E-Paper PDF 7th December (LHR)

CMYK

Saturday, 7 December, 2019 I 9 Rabi-ul-Sani, 1441 I Rs 20.00 I Vol X No 157 I 16 Pages I Lahore Edition

imran assures merit in Kamyab Jawan Programme g

pm says his govt will provide loans to small and medium enterprises to create abundant jobs

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NAB moves SC against Maryam's bail in CSM case

says online system will be introduced to ensure no undue favours are granted to anyone

STORY ON BACK PAGE

ISLAMABAD

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staff report

rime minister imran Khan on Friday distributed cheques worth rs5 million among applicants under the Kamyab Jawan Programme, as he termed transparency and merit the cornerstones of the loan scheme.

During the ceremony, cheques valuing up to rs5 million were distributed amongst the youth, while rs100 billion have been allocated in the first phase of the ‘Kamyab Jawan Programme’.

Addressing the event in islamabad, he said, “i want cheques should be distributed on merit.” imran said that more than 190,000 women have applied for the loan under the Kamyab Jawan Programme. The prime minister said that it is the duty of the government to provide business opportunities to the people and remove hurdles from their businesses.

He said the country’s youth have pinned their hopes on the Kamyab Jawan Programme, adding that the biggest feature of this programme was to facilitate small and medium businesses.

The prime minister said that the government’s duty was to not only create jobs but also “stop hurdles that stand in the way of businesses”.

Giving example of Pakistani immigrants

capturing textile markets in england, the Pm said the small entrepreneurs in Pakistan failed to grow because of the lack of merit. in the developed parts of the world, “They [governments] facilitate them and provide them with opportunities to start their businesses so that any youngster with a drive to excel can improve their station in society. This is what we call a meritocracy.”

He said his government with its Naya Pakistan represented a new way of thinking –meritocracy. “An online system will ensure there are no undue favours to anyone,” he said.

Focusing on small business setups, he said these business ventures were in most need of lifting because they lacked resources unlike the major industries.

“Big businesses have resources and can sidestep hurdles. But the backbone of the economy is the small business. And when society paves the way forward for such businesses, the country propels forward,” the Pm added.

The Smes also provide the biggest number of jobs, according to the Pm. “So this programme is for the youth, but alongside that, the Smes will benefit greatly from this.”

The Pm also touted his government’s probusiness policies, saying Pakistan climbed 28 points in the ease of doing business ranking and

promised even more progress.

Speaking about women’s development, he said the government would make policies to empower women. “i was happy to see that they have come forward from Parachinar and Galyat expressing their desire to do business, especially in the tourism sector,” he said.

“Women can participate in the iT revolution.

So a new era is beginning now. if our youth fully participate, they alone can uplift our country,” he said. The Pm said tourism was an industry that has “untapped potential that people are not even aware of”. The premier, describing how tourism in Pakistan had taken off in recent months, said that “more and more tourists are coming every year, but we have no room to board them”. He appreciated that many people had created attached guest rooms to house tourists. earlier, in a statement, Special Assistant on Youth Affairs Usman Dar said that the ‘Kamyab Jawan Programme’ is turning into a reality and is a fulfillment of the promise made by the Prime minister with the youth.

Usman Dar vowed to economically empower the youth. He said under the program, hundreds of thousands of the youth have expressed the desire to start their own businesses.

He said this program has set a record of popularity in the youth.

FATF to conduct preliminary review of Pakistan action plans today

STORY ON BACK PAGE

PHC orders FIA probe into BRT project STORY ON BACK PAGE

Justice (r) Altaf Ibrahim Qureshi takes oath as acting CEC g

adb approves $1.3bn loan for pakistan

govt to resolve awaran women case within two days, shah assures mengal

Qureshi will not be able to hear any complaints of defection or disQualification till appointment of regular cec

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CMYK Saturday, 7 December, 2019

02 NEWS

Verdict in treason case unlikely, claims musharraf's counsel ISLAMABAD

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STAFF REPORT

ORMER president General (r) Pervez Musharraf ’s counsel Barrister Salman Safdar on Friday ruled out the probability of a special court announcing its verdict in the high treason case against his client on Dec 17. The three-judge special court, which has been hearing the case since December 2013, had earlier on Thursday directed the newly appointed prosecution team to conclude its arguments at the next hearing scheduled for Dec 17.

In a media talk, Barrister Safdar said that it is unlikely of the court to announce its verdict in the case on the said date. He maintained that his client is not a fugitive but unwell and undergoing treatment abroad.

He went on to claim that the former president won’t be handed any

punishment in the case.

Earlier on Dec 6, the special court had put off hearing of the high treason case on a request by the newly-appointed prosecution team that sought time to peruse a lengthy case file and prepare its legal arguments.

Adjourning the hearing until Dec 17 for “the last time”, the court warned it would pronounce its reserved verdict in the case on the absence of any counsel in the next hearing. “This is not the first adjournment as the case has previously been put off for dozens of times,” it said.

Ali Zia Bajwa, who has been named as a new prosecutor to lead the prosecution team in the case, said he got to know about his appointment on Wednesday evening.

He added he received relevant documents vis-à-vis the case last night and needed some time to go through them. At this, the court said two days are enough to read these documents.

The prosecutor maintained the documents comprise over a thousand pages.

Besides, he added he is unaware of whatever transpired in the presence of the previous prosecutor. He assured the judges that he would try not to waste the count’s time.

THE CASE: The high treason trial of the former military dictator for imposing a state of emergency on November 3, 2007, has been pending since December 2013.

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

In September this year, a special court bench had decided to conduct the trial on a daily basis from October 8 to conclude the case.

AJK PM praises role of Kashmiri refugees in struggle ISLAMABAD: Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider Khan Friday praised the role of Kashmiri refugees in the Kashmir liberation struggle and said that they never felt reluctance to render sacrifice in this regard.

Talking to a representative delegation of Kashmiri refugees of 1989, he said the sacrifices of Kashmiri martyrs will not go in waste. The AJK prime minister said that India badly failed to win the hearts of the struggling Kashmiris by offering them either development packages or other incentives. India by use of brute force could never suppress indigenous Kashmir liberation movement. Farooq Haider Khan informed the delegation that the government is utilizing all its available resources to give maximum facilities to the refugees. APP

Justice Gulzar chides CDA chairman over encroached land ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Justice Gulzar Ahmed of the Supreme Court (SC) on Friday directed Capital Development Authority (CDA) Chairman Amer Ali Ahmed to launch a criminal investigation into the alleged misconduct of the Authority’s officials.

The judge also told the chairman to recover money from officials accused of causing financial losses to the body. The remarks came during a hearing pertaining to encroachments by Centaurus Mall – a skyscraper in the heart of Islamabad.

According to the audit report 2015-16, the Mall has encroached on over 40 kanals of CDA-owned land worth Rs10 billion and is being run without obtaining a completion certificate, i.e. permission to occupy, from the Capital Development Authority’s Building Control Section.

During the hearing, Justice Ahmed, who is set to

become the Chief Justice of Pakistan on Dec 21, lashed out against capital authorities for “ruining Islamabad” and regretted that the construction of high-rise buildings had been approved on directions by politicians.

“Don’t earthquakes hit this city?” he inquired.

He regretted that there was almost no public transport in the capital since 1960. “There is one shaking Metro running [in Islamabad]. There is no rickshaw in sight,” he observed.

“Bring in rickshaws, show people your culture.”

The judge also expressed annoyance at overseas Pakistanis’ “refusal to work in the country”.

“Overseas Pakistanis are running the transport system in London. Our best town planners have gone to America and Canada. They say that they cannot work in a jungle.

Their refusal [to work in Pakistan] is a slap on their and the country’s face.”

IHC reserves verdict on plea seeking disqualification of PTI lawmakers ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

LAHORE: Smog continues to hinder visibility in Lahore, parts of Punjab. ONLINE

Justice (r) Altaf Ibrahim Qureshi takes oath as acting CEC ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

A day after the retirement of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Justice (r) Sardar Muhammad Raza, former judge Altaf Ibrahim Qureshi on Friday took oath as the acting CEC. It merits a mention here that according to Article 217, the most senior member of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is eligible to act as the CEC if the office is vacant or the commissioner is “absent or unable to perform the functions of his office due to any other cause”.

Earlier, a senior ECP official said that many important activities of the poll body, including revision of electoral rolls and scrutiny of political parties’ funds, will come to a complete standstill while the conduct of any by-polls and preparations for local government elections will also come to a halt.

Acting CEC Qureshi will not be

able to form a bench to hear any complaint as the minimum strength of a bench under the existing law has to be three. This means all cases of defection and disqualification will remain pending until the appointment of a regular chief election commissioner.

On Thursday, the government finally proposed three names for the post of new chief election commissioner. The government’s nominees included incumbent ECP secretary Babar Yaqoob, former federal secretaries Fazal Abbas Maiken and Arif Ahmad Khan.

The parliamentary committee on the appointment of CEC and ECP members will meet on Tuesday to consider the three names each proposed by the government and the opposition for the positions of CEC and ECP members from Sindh and Balochistan.

National Assembly Opposition Leader Shehbaz Sharif had proposed the names of former federal secretaries Nasir Mehmood Khosa, Akhlaq

Ahmed Tarar and former diplomat Jalil Abbas Jillani for the post of CEC. He had also proposed the names of Nisar Durrani, Justice (r) Abdul Rasul Memon, former Sindh High Court registrar and Aurangzeb Haq as ECP member from Sindh.

For the office of the ECP member from Balochistan, he suggested the names of senior Supreme Court lawyer Shah Mohammad Jatoi, former advocate general Mohammad Rauf Atta and Raheela Durrani.

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.

For the office of the ECP member from Balochistan, the prime minister recommended the names of Dr Faiz Kakar, Mir Naveed Jan Baloch, a former caretaker minister in the provincial government, and former district and sessions judge, Quetta, Amanullah Baloch.

CMYK

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday reserved its verdict on a petition seeking the disqualification of three female lawmakers of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

The IHC bench, headed by Justice Amir Farooq, reserved the verdict upon completion of arguments.

During the hearing, Justice Farooq questioned the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) counsel if any petition seeking disqualification of a legislator elected on a reserved seat has ever been filed before an election tribunal, to which he replied in the negative. PML-N leaders Tahira Bukhari and Shaista Pervez had moved the petition seeking disqualification

of PTI’s Kanwal Shauzab, Malaika Bukhari and Tashfeen Safdar under Article 26 and 63 of the Constitution.

Earlier, the petitioners had requested the IHC to suspend the membership of the MNAs until the court reaches a conclusion on the petition.

They maintained that Bukhari should be declared ineligible to be a member of the National Assembly for possessing dual nationality, whereas Tashfeen Safdar be de-seated for concealing information about her dual nationality in her nomination papers.

In October last year, the Supreme Court had disqualified two PML-N leaders – former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi’s sister Senator Sadia Abbasi and Senator Haroon Akhtar Khan – as members of the Upper House over their dual nationality.

UK settlement money to be used for social welfare: PM's aide ISLAMABAD STAFF REPORT

Days after property tycoon Malik Riaz Hussain said that £190 million – he agreed to pay to the UK government to reach a settlement in a crime investigation – had actually been paid to the Supreme Court of Pakistan as part of Bahria Town’s offer to settle a land dispute, PM’s aide on accountability Shahzad Akbar on Friday clarified that the money will be used by the federal government for social welfare.

Earlier on Tuesday, Britain’s National Crime Agency (NCA) agreed to a civil settlement with the family of Malik Riaz.

The NCA accepted a settlement offer of £190 million, which includes a UK property – 1 Hyde Park Place, London, W2 2LH – valued at approximately £50 million and all of the funds in nine frozen accounts.

In an official statement, the agency had stated that the funds would be handed over to the state of Pakistan.

However, following the announcement, questions were raised whether the money from the settlement was going to be used to pay Riaz’s fine.

In March, the Supreme Court ordered the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to seek its permission before filing a corruption reference against Bahria Town (Pvt) Ltd. after the real estate giant agreed to pay Rs460 billion for the land it acquired from the Malir Development Authority (MDA) in Karachi.

Akbar, via Twitter, reiterated that the government of Pakistan has signed a deed of confidentiality and cannot comment on the intricacies of the case. “GOP has signed a confidentiality agreement to not divulge beyond this on the matter.”

CMYK Saturday, 7 December, 2019

NEWS Pm imran, president meet saudi shura council members ISLAMABAD APP

Prime Minister Imran Khan and President Arif Alvi met with the Saudi Shura Council members on Friday, where in the meeting with the latter, the KSA delegation reiterated support for Pakistan on the Kashmir issue.

Saudi Shura Council Chairman Dr Abdullah Bin Mohammed Bin Ibrahim Al-Sheikh met with the president in Islamabad. Dr Al-Sheikh said that efforts are underway to enhance parliamentary cooperation between the two countries. During the meeting with the top government officials, matters of mutual interest between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia were discussed. The president said that Saudi Arabia and Pakistan have brotherly relations and share a common stance on regional and international issues.

He also said that 2.3 million Pakistanis settled in the Kingdom are contributing to the socio-economic development of Saudi Arabia.

Pml-n rejects corruPtion allegations against sharif family ISLAMABAD

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INP

AKISTAN Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Friday dismissed the corruption allegations put forward by the government on the Sharif family, terming them as “baseless”.

Speaking to the media, PML-N Spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb said that “40 thieves and liars” are ruling the country under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan. She added that they were “disappointed and frustrated”.

The PML-N leader was responding to Thursday’s press conference of Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar in which he had al-

leged that Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif was guilty of corruption worth billions of rupees.

Marriyum said that the premier should ask his “lying conjurers” why the evidence against the younger Sharif was not presented in court. She added that the prime minister should tell the people

about the projects through which the Sharif family made money.

The former information minister stated that government’s fake corruption case has been destroyed.

She added that PM Imran is “disappointed and nervous” because the lie has been proven in front of the people and the courts.

The lawmaker said that instead of putting up a show through his “puppets”, he should go to a court in Pakistan or anywhere in the world to prove his lies.

The PML-N spokesperson said that the PM has been hiding his “failure and incapability” while his fake allegations have also been exposed through the Supreme Court (SC), high court, accountability court and Judge Arshad Malik’s video.

SC stops ATC from announcing verdict in Asma Rani murder case

Major reshuffle in bureaucracy, ministries on the cards ISLAMABAD AHMAD AHMADANI

The government has decided to tighten the noose around officials whose performance has so far been unsatisfactory and in this regard a new posting plan has been sent to Prime Minister Imran Khan by the Establishment Division for approval.

Sources revealed that the prime minister is not satisfied with the performance of some high-ranking bureaucrats and has decided to reshuffle them to improve the performance of bureaucracy, ministries and divisions and is likely to give approval on the new posting plan.

Sharing details of the proposed postings of the bureaucrats, sources said that the government is likely to remove Secretary Narcotics Control Amjad Javeed Saleemi, who will be replaced by former Punjab inspector

general of police (IGP) Arif Nawaz. Similarly, Sardar Ijaz Ahmad Khan Jaffar is likely to be appointed as special secretary interior as the tenure of the incumbent Special Secretary Interior Mian Waheed Ud Din will expire in the next few days. Likewise, police officer, Faisal Shahkar, who has been promoted to BPS-22, is expected to be made national coordinator. Moreover, a senior officer, Tariq Najeeb Najmi, is expected to be appointed as Aiwan-e-Saddar secretary and BPS-21 official Inamul Haq, who is waiting for a promotion, is likely to be made Privatisation Division secretary, while Shah Rukh Nusrat is likely to be given an important slot.

It is worth mentioning here that previously the prime minister had expressed disappointment with the performance of bureaucracy in Punjab, after which the provincial government led by Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar reshuffled the bureaucrats.

Need to keep national interest supreme to build state of Medina: NAB chief RAWALPINDI STAFF REPORT

National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Justice (r) Javed Iqbal said on Friday that in order for the state of Medina to be built, personal interests would have to take a backseat to national ones.

The chairman of the anti-graft body was speaking to participants at an event where he said that if holding people accountable was a crime then NAB would keep on committing it continuously.

“NAB has decided that it will not see the face. It will see the case on its merits,” he said. “The country owes more than $100 million hence those who looted it will be held accountable.”

He said that there were numerous laws present in Pakistan to keep corruption and money laundering in check. However, imple-

mentation on these laws was needed.

“If we are to build the state of Medina, we must keep the national interest above personal interests,” he said.

The statement from Iqbal comes at a time when the government and opposition are hitting out at each other. Both parties accuse each other of corruption and financial mismanagement.

On Wednesday, PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif lashed out at the federal government and claimed that a ‘Niazi-NAB nexus’ was behind the move to freeze his assets.

Shehbaz had said that the courts had granted him bail on merit in the Ashiana Housing Scheme and the clean drinking water cases.

On Thursday, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability, Shahzad Akbar, responded to Shehbaz’s presser by alleging that the PML-N president had looted the country and laundered billions.

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday barred the anti-terrorism court in Peshawar from announcing its verdict in a case pertaining to the murder of a medical student, Asma Rani. An apex court bench referred the matter to its registrar to place it before a three-judge bench for hearing. The prime suspect, Sadiqullah Afridi, moved a petition in the top court challenging the inclusion of terrorism charges in the case, contending that the murder, as mentioned in the original FIR of the incident, took place owing to personal enmity. However, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) turned down the plea and upheld incorporation of terrorism charges. The case, which was initially being heard in the PHC, was transferred to the ATC by Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth in April last year, including the bail petitions of her suspected killers. Asma Rani, a third-year student at Ayub Medical College in Abbottabad, was allegedly opened fire at by Afridi and his brother, Mujahidullah, in January 2018 as she had turned down former’s marriage proposal. According to her family members, Rani was returning home in a rickshaw with her sister-inlaw when Mujahidullah, who was waiting outside their house, opened fire at her. STAFF REPORT

Naya Pakistan housing scheme to help develop construction sector: Firdous Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Information and Broadcasting Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan on Friday said that construction of 5 million houses under the government’s flagship Naya Pakistan Housing Program will provide shelter to the underprivileged people. In a series of tweets, Awan said the procedure will be further simplified besides extending facilitation to those associated with the construction sector. She said the abolition of sales tax during the construction phase, reduction of capital value tax, the imposition of fixed tax and issuance of e-statement papers will prove to be an important milestone in the development of the housing sector. Awan said procedure pertaining to approvals and NOCs for housing program are being simplified to a great extent. She was confident that the development of the construction sector will generate economic activity and create immense job opportunities for the youth. NEWS DESK

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Qureshi discusses Afghan peace process with American ambassador ISLAMABAD: Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi met the United States Ambassador to Pakistan Paul Jones and discussed the Afghan peace process on Thursday. According to reports, Qureshi said that to ensure sustainable peace in the region it was imperative that the Afghan peace process continue.

