ISLAMABAD: Reviewing the performance of Balochistan’s public finance management, an assessment report released by the World Bank says the provincial government has been preparing an unrealistic deficit budget since 2013-14, which it cannot finance because it is not allowed to borrow in the absence of a debt strategy.

Over the years, the government has been able to curtail annual expenditures within available resources, yet significant shortcomings exist resulting in low budget reliability, according to the report, titled “Balochistan: Public Expen­diture and Financial Account­ability (PEFA) Performance Assessment report”.

The province has 44 per cent of the country’s total land mass and only five per cent of the total population. Improved management of public finances is the key element to development and the public expenditure also contributes to the province’s economy.

The Balochistan government is interested in improving the management of public finances for fiscal discipline and public service delivery, and has asked the donors, led by the World Bank, to conduct the public finance management assessment to provide a snapshot of the public financial management (PFM) performance and provide a credible baseline for preparation of the government’s PFM reform strategy.

World Bank says the provincial government over the years has been preparing an unrealistic budget

Based on the results of the assessment, the provincial government has prepared the 10-year reform strategy for robust and sustainable PFM systems and effective and efficient use of public resources and service delivery. Progress has been made to improve budget preparation process for the fiscal year 2016-17 by developing a budget strategy paper and communicating indicative ceiling to the largest spending departments.

The assessment report points out that the provincial government has no approved strategic development plan to prioritise resource allocation and measure development bearing. Under the current state of affairs, development schemes are budgeted without proper costing, appraisal, and approval. There are no established criteria for project selection and guidelines for project identification and appraisal are also not followed. Information systems within the line departments are either weak or nonexistent and result in duplication of public investments in one area and no investments in other areas where they are needed.

On the current side, employee-related expenses consume about 75 per cent of the budget limiting fiscal space for operation and maintenance expenditure. The public perception that increasing the current budget represents higher administrative cost is a deterrent to allocate required resources to the current budget. This results in a scenario where assets are acquired and used, but not maintained. Limited participation of spending units results in allocation for low priority expenditure heads or inadequate allocation for expenditure heads where most of the funds are required.

Linkages are also weak between the current and development budget processes. There has been a significant deviation from the budget in the composition of expenditures because of extensive executive powers of in-year budget adjustments. Therefore, strategic priorities determined through the budget process do not remain in place. There is no monitoring and reporting on the financial performance of operations and entities outside budget.

Issues in public debt management, public assets management, and fiscal risk reporting also contribute to weak aggregate fiscal discipline. No mechanism or practice exists to monitor financial performance and fiscal risk arising from public corporations and local governments; a complete list of government-owned public corporations is not available.

In addition to delayed communication of budget release information to service delivery units, the practice of releasing the procurement budget in second semester is a constraint. More­over, the spending units are not allowed to start the procurement process without budget release and are left with insufficient time to complete procurements after budget release.

For development budget, absence of budget release policy and project-based releases limits the predictability of funds availability to service delivery units. At the government level, as no cash forecasts are prepared, the practice adopted to manage cash balance is to release majority of the budget in last quarter. Service delivery units do not have sufficient resources for majority of the fiscal year and in the last quarter are constrained for time to spend the funds available.

The tax administration performance has declined as rules governing assessment, controls over tax payer registration and monitoring compliance for sales tax on services are not fully established. In 2014, the provincial government established Balochistan Revenue Authority (BRA) to collect sales tax on services which is now the largest provincial tax. BRA is a nascent entity and the rules governing assessment, controls over tax payer registration and monitoring compliance are not fully established. This has led to a lower rating for indicators related to tax administration.

Since last assessment, the performance related to external scrutiny and audit largely remains the same. There is an improvement in the timeliness of external audit but audit coverage has decreased. Huge backlog of unexamined audit reports still exist before the PAC. Hearing of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) when in session, are extensive but compliance with PAC directives remains low. Legislature is still only allowed two weeks to review budget proposal.

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2018

PESHAWAR: The government’s failure to develop the Peshawar Model Town on the capital city’s outskirts in the last eight years has disturbed the landholders, who can neither build houses on their around 150,000 acres land in Urmar area nor sell it due to a ban.

The provincial government has imposed Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, for the land to be acquired for the housing colony. The project was conceived in 2010 by the Peshawar Development Authority when the ANP ruled the province.

