E-Paper PDF 6th December (KHI)

CMYK

Friday, 6 December, 2019 I 8 Rabi-ul-Sani, 1441 I Rs 17.00 I Vol X No 156 I 16 Pages I Karachi Edition

CourT gives parliamenT 10 days To resolve eCp appoinTmenTs issue ISLAMABAD

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STAFF REPORT

he Islamabad high Court (IhC) on Thursday directed the parliament to resolve the deadlock over the appointment of members of the election Commission of Pakistan (eCP) within 10 days.

During the hearing of a petition challenging the appointments, IhC Chief Justice Athar Minallah appreciated the efforts made by National Assembly (NA) Speaker Asad Qaiser and Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani to resolve the deadlock, saying the NA speaker and Senate chairman are neutral and could end the deadlock between the opposition and the government.

The additional attorney general had requested the court for more time, saying that the seventh meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Appointment of Chief election Commissioner (CeC) and Members of the election Commission of Pakistan was held on Wednesday.

Chief Justice Minallah asked Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Mohsin Shahnawaz Ranjha if a petition in this regard had been filed in the Supreme Court (SC). Members of opposition parties had filed a petition in the top court on Wednesday, requesting it to “pass an appropriate order” in the wake of an impasse in parliament on the appointment of the CeC

and two eCP members. “[I] do not understand why you have gone to court when the matter is moving towards a solution,” he remarked.

“Why do you bring such matters in court? It is beyond understanding; everything is in your hands, you are an elected representative, solve matters yourself,” he added.

The judge further said that while it was “easy to hear the case”, the court wanted to “see a strong parliament”.

“You should not come to us, instead resolve all conflicts in the parliament. We want to see a strong parliament and you have to do it,” the IhC chief justice said.

Justice Minallah also observed that the CeC position was an important one and that the government and opposition should come together to end the impasse on his appointment.

The hearing of the case was adjourned until December 17.

NEW NAMES PROPOSED: Meanwhile, the government proposed the names of Babar Yaqoob, Fazal Abbas and Arif Khan for the CeC position following approval from Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Yaqoob is currently posted as secretary election commission while Abbas and Khan are former federal secretaries. Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif had proposed the names of Nasir Mehmood Khosa, Jalil Abbas Jillani and Ikhlaq Ahmed Tarar for the same post.

PM says Digital Pakistan will unleash full potential of youth, women STORY ON BACK PAGE

shehbaz ran ‘mega money laundering’ ring, claims pm’s aide Govt’s allegations won’t stand in court, says Iqbal STORIES ON BACK PAGE & 03

Court to announce verdict in musharraf treason case on dec 17 STORY ON BACK PAGE

Zardari's health deteriorates, family mulling heart surgery STORY ON PAGE 02

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ihC CJ saYs Court wants to see a stronG parliament, asKs pml-n leader to resolve politiCal ConFliCts in the house

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Govt proposes BaBar YaqooB, Fazal aBBas and ariF Khan’s names For CeC post FollowinG approval From premier

CMYK Friday, 6 December, 2019

02 NEWS

PML-N LeAderS reACh LoNdoN To CoNSuLT ShArIFS LAHORE

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STAFF REPORT

number of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) parliamentary group members reached London on Thursday to meet ailing former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and to consult party president Shehbaz Sharif on important issues.

According to party spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb, the PML-N delegation will seek the leadership’s guidance on parliamentary matters. A meeting of the senior PML-N leadership, headed by Shehbaz, will take place on Friday. A spokesperson for PML-N’s leader Ameer Muqam said that he had departed from Islamabad

to head to London in the morning.

However, he added that Muqam had gone on his own, separate from the PML-N delegation.

Meanwhile, PML-N workers confirmed that the parliamentary advisory group for the party was heading to London. According to party members, Aurangzeb, MNAs Khawaja Asif, Rana Tanvir, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq and Senator Pervez Rasheed have already left for London while party’s secretary-general Ahsan Iqbal was expected to leave on Thursday night.

The sources added that the group will discuss the law regarding an extension in the army chief’s tenure, the appointment of Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) members as well as politics in the country. The final deci-

sion regarding the law for extending the army chief’s tenure will be made

by Nawaz, the sources said. The opposition and government are facing a deadlock over the appointments of ECP members, as both sides have failed to reach a consensus on the matter. Though both Shehbaz and Prime Minister Imran Khan have sent their recommendations for the post to the relevant parliamentary committee, an agreement is yet to be reached.

Earlier on Wednesday, opposition members approached the Supreme Court requesting it to “pass an appropriate order” in the wake of an impasse in parliament on the appointment of the chief election commissioner (CEC) and two ECP members from Sindh and Balochistan.

Zardari’s health deteriorates, family mulling heart surgery ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

The health condition of former president and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) CoChairman Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday further deteriorated with an “abnormal increase in heart rate and chest pain”. According to reports, Zardari’s family is considering heart surgery for the PPP leader. The hospital sources have said that coronary stents have already been installed in Zardari’s body. However, the doctors have warned that an operation may prove dangerous for the former president. On Wednesday, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) ordered the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) to form a medical board to determine Zardari’s ailment and asked it to submit a new medical report by December 11.

A two-member bench presided by IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah heard the petition which sought Zardari’s bail on

medical grounds. During the hearing, the court inquired about Zardari’s latest medical report from his lawyer Farooq H Naek. “He has cardiovascular disease.

The Punjab government had formed a medical board previously,” Naek replied.

Adjourning the hearing till December 11, the court ordered that Zardari’s personal physician to be made part of the new medical board. The PPP leader, who was arrested in June this year for his alleged role in a multi-billion rupees money laundering case, moved the court on Tuesday over a month after the former premier Nawaz Sharif was given similar relief. The government later also permitted Nawaz to fly abroad for treatment.

Currently, under treatment at the PIMS hospital in Islamabad, Zardari moved the petition through his lawyer and nominated the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Islamabad Accountability Court-II as respondents. The petition says Zardari has been suffering

from multiple diseases — like diabetes, cervical lumbar and spondylosis, sensory and motor neuropathy with impaired proprioception. According to the petition, Zardari has a Holter monitor attached to his chest, enabling doctors to check and note variations in his heartbeat and blockages in his arteries. It also notes that Zardari is a patient of ischemic heart disease, which means his heart may have an inadequate supply of blood and oxygen.

The petition also states that Zardari suffers from arthritis with a low platelet count, and all these illnesses cannot be treated within the premises of the jail.

“The petitioners’ condition makes it evident that his continued incarceration would prove detrimental to his life.” It says the former president requires around the clock attention and with his deteriorating health, his life may be at risk. The petition states that Zardari has been in jail since October 22, 2019, and has not shown any signs of improvement.

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‘Bring in-house change in your party’, Firdous tells Shehbaz In a strong reaction to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif’s remarks regarding an “in-house change” in the federal government, Special Assistant to PM on Information and Broadcasting, Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan on Thursday said the former Punjab chief minister should first bring “in-house change in his own party”. In a tweet, the special assistant said that Shehbaz Sharif should first bring in-house change in his own party. “Shehbaz Sharif is the president of the PML-N but the decisions are taken by somebody else,” she added. Awan said Shehbaz Sharif should rather become the “genuine president of his party instead of being a puppet”.

She also reminded Sharif of the embarrassment that the opposition had to face when it attempted to oust the Senate chairman. Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) President Fazlur Rehman should not make their parties hostage and rather honor their claims regarding the supremacy of the parliament, she added. NEWS DESK

ATC postpones verdict on PM Imran’s acquittal plea in PTV attack case ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Thursday postponed the announcement of its verdict earlier reserved in an application seeking the acquittal of Prime Minister Imran Khan in a case related to the 2014 mob attacks on Parliament House and Pakistan Television building during the Pakistan Tehreeke-Insaf (PTI) sit-in. ATC Judge Raja Javad Abbas remarked that several other persons had filed their applications seeking acquittal in the same case, and it was not possible to announce the verdict just for the prime minister while leaving others. The judge further stated that other accused persons, including PTI leaders Ejaz Chaudhry, Federal Minister Asad Umar, and Jahangir Khan Tareen have withdrawn their applications, and even arrest warrants were issued for several accused individuals in their absence. “This case pertains to hundreds of [political] workers and many of them are being represented by Faisal Chaudhry,” he added. To these remarks, PM Imran’s counsel Babar Awan pleaded the court to hear arguments on behalf of those persons who were appearing in the courtroom for their acquittal.

In the previous hearing, government lawyer Chaudhry Shafqaat did not object to the acquittal of the premier in the case, and subsequently the court reserved its verdict. “We have no objection if [prime minister] Imran Khan is acquitted in the case,” Shafqaat had said, adding: “These cases are made on a political basis. Nothing will come of these cases, only the court’s time will be wasted.”

Imran Farooq murder case: FIA allowed to record witnesses' statements via video-link ISLAMABAD: An anti-terrorism court (ATC) on Thursday allowed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to record the statements of 32 British witnesses via video link in the murder case of Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Dr Imran Farooq. FIA had previously sought permission from the court in this regard. ATC Judge Shahrukh Arjumand presided over the case wherein FIA prosecutor Khawaja Imtiaz Ahmed presented the list of witnesses – which included the wife of the slain MQM leader – before the court and requested that the agency be allowed to record their statements via video link. Following FIA’s request, the defence counsel raised an objection to this. However, the FIA prosecutor argued that the evidence in the case has been acquired through a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty between Pakistan and the United Kingdom. The treaty allows its signatories to collect and exchange information. Ahmed maintained that arrangements in this regard are already underway. “Once these are complete, we can record the statements of witnesses on a daily basis,” he argued. However, the judge voiced reservations over unnecessary inclusions on the list.

This prompted the prosecutor to say that unnecessary witnesses will be struck from the list when the time comes. He maintained that the court’s decision will be forwarded to the UK Attorney General Geoffrey Cox, who will inform the British Border Agency. The entire process will be done through the ministry of foreign affairs, he said. After hearing arguments from both sides, the court accepted the request. Earlier on Monday, the head of the UK’s investigation team probing the murder case appeared before the ATC and submitted the original record of the case to the judge for perusal. STAFF REPORT

CMYK Friday, 6 December, 2019

NEWS

GoVT’S ALLeGATIoNS woN’T STANd IN CourT, SAyS IqBAL

OPP BOYCOTTS NA SESSION AFTER DETAINED MEMBERS BARRED FROM ATTENDING SESSION

ISLAMABAD

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STAFF REPORT

AKISTAN Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) leader Ahsan Iqbal on Thursday said that government cannot prove its allegations against his party leaders in the court of law.

Speaking to the media outside Parliament House, the former interior minister termed the hard-hitting press conference of Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar as a “comedy theater” and said that the so-called accountability cell of the government only levelled false allegations against PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif.

He said that the government’s rep-

resentatives can only level false allegations against the opposition leaders because when they are summoned by the courts, they act like “scared cats”.

Iqbal further said that the government is pushing false allegations because it has nothing to show to the people. Iqbal also announced that the opposition will no longer participate in National Assembly (NA) proceedings until all its jailed members are allowed to attend the session.

He said that PML-N will take other opposition parties into confidence for a joint boycott of the House’s proceedings.

“It is ironic that the speaker of the House issued production orders of all imprisoned members of the NA but his orders were flouted,” he said.

NAB gets four-day physical remand of ex-PIA Md ISLAMABAD APP

An accountability court (AC) on Thursday further granted a four-day physical remand of an accused Ijaz Haroon in fake bank accounts case to National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

The accused was produced before AC-II Judge Azam Khan by NAB after ending of his physical remand period. During the outset of hearing, NAB prosecutor apprised the judge regarding progress in investigation process and prayed the court to grant further 15 day physical remand.

The prosecutor said that the department had to investigate matter related to several banks accounts and foreign currency account. He said that Ijaz Haroon had sold files of 11 plots to Omni Group’s Abdul Ghani Majeed. The accused also had been involve in preparation of fake documents, he contended. However, the defense lawyer said that his client didn’t know that the fake accounts had been used for payments against these plots. The NAB officials were repeatedly offering for plea bargain, he said, adding that why his client should go for plea bargain if he had not committed any crime. Later, the court adjourned hearing of the case.

PhC withholds KP CS salary over non-submission of reply in BrT case PESHAWAR APP

The Peshawar High Court (PHC) here Thursday ordered the withholding of monthly salary of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief secretary over nonsubmission of reply in the petition against unavailability of any facility for disabled in Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project.

The order was issued by a two-member bench of the PHC comprising Justice Qaiser Rasheed and Justice Naeem Anwar.

The lawyer of the applicant, Asadullah Khan informed the court that disabled persons of the society have fully been ignored in the under-construction BRT and special persons would face hurdles in travelling through the BRT. The court has previously been asked the provincial government; however, no reply in this regard was received.

The PHC over the non-submission of reply by the government ordered the withholding of monthly salary of the KP chief secretary.

Protesting over the non-issuance of production orders of the lawmakers, he said that the members of the House are facing false cases against them but they will not surrender. “It is the right of every member of the House to represent the people of their constituency in the parliament,” he said, adding that there were rulings present in this regard as well as the Supreme Court’s (SC) judgments. Iqbal said that the opposition had been protesting over the non-issuance of production orders but now the situation has changed as the production orders were issued by the speaker but the concerned authorities flouted those orders.

He said that the speaker had issued the production orders of Khawaja Saad Rafique for the session as well as the

standing committee but he was not released from custody.

“The speaker personally called for the production of imprisoned members but the Punjab government refused his directives,” he said.

It is worth mentioning here that earlier, a day after Shehbaz accused the PTI government of maligning him, Akbar said that the PML-N chief was at the helm of a ‘sophisticated moneylaundering network’ operated from the Chief Minister’s Secretariat during his tenure in Punjab.

In a reference to an alleged alliance between Prime Minister Imran Khan and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), Shehbaz had earlier accused the “Niazi-NAB nexus” of seizing his properties to hide its own “incompetence”.

Suri summons interior minister over ‘detention’ of Baloch women National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri on Thursday directed Interior Minister Ijaz Shah to appear before the House on Friday to brief the lawmakers on the detention of four Baloch women from Awaran district of the province.

The directives were issued after the opposition members led by Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP) chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal staged a sit-in in front of the speaker’s rostrum. On Nov 30, four Baloch women were forcibly picked up from different parts of Awaran.

According to a tweet by rights activist associated with Amnesty International, Rabia Mehmood, four Baloch women named Sakina, Sayad Bibi, Nazal and Hameeda have been

forcibly picked up from district Awaran in Balochistan.

Speaking in the House, Mengal raised the issue of Balochistan’s marginalisation since decades. He said that “four women had been kidnapped on November 29 and taken away to a torture cell and tortured” before their arrest was made public.

Mengal also questioned the defence put up by the government to save former military dictator General Musharraf as he held the general responsible for a decade long insurgency in the province. He said Balochistan cannot put run “on gunpoint” while criticising the policies of the current regime which were oblivious to the plight of the Baloch people.

He questioned whether it was

“unseen forces” that were running the government or a civil government. “What message will the arrest of these women send to people?”

Mengal also remarked what kind of government “hides the faces of terrorists in court but allows the display of pictures of women with weapons placed in front of them”.

“Neither did the previous government wish to take Balochistan forward with them, nor does this government,” he said. “A committee for Balochistan was formed in June but its members have still not been named,” said Mengal. “When you want votes, then you want Akhtar Mengal and you want Shahzain Bugti,” he said in further criticism of the government. NEWS DESK

Strike corps has decisive role in war: Gen Bajwa BAHAWALPUR STAFF REPORT

Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa visited the strike corps during its winter collective training on Thursday, reported the Inter-services public relations (ISPR) wing of the armed forces.

Director-General of the Inter-services public relations (ISPR) Major General Asif Ghafoor took to Twitter to share the development.

The tweets read: “COAS visited strike corps near Bahawalpur. Witnessed training exercise for the conduct of trans frontier offensive operations. Fighter aircraft of Pakistan Air Force and a contingent of Royal Saudi Land Forces also participated in the exercise.” The army chief on the occasion said: “Strike Corps have a decisive role during the war. Such exercises enhance confidence for exploiting their optimal combat potential.” “Pakistan Army from its soldiers to the Generals is a well trained and battle-hardened cohesive force ready to take on any challenge confronting the defence and security of Pakistan”.

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LhC disposes of ex-PM Abbasi’s plea seeking NA production order LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday disposed of a petition filed by former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi seeking court directives for National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser with regard to the issuance of his production order to attend the Lower House session. A division bench, headed by Justice Ali Baqir Najafi, concluded the hearing when it was informed that the petitioner’s production order has been issued. A federal law officer also presented a copy of the production order to the court. Abbasi had filed a petition in the high court challenging non-issuance of his production order.

In his plea, former prime minister contended that he had written a letter to the National Assembly speaker for ensuring participation of all detained members in the session but no action had been taken in this regard so far. He argued that the speaker had issued production orders of various members but he was ignored, which, he said, was a discriminatory act.

He pleaded the court to issue directions for the issuance of his production orders. The petition said that under the Constitution, all citizens are equal and could not be subjected to discrimination. STAFF REPORT

China, Pakistan curbing illegal matchmaking activity, says Chinese embassy ISLAMABAD: The Chinese embassy on Thursday said that both the Pakistan and Chinese governments, with joint efforts, are curbing the illegal marriage matching activity between individuals of the two countries. “According to investigations carried out by the Ministry of Public Security of China, Pakistani women who stay in China after marriage with Chinese are not being subjected to forced prostitution or illegal sale of organs,” a spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy told Pakistan Today. The spokesperson also said that the Chinese government will protect legitimate marriages and combat crimes. “If any organisation or individual commits a crime in Pakistan under the banner of transnational marriage, China supports the Pakistani side to crack it down according to Pakistani laws,” the official said while adding that some media reports in this regard are false and misleading. “The (Chinese) embassy would like to reiterate its position on the issue of transnational marriage. Actually, the Chinese side sent a task force to Pakistan to carry out law enforcement with the cooperation of local officials, which has proved to be very effective. It is clear that a certain media section has made a groundless story without complete investigation or with respect to facts. Its intention is very suspicious,” the official further added. “We will never allow criminals to undermine the China-Pakistan friendship and hurt friendly feelings between the two. We also hope that media reports seek truth from facts in addition to being objective and fair,” the official asserted. MIAN ABRAR

State has failed to protect ‘Hari’ community: HRCP KARACHI/LAHORE STAFF REPORT

A report released by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) criticises the ‘state’s absence, at best its ineffectiveness’ in protecting the marginalised the Hari community in Sindh, adding that their access to basic social and economic rights remains severely limited by ‘their status as landless tenants subject to a formidable feudal structure.’

Documenting testimonies from victims of enforced disappearances and

their families, the report says that “the state has much to answer for in terms of its inability – or unwillingness” to curb the practice, which appears to target supporters of Sindhi nationalist parties.

