E-Paper PDF 16th November (LHR)

CMYK

Saturday, 16 November, 2019 I 18 Rabi-ul-Awwal, 1441 I Rs 20.00 I Vol X No 136 I 16 Pages I Lahore Edition

GovT suffers firsT seTback in bid To secure nawaz indemniTy bond g

Two-MeMber lhc beNch reJecTs GovT’s sTaNce oN MaiNTaiNabiliTy oF PMl-N’s Plea, courT To hear case Today

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JusTice NaJaFi says Nawaz shariF aNd GeN MusharraF’s cases are NoT siMilar as laTTer was NoT coNvicTed by courTs

LAHORE

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staff report

he Lahore high Court (LhC) on Friday admitted a plea filed by the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) challenging the government’s condition of furnishing indemnity bonds in order to secure the ‘one-time’ permission for ailing former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to go abroad for medical treatment.

The court had reserved its judgement on the admissibility of the petition in the afternoon.

After declaring the plea as maintainable, the LhC initially summoned lawyers from both sides to present arguments on the merits of the petition on Monday. however, upon request from PML-N’s lawyers, the court fixed the next hearing of the petition for 11:30am on Saturday. earlier, in its 45-page reply submitted in the LhC, the federal government had opposed the request seeking unconditional permission for Nawaz Sharif to go abroad, stating that the LhC does not have the jurisdiction to hear this petition. The government requested the court to reject the petition as non-maintainable.

The government also informed that it has allowed the former prime minister to travel abroad for four weeks and the ex-premier’s name was added to the eCL on the National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) recommendation.

At the outset of the hearing, PML-N’s counsel Amjad Pervaiz presented copies of court orders in similar cases.

“There are many court verdicts that vindicate our stance,” he said, adding that example of the removal of former military dictator Pervez Musharraf’s name is in front of everyone.

On this, Justice Ali Baqir Najafi said Nawaz Sharif’s case has no link with Musharraf’s case as the latter was not convicted.

Advocate Amjad replied that supermodel Ayan Ali, who was jailed in connection with money laundering case, was also allowed to leave the country without any condition. The government cannot suppress anyone’s basic rights, he added.

Justice Najafi noted that according to the record, NAB has left the entire matter relating to removing Nawaz’s name from the eCL to the government.

Adding to this point, Advocate Pervez said NAB had in a letter stated that the authority to

Opp spares Suri as govt withdraws controversial bills

add or remove names from the eCL rested with the federal government. he said following this statement, the federal law minister had asked NAB to again clarify its stance on the matter.

Government counsel AAG Khan informed the court that the names of Nawaz and his children Maryam Nawaz, hassan Nawaz and hussain Nawaz were added to the eCL in the Avenfield case after the Supreme Court had ordered the filing of references against them. he said Nawaz’s name was added to the nofly list after fulfilling all legal requirements.

Using an example, the bench asked which court a person would approach if they were a resident of Karachi and their name was added to the eCL in Islamabad. “every case has different merits and record,” the government lawyer responded. he said because Nawaz was sentenced by a NAB court in Islamabad and the appeal against it is being heard in the Islamabad high Court (IhC), the request seeking removal of Nawaz’s name from the eCL could only be heard by the IhC. AAG Khan argued that the government had not asked the Sharif family to submit surety bonds but indemnity bonds and that if Nawaz has reservations regarding submitting the same, he can approach the IhC. The bench pointed out that the Chaudhry Sugar Mills case in which Nawaz is nominated is being heard in Lahore while PML-N counsel Pervez reminded the court that the Avenfield

Taliban shift Western hostages as prisoner swap postponed

case had been filed by NAB Lahore.

AAG Khan said a court in Karachi had rejected a petition as non-maintainable that challenged a NAB case filed elsewhere.

At this, Justice Najafi reminded the government counsel that the petition currently being heard by the court concerns an eCL issue and a man who is “very ill”.

After hearing the arguments, the high court reserved its judgement on the maintainability of PML-N’s petition.

A day earlier, Justice Ali Baqir Najafi and Justice Sardar Naeem had taken up the plea filed

by PML-N. The decision to approach the high court was announced by PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif in a press conference, wherein he declared the government’s decision to demand surety bond a “ransom”.

“The government by asking the Sharif family to submit indemnity bonds to secure permission for Nawaz to travel abroad was, in fact, demanding ‘ransom’,” he had said.

On Wednesday, the Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI) government, after much deliberation, had granted a one-time permission to Nawaz for four weeks to travel abroad for his treatment provided he submitted indemnity bonds worth over Rs7.5 billion.

Nawaz sharif ’s health critical, PMl-N, doctor claim Nawaz can seek treatment abroad if court permits, says Akbar STORIES ON BACK PAGE & 03

STORY ON PAGE 02

Fazl sees snap polls within one month

Fazl ended sit-in after an ‘understanding’ with govt, says Elahi STORIES ON BACK PAGE & 03

imran will be gone by next year, says PPP chief

STORY ON BACK PAGE

PML-N is politicising Nawaz’s health, says premier

STORY ON BACK PAGE

Pelosi says Trump has admitted to bribery as impeachment probe intensifies STORY ON BACK PAGE

STORIES ON PAGES 03 & 12

Tough times over as economy stabilised, reiterates imran

CMYK Saturday, 16 November, 2019

02 NEWS

OPP sPAres surI As gOvernment wIthdrAws cOntrOversIAl bIlls ISLAMABAD

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STAFF REPORT

N a move that will strengthen parliament, the federal government on Friday agreed to hold a debate on the hurriedly passed ordinances, whereas the opposition in return reciprocated the offer by taking back the no-confidence motion against National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri.

The lower house of parliament which has not seen much legislation over the past year witnessed another round of pandemonium at the start of this month when the government bulldozed 11 bills through the House without putting them up for debate.

Subsequently, the opposition moved the Islamabad High Court against the ordinances and also filed a no-trust move against Suri, who presided over the proceedings, for failing to uphold the parliamentary code of procedures.

But dust between the government

and opposition has apparently settled down for good. As the House resumed proceedings earlier in the day, Defence Minister Pervez Khattak said the government had “decided to improve the assembly’s atmosphere”, therefore agreeing to withdraw the controversial bills. Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Azam Swati said that the bills that were passed and ordinances tabled in the assembly on November 7 will be presented in the parliament again for debate and a consensus will be developed. He added that a debate will be held on the controversial ordinance, which dissolved the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council and paved the way for the establishment of Pakistan Medial Commission.

Swati told the House that the government and opposition had agreed that Letters of Administration and Succession Certificates Ordinance, 2019, Enforcement of Women’s Property Rights Ordinance, 2019, Legal Aid and Justice Authority Ordinance, 2019, Superior

Courts (Court Dress and Mode of Address) Ordinance, 2019, will be withdrawn and passed on the day of withdrawal, APP reported.

Benami Transaction (Prohibition) (Amendment) Bill, 2019 and The National Accountability (Amendment) Bill, 2019 will be sent back to the relevant committees, he added. Former finance minister Asad Umar lauded opposition’s decision to withdraw the no-trust motion against Suri and said: “All of us have come here [in the House] from the public’s vote and we should focus on solving the people’s problems.” “Legislation done by committees is more effective.

After five years, people will say that Speaker Asad Qaiser strengthened this House,” he added.

Meanwhile, Khawaja Asif told the House that the opposition would withdraw the no-confidence motion. In return, the government would withdraw the controversial bills and send them to parliamentary committees for approval.

‘SEND NAWAZ ABROAD OVER

HEALTH ISSUE’: A lawmaker belonging to Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) urged the government to allow former PM Nawaz to leave the country for medical treatment.

Grand Democratic Alliance’s Ghous Bux Khan Mahar also endorsed the MQM lawmaker’s stance and said that the government “should not do politics over Nawaz Sharif’s health”.

Meanwhile, speaking in the House, Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari admitted that the PTI-led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government’s oversight in hiring a man, who was recently arrested for raping a minor for four days and filming him, as a consultant for the government.

“Who hired [the suspect] and over whose recommendation?” PPP lawmaker Abdul Qadir Patel inquired. He demanded that a committee be formed to look into the matter. Mazari said that she “condemned the incident”, adding that the international organisations refer consultants.

PM lauds army’s efforts for border security, internal stability ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday appreciated Pakistan Army’s efforts for securing the country’s border and ensuring internal stability.

During his meeting with Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa, who called on him at PM Office, matters pertaining to the security situation of the country, including issues at the western border, and the crisis in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK), came into discussion.

The premier hailed continued efforts of the army in defending the borders while also ensuring internal security and facilitating the ongoing socio-economic development.

It is worth mentioning here that the

meeting comes in the backdrop of the ongoing anti-government protests led

by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F).

The protesters demand the resignation

of the prime minister and the holding of fresh elections in the country, and have reiterated their commitment to continue the agitation until their demands are

met.

While the protesters are adamant on their demands, the army has also made it clear that it would support national institutions in accordance with the Constitution. The army has also warned that nobody would be allowed to reverse the hard-earned peace and stability to suit and particular agenda.

Other matters relevant to the meeting include the situation in occupied Kashmir, where a curfew has been imposed and communications have been shut down since the Indian government revoked the autonomous status of the disputed territory. Moreover, on the western front of the country, Pakistan Army still faces threats as earlier this week three soldiers were martyred in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in North Waziristan.

PHC stops JUI-F from blocking roads PESHAWAR STAFF REPORT

The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Friday restrained the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) from blocking roads. A bench of the high court gave this restraining order on a petition against the party’s agitation drive to press the government into meeting their demands,

which also included Prime Minister Imran Khan’s resignation. After a preliminary hearing, the bench restrained the JUI-F from blocking major arteries. As part of its Plan B, the JUI-F has staged sit-ins at various key points across the country.

While addressing the Azadi March participants in Islamabad earlier this week, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman had announced to end Islamabad sit-

Pakistan condemns Israel’s killing of Palestinians ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday condemned the killing of Palestinians by Israel’s armed forces. In a statement, the Foreign Office (FO) said, “The international community has the obligation to take cognizance of these aggressive actions, which are in violation of international law and international humanitarian law.” “Pakistan believes that a permanent solution of the Palestinian issue lies in the establishment of a viable, independent and contiguous state of Palestine, on the basis of internationally agreed parameters, the pre1967 borders, and with Al-Quds Al Sharif as its capital”, the statement added. The situation escalated in Gaza early Tuesday after an Israeli airstrike killed Bahaa Abu al-Atta, a senior military commander of the Palestinian group Islamic Jihad, and his wife Asmaa. Two days of fighting between Israel and Islamic Jihad have left 34 Palestinians dead, including eight children and three women. More than 111 have been injured, including 46 children and 20 women. A truce was reached in Gaza that went into effect on Thursday at 5am local time, but a lasting ceasefire appeared tenuous due to differences over its terms. STAFF REPORT

Fawad calls out Khawaja Asif for 'spreading lies' Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry on Friday called out Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Asif for ‘lying’ in the National Assembly. The minister tweeted in response to the statement made by Khawaja Asif on Thursday in his National Assembly speech. Asif had alleged that when an officer of a court talked to a government personality that they are going to hear the case of Nawaz Sharif’s bail on Saturday twice, his answer was “let him die. His death will make no difference,” the PML-N parliamentary leader said while regretting the attitude of the government. Chaudhry said that he is shocked how bravely these leaders can lie in the assembly. He also attached the court verdict saying that it has debunked the lies of the PML-N leader. NEWS DESK

in said to expand protests across the country according to his party’s Plan B for protest. He had appealed workers of JUI-F to come on streets and record a protest as Plan-B of the party. The party workers had on Thursday blocked the Hub River road in Karachi for vehicular traffic. The disruption of traffic by the JUI-F workers has suspended traffic between Sindh and Balochistan provinces causing hardships for the passengers. The party workers blocked the National Highway in Sukkur and staged a sit-in in Ghotki which suspended traffic flow at the highway.

Pakistan deploys new vaccine against ‘superbug’ typhoid outbreak ISLAMABAD AGENCIES

Pakistan began vaccinating millions of children against typhoid on Friday to try to control a drug-resistant superbug outbreak of the fever that has already infected some 11,000 people since 2016 and risks spreading internationally. The immunisation campaign, using a newly-developed shot designed to prevent typhoid fever infection for up to five years, starts in the southern Sindh province and is

targeted at children between 9 months and 15 years old, officials said.

By 2021, it will become a nationwide programme and part of routine child vaccination schedules.

“Beginning the vaccination in urban areas is critical in preventing the disease among the communities most at risk,” Sindh’s Provincial Minister for Health Azra Fazal Pechuho said in a statement. Typhoid also disproportionately affects children. Typhoid is caused by Salmonella Typhi bacteria and spreads through contaminated

CMYK

food and water. It causes fever, nausea, stomach pain and pink spots on the chest, and in severe cases can lead to complications in the gut and head that can be fatal.

A Global Burden of Disease study by the US Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation estimates that in 2017 there were 11 million typhoid cases and 116,000 typhoid deaths worldwide.

The typhoid outbreak in Pakistan is caused by a bacterial strain that has evolved extensive drug resist-

ance and become a so-called “superbug”. It started in 2016 and has so far infected around 11,000 people, with a death rate of around 1%.

The strain is resistant to all but one antibiotic used to treat typhoid.

If it develops resistance to this final antibiotic treatment, disease experts say, death rates among those infected could rise dramatically to as much as 20%.

The new typhoid vaccine was approved in 2018 by the World Health Organisation. Its roll-out is funded by the Geneva-based GAVI vaccine alliance, a body backed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the WHO, the World Bank, UNICEF and others, which arranges bulk buys to lower vaccine costs for poor countries.

CMYK Saturday, 16 November, 2019

NEWS

Pml-n Is POlItIcIsIng nAwAz’s heAlth: PremIer ISLAMABAD

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STAFF REPORT

RIME Minister Imran Khan on Friday said that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is politicising the health of former premier Nawaz Sharif. Chaired a meeting of the core committee of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) at his Bani Gala residence, the premier expressed concern over the health of the former premier and discussed the recent developments in this regard.

He said that Nawaz must go abroad for treatment and politics can wait until he is better. The government is concerned about him and it found a way to remove his name from the Exit Control List (ECL), he added.

PM Imran said that he is unable to understand why the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) is reluctant to submit an indemnity bond. “We have not asked them for any money, rather we have only asked for an indemnity bond as a security,” he said.

“If I was in Shehbaz Sharif’s place,

I would have submitted the bond without any hesitation,” he added.

The prime minister further said that PML-N’s hesitation suggests that they only want to politicise the issue. Commenting on Lahore High Court’s (LHC) decision of admitting Nawaz’s petition for hearing, he said that the government would accept the court’s decision whether it is in government’s favour or not. He also directed the cabinet members to refrain from commenting on this

twO POlIcemen KIlled In QuettA blAst QUETTA STAFF REPORT

At least two policemen were killed and two others injured in a remote-controlled blast targetting a police mobile in Quetta’s Buleli area on Friday. After the blast, ambulances reached the area and shifted the wounded to a nearby hospital.

Police and Frontier Corps personnel cordoned off the area soon after the blast.

On Monday, a blast targeting a police van in Quetta wounded nine people, including three policemen. According to reports, the blast took place after explosives were planted on a motorcycle on Quetta’s Spinny Road. This is the third incident in a series of blasts targetting police personnel in Balochistan’s provincial capital over past few months. Last week, at least one person was killed in an explosion at the city’s Double Road which had left 10 people wounded.

sIx mOre POlIO cAses rePOrted In KP, sIndh NEWS DESK Six new cases of polio have been reported in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, taking the tally to 95 across Pakistan. Of the total number of cases reported so far, nine are of vaccine-derived virus type 2 or VDPV2. Two of the six new cases are of polio contracted from a mutated version of the virus in the environment.

They were reported from Charsadda and Torghar. Three of the remaining cases are from Lakki Marwat, while one is from Karachi. In Lakki Marwat, the victims include a 32-month-old boy from Bakhmal Ahmadzai, a two-month-old boy from Mashamanso and another twomonth-old boy from Daratang. In Karachi, the victim belongs to Jamshed Town and is a two-year-old boy. The two cases of vaccine-derived polio were detected from two boys. One of them is three-and-a-half years old, while the other is 13 months old. The discovery of seven fresh polio cases in Pakistan recently prompted the government to plan vaccinations from November 18. These new cases became controversial after The Guardian published a story alleging they were covered up and that the children had caught a type of polio that had been globally finished off.

issue in a disrespectful manner.

On the issue of Jamiat Ulema-eIslam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s Azadi March, PM Imran said that the nation has rejected Fazl's narrative. He said that now Fazl is fooling people under the guise of ‘Plan B’, adding that the government completely facilitated the sit-in and protesters in Islamabad. The premier also hinted at imminent changes in the federal, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) cabi-

Indian firing kills tractor driver in AJK

nets. It is worth mentioning here that the document of federal cabinet's decision on the matter does not mention any amount for the indemnity bond and does not stipulate any duration for the Nawaz's stay abroad.

Meanwhile, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said that PTI’s core committee has decided to examine violation of laws in speeches of opposition leaders at the recent sit-in of JUI-F. She said that opposition leaders showed opportunism by becoming party to the ‘dharna’ in order to hide their corruption. She said that the prime minister also condemned the inappropriate words of the JUI-F leaders during the sit-in.

She said that terming the ‘dharna’ a success can only be a foolish perception because it adversely affected the Kashmir cause. Commenting on Pakistan People's Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal BhuttoZardari’s statement that new elections would be conducted next year, she said that he had negated his mother's narrative that democratic governments should complete their constitutional terms.

Nawaz can seek treatment abroad if court permits: Akbar Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar has said that the government has no issue if the court allows Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supreme leader Nawaz Sharif to seek medical treatment abroad, a local news outlet reported on Friday.

Akbar also rejected opposition’s narrative that Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI) government was doing politics over the issue, saying the law does not permit the government to remove a convicted person’s name from the Exit Control List (ECL).

“The government allowed him

one-time permission to go abroad because it was in its jurisdiction,” he added.

He further said that PML-N was politicising the health of the former premier.Meanwhile, speaking to a local news outlet, Attorney General of Pakistan (AGP) Anwar Mansoor Ali Khan said that the government can only allow Nawaz to go abroad if he submits indemnity bonds.

He said that if the former premier intends to return to the country, he should not hesitate from submitting the bonds.

Speaking about the court’s decision to hear Nawaz’s petition, he

Fazl ended sit-in after an ‘understanding’ with govt, says elahi ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leader and Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi on Friday said that Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman ended his Islamabad sit-in after reaching an 'understanding' with the government. Speaking to a

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said that the government has no issue with the court hearing the matter. The government does not even mind if an early hearing is conducted.He further said that the government would accept the court’s decision and would refrain from submitting an appeal.

