EpaperISB_21-02-06

Saturday, 6 February, 2021 I 23 Jamadi-ul-Sani, 1442 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XI No 219 I 12 Pages I Islamabad Edition

IndIa can never wIn over the KashmIrI populatIon: pm g

IMRAN SAyS SELF-DETERMINATION IS THE ONLy SOLUTION TO THE LONGSTANDING DISPUTE

KOTLI

p

staff report

RIME Minister Imran Khan on Friday said that India could never win over the resolute Kashmiri people by using force, as the implementation of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) resolutions guaranteeing the right to self-determination was the only solution.

“World history tells that no powerful army could ever win over a population.

When a nation stands united, they defeated even the powerful armies. The US, a superpower could not win in vietnam. No superpower could win in Afghanistan. France could not win over the population in Algeria,” he said addressing a huge gathering in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK).

The rally was held to express solidarity with the people of AJK and those in the Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK).

The event was attended by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Parliamentary Committee on Kashmir Chair-

man Shehryar Afridi, SAPM Rauf Hassan, and President of Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf’s (PTI) AJK Chapter Barrister Sultan Mahmood, as well as thousands of the people from across the territory.

Reiterating his commitment to raising the Kashmiri’s voice across the world, the prime minister said that instead of suppressing the Kashmir people, Narendra Modi’s Hindutva ideology, on the contrary, would destroy the Indian society.

The prime minister said that when the Kashmiris would decide in Pakistan’s favour using their right to self-determination, then Pakistan would also give them the right to decide whether they wish to stay independent or join Pakistan.

He assured the Kashmir people that the entire Pakistani nation stood united in solidarity with the Kashmiri people. Prime Minister Imran maintained the whole Muslim world supports the Kashmir cause, even though their governments may not do so due to certain reasons.

Even the right-minded people in non-Muslim societies also advocate

coronavIrus In

paKIstan

CONFIRMED CASES:

551,842

granting the right to self-determination to Kashmiris, he added.

He said that Pakistan fully realised the atrocities faced by the IOK people who had been sacrificing their loved ones.

“To the best of my abilities, I am raising your voice – be it at the UN, with the world leaders, European Union leaders.”

“I talked to former US president [Donald Trump] thrice to seek his support for Kashmir resolution. [I] Will raise your voice in media. Rest assured, I will raise your voice everywhere as I had committed to act as ambassador of Kashmir,” he said.

He said that his government tried to give a message of friendship to India and make them understand that they could not win over Kashmir through oppression.

“The Kashmir people would never accept Indian oppression despite the deployment of 900,000 troops, as the passion for freedom was inculcated even in the newborns.”

CONTINUED ON PAGE 03

Pakistan’s leadership asks int’l community to hold India accountable for Kashmir attrocities STORY ON BACK PAGE

Two killed, over 30 injured attacks on Kashmir Day rally in Sibi, Quetta STORY ON PAGE 03

g

53

RECOVERED:

NEW CASES:

1,302 DEATHS:

507,502 11,886 SINDH:

PUNJAB:

249,498 159,705 KP:

BALOCHISTAN:

AJK/GB:

ISLAMABAD:

68,004

18,844

9,144/4,913 41,734

Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Friday saluted to the Kashmiri people for their valiant struggle despite unprecedented Indian brutalities in the Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK).

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) director-general, in a tweet, said it was the time to end this human tragedy and resolve Kashmir issue as per aspirations of people of Jammu and Kashmir and resolutions of United Nations.

“Salute to Kashmiris for their valiant struggle, braving gravest atrocities, human rights violations and lockdown in IIOJK under Indian occupation forces. Time to end this human tragedy and resolve Kashmir issue as per aspirations of people of J&K & UN resolutions,” ISPR quoted the army chief as saying.

Earlier this week, the army chief had said that Pakistan and India must resolve the Kashmir dispute in a “dignified and peaceful manner”.

“Pakistan and India must resolve the long-standing issue of Jammu and Kashmir in a dignified and peaceful manner as per the aspirations of people of Jammu and Kashmir and bring this human tragedy to its logical conclusion,” COAS Bajwa had said during the graduation ceremony of 144th GD(P), 90th Engineering Course and 100th AD courses held at PAF Academy Asghar Khan on Tuesday.

“However, we will not allow anybody or any entity to misinterpret our

THE LAWyER CONCEDED THAT THE INvESTIGATION WAS 'FAR FROM COMPLETE', ADMITTING THAT THE DAILy MAIL 'HAS vERy LIMITED INFORMATION' IsLAmAbAD

DAY'S DEATH TOLL:

RAWALPINDI staff report

‘Pretty limited’ evidence against Shehbaz Sharif, concedes Daily Mail

staff report

LAST UPDATED AT 9:04 AM ON FEBRUARY 5, 2021

Time to end human tragedy, resolve Kashmir issue: COAS

Andrew Caldecott, a lawyer for the Associated Papers, said that the evidence against the president of Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) was “pretty limited” whilst referring to the Shahbaz Sharif vs Daily Mail defamation case, Geo reported on Friday.

The Mail and Mail on Sunday lawyer said that “actual detailed evidence against Shehbaz Sharif” about corruption and the money-laundering allegation is “pretty limited and based on assumptions”, adding that Shehbaz “lives in a palace” in Lahore.

Caldecott, while presenting his arguments virtually before the London High Court, asserted that the element of “political witch hunt” cannot be ruled out. However, he added that this does not mean there is no money laundering involved, as alleged in David Rose’s article.

Justice Matthew Nicklin, who

was presiding over the case, said that he had read the article in question and the materials presented to him by the counsels for both Daily Mail and Shehbaz, but clarified he had stayed away from the ongoing cases against the PML-N president within Pakistan “because that’s not for me to read or know.

I would rather not know what’s happening in Pakistan.”

The lawyer for the publica-

tion, to this, explained that the money-laundering investigation had started in Pakistan, leading to the discovery of a huge amount, and quoted Adviser to the Prime Minister Shahzad Akbar’s statement.

He further said that it was also revealed that Department for International Development (DFID) funds were embezzled. “The investigation is now moving on in Pakistan to find the source of these funds.”

The lawyer conceded that the investigation was “far from complete”, admitting that the Daily Mail “has very limited information.”

“Having established the scale of money laundering, the investigation is now moving to the next phase,” he added.

Adrienne Page, representing Shehbaz, took the court through the entire article and maintained that it this publication had alleged that Shehbaz was “guilty of corruption” and had ties to the UK government.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 05

desire for peace as a sign of weakness,” the ISPR had quoted the army chief as saying.

Pakistan, he had said, is a peaceloving country that has rendered great sacrifices for regional and global peace. “We stand firmly committed to the ideal of mutual respect and peaceful co-existence. It is time to extend a hand of peace in all directions.”

On August 5, 2019 the Modi-led government removed the legal fig leaf from Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) when it abrogated Article 370 of its constitution, which accorded ostensible “autonomy” to the state, and bifurcated it into two “Union Territories” of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

General Bajwa had said that the armed forces of Pakistan are fully capable and prepared to thwart any threat. “The immaculate coordination and harmony displayed by all the three services in operations against the enemies of Pakistan has brought great improvement in the internal security environment.”

According to the ISPR, the army chief had specially commended the critical role played by Pakistan Air Force in the war on terror. “The outstanding courage and professional excellence displayed by brave air warriors of Pakistan Air Force during Operation Swift Retort is a manifestation of our resolve and capability.”

The whole nation, he had said, is proud of its Air Force and “I earnestly hope that PAF will scale new heights of glory and excellence in the years to come”.

more inside

PDM urges public to reject PTI in upcoming AJK elections STORY ON PAGE 02

Balochistan coal miners reluctant to work after Hazara massacre STORY ON BACK PAGE

Pakistan plans to use Pfizer, AstraZeneca vaccines for elderly STORY ON PAGE 02

Exports cross $2bn for fourth consecutive month STORY ON PAGE 05

02

Saturday, 6 February, 2021

ISLAMABAD

NEWS

PDM urges PublIc to reject PtI In uPcoMIng AjK electIons

t

NEwS DESk

HE Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), an 11-party coalition against the government, urged the people of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) to reject the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in the upcoming AJK elections.

Addressing the public during the Muzaffarabad rally of the anti-government alliance on the occasion of Kashmir Solidarity Day, PDM President and Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman once again raised claims of election rigging.

“Today, I want to say something to you.

Listen to it intently. We rejected the 2018 elections. This is a rigged government. We will not accept the rigging in the GilgitBaltistan (GB) elections… and now they [this government] are preparing to rig the upcoming AJK elections,” he said.

BILAWAL ACCUSES IMRAN OF BEING ON ONE PAGE WITH MODI The JUI-F chief also warned the public to be vary of those that switch alliances to the PTI just before the elections, and declared such people to be “traitors” to the cause of Kashmir and unworthy of votes.

“What has this government given to Pakistan that it will give to Kashmir?” Fazl asked, warning the rally’s participants of election the PTI government in the upcoming elections.

“This government will ruin Kashmir,” he added. He paid tribute to the Kashmiri people whose “elders decided to be loyal towards Pakistan and you are steadfast on it today”. He wrapped by his speech by saying he hopes the people of the region win their freedom and decide to join Pakistan.

“This kind of incompetent prime minister not only threatens the freedom of

Pakistan will stand with Kashmir against Indian atrocities, says Faraz ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz on Friday said that Pakistan would continue to stand with their Kashmiri brethren struggling against the Indian atrocities, military attacks, oppression and cruelty in the occupied Jammu and Kashmir. The minister, in his message on the occasion of Kashmir Solidarity Day, said that today the people of Pakistan expressed solidarity with their Kashmiri brothers, reiterating their pledge that Pakistan would continue to extend moral, political and diplomatic support for the Kashmiris right to self-determination. He said that the Kashmir dispute was an unfinished agenda of the sub-continent’s partition, and the one-sided and illegal step of India on August 5, 2019, on Kashmir had further increased the importance of the day of February 5. The unarmed and oppressed Kashmiris, he added, had been the victims of inhuman treatment of India for the last seven decades. However, the continuous military siege, communication blockade, media blackouts and severe restrictions faced by the Kashmiris in the last 18 months were unprecedented in the world, he further said. Faraz said that India was now known as a cruel and oppressive imperial state, which had not only usurped the basic rights of Kashmiris but also made the lives of minorities in the country miserable. Especially the Muslims were targetted with discriminatory treatment and oppression, he added. The minister pointed out that there was no respect and protection for the life, property, businesses, social and economic rights, and sacred religious and historic places of Muslims in India. The Kashmiri people were struggling for the last seven decades for their just, democratic and basic rights, he observed. He called upon the international community to force India to stop its inhuman treatment of the Kashmiris. STAFF REPORT

every Pakistani but also that of every Kashmiri,” said Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari during his address.

He continued: “The Imran Khan who calls Modi a fascist today […] is the same Imran Khan who prayed for Modi’s victory in elections.” “Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly following the annexation, all this prime minister had to say was ‘What can I do?’” Bilawal said, accusing the premier of having been helpless after the annexation of Kashmir.

Taking the podium after the JUI-F chief, Bilawal said: “We will fight a 1,000 years for the freedom of Kashmir.”

“It is unfortunate that a country that saw a prime minister like Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and the first woman prime minister of the

Muslim world, Benazir Bhutto, is being run by a ‘puppet prime minister’,” the party chairman added.

He claimed that PM Imran will soon step down, adding that the “puppet government [will not be] allowed to trade away your rights or destroy the economy”.

“If we have to defeat Modi, we will need a democratic government, not a ‘selected’ government,” said the PPP chairman while lambasting the sitting government.

The former president’s son said that the prime minister who had promised to be Kashmir’s advocate is trying to become a lawyer for Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav.

He also said that Prime Minster Imran Khan was “on the same page” as his Indian counterpart.

“This puppet government that keeps

repeating the mantra of ‘same page’, is basically on the same page with Modi,” he said to a charged crowd. “We will never stoop as low as this government, who is doing exactly what Modi does to his opponents”. Referring to the long march by the PDM that was announced a day before, Bilawal encouraged the people to join: “It has been decided in Islamabad that a long march will be held on March 26. And you will also reach Islamabad from Kashmir.”

“We also compete with each other as political parties in this country, but we also keep in mind the country’s cultural ethos,” he added while ridiculing the PTI for having arrested Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz and his aunt, Faryal Talpur in separate incidents. Moreover, PML-N VP Maryam said that PM Imran would be considered a “criminal” in any conversation involving Kashmir’s plight as she accused him of “selling Kashmir”.

Pakistan calls for combating Islamophobia on first-ever International Day of Human Fraternity UNITED NATIONS STAFF REPORT

Pakistan has reaffirmed its commitment to promoting religious tolerance, understanding and cooperation at home and abroad at a virtual event held to commemorate the first-ever International Day of Human Fraternity, observed on Thursday.

“A recent manifestation of this commitment is the opening of Kartarpur Corridor, the world’s largest Gurdwara, allowing easy access to our Sikh brothers from the neighbourhood and all across the world,” Ambassador Muhammad Aamir Khan, deputy permanent representative of Pakistan to the United Nations, said.

“It is in our enlightened interest to respect each other’s religions, avoid denigration of religious symbols and personalities, eliminate religious discrimination, and combat incitement to violence, including its contemporary manifestation Islamophobia,” he added.

The designation of February 4 as the International Day of Human Fraternity is the result of a UN General Assembly resolution adopted in December, which was co-sponsored by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

'IT IS IN OUR ENLIGHTENED INTEREST TO RESPECT EACH OTHER’S RELIGIONS,' SAYS AMBASSADOR MUHAMMAD AAMIR KHAN In his remarks, Khan said that while globalization had brought people closer and increased inter-dependence, it has also spawned divisions and frictions among and within societies.

“We are also witnessing global resurgence in intolerance, discrimination, racism, negative stereotyping, and violence against persons, on the basis of religion or belief,” he said, pointing out that Islamophobia is particularly on the rise.

“In many places, including in our own region,” the Pakistani representative said, “Covid-19 has aggravated the clash of cultures and religions, inciting new waves of violence.”

That problem, he said, continued to grow — partly by the rise in populism breaking down previous societal checks against hate speech, and partly by mainstreaming of hatred, contempt and hostility through unregulated social media.

In this context, he highlighted the 2019 signing of the “Document on

Human Fraternity for World Peace and living Together” in Abu Dhabi between Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of AlAzhar, Ahmad al-Tayeb.

“We believe that the document provides us with a clear blueprint for promoting acceptance and respect of religious and cultural diversity through interreligious and intercultural dialogue,” Khan said. “This is essential for creating an environment conducive to building peaceful, just and inclusive societies.”

“In a way,”, he added, “the values and principles espoused by the document on human fraternity are fully aligned with the goals and objectives of the United Nations Alliance of Civilisations (UNAOC),” a platform for improving cross-cultural relations.

In a message to the commemorative event, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for more commitment towards promoting cultural and religious tolerance.

“Around the world, deep-seated discrimination, acts of intolerance and hate crimes persist against people simply because of their religion or belief, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation”, he said.

Describing these “vile acts” as an affront to human rights and UN values, he underscored how cultural diversity and freedom of belief are part of the “rich tapestry” of humanity.

High Representative for UNAOC Miguel Ángel Moratinos said, “Observing an international day of Human Fraternity is needed now more than ever before, considering the deplorable fragmentation of our world today. We are not only facing the ramifications of a pandemic, but also the contagious virus of hate, discrimination and racism.”

“The antidote or best antibodies to hate is human fraternity, which embodies compassion, solidarity, unity and mutual respect.”

Pakistan plans to use Pfizer, AstraZeneca vaccines for elderly ISLAMABAD TLTP

Pakistan plans to administer the PfizerBioNTech and AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccines to its elderly population, a health official said.

The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) has till now granted emergency validation to the Chinese-made Sinopharm vaccine and the AstraZeneca vaccine developed by Oxford University.

Pfizer will now also be filing for emergency use authorisation in Pakistan later this month, a senior health official told a private television channel on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to the press.

“Pfizer has not applied as yet [for approval],” he explained, “They [the company] has conveyed that they are preparing a dossier for submission by the end of February.”

Once the pharmaceutical company submits its proposal, the drug regulatory authority will then decide if it is safe to roll out the jab.

On February 2, Pakistan officially kicked off its coronavirus inoculation campaign nationwide, after China gifted the country 500,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine. The tranche will be used to vaccinate the 500,000 healthcare workers in the country who are directly in contact with the Covid-19 infected.

Since then, Pakistan has immunised 10,000 healthcare workers, the health

PAKISTAN RECORDS 53 MORE DEATHS, 1,302 NEW CASES

official said.

