PML-N left in the lurch as Gillani notified Opp. leader

Shujaat hamza

ISLAMABAD: Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani on Friday notified Senator Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani as Leader of the Opposition in the Upper House after the PPP nominated him for the slot with the sup-port of 30 lawmakers.“In pursuance of Rule 16 (3) of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Senate 2012, the Chairman Senate has been pleased to declare Senator Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani, as Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, with effect from 26th March, 2021,” read the notification issued by the

Senate Secretariat. Former prime minister Yousaf Raza Gillani earlier filed the nom-ination papers for the slot.PML-N’s Azam Nazir Tar-rar, according to reports, had the support of 21 Op-position senators while JUI-F, which has five sen-ators, did not support any candidate. Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani had secured the support of 30 Opposi-tion senators for the prized post which had been a mat-ter of contention between the PML-N and the PPP. Talking to the media after submitting the request, Senator Sherry Rehman said the PPP’s request has

Continued on Page 06

ANTALYA: Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaisar addresses Speakers’ conference being held in the Turkish city of Antalya. – DNA

Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani had secured the support of 30 Opp. senators

NCOC session

to review situationStaff RepoRt

ISLAMABAD: A Special NCOC Morning Session was held on Friday to take a review of rising disease trend. Asad Umar chaired the session. Provincial ad-ministrations were asked to ensure strict implementation of NPIs and violators must be dealt with strictly. Major violations are reported from transport sector, wedding, restaurants, commercial ac-tivities and public gatherings.A Special NCOC session under Chairperson NCOC will be convened today in the wake of alarmingly ris-ing disease trend especially in Punjab, KP and ICT. CM Punjab, CM KP and Com-missioner ICT are invited to attend the session via video link. Provincial Chief Secre-taries, Health Secretaries and Home Secretaries will also join the session. Agen-da includes discussion on rising disease trend, imple-mentation status of high im-pact interventions and state of critical medical facilities including oxygenated beds, vents and other facilities.

ECC okays Rs 1bn TSG

ISLAMABAD, Mar 26 (AP-P):The Economic Coordi-nation Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet Friday approved Rs one billion Technical Sup-plementary Grant (TSG) for launching awareness cam-paign to inform and educate people, particularly during the third wave of COVID-19.“The ECC considered and approved a Technical Sup-plementary Grant regarding allocation of funds amount-ing to Rs one billion for launching advertisement campaigns by the Ministry of Information and Broad-casting (MOIB) to inform and educate people particu-larly during the third wave of COVID-19 for the public good,” said a press state-ment issued by the Finance Ministry here. – APP

Chinese President extends best wishes to PM Imran Khan

People over 50

to register from

March 30Staff RepoRt

ISLAMABAD: Head of the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) Asad Umar announced on Friday that people aged 50 and above can sign up to get vaccinated for coronavirus starting next week.“Registration of those who are 50 plus for COVID vac-cination will be opened on March 30th,” announced the minister in a tweet. Umar en-couraged everyone over the age of 50 to register when the process begins, also re-minding those who are 60 and older that registration for them had already begun.Earlier this month, the Umar had announced that the vac-cination drive for people above 60 years old will begin on March 10. In a tweet, the federal minister said that the vaccinations will be done in reverse order by age.

DNa

BEIJING: Chinese Presi-dent Xi Jinping has wished Prime Minister Imran Khan a speedy recovery and ex-pressed deep sympathy with him for being affected by Covid-19.In his message, President Xi said that China and Paki-stan are partners in the all weather strategic coopera-tion. China will always stand firm with Pakistan to defeat Covid-19 pandemic.This year 2021 marks the 70th anniversary of estab-lishment of diplomatic re-lations between China and Pakistan.“I attach great importance

to the development of Si-no-Pakistani relations. I hope that together with Prime Minister Imran Khan, the building of a clos-er China-Pakistan cooper-ation will be promoted and the people of both the coun-tries will reap the benefits,” he addedMeanwhile, Chinese Am-bassador to Pakistan Nong Rong also said in a tweet that President Xi Jinping had sent a message of speedy recovery to Prime Minister Imran Khan. Nong Rong tweeted that Pres-ident Xi Jinping stressed that China would always stand firmly with Pakistan and join hands to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Inside...CNS stresses endeavours

against complex security environment

– Page 02

RCCI organizes investor conference

on Railways land– Page 03

Tackling energy, crises vital to ensure

national security– Page 04

Broadsheet the ultimate cost of corruption

– Page 05

Death toll in Myanmar’s crackdown

surpasses 300– Page 06

Anger in Bangladesh as India’s Modi attends

national Day– Page 07

Pakistan strikes $1.3bn development

deal with WB– Page 08

Pakistan test fires Shaheen-1A missile

Khayam abbaSi

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan on Friday conducted a success-ful flight test of Shaheen-1A surface to surface ballistic missile, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said in a statement. The missile, which has a range of 900 kilometres, was test-ed to re-validate various design and technical para-metres of the weapon sys-tem, including an advanced navigation system, the mili-tary’s media wing said.

Lieutenant General Na-deem Zaki Manj, Director General Strategic Plans Division, Dr Raza Samar, Chairman NESCOM, Lieutenant General Mu-hammad Ali, Commander Army Strategic Forces Command, and the sci-entists and engineers of strategic organisations witnessed the test.Dr Samar congratulat-ed scientists and engi-neers for successfully conducting the test.

Continued on Page 06

PM removes Nadeem Babar, Secy Petroleum

Special coRReSpoNDeNt

ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Petroleum Nadeem Babar has been asked by Prime Minister Imran Khan to step down from his role as recommendations by a committee probing the petrol crisis are put into effect.The decision was announced by Minister for Planning, Development and Special In-itiatives Asad Umar in a press conference on Friday to discuss findings by the Federal Investigation Agency in a probe ordered by the premier to ascertain the reasons behind petroleum shortages in the country.“Secretary for Petroleum Division (Mian Asad Hayauddin) will also be asked to re-port to the Establishment Division once his replacement is finalised,” Umar added.Umar warned against speculation and clari-fied that the decision in no way means that

the two individuals have been found to have engaged in any wrongdoing.“The prime minister has decided that the entire chain (responsible for the crisis) has to be investigated [...] this decision was made so that no doubt remains of any one person’s possible involvement,” the minister said. Umar, in his detailed media briefing also went over the final recom-mendations made by the cabinet commit-tee probing the matter.The committee is comprised of Umar him-self, along with federal ministers Shafqat Mehmood, Azam Swati and Shireen Mazari. “We forwarded our recommenda-tions to the prime minister, after which he asked for some additional information. When some more information came to the fore, we were given the go ahead to share our recommendations,” said the minis-ter. He said these recommendations have been divided into three categories.

Asad Umar says prime minister has decided that the entire chain (responsible

for the crisis) has to be investigated

Saturday, March 27, 2021

A sister publication of CENTRELINE & DNA News Agency ISLAMABAD EDITIONwww.islamabadpost.com.pkSoon From LAHORE & KARACHI

Pakistan acted with care in Afghan crisis: Qatri Envoy

Yousaf Raza Gillani notified opposition leader

Price Rs. 20Pakistan’s First And Only Diplomatic Daily

IslamabadPOSTDetailed News On Page-08 Detailed News On Page-01 Detailed News On Page-08

Shehbaz Sharif gets first dose of covid vaccine

foReigN DeSK

DOHA: Afghanistan’s Taliban said on Friday it would resume fighting against American or other foreign forces if the U.S. misses the May 1 troop withdrawal deadline agreed in a peace deal last year.“If, God forbid, all foreign troops do not withdraw from Afghanistan on the specified date in line with the Doha agreement, undoubted-ly, it will be considered a violation of the accord by America,” Taliban spokesman Mohammad Naeem wrote on Twitter. The Taliban would then “be com-pelled to defend its religion and homeland and continue its Jihad and armed struggle against for-eign forces to liberate its country.”The Taliban’s warning comes af-ter U.S. President Joe Biden told reporters Thursday that it would

be “hard” to meet the deadline though he “can’t picture” troops remaining in the war-ravaged country by next year.Meanwhile the US President Joe Biden has said he “can’t picture” US troops still being in Afghani-stan next year, but did not offer a precise timetable as to when the withdrawal would take place.All eyes are on Washington as Biden decides whether his coun-try will leave the war-torn coun-try by May 1, in line with a deal struck with the Taliban group, or stay put. Under the February 2020 deal negotiated by Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump’s ad-ministration, the US promised to withdraw all 2,500 US troops left in Afghanistan.In return, the Taliban pledged to renounce violence, prevent groups such as al-Qaeda from using Afghanistan as a base from

which to attack US and allied tar-gets and enter into intra-Afghan peace talks. Yet violence contin-ues to plague the South Asian country, including a recent rise in deliberate killings of journal-ists, aid workers and govern-ment employees.“It’s going to be hard to meet the May 1 deadline,” Biden said at his first formal White House

news conference of his presiden-cy on Thursday. In justifying the delay, he pointed to the “tacti-cal” difficulties and the need to consult with allies that also have forces in Afghanistan.Asked whether he envisions US soldiers still in Afghanistan in 2022, the president said: “I can’t picture that being the case.”He also hinted at misgivings with the US-Taliban deal struck in early 2020, saying it appeared it is “not being able to be worked out.”“If we leave, we are going to do so in a safe and orderly way,” he said.Biden’s comments come as his administration strives to build in-ternational pressure on the Tali-ban and US-backed Afghan Presi-dent Ashraf Ghani’s government to reach a peace agreement and a ceasefire before the May 1 deadline. The Taliban have indi-cated they could resume attacks

on foreign troops if Biden does not meet the deadline.Meanwhile, Germany paved the way for its troops to stay in Af-ghanistan beyond the May 1 dead-line that the US last year agreed with the Taliban for the withdraw-al of US forces.Legislators approved late on Thursday a new mandate which al-lows the German military to keep up to 1,300 troops in Afghanistan as part of a NATO mission until January 31, 2022.The current parliamentary man-date for the German operation expires at the end of March. The German government has warned that a premature with-drawal of NATO troops could jeopardise the intra-Afghan peace talks, adding that NATO troops would need to prepare for Taliban violence if they stay beyond the end of April.

Taliban threaten to target foreign troopsUS President Joe Biden says it is ‘Hard’ to meet May 1 deadline

Media team should have been careful

buReau RepoRt

LAHORE: The Punjab gov-ernment, on Friday, re-acted to the criticism lev-elled at the government

following Prime Minister Imran Khan’s meeting a day ago with his media team despite being coronavirus positive. “We value the life of Prime Minister Imran Khan. Participants of yes-terday’s meeting with the prime minister should have been careful,” said Special Assistant to the Punjab Chief Minister on Informa-tion, Dr Firdous Awan said.

Pakistan condemns

Houthi attackStaff RepoRt

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has strongly condemned the attack on petro-leum dis-t r i b u t i o n

terminal in Jizan Region of Saudi Arabia. In a state-ment on Friday, Foreign Office Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudri said such attacks, causing fear and terror as well as disruption of commercial activities cannot be condoned.

COAS visits Logistic

facilitiesStaff RepoRt

RAWALPINDI: General Qa-mar Javed Bajwa, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) vis-ited multi-ple Logistic

installations / workshops at Rawalpindi station, on Fri-day. COAS visited various facilities and infrastructures of the workshops handling vast range of specialized equipment for Army. He was briefed regarding facilities being developed, upgradation mechanism of vehicles and aviation assets and handling of central stores. COAS dur-ing the 200th rollout cere-mony of aircrafts at Aviation Base Workshop specially appreciated indigenous capa-bility of complete overhaul of different service helicopters.

Briefs

The offices of daily Islamabad POST shall remain closed on Saturday on account of weekly off therefore there will be no newspaper on Sunday.

– Editor

Holiday Notice

Ahsan Iqbal terms the step stab in the back

abiD Raza

LAHORE: The PML-N on Friday criticised the PPP's move to secure the post of Opposition Leader in the Senate, regretting it as a 'setback' for the 10-party alliance. Flanked by PML-N leaders Rana Sanaullah and Azam Nazeer Tarar, the Pakistan Democratic Movement's (PDM) nominee for the position, Iqbal conveyed his party's displeasure while addressing the media outside Jati Umra in Lahore. "If Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) senators have to be included to secure the post [...] then PDM's objectives, its strug-gle and the Opposition alliance have indeed suffered a setback," the former interior minister said, mak-ing reference to the support given to PPP candidate Yousaf Raza Gillani's candidature by four 'independ-ents' otherwise associated with BAP.

POL SCAM 2020

ISLAMABAD: Ahmed Jawad Rabei, Ambassador of the State of Palestine to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, made a friendly visit to the sisterly

embassy of the State of Qatar in Pakistan, during which he met Sheikh Saud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Ambassador of the

State of Qatar to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. – DNA

DNA KARACHI: The Karachi Literature Festival, which was founded in 2010, organized by the Oxford University Press (OUP) is back with its12th edition. Keeping the precautionary measures due to COVID-19 pan-demic this year, the literary festival is entirely being held digitally. Bank of Punjabas a lead sponsor for the event. As per the yearly tradition, Getz Pharma will be giving away literary prizes sponsored by them in the following categories: Urdu Prose, Urdu Poetry and English Fiction.The theme of this year`s Festival is: Imagining New Frontier. With the focus on ‘Living in a new reality’, the virtual edition of KLF is bringing forth thought-provoking discussion-son a world post-Covid pandemic.Arshad Saeed Husain, the Manag-ing Director of Oxford University Press Pakistan said, “The pandemic has compelled us to imagine new frontiers of medicine, vaccines, digital learning and working from

home. The pandemic has brought world closer together to find out of the box creative solutions. Vaccines have been developed in record time, schools have overcome lock downs through technology and use of elec-tronic mediums. We need to re-im-agine safe work environment wheth-er in office, home or in schools. The world is already re-structuring deliv-ery methods with digital and blend-ed tools of learning”.

The aims of this Virtual Edition of KLF remain the same as previous KLF’s: to developinteraction be-tween writers, intellectuals, and artists within Pakistan and across-borders, cultures, and languages, and to nurture and promote books and inculcate the habitof reading. Despite the pandemic, this Virtual Edition ofKLF will continue to put Pakistan on the mapas a country rich in culture, creativity, and ex-

change of ideas and opinions. KLF bringstogether and celebrates Paki-stani and international authors.The Keynote address was delivered by Vali Nasr, an Iranian-American academic and author specializing in the Middle East and the Islamic world. He served as Dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C. from 2012 to 2019.The Virtual Karachi Literature Fes-

tivalwill be a 3-day event starting on Friday, 26 March and will conclude on Sunday 28, March 2021. It will feature more than 140 speakers including, Zehra Nigah, Tarik Ali, Maleeha Lodhi, Ben Okri, Ahdaf Soueif, Victoria Schofield, Ishrat Hussain,and Anita Weiss to name a few, who are representing 12 differ-ent countries i.e. including Pakistan, UK, USA, Australia, Bangladesh, Iran, Egypt, France, Germany, Dubai, India, Kenya. There are 42 sessions with debates/discussions, talks, mushairas (poetry recitals) in both Urduand English, book launch-es, and readings on subjects such as education, Covid-19,science fiction, and current affairs have been lined up for the Festival.Victoria Schofield’s book Fra-grance of Tears: My Friendship with Benazir Bhutto was launched. There were sessions on Cartoon-ing, Counter-Revolutionary Wave in the Arab World, Anti-Colonial-ism, conversation with Paul Har-ding and a dedicated session on Shams Ur Rehman Farooqi, an eminent Urdu laureate.