Earlier in the day, the Lahore High Court (LHC) rejected government and National Accountability Bureau’s (NAB) plea for dismissal of a petition filed by the former premier. Justice Baqir Najafi, who was heading the division bench, ruled that the court can hear Nawaz’s petition. NEWS DESK

private TV channel, he revealed that Fazl had decided to end his sit-in after reaching an 'understanding' with the government. When asked about the details of the 'understanding', Elahi said that he could not discuss the matter in detail. "Whatever we gave to Maulana Fazl is a 'trust' between us and him," he said, adding that he cannot betray that trust. However, he did disclose that Fazl had accepted one demand of the government's negotiating team which was to leave the capital without causing any violence. "We had to solve this problem. This could not have gone on," said Elahi. "There is an elected government in place and there were delegates coming in from China and other parts of the world,” he added. INP

A young tractor driver lost his life in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Friday after an Indian soldier hit him from across the restive Line of Control (LoC) in what officials termed as yet another incident of “targeted killing”.Muhammad Ali was ploughing a field in Nali village, just a stone’s throw from the unmarked dividing line in tehsil Barnala, when a single bullet struck him in the neck, according to Ansar Mahmood, a police official based in the area.“The 20-year-old fell from the tractor and died on the spot,” he added.The deceased, an orphan who eked out a living by driving someone’s tractor, was laid to rest in his native Seri village in Samahni tehsil of Bhimber district in the evening.According to officials, people living in the closest proximity of the LoC while doing different chores often end up falling victims to targeted firing by triggerhappy Indian troops.“It is a brutal act of targeted killing, something for which Indian troops stationed at the LoC have gained notoriety over the years,” said Chaudhry Tariq Farooq, AJK’s senior minister, who also belongs to Bhimber district.“He (Ali) is the latest victim of the cowardly and dreadful Indian practice of purposely targeting unarmed and innocent civilians in AJK with high calibre weapons even when the ceasefire line is apparently calm,” he added.Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider also took to Twitter to condemn the latest incident of firing along the LoC.“...Skirmishes and artillery duels between rival troops are not something uncustomary in a conflict zone but hitting non-combatant civilians in such a fashion is typical of the coward Indian army.

Shame on them,” he wrote.According to Syed Shahid Mohyiddin Qadri, secretary of the AJK government’s disaster management authority, the LoC has been regularly witnessing ceasefire violations by the Indian army, notwithstanding the November 2003 truce agreement, and as a result civilian casualties have also been regularly occurring. NEWS DESK

gen bajwa visits Fc hQ RAWALPINDI: Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Friday visited Frontier Corps Headquarters and laid floral wreath on Martyrs’ Monument in General Headquarters in Rawalpindi. According to details, Gen Bajwa lauded the courage and determination of soldiers for the safety of motherland and also vowed to continue steps for long-lasting peace and stability in the country. Earlier, the army chief had visited Armoured Corps Centre in Nowshera, where Lt Gen Sarfraz Sattar was installed as colonel commandant Armoured Corps. Outgoing Colonel Commandant Lieutenant General Naveed Mukhtar and a large number of serving and retired officers, soldiers and families of martyrs attended the event. General Bajwa appreciated the performance of Armored Corps both in conventional and nonconventional combats. INP

Govt spent Rs527m to keep Azadi marchers at bay The federal government spent at least Rs527 million on security measures to keep the Azadi marchers, gathered at a ground in sector H-9 of Islamabad, at bay. The sit-in called by the Jamiat Ulema-e-IslamFazl (JUI-F) to pressurize the government for the resignation of the prime minister ended on Wednesday after JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman opted for Plan B. According to this plan, the JUI-F will block major highways across the country.

Islamabad had been under a virtual lockdown due to the sit-in and the government had placed at least 680 containers on the routes leading towards the Red Zone and other areas to contain the protesters.

The rent had been agreed at Rs0.5m per container that translated into Rs71.40 million in total.

Approximately 19,000 personnel from the Frontier Corps (FC), police and other law

enforcement agencies from various cities in the capital city were called to enhance security before and during the Azadi March.

The daily costs of housing, petrol, food, and beverages for these officers amounted to 30 million rupees, according to the city administration, aggregating to Rs450m for 15 days.

According to the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metro bus operations manager, Shumaila Mohsin said the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metro bus remained suspended from October 31 to November 15 due to the Azadi March, suffered a loss worth Rs3.30m per day.

Due to Metro bus suspension, the residents of twin cities were also bearing the brunt of this ongoing sit-in of JUI-F as they were forced to hire taxis and online ride-hailing services for traveling in the twin cities. The total cost of security in the federal capital was more

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than Rs527.60m, but expenditures for officers still in town continued at the time of the report. NEWSDESK

04 LAHORE

Saturday, 16 November, 2019

WEATHER UPDATES SATURDAY

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GovT SeemInGLy UnInTereSTeD In enDInG PLrA ‘DHArnA’ SIT-IN CONTINUES ON FIFTH DAY AS TALKS FAIL BETWEEN GOVT, PROTESTING EMPLOYEES TRAFFIC FLOW SEVERELY DISRUPTED ON ROADS LEADING TO CHARING CROSS LAHORE

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ABDULLAH FARRUKH

HE employees of Punjab Land Revenue Authority (PLRA) continued their protest on the fifth consecutive day on Friday as the talks between the protesters and the government failed to produce any conclusive results.

The protesters, who are holding a sitin at Charing Cross, demand the establishment of a proper service structure and an increase in their salaries. As a result of the protest, over 152 Arazi Record Centres (ARC) across the province have been

shut down, rendering the land authority virtually dysfunctional.

Speaking to Pakistan Today, the officials of the land authority voiced their grievances against the administration and the provincial government.

“The administration seems to ignore the fact that it was our tireless efforts that led to the establishment of PLRA in the first place. We were the ones who had earlier worked at the Project Management Unit (PMU) of the Land Record Information System (LRIS), which was later transformed into PLRA,” a protesting employee said.

In January, PLRA employees went on

strike after the administration failed to meet their demands.

“That strike was called off when former finance minister Colonel (r) Anwar Khan assured the employees that a service structure would be set up within three months,” an ARC official said, adding that the government failed to fulfil its

CTD arrest suspected terrorist in Sialkot raid LAHORE STAFF REPORT

The Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of the Punjab police on Friday arrested a suspected terrorist during a raid in Sialkot, according to local news reports. According to reports, the raid was conducted at the Wazirabad road area in Sialkot from where police also seized explosive material. The arrested suspect, identified as Ziarat Gul alias Shahrukh Khan is reported to be linked with a proscribed organisation. Earlier, on Nov 14, CTD arrested two alleged terrorists of a banned organization in Bahawalnagar. The suspected terrorists were identified as Saeed Akbar and Haseeb Javed. Security forces recovered explosives, arms, ammunition and a large amount of cash from the suspects while a case against them has been registered against the suspects.

LHC moved against JUI-F’s 'Plan B' LAHORE INP

A petition was filed in the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday against the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) which ended its antigovernment sit-in on Wednesday and announced a ‘Plan B’ – vowing to block major highways across the country.

According to details, the petitioner cited the JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman and the federal government as the respondents. The petitioner stated the JUI-F chief directed the workers to block the roads. The direction is a violation of Article 15 of the Constitution, he observed.

He also mentioned that it is the responsibility of the government to protect the rights of the citizens. The petitioner requested the court to suspend the JUI-F’s ‘Plan B’ by declaring it “unconstitutional”.

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promise, leading to the employees rising up for their rights once again.

Arazi Record Centre Union Punjab’s (ARCUP) Action Committee Chairman Ateeq Randhawa said that talks were held with PLRA Chairman Ahmed Khan Dirishak but every time both sides failed to reach a settlement.

“The first set of talks headed by Union President Mian Shahid Mehmood were held at Punjab Assembly which turned out to be inconclusive, the second round of talks were held on Friday at the PLRA headquarters which too failed to produce a formal agreement,” he said.

“We will not be duped by verbal assurances by a government representative as we want an official notification guaranteeing us our rights,” he added.

Randhawa said that if their demands are not met by the government then the employees would stage simultaneous sitins in front of the chief minister’s secretariat and residence.

On November, 11 PLRA officials from across the province initiated their protest at Chrring Cross, causing a severe disruption in the flow of traffic in and around Mall road.

Roads leading up to Charing Cross remain congested as City Traffic Police (CTP) personnel have been deployed at various points to divert traffic to other routes.

Saturday, 16 november, 2019

CeNtre, SINdh vow oPeratIoN agaINSt drug lordS KARACHI

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INP

He Federal and Sindh governments on Friday decided to join hands to launch crackdowns against top drug barons to eradicate the menace of drugs from Sindh.

Chief Minister Sindh Dr Murad Ali Shah and Federal Minister for Narcotics Control Shehryar Khan Afridi jointly chaired a meeting here attended by all federal and provincial forces and agencies responsible for choking down illicit businesses of drugs.

Addressing the meeting, Shehryar Afridi

said that the Ministry of Narcotics Control is fighting for our future generations.

"Pakistan's strategic location is key as 85 percent drugs are produced in Afghanistan. We are effectively working to ensure to plug the narcotics movement at borders along Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces. All agencies are working to block the movement of synthetic drugs through Iran borders," he said.

Afridi urged Sindh government to work with federal agencies jointly to fight this menace.

"Sindh Regional Directorate of Anti Narcotics Force (ANF) needs Sindh government support, joint strategy for crackdown against top drug barons. Rather than arresting drug addicts

we need to shift focus on drug peddlers and drug dealers," he added.

The Minister said we have a zero tolerance against drugs menace and we need support from all state agencies. "educational institutions are being targeted by drug dealers. Police role is key in this regard.

We need to cut arteries of supplies of drugs as demand is rising now. We also need to work on launching a cohesive awareness campaign as most of parents and even students don’t know about synthetic drugs. elite schools are being specially targeted. Innovative ways are being adopted to supply drugs. Teachers also need to play their role," he added.

PM, govt to complete five-year term, says Sarwar LAHORE STAFF REPORT

Navy’s ships visit Casablanca for joint exercise with Moroccan Navy ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Pakistan Navy Ships – PNS Moawin and PNS Aslat – visited the port of Casablanca in Morocco to participate in joint naval exercises with the Moroccan Navy. Upon arrival, mission commander and commanding officers of the warships called on commander center maritime sector and commander military region of Casablanca. During the meetings, matters of mutual interest and bilateral naval cooperation came under discussion. Moroccan authorities acknowledged the sacrifices of Pakistan in the war against terrorism and the role of the Pakistan Navy in maritime security. At the end of the visit, ships of both countries also participated in joint exercises.

Commissioned in 2018, PNS Moawin is capable of performing a variety of maritime operations including the provision of logistic support to other ships at sea by transferring fuel and other important military cargo. While PNS Aslat is the frontline warship, primarily focused on ensuring the safety and security of international shipping in international waters.

Punjab Governor Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar has said that every conspiracy for political instability in the country will fail and Prime Minister Imran Khan and his government will complete their five-year term.

He was talking to Punjab Chief Minister’s Advisor/MPA Hanif Pitafi and other delegations here at the Governor House on Friday.

He said, “We have not compromised on supremacy of the Constitution and the law in the past and will not do so in future.

Federal and provincial governments are taking historic steps for provision of basic facilities including health and education

to the people, and relief was given to masses in every field.”| Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar said that while reposing confidence in the policies of Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI), the people had given us mandate of governance in the general election 2018.

He said that under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan, we are taking measures to put the country on the path of speedy development and prosperity of people due which stock market is now crossing as highest as 37,000 points, while foreign investors were also coming to Pakistan. But some people could digest such developments, and every day, they make new plan to destabilize Pakistan, however, the people of Pakistan

are standing with the government and In Sha Allah, we will complete our constitutional term, he maintained.

The Governor said that political opponents of the government should wait till next general election instead of wasting their own and people’s time because only the public vote will decide to bring who into power. He also strongly condemned Indian atrocities in occupied Kashmir and Israeli aggression in Philistine and massacre there. It has been over 100 days of curfew in occupied valley but India could not suppress the Kashmiris’ resolve for freedom. Israel and India must realize that guns and bullets could not silence the freedom movement.

Bakhtwar Bhutto Zardari elected as co-chair of Bhutto Legacy Foundation ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

A meeting of Bhutto Legacy Foundation was held at Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) central secretariat Islamabad in which a resolution was passed to add three names on the board.

According to the resolution, Bakhtwar Bhutto Zardari was elected as co-chairperson of the foundation whereas Bilawal and Aseefa Bhutto Zardari are new board members of the foundation.

Other board members of the foundation include Bashir Riaz, as chairman and Rukhsana Bangash, Barrister Masood Kausar, Prof Ijaz Ul Hassan, Taj Haider and Aurengzeb Barki.

nEwS

05

Punjab govt ensuring protection of minorities’ rights, says Buzdar LAHORE STAFF REPORT

Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has said that Punjab is an exemplary province regarding protection of minorities’ rights. He said that Punjab minority package would prove to be an exemplary programme with regard to minorities’ welfare. He said that Youhanabad will be made a model area with an amount of Rs300 million. The chief minister was talking to a delegation of National Commission for Minority Rights led by Dr Muhammad Shoaib Suddle which called on him at his office and discussed about the provision of facilities and matters relating to the welfare of the minorities. A principled decision was also taken to compile the data of non-Muslim employees from across the province. Talking on the occasion, Usman Buzdar directed to appoint a provincial focal person to timely solve matters relating to the minorities and added that employees belonging to the minority communities will be given official holidays on their religious days. He pointed out that non-Muslim students are being given educational scholarships worth Rs.2.5 crore while another amount of Rs.2.5 crore will be distributed among non-Muslim research scholars and postgraduate students as scholarships. He informed that a proposal will be reviewed to exempt non-Muslim students to appear in the competitive examinations during their religious days.

The chief minister said that lands reserved for minorities in the province are being retrieved from squatters. He asked the police officers to personally check the security of churches. He said that grant of dual voting right to the minorities in the local bodies’ elections is a praiseworthy step of the Punjab province. Usman Buzdar pointed out that non-Muslim students are being imparted technical training on scholarships in collaboration with six different chambers of commerce adding that non-Muslim prisoners will also be given remission in sentences for reading their respective religious books. Dr. Shoaib Suddle apprised the chief minister about objectives of the commission and added that Punjab will emerge as a model with regard to the protection of rights and provision of facilities to non-Muslim communities.

Ramesh Kumar MNA, Saqib Jillani Advocate, provincial minister Ijaz Alam, ACS (Home), administrative secretaries and others attended the meeting.

Pakistani air traffic controller saves Indian flight from major disaster NEWS DESK An air traffic controller from the Civil Aviation Authority in Pakistan saved a plane flying from the Indian city of Jaipur to Muscat by guiding it through air traffic during an emergency situation. As per the reports, the aeroplane, carrying 150 passengers, was flying over the Karachi region when it was caught in the middle of a weather pattern with lots of lightning that could have resulted in a catastrophe. Following the lightning strikes, the plane dropped down from an altitude of 36,000 feet to 34,000 feet almost instantly. As a result, the pilot initiated emergency protocol and broadcast ‘Mayday’ to nearby stations. The air traffic controller from Pakistan returned the call of the captain of the plane and provided directions to him. Due to the directions, the plane safely manoeuvred through the dense fog. It was later revealed by the aviation authority that the aircraft faced bad weather near the Chor area of the southern province of Sindh.

Sindh govt launches $105m Solar Energy Project KARACHI STAFF REPORT

The Sindh energy department signed an agreement with private firms to launch the World Bank-sponsored $105 million Sindh Solar energy Project (SSeP).

The signing ceremony was attended

by Chief Secretary Mumtaz Shah, Minister for energy Imtiaz Shaikh, Minister of Information Saeed Ghani, Advisor to CM Murtaza Wahab, PSCM Sajid Jamal Abro, energy Secretary Musadiq Khan, Finance Secretary Hassan Naqvi, Hyderabad electric Company (HeSCO) CeO Abdul Haq Memon, CeO Foresight Ltd Zubair Ahmed, World Bank senior energy specialists Oliver Knight, Anjum Ahmed, Umul Awan, Kazim Saeed, Project Director (PD) SSeP Mehfooz Ahmed Qazi, Shaikh Amer Zia, Asmar Naim and Khayyam Siddiqui of K-electric, Aijaz Rizvi of AID Private Company and others.

Sindh energy Minister Imtiaz Shaikh said that $100 million in assistance will be provided by the World Bank while the Sindh government would generate $5

million for the project.

He said that addition to K-electric, HeSCO, and SePCO along with other private firms have been contracted to take part in the implementation of the project.

He also that the project director (PD) for SSeP had been hired and that preliminary work was already underway.

According to reports, the project comprises three components: A 400MW solar park which would be established at Manjhand costing $40 million. 20MW rooftop solar systems on public sector buildings in Karachi and Hyderabad for $25 million.

The third component is 200,000 solar home systems for remote areas in 10 districts of the province through solar parks costing $30 million. Through this project, the provision of solar electricity would be made available to over 200,000 houses which are currently out of grid zones.

Imtiaz Shaikh told the chief minister that in order to implement all three components of the SSeP, contracts have been finalized under World Bank guidelines.

The transactional advisor has been di-

rected to carry out competitive bidding.

A survey would be conducted to identify government buildings and to prepare bills of quantities to install solar systems on rooftops.

A household survey firm has been contracted to carry out a survey in the 10 districts with reference to energy consumption in both off-grid and on-grid areas of the province.

The chief minister said that after implementation of SSeP over Rs500 million would be saved in electricity bills.

SINDH GOVT, DENMARK TO LAUNCH CLEAN ENERGY PROJECT: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah in his follow up meeting with Danish Ambassador Rolf Michael Hay Perreira agreed to sign a government to government agreement (Sindh govt and Demark govt) to launch renewable energy projects in the province.

The Danish ambassador was accompanied by Trade Commissioner Ali Mushtaq Butt and they agreed to make necessary arrangements to tackle the province’s crippling energy crisis.

CMYK

Briefing the meeting, energy Minister Imtiaz Shaikh said that Sindh is one of the few places that has a vastly developed wind corridor.

The Danish ambassador was told that the federal government has approved 14 Wind Power projects while 25 new projects’ approval are in the pipeline.

CM Murad Shah invited the Danish Ambassador to avail of the opportunity of generating 50,000MW wind energy.

The ambassador directed his trade commissioner to coordinate with concerned departments of the Sindh government to materialize the investment opportunity.

