Sonam shares her beauty secrets
She is the real fashionista of Bollywood, the harbinger of anything stylish and besides that she’s the true Indian beauty, who loves to surprise us with different looks every now and then. And, when it comes to Bollywood babes with the most flawless beauty, actress Sonam Kapoor-Ahuja’s name appears right on top. The diva is […]
Daily Times then DailyTimes.pk
Bollywood bigwigs attend Yuvraj Singh’s retirement party
Yuvraj Singh, who announced his retirement from international cricket, in June, hosted a lavish party for his family and friends at a restaurant in Mumbai on Saturday. Actress Kim Sharma, who reportedly dated Yuvraj Singh earlier, also got an invite from the cricketer His wife Hazel Keech and mother Shabnam Singh partied with Farhan Akhtar […]
Daily Times then DailyTimes.pk
Ananya launches initiative against social media bullying
Actress Ananya Panday has launched a special initiative, So Positive against social media bullying on the occasion of World Social Media Day. The initiative aims at spreading awareness about social media bullying and introduce measures that can be taken by the victims in order to deal with it. The 20-year-old actress, who made her Bollywood […]
Daily Times then DailyTimes.pk
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Hanif Ghaffari
American Secretary of States Mike Pompeo announced on Sunday that he will travel to Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE) to discuss the issues of western Asia.
It seems that the intention behind this trip, like the previous trips of U.S. officials to Middle East, is to shake down Arab tycoons. In fact, Trump had recently said that Saudi Arabia must financially support U.S. actions and now Pompeo is making this trip to reap the benefits.
In fact, with muddying the waters, U.S. is only trying to downplay his recent failures against Iran, especially after Iran downed U.S. super modern Global Hawk drone that had intruded into Iran’s airspace.
Following the incident, Trump made a strange announcement saying that he wanted to retaliate, but he called off the attack against Iran just 10 minutes before it was to be launched.
After this, the western media tried to start up a psychological warfare against Iran. First saying that Trump is ready to negotiate, and then repeated the false claims that they might return to nuclear deal. Amid all this tension, Trump once again sent a message to North Korea’s Supreme Leader, and now Pompeo’s trip to the Middle East is just another piece of this puzzle.
Out of a general viewpoint, we can say that the followings are the main intentions of Pompeo with making this trip to Middle East:
• Announcing U.S. support for Saudi and UAE regimes to continue killing the innocent people of Yemen until they reach a big victory. Gaining more victories in Yemen has specially become important for Saudi-led coalition after Yemeni drones targeted Abha and Jizan airports in the south of Saudi Arabia.
On the other hand, a rift has opened up between the two main pillars of Saudi-led coalition, Saudi Arabia and UAE because Saudi disagrees with UAE’s plans for dividing the northern and southern Yemen.
• Putting pressure on Arab countries to attend the Manama event where U.S. is planning to put forward the “deal of the century.”
After massive protests of both Muslim and non-Muslims on Quds Day in different countries
After thousands of both Muslims and non-Muslims took to the streets on Quds Day (May 31) in protest of the “deal of the century”, many countries stepped back from agreeing to this deal; which is according to many experts is a vague and unpractical plan. These events majorly hindered the project from going further. First, John Bolton, U.S. National Security Advisor tried to stop the failure of this deal by making a trip to occupied Palestine and now Pompeo is making a trip to pressure their allies among Arab countries to attend the Manama meeting as it is among the most important events arranged to facilitate the deal of the century.
• Fuelling Iranophobia among Arab countries.
White House has failed in carrying out many of his projects against Iran over the last two years; this has seriously undermined U.S. foreign policy; so, now, U.S. is trying to make them afraid of Iran and incite them into violent reactions.
• Diverting the attention out of the successful results of “active resistance” of Iranians in reaction to U.S. unilaterally leaving the nuclear agreement with Iran.
After United Nations Security Council passed a resolution for step by step suspension of Iran’s commitment to the nuclear deal, U.S. plans for pressuring Iran into having new round negotiations were thwarted.
Many experts believe that this would change the game in favor of Iran. So, it seems that one of Pompoe’s intentions in making this trip is to divert the public attention out of the mistakes of warmongers in White House.
In general, Pompeo’s trip to Middle East is indeed not a sign of U.S. power and control over the region; on the contrary, it reveals U.S. failed plans and strategies in the region and especially in dealing with Iran.
Anyway, the course of the events is showing that this trip will bring no achievement for neither U.S. nor ignorant tycoons of Middle East because Iran will never succumb to oppression and Yemen will never end its resistance against the usurpers.
The deal of century has no influence over the changes in Middle East, especially now that all the evidences show that the Manama meeting is going to be a humiliating failure.
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Chief Minister Mahmood Khan has directed all deputy commoners to control what he called artificial wave of high prices of essential consumers’ goods. The mechanism of administrative price control works when demand and supply equilibrium exists in the market and the government has not levied indirect taxes on the commodities of daily consumption. The primary driver of the current wave of high prices spiral is the regressive fiscal measures which have been included in the next year federal and provincial budgets.
Khyber Pukhtunkhwa is not self reliant in the production of cereal crops like wheat and rice, gram and pulses, fruits and vegetables, diary products and poultry. The requirements of these eatables are met by supplies from the provinces of Punjab and Sindh. The production of agriculture products could have been substantially increased by starting and completing the construction of small dams on large number of potential sites in the previous PTI government. But unfortunately, skewed priorities were given preference over the ones which were direly needed to be implemented for the welfare of the people. Wasting of over Rs.100 billion on Bus Rapid Transport Project, while ignoring the falling productivity of agriculture is a classic example of skewed priorities. The district administration is already issuing a price list of food commodities on daily basis and release of fresh instructions of price control is nothing but a failed public relation exercise.
