The PTI government believes its economic policies have already started showing signs of stabilisation. It believes its policies will put the country on a sustainable growth and development path within 12 to 24 months in stark contrast to past growth spurts fuelled by borrowed money and deficit financing.

In a brief interview, Minister of State for Revenue Hammad Azhar said the government contacted the International Monetary Fund (IMF) soon after coming to power. It simultaneously engaged with friendly countries for alternative financing options to minimise the pain that might have come due to rushed acceptance of fund conditions.

Following is the edited version of his comments.

Minister of State for Revenue Hammad Azhar tells Dawn popular support for the government will not decline as long as the ruling party sticks to its core pledges of accountability, transparency and reforms

There is a perception that had the government approached the IMF sooner, the growth momentum could have been saved. Do you agree?

We established contact with the IMF around 10 days after coming to power. The IMF team was in Pakistan exactly three weeks after we formed the government. As for the growth momentum, global data and experience strongly suggest that the conditions associated with the IMF programme drastically slow down the economy.

The pace of deficit reductions, energy price adjustments and short-term revenue-generating manners envisaged in most IMF programmes is rapid. It has a strong tendency of shocking the economy and rapidly slowing it down. Therefore, these conditions need to be carefully evaluated and not accepted in a rushed manner. The government’s strategy of exploring alternative bilateral financing options has proven to be a wise, timely and successful decision in this regard.

Expectations of GDP growth have been lowered by over two percentage points to four per cent from 6.2pc. How will the government improve revenue collection and create employment in a sliding economy?

The earlier expected growth rate of 6.2pc was fuelled by high levels of debt-financed government spending and dangerously high fiscal deficits (6.6pc in 2017-18). The result of this deficit-financed growth was that Pakistan’s economy plunged into a serious crisis. Our economic history is testament to the fact that short spurts of such economic growth that are consumption-led and financed by borrowing prove to be unsustainable. Fiscal and current account deficits exposed the superficial nature of such growth periods. The PTI government believes that investment, productivity and export-led growth are imperative if Pakistan is to embark on a sustainable economic growth trajectory and finally bridge its recurring financing gaps.

On the revenue front, Pakistan’s tax potential is enormous given the size of our informal economy. Revamping the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), broadening the tax base and reforming the current tax policies can lead to fresh and large revenue streams.

Finally, employment opportunities will be created by reviving and enhancing our export industries and embarking on our industrialisation strategy. That is where the investment- and productivity-led growth model plays a vital role. The PTI’s flagship housing scheme is also a huge employment-generating project and holds the potential to become the engine of economic growth.

Low growth and high inflation can erode popular support. How will you manage public expectations? How long will it take to mend the economy?

It is a well-known fact that this government inherited an economic crisis. People understand that stabilising the economy in the short run was necessary to save it from collapse. There will be no drop in popular support for the new government as long as the PTI sticks to its core pledges of accountability, transparency and reforms. The public has been made aware of the fact that decades of neglect and shying away from structural reforms by successive governments have brought the country to a point where tough measures are necessary in the immediate term to manage and rescue the economy. Recent surveys have clearly demonstrated that the public is overwhelmingly supporting the PTI government.

The economy is already showing signs of stabilisation. In the medium term, which we believe is 12 to 24 months, our reforms will begin to yield dividends. We will Insha Allah have embarked on a sustainable growth and development path.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, November 26th, 2018

Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday laid the foundation stone of a new campus of the Government College Women University in Sialkot.

The new campus will be spread on 200 acres and will be built at a cost of Rs1.627 billion.

The campus, expected to be completed after two-and-a-half years, will feature an administration block, an academic block and a students residence, besides other amenities.

Addressing a ceremony held in connection with the groundbreaking, Prime Minister Khan stressed the importance of building quality institutions of higher learning.

He said the United States had not been a superpower 100 years ago but it made rapid progress at the turn of the 20th century because the country started producing more university graduates than any other nation.

"There is a very strong correlation between higher education and the rise of a country," he said.

The premier said the countries that are advancing in all spheres around the globe owe their success to their knowledge economy, and cited the example of Singapore.

"A tiny country like Singapore has exports worth $330 billion while Pakistan, with a population of 210 million, has exports of hardly $24 billion," Khan said. He noted that the annual budget of a university in Singapore is greater than that of all Pakistani varsities combined.

The prime minister said he was surprised to learn from Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leader Usman Dar that "this is the first university that has been constructed in Sialkot".

He said Pakistan's burgeoning population could become its advantage if people were directed towards attaining higher education in fields like IT and artificial intelligence.

"The nations that progress are the ones that invest in their people and the more you invest in people's education, the more a nation progresses," Khan said.

A school-going child was killed and 20 other people sustained injuries in a fire that followed a gas cylinder explosion at a snack shop in Balochistan's Turbat area on Wednesday, according to provincial Minister for Information Zahoor Buleedi.

The explosion, which occurred at a shop near Turbat Park Hotel, sparked a blaze that engulfed a school van nearby, Commissioner Makran Division Sudal Loni said.

Read: Small, quality gas cylinders to be introduced to avoid blasts

The commissioner said that five of the severely injured children were transferred to Karachi via a special PIA flight. However, one of the injured expired en route, the minister of information later added.

Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal Khan expressed his concerns at the incident and directed the local administration to provide the best treatment facilities to the injured, which includes passers-by as well.

The chief minister ordered that those severely injured be transferred to Karachi immediately, and announced that their treatment costs will be borne by the government.

A state of emergency has been imposed in Turbat hospitals after the incident, the commissioner for Makran division said.

Following the explosion, fire brigade staff of the local municipal corporation, and officials of the Pakistan Navy and Frontier Corps had helped bring the ensuing fire under control.