Saturday, 16 November, 2019

06 WORLD VIEW

LuLa’s free, and he’s promising to fight

nation, Us

L

MiCHaEl FOx

ULA’s freedom was never a foregone conclusion—even after Brazil’s Supreme Court decided last Thursday that it was unconstitutional to jail defendants before they had exhausted their appeals. This included former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and roughly another 5,000 people in detention around the country.

Legally, they should have been freed, but justice, particularly in Brazil, doesn’t just happen.

After the Supreme Court decision, leaders of the Landless Workers Movement and Lula’s Workers Party called for supporters to descend on the southern Brazilian city of Curitiba. People poured into the Santa Candida residential neighborhood surrounding the prison and joined a community of Lula supporters who had been protesting there for 19 months.

In front of the jail, rows of cameras on tripods were pointed at the entrance, waiting. Lula’s lawyers visited him in the morning, and announced that they had asked a local Curitiba court to release him immediately.

Spontaneous cheers and “Free Lula” chants erupted every few minutes from a crowd that would grow to more than 20,000 people, according to organizers. People in red shirts walked in half-euphoria, half-daze, still disbelieving that Lula might really be free within a few hours. “We could not be happier,” Pauliana Silva Gonçalves told me, her fist raised before the prison walls. She wore a black shirt with a white image of Lula’s face. She wiped away tears under thick sunglasses. “Our voices are filled with the freedom of our companion Lula da Silva. We’ve been here for 580 days, resisting.”

Lula had been incarcerated since April 7, 2018.

The charge was corruption: accepting a beachside apartment from a company seeking government contracts. But the evidence was weak. Lula maintained his innocence, and so did his supporters.

Gonçalves arrived the day after he was imprisoned with others from the Brazilian state of Espirito Santo, more than 800 miles away. She had been here ever since. The night the helicopter arrived carrying Lula to his cell, his supporters launched an around-the-clock vigil just outside the federal police prison. Hundreds arrived and pitched their tents on the sides of the streets of the middle-class neighborhood. Gonçalves was one of them.

“We will only leave Curitiba when Lula is freed,” said Lindbergh Farias, then a Workers Party senator, on April 8. They kept their promise.

The vigil would become ground zero for left organizing around the country.

On May 1, 2018, Brazilian unions held the country’s first united Workers Day rally in decades in Cu-

ritiba. Thousands came. They returned for major actions every few months: New Year’s, the anniversary of Lula’s imprisonment, Lula’s 500th day in jail.

Those at the vigil—sometimes dozens, sometimes hundreds—continued to demand Lula’s freedom, day after day. They rallied. They sang.

They held workshops, trainings, and endless other activities. They were physically attacked. They were threatened with eviction. In the early days, many camped. Others found places to stay. They created lives there, met spouses. One couple had a little girl. And still they cheered good morning, afternoon, and evening to Lula, every day. The former president said he could hear them from his cell. He said it gave him strength.

The fight to free Lula became the key mobilizing issue of the Brazilian left. Free Lula committees sprung up across the country. They held their own local rallies and events. On Lula’s birthday, October 27, his supporters celebrated with events and all-day concerts in more than 80 cities.

Leading international figures visited him in jail, including Noam Chomsky, who called Lula “the world’s most prominent political prisoner.”

Lula was no average leader in Brazil. He was the country’s charismatic working-class hero, who for many has near mythic status. As a metalworker in the late 1970s and early 1980s, he led massive union strikes that would mark the beginning of the end of the military dictatorship. He founded the Workers Party, and was finally elected president in 2002. During his two terms, he lifted millions of out poverty, and left office at the end of 2010 with an approval rate nearing 90 percent.

Neither he, nor his Workers Party, were perfect. They were criticized for losing touch with their base, embracing big agricultural companies, and pushing development at the cost of local communities. There were scandals; there was a recession; and there was corruption, though it was across the political spectrum. The media and the political opposition blamed it on the Workers Party. And they impeached Lula’s successor, Dilma Rousseff, in 2016, under politically motivated charges of manipulating the budget, the cover for the congressional coup.

The incoming government of Michel Temer rolled back social programs, sold off state infrastructure, froze public spending for 20 years, and embroiled itself in an even bigger web of scandal—kick-backs, graft, and extortion.

Lula was seen as the answer. The man who could set the country back on track. Even from behind bars, he led all of polls heading into the 2018 elections.

But then he was blocked from competing. Now, he was free. At just after 5:30 pm on Friday, Lula stepped from the building in a gray shirt and a black suit coat, flanked by his top Workers Party allies.

The crowd exploded. Shouts. Tears. Rolling chants of “Lula!” or “Free Lula!” echoed off the surrounding buildings. He walked out the gates and into a sea of people. They squeezed and rushed. Lula pushed forward, half walking, half carried by an ocean of supporters, arms raised above their heads, cell phones filming the momentous occasion.

This would mark an end and a beginning, potentially shifting the country’s political dynamics.

Lula’s freedom is certainly a boost for the Brazilian left, which has been facing an ongoing attack from the government of Jair Bolsonaro.

Lula has the ability to speak like no one else to Brazil’s poor and working class.

Bolsonaro has the most to lose from Lula’s release, and he called an emergency meeting to discuss it with military officials the following day.

Meanwhile, publicly Brazil’s Trump-like president remained uncharacteristically silent about Lula for almost two days. When Bolsonaro finally did comment, he—also uncharacteristically— called for restraint.

Some analysts, however, believe Lula’s freedom could also be a blessing in disguise for the farright president, helping to unite the government camp by giving them a vocal and prominent enemy.

Bolsonaro’s government has been plagued by infighting among the disparate groups in its coalition: the military, the evangelicals, the devotees of Bolsonaro’s far-right philosophical guru Olavo de Carvalho. According to reports, Bolsonaro’s relationship with the military, which holds dozens of top posts, is at its most strained since he came to power. And infighting in Bolsonaro’s own Social Liberal Party reached a crescendo last month, when Bolsonaro expressed disgust over numerous impasses over control of the party and its finances.

Today Bolsonaro announced he would quit his party and form a new one.

Despite the Supreme Court ruling permitting his release, Lula still has numerous charges and accusations against him. His lawyers are now working to clear his name, based, in part, on revelations

by The Intercept Brasil, which show clear bias against Lula and the left by former judge Sergio Moro—now Bolsonaro’s justice minister—and the country’s anti-corruption task force, which schemed in private WhatsApp messages about how to keep the Workers Party from returning to power.

Overturning Moro’s conviction looks far more plausible now than earlier in the year, before the release of the Intercept Brasil leaks. Already, the Supreme Court has annulled a number of Moro’s decisions, in a major blow to the highly politicized Car Wash operation.

For Bolsonaro’s base, Lula is the head of a cabal, the epitome of Brazil’s corrupt and criminal political system, which has run Brazil into the ground. For his supporters, he is a hero who has once again returned to bring them hope and lift them out of despair. Now, Lula says, “I’m back.”

The day after his release, he led a huge rally outside the ABC Metalworkers union, where he got his start, in Sao Bernardo do Campo, São Paulo.

Speaking to a sea of red-clad supporters, Lula told the crowd, “Biologically speaking, I’m 74 years old, but I have the energy of a 30-year-old.”

He attacked Bolsonaro for pushing privatization, cutting pensions and social programs, and for his alleged ties to the paramilitaries accused of killing the black LGBT Rio de Janeiro city council member Marielle Franco, last year. He announced that the left would take back the presidency in 2022 and confirmed that he would be touring the country.

“I want to build this country with the same happiness that we built it when we governed this country,” Lula told supporters. “The only thing I’m certain of is that I have more courage to fight than before I left.”

Michael Fox is an independent multimedia journalist based in Brazil and a former editor of the NACLA Report on the Americas.

SRI LANKA’S ELECTION: DANGER AHEAD VOTERS CHOOSE A NEW PRESIDENT THIS WEEKEND ON THE INDIAN OCEAN ISLAND. IF THEY OPT FOR THE RAJAPAKSA FAMILY IT AUGURS BADLY Editorial Guardian

There are worse things than disappointment, as Sri Lankans may find out when they go to the polls on Saturday. The 2015 presidential election was heralded as the start of a new era. Strongman Mahinda Rajapaksa was unseated when Maithripala Sirisena, a senior figure within his own party, joined forces with the opposition United National party. The opportunity was largely squandered. The full extent of dysfunction was exposed last year when Mr Sirisena ousted prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and installed his old foe Mr Rajapaksa – only for parliament to rebel and the supreme court to reinstate Mr Wickremesinghe. But the true cost became even clearer when Isis-inspired bombings killed 269 people this Easter, and catastrophic intelligence and police failures were subsequently revealed.

The fallout could see the Rajapaksa family return to power. Gotabaya “Gota” Rajapaksa of the SinhaleseBuddhist nationalist SLPP, who served as defence minister under his brother, is one of two frontrunners. Mr Rajapaksa is subject to lawsuits relating to torture, fraud and corruption. He wants Mahinda, unable to run again due to term limits, as his prime minister. The Rajapaksas oversaw the end to the decades-long civil war, but one UN report suggested as many as 40,000 Tamil civilians died in its final months. Tamil politicians were murdered and thousands of Sri Lankans disappeared.

Mr Rajapaksa has campaigned as a technocratic reformer who will overhaul a struggling economy. He remains a nationalistic tough guy, saying that if he wins he will rescind the government’s agreement with the UN human rights council to investigate alleged war crimes.

He has been backed by Buddhist nationalists who have spread anti-Muslim messages. Given the boycotts and mob attacks experienced after the Easter bombings, and the use of social media to stir up hatred, Muslims have every reason to be frightened. Mr Rajapaksa’s rival is Sajith Premadasa of the UNP, the housing minister whose father was president when he was assassinated by a Tamil Tiger suicide bomber in 1993. Mr Premadasa has built on his man-of-the-people image, earning a reputation for competence. He has also stressed security issues.

Mr Premadasa’s path to victory is dependent on ethnic minority turnout as Mr Rajapaksa is set to sweep the ethnic majority Sinhalese vote. Whoever wins, Sri Lanka’s friends should bolster the cause of democracy. This government’s main achievement is its constitutional changes, which cannot be altered without a two-thirds majority in parliament. Legislators and the judiciary have learned that they have real power. Civil society has carved out greater space. Can these gains be protected? No one has especially high hopes should Mr Premadasa win. Many ethnic minorities, who make up 25% of the island’s population, believe victory for the SLPP would bring a clear danger that modest progress would be reversed. They fear not disappointment but what the Rajapaksas would do.

Modi has had a free pass from the west for too long

Financial timEs GidEOn raCHMan

The world’s democracies are desperate to believe in India. From Washington to Tokyo, and from Canberra to London, the country is viewed as an indispensable counterbalance to China. The two Asian giants are the only countries in the world with populations of over 1bn people.

Last year America’s Defense Department renamed its Pacific command the Indo-Pacific command — a reconception of the geopolitical map that is clearly intended to balance Chinese power by bringing India into the picture. In September, Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, appeared alongside US president Donald Trump at a Texas rally. In Europe, India is lauded as the world’s

largest democracy — a refreshing contrast to you-know-where.

The west’s investment in India is now strategic, emotional, intellectual and financial. But the sunk costs of that investment mean that western countries are reluctant to acknowledge the dark side of Mr Modi’s India — in particular, threats to minority rights and the erosion of democratic norms.

Since Mr Modi won a crushing reelection victory earlier this year, the alarming side to his government has come increasingly to the fore. On August 5, it abolished the special constitutional status of the majority-Muslim state of Jammu and Kashmir — and followed up with a broad clampdown on civil liberties, including the detention-without-trial of leading Kashmiri politicians. Opposition politicians, human rights activists and Delhi-based foreign correspondents have been prevented from visiting the region.

There is also rising anxiety about a citizenship-determination exercise in the state of Assam that has seen 2m of the state’s residents designated illegal immigrants, with no right to live in India. Mr Modi’s government says it carried out the exercise to comply with a Supreme Court order. But it is now building camps to hold those deemed illegal immigrants. It talks of extending

THREATS TO MINORITY RIGHTS AND DEMOCRATIC NORMS ARE IGNORED TO PRESERVE A COMFORTING ILLUSION the process across the country.

The weight of this campaign will fall hard on India’s Muslim minority. The administration is expected to push through a new citizenship law that will give any Hindu deemed to be fleeing persecution in a neighbouring country, the automatic right to Indian citizenship. So only Muslims will be at risk of being deemed illegal residents.

The sense that the political winds are moving against India’s Muslims will be strengthened by this week’s Supreme Court ruling that a Hindu temple can be built on a long-contested holy site in the city of Ayodhya. Hindu nationalists, whipped up on social media, are delighted by Mr Modi’s increasing boldness. But some of the country’s leading intellectuals are sounding the alarm.

Amartya Sen, a Nobel Prize-winning economist now resident in the US, told The New Yorker magazine that his friends are reluctant to criticise the government on the phone, adding, “People are afraid. I’ve never seen this before.”

Alarmed by the increasingly compliant judiciary (and much of the media), Pratap Bhanu Mehta, an eminent Indian academic, has written that: “The noose is tightening around all independent institutions in India.”

In its defence, the Modi administration can point to its undoubted popularity — confirmed in this year’s elections. The government still enjoys support from business, which appreciates the promise to cut red tape and a recent corporate tax cut. Mr Modi’s focus on the living conditions of the poor — in particular through the construction of more toilets to prevent “open defecation” — is also rightly praised.

But the economy is now slowing.

Delhi and other Indian cities are suffering a crisis over air-quality. Under these conditions, the argument that Mr Modi’s strongman style might be a price worth paying for economic progress is harder to make.

The Trump administration’s failure to make a fuss about human rights reflects more than strategic and diplomatic calcu-

lation. In important respects, Mr Trump and Mr Modi are ideological soulmates.

They are both assertive majoritarians, scornful of liberal concerns with minority rights. They have promised to crack down on illegal immigration and have stoked fears of Islamic extremism — partly as a way of consolidating their political base.

Mr Modi’s many defenders argue that one of his great strengths is that, like Mr Trump, he is in touch with “the common man” — he cares little for the opinions of urban elites. The Indian government could also borrow a phrase from the Israelis, who like to remind foreign critics that they “live in a tough neighbourhood”.

There is little doubt that religious and ethnic minorities have fared worse in many of India’s neighbours — including Pakistan, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and China.

But India used to take pride in its status as a tolerant, multifaith democracy. The Modi government’s increasingly strident Hindu nationalism is putting that achievement at risk.

The west’s fear of China means that it is likely to continue to give Modi’s India a free pass for some time. But a failure to talk openly about the failings of the Modi model is not cost-free. The danger is that the west is embracing a comforting illusion — that democratic India will act as an ideological bulwark against authoritarian China. The reality is that India’s slide into illiberalism may actually be strengthening the global trend towards authoritarianism.

Saturday, 16 November, 2019

‘lebanon's safadI has agreed to be next pm amId economIc crIsIs’

BEIRUT

m

AGENCIES

OHAMMAD Safadi, a former finance minister, has agreed to be Lebanon’s prime minister if he wins the support of leading parties, Foreign Minister Gebran Bassil said on Friday.

The consensus on the wealthy 75-yearold, who has had extensive business ties to Saudi Arabia, suggests progress towards forming a new government at a time of acute economic crisis and street protests that brought down his predecessor.

Bassil told broadcaster MTV the process to name Safadi as prime minister should begin on Monday and a new government was likely to be formed quickly as all the

main parties agreed on the need to move swiftly. Saad al-Hariri quit as prime minister on Oct. 29 in the face of the protests against ruling politicians who are blamed for rampant state corruption and steering Lebanon into its worst economic crisis since the 197590 civil war.

“I confirm that we have been in contact with minister Safadi and he has agreed to take on the position of prime minister if his name gets agreement with the main political forces in government,” said Bassil.

Political sources said the consensus on Safadi emerged in a meeting late on Thursday between Hariri, a Sunni politician aligned with Western and Gulf states, and representatives of the Iran-backed Shi’ite group Hezbollah and its Shi’ite ally Amal.

A source familiar with details of the

meeting said Hariri had expressed no objections to Safadi’s nomination.

A second source, a senior figure close to Amal and Hezbollah, said agreement in principle on Safadi’s nomination had emerged at the meeting.

HUGE CHALLENGES: Safadi, is a prominent businessman and former member of parliament from the predominantly Sunni city of Tripoli. He was finance minister from 2011 to 2014 under Prime Minister Najib Mikati, and was also previously minister of economy and trade.

Lebanon’s prime minister must be a Sunni Muslim, according to its sectarian power-sharing system.The next government will face huge challenges.

It must win international financial support seen as critical to alleviating the economic crisis, while addressing the challenge posed by a nationwide protest movement that wants to see the old elite gone from power.Lebanon’s long-brewing economic crisis, rooted in years of state waste, corruption and mismanagement, has deepened since the protests began. Banks have imposed controls on transfers abroad and U.S. dollar withdrawals.

Hariri had said he would return only as prime minister of a cabinet of specialist ministers that he believed would be best placed to win aid and save Lebanon from crisis. To that end, he has been holding many closeddoor meetings with other parties.

Hezbollah and Amal wanted Hariri to return as premier, but the Shi’ite groups and President Michel Aoun, a Hezbollah ally, have been demanding the inclusion of both technocrats and politicians in the cabinet.

Venice faces more floods as state of emergency declared VENICE AGENCIES

Flood-hit Venice was bracing for another exceptional high tide on Friday, as Italy declared a state of emergency for the Unesco city where perilous deluges have caused millions of euros worth of damage. Churches, shops and homes in the city of canals have been inundated by unusually intense “acqua alta”, or high waters, which on Tuesday hit their highest level in half a century. The crisis, driven by bad weather, has prompted the government to release 20 million euros ($22 million) in funds to tackle the devastation.

The water was expected to reach 1.5 metres (5 feet) mid-morning on Friday as strong storms and winds batter the region — lower than Tuesday’s peak but still dangerous, local officials said. Undeterred, tourists have been larking around in the flooded St Mark’s Square in the sunshine during breaks from the rain, snapping selfies in neon plastic boots.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, who has called the flooding “a blow to the heart of our country”, said late on Thursday that a state of emergency had been approved.

Earlier that day he met Venice’s mayor

FOREIGN NEWS 07

Ousted ambassador to testify in Trump impeachment probe WASHINGTON: The House will hear from a singular witness Friday in the Trump impeachment hearings: Marie Yovanovitch, the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine who was targeted by the president’s allies in a “smear” campaign now central to the inquiry. The career diplomat, who served both Republican and Democratic presidents, is expected to relay her striking story of being suddenly recalled by Donald Trump and told to “watch my back” in a swiftly developing series of events that sounded alarms about the White House’s shadow foreign policy.

