FAISALABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has initiated a probe against eight boards of intermediate and secondary education (BISEs) in Punjab for receiving registration fee from matriculation and intermediate students multiple times.

The inquiry has been launched on a complaint filed by Hafiza Iqra Mubarak who has done her MSc in Chemistry.

Following the application, the NAB officials called Ms Mubarak who claimed to have presented all relevant documents as evidence to the officials.

In her application, she said education boards were getting registration fee from the matriculation and intermediate students.

Complainant alleges that boards receive fees multiple times

Elaborating her claim, she said a student of grade-IX had to pay Rs850 in the name of registration, Rs100 as processing fee and Rs600 for the matriculation certificate. She said all sorts of processing and registration work was being done on internet by students who provide hard copy to the board officials.

“Education boards are not using even a single piece of paper in the process of registration and processing,” she added.

She said 40 to 50 per cent of students could not pass the examination but the boards were receiving certificate issuance fee even from failed students. However, she said the boards had never returned the certificate issuance fee to the failed students.

Similarly, she said the boards also used to receive registration fee from the students when they got themselves enrolled for the intermediate exams.

She said universities across the country were getting registration fee only for one time and this [registration] was valid till PhD. On the contrary, the boards were getting the fee multiple times, she said.

Talking to Dawn, Ms Mubarak said she had appeared before the NAB officials a couple of days ago and provided them all relevant documents demanded by them.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2018

LARKANA: Ghinwa Bhutto, chairperson of Pakistan Peoples Party-Shaheed Bhutto, said on Saturday that the cruel system which was responsible for the murder of Mir Murtaza Bhutto later devoured his sister Benazir Bhutto.

The conspiracy to assassinate Murtaza Bhutto was set in motion after Benazir came to power, she alleged.

Speaking at a gathering in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh Bhutto held to mark the 22nd death anniversary of Murtaza Bhutto, she said that her party would have to fight against this system of oppressors and usurpers.

She disclosed that Murtaza had advised his sister to better sit on opposition benches and avoid assuming the office of the prime minister in the system which had branded their father Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as accused and declared his sons Murtaza and Shahnawaz as terrorists. Prior to the murder, Murtaza was called to Prime Minister House for a patch-up where he went against the advice of his party, she said.

She said that Asif Ali Zardari was also present there but the brother and sister could not arrive at any agreement. Benazir had demanded certain things which were part of family heirlooms, she said. She described in detail the situation that led up to the murder of Murtaza Bhutto and said the recent murder of party leader Asad Umrani was also a message that the war was on. And she wanted to tell them “we are ready for it”, she said.

Aijaz Mangi, Ali Ahmed Palipoto, Inayat Umrani, Ms Feroza Lashari and other party leaders criticised rulers for ignoring the strong voice of dissent on construction of dams and awarding citizenship to aliens.

Inayat Umrani said that his brother Asad was killed in a targeted action. “We are not afraid of such tactics and fear will not weaken our resolve,” he said, adding he would soon disclose facts about the ‘staged encounter’ at a press conference.

The gathering passed a dozen resolutions, demanding punishment to all the characters involved in the murder of Murtaza Bhutto and other popular public heroes. A resolution condemned enforced disappearance of bloggers, journalists and nationalist and political workers and called for producing them in courts to face charges.

The meeting slammed what it saw as extrajudicial murders of Asad Umrani, Mashal Khan, Naqeebullah and others and demanded judicial probe. All elements involved in the killings should be dealt with in accordance with law, it said.

The gathering condemned the suspected murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi and demanded it be probed by an international commission and the killers be awarded exemplary punishment.

It called for constituting a committee composed of scientists, historians, intellectuals, social scientists and economists to introduce educational reforms with particular emphasis on academic curriculum in line with modern times.

It slammed Indian atrocities in Kashmir and said the simmering Kashmir dispute should be resolved in accordance with wishes of Kashmiris and criticised Imran Khan’s government for its flawed economic strategy, bowing before the IMF for seeking loans.

It flayed the biased tax policies which favoured the rich and burdened the poor with evermore taxes and called for withdrawing recent increases in gas and electricity tariff.

The gathering urged the government to fix sugar cane rate at Rs250 per 40 kilogrammes and ensure mills started crushing from Nov 1. Instead of constructing controversial dams the water issue should be addressed by improving water management policies, said the meeting.

The gathering rejected what it termed judiciary’s interference in politics and political interference in judiciary and called for implementing laws for minorities’ protection.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2018

LAHORE: Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad has announced that all schools and factories along the rail track will be closed down all over the country.

“No school or small industrial unit built on railway land along the 1,700km long rail track all over the country will operate after Oct 30,” said the minister at a news conference at Pakistan Railways (PR) headquarters here on Saturday.

Sheikh Rashid said that strict action would be taken against the people illegally using railway land.

“Rail track is neither a jogging track nor a playground. Parents of children found playing cricket at any rail track will be taken into custody,” the minister warned.

He said railways earned Rs1 billion more during the first 50 days of the PTI government. Railways earned Rs6.71 billion this year compared to Rs5.7 billion earning of the corresponding period of the previous year, claimed the minister.

He said Prime Minister Imran Khan would soon inaugurate two shuttle trains for the labour class of Karachi.

“One shuttle train will run between Karachi and Dhabeji and another between Karachi and Hyderabad. The route of Sukkur Express will be extended up to Jacobabad on the demand of the residents of Shikarpur.

“Timings of two trains had also been revised to facilitate the passengers. Rail Car from Lahore would now leave for Islamabad at 10am instead of 8am, while Mianwali Express would be departing from Lahore for Mianwali at 2pm instead of 7pm,” he said.

Announcing relief for economy class passengers of two trains originating from Quetta, he said Bolan Express fare would now be Rs700 instead of previous Rs1,200 for a single journey between Karachi and Quetta. A single journey by Akbar Bugti Express between Quetta and Lahore would cost Rs800 instead of Rs1,000.

Regarding the progress on the initiatives taken by the PTI government, the minister said that Wi-Fi gadgets had been installed at Sukkur and Rohri railway stations. The free Wi-Fi service would be available in Green Line Express, Tezgam and Karachi Express by end of current month, he added. Catering service in the Green Line Express would also be improved in the coming week, he claimed.