Former president Asif Ali Zardari, his sister Faryal Talpur, and a witness recorded their statements before the Supreme Court-appointed Joint Investigation Team (JIT) tasked with probing a multi-billion rupee money laundering and fake bank accounts case open against them.

PPP lawmaker Faryal Talpur appeared before the JIT at an office located in Karachi's Gulistan-i-Johar area on Wednesday and answered questions pertaining to the transfer of money to the Zardari Group through fake bank accounts.

Following his sister's departure, Zardari also appeared before the JIT and had his statement recorded in a one-and-a-half-hour-long session. During this time, a witness who had come from Nawabshah was also summoned and his statement too was recorded.

The JIT has decided to seek information from PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari as well in the pursuance of this case. According to Bilawal's spokesperson Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, Bilawal has already received the questionnaire sent to him for the purpose.

The party chief will send his response following a consultation with his legal team. He has till November 29 to respond.

The mega corruption case

Zardari and Talpur are being investigated as part of a corruption case relating to fake accounts and fictitious bank transactions worth Rs35 billion. The siblings face allegations that they had illegally channelled funds through the said accounts in connivance with the CEOs of major banks.

The case was initially registered in 2015 against former Pakistan Stock Exchange chairman Hussain Lawai, who is widely believed to be close to former president Asif Ali Zardari.

Later, seven individuals, including Zardari and Talpur, were said to have been found involved in using those accounts for suspicious transactions which totalled Rs35 billion. The accounts were allegedly used to channel funds received through kickbacks.

On July 6, Lawai and banker Taha Raza were detained and booked for allegedly facilitating the opening of 29 ‘fake’ accounts through which suspicious transactions were made to different companies, including M/s Zardari Group.

Initially, Zardari and Talpur avoided appearing before the agency and expressed their distrust in the FIA officials, but later joined the probe after a banking court in Karachi issued their arrest warrants. The two had obtained protective bail in the case.

An accountability court in Lahore on Wednesday extended PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif's physical remand in the Aashiana Housing case till December 6 on National Accountability Bureau's (NAB) request.

NAB had asked the court for a 15-day extension in the PML-N chief's physical remand.

Shahbaz was present in court today when Justice Saeed Najam, who was hearing the case, asked NAB how long the PML-N chairman has been in custody.

Waris Ali Janjua, special prosecutor for NAB, told the court that Shahbaz has been in custody for 54 days.

"He was given a questionnaire regarding the case on November 19. Shahbaz submitted his written reply in the case yesterday," Janjua said.

He added: "However, in reply to three or four questions, Shahbaz has said that he does not remember the correct details and will have to check [some documents] to answer them."

Shahbaz's lawyer argued that investigation into the case had been going on since January this year, and that the PML-N president had been in NAB custody for 54 days now.

"NAB is looking to extend Shahbaz's remand illegally and without cause," the lawyer argued in court, adding that the Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) had already taken all of the information regarding the PML-N chairman's tax details.

"In 2011 Shahbaz gave his son Hamza a gift of Rs80 million. The details of that were not mentioned in his tax returns," Janjua contended.

"This occurred two years prior [to the scope of the investigation], why is it being linked to the Aashiana investigation?" Shahbaz's lawyer asked.

"From what [point in] time is NAB investigating the case," the judge asked after hearing this exchange, to which Janjua replied that NAB had been investigating the matter since December 2012.

After hearing arguments from both sides, the court reserved its verdict on the matter, later announcing that Shahbaz would remain in NAB custody for another week.

The NAB prosecutor in today's hearing also mentioned that Shahbaz's medical examination would be conducted at Sheikh Zayed Hospital.

Shahbaz, however, preferred to be treated at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) "since they know all of my [medical] history", he told the court.

It is pertinent to mention here that after a series of medical examinations ordered by the court, Shahbaz's medical reports revealed that the PML-N president is suffering from a kidney infection, has a lymph node in his chest, and faces chances of a recurrence of cancer.

Although earlier medical reports had deemed Shahbaz fit for NAB's custody, the column mentioning his fitness for detention was left blank in the the latest medical certificate issued on Tuesday.

The reports and the medical certificate, copies of which are available with Dawn, were signed by consultant physician Dr Asif Irfan, cardiologist Dr Hamid Iqbal, surgeon Dr Naveed Ullah and senior medical officer Dr Imtiaz Ahmed.

According to the reports, Shahbaz should be kept at a well-ventilated place to avoid chances of the recurrence of cancer.

One of the three health experts — from whom Dawn sought comments on Shahbaz's medical reports — said on condition of anonymity that the PML-N leader was treated for appendicular adenocarcinoma (a cancerous tumour) years ago, and in the report it had been stated that the joint was still visible as part of the intestine had been removed, and there were chances of recurrence of the disease.

"It is also mentioned that there is eight-millimetre lymph node in the right lung," he said, adding that the report stated that there was a 5.9-millimetre-thick layer of fats in the left kidney. "The kidney is functioning, but there is an infection in it."

Another expert said that as there were chances of the recurrence of cancer, it had been suggested to engage an oncologist.

Another specialist said that though there were some changes in different organ systems, such reports needed to be compared with the old ones to know how much difference had occurred during a certain period of time.

"It has also been mentioned that the patient needs to be kept in a well-ventilated room as absence of light and less air can cause development of cancer," he said.

It is worth mentioning that Shahbaz has alleged that he was kept in a room where he could not judge whether it was day or night.

The PML-N on Tuesday also issued a sketch showing Shahbaz in solitary confinement in a small detention cell at NAB's Lahore office.

The party claimed that its leader had been detained in 10 by 10 cell located in a narrow corridor with seven cells on each side. A NAB spokesperson was not available for comment on the matter.

