Vol. XXXVIII No. 330 Regd. No. 241 JAMADI-ul-AWWAL 08 1443 -- MONDAY, DECEMBER 13 2021 PESHAWAR EDITION 12 PAGES Price. 20

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Snowfall likely in KPISLAMABAD (APP): A westerlywave approaching the upper partsof the country would bring lightrain with snowfall in upperKhyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan and it's adjoining areason Monday. According to PMD,cold and dry weather is expectedin most parts, while cloudy inupper parts of the country.

NA session on Dec 22ISLAMABAD (APP): PresidentDr Arif Alvi summoned the ses-sion of the National Assembly onWednesday, December 22 at 4 p.minstead of December 13.According to Press release issuedon Sunday by the PresidentHouse, the session was calledunder article 54(1) of the constitu-tion.

@thefrontierpost First national English daily published from Peshawar, Islamabad, Lahore, Quetta, Karachi and Washington D.C

ISLAMABAD (APP):Prime Minister Imran KhanSunday took notice of thedemands of fishermen inGwadar, assuring that strictaction would be takenagainst the illegal fishingby trawlers.

“I have taken notice ofthe very legitimatedemands of the hardwork-ing fishermen of Gwadar.Will be taking strong actionagainst illegal fishing by

trawlers,” the prime minis-ter said on Twitter.

He also assured them toalso speak to the chief min-ister of Balochistan on theissue.

But, Special Assistant tothe Prime Minister onPolitical CommunicationDr Shahbaz Gill on Sundaysaid that the Prime Ministerdirected in November toaddress issue of illegal fish-ing in Gwadar immediately.

In a tweet, he said per-sons from all concerneddepartments were includedin the committee to devise aworkable solution to theissue. The committeewould submit its recom-mendation in next threedays and the issue would beresolved, he added.

Gill said Imran Khanalways stood for the poorand no one would beallowed to exploit the poor.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf led government didrecord development workin Balochistan, he added.

He said Balochistan wasvery close to the heart ofthe Prime Minister.

The fishermen inGwadar had been protest-ing against the devastatingimpact of illegal fishing bytrawlers along the coast onthe livelihoods of localfishermen.

PM takes notice of‘very legitimate’ demands

of Gwadar fishermen

F.P. Report

DUBAI: New evidencecompiled by the WorldHealth Organization andthe World Bank shows thatthe COVID-19 pandemic islikely to halt two decadesof global progress towardsUniversal Health Coverage.The organizations alsoreveal that more than half abillion people are beingpushed into extreme pover-ty because they have to payfor health services out oftheir own pockets.

The findings are con-tained in two complementa-ry reports, launched onUniversal Health CoverageDay, highlighting the dev-

astating impact of COVID-19 on people’s ability toobtain health care and payfor it.

In 2020, the pandemicdisrupted health servicesand stretched countries’health systems beyond theirlimits as they struggled todeal with the impact ofCOVID-19. As a result, forexample, immunizationcoverage dropped for thefirst time in ten years, anddeaths from TB and malar-ia increased.

The pandemic also trig-gered the worst economiccrisis since the 1930s, mak-ing it increasingly difficultfor people to pay for care.Even before the pandemic,

half a billion people werebeing pushed (or pushedstill further) into extremepoverty because of pay-ments they made for healthcare. The organizationsexpect that that number isnow considerably higher.

“There is no time tospare,” said Dr TedrosAdhanom Ghebreyesus,WHO Director-General.“All governments mustimmediately resume andaccelerate efforts to ensureevery one of their citizenscan access health serviceswithout fear of the financialconsequences. This meansstrengthening public spend-ing on health and socialsupport, and increasing

their focus on primaryhealth care systems that canprovide essential care closeto home.”

He added: “Prior to thepandemic, many countrieshad made progress. But itwas not robust enough.This time we must buildhealth systems that arestrong enough to withstandshocks, such as the nextpandemic and stay oncourse towards universalhealth coverage.”

The new WHO/WorldBank reports also warn thatfinancial hardship is likelyto become more intense aspoverty grows, incomesfall, and governments facetighter fiscal constraints.

More than half a billion peoplepushed or pushed further into extreme

poverty due to health care costs

ISLAMABAD (APP): Be itis an incident of planehijacking, attacks of Indianparliament, Mumbai or Pul-wama or Uri, India alwaysused falsehood as statecraftto malign Pakistan, makepolitical gains and above alldivert focus from economicmeltdown, insurgencies,and religious bigotry.

The Indian establish-ment articulately constructsand cultivates anti-Pakistannarratives to distract the at-tention of international andlocal media from seriousdomestic challenges alsoincluding widespread dem-onstrations and tensionsbetween ethnic groups.

From the disintegrationof Pakistan to its enlistingon FATF grey list, theIndian political and intelli-gence leadership alwaysclaimed to have playedtheir role which was obvi-ously based on falsifiedpropaganda and disinfor-mation campaigns.

The drama of the IndianParliament attack in 2001was not the first time thatthe Indians had used a falseflag operation to execute itshidden agenda againstPakistan.

The Indian blatant prop-aganda was badly exposedwhen The Wire news ag-ency disclosed WhatsAppchats between Indian anch-orperson Arnab Goswami,and the former CEO of therating agency BroadcastAudience Research Cou-ncil (BARC), Partho Dasg-upta. The chats exposed thesinister designs hatched byModi’s government toblame Pakistan for the falsePulwama attack, followedby a botched air strike onBalakot in February 2019.

India had always tried tobluff the internationalstakeholders and communi-ty to project Pakistan as astate sponsoring terrorism.

Exposing the nexusbetween the extremist out-fits BJP and RSS, the ex-Indian Home MinisterSushil Kumar Shinderevealed in 2013 that theywere behind the SamjhautaExpress, Mecca Masjid andMalegaon blasts.

The boat drama orches-trated by the Indian intelli-gence agencies prior to theUS President BarackObama’s second visit toIndia, was also falsifiedwhen their own top offi-cials admitted that therewas no such boat whichcame from Pakistan.

India uses false flagoperations to generate a

negative perception to initi-ate international actionsagainst Pakistan as well asa tool of coercion which isoften utilized to provoke orjustify a war against adver-saries.

In an interview, MajorGeneral (retd) Z. A. Khan,former Director, DGFI(Bangladeshi Intelligence)said “There is no doubt thatRAW played a vital roleduring our liberation war,but their motive was todivide Pakistan at any costto weaken their archrivalPakistan.”

Indian Premier IndiraGandhi reveled after thefall of Dhaka, “We havetaken the revenge of a thou-sand years.”

Narendra Modi in hisspeech, during his visit toBangladesh, to receive theWar of Liberation Award onbehalf of the former PrimeMinister Atal BihariVajpayee, on 7th June2015, said, “We fought forBangladesh’s ‘swabhi-maan’ (honour) alongsideMukti Jodhas (MuktiBahini) for Bangladesh.Indians were fighting side-by-side with them and in away helped realize thedream of Bangladesh.”

The RAW plotted a falseflag operation on 30thJanuary 1971, when anIndian airplane washijacked and flown toLahore airport, andPakistan was immediatelyblamed and was prohibitedto use Indian airspace to thethen East Pakistan.

Later, it was revealedthat the plane was alreadyout of service but was madeoperational only one daybefore the incident ofhijacking was staged.

In 1999, an IndianAirlines Airbus flying fromKathmandu to New Delhiwas hijacked just before theplanned visit of the USPresident Bill Clinton toPakistan and India.

After refusal to land inDubai, Amritsar, andLahore, the plane landed atKandahar Airport whichwas under the command ofthe Taliban. The hijackershad demanded to releasecaptive militants whichwere Pakistani nationalsbut later Indian governmenthad failed to furnish anyevidence of Pakistan’sinvolvement.

The Indian propagandaof blaming Pakistan afterthe mass killing of 35 Sikhsin Chittisinghpura Massa-cre in 2000, the Indian Pa-rliament Attack in 2001, car

bombing at IIOJK Legislat-ive Assembly in 2001 andMalegaon Mosque Blast in2006 was falsified byIndia’s own officials.

Similarly, an RSS mili-tant Kamal Chauhan wasarrested for carrying outSamjhauta Express attackin 2007 who had insteadblamed the Muslim groups.Chauhan and other activistswere also fund to beinvolved in Ajmer Dargahblast, Hyderabad’s MeccaMasjid, and Malegaon.

Several political com-mentators had also called it“Hindutva Terror” or the“Saffron Terror”.

Hemant Karkare, whowas probing the attack andalso exposed RSS involve-ment, was later targeted andkilled during the Mumbai2008 operation.

In the Mumbai attacks of2008 which killed 140 Ind-ians and 25 foreign tourists,besides in-charge of Anti-Terror Squad Hemant Kar-kare. The Indian governm-ent again blamed Pakistanfor the incident which inst-ead condemned it and off-ered help for investigation.

German authorDavidsson’s book titled“The Betrayal of India:Revisiting the 26/11Evidence” also verified thatthe Mumbai attack was afalse flag by Indian, US,and Israeli intelligencenexus to malign Pakistan.

The attack on Sri LankanCricket Team in Lahorewas carried out with theinvolvement of Indianagencies to blame Pakistanbut the Sri Lankan PoliceChief Mendis clearlyrejected any involvement ofPakistan and reported thatthis act of terror was carriedout by India to malignPakistan.

After Narendra Modi’svisit to former PM NawazSharif at his residence andexpression of resolve forbetter bilateral ties, thePathankot Air Base Attacktook place in 2016 forwhich Pakistan and Jaish-e-Muhammad were blamed.Later, the Director-GeneralNational InvestigationAgency had reported afterthe investigation that theydidn’t find any directinvolvement of Pakistaniagencies.

In 2019, the Indian AirForce launched an aerialstrike near ‘Balakot’ target-ing a religious seminarythat India described as amilitant camp and claimedkilling more than 300 ter-rorists but without sharing

any supporting evidencethat could otherwise cor-roborate the claims.

In response, PAF man-aged to shoot down twoIAF aircraft and capturedone of the pilots. Indiaclaimed to have killed 300terrorists while Pakistanand several internationalobservers negated the claimas there were no casualties.India also claimed that oneof its Mig-21s had shotdown Pakistan’s F-16 air-craft which was also refut-ed by an influential ForeignPolicy magazine.

Similarly, the Indianstrategy in Afghanistan wasbased on targeting theAfghan Taliban and culti-vating the Afghan govern-ment at Kabul with a viewto creating a permanentwedge between the two bel-ligerents.

Since Indians could notopenly challenge theAfghan Peace Process, theyramped up their subversionefforts to derail the peaceprocess by arming theAfghan National forces tothe teeth and encouragingthem to attack Taliban withrenewed vigor.

As per the 26th UNreport on terrorism releasedJul 2020, which indicated“significant numbers” ofISIS/ ISK terrorists in thetwo states of Indian UnionKerala, Karnataka has beenreported.

An investigation by theEU Dis-info Lab to exposeIndia’s 15-year propagandaoperation targeting the UNand EU to malign Pakistan,was the newest iteration ofan influence campaign runby an Indian organizationcalled the SrivastavaGroup.

This systematic disinfor-mation campaign wasdesigned to influence EUmember parliament, inter-national opinion-makersand decision-makers.

India is known to have aloose and undisciplinedmilitary culture, and Indiantroops often do not followstandard operating proce-dures and regulations.

The helicopter crash ofIndian CDS is being termeda consequence of the poor-ly trained and equippedIndian Armed Forces. Thecrash could have beenavoided if, for example, theflight was delayed until theweather improved, the pilothad flown more carefully orskillfully, or the groundmaintenance crew took bet-ter care of the chopper, theanonymous expert said.

From planes hijacking to Mumbai,Pulwama attacks: Falsehood

remains India’s statecraft

LAHORE: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain andMinister of State for Information Farrukh Habib jointly addressing a press conference at GovernorHouse on December 12, 2021. APP photo by Rana Imran.

Bennettheads

to UAETEL AVIV (Agencies):Prime Minister NaftaliBennett on Sunday flew toAbu Dhabi to meet withCrown Prince SheikhMohammed bin Zayed AlNahyan, in the first officialvisit of an Israeli premier tothe United Arab Emirates.

Bennett, who departedfrom Ben Gurion Airportfollowing the weekly cabi-net meeting, will be in AbuDhabi for just a day, withhis meeting with the de fa-cto ruler of the UAE sched-uled for Monday morning.

“The visit is meant todeepen cooperationbetween the countries in allfields. The ties are excel-lent and diverse and wemust continue to nurtureand strengthen them, andbuild a warm peacebetween the two nations,”Bennett said in a videostatement from the tarmacbefore departing. The tripwas announced by hisoffice earlier in the day.

“The leaders will discussdeepening ties betweenIsrael and the United ArabEmirates, with an emphasison economic and regionalissues that will contributeto prosperity, welfare andstrengthening stabilitybetween the countries,” thePrime Minister’s Officesaid in a statement.

Sharif family,courtiers have

no place inPakistani

politics: GillISLAMABAD (APP):Special Assistant to thePrime Minister on PoliticalCommunication DrShahbaz Gill on Sundaysaid the Sharif family andtheir courtiers have noplace in Pakistani politics.

In response to statementof Maryam Aurangzeb, hesaid they were reaping thecrop harvested by thieveswho remained in power forthree decades. People hadsettled the RTS of incom-petents, he added.

Gill said people had fullconfidence in PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf govern-ment. Maryam Aurangzebshould give account of cor-ruption of her mastersinstead of waging propa-ganda, he added.

He said when those cor-rupt who plundered thenational wealth and wentfor taking medicines,would return back to thecountry. "When will thethen Finance Ministerreturn, who left the countryduring the tenure of incom-petent, he added. They(Nawaz Sharif, Dar) shouldreturn back and honor thePakistani courts, he said.

Worker dies infire incident

LAHORE, Dec 12 (APP):A worker was killed in afire incident taking place ata shoes factory at MalipuraBund Road area here onSunday. Vehicles of Resc-ue-1122 reached the spotand started rescue opera-tion.

The firefighters succeed-ed in controlling the fireafter hectic efforts. Howe-ver, they recovered a bodyof a victim who had alreadyexpired. The victim waslater identified as Saddam(16), son of Hassan.

LAHORE (APP): FederalMinister for Informationand Broadcasting Chaud-hry Fawad Hussain onSunday said that ElectionCommission of Pakistan(ECP) should scrutinizeand publicize the fundingsources of Pakistan Peo-ples’ Party (PPP), PakistanMuslim League-Nawaz(PML-N) and PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)besides other registeredpolitical parties so that thepeople could compare andevaluate the parties.

Addressing a press con-ference along with StateMinister for Informationand Broadcasting FarrukhHabib at Governor’sHouse, he said that ECP’sscrutiny committee hadscrutinized the foreignfunding source of the PTIbut the same committee hadnot made any significantproceedings in foreignfunding case of the PPP andPML-N. He said that thePTI had submitted therecord of more than 40,000donors consisted of about22 volumes to the ECP sothat the party funding

sources could be publi-cized.

The minister said thatthe PML-N had under-val-ued its assets as it showedthe value of a house in F-7sector of Islamabad as only27 million while two trans-actions of Rs 145 millionand Rs 86.7 million werealso deposited to the PML-N account in 2013, and thesource of such transactionsto the PML-N account wasalso unknown, but the PTIhad submitted the record ofits each donor, even of thatwho donate one dollar or 10dollars to the PTI, he main-tained.

Fawad Chaudhry saidthat the PML-N hadclaimed an office, situatedin F-8 area, Islamabad butit was yet to be ascertainedwho was paying funds forrunning financial matters ofthe office, adding that theaudit of PML-N’s Punjaboffice was not conductedfrom 2013 to 2015 whilethe balance of 17.5 millionwas available in its accountwithout known source ofincome, he asserted.

The minister said that

Nawaz Sharif had donated100 million rupees to itsparty while out of thatdonated amount, 45 millionrupees were returned toNawaz Sharif so the saidmethod was used formoney whitening, addingthat a company situated inLondon, United Kingdomwas collecting and arrang-ing funds for the PML-Nbut still there was no recordthat of what sources thiscompany was collecting thefunds.

Fawad Chaudhry saidthat there was no PPP’sfunding information avail-able from the period 2009to 2012 so as the PPP hadopened a source accountand deposited 420 millionrupees into it withoutapprising the ECP about thesource of this amount,whereas the PPP had alsoshowed amounts of Rs 3.6million, 3.5 million and 2.5million into its auditedaccount from the period2013 to 2015 without men-tioning the source of fund-ing, he maintained. The

Fawad says ECPshould scrutinizepolitical parties’funding sources

ISLAMABAD (APP):President Dr. Arif Alvirejected four separate rep-resentations, filed by theState Life InsuranceCorporation of Pakistan(SLICP) against the deci-sions of the FederalOmbudsman, ordering it topay a collective sum ofover Rs 1.6 million to fam-ilies of the deceased lifeinsurance policyholders.

The corporation hadrefused to pay the amountassured in the life insurancepolicy on the flimsy groundstating that the insured per-sons did not deliberatelydisclose their pre-insuranceailments at the time ofobtaining the policy.

The president upheld thedecision of the WafaqiMohtasib and ordered thatSLICP must fulfill its con-tractual obligations and paythe policy, besides report-ing compliance to theOmbudsman within 30days.

As per details, ShakeelZafar Khan, MuhammadNawaz, Ghulam Yaseen,and Tanveer Hussain hadobtained life insurancepolicies from SLICP for thesums assured of Rs700,000, Rs 500,000, Rs210,000, and Rs 200,000respectively.

Subsequently, the insur-ance policyholders expiredand their families filed sep-arate insurance claims,which were repudiated bySLICP on the ground thatthe deceased policyholdershad pre-insurance ailmentswhich they had concealedat the time of obtaining thepolicies.

Feeling aggrieved, thefamily members of policy-

holders approached WafaqiMohtasib to seek justice.

The complainants con-tended that the deceasedpersons had no pre-insur-ance diseases and the insur-ance claims had beenrejected unjustifiably.

The Wafaqi Mohtasib,having investigated thecases, noted that the onus toprove that the policyholderssuffered from some diseasebefore obtaining the policyand willfully hid the factsfrom the insurance agencyrested upon the SLICP.

It further stated that theinsurance agency mustpresent evidence regardingthe existence of allegedpre-insurance ailments andits knowledge on the part ofpolicyholders.

The Mohtasib observedthat in the instant cases, theagency had failed to presentany evidence or diagnosticassessment to corroboratethe claim of SLICP.

It further noted the factthat all four field officers ofthe agency had categorical-ly declared that thedeceased were healthy atthe time of the issuance ofthe policy.

The Mohtasib, therefore,ordered SLICP to fulfill itscontractual obligations bymaking payments of thefull policy claims to thecomplainants, besides ask-ing SLICP to look into itsprocedures for the issuanceof medical and non-medicalpolicies so that claims ofgood health or otherwisewere duly filtered at theproposal stage.

Later on, the SLICP filedfour separate representa-tions with the Presidentagainst the decisions of the

Mohtasib.The President upheld the

decisions of the WafaqiMohtasib and referred toSection 80 of the InsuranceOrdinance, 2000, whichprovides that no policyclaim after two years fromthe date it was effected maybe called into question onthe ground that a statementmade in the proposal forinsurance or in any reportof a medical officer wasinaccurate or false. He alsonoted that the documentsproduced by SLICP per-tained to post-insurance ail-ments and no document hadbeen presented whichproved the existence of dis-ease at the time of obtain-ing the policy.

The president also quot-ed a decision of the LahoreHigh Court which rejectedhypertension, diabetes, andmellitus as exceptional rea-sons for rejection of insur-ance claims.

The court, in its deci-sion, had held that themajority of people suffer-ing from such ailments, byremaining more careful intheir lifetime, lived eitherfor decades or longer thanpeople not having such dis-eases, therefore, the con-cealment of such diseasescould not be termed as donefraudulently.

The president in hisdecisions wrote that in viewof the facts of the cases, themaladministration on partof the Agency stood estab-lished, therefore, the repre-sentations of SLICP wererejected. “SLCIP mustreport compliance to thelearned Ombudsman withinthirty days”, the presidentdirected.

Alvi directs SLIC to payover Rs 1.6m to deceased

policyholders’ families

Continued on B. Page

Monday, December 13, 2021The Frontier Post, Peshawar

LAHORE: Gypsy elderly preparing traditional toys for children to attract the customers at his setup.

LARKANA (APP): SindhChief Minister Syed MuradAli Shah visited theMausoleum of the martyrsof Bhutto's family in GarhiKhuda Bakhsh, on Sunday.

He visited the grave offormer prime minister andslain chairperson of PPPShaheed MohtarmaBenazir Bhutto.

He laid a floral wreath atthe grave and also offered"Fateha" for "Isal-i-Sawab".

Syed Murad Ali Shahwho was accompanied bySindh Ministers Syed NasirHussain Shah and MukeshChawala, PPP SindhPresident Nisar AhmedKhuhro, MNA KhursheedAhmed Junejo, Mir AijazKhan Jakhrani, Khair

Muhammad Shaikh, AajazLeghari, Ghulam MustafaLeghari, CommissionerLarkana Division, DIGPolice Larkana Range,Deputy CommissionerLarkana, SSP Larkana,Leaders and workers ofPPP and others sat there forsome-time.

Sindh Chief Ministeralso laid floral wreath at thegrave of Founder Chairmanof PPP and former PrimeMinister Shaheed ZulfikarAli Bhutto and offered`Fateha'. He visited thegraves of FormerChairperson of PPP andFirst Lady, Madar-e-Jamhooriat Late BegumNusrat Bhutto, late ShireenAmir Begum, the first wifeof Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Late

Mir Murtaza Bhutto andLate Mir ShahnawazBhutto laid floral wreathsand offered fateha.

The Sindh ChiefMinister Syed Murad AliShah along with SindhMinisters Syed NasirHussain Shah andMukhesh Chawala, PPPSindh President NisarAhmed Khuhro,Commissioner LarkanaDivision reviewed thearrangements of publicmeeting in Garhi KhudaBakhsh Bhutto, in connec-tion of 14th DeathAnniversary of SlainChairperson of PPP andformer Prime ShaheedBenazir Bhutto being heldon December 27, 2021, atGarhi Khuda Bux Bhutto.

LAHORE (APP): A grandalumni reunion night washeld here at theGovernment CollegeUniversity (GCU) Lahoreunder the auspices of OldRavians Union (ORU),which was marked by amusic performance bynoted singer Amanat Aliand candid reminiscencesof their student lives byeminent Old Ravians.

The historical GothicStyle building of the GCUwas also illuminated forthe reunion celebrations,said a press release issuedhere on Sunday.

Chairman AkhuwatFoundation Dr AmjadSaqib was the chief guestat the dinner, chaired byORU President and DIGPunjab Police Jahanzeb

Nazir Khan. Vice-Chancellor Prof DrAsghar Zaidi was alsopresent as the guest ofhonour.

Eminent old Raviansincluding ParliamentaryCommittee on KashmirChairman Shehryar KhanAfridi, former governorPunjab Sardar LatifKhosa, King EdwardMedical University VCProf. Khalid MasoodGondal, Walled CityAuthority DG KamranLashari, former federalsecretary Qazi Afaq, lead-ing journalists MubasherLucman, Osama Ghaziand Barrister EhteshamAmiruddin, DeputyCommissioner LahoreOmar Sher Chatha, DCSheikhupura Rana

Shakeel Aslam, singerJawad Ahmed, actorUsman Pirzada, playbacksinger Waris Baig, SenatorZarqa Suhrawardy, DIGPrisons Mubashir Malikand Mayo Hospital Boardof Governors ChairmanProf. Dr. MahmoodShaukat were also present.

Vice-Chancellor ProfZaidi said that the OldRavians were the realstrength of GCU whoalways play a key role inadvancing the university’svision and mission. Healso said alumni's successand achievements bringglory to their alma mater,and the positive roleplayed by eminentRavians in different walksof life have filled themwith great pride.

ISLAMABAD (APP):Federal Board of Revenue(FBR) has launched themuch-awaited prizescheme for the shoppersfrom POS-integrated Tier-1retail outlets.

Thousands of prizesworth hundreds of thou-sands rupees will be distrib-uted among the shoppersthrough a computerizedballot, who opt to shopfrom POS- integrated retailoutlets spread all across thecountry, said a press releaseissued. The said prizescheme was introducedthrough Finance Act-2021which was followed byissuance of rules for theprize scheme on August 9,2021 by FBR.

The computerized bal-loting for the prize schemewill be held on15th ofevery month, the first oneon January 15, 2022 at FBR

(HQs), Islamabad.Initially, the denomina-

tion of prizes has been setas Rs.1000000 (1st Prize),Two prizes of Rs 500000,four prizes of Rs 250,000and one thousand prizes ofRs 50,000 each. Thus, atotal prize amount of Rs.53Million will be distributedamong the lucky 1007 win-ners, every month.

This lucrative PrizeScheme of FBR aims tomaximize transparency andplug revenue leakagethrough real time monitor-ing of sales.

It also aims to ensurethat tax collected from cus-tomers at the point of sale isdeposited in state excheq-uer. This will not only forcethe Tier-1 retailers to expe-dite the integration of theirretail outlets with FBR POSSystem but will alsoencourage the customers to

prefer shopping from thePOS-integrated retail out-lets.

FBR is expecting a sub-stantial increase in revenuethrough this innovative ini-tiative as it will reduce taxevasion and minimize con-cealment of sales by theretailers.

Customers can partici-pate by verifying thereceipt of purchasesthrough Tax Asaan MobileApp of FBR or by sendingthe invoice number throughan SMS on 9966.

FBR has launched a veryaggressive print and elec-tronic media campaign forthe awareness of peopleacross the country. Theycan also get assistance byfollowing FBR’s socialmedia handles on Twitter,Facebook and YouTube orcall on FBR Helpline-111772772.

KARACHI (APP): Asmany as two more patientsof coronavirus diedovernight lifting the deathtoll to 7,638 and 140 newcases emerged when 9,814tests were conducted.

This was stated by SindhChief Minister Syed MuradAli Shah in a statement onSunday. He added that twomore patients of COVID-19 lost their lives lifting thedeath toll to 7,638 that con-stituted 1.6 percent deathrate. Syed Murad Ali Shah

Shah said 9,814 sampleswere tested which detected140 cases that constituted1.4 percent current detec-tion rate.

He added that so far6,886,725 tests have beenconducted against which476,920 cases were diag-nosed, of them 97.6 percentor 465,681 patients haverecovered, including 47overnight.

The CM said currently3,601 patients were undertreatment; of them 3,451

were in home isolation, 22at isolation centers and 128at different hospitals. Headded that the condition of125 patients was stated tobe critical, including 8shifted to ventilators.

According to the state-ment, out of 144 new cases24 have been detected fromKarachi. 18 from Hyderabad,Sujawal 17, Karachi East 16,Thatto 12, Larkano 9,Nawabshah 8, Sukkur 6,Karachi South, Badin,Noushehro Feroz.

LAHORE (TLTP): Thegovernment's recent meas-ures to reduce pollution inPakistan's second-largestcity went in vain as Lahorehas once again been rankedas the most polluted city inthe world.

According to the AirQuality Index (AQI),Lahore’s level of pollutedair couldn't drop despite thesuspension of all tradeactivities including the clo-

sure of all the educationalinstitutions, offices andmarkets on a Sunday.

Meanwhile, citizens inFaisalabad, Gujranwala,Raiwind, Rawalpindi,Bahawalpur and Multanhad to face inconveniencesas theri cities also remainedshrouded by smog.Lahore's particulate matterwas recorded at 349 onSunday, while Vietnamesecapital Hanoi had a particu-

late reading of 234, the sec-ond-highest in the world.Kolkata ranked third on theindex with a particulatecount of 195.

Murad visits Bhuttofamily graveyard in

Garhi Khuda Bakhsh

LAHORE (APP): First Lady SaminaAlvi Sunday stressed the need forcollective efforts to make the coun-try clean and green so that the peo-ple could live healthy life.

Addressing the event organizedby the ‘Bloom Pakistan ChapterLahore’ at Lahore Fort, she said thatthe event was the source of joy forparticipants and Lahorites, addingthat the passion of Bloom Pakistanwhich it carried for promotion ofcultural heritage was highlyadmirable.

First Lady said that the otherchapters of Bloom Pakistan wereacknowledged by the people ofPakistan for their pro-environmentalinitiatives, saying that it was theresponsibility of all segments ofsociety to protect heritage in truespirit. She also appreciated the serv-ices of Walled City of LahoreAuthority (WCLA) DirectorGeneral Kamran Lashari who is alsoChairman of Bloom Pakistan forrestoring Lahore Fort Barood Khana(Ammunition Compound) andmaintaining its heritage.

Samina Alvi said that she was anactive member of flower clubs affil-iated with Ikebana International andPresident of Ikebana KarachiChapter, adding that she was amember of Flowers Art Society,Ikebana Arts and Peshawar Bloomprogramme.

She vowed for active participa-tion of everyone in horticulture andgreen initiatives to maintain a cleanenvironment, asserting that natureplayed an important role in intellec-tual and spiritual development of aperson and it was important to notethat love of nature pleaded to lovetowards human beings.

She maintained that presence offlowers and beautiful plants not onlyenhance human spiritual happinessbut also plays role in maintainingthe temperature, adding thatPakistan had immense natural beau-ty, flowers and plants of varioustypes at every region which not onlyenhance the beauty of this regionbut also plays an important role ineconomy.

