ISLAMABAD: In a late night development, Pre­sident Mamnoon Hussain promulgated on Friday two ordinances merging the country’s two topmost registration organisations — the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) and National Aliens Reg­istration Authority (Nara), apparently to keep an eye on the movement of foreigners against the backdrop of acts of terrorism across the country.

An official handout issued by the Presidency on Friday said: “On a summary initiated by the Ministry of Interior, the President has approved the prime minister’s advice and signed/promulgated the two ordinances namely the Fore­igners (Amendment) Ordi­nance, 2015, and the National Database and Registration Authority (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015.”

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had ordered the merger of Nara into Nadra while presiding over a meeting on law and order in Karachi in March, but the interior ministry delayed the matter for six months.

Also read: Nisar asks Nadra to prepare counter-terrorism database

A senior official of the Presidency told Dawn that the decision to merge the two registration authorities had been taken to scrutinise and collect data of foreigners living in the country.

More than four million foreign nationals of Bangladesh, Myanmar, Africa, Arab and other countries have been living in the country.

National Database and Registration Authority has blamed Nara several times in the past for creating trouble for the former by not properly registering foreign nationals staying in the country.

The issue turned serious when the matter of registration of Bengalis was taken up two years ago.

The Sindh High Court expressed displeasure in March 2013 over the poor performance of Nara in properly documenting thousands of foreign immigrants, especially those living in Karachi. At that time it came to light that although people were blaming National Database and Registration Authority for problems faced by foreigners, the fault lay with Nara.

Nara is responsible for registering people of different nationalities while National Database and Registration Authority registers only locals.

Nara was set up in 2000 to register foreign nationals so that they could get work permit and driving licences from authorities concerned.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2015

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ISLAMABAD: The Senate’s Standing Committee on Finance complained on Friday that the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and other government agencies had tarnished the country’s image by releasing incorrect figures.

“Why is it so common that the figures are incorrect and this is more critical for the FBR because the entire national budget is based on its figures,” Senator Saleem Mandviwala said while presiding over a meeting of the committee.

Know more: Senate committee accuses FBR of harassing taxpayers

He said the International Monetary Fund too had complained to the government that the figures were incorrect. “The agencies think that the people would forget after some time,” he added.

The committee was discussing the tax refund cases pending with the FBR.

It was informed that income and sales tax refund cases worth Rs148 billion were pending.

The FBR’s Sales Tax and Automation chief Abdul Hameed Memon said that around Rs60bn sales tax refunds were pending and the refunds of the textile sector had been cleared. He said that five export-oriented sectors --- carpets and textile, leather, surgical and sports goods --- had been paid refunds of Rs30bn.

The members --- particularly Senator Ilyas Bilour, an active member of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry --- argued with the FBR’s acting Chairman Shahid Hussain Asad over the figures stated in the bureau’s presentation.

The members were told that they would be informed in the next meeting about the period for which the cases had been pending.

The acting chairman of the FBR conceded that some ‘misunderstandings’ persisted regarding the figures.

Senator Mohsin Aziz agreed with the committee’s chairman and recalled that an FBR member had claimed in 2012 as having identified about 1.7 million families who travelled abroad frequently but did not have national tax numbers (NTNs).

“I was not a senator at the time but possibly the seniors, including Senator Bilour, would like to throw some light on such tall claims. Besides, can we know what happened to this ‘scoop’,” he said.

Senator Mandviwala read out the mentioned statement which had also claimed that the FBR was closely working with the National Database and Registration Authority (Nadra) to tighten the net around such non-payers of income tax.

The acting chief of the FBR said there was no such figure and nothing had been received from Nadra in this regard.

“The issue originated in 2011 when the finance minister at that time, Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, made an incorrect statement in the Senate that 700,000 affluent non-taxpayer families had been identified,” Mr Asad said.

“But there was no such figure. Nadra had only given some data about 43,000 families and we could not proceed further on it.”

He also said that while there was no progress on the matter the cited figures continued to rise because of various reasons and some people now claimed that the FBR had a list of 3.3m such families.

The committee was informed that there was a misperception that computerised national identity card numbers would eventually become the NTNs. The former were related to personal details and would remain separate from the latter.

It was informed that by Aug 31 the number of appeals pending with the inland revenue commissioner was 13,986 and that with the customs collector 518.

Another 2,280 cases were pending with the Supreme Court and 15,099 with high courts.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2015

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UNITED NATIONS: “Peace in Afghanistan, and cooperation with Kabul, will enable us to fully defeat our common threat from violent groups,” Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan’s Ambassador to the United Nations, said on Thursday.

It would pave the way for the voluntary return of millions of Afghan refugees Pakistan still hosts – the most protracted presence of refugees in any single country in recent history, she told a Security Council meeting on Afghanistan.

“It will open the way for the ambitious plans for regional development and integration we have jointly worked on,” she said.

Also read: Pak-Afghan relations: Hanging by a thread

She concluded by saying that mutual respect for each other’s national interests and sensitivities must be the bedrock of the future Pak-Afghan relationship.

Ms Lodhi said that while external parties could play a role in facilitating Afghan reconciliation they “cannot impose” a solution. Reconciliation and dialogue, she said, had to be between the Afghans themselves and “owned and conducted by Afghans”.