A task force, comprising nine senior officers, has been constituted to improve the PR freight service. “We will increase the per day number of freight trains from Karachi to various upcountry destinations to 15 from the present eight. In the passenger sector we are short of coaches. We have set a target to rehabilitate 100 coaches per month at the Loco Factory and Carriage Workshops. By Dec 30 this year, all the 672 `dead’ coaches will be rehabilitated, enabling us to operate more trains,” he said.

“Not a single person will be recruited in violation of merit. A summary regarding recruitment of 8,000 workers has been sent to the prime minister for approval. The workers employed on contract basis for the last seven years under the PM’s package would be given preference.

“They will have at least 10 per cent quota. I am not authorised to regularise service of contract employees, only the prime minister can take a decision in this behalf,” the minister said.

To a question, the minister said that a huge sum of Rs4.3 million was spent on the renovation of a railway station in the constituency of former interior minister Ahsan Iqbal.

“We earn only Ra0.6 million revenue from Narowal. Locomotives worth Rs220 million were bought for Rs420 million during the previous government and we will audit of the deal,” he said.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2018

KARACHI: Karachi suffered another major power breakdown on Saturday — the fourth such incident in recent weeks — due to what K-Electric claimed was “sudden tripping in transmission line of the national grid”.

The areas affected included Malir, Landhi, Korangi, blocks of Gulshan-i-Iqbal and Gulistan-i-Jauhar, North Karachi, Federal B. Area, Defence, Clifton and others.

The power disruption took place a little after 12pm and took more than two hours to restore.

Although the power utility called the fresh breakdown a “brief interruption”, there was no word from the regulatory body — the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) — on the fourth such incident in the country’s commercial capital in recent weeks.

“Power supply to the city has been restored to routine levels after a brief interruption following tripping in transmission line of the national grid,” said a KE statement. “The sudden disruption in supply to the city had a rollover effect on local circuits serving Karachi. Power was restored promptly by the national grid whereas KE’s plants landed safely in ‘island mode’ that helped catalyse the restoration process and most of the affected areas were restored swiftly.”

CM Murad Ali Shah takes notice of frequent power failures in the metropolis

It said that the power utility maintained close coordination with the authorities concerned during this time.

Saturday’s power failure came as a reminder of Oct 4 breakdown when Karachiites remained without electricity for hours and KE came up with an excuse blaming the breakdown on “adverse weather conditions resulting in abrupt disconnection of power supply”.

Following the Oct 4 breakdown, Federal Minister for Power Omar Ayub Khan had directed the authorities to investigate the matter in detail to see if any preventive maintenance was carried out by both the National Transmission & Despatch Company (NTDC) and KE to avoid such a situation.

However, there was no word since then on the fate of the “investigation” and impact of his directives to KE.

The power utility on the other hand claims to have massive investment to strengthen its infrastructure and ensure system stability and faster restoration.

“Continuous investments and upgrades in the system have resulted in greater network resilience and turnaround efficiency to ensure system stability and faster restoration,” said the KE statement. “The KE has invested over $2 billion since 2009 across the entire value chain whereas around $500 million was invested alone to expand and rehabilitate its transmission network. Moreover, a $450m Transmission Enhance­ment Project (TP-1000) is also under way to further enhance the transformation capacity and improve reliability of the power supply.”

The people of Karachi, however, have yet to taste the windfall of such a huge investment by KE as after suffering consistent poor service during summer, recent episodes suggest hardly any positive change in their experiences even during the approaching winter.

CM irked by frequent breakdowns

Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Saturday took notice of the power breakdown in the city and asked the provincial energy minister to contact the KE management and restore power supply in Karachi.

“Such breakdowns increase problems for the people in the city as well as badly affect the economy and economic activity,” the chief minister said in a statement.

He also asked the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board to ensure uninterrupted water supply to all parts of the teeming metropolis as per schedule.

JI demands judicial commission

The situation has also pushed the political forces to question KE’s performance and demand authorities’ intervention.

“We demand a judicial commission to investigate all loot and plunder and poor performance of the KE,” city chief of the Jamaat-i-Islami Hafiz Naeemur Rehman told a press conference here at the Idara Noor-i-Haq. “A recent article in a foreign newspaper has exposed the nexus between KE and the ruling class of Pakistan which has only returned sufferings to people of Karachi. It has also proved our campaign against the power utility which we have been running for the last more than a year,” he said.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2018

PESHAWAR: An accountability court here on Saturday sentenced former chairman of the Dera Ismail Khan Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Noor Mohammad to two years imprisonment after convicting him of misusing authority for the purchase of land at exorbitant rates.

Judge Ishtiaq Ahmad Khan pronounced that the prosecution had proved the charge against the accused, while the evidence on record confirmed misuse of powers by him on the matter.

The court granted him the benefit of Section 382-B of the Code of Criminal Procedure under which his period of detention prior to his conviction will be counted in his prison term.

Accountability court convicts Noor Mohammad in land purchase case

Noor Mohammad was arrested in 2014 but was released on bail granted by the Peshawar High Court.

The National Accountability Bureau, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has claimed that a loss was caused to the exchequer through the transfer of the government money to the landowner and keeping it in his bank account without the acquisition of the land.

Few years ago, the NAB had also recovered Rs72 million from the landowner through voluntary return agreement under Section 25 of National Accountability Ordinance, 1999.

The inquiry and subsequent investigation into the case revealed that the convict in connivance with the landowner had purchased an unsuitable land in violation of the Land Acquisition Act, 1984, at the exorbitant rate of Rs72 million and thus, causing a huge loss to the exchequer.

The NAB claimed that while the market value of the land was Rs300,000 per kanal, the convict had purchased it at the rate of Rs1.2 million per kanal.

It added that the land was never transferred or mutated in the name of DIK BISE even after purchase for mala fide intentions.

NAB prosecutor Mohammad Riaz Khan said the charge of misuse of authority, an offence under the NAB law, were proved against Noor Mohammad.

JUDGMENT RESERVED: The accountability court reserved judgment until Oct 27 on a reference filed against former provincial minister Habibullah Khan Kundi over the purchase of land for the Peshawar Ring Road allegedly at exorbitant rates.

The accused, who remained the provincial housing and physical planning minister from 1994 to 1996, was also declared a proclaimed offender.

He had absconded in the case in early 2000 when the trial was conducted against several other accused, including former chief minister Aftab Ahmad Sherpao.Qazi Mohammad Anwar, lawyer for the accused, claimed that there existed evidence against his client and wondered how his client could be convicted when all other accused had been acquitted.

