E-Paper PDF 9th October (LHR)

CMYK

Wednesday, 9 October, 2019 I 9 Safar-ul-Muzaffar, 1441 I Rs 20.00 I Vol X No 99 I 16 Pages I Lahore Edition

Imran takes charge of cPec, other foreIgn Investments g

government sets up CPeC Authority through presidential ordinance PML-N rejects creation of CPEC Authority STORY ON PAGES 02 & 03

File photo

JUI-F wins opposition’s support for Azadi March STORY ON BACK PAGE

Musharraf treason case to be heard on daily basis from Oct 24 STORY ON PAGE 02

PM SAyS he wAntS to Send ‘500 CorrUPt IndIvIdUAlS to JAIl’, ASPIreS to Follow PreSIdent XI’S CrUSAde AgAInSt CorrUPtIon

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ChIneSe PM SAyS 2nd PhASe oF CPeC InStrUMentAl In reInForCIng And ConSolIdAtIng PAkIStAn’S eConoMIC develoPMent

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rIMe Minister Imran khan, who is in China on a two-day official visit, on tuesday touted newly-formed China-Pakistan economic Corridor (CPeC) Authority, saying as per the new policy his office [Prime Minister’s office] will deal with all the foreign investments and the corridor.

Speaking at the China Council for Promotion of International trade, the prime minister said the pro-business policies of the ruling Pakistan tehreek-e-Insaf (PtI) will facilitate investors and that he had taken a conscious decision to make it easier for investors to come to Pakistan after his party assumed power after 2018 general election. “we will want them to make profits in Pakistan,” he said, adding that the PM’s office will be dealing with all the major investments, including CPeC. “we have now decided that there will be one authority which will resolve all the problems of CPeC, and that authority will be the Prime Minister’s office, so that my office can make it easier for people investing in Pakistan,” he said. the PM recounted various steps that Pakistan had taken, including the completion of phase one of the gwadar Free Zone. he said that there were various reasons for people to invest in Pakistan, including its strategic location, its young population and the

economic revival taking place in the country — particularly the strides made in the ease of doing business as well as the industrial clusters through special economic zones (SeZs).

Prime Minister Imran named the sectors Pakistan wanted Chinese investment in: textile, manufacturing, It and financial services, physical and technological logistics, tourism and hospitality, food processing and agriculture, housing as well as in oil and gas.

XI’S ANTI-CORRUPTION MODEL: PM Imran khan also expressed his desire for following Chinese President Xi Jinping’s model of countering corruption and send 500 corrupt people to jail, saying processing of corruption cases in Pakistan was “very

cumbersome”. on the occasion, the PM said one thing he had learned from China was how the country’s leadership tackled corruption. “one of President Xi Jinping’s biggest crusades was against corruption,” he said, adding that he had heard that some 400 “ministerial-level people” had been convicted over corrupt practices and put behind jail in the last five years in China. referring to Xi’s anticorruption drive in 2012, PM Imran said: “I wish I could follow President Xi’s example and put 500 corrupt people in Pakistan in jail.” besides corruption, the PM also praised Chinese that had lifted over 700 million people out of poverty in 30 years, calling it “unprecedented”.

PM MEETS CHINESE PREMIER:

later, the PM arrived at the great hall of the People in beijing where his Chinese counterpart li keqiang received him. the prime minister also stressed the importance of the CPeC project in a meeting with PM li keqiang and said the project was pivotal for Pakistan’s “economic development and regional prosperity”. during the meeting, li thanked Imran for the measures to advance the CPeC projects and maintained that the second phase of CPeC would be instrumental in reinforcing and consolidating Pakistan’s economic development and pave the way for enhanced Chinese investments in Pakistan.

CONTINUED ON BACK PAGE

SC bench seeks early disposal of Justice Isa case STORY ON BACK PAGE g

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Chinese military supports Pakistan’s ‘principled, sane’ stance on Kashmir

STORY ON BACK PAGE

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CoUrt AdJoUrnS heArIng tIll oCt 14, reJeCtS twoweek deFerMent reqUeSt by JUStICe ISA’S CoUnSel CoUnSel SAyS CASe IS A trIAl oF entIre JUdICIAry, It’S Job oF benCh to SAFegUArd thIS InStItUtIon

CMYK Wednesday, 9 October, 2019

02 NEWS

Govt sets uP CPeC Authority throuGh PresidentiAL ordinAnCe ISLAMABAD

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RESIDENT Arif Alvi on Tuesday promulgated “The CPEC Authority Ordinance, 2019” for the establishment of the ‘China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Authority (CPECA)’.

The authority, which is aimed at accelerating the pace of CPEC-related activities, will find new drives of growth, unlock the potential of the interlinked production network and global value chains through regional and global connectivity. Another ordinance which was passed alongside the promulgation of the CPECA ordinance a day earlier was “The Tax Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2019”, which was aimed at granting tax concessions to the Gwadar port and its free zone.

The setting up of the CPEC Authority and extending tax concessions to

Gwadar port in line with the Gwadar Port Concession Agreement was approved by the National Development Council, a 13-member body formed in June with an aim to set policies and strategies for development and “formulate and tailor policies to achieve accelerated economic growth”.

Govt can't be overthrown on personal wishes, says interior minister ISLAMABAD: Amid Jamiat Ulema-eIslam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s call for anti-government protest, Interior Minister Ijaz Ahmed Shah on Tuesday said that the government cannot be thrown on personal wishes. While addressing a presser alongside State Minister Overseas Pakistanis Syed Zulfiqar Abbas Bukhari, Shah said: “The government can’t be toppled on anyone’s demand. Those who are launching the protest march are against the country.” “The timing of Rehman’s sit-in isn’t appropriate whereas the conditions during Imran Khan’s sit-in were entirely different,” he cleared. The interior minister warned that Section 144 has been imposed in Islamabad’s Blue Area. “I think Fazlur Rehman will not come to Islamabad on Oct 27,” he said while praising the Imran for being country’s first prime minister to talk about the welfare state of Madina”. STAFF REPORT

AJK PM urges JKLF protesters to disburse Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider has urged the protesters of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) to end their march to the Line of Control (LoC) as it had already served its purpose.

On Monday, JKLF protesters had expressed their determination to reach the de-factor border that separates Kashmir by urging the authorities to remove the containers so that they can proceed with their march. Addressing a press conference in Jiskool, where the marchers were holding their sit-in, JKLF Central Spokesperson Mohammad Rafiq Dar had said, “The AJK government should remove the hurdles and allow the marchers to cross the ceasefire line or else the sit-in will continue at this place for an indefinite period.” NEWS DESK

The development coincides with Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to China Beijing amid Kashmir issue and an economy heading south since his assumption of office in August last year.

The tour will include talks on the progress of CPEC projects. Observers believe that, with the passing of those ordinances, the government intends to send a strong signal to Beijing that Islamabad is serious in implementing the multibillion-dollar strategic initiative.

In August last, the prime minister announced that his government was forming CPECA to ensure the timely completion of the CPEC projects. He had said that authority would “help ensure coordination among the departments concerned”.

“The completion of CPEC will not only benefit Pakistan and China but also the entire region,” the premier had said, adding that the timely completion of CPEC projects was the top-most prior-

ity of the government and CPEC is a clear example of joint efforts and partnership between Pakistan and China.

Some officials and observers have said momentum on CPEC projects is slowing, in part due to concerns over the size of Pakistan’s debt and struggling economy, which led Islamabad to turn to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $6 billion bailout package in July. However, Minister for Planning, Development and Reform Khusro Bakht Yar at a news conference on Sunday denied any slowdown in CPEC projects. “(There’s) a narrative being built up that they have become slow; I reject it, it’s totally wrong,” he said. The minister said: “There will be meaningful engagement on all aspects of Pakistan-China relations during the visit”, expressing the hope that it would take CPEC cooperation to new heights so that benefits of Pakistan’s economic progress could reach the people at the earliest.

Musharraf treason case to be heard on daily basis from Oct 24 PESHAWAR STAFF REPORT

A special court on Tuesday decided to hear a high treason case against former dictator General (r) Pervez Musharraf on a daily basis from October 24.

A three-member bench, led by Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth, while hearing the case on Tuesday directed all parties to submit their written arguments before next hearing of the case. At the start of the hearing, an application was submitted on behalf of Musharraf’s counsel Raza Bashir for deferment of the hearing due to his health. According to the plea, Bashir is suffering from dengue and

is under treatment at Mayo Hospital in Lahore. The plea was granted.

During the last hearing in September, the same court had ordered that the proceedings in the treason trial would resume on a daily basis from October 8.

Peshawar High Court (PHC) Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth was tasked with hearing the case by the federal government after retirement of Justice Tahira Safdar — who was earlier heading the court.

The high treason trial of former military dictator for clamping the state of emergency on Nov 3, 2007 has been pending since December 2013.

He was booked in the treason

case in December 2013. He was indicted on March 31, 2014, and the prosecution had tabled the entire evidence before the special court in September the same year. However, due to litigation at appellate forums, the trial of the former military dictator lingered on and he left Pakistan in March 2016.

Musharraf is said to be suffering from cardiac amyloidosis (congestive heart failure), chronic kidney disease (high creatinine in the renal system), excessive somnolence (hypersomnia), spinal injury and fracture. The special court had declared him a proclaimed offender and ordered confiscation of his property due to his no-show.

PM's visit to further strengthen Sino-Pak strategic ties: Firdous ISLAMABAD APP

Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Firdous Ashiq Awan has said that Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit to China will promote cooperation in fields of economy and investment and will further strengthen the strategic relations between both countries. In a series of tweets posted on Tuesday, Awan said that the visit would make the deep and everlasting friendship between

Pakistan and China stronger. Prime Minister Imran Khan will meet his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang and President Xi Jinping during his visit and exchange views over the critical situation in India-occupied Kashmir (IoK), she added.

Awan further said that the premier would inform the Chinese leadership about the historic decisions made by the government regarding the implementations of the ChinaPakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects. Firdous Ashiq Awan thanked China for backing Pakistan’s stance in supporting the oppressed people of occupied Kashmir.

indiAn trooPs MArtyr 2 youth in ioK SRINAGAR APP

Indian troops martyred two Kashmiri youth in Pulwama district in Indian occupied Kashmir on Tuesday. The troops martyred the youth during a cordon and search operation in Awantipora area of the district. Violent military operations are going on in Ganderbal, Bandipore, Kupwara, Baramulla, Srinagar, Islamabad, Kulgam, Shopian, Ramban, Doda, Kishtwar and other areas of the territory for the past 12 days, Kashmir Media Service reported. Meanwhile, life remains badly hit in the Kashmir valley and Muslim majority areas of Jammu region on the 65th day with reports of night raids, arrests of young boys and multiple deaths amid the ongoing military clampdown coupled with communications blackout.

The people in the territory are facing shortages of essential commodities as main markets continue to remain shut and public transport off the roads. India-based online news portal, NewsClickin, has made a scathing attack on Indian Supreme Court over its silence, inaction and indifference to a number of petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370. The web portal cited UN experts that the blackout is a form of collective punishment of the people of Jammu and Kashmir and remarked the concerns raised by the experts had failed to awaken the constitutional conscience of the Supreme Court. It is worth mentioning here that the Indian top court had adjourned the hearings on these petitions until November 14.

over 650 denGue PAtients AdMitted in isLAMAbAd hosPitALs within 24 hours ISLAMABAD

STAFF RPEORT

Dengue is on a rapid rise in parts of the country as 150 patients have been admitted to Islamabad’s Polyclinic Hospital, 350 to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) Hospital and 150 to CDA Hospital.

Health department sources on Tuesday said that 129 people have been affected by the disease during the past 24 hours in Rawalpindi where the total number of sufferers has surged to 7,105. Dengue has taken 32 lives so far. Eight new dengue cases have been reported in Lahore, taking the toll to 218. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 87 persons were tested positive for dengue fever in the past 24 hours and the total number of affectees has surged to 4,522. 32 patients were affected by the disease in Peshawar where 2,080 patients have suffered so far. 70 more patients were admitted to hospitals across the province in the last 24 hours. In Sindh, over 4000 people have been tested positive.

Quota in CSS exams: Case sent to IHC CJ for larger bench ISLAMABAD APP

A single-member bench of Islamabad High Court (IHC) Tuesday sent the case challenging the quota system in Central Superior Services (CSS) exams, to the chief justice to form a larger bench to take up the petition.

Justice Aamer Farooq remarked that he was sending the case to the chief justice for forming larger bench as it was an important matter to be decided.

During the outset of the hearing, the petitioner’s lawyer Munawar Iqbal Dugal pleaded that the quota system had been stopped in 2013 in CSS exams but the practice was still continuing. He argued

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that the quota system could only be extended through an act of Parliament in accordance with the land. He prayed the court to direct the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) to ban this practice as it was violating the merit system in Pakistan.

Justice Farooq asked the deputy attorney general (DAG) that why the quota system had been in practice in competitor exams

to this DAG Raja Khalid Mehmood said that it was introduced just to bring the undeveloped regions at an equal level.

The bench asked how development could be brought after killing of a merit system, adding that this development couldn’t so far reach since 1973. The court referred the matter to the chief justice and adjourned the hearing of the case.

CMYK Wednesday, 9 October, 2019

PML-n reJeCts CreAtion oF CPeC Authority Iqbal says gOvt bypassed parlIaMent tO fOrM CpeC authOrIty ISLAMABAD

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STAFF REPORT

AKISTAN Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) Secretary General Ahsan Iqbal, while rejecting the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority on Tuesday, said that its formation is illegal and in violation of the recommendations of the parliamentary

committee.

He said that President Arif Alvi bypassed the CPEC Committee and the parliament to sign the ordinance for the formation of the authority. “PML-N will strongly contest and protest against this act in the parliament and all relevant forums,” he said.

Ahsan pointed out that Parliamentary Committee on CPEC had unanimously opposed and rejected the formation of such a body. He said that bulldozing the parliament and implementing this authority through an ordinance is an intentional effort to make the giant national project controversial.

He added that he had personally sent a message directly to the president that the creation of this body is illegal, therefore, he should not sign it under

any circumstances, but he ignored his message and the advice of the top national institution, the parliament.

“The creation of this authority is a clear message to undermine trust in civilian institutions. Investment of $28.5 billion did not come into the country through any such ‘authority’. It was brought over by a civilian political government through democratic and constitutional institutions. It does not take such bodies to complete and operate CPEC. It takes money and vision, and the current regime is devoid of both,” he reminded.

The former planning minister pointed out that the creation of this authority will create problems and complications in collaborations between ministries and department. This, he

said, will create bureaucratic hurdles and limitations that will hamper and stall the CPEC. He said that the Parliamentary Committee on CPEC recommended that the matter of formation of this authority be presented before the parliament where it should be exhaustively debated. He said that the committee had also advised not to go ahead with creation of any such body other than as an act of the parliament through legislation. “This does not resonate with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) regime because they do not believe in the parliament and want to hide everything from the people, from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) deal to CPEC, which is why they have shut the parliament down,” he concluded.

pakistan summons Indian envoy over loC ceasefire violations ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Senate body on interior approves NACTA amendment bill ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Interior has approved the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) amendment bill and also approved the resolution condemning Indian brutalities in Kashmir. The committee meeting was held on Tuesday with Rehman Malik in the chair.

Soon after the commencement of the meeting, a resolution against Indian adversities in Indian Occupied Kashmir was approved demanding UN to pressurize India to lift curfew in Kashmir. The committee also offered Fateh for the victims who died during the October 2008 massive earthquake in AJK and KP. Commenting over the passage of the amendment in NACTA, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Azam Swati told that the chairman NACTA will lead the committee while interior minister will be the head of the board rather prime minister. DIG Punjab briefed the committee over the rape with kids and said only 12 cases were registered out of 100 missing kids as the dead bodies of the missing children were found at deserted areas. He apprised the committee that the initial report suggested that the prime accused of the case Sohail Shehzad was also the victim of the rape during his childhood and was working on Tandoor. Expressing satisfaction over the arrest of rape accused, Rehman Malik said Punjab police should bring the case to its logical end. STAFF REPORT

Pakistan on Tuesday summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner Gaurav Ahluwalia again and condemned the unprovoked ceasefire violations by the Indian occupation forces along the Line of Control (LoC) on 6th and 7th of October 2019.

Director General (SA & SAARC) Dr Mohammad Faisal told the Indian envoy that due to indiscriminate and unprovoked firing by Indian Army in Chirikot Sector of LOC, an old lady Nazira Begum w/o Muhammad Hussain, aged 69 years, resident of village Kakuta embraced Shahadat, while three other civilians,

Manzoor s/o Ashraf aged 43 years, Jamil s/o Misri aged 40 years and Mushtaq s/o Ghulam Muhammad aged 46 years, residents of village Kakuta sustained serious injuries.

Foreign Office in a statement said the Indian occupation forces along the LoC and Working Boundary have continuously been targeting civilian populated areas with artillery fire, heavy-calibre mortars, and automatic weapons, which still continues.

This unprecedented escalation in ceasefire violations by India is continuing from the year 2017 when the Indian forces committed 1970 ceasefire violations, the statement added.

The deliberate targeting of civilian populated areas is indeed deplorable

and contrary to human dignity, international human rights and humanitarian laws. The ceasefire violations by India are a threat to regional peace and security and may lead to a strategic miscalculation, it said.

The Director-General (SA & SAARC) urged the Indian side to respect the 2003 Ceasefire arrangement; investigate these and other incidents of ceasefire violations; instruct the Indian forces to respect the ceasefire, in letter and spirit and maintain peace on the LoC and the Working Boundary. He urged that the Indian side should permit UNMOGIP to play its mandated role as per the UN Security Council resolutions, the statement concluded.

Cabinet committee allows highrise buildings near airports ISLAMABAD: The federal cabinet’s sub-committee on high-rise buildings has decided to allow the construction of multi-storey buildings within a radius of 15.24 kilometers of every airport under international aviation laws. Federal Minister for Aviation Ghulam Sarwar Khan, who presided over a meeting of the committee, said a final decision in this regard will be taken by the cabinet. He explained Civil Aviation Rules-1994 (Rule 68) defines height restriction in terms of various Obstacle Limitation Surfaces (OLS) around an aerodrome up to a maximum limit of 15.24 kilometers. International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) also defines similar criteria to safeguard aerodrome, he added. Besides these OLSA, the minister said, instrument flight procedures for aircraft operation have to be safeguarded through

obstacle clearance criteria to ensure clear flights paths.

For all remaining areas falling within the obstacle limitation surfaces, provisions of Rules 68 and ICAO relevant standards shall remain in force, he said. Khan said that skyscrapers within a 15.24-kilometer radius of airports are quite dangerous for aircraft landing and takeoff. Prime Minister’s Special Assistant on Poverty Alleviation Dr Sania Nishtar, Federal Minister for Power Omar Ayub Khan and other Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) official attended the meeting. STAFF REPORT

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Efforts afoot for disaster-resilient Pakistan: PM Imran ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Tuesday said the government would continue to take all possible measures for a ‘disaster-resilient Pakistan’ through effective prevention, mitigation and preparedness. “Pakistan is also committed to fulfilling its responsibilities mandated under regional and global frameworks on Disaster Risk Reduction, as a signatory,” the prime minister said in his message in commemoration of the victims of October 8, 2005 earthquake. “Today, on the commemoration of 14th year of the tragic earthquake of 2005, I would like to express my deepest condolences to the families of victims who lost their loved ones in the unfortunate earthquake,” he said. Imran Khan hoped that National Resilience Day – marked in remembrance of the 2005’s quake victims – would encourage the people of Pakistan to not only enhance their knowledge about disaster risk management but also spread the message of preparedness, safety and self-reliance. “While that major earthquake incident left unforgettable memories of devastation, pain and sorrow, however, Pakistani nation also rose to the challenges and exhibited an exemplary spirit of sacrifices, philanthropy, mutual help and resilience,” he said. He recalled that the system existing at that time to manage such a disaster was not at all capable of handling the situation and expressed satisfaction on putting in place a comprehensive and efficient National Disaster Management System through an Act of Parliament. He said the government was committed to further reform and strengthens the system.

