ISLAMABAD: The government has called a meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the cabinet on Monday to take up gas load management plan for the winter as complaints of low gas pressure and supply shortages have started to pour in.

To be presided over by Finance Minister Asad Umar, the ECC meeting is expected to take up a 4-point agenda including allocations of small gas quantities from two new fields and issues arising out of construction of two LNG terminals and how to address them.

The coming winter months – December to February – are expected to be very tough for urban residential consumers in terms of gas shortfalls amid commitment by the new government to ensure uninterrupted gas supplies to the industrial sector, particularly the zero rated five export industries at highly subsidised prices.

Sources said the petroleum division estimated up to 50pc gas shortfall to urban population in Punjab and to some extent in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, — both being served by Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited (SNGPL). It has proposed providing direct subsidy to the SNGPL for domestic consumers with an injection of about 150 million cubic feet per day (MMCFD) additional gas at three peak consumption intervals around cooking hours.

As winter begins, complaints of low pressure and shortages start pouring in

The sources said the government may have to shift the entire industry including the five zero rated export sectors and power generation to imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) instead of domestic gas supplies and yet spare 150 MMCFD for residential consumers at breakfast, lunch and dinner timings even if this required diverting some LNG supplies to the residential sector.

The challenge is the price differential that requires the government approval for additional subsidy after it committed about Rs44 billion subsidy for zero rated export sectors. The average cost of domestic gas is about Rs630 per million British Thermal Unit (MMBTU) compared to about Rs1,350 of LNG. The problem is that majority of domestic consumers are entitled to gas price ranging between Rs150 and Rs300 per MMBTU.

The petroleum division believes that without additional subsidy, the domestic and commercial consumers would not get enough gas even for cooking in Punjab as SNGPL’s domestic gas share has plummeted to about 1,060 MMCFD. The peak demand of residential consumers could touch 900 MMCFD, but the authorities advise the government not to bother about uninterrupted supplies round the clock.

The total domestic gas supply through transmission pipeline network is currently estimated at about 2,240 MMCFD including about 1,175mmcfd of Sui Southern Gas Company that severs Sindh and Balochistan and about 1,060 MMCFD in the SNGPL network where demand for domestic consumers increased from about 500 MMCFD in summers to about 900 MMCFD in peak winter.

The problem has aggravated financially after the PTI government committed that 100pc re-gasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG) would be provided to zero-rated industry from December to February at a flat rate of $6.5 per MMBTU. The current RLNG rate stood at about $12.5 per MMBTU.

After February, a blend of domestic natural gas and RLNG of 50:50 would be provided to zero-rated industry from March to November. Under the decision, the SNGPL will invoice the zero-rated industry at notified prices (RLNG) and upon receipt of subsidy from the Finance Division on a monthly basis, the subsequent invoices to industry will be adjusted at the ECC-approved weighted average price of $6.5 per MMBTU.

On receipt of subsidy, the SNGPL will onward credit the amount to consumers through immediate adjustment in the subsequent gas bills. It was agreed that the subsidy would be restricted to a maximum of 185 MMCFD — according to last year consumption — with 10pc variation.

Published in Dawn, November 12th, 2018

QUETTA: A senior leader of the Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-Mengal), Nawabzada Haji Lashkari Raisani, has suggested to form a ‘truth commission’ on the issue of missing persons.

He was addressing a news conference at a protest camp organised by families and friends of some missing persons on Sunday.

He criticised the government for allegedly not addressing the issue of missing persons. He claimed that nothing was being done for recovery of missing persons.

The BNP-Mengal leader said it was very unfortunate that Baloch mothers and sisters were sitting in a protest camp, but the government was not ready to address their issues. These women just wanted to know whereabouts of their loved ones, he added.

Mr Raisani said the truth commission should be formed under the supervision of the United Nations with the mandate to collect information and other details about missing persons.

Published in Dawn, November 12th, 2018

LAHORE: The leaked video of the Punjab Assembly speaker and a federal minister complaining about Punjab Governor Chaudhry Sarwar continued making waves on Sunday, even though all stakeholders played down the contents saying “there is nothing serious”.

“The Pakistan Muslim League-Q is the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s coalition partner and the latter is supposed to listen to the former’s grievances, if any. Heavens will not fall with such drawing room talks,” according to some PTI leaders.

The governor, the speaker and the federal information minister have reaffirmed that Chief Minister Usman Buzdar is the “centre of power” and there should be no confusion about the matter.

In the leaked video, Punjab Assembly Speaker and PML-Q leader Pervaiz Elahi, and Federal Minister Tariq Cheema are seen complaining to PTI stalwart Jehangir Tareen at Mr Elahi’s residence.

Mr Cheema is heard asking Mr Tareen, "Sir control Sarwar". Mr Elahi endorses the minister’s request and adds, "Sarwar will not let your chief minister perform his duty freely".

Punjab chief minister is the centre of power, insists governor

“The media persons are more than interested in discussing the leaked video showing PML-Q leaders complaining about Governor Chaudhry Sarwar to PTI’s former general secretary Jehangir Khan Tareen and demanding that Mr Sarwar should be controlled,” the PTI’s senior leaders say.