The former chief executive officer of the Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC), Shamsuddin Ahmed Shaikh, on Wednesday cited the "indifference and callous approach" of Thari lawmakers as well as the Sindh government towards the local people as the reason for his 'shock' resignation.

In a move that was received by most executives and workers of the company as a surprising development, Shaikh had earlier this week left the mining company, just a month before the scheduled inauguration of the power plant he worked on for eight years.

The SECMC is a joint venture between Engro and the Sindh government.

Under Shaikh's watch, the SECMC reportedly achieved almost all of its goals and met the targets vis-a-vis extraction of coal, installation of two 330MW power units at Thar coal project’s block-II near Islamkot, and completing the work five months ahead of schedule.

Examine: Economy vs environment: Thar coal and a test of Pakistan's priorities

"I tendered my resignation well ahead of time because I was shattered to see the total indifference of the rulers towards their commitments made with the local people living near the Thar coalfield to provide them the basic amenities of life," Shaikh said while talking to Dawn by phone.

He alleged that most of the lawmakers from Thar were totally "incompetent" and too timid to raise the actual issues being faced by the desert region at the appropriate forums.

He said Tharis — both those living in the coalfield area and in rest of the district — needed sustainable policies to mitigate their unending suffering caused by recurring droughts, "instead of hollow slogans and fake promises".

Shaikh alleged that hardly any lawmaker from Thar was committed to providing relief to the local residents through the Thar coal projects by placing the facts and figures before the top brass of the ruling PPP and high-ups in the Sindh government.

According to the former CEO, several functionaries of the Sindh government — which is a major shareholder in the coal mega project — including Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari during their visits to the mining site had promised to provide all basic facilities to the local people, including paying them royalty from the coal projects, but when he approached them to keep their words, "they turned a blind eye to my frequent reminders".

"I cannot continue to serve as the chief of a company which despite achieving its targets much before the scheduled time was not in a position to help even the [locally] displaced people due to the indifferent attitude of Sindh government functionaries," he said.

Shaikh also deplored that while the SECMC was all set to provide 660MW to the national grid through the transmission line, no local lawmaker or Sindh government official had made the effort to provide electricity to the villagers living in the coal project’s block-II.

He also regretted that the Sindh government had failed to complete the work on a 123-kilometre-long water pipeline from Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD) near Nabisar area.

The retiring official clarified that he had "no differences with the bosses of the company" and that he was proud to be a part of the firm which made it possible to complete the extraction of coal reserves, installation of power plants and more.

"I am still 100 per cent hopeful that the firm will continue its work as per its commitment and I wish all the best to my former colleagues to carry it out," he added.

"It was a very painful moment when I decided to quit the job long before my retirement," he said.

Shaikh had taken up the job as the firm’s CEO in 2010 and his retirement was due in 2023. Abul Fazal Rizvi, until now the chief operating officer of the company, has replaced Shaikh.

Moreover, Dawn has learnt that before his sudden decision to resign, Shaikh had reportedly exchanged harsh words with high-ranking officials of the provincial government, who according to Shaikh were not serious about implementing the various schemes announced by them for Tharis.

Talking to Dawn, the PPP Member of National Assembly and former member of the Sindh Coal Authority from Thar, Dr Mahesh Kumar Malani, outright rejected the allegations made by Shaikh, suggesting that his early retirement might have been an "internal issue of the mining firm”.

He claimed that the PPP government in Sindh had greatly helped the SECMC in achieving its targets, and urged Shaikh to “come forward with solid evidence against the Sindh government”.

Dr Malani said no PPP lawmaker from Thar had ever tried to intervene in the affairs of the mining firm "despite the Sindh government holding 54 per cent shares in the coal project".

KARACHI: Former president Asif Ali Zardari has told a joint investigation team (JIT) constituted by the Supreme Court to probe alleged money laundering committed by senior Pakistan Peoples Party leaders and others through fake bank accounts that he has not been involved in any business activity since 2008.

Mr Zardari and his sister Faryal Talpur appeared before the JIT separately on Wednesday.

The former president stayed with members of the JIT for about one and a half hours and answered the questions they put to him, sources said.

He told the JIT members that after assuming the presidency of Pakistan in 2008, he dissociated himself from all his business and economic ventures as per the laws concerned. Since then he has not been involved in any business activity.

Bilawal likely to submit his reply to questionnaire today

Mr Zardari also claimed that after becoming president, he resigned from the position of director of the Zardari Group, one of the groups allegedly involved in the fake bank accounts case. He told the JIT that he was no longer associated with it, according to the sources. Ms Talpur appeared before the JIT some two hours before her brother did, at about noon.

According to the sources, the senior PPP lawmaker told the JIT members that their lawyer, Abu Bakar Zardari, was looking after their “legal and financial affairs”. Therefore, he would be in a better position to respond to their questions.

She left the investigators half an hour later. Subsequently, the JIT members called Abu Bakar Zardari for questioning.

According to the sources, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari is expected to submit to the investigators on Thursday (today) a questionnaire formulated by them in connection with the same case.

On Tuesday, Mr Bhutto-Zardari’s spokesman Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar had told Dawn that the PPP chairman had received a questionnaire containing queries about his bank accounts. “Mr Bhutto-Zardari has received a questionnaire and he has to respond by Nov 29,” Mr Khokhar said.

He, however, rejected media reports that the PPP chairman had been summoned by the JIT and said he had only been asked to respond to the queries in the questionnaire.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2018

ISLAMABAD: In what appears to be his first political outburst since suspension of his jail sentence in the Avenfield properties reference, former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Wednesday demanded an investigation into the assets of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s sister Aleema Khan.

“The nation wants to know the money trail of her foreign properties,” said Mr Sharif during an interaction with reporters after attending court proceedings in the Flagship Investment reference.