Besides the delivery from China, Pakistan is also on the list to receive 17,160,000 doses through the global COVAX platform, which is expected to buy in bulk the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine and a smaller quantity of Pfizer as well.

The delivery is expected at the end of February, provided that the World Health Organisation (WHO) grants Emergency Use Listing (EUL) to AstraZeneca, a press release from WHO on Wednesday stated.

The WHO has already given the go-ahead to the Pfizer vaccine.

Pakistan plans to use both the

AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccine on its over 60-years-old population, who will be vaccinated in the second phase of its drive after covering healthcare professionals, the health official explained.

“For over 60 years, the AstraZeneca will arrive at the end February,” he said, “And small quantities of Pfizer too.” The two vaccines will be administered to the elderly population provided “the [drugs] meet the requirements of WHO Emergency Use Authorisation or satisfy DRAP quality parameters,” the official added.

The coronavirus pandemic has claimed 53 more lives in the country during the past

24 hours, taking the overall death toll to 11,886, said the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Friday.

According to the latest statistics of the NCOC, 1,302 new infections were reported, surging the national tally of cases to 551,842. Another 1,684 patients recovered from the virus in a day, and so far 507,502 people have recovered from the deadly disease.

A total of 1,903 patients were stated to be in critical condition. The total count of active cases is 33,184. A total of 37,020 tests were conducted across the country on Thursday, while 8,122,447 samples have been tested so far.

So far Sindh province has reported 249,498 cases of the coronavirus. Around 159,705 cases have been reported in Punjab, 68,004 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), 18,844 in Balochistan, 41,734 Covid-19 cases in Islamabad and 9,144, 4,913 cases of the deadly virus have been reported in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and GilgitBaltistan (GB), respectively.

Sindh reported at least 545 new coronavirus cases during the past 24 hours, taking the tally to 250,042. According to Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, seven more patients succumbed to the deadly virus as the death toll surged to 4,066. He further said that 338 patients recovered from the deadly disease, taking the total to 226,752.

At least 394 new coronavirus cases were recorded in Punjab during the past 24 hours, taking the provincial tally to 159,705.

According to the Punjab Primary and

Secondary Health Care Department, at least 19 more patients succumbed to the pandemic as the total reached 4,840. The department added that at least 145,681 patients had recovered from the deadly virus as of yet.

Meanwhile, Europe and pharma groups must work together to speed up Covid-19 vaccinations, the head of the European branch of the World Health Organization said Friday, expressing concern about the effectiveness of vaccines on virus variants.

“We need to join up to speed up vaccinations,” Europe WHO Director Hans Kluge said, as Europe bids to overcome a slow start to its vaccination campaign amid tensions between Brussels and vaccine manufacturers.

“Otherwise competing pharmaceutical companies (must) join efforts to drastically increase production capacity … that’s what we need,” Kluge said.

In the European Union (EU), just 2.5 per cent of the population has received a first vaccine dose, though announcements by several laboratories of increased vaccine deliveries have raised hopes of an acceleration.

Asked whether the vaccines available since December would be effective against new virus variants, Kluge replied: “That’s the big question. I’m concerned.”

“We have to be prepared” for new problematic mutations of the virus, he warned, calling on countries to expand their genomic sequencing capacity. “It’s a cruel reminder that the virus still has the upper hand on the human being.”

Saturday, 6 February, 2021

ISLAMABAD

NEWS

Punjab governor, CM exPress solidarity with KashMiri brothers LaHore

P

STAFF REPORT

UNJAB Governor Chaudhry Mohammad Sarwar, Chief Minister Usman Buzdar along with the provincial ministers and members of the assembly, on the occasion of Kashmir Solidarity Day, expressed firm solidarity with Kashmiri brothers and sisters.

They vowed to stand by the Kashmiris till the end in their freedom struggle. Indian atrocities on Kashmir were also strongly condemned.

A ceremony by the Punjab government on Kashmir Solidarity Day was held on Friday at Governor House Lahore and the event was attended by Governor Sarwar, CM Buzdar, Punjab Law Minister Raja Muhammad Basharat, Special Assistant to the Punjab Minister on Information Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan, Punjab Assembly Member Sania Kamran, Punjab Inspector General of Police (IGP) Inam Ghani, Bashadahi Mosque Khatib Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad and other important personalities belonging to different walks of life.

Addressing the ceremony and talking to the media, Sarwar said that Prime Minister Imran Khan has emerged as the ambassador of Kashmir.

Pakistan is not complete without the

BUZDAR SAYS KASHMIR WILL BE FREE VERY SOON

ZUBAIR MEHFOOZ

freedom of Kashmir and we will continue to support Kashmiris’ struggle for freedom as Kashmir is the jugular vein of Pakistan, he said.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the murderer of more than 95,000 Kashmiris and the world’s biggest terrorist, the governor added.

Instead of being silent spectators of Indian atrocities on Kashmiris, the

international media urged to expose indian army’s atrocities in Kashmir

Kashmir issue should be resolved in accordance with UN resolutions, he reiterated.

The Punjab governor said that Narendra Modi should not forget that the oppression has to end one day. More than 7,000 Kashmiris have been martyred in the custody of Indian forces.

He declared that he was proud that to have always been fighting for the

rights of Kashmiris and against the Indian atrocities, which, he added, will be exposed to the whole world in the future too.

Independence of Kashmir is right of Kashmiris that no one can take away from them, he maintained.

“I also pay tribute to other Pakistanis who have raised their voices for the rights of Kashmiris all over the world.

Today we all pledge that we will not shy from any sacrifice for the liberation of Kashmir and that time is not far away when Kashmir will become a part of Pakistan.”

CM Buzdar said that Kashmir Solidarity Day means that the country is all one on Kashmir cause. Pakistan is incomplete without Kashmir and Kashmiris. “Kashmiris had decided in favour of Pakistan even before independence,” he claimed.

Paying tribute to Kashmiris, he said that their courage, bravery and sacrifice are a bright chapter of history. He also paid tribute to mothers, sisters, daughters and children who have made great sacrifices for the cause of Kashmir.

The Punjab chief minister maintained that, under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan, Pakistan is fighting for the freedom of Kashmiris all over the world. Kashmir will be free very soon, he claimed.

TWO KILLED, OVER 30 INJURED ATTACKS ON KASHMIR DAY RALLY IN SIBI, QUETTA SIBI TLTP

neWS deSK EU-Pak Friendship Federation Europe Chairman Chaudhry Perveiz Iqbal Losar visited Shaheen Top, Line of Control (LoC) on Friday to observe Kashmir Solidarity Day. “Kashmiri brothers and sisters have sacrificed so much in their struggle of selfdetermination and supported Pakistan Army while standing with them shoulder to shoulder,” he said while talking to a gathering. He said that the terrorist and coward Indian Army has shifted its own civilian population from LoC to other places, but they attack on innocent civilian population across the LoC. He said that the coward and terrorist Indian Army is standing just 1,700 meters away from Shaheen Top. He saluted the sacrifices of Kashmiris who are facing brutalities of terrorist Indian Army. He urged international media to expose Indian army atrocities in occupied Kashmir to the world and help Kashmiris in their right to self-determination under the United Nations resolutions. Losar said that Indian Army and government had staged a conspiracy against its own soldiers at Pulwama. He added that Indian government’s anti-Pakistan propaganda campaign has been exposed by the EU DisinfoLab recently in Europe.

At least 30 people were injured when a hand grenade was hurled at a Kashmir Solidarity Day rally in Sibi on Friday. The rally was passing through Chakar Road Chungi when the hand grenade was thrown on it.

However, the grenade missed its target.

The explosion slightly damaged a motorcycle and nearby buildings. The wounded were rushed to Civil Hospital in Sibi in Edhi Foundation ambulances where the deputy commissioner has sounded an emergency.

Sibi Station House Officer Wazir Khan Marri said that miscreants on a motorcycle threw a hand grenade at Luni Chowk, which resulted in injuries to 16 people.

Eleven of those injured were shifted to District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) while five to Combined Military Hospital (CMH) Quetta. According to doctors, the condition of four injured, including a police constable, was serious. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. The security forces have surrounded the area after the bomb attack and started a search operation for the culprits. Hours after the first attack, at least two people were killed with another four injured in an explosion near the Deputy Commissioner (DC) office on Inscomb Road in Quetta. According to Quetta Civil Hospital Medical Superintendent Arbab Kamran, the bodies of two victims were brought to the facility, while four injured persons were brought for treatment.

Quetta DC Major (r) Major Aurangzeb Badini reported that the Quetta blast was targeted at a Kashmir Solidarity Day rally that was passing from the area, adding that the nature of the blast couldn’t be ascertained as yet. Security forces cordoned off the area

THE RALLY WAS PASSING THROUGH CHAKAR ROAD CHUNGI WHEN THE HAND GRENADE WAS THROWN after the explosion while evidence was being collected.

Governor Amanullah Khan Yasinzai, while strongly condemning the blast, said that the nefarious motives of the terrorists will be foiled with national integrity.

He urged the law enforcement agencies to take stern action against the elements involved in the incident and directed the authorities concerned to provide all medical facilities to the injured. On January 7, two people were killed and more than a dozen injured – including two soldiers of the paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) – in a blast in the provincial capital. The blast comes two weeks after four members of the Sibi Scouts, a wing of the Frontier Corps’ North Wing, were martyred and five others were injured when their vehicle hit a landmine in Sangaan area of Sibi. Unknown miscreants had planted a landmine in the area, which went off when a vehicle carrying the security personnel ran over it.

Last month, Chief Minister Jam Kamal said that the security challenges in Balochistan were on a decline as the law enforcers had defeated the elements stoking terrorism across the province. “People of the province and security forces have rendered immense sacrifices in the war against terrorism and defeated the hostile forces using Pakistan’s soil for international war,” he was quoted as saying while addressing the participants of a national security workshop in Quetta.

India can never win over the Kashmiri population: PM ContInued from page 01 The prime minister said that following its unilateral actions of August 5, 2019, India had also lost the support of the few Kashmiri leaders who were now also calling for freedom.

“No pro-India politician will ever be able to win the election in IOK,” he said.

He said that he tried to improve ties with India through dialogue and seek Kashmir resolution under the UN resolution as “there is no other way”.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi planned a false flag Pulwama attack, which was followed by a strike at Balakot, just to get anti-Pakistan votes, he stressed.

Prime Minister Imran regretted that the attack at Balakot only damaged his “much-loved” trees. “I have a special feeling for my trees,” he said as the crowd cheered.

He said that the conspiracy of the false flag operation was revealed through the WhatsApp chat of Indian news anchor Arnab Goswami. He added that Indian propaganda against him and the Pakistan Army through hundreds of fake websites was also exposed by the EUbased DisinfoLab. “We were trying to develop a friendship but they were stabbing us in back,” he remarked.

PM Imran said that any society having pursued a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)-like agenda

was destined to be destroyed, adding it also divided Indian society wherein Muslims were being discriminated against and other minorities felt scared.

He said that true leaders like the Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) always strived to unite people.

Similarly, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Nelson Mandella were revered just because of their role to unite the divided societies.

He maintained that by dividing Indian society, Modi was actually laying the basis of Indian destruction.

Calling India to resolve bilateral issues with Pakistan through dialogue with the reversal of August 5 actions as a precondition, the prime minister said

Pakistan was ready to talk to India.

“But our quest for peace must not be misconstrued as weakness,” he added.

“Never misunderstand that our offer for friendship is based on any fear. This is the country of Allah’s believers who are afraid of nothing but Allah,” the prime minister remarked.

He said that like all other leaders who wish to serve the masses, he also desired to unite the people and uplift the backward areas.

Particularly, he added, the government was aware of the sufferings faced by the people living along the Line of Control (LoC) due to Indian aggression and announced that a relief package had been prepared for them.

03

‘Kashmir is the beating heart of Pakistan’, Munir akram says in solidarity message unIted natIonS STAFF REPORT

Re-affirming Pakistan’s “unwavering” support to Kashmiris in their struggle for freedom from India, Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Munir Akram on Friday said that a people determined to free themselves of foreign occupation are destined to succeed.

“The day is not far when the people of Kashmir will be able to free themselves from the yoke of Indian occupation,” the Pakistani envoy said in a message to the UN community on the occasion of Kashmir Solidarity Day, while highlighting that the Kashmir issue has been reinternationalised. “Kashmir is the beating heart of Pakistan. The ‘K’ in Pakistan stands for Kashmir. The ideal of Pakistan is incomplete without it,” he said. “The people of Pakistan have always stood resolutely with their Kashmir brethren against Indian oppression and aggression.” The Permanent Mission of Pakistan in New York remains the voice of the Kashmiris at the UN and other international fora, Ambassador Akram said. “We are utilising every opportunity to fight their legal, moral and political case, and to expose the true face of India’s cruel and naked occupation.” He said that the BJP-RSS regime would not succeed in its “sinister designs” to physically, politically and psychologically crush the legitimate and indigenous freedom struggle and impose the status quo as a fait accompli on Pakistan.

“Inevitably,” the Pakistani envoy said, “India will fail to oppress the Kashmiri people.” “The Kashmir issue is once again reinternationalised,” he said, adding that the UN Security Council, UN secretary-general, UN General Assembly president, high commissioner for human rights and other highranking UN human rights experts and special rapporteurs had on numerous occasions expressed grave concerns over India’s massive atrocities and crimes in occupied Kashmir.

“Pakistan will continue to extend full moral, political and diplomatic support till the time the people of Kashmir are able to realise their inalienable right to self-determination.”

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Saturday, 6 February, 2021

ISLAMABAD

NEWS

Punjab to assist Gb in health, education, it sectors: buzdar LAHORE

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STAFF REPORT

HE government of Punjab has assured full cooperation to the Gilgit-Baltistan government in health, education, information technology (IT) and other sectors.

This was assured when GB Chief Minister Barrister Khalid Khurshid called on Punjab counterpart Usman Buzdar on Friday and discussed matters of mutual interest.

Both the chief ministers strongly condemned Indian brutalities in occupied Kashmir and expressed complete solidarity with the oppressed Kashmiris.

Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) Chairman Azfar Manzur and Secretary to CM Gilgit Baltistan Usman

Ahmed signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in this regard. Under the MoU, PITB will assist in developing CM complaint management system, web portal and task management system for GB. Buzdar announced to provide training opportunities to GB's paramedical staff in nursing colleges, saying that the issue of reservation of quota for the GB students in provincial medical colleges will also be given sympathetic consideration. He termed the Pakistan Tehreek-eInsaf’s (PTI) success in GB elections a victory of the agenda of change and the vision of a new Pakistan.

“The people of Gilgit Baltistan are our brothers and the Punjab government will continue every possible cooperation for the development there,” he assured.

Buzdar stated that the people of Pakistan are standing with Kashmiris like a solid rock and asserted that no power on earth can weaken the immortal relationship between the peoples of Pakistan and Kashmir.

The hands of the Modi regime are stained with the blood of Kashmiris as every Kashmiri is demanding freedom from Indian yoke, he added and assured to provide every possible cooperation to GB for its development.

The GB chief minister thanked Buzdar for extending necessary cooperation, saying this would further promote brotherhood and unity between federating units.

“We are thankful to the Punjab government for its cooperation in health, education, IT and other sectors,” he added.

Khalid Khurshid maintained that Indian atrocities have been fully exposed before the world as the Modi regime is facing internal conflicts and strife. Pakistanis have always supported the oppressed people of pccupied Kashmir and the whole nation is united for Kashmir cause under the leadership of Prime Minister Imran Khan, he said.

Khurshid presented a traditional GB cap “Shanti” to Buzdar and invited him to visit Gilgit Baltistan to watch a polo match.

Buzdar accepted the invitation and announced to visit GB soon. He also gifted a traditional stick of tribal areas to CM Khurshid.

Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid, SACM Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan and others were also present on the occasion.

Kashmir curfew is a sheer violation of human rights: sindh CM KARACHI STAFF REPORT

Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on Friday said that Indian authorities have imposed the longest curfew in the history of Kashmir which was a sheer violation of human rights (HR) and a solid proof of their inhuman behaviour for international human rights bodies.

He stated this while talking to media after leading a rally to express solidarity with the people of Kashmir organised by Karachi commissioner from People’s Chowrangi to Mazar-e-Quid.

The rally was attended by provincial ministers, Saeed Ghani, Murtaza Wahab, Sindh IGP, provincial secretaries, civil society, human rights activists and others in a large number. CM Murad said that the Indian government, to suppress people of

CM Murad says IndIan governMent had turned the vaLLey Into a no-go-area to suppress peopLe of KashMIr Kashmir, had not only amended their constitution to deny the historical rights of people of the valley, but had turned the valley into a no-go-area where no person was allowed to enter for witnessing the plight of the people.

“In the history, the curfew imposed in Kashmir is the longest ever imposed anywhere in the world,” he said.

