E-Paper PDF 8th November (ISB)

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Friday, 8 November, 2019 I 10 Rabi-ul-Awwal, 1441 I Rs 19.00 I Vol X No 129 I 16 Pages I Islamabad Edition

No passporT required from iNdiaN KarTarpur pilgrims g

FO says $20 service Fee will alsO be waived On inauguratiOn day On nOv 9 and birthday OF guru nanak On nOv 12

Azadi March to assume ‘new direction’ in two days, says Opp STORY ON BACK PAGE

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he Foreign Office (FO) on Thursday formally clarified that it has waived the passport requirement for Indian Sikh pilgrims scheduled to cross over into Pakistan on the eve of 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak, the founder of Sikhism, to visit the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Kartarpur.

“The government has waived [the requirement] for pilgrims to carry their passports for the 550th birth celebrations,” Foreign Office Spokesperson Dr Muhammad Faisal said during his weekly press briefing, adding that the $20 service fee will also be waived on the day of inauguration (Nov 9) and the birthday of Guru Nanak (Nov 12). “The requirement to convey pilgrim information to the Pakistan government 10 days prior to entry through the Corridor has also been waived off.”

Dr Faisal said that the Indian high Commission in Islamabad and the government have been informed of this.

Clouds of confusion started to loom over the earlier announcement made by Prime Minister Imran Khan to waive off the passport requirement for Indian pilgrims after Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Maj Gen Asif Ghafoor said a day earlier that entry into Pakistan will be a “legal entry – a permit-based entry”.

On Nov 1, Prime Minister Imran announced that Indian yatrees will no longer need a pass-

port to cross over into Pakistan as long as they have a valid identity. In a tweet, the premier had also announced that he had directed that the condition for pilgrims to register 10 days before their arrival be waived.

During an interview on Wednesday, the chief military spokesperson had said that the Corridor was “one-way corridor” and Sikh pilgrims “would only be permitted to visit the gurdwara and won’t be allowed to leave its premises while international yatrees would not be allowed to cross the Indo-Pak border”. however, Indian media took the statement out of context and accused Pakistan of taking a U-turn on the passport requirement.

NAVJOT SIDHU TO ATTEND INAUGURATION CEREMONY: Dr Faisal confirmed that Indian cricket star and former minister Navjot Singh Sidhu will attend the Kartarpur inauguration ceremony on Nov 9 and will be issued a visa in this regard.

It emerged last week that the government had sent an invitation to Sidhu, who also attended the oath-taking ceremony of Prime Minister Imran Khan last year as well as the groundbreaking ceremony of the Kartarpur Corridor, to attend Saturday’s inauguration.

A spokesperson for PTI had said that Sidhu accepted the invitation.

According to India Today, Sidhu can cross over at Wagah Border with a visa. however, as an elected representative of an Indian state legislature, he requires political clearance to attend any ceremony held by the Pakistan government.

‘KARTARPUR SOLELY PAKISTAN’S INI-

TIATIVE’: The FO spokesperson further said that the Kartarpur Corridor was solely Pakistan’s initiative.

“Not to rub it in, but this was solely Pakistan’s initiative. This was Prime Minister Imran Khan’s initiative which India then agreed to,” he said.

US REPORT ON ANTI-TERROR MEASURES: Referring to a terrorism report issued by the US State Department, the spokesperson reiterated that Islamabad is ‘disappointed’ that the sacrifices and contributions made over the last two decades were overlooked.

“It completely overlooks factual information and contribution made by Pakistan over the last two decades. We hope Pakistan’s contributions and sacrifices will be fully recognised,” he said.

PAKISTAN DIPLOMATS’ HARASSMENT IN KABUL: The FO spokesperson said that the Pakistan embassy in Kabul will be processing visa applications for medical emergency patients during the closure of consular services.

The war of words between Islamabad and Kabul over the alleged harassment of diplomats began on Sunday when the Pakistani government said that officers and staff of Pakistan embassy in Kabul were “obstructed on the road and the embassy vehicles were also hit by motorcycles while going towards the embassy”. The consular section of the Pakistan embassy later suspended its services.

“The officers and staff of the embassy of Pakistan in Kabul had been arrested continuously,” said Dr Faisal today, adding that they have urged the Afghan government to ensure safety and security of [consular] personnel.

‘don’t worry,’ PM tells comrades as Fazl digs in heels

STORY ON BACK PAGE

Govt bulldozes several bills through NA in 30 mins STORY ON BACK PAGE

Scores of Indian farmers arrested over polluting fires

STORIES ON BACK PAGE

ISLAMABAD: Participants of JUI-F’s Azadi March seek shelter in a plastic tent as rain lashes federal capital. online

Fawad offers to help control india's air pollution issue

Friday, 8 November, 2019

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Court rEjECts PlEA by DAr’s wifE AgAinst AuCtion of lAhorE rEsiDEnCE ISLAMABAD

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N accountability court on Thursday rejected a petition against the auctioning of former finance minister Ishaq Dar’s property in the Gulberg neighborhood of Lahore.

Accountability Judge Mohammad Bashir announced the decision, saying that the petitioner, Tabassum Dar, failed to substantiate her claim that her husband Ishaq Dar had gifted the house to her. The court also rejected her plea for access to a video of a raid on the property. The court, however, deferred the decision on her plea for permission to withdraw money from Dar’s accounts.

The court will announce the decision on Nov 13.

Following the filing of a reference against Dar in the accountability court in September last year, National Accountability Bureau had seized all of Dar’s moveable and immoveable assets, including a house in Gulberg III, Lahore; three plots in Al Falah Housing Society, Lahore; six acres of land in Islamabad; a two-kanal plot in Parliamentarians Enclave,

Islamabad; a plot in the Senate Cooperative Housing Society, Islamabad; a plot measuring two kanals and another of nine marlas in Islamabad and six vehicles.

The bureau said that Dar had acquired in his name and/or in the names of his dependants’ assets worth Rs831.7m, which was disproportionate to his known sources of income. On Oct 2, 2018, Judge Bashir had attached Dar’s properties with the Punjab government and allowed its auction as per rules.

The same month, Tabassum filed an application in the accountability court against the confiscation of the property of

Ex-PM Abbasi undergoes hernia surgery ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Thursday underwent hernia surgery at Shifa International Hospital in the federal capital. Abbasi, who is currently in judicial custody in connection with an ongoing inquiry into the 2014 Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) scam, was shifted to the hospital on Nov 4 after he complained of hernia. The PML-N leader visited the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) on Saturday for a brief medical check-up.

According to PIMS spokesperson Dr. Wasim, he underwent checkup for hernia, heart, lungs and kidney stones.

On Monday, a medical board had recommended surgery, but Abbasi was not ready to be operated at PIMS. In a turn of events, he was shifted to Shifa hospital the same day after the Punjab government granted permission to do so.

“The government is pleased to accord sanction for Abbasi’s shifting from Central Jail Rawalpindi to Shifa International Hospital Islamabad for ‘investigation and operation/treatment of bilateral inguinal hernia and cholecystitis’”, a notification issued from the Punjab home department had said at the time. STAFF REPORT

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her husband after he was declared an absconder in the reference filed by NAB. She had contended that her husband had verbally gifted the property to her on Feb 14, 1989, in lieu of her dower amount.

She said that since she had accepted the gift and was residing there, NAB had erroneously shown the property as an asset of Dar. She had requested the court to cancel the order for the auction of the property. According to NAB’s reply, the said house was registered in the name of Dar in the revenue record and was not yet transferred to the name of his spouse.

Sidhu warns Indian govt he will go to Kartarpur ‘even without permission’ Cricketer-turned-politician of India, Navjot Singh Sidhu has warned the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) that if the authorities do not respond to his third letter, he will “proceed to Pakistan as millions of Sikh devotees go on eligible visa”. According to India Today, the former minister had repeatedly sent reminders but the ministry has failed to revert back or to cater his request to attend the Kartarpur Corridor inauguration which is scheduled held on Nov 9. The former cricket star’s third letter comes two days before the inaugural ceremony of the Kartarpur corridor. “The delay and no response is a hindrance to my future course of action. I categorically state that if the govt has any inhibitions and says no, then as a law abiding citizen, I will not go,” read the letter. “But if you don’t respond to my third letter, then I will proceed to Pakistan as millions of Sikh devotees go on eligible Visa,” it added. NEWS DESK

Friday, 8 November, 2019

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deadlock persists in the negotiations between the Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI) government and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) as Maulana Fazlur Rehman is adamant on his demand of the resignation of Prime Minister Imran Khan despite being offered the formation of a judicial or parliamentary commission to probe into allegations of rigging in the 2018 general elections.

Earlier in the day, Punjab Assembly (PA) Speaker Pervaiz Elahi, who is a member of government’s negotiation team, called on Maulana Fazl to find a way to end the opposition’s Azadi March.

Reportedly, the government’s offer was conveyed by Elahi to the JUI-F chief during Thursday’s meeting. Talking to reporters before the meeting, Elahi said that he was hoping for a positive outcome and would soon give the nation some “good news”. “We are hopeful and things seem to be going towards betterment,” he said, adding that recommendations are under consideration to break the ongoing deadlock.

However, Elahi said that there was no chance of accepting Fazl’s demand of the PM’s resignation because the incumbent government had been democratically elected by the people. “We are hopeful of finding a middle ground during the talks,” he said.

govt offers juDiCiAl probe into ‘rigging’ but fAzl won’t buDge Meanwhile, the joint opposition’s Rehbar Committee met to discuss the future course of action.

Talking the media after a meeting, JUI-F leader Akram Khan Durrani said that Azadi March will take a new direction in two days.

He said that on the basis of recommendations presented during Thursday’s meeting, new moves will emerge in the protest.

He added that new caravans from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) would soon join the Azadi March.

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Farhatullah Babar said that the opposition is putting the government under pressure, calling it ‘the first phase’.

During the meeting, the JUIF chief directed the party members to present their stance in the national Assembly (nA) with full zeal. The meeting decided that the opposition would give a tough time to the government and decided on a plan of action for the march and the parliamentary session. PPP leader Farhatullah Babar, PPP Secretary General nayyar Bukhari, Pakistan Muslim League-nawaz (PML-n) leader Ayaz Sadiq, PML-n Khyber Pakhtunkhwa President Ameer Muqam, JUI-F’s Owais

noorani, Qaumi Watan Party’s (QWP) Hashim Babar, Jamiat Ahle Hadith’s Shafeeq Pasuri, national Party’s (nP) Tahir Bizenjo and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party’s (PkMAP) Usman Kakar attended the meeting of the Rehbar Committee.

FAZL DIGS IN HEELS: Meanwhile, addressing the Azadi March protesters camped at the H-9 ground on Thursday evening, Maulana Fazl reiterated the demand of the prime minister’s resignation, saying the government shouldn’t bother with dialogue if Imran Khan’s resignation was off the table. The JUI-F chief said the prime minister has no option now as he has hit a dead end.

“You are at a dead end now and now you must decide whether you want to continue to remain there or come out and give back the people their right,” said the JUI-F chief. He also brought up the Pakistan Tehreeke-Insaf’s (PTI) foreign fund case during his address. He said the PTI was using “delaying tactics” in the foreign funding case pending with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

“Why is your foreign funding case still pending in the ECP for

pine nuts worth rs12 million stolen in wana Over 20 sacks of pine nuts were stolen by unidentified persons in Wana, South Waziristan. According to a local news channel, armed suspects sneaked into the warehouse and held workers and security guards hostage at gunpoint.

Apart from 23 packs of pine, the robbers also carried off with cash and mobile phones. Speaking to reporters after the incident, traders claimed that the pine nuts stock was worth at least Rs12.5 million. A First Information Report [FIR] was lodged at the Wana police station in this regard. One of the rarest nuts in the world, pine nuts – locally called chilghoza – are edible seeds of pine trees and are in high demand across the world. NEWS DESK

Court summons all parties in rana sanaullah drug case on nov 9 LAHORE: An anti-narcotics court on Thursday issued notices to all concerned parties in a drug smuggling case against Pakistan Muslim League-nawaz (PML-n) Punjab President Rana Sanaullah Khan. Anti-narcotics Judge Khalid Bashir conducted hearing of Rana Sanaullah’s bail plea. The judge issued a notice to all those are party in the case, directing them to appear before the court on nov 9. Earlier, the PML-n leader filed a bail petition rejecting the drug smuggling allegations levelled against him by the Anti-narcotics Force (AnF). In the petition, he claimed he had been implicated in a false case merely to humiliate him on the whims of the ruling party’s leadership. He said that the stance of the petitioner could be corroborated through CCTV footage of the Punjab Safe City Authority (PSCA). STAFF REPORT

ISLAMABAD: Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi talks to the media after meeting JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman on Thursday. ONLINE

the past 5 years? Your own senior leadership has gone to the commission and has said funding came from India, Europe, and many other places. You submitted 60 petitions in the court to delay the case. Every petition by the government has been rejected. Why has the election commission not been able to decide the matter?” he questioned.

The JUI-F chief also welcomed the statement made by Inter-Services Public Relations

national Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser on Thursday issued production orders for Pakistan People’s Party leaders Asif Zardari and Syed Khursheed Shah along with Pakistan Muslim League-nawaz leader Saad Rafique. The three politicians, who were arrested by the national Accountability Bureau on separate charges of corruption, would now be able to attend the ongoing nA session.

Earlier, Khawaja Asif, while addressing media outside the Parliament

PAC subcommittee directs PAF to give possession of 76 kanals of land to CAA ISLAMABAD APP

The subcommittee of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) Thursday directed Pakistan Air Force (PAF) to give possession of 76-kanal land to Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) which had been pointed out in an audit para.

The committee, headed by Member na-

economy and resources was used for repaying foreign debt, non-utilization of public assets in the past in an effective manner, was a criminal negligence. He directed the PCBL administration as well as the Punjab Law Minister to speed up the efforts for early completion of the court cases about public assets and take all necessary measures in that respect.

The PM said that the present govt, which took the rein of power in the hardest economic conditions, had to take difficult decisions for bringing about improvement in economy. He, however, added that with stabilization in the country’s economy at present, positive results of those decisions have started appearing.

The prime minister said that in order to providing relief to masses, speeding-up the economic process and specially for creating job opportunities for youth, there was a need to further pace-up the efforts. APP

Production orders issued for Zardari, Khursheed and Saad NEWS DESK

tional Assembly (MnA) Munaza Hassan, was reviewing audit report of 2012-13 against CAA. The committee on the request of Secretary Aviation directed PAF to return 76 kanal land to CAA and settled the para. The report pointed out that in 2006 PAF had got possession of 19.21 acre land of CAA at Walton Aerodrome for specific installations. However, the same land of CAA was sold to members of Pak Fal-

PERVAIZ ELAHI SAYS GOVT WON’T ACCEPT DEMAND OF PM’S RESIGNATION, HOPES FOR BREAKTHROUGH IN TALKS JUI-F CHIEF SAYS GOVT SHOULDN’T BOTHER WITH DIALOGUE IF IMRAN KHAN’S RESIGNATION IS OFF THE TABLE

PM calls for utilising public assets for masses’ welfare ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan Thursday said that the present government was firm on its policy of utilizing the dead public assets for the welfare and betterment of masses and using their income for boosting the pace of economic development and creating job opportunities.

He was presiding over a meeting held here about the utilization of public lands in Punjab for public welfare purposes, particularly, the assets under the control of Punjab Cooperative Board for Liquidation (PCBL). The meeting was attended

by Law Minister Dr. Muhammad Farogh naseem, Chief Minister Punjab Sardar Usman Buzdar, Punjab Minister for Cooperative Mehr Muhammad Aslam Bharwana, Punjab Law Minister Basharat Raja, Chief Secretary Punjab Yusuf naseem Khokhar and other senior officers.

The prime minister regretted that in a country where the major chunk of

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House in Islamabad has said that opposition parties have decided to table notrust motion against nA Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri, criticising the incumbent government for “making a mockery of legislation in Thursday’s nA proceedings”. The PML-n leader has asked the federal government to make the metro bus service functional in twin cities to facilitate citizens.

“After getting failed to run Metro Bus service in Peshawar, now they have closed down Metro Bus Service of Shehbaz Sharif in Islamabad,” he lamented.

con Society with each member paying the cost of land and development charges, it added.

The audit pointed out that the CAA failed to get vacated their land worth Rs. 1.9 billion.

It was also mentioned that the CAA board in its meeting took note of the issue and directed for that the concerned Airport Manager be held responsible. Secretary aviation Shah Rukh nusrat apprised the committee that no land of CAA was forcibly occupied by PAF. He said the land for housing society was legally purchased but later it was noted that in demarcation that 76 kanal land of CAA was wrongly in possession of PAF and the matter was amicably settled.

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(ISPR) chief Major General Asif Ghafoor. Gen Ghafoor had said that the Pakistan Army was an “impartial institution and it wanted to remain so”.

“I want to say this to the state institutions that consider the JUIF workers your own people and they will always be with you,” he said, hinting at supporting the Pakistan Army. He said the ‘Azadi March’ had removed some of the misconceptions the society had about the religious segment.

FAZL WELCOMES ISPR DG’S STATEMENT, SAYS ‘CONSIDER JUI-F WORKERS YOUR OWN PEOPLE AND THEY WILL ALWAYS STAND WITH YOU’ “Our workers have displayed discipline and respected the rule of law throughout the rally – something acknowledged by the western media s well,” the JUI-F leader told the demonstrators.

govt committed to making pakistan islamic welfare state: firdous ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said on Thursday that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government was committed to make naya Pakistan an Islamic welfare state on the principles of State of Madina. Addressing the All Pakistan naat Competition in connection with the celebrations of Eid Miladun-nabi (Peace Be Upon Him) at national Broadcasting House here, she said personality and life of the Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) was a guideline for Ummah. The SAPM said Pakistan, Turkey and Malaysia would jointly establish a TV channel to promote real face of Islam before the world. She said such gatherings provided an opportunity to end hatred and spread love. Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan said Muslims faith was incomplete without believing in Muhammad PBUH as last prophet of God. She urged the private media to follow the footsteps of Radio Pakistan and PTV by arranging such programmes to promote national thought. She also congratulated Radio Pakistan and PTV for arranging naat competition every year. She said Radio Pakistan had been arranging this event since 1983 to highlight different aspects of life of Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH). She urged youth to study the life of the Holy Prophet to adopt the living style according to the Quran and Sunnah. She said Radio Pakistan and PTV had an important role in the development of modern media. She said these two institutions were also playing imperative role to end hatred.The Special Assistant said that the government was striving to eliminate corruption from the country under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan and it was committed to uplift the living standards of the people. APP

gen zubair hayat pays farewell visit to naval headquarters

ISLAMABAD: Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) General Zubair Mahmood Hayat paid a farewell visit to naval Headquarters in Islamabad on Thursday. A smartly turned out contingent of Pakistan navy presented guard of honor to General Hayat. During his meeting with naval Chief Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi, the latter appreciated the former’s extraordinary efforts in the promotion of synergy amongst the armed forces.

Gen Hayat is due to retire from office in november. INP

04 LAHORE PRAyER TiMingS FAJR SUNRISE

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LAHORE: Airport Security Force (ASF) on Thursday foiled a money laundering attempt at Lahore airport. ASF officials arrested a couple trying to smuggle foreign currency to Bangkok. A local news outlet reported.