He said the promulgation of the National Reconciliation Ordinance, 2007, led to the quashing of the case but it was revived when the Supreme Court struck down the NRO in 2009 declaring it unconstitutional.

The lawyer said the accountability court later acquitted Mr Kundi by accepting his application under Section 265-K of the Code of Criminal Procedure under which the trial court was empowered to acquit an accused before the conclusion of the trial.

He however said an appeal of the NAB against the acquittal was accepted by the high court, which remanded the case back to the trial court for hearing.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2018

ISLAMABAD: A petition has been filed in the Islamabad High Court (IHC) seeking the details of expenses incurred by the Pakistani government on litigation for the release of Dr Aafia Siddiqui from a United States prison.

The petitioner is a Sialkot-based lawyer who has sought the information under Article 19-A of the Constitution, which states that “every citizen shall have the right to have access to information in all matters of public importance”.

The 2017 Right of Access to Information Act was enacted to give effect to the fundamental right of access to information.

The petition stated that in 2010, a report submitted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to the Senate Standing Committee on Interior had revealed misappropriation in the Dr Aafia Siddiqui Attorney Trust Account. The report said then ambassador Hussain Haqqani had formed a committee of three individuals to ensure transparency and monitor expenditure from the account.

The committee had directed then foreign secretary Salman Bashir to conduct an internal audit of the money spent on the legal team and submit a detailed report at the next meeting. This report was never made public.

The petition maintained that the preamble of the Right of Access to Information Act clearly stated that the ”government believes in transparency and the right to have access to information to ensure that the people of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan have improved access to records held by the public authorities and promote the purposes of making the government more accountable to its people, of improving participation by the people in public affairs, of reducing corruption and inefficiency in government, of promoting sound economic growth of promoting good governance and respect for human rights.”

The petitioner’s request for access to the information is to verify whether $2 million from the public exchequer were used in a fair and transparent manner, which is a matter of public importance.

The petition asked the court to direct the respondent authorities – the law, foreign affairs and finance secretaries and the auditor general of Pakistan – to provide the information regarding expenses incurred on legal proceedings regarding Siddiqui.

IHC Justice Aamer Farooq after the initial hearing issued pre-admission notices to the aforementioned authorities and sought their responses. Further hearing has been adjourned until a date to be fixed by the registrar’s office.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2018

SUKKUR: Senior Pakistan Peoples Party-Parliamentarians (PPP-P) leader and former leader of the opposition in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah has said that his character and political career were like an open book and nothing could be a cause of fear to him.

He was apparently referring to the media reports about a corruption investigation being initiated into his alleged amassing of fortunes beyond his known sources of income.

“I don’t want to indulge myself in speculations unnecessarily,” he told a group of reporters during his visit to the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) here late on Friday evening. “Nothing could cause me to fear anything; except for accountability by Almighty Allah,” he said.

He said those who thought he had become rich by way of politics and connections were mistaken as he had been in politics for three decades and had been winning elections.

He said that he also held various portfolios but no scandal involving him had ever emerged.

Khursheed Shah said that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) after preparing a reference against him was bound to end up in sheer disappointment.

Commenting on the poor state of the national economy, he said that poverty alleviation in the country was impossible until the national economy was streamlined on sound footings. However, he claimed the present government was not competent enough to chalk out such an economic policy. He was critical of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s team, and said “his [cabinet] colleagues may bring down his government within the next six months or so”.

Mr Shah avoided making any comment on Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid’s recent statements, saying he would not talk about him because he was currently visiting his native city [Sukkur].

Regarding the federal government’s ‘five million houses’ scheme, the PPP-P leader said he did not see this plan materialising.

“The proponents and executers of the scheme are wasting their own and others’ time,” he remarked.

Mr Shah repeated his party’s allegation that the prime minister was holding meetings with the NAB chairman in the backdrop of the bureau’s references against the government’s opponents. “NAB’s recent actions against opposition figures are creating suspicion about intentions of the PM and NAB,” he said.

“I would advise NAB not to take emotional decisions or act in a hurry; the NAB chief should assess cases with a cool mind and then take fair decisions as to what should be done and what should not be done; what is being done is wrong,” he said.

About the Sukkur branch of SIUT, Mr Shah pointed out that it was established with the cooperation of the provincial government. Free of cost treatment was being provided to kidney patients here and for the first time in the history of Sindh, kidney transplant was being offered in Sukkur by this branch, he added.

He noted that 50 more beds had been made available at this institute. He made mention of a philanthropist, Feroza Hashim, a Pakistan-born national of the UK, who provided considerable funds for the Sukkur SIUT.

He said that development work at the institute was in full swing with a cost of Rs5-6 billion. He said one block would be completed by June 2019 and in the first phase, the dialysis facility would be available here for around 300 patients.

In reply to a question about the recent remarks against the army by former Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Nehal Hashmi, Khursheed Shah said he disagreed with the views.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2018

KARACHI: A rickshaw driver suffered serious burns on Saturday after he set himself on fire near the city police office in Saddar in protest against the alleged extortion by traffic police.

Khalid sprinkled oil on his body and set himself alight, saying he was ‘fed up’ with daily challan and alleged ‘extortion’ by the traffic police.

In his statement being shared on social media, Khalid alleged that ASI Mohammed Hanif had been extracting Rs100 from him daily. He gave the policeman Rs50 on Saturday, but the latter insisted on Rs100 and on refusal the ASI handed him a challan.

The rickshaw driver was admitted to the Burns Centre of Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital for treatment.

Sindh IGP Dr Syed Kaleem Imam took notice of the incident. He ordered the DIG traffic to conduct an inquiry into the matter and submit a report to him.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2018

ISLAMABAD: Sayed Zulfiqar Abbas Bukhari, the special assistant to the prime minister on overseas Pakistanis and human resource development, has submitted a petition to the Islamabad High Court (IHC) that has sought removal of his name from the Exit Control List (ECL).

The interior ministry, on a request of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), had placed Mr Bukhari’s name on the ECL since he is facing an inquiry about “accumulating assets beyond known sources of income”.

Initially, the interior ministry instead of putting his name on the ECL had put it on the black list to restrict his movement.