The ex-premier said Ms Khan, a member of the board of governors of Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital, was not doing any business. “Apparently, there was no source of income. It must be thoroughly investigated how she accumulated wealth to acquire properties in Dubai, whether it was her own money or someone used her to purchase benami properties,” he said. She regularised the Dubai properties by paying a ‘nominal fine’, the ex-PM said. “Wasn’t that an NRO?” he asked, referring to the controversial National Reconciliation Ordinance that former military ruler Pervez Musharraf had promulgated to settle pending cases.

Flagship reference investigation officer cross-examined

Mr Sharif, who met his ailing brother Shahbaz Sharif in the custody of the National Accountability Bureau a couple of days ago, said he worked day and night for timely execution of development projects yet he was arrested and being interrogated. He said he didn’t believe in blame game and never used foul language against rival politicians.

He accused the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government of misusing NAB to suppress the opposition. He said NAB arrested leader of the opposition in the National Assembly Shahbaz Sharif without even examining primary record. Mr Shahbaz was being grilled for ‘unilaterally’ cancelling the Ashiyana housing scheme contract, the supreme leader of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) said, adding that the bureau did not even notice that the contract was revoked with mutual consent of the contractor.

While referring to Lowari tunnel and Neelum-Jhelum hydel projects, a network of motorways, improvement in power generation and gas supply, economic uplift, stock market boom and exchange rate stability, the former premier claimed that the PML-N government had taken the initiative for the opening of the Kartarpur border to facilitate Sikh pilgrims’ travel to their holy places in Pakistan. Mr Sharif added that the PTI government neither fulfilled what it had promised to the nation during its election campaign nor achieved the targets it set for the initial 100 days in office.

Flagship reference

Earlier, the last prosecution witness in the Flagship investment reference admitted before the accountability court during cross-examination that Mr Sharif did not hold public office at the time of the establishment of Flagship Investment companies.

According to the prosecution, the Flagship Investment Ltd was established in 2001.

Investigation officer Mohammad Kamran, the last prosecution witness, said: “It is correct that accused Mian Mohammad Nawaz Sharif was not holding public office with effect from October 1999 till May 13, 2013.”

The investigation officer also admitted that he “did not attempt to record statement of Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al-Thani”. After getting a response from the UAE government on the request seeking mutual legal assistance, “I did not deem it fit” to record the statement of the Qatari prince (a defence witness), he added.

Mr Kamran testified that the former premier did not name any of the companies owned by Hassan Nawaz in his televised address to the nation or during his speech on the floor of the National Assembly.

The accountability judge later adjourned the proceeding till Thursday when the prosecution is likely to advance final arguments in Al-Azizia reference.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2018

KARACHI: The Supreme Court-mandated commission on water and sanitation in Sindh on Wednesday expressed its serious resentment over the “unfair” distribution of water in the provincial metropolis and summoned the Karachi commissioner to appear on Dec 12.

The commission, headed by retired Justice Amir Hani Muslim, directed the commissioner that during the intervening period he had to hold a meeting with all stakeholders, collect details of supply and distribution of water and come up with a detailed report and suggestions to improve the distribution system.

It came down hard on the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) for showing little interest in installing and maintaining flow meters and not providing details about the distribution of water in the city.

The commission also directed the secretary for local government and the managing director of the KWSB to be in attendance on Dec 12.

‘The public of Karachi is suffering because of inaction of the water board’

Justice Muslim said that details about water supply to Central district were sought from the KWSB’s deputy managing director, but he filed a report which did not contain the required details. He directed the official to provide details to the chief engineer of the wing who will sit with the deputy commissioner Central and the DMC chairman to collect required details and the DC will submit a comprehensive report by Dec 12.

Meters out of order

The commission deplored that of the 2,600 flow meters, installed on the intervention of the Supreme Court, 1,200 were out of order and the KWSB was unable to offer any plausible explanation for that.

The KWSB informed the commission that an official, looking after the meter section, had retired and a new officer had assumed the job.

However, the commission rejected the explanation and said it appeared that there was no accountability in the KWSB as despite repeated directives for the installation of flow meters in the city, it had been delaying the matter for the last several months. “The meters already installed have gone out of order and no step has been taken by the officials concerned [to fix them],” it said and issued a show-cause notice to the superintending engineer for the meter consumer cell and the executive engineer, directing them to explain why such meters had not been repaired or replaced and why the remaining meters were not being installed.

“It appears that the KWSB is less interested in installing the meters, which in turn is encouraging theft of water in Karachi as there is no other way by which the intake of water supply can be measured or gauged. The public of Karachi is suffering because of inaction/criminal negligence on the part of water board, which is prima facie not providing required details as to how much water it gets from the source, and how much water reaches the end user in Karachi. There appears to be unfair distribution of water within Karachi which has multiplied the agony of the residents of Karachi,” it added.

Notice to TDAP chairman

The commission issued a notice to the chairman of the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan, directing him to submit a report containing the names of importers of a factory situated in the Bin Qasim industrial zone.

It said that despite repeated directives by the commission, the firm was discharging untreated effluent.

The commission said that on Nov 23 the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency, through a report, said that the firm was discharging untreated effluent in violation of the Sepa rules. Thereafter, an official of the Pakistan Council for Research in Water Resources was asked to verify the same and his report said that the treatment plant installed could not treat the required effluent as it was under capacity.

The commission adjourned the matter till Dec 1 and sought a report from Sepa with the assistance of the Port Qasim Authority.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2018

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information Technology (IT) Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui on Wednesday told a Senate committee that a breakthrough was expected in the recovery of $800 million from Etisalat, which had bought 26pc shares of Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) in 2005 at a price of $2.6 billion.

He was responding to questions from members of the Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunications about nonpayment of increase in pensions to more than 40,000 former PTCL employees since 2010.

