ISLAMABAD: The Islam­abad High Court was informed on Thursday that the sentencing to death of a convict in connection with the April 2012 Bannu jailbreak had been challenged in a military court of appeal.

This was stated by Raja Khalid Mehmood Khan, standing counsel for the federal government, during the hearing of a petition seeking a copy of the trial proceedings of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s military court which had sentenced Tahir Khan, a resident of Bannu, to death.

After hearing the petition filed by Mir Shah Khan, father of the convict, Justice Noorul Haq N. Qureshi of the IHC issued a stay order against the execution till the filing of a detailed report regarding the whereabouts of Tahir because the father was claiming that his son had been missing for a year.

Know more: Jailbreak convict’s father challenges military court verdict

Raja Khalid informed the court that the appeal against the conviction filed in the military court of appeal was pending for adjudication. He said the father or any blood relative of Tahir could meet him at the detention centre after meeting the requirements.

As per official record, Tahir was involved in attacking/breaking the Bannu jail during which a number of terrorists managed to escape. He was also accused of having been involved in attacks on law-enforcement personnel in which one soldier was killed and another injured.

He confessed to the offence before a magistrate and trial court. He was tried on three charges and sentenced to death.

In April 2012, more than 200 heavily armed Taliban militants had attacked the central jail in Bannu. Among those freed by the attackers was Adnan Rashid, a former junior technician of the Pakistan Air Force allegedly involved in plotting the murder of former military ruler Gen Pervez Musharraf.

Justice Noorul Haq directed the standing counsel to submit the record and other details about Tahir Khan as early as possible so that the court could decide the matter.

When Raja Khalid sought 15 days for filing the record, the court at the request of Babar Awan, the counsel for the petitioner, directed the authorities concerned to stop the execution till further orders.

The court adjourned the hearing to Oct 5, but when the standing counsel, after a brief interval, provided some information, Justice Noorul Haq directed the registrar office to fix the matter on Sept 18 (today).

Babar Awan informed the court that despite a lapse of one week, the federal government had failed to submit any document relating to the conviction or whereabouts of Tahir.

Raja Khalid said he had contacted the interior ministry, Punjab Rangers, Federal Investigation Agency and senior superintendent of police but could not get any information about Tahir.

But Justice Noorul Haq said:“How could you get the information when you did not contact the relevant authorities. How much time do you need to furnish the record?”

Raja Khalid requested the court to adjourn the matter at least for a fortnight so that he could submit a comprehensive report.

Babar Awan suggested that the federal government might be given as much time as it required to collect details, but in the meanwhile they must assure the court that the convict would not be executed till disposal of the petition.

The standing counsel said he needed to seek instructions from the government for the assurance.

Justice Noorul Haq then dictated the order and stayed the execution. He observed that had the government submitted the relevant information, the court would have issued an appropriate order on the petition.

When the counsel informed the court about the response he had received from the interior ministry about the convict, the court put off the hearing to Friday and directed him to submit a written report.

On Sept 2, the Inter-Services Public Relations announced that Army Chief General Raheel Sharif had approved the death sentence of five ‘hardcore terrorists’. Tahir was one of them.

Mir Shah Khan, a labourer in the fruit and vegetable market, claimed in the petition that the military officials had tried his son without providing him an opportunity of defence. He said the military authorities had not allowed him to meet his son which was a violation of fundamental rights.

He claimed that Tahir had been abducted in February last year by some unknown persons and the matter was also reported to the Bannu police, but to no avail.

Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2015

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ISLAMABAD: The Executive Board of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) decided on Thursday to initiate action against some high-profile individuals, including a former auditor general of Pakistan (AGP) and some current and former lawmakers.

The decisions included the filing of a reference, four complaint verifications, five inquiries and two investigations against holders of public and private offices, involving irregularities to the tune of over Rs10 billion.

A meeting of the board presided over by NAB chief Qamar Zaman Chaudhry decided to initiate an inquiry against ex-AGP Akhtar Buland Rana as well as carrying out complaint verifications against PML-N MNA Syed Iftikharul Hassan and former Sindh minister Syed Ali Nawaz Shah, the bureau’s spokesperson told Dawn.

Also read: Sound byte: ‘FIA, NAB can’t be franchised to provincial govt’

The meeting also decided to close action against former PCB chief Zaka Ashraf and resolved to take no further action against Arif Hameed, the former SNGPL managing director, due to a lack of incriminating evidence.