The report points out that discrimination against the province’s Hindu community is now ‘entrenched’: access to employment, fair wages and even accommodation has become more difficult. HRCP has also criticised the Sindh government’s failure to criminalise forced conversions. The report documents a case in Mirpurkhas, where two young Hindu boys were allegedly tor-

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tured and killed in police custody: a third, who survived, showed the HRCP team evidence of cigarette burns and a fracture.

In addition to speaking to small vendors affected by the anti-encroachment drive in Karachi and assessing the right to health in interior Sindh, HRCP interviewed students and faculty at Karachi University. The report documents the presence of Rangers on campus and their ‘needless policing of ordinary student activities’. Freedom of expression and association are equally at risk in the province, with pressure on

both the media and civil society organisations from state agencies.

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Friday, 6 December, 2019

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Chief seCy okays aCtion Medical board finds fractured bones against Pti leaders over after exhuming body of Dadu victim rs1.32bn China Cutting KARACHI

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AFTAB CHANNA

INDH Chief Secretary Mumtaz Ali Shah has approved action against Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Sindh Member of Provincial Assembly (MPA) Haleem Adil Sheikh and Dr Masroor Siyal for China cutting of state-land in city’s Malir area, Pakistan Today learnt on Thursday.

According to sources, the chief secretary chaired a meeting of the ACE-I that was attended

by Sindh anti-corruption department chairman and other officials concerned a few days ago.

During the meeting, the two PTI leaders were allegedly found involved in China cutting of the government lands worth more than Rs 1.32 billion whereas Haleem Adil Sheikh and brother Aleem Adil Sheikh have been charged with China cutting by the survey officials of the Board of Revenue.

“The lands in dehs 37 to 40 have been discovered after undergoing massive China cutting by the PTI leaders. The board of revenue authorities have also forwarded a letter to the Malir assistant commissioner (AC) for

resurveying the lands under strict security,” sources said.

In this regard, Karachi Survey Superintendent Dr Syed Muhammad Ali has served a notice u/s 160 CRPC in an inquiry against Haleem Adil Sheikh, Aleem Adil Sheikh, revenue officers/officials for their involvement in fraudulent land grabbing China cutting of state land worth Rs1.32 billion.

“The date for demarcation of S.No 37 to 40 Dehs Kharkharo is again fixed on 30-112018 at 10am. You are therefore requested to direct concerned Mukhtiarkar to be present on the site and ensure service of notices upon all the concerned parties/khatedars/department to remain present at the site on the above date of measurement”, according to an official letter. The Sindh chief secretary ordered the chairman anti-corruption to initiate further legal proceeding like lodging of FIR against both these leaders and later on their arrests be made to ensure recovery of stateland from their possession.

Pakistan Today repeatedly tried to contact Haleem Adil Sheikh for his version, however, his cell phone remained switched off until the filing of this report.

A medical board that exhumed the body of Gul Sama, the nine-year-old girl who was allegedly stoned to death after a jirga verdict, a day earlier, concluded on Thursday that it had fractured neck and face and deep injuries on nose, head and torso believed to be caused by heavy stones falling down on her.

The board, led by Liaquat Medical University Hospital Additional Medical Superintendent Dr Qurban Ali Shah, exhumed the body in the presence of the judicial magistrate and a civil judge at Lali Lak graveyard near Karo Kot mountains in Khirthar range, 30 kilometers from Wahi Pandhi town after the girl’s father, Ali Bux Rind,

pointed out the grave. He was specially brought by police under tight security.

The doctors examined the body under a tent set up close to the graveyard and took samples of the viscera for chemical examination under heavy police security.

Dr Shah told journalists that report on the body’s examination would be declared after results came of the chemical examination.

He said that the team observed that some heavy articles had hit the girl’s body which had severely damaged her face and neck area. The body’s DNA test would also be carried out to ascertain whether it was

the victim’s or not, he said.

Meanwhile, Rind recorded his statement before the medical board and the judge and reiterated that his daughter’s death was accidental. It was being wrongly presumed she had been murdered while in fact, she died after heavy stones fell on her after a landslide, he said.

According to police, Gul Sama was allegedly stoned to death under a jirga verdict in a karo-kari case on Nov 21. The girl’s father, mother Lilan Khatoon and Maulvi Mumtaz Leghari, who led funeral prayers, have been arrested and investigation is underway. NEwS dESk

KARACHI: Members of the civil society protest outside the Karachi Press Club against the kidnapping of Dua Mangi. INP

Govt to complete ongoing development projects: CM KARACHI STAFF REPORT

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has said that the provincial government is trying its best to complete the ongoing development work in all the districts of Karachi.

The Chief Minister said this while reviewing the ongoing development work on underpasses at Bahadurabad on Thursday.

Sindh Minister for Information, Archives and

Labor Saeed Ghani, Minister for Local Government Syed Nasir Hussain Shah and Advisor to CM on Law, Environment & Climate Change Barrister Murtaza Wahab accompanied the Chief Minister during his visit.

Speaking on the occasion, Saeed Ghani said that the work of one of the two underpasses had been completed which will be inaugurated in a couple of days, while the construction of other underpass would also be completed in the month of December.

Govt, ICCBS sign MoU to improve biochemical lab KARACHI STAFF REPORT

The Department of Health, Government of Sindh and the International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS), University of Karachi (UoK) on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to improve on the health department’s Chemico Bacteriological Laboratory.

The provincial government, as per the agreement, will provide Rs.135 millions to ICCBS for strengthening and up-gradation of the Chemico Bacteriological Laboratory that has widely been reported in the media in term of its poor condition.

The MoU was signed in the supervision of Sindh Provincial Minister for Health and Population Welfare Dr. Azra Fazal Pechuho in the special ceremony, held at the office of the provincial health minister.

Director ICCBSUoK Prof. Dr. M. Iqbal Choudhary and the Serologist & Chemical Examiner Abdul Waheed Shaikh signed the agreement in the ceremony.

Among others who attended the ceremony were Sindh Secretary Health Zahid Ali Abbasi, Director Development and Evaluation Dabeer A. Khan, Dr. Shakil Ahmed and Mr. Jawaid Riaz.

Dr. Azra Pechuho, speaking on the occasion, congratulated both the parties over the signed agreement, and

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said that this up-gradation of the lab would be carried out as a support to the civil and the criminal justice system in Sindh.

Prof. Iqbal Choudhary also congratulated the provincial minster and other officials for taking great initiative to upgrade and strengthen the Chemico Bacteriological Laboratory of the health department.

He pointed out that the ICCBS - University of

Karachi had a proven track record of establishing and running the research centers of excellence.

The international center will use its all strength for strengthening and up-gradation of Sindh government’s Chemico Bacteriological Laboratory, as it had set up Sindh Forensic DNA and Serology Laboratory (SFDL), another project of the health department, in just seven months. He said that after the completion of

the project the Chemico laboratory would be able to carry out basic chemical tests. The ICCBS will perform this assignment as a national service, he mentioned.

According to MoU, Director ICCBS and the Chemical Examiner will be the focal person from ICCBS and Government of Sindh respectively to administer and coordinate all the activities under the agreement.

Friday, 6 December, 2019

NEWS

Malik riaz says he’s ‘innocent’ Bahria Town Chairman Malik Riaz on Thursday said that he was innocent of any financial wrongdoing, claiming that the National Crime Agency (NCA) had been conducting an inquiry for the past one year but did not find him guilty. Speaking to the media during the inauguration of Bahria Town office in Peshawar, the property tycoon said that his children were overseas Pakistanis and British citizens. He added that only a settlement had been conducted on a civil matter. "The NCA says we did not commit any crime.

The money should be brought back to Pakistan and others like me should also bring their wealth into the country," he said. He also spoke about Bahria Town's settlement with the Supreme Court (SC) according to which the company was supposed to pay Rs460 billion for land that it occupies in the Malir District. "We have an understanding with the apex court. We will pay back the money even if I have to sell my house," he said Riaz said that he didn't have any settlement with the government of Pakistan. “As per the settlement with the court, this money will be given to Pakistan,” he added. Riaz referred to an out-of-court £190m settlement between him and the NCA. NEWS DESK

Punjab ministers orders establishment of anesthesia depts in all DHQs LAHORE: Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid has ordered for establishing an anesthesia department in every DHQ hospital for providing maximum relief to patients. While presiding over a meeting at Primary & Secondary Healthcare Department, she also ordered for deputing medical officers, three anesthetics and three technologists in every anesthesia department. She ordered Secretary Primary & Secondary Health Care Capt (r) Muhammad Usman to conduct walk-in-interviews of anesthetic technologists on daily basis.

Special Secretary Ajmal Bhatti, Technical Advisor Dr Akhtar Rasheed and other officers were also present on the occasion. The minister also reviewed details regarding availability and performance of all doctors, specialists and paramedical staff of DHQ hospitals of Punjab. She ordered for deputing doctors according to the number of beds.

She directed the provincial secretary health to personally monitor the performance of doctors of DHQ hospitals.

She also reviewed master plan for eradication of hepatitis in Nankana. APP

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PM orders action against food adulteration ISLAMABAD

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APP

RIME Minister Imran Khan on Thursday directed for collecting a complete data of adulteration in various basic commodities and medicines from across the country so that an action plan could be devised to check the practice.

Chairing a meeting regarding control on prices of edible items and the steps taken by the provincial governments in that regard, the prime minister expressed concern over adulteration practices, particularly in edible items, medicines and other commodities.

He said adulteration was a serious issue which endangered health of the people, particularly the children. The prime minister said provision of relief to the poor and low income people was top priority of the government, and directed for ensuring all administrative steps to control price-hike.

He said he would chair meeting about price-control every week.

Prime Minister Imran Khan stressed the need for formulating a concurrent system regarding future planning to ensure the provision of essential items. Such a step would not only ensure timely cultivation of the required commodities but timely decision about imports and exports could also be taken, he added.

The meeting was attended by Minister for Planning Asad Umar, Minister for National Food Security

Makhdoom Khusro Bakhtiar, Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar, Khyber Pakhtukhwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan, Trade Advisor Abdur Razak Dawood, Special Assistant on Information Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, provincial chief secretaries and high officials.

The chief secretaries briefed the meeting about the steps taken in their respective provinces regarding pricehike of essential commodities. Punjab Chief Secretary Maj (r) Azam Suleman informed the meeting that according to the prime minister’s directives, the provincial government had been fully focused on preventing hoarding, profiteering, fixation of prices of essential commodities and implementation of the fixed prices.

He said the regular meeting of the task force, headed by minister for industry, was being held and it was being ensured by the provincial government that flour and sugar must be available at equal price in the entire province.

Availability of price lists at retail shops at prominent places had also been made ensured, he added.

He said during the ongoing campaign to check price-hike, 228,233 shops were checked by 274 price magistrates. Some 3,957 first information reports were registered and 3637 violators were arrested while a fine of Rs9 million was imposed on the profiteers.

He said the government was taking action on the complaints of extra prices through ‘Qeemat Punjab Application’, besides deputy commissioners, com-

missioners and assistant commissioners while agriculture department officials were regularly visiting the markets to check price-hike.

The chief secretary said committees for fixing prices of basic commodities in 36 districts of Punjab had been formed, while 74 grower markets were established for facilitating the growers where they could directly sell their commodities.

HOUSING SECTOR: Terming housing sector a priority for his government, the prime minister said promotion of this area would not only boost 40 related industries, but ensure provision of job opportunities to youth and skilled labour.

Chairing a meeting to review progress on Naya Pakistan Housing Project for low-income citizens, he directed the provincial governments to work out reduction of taxes to promote the housing and construction sector.

He directed to pace up reviewing of master-plans of all big cities to chart out a comprehensive strategy on accommodation of population and provision of civic facilities.

The prime minister asked the provincial secretaries to gather information within one week about the unused public land where houses for low-income families could be set up after due planning.

The chairman Naya Pakistan Housing Authority gave a briefing on steps taken for implementation of the project and informed the prime minister that tax levied on construction phase would

be abolished, for which the matter was under consideration for approval by the provinces including Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

The prime minister was updated about the consensus developed among provincial governments on fixed taxation on sale of constructed house. The houses built under the Naya Pakistan project will be exempt from this tax.

The meeting was told that steps were underway to reduce the rate of Capital Value Tax and issuance of Estamp papers to facilitate people related to housing and construction sector.

About ease-of-doing-business in housing, the prime minister was apprised that an online portal by the provincial governments would be launched which will link up the government departments relevant to housing sector. The step will save the businessmen and traders from visiting different offices to receive No Objection Certificates (NOCs).

It was highlighted that the process of construction was being made easy by reducing the required number NOCs and permits. The Chairman said request had been made with provinces to point out land for establishment of housing projects for lowincome persons. The prime minister was also apprised about progress on abolishing the NOC required from Aviation Division for construction of multi-storey buildings.

The prime minister expressed satisfaction over progress on steps taken for housing sector.

Pakistan on the road to prosperity: Sahibzada Jahangir LONDON STAFF REPORT

Prime Minister’s Spokesperson on Trade and Investment in UK and Europe Sahibzada Jahangir on Wednesday said that Pakistan’s economy is improving and the country is on the road to prosperity.

The PM’s spokesperson hosted a dinner at his home in London for Punjab Governor Chaudhry Sarwar, where both leaders highlighted the government’s economic achievements before a selective gathering of business leaders in the UK. Sahibzada said that the economic

indicators of World Bank (WB), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and all major financial institutions show complete satisfactions with the economic progress of the country in various departments.

He said that the stock exchange is booming and foreign exchange remittances are on the rise. “Investors are coming to Pakistan and the country’s exports are increasing,” he said.

Sahibzada said that under the honest, dedicated and committed leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan, Pakistan is now open to world as a safe and profitable destination for foreign investment.

'Beaten, heckled, made examples of': Detained Kashmiri minors speak out "Shouts of 'chal ya rakhskah ha aayi' (‘run, the police vehicle is close’), cries, slaps, men in uniform dragging boys down deserted roads and gunshots."

These are the sights and sounds that make up 14-year-old Afaan Mustafa’s dreams.

It has been more a month since Mustafa, a student of Class IX, was released from police custody after around 13 days, but the fear of uniformed men continues to follow him like a shadow.

On August 21, Mustafa, a resident of the uptown area of Natipora, Srinagar, was going to offer Asar prayers, when a police vehicle, (popularly known as Rakshak) picked him up outside the gate of the mosque in Azadbasti Natipora — five kilometres away from Lal Chowk.

With no channel for communication open, a lady residing a few metres away from Mustafa’s home came to inform his family about the incident. He was first taken to the Chanapora police station and later shifted to the Saddar police station in Baghat-e-Barzullah, some three kilometres away from his home.

Mustafa was one of an estimated 4,000 people, including minors, who had been arrested in Kashmir after the Indian government stripped the partially autonomous region of its special status in early August, provoking violent protests in the Muslim-majority area.

During initial press briefings in Srinagar held by government spokesperson Rohit Kansal accompanied by other officials, the question over the number of detentions was raised continuously by journalists, but it was either ignored or replied to rudely. "It is easy to say hundreds have been detained, thousands have been detained. Give me a specific case," countered Kansal over the question one day.

"Sir, when you can cite the number of people who offered prayers in different parts of Kashmir on Eid, why can’t the government say how many people have been detained?" questioned a journalist in the briefing as others around him cheered.

The government in New Delhi has defended its decision to revoke the special status of Jammu and Kashmir as a step to boost the economy and for the well being of the common people. However, most Kashmiris say this has increased alienation and anger on the ground. Of the thousands of Kashmiris arrested, most have been listed as "stone pelters and miscreants" according to a Reuters report.

Children like Mustafa have been raised amidst conflict and continuous disturbance — setting the stage for their eventual support to the separatist movement through attendance in funerals and protests, helping militants escape from encounter sites and stone-throwing. On the other hand, the measures used by the

military forces to tame these youth, like pellets guns that have blinded hundreds, nocturnal raids, illegal detentions and frisking have served to only add fuel to the fire. The Wire spoke to over a dozen minors, who had been detained for weeks, and their parents, to understand the result of the action on their future.

Most of them opined contrary to the claims of the central government that younger Kashmiri will be better off now.

Mustafa, while recalling the day he was picked by the J-K police, said, "They had cordoned me and were forcefully trying to bundle me inside the vehicle.

While resisting, a cop hit me on the back of my neck and I fell unconscious".

Sitting in a small semi-dark room, he recalled his first reaction when he gained consciousness inside a dark lockup. "A ray of light was coming from a small window. There were three more boys inside the room but I couldn’t see them and in fear, a shiver ran down my spine. They later told me they had been picked up a day before my arrest," Mustafa told The Wire later.

INSIDE THE LOCKUP: Next morning Mustafa, along with other boys, was shifted to Saddar police station in Baghat where he encountered others of his age who had similar allegations to make. "They hit me on my legs and feet with the sticks repeatedly.

I was crying and was asked for mercy…

CMYK

.but they didn’t listen, Aab maro pather… maro…maro (‘throw stones now… throw…throw’)," said Mustafa.

"Shabir Khan, the deputy superintendent of police stationed at Cargo Srinagar, himself beat me up and asked me to identify the boys in the video," he added.

Mustafa’s family used to send him food from home as he had complained about unhygienic food inside custody. His family members made requests and sometimes pleaded for his release, but there was no response.

"We were asking them [police] to tell us what his crime was. Earlier they told us that they would show us a video recording of the area where young boys were throwing stones at forces. They claimed he [Mustafa] was also among them but they even didn’t show it to us," said 44-year-old Gulam Mustafa, a government employee and Mustafa’s father.

Notably, in the recent past, after the rise in stone-pelting incidents in the Valley, forces would record protests only to identify the people participating and later would allegedly make nocturnal raids to arrest the youth. "This is a simple method they are using to catch protesters and sometimes, when in doubt, they arrest innocents as well," said the senior Mustafa.

"They even damage property like windowpanes and household items to pass a message to the area against disturb-

ing the law and order," he said.

After two days, he was shifted back to the Chanapora police station where he found more boys from his area in lockup.

Among them was 12-year-old Numan Khan of Natipora, a class VII student at Dawn Public School.

“I had a pet cat at home and was going to buy food for her and suddenly CRPF men grabbed me, saying, ‘Bardo isko gadi mai, tum pather marte ho’ (‘bundle him inside the cab, you are throwing stones’),” he told The Wire.

Khan, after finding himself inside a CRPF vehicle that was stationed at the main square of Natipora, started crying and tried to explain to them the reason for his being out. But, according to his mother, he was treated like a wanted criminal. “When they locked me up inside the room for the first time, I thought I will die in suffocation and fear of darkness,” he said. Next to him was Mustafa.

Both were helpless and before uniformed men. "They were even asking us to clean the kitchen and sometimes we were asked to cut the stubble of the courtyard by hand. If anyone resisted, they were kicked and made to follow the order. They said that this is our punishment for throwing stones," said Mustafa.