She recalled that it was at the request of President Ashraf Ghani that Pakistan undertook to facilitate a dialogue between Kabul and the Afghan Taliban.

“Our sole aim was to establish direct contact between them and the Unity Government.”

Condemning all terrorist violence in Afghanistan, she told the 15-member council that continued conflict in Afghanistan was not in Pakistan’s national interest.

Warning that those “working overtime to sabotage and poison Pakistan-Afghan relations were no friends of Afghanistan”, she said both Afghanistan and Pakistan needed to be clear who their common enemies were.

Ms Lodhi said that Pakistan’s efforts to encourage the Afghan Taliban leaders to revive the dialogue with Kabul should not be misconstrued as any form of endorsement for their revived violence, following the scuttling of the intra-Afghan talks in July.

She said that in Afghanistan, as elsewhere, there were two possible paths to ending war and violence: a military victory over the insurgents, or a negotiated peace.

She pointed to the general consensus within the international community that peace could be best restored through a negotiated solution with the Afghan insurgency.

Pakistan, Ms Lodhi assured, stood ready to assist the Afghan reconciliation process and had refrained from responding to allegations from certain Afghan quarters.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2015

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ISLAMABAD: Leader of Opposition in Senate Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan sees the ruling Sharif family’s business interests behind mismanagement of the Pakistan Steel Mills (PSM) operations.

“Mismanagement of the PSM is an open and shut case of conflict of business interests between the Sharif family and the state,” the PPP leader said while speaking on an adjournment motion in the Senate on Friday. The issue of chronic misgoverning the PSM was taken up on the motion submitted by PPP’s Saeed Ghani.

Mr Ghani sought discussion on disconnection of supply to the PSM by the Sui Sothern Gas Company (SSGC) which had brought its operations to halt.

Also read: Govt team likely to go to China to market PSM

In a hard-hitting but brief statement, Senator Ahsan said that since the present government had come to power, every road, footbath and canal in Lahore had been covered with iron fencing. Then, he added, there was construction of bridges and roads which all needed iron.

“Who doesn’t know which family in the country has the biggest business interest in the production and consumption of iron? Therefore, it’s a matter of common sense that if the PSM fails, others who produce iron in the country will have a field day.”

He didn’t mince words in accusing the federal government of deliberately taking measures which would lead to further deterioration in the PSM which he claimed had the capacity to meet the country’s iron needs.

Who doesn’t know which family in the country has the biggest business interest in the production and consumption of iron?

“I know that the ministers concerned will give a number of reasons as to why the Pakistan Steel Mills is continuously running in loss. However, to me the fact remains that the Sharifs don’t want the mills to be put on the right track.”

Another PPP senator and former finance minister Saleem Mandviwalla said the government’s obvious disinterest in the PSM was a clear indication that a case was being made for its privatisation by presenting it as a ‘sick unit’. He said the past PPP government had provided bailout packages to the PSM which the current rulers were reluctant to release.

Azam Swati of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf said it was strange that a government which boasted day in and day out about its management skills was failing everywhere, including in the PSM. He said the PSM only required good management which the PML-N government had miserably failed to provide.

Responding to the criticism, Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Resources Jam Kamal Khan said the issue wasn’t as simple as being painted by the opposition. “There are serious issues with regard to the PSM’s mismanagement which have been building up and it’s a bit unfair to put the entire blame on the present government.”

He said the Pakistan Steel Mills owed Rs35 billion to the SSGC and the amount had accumulated over two decades.

“Since the SSGC buys gas from the OGDCL, the chronic failure on part of the PSM to clear its dues has been causing problems in smoothly running its operations.”

Avoiding directly responding to the scathing attack by Senator Ahsan on the ruling family, the minister said the production of the PSM had severely eroded over the years and according to the latest reports it was operating at five to six per cent of its capacity.

The minister ejected the perception that the government was pushing the PSM towards privatisation. “The government is trying its level best to do whatever is good for the PSM, because nobody is against the public sector institutions.”

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2015

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KARACHI: The Sindh High Court on Friday asked the interior ministry and Rangers to file their respective comments in a petition filed against the raids being carried out by the law-enforcers on the Dr Ziauddin Hospital.

The petition was filed by the hospital management.

The petitioners said that as many as eight raids had been conducted on the hospitals and the raiding teams took away hospitals’ record from 2008.

They asked the court to order the registration of a case against the raiding personnel as they conducted the raids and took away record without any warrants.

A two-judge bench issued notices to the interior minister and Rangers and adjourned the hearing to Sept 23.

Meanwhile, the same bench issued a notice to the sector commander of the Ghazi Rangers in a contempt of court application filed by the wife of Dr Asim Hussain for disobeying the court’s order.

Dr Zarina Hussain in her application said that the court had directed the Rangers authorities to get his medical tests conducted in the presence of his wife and daughter.

However, she said, neither she was being allowed to visit her ailing husband, nor was he being provided proper medical treatment in custody.

Earlier, the bench had rejected her plea for shifting Dr Hussain to a hospital for treatment after a law officer of the paramilitary force stated that the detainee was being provided all necessary medical care in custody.

She said that her husband was suffering from serious ailments such as diabetes and hypertension and needed medical attention, so he should be admitted in a hospital.

