E-Paper PDF 17th November (ISB)

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17 November, 2019 I 19 Rabi-ul-Awwal, 1441 I Rs 27.00 I Vol X No 137 I 80 Pages I Islamabad Edition

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cOurt AllOwS FOrMer PreMier tO trAvel AbrOAd FOr FOur weekS, durAtiON cAN be exteNded ON dOctOrS’ recOMMeNdAtiON OrderS GOvt tO reMOve NAwAz’S NAMe FrOM NO-Fly liSt withOut ANy cONditiONS

STORY ON PAGE 02

Govt respects court’s decision, says SAPM Firdous STORY ON PAGE 02

JUI-F nationwide blockade continues STORY ON BACK PAGE

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CMYK Sunday, 17 November, 2019

02 ISLAMABAD

LHC removeS govt’S CoNditioNS oN NAwAz’S depArtUre LAHORE

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stAff RePoRt

N a major setback to the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Saturday allowed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to travel abroad for four weeks without having to sign the indemnity bond suggested by the federal government, saying the duration could be extended on doctors’ recommendation.

As the government and Sharif brothers remained at an impasse over the terms of Nawaz Sharif’s travel abroad — specifically his return to Pakistan — the LHC said it would draft its own undertaking for the former premier’s travel and give to lawyers of both sides.

A two-judge bench, comprising Justice Ali Baqar Najafi and Justice Sardar Ahmad Naeem, heard the petition challenging the government’s condition of furnishing indemnity bonds in order to secure the removal of Nawaz’s name from the ECL.During the hearing, Justice Najafi remarked that in his opinion, it was not fair for the government to place conditions after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had granted bail to Nawaz Sharif.

If Nawaz’s health improves, the federal

period. The counsel contended that to ensure the return of Nawaz Sharif, the condition of indemnity bond was placed. He demanded that the petitioners provide a time frame for Nawaz’s return.

Khan said that the government had prepared a draft in response to the ones

by Nawaz and Shehbaz, under which the government will be able to send, when it deems fit, a medical board abroad to establish whether the former premier could travel or not. The court clarified that the doctors in United Kingdom would be treating Nawaz while the government’s board will do a check up to determine his fitness for travel. The court suggested to mention in Nawaz’s draft that his medical reports would also be shared with the government. Nawaz Sharif can submit the bonds to the court and not the government, if he wants, the counsel added. The bond is not currency, they are just papers of ownership, he said.

Earlier, the bench asked PML-N President Shehbaz, who was in court for the hearing, if he was willing to guarantee that Nawaz will return. To this, Shehbaz said: “God will bring him back.” PML-N lawyer Amjad Pervez told the court that Nawaz had returned to Pakistan for the proceedings of the corruption references

government’s board can examine him, the bench pointed out. The hearing, which started at 11am, was adjourned multiple times. A little after 1pm, the court had directed Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shehbaz Sharif to submit a written undertaking about the former prime minister’s travel abroad and his return.

Following the court’s directions, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) legal team submitted a handwritten draft of the undertaking by Nawaz, which stated: “I do hereby undertake to return to Pakistan […] to face the process of law and justice as soon as I am declared healthy and fit to travel to Pakistan by my doctors.” A separate undertaking was submitted by Shehbaz in which he stated: “I undertake to facilitate return of my brother on certification by doctors that he has regained his health and is fit to return to Pakistan.” The hearing was then adjourned until 2:30pm. When it resumed, Additional Attorney General (AAG) Chaudhry Ishtiaq A. Khan, representing the government, opposed the undertaking submitted and said it did not mention when Nawaz would leave Pakistan and when he would return.

He argued that the IHC had granted bail to Nawaz Sharif for a specific time

Nawaz to be shifted to US after initial treatment in UK Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif will be shifted to a Boston hospital after he seeks initial treatment in the United Kingdom (UK), a private news channel reported on Saturday. According to Geo News, the former prime minister will most likely fly out of the country on Monday evening. The air ambulance in which Nawaz will travel will stop for a brief while as it cannot undertake the long journey in a single stroke. The report stated that Nawaz will seek treatment for his kidney and heart in the UK. In the US, the former prime minister will be treated for his platelet condition. Nawaz will be treated in another city in the UK apart from London. Appointments have been made with doctors in the UK and the US, according to sources. The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Saturday permitted to remove former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s name from the Exit Control List without any conditions for a time period of four weeks. On Friday, the LHC called the plea admissible regarding the removal of former premier Nawaz Sharif’s name from the ECL on a conditional basis — the government had said it would allow a ‘one-time permission’ provided Nawaz Sharif deposited surety bonds worth Rs77.5 billion. In its decision, the LHC said that in case Nawaz’s health doesn’t improve then the time-period can be extended, adding that the government officials will be able to contact Nawaz through the Pakistani embassy. News Desk

Fawad files privilege motion against Asif Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry on Saturday filed a privilege motion against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Khawaja Asif for misrepresenting comments made by the government regarding former premier Nawaz Sharif’s health. According to the minister, Asif misquoted the government when he quoted a cabinet member saying “let Nawaz Sharif die”. Fawad said the Islamabad High Court said that the federal and provincial governments had no objection to Nawaz Sharif’s bail. On Thursday, the PML-N leader said an indemnity bond to the tune of Rs7-7.5 billion was nothing but the government must not go blind with its politics of revenge and should allow Nawaz Sharif to go abroad for treatment. News Desk

filed against him by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). He insisted that the former premier “respects the law”. Pervez further said that the IHC had suspended Nawaz’s sentence and argued: “The government cannot interfere while the matter is in the court.”

The court asked Nawaz’s lawyer if the former premier was willing to submit anything as surety. The bench allowed PML-N’s legal team to discuss the matter with Nawaz and adjourned the proceedings for 15 minutes, after which the lawyers held consultations with Shehbaz in the courtroom. In the first half of the hearings, the bench had asked AAG Khan if the memorandum by the Interior Ministry was “issued on humanitarian basis”.

Khan said that the federal government was aware that the Nawaz’s condition was “precarious”, adding that the PML-N supremo was granted permission by the court to travel abroad for medical treatment. He argued that the condition of furnishing an indemnity bond was added in order to “satisfy the court”. “We imposed conditions to uphold the writ of the court,” Khan insisted and said that “if the former prime minister wants to go abroad for treatment, he can go for a specified period of time”. “The court granted a bail

COURT ALLOWS FORMER PREMIER TO TRAVEL ABROAD FOR FOUR WEEKS, DURATION CAN BE EXTENDED ON DOCTORS’ RECOMMENDATION ORDERS GOVT TO REMOVE NAWAZ’S NAME FROM NO-FLY LIST WITHOUT ANY CONDITIONS of eight weeks to Nawaz Sharif,” he said and added: “If Nawaz Sharif wants to go abroad for treatment, he can go, but first he has to satisfy the court.

“If the court is satisfied, we (the government) have no objections.” “If Nawaz Sharif does not want to submit the bonds to the government, then he can submit them to court,” the AAG said.

“We will ask Nawaz and Shehbaz Sharif to submit a written undertaking.

The federal government can review it,” the bench said. “This undertaking will be submitted in court; if the undertaking is not upheld then the law of contempt of court is available.”

“The government is also asking for a [written] undertaking,” Khan insisted.

“So that legal action can be taken if Nawaz Sharif does not return.”

Military clampdown continues in IOK amid rains, snowfall SRINAGAR INP

In occupied Kashmir, the increasing chill after fresh rains and snowfall has added to the miseries of the people of Kashmir Valley who have already been suffering immensely due to strict military siege since August 5, Kashmir Media Service reported.

Due to continued lockdown, people could not stock essential

commodities for the harsh winter – a centuries-old practice as SrinagarJammu Highway, the only surface link of the territory remains closed for most of the season.

The situation in Kashmir Valley and Muslim majority areas of Jammu and Ladakh regions are far from the normal for 104th consecutive day, today, as anger runs high among the masses against India over its move of repealing special status

of occupied Kashmir and putting the territory under military siege. There is no let-up in the restrictions imposed under Section 144 in the territory amid massive deployment of Indian troops in every nook and corner of the occupied territory. The ban on internet, text messaging and prepaid mobile connections remains in force and the restoration of some communications restrictions, such as landline phones and postpaid mobile

services, could not provide any respite to the people The residents of Valley continue to show their resentment against New Delhi by observing civil disobedience over its anti-Kashmir moves. As part of this movement, the shopkeepers keep their shops closed in most part of the day while students are not attending the educational institutions. The offices are also witnessing a very thin attendance.

Netherlands Queen Maxima to visit Pakistan on Nov 25 ISLAMABAD APP

Her Majesty Queen Máxima will visit Pakistan from November 25 to 27 as a special advocate of the UN Secretary-General for Inclusive Financing for Development (UNSGSA). In a series of meetings, she will discuss the progress of access to financial services to improve the economic position of the country’s inhabitants, a statement received here on Friday from Pakistan Embassy the Hague, Netherlands said.

Queen Máxima will visit Pakistan at the invitation of the government. It is a follow-up to the UN visit in February 2016. Queen Máxima focuses, among other things, on the importance of financial services for women. Only 7 per cent women have a bank account and gender-based data collection is needed to understand their specific access and use needs. Another way to connect more people is to digitise government payments such as social benefits. In addition, “fintech” offers great possibilities for simple banking, for example via a mobile phone. To be able to do this safely and efficiently, changes to regulations

are also needed to ensure privacy, among other things. About 21 per cent of adults in Pakistan now have a bank account, in 2014 this was 13 per cent (Global Findex). Despite this increase, 99 million Pakistani still do not have access to financial services such as a bank or savings account, insurance, loans, pensions or digital payment methods. This limits their chances of development. This particularly concerns people in poverty situations, women, small businesses and people in remote agricultural areas.

During her stay in Pakistan, Queen Máxima will also hold talks with international development partners, representatives from the fintech sector, Governor State Bank of Pakistan Reza Baqir, Finance Adviser to the Prime Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh and Chairman of the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) Usman Mubin. She is also expected to call on President Dr Arif Alvi and Prime Minister Imran Khan. She is also expected to attend the launch of “Micropayments Gateway”. This is a central bank initiative to reduce the cost of small payments in order to stimulate digital payments, in particular for people in poverty situa-

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tions. In addition, she pays a field visit to a project developed within the CEO Partnership for Economic Inclusion (CEOP).

CEOP is an informal partnership of ten international companies from different sectors to improve access to financial services and increase market potential. They met for the first time in January 2018 at the invitation of Queen Máxima at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

In Lahore, Queen Máxima will visit a number of projects that focus on digital financial services that, among other things, contribute to the development of entrepreneurs. Since 2009, Queen Máxima, as a UN special advocate, has been committed to making financial services accessible to all, including low-income groups and small and medium-sized businesses, and thus increasing their chances of economic and social development, the statement said.

CMYK Sunday, 17 November, 2019

NEWS punjab Hed officer accused of workplace harassment ISLAMABAD shahzaD PaRacha

Punjab Higher Education Department (HED) Female Deputy Secretary (Establishment) Rahimeen Akram has levelled allegations of workplace harassment against HED Deputy Secretary (Staff) Dr Haider Ali, pointing towards continuous harassment and discrimination against women at higher education institutes. In her complaint to the Punjab HED secretary, a copy of which is available with Pakistan Today, Rahimeen stated that Dr Haider harasses her, her personal staff as well as section officers of her office. Detailing the abuse of power by Dr Haider, she complained about his use of immoral language, shouting and creating unnecessary problems in daily office work for her the staffers and section officers. She said that Dr Haider instigated her staff to disobey her, telling them to not take her seriously and asking them to sit in front of him while working. “Dr Haider came to my office a couple of times and asked for the Wifi password in a threatening way; however, on refusal, he tried to get the password from my staff by using immoral language,” the application further stated. Interestingly, HED Secretary Sajid Zafar Dal told Pakistan Today that matter has been sorted out as Rahimeen has withdrawn her application, therefore, no inquiry is needed. It may be mentioned here that Dr Haider is an assistant professor at the Agriculture College of the University of Sargodha and is working on attachment with the HED.

aLtaf aSKS modi for poLitiCaL aSyLUm

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UTTAHIDA Qaumi Movement founder Altaf Hussain has asked India Prime Minister Narendra Modi to grant him political asylum or help him financially if the country is unable to give refuge to the self-exiled Pakistani politician and his comrades.

The MQM founder is facing a hate speech case in London and the metropolitan police had recently relaxed his bail terms. His trial is due in June next year. His passport remains with the UK police as part of his bail conditions and he is not allowed to apply for any travel docu-

ment unless permitted by the court.

In a speech posted on social media, the MQM founder said he would like to travel to India because his grandfathers were buried there.

“My grandmother is buried there and thousands of my relatives are buried there in India. I want to go to India to their graves,” said the MQM founder in a request to the Indian government headed by fundamentalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Addressing Modi, Altaf said that his assets, house and offices were taken over in Karachi after August 22 speech in 2017. He asked the Indian prime minister to help him with money if he cannot take the risk of

In the run up to elections 2018, one obvious point of consensus across the political divide was the inevitable need to reform the health sector. All were in agreement that the ailing and outdated healthcare system needed to be reformed, and done so with an urgency.

So cometh the hour. A year down the line, much has already been written on these pages on the scale of reforms in other areas.

However, much of the debate, for wrong reasons though, has revolved around the Medical Teaching Institutions Act for quite sometime. Teaching Hospitals, apparently billed as the face of the Department, present complex challenges requiring complete review and overhaul of administrative structures. For a whopping amount around Rs. 230 billion from the tax payers kitty, the outcome was poor service delivery, lack of ownership, absence of accountability, unending bickering, politicking and controversies leaving a chaos. This utter wastage of resources comes at a price which a cashstarved nation like us could ill afford. One bed costs us between 4 to five million a year, high by any standards, and yet service quality remains at the lowest ebb. Imagine a workforce of 1.3 million in the department placed arbitrarily in a highly centralized structure. Routine processes pile up in such a way that no meaningful initiative can drift through. A backlog of some 26,000 pending HR queries, requiring miraculous speed.

This resulted in an inertia where patient suffered the most.

After much deliberations and extensive consultations, we came round to a package of reforms aimed at restructuring the administrative scheme of things through the Medical Teaching Institutions Act. The ironic part was that the MTI came after dozens of meetings with all stakeholders taking part in recent protests. Many of their proposals became part of the final draft, till they delivered the surprise of going Avowal at the last moment. MTI’s outright rejection on one or the other pretext was indeed surprising, for

whiteLIes Apollo

providing him asylum.

CHARGED UNDER TERRORISM ACT:Hussain, who had earlier in the day appeared at a London police station after his bail expired, was charged by detectives from the Met Police’s Counter Terrorism Command.

“Altaf Hussain […], of Abbey View, Mill Hill, NW7, was charged under section 1(2) of the Terrorism Act (TACT) 2006 with encouraging terrorism,” the Met Police said in a statement on its website.

The charge as stated by the UK police is that Hussain “On 22 August 2016 published a speech to crowds gathered in Karachi, Pakistan which

IHC to take up Al-Aziza case on 25th The Islamabad High Court (IHC) will take up former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s plea against the sentence in Al-Aziza Stells Mills case on November 25. The high court bench comprising Justice Aamer Farooq and Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani will also hear the appeal of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for enhancing the ex-PM’s sentence in the same. Nawaz, who is all set to go abroad for medical treatment, was granted an 8-week bail by the high court last week over health grounds. The PML-N supreme leader was sentenced to seven years in prison and was fined Rs1.5 billion and $25 million in the Al-Azizia corruption reference by an accountability court on December 24, 2018. However, he was acquitted in another reference related to Flagship Investments. News Desk

MTI: Myth and reality DR. YASMIN RASHID

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it was aimed at welfare of those very protestors. Whereas we have continuously engaged them, listened to their demands and made necessary amends, their intransigence remains inexplicable. The MTI offers a choice to doctors to either continue with the existing pay scale system or take the more lucrative positions under the MTI, the fuss over job security hence totally uncalled for. Choice in service structure remains doctors choice, yet the blame is on us.