Mustafa had an eye infection while cutting the stubble, which caused severe swelling. NEWS DESK

Friday, 6 December, 2019

06 WORLD VIEW

Blood and soil in narendra Modi’s india – Part ii ‘THE BJP THINKS IT IS GOING TO INDIANISE INDIAN HELD KASHMIR. INSTEAD, WHAT WE WILL SEE IS POTENTIALLY THE KASHMIRISATION OF INDIA: THE STORY OF INDIAN DEMOCRACY WRITTEN IN BLOOD AND BETRAYAL’

New Yorker

a

Dexter Filkins

mong those whom Ayyub ‘stung’ was Ashok narayan, who had been gujarat’s Home Secretary during the riots. According to Ayyub, narayan said that modi had decided to allow the Hindu nationalists to parade the bodies of the victims of the train attack. narayan said that he had warned modi, “Things will go out of hand,” but to no avail.

When he resisted, modi went around him.

“Bringing the bodies to Ahmedabad flared up the whole thing, but he is the one who took the decision,” he said. narayan added that the V.H.P.—the religious arm of the R.S.S.—had made preparations for large-scale attacks on the muslim community and was merely looking for a pretext. “It was all planned by the V.H.P.—it was gruesome,” narayan said, adding that he believed modi was in on the plan from the beginning. “He knew everything.” Several officers also said that Shah had presided over extrajudicial killings—including those of the alleged assassin Sohrabuddin Sheikh and the witnesses to his murder. The conversations about Shah strengthened Ayyub’s conviction that many more criminal suspects had been eliminated in a similar way. “It was clear that the encounters were only the tip of the iceberg,” she wrote.

Perhaps the main factor that made “gujarat Files” a sensation was the climate in which it appeared. By 2016, two years into modi’s first term, he was in the midst of a campaign to crush any voice that challenged the new order. In April, 2018, Ayyub was sitting with a friend in a Delhi restaurant when a source alerted her to a video that was appearing in online chat groups maintained by B.J.P. supporters. He sent her the clip, and she pressed Play. What appeared on her screen was a pornographic video purporting to show Ayyub engaging in various sex acts. “I burst into tears and threw up,” she said.

Pratik Sinha, a former software engineer and the founder of Alt news, which tracks online disinformation, described a nimble social-media operation that works on behalf of the B.J.P. In 2017, his group made a typical discovery, when a proB.J.P. Web site called Hindutva.info released a video of a gruesome stabbing, which was passed around on social media as evidence that muslims were killing Hindus in Kerala. Puneet Sharma, an R.S.S. apparatchik whom modi follows on Twitter, promoted the video, saying that it should make Hindus’ “blood boil.”

But, when Alt news tracked the video to its source, it turned out to depict a gang killing in mexico. Sinha told me he believes that some of the most aggressive social-media posts are instigated by an unofficial “I.T. cell,” staffed and funded

by B.J.P. loyalists. He said that people affiliated with the B.J.P. maintain Web sites that push pro-modi propaganda and attack his enemies. “They are organized and quick,” he said. “They got their act down a long time ago, in gujarat.”

As modi consolidated his hold on the government, he used its power to silence mainstream outlets. In 2016, his administration began moving to crush the television news network nDTV. Since it went on the air, in 1988, the station has been one of the liveliest and most credible news channels; this spring, as votes were tallied in the general election, its Web site received 16.5 billion hits in a single day. According to two people familiar with the situation, modi’s administration has pulled nearly all government advertising from the network—one of its primary sources of revenue—and members of his Cabinet have pressured private companies to stop buying ads. nDTV recently laid off some four hundred employees, a quarter of its staff. The journalists who remain say that

they don’t know how long they can persist.

“These are dark times,” one told me.

That year, Karan Thapar, the journalist who had asked modi whether he wanted to express remorse for the gujarat riots, found that no one from the B.J.P. would appear on his nightly show any longer. Thapar, perhaps the country’s most prominent television journalist, was suddenly unable to meaningfully cover politics. Then he discovered that modi’s Cabinet members were pushing his bosses to take him off the air. “They make you toxic,” Thapar told me. “These are not things that are put in writing. They’re conversations—‘We think it’s not a good idea to have him around.’ ” (His network, India Today, denies being influenced by “external pressures.”) In 2017, his employers expressed reluctance to renew his contract, so he left the network. modi’s government has targeted enterprising editors as well. Last year, Bobby ghosh, the editor of the Hindustan Times, one of the country’s most respected newspapers, ran a series tracking violence against muslims. modi met privately with the Times’ owner, and the next day ghosh was asked to leave. In 2016, outlook ran a disturbing investigation by neha Dixit, revealing that the R.S.S. had offered schooling to dozens of disadvantaged children in the state of Assam, and then sent them to be indoctrinated in Hindu-nationalist camps on the other side of the country. According to a person with knowledge of the situation, outlook’s owners—one of India’s wealthiest families, whose businesses depended on government approvals—came under pressure from modi’s administration. “They were going to ruin their empire,” the person said. not long after, Krishna Prasad, outlook’s long-time editor, resigned. only a few small outfits regularly offer aggressive coverage. The most prominent of them, The Caravan and a news site called the Wire, employ a total of about seventy journalists—barely enough to cover a large city, let alone a country of more than a billion people. In 2017, after the Wire ran a story examining questionable business dealings by Amit Shah’s son, modi’s ministers began pressuring donors who sustain the site to stop providing funding. Shah’s son, who denied the allegations, also filed a lawsuit, which has been costly to defend. Siddharth Varadarajan, the site’s founding editor, told me that he is battling not only the government but also the compliant media. “We reckon that people in this country very much value their freedoms and democracy—and that they will realize when their freedoms are being eroded,” he said. “But a huge section of the media is busy telling them something entirely different.” modi’s supporters often get their news from Republic TV, which features shouting matches, public shamings, and scathing insults of all but the most slavish modi partisans; next to it, Fox news resembles the BBC’s “newshour.” Founded in 2017 with B.J.P. support, Republic TV stars Arnab goswami, a floppy-haired oxford graduate who acts as a kind of public scourge for opponents of modi’s initiatives. The lack of journalistic scrutiny has given modi immense freedom to control the narrative. nowhere was this more apparent than in the

months leading up to his reëlection, in 2019.

Backed by his allies in business, modi ran a campaign that was said to cost some five billion dollars. (Its exact cost is unknown, owing to weak campaign-finance laws.)

Amit Shah, modi’s deputy, told a group of election workers that the Party’s socialmedia networks were an unstoppable force.

“Do you understand what I’m saying?” he said. “We are capable of delivering any message we want to the public—whether sweet or sour, true or fake.”

A feeling of despair has settled in among many Indians who remain committed to the secular, inclusive vision of the country’s founders. “gandhi and nehru were great, historic figures, but I think they were an aberration,” Prasad, the former outlook editor, told me. “It’s very different now. The institutions have crumbled—universities, investigative agencies, the courts, the media, the administrative agencies, public services.

And I think there is no rational answer for what has happened, except that we pretended to be what we were for fifty, sixty years. But we are now reverting to what we always wanted to be, which is to pummel minorities, to push them into a corner, to show them their places, to conquer Indian held Kashmir, to ruin the media, and to make corporations servants of the state. And all of this under a heavy resurgence of Hinduism. India is becoming the country it has always wanted to be.”

According to FactChecker, an organization that tracks communal violence by surveying media reports, there have been almost three hundred hate crimes motivated by religion in the past decade—almost all of them since modi became Prime minister. Hindu mobs have killed dozens of muslim men. When muslims are lynched, modi typically says nothing, and, since he rarely holds press conferences, he is almost never asked about them. But his supporters often salute the killers.

In northern India, Hindu nationalists have whipped up panic around the idea that muslim men are engaging in a secret campaign to seduce Hindu women into marriage and prostitution. As with the hysteria over cow killings, the furor takes form mostly on social media and platforms like WhatsApp, where rumors spread indiscriminately. The idea—known as “love jihad”—is rooted in an image of the oversexed muslim male, fortified by beef and preying on desirable Hindu women. In many areas, any muslim man seen with a Hindu woman risks being attacked. Two years ago, Yogi Adityanath, the B.J.P. Chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, set up “anti-Romeo squads,” which harassed muslim men believed to be trying to seduce Hindu women. The squads were abandoned after the gangs mistakenly beat up several Hindu men.

For a fuller explanation of the R.S.S.’s world view, I spoke to Sudhanshu Trivedi, a lifelong member who is now the B.J.P.’s national spokesman. over dinner at the Ambassador Hotel in Delhi, Trivedi told me that the R.S.S. is dedicated to the propagation of “Hindutva”: the idea that India is first and foremost a nation for Hindus. It is, he said, by far the largest organization of its kind in the world. In its ninety-four-year existence, the R.S.S. has embedded itself

in every aspect of Indian society.

Between bites of salad, Trivedi rattled off R.S.S. talking points. The organization says that it runs some thirty thousand primary and secondary schools; that it administers hospitals across India, especially in remote areas; and that it maintains the second-largest network of trade unions in the country, the largest network of farmers, the largest socialwelfare organization working in the slums. The B.J.P., India’s dominant political party, came last in his litany. “So, you can see, in the entire scheme of things, compared to what the R.S.S. is doing, what the B.J.P. is doing is small,” he said.

In fact, the R.S.S. was rapidly becoming a state within a state—capturing India from within. over the summer, the organization announced that it was establishing a school to train young people to become officers in the armed forces. This year, more than a hundred and fifty former officers and enlisted men signed a letter decrying the “completely unacceptable” use of the military for political purposes.

The key to understanding modern India, Trivedi told me, was accepting that “Hinduism is not basically a religion—it is a way of life.” Anyone born in India is part of Hinduism. Therefore, all the other religions found in India thrive because of Hinduism, and are subordinate to it. “The culture of Islam is preserved here because of Hindu civilization,” he said.

As part of the Hindutva project, B.J.P. leaders have been rewriting school textbooks across the country, erasing much of its Islamic history, including that of the mughals, muslim emperors who ruled India for three centuries. The B.J.P. has changed mughal place names to ones that are Hindu-influenced. Last year, the mughalsarai railway station, built in central India a century and a half ago, was renamed for Deen Dayal Upadhyaya, a right-wing Hindu-nationalist leader. Allahabad, a city of more than a million people, is now called Prayagraj, a Sanskrit word that denotes a place of sacrifice. In november, the old story of Ayodhya was in the news again, when India’s Supreme Court cleared the way for a Hindu temple to be constructed on the former site of Babri masjid. In a thousand-page decision, the Court provided no evidence that a temple had been destroyed to build the mosque, and acknowledged that the mosque had been torn down by an angry mob. nevertheless, it handed control of the land to a government trust, effectively allowing the B.J.P. to proceed.

Trivedi told me that no one in the R.S.S. bore any animus toward Islam. But, he said, it was important to understand just how far the faith had fallen. “In India, the most educated community is the Parsis, which is a minority. The second most educated is the Christians, which is a minority.

The most prosperous is the Jains, which is a minority. The most entrepreneurial is Sikh, which is a minority. The first nuclear scientist in India was a Parsi—a minority,” he said. “Then what is the problem with muslims? I will tell you. They have become captives of the jihadi ideology.”

When Ayyub and the photographer were detained at the hospital in Srinagar, I found a hiding place across the street, screened by a wall and a fruit vender;

Ayyub would have faced serious repercussions if she was found to have snuck in a foreigner. After about an hour, they emerged. Ayyub said that an intelligence officer had questioned them intently, then released them with an admonition: “Don’t come back.” The next morning, we drove to the village of Parigam, near the site of the suicide attack that prompted modi’s air strikes against Pakistan. We’d heard that Indian security forces had swept through the town and detained several men. The insurgency has broad support in the villages outside the capital, and the road to Parigam was marked by the sandbags and razor wire of Indian Army checkpoints. For most of the way, the roads were otherwise deserted.

In the village, Ayyub stopped the car to chat with locals. Within a few minutes, she’d figured out whom we should talk to first: Shabbir Ahmed, the proprietor of a local bakery. We found him sitting crosslegged on his porch, shelling almonds into a huge pile. In interviews, Ayyub slows down from her usual debate-team pace; she took a spot on the porch as if she had dropped by for a visit. Ahmed, who is fifty-five, told her that, during the sweeps, an armored vehicle rumbled up to his home just past midnight one night. A dozen soldiers from the Rashtriya Rifles, an élite counter-insurgency unit of the Indian Army, rushed out and began smashing his windows. When Ahmed and his two sons came outside, he said, the soldiers hauled the young men into the street and began beating them. “I was screaming for help, but nobody came out,” Ahmed said. “Everyone was too afraid.”

Ahmed’s sons joined us on the porch. one of them, muzaffar, said that the soldiers had been enraged by young people who throw rocks at their patrols. They dragged muzaffar down the street toward a mosque. “Throw stones at the mosque like you throw stones at us,” one of the soldiers commanded him. muzaffar said that he and his brother, Ali, were taken to a local base, where the soldiers shackled them to chairs and beat them with bamboo rods. “They kept asking me, ‘Do you know any stone throwers?’—and I kept saying I don’t know any, but they kept beating me,” he said. When muzaffar fainted, he said, a soldier attached electrodes to his legs and stomach and jolted him with an electrical current. muzaffar rolled up his pants to reveal patches of burned skin on the back of his leg. It went on like that for some time, he said: he would pass out, and when he regained consciousness the beating started again. “my body was going into spasms,” he said, and began to cry. After muzaffar and Ali were released, their father took them to the local hospital. “They have broken my bones,” muzaffar said. “I can no longer prostrate myself before god.” one afternoon, Ayyub and I walked through Soura, a hardscrabble neighborhood in Srinagar’s old city which has been the site of several confrontations with security forces. By the time we got there, the police and the Army had withdrawn, evidently deciding that the narrow streets left their men too vulnerable. The locals told us that they regarded Soura as liberated territory and vowed to attack anyone from the government who tried to enter. Every wall seemed plastered with graffiti. one bit of scrawl said, “Demographic change is not acceptable!”

The Kashmiris we met felt trapped, their voices stifled. “The news that is true—they never show it,” Yunus, a shop owner, said of the Indian media.

The newspaper columnist Pratap Bhanu mehta wrote that, in Indian held Kashmir, “Indian democracy is failing.”

He suggested that the country’s muslims, who have largely resisted radicalization, would conclude that they had nothing else to turn to. “The B.J.P. thinks it is going to Indianise Indian held Kashmir,” he wrote. “Instead, what we will see is potentially the Kashmirisation of India: The story of Indian democracy written in blood and betrayal.”

(Concluded) Dexter Filkins is a staff writer at The new Yorker and the author of “The Forever War,” which won a National Book Critics Circle Award.

Friday, 6 December, 2019

process of impeacHment Has moved to next stage, pelosi says THE US PRESIDENT CLAIMS THE DEMOCRATS ‘HAVE NO IMPEACHMENT CASE’ AND HE WANTS A ‘FAIR TRIAL IN THE SENATE’

WASHINGTON

t

AGENCIES

HE process of impeaching President Donald Trump has formally moved to the next stage, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said. She added that "the president leaves us no choice but to act" as she said the House of Representatives was moving forward to draft articles of impeachment.

Democrats are pushing towards a vote, possibly before Christmas.

It comes after Donald Trump told Democrats earlier on Thursday that if they are going to impeach him "do it now, fast", saying he wants to expose "how corrupt our system is".

Writing on Twitter before the announcement, the US president claimed his political rivals "have no impeachment case and are demeaning our country".

"But nothing matters to them, they have gone crazy," he added.

"Therefore I say, if you are going to impeach me, do it now, fast, so we can have a

fair trial in the Senate, and so that our country can get back to business."

Mr Trump claimed an impeachment trial would reveal "for the first time how corrupt our system really is".

"I was elected to 'clean the swamp,' and that's what I am doing!", he tweeted.

White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said the Democrats should be "ashamed" and argued the president had "done nothing but lead our country - resulting in a booming economy, more jobs and a stronger military".

The announcement came the day after the House Judiciary Committee held its first hearing in the inquiry, during which three of the four witnesses alleged Mr Trump had committed impeachable offences.

Ms Pelosi met behind closed doors with her Democratic caucus on Wednesday when she asked: "Are you ready?", the Associated Press news agency reported.

The answer was a resounding yes, people in the room told AP. The party has claimed Mr Trump used his position to solicit foreign interference to boost his chances of re-election next year.

In its impeachment report released earlier this week, Democrats say that not only did the president seek overseas help for his re-election campaign, but that he undermined national security in doing so.

The report said there was evidence that Mr Trump had conducted a "month's long effort" to "use the powers of his office to solicit foreign interference on his behalf in the 2020 election".

US military completes pullback from northeast Syria, Esper says WASHINGTON AGENCIES

The United States has completed its military pullback in northeastern Syria, settling into a more stable posture of about 600 troops in the rest of the country after repositioning and reducing forces, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said.

Esper’s remarks in an interview with Reuters could signal the end of a period of turbulence and uncertainty surrounding the U.S. military presence in Syria after President Donald Trump’s initial withdrawal order in October.

Since then, troop levels in Syria have fallen about 40 per cent from around 1,000.

Esper stressed he retained the ability to move in and out smaller numbers of forces as needed into Syria. But he suggested the number of troops will fluctuate around the 600-level for the foreseeable future.

“It will be relatively static around that number. But if we see things happen … I can dial up a little bit,” Esper said late on Wednesday during a flight back from the NATO summit on the outskirts of London.

Esper also didn’t rule out being able to reduce U.S. troop levels in Syria further if European allies contributed to the Syria mission.

“The coalition is talking a lot again. We could see some allies want to volunteer troops,” Esper said, without suggesting any new contribution was imminent.

Pentagon denies WSJ report that US is mulling 14,000 more troops for Mideast WASHINGTON: The Pentagon on Wednesday denied a report that the United States (US) was weighing sending up to 14,000 more troops to the Middle East in the face of a perceived threat from Iran. The Wall Street Journal reported that the possible deployment would include “dozens” more ships and double the number of troops added to the US force in the region since the beginning of this year, citing unnamed US officials. The paper said US President Donald Trump could make a decision on the troop boost as early as this month. But the Pentagon disputed the accuracy of the report. “To be clear, the reporting is wrong. The US is not considering sending 14,000 additional troops to the Middle East,” spokeswoman Alyssa Farah tweeted. The region has seen a series of attacks on shipping vessels and a drone and missile attack on Saudi oil installations in September blamed on Iran. Washington has already ratcheted up its military presence in the Gulf and expanded economic sanctions on Tehran, elevating tensions across the region. In mid-November the US aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln sailed through the Strait of Hormuz in a show of force aimed at reassuring allies worried about the Iran threat. AGENCIES

“If an allied country, a NATO country, decided to give us 50 people, I might be able to turn off 50 people.”

The U.S. military says it is focused on preventing a resurgence of Islamic State in Syria and carried out a raid last month that led to the death of Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi.

NO MOVEMENT ON TURKEY S-400S: Trump softened his pullout plans for Syria after backlash from Congress, including

among key Republicans, who say he cleared the way for a long-threatened Turkish incursion against Kurdish forces in Syria who had been America’s top allies in the battle against Islamic State.