She said that as per vision of

Prime Minister Imran Khan forgreen and beautiful Pakistan “Wehave to do our best to motivateevery citizen across the country forplantation and protection of her-itage.” First Lady also appreciatedthe working of flower activities ofthe departments and private compa-nies in Peshawar, Karachi, Lahoreand Islamabad, asserting that every-one should get up to strengthen thecountry by cleaning and greening it.“Let join hands to make Pakistanbeautiful and prosperous” sheadded.

Later, she along with DG WCLAdistributed shields among partici-pants for their initiatives of planta-tion and beautification.

Those received shields included-Farida Nashtar mother of BloomPakistan , Nafeesa Tapal, GazalaSabahat, Millat Tractor representa-tive Imran Ayub, Ayesha Khan fromWCLA, Murtaza Hasnain flowergrower of Bloom Pakistan, AbmreenIrfan flower designer, Iram Ahmed,Nazli Asif, Samia Sikandar, ShareenKhan and Iqbal Tahir.

Collective efforts stressedto make Pakistan clean,

green: Samina Alvi

DIG directsfor immediate

arrest ofSehwan abusecase culprits

HYDERABAD (APP): TheDeputy Inspector General(DIG) of Police Sayed PeerMuhammad Shah Sundaytook notice of the incidentof molesting a young boyand directed SSP Jamshoroto submit detailed report tohim at the earliest.

Sayed Peer MuhammadShah ordered the SSP JavedBaloch to ensure immedi-ate arrest of the accusedinvolved in criminal act sothat rule law must beupheld.

DIG Hyderabad alsoexpressed sympathies withthe affected boy andassured that culprits of thiscrime would soon bebrought to justice.

Service of suffering

humanity notless than worshipLAHORE (APP): Schoolof Motivation Founderand Chief ExecutiveOfficer (CEO) ShawazHussain Baluch said onSunday that service ofsuffering humanity wasnot less than worship.

He said this while talk-ing to APP here on theoccasion of distributingblankets and warmclothes to the welfarefoundation of personswith hearing and speechimpairments.

The foundation appre-ciated the spirit ofShawaz Hussain. Theofficial of the foundationsaid that for the last manyyears, Shawaz and SOMwas paying special atten-tion towards the deserv-ing persons during thewinter season. SOMfounder said that hewould keep distributingwarm cloths among dif-ferently abled and deserv-ing persons throughoutthe winter season.

Earthquakehits parts of

PakistanKARACHI (PPI): Anearthquake shookHyderabad, Jamshoro,Kotri, some KP cities andother parts of the country inthe wee hours of Sunday.No causality was reported.

According to the USGeological Survey, the mag-nitude of the earthquake wasmeasured 4.1 on the RichterScale while its epicenter wasin Afghanistan. The quakestruck at 5:27am. Thetremors were also felt inSwat, Lower Dir, Buner,Besham, Shangla, Upper Dir,Malakand and Chitral areasof Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

On the other hand,tremors were also felt inSindh and other adjoiningareas including Hyderabadand Kotri with a magnitudeof 3.3 on the Richter scale.No casualties were reportedfrom the quake, but build-ings and homes were par-tially damaged in someparts of the country. On Dec8, 3021, a 4.1 magnitudeearthquake hit Karachi onWednesday night, accordingto Pakistan MeteorologicalDepartment (PDM).

15 dead inroad accidentsacross Punjab

in 24 hoursLAHORE (APP): At least15 persons were killed and1,094 others injured in1,066 road traffic crashes(RTCs) across Punjab dur-ing the last 24 hours.

As many as 612 peoplewere seriously injurieswere shifted to differenthospitals while 482 withminor injuries were treatedat the accident site by therescue medical teams.

The daya analysisshowed that 436 drivers, 56underage drivers, 172pedestrians and 501 pas-sengers were among thevictims of the road trafficcrashes.

The statistics showthat 270 RTCs werereported in Lahore, whichaffected 255 persons,placing the provincialcapital at top of the list,followed by 71 inFaisalabad with 79 vic-tims and at third Multanwith 71 RTCs and 73victims.

According to the data,877 motorbikes, 138 auto-rickshaws, 110 motorcars,39 vans, 15 passengerbuses, 32 trucks and 143other types of vehiclesand slow-moving cartswere involved in theseroad accidents.

Seven outlawsarrested during

crackdownRAWALPINDI (APP):Police have arrestedseven outlaws and recov-ered illegal weapons,liquor and valuables fromtheir possession hereSunday, informed a policespokesman.

Pirwadhi police arrest-ed two accused HaroonKhan and Zabata Khanand recovered 2 pistols 30bore from their posses-sion. Similarly, Morgahpolice arrested twoaccused Yasir Fida andMohammad Amir andrecovered 2 pistols 30bore from their custody.

While, Chuntra policeheld two accused MubeenGul and Irfan Gul andrecovered 2 rifles 12 borefrom their possession.

Race Course policearrested accused KashifMasih and recovered 4liters of liquor from hispossession. Police haveregistered separate casesagainst all of them andstarted investigation.Divisional SPs said thatstrict action should betaken against those whopossess illegal weaponsand involved in criminalactivities.

Old Ravians recall goodtimes at GCU alumni reunion

FBR launches prizescheme on POS system

Two more die of coronavirus,140 new cases reported in Sindh

LAHORE (APP): Underthe First European FilmFestival, 'Europe Ki EikJhalak' was screened at OloJunction, which concludedin the provincial capital onSunday. According toOmopolo media sources,the festival started atPakistan National Councilof Arts (PNCA), Islamabadon Dec 8.

The Festival was aimedat screening a range ofEuropean films and cul-

ture to a Pakistani audi-ence and act as a means tobuild cultural dialogue,mutual understanding,respect and understandingof cross-cultural issues.The two award-winningfilmmakers Haya Fatimaand Umar Riaz conductedclasses and shared theirfilm making experiences.Qualified participantssigned up for the classes.Later, screening and paneldiscussion were held.

1st European FilmFestival concludes

Police heldfraudster

RAWALPINDI (APP): Thepolice on Sunday arrested afraudster impersonating tobe a police officer and alsorecovered a police uniformfrom his possession,informed police spokesman.

During the course ofaction, Cantt police held afraudster named Shehyarpretending to be a policeofficer. After the verifica-tion, police arrested thefraudster and recoveredpolice uniform from hiscustody. Police have regis-tered a case against himand started an investiga-tion. SP Potohar com-mended the police teamsfor arresting fraudstersadding that strict actionmust be taken against suchfraudsters and thoseinvolved in deceivinginnocent people.

Lahore again ranked asworld's most polluted city

Monday, December 13, 2021The Frontier Post 03

PESHAWAR (APP): The work onindoor ball hall and cricket academyin Chota Lahore, Swabi completedunder Prime Minister 1000Playground Facilities and after com-pletion of the facilities it has beenhanded over to Regional SportsOfficer Swabi Muhammad TariqKhan.

Director Project Prime Minister1000 Playground Facilities MuradAli Mohmad, Engr. Paras Ahmad,Egr. Omar Shehzad, elders of theareas of Chotta Lahore, DistrictSwabi, Regional Sports OfficerMuhammad Tariq Khan, players ofbadminton and cricket, former PCBGovernor Board Member AmirNawab were also present during thehanding and taking over ceremoniesof the two international standardfacilities developed under PrimeMinister 1000 PlaygroundFacilities.

Talking to the gathering, MuradAli Mohmand said that as desired byChief Minister KhyberPakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan, out-going Secretary Sports Abid Majeedand Director General SportsAsfandyar Khan Khattak the twomajor sports facilities have beencompleted in a record time and nowwe are going to handover such facil-ities to Regional Sports OfficerMuhammad Tariq Khan to utilize

such facilities as playing venues forboth Badminton and CricketAcademy.

Murad Ali Mohmand, Directorof 1000 Sports Project visitedChota Lahore Badminton Hallalong with a team of EngineeringWing and lauded both Engr. ParasAhmad and Engr. Umar Shehzadfor their continuous visits to checkthe quality work under the supervi-sion of Head of the EngineeringWing Ahmad Ali.

He said, the construction ofChota Lahore Badminton Hall hasbeen completed recently. EngineersParas Ahmad and Omar Shehzadinspected the venues. He said soonafter handing over such facilities,the registration of players started inBadminton Hall and CricketAcademy.

He said the PMU team also visit-ed Zaida, Kala Butt and Baja BamKhail Cricket Academies wherework have been completed and deci-sion was taken to hand over theseacademies to Regional SportsOfficer Muhammad Tariq Khan.

Murad Ali Mohmand said that thecricket academies were developedas per the standards of PakistanCricket Board. Murad Ali Mohmandappreciated the work and said thatcricket academies and badmintonhalls had thoroughly been moni-

tored by two young Engineers ParasAhmad Khan and Omer Shehzadand ensured quality of work as perthe directives of the Chief MinisterKP Mahmood Khan.

He said that with the construc-tion of the sports facilities havebeen made available to the playersat their doorsteps and it is hopedthat we will get the best talent fromhere. ports facilities are being pro-vided in every nook and corner asper the directives of the ChiefMinister Khyber PakhtunkhwaMahmood Khan. He said that stepsare being taken to complete all suchprojects well in time and addressthe shortfall of the funds availabili-ty.

He said the shortfall of the fundshave been discussed with the newlyappointed Director General SportsKhalid Khan and he too showedinterest in availability of funds to allongoing projects under PrimeMinister Imran Khan’s 1000Playground Facilities. He said thatthese initiatives of the provincialgovernment would give a boost tosports and give opportunities to theplayers to come forward and avoidwastage of talent. There will also bethose who will shine the name of thecountry and the nation not only atthe provincial, national levels but atinternational level as well.

State of art Badminton Hall,Cricket Academies completed

F.P. Report

PESHAWAR: Pakistan MuslimLeague-Nawaz (PML-N) KhyberPakhtunkhwa (KP) President Eng-ineer Amir Muqam has warned gov-ernment to desist from rigging inlocal bodies election otherwise it willface dire consequences. He asked theadministration and police not tobecome part of government plan ofrigging.

Prime Minister, he alleged, ImranNiazi himself presided over it but wewill not allow any of the plans to suc-ceed. He said that the spirit of resi-dents of Sarband village showed that

no one was ready without to vote anyparty other than PMLN. "Congratulations to PMLN candidatefor Pishtakhara Tehsil ChairmanshipQari Zahir" he added . He wasaddressing an election rally atSarband Pishtakhara Peshawar.

Amir Muqam said that People arelonging for Pakistan before 2018which ensured political and econom-ic stability. "On the one hand, Niazi isplundering the pockets of the peopleby raising inflation and on the otherhand, by borrowing billions of dollarsdaily from IMF, the country's chil-dren are being made indebted" heposed a question.To to , he said ,take

revenge on the oppressors by votingfor the symbol of lion on December19.

When arrived at Sarband in con-nection with election campaign thepeople enthusiastically welcomedPML-N provincial presidentEngineer Amir Muqam. Qari Zahir,Rahmadil Nawaz and Others alsoaddressed. Engineer Amir Muqamaccused that attempts to rig the elec-tion would have serious conse-quences. Other political parties arebusy in the election campaign whilethe ruling party is busy making plansfor rigging but we will not allow theirplans to succeed he added.

PML-N warns governmentto desist from rigging

F.P. Report

PESHAWAR: Special Assistant toChief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwaon Information and Public Relations,Barrister Mohammad Ali Saif onSunday said KP government hasintroduced state-of-the-art system forlocal government.

The system would not only helpdevaluation of power up to grass rootlevel but also be beneficial for resolv-ing public problems at their doorstep.In a statement issued by his office,

Mohammad Ali Saif said the provin-cial government has finalized allarrangements for holding local bodieselections peacefully.

He said KP CM was monitoringelectoral process himself and instruc-tions were issued to departments con-cerned. The Special Assistant saidopposition parties were working onan agenda of personal benefits andPTI would emerge victorious in localbodies’ election owing to its perform-ance.

He said record uplift schemes had

been initiated in all sectors such ashealth, education, tourism, transport,and others.

PTI has taken concrete steps forthe development of KP and its peopleand added that there was no room forthose who misled people andamassed public money for personalgains. He said PDM had failed toattract people as masses are wellaware of the corruption and corruptpractices followed by the leader ofpolitical parties that were now part ofopposition alliance.

All set to hold LG’s electionson 19th: Barrister Saif

F.P. Report

PESHAWAR: DistrictReturning Officer issuednotice to Speaker NationalAssembly Asad Qaiser onDecember 13 for violatingcode of conduct after theannouncement of theschedule for local bodyelections in KhyberPakhtunkhwa.

It is pertinent to men-tioned here that local bodyelections will be held onDecember 19 in 17 districtsof Khyber Pakhtunkhwaincluding Peshawar andECP has released its sched-ule. After the first round oflocal body elections, pollsin other 18 districts will beheld on January 16, 2022. Atotal of 19,282 candidatesare contesting for the seats

of General Councilors on2,359 village council(VC)/neighbourhood coun-cil (NC), while the numberof female candidates for thesame number of villagecouncil (VC)/neighbour-hood council (NC) seats is3,905.

The districts which willgo to polls on December 19include Buner, Bajaur,Swabi, Peshawar,Nowshera, Kohat, Karak,Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu,Tank, Haripur, Khyber,Mohmand, Charsadda,Mardan, Hangu and LakkiMarwat. According to astatement issued by theElection Commission ofPakistan, a notice wasissued to the SpeakerNational Assembly byDistrict Monitoring Officer

(DMO) Swabi and he hasbeen summoned onDecember 13. The noticedirected Speaker AsadQaiser to appear in personor through counsel.

The notice stated that analleged audio clip of theNA speaker making roundson electronic media,wherein he is appealing tovoters for their support andpromising governmentfunding to PTI candidates,"saying that project ten-ders are in process andsoon these tenders will benotified". The DMOPeshawar has also issuednotices to another PTINational Assembly mem-ber Shaukat Ali for violat-ing the code of conductand summoned him onDecember 12.

NA Speaker served noticefor violating code of conduct

F.P. Report

PESHAWAR: Khyber PakhtunkhwaMinister for Local Government andRural Development Faisal AminGandapur Sunday urged the WaterSanitation Service Peshawar (WSSP)to come up with a master plan forproper implementation of two majorneeds of drinking and sanitation inurban areas of the city.

He was addressing a briefing at theLocal Government SecretariatPeshawar by its CEO Dr. HassanNasir, who told him that WSSP pro-vided 52 million gallons of cleandrinking water daily to the 1.85 mil-lion population of Peshawar whereasthe water quality is also constantlychecked.

Similarly, he said, the city's streets,roads and bazaars are cleaned twice aday and over 700 tons of garbage isdisposed of outside the city daily. Thecity drainage system has also beenimproved, he added.

The provincial minister appreciat-

ed the performance of WSSP and saidthat the PTI government had set upthis body to permanently address thegrowing complaints of citizensregarding sanitation and drinkingwater while later WSSCs were set upin other major cities as well.

He said, although this experimentproved beneficial and the expecta-tions of the citizens are being met to agreat extent, its future successdepends on its excellent performance.

He directed the WSSP to implementthe plan of establishing a treatmentplant for conversion of city waste intoenergy on scientific basis with thehelp of the Energy Department assoon as possible as, he said, dumpingground is not the solution and thisproblem will surface in more acuteshape in future. The provincial minis-ter, however, assured appropriatemeasures for fulfilment of the finan-cial needs of WSSP.

Minister for provision drinking water,clean sanitation to Peshawarites

F.P. Report

PESHAWAR: Khyber PakhtunkhwaMinister for Finance Taimur SaleemKhan Jhagra on Sunday welcomedGhazanfar Bilour on joining PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and termed it amajor breakthrough for PTI in theprovincial political circles.

Jhagra accompanied by GhanzafarBilour stated this while addressing a ajoint press conference flanked byMinister Higher Education KamranKhan Bangash here at PeshawarPress Club. He said Ghazanfar was anindustrialist and later's input wouldbe beneficial for the PTI governmentin streamlining economic affairs ofthe province. The finance ministertermed it a big setback to ANP in theprovince.

Jhagra said that Bilour family was

behind the support of ANP in theprovincial capital and PTI has suc-ceeded in bringing the importantmember of them to its fold. He saidthat Ghazafar Bilour was a renownedbusinessman and remained presidentof the Federation of PakistanChamber of Commerce and Industry(FPCCI) and Sarhad Chamber ofCommerce and Industry (SCCI) hewould help the KP government inresolving business related issues inKhyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Kamran Bangash said that with thejoining of Ghazanfar Bilour, the partyhas obtained the support of the busi-ness community in the province. Hesaid PTI was the most popular politi-cal party having huge mandate ofpublic in the province. He said thepeople of Khyber Pakhtunkhwabelieved in the policies of PTI and

have trust in Prime Minister ImranKhan.

Speaking on the occasion,Ghazanfar Bilour said that joiningPTI was his personal matter. He said"those who were saying about me thatI have no political background shouldkeep in mind that I had contestedelections in 2013." Ghazanfar askedcritics of his decision of joining PTIthat not try to teach him politics,adding, he was a worker in ANP andwould be the same in PTI also.

He said he took the decision afterbeing inspired by the policies ofPrime Minister Imran Khan about thedevelopment of the country. Inflationis an international phenomenon how-ever the PTI government was tryingits best to overcome and resolve thelong lasting problems of people, headded.

Jhagra terms Ghazanfar’s joining PTI as setback for ANP

Asmat Shah Garwaki

NO one can deny thefact that Pakistanis the wholly and

solely supporter of peopleof Afghanistan during theTaliban regime whorecently succeeded in get-ting occupation of powercorridors in Kabul and onsuch grounds Pakistan isbeing blamed for what thewestern world claims ishuman rights abusethroughout Afghanistan.

At the moment, westernworld alleges a wide rangeviolation of human rights athands of gun toting Talibanmilitants. Though theTaliban denied this, the USmouthpiece Voice ofAmerica (VOA) quotingHR Watchdog reported thatsince coming into power ofTaliban on August 15th last,over 100 officers and per-sonnel of Afghanistanarmed forces, disappearedand might be killed byTaliban. The US HR watch-dog has denounced suchkilling despite the declara-tion of General Amnesty.

However, TalibanSpokesperson Zabih UllahMujahid in reaction deniedall such allegations sayingthat around 20 officers andpersonnel of armed forcesof the previous governmentwere killed on othergrounds and in this respectinvestigations are inprogress.

He, however, has alsoconfirmed involvement ofTaliban in misuse of pow-ers and action taken againstover 200 so far. Such crossallegations confirm grosslevel HR violationsthroughout Afghanistan.Besides HR abuse, theglobal organs also con-firmed fuel miseries ofalready war strickenAfghans, thus asking allneighboring countriesincluding Pakistan foropening borders for thesepeople. Since mid of previ-

ous August, almost state,semi state and otherautonomous organs haveeither winded off its opera-tions or made it suspended,thus rendering hundreds ofthousands as jobless.Likewise almost trade,business, agriculture andother economic activitieshave also been badly affect-ed.

The affected people arenow compelled either tosell belongings or to fleethe country. A recent reportrevealed that around 1500leading traders and busi-nessmen fled to Turkey. Alarge number of others(countless) are either stay-ing in neighboring coun-tries like Pakistan, Iran andCentral Asian Republics orlanded in the Middle Eastand Western world. As aresult of existing socio-eco-nomic, politico-diplomatic

and administrative hard-ships, the abusers on vari-ous pretexts are focusing onabusing innocent and help-less people.

The HR activists andorgans from all over theworld are making appealsto address these miseriesand play a role in control-ling gross level HR abusein Afghanistan. And allthese global forums areexpecting a prime role fromthe immediate neighboringand regional countries inaddressing miseries ofAfghans. Pakistan is notonly a neighbor ofAfghanistan but it has agreat influence on politico-communal and administra-tive affairs of Afghanistanfor the welfare of people.Since commencing pullingof US led allied troops outof Afghanistan in May2021, Pakistan at high level

diplomatic forums pleadingthe case of Afghanistan.Pakistan is playing a majorrole in motivating the glob-al community to fulfill itsresponsibilities regardingAfghanistan. Instead ofmotivating others, Pakistanmust take initiatives. Noone can neglect the fact thatsince mid of previousNovember, Pakistanthrough its important cross-ing points withAfghanistan, had made theprocess for pedestrians atTorkham and Chaman bor-ders.

As a result, the strengthof pedestrians is now grad-ually increasing. But stillthere is a place for furtherrelaxation. It is the time forPakistan to further pleasethe war affected Afghans.Besides easing the travel-ling and visiting process,Pakistan must play a role in

ending every sort of hostili-ties in Afghanistan, whichis possible with makingbounds on the “Talibanrulers” to firm on theircommitments of “generalamnesty. ”The 40 yearslong war has ruined theeconomy, agriculture andadministrative infrastruc-ture of Afghanistan and thesudden withdrawal of inter-national aid agencies haveput the entire population atrisk. Soon after gettingpower by Taliban, onSeptember 19 last, onbehalf of the government ofPakistan ‘Pak AfghanCooperation Forum(PACF)’ dispatched 17trucks loaded with 300 tonsof edibles to neighboringcountry Afghanistan to helpthe Afghan people facingshortage of food items.

Pak Afghan CooperationForum is a Trust estab-

lished to assist the Afghanpopulation during this hourof need. With the help ofvarious philanthropists andthe Government ofPakistan, it has managedthrough C-130, lifting 32tons of flour, six tons ofcooking oil, and two tons ofmedicine. An aid convoy of17 trucks loaded with atotal of 300 tons edibleitems including 65 tonssugar, three tons pulses,190 tons flour, 11 tonscooking oil and 31 tons ricesent to Afghanistan toremove the miseries ofAfghan people. Beside thegovernment institutionssome Non GovernmentOrganizations like Centrefor Research and SecurityStudies (CRSS) also kepton their struggle for pro-moting bilateral trade andeconomic connectivity.Last month CRSS success-

fully arranged a trip forAfghan trade delegation.

They met with theircounterpart and high rankofficials of Pakistan inPeshawar and Islamabad aswell. Some days later thisdelegation visit, PakistanForeign Minister visitedAfghanistan and his coun-terpart came to Pakistan. Itis said that Pakistan aimsnot only to provide imme-diate humanitarian assis-tance in the form of food,medicine and non-fooditems to the people ofAfghanistan, but help themto stand on their own feetand make their homeland apeaceful, stable and respon-sible member of the globalcommunity. In a message tothe world that instead ofadopting the policy of 'waitand see' they must comeforward to help these vul-nerable communities andappeal to all philanthropistswithin Pakistan and acrossthe globe, to come forwardand help Afghan peoplethrough generous donationsto avert this humanitariancrisis.

How Pakistan can play its role in ensuring basichuman rights are being upheld in Afghanistan

Two POskilled in

encounterF.P. Report

PESHAWAR: Two pro-claimed offenders (POs)have been killed in anencounter with police hereSunday in the jurisdiction ofPolice Station Pishtakhara.According to police offi-cials, the killed proclaimedoffenders Sherzai andSherkai wereAfghan nation-als and wanted to police inconnection with 13 incidentsof murders, attempted mur-ders and other heinouscrimes.

On a tip regarding thepresence of the accused, thepolice first conducted raidsin the jurisdiction of PoliceStation Nasir Bagh whereina police constable was alsoinjured due to the firing ofthe accused. The accusedsucceeded in escaping fromthe Nasir Bagh locality andtook refuge in a graveyard atTajabad in the jurisdiction ofPolice Station Pishtakhara.A team of the police reachedthe graveyard and comeunder firing from theaccused.

In retaliatory firing ofpolice both accused werekilled. The police took intopossession two pistols and amotorcycle used in variouscrimes. According to CapitalCity Police Officer (CCPO),Abbas Ahsan, the killed Poswere notorious extortionistsand murders/attempted mur-ders was their hobby haveeven not forgiven their closerelatives. He vowed zero tol-erance for any criminalactivity including extortionand added that an organizedcrackdown on extortionistswill continue in the district.

PESHAWAR: Provincial Minister for Education Kamran Bangash and Ghazanfar Bilour addressinga press conference.

PESHAWAR: CCPO Abbas Ahsan addressing a press conference.

In briefIn briefCandidates

violate code ethicsF.P. Report

LANDI KOTAL: Sco-res of candidates con-testing Local Bodies(LB) election in LandiKotal found violatingcode of ethics, formu-lated by the electioncommission. The candi-dates contest mayorshipor village/neighborhoodcouncils slots publi-cized and pasted extra-size banners, portraitsand posters, put asidecode of ethics of elec-tion commission.According to the codeof conduct and ethicspublicized by the dis-trict election commis-sion poster, banner andportrait sizes for mayorship slot is 23x18, 9x3and 3x2 inch. Similarlyfor village/neighbor-hood councilers 3x2posters and 9x3 bannersare permitted to fix.Wall chalking, bill-boards and hoarding arealso prohibited. In localgovernment electionspublic gathering andrallies were restrictedhowever corner meet-ings are allowed tocarry out the campaign.Numbers of candidatesin LB election havebeen found violatingcode of conduct inLandi Kotal by con-ducting wall chalking,carryout car rallies andhave pendant extra-large banners and por-traits in the areas ofKhuga Khel, ShiekhmalKhel,Piro Khel,KhyberZakha Khel etc. areas ofLandi Kotal in on goingelection campaigns.They also utilize megaphones in car rallies toattract the attention oftheir constituencies’voters. On the otherhand no mentoring sys-tem from the electioncommission is availableto ensure implementa-tion of the election codeof ethics in words andspirit.

PAF gifts FT6plane to MirpurMIRPUR (INP): Pak-istan Air Force (PAF)on Sunday gifted anFT6 plane to Mirpur,Azad Jammu andKashmir (AJK), the cityof overseas Pakistanis,in order to further beau-tify it. According toreports, the plane,which will be installedat the city’s entrance,had featured both in1965 and 1971 warsagainst India. PAF’steam of technicians hasalready reached the site,and is busy installing it.The plane was firstinstalled at MandiBahauddin followingwhich it was taken toPeshawar where it wasdismantled in order toinstall it in Mirpur.People of the city andits suburbs are reachingthe site in large num-bers to view it. Theysay that the plane giftedto the city by the airforce is priceless.

Police foil smuggling bid

F.P. Report

P A R A C H I N A R :Kurram Police havefoiled an attempt of nar-cotics smuggling andrecovered 60 kilogramof hashish and 1.8 kilo-gram opium. The policealso arrested the allegedsmuggler. The policepersonnel were check-ing the vehicles onSadda Bypass Roadwhen they recoveredthe huge quantity ofnarcotics from thesecret cavities of a pick-up waggon. The policehave arrested thealleged smuggler, SajidKhan, resident of dis-trict Orakzai and regis-tered a narcotics smug-gling case against him.Further investigationswere in progress.

Two killed inroad mishap

BAHAWALNAGAR(INP): Two people werekilled and two othersinjured in a dreadfulroad mishap here onSunday, police said.According to details,driver of an over speed-ing private car lost gripon the steering and itrammed into a loadertrolley near Chak 7Fatah in Chishtian dis-trict Bahawalnagar.

The Frontier PostMonday, December 13, 2021District

BANNU (INP): TheC o u n t e r - T e r r o r i s mDepartment (CTD) onSunday foiled a major ter-ror plot in Bannu, KhyberPakhtunkhwa and arrestedtwo terrorists. According toCTD sources, the actionwas carried out in theBannu region on a tip-offabout the presence of ter-rorists. Seeing the CTDteam, the terrorists openedfire on them and in retalia-tory fire by the CTD team,two terrorists were arrest-

ed.According to the police,

two SMGs, a hand grenade,three magazines and otheritems including ammuni-tion were recovered fromthe possession of thearrested terrorists. Thearrested terrorists belong toa banned organization andwere involved in targetkilling, extortion, burglary,bombings and attacks onsecurity forces.

It may be recalled thatthe most wanted terrorist

was arrested during aPeshawar police operationfrom Khyber Pakhtunkhwayesterday. The governmenthad set a price of Rs 1 mil-lion for the head of thearrested terrorist. Theaccused was wanted by thepolice in terrorism, assaulton police, murder and otherserious cases, while in 2012he was also involved in theattack on Inqilab Chowkipolice team in which Sub-Inspector Mursalin Khanwas a martyr.

CTD arrests twoterrorists in Bannu

TANK (INP): Anotherpoliceman providing secu-rity to the polio staff inTank on Sunday fell preyto the terrorists’ bulletwhile his colleague injuredin the incident. Accordingto details, some unknownterrorists opened fire onpolio security teams inGarah Shada village inTank and martyred a copand injured his colleague.

After the incident, thesecurity forces reached thevenue and combed the areain search for the assailants.In a similar incident inGarah Chaddar in Tank

Saturday, the terroristsmartyred a policeman andinjured another. They wereproviding security to atwo-woman polio team.The polio cops were per-forming their duty whenthe gunmen on a motor-bike ambushed them. Onepoliceman was seriouslywounded and later suc-cumbed to injuries whileanother was rushed to ahospital.

Later, the bannedTehreek-e-Taliban claimedresponsibility and put thedeath toll at two, accordingto a statement from

spokesman MuhammadKhurasani. They accusedsecurity forces of killingsome of their fighters andviolating the one-monthtruce.

The militants on Fridayended a truce mediatedwith the help of theAfghan Taliban, accusingthe government of violat-ing the terms of the agree-ment. In an audio messagereleased late Friday, thegroup's leader Noor WaliMehsud said no progresshad been made in negotia-tions with Pakistan's gov-ernment.