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The Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa described strong economy as perquisite for sovereignty of the country in a soul searching and thoughts provoking speech at a seminar at National Defense University on the prevailing economic challenges confronting the country. It may be recalled that he had delivered an identical speech on the compounding economic woes of the country at a gathering of business community in Karachi in 2017, which was not liked by the hit-man of economy former finance minister Ishaq Dar. The COAS also highlighted the vital linkage between security and economy and their complimentarily dimensions.
Prominent economists including Dr. Asfaq Hassan Khan and Dr. Salman, who are the proponents of homegrown solutions of overcoming economic crisis, dwelt at length in theirs speeches on ways and means that can be instrumental in effectively tackling the macroeconomic imbalances and removing structural weaknesses which hinders the growth of the economy. In expressed language these economists enumerated the policy tools for reducing the budget deficits; bringing down the fast swelling power sector circular debt; offloading the huge financial burden of hemorrhaging public sector enterprises; improving fiscal management; expanding the tax base; documentation of economy; enhancing institutional capacity; and boosting exports.
Majority of the opinion makers and analysts focus their attention on the corrupt practices, bad governance, and financial indiscipline in the past 10 years and term them the major contributory factors for the disaster of the economy. In fact the foundation of downturn of economy was deliberately laid in the policy of nationalization of private industrial enterprises and banks in the decade of 1970. Prior to implementation of this policy, the industrial sector was growing at 8 percent and agriculture by 7.5. It was a time when South Korea borrowed economic growth model of Pakistan to start its development planning from scratches and now it is an economic joint. The nationalization policy brought down the economic growth rate to 2.2 percent. The confidence of private sector was shattered the and the entrepreneurial initiatives of introducing new technologies to achieve the economies of scale and products innovations were abandoned with the result that the industry of civilian goods is stagnant at second generation technology. On the country other developing countries in the region have moved forward towards the application of fourth and fifth generation technologies and these countries now enjoy significant comparative advantage over Pakistan in exports of value added products in the international market.
Revival of the economy started in 1980 but the downturn started once again from 1989 which continued till 1999. The period of 2000-04 witnessed economic recovery and gradual surge but later the downward slide started which gained momentum during the past 10 years. The most expensive thermal power generation system had been installed in the second PPP government and the last PML-N government. The power purchase agreements with the Independent Power Produces (IPPs) envisaging 40 percent payment for the idle plant capacity and agreed 8 cents per unit tariff for the coal fired thermal power plants have turned out the proverbial “Last straw on camel’s back.” The burden of power sector circular debt has risen to Rs.1.8 trillion but ironically, former president of IPPs Association Nadeem Babar is part of the PTI government, an appointment quite flabbergasting and unjustified.
The tough economic decisions taken by the present government were unavoidable; however, the policy of indefinite exemption of agriculture income tax runs contrary to the principle of social justice. Most of the fiscal measures will hit hard the poor people.
The state enterprises are incurring losses of R.1600 billion annually and their early privitisation is inevitable. In the past the privitisation process lacked transparency. The incumbent advisor on finance Dr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh was in-charge of Privitisation Commission when PTCL was privitised in 2006. But the UAE Telecom Company Etisalat still owes $800 million to Pakistan. This amount needs to be retrieved on priority basis. Hopefully, the present government will succeed in steering the country out of economic crisis.
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UNITED NATIONS (Agencies): The head of the United Nations mission in Afghanistan has denounced the Taliban for publicly threatening to turn media outlets in the war-torn country into military targets, stressing freedom of the press is critical and civilians should never be deliberately targeted with violence.
Noting that “words must never be met with violence”, Tadamichi Yamamoto, Special Representative for Afghanistan and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, called for the threat to be rescinded, adding, “the only acceptable challenge to words is to advance a better argument”.
Yamamoto underlined that “international humanitarian law – which applies to all parties to the conflict in Afghanistan, including the Taliban – prohibits attacks against civilians at any time and in any place”.
And affirming that media workers are also civilians, he highlighted the importance of protecting their “fundamental rights to operate in an environment free from any threat, intimidation or undue pressure by any outside entity, including governments”.
The UNAMA’s chief’s statement, in response to the public threats by Taliban to turn media outlets into military targets, highlighted two fundamental principles: that freedom of the press is critical, and that civilians should never be deliberately targeted with violence.
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Monitoring Desk
YAKAWLANG: The girls began appearing about seven in the morning. Seen from a distance, they made up thin blue lines snaking across the barren tan mountainside along narrow trails traced in the dirt, converging from several directions on the little school in the bottom of the valley.
Wearing powder blue school uniforms and white head scarves, many of the girls, ages 7 to 18, had already been walking for an hour or more by the time they arrived at the school. There were smaller groups of boys, too, mostly out of uniform, walking apart from the girls.
By 7:45, they were all gathered for assembly in the yard of the Rustam School, in a remote corner of Afghanistan’s Yakawlang District. It is the area’s only high school, years 1 through 12, and has an enrollment of 330 girls and 146 boys — astonishing in a country where normally only a third of girls attend school.
The principal, Mohammad Sadiq Nasiri, 49, gave his daily pep talk: Getting into university is going to be harder than ever this year, so they are going to have to do better than ever.
Rustam may seem an unlikely place to encourage collegiate dreams. With seven crude stone classrooms, supplemented by six big tents, there are so many students that they are divided into morning and afternoon sessions only four hours long.
There is no electricity, heat, working computers or copy machines. Many school materials are written out in longhand by teachers. Foreign aid once helped but has dried up. One teacher said she has fewer books than students.
Only 5 percent of the students have parents who can read and write, Mr. Nasiri said. Most are the children of subsistence farmers.
Yet Rustam’s 2017 graduating class saw 60 of 65 graduates accepted to Afghanistan’s public universities, a 92 percent college entrance rate. Two-thirds of those accepted were girls. A couple of years earlier, 97 percent of the graduates went to college.