The CM said that the conferences, walks and seminars to highlight the plight of people of Kashmir were good but they would have to make some tangible efforts on diplomatic forums to force India for restoring status of Kashmir, lift curfew

from the valley and allow plebiscite as was decided by the United Nations. “Setting aside all political difference, we as a nation would have to unite on a single agenda to liberate the people of Kashmir from the clutches of Indian government,” he said. The chief minister said that the atrocities unleashed in the valley of

Kashmir was a threat to the regional peace. “If the international community is interested in the peace in the region it would have to take notice of Modi government’s crimes in Kashmir and force him to restore the rights of suppressed people of Kashmir by withdrawing heavy police and armed forces from the valley,” he added. CM Murad urged the international community to become the voice of the voiceless people of Kashmir.

He also assured people of Kashmir that the people of Pakistan were with them and would be fighting for their legitimate rights.

boy commits suicide after Poor mother refuses to buy him clothes LAHORE INP

A 12-year-old boy committed suicide after his cash-strapped mother refused to buy him new clothes in a Lahore neighbourhood on Friday. According to rescue officials, the incident occurred in Naz Town where Saqlain Ishfaq asked his mother for a pair of new pants, which she refused due to a lack of money. Dejected, the boy ended his life by hanging himself from a ceiling fan at his house. The body was shifted to Jinnah Hospital’s morgue. In a similar incident, a youth shot himself dead in Bhakkar district. According to the police, the deceased went to his in-laws’ house in Shah Alam area to coax his annoyed wife into accompanying him back to their house. Upon her refusal, the youngster got disheartened and shot himself dead.

20-year-old Girl raPed in lahore LAHORE INP

Two boys tortured and raped a 20-year-old girl in the Mozang area of Lahore on Friday. According to the statement the girl gave to the police, Ihsan and Hassan barged into her house when she was alone; thrashed her and then raped her. She told the police that the suspects fled when somebody telephoned them. Police registered the case against Ihsan and Hassan while the girl was shifted to the hospital for treatment. The police said it was investigating the case and hoped the culprits would be arrested soon.

India stuck in quagmire after repealing IOK special status: Moeed ISLAMABAD APP

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister (SAPM) on National Security Dr Moeed Yusuf on Friday said that India had failed to crush the Kashmiris' freedom struggle post revocation of the special status of Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK).

Its illegal actions had rather increased hatred among all the Kashmiris and dragged it into a quagmire, the SAPM said in an exclusive interview with APP on the Kashmir Solidarity Day. He said that the EU DisinfoLab report and Pakistan's dossier highlighting the Inaian state-sponsored terrorism on its soil were clear and eyeopening evidence for the world.

"The problem is that the next logical action to be taken by the world should be based on moral, ethical and legal grounds to hold India accountable and punish the perpetrators

within India involved in violence and human rights abuses along with demographic changes and genocidal acts being perpetrated in IOK is not considered."

Dr Moeed said that India should be held accountable for illegal occupation of the Jammu and Kashmir and penalised for massacre, mass rapes and maiming of innocent Kashmiri youth, women and children.

The SAPM said that February 5 this year was different for two reasons. Firstly, the Kashmiri people had been under military siege for another full year since last February 5 amid communication blockade and a domicile law aimed at diluting the demography and their culture. It was unbearable for any Pakistani. Secondly, he added, by the grace of the Almighty, India's true face was exposed to the world not only by Pakistan’s efforts to highlight its hegemonic and fascist designs, but also by independent voices of legislators, human rights organizations, and media of the

Punjab allows wedding ceremonies in ventilated marquees LAHORE: Punjab government has allowed wedding ceremonies to be held in marquees under strict guidelines to halt the spread of coronavirus. Captain (r) Muhammad Usman, the secretary of the Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department, said that wedding ceremonies can be held in marquees that are adequately ventilated. However, he made it clear that no event will be allowed to be held in marquees without proper ventilation. He stressed the need for following standard operating procedures (SOPs), including wearing mask and social distancing, while attending an event to keep the deadly disease at bay. Dinning is allowed at open-air restaurants, hotels and marquees, he added. On November 20, the Punjab government had notified a ban on indoor marriage ceremonies across the province to control the second wave of coronavirus pandemic. STAFF REPORT

Man jumps to death from Lahore flyover LAHORE: A man committed suicide in Lahore by jumping from Walton flyover situated at Ferozepur Road on Friday. The deceased has been identified as Muhammad Shafiq. Police soon reached the site of the incident and started an investigation. INP

West. The EU DisinfoLab report also brought fore India’s ugly face.

"What more evidence does the world need to know that they are dealing with a rogue government in India deliberately spreading lies against Pakistan."

He expressed the hope that by next February 5 the situation would be different as Pakistan would be able to force India to take the right steps for liberating the IOK. He, however, acknowledged that there was no overnight solution available and the struggle would take some time to reach its logical conclusion.

"Pakistan is pursuing all diplomatic and legal channels to achieve its goal of getting the Kashmiris their just and acknowledged right of self-determination."

Dr Moeed said that former Indian ministers like Yashvant Sinha and others had revealed that India as a state was lying to the world on the Kashmir Issue.

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‘Pretty limited’ evidence against Shehbaz Sharif, concedes Daily Mail continued from page 01 She stated that the article was defamatory from start to finish while simultaneously lacking evidence but making baseless allegations of fraud and moneylaundering. “The Daily Mail article implicated the former chief minister Punjab Shehbaz Sharif as involved in suspected theft of UK taxpayers money.

That was hugely damaging and ashamed Mr Sharif in the eyes of the British readers and to readers in Pakistan, a country which benefits hugely from the UK’s aid to its country,” she maintained. Referring to the claims of the published piece as “a grave allegation,” Page pointed out that the allegations were written in a way such that they were portrayed as facts. “Whose money has been stolen?” she questioned. “Money laundering is criminal misconduct, but who was victimised and where is the proof? Where the stolen money? Where is the evidence? Where’s the evidence of kickbacks and misappropriation?” Refuting the publication’s lawyer, Page stated that the accused’s son, Hamza Shehbaz, had denied these allegations, but the paper relied on Akbar and Transparency International’s statements to slander her client. “The headlines, the captions, the build-up of the article, Mail on Sunday’s campaign against overseas funding, end of the article. This was all defamatory. This is the heart of it all that that claimant is a beneficiary of the laundered money,” she told the court. The Mail’s lawyer defended the publication of the article and said that it was in the public interest and it always happens that investigations are carried out after such stories are published pointing out wrongdoings. It is pertinent to mention here that the paper had alleged that Shehbaz was involved in corrupting the funds given to Pakistan by the British taxpayers. The report had said that the DFID poured more than £500 million of the UK taxpayers’ money into Punjab in the form of aid during Shehbaz’s tenure as chief minister.

Govt to roll out historic package for farmers soon: PM ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that the government will soon roll out a historic package for the country’s farmers. The PM promised this during a meeting with a delegation of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) Sargodha chapter on Friday. The meeting, also attended by National Assembly Deputy Speaker Qasim Khan Suri and MNA Malik Amir Dogar, was held to discuss internal party matters, issues faced by locals, and progress on development projects. The PM noted that farmers of rice and sugarcane are already making fair profits in their crops, adding that the incumbent government is committed to the welfare of the farmers. “As the government is committed to developing the agriculture sector on modern lines, a ‘biggest-ever agricultural package’ will be announced soon.” Earlier on January 25, PM Khan had said the government would announce a special package for farmers “very soon” as a sub-committee of the cabinet was formulating proposals on the subject. In a meeting with NA members, he had noted that the previous governments completely ignored South Punjab and discriminated against the people of the region with regard to provision of education and health and employment opportunities.

The meeting, which focused on the south Punjab secretariat and special package for farmers, was attended by SAPM on Political Affairs Malik Amir Dogar and MNAs Aurangzeb Khan Khichi and Nur Mohammad Khan Bhabha. STAFF REPORT

05

ExPortS croSS $2bn for fourth conSEcutivE Month iSLamaBad

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GHULAM ABBAS

OR the first time in eight years, Pakistan’s exports have crossed the $2-billion mark for four successive months (Oct-Jan FY21), data released by the Ministry of Commerce showed. During a consultative meeting of MoC officials held via video link on Friday, it was informed that exports in January 2021 increased 8pc to $2.13 billion as compared to $1.97 billion in January 2020.

The meeting was conducted by Adviser to Prime Minister on Commerce Abdul Razaq Dawood to review the provisional (pre-PBS) trade data till the month of January 2021.

The officials attributed the rise in Jan exports to the increase in value-added and non-traditional exports, as the exports of jerseys & cardigans surged 72pc YoY, while that of pharmaceutical increased 55pc, T-shirts 43pc, plastics 24pc, women’s garments 21pc, home textiles 19pc, made-up textile 11pc, men’s garments 8pc and rice 7pc.

On the other hand, a declining trend was noted mostly in the export of non-value-added products, as the exports of maize decreased 82pc, raw leather 23pc, cotton yarn 11pc, cotton fabric 14pc and meat 5pc.

Canada emerged as top export destination of Pakistan during the month of January, as exports to the country rose 43pc, followed by Australia (42pc), the United States (36pc), South Africa (27pc), China (21pc), the United Kingdom (21pc), Belgium (18pc), and Saudi Arabia (14pc). On the contrary, exports to Jordan decreased 68pc, Senegal (-59pc), Italy (-24pc), Turkey (-21pc), Bangladesh and the United Arab Emirates (-19pc each).

The seven-month performance of exports was also discussed in the meeting. The provisional export data for the July-January 2020-21 period showed that the country’s exports increased 5.5pc to $14,245 million as compared to $13,507 million in the same period of last year.

During July-January 2020-21, exports of valueadded and non-traditional products increased, particularly tents & canvas (49pc), jerseys & cardigans (37pc), pharmaceuticals (28pc), cutlery (27pc), socks & stockings (26pc), women’s garments (22pc), home textiles (17pc) and textile made-ups (9pc), as compared to the same period last year.

However, cotton exports plunged 96pc YoY during the period under review, followed by maize (-49pc), raw leather (-30pc), cotton yarn (-24pc) and cotton fabric (9pc).

With 43pc share in Pakistan’s overall exports, Indonesia emerged as the top export destination for the

country during 7MFY21, followed by Australia (22pc), the United States (21pc), the United Kingdom (21pc), Poland (14pc), Germany (12pc), the Netherlands (11pc) and China (9pc).

On the other hand, exports to Thailand fell 43pc, Malaysia (-24pc), Sri Lanka (-23pc), UAE (-21pc), Bangladesh (-18pc), Italy (-7pc) and Spain (-5pc) during the period under review.

During the meeting, Dawood paid rich tributes to Pakistani exporters for showing credible performance despite challenges imposed by Covid-19 pandemic and contraction in major markets. He urged them to aggressively focus on capturing a larger share of international markets.

Women, transgender persons benefiting alike from Kamayab Jawan loan scheme LaHore STAFF REPORT

People across the gender spectrum; men, women and transgender persons, are benefitting from Prime Minister’s Kamyab Jawan (Youth Entrepreneurship) Scheme launched in October 2019.

Tehzeeb, a female resident of Kot Ghulam Rasool village in Nankana Sahib district, applied for Kamyab Jawan Scheme loan to scale up her dairy business. “Though our dairy business was doing fine, it was operating at a small scale and we wanted to grow it. We got to know about the loan scheme through our relatives and decided to apply,” she said.

The entrepreneur, who had applied for the loan at Bank of Punjab, continued: “Anyone who wants to start a new business, or those who are operating at a small scale and want to grow, should apply for the loan. We benefited from it and others will too.”

She thanked the Bank of Punjab and the prime minister for introducing the scheme.

Meanwhile, Zeeshan Sohail, a non-bi-

nary person and a resident of Lahore’s Johar Town area, said that he got to know about PM’s Kamyab Jawan scheme in December 2019 and also applied for a loan of Rs500,000 through Bank of Punjab.

Zeeshan, who sells furniture online, said that while considering applying for

the loan, he was worried about any gender-based discrimination in the loan process, as well as any requirement of a personal reference to get the loan approved. “But thankfully, the process of obtaining the loan was completed without any hassle and I received the loan in

six months.”

Thanking the PM and BoP, he encouraged youngsters who are running their businesses and need a loan to apply for the scheme.

Kamyab Jawan provides subsidised loans to men, women and transgenders belonging to different professions be it farmers, shopkeepers or IT professionals. The loan programme is ensuring social development by empowering youth, providing business growth and employment opportunities.

BoP is currently providing loans under the scheme to men, women and transgenders of age between 21 to 45 years. For information technology (IT)/e-commerce-related businesses, the lower age limit is 18 years along with a requirement of minimum matric or equivalent education.

The size of the loan available is segmented into three tiers. Tier 1 loans range from Rs0.1mn to 1mn, Tier 2 loans range from above Rs1mn to Rs10mn, whereas Tier 3 loans range from above Rs10 million up to Rs25 million.

Analysis: As inflation expectations jump, analysts see further room to rise U.S. Treasury investors are pricing for an uptick in inflation as the American economy recovers from devastating coronavirus-related business shutdowns. And, with the Federal Reserve welcoming the rise as price pressures stay benign, analysts say the increase in inflation expectations may still have further to run.

Breakevens on 10-year Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS), which measure average annual inflation expectations for the coming decade, have jumped to 2.19%, the highest level since mid-2018.

The breakevens briefly dipped below 2% last month on profit taking, before rising again.

Traders are betting that prices will increase as the U.S. economy returns to more normal levels in the second half of this year, after contracting at its deepest pace since World War Two in 2020.

“Everything’s hot right now,” said Guy LeBas, chief fixed-income strategist at Jan-

ney Montgomery Scott in Philadelphia, noting improvements in manufacturing, the service sector, the labor market and housing.

“It’s the first time in many years that so many factors have leaned towards the inflationary side of the fence.”

The prospect of a new coronavirus relief package is adding to the move. Democratic President Joe Biden’s drive to enact a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 aid bill gained momentum early on Friday as the U.S. Senate narrowly approved a budget blueprint allowing Democrats to push the legislation through Congress in coming weeks with or without Republican support.

Fed officials support the rise in inflation expectations, and the U.S. central bank has said it will let price pressures run higher for longer before hiking rates, in order to make up for years of below-target inflation.

Indeed, while TIPS are suggesting the consumer price index (CPI), which rose

1.4% on the year in December, will rise over 2%, the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation - personal consumption expenditures (PCE) - has historically run around 30 to 50 basis points lower. That would be still below the Fed’s 2% target.

“We’re not at levels that are particularly high relative to a 2% PCE outlook,” said Michael Pond, head of global inflationlinked research at Barclays in New York.

Inflation expectations are also getting a boost because it won’t be made clear whether a rise is likely until the economy goes back to normal.

“Regardless of the near-term outlook, and where inflation is actually printing, the reflation story won’t be proven wrong until in our view deep into the second half of the year,” Pond said.

A further near-term boost in expectations is likely as last year’s inflation readings from before March fall out of the year-on-year

cmYK

comparisons, making annual increases appear more impressive.

“That will create the appearance of rising inflation, and I’m willing to bet that bonds will trade off of that appearance,” said LeBas. That said, the runup in inflation expectations may disappoint investors if inflation fails to materialize.

“This is a gigantic head fake in the markets,” said Robert Tipp, chief investment strategist at PGIM Fixed Income in Newark, New Jersey.

Tipp said that breakevens could continue to rise this year, but that he doesn’t think they will top the 2.50% level.

“Investors think you’re going to go back to the 2018-2019 world where the economy is really hot,” Tipp said. “What they’re missing is that for the entire last 40 years and at an accelerating pace the demographics are becoming weaker and growth is becoming slower.”

TIPS breakevens are also being helped by supply and demand factors as the U.S. Treasury ramps up issuance of nominal Treasuries to pay for fiscal spending, but increases the size of TIPS issuance at a slower pace.

That comes as the Fed continues to buy large amounts of inflation-linked bonds.

And the market is less liquid than that for nominal Treasuries, which can exaggerate price moves.

“One factor that has certainly enhanced the widening of breakevens has been the relative illiquidity of TIPs,” said Michael Lorizio, senior fixed income trader at Manulife Investment Management in Boston.

The market’s relative illiquidity, however, could pose a risk if sentiment turns away from higher inflation later in the year.

“That factor can work as an accelerant in the opposite direction, as well, obviously, if the tone of the market shifts,” Lorizio said. AGENCIES

Saturday, 6 February, 2021

06 COMMENT

Shaheen and Pakistan

PDM’s opening gambit The Mehngai March

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he opposition seems to have resolved its internal differences, at least for the time being. It is now determined to take the government head-on both inside the Parliament and in the streets. The opposition may not be able to bring down the PTI administration, but is likely to keep the latter on its toes during the remainder of its tenure.