Ex-PCB chairman, MD SNGPL ‘off the hook’; former Wapda chief gets plea bargain

The bureau also approved a plea bargain deal with 85-year-old ex-Wapda chairman, retired Lt Gen Zahid Ali Akbar, who had agreed to pay back nearly Rs200 million to the bureau in a decade-old case related to the illegal transfer of state property in Lahore.

The meeting approved the filing of a reference against Matloob Ahmed Khan, former chairman of the Hyderabad Railway Employees Cooperative Housing Society and its former administrator Abdul Sattar Laghari; Naveed Zarar Khan, former managing director of the Sindh Cooperative Society; Hyderabad Development Authority’s Director General Ghulam Mohammad Qaimkhani, Director Mohammad Iqbal Memon and Deputy Director Shahid Pervaiz Memon.

They are accused of corruption and corrupt practices that cost the national exchequer Rs1.84bn.

The board also authorised a number of complaint verifications (CV), the first being against PML-N MNA Syed Iftikharul Hassan, Sarfraz Shah and others for misuse of authority and accruing illegal financial benefits.

The second CV approved was against former Sindh agriculture minister Ali Nawaz Shah and Agha Zafrullah Durrani, director general of Sindh’s Agricultural Engineering & Water Management wing. They are accused of misusing authority and giving illegal orders to officials of the Sindh On-Farm Water Management.

The third CV authorised was against former Punjab minister Zaheeruddin and Akhtar Ali, a former town nazim from Faisalabad, for misuse of authority by illegally acquiring government land by manipulating the revenue record.

The forth CV was authorised against officers from the Ministry of Industries and Production. In this case, the officers are accused of being involved in corruption to the tune of Rs3bn.

The board also authorised five inquiries, including against former AGP Akhtar Buland Rana; Federal Urdu University of Arts, Science and Technology’s ex-vice chancellor, Dr Zafar Iqbal; Dr Joseph Wilson, a former acting chairman of the Competition Commission of Pakistan; former Sindh wildlife minister Gayan Chand; ex-forests secretary Waseem Ahmed Ursani and ex-chief conservator of forests Riaz Ahmed Wagan.

A fifth inquiry was authorised against officers of the federal ministries of commerce and industries for causing a loss of Rs2.10bn to the national exchequer.

The meeting also authorised two investigations – one against Abid Javed Akbar, former chairman of the National Insurance Corporation Limited; GM Finance Muhammad Zahoor; Executive Director Ejaz A. Khan; Manager Investment Shahab Siddiqui and First Dawood Investment Bank Limited (FDIBL) Chairman Rafique Dawood. They are accused of misusing authority by making irregular investments of Rs100m in FDIBL.

The second investigation was authorised against officials of the National Transmission and Dispatch Company, power distribution companies’ chief executives, directors of Distribution Transformers Manufacturers and others. They are accused of causing losses to the national exchequer by giving undue benefit to transformer manufacturers at the cost of state exchequer.

In a Rs3.632bn case, the meeting decided to re-authorise an inquiry against owners of private firm GLOBACO (now Orange Holdings), the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) Lahore and private company LANDCO, a subsidiary of DHA.

In an inquiry against Capital Development Authority (CDA) officers and the management of Multi Professional Cooperative Housing Society, NAB decided to refer the case to the CDA with directions to report the final settlement in the light of a judgment of the Supreme Court.

Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2015

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VIENNA: Pakistan envisages nuclear power generation capacity of 40,000 Mega Watts (MW) under its Nuclear Energy Vision 2050 Chairman Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission Muhammad Naeem said, Radio Pakistan reported.

Addressing the 59th International Atomic Energy Agency General Conference in Vienna, Naeem said that the PAEC has chalked out a plan to generate 8,000MW of electricity through nuclear means in order to help the country overcome its energy crisis.

Read: 8,900MW nuclear power generation planned

He said the PAEC was also providing peaceful applications of nuclear technology to the masses in the form of 18 oncology hospitals where approximately 80 per cent of the country's cancer patients were treated annually.

He said the PAEC also plans to expand its services by setting up more nuclear medical centres in the future.

Also read: Karachi's citizens fear 'nuclear nightmare'

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Law and Justice was told on Thursday that human rights violations are on the rise in the country and that during 2014-15 around 20,665 such cases were reported of which 3,536 were registered with the police.

However, the Minister for Law, Justice and Human rights Pervez Rashid claimed that his ministry has nothing to do with any human rights violations as after 18th amendment it has become provincial matter.