The Middle East-based company delayed the payment to the government after Pakistan failed to transfer all PTCL properties to Etisalat under the agreement.

Nonetheless, the committee met to discuss reasons why PTCL pensioners had been denied the increase in pension despite orders from the Supreme Court.

Responding to questions from Senator Imamuddin Shouqeen about sale of PTCL properties, the IT minister said the telecom company has been stopped from selling its properties.

“The government also stopped the profits of shareholders,” the IT minister told the committee.

After the committee meeting, media asked the IT minister to clarify his remarks on shareholder profits. He responded briefly by saying that the government had held meetings with PTCL management and the matter will be resolved within a month.

He also told the committee members that he would take up pensioners’ issue with the finance minister within a week.

The meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunications was held at Parliament House.

Chaired by Senator Rubina Khalid, the meeting was attended by senators Rukhsana Zuberi, Taj Mohammad Afridi, Mian Mohammad Ateeq, Dr Ghous Mohammad Khan Niazi and senior officers from the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication, PTCL and Pakistan Telecommunication Employees Trust (PTET).

Senator Imamuddin Shouqeen was a special invitee.

In compliance with the Supreme Court decision, Rs175 million had been made to pensioners by March.

The committee was further informed that the cash implication of granting the pension to the pensioners as per policy of the government would be Rs39.1 billion. It was revealed that PTCL will need to make payment of the above amount to the trust if payment is to be made to the PTET pensioners.

Reviewing the statistics, Senator Imamuddin Shouqeen was of the view that this was an extremely serious issue.

“People who dedicated their lives to the service of this country are being deprived of their lifelong savings at a crucial stage of their lives,” the senator said.

The committee chairperson, Senator Rubina Khalid, stressed the need for alleviating the troubles of pensioners.

“The government is deliberately delaying payments to pensioners. We will like the IT minister to personally settle the problem of pensioners,” the chairperson said.

Senator Rukhsana Zuberi was of the view that the organisation had the funds and that now it was time that the committee was informed about the schedule of payments.

IT Minister Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said that he was committed to resolving this issue at the earliest to alleviate the plight of pensioners.

The committee decided that this matter will be taken up again when it meets on Jan 2.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2018

RAWALPINDI: Customs authorities seized $46,500 from an attaché of the Kuwaiti embassy at the Islamabad International Airport on Wednesday.

The customs staff spotted large amount of dollars during clearance of passengers travelling on Kuwait Airways flight and asked the diplomat to produce official permission document from the State Bank to carry the amount. The customs authorities said the official produced a certificate of his embassy as well as his salary certificate, but no official permission from the State Bank of Pakistan.

The currency was then confiscated from the diplomat, however, no FIR was registered against him keeping in view his diplomatic status. The case was referred to the relevant authorities. A senior customs official said the diplomat was allowed to go.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2018

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on National Health Services (NHS) on Wednesday passed a bill which will make it possible for people to donate organs.

Titled The Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues (Amendment) Bill, 2018, the proposed law was moved by Senator Mian Mohammad Ateeq Sheikh. It suggests CNICs should indicate if a person is an organ donor.

Mr Sheikh, who is also chairman of the standing committee, said Sri Lanka has earned respect as the largest eye cornea donor across the world and that Pakistan gets eye cornea donations from various countries.

“A campaign has been started to convince people to donate organs but there is now law in this regard which is why doctors hesitate to remove organs from a deceased person if they left a will to the effect. I have suggested that CNICs should carry a red mark if someone is an organ donor. Therefore, in case of natural death or accidents, doctors will know if someone’s organs should be removed while they are viable,” he said.

Draft law suggests CNICs should indicate if someone is an organ donor

A representative of the Human Organ Transplant Authority said a government bill was also being drafted which also suggests mentioning on CNICs and driving licences if a citizen is an organ donor.

“I suggest the bill should be ignored as the government bill is comprehensive and will be passed soon,” he said.

NHS Minister Aamer Mehmood Kiani also suggested the bill be ignored or clubbed with the government one.

However, Mr Sheikh strictly rejected the suggestion and said there was a ruling by the Senate chairman that private member bills will not be ignored because of government bills.

“A government bill may take two years to pass or it may not be passed at all because the government has to convince the opposition. However, I have assurance from political parties that they will support my bill. Moreover, I have only suggested an amendment in the existing law on human organ transplants and I insist it should be passed,” he said.

Independent Senator Dr Asad Ashraf said the opinion of the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII) should be sought as such a bill can trigger criticism in religious circles.

However, Mr Sheikh argued that the CII’s opinion is not required as it is up to the people if they want to donate their organs.

Law Division representative Jam Aslam also said there is no need for input from CII as the Law Division has already worked on the issue when preparing a bill and that a private member bill can also therefore be passed.

Members decided to pass the bill unanimously and it was sent to the upper house for voting.

The organs of one person can be donated to 27 people if someone agrees for their organs to be donated after death but there is no trend or awareness for organ donation in the country. Due to this, human organs are being sold in the black and some health institutions have also been involved in the illegal business.

Fake doctor at Pims

The committee had sought a detailed report over the arrest of a fake doctor from the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims). However, NHS Minister Aamer Kiani was not aware of the incident.

On Sept 26, a man posing as a doctor, who had been ‘practicing’ at for six months at Pims, was arrested. An initial investigation revealed that two post graduates (PG) at the hospital had hired the man, who was a vendor of medicines and instruments, and were paying him to pose as a doctor.

An FIR was registered at the Karachi Company police station but no action was taken against the PGs.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2018

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Wednesday dismissed as withdrawn a habeas corpus petition challenging the detention of Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) chief Maulana Khadim Hussain Rizvi, his son Saad Rizvi and TLP patron-in-chief Pir Afzal Qadri.