Responding to media persons’ queries in Faisalabad, the governor asserted that the chief minister was the centre of power and there should be no confusion.

Saying that PML-Q was the PTI’s key coalition partner, he claimed that the video of the speaker and the federal minister talking to Jahangir Tareen had nothing serious to discuss about. The PTI was ready to listen to its coalition partner’s grievances, he added.

Acknowledging that minor differences did appear even among family members, the governor added: “Sky will not fall with such drawing room talk”.

Answering a question, Mr Sarwar said that he had held a one-on-one meeting with Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday evening. There was no mention of the speaker and the federal minister’s complaint during the conversation, he added.

Reacting to Tariq Bashir Cheema’s complaint about interference in his constituency, Mr Sarwar said that he was visiting every constituency and added that he did support a party candidate Naeem Warraich contesting from a constituency adjoining Mr Cheema’s constituency.

Speaking to the media in Lahore, Federal Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry also brushed aside reports about power tussle between Governor Sarwar and Punjab Assembly Speaker Pervaiz Elahi.

Asserting that there was no crisis of leadership in the PTI, Fawad Chaudhry said Imran Khan was the only leader and all others, including the governor and the chief minister, were party workers.

“The party is united and unanimously executing decisions taken by the prime minister.”

In a lighter vein, the minister said: “The lesson learnt is that one should remain vigilant as a hidden device could be recording everything.”

A source told Dawn that Mr Tareen, after the meeting with Mr Elahi, called on Imran Khan and told him about the grievances of the PML-Q leaders. Mr Tareen said the governor, during his meeting with certain MPAs of the PTI, was giving the impression that he was ‘equally powerful’ in Punjab and had interfered in some transfers and postings. However, after the video went viral, Pervaiz Elahi called a press conference at his residence and played down differences with Chaudhry Sarwar.

Published in Dawn, November 12th, 2018

Deputy mayor of Peshawar's Nothia union council, Sher Ali, was killed along two others in a firing incident Sunday late night, DawnNewsTV reported.

Two others have received minor injuries. Awami National Party's district member Muhammad Saeed Zahir confirmed the incident.

The shooting took place in Peshawar's Nothia area, where Ali had held a wedding function for his son.

According to police, the firing took place over a minor argument between Ali and his neighbour Tariq over fireworks being used at the function. Ali, his brother and Tariq were killed in the shooting.

The bodies have been shifted to the Lady Reading Hospital.

KARACHI: The Federal Investi­gation Agency (FIA) has identified at least 200 of the 726 ‘donors’ who gave money to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s Khid­mat-i-Khalq Foundation (KKF).

The federal institution described the practice as money laundering by the party’s top leadership, including its founder Altaf Hussain, it emerged.

FIA sources told Dawn that the KKF was established in 1988 and the MQM mostly generated/distributed funds through it. These funds were ‘misused’ and an estimated Rs5-6 billion was sent to the MQM leaders, including Altaf Hussain, in London.

The FIA took cognisance of the matter and got an FIR registered against Altaf Hussain and some other party leaders in 2017.

Subsequently, the case was transferred from the FIA Karachi to the FIA Islamabad, where a special team of the agency’s counter-terrorism wing was dealing with it.

Ostensibly, the FIA had expedited its efforts and arrest of some nominated suspects was expected soon, said the sources.

The FIA has prepared a list of 726 persons who allegedly gave donations to the KKF. Donations ranged between a few thousands and millions of rupees, revealed the FIA sources.

A senior official familiar with the case told Dawn that most of the people tended to give donations to the KKF under ‘duress’.

Interestingly, the FIA list of alleged donors included at least 29 doctors. There were at least three professors on the list, including the late Prof Dr Hassan Zafar Arif, who was found dead under mysterious circumstances in the Ibrahim Hyderi area of Karachi recently.

It may be recalled that an anti-terrorism court of Karachi had on Friday issued non-bailable arrest warrants for five MQM leaders — former federal minister Babar Ghauri, former senator Ahmed Ali, deputy mayor of Karachi Arshad Vohra, Khawaja Sohail Mansoor and Khawaja Rehan — in the money laundering case.

Meanwhile, the Muttahida Quami Movement-London has questioned the competency of the FIA for investigating the money laundering case.

It said that although Prof Arif was murdered, a notice had been issued in his name which was a condemnable act.

Separately, an MQM-P leader, who wished not to be named, told Dawn that the KKF was still active in welfare activities. He said the KKF was running 12 Maiyet service buses, besides two hospitals — one in Karachi and the other in Hyderabad.

The KKF was being run by former senator Ahmed Ali who has been declared an absconder by an anti-terrorism court recently.

Published in Dawn, November 12th, 2018

Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar on Monday said that criminal proceedings should be initiated in the money laundering case that is being heard in the apex court.