Another Cop martyredin Tank terror strike

MUZAFFARABAD (INP): Under PrimeMinister of Pakistan’s Kamyab JawanProject, a Student Facilitation Centre will beestablished at Azad Jammu and KashmirUniversity (UAJK) to facilitate the studentsand resolve their academic and non-aca-demic issues.

Director Quality Assurance and In-Charge Kamyab Jawan Program of HigherEducation Commission (HEC), Nasir Shahduring his meeting with Vice-ChancellorUAJK, Professor Dr. Muhammed KaleemAbbasi here on Sunday said, “The purposeof this facility is to provide necessary infor-mation to the students ranging from carriercounseling to sports internship, informationabout scholarships, academic guidance, andskills training through single widow sys-tem.”

Nasir Shah said that the University ofAzad Jammu and Kashmir is one of the sev-eral public sector universities across thecountry which will have Kamyab JawanCenter to facilitate the young students toachieve their academic and non-academicgoals.

“HEC will initially provide financialassistance of Rs. 4.7 to the University ofAzad Jammu and Kashmir for this purpose.The center will be equipped with modernfacilities so that if a student cannot come tothe center physically, he will be able to getguidance through a phone call, email, andother digital means”, he added.

The Vice Chancellor Azad Jammu and

Kashmir University, Prof. Dr.Muhammad Kaleem Abbasi thanked theHigher Education Commission for thisinitiative and assured that the administra-tion of the university would work hard tomake this program a success and to pro-vide facilities to young students throughthis program. The VC UAJK alsoapprised the Director-General of theHigher Education Commission about thevarious academic activities of theUniversity and said that the universityfaces problems due to lack of proper aca-demic blocks in the Neelum ValleyCampus of the university.

The university administration intends tostart tourism, forestry, and other educationalprograms by completing the construction ofNeelum Campus to change the socio-eco-nomic conditions of the people of thisremote area of Azad Kashmir, he asserted.

Director Higher Education CommissionNasir Shah along with the Vice-Chancellorand senior administrative officers of the uni-versity also inspected the proposed site ofthe Kamyab Jawan Center and discussedvarious issues with the management of theuniversity.

Later Director QAA-HEC visited theNeelum Campus of the university where hewas briefed by Dr. Sharjil Saeed ControllerExamination, Director Students Affairs, Dr.Imtiaz Awan, and Director Campus Dr. EjazDar about the construction work of the uni-versity and other requisite facilities.

Kamyab Jawan FacilitationCenter to be set up

NAWABSHAH (INP): Asleeping driver died whenhe drove his oil tankerwhich was filled with petrolinto a canal in Nawabshahon Sunday. Reportedly, adriver of an oil tankerdozed off while driving.His vehicle turned turtleand fell into the Rain Canalnear National HighwayQazi Ahmad.

The tanker which wascarrying 50,000 liters ofpetrol was going to Lahorefrom Karachi. Motorwaypolice and rescue officialsreached the place of theaccident and indulged inrescue activities. Theyshifted the body of the driv-er to the hospital. However,heavy machinery wascalled to take out the oil

tanker from the canal.In another incident, a

dead body of a man wasrecovered from GardenShoe Market near DaulatAl-Quran Mosque inKarachi.

Separately, a man waskilled in a traffic accidentnear Malir Press Club. InFaisalabad, a motorcyclistwas killed when a tractor-trolley hit his bike onJhumra Sangla Road. The40-year-old man was goingto his home inKharyanwala when aspeeding tractor-trolleyrammed into his bike,killing him on the spot.The driver of the trolley ranaway from the scene.

Man kills wife, leavesmother injured: A man

shot dead his wife andinjured mother over adomestic dispute inNawabshah on Sunday.According to police, a manopened fire on his wife overa domestic issue in the lim-its of Manhro police sta-tion. The mother of the manintervened to save herdaughter-in-law butt shealso received bullets andgot seriously injured.However, his wife died onthe spot.

The mother was shiftedto Nawabshah People’sHospital in critical condi-tion. After killing wife, theman fled the crime scene.Police reached the venueand shifted the body of theslain woman to a hospitalfor autopsy.

Sleep drives oil tankerdriver to death

QUETTA (INP): Autho-rities have failed to recoverthe two missing girls inobscene videos scandalinvolving Hidayat Khilji,whereas, the mother of thevictim girls has suspicious-ly vanished from the scene,on Sunday.

Balochistan authoritieshave expedited efforts torecover the missing girlswho appeared in theobscene videos followingthe orders of Chief MinisterAbdul Qudoos Bizenjo.However, the recovery ofthe missing girls was notyet made. According to thehome minister, the authori-ties were contacting Afghanofficials for the recovery ofboth girls. Police said thatthe mother of the victimgirls has also vanished fromthe scene.

Police said that the firstcomplaint regarding thedisappearance of the girls

had been registered by theirmother. To review theprogress on the investiga-tion into the obscene videosscandal, Balochistan HomeMinister Mir ZiaullahLangau will chair a high-level session today.

On Saturday,Balochistan ChiefMinister Mir AbdulQudoos Bizenjo hadordered the concernedauthorities for early recov-ery of the abductedwomen and arrests of allculprits in the obscenevideos scandal involvingHidayat Khilji BalochistanCM Abdul Qudoos Bi-zenjo had directed policeforces to use all availableresources for the recoveryof abducted women andculprits involved in theobscene videos scandal.

He had said that the cul-prits don’t deserve any par-don who are involved in

disrespecting and victimis-ing the women. He had alsoassured the victims’ fami-lies of full support from thegovernment. A manhunthad been launched to arresta ‘third suspect’ after theregistration of a new com-plaint by another woman.Moreover, the videos weresent to a forensic lab inLahore as the police forceswere waiting for a report ontheir authenticity.

The arrest of HidayatKhilji was reported onDecember 3 after policeclaimed to have arrested thehead of a gang involved inblackmailing girls after rap-ing and filming theirobscene videos. Police hadclaimed that the accusedraped the girls after luringthem into the trap by offer-ing jobs. They revealed thatthe girls were intoxicatedby the accused before rap-ing them.

Hidayat videos scandal

Authorities failto recover twomissing girls

Mariam Afzal

AS per Pakistan Bureau ofStatistics, trade deficit istouching US$ 4,963 million

in November 2021 compared toUS$ 2,121 million in November2020, marking a percentageincrease of 134%. Although theexports have managed to elevate by33%, current imports situation isquite alarming as the figuresplunged to US$7,847 million, 83%higher than the correspondingperiod last year. There are variousreasons which have led to escala-tion of trade deficit, which include,but not limited to, low productivity,macroeconomic instability and lackof government's interest in limitingimports. The prevailing situationhas also forced Pakistan to go toIMF to seek financial support.

Recent overall surge in exports ismainly attributable to textile sector.According to All Pakistan TextileMills Association, textile exports ofthe country stood at $ 1. 747 billion,showing an increase of 36% com-pared to same period last year, allbecause of the pro-export policies bythe government and lower energycosts. For sustainable growth, howev-er, it is important to keep energy ratescompetitive rates in future as well.On the other hand, with import fig-ures soaring high, government hasbeen taking initiatives to control thesituation which are not enough todeal with such inflated deficit. Themain underlying reason which gov-ernment fails to acknowledge is thatthe country's exports are being cat-alyzed by imports. Currently, textilesector demands 15-16 million balesof cotton, while the country is man-aging to provide mere 5. 3 millionbales.

This means, the surge in textileoriented exports has been managed

by importing raw cotton to meetrequirement. Few of the major rea-sons behind this deficiency are poorseed quality and lack of technology.In November 2021, it was announcedthat govt. is planning to reduceimport duties on import of raw mate-rials for export-oriented industry.Although currently 40% of suchmaterials are being imported at zeroduty but this clearly isn't enough. Onthe other hand, more reduction meanshigher imports which is only fuelingalready soaring trade deficit ofPakistan.

Generally, the impact of trade bal-ance or imbalance is seen in countrieswith limited foreign exchangereserves such as Pakistan. Imports/exports are the major component ofthe current account, which as a per-cent of GDP, is tracked to check if thedeficit is becoming uncontrollable.This also becomes a precursor forcurrency devaluation as well. Thecurrent available figures are also nar-rating the same story and connectingthe dots of what is actually goingwrong, while also pushing the policymakers into a vicious cycle. Duringthe last ten days of November of2021, foreign exchange reserves ofthe country dropped by $275 million.As the market value of Rupee is con-tinuously depreciating, higherimports bills and elevated inflationare being observed, creating higheruncertainty in market. CPI generalinflation has increased by 11. 5% onYoY compared to an increase of 8.3% in November 2020.

Although government's constantefforts in increasing exports can beobserved, steps to control importsseem quite insufficient. Moreover,the ministry seems quite optimisticand hopeful that the figures will becontrolled in near future as the globalcoal and crude oil prices are fallingdown. Now the question is, is it

enough to deal with such swelledtrade deficit which has become abone in the throat of the economy?There are multiple ways to reducetrade deficit, however, trade policy isnot one of them. Although fiscal pol-icy is an effective tool for fiscaldeficit, trade policy as a tool for tradedeficit goes against our intuition.Applying tariff on one product orcountry will only divert the trade toother product or country; hence wewill only be left with distorted con-sumption while the deficit remainsunchanged.

If the tax is applied on all productsor countries, exports will also beaffected, again keeping the deficitunchanged. In other words, highertaxes only reduce income and tradewhile having negligible impact ontrade deficit. So, what do we do now?The onus is on Government to inves-tigate the root cause and then re-artic-ulate its policies as the situationdemands urgent attention. Increasingexports by solely depending on cer-tain imports and merely fluctuatingtariff taxes have not proven to be theright strategies as the results are mov-ing us to a deeper pit.

The country needs to strengthenitself at grass root level by improvingtechnological base and supportingproductive imports to create spillovereffect. Improving country's crop pro-duction through high quality seedsand technology would make the tex-tile sector self-sufficient, while chop-ping down non- essential importswithout giving a discriminatoryimpression will lower overallimports. In order to support exports,government must improve the accessto external markets for exporters andimprove innovation and competitionin country. Sound and informed deci-sion making is required to balanceboth import and export sector to easetrade deficit.

A sad tale of Pakistan’srising trade deficit

One diein firing

Shafi Ullah

MINGORA: Unknownassailants killed a husbandand injured his wife anddaughter in Totkay area ofTehsil Matta Swat, saidpolice on Sunday.

Unknown assailantsentered the house ofMisbahuddin Jan andopened fire and as a resultMisbahuddin died on thespot while his wife anddaughter sustained criticalinjuries.

The injured were rushedto Saidu Sharif hospital.The police registered thecase and started investiga-tion.

Three killedKASUR (INP): At leastthree people were killed incollision between a trailerand a motorcycle here onSunday, rescue sourcessaid. According to details,the accident took place onMultan Road near SaranAdda in Pattoki districtKasur where an over speed-ing trailer knocked down amotorcycle carrying threepeople.

QUETTA: Students of Medical Colleges holding a protest in favour of their demands.

QUETTA: Activists of Jamat-e-Islami holding a protest in favour of theirdemands.

ALPURI: Provincial Minister for Labour Shaukat Yousafzai addressing a public gathering.

The Frontier PostMonday, December 13, 2021

WASHINGTON (Monitoring Desk):An appeals court ruling this week thatdealt another blow to formerPresident Trump's efforts to shieldWhite House records from the HouseJan. 6 Select Committee has laid theground for a Supreme Court test onthe former presidents' authority toinvoke executive privilege.

Trump is likely to ask the SupremeCourt to review the D.C. Circuit deci-sion that found he had failed to putforth a valid argument for why thejudiciary should interfere with theexecutive branch's decision to coop-erate with a congressional investiga-tion. How the Supreme Courtresponds – and how quickly they rule– will likely have downstream effectson the House committee’s investiga-tion and the former president's effortsto slow it down.

A Trump spokeswoman respondedto the decision Thursday night, indi-cating that he intends to seekSupreme Court review.

“Regardless of today’s decision bythe the appeals court, this case wasalways destined for the SupremeCourt,” the spokeswoman, LizHarrington, said on Twitter.“President Trump’s duty to defendthe Constitution and the Office of thePresidency continues, and he willkeep fighting for every American andevery future Administration.”

A three-judge panel for the D.C.Circuit rejected Trump’s argumentsthat the court should block theNational Archives from producingrecords from his administration to theselect committee because of hisclaims of executive privilege.

In a 68-page opinion written byJudge Patricia Millett, the panel saidthat the former president failed toprovide any good reasons why thecourts should interfere when the cur-rent president provided a reasonedrationale for waiving privilege overthe records and the select committeehas demonstrated a compelling inter-est in the information.

"He offers instead only a grab-bagof objections that simply assert with-out elaboration his superior assess-ment of Executive Branch interests,insists that Congress and theCommittee have no legitimate leg-

islative interest in an attack on theCapitol, and impugns the motives ofPresident Biden and the House,"Millett wrote in the opinion. "Thatfalls far short of meeting his burdenand makes it impossible for this courtto find any likelihood of success."

All three judges on the panel wereappointed by Democratic presidents.

Like many of the high-profilecases marking the Trump era, thelawsuit against the Biden administra-tion and the select committee posesuntested legal questions. But someobservers believe that this timearound, Trump may have a hard timefinding a receptive audience for hisclaims even with a 6-3 conservativemajority on the Supreme Court.

His lawyers have been arguing thatthe select committee’s expansive doc-ument requests lack any valid legisla-tive basis and that Biden’s waiver ofexecutive privilege over the recordsposes constitutional harms for theexecutive branch and its rights toconfidentiality.

Some say that conservative jurists,many of whom subscribe to beliefsabout maintaining a strong executivebranch, would be uncomfortable withthe idea of granting a former presi-dent even a limited check on theauthority of a sitting president.

Jonathan Adler, a law professor atCase Western Reserve University,believes that the Supreme Courtcould find it easy to pass up the caseif Trump asks for its intervention.

“I doubt the Court is likely toget involved here,” Adler wrote inan email to The Hill, saying thepanel’s decision was more“restrained” than in past caseswhere the circuit ruled in favor ofthe House in disputes with Trump.“While there may be a few justicesinclined to intervene, it would notsurprise me at all if the Court sim-ply lets this pass.”

Kel McClanahan, an adjunct lawprofessor at George WashingtonUniversity who filed an amicus briefin the case in support of the selectcommittee, said that even if the courtdid decide to hear the case, there’s noguarantee it would deliver a victoryfor Trump. McClanahan said thatTrump’s claims, for instance, would

not fit with the belief popular in theconservative legal movement known— as the unitary executive theory —which holds that authority over theentire executive branch is vested in asingle person, the sitting president.

“It's undeniable that if you sub-scribe to unitary executive theory,then there's nobody who can secondguess the president. It's not the ‘uni-tary executive and former executivestheory’ and so to the extent that a con-servative Supreme Court that sub-scribes to the unitary executive theo-ry, – which to be fair, I don't think allof the conservative members do – itwould be disinclined to find forTrump,” McClanahan said.

Trump and his allies have beenfighting the select committee’s effortsto obtain administration records andtestimony on multiple fronts.

After receiving a criminal referralfrom the House last month, theJustice Department charged Trump’sclose ally and one-time White Housestrategist Steve Bannon with con-tempt of Congress for defying a sub-poena from the select committee.

And Mark Meadows, who servedas Trump’s White House chief ofstaff, filed a civil lawsuit against thecommittee last week challenging thevalidity of its subpoenas for his testi-mony and his personal phone records.

Both of them cited the former pres-ident’s claims of executive privilegein their disputes with the committee.How the courts resolve Trump’s caseover his White House records couldhave downstream effects on hisallies’ efforts to evade congressionalinvestigators. While the panel’s deci-sion on Thursday categorically reject-ed Trump’s effort to shield the WhiteHouse records, the opinion did notcompletely close the door on the pos-sibility of a former president beingable to shield information from a con-gressional investigation.

“Given former President Trump’sfailure to meet his burden, we neednot decide to what extent a courtcould, after a sufficient showing ofcongressional need, second-guess asitting President’s judgment thatinvoking privilege is not in the bestinterests of the United States,”Millett wrote.

Appeals court ruling against Trump Jan. 6 case tees up likely Supreme Court test

WASHINGTON (TheHill): The White House,stung by President JoeBiden’s low approval rat-ings, is blaming the pressfor some of its woes, TheHill is reporting.

Biden’s ratings havesparked fears amongDemocrats over the presi-dent’s weakened cloutahead of next year’smidterms, the outlet noted.

More than 60 liberalgroups on Thursday urgedthe media for more bal-anced coverage of Biden.

"Please consider andswiftly address your rolein promoting this wide-spread, destructive patternof reporting," the groupssaid in a letter to themedia. "Not only is itdoing harm to our democ-racy, but it is also harmingyour reputation as journal-ists and that of the newsoutlets you represent."

Numerous administra-tion officials have sharedan opinion piece byWashington Post colum-nist Dana Milbank, whowrote last week that themedia treats Biden asbadly as — or worse than— Donald Trump when he

was in the White House.At Milbank’s request, a

data analytics unit of theinformation companyFiscalNote, went throughmore than 200,000 articlesfrom 65 news outlets.

"After a honeymoon ofslightly positive coveragein the first three months ofthe year, Biden’s press forthe past four months hasbeen as bad as — and for atime worse than — thecoverage Trump receivedfor the same four monthsof 2020," Milbank wrote.

Biden administrationofficials have been criticalabout a Politico report thatdetailed Vice PresidentKamala Harris’ preferencefor traditional wired head-phones instead of blue-tooth devices. "The intrep-id, substantive reportingon @VP continues," WhiteHouse deputy press secre-tary Chris Meagher tweet-ed.

Meanwhile, the WhiteHouse is trying to reshapecoverage of the economyin its favor, CNN reported.

The news network saidadministration officialshave been unhappy withthe media’s focus on the

supply chain problems andthe economy.

As a result, the WhiteHouse has sent out senioradministration officials,including NationalEconomic Council deputydirectors David Kaminand Bharat Ramamurti, tobrief newsrooms. CNNattributed the informationto an unnamed source.

The Hill noted thatBiden, in an effort to focusattention to his agenda,delivered remarks lastweek concerning theNovember jobs numbers.The White House haspointed to the numbers asevidence of an ongoingeconomic recovery fromthe pandemic.

But Biden’s remarkswere overshadowed by hishoarse voice, which heattributed to a cold, TheHill said.

"From the presidentcoughing or what air-budsthe vice president uses,there has been this barrageof frankly, unimportanthigh-school tabloid-stylegarbage," said KurtBardella, an adviser formultiple Democratcommittees.

White House blamesmedia for problems

NEW YORK (Monitoring Desk):Health officials are intensifying theircalls for all American adults to getbooster shots amid the threat of theomicron variant, a strain of COVID-19 first discovered in South Africa.

Data released by Pfizer this weekshowed a significant drop in the anti-body response to the omicron strainwith two doses, but that response,according to the pharmaceutical com-pany, was restored with a third dose.

Even before the discovery of omi-cron, many experts pointed to evi-dence of waning immunity over timefrom two doses, arguing for a need fora third dose after six months, but thenew variant has added to the urgency.“People who have received one or twodoses appear to have significantlylower levels of immunity to omicron,”said Josh Michaud, associate directorfor global health policy at the KaiserFamily Foundation. “It does seem tohave raised the stakes a bit.”

But only about one-in-four U.S.adults with two shots has received abooster, according to Centers forDisease Control and Prevention(CDC) data. Another roughly 16 per-cent of U.S. adults are entirely unvac-cinated, making them by far the mostvulnerable in the population.

Early data from omicron indicatesthat the variant is extremely transmis-sible, raising levels of concern of aheightened wave, especially if boost-er uptake does not improve. There aresome early indications that omicroncould cause less severe illness, butthat is not yet certain.

Even before a major rise in omi-cron cases, the delta variant is alreadystraining hospitals in some states.

“It looks like a real problem for theU.S. if we don’t raise those numbersup,” Michaud said of the boosteruptake. Some backing the boostercampaign have grown frustrated thatsome experts continue to question the

need for boosters for all adults.“I am getting very tired of people

(‘experts,’ CDC, journalists) negatingthe incontrovertible evidence for 3rdshots that existed prior to Omicron,which is one of the reasons why lessthan 1 in 4 US adults have had boost-ers,” tweeted Eric Topol, professor ofmolecular medicine at ScrippsResearch. The White House has alsoshown signs of frustration.

“Imagine the public health benefitif all those anti-boost doctors on TVhad focused on combating misinfor-mation and defending vaccinerequirements rather than complainingabout booster shots,” tweeted BenWakana, a member of the WhiteHouse COVID-19 response team.

Early data from the UnitedKingdom on Friday showed twodoses of the Pfizer vaccine were onlyabout 30 percent effective againstpreventing symptomatic infectionfrom omicron, but that effectivenessrose to about 75 percent after a thirddose. Still, there are questions abouthow long the protection from a thirdshot will last, as well as the possibili-ty, acknowledged by Pfizer in itsstatement this week, that two dosescould still protect against severe dis-ease from omicron.

Paul Offit, a professor of pediatricsat Children’s Hospital ofPhiladelphia, has been a skeptic ofthe need for widespread boosters foryounger people outside vulnerablegroups like the elderly, saying thattwo doses could still prevent severeillness. He told reporters Wednesdaythat if the goal is to protect againstany infection, rather than just severedisease, frequent boosters could berequired, which he called a “veryhigh bar over time.”

The World Health Organizationhas also been cautioning againstwidespread boosters for months,warning that many people in low-

income countries are still waiting fortheir first shots of vaccine.

“The people who are in the ICUs,the people who are severely ill andthe people who are dying are theunvaccinated,” said SoumyaSwaminathan, the WHO’s chief sci-entist, during a press briefing onWednesday. “Wholesale boosting isnot the solution right now,” she said.“It's reaching everyone.”

But in the United States, wherebooster doses are plentiful, the Bidenadministration argues that Americanscan both ensure strong protection forthemselves and help provide vaccinesto the world. The administrationrecently emphasized boosters as oneof its main responses to omicron.

The debate that has played outover months among experts has led tosome worry that needed boosteruptake is suffering as a result.

“Certainly it didn’t help to havelots of questions about: Are theseboosters worth it?” Michaud said,noting it is hard to tell exactly howmuch effect the debate and confu-sion has had. “We lost many monthsof people getting protected,” Topol,of Scripps Research, said in aninterview, citing “infighting” withinthe Biden administration andamong other experts over the neces-sity of boosters. “We're way behindother countries,” he added.

About 15 percent of the total U.S.population has a third dose, comparedto 20 percent in Germany, 32 percentin the UK, and 45 percent in Israel,according to New York Times data.

Getting many people to get theirfirst two shots was an uphill climb,and getting a booster means possiblyanother day of side effects, which,while not dangerous, could be adeterrent if people need to go towork. President Biden has called onprivate employers to give workerspaid time off to get their boosters.

Health officials ratchet up calls forboosters amid threat of omicron wave

WASHINGTON (Monitoring Desk):More U.S. drivers could find them-selves stuck on snowy highways orhave their travel delayed this winterdue to a shortage of snowplow driv-ers — a reality that could hit homeFriday as winter storms start dumpingsnow from the Intermountain West tothe Upper Great Lakes.

States from Washington toPennsylvania, including Montana andWyoming in the Rocky Mountains,are having trouble finding enoughpeople willing to take the compara-tively low-paying jobs that require aCommercial Driver’s License andoften entail working at odd hours indangerous conditions.

“We want the traveling public tounderstand why it could take longerthis season to clear highways duringwinter storms,” said Jon Swartz, themaintenance administrator for theMontana Department ofTransportation, which is short about90 drivers. “Knowing this helpsmotorists to plan ahead and adjust oreven delay travel plans.”

The labor shortage and lingeringconcerns about the pandemic haveleft employers scrambling to findenough school bus drivers, waiters,cooks and even teachers. The short-age comes as the number ofAmericans applying for unemploy-ment benefits dropped last week tothe lowest level in 52 years andsome are seeking a better work-lifebalance. Several states are eitheralready feeling the crunch or couldbe soon: Heavy snow is predicted inthe coming days in large swaths ofthe country, including Utah andColorado, where more than a foot(30 centimeters) is forecast in higherelevations. Over a half a foot coulddrop in parts of Nebraska and Iowa.Parts of Nevada and New Mexicoalso expect winter storms. State

transportation departments say thereare several reasons for a lack ofsnowplow drivers: the record lowunemployment rate, an aging work-force and an increased demand fordiesel mechanics and CDL drivers inother industries. Private companiescan also be more nimble — raisingsalaries and offering bonuses to driv-ers — than state agencies, whichusually have to get legislativeapproval to change salaries.

“Everyone’s sort of competing forthe same group of workers and pri-vate companies can often offer highersalaries than the state government,”said Barbara LaBoe, spokespersonfor Washington state’s Department ofTransportation.

Along with the competitive mar-ket, LaBoe said Washington also lost151 winter operations workers whodid not want to comply with thestate’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.

One of the main competitors forstates seeking workers with aCommercial Driver’s License are pri-vate trucking companies that havebeen raising driver pay, in some casesseveral times this year, to fill theirown shortages and meet the increas-ing demand to move freight and clearsupply chain bottlenecks.

The American TruckingAssociations estimates there will be arecord shortage of just over 80,000drivers this year, and that doesn’tinclude the shortfall in drivers forschool buses, public transportation orsnowplows. The ATA says the short-age has many roots, including manydrivers nearing retirement age, thepandemic causing some to leave theindustry and training schools churn-ing out fewer new drivers in 2020.Others may leave the industrybecause they don’t like being awayfrom home while an increase in thenumber of states legalizing marijuana

leads to more drivers being unable topass a drug test, the ATA says.

Some states are willing to hiresnowplow drivers and pay for theirCDL training, but it’s not likely thosehires will be ready to work this win-ter, officials said.

Some snowplow drivers workyear-round in highway maintenancejobs, while seasonal workers arehired to fill the additional shifts in thewinter. The shortage is leading statesto make plans to shift mechanics andother full-time employees who haveCommercial Driver’s Licenses intoplows, which can cause problems if aplow needs maintenance work andthe mechanic is out driving.

Wyoming has priorities for whichroads will be plowed first and forhow many hours per day plows willoperate on each roadway. Interstate80, the major east-west corridoracross the southern part of the state,can be plowed around the clockwhile plowing stops on other roads,such as Interstates 90 and 25,between midnight at 4 a.m. Thoseguidelines may come into play morethis year, said Luke Reiner, directorof Wyoming’s Department ofTransportation.

In Washington, LaBoe said someroads and mountain passes will beclosed longer than usual during andafter significant storms and someroads may not receive the same levelof service.

Brief or isolated storms won’tcause problems in most states, in partbecause departments can move driv-ers and equipment around based onthe weather forecast.

“If we have a series of stormsover several days or if it hits thewhole state at once, (the shortage)is going to become more evidentbecause we don’t have as deep abench,” LaBoe said.

As storms start, US States struggleto hire snowplow drivers

KENTUCKY (Monitoring Desk):Kentucky residents, many withoutpower, gas or even a roof over theirheads, woke on Sunday to a land-scape scarred by a string of powerfultornadoes that officials fear killed atleast 100 people while obliteratingbuildings, homes and anything else intheir way. Authorities said they hadlittle hope of finding survivorsbeneath the rubble. Instead rescueworkers, volunteers and residentswere due to begin the long process ofrecovering what they could and clear-ing out fields of debris.

At least 100 people were believedto have been killed in Kentucky aloneafter the tornadoes tore a 200-mile(320-km) path through the U.S.Midwest and South on Friday night.Six workers were killed at anAmazon warehouse in Illinois. Anursing home was struck in Missouri.More than 70,000 people were leftwithout power in Tennessee.

But nowhere suffered as much asthe small town of Mayfield,Kentucky, where the powerfultwisters, which weather forecasterssay are unusual in winter, destroyed acandle factory and the fire and policestations. Across the town of 10,000people in the state's southwestern cor-ner, homes were flattened or missingroofs, giant trees had been uprootedand street signs were mangled.

People combed through the rubbleof their homes for belongings untilnight fell on Saturday. Then thepower-deprived town was mired indarkness, save for occasional flash-lights and emergency vehicle head-

lights. Janet Kimp, 66, and her sonMichael Kimp, 25, survived by hun-kering down in their hallway - theonly part of the house where the roofor the walls did not come crashingdown, she said on Saturday.

This was but the latest disaster toafflict her: Kimp said her houseburned down years ago, and then shehad to file for bankruptcy followingher husband's death.

"I've lost it all again," Kimp said asshe stood in the remnants of her liv-ing room, where furniture was over-turned and debris littered the ground.She stayed the night at her daughter'shouse in Mayfield, which was spared.

Down the road, war veteran RobertBowlin, 59, and his son ChristopherBowlin, 24, were hard-boiling eggson a campfire outside their home.They used wood from a tree that hadcollapsed, narrowly avoiding theirhouse. Kentucky Governor AndyBeshear said the collection of torna-does was the most destructive in thestate's history. He said about 40 work-ers had been rescued at the Mayfieldcandle factory, which had about 110people inside when it was reduced toa pile of rubble. It would be a "mira-cle" to find anyone else alive underthe debris, Beshear said on Saturdayafternoon. In Illinois, sixAmazon.com Inc workers were con-firmed dead on Saturday after a ware-house roof was ripped off, causing11-inch thick concrete walls longerthan football fields to collapse onthemselves.

At least 45 Amazon employeesmade it out safely from the rubble of

the 500,000-square-footEdwardsville, Illinois facility, firechief James Whiteford said. It wasunclear how many workers were stillmissing as Amazon did not have anexact count of people working in thesorting and delivery center at the timethe tornadoes hit, Whiteford said.