As the court resumed hearing, a provincial law officer presented a notification issued under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance 1960 for a 30-day detention of the TLP leaders.

Justice Syed Mazahar Ali Akbar Naqvi observed that the habeas corpus petition stood infructuous in the presence of the government notification.

At this, petitioner’s counsel Nabeel Javed Kahloon sought court’s permission to withdraw the petition, which was duly granted.

The judge dismissed the petition as withdrawn.

Advocate Kahloon told media persons that a fresh petition would be filed soon challenging the notification issued by the government for the detention of the TLP leaders.

Syed Zafar Hussain Gilani, a member of the TLP, had assailed the detention of his leaders in a habeas corpus petition. He contended that the police barged in the houses of the TLP leaders, arrested them unlawfully and shifted them to undisclosed places.

He stated that the home department and the police, despite repeated requests, had not issued any grounds for their detention nor informed about their whereabouts.

The petitioner submitted that no FIR or complaint had been lodged against the TLP leaders so far. He argued that the detainees had been arrested without any prior notification and without giving any opportunity of hearing, which was a violation of fundamental rights guaranteed in the Constitution.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2018

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has announced that Dec 1 is the deadline after which it will implement its new mechanism to counter the spread of smuggled mobile phones in the country.

The PTA maintains that it has developed a system using indigenous technology — the Device Identification Regis­tration and Blocking System (DIRBS) — with the goal to curtail the sale and use of counterfeit, substandard mobile phones.

In October, the Senate Committee on Information Technology had directed the PTA to postpone the implementation of the phone registration system, which the committee said is an overwhelming undertaking, one that is difficult for people to understand and comply with. “This system is too confusing for the highly educated to wrap their heads around. We cannot imagine how those who are not will understand it,” said PPP Senator Robina Khalid.

Nevertheless, the PTA issued a statement announcing that it is going ahead with the mobile registration system from Dec 1. DIRBS has two operational phases. The PTA launched DIRBS in May and the deadline for phase I of the project was June 29.

The first phase was to allow the authority 45 days to launch an awareness campaign across the market, explaining how the new system is designed to work. It also included mapping and identification of the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers and blocking devices that are either stolen or are lost.

The second phase will be used to block all non-compliant devices. These are devises that are not registered with the Global System for Mobile Association and may be mass produced by manufacturers who do not comply with international standards of production, resulting in the infiltration of the market by counterfeit, possibly hazardous, mobile phones.

The authority said that the system has been developed to identify sub-standard, counterfeit and illegally imported mobile phones.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2018

PESHAWAR: Welcoming opening of Kartarpur Corridor, Awami National Party president Asfandyar Wali Khan has said that Islamabad should show same gesture to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border to end sense of deprivation among Pakhtuns.

In a statement here on Wednesday, he said that opening of the corridor would not only facilitate cross-border movement of Sikh community, but would also improve bilateral trade and tourism in the region.

He said that one person should not take credit for establishing corridor at Kartarpur.

The ANP leader said that former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif had made efforts for setting up corridor on the eastern border to ease movement of Sikh pilgrims.

He said that opening of the corridor at Kartarpur after seven decades would improve strained relations between the two neighbours.

“Our government should show same gesture to the Pak-Afghan border to facilitate movement of the people living on the two sides of the border who have same culture, tradition, language and religion,” said Mr Khan. He added that Pakhtuns were being used as a fuel in the four decades long war.

He said that soft border and opening of corridors would end sense of derivation among Pakhtuns. He said that ANP supported the policy of soft border and committed opening of 10 corridors to promote peace and improve trade activities in the region.

The ANP leader said that element of mistrust was major irritant in the Pak-Afghan relations. Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan could not be improved without confidence building measures, he said, adding that better ties between Islamabad and Kabul were prerequisite for durable peace and economic progress in the region.

He said that Pakistan should improve its relations with neighbours and take steps for promotion of trade, cultural, education and people to people contacts. He said that his party would play role for peace in the region.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2018

ISLAMABAD: The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), already undergoing reorganisation, has decided to seek proposals from its members and activists regarding changes in the party’s constitution.

The decision was made at a meeting of the special committee, headed by newly-appointed secretary general of PTI Arshad Dad, here on Wednesday, according to an official announcement by the party’s central media department.

“Reviewing the party constitution prior to reorganisation is necessary,” the statement quoted the PTI’s secretary general as saying at the meeting.

Mr Dad said that the committee, constituted by PTI chairman Imran Khan to reorganise the party and review its constitution, included those who had also previously played a role in drafting the party’s present constitution.

“Recommendations from workers across the country will be welcomed and we want the review process of the party constitution to be completely based on mutual understanding,” Mr Dad said, adding that the party would be made an exemplary national asset by strengthening its foundations.

The committee will continue to meet for four days and recommendations for amendments to the constitution will be formulated at the conclusion of the meetings.

PTI central additional secretary Ejaz Choudhry, deputy speaker of the National Assembly Qasim Khan Suri, central deputy secretary general Aizaz Asif, senior leaders Saifullah Niazi, Omer Sarfaraz Cheema, Haleem Adil Sheikh and Senator Semi Aizdi also attended the meeting.

The PTI began the process of the party reorganisation on Nov 6 with the formation of a 21-member committee to review the party’s constitution and seeking applications from aspirants for its various organisational posts.

The party had already sought written applications from aspirants of party offices and positions of their choice. They had also been asked to submit educational documents and details of their services for the party with the application.

Mr Dad had previously stated that the committee would assess the aspirants’ qualification, capabilities and their commitment to the party’s ideology and ensure new leadership even at the lowest level of the party.

He said that the party wanted the fresh blood to join the PTI to make the party an exemplary national asset in the light of Mr Khan’s vision.