According to the report, around 47,000 Australian dollars were seized from the couple; which they had stored in their bags.

Traveling with their children, they were going to board TG-346, a Thai Airways flight to Bangkok. The couple was arrested and is being held by Customs department for further investigation, the report said. STAFF REPORT

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LHC orderS doCTorS To CaLL off 29-day STrike immediaTeLy COURT REPRIMANDS HEALTH SECY OVER GOVT’S DELAY IN ADDRESSING CONCERNS OF YOUNG DOCTORS

Couple arrested for money laundering attempt

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HE Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday ordered young doctors across Punjab to resume their medical duties immediately, as it reprimanded Specialised Healthcare and Medical Education Secretary Momin Agha over the government’s delay in addressing the doctors’ concerns.

Justice Jawad Hassan issued the order while hearing a petition filed by Advocate Azhar Siddique against a doctors’ strike, which had been ongoing for 29 days till date. The strike had been called by young doctors against the promulgation of the Pakistan Medical Commission Ordinance, 2019.

During the hearing, Agha in-

formed the court that the government had constituted a committee yesterday to take up the matter.

Justice Hassan chided the secretary, asking why the committee was constituted only yesterday when the strike had been ongoing since early October.

Meanwhile, the counsel for the doctors objected to the committee, noting that it does not include any representative of the striking doctors. The court upheld the objection and ordered the provincial government to include Young Doctors Association (YDA) President Dr Qasim Awan and General Secretary Dr Salman Hafeez, their counsel Abid Saqi, and Dr Ali Raza of YDA to the committee.

Justice Hassan directed that the committee hold consultative workshops on the matter and take all

stakeholders, including doctors, onboard over the matter. The court restrained the government from taking any step against the protesting doctors meanwhile. To this, the secretary informed the court that a show-cause notice had already been issued to some people — which the court said the doctors would have to submit their responses to. Justice Hassan also reprimanded the doctors over their strike. He remarked that professionals are bound to some rules and regulations and reminded their counsel that the Supreme Court had already passed a ruling over such strikes. In response, the doctors assured Justice Hassan that court orders concerning the strike will be followed in letter and spirit.

Justice Hassan also offered that, at a later date, the court may issue a detailed judgment on the rules for strikes organised by professionals.

The court will resume the hearing of the case on December 2.

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Smog recedes after rain LAHORE: A Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) official on Thursday said that overnight rain has receded the level of hazardous smog that was engulfing Lahore for over two weeks. According to Lahore’s Chief Meteorologist Shahib Khan, the current rain spell was expected to continue till Friday, with wind direction also likely to change within the next 24 hours.

He said that winds coupled with rain were blowing from east and southeast. “Today citizens are safe from smog,” he said. Khan said that smog in the provincial capital is caused by stubble burning in Indian Punjab. “[Otherwise] there is no smog in Lahore,” he said. Khan claimed that the city was in the grip of smoke caused by crop burning. He said rice crop is being harvested in Punjab which has polluted the air. Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Meteorologist Mahr Sahibzad Khan said that the current smoke levels should not be confused with “smog”. “Smog components become visible after smoke and fog combine. Until now, the fog has not developed,” he said while speaking to a local news channel. “These phenomena (required for fog) are not currently present. There is smoke, because of car and factory emissions, as well as transboundary smoke coming in from India due to crop burning. So the smoke levels have risen significantly owing to these factors. And there are components in the smoke that raise the air quality index. People start calling it smog, but it isn’t. There are alarmingly high levels of smoke, however.” STAFF REPORT

WLCA to repair temple of Loh, Alamgiri Gate by May 2020 LAHORE SHAHAB OMER

The Walled City of Lahore Authority (WCLA) has started the conservation process for the interior of Alamgiri Gate of Lahore Fort as well as the connected chambers, rooms and temple of Prince Loh, Pakistan Today learnt on Thursday.

The project, which will be executed at the cost of Rs7 million, will be completed in May 2020. The gate’s conservation work will include the consolidation of its structure, lime plaster/lime wash, repairing of the wooden door, seepage treatment, anti-termite treatment, fresco treatment and illumination along with the installation of CCTVs for security.

Pakistan Today further learnt that the work to be carried out in the temple of Prince Loh would include lime plaster/lime wash, pacca kalai, repairing of wooden door, seepage treatment, anti-termite treatment, replacement of existing fiber with steel structure and tempered glass, excavation and treatment of archeological findings, provision of the drain system, illumination and installation of signs.

A tourist guide at the Lahore Fort, Malik Aftab told Pakistan Today that the gate’s interior section had dilapidated with the passage of time and needed to be repaired urgently.

“The Archaeology Department had once carried out some conservation work but now it needed attention again as tourists often complain about the structures connected with Alamgiri Gate and Loh Temple. The WCLA has taken a good step by taking up this work,” he said.

He told that the Alamgiri Gate was built by Emperor Aurangzeb Alamgir and opens into Hazoori Bagh. It shows a pleasing blend of strength, grace and grandeur with its two semi-circular bastions decorated with lotus petal designs at the base. The interior once had the ticket counter as it was the main gate to the Lahore fort but it had to be closed due to security reasons.

Khalid Elahi, a tourist at Fort said, “It will be great if WCLA restores the Alamgiri Gate. We used to enter the fort through this gate during my childhood and the postern gate used to enter now does not match the fort’s magnitude and grandeur”.

Another tourist and student of NCA, Samia Shah said, “I used to visit this section of the fort often before it was closed. I have seen cracks and damaged fresco inside the gate whereas the temple of Loh is also just a symbolic thing now and people do not know even know of its existence. It is good that WCLA is conserving these places and I hope these places will also be opened for the public later”.

WLCA Director Conservation Najamusaquib said, “This part of the fort is out of sight for the tourists as it is closed with barriers. We will be conserving the interior of the Alamgiri Gate which has rooms and chambers. We will also be conserving the temple of Loh which is located close to Alamgiri Gate. Structural stabilization will be done along with underpinning, restoration of fresco and we will be connecting the temple of Loh with the remains found in the Royal Kitchens. This will surely be another experience for tourists. After conservation, we will be illuminating these permanently for the tourists. WCLA is carrying out all the conservation projects as per the international guidelines and standards of conservation.”

Tourist police formed for security, guidance at Kartarpur Corridor: IGP LAHORE: Punjab Inspector General Police (IGP) Capt (r) Arif Nawaz Khan on Thursday said that the Punjab Police, according to the vision of Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan and the Punjab chief minister (CM), is working hard to promote the country’s soft image by providing security and guidance to tourists by forming a tourist police team for the Kartarpur Corridor.

He was speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the tourist police department during his visit to Narowal.

Additional IG Punjab Highway Patrol (PHP) Manzor Sarwar Chaudhary, Gujranwala regional police officer (RPO) Tariq Abbas Qureshi, Narowal district police officer (DPO) Zulfiqar Ahmad and other senior officers were also present at the occasion. The IGP further said that the tourist police would perform their duties with responsibility by working hard to make the visits of Sikh pilgrims and other tourists memorable, adding that the new avenue for tourism would hopefully play an important role in boosting the economy of Pakistan. STAFF REPORT

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Friday, 5 November, 2019

PreSident CallS for ProMotion of PhilanthroPy to addreSS Poverty ISLAMABAD APP

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ReSIdenT dr Arif Alvi Thursday while appreciating character of the Pakistani nation in charitable services, called for promotion of philanthropy both at the state and corporate level to address the challenges of poverty and social inequality.

Addressing the launching ceremony of a research study and corporate philanthropy awards held by the Pakistan Center for Philanthropy (PCP) and British Council here, he said the philanthropists played their role to bridge the gaps in the social development of the country.

The ceremony was attended by PCP Board of directors Chairman Zafar A Khan, executive director Shazia Maqsood, British Council Country director Amir Ramazan representatives of renowned corporate firms and people from various civil society organizations.

The president also distributed awards among the corporate firms who contributed the most in the philanthropic services, and appreciated their contribution to the society.

He said there had been a trust

deficit between the people and the government that was why they did not pay taxes. Contrarily, they donated wholeheartedly to charitable organizations like edhi Foundation and Shaukat Khanum Hospital.

Lauding the remarkable contribution of Pakistani diaspora in the United Kingdom in philanthropy, he said the Pakistanis were outstanding in giving.

He recalled the extraordinary contribution of the Pakistani society after the 2005 earthquake when people from across the country rushed to the quake-hit areas to help those in distress.

The president also shared his experiences in charity works and said the religion was a major factor to promote philanthropy in the Pakistani society and also narrated verses of the Holy Quran and numerous incidents from Islamic history underscoring the significance of giving.

He said as the discrepancy among the rich and poor had been increasing, the corporate sector should show their responsibility to the clients, environment and the coming generation.

He also urged the states not to create war and rivalry and talk about peace.

The president said the states should utilize their resources in such a way which could promote philanthropy in the country.

He said philanthropy should move beyond charity towards building human and social capital: it should invest in education, in enhancing social and economic opportunities for those who are less privileged, and in building organizations to address social ills.

He said it was inspiring to find out that the corporate social responsibility donations made by the corporate sector were worth Rs12.78 billion in the year 2018, showing an increase by 20% from the previous year 2017.

He further said the public sector in Pakistan had inadequate resources to provide basic social amenities to its ever-increasing population, philanthropy had become a potential resource to fill this gap.

In his address, PCP Board of directors Chairman Zaffar A Khan said the philanthropists needed to be encouraged to focus more on the creation of social assets which could become instrumental in permanently reducing poverty rather than simply providing temporary relief to the poor and the needy.

Kasur minor abducted by father to frame opponents, say police

KASUR STAFF REPORT

The father of a minor girl who was allegedly kidnapped on her way to a local mosque has been found guilty of abducting his own daughter to frame his opponents, the investigative police officer said on Thursday.

Abdul Hameed – father of the eight-year-old Tayyaba – had on Wednesday lodged a first information report [FIR] against four suspects, in-

cluding one woman.

Superintendent of Police [SP] for investigation Abdul Quddus said during a press conference that Hameed had, in fact, kidnapped his own daughter.

The SP said that Hameed had intended to kill Tayyaba and frame his opponents in a case similar to the Zainab Ansari murder case, in which the victim, Zainab was abducted, raped and murdered; her body was later found in a garbage dump on January 9, 2018.

According to SP Quddus, the father

planned to kill her and dump her body in a deserted place after waiting for two or three days.

SP Quddus said that authorities had successfully recovered the girl in 24 hours from Faisalabad adding that a case against the suspect would be registered on behalf of the state. At least four suspects, including Tayyaba’s father Abdul Hameed, have been arrested, he added.

The case was treated as a highpriority one owing to the rising number of child molestation, abduction, and murder cases being from Kasur district.

The SP further added that police conducted numerous search operations before finally rescuing the minor. He said that the search team had been set under the regional police officer (RPO) and that those officers who had taken an active part in the case would be given certificates of appreciation, as well as cash rewards.

Police teams on Wednesday had also made use of the Safe City Project’s cameras and had cordoned off the area to conduct a search operation.

Lahore Museum commemorates Baba Guru Nanak’s birth anniversary LAHORE INP

A ceremony to commemorate 550th birth anniversary of the founder of Sikhism Baba Guru nanak was held at Lahore Museum on Thursday.

The prayer ceremony, attended by a large number of people from the Pakistani and overseas Sikh community, was followed by cake cutting and an exhibition of Sikh culture in Punjab.

Provincial Minister of Information Mian Aslam Iqbal was present as the chief guest on the occasion.

“Kartarpur Corridor’s inauguration and darbar

Sahib will unveil Pakistan’s real face before the world,” the minister said.

Members of the Sikh community attending the

ceremony called the Kartarpur Corridor inauguration a milestone and added that 120 million Sikhs across the world have become ambas-

sadors of Pakistan because of the initiative.

The museum also arranged a Sikh Gallery exhibiting rare documents and pictures of the Sikh rule in Punjab.

Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan had laid the foundation stone of the project to link Gurdwara darbar Sahib in Pakistan’s narowal district with India’s Gurdaspur district on nov 28, 2018, announcing that Pakistan wants to open its doors to the Sikh community across the globe.

The Kartarpur Corridor is all set to be inaugurated on november 9, making it the world’s largest Gurdwara.

CMYK

NEWS

05

Sudden increase in smog due to burning of crop remains, says Punjab CM LAHORE STAFF REPORT

Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has said that Wednesday’s sudden increase of smog in Lahore and its suburbs was because of burning the remaining of crops in the border area of India besides changed in direction of wind.

However, situation is much better due to the last night rain, he added. In a statement issued here on Thursday, Usman Buzdar said that he continued to monitor smog related situation till late in night and issued instructions to the concerned department and administration in this regard. Administration and traffic police were made active for redressing the problems of citizens. He further maintained that instruction has been issued to the concerned department to remain alert for coping with smog related situation in the coming days.

The chief minister said that the environment and other concerned departments including administration should ensure the implementation of plan formulated to cope with smog in letter and spirit and no leniency take in this regard.

While issuing instruction to speed up the ongoing campaign against industries, cars and brick-kilns involved in spreading pollution, he said that strict legal action should be taken against responsible. He further directed to run awareness campaign for informing the people about the preventive measures to protect themselves from smog. Meanwhile, Usman Buzdar has expressed deep sense of sorrow and grief over the loss of precious human lives in a traffic accident on national highway near new Saeedabad district Mityari. He extended heartfelt sympathies and condoled with the bereaved family members. He prayed for the early recovery of injured and said that Punjab government equally share the grief of the family members of the deceased.

Friday, 8 November, 2019

06 WORLD VIEW

Why Would ArAb leAders pursue strAtegic pArtnerships With russiA? CounCil on Foreign relations Amir AsmAr

W

ith its 2015 intervention in Syria’s civil war, Russia re-entered the fray in the Middle East for the first time since the end of the Cold War—and in a spectacular fashion. Now, with its recent departure from Syria, the United States is seemingly ceding that theatre to Russian influence.

While much has been written about Russia’s motives in the region, little focus has been given to the motivations of Arab leaders who are pursuing closer ties with Russia and may consider, at some future point, a strategic realignment away from the United States.

Although long-standing irritants have not, by themselves, been relationship breakers, recent U.S. actions have troubled Arab leaders and created openings that Moscow can exploit. in an era of renewed great power competition, Arab leaders likely understand that they may stand to benefit more from cultivating ties with both the United States and Russia than was previously possible.

Among the long-standing issues facing U.S.-Arab relations is the israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Arab leaders understand that israel comes first for the United States, despite significant changes in the region since the 1967 June War when the U.S.-israeli partnership was cemented. though most Arab leaders care little about the Palestinians’ plight, they remain anxious about the emotive power of the issue and its ability to anger and mobilize their populations, particularly after the United States’ recent decision to recog-

ARAB LEADERS UNDERSTAND THAT THEY HAVE LIMITED INFLUENCE OVER U.S. POLICY, BUT THEY MAY BE STARTING TO PERCEIVE THE UNITED STATES AS UNPREDICTABLE OR EVEN UNRELIABLE nize Jerusalem as israel’s capital and israel’s sovereignty over the Golan. Similarly, the U.S. guarantee of israel’s qualitative military edge over any combination of regional adversaries effectively restricts the sale of certain advanced weapons to Arab states. U.S. weapons sales also come with cumbersome end-user agreements that restrict their use—restrictions that Arab leaders suspect are not enforced for israel. While U.S. officials and legislators continue to demonstrate strong commitments to israel, Russia remains unencumbered and continues to export arms to Arab states.

U.S. policy toward iran should also confound Arab leaders. Fearful of iran’s regional ambitions, use of terrorism, and nuclear program, Arab leaders looked to the United States to help contain iranian adventurism. however, Washington conducted wars in Afghanistan and iraq that—whatever their justifications—resulted in the removal of two staunchly anti-iran regimes, the taliban and Saddam hussein, leaving iran freer to pursue its regional schemes. the iraq War, in particular, was a source of frustration for Arab leaders; it angered their publics because it confirmed the impression that Washington thought little of violating the sovereignty of an Arab state in pursuit of unconvincing objectives. iran now has vast influence in iraq, in addition to growing sway in Afghanistan, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, and others. With minimal consultation with its Arab partners, Washington also concluded the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) to limit iran’s nuclear program and only a few years later rescinded the

plan, with equally limited consultation. Given Russia’s proven ability to work with iran in Syria, Arab leaders may now see Moscow as the intermediary with iran that Washington is not.

Washington’s tepid response to the September 2019 attack on Abqaiq, a critical Saudi oil installation, should accentuate Arab leaders’ doubt. the United States joined Saudi Arabia in blaming iran for the attack—U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo characterized it as “an act of war”—but did little beyond deploying troops and equipment to “help Saudi Arabia defend itself.” this response stands in marked contrast to the United States’ bold and immediate response in 1990 to iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. Moreover, iranian proxies across the region have targeted U.S. allies and interests since the end of the territorial conflict against the self-proclaimed islamic State (also known as iSiS) and the United States’ withdrawal from the JCPOA, both of which had served as brakes on iran-sponsored attacks. the absence of a strong U.S. response to Abqaiq suggests that the United States is not only reluctant to stand by its Arab friends, but also by its commitment to the free-flow of oil—a critical interest for the energy producers of the Gulf and to U.S. allies in Europe and elsewhere.

Arab leaders have also seen Washington abandon leaders it purported to support. After three decades of partnering with former Egyptian President hosni Mubarak on regional security, the Barack Obama administration called for Mubarak to step down the instant he was in political trouble. Russia’s support for Syria’s

Bashar al-Assad stands in stark contrast. Russia committed to combating islamist extremism in Syria, not to promoting political mores. Arab leaders are also likely to see Washington’s de facto green light for Ankara to occupy parts of northern Syria as a betrayal of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces who had executed the U.S. campaign to defeat the islamic State. the United States’ betrayal aside, the turkish occupation of Arab territory, however limited, will also revive ghosts of the region’s Ottoman past and will not sit well with Arabs.

Adding to the complexities that Arab leaders face in their relations with the United States, their publics tend to be ambivalent, if not hostile, toward Washington. it is important to note that most Arab leaders are autocrats and derive security from varying levels of domestic legitimacy. therefore, they evaluate foreign partnerships based partially on domestic perceptions of the foreign partner in question. A 2017 Zogby poll for the Arab-American institute showed that respondents in only two of seven surveyed Arab countries considered the U.S. role in iraq and Syria to be positive or viewed the Donald J. trump administration’s policies favorably. iraqis were among those detractors of the United States’ activities in iraq, despite the United States’ role in defeating the islamic State. Moreover, according to a 2017 Pew Research poll, 35 percent of Egyptian and Saudi respondents (arguably the two closest U.S. partners) viewed Russia positively, while only 27 percent viewed the United States positively.

Anecdotally, Arabs demonstrate even harsher attitudes and see the United States—often conspiratorially—as the cause of many regional problems. Some perceive the United States as a bully that uses Arab states to pursue its own regional objectives, leaving disarray in its wake. Others—unaffiliated with their governments—have argued that Washington provoked iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait to create a pretext to intervene and manipulate iraq’s oil; created al-Qaeda and had a hand in the 9/11 attacks to justify a war against islam; initiated the iraq War to protect israel from Saddam hussein; placed the Muslim Brotherhood government in Cairo in 2012 as a political alternative to al-Qaeda and other extremists; and planned, with Muslim Brotherhood acquiescence, to set up a Palestinian state in Sinai.