The PM also paid homage to the victims of the recent earthquake of Mirpur, Azad Jammu & Kashmir and expressed resolve to provide all possible support to the people in affected areas till their complete rehabilitation. STAFF REPORT

ECP registers 4.5m new women voters The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has registered 4.5 million new female voters mostly from areas where societal values have been barring womenfolk from coming to the fore, according to a media report on Tuesday.

ECP Additional Director General Nadeem Qasim told a local media outfit that a majority of the new female voters belonged to the tribal districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan where the election watchdog had undertaken awareness campaigns for two years. He said those districts were selected for launching the drive where the difference between male and female voters was more than 10 per cent. “Despite being 49 per cent of the population, the number of registered women voters is 12.5m less than men in a total of 110m registered voters,” he added.

Sharing the method employed to motivate the womenfolk, the ADG said that the National Database and Registration Authority’s mobile vans were used to offer free national identity card service and Friday was fixed as the women-specific day for making their CNIC’s. “This helped the ECP to register them as voters.” NEWS DESK

PM Imran declared ‘Man of the Year’ by Jordan institute ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Jordan’s Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre named Prime Minister Imran Khan as its ‘Man of the Year’ in its recent list of the most persuasive Muslims in the world, Arab News reported on Tuesday.

The centre is an autonomous research entity with the Royal Aal Al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought in Jordan .

“If The Muslim 500 was in print back in 1992 and I was the chief editor then, I would have nominated Imran Khan as our ‘Muslim Man of the Year’ because of his brilliant performance in cricket, which culminated in Pakistan winning the 1992 Cricket World Cup — a sport I have always admired for its combination of elegance and intense competitive play,” said Professor S Abdallah Schleifer, a professor emeritus of Journalism in the American University in Cairo, who chose Imran

as the winner of the title.

Schleifer was quick to add that Imran’s role in cricket was not the only criteria for him being bestowed with the title. He said that he was also impressed with Imran’s launching of a successful fund-raising campaign to establish a hospital devoted to both the care of cancer victims and its research.

“This was his magnificent response to the loss of his mother to cancer in 1985 and given Imran’s extraordinary popularity with Pakistanis both at home as well as among the large number of Pakistani expats – along with his own, no doubt, generous personal contribution — he raised sufficient funds so that by 1994, the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital opened its doors in Lahore whereby 75 percent of its patients receive free-care,” he added.

However, it was PM Imran’s desire for peace with neighboring India which

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earned him the title, Schleifer said.

Imran assumed the office of prime minister last year after devoting 22 years of his life to building an opposition political party that was committed to reform and confronting Pakistan’s civilian political establishment over the issue of embedded corruption and mismanagement, the report said. This and his other accomplishments, professor Schleifer says, are detailed in the biography that accompanies his ranking (Number 16) in the latest edition of The Muslim 500.

“But what is particularly to his credit is that upon taking office in August 2018, Imran made it quite clear that one of his top priorities was to work for lasting peace with India, he said.

In his first televised broadcast as the premier of the country, Imran addressed not just the people of Pakistan and the world, but India in particular. At the time, he had said that Pakistan wanted lasting

peace with India and “if it took one step forward, we would take two steps.”

A meeting between the foreign ministers of both the countries was arranged on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in September 2018, but India canceled the meeting, the report said.

“Imran says that while all his efforts to start a dialogue were rebuffed by India, he and his cabinet assumed that Modi’s increasingly hard-lined positions and his rhetoric against Pakistan were aimed at whipping up a nationalist frenzy among the Indian voters with an eye to the Indian elections,” Schleifer said.

“This is Imran’s great dilemma— how do you make a much desired lasting peace with a nation governed by those who have neither interest nor need to make a lasting peace with Pakistan, and against whom any form of war would be hopeless,” he concluded.

04 LAHORE

Wednesday, 9 October, 2019

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Criminals make hay as Buzdar govt ‘shines’ 2,529 MORE CRIMES REPORTED IN 8 MONTHS OF 2019 COMPARED TO LAST YEAR

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FIDA HUSSNAIN

sharp increase in crime has been reported this year despite tall claims of police high ups, official data revealed.

Police statistics revealed that a total of 7,492 cases of serious crime were reported this year, compared to 4,963 cases recorded last year — an increase of 2,529 cases. The report further revealed a significant increase in incidents of property-related crime during the first seven months of this year.

Incidents of street crime, robbery and vehicle theft also skyrocketed this year, official data revealed. A total of 2,079 robberies were reported in the provincial capital as compared to the previous year’s figure of 1,416 cases. 243 murder cases were also reported; less than 10 cases from the previous year.

Data showed that 4,259 ve-

hicles were stolen in the first seven months of this year as compared to the previous year in which total of 2,508 vehicles was reportedly stolen. 23 incidents of armed robbery were reported in the first half of this year – an increase of five cases from the previous year. A marked increase in kidnappings was also noted in the report, with a total of 10 persons kidnapped for ransom as compared to four cases from last year.

“I approached police to report the kidnapping of my daughter, but the police failed to take adequate measures,” said Shahida Bibi, a resident of Shahdara area.

“It has been over one month and now I’m planning to move an application for change in investigation. I’m sure police know who the culprits are, but the inves-

tigators are not showing interest in the case. I have a feeling that the assailants have bribed the police,” she said.

Another citizen, Faizan said that Hanjarwal police did not take action against criminals who stole his bike. “I told them the names of those who I suspect were involved but the police is reluctant to take any action,” said Faizan, adding that “ They pressurized me not pursue the case.”

When contacted CCPO’s spokesperson Waseem Butt said that police have undertaken efforts to control crimes in the city and that the ratio of crime was low.

“Police are utilizing all resources to control crime in the city,” said Butt adding, “But you know, what little resources police have.”

IGP calls for action against corruption within police forces LAHORE STAFF REPORT

Inspector General Police Punjab Captain (r) Arif Nawaz Khan said that internal accountability teams should visit police stations in all districts in order to ensure the accountability of the police department.

He said that all officers involved corruption, malpractices, and abuse of power should be brought to justice.

He said that upon receiving reports of officers who go against the devised Standard Operating Procedure (SOPs), the Central Police Office will take swift action against them.

He further said that cases of sexual abuse and violence against women

and children should be assigned to experienced and well-reputed officers and that all District Police Officers (DPOs) should send weekly progress reports to CPO about police efforts undertaken in such cases.

Captain (r) Arif Nawaz Khan added that forensic science, geo-fencing and modern investigation modules should be taken full advantage of in cases involving violence against women and children and in cases involving ‘blind murders’.

These views were expressed by him while he was addressing officers at the CPO today, Change in Thana culture, internal accountability and issues of welfare of the force were also discussed in the meeting.

During the address, the IGP also said that police is a disciplined force and it has no room for inefficient and corrupt officers. He said that extrajudicial actions by any member of the police forces will not be tolerated.

Moreover, he said that there was a zero tolerance policy for those who misbehave with citizens.

The IGP added that promotion board meetings should be held regularly so the process of promotion is not delayed.

He further said that senior officers should complete the ACRs of their subordinates without delay and officers who do not write the ACRs of his subordinate will have no concession in this regard.

WCLA to revive Meet the Expert sessions from Oct 16 LAHORE SHAHAB OMER

The Walled City of Lahore Authority (WCLA) is all set to launch the second round of ‘Meet the Expert’ academic sessions from October 16, Pakistan Today learnt on Tuesday.

According to the details, the first session will be held at Lahore Fort and the topic under discussion would be the fort’s iconic picture wall.

The first round of the sessions discussed various topics, including conservation of royal kitchens, conservation of Haveli Barood Khana, conservation of the fort’s picture wall and conservation of the Shahi Hammam. It may be mentioned here that the new sessions have been upscaled and a panel of four to five experts would express their view over the topic.

Almost 1,500 students studying in the faculties of archaeology, history, fine arts, anthropology etc. from leading universities like Government College University (GCU), National College Of Arts (NCA), Beaconhouse National University (BNU), Kinnaird College (KC), Lahore College for Women (LCW), FAST, Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Superior University, Forman Christian College (FCC) and few other participated in the previous sessions.

The first session of the second round of Meet the Expert would include speakers NCA ex-principal and Institute of Art and Culture (IAC) Vice-Chancellor (VC) Sajida Vandal and architect Wajhat Ali from Aga Khan Culture Services Pakistan (AKCSP), AKCSP

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consultant Rashid Makhdum, LUMS associate professor Dr Nadhra Shahbaz and NCA associate professor Mulghalarra Khan.

WLCA Media and Marketing Deputy Director Tania Qureshi said, “Previously, our targeted audience was primarily students but in the second round of discussions we will be inviting professionals as well as students of relevant fields. The sessions would have three to four panellists with one moderator and all aspects of one topic would be discussed followed by a Q&A session. These sessions are proposed to be interactive sessions where the audience can freely ask relevant ques-

tions after the discussion and meet the experts individually for more details about conservation and history”.

She further added that the first session of the second round of discussions has been decided on the picture wall of the Lahore Fort because it was one of the recently completed conservation projects

by WCLA and AKCSP. “This is the world’s largest picture wall and we need to promote it among the youth and professionals related to art, design and conservation. So far, the response has been good and we are also using social media for its publicity,” she added.

WCLA Marketing Director Asif Zaheer said, “It is

important to engage youth and students of the relevant fields in our projects so that they learn from the ongoing conservation projects. The aim of these sessions in the second season is to train the students and professionals on all aspects of a project.

We will be discussing the art, history and conservation of picture wall, its salient features and importance of art in the Mughal era and how it flourished. We will also be inviting ideas from the audience regarding tourism and promotion of tourism in the fort. We are not limiting the session topics to conservation; these will also cover the cultural topics related to old Lahore”.

Wednesday, 9 October, 2019

FINaNCe CoMMIssIoN to be establIshed IN PuNjab LAHORE

P

STAFF REPORT

UNJAB Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar on Tuesday presided over the 18th meeting of Punjab cabinet in his office and approved the formation of a 13-member Punjab Local Government Finance Commission.

The commission would be headed by the provincial finance minister and would devise the formula for provincial taxes.

The meeting decided to lift a ban on recruitment against vacant posts from grade-I to IV as the chief minister directed the departments to forward their cases for recruitment against such grades.

The chief minister would give ap-

proval to the recruitment after reviewing them on a case-to-case basis. The Punjab cabinet also decided to shut down ‘Sasti Roti Authority’ and decided to hold a special audit of irregularities in the scheme.

Action will be initiated in light of the special audit report. A detailed briefing about anti-dengue measures was also given during the meeting, whereas, it was decided to amend the table of registration fee of Registration Act, 1908 and the scope of the e-stamping scheme would further be extended after the amendments.

Approval was given to increase fines for violation of traffic rules as well as adoption of different steps for ensuring traffic management in the light of the Provincial Motor Vehicles Amendment Bill 2019. The meeting gave approval to

amendments in Punjab Border Military Police and Baloch Levies Service Rules 2009. It also decided to establish the University of Technology in Rawalpindi and approved the draft bill 2019 in this regard.

The meeting approved the release of funds worth more than Rs 60 million with regard to operations of speedo buses in Bahawalpur to Lodhran. The meeting also granted approval to the draft of Punjab Demarcation, Numbering and Naming of Village and Neighbourhood Rules, 2019.

The chief minister directed the ministers to hold open courts in their respective districts, adding that ministers should go to the field to provide relief to the people and to control the prices of items.

The ministers should also regularly hold meetings to control dengue in their

NEWS BUZDAR GOVERNMENT DECIDES TO SHUT DOWN ‘SASTI ROTI SCHEME’, ORDERS ITS AUDIT districts. He asked the ministers to review progress made on development projects and further directed that provincial ministers should visit hospitals, educational institutions, arazi record centres, police stations, jails, and other public places and submit their reports to the Chief Minister’s Office. Every possible step would be taken for bringing ease in the lives of the people, said Buzdar, adding that the ministers should maintain close liaison with the district administration and submit a fortnightly report to the CMO. Proposals for further saving government resources should also be submitted. Performance of provincial ministers would be regularly reviewed, he said. The meeting gave approval to the appointment of Iftikhar Taj Mian as a non-official member of management committee of the Punjab Pension Fund.

Kashmir quake memories continue to haunt victims MUZAFFARABAD AGENCIES

Thousands thronged the central graveyard in Muzaffarabad — the capital of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) — on Tuesday to pray for their loved-ones who were killed in a massive earthquake that struck the valley and other parts of Pakistan 14 years ago.

With eyes damp and an air of melancholic remembrance, they honoured over 80,000 victims who had died on October 8, 2005 in the worst ever earthquake that hit the region in recent history. Rumbling tremors destroyed thousands of homes and government buildings as well as infrastructure, including bridges and roads, apart from injuring thousands.

The day began with a mass prayer in Muzaffarabad attended by hundreds, including government and judicial functionaries. Congregations were also held in Bagh, Rawlakot, Bhimber, Mirpur, and other parts of AJK. Mirpur and Bhimber districts were also hit by a strong earthquake last month, killing 40 people, and injuring over 800 people – a grim reminder of October 2005 tremor.

In a message on the 14th anniversary of disastrous quake, Prime Minister Imran Khan vowed that his government would work until the rehabilitation of the last victim. AJK President Sardar Masood Khan said in a statement that the catastrophe that hit the valley and parts of the country — claiming the lives of thousands of chil-

PUNJAB PUNCH SHAHAB OMER ECENT raids over alleged illegal consumption of alcohol at two of Lahore’s most renowned restaurants, Café Aylanto and Gai’a, have made owners of other restaurants anxious because they fear they might be next, while on the other hand, a district administration official has revealed that they, on the instructions of Lahore commissioner, have prepared a list of restaurants who are serving liquor.

On September 7, the Excise department conducted a raid at Café Aylanto’s MM Alam Road branch and after discovering bottles of premium liquor, sealed the restaurant. Later, the management reached an agreement with the district administration, allowing them to reopen the restaurant. On September 28, the department conducted another raid at Gai’a restaurant in the upscale Phase 5 area of Defence Housing Authority (DHA) but they could not find anything and left without any further action.

Interestingly, one thing common between both raids was the presence of Model Town Assistant Commissioner (AC) Zeeshan Ranjha, who appears to have acted beyond his domain by raiding a restaurant out of his jurisdiction while it was the domain of Cantonment AC who was also present during the raid.

According to a source in district administration, the city commissioner is behind these raids because of some personal

R

dren, young people, women and elderly as well as destroying public and private property — was still fresh in memory.

UNFORGETTABLE: Many still clearly remember the grim memories of the catastrophe. “It is an unforgettable memory. I am afraid I won’t be able to scratch that from my mind until death,” said Zahid Abbas, a survivor of the earthquake. He lost 10 members of his family including his father and brother who could not escape their home on time.

“It’s been 14 years but I still remember

how the earth jolted, buildings and houses shaken, and roads torn apart” said Abbas, wearing a wispy gray beard and matching hair, adding, “This all has permanently settled in my mind.” Zia-ur-Rehman, a resident of Balakot town in northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) — another badly hit area by the earthquake — said: “I don’t want to remember that day when our city was completely destroyed, hundreds of houses and schools collapsed and we lost thousands of people.” He had lost 60 members of his extended family

including his grandfather, grandmother and many close relatives. “Many of our relatives suffered mental diseases as they lost their houses and businesses.”

“We still feel the pain and fear aggravated by the last month’s earthquake in Mirpur,” Rehman said, adding that many residents of Balakot, including himself, spent nights sleeping on roads after Mirpur earthquake due to fear that another convulsion would hit further north. Pakistan is located in the seismically active Indus — Tsangpo Suture Zone, which is roughly 200 kilometres north of the Himalaya Front and has the highest rates of seismicity and largest earthquakes in the Himalaya region, according to the US Geological Survey.

REHABILITATION: Backed by international donors and governments, authorities launched a massive campaign to rehabilitate survivors and the reconstruction of infrastructure. However, locals appeared to be unsatisfied with the developments. “It’s been 14 years but not even the first stone of hundreds of reconstruction projects has been placed,” Abbas Gardezi, a local journalist, said. A government official in Muzaffarabad, wishing not to be named, seconded Gardezi’s view. He said some 900 projects aiming to rebuild hundreds of schools and hospital buildings, had yet to be completed. Tahir Abbasi, a resident of Bagh district, also voiced a similar view. “The government has fulfilled 60 per cent of it’s promises in 14 years. Scores of schools and hospital buildings have yet to be repaired in Bagh.”

05

Mobile phones to act as CNICs in future IHC TO HEAR DISQUALIFICATION PETITION AGAINST FAWAD ON OCT 9 ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry said on Tuesday that the government is planning to introduce a mobile payment system, which would end the hassle of presenting the computerised national identity cards (CNICs) while shopping. “Your mobile phone will act as your identity card in future,” he said while speaking at a signing ceremony for technical collaboration with Alsons Group and Tatsuno Corporation. In Pakistan, science is still not taken seriously and it takes effort to explain science-based ideas to people. “We are telling people in the year 2019 that there is no need of telescope to sight moon,” he added.

“Developed countries are lucky that they have advanced issues to take care of while here in Pakistan we have to deal with people like Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Khadim Hussain Rizvi every Friday,” he said. Fawad also said that in this era, use of technology can determine the success of any business but in Pakistan, we have yet to understand this. He also announced that a state-of-the-art BioScience Park will be made in Jehlum. The minister welcomed emerging Japanese technology in the fields of oil and gas and recalled, “We only heard of Japanese technology everywhere in the country when we were growing up”. Philips is a big name and its contribution in developing and manufacturing lights in Pakistan is in the benefit of the country, he added.

IHC TO HEAR DISQUALIFICATION PETITION AGAINST FAWAD ON OCT 9: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Tuesday fixed Oct 9 for hearing of a petition seeking the disqualification of Fawad. According to a cause-list issued by IHC’s registrar office, Justice Athar Minullah will hear the case.

A notice has also been sent to Fawad and Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in this regard. The petition against the PTI stalwart was filed under Article 62(1)(f) for allegedly concealing his assets. STAFF REPORT

Excise raids making restaurant owners anxious in Lahore vendetta he is harbouring against these restaurants. “Aylanto management did not entertain the commissioner and he wanted to teach them a lesson by defaming them,” the source said, adding that other raids are now being conducted to present such activities as a routine matter.

This has perturbed restaurant owners. A restaurant owner, who asked to remain anonymous over fear of retaliation, said that in hospitality business one is expected to meet the demands of customers, who sometimes include foreigners who ask for liquor. “Sometimes we arrange liquor for them and sometimes they bring their own drinks. This has been the norm for a long time but we have not faced such ruthless behaviour at the hands of authorities. We allow the food authority to check the quality of our food but we cannot allow officers to come and sniff our guests because it is not only insulting to their self-respect but is harmful for our business,” he said.

“I fear that people will start visiting restaurants out of fear of officers who think it is their right to misbehave with customers. I believe the district administration is trying to blackmail the managements of restaurants because they want something in return. Their tactics are well-known. Their high-ups avoid direct bribes and use their authority to force us to entertain their ‘special guests’ for free while their lower staff occasionally visits to ask for money,” he added.

With visible signs of stress, the restaurant owner said that the district administration should focus on real issues and avoid harassing people. “They should focus on controlling the dengue outbreak, removing encroachments, sealing illegal petrol pumps, reforming the waste management infrastructure and resolving water issues but they are diverting the public’s attention from these issues by raiding restaurants for liquor,” he added.