She and other officials now testifying publicly in the historic House hearings scrambled to understand Trump’s actions, providing revelatory accounts that Democrats are now relying on to make the case that the president’s behaviour is impeachable. AGENCIES

French police ratchet up evidence search in Epstein probe PARIS: French police are launching a fresh appeal for witnesses and victims to come forward to aid their probe of Jeffrey Epstein and allegations that one of the financier’s associates drugged and raped young models. Police hope the new appeal issued Friday will have a broader reach than a similar call for witnesses they issued on Facebook and Twitter on Sept. 11. Women who say they were raped and sexually assaulted by one of Epstein’s associates, French modelling agent Jean-Luc Brunel, had this week told AP that they were disappointed with the limited scope of police efforts to track down witnesses. Brunel has denied wrongdoing and has said via his lawyer he is willing to talk to investigators. Police commissioner Philippe Guichard, whose office is leading the French probe, acknowledged in an AP interview Friday that their previous appeal for witnesses, worded only in French, had limited success. The new appeal was also being issued in English, he said. “The witnesses and the victims tell us that they had trouble identifying us and finding the number and reaching us to give evidence,” he said. AGENCIES

Esper says S Korea wealthy enough to pay more for US troops

and emergency services before jumping in a speed boat to visit businesses and locals affected by the tide. residents whose houses had been hit would immediately get up to 5,000 euros in government aid, while restaurant and shop owners could receive up to 20,000 euros and apply for later, he said.

Several museums remained closed to the public on Thursday. As authorities assessed

the extent of the damage to Venice’s cultural treasures, such as St Mark’s Basilica where water invaded the crypt, locals were defiant.

Many stopped for their usual coffees at flooded bars, drinking espresso while standing in several inches of water. Austrian tourist Cornelia Litschauer, 28, said she felt mixed emotions seeing Venice’s famous square half-submerged.

SEOUL: US Defense Secretary Mark Esper on Friday pressed Washington’s case that longtime ally South Korea must pay a bigger share of the cost of having U.S. troops on its soil. “This is a very strong alliance we have, but Korea is a wealthy country and could and should pay more to help offset the cost of defence,” Esper told a joint news conference with his South Korean counterpart, Jeong Kyeongdoo. Esper said that while South Korea has provided “a fair amount of support in the past,” it is important to point out that “most of that money stays here in this country — easily over 90% of that money stays here in Korea, it does not go to the United States.” The amount Korea pays for the presence of about 28,000 U.S. troops has varied over the years. This year it is nearly $1 billion. South Korean news reports have said the Trump administration is demanding a five-fold increase in South Korean contributions, to about $4.7 billion for 2020, although Jeong declined to confirm the figure. He said his country was prepared to pay a “fair and reasonable” amount. AGENCIES

N Korea calls Biden a ‘rabid dog’ for insulting its dignity SEOUL AGENCIES

North Korea called former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden a “rabid dog” that “must be beaten to death with a stick” in its latest swipe against foreign and political leaders it sees as hostile to the North’s leadership.

The commentary by Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency said the U.S. presidential hopeful “reeled off a string of rubbish against the dignity” of the North’s supreme leadership, an act it said deserves “merciless punishment.”

It referred to him only with his surname and as vice president under Barack Obama, and in some versions spelt his name as “Baiden.”

The North correctly spelt Biden’s name in May when it labelled him a “fool of low IQ” after he called North

Korean leader Kim Jong Un a tyrant during a speech.

North Korea often insults foreign leaders and politicians over what it sees as slanderous remarks toward its leadership or hostile policies against its government. It has made racist or sexist diatribes against Obama and former South Korean President Park Geun-hye, the country’s first female leader.

Its frequent insults against Trump, including famously calling him a “dotard,” turned to praise after he in 2018 made diplomatic overtures to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that resulted in their three summits, including one brief handshake at the Korean Demilitarized Zone.

“Anyone who dare slanders the dignity of the supreme leadership of the D.P.r.K, can never spare the D.P.r.K’s merciless punishment who-

ever and wherever,” said the North Korean statement, referring to the

country by its formal name, the Democratic People’s republic of Korea.

“rabid dogs like Baiden can hurt lots of people if they are allowed to run about. They must be beaten to death with a stick, before it is too late,” it said.

It wasn’t immediately clear which of Biden’s comments provoked North Korea’s anger. The Democrat has accused Trump of cozying up to “dictators and tyrants” and has been highly critical of his summitry with Kim, calling the meetings “three made-for-TV summits.”

South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency speculated that North Korea by insulting Biden was trying to appeal to Trump, who has continued to describe his personal relationship with Kim as good despite a stalemate in nuclear negotiations over disagreements in exchanging sanctions relief and disarmament steps.

Saturday, 16 November, 2019

08 COMMENT

Massive augmentation of India’s armed forces

A sudden outburst of bonhomie in NA

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N a rare exercise of give and take, the opposition agreed to withdraw a no-confidence motion against Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri and the government agreed to hold a debate on the ordinances that were previously bulldozed through National Assembly, leading the opposition to call it the “darkest hour in the parliament’s history”. Speeches delivered soon after the agreement underlined the need to further improve the assembly’s atmosphere. The understanding reached is a positive development. But it would be unrealistic to hope that henceforth everything will be hunky dory in the NA. While it takes two to tango, the treasury benches bear a greater responsibility to make the system work in order to be able to deliver. A number of factors stand in the way.

To start with is the rigid mindset at the top that has stood in the way of developing working relations with the opposition. There is a perception that with the support of all institutions that matter, PTI, can simply ignore the opposition. Some of PTI’s immature legislators who are careless in the use of vocabulary are a permanent source of bad blood with the opposition. So are government’s official and non-official spokesmen who think the best way to please the PM is to provoke the opposition, cast aspersions on PPP and PML-N and insult their leaders.

What is more, serious differences persist between the government and the opposition including the way ailing political leaders are being treated.

The JUI-F’s Azadi march turning into a sit-in and followed by a ‘Plan B’ has lessons both for the government and the opposition. If the PTI thought that no party would be allowed by the establishment to challenge it in the streets, it must have discovered that it was mistaken. The opposition has to realise that the internal weaknesses of the mainstream parties combined with the media trial of their leadership are creating a political vacuum which is being filled by a combination of sectarian outfits, parties confined to one or two provinces and those who use the religion card to seek political power. The development has the potential to create a Pakistani version of the BJP.

Facebook friendship A new means of censorship

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he PTI may well pride itself on being Net-savvy, but that its members’ penchant for use of social media platforms, should not have translated into so many requests by its government for restrictions on Facebook comments, posts or accounts. According to Facebook, which has released global figures as part of its transparency efforts, the Pakistani government, through the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, made the most requests for restrictions in the reporting period, of the second half of 2018 and the first of 2019.

To put matters into perspective, Pakistan is followed by Mexico. And things are getting worse. In the second half of 2018, 4174 restrictions were placed on PTA’s request, while 5690 were placed in the first half of 2019. It might be noted that restrictions in this time went down globally, from 35,972 to 17,807, so while governments around the world were learning to live with the Internet, the Pakistan government is still fighting the good fight.

Fighting against what? Violations of local law, which means obscenity, comments against the judiciary, or national independence, or defamatory material. That opens the prospect of censorship. If local laws were to become more draconian, then censorship would be in place in earnest. It would be extremely unfortunate, for the Internet, as Facebook and the Internet are supposed to be free of restriction, and of censorship. Governments do not like this, particularly when the Internet is filled with cries of ‘the emperor has no clothes.’ Is it entirely a coincidence that the increase in official requests for restriction has bucked the international trend at a time when the country has been undergoing unprecedented economic strain and impoverishment? Another natural question, if one accepted the narrative of the requests, is why Pakistanis have increased their blasphemous, obscene and anti-judiciary comments, not to mention questioning the independence of the country?

The next step would be to shoot the messenger and do what governments do best– slap a ban. The government might do well to remember the trouble caused by the YouTube ban a few years back. It should realise that social media is no longer merely a means of entertainment if ever that was what it was. It is not just a means of communication, but also of education. Stopping militants misusing the Net for their nefarious purposes is one thing, censorship is not.

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Arif Nizami Editor Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

Umar Aziz

Asher John

Joint Editor

Executive Editor

Deputy Editor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965

Ominous for regional peace and stability

M Fazal Elahi

What goes up fast comes down fast

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t has been reported in the Indian and Pakistan print media lately that India has firmed up its plan to massively augment its military capability over the next five to seven years. According to information emanating from an official document and Indian military sources, published in leading Indian magazine India today and in some leading English dailies of Pakistan on October 23, 2019, India has decided to take a quantum leap in strengthening its military capability. India has finalised a plan to spend $130 billion over the next five to seven years to modernise its armed forces. the document, says the Indian government will work on a comprehensive plan to expedite modernisation of its army, navy and the air force. Under this plan, a range of significant weapons, missiles, fighter jets, submarines and warships will be procured in the next few years. regardless of all that has been reported on India’s plans to strengthen its armed forces phenomenally and its poor past track-record with regard to procurement of military hardware, what should be a cause for major concern for the countries of the region, China and Pakistan in particular, is India’s unprecedented hegemonic designs in this part of the globe.

Strongly backed by the USA in particular, and the other powers in general, which are busy selling state-of-the-art military hardware worth billions of dollars to India, augmentation of its armed forces has become a cornerstone of India’s defence policy.

According to Indian defence analysts, Pakistan is an immediate threat while China will be a medium-term threat. They, therefore, firmly believe that India should focus more on the Chinese military threat because, according to them, if India is prepared take on China it could capably confront two-front wars.

A report of the Military Balance, published in the Economic times, India overtook the UK as the fifth-largest defence spender in the world in 2017 at $52.5 billion. It further said that India’s defence budget broke into the world’s top five, beating the UK for the first

time, signalling a key shift in the military balance between the two countries. India overtook the UK as the fifth-largest defence spender in the world in 2017 at $52.5 billion, up from $51.1 billion in 2016. In contrast, the UK’s defence budget fell from $52.5 billion to $50.7 billion. According to a list (2019 Fact Sheet) published by the SIPrI, India’s defence budget has risen to $66.5 billion in 2019.

Bolstering its armed forces beyond justifiable limits cogently reflects India’s hegemonic ambitions. India’s phenomenal military buildup is focused on containing Pakistan and generally the countries of the region. Yet another reason often given by India is the threat it claims to face from China. The China factor is what is being strongly backed by the USA in particular and the other powers in general. The USA strongly desires to see India emerge as a regional power particularly to contain China. however, have those at the helm in India realised that attaining its hegemonic ambitions, through massive build-up of its armed forces, is costing its downtrodden masses very dearly? have they ever thought that the people who have been bringing them to the citadel of power, time and again, deserve a better deal than what they have always got over the past seven decades? Apparently, they haven’t.

According to the latest Indian human Development Survey, 47.9 per cent of Indian households with over five children are severely deprived of shelter, water, sanitation, health and education as compared to the 7.8 per cent of poor families without children. According to the World Bank up to 24 per cent of the world’s poor live in India, the fifth largest country by GDP in 2017. Sadly, the situation on poverty in Pakistan is not very encouraging either.

Some reports reveal that roughly 40 per cent of its population lives below the poverty line. The prevailing dismal poverty scenario in India and Pakistan conveys a very cogent message to the people at the helm of governments in both countries that they should make sincere and sustained efforts to improve the depressing lives of their browbeaten masses.

What then does the scenario described above show? evidently that India, in particular, is utterly neglecting the welfare of a very large segment of its masses. It is doing so, by unjustifiably spending a significant part of its resources on strengthening its armed forces rather than on the wellbeing of over 70 per cent of its 1.36 billion underprivileged people. Compelled

by India’s massive expansion of its armed forces, Pakistan too is being forced to spend roughly rs1.15 trillion (amounting to 17 per cent) of its national budget on its armed forces.

This too, undeniably, is a sizeable amount when looked at in the context of its total annual (2019) national budget of rs7 trillion.

This extremely unfortunate situation solicits from those at the helm of government in India, in particular, that it should give up its hegemonic ambitions in the region and divert a significant part of the huge sum that it is spending on strengthening its armed forces towards the wellbeing of its poverty-stricken, underprivileged segment of the population. If good sense prevails and the Indian government decides to judiciously curtail its gargantuan defence expenditure, for the reason cited above, Pakistan too will then be able to reduce its defence budget to a rational level and spend the money it saves towards the welfare of the underprivileged segment of the country’s populace.

India’s relations with Pakistan are currently at its lowest ebb. The relations between the two countries cannot improve unless the core issue of Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK), an issue which continues to be a bone of contention between the India and Pakistan for over seven decades, is not resolved forthwith. The atrocities that the brutal Indian forces continue to brazenly commit in the occupied territory must end immediately. The UN, the USA and the world community must play a conclusive role in resolving the grave Kashmir issue by prevailing on India to grant the right of self-determination to the people of the occupied territory, in accordance with the charters of the United Nations and the UN resolution of 1948.

Why do powerful nations lose small wars?

MuhaMMad asiF Baloch

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Ar is like a game which has rules and regulations to play with hearts and minds. But in war, the utmost considerable factors are military equipment and technologies, economic resources and wellformed strategies. Despite that, the major powers having modern technologies, well experienced armed forces, and aircraft, were defeated in small wars. The USA is the prime example, which was badly beaten by Vietcong’s guerrilla forces in Vietnam. it was the first major defeat of the USA during the Cold War, despite its being a superpower. So, only modern weapons and technology alone cannot win wars, but there are innumerable determinants that must be considered. Same is the case with the Afghan war where the USA is willing to withdraw its forces instead of fighting the Taliban and settling the internal conflicts. however, after World War Two, the victorious parties, the USA and the USSr became the sole major powers in global politics. Due to power politics and ideological expansion, they fought their war not directly but through proxies.

Whereas, in the early Cold War period, the USSr was emerging as a superpower through encouraging the international revolution of communism in eastern europe and Asia specifically. On the other hand, the USA perceived it as a major threat to its global hegemony and formed a containment policy to prevent the domino effects of communism. Undoubtedly, the USA made the domino theory a basis to invade Korea and Vietnam.

There had been an accord known as the Geneva Accords 1954 to settle the long-lasting war against

Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9

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Why the USA lost in Vietnam– and now in Afghanistan French colonists in Vietnam. Under it, Vietnam was partitioned into North and South Vietnam at the 17th parallel. Whereas in North Vietnam, ho Chi Minh formed a communist government, in South Vietnam Ngo Dinh Diem formed a pro-western.

Nonetheless, the USA did not sign the accords because the ho government was unacceptable. By the 1955 Vietnam War, the capitalist government of South Vietnam was supported by the USA. But, the US involvement in the Vietnam War was full of costs and casualties, where a small and less wellequipped insurgent group defeated a professional military.

After the 19th century, war had shifted from conventional direct professional military confrontation to non-kinetic and asymmetric warfare. Contemporary war between belligerents whose relative power, resources, technologies and strategy or tactics are different or uneven significantly. Asymmetric warfare means a war in which the resources and equipment interact and attempt to demoralise each other, while policies and plans to destroy and battlefields differ and are blurred.

Such wars are also called insurgency, guerrilla warfare, terrorism and proxy wars or state-sponsored terrorism between a formal and an informal armed force. Such strategies may not necessarily be militarised, and war might be unwinnable. So that’s why, most of today’s wars are long lasting and unwinnable even by major powers.

The foremost cause of the US withdrawal from Vietnam was continually killing the wrong people and civilians, that demoralised their own troops. After the Tet Offensive, a series of surprise attacks by Viet Cong on major US military bases and the

Islamabad – Ph: 051-2204545

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South Vietnamese army, immediately, the US Army began a mass killing in a village, known as the My Lai Massacre of 1968. it was a brutal murder of unarmed civilians in My Lai including women, children, old men and young girls by US military forces where ‘more than 500 people were slaughtered. it was reported in the US press, sparking a firestorm of international outrage’.

Secondly, media and public perception played a vital role in Vietnam war. Before WWII there had been just printed newspapers but after that it was the first time that the horrors of war were reported through TV. Whereas, the images of massacre were leaked in Pentagon reports that consequently changed the public perception against the US government on a domestic as well as global level. As a result, the anti-war sentiments took hold in different universities of the USA to the extent that students and even the general public came on the roads against US mass murder in Vietnam. According to BBC, “In October 1969, one of the largest protests that America has ever seen was held in Washington, with 250,000 protesting against the war.”

The war became very ostracised in the USA and lost public support.

In addition, the terrain and guerrilla war strategies of the Viet Cong were hard to defeat. Most importantly the Vietnam War had been most fought in jungle, mountains and rural areas and the Viet Cong were much rewarded by their experience. On the other hand, US troops were not properly aware of the terrain or of guerrilla warfare, and were not aware how to fight guerrillas. Undoubtedly, Khalid bin Waleed’s ‘Kar Wa Far’ (hit and run) strategy was practiced by the

Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk

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Viet Cong. The USA finally realised that hanoi would not give up at any cost and this made the USA troops withdraw from Vietnam.

Furthermore, besides other factors, determination and morale are necessary elements to win a war. It was the key strength of Viet Cong that they were obsessively determined to drive out the Americans, whatever the cost to pay and also encouraged fighting at home to unite country. Once ho Chi Minh asserted that “You can kill ten of my men for everyone I kill of yours, yet even at those odds, you will lose and I will win,”. On the other hand, US soldiers were demoralised and demotivated, also they took drugs, shot superior officers and dodged the draft. The same is the case with the Afghan War where the nonstop attacks by the Afghan Taliban are forcing them to retreat.

But US was defeated in Vietnam because of some major factors, which are media war, public opinion or perception, peace movements in the USA, terrain and guerrilla warfare, and the Cu Chi Tunnels system. These are some justifiable reasons for the USA losing. The Vietnam War tells that without public support, appropriate strategies, morale and motivation, and knowledge about the enemy and their strategies, a war cannot be won.

In a nutshell, the greatness of a power cannot compete with the patriotism of a country. Besides that, nationalism and passion for self-determination, expertise in one’s own terrain and geography, strategies and tactics, and public support are pre-disposing factors for guerrillas.

Muhammad Asif Baloch can be contacted at Muahammadasif94@gmail.com

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Saturday, 16 November, 2019

COMMENT 09 Editor’s mail

Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan.