Dr Asim’s arrest came in what has been described as the first major action against the Pakistan Peoples Party leadership during the ongoing Karachi operation.

On August 26, over 12 personnel in plain clothes belonging to the Federal Investigation Agency and an intelligence outfit had arrived at the HEC office and the man leading them introduced himself to Dr Asim and asked him to accompany them. Dr Asim was then taken to an undisclosed location for questioning.

Next day, he was produced before an antiterrorism court which was informed that the Rangers had detained him for 90 days for questioning.

In 2009, Dr Asim 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.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2015

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LAHORE: A special team of the Punjab Food Authority (PFA), headed by Director (Operations) Ayesha Mumtaz, in Data Ganj Bakhsh Town on Friday sealed New Raja Shwarma and Bread in Bilal Street (Islampura), Sabir Sweets and Bakers and its production unit, Naveed Hotel, Umar General Store, Bismillah Store, Hafiz General Store and Sabir Nashta Shop on Outfall Road.

It imposed a heavy fine on Hafiz Sweets (Lal Khuh Walay) on Temple Road for stale sweets and no expiry and manufacturing dates.

In Samanabad Town, the PFA sealed Nayab Marriage Hall and Arabian Delights while it imposed fine on the City Roof Marriage Hall in Karim Block (Iqbal Town).

Shalimar Town team sealed Aslam Bakery and Ilam Din Bakery on GT Road.

Ravi Town team sealed Saadi Food Spices and Vinegar Factory and its pickle unit. It also seized 8,000kg of spices and 10,000kg of pickle, took their food samples and sent for a lab test.

An FIR was lodged against the factory owner and a worker was arrested.

Wagah Town team sealed Ilyas Store and imposed fine on Haidari Sweets and Bakers in Sharifpura.

In Nishtar Town, the PFA team sealed Chaudhry Store, Bhatti Naan Shop and Qadri Naan Shop on Kamahan Road (Chungi Amar Sadhu).

The officials in Gulberg Town sealed Link Juices, Big Joe’s Pizza and Burgers on Model Town Link Road, Decent Store and Bhalay Shah Milk Shop.

It also imposed fine on Decent Burger, Yasir Broast and Qadri Broast in Faisal Town and Bahar Shah Colony areas.

CLEANLINESS: A special cleanliness activity was organised by Al-Bayrak Waste Management Company (a Turkish contractor/firm of the Lahore Waste Management Company) in UC-54.

The company’s team set up an awareness camp and distributed pamphlets among the residents and shopkeepers.

Speaking on the occasion, Al-Bayrak’s General Manager (Operations) Murat Sengur said the company would take special measures during the upcoming rain spell.

“We would ensure cleanliness in the city areas during rains,” he said and requested the public to cooperate with the field teams in maintaining cleanliness.

CDGL: The City District Government of Lahore (CDGL) constituted special teams to stop overcharging the passengers by transporters on various inter-city bus routes.

Through a notification, the CDGL has constituted teams that would be led by the nine towns’ administrators, district officer at Badami Bagh and other bus terminals and the Road Transport Authority secretary.

The teams will start visiting the bus terminals in order to ensure sale of bus tickets according to the notified rates.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2015

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ISLAMABAD: Speakers at a media briefing on Friday likened the Right to Information law to a ‘silent revolution’ that could expose government offices and help citizens attain their rights.

The briefing was organised by the Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (Pildat).

Pakistan is the first country in South Asia to pass legislation guaranteeing the right to information (RTI) through the Freedom of Information Ordinance 2002. However, public awareness regarding this right is not as widespread in Pakistan as it is in other South Asian nations.

RTI refers to the right of citizens to access information held by the government that documents its actions, functions, expenditure and so on. Citizens can exercise this right by filing a complaint if they are denied access to the information they seek.

The law would compel the government to ensure that their offices are properly staffed, funded, trained and equipped to facilitate citizens’ access to official information.

Participants of the briefing said that acceptance of the law would not be easy, but also commended the adoption and implementation of RTI legislation in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) for over a year.

“It is commendable that two provinces have taken the lead in adopted a progressive law. The federal government should do away with the weak and outdated Freedom of Information Ordinance 2002, and introduce a law that responds to the demands of the time and is in line with international standards,” Pildat president Ahmed Bilal Mehmood said.

Discussing the RTI law, Mehmood explained that the Centre for Law of Democracy – which ranks transparency laws worldwide – would accord Pakistan a high rank for offering citizens access to government documents.

Speakers also deliberated over the advantages RTI legislation would hold for the media. Punjab Information Commissioner Mukhtar Ahmad Ali said that few journalists exercise this right.

“RTI supersedes all the other laws journalists can use to access government documents and better investigate stories,” Ali said.

Ali also explained the problems with a system made to protect secrecy.

“The government must emphasize the removal of provisions that contradict the RTI,” he said.

KP Right to Information Information Commissioner Abdul Matin Khan said no information was ‘secret’, but some information would be exempt for 15 years.

“But that too can be made public, to investigate corruption, for example,” Khan said. He explained that government offices in KP were bound to provide requested information under the RTI law, and said that it could be extended for another 10 days.

