F O U N D E D B Y Q U A I D - I - A Z A M M O H A M M A D A L I J I N N A H

www.dawn.com

Thursday July 2 , 2020

Ziqa’ad 10, 1441

KARACHI

Rs 25.0020 Pages

Vol. LXXIV No. 182

Regd. No. SS-022

(2,299 IN LAST 24 HOURS)

CORONAVIRUS IN PAKISTAN

as of 0010 hours

CONFIRMED CASES

REPORTED DEATHS

PROVINCIAL BREAKDOWN

RECOVERIES

SINDH PUNJAB

ISLAMABAD BALOCHISTAN

216,097

4,446

100,802

86,795 76,262

12,912 10,608KP

26,938AJK/GB

1,093/1,489

(3,556 IN LAST 24 HOURS)

(90 IN LAST 24 HOURS)

Qureshi in meeting with Khalilzad urges ‘all sides’ to reduce violence

By Baqir Sajjad Syed

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Wednesday warned about ‘spoilers’ trying to undermine the peace process in Afghanistan as efforts for kick-starting the long-elusive intra-Afghan dialogue continue.

“Afghan peace process has entered a criti-cal phase. We, therefore, need to remain alert to the elements, who are attempting to sabo-tage the progress,” Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi told US Special Envoy for Afghan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad.

Mr Khalilzad, accompanied by his delega-tion, reached here from Tashkent (Uzbekistan), as part of his three-nation trip that will also include Doha (Qatar). In Tashkent, the special envoy met foreign ministers from fi ve Central Asian States — Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyz Republic — under the C5+1 dialogue format to urge them sup-port the Afghan peace efforts.

Mr Qureshi, while reaffi rming Pakistan’s continued support for peace efforts, said: “Pakistan remains committed to working with international and regional stakehold-ers for sustainable, peaceful, and political resolution of the Afghan dispute.”

The foreign minister welcomed the readi-

ness of both Afghan government and the Taliban for participation in the intra-Afghan dialogue and announcement of their negotiation teams. He said the dia-logue would pave the way for lasting peace in the war-ravaged country that has been in confl ict for decades.

The Afghan government and the Taliban have also agreed on Doha as the venue for their talks. However, the delay in the release of prisoners has been holding up the start of the negotiations, which were origi-nally scheduled to commence on March 10 following the signing of Doha Accord between the US and the insurgent group.

Afghan authorities, as per the agreement, were to release 5,000 insurgency fi ghters, while the Taliban were to set free 1,000 Afghan forces men in their custody. Kabul claims to have released 4,000 Taliban and the Taliban say they have freed about 700 government soldiers. There are, however, differences between the two sides over the numbers.

Head of Taliban Political Offi ce Mullah Baradar, in a video conference with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Tuesday night, said the delay in the start of negotia-tions was because of slow process of releasing the detainees, and the establishment of secu-rity points by government security forces.

Another sticking point is the heightened violence. The Taliban say their fi ghters conducted ‘operations’ against Afghan forces trespassing the areas held by them,

Pakistan warns about ‘spoilers’ of Afghan peace process

Continued on Page 5

By Nasir Iqbal

ISLAMABAD: As the Supreme Court commences on Thursday (today) the hearing on the video speech containing derogatory remarks and threats against Justice Qazi Faez Isa and other judges, the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Wednesday furnished an interim report highlighting that Rawal pindi-based cleric Mirza Iftikharuddin had denied making the speech on anyone’s instiga-tion or direction.

A two-judge bench com-prising Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan will resume the hearing of the case initiated on a suo motu over the viral video contain-ing derogatory, contemptu-ous and scandalous language against the institution of the judiciary and the judges.

The cleric owned up to the contents of the lecture he gave to over half a dozen faithful on June 14 (a week before the SC decision on the petition of Justice Isa against the fi ling of presidential ref-erence against him).