E-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively

Ethics of Public Office Holders

Challenges to the state system in an era of globalisation The state is being changed irrevocably dr rajkuMar singh

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LOBALISATION and its allpervasive adverse effects on society have resulted in a growing discontent and disenchantment among the people and thereby their isolation from power centres. The new middle class that emerged in the era of neo-liberal policies of the government has adopted an exclusive and parochial approach that affected negatively the living conditions of the other classes and groups. It generated trends of anomie in society.

On the other hand, the exclusion can be seen from the emergence of identity politics based on caste, especially among the lower strata of the society who are demanding wider powersharing in the political system. The adoption of neo-liberal economic policies produced two new social groups– the losers and the winners.

While the poor and the socially marginalised sections constituted the disadvantaged sections, the consumerist middle class constituted the advantaged sections. In course of time, the losers were attracted to the caste-based parties, which had in fact no concrete policies or programmes for their genuine empowerment, and the gainers were mobilised towards a hindu nationalist party like the BJP. People’s expectations from the state were belied in the 1990s, when the market reforms shrunk the role of the state and hopes failed to materialise.

Political power and globalisation: In a democracy the contest for power is never free from uncertainty and anxiety, and those who make politics their career became accustomed to its turbulence and some even take a peculiar pleasure in it. These have played havoc with national politics. Pressures and counter pressures are mounted through political parties and their leaders and big bosses. Because of the multiplicity of parties, the politicians, propelled by expediency and opportunism, spend their time, energy, and resources in forming often transient alliances, to capture power. each constituent element has its own agenda; hence the alliances are usually ephemeral. At present the relations between the government and opposition have become increasingly acrimonious. even where there is broad agreement over, let us say, foreign policy or economic policy, each side maintains an adversarial relationship with the other, fearing that there will be a loss of face if not a loss of support from constituents, if it appears conciliatory. The habitually confrontationist conduct of both government and opposition is complicated by the fact that neither the one nor the other speaks with a single voice. This may be a good thing where it serves to defuse tension but it is not conducive to deliberations on policy. Despite the advent of the information age and the commencement of global interaction, the world perspective of the majority of the legislators is woefully limited; and their comprehension of international issues with national and local ramifications is virtually non-existent.

Shifting from government to good governance: Contextually, there has been a welcome shift from traditional concepts of government

and politics to good governance and its attributes.

Governance refers to the quality of government and the manner in which power is exercised by governments in managing a country’s social and economic resources. Governance means, ‘The process of decision making and the process by which decisions are implemented or not implemented. It also focuses on the formal and informal actors involved in decision-making and implementing the decisions made and the formal and informal structures that have been set in place to arrive at and implement the decisions.’

There are so many actors in governance and the government is one of them. In urban areas, the other major actors constitute political parties, voluntary organisations, research institutes, religious leaders, finance institutes, the military, media, lobbyists, international donors and multinational corporations. In rural areas, actors may include influential landlords, associations of peasant farmers, cooperatives and NGOs. These actors urban and rural, other than government and the military, are grouped together as part of the civil society. All these may play a role in decision-making or in influencing the decisionmaking process. The prerequisites for quality governance are that the system should be good and suited to the need, aspirations, background and ethos of the concerned people.

Themes of good governance: The term ‘Good Governance’ was highlighted by the World Bank in one of its documents in 1989 in the context of Third World countries. It is not only confined to political governance but would include all types of governance, such as international, national, state or provincial, or local. Further, in 1992 the World Bank’s document on governance and development said, ‘Good governance is central to creating and sustaining an environment which fosters strong and equitable development and it is an essential complement to sound economic policies.’ It identified three aspects of governance: the form of political regime, the process by which authority is exercised in the management of the country’s economic and social resources: and the capacity of governments to design, formulate and implement policies and in general, to discharge government functions. But besides the World Bank indicators of

good governance encompassing democracy, transparency and accountability, it may be said that the whole idea of good governance is that of a participative democratic system in which those who are called upon to govern on behalf of the people are motivated with a will to giving their best, serving and doing good to the people and in particular, solving the problems of the poor and the underprivileged and making their lives more liveable, satisfying and enjoyable. however, in general, good governance is a dynamic and value-laden concept. The values it gives importance into are eight in number.

The modern concept of good governance is that it is participatory, consensus-oriented, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective and efficient, equitable and inclusive and follows the rule of law.

Today the democratic structures of governance, which is the largest in a democracy has failed on counts of good governance. Although people have got the right to participate in governance directly as well as indirectly, but the peculiar situation is that this characteristic of good governance is partially realised.

India has embarked on the path of reorienting and restructuring its governance system. A whole new set of policies and programmes has been put in place.

The canvas of reforms covers both the centre and states. It encompasses reforms in the economic, social, administrative and political spheres. At present the innumerable issues regarding political economy and political sociology are surfacing that highlight the relationship that exists between development paradigms and actual development, governance and government, common people and the state. But there is no denying the fact that governments continue to play a central role in the lives of its citizens, governance came to be equated with government. Development and reform also constituted the functions of governments. Now, when one talks of governance, one refers to participatory governance which works towards the development of individuals as well as the society and nation.

Governments continue to play a central role in the lives of its citizens, governance came to be equated with government.

Development and reform also constituted the functions of governments. Now, when one talks of governance, one refers to participatory governance which works towards the development of individuals as well as the society and nation

Dr Rajkumar Singh is head of the Political Science Department, BNMU, Sira, Bihar, India. He can be reached at rajkumarsinghpg@gmail.com

The recent resignation of Steve easterbrook, CeO McDonalds, following reports that he had an inappropriate consensual relationship with an employee, highlights the importance of ethics and morality, in corporate working. In the USA, consensual relationship between adults is legal and not considered a crime. McDonalds and numerous other private and public corporations forbid managers from having romantic relationships with an employee.

General Petraeus, a decorated war hero, who served as CeNTCOM commander and after his retirement in August 2011, was appointed as Director CIA was forced to retire on November 2012 by President Obama after FBI reports that he had an extra marital affair consensual affair with principal author of his biography. It is an accepted norm that individuals who hold any public office, elected or paid, must adhere to more conservative and stricter code of ethics than that applicable to common citizens.

It is unfortunate that while we claim to be Islamic republic, and our laws forbid extra marital relationships, yet individuals holding important public offices in executive or state-owned corporations and even those serving in sensitive organisations like NAB etc have never been proceeded against, even though video proof of their involvement exists.

This reflects on moral degradation that engulfs ruling paid or elected public office holders. Conflicts of interest of serving public office holders are overlooked. Almost half our foreign service officers have acquired foreign immigration for either self or family while they were in service. Former President Musharraf has admitted that he was gifted almost $20 Million by a Saudi royal, yet the state has not proceeded against him. A State that fails to protect its jungles, amenity plots etc., from illegal occupation by powerful land mafia, is considered to be Banana republic.

MALIk tARIq ALI Lahore

How many election petitions? eVer since the PTI government has come into power in Islamabad, the opposition parties and their leaders called PM Imran Khan and his government with all sorts of names and labels like it is fake and has come into power through massive rigging etc.

Without going into further allegations which the opposition leaders keep on harping day and night, this is ask the election Commission of Pakistan to apprize the nation as to how many election petitions on rigging and other charges were filed by opposition parties loser candidates after July 25, 2018 with the election Tribunals throughout the country, how many of them have decided in favour or against the complaining losing candidates and how many are still pending at different forums. This information naturally will be available with the election Commission and if made public will greatly help in setting the records straight and making it clear to the people as to who is right and who is wrong in this regard, please. This scribe still remembers that in 1977 also, MMA led opposition had also levelled massive rigging charges against Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s PPP which had won the early called polls. Against all such hallah gullah, leading to violent protest, rigging charges were not proved even in 10 constituencies but the opposition had achieved its ulterior objective of toppling of the people’s elected government through imposition of martial law on July 5, 1977. The opposition parties and their leaders, who have not somehow accepted their defeats in last year’s general election may continue opposing and criticising the prime minister and PTI government. But in doing so they should at least keep the national interests as well as the interests of the country and the nation uppermost, please.

M Z RIFAt Lahore

Kashmir solidarity IT seems that tensions between Pakistan and India may keep on escalating until the Kashmir issue is resolved. The dispute has come under International light and is being discussed and struggling to resolve the problem and reduce tensions between Pakistan and India.

No one can deny the fact that India is taking no any steps to bring peace in the region. As India on August 5 unilaterally decided to revoke Article 370 of its constitution which granted special autonomy to occupied Kashmir.

Undoubtedly, Pakistan has been struggling to make the region peaceful, but due to the lack of support the region has yet not been peaceful. As newly on Tuesday Combined Opposition leaders from the capital announced that they would observe October 27 as black day in protest against the ongoing repression in India-held Kashmir.

Actually, the decision was taken at a multi-party conference held to discuss matters related to Kashmir Solidarity Day and the upcoming Azadi March. The conference decided that a protest demonstration would be staged outside the National Press Club on Oct 27 against the India attempts to jeopardise regional peace and stability, and express solidarity with the oppressed Kashmiris.

IMRAN RASHEED kech

Saturday, 16 November, 2019

10 FOREIGN NEWS

Iran wants a non-sectarIan Israel, says supreme leader DUBAI

Sri Lankans seek security in post-Easter attack election COLOMBO: Worries about Islamic extremism will be paramount for many Sri Lankan voters while others hope to block former leaders accused of human rights violations from returning to power in Saturday’s presidential election, the country’s first national polls since last Easter’s deadly suicide attacks. Simply put, fear is driving the election in Sri Lanka, a South Asian island nation of 22 million people off India’s southern tip. A decade of peace following three decades of the civil war was shattered earlier this year when homegrown militants pledging loyalty to the Islamic State group detonated suicide bombs at three churches and three hotels, killing 269 people. The election also mirrors the global trend of populist strongmen appealing to disgruntled majorities amid rising nationalism — seen as well in recent elections in neighbouring India.

With a record 35 candidates vying for the presidency, Gotabaya rajapaksa, a former defence official under his brother, ex-President Mahinda rajapaksa, was widely expected to triumph over ruling party Housing Minister Sajith Premadasa. But as the election approached, the race became very close. Premadasa entered the fray after an open rebellion against his party leader, Prime Minister ranil Wickremesinghe, rallying support by pledging to boost welfare programs and by embracing disgruntled party stalwarts. Many in Sri Lanka’s ethnic Sinhalese Buddhist majority favour Gotabaya because of his role in the rajapaksa government’s decisive victory a decade ago over ethnic Tamil rebels, ending the secessionist civil war. But some minority Tamils and Muslims fear his reputation. Gotabaya is accused of persecuting critics and overseeing what was called “white van squads” that whisked away journalists, activists and Tamil civilians suspected of links to the Tamil Tigers rebel group. Some were tortured and released, while others simply disappeared. The rajapaksa brothers are also accused of condoning rape and extrajudicial killings and deliberately targeting civilians and hospitals during the war. Gotabaya, a retired army officer, migrated to the United States after leaving service. He returned when his brother was elected president in 2005 and was appointed a secretary to the Ministry of Defense. Though a bureaucratic position, he was given immense power and acted as a virtual second-in-command. Gotabaya says he has renounced his U.S. citizenship to seek the presidency, focusing his campaign on national security following the Easter attacks, which exposed serious lapses in intelligence coordination between spy and security agencies.

“The first duty of our government is to ensure total security within the country,” Gotabaya said in August when he was named the opposition’s presidential candidate. “I state with confidence that we can make our country the safest in the world again.” Gotabaya has said he will disregard a U.N. Human rights Commission resolution that Sri Lanka signed promising to investigate alleged wartime atrocities and share political power with Tamils. The ruling party candidate, Premadasa, is the son of former President ranasingha Premadasa, who was assassinated by a Tamil Tiger suicide bomber in 1993. AGENCIES

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rAN is not calling for the elimination of the Jewish people, but believes people of all religions should decide Israel’s future, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Friday.

Since its Islamic revolution in 1979, Iran has refused to recognize Israel and has backed militant Palestinian groups. Israel has long accused Iran of seeking its destruction and regards Tehran as its main enemy in the Middle East.

“Calling for the elimination of the state of Israel does not mean the elimination of the Jewish people,” Khamenei told officials and participants at an Islamic conference in Tehran, according to his official website.

“It means that the people of Palestine – be they Muslim, Christian or Jewish – should choose their own government.” The Shi’ite Muslim Khamenei, the ultimate authority on Iranian domestic and foreign policy, also criticized Western powers for pressuring Tehran over its nuclear program.

“All nations need peaceful nuclear energy, but Western monopolists seek to keep this energy in monopoly…,” Khamenei said.

“Westerners know that we are not seeking nuclear weapons because of our principles

and (religious) beliefs.”

Iran has repeatedly denied ever having sought to build a nuclear bomb, referring to a religious decree issued in the early 2000s

by Khamenei that bans the development or use of nuclear weapons.

U.S. intelligence agencies and the U.N. nuclear watchdog believe Iran had a covert atomic bomb program for a number of years that it subsequently halted.

France, Britain and Germany said this

week they were extremely concerned by Iran’s decision to resume uranium enrichment at an underground plant, though they stopped short of directly urging new sanctions.

Iran’s move was the latest in a series of steps through which Tehran has overstepped the limits of its 2015 nuclear pact with world powers, in response to the United States withdrawing from the accord last year and reimposing sanctions.

US presses European countries to take Islamic State fighters WASHINGTON AGENCIES

European and other members of the international coalition fighting the Islamic State group must take back and prosecute their nationals detained in Iraq and Syria to help keep IS from regaining territory, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday.

Pompeo told foreign ministers and senior officials from some 30 coalition members that it’s imperative that they hold thousands of detained foreign fighters accountable for atrocities committed while the Islamic State held swaths of territory in the two countries. Many of the detained foreign fighters are from Europe, but countries have

been reluctant to take them back and officials acknowledged there are still differences of opinion among coalition partners about how best to deal with them.

The meeting came amid concerns about the U.S. commitment to the fight against IS remnants. Those concerns have increased as President Donald Trump has pressed to withdraw American troops from Syria. It was also the first meeting at such a senior level since IS was driven from the last of its major strongholds in March and the first since the group’s leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, killed himself during a U.S. raid last month.

Pompeo said bringing the foreign fighters to justice in their home countries is critical to preventing IS from resurrecting its

caliphate and exporting its ideology.

“That work begins with carrying out justice against those who deserve it,” he said.

“Coalition members must take back the thousands of foreign terrorist fighters in custody and impose accountability for the atrocities they have perpetrated.”

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said coalition members need “more coordinated efforts” to resolve the issue of foreign fighters and must also train more local forces to prevent a resurgence of the Islamic State. “If you can enable local forces to fight terrorism themselves, to stabilize the country, … that’s, in the long run, the best way to also fight terrorism,” he said in an Associated Press interview after the meeting.

Football diplomacy with Qatar hints at Saudi 'peace' effort DOHA AGENCIES

A Saudi-led bloc’s decision to play a football tournament in rival Qatar could herald a rapprochement after a two-year stand-off, and signal riyadh is tempering its muscular approach that stoked regional crises.

Gulf powerhouse Saudi Arabia has adopted an aggressive policy under de facto leader Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — from a ruinous bombing campaign in Yemen to a boycott of Qatar and confrontation with rival Iran.

But recent attacks on the kingdom’s oil facilities and the blowback from Washington’s combative stance towards Iran appear to have prompted Saudi Arabia and its allies to moderate their stance.

“Peace won’t blossom overnight but we are witnessing a remarkable set of diplomatic initiatives by Saudi Arabia and its allies to identify ways out of otherwise intractable regional conflicts,” Hussein Ibish, a scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, told AFP. “They have ended up in a series of stalemates — the Qatar boycott, the war

in Yemen and an intolerably dangerous escalation with Iran. Under such circumstances, diplomacy and reconciliation is a more obvious choice than using aggressive tactics.”

On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia, as well as

allies the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain, announced they would compete for the Arabian Gulf title in Doha from November 26 despite their two-year boycott of Qatar.

The trio, along with Egypt, continues

to ban direct air, sea and land travel to Qatar over claims Doha backs radical militants and is too soft on Tehran.

Qatar vehemently denies the allegations.

In other signs of a possible detente, an official from the Cairo-based Arab League will visit Doha for a conference during the Gulf Cup, raising hopes for mediation efforts.

Meanwhile, a semi-official delegation from Qatar is due to visit riyadh in the coming days, according to a source briefed on the trip. regional expert Andreas Krieg cautioned the apparently conciliatory steps might prove to be temporary as the “Qataris won’t bend on major issues”.

“The Saudis want it to be that everything is forgotten and we go back to May 2017. That won’t happen,” he told AFP. Outside of Qatar, the Saudis have established an “open channel” with Yemen’s Iran-backed rebels with the goal of ending the country’s civil war, a Saudi official said last week.

A Saudi-led coalition launched a military intervention in Yemen in 2015. It reportedly hoped for a quick win against the

Huthis, but instead waded into a quagmire that has cost it billions of dollars and sparked a humanitarian crisis. riyadh now appears buoyed by a power sharing agreement it recently brokered between Yemen’s internationally recognised government and southern separatists, which could pave the way for a wider peace deal.

In a sign of the limits to the new mood however, riyadh has been tightlipped about speculation that it is in talks to de-escalate tensions with regional foe Iran. A Kuwaiti official recently said his country had passed on messages from Iran to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain regarding tensions in the Gulf.

Observers say riyadh could have more leverage in negotiations as Tehran struggles with the fallout from renewed US sanctions after President Donald Trump unilaterally abandoned a 2015 nuclear deal in May last year.

“Under such circumstances, Saudi Arabia — which had been held back for years from negotiating directly with Iran — feels emboldened to explore what could be achieved diplomatically,” said Ibish.

Saturday, 16 November, 2019

buSiNeSS 11

CORPORATE CORNER

KARACHI: Adviser to Sindh Chief Minister on Law and Environment Murtaza Wahab recently inaugurated the 11th Chest Pain Unit of National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases (NICVD) in Moosa Lane area of Lyari. PRESS RElEASE

Oxford University recently hosted Ambassador At-Large for Foreign Investment Ambassador Ali J Siddiqui to discuss Pakistan’s relationship with the United States and its investment potential. The event was part of a series of talks designed to build cross-cultural dialogue and awareness by the Oxford South Asian Society. PRESS RElEASE

ISLAMABAD: An award for corporate philanthropy was conferred recently on the Pakistan Petroleum Limited by President Dr Arif Alvi. Muneer Kamal Jadun received the award on behalf of the company. PRESS RElEASE

CCoP aPProves sale of sMe Bank, PIa ProPertIes Task FoRce FoRmed To examine all necessaRy FoRmaliTies FoR eaRly disposal oF pia’s RoosevelT HoTel in new yoRk and HoTel scRiBe in paRis ISLAMABAD

t

GHUlAM ABBAS

HE Cabinet Committee on Privatisation (CCoP) on Friday approved the sale of SME Bank as well as the properties of different state institutions, including the Pakistan International Airline (PIA). The CCoP meeting, held with Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh in the chair, took up the privatisation of SME Bank Limited, as decided by an earlier CCoP meeting in October last year, and approved a transaction structure submitted by Privatisation Commission for the privatisation of the bank.