So the standoff continued at the cost of poor patients who continued to suffer and sulk for no fault of theirs. Our repeated requests for dialogue fall on deaf ears yet our efforts for resolution continued. The sad part was that MTI protest was being used as pretext by some work shirkers to enjoy long holidays from work. This was a difficult situation; so what were the choices? Push ahead with the preponderance of authority or let the pusillanimity prevail? Between the two, even the procrastination was not an option. Let me emphasize it again that the MTI Act primarily aims to redefine the administrative scheme of things. It addresses the bottlenecks arising from a centralized Secretariat-based structure and replaces it with a more local, financial and administratively autonomous model, to introduce efficiency into the system.

Privatization was one big misnomer against the reforms package. When the Government remains the employer, provides the funds, ensures performance monitoring, conducts the audit, how can it even be termed as privatization? The conspiracy theories come from the introduction of a Governing Board of each institution instead of the Secretariat.

The Boards shall comprise Professors, experienced professionals from health management, lawyers and financial experts in areas related to health, retired civil servants, retired judicial servants and other members from the civil society and others deemed appropriate by the Provincial Government. A number of other provincial institutions are working on the same model, yet the word privatization is reserved for MTI only?

For feedback, comments, suggestions and, most importantly, tips, contact us at whitelies@pakistantoday.com.pk

HE has issues with the far-from-ideal punctuality of certain cabinet members, the prime minister does. The likes of Firdous Ashiq Awan and Omer Ayub have been reprimanded verbally by the prime minister for being tardy.

Speaking of Dr Awan: much like many other cabinet members, she also wants to be seated next to the prime minister at the meetings. Once, when she managed to reach on time, and the PM wasn’t there, she placed her shawl on the seat next to him (calling ‘dibs’ on the seat, as it were) and left the room. When she returned, she saw that the shawl had been removed and placed several seats down from the ‘choice seats.’

No territorial markings in this jungle. * * * * * * * * * IF only the government could include prisoner furloughs on the basket-of-goods which the Bureau of Statistics uses to measure inflation. It would more than balance the price of tomatoes. From the demanded Rs 7 billion to a Rs 50 stamp paper by Shehbaz Sharif.

Yes: from seven, followed by nine zeros, to five, followed by one zero.

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were likely to be understood by some or all of the members of the public to whom they were published as a direct or indirect encouragement to them to the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism and at the time he published them, intended them to be so encouraged, or was reckless as to whether they would be so encouraged.”

The Met Police said: “Hussain was previously arrested on 11 June on suspicion of intentionally encouraging or assisting offences contrary to Section 44 of the Serious Crime Act 2007. He was released on bail and subsequently charged as above.” News Desk

04 LAHORE

Sunday, 17 November, 2019

WEATHER UPDATES SUNDAY

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Smog level goeS fRom hazaRdouS to unhealthy afteR Rain LAHORE

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STAFF REPORT

AIN and wind on Saturday reduced the density of thick smog that had engulfed the city for several days due to rising air pollution blamed on poor fuel quality and burning of stubble.

After the rain, the air quality went from being ‘hazardous’ to ‘unhealthy’ with an Air Quality Index (AQI) ranking of 157 on Saturday, making Lahore the third most polluted city in the world.

Uzbekistan’s Tashkent replaced Lahore as the second most polluted city, while Delhi retained its top position with a ‘very unhealthy’ air quality ranking according to Air Visual.

Due to smog, the Punjab School Education Department had announced to close all schools in Lahore, Multan and Faisalabad for two days on Thursday.

Since the start of November, Lahore’s AQI has witnessed an abrupt spike. According to experts, the increase in smog is due to poor fuel used by vehicles and industries. The government, however, blames it on India, where farmers burn crops’ stubble.

As per Lahore US consulate Air Quality Monitor feed, Lahore’s AQI was PM2.5 – 220 at 12 noon. In Gulberg, the AQI was 179, the Punjab Assembly vicinity observed PM2.5 at 209, Upper Mall at 173, Sundar Industrial Estate at 189, DHA Phase 5 at 206 and Zeenat Block at 198.

Rana Sanaullah’s judicial remand extended till Nov 30 in narcotics case LAHORE STAFF REPORT

An anti-narcotics court on Saturday further extended the judicial remand of Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) leader Rana Sanaullah for 14 days in alleged drugs recovery case.

During the hearing, Rana Sanauallah was produced before an ANF court under strict security. Sanaullah’s defence counsel pleaded the court to grant complete record of the case against his client. “We have not been granted record and the list of witnesses in the case,” the defence counsel argued.

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To this, the court directed the counsel to give in writing what record was needed. The Judge ordered the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) to produce again the former Punjab law minister in the case hearing on November 30 after 14-day judicial remand.

Media correspondents were not allowed in the room as judge Shakir Hassan has banned media in the court room.

Addressing media persons, Sanaullah’s lawyer said they have requested the court to provide the footage, about which Minister of State for Interior Shehryar Khan Afridi discussed.

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NEWS AJK PRESIDENT URGES LAWYERS TO UNDERSCORE KASHMIR CAUSE MIRPUR: Azad Jammu Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan has prevailed upon the lawyer’s community to bolster Kashmir liberation movement and raise voice for the oppressed people of Indian Occupied Kashmir by mobilizing lawyers fraternity at national and international level.

He was talking to a delegation of

senior lawyers who called on him at Jammu Kashmir Giuseppe on Saturday under the leadership of Advocate General Azad Kashmir Raja Inamullah Khan Advocate.

The state president said the lawyers of Azad Kashmir had always expressed their firm commitment to the liberation movement, and hopefully, they would further intensify their efforts.

"After unilateral and unlawful actions by India in the held territory, the Pakistani nation had demonstrated unprecedented unity right from Karachi up to Khyber and from Khunjerab to Muzaffarabad to express solidarity with their brothers and sisters in IOK," he added.

Sardar Masood Khan pointed out that all Pakistani political par-

ties, setting aside their political differences, unanimously approved a resolution in the parliament in support of the right of self-determination of Kashmiri people, while on September 27 Prime Minister Imran Khan in his address to the UN General Assembly effectively represented sentiments and feelings of the Kashmiri people. APP

All courts decisions to be implemented: Governor Sarwar LAHORE APP

Punjab Governor Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar Saturday said that judiciary was independent and its every decision would be implemented in letter and spirit.

Addressing a seminar on 'KAASH' by Takmil-e-Pakistan here at Aiwan-eIqbal, he said that political vengeance of the opposition was out of question, adding that elimination of corruption and transparent accountability was indispensable for prosperity and development of the country and "We shall not go on back foot in this regard."

Governor said "We are acting upon the Kashmir issue as per national expectations and Kashmiris will, and the world community will also have to take notice of the Indian atrocities against people of occupied Kashmir." He said that youth empowerment was being focused to strengthen the country, citing that there was no doubt in it that once the youth make determination to achieve anything, they could make the impossible things possible through their hard work and no power of the world could obstruct their way. Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar said that role of the youth in PTI's success and becoming of Imran Khan as Prime Minister was also a new example in the history of Pakistan. He assured that all the promises made with the youth would be fulfilled In Sha Allah.

Five injured in gas leak blast RAWALPINDI APP

Five people sustained serious burn injuries in a gas leak blast in Sadiqabad area here on Saturday. According to Rescue 1122 spokesperson, the incident took place in a boy’s hostel located at Gousia chowk in Sadiqabad area where gas league blast occurred in a room. Resultantly, Abdul Hannan of 19, Allah Ditta of 24, Saleh Muhammad of 22, Muhammad Mustafa of 22 and Arslan of 26 got serious burn injuries. On receiving information, the team of Rescue 1122 rushed to the place and shifted the injured to Benazir Bhutto Hospital where their condition is stated to be critical. On other hand, Rescue 1122 has appealed the public to use gas appliances carefully to avoid unpleasant accidents.

Spokesman said most of the incidents took place because of the gas leakage during the night when people went to bed while leaving the gas accessories on.

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05

Sunday, 17 November, 2019

06 WORLD VIEW

Selling AmericA’S AmbASSAdorShipS A new future in

washington Monthly

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JAmes Bruno

few years ago, I wrote an open letter to the executive producer of the popular daytime television drama The Bold and the Beautiful. I asked for a job as an actor. My acting credentials? Zero. Any show biz experience? Zilch. A soap opera fan?

Nope. But I told Bradley Bell, whose wife was also a producer: “After reading about your wife Colleen being named by President Obama to be our next ambassador to Hungary, I thought, I too can realize one of my wildest dreams: become a soap opera matinée idol.” Colleen Bell had as many credentials to be an ambassador as I did of being an actor. Yet she got the position, instead, by donating more than $2 million to Obama’s campaigns.

The Bold and the Beautiful has turned out to be a veritable incubator of diplomatic talent. President Trump’s envoy to Denmark, Carla Sands, was an actress on B&B (her character slept with her girlfriend’s fiancé). What presaged her diplomatic posting? It was $350,000 in political contributions to Trump.

For all the political squalor inherent in Ukrainegate, there is one silver lining: the sterling reputations of the U.S. diplomats testifying before Congress—in defiance of White House orders—stand in stark contrast to Trump’s cynical and clownish political appointees. Take Gordon Sondland, for instance. He was a hotel chain owner, devoid of any diplomatic or government experience, who essentially purchased his position as U.S. ambassador to the European Union for a cold $1 million donation to the president’s inaugural committee.

There’s also George Glass, an Oregon real estate developer who donated more than $100,000 to Trump’s

campaign. In return, he was named U.S. ambassador to Portugal. Glass is an avid propagator of the QAnon conspiracy line about a “Deep State” attempting to destroy Trump’s presidency and a cabal of Satan-worshiping Democrats who run a child sex cult. He speaks no Portuguese.

Then there is former ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch, who Trump ousted. Yovanovitch is a threetime ambassador with 33 years in the Foreign Service and is multilingual.

In other words, our experienced diplomats are locked out of key policy jobs while whoever was willing to write a check is representing our nation overseas. In too many cases, they are unworthy of that privilege and responsibility. Trump’s ambassador to South Africa, Lana Marks, is a handbag designer and Mar-a-Lago member who faced more than a dozen lawsuits by former lawyers, landlords, and contractors alleging fraud. She and her husband, moreover, were fined $360,641 by the IRS for failing to pay back taxes. Had she been a regular job applicant, she would have been denied a security clearance.

Selling ambassadorships is a unique form of legal American corruption, practiced by presidents of both parties. In the 18th and 19th centuries, presidents similarly used to award military officer commissions to unqualified hacks as well—until the bloody cost of incompetent “political generals” during the Civil War led to a popular outcry and legislation to abolish the practice. Auctioning off diplomatic positions, however, has remained untouched.

Pre-Trump, the percentage of “political ambassadors” traditionally hovered around 30 percent, overwhelmingly to the most desirable posts, mainly in Europe. Now, that figure is at a historical record of 45 percent, according to the American Foreign Service Association. Before Trump, research shows that campaign donations between “$650,000 and $700,000 generated a 90 percent probability of appointment to a [wealthy developed country] for personal and bundled campaign contributors respectively.”

Trump-appointed ambassadors have averaged $96,927.98 in political contributions, exceeding the previous record of $60,721.83 set by George W. Bush’s ambassadors, according to

research by Marquette University law professor Ryan M. Scoville, who also has found that Trump’s picks are “less qualified” than those of prior presidents.

But, as in the case of Sondland, donations can easily exceed a million dollars. New York Jets owner Robert Wood Johnson IV was awarded the coveted ambassadorship to the United Kingdom after donating nearly $1.5 million to Trump’s campaign and inaugural committee. A million bucks seems to have gotten financier Douglas Manchester a cushy if low ranking posting in the Bahamas.

The consequences for our national security can be dire. Handbag designers and hoteliers versus veteran trained diplomats in charge of foreign policy can potentially mean the difference between war and peace. Only six of 29 U.S. ambassadors to NATO countries are career diplomats.

All of Russia’s ambassadors to NATO member states, by contrast, are, in fact, career diplomats. My research of Russian versus American NATO ambassadors during the Obama administration revealed that Russia’s envoys possessed 960 years of diplomatic experience, averaging 34 years per incumbent, in contrast to America’s ambassadors having 331 cumulative years, averaging twelve years per individual. Those embarrassing figures are even more skewed now.

Putting ambassadorships on the political auction block need not be taken as a given. One presidential candidate has promised to end it. In her plan to “rebuild the State Department,” Elizabeth Warren pledges “to put America’s national interests ahead of campaign donations and end the corrupt practice of selling cushy diplomatic posts to wealthy donors — and I call on everyone running for President to do the same. I won’t give ambassadorial posts to wealthy donors or bundlers — period.”

While the Ukraine scandal may or may not end Trump’s corruption-ridden presidency, it should nonetheless bring about an end to the disgraceful peddling of the nation’s highest diplomatic offices to wealthy dilettantes, a practice that makes the United States a global laughing stock.

In the meantime, I’m taking acting lessons.

James Bruno is a writer and former U.S. diplomat.

global arms sales?

Defence news Jill Aitoro

The last few years have seen a subtle transition in how the U.S., as the world’s dominant arms exporter, markets to the world. Consider what we already know.

In Europe, there’s an expectation to filter more to local firms, whether through co-development or direct buys. There’s also demand for greater access into U.S. programs, and for that access to be on a level playing field.

And then there’s South Korea, now calling for foreign contractors to engage with domestic small and medium-sized enterprises.

Financial support for its companies is important, according to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration, but so is guidance that helps identify technologies that will make those domestic companies more marketable. Call it a mentorship of sorts.

Look to Middle Eastern countries and we’ve historically seen more financial offsets: expectations to create jobs at home to improve the economy, grow skilled labor and expand infrastructure. That’s the same in northern Africa.

But with oil no longer a reliable source of revenue for the region, the expectations are shifting. The Middle East wants to build a new industry, and with billions of dollars in arms sales at stake for the U.S. and Western allies, the region also knows full well that it holds some powerful cards to play.

It’s that question that drove the shift in Europe: “We’re buying from you, so why can’t you buy more from us? And by the way, politically speaking, we’re pretty important.”

All this to say that the emerging visions in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have some teeth. And it can, therefore, shape how the Pentagon, American defense giants and global allies for that matter handle arms sales.

Consider a couple of the more recent developments. The UAE launched a government-owned company with a combined annual revenue of $5 billion known as Edge,

To Israel, Palestinian blood isn’t just cheap, it is worthless

MiDDle east Monitor Professor KAmel HAwwAsH

Those interested in human rights should remember the name of Omar Haitham AlBadawi, from Al-Arroub refugee camp near Hebron. He was hit by Israeli gunfire outside his house. An eyewitness said that a gas canister had set fire to an area near his house. He pulled a towel from his house and indicated to an Israeli soldier that he was going to try and put the fire out. That same soldier shot him in the chest. Minutes later he succumbed to his wounds in a Hebron hospital.

The incident did not take place in Israel but in the illegally occupied West Bank. The innocent man posed no threat.

He is just a Palestinian, a number, an inconvenience. If he had left his homeland of his own accord, he would not have died. It is his fault for clinging proudly to his land. Even if he had posed a threat, the soldier could have aimed at a part of his body that could have incapacitated him, but why bother? He is just a Palestinian.

“Shocking to see the video [of]

today’s killing of Omar Badawi by Israeli security forces,” Nickolay Mladenov, UN special coordinator for Middle East peace, tweeted, adding that the Palestinian appeared to have “posed no threat to anyone”. However, nobody expects action to bring the murderer to account.

I do not know if the soldier enjoyed doing this as much as the incident recently reported, dating back to May 2018, involving Karam Qawasmi. Karam tried to enter Jerusalem but an Israeli soldier stopped him and turned him back.

As he was walking away, arms above his head, the soldier shot him in the back with a sponge-tipped bullet. Unlike Omar, Karam survived.

After falling from the shot, Karam recalled that he “felt numbness in my body that lasted around five minutes”. “I do not know who exactly shot me, but after I got up, all of the soldiers started to shoot around me, just for laughs,” Qawasmi said. He had already been subjected to hours of humiliation and beatings by the soldiers before he was allowed to leave.

“They rammed me [with a jeep], then took me under a bridge and started beating me,” Qawasmi said.

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said: “The video is a clear indication of the Israeli occupation forces’ deliberate shooting against Palestinians, sometimes for entertainment and sometimes to show their arrogance and in most cases the shooting is justified under the pretext of security.”

This incident shows the attitude of Israeli soldiers to Palestinians. They are either a “play thing” or their blood is cheap.