However, the last PTI government tasked the housing department with executing it.

Officials said the department had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Frontier Works Organisation for developing the colony with 80,000 residential plots but the latter had yet to do the job.

Landholders complain they can neither sell nor put up houses on land due to ban

They said the Peshawar Model Town designed to accommodate population equal to Peshawar city’s would have all basic facilities, especially schools, colleges and a university.

The officials said the directorate of housing would soon send a summary to the government with a request for asking the FWO to either pay dues to landowners or cancel the MoU to vacate Section 4.

They said Section 4 could remain in force for six months only and that the Peshawar district administration had been renewing it after every six months.

The landholders complained that Section 4 had stopped them from selling their land and putting up houses on it.

Meharban Khan of the Urmar Mera told Dawn that the landowners hadn’t been paid land price.

“Our area is backward, while residents are very poor. We direly need schools and hospitals but they can’t be constructed in the area due to Section 4,” he said.

The resident said development activities had been suspended in the area for many years though the streets and roads were in bad shape.

“Our MNA and MPA express inability to establish schools and hospitals citing legal hurdles to the proposed mega housing scheme,” he said.

Norooz Afridi of Garhi Faizullah area said his village’s entire land fell in the housing scheme but not a single penny had been paid to the residents during the last eight years.

“Unfortunately, the people of several villages in this area can neither sell own land due to the restriction,” he said.

The landholder said as Urmar didn’t have government schools, the local children went to faraway schools.

He also said many local children were out of school and helped fathers farm.

Local MPA Khushdil Khan resented long delay in the housing scheme’s development and declared it an injustice with the poor residents.

“It’s condemnable that the locals have been deprived of their own agricultural land,” he said. The lawmaker said he would raise the issue in the provincial assembly and would lead a protest of landholders.

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2018

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (Afzal Butt group) on Saturday described Nov 3, 2007 as the darkest day in the country’s history and said on that day former military ruler retired Gen Pervez Musharraf had imposed a state of emergency in violation of the Constitution.

In a statement, PFUJ president Afzal Butt and secretary general Ayub Jan Sirhindi recalled that restrictions were imposed on the electronic media and the judges who refused to take the unconstitutional oath had been detained. The PFUJ launched a movement against those measures. Protest camps set up by the journalists remained in place for several months and due to this struggle TV channels were restored.

“This exemplary struggle is the beacon of light in our history,” Mr Butt said, adding PFUJ was still confronting unannounced censorship and black laws imposed on the press.

The leaders expressed their commitment that the journalists would continue their struggle until the press became completely independent.

The PFUJ said that even today efforts were being made to introduce Pakistan Media Regulatory Authority to impose restriction on the press.

“We will not accept any such law that is intended to gain government control on the press,” Mr Butt said.

“Like the past, PFUJ will not hesitate to offer any sacrifice for freedom of the press,” he said.

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2018

KARACHI: City and municipal administration have decided to remove all encroachments in Saddar within three weeks and an anti-encroachment task force consisting of officers from different institutions will be notified in two days to launch the operation, it emerged on Saturday.

Official sources told Dawn that a high-level meeting, presided over by Mayor Wasim Akhtar was held at the office of the city commissioner to chalk out a strategy to make Saddar, one of the main commercial areas of the city, encroachment-free in the light of the Supreme Court’s order.

The mayor said that the SC order for the removal of encroachments had now paved the way for strict action against encroachers and land grabbers, many of whom had earlier obtained stay orders to keep the grabbed land under their illegal occupation.

Karachi Commissioner Iftikhar Shalwani said that a task force would also be formed to check and monitor re-emergence of encroachments round the clock after their removal.

Metropolitan Commissioner of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation Dr Syed Saif-ur-Rehman informed the meeting that the municipal administration had completed its preparation to launch the anti-encroachment operation in Saddar. The action will start in the next two days and all encroachments, including concrete structures, shops, stalls and pushcarts, would be removed in the area stretching from Naveed Clinic to Lucky Star in Saddar.

He said that more than 90 per cent of the footpaths were illegally occupied by encroachers, while there were a large number of encroachments in and around the iconic Empress Market.

The metropolitan commissioner said that the frontmen of land grabber and encroachment mafia were operating hundreds of illegal stalls in Saddar.