Earlier, the CCoP was informed that the transaction structure had been reviewed and recommended by a transaction committee, constituted by the Privatisation Commission, which met four times before coming up with a comprehensive transaction structure for CCoP’s consideration and approval. The Privatisation Commission also shared the pre-qualification criteria reviewed and approved by the PC Board for the prospective bidders.

Meanwhile, the committee discussed the privatisation of PIA-Investment Limited and approved a proposal for the constitution of a task force, to be headed by Privatisation Commission Minister Muhammadmian Soomro, to examine and process all necessary formalities for an early disposal of the PIA properties, including the Roosevelt Hotel in New York and Hotel Scribe in Paris.

The CCoP instructed the PIA management to present in the next meeting the findings of the feasibility study conducted by it in pursuance of an earlier CCoP decision to carry out an appraisal of various management and financial options in order to gain optimal returns from the Roosevelt Hotel.

The committee further directed the PIA management to update on a monthly basis regarding the progress of work, advising the airline to carry out

‘Privatisation imperative for economic revival’ Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Friday that completion of the privatisation process on a fast-track basis would help increase the government's financial resources. Chairing a meeting to review progress on privatisation process in Islamabad, he said the process would help ensure the provision of health, education and other facilities to the people. The PM said increasing the non-tax revenue is among the top priorities of the government. “The privatisation process aims at saving the national coffer from daily loss of millions of rupees, besides handing over underperforming institutions to capable people so that these are fully utilised according to their real potential,” he maintained. PM Khan rejected the impression that the government only wanted to get rid of loss-making institutions. He directed that privatisation of all identified institutions be completed within stipulated timeframe, adding that the government was committed to providing all necessary resources to the Privatisation Division in this regard. He said the Prime Minister Office should be continuously updated on progress regarding privatisation process and any hurdle in this regard be removed. Earlier, Secretary Privatisation Rizwan Malik briefed the PM that those institutions and assets have been included in privatisation process that were a burden on national exchequer or were performing less than their capacity. In addition, such public properties have also been included in the process which remained unutilized for years, he added. BUSINESS DESK

its plan in coordination with the Aviation Division.

Moreover, the CCoP took up a proposal from the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (EERA) for deferring the delisting of its 17 properties until June 2020, when EERA would be subsumed into the National Disaster Management Commission (NDMC) as per a government decision already taken to transform National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) into a vibrant and self-sufficient entity.

EERA was of the view that delay in the privatisation of its assets till June 2020 would allow sufficient time for a possible legislation to incorporate these properties into the National Disaster Management Fund (NDMF).

The Privatisation Commission told the CCoP that the 17 properties belonging to EERA had been picked up for privatisation in pursuance of a federal cabinet decision of 7th March 2019, and subsequent identification by an Inter-Ministerial Committee, constituted by the prime minister of 32 properties belonging to nine ministries, divisions and organisations which themselves had proposed these properties for sale and also forwarded relevant authority letters to the Privatisation Commission for further processing.

The PC also submitted that it had already hired a financial adviser for the sale of 32 prop-

erties, adding that withdrawal of properties as being proposed by the EERA would adversely affect the whole privatisation process, besides sending negative signals to potential buyers and investors.

The CCoP discussed the issue in detail and after input from members did not agree to the proposal from EERA for delay in the delisting of its properties and advised the authority to complete all codal formalities still pending at its end to let the privatisation process move ahead.

To another proposal by the Commerce Division for delisting from privatisation a 15-acre plot situated in an industrial area in Multan on the grounds that the same plot could be utilised more efficiently for some other purpose rather than being sold at a possibly low price, the CCoP decided that the privatisation of the asset in question would go ahead as already decided by the government.

However, a committee headed by Adviser to PM on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood would closely scrutinise the reference price at the bidding stage to see if it matched the value of the plot and in view of it not being in tune with the worth of the property, the ministry would come up with an elaborate alternative plan detailing various aspects of the opportunity cost to use the plot, lying idle since 2011, quickly and efficiently.

Market Daily

Stocks extend rally, index closes 340 points higher LAHORE: University of Management Technology (UMT) President Ibrahim Hassan Murad poses for a group photo with Afghan students, who have been facilitated under the university’s ILM Fund. PRESS RElEASE

Pll floats tender for procurement of lNG cargo ISLAMABAD: Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL) has floated a spot tender for the supply of one LNG cargo in February 2020 on a Delivered Ex-Ship (DES) basis at Port Qasim.

According to details, bids have been invited from reputed international suppliers for the supply of LNG through a master sale and purchase agreement (MSPA). The deadline for submissions of the bids is 17 December 2019, while date of announcement of bid evaluation result is 18 December 2019. PLL will evaluate each commercial offer based on the lowest percentage of Brent (as defined in section 4.7.1 of the bid document) offered by any compliant bidder for that LNG cargo. The delivery of the LNG cargo would be on 15-17 February 2020. As per the documents available with this scribe, PLL shall have the right at any time to cancel this tender process or to reject all bids in accordance with Rule 33 (1) of PPRA Rules. In case of cancellation of the tender process, the bid bond will be returned to the bidder within five business days without any interest or accrual thereon. AHMAD AHMADANI

FBR releases tutorial videos to facilitate filers The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has facilitated the taxpayers by releasing tutorial videos on the filing of income tax returns. According to a statement issued by the revenue board, the FBR’s Facilitation & Taxpayers Education (FATE) Wing has prepared six videos in this regard, which have been uploaded on the Urdu and English versions of the FBR’s website as well as social media handles. The video contains step by step explanation of registration procedure on Iris, income tax filing for salaried persons, wealth statement, payment of admitted income tax and tax refund mechanism. BUSINESS DESK

KARACHI STAFF REPORT

Keeping up with the growth momentum, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) ended the week on a positive note, as the indices marched forward while volumes inflated further.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index’s one-week return was recorded at +4.54pc. Foreign investors broke their six-day buying streak and closed as net sellers on Thursday with a net outflow of $0.107 million.

According to latest data released by the State Bank of Pakistan, the country’s liquid foreign

exchange reserves closed flat for the week ended November 7, 2019.

Reserves stood at $15,502 million as against $15,518 million on November 1, 2019. Moreover, Pakistan’s trade deficit fell by 34pc in the first four months of the current fiscal year and was recorded at $7,776 million. Imports of the country contracted by 19pc, whereas exports posted a minor gain of 3.81pc.

Gathering 391.55 points, the KSE-100 Index recorded an intraday high at 37,634.75 shortly before the close. It ended higher by 367.73 points at 37,610.93. The KMI-30 Index surged by 563.74 points to close at 61,296.71, while the KSE All Share Index appreciated by

306.49 points, settling at 26,746.40.

Out of the total traded shares, 273 advanced while 89 declined.

The overall trading volumes improved from 336.02 million in the previous session to 368.40 million.

The Bank of Punjab (BOP +4.62pc), Maple Leaf Cement Factory Limited Right shares (MLCFR1 +11.57pc) and Dost Steels Limited (DSL +16.78pc) led the volume chart. The scripts had exchanged 36.23 million, 24.99 million and 20.90 million shares, respectively.

Sectors which drove the KSE100 Index uphill included banking (+82.53 points), oil and gas exploration (+50.42 points) and investment banking (+35.21 points).

Among the companies, Habib Bank

Limited (HBL +28.61 points), Dawood Hercules Corporation Limited (DAWH +26.90 points) and Pakistan State Oil Company Limited (PSO +21.58points) remained the top contributors to the index.

In a notification to the exchange, Service Industries Limited (SRVI +5.00pc) announced that the company would set up a greenfield project to undertake manufacturing and sale of truck & bus radial category of tyres in Pakistan to serve domestic and foreign markets. The company shall enter into a joint venture with Chaoyang Long March Tyre Co Ltd (LM) of China & Myco Corporation of Pakistan (MC). The investment would be worth $30.6 million.

‘Turkish investors keen to sign JVs with Pakistani counterparts’ ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Ambassador of Turkey to Pakistan Ihsan Mustafa Yurdakul said on Friday that the cordial relations between Turkey and Pakistan should now be transformed into strong trade and economic ties.

Talking to a delegation of Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, led by its President Muhammad Ahmed Waheed, Yurdakul said that Turkish companies were keen to sign joint ventures (JVs) with their Pakistani counterparts in various areas of its economy.

"The Turkish investors are interested in Pakistan's special economic zones, which would be built under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) framework," he said. "A delegation of Turkish businessman could be invited to Pakistan to study business opportunities in SEZs." The envoy believed that both countries have immense potential to complement each other in terms of bilateral trade. "But for this to happen, better connectivity between the private sectors of both countries is needed."

He assured that the Turkish Embassy would cooperate in efforts aimed towards the promotion of di-

rect linkages between the business communities of the two countries.

Speaking on the occasion, ICCI President Muhammad Ahmed Waheed said that Pakistan and Turkey have been negotiating a free trade agreement, adding that many rounds have already been held in this regard.

He said that during the upcoming visit of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Pakistan, both countries should sign the FTA that would give a muchneeded boost to the trade relations between Pakistan and Turkey.

He welcomed the proposal of Turkish ambassador for the visit

of Turkish business delegation to Pakistan and assured that ICCI would cooperate in connecting them with the right partners.

He pointed out that due to lack of direct air links, Pakistan does not have better connectivity with Central Asian countries, which were growing markets for Pakistani products.

“Turkish Airline should play role in connecting Pakistan with these countries by organizing once a week flight from Pakistan to these countries,” he urged.

"The ICCI is ready to cooperate with both governments in realising this objective."

Saturday, 16 November, 2019

12 buSiNeSS Prudent economic policies yielding positive results: president ISLAMABAD APP

President Dr Arif Alvi on Friday maintained that the effective economic policies adopted by the incumbent government were yielding positive results. Addressing the 49th session of Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), President Alvi said that the government was striving hard to steer the country out of economic crisis. Lauding the performance of the incumbent government, the president said that Prime Minister Imran Khan and his team have put the country on the upward trajectory of progress and development.

He said that the government was committed to ensuring ease of doing business in the country, adding that foreign investment was unfeasible without the documention of economy. The president said the PTI’s government had inherited multiple challenges owing to the wrong policies, poor economic performance and corruption of the previous governments.

DG khan seeks approval to become country’s largest cement producer BUSINESS DESK DG Khan Cement Co. is aiming to become the country’s largest cement maker by expanding capacity by 12,000 tonnes a day. Business tycoon Mian Muhammad Mansha’s company has sought permission from the provincial government to boost its current facility. Javed Iqbal Malik, a senior economic adviser at Punjab province’s industries department confirmed getting the letter but did not give any other details, reported Bloomberg. DG Khan Cement’s current manufacturing capacity stands at just over 7 million tonnes per annum, according to the company’s website, and with the expansion, capacity will increase to 10.7 million tonnes per annum. The approval process could take 6 to 12 months and a final decision on expanding capacity will be taken after considering the demand and economic situation, Inayat Ullah Niazi, Chief Financial Officer at DG Khan Cement said while talking to Bloomberg. The expansion will help DG Khan Cement out-produce Bestway Cement — currently the largest cement producer in the country with a capacity of 10.3 million tonnes per annum.

tough tIMes over as eConoMy staBIlIsed, reIterates PM

P

BUSINESS DESK

RIME Minister Imran Khan said on Friday the country's economic indicators have improved despite the difficulties that the Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI) government endured during its first year in power.

Addressing the signing ceremony of Super-6 310-MW Wind Power Projects in Islamabad, the premier said, "Our first year was very difficult because there was a very large current account deficit."

He added that previously, no government had to face a current account deficit of $20 billion. "The danger of this is that, at any time, it can put so much pressure on the rupee that the rupee starts to fall.

We didn't have the foreign exchange to stop the rupee from falling."

Thanking his economic team, Prime Minister Imran said that today the economy has stabilised.

"Today without any support, instead of falling, our rupee is gaining. The stock market reflects the sentiment of the market, it has become positive."

He said that among the main indicators, current account deficit has fallen, exports are rising, and investor confidence is increasing. "So, thank God our direction now is fine," the premier said.

"Now we have to go forward from here ... we have to run our economy."

At the outset of his address, the premier added that the route to China's success was its long-term planning.

"When we asked them what their route to success was, there were other things, but the one thing that stood out was long term planning.

"Unfortunately, we focus on short term planning," he added.

On Wednesday, the premier had said now that his economic team had "stabilised the economy", the government was focusing on creating job opportunities and facilitating investors.

Speaking at Sino-Pak Tire Manufacturing Joint Venture Signing Ceremony, Prime Minister Imran had said that the government's "next challenge" was to provide jobs to the people and, in order to create employment opportunities, the country needs investors to invest money.

Indian tax officials find Modi’s targets too taxing, some quit MUMBAI/KOLKATA AGENCIES

India’s tax officials are facing a taxing issue. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government wants them to collect 17pc more indirect taxes this year as New Delhi seeks to shore up revenues amid a sharp economic slowdown. The target has been maintained even though Modi recently approved a massive cut in corporate taxes, which are part of direct taxes, and warned officers not to harass businesses in their drive to collect revenue.

Over a dozen tax officials interviewed by Reuters said they are stuck between a push to meet unrealistic collection targets, which influence their appraisals and transfers, and the fear of being accused of over-zealousness if they crack down on evasion.

'even seasoned oFFiceRs aFTeR woRking FoR 25-30 yeaRs cannoT Take THis pRessuRe anymoRe' Critics say Modi’s demands of his tax officials are symptomatic of the confusion surrounding his government’s economic policies, and that the bungling has contributed to a slowdown in growth.

Twenty-two top-level tax department officers have opted for voluntary retirement so far this year and around 34 did so in 2018, according to data provided by Bhaskar Bhattacharya, vice president of the Income Tax Gazetted Officers’ Association.

Bhattacharya was unable to provide comparative data but said bureaucrats ditching jobs usually considered prestigious and powerful was rare.

“Even seasoned officers after work-

ing for 25-30 years cannot take this pressure anymore,” he said. “There are applications for voluntary retirement coming in one after the other despite the fact that there is no voluntary retirement or golden handshake scheme in the department.”

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) did not respond to requests for data and comment on the resignations.

The CBDT, the Finance Ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office did not respond to questions about tax targets and alleged harassment by tax officials.

While only a small fraction of the tax department’s few thousand senior officers have quit, several officials in the tax department said the departures provided a

snapshot of broader discontent that has also led to internal transfers as well as resignations among lower-level employees.

“The level of impatience in the government has gone up … Anyone who has any alternate option says: ‘Why should we stay in the department?'” said one officer who has quit the job and plans to go tend the family farm. He said the stress had “become unbearable.”

“The pressure is getting greater. To achieve our targets we are under pressure, so we do some things that we don’t want to do,” said another tax official in northern India. The two men asked to remain unnamed for fear of reprisals from the government.

Unorthodox tactics being used by the department included asking companies for advance tax payments, as well as delaying refunds, other tax officials said.

after tower sharing agreement, edotco and Zong partner for 4G coverage BUSINESS DESK Edotco Pakistan Private Limited (edotco Pakistan) on Friday signed a long-term agreement with Zong 4G to collaborate on multiple projects that would strengthen 4G coverage and customer experience across Pakistan.

Edotco and Zong have already partnered for tower sharing in Pakistan. The tower arm of Malaysia-based Axiata Group, Edotco, had signed site sharing deals valued at up to $80 million with the three mobile operators in Pakistan: Jazz, Telenor Pakistan and Zong.

Zong 4G has over 14 million 4G subscribers all over the country. The company focuses on 4G and the importance of data services, the fastest-growing segment of consumer demand in Pakistan driven by mobile financial services, e-commerce and social media.

Edotco, on the other hand, has its speciality in operational strength with 29,900 towers across its footprint combined with experience in rolling out next-generation shareable infrastructure like lightweight carbon fibre towers, energy as a service and smart street furniture that

support fast and cost-effective 4G rollout for mobile operators. In the past year, the company has grown its portfolio to over 1,400 towers.

As part of this agreement, edotco Pakistan will focus on accelerating the next phase of infrastructure rollout for Zong 4G, driving efficiency and flexibility improvements towards a faster and more available 4G network roll out across the country.

Speaking on the occasion, Zong 4G Chairman and CEO Wang Hua said, “The new agreement aligns with Zong 4G’s commitment to providing its customers with better coverage, reliability, speed and overall performance. This includes a focus on keeping up with booming mobile data usage while improving capacity and coverage across the country, especially in underserved rural areas. We look forward to working with edotco to keep our 4G momentum going and enable all our customers in every corner of the country to experience world-class 4G services.” edotco Pakistan Country Managing Director Arif Hussain, said, “We are extremely excited to sign this his-

toric agreement further reinforcing our long-standing relationship with Zong 4G. Having grown our operations by delivering over 1,000 new sites in 12 months to more than 1,400 operational sites, it is clear we have proved ourselves a credible partner to Zong 4G. It is a further testament to our operational strength and I am very proud of the team; at the same time, I am humbled by the trust Zong 4G have placed in edotco. We have to make sure their trust is well placed, and I am confident we will.” edotco Group, established in 2012, is the first regional integrated telecommunications infrastructure services company in Asia, providing end-to-end solutions in the tower services sector from tower leasing, co-locations, build-to-suit, energy, transmission and operations and maintenance (O&M). edotco Group operates and manages a regional portfolio of over 29,900 towers across core markets of Malaysia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Pakistan with 19,700 towers directly operated by edotco and a further 10,200 towers managed through a range of services provided.

Automakers around world await Trump tariff decision WASHINGTON AGENCIES

Automakers around the world are awaiting a decision from US President Donald Trump on whether he will impose up to 25pc tariffs on US car and auto part imports after a 180-day review period elapsed this week.

Trump was briefed ahead of the expiry of the self-imposed deadline, which he set in May, to decide whether to again extend a review or impose tariffs that automakers have warned could cost jobs and dramatically boost vehicle prices.

“I’ll make a decision fairly soon. I was fully briefed and I’ll make a decision fairly soon,” Trump had said on Wednesday.