“Why are they not raiding schools where drugs are being sold and sub-standard food is being served to children?

Why are they not keeping a check on shopkeepers who are selling everyday items at high rates illegally? Why are they not checking the markets where fake items are being sold openly? Why are they not making any efforts to retrieve government land from land grabbers?” he asked.

Meanwhile, an ET&NC official, while speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that the department’s raid at Gai’a was only meant to intimidate the owner.

“The district administration officials involved in the raid were clearly working out of their domain,” the official said.

The official also said that ET&NC Director General (DG) Zahid Hussain was asked by Lahore commissioner to send a team to raid the restaurant and he assembled a flawed team in a hurry but before the Excise team could reach the venue, the district administration team had already conducted a raid and had harassed the people.

When approached, ET&NC Director Rizwan Sherwani, who had led the team for the raid, said, “We acted on behalf of the district administration upon being informed that liquor was being served illegally at the restaurant. ET&NC DG was informed by the district administration and thus we were assigned this task.”

“Nothing was recovered from the restaurant and the management told us that people bring their own drinks which are served by the waiters. However, on the day of the raid, no liquor was found in the restaurant. We then issued them a warning saying that although we do not mean to harass anyone, consumption of liquor at public restaurants is a violation of law,” he said.

He further said that their original domain is to catch those involved in the production of cheap and harmful liquor but they are being tasked with raiding restaurants. “We are currently devising a policy on how to handle such issues because we neither want to disturb the customers nor defame the restaurants. People are unaware of laws and thus violate them, therefore, we are planning on educating and informing them about their legal duties,” he said.

Model Town AC Ranjha, who was present during both raids, denied Excise department’s statement of district administration informing them of the illegal consumption of liquor at the restaurant, and said that it was the other way round.

“After the raid at Aylanto, all restaurants became conscious but on the day of

the raid at Gai’a there were proofs that liquor bottles were taken inside the restaurant,” he said. When asked about his presence at both raids, he said that he lives in the vicinity of Gai’a and had joined the team in an “unofficial capacity” on directions of the commissioner.

“We have prepared a list of restaurants where liquor is being served. The commissioner’s idea is to get hold of such restaurants to curb alcohol consumption,” he said while dismissing claims that the commissioner had been acting out of personal grudges. “The raids had been planned a while ago as we have the power to raid restaurants under Civil Administration Act 2017. These are the concerns of the Chief Minister’s Office as well and directions have been passed to the commissioner from there,” he said.

According to sources, Model Town AC Ranjha was once an ETO before joining the district administration. “There were several inquiries against him for registering non-custom paid vehicles,” sources added.

Masood Bashir Warraich, the ETO who had raided Aylanto along with district administration, said that the district administration was behind the raids and not the Excise department. Well-informed sources, while commenting on the development, said that if the commissioner actually wants to reform the society, he should also raid high-profile clubs such as Gymkhana but he would never do that since he understands he would be in hot waters.

Wednesday, 9 October, 2019

06 WORLD VIEW

Angry IrAqIs demAnd new government ForeIgn PoLIcy

B

PESHA MAGID

AGHDAD’S demonstrations began on Oct 1 with an intensity and a brutality that surprised even veteran protesters.

Thousands of people came out on the first day only to be met with tear gas, water cannons, and bullets. By the second, third, and fourth days of protests, Iraqi armed forces were shooting pointblank at protesters’ heads. The government cut the internet, and there were reports of snipers targeting protesters. As of the last count, the armed forces had killed more than 100 people and injured thousands since the protests started.

Today, the newly reerected roadblocks in the streets and pall of yellow tear gas hanging over Baghdad represent years of frustration bubbling over into leaderless, often spontaneous demonstrations. Many of the protesters are young people between the ages of 13 and 30 who grew up in the post-2003 era and whose entire lives have been defined by a government plagued by corruption and inefficiency. Oct. 1 marked almost a year since Prime Minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi took office, and protesters say they still lack the basic services.

A number of demonstrators told Foreign Policy that they are so fed up with the Green Zone-protected Iraqi parliament—one installed in the heavily fortified former U.S. occupation zone under largely American rules—that they are ready for a military ruler again.

“We want to overthrow the Green Zone. The corrupt, the parliamentarians, the prime minister—they’re all in the Green Zone,” said Abdullah, a 25-yearold protester who stood with a group of friends on the street shortly after fleeing a protest where they were shot at with live bullets. One of his friends had a bullet wound bandaged up on his foot. They were determined to return to the protests and remain on the streets, he said.

“We hope to overthrow the corrupt and create a different type of government, something presidential or a dictatorship,” said Abdullah, who asked that only his

first named be used.

Ali Abdul Karim, an 18-year-old protester, also said he would prefer a military leader to the current multiparty parliamentary system. He pointed to a general named Abdul-Wahab al-Saadi as a leader who he believes is fit to take the reins in Iraq. “He freed Mosul,” he said. “He’s a true nationalist and does not have a relationship with Iran or America.”

“We want anything,” Abdullah said.

From behind him, another protester added, “Even the Jews.” Abdullah agreed, saying, “Even if the Indians came to rule us, it would be better. Someone from another country, we don’t want someone from Iraq. The Iraqis are tired. The majority of them are shadowy and corrupt. … The most they do is cooperate with Iranians. So we hope for a change. We want to change all of them, the parliament, the prime minister.”

At the same time, however, many protesters fear that the violent crackdown shows that the Iraqi government is taking a path to greater authoritarianism than in the past. In the first days, Baghdad transformed from relative calm to a city filled with legions of armed forces, its central streets echoing with the sounds of bullets.

In the days following the initial crackdown, the armed forces attacked media offices and raided the homes of activists.

Around a year into Abdul-Mahdi’s tenure, many people believe the Iraqi government no longer has an excuse for its dysfunction. Iraqis complain that there have been no new roads built since the Saddam Hussein era. Young graduates with degrees in engineering work thankless jobs selling water on the street or fruit at a kiosk. Corruption is endemic within the government. Years of neglect have taken their toll on the generation that grew up after the fall of Saddam in 2003.

One of the few and oft-vaunted achievements of Abdul-Mahdi’s government was the dismantling of the T-Walls, or concrete blast walls, and checkpoints that had characterized Baghdad for years after the U.S. invasion. A few days into the protests, trucks carrying loads of the recently removed T-Walls were back, and streets were again blocked off to civilians.

Abdul-Mahdi’s small victory was reversed in days, as various armed factions fired ruthlessly on the protesters asking for jobs, services, and education.

“After 2003 until now. Problem after problem. Case after case,” Ali al-Mikdam, a young protester and activist, told Foreign Policy. “It’s collecting, and after this, inside of every single person in Iraq, there is an explosion, and this explosion came on October the 1st.”

Youth unemployment is around 25 percent, according to government figures, although the International Monetary Fund believes it to be much higher. Many Iraqis complain of a lack of health care and infrastructure. Mikdam expressed a sentiment echoed by many protesters: While Iraq’s rich oil resources have been funneled into the hands of politicians, “the new generation in Iraq has been left with nothing,” he said. “We cannot wait more.

We are very full and very angry about what happened in the last 15 years until now. Billions of dollars spent for nothing.

It’s a lot of money. Everything goes to political pockets.”

Khaldun Saab, a paramedic who volunteered to treat the injured at the protests, recalled seeing snipers moving in a half-constructed building next to Tayaran Square. He saw them shoot down two young protesters in front of his eyes.

“You know it was snipers because the shot made a small wound when it entered and then the blood”—he made a gesture with his hand indicating an explosion— “on the other side.”

Renad Mansour, a researcher for Chatham House, said it’s clear that the “the Iraqi government has no control over the many armed forces, some of which view themselves as protectors of the system.” Abdul-Mahdi, a compromise choice to be prime minister, came to power primarily through the backing of the Iranian-supported Fatah coalition within parliament, and many protesters claimed to Foreign Policy that the snipers targeting the protesters came from Iranian-backed militia groups. Three of them pointed fingers specifically to a militia called the Saraya al-Khorasani, which is known to have deep connections to Iran.

This is not the first time that Iraqis have protested corruption in the government. “Protests have been common in Iraq for several years. Mahdi’s government came in promising reform, but a year on it’s become clear to many Iraqis that he has not been able to bring change,” Mansour said.

Many people have attended regular protests since 2010, each with varying degrees of intensity. It is also not the first time there has been a violent crackdown against protesters. Last summer, in response to protests in Basra, the security forces killed dozens of people and quelled the protests—a playbook that Mansour says armed forces are again following in the current protests. “These groups learned from Basra last year that a certain level of violence can shut down protests.

And attacks on media outlets, cutting the internet, all point to an Iraq that becomes more authoritarian,” he said.

Bushra Abu al-Eis, a longtime protest organizer, said these protests are different from the ones she has seen in the past due to the influx of youth and the lack of formal leadership. “For the first time, the quiet majority is out in the streets,” she said.

Mikdam, who has also attended protests for years, said he has never seen a government response this severe. “I was in the demonstrations in 2015 and in 2011 and 2018,” he said. “I didn’t see anything like what the army and the police are doing to the people who are in the demonstrations.” He recounted being shot at, seeing someone die in front of him, and several of his friends getting injured.

“They just start killing. They come behind you and [start] killing. We are not ISIS, come on. We just need change.

For the future, for everything. I don’t know why they do this. It’s crazy,” Mikdam said, using an acronym for the Islamic State.

Abdul-Mahdi and President Barham Salih have made vague public statements saying they would attempt to fulfill the demands of the protesters, but the government’s response to the demonstrations has been met with derision by many protesters. “Abdul-Mahdi is stupid. The streets are more angry, more and more,” Mikdam said.

The demonstrations are often spontaneous and involve no clear direction. The speaker of the parliament, Mohamed alHalbousi, met with a group of representatives of the protesters in an event broadcast live on TV, but at the same time other protest organizers held a news conference to say the group that was meeting Halbousi did not represent them and that the protesters have no leaders.

Hussein al-Najjar, a representative from the Sadrist-allied Communist Party, said he hopes that the prime minister, under pressure from the Sadrist coalition, will resign in response to the protests. Moqtada al-Sadr, one of Iraq’s most powerful Shiite clerics, has previously called on the government to resign. “If Mahdi resigns, things may quiet down,” said al-Najjar.

“The joke with Mahdi was that he would have his resignation letter in his pocket due to his resignations in the past,” Mansour said, adding that even if the ministers in power change, it may not address the demands of the protesters, who want more than surface-level changes of office. “If it [Iraq] muddles through now, it’s not sustainable, and cosmetic reforms are not sustainable,” he said.

The situation remains volatile. But as of this writing, waves of harsh reprisals seemed to have taken their toll.

Protests have shrunk in size, and activists have been targeted by raids on their homes, as have several media channels. Mikdam’s home was targeted by armed men who kicked in his door and went through his possessions. He is currently in hiding and is too afraid to even venture near his home.

The remaining protests have been pushed back day by day and isolated from the rest of the city. Foreign Policy received calls from protesters late Sunday night saying security forces had surrounded their neighborhood, Sadr City, a sprawling Baghdad slum located behind both the original epicenters of the protests: Tahrir and Tayaran squares. Protesters claimed snipers and police were targeting them with live bullets and at least eight were killed. The entrances to Sadr City were completely blocked by the army, according to Saab, who attempted to enter the area to treat the wounded.

“There are snipers on the roof,” said Wissam, a protester calling from the midst of the chaos who also only gave his first name. “They’re shooting us from all directions.”

Saab, the young medic who has tended the wounded each day of the protests, doubts that they will die away permanently. The root issues remain deeply embedded as do people’s frustrations. The government cut the internet on the second day of the protests, disorienting many and making it difficult for protesters to organize. But Saab says they cannot keep the internet down forever.

“When things are published and people see it,” he said, “the demonstrations will come back strongly.”

Pesha Magid is a freelance journalist based in Baghdad.

The decline of US global leadership: Power without authority IT IS BREATHTAKING JUST HOW QUICKLY DONALD TRUMP’S RECKLESSNESS HAS ERODED THE US POSITION IN THE WORLD

Lowy InstItute ALLAN BEHM

The US House of Representatives’ inquiry into grounds for impeaching Donald Trump is yet another indication of the massive erosion of the President’s domestic authority. His authority as an international leader has similarly declined, not as a result of challenges by other international leaders but as a consequence of the President’s commentary and actions.

For power to enjoy legitimacy, authority is a necessary concomitant. The alignment of political authority with economic and military power enabled the pax Romana to endure for more than two centuries. It took more than 1300 years following the death of Marcus Aurelius in 180CE for Rome’s political authority to dissipate and for the eastern empire finally to fall.

The pax Americana arguably began in 1945 with total victory by the US and

its allies in Europe and the Pacific. The groundbreaking work of US Secretaries of State Cordell Hull, George Marshall, and Dean Acheson garnered the authority – accorded by the international community rather than simply usurped by the US – that positioned the US as the dominant strategic power for 70 years.

President Harry Truman and Marshall were determined not to repeat the Harding administration’s repudiation of the League of Nations. Instead, they embarked upon the establishment of the United Nations. They understood that a rules-based order underpinned by the power of the US would provide the US with the authority that its aspiration to global leadership demanded. Australia’s John Curtin and Herbert Evatt were strong, but not uncritical, supporters of the US initiative.

Raw power supports the kind of coercive leadership exercised, for instance, by the Soviet Union over its Warsaw Pact “allies”. Authority, on the other hand, enables the kind of moral leadership that the US has enjoyed as the substantiating power of the international rules-based order.

Notwithstanding a number of serious missteps – the removal of Iranian Prime Minister Mosaddegh in 1953, the Vietnam War from 1955 to 1975 (initiated by a reluctant Dwight Eisenhower but esca-

lated by Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon), John F. Kennedy’s Bay of Pigs fiasco in 1961, and George W. Bush’s 2003 Iraq war – the alignment of authority with power has served to maintain the viability of an albeit less-than-perfect international rules-based order for more than seven decades. Then along came Trump.

Within three years, Trump has exercised presidential power – the power of the US – in a manner that has eroded the authority and the legitimacy of America’s strategic dominance.

The speed with which the President has done that has been breathtaking. Impetuosity and recklessness always come at a price. But when that price is massive reputational damage to the US and an accelerating decline in the confidence of its traditional allies and friends, global stability and security suffer.

As Trump prosecutes an increasingly isolationist foreign and trade policy, and as “Make America Great Again” takes on unmistakable nationalist overtones, the network of US alliances declines in relevance – to both the US and to its allies.

But more significantly, the global network of agreements, arrangements, associations, groupings, and institutions that give expression to the international rulesbased order also becomes increasingly irrelevant. The friends of the US are left to

paddle their own canoes, fearing that competitive “patriotism” replaces cooperative “globalism” (whatever that is) as the rallying point for disruption.

And as a large, rich, and massively armed power, but one that has forfeited its authority, the US risks locking itself into a three-way struggle with China and Russia that no one can win but everyone, including the allies and friends of the US, can lose.

So the allies and friends of the US are in a bind. Significant but non-dominant powers build their prosperity and security when they collaborate, agreeing on shared goals, negotiating rules and observing them, and delivering the trade-offs that are an inevitable part of global harmony. But cooperating states need a leader, a role the US has played to great effect.

There are only two things that the allies and friends of the US can realistically do, and one of them is not simply to roll over and “go all the way with the USA”.

First, the liberal democracies must press upon the US Administration the need for it to stop dissipating its global authority, and to get back into the game of winning acceptance and support for its policies rather than leaving its allies and friends to endure the consequences. There are American conservatives, such as the former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis,

who understand only too well the nexus between power and authority, and how that nexus differentiates the US from its competitors. And the Administration-inwaiting certainly gets it.

Second, the allies and friends of the US need to strengthen their own inter-relationships to ensure that, as a collective, they cannot be picked off one by one and left with a form of sovereignty and independence that is compromised at best and chimeric at worst.

Just how that is to be achieved is tricky. With Britain locked in a Brexit meltdown, France and Germany attempting to stare down resurgent nationalism, the rest of NATO uncertain of longer-term US intentions, and the Asian democracies experiencing a variety of pressures to restrict individual freedoms, it will be difficult to get attention and forge alignment.

But that’s the challenge. It’s what leaders with confidence, energy, and vision do.

Allan Behm specialises in political and security risk evaluation, policy analysis and development, and negotiating the policy/politics interface. He held senior positions in the Attorney-General’s Department and in the Department of Defence. He was Chief of Staff to Greg Combet from 2009 to 2013, and more recently senior advisor to Senator Penny Wong.

Wednesday, 9 October, 2019

FOREIGN NEWS 07

us pReFeRs a 'bIg deal' wIth chIna: tRump

WASHINGTON

p

AGENCIES

RESIDENT Donald Trump said late Monday night he would prefer to strike a comprehensive trade bargain with China, in comments days before the top US and Chinese officials are due to resume trade talks in Washington.

But with little sign the two sides have made progress in bridging the distance between them, speculation has mounted in recent months they may reach a deal which addresses only some of Washington’s extensive grievances.

“I think it’s not what we prefer at all.

My inclination is to get a big deal,” Trump told reporters when asked if he could accept a partial agreement.

“We’ve come this far. We’re doing well. I would much prefer a big deal and I think that’s what we’re shooting for,” he added. But he acknowledged that his preferred outcome is not certain. “Can something happen? I guess. Maybe. Who knows. But I guess it’s unlikely.”

With eight days to go before the next

round of punitive tariffs is due to hit, Beijing’s top trade envoy Liu He will meet with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin beginning Thursday, Chinese state media reported Tuesday.

The high-level Chinese delegation also includes commerce minister Zhong Shan, central bank governor Yi Gang and vice minister of industry and information technology Wang Zhijun.

The vice-minister for agriculture Han Jun has also been added to the negotiating team after China last month announced that it had started buying US soybean and pork.

But the talks come amid rising tensions between the two countries after the US Commerce Department Monday blacklisted 28 Chinese entities that it says are implicated in rights violations and abuses targeting Uighurs and other mostly Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang region.

The move, which bars the named entities from purchasing US products, came months after Washington banned technology giant Huawei and other Chinese firms

from government contracts over alleged Iran sanctions violations.

NO LINKAGE GUARANTEED: Liu has said privately he will make a proposal that makes no commitments addressing the far-reaching reforms to Chinese industrial policy or subsides that Washington is seeking, Bloomberg reported Sunday, citing an unnamed source.

Lower-level talks have been underway since last month. The discussions will focus on areas where Washington has made far-reaching demands since last year: intellectual property rights, the forced transfer of proprietary technologies, agriculture and enforcement, the White House statement said.

The next round of US tariff increases is set to take effect October 15, as US duty rates on $250 billion in Chinese goods rise to 30 percent.

Trump has claimed China’s weakening economy puts Beijing under pressure to make a deal. But he also has said in recent months Chinese officials are dragging their feet in hopes of continuing negotiations with another administration should Trump fail to win reelection in 2020.

White House economic aide Larry Kudlow Monday denied that recent economic data showed the lingering trade war has damaged the US economy, saying the effect had been “minimum,” a position most economists dispute.

Unemployment in September fell to its lowest level in 50 years but US manufacturing has fallen into recession, and GDP growth is forecast to slow considerably. Trump is now the subject of an impeachment inquiry by congressional Democrats after pressuring Ukrainian authorities earlier this year to investigate his Democratic rival Joe Biden and son Hunter, whom Trump accuses of financial wrongdoing.

Trump last week raised the stakes by openly calling on Beijing to do likewise.

But Kudlow told reporters there was no connection between the trade talks and Trump’s call for China to investigate the Bidens. “There’ll be no linkage,” he said.