It was decided in the meeting that the ringleaders of land mafia would be booked and arrested.

The meeting also decided to ban the entry of vehicular traffic in Saddar on Saturdays and Sundays. It decided that handicraft and book stalls would be set up on these two days.

The meeting was also told that encroachers in Saddar were being informed of the proposed action through pamphlets and ordered to vacate the illegally occupied places on their own.

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2018

LAHORE: The newly-elected president of the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA), Amanullah Kanrani, has said lawyers will support state institutions provided they continue to work within their constitutional limits.

Speaking at a press conference held in the chamber of senior lawyer Sardar Latif Khan Khosa on Saturday, Mr Kanrani said: “The bar will not become a B-team of the judiciary or the government.”

Mr Kanrani dispelled an impression that there were differences between the bar and the bench. However, he said, message of the bar had not been conveyed to the bench properly in the past due to “personal interests”.

He called for an effective role of bar representatives in the judicial commission on judges’ appointment. He said the opinion of lawyers should be given importance in the process. He said the new cabinet of the bar would not indulge in a blame game but would serve the community without any discrimination.

Commenting on the violent protests in the country following the acquittal of Aasia Bibi, the SCBA president said decisions of courts should be accepted with honour. He said the decisions of courts could only be challenged through legal ways. Mr Kanrani thanked the Peoples Lawyers’ Forum and other groups for supporting him in the election.

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2018

Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Deputy Directior General Tariq Pervez on Sunday said that his team has uncovered 30 more 'benami' bank accounts, which he alleged were being used for money laundering activities.

According to Pervez, the accounts are under the name of eight domestic workers who usually earn Rs12,000 to Rs15,000 per month. However, transactions worth a total of at least Rs10 billion were made from these accounts, he said.

"The accounts were being used in money laundering, and transactions in most districts of KP were made through these accounts," said Pervez.

He added that the accounts are located in Buner, Kalam, Swat and Basham.

"The identity cards of the individuals involved have been sent to the State Bank for compilation of more information," said Pervez.

Since September, several suspicious transactions uncovered exorbitant amounts stored in bank accounts owned by ordinary citizens.

These include a bank account owned by a food vendor in Karachi's Orangi Town and a rickshaw driver belonging to Korangi.

LAHORE: A writ petition has been filed in the Lahore High Court seeking compensation for the damage caused to public and private properties during the countrywide protest by the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) against release of Aasia Bibi in a blasphemy case.

Abdullah Malik of the Civil Society Network arrayed federal and provincial governments as party in his petition. He pleads that protection of people’s life and property is a responsibility of the government and a great damage has been done to the public and private property during the TLP protests.

He says the government is duty-bound to compensate the losses of the citizens.

The petitioner asks the court to order both the federal and provincial governments to determine the losses and pay compensation to the citizens.

SMOG: A petition has been filed in the Lahore High Court seeking a direction for the government authorities to take immediate steps to control smog in Punjab.

A citizen, Munir Ahmad, contends through his counsel that Lahore is among the 10 most polluted cities in the world in terms of air quality. He states that air pollution causes serious health problems, including respiratory issues, lung and heart diseases.

He pleads that the smog has become a perennial problem for the residents of Lahore.

The petitioner claims that data released by the Pakistan Air Quality Initiative shows the provincial capital recorded only two days of good air quality in 2017.

He asks the court to direct the government to implement the statutory laws as well as mandatory rules in letter and spirit for the purpose of protecting environment.

He further asks the court to order necessary amendments in the laws to enable the government departments to deal with emergency situations.

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2018

Chief Justice Saqib Nisar on Sunday underwent a successful angioplasty after doctors found his arteries blocked during a routine checkup, DawnNewsTV reported.

According to Maj Gen Athar Kiyani, the head of Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology, a medical board will decide on Monday if the chief justice needs to remain hospitalised any further.

"The chief justice is feeling better," Kiyani said.

According to DawnNewsTV, the chief justice had gone to the hospital for a routine checkup when doctors suggested that he should undergo an angioplasty.

Two balloon stents were inserted in Justice Nisar's heart during the procedure.

Following the surgery, the chief justice was shifted to a room where his family was allowed to meet him. Justice Asif Saeed Khosa also visited Justice Nisar at the hospital.