12th Karachi Literature Festival goes virtual

NATIONAL02Briefs‘Pak won’t

compromise on Kashmir’

RAjA PeRvAiz

ISLAMABAD: Federal Min-ister for National Food Se-curity and Research Syed Fakhar Imam on Friday said that Pakistan would never be a compromise on Kash-mir cause.Kashmir was the country’s jugular vein and no compro-mise would be made on the Kashmiris’ right to self-de-termination, he said, while talking to a private news channel. He said that Pakistan has made extensive efforts to highlight the gross human rights violations of Indian government in the occupied valley at the diplomatic lev-el. He reiterated that India must immediately end the continuing lockdown, com-munications blockade and media blackout in IOK, and release the incarcerated Kashmiri leadership and innocent Kashmiri youth, many of whom are held at undisclosed locations away from their families.Pakistan has always be-lieved in peaceful coexist-ence,he said. Pakistan’s desire for peace should not be taken as weak-ness. He said the people of Kashmir have the right to decide their fate.

Public co-op imperative to eradicate dengue : DC

ishfAq MughAl

FAISALABAD: Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Ali has directed that an-ti-dengue teams should be present in the field to eradi-cate the larvae and the pro-gress is being monitored regularly. He said this while reviewing the implementa-tion of anti-dengue meas-ures in a meeting of the Dis-trict Emergency Response Committee held on a week-ly basis. CEO DHA Dr. Bilal Ahmad, District Coordina-tor Epidemic control Dr. Zulqarnain, representative of PITB Dr. Adnan, Educa-tion, Health, Social Welfare, Environment, Civil De-fense, Livestock, Industries, Labor, WASA, PHA, Punjab Police, TEVTA and other departments were also pres-ent. The Deputy Commis-sioner directed that dengue larvae breeding sites should be checked daily and effec-tive measures should be tak-en for continuous checking of such places and do the timely vector surveillance. He urged the teams to keep their eyes open in the field and Junkyards, graveyards, plant nurseries should be checked regularly while other hotspots should not be left.

KU, CHIT inks MoU to launch projects

DNAKARACHI: The University of Karachi and the Centre for Health, Innovation, and Trans-formation (CHIT) signed the memorandum of understand-ing to launch innovative pro-jects in the healthcare sector and industries.The Director CHIT Dr Min-haj A Qidwai and the KU Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Khalid Mahmood Iraqi inked the MoU document at the VC Secretariat. According to the MoU, the KU and the CHIT would work together to devel-op a platform for innovations in healthcare and to trans-form the healthcare profes-sionals through their capacity building.The MoU would focus to lead, connect, innovate and trans-form health care to achieve a society of healthy commu-nities where all individuals would reach their highest health potential. This MoU would also focus to bring talent especially the young-sters and would provide them essential resources so that they could make their names in the healthcare sector, ac-ademia, business, business, community, and policy and decision-making institutions.The MoU aims to create a strategy to market com-mercially viable healthcare research ideas and would in-troduce health management courses. As per the MoU, both organi-zations would hold joint work-shops, training sessions, sem-inars, and capacity building of offices of research in local and private varsities of Pakistan.

CNS stresses endeavours against complex security environment

NAziR siyAl

KARACHI: Chief of the Na-val Staff (CNS) Admiral Muhammad Amjad Khan Ni-azi Friday visited Pakistan Air Force (PAF) Air War College Institute (AWCI) and congratulated the AWCI team for achieving the ed-

ucational standards worthy of an institute of the highest caliber as the college was formally conferred the sta-tus of an Independent De-gree Awarding Institute by the President of Pakistan, on 20th January 2021. On his arrival, he was re-ceived by Air Vice Marshal Zulfiqar Ahmed, President

Air War College Institute, said a PAF press release. Addressing the Air War Course participants, the CNS said that we must keep abreast of the emerg-ing trends and make endeavors to deal with complex and dynamic se-curity environment facing the world today.

He added that jointness remained central to the modern concept of military operations as no force could achieve success in today’s warfare single handedly. Later on, the Naval Chief also met foreign officers undergoing course at the premier institution.PAF Air War College Insti-

tute is the prestigious insti-tution of Pakistan Air Force, where mid level officers of Pakistan Armed Forces and friendly countries are prepared for assumption of key Command and Staff appointments. During the course, the participants are exposed to over a hundred subject matter experts in-

cluding: Civil & Military Professionals, Diplomats, Scholars / Academicians, Lawyers, Industrialists, Scientists, Economists and Media Personnel. Exclusive Interaction with foreign fac-ulty and strategists is also ensured to provide depth and academic rigor to the course.

Pollution-free environment lifeline for humans

DNAFAISALABAD: The clean and green Pakistan pro-gramme will be made suc-cessful for provision of a pollution-free atmosphere to the coming generations which is a lifeline for hu-mans.These views were ex-pressed by MPA/ Chair-man Faisalabad Develop-ment Authority Chaudhry Latif Nazar after planting saplings at the FDA city here on Friday. Addition-al Director General Amir Aziz, Director Estate Man-agement and other officers were also present. Five hundred saplings were planted in the FDA city, in collaboration with the pri-vate sector.He said that the FDA had assigned a target of plant-ing at least 1,000 saplings to each private housing colony.FCCI membership renewal campaign Renewal cam-paign of the Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FCCI) member-ship is in full swing for the year 2021-22. According to the already announced schedule, mem-bers could renew their membership till March 31, 2021, said a spokesman for the FCCI. He said that in this con-nection the FCCI offices would remain open from 9 AM to 5 PM on Saturday, March 27, and Sunday, March 28.

Killers of minor girl to be arrested

soonDNA

ISLAMABAD: Parliamen-tary Committee on Kash-mir Chairman Shehryar Khan Afridi Friday said the perpetrators of Ha-reem Fatima killing case and also killing of youth in Jaani Khel area of Wa-ziristan would be brought to justice soon as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa law enforce-ment agencies were inves-tigating the matter.He expressed these views while speaking to media after offering fateha for the minor Hareem Fatima, who was found dead in Ko-hat on March 25 (Thurs-day), at her hometown Babal Khel Town, Karak district. MNA Shahid Khattak, Commissioner Kohat, DIG Police, DPO and other High ranking officials were also present on the occa-sion. Naveed Iqbal, the father of Hareem Fatima was also present on the oc-casion besides local elders of various tribes. Grandfather of Hareem, Farhad Khattak and local elders of the bereaved family expressed gratitude to Shehryar Afridi and oth-ers for their arrival and condolence and demanded immediate arrest of the killer.Shehryar Khan Afridi said he had visited victim fam-ily in Baba Khel village on directives of Prime Minis-ter Imran Khan and entire senior officials were also present to make the vic-tims family realized that the government would leave no stone unturned to arrest the murderer of the little child.

MS DHQ Sargodha inspects services

Mehboob AhiR

SARGODHA: Medical su-perintendent DHQ Hospi-tal Sargodha Dr. Ghulam Shabir Tahir visited the hospital and issued strict instructions to the doctors and other staff. That no patient will be de-prived of treatment facili-ties and the doctors should ensure their attendance for emergency in hospital. The quality of hygiene in the hospital should be fur-ther improved. He further said, it is also the duty of the police to check their identity cards and take care of the pa-tients who are not there “It is our responsibility to address health issues,” he added. Poor people cannot afford private hospitals so pa-tients coming to the hospi-tal should be treated with the best treatment.

Saturday, March 27, 2021IslamabadPOST

FAISALABAD: Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Ali chairs a meeting of District Emergency Response Committee for Anti Dengue. – DNA

CNS said that we must keep abreast of the emerging trends and make endeavors to deal with complex and dynamic security environment facing the world today

Sahiwal: Faraz Javed Waraich civil judge presenting his book to former president Sahiwal chamber of commerce and industry. – DNA

PYMA urges govt for removal of add’l duty

AthAR sufi

KARACHI: Hanif Lakhany, Senior Vice Chairman Paki-stan Yarn Merchants Associ-ation (PYMA), has requested to Abdul Razak Dawood, Ad-viser on Trade & Investment to fulfil his promise for re-moval of additional customs duty and regulatory duty on Synthetic Yarns, which is the raw material of the textile industry. He said that the government should play a role in providing raw mate-rials to the textile industry at reasonable prices, other-wise Prime Minister Imran Khan’s dream of industrial & economic development will never come true. Hanif Lakhani appealed to Trade and Investment Ad-viser Abdul Razak Dawood,

saying that last year the government had announced the abolition of additional customs duty and regulation on industrial raw materials, but ACD & RD on Synthetic Yarns were not abolished, so immediately remove these barriers for reducing the production cost and also jus-tify the Cascading system of Polyester value chain. But even after a long wait, the prime minister’s adviser has not kept his promise, which is a matter of grave concern to textile exporters and im-porters.Farhan Ashrafi, Vice Chair-man PYMA, pointed out that due to the continuous rise in prices of raw materials of the textile industry and shortage of cotton, the production cost of industries has gone up and exporters were facing losses.

‘Pak-China cooperation to bring economic stability’

DNA

MIRPUR (AJK): Azad Jam-mu and Kashmir (AJK) President Sardar Masood Khan has said that com-pletion of energy projects under China-Pakistan Eco-nomic Corridor (CPEC) would help overcome the energy crisis at nation-al level, and at the same time, it would bring a visible change in the so-cio-economic life of the people of AJK.He expressed these views after a briefing given by the chief executive officer of China Three Gorges South Asia Investment (Pvt) limited Yao Feixiong on the hydropower gen-

eration project currently under execution at Kar-ot Hollar in Kotli district of Mirpur Division late Thursday, under the CPEC initiative.While describing CPEC as an important project for the economic development of Pakistan, the AJK pres-ident said that on the one hand, it would help devel-op infrastructure in Paki-stan and AJK, on the oth-er, it will raise the living standard of people by pro-viding job opportunities to the local educated people.“The execution of 720-MG Karot hydropower genera-tion project would provide jobs to the local people and the completion of this project early next year will

provide electricity to more than two million house-holds in the country,” he added.He maintained that the accomplishment of similar other CPEC projects will promote economic activity in AJK and provide jobs to the local educated youth.Earlier on arrival at Hollar, the state president was warmly received by the CEO China Three Gorg-es South Asia Investment (Pvt) Ltd Yao Feixiong, Deputy Executive Officer, General Manager (Envi-ronment and social safety), Manager Administration and other Chinese offi-cials, and gave him a brief-ing on the Karot project.He said it was a major pilot

project of the CPEC, which is expected to be complet-ed early next year and gen-erate 3.2 billion units of cheap, clean electricity for Pakistan.The president was told that the project which has a capacity of generating 3.2 billion units of elec-tricity would be completed next year. At present 3,000 people including 1,000 Chinese citizens are work-ing on the project.The Chinese company of-ficials thanked the state president for visiting the project. Later, Sardar Masood Khan took a round of dif-ferent sections of the pro-ject and inspected the con-struction work.

Hostel association appeals PM to ease

restrictionsshAheeN hANif

ISLAMABAD: President All Pakistan Hotels Guest Houses Tourism Associa-tion Gul Rais Khattak has appealed to Prime Minis-ter Imran Khan to allow the business community to work on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The tide is so deadly that all possible measures must be taken to prevent it, but after assur-ances of complete ban on SOPs, business should be allowed to continue so that economic activities are not suspended, said Gul Raees Khattak. The closure of business is causing severe financial losses to the busi-ness community and mak-

ing it difficult for them to continue their business, he said, adding that in order to keep the economy afloat, it is important not to suspend business and commercial activities. He said that the business community’s back has been broken due to pro-longed business losses and especially the hotel industry has been badly affected. He said that at the government level, the hotel industry should be given exemption in payment of utility bills. People’s businesses have been completely destroyed Help should be given and those who are barely living should be given proper fa-cilities and concessions so that they can continue their business.

METROLITESaturday, March 27, 2021

IslamabadPOST

BriefsDacoit gang busted, 3.2m

looted money recovered

DNARAWALPINDI: Police on Friday claimed to have bust-ed a dacoit gang and man-aged to recover over Rs 3.2 million amount looted from Rajgan Money Exchange in 2020.According to a police spokesman, the dacoit gang had looted money from Raj-gan Money Exchange in Kal-ar Syedan area and managed to escape from the scene.Police after hectic efforts managed to trace the dacoit gang members and arrested all six members of ‘Shoha-ba’ gang namely Shoaibud-din alias Shohaba, ring lead-er, Waqas alias wiki, Yahya Ali, Muhammad Ishaq, Ju-naid Iqbal and Muhammad Yousaf. Police recovered the looted amount and weapons from their possession.Four members of the gang were sent to judicial lockup earlier. City Police Officer (CPO) Rawalpindi Muham-mad Ahsan Younas appre-ciated the police team and directed to continue raids against lawbreakers.

Three injured in gas-leak explosionshAheeN hANif

RAWALPINDI: Three mem-bers of a family sustained burn injuries in a gas-leak explosion in their house in Block A, Street-1, Phase two, New City Wah Cantt, Taxila on Friday.According to Rescue-1122, the explosion occurred when Sahil Bibi wife of Hashim Khan, 26 years old lit a matchstick in her room which had already been filled with leaked gas.As a result, Sahil bibi, Su-maiya Khan Daughter of Abdullah, 13 years old and Faryal daughter of Hashim Khan, seven years old sus-tained burn injuries. Res-cue-1122 controlled the fire and shifted the injured to hospital. The spokesman said that the condition of Sa-hil Bibi and Sumaiya Khan was stated to be critical.

Master Inayat Hussain remembered

RAjA PeRvAiz

ISLAMABAD: Legend music director, composer Master Inayat Hussain was remem-bered on his 28th death an-niversary on Friday to pay homages for his lifetime services for entertainment industry.Master Inayat composed many evergreen and un-forgettable film songs in a four decade long film ca-reer, a private news chan-nel reported. Master Inayat Hussain was recognized as a legend after his perfor-mance in film Qatil. “Ulfat ki nayi manzil ko cha-la...” sung by Iqbal Bano was all time greatest classic hit, PTV news channel reported.He also composed three songs in film Annar Kalli - the only partnership with Madam Noor Jehan in her acting and singing period. “Kahan tak suno ge, kahan tak sunaun...” was another classic hit. He continued his high quality work of compos-ing music for 65 films from 1949-85 like Azra, Ik tera sa-hara, Seema, Do rastey and Dil dian lagian. He died in Lahore on March 26, 1993.

