ISLAMABAD: Senator Ayub Afridi of Pakistan Tehreek e Insaf (PTI) has resigned from the Senate to make way for the election of PM’s Adviser on Finance Shaukat Tarin as a member of the Parliament.
Chairman Senate Sadiq Sanjrani has accepted Ayub Afridi’s resignation, who has now been inducted as a cabinet member.
The Senate Secretariat has declared Ayub Afridi’s seat vacant and issued a notification to which the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has also been informed.
As per the rules, when a seat falls vacant, the ECP is bound to hold elections on it within 30 days.
According to sources, Ayub Afridi has been appointed as PM’s Adviser on Overseas Pakistanis.
Commenting on the development, Ayub Afridi said he submitted his resignation to the prime minister earlier but was asked to wait because of the joint meeting.
“The prime minister entrusted me with the Senate seat and I returned it happily,” he said.
Afridi said he would have no objection if the prime minister did not give him any official responsibility.
“If given the opportunity by the prime minister I would serve the nation and the country,” Afridi added.
After failure to get Shaukat Tarin elected as a member of the Parliament within the stipulated six-month time-frame, the government had appointed him as Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenues with the status of Federal Minister on October 17.
A couple of months ago, the government had to face a severe political blow when PTI’s candidate from the federal capital Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh faced defeat against PPP candidate Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani.
Later, the prime minister replaced former Adviser to PM on Finance and Revenues Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh unceremoniously and then appointed Shaukat Tarin as Federal Minister for Finance with effect from April 17, 2021.
Under the Constitutional obligations, it was mandatory to elect Tarin as a member of the Parliament within the six month-period.
This deadline had expired on October 16, 2021 and the government could not decide to elect him.
The government was left with no other option but to appoint him as an Adviser to PM on Finance and Revenues as a stop-gap arrangement until his election as a Senator.
KARACHI: The Sindh Building Control Authority (SBCA) was stopped from carrying out the pre-demolition operation of Nasla Tower over safety concerns.
The SBCA had initiated the operation on the directives of Karachi Commissioner Muhammad Iqbal Memon, however, Ferozabad Assistant Commissioner Asma Batool stopped it on the grounds of safety concerns.
“The demolition process has been stopped for a while because of the safety concerns of the passers-by,” Asma Batool said, adding that huge blocks fell on the road during the demolition of the building.
She said that without proper safety measures, no demolition could take place because it could cause damage to human lives. After consulting with the high-ups, the demolition work would resume, she added.
Earlier, the anti-encroachment police of the Sindh Board of Revenue cordoned off the building, following which the SBCA’s demolition squad kicked off the pre-demolition work.
District East Deputy Commissioner Asif Jan Siddiqui told the media that the tower’s doors and windows were being removed. He said the anti-encroachment police had been summoned to maintain law and order in the area.
“Initially, removal of windows and doors of the building will take place,” said Siddiqui, adding that there had not been any decision regarding the issuance of a tender for the proper demolition of the building.
He said that until a decision was made regarding controlled blast or manual demolition of the residential-cum- commercial tower, it would be destroyed according to the normal procedure.
On June 16 the Supreme Court of Pakistan had ordered the tower’s demolition due to its illegal construction on a service road, telling the builders to refund the registered buyers of the residential and commercial units within three months.
On September 22 a three-judge SCP bench dismissed the review petition against the demolition of the 15-storey building.
The court said the petitioner’s counsel had failed to show any title or registered lease deed about the allotment of area in excess of 780 square yards.
ISLAMABAD: The US firm which carried out the forensic analysis of the audio clip attributed to the former chief justice Saqib Nisar is “confident of the integrity of the audio file”, according to the journalist who revealed the bombshell audio.
The alleged audio clip of former chief justice Saqib Nisar has triggered an intense debate among the political circles with Opposition parties demanding a thorough investigation into the matter, Geo News reported.
The government, however, has termed it a conspiracy against the judiciary and blamed the PML-N leadership for using dirty tactics against the institutions.
Ahmad Noorani, the journalist who broke the story, tweeted on Monday saying; “Each and every word said by any person can be found out in one’s previous speeches and talks. I have released the forensic report of audio by a credible organization. The only way to reject it is to come up with a forensic report of the audio I have released and prove it wrong.”