NATO diplomats worry that Turkey, a NATO member since 1952 and a critical ally in the Middle East, has increasingly acted unilaterally, launching its incursion in Syria against U.S.-backed forces and buying advanced Russian S-400 air defenses.

FOREIGN NEWS 07

Rape victim set ablaze in India while making way to court; in critical condition NEW DELHI: A 23-year-old rape victim was set ablaze by a gang of men, including the alleged rapist, as she made her way to court in northern India on Thursday, police said, stirring public outrage and shame over the scourge of crimes against women. During the past week, thousands of Indians have protested in several cities following the alleged rape and murder of a 27-year-old vet near the southern city of Hyderabad. Protesters and parliamentarians are pressing for courts to fast-track rape cases and demanding tougher penalties. The woman attacked and burned on Thursday morning was in a critical condition, according to D.S. Negi, a doctor at the Civil Hospital in Lucknow, the capital of the northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

“The condition of the girl who was set on fire and bought to Lucknow at 10am is very serious. She has 90 percent burn injuries and we are taking utmost care. A team of doctors are observing her,” Dr Ashutosh Dubey, medical superintendent of Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Hospital, was quoted as saying by PTI. She had been on her way to catch a train in Unnao district to attend a hearing when she was doused with kerosene and set on fire, police said. “As per the victim’s statement, five people were involved in setting her on fire, including the one who was accused in the rape case,” Vikrant Vir, a police superintendent in Unnao, told Reuters. All five men have been detained, Uttar Pradesh police said in a tweet. Police documents seen by Reuters showed the woman had filed a complaint with Unnao police in March alleging that she had been raped at gun point on Dec 12, 2018. Having been subsequently jailed, the alleged rapist was released last week after securing bail, police officer S.K. Bhagat said in Lucknow. Uttar Pradesh is India’s most populous state and has become notorious for its poor record regarding crimes against women, with more than 4,200 cases of rape reported there in 2017 – the highest in the country. AGENCIES

Two killed in Hawaii's Pearl Harbor base shooting HONOLULU: A US sailor fatally shot two people and wounded a third at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard in Hawaii on Wednesday before taking his own life, a senior Navy officer said. The base was locked down for more than an hour after the shooting, according to a statement issued by the facility, while Navy officials said they were investigating what prompted the attack. “I can confirm that there were three shooting victims. We have confirmed that two are deceased, one is in stable condition in a local hospital,” said Rear Admiral Robert Chadwick. He added that the shooter — “tentatively” identified as a sailor assigned to the USS Columbia, a Los Angeles-class attack submarine — had also died after “an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.” One witness told local media he was sitting at his computer when he heard shots fired and rushed to the window, where he saw three victims on the ground The witness, who did not want to be identified, said he then saw the gunman, who was wearing a sailor’s uniform, shoot himself in the head. White House spokesman Hogan Gidley said that US President Donald Trump had been briefed on the shooting and was monitoring the situation. Hawaii governor David Ige tweeted that the “White House has reached out to offer assistance from federal agencies, and the state is standing by to assist where necessary.” “I join in solidarity with the people of Hawaii as we express our heartbreak over this tragedy and concern for those affected by the shooting,” Ige wrote. The shooting took place at 2:30 pm local time near the south entrance of the sprawling base located on the southern shore of Oahu. The base hosts both the Navy and Air Force. AGENCIES

Erdogan says allies must support Turkey after it approved NATO plan ANKARA AGENCIES

NATO allies should support Turkey in its conflict with Syrian Kurdish fighters after Ankara dropped its objections to the alliance’s defense plans for Poland and the Baltics, President Tayyip Erdogan was quoted as saying on Thursday.

Ahead of Wednesday’s summit, Turkey had angered other NATO members by saying it would block the defense plan until they designated the Kurdish YPG militia, against which Ankara waged a military offensive two months ago, a terrorist organization.

Speaking to reporters in London, Erdogan said that Turkey dropped its

objection to the Baltics plan after NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg and the leaders of Germany, France and Poland asked for Turkey’s backing.

“They all called us and asked us for support on this. After talks with my colleagues, we said yes to this, but you must not abandon us in the fight against terror,” broadcaster NTV quoted Erdogan as saying.

Stoltenberg told reporters after the summit that allies had not discussed how to designate the YPG during their talks.

Ties between Turkey and its NATO allies have soured over a host of issues, ranging from Ankara’s decision to procure Russian air defense systems to Syria

policy. Ankara accuses its allies of not providing enough support

against the threats it is facing and in hosting more than 3.5 million

Syrian refugees.

Turkey says it aims to establish a “safe zone” in part of northeast Syria after clearing the region of the YPG, and says that Syrian refugees can be settled there.

Erdogan has also urged allies to provide funds for its plans, which he discussed with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the summit.

Erdogan said that only one country, which he did not name, has so far pledged support for Turkey’s Syria plans. He said the four leaders had agreed to meet again in Istanbul in February and to hold talks annually.

Friday, 6 December, 2019

08 COMMENT ECP made dysfunctional

At Penpoint

Thanks to PTI’s bent for loyalists

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RIMe Minister Imran Khan wants docile institutions that would willingly carry out his biddings. he has an inherent dislike for those that defy him, particularly the election Commissions. he dismissed two successive election Commissioners appointed by himself to conduct PtI’s intra-party polls. he has been at loggerheads with the outgoing Chief election Commissioner of Pakistan for opening an enquiry into the PtI’s offshore accounts. unable to dismiss him, he tried to hinder the enquiry for over five years. the eCP has become dysfunctional with the retirement of Mr Justice (rtd) Sardar Mohammad Raza on thursday. earlier deliberations to fill the vacancies created by the retirement of two eCP members 11 months back had failed due to the lack of flexibility on the part of the PtI members of the bipartisan parliamentary panel. the impasse led the government to get its nominees appointed through a Presidential order which was shot down by the IhC and the matter sent back to Parliament for resolution with a caution that it should be resolved before the retirement of the Chief election Commissioner (CeC). the government again failed to carry out the orders, leading to the suspension of all sorts of activities that the eCP is required to undertake under the Constitution.

While the Constitution requires consultations between the Prime Minister and the Leader of the opposition for the appointment of the CeC, Mr Khan has declined all along to hold talks with Mian Shehbaz Sharif. to get the eCP completed at the earliest, Mian Shehbaz has already sent his list of nominees for the CeC. Imran Mr has hesitated to forward his list as he is still looking for a loyalist for the post who would end the ongoing enquiry into PtI’s offshore accounts and act as directed by the Prime Minister during his tenure. the opposition approached the IhC to help resolve the issue. the Court has given the government and opposition 10 days to end the deadlock on appointments. taking an issue that comes under the purview of the Parliament to court is bad for the system, as it amounts to Parliament ceding its turf to the court. the continuous delay on the part of the PtI government to make its nominations is unhelpful, but it is to be hoped that it manages to overcome the present imbroglio.

Climate change Pakistan has already been affected

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he Global Climate Risk Index for 2019 ranks Pakistan as the fifth worst sufferer from the effects of climate change. According to the Index, released by the think tank Germanwatch on Wednesday, Pakistan has lost 9989 lives, suffered economic losses of $3.8 billion, and witnessed 152 events from 1999 to 2018. It had a truism that Pakistan ranked high among the countries worst affected by climate change, with millions along its Arabian Sea coast, particularly in Karachi, to be forced to move upwards to inland havens, because of sea encroachment. of course, it would not be the very worst affected, like the Maldives, which would sink beneath the rising sea. however, the future is here, it seems, for the climate change has been having effects now. People are dying, money is being lost, and weather events are accelerating which destroy infrastructure. one problem is that Pakistan is located in a region prone to extreme weather events anyhow. While destabilised climate leads to more and greater events, they follow established patterns and thus tend to disguise that the results of climate change are already beginning to hurt. A case in point would be the disastrous super floods of 2010/2011. Floods occur every year, so what if they were worse one or two years? It is only when the losses re totted up that a pattern begins to emerge.

Another problem has been the tendency of third World countries like Pakistan to blame the developed world for climate change. It is true that Pakistan alone cannot act to stop climate change, and the developed nations must do the most to cut the greenhouse gas emissions behind the climate change (as well as the use of plastics killing off marine life in the world’s oceans), and it can be argued that the third World must have its costs paid by the First. however, that should not disguise the fact that Pakistan needs to do its bit. the recent smog that afflicted its largest province is evidence that there are many steps that Pakistanis can take to reduce its carbon footprint. the question naturally arises whether the government has done anything substantial about climate change, beyond projects heavy with photo ops, like the vaunted million-tree tsunami. Much needs to be done, by citizen and government alike.

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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T

M.A. NIAZI

he intervention of the Supreme Court in the extension of tenure of Chief of Army Staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa represents a judicial intervention in an area where it is discouraged, that of military service matters. however, it follows a trend which had started in India, where the high courts have been taking cognisance of perceived injustices of military personnel, and instead of starting at a more junior level, has begun right at the level of CoAS. It is interesting to note that the first move by an elected government on an extension of tenure was made by Prime Minister Muhamad Khan Junejo, which in 1986 that no extension would be granted to the then Chief of Naval Staff, Adm t K Khan. he wanted to end the system introduced by Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, whereby service chiefs were appointed for three years initially, and given a one-year extension. this applied to Gen tikka Khan, CoAS 197276, Air Chief Marshal Zulfiqar Ali Khan, Chief of Air Staff 1974-78, and Adm Muhammad Sharif, CNS 1975-79 (and subsequently to Adm K R Niazi, CNS 1979-83). It did not apply to CoAS Gen Ziaul haq, who was up for extension in 1979, when as President he signed an order that he was to hold office ‘until further orders’. CAS ACM Anwar Shamim, first appointed in 1978, received extensions till 1985, when ACM Jamal Ahmed Khan took over. It is worth noting that not only did Zia apply the four-year rule (three plus one) to the post of Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, but also to that of Vice-Chief of Army Staff, which he made a four-start slot, with the officer holding it the professional head of the military. Gen Aslam Beg already held four-star rank as VCoAS when General Zia’s death created a vacancy, and he was appointed to the post.

Junejo was the first PM who ended the practice of granting extensions. extensions were supposed to be a means of control, with an appointee behaving himself for three years in the hope of that extension. this practice was brought to an end. No extensions were granted in succeeding years, to any service chief, until the CoAS was also appointed Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee. then the PM tried to dismiss the CoAS in 1999, with the result that there was a military coup, and Gen Pervez Musharraf gave himself an extension when his own tenure expired.

The Indian disease Indian courts intervene in military service matters ‘Business’ resumed as usual with the appointment of Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani as CoAS in 2007. he was given an extension in 2010. he was thus the first CoAS to receive an extension from a civilian government since then Gen Ayub Khan’s tenure as Commander-inChief Army was extended back in 1955. however, instead of a one-year extension noticeably shorter than his original tenure, he was in effect given a second tenure, as the extension was for three years. his successor, Gen Raheel Sharif, did not get an extension in 2016 when his tenure expired, and General Bajwa was appointed. this was a quintessential service matter.

Was the proper procedure followed or not? India has seen a number of petitions filed by military officers, not merely against a failure to promote, but even against a failure to get the kind of posting that would lead to a promotion. Pakistan was free from such petitions, even though the military is a very legal, even legalistic, organisation. there is are good reasons for this. the military works against perhaps the strongest human drive, that of survival. Members of the military are expected to put themselves in harm’s way. It also works against perhaps the strongest of taboos, that of taking another human’s life. For both of these functions, it has to convince its members that the orders they receive are legal. Further, they put themselves in harm’s way on the command of their superiors. therefore, obedience is essential, and one of the cardinal military virtues. that means that abiding by orders is required. If a board does not promote one, one accepts the decision and carries on quietly, not noise the matter in a court, and a civilian court at that. that is what happened in the Supreme Court, and not just to General Bajwa, but to the Army as a whole. Civilian courts made themselves the arbiters of military legality. It has reversed the position where the Army was the biter of the national destiny, and when it took over, the judiciary validated the takeover (this happened from the time of Ayub onward.

Why is the military so concerned about obtaining validation for what is manifestly an illegal act? It is that streak of legalism, that realisation that if a coup is illegal, unconstitu-

tional, there is nothing to stop all society dissolving into violence. Superiors will not be able to command obedience any longer. there has been something of a transition, for the willingness to kill and to die has been transformed into the ability to carry out coups against those not so willing: civilians, especially politicians. of course, that is not the only reason. In Pakistan, the military is also popular. First, its claim to rule is taken more seriously than in the other democracies. Second, it has a constituency of its own, those who believe that it is the only organisation which has retained its coherence (which actually means the set of standards observed by the Raj). It itself prides itself on being the only institution which has not been destroyed by interference by civilians. that is a narrative bought by a lot of civilians; members of the military also accept it. one area where the Indian military, especially the Army, has to be litigious is in defending individuals, usually officers, against fundamental-rights petitions in Jammu and Kashmir, and in the Northeastern states. In Kashmir as well as the North east, the Indian Army is fighting insurgencies using very unsoldierly tactics, which include detention without charge, torture, humiliation and rape. the Pakistan Army does not currently face such charges, though it might have done in east Pakistan almost 50 years ago.

Another revelation of the entire episode is that the federal government has a poor legal team, one which does not really know, or cannot judge, the mood of the Supreme Court. the government did not really have anything vital at stake in the matter, and would have liked a smoother process than having to issue repeated notifications.

With this poor team, it now enters the stage of court-mandated legislation. that provides an opportunity to both government and opposition to posture patriotically. this is particularly so in a scenario where the government will have to make overtures to the opposition. the opposition will also have to be careful not to overplay its hand.

M.A. Niazi is a member of the staff.

The root of instability in South Asia The Indo-Pak rivalry

SAdIA AttA

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outh Asia is a region of great importance because of its strategic location and emerging economies.

But it is facing problems. harmony and solidarity in South Asia is threatened due to interstate disputes and lack of trust among the regional countries. the interstate conflicts among the regional countries are the major hurdles for stability in the region. the instability in South Asia is mainly due to the hostilities between India and Pakistan.

Since after their Partition, the relationship between Pakistan and India has tended to hostility which is threatening the stability of the region. A number of historical and political events led to their hostile relations. the violent Partition and various territorial claims overshadowed their relationship. they have antagonistic relations due to reasons like the border, water, territorial, ideological issues and many more. A look at history shows that Mountbatten did not correctly distribute the lands between India and Pakistan: according to the Radcliffe Commission, the Gurdaspur district which had a Muslim majority was awarded to Pakistan but Mountbatten changed its status and gave it to India. So due to this improper distribution, peaceful coexistence diminished. Apart from this, both states faced water issues with each other. India stopped the flow of water that went to Pakistan due to which Pakistan faced agricultural problems but then the Indus Water treaty was established between them. According to Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9

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this agreement, authority over the flowing of water in three “western” rivers of Punjab– the Jhelum, the Chenab and the Indus– was awarded to Pakistan whereas power over the flowing of water in three “eastern” rivers of India– the Sutlej, the Ravi and the Beas– was awarded to India. But recently the clash of the Indus Water treaty and the Baglihar Dam is creating tension between the two states.

Moreover, the major issue between the two countries is over Kashmir. It is a territorial issue over which several wars have been fought. It forms another principal factor of political uncertainty in South Asia. the Kashmir issue is still unresolved in international politics. the Kashmir issue cannot be resolved until the two states themselves resolve the issue through peaceful dialogue, not through war. But more importantly, the involvement of international actors will play an active part in resolving this issue. the relationship between Pakistan and India is a significant source of concern and conflict within the region. their relations are based on a security dilemma which makes them nuclear powers. Both states are in competition with each other due to which they have increased their nuclear arsenals for security. If a war occurred between them, it would have devastating impact on the entire region. According to the realist school of thought, both states are maximising their powers by building nuclear weapons. Nuclearisation of South Asia threat-

Islamabad – Ph: 051-2204545

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ens to the region, as conflicts between India and Pakistan are dangerous for the security of the rest of the states of the region. the South Asian region is economically poor and the regional countries are involved in conflicts with one another. the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was created to increase mutual cooperation among the regional countries in social, economic and political areas, to promote self-reliance among the regional countries, to make the SAARC countries a free trade zone and eliminate poverty from this region and to promote peace and stability in the region, but this organisation failed in achieving its objectives due to the inter-state disputes and lack of cooperation among the regional countries. the hostile relations between India and Pakistan was the main reason for the failure of SAARC due to which SAARC summits have often broken down. the international actors also played an important role for the failure of SAARC. As this region is strategically important for the international community, the international actors, like China and the uSA, have allied with Pakistan and India for their own interests, like economic corridors and defence agreements which further increased the arms race between Pakistan and India which threatened the peace of the region. the detrimental relations and a number of conflicts between Pakistan and India results in the instability of South Asia. the in-

Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk

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creased militant attacks from both sides threatened the regional peace. the South Asian region faced security challenges due to the bilateral connection between India and Pakistan. there is increase in extremist and terrorist activities. Due to this, there is lack of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the region. the IndiaPakistan rivalry became the hurdle for the regional development. their bilateral relations are always a source of hindrance for the economic development of the region. thus, all regional countries need to put their differences aside and should cooperate with each other to promote harmony and stability in the region. tis cannot be achieved without peace between Pakistan and India. Peace and solidity are important for the regional development. the inter-state clashes need to be solved through mutual collaboration. the Kashmir dispute cannot be resolved bilaterally by India and Pakistan alone. It can be solved with an active participation by international actors. the international players should come forward and play an active part in resolving this issue.

Although South Asia lags behind in economic development, it has huge potential in terms of resources and markets. Bilateral trade mainly between Pakistan and India will boost the region’s economy. the disputes cannot be solved through wars but through negotiations and talks.

Sadia Atta can be reached at sadia.atta12@yahoo.com

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Friday, 6 December, 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

Cyber-attacks and India’s nuclear espionage

Endorsing anti-Muslim bigotry for profit Big Tech gives white supremacy the space to spread itself

SultAN M HAlI

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heRe have been numerous Islamophobic and anti-Muslim incidents in the near past. on 15 March 2019, a white supremacist walked into two different mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand and killed 50 Muslim worshippers and injured another 50. the gunman livestreamed the gruesome attacks on Facebook Live and prefaced the attacks with a 73-page manifesto he distributed immediately prior to the attacks. the manifesto was littered with white supremacist rhetoric from books such as the turner diaries (which is available on Amazon), anti-Muslim conspiracy theories, and neo-Nazi symbols, and it specifically cited uS President Donald trump as “a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose”. the Christchurch mosque shootings provide clear evidence that the rise of white nationalism and anti-Muslim bigotry in the uSA has global consequences. the research organisation, Crescendo, a project of Action Centre on Race and the economy (ACRe) Institute, a public accountability initiative, has highlighted the role that Big tech platforms, Wall Street firms, and right-wing media corporations have played in fanning the flames of white supremacy and anti-Muslim bigotry in the uSA and abroad. Some extracts have been placed here. even a casual glance at the findings of the Institution named above disclose that Big tech platforms— like Facebook, twitter, Youtube, and Amazon— provide spaces for white supremacists to spread their propaganda. Furthermore, their algorithms serve to push users farther to the right by recommending even more white supremacist and antiMuslim content. In the case of the Christchurch shooting, the live-stream video of the mass murder was duplicated and circulated by other users on Facebook, twitter, Reddit, and Youtube, which is owned by Google. Regrettably, these platforms did not take sufficient action to prevent the video from spreading. this is part of a larger pattern that these platforms have exhibited of putting profits before principle and enabling white supremacy and anti-Muslim bigotry in order to pad their bottom lines.