He also lauded American efforts to restart the Afghan peace process. Addressing the launching ceremony of Vision F.O. the foreign minister said that economic diplomacy is vital in attracting investments and enhancing trade. He also called on envoys and diplomats on foreign missions to tap the immense potential of overseas Pakistanis in utilising their talents and experience for the best use of the country. Pakistan and US had a diplomatic row last month after American envoy Alice Wells criticised the China Pakistan Economic Corridor saying that it would prove detrimental to Pakistan’s economic progress. Qureshi said that CPEC was crucial to Pakistan’s development and would be expanded further.

Adding that the project was a game-changer for not only the country but the entire region.

The foreign minister also invited American investment in the Economic Zones being established under CPEC. STAFF REPORT

Pakistani-American journalist to moderate US presidential debate NEW YORK APP

Amna Nawaz, a Pakistani-American journalist, has been selected to moderate a US presidential debate, thus becoming the first woman of South Asian origin to win this honour.

The Virginia-born Nawaz, along with her immediate boss Judy Woodruff, PBS NewHour anchor and managing editor, and colleague PBS NewHour White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor, and Politico chief political correspondent Tim Alberta, will co-moderate the sixth Democratic primary debate, scheduled for December 19 at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California.

Amana is the daughter of Shuja Nawaz, a former Pakistan Television (PTV) journalist and currently a Distinguished Fellow of South Asia Centre at Atlantic Council, a Washington-based think-tank.

Amna, who joined PBS NewsHour in April 2018, besides serving as its senior national correspondent, is also its primary substitute anchor.

Prior to joining the NewsHour, she was an anchor and correspondent at ABC News, anchoring breaking news coverage and leading the network’s digital coverage of the 2016 presidential election. Before that, she served as a foreign correspondent at NBC News, reporting from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, Turkey, and the broader region.

She is also the founder and former managing editor of NBC’s Asian-America platform, built to elevate the voices of America’s fastest-growing population.

At the NewsHour, she has reported politics, foreign affairs, education, climate change, culture and sports. Her immigration reporting has taken her to multiple border communities in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Mexico. She has investigated the impact of the Trump Administration’s immigration policies, including following the journey of a single toddler as she left her home in Mexico, was separated from her family at the US border, and later reunited with her family several weeks later. She also regularly covers issues around detention, refugees and asylum, and migrant children in US government’s custody.

Earlier, at NBC News, her work appeared on NBC Nightly News, The Today Show, Dateline NBC, MSNBC, and MSNBC.com.

She was NBC’s Islamabad bureau chief and correspondent for several years, and was the first foreign journalist allowed inside North Waziristan. She covered the Taliban attack on Malala Yousafzai, the US raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound, and broke news in a series of exclusive reports on the impact of US drone strikes. She reported for the network’s investigative unit, covering the US housing crisis and the British Petroleum (BP) oil spill, and also covered the election and inauguration of former US president Barack Obama, the earthquake in Haiti, and Hurricane Katrina.

Amna has also been honoured with an Emmy Award for the NBC News Special “Inside the Obama White House,” a Society for Features Journalism Award, and was a recipient of the International Reporting Project fellowship in 2009.

She is an alumna of the University of Pennsylvania where she earned a bachelor’s degree, majoring in politics, philosophy and economics, and also where she captained the varsity field hockey team—and the London School of Economics—from where she received her master’s degree majoring in comparative politics.

When asked about the effect of her being an Asian-American woman on her career, she told Jade magazine.com, “Sure, in the parts of the world I have covered, there have been a lot of times when I am the only woman at the protest, or in the briefing room, or on the military embed.” “I am certainly not the first woman to be any of those places and was actually really lucky to have the support and encouragement of female journalists before me who’d been there and done that,” she said.

But she acknowledged, “I have had people make assumptions about me – because I am a woman, because I am Asian, because my family’s from Pakistan, because I am a Muslim – but I cannot control what others think. All I can do is bring my whole self to this job, to report the stories as I see them, and try to treat others’ stories with the same care and respect I would want someone to treat mine.”

Saturday, 7 December, 2019

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Plra terminates 21 emPloyees instead of meeting their demands LAHORE

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PLRA CLAIMS THAT ONLY EMPLOYEES WHO FAILED TO ISSUE UNCONDITIONAL APOLOGIES WERE FIRED

SHAHAB OMER

NSTeAd of meeting the demands of disgruntled employees, the Punjab Land Authority (PLRA) has terminated contracts of 21 employees over their supposed roles in the protests held against the land authority in November.

Well-placed sources in PLRA told Pakistan Today that terminated employees included eight service centre incharges (SCIs) and 13 service centre officials (SCOs).

PLRA employees had been demanding the establishment of a proper service

structure and an increase in their salaries which has led them to hold sporadic protests in the provincial capital over the past three years.

In November, PLRA staff members across the province had staged a 15-day protest which ended after the intervention of Punjab Assembly Speaker Chaudhry Pervez elahi who promised to have the issue resolved within the next two months. According to sources, the authority expelled only those employees who

failed to issue an unconditional apology regarding their roles in the protests.

PLRA director Operation and Coordination has also issued a notification which barred the terminated SCIs and SCOs from entering premises of any Arazi Record Centre (ARC) to prevent “any loss of public records/property,” sources said.

The terminated SCIs and SCO include the following names: Tayyab Bashir, Qaisar Mehmood, Kashif Ali,

Nadeem Abbas, Naeem Ashraf, Hassan Bilal, Inaam Subhani, Naqqash Ahmed, Muhammad Imran, Hassan Mir, Muhammad Gulzar Khaliq, Muhammad Afzal, Arslan Haider, Qamar Ibrahim, Saddam Hussain, Mian Shahid Mehmood, Tasawawr Iqbal, Sher Muhammad, Zaheer Abbas, Muhammad Zain and Mehwish Khalid.

Commenting on the issue PLRA director-General Sajjad Ahmed said, “We had started working for the development of a service structure after the formulation of the PLRA constitution which has taken the demands of the employees into consideration.”

“So there was no need of protesting

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over a process which had already been taken up,” he said.

“The other demand was a raise in salary. All employees had accepted the contract letters on lump sum salaries so there was no sense in protesting on what they had agreed upon. The board agreed to their demands that as the cost of living has increased therefore some increase in the salary should also be made. The board cannot take decision of increasing salaries on its own as the finance department is also involved in the process and it is a matter of utilizing government money.

The employees were told several times that there protest was illegal but they did not stop,” he added.

“They had no right to hamper daily lives of general public by staging a sit-in in the middle of the city. If they thought that the authority was being unfair to them they should have approached the court. The behavior of the employees was unpardonable and those whom we have expelled were the ones who had failed to make unconditional apologies,” he concluded.

LHC acquits man accused of killing daughter for not making ‘gol roti’ LAHORE: A Lahore High Court (LHC) division bench on Friday acquitted a man, awarded death for killing his 12-year-old daughter for not being able to make perfect bread, over insufficient evidence.

In October 2016, a sessions court had handed down death sentence to Khalid Mehmood, who had allegedly murdered his daughter Aneeqa and then dumped the body outside Mayo Hospital in 2015. The court had also imposed a fine of Rs 500,000 on the convict. The convict registered an FIR, claiming his daughter might have been abducted as she had gone out to buy some food but did not return.

Later, the Shadbagh police learnt the girl found dead outside Mayo Hospital was actually killed by her father for not making `gol

roti’. Police arrested the deceased’s father after interrogating their neighbours.

The bench, headed by Justice Shehram Sarwar Chaudhry, announced the verdict while allowing appeal of the convict against his sentence. The defence counsel argued that the police arrested the convict on mere suspicion after the incident and there was no eyewitness of the incident.

He submitted that it was a case of circumstantial evidence, but the prosecution failed to produce incriminating evidence against his client.

But, the trial court convicted the appellant despite the fact that there was no solid evidence against him, he added. The counsel pleaded with the court to acquit the convict after setting aside his sentence. STAFF REPORT

LAHORE: A view of Orange Line Metro Train as it held a test run on Friday. The public transit project will be inaugurated on December 10. ONLINE

Child loses eyesight after his teaCher beats him NEWS DESK A second-grader in Vehari reportedly lost his eyesight after being beaten by his teacher, his father told the police on Friday. The child, who lives in old Lari Adda, is a student of the Government Primary School in 9/11 Wb. The teacher beat the child because he went to the washroom without informing her, the child’s father said. When the child returned home, his head was swollen and we took him to a nearby hospital, he added. The doctors then referred the child to Nishtar Hospital in Multan. The child was treated for a few days and then the doctors told his family that he has lost his eyesight because of the severity of his injury. The father, who sells fruits for a living, has asked the Punjab chief minister to take notice. “This nothing but cruelty,” he remarked.

After the incident was reported, the provincial education minister summoned a report from the deputy commissioner on the issue.

Saturday, 7 December, 2019

NEWS

PM says govt strongly believes in media freedom ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday underscored the key role of media as being fourth pillar of state and in building public opinion on government measures. He was chairing a briefing in Islamabad on reforms in Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, public welfare projects initiated by the government, socio-economic development and role of Press Information Department (PID) in highlighting the positive image of the country and future course of action. The prime minister affirmed his government's strong belief in media freedom and directed the Information Ministry to take effective steps in highlighting government's public welfare projects, economic development and emerging position of Pakistan in the comity of nations in foreign affairs. The prime minister, while emphasising the use of modern technology in Information Ministry, called for the training of officers concerned to effectively use social media and other modern skills to counter the national and international propaganda with facts and logic. The prime minister assured the Special Assistant on Information and Broadcasting Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan of all out steps and cooperation in protecting the rights of media workers. STAFF REPORT

Former Miss Pakistan World Zanib Naveed killed in US car crash MARYLAND: Former Miss Pakistan World Zanib Naveed died over the weekend in a car accident in the US state of Maryland. Maryland State Police confirmed in a press release that the fatal crash took place Sunday night before 11:40 pm. Naveed was driving a 2018 Mercedes CL2 when she lost control of the vehicle. Investigators said that Naveed was attempting to navigate a curve when she struck the curb and her car overturned onto the oncoming lane of traffic. The press release from the department stated that the beauty queen was ejected from the car and declared dead at the scene. After a preliminary investigation, police determined that alcohol was not a factor in the accident, which is still under investigation. Naveed was crowned Miss Pakistan World in 2012.

She was the 10th person to win the pageant’s title. She then went on to represent Pakistan in the 2012 Miss Earth pageant in the Philippines. STAFF REPORT

FIA declares woman in leaked sex video is not Fatima Sohail LAHORE: A leaked video — purported to be of actor Fatima Sohail, ex-wife of Mohsin Abbas Haider — has been circulating social media and WhatsApp since Wednesday. However, after Sohail lodged a complaint with the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the agency’s Cybercrime Wing conducted a digital forensic investigation and declared that the woman in the video was merely impersonating Sohail. Sohail took to Instagram on Friday to rubbish the claims, terming the video inappropriate and fake. She added that that an investigation was under way and the culprits would be exposed soon. Sohail also shared a copy of FIA’s directive to Pakistan Telecommunications Authority to remove the video. Sohail said she was disgusted that people could stoop down to such a level just to malign someone. STAFF REPORT

05

Police to Probe siege of Dawn offices POLICE OFFICIALS TELL SENATE BODY PROTESTERS WEREN’T LINKED TO ANY BODY

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HE Islamabad police will investigate the siege of Dawn’s Islamabad offices by a mob earlier this week after the Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights on Friday directed it to probe the matter if it believed there was a “criminal element” in the matter.

The mob on Monday had staged a demonstration against the publication of a news report regarding the origins of the London Bridge attacker who stabbed two persons to death last week. The charged mob, carrying banners and chanting slogans against the newspaper, had remained outside the office building for nearly three hours, besieging the premises and making the staffers hostage.

Following the attack, Senator Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar had taken notice of the besieging of Dawn offices by the unidentified persons and directed the inspector general of police Islamabad to submit a report on the issue to the committee by December 6.

During the committee session on Friday, chaired by Khokhar, officials from the Islamabad police and administration gave a briefing regarding the incident.

DIG Operations Waqaruddin Syed said around 40-50 people had staged the protest and as soon as the police had received information about the demonstration, they arrived at the Dawn offices in Islamabad.They said that someone on behalf of Dawn spoke to the demonstrators after which they (demonstrators) left, adding that no action had been taken as police had not received a request for a First Information Report (FIR).

According to Deputy Commissioner Hamza Shafqaat, the individuals were

Dawn comes under attack again Protesters once again besieged Dawn's Islamabad bureau on Friday and raised slogans against the media group and torched copies of the newspaper.

Around 100 people gathered outside the paper's office and remained there for about 40 minutes. "Yet another orchestrated demo against Dawn outside its office in Islamabad," tweeted Dawn Editor Zaffar Abbas."Same lot, threatening tone, bigger in number & have blocked entrance. We have informed police & have told them it’s their duty to protect our staff & property. Let’s hope someone from govt will intervene!!""They have just dispersed after burning some copies of Dawn," Abbas said. "Everyone has a right to protest as long as they are not violent."The International Press Institute (IPI), in a statement, condemned the "threatening demonstrations", saying: "Dawn is a bastion of independent journalism and Pakistan must guarantee the safety of its journalists."Journalists across various cities protested on Thursday against the siege of Dawn's Islamabad offices by a mob earlier this week.The mob on Monday had staged a demonstration against the publication of a news report regarding the origins of the London Bridge attacker who stabbed two persons to death last week. The charged mob, carrying banners and chanting slogans against the newspaper, had remained outside the office building for nearly three hours, besieging the premises and making the staffers hostage. NEWS DESK

not linked to any party. The officials said that security will be provided to Dawn on the directions of the committee and based on the request received from the media house.

During the committee meeting, senior PPP leader Farhatullah Babar, who had visited Dawn offices in Islamabad on Tuesday along with PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, said prior to the demonstration, one minister had tweeted [regarding the report]. "Twenty four hours following the tweet, the demonstration was staged," he noted.

While he did not specify, Babar appeared to be referring to Minister For Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry's tweet on Sunday regarding Dawn's report. Babar said the demonstrators had chanted slogans in support of one intelligence agency, adding that the government had not even condemned the incident.

He said police had not carried out an investigation into how the people gath-

ered or who they were. "Why is there a restriction on Dawn newspaper in certain areas of the country?" he asked.

MQM lawmaker Senator Barrister Saif said an investigation should be conducted into who was behind the demonstration against Dawn and what their purpose was. Senator Khokhar added that there was an attempt to silence the voice of the media, adding that the human rights committee would continue to raise its voice regarding this.

STUDENT PROTEST: The Senate's functional committee also discussed the protest staged in Lahore as part of the Student Solidarity March after which police registered cases against the organisers and participants on sedition charges and arrested one of the participants, Alamgir Wazir.

The senate committee decided to summon the vice chancellor of Punjab University and directed the Punjab police to retract the FIR lodged against Iqbal Lala, father of Mashal Khan —

who was lynched on the premises of Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan over false blasphemy allegations.

Barrister Saif said that Mashal Khan's father shouldn't be dragged in courts, demanding that the FIR against him be withdrawn.

In a briefing, the Punjab police said that people had staged a protest and chanted anti-state slogans. According to the police, the students said they were representing student organisations and could not even share which university they were associated with.

The police officials said Alamgir Wazir had instigated [the protesters] through his speech and he was arrested.

Professor Ammar Ali Jan, who had secured interim bail in the case earlier in the week, told the committee that the chief security officer of the relevant university was constantly harassing them.

"During the protest, [we] did not make any such speech that an FIR should be registered against us," he said, claiming that Wazir was kidnapped after the protest. Wazir, a former Punjab Uni¬versity student who went on to become chairperson of the Pakhtun Council, went missing from the campus. Following this, Capital City Police Officer Zulfiqar Hameed had told Dawn that Alamgir was arrested in the case.

On Monday, Wazir was sent to jail on a 14-day judicial remand. The move was challenged by the state in a sessions court in Lahore, arguing that a physical remand was needed in order to complete investigation. The court issued a notice to Wazir and directed him to submit his response on December 11. A local court in Lahore on Wednesday also dismissed a bail petition filed by Wazir earlier this week.

In the committee meeting, Senator Usman Khan Kakar said the students' protest was an extremely important issue, adding that students were doing what politicians should be.

"Why are people who made sacrifices against terrorism being treated this way?" he asked, adding that they want student unions to be restored. NEWS DESK

UN acknowledges Pakistan's 'bold steps' to combat climate threat LAHORE STAFF REPORT

Executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Patricia Espinosa on Friday said that Pakistan is taking bold steps to meet climate change challenges.

In a conversation with Advisor to Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam, Espinosa lauded the

steps being taken by the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan to combat the environmental challenges and dubbed them as “inspiring”.

The UN official noted that PTI’s flagship initiative to curb climate change, Billion Tree Tsunami, will also play an important role to overcome the impacts of environmental challenge.

“Pakistan will play a leadership role in this regard in the future,” she said.

Earlier on November 27, Minister of State for Climate Change Zartaj Gul had said that the government was committed to mitigating the negative effects of climate on crops.

In a media talk, Gul said that the PTI government will leave no stone unturned in reducing the effects of environmental challenges on the agriculture sector in the country.

The minister said that the gov-

Journalists and intellectuals pay tribute to Zafar Iqbal Mirza LAHORE STAFF REPORT

Senior Journalists and leading intellectuals from across the country paid rich tributes to the late Zafar Iqbal Mirza for his contributions to journalism and free speech at a reference held at the South Asia Free Media Association (SAFMA).

Imtiaz Alam, secretary-general of SAFMA, said Mirza was a great journalist who valued professionalism and defied restrictions imposed by successive governments and dictators.

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) Secretary-General I A Rehman recalled Mirza’s contribution to print journalism and free press in Pakistan. He called upon the younger generation to follow Mirza’s example as a role model for maintaining high professional journalistic standards.

Lamenting the current state of suppressed freedom of expression, Dr Akmal Hussain observed that a civilised society cannot be created without freedom of speech and the flourishing of new ideas. He lauded Mirza for his civilised defiance and

steadfastness against tyranny.

Senior journalist Husain Naqi recalled the late journalist’s services for Pakistan Times, Dawn, Viewpoint, Punjab Punch and Sajan. He said that Mirza was a flawless editor and columnist, who trained and helped successive generation of journalists.

Mirza’s former colleague and friend, Masoodullah Khan spoke about Mirza’s versatility and recalled how he would always help friends and the needy.

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Saleema Hashmi expressed her admiration for Mirza’s humanism, virtuousness, and friendliness and as a lover of art.

“Zafar Iqbal Mirza represented the old tradition of honest journalism and was not only a distinguished journalist but also a very decent human being,” Hashmi said.