Moreover, Rashid held media responsible for exposing human rights violations and said media does not see positive things in the society as due attention is paid by his ministry on cases which are brought into its notice.

The committee was given a comprehensive briefing by senior officials of Ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights on the state of human rights in the country.

Editorial: Human rights report card

The officials shared appalling facts and figures saying that “around 33 cases of missing persons, 1,547 cases of murder, 65 cases of extra judicial killings, 172 cases of targeted killings, 200 cases of rape, 34 cases of domestic violence and four cases of sexual harassment were reported”.

The ministry officials, however, apprised the committee that directives have been given to police and other concerned departments to take extra steps for the protection of human rights in the country.

The secretary for law and justice commission, Sarwar Khan, told the committee that the biggest hurdle in the way of providing cheap justice is the shortage of lower judiciary in towns and smaller cities.

Justice (retd) Raza Khan, the secretary at ministry of law, admitted the shortage of judges in the lower judiciary.

He said the relatives of prisoners on death sentences are sending letters to the law ministry for delaying the executions.

ISLAMABAD: The Senate’s standing committee on finance accused the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) on Thursday of harassing taxpayers.

“I was ready to ‘give tea and water (a reference to a small amount paid as bribe)’ to FBR officials but they demanded the huge amount of Rs7.5 million to rectify the incorrect tax imposed on me,” Senator Ilyas Bilour told a committee meeting.

“The case was related to the tax relief given by the previous government to industries in Khyber Pakhtu­nkhwa. Finally, I approached the high court and got relief,” Mr Bilour said.

Senator Saud Majeed said the FBR had declared him a tax defaulter despite repeated attempts to convince tax officials that he was not a defaulter.

“So I went to the FBR chairman and told him that I am a Senator... I asked him if anybody could be declared a defaulter under the given conditions. The chairman said the officials had taken a wrong decision because they had become confused due to their workload.”

The two senators recalled their personal experiences when the committee was discussing amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Act 2010.

The amendments were introduced by the government to describe fiscal offences as crimes related to money laundering.

Members of the committee objected to the amendments and said that money laundering meant attempts to whiten ill-gotten money whereas tax evasion was already a crime under the law.

They raised several questions over bringing tax evasion under the purview of the AML Act.

The committee’s chairman, Salim Mandviwala, said the amendments did not clearly specify fiscal offences and, therefore, it could lead to more harassment at the hands of the FBR and even the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

An official of the finance ministry said the amendments had been introduced to reflect Pakistan’s commitment to strengthening the existing anti-money laundering regime.

“The amendments are meant to meet the international standards as prescribed by the Financial Action Task Force,” said Muneeb Zia, an adviser to the ministry.

He said the AML regime should not be taken as a tool to recover taxes but as a law aimed at catching criminals.

His statement drew harsh reactions from the committee members.

“There is a need to inform us about the directives or demands of the international agencies, including the International Monetary Fund,” Senator Fateh Mohammad Mohamma­dhasni said.

Senator Bilour said that Pakistan should not be “too obedient” to international agencies as the past experience showed that the practice had not brought any good to the nation.

However, the committee decided to discuss inclusion of the provision of tax fraud in the AML Act.

Discussing another agenda item, the committee remained clueless about whereabouts of the original documents relating to privatisation of the Muslim Commercial Bank.

An official of the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) said that neither the bureau nor the State Bank possessed the papers.

He said the finance ministry must be having the documents but officials of the ministry denied his claim, leaving the committee members groping in the dark.

Since Senator Saeed Ghani, the most well-informed member of the committee on the issue, and the relevant director general of NAB have gone to Saudi Arabia to perform Haj, the committee decided to discuss the issue at the next meeting in Oct in the presence of the chairman and the DG of NAB, the governor of the State Bank and the finance secretary.

Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2015

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KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah on Thursday claimed Pakistan Peoples Party had been serving the masses for the past four decades, adding that recent allegations of corruption were “baseless and ill-intended.”

“Our opponents and critics are levelling baseless allegations of corruption just to discredit our performance and sacrifices,” said Shah during a ‘surprise’ visit to the old city areas of the metropolis, according to a handout by the CM’s office.

During his visit to the District South, the chief minister was accompanied by senior officials of city administration.

Shah said “corruption is not a phenomenon limited to Sindh or Pakistan,” adding that it was a global phenomenon.

“The drum beating of corruption is aimed at defaming and discrediting the elected governments.”

The chief minister termed the masses as better judges of PPP’s performance. “Had we not served them they wouldn’t have voted PPP to power again and again.”