He told a web program that he had the tape for over two months and took every possible precaution to get it examined by the experts to rule out forgery.
Noorani said Garret Discovery, a leading American firm specializing in multimedia forensics, examined the tape.
He said the audio tape was released only after the firm’s experts were confident of the integrity of the audio file and gave a go-ahead saying “the audio has not been edited in any way.”
Meanwhile, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry is of the view that the “campaign” against judges started in a “haste”, indicating that the people did not do their homework properly.
Chaudhry shared a video of ex-chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar Monday, in which he was saying: “Unfortunately, let me be a little blunt about it, let me be frank about it, let me be not aggressive, [but] loud about it.”
“Unfortunately, the orders that we are receiving are according to [some people’s] wishes,” the former CJP had said in the video.
In the video, ex-CJP could be heard uttering some words which were also mentioned in the viral video.
While talking to media senior PML-N leader and former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said the party was not behind the audio and demanded an impartial inquiry into it. “We are ready to face the consequences if the probe finds out that it is a conspiracy,” he said.
Abbasi said the Supreme Court should take suo moto notice of it.
Another major opposition party, Awami National Party (ANP) has said the chief justice of Pakistan should take notice of the alleged audiotape leak of former chief justice Saqib Nisar and deal with the issue as per the law.
Addressing a news conference at the Bacha Khan Markaz on Monday, ANP central secretary general Mian Iftikhar Hussain said the alleged leaked conversation of former chief justice had exposed the pre-poll rigging by helping a puppet to assume power as prime minister before the 2018 general elections in the country.
“A judge who had declared a politician Sadiq (truthful) and Amin (honest) in his judgment has been exposed to the public in his audiotape in which he says that Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz must be punished before the general elections,” Mian Iftikhar alleged.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan National Council of the Arts (PNCA) on Monday exhibited “Beauty Alt Atrocity” a solo show by Aysiha Arshad Shahnawaz’s collection of intricately crafted paintings.
Through her works, Ayisha explored the innumerable sufferings and miseries which are caused in the process of creating something fantastical and worthy; the sacrifice every individual makes to achieve the desired on a very personal level as well as a societal level.
Ayisha Arshad Shahnawaz is a Canadian-Pakistani artist born in Lahore, Pakistan, in 1975. A graduate of the prestigious National College of Art, her work has been exhibited in six countries spanning three continents.
A profound thinker, she challenges the status quo with every stroke of her brush. The displayed artworks have been privately built up and are complex, diverse, and somehow both entirely contemporary and yet faithfully traditional.
Shafqat Mehmood, Minister of NH&C Division who inaugurated the exhibition, in his speech said, “Ayisha’s hard-work has made this show beautiful and I am glad after COVID-19 fun and healthy activities are getting organized again”. He mentioned that the PNCA will plan more such activities.
Ayisha has shown her mesmerizing paintings Nationally and Internationally on numerous platforms. She has presented her works as part of an EU art-exchange program with Canada. Her work was also shown in the ‘Vialful’ exhibit.
Arshad Shahnawaz was one of ten overseas Canadians selected by the Contemporary Art Galleries Association (Association des Galeries d’art Contemporain) to showcase their work during the Millennium Fair in Montreal.
She was among a handful of artists from around the globe invited by the Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs to exhibit their work.
PNCA in a press statement said it is committed to promoting significant aspects arts and culture and encourages community participation in gallery activities. It fosters curatorial practice to artist’s own understanding of their work and encourages a healthy and sustainable local arts industry.
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Information Fawad Chaudhry on Monday submitted to the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) an affidavit of a written apology over his allegations against the commission as well as the chief election commissioner (CEC).
The commission will now give its verdict on Fawad’s affidavit. The ECP had demanded from the minister an apology in writing following he appeared before it six days back on November 16, 2021 after the issuance of a show-cause notice to him and had said he regretted his remarks.
The minister, while arguing his case, had said that he appeared before the commission because he did not want to indulge in any kind of rejoinders. He had pleaded to the commission to close the case. He said he himself was a lawyer and he was also the mouthpiece of the government. “I did not abuse anyone. I’m also a lawyer. Accept my apology,” Fawad had pleaded.
Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry, at a press conference, he had addressed along with Railways Minister Azam Swati, accused the chief election commissioner (CEC) of acting as a “mouthpiece for the opposition parties”.
LAHORE: The Punjab government has decided to hold local body elections across the province in March or April 2022.
Well-placed sources in the provincial government said the provincial government will get the new Punjab Local Government Act 2021 passed from the assembly in the days to come.
As per the draft of the new local body act, at least 11 metropolitan corporations will be established in the province.
Besides the 11 metropolitan corporations, 15 municipal corporations and 35 district councils will also be set up in the province under the new local body act. All local representatives, from the councilor to the city mayor, would be elected through a direct vote.
In addition to this, over 6,000 village and neighbourhood councils will be established, while each village will have its own panchayat across the province.
Each village panchayat will comprise five members and it will be given powers as well as financial grant, sources said, adding that the body will decide minor disputes among villagers and will address other issues like street lights and provision of potable water to the people.
Earlier, the PTI had formed a consultative committee to decide tickets for the upcoming local government elections in Punjab.
Sources had said the committee on local body elections has been formed on the directions of Prime Minister Imran Khan, The News reported.
The committee comprised PTI chief organiser Saifullah Niazi, Secretary-General Amir Mehmood Kiani and Punjab Minister for Local Bodies Mian Mehmoodur Rashid. The committee would also consult regional presidents of the PTI.
The panel would furnish proposals on the distribution of tickets and the selection of candidates. It will also give suggestions on seat adjustments with like-minded parties.
Earlier, Prime Minister Khan directed Punjab Local Government and Community Development Department Minister Mian Mahmoodur Rasheed to hold Local Bodies elections in Punjab early and to complete all arrangements and legal proceedings in this regard.
The directives were issued by the prime minister during his meeting with the provincial minister who called on him at the Prime Minister’s House here on Sunday.
The meeting discussed the holding of Local Bodies elections in Punjab and other issues of national interest. The premier also instructed to get the Punjab Local Government Act 2021 passed by the Punjab Assembly soon.
ISLAMABAD: Justice (R) Javed Iqbal Chairman, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has said anti-graft body has solid evidence of money-laundering of billions of rupees by a “big fish” which were laundered by opening fake accounts in the names of ‘falooda wala’, ‘chhabri wala’ and ‘papar wala’ etc.
“The learned accountability courts in which NAB had filed references against accused persons are the relevant authority to decide about the innocence of any accused person as per law,” he said in a statement.
The NAB chairman said the people who are claiming their innocence in media should better request the accountability court concerned to resume hearing of their cases on a daily basis so that they plead about their innocence where law will take its own course.
He said the NAB would continue performing its national duties without caring about any baseless media reports and propaganda against it as an institution per law. He said the NAB is committed to the logical conclusion of mega corruption cases by utilising all available resources as per law.
He said the NAB had constituted a Combined Investigation Team (CIT) to benefit from the collective wisdom of senior supervisory officers. He said the CIT had the services of director, additional director, investigation officer, legal counsel and experts of the monetary and land revenue department which is lending quality.
Javed Iqbal said the NAB was the focal institution of Pakistan under the UN Convention against corruption and the chairman of the Saarc Anti-Corruption Forum.
He said the NAB was considered a role model organisation in Saarc countries.
The NAB chairman said the anti-graft body has recovered Rs538 billion directly and indirectly from corrupt elements from October 2017 to October 2021, which is a record achievement as compared to other years. It shows the commitment and dedication of NAB’s officers towards the performance of their national responsibilities for eradicating corruption from the country, he said.
He said there are 1278 corruption cases, having an accumulative volume of approximately Rs1335 billion, which are under trial in various accountability courts of the country. The performance of the NAB has been lauded by reputed national and international institutions.
“Pakistan is the only country with whom China has signed an MoU for eradication of corruption,” he added. He said the performance of the NAB is being reviewed regularly on the basis of a monitoring and evaluation system so that it could be improved further.
He said youth is our future; the NAB has signed an MoU with Higher Education Commission to make the youth aware of the ill-effects of corruption in universities and colleges at an early age.