“In his death, we have lost an iconic personality of media, who set high standards that are now lacking in mainstream journalism,” she said.

ernment banned brick kilns in six zones and steel factories of Wagah to tackle smog threat.

She maintained that brick kilns will be shifted to zigzag technology and the government would provide proper training and loans to the owners of the kilns.

Zartaj further said that an awareness campaign will be launched against the use of polythene bags across the country.

Sialkot Housing Scheme scandal: Inquiry launched against Kh Asif’s wife, son SIALKOT: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Lahore on Friday initiated inquiry into the Sialkot Housing Scheme scandal. The wife and son of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) stalwart Khawaja Asif, former mayor Sialkot Tauheed Akhtar, Naveed Akhtar and others are accused of alleged fraud under the name of the housing scheme. Sources said the NAB has decided to write letters to the financial institutions to check the assets of the aforesaid suspects. The approval of the inquiry was given by the NAB chairman on the complaints of the affectees of the Sialkot housing scheme.

In June, NAB had summoned Khawaja Asif’s wife and son Asad Asif for interrogation in the case. Earlier, on March 29, the corruption watchdog had summoned the former federal minister on April 2 to record his statement in a probe into a complaint against him for assets beyond known sources of income. ‘The bureau had asked Khawaja Muhammad Asif to bring the relevant record of his assets in the country and abroad. The Executive Board of the NAB approved an inquiry against him last year. STAFF REPORT

Saturday, 7 December, 2019

06 WORLD VIEW

Who Will Win next thursday in Britain?

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denis Macshane

HE clear message from UK voters is that they want neither Boris Johnson nor Jeremy Corbyn. Are British voters so fed up that they will take a risk on Boris Johnson, Trump’s favorite politician in Europe, and let him leave the EU Treaty set up? Boris Johnson is a better campaigner and a stronger personality than Mrs. May. But his TV interviews are shambolic. Other than repeating his mantra of “Get Brexit Done” and the promise of a radiant future for the UK outside the EU, there is no content to Johnson’s electoral messaging. Brexit party candidates are standing in 275 Labour and LIbDem seats. They will take away pro-Brexit votes from Tory candidates.

One week to go and still there is no certainty about the outcome of the UK election. To test possibilities, I asked about 30-40 former MPs, mainly Labour but also some Tories, for their best guess.

Two of three of my ex-MP respondents said Boris Johnson would win. However, there were wild variations in the size of the majority, ranging from the Tories having 320 seats (a minority government like Theresa May’s) to a 50-seat majority.

These are veteran professional politicians but out of the game. On the doorstep, the clear message from voters is they want neither Boris Johnson nor Jeremy Corbyn. So, despite the current forecasts of a solid Tory victory, many MPs seeking re-election think the result

IF JOHNSON DOES NOT WIN A MAJORITY, IT WOULD BE A MAJOR DEFEAT FOR HIM AND SOME KIND OF TECHNICAL GOVERNMENT WOULD HAVE TO BE FORMED — MAINLY TO ORGANISE A NEW REFERENDUM could be similar to that of 2017 – a parliament where no party has a majority.

MORE STALEMATE?: Does that mean a further three years of the UK Parliament blocking everything but not agreeing to vote for anything – the stalemate that led to Theresa May’s ouster?

Not quite. If Johnson does not win a majority, then his bid to insist on his hard Brexit vision is repudiated. And any nonmajority parliament could only have temporary technical government in place to do one thing – hold some swift talks in Brussels and then move to a new referendum. That referendum would decide whether the UK stays in the EU or seeks some milder form of Brexit based on leaving the EU institutions. What it would exclude is, for example, seeking to negotiate a trade deal with President Donald Trump, as Boris Johnson so ardently wishes. There can be little doubt that neither Jeremy Corbyn nor the Liberal Democrat leader, Jo Swinson, are having a good election.

Corbyn continues to be blasted on his failure to clean up the anti-Israel statements by many Labour spokespersons or their unqualified support for pro-Palestinian positions sometimes linked to open Islamist organisations with their calls for Israel to be eliminated.

His left-wing manifesto whose economic aspects resemble the 1981 Programme commun of François Mitterrand seems out-of-date. That is so even though there is a hunger for more investment in

infrastructure and public services like hospitals and police.

THE FARAGE FACTOR: What about Nigel Farage and his Brexit Party? He and his party are reported not to get any seats in the new British parliament.

And even though the Brexit Party is not running any candidates in Tory seats, this is no electoral help to Johnson.

Why Indians are celebrating the killings IT'S THIS DECLINING FAITH IN THE SYSTEM THAT HAS LED MANY IN INDIA TO DEMAND AND SUPPORT INSTANT JUSTICE

BBC Geeta Pandey

The killings of four men accused of gangraping and murdering a young woman last week in Hyderabad have been largely greeted with joy in India. Just hours after the shootings, about 2,000 people gathered at the site to celebrate the police action. They chanted "police zindabad" ("hail the police"), distributed sweets and showered flowers on the spot where the 27-year-old vet's charred body was found last week and where the shooting took place on Friday morning.

In her neighbourhood too, a large number of people gathered, setting off celebratory firecrackers and distributing sweets. The celebrations and support for the police are continuing online too. On Twitter, there are more than 300,000 tweets with various hashtags about the shooting and the crime, with most of the voices supportive of the police action. And there is a reason for that: the meandering pace of the Indian judicial system means it often takes years, even decades, to deliver justice.

There are tens of millions of pending cases in courts, including nearly 150,000 cases of rape, and this has eroded the public faith in the criminal justice system. The biggest example of this in recent years is the December 2012 torture, gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old woman on a bus in Delhi. The brutal crime made global headlines, saw days of protests in Delhi and other parts of India and forced the government to enact tougher new laws, including introduction of the death penalty in rare cases.

But despite all that attention, the wheels of justice have turned slowly for the 23-yearold victim's family. Seven years later, her mother Asha Devi has alleged that the men, who are on death row, have used every loophole in law to delay their execution. No surprises then that she was among the first people on Friday to hail the Cyberabad police: In the past few years, Asha Devi has become the face of the frustration many Indians say they feel at how the system fails victims

of some of the worst crimes.

After last week's reports on the Hyderabad rape, many were articulating that same frustration again, raising concern that the rapists would "continue to feast on our taxes" for years while the victim's parents would also run from "pillar to post" for justice. It's this declining faith in the system that has led many in India to demand and support instant justice. It has also fuelled a craze in recent years for popular movies that show "triggerhappy, vigilante cops" brazenly carrying out extrajudicial executions.

So it was not surprising that on Friday morning, hours after the news of the shooting, one of the top Twitter trends in India was #Singham, comparing the Cyberabad policemen to the revenge-seeking police officerhero of the 2010 Tamil film Singam, made a year later as Singham by Bollywood.

However, some people have questioned Friday's shooting, describing it as an execution of suspects without a trial. "Trigger-happy policemen with an utter disregard for the law are not the answer we seek," Prof Kalpana Kannabiran, from the Council for Social Development in Hyderabad, told BBC Telugu.

"The ends of justice are not served by wanton killing and retributive bloodlust. The course of justice is not determined by the grief and grieving of victims' families. "Justice lies in supporting them in their moment of grief and pain and insisting on due process that brings suspects and accused to trial through a robust, stringent and competent criminal investigation."

WHY INDIA'S RAPE CRISIS SHOWS NO SIGNS OF ABATING: Prakash Singh, a former police officer, told the BBC that the killings were "entirely avoidable" and some legal experts described them as "unconstitutional" and asked whether justice really had been done. Some wondered whether the police had arrested the right men and whether they had not just picked up some poor truckers to pacify public anger. One man on local TV said he found it unbelievable that all four men had had to be shot dead because they were trying to snatch the weapons of the police. "All four?" he kept asking. But on Friday, such voices are in a minority.

What’s the point of piling up more and more votes for seats which are already won for the Conservatives?

By contrast, Brexit party candidates are standing in 275 Labour and LIbDem seats. These Farage candidates will take away pro-Brexit votes from Johnson’s Tory candidates — and thus help Labour or LibDem pro-referendum candidates.

In the end, the election may thus turn on a small number of votes in a small number of constituencies.

Note that Labour does not even have to gain an extra seat to defeat Johnson. If the Scottish Nationalists increase their tally to 50 seats which seems possible and if the Liberal Democrats, the Greens, the anti-Brexit Welsh Nationalist and Northern Irish MPs all edge up, one can easily get to 330-340 seats for those parties.

While they are not likely to come together to form a coalition government, they are all pledged to hold a second referendum.

As regards Boris Johnson, he is more ebullient a campaigner and a stronger personality than Mrs. May. But his TV interviews are shambolic. Other than repeating his mantra of “Get Brexit Done” and the promise of a radiant future for the UK outside the EU, there is no content to Johnson’s electoral messaging.

If the nation refuses to give Johnson a clear majority, it would be a major defeat for Johnson and some kind of technical government would have to be formed mainly to organize a new referendum.

Senior Brussels official in charge of negotiating Brexit say they are ready for this and would work constructively with a UK temporary administration charged with holding a new referendum.

Or are British voters so bored and fed up that they will take a risk on Boris Johnson, President Trump’s favorite politician in Europe and let him leave the EU Treaty set up?

That only means starting unending negotiations. Thus, those tired of Brexit would in reality be plagued by postBrexit negotiating battles for many years to come. In a week’s time, we shall know.

The climate emergency is a political emergency THE CENTRE FOR RESPONSIVE POLITICS HAS DOCUMENTED THAT THE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY ALONE HAS SPENT SOME $218 MILLION ON LOBBYING IN 2018 AND 2019

New York Times Jane Fonda

It should come as no surprise that I believe in the power of protest. That’s why I moved to Washington to start what I call Fire Drill Fridays, joining the millions of young people around the world who turned out in the fall for protests to demand that our leaders act to save their futures.

We must all face the harsh reality that our planet is rapidly approaching an irreversible tipping point, beyond which the unraveling of our ecosystems will be beyond our control. Scientists have made clear that we now have less than 11 years to reduce fossil fuel and other greenhouse gas emissions roughly by half, and 20 years after that to cut them to net zero, to stabilize the rise in temperatures by the end of the century and meet the goal of the Paris agreement on climate change.

Last summer — as the wildfires wreaked havoc on my home state, California, and young people like Greta Thunberg so powerfully reminded us that we are the last generation that can prevent an unthinkable global catastrophe — I decided it was time for me to do more.

There are many things we can all do. We can join protests, engage in civil disobedience and risk arrest, but we must also see this as the uniquely critical political moment it is.

Despite widespread agreement among the world’s scientists that we are living through a climate emergency requiring profound economic and social change, the United States government is failing to act. It’s not that the American public doesn’t want an end to wars over oil, or a stable cli-

mate, clean oceans, safe and abundant water and healthy air.

No. Let’s be clear: Over decades the fossil fuel industry has hijacked our political system, and we have failed to elect enough leaders who are not beholden to the industry’s interests. The Center for Responsive Politics has documented that the oil and gas industry alone has spent some $218 million on lobbying in 2018 and 2019. In addition, oil and gas interests have contributed about $27 million to Senate and House candidates and party committees in the 2020 election cycle. Fossil fuel interests are subverting our democracy.

In just the past year, the United States has experienced deadly wildfires, devastating flooding and the hottest month ever recorded, all driven, at least in part, by climate change. What is President Trump’s response? He’s pulling the United States out of the Paris agreement and rolling back 85 environmental safeguards, including important and consequential climate initiatives. This should not be surprising; he once called climate change a “hoax.” The Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, is also blocking efforts to deal with the climate crisis.

We have reached a time in this fight when the only way forward is to organize, mobilize and vote politicians who won’t act out of office. We must overcome the power of the fossil fuel industry and elect an environmental champion for president and a congressional leadership ready to move forward aggressively with a Green New Deal to save us and the planet, starting the day they take office.

Winning at the ballot box is how we will succeed in building a more just and equitable economy, one thriving from good clean energy jobs. It’s how we will secure a habitable planet for future generations. It’s how we will protect our cherished public lands

and species, and ensure all Americans have safe water and clean air — especially low-income communities and communities of color who for too long have borne the brunt of inaction.

The good news is that a growing number of voters understand the urgency of the challenge we face. Twothirds of Americans say the government is doing too little to reduce the effects of climate change, including 90 percent of Democrats and 39 percent of Republicans, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. Some Democratic presidential candidates have released climate plans that match the urgency of the crisis.

We must pressure others to do the same. We must not vote for any candidate who accepts money from the fossil fuel industry.

Greenpeace is ranking the candidates based on their support for the Green New Deal and ending new fossil fuel extraction immediately.

Through the Change the Climate 2020 program, the League of Conservation Voters is tracking what every candidate is saying about climate change. The group’s political committee, the LCV Victory Fund, is scaling up campaigns in battleground states. I’ve seen the details of the strategy and I’m telling you we can win on climate.

We must start to live our lives as if this is an emergency, because it is.

Each of us one day will have to answer this question: What did I do to protect the planet for our children, grandchildren and so many precious species while we still had time?

I’ve still got a lot of fight left in me. I will not look back on Nov. 4, 2020, the day after the election, and wonder what more I could have done.

Ms. Fonda is an actor and activist. She is leading Fire Drill Fridays, civil disobedience at the United States Capitol to call for action to address climate change.

Saturday, 7 December, 2019

FOREIGN NEWS 07

EuropEans, Iran to cross swords at nuclEar talks VIENNA

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AGENCIES

uRoPEAN powers will demand at talks on Friday that Iran stop violating their nuclear deal or risk renewed u.N. sanctions, but with Tehran angry over a lack of European protection from u.S. sanctions, there appeared to be scant scope for compromise.

The afternoon meeting comes amid heightened friction between Iran and the West. Tehran has rolled back its commitments under the 2015 deal in response to Washington’s withdrawal last year and reimposition of sanctions that have crippled its economy. The Europeans and Iran clashed on Thursday over the Iranian ballistic missile program before senior diplomats from the remaining parties to the deal

– Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia – met Iranian officials in Vienna on Friday to assess the state of the nuclear agreement. underlining the tension, the Iranian delegation threatened to boycott the talks after discovering that an exiled Iranian opposition group planned an antigovernment protest outside the hotel where the meeting was due to take place, diplomats said.

The Eu, which hosts the talks, scrambled to move the meeting to its nearby mission to the united Nations in Vienna. As the u.S.-Iranian confrontation has unraveled the nuclear accord, the Europeans have been torn between trying to save it and responding to Iran’s breaches, which have increasingly tested their patience.

The breaches have included exceeding the maximum amount of enriched uranium it is allowed

under the deal and resuming enrichment at Fordow, a plant buried inside a mountain that Iran hid from u.N. nuclear non-proliferation inspectors until Western spies exposed it in 2009.

“I think the window for a negotiation and to save the deal is barely open,” said a European diplomat.

The European “E3” powers – France, Britain and Germany – are considering triggering a mechanism in the deal that could lead to the reimposition of global, united Nations sanctions. Three diplomats said the political decision was unlikely to be made until January, when Iran is expected to further scale back its adherence to the pact, under which it curtailed its nuclear activities in return for relief from sanctions.

“The European parties to the deal should know that the clock is ticking for them. They try to keep Iran in the deal but then take no action against Amer-

saudi FM says possible to calm Yemen situation ahead of settlement DUBAI: Saudi Arabia’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir said there is a possibility of calming the situation in Yemen as a prelude to reaching a settlement in the four-year conflict, Saudi-owned channel Al-Arabiya cited him as saying on Friday. Saudi Arabia released at the end of November a group of Yemeni prisoners belonging to the Iran-aligned Houthi group, a step that may support efforts to end a war that has killed tens of thousands and pushed millions to the brink of famine. “There is a possibility to calm down the situation that will be followed by a settlement in Yemen,” Jubeir told a conference in Rome, according to Al-Arabiya. A coalition led by Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen in March 2015, after the Houthis ousted the internationally-recognized government in Sanaa. The conflict is seen in the region as a proxy war between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The Houthis, who control Sanaa and most big urban centers, say they are fighting a corrupt system. AGENCIES

lisbon excursion offers netanyahu brief escape from troubles

LISBON: In a brief escape from his legal and political struggles in Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu enjoyed a leisurely excursion in Portugal, keeping a relatively light schedule and finding time to tour the capital and reminisce with reporters about his late father, who was an influential historian. It could turn out to be a last respite as he returns to Israel to fight for his survival after a damning corruption indictment and two inconclusive elections that have left him clinging to power. Netanyahu, accompanied by his wife Sara, tried his best to project business as usual, holding a lengthy meeting with u.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that he called “critical to Israeli security.” He also met with Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa to discuss joint projects and to thank him for taking a tough stance against anti-Semitism. But with plenty of downtime on the two-day sojourn he also managed to find diversions from some of the drama in Israel, where he faces calls to resign and a brewing rebellion in his Likud party ahead of a likely third election within a year. on a sunny, pleasant day, Netanyahu stopped by a lookout point on Thursday to take in a picturesque vista of Lisbon, greeting tourists along the way, and made a pilgrimage to a memorial for Jews who were massacred in the 16th century after the Spanish Inquisition.

Before departing for home, he enjoyed a late-evening dinner with his wife at a fancy Lisbon restaurant. Speaking to reporters earlier in the day, he refused to delve into his personal fortunes after Israel’s attorney general indicted him for fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate cases. But he vowed to carry on and denied his precarious status was taking a toll or that foreign leaders were treating him any differently because of it. “I’m a little different from what people think of me,” he said, in response to a question from The Associated Press. “I have struggles, but I’m different. It’s not because I am a robot. I am different in my ability to focus.” AGENCIES

ica’s bullying and pressure,” said a senior Iranian official. Tehran has repeatedly criticized the three European powers for failing to shield Iran’s economy from the far-reaching u.S. financial and trade sanctions, which have driven away foreign companies interested in doing business there.

Highlighting the widening gap between the two sides, Iran’s foreign minister said on Thursday the E3 had shown their “miserable incompetence” in fulfilling their commitments.

He spoke after they wrote to the u.N. Security Council accusing Tehran of having nuclear-capable ballistic missiles. “I don’t think the Europeans have reached their red line yet, but the repeated violations and the fact we’re now entering (nuclear) proliferation territory means their credibility is on the line,” said a Western diplomat.

Indian police fatally shoot 4 suspects in gang-rape case SHADNAGAR AGENCIES

Police on Friday fatally shot four men being held on suspicion of raping and killing a woman in southern India after investigators took them to the crime scene, drawing both praise and condemnation in a case that has sparked protests across the country.