A three-member bench, headed by CJP Nisar, was hearing the case against various Omni Group officials, including Anwar Majeed and his son Abdul Ghani Majeed. Anwar, a close aide to former president Asif Ali Zardari, and his son were arrested and booked by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in August in the case pertaining to alleged money laundering of Rs4.14 billion through 29 ‘fake’ bank accounts.

Justice Nisar on Monday ordered the authorities to produce Abdul Ghani before the court in the next hearing, saying the accused should be transferred to Adiala jail because he was still "giving dictation over the phone".

The court issued a notice to Sindh Inspector General of Police regarding the alleged kidnapping of two witnesses of the case.

'Fake accounts'

In July, the FIA had detained former chairman of the Pakistan Stock Exchange Hussain Lawai and banker Taha Raza, and booked them for allegedly facilitating the opening of the 29 ‘fake’ accounts through which suspicious transactions were made to different companies, including M/s Zardari Group.

It claimed that 29 ‘fake’ accounts in Summit Bank, Sindh Bank and United Bank Limited, were allegedly used for making suspicious transactions to bank accounts of different personalities and entities.

The prosecution said one fake bank account titled M/s A-One International opened in the name of Tariq Sultan at the Summit Bank’s Khayaban-i-Tanzeem branch was allegedly used for money laundering, as the account statement showed that during a short span of 10 months (from March 6, 2014 to Jan 12, 2015) a sum of Rs4.145bn was credited and routed through an account.

The said amount was transferred to 13 different business entities and individuals, including the Zardari Group — a company owned by Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur — which received Rs15 million. The list of the beneficiaries included the names of Zardari, his sister Faryal Talpur, Abdul Ghani Majeed, Shahzad Ali, Zain Malik and 15 others.

Chief Justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar on Monday said that criminal proceedings should be initiated in the money laundering case that is being heard in the apex court.

A three-member bench, headed by CJP Nisar, was hearing the case against various Omni Group officials, including Anwar Majeed and his son Abdul Ghani Majeed. Anwar, a close aide to former president Asif Ali Zardari, and his son were arrested and booked by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in August in the case pertaining to alleged money laundering of Rs4.14 billion through 29 ‘fake’ bank accounts.

In the hearing today, Justice Nisar ordered the authorities to produce Abdul Ghani before the court in the next hearing, saying the accused should be transferred to Adiala jail because he was still "giving dictation over the phone".

The CJP also summoned senior officials of banks that claim to have loaned billions of rupees to Omni Group, to appear before court for the next hearing, that will be held on Nov 17 in the SC's Lahore registry.

The banks, including National Bank of Pakistan, Silk Bank Private Limited and others, had filed criminal applications under Section 201(a) of the Financial Institutions (Recovery of Finances) Ordinance, 2001 seeking action against the CEOs/directors of sugar mills — that are allegedly owned by the Omni Group — accusing them of pilferage of the sugar stocks pledged to them against bank loans obtained by them.

The chief justice asked the head of the joint investigation team (JIT), that has been formed to investigate the case, when the team would be able to submit a final report. Ahsan Sadiq, head of the JIT, asked the court for another month. However, he was told to submit a final report within two weeks.

The FIA submitted a report on the missing stocks of sugar that were pledged against the loans borrowed by the Omni Group that said the group was in a debt of Rs13.5 billion. It further said that the banks, that had granted loans to Omni Group, suffered a loss of almost Rs11.5bn.

According to the report, about 6,692,920 bags of sugar, that had been pledged against the loans, were missing. Only 833,889 bags of sugar could be found, the report said. The JIT had taken over the records of the mills and was analysing it.

Nimr Majeed, son of Omni Group's Chairman Anwar Majeed, also appeared before the court today. He expressed ignorance regarding pilferage of the stocks that were shown by the Omni Group against loans obtained from different banks.

Justice Nisar remarked that he had allowed Nimr to stay out of jail so he can sort out matters between banks and Omni Group. The CJP further said that maybe Nimr should be sent to jail. Nimr, at hearing this, felt unwell after which he sat down on the lawyers' bench and was given water to drink.

The court issued a notice to Sindh Inspector General of Police regarding the alleged kidnapping of two witnesses of the case.

'Fake accounts'

In July, the FIA had detained former chairman of the Pakistan Stock Exchange Hussain Lawai and banker Taha Raza, and booked them for allegedly facilitating the opening of the 29 ‘fake’ accounts through which suspicious transactions were made to different companies, including M/s Zardari Group.

It claimed that 29 ‘fake’ accounts in Summit Bank, Sindh Bank and United Bank Limited, were allegedly used for making suspicious transactions to bank accounts of different personalities and entities.

The prosecution said one fake bank account titled M/s A-One International opened in the name of Tariq Sultan at the Summit Bank’s Khayaban-i-Tanzeem branch was allegedly used for money laundering, as the account statement showed that during a short span of 10 months (from March 6, 2014 to Jan 12, 2015) a sum of Rs4.145bn was credited and routed through an account.

The said amount was transferred to 13 different business entities and individuals, including the Zardari Group — a company owned by Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur — which received Rs15 million. The list of the beneficiaries included the names of Zardari, his sister Faryal Talpur, Abdul Ghani Majeed, Shahzad Ali, Zain Malik and 15 others.