The genesis of the tornado out-break was a series of overnight thun-derstorms, including a super cellstorm that formed in northeastArkansas. That storm moved fromArkansas and Missouri and intoTennessee and Kentucky.

Unusually high temperatures andhumidity created the environment forsuch an extreme weather event at thistime of year, experts said.

"I was watching the radar lastnight and I was saying, 'Wait a sec-ond, this is December. How is thishappening in December?' This isthe kind of thing you would onlysee at the height of the season - youknow, March, April, May," saidmeteorologist Jeff Masters withYale Climate Connections.President Joe Biden told reportershe would ask the EnvironmentalProtection Agency to examine whatrole climate change may haveplayed in fueling the storms.Mayfield resident Jamel Alubahr,25, said his three-year old nephewdied and his sister was in the hospi-tal with a skull fracture after beingstuck under the rubble of a three-story home. "It all happened in thesnap of a finger," said Alubahr, whois now staying with another sisterin Mayfield.

Devastated Kentucky Tornadosurvivors pick through debris,

shelter with relatives

UK's Truss tovisit southeastAsia to boosteconomic andsecurity ties

LONDON (Reuters):British Foreign SecretaryLiz Truss will travel toMalaysia on Sunday as partof a week-long visit tosoutheast Asia aimed atdeepening economic andsecurity ties in the region,her office said.

Truss will also visitThailand and Indonesia,chosen to reflect their"growing economic anddiplomatic heft", as post-Brexit Britain looks tostrengthen relations withnations and regions beyondEurope. "I want to positionBritain where the futuregrowth is and to think aboutwho our major partners willbe in 2050 and beyond,"Truss said in a statement.

"Southeast Asia will bethe engine of the globaleconomy and I want Britainto be part of that, upgradingour economic and securityrelations with the region toreflect its growing impor-tance." The Foreign Officesaid Truss would look tobuild closer ties on infra-structure investment intothe region.

Bus crash inEcuador'sAmazon

region kills 18QUITO (AFP/APP): Abus crash in Ecuador'sAmazon region killed 18people and left 25 injured,the ECU911 emergencyservice said Sunday.

ECU911, quotingnational police officials,said the bus crashed andoverturned after "losingits traffic lane." It did notelaborate.

The accident occurredlate Saturday on a highwaynear the city of Sucua, inMorona Santiago provincenear the border with Peru.

The bus was travelingbetween the provincial cap-ital of Macas and the city ofLoja in the Andes, also nearthe Peruvian border.

ECU911 said the injuredwere taken to hospitals inMacas and Sucua.

ROME (AFP/APP):Firefighters on the Italianisland of Sicily searchedthrough piles of rubbleSunday for survivors of amassive blast that toppledmultiple residential build-ings and killed at leastthree people.

Although two womenwere recovered alive fromthe debris early Sunday fol-lowing the buildings' col-lapse Saturday night in thesouthern town of Ravanusa,six people remained miss-ing and Sicily's regionalcivil protection unit con-firmed three deaths.

The explosion, whichoccurred around 1930

GMT Saturday, and wasbelieved to have beencaused by a gas leak,appeared to have levelledfour buildings in the centralresidential district ofRavanusa, a town of nearly11,000 inhabitants.

Television imagesshowed a mass of rubble,wooden beams and man-gled steel in a large emptyspace, with neighbouringbuildings charred anddamaged.

As the day wore on, fire-fighting rescue teams con-tinued to comb through thewreckage, removing slabsof concrete and other mate-rials, but without new signs

of survivors."Since this morning

when we saved twowomen, for a few hoursnow we haven't heard sig-nals under the rubble,"Luca Cari, the spokesmanfor Italy's national fire-fighters, told Sky TG24television.

"This certainly doesn'tmean at all that we've givenup hope but obviously withthe time passing it doesn'tplay in our favour."

The civil protection unitsaid on its website that"four buildings wereinvolved" in the incident,but local news reports saidthe number was higher.

Three dead, six missing in Sicily blastas search continues

6 The Frontier Post LeaderMonday, December 13, 2021

The Frontier PostJALIL AFRIDIManaging Editor

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The recent US sanc-tions on China andBangladesh are

very problematic. The USshould look at the humanrights situation in its ter-ritory first!

The United Statesimposed sanctions on sev-eral companies and individ-uals in China, Myanmar,and North Korea on De-cember 10, 2021, on theday of ‘International Hum-an Rights Day to protecthuman rights in the world.On the occasion of Inte-rnational Human RightsDay, the US Treasury Dep-artment has announced theimposition of sanctions onthe assets of 15 individualsand 10 organizations in var-ious countries for serious h-uman rights violations. TheUnited States has also im-posed sanctions on Bang-ladesh's Special Police Ra-pid Action Battalion (RAB)and six of its officers.

Bangladesh hasexpressed dissatisfactionover the US sanctions. TheUS ambassador to Dhaka,Earl R. Miller, had beensummoned to the StateDepartment today toexpress his dissatisfaction.Million’s people go missingin the United States eachyear, but the US govern-ment does not know how.The US police kill thou-sands of people every yearin the line of duty. TheUnited States should beinformed. So, the sanctionof this America on othercountries isn’t appropriate.On the other hands, The USalways wants to use the‘Uighur issue as a politicaltool to counter the rise ofChina. In fact, the countriesthat develop, the govern-ments that do-good workare often attacked. If you do

good then the problem is. Inthe case of Bangladesh,Security forces may fireseveral times to save liveswhen terrorists fire theirweapons. There might havebeen some separatist inci-dents. But what a US pun-ishment in reaction tothose! The US might havevery ill motives behind this.Bangladesh is an activemember of China run‘BRI’. Actually,Bangladesh didn’t showinterest to join the US led‘QUAD’. Another issue isthat The US wants to signtwo defence agreementswith Bangladesh as the lat-ter is seeking to buyadvanced equipment fromthe US as part of its goal tomodernize the military by2030. But Bangladesh did-n’t show interest to sign the‘General Security of Mil-itary Information Agreem-ent (GSOMIA)’ and the‘Acquisition Cross-Servi-cing Agreement (ACSA)’agreement with USA. Itmay be an issue for Ban-gladesh. The sanction of theUS is very problematic inthe case of China andBangladesh in this regard.Myanmar and North Koreacases may be totally differ-ent. It is the bad universalhabit of the USA to counterthe rising power. It imposedsanctions upon anyone atany time anywhere in thename of serving humanrights worldwide when itcan understand that itsinterest isn’t serving. (Iran,Venezuela, Iraq, etc.)

Let’s talk about thehuman rights situation inthe USA. recent 918 peoplehave been shot and killedby police in the USA in thepast year. This isn’t mydata. This is the data of the‘Washington Post.’ Protests

over the 2020 Black LivesMatter, revived by theextrajudicial killing ofGeorge Floyd by threeMinneapolis police offi-cers, indicate the largestprotest movement in U.S.history. The US should lookat the human rights situa-tion in its territory first.

On February 26 thisyear, UN human rightsexperts called on the USgovernment to end policetorture and racial discrimi-nation in the United States.According to reports ofWestern media outlets suchas The Guardian, BBC,there are serious violationsof human rights in theUSA.

An article in the Lancettitled ‘Fatal police violenceby race and state in theUSA, 1980–2019: a net-work meta-regression onOctober 2, 2021, shows thehorrific pictures of humanrights violation in the USA.The report stated thatbetween 1980 and 2018,many people died in policecustody in the UnitedStates. Fifty-five percent ofthese deaths were unreport-ed or miscellaneous, mean-ing the exact cause of deathwas not disclosed.Although only 10 percentof the population is black,the death rate of blacks inpolice custody is three anda half times that of whites.

Can the US answer thequestion of Abu Ghraibprison, Guantánamo Bayprison abuses? The worldhasn’t forgotten the inci-dents of the USA’s‘Enhanced interrogationand waterboarding’ cases?

The world has not for-gotten the tragic scene of ablack man being strangled

to death by the police onthe streets of the UnitedStates last year. Not onlythat, when Palestinian chil-dren hurled stones at theIsraelis who attacked theirhomes, Israeli forces firedindiscriminately at them.The United States has notimposed sanctions on theIsraelis. On the contrary, ifa country proposes con-demnation of this humanrights violation at theUnited Nations, the UnitedStates vetoes it. So, theirsanction is motivated, one-sided, and ineffective.

According to HumanRights Report 2021, Covid-19's grossly disproportion-ate impact on black, brown,and indigenous peoples,associated with chronicinequalities in health, edu-cation, and economic con-ditions, has highlighted thelasting effects of past clear-ly racist laws and policiesand the continuing obsta-cles to equality. The seriesof police killings of GeorgeFloyd and other policekillings of blacks in Maygave rise to widespread andextensively peacefulprotests, which in manycases were met with brutal-ity by local and federal lawenforcement agents.

This is the human rightssituation in the USA. Theself-proclaimed promoterof world peace, humanrights, democracy world-wide, the US always speaksabout the human rights vio-lation in their targetedcountry. There may havebeen an ill motive behindthis. In the name of protec-tion of human rights inmany countries, the UStries to serve its vestedinterest. We know the inci-

dent of the Iraq war, the warin Afghanistan, etc. The USauthority should look at thehuman rights situation in itscountry first. The UnitedStates is involved in humanrights abuses, includingkillings, disappearances,and abductions, not just inits own country.

The democratic forces ofthe world are well aware ofthe fact that they are nowtalking about strengtheningthe "world democracy" andholding a conference toregain the lost ground afterfailing to establish a singleworld order. The UnitedStates, meanwhile, claimsthat an average of 1,100people are victims of lawenforcement killings eachyear in the United States.Even in their country, sixlakh people go missingevery year. Neighboringdemocracies like India havesimilar cases.

Former United StatesSenator Robert Reichtweeted a few days ago. Hesaid there were 984 extraju-dicial killings in the UnitedStates in 2020. Accordingto various US mediareports, at least 6,700 peo-ple have been extrajudicial-ly killed by law enforce-ment in the United Statessince 2015. That means anaverage of 1,000 people diewithout trial each year inthe United States.

For example, the UnitedStates has sanctioned sevenpeople, including aBangladeshi police chiefand a RAB DG, in theUnited States. Allegedly,that was extrajudicialkilling. The number ofextrajudicial killings in theUnited States is higher eachyear than in Bangladesh.Moreover, there are severalcountries in South Asia

where extrajudicial killingsare taking place.

Extrajudicial killings aretaking place even on ourIndia-Bangladesh borderbut we do not see any suchaction against those coun-tries. Why not India? WhyChina and Bangladesh?They have chosen a fewcountries to show that theywant to work with democ-racy. It is clear that theirbiased policies to somecountries totally are base-less. When China andBangladesh come closer,then the US decided to stopthe improvement of China,Bangladesh. It is a biased,one-sided step of the US.The US needs India for th-eir narrow Indo-Pacific str-ategy that’s why it is totallybiased towards India.

The United States alsoimposed sanctions onIndian Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, who waslater given a red-carpetreception, proving that suchsanctions were in fact inef-fective. What is an irony!What kind of US self-inter-est is! Actually, the US isvery clever, cunning. Itknows the appropriate useof when, how, whom.

On the other hand, it isvery disappointing to seethat Bangladesh has beenput in the line with stateslike North Korea orMyanmar which signifi-cantly stands different, bothin terms of human rightsrecords and political stand-ing on the global, regionaland domestic scale.Targeting China is theUSA’s main agenda. NorthKorea and Myanmar shouldbe another issue? Thus, it isclear to say that the recentUS sanctions upon Chinaand Bangladesh are veryproblematic.

The US should look at the humanrights situation in its territory first!

Jubeda Chowdhury

Disinformationand Hybrid

WarfareT

urkish President Recep TayyipErdogan has said that Disinformationon social media is now beyond mere

national security issues and has posed to be aglobal security threat. While speaking to theAnnual global forum of Stratcom Summit2021, Erdogan was of the view that lies, man-ufactured news, and disinformation spreadrapidly through the use of social media, andmillions of people's lives are darkened due tosuch news spreading from the channels lack-ing any effective control mechanism by thestates. According to the Turkish President, itis important to inform the public and to fightdisinformation and propaganda within theframework of truth, to protect the peoplefrom poisonous effects of lies and disinforma-tion, without compromising citizens' right toreceive accurate and impartial information.Erdogan expressed hope that the StratcomSummit will play an important role inaddressing these challenges through effectivestrategic communication.

The intentionally fabricated lies and disinformationare the most effective tools of propaganda in the mod-ern world which has shaped into a global village dueto easy and unchecked availability of latest and fastmeans of communication including internet, digitaland social media in all parts of the world. Beside con-structive use of these means of communication, suchtools are being used by the terrorist and extremistorganizations, separatist and conspiracy groups aswell as rouge states to defame and discredit theiradversaries and dissents through dissemination ofunauthentic information and provocative ideas.Currently, monitoring, regulation and prevention ofdisinformation has become very difficult for the gov-ernments due to the transnational nature of the threatand absence of cooperation among the nations. Socialmedia platforms claim to have their own regulatorymechanisms but they have lax regimes and usuallylimited to unethical/ abusive literature while preven-tion of planned Psychological operations remained abig challenge for them during the past. PresidentErdogan has rightly diagnosed the problem of disin-formation which usually deprived the people of theworld of truth in the face of planned hybrid warfarecampaigns or psychological operations of great pow-ers regarding certain issues in various parts of theworld. Apparently, modern Turkey and Erdogan him-self remained a victim of propaganda campaigns dur-ing recent years. America and its allies had beenlabeling Erdogan’s government as an authoritarianand extremist regime which had reversed the success-es of modern Turkey and gradually drifted away fromits allies including the US and EU.

Currently, disinformation, fake news and propagan-da are the major tools of hybrid warfare while socialmedia is the easily available platform of its dissemina-tion to discredit and defeat the enemy or exploitation ofmasses against the elected governments across theworld. During the past, America had successfullywaged a war against Iraq on the false accusations ofweapons of mass destruction (WMD), while India andIsrael defamed the rightful freedom movements ofKashmiri Muslims and Palestinians respectively in thename of terrorism, whereas Russia, China, Egypt, Indiaand several other countries have been spending mil-lions of dollars to influence the public opinion throughdissemination of specific information or spread of dis-information against their rivals at home and abroad.Realistically, disinformation is a serious threat tonational unity and global security however it can benullified through restoration of public belief in statemedia, provision of truth and timely counter narrative.

US Military, Factsand Fictions

National Public Radio (NPR), a USbased media group has sued the USDefense Department on its failure to

release documents regarding possible civiliancasualties during the October 2019 militaryraid in Syria that resulted in the death ofIslamic State leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadialong with several innocent civilians in themost celebrated operation of the US CentralCommand. According to details, NPR report-ed claims that US helicopter fire killed twoSyrian civilians and blew the arm off anothercivilian during the raid, after which USCentral Command investigated the matter.Later, the Pentagon cleared its troops ofwrongdoing, without providing any evidencewhile classifying the civilian victims as com-batant enemies and declared their familiesineligible for compensation by the US govern-ment. Presently, NPR has filed its lawsuit inthe US Court alleging the Pentagon of failureto comply with its legal obligation to providedocuments under the Freedom ofInformation Act. The media group is of theview that Central Command must releasedocumentation relating to the operation,investigation and assessment regarding theeligibility of the families of victims for com-pensation by the US government.

The United States has a highly trained and experi-enced Military equipped with state of the art Weaponryharnessed with satellite technology and artificial intel-ligence to achieve optimum accuracy but the ratio ofthe successful operations and operational efficacy hasnever matched with the resources available to the USstrongmen. Despite continuous engagement in war onterror in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and other regionsover more than two decades, American military could-n’t be able to conduct a flawless operation bothremotely controlled drone attacks and raids of the UStroops against their target so far. The continuous reoc-currence of such incidents became a customary for theUS military as well as government and public due tolack of accountability of the perpetrators. In fact, themajor reasons of such tragedies are the incompetenceof field commanders and lack of supervision by thesenior military leaders. In fact, the collection of latestweaponry does not matter for a world’s championmore than its actions on the ground.

In the changing globalpolitical landscape,religion is a significant

component as a socialmeasure with the compli-cation of the erections andpurposes that irritatedvalues and customs. So, itis strong and clear that ifthere is no sole or simpleclassification of a com-plex idea of faith, it is asystem of recognized the-ories and performs thatrecognize the strength ofhuman beings, allowingpeople to solve life's prob-lems and not go further.

Tourism is experiencingsignificant economic andsocial growth.

Majority of PakistaniMuslims are located in aregion where for three cen-turies, there have beenthree of the most importantreligions in the world:Hinduism, Buddhism, andSikhism. In addition toSikh Gurdavars of histori-cal interest, the country ofSouth Asia offers travelersthe opportunity to discoverthe historical heritage ofone of the oldest civiliza-tions in the world and visita rich collection of Sufimosques and saints, Hindutemples, Buddhist monas-teries and Christians.

The Kartarpur Corridor,a joint initiative between

India and Pakistan, is locat-ed in the in Punjab. It is in-tended to link a Gurudwaradarbar Sahib, the Indianborder. In Pakistan, Hinduand Sikh religious sitesattract pilgrims. Religioustourism plays an importantrole in reviving the coun-try's economic activity.Thousands of people attendancient Hindu and Sikhtemples, mainly theGurunanak Temple. Theopening of the Kartarpurcorridor (Narowal) attract-

ed more religious tourists toPakistan.

Pakistan’s foreign policyhas improved over theyears, with the creation ofan economic corridor withChina along the KartarpurCorridor and now a "social"corridor against the adver-sity of India's neighbors.Pakistan knows how torespect other religions and

recognizes the need for reli-gious freedom, unlike In-dia, which has many con-flicts over ethnicity and re-ligion every year. Accord-ing to Article 36, the Con-stitution of Pakistan guar-antees that the state willprotect the legal rights andinterests of ethnic minori-ties. The development ofthe Kartarpur Corridor ispart of the same effort topromote religious freedom

and harmony of ethnicminorities. According tothe statistical data, Pakistanhosts more than 1 millionSikhs each year and thiscontinuing for the past 75years. In November 2021,more than 8000 Sikh pil-grims from all over theworld visited Pakistan tocelebrate the birth anniver-sary of Baba Guru Nanak,

out of which 3000 entrieswere allowed by PakistanHigh Commission in India.

It is no secret that all thegovernments of Pakistanhave always tried to main-tain relations with India onthe principle of coexis-tence, it is another thingthat there has never been apositive response fromIndia. When Imran Khan'sgovernment came to power,he extended a hand of

friendship to India evenbefore he took office, say-ing that if India would takeone step, we will take twosteps.

Imran Khan's adminis-tration started very positiveefforts to create a friendlyenvironment for long-termconstruction with allneighboring countries. Hisfirst speech after the elec-

tions gave hope, as he hasshown an understanding ofPakistan's problems and itsregional dimensions, main-ly peace with India andpeace in Afghanistan.

Pakistan is providingfacilitation for pilgrims ofvarious Holy Shrines inPakistan including Punjab(Kartarpur Corridor,Gurdwara Dera SahibLahore, Gurdwara JanamAsthan, Nankana Sahib,Gurdwara Panja Sahib,Hassan Adal, Darbar Sahib,

Katas Raj Temple), KPK(Shri Param Jee MaharajSamadhi) and Balochistan(Hinglaj Maata Temple).As per the record, Pakistanhas six UNESCO WorldHeritage Sites. Whereas,The Pakistan TourismDevelopment Corporation(PTDC) identified 480locations for inboundtourism alone. Among them

are 106 historical signifi-cance, 120 religions, and 26religions and history.

Recently, to further pro-mote religious tourism andinter-faith harmony, ThePakistan High Commissionin New Delhi has issued136 visas to Hindu pilgrimson 1 December 2021 forvisit to their religious sitesin the country. A large num-ber of pilgrims from Indiais arriving in Sindh to takepart in the celebrations ofthe 313th birth anniversaryof Shiv Avtari SatguruShadarm Sahib in Ghotkidistrict from 4-15December 2021.

Shadani Darbar foundedin 1786 by Sant ShadaramSahib is a sacred place forHindu devotees across theworld. According to pressrelease issued by thePakistan HighCommission, these visasare in addition to the visasgranted to Hindu pilgrimsparticipating in their reli-gious events from othercountries. With Pakistan’sfocused approach on up-keeping of religious sites oftheir religions and facilitiesfor visa, stay, transporta-tion etc during the past fewyears. Pakistan is burningout to be a ‘Heaven of reli-gious tourism and inter-faith harmony”.

Pakistan A Home To Religious Tourism

Sehrish Khan

US President JoeBiden said the USwould not send

troops to Ukraine in theevent of a Russian inva-sion. He explained thatwhile Ukraine is not aNATO member, Washin-gton is not obliged to de-fend it. At the same time,Biden promised to sendAmerican troops to theEuropean countries nei-ghboring Russia in theevent of a threat to Ukr-aine. The Kremlin calledthis rhetoric aggressive.

Ukraine will not beprotected

Biden noted that in theevent of a Russian invasionof Ukraine, American sol-diers would be transferredto the countries of the Bu-charest Nine (post-commu-nist states of Eastern Eur-ope: Romania, Hungary,Latvia, Lithuania, Poland,Czech Republic, Estonia,Bulgaria, Slovakia).

“We will have to sendmore US and NATO troopsto the eastern flank to thecountries of the BucharestNine, where we have asacred duty to protect themfrom any Russian attacks,”the head of the WhiteHouse explained toreporters.

He added that he neverplanned to send troopsdirectly to Ukraine. At thesame time, the Americanpresident specified that theUnited States continues toprovide military assistanceto Ukraine.

Biden also said that dur-ing the latest talks withRussian leader VladimirPutin (the presidents spokevia video link on December7, including discussingUkraine), he warnedMoscow about the devas-tating consequences of theaggression against Ukrainefor the Russian economy.

"He [ Putin ] will pay aterrible price," Bidenthreatened.

Russia's reactionPress Secretary of the

Russian President DmitryPeskov said in responsethat such statements are badfor relations betweenRussia and the UnitedStates.

“We have been hearingtoo much aggressive rheto-ric from across the ocean inrecent weeks. This, unfor-tunately, does nothing toease tensions, ” he said .

Peskov confirmed thatBiden had promised Putinfinancial sanctions againstRussia. “Yes, indeed, Biden

said that if there is thisephemeral invasion ofUkraine - apparently, theAmericans themselves havealready believed that this isnot informational stuffing,but the true truth - thenRussia will be financiallyisolated, and so on and soforth. ", - said Peskov.

The spokesman for thehead of state noted thatPutin did not have much torejoice after talking withBiden. Nevertheless, theconversation was mutuallyrespectful.

“Our American col-leagues, right after the endof the conversation, in uni-son with each other, ofcourse, began to talk abouthorror films, about howBiden scared Putin, and soon. This is not the case, ”hesaid.

Peskov said that Putinand Biden agreed on a newmeeting. “They will need totalk again, maybe, using thesame video format, the twopresidents liked it,” thepress secretary said. A face-to-face meeting, accordingto him, is “a matter of thefuture,” and it’s too early totalk about it.

What military assistance

does Kiev receive from theUnited States

The United States hasbeen providing militaryassistance to Ukraine since2014. During this time,Washington has spent morethan $ 2 billion on supply-ing Ukraine. The Pentagonsupplies Kiev with ammu-nition, communications,medicines, anti-unmannedaerial vehicle systems, anti-tank and anti-ship missiles.

In October, theUkrainian Ministry ofDefense reported that theUnited States had suppliedthe country with ammuni-tion, precision weapons,medicines and radar sur-veillance equipment.Ukrainian Defense MinisterAndriy Taran added that theUnited States is providingUkraine with warships.

Battering ram in Octoberclarified that Americanequipment is being used inDonbass.

“Our communicationssystem at the front line isbased on American radiocommunications, crypto-security means, it allows usto perform tasks and keepour negotiations secretfrom Russian interceptors,”

Taran said.In November, Ukraine

first used Javelin anti-tankmissile systems (ATGM) inDonbas, said KirillBudanov, head of the MainIntelligence Directorate(GUR) of the UkrainianMinistry of Defense. In hisopinion, the AmericanJavelins, together with theTurkish Bayraktarunmanned aerial vehicles,have a "powerful psycho-logical deterrent" for thetroops of the DPR and LPRnot controlled by Kiev.

Kiev asked the UnitedStates for additional mili-tary equipment a monthago, NBC sources said theday before . Ukraine needsair defense systems, anti-ship missiles, Javelin anti-tank systems and radar sys-tems. In addition, Kievasked for medication. TheUnited States agreed andprepared a new package ofmilitary assistance toUkraine in the amount of $200 million, but the WhiteHouse temporarily frozesupplies in light of the cur-rent situation. According tosources, Washington wantsto give Moscow and Kievtime to settle relationsdiplomatically and notescalate the situation.

According to the chan-nel's sources, the USadministration is consider-ing an expanded package ofmilitary assistance toUkraine, which will beapproved in the event ofRussian aggression. OnTuesday, Biden's nationalsecurity adviser JakeSullivan confirmed that theUnited States will provideUkraine with additionalweapons in the event ofRussian aggression.Sullivan pointed out thatBiden warned Putin aboutthis.

Laura Cooper, DeputyAssistant Secretary ofDefense for Russia,Ukraine and Eurasia, notedthat Europe also helps theUkrainian army, but notwith the supply ofweapons. Great Britain,Poland and Lithuania areparticipating in the trainingof the Ukrainian military.

Russia has repeatedlycriticized the United Statesfor supplying Kiev withlethal weapons, noting thatthis leads to an aggravationof the conflict in Donbass.In November, Peskov askedNATO not to “pump”Ukraine with weapons,“inspiring” it to “insaneactions”.

How Biden threatened PutinAnna Gromova

According to the statistical data, Pakistan hosts more than 1 million Sikhs eachyear and this continuing for the past 75 years. In November 2021, more than

8000 Sikh pilgrims from all over the world visited Pakistan to celebrate the birthanniversary of Baba Guru Nanak, out of which 3000 entries were allowed byPakistan High Commission in India. It is no secret that all the governments ofPakistan have always tried to maintain relations with India on the principle of

coexistence, it is another thing that there has never been a positive responsefrom India. When Imran Khan's government came to power, he extended a handof friendship to India even before he took office, saying that if India would take

one step, we will take two steps.

The Frontier Post 7Opinion Monday, December 13, 2021

Important NoticeThe Frontier Post will not be responsible for the comments in the articlesand letters. The Frontier Post requests the writers of articles and lettersto please make sure that they write their email addresses and mentionthe names of the cities, towns, districts or tehsil of their residences at the bottom of their articles and letters.

The idea seems tohave taken shape oris finally taking

shape right before oureyes: the "divorce" of thefirst two economies of theworld turned out to beimpossible, and if so,America must forcefullyreturn China to the past,when it was not yet one ofthe superpowers.

The starting point forreflection here is the newsabout the trade between theUnited States and the PRCfor 11 months of this year:$ 694 billion. The results ofthe whole year, apparently,will mean a record. Andthis is after the trade warlaunched by DonaldTrump, which mainlyboiled down to prohibitiveduties on the import ofChinese goods. Banned,banned, but Chineseexports amount to almost529 of the same 694 billion.And the Chinese foreignexchange reserves, becauseof the resulting surplus,therefore grow againobscenely quickly.

And at the same time,the United States is intro-ducing more and moresanctions against Beijing,but if you look closely, theyconcern something relatedto high technologies. Whatdoes all this mean? Theanswer from the Chinesemagazine Global Times :they are hoping that Chinawill continue to supply theUnited States with middleand low-price goods, butAmerica will regain itsleadership in high technolo-gies, blocking the access ofrelevant Chinese technolo-gies to the markets of West-ern countries, so that main-tain its own dominant posi-tion in the world economy.

That is, we have beforeus the dream of returningnot only China, but the

whole world to the realitiesof the 1990s, when theChinese and Americaneconomies began to mergemore and more inextricablyaccording to the schemedescribed above.

We can safely say thatwe have before us theessence and meaning ofwhat can now pass for theChinese policy of the Bidenadministration (for lack of abetter one). And since therelations between the firsttwo powers of the world areabout the same as in thesecond half of the last cen-tury the competitionbetween the USSR and theUSA, we have before us akey supporting structure ofthe whole world for anindefinite future.

We have repeatedly saidthat Trump's Chinese poli-cy was an amateur improv-isation on his knee (or on astool). This was so if onlybecause the Republicansdid not have and do nothave a powerful thinkingand bureaucratic apparatusin terms of foreign affairs.Biden has it. And now wesee: the US-China ties areslowly thawing. All thefacts of this kind are listedby the famous Hong Konganalyst Frank Chin sincethe 1980s: here and therenewal of contacts on thetrade and military lines, and"a general improvement inthe atmosphere." Theprocess began after thevideo summit of Xi Jinpingand Joe Biden onSeptember 9. And now, atleast, the bottom of the rela-tionship, which used to bein free fall, has emerged.

But at the same time, theopposite process is goingon: an absolutely fake con-flict in the Taiwan Strait,with accusations that Chinais going to seize this island,and a diplomatic boycott of

the Olympic Games inBeijing. So the whole pic-ture strongly resembles theprocess launched after therecent similar conversationbetween Vladimir Putinand the same Biden: boththe improvement of theatmosphere and the con-frontation at the same time.This is now a corporateAmerican style. Whichshould not only be studiedas a technology, but alsounderstand what is behindit.

