The Law Ministry has rejected a proposal by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to extend the tenure of its chairperson Justice (r) Javed Iqbal, deputy chairperson and prosecutor general.
According to reports, the anti-graft watchdog had suggested the Law Ministry that the NAB Ordinance be amended to extend the tenure of the three officials.
Rejecting the proposal, the Law Ministry said that the tenure of the said posts was in line with the tenure of other autonomous bodies and that NAB could not provide clear reasons for an extension.
Justice (r) Javed Iqbal is the incumbent chairman of NAB.
NAB CHIEF HEARS PEOPLE OUT:
Separately, Justice (r) Iqbal last Thursday listened to complaints of the people about housing societies after they turned up at NAB headquarters from across the country to directly register their complaints to the chairman.
According to a statement, he patiently listened to complaints against various housing societies and directed the bureau officers concerned to address the same on priority basis.
It merits mentioning here that Justice (r) Iqbal after assuming the coveted responsibilities in October 2017 decided to himself listen to the complaints on the last Thursday of every month.
He had also directed director generals of all bureaus to ensure listening to the complaints of the aggrieved persons personally.
Locals in Faisalabad have found a bomb weighing 750 pounds from fields which, according to District Civil Defence, may have been dropped during the 1965 or 1971 Indo-Pak wars, but did not explode.
The unexploded ordnance (UXO) was unearthed when locals were digging in agricultural fields near Faisalabad airport.
The bomb — in rusty and dilapidated condition — was handed over to Civil Defence officials shortly after it was discovered.
District Civil Defence officer Rana Abbas was quoted as saying that the bomb will be handed over to Pakistan Air Force (PAF).
UXO:
UXO of war is an explosive that did not explode when it was employed and still pose a risk of detonation, sometimes many decades after it was used or discarded.
It does not always originate from wars; areas such as military training grounds can also hold significant numbers, even after the area has been abandoned.
UXO from World War I continue to be a hazard, with poisonous gas filled munitions still a problem. When unwanted munitions are found, they are sometimes destroyed in controlled explosions, but accidental detonation of even very old explosives also occurs, sometimes with fatal results.
Around 80 countries are contaminated by land mines, which kill or maim 15,000–20,000 people every year. Approximately 80% of casualties are civilians, with children the most affected age group. An estimated average of 50% of deaths occurs within hours of the blast.
In recent years, mines have been used increasingly as weapons of terror against local civilian populations specifically.
In addition to the obvious danger of explosion, buried UXO can also cause environmental contamination. In some heavily used military training areas, munitions-related chemicals can enter soil and groundwater.
Lahore Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Umar Sheikh once again found himself in trouble when talking to the Senate Functional Committee on Human Rights to talk about the motorway gang-rape case on Monday.
There seemed to be discordant information about the authorities’ response time to the victim’s distress call when her car broke down on the M11 Motorway. The CCPO said that it took approximately 28 minutes to reach the area, while the officers who actually responded to the distress call said that they reached the area in under six minutes.
The purpose of the hearing was to discuss the case regarding the horrible gang-rape and mugging of a mother travelling with her children at night on the Lahore-Sialkot motorway. The incident led to country-wide protests and calls for reforms in laws pertaining to sexual assault, specifically with a call for public hangings of the perpetrators.
CCPO Sheikh said during the hearing that the woman was travelling without her husband’s permission, but soon thereafter admitted this was just a “guess”. He was reprimanded by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Krishna Kumari Kohli, a member of the Senate committee, who also told him not to make any such assumptions in the future.
When the committee reprimanded him for giving his “personal opinions” instead of stating facts of the case, Sheikh backtracked and said that “he had been told that the victim had left late at night because she had to talk to her husband on video call”.
The CCPO found himself in even hotter water when he forgot the name of the prime suspect in the case. Abid Ali has been on the run for the past 20 days and the eight special teams — comprising personnel from all of the Punjab Police’s departments — have failed to apprehend despite spotting him at least thrice across the province.
Sheikh said, “If [police helpline] 15 had received the call, we could have reached that place in 25 minutes. The first call to 15 was at 2:47 am made by a passerby and the 15 officials reached at 3:15 am” while addressing the committee.
In reply, Marri said either the CCPO lacked the correct information or the committee had been misled.
“The call came at 2:47 am and the first [Dolphin Force] officer arrived at 2:53 am. I’m telling you the 100% truth,” the CCPO responded.
“Then your cops are lying,” Marri shot back at him.
“My job is to stop the crime and catch the culprits,” Sheikh replied. “Neither is there a CCTV [camera] at the toll plaza nor is an actual toll tax receipt given.”
“Five technologies were used in the motorway rape case; geo-fencing, DNA filing, and fingerprint technology. Even the American police do not respond [to a crime] in six minutes,” he added.
The committee members expressed anger over the contradiction in the police officer’s statement.
“You say the police arrived at the scene in 28 minutes but the police said they had reached in six minutes,” the committee said. “The police tried to misguide the committee”.