In a separate petition, Pakhtun rights activist Gulalai Ismail asks the court for retrieval of her passport and travel documents which were confiscated by FIA

Mr Bukhari, popularly known as Zulfi Bukhari, is a close friend of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Even though his name was on the ECL, he managed to go to Saudi Arabia before the general elections as the interior ministry had lifted the travel ban on him within a few minutes as he was accompanying Mr Khan to perform Umrah.

Then Mr Bukhari challenged putting of his name on the black list before the IHC. The court removed his name from the list, but allowed the interior ministry to proceed on NAB’s request for placing him on the ECL.

In his recent petition, Mr Bukhari argued before the court that he “is a British citizen of Pakistani origin…and is currently at Islamabad…his spouse and children are domiciled [in UK] and where his business interests are managed from”.

The petition said that Mr Bukhari was cooperating with the investigation team, but “was shocked and dismayed to learn” that his name was placed on the ECL.

According to the petition, Section 3 of the Exit from Pakistan (Control) Ordinance, 1981, provides for a right of review for any order made by the federal government, however, such a review only creates an illusory remedy.

Interestingly, Mr Bukhari criticised his own government as the petition went on to say, “the petitioner filed a representation and review petition…despite passage of about two months, the review petition of the petitioner has neither been put up for the cabinet, nor decision has been taken thereon by the federal government”.

It requested the court to direct the interior ministry to remove his name from the ECL.

Gulalai’s petition

In a separate petition, Pakhtun human rights activist Gulalai Ismail also requested the IHC to remove her name from the ECL.

In her petition, Ms Ismail sought retrieval of her passport and travel documents which the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had confiscated upon her arrival in Pakistan on October 12 when she was also briefly detained at FIA’s office in Sector G-13 of Islamabad.

According to the petition, Ms Ismail is the chairperson of non-governmental organization “Aware Girls”. She has received national and international acclaim for her work of empowering women in Pakistan.

The petition said that FIA on October 12 detained Ms Ismail upon her return from the UK in connection with her alleged association with the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement and “delivering anti-state speech”.

The petitioner, however, claimed that she is a patriotic lady and never indulged in anti-state activities.

Ms Ismail said the federal government placed her name on the ECL and the FIA confiscated her passport without giving her an opportunity of hearing.

She requested the court to order removal of her name from the ECL and direct the FIA to return her passport.

The IHC single member bench will hear the petition next week.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2018

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) on Saturday lashed out at the government’s recent decisions, including increase in the gas price, warning that these policies could lead to an “economic meltdown” in the country.

In a statement, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said the present government seemed totally clueless about the economy.

“This government has no sense of direction when it comes to the economy. Those who claimed that they will break the begging bowl and announced that they will not go to the International Monetary Fund are now asking for the biggest loan in Pakistan’s history,” said the PPP chairman.

Opposition parties say the ‘anti-public’ decision will deprive people of basic commodities

He said when the PPP came to power in 2008 it had faced the worst economic crisis but it still managed to keep the inflation rate low as “the PPP does not believe in putting the poor at risk”.

“The current government has given us nothing but inflated prices of basic necessities,” he added.

The PPP chairman questioned the government’s intentions as the “only thing the PTI government has done is to make the lives of the nation more difficult”.

“Those who claimed that they will give relief to the nation are actually snatching away the rights of the poor people. It is apparent that PM-select has done no homework,” Mr Bhutto-Zardari said.

He pointed out that the government’s policies could lead to an economic meltdown as there was a probability that inflation rate would go up to 14 per cent.

He said Imran Khan’s Naya Pakistan was turning out to be a nightmare for the people of Pakistan.

“This government has promised to build five million homes but it seems as if they will take away everything from the poor,” he concluded.

Meanwhile, PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb termed the government’s recent decision to increase gas prices another “anti-public act”.

In a statement, Ms Aurangzeb said the people had not had even a second’s respite since Mr Khan’s party had come to power as continuous trend of increase in prices of essential commodities had made life of masses, especially the vulnerable segments of society, miserable.

She said the 60-day performance of the ruling coalition had proven beyond doubt their inability to deal with national and public issues.

She said the rulers lacked capacity to take prudent decisions for the betterment of the economy, trade, industry and foreign relations; rather the country continued to be on the downslide mode since the ‘Niazi government’ had taken charge.

The PML-N spokesperson said further increase of gas prices would not only deprive labourers and workers from their bread and butter, it would also result in the slowdown of economic activities, which already are showing a negative trend.

She said the voters had rejected the government’s anti-people and anti-poor policies in the recent by-elections, which was a clear indication of distrust of the public but the rulers paid no heed to their cries and continued to burden those who are already bearing most of the burden.

Published in Dawn, October 21st, 2018

A woman in Islamabad was arrested on Sunday for allegedly abusing, threatening and misbehaving with police officials at an entry point to the Diplomatic Enclave after her vehicle, which was missing a number plate, was stopped by police.

The incident came to the notice of law enforcement and government officials after a video of the back-and-forth between the woman and police officers went viral on social media on Saturday.

The viral video showed the woman furiously yelling, using abusive language and hurling threats at police officials who had stopped her at the checkpoint because her car did not have a number plate.

She repeatedly asked the police to provide a "genuine reason" as to why she had been stopped, and even pressured the police officers to permit the vehicle to enter the Diplomatic Enclave, a highly sensitive and secure location in Islamabad, where government buildings, foreign missions and offices are located.

A case was subsequently registered against the woman at the Secretariat Police Station under sections 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 186 (obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions) and 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation).

She was arrested from a local housing society today and shifted to a police station for women. She was later sent to jail on judicial remand.

According to police officials, she is a doctor by profession and her husband serves in the Pakistan Army's medical corps.

Police officials said that she came to Gate-1 of the Diplomatic Enclave in a black Honda car which did not have the number plate. When the police officials saw a car without a number plate they intercepted it.

Upon inquiry, she introduced herself and said she was heading towards the US Embassy, the police stated. She was, however, denied entry because according to the Standard Operating Procedure, vehicles without a number plate are not allowed to enter the Diplomatic Enclave.

Police said the woman then lost her temper and began threatening the officials with dire consequences and using foul language.

Later, she also produced the car's number plate, police said, adding that she also made a call and handed her cellphone over to one of the policemen at the entry point.

Police said that the man she had called introduced himself as an embassy official and asked the policeman to allow her to enter the enclave but he refused. The woman left the area after the heated argument with police officials.

Minister of State for Interior Shehryar Afridi also took notice of the woman's behaviour with police officials and reminded citizens that no one is above the law. He directed officials to take action as per the law and asked police to submit a report on the matter.