In its report furnished through FIA director (law) Malik Tariq Mehmood, the investigation agency stated that Mirza had already deleted the video from YouTube and Facebook. It added that the FIA had also got the custody of Mirza and his accomplice Akbar Ali on physical remand till July 6.

The report explained that the IP addresses used by the accused persons for upload-ing the video have been traced and the concerned ISPs have been approached to provide the subscribers detail of the internet devices through which IP addresses were accessed. According to the FIA, the operators concerned have also been approached to obtain Character Detection and Recognition (CDR) and subscriber’s details of the SIMs in use of the two sus-pects to further unearth their probable nexus with other co-accused.

Only a day ago, Mirza sub-mitted an affi davit before the Supreme Court, tender-ing an unconditional apol-ogy for ‘unintentionally’ uttering some words against honourable judges in a ‘pri-vate meeting’.

On the basis of the video clip, Justice Isa’s wife on June 24 lodged a case at the Islamabad Secretariat Police Station, complaining that death threats were being hurled at the judge of the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, the FIA in its

FIA files report on video speech to SC in Isa case

Continued on Page 5

NIH warns of peak occurrence of nine diseases including Covid-19 during monsoon

By Ikram Junaidi

ISLAMABAD: While the num-ber of coronavirus cases has declined by 40 per cent, around 50pc of the total infected patients have defeated the deadly virus across the country.

According to data released by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on Wednesday, as many as 100,802 Covid-19 positive patients have recovered, making it almost 50pc of the total detected cases.

The country reported 3,556 Covid-19 cases and 90 deaths over the past 24 hours, taking the national tally of cases to 216,097 and fatalities to 4,446.

Spokesperson for the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS) Sajid Shah, while talking to Dawn, said that because of the efforts by the federal and provincial govern-ments and enforcement of smart lockdowns, the spread of the virus

had been contained. “While the number of new cases has been reduced, patients have been recov-ering at a faster pace, narrowing the gap between the infected and recovered patients,” he added.

Mr Shah said it was encouraging that the NCOC recommendations were being implemented across the country due to which almost 90,000 less cases of Covid-19 were reported by the end of June.

It was feared that cases would cross the 300,000 mark by the end of June, but the number was just over 210,000.

High alert for nine diseases

A government body on Wednesday issued a high alert regarding the spread of nine dis-eases, including Covid-19, and medium alert for four other dis-eases during the coming monsoon season.

The advisory has been issued by the Field Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance Division (FEDSD), National Institute of Health (NIH), to all the provinces and the federal capital.

The seasonal awareness and alert letter (SAAL), available with Dawn, states that there are chances of epidemic-prone infec-tious diseases during the summer/monsoon season.

The high alert has been issued for nine diseases — Covid-19, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF), cholera (acute watery diarrhea), dengue fever, leishma-niasis (a parasitic disease), malaria, measles and poliomyelitis and typhoid fever (XDR). The medium alert relates to four dis-eases — chikungunya, diphtheria (infection caused by strains of bac-teria), meningococcal meningitis (caused by a specifi c bacterium) and pertussis (also known as whooping cough).

The advisory warns that there are high chances of spread of Civid-19 and CCHF during the forthcoming Eidul Azha. “CCHF is caused by a tick-borne virus (nairovirus) of the Bunyaviridae family with the case fatality rate ranging between 10pc and 40pc. The CCHF virus can be transmit-ted to people either by tick bites or through contact with infected ani-mal or its blood/tissues,” it states.

According to the advisory, the movement of sacrifi cial animals ahead of Eidul Azha signifi cantly carries the risk of CCHF disease transmission due to increased human-animal interaction, visit to crowded places, direct contact with infectious materials and

Relief as 50pc of infected patients defeat deadly virus

Continued on Page 5

Cabinet decides to evaluate professional degrees, technical skills of pilots, other staff of all airlines, approves increase in EOBI pension

By Syed Irfan Raza

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan, during a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, directed the provin-cial governments to announce Provincial Finance Commission (PFC) awards to end any “disparity” in distribution of funds among districts.