Although Arab leaders are far from ditching their relationships with Washington and embracing Moscow as their primary strategic partner, U.S.-Arab tensions are growing. Arab leaders understand that they have limited influence over U.S. policy, but they may be starting to perceive the United States as unpredictable or even unreliable. A variety of dynamics, including renewed Arab popular uprisings, an israeli-Palestinian conflict, a U.S.-iran rapprochement, or a significant islamist terrorist attack on the U.S. homeland, could shake U.S.-Arab relations and deliver new openings to Moscow. the United States should take note because a realignment toward Russia could cost the United States its ability to access the re-

Global economy struggles with negative rates JAPAN AND THE EUROPEAN UNION USE NEGATIVE INTEREST RATES TO MAINTAIN FEEBLE ECONOMIC GROWTH, BUT REDUCING RATES THAT LOW FOR THE UNITED STATES COULD DESTABILISE THE BANKING SYSTEM Yaleglobal Will Hickey

the world is confronting negative interest rates, a dilemma for savers who must pay banks to keep their money. this trend is accompanied by inverted yield curves, with interest rates paid for a short-term loan of a few weeks or months are higher than rates over the course of years. Both negative interest rates and inverted yield curves have loomed over world markets since the 2009 financial crisis. today nearly $17 trillion or 30 percent of the world’s investment-grade debt issuance – including bonds, sovereign notes and more, mostly held in the European Union and Japan – is in negative rate territory and growing. the Swiss pioneered negative interest rates in the early 1970s after the United States abandoned the Bretton Woods’ gold standard and the US dollar cratered. investors everywhere, frantically seeking a stable currency that was not easily devalued, poured money into the franc, causing its value to soar and wreaking havoc on Switzerland’s economy. the Swiss central bank tried many unorthodox moves throughout the decade to stem capital inflows, but to no avail. Not until 1982, with exponentially rising interest rates in the United States, did money inflows into Switzerland stabilize. today’s situation is different, with central banks using negative rates to spur any type of economic activity – forcing consumers not to hold cash for tomorrow, but rather spend and borrow today.

the Bank of Japan, traditionally the poster child for a near-zero rate scheme, has been eclipsed by Europe, where negative rates were used by Sweden in 2009. the trend is most profound in Denmark, where negative rates now force negative home loans: the bank pays homebuyers to take a loan where they can expect to pay back less than the principal amount over time. Amid rising prices, home ownership is in decline. in Switzerland, accounts with large cash deposits now pay monthly fees, instead of being rewarded with any interest. Germany has a term for this penalty, strafzins.

Of course, there is no “free lunch” with negative home loans. Banks eventually recoup lost interest over time with various fees for loans. And the outcome is stalled credit expansion. Cheapening money to incentivize economic activity is no longer working. European central banks in particular are out of ideas to jump-start economic activity. the near negative and declining interest rates in developed countries around the world have caused the dollar to soar, which has a knock-on effect in developing countries like indonesia, turkey and Nigeria that have borrowed heavily in dollars and must repay them from earnings in local currencies that have steadily devalued.

Negative rates have a mal-effect on consumers and savers, though “real rates,” which account for inflation, are what they ultimately feel. Cheaper money does not necessarily filter down to the consumer at a retail level. Banks with interest-rate shortfalls in a world of near or actual negative rates will charge

their customers higher fees for any service, whether overdrafts or use of out-ofnetwork AtMs. Savers, in particular older people who rely on interest income receive nominal payments for saving, and struggle to make ends meet. About 25 percent of Europeans and 30 percent of Japanese are aged 60 or older. More alarming, pension funds – historically conservative investors – struggle to meet benchmarks of 7 to 8 percent returns, a common threshold for solvency, so shortfalls are emerging. the big test may be if the United States as the world’s largest economy tries negative rates. Allianz Economist Mohamed El-rian said recently, negative yields in the world’ largest financial market would “break things.” By break, he means a systemic failure or bank collapse. Setting interest rates at zero or negative confounds long-term investment decisions.

US President Donald trump frequently complains about the Federal Reserve’s reticence on reducing rates more quickly while other countries lower theirs, putting the US economy at a cost disadvantage with an overvalued currency. Nonetheless, marginally higher rates of treasury and bond issues, guaranteed by the US government, make the country an investment magnet for the rest of the world. there is a thirst for returns. Like lost travelers in a desert seeking water, bankers and managers of pension, insurance and investment funds around the world are desperately seeking “yield,” or passive income on vast holdings. Similar

to distressed travelers, investors make risky decisions during times of despair, such as drinking from tainted pools of water, which can have dire costs.

Namely, negative rates push investors into riskier bets including private equity, junk bonds and speculative grade “emerging economy” assets.

Risky bets have reintroduced the concept of borrowing low in currencies that offer low interest rates, such as the dollar or yen, and then investing in currencies with high interest rates, such as the New Zealand dollar or Argentine peso. this is known as the carry trade, which is lucrative as long as the invested currency remains stable. if significant currency depreciation or large devaluations occurs, the losses can easily outpace any potential higher interest rate gain and eat into capital, albeit in dollar terms. For example, Argentina peso bank deposits currently pay over 50 percent interest, which seems like an astronomical amount until one considers the peso also lost more than half its value against the dollar in 2018, effectively zeroing out any real currency gains in US dollar terms. As of this writing, the peso has continued to depreciate with a newly elected Peronist government.

Global investors who can still access positive rates wonder anyone why would hold onto negative-rate bonds. investors with a few hundred euros can hold on to cash, but brokerages, banks and nationstates cannot physically store billions of dollars in other currencies, and many may simply not trust having it on active investment ledgers during volatile times.

gion quickly for military operations, to further influence the supply and price of oil, and to partner more effectively with regional players in promoting critical interests, such as combating terrorism, containing iran, and fostering stability. A number of the United States’ Arab partners are developing cooperative arrangements with Russia on specific issues, and multilateral groupings like the Russian-Arab Cooperation Forum are attracting a growing number of Arab ministers. if Washington is to maintain the benefits of relationships with Arab states, it should seek to be a predictable partner. U.S. policy should deviate from previous positions only when circumstances have dramatically changed to make it justifiable. Arab leaders should clearly understand under which circumstances they can rely on U.S. support and the lengths to which Washington will go to pursue specific objectives. this is particularly important for partners in a region as prone to shocks as the Middle East. if possible, consultation with partners should precede policy changes to explain the shift, its purpose, and the extent to which Washington’s position will change. this is not a call to abandon priorities or values, but merely to be consistent in balancing them.

Amir Asmar is a Department of Defense analyst and CFR’s national intelligence fellow. He held a wide range of analytic, senior analytic, and leadership positions for the Department of the Army, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and the National Intelligence Council.

The statements of fact, opinion, or analysis expressed in this blog post are strictly those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of Defense (DoD) or the U.S. government.

Major holders must put their wealth somewhere safe, and sovereign bonds are a good bet, which also traded digitally.

Recently the €500 note has made a resurgence in Germany and Austria. While no longer being printed, the note is still exchangeable and allows easy high-value storage for consumers. if people are penalized for saving money, instrumentality becomes key. this same rationale applies to the Swiss franc 1000 note – a recent Financial times article recommended storing them in safe deposit boxes in a cash-obsessed world with negative rates. the overall economic consensus has been that negative interest rates simply do not work as expected. New ways to spur economic activity are sorely in need.

Options include reducing regulations on small business creation and opening up behemoth state-owned enterprises to private competition.

Many countries, particularly in the developing world, seek more valueadded activity, but cling to top-heavy bureaucracies, red-tape and monopoly state-owned companies that create stability rather than initiatives to unleash entrepreneurial animal spirits, as described

by George Akerlof and Robert Shiller. in the digital age, crypto currency such as Bitcoin or Facebook’s proposed Libra project, artificial intelligence, 5G integration and other constructs are forcing cross-border activities not beholden to any sovereign-state, allowing individuals to communicate and create directly and freely. A better store of value beyond dollarized paper currency dictated by central banks or politically compromised monetary unions is where the future may lead.

Will Hickey is a former Fulbright, and Visiting Professor with Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Canton, China. He is also author of Energy and Human Resource Development in Developing Countries: Towards Effective Localisation, Macmillan, 2017.

Friday, 8 November, 2019

FOREIGN NEWS 07

IraN resUmes UraNIUm eNrIcHmeNt at Fordow PlaNt IN New steP back From deal TEHRAN

I

AGENCIES

RAN resumed uranium enrichment at its underground Fordow plant south of Tehran on Thursday in a new step back from its commitments under a landmark 2015 nuclear deal.

Engineers began feeding uranium hexafluoride gas into the plant’s mothballed enrichment centrifuges in “the first minutes of Thursday”, the Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation said.

The suspension of uranium enrichment at the long secret plant was one of the restrictions Iran had agreed to on its nuclear programme in return for the lifting of UN sanctions. Iran’s announcement that it would resume enrichment at the Fordow plant from midnight (2030 GMT Wednesday) had drawn a chorus of concern from the remaining parties to the troubled agreement.

Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia have been trying to salvage the hard-won deal since Washington abandoned it in May last year and reimposed crippling unilateral sanctions. They say Iran’s phased suspension of its obligations under the deal since May makes that more difficult. The resumption of enrichment at Fordow is Iran’s fourth move away from the deal.

Uranium enrichment is the sensitive process that produces fuel for nuclear power plants but also, in highly extended form, the fissile core for a warhead. Iran is now enriching uranium to 4.5 percent, exceeding the 3.67 percent limit set by the 2015 deal but less than the 20 percent level it had previously operated to and far less than the 90 percent level required for a warhead. Iran has al-

ways denied any military dimension to its nuclear programme.

It has been at pains to emphasise that all of the steps it has taken are transparent and swiftly reversible if the remaining parties to the agreement find a way to get round US sanctions. “All these activities have been carried out under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency,” the Iranian nuclear organisation said.

A source close to the UN watchdog told AFP that it has inspectors on the ground in Fordow and would report “very rapidly” on the steps taken

by Iran. Iran revealed on Thursday that it had withdrawn the credentials of one IAEA inspector last week after she triggered an alarm at the gate to Iran’s other enrichment plant at Natanz, raising suspicion she was carrying a “suspect product”. It did not specify what the product was or whether it had actually been found in the inspector’s possession. But it promised that its representative to the IAEA would deliver a detailed a report on the incident at a special meeting on Iran at the agency’s headquarters in Vienna later on Thursday.

The resumption of enrichment at Fordow comes after the passing of a deadline it set for the remaining parties to the nuclear agreement to come up with a mechanism that would allow foreign firms to continue doing business with Iran without incurring US penalties.

Three charged in US with spying on Twitter users for Saudi Arabia

Head of UN Palestinian agency resigns amid ethics probe NEW YORK: The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees has resigned amid an internal probe into alleged mismanagement and ethical abuses at the organization, the United Nations said Wednesday. “A short while ago, UNRWA’s CommissionerGeneral, Pierre Krahenbuhl, informed the secretary-general that he was resigning, effective immediately,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told a news briefing. The UN earlier announced Krahenbuhl had been placed on administrative leave, to be replaced on an interim basis by the agency’s acting deputy chief Christian Saunders. An internal ethics report has alleged mismanagement and abuses of authority at the highest levels of the UN agency, which has also faced a financial crisis after the United States suspended and later cut all its funding for it in 2018. UN investigators have been probing the allegations in the confidential report, a copy of which was obtained by AFP. The report describes “credible and corroborated” allegations of serious ethical abuses, including ones involving Krahenbuhl, a Swiss national. The agency confirmed Wednesday that its internal probe had so far “revealed management issues which relate specifically to the commissioner general.” According to a separate statement from UN headquarters, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said preliminary findings revealed no “fraud or misappropriation of operational funds” by Krahenbuhl. AGENCIES

WASHINGTON AGENCIES

Two former Twitter employees and a third man were charged in San Francisco Federal Court Wednesday with spying on Twitter users critical of the Saudi royal family, the US Justice Department announced.

The two Saudis and one US citizen allegedly worked together to unmask the ownership details behind dissident Twitter accounts on behalf of the government in Riyadh and the royal family, the department said. According to a court filing, they were guided by an unnamed Saudi official who worked for someone prosecutors designated “Royal Family Member-1,” which The Washington Post reported was Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Those charged were former Twitter employees Ali Alzabarah and Ahmad Abouammo, along with Ahmed Almutairi, a marketing official with ties to the royal family.

“The criminal complaint unsealed today alleges that Saudi agents mined Twitter’s internal systems for personal information about known Saudi critics and thousands of other Twitter users,” said US Attorney David Anderson.

“US law protects US companies from such an unlawful foreign intrusion. We will not allow US companies or US technology to become tools of foreign repression in violation of US law,” he said in a statement. The lawsuit comes as US-Saudi relations continue to suffer strains over the brutal, Riyadhsanctioned murder last year of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who wrote for, among others, The Washington Post. A critic of Crown Prince Mo-

hammed, Khashoggi was killed and dismembered inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. According to the Post, US intelligence has concluded that the prince himself was closely linked to the murder.

TARGETING REGIME CRITICS: Abouammo, 41, an American, and Saudi national Alzabarah, 35, were recruited in 2014-2015 to use their positions in Twitter to gain access to private information related to the accounts of critics of Riyadh, the indictment says.

Saudi citizen Almutairi, 30, was a critical gobetween who arranged contacts between the two others and the unnamed Saudi official.

The indictment said Almutairi controlled a social media marketing company that did work for a royal charity and members of the royal family, “including Royal Family Member-1.” Abouammo was paid over $300,000 and received a Hublot watch worth more than $20,000 for his work.

Alzabarah’s payment was not detailed, but the filing said he quickly fled the US with his family in December 2015 after Twitter management confronted him about his unauthorized accessing of user information for some 6,000 Twitter accounts, including accounts of known prominent dissidents and royal family critics. All three are charged with acting as illegal agents of a foreign government, a charge that can indicate both illegal lobbying and espionage. Abouammo was also charged with destroying, altering, or falsifying records related to a federal investigation. “These individuals are charged with targeting and obtaining private data from dissidents and known critics, under the direction and control of the government of Saudi Arabia,” said FBI Special Agent John Bennett.

37 kIlled IN bUrkINa Faso's deadlIest attack IN FIve years OUAGADOUGOU: An ambush on a convoy transporting employees of a Canadian mining company in Burkina Faso killed 37 people on Wednesday, the deadliest attack in nearly five years of jihadist violence in the West African country. The impoverished and politically fragile Sahel country has been struggling to quell a rising jihadist revolt that has claimed hundreds of lives since early 2015. On Wednesday morning “unidentified armed individuals” ambushed five buses carrying local employees, contractors and suppliers of the Samafo mining company, said Saidou Sanou, the governor of the country’s Est Region. As well as the 37 civilians killed, 60 were wounded, he said. Mine owner Semafo Inc. said the five buses escorted by the military were approximately 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the Boungou gold mine in the Tapoa province when they were ambushed. A security source said “a military vehicle that was escorting the convoy hit an explosive device”. “Two buses carrying workers were then fired upon,” the source told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Burkina Faso’s government said the gunmen had conducted a “complex attack”, adding that defence and security forces had launched a relief operation and were searching the area. It was the third deadly attack on Canadian firm Semafo, which operates two mines in Burkina Faso, in 15 months. “We are actively working with all levels of authorities to ensure the ongoing safety and security of our employees, contractors and suppliers,” Semafo said in a statement, offering condolences to the families of the victims. The mine itself, it added, remains secure and its operations had not been affected. Two separate attacks on convoys carrying Boungou mine employees in August and December last year killed 11 people. The company blamed “armed bandits” for last year’s attacks, and subsequently reinforced its armed escorts. The Burkina Faso government this year asked mining companies to make their own arrangements to transport their employees, according to sources close to the miners. Burkina Faso’s northern provinces have been battling a nearly five-year wave of jihadist violence that came from neighbouring Mali. The attacks — typically hit-and-run raids on villages, road mines and suicide bombings — have claimed nearly 700 lives across the country since early 2015, according to an AFP toll. Almost 500,000 people have also been forced to flee their homes. The attacks have been claimed by a range of jihadist groups, including al-Qaeda and the Islamic State. The country’s badly equipped, poorly trained and underfunded security forces have been unable to stem the violence, which has intensified throughout 2019 to become almost daily. The Sahel region, including Burkina Faso’s neighbours Mali and Niger, has been afflicted by the violence despite the presence of the regional G5 Sahel force as well as French and US troops. Burkina Faso’s previous deadliest attack was in January 2016, when jihadists raided the Splendid Hotel and a cafe in the capital Ouagadougou, killing 30 people, around half of them foreign nationals. In August this year, the army suffered its worst attack with 24 soldiers killed in an assault on a base in Koutougou, near the Mali border. AGENCIES

Protests in Chile spread into wealthy Santiago neigbourhoods SANTIAGO AGENCIES

Demonstrations in Chile against the government of President Sebastian Pinera spread into Santiago’s wealthiest neighborhoods Wednesday, tainting previously untouched enclaves with violence amid the country’s deadly protests.

Hundreds of demonstrators marched towards the Costanera Center, South America’s largest shopping mall and a complex that includes the region’s tallest building — a symbol of the economic expansion that has made Chile one the region’s most stable countries.

A phalanx of riot police stopped the demonstrators, firing water cannons and launching tear gas to disperse the crowds that gathered at the mall.

The demonstrations then spilled into the wealthy Providencia neighborhood, the hub of Chile’s financial sector, where protesters lit fires, battled with police, looted a pharmacy and at least two banks,

and damaged government buildings.

“We are living a level of violence and destruction never seen before,” said Providencia mayor Evelyn Matthei.

Social media messages also called for a rally at the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, located in the upmarket Vitacura district. “The time has come to get to the east,” said one message, indicating the upscale areas of the capital.

“People are rather sad and scared about how the country can return to normalcy,” said Andrea Ortega, a 43-yearold lawyer who left her office early to look after her children, fearing rioting in an area hitherto unscathed by the violence. Separately in Renca, a workingclass neighborhood in northern Santiago, a small crowd attacked a police station leaving five officers injured. And truckers and car drivers blocked highways protesting the increase in road tolls.

Demonstrations in Chile, which have already left 20 people dead, have been

growing smaller but more violent in recent days. At the same time, complaints about excessive force by police and soldiers have also been on the rise and in-

clude charges that police killed, tortured and sexually assaulted civilians during the weeks of protests Prosecutors say five of the 20 deaths

recorded in the protests against high living costs were suspected to have been at the hands of security forces.

“We have been totally transparent about the figures because we have nothing to hide,” Pinera said Wednesday.

A UN human rights mission is investigating the police brutality allegations.

The Washington-based Inter-American Commission on Human Rights also asked Pinera’s authorization to send a mission to Chile at the request of human rights groups.

Chile’s independent National Human Rights Institute says it has brought legal action over 181 cases including alleged murders, sexual violence and torture by the military police.

Pinera said state agents who committed abuses would be punished just as severely as those who carried out vandalism or violence in the protests.

He has reshuffled his government and announced a series of measures aimed at placating the protesters.

