Card will benefit the middle-class and the white-collared persons the most,” he said, adding that the rich would hardly need it as they get medical treatment from abroad. To a query, the minister said the private sector hospitals were vital for provision of healthcare facilities; otherwise, health facilities could not be provided by the public sector hospitals alone to such a large population. He invited the private sector to invest in

the health sector so that medical facilities could be provided to maximum number pf people. Stressing the need for keeping pace with time, Fawad Ch asked the print media industry to adopt digitalisation as the world was fast changing, adding that the 5G technology would further revolutionise the world and the print media needed to adopt new technologies so that it did not suffer losses. He said that Rs 12 billion advertisement had been shifted from the traditional print media to the digital media during the past year. He renewed a pledge to provide Rs 5 lakh loan to the digital media journalists on the recommendation of the press clubs. The information minister also announced setting up of a modern digital media lab at Lahore Press Club so that journalist could make the best out of it. The information minister said that jour-

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nalists might also benefit from the Prime Minsiter’s Low-Income Housing Scheme, adding all members of press clubs could avail soft loans to build a home of their own in Prime Minsiter’s schemes. To a question about no increase in salaries of media workers for the last seven years, Fawad said the businesses had earned Rs 929 billion in profit on the stock exchange last year, adding that the profits of media houses grew by 30-40 per cent but the media workers did not benefit from these profits as their salaries were not increased. He urged owners of the media house that the trickle down effects of their boon should be shifted to the workers as well. Stressing the need for a serious political debate in the country’s media, he said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was almost forced to resign after his office violated the

Covid-19 lockdown restrictions while the public was made to follow the law, adding that, in our country, one section of media had published an article by former finance minister Ishaq Dar who had fled the country after embezzling billions of rupees of the public. He said how come a person, who wreaked havoc on the country’s economy, could give lectures on the economy. On the issue of Nawaz Sharif’s return to the country to face courts, he said that people like Nawaz Sharif must return to the country as they were responsible for the financial mess the country was in. He said the Nawaz Sharif issue was directly linked to price-hikes, adding that the country, from 1947 to 2008, took loans of seven trillion rupees and all projects including the motorways, nuclear plants, dams, airports, cities like Islamabad and Gwadar were completed between this period.

Monday, 17 January, 2022 | LAHORE

HAmmAd SAyS ‘TAlkS under wAy for kAzAkHSTAn gAS pipeline’

NERGY Minister Hammad Azhar on Saturday stated that discussions are under way with Russia to bring a gas pipeline from Kazakhstan, which will be cheaper than the imported LNG. “Laws are being made to mix imported LNG and imported gas with locally produced natural one to ensure supply to the domestic consumers in country.” “We are working on substitutes as the local reserves are depleting,” he added while addressing a news conference in Islamabad. The minister said the government had recently introduced legislation of weighted average price of gas. He said the gas brought from the pipeline from Kazakhstan would be expensive than the local one. “Therefore, this will require pricing mechanism.” “The government had no legislation earlier to price gas if LNG was mixed with indigenous gas.” He added that the National Assembly has passed this law a day earlier and this was a “historical moment”. “We will now pursue it in Senate.” The minister said the present government had introduced historic reforms in different sectors including energy. He highlighted that the State Bank Amendment Bill was essential in wake of the “politically motivated damage” done to the economy by the finance minister of the last government, referring to PML-N’s Ishaq Dar. The minister claimed that this legislation will free the central bank from

politicised decisions. “While it is being politicised, but the autonomy of the State Bank is very important. The regular boom and bust cycles in the country has strong links with the autonomy of the central bank,” he added. “State banks are autonomous in all stable economies, but here one former deputy governor was involved in money laundering for the finance minister,” he claimed, again referring to Dar. Without naming anybody but in an obvious reference to Dar, he maintained that there was a time when the finance minister would make a call to the State Bank governor and give directions on the exchange rate. “The SBP governor would use the loaned dollars to execute the directives given by the finance minister to maintain the exchange rates artificially,” he added. “But in return, the foreign exchange reserves continued to decline. The country was flooded with imports and enhanced foreign debt.” Hammad claimed that now there were market-based exchange rates. “The reserves are not used to maintain the exchange rates artificially.” The minister further maintained that exports were being made competitive. He rejected the impression that there was any risk to national security and pointed out that the governor, deputy governor and board of directors of the central bank would be appointed by the government. He added that there was no need to give the political colour to the bill

granting autonomy to the State Bank. “Even the PML-N tried to present such a bill in 2015 but did not follow it themselves.” The minister noted that Pakistan had not been performing well over complying with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) conditions. “The country has been in the grey list, but the reforms taken by the present government have been acknowledged by the world. [A total of] 26 out of the 27 reform agendas have been achieved by the government in a record time.” He highlighted other reforms taken by the government which included separation of customs from the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and tax policy, and it had resulted in the import of cheap raw material. “Earlier, the customs policies were used to enhance tax revenues but it resulted in de-industrialisation,” the minister said. “Now since the ministry of commerce will drive the customs policy, around Rs200 billion worth of input has been made. It has resulted in strong growth of industrialisation and the large scale manufacturing witnessed a growth of 12% in the last fiscal year, improved exports and reversal of deindustrialisation.” He added that these measures had supported the stabilisation of the economy and expressed the confidence that the exports would touch $30 billion in the ongoing fiscal year. “Our tax collection and exports are

increasing as a result of better policies. We target to collect Rs6 trillion in taxes during the current fiscal year. Our GDP growth will be 5% in addition to $30 billion in remittances.” Hammad maintained that the previous government had focused primarily on power generation and not on the transmission system, creating bottlenecks in the electricity supply. The minister added that PIT-led government was focusing on improving transparency in the electricity generation as well as the transmission system. “The previous governments made decisions on the take or pay basis giving enormous risk free benefits to the investors of their choice. But now we have introduced transparency in the whole affair, through a competitive open auction system.” He said the maximum electricity transmission in the last era was 20,800MW. “However, we already crossed that mark last summer and in 2023, the electricity transmission would be more than 30,000MW.” The minister also informed the media that the transmission of electricity had started from the phase II of Neelum–Jhelum Hydropower Project and Karot Hydropower Project. “Electricity will be supplied to Gujaranwala and Sialkot regions from there.” The minister blamed too much reliance on imported fuel for the issue of fuel cost adjustment. “It is because of lack of long-term policy making by the previous governments.” news desk

Why three aides of PM Khan unleashed a targeted attack on four Sharifs? continued from page 01 Gill claimed that he met Nawaz thrice while he was hospitalised in Pakistan, and that the PML-N supremo “would plead to be let go”. The premier’s aide said that the government seeks to bring back Nawaz, who is currently residing in London after travelling there to seek medical treatment in November 2019. He claimed that Nawaz is “being put on a plane and sent here” and that he will

“go to jail when he arrives”. He added: “Soon you will see Shehbaz Sharif behind bars.” Gill said that now, politics in Pakistan will see a clean competition between one vote and another, instead of the use of dirty tactics. PML-N coNfirMs coNtacts with estabLishMeNt: In response to Gill’s remarks, PML-N’s Talal Chaudhry confirmed contacts of Sharif family with the establishment. “The hand of mercy that was on your head, is

now at the feet of Nawaz Sharif,” the PML-N leader claimed. He said that it is Nawaz Sharif who will “never give any breathing room to this fake government”. “Look at where the country stands. Neither does the poor man have bread to eat, nor does our nation have any honour,” Chaudhry said. Chaudhry went on to remark: “They can scarcely run the government and yet have the gall to spin such tales.”

NTDC rehabilitated high power transformer at 500 kV grid station Sheikhupura NTDC Headquarter, WAPDA House Lahore (16 Jan 2022) National Transmission and Despatch Company Limited (NTDC) completed the rehabilitation work of 500/220kV 600 MVA Auto-Transformer at 500kV grid station Sheikhupura in shortest possible time and energized it in early morning today. While updating the details, the NTDC spokesman said that, on January 10, 2022, the tertiary Busbar (an equipment that interconnects 03 No units of 500/220KV transformer bank) caught fire and caused damage to yellow Phase Tertiary Busbar and Control system of Transformer. However, the power supply to end consumers was managed through alternate sources and the load management was not carried

out in any part of its jurisdiction. The spokesman said that to ensure

smooth power supply to consumers and to avoid loss of revenue, rehabili-

tation work of said transformer was carried out on emergent basis. Managing Director NTDC, Engr. Manzoor Ahmad visited Sheikhupura Grid Station and instructed the engineers and staff for early completion of repair and maintenance of said Grid Station on war footings. The spokesman further said that dedicated team of maintenance staff along with Protection and Instrumentation (P&I) of Asset Management department North worked day and night for the replacement of damaged control system with better equipment. MD NTDC appreciated the speedy work carried out by Asset Management North team which resulted in timely energization of transformer. pr

NEWS

Synagogue hostagetaker claiming to be Aafia Siddiqui’s brother killed in Texas, hostages unharmed All hostages were safely released from a Colleyville, Texas, synagogue after a twelve-hour standoff and the hostagetaker was killed, US officials announced on Sunday. “The four hostages are unharmed, and the hostage-taking is not part of an ongoing threat,” the Dallas office of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation said. The hostages included a rabbi. “Prayers answered. All hostages are out alive and safe,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott tweeted about 20 minutes after a large bang and gunfire were heard in the direction of the synagogue. The FBI said their “negotiators were in near-constant communication with the hostage-taker before a deliberate decision to breach the synagogue.” Soon after these announcements, media outlets in the nearby cities of Fort Worth and Dallas reported that the hostagetaker, who earlier identified himself as Muhammad Siddiqui, was dead. The man who raided the synagogue during the Sabbath services also claimed that he was Aafia Siddiqui’s brother and demanded her release. Siddiqui, a Pakistani-American neuroscientist, was sentenced to 86 years in prison by a New York court in 2010 for the attempted murder of US officers in Afghanistan. Dr aafia has NothiNg to with the iNciDeNt: attorNey: However, the attorney who represents Dr Siddiqui said “she has absolutely no involvement with” the hostage-taking and the perpetrator was not Siddiqui’s brother. “She does not want any violence perpetrated against any human being, especially in her name,” Marwa Elbially told CNN by phone. “It obviously has nothing to do with Dr Siddiqui or her family.” “Whoever the assailant is, we want him to know that his actions are condemned by Dr Siddiqui and her family,” Elbially said. “We implore you to immediately release the hostages and turn yourself in.” The resolution came more than 12 hours after the suspect entered the Congregation Beth Israel as the synagogue was live-streaming its Sabbath morning service on Facebook. The live stream appeared to capture part of the incident before it was removed. Law enforcement officials told CNN they reviewed the stream and used it to gather clues on the incident and the individuals involved. Two law enforcement officials told CNN that investigators believe the perpetrator may have been motivated by a desire to release Dr Siddiqui. At the suspect’s request, the rabbi of the congregation called a well-known rabbi in New York City. The alleged invader, who had no connection with the rabbi, told the priest that Dr Siddiqi was framed, and he wants her released, the officials said. In a separate state, a US-based Muslim advocacy group known as CAIR, and Free Dr Aafia Movement condemned the hostage-taking and said that her brother had nothing to do with the incident. John Floyd, who heads the Houston chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and a legal counsel for Dr Siddiqui’s brother said: “This antisemitic attack against a house of worship is unacceptable. We stand in solidarity with the Jewish community.” They also said that they wanted to “make it very well known that the hostage-taker is NOT Dr Aafia Siddiqui’s brother, who is not even in the same region where this horrible incident took place. Dr Aafia Siddiqui and her family strongly condemn this act and do not stand by the perpetrator. They said that Dr Siddiqui’s family has always stood firm in advocating for the release of their sister from incarceration by legal and non-violent means only. Before the media reported the suspect’s death, CAIR and the Dr Siddiqui family’s legal counsel urged him to “immediately release the hostages and turn yourself in.” biDeN coNDeMNs ‘rise of extreMisM’: President Joe Biden pledged to “stand against anti-Semitism and against the rise of extremism in this country.” “I am grateful to the tireless work of law enforcement at all levels who acted cooperatively and fearlessly to rescue the hostages,” he said. “We are sending love and strength to the members of Congregation Beth Israel, Colleyville, and the Jewish community.” Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Michael Herzog, said he was “grateful” all the hostages had been released safely. “No one should ever be afraid to assemble in their place of worship,” the Jewish Community Relations Council said in a statement. AFp

Twitter bans account linked to Iran leader over video threatening Trump WaSHington AFp

Twitter said Saturday it had permanently suspended an account linked to Iran’s supreme leader that posted a video calling for revenge for a top general’s assassination against former US president Donald Trump. “The account referenced has been permanently suspended for violating our ban evasion policy,” a Twitter spokesperson told AFP. The account, @KhameneiSite, this week posted an animated video showing an unmanned aircraft targeting Trump, who ordered a drone strike in Baghdad two years ago that killed top Iranian commander General Qassem

Soleimani. Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s main accounts in various languages remain active. Last year, another similar account was suspended by Twitter over a post also appearing to reference revenge against Trump. The recent video, titled “Revenge is Definite”, was also posted on Khamenei’s official website. According to Twitter, the company’s top priority is keeping people safe and protecting the health of the conversation on the platform. The social media giant says it has clear policies around abusive behaviour and will take action when violations are identified. As head of the Quds Force, the foreign operations

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arm of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, Soleimani was the architect of its strategy in the Middle East. He and his Iraqi lieutenant were killed by a US drone strike outside Baghdad airport on January 3, 2020. Khamenei has repeatedly promised to avenge his death. On January 3, the second anniversary of the strike, the supreme leader and ultraconservative President Ebrahim Raisi once again threatened the US with revenge. Trump’s supporters regularly denounce the banning of the Republican billionaire from Twitter, underscoring that accounts of several leaders considered authoritarian by the United States are allowed to post on the platform.