“If they fail to do so, citizens can file a complaint with the commission, which is bound to provide relief in 60 days,” he said. Khan also said that it was imperative that public offices place information on the internet.

The discussion was not only revealing, but also discussed the difficulties faced when gathering information on topics such as the privileges granted to retired generals and judges, the 2015 MI-17 crash or the exchange of gifts between heads of state.

While the Sindh provincial government is in the process of introducing RTI legislation, speakers stressed the need for an independent commission at the federal level which would help journalists and citizens acquire information, and eventually, their rights.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2015

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QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch has ordered an inquiry into the allotment of plots in the Gwadar industrial zone and put a ban on new allotments in the area till the completion of inquiry.

“A ban should be imposed on further allotment of plots in the Gwadar industrial zone,” he said during a meeting convened to discuss various issues related to the port city.

He directed officials concerned that the list of allotments of all plots in the industrial zone should be submitted to him immediately.

Taking notice of reports of wrongdoings in the allotment of plots, the CM said he should be informed of terms and conditions on which the plots had been allotted to investors. He asked the authorities concerned to submit to him the list of people who had failed to fulfil conditions on which the industrial plots had been allotted to them.

He expressed concern over reported irregularities in the transfer of land in the Karwat area of Gwadar district and ordered an inquiry into the matter. He said the authorities concerned should take care of the land ownership of local people and landlords at all costs. He said the land should be taken back from those who had occupied the state property illegally.

Senior Member of the Board of Revenue Qamar Masood, Secretary of Industries and Trade Abdul Fateh Bhangar and Deputy Commissioner of Gwadar Abdul

Hammed Abro briefed the meeting on the Gwadar land, encroachment in the industrial area and the state land and future industrial development and protection of government land for use in public interest.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2015

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KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah on Friday expressed his reservations on the prime minister’s support package for farmers announced on Sept 15 and said neither he nor his government was consulted before its finalisation.

He said that the details of the package were not provided to him by the federal government as yet and the Sindh cabinet would decide about its fate and implementation in the province.

He made these observations while talking to Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Sikandar Bosan who met him here at CM House to discuss implementation on the PM’s support package for farmers.

The chief minister recalled that irrigation water, seed and fertiliser were the necessary factors for enhancing agriculture productivity.

He said that the farmers of Sindh had been experiencing shortage of water for the past three years as they were not getting their due share from the Indus. He said that the Chashma-Jhelum Link Canal was flowing permanently causing water shortage for farmers in Sindh.

“The farmers of Sindh need their due share of water, procurement of their product through federal organisations and incentives on export and import of agriculture products and modern agro implements for their uplift and encouragement. But on the contrary the federal government has allowed the traders to import substandard wheat up to 700,000 tonnes here at Karachi port even though we had surplus wheat production. This caused losses to the farmers and Sindh government in billion rupees,” he added.

He said he had protested to the prime minister, who promised compensation of the losses but nothing had so far been done.

He also expressed his reservations over a drastic cut in the public sector development programme (PSDP) allocation by the federal government.

The chief minister asked the federal minister to provide complete details of the package along with expected contribution from other provinces so that he could put it before his cabinet and decide about its fate.

Earlier, the federal minister told the chief minister that the prime minister had announced a Rs341 billion package for farmers that also includes a subsidy on DAP and potassium fertiliser on the principle of equal sharing by the federal and provincial governments in addition to loaning facilities.

Mr Bosan said that the purpose of this package was to eliminate the role of the middle man and benefit the farmers or growers directly.

Information Minister Nisar Ahmad Khuhro, Chief Secretary Siddique Memon and other senior officials were also present during the meeting.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2015

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ISLAMABAD: Law enforcement agencies arrested over 60 people, including Afghan nationals, and recovered arms, ammunition and explosives from the Deras of the Khokhar clan.

Officials in the police said it was an “information-based operation (IBO)” conducted by Rangers and the capital police in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

The raid was planned a couple of weeks ago but postponed at the final stages several times. The raid led to the recovery of weapons and equipment, including those under the use of Nato, they added.

It may be mentioned that the Rawalpindi police and Rangers conducted a raid in the capital city last month while the latest raid in localities in Rawalpindi was jointly carried out by the Islamabad police and the Rangers.

According to the officials, the capital police were asked to get ready for an operation on Thursday night. In response, a contingent of the police, including deputy superintendents of police, gathered at a police station. Later, they were joined by more personnel who riding over 30 vehicles moved towards Khokhar House, commonly known as Khan Jee’s Dera located near Koral Chowk on Islamabad Highway in the jurisdiction of the Rawalpindi police.

During the raid, over 19 people were taken into custody and weapons recovered from their possession. Later, the law enforcement agencies moved to Ghori Town Phase V and raided another dera owned by the Khokhar clan and known as Zafar Khokhar’s dera. The officials said weapons were also recovered from the dera which led to the arrest of a few people, including Hanif Khokhar.

The team also raided Malik Yaqoob’s dera at Moza Jawa in Sihala. The officials said Yaqoob was a rival of Taji Khokhar. A fair amount of weapons and ammunition was recovered from the dera along with drone surveillance cameras, armed forces’ shoes and laptops, the officials said. Some other deras adjacent to the Expressway were also raided.