Friday, 8 November, 2019

08 COMMENT The army and politics

At Penpoint

Perception can sometimes become reality

A

DDrESSING the JUI-F’s Islamabad sit-in, Maulana Fazlur rehman complained of interference from above in every election in the past, including the one in 2018. He called on the Army to stop this or it would become controversial. Later, PPP chief Bilwal Bhutto-Zardari maintained that the Army’s presence inside and outside polling stations in the 2018 elections had made it controversial which should not have happened. responding to the criticism, the DG ISPr has claimed that the Army is not interested in politics. “The country’s defence doesn’t allow us to answer such allegations,” he said. “We are busy in defending the country.”

While the DG ISPr’s reply to the Maulana provides some clarification on the matter, a perception has now been formed that the army is heavily involved in politics no matter how far it may be from reality. And recent events have contributed to this. How does one explain the phenomenon of the TLP? How come the party which claimed that it did not believe in the country’s Constitution was allowed to occupy Faizabad, paralysing all traffic between rawalpindi and Islamabad for about three weeks?

Who paid money to its workers for traveling back home?

A supreme court judge asked the same questions in his decision on the Faizabad dharna and is currently being tried by SJC- the merits, timing and urgency of the case against him have been questioned by senior members of the legal fraternity.

There was a time when many people in Pakistan believed whatever was said by Army spokesmen. But things have changed after Army dictators ruled the country directly for 30 years and indirectly controlled it for the rest. Pakistan was made to pay a heavy price on account of the acts of commission and omission by military rulers including the separation of East Pakistan under Gen Yahya Khan, the loss of Siachen under Gen Zia ul Haq and a costly military misadventure under Gen Pervez Musharraf.

Currently the media in Pakistan is facing an unprecedented level of censorship and control that no particular institution wants to own up to it making it all the more suspicious. But there is a good idea where instruction, directions and advice originate from.

Unfortunately for them the electronic media has demolished all iron curtains with the result that things kept secret in the past can no more be hidden.

Smog covers Lahore The government must do more than close schools

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HE Punjab government was panicked into closing schools on Thursday by increasing smog and predictions of worsening air quality. rain in the early hours of Thursday prevented the worsening of the air quality, which had already reached levels designated ‘Highly Dangerous’. The smog did not just contain carcinogens which would have an effect several years from now, but chemicals which attacked the ears, noses and throats of citizens, causing what seemed an epidemic of coughs, runny eyes and colds, making it difficult for them to breathe.

The government reaction has not been any relief.

The PM’s Climate Change Adviser, Malik Amin Aslam, has guarded a pregnant silence and seems bent on a policy of masterly inactivity, leaving it to the State Minister, Ms Zartaj Gul Wazir, to try and talk the crisis out of existence chiefly by making fatuous statements like vehicles part of the Azadi March convoy had caused the excessive pollution, or blaming the smog on India.

That the federal minister for Science and Technology, Fawad Chaudhry, has endorsed Gul’s assertions is also cause for concern. While much has been made of Indian farmers burning stubble in their fields, not enough attention is paid to the emissions of pollutants by brick kilns burning coal or vehicles burning diesel, both as fuel here in Pakistan.

It is no cause of satisfaction that New Delhi is suffering the same problem. However, New Delhi’s woes illustrate that environmental problems pay no attention to lines drawn on a map, illustrating borders, and demand regional solutions. As such close neighbours, certain problems are bound to be common, especially purely physical ones. While Pakistan and India have serious differences, that should not preclude dealing with problems that affect each country. It is to be regretted that there have been no such attempts to engage India on this issue.

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Arif Nizami Editor Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

Umar Aziz

Asher John

Joint Editor

Executive Editor

Deputy Editor

Lahore – Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965

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M.A. NIAZI

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UI-F chief Maulana Fazlur rehman has carried out his Azadi March, and has delivered his ultimatum, that the Prime Minister must resign within 48 hours. The PTI core committee actually did the ultimatum the honour of final consideration, but its outof-hand rejection was not so much of a decision as an inevitability. The extension of the deadline did nothing to make it more of a possibility, though it allowed the Maulana more time before taking a decision on his ‘next line of action.’

The March has also forced the military into the open, a position it does not like. It needs cover, and while the cover of the Constitution was quoted by the DG ISPr in his statement, the fact that a statement was needed indicated that the institution felt exposed. The removal of the cover had been done by the Maulana, who had openly said ‘the institutions’ had fixed the last elections and brought Imran Khan to the fore. A subtext was that it had fixed the poll so that the Maulana lost to Ali Amin Gandapur of the PTI. The Maulana did not have as safe a seat as is thought, but his main rival for the seat was Fazal Karim Kundi of the PPP, not Gandapur. In 2018, he was blown away, coming in a distant third.

The Maulana was saying only what had been said since the last year: that the military was backing the PTI. However, his methods, which have closely mirrored Imran’s, do not say No! to military backseat driving. They say, Pick me!

Pick me!

If the Maulana is so sure that the military picked Imran; that would imply that the MMA in 2003, under Akram Durrani, formed the KP (then NWFP) government only after being selected by the military. It makes particular sense, because the War on Terror required a religious government in place in KP, and also the country was firmly under military rule. The MMA did not form the central government which was done by the PML-Q and the PPP Patriots.

A further implication is that the parties accompanying him, such as the PML-N and the PPP, only came to power with the help of the ‘institutions’.

Even the ANP formed a KP government, and the PkMAP participated in the Balochistan government. Of necessity, then, it does not seem the JUIF is offering a model minus the military, of a purely civilian dispensation.

But is it as simple as that? That might have been the case in the 1950s, when Ghulam Muhammad and Iskandar Mirza were successively heads of state, and when even making the Commander-in-Chief Prime Minister did not bring stability, and the Constitution was jetti-

Maulana’s putsch The Azadi March has happened, but to what end? created and general prosperity all round, the resoned as martial law was imposed.

Under the post-1973 dispensation, the Con- sponse to the Azadi March would have been stitution is kept intact even if the civilian gov- less. Perhaps more important, the institutions ernment is sent packing. That is the significance would not have been interested. Imran has overof the DG ISPr’s reference to the Constitution. come only one hurdle, that of getting an IMF The factor that cannot be ignored is how the peo- programme. Getting off the FATF greylist has ple vote. While there are allegations aplenty of not yet happened. Khan’s original Finance Minmilitary interference, the fact remains that people ister has been jettisoned, but the Maulana has vote for parties. Those votes might be used for not got an alternative.

The other opposition parties also do not, and MNAs, MPAs and party leaders to indulge in corruption. Those votes may have been manipu- that is the best guarantee of Imran’ survival. If lated by ‘the agencies’, but as was shown by the indeed there had been a selection, and it was possible to select someone else, enquiry into the 2013 elecnone of those vying for setions, those votes were cast. lection have anything to There have been allegaoffer. The Maulana should tions every time a party loses, that the establishment The JUI-F is not an entirely remember that when Imran from the container, he has some way of getting a untested party. It has held spoke had a message: there were favoured candidate elected.

However, the exact method the chief ministership of great difficulties, caused by and the solution of rigging has never been the KP twice, and formed corruption, was accountability. What is spelled out. The votes in the the Maulana’s message? ballot boxes have to be acpart of the Balochistan rather, what is his solution? cepted as genuine. The government a number of The JUI-F is not an enworst that anyone can be tirely untested party. It has accused of is manipulating times, holding ministries held the chief ministership the electorate. In principle, that is what campaigning is each time. It has shown of KP twice, and formed of the Balochistan govall about. Admittedly, ceritself a status quo party, part ernment a number of times, tain people have agreed not to participate in that fash- with MNAs and MPAs more holding ministries each time. It has shown itself a ion, but a very large class, interested in re-election status quo party, with that of government employMNAs and MPAs more inees, that of government serthan revolution. In that terested in re-election than vants, is not thus deprived of the vote. And if they have respect, it is like the PTI, revolution. In that respect, it is like the PTI, which has the vote, they have every right to form the political which has merely followed merely followed the old opinion necessary to casting the old ways while in power ways while in power.

It seems the statement it. Of course, that puts the by the DG ISPr was not large number of polling enough. The Corps Comstaff in the invidious posimanders Conference has tion of having to maintain neutrality where they have an opinion. Not all gotten in on the act, saying that state institutions pass the test; there are stories doing the rounds are to be backed. It too has invoked the Constiof presiding officers who have cheated, often in- tution. Then there is the religion card, which the geniously, to help their party’s candidate. But JUI-F is invoking. The PTI had invoked it, but then, there do not seem to have been many win- apparently insufficiently. However, it seems the ning margins provided, certainly not enough to protest is turning to a more traditional, more puritan, view of religion. What does that reflect? justify any charges of wholesale rigging.

It should not be ignored that the Maulana Time alone will tell. has been greatly helped by the state of the econM.A. Niazi is a member of the staff. omy. If business had been booming, jobs being

Aafia unheard The story behind the woman ZAEEM MUMTAZ BHATTI

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r Aafia Siddiqui’s name is as much associated with controversy and conspiracy as mystery and intrigue. The book, Aafia Unheard, published last month, is explosive in its nature, lifting the veil on many facets of Aafia’s life and on facts hitherto mired in obscurity. The author, Dawood Ghazanavi, a lawyer, has chosen a complicated and sensitive subject to dwell upon.

They say the devil is in the detail. The details are at times disturbing, at others eye-opening and sometimes even shocking. The book offers a compelling narrative and brings out a fresh perspective.

It leaves the readers with a better understanding of the complex issues involving the case and helps them draw their own conclusions. Comprehensive and meticulously researched, it offers an objective legal analysis of the curious case, clearing confusions and dispelling many myths. The author does not pass judgments lest it should prejudice the readers. He provides the missing links in the chain of her story by drawing on a lot of sources ranging from newspapers to the trial court proceedings, the hearing transcripts and the government and defence witness testimonies to the Court orders. He is at pains to weave together the threads of the whole matter to paint a thorough picture. Written in simple language, he takes us through events and put them in a proper context. This book needs to be gone through from cover to cover to arrive at an informed conclusion.

There are a string of core, fundamental and thorny questions at the heart of this fascinating book: What did happen to her? Why? How? Why was she shot? What was the case against her in the trial court, the Southern District of New York? Was she kept in a US secret prison in Afghanistan during her disappearance from the year 2003 to 2008? Why did she depose in the Court despite strong reservations from her attor-

Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9

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neys? Why did the trial Judge not relieve her attorneys from presenting her case notwithstanding her repeated clear requests? Was it due to the humiliating strip search she had to go through? Or did she believe that her attorneys were not furthering her interests? Was she mentally competent to stand trial in the USA? Had her alleged affiliation with Al-Qaeda or other terrorist organizations been established? Why was she allegedly associated with Al-Qaeda? What was her alleged role? Why was she handed over to the USA by the then Afghan government? Why was she not repatriated to Pakistan? Why was she sentenced to 86 years in prison? Had the documents been declassified, would the outcome of the trial have been different? Was her punishment arbitrary, oppressive and excessive and flying in the face of evidence, law and the Sixth Amendment? Was she denied her fundamental right to due process? Did she forgive the trial judge, who conducted the trial and sentenced her to 86 years of imprisonment, and the two soldiers who shot her? Did she suffer PTSD and excruciating mental and physical torture? Did the prosecution fail to establish beyond a shadow of a doubt that she shot an M4 rifle? Did she lose confidence in the US justice system? Did the trial dourt’s judge, richard M. Berman, take a lopsided and jaundiced view of her case, or a detached and impartial view? And so much more.

Coming from a highly educated family, she earned her PhD from Brandeis University. Her doctoral thesis was entitled “How children learn by imitation”. Before applying for PhD, she did her graduation from MIT with a major in biology.

Interestingly enough, she worked with the famous Professor Noam Chomsky for one semester. While studying at MIT, she volunteered for children’s education. She won an MIT award for rendering services to education. She gave birth to three children during the course of her studies.

Dr Aafia Siddiqui suddenly found herself in the eye of the storm unleashed in the wake of

Islamabad – Ph: 051-2204545

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Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk

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9/11. Her name found mention in the “most wanted” list of the fugitives. From 2003 to 2008, she went missing along with her three children.

For five long years, rumours were doing the rounds as to her disappearance, as nobody saw or heard from her. Three prisoners who served their sentences in Bagram confirmed to Yvonne ridley, the famous British journalist, that Aafia was tagged prisoner No 650. They all asserted she was put to extreme torture during incarceration.

It was the case of the prosecution that she allegedly emerged with her son in Afghanistan outside the compound of Governor of Ghazni in 2008. (Judge Berman disbelieved it on account of insufficient evidence.) Subsequently, she was shot in Afghan police headquarter in Ghazni, when she allegedly attempted to shoot with an M4 rifle. She was then extradited to the USA by Afghanistan to be tried on as many as nine counts relating to the alleged attempted murder.

She was not charged with terrorism-related charges. The jurors returned a unanimous verdict, holding her guilty on seven counts, but not on two. She was sentenced to 86 years in prison.

When the trial was concluded, and the verdict announced, Dr Aafia was allowed to speak freely.

What she said is of immense significance. She made her position as well as her religious views crystal clear. Significantly, she forgave the two soldiers, who shot her and Judge Berman. She said she did not lose her mind while being tortured.

In conclusion, the author attempts to address the questions of the readers. He also shares his own views. He is of the view that the whole narrative surrounding her story needs a sea change.

He feels if the leaders of Pakistan, the USA, and Afghanistan put their heads together, they can find a way out. Also, he maintains that if the USA repatriates her, this will go a long way towards achieving a two-fold objective: cementing of the relationship between Pakistan and the USA and defeating the narrative constructed by the terrorist organizations. Lastly, he asks rhetorically, can the healing of the Pakistani nation ever be complete without the repatriation of Dr Aafia? He leaves that to the imagination of the readers.

Zaeem Mumtaz Bhatti is a lawyer based in Lahore. He tweets at @zaeem8825. He can be contacted at zaeem.bhatti89@gmail.com.

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Friday, 8 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

Treating our teachers better TEACHErS are supposed to be spinal cord of a nation in terms of socio-economic and cultural development of a country. In pakistan,especially in sindh teachers are treated badly.

Yesterday, on november 6, there was called a well managed and peaceful protest in front of CM house by the Sindh Professors and Lecturers Association (SPLA)for their time scale and promotion.Meanwhile,police contingent reached there and arrested many of teachers including female professors.

Perhaps,government is unaware that potest is a democratic right of every citizen. Moreover, college teaching staff from all over of sindh has said they will remain in peaceful protest until their resolution of time-scale,and furthers it was explained that colleges will be closed till to meet their demands.On the other hand,by closing of colleges the already lowest rate of literacy in Sindh is going to be in a worst condition if demands are not meet.The protestors reminded the government that summary of time scale had been sent to the secretariat on 2010,but perhaps it has not yet been pursued.Surprisingly, all other provinces have resolved its time scale issue of the college education.

ZAkir HUSSAiN Wahi Pandhi

Justice for Nimrita LAST month, on 16th September, a girl medical student named Nimrita Kumari was found dead in her hostel room. According to the reports she had committed suicide. The Hindus and her family members were not trusting that she commited suicide. In current reports, in her body male DNA was found and she was raped by someone before her death. So, the one who has raped her he should be caught as soon as possible.

ZAHEEr AHMEd Turbat

Indian intransigence vis-à-vis Maulana’s dharna How Modi exploited the dharna

SUlTAN MEHMood HAlI

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NCOUrAGED by Islamabad’s diversion of focus on domestic disturbances, or rather Maulana Fazlur rahman’s socalled “Azadi March” and Dharna, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi exploited the opportunity to issue a notification detailing the boundaries of the new Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh (created from the old State of Jammu and Kashmir), and also a new political map of India.

Modi had the temerity to depict the GilgitBaltistan region as part of Ladakh in the new map, and the whole of Kashmir, including Azad Jammu Kashmir and Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK), as Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory.

India had on August 5 rescinded the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 of the Constitution, paving the way for the creation of the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. Is it a coincidence that these came into existence on October 31, exactly the day the Maulana’s March reached Islamabad with other opposition parties in tow? Pakistan’s Foreign Office rejected the move and the political maps, deeming them “incorrect, legally untenable, void and in complete violation of the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions.”

Meanwhile, the Indian media continued its tirade of lies to support its government’s false narrative. The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) presented a doctored report purportedly about “Infiltration into Jammu & Kashmir by Pakistan-based Terrorist Groups in 2018 is Highest in five Years.” Quoting trumped up figures, the MHA report published in First Post declares that Pakistan-based terrorist groups made 328 bids to sneak into Jammu and Kashmir in 2018 and were successful in 143 of these

attempts. The report for 2018-19 alleged that time before the curfew will be lifted, and Kash257 terrorists and 91 security personnel were miris will protest in full force. Then the Indian killed last year, the highest number of casualties Army’s brutality will be unleashed on them.

The terror group Islamic State (IS) had anin the state in the last five years. Thirty-nine nounced in May that it has established its first civilians were also killed during this period.

Truth be told, if the Indian government de- ‘province in Jammu and Kashmir’, calling it the sires to promote this narrative, it also reflects the “Wilayah of Hind”. Now the Indian authorities high incompetency index of the Indian military. are claiming that there was still no evidence of With a night-lighted fence, 900,000 troops and the Sunni jihadi group establishing any foothold heavy vigilance, if the Indian Army has not been in Jammu and Kashmir. Officials in the Army able to restrict the inflow of alleged terrorists, have explained that it was because the brand of then it stands discredited in eyes of the world Islam espoused by the IS does not inspire Kashand the Indian masses. In effect, Modi is desper- miris and secondly, Pakistan, which is the sole ately trying to play out the terror mantra once propagator and supporter of terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir, does not paagain to justify his brutal tronize the terror outfit. acts in Indian-Occupied Whatever rationale is put Kashmir. However, this up, some facts need to be time the world is no mood to accept the Indian narra- A few years ago, Ajit Doval retold. Indians must recall a few years ago, Ajit tive on the face of it. was visiting Iraq regularly that Doval was visiting Iraq The Chief Justice of for negotiating an ISIS regularly for negotiating India, Mr Justice ranjan an ISIS franchise for InGogoi, is due to retire on franchise for Indiandian-Occupied Kashmir.

November 17 this year, but prior to his retirement, he Occupied Kashmir. The The plan was to implicate Pakistan.

International is expected to deliver the plan was to implicate media had reported that the verdict on the Ayodhya UAE deported many recase. The Babri Masjid Pakistan. International cruits for ISIS sent by was razed by Hindutva exmedia had reported that India. Now as Abu Bakar tremists 27 years ago, but has been the case has dragged on. the UAE deported many Al-Baghdadi killed by the USA, India is Now that the verdict of the disputed issue is finally recruits for ISIS sent by covering up a failed plan.

The Indian media close, the rSS top brass, India. Now as Abu Bakar claimed that London including its chief Mohan Mayor Sadiq Khan disBhagwat, general secreAl-Baghdadi has been closed that he was working tary Suresh Bhaiyyaji killed by the USA, India is with Scotland Yard to enJoshi, and some joint genthat a robust policing eral secretaries have set covering up a failed plan sure plan was in place to precamp in Delhi. Their vent any security threats heinous agenda is to enaround the Indian High sure a decision in favour of Commission in London Hindutva.