“We are going to establish an Ehtesab Commission of Sindh. It would be made so strong and effective that it would not spare any corrupt element. It is my commitment with the people of Sindh,” the chief minister reiterated.

Replying to a question, Shah said private schools had been asked to reduce their fees, otherwise action would be taken against them accordingly.

“I have respect for educational institutions and their teaching staff. I cannot deny their role in spreading quality education and improving the literacy ratio. But I have complaints against them since they are turning this prophetic profession into a profit-making business,” he deplored.

This he said while talking to media at Golimar Chowrangi during his visit to District South.

The chief minister paid a surprise visit to the old areas of the city including Pakistan Chowk, Timber Market, Ghasmandi, Ranchhor Lane, Garden, Golimar and Rizvia Chowrangi.

At Ranchhor Lane, the chief minister came out of his vehicle and met residents and heard their grievances.

The people of the area gathered around him and told him about their problems which included cleanliness issues, water shortage and encroachment.

The chief minister expressed displeasure on the issues of cleanliness and directed the DMC South to remove the heaps of garbage from the area, warning of strict action otherwise.

“I would be visiting different areas of the city and will personally monitor the performance of the officers,” he said.

He also directed the provincial police chief to improve traffic management in old areas.

“This problem would be solved if encroachments are removed,” he said, and directed the minister for local government to evolve close coordination between traffic police and local bodies.

Shah inspected the development works such as construction of sewerage system at Golimar and ongoing work on Golimar flyover/underpass.

The chief minister directed authorities to complete the project as soon as possible in the larger interest of the people of Karachi.

Shah was accompanied by Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Shah, Commissioner Karachi Shoaib Siddiqui, Administrator KMC Sajjid Abbasi, MD Water Board Misbahuddin and others.

DERA MURAD JAMALI: Security forces destroyed two hideouts of a banned militant organisation in Babar Kach area of the Sibbi district on Thursday.

A Frontier Corps official said that FC troops along with intelligence personnel raided the Babar Kach area on a tip-off and destroyed two hideouts of militants.

During the search, two vehicles of the militants were also destroyed and 300 bags of wheat were seized.

However, no arrest was reported.

Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2015

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QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch has asked the youth and political workers to pay more attention to reading books because wisdom could only come by going through literature.

“The 21st century is the century of knowledge and technology. We have no other option but to acquire knowledge, pay full attention to reading books and make progress,” he said.

The chief minister was speaking at the launching ceremony of author Abdul Manan’s book “History, in the context of terminologies” at the Quetta Press Club on Thursday.

He recalled that Balochistan, particularly Quetta, used to be the hub of booklovers till the 1980s when bookshops in the city had stocks of all kinds of books.

“We need to do more research, write books and come up with intellectual criticism. Great are those who read books, think and then write; we should promote literature and create a tendency of reading books,” he said.

The CM said his government was making all possible efforts to help writers and literary people. He appreciated the work of Mr Manan, saying he was a committed political worker who always demonstrated his love for books and promotion of literature. Leaders of National Party Dr Yaseen Baloch, Tahir Bizenjo, Abdul Manan and others also spoke.

Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2015

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LAHORE: A monsoon depression over India which is moving towards Pakistan and an approaching westerly wave are expected to generate widespread rain in the country, very heavy at places, causing exceptionally high flood in Chenab and Jhelum rivers from Sept 21 to 25, according to the Flood Forecasting Division (FFD).

The FFD said on Thursday that widespread rain, with heavy to very heavy rainfall at scattered places and extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places, is expected over lower and upper catchments of Sutlej, Ravi, Chenab and Jhelum rivers from Sept 20 to 24.

As a result, exceptionally high floods are expected in Chenab and Jhelum rivers from Sept 21 to 25. The flood situation in Sutlej and Ravi rivers will depend on the discharges from Indian reservoirs. Exceptionally high flood situation is also expected in the nullahs of Ravi and Chenab rivers during the same period.

The Pakistan Meteorological Department had on Wednesday said a westerly wave was likely to enter upper parts of Pakistan during the weekend and some post-monsoon currents were expected to penetrate in south-eastern parts of the country during the same time.

Under the influence of these meteorological conditions, scattered rain with dust-thundershower is expected in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Malakand, Hazara, Peshawar, Mardan, Kohat, Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan divisions), Fata, Islamabad, Punjab (Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Lahore, Sargodha, Faisalabad, Sahiwal, Bahawalpur, Multan and Dera Ghazi Khan divisions), Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir from Sunday to Tuesday.