“I guarantee it.”

Turkey says it won’t bow to US threat over its Syria plans BEIRUT AGENCIES

bomb goes oFF InsIde France delivers first In easteRn Rafale fighter jet to India classRoom aFghanIstan, woundIng PARIS: France has delivered to India its first Rafale fighter jet from a series of 36 aircraft purchased in a multibillion dollar deal in 2016. Defence Minister Florence Parly and her Indian counterpart Rajnath Singh, who is on a three-day visit to France, attended a ceremony on Tuesday at aircraft maker Dassault Aviation facility in Merignac, southwestern France. The ministers are also scheduled to hold talks on defence cooperation and security issues in the Indo-Pacific region.

The $8.78 billion deal sparked controversy in India last year with the main opposition Indian National Congress party accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government of buying the aircraft at nearly three times the price being negotiated when it was the ruling party before Modi came to power in 2014. The government denied any wrongdoing. AGENCIES

19 students

KABUL: An Afghan official says a bomb has gone off inside a classroom in eastern Ghazni province, wounding at least 19 university students. Arif Noori, spokesman for the provincial governor, says 12 of the wounded are female students of the Ghazni University, located on the outskirts of the provincial capital, the city of Ghazni. Noori added that two of the wounded are in critical condition. No one immediately claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s attack. Last month a magnetic explosive device attached to a mini bus belonging to the same university detonated, killing the driver. Noori says five students were also wounded in that blast. The Taliban are active in the province and regularly launch attacks against security forces there. AGENCIES

Turkey will not bow to threats over its Syria plans, the Turkish vice president said Tuesday in an apparent response to President Donald Trump’s warning to Ankara the previous day about the scope of its planned military incursion into northeastern Syria.

Trump said earlier this week the United States would step aside for an expected Turkish attack on Syrian Kurdish fighters, who have fought alongside Americans for years, but he then threatened to destroy the Turks’ economy if they went too far.

The U.S. president later cast his decision to abandon the Kurdish fighters in Syria as fulfilling a campaign promise to withdraw from “endless war” in the Middle East, even as Republican critics and others said he was sacrificing a U.S. ally and undermining American credibility.

Trump’s statements have reverberated on all sides of the divide in Syria and the Mideast.

In Ankara, Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay said Turkey was intent on combatting Syrian Kurdish fighters across its border in Syria and on creating a zone that would allow Turkey to resettle Syrian refugees there.

“Where Turkey’s security is concerned, we determine our own path but we set our own limits,” Oktay said.

Meanwhile, in the Syrian capital of Damascus, Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad called on the country’s Kurds to rejoin the government side after apparently being abandoned by their U.S. allies.

Mekdad’s comments were the first Syrian reaction since Trump’s announcement on Sunday and as northeastern Syria braces for an imminent Turkish attack on Syrian Kurdish militias. Trump’s statement has infuriated the Kurds, who stand to lose the autonomy they gained from Damascus during Syria’s civil war, now in its ninth year. “The homeland welcomes all its sons and Damascus will solve all Syrian problems in a positive way, away from violence,” Mekdad claimed in an interview with the pro-government daily Al-Watan.

President Bashar Assad’s government abandoned the predominantly Kurdish area in northern Syria at the height of Syria’s civil war to focus on more key areas where the military was being challenged by the rebels. The

U.S. began working with the Syrian Kurdish fighters after the emergence of the Islamic State group.

The Syrian government “will defend all Syrian territory and will not accept any occupation of any land or iota of the Syrian soil,” Mekdad said about the expected Turkish incursion.

The Syrian Kurdish force has pledged to fight back, raising the potential for an eruption of new warfare in Syria. “We will not hesitate for a moment in defending our people” against Turkish troops, the Kurdishled Syrian Democratic Forces said in a statement, adding that it has lost 11,000 fighters in the war against the Islamic State group in Syria.

RepublIcan allIes not happy on tRump's syRIa wIthdRawl WASHINGTON: Donald Trump’s abrupt reversal of policy in Syria plunged his presidency into even deeper isolation Monday, right when the ex-real estate tycoon needs all the allies he can get to defeat impeachment. The White House issued a late-night statement Sunday that it was effectively abandoning the Kurds who did most of the fighting alongside US forces to drive Islamic State extremists from northern Syria. Trump defended this in tweets Monday as part of his longstanding wish to end US military entanglements in the Middle East, or what he branded “ridiculous Endless Wars.” The US pullout from Turkish border areas will allow Ankara, which has spent decades fighting Kurdish guerrilla groups, to launch cross-border operations. And it weakens the US hand in the broader chess game of Syria’s civil war, involving Iran, Russia, European powers and Israel. In a sense there should be no surprise. Railing against the costly occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan and — despite his bellicose rhetoric — holding off from military strikes against Iran, Trump believes he is responding to public fatigue over seemingly intractable conflicts. AGENCIES

Israel’s Gideon Saar challenges lengthy Netanyahu Likud rule JERUSALEM AGENCIES

With a simple tweet, Gideon Saar did what no Israeli politician from the ruling conservative party has done in more than a decade — openly challenge its chief, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The brazen move against the longserving Israeli leader has solidly positioned the 52-year-old Saar as the Likud party’s leading candidate to replace Netanyahu, who is fighting for his survival amid a pending corruption indictment and post-election political paralysis.

A former aide and senior Cabinet minister under Netanyahu, Saar has long been considered a rising star in Likud and one of the lone independent voices in a party that has, in general, blindly followed its leader.

But that has begun to change. Ne-

tanyahu failed in two elections this year to capture a parliamentary majority, and the possibility of a criminal indictment in the coming weeks has hindered his efforts to head a coalition government. Seeking to solidify his status, the premier last week floated the prospect of a snap internal leadership primary in which he expected Likud to endorse him. But he quickly backed down after a two-word Twitter response from Saar: “I’m ready.”

It was a risky maneuver in a party that fiercely values loyalty and has had only had four leaders in its 70-plus-year history. Saar followed it up with a more detailed tweet clarifying that he was not out to topple the prime minister, as Netanyahu has long claimed. Still, Saar left no doubt about his ultimate objective.

“No one is denying the prime minister’s role as chairman of the Likud,” Saar wrote on Twitter. “When there is a race

for leadership of the party — as the prime minister himself initiated a few days ago — I will run.”

For Saar, it was a move long in the making. A former lawyer and journalist, he was first brought into politics 20 years ago by Netanyahu, who made him his Cabinet secretary during his first term in office.

Saar then established himself as a staunch nationalist who opposed Israel’s 2005 withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and resisted the prospect of a Palestinian state.

He quickly rose in the Likud ranks, twice finishing first in internal elections for its parliamentary list and enjoying successful stints as education minister and interior minister after Netanyahu returned to power in 2009.

But as with others in Likud who saw their popularity rise, he too began to be perceived by Netanyahu as a threat. Their

falling out was capped by Saar’s active role in getting Netanyahu’s nemesis Reuven Rivlin elected president, over the prime minister’s objections.

With his advancement stunted, Saar abruptly quit politics in 2014 to spend more time with his new wife, Israeli TV anchor Geula Even, and their young children.

He made his comeback this year, chosen by Likud members for a senior position on the party’s list of candidates in parliamentary elections. While campaigning hard for Likud, Saar has been its only top official to occasionally flaunt Netanyahu — resisting calls to legislate immunity for the prime minister and attending a media conference Netanyahu had called to boycott.

“Gideon has no fear and he’s straight as an arrow,” said Shimshon Shoshani, Saar’s former director-general in the Ed-

ucation Ministry.

Though he didn’t share Saar’s rightwing ideology, Shoshani said they worked in tandem on bold education initiatives and he saw a public servant fit to lead the country.

“He’s a man who has a vision, and he knows how to translate that vision into concrete plans,” said Shoshani, an 82year-old veteran of the Israeli bureaucracy.

Despite his hard-line positions, Saar enjoys good relations across the political spectrum and is perceived as a potentially more comfortable partner for a unity government with the rival Blue and White party, which emerged as the largest party in last month’s election.

But neither it nor the Likud control a parliamentary majority. A coalition government between the two parties appears to be the best way out of the deadlock, but

Wednesday, 9 October, 2019

08 COMMENT PTI government in panic Upset by a small dose of its own medicine

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OntHS after assuming power in 2018 Imran Khan challenged the opposition parties to hold rallies against his government if they wanted to, promising that he would provide them both containers and food. He is now no more willing to fulfil the promise. An announcement by the JUI-F to hold a protest march in Islamabad has taken the wind out of the government’s sails sending it into panic mode. Federal ministers are daily condemning the Azadi March as a conspiracy against the government and the state. Ali Amin Gandapur has served a Rs50 billion legal notice in damages on JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman for making “anti-state and derogatory remarks” against Prime Minister Imran Khan. KP cM has warned that no JUI-F rally would be allowed to pass through the province. Several Punjab ministers are condemning the march scheduled to start on October 27, on all sorts of pretexts, some of them quite frivolous.

Another sign of panic is recourse to fake news through social media in the form of an unbelievable directive to the participants in the march that was immediately disowned by the organisers. While the PtI denies its authorship, its ministers are using the contents of the so-called directive against the JUI-F. Imran Khan held Islamabad hostage from 14 August to 17 December 2014 with the aim of overthrowing the elected government through street power. the PtI workers then occupied the Red Zone, closed Parliament’s main gate, laid siege to the PM House and ransacked the civil Secretariat and the PtV headquarters. they also fought pitched battles with police, injuring several police personnel. Mr Khan called upon the people to put electricity bills on fire and get prepared for civil disobedience.

Why is the PtI so upset with a small dose of its own medicine? the party knows very well that the common man is extremely unhappy over rising prices, unemployment, and the failure of the government to fulfil any of its election promises. It fears that tens of thousands of disgruntled people might join the march.

Parliamentarians often take to the streets when their voice continues to be stifled inside the House. the PtI leadership has neglected the nA and resorted to browbeating the opposition. Despite all this, the PPP and PMl-n have tried to dissuade the JUI-F from the march. the PM was supposed to discuss Kashmir and cPec in china. Speaking at a trade forum in Beijing on the first day of his tour he said he wished he could follow President Xi’s example and put 500 corrupt people in Pakistan in jail. Vindictiveness of the sort can only lead to retaliation. If the animus on the part of the government was to remain unmitigated, it could force the entire opposition to follow the course chosen by the JUI-F.

Blurring the lines Multiple power centres prevailing

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HeRe is a growing perception that the government is not in control of some very important aspects of governance and that there is also a continuous erosion of its autonomy over other matters as well. A delegation of top business tycoons that form the backbone of the economy, for example, chose to meet with cOAS Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa first, ahead of Prime Minister Imran Khan, to complain about the prevailing harsh economic conditions and how the nAB was hounding them. It reflects quite poorly on Mr Khan and his economic team that it has come to this; the business community simply does not consider them as the ones calling the shots. Part of the problem is that the government over the past year has made promises to the business community that it has failed to keep, leaving the latter visibly disgruntled in the process. coincidentally, the chairman nAB, the very next day of the cOAS-tycoons meeting, announced the transfer of current and future tax-related cases to the FBR and bank default cases to banking courts, providing the relief the business community was looking for. the impression therefore has formed that in order to get things done one needs to go to the appropriate authority, and it’s not the government.

Internationally, the same is happening; the presence of the cOAS is necessary at most important foreign trips that the PM goes on. the PM is currently on his third official visit to china and the cOAS, who left on an earlier separate flight, is also there albeit on a parallel foreign visit.

However, the PM was accompanied by the cOAS on his maiden visit to the USA where the latter met with top security and political figures in the trump Administration. the situation is not dissimilar when it comes to the Middle east or Gulf countries either. In Pakistan it is essential for the smooth and successful progression of democracy that the government and Army be on the same page and this is currently the case. this however does not mean that the Army is diverted from its core function especially when there are significant problems at almost all borders. It is essential that Mr Khan realises and rationalises this soon in order to minimise his dependence on other institutions.

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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Display of unrestrained aggression

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The USA could do more

MohSin SaleeM Ullah

n early August this year, the Indian government announced that it would make major changes to the legal status of its Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir state, specifically by repealing Article 370 of the Indian constitution, which provided the state special autonomous status, and by bifurcating the state into two successor “Union territories” with more limited indigenous administrative powers. new Delhi’s action has raised serious constitutional questions and— given the heavy-handed security measures in Kashmir—elicited more intense criticisms of India on human rights grounds. these blatant steps have sparked international controversy as the unilateral changes of Kashmir’s status that could harm regional stability, eliciting US and international concerns about further escalation between South Asia’s two nuclear-armed powers, which nearly came to war after the February 2019, Pulwama crisis. the United nations and independent watchdog groups fault new Delhi for excessive use of force and other abuses in Kashmir. they consider it to be a disputed territory, but new Delhi, the status quo party, calls the recent legal changes an internal matter, and it generally opposes third-party involvement in the Kashmir issue. their tyrannical rule has jeopardised India’s secular face and traditions, and may rather depict India as under a Hindu nationalist government— which returned to power in May with a strong mandate— and which appears to pursue Hindu majoritarian policies at some cost to the country’s religious minorities. Additionally, new Delhi’s recent actions appear to have been broadly popular with the Indian public and were supported by most major Indian political parties. yet the government’s process came under severe criticism from many quarters for a lack of pre-consultation or debate, and many legal scholars opined that the government had overstepped its constitutional authority, predicting that the Indian Supreme court will become involved. new Delhi’s perceived circumvention of the Kashmir administration (by taking action with only the assent of the centrally appointed Governor) is at the heart of questions about the constitutionality of the government’s moves which, in the words of one former government interlocutor to the state, represent the total undermining of our democracy that was “done by stealth.”

the Modi government’s argument appears to be that since the Kashmir assembly was dissolved and the state had been under central rule since 2018, the national Parliament could exercise the prerogative of the assembly, a position rejected as specious by observers who see the government’s actions as a constitutional coup. Many Indian (and international) critics of the government’s moves see them not only as undemocratic in process, but also as direct attacks on India’s secular identity. From this perspective, the BJP’s motive is about advancing the party’s “deeply rooted ideals of Hindu majoritarianism” and Modi’s assumed project “to reinvent India as an India that is Hindu.”

One month before the government’s August 5 bill submission, a senior BJP official said his party is committed to bringing back the estimated 200,000-300,000 Hindus who fled the Kashmir Valley after 1989 (known as “Pandits”). this reportedly could include reviving a plan for construction of segregated enclaves with their schools, shopping malls, and hospitals, an approach with little or no support from local figures or groups representing the Pandits. Beyond the Pandit return issue, worries that non-Kashmiris will soon be “flooding” the Kashmir Valley lead some analysts to see “colonialist” parallels with Israel’s activities in the West Bank. Perceived human rights abuses on both sides of the Kashmir loc, some of them serious, have long been of concern to international governments and organisations. A major and unprecedented June 2018 Report on the Situation on Human Rights in Kashmir from the Un Human Rights commission harshly criticised the new Delhi government for alleged excessive use of force and other human rights abuses in the state. With new Delhi’s sweeping August security crackdown in Kashmir continuing to date, the Modi government faces renewed criticisms for widely alleged abuses. Indian officials also come under fire for the use of torture in Kashmir and for acting under broad and vaguely-worded laws that facilitate abuses. the Indian government reportedly is in contravention of several of its Un commitments, including a 2011 agreement to allow all special rapporteurs to visit India.

In spring 2019, after a Un Human Rights council’s letter to new Delhi asking about steps taken to address abuses alleged in the 2018 report, Indian officials announced they

would no longer engage Un mandate holders.

But a longstanding goal of US policy in South Asia has been to prevent an India-Pakistan conflict from escalating to an interstate war. this meant the USA has sought to avoid actions that overtly favour either party. Over the past decade, however, the USA has grown closer to India while relations with Pakistan continue to be viewed as clouded by mistrust. the trump Administration suspended security assistance to Pakistan in 2018 and has significantly reduced non-military aid while simultaneously deepening ties with new Delhi.

Washington views India as a key “anchor” of its free and open “Indo-Pacific” strategy, which some argue is aimed at china. yet any US impulse to tilt toward India is to some extent offset

by Islamabad’s current, and by most accounts vital, role in facilitating Afghan reconciliation negotiations. President trump’s apparent bonhomie with Pakistani’s prime minister and offer to mediate on Kashmir in July was taken by some as a new and potentially unwise strategic shift. the US government has maintained a focus on the potential for conflict over Kashmir to destabilise South Asia. At present, the USA has no Assistant Secretary of State leading the Bureau of South and central Asia, and an Acting Ambassador to the United nations is leading some experts to worry that the trump Administration’s preparedness for India-Pakistan crises remains thin. Developments in August 2019 also have renewed concerns among analysts that the trump Administration’s hands-off” posture toward this and other international crises erode US power and increases the risk of regional turbulence.

As of now the US position on Kashmir is that the territory’s status should be settled through negotiations between India and Pakistan while taking into consideration the wishes of the Kashmiri people. the trump Administration has called for peace and respect for human rights in the region. With key US diplomatic posts vacant, some observers worry that US capacity is thin, and the US President’s July offer to mediate on Kashmir may have contributed to the timing of new Delhi’s moves. the USA seeks to balance the pursuit of a broad US-India partnership while upholding human rights protections, as well as maintaining cooperative relations with Pakistan.

Mohsin Saleem Ullah reports for Fox News in Pakistan and is a freelance columnist. He tweets at @MohsinSaleemU

Trees plantation and environmental jurisprudence The bureaucracy needs to pull up its socks

Sheraz zaka

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ecently the lahore High court gave a landmark judgement authored by Mr Justice Jawad Hassan regarding plantation of trees across the province of Punjab. In multiple petitions filed before the court, I also had the honour to appear as a lawyer in this case on behalf of the non-governmental organisation known as ‘Human Voice.’ the judgement is very comprehensive in which the learned judge directs the Punjab government that all the applicable laws and the relevant directions and judgments of the Hon’ble Supreme court and High courts with respect to trees plantation and climate change, shall be implemented in letter and spirit in order to plant, protect and preserve the forest. All the Respondents, including the environmental Protection Agency as well as the Forest Department, shall take steps to protect, manage and conserve the forests and trees in the urban areas, and in fact make manifest and obvious efforts, to enlarge the forests and increase the trees in Pakistan and the Punjab. the requirement for planting three trees per acre by the occupier of a land (Section 3 of the trees Act) and the penalty of one rupee per tree (Section 4 of the trees Act) may be revised.

It was also directed that every responsible Ministry, Division, Department and Authority shall publish a yearly report in which it shall highlight the expansion of the forest area, tree plantation campaign in Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9

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the urban areas and also the action taken by them in compliance of the said laws. the competent authority is further directed to impose the penalty against the relevant officers for omission of their duties, if any, under the respective laws as well as the disciplinary laws and also against the public for cutting the trees. the Secretary cooperatives and Registrar cooperatives shall issue directions to the housing societies and authorities for (i) planting at least two (2) trees in the green belt in front of each house, mentioning this in their allotment letters and bye-laws of the society (ii) impose heavy penalties and punishments for cutting the same, at least Rs25,000 per tree and to (iii) monitor the trees through respective officers of the society/authority. the treatment and maintenance of the trees will be the sole responsibility of the society/authority concerned. the Punjab Government is also directed to revise and amend such laws where clear direction and command is not entrusted to any authority as under the Punjab Rules of Business, the Secretary Forest, the Secretary of cooperative and the local Governments have a clear mandate to make laws and policies, under Schedule-II of the Punjab Government Rules of Business. It was noted during the hearing that due to the efforts of the Government and other Departments, this year massive tree plantation took place. the same or more effort must be done and monitored by the relevant authorities each year through

Islamabad – Ph: 051-2204545

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proper book logging and designated officers of the area to count, monitor, manage trees every week and submit report and status of the same to the Head of the authority for publishing in its annual report. the relevant authority should also number the trees to keep the track of each tree in urban areas (streets, road, parks, market and green belts). the Department shall, through the media and other means, inform the public and create awareness, including lodging a complaint for any violation of the law for cutting of the trees to the concerned person who maintains data and manages trees and they will take strict action through respective laws. the Urban Plantation Policy shall be consulted by all the departments. the local Government, PHA (Parks and Horticultural Authority), DHA, lDA and all other authorities and societies, the Secretary Forest and other relevant authorities are directed to define a mechanism for urban forestation by learning from Urban Plantation Policy.