Unlike most Afghan schools, Rustam mixes boys and girls in its classrooms. “Men and women are equal,” the principal said. “They have the same brains and the same bodies.”
He added, “We tell these boys and girls, there is no difference between you guys, and you will all be together when you go to college, so you need to learn how to respect one another.”
One day late in the spring term, Badan Joya, one of five female teachers among the school’s 12, was teaching a fourth-grade math class in one of the overflow tents. A piece of cardboard painted black served as a chalkboard, with simple algebra formulas scribbled on it. She asked her students, nearly all girls, to name their favorite subject. They chorused: “Math.”
That is not surprising at Rustam; 40 percent of questions on the college entrance exams cover mathematics, more than any other subject. And the girls excel.
The head student in 11th-grade math, based on test scores, is Shahrbano Hakimi, 17. Ms. Hakimi is also head student in her computer class, where, on that recent day, the girls were studying the Windows operating system, from books. Only one of the 60 students had a computer at home.
“The thing I wish for most in the world,” Ms. Hakimi said, “is a laptop.”
When the Taliban ruled Afghanistan, girls’ education was banned and women were mostly confined to their homes, especially in rural areas like this one in Bamiyan Province.
The local passion for education, especially among girls, is a reaction to that era, their teachers said. The fourth-grade math teacher, Ms. Joya, who is 28, did not begin school herself until the Taliban fell when she was 11; she could not read or write, and her only schooling had been sewing class.
“I had to start from zero,” she said. “We tell them about the Taliban and what they did to us, and say, ‘You have an opportunity now, you should take it,’” she said. “They’re listening. They hear about it at home, too, from their mothers and aunts.”
The area around Rustam is now free of Taliban and little touched by violence. In other places, families are reluctant to send girls to school, especially over long distances in rural parts.
The girls at Rustam are highly motivated. “Honestly, girls are better than boys, they are more serious,” Mr. Nasiri said. “These kids all know that you can’t make a slave out of someone who is educated.”
Except in Islamic studies, nearly all head students are girls.
Amina, “nearly 18,” who uses one name, is head girl of the entire school. She is fortunate, she said, because her father is educated, though her mother is illiterate.
She will be the first of eight siblings to finish high school and hopes to go to Mawoud Academy in Kabul, a college preparatory school, even though she knows that 40 students were killed there recently by a suicide bomber.
Amina’s favorite subject is math; she hopes to become a doctor.
Ms. Hakimi also dreams of becoming a doctor, in part because her mother suffers vision problems and her father is nearly deaf at age 65. Both are illiterate.
Outside their mud-walled home, a water wheel on a nearby irrigation ditch turns a small generator, just enough to power lights at night, for studying.
“I’m not educated,” said her father, Ghulam Hussein. “I’m just a farm laborer. I don’t want them to have the same life.” Of his 11 children, a son and two daughters have already reached college.
“I am so proud of them,” said Zenat, Ms. Hakimi’s mother.
Their family is also an example of why fewer boys are in school. Their son Ali, 9, stays home to help his parents, while their son Reza, 12, works in the fields.
“Ali wants so badly to go to school,” Zenat said. “Maybe next year.” All the daughters, though, are in school.
One day Mr. Nasiri, the principal, noticed one of his students, 13-year-old Friba, hiding behind other girls during assembly because she was out of uniform. Her family was too poor to buy one. So he bought a swatch of blue cotton in the nearest bazaar; Ms. Joya, the math teacher, sewed a tunic from it, using her Taliban-era skills.
Mr. Nasiri borrowed the money for the cotton. He earns less than $200 a month.
In addition to running Rustam the past six years, Mr. Nasiri supported four daughters and two sons with his wife, Roya, 45. They married during Taliban times; he taught his wife to read and write.
“We discussed it and decided she should go to school,” he said. “Children will do better when their mom is educated.”
Their eldest daughter finished high school four years before her mother. This year Roya graduated from high school, and next year will take the college entrance exams, Mr. Nasiri said proudly. “She raised six children,” he said. “Now she raises herself.”
Hundreds of feet up a rocky mountainside opposite Rustam, sheep grazed, watched by shepherds. One of the shepherds wore a blue dress, much like a school uniform, but covered in dust. Her name is Nikbakht, she said; she is 13. She carried a pen and a workbook for the Pashto language.
“I love school, but no one else was home so I had to work with the animals.”
Pashto, a required subject, is not her favorite, Nikbakht said. Math is.(The New York Times)
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Monitoring Desk
GENEVA: Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah who addressed the inauguration ceremony the Crans Montana 2019 30th Annual Session in Geneva on Thursday said that the war has continued in Afghanistan for the past four decades and that an absolute majority of Afghans are demanding peace.
“The absolute majority of the people support just endurable peace but unfortunately the war is being imposed on us,” he said.
Abdullah said that a fair election will help to strengthen stability in Afghanistan.
“We hope that we have good elections and free and fair elections because we think that it will contribute to stability in our country and to the strengthening of our institutions,” he said.
Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah thanked the international community for its efforts in Afghanistan and said that the country has the potential to contribute to the wellbeing of other parts of the world.
“Millions of younger generation, Afghans, boys and girls, have received education… Afghanistan has the potential to contribute not only to the wellbeing of its own people but to the region as well. Potentially, it is a rich country,” he said.
Abdullah concluded that security requires mutual respect and that trust and loyalty between nations.
His remarks come as NATO just wrapped up the defense ministers meeting where the head of the alliance, Jens Stoltenberg said there is a unique opportunity for peace in Afghanistan.
He said that the alliance and all its partners and members are strongly supporting the peace efforts in Afghanistan.(TOLOnews)
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F.P. Report
KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan will remain closed for public dealings on July 1, 2019 (Monday) which will be observed as Bank Holiday.