RCCI organizes investor conference on Railways landRCCI President Muhammad Nasir Mirza said that the aim of the conference was to

provide a platform for investors to get maximum information on investing opportunities in railway land. He said that Railways is an important sector in Pakistan’s economy

zubAiR AhMAD

RAWALPINDI: Federal Minister for Railways Azam Khan Swati while address-ing a conference on invest-ment in Railways Land organized by Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) through video link said that unfor-tunately Railways has been in disrepute for the last 70 years.I want to send a message to all developers and investors to invest with security in railways land. The invest-ment will be under a pub-lic-private partnership. You will have the full support of my team, he added.The legal process in this regard will be completed by April 30. He lauded RCCI

for making this conference possible. The Railway Min-ister further said that we all have to lift the railways to-gether. There is no place for

a corrupt officer in the rail-ways. Professional officers are a source of pride for me. This is an important oppor-tunity for the business com-

munity to take advantage of this opportunity and start thinking for joint ventures on railway land. Hafeezullah Khan, DG Land & Property,

gave a detailed presentation on the traditional method of leasing railway land and the initiatives taken under the new program, Public Pri-

vate Partnership.Earlier in his address, RCCI President Muhammad Na-sir Mirza said that the aim of the conference was to provide a platform for in-vestors to get maximum information on investing op-portunities in railway land. He said that Railways is an important sector in Paki-stan’s economy. Group lead-er Sohail Altaf said the rail-ways would have to work to boost investor confidence. Steps will have to be taken to attract local and foreign investors.Senior Vice President Os-man Ashraf, former presi-dents, members of the exec-utive committee, chairman regional trade Khurshid Berlas, officials from Paki-stan Railways and investors attended the conference.

World Theatre Day

to be observed todayDNA

ISLAMABAD: World Thea-tre Day will be observed on March 27 (Saturday) across the globe including Pakistan by organizing online due to Covid-19 pandemic. Since 1962 World Theatre Day has been celebrated by International Theatre Institute (ITI) Centers, ITI Cooperating Members, the-atre professionals, theatre organizations, theatre uni-versities and theatre lovers all over the world on the 27th of March. In sub-conti-nent, the theatre started be-fore 500BC in the Sanskrit language.Various national and inter-national theatre events were being organized to mark this occasion with collabora-tion of international theatre community. Director General Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) Dr Fouzia Saeed said that Arts Council would arrange online programs to mark world Theatre Day. Theatre Wallay would also stage a unique play ‘Chirya Ghar’ an adaptation of ‘The Zoo Story’ by Edward Albee.The Zoo Story is an Amer-ican play that was shunned by New York producers.The play would be organ-ized outdoors at The Farm at Banigala following Cov-id-19 standard operating procedures (SOPs).Due to the current situation, World Theater Day 2021 will take place online again this year.

MTC to arrange three

day courseMehMooD AbDullAh

ISLAMABAD: Mehergarh Training Center (MTC) has announced a three-day res-idential course titled “Ad-vanced Women Leadership Course” to be held from April 2 at Center.The course outline includes understanding women’s agency and collective action, social movements and activ-ism, study of selected social movements, skills of strate-gizing lobbying and campaign-ing and applying strategies to your own movements.The course aimed to learn the inner dynamics of wom-en’s, social movements in Pakistan and how you can use this learning to better steer your way and max-imize the impact of your work. The participants would also learn how to carefully identify challenges and which strategies to use to address them.

KhAyAM AbbAsi

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) has called upon the govern-ment to withdraw amendments in tax introduced through Ordinance to meet the conditions of IMF as it would prove a death blow for busi-nesses & investment and cause col-lapse of the overall economy.Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan, President ICCI said that the amendments in tax laws envisaged withdrawal of tax exemptions of Rs.140 billion from various sectors besides imposition of fine of Rs.5000 on shop owners for not displaying NTN or Business Cards and another fine of Rs.5000 for not filing of tax returns or wealth

statements. He said that these amendments have created a lot of concerns in the business commu-nity as they would give more pow-ers to FBR officers and create an environment of harassment for the business community. He said that at the one hand, the Prime Minister was focusing on elimination of di-rect interaction between taxpayers and tax collectors through promo-tion of automation in FBR systems, but on the other hand, bureaucracy was introducing amendments in tax laws that would thwart the vision and intentions of the PM for policy reforms in FBR.Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan further said that the Prime Minister had announced an attractive package for the construction industry due

to which mega construction pro-jects have started across the coun-try. However, now the government has unilaterally registered all tax returns-filing real estate dealers as Designated Non-Financial Business and Professions (DNFBPs) under pressure from FATF requirements and directed them to provide full details of their clients and property transactions by completing a four-page questionnaire within 7-days, otherwise, face action. He said that this move would discourage new in-vestment in the construction sector and kill the construction package of the Prime Minister. Therefore, he urged that such anti-business and anti-investment measures should be withdrawn to save the economy from plunging into deep troubles.

ICCI President said that the govern-ment was preparing to put an addi-tional burden of more than Rs700 billion on the power consumers by granting more autonomy to NEPRA. He said that such autonomy to NE-PRA would make energy costs un-viable for businesses and industries as a result of which a large number of businesses and industries would face closure. Therefore, he empha-sized that the government should withdraw this move in the larger national interest. He said that the business community was the main stakeholder of the economy and the government should make all impor-tant economic decisions after thor-ough consultation with them so that the business sector could be saved from their negative impact.

ICCI calls for withdrawal in tax laws

03

Islamabad: Advisor to the Prime Minister on Commerce & Investment, Abdul Razak Dawood in a meeting with Adam Mulawarman Tugio, Ambassador of Indonesia. – DNA

Court orders cancellation of FIR against PRCS secy. gen.stAff RePoRt

ISLAMABAD: The court of Islamabad Judicial Magis-trate has ordered cancella-tion of murder FIR against Pakistan Red Crescent Society secretary general Khalid bin Majeed in a case related to death of NUML student Kainat Tariq, who was also a part-time em-ployee at the PRCS.In the verdict, Judicial Magistrate Sec-30 (West) Waqar Hussain Gondal

said that police could not find any incriminating evidence against the ac-cused and hence had itself filed an FIR cancellation request with the court. “Keeping in view the facts and statement of counsel for the complainant in the case, I do agree with the police opinion,” the judge maintained in the verdict. “The FIR lodged against Khalid bin Majeed stands cancelled,” he ruled, order-ing the police to cancel the FIR “by drawing a red line

across the page, noting the name of this court cancelling the case with number and date of this order.”The I-9 Industrial Area Po-lice had registered a mur-der case on the complaint of Muhammad Tariq, fa-ther of deceased Kainat Tariq, who in his written application in November last year had alleged that his daughter did not com-mit suicide but she had been murdered by the then secretary general of

PRCS through poisoning. After registering the FIR under Section 302 of the CRPC based on the charg-es leveled by father of the deceased, the I-9 police had arrested Khalid bin Majeed for investigation. However, he was granted bail by the court just two weeks after the arrest since no incriminating ev-idence of his involvement in the case could be found despite a rigorous investi-gation by different units of police department.

NAVTTC introduces online complaint system

ibRAR KhAN

ISLAMABAD: National Voca-tional and Technical Training Commission ensures maxi-mum facilitation of Pakistani skilled workforce working abroad. In this context, NAVTTC has established online complaint handling mechanism available on its website i.e. www.navttc.gov.pk to resolve the issues of Pakistani workforce expedi-tiously and swiftly. Any Pa-kistani working abroad faced with difficulty in verification of certificate of any kind he may submit certificate and

particulars through online portal. After due consider-ation NAVTTC will resolve the issue online without any cost. NAVTTC is perusing the pol-icy of extending maximum support to Pakistani skilled workforce working abroad. The instant initiative is of NAVTTC’s effort to resolve the problems faced by work-force employed abroad. A number of countries where Pakistani skilled workforce goes for employment have re-cently introduced changes in their registration regimes of foreign skilled workforce. In these countries the Pakistani

workforce is increasingly fac-ing the issues of verification of their skills and certifica-tion. To resolve such issues NAVTTC has introduced this online complaint read-dressal system to reduce the problems faced by Pakistanis working abroad.NAVTTC is also working on a plan to establish Rec-ognition of Prior Learning (RPL) Centers in different countries where Pakistanis seek employment. In such centers Pakistanis who have the skills but lack certifica-tion can certify their skills by appearing for competency based trade testing.

Three arrested in minor girl rape

RAWALPINDI: Civil Line police on Friday claimed to have arrested three, Babar Masih, Adnan and wife of Babar Masih namely Kavita alias Aniqa in Zainab rape and murder case.According to Superinten-dent Police (SP) Potohar, Syed Ali, the accused have confessed to their crime of raping and killing the mi-nor girl.

A police spokesman in-formed that City Police Officer (CPO) Muhammad Ahsan Younas and Sen-ior Superintendent Police (SSP) Investigation Mu-hammad Faisal on Thursday night visited the house of the victim, Zainab and ap-prised Zainab’s father about all the development in the case and arrest of the ac-cused. – APP

Motorway police

recovers carDNA

ISLAMABAD: The Mo-torway police recovered a stolen car at Thalian near Islamabad Toll Plaza and ar-rested the ring leader of car-jackers gang here on Friday.According to the details, the Motorway police after get-ting information, stopped the suspected car bearing registration number LED-5601 at Thalian near Islama-bad Toll Plaza. Following non-provision of valid documents, the Mo-torway police arrested the accused named Dilawar Na-jeeb and impounded his car.

TWIN CITIES04

DNA

RAWALPINDI: Punjab Cultural Float remained a great source of attraction for the participants of the National Day parade 2021 at Parade Ground Islamabad pre-pared by Punjab Council of the Arts under guidance its Execu-tive Director Rizwan Sharif. Folk artists in their traditional dress-es were dancing in front of Pun-jab Float led by Director Waqar Ahmed with national flag. Famous folk singer Saeen Zahoor and Bashir Lohar performed in front of cultural village on the float. The model of Punjab University depicted the importance of educa-tion and its importance as a great educational institution in the sub-continent which was established

in 1882. The tomb of Shah Rukn-e-Alam on Punjab Float has a special attrac-tion for followers which is symbol of tolerance, sacrifice and peace. The tomb was built in 1320, which is a great masterpiece of architec-ture and spirituality.

Punjab’s cultural float unfolded with changing colors in the context of colorful culture and current condi-tions. Kartar pur corridor is mark of bright thoughts, hospitality, tol-erance and religious freedom in the country. It was an example of reli-gious tolerance and the world did

not have any other such religious tolerance example in history.The float was also consist of La-hore Fort having its own identity in the world. The fort is master piece of Mughal architecture, which was built in the 11th cen-tury with raw bricks. The royal

forts Alamgiri gate was built by King Aurangzaib Alamgir which became famous on his name. Punjab, the fertile land of five riv-ers is the land of hospitable and brave people which is rich in Art and Culture depicted in Punjab Cultural Float.

Punjab Cultural Float unfolds with changing colors

BriefsCovid jabs

administered to senior

citizens in Rawalpindi

DNARAWALPINDI: The Rawal-pindi District Health Au-thority has so far adminis-tered 18,812 jabs to senior citizens since inception of covid-19 vaccination drive over a month ago for the said age group.District Health Officer Rawalpindi (DHO) Dr Jawad Khalid told media that 26 centres has been estab-lished at district where 10,635 health workers were rendering services.Sharing details of the COV-ID-19 situation in the dis-trict, he informed that with an addition of 138 more COVID-19 positive cases during the last 24 hours, the number of total coronavirus patients has reached 15,683 in the district while 13,181 patients were discharged.“Presently 194 confirmed patients were admitted to various facilities of the city including 29 in Holy Family Hospital, 31 in Benazir Bhu-tto Hospital, 101 in Insti-tute of Urology, 28 in Fauji Foundation Hospital, three in Rukhsana Memorial Hospital and two in Hearts International Hospital”, he added.

ICT police issue schedule

for MFCstAff RePoRt

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) police have issued daily deployment schedule for mobile facilitation center (MFC), which is meant to provide multiple services to the citizens at their door steps. The Deputy Inspector Gen-eral Islamabad police post-ed the daily deployment schedule on his twitter on Friday to sensitize the masses about the visit of mobile facilitation center to various areas.According to the sched-ule, the mobile facilitation center will visit Quaid-e-Azam University on Mon-day, Allama Iqbal Open University of Sector H-8, Higher Education Commis-sion H-9 and Excise Office on Tuesday, International Is-lamic University on Wednes-day, and Passport office G-10 Markaz on Thursday.The van will stop over at Na-val Headquarters, National Defense University and Bahria E-9 on Friday, Bari Imam Shrine and Lake View Park on Saturday, Golra Sharif Shrine and F-9 Park on Sunday.The initiative was launched in 2019 to offer multiple services to the citizens in-cluding issuance of character certificates and copy of First Information Report, general police verification, servant, tenant and volunteer registra-tions and others.

‘Penalty Point System’ to

control traffic violations

DNAISLAMABAD: Inspector General of Police (IGP) Is-lamabad Qazi Jameel-ur-Re-hman on Friday said the driving licenses of traffic rules’ violators would be suspended under the ‘Penal-ty Point System’ which was on the anvil.Addressing a news confer-ence, he said each licensee would be awarded 10 points and their deduction would start on commission of var-ious traffic violations. The IGP said the license would be considered sus-pended on deduction of all the ten points given to a li-cense-holder at the time of issuance. He said the initiative was meant to curb traffic rules’ violations at the federal cap-ital’s roads and avenues.He appreciated the Islam-abad Traffic Police (ITP) for ensuring safe-road envi-ronment in the capital city through inclusive steps.Qazi also mentioned the online appointment system, which was launched by the ITP to facilitate the motor-ists for issuance of driving licenses in the wake of coro-navirus restrictions.He also pointed out the chip-embedded driving li-censes which was being is-sued by the ITP to curb the doctored ones.

Tackling energy, crises vital to ensure national security

zubAiR AhMAD

ISLAMABAD: The speakers at a webinar on “Non-tradi-tional security challenges- en-ergy and environment crises’ organized by the Sustainable Development Policy Insti-tute (SDPI) urged the need to give an equal importance to country’s non-traditional security challenges such as energy and environment cri-ses to ensure our national security.They were of the view that traditional security challeng-es are being well tackled by our security apparatus appro-priately. Now by tackling en-ergy and environment crises as non-traditional security challenges as a nation, we may boost our overall nation-al security paradigm.

