E-Paper PDF 6th November (KHI)

CMYK

Wednesday, 6 November, 2019 I 8 Rabi-ul-Awwal, 1441 I Rs 17.00 I Vol X No 127 I 16 Pages I Karachi Edition

Nawaz Needs to go abroad for treatmeNt, says medical board g

Govt, Opp fail to break Azadi March impasse g

Pm says govt willing to entertain all demands of oPP, excePt his resignation STORY ON PAGE 03

zardari not given access to ‘specialist doctors’: bilawal g

PPP chairman says govt will be resPonsible in case anything haPPens to former President STORY ON PAGE 03

Firdous told to submit written response in contempt case STORY ON PAGE 03

services hosPital chief says certain medical tests, including genetic test, are not available in Pakistan

g

former Pm delays deParture to sharif medical city hosPital for a night after being discharged from sims

LAHORE

n

STAFF REPORT

awaz sharif needs to go abroad for treatment, the head of the panel of doctors overseeing the treatment of the former prime minister said on tuesday, as the former, who was discharged on his request from the services institute of medical sciences (sims), changed his mind in the evening and requested that he spend the night at the hospital instead of being shifted to the sharif medical city hospital in raiwind. “health department should talk to us,” Prof dr mehmood ayaz told reporters, adding that the medical board set up for the Pakistan muslim league-nawaz (Pml-n) leader’s treatment would give in writing that he should undergo genetic test from abroad. ayaz added the foreign visit would become essential if doctors want to examine his body tissues in order to diagnose the exact cause of his illness. he added the Pml-n leader was not facing a minor genetic issue. he that certain medical tests — including a genetic test — that have been recommended for nawaz are not available in Pakistan. the medical board recommended that a genetic test be carried out after it was observed that nawaz’s platelets could not be raised to normal levels and that his sugar and blood pressure levels were also inconsistent. dr ayaz said that nawaz’s health, overall, had seen an improvement. “if he wishes to travel, he can.” nawaz has procured bail on medical grounds in the ongoing chaudhry sugar mills case from the lahore high court. his seven-year jail sentence in the al azizia case has also been suspended by the islamabad high court for eight weeks on medical grounds. when asked about nawaz’s health indicators, the doctor said that while his condition has seen a slight improvement, his cbc report has shown a decline in platelet levels yet again. his platelet levels now stand at 30,000 per microliter, he said. furthermore, his sugar levels have not been able to be stabilised in the past 15

days. according to the medical board, the former premier’s sugar levels are checked 5-6 times daily. the levels have spiked as high as 150-190. members of the board said nawaz’s medicines undergo a revision every day and that despite the use of steroids, his sugar levels are unable to be controlled. they said that the use of steroids is necessary to maintain normal functioning of the kidneys. a low dose of these steroids is being given, the board added. according to dr ayaz, during the meeting, it was decided that the dose of steroids should be lowered even further. the medical board said that nawaz’s blood pressure and cholesterol levels are also beyond what is considered normal. “we have now removed restrictions from his diet plan,” said the board, adding that he will now have a simple diet instead of a restricted one. it was also decided that his water intake should be increased and that he should go for walks daily. additionally, some samples were taken so that cardiac, kidney and sugar level tests can be carried out.

NAWAZ DELAYS DEPARTURE: meanwhile, the former premier decided to delay his departure from the hospital so that he and his daughter maryam nawaz could leave together since the release orders

for the latter could not be obtained from lahore high court on tuesday. maryam nawaz has also been under treatment at the services hospital since october 23, a day after her father was admitted. she is awaiting her release on bail in the chaudhry sugar mills case after the lhc had granted her request a day earlier. the Pml-n leader has been ordered to furnish two surety bonds, each worth rs10 million, and deposit an additional rs70million and surrender her passport to secure her release. while her husband captain (r) mohammad safdar submitted the additional amount of rs70 million along with her passport to the court, maryam’s lawyers were late in completing documentation and the surety bonds could not be submitted within the court’s working hours. nawaz’s discharge slip was issued by the hospital on tuesday evening after a medical check-up was done. an ambulance from sharif medical city hospital had arrived to transport the former premier. Pml-n president and brother of the former premier, shehbaz sharif, had also arrived to review the arrangements made. later, when nawaz decided to stay on at the hospital till maryam’s release was secured, the ambulance was sent back.

reference against Justice isa filed without constitutional authority, sc told STORY ON PAGE 05

NEPRA allows Rs2.37 per unit increase in power tariff us report on Pakistan’s anti-terror measures overlooks facts, says fo g

fo says rePort fails to mention that grouPs like ttP, Jua and iskP continue to conduct terrorist activities against Pakistan from across western border

STORY ON PAGE 05

CMYK

STORY ON PAGE 11

Wednesday, 6 November, 2019

02 NEWS dry weather expected in most parts of country islaMaBad: Mainly dry weather is expected in most parts of the country, while cold in northern areas during the next twelve hours. Temperature of some major cities recorded as Islamabad twelve degree centigrade, Lahore eighteen, Peshawar fifteen, Karachi twenty-four, Gilgit five, Murree nine , Quetta seven and Muzaffarabad eleven degree centigrade. ONLINE

Sri lankan air chief meets pakistani counterpart

UNSC Chief’S approaCh oN KaShmir highly diSappoiNtiNg: aJK preSideNt ISLAMABAD

a

ONLINE

zAD Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan has expressed disappointment over the statement of President of the United Nation Security Council (UNSC), Karen Pierce in which she said that the Security Council will not be discussing the Kashmir situation this month because this issue has already been taken

up at the forum eleven weeks ago. “If UNSC not discusses Kashmir now, then when? Will the Council meet when the Kashmiris have been finished off? That would be a travesty of justice and a dereliction of obligations under UN Charter”, Sardar Masood Khan stated in a tweet.

In his reaction on Tuesday, Sardar Masood expressed surprise over Pierce’s assertion that the Security Council cannot discuss Kashmir conflict because it has already been discussed. This is despite the fact that since the ebate on the situation of occupied Kashmir in the Se-

curity Council session on 16 August, the situation instead of improving has further worsened in the held territory.

The AJK President said that this was the basic responsibility of the Security Council to frequently convene its sessions on Kashmir issue until and unless some practicable and decisive solution to this long outstanding issue comes to light. “Since India’s actions of August 5 in occupied Kashmir, the situation in the region is deteriorating with every passing day,” he added.

Sardar Masood Khan said that a few

days ago, India had bifurcated the State, and in this way, it had not only attacked the integrity of the State but had also taken a practical step to make Kashmir its colony and turn the Muslim majority territory into a Hindu entity through ethnic cleansing of the Muslims.

Under the UN Charter, he reminded, that it was the responsibility of the Security Council to not only protect fundamental rights of the Kashmir people but also prevent systematic genocide and ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri people at the hands of an occupation force.

islaMaBad: Sri Lankan Chief of Defence Staff has met Chief of Pakistan Air Force at the Air Headquartes Islamabad. According to Air Force spokesman Sri Lankan Chief of Defence Staff Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne met in Islamabad with Chief of Pakistan Air Force Air Chief Marshal Mujahid Anwar Khan. Both leaders discussed professional matters of mutual interest and expressed satisfaction over the mutual cooperation between the two Air Forces. Sri Lankan Chief of Defence Staff agreed to boost bilateral professional relations between the two countries. Air Chief Marshal Anwar Mujahid Anwar Khan has assured the Sri Lankan Chief of Defence Staff to extend full cooperation in the fields of technical training and professional expertise. Earlier, on arrival at the Air Headquarter, the Sri Lankan Chief of Defence Staff was given a guard of honor by a smartly turned out contingent of the Pakistan Air Force. At the Air Headquarter to pay tribute to Martyrs he also laid floral wreath at the Monument of Martyrs. ONLINE

fakhr-e-alam wants to hoist pakistani flag in space

ISLAMABAD: A large number of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl activists carry the coffin of a party worker who died due to cardiac arrest during Azadi March. ONLINE

islaMaBad: Pakistani actor, singer Fakhr-e-Alam, on the first anniversary of successfully making history by circumnavigating the globe in 23 days with Mission Parwaaz, has expressed his wish to fly Pakistani flag in space. The actor said, “My next focus is to travel in space, I want Pakistan’s flag to fly in there, I, therefore, need all your prayers.”

He further wrote, “Pakistan I proudly share this moment in our HISTORY with all of YOU, when one of YOU completed the 1st ever global circumnavigation by a PAKISTANI…I hope you will remember this last touchdown of #MissionParwaaz & cherish this moment. I hope you all are proud of me.” ONLINE

Peshawar traders decide to raise property tax issue with govt PESHAWAR APP

Local traders Tuesday decided to raise high property tax issue with the chief minister and relevant ministers for remedial steps in this regard.

A meeting of traders community chaired by President of the Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI), Engr Maqsood Anwar Pervaiz at the chamber.

Besides, Former presidents, Faiz Muhammad Faizi, Malik Niaz Awan, Riaz Arshad, ex-vice president Haris Mufti, executive member Aftab Iqbal, Hayatabad Industrialist Association Peshawar President zarak Khan, Small Industrial Estate Kohat Road President, Waheed Arif Awan, a large number of traders

and industrialists were present in the meeting.

Maqsood Pervaiz while speaking on the occasion expressed reservations over issuance of property tax notices to business community and increase in ratio property tax by 50 per cent, double taxation and said the unilateral and excessive increase in rate of property tax is completely unjust with traders and could not acceptable to them. He said the provincial government subordinate institutions have adopted aggressive approach for collection of taxes from business community to enhance revenue base in the province, which could create mistrust between government and traders.

He asked to immediately stop harassing and issuance of property tax notices to business community, otherwise traders will start protest against it. He said

government should take measures to bring new people under the tax-net and end multi-taxation immediately.

SCCI chief said the discrimination in collection of taxes with business community is unacceptable and asked the disparity should be ended. Faiz Muhammad, Riaz Arshad, Malik Niaz Awan, Haris Mufti and zarak Khan also spoke on the occasion. They expressed serious concerns over issuance of property tax notices and excessive increase in ratio of property taxes.

The meeting decided a delegation of SCCI will hold meeting with Chief Minister, Minister for Finance, and Special Assistant to CM on industries as well as relevant officials to apprise them reservations of business community regarding irrational property taxes and issuance of notices in this regard.

Vehicular emissions may raise risk of stroke ISLAMABAD ONLINE

Even in environments with low air pollution, long term exposure to traffic exhaust near people’s homes may heighten their risk of stroke, according to a new study from Sweden. The culprit appears to be a fine particle air pollutant called black carbon.

Exposure to exhaust fumes may raise the risk of stroke, new research suggests. The researchers came to this conclusion after investigating links between exposure to different types of particulate matter and rates of heart disease and stroke in three cities in Sweden. They report their findings in a recent Environmental Health Perspectives study paper.

The authors write that they observed “few consistent associa-

tions” between heart disease and stroke and different types of particulate matter and their sources.

“However,” they conclude that “long term residential exposure to locally emitted [black carbon] from traffic exhaust was associated with stroke incidence.”

Dr. Petter L. S. Ljungman is first author of the study paper and an associate professor at the Institute of Environmental Medicine at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden.

“This study,” he says, “identifies local traffic exhaust as a risk factor for stroke, a common disease with great human suffering, high mortality and significant costs to society.” Black carbon is a sooty material that comes from burning fossil fuels. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), it is a

significant component of fine particle air pollution.

Vehicle and other engines that run on gas and diesel and power plants that run on coal andRoad traffic is the primary source of black carbon emissions in cities.

Scientists have tied black carbon inhalation to respiratory conditions, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and birth abnormalities.

Dr. Ljungman and colleagues from Karolinska Institutet and other research centers in Sweden used data on 114,758 people who were participants in other studies that had collected information about cardiovascular risk factors from examinations and questionnaires. The participants, who lived in three cities in Sweden, were healthy and middle-aged at recruitment. The study period started in 1990 and lasted for around 20

years. The dataset included the history of the participants’ residential addresses over the period.

Over the 20 years of followup, 5,166 individuals developed ischemic heart disease, and 3,119 experienced strokes. Using emissions databases and dispersion models, the team estimated how much each type of emission source contributed to particulate matter, including black carbon, at specific residential addresses.

The sources that they included in the analysis were traffic exhaust, road wear, and residential heating. They included data for two grades of particulate matter: coarse, which includes particles under 10 micrometers (10?m) in diameter (PM10), and fine, which includes particles under 2.5 ?m in diameter (PM2.5). Black carbon counts as PM2.5.

CMYK

Black carBon and raised stroke risk The analysis revealed that the risk of stroke went up by 4% for every additional 0.3 micrograms per cubic meter (?g/m3) of black carbon air pollutant from traffic exhaust. The researchers found no link to stroke for black carbon emissions from residential heating. Also, they observed no links between total levels of PM10 and PM2.5 particulate matter and either heart disease or stroke.

“There was some evidence,” note the authors, “of an association between PM2.5 specifically from local emissions of residential heating and incidence of [ischemic heart disease] that warrant further investigation.”

In their study background, the authors refer to research that has linked long term exposure to

PM2.5 particles and atherosclerosis, the clogged artery condition that raises the risk of heart disease and stroke. The residential areas that the new study covered were in the cities of Gothenburg, Stockholm, and Umeå. The annual averages during the study period for PM2.5 particulate matter in these cities ranged from 5.8 to 9.2 ?g/m3. This range is below the 25 ?g/m3 threshold in current EU standards. Although the EU mention black carbon as a component of PM2.5 particulate air pollution, they have no specific threshold for black carbon.

“Black carbon from traffic exhaust could be an important measure to consider when assessing air quality and health consequences.”

Other fossil fuels emit black carbon along with other particulate matter.

CMYK Wednesday, 6 November, 2019

NEWS

Zardari not given access to ‘specialist doctors’: Bilawal Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on tuesday alleged that his father, former president asif ali Zardari, has not been given access to specialist doctors and his personal physician. “Our family is increasingly concerned about his health. if anything happens to our father, this government will be held responsible,” he wrote on twitter.

Zardari – who had complaints of backache, weakness and anxiety – was brought to the Pakistan institute of Medical sciences (PiMs) from adiala jail in Rawalpindi on Oct 22 and admitted to the cardiology department’s ViP ward. He underwent a number of tests and was declared to be out of danger. However, on Monday, a medical board at PiMs attached Zardari to a Holter monitor to check variations in his heartbeat. “the device has been put on because of the continuous variation in the patient’s heartbeat,” PiMs media coordinator Dr Waseem khawaja said. He added that the patient would stay at the hospital

Firdous told to submit written response in contempt case ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

the islamabad High Court (iHC) on tuesday directed special assistant to the Prime Minister on information Firdous ashiq awan to submit a written response as she appeared before the bench to offer an “unconditional apology” following a contempt notice. the occasion marked her second court appearance, following her remarks regarding an ongoing case, in less than a week.

During the hearing on tuesday, iHC Chief Justice athar Minallah said that it was a “huge crime to level allegations in a subjudice matter”. “this court will not favor anyone. action will be taken in accordance with the law,” the judge said. He

“until all his tests come back normal”. a Holter monitor is a battery-operated portable device that measures and records the heart’s activity for 24 to 48 hours, or longer, depending on the type of monitoring used. according to a heart specialist, the device has four or five electrodes that are attached to the chest. He said patients are put on the device when they complain of dizziness because this can occur due to a low heartbeat. “Zardari is sick, as he is diabetic, has arthritis and has received stents,” he said, adding that he had all these medical issues when he was president as well. NEWS DESK

told Firdous that in 2014, incumbent President arif alvi had filed a petition in the iHC on a holiday against the arrest of Pakistan tehreek-e-insaf’s (Pti) workers. “the court issued its orders on a holiday. the court had barred [authorities] from arresting [Pti] workers,” Justice Minallah said and recalled that “a lot was said about [iHC] in 2014 as well”. “Every judge takes an oath with God as a witness,” the high court chief justice said. “no matter how big a criminal, he has the right to a fair trial.” the judge further said that a “court is respected due to its verdicts”. Firdous offered the court an unconditional apology, saying, “i never talked about the judiciary in my 20-year career.” the court asked if she had submitted a written reply, to which her counsel responded in the negative. Justice Minallah directed the saPM to submit a written response within a week and adjourned the hearing until Monday. awan’s lawyer asked the court to exempt her from appearing before the court in person, but the judge turned down the request saying: “Her appearance here carries more advantage.”

ISLAMABAD

a

STAFF REPORT

s the azadi sit-in spearheaded by Jamiat Ulema-eislam-Fazl (JUi-F) Maulana Fazlur Rehman entered its sixth, a deadlock between the joint opposition and the government continues over the terms put forth by the opposition’s Rehbar Committee. the demands include immediate resignation of Prime Minister imran khan, re-elections in the country, no role of the army in the electoral process, and supremacy of the constitution.the opposition and government delegation sat together for a second meeting on tuesday; however, the consultations failed to resolve the impasse as both sides stuck to their respective demands.speaking to reporters after the meeting, Defence Minister Pervez khattak said both the sides stuck to their respective positions “the government agreed to several of the opposition’s demands and that talks will continue on the rest of them after consultations with the two sides’ leadership,” he said, adding that the government was trying to find a middle ground with the opposition to break the ongoing deadlock. khattak said the talks between the two sides were held in a “good atmosphere”.speaking on the occasion, Head of Rehbar Committee akram Durrani said the opposition delegation was standing firmly on their demands of the resignation of Prime Minister imran khan and new general polls. Durrani said that the Rehbar Committee has also demanded that the fresh polls would be conducted without army’s supervision. Earlier, the government’s negotiation committee held a meeting with Prime Minister imran for consultation on contacts with opposition parties.

During the meeting, the committee

CTD kills 3 suspeCTeD TerrorisTs in QueTTa QUETTA: CtD officials killed three suspected terrorists on tuesday during an exchange of fire in Quetta district’s Ghabarg village. the exchange of fire took place earlier in the day after a suspicious vehicle continued to move despite being signaled

by CtD personnel to stop. security officials said they also recovered weapons and explosives from the possession of the suspected terrorists. according to an official who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the alleged militants were afghan nationals and were involved in terrorist activities in Quetta’s kuchlak town. STAFF REPORT

CMYK

03

GovT, opp Fail To break azaDi MarCh iMpasse briefed the premier over its discussion with the Rehbar Committee members. the participants also reviewed the current political situation in the country.PM imran said that the government is ready to accept opposition’s legal demands under law and constitution if it shows seriousness for negotiations.Earlier in the day, both sides held separate meetings to chalk out a strategy concerning the sit-in. similarly, the Rehbar Committee also held a meeting at the residence of akram khan Durrani to evolve a strategy regarding the azadi March.

FAZL CALLS ON ELAHI, SHUJAAT: in a late-night development, the JUi-F chief called on Punjab assembly speaker Pervez Elahi and Chaudhry shujaat Hussain at their residence to discuss the political developments in the wake of the azadi March. the Chaudhry brothers urged Fazl to enter into negotiations with the government.