Scattered rain-thunderstorm is also expected in eastern parts of Sindh (Mirpurkhas, Sukkur, Shaheed Benazirabad and Hyderabad divisions) from Saturday to Monday.

Isolated heavy falls are also expected in Sukkur, Mirpurkhas and Bahawalpur divisions on Sunday and Monday and in Sahiwal, Lahore and Gujranwala divisions on Monday to Tuesday.

Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2015

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ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will address the annual United Nations General Assembly on September 30 and details of the visit are still being chalked out, Foreign Office spokesman Syed Qazi Khalilullah said on Thursday.

"The prime minister's speech before UNGA is being finalised," the spokesman said at a weekly news briefing in Islamabad.

The spokesman expressed concern over Line of Control (LoC) violations and asked India to honour ceasefire agreement between the two countries.

Read: Pakistani soldier dies in LoC firing

Qazi Khaliullah said Pakistan wanted to become member of Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and efforts are underway in this regard.

The Foreign Office spokesman said that Pakistan condemns Israeli aggression against Palstinians during recent clashes in and around Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound.

Also read: Israeli police enter Al Aqsa mosque compound

He also reiterated Pakistan's stance on the issue calling upon the UN Security Council to adopt a resolution setting timelines and parameters for establishing an independent, viable and contiguous state of Palestine, based on the pre-1967 borders, with Jerusalem as its capital.

ISLAMABAD: Rejecting written apologies of Salman Iqbal, the chief executive of a private television network, and anchorperson Mubashir Lucman, the Supreme Court ordered the attorney general on Thursday to make arrangements for screening “scandalous and defamatory programmes” aired by the channel against the judiciary.

A three-judge bench, headed by Justice Ejaz Afzal, had taken up a contempt case against Mr Iqbal and Mr Lucman for airing a talk show on ARY’s ‘Khara Such’ programme on May 29 last year.

Take a look: SC indicts ARY CEO, anchorperson in contempt case

In the programme, Mr Lucman had levelled a number of defamatory allegations against former chief justice Jawwad S. Khawaja – his close relationship with Mir Shakeelur Rehman, the owner of Geo TV network, and the sale of a property in Lahore to the Punjab government by the wife of the judge.

The court had on Jan 5 indicted Mr Iqbal and Mr Lucman on contempt charges. The matter had been brought to the notice of the apex court by Advocate Taufeeq Asif.

Orders screening of scandalous programmes aired by the channel against judiciary

“You should have contested the case instead of tendering the apology,” observed Justice Ijaz Chaudhry, a member of the bench, while pointing to Advocate Anwar Mansoor, the counsel for Salman Iqbal.

“Recalling the programme, don’t you think a judge of this court was ridiculed,” Justice Afzal regretted. “If we examine it, by all means the statements made in the programmes against the judge were derogatory,” he said.

The counsel explained that his client never intended to scandalise the judiciary and whatever happened was unintentional. Mr Iqbal admitted that certain utterances were made against the judiciary, the counsel said. But he explained that being CEO of five different channels of ARY, it was very difficult for Mr Iqbal to control or monitor the contents of each and every programme.

Mr Mansoor said his client had told Mr Lucman not to repeat the same mistake.

But the court asked the counsel to substantiate in black and white that the anchorperson had been censured.

The court asked Attorney General Salman Aslam Butt to make arrangements on Oct 13 to screen all the slanderous talk shows of Mr Lucman aired after May 29.

DEFAMATORY BANNERS: Refe­rring to the brazen display of defamatory and critical banners against the former chief justice in Islamabad, Deputy Attorney General Sajid Ilyas Bhatti informed the court that the capital police had filed two challans against 10 of the 12 accused in the relevant court, even though the accused Mr Salman and Mr Lucman had sought pre-arrest bail from courts.

Except for Mohammad Rashid, the principal accused, and painters Mohammad Nasir and Mohammad Shafique Butt, the other seven accused work for ARY TV in different positions.

The defamatory banners had popped up in the red zone area and other parts of Islamabad on the night of May 22 last year. Sponsored by an unknown organisation, “Farzand-i-Islam”, the banners made serious allegations against the former chief justice.

A report submitted on behalf of the Additional Inspector General of Police (operations), Islamabad, Mohammad Suleman, said a special investigation team (SIT) had investigated the case minutely, recorded statements of the persons concerned, arrested the accused and filed challans against them.