The raids continued till Friday morning and later the 60 arrested people were shifted to different areas along with the weapons. On Friday evening, the 19 people picked from Taji Khokhar’s dera were handed over to the Airport police. A contingent of the Rawalpindi police, comprising commandoes, reached the Kural police station in nine vehicles and took the custody of the suspects.

The rest of the arrested people were detained at the Kural and Sihala police stations, they said, adding separate teams had been constituted, each comprising representatives of intelligence agencies and Rangers, to interrogate the suspects.

After the raid, Taji Khokhar’s dera wore a deserted look. No one was found at the residential areas of the Khokhar clan. A wall was built around several building blocks owned by the Khokhar clan giving it the look of a fortress.

The building blocks included residential quarters of the clan and a separate block for employees. Two doors of the residential areas were locked from inside. Besides, the rooms along the gates were abandoned. A number of watchtowers for guards and gunmen were also found abandoned. However, a few people were present at the block built for the employees.

One of the men identified himself as Imtiaz and said he was the driver of Fazal Khokhar, a brother of Taji Khokhar. He said during the raid some security guards along with a few people were arrested. “I came to the dera early in the morning and was not present here during the raid.”

Another man, who refused to introduce himself, said a few guests staying in the dera were arrested. Yet another man introduced himself as Imran and in reply to a question about the raid told this reporter to leave the area. “No one would talk to you here, why you are asking about the names and details of the arrested people,” he said.

When told that there were reports that some militants and members of banned sectarian outfits had been arrested from the dera, he said, “It is better for you to leave the area as soon as possible because you are being watched.”

Meanwhile, a handout issued by the capital police said the police along with the Rangers conducted search operations in Koral and Sihala and nabbed 64 suspects, including 14 Afghan nationals.

It said a cache of explosive and weapons with liquor was also recovered. The recovery included 67 guns of different bores, more than 3,000 bullets of all types of weapons and many bottles of foreign liquor.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2015

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LAHORE: The Child Protection and Welfare Bureau (CPWB) rescued a 12-year-old maid who was tortured by her employer in Defence here on Friday.

CPWB officials said Rani, a resident of Faisalabad, had torture marks on her body allegedly inflicted by the lady employer.

She had been working as maid for a meagre wage of Rs4,000 per month at the house of Ameer Begum in Iqbal Park, Defence, for the last three months.

They said the girl was thrashed for a delay in ironing the clothes of the woman. She suffered head injuries with marks of torture on her hands and face as well.

Quoting the girl, they said her employers would often beat her on petty issues.

“Ameer Begum ordered me to iron her clothes. I was just managing the clothes when she started thrashing me for being late. I got frightened and rushed to neighbour’s house who called the CWPB team which took me to the Jinnah Hospital.

On the complaint of the CPWB, a case was registered against the woman who managed to escape when a police team raided the house.

CWPB Chairperson Saba Sadiq said the bureau had shifted the girl to the Jinnah Hospital where she would be provided every health facility. She said services of a psychiatrist would also be hired for the counseling of the girl.

found dead: A woman was found hanged with a ceiling fan while another strangled to death at their houses in different areas of the city on Friday.

Police said Nadia, 40, mother of four, was found hanged with a ceiling fan in her house in Deen Town, Chuhng.

Police shifted the body to a morgue for an autopsy and registered a case against her husband, Idrees, and his brother Abdul Majeed on the complaint of victim’s father Sabir.

SHO Javaid Siddique said that suspects Idrees and his brother Abdul Majeed were arrested.

He said the initial investigation showed that the woman was disturbed and committed suicide.

A young woman was found strangled to death at her residence in Harbansepura.

Police said Asma Fayyaz, 26, was living with her brother Asim, a carpenter by profession, near Rashidpura Chowk. They said Asim left his house for work and when he returned home he found his sister strangled to death in her bed room.

Police shifted the body to a morgue for an autopsy and registered a case against unidentified person(s) on the complaint of victim’s brother Asim.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2015

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LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has taken exception to ‘unfounded promises’ of political leaders to provide homes to the shelter-less at public meetings for political gains and called it “political jugglery”.

Justice Ibadur Rehman Lodhi was hearing a civil revision petition when it transpired that the chairman of Municipal Committee of Toba Tek Singh signed an agreement to allot some pieces of land to people with no authority to do so.

The judge expressed concern when he went through a copy of the agreement that mentioned “Izzat ma’ab (honourable) prime minister” and “Izzat ma’ab (honourable) chief minister” while indicating directions for allotment of some plots in Jinnah Housing Colony-2, Toba Tek Singh.

When asked as to what authority the prime minister or chief minister had to order allotment of plots to people, an additional advocate general said a Board of Revenue member issued directions earmarking a chunk of land for further distribution to some people after its division into plots.

However, the law officer and others failed to justify the member’s direction for allotments.

The judge noted that no scheme had been shown to have been approved by the Board of Revenue in this regard and nothing notified to authorise the Municipal Committee chairman to enter into any contract or agreement or sign any allotment letter.

“It all seems jugglery on political side. Political heads of the federation and province are used to making promises in different public meetings and then by means of such fake and sham proceedings, poor shelter-less citizens are being provided a ray of hope for provision of their shelters,” Justice Lodhi remarked.