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Monday, 17 January, 2022

06 COMMENT

A difficult global economic recovery outlook

Ominous Omicron The situation gets worse

HE Omicron variant of the coronavirus is spreading at a rate not precedented before, but no government seems to be doing anything. People should be worried, for this policy of ‘masterly inactivity’ might well conceal the inability of governments to come up with any response may conceal the absence of any idea of what to do. Worse, it might mean a deliberate and callous letting go of the populace to get as sick as possible, because one view of the omicron variant is that its very virulence will mean the demise of the coronavirus, Because everyone will catch the variant, runs the theory, everyone will develop immunity, and the virus will become endemic, rather than the epidemic it is at present. However, that policy would also involve a large number of people falling sick and thus a lot of illness and death. that would also involve an immense strain on the healthcare system, as an increasingly large number of people will fall ill and seek hospitalization. Memories have not faded, though becoming a little dulled with time, of the destruction wreaked by the delta variant in India, where corpses were dumped on the streets as crematoria ran out of space, and how half-burnt corpses were found in the River Ganges. the incrrease in the positivity rate in Karachi was the first sign, and even though it is translating into an increase in the number of fresh cases, no extraordinary measures are planned, giving the impression that it has decided to let the infection run its course. Similarly, the federal government, which is known to be averse to any lockdowns, has also decided against the closing of schools. However, on of the principal measures both to combat the disease, and to prevent itrs worst effects in the event of infection, has been vaccination. In fact, the government’s decrease in the minimum age for getting a booster shot, may well be the only response by the government towards the omicron variant. the governments must avoid political one-upmanship and do what is best for the country. that does not mean leaving people at the mercy of the new variant. that sounds suspiciously like the now discarded herdimmunity theory that was doing the rounds before the ravages of the delta variant. Apart from ramping up the vaccination drive, proactive measures are needed.

The vaccine did not provide the solution expected

Dr Omer JaveD

t the dawn of the vaccine for covid-19, around a year ago, it was being envisaged that the worst of the pandemic was over, and that in addition to safeguarding life as the first priority, the world would see, if not a V-shaped economic recovery, then at most a short U-shaped recovery, given the natural length of time it would take to carry out a global vaccination drive, and some sort of supply delays to match demand as it picks up. Yes severe vaccine inequality and the return of Covid-19 in waves in ever so greater potency, like in the shape of its Delta and more recently Omicron mutations, at the back of vaccine apartheid practiced by rich, advanced countries, and the inability of WtO (World trade Organization) to undo intellectual property rights (IPRs) protection of Covid-19 vaccines even over the duration of the pandemic, followed by a steep global commodity supply shock, and a lack of financial support and adequate debt relief by multilateral organizations like IMF and World Bank– not to mention their inability to reach a financial architecture that safeguarded countries against private sector creditors– all meant that instead the world is going through a deep divide between more vaccinated rich, advanced countries getting on a higher growth recovery, while less vaccinated global south struggling in terms of growth and macroeconomic stability concerns. Even the developed countries are facing a growth prospects damper due to returning severe Covid waves, and rising inflation, that is forcing countries to adopt a tighter monetary policy, where

Rogue elephant? Two laws clash, and only Parliament can reconcile them

HE National Accountability Bureau (NAB) seems to have lost the plot. the tax amnesties of 2018 and 2019 both provided that if assets were declared under them, there would be no enquiry into the sources of income, after taxes were paid on them at a fixed rate. Yet that is exactly what NAB is trying to overturn, using its own authority under the NAB law. NAB has issued notices to almost half a dozen members of the Federal Board of Revenue, asking them to appear before it with information about the properties declared under the scheme by seven people belonging to a political family of KP. this would put the taxmen in the unenviable position of withholding information from NAB. Interestingly, all those receiving notices are senior to the FBR Chairman, and are with him in consideration for promotion from Grade 21 to Grade 22, against three posts vacant in that scale. If he is not promoted, and one of the others is, his position would become very odd. the manoeuvrings of the bureaucrats aside, an important legal issue has arisen. Does an amnesty by the FBR have any value if NAB, or any other department for that matter, can ask for information given on the assumption that the FBR has the duty of keeping it confidential? NAB is already known for its willingness to act as the government’s tool against political opponents. Its ability to demand information from the FBR would have wide-ranging implications for its ability to act against politicians. When laws clash, one solution would be to leave it to the courts to decide. A more proper solution would be for the legislature to reconcile the laws. If indeed there is to be a revision of the NAB Ordinance, it is only meet that this be done through a process which includes the Opposition, several stalwarts of which have been victims of NAB in the recent past. the NAB Ordinance has only been viewed for internal inconsistencies. It seems that it needs to be seen against the backdrop of other laws. Conflicts must be eliminated, or else they will be exploited, and not by politicians.

An example that can be followed with profit

Dr muhammaD abDul Kamal

AKIStAN’S economy has been plagued with serious macroeconomic challenges for some time now. Pakistan has long struggled with dwindling foreign exchange reserves, sluggish export growth, deteriorating economic growth, surging inflation, mounting debt, rising poverty, and a twin deficit crisis. Consequently, the economic progress is being slowed down by such problems, thereby, Pakistan is nosediving vis-à-vis regional competitors. Nevertheless, it is not too late to resuscitate it, as many of the region’s best-performing nations started at a low point and were able to embark on a path of sustainable economic growth after enacting the necessary reforms. Among others, the economy of Vietnam is one such success story for us to learn from. Vietnam’s economy was crippled by poverty, and per capita income was stuck between $200 and $300 by the mid-1980s. Vietnam’s journey from a povertystricken economy to prosperity commenced in 1986 when the government launched “Đổi Mới”, a series of political and economic reforms aimed at strengthening the private sector’s role and opening the country to foreign investors. Under this initiative, Vietnam’s

Arif Nizami (Late) Founding Editor

Yousaf Nizami M. A. Niazi

Umar Aziz

Joint Editor

Executive Editor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965

The writer holds PhD in Economics degree from the University of Barcelona, and previously worked at International Monetary Fund.Prior to this, he did MSc. in Economics from the University of York (United Kingdom), and worked at the Ministry of Economic Affairs & Statistics (Pakistan), among other places. He is author of Springer published book (2016) ‘The economic impact of International Monetary Fund programmes: institutional quality, macroeconomic stabilization and economic growth’.He tweets @omerjaved7

Vietnam’s Economic Miracle: Insights for Pakistan

Dedicated to the legacy of late Hameed Nizami

Editor Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

the recession-causing pandemic required a sustained higher level of public and private investments, and making stimulus spending. Hence, instead the world overall is seeing downward revision in growth prospects for this and the coming year. the recently released Global Economic Prospects report by World Bank highlighted in this regard that ‘After rebounding to an estimated 5.5 percent in 2021, global growth is expected to decelerate markedly to 4.1 percent in 2022, reflecting continued COVID-19 flare-ups, diminished fiscal support, and lingering supply bottlenecks. the near-term outlook for global growth is somewhat weaker, and for global inflation notably higher, than previously envisioned, owing to pandemic resurgence, higher food and energy prices, and more pernicious supply disruptions. Global growth is projected to soften further to 3.2 percent in 2023, as pent-up demand wanes and supportive macroeconomic policies continue to be unwound.’ Moreover, the situation of less-developed countries with regard to recovery prospects is a lot weaker than developed countries, which in general could not inject any significant amount of stimulus spending and development expenditures, along with having low vaccination rates overall, in particular Africa. GEP January 2022, indicated in this regard as follows: ‘Although output and investment in advanced economies are projected to return to pre-pandemic trends next year, in emerging market and developing economies (EMDEs)– particularly in small states and fragile and conflict -afflicted countries– they will remain markedly below, owing to lower vaccination rates, tighter fiscal and monetary policies, and more persistent scarring from the pandemic. …EMDE growth is projected to slow from 6.3 percent in 2021 to 4.6 percent in 2022… In 2023, EMDE growth is forecast to edge further down to 4.4 percent – notably below the 5.1 percent average of the past decade… Despite the continued recovery, the pandemic is expected to scar EMDE output for a prolonged period, in part through its adverse effects on human and physical capital accumulation.’ the situation of economic growth forecasted in GEP January 2022 is even worse for Pakistan for 2022, and 2023, when compared with that of EMDE overall, where for FY2021/22 it stood at 3.4 percent, and for FY2022/23 it slightly improves to 4 per cent. In the regional context of South Asia, the forecast growth performance of Pakistan stands well below the regional average of 7.6 per cent for 2022, and 6 per cent for 2023; where India and Bangladesh are both expected to outperform Pakistan significantly with regard to economic recovery. In fact, Pakistan’s

growth prospects are similar to Sub-Saharan Africa, where the region’s average growth forecast for 2022 stood at 3.6 percent, and for 2023 at 3.8 percent. As per the current GEP report, per capita income for Pakistan is also expected during the short-term, whereby as per the report ‘In fact, per capita incomes are projected to fall further behind advanced economies in 2021-23 in Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan (facing the largest relative decline at almost 2 percentage points per year), and Sri Lanka. Despite rebounding growth and an upgraded forecast, the number of people living on less than $1.90 per day is expected to remain above pre-pandemic levels, with tens of millions of new poor in SAR since 2020 (Mahler et al. 2021). Growing poverty rates combined with increases in employment informality, deteriorating labor markets, and rising food insecurity have contributed to inequality (chapter 4; Bussolo, Kotia, and Sharma 2021; World Bank 2021l).’ this indicates that at a time when inflation is rising and is already at a high level in the country, purchasing power is expected to fall, which could further add to the already worse situation of poverty and inequality during the pandemic. It is, therefore, important, that the world– both developed and developing countries – follow a balanced macroeconomic policy, in a way that a balance is practiced with regard to practicing aggregate demand and supply-side policies. there is also a need for greater financial support from multilateral institutions, with more understanding shown for instance in IMF programmes of the need to internalize this balanced policy approach, along with greater and quicker debt relief provided to developing countries. A recent Guardian published article ‘Developing countries at risk from global economic threats, says World Bank’ highlighted with regard to the GEP report, and comments made by World Bank’s President David Malpass as follows: ‘‘“At a time when governments in many developing economies lack the policy space to support activity if needed, new Covid-19 outbreaks, persistent supply-chain bottlenecks and inflationary pressures, and elevated financial vulnerabilities in large swathes of the world could increase the risk of a hard landing,” the report said. …“Deep debt relief is needed,” Malpass said. “If we wait too long it will be too late and it won’t be successful.”’ Moreover, improvement in growth prospects will also depend on how well the fast unfolding climate change crisis is tackled, where adequate climate financing is made available to developing countries by rich, advanced countries.