The burned body of the woman — a 27-yearold veterinarian —was found last week by a passer-by near the city of Hyderabad, India’s tech hub, after she went missing the previous night. At around 3 a.m. Friday, police took the suspects, who had not been formally charged with any crime, to the sites where the rape and killing are believed to have taken place and the spot in an underpass where the woman’s body was burned about half a kilometer (a third of a mile) away, said V.C. Sajjanar, the local police commissioner. The police brought the suspects to help them locate evidence, including the victim’s phone, Sajjanar said at a news conference.

“The suspects seized some weapons from policemen who had taken them there and started firing,” Sajjanar said.

“Even though our officers maintained restraint and asked them to surrender, but without

listening to us they continued to fire and continued to attack us,” Sajjanar said, adding that police returned fire, killing the suspects.

The woman’s death is the latest gruesome case of sexual violence against women to rile India and comes despite efforts to strengthen the penalties for such crimes. Some advocates say those efforts have failed to deter predators.

Hours after the police shootings, the crime scene in Shadnagar, a town in the state of Telangana about an hour southwest of Hyderabad, had the appearance of a fairground.

About 300 people gathered to celebrate the suspects’ deaths. Some hugged officers and lifted them into the air, chanting “Long live police,” while others showered them with flowers.

Indians had rallied on the streets of Hyderabad, New Delhi and Mumbai and called on social media for swift justice in a country where sentencing is notoriously delayed by backlogged courts. After the veterinarian’s killing, Swati Maliwal, the head of the Delhi Commission for Women, started an indefinite hunger strike, demanding that the perpetrators be hanged within six months. Maliwal said Friday that police “had no choice but to shoot.”

She said she is continuing her fast to demand swift hangings in other sexual violence cases because she thinks capital punishment will act as a deterrent. “Hang the rapists!” shouted some of the hundreds of Maliwal’s mainly women supporters who gathered Friday at the site of her

strike, the mausoleum of Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi.

The Congress party and other opposition groups raised the police killings in Parliament, and demanded a probe into the incident.

The National Commission on Human Rights, an autonomous body within India’s Parliament, said it was sending a fact-finding mission to the crime scene. “This type of justice is counterfeit,” said Kavita Krishnan, secretary of the All India Progressive Women’s Association.

“The killings are a ploy to shut down our demand of accountability from governments, judiciary and police, and dignity and justice for women. We demand a thorough investigation into this,” she said. Maneka Gandhi, a lawmaker from India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and a former Cabinet minister, accused police of taking the law into their own hands.

“They would’ve been hanged by court anyway. If you’re going to kill the accused before any due process of law has been followed, then what’s the point of having courts, law and police?” she said. Avinash Kumar, executive director of Amnesty International India, echoed the sentiment in a statement, saying that “extrajudicial killings are not a solution to preventing rape.”

After the 2012 gang rape and killing of a 23-yearold student on a New Delhi bus, minimum sentences were raised in cases of sexual violence.

The four men convicted in the case have appealed their sentences, which were death by hanging.

The Lady and The Hague: Myanmar leader Suu Kyi courts home audience YANGON AGENCIES

The last time Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi traveled to western Europe, she was feted as the freshly elected civilian ruler of a fledgling democracy who had brought an end to half a century of military dictatorship.

When the Nobel peace prize laureate returns next week, her first trip to the region since a 2017 military crackdown on Rohingya Muslims in western Myanmar, it will be to face accusations of genocide, alongside the army she spent much of her life battling. Gambia, a tiny, mainly Muslim West African state backed by the 57-nation organisation for Islamic Cooperation (oIC), lodged a lawsuit at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) last month against Myanmar for genocide, including mass murder and rape.

Myanmar denies the allegations, and Suu Kyi’s office said she would fly to The Hague for the first hearings, from Dec. 10, to “defend the national interest”.

“There is a discrepancy between the opinion of Myanmar and

the international community,” said Myo Nyunt, the senior spokesman for her National League for Democracy Party. “She has to explain what has really taken place in northern Rakhine.” Her decision to attend took some by surprise. People close to her with strong international connections voiced concerns it could further tarnish her image abroad, according to two people familiar with the discussions.

But at home the announcement has unleashed a wave of popular support, with the leader who spent

15 years under house arrest for defying the army lauded as once again championing the interests of the people against a common enemy.

Richard Horsey, Myanmar advisor to the International Crisis Group, said while her appearance carried considerable risks for Suu Kyi overseas, “she likely feels that she must do all she can to defend the national interest against what most people in Myanmar see as biased and politically-motivated charges”.

‘NO GENOCIDE’: An offensive by security forces and local Bud-

dhists in northern Rakhine state in August 2017 drove more than 730,000 Rohingya into neighboring Bangladesh, where they created the world’s largest refugee camp. united Nations investigators have said the exodus was the result of a military campaign executed with “genocidal intent”. Myanmar authorities have strongly disputed that conclusion, categorizing the military operation as a legitimate response to attacks by Rohingya militants that killed 13 members of the security forces. In September 2017, Suu Kyi said terrorists were behind an “iceberg of misinformation” about the violence.

‘EVERYTHING IS POLITICS’: Recent weeks in Myanmar have had the flavor of election season, with several pro-Suu Kyi rallies in major cities attended by hundreds of people carrying flags. More are planned for the first day of the hearings. “Now there are demonstrations across the whole country. This is an attempt to make her image stronger,” said Ko Ko Gyi, a longtime democracy activist and former Suu Kyi ally. “There is a saying – everything is politics.”

Saturday, 7 December, 2019

08 COMMENT Digital Pakistan vision Illusion versus reality

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IGITAL technology has already made a significant headway in our society. Smartphones are being used in Pakistan to send and receive messages, access mail, hail cabs to work, send or receive money while political activists are fast learning to use them in election campaigns and for holding flash protests. e-commerce and a number of startups have made shopping and hiring of services easier.

Prime Minister Imran Khan does not therefore need to lecture to the country about the utility of digitalisation or to claim that a digital Pakistan will unleash the full potential of youth or that the country will experience a quantum leap ahead. he just needs to be reminded that a pioneer attempt in the field was made in Punjab by former CM Shehbaz Sharif who went for the digitalisation of land records to end the Patwari culture.

Mr Khan needs to probe where the experiment failed with the result that the Patwaris are more powerful than DCs even in Naya Pakistan.

Mr Khan is right that certain institutions are opposed to digitalisation, particularly of government records.

These are the ones who believe that secrecy gives them power. They make use of it for monetary gains or for assertion of illegal authority. What plan does he have to cope with the powerful institutions?

Digitalisation of the scale visualised by PM Imran Khan would pose much, much greater problems than the ones faced by the former CM of Punjab. There is a need to go beyond slogans and find answers to these problems. Digitalisation can of course open up employment opportunities to women in far flung areas.

A boy polishing shoes in the streets can become a technician earning 10 or 20 times more. yes, Pakistan has the world’s second largest youth population “which can be converted into our strength with this one initiative alone”. The problem is that the youth is mostly untrained and millions of it can neither read nor write.

There is therefore a need for mega-investment in education and technical training to turn the dream into reality. With allocations for education by the PTI government in 2018-19 budget the lowest in the region, talk about the digital vision is moonshine.

No end to borrowing No relief for the ordinary citizen

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he approval by the Asian Development Bank of a $1 billion ‘emergency loan’ for Pakistan was made because Pakistan had agreed a programme with the IMF, and had agreed to a number of measures that were meant to make the country’s economy strong. however, that has apparently not happened, which is why the emergency loan is needed in the first place. The loan is not meant for projects, but is for balance-ofpayments support. Does the loan mean that the triumphant crowing by the government about its economic successes, specifically the improvement in the balance of payments, was either incorrect or misleading?

What is one to make of the claims that there is to be a turnaround by next year? Incurring debt is not something this government seems to be avoiding, with Planning Minister Asad Umar being upfront in telling a Senate committee that the Railways’ Main Line Project would be executed at the cost of $9 billion, and appeared self-congratulatory when saying that the loan would be borrowed at only two per cent. While that is low, it still represents a loan to be extracted from Railways passengers, or those booking freight on it.

The problems that the ADB loan is meant to fix, such as the impact of the IMF programme on the ordinary citizen in terms of inflation, an increased interest rate and a devalued rupee, are actually the result of the IMF programme itself. The inflation will not go away even next year, according to international financial institutions. Globally, the ADB itself has reaffirmed a 2.8 per cent GDP growth, which means that jobs will be not be generated in an economy that needs them badly.

Industry has somehow to survive even though interest rates are being kept high as an IMF conditionality, and are also being hit by devaluation.

The temptation to borrow must be curbed.

It is almost as if going for the IMF programme has opened the floodgates, and ended the resistance of the government, to borrowing. elected because it had criticised its predecessors for borrowing, the present government seems to have no hesitation in increasing the debt burden on the common man, apart from the hardships it has imposed by opting to borrow from the IMF.

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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Trump is dismantling the international order The Middle East peace process has long been dead. Trump’s decision on Israeli settlements impacts not so much that process as the very foundations of international order Washington Watch

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Dr James J Zogby

he Trump Administration’s declaration that Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian lands are not illegal was, in fact, a consequential act– though not for the reasons cited by Israelis or Palestinians. It was also “the nail in the coffin”– though not the “coffin of the peace process”– as some Palestinians have claimed.

The decision was not so consequential with regards to settlements because for the last three and one-half decades, successive US administrations’ policies toward Israeli settlements have moved from passive acquiescence to outright acceptance. It was Ronald Reagan who first said that he didn’t believe settlements were illegal. And it was George W. Bush who tried to make the distinction between “existing realities” and new settlements. The former, he claimed, had already been built and could remain, while the latter were to be discouraged.

The Israelis took advantage of this loophole and continued to build, knowing that US Presidents might complain but wouldn’t do anything to stop them. The net result has been that the settlement population in the occupied territories has grown from 50,000 during the Carter Administration to 620,000 Israeli settlers even before Trump took office.

Against this background, it’s fair to say that the Trump announcement on Israeli settlements didn’t reflect any dramatic shift in US policy.

It’s also fatuous to suggest that will it have any

effect on the “peace process.” It doesn’t end it, kill it, set it back, or slow it down– precisely because there is no peace process, nor has there been one for several years. In reality, pretending that there is such a process has been an illusion projected by the USA to control Palestinian behaviour and to keep europeans and Arabs at bay so as to maintain exclusive US control over the “process” and to protect the Israelis from any international sanctions or pressure.

The real significance of the Trump Administration’s announcement is something quite different– it demonstrates a flagrant disregard for international law and conventions, the role of the international community, and universal human rights.

We’ve already seen this attitude on display with Trump’s withdrawal from several international agreements negotiated by previous Administrations (regarding trade, climate, and arms control), the threats the Administration has made to punish other nations who voted against the USA at the UN, and the contempt it’s demonstrated toward the International Criminal Court and several UN agencies.

On Israel-Palestine issues, the current administration has repeatedly demonstrated this disdain for international law and consensus (such as attempting to legitimise the Israeli occupation of east Jerusalem and the Golan heights or defunding and refusing to acknowledge the rights and even existence of Palestinian refugees). But, and here’s the nub of the matter, the legitimacy and applicability of international law and conventions are not up to one bad actor or one rogue nation.

It is here that the behaviour of the USA has

been especially consequential and problematic.

The US can’t make illegal settlements legal, grant occupied territories to the occupier, or deny refugee status to refugees and their descendants on its own– these are matters of international law, the Fourth Geneva Convention, the Universal Declaration of human Rights, and scores of UN resolutions passed by the overwhelming majority of the nations of the world. The status of these Palestinian rights remains unchanged, despite US actions. But what has been affected by decades of US disrespect for law and rights and international institutions has been the ability of these rules to be applied and these structures to effectively play their roles in governing the relations among nations and their behaviour toward one another. And this is what is most consequential about Trump’s declaration.

It is true that the architecture of diplomacy, the rule of law, and respect for universal rights have long been either ignored or honoured only selectively. It’s also true that these structures and rules only work when powerful nations adhere to and uphold them. So, when in the past the USA has flaunted international law or cherry-picked human rights violators they would condemn, it only served to undercut the rule of law and weaken the architecture of international relations and diplomacy. What Trump has done is take this dismantling of diplomacy and law one step farther, literally casting aside international law and human rights conventions. This is the real danger posed by his behaviour.

Dr James J Zogby is President, Arab American Institute.

Remembering Abul Kalaam Azad An Intellectual, A Nationalist, and An Islamist

rehan Khan

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yeD Ghulam Muhiuddin, famous as Abul Kalaam Azad, was born in the city of Mecca on 11 November 1888 into a learned family of scholars. Possessing an enchanting disposition and espousing a scholarly deportment, at an early age he carved out a swelling constituency of followers. his impeccable oratory skills, literary prowess, lingual competence, and diction of argumentation, made the scholarly class of intellectuals gravitate towards him. he not only engaged himself in intellectual pursuits, but also committed his energies to defining the political contours of the Indian Subcontinent. Precocious and hardworking, he claimed a role in the scholarly and political vanguard of the Indian Subcontinent. The journals Al-Hilal and Al-Balagh brought out under his auspices in the early decades of the 20th century were, along with being treasuretroves of peerless scholarship and cutting-edge research, were also a conduit for the dissemination of political ideas. his books Gubhar-eKhatir, Tazkira, and India wins Freedom proved to be classics in their own right. his commentary on the Chapters of the Quran collectively called Tarjuman-ul-Quran and his insightful research on the different aspects of the Islamic heritage (especially on Zulkarnain) proved his intellectual mettle. Al-Manar, a famous journal based in egypt and brought out under the editorship of Rashid Rida, also featured some of his thoughtful contributions. Politically vibrant and intellectually productive, Azad earned for himself fame and respect across the Islamic World.

Azad forcefully argued in his works that the Islamic philosophical theology, as an independent stream of intellectual scholasticism, crystallised in the later phase of the 8th century and developed into a sophisticated Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9

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system of creedal formulations by the end of the 11th century. Absorbing in its corpus the long-standing legacies of ancient Greek philosophical speculation, Iranian mystical illuminative gnosis, Syriac syllogism, and Indian intellectualised ratiocination, Islamic theology attained the highest station of rigour and reasoning by the earlier decades of the 14th century. Devoid of any serious inquiry, the subsequent three centuries gave rise to an intellectual stagnation allowing only for a rehearsal of obsolete dialectic formulae.

Did the intellectual decadence continue? Azad contended in his book Tazkirah that the 18th century paved the way for the revival of Islamic theology with an emphasis on rationalisation. Shah Waliullah in India, Shawkani in yemen, and Abdel Ghani al-Nablusi in Syria built the foundations of modern discourse on speculative theology. In the succeeding centuries, Islamic theology was further systemised, elaborated, and championed by scholars as eminent as Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, Chiragh Ali, Mumtaz Ali, and Maulana Shibli in India, Jamaluddin Afghani and Malkam Khan in Iran, Khairuddin Tunisi in the Ottoman-dominated regions, Tahtawi and Mufti Muhammad Abduh in egypt, Rashid Rida in Lebanon, and Kawakabi in Syria.

Anchored firmly in the same tradition of modernist scholars, Azad also made an attempt to revisit the traditional system of creedal formulations in Islam with a bold ambition to align it with modern forms of human reasoning and sensibilities. Dispensing with the obsolete notions of legal formalism, dialectic abstractions, and mystical ecstasies; doing away with formulaic representations of feminine identities, political norms, and social strata; and severely criticising the medieval schools of Maturidism, Aashrism, and hanbalism, Azad

Islamabad – Ph: 051-2204545

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strove intellectually to resurrect a spirit of fresh inquiry born out of the conviction to recalibrate it with modern forms and systems of knowledge.

To his chagrin, the conservative intellectual voices spearheaded by the ulama of Deoband and Farangi Mahal did not express or offer a commitment to align themselves with the emerging modern realities of the world. Azad insisted on the rejuvenation of an Ijtihad-inspired tradition of innovative reasoning in order to dispense with the hackneyed idiom of medievalism in our scholasticism and to seek for the unexplored vistas and horizons of knowledge. The inertiacrippled, apathetic intellectual elite sabotaged all his endeavours and pushed him against the wall. Simultaneously, the Caliphate also came to an end. Disgusted and distressed by the conservatism of ulama and the abolition of the Caliphate, Azad completely abstained from any further overtures to the conservative scholarly class, distanced himself from Muslim nationalism and committed himself to the cause of the nationalist political campaign for the liberation of India from the clutches of the British Crown. he joined the Indian National Congress and rose to become its President in 1939. he continued to champion the notion of composite nationalism, but did not fail to contribute intellectually.

Abul Kalaam Azad was also the first scholar to have interpreted Islam as a full-blooded political ideology geared towards the establishment of a political order. To this end, he not only produced a well-wrought argumentative reasoning built around the classic traditional edifice, he also floated the idea of a disciplined Islamist organisation and named it hezbollah. Maulana Mawdudi, hassan-al-Banna, Ayatollah Khomeini elaborated and perfected this vision of political ideology, but were surely

Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk

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the late comers. Islamism, as a modern political expression of Islam, experienced its reincarnations in the Muslim Brotherhood in egypt, ennahda in Tunisia, the Justice and Development Party in Turkey, the PJD in Morocco, and JI in Pakistan. All these Islamist parties, in their basic proposition in pursuit of genuinely legitimate Islamic political order, trace their organisational and intellectual pedigree back to the oeuvre of Abul Kalaam Azad.

From being an advocate of a massive Islamist uprising and a champion of intellectual renaissance of a high order in the early years, Azad restricted himself to being a voice of Indian nationalist political agitation in the latter part of his life.

The embodiment of Islamism transmuted into an insignia of composite nationalism. The fervour of nationalism replaced the passion of Islamism. Azad conducted himself as an Islamist till 1920, carried himself along as a nationalist from 1920 till 1958, and remained an intellectual all his life. his intellectual standing far outweighed his political activism both in the content of output and in the sum of ramifications, but his political partisanship overshadowed his literary ingenuity. Islamists of all shades found in his writings their patriarch, the advocates of composite nationalism found in his political agitation a gallant fighter, the scholarly elite found in his literature a maestro, and the Subcontinent found in him a genius of all times.

Azad was a passionate Islamist till 1920, an expressive nationalist from 1920 to 1958, and an accomplished intellectual all life. Quite unfortunately, he is still condemned for his stand on composite nationalism in Pakistan and is eulogised in India for the same reasons; but both in the process reduce him to a symbol of nationalism and turn a blind eye to the two other components of his life. It is about the time that we reclaim him in totality.

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Saturday, 7 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

Fake accounts case

Much ado about nothing There was a twofold reason for making the president commander-in-chief Zaeem mumtaZ bhatti

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MIDST all the drama, hype and sensation, the Supreme Court walked a tightrope between upholding the majesty of law and not disrupting the whole system. That the extension of the Chief of Army Staff became a legal issue before the Supreme Court was unprecedented.

The way the questions were being asked by the Supreme Court gave the impression that it would abide by the terse text of the Constitution no matter what. After all, it is the mandate of Articles 4 and 5 of the Constitution.