He said for all practical purposes, such promises and even allotment orders made in black and white were not being given any effect and the persons subjected to such “miseries” are left to enter into a protracted litigation.

The judge observed that the civil revision petition was just one example of such attitude adopted by the people who mattered to poor citizens. He said such practices must be discouraged and political personalities holding public offices refrain from making unfounded promises.

The judge directed the counsel for the Municipal Committee to produce all records of the case by Oct 7.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2015

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PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has served a legal notice on three PML-N MNAs asking them to unconditionally apologise within 14 days for falsely accusing it of embezzling Rs363 billion and wasting billions of rupees of the Hydel Development Fund in stock market.

The notice was issued to Daniyal Aziz, Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry and Maiza Hameed through the finance secretary asking them to tender an unconditional apology in a news conference within 14 days by clearly withdrawing their ‘false accusations’ and seeking pardon for whatever ‘baseless and uncalled-for accusations and aspersions’ they had casted.

The three were also asked to pay Rs1 billion to the provincial government as special damages and further sum of Rs500 million as compensation for the harm and damage caused to it.

Daniyal, Dr Tariq and Maiza asked to apologise for false charge of fraud, hydel funding investment in bourses

The notice said in case the MNAs failed to fulfil the demand in stipulated period, the government would initiate both civil action and criminal prosecution against them at the competent forums.

The notice served through lawyer Shumail Ahmad Butt said it was a matter of record that the provincial government maintained HDF as established under the NWFP Hydel Development Fund Ordinance, 2001, for pooling in liquid resources to finance hydel power projects.

It added that the fund had been managed through a board provided for in the ordinance.

“Through NWFP Hydel Development Fund (Amendment) Act, 2005, an investment committee headed by the chief secretary of the province was introduced in the law to make recommendations to the board,” it said.

The notice said the current value of the fund stood at Rs26.136 billion, either deposited with Bank of Khyber or invested only in approved government securities in forms of Treasury Bills and Pakistan Investment Bonds.

It added that not a single penny from HDF had ever been put in any of the country’s stock markets or any other riskier investment venture.

The notice said on Aug 21, the three MNAs held a press conference at Peshawar where they blatantly and in open words casted slur and undue aspersions and accused the government for embezzling Rs363 billion, and falsely proclaimed that billions of rupees of HDF had been wasted in stock market.

It said the MNAs had leveled baseless allegations on the government that Rs25 billion of HDF had been wagered in stock market, and further belied that public funds were being used in betting.

The notice said not only the allegations of MNAs were based on sheer mala fide and bad intention to belittle, ridicule and disgrace the government in the eyes of the people in general and the people of the province in particular but also to cause damage valuing billions of rupees to the government.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2015

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KARACHI: Delimitation of certain constituencies made by the provincial government for the upcoming local government elections were on Friday cancelled by the Sindh High Court that also ordered the Election Commission of Pakistan to revise them within five days.

Chief Justice Faisal Arab, who headed a two-judge bench, gave a short order in his chamber on over 40 different petitions challenging the delimitation of constituencies across the province, including Karachi, Hyderabad, Tando Allahyar and Mirpurkhas.

The detailed judgement would be announced later on a date to be set by the court’s office.

The delimitations were challenged mainly by the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and the Pakistan Muslim League-Functional. The petitioner also included two lawyers — Advocates Syed Mureed Ali Shah and Zulfiqar Ali Domki.

MQM leader Dr Farooq Sattar had challenged the delimitation of constituencies in Karachi and Mirpurkhas, while MQM leader Syed Sardar Ahmed filed four petitions, challenging delimitation of Tando Adam, Tando Jam, Nawabshah, Hyderabad and Qasimabad made by the provincial government.

The petitioners said that new delimitations of the constituencies were illegal as the provincial government had shown favouritism in these limitations.

Besides, they argued, these delimitations were in violation of the Supreme Court order.

The delimitation was the responsibility of the ECP, the petitioner said, adding that the provincial government officials completed the process that was against the law.

The petitioners belonging to the MQM also alleged that the provincial government had already planned to rig the LG elections as they ignored the population and rejected their objections to the move.

Advocate Domki argued that certain provisions in the Sindh Local Government Act 2013 had taken away the election commissions’ power to conduct delimitation of the constituencies.

He recalled that the SHC had earlier nullified a similar process of redrawing constituencies carried out by the provincial government in Dec 2013.

Later, the counsel said, the provincial government challenged the SHC judgement in the Supreme Court that also upheld the high court’s verdict.

He further stated that the apex court had also ordered the government to pass legislation that empowers the election commission to carry out such exercises.

The petitioners requested the court to declare the delimitation of these constituencies illegal and restrain relevant authorities to conduct the LG elections in these constituencies.

Later, MQM’s counsel Farogh Naseem told the media persons that the SHC had annulled the delimitations made by the Sindh government and reversed urban and rural areas to their original positions.

He said that the court observed that the ECP was the proper authority to make delimitations instead of the provincial government.

The court directed ECP to arrange all processes of upcoming local government elections.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2015

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LAHORE: An appellate tribunal of the Lahore High Court on Friday allowed unseated National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq of the PML-N and Aleem Khan of the PTI to contest by-election being held in NA-122.