According to the report, the investigations suggested that abetment had been found in the case of Mr Lucman, after which attempts were made to arrest the anchorperson but he managed to get an interim bail from a court.

The SIT concluded that all the accused, except the abettors involved in placing the banners, had been arrested and sent to judicial custody. During investigations, the report said, no evidence came on record to substantiate the fact that any other person was also involved other than the 12 accused.

As desired by the apex court, a discreet probe had also been carried out during which it transpired that no objectionable banners were displayed within the red zone, though they were placed outside it.

But the court, on the objection of Advocate Sheikh Ehsanuddin that police had failed to arrest the mastermind behind the episode, ordered that the police report be provided to the counsel so that he could file his objections after going through it.

Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2015

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ISLAMABAD: Three Pakistani civilians were killed on Thursday when Indian Border Security Forces (BSF) resorted to 'unprovoked' firing across the Line of Control (LoC) in Nakyal sector.

“Indian firing had been intense and ferocious for two hours, but the intensity has subsided now,” said Nazakat Hussain, assistant commissioner in Nakyal.

He added that a 12-year old girl, Laiba Shabbir, died in Oli village, while a 55-year old man, Sufi Amin, and a 19-year old boy, Zahid, died in Mohra Dharoti village after mortar shells landed on their homes.

The assistant commissioner added that the number of casualties could be higher, but the administration was unable to ascertain details from the vulnerable areas due to continued Indian firing.

A statement released by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) added that Indian forces also resorted to unprovoked firing in Kotli sector.

Pakistani troops have responded in a befitting manner to Indian firing. The statement also stated that the exchange of firing continues at Nakyal and Kotli sectors.

Read: India violates LoC ceasefire despite recent promises of peace: ISPR

Earlier this week, Pakistan lodged a strong protest with India over the latest LoC violations and asked the Indian government to respect the ceasefire agreement.

Pakistan urged India to independently hold an inquiry into the latest violations and share its findings with Pakistan.

The Foreign Office also asked India not to target civilian populations along the LOC.

The latest bout of border skirmish follows a bi-annual meeting between commanders of Pakistan's Rangers and India's Border Security Force, in which the two sides had agreed to stop border violations along the LoC, check smuggling and ensure expeditious repatriation of those who inadvertently cross borders.

Tens of thousands of soldiers are massed on either side of Kashmir, one of the world's most militarised regions, and in recent months they have stepped up cross-border firing.

ISLAMABAD: Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has said that politicians who have been questioning the LNG imports are corrupt.

Defending the government plan to import LNG, he said at a news conference, his fourth on the subject in as many days, that several important leaders had hurled allegations of corruption. “Today I say these accusers themselves are corrupt. They should come forward and respond now.”

He said there could be mistakes and procedural lapses because “we are inept people, but we have done everything according to law and nobody can accuse us of corruption”.

Know more: Oil mafia tried to bribe me on LNG: minister

He said he had written two letters to heads of political parties saying that the LNG import was an issue of national importance and they should come up with a proposal if the commodity could be imported at cheaper rates and the government could benefit from such offers. There was no response, but political statements were still pouring in, he added.

Mr Abbasi said three governments, including one of martial law, over the past 10 years had made five failed attempts to import LNG, but the present government had succeeded in doing it within 20 months. This was now being consumed by the power sector, fertiliser and CNG, while industry and housing societies are not approaching the government for LNG supplies.

He said given the fact that domestic gas reserves were fast depleting and all sectors like fertiliser, electricity and transport were suffering. LNG imports, he added, would be a game-changer for Pakistan because domestic gas production stood at four billion cubic feet per day, while the demand had more than doubled.

Repeating his claim that the oil mafia had offered him big amounts as bribe and warned him against pursuing LNG imports, he said previous governments failed perhaps because of such threats and offers of bribe.

He said the PML-N government saved $400 million by running 600MW diesel-based power plants on LNG this year. These plants remained closed last year. He said $1bn could be saved annually if 1,800MW of diesel-based plants were run on LNG at full capacity and in case of furnace-oil based plants the saving would be $600m.

Moreover, he said that if three new power plants of 3,600MW to be set up by the current government were run on LNG they would generate 30bn units annually and save Rs200bn.

The minister claimed that electricity generated through LNG in Pakistan in 2017 would be cheapest in the world.

He said the price at which he had been able to import LNG was the cheapest in Asia, including Japan. Japan imports 80m tons a year against Pakistan’s 1.5m tons import and its LNG price was lower than that proposed for Iranian and Turkmenistan gas.