IT IS CLEAR FROM ISRAEL’S MURDEROUS HISTORY SINCE ITS CREATION IN PALESTINE, AGAINST THE WILL OF THE INDIGENOUS PALESTINIANS, THAT PALESTINIAN LIVES DO NOT MATTER Other incidents confirm the lack of value placed on Palestinian lives by Israel.

Sara Daoud Ata Tarayra, 27, from Bani Neim town near Hebron, was a pregnant married woman, living in Hebron, and was killed at the entrance of the Ibrahimi Mosque, in Area H2, in the city. Eyewitnesses disputed the Israeli army’s claim that she had attempted to stab the soldier.

Viewers around the world saw Israeli soldier Elor Azaria walk up to 21-yearold Palestinian Abdel Fattah Al-Sharif, who lay injured on the ground after being shot by another soldier, point his gun at the motionless man and shoot him in the head. While he served a token prison sentence for his crime, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for him to be pardoned. He became a folk hero.

That same status was unofficially bestowed on settler terrorist, Baruch Goldstein who in 1994 murdered 29 Palestinians performing morning prayers at the Ibrahimi mosque in Hebron. His act of terror was rewarded with the division of the mosque into a Jewish and Muslim area.

Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem has documented Palestinian deaths in 2019. The question I pose is, how many of these Palestinians would have been killed in the same manner in a

Western style democracy? In countries where there is accountability and where all lives are valued, soldiers and policemen and women know that they must act within the law or face consequences for their actions.

Killings by Israeli snipers of Palestinians marching to the Gaza fence for return to the homes they and their families were expelled from in 1948, have largely gone unpunished. Israel claims that there is no need for external investigations into its crimes because it carries out its own investigations. However, as part of its investigation into the killings of over 200 Palestinians in the now nearly 83-weekold Great March of Return, a soldier who killed a Palestinian minor was sentenced to a one-month community service.

The soldier killed Othman Ramis Helles during a protest near the Karni crossing east of Gaza City on 13 July 2018. The ruling, as quoted by Israeli media, states that the soldier fired his weapon towards the unarmed teenager “disobeying an order leading to a threat to life or health”.

If Israel placed real value on Palestinian lives, such a sentence would never be commensurate with the loss of this young man. Othman’s father, Rami Helles, told

established with a core mandate “to disrupt an antiquated military industry generally stifled by red tape,” according to its CEO. Falling under Edge are now 25 companies that before were quite small in revenue and global market share, but together hold significant buying power: NIMR, AMMROC and Abu Dhabi Ship Building to name a few.

Not only do these companies become more formidable players on the global stage, but Edge suddenly carries with it significant negotiation power. Sales to the UAE could bring newfound expectations for partnerships, for stakes in programs.

Then consider Saudi Arabia, which established the Saudi Arabian Military Industries, or SAMI, for essentially the same reason. It also modeled the structure off of other countries with established defense industries — Turkey, South Korea, South Africa and some Western countries, among others. SAMI’s stated goal is to become one of the largest 25 defense companies in the world by 2030 and to have export account for 30 percent of its business.

So what might this mean for how the U.S. works with the Middle East? Major primes have cheered the formation of these holding companies. But make no mistake: Those primes recognize that the holding companies also pose a threat to the status quo. A simple model of just selling systems into the region likely won’t fly, nor will teaming on a particular competition necessarily be enough. Boeing formed a joint venture with SAMI, for example, recognizing the need to commit long term.

Also consider what SAMI CEO Andreas Schwer stated to be his asks of the U.S. and allies when I interviewed him last year: “If there was a wish, we would love to get more access to top-class technologies from all the U.S. partners. There are obviously limitations, which we are suffering from. That’s the one element. So be a little bit more open.

And second, export in arms and weapons was driven by FMS [Foreign Military Sales] programs. In our new setup in Saudi Arabia, we will do more and more in direct commercial sales.”

Let’s be realistic — that could change things.

Jill Aitoro is editor of Defense News.

She is also executive editor of Sightline Media's Business-to-Government group, including Defense News, C4ISRNET, Federal Times and Fifth Domain. She brings over 15 years’ experience in editing and reporting on defense and federal programs, policy, procurement, and technology.

the New York Times he was deeply disappointed by the sentence. “I was hoping for financial compensation and jailing him for a longer period,” he said. “This is unjust.”

The recent attack by Israel on Gaza, which started at 4am on 12 November with the extrajudicial killing of Islamic Jihad leader Bahaa Abu Al-Ata in an air raid, deeming him an imminent threat, has left more than 30 dead, amongst them innocent women and children.

The latest were eight members of the Abu Malhous family in Deir El-Balah, killed by Israel and leaving an infant orphaned.

The so called “international community” will not stand up to Israeli crimes or even insist that human rights organisations – which simply document its crimes – must be allowed to do this important work without hindrance. The case of Human Rights Watch Director Omar Shakir who is likely to be deported soon is a case in point.

It is clear from Israel’s murderous history since its creation in Palestine, against the will of the indigenous Palestinians, that Palestinian lives do not matter. Even the notorious Balfour Declaration implied Jews were a people, while the Palestinians were just “communities”. That attitude continues to this day.

Britain and Israel’s other allies believe Israel can use violence at will under the pretence of “self-defence” but deny that right to Palestinians.

Palestinian lives matter to Palestinians but it appears not to Israel, the pro-Israel lobby or Israel’s allies. If they are interested in genuine peace then they will find it when to them Palestinian lives matter as much as Jewish lives. Until then, sadly many more Palestinian lives will be extinguished by a brutal and murderous Apartheid regime.

Sunday, 17 November, 2019

FOREIGN NEWS 07

Gunmen fire On buses Chileans to vote on new constitution in carryinG muslim response to protests sri lankan vOters COLOMBO

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Agencies

UNMEN fired at buses carrying minority Muslim voters on Saturday as Sri Lankans elected a new president, with the powerful Rajapaksa clan eyeing a comeback seven months after Islamist extremists carried out deadly bombings on the island.

Minority Tamils and Muslims are seen as crucial in the close election, and the attack in the northwest of the island — in which no one was injured — was likely aimed at deterring people from voting.

The assailants set fire to tyres on the road and set up makeshift roadblocks before shooting at and pelting with stones two vehicles in the convoy of more than 100 buses, police said. After casting ballots there were given an armed escort back home.

In the Tamil-dominated northern peninsula of Jaffna, meanwhile, police said they arrested 10 men they suspected of “trying to create trouble”, while also complaining that the army had illegally set up roadblocks that could stop people getting to polling stations. Such tactics are nothing new in Sri Lanka, which emerged from a horrific civil war only a decade ago. At the 2015 election, there was a series of explosions in the north. Supporters from rival parties meanwhile clashed in a tea plantation area 90 kilometres (55 miles) east of the capital Colombo, with two people taken to hospital with knife wounds, the election commission said.

Some 85,000 police were on duty for

the election with a record 35 candidates running for president, an office with considerable power similar to the French political system, with close to 16 million eligible voters. Results could come as early as midday (0630 GMT) on Sunday if there is a clear winner.

Nationwide preliminary figures for voter turnout appeared to be similar to 2015 when it was 81.5 percent. Voting ended at 5:00 pm (1130 GMT). One of the two frontrunners is grey-haired retired army lieutenant colonel Gotabaya Rajapaksa, 70, younger brother to the charismatic but controversial Mahinda Rajapaksa, president from 2005-15.

Dubbed the “Terminator” by his own family, “Gota” is promising an infra-

structure blitz and better security in the wake of the Islamist attacks in April that killed 269 people. “Gotabaya will protect our country,” construction worker Wasantha Samarajjeew, 51, said as he cast his ballot in Colombo.

His main rival is Sajith Premadasa, 52, from the governing liberal United National Party (UNP), son of assassinated ex-president Ranasinghe Premadasa. He is also pushing development and security as well as free sanitary pads for poor women, earning him the nickname “Padman” after a famous Bollywood movie.

The Rajapaksas are adored by Sri Lanka’s Sinhalese majority for defeating Tamil Tiger separatists and ending a 37-year civil war in 2009.

SANTIAGO: Chile said Friday it will hold a referendum to replace the country’s dictatorship-era constitution — a key demand of protesters after nearly a month of violent civil unrest. The announcement sent the stock market soaring over eight per cent — the biggest daily rise in a decade — and sparked a recovery by the peso, which was up 3.2 per cent. Lawmakers in Chile’s National Congress agreed early Friday to hold the vote in April 2020 after hours of intense negotiations between the governing coalition and opposition parties. Government spokeswoman Karla Rubilar hailed a “huge agreement” that allowed diverse political forces to talk out their differences and give a “signal of unity.” Thousands took to the streets of Santiago on Friday afternoon, however, crowding into the protest epicentre of Plaza Italia, and violent clashes broke out between small groups of protests and police in the late afternoon. The charter in force since 1980 and enacted by the former military junta of Augusto Pinochet has been changed numerous times. But it does not establish the state’s responsibility to provide education and healthcare — two demands made by millions of Chileans who have taken to the streets. “This agreement is a first step, but it is a historic and fundamental first step to start building our new social pact, and in this the citizenry will have a leading role,” said Interior Minister Gonzalo Blumel. The referendum will ask voters whether the constitution should be replaced and if so, how a new charter should be drafted, Senate President Jaime Quintana said. “It is a political response in the noblest sense of the term, the policy that thinks of Chile, which is taking its destiny in hand and which is assuming its responsibilities,” said Quintana, from the centre-left opposition. The Santiago Stock Exchange closed up 8.1 per cent on the news, recuperating around half its losses since the beginning of the crisis.

The peso recovered from record losses earlier this week, rising 3.2 per cent to trade at 777.29 to the dollar. “We are happy to have reached an agreement that marks a victory against violence,” said Jacqueline van Rysselberghe, head of the Independent Democratic Union party, a pillar of Pinera’s coalition. Not everyone was convinced, though. “All the attention is on the constitution but there are more pressing things: pensions, education,” Raul Opazo, a 39year-old teacher, told AFP. The political agreement “solves nothing,” said cleaner Leslie, 27. “What about our social demands?” Agencies

Gunman, 16, in US school shooting dies as police hunt motive SANTA CLARITA Agencies

US Air Force Chief of Staff calls for Gulf Arab unity to counter Iran DUBAI: United States Air Force Chief of Staff David Goldfein on Saturday pressed Gulf Arab states to reconcile differences and unify military capabilities as tensions with Iran simmer. Washington sees an ongoing dispute that Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and non-Gulf state Egypt have with Qatar as a threat to efforts to contain Iran and has pushed for a united front. “When a missile or a UAV (drone) is en route from Iran that is not the time to reconcile past grievances. That time is now. Today,” Goldfein told an air chiefs conference in Dubai. The U.S. blames Iran for a series of attacks in the Gulf over the summer, including the Sept. 14 missile and drone attack on Saudi Arabia that temporarily shut down half the kingdom’s oil production. Tehran denies involvement. Washington has unsuccessfully tried to mediate the dispute, in which the four nations have severed political, trade and transport ties with Qatar since mid-2017 over accusations it supports terrorism. Doha denies the charge and says the embargo aims to impinge on its sovereignty. Agencies

Pope compares politicians who rage against gays to Hitler VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis said on Friday politicians who rage against homosexuals, gipsies and Jews remind him of Hitler. “It is not coincidental that at times there is a resurgence of symbols typical of Nazism,” Francis said in an address to participants of an international conference on criminal law. “And I must confess to you that when I hear a speech (by) someone responsible for order or for a government, I think of speeches by Hitler in 1934, 1936,” he said, departing from his prepared address. “With the persecution of Jews, gipsies, and people with homosexual tendencies, today these actions are typical (and) represent ‘par excellence’ culture of waste and hate. That is what was done in those days and today it is happening again.” During the 1933-45 Nazi regime in Germany, six million Jews were killed and homosexuals and gipsies were among those sent to extermination camps. Pope Francis did not name any politicians or countries as the targets of his criticism. Agencies

The teenager who gunned down classmates at a California high school before shooting himself died Friday, leaving detectives baffled over the motive of a Boy Scout with no obvious alarm bells in his background.

Nathaniel Berhow died in a hospital one day after shooting himself in the head at the end of a 16th birthday rampage that left two fellow students dead.

Berhow had been in critical condition since police officers storming the campus found him lying among the wounded.

The Los Angeles sheriff’s department confirmed Berhow died shortly after 3:30 pm (2330 GMT) on Friday.

The puzzle of what led him to open fire at Saugus High School, a short commute from Los Angeles, deepened as a picture emerged of a quiet yet sociable teen who was familiar with guns but had no history of troubling behaviour.

“We know it was a planned attack, it was deliberate… The motive? We don’t have it yet,” Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva told a news conference. The victims — a boy and a girl died while another three students were wounded — appeared to have been chosen at random, he said.

“There’s no relationships that we can tell (between) the suspect and the victims,” Villanueva added, scotching rumours that an exgirlfriend had been his target. There was also no history of the teen being bullied.

The FBI earlier said there is no evidence that the suspect had any ideological motives or acted on behalf of any organization. No manifesto or suicide note has been found.

Deepening the riddle, Berhow’s late father had owned six registered guns — but none of them matched the .45 caliber semiautomatic the suspect used.

His proficiency with the weapon during his short, deadly ambush suggested he had been firing guns for some time.

“In 16 seconds he cleared a malfunction and was able to shoot five people and himself, so he seemed very familiar with firing the weapon,” said Villanueva. Jared Axen, 33, a next-door neighbour, described Berhow as an introvert who was usually quiet and reserved but who had friends and could readily be engaged in conversation. “I would see him go back and forth between scouting. I’d see him do a lot of sports-related activities,” he told the Los Angeles Times.

School records show Berhow was a keen middle-distance track runner. Aidan Soto, a fellow scout and student at Saugus, described the suspect as a “good kid,” and the last per-

son he would expect to carry out a mass shooting. “The younger scouts really looked up to him. He was there when they needed him with anything. I’m bewildered and looking for answers.”

Although Berhow had no evident history of violence, his family life over the past few years had been difficult. His father, divorced from his mother not long before, died of a heart attack in December 2017.

The father had reportedly suffered from alcohol-related problems, and was at one point suspected of domestic violence but never prosecuted for lack of evidence.

Nonetheless, the father and son were seemingly close. “He would tell me that he missed his father and that he loved him,” Axen said.

The father was a keen hunter whom neighbours would see manufacturing ammunition in his garage. Investigators said they found additional arms at the home, beyond the six registered weapons. Berhow would sometimes accompany his father on hunting trips, according to Axen — accounting for the deadly accuracy of his shooting.

He also “knew how many rounds he had,” noted Villanueva, the sheriff. The teen gunman saved his final bullet for himself.

The students slain by Berhow were identified as Gracie Anne Muehlberger, 15, and a 14-year-old boy.

Sunday, 17 November, 2019

08 COMMENT

Exit Nawaz Sharif

Yet another blow to the PTI leadership

Finally!

LHC allows Nawaz Sharif to travel abroad

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BoUt a dozen judgments by the county’s three High courts against the Pti government’s decisions in a period of three months are a testimony to the party leadership’s cavalierly attitude towards the law and the Constitution. the latest government decision held void, this time by the lahore High Court, is regarding Pml-n President Shehbaz Sharif’s application to allow former Prime minister nawaz Sharif to travel outside Pakistan for medical treatment, ordering the government to remove his name from the eCl. the federal cabinet had imposed harsh and politically motivated conditions to the departure including an indemnity bond to the tune of rs7.5 billion and a one-time permission confined to four weeks.

Knowing well that the former Prime minister was in a precarious condition, the government insisted that whatever the consequences he could not be allowed to fly out without fulfilling the severe conditions laid out by it. the Pml-n leadership refused to accept the conditions. it held that agreeing to the hefty indemnity bond was meant to provide the Pti leadership an opportunity to claim that it had recovered at least a part of what it called looted wealth, a charge considered by the Pml-n a slur. Further, that giving a few days for the treatment too was motivated by political vindictiveness. Despite being in a critical condition, mr Sharif refused to accept the government’s terms. Pml-n President Shehbaz Sharif approached lahore High Court for seeking justice. the lahore High Court examined the drafts for the undertaking submitted on the court’s direction by both the parties, following which the court presented its own draft. the assistant attorney General expressed some reservations on the lahore High Court’s draft. Finally the court allowed nawaz Sharif to travel abroad for four weeks for medical treatment, saying the duration could be extended if his health required. the court rejected the condition requiring the indemnity bond. a Federal minister, along with Prime minister’s Special adviser on information, have been issued contempt notices for issuing objectionable statements about courts’ judgments. Hopefully this will make other Pti motormouths think before they speak.