All the authorities, including DHA (Defence Housing Authority), lDA ( lahore Development Authority), FDA (Faisalabad Development Authority) and other relevant authorities, are directed by the judgement to make and adopt comprehensive policies with respect to plantation of trees in urban areas with experience of Urban Plantation Policy and make their own policy under respective laws and immediately start planting of trees with the request to PHA and other

Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk

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departments, and maintain the same by imposing fine and penalty to the officers of the area or any citizen. the school, colleges, higher education institutions, hospitals, parking sites and so on are specifically directed to make a policy for planting trees in open spaces and waiting areas/car parks. the Government of Punjab through its respective departments shall make laws in imposing penalty and heavy fine for cutting, removing and damaging any tree with permission of the concerned authority including ePA, PHA and consider all mitigating measures at the time of public hearing of any project such as Initial environmental examination (IeA) and environmental Impact Assessment (eIA).

In my view, if both the federal as well as provincial governments implement the judgements of superior courts in letter and spirit there is no further need to devise any new climate change policy. We already have a plethora of laws which have been comprehensively interpreted by superior court judgements with respect to climate change and environmental impact. Actually the real problem lies in the execution of policy, laws and the dicta laid down by the superior courts judgements.

In this aspect the executive comprising of bureaucracy needs to pull up its socks and implement the orders of the superior courts in pith and substance to address the deleterious effects of climate change which transpire in the form of greenhouse gas emissions.

Sheraz Zaka may be reached at sheraz.zaka@gmail.com

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Wednesday, 9 October, 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

Dilution of foreign service meritocracy Recent events following India’s annexation of IOK and our near diplomatic isolation failing to get support for submitting a resolution at UnHRc Geneva for gross human rights violation exposes loopholes in the capacity of those assigned diplomatic posts to represent our country. these are indeed difficult times where even our so-called brethren in IOc, with were not even forthcoming to support us. We should be grateful to china, turkey, Iran and Malaysia etc who stood by us condemning atrocities against 8 Million Muslims of IOK by Indian forces.

It is indeed an uphill task for diplomatic corps posted at various capitals all over the world to achieve. Pakistan is neither a superpower nor an economic giant to indulge in such luxuries sending individuals on quota basis instead of merit and skills to foreign capitals. national interest dictates that only the best and most qualified be given these foreign assignments.

Although Pakistan State offers best post retirement pension and benefits in the region to retired civil and uniformed services, including subsidised allotment of plots, there seems to be no end to their insatiable greed for lucrative posts. elected civil governments do make few political appointments, but in doing so they must ensure that best are nominated. their choice of individuals like Haqqani, Kamran Shafi, nadar chaudhry etc have not served national interests.

Perhaps it is time to reassess shortcomings of reserved quotas in civil bureaucracy, foreign service and heads of stateowned corporations and its toll on this country. Why should men trained as specialists in military strategy etc, be considered suitable for such postings? Pakistan faced embarrassment when our High commissioner in Sri lanka, against all diplomatic norms, issued a statement quoting their President, which they promptly denied.

MALik TAriq ALi Lahore

Hypocrisy at its best It was a member of Modi’s party, the RSS, who assassinated Gandhi

Malik MUhaMMad aShraf

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n an article published in The New York Times on October, on the eve of the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, Indian Prime Minister narendra Modi quoted eminent international personalities like Martin luther King Jr, nelson Mandela and Albert einstein to eulogise his creed of non-violence, maintaining that his message had global significance and stressed that India at the moment needed a leader like him. In a message directed at the people of India and the world at large he said “let us work shoulder to shoulder to make our world prosperous and free from hate, violence and suffering. that is when we will fulfil Mahatma Gandhi’s dream, summed up in his favourite hymn, Vaishnava Jana To, which says that a true human is one who feels other’s pain, removes misery and is never arrogant.” looking at track record of narendra Modi, his preaching of non-violence, making the world free from hate and feeling the pain of others, is nothing but hypocrisy at its best.

How can the world forget that Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated by one of the members of RSS, nathuram Godse? He resented the accommodating attitude of Gandhi towards Muslims. Gandhi went on hunger strike till death to protest against the decision of the Indian government to hold back financial share of Pakistan, which was ultimately withdrawn. that probably was the immediate cause of Godse killing him which amply demonstrated the hate and animosity towards Muslims of the RSS. Modi himself is a life member of that racist entity and he is also held responsible for the massacre of Muslims in Gujrat in 2002.

During the episode, young girls were sexually assaulted, burned or hacked to death. these rapes were condoned by the ruling BJP, whose refusal to intervene led to the displacement of 200,000 Muslims. Death toll figures range from the official estimate of 790 to 2,000 Muslims killed. the then chief Minister, narendra Modi was held responsible for initiating and condoning the violence, as were

the police and government officials who took part, as they directed the rioters and gave lists of Muslim-owned properties to the extremists.

In 2007, Tehelka magazine released a report titled “the truth: Gujarat 2002,” which implicated the state government in the violence, and claimed that what had been called a spontaneous act of revenge was, in reality, a state-sanctioned pogrom. According to Human Rights Watch, the violence in Gujarat in 2002 was pre-planned and the police and state government participated in its perpetration.

Since narendra Modi became Prime Minister of India in 2014 there has been an exponential increase in violence against minority communities, particularly Muslims, due to the communal policies pursued by the BJP government.

Right Wing Hindutva groups with support from government and elected members of Parliament and state legislatures have raised the level of violence against Muslim community. Hundreds of Muslim traders and dairy farm owners, reportedly, have been attacked and assaulted by mobs and goons of RSS in the name of cow protection. till now 42 people have been lynched and killed and more than 142 have been disabled during the attacks.

Indian atrocities in IOK also represent a strong repudiation of the Gandhian philosophy of non-violence. According to figures compiled by different Human Rights Organisations including Amnesty International, since January 1989 till 31 st August 2019, the Indian security forces have killed 95,438 people including 7128 custodial killings, gang-raped 11,140 women and destroyed 109,409 homes. Since Modi’s becoming Prime Minister, the killing spree in IOK has assumed new dimensions. Since the killing of a Kashmiri freedom fighter Burhan Wani in 2016 freedom movement has gained a new momentum and the Indian security forces have also raised the level of oppression in the Valley. Reportedly, since July 2016, 1031 people have been killed, more than 27,000 subjected to torture, 11,858 have been arrested, 10,298 injured with pallet guns, 3306 homes have been demolished and 933 women

have been gang-raped. the story did not end there. Modi government has unilaterally scrapped Article 370 of the Indian constitution ending the special status of IOK. the people of Kashmir have been under siege for more than 66 days due to curfew and communication blockade, creating a humanitarian crisis. yet another ranting example of Modi’s anti-Muslim mind-set is depriving 1.9 million Bengali Muslims in Assam of Indian citizenship and the envisaged plan to shift them to detention camps. Stripping them of Indian citizenship and the pogrom of Kashmiris are the outcomes of the implementation of the fascist and supremacist ideology of ‘Hindutva’. the abuse of human rights in IOK has been documented by the Amnesty International and other global human rights entities. Reports compiled by UnHcR also corroborate the precarious human rights situation in Kashmir. no wonder the Human Rights council expressed grave concern on the state of affairs in IOK and the international media has also been regularly reporting the oppression being perpetrated on the people of the Valley.

In the light of the foregoing realities, Modi’s article is a crude attempt to mislead the world about what India stands for under him.

How could an admirer of Gandhi be so callous, and a dehumanised individual? the fact is that he is a man with a black face wearing a white mask. I am sure the soul of Gandhi must be writhing in pain to see his preaching being torn to shreds.

Prime Minister Imran Khan was right on money to warn the world about the dangers posed to peace and security of the region by the fascist ideology of the RSS and to seek intervention of the Un and the world community to stop India in its tracks before it could trigger a tragedy of cataclysmic proportions with implications beyond the region. the racist policies unfurled by the Indian government and the persecution of Muslims will surely lead to radicalisation of the oppressors.

Modi’s article is a crude attempt to mislead the world about what India stands for under him. How could an admirer of Gandhi be so callous, and a dehumanised individual? The fact is that he is a man with a black face wearing a white mask

Malik Muhammad Ashraf is an academic.

He can be contacted at: ashpak10@gmail.com

The youth betrayed PtI, the ruling parting which is mostly supported by youth, has done unfair with its own youth after coming into power. In current situation when we look around, we find youth more in crisis. As PtI government excluded the educational budget then Higher education commission Hec has cut few educational stipends of universities. Similarly, universities are extending the amount of fees due to having low budgets, which is also affecting PtI’s youth.

On the other hand, chinese government is excluding the number of scholarships for Pakistani students due to slow working of cPec projects. And PM khan’s promise of jobs is also not looking to be fulfilled. Meanwhile It is requested Prime Minster Khan to please don’t disappoint your youth as they are behind your party’s rise.

SYEd TAHir rASHidi Shahdadpur

True leader PlAtO once said that greatest victory is self-conquest.

Unfortunately, none of the Pakistani leaders seems to have achieved this distinction. All appear to be the victims of egotism and envy while the public sigh under heavy burden of inflation, unemployment, and low wages. Our politicians from all parties and those who keep hopping, want democracy to flourish, but only if they hold the power. else, they are willing to do whatever it takes to get to power. they would take out rallies, call for protests, and strikes with no consideration of economy or suffering of people. However, when they get to power, amnesia hits them, and they forget what they did to get to power. Suddenly, they learn everything about democratic norms and the importance of working in harmony to strengthen the economy wondering why opposition would resort to antics such as protests and strikes. I wish and pray for a leader who could sacrifice his / her own interest to amass wealth and power at the cost of poor and needy; working for betterment of the country. rAJA SHAFAATULLAH islamabad

Ban on Gutka In Sindh Assembly on Saturday, a significant bill was introduced to impose a ban on the sale and purchase of Gutka—a mixture of crushed areca nut, tobacco, catechu, paraffin wax, slaked lime and sweet or savoury flavourings, envisaging the imprisonment of one to six years and a fine up to Rs5,00,000 to violators. this is highly laudable legislation as oral cancer prevalent among our people is due to the use of tobacco related products i.e. Gutka, betel nut, naswar and smoking. According to the experts, nearly 95 per cent dental and oral diseases are preventable by adopting better hygiene practices. though stringent punishment envisaged in the bill may discourage the use of Gutka, it is also necessary to stop smuggling of betel nuts, chewing tobacco and carcinogenic stuff from any source.

More important, the nuisance of Gutka has taken a shape of an industry being run by mafia under the umbrella of bigwigs. According to the latest data, nearly 69 big factories producing Gutka are working in Karachi alone and that too under the patronage of policemen. While we welcome this bill, there is question: will Sindh Government be able to implement the proposed law in its true letter and spirit? riAZ AHMAd SOOMrO Shikarpur

Wednesday, 9 October, 2019

10 FOREIGN NEWS

UK says chaNces of Brexit deal slim; eU chides ‘Blame Game’ LONDON

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AGENCIES

RITAIN and the European Union traded bad-tempered barbs Tuesday as the chances of a Brexit deal appeared to fade, with just over three weeks until the U.K.’s scheduled departure from the bloc.

U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s office blamed EU intransigence for a breakdown in negotiations, sparking a warning from a top EU leader against playing a “stupid blame game.” Johnson’s office gave a gloomy assessment after a call between Johnson and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday morning. In a statement to British media, Downing St. said Merkel had told the prime minister that “a deal is overwhelmingly unlikely” unless Northern Ireland remains in a customs union with the EU — something the U.K. says it can’t allow.

Downing St. said that “if this represents a new established position, then it means a deal is essentially impossible not

just now but ever.” The German government confirmed that Merkel and Johnson had spoken by phone on Tuesday. It didn’t comment on the substance of the discussion, saying in an emailed response to a query that “as usual, we are not reporting on such confidential conversations.”

The EU denied its position had changed. European Commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva said “the EU position has not changed. We want a deal.

We are working for a deal with the U.K.” European Council President Donald Tusk tweeted testily that “what’s at stake is not winning some stupid blame game.”

“At stake is the future of Europe and the UK as well as the security and interests of our people,” he said, addressing Johnson. “You don’t want a deal, you don’t want an extension, you don’t want to revoke, quo vadis?” — a Latin phrase meaning “where are you going?”

Irish Deputy Prime Minister Simon Coveney tweeted that it was “hard to disagree” with Tusk’s statement, saying it reflected “frustration across EU and the enormity of what’s at stake for us all.”

EU leaders have demanded more “realism” from Britain in response to a Brexit plan proposed by Johnson. The bloc says the proposals don’t fulfil the U.K.’s commitment to a frictionless border between Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland. Johnson, meanwhile,

has urged the bloc to compromise.

French President Emmanuel Macron has said the EU will assess by Friday whether a deal is possible.

Johnson’s opponents in Britain accused the government of deliberately undermining the Brexit talks. Keir Starmer,

Brexit spokesman for the main opposition Labour Party, said the Downing St. statement was “yet another cynical attempt by No. 10 to sabotage the negotiations.”

“Boris Johnson will never take responsibility for his own failure to put forward a credible deal. His strategy from day one has been for a no-deal Brexit,” he said. Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who opposes Brexit, tweeted: “The UK government’s attempts to shift the blame for the Brexit fiasco to anyone but themselves – today it’s Merkel – is pathetically transparent.”

Johnson insists the U.K. will leave the EU on Oct. 31 even without a deal.

On Tuesday, Britain published more details of its plans for a no-deal Brexit, which the government says can minimize any economic shock from leaving without a deal. Economists and major business groups warn that no amount of preparation can eliminate the pain of new barriers with the EU, which accounts for almost half of U.K. trade.

Many in the EU — and in Britain — are skeptical that Britain will leave the bloc on Oct. 31, because the U.K. Parliament has passed a law compelling the government to ask the EU for a delay to Brexit if no deal is agreed upon by Oct. 19. Johnson says he will obey the law, but will not ask for a delay. It’s not clear how those two statements can bd reconciled — but it’s clear Johnson wants to pin the blame for any delay on Parliament and the EU, so that he can campaign as a champion of Brexit in a U.K. election that’s likely to be called soon.

‘Hong Kong won't rule out Chinese help over protests’ CENTRAL AGENCIES

Ex-US envoy Huntsman urges rethink of Russia sanctions in WSJ op-ed MOSCOW AGENCIES

Days after ending his term in Moscow, former United States ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman has urged Washington to review its sanctions-dominated approach to Russia, questioning its efficiency and calling for dialogue.

The U.S. has placed multiple layers of sanctions on Russia, its senior officials and largest companies, as well as businessmen it views as connected to the Kremlin, the bulk of them linked to Moscow’s role in the Ukrainian crisis which began in 2014 and has yet to be resolved.

In a column here for the Wall Street Journal published on Monday, Huntsman argued that “sanctions have become our go-to foreign policy tool to admonish misbehaviour” but not all of them are having the desired effect. “It’s easy to initiate sanctions, but it has become politically perilous to discuss removing them,” Huntsman wrote.

“By last count, there are almost 850 Russian individuals and entities that have been designated under various sanctions

authorities, with little or no analysis measuring their efficacy.” While many of those measures may be having the desired effect and should be maintained, not all of them do, he argued. “My embassy colleagues and I heard the same refrain over and over – that in some cases U.S. sanctions are having the opposite of their intended effect, forcing capital back to Russia, buoying Russian domestic sectors and disadvantaging U.S. businesses seeking to gain a strategic market foothold,” Huntsman wrote.

Unilateral sanctions won’t succeed in changing the behaviour of Russian President Vladimir Putin or that of his government, Hunstman said, and leave little space for Washington to “cultivate constructive relationships with those who will shape Russia’s post-Putin period”. “The U.S. was caught off guard by Mr Putin’s unexpected rise to power after the collapse of the Soviet Union. We can’t afford to let that happen again,” Huntsman wrote. “Smart diplomacy thus far has managed to keep us from war, but I worry the current estrangement will limit our options for strategic engagement in the years ahead.”

Hong Kong’s under-fire leader Carrie Lam on Tuesday said China intervening to end months of pro-democracy protests is an option following a particularly violent week of unrest that paralysed the city.

The financial hub has been gripped by four months of rallies, and last weekend saw much of the city grind to a halt as masked demonstrators took to the streets in defiance of a controversial ban on face coverings.

Lam’s decision last Friday to invoke colonial-era emergency powers — not used for half a century — to impose the ban sparked some of the most violent scenes since the crisis began, as hardcore protesters trashed dozens of subway stations, vandalised shops with mainland China ties, built fires and blocked roads. Hong Kong was virtually locked down over the three-day holiday weekend, with the majority of subway stops closed. Thirteen damaged stations remained shut on Tuesday morning as rush-hour commuters returned to work after the long break, although two reopened later.

The Mass Transit Railway (MTR) operator said the entire network — which carries four million people daily — would close at 8pm (1200 GMT), five hours earlier than usual.

Lam told reporters that while she believes the city’s authorities can cope

with the unprecedented troubles, China could be called upon if the situation becomes “so bad”.

“At this point in time, I still strongly feel that we should find the solutions ourselves. It is also the position of the central government (in Beijing) that Hong Kong should tackle the problem on her own. “But if the situation becomes so bad, then no options can be ruled out if we want Hong Kong to at least have another chance.”

Lam has faced widespread criticism over her decision to ban face masks — ubiquitous in Hong Kong since a deadly SARS outbreak in 2003 — and thousands of Hong Kongers flouted the prohibition during an unsanctioned mass march on Sunday.

Two people — a male university student and a 38-year-old woman — appeared in court on Monday charged with illegally wearing masks, and supporters wore their own face coverings in the courtroom. They were both charged with unlawful assembly, which carries up to three years’ jail time, and with defying the mask ban, which has a maximum one-year sentence. Both were released on bail. Another 26 people who were arrested on Sunday in Wan Chai district have been charged with rioting and 14 of them additionally in violation of the mask ban.

A total of 77 people have been arrested for defying the ban since it came into place over the weekend, police said, adding that 2,363 people had been

Macron pays homage to 'victims of Islamic terrorism'

UN may run out of money by end of month: Guterres NEW YORK: The United Nations is running a deficit of $230 million, SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres said on Monday, and may run out of money by the end of October. In a letter intended for the 37,000 employees at the UN secretariat and obtained by AFP, Guterres said unspecified “additional stop-gap measures” would have to be taken to ensure salaries and entitlements are paid. “Member States have paid only 70 percent of the total amount needed for our regular budget operations in 2019. This translates into a cash shortage of $230 million at the end of September.

We run the risk of depleting our backup liquidity reserves by the end of the month,” he wrote. To cut costs, Guterres mentioned postponing conferences and meetings and reducing services, while also restricting official travel to only essential activities and taking measures to save energy. AGENCIES

arrested overall since June.

Lam told journalists it was “too early” to say whether the anti-mask law was effective or not.

“I’m sure you’ll agree that for any new policy or new legislation, it will take time to be effectively implemented,” she said. Lam also would not be drawn on a suggestion by one of her cabinet members, the veteran pro-Beijing politician Ip Kwok-him, that Hong Kong may curb access to the internet in a bid to contain the protests.