All banks / DFIs / MFBs shall, therefore, remain closed for public dealings on the aforesaid date. However, all employees of the banks / DFIs / MFBs will attend the office as usual.
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F.P. Report
KARACHI: Jaffer Business Systems (JBS) and 1LINK have partnered to enhance the overall infrastructure of banking sector with modern technology transformation. JBS solution will support 1LINK to maximize its security, enhance service availability and bring agility in network operations for all applications and services being offered to its client.
With this collaboration, 1LINK security posture will be upgraded via micro-segmentation and implementing always-on Active-Active Datacenter.
JBS will support 1LINK in minimizing application downtime, resulting in customers getting more secure round-the-clock access on their banking transactions and improve from traditional networks to a modern industry leading Network Virtualization platform.
Veqar ul Islam, Director and CEO – JBS said: “We are committed to foster a culture of modern technical innovation so we can provide resilient and accessible solutions to our clients. What brings me joy is that due to this partnership, the direct benefit will be enjoyed by the millions of customers who use banking services in Pakistan.”
Mr. Najeeb Agrawalla – CEO, 1LINK stated: “1LINK is happy to partner up with JBS as its technology solution provider. We play a vital role in the financial industry and hence, strive to continuously adopt new technologies ensuring international service standards. With JBS support, virtualization capability will enhance 1LINK’s capacity while certifying quicker turn-around to manage increasing volumes.”
Jaffer Business Systems is one of the most reputable IT companies in Pakistan, with the motto to solve people’s business challenges with IT Solutions in a creative manner. It promotes the culture of excellence, innovation and vitality in its business processes and services.
1LINK (Pvt) Limited, owned by a consortium of 11 banks, is the country’s 1st PSO/PSP and largest switch and payment system, providing a host of valuable online banking services like ATM switching, Bills Payment, Inter Bank Funds Transfer, Fraud Risk Management, Switch Dispute Resolution, Global Payment Schemes, PayPak – Domestic Payment Scheme, etc. 1LINK is continuously evolving and adding new products and services to benefit the financial industry.
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Monitoring Desk
KABUL: The Afghan Air Force conducted 22 airstrikes to support the ground forces during operations. The Ministry of Defense in a statement said the airstrikes were carried out in the past 24 hours.
The statement further added that security forces conducted 13 joint and 77 special operations during the period to suppress the militant groups. The statement also added that the security forces conducted the operations in Takhar, Patkiya, Helmand, Faryab, Herat, Uruzgan, Farah, Balkh, Baghlan, Ghazni, Kunar, Nimroz and Badakhshan provinces.
Furthermore, the defense ministry said the security forces killed 37 militants and wounded 24 others during the same operations.
The security forces also arrested 3 suspected militants during the operations, the Ministry of Defense added.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defense said the coalition forces also provided support to the Afghan security forces during the operations.
The anti-government armed elements have not commented regarding the operations so far.(Khaama Press)
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Monitoring Desk
FIROZ KOH CITY: Four members of Taliban group have joined peace process in western Ghor province. Abdul Hai Khatibi spokesman of Ghor governor told reporters, the Taliban members leading by Mullah Abdul Qasim laid down their hand weapons and joined peace process in Firoz Koh city the provincial capital of the province. The Taliban members have joined peace process by efforts of national security directorate, provincial council, religious scholars and tribal elders of the province, Khatibi added.
Leader of the group said after that they would be participated in ensuring peace and reconstruction of the country.(BNA)
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Monitoring Desk
KABUL: The former Afghan lawmaker and women’s rights activists Farkhunda Zahra Naderi unveiled Chadari design in a bid to raise voice against all forms of discrimination.
Ms. Naderi unveiled the Chadari design during an event “Chadari Vs. Lungi” on Thursday.
According to Ms. Naderi, the Chadari design within its creations and artistic work attempt to bring the focus first on the women’s rights as a core notion of “human rights” and” equality” then it draws attention on the types of dressing women use.
Chadari Design:
The Chadari design argues that although clothes/dresses are regarded to be the second skin of human beings, it cannot replace their personal and spiritual honor and dignity. Therefore, we need to value our clothe as part of our identity, but our forms/types of clothe must not dominate our human identities and dignities.
The artistic collection of “Chadari Vs. Lungi” represents the two opposing but related phenomenon of peace and war. In the exhibition, the creator of Chadari designs tried to depict the complex relations between peace and war.
Human beings have defined life and human rights within the context of war and peace throughout history. Humans continuously tried to pursue peace through complicated and simple , rational and irrational, short- or long-term wars. Therefore, war and peace are part of livings and the definition of life, but in both cases, humans want to bring peace.
Although “Chadari Vs. Lungi” worked on the generic and simplification of men’s violence against women but the creator still challenges this simplification in the depth of artistic details, as she believes real life is related to various forms of violence that have a close relationship with Power and those In-Power.
The creator believes that the reason most of the men abuse or commit violence, especially against women, is that men consider themselves physically, materially or by opportunity of males dominated the world, more powerful than women.
However, the truth is that there are also women who once find themselves in power, commit violence against women or men in order to sustain or strengthen their power.
Therefore, this formula of” undefined power” is the cause of a variety of violence in various fields: families, society and politics, not only gender.(Khaama Press)
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Ahmad Nabi
LANDI KOTAL: To resent grab private properties by National Logistic Cell (NLC) a protest demonstration was held here in Torkham on Friday.
Number of residents of Khuga Khel tribe while holding black flags, marching at Landi Kotal-Torkham highway to denounce the act of National Logistic Cell.