The PPP wanted a no-confidence move against the government to be the first move; the PML(N) and JUI(F) wanted resignations, at least from the National Assembly.

It took nearly six hours to strike a consensus. Further discussion on both the sticking points was postponed till after the Senate elections. As these elections are not far away, the differences could re-emerge soon.

Meanwhile there are enough common issues to keep the parties together. The opposition alliance is on one page over fielding joint candidates in the Senate elections.

All the PDM components want the accounts related to the PTI’s foreign funding case to be made public. The alliance has also unanimously rejected the formation of the Broadsheet Inquiry Commission. The Opposition has vowed to continue its protests against the conduct of the National Assembly Speaker and the Senate Chairman and not to cooperate with them in running the proceedings of the two houses at any cost. Unless the ruling party learns to treat the opposition as an important partner in legislation rather than an enemy, the Parliament will remain dysfunctional for all intents and purposes.

The long march has been named “Mehngai March” to invest it with immediate relevance and attract all those who are affected by rising prices. It was also decided to join and support the government employees’ protest next week to convey a message to all disgruntled sections of society that they can rely on the PDM for help.

The long march is an attempt at a countrywide mobilization against the government. On March 26 caravans of marchers will proceed from all the provinces to converge on Islamabad, with leaders delivering speeches at important towns on the way. The opposition alliance needs to ensure that the marchers remain peaceful while one expects that the government would avoid doing anything that may cause provocation.

muhAmmAd SohAil AhmAd

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he Shaheen of Allama Muhammad Iqbal is now transforming a source of hope for Pakistan and the Muslim Ummah. This is the medium-range land-based missile system that has recently been tested successfully. With a range of 2750 km, it covers some strategic areas of interest extending up to Andaman-Nicobar Island, where the Indians are believed to have their nuclear weapons stowed for use against the region’s littoral states.

The missile assures the Pakistani nation and its allies that Pakistan has a tit-for-tat response capability if an adversary attacks its territory or assets at sea or ashore.

Though a significant Pak-India sea conflict of 1971 ushered the era of sea-based missiles in Pakistani waters, the Indian missile boats (Ossa-Class) acquired from Soviet Union sunk a Pakistani naval ship, PNS Khaibar, and damaged another, PNS Dacca, and caused a massive fire at te Karachi port complex as a result of a missile hit at fuel storage sites. In those days, the term missile was very new to even the naval personnel. Vice Admiral Muzaffar Ahmed, the naval chief, sent a delegation to visit egypt, which had the Ossa-Class boats and the Styx missiles. The time to go to war was too short to work out a solution; therefore, a warning was passed to all the impending danger units. This helped the crew of the Dacca engage the incoming missile and fight the fire that erupted due to the missile splinters.

After 50 years, the nation has developed the indigenous capability to build missiles from short range to medium range. how does it affect the common cit-

The Supreme Court gives warning SC takes a dim view of local body system, press freedom and arty dynasticism

Green education for future generations

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he remarks made by two benches of the Supreme Court about the state of democracy should be heeded by the government, for though some of the remarks related to all parties, they primarily appertained to the present PTI government. The government should take them more seriously not just because the Supreme Court can enforce its will, as it can, but because the gaps indicated tend to mean that democracy is failing in the country, because the problem areas identified are the bedrock of a functioning democracy.

The two-member Supreme Court bench hearing the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa dissolution case saw Mr Justice Faez Isa remark that a local body system was essential to democracy, and asked without being answered why was there such a delay in the notification of the 2017 census results, which is the main excuse the government tenders for not holding the election, as the elections require fresh delimitations according to a notified census. This is something the PTI should be pressing for, because the need for an effective local government system was something it stressed while in opposition.

The same Bench also took note of the lack of press freedom by conducting a quick survey of the journalists present in the court-room. While the survey was not scientific, the unanimity among pressmen that the press was not free was not to be neglected by the government.

The government should also pay attention to the remarks by another Bench, one headed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Mr Justice Gulzar Ahmad, hearing the reference about whether Senate elections needed a secret ballot. The CJP himself remarked that political parties were dominated by certain individuals and not run democratically.

Put together, the impression is unavoidable that the Supreme Court takes a dim view of how the present government is handling democracy. It should pay heed to the Supreme Court’s criticisms, for they are not just academic, and they strike at the heart of how the country is being run. Besides, these criticisms are applicable to all governments, not just the present one.

Sustainability must taught at every level and in every discipline

Syed ASim Ali BukhAri

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here is a famous proverb that “If your plan is for one year, plant rice. If your plan is for ten years, plant trees. If your plan is for one hundred years, educate children”. The International Day of education, celebrated on 25 January, brought forward the question whether Pakistan is planning for a year, a decade or one hundred years.

A look at the current government’s policy making can credit it with a gradual shift towards decade-long planning as opposed to previous annual or sometimes even seasonal planning. In this regard, it should be questioned if Pakistan is planning for the next hundred years through educating the future generation of Pakistan, and more importantly if this planning is being formulated and implemented in the right direction.

Globally, the developed nations are shifting towards Green education, a concept based on the blend of environmental education (ee) with the other areas of the contemporary education system. It involves “organized efforts to teach how natural environments function, and particularly, how human beings can manage behavior and ecosystems to live sustainably.” Green nations need to cultivate future generations that are aware of the concept of environmental sustainability and have knowledge about its implications in various aspects. An important aspect of Green education is that it is operationalized as a holistic and life-long process, thereby

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

in daylight so as to change the Muslim population’s demography in Kashmir.

There is a dire need to acquire naval bases in the izen? It provides assurance, security, and mental Indian Ocean region to counter the Indian hegemonic peace to live a peaceful life, with a calm routine that designs through maritime diplomacy. Land-based is free of worries. With the absence of anxiety, stress, anti-ship naval missiles against a sea-based threat panic, depression, or phobia, an ordinary citizen’s need to be realized as the Palestinian missile battery overall mental health graph improves, thereby con- could engage Israeli naval ships. Pakistan’s navy tributing positivity to a healthy and stable society. should be given this role to propel the cause of the Moreover, if a citizen can think independently, it Muslim Ummah in general and those being marginis the crux of independent individuals that form a so- alized through illegal legislation. In parallel, there is ciety. It would be logical to say that in order to a need to enhance the weapons range to include Indian achieve real independence, the nations must build and bases and the Strait of Malacca in its target inventory. develop a strong defence. Shaheen III is a stepping Subjects of operational research, hypersonic techstone in the culmination of the national objectives. nology, satellite communication, and cyber warfare, What are the future challenges to Pakistan, and including intelligence gathering, satellite weapons, what strategy needs to be laser weapons development, adopted to meet those chaland precision guidance of lenges? ballistic missile technoloThe challenges will emgies, should be introduced at anate more at sea, and te sea the university level. There is Subjects of operational lanes’ security is the next a need to introduce scholarresearch, hypersonic area of interest where Pakship programmes for the stuistan must focus to remain dents who should suggest technology, satellite relevant in future geo-ecoand contribute to developing nomics and in geostrategic future technologies and communication, and cyber realms. There is a need to national objectives. warfare, including intelligence meeting consolidate the existing caThe present institution pability. The size of the argathering, satellite weapons, of lawmakers does not comsenal needs to be carefully prise technical experts to aslaser weapons development, sess or analyze the details of calculated due to the evolving threat and the expanthese technologies. With and precision guidance of sionist designs of India.

Pakistan enjoying very chalThe new role of regional ballistic missile technologies, lenging geography that repower attributed to India has mains relevant for the world should be introduced at the transformed the Indian govsea trade chokepoints, ensurernment’s mindset to an auing a good arsenal of university level. tocratic and expansionist weapons and ammunition to approach. Failure to pay neutralize a threat to the seheed to the Sikh farmers and curity of the region and vital amendment in its Constitusea trade routes such as the tion by abrogating Articles 370 and 35A, thereby de- Persian Gulf, the Suez Canal, Bab al Mandab, the priving the Kashmiris of their special status and Strait of Malacca and Strait of Bosphorus, Pakistan ultimately of the right of self-determination, are clear needs to be considered as an apt representative of examples of this approach.

Muslim Ummah in the Security Council as a permaSimilarly, the Citizenship Act Amendment de- nent member. If the USA and the USSr were archpriving Assam’s and Bengal’s Muslims is a violation rivals, but could sit tête-à-tête at the Security Council, of human and religious rights. Acquiring a base in why does Pakistan not sit with others in this forum?

Mauritius and the Seychelles Islands speaks of the This is the time to claim our rightful share in the exact expansionist designs of India. The weapons comity of nations. range of our inventory should cover these bases as it is evident that these will be used as staging posts or The writer is ra etired commodore of the Pakistan platforms against Pakistan or other smaller states. The Navy and freelance writer . He can be reached at UN Security Council resolutions are being violated msohailyz@gmail.com

Why shouldn’t Pakistan be a permanent UN Security Council member?

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Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9

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signaling its importance in all phases of an individual’s academic journey. Unfortunately, Pakistan is lagging behind in the development of Green education policy and structures. The Prime Minister, Mr Imran Khan, had promised the realization of the ‘Clean and Green Pakistan’ vision, but this cannot be possible without inculcating the various aspects of environmental sustainability in the country’s education system.

Pakistan’s Federal education and Professional Training Minister, Mr Shafqat Mahmood, has welcomed suggestions on Pakistan National education Policy 2021 from all stakeholders. It is suggested that the Government of Pakistan should develop a “Green and Sustainable education Policy” for a ‘Clean and Green Pakistan’. The basic premise of this educational ideology is the incorporation of the respective environmental sustainability dimension in the curriculum of every discipline as well as the teaching methodology. The dynamic dimensions of environmental sustainability should be incorporated in the syllabus of every grade throughout school, college, and university education. For example, in the subject of Islamic studies, the curriculum can include the teachings of Islam on various issues of environmental sustainability such as resource conservation, waste management, tree plantation, and so on.

Schoolchildren should be taught about waste management through the introduction of different coloured bins in schools and universities, and encouraged to participate in environmentally responsible activities like tree plantation. The curriculum can be developed on the basis of various modern educational approaches such as STeAM which uses Science, Technology, engineering, the Arts and Mathematics as access points for guiding student inquiry, dialogue, and critical thinking. Such approaches can be blended in with a Green educational medium such as the use of various educational software and hardware to polish student’s skills.

This will integrate the concept of environmental preservation as a good deed in the minds of our children and youth, in turn creating an eco-conscious mindset and leading to personality development.

It is the responsibility of the educational institutions to create synergy within the various disciplines and environmental sustainability in the minds of the young generation. University students are the future policymakers of this country. Green and Sustainable education will ensure that when it is time for them to

Islamabad – Ph: 051-2204545

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Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk

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become policymakers, the policies will be based on the principles of sustainable development, that is, economic, social and environmental sustainability.

The public sector educational institutions should lead by example and inculcate green management principles in all areas of education and administration. Various public sector universities have large areas of land which can be used for development of various green projects such as renewable energy generation, including solar or bio-mass and tree plantation. University departments, such as the engineering department, can oversee such projects and the university students can work on tem, which will provide them with a practical knowledge of green management and practices implementation. Students of respective disciplines should be taught subjects like green banking, green construction, precision agriculture, green Information Technology, green hrM, green manufacturing, green hospitality and so on. The ‘Green and Sustainable education Policy’ should make it mandatory to include the environmentally sustainable aspect of every discipline in the curriculum.

The importance of education is not a new concept for us since it is one of the basic teachings of Islam and was also greatly emphasized by the Father of the Nation, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. In his words “Without education it is complete darkness and with education it is light. education is a matter of life and death to our nation. The world is moving so fast that if you do not educate yourselves you will be not only completely left behind, but will be finished up.”

These words still hold great importance in our current time since the future of Pakistan depends on developing the right knowledge structures among our future generations at the right time.

It is also critical in the attainment of the United Nation’s-Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs) 2030. The UN-SDG Number 4 specifically requires all learners to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles. Through the Pakistan Green and Sustainable education Policy 2021, it can be ensured that our future generations become aware of their responsibility and accountability towards natural resources and environment.

The writer is pursuing his PhD in Green Banking from the Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Penang, Malaysia and can be reached at aasimalibukhari@yahoo.com.

Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Saturday, 6 February, 2021

COMMENT 07 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

Online exams The higher education Commission (heC) has permitted universities in the country to take online examination ignoring the fact that variety of cities are deprived of internet service. Several big cities of Balochistan and other provinces lack 4g internet. Before when online classes were conducted, those students could not take online classes due to not having access to internet and their studies got ruined. And now online examination is risky for their studies of one year. The authorities must see situation from e every angle. There exists students who can take online examinations. On the other hand, some lack basic facilities for it like internet access.

Farahnaz TUrBaT

Humanity is a lost treasure

Getting THE Vaccine sion. Moreover, until and unless, you don’t get vaccinated. The mask is the vaccine and it is the shield for your protection against the coronavirus. occur rarely. The vaccine has been shown to Furthermore, Universal health Cover (via have an efficacy of approximately 90 percent in essential health services) is an investment in protecting against covid-19, starting 14 days people and it leads to sustainable economic after the first dose. healthcare professionals can growth for all. Pakistan has become the first register themselves for vaccine administration country to develop and endorse such a plan by calling the helpline 1166. which will lead to healthcare for all.

The leadership of federating units and In the middle of January, COVID positivity provinces along with healthcare professionals was extremely high in Muzaffarabad in Azad and workers did wonKashmir, remains high ders without any doubt, in Karachi, and was risand with constant reing in Lahore and Isviewing strategies, lamabad. It was time have set splendid exfor all of us to take Covid-19 in Pakistan is amples of empathy and COVID SOP’s seridown but not out and it can professionalism. Pakously again and it was istan has been fully tried to make decisions spread again if we abandon prepared for this underin accordance with procaution and care. So, please fessionals’ advice. Othtaking and also united dr ZeeShAn khAn in this mission. Pakerwise, unfortunately follow SOPs- especially in istan’s coordinated efwe might have had to forts have brought her take restrictive actions indoor and crowded which would have had he Wait is Over! The Good News with a long way. situations to protect Though there are negative effects on peosubstance has landed in Pakistan. I am ple’s livelihoods. talking about the much awaited many questions and ourselves and our country regarding Albeit before this, COVID-19 vaccine. The first batch of concerns the national positivity Sinopharm vaccine has arrived. Pak- covid-19 Vaccine. The rate of covid-19 Cases istan is Grateful to China and everyone who foremost concern or was 2.37 percent at the made this happen. The NCOC (National Com- question is whether it mand And Operation Centre) and the provinces will be free or people will have to pay for it. The end of December, 2020. At the start of January, played an instrumental role in tackling covid-19. answer is simple and clear that the Government there was the highest positivity rate in more than Additionally, the nation salutes the frontline will provide covid-19 vaccine to the public free 50 days. The last time this level was seen was healthcare workers for their efforts. They’ll be of cost. The aim is to vaccinate about 70 percent on 23 August 2020. In the first four days of this the first to get vaccinated as the lot has been ded- of the eligible population in 2021 out of 220 mil- first week of January, the average number of lion people, to develop herd immunity, and covid-19 deaths was 11 per day, the highest since icated to the frontline warriors.

It is actually a moment of immense pleasure frontline healthcare workers are entitled to the week of 10 August. These were unmistakable to share that in addition to the 500,000 doses of first batch of doses. The covid-19 vaccine would signs that the coronavirus wasa getting worse.

Now, educational institutions are open Sinopharm, almost 17 million doses of the As- be administered to adults aged 18 years or more traZeneca vaccine, approved for use in Pakistan only, which is about 100 million people in Pak- again. Please don’t forget basic protective steps by the Drug regulatory Authority Of Pakistan istan. But after being vaccinated, the observance including masks, reduced density in classes, and (DrAP), have been secured by Pakistan, out of of covid-19 SOPs cannot be ignored because the hand hygiene. All such steps must be followed which 7 million doses to be made available in vaccine is only a protection against pandemic, by parents, school administrators, teachers, stufirst quarter and the rest within the second quar- and though it reduces the chances of infection dents─ all together.

The Government of Pakistan has been using ter of 2021. The vaccine would be available for the danger still exists.