Most recently, the JIT submitted a progress report to the top court in October, which revealed that transactions of Rs54 billion were made through 107 fake bank accounts.

The second annual PyCon PK, an international convention that brings together software developers, IT professionals and programming enthusiasts from around the world, will take place in Lahore on November 17 and 18.

Spread over two days, PyCon 2018 will feature a packed schedule of keynote addresses and talks in addition to different workshops graded according to difficulty.

With topics such as “Using Python to Teach Programming to Children” and workshops such as “Building Modern APIs using Django 2.0” along with Python Bootcamp, a core objective of PyCon is to pass on technical skills and knowledge to enable non-Python developers and industry outsiders to explore the language.

Python is an open source, general-purpose, beginner friendly language, and has has topped the IEEE Spectrum’s list of most popular programming languages in the world for the second year in a row.

Organised at the University of Central Punjab, the conference aims to bring together a community around the programming language Python.

Those interested in attending PyCon Pakistan 2018 can view the schedule on the official website and purchase tickets online.

Speakers at the event

PyCon 2018 has 23 speakers lined up for this year, in addition to the return of industry insiders from last year such as Ammara Laeeq (co-founder, QC Technologies) and Yasser Bashir (CEO, Arbisoft) along with other professionals and speakers including Travis Oliphant (CEO & CTO, Quansight) and Luciano Ramalho (Technical Principal, ThoughtWorks).

The conference also intends to offers young and upcoming technology professionals a chance to build networks through dedicated networking events and opportunities to learn from startup leaders including Mashhood Rastgar, the founder of SastaTicket.pk.

What is Python?

Python was developed by Guido van Rossum in the winter of 1989, designed to overcome the shortcomings of other languages and facilitate rapid data-intensive but highly readable programming — perfect to meet the demands of the future, as technology moves from desktop to mobile and embedded devices, and AI & Internet of Things move from speculation to reality, to everyday occurrence.

Data also indicates Python is correlated with higher GDP whereas languages such as PHP, favoured by many in Pakistan’s software industry, is correlated with lower income.

Despite its popularity, lucrative potential, and a clear move amongst the international tech industry to adopt it, Pakistan and other developing countries lag behind in upgrading their existing skill set to meet demands for it.

Originating in the United States in the year 2003, PyCon events have seen rising numbers and gone global with PyCons hosted in 38 countries so far.

Dawn.com is the media partner for PyCon Pakistan 2018

PPP Senator Raza Rabbani on Monday presented a bill in the Senate that could make it binding upon the government to place agreements and contracts with other countries, donors and international monetary organisations before the parliament for ratification.

The bill titled “Ratification of Foreign Agreements by Parliament Bill, 2018” had been moved by Rabbani, the former Senate chairman, in August.

Through the bill, the PPP leader has called upon the government to place a foreign agreement, contract or protocol to be signed with any country before both the houses of the parliament to seek approval of its draft within 15 days of its finalisation.

Speaking in the upper house today, Rabbani said it is a practice in some countries that all agreements are ratified by the parliament.

He explained that the bill would force the government to present in the legislature agreements on which it has negotiated with foreign parties, but before the agreement has been signed.

The parliament will then send its recommendations on the agreement to the relevant ministry, which will inform the parliament about the approval of the suggestions within a specified time.

Commenting on the proposal, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said although he principally had no objections against the bill, there is no uniform practice around the world regarding ratification of agreements and treaties by the parliament.

"Many countries do not get agreements ratified by the lawmakers," he informed the Senate. A situation of uncertainty can be created by frequent amendments to international treaties, on which talks can last for several years, he added.

"A method of review should be devised that doesn't become a hindrance in the [signing of agreements]," he stressed.

Opposition Leader in the Senate Raja Zafarul Haq supported the bill, saying matters like foreign agreements should not stay confined to the executive and that the parliament should have a say in them.

After hearing all opinions on the proposal, Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani sent the bill to the relevant committee.

The autopsy of two minor siblings, who died on Sunday from suspected food poisoning after eating out at a Karachi restaurant, was carried out at the Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre (JPMC) on Monday.

Dr Sheeraz Ali Khowaja, the additional police surgeon at JPMC, told Dawn that the cause of deaths will be disclosed in the chemical examination report.

The brothers had died yesterday after eating "poisonous food" at a restaurant in Clifton, according to police officials. Funeral prayers for both the boys were held today.

“Two minor brothers namely Ahmad, one and half year old, and Muhammad, five, died from food poisoning on Sunday afternoon,” SSP South Pir Muhammed Shah had said on Sunday.

According to the police, the family had dined out the previous night at Arizona Grill restaurant located in Defence Housing Authority's (DHA) Zamzama area and afterwards, had consumed candy from a shop outside Chunky Monkey amusement park located in Phase IV, DHA.

Police initiated a probe into the matter and the restaurant was sealed for forensic investigation.