Earlier, Pervaiz Elahi called on the prime minister and the leaders of the opposition parties.speaking to media, Elahi said that he was hopeful the talks will be successful, but that it will require some time. He said the matter of the government “showing flexibility regarding resignations” will come under discussion at a later stage.

FAZL WANTS IMRAN OUT ALL COSTS: Meanwhile, JUi-F chief Fazl addressed the participants of the dharna and claimed that the entire opposition has rejected the government’s offer to form a judicial commission to probe rigging.Fazl wondered why anyone hadn’t protested against the Pti dharna

in 2014 but were speaking out against the azadi March. He reiterated his demand for the resignation of the prime minister, saying the sooner “you resign the sooner we go home”.

He also took the government to the task for carrying out revenge politics in the name of accountability. Fazl said the “country’s economy is on a downward spiral and debts are accumulating on a daily basis” due to the ‘incompetent’ policies of the government.“For the first time in Pakistan’s history, three budgets were presented. and despite that, they could not meet tax targets,” he added.the JUi-F chief also called out the institutions that are involved in the practice of “enforced disappearances” with impunity. He said people remain missing for 12-15 years with their aging parents, their children, “all crying their eyes out but these callous people never have the decency to inform them they have been captured by them”. “and if they are criminals, why are they not brought before the court?” he asked without naming the institution.in a late-night development, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) President Chaudhry shujaat Hussain had also called on Fazl in an effort to defuse the political tension. He was accompanied by his cousin Elahi, who had been flown to islamabad from Lahore for this meeting.Following the meeting, Elahi had said that the opposition has already presented its demands and the prime minister has convened a meeting to discuss them on tuesday. “Hopefully they would find a way out of the crisis,” he said.

Wednesday, 6 November, 2019

04 KARACHI PRAyER TImINgS FAJR SUNRISE

ZUHR

ASR MAGHRIB ISHA

5:24

12:15

4:13

6:42

5:49

7:07

ECP’s code of conduct being violated in Dadu by-polls DADU: Members of the ruling Pakistan People’s Party in Sindh are violating the Election Commission of Pakistan’s (ECP) code of conduct by actively campaigning for their party’s candidate in the PS-86 Dadu by-polls, a local media outlet reported on Tuesday. Polling on the Sindh Assembly seat will be held on November 7 in which PPP candidate Saleh Shah is set to contest against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s Imad Leghari. According to the report, PPP’s Sindh lawmaker Sajeela Leghari has been accused of carrying out door to door campaigns and holding corner meetings in the constituency ahead of the by-polls.

Earlier, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah also held meetings with dignitaries of the area in connection with the upcoming election. According to the ECP’s code of conduct no minister, member of assembly or special assistant can take part in the election campaign. Sindh Assembly’s seat of Juhi (PS86, Dadu-IV) was vacated after the death of Ghulam Shah Jilani of the PPP. STAFF REPORT

Karachi woman hires killers for murdering husband KARACHI: A woman allegedly hired two killers to murder her husband in Karachi’s Shireen Jinnah Colony. According to reports, police arrested the woman along with another man on suspicion of murder. During interrogation, the man admitted to having killed the husband at the behest of the woman who paid him Rs100,000 in return. The suspect said in a confessional statement that he along with another hit-man had killed her husband in a house in Shireen Jinnah Colony.

He said that they dumped the body in Umer Sharif Park which is situated at a distance of 3km from the house. Police claimed that the money was equally divided between the two suspects – one of whom is still at large.

Police said that they have yet to determine the motives behind the murder. STAFF REPORT

WEATHER UPDATES 0 WEDNESDAY

34 C

200C

THURSDAY

320C

180C

FRIDAY

KARACHI

s

STAFF REPORT

INDH Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has approved appointment of secretary of the Provincial Public Safety & Police Complaints Commission established under Police Order 220. He also issued directives for formation of district public safety commissions.

The Sindh Chief Minister was presiding over the first meeting of the Commission held here on Tuesday. The meeting was attended by Advisor to CM Murtaza Wahab, MPAs Sharjeel Memon, Imdad Pitafi, Shamim Mumtaz, Shahnaz Begum, Mohammad Ali Aziz, IG Sindh Dr Kaleem Imam, Adl

IG Karachi Ghulam Nabi Memon, Home secretary, Secretary Law, Nazim Haji, Karamat Ali and other members.

Being chairman of the commission, Murad Ali Shah in consultation with commission members approved appointment Saifullah Abro as secretary Public Safety Commission. He also directed Home Secretary to arrange an office for the commission so that they could start their work.

A member of the commission pointed out that that Ali Nawaz Chahcahr, a young boy who of Pir Jo Goth, District Khairpur, committed suicide when he failed to get his kidnapped sister freed from the clutches of abductors. The chief minister directed IG Police to register the case and get the culprits arrested.

The commission unanimously called

for an annual police plan. The chief minister directed the IG Police to prepare annual plan and submit in the commission for thorough discussion and approval.

The members raised the issues of sexual abuse of children and use of drugs by school children and karo kari. The chief minister directed IG Police to demonstrate zero tolerance in such cases and take strict actions against the culprits.

Additional IG Police Ghulam Nabi Memon responded the questions of the members of the commission on street crime and improvement in policing in the city. He gave a presentation to the members. Members of the commission expressed serious concern on the unchecked penetration of illegal immigrants and asked the IG police to take strict action so that the exodus could be

KARACHI STAFF REPORT

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday summoned Director General (DG) private schools along with fees structure while hearing a petition against a private school for charging extra fees.

A SHC bench heard a petition filed by a citizen against private school, The Academy, for getting extra fees and it summoned DG private schools. The petitioner stated that students are being harassed due to nonpayment of fees and they are being discriminated by compelling them to stand in separate rows during school assembly.

The bench prevented private schools for ha-

SATURDAY

290C

170C

stopped. It was agreed that monthly meetings of the commission would be held in the first week of every month.

The commission also decided to establish district public safety commissions for which the chief minister directed Home Secretary Qazi Kabir to get recommendation from the districts as per law. It may be noted that Provincial Public safety and Police Complaints Commission has been established to make recommendations to the chief minister for promoting integrity, efficiency and effectiveness of police; to take the steps to prevent the police from engaging in any unlawful activity, efficiency and effectiveness of police; facilitate the establishment and functioning of citizens police Liaison Committees in accordance with Article 168.

ACE launches inquiry against hospital over ‘fake diet bills’ MS SAYS HOSPITAL BOUGHT ALMONDS, FISH, MUTTON AMONG OTHER THINGS DURING LAST FINANCIAL YEAR KARACHI AFTAB CHANNA

The Anti-Corruption Establishment (ACE) has started an inquiry and sought more documents after the employees of the Sindh Government Hospital in Liaquatabad were accused of embezzling money in the name of the hospital’s diet programme.

The ACE – after receiving numerous complaints

of fake diet bills and poor food quality – launched an investigation against Sindh Government Hospital, Liaquatabad. According to the letter addressed to the medical superintendent, “It is stated that you have been already informed that the above subject inquiry has been initiated …the undersigned is directed to conduct an inquiry and report as per ACE Rules 1993.”

The department sought more documents from the hospital, saying that “the insufficient record” was provided by the MS. It directed the head of the hospital “to provide the attested copies of the budget file regarding diet programme for the year 2018-19; daily basis approved diet items provided to patients including ratio, procurement file regarding diet programme; list of firm, who provided diet items during 2018-19; copies of all bills/vouchers/cheques/supply orders, and incumbency of responsible official/officers who incurred the [said] year”. The medical superintendent in response submitted

a report to investigators detailing the ration purchased by hospital authorities for the provision of food to patients.

According to MS Dr Syed Muntazir Haider, the hospital purchased 500 kilograms of almond, chicken (1100 kgs), mutton (700 kgs), fish (1200 kgs), vegetable (1200 kgs), wheat flour (5000 kgs), rice (1000 kgs), cooking oil (1000 kgs), daal masoor (250 kgs), daal channa (350 kgs), daal mong (350 kgs), eggs (3000 dozens), sugar (600 kgs), bread (3500 full size), butter (1000 per 25 gm), yogurt (1250 kgs), milk powder (500 kg), tea leaf (100,000 pack), biscuit (22,000 per ticky pack), mango (1500 kgs), apple (1500 kgs), banana (1500 kgs), tomato (1000 kgs), long melon (1000 kgs), spinach (1000 kgs), ginger (25000 gm), garlic (50,000 gm), onion (1000 kg), red chili (5000 gm), haldi powder (10,000 gm), zeera (20,000 gm), garam masala (38,000 gm), green masala (36,000 gm), milk (30,000 packs) and juice (35000 packs).

Dengue fever claims another life

KARACHI: Vehicles pass through accumulated water after a pipeline broke near Zainab Market. INP

SHC summons private schools DG along with fee structure COURT EXTENDS INTERIM BAIL OF SUHAIL ANWAR SIYAL

180C

CM aPPrOvEs fOrMaTIOn Of DIsTrICT PublIC safETy COMMIssIOns

Karachi police to ask for JIT to probe army officer’s murder KARACHI: Karachi police on Tuesday decided to request for the constitution of a joint investigation team (JIT) to probe the murder case of Major Saqib Iqbal. Iqbal, 30, was shot dead in June in what police had described as a robbery incident that took place on main M.A. Jinnah Road.

Police had said he was killed by armed pillion riders near Dilpasand Sweets. The police department will write a letter to the provincial home department for the constitution of a JIT to probe into the case, SSP South (Investigation) Ijaz Rai told media. The officers from agencies and other departments will be part of the probe, the SSP further said, adding that the JIT will question the alleged killers. Police had arrested of two suspected killers of the army major on Oct 30. INP

300C

rassing children and also suggested the petitioner to keep cooperation with school management.

The counsel of school management pleaded the court to issue orders for paying school fees but the bench rejected his plea and remarked it would not pass such orders until DG private schools submits his reply.

SUHAIL ANWAR SIYAL’S INTERIM BAIL EXTENDED: The court also extended interim bail to Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) leader and former home minister Suhail Anwar Siyal in assets beyond mean case.

A two-member bench of the SHC, headed

by Chief Justice Ahmed Ali Shaikh, heard an interim bail plea filed by Suhail Anwar Siyal and extended his interim bail until 28th November.

At the start of hearing, Advocate Shiraz Rajpar told the bench that the hearing on the petition filed for removal of Siyal’s name from Exit Control List (ECL) will be held on November

28. He pleaded the court to conduct the bail petition on the same date. SHC CJ Ahmed Ali M Shaikh questioned the assistant attorney general Irfan Aziz whether he has read the file of the case which is being heard today.

Justice Shaikh expressed annoyance over Irfan Aziz for not reading the case file before attending the hearing. The judge remarked that the federation has appointed government lawyers, who are unaware of the case details.

The NAB prosecutor told the court that Siyal has not provided the copy of his bail petition. At this, Justice Shaikh remarked that the petitioner will not spend Rs10 so the prosecution should spend at least Rs10 from their own pocket to get the copy of the petition. Later, the SHC chief justice directed NAB to submit details of the inquiry initiated against Sohail Anwar Siyal besides extending his interim bail till November 28 and it adjourned the hearing till 28 November.

KARACHI: A 55-year old man, Abdul Waheed, died of dengue fever at a private hospital of Karachi city, taking the death toll from this mosquito-borne disease to 30 since Jan 1, 2019. Abdul Waheed son of Habibullah was brought to a private hospital situated in North Karachi with high-grade fever from Habibullah Village of District Ghotki five days ago. The patient was tested dengue positive. He died of dengue fever during treatment last night. A total 30 people have already died due to dengue fever in government and private sector health facilities of the megacity this year so far. Spokesman Prevention and Control Program for Dengue (PCPD) Sindh, while talking to PPI, confirmed the death of this man due to dengue fever in private hospital of the city. He informed that 218 new dengue fever cases emerged across the Sindh province in last 24-hours, out of them 205 were detected in Karachi and 13 in other districts. In November, a total of 806 dengue positive cases were detected across the province; out of which 720 were confirmed from Karachi and 86 from other districts. In 2019, a total of 10,360 dengue cases were reported in Sindh province so far out of which, 9,696 were reported in Karachi and 664 in other districts. On other hand, Sindh Health Department has constituted a committee comprised on experts of Prevention and Control Program for Dengue (PCPD) Sindh and Sindh Health Care Commission (SHCC) to probe deaths being reported in a private hospital of Karachi due to dengue fever. The committee has been formed on the directives of Provincial Minister for Health and Population Welfare Department Sindh Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho. PPI

Three killed, two injured in clash between rival groups KASHMORE: Three people, including a girl, were killed and two others injured in armed clash between two rival groups here on Tuesday. Police said that members of Jagirani and Lolai tribes which were in old dispute traded fire in Jagan Kachche area of tehsil Kandhkot in district Kashmore. In cross firing which continued for several hours, three people including a girl were killed while two others sustained bullet wounds. The police reached the scene after delay of several hours and brought the situation under control. INP

One killed, another injured in Karachi targeted killing KARACHI: One person was killed and another injured in a targeted killing incident in the metropolis on Tuesday, police said. The incident took place in Ghizri area of Karachi where armed men targeted and killed one person while injured another and fled the scene. The body and injured were shifted to hospital for medico-legal formalities. STAFF REPORT

Wednesday, 6 November, 2019

NEWS

05

RefeReNCe AgAiNSt JuStiCe iSA filed WithOut CONStitutiONAl AuthORity, SC tOld FO SAYS REPORT FAILS TO MENTION THAT GROUPS LIKE TTP, JUA AND ISKP CONTINUE TO CONDUCT TERRORIST ACTIVITIES AGAINST PAKISTAN FROM ACROSS [WESTERN] BORDER

M

UNEER A Malik, the counsel for Justice Qazi Faez Isa on Tuesday told the Supreme Court (SC) that the presidential reference against the apex court judge was filed without jurisdiction and constitutional authority.

Addressing the full bench of the SC when it resumed hearing on the petitions against the presidential reference, Malik said that the president had acted not acted in accordance with Article209 of the Constitution as he did not form an “independent opinion” before

sending the reference.

Moreover, he said, that every breach of law does not constitute violation of the judges’ code of conduct.

“The president should use discretion in filing references as the power to send a reference is unique,” he added. Malik also questioned the role of Law Minister Dr Farogh Naseem in filing presidential reference against Justice Isa. He added that the law minister bypassed the cabinet and sent the summary directly to the prime minister. Even Dr Naseem directed the Assets Recovery Unit (ARU) to inquire about Justice Isa

and his family after filing the presidential reference. The law minister also issued a press statement about the filing of the presidential reference,” he further said. Justice Isa’s counsel urged the apex court to lay down parameters or guidelines what the executive should do and should not do so that the privacy of judges and their families is not compromised.

Justice Muneeb Akhtar, however, disagreed with the arguments of Justice Isa’s counsel and noted that after the passage of the 18th constitutional amendment, president discretion was wiped out.

Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah asked, “If any government department like the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) finds out any irregularity of any judge how will it pass on information to the president.”

The hearing of the case was adjourned until Wednesday.

US report on Pakistan's anti-terror measures overlooks facts, says FO ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

The Foreign Office on Tuesday expressed disappointment over a recent report issued by the US Department of State and mandated by the US Congress, which had criticised the Pakistan government for allegedly “not doing enough to curb militant outfits”, including Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad.

“Pakistan is disappointed with assertions made in the US Department of State’s Country Report on Terrorism 2018,” a Foreign Office statement on the matter stated. “The report completely overlooks the factual situation on the ground and the tremendous contribution made and sacrifices rendered by Pakistan over the last two decades in the international struggle against terrorism,” it added, observing that “these efforts have not only resulted in the elimination of Al-Qaeda from this region but have also made the world a safer place”.

The Foreign Office protested against the assertions made by the report, stating: “As noted in the report, Pakistan faces the threat of terrorism from a number of groups, including TTP (Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan), JuA (Jamaatul Ahrar) and ISKP (the Islamic State of

Opp should refrain from making Pakistan Army controversial: Sarwar LAHORE: Punjab Governor Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar on Tuesday said that opposition’s attempt to make Pak Army controversial for achieving political interests is against the national security and solidarity.

“It is a constitutional and democratic right of every political party to stage protest but the opposition should refrain from making Pak Army controversial

Iraq and the Levant – Khorasan Province). “The report, however, fails to mention that these groups continue to operate and conduct terrorist activities against Pakistan from across the [western] border.”

The Foreign Office said Islamabad was committed to taking “concrete actions” under the 2015 National Action Plan (NAP), which has been drawn up with the consensus of all national stakeholders. Furthermore, Pakistan has also taken “extensive legal and administrative measures” to ensure the implementation of the United Nations Security Council 1267 sanctions regime, the statement added.

The statement further noted that Pakistan had facilitated talks between the Afghan Taliban and the US government and that its role in efforts to establish peace in the region had been acknowledged by the major global players including Russia and China.

“Any insinuation to the contrary is unwarranted and is inconsistent with the positive trajectory of bilateral relations [between Washington and Islamabad],” the statement read.

The State Department report, which was released on Nov 1 and discussed progress made against terrorism by different countries in 2018, said that while

Pakistan had implemented international standards to combat money laundering and terror financing and also criminalised such acts, “implementation remains uneven”. It further said that the country had not taken enough measures against “externally focused groups such as LeT and JeM which continued to operate, train, organise, and fundraise in Pakistan”. The report, which came close on the heels of the deadline set by Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for Pakistan, also alleged that while Islamabad had extended support for the Afghan peace process, it “did not restrict the Afghan Taliban and HQN (Haqqani Network) from operating” from its territory. However, it acknowledged that NAP included efforts to prevent and counter-terrorism financing, including by enhancing interagency coordination.

The law designates the use of unlicensed hundi and hawala systems as predicate offenses to terrorism and requires banks to report suspicious transactions to Pakistan’s FIU, the State Bank’s Financial Monitoring Unit. However, “these unlicensed money transfer systems persisted throughout the country and were open to abuse by terrorism financiers operating in the cross-border area”, the report alleged.

for achieving their political interests.” Talking to a delegation of National Defence University‘s National Security and War Course of 22 countries comprising 110 military officers, Ch Sarwar said that progress and development was not possible without ensuring durable peace in the world so that the world community should work together for peace. He said that Pakistan’s sacrifices in war against terrorism and for peace was exemplary, adding that Pak Army was ranked among the most powerful military force in the world. Pak Army had rendered great sacrifices to defend the motherland and in war against terrorism, he said and added every Pakistani supported and stood by

Pak Army. The Governor Punjab said that Pakistan always advocated peace and opposed war as the wars were not in interest of any one, adding that the wars could only create more issues instead of resolving them. He said that Pakistan preferred peace despite of severe Indian war hysteria after Palwama incident as Pakistan had also handed over Indian pilot to them under peace gesture. Chaudhry Sarwar said that resolution of Kashmir issue was necessary for peace in the region so that the world community should play its role to resolve Kashmir issue, adding that Kashmir issue and Indian war hysteria could intense the tensions between both countries. STAFF REPORT

Pakistan, Malaysia agree to bolster bilateral cooperation KUALA LUMPUR INP

Pakistan and Malaysia have agreed to further bolster cooperation in the areas of kosher food, technology and tourism, and agriculture, it emerged on Tuesday The two countries reached the understanding after a meeting between Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and the Malaysian Minister for Economic Affairs Mohamed Azmin Ali in Kuala Lumpur.