Intolerance across the spectrum Political and otherwise

aRif Nizami

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prisoner of his self-serving rhetoric Pm Khan is hoist by his own petard. Unable to allow his critically ill nemesis to go abroad for urgently needed treatment, he conveniently passed the buck to the courts. after sounding magnanimous by removing ailing nawaz Sharif’s name from the eCl (exit control list) he added a caveat that the incarcerated three times former prime minister submit an indemnity bond amounting to a whopping rs7.5 billion in order to leave the country for medical treatment. after almost sounding hoarse, “mein NRO nahin dun ga” (i will not pardon my corrupt political opponents) the Pti chief perhaps reckoned that letting gravely ill Sharif off the hook would be considered mother of all U-turns. Sycophants aplenty around him, willingly playing to his whims and prejudices, enthusiastically seconded him.

Seemingly, the likes of Sheikh rashid ahmed, Fawad Chaudhry, Firdous ashiq awan and murad Saeed have to sing for their supper. that is why these jokers in the pack have to abuse, malign and humiliate the opposition 24/7 on the idiot box and in the parliament. Perhaps from a script approved at the highest level, it almost sounds like a chorus. the leader of the opposition in the national assembly, younger brother Shahbaz Sharif had alleged that, “imran Khan wants to extract ransom from his ailing opponent in the garb of an indemnity bond”.

He is not alone. Some of the senior members of the ruling coalition were extremely critical of Khan’s recalcitrance. even coalition partners advised him not to shoot himself in the foot.

Chaudhrys of Gujrat- past allies of the Sharifs turned bitter opponents- implored the prime minister to let the former prime minister go for treatment without imposing any preconditions. the Pml-Q supremos warned Khan of the dire consequences if ‘something happened’ to Sharif owing to not receiving timely treatment abroad. the speaker of the Punjab assembly Pervez elahi, quintessentially more critical of the Sharifs than his elder cousin strongly urged Khan not to in-

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eSterDaY was the international day of tolerance that is observed by Un members annually. Pakistan, being a member, does the same but if one were to take a look at the situation on-ground, there is nothing much to write home about in that regard. there prevails rampant intolerance across the spectrum that shows little to no sign of any improvement, at least in the near future that is. For starters, there is the political landscape that has been marred by a level of intolerance that has not been seen before. there has been a gradual and consistent increase in polarisation in society’s political views starting from when the Pti solidified its position as a formidable opponent for both mainstream parties, the Pml-n and the PPP, to where it stands now, in power. this process has unfortunately culminated into a situation where the ruling party is simply unwilling to even accept that there is an opposition and rather prefers passing legislation outside Parliament through presidential ordinance while keeping alive an atmosphere of rudeness, disrespect and rashness through its many ministers sitting on the treasury benches inside Parliament. as a result, there is barely any consensus on major issues ranging from the dire straits the economy is in, foreign policy, national security and the contentious naB law that requires immediate amendment for it to be more rational and effective. listening to and understanding the point of view of one’s political opponent without making it a personal problem, is key to any constructive debate that can be had on a given issue. this leads to a healthy working democracy where necessary laws are passed in a bipartisan manner. But when the Pm is unwilling to shake the hand of the leader of the opposition, actively avoiding the latter when he does visit Parliament; no such relationship can even begin to take shape. these attitudes are reflected in society as well. Social media has provided a platform of debate that is more toxic than constructive, with more trolling than discussion. From a religious standpoint, extreme views against people of other faiths remain prevalent. How does the government expect others to be tolerant towards those who hold opposing views and ideas if it does not practice the same?

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

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dulge in vindictive politics. He reminded the prime minister of the adverse consequences the nation has faced owing to the judicial murder of Zulfikar ali Bhutto by late dictator general Ziaul Haq in1979. even chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani piped in, urging the government to facilitate Sharif’s departure. apart from the political arguments against keeping Sharif hostage, jurists across the board including those belonging to the ruling coalition had termed the government demanding an indemnity bond to let Sharif go abroad as legally untenable.

Both barristers, ali Zafar (Pti) and ali Saif (mQm), unequivocally opined that there was no (legal) justification to put fresh preconditions after the court had already granted Sharif bail. thankfully the lahore High Court’s two-member bench after rejecting the government’s stance on maintainability of the Pml-n’s plea has finally allowed Sharif to proceed abroad for medical treatment without having to submit an indemnity bond. the Pti remained adamant that lest Sharif was allowed to go without any surety, he would surely abscond. this was a facile argument. nawaz Sharif, despite being disqualified for life, still calls the shots in the party. His sway over the party affairs is undisputed. the ‘n’ in the Pml-n stands for nawaz and nobody else. His younger brother Shahbaz Sharif despite having a variant political approach is loyal to his brother. Hence Sharif going in permanent exile will be detrimental for his own politics.

Secondly, for the sake of argument, even if Sharif stays away from Pakistan as long as Khan is around and is declared an absconder from law; the Pti still gains. Judging by the government’s dismal performance in governance and managing the economy the Pml-n still remains a formidable electoral foe. according to most political pundits if elections were held today the Pml-n wholly intact will trounce the Pti. the ubiquitous establishment that lent a helping hand in forming the ‘King’s party’, this time hopefully is expected to remain more neutral after its widely criticised controversial role in 2018 elections. as Chaudhry Shujaat succinctly put it, Khan should concentrate on governance issues rather than chasing mirages of political victimisation buttressed by empty rhetoric. Surely the Pti chief urgently needs some introspection at this juncture.

His brand is failing despite what his cronies and economic advisors tell him. although

macroeconomic indicators are gradually improving, at the same time disaffection amongst the poorer and middle class sections of the society is increasing at an alarming rate. manifestly escalating inflation and unemployment have become their bane. Correspondingly big business, industry and traders are facing the brunt of stagflation and sharp fall in demand.

Khan should beware of the day when proponents of the present hybrid system come to the unpalatable conclusion that the experiment is failing. that is why the prime minister instead of relying upon exogenous factors to deliver should seriously start to get his act together. instead of feeling elated about what his cabinet colleagues and advisors tell him he should stop taking his coalition partners for granted. the Chaudhry brothers are a case in point.

For quite sometime now they have been privately expressing their unhappiness with Khan’s style of governance. But now in the case of treatment meted out to Sharif they have come out of the closet.

Publicly stating that political differences should not be personalised in the present context is quite significant. Since the inception of the Pml-n till general musharraf’s rule the Sharifs and Chaudhrys were together, if not always on the same page.

History could repeat itself. in any case the Pti has a wafer-thin majority in Punjab. instead of relying on deliverance from their backers in the ubiquitous establishment and settling political scores in the name of accountability, Khan should shed his vice regal armour and start reaching out to his allies and the opposition too. the maulana’s ‘Plan-B’ should be taken more seriously than his ‘Plan-a’ that was restricted to the outskirts of islamabad. Countrywide closures of roads and important arteries will have serious consequences. apart from disrupting supply lines of essential items it will cause tremendous hardships for the citizenry. thankfully the mainstream opposition has disassociated itself from his quixotic agenda. to bring urgently needed reforms, Khan should go back to the parliament and engage the opposition. a good beginning was made on Friday after the opposition withdrew its no confidence bid against the deputy speaker of the national assembly Qasim Suri. the government in turn withdrew the ordinances passed in unholy haste the other day promising to present them before the parliament.

But much more needs to be done on an urgent basis to break the present impasse.

Arif Nizami is Editor, Pakistan today. He can be contacted at arifn51@hotmail.com

Fostering transition The rest of the world is tackling the problem of pollution

Rabia ahmed

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nvironmental pollution is now a visible, tangible, acutely serious issue, and Pakistan ranks second only to Bangladesh as the country with the second dirtiest air quality in the world. We see the problem manifested all around, in lahore for example with its horrendous smog that reaches ‘hazardous’ levels, becoming worse every year. and no, this is not an indian attempt to destroy Pakistan, although smoke resulting from crop burning across the border does drift across to us contributing to the problem. Crop burning is alive and well in our own country where there are, in addition, unrestrained and growing ‘fuel emissions from vehicles on city roads, untreated emissions by industries, particularly steel re-rolling mills that burn used rubber tyres and plastic waste material as an alternate to costly electricity and gas.’ the overuse of plastic is one of the major reasons behind this pollution. at least eight million tons of plastic end up with other waste in the oceans all over the world, destroying the natural water habitat and its creatures. When eventually the water breaks up the plastic, it takes the shape of tiny flecks that make their Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9

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way into the bodies of humans and animals on land and sea.

Several organisations are trying to combat this problem such as the new Plastics economy, in initiative sponsored by the ellen macarthur Foundation, a charity registered in the UK. the new Plastics economy is trying to eliminate unnecessary use of plastic, and to make plastic reusable, and eventually recyclable and biodegradable. in Pakistan there has lately been an attempt at bringing down the use of plastic bags, but like all other things in this country, this is a patchy attempt, almost definitely born less of a concern for the environment than a quest for applause. Some places are stricter than others and some are ignoring the initiative altogether.

Countries that are serious about combatting pollution have come up with some marvellous solutions.

Seoul is putting up solar panels on all public buildings and a million homes, and Kenya is the proud owner of africa’s largest windfarm. according to a publication of the World economic Forum, pollution in indonesia is acute, and is killing its rivers and beaches. indonesia has now come up with ‘plastic’ bags that are utterly and completely biodegradable. made of cassava, the root vegetable similar to sweet potato, these bags dissolve in water if left in it, and the resultant solution is safe enough for both animal and human consumption. Unlike plastic therefore, if it is dumped into the river it will neither clog and pollute the waterways, nor will it kill sea life.

Islamabad – Ph: 051-2204545

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most of the trash and plastic in the world’s oceans comes from just a few rivers and canals. a Dutch startup has devised a ‘bubble barrier’ composed of nothing but bubbles to stop waste from travelling to the sea. tests prove it prevents 80 per cent of the trash from floating downstream. amsterdam is using this system in its canals. How difficult/expensive is this system? it works by laying a tube diagonally across the bed of a river or canal. the tube has holes all along its sides. air is pumped into the tube. the air comes out upwards from these holes into the water in the shape of bubbles which float to the side of the waterway, carrying trash upwards and sideways with it. the trash can then be retrieved easily and prevented from carrying on to the sea. on other fronts, Dubai has come up with its first two-story building entirely printed on a 3D printer. With this technology there is 60 per cent less construction waste. France has used this technology as well to make affordable housing, also with less waste, and 3D-printed shelters are also being built in Haiti and el-Salvador. in india, the place we love to hate, there is a serious attempt to cut down pollution in Kolkata where 80 electric buses have been introduced into the city’s mass transit system this year. By next year they plan to introduce another 100. it is hoped that these 180 electric buses will together lead to an annual reduction of 14,086 tonnes of Co2 emissions. a report by the World economic Forum says ‘the government pro-

Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk

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vided 60% of the funds for the initial 80 electric buses and helped install the charging infrastructure.’ the report also noted that ‘partnerships can foster rapid transitions.

For example, the long-term vision both at the state and national levels enabled Kolkata to set out the strategy to transition its entire bus and ferry fleets to electric.’ the world is in transit, moving from ignorant violation of the environment to the present where we are aware of what we are doing, but have not as yet worked out how to change the situation. the reason is often economic. if we aspire to 3D housing for example, it requires not just expensive equipment, but it uses 50 per cent less manpower, so we lose jobs for construction labourers on a large scale. the benefits could yet outweigh the losses, but not unless a serious attempt is made to make it so. no such attempt is made, however, which is to do with a lack of long-term vision and a genuine dedication to the cause.

With all the enterprise and ability to work hard that our society has to offer, what innovations have we come up with as yet? What transitions have our governments fostered other than a constant transition from one government to another with dire consequences for the country? at present all we appear to be producing is a leadership in uniform woven with seminary fibre. You wonder if any of this is compostable.

Rabia Ahmed is a freelance columnist. Read more by her at http://rabia-ahmed.blogspot.com/

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Sunday, 17 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

How many election petitions?

Infatuation with crime Espousal of a culture wrapped in shrouds of untruths

Candid Corner Raoof hasaN “The silence just allowed the echoes of the question to play out in Nox’s mind, reminding him of his own unwinnable war against the never-ending tide of conmen and criminals.

He was trying to clean up these parts, but every time he rubbed away a stain, he found another layer of dirt beneath. So, you could give up – or, you could keep scrubbing.”

– Dean F Wilson

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ot many people have gone through the kind of turbulent periods that have been the fate of the Pakistani nation, but there are virtually no parallels manifesting a stouter refusal to learn from mistakes and try to charter a course that would be more suited to address the challenges that the state continues to face. this is equally relevant for people who suffer at the hands of an unjust and inequitable system, as well as institutions which are entrusted with powers for forging an order that would redress the maladies the country confronts. the bitter reality is that, with each passing day, we seem to be plunging deeper into the mess which has been systematically perpetuated through all the years since we have existed as an independent country. Yet, there are hardly any people who would be sensitive to this manifest spectre and who would be willing to become partners in launching a concerted effort to cleanse the deck. this inaction is symptomatic of the criminal beneficiary inertia which has dug in deep and which has adversely impacted every individual. the most glaring of these ignominious features is a collective infatuation with crime and its multifaceted tributaries and carriers. it is as if people have been deprived of the ability to discern and reward the good and censure the bad. the two opposites seem to have merged, through a sinister plan, obliterating

the line that separates them. So, while the good may be good, it is the bad which has to look good also. this is the rationale generated purposefully to create conditions where if you behave badly, even criminally, you would still have the space to be recognised as beneficent.

When that happens, the society loses its very rationale and validity to exist as one. the level of effort people put into justifying and legitimising those who may have committed a vast array of crimes, pillaging the assets of the state being a notable one, is simply bewildering. the demonic manifestation is further augmented by an inglorious and criminal preoccupation with disparaging people who may be honest and deserving of a prominent place as citizens of the state. it is as if crime, and not goodness, is the new denominator for ascertainment of the worth of an individual in the national hierarchy. there is also this fear syndrome that emerges from the actions of mafias promoting one or another kind of cultish indulgence, mostly emanating from the diktats of obscurantism and regression. religion also injects its toxic content as was amply demonstrated during the bigot-in-chief’s sit-in where, among promoting other calumnies, he took oath from his followers to follow in the footsteps of the notorious mumtaz Qadri– the murderer of the former governor Salman taseer, who was administered capital punishment by the state. He also frequently invoked raw sentiments against the minorities of the country, notably those from the ahmedi community. the sit-in left behind lingering questions about the writ of the state which was not invoked to check the cleric from repeatedly playing the religion card to stir up violence.