The cabinet decided to initiate a process to evaluate professional degrees and technical skills of pilots and other staff of all airlines of the country, including the national fl ag carrier — Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).

It also approved an increase in the Employees Old-age Benefi t Institution (EOBI) pension from Rs6,500 to Rs8,500 per month.

The cabinet was told that Mr Khan had no fear of the opposition’s desire of “minus one” (removal of the prime minister) and he and his government would defi nitely complete their fi ve-year term.

“The prime minister directed all provinces to immediately announce their Provincial Finance Commission (PFC) Awards to ensure equal distribu-tion of funds provided by the centre,” Federal Minister for Science and Technology Fawad Chaudhry told Dawn after the meeting.

In a post-cabinet meeting press conference, Information Minister Shibli Faraz said: “The prime minister ordered the provinces to make Provincial Financial Commissions functional.”

The minister said when the meeting discussed the issue of “disparity” in distribution of funds among

Centre asks provinces to announce their own finance commission awards

Continued on Page 3

Claims a minister with ‘fake degree’ is ruining PIA

By Amjad Mahmood

LAHORE: PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has alleged that the PTI government wants to “murder” former president Asif Ali Zardari through the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

He was speaking at a press confer-ence here on Wednesday in which he, among other issues, dilated upon the “minus one” formula, negated the impression that his party was seeking any concessions from the government, challenged the prime minister to an open debate, chided Imran Khan for the latter’s stance on Osama bin Laden’s death, and disputed the government’s data on coronavirus pandemic.

“The government wants to assassi-nate [former] president Asif Ali Zardari. When president Zardari was in jail, he was not provided with medi-cine and today NAB wants him to be infected with Covid-19 by forcing him to appear in court in connection with a case,” he said. “This government does not respect the elderly as well as women but we will not compromise on the 18th Amendment,” he said.

Flanked by Qamar Zaman Kaira, Chaudhry Manzoor, Hassan Murtaza and Samina Ghurki, the PPP chairman said his party did not want any NRO and would continue to give tough time to the “puppet” government no matter how many lawsuits were fi led against the party leadership. He dared the gov-ernment to go for conviction of PPP leaders if it had enough evidence to prove cases [of any wrongdoings].

He said Imran Khan gave several NROs, the fi rst one to his sister Aleema

Khan, who had not yet produced her money trail. Imran Khan introduced a general amnesty scheme for “thieves” because he himself took advantage of Gen Musharraf’s amnesty.

“The sugar commission was also an NRO, which was given to Buzdar, Tareen and Asad Umar. The govern-ment’s each policy seems to be based on the principle of NRO.”

Mr Bhutto-Zardari told a questioner it was PM Khan and not the opposition parties talking about the “minus one” formula. He said whenever democracy faced threats, the PPP played a vital role in its preservation. He said democ-racy was threatened by Imran Khan “who is undermining the offi ce of prime minister, parliament and the constitution”.

Responding to a question, he said they didn’t follow the “fi nger of any umpire” but of the masses and chal-lenged the questioner if his TV chan-

nel could telecast evidence of rigging in the last Senate polls.

Asked about the modus operandi to be adopted to oust Imran Khan, he said democracy and the Constitution could provide a solution to the issue and that his party would never go for any uncon-stitutional option.

Taunting the prime minister, he again challenged him to a debate either in the parliament or on TV.

“PM Imran is so brave that he makes a speech in our absence… Imran Khan is not willing to come in front of us,” he said, adding “Imran Khan is a PM for the PTI’s social media only and not ready to become prime minister of the country.”

He said the prime minister was the fi rst leader of the country to have failed in evolving a national consensus on the Kashmir issue.

Challenging PM Khan’s stance on the death of Osama bin Laden, the PPP

chairman said: “If Osama bin Laden is a martyr then what is your stance on Army Public School attack, Zarb-i-Azb (operation) and Swat Operation?”