And there is weaknessand fear. Here is a report onone of the many confer-ences taking place in theUnited States on the topicof "where our foreign poli-cy is heading." It said that itwas good in the 1990s andeven in the early 2000s:China was still a controlledcompetitor, not a “civiliza-tional adversary,” in addi-tion, transatlantic ties (thatis, NATO) seemed unbreak-able. Today everything isworse: America can nolonger simultaneously setEurope against Russia,keep troops in the MiddleEast - and confront China.Not to mention the fact thatthe ideological influence ofChina is felt even on theterritory of American uni-versities.

But - and here we turn tolast year's interview withthe famous analyst, JohnMearsheimer - the problemis that it is too dangerous toseriously conflict withChina.

This is a famous personwho has long predicted therivalry between the UnitedStates and China as a sub-stitute for the confrontationbetween the USSR and theUnited States. His ideologyis devoid of idealism, itconsists in the fact that the

state is a wolf, it has alwaysbeen so and will always be.No one in the world everbelieves in the good inten-tions of very strong coun-tries (hello to the geopoli-tics of the USSR during thetimes of MikhailGorbachev). Therefore,each is trying to becomeomnipotent, if not on theworld stage, then in its ownregion, and China, asMearsheimer predictedback in 2001, will achieveits goal at least in Asia.Accordingly, the UnitedStates will not like it. Butnow, when the weight ofthe two countries on theworld stage has becomepractically the same,America simply cannotbear it.

And nowadays (althoughstill in the Trump era) thisperson is asked: so what,after the confrontationbetween the USSR and theUnited States, the world hasreturned to the startingpoint of the fight betweenthe superpowers, but onlynow we are talking aboutChina? And he answers:yes, but everything will notbe so. First, the Sovieteconomy was not very effi-cient, because it was social-ist and in terms of GDP itnever made more than athird of the US economy.China is a fundamentallydifferent enemy. There arefour times as many peopleas in the United States, andthey are employed in adynamic capitalist econo-my. As a result, Americamay have to deal with acountry much stronger thanitself.

But there is also second-ly. Mearsheimer says thesituation with China ismore dangerous than withthe USSR in the last centu-ry. Follow the logic: theUnited States did not really

want to fight with Moscow,because a key part of themilitary confrontationwould unfold in the territo-ries of Central Europe, andthis is not very good forAtlantic unity - one of theEuropeans might be offend-ed. But the limited conflictwith Beijing is somewherefar away in Asia. Some ofthe generals might be think-ing: who cares about thisSoutheast Asia ? Thethreshold of conflict hasbeen lowered and that iswhy such a situation mustbe feared.

What conclusion will theold superpower draw fromall this? So far - see above -it has been decided to endTrump's trade war, but toprevent China fromstrengthening its techno-logical superiority. That is,to cooperate and fight at thesame time. (With Russia,they also want to eventual-ly come to such a formulaof love).

But the captivatingfrankness of this approachstrongly dislikes China, andwho will. Plus, Trump'strade war has been sabo-taged by American busi-nesses, whose prosperity islargely dependent on" m e d i u m - l o w - c o s t "Chinese imports.

But at the same time,there is interdependence interms of high technologies.Just now, another scandalof this kind is unfolding inthe United States. Apple isunder attack as bad peoplehave just stolen and pub-lished the tech giant's docu-mentation of its $ 275 bil-lion - not million - dollardeals with the Chinese(indefinitely). I wonderhow many more globaltechnology leaders haveactually merged in anunbreakable embrace withtheir Chinese counterparts?

The United States intends to“drive the enemy into the 90s”

Dmitry Kosyrev

It’s twenty years thisweek since China wasadmitted to member-

ship of the World TradeOrganization (WTO).That presaged a remark-able surge in Chinesetrade, an industrial trans-formation on a scale notseen before in human his-tory, China’s emergenceas the world’s largesttrading nation and itsintegration into the globaleconomy in a way thatwas hardly possible toimagine just two decadesearlier. It’s little wonderthat the WTO is amongthe most widely respectedinternational institutionsin China today.

China’s rapid growthsince its accession to theWTO — per capitaincomes are now well overfour times as high today asthey were in 2001 — wasthe single most importantpoverty-reducing event ofthe past century. China’sdecision to join the WTO,and the stringent conditionsit had to meet to be accept-ed, have been major driversof the vast structuralchange away from subsis-tence agriculture, makingChina the undisputed facto-ry of the world economy.Its rise as a manufacturingpowerhouse has profoundlyshaped the way the worldeconomy operates, leadingto soaring demand for rawmaterials, challenging man-ufacturing industries in

other industrial countries,and leading to a major shiftin the balance of geopoliti-cal power away from theUnited States and Europeand towards Asia.

The sailing has notalways been smooth: whileChina has a good record ofabiding by the letter ofWTO law, it has not alwayslived up to its spirit.

Last month, the WTOcompleted its latest TradePolicy Review of China,the eighth to take placesince China’s accessiontwenty years ago thismonth. The mood at theReview was rather darkerthan in the past, as a num-ber of countries, includingAustralia, the UnitedStates, Japan and India,took the opportunity tostick the diplomatic boot inover China’s recent attem-pts to use economic coer-cion — mainly by applica-tion of strategically chosenimport bans — in the serv-ice of its geopolitical goals.Other delegations, whiledrawing attention to workstill to be done by China,were more positive.

These complaints are notnew, nor are all of themunjustified: in more-or-lessevery one of China’sreviews since the first in2006, Western countrieshave needled Beijing overwhat they see as reformbacksliding. Perennialgrievances include opaquecustoms procedures, trade

bans with flimsy or non-existent justifications, andlack of transparency overthe vast array of subsidies ithas doled out to domesticindustries. On the otherhand, subsidies on the windturbine industry, for exam-ple, were wound back atWTO instigation.

China’s record in theWTO is much better thanWestern narratives suggest.It implemented its WTOaccession protocols notonly because it agreed tothem but because they pro-pelled the domestic reformsthe leadership wanted toput in place. The accessionagreement roadmap onlyran for 10 years. If Chinahas not always stuck to thespirit of its accession agree-ment, it has usually accept-ed the rulings of the WTO’sarbitration.

Perhaps the harshest crit-ic of China’s track record,the US-China BusinessCouncil, has been clear inthe past that although‘China has fulfilled most ofthe specific obligations ofthe accession agreement,China has not implementeda number of importantc o m m i t m e n t s ’ .Specifically, ‘new areas notenvisioned at the time ofthe accession negotiationswere not covered by theagreement’. The rules areoutdated and have not keptup with commerce in this

century, a problem that isnot entirely China’s fault asthe United States itself hasopted out of playing by theold WTO rules and forgingnew ones.

The dominant view inWashington these days isthat China’s declared desirefor a more open, market-oriented economy is not tobe taken seriously, and thatit will continue to operate adirigiste model of stateintervention in the econo-my for decades to come.This is more than a littlehypocritical, given therecent bipartisan Americanembrace of industrial subsi-dies and managed tradewith China and Europe. Italso seriously underesti-mates both the major rolethat markets place in allo-cating resources within theChinese economy and thepolitical will for reform inBeijing. China’s recentapplication to join theComprehensive andProgressive Agreement forTrans-Pacific Partnership(CPTPP) will require amajor commitment onBeijing’s part to dismantlethe role of state-ownedenterprises in the Chineseeconomy.

If the United States nolonger has the will to leadin the global trade system,it is far from clear that —despite the progress it hasmade in the twenty yearssince it joined the WTO —China has the ambition or

the capacity to superintendit, either. This is a danger-ous time for a lack of glob-al leadership. Pandemicsbreed protectionism. Givenits weight in the worldeconomy, Asia (includingChina) needs to step upwith collective leadershipthat will defend, preserveand extend the remit of theWTO. As China’s experi-ence since 2001 has shown,participation in a rules-based liberal trading orderis a precondition for sus-tained catch-up growth, alesson from which lower-income countries, particu-larly in South Asia andAfrica can learn a greatdeal. But that trading ordercan only endure as long asits participants commit toabiding by the rules of thegame — and updating thoserules when necessary.

At Davos in January2017, Chinese President XiJinping stood up for global-isation and the order thatsecured it as ‘the rightstrategic choice’. China’s— and, by extension, Asia’s— interest in new leader-ship to defend that orderrequires that its actions arenow true to its President’sword.

Tom Westland isResearch Director in theAsian Bureau ofEconomic Research in theCrawford School ofPublic Policy at theAustralian NationalUniversity.

China’s big moment of choice on trade policyTom Westland

The US recently con-firmed that it wouldnot send any official

or diplomatic representa-tives to the Winter Oly-mpic Games and Paraly-mpics in February 2022due to China's alleged"ongoing genocide andcrimes against humanityin Xinjiang and other hu-man rights abuses." Makeno mistake - this toughlanguage does not imply atotal boycott of the Games- US athletes are not ba-nned from competing forOlympic medals in China,and American fans will h-ave a chance to cheer theircompatriots on offline,provided that these fansmanage to get to Beijingamid existing strictCOVID-19 restrictions.The US decision is mostlysymbolic: The Bidenadministration, as WhiteHouse press secretary JenPsaki stated, "will not becontributing to the fan-fare of the Games."

Thinking about this USdecision I am compelled torecollect the Winter Gamesof 2014 held in the city ofSochi along Russia's BlackSea coast. One should notethat the Games happened tobe one of President

Vladimir Putin's most cher-ished personal initiatives.The Russian leader hadspent a lot of his time andenergy monitoring progressat numerous developmentsites, visiting futureOlympic facilities, guidingconstruction teams, review-ing budgets, and observingexpenditures. He lookedforward to presenting theresults of his efforts to theinternational community.When the work was finallycompleted, he invited manyforeign leaders to come toSochi and to share with himhis hard-earned jamboree.

Unfortunately, almost allheads of Western statesfound "compelling" reasonsnot to include a trip to Sochiinto their travel plans.Barak Obama and AngelaMerkel, Francois Hollandand David Cameron - all ofthem turned down VladimirPutin's invitation. This wasnot a formal diplomaticboycott: Some of the no-shows referred to their busyschedules. However, manyobservers noted that the raincheck reasons picked byWestern leaders reflecteddissatisfaction of the latterwith how Russia's authori-ties approached the issue ofsexual minorities' rights.

Moreover, on the eve ofthe event in Sochi, Westernmedia presented a rathergloomy picture of howRussia had prepared for the2014 Games reportingmany alleged cases of cor-ruption, misappropriationof funds, constructiondelays, and environmentaldamage caused by the con-struction. In sum, the out-stretched hand of VladimirPutin hung empty in the air.The Russian leader shouldhave been strongly disap-pointed at and angry withhis Western partners. Incontrast, Chinese PresidentXi Jinping, Japanese PrimeMinister Shinzo Abe,Turkish leader RecepErdogan, and many othernon-Western heads of statewere happy to join Putin forthe sporting event in Sochi.

This unfortunate incidentwould probably not beworth mention if it were notfor one remarkable coinci-dence. The 2014 Gamescoincided with the climaxof mutiny and violence inUkraine. When hockeyplayers were scoring pucksin the Bolshoy Ice Dome inSochi, protesters were burn-ing car tires at the

Independence Square inKyiv. The situation inUkraine was getting moreand more dangerous witheach passing day.

I often wonder whetherthe Ukrainian crisis couldhave taken a different direc-tion should all Western le-aders have had a chance todiscuss its unraveling situa-tion with President Putin inan informal way some-where in a VIP lounge at theOlympic Village in Sochi.Probably, in the friendly a-nd relaxed atmosphere of t-he grand sport festival, theycould had come to a com-mon position that wouldhave prevented furtherunrest, more bloodshed, anda future protracted funda-mental conflict betweenMoscow and the West.Unfortunately, this opportu-nity was missed forever.

Now, let me get back tothe Western diplomatic boy-cott of the 2022 BeijingWinter Olympic Games.Just imagine for a secondthat there is another majorinternational crisis duringthe Games - for instance, inthe Taiwan Straits. Wouldn'tit be great for President Xi,Joe Biden, Vladimir Putin,and other big shots in glob-al politics to discuss the cri-

sis in the casual environ-ment of the WinterOlympics? I am almost surethat this environment wouldbe ideal for reaching anacceptable compromise andfor avoiding the worst-caseoutcomes of the crisis. Evenwithout a crisis, a meetingof P5 leaders on the marginsof the 2022 Games wouldbe an extremely rare oppor-tunity to compare notes onthe situation in the worldand to agree on steps pro-moting global stability andeconomic recovery. Itseems that this opportunityhas already been missed asthe one missed eight yearsago.

History tells us that whentension between statesgrows, the states need more,not less diplomatic interac-tion. Not sending officialsto the Olympic Games inBeijing, Western leadersdemonstrated a spectacularlack of vision and a deficitof common sense - and nei-ther for the first nor for thelast time in modern history.The sad fact is that the mis-takes and fumbles of stateleaders often impose aheavy toll on societies andnations that these leadersare supposed to serve andprotect.

8 years have passed, Western leaders’ lack ofvision continues from Sochi to Beijing

Andrey Kortunov

Everyone is wellaware that the Westhas been hatching

plans for the collapse ofRussia for a long time.They don't hide it there.Let us recall, for example,the sensational report byJanusz Bugaysky, a lead-ing analyst at theAmerican Center for theAnalysis of EuropeanPolitics, under the charac-teristic title "Controllingthe disintegration ofRussia." In this opus, thepolitical scientist recom-mends the Americanauthorities to promote thegrowth of separatismwithin our country anddivides its various regionsbetween its neighbors -Finland, Ukraine, Chinaand Japan.

When these dreamscome from outright hatersof Russia from abroad, thiscan be explained by thedesire to get rid of theirmain geopolitical rival, or atleast weaken him. But it isalways more difficult tounderstand citizens whodream of the disintegrationof their own country. Wehave not so long ago experi-enced the nightmare of sep-aratism and its bloody con-sequences, therefore theseideas have long been con-demned and rejected bysociety. That is why such aresonance was caused by anattempt to pull these dan-gerous ideas out of naphtha-lene and return them to pub-lic discourse.

We are talking about anemotional and rather inco-herent speech by film direc-tor Alexander Sokurov at ameeting of the Council forthe Development of CivilSociety and Human Rightsunder the President ofRussia. Vladimir Putin evencalled it a "manifesto."Based on the experience ofpersonal communication,Sokurov said: “It seems tome that people in theFederation are beginning todislike more and moreRussians. Many want topart with us, do not want tobe in the same company, asthey say... live with us in thesame state, we wish themgood luck.”

Where Sokurov got theinformation that somewheresomeone wants to secedefrom the Russian Federat-ion remains unclear. Putinrecalled the results of theelections and the recent ref-erendum, which testify tothe unity of our people. Onemight also recall the resultsof various surveys of publicopinion, showing that sepa-ratism ideas are marginal inall regions of the country.

But Sokurov still sug-gests checking it out. Thatis, just out of the blue to callreferendums in each regionin order to find out whetherthey want to leave theFederation or not? It willindeed be a unique phenom-enon if the state itselfinvites the citizens of itsindividual regions to dis-cuss the separatist idea,without having any prereq-uisites for this.

At the same time, we canassume which result willsuit our inveterate liberalsand which will not. Weremember how in March1991 the overwhelmingmajority of the citizens ofthe USSR voted for thepreservation of the unitedcountry and how, a fewmonths later, they simplydid not give a damn abouttheir choice, under the thun-derous ovation of the liberalpublic, the Union collapsed.

Sokurov himself in his"manifesto" refers to thewords attributed to them byGoethe (although MarkTwain said something simi-lar): "If you are on the sideof the majority, think aboutwhat you are wrong about."Then what is the point ofasking the people some-thing if you do not acceptthe choice of the majority inadvance! Whatever referen-dums are held, our liberalshave long defined for them-selves: the expansion andstrengthening of Russia isbad, its weakening andreduction is wonderful.

And ask them why youneed to follow this path,

you will not get a clearanswer. At best, an appealto some higher values??will follow. As FyodorDostoevsky wrote in "ThePossessed": "Higher liberal-ism" and "higher liberal",that is, a liberal without anygoal, are possible only inRussia alone."

Sokurov, both in his fieryspeech and in many otherspeeches, refers to the expe-rience of 1917: they say,Russia developed in theright direction when the lib-erals came to power, butthen the bloody Bolsheviksdestroyed all these goodundertakings. But, by andlarge, the Russian "higherliberalism" mentioned byDostoevsky has notchanged at all over the pastcentury. Its adherents stillcall for some reforms, theconsequence of whichshould be the disintegrationand weakening of Russia,but they firmly believe thatthis time everything will bebeautiful and peaceful.

In the same way, theirhistorical forerunners in1917 fiercely defended theright of nations to self-determination (it is a mis-take to assert that this is aBolshevik formula, thenthis idea was universal),having absolutely no ideawhat it would turn out to be.Illustrative in this sense arethe memoirs of an activepolitical figure of that era,Arnold Margolin, who wasa member of the CentralCommittee of the People'sSocialist Party. Describingthe stormy discussions inthe spring and summer of1917 on the issue of theright to secession, herecalled that the famousRussian publicist VasilyVodovozov was mostactively pushing this thesis.To instructions that Finlandwould immediately use thisformula, "Vodovozovreplied as decisively asunconvincingly:" TheFinnish people will not dothis, for the Finns are not sostupid and not so mean as tosecede from Russia. "Margolin reasonably askedthe question: "why doVodovozov and his associ-ates break their spears somuch for their formula,since they are sure that eventhe Finns will not use it?"This was the approach ofthe bulk of the Russian lib-eral intelligentsia to thefashionable formula for theself-determination ofnations. Judging bySokurov's words, nothinghas changed much in herposition over this century.

According to the logic ofthese people, Russia a priorimust surrender, retreat, giveup territory, eventuallyshrinking to the level of"Muscovy". Historian andwriter Nikolai Starikovexplains: "Sokurov andthose who think like himproceed from the presump-tion of some kind of" histor-ical incorrectness "inRussia. They say that eve-ryone is good, there is noworld struggle, and in allwars - past, future and pres-ent - Russia is to blame".

And this is not an exag-geration at all. Several yearsago, the same Sokurov sug-gested: “I would introduceinto the Constitution theprinciple of compulsorypeaceful coexistence withall countries with which wehave common borders.Even if we were attacked,we must find the strengthnot to use the army, not toinvade foreign territory ".Note: "even if we wereattacked"! That is, in theevent of aggression fromsome neighbors, Russia, inthe opinion of our liberals,should silently turn theother cheek and humblywatch the massacre ofRussians on the territoryoccupied by the invaders.This is the fate assigned tous in the plans for the dis-memberment of the RussianFederation.

That is why we can con-clude that Sokurov's wordsthat young Caucasians inthe event of aggressionagainst Russia will not fightfor it are not his observa-

tions, but his dream. By astrange coincidence, thefilmmaker's social circle isalways full of Russophobes.For example, in 2015, hestated : “I have always andeverywhere for many yearsseen the irritated reactionsof my Ukrainian colleaguesand citizens of this countryto the neighborhood withRussia as such. They veryoften told me:“ We are tiredof your Russian expansion,tired of the neighborhoodwith Russia... We are tiredof you! "What can Russiado so as not to annoySokurov's interlocutors bythe very fact of being aneighbor? Considering thathe denies us the right toresist aggression, there isonly one" way out ": to liq-uidate Russia.

Most striking is that inhis "manifesto" the directoralso accuses us of the factthat Russians are "too kind"and therefore do notdeserve respect. This is saidby the same person who haslong called for the release ofthe Ukrainian "filmmaker"Oleg Sentsov, who was con-victed of terrorism inRussia. And when Putin in2016 reminded him of whatexactly Sentsov was sen-tenced for, Sokurov gasped-ly turned to the president:"Vladimir Vladimirovich,in Russian, in a Christianway: mercy is higher thanjustice. I beg you!" As youcan see, at certain times (ifwe have to stand up for ter-rorists) mercy is our virtue,not our weakness.

Sokurov has long calledfor the release of Sentsov.At the same time, he neverinterceded, say, for theRussian journalist KirillVyshinsky, who was at thattime in a Ukrainian prisonsolely for fulfilling his jour-nalistic duty. True, in theend he called on thePresident of Ukraine PetroPoroshenko to release thecitizens of Russia, but onlyfor the sake of exchange forthe "courageous man"Sentsov, who, as the authorof the letter promised, "willstill serve Ukraine, thenational and world cinema."That is, our human rightsactivist was interested in thefate of political prisoners inUkraine solely as a tool tosave the "courageous"Sentsov.

By the way, Vyshinsky isnow a colleague of Sokurovin the Human RightsCouncil, and Sentsov, whowas allowed to go home,promised to "return toCrimea in a tank." At thevery first press conference,his accomplice franklyadmitted that they plannedand carried out a terroristattack, as a result of whichordinary people could beburned, - and right next tothe Simferopol office of apublic organization, whichthey tried to set on fire,there was a boarding schoolfor deaf and hard of hearingchildren. But Sokurov,apparently, does not care atall who he stood up for: forthe "great filmmaker" or forthe terrorist.

In some ways, ProfessorDmitry Evstafiev, whoanswers the critics of the"manifesto", is right : "Well,why are you sticking toSokurov. He at least honest-ly outlined the current goalof the liberals in relation toRussia., "dissolve".

But here it is interesting:urging the President ofRussia to "let go" of certainregions that allegedly donot want to live with us(although they do not existin nature), Sokurov forsome reason does notappeal to his numerousUkrainian friends with anappeal to let go of thoseregions that really do notwant to live as part ofUkraine, proving this by aneight-year struggle. Thelogic is clear: Donbass doesnot just want to leaveUkraine, it wants to go toRussia. And the Russian lib-erals cannot allow this: afterall, then a lot of work wast-ed. This is not why they dayand night prove to theRussians what a bad coun-try they have and why itmust be "dismissed" to thedelight of our enemies.

Why Russia shouldfall apart: The bestpeople demand it

Vladimir Kornilov

LAHORE (INP): The busi-ness community Sundayexpressing their grave con-cern said continuous spi-ralling electricity and oilprice spike will increaseinflation and reduce econom-ic growth besides increasingcost of production.

President SAARCChamber and ChairmanUnited Business Group(UBG) veteran trade leaderIftikhar Ali Malik talking toa delegation of exportersled by presidential candi-date for Federation ofPakistan Chamber of

Commerce and Industry DrNouman Idris Butt criti-cised the gradual steep hikein electricity and oil pricessaid it will depress the sup-ply of other goods becausethey increase the costs ofproducing them. He saidultimately manufacturersare tend to increase theprice of goods and servicesdue to spiralling oil prices.

He urged the govern-ment to arrest the priceincreasing trend of electric-ity and petroleum productsdirectly casting bad impacton already fractured eco-

nomic growth besides hit-ting the export target asPakistan would not be ableto compete globally due toincreased oil price factor.

Iftikhar Ali Malik saidcommon man is also suffer-ing a lot because commodi-ty prices are also automati-cally shoot up due toincrease in the input costs.He suggested the govern-ment to freeze the prices ofelectricity and petroleumproducts, gas and powertariffs for industries espe-cially exports related anditself bears the burden of

price hike to boost theindustrial production.

He said governmentshouldn't always bow downand must resist IMF pres-sure for price rise to helpreduce the government’sbudget deficit. He said howlong the industrialists willbear the brunt of oil pricesfluctuations and finallygovernment has to rescuethem. He said only judi-cious, prudent economicpolicy and good gover-nance can help steer out thecountry from looming andhovering crises.

ISLAMABAD (NNI): TheUniversal Service Fund(USF) Board approved 10projects worth approximatelyPKR 11.5 billion to providehigh speed internet serviceand Optical Fiber Projects forTop Tourist Destination areasKumrat Valley, Swat includ-ing in 19 un-served andunder-served districts ofSindh, Balochistan, KhyberPakhtunkhwa and Punjabprovinces.

To facilitate approxi-mately 4.4 million peopleAdvised by the FederalMinister for InformationTechnology (IT) andTelecommunication, SyedAmin Ul Haque, the USFBoard approved award ofhigh-speed mobile broad-band contracts to Jazz,Ufone and Telenor whilethe optic fiber cable proj-ects contracts to PTCL.

The Federal Secretaryfor Ministry of IT andTelecommunication &

Chairman of USF Board,Dr. Muhammad SohailRajput chaired the 80thBoard of Directors meetingof USF. The meeting wasattended by MemberTelecom, MuhammadOmar Malik, ChairmanPTA, Amir Azeem Bajwa,VP for Government Sales-Super Net Pvt Ltd, ImranAkhtar Shah, Chairman-Consumer Association ofPakistan, Kaukab Iqbal andother officials.

While addressing themeeting, Federal Secretaryfor IT andTelecommunication andChairman of USF Board, Dr.Muhammad Sohail Rajputsaid, "USF was established15 years ago but in the first12 years the pace of imple-mentation of projects wasquite slow. In the last threeyears since the current gov-ernment took charge, espe-cially in the last two years, arecord 37 projects worth

over PKR 31 billion havebeen contracted; in FY 2019-20, 12 projects were con-tracted, in FY 2020-21, 25projects were contracted andin FY 2020-21, we plan tocontract 28 projects.

This reflects the exemplaryleadership of Federal Ministerfor ITandTelecommunication,Syed Amin Ul Haque who isworking day and night to fulfillthe Prime Minister's DigitalPakistan vision andConnectivity for all policy, So,it is important that USF contin-ues to bridge the digital divideand ensure timely comple-tion of all projects going for-ward." According to thedetails, the Board approvedaward of high-speed mobilebroadband contracts to Jazzfor districts of Mianwali andKhushab in Punjab that willserve an unserved popula-tion of around 0.37 millionin 186 unserved muazas andan approximate unservedarea of 5,080 sq. km.

F.P. Report

LAHORE: ChiefExecutive Officer PakistanFurniture Council (PFC)Mian Kashif AshfaqSunday said Pakistan’s fur-niture exports registered202.49 percent increaseduring the first four monthsof the current fiscal yearcompared to correspondingperiod of last year.

It was stated by MianKashif while talking to adelegation of SMEs expertsled by Nasir Hussain ChiefFinancial Officer,Chenonewhich called on him heretoday.He said during theperiod under review furni-ture worth US$2.78 millionwas exported compared tocorresponding period lastyear. He said furnitureindustry has a big potentialto dominate global marketswith innovative designs andcan significantly contributeto exports; however, it dire-ly needs a package of incen-tives and facilitation for fur-

ther boosting exports. Hesaid unfortunately, in pastthe furniture sectorremained badly neglectedthat needs special attentionof the federal and provincialgovernments for the train-ing of woodworkers onmodern lines to meet inter-national standards.

He stressed the urgentneed to explore the interna-tional market for boostingour exports as there is a lotof potential in Pakistaniproducts, adding he said thevalue of furniture exportwas very nominal but thebeginning had been made,and with aggressive market-ing strategy the value ofexports could be doubled ina short span. He said if thegovernment extends its sup-port to furniture companies,the volume of export couldtouch the figure of $ 5 bil-lion for the next five years.

Mian Kashif Ashfaqurged the businessmen towork extensively to pro-mote local industry in

Pakistan. "Pakistan isblessed with abundantresources and our peopleare equipped with the bestof inherited skills that canhelp develop the country atpar with developed coun-tries ," he added.

PFC Chief said the PFCwas committed to support-ing Pakistan's young entre-preneurs associated withthe furniture and interiordesigning sector whoseinnovative thinking had thepotential to unlock greateconomic prosperity.

He hoped that under thedynamic leadership ofPrime Minister ImranKhan, the furniture sectorwould grow and flourish inthe days to come.He saidthat the business communi-ty had pinned high hopeson the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-led government,adding that Imran Khan'sgovernment was committedto providing all facilities tobusinessmen to enhance thevolume of exports.

NEW YORK (Monitoring Desk):Democrats are feeling an increasedsense of urgency to quickly getPresident Biden’s social spendingand climate package across the fin-ish line, due to the pending expira-tion of the expanded child tax cred-it at the end of the year.

Absent congressional action, theIRS will make its last monthlychild tax credit payment on Dec.15. Democrats see the monthlypayments as critical to reducingchild poverty and want to prevent alapse. The key obstacle is Sen. JoeManchin (D-W.Va.), who hasexpressed a reluctance to passingthe social-spending package thisyear. Despite Manchin’s hesitancy,key Democrats are insistent thatthe expanded child tax credit won’texpire. “We are not going to have alapse in payments. That’s tooimportant,” said Sen. SherrodBrown (D-Ohio).

The $1.9 trillion coronavirusrelief law that Biden enacted inMarch expanded the child tax cred-it for 2021. The expansion includ-ed an increase in the credit amount,monthly advance payments of thecredit and allowing the lowest-income families to be eligible forthe full credit amount.

The Treasury Department andIRS in July started sending outmonthly advance child tax creditpayments of up to $300 for eachchild under age 6 and up to $250for each child ages 6 to 17. Themonthly payments, which allowfamilies to receive funds in install-ments rather than in a lump sumwhen they file their tax returns, are

currently set to end this month.The social-spending package

includes a one-year extension ofthe expanded credit. SenateFinance Committee Chairman RonWyden (D-Ore.) told reportersThursday that the IRS has indicat-ed that Congress should pass thesocial spending package by Dec.28 in order to ensure that monthlypayments are made on Jan. 15.

“We've got to work very hardand move quickly because of someof the logistical challenges that theIRS has in terms of the process,and I'm committed to getting itdone,” he said. “I'm pulling out allthe stops to make sure that there isno interruption.”

Democrats view the monthlychild tax credit payments as a keyway to help low- and middle-income families afford key house-hold expenses.