Facebook and twitter have contributed greatly to the spread of anti-Muslim bigotry and violence by providing spaces for white supremacists to build a community and plan violent attacks. these platforms have protected hate speech targeting Muslims and other people of colour and worked with government and private actors to spread anti-

Muslim and white supremacist propaganda.

Google-owned Youtube plays a key role in exposing young people to white supremacist ideology and anti-Muslim propaganda. In particular, the ‘autoplay’ function of Youtube’s recommendation algorithm “promotes, recommends, and disseminates videos in a manner that appears to constantly up the stakes,” according to sociologist Zeynep tufekci, who has studied Youtube. For example, searching for the word “refugees” on Youtube, leads users to the channels of prominent anti-Muslim influencers. this is a profit-driven mechanism since Youtube is owned by Google, which makes its money off advertising. the longer users stay on Youtube, the more money Google makes.

As with Youtube, Amazon’s recommendations algorithm also points customers who search for white supremacist books to even more white supremacist propaganda. the Christchurch killer’s manifesto shows that he was heavily influenced by the white supremacist terrorist group, the order, which took its name from a novel called the turner diaries. Members of the group refer to the novel as their bible, and the novel has inspired more than a dozen separate hate crimes and terrorist plots. the turner diaries is readily available for purchase on Amazon. Furthermore, Amazon’s recommendations algorithm points customers who visit the book’s page to even more white supremacist and Nazi propaganda.

Alarmingly, both Facebook and Amazon help fund hate groups.

Facebook’s Fundraiser tool allows anti-Muslim groups like the Christian Action Network and Centre for Security Policy to raise money from Facebook users. through its AmazonSmile programme, Amazon itself donates money to anti-Muslim organisations like the Middle east Forum and the Investigative Project on terrorism.

If that were not cause for enough concern, Wall Street firms also play an important role in mainstreaming and enabling anti-Muslim hate and violence by providing bad actors

with the funds they need to function. Fidelity, Charles Schwab, Vanguard, and Goldman Sachs have allowed wealthy investors to anonymously donate millions of dollars to anti-Muslim hate groups through their donoradvised funds (DAFs).

Manhattan Institute: A group of hedge fund managers and other prominent business leaders are effectively endorsing anti-Muslim bigotry through their work with the Manhattan Institute, a rightwing think tank.

Just hours after the Christchurch shooting, the Manhattan Institute’s magazine, the City Journal, published an article entitled “Don’t exploit Christchurch,” denying that the attacks were motivated by white supremacy and contending that the killer’s obsession with Muslim immigration was a “legitimate concern.” this was just the latest in a long list of anti-Muslim articles that the City Journal has been publishing for more than 10 years. even though the Manhattan Institute has ties to the far right, it is allowed to operate in the mainstream of New York’s politics, because its board members hail from prominent Wall Street firms like elliott Management, Bluff. the Christchurch shooter reportedly used five guns for his attack, including a semi-automatic AR-15. Wall Street firms including BlackRock, JPMorgan Chase, Renaissance technologies, and Wells Fargo financially prop up corporations like Remington and Smith & Wesson, which manufacture AR-15style rifles. the firms that invest in and finance the operations of these gun manufacturers are complicit in all mass shootings, including the Christchurch attack. they knowingly invest hundreds of millions of dollars into an industry that makes it profits based on how many deadly weapons it can sell to civilians, even if those weapons are used in mosques full of people.

The Christchurch shooter reportedly used five guns for his attack, including a semiautomatic AR-15. Wall Street firms including BlackRock, JPMorgan Chase, Renaissance Technologies, and Wells Fargo financially prop up corporations like Remington and Smith & Wesson, which manufacture AR-15-style rifles. The firms that invest in and finance the operations of these gun manufacturers are complicit in all mass shootings, including the Christchurch attack.

They knowingly invest hundreds of millions of dollars into an industry that makes it profits based on how many deadly weapons it can sell to civilians, even if those weapons are used in mosques full of people

Sultan M hali is a retired Group Captain and author of the book defence & diplomacy.

Currently he is a columnist, analyst and tv talk show host.

VItAL nuclear secrets could be collected through cyber attack or espionage. India has created world-wired furor about cyber-attacks on its nuclear facilities. It does not mention its own attacks on other countries. there was a cyber-attack on India’s Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP), the biggest nuclear power plant in tamil Nadu. India initially denied the attack but later admitted it. the KKNPP plant officials initially said, ‘Any cyber-attack on the Nuclear Power Plant Control System is not possible. Any cyber-attack on the Nuclear Power Plant Control System is not possible. the totally isolated network of KKNPP could not be accessed by any outside network from any part of the globe. hence there was no question of it being hacked. ‘the hackers collected required information but did not damage the plant.

It is believed that the equipment was used in the nuclear capable Agni-III missile. this inference is based on the fact that the consignment of the equipment was sent directly to India’s Vikram-Sarabhai Space Centre and Bharat’s Dynamics Private Limited. the FBI rejected the Indian government’s view that the microprocessors were part of fly-by-wire flight-control mechanism. the FBI’s view was that the ‘clearance’ for the microprocessors stood annulled in the wake of sanctions, imposed on India, following her 1998 nuclear tests.

According to the FBI, there was irrefutable evidence about involvement of the two Indian-government officials in the conspiracy. one of them is Manik Mukherjee who was Counsellor (Defence technology) at Indian embassy in Washington until the last year. he officially visited Rochester electronics Inc. Newbury port, Massachusetts to witness testing of microprocessors. Mukherjee signed the ‘Inspection and Acceptance Certificate’ on behalf of the Indian government for 377 selected micro-processors. the other person was S Janarthanan of Aeronautical Development establishment. the FBI held evidence of trilateral e-mails between Janarthanan Mukherjee and CIRRuS electronics (Sudershan and Gopal). India’s then foreign secretary Shiv Shankar tried to downplay severity of the allegations. he told reporters, ‘the items were not exactly high-tech. Receipt of consignment by Vikram-Sarabhai Centre was not so serious as the uSA had already been assisting the Centre within framework of Chandrayaan Project. the computer chips for the fighter aircraft were a vintage of the 1960s technology. And, their military application was already known to the uSA. It is eerie that the world remains toujours focused on Pakistan’s ‘merchant of menace’, ignoring unsafe reactors.

AMJEd JAAvEd Rawalpindi

Winter rain WeLCoMe to the first heavy spell of the winter rain. though it may be a cause of little concern for cotton growers, it is mostly good news for everyone in the country. hopefully, it will help fight the gravely dangerous issue of smog in Lahore. heavy rain in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi has ended the dry spell causing health issues for people. Now the air will be free from pollution and dust and dirt will be washed away from roads. the agricultural land in the Pothohar region is arid, which primarily depends on rains for irrigation. these rains will be a blessing for farmers in the Pothohar region as it will benefit them preparing their land for the Rabi crop. the government needs to supply better quality seed to farmers to enable them to increase agriculture production. the farmers must put in extra efforts to preserve water any way they can for use during dry days. Similarly, the citizens should avoid wasting water and littering as that chokes drains and cause problems. even a step further, they take small steps such as growing vegetables in their lawns and backyards to bring about a change. this would not only be a healthy activity but also will help fend off the adverse effects of exorbitant prices of daily use vegetables on their budgets. overall, a small effort by everyone can help bring about a big change.

RAJA ShAFAAtuLLAh Islamabad

Treating our teachers better teACheRS are supposed to be spinal cord of a nation in terms of socio-economic and cultural development of a country. In Pakistan, especially in Sindh teachers are treated badly. Yesterday, on November 6, there was called a wellmanaged and peaceful protest in front of CM house by the Sindh Professors and Lecturers Association (SPLA) for their time scale and promotion. Meanwhile, police contingent reached there and arrested many of teachers including female professors. Perhaps, government is unaware that protest is a democratic right of every citizen. Moreover, college teaching staff from all over of Sindh has said they will remain in peaceful protest until their resolution of time-scale, and furthers it was explained that colleges will be closed till to meet their demands. on the other hand, by closing of colleges the already lowest rate of literacy in Sindh is going to be in a worst condition if demands are not meet. the protestors reminded the government that summary of time scale had been sent to the secretariat on 2010, but perhaps it has not yet been pursued. Surprisingly, all other provinces have resolved its time scale issue of the college education.

ZAkIR huSSAIN Wahi Pandhi

Friday, 6 December, 2019

10 FOREIGN NEWS

Hong Kong gives protesters green ligHt for big marcH on sunday day to discuss the security situation, his first such visit since his appointment last month.

Tang will pay a “courtesy visit” to Beijing, where he will call on the Ministry of Public Security, meet with counterparts and discuss the security situation, the Hong Kong government said in a statement.

He is due to return early on Sunday morning, according to police, hours before the afternoon rally.

Tang took office in November with a warning that “fake news” was undermining the reputation of his police force.

He replaced Stephen Lo amid an police siege of anti-government protesters at a university that saw some of the shocking scenes of violence.

Tang has called for people across Hong Kong to end the unrest that has plunged the city into its biggest political crisis in decades.

The protests were sparked by a controversial and since-withdrawn extradition bill and have swelled into broader calls for greater democratic freedoms. Protesters accuse China of increasingly interfering in freedoms promised to the former British colony when it was returned to Chinese rule in 1997. China denies interfering in Hong Kong’s affairs.

HONG KONG

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AGENCIES

ONG Kong authorities granted protesters permission to march this weekend, organizers said on Thursday, giving the green light to a rally seen as a gauge of the pro-democracy movement’s support following its sweeping victory in local elections.

The Civil Human Right Front, the group that organized million-strong marches in the China-ruled city in June, said it had received permission from police for a planned Human Rights Day rally on Sunday.

During the past six months of increasingly violent anti-Beijing demonstrations, authorities had denied requests from the group to hold rallies. Some calm has descended since the Nov.24 district elections, when pro-democracy candidates won nearly 90% of the seats.

Also on Thursday, a protester who was shot by police in an altercation two months ago appeared in court for the first time to face charges of rioting and assaulting a police officer.

Tsang Chi-kin, who had been hospitalized after the October shooting incident, walked into a Hong Kong court and

Polish officials seize 2 tonnes of cocaine from Colombia WARSAW AGENCIES

Polish officials have seized two tonnes of cocaine from Colombia worth around 2 billion zlotys ($510 million), Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Thursday.

“This was the biggest amount of drugs seized in the last 30 years,” Morawiecki told a news conference, adding that the security forces have detained several suspects, including four Colombians, two Poles and one Iranian.

Three charged in Australia's largest crystal meth seizure CANBERRA AGENCIES

Three people have been charged with drug offenses over Australia’s largest seizure of methamphetamine, which had been smuggled to Melbourne from Bangkok in stereo speakers. Police estimate the 1.6 metric tons of the drug, also known as ice and crystal meth, had a street value of $818 million. The 37 kilogrammes of heroin also seized was the largest haul of that drug in Australia since 2017, a police statement said. “It’s almost a quarter of the annual usage in Australia, so this will have an impact,” Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner Neil Gaughan told reporters, referring to the crystal meth. Two men, aged 37 and 38, and a 37-year-old woman were appearing in a Melbourne court on Thursday charged with drug importation offenses that carry potential life prison sentences, police said. They have not been named. The woman and one of the men were customs agents, privatesector employees who facilitate cargo movements through ports, Gaughan said.

They do not have security clearance, but operate as independent import-export experts who know how the system works.

“They are trusted insiders in the industry.

They used their position of trust to circumvent the border controls that exist within Australia,” Gaughan said. This vulnerability has been fully removed.”

The three were arrested after police executed search warrants on Wednesday at several Melbourne properties.

left about an hour later after his case was adjourned until February.

An officer shot Tsang in the chest with a live round. Police said the officer involved was under serious threat and acted in self-defense.

Police say they have exercised re-

straint in the face of escalating violence, but they are facing accusations of excessive use of force. A rally has been planned for Friday evening to protest the use of tear gas by police.

Demonstrators have repeatedly called for an independent inquiry into police use

of force as one of their “five demands” on government. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has also called for an investigation into allegations of excessive police force.

Hong Kong’s Commissioner of Police Chris Tang will visit Beijing on Fri-

Strike snarls France as unions protest pension overhaul PARIS AGENCIES

A nationwide strike brought much of France to a halt on Thursday as unions kicked off a massive protest against a pension overhaul by President Emmanuel Macron, which they say will force millions of people to work longer or face curtailed benefits.

Most schools were closed or only assuring daycare services, forcing many parents to find alternatives or stay home from work as trains, metros and buses were cancelled.

Thousands of people marched in several cities ahead of two major demonstrations planned for Paris, where traffic was lighter than usual as many people simply took the day off to avoid the travel chaos.

“People made plans to deal with today and tomorrow, but I’m really worried about Monday, that’s when the

hassle is going to start,” a customer service agent for the national railway company SNCF said at Montparnasse train station in Paris.

Union leaders have vowed to keep up their protest unless Macron drops the pension overhaul, considered a centre piece of the centrist president’s push to reform wide swathes of the French economy.

“This is going to concern everybody, not just part of the population,” said Franck, a 46-year-old worker at the automaker PSA, makers of Peugeot and Citroen vehicles, during a demonstration in Rennes, western France.

“Nobody can imagine having to work until you’re 70 years old,” he said.

Officials have admitted that French workers will gradually have to work longer, but so far have given few details of how a “universal” system that does away with dozens of separate schemes will affect their retirement plans.

Macron’s office said Thursday that Prime Minister Edouard Philippe would lay out the framework for the reform next week, after wrapping up negotiations with unions.

Around 90 percent of high-speed TGV trains as well as regional lines were cancelled, and Air France has axed 30 percent of domestic flights and 15 percent of short-haul international routes.

In Paris, only a few of the 16 metro lines were operating, and service on the heavily used suburban rail lines crossing the city was severely disrupted.

“I’m a witness for the wedding of my childhood friend, in Cologne [Germany] tomorrow afternoon, so obviously I can’t cancel my trip but this is making me really nervous,” said Nicole, who was waiting at the Gard du Nord station in the capital.

The Eiffel Tower and the Orsay museum were shut because of staff

India may force social media platforms to offer user verification NEW DELHI

Japanese magazine ridiculed for 'Socrates' dating advice TOKYO AGENCIES

AGENCIES

India’s proposed new privacy bill may require large social media platforms to offer an identity-verification option, a potentially precedent-setting effort to rein in the spread of “fake news”, two government sources told Reuters on Thursday.

The requirement would likely raise a host of technical and policy issues for companies including Facebook and its WhatsApp and Instagram units, Twitter and Chinese app TikTok, all of which have millions of users in India.

Companies would have to offer a mechanism for users to prove their identities and display that verification publicly, akin to the blue check-mark that Twitter has used to confirm the authenticity of some high-profile accounts, including those belonging to celebrities and politicians.

Verification would be optional for users, the sources said.

The Personal Data Protection bill, whose first draft was made public last year, is keenly awaited by top

shortages, while the Louvre, the Pompidou Centre and other museums warned that some wings and exhibits were closed.

The CGT union said workers had blocked seven of the country’s eight oil refineries, raising the prospect of fuel shortages if the strike continues.

And “yellow vest” protesters, who have staged weekly demonstrations since last year demanding improved living standards, blocked roads in several cities including Le Havre on the Atlantic coast, where the heavily used port was also shut according to the CGT. Police have said they are on alert for potential violence during the roughly 250 demonstrations expected across France from a radical fringe that could include the “black bloc” anti-capitalist protesters who infiltrated several “yellow vest” protests over the past year.

technology companies and industry stakeholders as it could alter the way all major internet companies process, store and transfer Indian consumers’ data.

The identity verification requirement, introduced in the latest draft of the bill, would be one of the most ambitious efforts globally to battle disinformation and fake news, which is often spread by pseudonymous or fake accounts.

“The idea was to reduce the spread of fake news and online trolling,”

said one of the sources, a federal IT ministry official.

The privacy bill was cleared by cabinet on Wednesday and will be presented to parliament soon, officials said. But passage is not imminent, one of the sources said, as the legislation will likely be referred to a parliamentary expert committee or a panel for further review. Since 2017, fake news and rumour-mongering on social media in India has led to more than 30 deaths, data portal IndiaSpend said last year.

A Japanese magazine that advised women to compliment men on their intelligence by saying “You sound like Socrates” has been ridiculed in the country ranked one of the world’s worst for gender parity.

“JJ”, a major fashion magazine targeted at young women, encouraged readers to compare men to the classical Greek philosopher when they say something complicated. A picture of the page sparked mirth when it was shared on Twitter — with some users noting that Socrates did not live happily ever after, as he was sentenced to death by drinking poison. Users of both genders poured scorn on the technique to attract men, with one saying: “If a woman told me I sound like Socrates, I would wonder if she’s sane.” The tips were based on a comic book by a female manga artist, the magazine said, playing on a popular trope where women compliment men and feign stupidity. In 2018, Japan ranked 110th out of 149 countries in the World Economic Forum’s gender gap report, up from 114th the previous year.

The country remains low in the ranking despite Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledging to promote women’s empowerment — his so-called “Womenomics” strategy.

Friday, 6 December, 2019

BUSINESS 11

FBR taRgets non-FileRs owning 1,000cc and aBove caRs

CORPORATE CORNER

ISLAMABAD

KARACHI: Engro Fertilisers has signed an agreement with BASF to develop and distribute the worldrenowned ‘Nunhems’ brand of vegetable seeds in Pakistan. press release

PESHAWAR: Bahria Town Chairman Malik Riaz Hussain inaugurates Bahria Town’s sales and executive marketing office in the provincial capital. press release

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GHUlaM aBBas

HE Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) is mulling to act against non-filers owning 1,000cc and above cars, following the expiry of the tax filing deadline this month.According to sources in the FBR, the board is preparing a list of those owners of 1,000cc and above cars who have not been registered as tax filers.

In order to avoid the FBR's expected drive, thousands of old car

owners would now have to become filers, sources said, adding this may create unrest among thousands of car owners in the country.