The hospital officials said that the chief justice has been advised to rest for at least four days.

Karachi police on Sunday claimed to have arrested a member of a gang allegedly involved in running a "dirty campaign" on social media, said Clifton Superintendent of Police (SP) Suhaee Aziz.

“Boat Basin police have arrested a suspect, Arslan Qamar, who runs a ‘dirty night’ (couple swapping) campaign through social media,” the officer said.

The police arrested him following a well-planned strategy and also recovered cash from his possession.

During interrogation, the arrested suspect has reportedly disclosed that he has been running such "fake programmes" on social media and allegedly making huge sums of money.

The police registered a First Information Report (FIR) against the suspect under Section 420/25-D of Telegraph Act, while efforts were underway to arrest his accomplices.

SP Aziz said the arrest was part of the police’s recently launched campaign titled "rescuing youth, saving future".

Under this campaign, the police were trying to save the youths from drugs, sheesha smoking, misuse of social media, gambling, one-wheeling, and bike racing, she said.

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday said that uprooting corruption and bringing people out of poverty are the top priorities of his government.

PM Khan while delivering a speech at the Central Party School in Beijing hailed the bilateral cooperation between the countries.

Talking about his political journey, the premier said that he began his career as a cricketer before he entered politics.

"Pakistan at one point was an example for the developing world. In the 1960s we had quality universities. We had the highest growth rate. Our first five-year plan was emulated by South Korea and Malaysia," he said, adding that unfortunately the nation lost its way due to corruption of the ruling elite.

He said that countries are poor not because of a lack of resources but due to the corruption of the elite, because it destroys state institutions.

PM Khan came down hard on money laundering and termed it the worst kind of corruption. "In my opinion, one of the biggest problem the world faces today is money laundering," he added.

"Pakistan, unfortunately, after the mid-80s started suffering from corruption," he said, adding that at that time, he was playing cricket.

He said that after he retired from cricket, he decided to join politics and the main agenda of his party was to combat corruption.

Take a look: China says willing to help Pakistan over fiscal crisis but more talks needed

The prime minister maintained that initially his party was ignored by masses and it was after his 2011 visit to China when the party started gaining popularity.

Currently, he said, his main concern was strengthening institutions. "The stronger the state institutions, the lesser the corruption," PM Khan said.

Talking about poverty alleviation, the prime minister said that a country can't progress with glaring inequality in society. "This is where we admire China so much. No country in human history, has ever taken 700 million people out of poverty in 30 years as China has done," he said, adding that the steps taken to that [effect] is what his party and his government were interested in.

He hailed Chinese leadership and thanked the country for her cooperation with Pakistan on various occasions. PM Khan highlighted that Beijing provided Islamabad with an opportunity, in the shape of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), to attract the much needed foreign investments.

China and Pakistan also renewed their friendship pledge today and agreed to further strengthen bilateral strategic cooperation and their partnership, according to a Joint Statement issued on Sunday.

According to the joint statement, the two sides agreed to take concrete measures to address the trade imbalance between the countries.

They expressed satisfaction at the operationalisation of the currency-swap agreement.

Beijing and Islamabad also agreed to further enhance cooperation against “three evils” of extremism, terrorism and separatism.

The Pakistani side reaffirmed its support to the Chinese side in safeguarding its sovereignty and security, and combating separatism, terrorism and extremism, including the East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM).

Read more here: Pak, China Joint Statement speaks of expansion in ties, no mention of 'immediate support'

During the visit, the two sides also signed 15 agreements and MoUs on a range of bilateral issues.

Prime Minister Imran Khan is in China on his first official at the invitation of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. He met Chinese President Xi Jinping and Keqiang, and held a meeting with Chinese business leaders as well.

PM to address China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai

Following his visit to Beijing, PM Khan arrived in Shanghai to attend the First China International Import Expo where he shall address the opening ceremony of the Expo as keynote speaker on November 5, according to a Twitter notification posted by PTI's official account.

Upon his arrival, the premier was received by Vice Mayor of Shanghai Peng Chenlei.

PM Khan will hold meetings with other world leaders on the sidelines of the event.

Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry while addressing a press conference in Karachi on Sunday warned that the government would not turn a blind eye to, nor forget, the inciteful speeches made by religiopolitical leaders during protests against the acquittal of Asia Bibi last week.