Officials from major automakers told Reuters they believe Trump will not im-

pose new levies on vehicles from the European Union, Japan or elsewhere amid a trade war with China.

The Trump administration first launched its probe of foreign autos in May 2018 and six months ago Trump agreed with an administration study that some imported cars and trucks are “weakening our internal economy” and threaten to harm national security, but stopped short of naming specific vehicles or parts.

Trump could make an announcement on Friday, but nothing is final until he signs off, administration officials say.

Trump has been especially critical of foreign-made vehicles and jawboned both US and foreign automakers to build more cars in the United States. “Cars are the big one,” he said last year.

A delay on tariffs could push the

issue back to the middle of the 2020 presidential campaign and experts say it could be harder for Trump to impose a hefty tariff on a major consumer product

close to an election. Tariffs may not be necessary, US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said earlier this month. EU officials also expect Trump to announce a six-month delay.

On May 17, Trump had postponed a decision on tariffs by up to 180 days as he ordered US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to pursue negotiations.

The White House declined to comment Thursday.

Ahead of the deadline, foreign automakers have been eager to highlight their US investments to try to dissuade Trump from using tariffs that they argue could cost US jobs.

On Wednesday, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, a Republican ally of Trump’s, attended a groundbreaking at Volkswagen Chattanooga assembly

plant, marking the beginning of an $800 million expansion to build electric vehicles and add 1,000 jobs.

South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co has also announced it will start making its Santa Cruz pickup trucks at its Alabama factory in 2021, with an investment of $410 million, as it seeks a foothold in the segment led by US rivals.

Japanese automakers and suppliers have announced billions of dollars in investments, most notably a $1.6 billion joint venture plant in Alabama by Toyota Motor Corp and Mazda Motor Corp.

Germany’s merchandise trade surplus with the United States – $69 billion in 2018 – remains a sore point with the Trump administration as does Japan’s $67.6 billion US trade surplus last year – with two-thirds of that in the auto sector.

lAhorE: Zainab Chottani’s exclusive bridals preview and first look at TAHRA’s pretty chic casuals.

Why Dil-e-GumshuDa has Become The Talk of The ToWn? Dil-e-Gumshuda is the latest drama by 7th Sky Entertainment that follows an interesting storyline with a star-studded cast. Written by Saira Arif and directed by Shaqielle Khan, it has taken over our TV screens, garnering critical appreciation and praise from the viewers.

There are reasons that we simply cannot deny as to why it has been the talk of the town lately! By Rohama Riaz

AliShAE zAhrA

hinA EijAz

hirA SiKAnDEr

nEhA, rimA AnD SumrinA

umAir AnD omAr

HOLLYWOOD BOLLYWOOD

hADiyA

zAinAb mAliK AAmir & zAinAb

zArminAy AnD buShrA

The plot is very unique and entertaining.

Dil-e-Gumshuda revolves around the lives of 2 cousins – Zara and Alizey, and the troubles they face in their respective relationships because of petty issues and misunderstandings, created by Alizey. The script is a one-ofits-kind story which is unlike the generic storylines that we mostly watch in mainstream dramas.

The ensemble cast is pulling off their roles brilliantly.

The cast of the drama has Hina Altaf as Zara, Amar Khan as Alizey, Agha Ali as Daniyal and Mirza Zain Baig as Nadeem in the lead roles.

The drama also has Shamim Hilaly, Zainab Qayyum, and Khalid Anam in pivotal roles.

The cast brilliantly takes on the roles making the drama an exciting watch.

The Canary islands are named after dogs, not birds: It might seem safe to assume that the Canary Islands were named after canary birds, but the location was actually named after dogs. Although it's off the coast of northwestern Africa, the archipelago is actually part of Spain. In Spanish, the area's name is Islas Canarias, which comes from the Latin phrase Canariae Insulae for "island of dogs." World facts related to dogs? Now those we can get behind!

The chemistry between the lead couples is to die for.

Apart from their brilliant on-screen presence, the chemistry between the lead characters doubles the charm of their performances. With the complex dynamics between Zara, Daniyal, Alizey, and Nadeem, the scenes between the couples add a charm to the episodes that you don’t want to miss out on!

Amar Khan is a compelling villain and her character is refreshing to watch.

Dil-e-Gumshuda introduces us to the evil and sarcastic version of “Amar Khan”; as she stars as Alizey; a strongheaded, and opinionated girl who would go to any extremes to get what she wants.

it’s the perfect dose of reality cocooned in fiction.

The story of the drama is very close to reality as these things happen in real life all the time, so you can relate to the drama on most of the aspects being shown. The drama doesn’t over exaggerate the situations and paints a very realistic picture of the dynamics between new couples.

Amazing oST and even greater soundtrack placement throughout the drama.

The OST by Nabeel Shaukat Ali, will give you all the right feels. The beautiful lyrics and the soothing music create a sweet ambiance resulting in a great OST, that is placed perfectly on all the right moments in the background, throughout the drama.

Dil-e-Gumshuda has managed to tick all the boxes required to make a drama extraordinarily amazing and this is why it is the most talked about drama these days. Managing to take over the 9 pm slot, the drama leaves the audience at an interesting point at the end of every episode!

mark Wahlberg cast as sully in Tom holland uncharted movie

Warner Bros. Reveals New Logo Ahead Of 100 Year Anniversary

The Sony Pictures Uncharted movie starring Tom Holland has found its Sully as Mark Wahlberg has been cast in the role.

Mark Wahlberg was actually attached years ago to play Drake, which is now being played by Holland.

Wahlberg is set to play Victor “Sully” Sullivan, described as an American treasure hunter, fortune seeker and businessman, as well as a friend, mentor and father figure to Drake.

Uncharted has a December 18, 2020 release date directed

by Travis Knight (Bumblebee) and has a storyline that captures the protagonist as a young man, as he grows into the treasure hunter Nathan Drake. Knight is also directing Mark Wahlberg in The Six Billion Dollar Man. The film has also been said to be the start of a new Sony franchise, most likely at least a trilogy, and is based on the popular video games that have sold millions and millions of copies.

Tom Holland is also set to return as Spider-Man for Sony in the third movie in the franchise, which gets released July 16, 2021.

Ahead of its 100 year anniversary in 2023, Warner Bros. and new CEO Ann Sarnoff have revealed a brand refresh and an updated logo.

The new logo is a refinement and modernization of the iconic Warner Bros. shield that has been part of the company’s visual identity since its founding in 1923.

"As we approached our centennial, we thought it was the right time to take a good look at our brand, what it stands for and the values it represents," said Sarnoff. "We know that a strong brand gives us not just a roadmap but a sense of purpose.

It puts our feelings of pride into words. And, it helps us communicate who we are to our employees, our creative and business partners, and our fans around the world."

More than 500 employees gathered in the shadow of the Warner Bros. water tower for the unveiling, where Sarnoff, with a special assist by a tuxedo-clad Bugs Bunny, dropped a drape to reveal the new mark. The logo emblazoned on the tower’s side is approximately 20 feet high and 16 feet across.

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indonesia is home to some of the shortest people in the world: Though there are short people and tall people everywhere, Indonesia is home to some of the shortest people in the world, according to data compiled from various global sources by the Telegraph in 2017.

The Paris Agreement on climate change was signed by the largest number of countries ever in one day: When 174 world leaders signed the Paris Agreement on Earth Day in 2016 at the United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York, it was the largest number of countries ever to come together to sign anything on a single day, according to the UN.

ananya Panday says father chunky saw her act for the first time on sets of Dheeme Dheeme song Bollywood actor Ananya Panday, who is gearing up for her second release, Pati Patni Aur Woh, has said she was surprised to see her dad, Chunky Panday on sets while shooting the song Dheeme Dheeme with Kartik Aaryan for the film.

Claiming that Chunky never visited her on sets of her debut film, Student of the Year 2, Ananya said in a statement, “I have always said my dad has never come on set, he has never watched me shoot and a lot of people think that he used to come on set when I was shooting for SOTY 2 or I have been on a lot of his film sets which hasn’t been the case, but in Dheeme Dheeme (he came).”

Ananya will soon be seen in Pati Patni Aur Woh alongside Kartik and Bhumi Pednekar. Directed by Mudassar Aziz, the film is a remake of the Sanjeev Kumar film by the same name. It has Kartik playing the role of a middle-class, philandering husband while Bhumi is the wife and Ananya plays the ‘woh’ in the entire equation.

Saturday, 16 November, 2019

14 SPORTS

FEdErEr outclAssEs djokovic to rEAch AtP FinAls sEmis LONDON

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AGENCIES

OGER Federer produced a near-flawless performance as he avenged his Wimbledon defeat by Novak Djokovic and qualified for the last four of the ATP Finals with a 6-4, 6-3 victory. The Swiss started the tournament with a chastening straight-sets defeat to Dominic Thiem but found his best form when it mattered. Defeat for the second seed spells the end of his bid to overtake Rafael Nadal and finish as year-end number one. Roared on by a raucous packed house at London’s O2 Arena, six-time champion Federer looked in the groove from the start, cranking up the pressure on Djokovic’s serve and dropping just three points on his own serve in the first set.

The Serbian upped his game at the start of the second set but Federer, 38, saved the one break point he faced and broke twice to canter to victory. The third seed, making his 17th appearance at the ATP Finals, is into his 16th semifinal at the year-end event. Djokovic

needed to win the title to have a chance at knocking Nadal off the top spot, but now the Spaniard is guaranteed to finish the year as the top-ranked player for the fifth time, tying him with Federer, Djokovic and American Jimmy Connors. “Great atmosphere, great opponent,” said Federer, who hit 23 winners and made just five unforced errors. “It was definitely incredibly special. I enjoyed it from the beginning.

“I played incredibly and I knew I had to because that’s what Novak does.

It was definitely magical.” Speaking about what was different from the Wimbledon final, where he squandered two championship points on his own serve, he said: “I won match point I guess. “It was so close at Wimbledon. It was a privilege to play that match, so many ups and downs. I couldn’t be happier right now.” Federer finishes second in

Group Bjorn Borg, behind Thiem, who also beat Djokovic earlier this week.

The Swiss will face the Group Andre Agassi winner on Saturday.

METRONOMIC FEDERER: Djokovic looked nervy at the start of the winner-takes-all contest, double-faulting twice in the third game, in which he was broken to love. As cries of “Let’s go, Roger, let’s go” rang around the cavernous stadium, Federer was dead-eyed on his serve, hitting eight aces, including a second-serve ace, in the first set. Federer’s service level dipped in the second set and 32-year-old Djokovic earned his first break point of the match in the fourth game, which the Swiss saved.

In the next game, Djokovic slipped to 15-40 and sailed a forehand long to give Federer his second break of the match.

The Swiss broke once more to close out the victory. Djokovic had won his past five meetings with Federer, including their epic five-set battle in the final at Wimbledon in July. “He was the better player in all aspects and absolutely deserved to win,” said Djokovic. “He served great, moved well, returned my serve very well…. He did everything right.”

France and goal-getters England join Euro 2020 big guns PARIS AGENCIES

England squad back jeered Gomez: chilwell LONDON AGENCIES

Ben Chilwell has told Joe Gomez he has the backing of England’s squad after the Liverpool defender was booed against Montenegro following his row with Raheem Sterling. Sterling was left out of the Euro 2020 qualifier by England boss Gareth Southgate after the Manchester City star grabbed Gomez in an altercation at the team’s training base earlier this week. The incident is believed to have been caused by lingering ill-feeling following Sterling’s clash with Gomez during Liverpool’s Premier League victory over title rivals City on Sunday. With Sterling sidelined, it was Gomez who was jeered by England fans when he came on as a second-half substitute in the 7-0 rout of Montenegro at Wembley on Thursday.

The Euro 2020 line-up began to take shape after big-hitters France and England qualified for next year’s finals alongside Turkey and the Czech Republic. World champions France reached the tournament without having to kick a ball thanks to Turkey sealing their own qualification after a goalless draw with Iceland in the day’s early match. Chelsea outcast Olivier Giroud then moved to within two international goals of France great Michel Platini with a late penalty that ensured a comeback win over a Moldova side ranked 175th in the world.

The scrappy victory at a chilly Stade de France put Didier Deschamps’ side two points ahead of Turkey at the top of Group H ahead of their final match at Albania on Sunday.

The celebratory mood was initially dampened when Vadim Rata punished abject defending to give Moldova a shock ninth-minute lead. However, Raphael Varane levelled for the hosts 10 minutes before the break despite furious protests from the Moldovan players and their coach, who were convinced Giroud had fouled goalkeeper Alexei Koselev in the build-up. Giroud then slotted home his 39th France goal

from the spot in a confident manner that defied the fact he has only played 20 minutes for Chelsea since last month’s international break. “I could and should have scored before the penalty. We quite simply didn’t get off to the start we should have done,” Giroud told French television.

KANE CRUSHES MONTENEGRO: Harry Kane fired England into the Euros in style with a hat-trick that helped the 2018 World Cup semi-finalists dismantle poor Montenegro 7-0 at Wembley. Kane struck his treble in the first half as Gareth Southgate’s side racked up five be-

fore the break-in England’s 1000th match, making light of the absence of Raheem Sterling, who was dropped

by Southgate earlier in the week after an altercation with teammate Joe Gomez. “We wanted to put on a show in our 1,000th game and with five goals in the first half I think we did that,” said Kane.

England displayed the firepower that will make them one of the favourites for next year’s European Championship as they sealed top spot in Group A. Thursday’s demolition took them to 33 goals in seven qualifying matches following Tammy Abraham’s first international goal, further strikes from Alex OxladeChamberlain and Marcus Rashford and an own goal from Aleksandar Sofranac. Kane meanwhile moved sixth in the all-time list of England goalscorers by taking his tally for the qualifying campaign to 11.

The Czech Republic followed England into the tournament after coming from behind to beat thirdplaced Kosovo 2-1.

They join former World Cup winners Spain and Italy, who kick off the multi-host tournament at Rome’s StadioOlimpico on June 12, dark horses Belgium, Poland, Russia and Ukraine.

Abraham targets Euro glory after first England goal LONDON AGENCIES

Tammy Abraham has set his sights on firing England to Euro 2020 glory after the Chelsea striker scored his first senior international goal in the demolition of Montenegro. Abraham came off the bench to wrap up England’s 7-0 victory at Wembley on Thursday as Gareth Southgate’s side booked their place at Euro 2020. His maiden England goal continued a memorable 2019 for the 22-year-old after winning promotion to the Premier League while on loan with Aston Villa last season and scoring 11 goals in 18 games for Chelsea this term. With three group games and a possible semi-final and final at Wembley, Euro 2020 is almost a home tournament for England and Abraham is confident Southgate’s men can get their hands on the silverware. “Being at the Euros, winning it, top four or top two in the Premier League. Just believing! The sky’s the limit,” Abraham said of his dreams for 2020. “Hopefully, hopefully, I don’t want to jinx myself.” Asked if England can finally win their first major tournament since the 1966 World Cup, Abraham said: “I believe so.”

Abraham’s game has gone to the next level this season, but he thinks he can get even better working alongside England captain Harry Kane. Kane took his tally to 31 goals for England with a hat-trick against Montenegro, moving the Tottenham forward above Alan Shearer, Nat Lofthouse and Tom Finney on his country’s all-time list. “It’s always been a dream for me to be on the same pitch as him. Every day, I watch him, learn off him,” Abraham said. “To be on the same pitch with him, training with him every day, it’s always nice to have that type of player to learn from.

“Even in training practising, you can see his professionalism. He wants to be the best, to have someone like that to look up to is a dream.”

Chinese football at crossroads again after Lippi abruptly quits BEIJING AGENCIES

China is searching for a third coach this year after the football association accepted Marcello Lippi’s resignation following the damaging loss to Syria in World Cup qualifying.

A clearly infuriated Lippi, the 71year-old Italian World Cup winner, made a brief but angry appearance in front of the media after the 2-1 defeat on Thursday in Dubai. “My pay is very high and I take all the blame. I am quitting as China coach,” Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying. “We could beat weaker opponents like Maldives and Guam, but when we encountered stronger teams like the Philippines and Syria, we could not play our own football.” Lippi then abruptly left the press conference, walking out before translators had even finished interpreting what he was saying. His second

spell as China coach lasted only six matches. Hours later, the Chinese Football Association (CFA) said in a statement that it accepted Lippi’s resignation.

“We are really sorry that the unsatisfactory results disappoint all Chinese fans,” the CFA said. “The CFA will seriously reflect, rebuild the team, and try our best in the following World Cup qualifiers.” Syria’s victory left them comfortably atop Group A in qualifying for the Qatar 2022 World Cup. China are five points behind in second, only above the Philippines on goal difference, putting their World Cup hopes in peril.

It has been a turbulent year for Chinese football and Lippi’s resignation is another dent to the government’s hopes of making the country a superpower in the sport. The former Juventus and Italy boss, who was broadly popular in China, reportedly earned 180 million yuan ($25 million) per year, making him one of the best-paid

coaches in the world. He first quit the post in January after taking China to the Asian Cup quarter-finals, where they lost 3-0 to Iran, and his compatriot Fabio Cannavaro took over. But Cannavaro lasted only two matches — both 1-0 defeats — before saying that balancing the job with managing Chinese Super League side Guangzhou Evergrande was too much. That saw Lippi return in May with the aim of taking China to the World Cup. LI TIE TO TAKE OVER? China languish 69th in the FIFA world rankings and have reached the World Cup only once, in 2002, when they left without a point or scoring a goal. Lippi, who began his first spell as China coach in October 2016, was accused earlier this month by local media of delivering “a slap in the face” to Chinese football, amid grumblings that he was not doing enough to justify his hefty salary.

It came after the CFA announced that former Everton midfielder Li Tie would tem-

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porarily take charge of the national side at the East Asian championships next month in South Korea, with Lippi opting to remain home in Italy.

The 42-year-old Li, who is coach of

CSL side Wuhan Zall, will now be in pole position to succeed Lippi. China has begun naturalising foreign players, such as the Brazilian forward Elkeson, but their squad remains limited.

Saturday, 16 November, 2019

SPORTS 15

kohli out For duck but indiA lEAd in bAnGlAdEsh tEst DHAKA

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AGENCIES

PENER Mayank Agarwal hit an unbeaten 91 but skipper Virat Kohli was out for a rare duck as India took a first-innings lead in the opening Test against Bangladesh on Friday. The hosts were 188 for three at lunch on day two in response to Bangladesh’s 150. India resumed in Indore on 86 for one and Agarwal with Ajinkya Rahane, on 35, put on an unbeaten 69-run stand to give India a 38 run lead.