The positivity per- indigenously developed state-of-the-art Artifithe public to be admincentage is still more cial Intelligence (AI) solutions. AI experts asistered voluntarily than three percent. This sisted NCOC and Pakistan Army conduct under the National Imnumber tells an unmis- video-based risk detection, to measure covid-19 munization manageMask adherence, social takable story. The mor- risk at shops and cattle markets. ment system. rate is still Mask adherence, social distancing, gender however, Pakdistancing, gender detection, tality disturbing. Pakistan is detection, have been identified along with 10 istan’s vaccine drive experiencing the sec- other variables used for area-based risk ratings started on Tuesday, 2 have been identified along ond wave of covid-19 to assist district authorities strengthen their SOP February, when a vacwith 10 other variables used which can firstly, put implementation and adopt a localized strategy to cine was administered at risk, secondly, prevent covid-19 spread. to a doctor in the presfor area-based risk ratings to lives put many livelihoods at A few days back, World health Organization ence of Prime Minister assist district authorities risk and thirdly, put (WhO) President Dr. Tedros Adhanom interImran Khan, beginning pressure on our health acted with Prime Minister Imran Khan, about with frontline healthstrengthen their SOP system. the covid-19 situation in Pakistan and globally. care workers. BasiThere are certain The WhO expressed feelings of satisfaction to cally, the process of implementation and adopt a measures which must be see that cases in Pakistan have been in decline vaccination consists of localized strategy to prevent adopted, including since early June and appreciated its strong surtwo doses which are firstly, wearing a mask veillance efforts to fight the pandemic. administered about covid-19 spread. (or cloth covering) in Covid-19 in Pakistan is down but not out fortnightly or with a public places especially and it can spread again if we abandon caution gap of 21 days. I do in tight and crowded and care. So, please follow SOPs- especially in recommend getting it spaces. Secondly, avoid- indoor and crowded situations to protect ouron the arm that you don’t use that much, because after a few hours ing large gatherings and crowds. Thirdly, maintain- selves and our country. pain or swelling may start or an adverse effect ing about six feet distance from others. Fourthly, The writer can be reached might be produced. The symptoms of adverse washing your hands at least for 20 seconds.

If people don’t adopt these measures, they @DrZeeshanKhanA1 and events may also include dizziness, vomiting or severe allergic reactions but these symptoms will have to increase restrictions to slow transmis- dr.zeeshan.alias.ghazikhan@gmail.com

At last covid-19 is being brought under control

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The present condition of humanity in our country has been exposed when the doctors at Memon hospital, Sachal Goth, Karachi refused to treat a girl without advance payment of rS 500,000 who had gotten injured in an accident. Due to which the girl died. The humans have become so much greedy for money that they let others die even if they have the opportunity to save them. Due to the lack of humanity, now money has more worth than someone’s life. how can a country run when it lacks the most precious treasure humanity?

Farahnaz TUrBaT

Foreign garbage IMPOrT and export of material is an economic business which is happing all around the world including Pakistan. however, our country is exceedingly generous to rest of the world that we even take their garbages which mainly comprise of used electronic machines, mobile phones, toys and even clothes.

Moreover, there are markets for this waste and people also buy them because of low prices. There is no doubt that its good for those who can not buy new ones. But no one is aware of it that this issue is a ticking time bombs for future environmental pollution. hence, this poses a question that why they are sending their waste to Pakistan but not to other countries?

There are so many things which have been recycled and some are degradable but most of them do not completely decompose like plastic.

This leads to land pollution and if we try to get rid of them by burning then it coule potentially lead to air pollution. In addition, Pakistan does not have modern method to completely decompose these waste. That is why, the foregin countries do not want to pollute neither their land nor their environment. Therefore, they send their used appliances to Pakistan. If the intake of those garbage is not stopped then in future our country will have no space to keep nor to decompose them.I humbly request the government to take a serious action and stop the flow of foregin waste into Pakistan.

SaMina aSlaM QUMBrani hUB

Kashmir Solidarity Day 5Th Feb is known as Kashmir day and it is a National holiday in Pakistan each year and it focuses on showing Pakistani people’s support and unity with the people who are living in the occupied Kashmir. As a National holiday, the occasion is packed by public processions and once-minute silence is observed all over the country besides this special program are held to demonstrate complete solidarity with Kashmiris. Who lost their lives always making processions and fighting for their freedom. furthermore, Kashmir Day was first proposed by Qazi hussain Ahmed of the Jammat-e-Islami party in Pakistan in 1990. Also in 1991, the ex-prime minister of pakistan Nawaz Sharif called for a “Kashmir Solidarity Day strike”. Moreover, the present Kashmir Solidiraty Day was started by the Pakistan minister in 2004.

If we see the history of Kashmir, it was a part of subcontinent before partition. When Pakistan and India got separated, then the issues of Kashmir started. Simultaneously, India and Pakistan claim that Kashmir belongs to them and unfortunately, which has been a bone of contention since 1947. Thus, the Kashmir issue remainds an international dispute today and this day reminds Kashmiris; Pakistan will never leave them at the mercy of circumstances. naziSh BaShir Kech

Praise the paperwork There has been wide talk of the first-ever paperless budget in the Indian media circle. Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has gone paperless to present the latest Indian Budget. According to the media sources, Ms. Sitharaman had used a tablet for the Budget session. even then, it is all about all the ifs and buts related to the budget. even though there have been various factors like the corona pandemic quoted as reasons for the digital budget, the underlying need for the deep-rooted paperwork cannot be denied anymore. True to form, the salient features like letters, scripts, paperwork, et cetera in general add to the beauty of any language spoken in the world. I was fortunate enough to get to the rudiments of the languages like Tamil and english as I had been greatly attracted to the letters and the grammar of these languages all through my schooldays in my native areas like Tuticorin, Tiruchendur, Korkai and Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu in the early 1990s. Going digital is not a wrong precedent but should not spell doomsday to the written and printed forms of any language out there. In fact we human species have the natural tendency to sense everything right from breathing to eating all for our wellbeing. Any physical existence can make humans much humaner in terms of life and compassion. This is true of even those sages who desperately need the existence of Nature around to be in the right frame of mind. So to speak, there have been strong historic backgrounds behind all the languages spoken around the world. In my opinion, there have been interesting endless epics and stories in languages like english and Tamil for example.

P SenThil Saravana DUrai MUMBai

Saturday, 6 February, 2021

08 WORLD VIEW

New MediA code will level plAyiNg field with google ANd fAceBook GOOGLE HAS A MONTHLY AUDIENCE OF 20 MILLION AND FACEBOOK 18 MILLION

sydney Morning herald

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dAn stinton

VER the past six months, Google’s campaign to drive opposition to the news media bargaining code has been gradually turned up to 11. what started with private lobbying of MPs and YouTube videos with comedians has escalated to a public threat to shut down search in Australia, as well as dire warnings displayed at the top of every search page.

These warnings claim that the principles of an open internet are under threat because Google is being asked to pay for linking to

publisher websites. Yet the dream of a free and open internet ceased to exist years ago, with just a few huge businesses governing an increasingly centralised web, monetising engagement with content created by the investment of others.

The internet has become an attention economy, dominated by a small number of very large Us tech companies. In fact, Google and Facebook are the internet for most Australians, or at least the key gateway to it. Google has a monthly audience of 20 million and Facebook 18 million, according to Nielsen. where people go online is largely determined by these two companies’ algorithms, which remain opaque despite their central role in determining what news and information people see. In the words of the Australian competition and consumer commission, this makes them “unavoidable trading partners” for news publishers.

In an effort to mitigate the impact of updates to these opaque algorithms, the code requires that the digital platforms give at least 14 days’ notice to publishers of material changes which will impact on the traffic we

Biden’s banana republic

receive. That is a welcome step towards more transparency. such notice should also be available to the public, and all businesses that depend on Google traffic – not just those that invest in news – in recognition of the central role these algorithms play in the digital economy.

There are good reasons why the government is right to introduce the bargaining code to govern the relationship between publishers and platforms specifically, not least because journalism is a public good. Imagine trying to navigate the challenges of last year without news publishers informing the public about the bushfires or pandemic, relying instead on the misinformation that is so prevalent on fringe websites, YouTube and social media.

I acknowledge the difficulty of moderating such large volumes of spurious content, but surely the best antidote is the wide availability of fact-based journalism in order to combat a polluted information economy.

This is why Google’s so-called “experiments” to strip out local news content and Facebook’s threat to remove all news from its platform are dangerous.

The business model that funds factbased journalism is fundamentally undermined by the substantial market power of Google and Facebook. This has resulted in a market failure whereby the platforms control how much traffic they send publishers, while competing with us in the digital advertising market in a way that they don’t with other content or businesses they link to.

According to the Accc, Google and Facebook have a combined share of the digital advertising market of 81 per cent, leaving just 19 per cent for all publishers online to scrap over. Google made $4.3 billion in advertising revenue in Australia in 2019 alone, while Facebook made $0.7 billion. Yet it is news publisher journalism that, in part, provides the three main benefits that allows Google and Facebook to grow their business.

First, news publisher content drives engagement on Google and Facebook products. As the Accc found, there is tremendous benefit in aggregating news and information, both as a huge well of attention to deliver advertising, but also in creating user trust in these platforms. The platforms’ use of publisher content goes well beyond fair use, with an increasing number of people simply consuming news on the platforms and never visiting a publisher website. second, Google and Facebook collect troves of consumer data from consumer engagement with publisher content – both on

EXTENDING THE NEW START IS ONLY THE FIRST AND EASIEST STEP IN REBUILDING THE US–RUSSIAN ARMS CONTROL SYSTEM FROM ITS RUINS

Carnegie MosCow Centre

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editoriAl BoArd

New York Times reporter has suggested the president appoint a “reality czar,” who would lead “a cross-agency task force to tackle disinformation and domestic extremism.” Please tell us, comrade, when the show trials begin. we don’t want to miss them. The author of this idea is Times technology reporter Kevin Roose, who was writing about “how the Biden administration can help solve our reality crisis.” His is not a lone recommendation on how the ruling class should re-educate, curb, and cancel the unruly masses to the right of center. others want the Biden white House to establish various versions of George orwell’s Ministry of Truth, which was itself a ministry of propaganda. The Democrats and allied activists are itching to shut down speech they don’t agree with, but do it under the cover of preserving and honoring “truth.” odd, isn’t it, that the same people who claim to be so interested in truth and reality today for four years couldn’t stop talking about how the Russians put Donald Trump in the white House?

Maybe they’re engrossed only with their version of the truth – their own fantasies and efforts to indoctrinate an entire population. A country and a culture are in trouble when those in authority allow only one voice to be heard, when they decide what is acceptable speech and what isn’t, when the controversial and the unpopular are treated as crimes to be punished. Biden hasn’t bitten – yet – on a reality czar or ministry of truth. But under his administration, this country is shaping up as a banana republic. Think about: *How the Democrats want to turn the economy into one that’s “operated as a private commercial enterprise for the exclusive profit of the ruling class.” *The Democrats’ retribution-filled, Reichstag-fire response to the breach of the U.s. capitol by a group made up mostly of odd characters and some everyday Americans who got overheated and were shocked by their own behavior, all of them apparently unarmed. *How a summer of real riots was tacitly, and at times, overtly supported by Biden’s party. *The second impeachment of Trump that is not an attempt to seek justice but a campaign to prevent him from running again for president and marginalizing his supporters. *The lies about the promise of unity. *Phony charges against political opponents designed to dehumanize them. see: “Biden accused Trump of being a mass murderer, of killing hundreds of thousands of coronavirus patients because he ‘did nothing’ to fight the virus.” *Government by executive command rather than through proper legislative channels. *shutting down politically unfavorable businesses. see: Biden’s Keystone XL pipeline decision. *The leader of a national government deciding alone what the property role of that government is. see: “Biden Proclaims ‘Racial Equity’ as Goal ‘of the whole of Government.’ ” From any reasonable point of view, it’s clear America is in a decline that might not be as steep as Biden’s cognitive fade, but is just as real.

Dan Stinton is managing director of Guardian Australia. This is an edited version of his opening statement to a Senate Committee about the news media bargaining code.

A new start for arms control?

BIDEN HASN’T BITTEN – YET – ON A REALITY CZAR OR MINISTRY OF TRUTH

issues and insights

their products but also from news publishers’ unavoidable use of platform tech on publisher websites. This data is used to power the platform’s respective targeted advertising businesses. Putting aside the significant privacy concerns from the harvesting of this data (and it’s worth noting that the Accc has separate legal action against both Google and Facebook for misleading customers about its collection), it’s clear that audience data has immense value, and yet news publishers receive no compensation.

Third, as identified in the Accc’s latest ad tech report, almost all news publishers use Google’s dominant advertising technology to power their digital advertising. Every time you visit a publisher website, Google’s tech is almost always responsible for the advertising you see – yet we do not have a complete picture of the fees Google earns from its control of the digital advertising supply chain.

This makes it impossible to know whether news publishers are getting a fair deal.

Just imagine running a business in a market where companies that you both compete with and rely on have this much power – the digital platforms aggregate our content to drive engagement on their products, determine how much traffic they send us with completely opaque algorithms, and then collect advertising revenue and data from consumers who visit our websites to power their targeted advertising businesses.

The news media bargaining code will be a world-leading effort to help level this distorted playing field, and give news publishers a reasonable crack at fair compensation for the value our journalism delivers.

M

Andrey BAklitskiy

oscow and washington have finally agreed to extend the New strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New sTART), just days before it was due to expire on February 5. Numerous attempts to extend it under the previous U.s. administration had failed, and the January 26 breakthrough under President Joe Biden was met with relief by both presidents, as well as arms control experts, diplomats, and politicians on both sides. while the five-year extension is undoubtedly good news, the excitement over it only attests to the dire state of U.s.– Russian arms control and bilateral relations in general.

The New sTART is the last treaty limiting strategic arms that is still in place between Russia and the United states. It prevents another arms race from unfolding, and reduces the risk of an accidental escalation. Its extension should have been an obvious step and routine affair that passed without any fanfare, amid talks on the next U.s.–Russian arms control agreement.

Instead, the Trump administration used the New sTART to try to extract concessions on other issues from Russia. This tactic failed, since the conditions laid down

by Trump were unrealistic. Moscow and washington were forced to wait until the inauguration of Biden, when there were only about two weeks left to extend the treaty.

Problems extending the New sTART could still arise under the new U.s. administration, within which there are differing views on the treaty. Victoria Nuland, for example, who is tipped to be under secretary of state for political affairs, wrote last summer that the treaty should only be extended for a year or two, so that it could then be used as leverage to bring Russia to the table on other issues. with such little time left before the

New sTART expired, however, washington decided to accept Moscow’s proposal to extend the treaty for the maximum term possible—five years—and without any additional conditions.

Extending the New sTART is the first and easiest step in rebuilding the U.s.– Russian arms control system from its ruins. Restrictions on anti-missile defense systems and short- and intermediate-range missiles disappeared with the respective collapses of the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, while conventional weapons in space and nonstrategic nuclear weapons have never been regulated by international treaties.

Russia and the United states have different views on all of these areas, but without taking each other’s interests into account, it will be increasingly difficult to ensure national security. Progress in military technology never stands still, and the latest U.s. missile defense solutions have paved the way for a quantum leap, while investment in hypersonic technology has led to the creation of a dozen new systems whose effect can so far only be imagined.

Recently, Moscow has been talking of “strategic equalization" with the United states.

In any case, talks need to begin now.

The extended New sTART will expire in 2026, but there’s no guarantee that the 2024 U.s. presidential election won’t be won by Donald Trump again, or by someone with a similar approach. we have already seen what arms control talks look like under the Trump team, so in effect, the deadline is even sooner.

Traditionally, the U.s. side takes a while to confirm political appointments in ministries and agencies, and only then approves strategic planning documents such as the National security strategy, National Defense strategy, Nuclear Posture Review, and so on. The entire process usually takes several years. Russia and the United states simply cannot afford to put off negotiations until that process is complete.

The best option would be to capitalize on the positive dynamic of the extension of the New sTART to begin the first consultations. They might not be particularly substantial, and would likely be limited to exchanging information. It’s entirely possible that the outgoing Trump team did not reveal to the incoming Democrats the de-

tails of their closed-door discussions with the Russians, and that may be no bad thing.

The Biden team has already appointed deputy assistant secretaries of state for arms control and nonproliferation. Both are very experienced experts in their field who are up to date with the latest developments, and they do not need to be confirmed by the senate, which gives the Russian and American negotiators the chance to start talks without delay. Most of the candidates announced by the new administration are known for their professionalism, which is particularly important in the field of arms control: the talks between Russia and the United states will be very complex.

It’s worth noting Moscow’s enthusiastic approach to extending the New sTART. Both chambers of parliament voted on the extension in just one day, and passed it unanimously. such speed and consensus last seen over the annexation of crimea back in 2014 shows how important arms control is to the Russian leadership. This should temper foreign criticism of Moscow’s actions in this regard for some time.

Demonstrating that its intentions are serious should also strengthen Russia’s position on other contentious issues, from the open skies Treaty to the moratorium on deploying short- and intermediate-range missiles.