Quoting the mother, the city police chief said that the kids reached home at 2am and they started vomiting at 6am. Relatives present in the house took them to the hospital at 2:45pm. AIG Amir said that food poisoning tends to affect the body within four hours of its consumption.

Police investigators took samples of the children's blood, urine, and of vomit from dustbin and clothes. These samples will be sent to Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) for testing, according to the police.

Furthermore, police had revealed that the children had also consumed milk at home, samples of which had also been collected.

The mother in her statement to the police had said that the candy which the children had bought from a shop outside the amusement park in DHA had a "strange flavour". Therefore, the police have also taken eight samples from the candy shop.

Minister for food orders strict action against those responsible

Meanwhile, provincial minister for food Hari Ram Kishori Lal has taken notice of the incident and urged the authorities to "take strict action against those responsible".

"A sad incident took place yesterday," the PPP minister said while chairing a session of the Sindh Food Authority. "The investigations into this case should be completed soon."

Furthermore, Lal directed the board members to finalise within one week the laws to make the Sindh Food Authority "completely active".

Restoration efforts to restore power in Karachi are underway, K-Electric tweeted on Monday, after the city was yet again affected by a power breakdown.

Resident in various areas of the city, including parts of North Nazimabad, Civil Lines and Defence Housing Authority (DHA), were left without electricity as early as 5am on Monday morning.

The city's power supplier said that electricity had already been restored in some areas of the city and added that the situation would "improve significantly" over the next few hours.

KE said that the power breakdown was caused by a 500 kV transmission line connecting KE to the national grid which had tripped.

A little after 10am, in an update on Twitter, KE said that restoration of electricity had started in Korangi, Garden, Jacob Lines, Shah Faisal Colony, Gulshan, Defence, Gizri and Landhi.

KE provided a further update before noon saying that partial supply from the national grid had resumed and power to all affected grid stations had also been restored.

They added that teams had been mobilised to ensure that feeders associated with the grids were brought back online and power was restored to the city.

Last month, the city experienced numerous spells without electricity. On October 24, Karachi faced the fifth breakdown within a month.

The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI)-led government on Monday once again came under opposition's fire in the Senate over its handling of protests by religious parties against the acquittal of Aasia Bibi, with PML-N's Mushahidullah Khan claiming that the ruling party was merely reaping what it had sowed while it was in opposition.

He alleged that the last time such protests had taken place, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari had participated in the sit-ins. Governments leaders had also exploited the issue to gain votes, he alleged.

It is "divine justice" that the "fire" the ruling party had started has now become impossible for it to extinguish, Khan said, observing that agreements are now being signed with the people who made statements against state institutions.

"You hindered a country that was speeding towards progress... but today you are unable to even answer whether Aasia [Bibi] is present in the country or not," the PML-N leader said while addressing the treasury benches.

Bill for parliament ratification of govt's foreign agreements

PPP Senator Raza Rabbani on Monday presented a bill in the Senate that could make it binding upon the government to place agreements and contracts with other countries, donors and international monetary organisations before the parliament for ratification.

The bill titled “Ratification of Foreign Agreements by Parliament Bill, 2018” had been moved by Rabbani, the former Senate chairman, in August.

Through the bill, the PPP leader has called upon the government to place a foreign agreement, contract or protocol to be signed with any country before both the houses of the parliament to seek approval of its draft within 15 days of its finalisation.

Speaking in the upper house today, Rabbani said it is a practice in some countries that all agreements are ratified by the parliament.

He explained that the bill would force the government to present in the legislature agreements on which it has negotiated with foreign parties, but before the agreement has been signed.

The parliament will then send its recommendations on the agreement to the relevant ministry, which will inform the parliament about the approval of the suggestions within a specified time.

Commenting on the proposal, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said although he principally had no objections against the bill, there is no uniform practice around the world regarding ratification of agreements and treaties by the parliament.

"Many countries do not get agreements ratified by the lawmakers," he informed the Senate. A situation of uncertainty can be created by frequent amendments to international treaties, on which talks can last for several years, he added.

"A method of review should be devised that doesn't become a hindrance in the [signing of agreements]," he stressed.

Opposition Leader in the Senate Raja Zafarul Haq supported the bill, saying matters like foreign agreements should not stay confined to the executive and that the parliament should have a say in them.

After hearing all opinions on the proposal, Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani sent the bill to the relevant committee.

An accountability court in Lahore on Saturday extended the physical remand of Leader of the Opposition Shahbaz Sharif until November 24.

Sharif was produced before court today for a hearing of the Ashiana-i-Iqbal scandal following the expiration of his transit remand. The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had requested the court to extend by 15 days the physical remand of the PML-N president, who was arrested on corruption allegations last month.

After listening to the arguments of both parties, the court had reserved its verdict.

NAB prosecutor Waris Ali Janjua said that the anti-corruption body was unable to hold an inquiry due to Sharif's "engagements in the National Assembly and [his] other activities as leader of the opposition". Last month, NAB had secured a transit remand of Sharif, after which he was taken to Islamabad so he could attend parliamentary sessions.