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GDP per capita increased 12 times between 1985 and 2020, reaching over US$2800. Over the same period, poverty rates (US$1.90/day) dropped sharply from over 70 percent to under 2 percent. the rise of Vietnam’s economy can be attributed to three main initiatives according to the World Bank; firstly, it had enthusiastically incorporated trade liberalization. the signing of many free trade agreements with both Asian and Western countries signaled the gradual liberalization of trade. Vietnam concluded bilateral trade agreements with 72 countries and it also built trade relationships with 165 nations. In 1995, Vietnam signed the ASEAN free trade agreement. In 2000, it executed a free trade agreement with the United States, and in 2007, it joined the World trade Organization.In the recent decade, Vietnam has agreed or structured 12 bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements (FtAs) with Japan, South Korea, and the European Union. On November 15, 2020, the RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) was established and Vietnam is an active member of the pact. the regional integration is expected to cover 30% of the world’s population, generate $500 billion in international trade, and yield $209 billion to global revenues by 2030. Vietnam has benefited from the ‘open-door’ policy, and the country has developed into a manufacturing hub over the previous three decades, with significant foreign businesses such as Intel, Samsung, Adidas, and Nike already having established bases there. With one out of every ten cellphones produced in Vietnam, the country has already established itself as a significant exporter of textiles, electronic goods, and footwear, among other goods. Secondly, Vietnam has supplemented external liberalization with internal reforms such as deregulation and decreased business costs. Vietnam has implemented several measures aimed at lowering business costs. In 2007, Vietnam was placed 104thin the Doing Business Index, with several major constraints identified by the study. the government has nibbled away at the inefficiencies using the indicators as a guide, and Vietnam has risen to 70thplace in the 2020 Doing Business survey. Vietnam achieved im-

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provement in a variety of areas, including contract enforcement, improving access to credit and electricity, paying taxes, and cross-border trade. Vietnam’s placement on the World Economic Forum’s Competitiveness Index reflects this transformation, climbing from 77thplace in 2006 to 67thplace in 2019. In the Global Innovation Index 2021, Vietnam was ranked 44thout of 132 countries and is one of four middle-income economies (the others being turkey, India, and the Philippines) having the potential to reshape the global innovation landscape by catching up to larger economies like China. thirdly, Vietnam made enormous investments in human and social capital, leading to the development of a skilled workforce, which had enhanced productivity and competitiveness over time. the Human Development Index (HDI) for Vietnam increased to 0.706 in 2020, up from 0.682 in 2016, leading it to join the group of countries with a high degree of human development. Vietnam’s high level of human development is a tremendous achievement that also opens the door to even greater and faster progress in the future. Pakistan can achieve its goal of sustainable economic growth by following Vietnam’s model. Pakistan must concentrate on growth-oriented reforms and sound policymaking to achieve this goal. Following in the footsteps of Vietnam, Pakistan should liberalize trade and sign free-trade agreements with potential trading partners. Pakistan’s potential security concerns, increased energy prices and surging taxes are impediments to attract investment. Incremental efforts are required to stabilize the country’s entire social, economic, and political environment so that much-needed foreign direct investment not only be attracted, but in desired sectors such as manufacturing and agriculture. Furthermore, improvements in the export sector must be accomplished by enhancing domestic industrial production and productivity. to make the labor force more productive, it is essential to invest in human capital. Pakistan must strive to improve its knowledge capital, which will be a major driver of productivity, diversification, higher innovation, and thus higher growth in the future. The writer is working as Assistant Professor at Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan. He can be reached at kamal@awkum.edu.pk

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Monday, 17 January, 2022

COMMENT 07 Editor’s mail Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan. E-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk Letters should be addressed to Pakistan today exclusively

Failure of PTI

Humanitarian assistance for Afghanistan Avoiding a crisis situation

muhammaD ZahiD rifat

HE Civil and military leadership of Pakistan have all along been supporting and calling for the same durable peace and stability in Afghanistan as there is in Pakistan. Prime Minister Imran Khan, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and COAS Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa in their interactions with world leaders and diplomats have also been strongly pleading for immediate financial, food and medical assistance for the people of Afghanistan on humanitarian grounds. On the quite important and welcome initiative of Saudi Arabia, the OIC Summit Chair, Pakistan hosted the 17th Extraordinary Session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Council of Foreign Ministers in Islamabad on December 19, which reviewed the situation in Afghanistan and developments taking place there following the departure of US-led NAtO forces from there after failing in achieving the desired objectives even after 20 years and the taliban coming into power there. As is already well known within the country and abroad, the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers after day-long deliberations had unanimously adopted a comprehensive resolution pledging to play a leading role in the delivery of humanitarian assistance to people of Afghanistan on the brink of starvation, agreed on establishing a Humanitarian trust Fund, launching of a Food Security Programme and engagement with the World Health Organization (WHO) for securing vaccines and medical supplies. the Humanitarian trust Fund is to be operationalized by about March 2022. According to the estimates of the world body, United Nations, almost 60 percent of Afghanistan’s 38 million people are facing a crisis level of hunger and that situation is getting worse every day. the World Food Programme has warned that 3.2 million children in Afghanistan are at the risk of acute malnutrition. According to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), a large number of 665,000 people have been newly displaced within Afghanistan between January to September 2021 in addition to the 2.9 million people already internally displaced in that country.

As already stated, Pakistan has all along been supporting the people of Afghanistan and this was reiterated only on Friday in the third meeting of the Apex Committee on Afghanistan in Islamabad presided over by Prime Minister Imran Khan. After due deliberations, Pakistan once again vowed not to abandon the Afghan people in time of need and said that Pakistan is committed to provide all out support to the Afghan people to avert a humanitarian crisis there and 5t also welcomed the UN General Assembly appeal to the international community for aid to Afghanistan. On its own part, Pakistan has already announced a Rs 5 billion assistance package that included food items, life saving drugs , winter supplies and shelter besides assistance in the fields of health, education and training. For streamlining and coordinating the provision and supplies to the people of Afghanistan on humanitarian grounds, Pakistan had established a special cell called the Afghanistan InterMinisterial Coordination in November 2021 within two months after the departure of US-led NAtO forces there in furtherance and continuation of support to the people of Afghanistan. the special cell so established is headed by Security Advisor to the Prime Minister Dr Moeed Yusuf and it includes members from the Federal Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Finance, Commerce and Interior and also representatives of Customs, the National Logistics Cell, the Civil Aviation Authority, the State Bank of Pakistan and the Frontier Corps, for ensuring smooth flow of people and trade across the borders. the special cell so created, has been and continues to work on comprehensive proposals for expansion of cooperation under the assistance package especially in the fields of health and education. A delegation from Pakistan headed by the National Security Advisor is visiting Afghanistan on January 18 and 19 in this regard, it is imperative to briefly mention here the initiatives so far undertaken under the special cell. Under the humanitarian assistance package of Rs 5 billion for i-kind assistance announced by Prime Minister Imran Khan, Pakistan is providing 50,000 metric tons of wheat among other important items like winter shelters and emergency medical supplies. Against this, Pakistan has already sent the first consignment of 18,000 metric tons to Afghanistan as humanitarian assistance. the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination has already dispatched a team of engineers and technicians to Afghanistan for early completion of three hospitals there for providing relief to the people of the

neighbouring war-torn country. Buildings of the three hospitals, namely the Nishtar Hospital, Jalalabad; Jinnah Hospital, Kabul, and Logari Hospital, Logar have already been completed. the installation and commissioning of medical equipment worth Rs 2 billion is currently in progress. For bringing the medical equipment in use, a team of four Pakistani engineers along with technicians was working round the clock. this may also help our brotherly neighbouring country in achieving Universal Health Coverage. Furthermore, 6ver 100,000 people travelling across Afghan borders have also been successfully vaccinated against COVID-19 since November last year. Out of these, over 51,600 and 55,000 people have been vaccinated at torkham and Chaman border crossings respectively. the Ministry of National Health Services has pledged to provide over 500,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine for vaccination of people at the borders. the Ministry of Interior has introduced an elaborate mechanism to facilitate relief activities of international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) in Afghanistan. the main objective of these new measures is to facilitate the humanitarian assistance efforts in war-torn Afghanistan and both new INGOs as well as those already registered will be befitting from it. An INGO applying for registration would be required to submit a credentials certificate letter from the concerned embassy, proof of registration in the country of origin, and source of funding along with local residence address and details of its designated recipient. the Scrutiny Committee will complete the process within three weeks. Similarly, the process of issuance of visas has also been made less cumbersome and time-consuming. time duration for processing visa requests has been reduced to 10 days and entry visas for INGO or international organization staff wanting to work for humanitarian assistance in Afghanistan will be issued without security clearance. If all augurs well, the world seems to be awakening to calls from Pakistan, the UN General Assembly and other sources for providing humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan in order to avert a looming crisis on urgent and emergency basis. People of Afghanistan should be rest assured that the people and civil and military leadership of Pakistan stands with them in their difficult time and the international community at large will also continue to be urged to come forward and provide humanitarian assistance to the suffering people of Afghanistan at the earliest possible.

If all augurs well, the world seems to be awakening to calls from Pakistan, the UN General Assembly and other sources for providing humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan in order to avert a looming crisis on urgent and emergency basis.

The writer can zahidriffat@gmail.com;

reached

AS for the PtI government’s three-year performance on the domestic front, it has been depressing for a variety of reasons, inexperience and the lack of a capable team of deliverers being important of them all. Although Prime Minister Imran Khan claims he has been struggling for more than two decades to come to power and solve the country’s thorny problems, his government has failed to change the on-ground situation during the past three years. the problem remains, however, that propaganda about “accountability” and the imaginary tales of the corruption of previous governments is not enough to fill the people’s empty stomachs or to make the economy better. Prices of essential commodities have gone beyond the reach of the common man, a single factor that nullifies the government’s performance on all other fronts. Shopkeepers raise the price at will, creating an impression as if there is no government in the country. Frequent raises in electricity tariff, petrol prices have added to the problems of the common man, who is unaware of the “blessings” of the achievements like GDP growth, rise in foreign exchange reserves or the benefits the new dams. Countless beggars can be seen at all crossings, an undeniable sign of growing poverty. the presence of these people in droves manifests the failure of the government’s antibeggary campaigns. So far, the PtI government has not honoured its commitment to converting Lahore’s Governor House into a university. In fact, it has backed out. During the past three years, the PtI government has also failed to rein in corruption. As of now, it is rampant in every walk of life and there is little hope of the government being able to grapple with this menace even during the rest of two years of its term. the system of justice has not been improved because of which the number of pending cases is high as ever. Cases take decades to decide, something reflective of the government’s failure on this front. the process of accountability has been very slow during these three years. Although the PML-N and PPP leaders have been proceeded against, their cases have not been taken to their logical conclusions. Political observers are of the opinion that if cases against important politicians remain undecided till the next elections, the “accused leaders” will use the “victimhood” card at the time of polls, a factor that will go against the PtI. MALIK JAVED JABBAR KARAchI

AUTISM in children AUtISM and Attention Deficit Hyperactive Syndrome (ADHA) have become common disorders among children. the children suffering from these disorders need our special attention and care. the wellbeing of their emotional, mental and physical health depends largely on society they live in. Research shows that such children overcome their shortcomings with time, provided they get complete attention, a supportive environment, and understanding people around them. In Pakistan, it is heartbreaking to see that these children are mistreated and mishandled. At times, callous people even advise the ill-fated parents to keep the child home. to avoid any untoward situation, some parents do keep such children in isolation. this non-acceptance by society leads to the exclusion of these children from social, academic and physical activities that are important for their growth and development. It is naïve of people to hate these innocent children or consider them a burden on society when we all are dependent on each other in one way or the other. Depriving anyone of their freedom and rights is a sin. Special children need our love, and their appetite for love is much more than a normal child’s. Let us feed them accordingly. According to the Pakistan Autism Society, about 400,000 children are suffering from autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Pakistan. Autism is a developmental disability that remains with a person for life. this condition affects the afflicted person’s brain functions. the first signs usually appear before a child is three years old. People with autism often find social interaction difficult as they are likely to have problems with verbal and non-verbal communication, demonstrate restrictive and repetitive behaviour, and have a limited set of interests and activities. Autism is a complex group of neurodevelopmental disorders, also referred to as autism spectrum disorder (ASD). the term ‘spectrum’ is used to describe the symptoms involving a wide range of skill impairments in ASD children. Some children display milder impairments while others may present more severe forms of ASD. therefore, there is a need to explore the genetic markers responsible for ASD in Asian populations. So far, most of the ASD-related genetic association studies have been performed on Chinese, Korean, and Indian populations, but there is no genetic association study reported in the Pakistani population yet. there is no reliable data available regarding the prevalence of ASD in Pakistan. However, the Pakistan Autism Society has estimated that approximately 400,000 children in Pakistan are suffering from ASD. AtIqA GuL PEShAwAR