They were carrying placards inscribed with writings like “forcibly seize of private properties unacceptable”, “we want justice” etc. and were chanting full-throat slogans against the allegedly injustice policy adopted by the NLC. Addressing to the angry mob their leaders including Haji Abdur Rahim, Ghalib Khan, Musthaqeem, Noor Ameer and others criticized the NLC for snatching their property, located in Torkham and said it initiated construction work without taking them on-board.
The construction site was our personal land therefore no one had authority to grant it to NLC as charity, he added and saying they were legal and original owners of the property and case had been already in process in the court. “We are not against border management policy and want to give our land for uplift schemes however deal should be made as per legal process”, they remarked. They threatened that if construction works was not halted at their property, they would begin indefinite agitation.
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Monitoring Desk
ANKARA: US President Donald Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday exchanged views on security conflicts in Middle East and Africa on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Japan, a media report said. According to the American magazine Politico, Trump and Merkel discussed “a wide range of issues, including Iran’s dangerous activity in the Middle East”.
Libya and the Sahel region of Africa, eastern Ukraine and the US-EU trade issues were also addressed during the meeting, it added. Trump blasted Germany for its contribution to the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, adding that it will only increase European dependence on Russian natural gas, according to the political magazine. Speaking to reporters after the closed-door meeting, Trump called Merkel a “great friend”.
The meeting comes in the aftermath of widening trade and currency disputes between Europe and the US Last week, when the European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said “additional stimulus will be required” to help Europe cope with the economic challenges, euro declined sharply against the dollar and European financial markets rallied. Trump, considering euro devaluation a motivated attack to dollar’s competitiveness, blasted Draghi’s move in a series of tweets and said “Europe, China and others are getting away with their unfair policies for a long time”.
Trump has also been criticizing the German government’s humanitarian policies toward refugees. This comes in stark contrast to his comments in 2013, three years before he was inaugurated as president of the US, where he praised Merkel for “doing a fantastic job as the Chancellor of Germany”. Trump has also threatened Germany and other EU nations with auto tariffs if they do not abide by Trump’s “fair trade” agenda in six months. US administration is also criticizing its allies in NATO, including Germany, that fail to allocate at least 2% of their defense budget for shared goals of the 29-member military alliance. G20 summit in Japan is ending on Saturday. (AA)
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Monitoring Desk
WASHINGTON: In a debate that repeatedly turned heated among Democratic hopefuls seeking their party’s 2020 nomination Thursday night, one thing united the ideologically and generationally diverse field: their contempt for President Donald Trump. There was no shortage of fiery exchanges during the second night of debates, including a searing back and forth between former Vice President Joe Biden and California Senator Kamala Harris on Biden’s record on race.
Democrats laid bare their diverse prospective policies on health care, gun control and their visions for America’s future. But in so doing, they also ripped into one another, at times viscerally. Biden, who is the early frontrunner heading into 2020, at several junctures in Thursday’s debate was the target of his fellow Democrats’ ire. “Pass the torch,” California congressman Eric Swalwell said, recalling words Biden spoke over three decades ago.
The 76-year-old former vice president quickly retorted: “I’m still holding on to that torch.” If either Biden or Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, 77, is elected president, they would be the oldest top executive in US history. Both are leading in the polls. But it was Harris who struck out at Biden in one of the undoubtedly rawest exchanges of the night.
As one of only two black candidates among the pack of 20 Democrats who debated Thursday and Wednesday nights 10 each night Harris said that while she does not believe Biden is a racist, she takes issue with his history of working with segregationist senators during his over three-decade Senate career. “It was hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two United States senators who built their reputations and career on the segregation of race in this country,” she said in one of the night’s most livid exchanges. But Biden appeared prepared for the salvo, saying Harris mischaracterized his record and that if the campaign should be litigated on who supports civil rights, “I’m happy to do that.”
“I was a public defender. I didn’t become a prosecutor,” he said, making a pointed jab at Harris’ career choice. “I left a good law firm to become a public defender when in fact, my city was in flames because of the assassination of Dr. [Martin Luther] King [Jr.].” Harris has faced significant pushback from some progressives and some in the black community for a record of policies during her time as a California prosecutor and later the state’s attorney general they say exacerbated racial disparities in the criminal justice system. Up until Thursday night, the wide Democratic field had largely refrained from such bitter back-and-forths. But throughout the race and continuing in the second debate was a continuing focus on Trump as they sought to galvanize Democrats and moderates to unseat the president.
Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, who is a moderate, raised the alarm bell over some of the more leftist candidates, saying they risk losing a possible showdown with the president. “If we turn toward socialism, we run the risk of re-electing the worst president in US history,” he said. Sanders, the progressive vanguard, defended his chances of ousting the president if nominated, saying recent polls show him leading the president “because the American people understand that Trump is a phony, that Trump is a pathological liar and a racist, and that he lied to the American people during his campaign.” “He said he was going to stand up for working families. Well, President Trump, you’re not standing up for working families when you try to throw 32 million people off the healthcare that they have, and that 83% of your tax benefits go to the top 1%. (AA)
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Monitoring Desk
HARARE: The recent decision by the Zimbabwean government to ban local trading in foreign currencies including the US dollar has created uncertainty among traders and investors in the country. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe announced this week it was reintroducing the Zimbabwean dollar, a currency it stopped using over a decade ago due to hyperinflation.
“The British pound, United States dollar, South African rand, Botswana pula and any other foreign currency whatsoever shall no longer be legal tender alongside the Zimbabwe dollar in any transactions in Zimbabwe,” according to a decree from the Zimbabwean government. Mavis Chauke a 39-year old, single mother of four who runs a shop in downtown Harare, Capital city of Zimbabwe is among those who are uncertain if the new currency will work or not. “I’m just waiting to see if the idea will work. I have traded my wares in US dollars because I order my goods for sale from neighboring countries like South Africa and so I have to change the money I get in order to then buy my wares for sale here,” Chauke told Anadolu Agency.