The Indian Home Minister, Amit Shah, has during the planned “Free Kashmir” protest on claimed that “Kashmir has been integrated Diwali. He confirmed that following his reprewithout a single bullet being fired.” He was tak- sentations with the Metropolitan Police Coming a jibe at the opposition, stating that “Con- missioner, the force had applied strict conditions gress leaders lecture in the parliament about on the march, which was denied permission to rivers of blood flowing in Kashmir and a blood assemble outside the Indian High Commission bath; but not a single bullet had to be fired, not building in Aldwych, central London.

India has failed to perceive that even if the a single life is lost; Kashmir is peacefully movUK protest against Indian brutalities in Indianing on the path of progress.”

Amit Shah is trying to hoodwink the world Occupied Kashmir was dampened, the news rebecause the lockdown in Kashmir has entered garding those brutalities is still in the the fourth month. The residents of Indian-Oc- international limelight. cupied Kashmir remain incarcerated and under Sultan Mehmood Hali is a retired Group a state of lockdown. Those that dare break the curfew are showered by pellet guns. More than Captain and author of the book Defence & 500 Kashmiris have been killed while over Diplomacy. Currently he is a columnist, 3600 have been blinded. It is only a matter of analyst and TV talk show host.

Winter rain WELCOME to the first heavy spell of the winter rain. Though it may be a cause of little concern for cotton growers, it is mostly good news for everyone in the country. Hopefully, it will help fight the gravely dangerous issue of smog in Lahore.

Heavy rain in the twin cities of Islamabad and rawalpindi has ended the dry spell causing health issues for people. Now the air will be free from pollution and dust and dirt will be washed away from roads. The agricultural land in the Pothohar region is arid, which primarily depends on rains for irrigation. These rains will be a blessing for farmers in the Pothohar region as it will benefit them preparing their land for the rabi crop. The government needs to supply better quality seed to farmers to enable them to increase agriculture production. The farmers must put in extra efforts to preserve water any way they can for use during dry days. Similarly, the citizens should avoid wasting water and littering as that chokes drains and cause problems. Even a step further, they take small steps such as growing vegetables in their lawns and backyards to bring about a change. This would not only be a healthy activity but also will help fend off the adverse effects of exorbitant prices of daily use vegetables on their budgets. Overall, a small effort by everyone can help bring about a big change. rAJA SHAFAATULLAH islamabad

Our battle PAKISTAN is among 10 countries affected most by climate change,Pakistan is in a geographic location where average temperature is predicted to rise faster than elsewhere increasing 7.2 degrees Fahrenheit. Pakistan has faced catastrophic floods,droughts and cyclones in recent years that have killed and destroyed livelihoods and damaged infrastructure. Climatic changes are expected to have wide ranging impacts on Pakistan,reduced agricultural productivity,increased variability of water,increased coastal erosion and seawater incursion.In the last 50 years the annual mean temperature has increased by roughly 0.5 degrees Centigrade. The number of heat waves days per years has increased nearly fivefold in the last 30 years.Sea level along the Karachi coast has risen to approximately 10 centimeters in last century. By the end of this century, the annual temperature in Pakistan is expected rise by 3 degrees Fahrenheit to 5 degrees Fahrenheit. Pakistan is expected to experience increased variability of river flows due to increased the melting of glaciers. Deforestation and increase in the use of chemicals in domestic and agricultural life are the main cause of climate change in Pakistan. rAFiA kHALid islamabad

The Molana’s Azadi rECENTLY Molana Fazal ur rehman has announced a protest and a sit in in Islamabad calling it as the “Azadi March”.

However it is still unclear what the ultimate motive of this azadi march is, whether it is to show solidarity with the Kashmiris against the Indian aggression in Indian Occupied Kashmir or it is merely to topple the government of Imran Khan. But one thing is crystal clear that the azadi march is going to create an environment of chaos and conflict in the capital which will not just be the ultimate challenge for the government but it will not be in the greater national interest of Pakistan. A protest and march against the government at this time when geopolitics is very active in the region and Kashmir issue is at its peak of either exploding or dissolving, although protest is their democratic right but the opposition must reconsider it for the sake of national issues and national interests.

MUHAMMAd ASiM kHAN islamabad

Friday, 8 November, 2019

10 FOREIGN NEWS

Taiwan waRnS of poSSible aTTack if china'S Slowdown 'becomeS SeRioUS' TAIPEI

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AGENCIES

EIJING could resort to military conflict with self-ruled Taiwan to divert domestic pressure if a slowdown in the world’s second largest economy amid trade war threatens the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party, the island’s foreign minister has said.

As Taiwan’s presidential elections approach in January, China has stepped up a campaign to “reunify” with what it considers a wayward province, wooing away the island’s few diplomatic allies and flying regular bomber patrols around it.

In an interview with Reuters, Taiwan’s Foreign Minister Joseph Wu drew attention to China’s slowing economy amid its bitter trade war with the United States. “If the internal stability is a very serious issue, or economic slowdown has become a very serious issue for the top leaders to deal with, that is the occasion

that we need to be very careful,” Wu said on Wednesday. “We need to prepare ourselves for the worst situation to come… military conflict.” China’s economy, though still growing, is expected to slow to a near 30-year low this year, underscoring a stiff challenge for Beijing in stepping up stimulus to keep up growth that has been fundamental to the Communist Party’s political legitimacy.

Wu said the economic situation in China was “OK” at the moment, but urged other countries to watch for what he saw as problems there, such as unemployment and popular discontent.

“Perhaps Xi Jinping himself is called into question of his legitimacy, by not being able to keep the Chinese economy growing,” Wu said, referring to China’s president. “This is a factor that might cause the Chinese leaders to decide to take an external action to divert domestic attention.”

China’s growing military aggression in the region has become a “very serious”

source of tension, Wu said, affecting many countries, but added that Taiwan was trying whatever it could to ensure peace across the Strait.

“We certainly hope that Taiwan and China could live peacefully together, but we also see there are problems caused by China, and we will try to deal with it.”

Taiwan has lost seven diplomatic allies to China since President Tsai Ing-wen took office in 2016. Beijing suspects Tsai of pushing for the island’s formal independence, which Xi has warned would lead to a “grave disaster”. Tsai has repeatedly said she will not change the status quo.

‘MOST DIFFICULT JOB’: Monthslong anti-government protests in Hong Kong have provided a lesson for Taiwan, said Wu, who has been a vocal supporter of democracy in the Asian financial hub.

The protests in the former British colony have posed the biggest populist challenge to Xi since he came to power in 2012. “People here understand that there’s something wrong (with)the way

the ‘one country, two systems’ model is run in Hong Kong…Taiwan people don’t like to be in the same situation,” Wu said.

Beijing has repeatedly proposed to rule Taiwan under a “one country, two systems” formula similar to that prevailing in Hong Kong, guaranteeing certain freedoms, but the island has shown no interest in being run by autocratic China.

Wu vowed to help Hong Kong people “striving for freedom and democracy”, promising that, if needed, Taiwan would “provide some assistance to them on an individual basis”. He did not elaborate, except for saying Taiwan would not intervene in the protests.

Wu, who described his post as “the most difficult ministerial job in the world,” has seen five countries switch diplomatic ties to China, whose complaints also drove many global firms to alter their descriptions of Taiwan.

“Acknowledging that Taiwan is part of China in exchange for some diplomatic space – I believe such a condition is un-

acceptable,” Wu said. “Taiwan’s diplomacy shouldn’t be outsourced to China.”

China could snatch more of Taiwan’s remaining 15 diplomatic allies, Wu added, in a bid to influence the elections, at which Tsai is seeking re-election.

“We are working closely with the United States and other like-minded countries to make sure the switch of diplomatic relations doesn’t happen again.” Washington has no formal ties with Taiwan but is bound by law to help defend it.

Public hearings in Donald Trump impeachment probe start next week WASHINGTON AGENCIES

Old McDonald's: Aussie mates show off burger bought in 1995 SYDNEY AGENCIES

A McDonald’s burger bought in 1995 and kept in an Australian shed for years has never decomposed, according to two men who now refer to the quarter-century Quarter Pounder as their “mate”.

Casey Dean, 39, and Eduards Nits, 38, claim they ordered the Quarter Pounder with cheese from a McDonald’s outlet in Adelaide as teenagers — and have hung onto it ever since.

“Being teenagers we ordered a truckload of food, and it was just way too much,” Dean told AFP. “It started a chain of events where we were joking ‘imagine if we kept this forever’, and here we are.”

Though the burger has shrunk a little from its original size, its shape remains intact, there are no signs of mould, and it doesn’t smell.

“Even the sesame seeds are still on there, just a few have been knocked off,” Dean said.

The men say their relationship with the Quarter Pounder will span 25 years by November 2020, a milestone even many marriages fail to reach.

“We have been talking about taking him back to his birthplace, just go see the staff there and see if he recognises anyone,” Dean said.

Dubbing it the “Senior Burger” and referring to it repeatedly as their “mate”, the men have created social media profiles for the burger and even wrote a song about it.

They believe it is the oldest known McDonald’s burger in the world, outranking a prominent decade-old cheeseburger dis-

played in a glass case in Iceland and livestreamed online to thousands of viewers.

Storage for the ancient Aussie burger has been rather less considered, though it has mostly been kept under lock and key in a box made of timber and cardboard.

That box spent about a decade jumbled up with clothing inside a shed in Adelaide, where temperatures regularly top 30 degrees Celsius in summer.

When they eventually went to check on it, Dean said even rats had turned their noses up at the morsel.

“The rats had actually eaten through the plastic bag, heaps of clothes, got into the box and they’d left the burger,” he said.

'Our mate was safe.”

Dean said he understood why some might be sceptical about their claim, but argues the old-school packaging — waxy paper and a cardboard ring — accurately date the burger to the mid-1990s.

He is steadfast that the pair would never part with it despite fielding offers from around the world when it first came to public attention in 2015.

A McDonald’s spokeswoman did not dispute the assertion, saying the question of why some of its burgers did not decay came up “from time to time” but there was a “simple explanation”.

“The reason why our burgers sometimes don’t go mouldy when left out at room temperature, in a dry environment, is that once the food is cooked there isn’t enough moisture to support bacterial growth to break it down,” she said.

“Instead, it simply dries out.”

She advised the best way to enjoy the firm’s food was “when it’s hot and tasty”.

The first open impeachment hearings into US President Donald Trump will begin next week, the congressman leading the probe said Wednesday, as the investigation heads into a highly anticipated public phase.

William Taylor, Washington’s top diplomat to Ukraine, and deputy assistant secretary of state George Kent are scheduled to testify next Wednesday.

People will be able to see “the degree to which the president enlisted whole departments of government in the illicit aim of trying to get Ukraine to dig up dirt on a political opponent,” said House Intelligence Committee chairman Adam Schiff.

In a closed-door deposition, Taylor bolstered the principal accusation against Trump — that the president abused his office by withholding military aid to blackmail Kiev into launching investigations that could help him politically. Kent, who heads the European and Eurasian bureau at the State Department, expressed concerns about White House efforts to remove the then-ambassador to Ukraine, Marie Yovanovitch.

Yovanovitch herself told investigators she was ousted because Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and others wanted her out of the way as they conducted Ukraine policy outside traditional diplomatic channels. She is scheduled to appear next Friday.

Schiff has already begun releasing transcripts of private witness testimony but it is widely believed that the trio’s appearance at public hearings

US RepUblicanS mUll adding TRUmp defendeR JoRdan To impeachmenT panel WASHINGTON: US Republicans may add a leading ally of President Donald Trump to the House Intelligence Committee, Representative Jim Jordan, to strengthen their defences as the impeachment investigation against the president goes public. An aide to House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy confirmed a report by CBS News that McCarthy was eyeing making temporary adjustments to the Republican members of the Democratic Party-led intelligence panel, which will begin holding public impeachment hearings next week. Jordan, an argumentative former assistant college wrestling coach and former leader of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, has proven himself adept at the public defence of Trump throughout the first part of the inquiry. He has been a near-constant attendee at closed-door depositions of witnesses being conducted by the House intelligence, oversight and foreign affairs committees, talking frequently to reporters afterwards and defending the president on television as well. Democrats, who have the majority in the House, are planning for the public hearings stage of the inquiry to be conducted only by the intelligence committee, which Jordan does not currently belong to.

He is the top Republican on the oversight committee. AGENCIES

could have a more dramatic impact on the American public. The Capitol Hill hearings will be broadcast live as lawmakers from both parties and trained staff question witnesses, many of whom the White House has sought to discredit.

Republican lawmakers have spent weeks accusing Democrats of holding “sham” secret hearings in the US Capitol basement and demanding a more open process.

Schiff said that moment in the fastmoving inquiry had arrived, and that Americans would be able to hear the accounts of potential abuse of power

directly from witnesses who were caught up in the scandal.

The hearings will let the American people “evaluate the witnesses for themselves, to make their own determinations about the credibility of the witnesses, but also learn first-hand about the facts of the president’s misconduct,” Schiff said.

An anonymous whistleblower complaint in September highlighted potential abuse of power by the president when he telephoned Ukraine’s leader and asked him to investigate former vice president Joe Biden, Trump’s potential 2020 election rival.

China imposes curfew on minors in gaming crackdown BEIJING AGENCIES

China has imposed a curfew to limit the time spent by children playing games online, in the latest part of a government crackdown on youth gaming addiction.

The regulations will mean those under 18 cannot play games online between 10pm and 8am, and for only ninety minutes at a time during the daytime.

In addition, the guidelines will reduce the amount of money minors can spend online playing games to 200 RMB ($28) per month, rising to 400 RMB for those between 16 and 18 years old. The new rules will also require all gamers to use a real-name registration and details such a WeChat account, phone number or ID number to sign up.

In the statement published Tuesday, the government also calls for games producers to “modify the game content, functions or rules” to avoid causing addiction in young players.

China is the world’s biggest video game market, but the government has been tightening up on the industry amid concerns about health, worsening near-sightedness in children

CMYK

and online addiction.

A hashtag about the new rules was one of the most discussed on China’s social media platform Weibo on Thursday with 210 million views.

“This statement just means that teenagers can’t play the games, because for most teenagers in China, they need to go to school from 6.30am and end at 10pm,” one user complained. “It’s a bit of a one-size-fits-all thing,” wrote another, saying a graded rating system of games made more sense.

Another claimed that it was easy to obtain fake ID numbers online and that gamers would just use these to create their accounts.

Last year Beijing announced new controls on the number of games that can be played online, limited new releases, and imposed rules on underage players to reduce their screen time. Chinese giant Tencent — the planet’s biggest game company — announced in March it was implementing new curbs on underage video-game playing.

The gaming group had already has launched a real-name identification system for “Honour of Kings” to enforce playtime restrictions on youths.

Friday, 8 November, 2019

BUSINESS 11

Govt StartS rEStructurinG BoDS of StatE-ownED EntErPriSES

CORPORATE CORNER

ISLAMABAD

KARACHI: Faysal Bank Limited (FBL) participated in the Institute of Business Management (IoBM)’s International Conference on Islamic Banking & Finance. The two-day conference which took place at the IBA is now in its 3rd year. press release

LAHORE: Participants of a workshop titled ‘Accounting for Water’ pose for group photo. The workshop was organised

by Coca-Cola Pakistan and CERB. press release

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HE government has started making changes to the Board of Directors (BoDs) of various state-owned companies, including the Sui Southern Gas Company Limited (SSGC), Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) and Government Holding Private Limited (GHPL), Pakistan Today has learnt.

According to sources, major changes in the composition of various state-owned companies would be made mainly due to their poor performances.

Sources informed that the government has removed Pakistan LNG Limited (PLL) chairman Dr Manzoor Ahmed and appointed Rabat Kaunain in his place, while order has been issued regarding the removal of former PLL managing director Adnan Gillani.

Meanwhile, the Power Division additional

secretary has been given the charge of PLL following the removal of the Petroleum Division secretary.

As per the documents available with this scribe, the restructuring of the BoD of PLL is being carried out in pursuance of the incumbent government's policy for appointment and empowerment of non-political and autonomous boards and subsequently to ensure the selection of professional chief executive officers on merit.

The Petroleum Division had submitted a proposal before the government for reconstitution of the PLL Board, requesting the government to appoint Sohail Ahmed Matin and Syed Maqsood Ahmed from Sindh as directors of the PLL board. It had urged the government to appoint Power Division additional secretary as the member of the PLL Board, while finance secretary, PLL MD and GHPL MD should remain members of PLL board (BoD).

Meanwhile, documents further revealed that following the resignation of Qazi Isa, an inde-

Sindh govt orders K-Electric to pay Rs61.28m stamp duty fee KARACHI aFTaB CHaNNa Teachers’ Resource Centre, the oldest non-profit organisation in the country working to provide subsidised teachers’ training, held its fundraiser musical play ‘Ali Baba Chalis Chor’ at the Arts Council. p r e s s r e l e a s e

United Bank Limited (UBL) celebrates 60 years of progressiveness & innovation. press release

SBP reserves surge $443m to stand at $8.4bn BUSINESS DESK The foreign exchange reserves held by the central bank jumped 5.6pc on a weekly basis, according to data released by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) on Thursday. On November 1, the foreign currency reserves held by the SBP were recorded at $8,357.6 million, up $443.3 million compared with $7,914.3 million in the previous week. The SBP, in its report, cited no reason for the increase in reserves. Overall, liquid foreign currency reserves held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $15,517.9 million. Net reserves held by banks amounted to $7,160.3 million.

In an effort to recover the outstanding dues from different organisations, the Sindh government has ordered K-Electric Limited to pay at least Rs61.28 million under the head of stamp duty.

Moreover, a penalty of Rs30.64 million has also been imposed on the power utility for hiding the details of the paid stamp duty. According to sources privy to this development, a government inspection team, led by Assistant Chief Inspector Syed lzhar Ali Shah, on 3rd Oct 2018, was authorised to conduct an inspection on the record of K-Electric.

The inspection team repeatedly visited the company office situated in DHA Karachi but could only recover partial record.

The team had pointed out an evasion/deficit of stamp duty on the partial record provided by the company, including instrument contract agreement (11 agreements pertaining to the period from December 2015 to February 2018), civil contracts (14 contracts pertaining to the period from October 2015 to September 2018) and 4th Sukuk issue of Rs22 million in June 2015 for seven years, making the total deficit stamp duty at Rs61.28 million.

According to sources, on 30th April 2019, K-Electric Deputy Director (Legal Affairs) Syed Irfan Ali Shah and Assistant Manager (Public & Government Affairs) Bilal Ahmed Malik appeared on behalf of the company and requested 15 days’ time for submission of entire record for inspection. However, only partial record was provided

while no explanation was given on the remaining record.

After this, a second hearing order was issued on 8th Aug 2019 to the company. On 23rd Aug, Shaheer Roshan, Advocate of Fazaleghani, the legal consultant of K-Electric, requested the government to adjourn the hearing till 29th August 2019, which was allowed. On 29th Aug, Shaheer Roshan committed to providing the said record on 17th Sept 2019, but again, no record was furnished.

It has been observed that since Oct 2018, the K-Electric has been employing delaying tactics to perpetuate the evasion of stamp duty. The company is not cooperating in the inspection process.

Talking to Pakistan Today, Board of Revenue Chief Inspector of Stamps Ghulam Abbas Naich said that the KElectric CEO has again been requested to provide remaining record of instruments chargeable with stamp duty under the Stamp Act, 1899.