“Our view is that the child taxcredit is a really important, basicsupport for families and that weshould extend it,” NationalEconomic Council Director BrianDeese said during Thursday’sWhite House press briefing. “Andwe should extend it because it'sdoing what we hoped it would do,which is dramatically reduce childpoverty in America, dramaticallyreduce poverty in America, andgive families some breathing roomin a very strong but uncertainrecovery.” Additionally, a lapse inthe monthly payments could pose apolitical risk for Democrats aheadof the midterm elections.

Ethan Winter, lead pollster forthe Fighting Chance for Families

coalition focused on making theexpanded child tax credit perma-nent, said that continuing to offerconcrete benefits such as the childtax credit is one of the best waysfor Democrats to counterRepublican messaging on culturalissues targeted to parents, such ason critical race theory.

“If you allow the benefits tolapse, I do think this would presenta political liability for theDemocratic Party,” Winter said.

The House passed its version ofthe social-spending bill last month.Senate Majority Leader CharlesSchumer (D-N.Y.) has repeatedlysaid he wants the Senate to pass aversion of the bill by Christmas.

Senate Democrats are using anarcane process known as budgetreconciliation to pass the spendingpackage. The process, whichDemocrats used earlier this year topass the coronavirus relief law, willallow the party to pass the packagewith a simple majority in the upperchamber, bypassing a likelyRepublican filibuster. Still, everySenate Democrat will need to backthe legislation in order for it to passbecause the chamber is evenlydivided between the two parties.

Getting all Senate Democrats tofall in line behind the plan has beenan arduous task for the party thisyear, as leadership works to meetcompeting demands from members.“The process over there can be ago-nizing in terms of its pace,” HouseWays and Means CommitteeChairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.)said about the Senate last week.

Manchin has repeatedly sug-

gested that he thinks Congressshould wait before voting on thespending package, citing concernsabout inflation. Manchin has alsosuggested in the past that there bework requirements and lowerincome limits for the expandedchild tax credit. When askedWednesday about whether he felturgency to pass the spending pack-age in time for the IRS to makechild tax credit payments on Jan.15, Manchin indicated that hethought that any missed paymentscould be made up for at a later date.

“I've never seen a situationwhere we weren't able to make upwhatever you thought time wouldbe lost,” he told reporters.

The spending package may beDemocrats’ best option for passingan extension of the expanded childtax credit before the end of theyear, given that lawmakers areusing the reconciliation process. Astandalone bill with a temporaryextension could face challengesgetting enough Republican supportto bypass a filibuster.

“Could you get 10 Republicanvotes for it? I don't know theanswer to that,” Sen. Tim Kaine(D-Va.) said. No Republican inCongress voted for Biden’sCOVID-19 relief package includ-ing the expanded benefit.Republicans expanded the childtax credit themselves in their2017 tax-cut law, but they havecriticized Democrats’ subsequentexpansion, arguing thatDemocrats eliminated workincentives associated with thechild tax credit.

KARACHI (NNI): TheState Bank of Pakistan willlaunch a new initiative,'Asaan Mobile Account' onMonday.

In a press release, theinitiative has been devel-oped under the NationalFinancial InclusionStrategy aimed at facilitat-ing the customers forremote account openingunder branchless banking.

The initiative has beendeveloped under theNational Financial InclusionStrategy with objective tobring further ease in remoteaccount opening under

branchless banking. Thismeans that the customerswould be able to open andoperate their accounts in thecomfort of their homes,without having to visit thebranches, with any of theparticipating branchlessbanking providers.

The solution has beendeveloped through collab-oration of SBP, PakistanT e l e c o m m u n i c a t i o nAuthority (PTA),National Database andRegistration Authority(NADRA), 13 BranchlessBanking (BB) Providers,all Cellular Mobile

Operators (CMOs) andVirtual RemittanceGateway (VRG). ForAMA, the branchlessbanking providers andcellular mobile operatorsare collaborating to deliv-er an interoperable plat-form, allowing anyPakistani to open accountwith a bank.

AMA will play a crucialrole in reaching out to thelow-income segments thatdo not have access to inter-net. Moreover, AMA willbe a perfect conduit toonboard women customersegments as well.

LAHORE (NNI): ThePakistan CarpetManufacturers andExporters Association(PCMEA) on Sundayappealed to Prime MinisterImran Khan, Advisor to thePrime Minister on Financeand Revenue Shaukat Tarinand Advisor to PrimeMinister on Trade andInvestment Razak Dawoodto abolish all taxes andduties on partially finishedraw materials coming fromTorkham border.

In an open letter to thePrime Minister ImranKhan, Adviser to PrimeMinister on Finance andAdvisor on Trade andInvestment, ChairmanCarpe Training InstituteParvez Hanif and GroupLeader CarpetManufacturers andExporters AssociationAbdul Latif Malik havesaid that the carpet industryis facing a lot of difficulties

due to the devaluation ofPakistani rupee against USDollar. They also said thattrade bodies also facing dif-ficulties while dealing thematters of import andexport of raw materialthrough Torkham Border.

They stated that thedevaluation of rupee andhurdles at Torkham Bordercreating difficulties fortraders while dealing andmaking agreements withthe foreign traders, result-ing problems while signinglong-terms Memorandumof Understandings with for-eign counterparts.

The Carpet Associationleaders also welcomed theforthcoming meeting of theForeign Ministers ofOrganization of IslamicCooperation (OIC) andother international donorsin Pakistan. They termedthe meeting as beneficialfor both Afghan andPakistani business commu-

nity. They said that a largenumber of Afghans are get-ting benefits through prepa-ration of carpets inPakistan. However, insteadof solving the problems, thecarpet industry is beingignored in Pakistan.

They also said that car-pet sector has a huge poten-tial of earning a foreignexchange if the governmentsupports the industry.

The Carpet Associationleaders added saidPakistan's handmade car-pet products are becomingout of competition abroaddue high production costand taxes. This decisionwill not only secure theemployment of a largenumber of artisans inPakistan but will also pro-vide employment oppor-tunities to poor artisans.The government isrequired to take ourdemands seriously or elseexports will fall further.

NEW YORK (Newsmax):Microsoft co-founder BillGates released a blog postthis week in which hereflected on 2021, which hedescribed as ''the mostunusual and difficult yearof my life'' due to the ongo-ing COVID-19 pandemicand his divorce from hiswife of almost 30 years.

Gates wrote that much ofhis year was "spent mostlyonline" due to the pandem-ic, adding that despitebeing vaccinated, his"social life is still a lot moredigital than it used to be."

"It's been a strange anddisorienting experience.My personal world hasnever felt smaller than itdid over the last twelvemonths," he wrote.

Gates went on to notethat his "family also expe-rienced a lot of changesbeyond what you probablysaw in the news," anapparent reference to hisdivorce from MelindaFrench Gates, saying thathis oldest daughter recent-ly got married while hisyoungest left home for col-lege, making him "official-

ly an empty nester."He later expanded on

why he's "hopeful the endof the COVID-19 pandem-ic is finally in sight,"despite noting that "theimprovement hasn't beenas dramatic as I hoped" itwould be in 2021.

"More people died fromCOVID in 2021 than in2020," Gates wrote. "Ifyou're one of the millionsof people who lost a lovedone to the virus over thelast twelve months, youcertainly don't think thisyear was any better thanlast." He added that he did-n't foresee the arrival ofthe delta variant, or "howtough it would be to con-vince people to take thevaccine and continue touse masks."

"I am hopeful, though,that the end is finally insight. It might be foolish tomake another prediction,but I think the acute phaseof the pandemic will cometo a close some time in2022," Gates wrote, notingthat "there's no questionthat the omicron variant isconcerning."

He added that "it's trou-bling any time a new vari-ant of concern emerges,but I'm still hopeful that, atsome point next year,COVID-19 will become anendemic disease in mostplaces. Although it is cur-rently about 10 times morelethal than flu, vaccinesand antivirals could cutthat number by half ormore. ''Communities willstill see occasional out-breaks, but new drugs willbe available that could takecare of most cases and hos-pitals will be able to han-dle the rest."

According to Gates,"Your individual risk levelwill be low enough thatyou won't need to factor itinto your decision-makingas much. It won't be pri-mary when decidingwhether to work from theoffice or let your kids go totheir soccer game or watcha movie in a theater. ''In acouple years, my hope isthat the only time you willreally have to think aboutthe virus is when you getyour joint COVID and fluvaccine every fall."

The Frontier Post Monday, December 13, 2021

Electricity and oil price spikeincreases inflation and reduce

economic growth: Iftikhar

LAHORE: A youngster displaying and arranging toys to attract the customers at roadside setup.

Qatar Airwaysincrease numberof flights from

PakistanKARACHI (NNI): QatarAirways on Sunday hasannounced an increase inthe number of flights fromPakistan.

After the announcement,Qatar Airways will nowoperate 56 weekly flightsfrom Pakistan with twodaily flights from Lahore,Islamabad and Karachi sep-arately and one daily flightfrom Peshawar and Sialkot.

Qatar Airways will oper-ate flights to Doha fromfive Pakistani cities includ-ing Karachi and Lahore.

According to the sched-ule, Qatar Airways willoperate two daily flightsfrom Lahore, Islamabadand Karachi while a singleflight will be operated fromPeshawar and Sialkot ondaily basis.

Furthermore, 14 flightswill be operated weeklyfrom Lahore to Doha, theairline will provide accessto passengers in 140 coun-tries from Lahore via Doha.

Qatar Airways has alsoreleased the schedule forPakistan till May 31, 2022.

Earlier this month,Pakistan InternationalAirlines (PIA) hadannounced expanding itsflight operation to SaudiArabia. According todetails, the country manag-er of the national flag carri-er met with a representativeof Saudi Arabia’s GeneralAuthority of Civil Aviation(GACA) on directives ofCEO PIA Arshad Malik.

Pakistan surrendersthought leadershipto donors: Nadeem ISLAMABAD (NNI): Lastyear, in October, thePakistan Institute ofDevelopment Economics(PIDE) has launched amulti-year competitivegrants program for policy-oriented research inPakistan titled ‘Researchfor Social Transformationand Advancement’(RASTA).

FBR to finalizeproperty valuations

in consultation with stakeholders

ISLAMABAD (NNI): FaizUllah Kamoka, Chairman,National AssemblyStanding Committee onFinance and Revenueassured that the FBR wouldfinalize the new marketvalues of properties in con-sultation with ICCI andother stakeholders as inputof representatives of realestate and construction sec-tor was very important toresolve this issue amicably.

He said this while inter-acting with the members ofICCI Real Estate andDevelopers Committeeduring his visit toIslamabad Chamber ofCommerce and Industry,which was convened to dis-cuss and propose new prop-erty rates to FBR.

Faiz Ullah Kamoka saidthat the government wascognizant of the problemscreated by the new marketvalues of immovable prop-erties announced by FBRon 1st December 2021 andhe has already discussedthis issue with ChairmanFBR who is a very cooper-ative person. He said thatsoon a meeting of Board ofRevenue Punjab and FBRwould be convened toaddress this issue.

He said that his Committeehas also included this issue inits agenda of next meeting inwhich the representatives ofICCI would also be invited toget their input in order to set-tle this matter with consen-sus. He said that ValuationReview Committees (VRCs)are being made at RTO leveland ICCI should send namesof its representation to himfor inclusion in VRC of RTOIslamabad.

He said that the OverseasPakistanis have maderecord investments in thereal estate sector in Pakistanand the government wouldnot take any measures thatwould create hurdles forthem. He further assuredthat he would take up theICCI proposal for the estab-lishment of a new industrialestate in Islamabad with thePrime Minister for materi-alization of this project.

SBP to launch new initiative 'Asaan Mobile

Account' on Monday

Bill Gates reflects on ‘mostunusual and difficult year’

Child tax credit expiration adds pressure for Democrats

‘Pakistani furnitureexports witness record

202.39 percent increase’

PCMEA demands toease remedial measures

at Torkham Border

Chairman USF Boardexpresses satisfaction over

launch of 37 projects

The Frontier Post Monday, December 13, 2021

In briefIn briefDoull, Bishopcommentators K A R A C H I(Monitoring Desk):The Pakistan CricketBoard (PCB) hasunveiled the list ofcommentators and pre-senters for the upcom-ing limited-oversseries betweenPakistan and the WestIndies. Pakistan'sBazid Khan, Sana Mir,Sikander Bakht will beaccompanied byrenowned internationalnames Simon Doull,Jeff Dujon and IanBishop. Marina Iqbalwill also be part of thepanel for ODIs only. Itmust be noted that theMen in Green will playthree ODIs and asmany T20Is against theWest Indies at NationalStadium in Karachi.There was a panic atthe visitors' camp afterthree players and anon-member coachingstaff tested positive forCovid-19 but othermembers returned neg-ative. The first T20I ofthe series starts tomor-row at 6:00 pm (PST).

Curry made towait for record NEW YORK(Agencies): StephenCurry was made towait to break the NBAthree-point record asthe Golden StateWarriors lost at thePhiladelphia 76ers onSaturday. Needing 10more to surpass RayAllen's all-time leadingtally of 2,973, Currylanded three from 14attempts. MatisseThybulle limited Currywhile Joel Embiidscored a game-high 26points as the 76ers won102-93. Curry, 33,looks certain to createNBA history, with hisnext opportunity com-ing on Monday at theIndiana Pacers.Meanwhile, ReggieJackson scored with2.2 seconds left to leadthe Los AngelesClippers to a 106-104win over the OrlandoMagic. Jackson fin-ished with a 25-pointhaul as the Clippersearned their thirdstraight win, despiteleading scorer PaulGeorge missing hissecond consecutivegame with a sprainedright elbow. DonovanMitchell scored 28points as the Utah Jazzwon 123-98 at theWashington Wizards,the visitors' seventhstraight victory. Afterbuilding an earlyadvantage, theMemphis Grizzliesheld on to beat theHouston Rockets 113-106. Dillon Brooksscored a game-high 25points while DesmondBane supported with19 points. Saturday'sresults: LA Clippers106-104 OrlandoMagic, WashingtonWizards 98-123 UtahJazz, ClevelandCavaliers 117-103Sacramento Kings,Miami Heat 118-92Chicago Bulls,Memphis Grizzlies113-106 HoustonRockets, Philadelphia76ers 102-93 GoldenState Warriors, SanAntonio Spurs 112-127Denver Nuggets

Broad was 'readyto go' at the GabbaGABBA (Agencies):England pace bowlerStuart Broad says hewas "ready to go" forEngland's first AshesTest and "disappointed"not to play in the defeatat the Gabba. Broad, 35,has not played forEngland since Augustbecause of a calf injury.He was omitted inBrisbane alongsideJames Anderson, theveteran pair owning1,156 Test wicketsbetween them. "I loveAshes cricket, lovebowling at the Gabbaand feel like I could'vehad a positive influenceon a pitch like that,"Broad wrote in the Mail.England were beaten bynine wickets at theGabba, their 10th loss in11 Tests down underand an extension of a35-year winless run inBrisbane. Their prepara-tions for the first Testwere hit by bad weather,meaning they had justover two days of matchpractice before theseries began.

09

KARACHI (AP): CaptainBabar Azam hopes to keepPakistan’s winningmomentum going against avirus-hit West Indies in thelimited-overs series, start-ing Monday.

Three West Indies play-ers -- left-arm fast bowlerSheldon Cottrell, all-rounders Roston Chase andKyle Mayers -- have testedpositive for coronavirus inKarachi and were ruled outof the Twenty20 series.They will be in isolation for10 days in Karachi and willbe monitored by the teamphysician until they returnnegative tests.

West Indies Twenty20squad already miss severaltop performers for thethree-match Twenty20series which will be fol-lowed by three ODIs -- alsoat Karachi. The notableabsentees include white-ball skipper Kieron Pollard,who will miss out due tohamstring injury he sus-tained during the T20 WorldCup, while Andre Russell isplaying in the Big BashLeague in Australia.

“We will try to carry themomentum which started inthe (T20) World Cup,”

Babar told reporters during avideo conference on Sunday.“We are not going to takethem (West Indies) easybecause they didn’t bringtheir best players. They haveplayed in the CPL(Caribbean Premier League)and international games, soyou have to give your 100per cent to beat them.”

Babar led from the frontwith loads of runs in the T20World Cup in the UnitedArab Emirates as Pakistanwent onto win its five groupgames before being beatenby eventual championAustralia in the semifinals.Pakistan followed its bril-liant run by whitewashingBangladesh in the Twenty20series 3-0 in Bangladeshbefore winning the two-match test series 2-0.

Defending championWest Indies, on the otherhand, floundered in theUAE as it failed to qualifyfor the semifinals. NicholasPooran replaced the injuredPollard for the Twenty20series while Shai Hope willlead the side in the ODIs.

Babar sympathised withWest Indies for losing threeplayers due to coronavirusand believed it’s tough for

cricketers to spend time inisolation.

“It’s difficult time for ateam when your player testspositive,” he said. “It’s dif-ficult to live in isolation,our team has gone throughthis. Lots of negative thingsdo come in your mind whenyou are alone in the roomand the team combinationalso gets affected.”

Pakistan has lost justone home Twenty20 seriessince international cricketreturned to Pakistan in2015 when Sri Lanka rout-ed them 3-0 in 2019. Theyhave twice beatenZimbabwe and alsorecorded series winsagainst Bangladesh, SouthAfrica, a World XI and theWest Indies when it lasttoured in 2018.

The Pakistan govern-ment has allowed fullcapacity crowds at theNational Stadium for thefirst time since the pandem-ic began and Babar hopedthe home team fans will getto see some quality cricket.

“The main thing is weare playing the home seriesand for us the best thing isfull crowd will be allowedinside the stadium.”

LAHORE (MonitoringDesk): The security squadsent to Pakistan to deter-mine whether the securityarrangements for theAustralian cricket team’stour in March 2022 are upto par has expressed satis-faction over the safety stepstaken by the Punjab SafeCities Authority (PSCA)for the cricketers in Lahore.

A high-level security del-egation of the Australianteam along with the PakistanCricket Board (PCB) offi-cials visited the PSCA head-quarters at Qurban Lines onSaturday to assess securityarrangements.

The operation com-mander of PPIC3 – PSCA'spremier project, which is aconsolidated hub of inte-grated policing regulatingswift emergency and policeresponses – gave a detailed

briefing on the securityarrangements both outsideand inside the QaddafiStadium, airport, hotel, andalong parking routes withthe use of 4G/LTE tech-nologies.

The commander alsobriefed the delegation aboutthe deployment of policeforce and the support of lawenforcement agencies forfoolproof security.

The delegation receiveda detailed security briefingabout surveillance footageof the security arrange-ments made for the SriLankan and Bangladeshmatches held in Lahore.

The delegation wasimpressed by the monitor-ing with the help of cam-eras, expressing satisfac-tion over the securityarrangements by PSCA.

Later, the security team

praised and appreciated theefforts and arrangementsmade by the PSCA.

The PSCA also present-ed a souvenir to the visitingdelegation. On Friday,Interior Minister SheikhRashid had met the delega-tion and assured them offoolproof security. Rashidassured the delegation thathe was in direct contactwith the security teams aswell as Punjab and Sindhgovernments.

The minister said thatthe nationa had been wait-ing for Pakistan-Australiamatches to be played in thecountry. The series betweenPakistan and Australia willinclude three Test matches,as many ODIs and oneT20I. This would be theAustralian cricket team’sfirst visit to Pakistan after ayawning gap of 24 years.

ABU DHABI (Reuters):Red Bull's Max Verstappenwon the Abu Dhabi GrandPrix and his first FormulaOne titlewith a last lapovertake on Sunday todeny championship rivalLewis Hamilton a recordeighth crown in a race fullof controversy.

Hamilton's Mercedesteam won the constructors'title for an unprecedentedeighth successive year butVerstappen, 24, made sureit was not another double.

The season-ending racestarted and ended with anargument -- tears of joy onone side and rage on the

other, Mercedes furiouswith race director MichaelMasi as the drivers' titledisappeared so close to thechequered flag.

Red Bull had said theyneeded a miracle to win asHamilton headed towardsthe title and a late safetycar intervention providedjust that opportunity. Withone racing lap to the finishand the Dutch driver onfresher tyres, Verstappenhunted down Hamilton andmade the move.

"It's insane," said thefirst Dutch world champi-on who had started the dayon pole position and level

on points with Hamiltonand whose hopes sank androse as the stewards inter-vened.

"This is unbelievableguys! Can we do this foranother 10-15 yearstogether," he had said overthe radio. "We needed a bitof luck and we got it," saidteam boss ChristianHorner.

Verstappen ended theseason with 10 wins toHamilton's eight, havingalso led more laps andtaken more poles andpodiums. Ferrari's CarlosSainz finished the race inthird place.

LAHORE (APP): CocaCola Polo Team, HN Poloand RijasD e v e l o p m e n t / M a s t e rPaints emerged victoriousin the Brighto PaintsLahore Open PoloChampionship 2021 hereat the Lahore Polo Clubground on Sunday.

A good number of pololovers present on theoccasion to witness thehigh-quality polo on offer.

The most prominentones present there wereLahore Polo ClubPresident Umar Sadik,Secretary Agha MurtazaAli, Executive Committeemembers Feroz Gulzar,Shah Qubilai Alam,Usman Haye, Saqib KhanKhakwani, Agha NajeebRaza and others.

The first match of theday was superbly contest-ed between Coca ColaPolo Team and Newage

Cables/Rizvi’s and after atough battle, Coca ColaPolo Team emerged as tri-umphant by 6-4. TomasReinoso was hero of theday from the winning teamas he fired in fabulous fivegoals while Mian AbbasMukhtar struck one.

From the losing side,Tomas Marin Moreno andAdnan Jalil Azam bangedin a brace each.

The second match ofthe day was dominated byHN Polo, who outpacedGuard Group by 9-4. AliArshad played superbpolo and emerged as starof the day from HN Polo,as he he hammered fivefantastic goals while hewas ably assisted by phe-nomenonal Raja SamiUllah, who contributedwith a classic quartet.From team Guard Group,Muhammad Reza bangedin a brace while Taimur

Ali Malik and NaveedSheikh struck one goalapiece.

The third and lastmatch of the day proved tobe a nail-biting encounter,where RijasD e v e l o p m e n t / M a s t e rPaints defeatedBN/Diamond Paints by anarrow margin of 6-5.

It was team work andcollective effort ofMannuel Carranza,Mumtaz Abbas Niazi andSufi Muhammad Amir,who pumped in two goalseach and helped RijasD e v e l o p m e n t / M a s t e rPaints win the encounterby 6-5. From teamBN/Diamond Paints,Ahmed Ali Tiwanasmashed in four goalswhile Agha Musa AliKhan scored one goal.Tomorrow (Monday),only match will be playedat 2:30 pm.

LAS VEGAS (Agencies):Julianna Pena pulled offone of the biggest upsets inmixed martial arts historyto score a second-roundsubmission win overAmanda Nunes and win theUFC bantamweight title atUFC 269 on Saturday.

In the main event,Charles Oliveira retained thelightweight title, submittingDustin Poirier with a stand-ing choke early in the thirdround of a thrilling battle.

Pena looked to be introuble in the first round ofthe co-main event againstone of the most dominantchampions the sport hasever seen, but the 32-year-old came storming back inround two, rocking Nunes

with combinations.Coming into the fight a

heavy betting favouriteNunes, whose recordincludes wins over RondaRousey, ValentinaShevchenko and CrisCyborg, wilted as Penapoured on flurries ofpunches as the two stoodand traded blows before thefight went to the mat.

Nunes' five-year reign atthe top came to an endwhen she tapped out at the3:23 mark of the secondround as Pena sank in a rearnaked choke to hand theBrazilian her first defeatsince September 2014.

"I told you, don't everdoubt me again.Willpower, strength and

determination will take youplaces," Pena said in apost-fight interview in thecage. "You literally havethe ability to do anythingyou want in this life, and Ijust proved that tonight."

In the main event formerinterim champion Poirier,who scored a pair of winsover Conor McGregor earli-er this year to earn the titleshot, landed some heavy lefthands and downed Oliveiraas he won the first round.

However, Oliveira gotPoirier on his back in themiddle of the cage early inthe second, landing thun-derous elbows before jump-ing on Poirier's back andsecuring the choke early inthe third round.

LAHORE (APP): ThePakistan Cricket Board(PCB) and Arif HabibGroup on Sunday signed aMemorandum ofUnderstanding for theinstallation of drop-inpitches. This partnership isaligned to PCB ChairmanRamiz Raja’s vision ofimproving the quality ofpitches, which, in turn, willhelp budding cricketers toimprove their techniquesand produce improved per-formances on overseastours.

The partnership wassigned between the ArifHabib Group and the PCBduring the HBL PakistanSuper League 7 draft here.

The Arif Habib Group,as part of their commitmentto contribute to PakistanCricket by improving crick-et facilities and infrastruc-

ture, will sponsor two drop-in pitches and has alsooffered the PCB access toits cricket stadium, which islocated in the NayaNazimabad area in Karachi.

As per the agreement,Arif Habib Group willinstall drop-in pitches atNaya Nazimabad CricketStadium and one more ata location to be identifiedand confirmed by thePCB in due course. Theprocess for the procure-ment of drop-in pitches isexpected to be completedin 2022.

Once the upgradation iscomplete, the PCB willhost and organise domesticmatches at the NayaNazimabad Stadiumincluding U19 andwomen’s matches whilepractice sessions and exhi-bition matches for the HBL

Pakistan Super Leaguefranchises can also bestaged at the stadium fromthe 2023 edition onwards.

Chairman PCB RamizRaja said : “The installa-tion of drop-in pitches issurely going to benefit ourplayers both at the domes-tic and international lev-els. Over the years, wehave struggled to copewith the extra bounce andpace that some of thepitches in Australia andNew Zealand provide.

“Despite abundance oftalent and ability, we areyet to win an away Testseries in Australia whileour record in NewZealand has also taken abeating in recent trips. Iwant to thank Mr ArifHabib for coming for-ward and helping us inthis regard.

Brignone winsWorld Cup

super-G afterGut-Behrami

crashesST. MORITZ (Agencies):Federica Brignone set anItalian record in the Alpineskiing World Cup by win-ning a wind-swept super-G Sunday that saw pre-race favorite Lara Gut-Behrami crash out throughthe safety fences.

Brignone was 0.11 sec-onds faster than her team-mate Elena Curtoni down afast course shortened toless than one minute. Thestart was brought lowerdown the exposedCorviglia hill by strongcrosswinds higher up.

A 17th career World Cupwin for Brignone is themost by an Italian womanin the 55-year history of theWorld Cup. “That’s reallyamazing. I hope that I’mnot done with the victo-ries,” said Brignone aftermoving ahead of DeborahCompagnoni, whose 16thwin came in January 1998.

Mikaela Shiffrin extend-ed her lead in the overallstandings by placing third,0.43 behind Brignone,despite wearing the No. 2bib. The early start gave herlittle idea how gusty windswould affect racing in thebright sunshine after a 50-minute delay. “I was a littlebit nervous running (No.) 2already,” Shiffrin toldSwiss broadcaster RTS.“Sometimes you get thispush from the wind frombehind and then it’s a littlehard to handle that speed.”

It proved tough even forNo. 7 starter Gut-Behrami,the world champion insuper-G who had wonSaturday when cloud covermade the rolling terraintough to see. The Swiss starwent too fast on a directline approaching a sharpleft-hand turn she wasunlikely to make. She wasunbalanced by the terrainand went sideways stand-ing upright into andthrough the safety fences.

Gut-Behrami sat still onthe snow awaiting attentionbefore she skied down tothe finish area. She waslater filmed in the finisharea limping to congratulateBrignone in the leader’schair. The Swiss team saidGut-Behrami was sore butnot seriously injured.

A banner day for theItalian team seemed likelywhen it held five of the firstsix places after the top-20elite group had started.Curtoni also clocked thefastest speed of 99.3 kph(61.7 mph). However, thewind conditions and blue skiesproved favorable to lower-ranked starters. Starting No.26, Alice Robinson of NewZealand took fourth place andNo. 31 Ramona Siebenhoferof Austria was fifth.

Those unexpectedresults pushed SofiaGoggia, who was runner-upSaturday, down to sixthtrailing Brignone by 0.75.She lost most of that timebeing cautious through thefast section that took outGut-Behrami. Goggia nowleads the season-longsuper-G standings, break-ing the tie she had sharedwith Gut-Behrami.

While the 31-year-oldBrignone is the most suc-cessful Italian woman on theWorld Cup circuit, slalomgreat Alberto Tomba leadsthe men with 50 race wins.She now uses the same tech-nician, Mauro Sbardellotto,who prepared skis forCompagnoni, the super-Ggold medalist at the 1992Albertville Olympics.

ABU DHABI: Race winner and 2021 F1 World Drivers Champion Max Verstappen of Netherlands andRed Bull Racing celebrates on the podium during the F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi.