The key speakers at the we-binar included: Mr. Muham-mad Irfan Tariq, Director General Environment and Climate Change, Ambassa-dor Shafqat Kakakhel- for-mer Executive Director of UNEP and Chairperson of the Board of Governors of SDPI, Dr. Abid Qaiyum Sul-eri, Executive Director SDPI, Mirza Sadaqat Huda- Policy Analyst,Ermeena Asad Ma-lik- Consultant World Bank & Energy Expert and Dr Hina Alam, Associate Research Fellow energy.Shafqat Kakakhel said that the nexus among climate change, energy and securi-ty is very well established. The non-traditional challeng-es- energy and environment crises- may troll the devel-opment. Since the industrial revolution, it brought revolu-

tion from rural to urban, from artesian based industry to big industries, from very difficult life conditions in Europe and North America where win-ters were seen as a punish-ment but energy conquered the harsh weather and also helped in improving health conditions.Initially there was a tremen-dous happiness and everyday efforts were made to cre-ate more sources of energy but then somewhere in the 1980s, climatologists real-ized that there were changes in the climate pattern (global warming) induced by humans and use of fossil fuelsHe highlighted that the ef-forts of scientist and differ-ent meteorological organiza-tions, UNEP, eventually led to a political consensus on the need for actions and co-

operation to handle climate change as a new threat to the international community.Right from the beginning, the nexus between the en-ergy and security was rec-ognized and the emphasis was put on cleaner energy. He said the non-traditional security threat in terms of climate change can be coun-tered if we go for renewable and clean energy which will also address the energy shortages in Pakistan which we have been experiencing since 2008.Thousands of factories had to be closed, schools and hos-pitals could not function and life became very difficult and the government had to resort to desperate moves including the use of coal-based energy. But we have begun to real-ize that the solution of the

environmental and climate change crises is in not aban-doning energy but in develop-ing and deploying clean and renewable energy, he added.Ambassador Kakakhel said that the governments efforts over past several decades, particularly the clean energy and renewable energy policy of 2006 and now more re-cently the new energy policy, will change the entire sys-tem of how energy projects are agreed, decided and fi-nanced. The Prime minister of Pakistan while addressing the climate ambition summit had already promised that in a few decades Pakistan will get 60% of its energy from clean sources. The govern-ment is planning to introduce electric vehicles/public trans-port which needs high efforts to translate it practically.

Muhammad Irfan Tariq, DG Environment/Climate Change said that the non-tra-ditional security threats were there but they were neglect-ed or not seen through policy lenses. We see the threats being imposed by climate change and environment very clearly. I hope everyone can understand the linkage between development and nature.COVID-19, Dengue and GLOF proved that we have disrupted nature and we need to bring it back in its natural form. We face a very serious threat because the sources we use are highly im-pacted by climate change and when we talk about hydro, it not only threats our energy security but also poses seri-ous threat to water and food security.

Health ministry urged

to vaccinate media workers

DNAISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulato-ry Authority (PEMRA) has urged the health ministry to take special steps for the COVID-19 vaccination of journalists and media workers. A letter has been sent to Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Health Dr. Faisal Sultan by PEMRA to highlight the role of tele-vision channels, radio, cable distributors in spreading the awareness of the COV-ID-19 pandemic across the country.The letter stated that jour-nalists and media workers are continuously being af-fected by the virus on a daily basis. The authority urged the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) to pay special attention to the health safety of journal-ists and media workers.It stated that several front-line journalists and media workers have lost their lives due to coronavirus pandem-ic, hence the health author-ities should issue special orders for prioritizing the COVID-19 vaccination of the media workers.Earlier in the day, Pakistan has expanded the COVID-19 vaccinations for younger age group as the federal government announces to open registrations for peo-ple aged above 50 now.

52 tested positive in

AttockfAisAl MuNiR

ATTOCK: 52 new confirmed positive cases of Covid-19 were reported in the district Attock on Friday raising the tally to 1520.According to health authori-ties, it was the highest tally of positive cases in a single day since the first case was reported in the district dur-ing the month of March last year. According to health authorities, front line health workers as well as teachers and students of different government institutions in-cluding colleges, boys and girls schools are among the new victims of the virus.Chief executive, district health authority Dr Jawad Ellahi while giving the de-tails has said that among these new cases, as many as 32 belongs to Attock city while 10 to Hazro, 4 to Fate-hjang, 3 to Hassanabdal, two to Jand while one to Pindig-heab.He added that it is also a single day highest reported cases from Attock city dur-ing the last two years.He further said that the number of active patients in the district also surged to record number in the histo-ry of the district as 185 in which 183 are home isolat-ed while two other are hos-pitalized.He said that as many as five suspected COVID-19 patients are also admitted in district headquarters hos-pital in which three are on ventilators.

CCB plantation drive ends

DNARAWALPINDI: The Chak-lala Cantonment Board (CCB) plantation drive un-der Prime Minister Imran Khan’s flagship Ten Billion Tree Tsunami project ended on Friday after simply plant-ing a few dozen saplings along Humayun and Adiala roads.The residents of Tufail and Adiala roads while talking to APP decried on the CCB officials who, besides re-peated requests by environ-ment conscience residents, left a wide area open where plantation could be carried out to help mitigate the rising pollution due to ever increasing traffic among roads.When contacted Mr Zubair and Satti superintends of the CCB garden branch as-sured that plantation would be carried out in the spring season campaign but flat-ly denied considering the points highlighted by the area residents.Mrs Ali Zia among the other area residents had demand-ed of CO Chaklala Canton-ment Board (RCB) to take notice of negligence of the concerned.She said the rapidly in-creasing concrete jungle in the garrison city amid unbridled urbanization had almost wiped out its once cherished green cover.

Saturday, March 27, 2021IslamabadPOST

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Law and Justice Barrister Dr. Muhammad Farogh Naseem in a meeting with British High Commissioner Dr. Christian Turner at Ministry of Law and Justice. – DNA

ISLAMABAD: Chairman Senate, Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani exchanging views with Senator Syed Yousaf Raza Gillani, Former Prime Minister of Pakistan at Parliament House Islamabad. – DNA

CCRI, KF organized a day long workshop

DNA

ISLAMABAD: Central Cotton Research Institute (CCRI) had trained about 300 cotton growers on use of best crop management practices for achieving high-er per-acre output during the coming season.In this regard, Central Cot-ton Research Institute in collaboration with Kashtkar Foundation (KF) had organ-ized a day-long workshop, which was attended by a large number of farmers, scientists and exporters.The theme of training workshop was “Revival of Cotton, Climate Change

Position and Action Plan for the Eradication of Pinkbal-worm,”The experts make deliber-ations on declining cotton crop, issues and challenges faced the cotton growers across crop producing areas in the country and suggest-ed measures for the revival of major cash crop of the country for sustainable eco-nomic growth.They urged the need for adopting scientific based, innovative techniques to avoid pest attacks to attain higher crop output, besides enhancing farm income.Giving the details of the training workshop, Director Central Cotton Research In-

stitute Dr Zahid told media that local output of major crop was on declining and aim of the initiative was to take measures for the reviv-al and restoration of cotton crop in the country.He said that the farmers were trained on land preparations, use of fertilizers and pesti-cides, besides other innova-tive technologies to enhance per-acre crop production. Besides, they were also ap-prised about the cotton vari-eties, their output potential and pest attacks including white fly and pink bollworm on the crop, he said adding that they were trained to tackle with the situation to avoid crop losses.

Youngsters have expectation from PM

shujAAt hAMzA ISLAMABAD: Minister of In-terior Sheikh Rashid Ahmad on Friday said that young people still have great expec-tation from the founder of Pa-kistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI), who is determined to change fate of Pakistan. The people have full con-fidence in the leadership of Imran Khan and pinning hope that he would deliver to masses as per commit-ment with the nation, he said in an interview with a private television channel. Appreciating the role of Prime Minister for taking initiatives for construction of water reservoirs, he said building dams for meeting

energy and water require-ment besides irrigation would improve the lives of the common man. He said there was a gigantic pro-ject of railway track ML-One, which he added would be completed in next few years. Commenting on poli-tics of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), he said in fact, the political parties supporting the movement had disappointed because of disintegration among the party leadership.

AIOU updates schedule of

cancelled examsISLAMABAD: Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) has announced revised schedule of examinations cancelled on March 25, being a local holi-day, on the account of Paki-stan Day Parade. All the can-celled examinations of course code 211 of matriculation and course code 312 of intermedi-ate, offered in autumn 2020 semester, are scheduled to be held on April 13 for the examination centers numbers 259, 260, 262, 263, 264, 266, 267, 273, 275, 277, 278 and 280 established throughout the Islamabad region as well as urban areas of Rawalpindi. No revised roll number slips have been issued for this pur-pose and already issued ones remain valid for the revised examinations. – DNA

Book Launch “Reminiscences of My Wanderings”stAff RePoRt

ISLAMABAD: The Centre for Strategic Perspectives (CSP) at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islama-bad (ISSI) hosted a virtual launch of the book “Rem-iniscences of My Wander-ings,” by Ambassador Arif Kamal. Review panelists at the launch included: Gen. Ehsan ul Haq, former Chair-man Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Ambassador Riaz M. Khan, former For-eign Secretary, Mr. Ejaz Rahim, former Federal Cabinet Secretary, and Dr. Moeed Pirzada, Anchorper-

son 92 News. The event was moderated by Mr. Najam Rafique, Director, Centre for Strategic Perspectives.Ambassador Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry in his welcome re-marks stated that the book is a kind of legacy that one leaves behind and Ambassa-dor Arif Kamal has penned all experiences that he came across, his impressions and commentary through his book. Author of the book, Ambassador Arif Kamal while presenting an overview of his book stated that the book is a humble attempt to place on record the request for peace building with respect to the issue of Jammu and Kashmir.

Saturday, March 27, 2021

Regulating property An unwise decisionT he government’s decision to unilaterally register all tax

return-filing real estate dealers as Designated Non-Fi-nancial Business and Professions (DNFBPs) is seen

as an unpopular step by the real estate sector. However, the government has no choice in this regard, since it is one of the requirements of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).Business might become a little more difficult for real estate brokers as the government has directed them to provide de-tails of the client’s relationship and services and report trans-actions of high-risk customers. According to reports of FATF, real estate activity can be used for money laundering or terror financing.The government’s directions to all such dealers to maintain a record of the type of transactions, sources of income etc., are indeed efforts to make real estate a less lucrative investment opportunity for designated persons. But the officials will face challenges in ensuring compliance.The first stumbling block is that many in the property sector are not educated to understand the significance of keeping a detailed record of transactions made. Moreover, the fact that the registered dealers only constitute a fraction of property dealers across the country also makes it difficult for the gov-ernment to keep track of the activities of any UN-designated entity. Given such issues in the sectors, due diligence of the clients will be the key hurdle.Moreover, the latest move by the government goes in direct contravention of the Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan’s am-nesty scheme to the construction sector. Under that scheme, the developers were exonerated from giving the trail of the cash they would inject into the sector. The new instructions will further slow down the already struggling construction sector, which is heavily dependent on the activity in the real estate sector. While the government had to comply with the FATF’s requirements, it should ensure that any plan intended to regularise the property sector must be workable, which the present one is not.

T here are slight indications that the PDM alliance might just survive the ongoing crisis of disagree-ment. The JUI-F is acting as a mediator between es-

tranged PDM parties PML-N and PPP. The issue of choosing an opposition leader candidate has not been resolved.But the second phone call between former President Zard-ari and Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman in the last week led to an important indication of support from PPP for PDM leader Maryam Nawaz. PPP supporters will now be accompanying Ms Nawaz to her hearing at the NAB offices today in Lahore. This might be important for the alliance to be repaired, but in general is an ill-thought-out move.The last time Ms Nawaz had her supporters visit the NAB offices during a hearing, we saw violence erupt. On that oc-casion it looked like both sides shared the blame, but this time’s visit in large numbers will be on the opposition more so than the government. It is unclear why opposition leaders would risk a repeat of that unfortunate incident.An interim bail has already been granted, so there is no threat of an arrest being made. This is why it is unclear why the opposition is choosing to stage a show outside the of-fices of the accountability body, with large numbers of law enforcement officials present.The Interior Minister has announced that Rangers will be on hand, in case needed. While the presence of Rangers might dissuade anyone from taking the law into their own hands, it is important for opposition leaders and workers to exercise caution and ensure that there is no threat of violence.If this is a protest, let it be peaceful, and without unneces-sary engagement between law enforcement and party work-ers. Both sides must not let this simple hearing marred by any untoward evidence.

S ince the Broadsheet scandal surfaced a few weeks ago, it has been wrongly perceived from a narrow skewed lens. Mossauvi capitalised on the opportu-

nity provided by the lack of comprehension to command the media airwaves and set a narrative that presented everyone involved from the Pakistani side in a bad light. The government did the right thing by making the arbitration award documents public. However, this is just the beginning; the whole broadsheet episode calls for accountability and for fixing responsibility of this fiasco. Historically, the Broadsheet

dispute is tied up with Pakistani politics and its battle with cor-ruption. The NAB, formed in 1999, hired Broadsheet in 2000 to trace and recover assets allegedly stolen by influential figures, including former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. In late 1999’s, NAB began negotiations with Trouvons (Colorado based com-pany) for recovery of assets and plundered money outside of Pakistan. At that time, Jimmy James represented and was part-owner of Trouvons, whose business included the kind of investigations and recovery assets that NAB would require to be carried out. He had some previous business experience in Pakistan. His business associates included a Colorado law-yer Ronald Rudman and an English Barrister William Pepper. James represented to NAB that Trouvons had the necessary ex-pertise and experience to undertake the work of investigation and recovery of assets on behalf of NAB internationally, outside Pakistan. Contrary, NAB ended up signing an agreement with Broadsheet whose ultimate beneficiary was also Jimmy James but it was a shell company, registered in the Isle of Man (IoM) just a month before signing of the agreement. It is interesting to note that the agreement was signed on the basis of qualification of Trouvons as it is near to impossible that Broadsheet having been formed a month earlier could have any kind of experience which was expected of it. The point to note is that NAB totally failed to take in to account, that why Jimmy James (also main beneficiary of Trouvons) established a new company just one month before the agreement with NAB. Had it been attentive, the agreement with broadsheet may have not been signed. The suggested and unchallenged reason for the change from Trouvons to Broadsheet as a contracting party under the ARA (Asset Recovery Agreement) was that Ronald Rudman had been suspended from his membership of Colorado Bar on grounds of dishonesty. James knew that if NAB became aware of it, there would be no further negotiation. Therefore, he caused Broad-sheet to be incorporated so that it rather than Trouvons could enter into the proposed agreement with NAB, as it did on 20th June 2000. Moreover, a parallel and separate agreement was signed between NAB and International Assets Recovery firm (IAR), represented by William Pepper on 15th July 2000. The agreement signed between Broadsheet was intended is to be limited to investigations and recovery of assets in USA, Europe and Asia and IAR was to cover other parts of the world With NRO underway between Musharraf and Nawaz family, NAB ter-minated the agreement unilaterally with Broadsheet in October 2003 without going through the proper termination procedure.