Besides selling various items in her small shop in Harare, Chauke said she also trades in foreign currency as money changer. She said the business of trading foreign currency on the black market has now become more risky as security personnel hunt them down. Zimbabwe’s many years of economic crisis create high unemployment forcing some people to join the illegal foreign currency business on the streets of Harare.
Many informal businesspersons like Chauke face Zimbabwe’s hostile economy at a time the country’s inflation rate this year jumped to 97.85 % in May from 75.86 % in the previous month. For Chauke, the ban of multi-currencies like US dollars in Zimbabwe, triggers memories of the 2008 hyperinflation period when the Zimbabwean dollar was rendered worthless before government dumped it in favor of multiple foreign currencies. Economists have reacted differently to the resurrection of Zimbabwe’s currency. For some, it means the country has put the last nail on its coffin of economic demise, while for a few others it means well.
“This is a huge gamble and it is sink or swim for Zimbabwe. If the gamble doesn’t work and the Zimbabwe dollar suffers a similar fate to its predecessor the consequences will be unimaginable,” Alex Magaisa, a UK-based Zimbabwean constitutional law expert, said. He said if the reintroduced Zimbabwean dollar fails to curb inflation then government would have run out of options. “This was one of the final cards. They have thrown it in. Let’s see how the market responds,” he said. Kingston Gavi, an independent economist said: “The new Zimbabwean dollar would arrest the speculation that had sent illegal money changers thriving on the black market. Now people will change their foreign currency in banks, bringing normalcy.”
Other independent economists like Edie Cross, former opposition politician of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) views Zimbabwe’s new currency move as more disastrous. “I think it’s a ridiculous measure; the exchange rate will run and this is completely out of sync. For heaven’s sake, this is economic sabotage,” Cross, who is also founding member of the MDC, the main opposition party in Zimbabwe said. Independent economist Gerald Hungwe believes the scrapping of multi currencies will create more confusion in the financial sector.
“Businesses which had debts in forms of foreign currencies like US dollars could see the cost of servicing those debts rise. Ban of multi currencies means that all debts accrued in US dollars are now payable in the local currency,” Hungwe told Anadolu Agency. For informal businesspersons here like Chauke, it is also time for reality check. “The real change is that the Zimbabwean Dollar has now been declared to be the sole legal tender, which means, we have returned to where we departed from over a decade ago and it means we have resurrected a crisis of hyperinflation again. I am afraid,” said Chauke. (AA)
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Ali Abo Rezeg
With the US-led workshop held earlier in the Bahraini capital Manama, it became clear that the so-called “deal of the century” is a mere bid to portray the Palestinian cause as an economic issue being defended by “desperate” Palestinians.
While addressing the participants in the meeting, Jared Kushner, the architect of the pro-Israel deal and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, didn’t say a single word about the Israeli occupation against the Palestinians, alleging that any “economic prosperity” in the region can end the decades-long conflict in the region.
Palestinians, for their part, replied by not attending the meeting, confirming their firm position not to allow the US to have any mediating role in the Palestine-Israel conflict. This position dates back to late 2017 after the US’ notorious recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the relocation of its embassy from Tel Aviv to the Palestinian holy city.
At the time, the terms of the deal were still unknown, different Israeli leaks unveiled that it would include unlimited concessions in favor of the Israeli occupation, mostly in Jerusalem, and right of return issues. It would also allow Israel to annex major swathes of the West Bank to implement the “Greater Israel” project.
However, are Palestinians nowadays able to hinder and stop this plan, which comes amid a decade-long Palestinian internal division? It also comes at a time when chaos extends to six or seven Arab capitals, the last of which protests hit another two Arab states – Sudan and Algeria – in an abrupt development many regional observers considered as a second wave of the 2011 Arab Spring.
It is true that Palestinians are fragmented nowadays, and there are two authorities, one in the blockaded Gaza Strip and another in the West Bank. But, Palestinians are extremely united in their rejection of the “deal of the century,” which, they say, aims at nothing but liquidating their just cause. The numerous positions that came from the Ramallah-based authority were almost the same with those issued by the Gaza-based resistance factions. The Palestinian leadership’s categorical rejection of the deal refutes claims that Palestinians are still divided.
However, a single political umbrella is needed for Palestinians nowadays to empower them to face these challenges, which could be the most serious since the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 1967. Such an umbrella organization could inject new life in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) by holding general elections and including resistance movements and diaspora-based Palestinians to get the utmost representation.
Palestinians could be able to thwart this plan by reactivating their popular resistance methods; most specifically, the creative resistance we saw in the Great March of Return. The successful Gaza-based model of weekly marches should be copied not only in the West Bank but also in all areas bordering Israel, most importantly, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. Palestinian groups based in these countries should assume their responsibilities in exerting popular pressure over Israel.
The early Palestinian revolution, which was triggered in the 1960s, came as a result of attempts to terminate the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes in historical Palestine. The Great March of Return has been a new way of popular resistance that came in the most appropriate time as Palestinians realized that their inalienable right of return has become vulnerable again. Palestinians, as well, should spare no effort to confront the US administration worldwide by calling for staging protests in front of US Embassies on the five continents. It is the exact time for popular and joint action as the current US administration has been working, every now and then, to totally terminate the Palestinian cause. Millions of Palestinians, who are scattered worldwide, can easily campaign against Washington’s stark bias to the Israeli occupation.
Moreover, it is time for Palestinians to play all the cards they have. Palestinian legal experts should take advantage of being a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and sue the Israeli leaders who were involved in committing war crimes and crimes against humanity during Israel’s three aggressive actions on the Gaza Strip. They should also expose any Arab official who took part in the Bahraini conference by asserting that participation in such conferences not only washes Israel’s face, but it also emboldens its leaders to commit more crimes against their Palestinian brothers, if they still see them as such.