He said that Pakistan needed a mature prime minister who could tackle its problems.

Mr Bhutto-Zardari disputed the fi g-ures being given by the federal gov-ernment about fl attening of the coro-navirus curve.

“The coronavirus pandemic is not subsiding in Pakistan as being claimed by the government. The government has not taken any step to deal with the coronavirus,” he said, demanding risk allowance for healthcare workers in Punjab like in Sindh.

He said Pakistan was facing unprec-edented challenges but it could be seen in the budget that education, health and unemployment had not

Bilawal says govt wants Zardari to contract Covid-19

Continued on Page 5

UAE seeks details about credentials of pilots, engineers

By Mohammad Asghar

RAWALPINDI: A day after the UK Civil Aviation Authority, much like its counter-part organisation from the European Union, withdrew the permit of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) to operate from three of its airports due to suspicions over the authenticity of pilots’ licences, the aviation authorities of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Wednesday sought con-fi rmation of the credentials of Pakistani fl ight operations offi cers and engineers working in the Gulf country.

Soon after the European Union Air Safety Agency announced on Tuesday its decision to suspend in principle the PIA’s authorisation to operate fl ights to and from its airports for six months, the British authorities said they too were withdrawing PIA’s permit to operate from the Birmingham, London Heathrow and Manchester airports, according to Reuters.

“PIA fl ights from Birmingham, London Heathrow and Manchester airports are suspended with immediate effect,” a spokesman for the UK authority told the news agency late on Tuesday. The three air-ports are major fl ying destinations for the airline.

The EU and UK authorities took the step of curbing PIA operations in their jurisdic-tions in the wake of federal Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan’s statement last month on the fl oor of the National Assembly that 150 pilots of the national fl ag carrier had “dubious licences”.

The authorities then proceeded to ground hundreds of pilots, including those working for PIA, on suspicion that they allegedly falsifi ed their examinations to qualify for fl ying aircraft, leading to them having licences the minister termed “dubious”.

Obviously worried that some of the pilots and engineers working in his country might be possessing similar “dubious” cre-

dentials, the director general of United Arab Emirates’ General Civil Aviation Authority, Saif Mohammad Al Suwaidi, sent a letter to the director general of Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCAA), Hassan Nasir Jamy, in which he sought verifi cation of the credentials of aircraft maintenance engineers and fl ight opera-tions offi cers who originally possessed licences issued by the PCAA.

The letter also contained the list of Pakistani fl ight operation offi cers and air-craft maintenance engineers working in the UAE.

“We would like to request your good offi ces to verify the licensing credentials of the attached pilots list who are currently holding UAE’s pilots licences based on licences and qualifi cations issued by

Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority,” the let-ter said.

It further requested the Pakistani offi -cials to clarify the difference between “fake” and “suspect” cases, if any, so that appropriate action could be taken in the interest of safety of fl ight operations.

“We would highly appreciate if a confi r-mation is also provided, if there were any such compromise to the integrity of Aircraft Maintenance Engineer and fl ight operations offi cer systems,” the letter added.

Meanwhile, offi cials of the Pakistan High Commission in Ottawa, Canada, have asked the Foreign Offi ce in Islamabad to provide to them facts and fi gures about the episode. They sought clarifi cations in order to better prepare themselves in case they were called upon to brief the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) on the matter.

While citing news about “Pakistan’s

PIA barred from operating out of three UK airports

Continued on Page 5

Govt to discuss sale of PIA hotel in New York today: Page 3

IHC dismisses plea against aviation minister: Page 12

SRINAGAR: Relatives of Bashir Ahmed, a civilian who died during a clash between Indian troops and fi ghters, shout pro-freedom and anti-India slogans at his home during his funeral on Wednesday. Hundreds of angry residents in India-held Kashmir protested accusing government forces of killing Bashir Ahmed during the clash.—AFP Report on Page 12