At the time of the formation of the special committee earlier this month, a PTI spokesman told Dawn that after coming into power, the party leadership had decided to separate the government and party offices.

He said that some appointments had already been made by the party chairman and to fill vacant posts, the party had decided to seek applications.

Responding to a question, he said that it did not mean that the party was running away from internal elections, saying that elections were some two years away and the party had decided to fill vacancies through nominations till that time. Moreover, he said, the Constitution Review Committee had also been assigned the task of suggesting changes in the constitution and it would also review clauses dealing with the party elections.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2018

KARACHI: The Sindh government is planning to establish a dedicated grid company under public-private partnership to evacuate clean electricity being produced at Thatta-Jhimpir wind corridor, said Energy Minister Imtiaz Shaikh while speaking at the 17th World Wind Energy Conference here on Wednesday.

The minister also announced that the provincial government, in partnership with the World Bank, is planning to setup a $100 million solar power project to benefit the resident of rural areas.

He said that the Sindh government has reserved around 60,000 acres to be utilised for renewable energy projects. He highlighted that, at present, renewable energy contributes only five per cent to the total energy mix and informed that the provincial government is working to increase the share of renewable energy in the country’s energy production.

World Wind Energy Association Vice President Shahid Hamid said that Pakistan holds enormous potential for renewable energy which is more than enough to meet the country’s energy requirements.

Alternative Energy Development Board Chief Executive Amjad Ali Awan said that in order to promote investment in the renewable energy, the government must ensure long-term policy.

Energy Secretary Musaddiq Ahmed Khan, said that it was high time for Pakistan to move towards alternative energy resources owing to the phenomenal incentives in terms of lesser tariff for power consumers and saving of precious foreign exchange reserves.

Jhon Smith of USAID also assured dedicated US support to promote alternative energy projects including ancillary support for connecting them to the national grid.

Currently, there are 23 wind energy projects operating in Gharo-Jhimpir corridor and around 35 projects are currently at different stages of completion.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2018

KARACHI: Azad Jammu and Kashmir President Sardar Masood Khan said on Wednesday that people of Pakistan believed that there was no military solution to the Kashmir issue and it could only be resolved through diplomacy and politics.

He said this in response to a question put to him by senior journalist Mujahid Barelvi at an event held at the Oxford Bookshop in Clifton.

Mr Barelvi started off the proceedings by giving a brief background of the Kashmir struggle and by inquiring how Mr Khan saw it, mentioning names such as Pandit Nehru and Sheikh Abdullah.

Mr Khan said people needed to know that since 1947, Indian forces had martyred 500,000 Kashmiris; and since last Friday alone they had taken 24 lives.

Sheikh Abdullah acted as a facilitator for India, says AJK president

It was Pandit Nehru, Viceroy Mountbatten and Maharaja of Kashmir, together, who hatched a conspiracy against the people of Jammu and Kashmir, 85 per cent of whom were Muslims, and all of whom wanted to be with Pakistan. They had relatives in Pakistan, and people from there used to come to Pakistan. But all the three men conspired to cut that line [of relations] off, the effects of which we were facing even now.

Still, despite having 700,000 troops in India-held Kashmir, India had not been able to control the region. India’s strategy to subdue Kashmiris had failed. “The hearts of Kashmiris beat [in harmony] with those of Pakistanis.”

When Mr Barelvi asked about Sheikh Abdullah’s role in the whole situation, Mr Khan said he acted as facilitator for India and if he hadn’t sided with India, so much bloodletting wouldn’t have happened. The phrase, atoot ang, that Jammu & Kashmir was inseparable from India was included in the Indian constitution because of Sheikh Abdullah.

On the question of how successive Pakistani government had dealt with the Kashmir struggle, Mr Khan said three things needed to be remembered. First, the blood that was spilled in Kashmir in 1947 was still spilling. Two, Pakistan’s stance on the matter had always been the same. Third, if there hadn’t been Azad Kashmir, then the issue wouldn’t have existed, because Junagadh and Hyderabad’s issues didn’t exist anymore.

Replying to a query about militancy that got involved in the Kashmir struggle post-Afghan war affecting the fight for freedom in Kashmir, Mr Khan said Pakistan fought three wars with India over Kashmir –– in 1948, 1965 and 1999 (Kargil).

In the 1990s India committed terrible atrocities against Kashmiris because of which young Kashmiris came to Pakistan. They had vowed to take revenge on the Indians for the atrocities. It was not a conventional war, it was an asymmetrical war.

Further expanding on the point, Mr Khan made it clear Kashmiris and Pakistanis didn’t think that the Kashmir dispute could be resolved through military means. It could only be resolved through diplomatic and political means. It’s India that thought power and state terrorism could subjugate the people of Kashmir. We had said to India that it could have bilateral or trilateral talks with us. Or it could have a mediator that it wanted.

Mr Khan said after 9/11, many countries dubbed their enemies ‘terrorists’. India also used the same terrorist tag for Kashmiri freedom fighters.

Pointing out this thin line, Mr Khan said this was the reason that to date a particular convention against terrorism was yet to be passed by the United Nations because there was a difference of opinion on it. India told a false story to the world. The fact was that today Kashmiris were the most unarmed people in the world. India was afraid of the people who gathered in Srinagar and chanted Hum kia chahtey hain, azadi. According to a senior Indian security official, the number of militants that existed in Kashmir was not more than 250. So, 250 were fighting against an army of 700,000, Mr Khan said.

Mr Barelvi then drew a comparison between Kashmir and Palestine. He mentioned that Palestine had a leader such as Yasser Arafat, but Kashmiri leadership appeared to be divided.