Importance of ambulances INCREASED population has led to an increase in traffic on roads as most people use vehicles of their own. People often avoid following traffic rules because everyone is in a rush to reach their destination in time. Amid all this chaos, ambulances boarded with patients are stuck in traffic for hours. Every now and then, we hear patients losing their lives in the ambulance due to severe traffic jams. Despite, ambulances having a distinct siren to alarm people to clear the route, most vehicles remain stagnant or refuse to clear the way for the ambulance. the patients inside ambulances require immediate medical support and assistance, which ambulances alone cannot offer. the government should implement policies to facilitate ambulance services. For instance, there should be separate lanes on roads, and a warden must be present to clear the roads and allow red signal lanes to move. Ambulances should be treated with grave importance, unlike other vehicles that often disrupt traffic with VIP movements. Hotlines and GPS should be used to alert traffic wardens a few minutes before so that they keep at least one lane free for emergency vehicles. As citizens, we also have a responsibility to fulfil. Whenever an ambulance is behind your car, clear the way for them to pass. We must recognise that every second counts during a medical emergency, which is why it is important to give way to any approaching ambulance. It can mean the difference between life and death. Also, the relevant authorities must implement steps to equip ambulances with the latest specialised technology to assist the patients on their way to the hospital. AhMED KhAn LAhoRE

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Monday, 17 Janauary, 2022

08 WORLD VIEW

DOes law exist tO prOviDe mOral OrDer? IS SOCIAL COHESION POSSIBLE IN PLURAL SOCIETIES? PHILOSOPHER H. L. A. HART WEIGHED IN AMID DEBATES ON ABORTION AND SAME-SEX RELATIONSHIPS

JSToR Daily MAttHEw BlACKMAn

N 1959, as a response to what was commonly known as the Wolfenden report, Lord Devlin, an english judge, delivered the Maccabaean Lecture in Jurisprudence at the British Academy. The lecture that would later be published as The enforcement of Morals. The Wolfenden report was more correctly called the report of the Committee on Homosexual Offences and Prostitution. Two years before Devlin’s lecture, the Committee had recommended by a majority of 12 to 1 that, in Britain, “homosexual behaviour between consenting adults in private should no longer be a crime.” Devlin’s objections to this recommendation would spark a passionate public debate between himself and H. L. A. Hart, Professor of Jurisprudence at Oxford University. In his lecture, Devlin countered the Wolfenden report, arguing that law should both be and is used “to achieve uniformity” in society. He went further, stating that the laws against homosexuality were there because the strong feeling of “disgust” was “deeply felt” in society. The presence of disgust, he claimed, “is a good indication that the bounds of [tolerance] are being reached… No society can do without intolerance, indignation and disgust; they are the forces behind the moral law.” “It is generally accepted,” he continued, “that some shared morality… is an essential element in the constitution of any society. Without it there would be no [social] cohesion.” After Lord Devlin’s lecture, Hart, who described himself privately in letters to friends as a “suppressed homosexual,” felt compelled to speak out on BBC radio. As he would state in an interview in later life, he had felt obligated to act because, as he put it: “I think Devlin’s arguments are really bad and misleading and enable reactionary people to claim a philosophical mantle.” Hart, in his response to Devlin, agreed with the Wolfenden report’s statement that “there must remain a realm of private morality or immorality which is, in brief

and crude terms, not the law’s business.” This idea, Hart argued, had a close connection to John Stuart Mill’s doctrine in his essay On Liberty that stated, “the only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community against his will is to prevent harm to others.” Hart was a legal positivist, meaning that he took a social scientific approach to the law, regarding the law as a social fact. What the law is, he argued, and what it ought to be are two distinct questions. As he would argue in his famous The Concept of Law, morality may influence the law, but laws and morals are distinct social phenomena. In what would become known as Hart’s “separability thesis,” he argued that a law such as the one as obligates a person drive on the right-hand side of the road might be a good law, but it is not a moral principle. One would never go to Britain and say, my morality commands me to drive on the right, and I feel morally compromised driving on the left. Morality can, he argued, influence the law, but it is not synonymous with the law. On the other hand, laws against dangerous driving (or, say, murder), for example, are no doubt influenced by morality, but they are also part of social-bureaucratic order. And well-ordered states are not necessarily moral states. Devlin’s claim that laws are there to enforce morality was, Hart pointed out, simply factually incorrect. But the problem Hart had with Devlin’s argument were deeper than Mill’s doctrine and his separation of law and morality. Hart was also, along with his great friend Isaiah Berlin, one of the most important twentieth century liberal philosophers who believed in an open, free, democratic, and plural society. Within these societies, both Hart and Berlin argued, are differing moral codes and beliefs. Berlin articulated what was a constant theme in Hart’s writings: that moral principles are incommensurate and often come into direct conflict with one another. One example of this conflict can been in the debate around abortion: pro-life and pro-choice (among others) are conflicting positions, but they both come from a recognizable moral framework. To this problem, both philosophers suggested that an open, tolerant, and democratic society was the only moral solution (ironically). “Plural moralities in the conditions of modern large scale societies,” Hart wrote, “might perfectly well be mutually tolerant.” And in fact, “there actually are divergent moralities living in peace” in almost all open democratic societies. For social cohesion to exist in a society, Hart argued, there is no need for the law to impose a singular “seamless web” of morality over its people, as Devlin had claimed. In fact, to live in a state of freedom, we must be allowed to choose our own moral systems. The law should not impose one way of life on people, a way of life that denies them perfectly harmless and consensual actions in private. As Hart argued in his Liberty, Law and Morality, the private sphere is neither the law’s business,

AS HART WOULD ARGUE IN HIS FAMOUS THE CONCEPT OF LAW, MORALITY MAY INFLUENCE THE LAW, BUT LAWS AND MORALS ARE DISTINCT SOCIAL PHENOMENA nor society’s. When asked in an interview if he saw Devlin as threatening liberalization, Hart answered: He was. Although paradoxically I got to know him and quite liked him… After he produced his arguments against me and Mill, he then wrote a letter to The Times saying he thought the law [on homosexuality] ought to be altered. In many ways Devlin’s letter was one of the success stories of the liberalization process in mid-twentieth century Britain. Like his friend Isaiah Berlin, Hart was never afraid to discuss issues openly with those who held divergent views. And Devlin’s letter is a testament to just how open and engaged dialogue (and even friendship) can be a persuasive force in society. It was in this spirit that Hart addressed the issue of abortion in several lectures. For Hart, moral pluralism meant that there was nothing necessarily wrong with a society that contained within it divergent views on the morality of abortion. As he said in the interview mentioned above, “I can see how Catholics might object to abortion.” His legal positivist beliefs did not allow him into any obfuscation of facts. As he openly acknowledged, medical facts confirm that “the physical structure… of a foetus is remarkably similar to that of a new born baby” and “the legal facts are those which show that the law recognises the unborn foetus as having rights.” He would also go on to caution those who dismiss out of hand that the “foetus is at any stage a person,” suggesting that this position had led to a failure to convert “many to a different view of the moral status of the foetus.” But, he pointed out, “only rarely has english law equated any form of abortion with murder.” Hart’s point was that, in england, some traditional belief, that can be seen in the law’s formulation, held that there was some distinction between a foetus and a new-born baby. He also pointed out that what is now commonly called a “pro-choice position” is most often held by people who do not disregard the sanctity of human life. “Many of those who have campaigned for the relaxation of [the abortion] law,” he pointed out, are quite often “opponents of capital punishment and pacifists.” As he went on, “similarly, at the national level, the Scandinavian countries who have been the foremost and most consistent supporters of liberalisation of the law were also among the earliest to abandon capital punishment.” Hart believed that a free society should allow for morally autonomous choice on matters such as homosexuality and abortion. But all laws, he believed, should be scrutinized for what harm they might cause. Hart in this pursuit addressed the issue of the harm that the abortion laws produced in Britain before their liberalization in 1967. In 1950s and 60s, it was thought that around 10,000 illegal abortions took place in Britain per annum. This meant that, in 26 years, 260,000 women from all walks of life were guilty of a crime punishable by a prison sentence. But when Hart looked at the statistics, he discovered that there were only around 55 convictions

each year. This, to Hart, suggested that the society had little interest in upholding this law, and that it had become a dead letter. He also pointed out that illegal abortion was part of a “high profit criminal industry,” which offered “targets for the blackmailer and corrupting temptations to law enforcement agencies.” As he discussed this issue in front of an Australian audience in 1971, he pointed out that relaxation of abortion laws in Britain were at least in part helping to solve the problem of “unwanted children, particularly illegitimate children, the reduction of maternal mortality through illegal abortion, and the reduction of illegal abortion.” Hart would not allow himself to disregard the negative impact of liberalization. There had been, he observed, “the growth of a vast private sector where often very high fees are charged and large profits may be made by doctors.” This industry was bound to compound unwanted inequality in society, creating one “abortion law for the rich and another for the poor.” He also had “not the slightest doubt that a large scale racket has developed in this sector.” Doctors were making significant amounts of money at the expense of the unhappiness of women. Abortion law reform, Hart would go on to say, was not like the relaxation of the law against homosexuality. It had deeply significant social impacts that must be addressed by government. It required “careful planning of available resources” and “should be accompanied, and if possible preceded by a really effective provision of free contraceptive services and education in their use.” Consistent with his separability thesis, Hart’s philosophical positions were always accompanied by strong moral convictions. As he would argue, laws “must in the end be submitted to a moral scrutiny.” And in this regard, the liberalization of abortion laws had made it “possible for large numbers of pregnant women who do not wish to continue their pregnancy to lay their case frankly before doctors and to discuss it without shame and without fear.” In the 1960s, liberal legislation pushed through parliament, and england witnessed the likes of the conservative Lord Devlin softening his position. But as the reactionary movements of the 1980s took hold, a handbrake to liberalization was applied: Margaret Thatcher would do her level best to place the liberalization vehicle into reverse. In 1988, her government pushed through “a new law to reduce the legal limit for abortions… from 28 weeks of pregnancy to 18.” Some months later, her government would pass a law that “prohibited local authorities and schools from ‘promoting’ homosexuality.” Interviewer David Sugarman asked Hart in 1988, “What do you think about the current tendencies to reverse liberalization of the 60s in terms of abortion, homosexuality, and so?” Hart responded emphatically, “I loathe it.” Matthew Blackman is a South African writer and journalist. He recently finished a PhD in Creative and Critical Writing at the University of East Anglia.