"Failure to provide the record shall be deemed an obstruction and concealment within the meaning of Section 73 of the Act ibid and action shall be taken accordingly," Ghulam Abbas Naich added.

Upon contact, K-Electric spokesman Sheeraz Mohiuddin maintained that the company is law-abiding and a responsible corporate entity which ensures compliance with all respective law.

"Regarding Sindh government's order on the alleged shortfall in stamp duty payments, KE has already challenged the said order before the concerned appellate authority/court as per law," the spokesman added.

pendent director of the SSGC Board, the government has appointed the Balochistan chief secretary on the panel of SSGC directors.

According to the patterns of shareholding, the government directly or indirectly holds 73.92pc of the paid-up capital of SSGC. By virtue of the shareholding, the government can elect nine directors on the SSGC Board.

As per the documents, Dr Shamshad Akhat has been made the chairperson of the SSGC Board, while Raziuddin Memom, Faisal Bengali, Nida Rizwan Farid, Balochistan chief secretary, petroleum additional secretary, finance additional secretary and Dr Sohail Razi Khan have been appointed as directors of the SSGC Board.

The government has also restructured the BoD of Inter-State Gas Systems (ISGS), appointing Ibne Hassan (Punjab) as director (LNG). The Petroleum Division secretary has been made the chairman of the ISGS Board, of which Syed Irfan Ali from Sindh, Faisal Alam from Punjab and Balochistan energy secretary would also be members.

MARKET DAILY

KSE-100 ends 105 points higher amid volatile trading KARACHI sTaFF repOrT

Investors of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Thursday witnessed a volatile trading session where the indices traded within a narrow range but managed to put an end in the green zone. Foreign investors took a U-turn and closed the previous session on Wednesday as net buyers with a net inflow of $0.498 million. According to latest figures released by the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics, Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation for the month of Oct 2019 clocked at 11pc YoY. Inflation figures were slightly lower than September’s reading of 11.4pc. Price of onions witnessed the highest increase (+131.08pc) followed by gas (+54.84pc). Electricity charges rose 10.44pc compared to Oct 2018, whereas the price of chicken dropped 2.02pc. The KSE-100 Index took a dip during initial hours and recorded its intraday low at 35,458.10 after losing 195.23 points. The index then swung in both directions, reaching its intraday high at 35,834.24 (+180.91 points). It settled higher by 105.19 points at 35,758.52. The KMI-30 Index gained 42.43 points to close at 58,434.98, while the KSE All Share Index settled accumulated 65.73 points, ending at 25,616.92. Sectors that pulled the KSE100 Index lower included cement (-43.35 points), investment banking (-7.82 points) and food and personal care products (-7.56 points). On the other hand, fertiliser sector (+60.13 points), oil & gas marketing sector (+28.51 points) and oil & gas exploration sector (+22.56 points) helped the index close in the green. The overall volumes declined from 297.64 million in the previous session to 265.94 million. Worldcall Telecom (WTL +14.09pc) maintained its top position on the volume chart, followed by Pak Elektron Limited (PAEL -0.05pc) and Invest Capital Investment Bank Limited (ICIBL +13.75pc). The scripts had traded 45.81 million, 16.72 million and 13.67 million shares, respectively. The automobile assembling sector gained 2.40pc in its cumulative market capitalization. Indus Motor Company Limited (INDU) was up by +4.99pc, Hinopak Motors Limited (HINO +5.00pc) and Ghandhara Nissan Limited (GHNL) by 3.41pc.

Rs5.5bn collected through amnesty schemes, NA body told ISLAMABAD GHUlaM aBBas

The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Thursday informed a parliamentary body that the board collected a ‘meagre’ sum of Rs5.5 billion through the two tax amnesty schemes introduced by the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) government in 2018 and 2019.

In a bid to fatten up the reserves, the two governments whitened around Rs 94.115bn in 325 cases of assets declaration, the officials disclosed during a meeting of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Finance, chaired by former finance minister Asad Umar. During the meeting, FBR chief Shabbar Zaidi briefed the committee that out of a total of 325 Pakistani nationals who had assets abroad, some have availed schemes.

As per the documents, FBR collected Rs2.89bn in taxes against assets worth

FBR CHIEF SAYS 135 INDIVIDUALS OPTED FOR TAX AMNESTY SCHEME OFFERED BY PML-N GOVT IN 2018, WHILE 56 PEOPLE AVAILED PTI SCHEME IN 2019 Rs62.335bn in 2018 when 135 individuals declared their assets under the scheme. Similarly, the board also whitened Rs31.78bn worth assets of tax evaders in return for only Rs1.694bn in taxes against 56 cases in 2019.

In the remaining 115 cases, FBR could recover only Rs 1bn against the taxed amount of Rs4bn, making the total collection of taxes in 306 cases to only Rs 5.5bn, which is 78.11 percent of the total collection.

As per the official data recorded as on October 31, 2019, at least 19 cases out of the 325 were still pending, whereas in 134 cases, people approached the courts against FBR. Only 191 individuals out of the total 325 cases had paid the taxes.

‘AMNESTY SCHEMES ARE WEAKNESS OF STATE’: NA committee Chairman Asad Umar criticised the idea of introducing amnesty schemes to enable citizens to whiten undisclosed assets, saying they show the “weakness of state” against tax evaders. PML-N lawmaker Ayesha Ghous Bakhsh also questioned the use of the amnesty schemes despite a lacklustre response.

Briefing the lawmakers about steps taken to document the economy and tighten the noose around people who have undeclared assets, FBR Chairman Shabbar Zaidi said data was being shared with 55 countries under the scheme like Residence by Investment (RCI), which

FORMER FINANCE MINISTER ASAD UMAR CRITICISES AMNESTY SCHEMES, SAYS IT SHOWS WEAKNESS OF STATE AGAINST TAX EVADERS would be used to circumvent reporting of bank and financial account information under the OECD’s Common Reporting Standard (CRS) framework.

The officials briefed the Committee with regard to the data received through the Automatic Exchange of information from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Shabbar Zaidi informed the committee that out of the 55 countries, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was not sharing Iqama and other details under the agreed terms of these countries.

‘LARGELY COMPLAINT WITH FATF DEMANDS’: During the meeting, Economic Affairs Minister Hammad

Azhar briefed the committee about the updated position on the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

He apprised the committee that Pakistan “significantly completed the action plan on 22 items out of 27” given by FATF under the International Co-operation Review Group (ICRG).

He informed that plenary meetings of the FATF were held in Paris during October 13-18, 2019, wherein Pakistan Progress on 27 point FATF Action Plan from July 2018 to September 2019 was reviewed.

He informed that ICRG in the last meeting expressed its satisfaction on the progress about the measures taken by the government.

Friday, 8 November, 2019

12 BUSINESS Slowing indian economy spells tough times ahead for rupee BENGALURU aGeNCIes

Govt liKEly to aPPoint ‘tEchnical aDviSErS’ to ovErSEE miniStriES ISLAMABAD

A slowing domestic economy will prevent India’s rupee from recouping this year’s losses against the dollar in 2020, with optimism around an easing in the US-China trade dispute not enough to give it a further boost, a Reuters poll showed. After falling nearly 9pc in 2018, the Indian currency has shed another 4pc this year to touch a 2019 trough of 72.40 per dollar on Sept 3. It has since popped up over 2pc, along with other emerging market currencies, on hopes of a possible trade deal between the world’s two largest economies. But nothing has been agreed yet, let alone a meeting scheduled. A barrage of rate cuts from the Reserve Bank of India this year - five reductions in succession for a total of 135 basis points off the repo rate, now at 5.15pc - has done nothing concrete so far to revive a slowing Indian economy. Neither have several government fiscal stimulus measures introduced this year, which have become a negative for the rupee’s outlook given it will be difficult for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government to meet its fiscal deficit targets. “We expect the INR to weaken as risks of sluggish growth and fiscal slippage intensify,” said Rini Sen, India economist at ANZ. “Stable portfolio flows led by equities and global cues like trade negotiations, on top of rate cuts, have led to bouts of optimism. However, we think the currency market is under-pricing downside risks to domestic growth.” The Nov. 1-6 Reuters poll of over 40 strategists predicted the rupee INR= to weaken about 1.3pc to 71.90 against the greenback in 12 months from around 71.00 on Wednesday. The RBI, the most aggressive major central bank in the world this year for easing, is expected to cut the repo rate at its sixth meeting in a row in December, a Reuters poll showed last month, which could put further pressure on the currency. “Unlike the previous cuts, additional cuts could erode the allure of the rupee as a higher yielder, while (the) growth prospect remains a concern,” said Saktiandi Supaat, head of foreign exchange research at Maybank based in Singapore. Indian economic growth has steadily slowed to a six-year low of 5.0pc in the April-June quarter from an 8.1pc peak in the JanuaryMarch quarter of 2018 and recent business surveys indicate it will slow further. While the year-ahead consensus in the latest poll was slightly stronger than 72.50 per dollar predicted last month, it reflects the currency’s gain over the past month. However, nearly twothirds of 24 common contributors in the October and November Reuters polls either downgraded or kept their year-ahead forecasts unchanged. Currency speculators have cut short bets on the rupee to the lowest since midAugust, a separate Reuters poll showed.

fBr to fully automate ‘track and trace’ system BUSINESS DESK The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) would be instituting within this financial year a fully automated ‘Track and Trace’ system for at least four major sectors, FBR Chairman Syed Shabbar Zaidi said on Thursday.

Taking to Twitter, he said, “FBR will be instituting within this financial year, fully automated ‘Track and Trace’ system’ for at least four major sectors of industry, in addition to tobacco, which is already in process.” “The industries under consideration are aerated beverages, sugar, cement and fertiliser,” he wrote. Earlier on Oct 18, Zaidi had inaugurated the Urdu website of FBR to facilitate the taxpayers. The Urdu website offers online facilitation and services to the taxpayers about income tax, sales tax, customs.

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HE government is all set to appoint technical advisers in 15 ministries and divisions to boost their performances and in this regard, Prime Minister Imran Khan has directed the Establishment Division to prepare rules and regulations.

Sources in the Finance Division have informed that the PM has allowed the creation of 15 posts of 'technical advisers' in ministries, divisions to enhance their performance.

They said that these technical advisers, besides giving suggestions for the betterment of the country’s economy, will look after and supervise the affairs of the ministries/ divisions as well as development projects.

"The advisers will be hired from the market on a contractual basis on Special Professional Pay

Scales (SPPS) or the Management Position (MP) Scales," said sources. "Some ministries/divisions have been lacking the requisite expertise and their performances suffered badly in the past."

According to sources, the recruitment process against the proposed posts with postwise specific TORs will be processed by respective administrative ministries/divisions in consultations with the Finance Division and the Establishment Division. An official of Establishment Division on condition of anonymity said that the government believes that in the present era of rapidly advancing technology, specialization has acquired prime importance.

"Therefore, a right mix of technical skillset/domain knowledge and suitable educational qualification is required for running various technical projects of the federal government," he added.

As per the documents available with this

PM invites Huawei to explore Pakistan’s e-commerce market

scribe, the ministries/divisions that require technical expertise included the Science and Technology Division, Power Division, National Food Security & Research Division, Industries and Production Division, Information Technology and Telecommunication Division, Climate Change Division, Commerce Division, Finance Division, Petroleum Division, Water Resources Division, Maritime Affairs Division, Textile Industry Division, Information and Broadcasting Division, National Health Services, Regulation and Coordination Division and Aviation Division.

It is pertinent to mention that the Establishment Division had forwarded a summary regarding the creation of 15 posts of technical advisers to the prime minister and had sought approval in this regard. Prior to forwarding the summary to the PM, the division had also shared this summary with the Finance Division for examination and comments on the proposed pay package.

oil rebounds to $62 on hopes for uS-china trade deal LONDON aGeNCIes

BUSINESS DESK Prime Minister Imran Khan has invited Huawei to explore business opportunities in the e-commerce sector of Pakistan, a private media outlet reported on Thursday.

He said this while talking to Huawei Supervisory Board Chairman Li Jie, who was heading a delegation of investors, at the PM House in Islamabad.

During the meeting, Li Jie informed the prime minister about the progress being made by the company in the network domain.

Highlighting huge business opportunities created under the new e-policy, launched by the Ministry of Commerce, the prime minister invited the company to explore business opportunities in this sector.

He further urged the chairman to in-

volve brilliant young minds of Pakistan working in technical fields. The possibility of relocation of manufacturing units to Pakistan also came under discussion.

The PM highlighting the attractive incentive packages being offered by the government to the potential relocating industries. He also shed light on the availability of inexpensive labour and youth potential of the country which would help the foreign countries to further grow.

Li Jie stated that he was really impressed with the intellect of the Pakistani students. He said that his company was running a programme of merit awards to the students of Namal.

Board of Investment Chairman Syed Zubair Gillani, Commerce Secretary Sardar Ahmed Nawaz Sukhera and IT Secretary Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui were also present on the occasion.

Oil rose above $62 a barrel on Thursday after China hinted at progress towards a trade deal with the United States, raising hopes for an end to a long dispute that has weighed on economic growth and fuel demand. China and the United States have agreed in the past two weeks to cancel tariffs in different phases, the Chinese commerce ministry said on Thursday without giving a timeline. The trade dispute has prompted analysts to lower forecasts for oil demand and raised concerns that a supply glut could develop in 2020. Oil fell on Wednesday, partly because of worries that a US-China trade deal might be delayed. “Today, we start with a different set of headlines that they came to some agreement on the framework,” said Olivier Jakob, oil analyst at Petromatrix. “That is definitely what is supporting prices.” Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose $0.62 to $62.36 by 1101 GMT after settling down $1.22 on Wednesday. US West Texas Intermediate crude climbed $0.66 to $57.01. Beijing’s comments boosted market sentiment, which had also been ruffled by Wednesday’s US government supply report showing crude inventories rose last week by 7.9 million barrels, much more than expected by analysts. Brent has rallied 15pc in 2019, supported by a deal between the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies such as Russia to limit supplies until March next year. The producers meet on December 5-6 in Vienna to review the policy. OPEC Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo said this week he was more optimistic about the outlook for 2020 because of developments on trade disputes, appearing to downplay any need to cut output more deeply. Still, doubts about a trade deal could resurface, analysts said. Reuters reported on Wednesday a meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to sign the deal could be delayed to December, contributing to oil’s decline. “Doubts are not yet turning into full-blown concerns,” said Craig Erlam, analyst at brokerage Oanda.

“If a date isn’t set in stone soon though, that may come.”

Energy entrepreneur Iqbal Z Ahmed seeks fairness and transparency LAHORE press release

A senior member of the Associated Group Limited has shown extreme concern that it has been over 60 days since Mr Iqbal Z. Ahmed, Chairman of Associated Group (AG), was arrested by NAB in a dramatic manner on September 4. No formal charges framed against him to date and Mr Ahmed’s liberty has not been restored.

After 47 days in NAB custody, Mr Ahmed was transferred to judicial custody on October 21, 2019.

The Sindh High Court, through its Order of Oct 15, 2019, directed NAB to provide a questionnaire to him, which till the filing of this report has not been furnished to the accused.

Furthermore, the NAB chairman recently revealed that “no concrete evidence has emerged” in the inquiry against Mr Ahmed. In fact, it appears that NAB opted to arrest Mr Ahmed without any cogent evidence, while also being absolutely unclear about the precise nature of the alle-

gations it seeks to level against him.

During the court proceedings on November 2, the NAB Investigation Officer in the case submitted a progress report which “contains several false statements,” according to a legal counsel of Mr Ahmed, M. N. Beg. The counsel also asserted that “in the fifth NAB progress report, the Investigation officer has not been able to link Mr Ahmed to any specific Money Laundering charge,” which was the purported grounds for arrest.

A heart and diabetes patient, Mr Ahmed nearing 74, is known for having demonstrated a risk-taking appetite for large-scale energy infrastructure projects in Pakistan with pioneering initiatives in LPG and LNG sectors. JJVL, Jamshoro Joint Venture Limited, which commenced operations in 2005, has saved “an estimated US$ 727 million in foreign currency by replacement of LPG imports by local product,” according to a company handout. Operated and maintained by Exterran, an NYSE-listed company, JJVL

Plant at present has a replacement value estimated at the $200 million.

Under a Supreme Court order in December 2018, SSGC and JJVL work together to maximise value for SSGC pipelines by extracting the liquids so that pipelines are not choked and the extracted condensates form part of the value-chain in the country gas infrastructure. “Having

set-up a world-class LPG production company in one of the country’s remotest parts, Deh Shah Bokhari, Sindh, has won JJVL international recognition including

by Platts Businessweek Awards for operational and industrial excellence in the energy sector,” as communicated in AG statement.

“In the fifth progress report, all matters and affairs the investigation officer refers to are taken from the audited balance sheets of the Company and are fully justifiable,” AG commented.

“The transactions conducted from the official accounts of the companies were bona fide business transactions, inter alia pertaining to deposits of sale receipts, disbursement and repayment of loans, interbank transfers and equity inflows. The receipts and documents pertaining to all such transactions are available in the record of the companies,” the statement

by AG further elaborated.

In a marked departure from the standard operating procedure of NAB wherein, a questionnaire is issued, an in-

quiry is held, summons are sent and so on, in Mr Ahmed’s case, none of the steps were taken, which is in contravention of NAB standard operating terms.

That a private businessman, who has been one of the country’s highest taxpayers and undertaken large domestic investments, including a recently-signed EPC contract with a Chinese state-company, Xinjian Petroleum and Engineering Company (XPE) of around US$ 100 million for setting up of a LNG Terminal, be meted such treatment is a setback to the business sentiment in the country and particularly affects the already beleaguered LNG sector, which was till a year ago one of the most promising new sectors in Pakistan for foreign investors.

It is worth noting that without involving any government guarantees for offtake or purchase of LNG, Mr Ahmed signed with a Chinese governmentowned company a contract which allows credit to Pakistan without any financial instrument from either the government or any banks.

Diet anD exercise tips While the winter season might increase the risk for weather-related injury, the biggest risk to our overall health is a lack of attention to diet and exercise routines. During the holidays, we find ourselves so busy finalizing travel plans, finishing up with tasks at work, buying and wrapping gifts and crossing everything off of our checklists that we forget to prioritize our healthy habits.

As if all the insanity of the hol-

idays isn’t detrimental enough to our healthy habits, the chilly and unpleasant weather can also make it very difficult to find the motivation to get to the gym or head outdoors for exercises. In tandem with this, the additional time spent indoors means many of us snack more than we would typically at other times of the year. This combination that can quickly add on the pounds and reduce our happiness and self-es-

powerful antioxidant.

1. CALM YOUR CARB CRAVINGS

7. PLAN YOUR EXERCISES A WEEK IN ADVANCE

The cold season tends to ignite our cravings for more carbs and comfort foods. Why? After you consume these delicious treats, your serotonin levels rise, making your brain think you are happier.

And as the day wears on, your carb cravings get stronger and stronger.

To counter this, try eating a proteinpacked breakfast to keep your energy levels up throughout the day. If by the time the afternoon rolls around you’re still craving sweets or carbs, be sure to have low-fat and healthy snacks on hand. However, if you can, finding a way to increase your serotonin levels without food is the best way to beat the carb cravings.