Qureshi noted that both the countries can enhance their bilateral trade through a free trade agreement, Radio Pakistan reported. He landed in Malaysia on Monday on a two-day visit to attend a summit in Kuala Lampur. Qureshi was invited by his Malaysian counterpart Saifuddin Abdullah.

During his visit, the foreign minister will also hold talks with top Malaysian leadership, including Prime Minister Ma-

hathir Mohamad. He will also visit Pakistan High Commission and inaugurate a Community Center established for the facilitation of the Pakistan community.

Qureshi will also hold meetings with representatives of the Pakistan business community and apprise them about investment opportunities in Pakistan.

SC questions monitoring of entry, exit points in S Waziristan NEWS DESK The Supreme Court on Tuesday questioned the practice of keeping records of entry and exit of individuals travelling to and from South Waziristan. A two-member bench, comprising Justice Qazi Faez Isa and Justice Mazhar Alam, heard a bail plea of an accused pertaining to a shoot-out in Dera Ismail Khan. The counsel of the accused said there was no bullet exit wound on the body of the victim’s body. Justice Isa, however, observed that the bullet could have lodged itself inside the victim’s body. The counsel informed the court that the suspect was in South Waziristan at the time of the incident.

Referring to the registration of the entry and exit in the tribal district, the lawyer said Zaman’s entry record was present but his exit was not recorded. To which, the bench questioned the legality of having entry and exit registration in South Waziristan. Justice Isa asked the purpose of recording entry and exit of people within the country and also asked which law allowed such a practice.

“We cannot answer which law calls for the entry and exit to be registered,” replied the lawyer. Justice Isa said the top court may review the issue if a petition is filed. The bench also denied bail request.

tWO fC PeRSONNel MARtyRed iN diK teRRORiSt AttACK DERA ISMAIL KHAN STAFF REPORT

Two officials of Frontier Corps (FC) were martyred while two others were injured when unidentified terrorists opened fire on their convoy in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KP) Dera Ismail Khan district on Tuesday.

According to DI Khan District Police Officer (DPO) Dilawar Bangash, the incident occurred in Bacha Abab area of Kulachi tehsil, when the FC personnel were on their way to their checkpost in Loni area.

“Unidentified armed terrorists attacked them near Qasim River and as a result, two FC personnel were martyred and two others sustained injuries,” he said, adding that that a rickshaw driver who happened to be on the site of the incident also lost his life in the attack. He further said that the terrorists fled the scene as responsive firing began and the injured were immediately shifted to the hospital for treatment. Security forces also sealed off the area and launched a search operation for arresting the culprits.

Cabinet approves passport waiver for Sikh pilgrims ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet on Tuesday approved the waiver of passport and fee requirement for Sikh pilgrims visiting Kartarpur to take part in birth celebrations of Sikhism founder Baba Guru Nanak. In a press conference, Prime Minister’s Special Assistant Firdous Ashiq Awan said the visa on arrival facility will be given to the Sikh pilgrims. The year 2019 marks the 550th birth anniversary year of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev, whose birthplace is Sri Nankana Sahib in Pakistan. On Sunday, Prime Minister Imran Khan shared some of the dazzling pictures of the Kartarpur complex and Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, saying the revered venue is ready to welcome the Sikh pilgrims for the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak Dev. “Kartarpur (is) ready to welcome Sikh pilgrims,” he had tweeted. The cabinet also accorded approval to the appointment of the Punjab Rangers Director General and restructuring of Capital Development Authority. Advisor to Prime Minister on Institutional Reforms Dr. Ishrat Hussain apprised the cabinet on the new local government system. STAFF REPORT

Pakistan Navy successfully test-fires missile in Arabian Sea ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Navy on Tuesday successfully test-fired a missile capable of hitting targets from land to sea. The locally developed missile successfully hit its target. Navy chief Admiral Zafar Mehmood Abbbasi observed the successful testing and congratulated the scientists, engineers and units involved. Speaking on the occasion, Abbasi said Pakistan Navy has the capacity to thwart any threat emanating from hostile state(s). He said Navy personnel are always ready to defend their motherland. INP

Wednesday, 6 November, 2019

06 WORLD VIEW

With US poWer in ASiA diminiShing, indiA needS to frAme A neW grAnd StrAtegy Times of india

t

kanti Bajpai

HERE has been disappointment over the cancellation of the APEC summit in Chile and President Donald Trump’s decision to skip the East Asia Summit (EAS) in Thailand. It was widely hoped that the US and China would sign a trade deal in Santiago and that this would bring the global and Asian economies back on track. In the meantime, a strong US presence in Bangkok would have reassured smaller Asian countries. The economic slowdown worldwide and in Asia and the seeming abnegation of US

A ROBUST ASIAN ECONOMY AND A STRONG US PRESENCE IN ASIA WERE THE CORNERSTONES OF INDIAN GRAND STRATEGY OVER THE PAST THREE DECADES power in Asia has implications for Indian grand strategy.

The global economy has drastically slowed. Though the major economies are not in recession, growth and consumer demand are at worrying levels. Asia has clearly been affected. Some estimates put Chinese economic growth in the last year at 3%.

Japan’s growth rate is 1.8% but may actually be lower. India is growing at about 5%. The real figure, judging by a range of indicators in various sectors, could be lower here too. Outside Asia, US

growth is at 2%, and the German economy actually shrank. Stuttering economies in the West will impact Asia further.

President Trump’s decision to send commerce secretary Wilbur Ross and skip the EAS has made everyone except China uneasy.

Trump’s sudden decision sends a meta-message: the US is unpredictable and may not be reliable.

The view that the US is capricious is reinforced by its decision to abandon its Kurdish allies, withdraw American troops from northern Syria and allow Turkey to

Europe is failing to stand up to the bullies who threaten democracy FROM BREXIT TO THE BALKANS TO THE PLIGHT OF THE KURDS, EU LEADERS HAVE REFUSED TO DEFEND MULTILATERALISM

Guardian Luke Cooper

The rise of nationalism and the historic threat to liberalism sweeping the global system poses big strategic questions for European democracies. Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin share an ideological belief in the language of race and nation combined with a winner-takes-all view of international diplomacy. By undermining the multilateral system, the new authoritarians threaten a return to the assumptions of a previous era: a world of empires, not institutions.

This makes Europe a central crucible for what happens next. As the Yale historian Timothy Snyder argues, the EU is largely made up of states that were forced to give up their empires and so had no choice but to pursue multilateralism. Europe’s nationalists substitute the realities of this history with the national myth.

They have become a major part of the EU’s own internal politics as the likes of Matteo Salvini, Viktor Orbán and Jarosław Kaczyński develop a fierce challenge to liberalism.

This raises a question over how democratic leaders should behave in the face of a new generation of statesmen who do not believe in mutual cooperation. Here the German sociologist Max Weber might help us. He drew a distinction between conviction and responsibility. He warned that acting with conviction could be wrong if the consequences were negative. Blaming others for the results was of limited value. Instead it was better to take responsibility and reckon directly ‘‘with exactly those average human failings”. But what if, we might wonder, it can also be irresponsible to refuse to act out of conviction? For the EU looks most at risk of precisely this failing.

Despite all the focus on Brexit there was not one but three decisions made at the recent European council that were of high significance to the future of Europe and the world.

And a failure to act with conviction to defend liberal values could be seen across each.

First, the EU struck a deal with Boris Johnson that endangers economic cooperation in Europe. While it is true that the agreement preserves the EU’s red lines in relation to the

Irish border, it has little else to recommend it.

By moving most of the UK in the direction of a basic future relationship with no safety net on workers’, consumer and environmental rights, the deal would create an aggressively deregulating competitor in the EU’s geographical neighbourhood. Johnson would go swiftly into the arms of Trump’s America, combining clearly the toxic mix of nationalism and free market economics that is threatening global democracy. The US has promised a fast-track trade deal within nine months. “It’s a great win for us,” a British government spokesperson said just weeks ago.

Second, with Turkey having attacked Kurdish-controlled areas in Syria, the EU chose the easy path of condemnation over action, declining to pursue either tough economic sanctions, military assistance to the Kurdish resistance or peacekeeping forces. This decision compounded existing EU failures on Syria. EU states have treated the refugee crisis as a security, not humanitarian, issue, to be largely resolved by agreement with Turkey to keep migrants out by force. Backed by Putin, the Assad regime has now moved into the Kurdish areas, signalling a major victory and the defeat of Syria’s democratic hopes.

Third, EU leaders reneged on historic promises to the peoples of the Balkan region, declining, under pressure from France, to begin accession talks with North Macedonia and Albania. In a decision many believed to be motivated by French domestic hostility to immigration, Emmanuel Macron has strengthened nationalists across the Balkan region.

Some will argue that the Brexit deal was inevitable once Johnson backed down. But the EU is perfectly capable of acting in a pragmatic and political way. For instance, with Salvini gone from the Italian government, the European commission is likely to show greater flexibility over the Italian budget deficit. And it was within the power of the European council to delay a deal with the UK. It could have argued, quite reasonably, that Johnson had only brought credible proposals at the 11th hour. This would have compelled him to seek an extension and in all likelihood would have led to a UK general election in which he was forced to stand on a “no deal” platform. These decisions may turn out to have been serious missteps in the global drift to authoritarianism. Recognising that democracy is facing an international attack should be the starting point for European diplomacy. We should be seeking to build an EU that is open to the rest of the world and committed to democracy, the rule of law and social justice with a forceful approach to the far right. Instead, the opponents of global democracy, I fear, have been strengthened.

Luke Cooper is an associate researcher and consultant at the LSE Conflict and Civil Society Research Unit and a co-founder of the Another Europe Is Possible campaign.

invade the areas it is vacating.

As India looks out at Asia, it should be concerned. The economic slowdown in the continent and the uncertainties in the region’s security order don’t augur well. Those who thought the trade war might work to India’s advantage should think again. It is unlikely that the Indian economy can resume a high-growth path in a stagnating Asian and global economy.

In addition, those who concluded that Trump’s aggressive stance with China would help India should also reconsider.

Trump’s view is that US security is best achieved unilaterally: allies are not particularly useful, indeed are a drain. New Delhi would do well to remember that Washington was more or less mute during Doklam. Despite the fanfare over the Free and Open Indo-Pacific

sTraTfor WorldvieW Although Iran has not been clearly behind or involved in a major attack on Persian Gulf oil and gas infrastructure (or on a non-oil target) since the Sept 14 drone and missile attacks on Saudi Arabia’s Abqaiq and Khurais oil production facilities, the risk of further escalation remains as the United States maintains its “maximum pressure” sanctions campaign against Iran and the status quo continues. In fact, there will be ample opportunity over the next six weeks for matters to get worse, starting with Iran’s expected announcement on Nov 7 that it is taking additional steps away from its commitments under the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal.

US SANCTIONS STRATEGY CONTINUES TO EXPAND Since the Sept 14 attacks, the United States has significantly increased sanctions pressure on Iran, further hampering its ability to import food, medicine and other humanitarian-related goods. First, on Sept 20, the United States directly responded to the attacks on Saudi Arabia by sanctioning the Central Bank of Iran and the National Development Fund of Iran under Executive Order 13224 for providing financial support to Hezbollah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ (IRGC) Quds Force, both of which are designated as terrorist groups under the same executive order.

The announcement was not the first time the United States had sanctioned Iran’s central bank. Previously, secondary sanctions had targeted the central bank but the United States had carved out exceptions through licenses for humanitarian trade involving the bank. The new layer of sanctions under Executive Order 13224 has no clear carve-outs and the guidance that the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Controls (OFAC) provided has not clearly delineated a process to allow for such trade. As a result, foreign financial institutions have been effectively cut off from processing humanitarian-related trade through Iran’s central bank, which is a crucial part of Iran’s banking sector given the dominance of the state in the country’s economy.

Second, the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced Oct 25 that it had identified Iran as a “jurisdiction of primary money laundering concern” under Section 311 of the USA Patriot Act. More importantly, FinCEN issued a final rule on the matter, which had been proposed by the administration of former President Barack Obama but had stalled during the JCPOA negotiation process. This decision will require US banks to increase scrutiny when dealing with foreign financial institutions that also hold Iranian accounts.

Because of additional compliance costs, the US financial system and foreign banks generally purge accounts hit with Section 311 concerns.

European financial institutions and

(FOIP), Trump has scarcely mentioned the initiative. While Barack Obama made it a point to come to virtually every EAS, Trump has been to one, in 2017. It is hard not to conclude that the only Asian issue Trump really cares about is North Korea’s nuclear weapons.

A robust Asian economy and a strong US presence in Asia were the cornerstones of Indian grand strategy over the past three decades: Look East and Act East were premised on both elements. Neither is a given now and in the years ahead. A US-China trade war, a faltering global economy and a shaky Asian economy could persist. The gradual diminishment of US power in Asia also looks set to continue.

What are India’s choices ahead?

It is time for a grand strategy debate. Should India turn inwards and focus on setting its economy in order above all? Should it join

the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and other economic agreements and force various sectors in its economy to become more competitive? In dealing with China, should it construct an anti-China coalition absent the US? Or should it strike a deal with Beijing over a range of issues including territory, trade, spheres of influence, and Pakistan? Internal security, Pakistan, and non-traditional security threats such as climate change and water scarcity are vital grand strategic issues too. How do they impinge on the economic challenges ahead and the challenge of Chinese power?

The Modi government is consumed with the need to be constantly doing, often causing considerable harm. It needs to draw breath and do some fundamental thinking instead.

Iran may up its aggression as the US expands sanctions AS SAUDI ARABIA LOOKS TOWARD THE SAUDI ARAMCO IPO AND THE UNITED STATES CONTINUES TO UP ITS SANCTIONS PRESSURE ON IRAN, THE RISK OF ESCALATION REMAINS PRESENT others effectively will close most if not all of their Iranian accounts in response to the US action, cutting off Iran’s ability to conduct financial transactions for humanitarian trade even through banks other than its central bank, or even when an Iranian exporter holds an account in a foreign country. Already, this effect has become a political issue elsewhere. For example, Malaysian banks, worried that US banks would close Malaysian accounts if they did not comply with the US sanctions, have begun closing the accounts of Iranian individuals and companies. Each sanction move increases the domestic impact on Iran. An Oct 29 Human Rights Watch report, for example, detailed some of the difficulties accessing food and medicine in Iran even though the United States argues that its sanctions don’t cover such transactions. And now nongovernmental organisations operating in Iran are struggling to move money and goods into the country to alleviate the problems.

Much like its designation in April of the IRGC as a terrorist group, the US Section 311 decision adds another layer of complexity to any future talks between Iran and the United States on removing sanctions. Now that the Treasury Department has issued a final rule, Iran would be expected to make significant reforms — including passing stalled bills on adherence to Financial Action Task Force (FATF) guidelines on anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing — for FinCEN to reverse its decision. More importantly, a reversal may not even be enough to convince foreign financial institutions to quickly reopen Iranian accounts, limiting the economic benefits for Iran to join a deal with the United States.

A MONTH OF OPPORTUNITY FOR IRAN The new US moves will make it even more difficult for the Europeans to set up humanitarian trade-focused financial mechanisms, like the Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges (INSTEX).

Already Iranian officials may have dealt INSTEX a death blow when they said they likely would not pass more bills to comply with FATF rules, which had been a European demand for even setting up INSTEX, though the Europeans have been moving forward with initial INSTEX transactions regardless. Iran has until mid-February to meet required FATF anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing standards.

If it fails to do so, the FATF almost certainly will allow its countermeasures for Iran, which it has suspended since 2016, to take effect.

All of these signs point to Iran likely continuing its aggressive response strategy, and several events over the next six weeks could trigger Iranian belligerence. First, Iran’s fourth 60-day deadline to the Europeans to protect Tehran’s interests in the JCPOA ends Nov 7 and Iran is expected to announce further reductions of its JCPOA nuclear commitments in response. There has been speculation from Iranian hard-liners that Tehran could try to restrict International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) access to Iran’s nuclear sites. Such an aggressive move could provoke a significant response by the United States and the IAEA, which will be led by a more hawkish director-general starting in December. Iran instead could take a less aggressive stance by installing more centrifuges used to enrich uranium while being careful not to achieve the level or rate of enrichment past the point that could trigger the JCPOA’s dispute settlement process. The settlement process, in turn, could lead to UN Security Council sanctions on Iran that neither Russia nor China could veto.

Perhaps more concerning for the United States, Europe and Saudi Arabia is that Iran could try to carry out another attack against Saudi oil facilities (or another target in the region). December’s OPEC meetings or Saudi Arabia’s initial public offering for the state-owned Saudi Arabian Oil Co., which expected to begin trading on the kingdom’s domestic stock market in December, could provide Iran with an opportune time to attack regional oil and gas infrastructure.

Of course, Saudi Arabia and the United States have been boosting defences around Saudi facilities, and a large-scale attack like the one in September may fail. And Iran’s attacks on Saudi Arabia have prompted several European countries to take a more hard-line approach to Iran’s missile programme. Tehran may assess that the Sept 14 attacks on Saudi Arabia were too aggressive, with further attacks possibly pushing Europe closer to the US position.

Nevertheless, as Saudi Arabia looks toward the Saudi Aramco IPO and the United States continues to up its sanctions pressure on Iran, the risk of escalation remains present. And that risk is most certainly making Saudi Arabia and its neighbours nervous.

Wednesday, 6 November, 2019

Yemen govt, southern separatists sign power-sharing deal SANA'A

Y

AGENCIES

EMEN’S internationally recognised government signed a powersharing deal with southern separatists on Tuesday, in a Saudibrokered initiative to end a conflict simmering within the country’s civil war.

Unrest in the south, which saw secessionist forces seize control of Yemen’s interim capital Aden, distracted the Saudi-led coalition from its battle against Houthi rebels and raised fears the country could fall apart entirely.

“This agreement will open a new period of stability in Yemen. The kingdom of Saudi Arabia stands with you,” Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said at a signing ceremony in Riyadh aired on state television.

The deal will reportedly see the secessionist Southern Transitional Council (STC) handed a number of ministries, and the government return to Aden, according to officials and reports in Saudi media. The UN special envoy for Yemen, Martin Griffiths, congratulated the two sides on the deal which he said would propel efforts to end the wider civil war that has devastated the country.

“The signing of this agreement is an important step for our collective efforts to advance a peaceful settlement to the conflict in

Yemen,” he said in a statement.

“Listening to southern stakeholders is important to the political efforts to achieve peace in the country.” Security Belt Forces — dominated by the STC — in August took control of Aden, which had served as the beleaguered government’s base since it was ousted from the capital Sanaa by Iranbacked Huthi rebels in 2014.

The clashes between the separatists and government forces, who for years fought on the same side against the Huthis, had raised fears the country could split apart with disastrous effects. The warring factions in recent weeks held indirect talks mediated by Saudi Arabia in the kingdom’s western city of Jeddah, which culminated in the deal signed in Riyadh.