But this was not to be. It performed a balancing act by giving a six-month extension to the Chief of Army Staff. It turned out to be a case of ‘much ado about nothing’.

In a move which raised many eyebrows, Farogh Naseem resigned as Federal Law Minister last week so that he could appear before the Supreme Court in an attempt to ensure that COAS Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa received the three-year extension which Pakistan Tehreeke-Insaf (PTI) desperately wanted him to have.

After the verdict, which passed the matter onto Parliament, Naseem was swiftly reinstated as the Law Minister by President Arif Alvi, leaving many scratching their heads for several reasons.

Was the constitutional crisis that shook the nation not of Naseem’s own making? Why was he allowed to take office again when he has constantly revealed himself to be a chink in the government’s armour? Could the PTI find no one else to appear before the Supreme Court on this matter? Was it not a blatant conflict of interest that the same person responsible for overseeing the notification was appearing before the Supreme Court to defend it?

It is worth keeping in mind here that this public embarrassment was not the first of Naseem’s blunders since being sworn in. During his short tenure, it seems that the legal wizard has failed to perform his primary duty: drafting laws and getting them passed by Parliament. Instead, during the PTI regime, ordinances have become the order of the day. The government stumbles from one legal controversy to another, be it the filing of the reference against Supreme Court Justice Qazi Faez Isa or the fact that the government had to withdraw as many as 11 controversial ordinances after striking a deal with the opposition.

But these slip-ups would ultimately pale in comparison to what was to come. The first extension notification issued by the PTI government spoke volumes about the lack of competency of the Law Ministry and it appeared that the Ministry almost did not take the trouble to read the text of Article 243 of the Constitution. The poorly worded notification was drawn up in apparent haste and, on the face of it, was sketchy, bald and laconic, to say the least. It fell well short of the legal requirements of a standard notification. The two-line notification stated: “General Qamar Javed Bajwa is appointed Chief of Army Staff for another term of three

years from the date of completion of current tenure. The decision has been taken in view of the regional security environment.”

It was issued on 19 August 2019 bearing the signature of the prime minister, however, he accorded it a retrospective approval on August 21st. hence, this turned out to be a case of putting the cart before the horse. But, significantly, as many as 14 members of the Cabinet had not put their signatures on the notification. And as per the ratio laid down in the Mustafa Impex Case (PLD 2016 SC 808), it was incumbent upon the Prime Minister to first seek approval of the whole Cabinet before making such an order. however, throwing caution to the wind, the Law Ministry followed this judgment more in the breach than in the observance. The most glaring mistake was that the notification in question was not issued after the signature of the President was obtained. The Prime Minister failed to advise him to sign it in flagrant contravention of Article 243, thereby plunging the country into a constitutional crisis of epic proportions. hence, the government was in for a rude awakening when the proceedings under Article 184(3) got underway before the Supreme Court.

The court excoriated the government for the dereliction of its duty. The government’s own confusion was only further confounded when the notification was suspended with the date of retirement for the COAS approaching.

A new notification and fresh summaries were issued reiterating the same reasoning. Not only did the government add the ‘extension’ in the army regulation, but the notification under challenge was withdrawn to obstruct the proceedings pending before the Supreme Court.

But, to sprinkle salt on the wound, the court did not discuss the legal developments which took place on the previous night. The Attorney General was grilled as to whether the federal government was vested with the authority to give an extension to the COAS under the law of the land, as Article 243 and 245 of the Constitution read with the Pakistan Army Act 1952 and the regulations made there under, were completely silent regarding the reappointment and extension. eventually, the only reason Naseem was spared his blushes is

because the Supreme Court, in a short order, gave the legislature six months to plug up the loopholes in Article 243 of the Constitution, thus allowing Naseem to breathe a temporary sigh of relief. A potential crisis was averted, but not before it revealed the ineptitude of the present Law Ministry. The simple truth of the matter is that the Law Minister only has himself and his team to blame for creating a legal mess which almost defies understanding.

A bare perusal of Article 243(4) reveals that the choice phraseology in which this provision is couched does not include the expressions “reappointment” or “extension”.

This omission was not unintentional. Pakistan’s Constitution being a hotchpotch of the British parliamentary and the American presidential forms of governance, the Constitution makers in their wisdom made the President the Supreme Commander under Article 243(2) for a twofold purpose: one, to establish civil supremacy and two, to leave it to his or her sweet will or discretion to determine the tenure given the significance of the circumstances. If the tenure is determined by the legislature, or the President is vested with the power to reappoint, it will not only demoralise the Army as a whole, but also forecloses the possibility of appointing fresh faces with fresh ideas at the highest level with the result that the Army will be stuck in the groove.

As far as a conflict of interest is concerned, one could not find any federal law with regards to this nor is there any judgment of the Supreme Court in this respect. Given the lack of information, it is hard to say that Naseem’s actions can be categorised as a conflict of interest for playing dual roles. had there been legislation holding the field in this regard, he would definitively have been called out for it. however, on the provincial level, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa promulgated the laws entitled The Punjab Prevention of Conflict of Interest Act, 2019 and The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Prevention of Conflict of Interest Act, 2016, respectively. however, these laws have not been put into practice yet.

A potential crisis was averted, but not before it revealed the ineptitude of the present Law Ministry. The simple truth of the matter is that the Law Minister only has himself and his team to blame for creating a legal mess which almost defies understanding

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

ThIS is reference to report that NAB has arrested key suspect Ijaz haroon, in fake accounts and money laundering case. Ijaz haroon was Chairman Overseas Cooperative housing Society, who has previously served as MD PIA from 2008 to 2010 and has a history of being involved in controversies, yet managed to get clearance for such executive assignments. What were the qualifications of this controversial individual that he was allowed to become Chairman of Overseas Cooperative housing Society?

Those responsible for appointing him to head national airline PIA, in spite of never having got education beyond school i.e., O-Level are as much responsible for irregularities committed and assets beyond means that he owns in Pakistan and UK etc. From his involvement in Kidney hill scam to investigation ordered by Ministry of Defence and conducted by Late AM Mushaf Ali Mir for gross financial misappropriation in recruitment of pilots, to allegations involving him in the case of smuggling rare artifacts abroad PIA cargo allegedly destined for Surrey Palace. All state institutions and agencies responsible for background checks need to be probed who gave his security clearance to become MD of PIA. The national airline, which was once a profitable stateowned enterprise has been driven to technical insolvency by appointment of cronies over the years by successive political and dictatorial governments. When the State chooses to overlook glaring conflicts of interest of individuals appointed to head key state-owned enterprises, then they share responsibility for losses incurred. A Catering company located in europe owned by family of Ijaz haroon was designated as sole vendor for all flights that transit or terminate in europe.

GuLL ZAMAn Peshawar

Curse of unemployment UNeMPLOyMeNT due grave economic recession and poor governance has caused frustration and anger among educated youth. Successive government policies, instead of addressing these issues have been captive to vested interests, rehiring retired civil or uniformed officers and judges making matters worse. Can anybody justify hiring retired paid state employees receiving pension and other benefits like allotment of real estate plots etc, including free medical coverage, on contract whilst more qualified and educated youth, with specialised professional qualifications and skills, remain unemployed. This has contributed to brain drain, growing discontent and frustration. The acute economic crisis that Pakistan faces is testimony, if any is required, that unless state employs highly qualified individuals who have specialised in economics, technology, medicine and science this country will not recover from the mess. British Raj trained civil and unformed bureaucracy was to run an occupied country, for the sole benefit of hM government.

In the UK, USA etc the state employs best qualified specialists at key assignments where policies are made, whilst civil service officers are confined to administrative posts only. If Pakistan wants to develop, it must invest in development and optimum utilisation of talent to keep at pace with fast technological changes. Our Civil Service is outdated and not trained to serve people as public servants but have decadent mindset for which they were trained by the Raj to serve as agents of occupation forces. They continue to live on islands of prosperity in gated housing societies in palatial villas spread over acres, instead of modest houses at state expense, surrounded by a sea of people living in misery, denied even basic necessities like clean drinking water, with garbage dumps serving as breeding grounds for mosquitoes and an outdated sanitation system infected with polio virus, typhoid and blocked gutters. This is certainly not Jinnah’s Pakistan.

ALI MALIK TArIQ Lahore

Kashmir solidarity IT seems that tensions between Pakistan and India may keep on escalating until the Kashmir issue is resolved. The dispute has come under International light and is being discussed and struggling to resolve the problem and reduce tensions between Pakistan and India. No one can deny the fact that India is taking no any steps to bring peace in the region. As India on August 5 unilaterally decided to revoke Article 370 of its constitution which granted special autonomy to occupied Kashmir. Undoubtedly, Pakistan has been struggling to make the region peaceful, but due to the lack of support the region has yet not been peaceful. As newly on Tuesday Combined Opposition leaders from the capital announced that they would observe October 27 as black day in protest against the ongoing repression in India-held Kashmir. Actually, the decision was taken at a multi-party conference held to discuss matters related to Kashmir Solidarity Day and the upcoming Azadi March. The conference decided that a protest demonstration would be staged outside the National Press Club on Oct 27 against the India attempts to jeopardise regional peace and stability, and express solidarity with the oppressed Kashmiris.

IMrAn rASHEED Kech

Furthering peace AS the world at large knows Pakistan has opened up a “hard border” also called corridor for the Sikh community, facilitating them to perform their religious rites free of visa and harassment hassle. This has certainly won the hearts of Sikh people, if not the Indian government. Keeping this in mind, I sincerely suggest and pray to the Indian government to offer visa free travel to the Parsi community of Pakistan to perform similar religious duties at Udvada and other places of worship. This act of the Indian government will certainly be appreciated and thanked by the tiny / peace loving community of parsis of Pakistan and those living around the world.

ISPHAnyAr BHAnDArA rawalpindi

Saturday, 7 December, 2019

10 FOREIGN NEWS

labour leader makes brexIT offensIve aHead of uk elecTIon sHowdown DETLING

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AGENCIES

RITISH opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn went on the Brexit offensive on Friday, seeking to hit back at Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s main campaign message as they both prepared for a final TV showdown ahead of next week’s election.

Polls show Johnson’s Conservative Party is well ahead of Labour six days before Britons vote in an election which could finally resolve the impasse over Britain’s departure from the European Union, three years after a divisive referendum. The latest survey by Ipsos MORI on Friday showed Labour closing the gap although Johnson’s party remained 12

points clear and on course to win a majority in parliament. Brexit remained the biggest issue for voters, it found. Johnson, who renegotiated a new divorce deal with the EU in October, has promised to “get Brexit done”, a slogan he has repeated constantly during campaigning in a bid to win over Labour supporters who backed leaving the bloc, and those who are simply fed up of the political haggling over the issue. Britons voted by 52%-48% in 2016 for Brexit but parliament has failed to agree a way forward with Johnson calling the election having lost his majority.

If Johnson wins, Britain will leave the EU by Jan. 31 and then seek to enact a trade agreement with the bloc by the end of 2020. Corbyn went on the attack on the issue on Friday, calling Johnson’s promises a fraud and saying his Brexit deal would

simply be the start of years of “painful negotiations and broken promises”.

He also revealed a leaked government document which he said showed the divorce deal would lead to customs declarations and security checks between Britain and Northern Ireland, a direct contradiction to Johnson’s statements that it would not create any barriers with the British province and the mainland.

DAMAGING DEAL: The confidential Treasury report said the impact of the deal would be higher prices and that 98% of Northern Irish exporters would struggle to bear the additional costs. “There will be other secret reports like this one in every government department that reveal the disastrous impact of Johnson’s damaging deal,” Corbyn said.

Johnson said the document was “com-

plete nonsense”. He has ridiculed the stance adopted by Corbyn, who has said a Labour government would strike another exit deal with the European Union to include a customs union, and then hold a second referendum on whether Britons wanted to accept it, with Corbyn himself vowing to remain neutral. “Have we sent out search parties to discover Jeremy Corbyn’s position on the EU?” Johnson said in a speech to supporters in southeast England. “If you want to get this thing done, if you want to the country to move forward, you’ve got to vote Conservative.” The two leaders will face off later in the last leaders’ TV debate, with Brexit likely to be to the

Hong Kong police sound alarm over homemade explosives HONG KONG AGENCIES

Hong Kong’s much-maligned police force provided a rare behind-the-scenes look Friday at its bomb disposal squad to show the potentially deadly destructive force of homemade explosives seized during months of protests that have shaken the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.

In a demonstration for media cameras, the bomb squad set off a series of controlled explosions in a disused quarry overlooking the city’s high-rise skyline, blowing up a watermelon and shredding the front of a minivan. In July, police announced the seizure of about 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of TATP, which has been used in militant attacks worldwide. Other recent seizures in Hong Kong involved far smaller amounts, just 1 gram, of TATP, or tri-acetone tri-peroxide.

“Obviously, I’m concerned that they are making TATP or are in possession of TATP,” said Alick McWhirter, the squad’s senior bomb disposal officer.

Just 1 gram of the unstable explosive, equivalent to the weight of a candy, could cause serious injuries, he said. A demonstration blast of 1 gram of high explosive at the quarry above the bomb squad’s fencedoff headquarters caused a loud bang. A blast involving 50 grams, which would fit into a cigarette packet, sent shrapnel flying from the shattered front of the minivan.

The squad used explosives with a destructive force equivalent to TATP but not TATP itself, because the substance is dangerous to handle and is susceptible to bumps, heat and friction. “Because I like having 10 fingers, I am not going to use TATP,” McWhirter said.

In October, police said a homemade remote-controlled bomb intended to “kill or to harm” riot control officers was detonated as they deployed against protests. Causing a loud thud but no injuries, the small blast was the first known use of an explosive device during the protests that started in June over a contested extradition bill and snowballed into an anti-government, anti-police and anti-China movement.

The bomb squad has also disposed of thousands of gasoline bombs prepared by protesters on university campuses. McWhirter said that “99% of the protesters in Hong Kong, from what I’ve seen, are peaceful.” But he added: “There’s clearly, though, a small hard core who are dedicated towards violence.”

“The ones creating these explosives are a tiny percentage of a tiny percentage,” he said. “Petrol bombs, TATP, are not the normal in Hong Kong.”

Distrust goes both ways. Protesters accuse police of systematic abuses. The widespread use of police tear gas and thousands of often muscular arrests have infuriated many in Hong Kong. A call for an independent investigation of police conduct is among protesters’ key demands. A rally demanding a stop to tear gassing attracted about 500 people Friday night in central Hong Kong.

Organizers of the protest expressed fears of possible health risks from the noxious choking clouds of gas liberally deployed to disperse demonstrators and displayed photos of people with nasty rashes and other ailments they said were caused by Hong Kong becoming “a city-wide gas chamber.” McWhirter, an officer in Hong Kong for 30 years, expressed dismay that relations have soured so dramatically between the police force, long regarded as Asia’s finest, and citizens it claims to serve and protect. “I watched the officers day after day, night after night, month after month, going out and holding the line,” he said. “They are being attacked with knives, with explosives and petrol bombs, and they hold the line and use remarkable selfcontrol in the face of incredible violence.”

French unions turn the screws on Macron in pension reform battle PARIS AGENCIES

France’s trade unions called for mass protests and strikes over pension reform that have brought much of the country to a halt to carry on next week, piling more pressure on President Emmanuel Macron. Commuters faced severe disruption getting to work on Friday, hospitals have been left understaffed and Paris City Hall said dozens of schools in the capital would stay closed, as unions dug in over Macron’s plans to streamline one of the developed world’s most generous pension systems.

Transport workers went on strike on Thursday and took to the streets - joined by teachers, doctors, police, firemen and civil servants. Smoke and tear gas swirled through parts of Paris and Nantes as protests turned violent. Union leaders said public workers should maintain their industrial action until Tuesday, when they urged members to flood the streets once again.

“Unions will meet on Tuesday evening to decide on our next actions if by then Macron and (Prime Minister) Edouard Philippe have not reversed course and opened negotiations,” Catherine Perret of the hard-left CGT union told reporters.

The strike pits Macron, a 41-year-old former investment banker who took office in 2017 on a promise of opening up France’s highly regulated economy, against powerful unions who say he is set on dismantling worker protections. “We’re going to protest for a week at least, and at the end of that week it’s the government that’s going to back down,” said 50-yearold Paris transport employee Patrick Dos Santos. The outcome depends on who blinks first - the unions who risk losing public support if the disruption goes on for too long, or the president whose two-and-a-half years

in office have been rocked by waves of social unrest.

‘NOISE IN THE STREETS’: Macron’s pension tsar Jean-Paul Delevoye is due to hold talks with the unions on Monday before the prime minister presents the broad outlines of the proposal to the public mid-week. Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer said far-reaching reform was needed to put the generous pension system on a sustainable footing. Fewer teachers went on strike on Friday, education ministry data showed.

“It would be much easier for us to do nothing,” Blanquer told BFM TV. “We could see through this five-year term without enacting deep reform. But if every presidency reasons in this way, our children will not have an acceptable pension system.”

Police had used tear gas in central Paris on Thursday afternoon when hooded protesters on the fringes of the trade unions’ march threw fireworks at officers, ransacked bus stops, and set fire to rubbish bins.

More than 800,000 people rallied in protests countrywide on Thursday. Union leaders put the numbers higher. “There’s a noise in the streets, I hope the windows of the Elysee are open,” said Philippe Martinez, secretary-general of the CGT union, referring to the president’s office.

Macron wants to simplify the unwieldy pension system, which comprises more than 40 different plans.

Rail workers and mariners can for instance retire up to a decade earlier than the average worker.

CMYK

fore. Johnson’s appearance comes a day after he was accused in an on-air challenge by veteran BBC journalist Andrew Neil of ducking an interview in which he would have faced questions about his trustworthiness.

Meanwhile, former Conservative Prime Minister John Major will on Friday call for voters to back three rebels who Johnson expelled from his party, saying Brexit was the “worst foreign policy decision in my lifetime”. Corbyn’s own leadership has been called into question by some of his own ex-lawmakers and by those who say he has allowed anti-Semitism to become rife in the party.

Toll rIses To 63 In mIgranT boaT capsIzIng off maurITanIa NOUAKCHOTT: The death toll from a migrant boat capsizing off Mauritania has risen to 63 after the coast guard found five more bodies. It was one of the deadliest disasters this year among young Africans trying to reach Europe. Search and rescue operations continue off the coast near the northern city of Nouadhibou. At least 83 survivors swam through rough seas to shore after their boat capsized Wednesday.

Some 150 migrants, including children, had been on the boat for about a week.