The leader insisted she was “very committed” to using political, legal and policy instruments, including dialogue, to address some of the “deep-seated problems” in the city.

According to Hospital Authority figures, 10 of the 13 people admitted to hospital over the weekend were in a stable condition on Tuesday while three had been discharged.

US President Donald Trump earlier urged a “humane solution” to the crisis, telling reporters: “I think they have to do that in a peaceful manner.” He remarked on the “great people over there” and said protesters had been “flying the American flag”. However, Trump avoided expressing support for the demonstrators’ defiance and questioned whether they were losing steam.

At the start, “I saw two million people. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Trump said. “The crowd size is much smaller now, so maybe that’s saying something.”

PARIS AGENCIES

French President Emmanuel Macron led a national tribute Tuesday to the four police employees slain in last week’s knife attack in Paris, calling them “victims of Islamic terrorism.”

At a ceremony at the police headquarters where they were stabbed to death in last Thursday’s bloody rampage, a solemn Macron endured drizzle as he paid homage to the three police officers and one police administrator killed by their own colleague, a 45-year-old deaf technology adminis-

CMYK

trator and Muslim convert. “They had made the choice to wear the uniform, to devote their lives to protecting others.

They died in service, at work,” said Macron, who was also met privately with families of the victims.

French prosecutors are investigating the killings as a potential act of terrorism as it transpired the knifeman likely had links with members of an ultra-conservative Islamic movement.

“The whole nation (must) unite, mobilize, act… We will only win if our country gets up to fight against this underground Islamism that corrupts the children of France,” he added. He proposed establishing a “society of vigilance” to protect France, a country still reeling from numerous extremist attacks in recent years — but he warned the French against “suspicion that corrodes.” Though Interior Minister Christophe Castaner initially said there were “no warning signs” ahead of the attack, he has since acknowledged breaches in security over a failure to detect signals of the attacker’s radicalization.

Wednesday, 9 October, 2019

BUSINESS 11 Govt accumulates record debt of Rs7.5tr in first year BUSINESS DESK The Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaaf (PTI) government, in its first year of power, has accumulated a record public debt of Rs7,509 billion, according to official documents. According to sources, the foreign debt incurred from August 2018 to August 2019 stood at Rs2.8 trillion, while the internally accumulated figure stood at Rs4.7 trillion. Sources added that Pakistan’s total public debt increased by 1.43 per cent to Rs32.240 trillion in the first two months of the current fiscal year.

Total public debt stood at Rs31.786 trillion at the end of June 2019, the data released by the State Bank of Pakistan showed. Of the total public debt, the share of domestic debt increased by 3.68 per cent to Rs21.495 trillion at the end of August. Foreign debt, however, fell 2.80 per cent to Rs10.745 trillion in the period under review. The tax collection in the first quarter of the current fiscal year stood at Rs960 billion, falling short of the government’s target of Rs1 trillion for JulySeptember. The government has projected public debt to increase by 47 per cent to Rs45.57 trillion in five years.

The domestic debt is also set to increase 30 per cent to Rs26.8 trillion, while external debt is expected to surge 80 per cent to Rs18.77 trillion.

CORPORATE CORNER

‘Karandaaz Financial Inclusion of Women Challenge 2019’ workshop was held recently with relevant market players onboard. PR

Govt mulls manufactuRInG of mobIle phone devIces In pakIstan PM’S AIDE DIRECTS EDB TO FINALISE ‘MOBILE DEVICE MANUFACTURING POLICY’ BY NEXT MONTH ISLAMABAD

I

GHULAM ABBAS

N a positive development, the government has decided to facilitate the assembly and manufacturing of cellphones in the country.

According to the Engineering Development Board (EDB) officials, a draft Mobile Device Manufacturing Policy is being finalised to develop and promote mobile devices manufacturing in Pakistan is being finalised as part of the government's Electronic Products Manufacturing Initiative (Make in Pakistan). The locally-assembled or manufactured mobile phones would replace the costly imported sets, as tariff structures for local assembling and manufacturing would be lowered, they said, adding that the manufacturing of smartphones will not only lower the import bill but will also create employment opportunities in the country.

As per the officials, consultations were held with the local representatives of multinational cellular phone set companies and their market players, including dealers, to formulate the draft policy.

Adviser to Prime Minister on

Commerce Razak Dawood was briefed by the EDB on Tuesday. The adviser said that Pakistan's large consumer base will be leverage to attract FDI in cell phone manufacturing. He directed the EDB to finalise the policy by next month.

The adviser was informed that the draft policy envisages incentives for local manufacturing/assembly of mobile devices, which will shift the focus from import of mobile sets to local assembly. The EDB officials said that out of 26 approvals, 15 mobile sets assembly units are operating in the country, mainly in Karachi and central Punjab. However, a majority of them are only producing analogue sets whereas a limited number of smartphones are assembled in the country.

A senior EDB official said that the inflow of topline smartphones in the country had discouraged local assembling. "Now after stern action by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, smuggling of mobile phones has stopped," the official informed the meeting. "The high duty structures have also discouraged the import of smartphones."

The draft policy envisages that the semi-knocked down (SKD) and completely knocked down (CKD)

MARKET DAILY

KSE-100 slips 160 points as seven-day winning streak ends KARACHI STAFF REPORT

JS Bank President and CEO Basir Shamsie and Infobip Secretary Guray Ozturk sign an agreement to launch ‘Self-Service Banking on WhatsApp’ PR

KARACHI: Rawat Group of Companies CEO and Founder Mustafa M Rawaton Tuesday visited OneApple International Corporation's Factory, in the heart of Korangi Industrial Area. PR

Putting an end to its winning streak, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) landed in the red zone on Tuesday.

During the last 10 sessions until October 7, foreign investors remained the net sellers of $15.08 million. Among local investors, mutual funds ($2.47 million), insurance companies ($6.37 million) and banks ($1.47mn) were all seen with outflows. The seven-day rally was driven mainly by individual investors ($8.60 million) and broker proprietary trading ($6.88 million). On the economic front, Prime Minister Imran Khan is currently on a two-day visit to China. Matters related to CPEC will also be discussed with Chinese officials along with other economic issues.

SEOUL

ARACHI: BankIslami Pakistan Limited, a leading Islamic bank with a network of 330 branches in 114 cities, signed an MoU with Pakistan International Airlines at the PIA Headquarters. PR

Meanwhile, the government’s domestic debt surged by 3.68pc in the first two months of current fiscal year, while external loans declined by 2.80pc during same period. Domestic debt rose to Rs21.495 billion in August 2019, up from Rs20.731 trillion as on June end. External debt fell to Rs10.745 trillion in August, as compared to Rs11.055 trillion by the end of June.

The benchmark KSE-100 Index accumulated 235.36 points to mark its intraday high of 33,872.18 during the initial hours. Failing to sustain gains, the index lost 227.70 points to record its day’s low at 33,409.12. It closed lower by 160.20 points at 33,476.62. The KMI-30 Index was down by 390.35 points or 0.73pc to settle at 53,469.60, while the KSE All Share Index depleted by 97.51 points, ending at 24,150.71.

The overall volumes declined from 392.16 million shares to 242.97 million (down by 38pc

on a daily basis). Unity Foods Limited (UNITY +2.75pc), TRG Pakistan Limited (TRG -2.36pc) and Pak Elektron Limited (PAEL +1.38pc) led the volume chart. The scripts had exchanged 21.57 million shares, 15.63 million shares and 13.31 million shares respectively.

Sectors that helped the index register gains included chemical (+5.88 points), automobile assembling (+2.76 points) and leather & tanneries (+2.16 points). On the other hand, oil and gas exploration (-31.61 points), cement (-28.84 points) and power generation & distribution (-22.27 points) sectors drove the index in the red zone.

The refinery sector (-3.02pc) turned out as top loser of the day. National Refinery Limited (NRL -4.50pc), Pakistan Refinery Limited (PRL -2.50pc), Byco Petroleum Pakistan Limited (BYCO -2.40pc) and Attock Refinery Limited (ATRL -4.06pc) all ended negative.

Strong smartphone sales raise hopes of Samsung turnaround AGENCIES

KARACHI: The Beaconhouse PECHS Campus recently inaugurated its auditorium – a first of its kind facility at a school campus that meets international standards of quality. PR

units should be encouraged in the country "but the traffic structures need to be rationalised".

"The companies will opt for SKD, which is the assembly of sets with imported parts. In the later stages, manufacturing of parts will commence in the country under CKD," the official said.

The EDB has suggested that duties on the parts may be reduced and certain benefits be offered to manufacturing of parts in the country so that the mobile sets assembled through SKD and CKD become cheaper than the mobile sets imported as completely build units (CBU).

The adviser noted that the Special Economic Zones (SEZs) were providing technical and financial support through various incentives by granting tax holidays and duty

exemptions on parts which are used in mobile phone sets and other electronic goods.

EDB is the apex government body under Ministry of Industries & Production with the responsibility to strengthen engineering base in Pakistan.

It is pertinent to mention that the mobile phone industry has grown to become one of the biggest manufacturing sectors in the world.

The Pakistani mobile phone market is estimated at 53 million units annually. This makes Pakistan one of the top 10 global markets for feature phones and smartphones. Sales value of mobile phones in Pakistan was estimated at Rs366 billion in 2019. This makes the industry bigger than automobile sector, with sales of Rs360 billion in 2018.

The mobile phone manufacturing industry is now moving out of China as governments around the world are incentivising local manufacturing through tariff measures that encourage the transition from CBU imports to SKD assembly followed by CKD assembly and ultimately targeting mobile phone exports from respective countries.

Vietnam, India, Indonesia and Bangladesh are leading this transition since 2017 as a large number of local and global assemblers have sprung up, replacing CBU imports and creating an ecosystem for CKD manufacturing and localisation.

Strong sales of Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy Note 10 smartphone series are limiting forecast profit falls at the South Korean tech giant, raising hopes it is getting back on a growth track after years of moribund sales.

Samsung, the world’s largest smartphone maker, is powering ahead with the launch of 5G phones and $2,000 foldable handsets as it heats up competition with rivals US’ Apple and China’s Huawei following a battery explosion scandal in 2017 that hurt sales.

Analysts said the strategy may be paying off as the company on Tuesday flagged a smallerthan-expected fall in third quarter operating profit, saying at the same time that sales of the Note 10 both at home and in Europe had been strong since the Aug. 23 launch.

There are also early signs that the global memory chip business, a key driver of Samsung’s profit, will stabilise next year after prices were eroded by a weak global economy and slower spending by key data centre customers.

“With its foldable smartphone that no other competitors have yet launched, Samsung will likely lead the high-end smartphone market as it would mass produce foldable smartphones next

year,” said Song Myung-sup, an analyst at HI Investment & Securities. “Also, a growing number of data centre customers are ordering more memory chips ... possibly slowing down the drop in prices,” Song added. Samsung said it has sold more than one million of the 5G Note 10 handsets in South Korea, making it the company’s fastest selling flagship model at home, and sales in Europe were also strong.

Analysts credit Samsung with receiving a boost from US sanctions on Huawei that effectively bar US firms from supplying the Chinese competitor. Huawei’s new high-end Mate 30 smartphones are being shipped to Europe this month, but the sanctions mean the product lacks access to a licensed version of US Google’s Android operating system, as well as mobile services that include its Play Store and popular apps like Gmail, Youtube or Maps.

Jene Park, a senior analyst at market tracker Counterpoint Research, said Samsung was also moving in on Huawei at the lower end of the market in Europe and Latin America.

Sales of Huawei’s Honor smartphones, which are mainly in the $180-$249 price band and accounted for a large portion of sales outside of China, had dropped significantly since March, allowing Samsung to boost sales volumes of its new A series, according to Counterpoint.

CHIP RECOVERY? But Huawei’s woes also present problems for Samsung as the as the world’s biggest semiconductor firm by revenue, with the Chinese firm a major buyer of its memory chips. Some analysts are more cautious about the outlook for the global memory chip business, which remains clouded by US-Sino trade conflict and provides two thirds of Samsung’s profit.

Samsung’s profit has been slumping every quarter since the year-end holiday quarter last year and is expected to fall again in the current quarter year-on-year.

In a limited trading update ahead of full earnings later this month, Samsung on Tuesday said operating profit for the July to September quarter would likely tumble 56pc to 7.7 trillion won ($6.44 billion), slightly better than the 7.1 trillion won forecast by Refinitiv SmartEstimate. It also flagged a revenue fall of 5.3pc to 62 trillion won.

“The strong smartphone sales have limited ability to fix all Samsung’s issues,” said Park Sung-soon, an analyst at Cape Investment & Securities. “Data centre customers, a major driver for memory chip business, are pursuing conservative investment for the time being, not particularly uplifting news for Samsung.”

Shares in Samsung were up about 1.5pc, just slightly ahead of an 0.8pc rise in the wider market in afternoon trade.

Wednesday, 9 October, 2019

12 BUSINESS

‘consumeRs to Get unInteRRupted, cheap electRIcIty duRInG wInteR’ POWER SECRETARY SAYS CIRCULAR DEBT STANDS AT RS860BN, WHICH WILL BE REDUCED TO A REASONABLE LEVEL BY 2020 ISLAMABAD

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AHMAD AHMADANI

OWER consumers, including domestic and industrial, will be provided uninterrupted and cheap electricity during the upcoming winter season and a scheme to this effect will be announced during the month of November, Power Division Secretary Irfan Ali informed the Senate's Standing Committee on Energy on Tuesday.

"The Power Division is mulling to put an end to the difference of rates during peak hour and off-peak hours," he informed the committee, which was

chaired by Senator Fida Muhammad.

He said as electricity demand in winter season usually goes down, incentives to power consumers will be given in the form of low rates. As per the division's estimates, there will be enough electricity available for use during the next winter in the country, he added. Irfan Ali maintained the Power Division is leaving no stone unturned to facilitate the industries and to decrease the demand for gas.

Responding to a question pertaining to circular debt, the secretary power division told the panel that at present, the circular debt stands at Rs860 billion which will be reduced to a reasonable level till 2020.

About Sukkur Electric Power Company (SEPCO), the secretary informed that load shedding on 100 feeders has ended "only because power theft has ended from these feeders". He said ABC cables are being installed on various points in SEPCO jurisdiction and it is hoped that power theft will be eliminated from 150 feeders in the near fu-

omer Ismail makes it to fortune's most influential under 40 list The 39-year-old is the only Pakistani on the list and was selected for making waves in the finance industry BUSINESS DESK Omer Ismail, a Pakistani finance professional, has been named in Fortune’s Most Influential Under 40 List for 2019. The 39-year-old is the only Pakistani on the list and was selected for making waves in the finance industry, a private media outlet reported.

He is currently serving as a partner at Goldman Sachs, one of the leading investment banks in the world, where he oversees entire US consumer business.

As an undergraduate at Dartmouth College, he did not take a finance course. He rather focused on editing the Ivy League institution’s student newspaper, The Dartmouth. He, however, was hired at Wall Street’s most prestigious investment bank.

Ismail, who grew up in Karachi, Pakistan earned his MBA at Harvard Business School aside after which he worked his way up to managing director on Goldman Sachs’ private equity investment team.

Ismail’s stature at the firm grew to the point that when the firm was considering a new venture into the consumer banking space in 2014, he was handpicked to lead a strategy team exploring the possibility.

When Goldman eventually did decide to go Main Street, Ismail became the division’s first employee and chief operating officer, charged with leading the bank’s foray into an entirely new business segment.

Today, as a partner at the firm, he is responsible for the personal banking arm Marcus by Goldman Sachs, which now has more than 4 million customers.

He also looks after the Apple Card, the firm’s collaboration with the Silicon Valley behemoth that promises to shift consumer finance paradigms.

He has also been recognised as one of Business Insider’s 100 People Transforming Business, Crain’s 40 under 40 and Bank Innovation’s Innovators to Watch. Omer lives in New York with his wife and two kids.

ture.

"Power theft will not be tolerated and all those involved will face severe consequences," he asserted, adding that a campaign against power thieves is continuing without any discrimination.

Committee Chairman Senator Fida Muhammad directed the power division officials to utilize modern technology to monitor those areas where electricity theft and line losses are on the rise. "A strategy must be devised to end the line losses."

Speaking on the occasion, Senator Maula Bukhsh Chandio said business activities in Sindh province have been badly hurt due to continued load shedding in Hyderabad and other big cities of the province. The committee chairman said alternate sources of energy can be helpful in resolving the energy woes of the country and that there is a need to conduct feasibility study regarding such sources of energy in Pakistan.The meeting decided to form a sub-committee to review the entire situation being faced by the power sector,

besides recommending completion of projects at the earliest.

Senator Sirajul Haq said the losses of Peshawar Electric Power Company (PESCO) are more than the limit set by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) while consumers have to bear these losses.

About share of hydel profit for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Senator Shibli Fraz said KP is being paid the hydel profit as per AGN Kazi formula.

The Power Division secretary informed the meeting that heavy payments are pending with Balochistan tube wells (30,000) that run on electricity. He, however, said that several solar projects with the cooperation of Saudi Arabia are being started and a large number of tube wells in Balochistan will be shifted on solar electricity soon.

Senators Nauman Wazir Khattak, Agha Shah Zeb Durani, Dilawar Khan, Ghous Muhammad Niazi, Maula Bukhsh Chandio, Maulvi faiz Muhammad, Sirajul Haq and Shibli Fraz attended the meeting.

Nestlé inaugurates $22m manufacturing plant in Sheikhupura BUSINESS DESK Punjab Governor Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar inaugurated a state-of-the-art manufacturing plant at Nestlé Pakistan's Sheikhupura Factory.

The production capacity of the Nestlé Fruita Vitals (Nestlé's range of juices, nectars and drinks) Plant – the newest edition to its facilities operating in Pakistan – is 24,000 units per hour. The company's investment of $22 million is one of its largest investments recently.

Speaking on the occasion, Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar said, "We aim to create conditions in which foreign companies are attracted towards making new investments. At present, the government is making concerted efforts to revive

the nation’s economy. I am really pleased to see that Nestlé, one of the world’s leading food and beverage companies, is making such good progress in Pakistan."

Welcoming the investment, the governor added, "I am heartened to see that Nestlé has always taken a keen interest in creating opportunities for the people.

Their investment demonstrates and speaks volume about Nestlé's trust in the future of Pakistan."

Nestlé Pakistan Chief Executive Officer Samer Chedid, while sharing his views, said, “Nestlé's recent investment is a testament to our continuous trust in Pakistan and its growth potential. We are also excited about integrating our Chaunsa value chain. We are procuring

Chaunsa mangoes from the 110 farms that we introduced interventions to improve their yield's quantity and quality."This integration demonstrates our Creating Shared Value approach in which we ensure that our activities and products are making a positive difference to society while contributing to Nestlé's ongoing success.

"We appreciate the government's steps as a result of which Pakistan has been listed by the World Bank as among the 'Top20 Improvers in Ease of Doing Business 2020'. This is a clear reflection of the government's commitment to improving competitiveness by increasing support for the development of the private sector, reducing the regulatory and administrative burden on enterprises."

PTI official requests PM to replace NBP regional head ISLAMABAD SHAHZAD PARACHA

An office-bearer of the Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI) has requested the prime minister to replace the head of National Bank of Pakistan's Sibbi region. In a letter to the PM, Muhammad Arif Rindh, Deputy General Secretary of PTI Nazirabad Division, Balochistan, has stated that lqbal Umrani, the incumbent regional head of NBP Sibbi region, has been cre-

ating multifarious problems for the supporters and voters of PTI. "Iqbal Umrani, being a government employee, is supporting a local political worker Sadiq Umrani (ex-MPA) and is also involved in corrupt activities," the PTI official alleged. "Cases are also underway against him at an accountability court."