Jonathan Swift once said that “laws are like cobwebs which may catch small flies, but let wasps and hornets break through”. this is so true for a country like Pakistan. let’s concede that there are veritable reasons why people espouse criminal indulgences in preference to pursuing the honourable path. of late, it has become patently obvious that there are two kinds of laws prevalent in the country: one that is applicable to the rich and the mighty and the other which is reserved for the poor and the marginalised communities. in the former instance, amply reflected in the case of the likes of nawaz Sharif, the law lumbers backwards– from the decision to be taken to finding the rationale for doing so. in the process, all pretence to administering justice based on the cardinal principles of jurisprudence and the inherent need for all contestants to be treated equally, without any bias and prejudice against any, is sacrificed at the altar of grandiose compromises in exchange for an exotic array of assuaging goodies. But, in the case of the latter commodity, the poor and the helpless, the allah Dittas and imam Dins of the society, are made to wait for generations before even being heard in the

courts of law. and when such a day may actually arrive, justice is not the commodity they will be rewarded with. instead, its nature and quantum will be determined by the position and stature of the people they are pitted against, with the stronger and the mightier emerging the victor and the poor left licking their wounds, made more noxious and unbearable with the infliction of an inequitable dispensation. the manner in which cases are dragged from day to day, from argument to argument, from court to court, from witness to witness, from stay orders to prorogation, from grants of bail to suspension of punishments, from verdicts to counter-verdicts, from seditious and inflammatory discourse every time an adversarial judgement is pronounced to lavishing the court with praise for securing a favourable adjudication– these are nothing but crass tactics craftily employed to thwart a just and equitable outcome. there is also the case of judicial intrusion in matters of the executive. it appears that the pillars of the state have forgotten the constitutional ambit of their domains. instead of legislating, the Parliament has been reduced to becoming an arena for yelling and fighting, the judiciary is more inclined to acting the executive and the so-called fourth pillar of the state, the media, is busy coining conspiracy theories with their criminally partisan analyses and slants. this is not how sovereign states operate. this is not how the pillars of the state behave. it is as if the narratives and compulsions of an era gone-by still remain the yardsticks for conducting themselves. it appears that there is a lingering infatuation with crime, among individuals and institutions alike, manifested by espousal of a culture wrapped in shrouds of untruths. Criminals must be punished, no matter how powerful, no matter how embedded in the echelons of power. the future of the state and the society can only be secured on the assurance of dispensing equitable and across-the-board justice which, unfortunately, is not how it is. the Prime minister is engaged in a oneman crusade against crime and corruption. For it to succeed, as it must, other pillars of the state must chip in with their due share as earmarked in the Constitution. through decades of misrule, the state is gravely bloodied and badgered. the drivers that can pull it back from the verge are rooted in our individual and collective commitment to the foundational principles of our creation– without any hint of fear and without any penchant for conventional and convenient trade-offs.

Raoof Hasan is a political and security strategist, and heads the Regional Peace Institute – an Islamabad-based think tank. He can be reached at: raoofhasan@hotmail.com; Twitter: @RaoofHasan

ever since the Pti government has come into power in islamabad, the opposition parties and their leaders called Prime minister 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 apprise 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

Revive student unions StUDent politics has an important role on the societal progress. it is no secret that Pakistan’s mainstream political parties are dominated by feudalistic class and consequently reinforce feudalistic dominance more vigorously. resultantly, it deprives lower-middle and middle-class from politics. Student unions were banned during Zia regime. Zia’s unilateral and consecutive ban has not yet been revoked up to this time despite several attempts made by political parties. as a result, universities produce apolitical individuals who lacks leadership and political skills. Pakistan has so far witnessed extreme political upheavals owing to absence of student unions at university level. once should not forget that right to association is a constitutional right. Student union is a legitimate forum which prepares students towards raising their voice for their collective interests and to grapple with the perennial problems. as it stands, there is chronic dearth of dynamic leadership in Pakistan for course of action in the future and this vacuum can only be filled with students and would be-political leaders. incumbent government reportedly stresses on youth development. So, it is earnestly hoped that Pti-government will revoke the ban for the benefit of tomorrow’s leaders.

M SHAHJAHAN MEMON Islamabad

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

Exam transparency SinDH public service commission has announced Combined Competitive examinations (CCe) 2018 final results just a few weeks ago. SPSC just published detailed marks certificates of unsuccessful and not allocated candidates. However, the DmCs of successful candidates are not made public. this has created a great uncertainty among candidates. in spite of this, the apex court in CCe 2013 case judgement had directed commission, the marks of written tests should be publicly displayed. Disclosure should be made of the marks obtained against the candidates’ roll numbers. while, FPSC and all the other provincial commissions publish DmCs of failed, notallocated and allotted candidates along with merit numbers in competitive exams. thus, it is requested to the authorities concerns, publish DmCs of those succeed in the exam. So that score margin could be calculated for further preparation and the level of uncertainty among candidates be relieved.

ZAKIR HuSSAIN Dadu

Sunday, 17 November, 2019

10 NEWS

One dead as petrOl prOtests spread in iran DUBAI

O Takeaways from Day 2 of Trump impeachment public hearings WASHINGTON DC: Day Two of public hearings in the House impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump featured a career diplomat with a soft voice and a powerful story. Former US Ukraine ambassador Marie Yovanovitch said she felt threatened by the president as she detailed the story of being abruptly recalled from her post as US ambassador to Ukraine. Then the president attacked her with a tweet, which she said was intimidating. Some key takeaways from Yovanovitch’s testimony: This was no staid, bureaucratic tale told by a distant and removed narrator. Yovanovitch’s account was, instead, deeply personal, layered with outrage over having been “kneecapped” by lies and her abrupt recall in a 1 am phone call from a country she said was vital to US interests. After a “smear campaign” she said involved Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, and was amplified by cable news hosts and the president’s oldest son, Donald Jr., she was directed in April 2019 to come from Ukraine to the United States on the next plane because she no longer had the confidence of the president. “I remain disappointed that the (State) Department’s leadership and others have declined to acknowledge that the attacks against me and others are dangerously wrong,” Yovanovitch said. She counted herself among the professional public servants who she said serve US interests regardless of who occupies the White House, and, wrapping her testimony in historical context, invoked the diplomats who were killed in the 2012 Benghazi attacks, tortured in captivity in Iran and injured in mysterious attacks in Cuba. Agencies

Trump asked Tokyo for $8 billion to keep US troops in Japan TOKYO: US President Donald Trump has asked Japan to quadruple its payments for US forces stationed there, Foreign Policy reported, citing unnamed current and former US officials, as Washington presses longstanding allies to increase their defence spending. Washington wants Tokyo to increase annual payments for the 54,000 U.S. troops in Japan to around $8 billion from about $2 billion, Foreign Policy said, citing three unnamed former defence officials. The current agreement expires in March 2021. The demand was made to Japanese officials during a trip to the region in July by John Bolton, at that time Trump’s national security adviser, and Matt Pottinger, who was then the Asia director for the National Security Council, Foreign Policy said. A spokesman for the Japanese foreign ministry said the report by the U.S. global affairs publication is incorrect and no U.S.-Japan negotiations on a new agreement have taken place. Representatives of the U.S. government were not immediately available to comment outside of business hours. Many U.S. allies are coming under pressure on defence spending from Washington.

Trump has also insisted Seoul shoulder more of the cost of the U.S. military presence in South Korea, where it serves as deterrence against North Korea, and has floated the idea of pulling U.S. troops from the peninsula, Reuters reported on Wednesday. Agencies

Agencies

NE person was killed and others injured in protests that spread across Iran on Saturday after a surprise decision to impose petrol price hikes and rationing in the country hit by US sanctions.

The death occurred in the central city of Sirjan, where people tried to set fire to a fuel depot but were thwarted by security forces, the semi-official ISNA news agency reported. It came as the demonstrations broke out Friday, hours after it was announced the price of petrol would be hiked by 50 percent for the first 60 litres and 300 percent for anything above that each month.

“Unfortunately someone was killed,” Sirjan’s acting governor Mohammad Mahmoudabadi said, adding the cause of the death and whether “the individual was shot or not” was still unclear.

“Security forces did not have permission to shoot and were only allowed to fire warning shots… which they did,” ISNA quoted him as saying. It was a “calm gathering” exploited by some who “destroyed public property, damaged fuel stations and also wanted to access the oil company’s main fuel depots and set fire to them,” he added. Besides Sirjan, “scattered” protests were also held Friday in other cities including Abadan, Ahvaz, Bandar Abbas, Birjand, Gachsaran, Khoramshahr, Mahshahr, Mashhad and Shiraz, state news agency IRNA said.

Some “rioters” in Ahvaz set fire to a bank and in Khoramshahr “suspicious and unknown armed individuals” fired at people and injured a few, state television’s

website said. In other cities, protests were mostly limited to blocking traffic and were over by midnight, it added.

Police fired tear gas at protesters in some cities, state television said, without specifying when.

It accused “hostile media” of trying to use fake news and videos on social media to exaggerate protests as “large and extensive”.

Prosecutor general Mohammad Jafar Montazeri said the people would part ways with “the few disruptors” whose actions show they are against the system.

Fresh demonstrations were held Saturday in the cities of Doroud, Garmsar, Gor-

gan, Ilam, Karaj, Khoramabad, Mehdishahr, Qazvin, Qom, Sanandaj, Shahroud and Shiraz, IRNA said.

“Some drivers have protested the new petrol price by turning off their cars and creating traffic jams,” it added.

Iran imposed petrol rationing and raised pump prices by at least 50 percent from Friday, saying the move was aimed at helping citizens in need with cash handouts.

The measure was expected to generate

300 trillion rials ($2.55 billion) per annum, the authorities said.

About 60 million Iranians in need would get payments ranging from 550,000 rials ($4.68) for couples to slightly more than two million rials ($17.46) for families of five or more. Under the scheme, drivers with fuel cards would pay 15,000 rials (13 US cents) a litre for the first 60 litres of petrol bought each month, with each additional litre costing 30,000 rials.

Fuel cards were first introduced in 2007 with a view to reforming the subsidies system and curbing large-scale smuggling.

Iran’s economy has been battered since May last year when President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from a 2015 nuclear agreement and reimposed crippling sanctions. The rial has plummeted, inflation is running at more than 40 percent and the International Monetary Fund expects Iran’s economy to contract by nine percent this year and stagnate in 2020.

President Hassan Rouhani said 75 percent of Iranians were “under pressure” and the extra petrol revenues would go to them, and not the treasury.

Rouhani had tried to hike fuel prices in December but was blocked by parliament after protests that rocked Iran for days. The speaker at the time ruled out the move as unpopular and said it was “not in the interests of the country”. The scheme comes at a sensitive time as Iran prepares for a February parliamentary election.

Nobakht said the price hike was agreed by the High Council of Economic Coordination, made up of the president, parliament speaker and judiciary chief, implying it had received approval across the board.

Turkey says it bought Russian S-400s to use them, not put them aside ANKARA Agencies

Turkey bought S-400 missile defense systems from Russia to use them, not put them aside, the head of the Turkish Defense Industry Directorate said on Saturday, days after talks between President Tayyip Erdogan and U.S. President Donald Trump.

Erdogan and Trump held talks in Washington on Wednesday to overcome increasing differences between the NATO allies, ranging from Syria policy to sanctions threats over Turkey’s purchase of the S400s, which Washington says pose a threat to its Lockheed

Martin F-35 fighter jets.

Washington has warned that Ankara will face sanctions over its purchase of the S-400s, and has suspended Turkey from the F-35 program, in which it was a customer and manufacturer. It has yet to impose any sanctions on Turkey, which began receiving the Russian systems in July.

In an interview with broadcaster CNN Turk, Ismail Demir said it was not logical for any country to purchase such systems only to put them aside, and added that Ankara and Washington aimed to tackle the issue.

“It is not a correct approach to say ‘we won’t use them for their sake’ about a system that we

bought out of necessity and paid so much money for,” Demir said.

“We have allied relations with Russia and the United States. We have to go on and respect the agreements we signed,” he said.

On Wednesday, Trump urged Erdogan at the White House to drop the S-400 systems, but Erdogan later said Ankara could not harm its relations with Russia.

He reiterated Turkey’s desire to buy U.S. Patriot defenses in addition to the S-400s.

A top aide to Erdogan said on Friday that Turkish and U.S. officials had begun working as part of a joint mechanism aiming to evaluate the impact of the S-400s on the F-35s. Demir said

the move showed an easing in the position of the United States, and added that Turkey was ready to take measures that will address U.S. concerns over the S400s after the talks.

“As a loyal friend and ally, we have said we were ready to take measures if there are any risks that we have overlooked on this issue,” Demir said. “We still believe we can find a middle ground on the S-400 issue, so long as both sides are open.”

Demir also said Turkish personnel were continuing their training on the S-400s in Russia, but added that there would be no Russian personnel coming to Turkey to operate the systems.

Inundated Venice braced for more flooding, strong winds VENICE Agencies

Venice was on alert for more floods and fierce winds on Saturday after an exceptionally high tide swamped the city of canals, where authorities have declared a state of emergency.

Mayor Luigi Brugnaro ordered the iconic St Mark’s Square closed on Friday as the latest sea surge struck with strong storms and winds battering the region.

The square was open again on Saturday, but the city forecast a high water of 160 centimetres (over five feet) for Sunday, lower than Tuesday’s high of 187 centimetres but still dangerous. Civil protection authorities downgraded a weather “red alert” for the Venice region to orange, with Saturday’s midday high forecast to be a manageable 105 centimetres.

Churches, shops and homes in the city, a UNESCO World Heritage site,

have been inundated by unusually intense “acqua alta”, or high water, which on Tuesday hit its highest level in half a century. “We’ve destroyed Venice, we’re talking about one billion (euros) in damage and that’s just from the other day, not today,” Brugnaro said.

The crisis has prompted the government to release 20 million euros ($22 million) in funds to tackle the devastation.

Surveying the damage, Culture Minister Dario Franceschini warned the task of repairing the city would be huge. More than 50 churches had suffered damage, he said.

HOTEL RESERVATIONS CANCELLED: Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte declared a state of emergency for the city on Thursday.

Residents whose houses have been hit are eligible for up to 5,000 euros in immediate government aid, while restaurant and shop owners can receive up to 20,000 euros and apply for more later.

Mayor Brugnaro on Friday also announced the opening of a fund where people in Italy and around the world could contribute to the historic city’s repair.

One tourist, Italian Nicole Righetti, said she would be willing to pitch in.

“It would be a shame to no longer be able to see these places, and I think everyone should give,” Righetti said.

Most of the city’s cash machines were no longer working because of the water, making life even more difficult for tourists and Venetians.

Despite being used to the inconvenience of their city’s rising waters, some inhabitants expressed frustration.

“All the stock in the basement is lost,” lamented Luciano, a worker at a shop along St. Mark’s Square.

He said he remembered well the infamous “acqua alta” of 1966, when the water rose to a level of 1.94 metres, the highest since records began in 1923.

“These so frequent high waters have never happened before… this time there’s so much more damage than in the past,” he said. Hotels reported cancelled reservations, some as far ahead as December,

following the widespread diffusion of images of Venice underwater.

Tuesday’s high waters submerged around 80 percent of the city, officials said.

Sunday, 17 November, 2019

BUSINESS 11

Cement exports surge 16.48pC in four months fY20 Dawood says must ‘appreciate’ good policies of previous govt Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce Abdul Razak Dawood has said that Pakistan’s improvement in the World Bank’s business reform report was made possible by continuing the policies of the previous government, a private media outlet reported. Talking to reporters at the Islamic Chamber of Commerce in Karachi, the adviser maintained that the good actions taken by the previous government should be appreciated, including business reforms. Dawood asserted that water supply was a bigger problem for Sindh industries than gas and electricity. “The Sindh government should not raise water prices for industries,” he added. The adviser said that Islamic countries should promote bilateral trade, adding that the government was striving to ensure a favourable environment for foreign investors. Earlier on Wednesday, PM Imran Khan had said that the country could not be run on the “old pattern” as the incumbent government had inherited the “biggest financial and current account deficits”. “Half of the tax collection in the first year was spent on debt servicing,” he had said during an interactive session with the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) officials. BUSINESS DESK

‘Changes in import system to help curb under-invoicing’

LAHORE INP

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EMENT exports from the country grew by around 28pc to 798,000 tonnes in Oct 2019, as against 616,000 tonnes in the same month of 2018.

The surge in cement exports was particularly seen from the southern region, which rose by 48.75pc, from 0.352 million tonnes in Oct 2018 to 0.591 million tonnes in Oct 2019. Exports from the northern region grew nominally from 0.264 million tonnes in Oct last year to 0.265 million tonnes in Oct 2019. According to data released by the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA), cement exports increased by 16.48pc to 2.81 million tonnes in the first four months of FY20, compared with 2.41 million tonnes in 4MFY20.

Exports from the northern region

cline was not that sharp.

Experts said that exports from the southern region almost matched the domestic consumption as the region exported 1.85 million tonnes of cement during July-Oct 2019 period.

Saudi Aramco IPO could strengthen govt finances, support economy LONDON AGENCIES

Saudi Aramco’s forthcoming listing on the local stock market could help strengthen the government’s net asset position, with the proceeds potentially raising the kingdom’s longer-term economic growth, S&P Global Ratings said.

The world’s most profitable company starts a share Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) Chairman Shabbar Zaidi said on Saturday that the FBR has made substantial business-friendly changes in imports’ system in order to curb under-invoicing.

Taking to Twitter, Zaidi said that FBR has made substantial changes in ‘unit of measurement’ system and ‘valuation rulings’ with respect to the import of goods. He also sought importers’ input on making any further improvement or amendment. He termed the changes as a vital move to cure under-invoicing.