Sharif rejected NAB's claim and countered: "I can say under oath that they have been interrogating me even when my production orders [were issued]."

Amjad Pervaiz, the accused's counsel, objected to NAB's demand for another remand and said that the body's appeal was "not in accordance with the law".

"NAB's latest request is on fake grounds," he said. "This court is not bound to automatically grant a 90-day remand of a suspect."

Pervaiz added that his client had cooperated with NAB's investigation, but the latter had been unable to bring forth any corruption charges against Sharif.

The NAB prosecutor responded that the feasibility report of the Ashiana-i-Iqbal Housing Scheme was prepared by Ahad Cheema, the former director general of the Lahore Development Authority (LDA), who is also accused in the case.

"Will you proceed further from the feasibility report?" accountability judge Syed Najmul Hasan asked Janju, possibly referring to the NAB prosecutor's similar argument in the previous hearing.

Sharif's counsel, in response to NAB's argument, said that Sharif had "nothing to do with any report prepared by the LDA or anyone else".

He further said that NAB can interrogate Sharif in the jail, where the opposition leader was being held.

"They can send him a questionnaire in jail," Pervaiz said. "There is no need for a physical remand."

Janjua, during the hearing, informed the court that Sharif was nominated and under arrest in the Ramzan Sugar Mills corruption case as well.

'DG NAB has become a party to the case'

Sharif's counsel also brought up Director General of NAB Lahore Saleem Shahzad's appearances on different news channels and said that the latter had become a "party to the case".

Pervaiz said that Shahzad had issued statements on sub-judice matters on multiple TV channels.

"Haven't you recorded your protest on the highest forum?" the judge asked, referring to a privilege motion that was moved on the matter by the opposition in the National Assembly a day earlier.

"This court is my forum and I will present my point of view here," Pervaiz answered.

Hamza Shahbaz was also present in court for the hearing today.

Contingents of police were posted inside and outside the accountability court before Sharif's arrival.

Several PML-N workers gathered outside the court ahead of Sharif's appearance and tried to enter the building which led to a clash with police, who resorted to baton charge to bring the situation under control.

Allegations against Sharif

According to a NAB notice sent to the former Punjab chief minister on January 16, 2018, Sharif is accused of ordering the cancellation of award of contract of Ashiana-i-Iqbal to successful bidder Chaudhry Latif and Sons, and engineering the award of the contract to Lahore Casa Developers, a proxy group of Paragon City Private Limited, which resulted in the loss of approximately Rs193 million.

He is also accused of directing the Punjab Land Development Company (PLDC) to assign the Ashiana-i-Iqbal project to the Lahore Development Authority (LDA), resulting in the award of contract to Lahore Casa Developers, causing a loss of Rs715m and the ultimate failure of the project.

NAB has also accused Sharif of directing the PLDC to award the consultancy services of the Ashiana-i-Iqbal project to Engineering Consultancy Services Punjab (ECSP) for Rs 192m while the actual cost was supposed to be Rs35m as quoted by Nespak.

The Awami National Party (ANP) on Monday suspended the membership of former senator Afrasiab Khattak and senior vice-president Bushra Gohar for allegedly being "involved in activities against the party interests" and "causing unrest in the party ranks".

Last week, the party had issued show cause notices to the duo and directed to submit their written replies within seven days or face action.

According to a notification issued by ANP general secretary Mian Iftikhar Hussain today, Khattak and Gohar in their detailed response "made the same points they had already made in the central council and other party forums, including the advisory committee".

The party said that the pair, in their response, "sought an explanation over the party policies they had violated and issued show cause notices for, even though the central leadership had already explained their concerns to to them on multiple occasions".

The notification said that Khattak and Gohar were "advised that they were in violation of the party policies but they still continued their activities on social media, which led to chaos among the party workers".

"The party is not at all satisfied with their responses and so the central president, by exercising the right granted to him by the party constitution, has suspended their basic party membership," it added.

When Dawn had contacted Gohar last week to know about the nature of her activities, which might have made the leadership take the disciplinary step, she just replied that she had “requested for details of the alleged anti-party activities. I don’t know much beyond what is written in the show cause notice.”

Surprisingly, both Gohar, a vocal politician and rights activist, and Khattak are aware of the alleged anti-party activities, which caused the wrath of the party’s leadership.

Mr Khattak said he learned about the show cause notice through social media.

“I really have not received anything verbally or in writing so far and only came to know about it (notice) through social media,” he had said when asked what could have caused the party leadership to take disciplinary action against him.

Whether it is against the party’s policy or not, both ANP leaders, who have been very vocal for rights of the Pashtun, actively support the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) on social media by re-tweeting and liking its tweets, whereas the nationalist party they’re associated with has tried to keep a distance from the social rights movement.

Gohar, one of the vocal members of the last National Assembly, was sidelined long before the current show cause notice was issued.

This year for the general election, her name was kept on Serial No 5, the second last on the priority list for the ANP’s reserved seats. A new entrant to the party was on the top of the list.

The Punjab government has decided to remove Dr Umar Saif as the chairman of the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB).