NAB had terminated ARA alleging Broadsheet of misrep-resentations made during pre-contractual negotiations and commitment of repudiatory breaches. To which, Broadsheet contended that any shortfall in its performance of the ARA was caused by NAB’s breaches of its own obligations and it claimed damages in respect of those. To the misrepresentation plea tak-en by NAB, the arbitrator noted that the alleged representations were made on behalf of Trouvons not Broadsheet. Another key issue in this whole saga was the correct interpretation of clause 4 of ARA, which gave Broadsheet right to claim compensation. The scope of ARA was intended to be limited to investigations and recovery of assets in the USA, Europe and Asia, not world-wide. But that was achieved not by express provision, but by limiting its scope to specific registered persons or entities or targets. Its scope was defined as reference to target list and there were no geographical limits. The arbitrator noted that neither party has raised the question of possible rectification of the written agreement (a remedy that might be available under English Law if the document mis-takenly failed to record what was in fact agreed). Therefore, the advantage of this misrepresentation went in fa-vour of Broadsheet’s claim. In April 2007, Broadsheet was dis-solved by the court. Unaware of the fact, NAB entered into set-tlement agreements with International Assets Recovery firm (IAR) and Broadsheet in 2008. Under these agreements, NAB undertook to pay USD 1.5 million to Broadsheet and USD 2.25 million to IAR. Mr. James signed the agreement as chairman of Broadsheet LLC Gibraltar (a misnomer) , as a manager of Steeplechase and also on his own behalf describing himself as shareholder and beneficiary of Broadsheet LLC under winding without giving any regard to the fact that the Broadsheet (Isle of Man) has already been dissolved in April 2007. During this period, NAB totally failed to find out that Broadsheet IoM was under liquidation and Jimmy James was not entitled to sign any agreement on behalf of Broadsheet IoM. The fact that settlement worth USD 1.5 million was paid in two instalments to Broadsheet Colorado instead of Broadsheet IoM displays height of negligence. At the time, when poor taxpayers of Pakistan were paying the price of elite corruption and incom-petence of its institutions, Mossauvi was gearing up to milk this sad state of affairs. During his meeting with Ahmer Bilal Soofi in April 2007, Mossauvi learned that the later was meeting Jimmy James to settle the Broadsheet claims in his personal capacity without involving Mossauvi, who thought himself to be 50% claimant of the settlement proceeds. Backdrop to this 50%

claim was his meeting with Jimmy James back in early 2000’s, where he offered James that in return for funding Broadsheet’s costs of bringing a claim against NAB , they would share the proceeds 50/50 . Knowing that Jimmy James settlement with NAB had no legal standing, as Broadsheet was under liquida-tion, he created his financial stakes in Broadsheet by contacting an unpaid creditor of Broadsheet, Oakfield Corporate Services whose claim was for a modest sum of 4000 pounds. IAR funded by Mossauvi acquired the debt from Oakfield on terms which included paying the balance from the proceeds of any recovery from NAB. In a further transaction, IAR acquired the beneficial interest in Broadsheet from two Panamanian companies that were its original members and moved court to declare the liquidation null and void. From November 2009 onwards, Broadsheet has been controlled by Mossauvi. Having Mossauvi in control, Broadsheet went in to arbitration against NAB. The hearing on Liability Award took place in August 2016 by London Court of International Arbitration. Owing to lack of interest showed by then government, a liability award was is-sued in favour of Broadsheet. Subsequently the Quantum Award hearing took place in July 2018 and the court awarded Broad-sheet USD 21.59 million plus interest as damages for the breach and repudiation of the agreement. The appeal against the Quan-tum award got dismissed in July 2019. The incumbent govern-ment tried its level best to use all available legal remedies to sal-vage the situation, until the UK High Court ceased the account of Pakistan High Commission in London. Left with no choice and to save the national honour and dignity, the government finally approved USD 28.7 million payments to Broadsheet. In a nutshell, Pakistani taxpayer has paid the price of elites’ cor-ruption and malafide intention on part of negligent individuals. Now, the best government can do is to uphold its manifesto of accountability and fix responsibility. The key areas of inquiry may revolve around process of selection and appointment of Broadsheet and IAR, officials responsible for drafting a flawed contract (article 4 of ARA), reasons and effect of cancellation of agreements with Broadsheet and IAR in 2003, justification of settlements agreements, wrong payment and interest of suc-cessive governments in arbitration proceedings. The moral of the story is simple – there needs to be no compromise on cor-ruption, otherwise Pakistani nation will keep paying for elites’ corruption and tyranny as in case of Broadsheet.

–The author is an Australia Awards alumna and is a graduate of University of Melbourne in

Development Studies

O urs is the age of “e-governance” and “smarter state” which has become an essential part of modern living. In this context, Kazakhstan President H.E. Kass-

ym-Jomart Tokayev introduced numerous “structural reforms” to “modernize” public administration in the country which has now actually “reinforced” eternal relation between the dynasty and dynamics due to which spirits of “transparency”, “account-ability”, “service”, “checks & balances” and last but not least “good governance” have been truly institutionalized. Kazakhstan President Tokayev prioritized improvement in the efficiency and quality of work of the state and its internal & ex-ternal agencies in managing the country’s affairs and interact-ing with citizens as legitimate consumers of public services. By introducing various executive changes in the structure of the government he held accountable all the government agencies.Civil services have become one of the “vital” forces to trans-form state, its agencies and civility alike. “French Revolution”, “Magna Crata”, “US Civil Liberties Act” and even Kazakhstan’s

own concept of “Listening State” all uphold undeniable impor-tance of efficient civil services. Even anti-corruption drive has become hot topic in the world because corruption has already damaged even basic core of moralities and government struc-tures around the globe. Corruption is anti-development and hu-manity alike due to which visionary leadership of Kazakhstan institutionalized various anti-corruption plans and programs in the country. In order to “reenergizing” the civil services & its affairs the anti-corruption agency was reorganized and divided into the Civil Service Affairs Agency and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (Anti-Corruption Service) on June 13, 2019. Economic stability and sustainability are the two important factors of socio-economic prosperity of modern economic dis-cipline in the world. Trade and exports oriented policies bring further foreign reserves and enhance current account surplus. To further enhance the modern trade policies and integration of various economic stimulations a new Ministry of Trade and Integration was established on June 17, 2019. The Ministry was responsible for the formation and implementation of domestic and foreign trade policies, international economic integration, consumer protection, technical regulation, standardization and ensuring the uniformity of measurements, coordination of ac-tivities in the export promotion. World has already witnessed “devastating” consequences of imbalanced economic and industrial growth during which ele-ments of bio-diversity, environmental protection and climate change has been in the line of fire. There has been a high ratio of carbon footnotes around the globe which actually has now endangered the very basic survival of humanity on earth. To pursue a “holistic” policy and maintain a “strategic” balance between massive industrialization and protection of environ-ment the President of Kazakhstan formed a new Ministry of Ecology, Geology and Natural Resources on June 17, 2019. The main functions of this agency were governance and coordination of management processes in environmental protection, green economy development, waste management, protection, control and supervision of the rational use of natural resources, state geological exploration, mineral replacement, use and protection of water resources, forestry, wildlife and conservation areas. Ours is the age of “digitalization” and “artificial intelligence” and ideal combination of both has now become “guarantor” of even national sovereignty and territorial integrity in the world. To speed-up the development of digitalization, computerization, ICT, and AI the Ministry of Digital Development, Defense and Aerospace Industry was transformed into the Ministry of Dig-ital Development, Innovation and Aerospace Industry on June 17, 2019 with the addition of functions in geodesy and cartogra-phy, innovation, scientific and technological development of the country. Moreover, the Syrbar Foreign Intelligence Service was merged and strengthened on June 17, 2019 with the National Security Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan.Dissemination of true soft image of the country and formation of national narratives the Central Communications Service (CCS) was established under the President of the Republic of

Kazakhstan on July 22, 2019. Furthermore, the Division for Monitoring the Consideration of Appeals of the Administration of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan was created on July 22, 2019. The Agency for Regulation and Development of the Financial Market was created on November 11, 2019 through reorganization of the National Bank of the country. Qualitative human resources have now become necessity of modernization of state, civility and economic stability around the world. In this regard, the President gradually renewd the management staff and initiated the formation of the Presiden-tial Youth Personnel Reserve on a competitive basis.A set of reforms has now enabled the government of Kazakh-stan to overcome sever pandemic of COVID-19. A new set of institutional reforms was implemented in 2020 to improve the public administration system based on the lessons of the pandemic. President of the Republic of Kazakhstan decree en-sured on March 16, 2020 socio-economic stability. Pandemic of COVID-19 has been diminished and journey of prosperity has re-surfaced and re-started in Kazakhstan. The President created the Supreme Council for Reforms on September 14, 2020 consisting of 10 people. He established Agency for Strategic Planning and Reforms of the Republic of Kazakhstan on September 92020 that which was directly sub-ordinated and accountable to the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Moreover, creation of the Ministry for Emergency Situations of the Republic of Kazakhstan on September 9, 2020 further had further enhanced state’s response and prepared-ness against all natural calamities and non-state actors. In this context the Agency for Protection and Development of Competition of the Republic of Kazakhstan was formed on Sep-tember 9, 2020. The mission of said body was to create equal conditions for market participants by protecting and promoting competition, limiting monopolistic activities and preventing un-fair competitionThe widespread introduction of non-cash payments and the de-velopment of non-bank payment systems with appropriate reg-ulatory rules were also institutionalized. Order to seize unused agricultural land from irresponsible landowners, tax laws, laws on public administration, Implementation of a pilot project for satellite monitoring of agricultural land in Akmola, Kostanay, East Kazakhstan and Mangistau regions during 2020 and a 40 percent reduction in the quota for attracting foreign labor was also announced. A new system of conducting annual inspec-tions at enterprises that attract foreign labor, development by the Ministry of Finance and the National Bank of the Unified Register of external debt in the form of a digitized database was announced and implemented. Development and adoption of the Law on Industrial Policy was designed to define the basic principles, goals and objectives of the development of the manufacturing industry. On February 5, 2021, this draft law was presented in the Mazhilis of Par-liament. Development of a new national project to develop the agro-industrial complex through 2026 was established which provided for the formation of at least seven ecosystems for the production and processing of agricultural raw materials around

major investment projects, a package of measures to stimulate cooperation in rural areas, the formation of human capital in agriculture, etc. Comprehensive measures were announced to reorient the ex-cess liquidity of second-tier banks to lending to small and me-dium-sized businesses and to stop currency speculation. New tax regime with new tax code and regulations were patronized. Profound simplification of the execution of tax obligations, in-cluding through digitalization, implementation of the expand-ed budget covering the activities of extra-budgetary funds, including the State Social Insurance Fund, the Social Health Insurance Fund, and the Unified Accumulative Pension Fund was designed. Development by the Ministry of Labor and So-cial Protection of Population of the draft Law on Amendments and Supplements to Certain Legislative Acts of the Republic of Kazakhstan on issues of social protection of certain categories of citizens was aimed at strengthening measures to support persons with disabilities. The introduction of mechanisms for subsidizing rent payments with the reorientation of part of the funds provided for the construction of rental housing in the regions (with coverage of at least 100,000 families) through the “Otbasy Bank”, was created on the basis of “Zhilstroysber-bank”, as well as subsidizing the costs of employers in the con-struction of rental houses in rural areas.The President ordered to create the unified digital healthcare space with the inclusion of 90 percent of medical organizations and the introduction of electronic health passports. A special program “Ansagan Sabi” was commencd from 2021 with the provision of 7000 quotas for In Vitro Fertilization (IVF).Initially, Kazakhstan President H.E. Kassym-Jomart Tokayev revolutionized the concept of governance by introducing diver-sified but integrated structural reforms in public administration and civil service. Sincere efforts have been initiated to bring healthy, positive, productive and participatory politicization and democratization in the country. Due to which women participa-tion has been further enhanced. Scope, utility and composition of genuine opposition have been institutionalized. Concepts of responsibility, transparency, accountability and in-terconnectivity was introduced and consequently implemented. Now Kazakhstan has become a Listening State. Special focus was given to anti-corruption legislation and practices which ac-tually, transformed its politics, administration, society, judiciary and all the agencies of the government. Meaningful socio-economic reforms has brightened its overall economic stability and promoted elements of sustainability. It also lessened ratios of poverty and deficits of energy and food supplies in the country. Small and medium enterprises have been further activated to assist the rural economy and its peo-ple in Kazakhstan.Being prominent regional expert of Kazakhstan I really appreci-ate comprehensive structural reforms initiated by Kazakhstan President Jomart Tokayev which has now actually drastically changed its economic outlook, political orientation, societal make-up, administrative utility, judicial scope and last but not least legislative make-over.

Broadsheet-the ultimate cost of corruption

Kazakh reforms: implementations & achievements (P-II)

Mahroo Arshad

Dr. Mehmood Ul Hassan Khan

The NAB, formed in 1999, hired Broadsheet in 2000 to trace and recover

assets allegedly stolen by influential figures,

including former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif

Kazakhstan President Tokayev prioritized improvement in the

efficiency and quality of work of the state and its internal & external

agencies in managing the country’s affairs

IslamabadPOST05Pakistan’s First And Only Diplomatic Daily

Editor-in-Chief: Ansar Mahmood BhattiDeputy Editor: Abid Raza

ABC CERTIFIED

Vol: 01 Issue: 311Email: dailyisbpost@gmail.com

Phone: 051-2266165 / 051-2261960Off: Awan Plaza, Block 18-A, G-8 Markaz Islamabad

WORLD / SPORTS06

DNA

BEIJING: Pakistan launched its first-ever tourism TV channel “ to boost this fledgling sector as a growth engine. Tourism is gain-ing weight in Pakistan’s economy. According to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), in 2019, the tourism industry con-tributed 5.9% to Pakistan’s GDP, with 3.9 million jobs created. The government is also elevating tour-ism higher on its agenda. A 12-member National Coordina-tion Committee on Tourism has been initiated in the hope of cre-ating more job opportunities and injecting impetus into Pakistan’s

economic development.Pakistan is a fertile land blessed with rich natural endowments. Its incredible landscape, biological diversity, and historical sites pro-vide a multiplicity of options for tourists from all over the world. As the country is witnessing an un-precedented tourism boost, more tourists from the international community, especially China, are to be unlocked provided the right formula, China Economic Net (CEN) reported on Friday.Pakistan-China exchanges in the tourism industry are in their infan-cy. Pakistan became a destination country for Chinese group tour-ists since 2003. In 2019, 80,000 Chinese people chose Pakistan

as their travel destination, an in-crease of 60% than that in 2015. Meanwhile, there were 155 mil-lion outbound tourists from China in 2019, representing a huge gap.In an interview with Yang Jinsong, Director of the Institute of Inter-national Studies at China Tourism Academy (CTA), he recommend-ed more publicity about Pakistan’s tourist industry. Amid the epidem-ic, many countries are using online platforms to accumulate strength for the tourism industry. In this re-gard, introducing the eye-catching scenery in Pakistan through short videos will be a good step forward in an era of social media.The consumption habits of Chinese tourists is another area that calls

for research. For example, Yang ob-serves that while western tourists try to explore and experience almost everything in a foreign destination, Chinese people prefer their tradi-tional food even when they are in other countries. Moreover, Chinese tourists like to buy special com-modities and souvenirs during their journeys. “If a destination country can study the purchasing habits of tourists in-depth, it will promote the development of local tourism.”ťTourism in China usually peaks around the New Year holidays. During the rest of the year, people are too busy working or studying to devise a travel scheme by them-selves. That’s why many travel agencies are facilitating from the

beginning to the end of a journey. In this regard, the collaboration be-tween Chinese and Pakistani travel agencies will provide a viable way to arrange tours to Pakistan.For long-term linkage, a dedicated mechanism is set to be put in place. Currently, China Tourism Academy (CTA) is conducting country-spe-cific studies intending to establish a platform for Pak-China tourism cooperation. On the Pakistani side, recent decisions of ending mandato-ry No Objection Certificates (NOC) for foreign tourists to visit certain parts of the country, launching on-line visa services for 175 countries, and offering on-arrival visas for 50 countries have made travel to Paki-stan easier and more convenient.