Counting is underway after polling ended at 5pm on Sunday for by-elections held in three national and provincial assemblies constituencies in Karachi and Peshawar amidst strict security.

A total of 858,866 male and female voters were eligible to cast their ballots in today's by-polls for the National Assembly constituency of NA-247 Karachi and the provincial assembly seats PS-111 Karachi and PK-71 Peshawar.

The three seats were vacated after the candidates elected on them in the July 25 general elections tendered their resignations. All three of the winners belonged to the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI).

Arif Alvi, who was elected from NA-247, resigned after being elected the country's president. Imran Ismail, who had won from PS-111 (Karachi South), gave up his seat after being appointed as the Sindh governor, while Shah Farman resigned from PK-71 Peshawar after being named the governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The time period of campaigning for the by-polls had ended at 12 midnight on Friday. Candidates were barred from holding rallies, corner meetings or conducting door-to-door campaign after the deadline.

President Arif Alvi casts vote

President Arif Alvi cast his vote in Karachi's NA-247 Constituency. The president also urged the nation to cast their vote in the by-polls. "Vote for which ever party you want to vote for but it is your duty to come out and cast your vote," he said.

He said he cast his vote for his favourite candidate but refused to name the person.

NA-247

According to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), 240 polling stations were set up in NA-247, which has a total of 546,451 registered voters.

More than 900 members of the polling staff performed duties during the by-poll in the constituency, which comprises areas of Defence, Clifton, Old City, Kharadar, Ranchhore Line etc.

Twelve candidates are in the run for the seat. Besides PTI’s billionaire foreign-qualified candidate Aftab Hussain Siddiqui, prominent contenders are Sadiq Iftikhar of the MQM-P, famous TV artist Qaiser Khan Nizamani of PPP, Arshad Vohra of the Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP), Ali Nawab of the Pakistan Sunni Tehreek and seven independent candidates.

The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) and PML-N are not contesting the by-election.

In the July 25 general elections, Arif Alvi had bagged over 91,000 votes — over 65,000 votes more than the runner-up — against the candidates of TLP, MQM-P and MMA who received 24,680, 24,146 and 22,780 votes, respectively. MQM-P’s heavyweight candidate Dr Farooq Sattar had come third after TLP’s Zaman Ali Jafery.

PS-111

Eighty polling stations were established in the Sindh Assembly constituency of PS-111. The constituency has 178,965 registered voters.

According to ECP, 80 presiding officers and 320 assistant presiding officers were to perform duties during the polling.

Fifteen candidates filed their nomination papers for the by-election including PTI’s Shehzad Qureshi, PPP’s Fayaz Pirzada and MQM-P’s Jahanzaib Mughal.

PK-71

Five candidates were in the running for by-polls in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly constituency PK-71, Peshawar-VI, for which polling was held at 86 polling stations.

The constituency has a total of 133,461 registered voters including 79,846 men and 53,615 women.

A total of 307 polling booths, including 118 for men and 119 for women voters, were set up in the provincial assembly constituency.

The main contest is expected between PTI candidate Zulfiqar Khan and ANP’s Salahuddin. Three independent candidates — Dildar Khan, Abdul Kareem Khan and Fazle Haq Kohe Damani — also tried their luck in the polls.

In the general elections, Shah Farman had contested on two seats, PK-71 and PK-74. He had lost on PK-74, but won PK-71. He had received 17,309 votes whereas the runner-up, Siffatullah of PML-N, had received 9,202 votes.

PTI candidate Zulfiqar Khan is the brother of Governor Farman.

The local police had declared 51 of the 86 polling stations highly sensitive because these are situated close to the former tribal areas.

The ECP had said that personnel of army and civil armed forces would be deployed inside and outside all the polling stations from Oct 19 till Oct 22.

Earlier today, some violations of the ECP's code of conduct were reported as anti-PTI announcements were made from mosques.

Subsequently, the commission took notice of the announcements and directed Additional Assistant Commissioner Shahbaz to submit a detailed report in this regard. The official visited the relevant mosques and warned the prayer leaders against such conduct.

He said that the announcements were a violation of the code of conduct and that action would be taken against those involved.

According to the ECP spokesperson, when an ECP team visited him, the prayer leader of the mosque said that only one announcement made from the mosque urged people to go out and vote.

Facilitation centre set up

The ECP set up a facilitation centre to assist voters regarding the by-elections in the three constituencies.

The facilitation centre was functional between 8am and 6pm. Residents will be able to seek details of results of by-polls in their constituencies after 6pm.

Pakistan Peoples Party-Parliamentarians (PPP-P) President Asif Ali Zardari on Sunday said that the incumbent government has shown its incompetence in a very short span of time and now "all political parties should unite and present a motion against the government's failure".

While addressing a press conference in Islamabad, Zardari said that a principle-based decision will have to be made to correct the direction in which the country is currently heading.

"The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is calling peoples' servants to answer questions in investigations, the same has happened in the time of former president Pervez Musharraf," he said.

Answering a question, Zardari said he did not make any remarks about the NAB chairman, rather he raised questions about the latter's thinking and manner of work.

Without naming anyone, the former president said that when some people are given charge of an important office, their manners change completely.

"When I became the president I transferred all powers to the parliament," he recalled, "But Nawaz Sharif did not like any of our policies."

Speaking of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO), Zardari said he was still facing the cases formed against him during PML-N's government.

The former president claimed he did not take any advantage of NRO but said that parties like MQM and people like Nawaz Sharif may have taken advantage of it.

Zardari claimed the people's party gave China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and many other programmes to Pakistan during their tenure.

Counting is underway after polling ended at 5pm on Sunday for by-elections held in three national and provincial assemblies constituencies in Karachi and Peshawar amidst strict security.

A total of 858,866 male and female voters were eligible to cast their ballots in today's by-polls for the National Assembly constituency of NA-247 Karachi and the provincial assembly seats PS-111 Karachi and PK-71 Peshawar.

The three seats were vacated after the candidates elected on them in the July 25 general elections tendered their resignations. All three of the winners belonged to the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI).

Arif Alvi, who was elected from NA-247, resigned after being elected the country's president. Imran Ismail, who had won from PS-111 (Karachi South), gave up his seat after being appointed as the Sindh governor, while Shah Farman resigned from PK-71 Peshawar after being named the governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The time period of campaigning for the by-polls had ended at 12 midnight on Friday. Candidates were barred from holding rallies, corner meetings or conducting door-to-door campaign after the deadline.