Lahore Open Polo Championship

Coca Cola Polo Team, HNPolo, RD/MP victorious

Babar hopes tocarry momentumagainst virus-hit

West Indies

Australian team briefed onsecurity protocol in Lahore

Verstappen wins F1championship with

last lap move

Pena stuns Nunes to claimUFC bantamweight crown

PCB, Arif Habib Group tocollaborate on drop-in pitches

In briefIn briefCTP issued advisory

for touristsRAWALPINDI (APP):The City Traffic Police(CTP) on Sundayissued a traffic advisoryfor tourists traveling toMurree and other hillstations to enjoy thesnowfall of winter amidweather forecasts ofsnowfall. The touristsrushing to mountainresorts to enjoy snow-fall used to get stuck intraffic jams due toheavy snowfalls androad blockades.Rawalpindi ChiefTraffic Officer RaiTaimoor Khan urgedthe tourists to avoidwrong parking, doublelines and taking selfiesin the middle of theroad. He said that addi-tional traffic wardenshave been deployed tofacilitate tourists. Healso advised the visitorsto obey traffic rules andavoid over speeding. Healso suggested thetourists keep their vehi-cles fit before travelingto hill stations.According to the mete-orological department.Cold and dry weather isexpected in most parts,while cloudy in upperparts of the country.However, lightrain/snowfall is expect-ed in upper KhyberPakhtunkhwa, GilgitBaltistan and its adjoin-ing hilly areas duringevening/night. Smog/shallow fog is likely toprevail in plain areas ofPunjab duringnight/morning.

Patients of seasonalinfections increasedRAWALPINDI (APP):The frostiness wavewhich has hit the city,coupled with the pro-longed gas load-shed-ding, had resulted in anincrease in seasonal dis-eases like diarrhoea,Influenza, cough andPneumonia at the localhospitals and clinics.Several people visitedhospitals and privateclinics with the complainof seasonal diseases. DrZeeshan Zafar, a Childspecialist at Holy FamilyHospital, said the num-ber of children arriving atthe Pead’s department ofthe hospital has risen dueto the prevailing coldwave, adding that mostof them were infected bydiarrhoea, Influenza andPneumonia. He said longdry spell resulted in vari-ous respiratory disordersand viral infections lead-ing to cold, cough andflu. “If exposed to coldfor long, children maydevelop fever, sorethroat, dry cough andother signs of flu,” hesaid. The child diseasesexpert said people usual-ly drink less water in thewinter, so there was gen-erally a sharp surge in theflu and cough cases. Hesuggested that citizensshould use green tea andsoup in routine for betterfunctioning of their res-piratory system.

14 ACs, magistratesdeputed

ISLAMABAD (APP):The Islamabad CapitalTerritory (ICT)Administration hasdeputed some 14 assis-tant commissioners andmagistrates in variouslocalities to check pricesof various commodities,said an official of the ICTadministration. Whiletalking to APP, the offi-cial said the local admin-istration was closelymonitoring the hoardingof essential food items.He said the shopkeeperswere strictly directed todisplay the price lists atprominent places of theirshops. He said 25 mobileshops were also set up invarious areas to provideessential items to the peo-ple at subsidized rates.The prices and hoardingwere being regularlychecked under the PriceControl and Preventionof Profiteering andHoarding Act, 1977. Theassistant commission-ers/price magistrates per-sistently visiting foodfactories. Some 14 ACs,magistrates deputed tocheck hoarding in ICT.The District PriceControl Committee hasbeen established underthe DistrictM a g i s t r a t e / D e p u t yCommissioner compris-ing stakeholders as itsmember to monitor andcheck the hoarders.

ISLAMABAD (APP): President Dr ArifAlvi Sunday telephoned the families of thearmy soldiers and officers who were mar-tyred in varying incidents, and conveyedhis condolences.

The president phoned the families ofMajor Raja Zeeshan Jahanzeb and MajorMuhammad Irfan Barcha who embraced

martyrdom in a helicopter crash onDecember 6, this year.

He also interacted with the grieved fam-ilies of the soldiers who were martyred inNorth Waziristan on November 27.

Besides, he also telephoned the familymembers of martyred Lance Naik Arif,Naik Rehman, and Sepoy Ghafoor Jan.

President phonesmartyred soldiers,officers’ familiesfor condolence

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: Accordingto Islamabad ElectricSupply Company (IESCO)'sspokesman, SystemMaintenance/DevelopmentWork is in process.Therefore power supply ofbelow mentionedfeeders/areas will be tempo-rary suspended as per givenschedule:

On 13th December,From 08:00 AM to 5:00 pmBahatar Feeder, From 09:00am to 2:00 pm, Dhok Awan,Zaraj Housing Scheme,New Rawat, I-11/3, Nogzi,G-8/2, Lehtar Road, Athal,F- 7/1, Zia Masjid, ChinaFriendship, Filtration Plant,E-8 Navy, G-9/4, New PTN,Capital Steel, Old United,G-13/3, F-11/4, Shahpur,Pindi Point, Gharial, TDCP,Shahdara, Dhok Hakmadad,Arya Mohalla, Bani, JamiaMasjid, Gawalmandi,Westridge, Dhok Najo, EBlock, Faizabad, Khanna-II,Azizabad, Misryal Road,Amir Hamza Colony, NestRoad, Lakho Road,Mohanpura, Bank Road-1,

Tipu Road, Rehmatabad-II,River Garden, Model Town,Jhanda, Askari-14, Adiala,Ranial, UC Lakhan, ChowkiNo. 22, New Rawat, Nara,Klar. City, Fazal AhmadShaheed, New Chawah,Nara Motor, Hamid Jhangi,Industrial, Sukho, NishanHaider, CB Khan-2, Ghauri,Haro, Shahia, RashidMinhas, AWC Housing,Munirabad, Burhan, ShafiChauhan, Hussain Abad,Behlot, Bin Bola, IshtiaqShaheed, Forah Chowk,Nad Topa, Hameed, PowerChannel Company, Wesa,Chaji Mar, Qutbal, Anjara,Sarai Alamgir, F-13Garmala, Langarpur,Industrial, Boreen, F-2 ChipBoard, F-10 Kala Base, CityHousing, Hamlet, ManglaCantt, Madhu Kals,Bhagwal, Col. MuhammadAkram, Mattwa, Jarmut,Chappar Sharif, Kantrila,Smoot, Bahrapur, LinePark, Jamalwal, Khairpur,Sarpak, Adi, Jund Awan,Dhadial City, Dhadial Rural,Khanpur, Mulhal Mughals,Siglaabad, Bhekri, Rawal,Lilla Town, Kachehri,

Jalalpur, Neela, Malikwal,Jatla, Para Fatyal, TauMuharram Khan, PatwaliFeeders, From 09:00 AM to04:00 PM , Mumtaz SteelMill, Pothohar Steel Mill,Bani, M Steel Mill, InterSchool, SH Steel, CapitalSteel, I-10/1, Faisal FlourMill, Noor Flour Mill, AminTown, Mohammadi Chowk,New PTN, Solar-1 & 2,Attock Cantt, Akhori,Artillery Center, PMColony, Katchery, Feeders,More In addition 132 KVChakwal grid station canmanage 30 to 40 MW load ifrequired. From 12:00 Noonto 04:00 PM, Syed Kasran,Dhoda, CTM, MulhalMughals, Latifal, DurgiRajgan, Chakwal SteelFeeders, From 09:00 AM to01:00 PM , DhadialExpress, Khanpur Feedersand surrounding areas willremain off. IESCO manage-ment apologizes to itsesteemed customers for thepower outage. If the work iscompleted ahead of time,the power supply can berestored even before thescheduled time.

ISLAMABAD: A beautiful night view of overhead bridge at Peshawar More decorated with coloufullights in Federal Capital.

RAWALPIND (APP): One morepatient had died while eight otherswere diagnosed with coronavirusduring the last 24 hours, raising thetally of confirmed cases to 39,420in the district.

As per the latest data released bythe District Health Authority hereSunday, the total infected casesincluded 36,391 from Rawalpindi and3029 from other districts. Among thenew patients, two of each case werereported from Potohar town,

Rawalpindi Cantonment and Murree,while each case arrived from Taxilaand Rawal town. "Presently 21 con-firmed patients were admitted to fourcity facilities, counting eight each inFauji foundation hospital andInstitute of Urology, four in BenazirBhutto Hospital, and one in HolyFamily hospital," the report said.

District Health Authority furtherupdated that 38,076 patients had beendischarged after recovery, 35,058with Rawalpindi and 3018 from out-

side districts. In addition, the reportinformed that 124 were quarantined,including 102 at homes and 22 in theisolation centres.

The report further said that3,898,269 people, including 44,255health workers, had jabbed them-selves against the lethal coronavirusacross the district since the vaccina-tion administering drive launched onMarch 10. The positivity rate wasrecorded at 0.55 per cent during thelast 24 hours in the district, it added.

COVID-19 claims anotherlife in Rawalpindi

ISLAMABAD (APP): Themesmerizing view of color-ful autumn trees of the feder-al capital is attracting crowdsof 'nature lovers' to visit pub-lic park and picnic spots dur-ing the current ongoingautumn season where goldenhues of the leaves from treesare enhancing the beautyof the city.

As summer gives way toautumn in Pakistan, it’s final-ly the time of year where thenights get colder and longer,the days get shorter, and allthe leaves from trees changeinto multi-colored, said visi-tors of Rose & Jasmine gar-den while talking to thisscribe of APP.

This season shows atotally new face of nature.The weather in this seasonis loved by all because it ismoderate. Autumn seasonteaches us that even if theleaves fall, new leaves will

take their place one day,said another visitor ofShakarparian. “Apart fromthe clean roads and otherinfrastructure in the capitalcity, the diversity of plantshas also made the city veryenchanting in autumn",said another citizen whileenjoying the attractiveview of Monal.

“Islamabad city has alarge number of evergreenvarieties and the view ofleaves beginning to fall inthe autumn is giving spec-tacular views to residents' ',said a female visitor in thestreet park. Autumn everyyear brings a vibrant colorpalette for a short period oftime and gives a visual treatto nature lovers, artists,photographers and sight-seers, said a teacher AmnaZia. Multi-colored leavesfalling from trees is the besttime for photographers and

artists to capture nature intotheir camera lens andexplore the beauty of natureand create masterpieces intheir work, said another cit-izen.

No doubt the residents ofcapital are fortunate that theluxuriant greenery hallmark-ing the city is home to a vari-ety of birds life whichalways attract local as wellas international visitors, saida 15 year old child, adding,It is a transition periodbetween summer and winterwhen all the leaves from thetrees and plants change intomulti-colored works of artand fall away.

It is the most comfort-able weather for me. Thewinds are just right and theair is scented with multi-colored falling leaves, saida 19 year old student whileenjoying falling leaves inher garden.

ISLAMABAD (APP): AntiNarcotics Force (ANF) hasseized 4670.349 kilogramsof narcotics valuing US $672.246 million interna-tionally, arrested 52 culpritsincluding three women andtwo Nigerian nationals.

According to an ANFspokesman, the force alsoimpounded 18 vehicleswhile conducting 56 count-er-narcotics strikesthroughout the country.

The seized drugs com-prised 200.9 kg Heroin,1463.778 kg Hashish,182.45 kg Opium, 47.803Amphetamine, 22.307 kgMethamphetamine (Ice),4.565 kg Cocaine, 3942Ecstasy Tablets (1.496 kg),502 kg Morphine and 2245Kg Poppy Straw and 50grams of weed.

ANF in Balochistan hadrecovered 2763.01 kg ofdrugs in five operationswhile arrested six accusedand seized a vehicle. Theseized drugs comprised

15.600 kg Hashish, 2025Ecstasy Tablets (0.41 kg),2245 kg Poppy Straw and502 kg Morphine.

In Punjab, the force hadrecovered 35.691 kg ofdrugs in eight operationswhile arrested four accusedand seized two vehicles.The seized drugs comprised11.76 kg Heroin, 12.900 kgHashish, 7 kg Opium,3.920 kgMethamphetamine (Ice),217 Ecstasy Tablets (0.111kg), and one 9mm pistolalong with six rounds.

ANF in KhyberPakhtunkhwa had recov-ered 1690.823 kg drugs in22 operations while arrest-ed 16 accused includingone Nigerian national andseized eight vehicles. Theseized drugs comprised 151kg Heroin, 1347.958 kgHashish, 140.9 kg Opium,47.800 kg Amphetamine,one kg Methamphetamine(Ice), 1.190 kg Cocaine and1700 Ecstasy Tablets

(0.975 Kg).The force in Sindh

recovered 51.85 kg ofdrugs in 7 operations whilearrested 10 accused andseized 4 vehicles. Theseized drugs comprised9.500 kg Heroin, 28.4 kgHashish, 2.750 kg Opiumand 11.200 kgMethamphetamine (Ice).

ANF North recovered126.625 kg drugs in 14operations and arrested 16accused including threewomen and one Nigeriannational and seized threevehicles.

The seized drugs com-prised 28.64 kg Heroin,58.92 kg Hashish, 31.8 kgOpium, 3.837 kgMethamphetamine (Ice),3.375 kg Cocaine, 3 gramsAmphetamine and 50grams of weed.

All cases have been reg-istered at respective ANFPolice Stations under CNSAct 1997 and further inves-tigations are under process

RAWALPINDI (APP): SuiNorthern Gas PipelinesLimited (SNGPL),Rawalpindi Region wouldlaunch a campaign to checkthe use of compressors.

According to a SNGPLspokesman, the consumersof some localities were fac-ing low gas pressure due tosevere cold weather forsome days. “SNGPL is try-ing to utilize all availableresources to increase thegas pressure,” he claimed.

To a question he saidthat SNGPL had issued awarning to the citizensagainst installing and usingcompressors, declaringthem illegal and hazardous.

He said that the teamswould go door-to-door to

ensure that the warning wasbeing complied. The citi-zens using compressorswould be fined heavily andtheir gas connections wouldbe severed, he added.

It is pertinent to mentionhere that the residents ofseveral city and cantonmentboard localities are facingzero gas pressure as thetemperature continues todrop and many areas havebeen hit by a drastic reduc-tion in gas supply, resultingin a sharp increase in use ofillegal compressors.

The citizens are also run-ning behind LiquefiedPetroleum Gas (LPG), drywoods, kerosene oil, andother sources of fire due tothe absence of natural gas in

stoves. Several areasincluding Gulistan Colony,Rehmatabad, Chaklala,Dhok Elahi Bakhsh, DhokKhaba, Millat Colony,Amarpura, Sadiqabad,Westridge-3, Pirwadhai,Dhok Najo, New Katarian,College Road, Adara,Morgah, Peoples Colony,Tench Bhatta, DhokeSyedan, Bakra Mandi, TahliMori, and several otherareas have been facingextreme low gas pressure.

The residents of theseareas said that the pressureof the gas being suppliedwas very low. In some otherlocalities, the pressure wasso low that the residentscould only see a tiny flamein their stove.

Colorful Autumn season incapital attracting people to

visit public parks, picnic spots

ANF seizes 4670.349 kgnarcotics; arrests 52

IESCO notifies power suspension programme

The Frontier PostMonday, December 13, 202110

SNGPL to launch campaignto check use of compressors

Freezing winternights increase

demand of'Fish' in capital

ISLAMABAD (APP): Assnow draped the loftymountains of northern partsand caused a dip in mercu-ry, the demand for 'Fish'surged manifold all acrossthe country including feder-al capital where a consider-able rush was witnessed atdozens of fried food outlets.

Several markets includ-ing Melody market,Karachi Company, JinnahSuper market, Super mar-ket, Aabpara, F-10,F11,G10 Markaz,Commercial Market,Saddar, Raja Bazaar andother places are witnessinga number of fish stalls andare doing good businessdue to high demand.

According to Fish sell-ers, the sale of differentkinds of fish includingDambra, Rohu, Mahasher,Thela fish, Salmon, Silverand common Carp, hasincreased as people fromall ages thronging to fishsale points to enjoy thewinter freezing nights, areport aired by a privatenews channel said.

A customer while com-menting said that my fami-ly cannot restrain them-selves from eating fishthrice a week in winter dueto its delicious taste.

Families of differentsocial classes and speciallyyoungsters were seen wit-nessing these outlets to hitthe cold with various kindsof fish including Mushka,Raho, Simon, Pamphlet,Mahsher, and others, saidanother customer.

According to sellers , theprice per kilo gramme hascrossed Rs500 and in thecoming days it will reachRs 1000 to 1300.

"We are receiving manyorders and some wantdeep-fried fish, some prefertawa machi", he added.

F.P. Report

ISLAMABAD: Speaking at a webi-nar on Sunday, the experts urged theauthorities to take urgent measuresfor the economic sustainability ofmountain tourism that needs transfor-mation from the conventional snowand ice based adventure sports andtourism to contemporary innovativebusiness models. Mountain culturalfestivals, visits to heritage sites,mountain biking competitions andjeep rallies will work from nowonward after the deterioration ofmountain ecosystems.

They said the sustainability ofnature-based mountain tourism islikely to be threatened in the wake ofthe worst climate impact. The Covid-19 has already shown its impact onmountain tourism. The governmentsneed to take immediate steps torevive the tourist destinations toensure safe and consistent livelihoodfor the mountain communities. Manycompanies engaged in mountain

tourism have gone bankrupt duringthe pandemic. Soft loans and grantscould help them restore their busi-nesses. The webinar was organisedby the DevelopmentCommunications Network (Devcom-Pakistan) on Sunday in connectionwith its ongoing 11th PakistanMountain Festival, the annual flag-ship event to commemorate theInternational Mountain Day.

The experts spoke on the occasionincluded Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia)based international hospitality andtourism expert and former vice presi-dent United Nations World TourismOrganization (UNWTO) ChoonLoong Lee, Gilgit-Baltistan TourismMinister Raja Nasir Ali Khan, sus-tainable tourism expert andManaging Director Pakistan TourismDevelopment Corporation Aftab urRehman Rana, Devcom-PakistanExecutive Director and founder anddirector Pakistan Mountain FestivalMunir Ahmed, and Climate SmartAgricultural expert Azhar Qureshi.

Founder SDGs academy AmmarJafri, Manager Tourism plus IqraShiraz, Sadaf Sheikh and ShaarefMunir, a tourism and hospitality stu-dent at the Özyegin University,Istanbul (Turkey) also joined thepanel discussion.

Choon Loong Lee said the Covid-19 pandemic has severely impactedmountain tourism by disturbing thesupply chain while climate change hasdevastated the mountain ecology andculture. The companies operatingtourism at 5000 metres high moun-tains have gone bankrupt globallybecause of the pandemic and climatechange impact. The economic cycle ofthe mountain communities also dis-rupted with this. Mountain communi-ties are the poorest ones and they needsustainable mountain tourism for theirbetter livelihood and living. Mr. Leementioned that relevant leadership,trained human resource and scientificdata is missing for sustainable moun-tain tourism in the developing andleast developed countries.

RAWALPINDI (APP): Stairs of over-head pedestrian bridge of districtcourts, littered with heaps of dust andtrash were not only creating nauince foradvocates and regular visitors but also ahome of number of diseases posing aquestion mark on the performance ofChaklala Cantonment Board (CCB)authorities.

Talking to APP, Advocate BashirChaudhry said roads passing along dis-

trict courts remained busy and conjust-ed during peak hours of hearing thatforces the visitors to use pedestrianbridge to reach from the other side. Heregretted that despite designated depart-ments and staff there was no mainte-nance and cleanliness of the overheadbridge. He said the ChaklalaCantonment authorities should take thisissue seriously as it was a matter ofpublic safety and concern.

Nontraditional business models urgedfor sustainable mountain tourism

ISLAMABAD (APP): As per directions ofthe Nat-ional Command and Op-erationCenter (NCOC) a special drive for imple-mentation of obligatory vaccination regimein transport sector was in progress fromDecember 8 to December 18 by all federat-ing units through formulation of JointMonitoring Teams. According to a pressrelease on Sunday, NCOC has shared themandate details for Joint Monitoring Team.

As per details, all types of transport(public/private) intercity/intracity will bechecked/inspected at entry/exit points, busstands/terminals, toll plazas, interchanges,rest areas and inter provincial boundary onNational Highways and Motorways.

NCOC directed that only vaccinatedindividuals and individuals holding med-ical exemption certificate will be allowedto travel. However, efforts will be madeto vaccinate non-vaccinated vehicle staff/ passengers on spot through MobileVaccination Team (MVT). The areaschecked for implementation of obligato-ry vaccination regime in-cludeRawalpindi, Islamab-ad, Lochran,Okara, Kem-ari, Hafizabad, Lahore, K-asur, Multan, Jhelum, Sha-hkot, it added.It further ad-ded that uptil 10 December,a total of 12073 in-spections were carriedout, 172 vehicles were impoun-ded and37 arrests were made.

NCOC starts drive forimplementation of

obligatory vaccine regime

Advocates, litigants demandCCB to ensure proper cleanliness

US allows money transferKABUL (Khaama Press): US Department ofTreasury announced that they have made aregulation based on which people will beallowed to transfer money to Afghanistan. Thenew regulation was announced on Saturday,December 11 and it will lift sanctions on allthose who are involved in the transfer. Themove comes a day after the World Bankallowed $280 million to be transferred toAfghanistan so that it be used in health andfood sectors by WFP and UNICEF.

Taliban guns down boy in KabulKABUL (Khaama Press): The Talibanfighters shot killed a boy who wasattending an engagement function inKabul. The boy, Faisal (in his 20s) wasshot by a Taliban fighter in PoliceDistrict two of the Afghan capital Kabul.Eyewitnesses and his uncle of whomthe slain Faisal was attending the wed-ding said, they were directed to stop forcheck post and they did but were shot atin the next one.

Asia is comparable to a living body composed of soil and water. The heart that beats inside the body is Afghanistan. The destruction of Afghanistan would be the destruction of Asia. And in its progress and prosperity lies the well-being of Asia. - Allama Iqbal

Jamadi-Ul-Awwal 08, 1443 — Monday, December 13, 2021

The Frontier Post

BALKH (Tolo News): TheMinistry of Culture andInformation is planning torepair the cultural heritagesites that are on the brink ofcollapse in the northernprovince of Balkh, anIslamic Emirate officialsaid on Saturday.

The head of the Balkhdepartment of informationand culture, ZabiullahNoori, said that they wouldrepair the damaged culturalheritage areas.

“The department of infor-mation and culture of Balkhin cooperation with someorganizations including theAgha Khan Foundation willconsider repairing the culturalheritage areas that need it,” hesaid. Khwaja Parsa mosque isa historic location in Balkhdistrict of the province. Theseminary of Baha' al-DinValad, the father of alal ad-Din Mohammad Balkhi, isanother revered historic placelocated in Balkh district.

Mohammd SalehKhaliq, a former official ofthe information and cultureministry, said that there are120 historic places in theprovince, 60 of which havebeen recognized andrepaired. “When thetourists come here to seethe historic places ... theywill do some shoppinghere. All of this will rampup the economy,” he said.The majority of these his-toric heritage areas arelocated in the DawlatAbad, Balkh, Dehdadi,and Khulam districts ofthe province.

Provincial residentsstress the need for theprotection of these his-toric places. “The peoplecome here for entertain-ment and to see these his-toric areas. It should beprotected,” said Ahmad, aresident of Kabul.

Govt pledges to protectBalkh cultural heritage sites

KABUL (Tolo News): Atleast 80 Daesh memberssurrendered to the IslamicEmirate in Nangarharprovince, the provincialmedia relations departmentsaid on Sunday.

According to the depart-ment, the Daesh memberssurrendered to the IslamicEmirate through the media-tion of tribal elders.

Dr. Bashir, director ofintelligence for Nangarharprovince, said these Daeshmembers are residents of10 districts in the province,the media relations depart-ment said in a series of

tweets. The departmentsaid that considering thegeneral amnesty, these menhave been granted amnesty.

Meanwhile, the surren-dered Daesh members saidthey will support the

Islamic Emirate.Tribal eld-ers also said if anyone pro-vides housing to Daeshmembers in the province,their homes will be set onfire and the hosts them-selves will be expelled.

80 Daesh members surrender in Nangarhar

KABUL (Pajhwok): Pajhwok AfghanNews findings show that dailyincome of beggars in Kabul hasdropped by 55 percent, while expertssay the government and wealthy peo-ple should assist those in need.

Experts say that in addition towealthy people, the government ansreligious scholars have a responsibil-ity to raise awareness about those inneed of help. The government isworking on a plan to identify beggarsin Kabul and provide them withnecessities (shelter, food, clothingand medicine) and is currenting pro-viding assistance to those in need inthe capital and provinces.

Pajhwok interviewed 51 beggars

in DehAfghanan, Abdul Haq Square,Mirwais Maidan Pashtunistan road,Sadrat Square, Shahr-i-Naw andQala-i-Fatullah area of Kabul onDecember 7 and 8.

The interviewees, 31 of themwomen and 20 other men aging 10-75, were randomly determined forinterviews. They were asked howmuch their daily income was fourmonths ago and what is their currentlevel of income. Based on their data,Pajhwok’s calculations show on aver-age a beggar in Kabul used to earn318 afghanis four months ago, butnow the figure has dropped to 144afghanis. Interviewees’ data showsthat the income level of beggars

varies from place to placeThe average current level of

beggar’s income shows that a beg-gar earns 153 afghanis per day inAbdul Haq Square, 149 afghanis inMirwais Square, 144 afghanis inDeh Afghan, 142 afghanis inShahr-i-Naw, 125 afghanis inPashtunistan Street, 124 in Sadaratsquare and 90 afghanis in Qala-i-Fatullah.

The findings show that in thepast, the average daily income of abeggar was as low as 90 afghanis,but as high as 550 afghanis. Thefindings show that the current dailyincome is as low as 90 afghanis, butas high as 225 afghanis.

Earnings of beggars down by 55pc in Kabul

India’s move to send 1.6 tonnes oflife-saving medicines to Afghanistanhas drawn praise from the Taliban ata time when Pakistan continues tocreate hurdles in the shipment ofwheat offered by the Indian side viathe Wagah land border crossing.

A special charter flight thatbrought 104 people, most of themAfghan Sikhs and Hindus, fromKabul to New Delhi on Friday carriedback medicines meant for the IndiraGandhi Institute of Child Health inKabul. The main children’s hospitalin the Afghan capital is grapplingwith a growing number of childrenaffected by malnutrition.

“These medicines will be handedover to the representatives of theWorld Health Organization (WHO) inKabul and will be administered at the

Indira Gandhi Children’s Hospital,Kabul,” the external affairs ministrysaid. Taliban deputy spokespersonAhmadullah Wasiq tweeted in Pashtothat important medical equipmentwould also be brought in from Indiaand made available to hospitals. Inanother tweet, he added: “India is aleading country in the region.Afghanistan-India relations are veryvital.” Abdul Kahar Balkhi, thespokesperson of the Taliban’s foreignministry, said on Twitter: “We appre-ciate the arrival of...Indian-assistedmedicine to Indira Gandhi Children’sHospital in Kabul.” He added thecharter flight operated by Kam Airhad brought back 85 Afghan nation-als who were stuck in India and this“travel process will continue”.

Afghan ambassador Farid

Mamundzay said the “life-saving medi-cines will help many families in this diffi-cult time”.The consignment of medicineswas the first tranche of humanitarian aidprovided by India since the takeover ofKabul by the Taliban. The Indian sidedoes not recognise the Taliban regime buthas repeatedly said it will provide aid tothe Afghan people against the backdropof a looming humanitarian crisis.

India’s offer to provide 50,000tonnes of wheat to Afghanistan viaPakistani land routes, however, hasbeen hamstrung by conditionsattached to the move by Islamabad,people familiar with the matter saidon condition of anonymity. OnDecember 3, Pakistan said it wouldallow wheat and medicines to beshipped via the Wagah land bordercrossing in Afghan trucks.

India’s move to send medicines forAfghan kids draws praise from Taliban

KABUL (Khaama Press): AsAfghanistan is still suffering frompotentially the world’s worsthumanitarian crisis, UniteKingdom has announced that theywill allocate the US $99.5 or 75million pounds in humanitarianaids to Afghanistan.

The Foreign Ministry of the UKhas added that 34 million pounds of75 million will be given to WorldFood Program (WFP).

The allocation of money comeshours after foreign ministers of G7met in Liverpool on Saturday,December 11, and discussed theworld’s conflicts includingAfghanistan.

British Foreign Minister Liz Trusswhile allocating the money forAfghanistan, expressed gratitude forthe participation of G7 memberscountries. Liz Truss called on theInternational community to widentheir cooperation to prevent humani-tarian crisis and to avoid mass immi-gration of the Afghan people.

The UK has reportedly doubledits humanitarian aids to $380 mil-

lion for Afghanistan and the regionthis year. The money is good timingthough, it is only for addressing the

urgent needs of the people ofAfghanistan and cannot solve thelong-term problem.

UK to allocate nearly$100m in humanitarian

aid to AfghanistanLIVERPOOL (Tolo News): UnitedKingdom Foreign Secretary Liz Trusssaid that her country is pledging £75million in aid to the people ofAfghanistan, the Foreign,Commonwealth and DevelopmentOffice (FCDO) said in a statement onSunday.

According to the statement, the aidis aimed to support 1.8 millionAfghans with life-saving food, emer-gency health services, shelter, water,and hygiene services.

The UK’s pledge follows the G7discussions on global crisis and con-flict situations, including the situationin Afghanistan, which were held inLiverpool on December 11 and 12.During the discussion, Truss calledfor greater international cooperationto respond to the risk of regional

instability and to the humanitariancrisis. According to the statement, theG7 foreign ministers also discussed acoordinated international response tothe situation in Afghanistan and howto engage with the Islamic Emirate.

“The UK is providing vital human-itarian assistance in Afghanistan thiswinter. The funds announced todaywill save lives, protect women andgirls and support stability in theregion. We are determined to do allwe can for the people ofAfghanistan,” Russ said.

The UK has said the aid will gothrough international organizationssuch as the UN and other trusteddelivery partners and will not godirectly to the Islamic Emirate.

According to the UK's statement,the new aid is part of the £286 million

the UK has pledged to give toAfghanistan this year. “It will also beused to provide support for victims ofgender-based violence and to fundessential child protection services,”the statement reads.