As the banks have agreed to share data of all account holders, it has become easier for the FBR to identify the owners of cars and houses. The condition of becoming tax filer is also applied on owners of houses with an area of 500sq.yds and above. "FBR reiterates that every person owning a car above 1,000cc and a house measuring 500 sq.yds or above is mandatorily required to file return of income

Marketing shortcomings see star-studded AdAsia close with a whimper LAHORE aBDUllaH NIaZI

KARACHI: Habib Bank Limited (HBL) and Jubilee Life have signed an agreement to launch “AMAL”, a term life takaful proposition. Amal is a “pure protection” plan and provides coverage in the case of death. press release

KARACHI: Sindh Transport Minister Syed Awais Qadir Shah inaugurates ‘Airlift’ bus service in Karachi. press release

irrespective of having any taxable income during the year," Shabbar Zaidi had tweeted on Monday.

“Penal actions will be taken against delinquents. Avail extension,” he added.

Earlier on Nov 29, the FBR had extended the deadline for filing of income tax returns for the tax year 2019 to Dec 16.

As per the FBR, "Individuals and associations of persons who were required to file their income tax returns for the tax year 2019 first

by Sept 30 and then by an extended deadline of Nov 30 but failed to do

The final day of the three-day advertising symposium, AdAsia Lahore, concluded at the Alhamra Arts Center with an address by President Arif Alvi, as thin crowds continued to trickle in despite the event returning to the country after a long hiatus of three decades.

The third day saw delegates from all over the world and Pakistan participating in the event. Among those who spoke over the past three days were Chairman Pakistan Advertising Agency Wear Hairdo, Honorary Chairman of the Organizing Committee of AdAsia 2019 Javed Jabber, Chairman Organizing Committee AdAsia Lahore 2019 Sarmad Ali, Chairman Asian Federation of Advertising Associations (AFAA) Raymond Sou, Senior Vice Chairman PAA Jawed Homerun, Creative Director BBDO ME & Pakistan Ali Rez, CNN anchor Richard Quest, and Executive Creative Director Dentsu Inc. Yasuharu Sasaki.

Events on day three centered around more cultural activities aimed at improving and strengthening the image of Pakistan and Lahore in front of the visiting delegates. There was a panel discussion on Pakistani Art – Romancing the Future. The panel Chair Salima Hashmi, with speakers Rashid Rana and Adeela Suleman. Other talks included the keynote by Randi Zuckerberg, CEO of Zuckerberg Media and Former Director Market Development, Facebook titled “Dot Complicated: What I Learned on the Front Lines of Social Media.” Tom Goodwin – EVP, Head of Innovation for Zenith Media and the author of Dig-

ital Darwinism also spoke to the thin crowds, before Wasim Khan also spoke at length about the PCB’s efforts to market the Pakistan Super League (PSL). The event ended with a speech

by President Arif Alvi, who made up to some extent for Prime Minister Imran Khan having missed the opening address that he had been billed to deliver.

Many were surprised that the event failed to attract a significant number of attendees, especially with a star-studded card that included the likes of popular names such as CNN’s Richard Quest. Questions were raised over why the event was barely talked about and sparsely advertised, resulting in the low turnout.

Ironically, the three-day marketing and advertising event seems to have suffered from marketing mismanagement, with there being no outreach to students of business, mass communication or any branding advertising the popular names on stage. Even talks held by film stars such as Fawad Khan and other more literary panels with no jargon also were received by fledgling crowds.

According to one source, the organisers of the event were met by budget constraints when it came time to advertise their events, having already spent well over budget on actually getting the delegates here, and paying huge sums to bring some of the panelists over. It was also pointed out that the panelists were taken to a number of dinners and events in collaboration with the Walled City of Lahore Authority (WCLA), at great expense, which left organisers in a pinch with regards to marketing money.

so will now be able to file their income tax returns by Dec 16."

Meanwhile, talking to Pakistan Today, an official in the auto industry claimed that the major cause of over 60pc reduction in car sales was the government's drive to document the economy. Although inflation and rise in prices also contributed to the decline in sales, the documentation of the industry has largely hurt the sales, he added.

"Despite the slide in sales, the industry supports documentation, which is future of the country," he said.

PM stresses need to realise country’s tourist potential ISLAMABAD app

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday stressed the need for effective coordination among all departments at federal and provincial levels so that the country’s tourism potential could be capitalised. Chairing a meeting regarding the promotion of tourism in the country, the PM recalled that international investors from different parts of the world had expressed keen interest to invest in the tourism sector of Pakistan. He noted that Switzerland, Turkey and Malaysia were earning huge revenue from the tourism industry, adding that Pakistan has diverse and rich tourism potential in terms of mountain tourism, adventure tourism, desert tourism and religious tourism.

The tourism potential, he said, could be translated in revenue generation, employment opportunities and creation of economic activities, thereby contributing towards the socio-economic development of the country.

The meeting was attended by Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mehmood Khan, Special Assistant on Overseas Pakistanis & Human Resource Development Sayed Zulfiqar Abbas Bukhari and SAPM on Information Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan. The prime minister said the government rest houses, which had been built on taxpayers’ money, should be a source of income instead of lying useless. “Pakistan is emerging as an attractive destination on the international tourism map owing to its beautiful natural landscape; we must strive to capitalize this potential through expediting the infrastructure development, provision of services and facilitation,” he added.

Moot highlights role of insurance in social sector development

KARACHI: Oxford University Press (OUP) inaugurated its flagship bookshop at Park Towers, Clifton, by hosting an event which was well attended by the media, authors, academics, and foreign dignitaries. press release

Lahore Insurance Institute and Insurance Association of Pakistan (IAP) jointly organised a conference on the ‘Role of Insurance in Social Sector Development in Pakistan’. IAP (North) Chairman Satwat Butt highlighted that insurance penetration is low in Pakistan as compared to the neighbouring countries, urging the government to provide support in this regard. IAP (North) Vice-Chairman Muhammad Hisham stressed the need for public-private partnerships in the insurance sector and also solicited government’s help

in this reg a r d .

K a s h a f Foundation M D Roshane Zafar was the keynote speaker on the occasion, sharing her valuable experiences of micro health insurance and urging the govern-

ment to ensure financial inclusion of the vulnerable segment of the society. BUsINess DesK

‘Need more people like Babar Ali’; moot pays tribute to business stalwart ISLAMABAD sTaFF repOrT

The 22nd Sustainable Development Conference, organised by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), concluded on Wednesday with a galactic tribute to renowned Pakistani businessman Syed Babar Ali. The 93-year old business tycoon is the founder of Packages Limited, Nestlé Pakistan Limited and Lahore University of Management Sciences, and has also served as a caretaker finance minister of Pakistan in 1993. He has also been awarded the Order or the British Empire (OBE). Speaking on

the occasion, Syed Babar Ali said that he enjoyed every moment of his life and that he wishes to continue his pursuit for the rest of his life. SDPI Executive Director Dr Abid Qaiyum Suleri presented him the ‘Living Legend’ shield in recognition of his meritorious services for humanity.

Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce and Industry Abdul Razak Dawood said that the country has a dearth of people who have a sense of commitment, character and humanity to make a difference and contribute to the society. “It’s not the number of years Babar Ali lives, it is the number of hearts that he touched and he touched my heart too.” Higher Education

Commission Chairman Dr Tariq Banuri said that the true history is constituted by those people who made and built this country through their matchless contributions, and they are the real heroes. “Babar Ali is among those living legends.”

Meanwhile, speaking at a concurrent session titled, “Ease of Doing Business in Pakistan: A Case for Tax Harmonisation”, experts called upon the government to decentralize, devolve and delegate the tax authorities and its administrative functions at district level. Former FBR chairman Dr Muhammad Irshad said that lack of harmonization among different tax institutions at federal and provincial levels is the

major impediment for the businesses to grow. “Unless different tax and revenue collection authorities integrate and harmonize their efforts, the challenge of revenue target will remain unresolved.”

Speaking at a separate session titled “Digital Financial Inclusion: Challenges and Opportunities”, PPP MNA Syed Nadeem Qamar accused the banks of discouraging people in using electronic money transfer by imposing high taxes. He said that change in public behaviour is the only challenge in the way of financial inclusion.“The government policies and difficulties in account opening procedures have financially excluded a larger popula-

tion, especially the old age people and women.”Nadeem Hussain, the Founder of Easypaisa, said that there are enough elements in place to make Pakistan completely digital, adding that just like any other country of the world, Pakistan has also moved forward in terms of technology and prosperity. “We need to appreciate ourselves what we have done so far specifically in the field of digital inclusion.”

Speaking at a panel discussion titled “Role of women in Media and Digital Society”, Dr Nathalene said women should get space without compromising the system initially and there should be strong legislation to punish people who cross the limits.

Friday, 6 December, 2019

12 BUSINESS FBR to release another Rs3bn in sales tax refunds ISLAMABAD: As the government has launched an automated system for the release of sales tax refunds to exporters, the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has decided to release another Rs2 to Rs3 billion worth refunds within the next couple of days. The board has already released Rs32 billion worth refunds in the last one week.

According to details, Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance & Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh informed a group of leading businessmen on Wednesday that the automation system for the release of sales tax refunds was in place to ensure timely disbursement of exporters' money. The businessmen were representing various export sectors contributing nearly $2 billion exports. FBR Chairman Syed Shabbar Zaidi and Finance Secretary Naveed Kamran Baloch were also present during the meeting.

The business delegation was represented by prominent exporters from Lahore and Karachi, including Shahid Soorty, Musaadiq Zulqarnain, Fawad Anwer, Shahid Abdullah, Bashir Ali Mohammad, Rizwan Dewan, Asif Tata, Ahmed Ibrahim, Sameer Chinoy and Khurram Mukhtar. During the meeting, the FBR was advised to work more aggressively on reforming and simplifying the processes for early and prompt payment of sales tax refunds. Dr Hafeez Shaikh told the businessmen he had already constituted a committee comprising FBR officials and APTMA members to simplify the Form-H for sales tax refunds in the next few days.

The adviser asked the businessmen to nominate anyone they liked to become part of the committee as he wanted to ensure a hassle-free submission of tax refund claims and their subsequent payment without any delay. The businessmen thanked the adviser and the FBR team for ensuring the payment of Rs32 billion worth of refunds to exporters in the last couple of days. The adviser told the businessmen that FBR was working very hard to facilitate the exporters, adding that another Rs2 to Rs3 billion tax refunds would also be issued within the next couple of days. GHUlaM aBBas

sBP reserves surge $430 million to $9.11 billion The foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan surged 5pc on a weekly basis. On November 29, the forex reserves held by the SBP were recorded at $9,112.9 million, up $430.6 million compared with $8,682.3 million in the previous week. According to SBP data, such levels were last seen on April 26, 2019. “In this fiscal year, the SBP reserves have increased by $1.8 billion,” stated the central bank. “Foreign exchange swaps/forward liabilities have decreased by $1.95 billion between June and October 2019. Increase in the liquid SBP reserves and reduction in the swaps/forward liabilities reflects the build-up of foreign exchange buffers,” it added. Overall, liquid foreign currency reserves held by the country, including net reserves held by banks other than the SBP, stood at $15,993.2 million. Net reserves held by banks amounted to $6,880.3 million. BUsINess DesK

govt teRMs RePoRt RegaRding new loans as ‘inaccuRate’ ISLAMABAD

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aHMaD aHMaDaNI

HE Finance Division has termed as inaccurate and misleading a news report appearing in a section of the press contending that the government’s foreign borrowing increased by $10.4 billion from 18th August 2018 to 30th September 2019.

In an official statement released on Thursday, the Finance Division contended that the report was not only misleading but was also against the national interest as it sent erroneous signals to the markets, which could have had potentially negative consequences for Pakistan’s rapidly stabilising economy.

Earlier, a media outlet had reported that the government “has admitted to obtaining a total of $10.37 billion loans from different countries and international lenders until September 30, 2019”. According to the report, Economic Affairs Minister Hammad Azhar had told the National Assembly that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insadf (PTI) gov-

‘REAL ADDITION IN EXTERNAL PUBLIC DEBT UNDER PTI GOVERNMENT WAS $1.3BN, NOT $10.4BN’ ernment secured $10.37 billion from various governments and international institutions from August 14, 2018, to September 30, 2019.

“It is critical to understand that the figure of $10.4 billion is ‘gross inflows’ and does not take into account the debt retirement of $9.1 billion during the same period,” the Finance Division stated on Thursday. “For the sake of clarity, it must be noted that reporting gross external debt inflows only presents one side of the picture, ignoring outflows on account of repayments, which are the other side of the picture, and a prerequisite to calculate the net or actual increase in external indebtedness of the country.”

The statement further noted that while gross external public debt disbursement was $10.4 billion during 18th August 2018 to 30th September 2019, deducting the $9.1 billion which

the government paid back during the said period leaves a net figure of $1.3 billion. “Therefore, the real addition in external public debt under the present government was $1.3 billion, not $10.4 billion as claimed by a section of the press,” it added.

It is pertinent to mention that media report had claimed that the PTI government, since coming into power, had received $1.54 billion from China, $151.79 million from Saudi Arabia, $68.6 million from France, $0.4 million from Germany, $62.48 million from Japan and $0.01 million from Kuwait. “The government also obtained $991.2 million in loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) during the said period.”

As per the report, the government received a total $2.751 billion from multilaterals including $997.45 million from Asian Development Bank (ADB), $23

‘GOVT PAID BACK $9.1BN LOANS IN 13 MONTHS’ million from Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), $155.04 million from International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), $556.05 million from International Development Association (IDA), $6.14 million form Islamic Development Bank (IDB), $922.84 million from IDB (short term), $42.24 million from International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), $8.36 million from Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC Fund), and $39.8 million form ECOT/BANK. “The government obtained $4.805 billion loan from commercial banks including $365 million from Ajman Bank, $2.235 billion from Consortium of Chinese banks (ICBC, CDB, BOC), $150 million from Citibank, $410 million from DIB/Noor, $195 million from DIB, $500 million from Emirates NBD, $300 million from ICBD and $650 million from Credit Suisse.”

MARKET DAILY

Stocks extend gains with 370-point rally KARACHI sTaFF repOrT

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) continued to accumulate gains on Thursday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index adding over 500 points intraday. Foreign investors remained net sellers in the preceding session with a net outflow of $1.93 million.

According to latest data released by the All Pakistan Cement Manufacturers Association (APCMA), domestic cement sales increased by 5.11pc YoY to 3.54MT in November 2019, while exports surged by 43.53pc to 0.81MT. Local consumption in northern region was recorded at 2.98MT whereas exports from the area came

in at 0.26MT. The south region, on the other hand, recorded consumption of 0.56MT and exports of 0.54MT. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s liquid foreign exchange reserves held by the State Bank of Pakistan increased by 2.66pc or $415 million to $15,993 million (as on 29th November). The reserves on 22nd November stood at $15,578 million. Gaining 538.79 points, the benchmark KSE-100 Index recorded its intraday high at 40,809.31. It closed higher by 370.58 points at 40,641.10. The KMI-30 Index gained 694.12 points to close at 63,971.34, while the KSE All Share Index accumulated 277.17 points, ending at 28,711.70.

The overall trading volumes improved from 393.08 million in the previous session to 507.90 mil-

lion (+29pc). Unity Foods Limited (UNITY +0.61pc) was the volume leader of the session, followed by Fauji Cement Company Limited (FCCL +5.05pc) and Maple Leaf Cement Factory Limited (MLCF 0.82pc). The script had exchanged 35.24 million, 34.08 million and 20.52 million shares, respectively.

Sectors that helped the KSE-100 Index extend rally included banking (+105.03 points), oil and gas exploration (+79.95 points) and oil and gas marketing (+55.05 points). Among the companies, Pak Petroleum Limited (PPL +52.89 points), Habib Bank Limited (HBL +41.92 points) and Pakistan State Oil Company Limited (PSO +27.72 points) remained the top contributors to the index.

CPI inflation at nine-year high, IMF predicts further hike BUSINESS DESK Inflation has risen to 12.7 per cent year on year due to an increase in the prices of food items according to the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS), which is the highest in nine years, it was reported on Wednesday.

According to PBS revised calculations, where the base year has been set as 2015-16 rather than 2007-08, Consumer Price Index (CPI) has jumped up by 1.3 per cent on a month on month basis.

Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry has claimed that the inflation levels would come down from next month, however, have failed to explain how it plans to achieve that. This change in the

base year will allow all prices to be compared against the prices in FY16 in order for the CPI to be calculated. Hence, based on the new base year, inflation in November rose to 12.7 per cent from 11 per cent in the previous month.

According to the data released by PBS, the main driver of inflation has been the hike in food prices along. Meanwhile, it has also been observed that food prices in rural area are generally higher than those in the urban areas. While food inflation swelled by 16.6 per cent in November year on year and 2.4 per cent month on month, rural areas witnessed 19.3 per cent hike YoY and 3.4 per cent MoM. In urban areas, tomatoes saw a hike of 149.41 per cent, pulse mash (11.72

per cent), pulse moong (7.79 per cent), wheat (6.86 per cent), potatoes (6.72 per cent), wheat flour (4.74 per cent), beans (4.53 per cent), onions (3.82 per cent), dried fruits (3.22 per cent), pulse masoor (2.66 per cent), mustard oil (2.49 per cent), pulse gram (1.94 per cent), milk fresh (1.42 per cent), cooking oil (1.2 per cent), fish (1.17 per cent), gram whole (1.04 per cent) and vegetable ghee (1 per cent). Some items saw a decline in prices as well in urban areas including fresh vegetables (11.52 per cent), chicken (2.28 per cent), sugar (1.18 per cent) and fresh fruits (1.03 per cent).

In rural areas, the items that witnessed an increase in their prices are: tomatoes (189.67 per cent), onions

(13.83 per cent), wheat (10.85 per cent), pulse moong (8.55 per cent), beans (6.24 per cent), wheat flour (6.15 per cent), fresh fruits (4.68 per cent), potatoes (4.43 per cent), pulse masoor (3.89 per cent), dried fruits (3.05 per cent), cotton cloth (2.58 per cent), gram whole (1.48 per cent), eggs (1.31 per cent), fish (1.3 per cent), readymade food (1.19 per cent), rice (1.02 per cent) and pulse gram (1.01 per cent).

Non-food inflation within Urban areas rose by 9.6 per cent, while rural areas saw a rise of 9 per cent. This rise was mainly driven by the increase in oil prices over the past few months since the government has passed on this increase in oil prices onto the consumers.

Moody’s upgrades outlook on five Pakistani banks from negative to stable LAHORE eleaZar BHaTTI

Moody’s Investors Service (Moody’s) has affirmed the B3 long-term local currency deposit ratings of five Pakistani banks and changed the outlook to stable from negative, according to a statement issued on Wednesday.

Moody’s has changed the outlook of five Pakistani banks which include Allied Bank Limited (ABL), Habib Bank Limited (HBL), MCB Bank Limited (MCB), National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) and United Bank Limited (UBL).

Earlier on Monday, Moody’s

had affirmed Pakistan’s B3 rating, while changing the outlook on the sovereign rating to stable from negative based on the reduced external vulnerability risks and ongoing fiscal reforms.

Interestingly, the five banks in question have not taken any measures to improve their rating however, it is simply a by-product of the improvement in Pakistan’s rating. Other Pakistani banks that lend a majority to consumers or corporates, and have a lesser lending ratio to the government, have been omitted from this.