"No one should have the impression that the government will forgive this behaviour," he said. "The impression that this government is weak will be removed as we take further action."

"The way that our people's property was damaged, the way that judges of the top court, the Pakistan Army and the government were ─ the kind of speeches that were made, the government will not ignore or forget them," Chaudhry asserted.

"Although the issue was resolved via a strategy, we will not forget the people who were involved," he said.

"This is not a matter of religion, it is related to rebellion. Should the state ignore mutiny? The credibility of a state that ignores rebellion is questionable. Therefore, we cannot turn a blind eye to it."

"The way the Constitution, the people, the political leadership, the military and judiciary were held in contempt, it is unlikely that we will forgive it," he added.

"We've seen that being in government has its challenges. Dealing with those challenges is our day-to-day responsibility. There are people who sit 'outside' [the government] who think they can give all the solutions, but the choices that are available to you are not so broad," he explained.

"What was happening was before you: hundreds of people were shutting down streets. The government had two options: we could have used state powers, but there was a fear that damage would be incurred, and if that happened, then we would have been criticised and questioned as to why we did it. So we did 'firefighting'," he said, using a word he employed earlier to refer to damage control.

Read more: Govt deal with protesters was 'firefighting', not a cure to the problem: Fawad Chaudhry

"This doesn't mean that any Pakistani or the government can approve the conduct that was witnessed here. This was firefighting. We reopened the cities without any damage. But this is not a solution."

Development in Sindh

Chaudhry called on Sindh Governor Imran Ismail today, Radio Pakistan reported. Both leaders discussed the investment climate in the province, incentivising investment, federal government projects for Karachi, a development package announced by the prime minister for Karachi and other issues of mutual interest.

At the press conference, Chaudhry said that the biggest subject under discussion with a United Arab Emirates delegation that had visited recently was the resolution of Karachi's drinking water problem.

"Karachi's infrastructure ─ each time they say stop interfering in provincial matters," he said, referring to the Sindh government. "But neither do you give the people anything, nor do you allow us to give them anything. This is not on."

"The people of Karachi and Sindh have placed their trust in us... and whatever the federal government gives to the people in interior Sindh, we will give to the urban dwellers in Sindh," he said.

'Sindh govt using political victimisation tactics'

The information minister, who met with Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) parliamentarians in Sindh today, said there were complaints that the Sindh government was employing tactics of political victimisation, "but this has been a trend with the PPP, and we have seen 'gunda raj' in Sindh, and dealing with it necessary."

Chaudhry lashed out at the PPP, saying there was a stark difference between today's PPP and that led by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

"The way they put money in poor people's bank accounts... The poor people should claim it and refuse to return it," he alleged, referring to multiple reports regarding large sums of money being recovered by investigation agencies from bank accounts belonging to a falooda vendor and a rickshaw driver.

Read more: How Pakistan's 'penniless billionaires' are exposing a money laundering frenzy

"Whenever we say that thieves should be thrown in jail, Khursheed Shah leaves the Assembly, but we don't even name anyone," he added.

ISLAMABAD: A day after reaching an agreement with the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) leadership for ending their sit-ins, the federal government on Saturday ordered a “crackdown” against “miscreants” involved in damaging public and private properties and vehicles during the protests.

The directives for action against the miscreants were issued by Minister of State for Interior Shehryar Afridi after he received a briefing from different agencies about the damage suffered by the government and people during the three-day protests by religio-political groups over the Oct 31 Supreme Court verdict acquitting Aasia Bibi of a blasphemy charge, says an official announcement.

It says that cases will be registered against “all those miscreants who under the guise of peaceful protests caused destruction to property and harmed unarmed citizens”.

Through the statement, the ministry has welcomed the stance taken by the Ulema that they were not involved in any violence and some “miscreants” were involved in the destruction caused to properties. It says that efforts are being made to identify the miscreants with the help of video footage.

Cases to be registered after identification of culprits through video footage

“Cases will be registered and legal action will be taken against all the miscreant elements to be identified,” says the statement.

It further says that the Cybercrime Wing of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) have been directed to monitor and investigate provocative material being circulated on social media to incite hate. The head of the Cybercrime Wing and the PTA chairman have been instructed to obtain “forensic data of the miscreants.”