The U.N. migration agency said they were trying to reach Spain’s Canary Islands but diverted toward Mauritania as fuel and food ran low. Most of the migrants on the boat were from Gambia, though six Senegalese survived. AGENCIES

Indian fugitive holy man creates new 'cosmic' nation for Hindus NEW DELHI: A holy man wanted by Indian police on sex assault charges has said he has created a new country for Hindus that will fight global warming, offer free healthcare and promote gender equality and vegetarianism. Nithyananda Swami, who once had thousands of followers that included film stars and politicians in India and abroad, was arrested in 2010 over a sex scandal. He was later charged with rape and abduction and was reported to have fled India. But this week, Nithyananda announced in a YouTube video that he had set up his own country called Kailaasa, dedicated to the “preservation, restoration and revival of an enlightened culture and civilisation based on authentic Hinduism”.

All practising Hindus — numbering more than 1 billion — can apply for citizenship in Kailaasa, named after Mount Kailash in Tibet, which is considered sacred by Hindus and Buddhists. The website has images of a triangular flag and a passport, but does not say where Kailaasa is located.

It is an island, purchased by some of Nithyananda’s wealthy followers, off the coast of Ecuador, according to media reports in India. Micronations such as Kailaasa are self-proclaimed entities claiming to be independent sovereign states but not recognised by other countries or the United Nations. There are about 80 micronations in the world, according to Google Maps. They are usually created as a form of philosophical experiment, a political protest, artistic expression or for fun. Several have their own currency, constitution, and even armies. AGENCIES

Saturday, 7 December, 2019

BUSINESS 11

StEEl induStry SmEllS a rat in govt’S nEw dri policy

CORPORATE CORNER

‘PLANTS USING GAS TO PRODUCE DRI SHOULD BE DISCOURAGED WHILE INCENTIVES SHOULD BE GIVEN TO COAL-BASED DRI PLANTS’ ISLAMABAD LAHORE: An agreement has been signed between National Telecommunication Corporation (NTC) and Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) regarding supply of 400Mbps bandwidth internet at Arfa Software Technology Park. NTC General Manager Muhammad Saghir Mehdi and PITB Chairman Azfar Mansoor were present on the occasion. PRESS RElEASE

MARKET DAILY

KSE-100 closes in green amid volatile activity

t

GHUlAM ABBAS

HE local steel industry has raised concerns over the proposed incentives being introduced by the government for the promotion of Directly Reduced Iron (DRI) technology in the country.

While the Ministry of Industries & Production has submitted a summary regarding the grant of special concessions/subsidy to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) for the promotion of DRI technology, the entire steel industry was left out from consultation process in this regard.

Through a letter, a copy of which is available with Pakistan Today, the Pakistan Association of Large Steel Producers (PALSP) has informed the concerned ministries that the local industry had learnt about the new initiative through newspaper reports, which was "shocking for the association and its members".

The letter, which was directed to Planning Minister Asad Omar, Adviser to PM on Commerce Abdul Razzak Dawood, Adviser to PM on Finance & Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh and Board of Investment Chairman Zubair Gilani, deplored that none of the representative body of the steel industry, including PALSP, Pakistan Steel Melters Association or National Steel Advisory Council, was consulted before submission

‘CONDITION OF MINIMUM $500M INVESTMENT TO PROVE DETRIMENTAL FOR LOCAL INDUSTRY’

of the proposals to the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC).

PALSP said that in Pakistan, steelmaking was mostly undertaken by using imported remeltable scrap. "The substitute for re-meltable scrap is DRI which is not available in Pakistan while its import is also not viable due to the [prevalent] duty structure," it added.

The association informed that DRI could be only produced through two methods; gas-based process and coal-fired process.

"Due to the shortage of natural gas, the production of DRI using this method is not viable as we are already importing RLNG to augment our shortage of natural gas. RLNG is expensive and DRI produced by using RLNG is not commercially viable in comparison with re-meltable scrap for steelmaking. This is why the coal-based process is more economically viable.

"Pakistan has ample reserves of iron ore and coal that can be utilised to produce DRI. Further, it will not be a burden on foreign exchange payments," the letter said.

Referring to the condition of minimum threshold of FDI being set through the new initiative, the association said in order to encourage investment in DRI plants, there should be "no limit of minimum investment of $500 million", as DRI plants using coal-based technology could be set up by using fairly less amount

KARACAHI STAFF REPORT

The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) ended an indecisive trading session on Friday with slight gains, as the indices swung both ways in search of a clear direction before closing in the green zone. Foreign investors turned out to be the net buyers on Thursday with a net inflow of $1.46 million. On the economic front, the Asian Development Bank approved an emergency loan of $1 billion for Pakistan to provide immediate support to the country’s finances. In addition to this, the ADB also approved $300 million policy loan for the energy sector reforms in Pakistan. The benchmark KSE-100 Index recorded its intraday low at 40,595.96 during the initial trading hours.

The index then took a U-turn and touched its intraday high at 40,987.76. It closed higher by 91.15 points at 40,732.25. The KMI-30 Index gained 239.15 points to settle at 64,210.49, while the KSE All Share Index ended higher by 151.74 points at 28,863.44. The overall trading volumes remained decent and were recorded at 416.92 million (down 18pc on a daily basis). Unity Foods Limited (UNITY +6.24pc), Fauji Cement Company Limited (FCCL +2.58pc), Maple Leaf Cement Factory Limited (MLCF +0.17pc) led the volume chart. The scripts had exchanged 53.51 million, 31.96 million and 18.77 million shares, respectively. Sectors that helped the index close in green included oil and gas exploration (+64.35 points), food and personal care products (+30.12 points) and insurance (+23.70 points). Among the companies, Pak Petroleum Limited (PPL +33.93 points), Bank AL Habib Limited (BAHL +30.37 points) and Hub Power Company Limited (HUBC +26.18 points) remained the top point contributors to the index. The oil and gas exploration sector added +1.14pc in its cumulative market capitalization. Pak Petroleum Limited (PPL +1.87pc), Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDC +1.22pc) and Pakistan Oilfields Limited (POL +0.88pc) closed with decent gains.

Govt notifies up to 26-paisa per unit hike in power tariff ISLAMABAD AHMAD AHMADANI

The government has notified up to 26-paisa per unit increase in power price, which, in turn, will add approximately Rs14 billion heavy burden on the power consumers.

Earlier, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) had determined 15paisa per unit hike in electricity price on the demand of power distributing companies (DISCOs). However, the energy ministry has notified up to 26-paisa per unit hike in electricity price.

According to NEPRA officials, power con-

sumers who use 300 units a month would find no increase in their monthly bills while power consumers (residential category) using 300 to 700 units a month would find 0.7-paisa per unit hike in power bills.

Similarly, power consumers using more than 700 units a month would find up to 15-paisa per unit hike in their electricity bills, while rest of the power consumers, including commercial, industrial, bulk, general services etc., would find up to 26-paisa per unit increase in power tariff.

Officials said that this hike in the power price would be collected from the consumers over a period of one year, starting from 1st December 2019. "The notified increase in power price of power is because of pending increase in electricity price from July to September 2109," they added.

LNG PRICE REDUCED: On the other hand, the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) has reduced the price of liquefied natural gas (LNG) by $0.11 per Million British Thermal Unit (MMBTU) for the month of December 2019.

According to OGRA notification, the LNG price has been fixed at $10.83 per MMBTU on the system of Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL) while LNG price on the system of Sui Southern Gas Company Limited has been set at $10.82/MMBTU.

of investment.

Furthermore, PALSP said in order to encourage investment, the basic raw material i.e. coal and iron ore, should be allowed to be imported duty-free.

"Initially, the newly established plants will depend upon imported iron ore and coal. At a later stage, as the demand for iron ore and coal will increase, this will automatically work as a catalyst for the development of local iron ore and coal mines," PALSP stated. "Therefore, it is suggested that plants using gas to produce DRI should be discouraged and incentives should be given to coal-based DRI plants."

The association also raised questions on the introduction of concessions only for foreign investors and not local industry. The local industry fears that investment of over $500 million as qualifying criteria, as well as other conditions, are being introduced to facilitate a particular company, it added.

"This seems like a policy suited to revive Tuwairqi Steel Mill because they will be the first to apply and the quickest to commission. Such a large threshold of investment will deter most of the local investors anyway and this will enable Tuwairqi to rule the roost," the association said.

PALSP urged the government to formulate a scheme that could prove beneficial for the local industry at large.

Ford to use coffee bean waste to produce auto parts The USbased automotive giant, Ford Motor Company, will use coffee waste for producing auto parts, the firm said on Friday. Ford and the global fast-food chain McDonald’s will start to make cooperation for processing coffee beans, according to a press release issued by the automaker. “The two companies have discovered that coffee bean waste can be transformed into a highly durable material that can be used in automobile parts,” it noted. Ford plans $11 billion investment, 40 electrified vehicles by 2022 These components match the quality specifications required by the headlight mounting panel and other interior and exterior body parts. When coffee chaff is heated at high temperatures under low oxygen and mixed with plastic and other additives, the resulting material can be converted into various forms. “Moreover, parts produced by this method are 20pc lighter and need 25pc less energy in the molding process,” it added. AGENCIES

No Riyadh rush as many global investors steer clear of Aramco IPO LONDON AGENCIES

The Saudi Aramco IPO was supposed to be a cornerstone of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s ambitious plan to open the gates to foreign investment in the kingdom.

But there’s no sign of a stampede.

The state oil giant confirmed on Thursday that its initial public offering would be the biggest in history, raising $25.6 billion.

The offering will surpass Alibaba’s 2014 New York flotation and value Aramco at $1.7 trillion (1.3 trillion pounds)- still short of the prince’s $2 trillion goal.

However, many global investors focused on emerging markets are set to stay away when Aramco debuts on the Riyadh bourse, expected next week, according to information provided to Reuters by 26 major asset managers outside the Gulf re-

gion who collectively manage more than $7 trillion.

Most of the active fund managers said they would likely steer clear of the IPO, citing persistent concerns about risks around governance, the environment and regional geopolitics.

All of the passive managers, who track certain indexes rather than making specific investment calls, also said they would not buy shares in the offering. But the bulk of them are likely to routinely become investors when the stock is admitted into the indexes of benchmark providers MSCI, FTSE Russell and S&P, a development due as early as late-December.

While the responses give an indication of institutional demand, they provide just a small window into global appetite as they largely concern investments made by funds open to the public. Much larger

sums of money are often invested on a private basis on behalf of major players like pension schemes and sovereign wealth funds.

Saudi Aramco declined to comment on the investor responses.

Few industry experts anticipated lukewarm global interest when the crown prince sent the energy and finance worlds into high excitement in 2016 as he announced plans to list the world’s most profitable company, including a marquee international debut, staging the biggest IPO in history.

“When this was announced, the Saudis and the crown prince in particular were looking for something that was going to put Aramco on the international investor map and that clearly hasn’t happened,” said Charles Hollis, a former UKSaudi diplomat and director at

intelligence consultancy Falanx Assynt.

Institutional investors bid $106 billion to take part in the IPO, which was more than 4.6 times oversubscribed, but how much of that demand came from overseas investors was not disclosed. The last bid process update to do so was published last Friday and showed foreign institutional demand at 10.5pc of the total $38.4 billion tabled.

TO BUY OR NOT TO BUY: Reuters contacted 66 non-Gulf asset managers who all either had exposure to Saudi stocks amounting to at least 5pc of their portfolios, or of above 1pc to the MSCI’s Emerging Markets Index, according to an analysis of data from Morningstar, a USbased financial research group.

Ten other leading non-Gulf investors who were not on that list were also interviewed.

Of the total of 18 active asset managers who provided information, 12 – or two-thirds – said they did not plan to participate in the Aramco IPO. Five said they had not decided, while one said it would invest in the offering.

Seven of the eight passive investors that spoke to Reuters said they would likely buy Aramco shares as and when they were included in their respective benchmark indexes, but would not take part in the IPO. One said it did not plan to invest at all.

The range of concerns by active investors are broad; some simply won’t invest in oil companies while others are wary about state interference in the running of the company, Saudi Arabia’s human rights record or geopolitical risk, which came to the fore with an attack on Aramco’s oil facilities in September.

Saturday, 7 December, 2019

12 BUSINESS Saudi, russia win over oil producers to deeper cuts Saudi Arabia and Russia won backing for deeper output cuts from OPEC and allied oil producers on Friday as they look to head off global oversupply in 2020 and sustain prices. The group of more than 20 producers agreed to an extra 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) in cuts for the first quarter of 2020, sources told Reuters, taking the total to 1.7 million bpd, or 1.7% of global demand. OPEC and allied producers, the so-called OPEC+, pump more than 40% of the world’s oil. They began a closed-door meeting at around 1130 GMT to thrash out how the additional cuts will be distributed. OPEC+ agrees to 500,000 bpd additional cut, to meet in March: sources OPEC is likely to shoulder approximately 340,000 bpd in fresh cuts and nonOPEC producers an extra 160,000 bpd, one source said on Friday. Benchmark Brent oil prices were steady on Friday near $63 per barrel. “Despite the deeper potential cuts, we view most headlines so far as falling short of consensus expectations,” Goldman Sachs said in a note citing factors including the short duration of the deal. OPEC+ will deepen cuts for the first three months of 2020, shorter than the six- or 12-month scenarios some OPEC members wanted. The cuts offset an expected increase from countries that are not part of OPEC+, including top producer the United States. OPEC met on Thursday in Vienna, deliberating policy for more than five hours. The length of the meeting prompted the cancellation of a news conference and a gala dinner for delegates aboard a boat on the Danube. Eleven of OPEC’s 14 member states are participating in the supply curbs. Iran, Libya and Venezuela are exempt. OPEC+ adds Russia and nine others Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, South Sudan and Sudan. One sticking point has been compliance, with Saudi Arabia cutting more than required in order to offset overproduction from Iraq and Nigeria. “A scenario where the Saudis ‘absorb’ the majority of a 500,000 bpd cut and formalize their target at current output levels would not be impactful to the market - unless Iraq and Nigeria come into compliance with their targets,” said analysts from Jefferies. ING bank analysts said the key question was whether the new cuts were real or just a matter of Saudi Arabia formalizing its current overcompliance. “Obviously, if it is the latter, the market will be disappointed, as this will do little to eat into the surplus over the first quarter,” ING said. Saudi Arabia needs prices of at least $80 per barrel to balance its budget, much higher than most other producers, and also needs to support the share flotation of its national oil company Saudi Aramco.

Shares in Aramco are expected to begin trading this month following pricing on Thursday that made it the world’s biggest IPO. AGNECIES

china-built tesla cars secure new energy vehicle subsidies BEIJING: Tesla Inc said on Friday its Chinese-built Model 3 cars would receive state subsidies, a move that will help the US electric vehicle maker’s push into the world’s biggest auto market. China’s industry ministry had earlier said Tesla’s Model 3 cars, being built at its $2 billion factory in Shanghai, were on a list recommended for subsidies for new energy vehicles (NEVs), which include plug-in hybrids, battery-only electric vehicles and those powered by hydrogen fuel cells. Tesla said in a statement the subsidies had been secured. Two variants of Tesla Model 3 vehicles are on the list for the generous NEV subsidy programme, according to the website of China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. The California-based electric vehicle maker aims to make more than 1,000 vehicles a week by the end of 2019 for it Shanghai plant and deliver the China-made vehicles before the Chinese new year on Jan 25. The annual capacity at the factory in its first phase is expected to reach 250,000 vehicles, equivalent to about 4,800 a week. This will include 150,000 Model 3 cars. It was not immediately clear how much of a subsidy the vehicles would receive. The starting price for China-made Model 3 cars is 355,800 yuan ($50,550), according to Tesla’s website. AGENCIES

adB approvES $1.3Bn loan For paKiStan t

BUSINESS DESK

HE Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Friday approved $1 billion in immediate budget support to Pakistan to “shore up the country’s public finances and help strengthen a slowing economy”.

According to a press release issued by ADB, the quick dispersing loan is part of a comprehensive multidonor economic reform programme led by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to stabilize Pakistan’s economy after a major deterioration in its fiscal and financial position in mid-2018 caused growth to slump and threatened progress in alleviating poverty.

ADB’s financing was approved after the government implemented a series of IMF-supported reforms and actions to improve its current account deficit, strengthen its revenue base, and protect the poor against the social impact of the economic crisis.

“ADB is committed to providing wide-rang-

BANK APPROVES $1BN TO SHORE UP PAKISTAN'S FOREX RESERVES AND $300M TO HELP THE GOVT UPLIFT ENERGY SECTOR ing support to strengthen Pakistan’s economy and reduce the risk of external economic shocks,” said ADB Director General for Central and West Asia Werner Liepach. “These funds will meet the government’s emergency financing needs to prevent significant adverse social and economic impacts and lay the foundations for a return to balanced growth.” $300M FOR ENERGY SECTOR: In another statement issued on Friday, the ADB approved a $300 million policy-based loan to aid the government in ensuring financial stability, governance and tackling hurdles in the policy infrastructure in Pakistan's energy sector.

The financing will support the first of three subprogrammes totaling $1 billion under the Energy Sector Reforms and Financial Sustainability Programme, a key component of a comprehensive multidonor economic reform program led by the IMF that aims to put Pakistan’s economy on the path to sustainable and inclusive growth after a deterioration in its fiscal and financial position in recent years.

“The cash shortfall across the power supply chain in Pakistan, also known as circular debt, has shot up to more than $10 billion and is a longstanding chronic issue ailing the country’s power sector,” said ADB Director General for Central and West Asia Mr. Werner Liepach. “A comprehensive and realistic Circular Debt Reduction Plan, assisted by ADB in close coordination with other development partners, is the cornerstone of this subprogram. The plan aims to drastically cut the new flows of circular debt and provides policy directions on addressing accumulated circular debt.”

KOHAT: An elderly vendor sells warm caps at his roadside set up. ONlINE

FATF to conduct preliminary review of Pakistan action plans today BUSINESS DESK The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) would conduct the preliminary review of Pakistan's action plan today (Saturday).

As per media reports, Pakistan has already submitted to the FATF a detailed report on the implemented measures. The report comprises answers to 22 questions raised by FATF. The report details Pakistan's actions against groups listed by the United Nations as terrorist organisations.

Prepared by the representatives of the ministries of foreign affairs, interior, and finance, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), Financial Monitoring Unit,

State Bank of Pakistan, National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA), Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD), Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), and the Pakistan Army, the report noted that common people who worked in the UNlisted terrorist groups were provided alternative employment, while the control of some 113 madrassas has been handed over to the federal government.

"The said madrassas are now working under the relevant assistant commissioners, whereas the teachers and students in those institutions have been provided a two-year budget," the report stated.

The report explained the progress of investigations into the

sponsors and facilitators of terrorist activities, as well as methodologies of the SBP and the FIA to stop terrorism-financing in future.

It said that a process to halt hundi-hawala and currency smuggling has been started. However, a system to regulate jewellery and real estate businesses, as well as lawyers' fees from petitioners, could not be set up.