Both Yemen’s President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi and STC leader Aidarous alZoubeidi attended the ceremony.

Analysts said the deal prevented the violent disintegration of Yemen but that secessionist sentiment could resurface in the future. “In the short term, the agreement will allow the coalition to stick together and focus their efforts on fighting the Huthis instead of each other,” said Elisabeth Kendall, senior research fellow at Oxford University.

“In the long term, it simply kicks the can down the road on southern secession. Southern ambitions won’t just go away. The question is, can they be temporarily reined in.”

At least 13 killed as Iraq resumes live gunfire against protesters BAGHDAD AGENCIES

After eight people were killed during the day on Monday, security forces shot dead at least five others overnight or early on Tuesday, including one killed with live fire at a funeral procession for another who died hours earlier. More than 260 Iraqis have been killed in demonstrations since the start of October against a government they see as corrupt and beholden to foreign interests, above all Iran.

Most of those deaths took place during the first week of the demonstrations, when snipers shot on crowds from Baghdad rooftops. But after the government appeared to have curbed the use of some deadly tactics, the protests swelled rapidly over the past ten days. The new violence began a day after Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi appealed to protesters to suspend their movement, which he said had achieved its goals and was hurting the economy.

He has said he is willing to resign if politicians agree on a replacement, and has promised a number of reforms. But protesters say that is not enough and the entire political class needs to go.

‘CONTINUED BLOODSHED’: Since putting down an insurgency by Islamic State in 2017, Iraq has enjoyed two years of comparative stability. But despite its oil wealth, many people live in poverty with limited access to clean water, electricity, healthcare or education.

Protesters blame a political system that shares power among sectarian parties, making corruption entrenched. Abdul Mahdi, in power for a year, enjoys the support of powerful Iran-backed political parties allied to armed militia. A government report said nearly 150 people were killed in the first week of the unrest in early October, 70% from bullets to the head. Since then, security forces mainly used tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades to repel protesters.

Though these tactics also caused fatalities, the protests grew far larger as word got out that they were safer, with families, women and elderly people joining demonstrations by self-proclaimed “revolutionary” youth, especially in Baghdad.

By the end of last week tens of thousands of people were turning out daily for by far the biggest anti-government demonstrations since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003.

MISTRUST ABOUNDS: The military coalition led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) intervened in Yemen in 2015 as the Huthi rebels closed in on Aden, prompting Hadi to flee into Saudi exile.

The conflict has since killed tens of thousands of people — most of them civilians — and driven millions more to the brink of famine in what the United Nations calls the world’s worst humanitarian crisis.

The south was an independent state before being forcibly unified in 1990, and the STC has said it wants to regain its lost status.

The separatists have received support and training from the UAE, even though it is a key pillar in the Saudi-led coalition.

Abu Dhabi accuses Yemeni authorities of allowing Islamist elements to gain influence within their ranks.

The mistrust between the allies has posed a headache for regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia, which remains focused on fighting the Huthis who are aligned with Riyadh’s archfoe Iran. Nevertheless, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan tweeted a picture of himself and Prince Mohammed walking hand in hand with Hadi after Tuesday’s ceremony.

The Huthis have offered to halt all attacks on Saudi Arabia as part of a wider peace initiative, later repeating their proposal despite continued air strikes from the Saudi-led coalition.

turkey captures Baghdadi's sister in syria ANKARA: Turkey captured the sister of dead Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi on Monday in the northern Syrian town of Azaz, a senior Turkish official told Reuters, and is interrogating her husband and daughter-in-law who were also detained. Rasmiya Awad, 65, was detained in a raid near Azaz, the official said, referring to a Turkishcontrolled Syrian town near the border. When captured, she was also accompanied by five children. “We hope to gather a trove of intelligence from Baghdadi’s sister on the inner workings of IS,” the official said.

Little independent information is available on Baghdadi’s sister and Reuters was not immediately able to verify if the captured individual was her. Baghdadi killed himself last month when cornered in a tunnel during a raid by US special forces in northwestern Syria. Islamic State, in an audio tape posted online on Thursday, confirmed that its leader had died and vowed revenge against the United States. APP

FOREIGN NEWS 07

Turkey's Erdogan says Kurdish YPG have not left Syria 'safe zone' ANKARA AGENCIES

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday the Kurdish YPG militia had not withdrawn from some Syrian border areas and that U.S. forces were still carrying out joint patrols with the group, contrary to an agreement between them.

He was speaking as Turkish and Russian soldiers in armored vehicles held their second joint ground patrol in northern Syria near the town of Kobani, under a deal to push the YPG some 30 km (19 miles) away from Turkey’s border.

Nearly a month ago, Turkey and Syrian rebel allies launched a cross-border incursion against Kurdish YPG fighters, seizing control of 120 km (75 miles) of land along the frontier.

Turkey subsequently struck two separate deals with the United States and Russia for the YPG to withdraw from the “safe zone” it plans to form in the region, in return for Ankara stopping its offensive against the group.

While Washington and Moscow have said the fighters had left the border region, Erdogan said this was not the case.

“These areas are not cleared of terrorists. Terrorists have not been taken out of either Tel Rifaat or Manbij,” Erdogan said, referring to two towns in the western border area where he said YPG fighters remained.

They were also still present east of Ras al Ain, a town Turkey targeted in the incursion, Erdogan said in parliament.

He said Turkey would abide by the deals as long as Washington and Moscow kept their promises.

He later told reporters that U.S. forces were still holding joint patrols with the YPG inside the 30-km border strip from which the militia was meant to withdraw.

“How can we explain America holding patrols with terrorist organizations in this region even though they made the decision to withdraw? This is not in our agree-

ment,” he said.

Ankara considers the YPG a terrorist group because of its ties to militants who have waged an insurgency in southeast Turkey since 1984. U.S. support for the YPG, which was a main ally in the fight against Islamic State, has infuriated Turkey.

A survey by pollster Metropoll on Tuesday showed Turks’ support for Erdogan surged last month, when Ankara launched the incursion.

Erdogan’s approval rating rose by 3.7 points in October to 48%, the survey showed, its highest since shortly after last year’s elections. His disapproval rating fell 9.3 points to 33.7%, its lowest since a failed 2016 coup.

JOINT PATROL NEAR KOBANI: The joint TurkishRussian patrol on Tuesday was launched some seven km (four miles) east of Kobani, a Syrian border town of special significance to the YPG, which fought off Islamic State militants trying to seize it in 2014-15. The patrol was completed in two hours, a witness said.

The Turkish Defence Ministry shared photos on Twitter showing Turkish and Russian soldiers meeting at the border and studying maps before the start of the patrol. It said drones were also taking part.

Russia is the Syrian government’s most powerful ally and since 2015 has helped it retake much of the country from rebels, turning the tide in the civil war.

The Turkish-Russian deal enabled Syrian government forces to move back into border regions from which they had been absent for years.

Russian military police arrived in Kobani on Oct. 23 under the deal reached by Erdogan and Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Ankara launched its offensive against the YPG following President Donald Trump’s abrupt withdrawal of 1,000 U.S. troops from northern Syria in early October. The YPG helped the United States smash the Islamic State caliphate in Syria.

Iran to resume enrichment at underground plant TEHRAN AGENCIES

President Hassan Rouhani said Tuesday that Iran would resume uranium enrichment at an underground plant south of Tehran in its latest step back from a troubled 2015 agreement with major powers.

The suspension of all enrichment at the Fordow plant in the mountains near the Shiite holy city of Qom was one of the restrictions on its nuclear activities that Iran accepted in return for the lifting of international sanctions.

But Washington’s abandonment of the deal in May last year followed by its reimposition of crippling sanctions prompted Iran to begin a phased suspension of its

own commitments in May this year.

Rouhani recalled that under the terms of the agreement Iran had retained more than 1,000 centrifuges at the plant which had been running empty since it went into effect. “Starting from tomorrow (Wednesday), we will begin injecting (uranium hexafluoride) gas at Fordo,” Rouhani said in a speech broadcast by state television.

His announcement came a day after tensions flared anew on the 40th anniversary of the US embassy siege and hostage crisis, with thousands in Tehran taking to the streets and Washington imposing fresh sanctions. Iran said the resumption of enrichment at Fordow would be carried out transparently and witnessed by inspectors from the UN nuclear watchdog, the Inter-

national Atomic Energy Agency. But Russia, which has close ties with Iran, expressed concern about the latest move.

“We are monitoring the development of the situation with concern,” President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “We support the preservation of this deal.”

At the same time, Peskov said Moscow understood Tehran’s concerns over the “unprecedented and illegal sanctions” imposed by Washington.

The move is the fourth announced by Iran since it began responding to Washington’s abandonment of its commitments. Iran has repeatedly warned the remaining parties to the deal — Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia —

that the agreement can only be rescued if they help it circumvent US sanctions.

European governments have strived to come up with a mechanism that would allow foreign firms to continue to do business with Iran without incurring US penalties. But to Iran’s mounting frustration, their efforts have so far failed to have any significant impact.

Rouhani stressed that Iran remained committed to efforts to save the 2015 agreement despite its phased suspension of some of its commitments.

“The fourth phase, like the three previous ones, is reversible,” he said.

“We are committed to all the behindthe-scenes negotiations we have with some countries for a solution. “Over the

next two months, we will negotiate more.”

Rouhani said Iran wanted to return to a situation in which “we can easily sell our oil, we can easily use our money in banks.”

If that were achieved, “we will completely go back to the previous situation.”

The European Union warned Monday that its continued support for the deal depended on Tehran fulfilling its commitments. Maja Kocijancic, spokeswoman for EU diplomatic chief Federica Mogherini, said the bloc “remains committed” to the deal but “our commitment… depends on full compliance by Iran”.

“We have continued to urge Iran to reverse such steps without delay and to refrain from other measures that would undermine the nuclear deal.”

Wednesday, 6 November, 2019

08 COMMENT When in a hole, stop digging The government, opposition talks

O

NE of the positive outcomes of the Azadi March is the initiation of a serious dialogue between the government and the opposition. The government seems to have realized that to complete its tenure it cannot continue to ignore developing working relations with the opposition and holding meaningful dialogue with it. The change of discourse from non-parliamentary language to an urbane idiom is a welcome development. After two meetings with the opposition on consecutive days, the government team’s leader said they are trying to find a middle ground with the opposition to break the ongoing deadlock.

Had the government abided by the supremacy of the Constitution, there would have been no need to demand the PM’s resignation or re-election or not entrusting the Army with any election related task. Months after the PTI government came to power the leaders of both the PPP and PML-N offered their cooperation to the PM provided he acted in accordance with the Constitution. The offers were rejected out of hand.

Violating the principle of the rule of law, cases were initiated by the NAB against opposition leaders while ignoring the corrupt in the ruling party, while the government exhorted the Bureau to act more speedily in awarding opposition leaders heavier punishments. Pemra was employed to stifle the media. The government connived with or passively witnessed transgression by certain institutions and departments into others’ domain in violation of the constitutional provisions. The Prime Minister ignored the National Assembly by remaining mostly absent from it while the PTI leadership encouraged party legislators to use unparliamentary language against the opposition. The Parliament’s prerogative to make laws was usurped by the executive which decided to rule by ordinances. The Supreme Court judgment in the Faizabad sit-in case still remains unimplemented.

The best way to ensure internal security and stability, rightly cherished by the corps commanders, is for every institution to work strictly within the sphere allotted to it by the constitution. The Parliament should make laws, the executive should run the country lawfully, the courts should dispense justice and the army should defend the geographical borders of the country. Disturbing the constitutional equilibrium can harm the country. Use of force against social movements seeking to restore the equilibrium has caused irreparable national losses.

Another hike in electricity prices Individuals and businesses suffering

N

EPRA has increased the electricity tariff by Rs2.37 per unit for the current month. Last month an increase of Rs1.66 per unit was made while in September it was hiked by Rs0.52 per unit. These monthly increases are the result of a condition placed by the IMF as part of the ongoing $6 billion Extended Fund Facility (EFF). An IMF team is currently in Pakistan to assess the country’s progress in complying with the Fund’s conditions on the basis of which the next tranche will be released. Apart from a tough revenue collection target one of the more rigid conditions are tariffs that the Fund feels are too low and should be increased. Therefore, during the three-year duration of the EFF, Pakistan is likely to keep on increasing electricity tariffs in order to ensure the release of funds every quarter that are crucial to keep foreign exchange reserves at minimum acceptable levels and manage the fiscal deficit. These regular increments have of course not been kind to private consumers nor businesses. Already grappling with record high inflation due to rupee depreciation; households are unable to maintain budgets, having to dip into savings while businesses are closing shop as input costs continue to increase and demand falls. A severe slowdown in economic activity and monetary policy tightening by the SBP has created a vicious cycle where disposable incomes are reducing, businesses contracting and unemployment rising.

There is no denying that the PTI inherited a mess of an economy with an out-of-control fiscal deficit problem to fix. It required immediate plugging, necessitating excessive borrowing from ‘friendly countries’ while an IMF deal was negotiated, albeit, badly. What little the government can do during this phase is also a question mark considering how the top two members of the economic team, the Advisor on Finance to PM and the SBP Governor, have been employed by the IMF and other multilateral creditors in the past and would presumably be more agreeable to their former employers’ point of view. Not having to worry about a constituency in Pakistan also adds to their indifference over how the current policies affect the common man. The government has to find a balance between how it wants to achieve its macroeconomic objectives and how badly those decisions affect the citizenry.

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

I

Emergence of majoritarian politics in modern India Dr rajkuMar Singh

T

HE politics of majoritarianism brought a new twist in Indian politics and society as well. By practicing it, the Congress paved the way for the more ideologically committed and organisationally cohesive forces of Hindutva– the BJP, the RSS and the VHP– to emerge as major forces on the Indian political scene and the most controversial and emotional symbolic issue of the Ayodhya temple-mosque came to the fore. Some extremist Hindu groups, the VHP in particular, began demanding that the Babri Masjid be pulled down and a mandir to Ram built in its place. The demand was based on the claim that Rama, the mythical hero of the great Hindu epic Ramayana, was born exactly on the spot where the mosque stands. On the eve of 1989 elections to the Lok Sabha it, along with the corruption charges against Rajiv Gandhi, determined the further path of Indian politics. It has rightly been said, “Nehru ignored corruption when he took no action against some corrupt leaders, Indira Gandhi encouraged corruption when she described it as a global phenomenon and Rajiv Gandhi allowed himself to get besmirched by corruption in the wake of the Bofors scandal. This inning of Mrs. Gandhi’s premiership had changed the earlier role of religious figures as she began to rely on appeal to a specific category of voters. She drew Hindu religious figures into the limelight through her patronage of religious institutions and played the Hindu card against the minorities.

Background of majoritarian politics: The Fourth General Election held in 1967 proved an ‘electoral miracle’ which exerted a far-reaching impact on the Indian political scene. After holding its first national elections in 1951-52, India achieved the status of the world’s largest liberal democracy with universal suffrage. Dr Ambedkar and the other founding fathers believed this to be a necessary pre-condition, although India’s literacy level in 1947 was abysmal. But from the first election onwards, the Election Commission of India (ECI) helped illiterate electors to identify candidates during voting, by allotting a symbol to each. Once seen against a backdrop of illiteracy and social tensions, the evolution of the electoral process has involved the vitality of greater and more broad-based participation. The right to vote has emerged not only as a fundamental right, but as an instrument of political

awakening. It resulted in the assertion of the Backward and Scheduled Castes in several states which had a direct bearing on the changes of Indian political situation. The ruling configurations that had dominated the Congress had been vigorously challenged by the newly empowered middle and lower castes and classes, with serious consequences at least in states. Rule by the Congress state bosses came to an abrupt end with their failure to deliver the vote banks in the 1967 general elections. While scraping through at the centre, the Congress was ousted from power in several states. The challenge of regionalism was now plainly coming from political forces outside the pale of Congress. A simple partnership with the civil bureaucracy was no longer sufficient to maintain Congress hegemony or central authority. The dynamics of centre-state relations had begun shifting the focus of power away from the Parliament towards executive authority residing in the hands of the Prime Minister.

Further move in the same direction: In 1966, Indira Gandhi became Prime Minister after the sudden demise of Lal Bahadur Shastri.

In the post-1967 period discerning Congressmen realised that substantial steps had to be taken to rejuvenate the party and the government, and that mere manipulation would not work. Although the party had got a clear majority in 1967 elections at the Centre, Indira’s worry was due to organisational problems and the fast receding of the traditional vote bank of the Congress. Her support base at one time consisted of the SC, ST, women and minorities.

After the split in the party in 1969, she even attempted land reforms in the 1970-72 periods, but soon she retreated from structural change and instead concentrated on strengthening her personal power base. At the time intermediate castes and classes, especially big farmers and middle to richer peasants, had been providing the principal power base of the opposition to the Congress at the state level in most regions. But there were more radical challenges in the states of West Bengal and Kerala, where left-wing coalitions came to power. The late 1960s also witnessed the Maoist Naxalite movement involving poor peasants and militant students in West Bengal as well as parts of Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. Faced with a variety of challenges, Indira Gandhi set about trying to link the top and bottom layers of agrarian society through renewed efforts to woo the high-caste, old landed elites and advocating the interests of subordinate castes and classes, cutting across

Diesel-free Pakistan The Maulana who was always in power Dr FariD a Malik

D

IESEL is a dirty fuel worldwide, and is being replaced by cleaner options.

About two years back I visited Dublin, Ireland for a European Union (EU) funded project to replace all diesel trucks with CNG (Compressed Natural Gas). EU cargo arrives at the port in Dublin which is then transported all across the continent. Diesel is associated with dirt and is on its way out.

Unfortunately, in Pakistan it has been a part of our politics since 1988 when Maulana Fazalur-Rehman got elected for the first time from a constituency in Dera Ismail Khan. The Pakistan People’s Party under the leadership of Benazir Bhutto emerged as the single largest party in the National Assembly. The Maulana issued a fatwa that a female cannot be the Prime Minister in an Islamic State. Bemazir and her party had been struggling for over a decade against the third usurper, and there were clear signs of fatigue.

She was willing to compromise to come into power. It is alleged that she rewarded the Maulana with ‘diesel permits’ to gain his favour.

There was no turning back for the Maulana, and the goodies started to flow. In October 2001 the Maulana challenged the government of Pervez Musharraf. He was arrested to be released in March 2002. In 2004 he managed to become the leader of opposition. By 2007 he started to focus on the coveted position of the PM. He even lobbied with the US Ambassador to seek her support but did not succeed.

The Maulana lost the elections in 1990, 1997 and 2018, and got elected in 1998, 1993, 2002, 2008, 2013. Once in the assembly he has been

Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9

I

able to negotiate important positions and perks for himself and his party members. As President of MMA (Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal) he secured the government in KPK. Akram Khan Durrani remained Chief Minister for a full term (20022007). Currently he is under NAB investigation.

The MMA was an alliance of right wing religious parties cobbled together by the fourth dictator with several nomenclatures (Musharraf Mulla Alliance, Military Mulla Alliance etc).