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Custom authorities have started a crackdown on markets wherein foreign goods are being sold. The authorities believe that custom duty has not been paid on the foreign made cloth, cosmetics and electronic goods. On the contrary, the owners of shops selling these goods contend that relevant tax has already been paid on the products which custom authorities treat to be smuggled ones. The raids on shops and seizure of foreign goods has created tensed situation.
There is no denying the fact that bulks of the goods imported by Afghanistan through transit trade facility eventually find their way to the markets in Pakistan. The flourishing sale of smuggled, inexpensive, and high quality foreign goods provides employment and business opportunities to large number of people. But at the same it results in the closure of local industry which produce low quality and expensive goods because of sky-high tariff of energy inputs, application of obsolete technology and lack of proper skill of working force.
None of the previous governments bothered about the large scale smuggling of foreign goods into the country and the ones legally imported on dumping price. Likewise, over the past 36 years the elected governments deliberately ignored the formulation of industrial policies to modernize the industrial base of the country. Even after the advent of free trade regime under WTO introduction of modern technologies and their indegenisation with the help of domestic institutions of research and development was completely abandoned. The adhoc measures of preventing the entry of smuggled goods into the domestic markets will not produce the desired results unless products’ inventions, improvement of quality with the application of latest technologies and entrepreneurial innovations are facilitated.
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The visit of Afghan president to Islamabad and discussion with Pakistan leadership is of immense importance keeping in view of the diplomatic efforts by the United States its NATO allies, Russia and China to clinch a political settlement for restoring peace and stability to the decades’ long war torn Afghanistan. The incumbent ruling political leadership in Pakistan has very intelligently and discreetly played its positive role for facilitating directs talks between the United States and the Taliban and is anxious about the holding and success of intra-Afghan dialogue. Afghan Peace Conference which was held in Murree on June 22 is a significant step in this direction. The region cannot afford once again the situation identical to or possibly worse than the post Soviet troops’ withdrawal from Afghanistan after the Geneva Accord in 1989.
The myopic ruling leadership in Pakistan at that time did not make serious diplomatic efforts from the platform of the United Nations in consultation with two super power guarantors of the Geneva Accord for a political settlement between the sitting Dr. Najbeeb Ullah regime in Kabul and Afghan Tanzimat. Hence the diplomacy of UN special representative on Afghanistan, Benon Sevan could not produce positive results.
The future ruling set up in Kabul must have the representation of all political groups inside Afghanistan. The Taliban leadership insistence on the US-NATO troops’ withdrawal timetable before a broadbase political settlement runs against the ground realities inside Afghanistan. The strategic dynamics inside Afghanistan have changed after the entry of ISIS which has currently 15000 battle hardened fighters. At this point of time, the statement of NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg that the alliance will maintain its presence in Afghanistan till 2024 by providing financial assistance to Afghan Security Forces is quite reassuring. It reflects the keenness of world powers to contribute to the restoration of peace and stability inside Afghanistan.
The entry of ISIS in the Afghan war theater and the swelling number of its fighters to over 10000 depicts a grim future scenario as a unilateral withdrawal of US-NATO forces from Afghanistan will set the stage for next round of more dangerous civil war. It may make Afghanistan a battle ground for the clash and solace of several forces on its soil. That is why the neighbouring country Iran, which has cultivated friendly relations with the Taliban while preserving it traditional links with components of Northern Alliance, is opposed to giving dominant role to the Taliban in the future setup in Kabul. Iran’s Foreign Minister Jawd Zarif in an interview with Indian TV Channel NDTV during his visit of New Delhi in January openly disapproved lead role for the Taliban in future government in Afghanistan. The Taliban leadership must realise the changing ground realities inside Afghanistan and should not visualize that they are the only political force to be reckoned with for future ruling set up in Kabul.
Russia is worried about the spillover effect of ISIS (Daesh) to the Central Asian and even mainland Russia. In a skillful diplomatic move Moscow hosted second international peace conference on Afghanistan in November last year. It drew delegates from the incumbent government in Kabul, senior officials from the Central Asian Countries and the US. Opening the conference, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov eulogized the participation of Afghan leaders and representatives of the Taliban and described the moot as harbinger for creating favourable condition for direct intra-Afghan talks. He cautioned against the threat posed by ISIS in Afghanistan and alleged that this terrorist organisation has relied on foreign sponsors in a bid to turn Afghanistan into a springboard for its expansion in Central Asia. The present ruling leadership in Pakistan is fully cognizant of threat of this terrorist organisation to peace and stability of this region and the government has embarked upon a proactive diplomacy to facilitate a political settlement of Afghan conflict acceptable to all stakeholders.
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F.P. Report
PARIS: Pakistan Zindabad Mega long March is being organised at Eiffel Tower, Paris by Pakhtoon Diaspora France in collaboration with Brussels based EU- Pak Friendship Federation Europe.
Large number of Pashtuns and Pak diaspora is participating and chanting popular slogans “Pakistan Zindabad and Pak Army Zindabad”.
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Monitoring Desk
AZAZ, Syria: The Syrian war has inflicted all kinds of hardships on Najwa Abdelaziz but she still manages to make light of one of them. “The uprising ruined my teeth,” she jokes while getting dental care for the first time in years in the back of a truck.
The 33-year-old could not find help for her toothache even after she fled Islamic State rule and took refuge in northwest Syria. But a dentist in a mobile clinic has now arrived at the Rayyan camp where she lives with her husband and four children in a tent among the trees.
“We kept getting uprooted, so we were cut off from doctors,” said Abdelaziz, whose family was smuggled out of Raqqa city some three years ago.