Russia is making it clear: when its interests are taken into account, it is prepared to act swiftly and efficiently. This model doesn’t guarantee anything, of course, and can easily be destroyed, but it still gives some cause for optimism. Finally, Moscow’s approach to extending the New sTART is also a lesson for domestic critics of arms control. Recently, it has become fashionable in Russia’s expert circles to opine that traditional arms control is obsolete as a concept, and doesn’t correspond to the reality of the modern world.

This view partly stems from the fact that existing treaties have disappeared one after the other, while Moscow has not held talks on a new one for more than a decade.

The energy the Russian state has put into supporting arms control efforts, along with the first progress made on this front, could now put an end to that trend.

Andrey Baklitskiy is a consultant at the PIR Centre.

Saturday, 6 February, 2021

BUSINESS 09

ISLAMABAD

Renewal of Pak-afGhan tRanSit tRade aGReement delayed PESHAWAR

US trade deficit jumps to 12-year high in 2020 WASHINGTON AGENCIES

The United States’ trade deficit surged to its highest level in 12 years in 2020 as the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted the flow of goods and services. The Commerce Department said on Friday that the trade deficit jumped 17.7pc to $678.7 billion last year, the highest since 2008.

Exports of goods and services tumbled 15.7pc to their lowest level since 2010. Imports of goods and services dropped 9.5pc to a four-year low. The plunge in exports contributed to the economy shrinking 3.5pc last year, the biggest drop in gross domestic product since 1946. Trade flows have been gradually improving. For December, the trade deficit narrowed 3.5pc to $66.6 billion . Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the trade gap would shrink to $65.7 billion in December. Imports of goods rose 1.5pc to $217.7 billion in December. Goods exports shot up 4.7pc to $133.5 billion.

Gold price edges up to cross $1,800 psychological level ISLAMABAD TLTP

Gold futures edged up on Friday as yellow metal crossed the key psychological $1,800 level after witnessing some heavy selling during the last four days amid a better recovery in US bond yields. Spot gold added 0.3 per cent to reach $1,800.5 an ounce after gaining over $5.60 at 1,410 hours GMT. Gold price in the international spot market went down to $1,794.90 on Thursday last.

Accordingly, the price of 10 grams yellow metal in the country was recorded at Rs92,500 on Friday after gaining Rs400. The price of 10 grams gold was recorded at Rs94,100 on Thursday last. A stronger US dollar makes gold more expensive for holders of other currencies. The dollar index has risen to more than two-month peak while longer-term US Treasury yields rose in anticipation of a large pandemic relief package from Washington and a stabilizing US labor market. Analysts say that the passage of US President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion Covid-19 may likely support gold at lower levels.

Bitcoin reaches $38,143 with 1.9pc gain ISLAMABAD AGENCIES

The price of Bitcoin (BTC), the world’s largest cryptocurrency, increased to $38,143 after gaining 1.9 per cent at 1420 GMT on Friday. With this increase, the market capitalisation of the BTC has reached $708 billion.

On the other hand, Ethereum (ETH) gained 5.73 per cent to reach $1,715. With this increase in price, the market capitalisation of ETH reached $196 billion. Likewise, Litecoin (LTC) price reached $154 with a 4.15 per cent increase. The market capitalisation of LTC now stands at $10.2 billion. However, Tether (USDT) price shed 0.28 per cent to fall to $0.99. With this decrease, the market capitalisation of the USTD has reached $27.8 billion.

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AZIZ BUNERI

S the transit trade agreement between Pakistan and Afghanistan is expiring on the 11th of this month, no progress has so far been made with regard to the renewal of the agreement, it was learnt on Friday.

Ziaul Haq Sarhadi, former senior vice president of the Pak-Afghan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry, informed this scribe that a high-powered meeting on Pak-Afghan transit trade was held in Islamabad in December last year. "During the meeting, Pakistan presented its proposals for the new PakAfghan Transit and Trade Agreement to the Afghan authorities but no response has been received so far on the recommendations," he added.

Sarhadi said if a new trade agreement is not signed by 11th Feb, then the "unfavorable" agreement of 2010 will automatically be renewed for the next five years.

He recalled that the first Pak-Afghan transit trade agreement was signed in Geneva in 1965, which lasted for 45 years. Under this agreement, all goods from Karachi port to Peshawar and Chaman were supplied by rail, giving Pakistan Railways a Rs7 billion profit per annum.

"But under the 2010 agreement, certain private truck companies, after getting registered with the FBR, took over the cargo business, causing colossal losses to the government exchequer. This reduced Pak-Afghan transit trade by 70pc."

Sarhadi said the traders had proposed that the new agreement must include the supply of transit and trade goods from Karachi port to Peshawar and Chaman through railways and loose cargo, as this would not only help the government generate revenue, but would also facilitate the traders in terms of hassle-free supply of goods.

Meanwhile, talking to this scribe, Pak-Afghan Chamber Vice President and Afghan businessman Khan Jan Alokozai said that Pak-Afghan transit

trade has taken a massive hit in the recent past due to lack of trust [between governments] and non-renewal of agreements.

"The Afghan government had proposed in the last meeting that the new agreement should be in line with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and other international laws, but this was probably unacceptable for Pakistan as they raised some objections on the issue," he said. "If we do not move towards a new agreement, the 2010 agreement will be extended."

Oil hits highest in a year on growth hopes, OPEC+ cuts LONDON AGENCIES

Oil hit its highest level in a year on Friday, closing in on $60 a barrel on economic revival hopes and supply curbs by producer group OPEC and its allies.

New orders for US-made goods rose more than expected in December, pointing to continued strength in manufacturing. The US Congress is also moving ahead on President Joe Biden’s Covid-19 relief plan.

Brent crude was up 63 cents, or 1.1pc, at $59.47 by 1200 GMT after hitting its highest since Feb. 20 last year at $59.75. US crude was up 54 cents, or 1pc,

at $56.77, after reaching $57.09, its highest since Jan. 22 last year. “The conditions still remain supportive for oil markets,” said Jeffrey Halley, analyst at brokerage OANDA. “Oil should find plenty of willing buyers on any material dip.”

Brent is on track to rise more than 6pc this week.

The last time it traded at $60, the pandemic had yet to take hold, economies were open and people were free to travel, meaning demand for gasoline, diesel and jet fuel was much higher.

The rollout of Covid-19 vaccines, however, is fuelling hopes of lockdowns being eased, boosting fuel demand. But even demand optimists such as OPEC

do not expect oil consumption to return to pre-pandemic levels until 2022.

Oil also gained support from supply curbs by producers. OPEC and its allies, collectively known as OPEC+, stuck to their supply tightening policy at a meeting on Wednesday. Record OPEC+ cuts have helped to lift prices from historic lows last year.

“OPEC+ discipline has been a real positive,” said Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets. Further boosting the market, a weekly supply report showed a drop in U.S. crude inventories to their lowest since March, suggesting that output cuts

by OPEC+ producers are having the desired effect.

S&P 500, Nasdaq scale new highs on stimulus progress, job market rebound NEW YORK AGENCIES

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq hit record highs on Friday on signs of progress towards more economic stimulus, while a closely watched jobs report confirmed the labor market was stabilizing.

Still, US employment growth rebounded less than expected in January and job losses in December were deeper than initially thought, strengthening the argument for additional relief money to aid the recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.

President Joe Biden’s drive to enact a $1.9 trillion coronavirus aid bill gained momentum on Friday with the US House of Representatives set to vote on a budget plan that would allow the passage of the legislation in coming weeks without Republican support.

“The market has priced in this Goldilocks scenario that we’re going to get past COVID and we’re all going to go back to normal,” said Dennis Dick, proprietary trader at Bright Trading LLC in Las Vegas.

“It’s just a matter of how quickly that recovery comes.”

Economy-linked materials and energy led gains among major S&P sectors. The small-cap Russell 2000 index, sensitive to the domestic economic outlook, gained 0.8pc.

Johnson & Johnson rose 2pc after the drugmaker said it had asked US health regulators to authorize its single-dose Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use.

Stimulus talks, upbeat earnings and progress in vaccine rollouts have bolstered bets of a speedy economic recovery, setting the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq on track for their best weeks since the

US election in early November.

A retail trading frenzy also appeared to fade after upending markets last week. Videogame retailer GameStop Corp’s shares, which have shed more than 80pc of their value this week, were up 1pc at $60.77.

Stronger-than-expected corporate results so far in the fourth quarter have driven up analysts’ expectations, and S&P 500 companies are now on track to post earnings growth for the quarter instead of a decline as initially expected.

At 9:40 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 148.87 points, or 0.48pc, to 31,204.73, the S&P 500 gained 14.20 points, or 0.37pc, to 3,885.94 and the Nasdaq Composite increased 15.83 points, or 0.11pc, to 13,793.57.

Chamath Palihapitiya-backed

Clover Health Investments Corp said it had received a letter from the US Securities and Exchange Commission following a critical report published by noted short-selling specialist Hindenburg Research.

Clover’s shares dropped about 3pc, extending losses from the previous session’s 12pc plunge.

Activision Blizzard Inc jumped about 12pc after the company forecast full-year adjusted revenue above analysts’ estimates, driven by strong demand for the latest installment of its blockbuster “Call of Duty” franchise.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners by a 3.3-to-1 ratio on the NYSE and by a 2.2-to-1 ratio on the Nasdaq.

The S&P 500 posted 25 new 52week highs and no new low, while the Nasdaq recorded 242 new highs and three new lows.

Europe in battle to overcome economic lag vs US, Asia LONDON AGENCIES

Europe’s slow vaccine roll-out means its economic recovery could lag behind upturns in the United States and Asia unless it can get the programme back on track in the weeks ahead.

The International Monetary Fund last month hailed the strong China rebound and forecast that the US and Japanese economies would return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of the year, but the euro zone won’t catch up until next year.

While President Joe Biden’s administration aims to provide even more stimulus in a $1.9 trillion US package, EU capitals are still negotiating which projects will get funding from a 750 billion-euro joint recovery fund.

Delays to the European Union’s vaccine roll-out and concern about new coronavirus variants, meanwhile, make it harder for Eu-

DELAYS TO EU'S VACCINE ROLL-OUT AND CONCERN ABOUT NEW CORONAVIRUS VARIANTS MAKE IT HARDER FOR EUROPEAN GOVTS TO EASE CURRENT PANDEMIC RESTRICTIONS ropean governments to ease current pandemic restrictions.

“It remains a race between mutations of the virus and the vaccination, and euro zone countries are lagging on the vaccination process, that’s for sure,” said Sylvain Broyer, chief economist EMEA at S&P Global Ratings.

Data this week showed the euro zone’s downturn deepened in January as renewed restrictions hit the region’s dominant service industry hard.

Existing lockdowns in many countries are set to last into March and beyond. A Ger-

man survey on Thursday showed that companies in the zone’s biggest economy expect restrictions of some kind to be in place until mid-September.

LOST OUTPUT: Much of the concern lies with the EU vaccination programme, launched with much fanfare on Dec 27 but since struggling with slow rollouts and shortages of vaccine.

According to calculations by trade insurance group Euler Hermes, average daily vaccination rates across major EU economies stand at just 0.12pc of the population - four times lower than in Britain

CMYK

and the United States.

EU countries have so far given first doses to about 3pc of their populations, compared with 9pc for the United States and 14pc for Britain, according to Our World in Data.

Euler Hermes estimated that represented a five-week lag on the vaccination front. If left uncorrected, that would cost close to 90 billion euros in output this year, equivalent to two percentage points of lost quarterly GDP growth.

“Economies that finish the race first will be rewarded with strong positive multiplier effects supercharging consumption and investment activity in H2 2021, whereas vaccination laggards will remain stuck in crisis mode and face substantial costs - economic as well as political,” it said in a note.

European Commission Chief Executive Ursula von der Leyen defended the EU’s effort this week, saying the EU lagged rivals by three to four weeks be-

cause of a more rigorous approvals process. She said supply problems should start to ease but acknowledged that increasing production remained a challenge.

If Europe’s recovery is slow in coming, the risk is that it suffers more so-called “scarring”, or longer-term damage to its economy. A big concern is long-term and youth unemployment, which has only started improving in recent years after the 2008/09 financial crisis.

“Covid-19 threatens to undo the last decade of progress: policymakers must act to avoid Europe’s youth suffering the scarring effect,” Guntram Wolff at Brusselsbased economic think-tank Bruegel said.

Bruegel estimates unemployment in EU countries for workers aged 15-24 increased in the second quarter of 2020 to 16.4pc from 14.9pc in the same period a year before. Unemployment among those aged 55-64 even fell slightly to 4.8pc from 5.1pc a year earlier.

Saturday, 6 February, 2021

10 FOREIGN NEWS

ISLAMABAD

MyanMar polIce step up arrests as antI-coup protests grow

M

AGENCIES

YANMAR police arrested another key aide of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi and media said at least 30 people had been detained over pot-banging protests against a military coup as shows of anger gathered pace on Friday.

International pressure on the junta was also growing with the U.N. Security Council calling for the release of Suu Kyi and other leaders and U.S. President Joe Biden considering sanctions on the ruling generals.

The latest high-profile detainee was 79year-old Win Htein, a stalwart of Suu Kyi who was repeatedly imprisoned during their decades of struggling against previous juntas that led to the unsteady transition to democracy that began in 2011. “We have been treated badly continuously for a long time,” he told Reuters by telephone as he was being taken away by police. “I have never been scared of them because I have done nothing wrong my entire life.”

Reuters was unable to reach police for comment on his arrest or what charges could

be brought against him.

In Myanmar’s second city of Mandalay, 30 people were arrested over pot-banging protests which have taken place for the last three nights against Monday’s coup, media reported. Eleven Media quoted Maung Maung Aye, deputy head of the regional police force as saying they were accused of breaking a law against “causing noise in public streets”. A teenager was among others arrested elsewhere over the noisy protests.

There has been no outpouring of people onto the streets in a country with a bloody history of crackdowns on protests, but there were signs of coup opponents growing bolder - with dozens of youths parading in the southeastern city of Dawei.

‘UPHOLD DEMOCRATIC PROCESSES’: A campaign of disobedience also gathered pace with some teachers joining work stoppages that began with doctors in government hospitals. Students at Yangon’s Dagon University held a protest march on campus.

“We don’t want this military coup which unlawfully seized power from our elected government,” said lecturer Nwe Thazin Hlaing at the Yangon University of Education. “We want

libya talks' participants to vote on new interim government AGENCIES Participants in talks on Libya’s political future were preparing for a ballot on Friday morning to select a new interim government, part of a U.N. process aimed at resolving the country’s decade of chaos with elections in December. Candidates for prime minister and for roles in a new presidency council have been auditioning through the week in livestreamed sessions and joined together into four lists on Thursday. Talks participants were expected to convene to vote on the four rival lists at 0730 GMT. Libya has had little peace since the NATO-backed intervention that ended Muammar Gaddafi’s four-decade rule in 2011. Since 2014 it has been split between warring administrations in the west and east, backed by foreign powers. The latest U.N. process emerged from a Berlin conference last year and gathered pace in the autumn after Khalifa Haftar’s eastern-based forces were repelled from a 14-month assault on Tripoli. The process has also involved a military ceasefire but not all its terms have been met - a sign of the continued mistrust on both sides and the internal fractures within both camps. All candidates for the new transitional government have undertaken to hold national presidential and parliamentary elections on December 24 in which they would not stand for office.

us warship sails near chinese-controlled s china sea islands TAIPEI AGENCIES

A U.S. warship sailed near the Chinese-controlled Paracel Islands in the disputed South China Sea on Friday in a freedom of navigation operation, the U.S. Navy said, the first such mission under President Joe Biden’s new administration. China’s military condemned the move, saying it had dispatched naval and air units to follow and warn away the ship. The busy waterway is one of a number of flashpoints in the U.S.-China relationship, which include a trade war, U.S. sanctions, Hong Kong and Taiwan. China has been infuriated by repeated U.S. sailings near the islands Beijing occupies and controls in the South China Sea. China says it has irrefutable sovereignty and has accused Washington of deliberately stoking tensions. The U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet said the destroyer USS John S. McCain “asserted navigational rights and freedoms in the vicinity of the Paracel Islands, consistent with international law”. The freedom of navigation operation upheld the rights, freedoms and lawful uses of the sea recognised in international law by challenging the “unlawful restrictions on innocent passage imposed by China, Taiwan, and Vietnam”, it said. The Southern Theatre Command of China’s People’s Liberation Army said the ship had entered into what it termed the territorial waters of the Paracels without permission, “seriously infringing upon China’s sovereignty and security”. The United States was “deliberately disrupting the good atmosphere of the South China Sea of peace, friendship, and cooperation”, it added. China took full control of the Paracels in 1974 after a short battle with South Vietnamese forces. Vietnam, as well as Taiwan, continue to claim the islands. Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines have claims to other parts of the South China Sea, where China has been building artificial islands and constructing air bases on some of them. The same U.S. ship involved in this mission earlier this week transited the sensitive Taiwan Strait, drawing an angry response from Beijing.