The FATF, consequent to Pakistan's responses, would schedule a meeting in Beijing, China, on January 21 to prepare follow-up conditions. Should there be any further questions from the money-laundering and terrorism financing watchdog, Islamabad was obligated to respond before December 20.

However, a categorical decision to remove Pakistan from the FATF's grey list would be taken during a February 2020 plenary review meeting in Paris, France.

Earlier, the FATF had asked 27 questions pertaining to Pakistan's efforts to stop terrorism financing.

Islamabad satisfied the body over five of them.

At the time, Economic Affairs Minister Hammad Azhar had said Pakistan submitted its compliance report to the FATF to show its seriousness in changing anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing laws. Azhar, who is also the team leader on FATF, had said, "There will be a response from them and then (there will be) face-to-face meeting."

Strong US job growth highlights economy's resilience WASHINGTON AGENCIES

US job growth increased by the most in 10 months in November as former striking workers returned to General Motors’ payrolls and the healthcare industry boosted hiring, the strongest sign yet the economy was not in danger of stalling.

The Labor Department’s closely watched monthly employment report on Friday also showed steady wage gains and the unemployment rate falling back to 3.5pc, suggesting consumers will continue to drive the longest economic expansion in history, now in its 11th year.

The report added to other fairly upbeat reports on the trade deficit, housing

and orders for big-ticket goods. Together, the improving data validate the Federal Reserve’s decision in October to cut interest rates for the third time this year but signal a pause in the easing cycle that started in July when it reduced borrowing costs for the first time since 2008. (Full Story) US central bank policymakers are expected to highlight the economy’s resilience when they meet on Dec 10-11, though trade tensions continue to reverberate in the background.

“This was a strong report, with a solid rise in payrolls, another drop in the unemployment rate, and decent growth in hourly earnings,” said Chris Low, chief economist at FHN Financial in

New York. “The Fed will see this as clear vindication of their decision to stop cutting rates.”

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 266,000 jobs last month, with manufacturing recouping all the 43,000 positions lost in October, the government’s survey of establishments showed. Employment growth was also boosted by a gain of 60,200 healthcare workers, the most since March.

The largest increase in payrolls since January lifted job growth well above its monthly average of 180,000 this year.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls rising by 180,000 jobs in November. The economy created 41,000 more jobs in September and October than

previously estimated.

The 40-day strike by about 46,000 workers at GM plants in Michigan and Kentucky had restricted employment gains to 156,000 jobs in October. Even discounting the GM-related boost, employment growth exceeded 200,000 jobs last month.

The strong payroll gains suggest the Trump administration’s 17-month trade war with China, which has plunged manufacturing into recession, has not yet spilled over to the broader economy.

The US-China trade tensions have bruised business confidence and undercut capital expenditure. Though Washington and Beijing are working on a “phase one” trade deal, the United States has ratcheted

up tensions with other trade partners including Brazil, Argentina and France.

President Donald Trump said on Thursday the United States was having meetings and discussions with China “that are going well.”

Economic growth estimates for the fourth quarter are converging around a 1.8pc annualized rate. The economy grew at a 2.1pc pace in the third quarter. Economists estimate the speed at which the economy can grow over a long period without igniting inflation at between 1.7pc and 2.0pc.

US stocks were trading higher while the dollar gained against a basket of currencies. Prices of US Treasuries were lower.

aamir, saHer, surraiyaH quLi & saBa

aaBroo & maram

aden reHan, Hamna, reema & aisHa imran

Hum FasHion BruncH LaHore: Hum TV hosted a fashion brunch on the rooftop of Cosa Nostra to kick off the 17th edition of pantene hum bridal couture week in Lahore.

Kea parrots warble together when they're in a good mood, making them the first known non-mammal species to communicate with infectious laughter.

aLicia & moHsin

meHdi & aLyzeH GaBoL

areesHa cHaudHry

sHazia, anusH, suLTana siddiqui & resHam

Long before rap battles, there was "flyting": the exchange of witty, insulting verses. The verbal throwdowns were popular in england and scotland from the 5th to 16th centuries.

rima Farid, Kamiar & HaJra HayaT

sHammaL & redaH misBaH

soHaiB, meHeK, meHer & Junaid

HOLLYWOOD BOLLYWOOD

melbourne gave some of its trees email addresses so residents could report problems. instead, the trees received love letters.

Alita Sequel Trending On Twitter Fans want a sequel to the Alita: Battle Angel movie, which is now trending on Twitter with #AlitaSequel which presently has over 17.k tweets.

The movie centers around a deactivated cyborg who is revived, but cannot remember anything of her past life and goes on a quest to find out who she is.

The film was released in February of 2019, following the Disney purchase of Fox Studios, so if a sequel is to be made, it will need to get the greenlight from Disney.

Unfortunately, what is thought due to Captain Marvel, Disney didn't really bother promoting the first flick, but it went on to do pretty well at the box office as it brought in double its budget, over $404 million worldwide on a reported $170 million budget.

While the Rotten Tomatoes critics only gave the film at a 61% Fresh rating, the audience score is much better at 93%.

Producer Jon Landau recently offered that fans should make Disney aware that they want an Alita: Battle Angel sequel.

It's known plans for the sequel include more from Edward Norton's Nova.

Zack Snyder Goes on 'Release The Snyder Cut' Offensive

Tiger Shroff’s mom shares throwback picture

Zack Snyder has had enough of the BS surrounding the "Release The Snyder Cut" campaign and Justice League movie and now goes on the offensive.

Following Henry Cavill questioning if the Snyder Cut even existed, Snyder shut down his Superman actor by providing proof of its existence.

Now Zack Snyder does the same with a reporter from Forbes who, like a lot of others online, doesn't have a clue in the world.

The image Zack Snyder released revealed that the Snyder Cut is over three hours in length which saw Scott Mendelson tweet out: "This is almost certainly an assembly cut, which is always excessively long because that's what an assembly cut is."

Snyder shot that notion down pretty quick.

As I said, WB is well aware of the "Release The Snyder Cut" campaign and how much attention it is getting. On my social media and site alone, "Release The Snyder Cut" has reached hundreds and hundreds of thousands of fans.

Tiger Shroff is among the most successful young actors in Bollywood. His latest film, War, has already made Rs 300 crore at the box office. His Baaghi franchise is hugely successful too.

And the one person is immensely proud of it is his mother Ayesha Shroff, as her latest post on Instagram shows.

Sharing a baby picture of Tiger’s with herself and another elderly lady (possibly her mother), she wrote: “I wish Tigers grandmoms were alive today to see how the little baby they loved SO MUCH has turned out.” Tiger doesn’t look to be more than 2 or 3 years old in the picture and can be seen in a pair of blue jeans and a black t-shirt. Tiger, Ayesha and the elderly woman can be seen sitting in a garden.

On the work front, Tiger has been busy shooting for his next film, Baaghi 3. The actor has been shooting for it in Serbia since November. He shared a video where he can be seen practicing for an action scene that pays tribute to the trademark stunt filmed on Keanu Reeves in The Matrix. Thank you to all our supporters, to all Hrithik sir’s fans, all my fans, to all fans of the action genre and of commercial cinema.”

CMYK

Saturday, 7 December, 2019

14 SPORTS

SolSkjAer SAyS 'SmileS bAck on mAn utd fAceS' AheAd of derby MANCHESTER

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AGENCIES

LE Gunnar Solskjaer says smiles are back on the faces of his Manchester United players after their victory against Tottenham as he prepares to take on defending champions Manchester City.

United ruined Jose Mourinho’s Old Trafford return on Wednesday, winning 2-1 to end their former manager’s perfect start to his reign at Spurs.

They are sixth in the table, still eight points adrift of fourth-placed Chelsea, but Solskjaer said the win was a shot in the arm for his team after two disappointing draws. “Confidence is a strange thing in football,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Friday. “You can get performances and results like Wednesday night and it boosts it so much.

“And I know our boys will be up for it, energy-wise they should be fine, 24 hours less recovery time shouldn’t matter (City played on Tuesday), go on adrena-

line. I expect them to have had a good night’s sleep and the smiles are back on faces.” The Norwegian described City as “arguably the best team in England” even though they trail Premier League leaders Liverpool by 11 points.

“I said it before (Spurs) that this is a chance for everyone. It was doom and gloom, but it’s a chance to turn that doubt into belief and, for us, if we can manage to get another performance the confidence, the way we played against

Tottenham, if we can do that at the Etihad we can come out of it with a result.

“People say ‘why do you not have better results in other games?’. But the Premier League is hard. “No matter who you play, it’s margins, I think it’s a compliment to the league. You’ve got City, Liverpool, Leicester consistent, but the other games are really tight.”

IN-FORM RASHFORD: One man playing at the top of his game is forward Marcus Rashford, who has scored

12 goals in his past 13 games for club and country. “He’s consistently now scoring, but it’s not like four in one and two or three without,” said Solskjaer.

“It’s not just in spurts, but he’s consistently getting chances, into better positions, and on Wednesday night he was unbelievable and hope to see that again.”

Solskjaer moved to Old Trafford in 1996, just after City had been relegated to the second tier of English football.

And it was not until 2001 that the Norwegian faced them in a 1-1 home draw.

“At least we play every year now,” he said about his derby memories.

“Took many years before I played a Manchester derby myself, it’s changed in a way. “Man City are a better team now than when I was playing. Football has changed quite a lot, was allowed a few more proper tackles. “With every little angle everything is being scrutinised now. It’s more of a technical, tactical game than physical or mental. A derby should be played as a derby. We don’t play basketball and we’re ready if that happens.

Man City flex financial muscle to leave Man Utd lagging behind MANCHESTER AGENCIES

South Africa's Shamsi brings magic to cricket celebrations CAPE TOWN: Before he became a fulltime cricketer, South African spin bowler Tabraiz Shamsi wanted to become a professional magician. Now Shamsi has brought his old passion to the cricket field.

His extravagant celebrations after taking a wicket have attracted social media interest across the cricket-playing world. The leftarm wrist spinner’s latest trick is to take a large red handkerchief out of his pocket and, with a flick of his wrist, turn it into a metrelong wand. “I have always wanted to enjoy myself on the cricket field,” Shamsi told AFP on Friday. “There’s a lot of pressure playing professional cricket and sometimes you forget why you started playing cricket in the first place. “It’s a bit of fun. Not everyone likes it but my intentions are all good. I want to get more kids to enjoy the game.” Playing for the Paarl Rocks in South Africa’s Mzansi Super League Twenty20 competition, Shamsi is the competition’s joint second-highest wicket-taker with 12 wickets in seven matches at an average of 18.00, conceding a relatively economical 7.20 runs an over. With one league match to go, the Rocks are wellplaced to make the three-team play-offs.

“Before cricket became serious for me, at the age of about 15, I wanted to be a professional magician,” said Shamsi, 29, who has played in two Tests, 17 one-day internationals and 16 T20 internationals for South Africa. He first attracted attention for his celebrations with a dance move -– “some people called it the bus driver dance” -– which he unveiled while playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League in 2016. He then came up with a mock telephone call, taking off a shoe and pretending it was a mobile phone, while playing for St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in the Caribbean Premier League two years ago.

The trick with the wand is his latest and most elaborate move. “It takes a lot of practice to get things right and I have to be aware of the television cameras so they don’t see exactly what I do,” he said. There could be more to come. “I’m always thinking of something new –- but the most important thing is still the bowling. If there are no wickets, there are no celebrations.” AGENCIES

The balance of football power in Manchester has swung comprehensively to City from United on the field and the Premier League champions are now on the verge of toppling their neighbours in the financial stakes as well.

Despite failing to hit the heights of their past two title-winning campaigns, City host United on Saturday already 11 points ahead of their local rivals just 15 games into the league season. The Red Devils sit sixth, eight points adrift of the Champions League places, and facing a huge fight to get back into that highly lucrative competition next season.

As City try and win the Champions League for the first time, having already booked their place in the last 16 for a seventh consecutive season, United’s finances are suffering as they play Europa League football for the second time in four years. United posted record revenues of £627 million ($818 million) for last season as they reached the Champions League quarter-finals and finished sixth in the Pre-

mier League. That was nearly £100 million more than City’s £535 million for the 2018/19 campaign despite the blue half of Manchester winning an unprecedented domestic treble of Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup. However, United predict their revenue will fall to between £560 million and £580 million this season due to the drastically smaller broadcasting deals and prize money on offer in the Europa League. City’s figures for this season will also be boosted by a £650 million kit spon-

sorship deal between parent company, the City Football Group (CFG), and Puma for the next 10 seasons. That deal is still lower than United’s £750 million 10-year deal signed with Adidas in 2014, but it signals the shrinking difference in the commercial value of the two clubs.

“I think the gap will narrow substantially,” football finance expert Kieran Maguire told AFP. “From just under £100 million this year between the two clubs, that gap will be narrowed to £10-20 million for 2019/2020.”

GermAny confirm friendlieS AGAinSt SpAin, itAly before euro BERLIN: Germany will play friendlies against fellow European powerhouses Spain and Italy next March in the build-up to Euro 2020, the German Football Association (DFB) has confirmed. Joachim Loew’s side face Spain in Madrid on March 26 and Italy on March 31 in Nuremberg before the European Championship finals, which start on June 12. “With Spain and Italy, we will face two exceptional teams in the run-up to the tournament, which will be highly valuable,” said Germany team director Oliver Bierhoff. Germany have been drawn in Group F for the finals, which will be played in 12 cities across Europe, alongside holders Portugal and world champions France, with the fourth nation to be decided by a play-off. Germany play France in Munich on June 16, before hosting Portugal four days later at the Allianz Arena with their final pool game scheduled for June 24, also in Munich. AGENCIES

pele'S lASt brAzil jerSey SellS for 30,000 euroS in itAly MILAN: The jersey worn by Brazilian football legend Pele during his final match for the five-time world champions has sold for 30,000 euros ($33,000) in an auction in Italy. The three-time World Cup winner wore the jersey in a friendly against Yugoslavia at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro in July 1971, the last time he played for Brazil. Pele, 79, regarded as among the greatest footballers of all-time, scored 77 goals for Brazil in 92 appearances. The shirt was the highlight of objects which went under the hammer at the Bolaffi auction house in Turin on Thursday. Other sporting memorabilia included the yellow jersey won by Italian cycling star Fausto Coppi on his way to victory in the 1952 Tour de France, which sold for 25,000 euros. A rare blue Juventus jersey worn

by Italian defender Luciano Spinosi in the final of the 1971 UEFA Cup sold for 9,400 euros. Another shirt worn by Argentina legend Diego Maradona during his time playing for Napoli in the 198990 season sold for 7,500 euros. A bat used by US basketball great Michael Jordan during his brief foray into baseball fetched 425 euros. AGENCIES

eSports debut in SEA Games, but Olympics remain distant LONDON AGENCIES

eSports edged further into the mainstream sports world with this week’s debut at the Southeast Asian Games, but the holy grail — Olympic recognition — remains stubbornly out of reach.

A much-hyped launch in Manila, starring rows of gamers in matching tracksuits and headphones, marked the first time competitive gaming has been a medal event at an Olympic-recognised multi-sport competition.

Yet the Olympic movement has made clear it’s “premature” to discuss embracing the “commercially driven” pursuit, and there is no indication that is about to change. Gaming industry chiefs and experts see a lack of organisation — there is no unified world governing body — and a generational divide as key stumbling blocks.

“We need people representing the athletes, and the countries should get involved,” said Min-Liang Tan, CEO of Razer, the gaming hardware company putting on the SEA Games eSports competition. “I think this should be something that’s representative of the entire

industry,” he told AFP. As it stands, a number of different organisations or companies are the driving forces in a business that one industry report estimates will bring in $1 billion in revenues this year.

Key to that flow of cash is a massive worldwide audience that is expected to top 450 million people in 2019. Despite the huge numbers involved, the business-first nature of eSports — and the question of whether leisure gaming is a sport at all — has made the Olympic movement cautious.

‘OLYMPICS VIEWERS ARE DYING OFF’: Elsewhere, gaming seemed to have notched a win with the announcement that eSports would be part of the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.

However, eSports was not included on the eventual list of 37 sports due to be contested in Hangzhou. Gaming industry consultant Tyler Sycamore sees the barrier for eSports as generational and said the Olympics need to catch up.

“Especially if you are the Olympics you should be caring about the young generation because your viewers are all dying off,” he said. “That’s the state of the world.” For the players in Manila, where competition included six games

CMYK

— Mobile Legends, Arena of Valor, Dota 2, Starcraft II, Tekken 7, and Hearthstone — commercial aspects were secondary to national pride.

Singapore’s Marcus Lee, who is competing in Arena of Valor, told AFP he was “honoured” to be taking part in the SEA Games. “We do have competitions where we compete for a prize pool,” the 24-year-old said. “For this one it will be different. It will be more

for the glory and the honour of bringing a medal for our own country.” Around him, a cheer erupts every couple of minutes from one of the rows of PCs and the players exchange high fives. Jeremiah Camarillo, representing the Philippines at Arena of Valor, echoed Lee’s pride. “This time around we’re representing the country and it is bigger than us, it is beyond us, so it’s not just playing for money,” the 27-year-old said.

Saturday, 7 December, 2019

SPORTS 15

StAr-Studded pSl to kick off in februAry Category.

Peshawar Zalmi have selected EngHE Pakistan Super League land's Tom Banton with the first pick of (PSL) player draft 2020 is un- the Diamond Category.

Karachi Kings have selected Engderway in Lahore as franchises battle out each other for some of land's Chris Jordan with the third pick of the Diamond Category. the biggest names in T20 Quetta Gladiators have secricket ahead of the kick off lected Australia's Ben in February.

Cutting with the fourth The tournament Six frAnChiSES piCk pick of the Diamond began with the plAyErS frOM diffErEnt Category. speeches of PakCAtEGOriES: lAhOrE QAlAndArS Multan Sulistan Cricket piCk ChriS lynn; iSlAMAbAd UnitEd tans used their Board (PCB) wild card and seChairman Ehsan piCk dAlE StEyn; MOin Ali GOES tO lected Pakistan's Mani and CEO MUltAn SUltAnS; QUEttA GlAdiAtOrS Zeeshan Ashraf Wasim Khan. bAG JASOn rOy; ShOAib MAlik GOES with the fifth pick Following the tO pEShAwAr ZAlMi; kArAChi of the Diamond Catspeeches, the frankinGS piCk AlEx hAlES egory. chise owners were Multan Sultans have presented with memenpicked England's Ravi tos.

Bopara with the sixth pick of the DiaPLATINUM ROUND: Quetta Gladiators have selected England's Jason Roy mond Category.