They wound up in Syria’s northwest corner, the country’s last major rebel stronghold. The camps are overflowing, the doctors are too few, and many hospitals have collapsed under government bombing.
In the camps along the Turkish border, often the only healthcare for people like Abdelaziz comes from mobile doctors and makeshift clinics in tents.
“Many just take pills and stay silent about the pain,” said Bassel Maarawi, 57, the dentist who goes around seven camps in the border strip held by Turkey-backed rebels.
The dental mobile clinic stays at each camp a few months at a time, treating dozens of patients every day who can not go into town to see a doctor.
It belongs to the Independent Doctors Association, a Turkey-based Syrian group also running a free camp facility including a clinic for women, children, and internal medicine as well as a pharmacy.
Maarawi himself was uprooted in late 2016 from his city of Aleppo, where the army crushed rebels with Russia and Iran’s help after a bitter siege.
The children he treats now, living in the dirt and drinking filthy water, often suffer from malnutrition. “Many people were displaced recently which really affected them mentally, you can see it when they come in,” he said.
A new wave of fighting has sparked yet another exodus, with hundreds of thousands of people fleeing an army offensive in northwest Syria since April.
At a camp for some 14,000 people in the border village of Shamarin, Ammar al-Omar runs a physiotherapy clinic inside a large tent.
The staff – a medical professional and three volunteers he trained – made most of the equipment themselves and get by on just a few donations. They treat everything from back pain to battle wounds for patients including rebel fighters and paralyzed children.
“There are many injuries because of the fierce bombing,” Omar said. “The patients can’t afford food let alone transportation.”
Um Mhamad, 29, has carried her son from another camp nearby and walked to the tent clinic for more than two years. An injury at birth had crippled the six-year-old boy, whose family was shuttled out of Aleppo in 2016.
“He used to not move at all,” she said. “Today, he can crawl and turn on both sides and stand up.” (Reuters)
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Monitoring Desk
Phnom Penh: The death toll in the collapse of a building under construction at a Cambodian resort rose to 17 overnight, officials said Sunday, as rescue workers scrambled to find survivors buried under rubble.
The building went down before sunrise on Saturday in the casino-resort coastal town of Sihanoukville in southwestern Cambodia, a rapidly developing tourist hotspot awash with Chinese investment.
Four people have been detained in connection with the accident, including the building owner, the head of the construction firm and the contractor. A Cambodian landowner has also been held at provincial headquarters for questioning.
The seven-storey building was nearing completion when it collapsed, reportedly trapping dozens in the deadliest such accident in recent years in Cambodia.
Preah Sihanouk provincial authorities said 17 people had died in the accident, with 24 injured, according to a statement sent to AFP.
Officials had earlier pinned the number of dead at seven.
More than 1,000 people including soldiers, police officers and medics worked overnight to search for survivors. Rescue workers earlier pulled victims from a mountain of concrete, wood and twisted metal, some in body bags or with dislocated limbs.
An investigation into the cause of the accident has been launched, and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said negligence was to blame.
“The tragedy of the building collapse in Preah Sihanouk province is painful… for our nation, especially the families of those who lost” their lives, he said, announcing compensation of $10,000 each for the victims’ households.
There was no confirmation of precisely how many people were at the building at the time of the collapse, though earlier officials said 30 people were feared trapped.
Around 50 workers would normally have been on the site at the time, Preah Sihanouk governor Yun Min said. (AFP)
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F.R. Report
ISLAMABAD: Senior leader of Pakistan Muslim League (N) and member of National Assembly Ahsan Iqbal Sunday expressed apprehension that the decision to fulfill conditions of International Monetary Fund (IMF) would drag millions of people below the poverty line and would reduce prospects of achieving economic growth.
Speaking in the National Assembly, he said the government had not achieve its revenue target which increased the budget deficit.
Ahsan said there was a shortfall of Rs 550 billion in tax collection during the ongoing fiscal year and the current expenditure rose by 20 percent.
“The gimmickry of selling buffaloes and vehicles can not control the budget deficit,” he remarked.
He said in the last five years, the PML-N government took loans of Rs 10,000 billion. But from 2013-2018, 12,000 megawatts of electricity was generated, 1750 kilometers of motorways including Lahore-Multan and Multan-Sukkur section of motorways were built.
“We developed infrastructure which was acknowledged by international financial institutions.”
The government should tell where it spent loans of Rs 5000 billion in last one year, he asked.
He said “The politics of allegations and abuses look good on container but the treasury benches in Parliament will have to show tolerance and responsibility.”
Ahsan said PML-N handed over a prospering and hopeful Pakistan to the PTI government, adding during their time the industry was growing and agriculture was getting revived, he added.
He said during their government, Pakistan grew at 5.8 percent, Karachi stock exchange was the best in Asia and rupee was stable against the dollar.
Now the country’s stock exchange and currency had lost their value and inflation had risen, he noted.
He said with a growth rate of three percent this year it was difficult to create jobs for two million people.
He said PML-N government launched Vision 2025 with collaboration of chief minister of provinces and different stakeholders.
“We implemented the roadmap under the Vision 2025 and in 2017 PricewaterhouseCoopers, a leading firm which ranks economies, said that Pakistan would be among the 20 top economies by 2030 if it continued its growth momentum.”
He said during PML-N government growth rose from 3 percent to 5.8 percent, inflation came down to single digit, revenue doubled and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) increased from less than $ one billion to $ three billion, law and order considerably improved and Pakistan was set to attract foreign investment.
$28.5 billion of projects were materialized under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), he told.
He said after reports of international institutions about growing Pakistani economy, in 2017 some elements conspired against Pakistan to destabilize it.
He said the government had cut the public sector development programme by billions of rupees and reduced funds for different sectors of economy.
He said the first target of a budget should be to achieve economic growth, create job opportunities and make social investment to provide health and education facilities to the people.
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