Talking to Dawn.com, Dr Saif confirmed that the government has approved a summary to replace him, however, no notification has been issued in this regard as yet.

"It is the prerogative of the government to appoint anyone they wish," he said.

"I have worked for the government for seven years. I hope they appoint someone who can take this forward."

Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar on Monday said that criminal proceedings should be initiated in the money laundering case that is being heard in the apex court.

A three-member bench, headed by CJP Nisar, was hearing the case against various Omni Group officials, including Anwar Majeed and his son Abdul Ghani Majeed. Anwar, a close aide to former president Asif Ali Zardari, and his son were arrested and booked by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in August in the case pertaining to alleged money laundering of Rs4.14 billion through 29 ‘fake’ bank accounts.

In the hearing today, Justice Nisar ordered the authorities to produce Abdul Ghani before the court in the next hearing, saying the accused should be transferred to Adiala Jail because he was still "giving orders over the phone".

The CJP also summoned senior officials of banks that claim to have loaned billions of rupees to Omni Group to appear before court for the next hearing that will be held on Nov 17 in the SC Lahore Registry.

The banks, including the National Bank of Pakistan, Silk Bank Private Limited and others, had filed criminal applications under Section 201(a) of the Financial Institutions (Recovery of Finances) Ordinance, 2001 seeking action against the CEOs/directors of sugar mills — that are allegedly owned by the Omni Group — accusing them of pilferage of the sugar stocks pledged to them against bank loans obtained by them.

The chief justice asked the head of the joint investigation team (JIT) that has been formed to investigate the case when the team will be able to submit its final report. Ahsan Sadiq, head of the JIT, asked the court for another month. However, he was told to submit a final report within two weeks.

The FIA submitted a report on the missing stocks of sugar that were pledged against the loans borrowed by the Omni Group that said the group was in a debt of Rs13.5 billion. It further said that the banks, which had given loans to the Omni Group, suffered a loss of almost Rs11.5bn.

According to the report, about 6,692,920 bags of sugar that had been pledged against the loans were missing. Only 833,889 bags of sugar could be found, the report said. The JIT had taken over the records of the mills and was analysing it.

Nimr Majeed, son of Omni Group Chairman Anwar Majeed, also appeared before the court today. He expressed ignorance regarding the pilferage of the stocks that were shown by the Omni Group against loans obtained from different banks.

Justice Nisar remarked that he had allowed Nimr to stay out of jail so he can sort out matters between banks and Omni Group. The CJP further said that maybe Nimr should be sent to jail. Nimr, at hearing this, felt unwell after which he sat down on the lawyers' bench and was given water to drink.

The court issued a notice to Sindh Inspector General of Police Syed Kaleem Imam regarding the alleged kidnapping of two witnesses of the case.

Fake accounts case

In July, the FIA had detained former chairman of the Pakistan Stock Exchange Hussain Lawai and banker Taha Raza, and booked them for allegedly facilitating the opening of the 29 ‘fake’ accounts through which suspicious transactions were made to different companies, including M/s Zardari Group.

It claimed that 29 ‘fake’ accounts in Summit Bank, Sindh Bank and United Bank Limited, were allegedly used for making suspicious transactions to bank accounts of different personalities and entities.

The prosecution said one fake bank account titled M/s A-One International opened in the name of Tariq Sultan at the Summit Bank’s Khayaban-i-Tanzeem branch was allegedly used for money laundering, as the account statement showed that during a short span of 10 months (from March 6, 2014 to Jan 12, 2015) a sum of Rs4.145bn was credited and routed through an account.

The said amount was transferred to 13 different business entities and individuals, including the Zardari Group — a company owned by Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur — which received Rs15 million. The list of the beneficiaries included the names of Zardari, his sister Faryal Talpur, Abdul Ghani Majeed, Shahzad Ali, Zain Malik and 15 others.

Most recently, the JIT submitted a progress report to the top court in October, which revealed that transactions of Rs54 billion were made through 107 fake bank accounts.

National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman retired justice Javed Iqbal has barred all officials of the accountability watchdog from giving interviews to media outlets, DawnNewsTV reported on Monday.

According to a statement issued by the NAB spokesperson, the bureau has imposed a complete ban on media appearance of all director generals, directors and other officials.

“If the media channels request for information regarding any reference or case, only the bureau's spokesperson has been authorised to share the relevant information [with them],” read the NAB statement.

Moreover, the NAB chairman has sought a complete record of NAB Lahore DG Shahzad Saleem's interviews from the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) "so that action could be taken in the light of the law". He has also urged the media outlets to refrain from commenting on the ongoing investigations.

The anti-corruption body, in its press release, made it clear that it "respects all the honourable members of the Parliament".

On Friday, the NAB chairman took notice of TV interviews given by Saleem, who opposition MNAs have accused of maligning and conducting a media trial against them, and of disclosing information about sub-judice matters with the consent of the chairman.

Opposition parties had submitted a "question of privilege" in the National Assembly Secretariat, calling to attention to what they called a "media trial" by the DG NAB Lahore during his appearance on news channels.