Under this initiative, it has successfully established more than 50,000 Character Building Societies in various universities and colleges besides constituting prevention committees in consultations with respective provincial and federal government departments to assist them to identify and plug loopholes in order to check corruption.
He said that as per Gillani and Gallup Survey, 59% of people have shown trust in the NAB. He said the NAB has devised a comprehensive Quantified Grading System to further improve the performance of NAB headquarters and all regional bureaus.
ISLAMABAD: Former Chief Justice of Pakistan, Saqib Nisar has catagorically denied the authenticity of the audio tape attributed to him, saying it was not his voice and termed it fabricated.
“The audio clip is being falsely associated with me,” former top judge of Pakistan Supreme Court said while talking to a provate television network.
Recently, an audio clip allegedly featuring Nisar was leaked in which the ex-CJP purportedly passed instructions that in order to make space for Imran Khan in politics, Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz would have to be punished.
In the audio clip, he could allegedly be heard saying that “even though there are no cases against Maryam Nawaz, she would still have to be punished.”
Saqib Nisar refused to accept that it was his voice and termed it fabricated. “The audio clip is being falsely associated with me,” he stated.
When asked if he would take legal action against the audio clip being associated with him, Nisar said he is thinking about “which legal option to go with.”
When the audio was initially leaked, Nisar had said that the report was “contrary to facts” and had categorically denied that he had ever directed any of his subordinate judges in connection with any judicial order whether it pertained to Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz Sharif, Maryam Nawaz, or anyone else.
Reacting to the development, PML-N vice president Maryam Nawaz tweeted: “Allah u Akbar [God is great].”
It should be noted that on November 15, ex-chief justice of the Gilgit-Baltistan apex court had levelled serious allegations against Nisar, stating in a notarised affidavit that he had been witness to the then CJP Nisar’s direction to a high court judge not to release Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz on bail at any cost before the 2018 general elections,
“Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz Sharif must remain in jail until the general elections are over. On assurances from the other side, he (Saqib Nisar) became calm and happily demanded another cup of tea,” this is what is said in the affidavit of the former top judge of GB talking about the then top judge of Pakistan.
According to the document, Shamim’s statement was given under oath before a London-based Oath Commissioner on November 10, 2021. The affidavit, duly notarized, contains the signature of the ex-CJ of Gilgit Baltistan as well as an image of his NIC card. The notary public stamped the affidavit and recorded that it was “sworn under oath Before me” on Nov 10, 2021.
Both Nawaz Sharif and Maryam Nawaz were convicted by an accountability court in a graft case before the July 25, 2018, general elections. Their lawyers had moved the court for suspension of the conviction but the case after initial hearings was postponed till last week of July.
Rana Shamim had initially confirmed the content of the affidavit read to him on a WhatsApp call by a The News correspondent. Then he said that he could not hear this scribe clearly. He was called back immediately but his WhatsApp was found turned off. He also did not pick up regular calls, repeatedly made to him.
Later, his mobile phone was also found turned off. After a break of a few hours, the former top judge of GB sent a mobile message to the correspondent from another number confirming the content of the statement.
Taking strong notice of the allegations, the IHC had issued show-cause notices to the former chief judge Gigit Baltistan and others and directed them to submit their responses by November 26, the next date of hearing.
SRINAGAR: There is no end yet to the grieves of the families of two civilians killed in the Hyderpora encounter on 15 November an still they are moving from pollar to post to receive bodies for burial.
Instead, they faced a 76-hour struggle, shuttling between government offices and police stations, three sleepless nights, a long drawn negotiation process with the police and a protest — all to bring back their dead, bury them and bring closure for their children.
On the evening of the fateful day, videos of the men killed in the encounter started doing the rounds on WhatsApp groups in the Valley. However, despite a video of Altaf Bhat lying in a pool of blood becoming public, his family members were in denial, waiting for an official confirmation.
“Around 8 pm, some videos started circulating in which I saw Bhatt uncle’s body on the floor in the corridor of his office building. I saw his face but I was in denial. I did not want to believe those visuals. I kept telling myself that he is an innocent civilian, why would he get killed in an encounter?” said Saima Bhat, niece of slain Altaf Bhat.
