SIALKOT/ISLAMABAD: At least 11 civilians were killed and several others wounded on Friday during an exchange of fire between Indian and Pakistani border troops along the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir and Working Boundary in Sialkot's Charwah, Harpal, Chaprar and Sucheetgarh sectors.

According to a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Indian Border Security Forces (BSF) personnel resorted to firing and shelling along the boundary.

Earlier reports suggested seven Pakistanis were killed in firing and shelling by Indian forces, however, the military's media wing has confirmed the number as eight.

Rangers sources said the attacks along the Sialkot Working Boundary have mostly harmed civilians, adding that livestock belonging to residents of the area has been killed, while houses have been partially damaged.

Meanwhile, Indian officials claimed firing by Pakistani border guards along the boundary in Kashmir left three Indian civilians dead and at least 16 wounded.

Both sides claim that the other side had opened fire first.

Simrandeep Singh, a local administrator on the Indian side, accused the Pakistani guards of unprovoked firing of small arms and mortars across the border in the R S Pura sector on Thursday night.

The Indian border guards returned fire, he said, adding that the injured Indian villagers have been evacuated to nearby hospitals.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expressed his concerns over firing on Working Boundary with India.

He also expressed condolence over loss of eight innocent lives and injuries to 47 others during the firing.

Indian envoy summoned

Indian High Commissioner TCA Raghawan was summoned at Foreign Office and strong protest was lodged with him over the working boundary violations by Indian Border Security Forces near Sialkot which resulted in the killing of civilians.

"Foreign Secretary Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry received the Indian envoy. He was conveyed Pakistan's protest and concern over continued LOC/working boundary violations," Foreign Office said in a statement.

Indian high commissioner was told that India has to honour ceasefire agreement of 2003 between the two countries.

Explore: Pakistan launches Operation Gibraltar, Kashmir announces Liberation War

Sartaj Aziz condemns Indian aggression

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs and National Security Sartaj Aziz condemned the exchange of fire between Indian and Pakistani border troops along the LoC in Kashmir and Working Boundary.

“The government of Pakistan expresses concern at the continued ceasefire violations by India along the LOC and the Working Boundary,” said Aziz.

“We urge the Indian government to stop ceasefire violations along the LOC and the Working Boundary,” added Aziz.

Instances of firing across the Indo-Pak border have occurred intermittently over the years.

In the last instance of unprovoked Indian shelling in Sialkot's Sucheetgarh and Charwah sectors on Aug 18, 60-year-old Mohammad Shareef was killed when he was hit by a mortar shell.

Know more: Two killed in Indian shelling

A team of United Nations observers visited the villages hit by Indian shelling and met the family of Shareef at Thathi Khurd village, Sucheetgarh.

The UN team also met other locals affected by Indian shelling and sought details from them about the fresh BSF hostilities, which caused heavy losses of their property and livestock.

Also read: UN observers visit shelling-hit villages

The latest incident of firing comes days before India and Pakistan’s border security force chiefs are likely to meet in New Delhi.

The chiefs of the Pakistan Rangers and the Indian Border Security Force were to meet in New Delhi from Sept 9 to 13, a statement issued by the Pakistan Rangers had said.

The agenda for the meeting includes recent firing over the Line of Control, the de facto frontier in the divided Kashmir region, as well as cross-border smuggling, Pakistan Rangers spokesman Waheed Bukhari had said.

The developments come days after the first high-level peace talks in years between the two countries collapsed.

On Saturday, the first high-level peace talks in years between the two country's national security advisers were cancelled after a dispute over the agenda for those talks.

In December 2013, the two countries had pledged to uphold the 2003 ceasefire accord which had been left in tatters by repeated violations that year. The truce breaches had put the nascent bilateral peace dialogue on hold.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars since becoming independent nations in 1947, two of them over Kashmir, which both claim in full but rule in part.

New Delhi has for years accused Pakistan of backing separatist Muslim militants in Indian-held Kashmir. Pakistan denies the allegations and blames India for fomenting unrest inside Pakistan.

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) on Friday announced the schedule for the first-ever party-based local government elections in Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT), according to which the polling will take place on November 30.

According to the ECP, the election candidates may submit their nomination papers between October 24 and October 27, while scrutiny of the papers will take place between October 31 and November 4.

The candidates will have until November 10 to withdraw their nomination papers and on November 11, the final list of candidates will be published.

Elections results will be announced by the ECP on December 3.

The election schedule comes a day after the Supreme Court had directed the ECP to issue a schedule for local government polls in Islamabad by Friday.

Also read: ECP promises to announce Islamabad LG election date today

The ECP assured the Supreme Court on Thursday that the schedule for holding local government polls in Islamabad will be announced on Friday.