Abu Jayed, who sent opener Rohit Sharma packing for six on Thursday, claimed both wickets Friday with his disciplined pace bowling.

Abu got CheteshwarPujara (54)

caught at gully soon after the overnight batsman completed his 23rd Test fifty

with a boundary.

But it was Kohli’s wicket that

brought joy to the Bangladesh camp after their lbw appeals were supported by the third umpire.

Kohli was given not out by the onfield umpire but replays suggested the ball would have hit leg stump. It was the superstar batsman’s 10th zero score in his 83rd Test.

Agarwal, who completed his fifty with a boundary off Ebadat Hossain, stood firm with Rahane to surpass Bangladesh’s total.

After surviving a dropped catch on day one, he successfully reviewed an lbw call after being given out by the umpire in the first session when on 82.

India’s pace bowlers led by Mohammed Shami, who took three wickets, dealt with Bangladesh on the opening day after the tourists decided to bat first on a green wicket.

Quartararo quickest in Valencia first practice PARIS AGENCIES

England's Anderson making progress in injury comeback LONDON AGENCIES

England pace bowler James Anderson has revealed he is “progressing nicely” as he steps up his return from a calf injury. Anderson only bowled four overs in the first Ashes Test against Australia earlier this year before suffering the injury.England’s all-time leading wickettaker missed the rest of the Ashes and remains sidelined for the current tour of New Zealand. But on Friday the Lancashire star tweeted a video of him bowling in a net session alongside former England batsmen MarcusTrescothick and Jonathan Trott, as well as an encouraging update on his fitness. “Another day of building up my bowing. Progressing nicely. Happy the two guys on the right weren’t batting!” Anderson said.

Although Anderson was omitted from the New Zealand trip in order to build up his fitness, the 37-year-old could feature when England head to South Africa. The series in South Africa begins on Boxing Day and forms part of the ICC World Test Championship.

French rider Fabio Quartararo posted the quickest time in first practice for the season-ending Valencia Grand Prix on Friday, with world champion Marc Marquez third on the timesheets.

The 20-year-old, who is bidding to cap a breakthrough season with his maiden win this weekend, edged out Jack Miller in the opening session. Threetime MotoGP world champion Jorge Lorenzo was only 18thfastest the day after announcing he will retire after the race.

Marquez, who was crowned top-class world champion for a sixth time last month, is looking for only his second MotoGP win in Valencia and was just 0.077 seconds slower than Quartararo.

Yamaha’s Quartararo has managed five pole positions and six podium finishes in his debut MotoGP season.

Leading MotoGP times from the first practice session at the Valencia Grand Prix on Friday: 1.

Fabio Quartararo (FRA/YamahaSRT) 1min 31:455sec, 2. Jack Miller (AUS/Ducati-Pramac) at 0.057sec, 3. Marc Marquez (ESP/Honda) at 0.077, 4. Maver-

ick Vinales (ESP/Yamaha) at 0.140, 5. Franco Morbidelli (ITA/Yamaha-SRT) at 0.203, 6.

Joan Mir (ESP/Suzuki) at 0.339, 7. Pol Espargaro (ESP/KTM) at

0.462, 8. Valentino Rossi (ITA/Yamaha) at 0.521, 9. Andrea Dovizioso (ITA/Ducati) at 0.677, 10.

Alex Rins (ESP/Suzuki) at 0.751

West indies break record t20 losing streak JAMAICA AGENCIES

West Indies captain Kieron Pollard was a relieved man after his side hammered Afghanistan to end their longest losing streak in Twenty20 internationals. Opener Evin Lewis hit 68 off 41 balls and Pollard made an unbeaten 32 of 21 balls and took two key wickets to claim man of the match honours as West Indies won the game by 30 runs. West Indies, who had lost their seven previous T20s this year, made 164-5 from their 20 overs and then restricted Afghanistan to 134-9. “It’s always good to contribute but it’s always better to contribute in the winning cause,” Pollard said after the game late Thursday. While paying tribute to Lewis, Pollard also said the Caribbean bowlers had performed “magnificently” despite being a bowler short. Pollard himself took Asghar Afghan and Najibullah Zadran as they were starting to build threatening innings. “We have a couple of guys who can bowl here and there. The guys rose up to the occasion,” said Pollard. “We’ll have to go back and improve on certain areas.”

Afghanistan won the toss and skipper Rashid Khan opted to make West Indies bat but his gamble did not pay off. “We didn’t bowl well in the first 10 overs,” he admitted.

Afghanistan has now lost three straight T20s after 12 straight victories. However, Khan said the side were testing youngsters to be ready for future tournaments. “We have a five-year plan. Hopefully, we’ll have the perfect 15 for the Asia Cup and T20 World Cup.” Both tournaments are in 2020. The two sides play the second of their threematch T20 series in Lucknow on Saturday.

Afghanistan plays all their home games in India because of security concerns.

Cricketers’ mental health thrown into the spotlight DUBAI AGENCIES

Mental wellbeing as much as physical health is emerging as a key challenge for modern-day cricketers — with relentless schedules, intense public scrutiny and the fear of failure weighing heavily.

The issue has been thrust into the spotlight in Australia, where three top players recently stepped aside for mental health reasons, with administrators scrambling to get on top of the problem. Glenn Maxwell, one of the world’s best shortformat players, set the tone late last month by taking time away after “experiencing some difficulties with regards to his mental health”. Will Pucovski — who had already taken two breaks to deal with similar issues — and Nic Maddinson followed suit, just a week ahead of the first Test of the Australian summer against Pakistan. The specifics of their cases are not known publicly, but Ben Oliver, Cricket Australia’s head of national teams, said there were a number of factors he had noted, generally, since beginning his job this year. “One of the early observations

I’ve had in the role is the intense scrutiny and the relentless schedule that exists around cricket,” he told SEN sports radio.

“From that perspective, there is an absolute need for us to invest time, energy, resources into understanding the challenges that exist for players and staff around mental health in that context, and making sure we do everything we can.”

Test fast bowler Mitchell Starc attributed part of the blame on the modern players’ gruelling schedule, with some top stars away from home for months at a time, putting strains on families and taxing friendships. “You have your pressures around cricket, the schedules are pretty ridiculous these days,” said Starc, who is promoting the “Movember” initiative, where moustaches are grown during November to highlight issues affecting men like mental health.

“The positive thing is that guys are feeling perhaps more comfortable, if you like, to be open and honest with how they’re feeling,” he added. “In the past guys might have just kicked on and tried to get through things and it could have built up to something worse.” Robert

Craddock, a respected cricket writer for News Corp. newspapers, noted that the sport was also very mentally challenging.

“Cricket may not be a physical contact sport but its mental challenges, with so much waiting time, are much tougher than they look,” he wrote in a column Friday. “Most batsmen fail most of the time so the mental demands can be taxing.”

‘SILENCE NOT THE ANSWER’: It is not just an Australian issue. Ex-England captain Marcus Trescothick quit a

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tour of India in 2006 and England opener Jonathan Trott left the 2013 Ashes series in Australia after one Test, with both later revealing they had struggled with stress and anxiety. Superstar India skipper Virat Kohli said this week that he too had suffered and applauded someone of Maxwell’s stature going public.

“It has set the right example for cricketers around the world that if you’re not in the best frame of mind you try, and try and try, but as human beings you reach a

tipping point at some stage or the other,” he said ahead of India’s first Test against Bangladesh in Indore. “And you need time away from the game. Not to say you give up, but just to gain more clarity.”

Kohli said he went through a difficult period during India’s 2014 tour of England when runs dried up and he could not find anyone to confide in.

“I didn’t know what to do, what to say to anyone, and how to speak and how to communicate,” he said.

The problem for authorities is knowing what measures to introduce to best help players with their mental wellbeing.

Alex Kountouris, Cricket Australia’s sports science and sports medicine manager, said the organisation was working hard to understand the causes better.

“There is much society still needs to learn in relation to mental health, but we know enough to say with great certainty that silence is not the answer,” he said.

“Cricket Australia has committed to being open about the challenges faced in managing mental health. We are putting player wellbeing first and supporting them unconditionally.”

Saturday, 16 November, 2019

NEWS us lawmakers express concern over rights atrocities in held kashmir WASHINGTON: During a Congressional hearing on human rights, the US lawmakers have once again expressed concerns about the grim situation in Occupied Kashmir. An Indian-American Congresswoman, Pramila Jayapal, said that she is deeply concerned by the Indian government’s actions in Kashmir. Democrats Sheila Jackson Lee, David Trone and David Cicilline, also criticized India’s actions after scrapping Kashmir’s special status. Arunima Bhargava, the commissioner from the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, said that the rights of Muslim communities are being curtailed because of the Indian government’s actions. INP

Taliban shift Western hostages as prisoner swap postponed PESHAWAR: A plan to swap two Western hostages with three Taliban prisoners has been postponed, an Afghan government official told Reuters on Friday, and Taliban sources said the group had moved the Westerners to a ‘new and safe place’. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said on Tuesday the government would release a leader of the Taliban’s Haqqani militant faction and two other commanders in exchange for two university professors, American Kevin King and Australian Timothy Weeks. The deal is seen by the Afghan government as a key move in securing direct talks with the Taliban, which has hitherto refused to engage with what it calls an illegitimate “puppet” regime in Kabul. But a diplomat said in Washington on Wednesday the exchange had not taken place. An Afghan government official told Reuters on Friday it had been postponed, without elaborating further, while Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid blamed the United States. “It was a shortcoming from the American side the swap did not happen,” he told Reuters. Three Taliban sources, including a relative of prisoner Anas Haqqani, brother of the leader of the Haqqani network, said the commanders were due to be flown to Qatar to be freed but were returned to the jail in Bagram outside the Afghan capital Kabul. “We spoke to them after they were provided with new clothes and shifted out of Bagram jail,” the relative said, declining further identification due to the sensitivity of the issue. “They told us that they were being taken to the plane and we expected them to land in Doha and when it didn’t happen for several hours, we got suspicious.” AGENCIES

Pelosi says trump has admitted to bribery as impeachment probe intensifies WASHINGTON: House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that President Donald Trump already has admitted to bribery in the Ukraine scandal at the heart of a Democratic-led inquiry, accusing him of an impeachable offence under the United States Constitution. “The bribe is to grant or withhold military assistance in return for a public statement of a fake investigation into the elections. That’s bribery,” Pelosi, the top Democrat in Congress, told a news conference the day after the first public hearing in the impeachment inquiry she announced in September. “What the president has admitted to and says it’s ‘perfect,’ I say it’s perfectly wrong. It’s bribery,” Pelosi said. Democrats are looking into whether the Republican president abused his power by withholding $391 million in US security aid to Ukraine as leverage to pressure Kiev to conduct two investigations that would benefit him politically. The money, approved by Congress to help a US ally combat Russia-backed separatists in the eastern part of the country, was later provided to Ukraine. Trump has denied any wrongdoing. Another central figure — former US Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch — is due to testify on Friday in the second public hearing in the inquiry.

White House budget official Mark Sandy will testify in the inquiry in a closed session on Saturday as scheduled if he is subpoenaed, his lawyer said on Thursday.

Nawaz Sharif’S health critical, PMl-N, doctor claiM dr adNaN says aNy Further deLays iN PML-N sPokesPersoN says Nawaz caN shiFtiNg PML-N suPreMo abroad For MedicaL suFFer a heart attack iF doctors coNstaNtLy treatMeNt caN be daNgerous keeP tryiNg to iNcrease his PLateLets LAHORE

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STAFF REPORT

AKISTAN Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supreme leader and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s health is in critical condition and any further delays in shifting him abroad for medical treatment can be dangerous, his personal physician Dr Adnan Khan and the party’s spokesperson said on Friday.

In a series of tweets, Dr Adnan said that medical professionals have recommended travelling abroad to a centre of excellence for medical treatment and any delay can be of serious consequences to the health and life of the threetime prime minister.

Responding to criticism on Nawaz staying at his home instead of the hospital, he said that “those heartlessly targeting Nawaz should know that he is on heavy doses of steroids and massive immunomodulation and it is not advisable for him to stay in the hospital as any infection acquired at the hospital can be fatal for his impaired immunity”.

He further said that medical professionals have advised him to seek treatment in a high-dependency unit (HDU). Sharif Medical City managed one such facility at his home for providing necessary treatment. Specialised doctors and nurses are providing round the clock care as advised by the medical board, he concluded.

Speaking separately to media, PML-N

spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said that the medicines being given to Nawaz were resulting in side effects.

“The side effects of the medicines being given to Nawaz Sharif are causing swelling in his body,” she said. “It is dangerous to give him steroids and other medicines without diagnosing the disease.”

Marriyum said that Nawaz could suffer a heart attack if doctors constantly kept trying to increase his platelets.

“If Nawaz is not shifted abroad immediately, then his treatment wouldn’t be possible at the hands of Pakistani doctors,” she said.

On Wednesday, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf

(PTI) government, after much deliberation, had granted a one-time permission to Nawaz for four weeks to travel abroad for his treatment provided he submitted indemnity bonds worth over Rs7.5 billion. PML-N, on the other hand, rejected the demand and the matter is in limbo since then.

Earlier in the day, the Lahore High Court (LHC) also admitted PML-N’s plea challenging the government’s condition.

On October 11, Nawaz was shifted from Central Jail Kot Lakhpat to NAB Lahore building at Thokar Niaz Beg after the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) got his 14-day physical remand in connection with the Chaudhry Sugar Mills corruption case investigation. However, on October 28, the former premier was rushed to Services Hospital from the NAB Lahore detention centre after his health suddenly deteriorated. A six-member medical board, headed by Services Hospital Principal Mahmood Ayaz diagnosed the reason for his declining health on October 31.

“It is acute immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP), a bleeding disorder, in which the immune system destroys platelets,” a board member had said, adding that doctors were hopeful that his condition would improve in a few days.

On the other hand, other doctors assigned to look after him were of the opinion that he was not in good condition so he should remain in the hospital, however, Nawaz could make a request if he wanted to leave the hospital.

Fazl sees snap polls within one month ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Friday claimed that election would be held before the next year.

Talking to the media, flanked by Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) leaders Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi and Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, the JUI-F chief said that if the prime minister had resigned the protests would not have spread to the entire country.

Fazl added that his party workers will continue to block main highways across the country. “I would advise the provincial governments to let us exercise our democratic right to protest,” he told reporters.

When asked if he expects national polls to be held by the next year, he said, “2020 is very far away. Election will be held before that.”

Meanwhile, Elahi praised the JUI-F chief for holding a peaceful sit-in in the federal capital. “The large sit-in proves that Fazl is the only opposition leader in Pakistan,” Elahi said, adding that his was one was unique, compared

to previous ones, where bullets were fired and people were injured. Later, Shujaat also spoke to the media and revealed that he told Prime Minister Imran Khan that his office is an important one. “I told him that he should dispense justice. Our political party also said that this in the National Assembly (NA) that Nawaz Sharif should be allowed to leave the country for medical treatment,” he said. The PML-Q is a coalition partner of the ruling party at the center and in the province of Punjab.

PROTESTERS CONTINUE TO BLOCK HIGHWAYS: Thousands of JUI-F protesters on Friday continued to block major highways across the country as part of the party’s ‘Plan B’.

According to details, traffic flow remained affected in several parts of the country.

In Karachi, protest at Hub River Road created issues for commuters leading them to use alternative routes. According to JUI-F’s provincial spokesperson Sami Swati, the party has decided to continue the protest with the party’s workers and leaders to offer the Friday prayer at the venue of the sit-in.

Imran will be gone by next year, says PPP chief ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Friday said that the country will have a new prime minister by the start of next year. Speaking to media after a meeting of the party’s core committee, the PPP chairman said that elections would be held next year and as a result, a new prime minister would be elected. “The PPP wants elections to be held,” he said. “We don’t want to go from one selected government to another.” Bilawal said that the chances of the prime minister going home had not decreased but on the contrary had increased. He said that the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) did not inform the Rahbar Committee about Plan B and Plan C in detail. “The Rahbar Committee was not informed in detail about Fazl’s talks with the Chaudhry brothers and the Plan B and C of the Azadi March,” he said. Bilawal said that the PPP had fulfilled its promises to Fazl.

He said that by next year, a new prime minister will be in office. “I can see with certainty that by next year Imran Khan will not be the prime minister,” he said. “We will have a new prime minister next year.” In response to a question, Bilawal said former president Asif Ali Zardari was not being allowed to meet his personal physician for the past six months. “Zardari has not applied for bail,” he said. STAFF REPORT

Israel strikes targets in Gaza despite ceasefire GAZA AGENCIES

Israel launched fresh strikes against Islamic Jihad targets in Gaza, the army said early Friday, weakening a ceasefire put in place after fighting this week killed 34 Palestinians in exchanges of fire.

The ceasefire began Thursday morning following two days of deadly violence in the Gaza Strip triggered by an Israeli strike on an Islamic Jihad commander. Israel Defence Forces (IDF) told reporters that new overnight strikes were underway on Islamic Jihad, the second most powerful Palestinian militant group in Gaza after Hamas.

It came after five rockets were fired at Israel from Gaza — also after the ceasefire came into effect — with two of them intercepted by air de-

fences, according to the army.

“The IDF views the violation of the ceasefire and rockets directed at Israel

with great severity,” the army said in a news release. Israel’s military was prepared to “continue operating as neces-

sary against all attempts to harm Israel civilians”, it said.

Two injured citizens were being treated in hospital in the southern part of the territory, according to the health ministry in Gaza. The ceasefire brokered by Egyptian and UN officials, the usual mediators between Gaza and Israel, was agreed as the flare-up raised fears of a new all-out conflict.

During the day on Thursday normal life had resumed quietly in Israeli regions near the Gaza border, while in Gaza, citizens had also embraced the return of relative calm. “We hope for peace, we don’t want war,” said Mahmoud Jarda, an inhabitant of the enclave.

BOMB SHELTERS: The escalation began early Tuesday with Israel’s targeted killing of a top Islamic Jihad commander, Baha Abu al-Ata, whom it accused of

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being behind rocket fire and other attacks.

The violence came at a politically sensitive time for Israel, with no new government in place since a September election ended in deadlock.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Abu al-Ata “was killed alongside dozens of terrorists” after the strike on his home, adding: “Our enemies got the message: We can reach anyone, even in their bed.” That strike triggered almost immediate retaliatory rocket fire from Islamic Jihad at Israel, setting off air-raid sirens and sending Israelis rushing to bomb shelters in the country’s south and central regions.

Israel’s military said some 450 rockets had been fired at its territory since Tuesday morning and air defences had intercepted dozens of them in fireballs high in the sky.