“The interior ministry will initiate criminal proceedings against all those spreading extremist and hateful propaganda on social media,” it says.

The government took the decision to take action against the troublemakers amid criticism against it for striking a deal with the protesters in which there has been no mention of the damage caused to the properties of innocent people.

Similarly, the government is facing criticism for not taking any action against those leaders of the protest who had threatened the judges and used seditious language against state institutions.

Talking to Dawn, Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry said it would be wrong to say that the government had surrendered before the protesters through the agreement.

Refusing to speak further on the matter, he said presently they were only doing firefighting and a prolonged strategy would be prepared to meet any such situation in the future and to establish the writ of the state in a more effective manner.

Earlier in the day, Minister of State for Communications Murad Saeed had said that the government had decided to take action against those miscreants who destroyed state property along motorways and highways during the protests.

He said that it was the “time to establish that calls for protest shouldn’t be taken as a licence to destruction”.

The minister said that videos and images of the protests over the apex court’s decision would be scrutinised to identify the perpetrators who caused damage to public property.

“The Constitution permits peaceful protests, but under no circumstances damaging public and private property under the garb of protests,” the minister remarked.

He said the property along national highways was damaged all over the country and now billions would have to be spent on repair works.

He said it was commendable that the protest leadership had distanced itself from those who created havoc in the garb of protests.

In Lahore, police have registered 11 FIRs in different police stations against 1,500 people under various charges, including terrorism. Similarly, Islamabad police have booked nearly 250 protesters for injuring policemen and damaging state property.

Sindh police have also reportedly decided to register cases against the organisers of sit-ins over charges of riots and damaging property on behalf of the state or on the complaint of aggrieved persons whose properties were damaged.

A police officer pointed out that Korangi police station has already registered a case on the complaint of the watchman of a factory in the area, as around 15 to 16 protesters tried to ‘forcibly’ shut the industrial unit and resorted to riots on Friday.

Inspector General of Sindh police Dr Syed Kaleem Imam on Saturday presided over a meeting at Central Police Office in Karachi where he was quoted to have said, “Whatever happened during the last five days... I feel great regret over it.”

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2018

QUETTA: Major parts of southern Balochistan, including Quetta, have been caught in the grip of cold waves for the last two days.

People in Quetta, Kalat, Mastung, Chaman, Qila Abdullah and other cities have already raided their stock of warmer clothes to contend with the low temperatures, which the weather department said had gone down to minus two degrees Celsius.

“The lack of rain and the subsequent drought, which is causing a dry winter has caused many people — especially children — to fall sick,” said an official of the meteorological department.

The low temperature, which decreased gas pressure, has added to the woes of people who cannot turn on the heat to fight the extreme weather. Many have been forced to turn to coal and gas cylinders.

“Despite many claims that the Sui Southern Gas Company had taken measures to maintain gas pressure, a mere fall in temperature has revealed their incompetence,” said a local.

Citizens in Quetta have asked the government to take immediate measures to solve the problem.

Published in Dawn, November 5th, 2018

KARACHI: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Karachi, as part of their ongoing investigation into allotment of over two dozen acres of land to the “land mafia” worth Rs25 billion in Gulshan-i-Iqbal, has ‘frozen’ 14 bungalows built on one acre land, a NAB spokesperson said on Sunday.

The official added that an investigation was being conducted against Ghul Hassan Channa, ex-secretary, Board of Revenue, Sindh, and others on the charges of illegal allotment of government land to the “land mafia”.

Initially 25 acres of government land worth Rs25 billion was investigated and a reference will be filed soon in the accountability court in Karachi, said the official.

“In this connection in order to protect government land, NAB Karachi has frozen 14 bungalows illegally constructed on one acre land situated on survey No 303, deh Okaywary, in Gulshan-i-Iqbal,” said the spokesperson.

“Further proceedings are under way to safeguard the interest of government.”

Published in Dawn, November 5th, 2018

ISLAMABAD: The difficulties facing folk artists and musicians came to the fore on Sunday at the inauguration of the 10-day Lok Mela.

The festival is held every year to showcase the cultural heritage of Pakistan.

The objective of this year’s folk festival is to reinforce and strengthen national integration by promoting the cultural heritage of the country, through the active participation of all the provinces, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir.