Pakistan and China tourism to fly highPakistan-China exchanges in the tourism industry are in their infancy. Pakistan became a

destination country for Chinese group tourists since 2003. In 2019, 80,000 Chinese people chose Pakistan as their travel destination, an increase of 60% than that in 2015

BriefsFormula 1 to

start from Sunday

foReigN DeSK

MANAMA: Engines are set to roar for the start of For-mula 1’s new season on Sun-day, with Bahrain hosting the first race of 2021.The 57-lap Bahrain GP will be run at Bahrain Inter-national Circuit on a track nearly 5.4 kilometers (3.3 miles) long, located in the desert region of Sakhir, 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) from the capital Manama.The qualifying round will be held at 1500GMT on Satur-day, and the race will start at the same time Sunday.There are 23 races sched-uled this year – more Grand Prix events set for one sea-son than ever before.Last year British Formu-la 1 star Lewis Hamilton clinched his seventh drivers’ title in the Turkish Grand Prix to equal F1 legend Mi-chael Schumacher’s record of world championships. The 36-year-old also racked up a total of 95 Grand Prix wins to beat Schumacher’s all-time record of 91, set back in 2006. Formula 1 agreed to a $145 million budget cap for teams, and the minimum weights have also been increased for this season. Bowing to lower rev-enues due to the pandemic, next year team budget limits will be cut to $140 million and to $135 million in 2023.

Everton get green light

for new stadium

LONDON: Everton’s plans for a new 53,000-capacity stadium have received gov-ernment approval, the club announced on Friday -- a ma-jor stepping stone as they seek to compete with the Premier League’s “Big Six”.The club currently play at Goodison Park and have been English champions nine times in their illustri-ous history, but have not won any silverware since 1995. Goodison has been the club’s home since 1892, but it has a capaci-ty of less than 40,000 and outdated facilities.Liverpool City Council ap-proved plans last month and ministers have now given the green light for the pro-ject on Liverpool’s water-front, which will reportedly cost £500 million ($690 mil-lion). An Everton statement read: “The decision to ap-prove a new 52,888-capaci-ty waterfront arena allows the club to complete its agreed acquisition of the site... and the funding solu-tion for the project, ensur-ing the club can begin to make the plans a reality.“It is estimated that the stadium development and plans for a Goodison Lega-cy will deliver a £1.3 billion boost to the economy, cre-ate more than 15,000 jobs and attract 1.4 million new visitors to the city. – APP

Germany escape FIFA

sanction BERLIN: World football’s governing body FIFA on Fri-day said it will not sanction the German national team for its T-shirt protest in sup-port of human rights before a World Cup qualifier.Germany head coach Joa-chim Loew said he support-ed the players after they wore black T-shirts with white lettering to spell out “Human Rights”, aimed at 2022 World Cup host nation Qatar, before Thursday’s 3-0 win over Iceland.“It was a sign that we stand up for all human rights in the world, no matter where,” said Loew after the qualifier in Duisburg.FIFA prohibits political statements during its matches, but the governing body told AFP subsidiary SID they will not sanction the Germans. “FIFA be-lieves in freedom of ex-pression and in the power of football to drive positive change,” it said in a state-ment on Friday.FIFA had already also said it will not penalise the Norway team for a similar protest connected to human rights issues in Qatar.Human rights groups have been heavily critical of Qatar for its treatment of migrant workers. Qatar dis-putes the claims.Norway’s coach Staale Sol-bakken on Friday welcomed the Germans echoing his team’s message. – APP

NZ sweep Bangladesh

in ODI series

DNAWELLINGTON: Maiden centuries for Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell set up a crushing 164-run win for New Zealand in the third one-day international in Wel-lington on Friday, giving the hosts a series clean sweep.Conway blasted 126 from 110 balls and Mitchell fin-ished on 100 not out after New Zealand won the toss and elected to bat, making 318 for six. Bangladesh were never in the hunt for the 319 target, all out for 154 after 42.4 overs, with Mahmudu-llah’s unbeaten 76 the only highlight as eight batsmen failed to reach double fig-ures. Jimmy Neesham and Matt Henry did the damage for New Zealand with the ball, taking five for 27 and four for 27 respectively.Paceman Rubel Hossain was the pick of the Bang-ladesh bowlers, with three for 70, but the tourists’ at-tack struggled on a green Basin Reserve wicket. “We were just not good enough,” Bangladesh skipper Tamim Iqbal said. “No doubt the Black Caps played unbeliev-ably well but we didn’t per-form. Sometimes the small things can hurt you, the (dropped) catches and the run-out chances.”Conway capitalised on the tourists’ woes and his century was just reward for the South Africa-born batsman, who has been in outstanding form since he was first selected for the Blacks Caps late last year. His performances in-clude 72 in the second Bang-ladesh ODI and an unbeaten 99 when he was left stranded in a Twenty20 match against Australia last month.

Indian covid hotspot state under curfew

MUMBAI: India’s worst-hit state Maharashtra, includ-ing its capital Mumbai, will be under a nightly curfew from Sunday following a sharp rise in coronavirus in-fections, officials said.India as a whole has a seen a renewed surge in new in-fections in recent weeks, dashing hopes at the start of the year that the country of 1.3 billion people had beaten the pandemic. Maharashtra in western India, home to around 110 million people, has seen the biggest rise, recording on Thursday more than 35,000 new infections in 24 hours, the highest yet. Mumbai recorded over 5,500 cases on Friday, almost dou-bling its highest daily count of last year. – APP

PML-N left in the lurch as Gillani...

From Page 01the signatures of 21 senators from the party, two from the ANP, one from the Jamat-e-Is-lami, two from erstwhile Fata and four members of the upper house from Dilawar Khan’s independent group.Speaking on reports of the contentious issue spelling doom for the Opposition alli-ance, Rehman said the move was not the PDM’s funeral but the PPP’s right.However, Gillani said he was not aware how many senators are supporting him Sherry Rehman has called him here.As per the rules, the Chair-man Senate declares a mem-ber as Leader of the Oppo-sition having the support of the majority of the members in opposition within 15 days of the election of chairman and deputy chairman. The two main Opposition parties — the PPP and the PML-N — were at loggerheads over the matter with Maryam Nawaz saying multiple times that the PDM leaders had decid-ed that the Senate chairman would be from the PPP, dep-uty chairman from the JUI-F and the Opposition leader’s slot would go to her party.

Pak test fires Shaheen-1A.From Page 01“He appreciated the techni-cal prowess, dedication, and commitment of scientists and engineers, who con-tributed whole-heartedly in making the missile launch successful.”Meanwhile, President Arif Alvi, Prime Minister Imran Khan, Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, and ser-vices chiefs have also con-gratulated the scientists and engineers for today’s missile test having been successfully conducted.

Saturday, March 27, 2021IslamabadPOST

Pakistan-Belarus reaffirm to boost cultural cooperation

DNAMINSK: Ambassador of Paki-stan to Belarus Mr. Sajjad Haid-er Khan held a meeting with H.E. Mr. Anatoly Markevich, Minister of Culture of the Re-public of Belarus. The meeting was also attended by Ms. Vik-toria Ratobylskaya, Head of the International Cooperation and Information Management De-partment of the Ministry. Underscoring the diversity of culture, ethnicity and religion of Pakistan, which has been a melting pot of civilizations for thousands of years, Ambassa-dor Sajjad highlighted the sig-nificance of promoting people to people contact for creation of greater awareness in the general public. The Minister welcomed the in-itiative, highlighted the impor-tance of cultural collaboration and assured to provide required support for meaningful engage-ment. He particularly wished to see closer cooperation be-tween the cinematographers of the two countries. The two sides reaffirmed the mutual intention to bolster Pa-kistan-Belarus relations with a focus on cooperation in cul-ture. Series of activities will be planned to bolster full spectrum cultural cooperation between the two friendly countries.

Death toll in Myanmar’s crackdown surpasses 300

moNitoRiNg DeSK

YANGON: Some 34 more people have been killed in Myanmar, tak-ing the civilian death toll in the security forces’ crackdown on anti-coup protests to 320, the As-sistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), which is track-ing deaths and arrests, said in its latest update on Thursday.The AAPP said it had documented additional deaths across Myanmar including Yangon, its biggest city and ethnic minority areas in the country’s borderlands.In Mandalay, the country’s sec-ond-largest city, the organisation said a 16 year old died after being

shot in the back and some ambu-lances were also fired on.The AAPP said the actual num-ber of those killed was likely to be much higher. “Crimes against humanity are committed daily,” it said. It was not possible to verify the incidents individually.The military crackdown has drawn outrage and prompted some sanc-tions from Western countries, in-cluding the United States, which on Thursday condemned the generals for their violence after a 7-year-old girl was killed this week, the youngest victim of the crack-down. “These abhorrent and brutal acts against children, one as young as seven years old who was shot and killed in her home while sitting

on her father’s lap, further demon-strate the horrific nature of the Burmese military regime’s assault on its own people and its complete disregard for the lives of the peo-ple of Burma,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement. Condemning the securi-ty forces’ actions “in the strongest terms”, Price said: “The regime cannot govern through terror.”The military denies using exces-sive force and says that its actions have met international norms in the face of a situation it says is a threat to national security.On Tuesday, a military spokesman said 164 protesters and nine mem-bers of the security forces had been killed. The AAPP data shows

at least 25 percent of those who were killed died from shots to the head. Full data is not available for every death. Nearly 90 percent of the dead were male and about a third aged 24 or under.Save the Children says at least 20 children have been killed in the protests, which show little sign of abating despite the increasing use of tear gas, rubber-coated bullets and live rounds.On Friday, a fire broke out at the headquarters of the National League for Democracy (NLD), the party of Myanmar’s elected civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was arrested by the generals on February 1 as they moved to seize power. An attacker hurled

a Molotov cocktail at its Yangon headquarters, causing a brief fire, in the early hours of the morning, according to a party official.“When the residents nearby knew about the fire, they called the fire service department to put it out … it was under control by around 5am (22:30 GMT),” Soe Win, an NLD member in charge of the headquar-ters, told the AFP news agency.“It seems that someone lit a Molotov cocktail and threw it at the headquarters.” The incident comes on the eve of Armed Forces Day, when the military will put on a show of strength with its annual parade. Fears have been swirling that it could become a flashpoint for an escalation in violence.

The military denies using excessive force and says that its actions have met international norms in the face of a situation it says is a threat to national security

DI KHAN: A view of qualifying round of Derajat Off Road Jeep Rally. – DNA

Web DeSK

PARIS: Former France international Thierry Henry said on Friday he will be disabling his social media accounts to protest against the platforms for not taking action over anonymous account holders who are guilty of racism and bullying online. Former Arsenal and Barcelona striker Henry, who has 15 mil-lion followers across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, said the platforms needed to tackle these issues with the same effort they put into taking down material that infringes copyright. “From tomorrow morning I will be removing myself from so-cial media until the people in power are able to regulate their platforms with the same vigour and ferocity that they currently do when you infringe copyright,” Henry said in a statement.“The sheer volume of racism, bullying and resulting mental torture to individuals is too toxic to ignore. There HAS to be some accountability. “It is far too easy to create an ac-count, use it to bully and harass without consequence and still remain anonymous. Until this changes, I will be disabling my accounts across all social platforms. I’m hoping this hap-pens soon.” Last month English football’s governing bodies said that Twitter, Facebook and Instagram were “havens for abuse” and urged the social media companies to tackle the problem in the wake of racist messages aimed at players.Oliver Dowden, the secretary of state of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), said nobody should be forced to disable their social media accounts due to abuse. “Social media firms must do more to tackle this and we are introducing new laws to hold platforms to account,” he said. “This is complex and we must get it right, but I’m absolutely determined to tackle racist abuse online.” Instagram last month announced a series of meas-ures to tackle online abuse, including removing accounts of people who send abusive messages, and developing new controls to help reduce the abuse people see. Twitter said in 2019 that “vile content has no place on our service” after it took action on more than 700 cases of “abuse and hateful conduct” related to football in Britain in two weeks and promised to continue its efforts to curb the problem.

Henry to quit social media over racism

Int’l football returns to Libya after 7 year

SpoRtS DeSK

TRIPOLI: Libya’s national football team lost to Tunisia on Thursday but fans in the eastern city of Benghazi still had reason to cheer as international football returned to Libya after a seven-year hiatus. International football had been banned in Libya for several years as the North African coun-try was wracked by conflict. Tunisia, nicknamed the Eagles of Carthage, won 5-2 in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifica-tion match played behind closed doors due to the continu-ing coronavirus pandemic at the Benina Martyrs Stadium, formerly known as Hugo Chavez Stadium under the regime of overthrown leader Muammar Gaddafi.The loss means Libya cannot qualify for the next Africa Cup of Nations to be hosted in Cameroon in January 2022. The Libyans opened the scoring in the 22nd minute but were quickly overtaken by the Tunisians’ fast-paced, pressing style, conceding three goals within 30 minutes of their opener. A second goal early in the second half gave the Lib-yans some cause for hope, but that was dashed after Tunisia netted fourth and fifth goals towards the end of the game.Even though the loss hurt, Libyan fans still celebrat-ed the return of football to their home soil, with many turning up in droves to cafes to catch a glimpse of their heroes against their rivals and neighbours Tunisia. Lib-ya descended into chaos after Gaddafi was toppled and killed in a 2011 NATO-backed uprising, resulting in mul-tiple forces vying for power. The Libyan national football league was suspended in 2019 due to the deteriorating security situation. Fighting only came to a halt last year and a formal ceasefire announced in October was fol-lowed by the establishment of a unity government led by interim Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah. The Libyan Premier League resumed play in January.

BUSINESS / WORLD 07

DNA

ISTANBUL: Turkey’s NGOs have urged the Muslim world to take notice of Dr Aafia Siddiqui’s plight.According to details, Aafia Move-ment Pakistan leader the noted neuro-physician of the country Dr Fowzia Siddiqui who is currently on Turkey on invitation of social and human rights organizations, said that now awareness is being raised in Muslim world about the case of Dr Aafia Siddiqui.She said it is heartening that now the Muslim world is developing awareness about the plights of Pa-kistani mother and woman scien-tist Dr Aafia Siddiqui..Dr Siddiqui. In an interview with a Turkish Channel, Rehbar YV, she said Aa-

fia is a mother of three and a bril-liant Muslim woman whose only passion was to bring education to her people.For this she studied at the finest institutions in the world including MIT and Brandeis in the United States. She said her academic career was always at the highest lever and she has many interna-tional and national awards to her name. She is also a Hafiza of the Quranwith Aalima degree also. Dr Fowzia recalled that her sis-ter as a child loved her dolls and pet animals as she grew older her passion was for children and the elderly.“Aafia was ambitious enough to want to make a change, and all her life studied to achieve one goal, to improve the education system by

making learning more efficient. By helping handicapped children live a meaningful life. She want-ed to help those who have been wronged.”Dr Fowzia said Aafia believed that faith is essential and mutually in-

clusive of all sciences and logic and wanted to bring an education-al revolution in Muslim countries starting with Pakistan. About the ordeals of Aafia, Dr Fowzia said that somewhere in the blind af-termath of Sept.11, 2001, Aafia became a victim of the now dis-credited “War of Terror”.In March 2003 she and her three young children aged 6 months, 3.5 years and 6 years, 2 of whom are US Citizens were disappeared from the streets of Karachi and rendition to secret prisons.Aafia emerged, later known as the infamous gray lady of Bagram prisoner 650 (the screams and horrifying tortures endured are no longer secret). The youngest child was 6 months old and has still not been found. She said for

almost 18 years now, she has not seen his sister.About the role of Ummah in Aafia case, Dr Fowzia said if Muslims had united for this daughter of the Ummah, Aafia would not still be locked up and they would not be disgraced and ridiculed all over the world.Because injustice is injustice re-gardless if it is done by an “Abdul-lah” or a “Richard Berman” She said she does not know of much of Guantanamo period though some witnesses claim to have seen Aafia reciting Quran and crying locked up in a cage. The horrific torture in Begram is well known worldwide as per wit-nesses who heard the screams of prisoner 650 also known as the grey lady of Bagram.