SUPPORT THROUGH HELPLINE: Meanwhile, in a statement issued on Saturday, FBR said that its helpline representatives were providing all possible support to the taxpayers to ensure that they were easily able to navigate various transactional portals, such as Iris etc. “The FBR helpline utilises international standard Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System, which ensures availability of three-tier support lines for prompt redressal of taxpayers’ complaints,” the statement read. “Taxpayers are provided with a ‘case number’ for each complaint and the resolution of each case is ensured within 24 hours.” FBR said that the cases of complex nature which require legal and technological modification in the system were bring resolved within three days. “The success of FBR helpline can be gauged from the fact that the number of tax return filers increased to 2.6 million from 1.9 million in one year and is expected to be increased to 5 million in the next two years,” it added. BUSINESS DESK

during the first four months of this fiscal were 0.95 million tonnes, 5.64pc less than 1.01 million tonnes exported during the same period last year.

However, in view of complete closure of the Indian market, the de-

They said that the growth in cement exports from the south was 32.5pc, as it grew from 1.397 million tonnes.

Data showed that in the first four months of this fiscal, cement manufacturers despatched 16.117 million tonnes of cement, 4.53pc higher than 15.419 million tonnes despatches during the same period last year.

The local despatches were 13.312 million tonnes in the said period this year, 2.3pc higher than 13.011 million tonnes local despatches in 4MFY19.

The mills situated in northern part of the country despatched 11.451 million tonnes to the domestic market, 11.14pc higher than the domestic dispatches of 10.304 million tonnes during corresponding period last year.

The south zone despatched 1.861 million tonnes of cement for domestic market in the July-Oct 2019 period, 31.27pc less than 2.707 million tonnes despatched during the same period of last year.

sale on Nov. 17 in an initial public offering (IPO) that may raise between $20 billion and $40 billion. “The bulk of the funds raised will go to the government or the Public Investment Fund, potentially adding to the sovereign’s already strong fiscal net asset position of 72.7% of GDP,” S&P said in a note.

“Productively deployed, we believe the assets could

also help maintain growth potential through our three-year ratings horizon.”

S&P Global rates Saudi Arabia as A-/A-2 with a stable outlook. The agency said the ratings were constrained by high geopolitical risks, sizable fiscal deficits and the limited transparency of the kingdom’s institutional framework and the reporting of government assets.

KARACHI: Daily wagers keep themselves warm as they wait for work in the provincial capital. ONLINE

Kse-100 gains 4.46pc in week amid clarity on political, economic fronts ISLAMABAD: Bullish sentiments ruled the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) during the outgoing trading week, lifting the KSE-100 Index by 1,605.73 points or 4.46pc to 37,583.89 on Friday. The week-long performance showed that the index gained 340.69 (0.91pc) points on Friday; 76.26 (0.21pc) points on Thursday; 401.40 (1.09pc) points on Wednesday and 824.94 (2.29pc) points on Monday. On Tuesday, however, the index dipped slightly lower by 37.54 points (0.10pc). Among major developments that helped raise the investor confidence, Pakistan’s trade deficit contracted 33.5pc in the first four months of the current fiscal year 2019-20. Imports of the country contracted by 19pc, whereas exports posted a minor gain of 3.81pc. Meanwhile, foreign investment in the government-backed treasury bills was recorded at almost $800 million since the beginning of FY20. This was due clarity on the economic front coupled with slight growth in forex reserves as well as exchange rate parity.

Moreover, Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) called off its sit-in in Islamabad, thus shielding the political climate from heating up. The market gain in the week was largely helped by overseas Pakistanis, whose net buying of $3.28 million allowed the Foreign & Local Investors Portfolio Investments (FIPI) to close with net buying of $4.32 million. While improving macroeconomic indicators and investor sentiments could help the bourse’s upward momentum to continue in the near term, profit takers could take hold of the market as they look to cash in the high gains from the last two weeks, said an analyst from Habib MetroFinancial Services. “We recommend investors to find exposure in blue-chip names at attractive levels and we maintain our liking for exploration & production, large-cap banks and fertilisers,” he said. An analyst from Arif Habib said that the market may witness a temporary spell of consolidation. “Going forward, we expect the index to continue its upsurge on back of improvement in the macro-economic landscape.” STAFF REPORT

US to extend licence for its firms to continue business with Huawei WASHINGTON AGENCIES

The Trump administration is set to issue a two-week extension of a license allowing US companies to continue doing business with China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, two sources familiar with the deliberations said.

The extension of around two weeks is far shorter than the prior 90-day extension and a longer extension is in the works but has not yet been finalized due to regulatory hurdles, said one source who was briefed on the matter.

After adding Huawei to an economic blacklist in May citing

national security concerns, the US Commerce Department has allowed it to purchase some American-made goods in a move aimed

at minimizing disruption for its customers, many of which operate networks in rural America.

The extension will be an-

nounced on Monday, when the earlier reprieve is set to expire, the sources said, declining to be identified as the extension has not been publicly announced.

A spokesman for Huawei, the world’s biggest maker of telecom network equipment, said the company does not comment on rumors and speculation. The Commerce Department declined to comment.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told Fox Business Network on Friday that some rural carriers need the temporary licenses and are dependent on Huawei for 3G and 4G networks. “There are enough problems with telephone service in the rural communities - we don’t want

to knock them out. So, one of the main purposes of the temporary general licenses is to let those rural guys continue to operate,” Ross said.

The development comes amid discussions between the United States and China aimed at coming to an initial agreement to resolve a trade war that has lasted for over a year. In blacklisting Huawei, the US government said it had a “reasonable basis to conclude that Huawei is engaged in activities that are contrary to US national security or foreign policy interests”. Huawei has repeatedly denied the accusations.

Attorney General William Barr said on Thursday Huawei and ZTE Corp “cannot be trusted,” as

he backed a proposal to bar US rural wireless carriers from tapping an $8.5 billion government fund to purchase equipment or services from them. In May, President Donald Trump also signed an executive order declaring a national emergency and barring US companies from using telecommunications equipment made by companies posing a national security risk. The Commerce Department was due to draw up an enforcement plan by mid-October but has yet to publish one. The Commerce Department is also considering whether to grant individual licenses for US firms to sell components to Huawei after receiving more than 200 requests.

Sunday, 17 November, 2019

12 BUSINESS

piA on seCp’s rADAr over ‘mArKet mAnipulAtion’

CORPORATE CORNER

ISLAMABAD

KARACHI: In line with its commitment to facilitating industrial and commercial customers, K-Electric has signed a memorandum of understanding with KFC/Gray Mackenzie Restaurants International to add them to a growing list of corporate consumers who are benefiting from KE’s Centralized Billing Mechanism (CBM)/Single Billing Solution payment system. PR

t

GHULAM ABBAS

AKING serious notice of a recent statement issued by the Pakistan International Airlines Corporation chief executive officer (CEO), the Securities and Exchange Policy Board has directed the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) to examine the CEO’s remarks on PIA’s profitability, which, according to the board, hinted of “market manipulation”.

The meeting was chaired by SECP Board Chairman Prof Khalid Mirza on Saturday.

According to sources, the SECP Board took serious note of the PIA CEO’s statement regarding the corporation’s profitability, which, prima facie, “could be taken as manipulation of the market”. The board directed the commission to initiate a probe and take appropriate enforcement action in this regard.

The SECP board was informed that after a

recent statement issued by the PIA’s chief, market transactions had increased while the corporation’s share prices went up significantly.

The board directed the SECP to inquire about the reasons behind the “timely” issuance of the statement. It further directed the SECP to ask the CEO explain his position.

The board also took notice of the non-submission of PIA’s two-year annual accounts.

“The commission must develop a system by which public sector organisations are duly monitored for any possible violations of the laws administered by the SECP,” the board maintained.

Meanwhile, the SECP board approved the General Takaful Accounting Regulations, 2019, the Provisional Manager and Official Liquidator Regulations 2019, Corporate Rehabilitation Regulations 2019, Directive on adoption of IFRS-14 Regulatory Deferral Accounts under section 225 of Companies Act 17, the Directive on financial reporting of family window Takaful operations by life insurers, and Compliance of Compulsory

SECP TO PROBE PIA CEO’S STATEMENT ON ‘PROFITABILITY’ AFTER IT ‘HELPED INCREASE THE CORPORATION’S SHARE PRICE’ Group Insurance under the Industrial and Commercial Employment (Standing Order) Ordinance, 1968. The board took up a matter to initiate the review process of the Securities Act 2015, in order to remove harsh regulatory impediments that hamper the overall growth of securities’ market. The review is aimed at facilitating ‘ease of doing business’ in the country.

A decision was also made to review and rationalise the Futures Act 2016 and the Limited Liability Partnership Act 2017 as the laws were “onerous and cumbersome”. The board also advised the commission to revisit the Regulatory Sandbox Guidelines 2019 (Insurance) and gave directions for appropriate amendments be made to the Companies (further Issue of Capital) Regulations 2018 so as to facilitate and promote the mobilisation of capital. Firm directions were given by the board to recall all SECP staff members seconded to the LEAs and also transfer back cases wrongfully referred to the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

LAHORE: Winners of ‘Sarsabz National Tent Pegging Championship 2019’ pose for a group photo with Lahore Corps Commander Lt Gen Majid Ehsan (Chief Guest), DG Rangers Maj Gen Saqib Mehmood Malik, Fatima Group CEO Mian Fawad Ahmed Mukhtar and representatives of the Equestrian Federation of Pakistan. PR

ISLAMABAD: Bahria University-Islamabad held its 22nd Convocation at Jinnah Convention Centre. Bahria University Rector Rear Admiral Habibur Rehman along with Vice Admiral Kaleem Shaukat (Chief Guest) conferred the degrees on graduating students of PhD, MPhil, Masters and Undergraduate programmes. PR

KARACHI: People buy warm clothes and shoes from roadside vendors near Liaquatabad area. ONLINE

US Supreme Court to hear Google bid to end Oracle copyright suit WASHINGTON AGENCIES

The US Supreme Court has agreed to hear Google’s bid to escape Oracle Corp’s multi-billion dollar lawsuit accusing Google of infringing software copyrights to build the Android operating system that runs most of the world’s smartphones.

Google has appealed a lower court ruling reviving the suit in which Oracle has sought at least $8 billion in damages. A jury cleared Google in 2016, but the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington overturned that decision in 2018, finding that Google’s

inclusion of Oracle’s software code in Android did not constitute a fair use under US copyright law. The justices will hear arguments in the case during their current term, with a ruling due by the end of June.

Oracle and Google, two California-based technology giants with combined annual revenues of more than $175 billion, have been feuding since Oracle sued for copyright infringement in 2010 in San Francisco federal court. The Supreme Court in 2015 rebuffed a previous Google appeal in the case. The outcome of the suit could help shape the level of copyright protection for software. Google, part of Alphabet

Inc, said an Oracle victory would chill software innovation. The company welcomed the court’s decision to hear the appeal. “Developers should be able to create applications across platforms and not be locked into one company’s software,” Senior Vice President Kent Walker said in a statement.

Oracle spokeswoman Deborah Hellinger said the company is confident the Supreme Court will preserve software copyrights and “reject Google’s continuing efforts to avoid responsibility for copying Oracle’s innovations.”

Google was backed by Microsoft Corp and groups that de-

fend the rights of internet users.

President Donald Trump’s administration backed Oracle in the case, urging the justices in a written brief to turn away Google’s appeal.

Oracle accused Google of copying thousands of lines of computer code from its popular Java programming language without a license in order to make Android, a competing platform that has harmed Oracle’s business. The case has whipsawed since the start with Google twice losing at the Federal Circuit. In 2014, the appeals court reversed a federal judge’s ruling that Oracle’s interfaces could not be copyrighted. Google appealed that

finding to the Supreme Court, but after the Justice Department under former President Barack Obama recommended against hearing the case, the justices declined.

The Federal Circuit in 2018 said Google’s incorporation of Or-

acle’s “application programming interfaces” was not permitted under the so-called fair use doctrine of the 1976 Copyright Act, rejecting Google’s argument that by adapting them to a mobile platform it transformed them into something new.

US and China have significant differences ahead of trade talks WASHINGTON AGENCIES

Top US and Chinese negotiators are seeking to narrow differences on an initial trade agreement during a Friday evening phone call but remain split on key issues.

President Donald Trump had not yet agreed to remove any tariffs as part of a deal, and the size of China’s commitment to purchase US farm products was not yet clear, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said on Friday in an interview on Fox Business Network. US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin were expected to participate in the phone call with Chinese Vice Premier Liu He which will be held on Friday evening Washington time.

China’s reluctance to commit to a specific amount of farm purchases re-

mains a sticking point in the talks, as is US reluctance to roll back tariffs, people briefed on the negotiations said. The

world’s largest economies have been involved in a tit-for-tat trade war that is dragging on global growth.

Trump in October said China’s Liu had agreed to more than double China’s purchases of farm goods to $40 billion to $50 billion annually, but Beijing wants to make purchases based on market needs.

Beijing is insisting that tariffs need to be rolled back as part of any “phase one” deal, but Trump has not agreed to do that.

Ross said it was important to specify a firm commitment, adding that China “can certainly afford to buy $40 billion to $50 billion” in US agricultural products.

“The question is, are they willing to commit to it? And if they are willing to commit, are there any escape hatches to the commitment?” he said. Ross added it was unclear whether the initial agreement would be finalized after a potential deadline this month evaporated with the cancellation of an international summit in Chile and another round of US tariffs on

Chinese imports looming on Dec. 15.

He said there was plenty of time to continue negotiations before the December deadline, but repeated that Trump was happy to proceed with the tariffs if a deal could not be reached. Ross also said there was a “very high probability” that the United States would reach a final agreement on a phase one trade deal with China.

“The devil is always in the details. And we’re down to the last details now,” Ross said. Ross’ positive comments echoed those of White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow, who said the two sides were “getting close” to a deal. The positive comments fueled a rebound in trade optimism on Wall Street, sending the main US stock indexes to record levels. The benchmark S&P 500 tallied its sixth straight week of gains while the Dow Jones Industrial Average breached 28,000 for the first time.

CMYK

13

Sunday, 17 November, 2019

Dr M A ZAkA The writer is a researcher based in the Netherlands.

L

ookInG at the popular press, blogs and Twitterati, there is a sense of dismay amongst Islamabadites that Saeed Book Bank is shutting shop. The brand that was born and nurtured in Peshawar spread its tentacles to the federal capital in the 1990s where they were soon the dominant market player. Although the public lamentations of customers are natural given the imminent demise of an Islamabad icon, but was this unexpected? After all, Saeed Book Bank is not the first victim of digital disruption in Pakistan. Amongst the previous victims include cassette rental stores, CD shops and now, finally, the remaining flagship bricks and mortar book retail stores.

Pakistan has seen the spread of the digital economy with many benefits for consumers, such as home delivery, competitive prices and a greater variety of offered products. now, with a few clicks, customers can learn the latest prices of property, automobiles, flights etc. And although the e-retailers service offering in Pakistan is quickly catching up with the developed countries, a key concern for Pakistani regulators should be the antitrust aspect because the size of the large e-competitors can enable them to become monopolists and drive out competition from the market (Lena khan’s article “Amazon’s Antitrust Paradox” provides useful insights).

For instance, in Europe, large fashion e-retailers like Zalando, with their hundred-days return policy, make it difficult for smaller businesses, that have lower return windows, to compete.

Given that many fashion items have a design life of one season, or about three months, offering a hundred day return policy can only be afforded by industry giants. Retail giants like Amazon can drive profits to a bare minimum and

Digital disruptions Industries other than book retail have a ‘Saeed Book Bank’ situation on their hands

offer item return guarantees that online small and medium sized competitors can simply not meet. of course, there is the counter argument that e-retailers such as Amazon allow competitors to sell their products via the Amazon platform, and hence it is a win-win situation for all. But that is oversimplifying the situation, especially when Amazon has introduced subscription services such as Prime that allow free delivery and extended return periods; these are offers which small and medium competitors if they were to sell on their own website online cannot match.