The new aid is pledged as interna-tional organizations including the UNhas warned of a worsening humani-tarian crisis in Afghanistan.

The World Food Programme, wel-coming the UK aid, said it will helpmany lives, adding that women andchildren are bearing a big part of thehardship in Afghanistan.

WFP Executive Director DavidBeasley said: “What we are seeing onthe ground is heart-breaking – 23 mil-lion people are facing severe hungerin a country crippled by drought, con-flict and an economic crisis.”

G7 Foreign MinistersDiscuss Afghanistan,

UK Pledges £75M

KABUL (BBC): Heaped inplastic bags in a small room inrural southern Afghanistan, thewhite crystals glisten.

They are "export quality"methamphetamine, and will betrafficked to countries as faraway as Australia. Once there,the 100kg (220lb) stored in thisroom will have a street value ofaround £2m ($2.6m).

Outside, smoke billows fromtwo barrels where new batchesof meth are being cooked.

Drugs are big business inAfghanistan, and under theTaliban, trade is booming. Thecountry has long been linkedwith heroin, but in recent years,it has also emerged as a signifi-cant producer of crystal meth -another dangerously addictivedrug. One source involved inthe trade says that about3,000kg of crystal meth are nowmanufactured every day bymore than 500 makeshift "fac-tories" in a single remote drug-producing district in the south-west of the country.

The rise of meth has beenfuelled by a discovery thatephedra - a common, wild herbknown locally as "oman" - canbe used to make one of thedrug's key ingredients:ephedrine. At a bazaar deep inthe desert that serves as the cen-tral node of Afghanistan's methtrade, there are huge mounds ofthe plant on sale, on a scale notpreviously seen before.

Previously, the Taliban wereunderstood to charge tax onephedra. But recently, they haveannounced a ban on its cultiva-

tion, in a decree that was notwidely publicised.

For the moment though,they're continuing to allow themeth labs to function. OneAfghan involved in the tradetold us with a wide grin that theban on ephedra had simplycaused the wholesale price ofmeth to double overnight, whilethere were still warehouses fullof supplies of the plant to usefor future production.

Dr David Mansfield is aleading expert on Afghanistan'sdrug trade who has tracked thegrowth in meth production withthe help of satellite imageryidentifying labs involved in theprocess. He says the ban onephedra comes at a time of theyear when the crop has alreadybeen collected, "so the trueimpact will not even be feltuntil July next year when theephedra harvest is due".

Dr Mansfield believes theamount of meth being producedin Afghanistan could outweighthe amount of the country'sother more established drug,heroin. Opium harvested fromthe country's poppy fields isalready estimated to be thesource of about 80% of theworld's supply, and it tooappears to be booming.

In recent weeks, farmersacross Afghanistan have beenbusy preparing their fields andplanting opium seeds. "Weknow it's harmful," saysMohammad Ghani, while rak-ing the earth outside the city ofKandahar, "but nothing else wegrow makes any money."

Afghanistan's economy is col-lapsing following the withdraw-al of international support inresponse to the Taliban takeoverearlier this year, and for manyfarmers, opium seems like thesafest option. Decreasing waterlevels, exacerbated by drought,are also forcing their hands,they say. "We have to drillwells, and if we grow okra ortomatoes, we won't even makehalf of what the wells cost us,"says Mr Ghani. Speculation theTaliban might eventually banopium cultivation has led to arise in prices, which in turn,according to farmers, is encour-aging them to plant more of it.

For now, the trade is flourish-ing. Opium dealers, who used topay off corrupt government offi-cials and sell bags of the thickblack paste in secret, have nowset up stalls in markets. "Sincethe Taliban liberated the coun-

try, we have become totallyfree," one wholesaler says, witha smile. The Taliban, however,are still sensitive about thetrade. In Helmand province,they prevented the BBC fromfilming a large and notoriousopium bazaar, describing it as a"restricted area".

When pressed on whether theban on media coverage wasrooted in allegations someTaliban members were profitingfrom the trade, Hafiz Rashid,the head of the provincial cul-tural commission abruptlyended an interview and threat-ened to smash a camera unlessthe footage was deleted. Inneighbouring Kandahar, wewere initially given permissionto film an opium bazaar, but onarrival told it would not be pos-sible. Bilal Karimi, a Talibanspokesman in Kabul, told theBBC the group was "trying to

find alternatives" for farmers."We can't take this away frompeople without offering themsomething else," he said.

During the group's first stintin power, they did eventuallyban opium. During their insur-gency, however, taxes on itbecame a source of revenue,though in public they refutethat. Some traders say that if theTaliban want to, they will beable to effectively enforce a banon the drug again. Others aresceptical. "They've achievedwhat they have thanks toopium," one farmer says, indig-nantly. "None of us will letthem ban opium unless theinternational community helpsthe Afghan people. Otherwisewe'll go hungry and won't beable to look after our families."

Dr Mansfield warns thatincreases in costs of food andagricultural products linked to

the economic crisis will leadfarmers and lab owners to rampup the volume of trade, "just tomaintain their income".

In parts of Afghanistan, thedrug industry is deeplyenmeshed in the local economy.

Gandum Rez, a remote clus-ter of villages in Helmand, isonly reachable by a dusty grav-el track. But it's at the centre ofthe global heroin trade.

As well as a large number ofmarket stalls devoted to the saleof opium, it's home to factories,employing 60-70 people each,which process it into heroin.The drug is smuggled intoPakistan and Iran, and thenwestwards to the rest of theworld, including Europe.

According to one localsource, a kilogram of heroin forexport sells at around 210,000Pakistani rupees (£900;$1,190).

A former drug trafficker inthe UK told the BBC that by thetime a kilogram reached Britainand had been cut with variousmixing agents, it would have astreet value of around $66,000.

Most of that profit is madeby those transporting the drugsinternationally, but the Talibando levy taxes on producers.

According to Dr Mansfield,the amounts earned by thegroup from drugs are oftenoverstated, and less significantthan other sources of revenue.But he estimates that in 2020,they received around $35mfrom taxes on drug production -money that they need.

"The first time the Taliban

came to power, it took them sixyears before they actuallyenforced a ban on drugs andthat was just opium at the time,"he says.

To do so now, given the stateof the Afghan economy, DrMansfield says, would be seenas punishing a constituency thathas previously given theTaliban "succour and support".

Taliban spokesman BilalKarimi told the BBC that eradi-cating drug production wouldhelp both Afghanistan and theinternational community, "sothe world should help too". Thecountry's drug trade doesn'tsolely revolve around exports.It has also had a devastatingimpact on the Afghan popula-tion, in which high levels ofaddiction are seen. By the sideof a busy road on the outskirtsof the capital Kabul, a few hun-dred men are huddled togetherin small groups, smoking crys-tal meth and heroin.

"Now the drugs are made inAfghanistan, they're much lessexpensive," says one man,"before they used to come fromIran. A gram of meth was 1,500Afghani ($15), now it's 30 to 40Afghani ($0.31 to $0.41)."Conditions are squalid, withsome living inside sewage ditch-es. "Even a dog wouldn't live theway we do here," says anotherman. The Taliban often roughlyround them up and take them tounder-resourced rehab centres,they say, but most end up straightback here. For now, more drugslook set to hit the streets both inAfghanistan and abroad.

Meth and heroin fuel Afghanistan drugs boom

Concerns riseover Kabul’s

severe airpollution

KABUL (Tolo News):The concerns come as theIslamic Emirate has notassigned anyone to headthe National EnvironmentProtection Agency(NEPA).

Kabul air pollutiongreatly increases duringthe cold season as thepeople mostly use cheapfuels that burn "dirty."

“Pollution is increas-ing in Kabul, and it isvery dangerous, creatingmany problems and ill-nesses,” said Noor Gul, aresident.

Health staff at govern-ment and private hospi-tals have expressed anxi-ety over the pollution inKabul, confirming thatpatients with respiratoryillnesses increase as thewinter sets in.

“The illnesses relatedto the pollution is grow-ing and many patientscome to hospitals,” saidTankeen, a doctor.

Meanwhile, officials ofKabul municipality urgedall residents to closelycooperate in reducing thepollution.

“This is our responsi-bility, and we will con-tinue our efforts, so, weask people to kindlycooperate with us,” saidHamdullah Nomani,deputy Mayor of Kabul.

The concerns come asthe Islamic Emirate hasnot assigned anyone tohead the NationalEnvironment ProtectionAgency (NEPA). Peopleare mostly using coal,plastic and other cheapfuels in Kabul, whichseriously threatens thelives of residents.

The

Frontier PostMonday, December 13, 2021

Printed and published by Mahmood Afridi at Moraka’s Printers, 27 Abdara Road, University Town, Peshawar. Managing Editor Jalil Afridi. Phone 0300 9009001

Popeexpresses

support forUkraine

VATICAN CITY (RIA N-ovosti): Pope Francis ex-pressed support for Ukraineand its people, urging toresolve tensions around thesituation through interna-tional dialogue.

“I would like to assureyou of my prayers for dearUkraine, for all its churchesand religious communitiesand for all of its people, sothat the current tensions areresolved through seriousinternational dialogue, andnot through weapons,” thepontiff said on Sunday dur-ing his traditional addressfrom windows of the Apo-stolic Palace in the Vatican.

"I am very saddened bythe statistics that I recentlylearned. This year moreweapons were producedthan last year. Weapons arenot the way. May thisChristmas bring peace toUkraine," he said.

Oman’sSultan

Haithamto visit UK

MUSCAT (Agencies):Sultan Haitham bin Tariq isset to visit London onTuesday to discuss regionalissues, according to anannouncement by theOman News Agency.

Sultan Haitham came topower a year ago after thedeath of his predecessor S-ultan Qaboos. He said ear-lier this year the governm-ent would work to reducepublic debt and restructurepublic institutions and co-mpanies to bolster the eco-nomy.

Earlier on Sunday,Oman said it expects itsbudget deficit to reach 5percent of gross domesticproduct (GDP) in 2022,well within the limits of amedium-term fiscal planlaunched by the Gulf statelast year to fix its heavily-indebted finances.

Last week, Oman was t-he first stop of Saudi Ar-abia's Crown PrinceSalman's official state visittour of all GCC countries,where he met with SultanHaitham and discussed sev-eral issues, includingregional developments.

Nigeria maydeny access toits territory to

citizens offour countries

PRETORIA (TASS):Nigeria intends to impose aban on entry into the coun-try from Canada, the UK,Argentina and SaudiArabia, which previouslyadded Nigeria to theirnational red lists of stateswith the omicron strain ofcoronavirus and closed bor-ders for Nigerians and for-eigners arriving fromNigeria. This wasannounced on Sunday dur-ing a press conference bythe Minister of Aviation ofNigeria, Hadi Sirika.

"We have recommendedto add Canada, Great Bri-tain, Argentina and SaudiArabia to the Nigerian redlist," Xinhua news agencyquoted the minister as say-ing. According to him, thecorresponding governmentdecision can be made in thenext three days. Sirikastressed that by closingNigeria to people and air-lines from these four coun-tries, the Nigerian authori-ties are responding.

Earlier, a number ofcountries introduced a banon the arrival of foreignersfrom almost a dozenAfrican states, where theomicron strain of coron-avirus was detected. Thisincludes Nigeria. To date,six cases of omicron-straininfection have been identi-fied in Nigeria.

F.P. Report

LIVERPOOL: The text ofthe following statementwas released by the G7 for-eign ministers of Canada,France, Germany, Italy, Ja-pan, the UK, and the UnitedStates of America, and theHigh Representative of theEuropean Union.

“We, the G7 ForeignMinisters of Canada,France, Germany, Italy,Japan, the UK and the US

and the High Represen-tative of the EU, are unitedin our condemnation ofRussia’s military build-upand aggressive rhetorictowards Ukraine.”

“We call on Russia to de-escalate, pursue diplomaticchannels, and abide by itsinternational commitmentson transparency of militaryactivities as PresidentBiden did in his call withPresident Putin on 7December. We reconfirm

our support for the effortsof France and Germany inthe Normandy Format toachieve full implementa-tion of the MinskAgreements in order toresolve the conflict in east-ern Ukraine.”

“Any use of force tochange borders is strictlyprohibited under interna-tional law. Russia should bein no doubt that further mil-itary aggression againstUkraine would have mas-

sive consequences andsevere cost in response.”

“We reaffirm our unwa-vering commitment toUkraine’s sovereignty andterritorial integrity, as wellas the right of any sover-eign state to determine itsown future. We commendUkraine’s posture ofrestraint.”

“We will intensify ourcooperation on our com-mon and comprehensiveresponse.”

G7 FM’s condemnRussia’s aggressive

rhetoric towards Ukraine

WA S H I N G T O N D C(Agencies): Outgoing NewYork City Mayor Bill deBlasio (D) on Sunday saidhe had "mixed feelings"about the New York CityCouncil's recent decision toallow noncitizens to vote inlocal elections.

While appearing on"Fox News Sunday," deBlasio was asked by hostChris Wallace why he didnot veto the measure overhis concerns surroundingthe legality of the measure.

"I have mixed feelings.I've been very open about iton this law and I think thereare big legal questions, butI also respect the city coun-cil. They made a decision,"

de Blasio said, adding thathe is currently focused oncombating the COVID-19pandemic and the emergingomicron variant.

Last week, city lawmak-ers adopted a new measureto allow residents who arenot U.S. citizens to vote incertain for mayor and citycouncil positions. Themeasure passed, 33 to 14.

Soon after it passed, deBlasio expressed some con-cern, telling local mediathat he wanted "to makesure that there’s maximumincentive to finish the citi-zenship process."

The new measure couldpotentially allow up to 1million more New York

residents to vote in elec-tions. Undocumented imm-igrants will still be barredfrom voting in local elect-ions, and noncitizens will s-till not be permitted to votein state or federal races.

During the interview onSunday, Wallace also askedde Blasio, who has filedpaperwork toward a poten-tial gubernatorial cam-paign, about recent pollingdata that showed him lag-ging behind Gov. KathyHochul (D). The datashowed that only 6 percentof voters support de Blasioto be the next governor anda majority had an unfavor-able view of him.

"That reminds me of

pretty much every electionI've ever been in. I've beenan underdog many, manytimes. It's not where youstart, it's where you finish,"said de Blasio. "And elec-tions are a chance to tellpeople your vision andwhat you've done. Myvision is that we've got tochange a lot of things inthis state, including helpingfamilies, working familiesare struggling in the state ofNew York. They need a lotmore help."

When pressed byWallace on whether thiswas confirmation of hisrun, de Blasio said hewould have more to say onthe matter soon.

Outgoing New York City Mayoradmits to ‘mixed feelings’ on

allowing noncitizens to vote in polls

NEW YORK (TASS):Ukraine and Georgia canmove forward in NATOmembership if they meetthe requirements. This wasstated by US Secretary ofState Anthony Blinken inan interview shown onSunday with NBC .

"The alliance confirmedin 2008 that <...> is openfor Ukraine and Georgia. Ifthey continue to apply formembership and meet therequirements, this willbring [the solution of the

issue] closer," the head ofthe foreign ministry said.

"NATO has made it clearsince its inception that itsdoors will be open to anyEuropean countries thataspire to membership andmeet the necessary crite-ria," he said.

The North AtlanticAlliance at the 2008 sum-mit adopted a politicalstatement that Ukraine andGeorgia would eventuallybecome its members, butrefused to provide both

countries with an actionplan to prepare for mem-bership, which is the firststep in the legal procedurefor joining the organiza-tion.

The Russian ForeignMinistry on Friday issued astatement on dialogue withthe United States and otherWestern states. Accordingto this document, Moscowinsists on working out in aspecific period of time seri-ous long-term legal guaran-tees of security with the

NATO countries.The Russian foreign

ministry also believes thatit is in the fundamentalinterests of European secu-rity to officially disavowthe decision made by thealliance in 2008 on themembership of Ukraine andGeorgia as contradictingthe commitment of theleaders of all OSCE partici-pating States not tostrengthen their security atthe expense of the securityof others.

Blinken: NATO doors will beopen to any European countries

PPP had claimed that itspent about 230 millionduring the general elections2013 but the source was notmentioned, he asserted.

The minister said thatPPPP, under the control ofthen Pakistan’sAmbassador to the UnitedStates Hussain Haqqani,had also established a com-pany in USA which collect-ed the funds of millions ofdollars for the PPPP with-out known source so thereshould be accountability forall the political parties. TheECP should scrutinize theaccounts of political partiesinto phases as it could scru-tinize the accounts of threemajor political parties infirst phase and make thempublic and then rest of theothers including Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Jamiat UlemaIslam (JUI) TLP in secondphase, he added.

Regarding the new localgovernment system inPunjab, he congratulatedthe Punjab government forintroducing such an effec-tive new local governmentsystem to decentralize thepowers at lower level andsaid that it was first timethat mayors’ electionswould be held directly in alldistricts of Punjab and themayors would have their

own empowered cabinet,adding that this new systemwas aimed to devaluate thepower for empowering thelocal representatives toearly redress of peoples’issues and bring about thechange.

He said that PrimeMinister Imran Khan ful-filled its promise of trulyempowered local govern-ment system, which hemade to the people ofPakistan, adding that ChiefMinister of Sindh shouldfocus on his governancematters instead of makingindecent and rude state-ments about the federalgovernment.

To a question, FawadChaudhry said that localgovernment elections couldbe held through electronicvoting machines asElection Commission ofPakistan should tender per-taining to the purchase ofsuch machines for invitingvarious vendors or compa-nies while the purchaseprocess of such machinescould be completed withinfew months.

To another query, theminister said that persistentdecrease in inflation ratehas been recorded from lastthree weeks, adding that theprices of petrol, oil, wheat,lentils and other commodi-ties were lesser in Pakistan

as compared to other coun-tries in the region besidesthe peoples’ purchasepower was also increased.

He said that the govern-ment has taken responsibil-ity to bear the health relatedexpenditures of peopleunder Sehat Insaf pro-gramme, providing a hugerelief to the people besidesimproving the purchasepower as now they couldutilize such amount forother purposes.

Earlier, addressing thepress conference, FawadChaudhry said that PrimeMinister Imran Khan hastaken notice of a rally forthe justified demands inGwadar, Balochistan as thesolution to the issues ofBalochistan’s people wasamong top priorities ofPrime Minister ImranKhan, adding that the PTIgovernment was strivingright from the first day aftercoming to the power, toresolve the issues of peopleof Balochistan.

The previous govern-ments had not paid anyattention to the issuesincluding gas, electricityand water besides others ofBalochistan but the presentgovernment was deter-mined to resolve theirissues by ensuring provi-sion of maximum resourcesto them, he said and added

that illegal fishing issuewas also under considera-tion and comprehensivepolicy be taken in thisregard.

Addressing on the occa-sion, State Minister forInformation andBroadcasting FarrukhHabib said that financialmatters of all the politicalparties should be surfacedso that the people couldanalyze and compare them,adding that the ECP’sscrutiny committee hadexamined the accounts andfunding details of the PTIbut it could not able to con-clude the scrutiny processof the PPP and PML-N. Hedemanded the ECP to con-duct the scrutiny of the PPPand PML-N’s fundingaccounts under the direc-tions of Supreme Court ofPakistan as the SC hadgiven a verdict to ensurethe scrutiny of fundingaccounts of all registeredpolitical parties.

Farrukh Habib said thatboth PPP and PML-N weretrying to hide the facts andaccount details as onceBenazir Bhutto, in herbook, had leveled accusa-tion on Nawaz Sharif thathe received funding fromforeign elements to derailher government so the ECPshould complete its task ofscrutinizing the accounts.

Fawad says ECP should scrutinizepolitical parties’ funding sources

DAMASCUS (AFP): UNspecial envoy GeirPedersen calls for a “stepfor step” approach in find-ing a political solution toSyria’s conflict, followinghis tour of Europe, the US,and Arab states.

Several rounds of UnitedNations-brokered negotia-tions in Geneva since 2019between the governmentand opposition aimed atforging a new constitutionhave so far failed.

“I think there is a possi-bility now to start toexplore what I call ‘a stepfor step’ approach, whereyou put on the table stepsthat is defined with preci-sions, that is verifiable, that

hopefully can start to buildsome trust,” he says, aftertalks in Damascus withForeign Minister FaisalMekdad.

“My message is thatthere is another possibilityto start to explore possibleavenues, to start to moveforward on this process,”he tells journalists.

Pedersen has toured allthe main foreign playerswith a stake in Syria’s con-flict. With major fightinghaving subsided since2020, Damascus has madeinroads into easing its inter-national isolation, especial-ly with fellow Arab states.

“I think we should nowanalyze not only the Arabs

but also the American posi-tion, the Europeans, theTurkish, the Russians, theIranians,” UN envoy says.

The war in Syria is esti-mated to have killed nearlyhalf a million people anddisplaced millions more,since it began with a brutalcrackdown on anti-govern-ment protests in 2011.

It quickly spiraled into acomplex conflict thatpulled in numerous actors,including jihadist groupsand foreign powers.

Throughout the civilwar, the UN has been striv-ing to nurture a politicalresolution.

Covert US army unittasked with fighting IS

repeatedly killed civil-ians: The US military cov-ered up a covert army cellthat repeatedly killedSyrian civilians during thecampaign against IslamicState, The New York Timesreported on Sunday.

The unit — called TalonAnvil — struck convoys,car bombs, command cen-ters, and squads of enemyfighters, when it operatedbetween 2014 and 2019,the report said. Current andformer American militaryand intelligence officialstold the newspaper that thecovert US army cell repeat-edly killed civilians as col-lateral damage in its opera-tions in Syria.

United Nations envoy sees‘step’ toward Syria solution

KARACHI: Federal Minister for Planning, Development & Special Initiatives Asad Umar addressingAll Stakeholders Conference regarding Sindh Local Government Act 2021 on December 12, 2021. APPphoto by Saeed Qureshi.

F.P. Report

NEW YORK: Today (13December), Council mem-bers are expected to vote ona draft resolution on cli-mate change and securitywhich was co-authored byIreland and Niger.

Also on Monday morn-ing, the Security Councilwill hold its semi-annualdebate on the InternationalResidual Mechanism forCriminal Tribunals(IRMCT). The IRMCT’spresident, Judge CarmelAgius, and its prosecutor,Serge Brammertz, are theanticipated briefers.

On Monday afternoon,the outgoing chairs of theSecurity Council’s sub-sidiary bodies will brief theCouncil on their experi-ences. Briefings are expect-ed from:

• Ambassador SvenJürgenson (Estonia)—chair of the 1518 IraqSanctions Committee andthe 1591 Sudan SanctionsCommittee;

• Ambassador AbdouAbarry (Niger)— chair ofthe 2127 Central AfricanRepublic (CAR) SanctionsCommittee, the 1533Democratic Republic of theCongo (DRC) SanctionsCommittee and the 1566Working Group onCounter-Terrorism;

• Ambassador TarekLadeb (Tunisia)— chair ofthe 1373 Counter-Terrorism Committee(CTC), the 2048 Guinea-Bissau SanctionsCommittee and theWorking Group onPeacekeeping Operations;

• Ambassador I. RhondaKing (Saint Vincent and theGrenadines)— chair of the2140 Yemen SanctionsCommittee and theInformal Working Groupon Documentation andOther Procedural Questions(IWG); and

• Ambassador DangDinh Quy (Viet Nam)—chair of the 2206 SouthSudan SanctionsCommittee, the InformalWorking Work onInternational Tribunals, andthe 1636 LebanonSanctions Committee.

Council members willhold closed consultationson the implementation ofresolution 2532 of 1 July2020 and resolution 2565of 26 February on COVID-19 on Monday afternoon.The expected briefers are

Under-Secretary-Generalfor Peacebuilding andPolitical Affairs RosemaryDiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for PeaceOperations Jean-PierreLacroix and ActingAssistant Secretary-General for HumanitarianAffairs RameshRajasingham.

On Tuesday morning (14December), the SecurityCouncil is scheduled tovote on a draft resolutionrenewing the mandate ofthe UN Interim SecurityForce for Abyei (UNISFA),which is set to expire on 15December.

There will be an openbriefing, followed byclosed consultations, onYemen on Tuesday morn-ing. The anticipatedbriefers are Special Envoyfor Yemen Hans Grundbergand Acting AssistantSecretary-General forHumanitarian AffairsRamesh Rajasingham.

On Tuesday afternoon,the Council will receive abriefing on the Secretary-General’s report on theimplementation of resolu-tion 2231, which in 2015endorsed the JointComprehensive Plan ofAction (JCPOA) on Iran’snuclear programme.

U n d e r - S e c r e t a r y -General for Political andPeacebuilding AffairsRosemary DiCarlo; Headof the EU Delegation to theUN Ambassador OlofSkoog; and AmbassadorGeraldine Byrne Nason(Ireland), in her capacity asthe Council’s 2231 facilita-tor, are expected to brief.

On Wednesday morning(15 December), theSecurity Council is sched-uled to vote on a draft reso-lution updating the1267/1989/2253 IslamicState in Iraq and the Levant(ISIL/Da’esh) and Al-Qaida sanctions regime,including by renewing themandates of the 1267/1988Analytical Support andSanctions Monitoring Team(Monitoring Team) and theOffice of theOmbudsperson.

Also on Wednesdaymorning, there will be anopen briefing on SouthSudan. SpecialRepresentative and head ofthe UN Mission in SouthSudan (UNMISS) NicholasHaysom will brief on theSecretary-General’s 90-dayreport on South Sudan.

Ambassador Dang DinhQuy (Viet Nam), the chairof the 2206 South SudanSanctions Committee, isexpected to brief on thecommittee’s work. Closedconsultations are scheduledto follow the open briefing.

The Security Councilwill hold an open briefing,followed by closed consul-tations, on the UN RegionalOffice for Central Africa(UNOCA) on Wednesdayafternoon. SpecialRepresentative and head ofUNOCA FrançoisLouncény Fall is expectedto brief on the Secretary-General’s semi-annualreport on UNOCA.

The 15th annual jointconsultative meetingbetween the UN SecurityCouncil and the AfricanUnion Peace and SecurityCouncil (PSC) will be heldvirtually on Thursday (16December) and Friday (17December).

This week, Councilmembers might discuss thehuman rights situation inthe Democratic People’sRepublic of Korea (DPRK)under “any other business”.

Council members willalso continue negotiating adraft resolution establish-ing a humanitarian exemp-tion to the 1988Afghanistan sanctionsregime, which may bevoted on this week.

Several meetings areplanned at the subsidiarybody level. On Thursday(16 December), the 1970Libya SanctionsCommittee will hold infor-mal consultations with theLibyan InvestmentAuthority (LIA)— Libya’ssovereign wealth fund— todiscuss the assets freezeimposed on the LIA underthe 1970 sanctions regime.

The 1718 DPRKSanctions Committee willconvene for informal con-sultations on Thursday toreceive a briefing fromOCHA on the humanitariansituation in the country.

On Friday (17December), there will be ameeting of the InformalWorking Group onDocumentation and OtherProcedural Questions(IWG).

Also on Friday, the 2140Yemen SanctionsCommittee will hold infor-mal consultations withSpecial Representative onSexual Violence in ConflictPramila Patten.

A tense week aheadat United NationsSecurity Council

“Even before the COVID-19 pandemic struck, almost1 billion people werespending more than 10 percent of their householdbudget on health,” saidJuan Pablo Uribe, GlobalDirector for Health,Nutrition and Population,World Bank. “This is notacceptable, especially sincethe poorest people are hithardest. Within a con-strained fiscal space, gov-ernments will have to maketough choices to protectand increase health budg-ets,” he added.

In the first two decadesof this century, many gov-ernments had madeprogress on service cover-age. In 2019, prior to thepandemic, 68 per cent ofthe world’s population wascovered by essential healthservices, such as pre-andpost-natal care and repro-ductive health services;immunization services;treatment for diseases likeHIV, TB and malaria; andservices to diagnose andtreat noncommunicablediseases like cancer, heartconditions, and diabetes.

But they had not made

such advances in ensuringaffordability. As a result,the poorest groups andthose living in rural areasare the least able to obtainhealth services, and theleast likely to be able tocope with the consequencesof paying for them. Up to90 percent of all house-holds incurring impover-ishing out-of-pocket healthspending are already at orbelow the poverty line -underscoring the need toexempt poor people fromout-of-pocket health spend-ing, backing such measureswith health financing poli-cies that enable good inten-tions to be realized in prac-tice.

Besides the prioritizingof services for poor andvulnerable populations,supported through targetedpublic spending and poli-cies that protect individualsfrom financial hardship, itwill also be crucial toimprove the collection,timeliness and disaggrega-tion of data on access, serv-ice coverage, out-of-pockethealth spending and totalexpenditure. Only whencountries have an accuratepicture of the way that theirhealth system is perform-

ing, can they effectivelytarget action to improve theway it meets the needs ofall people.

Together, these two newreports offer both a warningand guideposts to all coun-tries as they strive to buildback better from COVID-19 and keep their popula-tions safe, healthy, andfinancially secure.

World Bank GroupResponse to COVID-19

Since the start of theCOVID-19 pandemic, theWorld Bank Group hasdeployed over $157 billionto fight the health, econom-ic, and social impacts of thepandemic, the fastest andlargest crisis response in itshistory. The financing ishelping more than 100countries strengthen pan-demic preparedness, pro-tect the poor and jobs, andjump start a climate-friend-ly recovery. The Bank isalso supporting over 60low- and middle-incomecountries, more than half ofwhich are in Africa, withthe purchase and deploy-ment of COVID-19 vac-cines, and is making avail-able $20 billion in financ-ing for this purpose untilthe end of 2022.

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