Deporting Novak Djokovic is a political stunt Jacobin Magazine SASKIA PEACHEY

ver the last week, the COvID caseload in Australia has skyrocketed, with an additional 750,000 confirmed new cases and likely far more unreported thanks to test shortages and delays. The health system is overwhelmed, the economy is reeling, and gaps are beginning to appear on supermarket shelves. Much of the blame should be directed at Scott Morrison’s federal Liberal government. Despite this, the news has been dominated by Serbian tennis champion Novak Djokovic. After being granted an exemption from vaccination requirements and a visa to compete in the Australian Open, the authorities cancelled his visa early last week. Then he successfully appealed the cancellation, before immigration minister Alex Hawke stepped in on Friday to use his special ministerial powers to cancel it once again. Although Djokovic is appealing the decision, it seems likely that he will be deported and, as a result, automatically barred from reentering Australia for three years. It’s true that Djokovic blatantly flouted public health guidelines in europe late last year by refusing to isolate after returning a positive test. It’s also true that he’s a self-absorbed anti-vaxxer with delusions of martyrdom. Yet immigration minister Hawke’s justification for revoking his visa is far from plausible. He has claimed that Djokovic’s presence will encourage anti-vaxxers, pose a threat to public health, and may spark “civil unrest.” Anti-vaxxers are an isolated minority, and the federal government’s negligence is the more pressing threat to public health. Seen in this context, rescinding Djokovic’s

WHILE COVID-19 OVERWHELMS AUSTRALIA’S HEALTH SYSTEM, SCOTT MORRISON’S GOVERNMENT HAS SPENT THE WEEK TRYING TO DEPORT TENNIS STAR NOVAK DJOKOVIC. IT’S A CYNICAL ATTEMPT TO DISTRACT FROM A MAJOR PUBLIC HEALTH DISASTER visa is a shallow political stunt. It’s an attempt by the Morrison government to regain a degree of credibility and authority in the face of a looming election and a health crisis for which it bears overwhelming responsibility. THE PARK HOTEL PRISON: When Djokovic’s visa was first cancelled, the authorities detained him in the Park Hotel alongside refugees, some of whom have been imprisoned for almost a decade. Djokovic’s complaints about this “dirty hotel” briefly drew an international spotlight to Australia’s draconian immigration detention regime. Unsurprisingly, however, Djokovic remained silent about the plight of the men with whom he was detained. It’s an indictment of the international and local media that it took a sports star to draw attention to the conditions faced by the refugees in the Park Hotel. These include maggot-infested food and facilities that accelerated the spread of COvID-19 among detainees late last year. Scott Morrison has attempted to link Australia’s COvID-19 response with “strong border policies.” This is a cynical obfuscation, given the unmitigated spread of the virus in Australia. Indeed, over the last eight years, the government has spent $8.3 billion on the offshore detention system. In 2021 alone, it spent $818 million

maintaining onshore detention facilities like the Park Hotel. Meanwhile, the government has refused to make rapid antigen tests freely available, instead insisting that we rely on the private market. A SCAPEGOAT: On the surface, Novak Djokovic is a perfect scapegoat. He is an arrogant anti-vaxxer, a group that has faced significant backlash from the public at large. However, it’s ridiculous to think that the presence of one opinionated Serb on the tennis court will make any difference to how the pandemic unfolds in Australia. Indeed, the government’s anxiety to see Djokovic deported suggests that the Liberals are anxious to regain the initiative and salvage their credibility. It’s unclear whether the move has resonated. Unsurprisingly, 80 percent of respondents to an online opt-in poll run by News Corp agreed with deporting Djokovic. Meanwhile, an opinion survey with a small sample group by Utting research found only 50 percent agreed. Whatever the case, Australians are facing far more serious issues than the tennis star’s presence. Djokovic may not be a victim — but he is a pawn in a political maneuver intended to distract from a governmental failure on a vast scale. PERSONAL MINISTERIAL POWER: However,

much schadenfreude we might feel about Djokovic’s fate, perhaps the worst element of this saga is the extent to which it legitimizes the immigration minister’s “godlike” personal visa cancellation powers. These are the same powers that immigration minister Hawke may still use to deport the Murugappan family of Tamil asylum seekers who lived in Biloela until 2018, before being detained on Christmas Island after their visas expired. In their final appeal against Djokovic’s deportation, his lawyers won’t be allowed to question the minister’s justification for his decision. rather, Djokovic’s lawyers will be restricted to arguing that the minister acted irrationally. Most commentators believe this is unlikely to succeed. Until the outcome — to be delivered by a special session of the Federal Circuit Court over the weekend — authorities have sent him back to the Park Hotel in Melbourne. Unlike Djokovic, the other men held in the Park Hotel will not have their cases resolved in a matter of days. The Left should respond to this saga not by lining up with the Liberals but by exposing this cynical political maneuver. Hawke has claimed that allowing Djokovic to stay would encourage Australians to disregard a positive COvID test and ignore isolation requirements. Meanwhile, the federal government has slashed those very isolation requirements, ostensibly to plug emerging gaps in the supply chain. In the face of chronic shortages of rapid antigen tests and often weeklong delays for PCr test results, the federal government has refused to intervene to make tests free for everyone or bolster testing staff. The government has decided to let COvID run unchecked through Australia, and that ordinary people should bear the burden. The danger to Australians does not come from Serbian tennis players with bad opinions — it’s entirely homegrown.

Monday, 17 January, 2022 | LAHORE

NEWS

corporate corner Power shutdown notice According to Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO)’s spokesman, System Maintenance/Development Work is in process. Therefore power supply of below mentioned feeders/areas will be temporary suspended as per given schedule: On 17th January, 09:00 AM to 04:00 PM, Media-1 & 2, Swan Garden-1, NPF-2, Injir Ning University, Ghauri, Nawazish Shaheed, Nisar Shaheed, Museum, Margalla, Labor Complex, Sector-A, F & C , Sang Feeders, From 09:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Waheedabad, Khanna East, Karpa, Azad Shaheed, Margalla Tower, G9 One, I8 Four, FHS, I Ton One, G XI One, Dargah, Shahpur , Kaldana, Kohala, Balawara, Pir Sohawa, Katarian, B Block, Nora Road, Zafarul Haq, Liaquat Bagh, Eid Gah, Jamia Masjid, Gawalmandi, Gulzar Shaheed, Kayani Road, Askari XI, Millatabad, Kamalabad, Siham, Mohanpura , EME Complex, Jhangi, Kashmir Road, Tipu Road, PAF, NPF-1, Wilayat Complex, Scheme 3, Lalazar, Dhok Noor, Mort, Sagri, Major Hanif, Abrar Shaheed, Fazal Ahmad Shaheed, New Chawah, Ghazan Khan, Nara Motor, New Mandira, Hamid Jhangi, LTC, Basali, Sukho, Raman, CB Khan-2, Taxila, Shahullah Dutta, Sarai Kharboza, Shahia, Rashid Minhas, AWC Housing, Munirabad, Industrial, Shah Dir, Hatian, Nad Topa, Aminabad, Sarka, Akhori, Soni, Azeem Shaheed, Qutbal, Jund City, Jund-2, Fateh Jang, Shakrila, Mandi Bhalwal, Shamsabad, Chapran, Boreen, F -2 Chipboard, Industrial, F-10 Black Base, Dina-1 Bakrala, Pedia L, Safdar Shaheed, Sanghgoi, Nathwala, Dina Three Rohtas, Mumtaz Shaheed, Ward No. 8, Jarmut, Chhapar Sharif, Thakra, Kariala, Millat Chowk, Khairpur, Main Bazaar, Daulatullah, Dhadial City, Mulhal Mughals, Bhikri, Katas, Rawal, Allah Town, Kachehri, Jalalpur, Hassal, Sukho, Mort, Dhalar, Mogla, Patwali, Dhok Pathan, Kot Sarang, Bilalabad, Main Bazar, Jatla, Kalial, Gulshanabad, 502 Workshop, Adiala, Askari-14, Humayun. 1. Humayun, Treat, NIH, Bhara Kahu, T&T, Golf City, Ghauri Garden, Sohdran Road, Khanna-II, Al-Noor Colony-II, Khanna East, New Waheedabad, Burma, Dhok Awan, Zaraj Housing Scheme, New Rawat. , Minawala, Feeders, From 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., Kohsar Valley Feeder, From 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Carriage Factory, PHA-II Feeders, From 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Brut Gala. Darbar Mai Toti, Khoi Rata City, Dana Bhal, Charohi Dongi, Siri, City, Kariala, Jandroot Dabsi, Dutot, Mojan, Nomanpura Feeders, From 08:00 AM to 05:00 PM, Charohi Feeder and surroundings will remain off. IESCO management apologizes to its esteemed customers for the power outage. If the work is completed ahead of time, the power supply can be restored even before the scheduled time. Pr

18,211 PSVs fined during current year ISLAMABAD: Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP) has fined 18,211 public service vehicles involved in noncompletion of routes, misbehavior with passengers and overloading. "Strict action will be taken against those transporters violating traffic routes. The purpose is to provide better traffic facilities to the citizen," said Senior Superintendent of Police (Traffic) Mazhar Iqbal on Sunday while reviewing special report submitted by the Special Squads constituted for checking of route completion. According to details ITP is utilizing all resources to facilitate the general public and not only issuing traffic violation tickets to the PSVs for over charging, misbehavior of driver/conductor and incompletion of route but also canceling the driving license of the PSVs drivers who found repeatedly involved in same violation. He said that a total of 4759 trucks, 1841 buses, 2022 Suzuki pick-ups, 2061 passenger vans, 225 cabs and 2767 other Public Service vehicles have been fined during the ongoing year. Following directions of IGP Islamabad Muhammad Ahsan Younis said, the SSP (Traffic) said that Special squads have already been constituted to check the route violation and Traffic Help Line (051-9261992,93 was established to resolve the public grievance well in time where every citizen can complain on the help line round the clock. He said that the citizens can lodge their complaint regarding non-completion of routes, misbehavior with passengers or other traffic related issues at this ITP helpline. Pr

OmicrOn: Karachi witnESSing alarming SurgE in cOViD-19 caSES KaraChI

StAff rePOrt

ARACHI is witnessing a alarming surge in coronavirus cases during the fifth Covid-19 wave fueled by Omicron variant with positivity rate exceeds 39 per cent in the metropolis during the last 24 hours. Out of 15,172 people who were tested for coronavirus, 2,670 came out positive in Sindh, according to the latest figures issued on Sunday. The city’s positivity rate has increased by 4% in a single day and Sindh’s Covid-19 death toll reached 7,697 after three more patients succumbed to the virus during the past 24 hours.

Meanwhile, the Sindh health department has decided to conduct random coronavirus testing of students across all schools of the province. The provincial health department has also issued directives to district health officers (DHO) in this regard via notification. The notification stated that 100 samples will be collected from schools in each district of the province which will be sent to Dow Hospital laboratory to check disease prevalence. Based on the results, the provincial government will take final decision regarding closure of educational institutions. A day earlier, the Provincial Taskforce on Coronavirus meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah was informed that infection rate had

Inordinate delay in activation of child protection center Sahiwal exposes tall claims

Lahore ShAhAb Omer

Besides tall claims of protection of children, the Punjab government could not activate the Child Protection Center in Sahiwal despite spending millions of rupees. An official from the Child Protection and Welfare Bureau (CP&WB) informed this scribe that when the bureau was set up in 2007, its purpose was to protect vulnerable children, including child beggars. The Bureau’s objectives also included providing protection to children who were victims of physical, sexual and psychological abuse. The official further informed that the bureau also provides a safe environment and shelter to such children. However, when it was planned to expand the scope of this service in Punjab, a project in this regard was started in Sahiwal in 2014-15. The cost of the project was RS 108.794 million and it was planned that the project would be completed in 24 months but due to various reasons the project was delayed and completed in 66 months. “Interestingly, the actual cost of completion of the project was RS126.075 million which was 15.88 percent more than the amount allocated for the project. The purpose of the center was to provide protective custody, care and rehabilitation services for destitute and neglected children and to control and reduce the extent of child neglect, exploitation and abuse”. Similarly, the official said, it was also the part of objectives to create awareness among masses about protection of rights of children and to provide counseling and guidance to parents of destitute and neglected children. “The project also aimed to provide education to the children of child protection institutions and reha-

bilitation of destitute and neglected children in the society and to monitor and follow-up rehabilitated children after reunification,” official informed. He added that after such a delay, the project could not fulfill any of its objectives despite its completion whereas the civil work of the Center has been completed but there were also many shortcomings in it. “The constructed facility is still not functional and there are numerous problems in civil work such as slanted cracks in the walls of buildings, termite infestation and leakage. In addition, several windows have been shattered due to air pressure during the thunderstorm and cracks have appeared on the roof surface of the children’s hostel building”. “Due to lack of proper maintenance of the center and lack of cleanliness inside the buildings, weeds and shrubs have grown in many places. In continuation, an amount of RS 2.024 million was allocated for the consultancy services, however the consultant was not hired during the execution phase,” he added. However, when contacted, CP&WB Legal Officer Muhammad Mumtaz, he informed Pakistan Today that a major reason for the delay in the project was the unavailability of funds. “It was not that the funds were not received but the project was delayed due to the small amount of funds being received in different installments. There was a process of getting approval from, but now that process is complete,” he said. “Staffing is required to run any project and there was a process of getting approval from the finance department for staff appointments. Now, however, that process is complete and staff appointments have been made. All the objectives of the project are also being achieved and defects in civil works have also been rectified,” he maintained.

increased to 35.3% in Karachi, 5.12% in Hyderabad and 2.4% in the rest of the province. However, it was assured that the situation remained under control. The health department informed the meeting that at present, there was no pressure on the hospitals while Covid-19 patients were recovering fast and the death rate had fallen to 1.6%. CM Murad directed for an audit of all the public and private hospitals to assess their facilities like beds, doctors, medicines etc. The chief minister also directed the health department for the Covid-19 preparation plan so that necessary and timely measures could be taken. He added that he would review the Covid situation again within the next few days so that necessary decisions could be taken accordingly.