In the current online landscape in Pakistan, none of the e-retailers have actually moved to the stage where they are pricing below the market or offering subscription services such as Amazon Prime. However, next door in India, Amazon did exactly that. Initially, the Indian government limited Amazon’s moves to become the dominant player by not allowing them to sell their own products via their own webshop. More recently, the Indian government has passed laws further limiting Amazon

and Flipkart’s dominance of the Indian market by prohibiting sellers from selling products that are sourced more than twenty-five per cent from the online marketplace (i.e. Amazon).

Another overlooked unfair competitive advantage large behemoths such as Amazon have is the customer insights that they have gleaned through the colossal amounts of data they gather. These insights enable them to provide products and services which other firms without similar insights would find difficult to match. True, small and medium sized firms collect data online as well, but the scale of insights is nowhere as comprehensive as the ones the large giants have. In Europe, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) legislation has, to some extent, circumvented the access to such data. Customers now have to explicitly allow online firms to use their personal data. Although the GDPRs were explicitly passed with consumer privacy rights as the main purpose, they also have the unintended consequence of making the playing field more even

for smaller competitors. Regulators in Pakistan already need to consider passing similar regulations in order to ensure that e-retailers never have an unfair customer insight advantage over competitors, and of course, keeping in view the best interest of the customers.

Although the customer seems to be the winner in terms of wider book choice and lowered price offered by eretailers than traditional stores such as Saeed Book Bank, but the flip side is that firms like Amazon has also lowered the wage earning of writers. on average in the U.S. Authors now earn 42% less than they did in 2009. This is, by no means, a trend limited to the book publishing industry. In the long term this would mean less people being attracted to writing as a career, and hence, less content available to readers.

It could be argued that our regulatory authorities are to blame for Saeed Book Bank’s imminent demise.

If they had enforced copyright laws, both physical and digital, then probably Saeed Book Bank would have had more of a fighting chance. For the first few years, when digital screens were notoriously difficult to read on, piracy was not such a huge issue in Pakistan.

But over the past few years, with the advent of better smartphones and ereaders, the shift to digital reading was not difficult to anticipate, especially when digital piracy is so rampant in Pakistan. Albeit, regulation has never

stopped the demise of a business model or business platform that is outdated. It might be time for Pakistani entrepreneurs to dabble into alternative business models such as a digital streaming service for books, similar to netflix.

But e-retailers are not the only sources that the regulators in Pakistan should pay attention to. Peer-to-peer business models such as Airbnb are also a threat to existing businesses such as formal hotels. Companies like Airbnb argue that they use a lot of accommodation outside of tourist areas where most formal hotels are located, and thereby, they claim that they do not erode formal hotels business. However, accommodation providers on Airbnb have an unfair advantage as they do not need to follow all the strict building codes and regulations that hotels do and that means they have lower cost structures. Airbnb does exist in Pakistan, and although it has not caused a major dent in the hotels business for the time being it has the possibility of doing so.

In summation, digital businesses will change the way in which many traditional businesses work and even drive some businesses towards bankruptcy. The government’s job is not to stop technological or business model change, but it should ensure a level playing field for everyone and much needed regulation would help streamline many issues. g

Book RevIeW Review: William Dalrymple, The Anarchy: The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire (Bloomsbury, 2019)

I

THE LOWY INSTITUTE

By JOHN WEST

n his new book, The Anarchy, renowned historian William Dalrymple tells the remarkable story of how the East India Company (EIC) managed to replace the mighty Mughal Empire as masters of the vast subcontinent between the years 1756 and 1803.

He argues that the British conquest of India was “the supreme act of corporate violence in world history”. The Mughal Empire was replaced by a dangerously unregulated private company, based thousands of miles overseas in one small office, five windows wide, and answerable only to its distant shareholders.

The EIC was founded in 1599, around the same time that “William Shakespeare was pondering a draft of Hamlet”, writes Dalrymple. At the time, England was a small, poor, agricultural country, while India’s population of 150 million accounted for one-fifth of the world’s total. India was the world’s industrial powerhouse and leader in manufactured textiles. India’s Mughal Emperor was by far the richest monarch in the world.

Like many start-ups, the EIC’s beginnings were modest. Rather

The original corporate raiders Historian William Dalrymple looks at how a small trading company in London became a mighty army and conquered India than competing with the much more sophisticated Dutch East India Company in the Spice Islands, it turned its attention to India. Trade gradually developed in jewels, pepper, textiles, and saltpetre, and the EIC established bases in Madras and Calcutta. Its founding charter authorised it to “wage war”, and it would evolve from a trading corporation with a security force to a mighty army with a trading division which conquered all of India.

How could the EIC, a band of privateers, successfully conquer India? The arrival and rise of the EIC coincided with the fracturing of Mughal India into many tiny, competing states. Europeans also had an edge, thanks to the military innovations from Frederick the Great. And the invention of the joint stock company enabled the EIC to raise vast sums of money for risky ventures.

But most importantly, the EIC enjoyed great support from the British Parliament. Dalrymple

argues that the EIC probably invented corporate lobbying.

British returnees from India used their wealth to buy MPs, as well as parliamentary seats for themselves.

In turn, Parliament backed the EIC with state power.

As the EIC ultimately accounted for half of Britain’s trade, it became “too big to fail”.

The EIC was thus bailed out in 1773 after it went bust when the East India bubble burst following plunder and famine in Bengal. In his Epilogue, Dalrymple argues, “The East India Company remains today history’s most ominous warning about the potential for the abuse of corporate power”.

The “success” of the EIC was far from inevitable, however. In 1780, its regiment had been wiped out. If only the Triple Alliance between Hyderabad, the Marathas, and Tipu Sultan had held together, the EIC would have been completely defeated.

The Battle of Plassey of 1757,

where the EIC won control of Bengal, is presented by Dalrymple as a “palace coup”. Bengali bankers paid the EIC more than £4m (about a hundred times that in current terms) to unseat the disliked nawab of Bengal. The EIC’s rule quickly descended into the straightforward pillage of Bengal. Dalrymple reminds us that one of the very first Indian words to enter the English language from India was “loot”.

From 1780, the EIC lived off support from Indian financiers who saw greater advantage in keeping the EIC in power than in supporting Indian groups. In other words, the story of the EIC is also a story of Indian collaboration. India was not conquered by white British manpower, but by Indian troops, who were recruited, thanks to funding from Indian bankers. There were never more than 2,000 British traders in India in this period, most of them in Bengal.

By 1803, when the EIC conquered Delhi, it had a private

army numbering nearly 200,000 men — twice the size of the British army — and marshalled more firepower than any nation-state in Asia. It subdued or seized almost the entire Indian subcontinent through a combination of collaboration, coercion, and conquest. This was a commercial entity acting like a nation-state: collecting taxes, administering justice, waging war.

Dalrymple’s story ends with the EIC’s conquest of Delhi in 1803.

The EIC’s rule of India would, however, later end badly, when its own army mutinied in 1857 (the “Indian Mutiny” or the “First War of Independence”), leading to a savage war to regain control of its domains and its eventual takeover by the British crown.

Many chapters of the book are filled with details of battles, pillage, and massacres, which makes the text heavy going in parts for readers who might be mainly interested in the big picture. But overall, this is a very important book, and essential reading for anyone seeking a deep understanding of one of the countries which will be a force in the emerging Asian Century. g The writer is an Adjunct Professor at Tokyo’s Sophia University and Executive Director of the Asian Century Institute. He is author of the recent book, “Asian Century ... on a knife-edge” (PalgraveMacmillan, 2018) John’s career has included major stints at the Australian Treasury, OECD and ADB Institute.

Sunday, 17 November, 2019

14 SPORTS

FinLand into First major FinaLs as sweden seaL euro 2020 pLace BuchaRest

F

Agencies

INLAND qualified for the first major tournament in their history on Friday with a 30 win over Liechtenstein while Sweden sealed their place at the Euro 2020 finals following a victory in Romania.

Norwich City forward Teemu Pukki scored twice in Helsinki and Jasse Tuominen also netted to bring the home crowd pouring onto the pitch at the final whistle as Finland wrapped up second place behind Group J winners Italy.

Roberto Mancini's Italy registered a record 10th straight win as they eased past Bosnia and Herzegovina 3-0 in Zenica.

Francesco Acerbi, Lorenzo Insigne and Andrea Belotti scored for Italy, who have bounced back impressively after failing to qualify for last year's World Cup year for the first time since 1958.

"Mancini has done a great job, he has given us clear ideas in a short period of time. We are proud of the record of ten consecutive wins but our objectives and our dreams are honestly others," said Belotti.

Bosnia are guaranteed a place in the play-offs after finishing top of their UEFA Nations League group last year.

Sweden qualified for a sixth straight European Championships after a 2-0 success in Bucharest that eliminated Romania from contention.

Marcus Berg and Robin Quaison scored firsthalf goals for Sweden who secured second place behind Group F winners Spain, leaving Romania hoping for a play-off berth.

Berg headed in an inviting cross from Emil Forsberg as Sweden surged ahead on 18 minutes and then turned provider as he cushioned the ball off for Quaison to double the lead.

Seven different players were on target for al-

ready-qualified Spain in a 7-0 thrashing of lowly Malta in Cadiz.

Alvaro Morata opened the scoring on 23 minutes before former Arsenal midfielder Santi Cazorla bagged his first international goal in four years.

Pau Torres, substitutes Pablo Sarabia and Dani Olmo, Gerard Moreno and Jesus Navas completed the rout as Spain made sure of top spot.

Spanish fans honoured Sergio Ramos with a huge mosaic of the defender who last month broke the record previously held by Iker Casillas for most national team appearances.

"I'm very happy. What better way for me to toast this tribute than with a victory of such authority and playing such good football?" said Ramos, who earned his 169th cap Friday.

"The joy is two-fold on both a personal and

group level."

Alexander Sorloth struck twice for Norway in a 4-0 win over the Faroe Islands. Tore Reginiussen and Iver Fossum got the other goals in Oslo for the hosts who will head into the playoffs.

Denmark require a draw from their final game against the Republic of Ireland after a 6-0 demolition of Gibraltar.

Christian Eriksen and Robert Skov both hit a brace in Copenhagen with Martin Braithwaite and Christian Gytkjaer also on the scoresheet.

Switzerland occupy second place in Group D behind Denmark after a nervy 1-0 win over Georgia courtesy of late header from debutant Cedric Itten.

"I'm still in a bit of shock," said Itten. "To score on my debut here in St Gallen is a dream come true. It's still going to take a while to sink in."

Inter coach Conte under police protection after bullet sent in post: reports Rome Agencies

Inter Milan coach Antonio Conte is receiving police protection after a threatening letter containing a bullet was sent to him through the post, Italian media reported on Saturday.

According to Corriere della Sera, the former Italy and Chelsea manager received the anonymous threatening letter containing a bullet in recent days.

Serie A club Inter Milan later said in a statement to Italian news agency Ansa that "the letter arrived at the club and not personally to the coach".

"In relation to the news published today, Inter Milan states that Antonio Conte did not personally receive any threatening letters and, consequently, he did not go in person

to file a complaint," the club statement said.

"It was the club that received a letter and, as is the practice in this

kind of situation, it contacted the competent authorities."

An investigation has now been launched while Conte is receiving

police surveillance outside his home and at Inter's training ground, Gazzetta Dello Sport reported.

Meanwhile, Conte's wife Elisabetta Muscarello wrote on social media: "For the record: the story of the bullet is a hoax!"

Conte joined Inter in the summer and the Italian outfit are currently one point behind his former club Juventus at the top of Serie A. The 50-year-old led Juventus to three consecutive Serie A titles from 2012 to 2014 before taking over as Italy national coach.

He also spent two seasons at Chelsea, winning both the Premier League and the FA Cup during his time at Stamford Bridge.

Conte took over from Luciano Spalletti, who led Inter to a fourthplace finish last season.

Liverpool star Gomez's difficult week ends on low note London Agencies

Liverpool full-back Joe Gomez's rollercoaster week, from the high of beating Manchester City last Sunday to being booed at Wembley on Thursday, ended with him missing England's final Euro 2020 qualifier in Kosovo due to a sore knee. The 22-year-old -- whose Liverpool team-mate Jordan Henderson also misses the trip to Kosovo with a viral infection -- featured in the headlines earlier in the week after City striker Raheem Sterling confronted him at England's training centre on Monday, the day after Liverpool's 3-1 victory over City. Gomez was booed when he came on as a substitute in the 7-0 mauling of Montenegro, while Henderson missed it due to a one-match ban. Victory assured England of a place at the finals. "Jordan Henderson and Joe Gomez will miss England's final UEFA EURO 2020 qualifier in Kosovo on Sunday," read a statement from the Football Association (FA).

"Henderson arrived in camp with a viral infection that has not fully cleared. "Meanwhile, his Liverpool teammate Gomez sustained a knock to the knee in training on Friday and has not recovered sufficiently enough to travel. "The pair have returned to their club meaning the Three Lions will head to Pristina on Saturday with a 23-man squad." England may have assured themselves of a place in the finals but Southgate wants a win on Sunday to ensure they are seeded in the top six. Sterling is expected to play a role after being dropped for the Montenegro game due to the Gomez incident, for which he apologised. Kosovo will be in the play-offs next March having progressed through the Nations League, so their dream of reaching a first major tournament finals is still alive.

Hoeness steps down at Bayern, Flick to stay on for rest of 2019 munich Agencies

After 40 years in charge, Uli Hoeness fought back tears as he officially stepped down as Bayern Munich president on Friday, when it was also confirmed interim coach Hansi Flick will remain in charge "at least until Christmas".

Hoeness bowed out after former Adidas CEO Herbert Hainer was voted in as Bayern's new president by members at the club's annual general meeting.

The biggest surprise however at Munich's Olympiahalle came when club chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge stated that Flick would remain in charge for the rest of 2019 "and possibly beyond".

Flick, the assistant coach when Germany won the 2014 World Cup, took over as caretaker boss after Niko Kovac was sacked a fortnight ago.

Flick, Kovac's former assistant coach, oversaw their 2-0 home win over Olympiakos to qualify for the last 16 of the Champions League with two games

spare.

He was also in charge of last Saturday's 4-0 thumping of Dortmund which moved Bayern up to third in the league, four points adrift of leaders Moenchengladbach.

Flick will stay on as interim boss for the next eight games -- two of which are in Europe -- until the Bundesliga breaks for winter on December 22.

"I say this with conviction: we trust Hansi Flick," said Rummenigge.

Ajax coach Erik ten Hag, Paris SaintGermain's Thomas Tuchel and even former Bayern boss Pep Guardiola, who has a Manchester City contract until June 2021, have been linked to the job.

However, the evening in Munich belonged to the outgoing Hoeness.

Former Bayern stars Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery, who helped win the 2013 treble of Bundesliga, German Cup and Champions League titles, returned to present him with parting gifts.

Cries of "Uli Hoeness, Uli Hoeness!" rang out as an emotional Hoeness told mem-

bers: "That was it. I am done. Thank you".

Hoeness leaves the club in rude health with the German giants posting 750.4 million euros ($829.5 million) in total turnover for 2018-19, 93 million more than the previous fiscal year.

Their after-tax profit for the same period is a record 52.5 million euros, 13.3 million more than the previous best mark in 2016-17.

When a knee injury ended his playing career, Hoeness became club manager on May 1, 1979, with Bayern carrying debts of seven million Deutschmarks (around 3.5 million euros in today's currency) and had 20 employees.

Under Hoeness' stewardship, Bayern have won 24 Bundesliga titles and the German Cup 14 times, as well as lifting the Champions League in 2001 and 2013, in the last 40 years.

He transformed Bayern into a huge business which currently has around 1,000 employees and a vast army of 300,000 members.

"I don't want to say that I did all that

CMYK

- that was us, all of us," Hoeness said modestly.

In a statement Friday, FIFA President Gianni Infantino described Hoeness as an

"outstanding personality of German football" and a "pioneer who further developed FC Bayern and established it as a globally respected club".

Sunday, 17 November, 2019

poor pakistan preparation wiLL hurt tourists in austraLia test series sYdneY

p

Agencies

AKISTAN’s hopes of upsetting hosts Australia in their upcoming two-match Test series have been seriously undermined by their poor preparation schedule, former Test batsman Dean Jones believes.

The tourists have played three Twenty20s, a day-night tour match against Australia ‘A’ and a two-day contest against a Cricket Australia XI since arriving in Australia.