After the 2008 elections the Maulana managed to occupy an important position in the PPP government. Then came the PML(N) administration after the 2013 elections, when the Maulana continued as Chairman of the ‘Kashmir Committee’ with the rank of a Federal Minister. After 30 years (1988-2018) the journey of ‘Diesel’ came to an end with an unceremonious election defeat.

The Prime Minister is right, this is the first assembly since 1988 without ‘Diesel’. Benazir had the opportunity to end the Zia era after her election victory after the demise of the dictator. She opted for compromises with Ghulam Ishaq Khan as the President. Most comrades who had struggled for democracy were overlooked, and instead a new era of ‘Diesel Politics’ started which has continued since then. Now there is a ‘Diesel Alliance’ to retain status-quo and thwart efforts for ‘Naya Pakistan’.

Till the first Martial Law in October 1958, most politicians were upright and honest. Ayub Khan introduced the politics of ‘Diesel’ and ‘Dirt’ which has continued unabated. The PPP under the leadership of Bhutto was able to empty the ‘diesel tanks’ in the 1970 elections. Zia reintroduced the ‘dirt tanks’ under PML (Pagara) to take on the PPP. After his death a larger pool of dirt was created called IJI (Islami Jamhoori Ittehad). Asghar Khan, the upright politician, joined Benazir to challenge this onslaught on the

Islamabad – Ph: 051-2204545

I

Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk

I

local and regional arenas. Her populist antipoverty programme was designed to get the Congress substantial electoral support from scheduled castes and tribes, who also happened to form the bulk of the rural poor. Mrs. Gandhi’s socio-economic programme, captured by the ringing slogan ‘garibi hatao’, helped her in getting resounding success in the general elections of March 1971 and also in the 1972 elections to the state assemblies.

Majoritarian inputs in politics: The decade of the 1980s exihibited the declining strength of Congress’s claim to power at an effectively unitary all-India Centre and therefore, the party substituted its populism with implicit, if not explicit, to religious majoritarianism.

Communalism against regionalism was a well tried formula of the colonial state. Its implementation in this period must be placed squarely in the context of the many powerful regional challenges to central authority. As ideologies of secularism and socialism lost credibility the Congress regime turned implicitly to regionbased majoritarianism to meet regional threats.

Earlier in 1970s and 1980s several regional political parties, such as the Telugu Desam Party in Andhra Pradesh. Akali Dal in Punjab and others in different parts of the country claimed to have achieved national status and some of them, especially more extreme elements of the Sikh religious community, launched a violent campaign for the attainment of a separate Sikh homeland called Khalistan. It culminated in the brutal assassination of Indira Gandhi in October 1984 by her Sikh bodyguards and her son Rajiv Gandhi registered a record-breaking victory in the 1984 elections with the help of a sympathy wave and the Hindu card. Viewing Indian society through the colonial lens that revealed a majority and a minority community based on religious distinction, and the new regime took a couple of decisions. On the one hand Rajiv Gandhi’s government opened the doors of the Ayodhya mosque to Hindu worshippers. On the other, in a curious and ill-advised attempt to placate Muslim opinion after India’s judicial system had awarded alimony to Shah Bano, he railroaded through Parliament a deeply conservative Muslim Women’s Bill. The new steps appeared to give a new impetus to Indian politics.

Dr Rajkumar Singh is head of the political science department at BNMU, Sirsa, Bihar, India, and can be reached at rajkumarsinghpg@yahoo.com

democratic order. The Supreme Court has already ruled against this pool of dirty politicians who received funds from the establishment.

For democracy to gain strength the ‘Diesel Tanks’ have to emptied and then dismembered for all times to come to be replaced by an honest electoral process. The so-called ‘Azadi March’ is in fact the swansong of the ‘diesel politics’. The Maulana is just the figurehead, the fuel is being provided by the ‘political dirt pools’ which are cash rich. There are no money trails for this ill gotten wealth.

Logistics play an important role in any march. A civilian ‘militia’ has been organized by the Maulana under the name of ‘Ansar-e-Islam’, who are currently conducting drills to cross rivers and mountains to reach the capital. In 1971 a similar situation was created when Bhutto’s ‘People’s Guard’ and Wali Khan’s ‘Pakhtun Zalme’ came to a standoff in KPK (then NWFP). Better sense prevailed then and all civilian ‘militias’ were banned under the 1973 Constitution. While the RSS Zealots are giving guard of honour to Indian PM Narendra Modi, the ‘Ansar-e-Islam’ uniformed guards are doing it for the Maulana. India is moving towards fascism, Pakistan has to be saved. Peaceful protest is a part of democracy, but without militias funded through ‘diesel politics’.

In India the BJP is the political face of RSS, while PML(N) is in the RSS role to the Maulana by providing the funds and the backup support required for the march. To counter the PTI march a joint session of Parliament was called in 2014.

Before the march all PTI legislators resigned from the assembly. Elected representatives from the mainstream parties should tender their resignations before participating in the march. Only then the year 2020 will be an election year, either to fill in their vacant positions through by-elections or national elections if the PM decides to dissolve Parliament. In either case Pakistan has to be Diesel-free for our coming generations to breathe and prosper. Pakistan has to be cleansed.

Dr Farid A Malik is Ex-Chairman Pakistan Science Foundation Email: fmaliks@hotmail.com

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Wednesday, 6 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

Who let the dogs out?

The Maulana has no legitimate cause Every election, losers always claim rigging

Malik MuhaMMaD aShraF

T

HE Azadi March, largely comprising dedicated followers of Maulana Fazlur Rahman, finally reached Islamabad on the evening of 31 October and he along with stalwarts of the PML(N) and PPP– inebriated by the presence of the large crowd– made provocative speeches and vowed to continue their struggle to bring down the PTI government. The Maulana demanded resignation by the Prime Minister and gave him the deadline of two days to fulfill it, also hinting at the possibility of moving towards D-Chowk and even going to the Prime Minister House to arrest its inmate.

Nobody in his right mind can endorse the demand by the Maulana, also supported by the main political parties, which does not serve the cause of democracy besides violating all norms of democratic behavior. The move is quintessential of the culture of power politics with its basic purpose of achieving access to the corridors of power by hook or crook. The threat to attack the residence of the Prime Minister to seek his resignation is tantamount to encouraging mob rule and creating anarchy in the country which cannot be endorsed by any sane person or allowed by the government and the state. His implied warning to the state institutions is also regrettable, to say the least.

While it is hard to take issue with the right of the political parties in the opposition to criticize and oppose the policies of the sitting government, which is the true essence of a democratic dispensation, it is at the same time not legitimate for them to indulge in moves to destabilize the entire system for the sake of their narrow political ends. As far as the Maulana is concerned, he may have thousands of dedicated followers across the country now present in Islamabad– but the reality is that his party has never won a big mandate of the people throughout the electoral history of Pakistan to form a government on its own either in the centre or the province. It was only during the Musharraf era, when the party waas part of MMA formed

a government in KP. It has four seats in the pres- to their assertion. The alleged poor economic ent Senate of 100 members. It is part of the performance of the government also does not MMA, which has only 15 seats in the National justify the proposed agitation.

The political parties would better serve the Assembly. It is really a shame that a party with so little representation at the national level cause of democracy by allowing the PTI govshould try to pull down a legitimately elected ernment to complete its tenure while they keep government. The ploy adopted by the Maulana trying to change public perceptions about its percan only be described as an improvident move formance through the avenues that are available to them in the form of media and Parliament. by a frustrated gambler.

It is a painful reality that even after more Mere change of government is not the solution than seven decades since its independence , Pak- as it would further aggravate the developing sitistan is still groping in the dark to find the direc- uation and create an ambience of political untion envisioned by its founding father and certainty in the country which it can ill afford.

The government has remains a distant competitaken the right step to entor with the countries gage the Maulana and the which emerged on the other parties to dissuade global map just about the them from the proposed same time, with regard to It is hoped that better agitation and also to aceconomic prosperity and sense will prevail and the commodate their legitialleviation of poverty. The mate grievances as greater blame for this state Maulana would refrain reported by the media. of affairs can be justifiably apportioned to power polfrom playing the role of The deadline for seeking resignation of the Prime itics recklessly indulged in spoiler and consigning Minister has passed while by the political elite and efforts are also afoot to the political parties at the the country to anarchy defuse the situation. It is cost of consolidation of encouraging to note that the gains of independence. and political instability. though the PML(N) and It has almost become visceral for the political parAll stakeholders need to PPP support Maulana in bringing down the govties losing elections to show political maturity ernment they are not willquestion the validity of the ing to participate in, or polls and indulge in all with the singlesupport, the proposed sitsorts of tactics to pull the government down before mindedness of promoting in. It is also a positive development that the it completes its tenure. national interests. The Maulana, addressing the This culture has done irreof the March trievable damage to our media also needs to play participants on Sunday evening, anbody politic by giving birth to perennial political a constructive role during nounced that they would not move to D-Chowk instability, which in turn this crisis to thwart the and instead of announcing has also undermined ecounilateral action, and nomic progress of the designs of self-seekers any that he decided to consult country besides scuttling the avenues of strengthen- like the Maulana and other other political parties regarding the future course ing democracy. of action. He also quashed The claim of the oppolitical elements by the possibility of going to position parties that the educating the masses the Prime Minister House.

PTI government came into is hoped that better being as a result of rigged about the illegitimacy of Itsense will prevail and the elections and therefore it Maulana would refrain was imperative to send it their cause from playing the role of home does not make any spoiler and consigning the sense in view of the fact country to anarchy and that there are legal avpolitical instability. All enues available to deal with such complaints. If these parties thought stakeholders need to show political maturity that in certain constituencies rigging had been with the single-mindedness of promoting nadone, their candidates should have challenged tional interests. The media also needs to play a the results in all those constituencies in the elec- constructive role during this crisis to thwart the tion tribunals constituted for the purpose and designs of self-seekers like the Maulana and even gone into appeal against their decisions in other political elements by educating the masses the higher judiciary. In the absence of their hav- about the illegitimacy of their cause. ing taken the legal course to establish their Malik Muhammad Ashraf is an academic. claims about rigging, nobody except the diehard members of the losing parties can give credence He can be contacted at: ashpak10@gmail.com.

ON Friday, Imran Khan gave a historical yet thought-provoking speech in 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly. Millions of people are appreciating his words as they create an impact on the audience. His speech comprised of several social and international relation issues that need immediate attention from various countries across the world.

Mr. Khan started his speech with the immediate threat of climate change which affects the entire world. However, a critical aspect that he pointed out was how the rich countries need to be more active in terms of minimizing their carbon emissions. As per Mr. Khan, the poor countries suffer the most, including Pakistan being an agricultural country that relies on glaciers which are melting too fast. I believe Mr. Khan’s attempt to focus on this issue was indeed important given the recent Climate March. It reflects on the fact that Pakistan and its people are aware of how climate change is affecting everyone.

The second point in consideration of the speech by Mr. Khan was global corruption and money laundering being critical issues that make a poor country poorer. As per the speech, rich countries in Western part of the world are acting as a tax haven for most of the corrupt corruption. Mr. Khan highlighted that Pakistan has significant debt to pay due to money laundering and lack of access to the plundered money.

In my opinion, this part of the speech was an indirect attack to other political parties in Pakistan which have formerly ruled the country. While it was vital to let the people know about the graveness of money laundering, it just added to the extra time Mr. Khan took for his speech.

The third part of the speech revolved around Islamophobia, an issue being faced by Muslims, especially in the Western countries. Time and time again we hear how people in other countries treat Muslims with hatred. Mr. Khan was vocal about the fact that there is no such thing as radical Islam. He also highlighted how Islam teaches everyone to treat minorities and women with respect. Nonetheless, I feel this is a controversial aspect since minorities in Pakistan are treated poorly. From stopping minorities to enter the shops to burning down their religious places, Pakistan has failed to protect them. And let us not forget, Pakistan is one of the few countries who voted no against UN’s willingness to investigate the situation in Yemen.

The last point of Mr. Khan’s speech focused on India’s treatment towards Kashmir and Pakistan. He talked about how he, as the Prime Minister showed his intent to work things out with Mr. Modi, India’s Prime Minister but was only met with hostility. Mr. Khan encouraged the UN to let Kashmir decide about what it wants rather than letting India set a curfew there.

This was not a threat but a warning.

SyEDA ALINA ZAIDI Karachi

PM’s speech PM imran Khan delivered a passionate long speech while addressing Annual UN General Assembly. He poured his heart out and touched upon benign role of Muslim majority countries, who instead of standing up to expose tyranny and conspiracy behind proponents of Islamophobia, chose to go along, trying to adopt a convoluted version of Enlightened Moderation, with likes of Musharraf aping to tunes of Zionist lobby.

Imran Khan exposed tortuous treatment meted to Kashmiri population, who have faced collective punishment, being confined to their homes for almost 55 long days. He also spoke against extensive money laundering being indulged by corrupt civil, uniformed and political elite who have been involved in institutionalized corruption plundering their countries and transferring black money to foreign safe havens. However he must understand that Western Economic system encourages such money transfers, because instead of physical colonial occupation, like over 200 year British Raj, the new mode is economic colonization.

IK should focus on taking concrete steps, through legislation and implementation of laws, to stop flight of capital by corrupt elite from Pakistan. PM Khan should ensure that likes of Admiral Mansoor ul Haq, Musharraf, Kayani clan, Iqbal Saeed, Nawaz Sharif, Asif Zardari, Shujaat, Altaf Hussain etc and super bureaucrats like Shahid Rafi, Capt Naseer, Qamar Chaudhry, Lashari, Salman Siddiqui etc who were involved in daylight robberies, are prevented from robbing this country and face sever prosecution and punishments.

GUL ZAMAN Peshawar

Manufacture of solar panels WE missed a golden opportunity of setting up manufacturing plants for solar panels in the country for harnessing abundant solar energy potential in the country about two decades ago when a Pakistan born US scientist and owner of solar panels manufacturing plants in the United States , Dr. Lubna , offered the government of Pakistan to set up solar panels manufacturing plants across Pakistan. Looking into the future , she made the offer for exploiting the solar energy for its maximum utilization in order to provide clean reliable and affordable power to its citizens and for the national power grid. Dr. Lubna ( an old Ravian ) holding many prestigious awards , including Einstein award , wanted to do some service to her motherland without any financial gains in her mind , as she was quite rich already by the grace of God , having a happy family living very comfortably in the US. Alas, her passionate and appropriate offer was not entertained by our greedy , incompetent and corrupt people who mattered! Instead of accepting her meaningful offer , they were interested in US visas & personal benefits for their children and families !

ENGR RIAZ BHUttA Lahore

Wednesday, 6 November, 2019

10 NEWS

Xi voices 'high degree of trust' in hong Kong leader over unrest BEIJING

c

AGENCIES

HINESE President Xi Jinping has expressed a “high degree of trust” in Hong Kong’s unpopular leader Carrie Lam as the two met after months of increasingly violent protests in the semiautonomous city.

Xi’s show of support follows speculation that Beijing was preparing to remove Lam as city authorities struggle to contain pro-democracy demonstrations that have rocked the financial hub.

Their meeting in Shanghai on Monday followed another weekend of violence in Hong Kong that was marked by a knife attack and the vandalising of an office of China’s official Xinhua news agency.

Xi said Lam has “done a lot of hard work” and strived to stabilise the situa-

At least nine American Mormon community members killed in Mexico TIJUANA

tion in Hong Kong, according to a Xinhua readout of their meeting.

“Xi voiced the central government’s high degree of trust in Lam and full acknowledgement of the work of her and her governance team,” the state news agency said. “Ending violence and chaos and restoring order remains the most important task for Hong Kong at present,” Xi said. Xi also called for “effective efforts” to be made in improving people’s lives and having a dialogue with all sectors of society.

Willy Lam, a Hong Kong-based expert on Chinese politics, said Beijing is showing support for the city’s chief executive “for the time being”.

“It doesn’t mean that they like Carrie Lam, or it doesn’t mean that they think highly of her performance,” he said.

“It’s just that if they don’t seem to be supporting her, then it will be impossible for her to carry out her duty in Hong

PYONGYANG

At least three women and six children from an American Mormon community based in northern Mexico have been killed in an ambush, a relative of the victims said on Monday. Julian Lebaron said his cousin was on her way to the airport when she was attacked and shot in her car along with her four children in Rancho de la Mora, an area notorious for drug traffickers and bandits of all kinds. “It was a massacre,” Lebaron, an activist who has denounced criminal groups in the area, told Formula Radio. Lebaron said his relatives located the vehicle, which had been set on fire with the bodies of the victims inside. Two other vehicles were found several hours later, containing the bodies of two more women and two children. At least five other children, one of whom was shot and wounded, managed to escape and walk home, and one girl was reported missing after having run into the woods to hide, Lebaron added. The Chihuahua state attorney general, Cesar Augusto Peniche, said the number of victims remains “confused”.

The attack took place on the border between the states of Chihuahua and Sonora near the border with the United States. Julian Lebaron’s brother, Benjamin Lebaron, founder of a crime-fighting group called SOS Chihuahua, was assassinated in 2009.

The affected community is made up of descendants of Mormons who fled the United States in the nineteenth century, after being persecuted for their traditions, including polygamy. Many Mormons in Mexico enjoy dual Mexican and American citizenship. Mexico has registered more than 250,000 murders since the government controversially deployed the army to fight drug trafficking in 2006.

AGENCIES

DUBAI AGENCIES

Iran’s intelligence ministry on Tuesday said any cooperation with the British Council was banned and would result in prosecution, the ministry’s website reported. “Britain … was planning to implement a project for cultural networking purposes in cooperation with the British Council in Iran … any cooperation with the British Council is prohibited and will result in prosecution,” the ministry said in a statement. In August, Iran’s Supreme Court upheld a 10-year prison sentence for spying against an Iranian woman, Aras Amiri, who worked for the British Council in London. Amiri was arrested last year during a family visit to Iran.

North Korea said on Tuesday that the US redesignation of Pyongyang as a sponsor of terrorism is dimming prospects for nuclear diplomacy between the countries.

The North’s statement comes as the country is escalating its pressures on the United States over a stalemate in nuclear negotiations.

Last week, North Korea test-fired projectiles from what it called a newly developed “super-large” multiple rocket launcher in the country’s first weapons test in about a month.

The North’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday the State Department’s terrorism blacklist report released last week proves again the United States maintains a “hostile policy” and “inveterate repugnancy” toward North Korea.

“This is an insult to and per-

fidy against a dialogue partner,” said the statement carried by state media. “The channel of the dialogue between (North Korea) and the US is more and more narrowing” due to the US stance.

North Korea had been on the terrorism blacklist for two decades after its agents were blamed for the bombing of a South Korean airliner that killed 115 people in 1987. It was delisted in 2008 as Washington tried to entice North Korea into a nuclear deal. But the Trump administration relisted it in 2017, saying the North repeatedly supported acts of international terrorism.

The most glaring recent case was the assassination of Kim Jong Nam, the estranged half brother of leader Kim Jong Un, using VX nerve agent at a Malaysian airport in 2017.

Last year, North Korea and the United States launched on-and-off

yet to calm,” Tam added. The Financial Times, quoting unnamed figures briefed on the deliberations, reported last month that Beijing is drawing up a plan to replace her with an interim chief executive.