Expo Dubai 2020: Dr. Sania for investing more in technology Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Poverty Alleviation and Social Protection, Senator Dr. Sania Nishtar Sunday emphasized on investing more in technology and data to improve delivery of human capital services. Dr. Sania was speaking at a high-level global event, “A Decade of Action: Driving Progress for the 2030 Agenda” at Expo Dubai 2020’s Nexus. Co-curated by Expo 2020 and the United Nations, the event marked the beginning of Global Goals Week. Among the four speakers in this exclusive event, Dr. Sania was invited to speak about human capital and the SDGs. Dr. Sania Highlighted the experience of Ehsaas programme and Pakistan’s approach to human capital development. Top leadership from countries and organizations working on the SDGs came together for solutions-focused discussions around four ‘anchor’ areas – Climate Change and Energy, Food Systems, Gender Equality and Human Capital. This event was co-hosted by the Deputy Secretary General. Amina J. Mohammed and the Minister of State for International Cooperation of the United Arab Emirates and Director General of the Expo 2020, Reem Al Hashmy. This high-level invitation only event brought together 30 global leaders to discuss how in the spirit of the Decade of Action, the international community could drive action towards the successful fulfilment of the SDGs. The event aimed to inspire a renewed sense of global commitment; reinforce the importance of partnerships and identify opportunities for transformative collaborations to deliver solutions at scale; and to discuss and share opportunities and lessons from national, regional, and global levels—to drive the acceleration of necessary actions across policy, communications, advocacy and funding, among others. Participants explored evolving challenges and opportunities, discussed key trends and innovations, and elaborated concrete advocacy, policy, action, and funding solutions to overcome obstacles to strengthening and upscaling human capital. APP

PNS ALAMGIR VISITS TANZANIA & ESTABLISHES FREE MEDICAL CAMP FOR LOCALS ISLaMaBaD Pr

Pakistan Navy Ship ALAMGIR visited Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania as part of overseas deployment in African Region. The Ship established Free Medical Camp as goodwill gesture from people of Pakistan. Upon arrival at port, PNS ALAMGIR was received by Naval & Air Attache of Pakistan at Tanzania and senior officials from Tanzanian Navy. During the port visit, the Mission Commander and Commanding Officer of the ship called-on Naval Operations & Training Officer Tanzanian Navy and Chief of Medical Services Tanzanian People Defence Force (TPDF). During the interactions, mat-

ters of mutual interests were discussed and enhancement of bilateral ties in all spheres was re-affirmed. Taking the opportunity, Mission Commander conveyed good wishes of Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Muhammad Amjad Khan Niazi for the people of Tanzania in general and the Tanzanian Navy in particular. Mission Commander also extended gratitude for the whole-hearted support provided by Tanzanian authorities for visit of PN Ship. The High Commissioner of Pakistan at Tanzania also visited onboard PNS ALAMGIR. A Free Medical Camp was established by Pakistan Navy at Dar Es Salaam as goodwill gesture and to extend humanitarian assistance. A medical team of Pakistan Navy

comprising specialized doctors and paramedics provided medical treatment/ consultations and medicines to over 2500 patients. The implementation of COVID-19 SOPs were ensured during the entire activity. The establishment of free Medical Camp was widely appreciated by the locals. On completion of port visit, PNS ALAMGIR participated in a bilateral naval exercise with Tanzanian Navy Ship PENGUSI to enhance interoperability between the two navies. PNS ALAMGIR visit to African countries is inline with Government of Pakistan policy to ‘Engage Africa’ that seeks to explore new avenues of cooperation, strengthening bilateral ties and developing interoperability with African countries.

Monday, 17 January, 2022 | LAHORE

10 FOREIGN NEWS

CHIna STreSSeS unITy, IndePendenCe, COmmOn develOPmenT In mIddle eaST

MIAN AbRAR

HINA stands ready to work with Middle East countries to achieve common, transformational and green development based on deepening cooperation against the COVID-19 pandemic, said Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Saturday. He made the remarks during an inter-

view with the media after a series of meetings with visiting foreign ministers of Gulf countries in the Middle East and the secretary-general of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). Expanding practical coopEration: Noting that Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain and other GCC countries, as well as Turkey and Iran, are all important countries in the Middle East and are all developing countries and

emerging economies, Wang said they see China as a cooperative partner in the fight against COVID-19 and for economic recovery. During the meetings, China and the GCC countries agreed to establish a strategic partnership and a free trade zone as soon as possible to enrich the strategic content of bilateral relations and help speed up the economic recovery of China and the world at large, he said. achiEving sEcurity and stability in thE MiddlE East: Wang outlined China’s five-point initiative for achieving security and stability in the Middle East, saying that China’s efforts have not stopped and will not stop.

The initiative highlights mutual respect, equity and justice, non-proliferation, collective security and development cooperation. He said the facts have repeatedly proven that other countries and international community can offer help and advise, but should do so only for the stability and interests of the Middle East countries. “For the development of the Middle East, external models could be taken as reference, but shouldn’t be copied,” he said. proMoting coMMon dEvElopMEnt: Exploring the priority directions and specific paths for implementing the Global Development Initiative in the Middle East was another important high-

light during the meetings. The initiative, proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in September last year, highlights steering global development toward a new stage of balanced, coordinated and inclusive growth in the face of the severe shocks of COVID-19 pandemic. China is ready to integrate the initiative with the major development visions of the Middle East and Gulf countries, Wang said. Highlighting cooperation in economy, trade, traditional energy, 5G communications, artificial intelligence and other new high-technologies, he said China and the Gulf countries in the Middle East complement each other in economic structure and resources.

Released by court, Kashmiri journalist again arrested in fake case SRINAGAR INP

Iran hands over 68 illegal migrants to Pakistan CHAGAI StAFF RePoRt

The Iranian authorities handed over 68 Pakistani nationals to the Levies Force at Raahdari Gate of the Taftan border in Chagai district on Sunday. Official sources said that these people were arrested in different parts of Iran for not having valid travelling documents. The nabbed Pakistanis wanted to proceed towards Turkey and Europe via Iran for better jobs, the sources said, adding that the detainees would be later handed over to Federal Investigation Authority (FIA) after completion of formal procedure and screening against coronavirus. The FIA will further investigate and prosecute the illegal migrants. A Levies Force official said that four people, excluding the above-mentioned migrants, who did not have national identity cards were handed back to Iranian authorities.

Shabbir Shah denounces arbitrary arrest of youth in IIOJK SRINAGAR INP

In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) Vice Chairman, Shabbir Ahmad Shah has denounced the arbitrary arrest of eight youth from Budgam and other areas. According to Kashmir Media Service, illegally detained Shabbir Ahmad Shah in a message from Indian infamous Tihar jail, New Delhi, said that the overwhelming majority of the people of Kashmir endorsed the right to self-determination enshrined in the United Nations Security Council resolutions through their persistent rejection of Indian illegal occupation since 1947. The strong resistance movement launched by the freedom-loving people of Kashmir bears testimony to the fact that the people of Kashmir want a peaceful resolution to the Kashmir dispute, keeping in view the Kashmiris’ aspirations, as recognised by the world community, he added. The APHC Vice Chairman, expressing deep sorrow over the Indian illogical stubbornness, ruthless killings of the innocent people, random arrests of youth, humiliating the common masses on one pretext or the other and denial of political space, freedom of expression and civil liberty across the besieged territory, said an indigenous popular movement, bearing legitimacy and recognition by the United Nations and international community, cannot be deterred by military power. He urged the United Nations Secretary General, António Guterres, to take serious action against the Indian hooliganism, pillage and widespread genocide and help resolve the Kashmir dispute in accordance with the UN resolutions to which India is also a signatory. Paying rich tributes to the Kashmiri martyrs and illegally detained Hurriyat leaders and activists languishing in different jails of India and the territory, Shabbir Ahmad Shah said, “It is our collective responsibility and moral obligation to display, valour, vigour, patience and strong unity to take the ongoing resistance movement to its logical conclusion despite the use of brute military force by India.”

While a court in Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir granted bail to illegally detained journalist Sajad Gul, the occupational regime again arrested the youngster in another fake case. According to Kashmir Media Service, Sajad Gul has been re-arrested by the Indian police days after he was arrested for posting a video of family members and relatives of a slain Kashmiri raising anti-India slogans against the occupational forces after the martyrdom of their kin, during a cordon and search operation (CASO), in Srinagar. Gul was detained in an Indian Army raid on January 5 and was later handed over to the police.

A court in Bandipora district yesterday granted him bail and ordered his release. However, instead of releasing him, the authorities said that another FIR has been registered against Sajad Gul for attempted murder and he is now arrested in connection with that case. An Indian police official told reporters that Sajad Gul was in custody in connection with another case registered against him on January 3, 2022. Sajad Gul’s lawyer, Umair Ronga, told media that when the release orders reached Hajan police station, the family members were informed. The family members were forced to wait a few hours and were told that the journalist would not be released due to another FIR. He said apparently another case has been registered against Gul for obstructing the execution of court orders.

Taliban fighters pepper spray women protesters calling for rights

Huge Tonga volcanic eruption felt around the world WASHINGTON AFP

AFP Taliban forces on Sunday fired pepper spray at a group of women protesters in Afghanistan’s capital demanding rights to work and education, three demonstrators told AFP. Since seizing control of the country by force in August, the Taliban authorities have imposed creeping restrictions on Afghans, especially on women. Around 20 women gathered in front of Kabul University, chanting “equality and justice” and carried banners that read “Women’s rights, human rights”, an AFP correspondent reported. The protest however was later dispersed by the Taliban fighters who arrived at the scene in several vehicles, three women protesters told AFP. “When we were near Kabul University three Taliban vehicles came, and fighters from one of the vehicles used pepper spray on us,” said a protester, who asked not to be named for security reasons. “My right eye started to burn. I told one of them ‘shame on you’, and then he pointed his gun at me.”

Two other protesters said that one of the women had to be taken to hospital after the spray caused an allergic reaction to her eyes and face. An AFP correspondent saw a fighter confiscate a mobile phone of a man who was filming the demonstration. The hardline group have banned unsanctioned protests and frequently intervened to forcefully break up rallies demanding rights for women. The Taliban authorities have blocked women public sector employees from returning to work, many secondary schools have still not reopened for girls, and public universities are shut. Long distance trips for women who are not accompanied by a close male relative have been banned. The authorities have also issued guidelines that prevent television channels from broadcasting serials featuring women actors. Meanwhile, many women are living in hiding, fearful of a regime notorious for human rights abuses during their first stint in power between 1996-2001, before being ousted by a US-led invasion.

The massive underwater volcanic eruption in Tonga was so powerful it was recorded around the world and triggered a tsunami that flooded Pacific coastlines from Japan to the United States, scientists said Sunday. Dramatic satellite images showed the long, rumbling eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano spew smoke and ash in the air, with a thunderous roar heard 10,000 kilometres (6,000 miles) away in Alaska. The US Geological Survey recorded Saturday’s eruption as equivalent to a 5.8 magnitude earthquake at zero depth. But the full extent of the damage in Tonga was unclear Sunday with communication lines down. A 1.2 metre (four-foot) wave swept ashore in the Tongan capital Nuku’alofa with locals reporting they had fled to higher ground, leaving behind flooded houses, some with structural damage, and with small stones and ash falling from the sky. New Zealand scientist Marco Brenna, a senior lecturer at Otago University’s School of Geology, described the impact of the eruption as “relatively mild” but said another eruption with a much bigger impact could not be ruled out. Waves of around 1.2 metres hit along Japan’s Pacific coast with the Japan Meteorological Agency warning waves as high as three metres were possible. In New Zealand, more than 2,300 kilometres from Tonga, 120 people were evacuated from northern coastal areas and several boats destroyed when a huge wave crashed into a marina. Australia’s popular Bondi Beach in Sydney was briefly evacuated as a precaution while in California, coastal streets in Santa Cruz were awash and closed to traffic. The National Weather Service Alaska reported the Alaska Volcano Observatory had recorded the eruption in Anchorage and Fairbanks “6,000 miles from the volcano.” The Fife weather station in Scotland tweeted it was “just incredible to think of the power that can send a shockwave around the world” after the eruptions produced a jump in its air pressure graph.