Jones, who played 52 Tests for Australia in the 1980s and 1990s, said it was insufficient preparation for the Test matches in Brisbane and Adelaide.

“I blame Pakistan’s cricket board for their horrendous scheduling of this Test series,” Jones wrote in a column in the Sydney Morning Her-

ald on Saturday.

“Pakistan have not played a Test match since early January. Do they honestly feel playing a three-day match at night and a two-day match in Perth will get them ready to be competitive against Australia?”

Jones said Pakistan’s inexperienced pace bowlers in particular would suffer for the lack of preparation and could have done with some time with the red ball at the venues for the two Tests. “(The) Test matches will be

played in Brisbane and Adelaide and their bounce will be completely different to Perth,” Jones added.

“Why didn’t Pakistan schedule a three- or four-day match when their T20 matches against Australia were on in Adelaide or at the Gabba?

“Pakistan could have easily put together a decent team to take on a state side while the international T20s were on.

“Asian players need at least three matches to get used to our conditions and this itinerary will not help them much.”

Pakistan have never won a Test series in Australia and last tasted victory in the longest in format of the game Down Under when they won a dead rubber at Sydney Cricket Ground in 1995. The first Test starts on Thursday at the Gabba in Brisbane, where Australia are unbeaten in Tests since 1988.

Cricketers’ mental health thrown into the spotlight sYdneY Agencies

Mental well-being 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 short-format 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

SPORTS 15 pakistani players will be sorely missed in t10 League: dawid malan spoRts desk England and Qalandars star Dawid Malan on Saturday said that he would miss Pakistani players in the T10 League that started on Friday in the UAE. Pakistan players had featured heavily over the first two seasons of the 10-overs-a-side league and as many as 16 were set to participate in the 2019 edition as well before the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) suddenly decided to revoke the No Objection Certificates (NOCs) it had issued. Later, the board had also set up a national training camp — despite a bulk of its players away on national duty or other T20 assignment — to coincide with the T10 league, perhaps to grant some legitimacy to its revocation of the NOCs. Malan, a regular in the Pakistan Super League, told Geo News that he would feel the absence of his Pakistani peers. “We will miss Pakistani cricketers,” said the England star who is captaining Qalandars in the T10 league. “Players such as Shahid Afridi and Imad Wasim are some of the best cricketers in this format and conditions. Their absence is a major loss.” Malan expressed his disappointment on the fact that “the format’s best players were denied NOCs.” While so far he has represented Zalmi in the PSL, Malan, says it would be an honour for him to represent Lahore Qalandars in PSL 2020. “I will be happy to be a part of the PSL. It will also be good for my cricket. Lahore Qalandars is a good franchise with a friendly atmosphere and I would be honoured if they pick me for PSL.” Malan, who was one of the few foreign players who agreed to travel to Pakistan for the PSL final in 2017, admits that security always remains a concern for foreign players but says the PCB’s arrangements have been spot on, and hoped that they will remains so at future PSL events too.

Latest point table updates of t10 leagues 2019 mental demands can be taxing.”

Ex-England captain Marcus Trescothick quit a 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.

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 well-being.

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.

spoRts desk The Third editon of T10 league, the shortest format in cricket, is underway in United Arab Emirates' (UAE) capital Abu Dhabi. Qalandars are representing Pakistan in the tournament. Along with 7 other teams from India and Bangladesh, the host team Abu Dhabi will also be playing in the upcoming tournament.

Mohammed Shami caps seamers' show as India win big as they ripped through the opposition to set up victory by an innings and 130 runs.

India's fast bowlers average 15.82 in It is not unnatural for visiting batsmen in 2019, easily the best in the world and on India to feel like they are trapped; to the third day of this Test, they showcased spend over after over under pressure with all the qualities that went into that stat.

Virat Kohli had declared with a lead their edges being beaten and their of 343, a sizable cushion for an shots counting for nothing. attack that is up there with the Just that most times a INDIA greatest that has ever spinner would be 493 FOR 6 DEC played this game, and b o w l i n g .

Bangladesh went (AGARWAL 243, RAHANE 86, within the first 14 overs, they created so through a differJADEJA 60*, PUJARA 54, JAYED much excitement that ent experience in the captain had burnt Indore.

4-108) BEAT BANGLADESH 150 both reviews.

For the first (MUSHFIQUR 43, SHAMI 3-27) Bangladesh should time in forever have tried to capiokay, it's actually AND 213 (MUSHFIQUR 64, talise on that but they only since 2001 SHAMI 4-31) BY AN INNINGS were sorely outmatched India felt comhere.

AND 130 RUNS pelled to keep their Shadman Islam, for exfast bowlers on for 23 ample, was worked over brilovers straight with the new liantly. He spent most of his knock ball. And we're talking about the third and fourth innings of a home worried about the outswinger and with Test here. That's around the time a sub- good reason. Ishant was laser-focused on continent pitch is worn beyond recogni- angling the seam away from the left-hantion and the ball doesn't so much turn as der, putting his entire body into his action create tiny rips in the universe. So what to keep the slips in play. Then, all of a sudden, he bowled one with his fingers slidreally is the point of being a seamer? "#HoldMyBeer," said Mohammed ing down the right-hand side of the seam.

Shami, Umesh Yadav and Ishant Sharma He did that so the ball would hit the deck

indoRe

Agencies

and wobble into the batsman - a trick James Anderson and Stuart Broad use regularly in England. Islam was just not ready for something like that. He lost his stumps and worse, looked up to see the bowler barely even celebrating. Human beings react to practically everything. A cup of coffee in the morning puts a smile on our face. Seeing Ishant utterly expressionless made it seem like he had seen that wicket coming from a mile away.

It was a poor match for Bangladesh's

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openers overall. Imrul Kayes totalled 12 runs in two innings and considering he dropped Mayank Agarwal when he was on 32, his overall contribution to this game was 199 in negative.

The only visiting player who came out with a little credit was Mushfiqur Rahim. Having top-scored in the first innings as well, he made an important half-century, replete with his trademark shots, those full-blooded cuts behind point and effortless flicks through mid-

wicket. That he could even play them though was because his defence was in good order and also because Rohit Sharma dropped him on 4. Mushfiqur showed that once the ball gets older runscoring becomes easier. Bangladesh could have exploited that if they'd had a better start to their second innings. That should be their primary focus ahead of the day-night Test next week. One Indian batsman made more runs all by himself than they could in either innings.

Shami was an equally bright performer, picking up a wicket in his first over on Saturday and finishing with seven in the game. His biggest strength is that he consistently generates half a bat's movement - somewhere near the perfect amount to get the edges. All he has to do to maximise that is bowl at the stumps which he does - and make the batsman play - which he also does, especially when he goes wide of the crease.

None of India's fast bowlers look like they need the additional movement the pink ball will offer. They were so good up top that for the first 19 overs of the Bangladesh innings, the batsmen were not in control of 25% of their shots. That figure did eventually improve. But those early mistakes, which lead to a flurry of wickets, had already sealed the game.

Sunday, 17 November, 2019

NEWS Indian police storm Amnesty offices to quash IOK coverage Indian officials on Friday raided the offices of renowned human rights group Amnesty International on trumped up charges of foreign funding from the United Kingdom that violate local law, according to a report published by the Qatar-based news publication al-Jazeera. It is widely believed that the investigation into the funding sources of the respected human rights group is a pressure tactic being employed by the government of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to stop the group from highlighting grave human rights violations in occupied Kashmir. According to al-Jazeera, officials from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) raided the offices of Amnesty International India in Bengaluru and New Delhi after direct complaints from the home affairs ministry.

Amnesty was accused of the same offence last year. “Over the past year, a pattern of harassment has emerged every time Amnesty International India stands up and speaks out against human rights violations in India,” the Amnesty group said in a statement, apparently referring to their campaigns for occupied Kashmir. Back in September, Amnesty International had launched the #LetKashmirSpeak campaign and called on Indian PM Modi to lift the inhumane military curfew in occupied Kashmir that has crippled the lives of millions of Muslims since August. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had revoked the constitutional autonomy of occupied Kashmir on August 5 this year and imposed a military curfew in the area, imprisoning millions of people. Thousands of ordinary citizens were detained after the move.

The detained included former chief ministers and the mayor of Srinagar. Widespread allegations of torture and abuse of these detainees by the Indian security forces were published by the international media in the following weeks, as Delhi showed no signs of easing restrictions. nEws DEsk

Palestinian rockets, Israeli airstrikes jolt tenuous Gaza truce

UN pANel AdOpts resOlUtION ON mINOrIty rIghts As pAKIstAN expOses INdIA’s pOOr recOrd NEW YORK

A

APP

committee of the UN General Assembly Friday unanimously passed a resolution calling for the promotion and protection of human rights of persons belonging to minorities, with Pakistan drawing the international community’s attention to the plight of Muslims in Indian state of Assam and occupied Kashmir.

The resolution, titled “Effective promotion of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities”, was adopted without a vote in 193-member Assembly’s Third Committee, which deals with social, humanitarian and cultural issues.

By its terms, the Assembly would request the UN Special Rapporteur on minority issues to report annually to it, including with recommendations for strategies to better implement the rights of persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities.

It would urge States to promote and protect the rights of persons belonging to these minorities, including by encouraging conditions for the promotion of their identity, the provision of education and the facilitation of their participation in all aspects of political, economic, social, religious

and cultural life — without discrimination — and to apply a gender perspective while doing so.

The draft would also call on States to ensure the protection of children who belong to national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities and who are at risk of becoming or have become stateless.

Welcoming the adoption of the resolution, Pakistani delegate Qasim Aziz pointed out that the recent report of the Special Rapporteur on minority issues had deplored the treatment of “millions of Muslims in Assam who face the threat of being deemed ‘for-

eigners’ and treated as non-citizens, and could therefore become stateless”.

Aziz, a second secretary at the Pakistan mission to the UN, said he feared that this process could fuel the xenophobic climate, religious intolerance and discrimination, leading other states in India using similar approaches to deny or remove citizenship for Muslims and other minorities, as indicated in the UN Special Rapporteur’s report.

Referring to the current crisis in Indian Occupied Jammu & Kashmir, he noted that the abrogation of Article 35A and 370 of the Indian Con-

PEMRA chief submits unconditional apology in IHC

JERUSALEM AgEnciEs Palestinian militants fired two rockets deep into southern Israel from Gaza on Saturday, and the Israeli military responded with a number of airstrikes on militant targets, shaking an already tenuous truce. Sirens sounded in the middle of the night in Beersheba, the largest city in southern Israel, some 35 km (18 miles) from the Gaza border, warning of incoming fire. The military said its missile defences intercepted the two rockets. A few hours later, Israeli aircraft struck a number of militant outposts belonging to Hamas, the Islamist group that rules Gaza.

No injuries were reported. The overnight rocket attack came nearly two days after a ceasefire ended a flare-up in cross-border violence between Israel and a smaller Palestinian militant group, Islamic Jihad. The worst fighting in months was triggered on Tuesday when Israel killed a top commander from the Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad, deeming him an imminent threat.

Gaza medical officials said 34 Palestinians had been killed in the two days of fighting, almost half of them civilians. At the same time, hundreds of rocket launches by militants paralyzed much of southern Israel and reached as far north as Tel Aviv, sending entire communities to shelters. Dozens of Israelis were injured. Throughout the fighting, Hamas, the dominant force in Gaza, appeared to have stayed on the sidelines.

stitution was clearly aimed at changing the demographics and composition of disputed state, to turn the indigenous Muslim majority population into a minority.

“Many fear that the current human rights and humanitarian crisis in occupied Jammu and Kashmir could potentially lead to forced displacement of its Muslim population and render them stateless.”

The Pakistani delegate also warned the committee that a process of wiping out the Islamic heritage in India was currently underway in pursuance of the ruling BJP party’s “Hindutva” ideology through destruction of Muslim shrines, monuments and transformation of India’s Muslims into oppressed, second class citizens, and non-citizens.

The Indian Muslims, he said, faced an existential threat today. The recent verdict on the destroyed Babri mosque in Ayodyha was a true illustration of this mindset.

In this context, the Pakistani delegate echoed the Special Rapporteur’s recommendations and called on the UN Secretary-General, the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council, to consider, as a matter of urgency, immediate discussions with the Indian government aimed at protecting the human rights of the concerned minorities and avoiding what could easily become a threat to regional peace and security.

ISLAMABAD sTAFF REPORT

The Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) protesters continued its blockade of highways across Pakistan for a third consecutive day on Saturday as part of the ‘Plan B’ of the party. According to details, Hub River Road, which connects Karachi to Balochistan, has been closed for heavy traffic. Police said traffic was being diverted to Northern Bypass from Hub Toll Plaza. Similarly, JUIF and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party workers were also staging a sit-in on Dera Ismail Khan National Highway in Balochistan’s Zhob District, suspending all traffic.

The sit-in has cut off contact between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan,

where passenger buses and cargo trucks have been stuck in large numbers.

JUI-F workers have also been protesting on the GT Road after pitching tents in Malakand district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Protests and road blockades are also continuing in other parts of the country. The protests, led by Maulana Fazlur Rehman, began with the ‘Azadi March’ on October 27 from Karachi. Thousands of supporters reached Islamabad on October 31, holding a two-week sit-in on the city’s main highway. On November 13, Fazl ordered his supporters to disperse across the country to block roads, in what he termed as ‘Plan B’ to topple Prime Minister Imran Khan. nEws DEsk

Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) Chairman Mirza Saleem Baig on Saturday submitted his unconditional apology in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) in connection with a contempt of court case.

The high court resumed the hearing of the contempt notice issued to the PEMRA chairman for using the court’s name without prior permission or context as means of persuasion to enforce strict guidelines on media houses and news anchors. During the hearing, Mirza Saleem Baig submitted an unconditional apology from the high court and said that he could not even think of misusing court’s name and the notice was not issued to challenge the powers of the court.

He prayed IHC for withdrawing show-cause notice over contempt of court issued on November 1. The chairman also submitted a written reply in the court which stated that the authority had clarified its notification for not imposing restrictions on news anchors for joining other talks shows. The reply also stated it had been clarified that news anchors were not restricted to participate in marathon transmission. On October 29, the high court being presided over by Justice Athar Minallah had issued a contempt of court notice to PEMRA chairman for using the court’s name without prior permission. PEMRA had issued new directives to all TV channels regarding analyses, views and discussion on sub-judice matters which resulted in tremendous backlash from a large segment of society, media and prominent political entities.

Pakistan lauds US commission for becoming voice of oppressed Kashmiris ISLAMABAD sTAFF REPORT

The Foreign Office (FO) on Saturday welcomed the hearing of of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the United States Congress on the situation in occupied Jammu and Kashmir, where people are facing movement and communications restrictions for more than 100 days.

“Pakistan welcomes the public hearing on human rights in occupied Jammu and Kashmir by the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the US Congress, held on November 14 at Washington DC,” read a

statement. According to the statement, the deliberations of the commission reinforced internationally recognised disputed nature of the Jammu and Kashmir issue and highlighted gross human rights violations and the humanitarian crisis in occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

“A call for an independent factfinding mission to occupied Kashmir was made and the right of self-determination of Kashmiri people was also duly underscored during the Commission’s proceedings,” it added.

“Held less than a month after the hearing of the Subcommittee on Asia of the US House of Representatives,

the Lantos Commission hearing reflected continued international concern over the situation in Kashmir,” the FO said, adding that Pakistan recognises efforts of members of the US Congress who have raised their voices of conscience on the ongoing persecution of the people in occupied Kashmir and called upon the Indian government to end its brutal repression.

“We appreciate that the US leadership and lawmakers are cognisant of the potential threats to fundamental human rights, freedom of speech, right of self-determination, and peace and stability in the region and are willing to play their due role to help bring the

continuing humanitarian nightmare to an end,” the statement read.

According to the FO, the general view during the hearing was that international journalists, independent human rights organisations and United Nations Special Rapporteurs should be allowed to visit occupied Kashmir.

“The witnesses also called for immediate lifting of the communications blockade and restoration of human rights in occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Overall, it was emphasised that India should not be allowed to continue its oppressive policies as well as religious and ethnic persecution,” the statement read.

Published by Arif Nizami at Plot # 7, Al-Baber Centre, F/8 Markaz, Islamabad. Ph: 051-2204545. Email: newsroom@pakistantoday.com.pk

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