The CCPO’s repetitive apologies seemed to further irritate the committee.
https://youtu.be/ClY85ZLGsFU
“The CCPO only apologised out of fear of the court,” PkMAP Senator Usman Kakar said.
Sheikh told the committee that Abid’s data had successfully been found from the Punjab Forensic Science Agency’s (PFSA) 2013 records. “The first case of Daniel Pearl in Pakistan was solved with [the use of] DNA,” he said.
To which, Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, the chairperson of the Senate committee, asked why Abid had been released. At this, Lahore’s top cop simply sought forgiveness once more.
“Babar Malhi’s blood and DNA have also matched,” he said.
At which, the committee members paused, in shock, and asked: “Babar Malhi or Abid Malhi? Is the main suspect [named] Abid or Babar? You are investigating this case and you don’t know the name of the main suspect.”
At this point, the shaken officer cited his age as an excuse for his poor memory and continued to seek forgiveness from the committee, repeatedly apologising to all members of the hearing. He even went as far as to say a joint session should be summoned so he can apologise to all lawmakers at once.
He also talked about his desire to bring “court-martial law” into the Punjab police forced, touted himself as someone “who wishes to bring reforms”, and blamed leaks on his 500 people strong police force.
He further tried to shift part of the blame in the insufficient response to the call to the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO).
“In this case, too, an FWO officer was taken on the woman’s conference call. He told her he would send a car,” he said. “That car was on the M2 [motorway] and it took a long time to reach the site.”
“The crux of the matter is that this alert should have been to 15,” he added.
Speaking to The Current, Khokhar separately said that he was shocked over the CCPO’s statements. “His mix-ups have created confusion over the police response time.”
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has said the nation was expecting the arrest of PM’s aide Asim Saleem Bajwa but the authorities instead apprehended his brother Shehbaz Sharif.
“This is oppression and this is injustice,” Nawaz said, referring to Shehbaz’s arrest in a money laundering case. “This is not acceptable and we will not accept it.”
The National Assembly opposition leader was arrested Monday morning after the Lahore High Court rejected his bail plea.
Referring to Bajwa, the former premier told reporters in London that the nation wanted to know how a person made such big properties and assets in just 15 or 20 years.
Opposition parties have been demanding an investigation against Bajwa after the publishing of a story that claimed that Bajwa’s family had set up 99 companies in four countries, including a pizza franchise with 133 restaurants.
The website, FactFocus, claimed that his wife is a “shareholder” in at least 86 companies. Of them, 71 were set up in the US, seven in the UAE and four in Canada.
Meanwhile, Maryam Nawaz, who was addressing a press conference in Lahore, said that if there was accountability and justice in country, Bajwa would have been arrested.
Maryam said the anti-government movement would not stop with the arrest of Shehbaz Sharif, rather the unjust act would add fuel to fire. “This movement will not suffer a setback due to Shehbaz Sharif’s arrest,” she insisted.
She said even if the entire PML-N leadership, including her, was arrested, the movement would not stop. Terming the arrest extremely unfortunate, Maryam said she had no doubts that the PML-N president had been picked up because he chose not to betray his brother, Nawaz Sharif.
“He [Shehbaz Sharif] not only stood with his brother but his loyalty to his brother’s cause and the party remained unwavering. “His wife has been declared an absconder; his son, my brother Hamza, has been sent to jail, though no case has been proven against him.
“During the last week, Shehbaz gave two to three statements, saying that if they want to arrest him, they can , but the party will implement 100% of the directions given in Nawaz Sharif’s speech at the APC,” she said, referring to a statement made by the PML-N supremo at the opposition’s multiparty conference last week.
The PML-N leader said the party had all its options open including resignations from all assemblies as well as launching a long march, and the party was deliberating on all options. “Those who are talking about birth of ‘Sheen’ from ‘Noon’ are now screaming because Sheen and Noon are completely united and can’t be separated,” she said, adding that Shehbaz was arrested though nothing was proved against him.
Questioning the accountability and justice system, she said those who stood for justice were behind the bars or were submitting their financial details.
Muhammad Rashid from Pakistan has set a new world record by cracking 254 walnuts with his head in a minute, defeating S.Navin Kumar of India, who cracked 239 walnuts.
Rashid now holds the Guinness World Record for cracking the most walnuts head to head in a minute. Previously, Rashid had managed to crack 234 walnuts under a minute with an elbow.
The martial artist now has 30 world records to his name.
“My target is to complete 100 records,” said Muhammad Rashid.
His journey started in 2013 when he participated at the Punjab Youth Sports Festival and broke the record for the most bottle caps removed with the head in one minute. He removed 4o bottle caps in 60 seconds.
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has once again arrested the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, Shehbaz Sharif, from outside the Lahore High Court (LHC) in a money-laundering case.
The arrest came as the court rejected the bail petitions filed by the PML-N president in the said case as well as that pertaining to his assets.
Shehbaz had earlier reached the LHC for a hearing on his interim bail petition in the money-laundering case by NAB.
A two-member bench of the LHC presided over the hearing, while lawyers representing the former Punjab chief minister (CM) presented their arguments after a three-day hiatus.