The tribunal headed by Justice Mahmood Maqbool Bajwa dismissed all objection appeals against the candidature of both main candidates and also allowed Mohsin Latif of the PML-N and Shoaib Siddiqui of the PTI to contest the by-election from PP-147, which falls under the National Assembly constituency of NA-122, Lahore.

Earlier, the bench heard lengthy arguments of the lawyers from all parties.

Barrister Amir of the PPP, Justice Party Pakistan chairman Malik Munsif Awan, Advocate Ishtiaq Ahmad Chaudhry of the PAT and other candidates had challenged the decision of the returning officer regarding acceptance of nomination papers of Ayaz Sadiq, Aleem Khan and others.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2015

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ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday disposed of a petition filed by the father of a death row convict in the Bannu jailbreak case.

Justice Noorul Haq N. Qureshi while hearing the petition filed by Mir Shah Khan, the father of Tahir, seeking copy of the military court trial proceedings and a meeting with his son observed that the petition was infructuous.

On Thursday, the IHC had issued a stay order against the execution of the convict after the standing counsel informed the court that the ministry of interior needed at least 15 days to trace his whereabouts. The court then adjourned the hearing till October 5. However, after issuance of the stay order when the standing counsel for the federal government, Raja Khalid Mehmood Khan, gathered more information from the ministries of interior and defence and passed it on to Justice Qureshi, the court fixed the matter for Friday.

When the matter was taken up on Thursday, the standing counsel informed the court that the convict had been detained in the Kohat Jail. He said the family members may meet the convict as per the rules given in the jail manual.

Raja Khalid also told the court that a military court in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) had convicted Tahir on three charges. “In addition to the Bannu jailbreak, Tahir was charged with twice attacking the FC posts,” he said.

As per the report of the defence ministry, in April 2012 more than 200 heavily-armed Taliban militants travelling in several vehicles attacked the central jail Bannu and freed 381 prisoners, including Adnan Rashid, allegedly involved in attacking former president Pervez Musharraf.

Raja Khalid said the chief of army staff (COAS) had approved the death sentence awarded to Tahir by the military court on September 2. He said the convict had filed an appeal against his conviction with the military appellate court.

“The appeal has been filed with the appellate court from the jail in accordance with the rules, and the proceedings on the appeal are likely to commence soon,” he added.

After hearing the arguments, Justice Qureshi observed that since the remedy of appeal for the convict was available, the petition may be disposed of. The court also observed that as Tahir had been convicted by the military court of KP, the petitioner might have approached the Peshawar High Court (IHC).

The petitioner claimed that his son’s trial was conducted in the military court without providing him an opportunity of defence. He alleged that the military authorities had denied access to him to meet his death-row son which was a violation of fundamental right.

He also claimed that Tahir was abducted in February 2014 by some unknown people and the matter was reported to the Bannu police.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2015

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ISLAMABAD: A Senate special committee stated that the lack of coordination between government departments was a significant cause for lapse in foreign scholarships for Pakistani students.

The committee met on Friday to discuss an adjournment motion raised by Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed on the decline in foreign scholarships available to Pakistan students. The Senate chairman formed an eight-member special committee to deliberate over the issue and submit a report in two months.

In order to better understand the process, the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and Economic Affairs Division (EAD) were invited.

The meeting was told that donor organisations offer 100 scholarships for students in the 57 Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member states. Nominations are received through various sources, including the EAD and MFA, while some donor agencies also send nominations directly to the concerned embassies. These offers are then forwarded to the HEC, which each year, shortlists candidates and sends out no more than 27 nominations, out of which donors select four to five students based on their criteria. Donors prefer students from least developed countries (LDC).

The committee stated that in many cases, the HEC had delayed advertising scholarships, and other official procedures between the concerned departments added to the problem.

“Lack of coordination between government offices is obvious. Records show that from 2011 to 2015, there were delays in advertising positions due to the official procedures for information sharing between offices,” Syed Muzaffar Hussein Shah said.

HEC chairperson Mukhtar Ahmed maintained that there were never any delays. “There have been cases where the HEC advertised positions immediately, a day after it received invitations,” he said.

Senator Ayesha Farooq said: “It has not been clarified whether students received scholarships to universities in Cyprus, Egypt, Thailand and Morocco. We would like to know if the students got in or were refused.” The committee recommended that the Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training be the focal body, since it is also mandated to enter into international agreements.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2015

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KARACHI: The National Assembly has rejected the request of its member belonging to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Rashid Godil, for treatment abroad, citing an order of the prime minister issued in 1997, it emerged on Friday.

Mr Godil sustained five bullet wounds last month in Bahadurabad in a gun attack that left his driver dead. He was rushed to the Liaquat National Hospital where he was put on a ventilator for a few days before being treated by a team of doctors. He was discharged from the hospital last week.

Earlier on Aug 25, the lawmaker requested the National Assembly in writing to send him to another country for his treatment.

He received a reply from the National Assembly secretariat, dated September 10, saying that the policy for sending public representatives had been revoked following the prime minister’s order.

The secretariat reply, a copy of which has been obtained by Dawn, quoted the Prime Minister order that he had given during his previous tenure on February 22, 1997, but did not change its wording, which said ‘the existing policy will be revoked’.