Muslim world urged to take notice for Dr AafiaIn March 2003 she and her three young children aged 6 months, 3.5 years and 6 years, 2 of

whom are US Citizens were disappeared from the streets of Karachi and rendition to secret prisons

BriefsHungary

sees highest daily virus

casesDNA

ANKARA: Hungary on Fri-day reported 11,265 new coronavirus cases, the high-est single-day jump in the country since the beginning of the pandemic.The total number of cases in the central European coun-try, which has a population of 9.77 million, has reached 614,612, according to the health authorities.As many as 275 people lost their lives due to the virus over the past 24 hours, pushing the death toll to 19,499.Over 1.80 million peo-ple have received their first vaccine doses, with 594,662 people receiving the second.Hungary cannot reopen its economy yet but chances are good that, ahead of most or all European Union coun-tries, life could become free by the summer and “we will have a free summer”, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán told public broadcaster Kossuth Rádió on Friday morning. There are realistic chances that kindergartens, schools and secondary schools can re-open on April 19, Orbán said.

Belarus- Kazakh ties increasingly

vibrantDNA

MINSK: Belarus and Ka-zakhstan have done a lot for the development of relations in recent years. The visit of Kazakhstan President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to Belarus can give a boost for bilateral coop-eration, Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko said as he met with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipo-tentiary of Kazakhstan to Belarus Askar Beisenbayev on 25 March, Trend reports citing Kazinform.«We have achieved a lot in recent years in terms of integration, especially within the framework of the EAEU, and in terms of bilateral relations, trade and cooperation,» the head of state stressed. «Of course, we would like to advance this cooperation even fur-ther and to expand trade volumes. We are ready to ramp up production, set up assembly facilities and op-erate those we have at full capacity. To cut it short, the government has to do a lot,» BelTA reports.«It would be great to have the visit of the Kazakhstan president to Belarus which was postpones because of the pandemic. It would give a big impetus for the devel-opment of relations,» Alek-sandr Lukashenko added.Addressing the ambassador, the president expressed hope that Askar Beisen-bayev will play a big role in the development of bilateral cooperation. «I hope that you will be doing your best for Belarus-Kazakhstan co-operation for many years to come,» the head of state continued. «I hope that we will do a lot for the benefit of our nations.»

Russia to resume more int’l flights

Web DesK

MOSCOW: Russia will re-sume international pas-senger flights from 13 more airports from April 1, the federal operational headquarters for the fight against coronavirus state media said.“The operational headquar-ters decided to resume flights to foreign countries from the international air-ports of Barnaul, Belgorod, Volgograd, Voronezh, Kalu-ga, Krasnodar, Lipetsk, Na-lchik, Orenburg, Saratov, Sochi, Tyumen and Yuzh-no-Sakhalinsk from April 1, taking into account the need to comply with sanitary and epidemiological require-ments,” the headquarters said.Earlier, Russia resumed flights from 12 cities: As-trakhan, Yekaterinburg, Irkutsk, Makhachkala, Min-eralnye Vody, Nizhny Novgo-rod, Perm, Kemerovo, Pet-ropavlovsk-Kamchatsky and Khabarovsk. From the sum-mer of 2020 to February 2021, flights were carried out only from Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Anger in Bangladesh as India’s Modi attends national Day

Foreign Desk

DHAKA: Indian Prime Min-ister Narendra Modi is in Bangladesh to attend its Golden Jubilee celebrations of independence and the birth centenary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the coun-try’s founder and father of current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.Modi’s visit sparked violent protests at Dhaka’s main mosque that were dispersed by police using tear gas and rubber bullets – injuring scores of people – after clashes broke out between groups of demonstrators, officials and witnesses said on Friday.Hundreds of protesters had gathered outside Dhaka’s Baitul Mokarram mosque after the Friday prayers. Witnesses said violent

clashes broke out after one faction of protesters began waving their shoes as a sign of disrespect to Modi, and another group tried to stop them.Local media said the pro-testers who tried to stop the shoe-waving are aligned with the governing Awami League party, which criti-cised the other protest fac-tion for attempting to create chaos during Modi’s visit.Local TV showed protest-ers throwing stones at the police, who were heavily present on the streets near the mosque. Somoy TV re-ported that at least 40 peo-ple were injured, including journalists, and were taken to the Dhaka Medical Col-lege Hospital for treatment.Modi’s two-day tour – his first abroad since the coro-navirus pandemic began last year – will cap Dhaka’s

10-day celebrations already attended by leaders from Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan and the Maldives.Prime Minister Hasina, a key partner for India in maintaining regional stabil-ity, welcomed Modi at Haz-rat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on Friday morning.Friday’s was the latest in a series of protests held across Bangladesh to oppose the vis-it by Modi, who many Bang-ladeshis accuse of stoking religious tensions and perse-cuting Muslims in India.On Thursday, police in Dhaka fired rubber bullets and tear gas at hundreds of mainly student demonstra-tors protesting against the Hindu nationalist leader’s visit and criticising the gov-ernment for inviting him.Police said the protest got out of hand as nearly 2,000

demonstrators marched in Dhaka, with many throwing rocks and stones at officers. Dozens were wounded, with at least 18 sent to hospitals in the city.“We fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse them… We have also arrest-ed 33 people for violence,” police official Syed Nurul Islam told AFP news agency on Thursday.At another protest outside Baitul Mokarram mosque last Friday, protesters said more than 1,000 people, most of them Muslims, were killed in the Indian state of Gujarat in 2002, when Modi was the chief minister.“His government has passed several laws which make Muslims a second-class cit-izen in India. We don’t want him here in Bangladesh,” Maulana Mamunul Haque, secretary-general of Hefaz-

at-e-Islam, an Islamist politi-cal organisation, told media.“A leader like him should not be allowed to attend the 50th Independence Day event.”Even though Hefazat-e-Is-lam calls itself “non-politi-cal”, the Islamist organisa-tion has gained eminence after the fall of Jamaat-e-Is-lami, Bangladesh’s largest Islamist political party.At the protest outside Bai-tul Mukarram mosque, He-fazat supporters slammed Modi for “killing Muslims in Gujarat, Kashmir, Delhi and other parts of India”. They took their shoes in their hands to show disrespect to the Indian leader.Foez Ullah, president of the Bangladesh Students’ Union, said Modi’s policies go against the basic tenets of Bangladesh’s founding principles.“Inviting India’s riotous,

communal prime minister Narendra Modi to the gold-en jubilee of independence is against the spirit of the liberation war,” the group said in a statement.Protesters also criticised the killings of Bangladesh-is by Indian border guards. India says such casualties happen when Bangladeshis are involved in cross-border smuggling and attempt to cross the border “illegally”.Many Bangladeshis are also unhappy with India’s unwillingness to sign a wa-ter-sharing treaty for the Teesta river, one of many common rivers.“Our rulers in Bangladesh call India as our friend but the BSF (India’s Border Security Force) is often shooting and killing our people on Bangladesh-In-dia border,” Foez Ullah told media.

US gives $15m to

Palestinians

Web DesK

WASHINGTON: The United States said on Thursday it is giving $15m to vulnerable Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip to help fight the COVID-19 pandem-ic, a sharp reversal from the Trump administration which cut off almost all aid to the Palestinians.US ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield made the announcement at the United Nations Security Council’s monthly Middle East meeting, saying the money from the US Agency for International Develop-ment will support Catholic Relief Services’ “COVID-19 response efforts in health-care facilities and for vul-nerable families in the West Bank and Gaza”.In addition, she said, the funds will support emergen-cy food aid to communities in need as a result of the pandemic.“This urgent, necessary aid is one piece of our re-newed commitment to the Palestinian people,” Thom-as-Greenfield said. “The aid will help Palestinians in dire need, which will bring more stability and security to both Israelis and Palestinians alike.”

Myanmar’s Striking Civil

ServantsfoReigN DesK

YANGON: Myanmar’s civil disobedience movement (CDM) against the military regime has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for 2022 by six academics at the University of Oslo in Norway.It is the latest attempt to highlight Myanmar’s fight for democracy since the Feb. 1 coup.The nomination is recogni-tion of the CDM’s role “in forging a positive agenda for substantive democracy and peace”, said the proposal to the Nobel committee.The CDM members “are risking arrests, torture and death, yet have chosen to fight for their freedom through labor strikes, peace-ful assembly and non-violent resistance”, said Professor Kristian Stokke, one of the nominators.The nomination said: “[The CDM] strives to create a united stand against the military’s divide and rule tactics and for federal de-mocracy. If successful, this holds the potential of end-ing Myanmar’s long legacy of direct and indirect mil-itary rule and intrastate armed conflicts.”On Feb. 3 medical staff initi-ated civil servant strikes by refusing to work under the military regime with rail, transport, education, ener-gy, police and foreign affairs staff joining the movement.

Norway extends pause of AstraZenecaOSLO:Norway said on Fri-day it would extend its sus-pension of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine until April 15 to allow more time to in-vestigate a potential link to severe blood clotting.The EU’s drugs regulator said last week the vaccine was “safe and effective” and not linked to a higher risk of blood clots, but could not rule out definitively a link to a rare clotting disorder. The World Health Organiza-tion has also urged countries to continue using the vaccine, arguing the benefits outweigh any potential risks.“It is a difficult but correct decision to extend the pause for the AstraZeneca vaccine,” Geir Bukholm, Director of the Division of Infection Con-trol at the Norwegian Insti-tute of Public Health (FHI), said in a statement. “We be-lieve it is necessary to carry out more investigations into these cases.”The suspension is expected to delay the Norwegian vac-cination programme by one to two weeks, the institute said, and people who have already received a first dose of the vaccine would not be offered a second injection at this stage.In the Nordic country, several healthcare workers under the age of 55 have suffered symp-toms including blood clots, bleeding and a drop in blood platelets after receiving the AstraZeneca jab.Four deaths have been re-ported, with three from combinations of these com-plications and one from a brain haemorrhage. – APP

Saturday, March 27, 2021IslamabadPOST

ANTALYA: Speaker National Assembly Asad Qaisar in a meeting with Deputy Chairman of Senate of Afghanistan. – DNA

China sanctions UK officials, entities in Xinjiang row

DNA

ANKARA: China on Friday imposed retaliatory sanc-tions against nine British individuals and four busi-ness entities, arguing they “maliciously spread lies and disinformation.”“As of today, the individuals concerned and their imme-diate family members are prohibited from entering the mainland, Hong Kong and Macao of China, their property in China will be frozen, and Chinese citi-zens and institutions will

be prohibited from doing business with them,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced in a statement.The targeted individuals, in-cluding lawmakers, are Tom Tugendhat, Iain Duncan Smith, Neil O’Brien, David Alton, Tim Loughton, Nus-rat Ghani, Helena Kennedy, Geoffrey Nice, Joanne Nico-la Smith Finley. Beijing also imposed sanctions on China Research Group, Conserv-ative Party Human Rights Commission, Uyghur Tribu-nal, Essex Court Chambers.Earlier this week, the UK had imposed sanctions on

Chinese officials over al-leged human rights abuses of Uyghur ethnic groups in Xinjiang who are predomi-nantly Muslims. Beijing has denied such claims.“This [sanctions by the UK] move, based on nothing but lies and disinformation, flagrantly breaches interna-tional law and basic norms governing international re-lations, grossly interferes in China’s internal affairs, and severely undermines China-UK relations,” the Chinese side said.“China is firmly determined to safeguard its national

sovereignty, security and development interests, and warns the UK side not go further down the wrong path. Otherwise, China will resolutely make further reactions,” the statement added.Beijing also summoned the British ambassador to Chi-na to protest the sanctions.China has repeatedly de-nied allegations that it is operating detention camps in its northwestern Xinjiang region, home to the Uy-ghur community, claiming instead that it is “re-educat-ing” Uyghurs.

Egypt train crash kills 32: ministry

CAIRO: At least 32 people were killed and 66 injured Fri-day when two trains collided in southern Egypt, the health ministry said, the latest deadly rail accident to hit the country.A statement said dozens of ambulances rushed to the scene in the Tahta district of Sohag province, some 460 kilometres (285 miles) south of the capital Cairo.“32 people were killed and 66 injured” and transported to hospital, the statement said. Video footage seen by media showed several carriages overturned.Egypt has been plagued with deadly train accidents in re-cent years that have been widely blamed on inadequate infrastructure and poor maintenance.One of the deadliest occurred in 2002 when 373 people died as a fire ripped through a crowded train south of Cai-ro, and there have been many fatal crashes since.In March last year, at least 13 people were injured when two passenger trains collided in Cairo, triggering a brief suspension of rail services nationwide. – APP

Protesting farmers call for countrywide shutdown in India

NEW DELHI: Farmers protesting in India against three new farm laws passed last year, have given a call for a 12-hour countrywide shutdown on Friday begin-ning at 06:00 a.m.Extra police deployment could be seen on the roads since early morning in the wake of the shutdown call.The shutdown is expected to have more effect in north-ern states of Punjab and Haryana, western state of Rajasthan, and some parts of Uttar Pradesh adjoining Delhi, as compared to the rest of the country.

The farmers appealed to all business establishments, including shops, to remain closed on Friday, besides road and rail services.They have been protesting against the three farm laws since Nov. 27. After being denied entry into Delhi to carry out their protests, the farmers sat down at inter-state borders around Delhi turning the protesting sites into makeshift camps.While the farmers argue that the three new farms laws en-acted by Modi’s government were detrimental to their farming interests. – APP

ISLAMABAD: Member of UK’s House of Lord Wajid Khan called on Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Quraishi at ministry of foreign affairs. – DNA

Arab coalition intercepts

ballistic missile The Houthis have recently intensified

their drone and missile attacks against the Kingdom despite global efforts to reach a comprehensive solution to the crisis in Yemen.