IndonesIa, MalaysIa seekIng asean MeetIng on MyanMar after coup JAKARTA: The leaders of Indonesia and Malaysia on Friday said they were seeking a special meeting of Southeast Asian nations to discuss the situation in Myanmar, where an elected government was overthrown in a coup this week. Throwing a wedge in Myanmar’s transition to democracy, the military took power on Monday, alleging irregularities in a November election won in a landslide by the party of Aung San Suu Kyi. After meeting visiting Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said their foreign ministers had been asked to talk to Brunei, the current chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), to try to set up the special Myanmar meeting. Muhyiddin referred to the coup as being “one step backward in the process of democracy in that country”. Such meetings are rare and arranging one could be a challenge, however, given ASEAN’s policy of noninterference in its members’ domestic issues and their contrasting responses to the army takeover. ASEAN, of which Myanmar is a member, earlier this week said it had been watching developments there closely. AGENCIES

the military coup to fail.”

Army chief Min Aung Hlaing took power citing alleged irregularities in a November election that Suu Kyi’s party won in a landslide. The electoral commission has said the vote was fair. The 15-member U.N. Security Council released a statement on Thursday

stressing the “need to uphold democratic institutions and processes, refrain from violence, and fully respect human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law.”

Language in the statement nonetheless made no mention of a coup - apparently to win support from China and Russia, which

have traditionally sided with Myanmar.

Both countries have ties to the military and China has large economic interests in its neighbour. China’s U.N. mission said Beijing hoped the key messages in the statement “could be heeded by all sides and lead to a positive outcome”.

‘CREDIBLE ELECTION’: Biden said the United States was working with allies and partners to address the generals’ takeover.

“There can be no doubt in a democracy force should never seek to overrule the will of the people or attempt to erase the outcome of a credible election,” he said.

The White House said national security adviser Jake Sullivan spoke by phone with ambassadors from the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), a 10-member bloc to which Myanmar - also known as Burma - belongs. Sullivan earlier told a news briefing the Biden administration was looking at targeted sanctions on individuals and on entities controlled by the military. The leaders of Malaysia and Indonesia said ASEAN foreign ministers would be asked to hold a special meeting to discuss the situation. It is unclear how effective sanctions would be as Myanmar’s generals have few overseas interests that could be targeted. The military does, however, have extensive interests in the domestic economy and could pay a price if foreign companies that have invested over the past decade decide to pull out. Japanese drinks giant Kirin Holdings said on Friday it is terminating its alliance with a top Myanmar conglomerate whose owners, according to the United Nations, include members of the military. Kirin said the coup had “shaken the very foundation of the partnership”.

EU diplomat tells Russia ties are at a low over case of Kremlin critic Navalny MOSCOW AGENCIES

The European Union’s top diplomat told Russian authorities on Friday that their treatment of jailed opposition politician Alexei Navalny represented a low point in ties as Navalny appeared in court again over a slander case.

Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s most prominent critic, was jailed this week for almost three years for parole violations he called trumped up, a case that the West has condemned and which has spurred talk of sanctions.

Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, began talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday. Ahead of those talks, he said he wanted to broach difficult issues like the Navalny case.

Lavrov said he was ready to engage and complained about the state of EU-Russia ties. He has previously accused the West of hysteria and double standards over the Navalny case, while the Kremlin has warned it will respond to harsh criticism from Borrell in kind.

Despite close trade ties and energy interdependence, Russia’s political re-

lations with the European Union soured after Moscow annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

Navalny was back in court on Friday, accused of slandering a World War Two veteran who took part in a promotional video backing reforms last year that let Putin run for two more terms in the Kremlin after 2024 if he wants.

Navalny at the time described the people in the video as traitors and lackeys. He denies the slander charge.

“This case in general was intended as a kind of PR process because the Kremlin needs the headlines: Navalny

slandered a veteran,” he told the court.

“I find it really disgusting and unbearable... You’ve been using him (the veteran) as a puppet... you’re making a mockery of a 95-year-old man.”

Though the charge is currently punishable by up to two years in jail, his lawyers say he cannot face a custodial sentence because the alleged crime was committed before the law was changed to make it a jailable offence.

Navalny’s jailing has sparked Western calls for his release and added a new irritant to strained relations between Russian and the West.

Countdown to 'catastrophe:' Inside Europe's fight for coronavirus shots BRUSSELS AGENCIES

In a meeting last week in the Europa building in Brussels, home of the European Union’s political leadership, diplomats for the 27 member states were desperate. The EU had paid billions of euros toward shots to curb a pandemic that was killing thousands of Europeans every day. Now vaccine-makers had cut back deliveries, and the EU was trapped in a public fight.

“This is a catastrophe,” French ambassador Philippe Leglise-Costa told the Jan. 27 meeting, according to a diplomatic note seen by Reuters.

It was a crucial moment in nearly two weeks of confusion and anger over the EU’s vaccine supply, which were to plunge the bloc into its deepest crisis since Ursula von der Leyen took over the executive European Commission just over a year ago.

A week earlier, the EU had set a target to vaccinate 70% of adults against Covid-19 by the end of summer, a potential ticket out of lockdowns that have cost countries billions. As the impact of the vaccine shortfall became clear, the bloc embarked on a campaign to shame drugmakers hit by production delays into releasing more supply.

But the tactic wasn’t working and details of confidential deals were leaking out, casting doubt on the EU’s ability to enforce contracts it had agreed on behalf of its members.

Reuters has obtained exclusive details of internal EU talks over the past month in diplomatic notes, and interviewed four people present at key meetings to verify them. The notes reveal how the EU’s top executives lurched from satisfaction about the vaccination programme to panic.

Some EU officials were already aware in December of delays in vaccine production, the notes show, but the Commission announced ambitious targets nonetheless. The EU initially kept no track of companies’ vaccine doses leaving the bloc, only realising after its own supplies were delayed it could not trace

the millions of doses that had already been exported.

And as its attempts to win ground by legal means failed, the Commission faced sharp attacks from EU governments on its public communication strategy.

In a pandemic that has killed over 700,000 people in Europe alone, the delays announced by the companies producing coronavirus vaccines - AstraZeneca PLC and Pfizer Inc. - risked leaving millions in Europe unprotected deep in the winter, just as new, more transmissible, variants were circulating and hospitals were being overwhelmed. Vaccination centres from Madrid to Paris had closed for lack of supply.

The EU Commission declined comment for this story. So did AstraZeneca, which has said it is focused on boosting supplies to the bloc after the manufacturing glitches. The Commission has often said it expects an exponential increase in the availability of vaccines from April. Pfizer’s Chief Executive Albert Bourla told Reuters production is back on track in Europe after the company made changes at its Belgian manufacturing site to increase supply.

The vaccine squeeze was not just a public health nightmare. It was also a political crisis.

Britain, freshly divorced from the EU’s single market after five years of bitter negotiations, was inoculating people at a much faster pace than any EU country, public data show.

Diplomats feared the Commission was losing the battle against a “narrative of ... big failure,” a senior EU diplomat who was present at the Jan. 27 meeting told Reuters. They urged the Commission to cool a row with British company AstraZeneca for the sake of getting drugs as soon as possible, the notes show and people present said.

The Commission’s dilemma underscores the power of big drugmakers as governments scramble to vaccinate their citizens, and the geopolitical tensions that can result.

Eventually, the notes show EU diplomats recognised the bloc may not benefit from arguing about contracts with AstraZeneca. Instead, the Commission

turned up the heat on the United Kingdom - which AstraZeneca said was preventing British-made vaccines from reaching Europe - only to swiftly step back after realising it risked disrupting a border agreement in the Brexit accord which London and Dublin said could have serious consequences for security in Northern Ireland.

The damage to the EU’s image was visible on the front pages of Britain’s eurosceptic popular press, with headlines declaring “EU vaccines war explodes” and “EU chiefs behaving like the mafia.”

A spokesman for the French ambassador said he had urged the EU “to communicate in an orderly and strategic manner.”

A British government spokesperson said, “We are in constant contact with the vaccine manufacturers and remain confident that the supply of vaccine to the UK will not be disrupted.” The UK government declined to comment on AstraZeneca’s claim it was preventing vaccines from reaching Europe, but said it does not prohibit any export of Covid-19 vaccines.

‘GLITCH-FREE’: The month started calmly for member states, who had agreed at the start of the pandemic to form a steering group with the EU executive to negotiate with drugmakers, to support smaller states and prevent internal squabbling.

EU Commission officials and diplomats involved met in the Europa Building’s S7 Room, a windowless chamber where delegates assembled at a round table beneath a ceiling decorated with dozens of squares in pastel colours. The Commission was represented by the EU’s top vaccine negotiator, Sandra Gallina, an Italian national who started working for the EU Commission more than three decades ago as an interpreter.

She declined to comment for this story.

The EU was about three weeks behind Britain in launching a vaccine - largely because it opted against issuing emergency regulatory approval as Britain had done. But the EU had announced deals with six vaccine-makers to secure nearly 2.3 billion doses for its population of 450 million.

Saturday, 6 February, 2021

SPORTS 11

ISLAMABAD

PakisTan bowLEd ouT foR 272 in sECond TEsT againsT souTh afRiCa RAWALPINDI

P

AGENCIES

AKISTAN, resuming at 145-3, were bowled out for 272 in their first innings in the second Test against South Africa at Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium on Friday.

Pakistan lost overnight batsman Babar Azam off the second ball of the day, without adding to his 77, while Fawad Alam scored another three before falling for 45.

Faheem Ashraf scored a brilliant 78 not out.

Fast bowler Anrich Nortje took 5-56 while Keshav Maharaj finished with 3-90.

Azam slashed at a short delivery from paceman Nortje and was smartly snapped head high by Faf du Plessis in the second slip for his overnight score of 77.

At lunch, Ashraf was on a gritty 54 and Yasir Shah yet to score with Pakistan adding 84 in an extended session due to Friday prayers.

Liverpool face must-win Man City test as bottom three cut adrift LONDON

Chelsea pile more misery on Mourinho’s Tottenham LONDON AGENCIES

AGENCIES

Manchester City and Liverpool have dominated the Premier League over the past four seasons but a sizeable gap has opened up between the leaders and the champions ahead of their latest meeting on Sunday. City are seven points clear of fourth-placed Liverpool, with a game in hand, and could kill off any hopes of a revival for Jurgen Klopp’s men with a first victory at Anfield for 18 years. At the other end of the table, Sheffield United, West Brom and Fulham have been cut adrift and look destined for a return to the Championship. But struggles for Liverpool, Chelsea, Tottenham and Arsenal have opened up the race for a Champions League place, with a host of other contenders aiming for a top-four finish. Despite the vast sums invested and multiple trophies won since Shiekh Mansour’s takeover 13 years ago, Anfield has remained an unassailable fortress for the men in blue with City’s last victory there coming in 2003. However, Liverpool’s invincibility at home has crumbled in recent weeks in front of empty stands. After a clubrecord 68-game unbeaten run in the Premier League at Anfield, the Reds have suffered back-to-back 1-0 defeats to Burnley and Brighton. Liverpool have not won any of their past four home games — and have not found the net there since late December.

Klopp admitted his side were suffering from mental and physical fatigue as an injury crisis in defence continues to have an impact on the rest of the team, with midfielders Fabinho and Jordan Henderson forced into deputising at centre-back. Goalkeeper Alisson Becker, Fabinho and Sadio Mane all missed the Brighton defeat on Wednesday but could return for the daunting task of halting City’s 13-game winning run in all competitions.

Despite the absence of Kevin De Bruyne, City have found the kind of form that enabled them to pip Liverpool to the title by a single point in the 2018/19 season. Pep Guardiola’s men have conceded just one goal in winning their past nine league games to storm three points clear at the top with a game in hand over second-placed Manchester United. “At the end the aim is to be champion,” said Guardiola, looking ahead after easing past Burnley on Wednesday. “It is the same (three) points, but against a contender.” Liverpool remain fourth for now despite their faltering form but just nine points separate them from Arsenal in 10th spot. Sixth-placed Everton are six points behind Leicester, in third spot, but have two games in hand. However, on Saturday, Carlo Ancelotti’s men travel to face a Manchester United side fresh from equalling the Premier League’s record winning margin, with a 9-0 demolition of nine-man Southampton.

Chelsea climbed into the Premier League top six as Thomas Tuchel earned the first major victory of his short time in charge of the Blues with a 1-0 win at Tottenham on Thursday.

Jorginho’s penalty midway through the first-half was scant reward for Chelsea’s dominance on another damaging night for Spurs boss Jose Mourinho against his former club.

Since a 2-0 victory over Arsenal in early December took Tottenham top of the table, they have won just twice in their last 10 league games to not only see hopes of a first league title in 60 years disappear, but their chances of even making the top four rapidly recede.

Spurs now sit eighth, seven points off the Champions League places, and behind Chelsea, who saw fit to make a managerial change last week after a drastic dip in form under Frank Lampard.

Tottenham were again without the injured Harry Kane, but that still did not

excuse a complete lack of attacking threat from Mourinho’s men as they failed to score for the second consecutive game. Timo Werner’s poor form played a major part in Lampard’s dismissal, but the German international is slowly finding his feet under his compatriot and could have scored inside a minute with a looping header that sailed just wide.

Chelsea did not concede a single shot on target to Burnley or Wolves and quickly established complete control of the ball once more with Tottenham happy to sit deep and wait for their chance to counter-attack. However, Spurs’ defensive resolve was undone on 24 minutes when Eric Dier unnecessarily swept away Werner’s legs from under him inside the box.

Jorginho had missed three penalties already this season, but cut out his usual stutter-step run-up and smashed the ball low past Hugo Lloris. Tottenham could have gone in level at the break against the run of play when Serge Aurier headed wide from Son Heung-min’s free-kick. Spurs started the second-half

with far better intent to press Chelsea high up the field, but in doing so opened themselves up to some slick passing from Tuchel’s men.

Callum Hudson-Odoi fired a low shot just side before Aurier’s last-ditch tackle denied Werner his first Premier League goal since November.

Mateo Kovacic and Marcos Alonso then fired good chances off target, while Toby Alderweireld nearly scored a spectacular own goal as Lloris stretched to head away his wild attempted backpass.

Despite the absence of Kane, Gareth Bale was again left on the bench for the entire match after failing to make an impact in defeat at Brighton on Sunday in his first league start for nearly three months.

Mourinho introduced Lucas Moura and Erik Lamela instead in a bid to make a breakthrough.

Lamela produced his side’s only shot on target of the game with a long range effort that Edouard Mendy comfortably parried to safety.

Azam’s dismissal was the start of a mini-collapse which saw Pakistan lose two wickets in the space of 34 balls with the addition of just four runs after resuming at 145-3.

The other overnight batsman, Alam, was run out after he tried to steal a quick single with a push to cover but failed to beat a direct throw from Temba Bavuma at the non-striker’s end.

Alam could only add three to his overnight score of 42.

Azam, who was looking set for his sixth Test century, had hit 12 boundaries off 127 balls.

Ashraf then added 41 with Mohammad Rizwan but once South Africa took the second new ball Nortje struck again, having Rizwan caught off a miscued hook for 18.

Left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj had Hasan Ali for eight. Nortje (3-48) and Maharaj (3-75) were the pick of the South African bowlers.

Pakistan lead the two-match series 1-0 after beating the Proteas in the first Test by seven wickets at Karachi last week.

England skipper Root hits ton in 100th Test CHENNAI AGENCIES

Skipper Joe Root hit a sparkling century in his 100th Test to help England start solidly in the opening Test against India on Friday.

Root took a single off spinner Washington Sundar to complete his 20th Test ton, and raised his bat to an applauding England dressing room in Chennai.

The in-form batsman — who made his Test debut in India in 2012 and is playing after match-winning knocks of 228 and 186 in Sri Lanka — swept the the Indian spinners around the stadium as he reached the landmark in 164 balls. He joined England greats Colin Cowdrey and Alec Stewart in getting a hundred in their 100th Test.

Root, however, is the first to score a century in his 98th, 99th and 100th Test.

Root was batting alongside, Dom Sibley, on 83, as the duo put on an unbroken 164-run stand to steer England to 227 for two after batting first at the start of the four-match series. The 30-year-old Root, who has scored over 8,000 runs at an average of over 49, is the 15th England player in 144 years of Test cricket to have appeared in a hundred matches.