ECP Additional Director General (Law) Mohammad Arshad assured the court that the schedule will be announced on Friday after Additional Attorney General (AAG) Aamir Rehman told a three-judge Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Jawwad S Khawaja that the rules under which the polls were to be held had been drawn up.

The bench had taken up an ECP application seeking directions for the federal government to expedite the passage of the bill and frame the rules enabling the commission to hold local government elections in ICT.

But on Aug 4, President Mamnoon Hussain gave his assent to the Federal Capital Territory Local Government Bill, which the National Assembly had passed along with the amendments proposed by the Senate suggesting party-based elections for the local government in ICT on July 29.

Take a look: President likely to approve today bill seeking party-based LG polls in Islamabad

The last local government elections in Islamabad were held in 1992 under the Federal Capital Local Government Ordinance 1979, but those were limited to 12 rural union councils in the peripheries of Islamabad.

When the case was taken up on Thursday, the AAG told the court that the process of framing of the rules had been completed and the same had also been notified. He also submitted copies of the notification under which the local bodies elections were to be held.

The chief justice then adjourned further proceedings for 40 days, when the delimitation of wards in Islamabad would have been completed.

Earlier, on March 10, the ECP had proposed elections be held on July 25.

PESHAWAR: Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif visited on Thursday Shawal Valley in North Waziristan where troops are engaged in the final phase of the Zarb-i-Azb operation.

According to the Inter-Services Public Relations, Gen Sharif spent the day with troops and directed them to destroy all hideouts and sever their links with their abettors.

“We will not allow anyone to kill our people, children in this country and will expose all faces who helped them at any stage in any way,” an ISPR statement quoted the army chief as saying.

Security forces launched a ground offensive against militants in Shawal near the Afghan border on August 20. Around 100 militants have so far been killed in air strikes in the area while Lt Col Faisal Malik and one soldier have laid down their lives in an exchange of fire with militants.

The statement said that the morale of troops was high and Gen Sharif praised them for the speedy gains made in the operation. They have cleared important heights and occupied the areas.

Published in Dawn, August 28th, 2015

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KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah on Friday expressed concern over the arrest of former federal minister and chairman of the provincial Higher Education Commission (HEC) Dr Asim Hussain and lamented over the fact that he was not taken into confidence over the arrest.

“This is not fair and unwarranted,” said the chief executive while talking to media just after inaugurating the Begum Nusrat Bhutto underpass in Karachi on Friday.

“It is not appropriate to arrest any individual at will, we do not practice the law of the jungle in Sindh,” stated Qaim.

The chief minister said after the arrest of Dr Asim he had spoken to the Corps Commander and the DG Rangers, who told him there were serious complaints against the former petroleum minister.

“But when they sent me the details of the complaints against Dr Asim I found them to be in general without solid substance,” he recalled.

“Sufficient evidence against Dr Asim does not exist, I should be made aware of arrests before they happen,” added the chief minister.

Read: Dr Asim remanded in Rangers custody for 90 days

The chief minister went on to say he held a meeting with Rangers DG Major General Bilal Akbar on Firday.

“I told him had there been complaints against Dr Asim, I would have been informed about them,” he said, adding that the DG Rangers had assured him he would be taken into confidence before major actions, and Dr Asim's matter will also be resolved.

The chief minister said he informed the DG Rangers that he was in command of the security operation in Karachi, and hence should be kept in the loop regarding all developments.

Qaim went on to say his party was not content with the action taken against Dr Asim.

“They (PPP) hold me responsible because they (PPP) elevated me to the position of chief minister,” he said, emphasising that being an elected chief minister and head of the provincial apex committee, “I must be consulted.”

Commenting on his protest with the federal government on what he termed “invasion by FIA and NAB on Sindh,” the chief minister recalled he had taken up this issue with Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali and then with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif twice.

“The prime minister told me he was not aware of their actions and had assured our grievances will be redressed but despite that raids on Civic Centre are continuing,” he deplored.

Qaim went on to say: “I have been informed that the FIA would stop their invasions within two days and we are also working to stop NAB from their excesses,” he said.

“Why is Sindh alone being targeted in the current anti-corruption drive?”

Dr Asim Hussain was detained on Wednesday by plain-clothed men allegedly belonging to an intelligence agency.

On Thursday, he was presented in ATC-III by the Rangers who informed the court that Dr Asim had been placed under a 90-day preventive detention under Section 11-EEEE of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997.

Court sources told Dawn that the Rangers had contended that they have credible information regarding Dr Asim's involvement in terrorism related activities as well as embezzlement of funds.