Saima then comforted the family, assuring them that Bhat would soon be back and started making frantic calls, even to people in the police establishment.
The confirmation of his death came two hours later when the Jammu and Kashmir Police officially announced that among the dead were two terrorists — Haider (a Pakistani national), his associate Amir Ahmad — and two civilians — Altaf Ahmad Bhat and another individual, later identified as Mudassir Gul, who had “accompanied the search party”, to show the “suspect call centre in the building”, where the terrorists were operating from.
This was the building where Bhat had been running his cement and hardware shop from for the last three decades. He had rented out one floor to Gul two years ago as office space. He was working as a property dealer.
“We were shattered. I was numb,” Nyfa, the daughter of slain Altaf Bhat told the meida.
For the family of Mudassir Gul, the confirmation came much later, as the police didn’t announce his name initially. Until the morning of 16 November, Gul’s family was under the impression that he could have been “detained” somewhere for an “inquiry” and would return home.
“All night we went from police stations to the control room to hospitals to look for Mudassir but could not find him. We made so many calls to his friends and colleagues but got no information. No one from the police called us to inform us that he was killed in the encounter. It was only the next day that we found out,” Gul’s widow, Rafiya, said.
However, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Vijay Kumar denied this claim, saying the families of both civilians were contacted and even asked to accompany the police team to Handwara, 70 km from Hyderpora in Srinagar, where the bodies were to be buried.
“The families of both Altaf and Mudassir were contacted and were even asked to accompany police for their last rites. We took their bodies to Handwara and did not return them to the families, as we did not want a law and order situation,” the IGP said.
Kumar added that the J&K Police “regret” that both Bhat and Gul were killed in the crossfire, “despite their attempts to save the two”.
“Altaf had given out the first floor on rent to Mudassir where he was running a fake call centre and was harbouring militants. But since he died in the crossfire, we regret that. We tried to save them but could not save them as the firing was on from all sides,” Kumar added.
The encounter took place at 4:30 pm on 15 November when personnel from J&K Police, Army and the Central Reserve Police Force reached the market area of Hyderpora, wearing pherans, cordoned off the area and started searching the premises, eyewitnesses in the area recalled.
The police claimed they had intelligence inputs about “presence of terrorists in the area”, and everyone across a dozen shops in the 200 m radius were held up inside a hospital in the area and a Royal Enfield showroom. It was from this group that Bhat and Gul were taken to “locate” the terrorists.
After the families of the two civilians were told that their bodies had been buried in Handwara, they began their struggle to get the bodies back.
“I promised Bhatt sahib’s children that I would get their dead father back. Don’t they deserve to see his face for one last time? I told them that this is our right which cannot be snatched,” Saima said.
Saima and two of her relatives went to the local police station to seek details about the procedure to get Bhat’s body back on the night of the encounter. The Station House Officer, however, told them that the body had been taken for an autopsy and its status would be clear the next morning.
“Until then, we had no clue that the police had taken the body to Handwara. At around 3 am we blocked the airport road and sat there. Around 6:30 am, a deployment in the area came and told us that his autopsy was on and the body will be given to us after that and that we should leave for home,” Saima said.
“We then went to the DC office around 11 am and gave a written application demanding the body back. We even spoke to the DIG (Deputy Inspector General). At that time there was no
SRINAGAR: Prof. Saifuddin Soz, a veteran Kashmiri politician and parliamentatian has said that Kashmir Houseboat Industry is in extreme bad shape as the Houseboat owners have been reduced to conditions of penury.
Prof. Saifuddin Soz, senior leader of Congress, in a statement issued here said, he feels extremely sad that Kashmir’s traditional Houseboat Industry is facing extremely bad conditions. “The houseboat owners have got reduced to very bad economic conditions due to falling numbers of domestic and foreign tourists. The pandemic has further deepened their misery,” he deplored.
Meanwhile, the residents of Sopore and Uri areas in Baramulla district are facing an acute shortage of drinking water. The locals said, the situation for them has worsened as they have been facing drinking water woes for the past seven days.
The locals said that they have time and again brought the issue to the notice of the higher-ups. However, they said that they have, so far, got nothing but empty promises.