2. ADD OMEGA 3 FATTY ACIDS

Omega 3 fatty acids are a healthy type of fat that are naturally found in many food types including fish, plant seeds and nuts.

Omega 3 fatty acids are great for reducing joint pain and stiffness as they are a natural anti-inflammatory. Studies have also shown that omega 3 fatty acids help lower levels of depression, which people commonly feel during the shorter days of winter.

3. COOK WITH MUSHROOMS

There are several species of mushrooms that have immune-boosting health benefits. That’s because mushrooms have naturally-occurring antibiotics. This gives them medicinal properties, which helps us to fight off many types of illnesses. Next time you’re at the grocery store, be sure to stock up on varieties like white button or shitake mushrooms and add them to your meals this winter.

4. EAT MORE FIBER

HOLLYWOOD BOLLYWOOD

Soluble fiber found in apples, oats and nuts is an important way to decrease inflammation and boost immune system function. Soluble fiber also helps reduce cholesterol levels in the body and aids in

teem over time.

Maintaining proper diet and exercise routines is also necessary to ward off illness. It is estimated that up to 20% of the United Sates population gets the cold or flu each year. Wintertime presents a higher likelihood to develop cold and flu than during any other season. Here are some winter diet and exercise tips to show you how to stay healthy and fit during winter’s colder months:

Try to stick to a weekly exercise plan so you don’t put off your regular exercise activities. On Sunday night, write down your exercise schedule for the next seven days. Choose your exact workout routines, activities or exercises for each day and how long they will be. Knowing what you’re scheduled to do each day ahead of time makes it easier to stick to. If you can, line up your workout schedule with a friend to encourage each other to stick with it and stay motivated. weight loss and protection against diabetes. This is an especially important winter health tip for seniors who require a high-fiber diet to protect their digestive systems.

5. EAT MORE GREEN AND ORANGE VEGETABLES

Sticking primarily to vegetables and fruits that are dark green and orange is important in ensuring you’re getting healthy nutrients, sugars and fats. Spinach, kale, Swiss chard, squash, carrots and oranges are all delicious during the winter. There are plenty of recipes available to incorporate these items into your regular winter diet.

6. COOK WITH SPICES

Onions, garlic, ginger and cilantro are the perfect items to add flavor to your dishes. Not only do they make food taste great, but they’re also shown to help improve immune function. Turmeric is a spice traditionally used in Chinese and Indian medicine. Its main active ingredient is called curcumin, which gives curry its yellow color. This spice helps to combat a number of conditions including inflammation and heart disease, and it acts as a

8. WORKOUT AT HOME

If you have no desire to head outdoors for your workout, then never fear. There are plenty of resources online that supply fun workout videos and exercises. These resources offer a variety of workouts including yoga, strength training, aerobics and other body-weight exercises. Check out Pinterest for tons of great resources so you can get fit in the comfort of your own living room.

9. GET A WII FIT

Just like the online workout videos, a Nintendo Wii Fit is a fun and convenient way to stay fit during winter and have fun at the same time. This gaming device provides virtual workouts to direct the user through a number of exercises like yoga, strength training, aerobics and more. It can be adjusted to fit your personal goals from cardiovascular improvement and disease prevention to muscle building and weight loss.

These diet and exercises tips are great, specifically in the winter, but they can also be used year-round. By reminding yourself that spring will be here before you know it, you’ll stay motivated to provide proper attention to your body and health habits during the winter.

HELLO THERE!! WINTER MAKEUP TRENDS ARE HERE!!

By Rohama Riaz Although the shadi season keeps going the whole year; November to January are officially considered the wedding months with a great hassle of how to dress up and look the best. Not just the issue of what to wear, people are highly confused about the type of makeup and look they should carry. The scariest moment at the time of the wedding is for the bride. Who would like to ruin their most important days without having

FATIMA NASIR – THE PRO QUEEN PERFECT WEDDING LOOK

Winter is notorious for drying out your skin, so make sure your skin is hydrated. A subtle smokey eye can look particularly gorgeous.

Look as radiant as you feel on your special day with makeup that accentuates your happy glow. Add false lashes, play up the drama with shimmery eye makeup and highlighter that accentuates your cheekbones and will make you look lit from within.

TRENDING LIP SHADES

Timeless and classic, a red lip has long been a favorite of the beauty world. A burgundy lip is foolproof in pulling off a beautiful wedding makeup look, and if you’re someone who has a bold, modern style, then this is a perfect option. In choosing the right shade, take into account your skin tone and whether you have cool or warm undertones – this will ensure you get the right color. Additionally, go for a longlasting formula, so your pout is perfect all day.

NATASHA J. – THE MAKEUP DIVA PERFECT WEDDING LOOK

The perfect bride for me should be timeless. The barat look should have perfect harmony between old-world charm as well as modern glam.

My go-to eye look for my barat brides is kohl-rimmed, smoked out gold glittery eyes with gleaming skin which looks lit from within. For a bolder look, I prefer a show-stopping red pout however for a more subtle look I lean towards a peachy nude lip. The hair should be minimal, styled in a bun to draw the maximum attention towards the makeup and the jewelry.

TRENDING LIP SHADES

1. Ruby woo by Mac cosmetics: Titled as one the best red lipsticks in

Tom Hardy Teases Carnage For Venom 2; And Jujitsu

Star Wars: Carrie Fisher Was Going To Be The Last Jedi Reveals Brother

Tom Hardy teases Carnage for Venom 2 in a post on social media, as the sequel is confirmed to also star Woody Harrelson who appeared in the first flick's post-credit scene.

"W3’R’V3N0M2," Hardy posted on Instagram featuring an image of masquerade masks for both Venom and Carnage.

Details are scarce for the sequel, but in addition to Carnage, it is also being said Naomie Harris is set to play Shriek, with rumors offering Harris will also play She-Carnage.

It's further been suggested that Venom 2 is setting up a third film that will adapt the Marvel Comics "Maximum Carnage" storyline and also feature Tom Holland as Spider-Man from the MCU. Venom 2 gets released on October 2, 2020 directed by Andy Serkis.

Regarding Tom Hardy and Jujitsu, the actor posted an image of himself training in Brazilian Jujitsu.

Hardy has posted numerous pics on his Instagram regarding the style of martial arts. Watch Warrior featuring Hardy as an MMA fighter, which is pretty good.

It's learned that the plan was to have Carrie Fisher be the last Jedi in Star Wars: Episode IX which would have seen the sister to Luke Skywalker, Leia, even have her own lightsaber.

The details come from her brother, Todd Fisher, who says Leia was going to emerge as a full-fledged Jedi warrior.

“She was going to be the big payoff in the final film,” he said. “She was going to be the last Jedi, so to speak. That’s cool right?”

As seen in Rian Johnson's The Last Jedi, Leia was a pretty powerful Force user as she was able to save herself from the vacuum of space, which sees her brother compare Leia to ObiWan Kenobi.

“People used to say to me, ‘Why is it that Carrie never gets a lightsaber and chops up some bad guys,’” Fisher said with the mention that Alec Guinness from the original Star Wars was roughly the same age when Obi-Wan Kenobi battled Darth Vader in A New Hope. “Obi-Wan was in his prime when he was Carrie’s age!”

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at least the basic idea of makeup trends that are going on at a particular time.

Not only this, we all are keen to know what lip shades are trending this winter. Is it again nude, glossy, matte or pearl and frosted?

To have an expert piece of advice; we asked our two most important questions from our gorgeous professional makeup artists related to trending makeup this winter wedding season and we got some amazing answers.

the market. This bold red with an undertone of blue works beautifully on all complexions.

2. Uncensored stunna lip paint by Fenty Beauty is also known as the red which universally flatters everyone. Not only it looks good it feels super comfortable and doesn’t wear off easily.

3. Famous by Huda beauty: A gorgeous dark vampy red perfect for winter evenings or a night out 4. Cheerleader by Huda beauty: A perfect classic muted red, making it perfect for a day time look !!

5. Chilli by Mac cosmetics One of my personal favorites by Mac is rusty orange-red that looks great on desi skin complexions and can be worn many ways !!

Malaika Arora can’t choose between son and her dog: ‘Arhaan is everything but my Casper is also my everything’ Bollywood actor Malaika Arora has talked about how she was among the few women who worked during and after pregnancy in the showbiz. Talking on podcast show No Filter Neha, Malaika said no one talked about it as there was no platform for it back in the day. She also revealed she loves her son and pet dog equally.

“You know this is so far back. My son is 17 years old. It’s amazing to see so many women today you know who are mothers, who work right through their pregnancy and after because otherwise everybody thinks it’s ‘chalo pack up karke niklo’. So I guess back then when I actually worked throughout, it was pretty amazing, nobody actually knowing about it or talking about it because there was no such platform to talk about it but yeah I remember I first started off with full length, then I went mid, then I went 3/4 and then waist and then bust and then neck till then it was only one eye, one mouth, one lip, one ear.

Friday, 8 November, 2019

14 SPORTS

ToP-rankeD BarTy ‘exTreMeLy hunGry’ for feD CuP finaL win MELBOURNE AGENCIES

PSG sporting director Leonardo hits out at Zidane for Mbappe comments PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain sporting director Leonardo has hit out at Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane for suggesting that KylianMbappe’s dream was to play for the Spanish club. “Honestly, it’s a bit irritating, it’s annoying,” the Brazilian said following PSG’s 1-0 win over Club Brugge in the Champions League on Wednesday, adding that “it’s not the first time this has happened”. Zidane was asked about a possible move for the 20-year-old World Cup-winning star in a press conference in Madrid on Tuesday. “We will see in the future. He has always said it was his dream to play for Real Madrid,” Zidane replied. A clearly irked Leonardo, who returned to Paris for a second spell in the role of sporting director earlier this year, said the comments were an attempt to unsettle the striker. “I think that now is not the time to talk about this. He is a player who has two and a half years left on his contract with us, so to talk about what he wants, his ‘dream’, every time... If we can just stop this, pause this talk,” he said. “Kylian is a very important player for us. Now is not the time to destabilise him.” Mbappe started as PSG beat Club Brugge 1-0 with a Mauro Icardi goal to secure their place in the last 16 of the Champions League. They travel to Madrid to face Zidane’s Real in their next Group A game later this month. Meanwhile, Leonardo said PSG would not rush into offering new contracts to veteran duo Thiago Silva and EdinsonCavani, both of whom will be free agents at the end of the current campaign. “We will see what happens as the season goes on. We are not putting a time limit on it, we will decide together, one thing or another. A year is an eternity,” he said. AGENCIES

Cilic pulls out of Croatia’s Davis Cup squad due to injury MADRID: Defending champions Croatia will be without Marin Cilic in the Davis Cup finals later this month after the former US Open winner announced his withdrawal on Thursday because of a knee injury.

Croatia, who beat previous winners France in last year’s final, play the inaugural match in Madrid against Russia on November 18. “My recurring knee injury has continued to give me problems, and as the season progressed it was becoming more evident that surgery was inevitable,” Cilic, world number 39, wrote on Facebook. The “rehab work was successful enough that surgery is not necessary at this stage,” he continued. “However, I will need to undergo a few minor interventions which will keep me off the tennis court for a longer period and unfortunately means I will not be able to compete at the Davis Cup this month.” Adding that he was “extremely disappointed”, the 31-year-old Croatian said he would dedicate himself to getting back into shape to kick off the 2020 season “healthier, more prepared, and more motivated than ever”. Cilic was supposed to play in a squad of five Croatian players which includes BornaCoric, Mate Pavic, Ivan Dodig and Nikola Mektic. According to the SportskeNovosti daily paper, he will be replaced by veteran Ivo Karlovic, 40. Davis Cup’s new 18-team format has replaced the former World Group. The nations have been split into six three-team groups, with the winners and two best runners-up advancing to the quarter-finals. Russia and Croatia have been drawn alongside Spain in Group B. AGENCIES

w

ORLD number one Ashleigh Barty has enjoyed a careerchanging season and is “extremely hungry” to end it on a high by steering Australia to their first Fed Cup in 45 years.

The seven-time champions have not tasted success in the tournament since the days of EvonneGoolagong in 1974, with two-time winners France standing in their way on the hardcourts at Perth Arena starting Saturday.

It will mark the last Fed Cup final played under the current format, with an overhaul next year seeing 12 nations compete in a sixday event in Budapest. While there will be a huge boost in prize

money, it spells an end to home ties, following a similar change to the men’s Davis Cup. Barty, fresh from being crowned WTA Finals champion in Shenzhen on Sunday,

leads a team that boasts world number 51 AjlaTomljanovic making her debut, veteran Samantha Stosur (96), Astra Sharma (108) and Priscilla Hon (126). They are

banking on passionate home support to get them over the line.

“This was a week I circled at the beginning of the year that I wanted to target, and to be able to finish the year playing as a team for your nation is pretty special and I’ve been looking forward to it for a long time,” said Barty. “All of us are extremely hungry — it’s taken us probably two or three years to get into this position and now it’s about coming out and enjoying it this weekend.”

France captain Julien Benneteau has kept faith with the team who sealed their semi-final win over Romania, led by Kristina Mladenovic, ranked 40 in the world. She will be backed by 45thranked Caroline Garcia, Alize Cornet (60), Fiona Ferro (63) and Pauline Parmentier (122) as they target a first title since 2003.

African players ‘not respected’ in Ballon d’Or vote, says Eto’o MILAN AGENCIES

African players still do not get the recognition they deserve, Cameroon legend Samuel Eto’o told AFP in an exclusive interview, as he hopes that this will finally be the year another player from the continent wins the Ballon d’Or. George Weah, the former Paris Saint-Germain and AC Milan striker who is now the president of Liberia, won the Ballon d’Or in 1995 but remains the only African player ever to have claimed the award.

“Western media dominate our media in Africa, so they definitely have an influence. People prefer to see a Lionel Messi goal,” Eto’o, 38, told AFP during a visit to Paris last month.

The former Barcelona star, once a teammate of Messi, believes that “African players are not respected” and are “not always properly appreciated”.

He recently hung up his boots after a glorious career in which he won the UEFA Champions League three times and the Africa Cup of Nations twice. He never won the prize for the world’s best player, although he insists he has no regrets.

“No, because I won so many trophies, I made so many dreams and for me that is the equivalent of winning the Ballon d’Or. However, I do feel for my younger brothers who came along after my generation.” There are five African players on the 30man shortlist for this year’s Ballon d’Or, with the winner to be announced at a ceremony in Paris on December 2. The 180 journalists who will vote for the successor to Luka Modric as winner have until this Friday to do so.

Among the nominees are

Senegal’s Sadio Mane and Egypt’s Mohamed Salah, both of whom starred in the Liverpool side that won last season’s Champions League.

Both finished just outside the top three in FIFA’s The Best awards in September, as Messi pipped Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk and Cristiano Ronaldo to the prize.

Eto’o attended that awards ceremony in Milan and, when stopped on the red carpet and asked who he thought would win, he cited the names of Mane and Salah. A video clip of the brief interview went viral.

“That was an opportunity for Africa to see a Sadio Mane or a Mohamed Salah on the podium, and why not win it. They both had wonderful seasons and it wouldn’t have shocked anyone had they won,” Eto’o said.

The captains and coaches of all 54 African national teams voted, but by no means all of them gave their votes to Salah or to Mane, who reached the Africa Cup of Nations final with Senegal. “Why is there this hate between us Africans? Why the misplaced jealousy? If we don’t appreciate one another, others are not going to do it for us,” Eto’o said.

“It’s a shame. If all Africans voted for other Africans, we would have had several awards for the best player.”

Mane jokes he would ‘dive’ again to win Liverpool penalty LONDON: Liverpool forward Sadio Mane says he will not change his style of play despite Pep Guardiola’s “diving” accusation. The Manchester City boss made the claim at the weekend, when the Senegal international was booked after going down in the penalty area following a challenge by Aston Villa’s Frederic Guilbert. Manager JurgenKlopp jumped to his defence and Guardiola subsequently rowed back on the comments, saying they were part of a longer speech in which he praised the forward. Mane, unaware of the subsequent climbdown, was unmoved by Guardiola’s initial criticism as he believes if there is contact he has a right to go down. And he offered a sarcastic response to the City boss ahead of the match between the two sides at Anfield on Sunday, saying: “If it could be a penalty for sure I will ‘dive’ again. “If the ‘dive’ will give me a penalty then I will do it. Why not? But what Jurgen said is correct. I do not dive,” said Mane. “There was contact (at Villa) for sure. Maybe it was not a penalty and he didn’t give it, and he gave me a yellow card. To be honest I don’t have any problem about it.

“It’s what I want to keep doing. If I get a penalty, yeah it’s a penalty. If no penalty, no penalty, but (it) will never change the way I’m playing or the way I’m doing my things.” Guardiola’s criticism was seen as the start of mind games leading up to Sunday’s Anfield encounter and Mane said the City boss had been a “bit clever” to get the attention of the referee. The defending Premier League champions trail Klopp’s side by six points but City are the only team to have beaten Liverpool in their past 50 league matches. AGENCIES

Russia denies doping data sent to WADA was falsified MOSCOW AGENCIES

Russia did not doctor data on athletes’ test results that it sent to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) as part of attempts to clear up a long-running scandal over state-sponsored doping, Sports Minister Pavel Kolobkov insisted Thursday.

Kolobkov said Russian experts had sent explanations to WADA, adding that these “experts consider nothing was removed.” Russia transferred the electronic data to WADA investigators in January.

This was one of the key conditions for Russia’s reinstatement by WADA. In September, WADA asked Russia

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to respond to “inconsistencies” in the data saying evidence of some positive tests handed over by a whistleblower does not show up in the data. Russia risks being declared non-compliant by WADA if it fails to explain how this happened.

President Vladimir Putin said in October that Russia is “actively cooperating with WADA” and the “requirements presented by this organisation are being fully complied with.” “These are purely technical questions linked to the way the system is organised,” Kolobkov insisted. “I’m sure these questions will be explained,” he added. Experts from Russia and WADA are due to meet soon. Russia was banned for three years from competing in several inter-

national competitions over state-sponsored doping between 2011 and 2015, missing the Rio Summer Olympics in 2016 and the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea.

In September 2018, WADA made the controversial decision to provisionally reinstate the Russian Anti-Doping Agency under the condition that the Russian authorities provide the data and samples.

“We are doing all we can to fulfil the obligations that we committed to last September and we have fulfilled them,” said Kolobkov. WADA is currently holding its world conference in the Polish city of Katowice and the scandal over Russian state-backed doping and institutionalised cheating has dominated the proceedings.

Friday, 8 November, 2019

SPORTS 15

PERTH

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AGENCIES

AIN in Sydney not only robbed Australia of the chance to complete a T20 series victory over Pakistan in the space of two matches, it also meant that the hosts will not be able to overtake Babar Azam’s team as the world’s No. 1 ranked T20I team with a win in the final match in Perth - the tourists will cling on by a single point even in defeat.

But there remains plenty to play for, not least the series itself, and also the continuing road towards a now imminent Test series between the two teams, beginning in Brisbane in a couple of weeks’ time.

Pakistan still appear very much in acclimatising mode, having run into an Australian side committing serious mental and physical energy to T20 international matches for the first time since the 2016 global event - next year’s on home soil being the first of two in as many years.