Monday, 17 January, 2022 | LAHORE

SPORTS 11

AustRAliAn BoWleRs DestRoy enGlAnD AGAin to Win AsHes 4-0

AgeNCIes

USTRALIA’S fast bowlers ran through the English batting line-up to claim a comprehensive 146-run win in the fifth and final Ashes Test at Hobart on Sunday, sealing a one-sided series 4-0. After a bright 68-run opening stand chasing 271 for victory, England collapsed once again to hand the Test to the rampant Australian outfit, losing 10 wickets for 56 runs in 137 balls. The hosts could easily have won the series 5-0, but for some bad weather and heroics from England’s lower order in Sydney, when the outclassed visitors held on for a tense draw. “To be at the end of a five-Test series with so many positives — winning 4-0 — it’s huge so I’m really pumped,” Australian captain Pat Cummins said. “It really feels like we are building to something big. I can’t wait to show our wares overseas so we can really judge ourselves in all conditions.” England had no answers once more in Hobart to the pace barrage of Cummins, Cameron Green, Scott Boland and Mitchell Starc, who shared the wickets between them and took nine English wickets in the night session. So dominant were the fast bowlers, off-spinner Nathan

Lyon did not bowl a ball in the entire match. England captain Joe Root admitted his side were simply not good enough throughout the series. “It’s been a really tough tour,” he said. “We’ve played good cricket in parts, we’ve just not been able to structure a whole game together. “It’s something we have to learn from and not go away and keep making the same mistakes. We’ve been outplayed in all areas and credit to Australia.” The tourists had bowled Australia out for 155 during the middle session, leaving themselves an improbable target

Waheed Baloch wins 11th Rashid D Habib Golf 2022

of 271 for victory. Rory Burns and fellow opener Zak Crawley got the tourists off to a rousing start but in the last over before tea, Burns tried to leave a ball from Green, only to chop it on, falling for 26 with the score of 68. Dawid Malan, whose wife gave birth to their first child overnight, started well with a couple of slashing boundaries, but he fell the same way, chopping on to Green for 10 to end a disappointing Test. Green struck again when Crawley edged the ball through to wicketkeeper Alex Carey, before Ben Stokes on five

threw his wicket away when he pulled a Starc short ball to Lyon at deep square leg. Root has endured a difficult series after some bright starts, but there was nothing he could do when a Boland delivery barely bounced, shooting through and crashing into the bottom of off-stump. All Root could do was stand there and shake his head with a wry smile before trudging off, bringing debutant Sam Billings to the crease. But he didn’t last long before he meekly chipped Boland to mid-off where Cummins took a simple catch. The wickets continued to tumble after that with no one offering any resistance and it was no surprise when Australia wrapped up the win 40 minutes before stumps. Brilliant Wood: Earlier, English paceman Mark Wood took careerbest figures of 6-37 in an impressive display of hostile fast bowling to at least give his side some hope of winning their first match of the tour. Wood’s extra pace has troubled a number of the Australian batsmen throughout the series and it proved a big factor during their second innings. He had nightwatchman Boland and first-innings century-maker Travis Head both caught by Billings with only 22 runs added to the overnight score of 37-3.

Novak Djokovic ‘disappointed’ with losing deportation appeal

KARACHI Pr

AgeNCIes

The final round of Bank Al Habib’s 11th Rashid D Habib Memorial National Professional Golf Tournament 2022 was played today at Karachi golf club. 55 professionals participated in final round on Sunday. WaheedBaloch of KGC carded 278 10under par to win the tournament award money of PKR713,115. Defending champion Muhammad Shabbir of Islamabad succeeded to second place and bagged PKR453,150. Muhammad Munir of Rawalpindi was the second runner up and was paid PKR267,120. Additionally, appearance money of PKR500,000 was equally distributed among Muhammad Munir, MinhajMaqsoodWarraich, Ahmed Baig, Matloob Ahmed and Muhammad Shabbir. Out of 27 golfers in Senior Professionals category, Muhammad Akram of Lahore Gymkhana leaded on final day and was paid PKR152,483. Asghar Ali and TahirNasim of Gymkhana are joint runner ups. They were paid award money of PKR84,710 each. In addition, appearance of money PKR150,000 was equally distributed between Muhammad Akram, IrfanMehmood and Naseer Khan. Shahzad Mushtaq is the winner in KGC Professionals category and was paid prize money of PKR90,250. ArshadRasheed followed him in the second position and bagged PKR71,250. Abdul Wadood won Young Professionals category with Muhammad Saqib as runner up. Their award money is PKR47,500 and PKR37,500 respectively. Abdul Waheed and LatifKhaskheli grabbed first and second position in KGC Senior Professionals category. Their award money was PKR23750 and PKR18750 respectively. In the KGC Caddies category, Tariq Kamal leaded in the final round with Nabeel Khan as the runner up. They were paid award money of PKR90,250 and 71,250 respectively. The Chief Guest at the occasion, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Amjad Khan Niazi appreciated the role of Bank Al Habib in promotion of Golf. Admiral Niazi applauded role of Karachi Golf Club management in maintaining such a beautiful and professional Golf Club in Karachi. Admiral further said, “This year Pakistan Navy will host Asian Tour Golf Championship in Karachi.”

Novak Djokovic said he was disappointed that a court on Sunday dismissed his challenge to a deportation order and accepted his hopes of playing at the Australian Open were dashed. The top-ranked tennis star released a statement shortly after three Federal Court judges unanimously upheld a decision made on Friday by Immigration Minister Alex Hawke to cancel the 34-year-old Serb’s visa on public interest grounds because he is not vaccinated for Covid-19. “I am extremely disappointed with the Court ruling to dismiss my application for judicial review of the Minister’s decision to cancel my visa, which means I cannot stay in Australia and participate in the Australian Open,” Djokovic said. “I respect the Court’s ruling and I will cooperate with the relevant authorities in relation to my departure from the country,” he added. Djokovic said he was “uncomfortable” that the focus had been on him since his visa was first canceled on arrival at Mebourne’s airport on Jan. 6. “I hope that we can all now focus on the game and tournament I love,” he said. The decision likely means that Djokovic, who is not vaccinated for Covid-19, will remain in detention in Melbourne until he is deported. Deportation usually occurs as soon as possible after an order unless prevented by court action. The government has not said when Djokovic will leave. A deportation order also usually includes a three-year ban on returning to Australia. Chief Justice James Allsop said the ruling came down to whether the minister’s decision was “irrational or legally unreasonable.” Hawke welcomed the decision. His office did not immediately provide detail of how or when Djokovic would leave. “Australia’s strong border protection policies have kept us safe during the pandemic, resulting in one of the lowest death rates, strongest economic recoveries, and

highest vaccination rates in the world,” Hawke said in a statement. “Strong border protection policies are also fundamental to safeguarding Australia’s social cohesion which continues to strengthen despite the pandemic,” he added. Djokovic could potentially appeal to the High Court, but not in time for him to compete in the Australian tournament. Supporter of Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic listen to the court hearing, as Djokovic attends a hearing at the offices of his legal team, after his visa to play in the Australian Open was cancelled a second time and he was placed back in immigration detention, in Melbourne on Jan 16, 2022. — Reuters Supporter of Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic listen to the court hearing, as Djokovic attends a hearing at the offices of his legal team, after his visa to play in the Australian Open was cancelled a second time and he was placed back in immigration detention, in Melbourne on Jan 16, 2022. — Reuters “I will now be taking some time to rest and to recuperate, before making any further comments beyond this,” he said. The court process that Djokovic had hoped would keep his aspirations alive for a 21st Grand Slam title was extraordinarily fast by Australian standards. Within three hours of Hawke’s announcement on Friday afternoon that Djokovic’s visa was cancelled, his lawyers went before a Federal Circuit and Family Court judge to initiate their challenge to the decision. The case was elevated to the Federal Court on Saturday and submissions were filed by both sides that same day. The three judges heard the case over five hours on Sunday and announced their verdict two hours later. Between the end of the hearing and the verdict, Tennis Australia, the tournament’s organizer, had announced that Djokovic was scheduled to play the last match on Monday at the Rod Laver Arena. He was due to play Miomir Kecmanovic, a fellow Serb ranked 78th in the world. Tennis Australia had no immediate comment on the star player’s legal defeat.

Highs and lows: ‘King’ Kohli’s innings as india captain NeW DeLHI AFP

Swashbuckling superstar batsman Virat Kohli often courted controversy during his seven-year innings as India’s Test captain but took the team to unprecedented heights before resigning from the role on Saturday. Under him, a team ranked seventh when he was appointed rose to the top of the world Test rankings, notching a first-ever series win in Australia in 2019. But they lost 2-0 in New Zealand in 2020, going down to the Black Caps again in last year’s World Test Championship final. Earlier this week he was seen talking to the stump microphone at Cape Town in an angry outburst at a DRS call as India lost the series to South Africa 2-1. Kohli was named Test skipper — one of India’s highest-profile positions — in 2014, becoming captain across all formats three years later. He had giant shoes to fill with his predecessor MS Dhoni leading India to two World Cup titles. But the middle-class Delhi man built a reputation for in-your-face aggression and exemplary batting, earning comparisons with the great Sachin Tendulkar. The Australian Test series triumph underlined his leadership skills in the longest format of the game. Dubbed ‘King Kohli’ by Indian media, he finishes with 40 wins and 17 losses in 68 Tests as captain — the best percentage of any Indian skipper. “Virat, you can go with your head held high,” said former India allrounder and coach Ravi Shastri, who stepped down as coach after the T20 World Cup. “Few have achieved what you have as captain. Definitely India’s most aggressive and successful.” But Kohli’s inability to win a world title remained a persistent target of critics who slammed his leadership skills in the limited-overs format. India’s cricket chief Sourav Ganguly called the team’s T20 World Cup performance last year as the “poorest” after they failed to make the semifinals. Kohli decided to quit the T20 job after the World Cup and was soon removed as the ODI captain as well, with Rohit Sharma taking over the white-ball duties. After India’s exit in the 2019 ODI World Cup semi-finals against New Zealand Kohli said “45 minutes of bad cricket knocked us out”. But he had little defence to offer for the debacle in the T20 World Cup when they lost two straight games to arch-rivals Pakistan and New Zealand. 99 not out: Kohli led from the front with his attacking batting and was never shy of expressing himself on the field, with many run-ins with opposition players. He once stopped just short of calling Steve Smith a cheat after the Australia skipper looked up to his dressing room for advice on a DRS call and Kohli was not amused. Kohli took fitness to another level and was responsible for making India a team of fast bowlers who performed at home and overseas. The likes of Mohammed Shami, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma became a force to be reckoned with in world cricket. Now Kohli will look to improve his batting, which has seen a run of poor form recently, as he prepares for what is expected to be his 100th Test against Sri Lanka next month. “It’s been seven years of hard work, toil and relentless perseverance every day,” he said in his Twitter announcement he was quitting. “I’ve done the job with absolute honesty and left nothing out there.”

Premier League faces fan fury for flurry of postponements LONDON AFP

The Premier League stands accused of overseeing a farce after agreeing to Arsenal’s request to postpone their trip to Tottenham with the Gunners reportedly missing just one player due to coronavirus. Sunday’s north London derby, which was due to be screened live in Sky Sports‘

marquee slot of 16:30 GMT, became the 21st match called off over the past two months. Rules initially brought in to cope with record numbers of Covid-19 cases caused by the Omicron variant of the virus have quickly been abused by clubs seeking to take advantage when depleted by injuries and the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations. Arsenal have four players away on international duty in Cameroon on top of injuries

to Emile Smith Rowe and Takehiro Tomiyasu. Bukayo Saka, Kieran Tierney and Cedric Soares all picked up knocks in Thursday’s League Cup semi-final, first leg at Liverpool and Granit Xhaka would have been suspended after being sent off in that game, but Martin Odegaard is the only player currently ruled out due to testing positive for Covid. Mikel Arteta’s squad had been further depleted this week by loan moves for Ains-

ley Maitland Niles to Roma and Folarin Balogun to Middlesbrough. Had both players remained at the Emirates, they may have been able to meet the Premier League’s criteria of having 13 available outfield players plus a goalkeeper. “What started out as postponements due to a pandemic has now become about clubs not having their best team,” tweeted former Manchester United captain and Sky pundit Gary

Neville. “The Premier League must stop this now, draw a line in the sand and say all games go ahead unless you have an exceptional amount of CV (coronavirus) cases. It’s wrong.” Arsenal themselves felt aggrieved when the first leg of their League Cup semi-final was delayed by a week for what turned out to be a number of false-positive tests for coronavirus among the Liverpool squad. “No other league in Europe is doing this,” said former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher, citing Bayern Munich being forced to play 16-year-old Paul Wanner in a 2-1 home defeat to Borussia Monchengladbach last weekend.