According to the statement issued by Moody’s, the banks’ rating actions not only reflect

improvements in the operating environment in Pakistan and in the country’s sovereign credit profile but are also based on the banks’ high government exposures that link their credit profiles to that of the government; supported by the expectation that the government of Pakistan’s capacity to support banks in case of need will not deteriorate.

The report states, “the primary driver of Moody’s decision to change the five Pakistan banks’ outlooks to stable is the extensive interconnectedness between their balance sheets and sovereign credit risk, owing to the banks’ high exposures to government securities.”

“According to Moody’s estimates as of the latest available information, the five banks’ direct exposure to government credit risk stood at around 10.2x of Tier1 capital for ABL, 8.1x for HBL, 6.4x for MCB, 9.5x for NBP and 6.8x for UBL.” “The high direct exposure to government credit risk, in addition to the primarily Pakistan focus of their operations, links the banks’ credit profile to that of the government. As a result, the improvements in the operating environment and in the sovereign credit profile have eased pressures on banks as well.”

“The stable outlook assigned

to the banks’ local currency deposit ratings also reflects Moody’s expectation that the government’s capacity to support banks in case of need will not deteriorate. This is reflected by the stable outlook on Pakistan’s sovereign B3 bond rating which is driven by reduced external vulnerability risks on the back of policy adjustments and currency flexibility, as well as ongoing fiscal reforms that will mitigate risks related to debt sustainability and government liquidity. The local currency deposit ratings of NBP and HBL incorporate one notch of support uplift from their caa1 baseline credit assessments,” the statement added.

Meanwhile, an industry expert told Profit, ”This improvement from negative over to positive is a good sign for the banking industry and mainly driven by the improvement in the overall outlook, however, there are serious risks of slowdown in credit growth within the market due to high rates, increasing default trends and inflation.”

He added, “Non-Performing Loans (NPLs) have surged to Rs768 billion in 2018-19 as compared to Rs623.6 billion last year, and this could give the banks a tough time, regardless of their high dependency on sovereign credit risk.”

Bilal ashraf named mosT sexiesT PakisTani man

The sizzling topless number dharak bharak in Superstar hands Bilal the title of sexiest Pakistani man of 2019

T

By Hasan Kazmi

HE British Asian publication Eastern Eye names Bilal Ashraf sexiest Pakistani man of 2019. Bilal Ashraf is the only Pakistani actor who makes it into the top 10 of this list based on votes from fans around the world, buzz generated on social networking sites, positive impact, and media attention.

Speaking exclusively to Daily Paperrazzi Bilal Ashraf was overwhlemed. In his choked up voice he tried to remain humbled, “I am beyond humbled to be featured as part of a list among such legendary gentlemen.”

Bilal Ashraf expressed his surprised and said he wasn’t expecting this at all. “This has come to me as a surprise and such moments make the struggle and commitment we all put into our work all worth the while. This encourages me to try my

best to further myself in my field.

I’m extremely grateful.” he added.

This rounds off a great year for

the actor, which included a lead role opposite great Mahira Khan in blockbuster film Superstar.

Ashraf’s films released so far include Operation 021, Janaan, Yalghar, Rangreza and Superstar.

British Pakistani showbiz reporter Asjad Nazir, who founded the list and compiles it annually, praised Bilal and described him as the future of Pakistani cinema.

“Pakistani cinema is on the rise globally and that is thanks to a new generation of world-class actors like Bilal. He will lead a future generation of cinema stars that will ultimately help empower his country and inspire others living there,” said Asjad Nazir speaking to the local publication.

Tiger Shroff entered the top 10 for the first time and came in fourth. Pop superstar Zayn Malik came in fifth and TV star Harshad Chopda was ranked sixth. The rest of the top 10 for 2019 were actor Mohsin Khan (8), cricketer Virat Kohli (9), and South Indian superstar Prabhas (10).

A teacher wrote of a young Roald Dahl on his school report card: "I have never met anybody who so persistently writes words meaning the exact opposite of what is intended."

7th Sky Entertainment All Set to Win Hearts with another Enticing Project “Deewangi”

HOLLYWOOD BOLLYWOOD

7th Sky Entertainment, led by the eminent producers of the entertainment industry, Abdullah Kadwani and Asad Qureshi, is coming back with another gripping story “Deewangi”, after the phenomenal success of Dil-e-Gumshuda.

Written by Sadia Akhtar and directed by the ace director Zeeshan Ahmed, “Deewangi” stars the heartthrob Danish Taimoor and the versatile Hiba Bukhari in lead roles, along with Ali Abbas, Zoya Nasir, Mehmood Aslam, Nida Mumtaz, Ismat Zaidi, Noor Ul Hasan, Parveen Akbar, Humera Bano in pivotal roles.

Deewangi is the story of an ambitious girl Nageen Faiyaz, who is driven to work and be something on her own to break free from the shackles of poverty. In unfortunate circumstances, she meets Mansoor Durrani, soon to be a politician with great influence who falls in love with her. The two start off on a bad foot, resulting in misunderstandings and tragedies.

The drama follows their story, as they head on a journey of love, misunderstandings, emotions, and the harsh realities of life.

Currently garnering rave reviews for Kahin

Deep Jalay, Ramz e Ishq and Darr Khuda Se, the popular entertainment house is all set to amaze

viewers once again with another exciting project soon to be aired on Geo Entertainment.

The only Blockbuster store in the world that is still operating is in Bend, Oregon.

Blood donors in Sweden receive a thank you text when their blood is used.

Leia Spoiler From Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker Revealed

Henry Cavill Responds To Superman No Longer Being Relevant Claims

A Leia spoiler is revealed through a press conference held earlier Wednesday for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Before we dive into the spoiler, found below, recently also saw the brother of Carrie Fisher confirm that Leia was going to be the last Jedi, which fits with the spoiler.

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

Unfortunately, Carrie Fisher passed away in 2016, so things obviously had to be changed, though J.J. Abrams did use unused footage from The Force Awakens to include Leia in The Rise of Skywalker.

“They had eight minutes of footage,” Fisher revealed.

“They grabbed every frame and analyzed it... and then reverse-engineered it and [got] it into the story the right way.

It’s kind of magical.” Recall that a big complaint among fans is that Rey was never properly trained in the ways of The Force or the Jedi, but she happens to be OP.

Henry Cavill responds to the thought that Superman is no longer relevant, as recently saw two click-baity reports offer that Warner Bros. is unsure what to do with the Man of Steel.

Well, Henry Cavill does.

While promoting his new Netflix series The Witcher that debuts this month, Henry Cavill offered his thoughts on the notion that Warner Bros. is unsure how to make Superman relevant to modern audiences.

"I'd like to delve more into the aspect of Superman [that] we traditionally know, coupled with where we left him with Man of Steel," Cavill explained to ET Online. "It's the hero who is trying to exist in a world where people may say he's not relevant anymore -- where, actually, he's extraordinarily relevant and it's him coming to terms with that and becoming that relevance and showing people that hope does exist without it being too chocolate box."

Cavill also added: "I wanted to still have an edge but to have some warmth to it and to have some hope to it."

CMYK

Deepika Padukone on her battle with depression: ‘On paper, that should have been a great period in my life’ Deepika Padukone, who will now be seen as an acid-attack survivor in Chhapaak, has shared some painful details about her battle with depression. The actor wrote in a New York Times blog post about how the kindest thing she had done for herself was to accept her condition.

Opening up about her clinical depression, Deepika wrote in the blog, “I started experiencing symptoms in 2014. It was midFebruary, and I had fainted after a long day of work. The next morning, I woke up with an empty feeling in my stomach and the urge to cry.”

Recalling the time she was on the peak of her career and dating Ranveer Singh, she went on to add, “On paper, that should have been a great period in my life — I had just starred in four of my most memorable movies, my family was extremely supportive and I was dating the man who would later become my husband. I had no reason to feel the way I did. But I did.”

Friday, 6 December, 2019

14 SPORTS

Man Utd inflict first spUrs defeat on MoUrinho as liverpool roMp clear LONDON

J

AGENCIES

OSE Mourinho endured an unhappy return to Manchester United as Marcus Rashford struck twice in a 2-1 defeat for Tottenham while Liverpool maintained their eight-point lead at the top of the Premier League, putting five goals past Everton.

Second-placed Leicester equalled their top-flight league record of seven consecutive wins with a 2-0 victory against bottom side Watford while Chelsea bounced back from two consecutive league defeats to beat Aston Villa 2-1.

Mourinho's first loss since taking charge of Spurs eases the pressure on Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as United moved above Tottenham, up to sixth in the table.

Rashford smashed United into an early lead with the help of some poor goalkeeping by Paulo Gazzaniga, the England international's powerful shot creeping in at the near post and he had chances to extend the lead.

Yet for all United's dominance in the first 45 minutes, one moment of brilliance from Dele Alli pulled Mourinho's men level before the break.

Alli plucked the ball out of the air and skipped beyond two United defenders with one touch before slotting home his fourth goal in as many games since Mourinho took charge.

United were handed the chance to retake the lead when Rashford went down under Moussa Sissoko's challenge in the penalty area early in

the second half and he put his recent spot-kick woes behind him to send Gazzaniga the wrong way.

"The three points are massive for us," said Solskjaer.

"We've had too many draws this season and given too many points away from winning positions. It's a great lesson the last two games (Sheffield United and Aston Villa) and we came back in a great manner."

Mourinho, sacked by United last December, described his reception at Old Trafford as "nice and polite".

"It's a step back against a team that is playing with the same objective as us, trying to get up the table and reach the top six," he said. "We need to keep going. We made mistakes but it's not good to be crying about them now."

Liverpool emphatically restated their title credentials by thrashing

their city rivals 5-2, surging eight points clear of Leicester after their 14th win in 15 games. Manchester City, in third place, are 11 behind the leaders.

All but one of the goals came in a frantic first half at Anfield as Divock Origi and Xherdan Shaqiri, who replaced the rested Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah, put Liverpool 2-0 up inside 17 minutes.

Michael Keane pulled a goal back for Everton before Origi got his second and Sadio Mane finished off a blistering counter-attack to make it 4-1.

The scoring did not stop there as Richarlison cut the deficit once more, but Georginio Wijnaldum hammered the final nail in the Everton coffin as an eighth defeat in 11 league games sees the Toffees slip into the bottom three.

"All the goals were incredible,

outstanding," said Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp. "Wonderful goals, sensational passes, super pieces of football. I loved it a lot.on "We needed fresh legs and I had to show my respect to the boys in the squad, that's all. They proved it. It is much more fun making changes, all of the boys are ready to deliver performances like this."

Leicester moved back above City as Liverpool's closest challengers.

Brendan Rodgers' side were awarded a penalty after the break when Jonny Evans went down clutching his face inside the area and Jamie Vardy made no mistake, scoring for the seventh straight game.

James Maddison sealed the points deep into stoppage time.

Chelsea forward Tammy Abraham, who was prolific during a loan spell at Aston Villa last season, proved the difference against Villa, heading in Reece James's cross to open the scoring.

Trezeguet bundled home to bring the visitors level before the break, but Abraham then turned provider by chesting down for Mason Mount to brilliant volley high past Tom Heaton.

Wolves, in fifth place, remain unbeaten in the league since September and goals from Leander Dendoncker and Patrick Cutrone either side of half-time gave them a 2-0 win against a disappointing West Ham at Molineux.

Southampton moved out of the bottom three with a 2-1 win against fellow strugglers Norwich.

Uae sack dutch coach Bert van Marwijk DUBAI AGENCIES

The United Arab Emirates have sacked their Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk after only nine months in the job. The 67-year-old who led the Netherlands to the 2010 World Cup final took over the UAE national side in March. His departure comes in the wake of the UAE's 4-2 defeat to Qatar in the Gulf Cup on Tuesday. He had taken over from Italian Alberto Zaccheroni, who left also after a defeat to Qatar, in the semi-finals of the 2019 Asian Cup. Van Marwijk, whose Netherlands side were beaten 1-0

by Spain in the 2010 World Cup final, coached Australia at the 2018 World Cup.

Wilmots resigns as iran’s coach

Five-star Liverpool thrash sorry Everton LONDON AGENCIES

Liverpool surged eight points clear at the top of the Premier League as Divock Origi was the scourge of Everton once more in a thrilling 5-2 Merseyside derby win for the European champions at Anfield.

All but one of the goals came before half-time as Origi and Xherdan Shaqiri, who replaced the rested Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah, put Liverpool 2-0 up inside 17 minutes.

Michael Keane pulled a goal back for Everton before Origi got his second and Sadio Mane finished off a blistering counter-attack to make it 4-1.

The scoring did not stop there as Richarlison cut the deficit once more, but Georginio Wijnaldum hammered the final nail in the Everton coffin a minute from time as an eighth defeat in 11 league games sees the Toffees slip into the bottom three.

"All the goals were incredible," said a delighted Jurgen Klopp, who made five changes in total. "Wonderful goals, sensational passes, super pieces of football. I loved it a lot."

Klopp insisted this fixture remained the "standout" one in Liverpool's season despite the massive points difference between the sides

at either end of the table.

However, the German's actions spoke louder than words as he could afford the luxury of leaving out Firmino and Salah at the beginning of a hectic month for the Reds in three competitions.

"We needed fresh legs and I had to show my respect to the boys in the squad," added Klopp. "They proved it. It is much more fun making changes, all of the boys are ready to deliver performances like this."

Origi scored the 96th-minute winner when the sides met last season at Anfield and proved his worth within six minutes this time with a calm finish to round Jordan Pickford and slot into an empty net after a sensational pass from Mane cut Everton open.

Shaqiri was making his first start of the season, but also showed no signs of rustiness in front of goal by finishing off another Mane assist on his trusty left foot.

"My biggest dream is to win the title with this club and give it to the fans," said the Swiss midfielder.

"We have to focus on the pitch, stay grounded and work hard every day. If we win, it will be amazing, but we still have a long way to go."

At the other end, Liverpool were

TEHRQAN AGENCIES

without the suspended Alisson in goal and looked poor at the back all night as their long wait for a clean sheet at Anfield this season continued.

Keane took advantage of a slip from Dejan Lovren to lift a delightful finish over Adrian to briefly breathe new life into Everton.

That was extinguished on the half-hour mark as Lovren made amends with a brilliant ball over the top which Origi cushioned into his path before lobbing Pickford.

Liverpool then struck again from an Everton corner as Trent Alexander-Arnold led the charge from one

end of the field to the other before squaring for Mane to curl into the bottom corner.

Under-fire Everton manager Marco Silva had made a substitution just 35 minutes in to try and turn the tide with Bernard replacing Djibril Sidibe and the Brazilian made an impact as from his cross the ball came off Richarlison's shoulder to leave Adrian helpless.

But Silva must now wait to see if he is offered another stay of execution by the Everton board ahead of Chelsea's visit to Goodison on Saturday.

Hazard to miss Clasico after tests reveal ankle fracture MADRID AGENCIES

Eden Hazard is set to miss the Clasico against Barcelona after further tests revealed a fracture in his right ankle, Real Madrid confirmed on Thursday.

Hazard was forced off during the draw with Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League last week and despite Zinedine Zidane saying after the match he had suffered a "bad twist", Madrid announced the Belgian had been diagnosed with "bruising".

But further tests have shown a fracture, with Hazard now expected to be out

for around four to six weeks. It would mean he will sit out the Clasico at Camp Nou on December 18.

"After tests performed on our player Eden Hazard by the Real Madrid Medical Services during the process of improving the bruising in his right leg, he has been diagnosed with an incomplete external fracture in that area," a club statement.

Marcelo is also likely to miss the game against Barcelona after the capital city club confirmed the defender has suffered an injury in his left calf.

But Hazard's absence is the bigger blow to Zidane's side, who sit second in La Liga, behind Barca only on goal dif-

ference.

It would have been the 28-year-old's first Clasico since he joined Real Madrid from Chelsea for 100 million euros ($110 million) last summer.

Hazard had shown glimpses of his best form in recent weeks after a slow start in Spain, in part due to a thigh strain he picked up at the beginning of the season.

Madrid play Espanyol at home on Saturday before three consecutive away games, against Club Brugge in the Champions League, Valencia and Barca.

Their last fixture before the Christmas break will be at home to Athletic Bilbao.

CMYK

Belgian Marc Wilmots announced he was leaving his position as coach of Iran after six matches in charge which included a 14-0 victory over Cambodia, he said on Twitter. "Contrary to the informations published in the Iranian press, no amicable agreement between the Iranian federation, myself and my staff has been found," he posted on Wednesday. "We are in negotiations in order to find an amicable solution after a failure to respect contractual obligations by the Iranian federation after the justified termination of the contract," Wilmots, who led Belgium's golden generation to the Euro 2016 quarter-finals, added. The ex-Belgium boss took charge of Team Melli in May after a six-game stint with the Ivory Coast in 2017. In November he also said on the platform he and his staff were in an "intolerable situation" due to serious contractual violations by the Iranian Football Federation (FFIRI). Earlier in the year, the Belga news agency reported the FFIRI had paid Wilmots late and he had threatened to resign with his contract running until the 2022 World Cup. Iran sit in third place in their qualifying group for Qatar with six points from four games after defeats to Iraq and Bahrain, the two countries in the spots to reach the tournament in three years' time. Croatian Branko Ivankovic has been linked

by German and Belgian press to replace Wilmots.

Friday, 6 December, 2019

SPORTS 15

opportUnities aBoUnd for india, West indies as t20 World cUp eMerges in distance

HYDERABAD

Y

AGENCIES

OU look at the ICC T20I rankings and wonder, how the mighty have fallen. The reigning champions of enter the threematch series ranked tenth. But rankings mean very little in this format and as is the case after every Caribbean Premier League, West Indies have an exciting bunch of players to try out in the lead up to next year's T20 World Cup. There's Fabian Allen, the allrounder who is expected to fill in for Andre Russell in the XI. Then there's Brandon King, the highest scorer of CPL 2019. And finally, there's Hayden Walsh Jr, who will be determined to show that he made the right call by switching allegiances from USA to West Indies. The return of the experienced Lendl

Simmons boosts their batting too.

There's also the fact that these youngsters are playing a T20I series in India that starts just a fortnight before the IPL auction. There will be plenty of eyeballs on them. The likes of Oshane Thomas, Shimron Hetmyer and Nicholas Pooran went for big bucks last year, and the opportunity to impress looms large for some others.

But even if you don't look that far ahead, West Indies would be brimming with confidence under new captain Kieron Pollard, especially after spending more than a month in the country for their series against Afghanistan. They face a side for whom the shortest format is arguably their weakest and will be quite keen to take advantage.

For India, the come-from-behind win against Bangladesh in the T20Is has calmed some nerves over their consistency in the format. They'll be

boosted by the rare appearance of Virat Kohli. The captain has often been rested from home T20Is over the last 12 months - like when West Indies toured India in 2018 - but with the World Cup less than a year away, it appears every game counts.