It is pertinent to mention that a corruption scandal had also surfaced in the NBP Sibbi region wherein the branch manager transferred millions of rupee from depositors accounts illegally.

hyundai opens digital store in karachi, unveils ‘Ioniq’ hybrid car KARACHI BILAL HUSSAIN

Hyundai Nishat Motor (Private) Limited (HNMPL) on Tuesday unveiled its 'Ioniq' hybrid car while inaugurating its digital showroom at the Emerald Tower in Karachi. The digital showroom has been developed under the 'city store' concept, supplementing traditional showrooms with a convenient, fully digitalised retail experience. HNMPL COO Tatsuya Sato said that he compares Pakistan to what Indonesia used to be – having great potential for the industry. "The things which enticed us to come to Pakistan was its population, age-group (youth) and the passion for cars," Sato told reporters.

However, he said that the auto industry has been struggling at the hands of volatile currency. "But Pakistan has huge potential…even to export cars." HNMPL is a joint venture with an investment of $150 million – 60pc coming from Pakistan partners and the remaining 40pc from the Japanese partner. The cars HNMPL is selling at the moment are all imported, completely built units (CBUs) and the company would start manufacturing in January next with H1 100 Trucks having 20pc level of localisation, which would reach up to 45pc in five years. Sato said that Hyundai, as per its international vision, would also start electrification of its cars as soon as the environment is conducive. He urged the government to encourage the use of electric cars and ensure availability of electric stations.

Nishat Group's Hasan Mansha was also present on the occasion to sign memorandums of understanding with the partners. Ioniq is a hybrid car, which has an electric motor and 1.6L GDI 6-speed automatic dual-clutch transmission. Apart from Ioniq, ‘Grand Starex – MPV’ which is a 2.4L petrol engine with seatingcapacity for 12 persons, and ‘Santa Fe – Luxury All-Wheel Drive SUV’ powered by a 2.4L gasoline engine with seatingcapacity for seven persons, were also displayed at the digital showroom. All these models are imported from Korea and provide coverage for four years or 100,000km, whichever comes first. Sato said that there are three more passenger cars, which will be introduced by Hyundai in Pakistan. However, he didn't specify what engine size the cars would be. A source told this scribe that two of the cars would fall in the 1,000cc or less category.

HNMPL's new manufacturing facility occupies 67 acres of land in Faisalabad with annual production capacity up to 15,000 units. HNMPL is a joint venture company among three leading international businesses; Nishat Group, Sojitz Corporation (Japan) and Millat Tractors Ltd.

Are Daraz pick-up points a good business strategy?

LAHORE TAIMOOR HASSAN

One of the biggest challenges faced by the ecommerce industry is fulfillment. That is making timely deliveries. But what if a customer misses a delivery? Of course it would be inconvenient for him unless he was doing it deliberately, but it would be more inconvenient and unfriendly for the business because deliveries incur costs and once a customer misses a delivery, this cost doubles. It is perhaps to minimise such deliveries, AliBaba Group-backed Pakistan’s largest online shopping store Daraz has launched Daraz pick-up points across the country to facilitate customers.

Customers who have placed orders online on Daraz will be able to collect their orders at these pick-up points.

This expansion in the business includes 47 Daraz hubs across the country, and 10 Daraz Dukaans in Karachi have taken on an added function whereby customers can opt to collect their orders from these locations instead of having them delivered to their homes. This gives them the flexibility to pick up their order at any given time of the day which could be before work, after work or whenever they want. But the service is limited to prepaid orders only. That is to say only those customers are eligible for this service that pay online when they place the order, lim-

iting the scope of the service because a majority of the orders are paid in cash.

A major chunk of Pakistani population is unbanked and undigitized, leaving them with no options to make online payments. And for those that have bank cards or digital wallets to make these payments, security of payments remains a concern.

Consequently, a majority of Pakistani consumers prefer to pay in cash to the dispatch guy delivering their consignment.

About 90% of e-commerce payments in Pakistan are cash-on-delivery (CoD) and Daraz is no different. A bulk of payments in cash aren’t good for an ecommerce business. It affects their cash flows. Consumers would miss deliveries because rid-

ers would come at times when nobody was at home to receive the order. Though the delivery was missed, the company incurred the charges to deliver that product and would have to deliver it again, incurring more charges. But the payment would only be received when the consumer receives the product because he chose CoD. For Daraz, introducing these pick-up points is a smart business strategy. It encourages users to pay online, while also minimising deliveries and saving some of the costs associated with it. Not only does the digital payments improve cash-flows, pick-ups by customers from these locations also ease away the pains associated with the logistics. Daraz also plans to activate

more Daraz pick-up points before its November 11 sale event. And for all the CoDs, home delivery is still an option. “Over the next six months, we aim to partner with 100s of stores across the country to make it even more convenient for our customers to pick up their order,” said Daraz Head of Localisation Kassim Shroff.

In 2018, the online platform launched Daraz hubs in 19 cities including Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and all other major cities to help customers place orders and return products with the assistance of Daraz representatives who are present at the Daraz-owned brick-and-mortar stores.

The agents also help ensure that customer queries and issues are resolved quickly.

1

Do you feel swimming In Pakistan has more scope for girl swimmers or boy swimmers?

There is equal scope for both genders in swimming competitions and other opportunities. Parents from middle class and upper class have more scope and interest in sending their kids for swimming. Girls swimming is still taboo in many families because of religious and cultural constraints; still it is getting better day by day. Kids these days exercise a lot of freedom opting for sports of their choice.

iN coNversatioN with

seher Naveed sherazi

2

What is the government doing to provide opportunities for girls and boys in the field of swimming?

Pakistan Swimming Federation organizes different events for encouraging the young talent throughout the year across the country. There are events in Sindh throughout the year for both boys and girls because of the favourable weather conditions.

Women Swimming Association Punjab (WSAP) also organizes competitions for girls namley the All Punjab Interschool Swimming Competition, Punjab age group and Punjab open are oyr key events. Other clubs such as Lahore Gymkhana, Alpha Aquatics, Shining Star and DHA swimming pool also host various fun events and competitions in the summer months. The swimming fraternity that consists of former swimmers, parents and coaches help out and look out for these events. Sponsors play a major role in financing these events.

3

What is a good age at which a child should start learning how to swim? I want my 4 years old to learn competitive swimming? What is the right age to enroll her for swimming coaching lessons?

Three and a half years and 4 years of age is appropriate for exposing the kid to water. In-fact i see young mothers with their babies in the pool. There should be no pressure and it should be a fun activity for the child. Some times parents are over ambitious and the end result is a mentally exhausted swimmer.

4

What strokes should a child learn first: free style, breast stroke, butterfly or others?

A child at the age of 4 can learn front crawl with the assistance of a kick board and then gradually learn the complete stroke. Ideally freestyle /front crawl is taught first. Diving, tumbles come at a much later stage. I also think that there is no specific time to learn a skill.

5

Is there scope for swimmers in Pakistan? do you feel there are many competitions and events here to encourage kids?

We do organize event on provincial, national level. There is Punjab Age group and Open, Punjab inter school competition and Junior national championship that give enough opportunity to girls to show their talent and skills on different platforms. There are always so many competitions taking place in all over Asia, infact the world over. “Our swimmers from Punjab such as Esha Khan, Rubab Raza, Kiren Khan, Bisma Khan, Jahanara Nabi, Misheal Hayat, Maya Omer have represented Pakistan in the SAF games and many other swimming competitions.”

Seher Naveed Sherazi, the Associate Secretary & Team Manager for Women Swimming Association of Punjab.

Seher was amongst the first team of women swimmers of Punjab Women swimmers in 1995 and since then has enjoyed being part of various swimming activities and since last couple of years is part of the Women Swimming Association of Punjab (WSAP) WSAP is dedicated to raising the bar of swimming activities in Punjab.

Seher is passionate about swimming and women participating in swimming activities. This is visible through her consistent efforts for young girls and hunt for emerging talent. “Raw talent alone is not enough, you have to put in hours and hours of practise to become a champion!”

Scaryammi decided to know more about Seher, and the perspective she has to offer to young swimmers, the parent body and the coaches.

Here is what she had to say: www.scaryammi.com

8

6

Are swimming pools in Lahore and overall in Pakistan clean and properly maintained?

Pool water is chlorinated and state of the art filteration plants filter the water. The pool in water is chlorinated water and is generally clean. The swimming federation emphasises a great deal on the cleanliness of the pools.

7

What suggestion would you like to give to parents who want to send their kids for swimming?

Parents must pay attention on the child’s emotional and physical well being and for that exercise is crucial. They must expose the child to different sports and which sport interests the child.

I am against making the life of my 5 year old daughter become too stressful! Do you feel swimming has become way too stressful for children?

The purpose of sports and games is fun and physical strength. When we eliminate the purpose and pressurize the child for competition then the same enjoyment turns into boredom. Swimming is not a stress causing sports It is a stress releasing sport.

It is the best of cardiovascular exercises.

Do you feel coaches in Pakistan take proper security measures?

All pool facilities that i am aware of have coaches and life guards, they are capable of handling an emergency. At our events there is always an ambulance parked outside the venue incase of an emergency. Local clubs such as the Lahore Gymkhama club has given various seminars to its staff on exevuting a CPR and handling an emergency.

9

Some fungi create zombies, then control their minds The tropical fungus Ophiocordyceps infects ants’ central nervous systems. By the time the fungi been in the insect bodies for nine days, they have complete control over the host’s movements. They force the ants to climb trees, then convulse and fall into the cool, moist soil below, where fungi thrive. Once there, the fungus waits until exactly solar noon to force the ant to bite a leaf and kill it.

Don’t miss these 12 animal “facts” that are actually false.

There’s only one letter that doesn’t appear in any U.S. state name Can you guess the answer to this random fact? You’ll find a Z (Arizona), a J (New Jersey), and even two X’s (New Mexico and Texas)—but not a single Q. Check out these other 50 fun facts about every state in America.

Samsung tests phone durability with a buttshaped robot Do these interesting facts have you rethinking everything?

People stash their phones in their back pockets all the time, which is why Samsung created a robot that is shaped like a butt—and yes, even wears jeans—to “sit” on their phones to make sure they can take the pressure.

Aries: Everyone needs time to rest, including you. A nod of recognition in your professional sphere shows you how hard you work to maintain your reputation.

Taurus: Communing with people who are vastly different than you may be alluring and also extremely confusing.

Gemini: You are dealing with glamour in the public eye. You command a certain charismatic presence that relies on someone else’s investment in you.

Cancer: Wistful thoughts of escape with a beloved -- real or imagined -may occupy your thoughts today.

Leo: The demons of industry have your back. You currently possess the capability to tackle detailed work that is usually too boring for you.

Virgo: Harboring fantasies now doesn’t mean that you’re ready to experience them.

Libra: Your momentum at work is stymied by something unexpected and unknown. Surprisingly, the cause could lie hidden somewhere in your domestic sphere.

Scorpio: A pleasant encounter in your neighborhood takes you on a scenic detour. You have much more fun than you planned for now, and some work might go by the wayside.

Sagittarius: You might funnel a small windfall into your domestic dreams today.

Capricorn: A little gentleness goes a long way in getting your message across.

Aquarius: The question of how to make more money swirls like a nebula. Oddly enough, the mystery may come from incoherence.

Pisces: Someone near and dear to you lavishes you with appreciation today.

CMYK

Wednesday, 9 October, 2019

14 SPORTS

Andy MurrAy to MAke GrAnd SLAM return At AuStrALiAn open PERTH

A

AGENCIES

NDy Murray will make his Grand Slam return at the Australian Open in January, a year after career-saving hip surgery, tournament organisers announced Tuesday.

The British three-time major winner has been slowly working his way back to fitness and is now ranked 289th, up from 503rd just a week ago.

The 32-year-old won his opening match at the Shanghai Masters on Monday, beating Argentine qualifier Juan Ignacio Londero in three sets, following a quarter-final appearance in Beijing last week.

With his confidence seemingly growing by the day, Australian Open organisers said the former world number one had committed to extending his comeback into the majors in January.

"Confirmed: Andy Murray will return to compete at the #AusOpen in 2020," they tweeted.

The official Australian Open website said Murray "will return to the main draw with a protected ranking of number two and restored physical powers". World number one Novak Djokovic said it was "pleasantly surprising" to see Murray back following hip-resurfacing surgery.

"Regardless of his ranking currently, he is a great

champion and one of the greats of this game," the reigning Australian Open champion said at the Shanghai Masters.

"If he's healthy, you can definitely expect him to play at the highest level very soon.

"I wish him that, it's great to see him back."

Murray has made the final five times at Melbourne Park, losing four times to Djokovic and once to Roger Federer. However, arguably his most heartbreaking moment at the season-opening Grand Slam came not on the court but at an emotional press conference before this year's tournament.

Murray broke down in tears describing how the pain in his right hip, which had been operated on six months earlier, had become unbearable.

"I can play with limitations. But having the limitations and the pain is not allowing me to enjoy competing or training," he said, later revealing that even walking his dog had become an ordeal.

Tributes flowed for the well-liked Scot, with Billie Jean King calling him "a champion on and off court". Players also farewelled him in an emotional video screened on centre court after he lost an epic five-setter to Roberto Bautista Agut, with most believing his Grand Slam career was over.

"It was a very emotional Australian Open for him and for many tennis fans," Djokovic added on Tues-

BERLIN AGENCIES

Struggling Lyon plan to dismiss coach Sylvinho PARIS AGENCIES

Lyon have decided to sack Brazilian coach Sylvinho just 11 matches into the season after a dreadful run of form, the Ligue 1 club said on Monday.

The former Arsenal and Barcelona fullback only took over at the Groupama Stadium in May to replace Bruno Genesio. "OL have decided to implement a procedure which can lead to the termination of the contract of Sylvio Mendes Campo Junior (Sylvinho)," read a Lyon statement. It was the 45-year-old's first role as a head coach, having previously been assistant to Tite for the Brazil national team. Despite losing several key players, including Ferland Mendy, Tanguy Ndombele and Nabil Fekir, in the close-season, Sylvinho made a dream start as Lyon won 3-0 at Monaco and thrashed Angers 6-0 in their first two games. But they have not won a league match since and have slipped to within a single point of the bottom two.

Sylvinho's surprise exit comes even though Lyon have claimed four points from their first two Champions League group-stage outings, after a draw with Zenit Saint Petersburg and a 2-0 win at RB Leipzig last week.

He was hand-picked by Juninho, a former Lyon star midfielder, who took over as sporting director in May. Asked at the end of September if his future was linked to his compatriot's, Juninho said: "Not 100 percent but I chose the coach. I'm taking responsibility." Juninho also said that when it comes to firing staff on a struggling team, "the coach is first because it's the law of football. He's on the bench and he has the last word". The club said that Gerald Baticle, who was an assistant coach under Genesio, will take training on Tuesday under Juninho's direction.

RB Leipzig striker Timo Werner became the latest player to be ruled out of Germany's friendly with Argentina, prompting coach Joachim Loew to call for reinforcements on Monday.

Loew added Hoffenheim midfielder Sebastian Rudy and uncapped Freiburg defender Robin Koch to the squad that will host Argentina on Wednesday and then travel to Estonia for a Euro 2020 qualifier four days later.

"I spent my Sunday on the phone and I didn't receive anything but bad news," said Loew, who will also be without injured midfielder Ilkay Gundogan for the friendly in Dortmund.

Toni Kroos, Jonas Hector and Matthias Ginter all withdrew from the squad on Sunday, with Schalke's Suat Serdar summoned as cover.

Loew is missing a dozen regulars with Manchester City's Leroy Sane a notable long-term absentee after he tore knee ligaments in August.

"It's a pity because our young team needs to settle in if it wants to make progress," Loew said.

"It hurts us, it's unusually hard for us. These aren't the best conditions but

day. "But it seemed like it was too early to goodbye and it's great to have him back." Murray said after his win over Londero in Shanghai that his movement on the court felt like it was steadily improving.

"In the beginning I didn't necessarily feel good, but last couple of weeks have been I think much improved," he said. In 2013, Murray became the first British man to win Wimbledon for 77 years, ending the nation's obsession with finding a champion to follow in the footsteps of Fred Perry.

He repeated the feat in 2016, adding to a glitter-

ing career that also includes the 2012 US Open, two Olympic gold medals and 45 ATP crowns.

Australian Open organisers hope there will be another blast from the past if Belgium's Kim Clijsters can meet her goal of taking to the court again in January after an absence of more than seven years.

A crowd favourite in Melbourne, the 36-year-old retired to have a family but made a surprise announcement last month that she was making a comeback in 2020. Clijsters has won four Grand Slams, including the 2011 Australian Open.

Depleted Germany lose sick Werner for Argentina friendly I'm not going to whine about it. It also gives a chance to others and to young players."

Loew said he had not comtemplated recalling Mats Hummels from his international exile after omitting the Borussia Dortmund defender in March.

"I haven't thought about him. We're following our path with our young players and there's no reason to call up Mats." Loew has selected five uncapped players with Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Nadiem Amiri, Freiburg forward Luca Waldschmidt and Hertha Berlin defender Niklas Stark joining Koch and Serdar.

Germany are level on 12 points from five matches with Northern Ireland at the top of Group C. The Netherlands, who beat Germany 4-2 in Hamburg last month, are three points behind with a game in hand.

The top two sides will qualify automatically for Euro 2020.

China punishes NBA as crisis over democracy tweet deepens BEIJING AGENCIES

China on Tuesday pulled NBA exhibition games from television screens as the league faced an escalating punishment campaign in the lucrative Chinese market ignited by an American basketball executive's prodemocracy tweet.

However the National Basketball Association faced a counter-attack in the United States, where presidential candidates and influential senators accused it of kowtowing to authoritarian China.

The crisis erupted Friday when Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted support for protesters in the semi-autonomous southern Chinese city of Hong Kong who are demanding greater freedoms.

The NBA, seeking to balance its interests in the Chinese market against American free speech values, found itself being smashed by both sides in a reflection of the broader tensions between the global superpowers. The league intially put out statements that senior US politicians slammed as bowing to China for financial reasons, while Rockets star guard James Harden apologised. But NBA Commissioner Adam Silver on Monday insisted his organisation supported Morey's right to express his opinions. The Chinese state-run broadcaster responded on Tuesday, announcing it had shelved plans to broadcast a pair of pre-season exhibition games to be held in China this week and was considering more punishments.

"We believe that any comments that challenge national sovereignty and social stability are not within the scope of freedom of speech," China Central Tele-

vision (CCTV) said on its social media account.

"To this end, CCTV's Sports Channel has decided to immediately suspend plans to broadcast the NBA preseason (China Games) and will immediately investigate all cooperation and communication involving the NBA." Also on Tuesday, several popular Chinese acting and singing stars said they would boycott the exhibition games -- putting the Los Angeles Lakers against the Brooklyn Nets.

An associated hashtag, "Several stars quit NBA games", was the most-discussed on China's leading social media platform Weibo on Tuesday morning, with more than 350 million "reads".

Nets players, executives and NBA China officials were to appear at a publicity event at a Shanghai primary school on Tuesday afternoon, but the league

CMYK

abruptly cancelled it just two hours before it was to start, giving no explanation. NBA representatives did not immediately respond to AFP queries about the cancellation or whether the games themselves -- set for Thursday in Shanghai and Saturday in the southern city of Shenzhen near Hong Kong -- would go ahead.

Meanwhile the Global Times, a nationalist paper known for communicating the ruling Communist Party's attitudes to the world, issued a blunt warning to global firms that speaking out on human rights and other sensitive issues would cost them market access.