Beijing rejected the report as “a political rumour with ulterior motives”.

‘PUPPET SHOW’: Lam was originally supposed to return to Hong Kong after attending the second China International Import Expo in Shanghai this week, but on Sunday her office said she would meet with Chinese government officials in Beijing on Wednesday.

Claudia Mo, an opposition lawmaker in Hong Kong, said many democracy supporters would be dismayed to see Xi embracing Lam despite her lack of popularity after five months of unrest.

“Beijing is now bound to further tighten its grip over Hong Kong and make things even worse here,” she told AFP. “It’s a puppet show.”

and removed, but it provided no other details. The party also warned it would “never tolerate” any challenge to “one country, two systems”.

Lam was chosen in 2017 by a 1,200strong committee stacked with Beijing supporters, a system that ensures Hong Kong’s leader remains loyal to the central government but one that saddles the position with a pronounced democratic deficit. Tam Yiu-chung, Hong Kong’s sole representative to China’s top lawmaking body, said the meeting between Xi and Lam would help allay the seething rumours about Beijing seeking to replace her. “Xi must be very busy in Shanghai, where there were so many countries’ leaders he had to meet, but he still made time for Lam, so the message of his care is clear,” Tam said.

“Xi gave Lam an appropriate recognition but there isn’t much praise in the report because after all the situations are

North Korea says US terrorism blacklist hinders nuke diplomacy

AGENCIES

Iran bans cooperation with British Council, warns of prosecution

Kong,” Lam said, adding that Beijing wants Hong Kong to enact national security legislation that would give police more power to punish protesters. But Carrie Lam could still be sacked within one year or during Beijing’s annual legislative session in March, the expert said.

UNSCHEDULED BEIJING TALKS: China has run the city under a special “one country, two systems” model, which allows Hong Kong liberties not seen on the mainland, since its handover from the British in 1997. But public anger has been building for years over fears that Beijing has begun eroding those freedoms, especially since Xi came to power.

Protesters have issued a list of demands, including universal suffrage and an investigation into abuses by police.

The Chinese Communist Party agreed at a leadership meeting last week to “improve” the way Hong Kong’s chief executive and key officials are appointed

diplomacy on what terms North Korea would give up its advancing nuclear arsenal. But the talks largely have stalled since the second summit between Kim and US President Donald Trump collapsed in February due to disputes over sanctions on North Korea. Negotiators met in Stockholm last month but made no meaningful progress.

South Korea’s spy agency told lawmakers in a closed-door meeting on Monday it expects the US-North Korea talks to resume by early December at the latest, according to Lee Eun-jae, one of the lawmakers who attended the meeting.

North Korea has demanded the United States work out mutually acceptable proposals to salvage the nuclear diplomacy by year’s end.

Some experts say North Korea could perform more weapons tests in the coming weeks as it approaches the end-of-year deadline.

Israel's top court clears way for deportation of HRW official JERUSALEM: Israel’s Supreme Court upheld a government decision to deport a Human Rights Watch (HRW) official accused of backing an international proPalestinian boycott campaign, an edict he said was aimed at stifling criticism of Israel. The court ratified an Interior Ministry refusal to renew the work visa of Omar Shakir, a U.S. citizen representing New York-based HRW in Israel and the Palestinian territories, and ordered him to leave within 20 days. Israel says he supports the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement which it has criminalized. It has lobbied Western powers to follow suit, and Shakir’s case was a test for its anti-boycott legislation.

Shakir contested the argument that his past pro-Palestinian statements, before being appointed to the HRW post in 2016, constituted current backing for boycotts of Israel. “Israeli Supreme Court upholds my deportation over my rights advocacy,” Shakir tweeted about the unanimous decision by the threejudge court. AGENCIES

India's top court orders halt to stubble burning as Delhi chokes DELHI AGENCIES

India’s top court has ordered a complete halt to stubble burning around Delhi, a major contributor to lethal smog that on Tuesday kept the metropolis of 20 million people choking in air rated “very poor”.

The Supreme Court said the capital’s residents were “losing precious years” of their lives, adding “people are dying, this just cannot happen in a civilised country”.

In a ruling following petitions filed by activists, the court’s judges ordered an immediate halt to the practice of farmers burning crop stubble in the states surrounding the capital.

They warned that the entire administrative and police hierarchy — all the way down to local officers — would be held responsible if the practice continued. Burning stubble is already illegal, but many hard-up farmers say they have no choice.

Each winter, smog hits northern India as cooler air traps the stubble smoke, car fumes, factory emissions and construction dust close to the ground, creating a noxious cocktail that burns eyes and makes breathing difficult. On Sunday, pollution shot up, with levels of particulates measuring less than 2.5 microns — so tiny they can enter the bloodstream — approaching 1,000 micrograms per cubic metre of

air, the worst in three years.

The World Health Organisation’s recommended safe daily maximum is just 25. Flights were diverted and hospitals reported a surge in patients with respiratory complaints.

Concentrations of the tiny particles — which can be lethal with long-term exposure — fell on Tuesday, with the government monitoring agency Safar rating the air “very poor”, down from “severe” a day earlier.

According to the AirVisual website, Delhi remained the most polluted city in the world on Tuesday ahead of Kolkata in eastern India and Lahore in Pakistan. Beijing was in sixth place.

Construction was banned temporarily in Delhi late last week, while

schools have been closed until Wednesday — with city authorities handing out free anti-pollution masks to children.

Authorities also parked a van with an air purifier near the Taj Mahal in a bid to clean the atmosphere that in recent years has damaged the iconic marble mausoleum, some 250 kilometres south of Delhi. “We read in newspapers about pollution in India and bought masks once we landed in Delhi. The air is really bad here and we are worried about our children,” Neelofar, a tourist from Iran at the Taj Mahal, told AFP. On Monday, Delhi authorities moved to reduce traffic by rolling out a scheme allowing cars with odd and even registration numbers on the roads on alternate days.

Delhi’s chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who has called the city a “gas chamber”, hailed the first day of the scheme as a success, with 1.5 million cars off the roads and traffic reduced.

Two thousand volunteers and more than 465 police and transport officials were deployed at intersections, handing out fines of 4,000 rupees (nearly $60) to 259 transgressors.

They included Vijay Goel of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling party, who flouted the law in his saffron sports utility vehicle to protest what called a “stunt” ahead of upcoming city elections. Exempt from the restrictions were Delhi’s seven million motorbikes and scooters, public transport vehicles, and cars carrying only women, stoking criticism that the measures were token.

Siddharth Singh, a climate policy expert, called the traffic restrictions “ineffective”. “If air pollution was solely due to the vehicular traffic, then this would be a solution. Right now it cannot be a solution because motorised private transport has a very small share in the whole pie,” Singh told AFP. Stubble burning is believed to account for nearly half the pollution.

Fourteen Indian cities including the capital are among the world’s top 15 most polluted cities, according to the WHO. One study last year said that a million Indians died prematurely every year as a result.

Wednesday, 6 November, 2019

BUSINESS 11

'Current aCCount defiCit falls 64pC, fdi surges 137pC in first quarter' MinistEr says forEx rEsErvEs, whiCh wErE Constantly dEClining by $500M PEr Month sinCE 2017, havE bEEn stabilisEd dEsPitE rECord PayMEnts in dEbt sErviCing ISLAMABAD

e

GHULAM ABBAS

CONOMIC Affairs Minister Hammad Azhar has said the current account deficit declined by 64pc during the first quarter of the ongoing fiscal year (FY20), adding that the primary budget balance witnessed a surplus of Rs285 billion during the same period.

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, the minister claimed that the economy has now started picking up as the indicators, including investment inflows, foreign exchange reserves, revenue collection, current account balance, trade balance, ease of doing business, Public Sector Development Programme spending, stock market performance and inflation, were showing positive signs.

He said that the total foreign invest-

ment in Pakistan increased by a whopping 137pc during 1QFY20. "Pakistan has witnessed a positive foreign portfolio investment of $350 million in this quarter, which is the first positive inflow after a gap of three years," he added.

The minister said that foreign exchange reserves, which were constantly reducing by $500 million per month since 2017, have been stabilised despite the fact that the government had made record payments to debt servicing. “The government broke all records of paying off the foreign loans; the government paid $10.5 billion worth of loans last year and it would repeat the same this year.”

On the revenue front, he said the number of tax filers has increased by 55pc and the domestic revenues have surged by 25pc during the first four months of FY20. "There has been a growth of 15pc in the overall revenues

MARKET DAILY

Stocks stay in green amid volatility KARACHI STAFF REPORT

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) managed to close a volatile session on Tuesday in the green zone. The indices, which opened on a positive note, soon fell in the grip of bears but managed to recover losses in the late hours.

Foreign investors remained net sellers once again on Monday with a net sale of $3.27 million.

On the economic front, total foreign investments in Pakistan increased by 137pc in the first quarter of the financial year 2019-20. Economic Affairs Minister Hammad Azhar, while briefing the media on the country’s economic position, said that the current account deficit has declined by 64pc in the first quarter of the ongoing financial year, whereas the same was down 32pc last year. He said that Pakistan has witnessed a positive foreign portfolio investment of $350 million in the quarter, adding that the stock market rose by 6,500 points during the said period.

Gaining 331.31 points, the KSE-100 Index marked its intraday high at 35,608.77. The index then took a plunge and recorded its intraday low at 35,243.22 after losing 34.24 points. It closed slightly positive at 35,358.31 (+80.85 points). The KMI-30 Index appreciated by 252.62

points to settle at 57,812.74, while the KSE All Share Index closed higher by 90.19 points at 25,281.96.

Sectors that dragged the benchmark KSE-100 Index lower included power generation and distribution (-34.29 points), banking (-23.86 points) and engineering (-5.05 points). On the other hand, fertiliser (+27.50 points), automobile assembling (+21.29 points) and chemical (+19.73 points) sectors helped the index close in the green.

The overall trading volumes improved significantly from the previous session and were recorded at 308.48 million.

Worldcall Telecom (WTL +23.33pc), Maple Leaf Cement Factory Limited (MLCF +5.18pc) and Lotte Chemical Pakistan Limited (LOTCHEM +1.03pc) remained the top traded stocks of the day. The scripts had exchanged 81.71 million, 15.28 million and 12.72 million shares, respectively.

The refinery sector gained +4.13pc in its cumulative market capitalization, ending the day as top gainer. Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL +5.41pc), National Refinery Limited (NRL +5.00pc), Attock Refinery Limited (ATRL +4.99pc) and Byco Petroleum Pakistan Limited (BYCO +3.47pc) all closed in the green.

despite the fact that imports into the country are following a declining trend."

He said the government had achieved 90pc revenue collection target set for the first quarter by collecting Rs960 billion taxes.

On a query, Azhar clarified that no employee of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) would be fired during reforms of the important institution.

The minister said the circular debt, which had mounted to Rs1,200 billion from Rs450 billion, mainly during the end of the previous government's tenure, was now mounting only by Rs12 billion per month compared to Rs38 billion.

"The piling up of circular debt will be reduced to zero by December 2020."

He said the country had also made a significant improvement in ease of doing business by climbing down the index by 28 points, adding steps were taken to fur-

swiss investors urged to explore opportunities in pakistan BUSINESS DESK President Dr Arif Alvi has urged the Swiss companies to explore investment opportunities in Pakistan, a statement issued on Tuesday read. Talking to Council of States of Swiss Confederation President Jean Rene Fournier at the President House, Dr Alvi noted that there was a huge tourism infrastructure potential in the country. The president highlighted that there was also investment opportunities in research and innovation, which could increase productivity and profitability in crops, dairy, forestry, irrigation and water management and biotechnology sectors of Pakistan. He underscored that the business-friendly policies of the government were bearing fruit as Pakistan had gained 28 places in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index this year. President Alvi said that growth in all industries had placed great demands on all facets of Pakistan’s air, sea, rail and road and physical infrastructure. “There is also a huge tourism infrastructure potential in Pakistan and Swiss firms could explore these investment opportunities for their own benefit.” He emphasized that the energy demand in Pakistan has created highly profitable opportunities for the Swiss companies to invest in the renewable, hydel and clean technology power generation projects. Dr Alvi said that shared belief in fundamental principles of democracy, human rights, justice and rule of law were the defining elements of the bilateral relations between Pakistan and Switzerland. He emphasized that Pakistan valued its long-term partnership with Switzerland in economic, trade and commercial fields.

ther improve the doing business score.

He said the stock market in the country grew by 6,500 points since August while it surged by 1,500 points only in last three days, which was another sign of economic recovery and development.

On exports, he said garment exports grew by 36pc, rice by 52pc, and footwear by 54pc respectively during the first quarter. He said measures were also being taken to check inflation, which had increased due to the devaluation of currency. However, he clarified that the inflation during the first 13 months of the PTI government was still low at 8pc compared with the previous governments of Pakistan People's Party and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, during which it increased by 21.5pc and 8.4pc, respectively.

The minister said Pakistan was coming out of economic difficulties, as investment and business opportunities were constantly being created in the country.

Azhar congratulated the government for achieving a huge success in the Karkey case in which Pakistan managed to avoid a penalty of $1.2 billion.

PM reiterates commitment to CPEC projects China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) Vice Chairman Ning Jizhe called on Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday to discuss development under the CPEC framework. Welcoming the NDRC vice-chairman, the prime minister underscored that the China Pakistan Economic Corridor was among the top priorities of his government, adding that the multi-billion project was pivotal both to Pakistan's economic transformation as well as to further fortify the all-weather strategic partnership between the two countries. He noted that Jizhe’s visit was of great significance as it would help consolidate the gains made during the 1st phase of CPEC and accelerate the implementation of the 2nd phase. While recalling his recent visit to China, PM Khan said he deeply appreciated the support extended by the Chinese leadership to Pakistan on all issues. Among other issues, he emphasised the importance of ML-1 to modernise Pakistan’s railway system and also invited the NDRC vice-chairman to explore opportunities in steel industry, copper & gold mining, and agricultural productivity. BUSINESS DESK

nEPra jacks up power tariff by rs1.82 per unit ISLAMABAD AHMAD AHMADANI

The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) has approved Rs1.82 per unit increase in power tariff for all the power distribution companies under the head monthly fuel price adjustment (FPA) for the month of September 2019.

However, this power tariff hike will not be applicable on K-Electric, domestic lifeline consumers who use less than 50 units (Kwh) per month, and agricultural consumers.

Earlier, the Central Power Purchasing Agency (CPPA), on behalf of the power distributing companies (DISCOs), had pleaded before NEPRA that variation in the fuel cost for electricity generation should be adjusted. Following the request, the power sector regulator had decided to hold a hearing on October 30. NEPRA, after the hearing on the said matter, postponed the proposed Rs2.97 per unit hike in power tariff till October 5 and had sought an explanation from the CPPA regarding electricity generation through expensive power plants in September 2019.

According to NEPRA sources, the regulatory authority has so far approved Rs1.82 per unit hike on account of September's fuel price adjustment, but decided not to approve 0.5463 per unit hike in electricity price as some power generation during the said month was done through residual fuel oil (RFO)based power plants, which is a violation of the merit order.

Due to NEPRA's refusal to approve 0.5463 per unit hike in electricity price, the requested amount worth approximately Rs7 billion on account of monthly FPA

will be treated in future under the head future adjustment, they added. The approved hike in power tariff would be reflected in monthly power bills of December 2019.

It is pertinent to mention that CPPA, in its application, had earlier informed NEPRA that approximately 13.62 billion units of electricity were produced at the cost of Rs70 billion during September.

The CPPA maintained that it had charged consumers a reference tariff of Rs2.8410/kWh against the actual fuel cost of Rs5.8136/kWh. It elaborated that out of the total power generation in the said month, 37.09pc was generated from hydel sources, 16.39pc from coal, 6pc from residual fuel oil (RFO), 5.50pc from nuclear sources, 1.10pc from wind sources, 0.45pc from solar, 11.85pc from gas and 21.06pc from imported liquefied natural gas (LNG). Similarly, CPPA said that the total energy from all sources remained at 13,621.35 GWH in September and the total cost amounted to Rs70.231 billion with an average per unit fuel cost of Rs5.156 per unit. The net electricity delivered to DISCOs stood at 13,225 GWh at cost of Rs76.886 billion or 5.8136 per kWh. About 2.91pc losses were reported at the transmission stage.

"Pursuant to Section 31 (7) of the NEPRA Act (XL of 1997) and the mechanism for monthly fuel price adjustment prescribed by the authority in the tariff determination of Ex-WAPDA DISCOs, the authority may on monthly basis make adjustments in the approved tariff on account of any variation in the fuel charges and policy guidelines as the federal government may issue and notify the tariff so adjusted in the official gazette," an official NEPRA document read.

Illegal constructions putting lives of millions at risk: ABAD KARACHI BILAL HUSSAIN

Association of Builders and Developers of Pakistan (ABAD) Chairman Mohsin Sheikhani has claimed that at least one million lives are at risk due to illegal and substandard constructions in the biggest city of the country.

"The difference between a building constructed by an ABAD member and others is that our member must get 18 NOCs before starting a project but others don't follow the SOPs of the industry.

These unscrupulous elements construct buildings in contravention of rules and regulations of the Sindh Building Control

Authority (SBCA) ironically with the connivance of the corrupt officials of SBCA," Skeikhani told Pakistan Today.

According to Sheikhani, ABAD has conveyed this warning to Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, Chief Secretary Mumtaz Ali Shah, Local Government Minister Nasir Hussain Shah, Advisor to CM on Law Murtaza Wahab, National Disaster Management Authority Chairman Lt Gen Muhammad Afzal and Sindh Disaster Management Authority Chairman Syed Salman Shah through separate letters.

He said that such constructions have been taking place throughout the city but Jamshed Town, Liaquatabad

and Gulberg are some areas where such 'dangerous' buildings were being constructed in abundance.

Sheikhani said that certain SOPs must be followed while constructing buildings that have multiple units – several families living in a building.

"There are six-floor buildings without a lift, so what would happen in case of an emergency? Moreover, these builders don't test soil and ground before constructing a building, which means that they don't pay heed to the fact that a building must be built to withheld a natural disaster – an earthquake of 6.5 Richter Scale Magnitude.

"Earthquakes of 6.0 Magnitude are

expected, so buildings must be made to survive 6.5 magnitude earthquakes, which is the required standard. If the criterion is not followed, then certainly people living in those buildings are at high risk of not only losing their homes but also their precious lives," he explained.

In the letters sent to the top government officials, ABAD has pointed out towards massive illegal and substandard construction activities in Karachi due to non-compliance of Sindh Building Control Ordinance (SBCO) 1979, endangering lives of hundred thousands of city dwellers in case of any natural calamity.

Sheikhani claimed in the ABAD letter that all such unapproved illegal

buildings could collapse any time.

He said that SBCO was a very important law, the purpose of which was to regulate building construction and make SBCA officials accountable.

“But unfortunately, it is not being implemented in letter and in spirit.”

Sheikhani said that section 4 of SBCO 1979 is regarding the appointment of an expert as the head of SBCA and the government should appoint a person from the private sector to ensure better results.