According to sources, Dr Asim was being grilled for his alleged involvement in illegal occupation of government land in North Nazimabad and Clifton for the extension of his Dr Ziauddin Hospital.

Also read:Dr Asim Hussain reportedly detained by security personnel in Karachi

Dr Asim was also being reportedly questioned for allegedly misusing authority when he was petroleum minister/adviser during the PPP government at the centre after the 2008 general election.

Dr Asim's arrest came in what has been described as the first major action against the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) leadership during the ongoing Karachi operation. He is a close aide to former president Asif Ali Zardari.

In 2009, he was elected Senator from Sindh on a PPP ticket. He served as the minister of petroleum and natural resources and then the prime minister’s adviser with the same portfolio until 2012.

After the 2013 general elections, the PPP government in Sindh made him chairman of the provincial HEC.

He is also believed to be close to the top leadership of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement.

ISLAMABAD: Army Chief General Raheel Sharif visited the working boundary and Rangers Headquarters in Sialkot and appreciated the high morale of troops deployed there against the India's 'blatant violations', DawnNews reported on Friday.

According to the details shared by the director general of Inter-Services Public Relations, Major General Asim Bajwa, the army chief lauded the efforts of troops deployed at the working boundary for replying to the Indian aggression in a befitting manner.

The army chief also visited the Combined Military Hospital in Sialkot to inquire about the health of civilians injured as a result of unprovoked by Indian border security forces.

“India has blatantly violated the ceasefire agreement along the working boundary and line of control,” Gen Raheel was quoted as saying.

He further said that Indian has crossed all limits to terrorise Pakistani citizens and has disregarded the international conventions and norms.

“We can sense that there is definite linkage between terrorism being sponsored by India in various parts of Pakistan and belligerence along the working boundary and line of control,” the army chief asserted.

ISPR also released the figures of today’s casualties stating that eight people were martyred at the working boundary, including one woman and one child.

It further stated that “47 people were injured including 24 women and 11 children”.

Meanwhile, Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid said Pakistan would raise India's ceasefire violations at all international forums.

Earlier reports suggested seven Pakistanis were killed in firing and shelling by Indian forces, however, the military's media wing has confirmed the number as eight.

Rangers sources said the attacks along the Sialkot Working Boundary have mostly harmed civilians, adding that livestock belonging to residents of the area has been killed, while houses have been partially damaged.

Meanwhile, Indian officials claimed firing by Pakistani border guards along the boundary in Kashmir left three Indian civilians dead and at least 16 wounded.

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court adjourned on Friday the hearing of a plea for vacating reinstatement orders of Dr Agha Ghazanfar as principal of the Aitchison College till September 30.

The court adjourned the matter after the parties said the issue would be resolved on arrival of the Punjab governor from abroad. Mr Ghazanfar would be allowed to use his official residence and car till then but he would not interfere in administration matters.

The single bench comprising Justice Mamoon Rashid Sheikh heard the petition by Aitchison College’s Board of governor which had approached the court for vacating its earlier orders for reinstatement of Ghazanfar.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2015

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LAHORE: Security concerns have forced Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) to cancel Imran Khan’s public address in Lahore on Saturday (today).

Earlier, the party kept changing the venue of its chief’s address to the public as a part of its celebrations following victory in the legal battle over rigging allegations in the 2013 elections. Initially, Imran Khan was supposed to address the public at Lalik Chowk where the PTI had launched its campaign for vote audit in four constituencies. Later, the party’s Punjab office said Mr Khan would address the public at the Charing Cross and consequently stated that it would be at Data Darbar.

The PTI leadership remained engaged with the Punjab government for finalising the venue due to security reasons and eventually decided that Imran Khan would not address the public and he would only hold a media talk at the PTI Secretariat.

The PTI leaders, workers and supporters are in high spirits these days after getting favourable results regarding three constituencies where they demanded vote audit soon after the elections over two years ago. While the PML-N has announced contesting by-elections in the constituencies where election tribunals have given verdicts against it, the PTI seems adamant in saying that it will not contest under the incumbent Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).

On the other hand, it is learnt that the party leadership has recommended former Lahore district president Abdul Aleem Khan as the candidate for the NA-122 election, if held.

Meanwhile, PTI Punjab organiser Chaudhry Sarwar said four provincial election commissioners should be removed from their offices for holding of free and fair elections. He said the ECP would be forced to accept this genuine demand, otherwise, the PTI would be forced to go for another sit-in in front of the ECP offices.

In another statement, PTI leaders Ejaz Chaudhry and Dr Yasmin Rashid said the denial of extension to election tribunal judges’ tenures was tantamount to political victimisation. They said the Lahore tribunal judge Kazim Ali Malik and Multan tribunal judge Rana Zahid Mahmood were sent home for giving decisions against the ruling party.