Monday, 17 January, 2022

prayer tiMings

NEWS

SharIFS ‘SuBTracTed’ FroM PolITIcS: raSheed RAWALPINDI

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INISTER for Interior Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed on Sunday said “all four Sharifs” have been subtracted from the national political landscape. Speaking to media in his hometown of Rawalpindi, Ahmed said the opposition is lost, the government will complete its five-year constitutional term and will continue its agenda of serving the people. He said past rulers plundered the national exchequer, while Prime Minis-

ter Imran Khan is committed to strengthening the national economy and addressing inflation through timely measures. He further said there is no chance of any kind of a deal with the Sharif family. “There might have been talks of showing some leniency [towards them] in the past but not anymore,” he added. Ahmed compared the opposition to the blind whales who are dreaming about an in-house change in the Parliament and said it is not going to happen. Talking about protests announced by the united opposition, the minister said the government is not afraid of such dharnas.

Fawad claims ‘PTI will win next general elections’ Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, while addressing a press conference in Lahore, criticised the opposition parties over their anti-government protests, saying the opposition was divided. He said except for the PTI no political party will be able to field its candidates on all seats — 1,100 in total — in the next general elections. The minister claimed that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) will again come to power after winning the next general election in 2023. According to Fawad, former PM Nawaz Sharif was living in one of the most expensive properties in London whereas former president Asif Ali Zardari rents out the most expensive apartments during his visits to London. The federal minister said that the salaried class was being crushed under inflation because they didn’t get increments. “When expenditures exceed the income then inflation seems high,” Fawad claimed. Speaking about health cards, he said that the Sehat Insaf Card will end discrimination in the health sector. He urged the private sector to invest in the healthcare sector for its betterment. The health card will benefit the working and middle-class segments the most, he added. Speaking about the inflation, the minister claimed the issue was linked to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) governments as they took record loans during their respective tenures. From 1947 to 2008, Rs6 trillion loans were taken by the Pakistani government, but from 2008 to 2018, the PPP and PML-N governments took loans worth Rs23 trillion, he said, adding that the PTI has paid $32 billion in debt servicing after coming into power. He further said that families of journalists and members of press clubs in Punjab and KhyberPakhtunkhwa will be given health cards as well. Fawad said that journalists across Pakistan will be provided subsidised housing under the Naya Pakistan Housing Scheme. Earlier, the information minister also distributed Sehat Insaf Cards among journalists at the Lahore Press Club. Fawad further said that government will spend Rs700 billion on development in southern Balochistan. news desk

Responding to a comment made by Shehbaz Sharif, the minister said PMLN president is a “beautiful dream for Prime Minister Imran Khan, not a nightmare”. About the prevailing political situation in the country, Ahmed said the public will witness positive developments in the next two to three months. On the issue of the economy, the interior minister said approval of the Finance (Supplementary) Bill, 2021 is a great success of the government and its allies. Ahmed said more people would have died in Murree had he not gone there to monitor the situation and rescue

people. “If I had not gone to Murree, 30 to 40 more would have died instead of 23. Nothing was in place in Murree. I don’t want to say anything else,” he said. He went there on humanitarian grounds and not as an interior minister. “I evacuated 700 cars and checked each one of them for people trapped inside. It is not the interior ministry’s responsibility, but I stayed there for two days,” he said. “People were fighting the police [to enter Murree]. I had to call the Rangers to stop people. Otherwise, 500 more cars would have entered and it would have been an even bigger catastrophe.”

Pakistan records over 4000 Covid cases for consecutive 2nd day with 7.4pc positivity rate ISLAMABAD Mian abrar

The country recorded more than 4,000 new coronavirus cases for a second consecutive day, with Covid-19 positivity ratio in Karachi surging to around 40 percent. According to the official data provided by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Sunday, at least 4,027 people were infected by the virus across the country in the last 24 hours. Pakistan conducted 51,236 tests during the same period, taking its overall positivity rate to 7.8 percent. Karachi is witnessing an alarming surge in coronavirus cases during the fifth Covid-19 wave fuelled by Omicron variant. Out of 15,172 people who were tested for coronavirus, 2,670 came out positive in Sindh, according to the latest figures issued on Sunday. Sindh reported 2,670 new coronavirus cases during the past 24 hours, bringing the total of confirmed cases in the province to 500,955. According to Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, 119 patients recovered overnight, lifting the tally to 472,125. He added that three more patients succumbed to the virus during the said period. So far 7,697 patients have succumbed to the deadly virus. Meanwhile, the Sindh health department has decided to conduct random coronavirus testing of students across all schools of the province. The provincial health department has also issued directives to district health officers (DHO) in this regard via notification, according to Express News.

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Senate session wraps up due to lack of quorum Lack of quorum and protest in Senate on Friday rendered its session lacklustre and prompted the chair to wrap it up without taking up any substantial agenda. The upper house met under the chairmanship of Senator Faisal Saleem. During the brief sitting, the issue of the government’s deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) came under heated discussion, with both sides trading barbs. A day earlier, the government bulldozed its State Bank of Pakistan (Amendment) Bill 2021 and supplementary finance bill through the National Assembly amid fierce resistance from the opposition parties. Dr Shehzad Waseem, Leader of the House in the Senate, in response to the objections raised by Mr Gilani, explained that the government got the mini-budget approved because it had a majority. “We passed the bill into law through legislation and in a parliamentary democracy legislation is done in a parliamentary manner.” He stressed that laws enacted by a parliamentary democracy ought to be accepted and respected by all, urging the opposition to respect the parliament’s sanctity. Waseem noted it was ironic that those who were now putting the blame squarely on the incumbent government for approaching IMF had themselves gone to the Fund seventeen times. Lashing out at the government on Friday, the Leader of the Opposition Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani said the government was increasing electricity tariffs under the terms agreed with the IMF. “The people are being forced to take to protest every month,” he said, regretting that despite the opposition’s vehement opposition to the mini budget, the government went on to bulldoze the legislation through the National Assembly. Jamaat-e-Islami’s Mushtaq Ahmed said increasing electricity prices under the IMF terms was galvanising bitter sentiments among common people who were now being compelled to protest against this “cruelty”. Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Ali Muhammad Khan said it is the responsibility of the elected representatives to strengthen and ensure the sanctity of the parliament. He regretted that the opposition had “undermined the sanctity of the parliament” by attacking the bill in an unseemly manner. “If you do not intend to not listen, you can walk out.” The opposition walked out of the house on Ali Mohammad Khan’s remarks before pointing out the quorum. It is pertinent to note that the chair adjourned the proceeding till Monday 3pm. news desk

People want to get rid of PM at the earliest: Bilawal ISLAMABAD staff report

The notification stated that 100 samples will be collected from schools in each district of the province which will be sent to Dow Hospital laboratory to check disease prevalence. Based on the results, the provincial government will take final decision regarding closure of educational institutions. At least 112 people contracted Covid-19 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the past 24 hours, taking the total of confirmed cases in the province to 182,311. Health authorities said two people died due to the fatal disease, with the toll rising to 5,960. They further said that 20 patients recovered from the deadly virus in K-P overnight, pushing the recoveries to 175,432. A day earlier, the Sindh Taskforce on Coronavirus meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, was informed that

infection rate had increased to 35.3 percent in Karachi, 5.12 percent in Hyderabad and 2.4 percent in the rest of the province. However, it was assured that the situation remained under control. The health department informed the meeting that at present, there was no pressure on the hospitals while Covid-19 patients were recovering fast and the death rate had fallen to 1.6 percent. The chief minister directed for an audit of all the public and private hospitals to assess their facilities like beds, doctors, medicines etc. He also directed the health department for the Covid-19 preparation plan so that necessary and timely measures could be taken. He added that he would review the Covid situation again within the next few days so that necessary decisions could be taken accordingly.

Chairman Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Sunday said that the countrymen are fed up of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government and they want to get rid of Prime Minister Imran Khan at earliest. He was talking to different delegations with key personalities of the party who held separate meetings with him at Zardari House Islamabad and briefed him about the preparations for the long march on February 27. Those who called on the Chairman PPP included Anwar Saifullah Khan, Member Central Executive Committee, Asma Arbab Alamgir, Central Deputy Secretary Information of PPP, Syed Zahir Shah, Senior Leader of PPP and Haji Dilbar Khan from PPP District Diamer, Engineer Naveed Iqbal, Nizam Din, Syed Imam Malik Shah and Sherullah. Talking to the delegations, Bilawal Bhutto said that with the increase in electricity prices by four rupees, the prices of petroleum have also been increased by more than three rupees which is an economic murder of the people. He said that the long march of PPP was to save the people from inflation and economic crisis. Inflation and unemployment must end and it is necessary now to get rid of Imran Khan. He said that enough is enough and the people would leave for Islamabad on February 27 from every corner of the country to hold Imran Khan accountable for inflation. The PPP chairman said that increase in petroleum products’ prices after gas and electricity was a robbery on the pockets of the people. The government has mortgaged the people to the IMF. Pakistan’s decisions are being made abroad. He said that Imran Khan would have to face the wrath of the people from February 27 for increasing electricity and petrol prices.

Moeed Yusuf to discuss Pakistan’s aid for Afghanistan in Kabul visit on January 18-19 National Security Adviser (NSA) Moeed Yusuf would be steering the Afghanistan Inter-Ministerial Coordination Cell (AICC) to channel Pakistan’s humanitarian and economic assistance to Afghanistan in a manner that helps the Afghan interim authorities in combatting their key challenges while adhering to the requirements of the UN and international sanctions. Yousaf would be visiting Afghanistan on January 18-19 for talks on bilateral matters, focusing on Pakistan’s efforts to avert a humanitarian crisis in the neighbouring country. According to officials of relevant ministries, the purpose of the visit is to ascertain the humanitarian, economic and development needs of Afghanistan in various sectors. The AICC in the past few weeks has

been working tirelessly on plans of assistance to Afghanistan. The main sectors of Pakistan’s cooperation with Afghanistan include health, higher education, provision of humanitarian assistance, and enhancement of trade/business contacts. The Afghan ministers for health, higher education, finance and commerce undertook visits to Islamabad in recent months for strengthening collaboration in these areas. The plans for assistance in these areas are likely to be finalised during the said visit. One key challenge for Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers is the exodus of skilled human resource from the country. Relevant Pakistani officials argue that Pakistan was actually contemplating oppor-

tunities for Afghan refugees educated and trained in Pakistan to serve in Afghanistan’s public and private sectors to fill the gap in the country’s human resource requirements. Apart from the bilateral channel, Pakistan has also been facilitating assistance to Afghanistan through international organisations, particularly the UN and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The OIC foreign ministers’ special session in Islamabad on December 19, 2021, and the decisions to establish an OIC Trust Fund as well as appoint a special envoy on Afghanistan to oversee humanitarian and economic engagement are reflective of Islamabad’s efforts to support Afghanistan at this crucial time. The Pakistan NSA will travel to Kabul at a time of tensions along the Pak-

Afghan border. Over the past few weeks, videos have surfaced on social media purportedly showing Taliban fighters uprooting a portion of the fence along the Pak-Afghan border, claiming that the fence had been erected inside Afghan territory. Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid on Friday stated that the remaining fencing of the frontier would be completed with the consent of the neighbouring country, stating that “they are our brothers.” Earlier this month, the director general of Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Maj Gen Babar Iftikhar had said that fencing of the Pak-Afghan border would continue as planned, adding that blood of martyred soldiers had been spilled while

erecting the fence. DG ISPR while addressing a presser stated that the border fencing had been completed 94 per cent. “We are totally focused, and under the western border management regime, the work that is underway will be completed in some time.” Days after Taliban security forces removed fences from several locations, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Afghan foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi called for engagement of both sides to discuss the border issue. It is pertinent to note that Yusuf’s visit will be an opportunity for both sides to review the situation along the nearly 2,600kilometre border and other security-related issues. news desk

Published by Arif Nizami at Qandeel Printing Press, 4 Queens Road, Lahore, for PT Print (Pvt) Limited. Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965. Email: newsroom@pakistantoday.com.pk