A large number of PML-N party workers reached the court to express their support for Shehbaz, Geo reported.
On Thursday, a two-judge bench of the LHC had extended Shehbaz’s interim bail in the same case till September 28.
In December last year, the anti-graft watchdog had issued orders to freeze 23 properties owned by former Punjab chief executive and his sons, Hamza and Suleman, over claims they had acquired assets beyond their known sources of income and committed money-laundering.
According to the NAB, an investigation against Shehbaz, Hamza, Suleman, and others had revealed that the PML-N president had acquired properties in the name of his wives Nusrat and Tehmina Durrani.
While the authorities are also reportedly tightening the noose around Suleman, who is in London, Hamza already remains incarcerated.
A journalist has taken a dig at the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF), claiming that the not-for-profit company, which aims to promote an effective approach to poverty alleviation across the country, is only bringing relief to its executives with handsome salary packages.
“How PPAF alleviates poverty of its own executives rather than the people of Pakistan,” journalist Jawad Khan Yousafzai tweeted along with the details of salary of the fund’s chief executive officer (CEO), which he says he received under right to information (RTI) laws.
How Pakistan's Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) alleviates the poverty of its own executives rather than the people of Pakistan. Received the following information under RTI on the salary of Chief Executive PPAF: Yearly salary: Rs. 31732,000 Monthly salary: Rs. 2644,333 pic.twitter.com/v2Jg5lc1Z7
RTI is a citizen’s right to access information from his or her government and private bodies that receive public funds. It is based on the principle that information belongs to the people, and boosts transparency, which in turn strengthens accountability, reduces corruption and improves the delivery of public services.
It enables citizens to hold public officials to account for their actions, demand for rights and better services, and take a stand against corrupt practices.
The government also benefits from RTI as access to information by public officials makes it easier for them to carry out their duties more efficiently. It supports citizens’ oversight and demand for accountability, which in turn helps improve the performance and functioning of public organisations.
RTI is a fundamental right in Pakistan under Article 19-A of the Constitution.
Bank of Punjab President and Chief Executive Officer Zafar Masud, one of the only two survivors of the tragic Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) crash from May 22, 2020, has taken to the air once again.
Overcoming his fear of flying just months after surviving an air crash, Masud bravely chose PIA as his carrier of choice on Saturday when he boarded flight PK-304 from Karachi to Lahore.
At Jinnah International Airport, he was welcomed by PIA Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Khalilullah Sheikh and Chief Technical Officer (CTO) & Head of Engineering Amir Ali. He was assured of all safety measures being taken for his flight by ground and air staff alike.
Upon landing in Lahore, PIA CEO Air Marshal Arshad Malik personally received the guest at the arrival gate.
Masud said that despite the trauma he previously faced, he had a pleasant flight with PIA, adding that it was one of the smoothest landings he had ever experienced.
Masud is also part of PIA’s reforms process and restructuring drive and has said that he stands firmly in support of the national airline, an airline with which he said he felt at home, both now and before the incident.
The PIA CEO has reportedly thanked Masud and said that PIA feels indebted to him.
He said PIA will strive to meet the expectations of all civilians and is working tirelessly to bring prestige back to the airline.
PIA remains under fire after the air crash that killed 97 passengers and light was shed on the issue of fake licences of nearly one-third of Pakistan’s pilots. Out of the 262 pilots found with fake licenses across Pakistan, 101 of them were affiliated with PIA.
The airline has since grounded and suspended all pilots suspected of having a dubious license and increased safety and security measures on all flights.
Prime Minister Imran Khan is of the view that social media apps like TikTok are affecting the society’s values badly and should be blocked, Information Minister Shibli Faraz said in an interview with The News.
Speaking to the publication, Faraz said, “PM Imran is extremely concerned about the ‘growing obscenity and vulgarity’ in the society and has directed all the relevant sections to check the trend before it destroys the socio-religious values of Pakistani society.”
The information minister added that the Prime Minister had talked about this issue with him not once or twice but 15 or 16 times and wants a complete strategy to check the vulgarity spreading through mainstream outlets, social media and its applications.
PM Khan’s opinion has social media divided but actor Ahmed Ali Butt supported the premier’s point of view. Feroze Khan had also earlier referred to TikTok as ‘cancer’.
Earlier, Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) had issued a final warning to TikTok ordering it to filter out obscene and immoral content after it banned live streaming application Bigo over similar concerns.
The PTA has also directed internet operators to ensure that no “immoral or illegal” content is made accessible to users.
A young man from Chitral dived into the river to save a baby Markhor from drowning.
According to reports, the Markhor was drinking water from the river when it slipped into the deep water. The youth who witnessed the scene, instantly jumped into River Chitral to save it from drowning.
He successfully rescued the animal from river water.
Chairman Pakistan Red Crescent KP, Lt Gen Muhammad Hamid Khan has appreciated the youth for saving the Markhor. He said the young man put his own life in danger and saved an animal.
“Red Crescent pays salute to such brave and caring youth,” he added.