Stating that the ECP had become the most controversial institution due to widespread allegations of rigging against its members, they regretted, adding that the way ECP had approached the Lahore High Court for the removal of Kazim Ali Malik and Rana Zahid Mahmood it clearly showed the commission was getting instructions from the PML-N.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2015

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PESHAWAR: Microsoft, an international IT company, is considering the establishment of Microsoft Innovation Centre in Peshawar in collaboration with the provincial Information Technology department.

This was revealed by a Microsoft delegation during a meeting with the IT department’s senior officials here on Friday. Science and Technology and IT secretary Zafar Ali Shah chaired the meeting, where Microsoft delegation was led by Microsoft Pakistan’s country manager Nadeem Ahmad Malik.

The participants discussed the opportunities, possibilities and venues of collaboration and cooperation among the IT department, Microsoft and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa IT Board for the promotion of information and communication technology in the province with a special focus on e-governance. They also discussed matters related to collaboration and cooperation with regard to intellectual property rights. — APP

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2015

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OKARA: Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) central leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi says although the party does not acquiesce to the judicial commission report, however, the 40 points which it had emphasised had been acknowledged by it.

He was addressing a PTI workers convention in a marriage hall on GT Road on Friday.

Mr Qureshi said PTI’s stand on rigging in the general elections had been proved in the election tribunals judgments regarding three constituencies -- NA-125, NA-122 and NA-154. He said he had got information that one of PML-N MNAs’ degree had been declared as fake by the election tribunal.

Punjab had been ruled constantly by the PML-N in the last 30 years and the ongoing year was eight year of Shahbaz Sharif’s government in the province, he said, adding the agriculture of the province would remain in dire straits as long as the Sharifs ruled the province.

The PTI leader said the PPP was breathing its last and his party would replace the PML-N. He said the PML-N and the PPP had been looting the nation’s resources and sending the wealth to their foreign coffers. PTI Ch district coordinator Azhar Mehmood, Ex-State minister Syed Samsam Ali Bokhari, PTI ticket holder Rao Khalid Mustafa and others were also present.

Twenty four former members of the district council, including Afzal Wattoo, Nasir Baloch, Rao Humayun Mustafa, Rana Khalid Joiya and Rai Shaukat Ali, joined the PTI and declared their support for it.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2015

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PESHAWAR: In a historic development, over 40,000 elected representatives will take oath for the new three-tier local government system across the province today (Saturday).

According to the respective district returning officers, arrangements for administering oath to the elected members of district, tehsil/town, village and neighbourhood councils have been made on the directives of the Election Commission of Pakistan.

The returning officers will administer oath to elected representatives at different places.

The oath-taking by councilors of local bodies in such a large number will happen for the first time in the history of the province.

Never before, so many seats were introduced in the local government systems.

ECP postpones oath-taking in Bannu local bodies over a petition pending with court

However, the ECP has postponed the oath taking and elections of the Bannu district and tehsil councils as a petition filed by some candidates has been pending with the Islamabad High Court, according to a statement issued by it on Friday night.

In Peshawar, which has been declared as city district in the new Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Local Government Act 2013, district members will take oath at the District Council Hall.

Additional deputy commissioner Osama Warraich will administer the oath.

Elected members of the four town councils will assemble at the Government Higher Secondary School City No 1, where four returning officers will administer oath to town councils each.

Besides, 29 returning officers will also administer oaths of the elected members for 346 village and neighbourhood councils in the respective areas.

With the oath taking and subsequent elections of the district, tehsil/town nazims, the three tiers local body system will formally commence functioning. The provincial government on Thursday notified the creation of four town councils in the capital city and appointment of Town Municipal Officers there.

On February 20, the ANP-led provincial government had dissolved the then local councils which were elected through the General Musharraf’s Local Government Ordinance 2001.

On the same day, the provincial government had notified appointing administrators to perform duties in place of nazims in the province.

The ANP-led government had also announced the holding of local body elections within six months after dissolution of local councils but failed to conduct elections till completion of its tenure.

Peshawar deputy commissioner Riaz Mehsud, who is the DRO, told Dawn that he had order deployment of sufficient police personnel around the buildings where oath taking ceremony taking place.

He said victory professions, rallies and celebrations after the district, tehsil and town councils will not be allowed.

After administering oaths of council members, elections for the district, tehsil/town, village and neighbourhood councils’ nazims and naib nazims will be held on August 30 (Sunday).

According to the ECP notification issued regarding the elections, the returning officer will proceed to conduct election of nazims first, in their respective councils.