As per the tradition of the last several years, the inauguration ceremony began with the Dastarbandi, or Chaddar Poshi, of an established master craftswoman or craftsman. According to Lok Virsa, this is a symbol of its campaign to keep Pakistan’s heritage alive.

Folk artists’ difficulties come to the fore at opening of annual Lok Mela

This year the chaddar was presented to 64-year-old Saran Bibi, a thread-weaver from Tharparkar, who has been doing this work for 50 years.

Folk singer, 69-year-old Akhter Chanal Zehri from Qalat, Balochistan, was also presented a turban.

While addressing the ceremony, Inter-Provincial Coordination Minister Dr Fehmida Mirza emphasised the challenges facing folk artists, and called on the prime minister and Pakistani embassies to support them at home and abroad.

She quoted an artist who told her at the mela, “when we sing, we get something to eat”, which she said described the entire saga of misery.

She added that Saran Bibi had also told her about the problems she faces during the short time that she was receiving her chaddar during the ceremony.

Later, Saran Bibi told Dawn she told the minister that their crop yield had been low because of the lack of rain, which was adding to her difficulties.

“I am very weak now, and cannot work for longer periods. We don’t have crops this season, so we don’t get enough food to eat.

Her son Ravi, who was translating for his mother, said the only food they could get was roti, and they hadn’t eaten meat or fruit for months.

But, he said, they were happy that they would receive Rs10,000 from Lok Virsa for participating in the mela, which he said was millions to them.

When asked what she hopes to do with the money, Saran Bibi said they would buy enough groceries and eat their fill.

The musical performances in the second part of the ceremony began with a performance by Bano Rehmat from Kashmir.

Outfitted in traditional Kashmiri dress and jewellery, Ms Rehmat performed the folk song Nikki Nikki Loi.

She was followed by folk singer Shaukat Ali from Tharparkar, who also performed on the Khartal, an ancient instrument used mainly in devotional and folk music.

Mr Ali said he is the only musician left who plays this instrument, which consists of a pair of thin, hard wood pieces that are clapped together to make fast, complex beats.

His performance on the Khartal, along with his vocals and Sindhi dance created a beautiful atmosphere in the hall and invited audience members to join in.

Other performers included Jhangi Khan from Balochistan, Zamin Hussain from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Manzoor Baltistani from Baltistan and Fazal Ashiq Jutt from Punjab, who performed Apna Punjab Yaro to the loud beat of the dhol.

Hundreds of artisans, folk artists, performers and dancers from all over the country are participating in the festival.

Separate pavilions have been set up for each province to represent the traditional crafts, cuisine and music from each region.

Published in Dawn, November 5th, 2018

MITHI: Nine more infants died from complications caused by malnutrition, waterborne diseases and viral infections in drought-hit Thar towns of Mithi, Kaloi and Nagarparkar on Sunday, raising the death toll to 544 this year so far, according to officials.

Seven of the children died in Mithi Civil Hospital where they were brought for treatment from remote villages of the desert region.

Health officials reiterated the government’s line of arguments about unabated deaths of infants and said that most of the children dying in hospitals were underweight, a result of child marriages and lack of birth spacing.

Parents of the victims and those accompanying their ailing children at the hospital complained about lack of healthcare facilities in their villages because of which they had to travel several miles to take their ailing babies to Mithi.

Banks, NGOs, moneylenders warned

Thar SSP Imran Quraishi has warned NGOs, traders and local branches of micro-financing banks to stop recovery of loans from poor Tharis as long as severe drought persists in the desert region.

He said at a press conference at his office on Sunday that lending NGOs and some individuals who dealt in the ugly business of interests had made the lives of poverty-stricken Tharis miserable by first trapping them in the debt and then callously demanding it back despite drought conditions.

Published in Dawn, November 5th, 2018

LONDON: Internation­ally renowned Pakistani mountaineer, Nazir Sabir, has called for exploiting full potentials of the tourism sector, including mountaineering, by providing visitors on-arrival visa facility at airports to attract a large number of tourists for benefit of the country.

“By facilitating foreign tourists, Pakistan can fetch the badly-needed precious foreign exchange as the country offers tremendous opportunities and potentials in the field of tourism, especially in the trekking and adventure tourism sector,” he told APP on Sunday.