The minister said Kuwait used the money earned from its oil exports to generate LNG-based electricity at home, while Egypt imported LNG for power generation because of its lower cost.

Answering a question, Mr Abbasi said a long-term contract had been finalised with Qatar Gas and after its formal signing he would be available for accountability at all forums.

He said Pakistan had so far imported 11 cargoes of LNG at $7.5-7.7 per million British thermal unit through spot purchases, while Japan bought it at $8.

He said the petroleum ministry had feared teething problems at the outset and hence committed only 200mmcfd of LNG for the first year under the terminal agreement with Engro, otherwise the terminal had the capacity to process 600mmcfd.

He said that despite a number of problems, LNG imports were only half a ship behind schedule as 11 ships had been imported and 13 more would be arriving by the end of March next year.

The minister said terminal charges in Pakistan were lowest among about 40 similar terminals across the globe. The terminal contract was not changed after the bidding as was the case with many past agreements. He said additional LNG imports would make three major power plants of 3,600MW operational in summer 2017, resulting in almost no loadshedding. The plants would have the highest guaranteed efficiency of 52.5 per cent so far secured in Pakistan, he said.

Mr Abbasi said the government could secure cheaper LNG through negotiations but was constrained by procurement rules that required bidding which had peculiar problems with a product like LNG.

He said Pakistan needed over 15m tons of LNG a year, including 5m tons for three power projects. The country was importing about 1.5m tons and it would go up to 3m tons next year.

Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2015

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KARACHI: Police on Thursday claimed to have arrested from Karachi an Afghanistan-trained militant who was planning to carry out a terror act at the Kamra airbase in Punjab.

Counter-Terrorism Department SSP Junaid Ahmed Shaikh said police arrested Umer Hayat alias Darvesh from MPR Colony, Orangi, on a tip off. He said the suspect was associated with Tehreek-i-Imarat Islamia, Afghanistan.

Speaking at press conference at his office, the SSP said the held suspect is also a suicide bomber who had allegedly trained two suicide bombers identified as Raz Mohammed and Taj Mohammed.

“The purported suicide bombers had been sent to Punjab to carry out a terror act at the Kamra airbase,” said the official.

“But they failed due to extensive security arrangements there and returned back to Karachi.”

The suspect was also planning to carry out terror attacks on Eidgahs in Karachi during Eidul Azha, in addition to planning attacks on military installations in the metropolis.

“He is an expert in preparing suicide jackets and brainwashing suicide bombers,” said the CTD officer.

The held suspect received training from Afghanistan and also fought there, said the officer, adding that he was also allegedly involved in deadly terror acts against law enforcers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

“He basically hailed from KP and came to Karachi after the devastating earthquake in 2005.”

The SSP said the suspect’s team consisted of 50 members.

“He has given names of seven hardcore militants and forces are carrying out operations to arrest them to foil their nefarious designs,” said the police officer.

ISLAMABAD: President Mamnoon Hussain has said that welfare of citizens is the responsibility of the state and Article 38 of the constitution ensures promotion of social and economic wellbeing of all citizens.

He was speaking at the launching ceremony of the first evaluation report of the BISP’s impact organised at the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) secretariat on Thursday.

The BISP is playing a key role for the welfare of the poor and most vulnerable section of population, said the president.

He said there was nothing more satisfying and rewarding than knowing the fact that our meagre efforts were bringing change to the lives of millions of families across Pakistan.

Take a look: Allocation for BISP to be increased: Dar

He said that with the right approach, increased budget and implementation of focused policies, the BISP had truly become a pride of Pakistan as it was the largest social safety net initiative in South Asia and one of the largest around the world.

Earlier, BISP chairperson MNA Marvi Memon highlighted the achievements of the organisation.

Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2015

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ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the Prime Minister on Foreign Affairs and National Security Sartaj Aziz on Thursday said United State's defence cooperation with India was enhancing imbalance in South Asia, adding that Pakistan's reservations in this regard have been conveyed to the Unites States, Radio Pakistan reported.

Sartaj Aziz said Pakistan had also conveyed to the United States that conventional and non-conventional imbalance in South Asia should be considered while entering into any sort of defence cooperation with India.

“It is becoming clear that America is preparing India to reduce the influence of China in the region.”

“Pakistan's cooperation with China is development-oriented and India has no business objecting to it. Pakistan is fully capable of safeguarding its interests and sovereignty.”

The adviser on foreign affairs made it clear that whenever dialogue with India resumes, the two countries will discuss all issues including the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir.