The ROs will convene and preside over the first meeting of district, tehsil/town, neighbourhood and village councils.

In the first meeting, no other business will be carried out by the council.

Any member of the respective council may propose or second name of any member of that council for the office of nazim. Any member whether elected on a general seat or a reserve seat of that council, may contest for the office of nazim or naib nazim.

A separate nomination paper (Form XXXI) for tehsil/town council or a district council shall be filed for each proposal.

The nomination shall have signatures of the proposer and seconder as well as that of the candidate nominated.

A candidate may be proposed by more than one nomination papers but a member cannot propose or second more than one candidate.

Every nomination paper shall be filed with RO of the relevant local council by 1:00pm on the day fixed for the first meeting of the council.

The ROs should scrutinise nomination papers received by him/her in the presence of candidates and their proposers and seconders as may be present. A candidate may withdraw his/her candidature at any time before the election takes place.

The RO shall read out to the local council, the names of contesting candidates in the order in which nomination papers are received and proceed to effect the election by an open division.

After election of nazim, a naib nazim for each tehsil council or town council or district council or village/neighbourhood council, shall be elected in the same manner as given above for election of nazim of the council.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2015

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SHEIKHUPURA: District Coordination Officer Kiran Khursheed on Friday suspended a doctor from service after an inquiry report declared him guilty of rape.

A heart patient visited a doctor who admitted her to hospital. The doctor on the pretext of giving medicine to the patient called the attendant in his room at midnight and raped her. A watchman witnessed the incident and informed the higher-ups.

The victim’s parents also protested and met the DCO. Medical Superintendent Dr Yousaf Kazmi allegedly tried to conceal the incident and save the doctor but the DCO ordered an inquiry which proved the doctor guilty. He has been terminated from service and barred from doing any government job.

ARREST: A team comprising officials of the livestock department and police arrested two butchers and seized 110 kilogram dead animals meat on Friday.

The raiding team including Dr Wasif and DO Agriculture Abdul Shakoor set up a picket on Faisalabad Road and stopped a wagon laden with meat and caught two butchers Mushtaq and Shafiq.

The Bhiki police registered a case against the butchers and sent them behind the bars.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2015

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ISLAMABAD: The government cut the development budget by about Rs87 billion or 16 per cent during last fiscal year ending June 30, 2015, and yet its budget deficit exceeded the target by 0.4pc of the GDP to 5.3pc.

In its fiscal operations data on fiscal year 2014-15, the ministry of finance confirmed on Friday that the federal and provincial governments actually utilised on development projects Rs987.7bn of the Rs1.175 trillion earmarked in the budget.

It said the federal government’s public sector development programme (PSDP) for 2014-15 concluded at Rs489bn against a budgetary allocation of Rs525bn, showing a shortfall of about 6pc.

The provincial annual development plans (ADP) were also contained at Rs499bn from the budgetary allocation of Rs650bn. The cuts in development projects were imposed to meet the fiscal deficit limit set at 4.9pc of the GDP. The limit was exceeded by a margin of 0.4pc of the GDP.

The finance ministry said the year-long efforts for tax expansion contributed a negligible 0.1pc of the GDP (about Rs27bn). The total revenue during fiscal year 2014-15, stood at 14.4pc of the GDP against 14.3pc of the GDP a year before.

This was despite some improvement in tax revenue. During the last fiscal year it amounted to 11pc of the GDP against 10.1pc of the GDP a year earlier. Non-tax revenue, however, dropped to 3.3pc of the GDP in 2015 from 4.2pc in 2014.

Total expenditure, on the other hand, worked out at 19.7pc of the GDP last year compared to 19.8pc a year earlier. A significant increase was, however, witnessed in current expenditure that rose to 16.2pc of the GDP last year from 15.8pc a year before.

While the defence expenditure remained static at 2.5pc of the GDP, the expenditure on mark-up payments rose to 4.8pc of the GDP in fiscal 2015, compared with 4.5pc a year before.

Development expenditure on the other hand declined to 4.2pc of the GDP last year from 4.9pc of the GDP a year before.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2015

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KARACHI: It is believed that the government has removed the cap on rupee-dollar exchange rate in the inter-bank market on exporters’ demand. They deemed it crucial to keep Pakistani products competitive in the global markets, banking sources told Dawn on Friday.

The local currency witnessed a sharp depreciation of 2.25 per cent against the US dollar in a single-day early this week. It attracted rush of investors and the market demand for the greenback rose sharply.

The sharp devaluation of Chinese yuan was the root cause of the wave of depreciation in the regional currencies including India and Bangladesh -- the three countries are main competitors of Pakistani exports particularly the textile products on the world markets.