Mr Sabir belongs to Hunza and he was the first Pakistani mountaineer, who reached the summit of the world’s highest peak, the Mount Everest, in May 17, 2000.

He also climbed the K-2 in 1981, the second highest peak of the world, besides climbing four 8000 meters peaks in the country.

Mr Sabir, currently visiting United Kingdom (UK) for attending an international tourism and investment conference, said that tourism was the second largest industry in the world, but regretted that Pakistan, being the home of five out of fourteen 8000 meter peaks and one of the most attractive tourist destinations, was only able to get 5 per cent share of the world’s tourism.

He said that Pakistan could increase its share in the world’s tourism by facilitating foreign visitors and providing on-arrival visa facility to tourists.

He recalled that this facility was available to foreign tourists coming from 64 countries a few years ago which attracted a good number of tourists from different countries of the world.

This visa facility, he said, was also extendable.

He said that three mountain ranges, Karakorum, Himaliya and Hindukush, were situated in Pakistan and these ranges make the country “a paradise for mountaineers of the world”.

Mr Sabir, who was a former provincial minister for education, criticised devolution of tourism to provinces under the 18th Constitution Amendment without building the capacity of provinces, especially of Gilgit-Baltistan.

He said the move had badly affected the tourism sector in Gilgit-Baltistan.

He appealed to the PTI government to revive the previous federal ministry of tourism in its original form and status in the country, to boost tourism in the country.

Mr Sabir welcomed policies announced by Prime Minister Imran Khan for promoting tourism in the country.

He expressed the hope that these initiatives would promote tourism in the country.

Published in Dawn, November 5th, 2018

KARACHI: Jamaat-i-Islami chief Senator Siraj-ul-Haq announced on Sunday a “Tehreek-i-Hurmat-i-Rasool’ march that would begin from Karachi and end in Chitral.

Speaking at a rally here at Hasan Square, he appealed to all religious parties to unite on a single point agenda for ‘Hurmat-r-Rasool’.

Chanting slogans against the acquittal of Aasia Bibi in a blasphemy case, scores of people along with their families participated in the rally.

The JI chief said that Prime Minister Imran Khan had tried to defuse the recent situation just for the sake of his government and to increase his vote bank.

He added that the people of the country had rejected the acquittal of Aasia Bibi.

He said that the government was making false claims for ending sit-ins from different parts of the country.

Published in Dawn, November 5th, 2018

MIRPURKHAS: The one-month-old baby who was kidnapped a day before from a house in Khar Para was abducted by the baby’s own mother with the help of her accomplices whom police had arrested after a raid on a place in Marvi town on Sunday, according to ASP Satellite town Imran Mirza.

Mr Mirza said at a press conference held at Town police station that the baby was kidnapped from Malik Zafar’s house by a woman and a man a day before. Police launched probe and found clues to the kidnappers which led them to a place in Marvi town where they raided and found the abducted baby and four others including Imtiaz Kathor, Mohammad Irshad, Kamran and Sonia, mother of the baby.

He said that a case had been lodged under Sections 364, 452, 352 and 35 at the Town police station against main suspect Ms Sonia and her accomplices.

Published in Dawn, November 5th, 2018

SUKKUR: Emotional scenes were witnessed when a 14-year-old girl who was kidnapped in Karachi four years ago reunited with her parents at Darul Aman here on Sunday.

Umme Habiba who was kidnapped by one Kareeman Bhatti, a resident of Ali Gohar Bhambhro village, burst into tears when she saw her father Iftikhar Bhatti and mother Sajida Bhatti for the first time in four years, bringing tears to the parents’ eyes.

Police had taken action after news about the girl’s kidnapping was aired, arrested Zafar Bhatti, husband of Kareeman Bhatti, and recovered Umme Habiba. She was subsequently produced in court which ordered lodging her in Darul Aman on Oct 26, 2014. The girl remained stuck at the facility as she only remembered that her parents lived in Karachi but did not know proper address of her home.

Six months ago, Justice Salahuddin Panhwar of Sindh High Court Sukkur bench took notice of the girl during his visit of Darul Aman and issued directives to police and other authorities concerned to search out the girl’s relatives.

Sukkur police finally succeeded in locating the girl’s parents in Kati Pahari area in Karachi and brought them Sukkur on Sunday to meet their daughter.

Published in Dawn, November 5th, 2018