Results

According to the unofficial results tabulated through ECP's Result Transmission System (RTS) in Karachi's NA-247 the results from 190 out of 240 polling stations has been compiled.

PTI's Aftab Siddiqui is ahead with 24,763 votes and MQM's Sadiq Iftikhar is following him with 10,983 votes.

PPP's Qaisar Khan Nizamani has 8,654 votes to his name.

In PS-111, results have been tabulated from 45 out of 80 polling stations and PTI's Shehzad Qureshi has the lead with 6,733 votes while PPP's Muhammad Fayyaz Pirzada is in second place with 2,660 votes.

In Peshawar's PK-71, the results from 85 out of 86 polling stations have been compiled and ANP's Salahuddin is ahead with 11,224 votes, while PTI's Zulfiqar Khan is behind him with 9,755 votes.

President Arif Alvi casts vote

President Arif Alvi cast his vote in Karachi's NA-247 Constituency. The president also urged the nation to cast their vote in the by-polls. "Vote for which ever party you want to vote for but it is your duty to come out and cast your vote," he said.

He said he cast his vote for his favourite candidate but refused to name the person.

NA-247

According to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), 240 polling stations were set up in NA-247, which has a total of 546,451 registered voters.

More than 900 members of the polling staff performed duties during the by-poll in the constituency, which comprises areas of Defence, Clifton, Old City, Kharadar, Ranchhore Line etc.

Twelve candidates are in the run for the seat. Besides PTI’s billionaire foreign-qualified candidate Aftab Hussain Siddiqui, prominent contenders are Sadiq Iftikhar of the MQM-P, famous TV artist Qaiser Khan Nizamani of PPP, Arshad Vohra of the Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP), Ali Nawab of the Pakistan Sunni Tehreek and seven independent candidates.

The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) and PML-N are not contesting the by-election.

In the July 25 general elections, Arif Alvi had bagged over 91,000 votes — over 65,000 votes more than the runner-up — against the candidates of TLP, MQM-P and MMA who received 24,680, 24,146 and 22,780 votes, respectively. MQM-P’s heavyweight candidate Dr Farooq Sattar had come third after TLP’s Zaman Ali Jafery.

PS-111

Eighty polling stations were established in the Sindh Assembly constituency of PS-111. The constituency has 178,965 registered voters.

According to ECP, 80 presiding officers and 320 assistant presiding officers were to perform duties during the polling.

Fifteen candidates filed their nomination papers for the by-election including PTI’s Shehzad Qureshi, PPP’s Fayaz Pirzada and MQM-P’s Jahanzaib Mughal.

PK-71

Five candidates were in the running for by-polls in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly constituency PK-71, Peshawar-VI, for which polling was held at 86 polling stations.

The constituency has a total of 133,461 registered voters including 79,846 men and 53,615 women.

A total of 307 polling booths, including 118 for men and 119 for women voters, were set up in the provincial assembly constituency.

The main contest is expected between PTI candidate Zulfiqar Khan and ANP’s Salahuddin.

Three independent candidates — Dildar Khan, Abdul Kareem Khan and Fazle Haq Kohe Damani — also tried their luck in the polls.

In the general elections, Shah Farman had contested on two seats, PK-71 and PK-74. He had lost on PK-74, but won PK-71. He had received 17,309 votes whereas the runner-up, Siffatullah of PML-N, had received 9,202 votes.

PTI candidate Zulfiqar Khan is the brother of Governor Farman.

The local police had declared 51 of the 86 polling stations highly sensitive because these are situated close to the former tribal areas.

The ECP had said that personnel of army and civil armed forces would be deployed inside and outside all the polling stations from Oct 19 till Oct 22.

Earlier today, some violations of the ECP's code of conduct were reported as anti-PTI announcements were made from mosques.

Subsequently, the commission took notice of the announcements and directed Additional Assistant Commissioner Shahbaz to submit a detailed report in this regard. The official visited the relevant mosques and warned the prayer leaders against such conduct.

He said that the announcements were a violation of the code of conduct and that action would be taken against those involved.

According to the ECP spokesperson, when an ECP team visited him, the prayer leader of the mosque said that only one announcement made from the mosque urged people to go out and vote.

Facilitation centre set up

The ECP set up a facilitation centre to assist voters regarding the by-elections in the three constituencies.

The facilitation centre was functional between 8am and 6pm. Residents will be able to seek details of results of by-polls in their constituencies after 6pm.

ISLAMABAD: Declaring the opposition as a “gang of criminals”, Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday accused Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president and Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif of using the floor of the house to malign the National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

Talking to two groups of foreign journalists and local TV anchors on Saturday, Mr Khan stated in categorical terms that his government’s campaign against corruption would continue at all costs and that he would not succumb to any pressure.

According to Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, who was present in both meetings, besides discussing the political situation in Pakistan, the prime minister also talked about the state of economy and apprised the journalists about the steps being taken by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government to steer the country out of crisis.

PM says bureaucrats are creating hurdles; poverty alleviation package to be unveiled next week

Mr Chaudhry quoted the prime minister as saying the government would not strike any deal with the opposition over the issue of corruption and no corrupt person would be spared. “A lot of politicians are criminals. We have enough evidence [to ensure] criminals won’t escape,” Mr Khan added.

“I will not spare any thief or a criminal,” the minister quoted Mr Khan as having stated during his interaction with the media. The prime minister declared that those who had brought the country to the present state would not be spared.

Mr Khan was of the view that the opposition leader had used the floor of the assembly to carry out “media trial” of NAB.

Reacting to the opposition’s protest over the arrest of the opposition leader and PML-N president, Mr Khan said that Shahbaz Sharif was trying to become Nelson Mandela — a former South African president and peace activist who had to spend 27 years in prison due to his political struggle.

While speaking during the opposition-requisitioned session of the National Assembly, Shahbaz Sharif had assailed NAB for alleged ‘political victimisation’ and disclosed details of his interrogation by the watchdog alleging that there was an ‘unholy alliance’ between the ruling PTI and NAB.

The PML-N president, who had been allowed to attend the sitting on the production order of Speaker Asad Qaiser, in his nearly 80-minute speech, had also alleged that he had been offered to become approver in cases against former foreign minister and PML-N stalwart Khwaja Asif.