While the number of letter of credits (LCs) opened by the importers witnessed a sharp increase during this week, the State Bank had to ask banks to stop forward booking. At the same time, the demand in dollar in open market rose to $8 to $10 million per day while it was about $4-$6m per day in June.

The dollar price seemed to settle at Rs104 in the inter-bank market, an increase of Rs2 within a week.

Bankers said that the dollar may not see any significant fall against the rupee since the countries in the region have adjusted values of their currencies after devaluation of the Chinese yuan.

The market experts believe the yuan would not see any appreciation due to a number of reasons including the slow economic growth of China.

They also said the steep of fall of equity markets across the globe and further cut in the oil prices made the US dollar best option for investment.

Moreover, gold is still not attractive for the investors while other international currencies like euro and British pound have been losing strength against the US dollar.

Banking sources said the State Bank has been trying to hold the dollar below Rs104 and it looks that dollar will not be allowed to gain more in the next couple of months.

They said China devalued its currency after a long time while it was due at least three years before. It is out of question that China will devalue its currency again in near future, they added.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2015

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KARACHI: Banks’ year-on-year earnings growth remained flat in the second quarter (April-June) of this year due to the taxation measures announced in the latest budget, said a research report of Topline Securities.

Besides the retrospective, one-time application of a four per cent “super tax” in FY16 budget, the government also imposed a uniform tax of 35pc on all sources of banks income including dividend income and capital gains.

The new taxation measures led to increase in effective tax rate which kept banks’ bottom line in check.

The impact of increased taxation is also evident from banks’ pre-tax profits which grew by 39pc to Rs88 billion in the quarter under review. Despite a sharp increase in provisioning expense (Rs10.1bn), strong growth in net interest income (NII) and capital gains supported their pre-tax earnings.

Within the big banks, the United Bank Limited (UBL) and MCB Bank pre-tax profits rose 34pc and 28pc, respectively, due to higher PIBs (Pakistan Investment Bonds) holdings, strong growth in fee income, and low cost-to-income ratio.

The NII of the sector increased by 22pc year-on-year to Rs115bn despite a 300bps decline in State Bank’s policy rate during 2014-15.

Non-interest income also remained strong during the quarter, increasing by 49pc to Rs59.3bn, driven by higher capital gains and fee and commission income.

Fee commission income also grew by 23pc to Rs22.6bn due to increasing home remittance business, trade volume, bancassurance and card business.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, profitability of the sector was down by 14pc to Rs41.2bn, largely due to higher effective tax rate. However, pre-tax profits of the banks on a quarterly basis increased by 19pc.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2015

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ISLAMABAD: Inflation for the combined income group fell by 0.06 per cent during the week ended Aug 27 compared to the previous week, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) said on Friday.

The Sensitive Price Indicator (SPI) for the group dropped to 213.57 during the week under review from 213.70. It decreased by 1.23pc when compared with the same week of last year.

The SPI for the lowest income group — earning up to Rs8,000 — decreased by 0.24pc, from 205.32 points in the previous week to 204.82.

The indicator for the income groups earning from Rs8,001-12,000, Rs12,001-18,000 and Rs18,001-35,000 decreased by 0.25pc, 0.12pc and 0.04pc, respectively. However, it remained unchanged for the group earning above Rs35,000.

Average prices of nine items were lower, 19 items higher and 25 items unchanged during the week.

The items whose prices dropped were: tomatoes, bananas, chicken farm (live), potatoes, wheat flour (bag), sugar, wheat, vegetable ghee (pouch) and pulse moong (washed).—APP

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2015

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ISLAMABAD: The Cabinet Committee on Exports and Production on Friday approved the Strategic Trade Policy Framework (STFP) 2015-18 with a total budget of Rs20 billion to boost exports.

The policy targets to increase annual exports to $35 billion by the end of 2018. The support money for the first year of the policy was projected at Rs6 billion.

To remove chances of corruption, the support amount will be disbursed through State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) instead of Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP).

“The SBP will verify export proceeds and issue support money to exporters directly,” a senior official in the commerce ministry told Dawn.

Apparently, there is no role of TDAP in the new policy that is under scrutiny for corruption. The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has established several corruption cases against TDAP officers.

The three-year framework will be the third in a row. Earlier, two policies were not implemented satisfactorily. Sharing details of the new policy, a senior official said that the new policy will be limited in scope which will be implemented through a single statutory regulatory order (SRO) on the day of its announcement.

The focus of the policy, according to the official, will be to nudge businesses towards standardisation and certification. He said the current support on 10 per cent increase in export proceeds will continue in the new policy.