It's a young Indian team, but with Manish Pandey, KL Rahul, Washington Sundar and Sanju Samson entering the series after successful outings in the domestic T20 tournament, there couldn't be a better time for them to show their worth, especially in the absence of the injured Jasprit Bumrah, Shikhar Dhawan and Hardik Pandya.

With Deepak Chahar's meteoric rise, the pressure on Bhuvneshwar Kumar to succeed following his return from injury is high. He took only one wicket in two games in the domestic T20 tournament last month and since the end of the 2019 World Cup, he's gone wicketless in three of his last six white-ball internationals. But, with Bumrah sidelined, Bhuvneshwar has a strong chance to show he's still an important cog in the team's plans.

Denesh Ramdin is a safe wicketkeeper, but he has not impressed in subcontinental conditions with the bat. Last year, he made only 27 runs in three innings (at a strike-rate of under 100) when West Indies toured India and in PSL 2018, he came under scrutiny for failing to rotate the strike adequately.

With Shai Hope and Pooran, who will miss the first T20I on account of ball-tampering, possessing adequate keeping skills, Ramdin's days with West Indies may be numbered if he fails to get among the runs.

PITCH AND CONDITIONS: Two days before the start of the match, the pitch was covered for precautionary reasons because of overcast conditions. Since then, the skies have brightened. A cool evening is expected on match day, although weather reports claim that the air quality will be "very unhealthy." The Hyderabad surface has traditionally offered plenty for bowlers, with the home team in the IPL - Sunrisers Hyderabad - finding more success at the ground defending totals.

Fawad Alam gives timely reminder to Misbah with another QeA Trophy ton SPORTS DESK Sindh’s Fawad Alam on Thursday scored yet another century in the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy, this time making the Balochistan bowlers toil in Karachi.

Fawad, who famously smashed a double century in the previous round, was at it again as he brought up the 34th ton of his glittering first-class career.

It was the third century of the ongoing 2019 Quaid-e-Azam Trophy for Fawad. He also scored a double century in the previous round’s fixture against Southern Punjab.

Fawad’s purple patch could be a timely reminder of his talent for head coach Misbah-ul-Haq, who is set to announce the national squad for the upcoming two-match Test series against Sri Lanka.

Former fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar recently all but guaranteed that Fawad would be picked for the series.

england's headingley hero Bob Willis dies aged 70 LONDON AGENCIES

Bob Willis, who famously bowled England to a dramatic Test win against Australia in 1981, has died aged 70, his family announced on Wednesday. Willis played in 90 Tests, taking 325 wickets with his aggressive pace bowling and also captained England for a spell before retiring in 1984 and taking up a career in broadcasting. His most famous moment as a player came in the 1981 Ashes series, known as "Botham's Ashes" for Ian Botham's devastating displays with bat and ball, when he took 8-43 in a remarkable spell of fast bowling in the third Test at Headingley that changed the course of the series. It is understood that Willis, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer three years ago, had begun to deteriorate in health over the past two months, with a recent scan revealing the cancer had advanced. "We are heartbroken to lose our beloved Bob, who was an incredible husband, father, brother and grandfather," said a statement from the Willis family. "He made a huge impact on everybody he knew and we will miss him terribly." The England and Wales Cricket Board said it was deeply saddened by Willis's death, adding: "Cricket has lost a dear friend". "He will always be remembered for his outstanding cricket career.... In later years as a broadcaster Bob was a perceptive and respected voice at the microphone," the ECB said in a statement. Star all-rounder Botham previously described his teammate as a "tremendous trier, a great team man and an inspiration -- the only world-class fast bowler in my time as an England player". Willis, who is fourth on the all-time list of England Test wicket-takers behind James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Botham, started his first-class career with Surrey before moving to Warwickshire, where he spent the bulk of his career. Surrey said they were "devastated" to learn of the bowler's death while Warwickshire tweeted their condolences. Former England captain David Gower, who played with Willis and was a colleague of his at Sky Sports, described him as "a very loyal friend and a loyal supporter". "I toured with him as a captain and I took over the captaincy from him and then had him as what was called in those days as an assistant manager," he told BBC Radio. "He was a very loyal friend and a loyal supporter. "Without going into too much unseemly detail, it was an era where you were allowed to have more fun than you are possibly today. Various tours Down Under were colourful, let's put it that way."

New Zealand's record wicket-taker Richard Hadlee called Willis "one of the great fast bowlers of his time." "Bob was the archetypal fast-bowler: big, tall, aggressive – very quick and extremely competitive," said all-rounder Hadlee, who took 431 Test wickets.

"As a batsman, you always knew you were in a contest when you were facing Bob; he just kept coming at you." Willis made his international debut aged 21 in the 1971 Ashes in Australia. With his great mop of brown curls, he struck fear into batsmen, demonstrating great resilience to come back from surgery on both knees in 1975.

Third umpire to monitor front-foot no-balls in India-West Indies series HYDERABAD AGENCIES

The limited-overs series between India and West Indies, which begin on Friday with a T20I, will have front-foot no-balls exclusively monitored by the third umpires. Announcing the development on Thursday, the ICC said that the on-field umpires would be responsible for all other decisions "in the usual way" while the third umpire would monitor every ball for overstepping.

"If there has been an infringement on the front foot," the ICC said, "the third umpire will communicate this to the onfield Umpire who will subsequently call a no-ball. As a result, the on-Field Umpire will not call a front-foot no-ball without the advice of the third umpire.

In the scenario where even the third umpire finds it hard to call a no-ball based on the pictures, the ICC said the "benefit of doubt" will be with the bowler. And if a

batsman has been ruled out off a ball that is later called a no-ball by the third umpire, he can be called back to resume his innings.

"It's important to note that any benefit of the doubt lies with the bowler, and if a late no-ball call is communicated, then the on-field umpire will rescind a dismissal (if applicable) and call no ball," the ICC said in a statement.

This is the second time that the ICC is trialling technology to monitor overstepping in international cricket, with the first one coming in a 2016 ODI series between England and Pakistan. The IPL is also considering an extra TV umpire for monitoring no-balls in its next edition.

"The outcomes of the trial will be used to gauge whether the system has a beneficial impact on the accuracy of noball decisions and whether it can be implemented while minimising disruption to the flow of the game," the ICC said.

In August, the ICC's general manager for cricket operations, Geoff Allardice

told ESPNcricinfo that the technology to be used in these trials would broadly be the same as that trialled in 2016. A HawkEye operator presented still images to the third umpire during that trial, where the average decision time to call a no-ball

CMYK

was found to be eight seconds. The idea is that those times will come down the more umpires get used to the system.

"The footage is shown on a slight delay, it goes to super slo-mo as the foot approaches the point of landing, and then

it freezes," Allardice had explained. "The routine works well, with the third umpire judging the no-ball off a picture that is not always shown on the broadcast."

Umpiring, particularly with regard to front-foot no-balls, has been under the scanner over the last 18 months, with several high-profile errors being identified.

For instance, in November 2018, broadcaster Sky had found that Sri Lanka's Lakshan Sandakan had overstepped 12 times without penalty in a passage where he had bowled only 30 balls. Umpire S Ravi was officiating during that spell, as he was earlier this year during the IPL when he drew Virat Kohli's ire for missing a no-ball in a tight match.

More recently, Pat Cummins appeared to have nothing behind the line after he dismissed Pakistan's Mohammed Rizwan in the Gabba Test last month, but the wicket was upheld even after the third umpire had seen a reasonable amount of slow-mo replays.

Friday, 6 December, 2019

NEWS Two soldiers martyred, 2 terrorists killed in NW clash RAWALPINDI: Two security personnel were martyred and two suspected terrorists killed during an encounter in the Charkhel area of Boya tehsil in North Waziristan on Thursday.

According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the martyred personnel were identified as Havaldar Sher Zaman and Sepoy Muhammad Jawad while the injured include Lance Naik Ajab Gul, Sepoy Bulbul Nadir and Havaldar Khaliq Amin.

The bodies of the fallen soldiers and injured were shifted to FTC Hospital in Miranshah.

A spokesman for the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) claimed that the militants had attacked a security checkpoint, killed three soldiers and wounded three others.

Despite the successful elimination of terrorists from the tribal district in military operation Zarb-e-Azb, militants have still managed to maintain presence in the area and continue to occasionally attack security forces.

The clash in North Waziristan occurred a day after two people were killed in targeted killing incidents in Mir Ali tehsil of the district.

A government contractor was gunned down near Mir Ali Hospital by unknown assailants who later fled the scene.

Another target killing incident occurred in Khadi village where a local was shot dead by unknown armed men. The culprits fled the scene after the murder.

Earlier in the week, a soldier was martyred while two others were injured in a terrorist attack on a check post near the Pak-Afghan border in North Waziristan. STAFF REPORT

Court to announce verdict in Musharraf treason case on Dec 17 THREE-MEMBER BENCH TELLS NEWLY-FORMED PROSECUTION TEAM TO CONCLUDE ARGUMENTS IN THE NEXT HEARING ISLAMABAD: The special court constituted for the trial of former military ruler General (r) Pervez Musharraf over high treason charges will announce the verdict in the case on December 17. The former president is under trial for abrogating and subverting the Constitution through proclamation of emergency on November 3, 2007. A three-member bench headed by Justice Waqar Ahmed Seth and comprising Justice Shahid Kareem and Justice Nazeer Akbar heard the case on Thursday and said they would announce the verdict after hearing arguments of the new prosecution team formed by the government. Prosecutor Advocate Ali Zia Bajwa said that he and Munir Bhatti have been appointed as prosecutors in the case. He said that he received the notification of his appointment at 4:00PM on Wednesday. He also pleaded the court to grant him time to go through the 3,000 pages of case record handed over to him since he did not want to depend on the arguments presented by the previous prosecution team. Justice Akbar asked Advocate Bajwa to inform the court when he would present his arguments since he would not given more than a week for preparation. The prosecutor asked the court to give him time since there is already a lot of pressure on him. Justice Seth told the prosecution team to set aside other cases for a while to focus solely on the treason case. He said that judges too had come from various parts of the country for the case. “This is a special case being heard by a special court,” he added.

Adjourning the hearing, Justice Seth said that the court will hear the arguments of the new prosecution team on December 17 and announce the verdict on the same day. STAFF REPORT

PM says DigiTal PakisTaN Will uNleash full PoTeNTial of youTh, WoMeN PROJECT WILL BE HEADED BY TANIA AIDRUS, A FORMER GOOGLE EMPLOYEE ISLAMABAD

P

STAFF REPORT

RIME Minister Imran Khan on Thursday said that the full potential of the contribution of youth and the women to the economy will be unleashed with the introduction of the Pakistan Tehreeke-Insaf (PTI) government’s ‘Digital Pakistan Vision’.

“The Vision sets Pakistan’s digital ambition and has been designed for the government and the private sector to work towards a digitally progressive and inclusive Pakistan,” said a press statement. Speaking at the launch ceremony of the initiative, PM Imran regretted not having

launched it at the very beginning when his government was formed.

“I should have given attention to Digital Pakistan earlier. This is the most important thing for Pakistan right now, especially its youth. The whole world is moving forward digitally and we have been left behind.

“But you all know, and must be tired of hearing it, but we had an unprecedented debt […] and all our attention was focused towards stabilising the economy and our currency,” he added.

The premier said that Pakistan has the world’s second largest youth population “which can be converted into our strength with this one initiative alone”. “Our women will be able to fully contribute. This is a very big opportunity.”

He said that the introduction of egovernance will be essential in combatting “the endemic of corruption which started out at the top but with their flight to foreign countries has now settled down in the lower tiers of society”.

“E-governance is the best way to

make the lives of people easier.”

PM Imran said in e-governance had been introduced in Shaukat Khanum 19 years ago, and by doing away with paper receipts, “all sorts of pilferage was done away with”.

He said the same was being attempted for implementation but he was sad to report that the move was being met with a lot of resistance.

“You won’t be able to stop us for much longer,” he said, addressing the institutions opposed to shifting to digital platforms.

He said e-commerce will also be brought in after removing cyber security hurdles. According to a statement, it brings together multiple initiatives that the government has already kicked off, and identifies additional focus areas that it will initiate in the coming months.

Its strategic pillars are access and connectivity, digital infrastructure, digital skill and literacy, innovation and entrepreneurship.

These pillars, the communique added, supported by a forward-looking policy and a broader legal frame-

work, will “set us on the path to becoming a truly Digital Pakistan”.

It is important to note that the government has handpicked a former Google employee based in their Singapore office, Tania Aidrus, to lead the Digital Pakistan initiative.

“It’s the patriotic people like Tania Adrous who build nations. PM Imran Khan’s vision for a #DigitalPakistan brings former Google executive Tania back to Pakistan.

Looking forward to her positive contribution in shaping the digital landscape of Pakistan,” according to a government tweet.

Aidrus has handed in her resignation letter to Google. Her previous role at the company was Director of Product Management, specifically overlooking Google payments and the company’s ‘Next Billion Users’ initiative.

Although Aidrus is expected to lead Digital Pakistan, it is not yet confirmed what her title will be.

Sources have speculated that it could be Chief Digital Officer, though it is not confirmed.

Shehbaz ran 'mega money laundering' ring, claims PM's aide SHAHZAD AKBAR ACCUSES EX-PUNJAB CM OF SIPHONING OFF RS7BN

SAYS GOVT FAVOURS SETTLEMENT IN CIVIL CASES, CAN'T DIVULGE DETAILS OF MALIK RIAZ SETTLEMENT CASE DUE TO CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT

ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

A day after Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) President Shehbaz Sharif accused the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government of maligning him, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Accountability Barrister Shahzad Akbar said that the PML-N chief was at the helm of a ‘sophisticated moneylaundering network’ operated from the Chief Minister's Secretariat during his tenure in Punjab.

Addressing a press conference along with Communication Minister Murad Saeed, Akbar claimed that "a sum of over Rs7 billion had been laundered by just one company Good Nature Trading Company through 200 fake Telegraphic Transfer (TTs)".

"The assets of Suleman Shehbaz had increased by over 8,000 times over the past decade," he added.

He said that a “new business empire was established [by Sharifs] by utilising the corruption amount through a network of fake TTs, which was totally separate from the family’s business of Ittefaq Group”.

Sharing details of the alleged money laundering, he said that Shehbaz established a “fake company [named as] Good Nature Trading Company and appointed his front men Nisar Gill as Director Political Affairs in CM Secretariat and Ali Ahmed as Director Policy CM Punjab”.

“These two individuals laundered money on Shehbaz’s behalf,” claimed the PM's aide, adding that the company allegedly managed by Suleman was involved in business transactions of Rs7 billion.

According to Akbar, two more persons, Shoaib Qamar and Mansoor Anwar, were allegedly involved in the alleged money laundering network as “cash boys”.

“They withdrew Rs2.1 billion cash from the account of Good Nature Company. Rs16 million were deposited in the account of Shehbaz Sharif, who transferred them to [wife] Tehmina Durrani and the same amount was used for purchasing property in Whispering Pines Villas,” he claimed.

“The same cash boys deposited Rs25 million to

Suleman’s account after withdrawing them from the Good Nature Company,” he added.

Akbar said that another “amount was transferred to account of Hamza Shehbaz, who transferred it to the account of his wife and utilized the same amount for purchasing properties in Johar Town, Lahore. The remaining amount was stashed away through TTs”.

Moreover, an amount Rs6.8 billion was withdrawn from Good Nature Company’s account, out of which Rs4.7 billion was injected in another company, he claimed.

He also asked Shehbaz, "Was it not a fact that you had received kickbacks and commission at your residence 96-H Model Town and was it a fact that your 'Green Bullet Proof Land Cruiser and Elite Force Punjab' were used in transferring the black money at your another office 55-K, Model Town residence?"

"Had you not constructed 96-H, Model Town Lahore from the money laundered through these

TTs?" he questioned.

He claimed four money exchange companies, including Al Zaroni Exchange Company, Rames Tax Exchange, transferred a huge amount of money in the account of Nusrat Shehbaz through TTs. SETTLEMENT IN CIVIL CASES CASES: Akbar said that the government encouraged settlement in civil cases as it does not wish to keep people in jail, while alluding to a settlement in a case concerning property tycoon Malik Riaz.

The PM’s aide claimed that this was the first time in history that money had been repatriated from another country through legal process.

The National Crime Agency (NCA) of the United Kingdom (UK) on Tuesday announced it had agreed to a settlement of £190 million with Riaz to resolve an investigation into his assets in Britain.

Commenting on the settlement, he said that it was important to note that the "settlement was reached in a civil case not a criminal case". The government cannot divulge further details due to a confidentiality agreement with the British government, he added.

Responding to a question, he said that civil recovery was easy in the UK and the government was working on it.

Addressing Riaz's claims that the money had been paid to the Supreme Court (SC), he said that the money will be taken from the SC and handed over to the state. He also maintained that the government was thankful to the UK government and the NCA for expediting the investigation and returning the money to Pakistan.

To another question, Akbar said the repatriated money had a link with Hassan Nawaz’s property in London.

“Plea bargain option existed for [former prime minister] Nawaz Sharif as the government merely wanted to recover the [looted] money and does not want to keep anyone in jail,” he added.

He said that he was still waiting for Shehbaz to sue the Daily Mail as claimed by him to preserve the honour and dignity of Pakistan and its people.

PML-Q demands funds, ministry in support for COAS legislation, ECP appointments ISLAMABAD MIAN ABRAR

Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) has demanded release of funds for the constituencies of its lawmakers and another ministry in return for supporting the government on its legislation agenda, including the bill to extend the tenure of Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa for another three years.

The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has intensified its campaign to win

the support of its allies other opposition parties. In this regard, a delegation of the ruling party held a meeting with the lawmakers of its allied party – Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) at the parliament House. The government delegation comprised Jahangir Tareen, Pervaiz Khattak, Qasim Suri and Shahzad Arbab while Chaudhry Moonis Elahi and Tariq Bashir represented the PML-Q. According to sources, both parties discussed matters related to amendment in the Army Act and the appointment of the chief

election commissioner (CEC). Both sides also shared some reservations and asked each other to bring their act together.

“During the meeting, the PML-Q lawmakers complained that the commitments made to them were not being fulfilled and they were being deprived of their share in the federal and Punjab governments. They also complained about the unavailability of development funds.

The PML-Q also demanded an end to interference in their ministries from some top government ministers,” a source in

the PML-Q told Pakistan Today.

The source said that the PML lawmakers were assured that they would be given another federal ministry. The source also said that the government delegation took the PML-Q lawmakers into confidence on the names given by the prime minister for appointments in the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). The source further said that the PML-Q also complained that the development projects in the areas of its lawmakers were not being executed and funds were not being released for the

projects. “The PML-Q, being an ally, announced full support for the government despite their reservations,” the source said and added that the government delegation assured the PML-Q lawmakers of removing all their reservations and fulfilling the promises made to them.

The source further said that it was also decided in the meeting that Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar will also attend the next meeting between the government and PML-Q to ensure timely completion of the development projects.

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