"The problem is that Morey's freedom is at the expense of (the) Rockets' huge commercial interests, which the team is unwilling to give up. It's a paradox with which Americans are grappling," the editorial said. "The biggest lesson which can be drawn from the matter is that entities that value commercial interests must make their members speak cautiously."

In his first public comments on the controversy, Silver late Monday spoke in support of freedom of expression. "I think as a values-based organization that I want to make it clear... that Daryl Morey is supported in terms of his ability to exercise his freedom of expression," Silver told Japan's Kyodo News agency.

"There are the values that have been part of this league from its earliest days, and that includes free expression," he added, speaking in Japan, where the Rockets and Toronto Raptors play several exhibition games this week.

However, the NBA's initial statement in English on the furore said it was "regrettable" that Morey's views had "offended so many of our friends and fans in China".

Wednesday, 9 October, 2019

SPORTS 15

t20I crIcket comeS to Lahore, but It'S not the Same PakIStan aS on tV

LAHORE

c

AGENCIES

RICKET really has its own, cruel ways. A team that trekked the globe mopping up T20Is for fun have seen Sri Lanka wipe the floor with them when the game returned home, in front of an adoring public who had been convinced of the quality of their side based on their television screens.

Was it really the same side they had watched on TV pummel West Indies in Port of Spain, hammer Australia in Harare and New Zealand in Auckland? Did Pakistan, brushed aside by a Sri Lankan team cobbled together from among the consenting and the capable, really win 29 of 33 T20Is since the end of the last World T20?

The patterns of play Sarfaraz Ahmed's side - and for now, it remains his side - had executed so ruthlessly over the past three years have vanished in the Lahore evening. On each of the two nights, they fielded first, and found themselves on the back foot within the first Powerplay. This, in itself, is not unusual; with only two fielders out of the circle, batsmen will look to apply the pressure. Pakistan have experienced it, Pakistan have dealt with it. Pakistan have dished it out too. But on Monday night and Sat-

urday, they simply couldn't.

Sarfaraz used five different bowlers in the Powerplay on Saturday, with Danushka Gunathilaka, the man whose chanceless century in the third ODI in Karachi had served as a warning shot to Pakistan, running riot against a side that had plotted itself into disarray. Sri Lanka smashed 64 in those first six, and on a day when Pakistan's fielding was so abysmal it may have left Steve Rixon (now sat in the Sri Lanka dressing room) red-faced with vicarious embarrassment, the visitors went on to notch up 165.

This allowed Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad the opportunity to show why they had been called back into a side that had risen to world No. 1 without them.

Instead ‌ Shehzad was lucky to survive nine balls; he should have been dismissed at least twice before then, while Umar needed just the one to play across the line and find himself trapped plumb in front. Babar Azam's rare failure took the asking rate close to nine.

Just over a year ago, Pakistan had found themselves in a similar situation in the final of a tri-series against Australia in Harare. Two wickets in the first over had set them back in a chase of 184, with the required rate rising to ten after just two overs. The two at the crease, though, understood the im-

portance of ensuring runs continued to flow; without that happening, the game would be gone anyway. An improbable hour and a half later, they had won with four balls and six wickets to spare.

In a less challenging situation and against a lower quality attack at home in the first T20I, Sarfaraz and Iftikhar Ahmed opted for the safety of strike rotation and wicket preservation, watching the Powerplay tick by as Sri Lanka's limitless supply line of spinners began to tighten the noose. Sarfaraz, on 24 off 30, went for a low-percentage slog he would have missed six times out of ten even if he wasn't in the seemingly endless rut currently afflicting him. He would miss, the ball would hit, and Pakistan would be skittled less than five overs later.

The second T20I was more of the same, with Pakistan never really in the chase after a shocking bowling effort allowed Sri Lanka to put up 182, the biggest T20I total in Pakistan. Two early wickets put the pressure on Pakistan once more.

Following that, Shehzad and Sarfaraz adopted the novel stance of rejecting the notion that 183 was a rather stiff chase, or that just two boundary riders represented an opportunity to make it a little less stiff. Just 25 runs were added in the first five; Sri Lanka had scored 41 and lost the same number of wickets in that period.

Two overs of acceleration were followed by three wickets in an over from Wanindu Hasaranga. His uncanny ability to not just bowl a mean googly, but apparently also make the subsequent batsman forget he could do so, saw him clean up each of Shehzad, Umar and Sarfaraz playing the same shot to almost identical deliveries, in the process condemning Pakistan to their first T20I series defeat against Sri Lanka.

It's these errors of strategy and execution that one hoped Pakistan had moved on from following the 2016 World T20. Sri Lanka might have the makings of a wonderfully exciting young side, but the Pakistan of 2016-2018 would have had little trouble getting over the line in this series. This Pakistan that's turned up this year, however, is startlingly distinct from that one.

They have lost five of six T20Is this year; since the end of the 2016 World T20 through to 2018, they had ended up on the wrong side just four times in 33 games. Hasan Ali and Shadab Khan, two of the bowlers to play seminal roles in Pakistan's rise to the top in the shortest format, have regressed to the point where one is out of the team and the other needs a spell away from it. Fakhar Zaman, the spearhead at the top - the flourish to Babar's finesse - hasn't crossed 25 since that heist in Harare, leaving his partner unfairly saddled with the burden of providing a strong start.

These problems, and others, gnawed away beneath the surface, each irksome enough in their own right. But the open sores generated by the simultaneous return of Shehzad and Umar, an assertion of authority by a new head coach (and chief selector), preclude any deeper introspection into the side's malaise. Despite bursting at the seams with talent, the two had been dropped for the cause of the greater good, results justifying the move with each passing series. Their return in the face of scepticism Misbah had dismissively waved away, and the spectacular manner in which the move backfired, meant the head coach and chief selector had scored a remarkable open goal, his honeymoon period prematurely terminated and the scrutiny on him decidedly more antagonistic.

Injured SmrItI mandhana out of South afrIca odIS VISAKHAPATNAM AGENCIES

India women's opener Smriti Mandhana has been ruled out of the ODI series against South Africa women after fracturing her right toe. A BCCI spokesperson confirmed that she had picked up the injury after being struck by a ball while batting in the nets. Pooja Vastrakar, the 20year-old seam-bowling allrounder, has been added to the team as replacement. Mandhana is now under observation by the BCCI's medical team and it is unclear if she will be fit in time to play India's next series. The team is tentatively set to depart for a tour of the Caribbean on October 23. "It's a mild fracture," coach WV Raman told reporters on Tuesday. "The call [on Mandhana's return] will be taken based on the assessment of the physios at the NCA. It's difficult to fix the timeline either way because she still needs to get an MRI done because there is some swelling and it has to die down for the MRI to be taken. Once that's done, only then the assessment can be made." Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues set to miss WBBL Mithali Raj, the ODI captain, chose to look at the positive side, saying the opener's absence will create opportunities for other players. "She [Mandhana] is an experienced player," Raj said. "But other players, like Priya Punia, have scored a lot of runs in the domestic games. This series is not part of the ICC Women's Championship. So that way it's a chance for us to try out new players. And I am positive that whoever gets a chance will utilise it fully." Mandhana had failed to get going in the T20I series against South Africa that preceded the ODIs, with scores of 21, 13, 7 and 5 in the four completed games. However, she was in red-hot form in ODIs last season, with six scores over fifty including a hundred, in nine matches against Sri Lanka (away), New Zealand (away) and England (home). Overall, in 50 ODIs, she has 1951 runs at 42.41, with four tons and 16 half-centuries. India won the rain-hit T20Is - two games were abandoned without a ball bowled - against South Africa 3-1. They will square off again for three ODIs in Vadodara between October 9 and 14.

Growth of live streaming prompts ECB anti-corruption rethink LONDON AGENCIES

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) is reviewing its anti-corruption codes and policies in light of the growth of live streaming in county cricket.

The ECB's existing anti-corruption codes involve a clear split between regulations for televised and non-televised games, with much stricter practices for games shown on television.

But with the number of county games that are streamed live increasingly exponentially in the past four years, that distinction has been blurred.

Nottinghamshire experimented with streaming their home games in 2016, and since then more and more counties have started to do so. While the terms of the ECB's broadcast deal with Sky means that live games have to be 'unlisted' - meaning they do not show in YouTube search results - traffic has soared in the past two seasons, and counties hope that those regulations will be changed next year. Similarly, live-stream audiences are increasingly international. Earlier this season, Somerset had to upgrade their web-

site's server capacity due to the level of traffic from Pakistan fans hoping to watch Babar Azam. Under current protocols, the only county games that have 'Minimum Standards for Players' and Match Offi-

cials' Areas' in place are those that are televised, meaning that players and officials are told to hand over their phones and any other communication devices to anti-corruption officials ahead of the start of play

in such games. They are then locked away and returned to them after the close.

As things stand, players are able to use their phones in the dressing room throughout domestic games that are not

televised, and are permitted to wear smart watches while on the field of play. In international matches, the anti-corruption procedure dictates that players and officials cannot wear smart gadgets in the dressing room or on the field of play.

The opportunity for information exchange came to light during the final round of the County Championship season when Matt Parkinson, the Lancashire legspinner, revealed that he had found out about his call-up to England's Test and T20 squads thanks to a notification on his team-mate Steven Croft's smart watch.

The ECB confirmed that Croft had not contravened any anti-corruption policies.

In 2018, several Pakistan players wore smart watches during their Test against England at Lord's, but were told by officials to stop after the first day. An ECB spokesperson told ESPNcricinfo: "We continuingly review our codes and policies.

"We are aware of the potential risks involved in streamed matches and that's why, working with our integrity service providers and the betting companies, we assess the betting markets closely and run a thorough preventative educational training module for all players and match officials."

Wednesday, 9 October, 2019

NEWS

JUI-F wIns opposItIon’s sUpport For AzAdI MArch

iSLamaBad

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MIAN ABRAR

HE opposition parties on Tuesday agreed to join Jamiat Ulema-eIslam-Fazl’s (JUI-F) upcoming Azadi March towards Islamabad but no agreement could be reached regarding staging a sit-in or enforcing a lockdown of the federal capital.

The leaders and workers of opposition parties, including Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Awami National Party (ANP), will participate in the march.

Sources inside the Rehbar Committee told this scribe that leaders of the major opposition parties who met on Tuesday to devise a joint strategy agreed on the removal of religious clauses from

India to lift travel advisory on IOK two months after crackdown neW deLHi AGENCIES

India will lift a travel advisory on occupied Kashmir on Thursday, Indian media said quoting authorities, two months after the government launched a security crackdown before stripping the region of its semi-autonomous status on Aug 5.

Thousands of Indian tourists, pilgrims and workers fled the Muslim-majority region in early August after authorities issued a security alert. Telephone and internet services were suspended and public movements restricted to prevent protests hours before India announced it had revoked the region’s special status.

Mobile and internet services are largely still blocked in the Kashmir valley. The travel advisory issued on Aug 2 will be lifted from Thursday, the Indian government said in a statement on Monday.

“The governor [Satya Pal Malik] directed that the Home Department’s advisory asking tourists to leave the Valley be lifted immediately.

Iran says ready to talk with Saudis if they stop ‘killing people’ geneVa AGENCIES

Iran’s foreign minister was quoted on Tuesday as signalling his country would be willing to sit down to discuss regional issues with Saudi Arabia, but Riyadh had to stop “killing people”. “In a situation where the Saudis would like to negotiate with Iran, if they pursue regional issues at the negotiating table and not by killing people, they will certainly have the Islamic Republic along with them,” Mohammad Javad Zarif said, according to the official IRIB news agency. Shi’ite Muslim Iran and Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia are arch-foes in the Gulf region, backing different sides in the Yemen and Syrian conflicts.

the charter of demands.

“We have convinced the JUI-F to remove religious clauses from the agenda of the march. The plan to lock down the capital would be discussed once the march reaches Islamabad,” sources said.

When asked to elaborate the religious clauses, sources said that JUI-F had been advised against playing the religion card.

“We asked JUI-F to remove slogans and demands pertaining to Namoos-e-Risalat and Namoos-e-Sahaba. We also asked them to shun their campaign against the Ahmadis as well,” sources added.

When asked about the demands of the opposition parties, sources said that the new charter includes demand for immediate elections without military supervision, protection of Islamic provisions and autonomy for democratic state institutions.

Sources said that the opposition parties were open to mediation over its demands and if the premier agrees to hold new elections, the march could be postponed.

Meanwhile, speaking to reporters, Rehbar Committee Convener Akram Durrani said that the opposition parties do not want to clash with the army, however, they are of the view that the Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf (PTI) government should be sent packing. “If the government is given more time, the economy would suffer,” he said.

“Industries are on the brink of closure whereas doctors, government employees and even farmers are protesting.

Unnecessary restrictions have been enforced on the media and no other segment of the society is happy. The rulers must go home now,” he added.

Without offering any explanations, Durrani accused the government of “selling out” the Kashmir cause, adding that if the PTI government is not sent home, it would sell the entire country.

Speaking about the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Authority formed by the government PML-N Secretary General Ahsan Iqbal said that the authority would bring the ministries at loggerheads. “CPEC does not need any authority, it needs investments,” he said.

Iqbal also said that the government should allocate Rs1 billion every year to carry on ML-I (railways upgradation project). “On one hand, the government is implementing ML-I while on the other, it has decreased the development budget of Pakistan Railways from Rs40 billion to Rs16 billion. Budget cuts in Pakistan Railways amount to disservice to the country,” he concluded.

Chinese military supports Pakistan’s ‘principled, sane’ stance on Kashmir BeiJing STAFF REPORT

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa and the Chinese military leadership on Tuesday discussed the situation in India-occupied Kashmir and its consequences, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.

According to the military’s media wing, Gen Bajwa called on Commander Army General Han Weiguo, People’s Liberation Army (PLA), and General Xu Qiliang, Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), at the PLA’s headquarters. The two sides discussed regional security environment and Pakistan China defence cooperation, the ISPR said.

“The COAS apprised Chinese military leadership about consequences of the ongoing situation in occupied Kashmir if it’s not amica-

bly resolved, for which India needs to respect United Nations resolutions and ensure the human rights of Kashmiris,” the ISPR statement said.

“Chinese military leadership, supporting Pakistan’s principled stance on Kashmir issue, appreciated sane Pakistani approach in the interest of peace,” it added.

The military leadership of both the countries agreed that continued unresolved Pak-India tensions will have serious implications for peace and stability in the region.

“The COAS apprised them [the Chinese military leadership] that Pakistan looks forward to peace but that shall not be at the cost of any compromise on principles or honour and dignity of the nation.”

The two sides also discussed the developing situation in Gulf and efforts for peace in Afghanistan. Both sides agreed to enhance existing defence cooperation.

SC bench seeks early disposal of Justice Isa case COURT ADJOURNS HEARING TILL OCT 14, REJECTS TWOWEEK DEFERMENT REQUEST BY JUSTICE ISA’S COUNSEL iSLamaBad STAFF REPORT

A 10-member Supreme Court bench hearing over a dozen pleas challenging the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) proceedings against SC justice Qazi Faez Isa on Tuesday adjourned the case till Oct 14, as it refused to defer the hearing for two weeks on Justice Isa counsel Munir A Malik’s request.

The bench headed Justice Umar Ata Bandial said that a member of the bench has to travel out of the country after two weeks; hence, there would be no such delay. Attorney General Anwar Mansoor also submitted his reply to the petition filed by Justice Isa. The court directed the attorney general to provide a copy of his reply to all petitioners in the case.

Responding to the reply, Malik argued that while the petition says that

allegations against his client were based on malafide intentions, there was no mention of the point in the reply to the petition.

However, the bench insisted that the counsel start his arguments in the case on the same day. To which, Justice Isa’s counsel replied he didn’t have time to examine the government’s response as it was submitted on the same day as of the hearing.

Justice Bandial said, “We are trying to hear the case as soon as possible.”

Referring to earlier delay, the SC judge said the case was delayed earlier because of Malik’s illness.

“The entire nation is looking to this bench, so why hurry? I want the 10member bench to safeguard this institution,” counsel Malik added.

“We are here to hear cases. Let us know if you want a prolonged deferment of the case,” he said. The head of

COUNSEL SAYS CASE IS A TRIAL OF ENTIRE JUDICIARY, IT’S JOB OF BENCH TO SAFEGUARD THIS INSTITUTION the bench further said that an “honourable friend” from his “community” has been accused so the bench wants to hear out the matter post haste.

Malik argued that the judge and his family members were spied upon. “A campaign was launched against my client,” he said. Justice Bandial asked the counsel to elaborate his allegation with the help of the background of the case. Malik responded that his client had passed a verdict which was disliked. “Following the decision, a welldeliberated campaign was launched against my client,” he added.

Justice Bandial said that two judges had also detached themselves from the bench because of the petitioner’s objections. “This was a painful process,” he said. He noted that the case is one of its kind. “The case is a trial of the entire judiciary,” retorted Malik.

“Justice Isa is not a ‘gentleman’

who has stolen money from the people,” noted Justice Bandial. “However, there is still an allegation that he acquired three properties dishonestly during his tenure as chief justice of the Balochistan High Court.

He also did not disclose them in the wealth statement.”

Justice Bandial said the allegation was a ‘stain’ on the judicial institution, hence, the matter could not be brushed under the rug. He asserted that the top court will maintain its decorum.

A reference had been instituted in May this year against Justice Isa on the request of President Arif Alvi, accusing the judge of concealing his properties in the United Kingdom allegedly held in the name of his wife and children. However, the proceedings were later suspended after over a dozen petitions were filed in the SC against the reference.

Imran takes charge of CPEC, other foreign investments

Al Qaeda’s South Asia chief killed in Afghanistan

most competitive listed companies with very strong financing capabilities in China — showed keen interest in exploring new business avenues in Pakistan particularly in the energy sector.

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Minister for Planning, Development and Reform Khusro Bakhtiar, Chairman Board of Investment Zubair Gillani, Federal Minister for Railways Sheikh Rashid Ahmad, Adviser to Prime Minister for Commerce, Textile, Industries, Production and Investment Abdul Razzak Dawood and Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Petroleum Nadeem Babar were present in the meeting.

KABUL: The leader of Al Qaeda’s South Asian branch was killed in a US-Afghan joint raid in southern Afghanistan last month, Afghan officials confirmed on Tuesday. Asim Umar, who led Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) from its inception in 2014, was killed during a September 23 raid on a Taliban compound in the Musa Qala district of Helmand province. He “was #killed along with six other AQIS members”, Afghanistan’s National Directorate of Security said on Twitter, adding that Umar had been “embedded” with the Taliban. The raid was part of a lengthy and confusing overnight operation on September 22-23 for which the US provided air support. AGENCIES

Continued from page 01 Both the leaders also agreed that the implementation of the 2nd phase of the China-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement (FTA), as it “would lead to more trade, economic and investment opportunities between the two countries”.

The two leaders also witnessed the signing of various agreements and memorandums of understanding (MOUs) aimed at deepening Pakistan-China ties in a range of socio-economic sectors.

PM Imran also apprised the Chinese counterpart of the latest developments and the importance of urgent action by the international community to alleviate the

sufferings of the Kashmiri people in the lockdown.

According to Radio Pakistan, Prime Minister Imran was presented a guard of honour by a smartly turned out contingent at the official welcome ceremony where the national anthems for both China and Pakistan were played.

The Chinese premier was also introduced to members of the Pakistani delegation.

Earlier, China Gezhouba Group Chairman Lyu Zexiang, among other businessmen, called on the premier.

As per an FO press release, the China Gezhouba Group Corporation (CGGC) — one of the

Published by Arif Nizami at Qandeel Printing Press, 4 Queens Road, Lahore. Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965. Email: newsroom@pakistantoday.com.pk

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