The Supreme Court on Monday accepted a petition seeking the disqualification of Zulfi Bukhari, the prime minister's special assistant on overseas Pakistanis and human resource development.

Petitioners Muhammad Adil Chattha from Lahore and Mirza Abdul Moiz Baig from Karachi made Prime Minister Imran Khan a party in their petition. While fixing the case for hearing on Nov 16, Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Mian Saqib Nisar asked what portfolio Bukhari holds.

Upon being told that he is Prime Minister Imran Khan's special assistant, the chief justice asked Bukhari's lawyer: "Tell me if an ordinary citizen can become a minister despite possessing dual nationality?"

"When a dual national cannot become a member of the assembly, one can also not become a minister," the chief justice added.

During the debate, the chief justice asked the petitioner's lawyer if he had based his application on Article 63(1)(c), which pertains to factors that may disqualify a person from being elected or chosen as, or from being, a member of Parliament.

The lawyer maintained that "a rule which cannot be circumvented directly also cannot be circumvented indirectly". According to the government's stance, he said, even Jahangir Tareen could be appointed to a position in a ministry.

Justice Ijazul Ahsan pointed out that no court has given a verdict against Bukhari as yet, while the CJP observed that there are no qualifications mentioned for a special assistant in the Constitution.

The court issued notices to PM Khan, Bukhari and the secretary of the Cabinet Division.

When Bukhari was first appointed special assistant to the PM, questions were raised by members of the opposition regarding his dual nationality.

It is also pertinent to mention that the PM's special assistant is facing an inquiry by the National Accountability Bureau for allegedly owning offshore companies in British Virgin Islands and assets beyond his known sources of income.

The government has identified more than 5,000 fake accounts which were allegedly used for money laundering, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar said on Monday.

Akbar, flanked by Senator Faisal Javed and Adviser to PM Iftikhar Durrani, held a press conference to share the progress made by the assets recovery unit — a joint team of officials from the State Bank of Pakistan, the Federal Board of Revenue and watchdogs formed to bring back illegal money stashed abroad.

"More than $1 billion have been laundered abroad through these fake accounts opened under the names of small vendors," he revealed.

"These figures have been traced out after investigating overseas properties in excess of $1 million held by Pakistani nationals," he added.

The assistant said that the unit was currently going after the 'big fishes' only and the rest of offenders "will be taken care of on a later stage".

He told the media that the recovery unit — which is currently focusing on 10 countries — has found that assets worth $5.3 billion were accumulated abroad through alleged money laundering. "The amount translates into Rs700 billion," he said, adding that further details of all Iqama holders were being collected with the help of Dubai authorities as well as local resources.

"They take Iqamas to conceal their looted money abroad," he said, explaining that when Pakistani authorities sought records of Pakistani nationals living abroad, the names of Iqama holders were not included in the lists.

"The bad news [for money launderers] is that we are gathering details of all Iqama holders [too]," he added.

The accounts and foreign properties were found during investigations into ongoing cases. The details of each and every case will be shared with media when corruption references will be filed properly, Iftikhar Durrani added.

"This [$5.3bn] amount is a small estimated fraction of the ill gotten money laundered abroad," said Akbar.

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday stressed the need for cooperative relations among Muslim countries to deal with problems they faced.

Talking to Qatar’s Chief of Staff of Armed Forces Lt Gen Ghanim Bin Shaheen Al Ghanim, who called on him at the PM Office, Mr Khan “expressed his desire for amity, friendship and good relations among Muslim countries and solidarity to confront common challenges”, according to an official statement.

Pakistan and Qatar have strong defence and intelligence relations and experts say the two countries are working to further strengthen that relationship.

The two sides have been working together for Afghan reconciliation and have regularly coordinated on the issue. More recently, diplomatic observers say, Doha and Islamabad were in touch with each other before the two latest publicly known direct interactions between the US and Taliban. It is believed that Taliban’s upcoming meeting with US Special Envoy for Peace and Reconcilia­tion Amb Zalmay Khalilzad was the major agenda item during Gen Ghanim’s Pakistan trip.

Qatar has been hosting the Taliban’s political office since 2013. Both Amb Alice Wells and Amb Khalilzad held their meetings with Taliban representatives in Doha.

The statement, issued by the Prime Minister Office on Gen Ghanim’s meeting with PM Khan, said the discussions centred around bilateral relations, particularly trade and manpower export aspect.

Mr Khan, the PM Office said, expressed satisfaction over the steady growth of bilateral relations and underlined the commitment of his government to build mutually beneficial relations with Qatar.

“Referring to 73 per cent increase in Pakistan’s exports to Qatar, following launching of the Hamad Port and its linking with Karachi Port through a ferry service, he (PM Khan) expressed confidence that the bilateral trade will further expand in coming years,” the statement said.

Mr Khan thanked the Qatari leadership for agreeing to import 100,000 workers from Pakistan and welcomed the establishment of abour Offices by Qatar in Karachi and Islamabad, to streamline and expedite the recruitment process.

Published in Dawn, November 13th, 2018