Peshawar Zalmi have picked Shoaib with the first pick of the Platinum Category. Lahore Qalandars have selected Malik with the seventh pick of the DiaAustralia's Chris Lynn with their first pick mond Category.

GOLD ROUND: Lahore Qalandars have of the Platinum Category.

Multan Sultans have selected Eng- selected England's Samit Patel with the land's Moeen Ali with the third pick of the first pick of the Gold category.

Islamabad United have selected local Platinum Category.

Islamabad United have selected lad Rumman Raees with the second pick South Africa's Dale Steyn with the fourth of the Gold category.

Multan Sultans have selected local pick of the Platinum Category.

Karachi Kings have selected Eng- lad Sohail Tanvir with the third pick of land's Alex Hales with the fourth pick of the Gold category.

Karachi Kings have selected local lad the Platinum Category.

Islamabad United have selected Sharjeel Khan with the fourth pick of the South Africa's Colin Ingram with the Gold category.

Peshawar Zalmi have selected Engsixth pick of the Platinum Category.

Multan Sultans have selected South land's Liam Dawson with the fifth pick of Africa's Rilee Rossouw with the seventh the Gold category.

Quetta Gladiators have selected pick of the Platinum Category.

DIAMOND ROUND: Islamabad United legspinner Fawad Ahmed with the sixth have selected New Zealand's Colin Mon- pick of the Gold category.

Karachi Kings have selected Britishroe with the first pick of the Diamond

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SPORTS DESK

South African Cameron Delport with the seventh pick of the Gold Category.

LIST OF RETAINED AND RELEASED PLAYERS ISLAMABAD UNITED PLAYERS RETAINED: Shadab Khan (Platinum), Faheem Ashraf (Diamond as Brand Ambassador), Asif Ali (Diamond), Luke Ronchi (Gold as Player Mentor), Hussain Talat (Gold), Amad Butt, Musa Khan and Rizwan Hussain (Silver) PLAYERS RELEASED: Alex Hales, Cameron Delport, Chadwick Walton, Ian Bell, Mohammad Sami, Nasir Nawaz, Philip Salt, Rumman Raees, Sahibzada Farhan, Samit Patel, Waqas Maqsood, Wayne Parnell, Zafar Gohar and Zahir Khan KARACHI KINGS PLAYERS RETAINED: Babar Azam, Mohammad Amir (both Platinum), Imad Wasim (Diamond as Brand Ambassador), Iftikhar Ahmed (Diamond), Aamir Yamin (Gold), Usama Mir (Silver) and Umer Khan (Emerging) PLAYERS RELEASED: Aaron Summers, Abrar Ahmed, Ali Imran, Awais Zia, Ben Dunk, Colin Ingram, Colin Munro, Jaahid Ali, Liam Livingstone, Mohammad Rizwan, Ravi Bopara, Sikandar Raza, Sohail Khan and Usman Shinwari (transferred to Lahore Qalandars) LAHORE QALANDARS PLAYERS RETAINED: Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez (both Platinum), Shaheen Shah Afridi (Diamond as Brand Ambassador), David Wiese, Usman Shinwari (Diamond, Usman transferred from Karachi Kings), Haris Rauf, Sohail Akhtar (both Gold), Salman Butt (Silver).

PLAYERS RELEASED: AB de Villiers (not available in 2020), Agha Salman, Aizaz Cheema, Anton Devcich, Asela Gunaratne, Brendan Taylor, Carlos

Brathwaite, Corey Anderson (not available in 2020), Gohar Ali, Hardus Viljoen, Haris Sohail, Hassan Khan, Mohammad Imran, Rahat Ali, Riki Wessels, Ryan ten Doeschate (not available in 2020), Saad Ali, Sandeep Lamichhane, Umair Masood, Yasir Shah MULTAN SULTANS PLAYERS RETAINED: Mohammad Irfan (Platinum), Shahid Afridi (Diamond as Player Mentor), James Vince (Gold as Brand Ambassador), Junaid Khan (Gold), Ali Shafiq, Shan Masood (both Silver) and Mohammad Ilyas (Emerging) PLAYERS RELEASED: Andre Russell (not available in 2020), Chris Green, Dan Christian, Hammad Azam, Joe Denly, Johnson Charles, Laurie Evans, M. Irfan Khan, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Junaid, Nicholas Pooran, Numan Ali, Qais Ahmed, Shakeel Ansar, Shoaib Malik, Steve Smith (not available in 2020), Tom Moores and Umar Siddiq PESHAWAR ZALMI PLAYERS RETAINED: Hasan Ali, Kieron Pollard, Wahab Riaz (all Plat-

inum), Kamran Akmal (Diamond as Brand Ambassador), Daren Sammy (Gold as Player Mentor), Imam-ul-Haq (Gold) and Umar Amin (Silver) PLAYERS RELEASED Andre Fletcher, Chris Jordan, Dawid Malan, Ibtesam Sheikh, Jamal Anwar, Khalid Usman, Lendl Simmons, Liam Dawson, Misbah-ul-Haq (not available in 2020), Nabi Gul, Sameen Gul, Samiullah, Sohaib Maqsood, Tymal Mills, Umaid Asif, Waqar Salamkheil and Wayne Madsen QUETTA GLADIATORS PLAYERS RETAINED: Mohammad Nawaz, Sarfaraz Ahmed (both Platinum), Shane Watson (Diamond as Player Mentor), Ahmed Shehzad (Diamond), Umar Akmal (Gold as Brand Ambassador), Mohammad Hasnain (Gold), Ahsan Ali and Naseem Shah (Silver) PLAYERS RELEASED: Anwar Ali, Danish Aziz, Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith, Fawad Ahmed, Ghulam Mudassar, Harry Gurney, Jalat Khan, Max Waller, Mohammad Asghar, Mohammad Azam Khan, Mohammad Irfan Jr, Rilee Rossouw, Saud Shakil and Sohail Tanvir

Joshua, ruiz ready for 'Clash on the dunes' DAMMAM AGENCIES

french coach Genesio extends stay at china's beijing Guoan PARIS: Former Lyon coach Bruno Genesio has signed a oneyear extension with Beijing Guoan, the club said Friday, after helping them finish second in the Chinese Super League. The 53-year-old Frenchman took over from the sacked Roger Schmidt in July and led Guoan to seven wins, two defeats and one draw. His initial contract was until the end of this year. In a statement on the Twitter-like Weibo, Guoan praised Genesio for making his mark in just a short time at the club, especially with several key players injured. “Mr. Genesio and his coaching team will join the squad in Spain in early January to prepare for the 2020 season,” the statement said, announcing the one-year extension. “With a complete pre-season to prepare, we look forward to Beijing Guoan achieving better results in 2020 under his leadership.” Genesio’s side were still in the title race going into Sunday’s final matches of the season, but Guangzhou Evergrande won 3-0 to top the table from Guoan by two points. The German Schmidt, formerly of Bayer Leverkusen, was unfortunate to be sacked in the summer, with the club third in the CSL. It serves as a warning to Genesio, who will also lead the capital club into the AFC Champions League next year.

KHANEWAL: Punjab Table Tennis Association President Irfan Ullah Khan, Chairman Haji Ihsanullah Idrees, Vice President Syed Mateen Shah, General Secretary Anmbar Bashir Ahmad, Anjum Bashir Ahmad, Asad Jawad, Muhammad Wakeel, Amir Sohail, Farooq Rasheed pose for a photograph with Tehsil Sports Officer Muhammad Habib Dhako on completion of Inter-District Junior Championship 2019. PR

Anthony Joshua faces the biggest test of his boxing career on Saturday as he attempts to reclaim his world heavyweight crown from Andy Ruiz in a controversial rematch in Saudi Arabia.

Six months after suffering a shock knockout defeat to Ruiz at Madison Square Garden, Joshua will climb back into the ring with Ruiz seeking to win back the IBF, WBA, and WBO titles. A leaner, meaner Joshua told reporters this week he is “hungry, determined and focused” for a bout that is expected to get under way at around midnight local time (2100 GMT Saturday).

The stakes could not be higher for Joshua, who would face a long road back to the pinnacle of the heavyweight division if he loses a fight being hyped as “Clash on the Dunes.”

Victory, by contrast, would re-establish his credentials in the division, opening the door to money-spinning fights against WBC champion Deontay Wilder or fellow Briton Tyson Fury.

“I am not here to put on a show, I am here

to win,” Joshua (22-1, 21 knockouts) said.

Joshua has blamed a “lack of experience” for his defeat to Ruiz in June, when he was knocked down four times en route to a seventhround stoppage. For the rematch, the 6ft 6in (1.98m) Joshua has invested heavily in quality sparring partners, hiring boxers of similar stature to the 6ft Ruiz to prepare for the fasthanded Mexican-American. “We had to bring in hard, rough sparring partners,” Joshua said.

“I brought in the toughest and roughest.”

‘PUNCHING LIKE A HORSE’: Joshua is

also believed to have shed considerable bodyweight for the fight. In June, Joshua weighed in at 247.8 pounds (112.4 kg) but has said this week he expects to tip the scales significantly lighter, having cut muscle bulk in order to improve his mobility around the ring.

“I may be less than 17 stone (238 pounds),” Joshua said of his expected weight.

“Before I was trying to bench press a house.

I used my body to get where I needed but then I started realising the sweet science of the sport,” he said. “I am punching like a horse kicking backwards right now.” Ruiz, whose slick, swarming combinations rocked Joshua in their first meeting, says he is ready for the Briton’s likely change of tactics. “I know (Joshua) is going to come with a different game plan, I know he’s prepared and I know he’s motivated,” said Ruiz (33-1, 22 knockouts). “I know he’s lost weight and will try to box me around, but it’s just my job to prevent that. I’m ready for whatever comes my way.” Win or lose, Saturday’s eagerly-anticipated heavyweight battle could signal the dawn of a new era for boxing.

'Not the easiest to breathe': Jones leads Casey in smoke-hit Sydney SYDNEY AGENCIES

Leader Matt Jones complained of stinging eyes and trouble breathing as smoke from raging bushfires descended on the Australian Open golf competition for the second day running on Friday.

Jones birdied the final hole for a one-stroke lead over England’s Paul Casey as the players struggled through another day of smoke haze. World number 14 Casey, the highest-ranked player in the field, led for much of the day after a sparkling six-under-par 65. But Jones, who won the tournament in 2015, dropped a tricky putt on the last to be 10-under for the tournament after his first-round 67. Another Australian, Dimitrios Papadatos, was alongside Casey one shot back.

Five others, including South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen and Japanese amateur Takumi Kanaya,

the joint overnight leader, were two behind Jones, who has won twice on the PGA Tour but not since 2015. A wind change helped lift some of the toxic smoke from bushfires blazing across New South Wales in the morning before beginning to return as the day wore on. “As you can tell by the voice the smoke has got to me a little bit,” croaked Jones.

“It’s not the easiest to breathe, our eyes have definitely been stinging quite a bit. “But any time you

CMYK

get to lead is fantastic. It would have been better to be more than one in front, but I’ll take one.”

World number 15 Adam Scott, who will be playing the Presidents Cup against Tiger Woods’ US team next week, missed the cut despite firing a 67 as his first round of 75 cost him dearly.

His Presidents Cup International team skipper Ernie Els shot a 77 and will also miss the final two days, allowing him to focus on

the task ahead next week at Royal Melbourne. Former Masters champion Sergio Garcia was another to fall short of the cut.

Casey, who has won twice this year, at the PGA Tour’s Valspar Championship and the European Open, said he was finally finding his range. “I don’t know if I was fully in the zone but it was really nice stuff and it felt really good,” he said, after mixing seven birdies with a single bogey. “Suddenly from a case of sort of bumbling around, just a couple under par, challenging for lead, so good stuff.” The 42-year-old added that he was in Sydney to win, as he targets the rare feat of wins on three different tours in a single season.

“Two victories this year, I’d love to have a third and that would be on three different tours, which would be pretty cool. I don’t think I’ve done that before,” he said.

“I’m not here to make up the numbers, I’m here to try and win.”

Saturday, 7 December, 2019

NEWS

nab mOves sc against maryam's bail in csm case ISLAMABAD

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STAFF REPORT

HE National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Friday moved the Supreme Court (SC) against the bail granted to Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz by the Lahore High Court (LHC) in the Chaudhry Sugar Mills (CSM) reference.

On Nov 4, the high court granted post-arrest bail for an indefinite period to Maryam, who is the prime suspect in the reference. At the time, the Bureau had decided to challenge the verdict, saying it “has ‘concrete evidence’ against Maryam” and she “is perfectly healthy – contrary to her claims”.

In its petition, NAB argued that the LHC, in granting bail to the PML-N leader, might have “fallen in error” because it did not consider the “cardinal principle of criminal law as envisaged

Phc orders Fia probe into brt project

PETITION SAYS LHC MAY HAVE ‘FALLEN IN ERROR’ BY NOT CONSIDERING ‘CARDINAL PRINCIPLE OF CRIMINAL LAW ENVISAGED UNDER SECTION 9(B) OF NAO under the provisions of Section 9(b) of NAO, (National Accountability Ordinance) 1999”. As per Section 9 (b) of NAO, all offenses under the ordinance are non-bailable.

NAB’s petition further said that the LHC might have also ignored previous SC orders in this regard.

The accountability watchdog suspects Maryam of involvement in money laundering through investments worth as much as Rs900 million and being the main shareholder of the mills.

It has alleged that she was involved in money

laundering with the help of some foreigners during the period of 1992-93 when Nawaz was the prime minister.

The Bureau urged the apex court to allow it to “examine the legality, propriety and vires” of the LHC verdict. It further prayed that the top court sets aside the high court’s decision and cancels Maryam’s bail in the “interest of justice”.

Maryam had approached LHC on Sept 30 seeking post-arrest bail in the case. Following the sudden deterioration in the health of her father, Nawaz

Sharif, she then filed a miscellaneous petition on Oct 24 seeking immediate bail on the basis of “fundamental rights” and “humanitarian reasons”.

Meanwhile, following Friday’s hearing, the court extended the judicial remand of Yousuf Abbas till Dec 20.

The PML-N leader had been arrested along with her cousin Yousuf Abbas by NAB in the CSM corruption case on August 8. On September 25, they were sent to jail on judicial remand by an accountability court in Lahore.

Govt to resolve Awaran women case within two days, Shah assures Mengal

PESHAWAR STAFF REPORT

The Peshawar High Court (PHC) has directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to launch a probe into Peshawar’s Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) project and submit a report to the court within 45 days so that appropriate action could be taken. The bench, headed by Chief Justice Waqar Ahmad Seth, ruled this after hearing multiple petitions filed by the residents on Friday. In its order, the court called the PTI government “visionless” for concentrating the money loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in just one project.

The verdict said the government took up the project without any “feasibility study” to determine its economic, financial and technical viability. The cost of the transport corridor was also increased from Rs49.453 billion in 2017 to Rs66.437 billion in 2018, of which Rs53.320 was take in the form of a loan from the ADB. The project was to be completed in six months, due to a political announcement by the provincial government. This lead to the project being designed in haste and created many errors, Justice Seth wrote. In addition, the “per kilometer cost of the BRT is Rs2.427 billion, which is exorbitantly high.” The court also observed that senior officers of the provincial government, namely the additional chief secretary and the commissioner of the Peshawar division were enjoying hefty allowances despite having non-managerial roles.

“The PC-1 contains lavish salaries for nonproject staff like additional chief secretary and principal secretary to the chief minister, who don’t even have direct roles in the bus project,” the order read. Even the consultants pocketed hefty salaries, which the court called a “sheer waste of government’s money.” Earlier, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had decided to approach the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to conduct a forensic audit of the BRT project which has fallen massively short on its development targets, achieving only mere six per cent progress in the past six months. Meanwhile, the government was likely to revise PC-1 of the BRT project on the pretext of account adjustment.

NEWS DESK Interior Minister Brigadier (r) Ijaz Shah on Friday assured Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal that the issue of arrest of four women from Awaran district of Balochistan will be resolved within two days.

A meeting was held at the office of National Assembly (NA) Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri where the BNP-M chief was also present along with other MNAs. Mengal expressed concerns over Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf’s (PTI) failure to address the issues of its allies and said that his party would reconsider its position if it was not getting any benefits from the coalition. “We do not see the point of being a partner of this government if it refuses to address our genuine concerns,” he said.

On this, the NA deputy speaker said that he himself is from Balochistan and assured Mengal that the government was genuinely interested in working with his party for the development of the province in order to end all injus-

tices towards the people of Balochistan.

Meanwhile, during the proceedings of the National Assembly (NA) on Friday, the opposition staged a walkout in protest for not being allowed to speak about the production orders of detained lawmakers. The BNP-P chief also walked out with the opposition. The opposition demanded the implementation of the production orders issued by NA Speaker Asad Qaiser and announced that they would continue to boycott the House’s proceedings until the issue has been resolved. The session was then adjourned till Monday.

On November 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 had been forcibly picked up from district Awaran in Balochistan.

Speaking in the House, Mengal had raised the issue of Balochistan’s marginalisation since decades. He had 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 had also questioned the defence put up by the government to save former military dictator General (r) Musharraf as he held the general responsible for a decade long insurgency in the province. He had

na sessiOn Fails tO meet qUOrUm On secOnd day ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly (NA) session was adjourned for the second time on Friday as less than 86 MNAs were in attendance. The session had been adjourned on Thursday evening because of the same reason. On Friday afternoon, the opposition members staged a protest as the speaker did not issue production members for arrested MNAs. They later staged a walkout after PML-N parliamentarians asked for the microphone but their request was denied by the deputy speaker. The session went into recess. When it resumed, PML-N’s Hamid Hameed pointed out that the session cannot go on as the quorum hasn’t been met after which the session was adjourned. STAFF REPORT

One killed, shOOter dead at Us navy base attack in FlOrida MIAMI: A shooter was killed after opening fire at a US naval base in Florida on Friday and killing at least one other person, police and military officials said. Escambia County Sheriff’s Office said in a message on Twitter it could “confirm there is no longer an active shooter on NAS Pensacola. The shooter is confirmed dead.”

Naval Air Station Pensacola was put on lockdown, with the US Navy reporting that at least one victim had been killed. “One additional fatality has been confirmed. An unknown number of injured people being transferred to local hospitals,” it said in a statement posted on Twitter. Local media said that the base hosts 16,000 military personnel and more than 7,000 civilians, and is home to a flight demonstration squadron. It is an early training centre for naval pilots, and is known as the “cradle of Naval aviation.” On Wednesday, a US sailor fatally shot two people and wounded a third at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard in Hawaii before taking his own life. One witness from that attack 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. AGENCIES Published by Arif Nizami at Qandeel Printing Press, 4 Queens Road, Lahore. Ph: 042-36300938, 042-36375965. Email: newsroom@pakistantoday.com.pk

CMYK

said that 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 had 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 had 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”.