He also gave the example of the Lahore Development Authority where vice-chairman is appointed from the private sector.

Wednesday, 6 November, 2019

12 BUSINESS CORPORATE CORNER

Cabinet approves eleCtriC Motor vehiCle poliCy ISLAMABAD

KARACHI: BankIslami Pakistan Limited and the Central Depository Company have signed a memorandum of understanding for Efficient Payment Mechanism (EPM) services. PRESS RELEASE

LAHORE: Fatima Fertilizer Company Limited (FFL) collaborated with the district disaster management authorities of Rahim Yar Khan under directions from National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to conduct a large-scale industrial mock drill. PRESS RELEASE

t

STAFF REPORT

HE federal cabinet on Tuesday approved the Electric Motor Vehicle Policy, as Prime Minister Imran Khan directed his economic team to formulate strategies that could ensure job creation and youth empowerment.

Expressing satisfaction on the overall state of “improvement of economy” during a cabinet meeting, the PM directed the cabinet members to ensure the development projects go ahead without any obstacles for the economic uplift of the country.

During the meeting, the PM reiterated that the government would not back away from reforms agenda “as it is agenda for the development and progress of Pakistan”. “The government wants to transform challenges

PM tElls burEauCrats not to bE sCarEd of nab if thEy havEn’t donE anything ‘wrong’ into opportunities,” he added.

Briefing the reporters in Islamabad after the cabinet meeting, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said the prime minister has also ordered all ministries to ensure timely completion public sector development projects in the next three months.

“The PM will personally monitor the progress of ministries so that decisions are made on time and redtapism is avoided,” she said, adding that the PM would hold meetings with all federal secretaries after the cabinet meeting. She said the prime minister apprised the cabinet of the prevalent political situation, saying that all economic indicators are on

a positive trajectory.

The special assistant maintained that the reform agenda of the incumbent government was being resisted by the status quo people who do not want change in the system.

Economic Affairs Minister Hammad Azhar briefed the cabinet about the improving economic indicators, while Advisor to PM on Institutional Reforms Dr Ishrat Hussain apprised the cabinet on the new local government system.

‘NO NEED TO FEAR NAB’: Meanwhile, the prime minister also chaired a meeting of the federal secretaries, wherein he directed them to remove red tapes so that the uplift project could be resumed.

“I want development projects to

start, as the country’s economy is on the right track now and all the indicators were showing a positive trend,” a senior bureaucrat told Pakistan Today after the meeting.

The source said that the prime minister also directed them not to “worry” if they have not done anything “wrong”.

He said the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) would not harass them if they were not involved in corrupt practices.

“I would guarantee that the NAB would not hound the bureaucrats anymore. The poor are suffering due to this fear of NAB as development works have come to a halt,” he added.

The source said that the prime minister was upbeat about the prospects of the country’s economic revival and he told the senior bureaucrats that there would be no monitoring of development projects.

9TH JCC MEETING

Pakistan, China agree to break ground for Ml-i project in six months JCC aPProvEs gwadar MastEr Plan, inauguratEs Multan-sukkur Motorway ISLAMABAD GHULAM ABBAS

LAHORE: Bank Alfalah Retail Banking Head Mehreen Ahmed, along with celebrities and thought leaders belonging to different fields, poses for a photo during the launch of Bank Alfalah ‘Premier’. PRESS RELEASE

ISLAMABAD: Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi exchanges views with China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) President Tang Qiao Liang at the Naval Headquarters. PRESS RELEASE

KARACHI: Dubai Islamic Bank Pakistan CEO Junaid Ahmed receives an award from Cambridge IFA-UK Chairman Dr Humayon Dar at the 5th Islamic Retail Banking Awards held on Tuesday in Muscat, Oman. PRESS RELEASE

The meeting of 9th Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) concluded in Islamabad on Tuesday with both sides expressing satisfaction over the ongoing and planned projects under CPEC. However, no new mega project was included in the multibillion-dollar framework.

The 9th JCC discussed the proposals forwarded by six Joint Working Groups of the two countries, which included industrial cooperation, transfer of technology and cooperation in agricultural, mineral, oil and gas and steel sectors.

The major development in the 9th JCC was related to the muchawaited mega railway project, ML-I, which according to the planning minister would see practical development within the next 3 to 6 months.

"We will be able to perform the groundbreaking of the mega project in next 6 months as processes related to financing are being finalised with China," the minister said while addressing a press conference along with Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing after the conclusion of 9th JCC in Islamabad.

The minister said the $9-billion project would provide facilities to both passengers and businessmen.

He said that ML-1 was among the top priorities of Pakistan and that

(ACFTU) and Ministry of Planning to further strengthen the workers’ exchanges and another on healthcare between ther Ministry of Health and the Research Development International (RDI).

Speaking on the occasion, Bakhtiar said that the government this year took several important decisions that paved way for finalization of Gwadar Master Plan, preliminary design of ML-1 project, operationalization of Gwadar Port and free zone.

"We made steady progress in the resolution of matters regarding finalization of tariffs for the completed energy projects, Gwadar port concession agreement and Kohala hydropower project," the minister added.

He expressed optimism that today’s huddle would help formulate the roadmap for cooperation in the 2nd phase of CPEC and hoped that it would yield tangible progress towards the shared goal of making CPEC a resounding success.

Appreciating the warm welcome accorded by Pakistan, NDRC VC Ning Jizhe said that delegation from China for 9th JCC was the biggest as compared to previous delegations, which showed the commitment of China to taking cooperation with Pakistan to new heights.

He stated that high consideration would be given to socio-economic and industrial cooperation in the second phase of CPEC. He underscored that bilateral economic cooperation would proceed as planned for the mutual benefit of both brotherly countries.

Pakistan decides to solve $117m trade dispute with Russia ISLAMABAD AHMAD AHMADANI

LAHORE: Condis, an established Spanish superstore, has recently opened its first store in Pakistan. The launch event was attended by Punjab Governor Chaudhry Sarwar and key government officials. The global supermarket chain had earlier pledged to invest up to $1 billion in Pakistan. PRESS RELEASE

the stage was set to take the discussion to a next level and formulate a joint project financing group to discuss the project modalities.

He said that the government has established a CPEC Authority which would work as a one window for all CPEC-related issues so that the pace of the projects could be fast-tracked while bottlenecks could be removed for timely completion of the projects.

"Besides, development related to the planned eastern route of CPEC has been made," the minister said without sharing further details of the projects. Bakhtiar said that remaining portion of the eastern corridor from Sukkur to Hyderabad (M6) would be completed on a BOT basis under the umbrella of public-private partnership, urging the Chinese companies to take an active part in the bidding process.

He said that JCC accorded a priority to the remaining portion western corridor and the provincial projects proposed in previous JCCs. "In March, the Zhob–Quetta section of the western corridor was inaugurated and now the portion of DI–Khan–Zhob is a priority for the government."

Meanwhile, as reported earlier by this scribe, there was no discussion held on the much-delayed Karachi Circular Railway (KCR) during the 9th JCC despite the Sindh government's request to make progress in this regard. How-

ever, the minister claimed that the mega project was "still a priority project" under CPEC. The minister further claimed that development related to cooperation in steel sector has also been made where revival of Pakistan Steel Mills would be focused. “Definitely when we start the ML-I project, we will be in need of steel and PSM will be needed to be operationalised,” the minister maintained. Assuring the Chinese side about improved security situation in Pakistan, the minister said that Pakistan is going to fence the long border with Iran along with the border with Afghanistan, which is being already fenced. The fencing of PakAfghan border would be completed by 2020, he said.

THE JCC MEETING: The 9th JCC was co-chaired by Planning Minister Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar and Vice Chairman National Development & Reform Commission (NDRC) Ning Jizhe.

Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa CM Mahmood Khan, Gilgit Baltistan CM Hafiz Hafeezur Rehman, Chinese Ambassador Yao Jing, provincial secretaries, visiting Chinese delegation and representatives of leading companies were present on the occasion.

During the proceedings, a ceremony was held wherein MultanSukkur Motorway of the eastern corridor was inaugurated. Gwadar Master Plan was also approved and signed. The ceremony also witnessed the signing of two MoUs; one between the All-China Federation of Trade Unions

After restoring strategic relations with Russia, Pakistan is all set to solve its long-pending trade dispute worth $117 million with Moscow, as it allowed Pakistani Ambassador to Russia to ink an inter-governmental agreement with Russia, Pakistan Today has learnt.

Sources privy to the development informed that the federal cabinet in its meeting on 29th October had considered a Commerce Division's summary titled "Agreement between the Government of Pakistan and Government of Russia on Settlement of Mutual Financial

Claims and Obligations on Operations of the former USSR". They said after necessary deliberations, the federal cabinet granted its necessary approval in this regard.

According to sources, the Commerce Division informed the cabinet that in 1980s, the then USSR and its companies used to buy textile and other materials from Pakistani companies. In order to ensure smooth functioning of barter trade, former USSR opened two bank accounts in the National bank of Pakistan (NBP). The funds in the said accounts were deposited by the Economic Affairs Division (EAD) through State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). Upon disintegration of the

Soviet Union, some exports payments remained unpaid. In addition, these were also claims of Pakistani companies for unshipped goods based on orders they had generated against sea freight business obtained for USSR companies.

As the dispute got prolonged, some Pakistani companies got stay orders in the Sindh High Court (SHC), restraining NBP from transferring funds of Russian banks held in its accounts since 1996, which amount to $104.93 million and Rs1.309 million.

A number of attempts were made in the past to resolve this dispute, but they had remained unsuccessful.

An early amicable settlement between the two countries will

thus pave the way for enhanced bilateral political, economic and diplomatic relations.

Sharing details of division's proposal, sources said that the division has asked the government to ratify the G2G agreement with the Russia that was formalized in November 2015. The government should remit the agreed amount to Russia as per the G2G agreement while it may allow restoration of $22.374 million by the NBP. As regards the claim of accrued interest on the two accounts maintained in NBP, the finance division in constitution with the EAD may decide the matter as per the bilateral agreements with Russia.

EMOTIONAL ABUSE IS AS HARMFUL AS PHYSICAL ABUSE

By Samra Shahid www.scaryammi.com

P

Asad & Marukh ( CEO)

Amber Liaqat

Aden Rehan

RENE AESTHETIC SpA LAuNCH! Rene Aesthetic S Spa in Gulberg was launched by the team behind Rene

by S SPL. Its the first spa in Lahore which has collaboration with Dermastir S Spa in Rome. You can also experience a whole new level of luxury in skin care now in Lahore at Rene Aesthetic S Spa. Ali & Sana

Anma Sibatain

Danees Ali Aamir Mazhar & Rana Noman

HOLLYWOOD BOLLYWOOD

Aqeel & Hira

Amna & Tehmina Ijaz Shah

Nida & Ali

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2 Gets A Release Date sony announces and gives spider-Man: into the spider-Verse 2 an april 8, 2022 release date.

The announcement came on social media on Friday teasing the return of Miles Morales and his spider-Verse allies.

The first spider-Man: into the spider-Verse was released in 2018 and became a super smash hit bringing in over $375 million on a $90 million budget.

The flick also won the Best animated Feature Oscar as it beat out incredibles 2, isle of Dogs, Mirai, and Ralph Breaks the internet. Joaquim Dos santos is said to be directing the sequel, with plot details currently unknown. shameik Moore voiced Miles Morales in the first film, with Jake Johnson as Peter Parker, hailee steinfeld as Gwen stacy, Kimiko Glenn as Peni Parker, Nicolas cage as spiderMan Noir, and John Mulaney as spider-ham. a female-focused spin-off film is also said to be in the works said to focus on three generations of web-slinging women.

Kasiaf & Amna

hysical abuse is easy to spot; it is black or white, however emotional abuse is a grey area which is hard to identify. But emotional abuse can scar a person’s personality long-term. it is as harmful as physical abuse is, in fact physical wounds tend to heal, but the wounding and pain from emotional abuse leaves long-lasting effects, which is very hard to recover from. Victims of emotional abuse tend to develop personality disorders, mental illness, chronic depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Research shows that majority of anxiety and stress patients are or were undergoing emotional abuse.

Mental illness develops due to exposure to a hostile environment and is not induced by birth. The society has now become an ugly place to live in, we as people, hardly acknowledge each other’s emotions and feelings. People enjoy making fun of each other, mocking is usual, and passing judgments has become a responsibility of every person nowadays. little do we know that our words can scar and damage the receiver for life. We tend to make fun of people’s appearances, their dresses, their financial status, their educational background and whatnot. We find it our due concern to pass negative comments on whatever we can spot on. This act is known as emotional abuse and emotional abuse can deep wounding in the victim’s heart, mind and soul!

People who have been through emotional abuse have a tendency to get involved in smoking, alcohol consumption, drugs, adultery and gambling. They become dissatisfied of themselves, and their self-image gets distorted, they suffer from identity crisis, and in search of themselves they tend to get involved in all these acts. Emotional abuse can cause anxiety and panic attacks, and the victims are always in a state of fight or flight. They fail to feel happy and develop pessimism. sometimes the anxiety gets so severe that the victims try to find escape in drugs.

Nobody is born with the aforementioned mental disorders; they are caused by society and (very sadly) our own family and friends.

Negative comments and harsh word cause the child to feel emotionally upset, which releases a stress hormone in the brain called “cortisol.”

Extra release of this hormone can cause damage to the brain cells. Emotional abuse is also

the reason for short term memory loss, mood swings, hormonal issues, personality disorders and much more.

Many relationships tend to turn into emotionally abusive relationships. Marital relations are one of them. To begin with, marriage is no more between a husband and wife in our society, and it is more like the women is married to the husband’s parents and siblings too. so, the wife usually receives hateful comments from her in-laws and her husband pretty much all the time. The victim starts feeling emotionally exhausted all the time and develops a hostile entity within herself. imagine a constantly stressed and unhappy woman raising the future generation. What kind of a generation do you think we are producing?

One of the most beautiful relationships is the mother and child relationship. Mothering is a tough job, and the challenges of raising kids cannot be expressed in words, but how many times does it happen that we pass negative and hurtful comments to our children? We don’t realize how wrong this is because probably we were also raised that way, and most probably our mothers too. This is a cycle, and it’s about time that we break it.

Our little children face a lot of emotional abuse. such as; bullying by classmates, yelling and screaming by parents, humiliated by friends and moreover being insulted in their classrooms by teachers. sadly, the teachers in classrooms mock children and crush them in front of their peer, and because of such an attitude the victim loses their self-respect in the long run.

Now let’s face the facts, we all are victims of emotional abuse and skipping the blame game we can just blame it on the society. We all are abusers and the victims, too. But for the future times and the upcoming generation, let’s make this world a better place to live in.

We need to teach our children not to bully or make fun of their classmates. We should stop criticizing our children and teach them using polite words. let’s not taunt or mock our daughters-in-law. let’s not interrogate and blame our husbands all the time. let’s not humiliate our wives and treat them like we own them. let us not judge others on every single thing they do. let’s just not use harsh words and use politer words instead to communicate what we want to say. a change within ourselves can change the whole world. From today let us all give out positive vibes to everyone we meet, and i tell you the world will become a much better place.

Ananya Panday drops hint about her ‘next Laxmmi Bomb director Raghava director’, shares pic with Kartik Aaryan, Lawrencce may star in Rangasthalam’s Bhumi Pednekar and Farah Khan Tamil remake actor ananya Panday may be new to the industry but she knows how to keep her fans on their toes and she did so on sunday! The 21-year old, who is currently awaiting the release of her upcoming outing — Pati, Patni aur Woh with Bhumi Pednekar and Kartik aaryan, dropped a major hint about her upcoming collaboration, indicating that she may be working with filmmaker-choreographer Farah Khan in her next film. sharing Farah Khan’s post on her instagram story, the student of the year 2 debutant wrote, “We love u!! My next director.” The post featured ananya with her Pati, Patni aur Woh co-actors posing with Farah. Details about the project are still under wraps and it is to be seen what are the two working on. ananya’s film, Pati Patni aur Woh, is an adaptation of the 1978 drama of the same name, which featured sanjeev Kumar, Vidya sinha and Ranjeeta Kaur in the lead roles. The original one revolved around a married couple Ranjeet (sanjeev).

CMYK

actor-filmmaker Raghava lawrencce, who was last seen on screen in Tamil horror-comedy Kanchana 3, has reportedly been roped in to star in Tamil remake of Ram charan’s Telugu blockbuster Rangasthalam. if the industry grapevine is anything to go by, anjaan and sandakozhi fame director linguswamy will direct the remake. according to multiple reports, lawrencce has already signed on the dotted line. however, an official announcement will be made in a few weeks. if this project materializes, it will mark the maiden collaboration of lawrencce and linguswamy, who has been struggling with form for a while. in Rangasthalam, Ram charan played a village simpleton with hearing impairment. Directed by sukumar, the film is a revenge drama where Ram charan avenges the death of his brother who gets killed by his girlfriend’s father who belongs to the upper class.

Wednesday, 6 November, 2019

14 SPORTS

ATALANTA Aim TO AvOid ANOTher mAN CiTy SLAughTer MAnchester

g

Agencies

IAN Piero Gasperini warned that psychology will be key as Italian newcomers Atalanta look to avoid another huge defeat at the hands of Champions League rivals Manchester City in Milan on Wednesday.

The Premier League champions can seal their ticket to the knockout rounds with a win over Atalanta, who have lost all three Group C games in their first ever foray into the elite European competition.

Man City are top of their group with maximum nine points and 10 goals scored, with the Bergamo side bottom after conceding 11 goals conceded and scoring just two. Five of those came last time out, when an 11-minute Raheem Sterling hat-trick helped City to a 5-1 win in Manchester.

"The psychological aspect will be fundamental," said Gasperini.

"It's a tight turnaround, but we'll prepare as best we can." Atalanta hit back in Serie A days later with a 7-1 demolition of lowly Udinese, but they have felt the absence of star Colombian striker Duvan Zapata, who has been out with a thigh injury picked up on international duty last month.

Without him Atalanta have slipped from third to fifth in Serie A, eight points behind leaders Juventus after a 2-0 defeat to Cagliari at the weekend.

Juventus, Inter Milan and Napoli are used to measuring themselves against the European elite, but Atalanta's only trophy was the Italian Cup back in 1963.

The turn around in their fortunes has been orchestrated by former Genoa and Palermo boss Gasperini who took over in 2016.

The 61-year-old's success at Atalanta came eight years after being sacked by Inter Milan after just three months. The northeners sprinted to

Lehmann names Finch as Northern Superchargers skipper Perth: Australia's One Day International captain Aaron Finch is to be skipper of The Northern Superchargers for the inaugural edition of The Hundred, the franchise announced on Tuesday. The 32-year-old batsman -- who is also skipper of the T20 Australian side -- had been Superchargers coach Darren Lehmann's first pick in the draft. They know each other well from Lehmann's stint as head coach of Australia -the pinnacle winning the 2015 World Cup. Finch -- who has over 100 ODI's and 50 T20 international appearances to his credit -- has played for seven IPL sides as well as the Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash. He also has valuable English county experience through stints at both Surrey and Yorkshire.