“There can be talks on all issues but no issue would be discussed in isolation on India's demand.”

Aziz said for the first time ever Pakistan has prepared a “formal dossier regarding Indian interference in Pakistan” which would be taken to the United Nations for presentation.

“India accuses non-state actors from Pakistan of meddling in Indian affairs. But Indian state actors are interfering in Pakistan.”

The adviser said Pakistan will highlight the Kashmir issue at the United Nations and other forums, adding that bilateralism envisaged in the Shimla Agreement failed to achieve any progress.

Similarly, he said, Pakistan had conveyed to India it will not entertain Indian objections to meetings with Kashmiri leaders because “Kashmiris are genuine stakeholders in the dispute.”

The adviser said Pakistan would not ask India for any meeting during the prime minister's visit to the United Nations.

“It was New Delhi which cancelled talks between national security advisers of the two countries. So it is on India to initiate the process.”

Responding to points raised by some members, Sataj Aziz said that during the recent meeting between the director generals of Pakistani Rangers and the Indian Border Security Force (BSF), the two sides agreed to discuss ceasefire violations on the Working Boundary.

“Now India is resorting to violations on the Line of Control and is using the pretext of infiltration for its cross-LoC firing.”

ISLAMABAD: The draft cybercrime bill was forcefully cleared by the National Assembly Standing Committee on Information Technology on Thursday and sent to the National Assembly for final approval without showing the members the copy of the bill.

The Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill 2015 had become controversial as critics believed it curtailed civil liberties. In January 2015, the Ministry of IT submitted the bill to the National Assembly for voting. However, it was referred to the standing committee to address concerns raised by the opposition members and stakeholders from the industry.

Opposition leaders and local NGOs believed the proposed bill was too harsh and curbed human rights besides giving abusive powers to law enforcement agencies. Representatives from the industry argued that the bill would harm their businesses.

According to critics, the proposed bill criminalised minor activities such as sending text messages without the receiver’s consent or criticising government actions on the social media punishable with fines and long-term imprisonments.

Latest draft not shared with committee members before final approval

When the committee met on Thursday, a copy of the final draft prepared by a sub-committee was put only before retired Capt Mohammad Safdar, the chairman of the committee.

From the moment the meeting commenced, Mr Safdar pushed the members to vote so that it could be sent to the parliament without a further delay.

However, PPP MNAs Shazia Marri and Nauman Islam Sheikh objected that they could not approve the draft bill until they read the final copy. PML-N MNA Awais Ahmad Khan Leghari also registered a complaint with the chair that like all other members he too did not get a copy of the draft bill to go through it.

To pacify the members, Mr Safdar said he had seen the copy of the draft bill which was sufficient and ready to be sent back to the National Assembly for final approval.

Shazia Marri complained to the chairman that it was wrong for members to clear the bill without seeing the finally drafted copy.

However, Mr Safdar was interested in wrapping up the meeting. “About 70 to 80 per cent recommendations have been accommodated in the bill. Questions can be raised later in the National Assembly. Members can request the speaker to send it back to the committee if they are still not satisfied,” he maintained.

Nonetheless, Shazia Marri and Awais Leghari pushed Mr Safdar to at least go through some of the undecided provisions in it to make it complete before sending it to the parliament.

But opposition members lost that fight too when the chairman allowed them one more chance to make amendments because none of their recommendations made during the meeting were accommodated.

The committee reduced the penalty for cyber stalking from two years to one year though Shazia Marri believed that the penalty for such an ‘insignificant’ act was still too harsh and wanted it removed from the law completely.

The committee approved Section 21 dealing with the illegal sale of SIMs, which Shazia Marri argued was already addressed in the telecommunication act and should not be duplicated. The MNA’s concerns with Section 34 remained unsettled. This section gives the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) the powers to block objectionable content and websites.

Shazia Marri maintained that access to information was a fundamental right and its responsibility rested with the state. “Giving powers to an authority to block access to information is not just,” she said.

“I don’t know what they are celebrating when members have not even seen the draft copy. The cyber crime law will affect millions and there are loopholes in it which law enforcement agencies can abuse. We do not approve provisions of the bill that are against people’s rights,” she added.

The standing committee spent six months discussing the draft bill, inviting comments from the opposition members and recommendations from stakeholders. The chairman had formed the sub-committee under MNA Tahir Iqbal to deliberate over sections to remove objections.

Published in Dawn, September 18th, 2015

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