In less developed areas of South Punjab, entire Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, mark-up support will be provided on import of machinery.

The ministry of commerce plans to translate the new policy in Urdu for better understanding of people in less developed areas.

The TDAP is the implementing arm of the commerce ministry, which equally shares the burden of poor implementation of previous policies.

The TDAP lacks expertise in international marketing, the official said.

An official statement issued by the finance ministry said that finance minister at the outset of the meeting underscored the need for identifying and undertaking urgent measures to boost production and exports.

The relevant ministries were directed to immediately finalise their short term targets with corresponding action plans.

The meeting also took stock of the critical issues confronting the agriculture sector, including production constraints, commodity pricing, regulatory framework and input costs.

The committee directed the Ministry of National Food Security and Research to come up with proposals in consultation with provincial governments and relevant federal ministries and present them to the committee in its next meeting.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2015

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LAHORE: Federal Information Minister Pervez Rashid expressed the hope on Friday that PTI chairman Imran Khan would not repeat the mistake of holding another sit-in.

Talking to newsmen here, he said that politics of sit-ins would not earn anything for Imran Khan as any such move by the PTI would meet the same fate as that of the last one.

He said politics Imran Khan introduced on a container in Islamabad had resulted in a big loss to the PTI in by-elections in Haripur and some other areas.

He claimed that the PTI chief would not be able to stage a sit-in this time as nobody would provide him anything on credit because he had not yet paid outstanding bills for loudspeakers hired for the last sit-in.

The PML-N leader said that Imran Khan could never dare contest by-elections as the PML-N had decided to go to the “court of the masses” instead of seeking stay orders from higher courts against recent decisions of election tribunals.

He expressed the hope that voters of Lahore (NA-122) and Lodhran (NA-154) would reject the PTI in by-elections to show that the PTI chairman’s allegations of rigging were false.

About the PTI leader’s demand for resignations of the Election Commission members, the minister said that the PTI’s objection was out of place because it had taken part in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa local government elections and by-elections under the same ECP members while the PTI also took part in Karachi and Haripur by-polls and accepted election results.

He said if an election tribunal’s decision against the PML-N was a “fall of wicket,” then the decision of the Judicial Commission’s inquiry was an “innings defeat” for the PTI.

The PTI chairman did not participate in the proceedings of the Electoral Reforms Committee of the National Assembly due to absence from parliament and his return as parliamentarian was only made possible by Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, he said. “If Mr Khan has any proposal, he should submit it to the committee so that election process can be made more viable and strong.”

In reply to a question, the minister said that Imran Khan should support any change through a constitutional process rather than imposing things by force and coercion. “Any change through coercion would fail.”

In reply to a question about Opposition Leader Syed Khurshid Shah, the minister said that no person would be subjected to any political victimisation in the country under the PML-N government.

To a question about investigation into MQM leader Imran Farooq’s murder, he said that Scotland Yard had independently investigated the case as the crime had taken place in England.

He said some people involved in the case were present in the country and that was why access was given to the Scotland Yard.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2015

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ISLAMABAD: Despite strong concerns from religious quarters, the clean-up operation against madressahs not only continues in Punjab, but has even been expanded into the federal capital.

Senior Islamabad police officials told Dawn that since August 17, joint law enforcement teams had raided five seminaries in the federal capital – in collaboration with intelligence agencies — while police and intelligence officials had verified around 30 seminaries in the city.

This time around, intelligences agencies and the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) are also playing a key role in the fresh wave of checks, searches and raids that were launched after the assassination of Punjab home minister, retired Col Shuja Khanzada, in Attock on Aug 16.

Such action came into the spotlight after a late night raid at Jamia Haqqania, located along Eighth Avenue, near Faisal Mosque, last Thursday.

Capital police being kept out of the loop to ensure secrecy; seminary board claims only Deobandi madressahs being targeted in latest wave of raids

“We cannot disclose details, but apart from Jamia Haqqania, raids have also been conducted in Sabzi Mandi, Bani Gala and Koral police precincts,” a senior Islamabad police official said, on condition of anonymity.

But in contrast with earlier trends, where law enforcement agencies would only check or screen seminaries that had close links with the Lal Masjid, the Jamia Haqqania is affiliated with Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s faction of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (JUI-F).

“This is strange, because we have never been involved in anti-state or terrorist activities; the raid at Jamia Haqqania was part of a conspiracy to defame us,” Mufti Abdullah, the secretary general of the JUI-F’s Islamabad chapter, said.

Meanwhile, Maulana Abdul Qudus Mohammadi, a spokesman for Wafaqul Madaris al Arabia — the board that manages the affairs of seminaries belonging to the Deobandi school of thought – claimed that this latest wave of checks and raids has only targeted their madressahs.