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s air defense forces on Friday in-tercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile fired toward Najran. In a statement carried the Saudi Press Agency, the official spokesman of the Coalition to Restore Legit-imacy in Yemen Brig. Gen. Turki Al-Maliki said that the missile was launched by the Iranian-backed Houthi militia deliberately targeting civilians and civilian facilities.“The Houthi militia attempted to target a civilian object protected under International Law, which further affirms the militia’s malign intent to continue its violations of the customary international humanitarian law,” the spokes-man said in the statement.“The Arab Coalition will continue to implement all nec-essary operational procedures to safeguard civilians and civilian objects in accordance with the customary Inter-national Humanitarian Law,” Brig. Gen. Al-Maliki added.Friday’s attack comes one day after the Houthi militia targeted an oil terminal in Jazan, which resulted in a fire.On Thursday, the Saudi defense forces destroyed as many as eight explosive-laden drones targeting civilians in the Kingdom. The drone attacks also targeted universities in Jazan and Najran. The attacks come despite Saudi Arabia’s announcement of a new peace initiative that in-cludes a ceasefire across Yemen. The Houthis have re-cently intensified their drone and missile attacks against the Kingdom despite global efforts to reach a comprehen-sive solution to the crisis in Yemen. – DNA

BriefsCAA directed

to finalize bifurcation

plan athaR Sufi

KARACHI: Director Gener-al of the Civil Aviation Au-thority (CAA) has directed to make arrangements for the bifurcation of the avia-tion authority by April 15.According to the directives issued, the Director-Gen-eral said that the CAA di-rectors should finalize the bifurcation arrangements by April 15 and submit a de-tailed report in this regard to the higher authority.The CAA has made a propos-al to divide the authority into two parts with one dealing with regulatory affairs while the other relating to servic-es. On January 06, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has notified delinking of three divi-sions and the creation of new positions including additional director-general and deputy director-general under the re-vised organisational structure.The CAA director-general issued a written order to notify delinking of the avia-tion authority into three di-visions including regulatory, airports and operations and support under the revised organisational structure.Following the new orders, two new positions have been created including ad-ditional director-general and deputy director-general.The additional director-gen-eral regulatory and deputy director-general will work under the aviation author-ity’s DG, whereas, the po-sitions of deputy DG are increased to four.

Pak, Indian armies hold flag meeting

Nehal miRaj

RAWALPINDI: Pakistan and Indian armies held a flag meeting at Line of Con-trol in Kashmir to discuss the implementation mech-anism as per the mutual understanding. According to Inter-Services Public Re-lations statement Friday, a brigade commander-level flag meeting was held be-tween Pakistan and Indian armies at Poonch-Rawalakot crossing point to discuss im-plementation mechanism as per the understandingThe meeting comes after the Directors General of Military Operations (DG-MOs) Understanding 2021. In February, the two armies had announced that they would stop the cross-border firing along the Line of Con-trol from midnight of Feb-ruary 24 and 25 in order to have a peaceful atmosphere along the disputed border.This was announced after a telephonic conversation between the Directors Gen-eral of Military Operations (DGMOs) from the two ar-mies over the hotline.“In the interest of achieving mutually beneficial and sus-tainable peace along the bor-ders, the two Directors Gen-eral of Military Operations (DGMOs) agreed to address each other’s core issues and concerns which have propen-sity to disturb peace and lead to violence,” a joint state-ment had said at that time.

Kohat 4y/o was ‘killed’, says autopsy

KOHAT: The autopsy report of a 4-year-old child who went missing in Khyber Pa-khtunkhwa’s Kohat division two days ago has revealed she was “brutally mur-dered” and did not drown.The medical report further revealed the minor was sex-ually abused before being tortured to death.The suspect involved in the alleged murder remains at large. In this regard, Inspec-tor-General Khyber Pakh-tunkhwa Sanaullah Abbasi, while claiming to have come close to discovering the whereabouts of the suspect, said that the girl was seen with a burqa-clad woman on CCTV footage. The police have taken DNA samples of 36 suspects in their inves-tigation into the killing of the minor girl. According to police, the girl went missing from the city’s Khattak col-ony on Wednesday, March 24, and her body was found a day later from a nullah.

Saifullah

ISLAMABAD: “Reconciliation, mediation and Islamic ways of conflict resolution are at the heart of Qatar’s national policy.” This was stated by Sheikh Saoud bin Ab-dulrahman Al Thani, Qatar’s Ambassador to Pakistan during a meeting with a dele-gation from Center for Peace Development and Reforms (CPDR) led by Executive Di-rector Ershad Mahmud.According to a press statement Friday, the event was hosted by Qatar’s ambassador to Pakistan, Sheikh Saoud Al-Thani who briefed the panel on Qatar’s role in conflict resolution and peace processes in Afghani-stan, Lebanon, Syria and Sudan.He went on to say that economic pros-perity, investment in human resource particularly education and peace being Qatar’s only agenda has helped the coun-try in creating a comfortable balance be-

tween Qatar’s aspirations and universal humanitarian goals. While praising Pakistan’s role in conflict me-diation in Afghanistan, the Ambassa-dor said that Pakistan’s peculiar po-sition in the geo-strategic theatre has nudged the country towards consolidation of its kinetic power which is ever so visible. He fur-ther said that despite Pakistan being a potent military force in the region, it has acted with utmost care and re-sponsibility in handling the political crisis in Afghanistan and it is largely because of Pakistan’s sensible approach that the peace process has moved ahead in Af-ghanistan. The event was attended by policy

experts and academicians from diverse backgrounds. Speaking on the occasion, former Minister of Social Welfare Azad Jam-

mu & Kashmir, Ms. Farzana Yaqoob praised Qatar’s expertise in inter-national diplomacy and asked the ambassador to extend the country’s expertise and knowledge to the stra-tegic community in Pakistan.Ms. Ayesha Chaudhary, member of Punjab assembly from Pakistan

Tehreek-i-Insaf thanked the honorable ambassador for Qatar’s investment in im-proving the educational infrastructure in Paki-stan where Qatar has announced an educa-tional programme for 1.3 million Pakistani students to be en-rolled in 189 schools across the country

funded through Qatar’s support.Concluding the session, Executive Direc-tor, CPDR, Mr. Ershad Mahmud elabo-rated on how Pakistan’s new policy of ex-tending a hand of peace in all directions is inspired by the success of Qatar’s foreign policy and further said that both countries as important members of the world Mus-lim community have come across a long way to share that vision.The Ambassador lauded CPDR for or-ganizing the talk and enunciated the point that Qatar’s policy of protecting its sovereignty, decision making and an en-hanced focus on the principle of non-in-terference in internal issues of other countries struck a chord with the inter-national community.He said he’s glad to know that an impor-tant Muslim country like Pakistan has re-alized the new strategic vision in time and expressed hope that this vision will deliver goods for the country and region.

Pakistan acted with care in Afghan crisis: Qatri Envoy

Pakistan strikes $1.3bn development deal with WB“The programme is focused on the key initiatives being undertaken by BISP under

the Ehaas Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programmes,” the statement saidRaja peRvaiz

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has reached an agreement with World Bank to work on seven projects worth $1.3 billion aimed at improving social protection, infrastructure, and governance, a statement from the Ministry of Economic Affairs said Friday. Min-ister for Economic Affairs, Makh-dum Khusro Bakhtyar witnessed the signing ceremony of seven project agreements at the Minis-try of Economic Affairs.“This financing will support the government’s initiatives in Social Protection, Disaster and Climate Risk Management, Im-proving Infrastructure for Re-silience, Agriculture and Food Security, Human Capital Devel-

opment and Governance Sec-tors,” the statement said.The agreement includes the Cri-sis-Resilient Social Protection Programme (CRISP) worth $600 million. The objective of the pro-gramme is to support the devel-opment of a more adaptive social protection system that will con-tribute to future crisis-resilience among poor and vulnerable house-holds in the country.“The programme is focused on the key initiatives being under-taken by Benazir Income Support Program (BISP) under the Ehaas Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programmes,” the statement said.The second project worth $200 million is the Locust Emergency and Food Security Project that will introduce a set of customised ac-tivities — such as conducting locust

surveillance and controlling oper-ations, rehabilitating livelihoods of affected rural communities and farmers — to effectively address the desert locust outbreak. The third project worth $200 million is the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Human Capital Investment Project.It aims to improve the availability, utilisation, and quality of primary healthcare services and elemen-tary education services in four districts — Peshawar, Nowshera Haripur, and Swabi — of KP that have been hosting refugees.The Sindh Resilience Project worth $200 Million — the fourth project — is to mitigate flood and drought risks in selected areas and strengthen Sindh’s capacity to manage natural disasters and public health emergencies.“The project will support the es-

tablishment of the Sindh Emer-gency Service, including the development of six divisional headquarters operational facili-ties, provision of equipment, and training of personnel,” it said.It will also support the construc-tion of 35 small rainwater-fed re-charge dams in drought-prone re-gions of Sindh including Karachi, Jamshoro, Thatta, Dadu, and Na-garparker in Tharparkar districts.The fifth project and sixth pro-jects, Balochistan Livelihood and Entrepreneurship, and Ba-lochistan Human Capital Invest-ment Projects, worth $86 million aim to promote employment op-portunities for rural communities; achieve sustainability of enterpris-es, and improve utilisation of qual-ity health and education services in the province.

The final and seventh project, the Supporting Institutional Interven-tions for Management of Refugees Project, worth $50 million, aims to improve organisational and in-stitutional capacity for managing refugees and host communities.Secretary Ministry of Economic Affairs Noor Ahmed signed the financing agreements on behalf of the federal government, while rep-resentatives of Sindh, KP, and Ba-lochistan signed their respective project agreements online.World Bank’s Country Director Najy Benhassine signed the agree-ments on behalf of the World Bank. The country director as-sured his institution’s continuous financial and technical support to Pakistan in a bid to promote in-clusive and sustainable economic growth in the country.

The event was hosted by Qatar’s ambassador to Pakistan, Sheikh Saoud Al-Thani who briefed the panel on Qatar’s role in conflict resolution and peace processes in Afghanistan, Lebanon, Syria and Sudan

Lahore Covid cases

hit 10-month highDNA

LAHORE: Lahore continues to witness a surge in Cov-id-19 cases as 1,566 new infections surfaced in the provincial capital overnight – the highest in ten months.According to health officials, the Covid-19 positivity rate has risen to 18 per cent. The provincial health de-partment said Lahore alone witnessed as many as 5, 174 new cases and 69 fatalities during the last five days.Pakistan Medial Association (PMA) President Ashraf Nizami termed the 18pc pos-itivity rate “alarming”. He stressed that the Punjab government needs to de-clare health emergency in the province right away, call-ing for tougher restrictions to halt the spread of the vi-rus. According to the Nation-al Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), the coro-navirus claimed 63 more lives across Pakistan during the past 24 hours, taking the countrywide death toll to 14,091. 4,368 fresh infec-tions surfaced after 42,418 samples were tested. The total number of active cas-es has risen to 40,120 while the positivity rate stands at 10.29 per cent.

Shehbaz Sharif gets first dose of vaccine

abiD Raza

LAHORE: Incarcerated Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz President Shehbaz Sharif has received the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine at the Kot Lakhpat Jail. Shehbaz Sharif was vacci-nated against COVID by the medical team of Jinnah Hospital, which visited the Kot Lakhpat jail. The team was led by MS Jinnah Hos-pital. The PML-N president will receive the next dose of the Sinopham COVID vaccine after 21 days.It is to be noted that the currentLY vaccination of Pakistan citizens of 60 or over 60 years is underway. Prime Minister Imran Khan, former prime min-ister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Interior Minister Sheikh Rasheed, Governor Punjab, Chaudhry Sarwar, Sindh Health Minister Azra Fazl Pechucho and other govern-ment officials have received the vaccine jabs.

Lord Nazir stresses unity for Kashmir,

Palestine

ibRaR KhaN

ISLAMABAD: Former Mem-ber of the British House of Lords, Nazir Ahmed has urged Muslim world to adopt a united stance on the long standing issues of Kashmir and Palestine. In an exclu-sive interview with state-me-dia Current Affairs Channel Friday, Lord Nazir said; “we should understand the vested agenda of the enemy aimed at suppressing the voice of Mus-lim countries through creat-ing division among them.”Nazir Ahmed said Indian reprehensible actions of 5th August 2019 are aimed at changing demography of Kashmir. He said due to severe lockdown after this illegal action, Kashmi-ri people have immensely been suffering.

Pakistan expresses solidarity

with Egypt ISLAMABAD: The gov-ernment and the people of Pakistan extend sincere condolences to the govern-ment and brotherly people of Egypt on the loss of life and injuries in a train collision today, in Sohag governorate of Egypt. Pa-kistan stands in solidarity with brotherly Egypt in this hour of grief.A statement from Foreign Office stated, “We offer our prayers for the lives lost and wish speedy recovery to those injured in the acci-dent. We also wish that Allah Almighty grants patience and forbearance to the be-reaved families”. –APP

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SATURDAY, MARCH 27, 2021 | WWW.ISLAMABADPOST.COM.PK

IslamabadPOST

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Economic Affairs, Makhdum Khusro Bakhtyar witnessing the signing ceremony of seven projects agreements worth US$ 1,336 million including grant of US$ 128 million with the World Bank at Ministry of Economic Affairs. – DNA

Khayam abbaSi

ISLAMABAD: The Su-preme Court on Friday is-sued a detailed verdict in the January 28 decision to release Ahmad Omar Saeed Sheikh — held on charges of kidnapping and killing American journalist Dan-iel Pearl — saying that the charges could not be proven by the prosecution.The apex court, on Janu-ary 28, had rejected the Sindh government’s appeal and ordered the release of Sheikh, the prime accused in the 2002 murder of the American journalist in Ka-rachi. The provincial gov-ernment had approached the top court after the Sindh High Court had over-turned Sheikh’s conviction.A three-member SC bench headed by Justice Mush-ir Alam, including Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Sar-dar Tariq Masood, released the detailed verdict today,

given with a 2-1 majority.The court, in its ruling, said the prosecution had pre-sented a policeman as a taxi driver, and turned him into a state witness. “Even if a convict in handcuffs admits to a crime, it has no legal value,” the judgment said.The verdict said the false witness was not shown Pearl’s photo for identi-fication. Moreover, the judgment observed that the deceased journalist’s wife kept emails containing

threats away from the po-lice.It said the journalist’s life was in danger, howev-er, his wife refrained from filing a complaint for 12 days and remained quiet. “The FIR does not mention threatening emails, nor was Pearl’s wife questioned,” the judgment noted. Fur-thermore, the top court ruled that the accused cannot be identified in the murder video and the orig-inal video was deliberately hidden from the police.

Sino-Pakistan discuss

Rashakai SEZDNA

ISLAMABAD: China and Pa-kistan on Friday negotiated in detail on the development progress and marketing plans for Rashakai Special Eco-nomic Zone (SEZ) and other matters of mutual interest. Vice President, China Road and Bridge Corporation Mr. Sun Yaoguo and his delega-tion called on MOS/Chair-man BOI Atif Bokhari at the BOI office. Both sides also discussed the interest of Chi-nese enterprises in Rashakai.In meeting Vice President of CRBC, Mr. Sun Yaoguo informed that development work of Rashakai SEZ is being carried out at a fast pace and to that end respective teams have already been mobilized, said a press release issued by BOI here. He highlighted that aggressive marketing of the SEZ to local and foreign inves-tors is crucial for its speedy occupation and operationaliza-tion. He further said that the standard of services combined with the attractive incentives offered by the Government of Pakistan, Rashakai has the potential to become a hub of economic activity.

Charges against Omar Sheikh not proven, says SC

The court, in its ruling, said the prosecution had presented a policeman as a taxi driver,

and turned him into a state witness