Mr Sharif, who had been brought to Islamabad for the session only a day after an accountability court in Lahore had extended his remand for two weeks in the Ashiyana housing scam, also alleged that he was being kept in a windowless cell with no light and air passage and that he had been arrested without any charges in a “crude manner”. He claimed that the NAB chairman had signed his arrest orders in the first week of July and the orders were used just before the recent by-elections. According to Fawad Chaudhry, the prime minister at one stage called Shahbaz Sharif “fake Mandela”.

Civil bureaucracy

The PM, the information minister said, complained that the civil bureaucracy was creating administrative hurdles in the way of the government.

Mr Khan said most of the bureaucrats had been appointed by the previous PML-N government and his government was not getting “fullest cooperation” from them. He expressed the hope that the situation would improve and the bureaucracy would take some time to change.

About the ongoing criticism of the government for seeking foreign loans, Mr Khan said that approaching the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a bailout package was not a big issue. The problem was the conditions attached to it, he added. He said the government was making every effort to negotiate a deal with the IMF so that its conditions would not have any direct impact on the less privileged.

“The country would make an economic comeback in the next six to eight months,” Mr Khan was quoted to have stated.

Mr Chaudhry said the premier also disclosed in the meeting that the government would announce next week a special programme aimed at alleviation of poverty and to provide support to the marginalised segments of society.

According to the information minister, the PM said efforts were under way to reduce line losses through improvement in the power distribution system. He said the government was also taking steps to improve investments and to bring foreign remittances through legal banking channels.

Published in Dawn, October 21st , 2018

At least 15 people reportedly lost their lives and more than 40 others were injured when two passenger coaches collided with each other near Pull Ghazi Ghat area of Dera Ghazi Khan on Sunday.

According to the rescue and police officials, 15 people died on the spot while the injured have been shifted to the nearby hospitals.

Prime Minister Imran Khan and President Dr Arif Alvi have expressed grief and sorrow over the tragic incident in Dera Ghazi Khan, Radio Pakistan reported.

In a statement, they expressed sympathy and condoled with the bereaved families. They also directed the local authorities to provide best medical assistance to the injured passengers.

Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar also condoled over the loss of precious lives in the tragic incident.

While counting is still underway in Karachi after polling ended at 5pm on Sunday for by-elections held in the city's NA-247 and PS-111 constituencies, counting in Peshawar has ended with Awami National Party winning the PK-71 seat.

According to the provisional results made available by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) is looking strong on the two constituencies being contested in Karachi. However, it has lost the PK-71 seat in Peshawar to Awami National Party's Salahuddin who won with 11,224 votes.

The three seats were left vacant after the PTI candidates, who were elected on them in the July 25 general elections, tendered their resignations.

Arif Alvi, who was elected from NA-247, resigned after being elected the country's president. Imran Ismail, who had won from PS-111 (Karachi South), gave up his seat after being appointed as the Sindh governor, while Shah Farman resigned from PK-71 Peshawar after being named the governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Results

According to the unofficial results tabulated through ECP's Result Transmission System (RTS) in Karachi's NA-247 the results from 226 out of 240 polling stations have been compiled.

PTI's Aftab Siddiqui is ahead with 30,260 votes and MQM's Sadiq Iftikhar is following him with 13,462 votes.

In PS-111, results have been tabulated from 66 out of 80 polling stations and PTI's Shehzad Qureshi has the lead with 9,816 votes while PPP's Muhammad Fayyaz Pirzada is in second place with 3,758 votes.

In Peshawar's PK-71, the results from all 86 polling stations have been received by the ECP and ANP's Salahuddin has won with 11,224 votes, while PTI's Zulfiqar Khan lost with 9,755 votes.

President Arif Alvi casts vote

President Arif Alvi cast his vote in Karachi's NA-247 Constituency. The president also urged the nation to cast their vote in the by-polls. "Vote for which ever party you want to vote for but it is your duty to come out and cast your vote," he said.

He said he cast his vote for his favourite candidate but refused to name the person.

A total of 858,866 male and female voters were eligible to cast their ballots in today's by-polls for the National Assembly constituency of NA-247 Karachi and the provincial assembly seats PS-111 Karachi and PK-71 Peshawar.

The time period of campaigning for the by-polls had ended at 12 midnight on Friday. Candidates were barred from holding rallies, corner meetings or conducting door-to-door campaign after the deadline.

NA-247

According to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), 240 polling stations were set up in NA-247, which has a total of 546,451 registered voters.

More than 900 members of the polling staff performed duties during the by-poll in the constituency, which comprises areas of Defence, Clifton, Old City, Kharadar, Ranchhore Line etc.

Twelve candidates are in the run for the seat. Besides PTI’s billionaire foreign-qualified candidate Aftab Hussain Siddiqui, prominent contenders are Sadiq Iftikhar of the MQM-P, famous TV artist Qaiser Khan Nizamani of PPP, Arshad Vohra of the Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP), Ali Nawab of the Pakistan Sunni Tehreek and seven independent candidates.

The Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) and PML-N are not contesting the by-election.

In the July 25 general elections, Arif Alvi had bagged over 91,000 votes — over 65,000 votes more than the runner-up — against the candidates of TLP, MQM-P and MMA who received 24,680, 24,146 and 22,780 votes, respectively. MQM-P’s heavyweight candidate Dr Farooq Sattar had come third after TLP’s Zaman Ali Jafery.

PS-111

Eighty polling stations were established in the Sindh Assembly constituency of PS-111. The constituency has 178,965 registered voters.

According to ECP, 80 presiding officers and 320 assistant presiding officers were to perform duties during the polling.

Fifteen candidates filed their nomination papers for the by-election including PTI’s Shehzad Qureshi, PPP’s Fayaz Pirzada and MQM-P’s Jahanzaib Mughal.

PK-71

Five candidates were in the running for by-polls in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly constituency PK-71, Peshawar-VI, for which polling was held at 86 polling stations.

The constituency has a total of 133,461 registered voters including 79,846 men and 53,615 women.

A total of 307 polling booths, including 118 for men and 119 for women voters, were set up in the provincial assembly constituency.

The main contest is expected between PTI candidate Zulfiqar Khan and ANP’s Salahuddin.

Three independent candidates — Dildar Khan, Abdul Kareem Khan and Fazle Haq Kohe Damani — also tried their luck in the polls.