“We held a meeting with Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif just one day before the raid at Jamia Haqqania, where we informed him of our concerns, but he didn’t seem serious,” Maulana Abdul Qudus said.

However, he hastened to add that madressah administrations were cooperating with the government during the search operations.

“The Margalla SHO came to Jamia Haqqania on Thursday afternoon – he had lunch there and looked at the registers etc. So the raid at midnight was unwarranted,” he added.

Apart from the Wafaqul Madaris al-Arabia, only Shia clerics have expressed concerns over the government’s move against seminaries.

“There have not been any raids on our seminaries in Islamabad, but several raids have been conducted in Punjab,” said Nusrat Ali of the Wafaq al Madaris al-Shia.

“What we deplore is not the raids, but the fact that this action is only eyewash, a number’s game. If they catch a terrorist from a banned group affiliated with another sect, then one of our seminaries is also raided. This is done to show that the operation is fair across the board,” Mr Ali said.

However, he acknowledged that most of the Shia seminaries that were raided were affiliated with Allama Sajid Naqvi’s Shia Ulema Council (SUC). Officials claim that the SUC is a reincarnation of the Tehreek-e-Jaferia Pakistan (TJP), which was banned in 2002.

Officials of the Tanzeemul Madaris Ahle Sunnat Pakistan – the board that looks after seminaries from the Barelvi school of thought – and the Wafaqul Madaris al-Salfia, the board for Ahle Hadis seminaries, said that none of their seminaries had been searched or raided in Islamabad and Punjab.

Authorities said that they plan to continue the raids over the coming days.

“The decision has been taken at a very high level and the raids are conducted only if the information we have is credible,” an Islamabad-based intelligence officer told Dawn, on condition of anonymity.

“In all these raids, Islamabad police have been kept in the dark to ensure secrecy.”

An official from the Islamabad administration told Dawn that clerics had been using various pretexts, including religious diatribes, in order to weaken the government’s resolve.

“These seminaries still don’t understand that they can no longer flout the writ of the government as they did in the past,” he said, adding that the best option for madressahs would be to streamline their systems in accordance with the law and register themselves.

“Several decisions were taken unanimously after the Army Public School attack, but thus far, only the madressahs seem to be resisting the requirements of the National Action Plan,” the official said, referring to the refusal by the five madressah boards to cooperate with the government on reforms.

The last meeting between the senior officer-bearers of the five boards – representing seminaries belonging to the Barelvi, Shia, Deobandi and Ahle Hadis sects, as well as the Jamaat-i-Islami – and the government was held in February 2015, after which the seminaries suspended the talks.

However, since NAP was put into motion, the records of only a dozen seminaries have been checked by Islamabad police.

“The only key activity carried out was the inspection of Jamia Fareedia in E-7, just ahead of the March 23 parade, by paramilitary units,” an intelligence official said, adding that, “We have responses from the Islamabad police saying that the interior ministry has not been giving them permission to even check seminaries’ records.”

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2015

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KARACHI: Stocks continued to regain lost ground on Friday, adding 486.18 points (1.43 per cent) to the KSE-100 index which closed at 34,447.47.

Analyst Arhum Ghous at JS Global stated that oil sector led the rally due to the biggest recovery in global oil price since 2009. As a result, POL, PSO, OGDC and PPL climbed by 5pc, 3pc, 4.7pc and 5pc, respectively.

Cement sector remained strong on the back of improved gross margins due to lower coal price as MLCF, PIOC and DGKC were up by 4.8pc, 4.9pc and 4.7pc, respectively.

Fertilisers remained in the green zone after the news that its consumption increased by 18pc year-on-year in first three months of current summer crop season.

Analyst Ahsan Mehanti observed that speculations ahead of CPI inflation data for Aug 2015, upbeat fertilisers consumption and stable economic outlook played a catalyst role in bullish close.

Over the week, the KSE-100 index fell 73 points (0.21pc).

Dealers at Topline Securities said that the week witnessed intense volatility in line with regional equities and commodities market.

The 8pc drop in Chinese market had the domino effect on other markets. Yet the rate cut and change in reserve requirement ratios by China were the catalyst for recovery in global markets, helping KSE to recover much of the mammoth loss (4.1pc) suffered on Monday.

Foreign portfolio outflow during the week amounted to $42.2 million. In the current month, foreign sales stood at the huge order of $79.9m while their year-to-date net selling amounts to $175.7m. Mutual funds were major sellers of $15m equity during the week.

Analysts at AKD Securities said that the week was marred by heightened volatility and prevalence of adverse external factors.

Published in Dawn, August 29th, 2015

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