“It is regretted to inform (you) that the then Prime Minister of Pakistan had been pleased to desire that the existing policy of arranging medical treatment abroad for public representatives or government officers at state expenses will be revoked forthwith and no exceptions are to be made in this regard,” said the letter.

It added: “Such requests will not be processed either by the ministry of health, Government of Pakistan, or by the provincial health departments vide PM’s directive dated 22nd February, 1997.”

The letter did not clarify as to why it referred to the prime minister’s 18-year-old order to reject Mr Godil’s request while until recently the government had been spending millions on the treatment of politicians and senior bureaucrats who went to hospitals in other countries.

In a petition filed in the Islamabad High Court in March, documents were submitted showing millions of rupees had been spent between 2006 and 2010 on the treatment of bureaucrats and politicians at state expense.

While it was claimed that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had imposed a ban on treatment abroad at the cost of the national exchequer, officials said there was no fresh order issued by the government to revoke the facility for lawmakers.

Sources said the request was made by the lawmaker apparently due to safety concerns rather than his treatment as he was told by a team of doctors that he was completely stable and would improve further with the passage of time. The sources said doctors at a hospital in Birmingham through a video conference also studied his case and were satisfied with his convalescence.

Doctors at the Liaquat National Hospital, where Mr Godil remained under treatment for 25 days, however, said he was not yet fit to travel abroad for a couple of months at least.

According to them, his right lung, which is working at its one-fifth potential, can be further damaged due to cabin pressure during a flight. But a state-of-the-art air ambulance could transport him to the United Kingdom or any other country, officials said, adding that Dubai was the nearest destination offering the air ambulance service that was very expensive.

A spokesman at the Liaquat National Hospital said Mr Godil visited the health facility on Friday for routine check-up.

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2015

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Many people in Pakistan believe that “only if we had more dams” the floods would not devastate us.

But should we further dam our rivers and damn the environment for the sake of a happy, prosperous and a flood-proof Pakistan?

I begin with a few numbers. The average flow in Indus Basin, famously the five rivers, is approximately 180 billion cubic metres (bcm) a year and almost 75% of it flows during the monsoon.

Past civilizations here were built around the flowing waters – and not vice versa. But so called “water experts”, equipped with borrowed money, engineering and technology, now do the complete opposite. Instead of building our modern civilisation around the flowing waters, they built the waters to flow around it. They tried to tame the mighty rivers through the Tarbela and Mangla dams and make deserts bloom with diversion barrages, flood protection dykes, link canals and so forth. They finally tried to tame the Indus which had flowed wildly for the past 40 million years or so. But this has not quelled the floods.

Why we can’t store flood water

Back to the numbers – the Tarbela dam can hold 12 bcm, Mangla 7 bcm, all other smaller ones combined, another 3 bcm. Kalabagh, if it is ever built, would add a modest 6 bcm. But we are up against 135 bcm during the monsoon. And once the dams are filled, the river is wild again. The 1992 floods downstream of Mangla killed over 1,000 people and affected over 4 million more. While we may argue about the pros and cons of dams, at least they can’t stand in the way of floods.

On top of this, dams lose their storage capacity as they fill up with silt and cannot perform as effectively beyond a couple of generations. But worst of all, dams, diversions, and flood protection dykes deprive wetlands, marshes, riverine forest and groundwater dependent ecosystems of water. These natural ecosystems are like sponges, they absorb water during the wet seasons and gradually release it during the dry season and they perform the most important function of breaking the flood peaks during torrential downpours.

In the short term, it may be an advantage to dry up lands along the rivers and put them to “productive” use. And when these low lying areas are protected by dykes we complacently built dwellings and other infrastructure. In the long run, however, loss of these ecosystems means lost capacity of the river basin to absorb water and break flood peaks. Diversion barrages exacerbate silting process in the river channels which results in rising river beds and reduced flow capacity.

Consequently today, even normal flood events, well within the design capacity of the engineered-system, often spill over the dykes. No wonder the same magnitude of floods in 1929 and 2010 had different consequence such as river avulsions in Sindh.

Perhaps technology and borrowed money gave us more power than our limited knowledge could safely handle. We wrecked our river systems without even knowing. We forgot that a desert is a desert because forces of nature are incessantly at work to expel water from that region, and a river is a river because the forces of nature are continuously pushing the water into this path.

On the one hand, misfortunes befell the poor communities, now stuck in the deserts, when the engineered systems fail to provide them with sufficient water. On the other, ‘floods’ are surrounding people now living in the empty river beds, dried wetlands, and active flood plains, when ‘usual’ waters of monsoon are just passing by.

The concept of fighting and controlling the floods through changing natural systems is out-dated. The world’s leading water experts argue that the “change-fight-control” approach has to gradually, and systematically metamorphose into a “conform-adapt-manage” approach.

Currently, we are sucking our rivers dry by diverting all we can into the agriculture sector, and yet, agriculture demands more water. But to restore our wetlands, marshes, forests and other ecosystems, we need to put the water back into the river. The dilemma is how can we do that without jeopardising the country’s food security and agrarian economy.

This article was originally published on The Third Pole and has been reproduced with permission.