Who can stop Djokovic? Australian Open’s controversial king targets ninth crown MELBOURNE AGENCIES

Novak Djokovic has not endeared himself to fans over the past year, but the Australian Open’s undisputed king will take some stopping as he targets a record-extending ninth title at Melbourne Park.

Djokovic claimed his 17th Grand Slam crown in last year’s gripping final, when he came back from 2-1 down to edge Austria’s Dominic Thiem in five sets.

The Serbian’s eighth victory in 16 visits reinforced his dominance in Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena, where he claimed his first Grand Slam title in 2008 and has won seven of the last 10 editions.

Rafael Nadal and Thiem look to be his biggest rivals at this year’s tournament, with six-time Australian Open champion Roger Federer sidelined as he recovers from double knee surgery. The Australian Open was the highlight of a mesmerising early 2020 season for Djokovic, who won his first four tournaments of the year.

However, off-court, things soon unravelled for the elastic-limbed world number

SERB’S EIGHTH VICTORY IN 16 VISITS REINFORCED HIS DOMINANCE IN ROD LAVER ARENA AND WON SEVEN OF THE LAST 10 EDITIONS one. After tennis went into lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic, Djokovic launched the ill-fated Adria Tour in June, with no social distancing and players pictured dancing shirtless at a packed nightclub. Djokovic and his wife Jelena were among a number of people to subsequently test positive for the virus, with Grigor Dimitrov, Borna Coric and Viktor Troicki also falling ill.

Worse was to come when tennis resumed and Djokovic defaulted out of the US Open in sensational fashion, when he angrily swiped away a ball that accidentally hit a female line judge in the throat.

His hopes of becoming the first man in half a century to win all four Slams twice then ended in a straight-sets defeat to Nadal in the French Open final.

CMYK

Djokovic also drew negative comment in August for launching the Professional Tennis Players Association, a breakaway group outside the men’s tour, as tennis attempted to get back on its feet.

And he found himself labelled a “tool”

by Australia’s Nick Kyrgios after requesting better conditions for players during Australia’s mandatory quarantine, including private houses with tennis courts.

Despite the off-court turbulence, Djokovic enjoys strong support in Melbourne — which has a sizeable Serbian population — and said Rod Laver Arena brings back “beautiful memories”.

“It does feel like a home for me in Australia, in Melbourne, particularly in Rod Laver,” he said this week.

“That is by far my most successful ten-

nis court in my career. Had some profound memories in the last 15 years, and you know, won my first Grand Slam back in 2008. “Had probably the most exciting matches played on this court, and definitely the longest match ever that I played was in the finals, almost six hours with Rafa (Nadal) in 2012.”

Nadal will undoubtedly figure prominently in the tournament but it is now 12 years since he won his lone title in Melbourne, despite four more trips to the final.

The Spaniard also has fitness concerns after he pulled out of two days’ play at this week’s ATP Cup with a sore back.

Thiem came agonisingly close to victory last year and, buoyed by his first Grand Slam title at the US Open, will be confident against anyone in the draw — including Djokovic, against whom he has won five of their last seven meetings.

Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas are also among the top contenders at a tournament where form is difficult to judge, with playing opportunities hard to come by during the pandemic.

Saturday, 6 February, 2021

PRAyER TImINGS

NEWS

FAJR SUNRISE

ZUHR

ASR MAGHRIB ISHA

5:36

12:14

3:07

7:01

5:27

6:52

PaKIstan’s leadershIP asKs Int’l communIty to hold IndIa accountable for KashmIr atrocItIes ISLAMABAD

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STAFF REPORT

HE top political brass of the country, including Prime Minister Imran Khan, President Dr Arif Alvi and Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood, on Friday paid tribute to the Kashmiri people for their valiant struggle despite unprecedented Indian brutalities in the Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) and asked the international community to hold India accountable for its actions.

President Alvi said that Pakistan would never compromise on Kashmir and warned India “not to play with fire” by changing the demography of the Muslim populated Valley.

“India is playing with fire by changing demographics of Jammu and Kashmir, with high risks of a situation leading to conflict and genocide,” the President told media during his visit to Muzaffarabad, where he addressed the special session of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly.

Alvi said that the resolution of the Kashmir dispute as per the pledges of the United Nations was the “only option” to ensure peace in South Asia and asked New Delhi to stop unabated acts of genocide and demographic changes in IOK. “Pakistan has a clear message for India; Our relations cannot be improved without the resolution of Kashmir issue in accordance with the resolutions of UN Security Council,” the president said in his address.

AJK President Sardar Masood Khan, PM Raja Farooq Haider, and members of the Legislative Assembly attended the session held in the capital of Azad Kashmir.

The president said that India illegally inhabited 3.3 million people in Kashmir to change the demography of highly populated Muslim area.

“Even through this tactic India will [sic] fail to eliminate the passion and struggle of Kashmiris for their identity,” he said.

He also said that Pakistan would stand with their Kashmiri brethren in their just struggle and assured that every Pakistani supported them from their core of heart.

He dismissed any differences within Pakistan over the status of Kashmir, adding

PRESIDENT WARNS INDIA NOT TO PLAY WITH FIRE, SAYS PAKISTAN WON'T COMPROMISE ON KASHMIR that there existed unanimity of stance.

Alvi said that Pakistan gave India a tough response to its attack on Balakot and stressed that “India must keep this in mind while undertaking such adventures”.

The president asked India to develop conditions that could lead to discussions on resolving the Kashmir dispute and urged the international bodies, including the UN to press upon India in this regard.

He lauded the UN Secretary-General for supporting Pakistan’s stance of demanding the right of self-determination for Kashmiris.

“This [Kashmir] is not a matter of territory, but the matter of principle,” he said, adding that Pakistan wanted to take the Kashmir dispute towards its logical end, but only in line with UNSC resolutions.

He mentioned that UNSC in its several resolutions had emphasized holding a free and fair plebiscite in Kashmir with a pledge made with Kashmiris to decide about their destiny in the shape of self-determination.

President Alvi said that Pakistan had always raised its voice against the atrocities faced by Kashmiris and also for the rights of Muslims living under difficult conditions in India.

He said that both the government and the opposition in Pakistan, setting aside their political differences, always held the same stance on Kashmir. “The ultimate direction in this regard is based on national unity.”

He vowed that any further steps with regard to Kashmir would be made in consultation with the stakeholders, particularly the people of Kashmir.

The president said that Pakistan at times asked India to hold discussions on all outstanding issues, including Kashmir. He, however, regretted that no positive response was received.

He recalled the offer of Prime Minister Imran that Pakistan was ready to take two steps forward if India came to the negotiation table and showed intent to resolve the longstanding issue.

He urged India to open its occupied territory for the international observers and media and let them monitor the ongoing worsening situation of human rights.

He said that the Kashmiri people had to face the horrendous acts of brutality by Indian security like the pellet gun attacks that left hundreds; including women and children, blind for a lifetime.

The Indian oppression, he said, was on the rise in the IOK as its forces were subjecting the youth to torture, illegal detentions, and fake encounters.

“These are the same indicators as of Hitler’s era, where the life was made miserable for an ethnic community by setting up genocide camps and inflicting upon them economic hardships,” he added.

President Alvi said that India was involved in carrying out terrorist activities inside Pakistan and also waged a continuous fake media war as recently exposed through the findings of EU-based DisInfoLab. He said that the nefarious designs of the incumbent Indian government pursuing the Hindutva ideology were revealed as it used Pulwama attack for electoral victory.

He mentioned that India also failed to achieve its target in the airstrike in Pakistan’s Balakot area and warned that such a belligerent attitude could lead to a dangerous situation between the two nuclear-armed states.

“Pakistan has always given peace a chance, however, India is repeatedly making mistakes through acts of irresponsible aggression,” the president said.

Comprised of the ‘artificial unity of different states’, he said, India “must not take any risk of hostility towards its neighbours”.

President Alvi said that India was committing a crime by changing the demographics of IOK as it revoked Article 370 and 35-A of its Constitution.

He maintained that Pakistan would continue to highlight the stories of oppression and cruelty in occupied Kashmir at international forums, which India was trying to hide

by putting a curb on internet and broadband communication.

“We have to show the visual evidence of Indian atrocities to the world to wake up their conscience,” he said.

“For its part, Pakistan will remain unshakable in its solidarity with the Kashmiri people until they realise their legitimate and inalienable right to self-determination, in accordance with the United Nations Charter and relevant UN Security Council resolutions. This is indispensable for durable peace and security in South Asia,” PM Imran said in his message to the nation on Kashmir Solidarity Day. He reaffirmed Pakistan’s resolute support for the Kashmiri brothers and sisters, who continued to be subjected to an inhuman military siege and communications blockade since August 5, 2019.

He added that the tragedy of the Kashmiris went back more than seven decades as they had faced unabated repression and consistent denial of their fundamental rights by India.

“India must stop its brutal suppression of the Kashmiris, adhere to its international human rights obligations, and honour the commitment to Kashmiris to grant their inalienable right to self-determination through a free and impartial plebiscite under the UN auspices,” the prime minister demanded.

PM Imran said that ever since India reneged on this commitment, it had sought to brutally suppress the Kashmiris’ quest for freedom.

The latest Indian attempts to further colonize IOK by altering its demography and obliterating the distinct Kashmiri identity were reflective of a sinister design to convert the Muslim majority into a minority, he added.

These changes, he explained, were being carried out through promulgation of illegal domicile rules, changes in property laws, and downgrading the status of Urdu language.

Incentives were being offered to outsiders to settle on the occupied land of the Kashmiris in violation of international law, particularly the 4th Geneva Convention.

The prime minister said that over eight million Kashmiris had been turned into prisoners in their own homes, with more than 900,000 occupation troops holding

Balochistan coal miners reluctant to work after Hazara massacre QUETTA AGENCIES

Thousands of miners have stopped work and many have fled Balochistan since militants killed 10 Hazara workers at a colliery last month, officials said Thursday.

Labour organisations and government officials said up to 15,000 workers had downed tools since the murder of the Hazara group, forcing around 200 mines to close and slashing production.

More than 100 mines were “still non-functional,” said Abdullah Shehwani, the provincial head of coal mines.

More than 40,000 workers toil in hundreds of small mines in Balochistan.

Refugees or economic migrants from Afghanistan make up a big part of the workforce — especially from the marginalised Hazara Shia community.

10 Hazara miners were kidnapped by gunmen from a remote colliery in early January before being taken to nearby hills where most were shot dead, and some beheaded.

It prompted huge protests among Hazaras, who make up most of the Shia population in Quetta and less than 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the restive Afghanistan border.

Their Central Asian features make them easy targets for Sunni militants,

who consider them heretics.

“Local workers ask for high pay and owners have to pay them compensation, in case of an accident,” Habib Tahir, provincial chief of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, told AFP. “Afghan refugees […] work in the coal mines for low pay.”

But Behroz Reiki, president of a mine owners’ association, said the current situation was also causing grave hardship for local communities.

“A closure of a coal mine means no jobs for the security guards and other employees — those who work in other sections, including drivers, helpers, and others,” he said.

Atif Hussain, an official from the government’s mines department, insisted security had been beefed up.

“We have provided special security to the Hazara workers,” he said, adding: “Now they move in a police escort.”

Some mines had re-opened after government forces increased security, said MirDad Khel, the head of a local coal miners’ association, but many miners were still scared.

“Fifty percent of the workers are still reluctant to return […] they are still jobless,” he told AFP. “They don’t have money even for their day-to-day expenses — even for one meal.”

them hostage.

“History has few examples of such violation of fundamental rights. Thousands of Kashmiris have been arbitrarily detained.

The Kashmiri youth are being particularly targeted through abductions, incarceration at undisclosed locations, indiscriminate use of pellet guns, and extra-judicial killings in fake encounters,” he remarked.

Calling it a “manifestation of Indian state terrorism against innocent Kashmiris”, the prime minister called for the immediate lifting of the military siege and communications blockade as well as rescinding of India’s illegal and unilateral actions in the IOK. Moreover, he said, all those arbitrarily arrested and illegally incarcerated should be released and draconian laws providing impunity to the Indian occupation forces immediately repealed.

The prime minister demanded India to give access to the international human rights and humanitarian organisations, as well as the international media to investigate the grave human rights situation in the occupied territory.

Foreign Minister Qureshi asked international observers and foreign media to visit both parts of Kashmir for getting first-hand information about normalcy at the Pakistani side and the worsening human rights situation in IOK. “I invite the foreign media and international observers to come and see themselves development in AJK, and later visit Srinagar to see the opposite,” the foreign minister said in his address to the Kashmir Solidarity rally in the Federal Capital.

The comparison of “two entirely opposite situations in the AJK and the IOK” should be an eye-opener for the world, he added.

Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani, National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Shibli Faraz, parliamentarians and a large number of people from all walks of life participated in the rally.

The foreign minister said that Pakistan would continue to extend support to the Kashmiris till they got their right to self-determination.

India restoring fast mobile internet in occupied Kashmir after 18 months India said on Friday it was restoring high-speed mobile internet in occupied Kashmir for the first time since August 2019, when the government withdrew the special rights of the restive Muslim-majority region. Jammu and Kashmir was India’s only Muslim-majority region before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government split it into two, including an enclave with many Buddhists, and took direct control of both. “4G mobile internet services being restored in entire J&K,” local administration spokesman Rohit Kansal said on Twitter. India broke up occupied Kashmir in mid-2019 by sending additional troops mainly to the Kashmir Valley, and detaining political leaders to crack down on dissent in the region where India has been fighting an insurgency for decades. One of those detained and released politicians, former J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah, tweeted his happiness at the New Delhi government’s move on the internet. “4G Mubarak!” he said, using an Urdu word for congratulations.

“For the first time since Aug 2019, all of J&K will have 4G mobile data. Better late than never”. AGENCIES

Indian protesters against agriculture reforms attract new supporters BHAINSWAL AGENCIES

Thousands of farmers in a politically important Indian state on Friday rallied in opposition to new agricultural laws, signalling growing support for a months-long campaign to have the government reforms scrapped.

Angry at what they see as legislation that benefits private buyers at the expense of growers, tens of thousands of farmers have been camped on the outskirts of the capital, New Delhi, for more than two months, calling for the withdrawal of laws introduced in September.

Much of the initial support for the protests has come from rice and wheat growers from northern India, particularly opposition-ruled Punjab state.

But in a sign of a growing challenge to the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, thousands of farmers rallied on Friday in Uttar Pradesh state to show their support for the protests.

“Everybody here is going to join the movement,” said Jitendra Singh, 55, a sugarcane farmer at the rally

in Bhainswal village.

Hundreds of police, many armed and wearing riot gear, stood by but there was no trouble.

Uttar Pradesh is India’s largest state and a critical battleground state in elections.

While Modi’s party commands a comfortable majority in parliament, the support for the protests from Uttar Pradesh’s politically influential sugarcane farmers will be a worry.

The farmers say the laws mean the end of longstanding support prices for their crops and will leave them vulnerable to the whims of big buyers. They are demanding that the laws be annulled.

The government says reform of the inefficient agriculture sector will open up new opportunities for farmers and while it has offered some concessions, it has ruled out withdrawing the laws.

India’s agriculture minister defended new agriculture reform laws in parliament on Friday, dampening hopes of a quick settlement with tens of thousands of farmers who have been demanding their repeal by blocking three

highways connecting the capital to northern India for over two months.

Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar made no new offer to resume stalled talks with the farmers, who believe the legislation will devastate their earnings by ending guaranteed prices for wheat and rice and force them to sell to powerful corporations at cheaper prices.

Singh said the laws will lead to more private investment in agriculture and raise earnings by setting up warehouses where farmers can store crops and sell them when prices are favourable.

The deadlock turned violent on Jan 26, India’s Republic Day, when thousands of farmers riding tractors stormed India’s historic Red Fort and unfurled a flag of the minority Sikh community, which is leading the protests.

Clashes between the farmers and government forces left one protester dead and nearly 400 police officers injured.

On Saturday, farmers plan to blockade highways across the country for three hours to draw attention to

their cause. They say they will not stop their protests until the laws are repealed.

Opposition leaders, including Anand Sharma of the Congress party and Satish Mishra of the Bahujan Samaj Party, accused the government of violating the human rights of farmers by disconnecting electricity and water supplies at protest sites and cutting internet access.

They also objected to the authorities’ sharp increase in security at the three main protest sites outside New Delhi’s border aimed at stopping the farmers from entering the capital.

Tomar accused the opposition parties of inciting the farmers by falsely claiming that their land would be taken over by big corporations under contract farming laws.

“This is not true,” he said.

Furthermore, much to the government’s annoyance, the protests have drawn increasing international scrutiny, with celebrities including singer Rihanna and environment campaigner Greta Thunberg announcing their support for the farmers.

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