He will captain a side which includes England superstar all-rounder Ben Stokes.

"I've spent many years working alongside Darren and I'm really excited to be heading back to Headingley (Yorkshire's home ground) as captain of the Northern Superchargers," he said in a statement. "I think we have an excellent side with a good mixture of quality English cricketers and some match-winning overseas stars and I'm very confident of our chances when The Hundred kicks off next summer." Lehmann, who had a successful stint playing for Yorkshire and was an integral part of the side that ended a 33-year drought in landing the county championship in 2001, said he was licking his lips with anticipation at the potential of the team. "I think we've picked a great team and I'm really excited to see what Aaron and I can do with the group," said Lehmann. He is a world class cricketer and a superb leader. Agencies

third in Serie A last season ahead of Inter Milan, their best ever finish, with the most goals scored, and reached the Italian Cup final. This season they have continued on the same path leading the way in the scoring charts with 30 goals scored after 11 rounds.

ZAPAtA retUrn eSSentiAL : Their success has been largely powered

by Zapata, who stayed on after finishing second top scorer in Serie A last season with 23 goals.

Fellow Colombian Luis Muriel arrived last summer from Fiorentina, joining Argentine forward Alejandro Gomez and Slovenian striker Josip Ilicic.

Zapata (6) and Muriel (8) have ac-

counted for 14 league goals between them this term. And Gasperini expressed his fury when Zapata, on a four-game scoring run, pulled up injured in a "useless" friendly with Colombia. Zapata has been key to Atalanta's exciting high-pressing and fast paced style of play, which should in theory have carried over to Europe.

But they have had a baptism of fire with defeats at Dinamo Zagreb (4-0), Man City (5-1) and letting a 1-0 lead slip against Shakhtar at the San Siro to lose 2-1. Despite their struggles Brazilian defender Rafael Toloi insisted that Atalanta are in their rightful place among the European elite.

"We've earned to the right to play such opponents," the 28-year-old said ahead of meeting Man City. "They have super players, Sterling is very fast, so we'll have to be aggressive and very careful in the markings. We know that with our fans at home we can do well."

Atalanta can still theoretically reach last 16. And their 'home' game will be at the San Siro, 56km from Bergamo, deemed more suitable by UEFA than their 21,000-seater Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia. But the odds are stacked as they take on Man City, who are second in the Premier League and on a run of 10 wins from their last 11 matches in all competitions.

India-Pakistan Davis Cup tie shifted to 'neutral' site MUMBAI Agencies

India’s Davis Cup tie against Pakistan at Islamabad this month must be played at a neutral venue after the latest advice from the International Tennis Federation’s independent security advisors, the world governing body said on Monday.

The Asia/Oceania Group I tie, originally scheduled for September 14-15 in Islamabad, was postponed by the ITF to November 29-30 following a security review amid political tensions between the bitter neighbors.

The All India Tennis Association (AITA) had asked the ITF to shift the tie to a neutral venue.

“As per the Davis Cup Regulations, the Pakistan Tennis Federation now has the choice to nominate a neutral venue and has five working days to confirm their proposed venue,” the ITF said in a statement.

Pakistan expelled India’s ambassador and suspended bilateral trade and all public transport links with its neighbor in August after New Delhi removed “special status” from its portion of the contested region of occupied Kashmir.

The AITA had named a sixmember squad in August for the tie against Pakistan but a couple of players and captain Mahesh Bhu-

pathi had made themselves unavailable to travel to the neighboring country due to security concerns.

While the national governing body chose Rohit Rajpal in Bhupathi’s absence, they will soon name a new team for the tie with Bhupathi having made himself available again. “We are very happy and welcome the ITF decision about the venue change,” AITA General Secretary Hironmoy Chatterjee told Reuters by phone. “We will wait for the PTF to choose the venue and then name our team.”

Pakistan was forced to host Davis Cup ties at neutral venues for more than a decade as teams refused to travel to the country citing security concerns. They played their first home tie after a gap of 12 years

against Iran in 2017, while Hong Kong were relegated and fined by the ITF after refusing to travel to Pakistan the same year.

An Indian tennis team last traveled to Pakistan in 1964 for a Davis Cup tie, defeating the hosts 4-0, while Pakistan lost 3-2 on their last visit to India in 2006. Multiple doubles Grand Slam winner Bhupathi said it was great news and he was “of course available” to captain the side now that the tie has been moved out of Islamabad.

“I think it’s just a sensible decision with the current situation,” he said in a text message.

“Davis Cup is already a high pressure situation and having additional stress on security issues was not ideal for anyone.”

Nadal confirms London ATP Finals place London: World number one Rafael Nadal, recovering from injury, confirmed Tuesday he will compete at the seasonending ATP Tour Finals in London from November 10-17. "Yesterday I had an MRI in Majorca and despite a slight strain to the left abdominal muscle I will go to London," tweeted Nadal, forced out of last week's Paris Masters by the same injury.

"Thursday or Friday I will start hitting services. The idea is to play the ATP Finals. Thanks for your support." Nadal took over as world number one this week from Novak Djokovic who went on to win the Paris Masters. The eight top-ranked players in the world gather in London for the ATP Tour Finals where Nadal's world number one ranking will be under threat from Djokovic. The Serb would be sure of reclaiming the year-end top ranking should he win the tournament and Nadal fail to reach the semis. If Nadal fails to win even one round robin match, Djokovic could be crowned world number one simply by reaching the final after two group-stage wins. Agencies

Olympic chief urges focus on cheating athletes' 'entourage' BerLin: Olympic chief Thomas Bach on Tuesday urged governments to do more to help "drain the doping swamp" by going after the entourage of a cheating athlete.

"The athlete is not the only culprit," the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) told the World AntiDoping Agency (WADA) conference in Katowice. "The athlete is supported and sometimes even driven to or forced into doping by a secretive network which may include coaches, agents, dealers, managers, officials from government or sport organisations, doctors, physiotherapists or others," he said. But while sports organisations can punish competitors who test positive they are powerless "to identify and sanction in a deterrent way the athletes’ entourage". As an example he said if the IOC identified a doctor guilty of doping it will banish him from the Games. "But after the doctor goes back home, in most cases he can just continue with his nefarious business without any consequences. "This is not acceptable. This is the wrong signal. This needs to be changed," he told WADA delegates on the opening day of their fifth world conference. "This is where we need the full support of the government authorities. They have the necessary authority and tools to take action." Bach cited state-doping in Russia, the Aderlass blood-doping Operation and the scandal-hit Nike Oregon Project as all highlighting the "urgent need to focus much more on the athletes’ entourage". By holding everybody implicated in a doping case accountable "we can take a major step forward to strengthen justice and credibility for the protection of the clean athletes and to drain the doping swamp." Agencies

Bayern to name coach within three weeks, Tuchel approached MUnIch Agencies

Bayern Munich president Uli Hoeness says the German giants expect to name Niko Kovac's replacement as head coach within three weeks, while a report Tuesday said Paris Saint-Germain boss Thomas Tuchel has already turned them down.

Kovac was sacked on Sunday after 16 months in charge in the wake of Bayern's 5-1 drubbing at Eintracht Frankfurt, which left the defending giants fourth in the Bundesliga table.

Kovac's assistant Hansi Flick has been named interim coach.

Hoeness says Bayern's senior figures will "think calmly about how to handle" finding a new head coach with a decision expected to be made during the forthcoming international break.

"I think that by the time the next away game comes around in Duesseldorf (on November 23), we'll know how the coach's issue has been resolved," Hoeness added. According to Sky Germany, PSG coach Tuchel, who has a contract until 2021, has been approached by Bayern, but has already ruled out an immediate switch.

Ajax coach Erik ten Hag, one of the early favourites having coached Bayern

reserves from 2013-15, has also announced he will not leave the Dutch side before the end of the season.

Massimiliano Allegri, Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger, who are all currently without a club, have been mentioned by the German media as possible candidates to coach Bayern.

Flick, Joachim Loew's assistant coach when Germany won the 2014 World Cup, will be in charge at least for Bayern's home matches on Wednesday in the Champions League against Olympiakos and on Saturday in a crunch Bundesliga match against Borussia Dortmund.

CMYK

Wednesday, 6 November, 2019

STeveN SmiTh'S mASTerCLASS giveS AuSTrALiA SerieS LeAd AUSTRALIA 3 FOR 151 (SMITH 80*) BEAT PAKISTAN 6 FOR 150 (AHMED 52*, AZAM 50) BY SEVEN WICKETS cAnBerrA

i

Agencies

T didn't take long for Steven Smith to clamp down on any whispers he might be surplus to the requirements of the Australian T20I side.

A commanding half-century that combined pugnacity and poise in exactly the right doses steered Australia to what ended up being a stroll of a chase against Pakistan with victory by seven wickets. It needn't have been as easy as that, though, and didn't look nearly as comfortable when they lost David Warner and Aaron Finch inside the powerplay, more than a hundred runs still to get without the comfort blanket of an explosive Glenn Maxwell in the middle order.

It was an innings every bit as modern as T20 cricket requires of its players, but the 51-ball 80 Smith struck contained shots that wouldn't have been out of place at this year's Ashes. Eleven fours and a

six, exactly a half-century of them, came in boundaries, and by the final two overs, Smith was properly peaking. You almost wished Pakistan, who had done quite well at the end of the first innings to post 150, had put up something more challenging than that, if only to watch a little bit more of the game's hottest player operating at his best.

He was helped by the belligerence of Australia's openers, making their intentions plain as early as the second over.

Warner took apart Imad Wasim, normally so reliably economical in the powerplay, finding four fours in what seemed like all four corners of the ground to get Australia off to a flyer, before his run of unbeaten scores was ended by Mohammad Amir.

Their dismissals within three overs of each other was, in truth, the only time in the whole contest where it felt Pakistan were within a punter's chance of making a game of it in Canberra's first T20I, but having added 48 in the powerplay, Smith knew he could take his time to settle in without the asking rate spiralling out of control.

Pakistan's bowling in the phase right after left something to be desired, though, and Smith was given regular opportunities to relieve the pressure, finding four boundaries in the next three overs. That was in stark contrast to the exceptionally frugal efforts of their Australian counterparts, who executed what looked like well thought out plans to each of Pakistan's batsman.

Babar Azam was denied the fuller lengths that allow him to step into those gorgeous cover drives, some of which he unfurled in the early stages before Australia pushed their lengths back, to immaculate success. Haris Sohail was cramped for room with length deliveries that ended with him skying one in the air in a near-replica to the way he was dismissed in Sydney, while an improved Adam Zampa meant Pakistan didn't have the release in the middle overs so vital to pushing their score up to 170, close to

which appeared par on a cracker of a batting surface.

The top order, once more, left Azam on his own to fend off the Australia attack. Fakhar Zaman's tortured existence at the crease lasted seven balls before driving a catch straight to mid-off, while Mohammad Rizwan struggled with the exact problem his predecessor was criticised so heavily for. The dot balls mounted at his end, only increasing the pressure on Azam to keep the runs flowing. It wasn't until Iftikhar Ahmed came

SPORTS 15 in at No. 6 that Pakistan took Australia's bowlers to task; until then, the run rate was barely over a run a ball.

Exceptional work in the field saw Azam dismissed for exactly 50, underestimating the strength and accuracy of Warner's throwing arm as he turned for a second, with the throw from deep midwicket smashing into the stumps with the Pakistan captain well short of his ground.

It appeared the end for any sort of competitive score, but Ahmed put on a display of brilliant hitting the top order looked utterly incapable of to make his first half-century. Kane Richardson came in for especially heavy punishment in his final over, which leaked 22, as, against all odds, Pakistan posted 150 thanks to Ahmed's 34-ball 62.

Australia had done enough in the first ten to ensure they never required much explosive hitting to get to the target. The odd boundary was all they needed in the second half of their innings, with a player of Smith's class comfortably capable of providing that. When he wasn't playing unseemly, albeit mightily effective, ramp shots and tennis forehands, he was piercing gaps in the offside that barely seemed to exist.

A tight 16th over from a much improved Shadab Khan - Pakistan's best bowler by some distance - was the last time things got slightly hairy for the hosts, with 30 needed off four at that point. Half of those would come in the next over, though, with Smith taking Amir apart while displaying the full array of his capability for good measure. From thereon, Australia would ease home without really getting out of third gear. In truth, that could be said about the entire evening in a somewhat forgettable game, lit up only by the shimmering brilliance of a man fit to play international cricket no matter what the format.

Yuvraj Singh calls for players' association for active Indian cricketers MUMBAI Agencies

CPL's best brace for Afghanistan spin barrage lUcknow Agencies

The two teams that finished at the bottom of the points table at the 2019 World Cup will rebuild for the 2020 T20 World Cup under new team managements in Lucknow with a series of ODIs, first, and then T20Is. Phil Simmons will take charge of the side he coached to the 2016 T20 World Cup title, while Kieron Pollard, the new limitedovers captain, gears up for his first ODI in more than three years. At the other end, Afghanistan have a new(ish) captain in Rashid Khan and a new coach in Lance Klusener, who recently tasted T20I success in India as part of the South Africa coaching staff. The similarities don't quite end there: both West Indies (CPL) and Afghanistan (Shpageeza) are coming off a steady diet of T20 cricket.

West Indies' new-look squad features the

who's who of the CPL, including the tournament's top scorer Brandon King and leading wicket-taker Hayden Walsh Jr, who had turned out for USA not too long ago. Shai Hope will take the wicketkeeping gloves, having proved his fitness towards the close of Barbados Tridents' run to the CPL title.

There could be a possible debut for Guyana Amazon Warriors seam-bowling allrounder Romario Shepherd, who had impressed in the tour game too on Monday.

West Indies' batting line-up, though, came a cropper in the tour game and is set to face a more serious challenge against Rashid Khan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Mohammad Nabi. When Afghanistan had toured the Caribbean in 2017, Rashid ran rings around West Indies, claiming ten wickets in two innings, including a record 7 for 18. Nabi gave away just 67 runs in 20 overs on that tour.

With Mujeeb in the mix, that spin attack wears a very potent look.

Yuvraj Singh believes that an Indian player would have felt insecure and found no support if he had experienced the mental health issues that recently forced Glenn Maxwell to take a break from cricket. With that in mind, Yuvraj said that he feels active cricketers "deserve" an association because Indian cricket has never listened to the "player's voice".

The BCCI did recently approve the Indian Cricketers' Association (ICA), meant to look at interests of retired players (male and female). The ICA came into being at the recommendation of the Lodha Committee, which said the body cannot be or act as a trade union but can otherwise represent the interests of the players and look after their welfare.

Yuvraj is perhaps the first contemporary player to voice his or her support for a players' association. The former India allrounder who retired from international cricket and the IPL in June this year, claimed that players are already playing "cricket we don't want to", and they are doing it because of a fear of being "thrown out".

"What I would like to see is a players' association coming up because I think the player's voice was never heard before," Yuvraj was quoted as saying by PTI at an event in Mumbai. "So I think a players' association that all other countries have, we should also have. "We deserve it because there are a lot of times we have

been asked to play cricket that we don't want to. We have to play with the pressure that if we don't play we will be thrown out." India and Pakistan are the only two major cricket-playing countries without an association for active cricketers and Yuvraj felt it was time for a change.

"That pressure has to go off the players that even if they are tired or fatigued or carrying injuries, they have to play," he said. "That support should be given to the players. We see outside India if the players are fatigued and tired mentally, like is the case with Maxwell, he has taken a break because he is feeling it. Our players can't do that because they fear they may lose their place.

Yuvraj was hopeful that new BCCI president Sourav Ganguly might be more receptive to the idea of a body for active cricketers. "Cricket from the administration point of view

"It could have gone either way at the halfway mark. But we knew if we could keep taking wickets it would be touch NEW ZEALAND 180 for them," New Zealand captain Tim FOR 7 (DE GRANDHOMME Southee said. A sound middle-order Saqib Mahmood to struggle through to the end.

55) BEAT ENGLAND 166 FOR partnership by Colin de Grandhomme and Ross Taylor laid the "That's one that got away," 7 (MALAN 55, VINCE 49) basis for New Zealand after Martin England captain Morgan said, Guptill had given them a flying start pointing to the lack of experience BY 14 RUNS with 33 off 17 deliveries. Man-of-thein his squad. "We were in control for match de Grandhomme smacked 55 off 35 the whole chase until we were three or while Taylor produced a more sedate 27 from 24 in a four down, probably that's a lack of experience.

The the guys need to get more games into them at 66-run stand after New Zealand were three down in this level." Ferguson and Tickner both finished with the eighth over. It was a better performance by Engtwo for 25 while spinner Santner and Ish Sodhi took land in the field with a much-improved catching effort which accounted for four of the seven wickets. a wicket apiece.

England collapse to give New Zealand T20 series lead nelson Agencies

A dramatic England collapse which saw five wickets fall for only 10 runs allowed New Zealand to snatch a 14-run victory in their Twenty20 international in Nelson Tuesday.

It also put New Zealand 2-1 ahead in the series with two games to play. England were on track to overhaul New Zealand's 180 when they reached 139 for two in the 15th over, with captain Eoin Morgan in full flight as he cracked sixes off consecutive

Mitchell Santner deliveries. But with England needing 42 off the remaining 31 deliveries Santner turned the match when he had Morgan caught by Colin Munro off the final ball of the over.

Dawid Malan (55) and James Vince (49) had laid a solid foundation for England at the top of the innings. But Morgan's dismissal started a collapse which saw Munro run out Sam Billings for one in the following over before Blair Tickner removed Vince. In the space of two deliveries Lockie Ferguson bowled Lewis Gregory without scoring and had Sam Curran caught for two leaving Tom Curran and

and cricketer's point of view are two different things. Someone who has been a very successful captain will run cricket from a player's point of view where cricketers' concerns can be heard," Yuvraj said. "It didn't happen earlier. They (previous administrators) would make decisions and cricketers were not heard. Now he will listen to what cricketers want."

Yuvraj also said the Indian team management and the selectors needed to be more supportive of the players.

Recently, India's batting coach Vikram Rathour was critical of Rishabh Pant's approach and had said the youngster needed to understand the line between being fearless and careless.

While Yuvraj acknowledged that the selectors had a tough task, he didn't shy away from saying their thinking wasn't modern enough.

"We do need better selectors, for sure," he said. "Selectors' job is not easy. Whenever they select 15 players, there will be talks that what will happen to the other 15. It's a difficult job but their thinking in terms of modernday cricket is not up to the mark. It's my opinion.

"I am talking about team management and selectors only. Everybody has to be supportive towards the players. Jeet rahe hain toh hi yeh haal hai, haar rahe hon to kya hoga? (The team is winning, and still the situation is like this; don't know what will happen if they start losing). Here it is the opposite. When you lose, nobody tells you anything, but when you win, people start talking.

CMYK

Wednesday, 6 November, 2019

Published by Arif Nizami at Plot No 66-C, 1st Floor, 21st Commercial Street, Phase-II (Extension), DHA Karachi and printed at Ibn-e-Hassan Printing Press, Hockey Stadium, Karachi. Ph: 021-35381208-9. Email: newsroom@pakistantoday.com.pk

CMYK