While Australia will have to rebalance

Pakistan seek better suPPort for babar azam to counter red-hot australia their bowling attack somewhat, in the absence of Pat Cummins as he freshens up ahead of the Tests, there has been a strong sense of cohesion about the hosts’ approach, either attacking from the top through Aaron Finch and David Warner or letting Steven Smith direct traffic for the middle order in the event of an early wicket or two. With the ball and in the field, the Australians have not quite been as stingy as the Perth Scorchers at their best, but they are tracking that way both in terms of tight bowling combinations and predatory work to cut off runs and seek run-outs.

Pakistan offered some signs of hope at Manuka Oval, not least the aggression of Iftikhar Ahmed as some long-awaited help

rossi doesn’t make a stupid move, says dovizioso

for Babar, but also a little more cutting edge to their bowling line-up. The additional bounce on offer at Perth Stadium, where Australia’s ODI team was well beaten by South Africa at the start of last summer, has the potential to bring the visitors still further into the game, should they get their lengths right. The decision to rest Cummins for the final match of the series suggests a possible return to the side for Sean Abbott, though Billy Stanlake is also waiting in the wings.

PITCH AND CONDITIONS: The Perth Stadium pitch can be expected to be fast and bouncy, with a hot day forecast for Perth - temperatures are expected to be around 33C about the time of the first ball at 4.30pm local time.

Trent Boult set for T20I return as England hope to bounce back NAPIER AGENCIES

Andrea Dovizioso has given credit to Valentino Rossi in their battle for the final rostrum spot at the Malaysian MotoGP. Andrea Dovizioso gave credit to Valentino Rossi in their battle for the final rostrum spot at the Malaysian MotoGP having felt the nine-time world champion was “aggressive but clean” at Sepang. The pair spent the majority of the Malaysian race fighting for third place after Maverick Vinales and Marc Marquez had escaped further ahead. Rossi, looking for his first podium since the Americas round back in April, lined up numerous moves at Turn 9 trying to use his Yamaha’s superior cornering speed but lost out under the acceleration out of the turn with Dovizioso using his Ducati’s power to charge back ahead. With Dovizioso holding on to third place, the Italian gave a nod to the 40-year-old as he felt the pair fought fairly on track without losing too much time and allowing Suzuki’s Alex Rins to disrupt their rhythm as the Spanish rider closed in on them from fifth place. “It is always difficult as Valentino never gives up but at the end it is nice to battle with Valentino because he is aggressive but clean,” Dovizioso said. “Normally he doesn’t do crazy things so I was able to manage the situation in a normal way. “He is aggressive but normally doesn’t make a stupid move so the battle was nice and I was able to answer clean and in the right way. It worked for me. Also we didn’t lose time because Rins was coming so I think also for that reason Valentino didn’t make crazy things.”

Dovizioso also says he had to rely on his experience battling Yamaha riders, knowing the strengths and weaknesses of both his Ducati and Rossi’s M1, having held on to third place for the majority of the fight at Sepang with his fellow countryman stalking him. “When you never follow a rider you don’t really know the points at the corners,” he explained. “He always stayed behind me so I really didn’t know. I know his style and the style of the bike but I didn’t know every detail so it was a bit difficult. I wanted to stay in front because with the heat if you follow riders here it is even worse. I stayed in front and I tried to manage it. “For our bike we are so slow in the middle of the corners but we can accelerate better so for a rider behind me it is always difficult especially if you are on a Yamaha because in the middle of the corner you can be faster but there wasn’t a really fast corner to make a big difference at the exit. “Every acceleration I was better so I slowed down in the middle of the corner a little bit because the tyre didn’t given me the possibility to be faster. I couldn’t make the speed in the middle of the corners like I did in practice. “So I slowed down, tried to cut every corner, with a good lap time it wasn’t bad but I didn’t have everything under control. I was able to control him also because when he tried to overtake me I saw he was really on the limit so it confirmed he didn’t have cards to use against me.” While Rossi is enduring the longest winless stretch of his MotoGP career, currently at 46 races, the Italian is also on his longest podium drought since his Ducati days. SPORTS DESK

“It’s been a great learning day for us,” said Eoin Morgan after a chastening defeat in the third T20I at Nelson. It wasn’t exactly said with relish, but there was obvious conviction in his words as he offered up a subtle variation on one of the abiding themes of his England captaincy.

Throughout England’s four-year rise to become the 50-over world champions, Morgan’s reaction to their intermittent setbacks had been to present an unapologetic public face - “no, we will not stop playing our natural attacking game” - even if, in private, he was obliged to give a more honest appraisal of scorelines such as 20 for 6 against South Africa at Lord’s in 2017, or 8 for 5 against Australia at Adelaide.

The difference in those contests, of course, was Eng-

land’s focus was on fine-tuning a team that was already good enough to take on the world, so presenting an unshakeable belief in the men and the methods was a key part of the process.

The remit at this stage of this new-look outfit, on the other hand, couldn’t really be much more different.

With the next T20 World Cup only a year away, and with a raft of automatic picks taking a well-earned break, the value of days such as occurred on Tuesday, when England squandered five wickets for ten runs in 18 balls to throw away an enviable chance to go 2-1 up in the series, will only be known in hindsight, if the players concerned take on board the lessons and process them for their next crunch encounter.

That said, England have had previous of learning on the hoof in this format. Their run to the final of the World T20 in

2016 was built on a wide-eyed acceptance of the team’s relative naivety, as the team took their licks (not least from Chris Gayle in Mumbai) and found the appropriate response, as players such as Jason Roy and Jos Buttler had the first proper flex of their muscles on the world stage. Had it not been for Carlos Brathwaite’s epic finale in Kolkata, they’d have had more to show for their studiousness than a handful of happy memories.

The relative stakes could hardly be lower in this particular series - a post-World Cup fever dream being played beyond the other side of the world, and in a time-zone that deters even the most hardened of English night-owls from tuning in to pay attention. But the opportunity to bed into the fabric of the England set-up, and get some hard-earned experience without attracting any

definitive judgements from a public that is broadly speaking looking the other way.

That said, they are up against an opponent that really rather fancies getting one over their World Cup vanquishers.

New Zealand took their time to find their range in this series after a stutter in the opening match. But with Colin de Grandhomme swinging from the hip in the middle order and Martin Guptill threatening to find some form at the top, they’ve got the weapons to put England’s rookie-dominated outfit under yet more pressure.

PITCH AND CONDITIONS: The solitary floodlit fixture of this five-match series is being played on a drop-in pitch at another of New Zealand’s rugby-dominant venues, with their habitually short square boundaries that will doubtless challenge any spinner who dares to lose his length.

Conflict cloud after Islamabad United appoint Misbahul Haq as coach LAHORE AGENCIES

Islamabad United have sacked Dean Jones, their head coach for the past four seasons, and replaced him with former captain Misbahul-Haq. The signing of Misbah who is also Pakistan’s head coach and chief selector - has led to the five other PSL franchises raising objections, bringing up the issue of a potential conflict of interest given his multiple roles.

Jones confirmed his sacking via a video message on Twitter, where he expressed his disappointment while also recalling his stint with the team, with whom he had won two titles. It is understood, however, that his removal had been on the cards for more than a year.

Islamabad are yet to officially announce Misbah’s appointment, but it is understood that they had him on board weeks before he signed up for the Pakistan job. It is also understood that the PCB, who had earlier promised to form a policy against holding dual jobs in the same set-up, had agreed to Misbah having multiple jobs within the same organisation.

The PCB is now facing significant pressure from the other franchises to discuss the issue. One of the possible solutions floated is to bar Misbah from participating in the selection process on the PSL draft day. Franchises have also objected Misbah’s presence in the dressing room as head coach with Islamabad. The PCB’s chief executive officer Wasim Khan had ear-

CMYK

lier contended that allowing Misbah to coach at the PSL would ultimately be to “Pakistan’s benefit”.

It is also understood that during his time in PSL he will not get a salary from the PCB for his role with the Pakistan national team.

Last year, the PCB, under Mani, had removed chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq from the PSL player draft committee because of a potential conflict of interest since he was involved in a talent-hunt programme run by one of the tournament’s franchises, Lahore Qalandars. Tauseef Ahmed, who was part of the national selection committee while also serving as Islamabad United’s spin coach, was also left out of the PSL draft committee.

The dual-role issue had also cropped up with former Pakistan

head coach Mickey Arthur, who was also head coach at Karachi Kings for three of his four years in the national job. Similarly, Azhar Mahmood was bowling coach of Pakistan as well as Karachi Kings.

The contract signed by them with the PCB originally allowed them to take up dual roles but after Mani took charge as PCB chairman, he came down against it.

Misbah’s previous stint with Islamabad had ended on a bad note after he backtracked on his agreement to be their mentor for the 2019 edition. He was picked as a player instead and went on to play for Peshawar Zalmi. Before changing his decision, Misbah reportedly offered Islamabad his services as a player but the franchise was not keen to have him in that role.

Friday, 8 November, 2019

NEWS

AzAdI MArch to AssuMe ‘New dIrectIoN’ IN two dAys, sAys opp

Govt bulldozes several bills through NA in 30 mins

PPP’S FARHATULLAH BABAR SAYS OPP PUTTING PRESSURE ON GOVT IN THE ‘FIRST PHASE’ OF AZADI MARCH

PML-N’S KH ASIF SAYS GOVT HAS MADE A MOCKERY OF PARLIAMENT BY RESORTING TO SUCH PRACTICE

ISLAMABAD

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STAFF REPORT

AMIAT Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl’s (JUI-F) Azadi March will take a new direction in two days, said party leader Akram Khan Durrani on Thursday.

Talking the media after a meeting of the opposition’s Rehbar Committee, he said that on the basis of recommendations presented during Thursday’s meeting, new moves will emerge in the protest. He added that new caravans from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) would soon join the Azadi March.

Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) leader Farhatullah Babar said that the opposition is putting the government under pressure, calling it ‘the first phase’.

Menawhile, JUI-F chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman directed the party members to present their stance in the National Assembly (NA) with full zeal. The meeting decided that the opposition would give a tough time to the govern-

ment and decided on a plan of action for the march and the parliamentary session.

PPP leader Farhatullah Babar, PPP Secretary General Nayyar Bukhari, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Ayaz Sadiq, PML-N Khyber Pakhtunkhwa President Ameer Muqam, JUI-F’s Owais Noorani, Qaumi Watan Party's (QWP) Hashim Babar, Jamiat Ahle Hadith's Shafeeq Pasuri, National Party's (NP) Tahir Bizenjo and Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party's (PkMAP) Usman Kakar attended the meeting of the Rehbar Committee.

Earlier, Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi called on the JUI-F chief to find a way to end the sit-in. Talking to reporters before the meeting, Elahi said that he was hoping for a positive outcome and would soon give the nation some “good news”.

"We are hopeful and things seem to be going towards betterment,” he said, adding that recommendations are under consideration to break the ongoing deadlock. Elahi, who is a member of the

FAZL DIRECTS PARTY MEMBERS TO PRESENT THEIR STANCE IN NA WITH FULL ZEAL AND TO GIVE ‘TOUGH TIME’TO GOVT government’s negotiation team, has met Fazl several times over the past week to facilitate the ongoing dialogue.

After the meeting between the two on Wednesday, Elahi had sounded hopeful and had told reporters that “positive progress” was being made in the talks between the government and opposition regarding the Azadi March.

In a response to weeks-long talks between the two parties, he had said “several processes” were simultaneously underway but that any breakthrough will require “patience and hard work”.

On Wednesday, Fazl had reiterated the opposition’s demand to end “onesided accountability and justice”.

Addressing the participants of the Azadi March, the JUI-F chief had said that the case made against Supreme Court (SC) judge Qazi Faez Isa must be quashed, announcing his support for the lawyers body that have been protesting the reference against the SC judge.

Fazl had said that people could not get justice in Pakistan. “There is no jus-

tice in the country. NAB is helpless when it comes to holding the government responsible in Pakistan,” he had said.

“We want a constitutional government which truly reflects the Constitution of Pakistan,” Fazl had added.

The JUI-F chief had said that he and the Azadi marchers had arrived in Islamabad to save the country and they won’t back off until the demands are met.

Thousands of protesters have converged on the federal capital under the banner of the Azadi March, seeking to send Prime Minister Imran Khan packing.

The ‘Azadi’ March caravan, which set off from Sindh on October 27, left Punjab’s city Lahore on October 30 and culminated its journey October 31 in Islamabad. Opposition leaders delivered fiery speeches against the PTI government on Friday, giving the prime minister a 48-hour ultimatum to resign. The deadline was later extended after the JUI-F chief said the opposition’s Rahbar Committee will decide after talks with the government negotiating committee.

‘Don’t worry,’ PM tells comrades as Fazl digs in heels Fawad offers to help control India's air pollution issue

IMRAN SAYS GOVT WILL BRING HOARDERS TO THE BOOK

Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry on Thursday offered to help India in controlling its hazardous air issue through scientific solutions. “Crop burning in [Jalandhar] is playing havoc with [the] environment on both sides of Punjab border,” he said via Twitter. “We can help Indian [Punjab government] to use a [mechanical] solution to turn crop waste into a burning billet, that can be used as fuel when needed,” Fawad added. On the other hand, the threat of toxic smog has receded temporarily in Lahore due to overnight rain in certain regions.

According to the Met department, the current spell of rain is expected to continue till Friday with wind direction to change within the next 24 hours. Earlier on Wednesday, the smog had severely hit the provincial capital, Lahore, with Air Quality Index (AQI) reaching 455, while the threshold for the hazardous level of air quality was 300. Lahore had recorded an Air Quality Index of 455. The AQI had reached 731 at Punjab Assembly, 647 on Upper Mall, 401 in Defence Housing Authority and 457 in Garhi Shahu. NEWS DESK

ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

As the Azadi marchers led by Maulana Fazlur Rehman of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) remain persistent over the resignation of the prime minister, PM Imran Khan summoned a parliamentary meeting on Thursday, wherein he told the party lawmakers not to worry of the dharna.

“The issue [dharna] will be solved through reconciliation,” Prime Minister Imran was quoted as saying in media.

Thousands of protesters have converged on the federal capital under the banner of the Azadi March, seeking to send packing Prime Minister Imran Khan packing. 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.

So far, the two rounds of talks between the government and opposition parties have failed. Though, talks are in progress, with Punjab Assembly Speaker and Punjab Muslim League-Q (PML-Q) leader Pervez Elahi representing the government.

As inflation continues to rise, the prime minister urged PTI parliamentarians to support him against

rising prices in the country and vowed that the hoarders would be brought to the book.

“We will bring hoarders to the book,” he said. “Pakistan is going through artificial inflation because of these hoarders,” he added.

The prime minister issued directives for all PTI lawmakers to remain in parliament.He said that all parliamentarians should play their role in ensuring that the Pakistan Medical Authority bill passes.

The prime minister said that people had started treating the medical profession as their business. He said that people were running their own medical colleges and were also members of the medical board.

“These people are playing with human lives,” he reportedly said.

“They should be dealt with strictly.”

The PM lashed out at the Sindh government led by the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), saying that the situation in Karachi was taking a turn for the “worse” day by day. “The Sindh government has completely failed,” the prime minister was quoted as saying. “I will pay a visit to Karachi soon.”

ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government on Thursday bulldozed several bills, including the Pakistan Medical Commission Bill, through the National Assembly despite a hue and cry raised by the opposition lawmakers, with the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) calling it ‘mockery of parliament’.

The bills approved included the Medical Tribunal Bill, Pakistan Medical Commission Bill and Government Employees Housing Authority Bill in addition to an amendment in the antiterrorism authority bill.

The National Assembly also approved the Naya Pakistan Housing Development Authority bill 2019, inheritance certificate bill and women inheritance rights bills.

The government took about 30 minutes for the passage of all these bills.

‘MOCKERY OF PARLIAMENT’: After the session, former foreign minister and PML-N leader Khawaja Asif lashed out at the government for “insulting” the parliament and “making a mockery out of it”.

Referring to the approval of 11 out of 15 bills in the House earlier in the day, Asif said that the government wrapped up the proceedings in 20-25 minutes and adjourned the session. “Whatever happened today was an insult to the parliament,” he added. Speaking about Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl’s (JUI-F) Azadi March, Asif said the government was creating hurdles for the participants.

“The government had asked the officials of Capital Development Authority (CDA) to look after the protesters but they had been asking for food from the latter,” he said, adding that the water supply near the Azadi March venue has also been cut off and internet services are unavailable in the area. The former foreign minister also alleged that public hospitals have been instructed by the government to avoid giving medical treatment to the participants of the dharna.

Tens of thousands of opposition supporters led by the JUI-F chief have gathered in Islamabad to demand the ouster of PM Imran, warning of chaos if their demands were not met. The protest in the capital is the first concerted opposition challenge the cricket star-turned-politician has faced since he won a general election last year promising to end corruption.

Security remains tight in Islamabad with the government and diplomatic sector – just a few kilometres from the rally site – sealed off, and roads blocked from shipping containers.

Scores of Indian farmers arrested over polluting fires NEW DELHI AGENCIES

More than 80 farmers have been arrested in northern India for starting fires that contributed to the recent pollution crisis in New Delhi and other cities, officials said on Thursday.

Each winter the post-harvest burning of crop stubble covers swaths of the region in toxic smog, which combines with car and factory emissions to turn Delhi into the world’s most polluted capital.

India’s top court this week ordered a crackdown on illegal stubble-burning, but the fires continued across Punjab and Haryana states — with many started at night to try and avoid detection.

A senior Punjab police officer said more than 17,000 farm fires had been reported in the state in the past three days, with 4,741 on Wednesday alone.

“More than 84 people have been arrested for violating the law. Cases have

been filed against 174 farmers,” the officer told AFP. Punjab and Haryana make up a key agricultural region that produces nearly 18 million tonnes of rice each year. This, in turn, creates nearly 20 million tonnes of crop stubble — most of which is burnt.

Authorities said more than 48,000 farm fires had been reported in the two states since late September — a dramatic increase from 30,000 cases in 2018.

The Supreme Court ordered a complete stop to the fires on Monday and on Wednesday slammed local governments for not taking action, instructing them to pay hard-up farmers to stop burning the stubble. “You just want to sit in your ivory towers and rule. You are not bothered and are letting the people die,” said Justice Arun Mishra.

PREMATURE DEATHS: Pollution levels in the Indian capital remained bad on Thursday, four days after one of its worst pollution attacks in several years

during which schools were closed and a public health emergency declared.

Dirty air causes hundreds of thousands of premature deaths in Indian cities each year, according to medical studies. Tiny particles from the fires, which can enter the bloodstream and penetrate the lungs and heart, get blown over New Delhi. In the winter, cooler temperatures prevent pollutants from dispersing, while smoke from millions of Diwali firecrackers also helps turn the capital’s skies a putrid yellow.

Meanwhile, air pollution forced the closure of thousands of schools in Lahore, with an environment agency spokesman blaming the poisonous haze on crop-burning in India. Lahore is less than an hour from the Indian border.

However Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar said similar burning takes place in Pakistan, and that his administration is tackling the problem.

“Administration is already on high alert and have tasked them to escalate ac-

tions against crop burning and other factors that contribute to smog,” he said.

Twitter user Ammar Ali Jan wrote that the city was unbearable. “The smog

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

CMYK

is impossible to escape. We destroyed our water resources. Now our air is hazardous. We have turned elements of life into vehicles of death,” said Jan.