To this Mr Khan said there were three things common between Palestine and Kashmir: one, both were Muslim regions; two, both were fighting for the right of self-determination; three, the countries that had occupied them –– India and Israel –– had close ties with the US. The difference was that the issue of Palestine had got a lot of publicity in the world. Then the EU was in Palestine’s favour. Whereas Kashmir was called [by them] a “frozen dispute”. [The truth was] blood was being spilled on a daily basis in Kashmir.

Mr Khan paid tribute to Kashmiri leadership including Syed Ali Gilani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Yasin Malik for keeping the flag of the freedom struggle aloft in such difficult circumstances. And in order to dispel the notion of differences among them, a Joint Resistance Leadership had been formed in Kashmir.

Mr Khan said India had these days waged three wars: first, in India-held Kashmir; second, by violating ceasefire on the Line of Control; third, it had waged a war in Balochistan, Karachi, Gilgit-Baltistan and Lahore through its terrorists.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2018

ISLAMABAD: Soon after the return of Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar from the United Kingdom, the Supreme Court will resume on Friday hearing a case relating to illegal transfer of money from Pakistan to countries. The court may also take up a list of 44 politically exposed individuals or their benamidars who possessed properties in the United Arab Emirates.

Furnished by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), the list contains the name of Aleema Khanum, a sister of Prime Minister Imran Khan. She is identified as benamidar of a property. A notice was issued to her through email as well as delivered at her home address, but her domestic staff said she was abroad.

The list was part of the annexure submitted to a three-judge SC bench comprising Chief Justice Nisar, Justice Faisal Arab and Justice Ijaz-ul-Ahsan.

Taking suo motu notice of the matter, the apex court had observed that it appeared the money siphoned off abroad without payment of taxes through illegal channels represented either ill-gotten gains or kickbacks from public contracts. “Such money creates gross disproportion, inequality and disparity in society, which warps economic activity and growth, and constitutes plunder and theft of national wealth,” it said.

FIA list submitted to apex court shows PM’s sister Aleema among 44 politically exposed individuals having properties in UAE

In an earlier order, the court had also observed that it was common knowledge for years that a large number of Pakistani citizens were maintaining their bank accounts in other countries without disclosing these to the authorities competent under the laws of Pakistan or paying taxes on the same in accordance with the law.

The list furnished by the FIA also mentions the name of Irfanullah Khan Marwat, a politician, though he has disowned the property shown in his name.

Likewise, Mumtaz Ahmed Muslim, who is affiliated with the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, has conceded that he owns properties in Dubai, but not 16 properties as mentioned in the FIA list.

Rizwana Amin, wife of the late Makhdoom Amin Fahim of the Pakistan Peoples Party, owned four properties. A notice was issued to her, but her watchman did not receive it because she was out of the country.

Naureen Sami Khan, who owned three properties in the UAE, is wife of Arshad Sami Khan and is under verification by the Federal Board of Revenue.

Sardar Dildar Ahmed Cheema, former MNA from Faisalabad, disowned two properties in the UAE shown in his name.

Tahira Manzoor owned six properties in the UAE. She is daughter of Tariq Aziz, personal secretary to former president retired Gen Pervez Musharraf, and is under verification by the FBR.

Sublina Zulfikar, who owned a property in the UAE, is wife of Collector Customs Dr Zulfikar Ahmed.

Agha Shahid Majeed Khan, a government servant and serving as Collector Customs, also owned one property.

Zulfikar Baloch, who owned one property, is grandson of former federal minister Mir Ibrahim Reki. He had declared the property received as a gift from his grandfather in the tax returns.

Azra Nasreen, mother of TV anchor Dr Farrukh Saleem, owned a property in the UAE, but it has been declared in the tax returns.

Mohammad Aijaz Haroon, who had served as managing director of the Pakistan International Airlines during the PPP government, disowned a property shown in his name.

The name of Abdullah Kadwani also featured in the list with one property. He is former PRO to the Sindh governor and also an actor.

Irshad Ahmed has one property in the UAE. He is employee of the Sindh Zarai Taraqqiati Bank and previously worked in the Sindh local government.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2018

QUETTA: Balochistan National Party (BNP-M) president Sardar Akhtar Mengal has sought a political solution to the issue of missing persons, saying that the problems of the province would not be resolved by building dams or the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

He was addressing a news conference at a protest camp organised by families of missing persons on Wednesday.

Sardar Mengal criticised the government for not addressing the issue of missing persons and said that nothing was being done for their recovery.

“We will not let the federal and provincial governments sit comfortably until they find these missing persons. The BNP will table a resolution in the provincial assembly regarding the issue,” he said.

BNP-M chief says Balochistan’s problems won’t be solved by building CPEC or dams

Sardar Mengal said the federal government had a year to come up with a solution to the problem, and the BNP would not sit silent during this time but consistently press the rulers to resolve the matter.

He said that missing persons should be released immediately and if they were involved in any crime, there should be an open trial against them.

“It is the responsibility of the present government to meet the mothers and sisters sitting in freezing temperatures under the open sky,” he said.

The families of missing persons also filed a petition in the Supreme Court but nothing happened, he regretted.

Apart from a list of missing persons, the BNP chief said, he had included other demands of his party on the agenda given to the federal government.

Sardar Mengal said that Mama Qadeer Baloch had travelled more than 2,000km on foot along with a group of Baloch women and men from Quetta to Karachi then Islamabad to raise voice for missing persons.

The BNP, he said, also participated in the long march and took part in all protests raising the issue. When the government was being formed, he said, political parties provided lists for ministries. “We didn’t give a list for ministries, but the BNP provided a list of the missing persons to the federal government,” MNA Agha Hassan Baloch said, adding that there was no positive response from the government till now.

Members of provincial assembly Naseer Shahwani and Ahmed Nawaz Baloch, Mama Qadeer and chairman of the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) Nasr­ullah Baloch were present on the occasion.

Published in Dawn, November 29th, 2018