In the general elections, Shah Farman had contested on two seats, PK-71 and PK-74. He had lost on PK-74, but won PK-71. He had received 17,309 votes whereas the runner-up, Siffatullah of PML-N, had received 9,202 votes.

PTI candidate Zulfiqar Khan is the brother of Governor Farman.

The local police had declared 51 of the 86 polling stations highly sensitive because these are situated close to the former tribal areas.

The ECP had said that personnel of army and civil armed forces would be deployed inside and outside all the polling stations from Oct 19 till Oct 22.

Earlier today, some violations of the ECP's code of conduct were reported as anti-PTI announcements were made from mosques.

Subsequently, the commission took notice of the announcements and directed Additional Assistant Commissioner Shahbaz to submit a detailed report in this regard. The official visited the relevant mosques and warned the prayer leaders against such conduct.

He said that the announcements were a violation of the code of conduct and that action would be taken against those involved.

According to the ECP spokesperson, when an ECP team visited him, the prayer leader of the mosque said that only one announcement made from the mosque urged people to go out and vote.

Facilitation centre set up

The ECP set up a facilitation centre to assist voters regarding the by-elections in the three constituencies.

The facilitation centre was functional between 8am and 6pm. Residents will be able to seek details of results of by-polls in their constituencies after 6pm.

At least 19 people reportedly lost their lives and more than 40 others were injured when two passenger coaches collided with each other near Pull Ghazi Ghat area of Dera Ghazi Khan on Sunday.

According to the rescue and police officials, 15 people died on the spot while the injured were shifted to the nearby hospitals where four people succumbed to their injuries.

Prime Minister Imran Khan and President Dr Arif Alvi have expressed grief and sorrow over the tragic incident in Dera Ghazi Khan, Radio Pakistan reported.

In a statement, they expressed sympathy and condoled with the bereaved families. They also directed the local authorities to provide best medical assistance to the injured passengers.

Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar also condoled over the loss of precious lives in the tragic incident.

LAHORE: The Punjab government is going to unfurl a gigantic reform programme in basic sectors such as health, education, labour and water in the next 20 days, introducing new laws and amending the existing ones with mechanisms for their enforcement.

The reform package involves nearly 14 departments including tourism, labour, agriculture and local government, introducing corrective measures to make them deliver and serve the people.

“Our deadline is Nov 28, the completion of the first 100 days of the PTI government, but we are in a hurry to put our reforms in motion before this,” a senior official told Dawn on Sunday.

Officials said the government was going to introduce a new water management regime, making a policy in league with the irrigation, forest and local government (read Wasa) departments. It would regulate water usage and make all users pay for it.

They said the government was making it compulsory for parents to send their children to schools otherwise they would be punished. It was also going to introduce teachers’ licensing and grading, declaring which teacher is fit for which level and type of school.

It was going to introduce an authority for private schools, including parents in their management networks. All schools would be graded and their fees would strictly match their level of education.

Officials said the government was going to establish a Workers Welfare Board on the pattern of the Sindh government to collect funds from industrialists and utilise them for the welfare of workers. The federal government collects a certain percentage of the profits of all industrial units. “At present, it has Rs160 billion under this head but does not give any share to provinces even on repeated demands. Our own board will collect the fund and use it on the working class,” an official said.

Officials said the government was improving the existing laws on child labour. For the first time in the history of the province, it was going to introduce a law on domestic labour to strictly regulate it, and particularly disallow engagement of children as home servants.

The government was formulating a policy for expanding tourism in the province in line with the programme of the federal government. The final policy guidelines would be given by the federal government but it would be implemented by the provinces. Punjab had already identified new tourist destinations and would, under the policy, ensure facilitation of tourism there, providing better facilities and ensuring foolproof security to tourists from home and abroad.

Another major area would be technical education. At present, Tevta, the PVTC and the Punjab Skilled Development are separately imparting technical education under three different departments. The first is under the industry department, the second under zakat and ushr and the third under P&D.

“The Punjab Skilled Development programme is better than the first two as it is being funded by foreign agencies. But there is no coordination among the three. The Punjab government is now going to create a joint database of all the three bodies, even enlisting all the graduates and their utility in the job market,” they said.

Yet another major point would be the expansion of the health card facility all over the province, getting insured every poor family, allowing them free treatment in private hospitals up to an annual Rs350,000.

Officials said that at the moment the departments concerned were working overtime to give final shape to their laws and policies. Many laws had already been finalised and were pending approval by the cabinet.

Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2018

CHITRAL: The residents of Rumbur valley of Chitral are celebrating three-day festivities at the death of a Kalash elder, dancing and singing in praise of the deceased who died on Saturday after protracted illness.

The Kalash people keep the body at the Jastakhan (the dancing place of Kalash) for three days, where dancing and singing continues around the body. The occasion gives the Kalash the opportunity to show their riches and affluence as the guests attending the ceremony are lavishly provided with rich food.

A son of the deceased, Tor Khan Kalash, slaughtered as many as 30 goats and an ox to feed the guests coming from all the three Kalash valleys along with 110 kilogramme of cheese, 80kg of desi ghee and 1,600kg of wheat flour.

Chitral deputy commissioner Khurshid Alam Mehsud and the members of the Senate’s Functional Committee on ‘the problems of less developed areas’ Usman Kakar, Momin Khan Afridi and Mohammad Azam Khan Musakhel also visited the valley to express their sympathy with the bereaved family on Sunday.

They assured the Kalash community of their all-out support to preserve their rich culture and ways of life.

LAID TO REST: The excise and taxation officer, Khalid bin Wali, who had died in a road accident near Mardan on Saturday, was laid to rest in Denin village of Chitral town on Sunday.

The funeral was held at the polo ground which was packed to its capacity.

The deceased officer was posted in Peshawar and was going to Islamabad in his car which rammed into the sidewall of the motorway killing him on the spot.

PLANTATION DRIVE: The University of Chitral carried out a plantation drive at its research site located at Syed Abad on Chitral-Drosh road on Sunday.

The plantation drive was attended by a large number of students, teachers as well as civil society members during which 4,000 saplings of the Spanish species of Olive were planted.

Project Director, University Of Chitral, Prof Badshah Munir Bukhari inaugurated the campaign and urged the young generation to plant more trees so that their future could be saved.

The soil testing of the site had already been done declaring it suitable for growing olive plants.

Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2018