A relief plan has been prepared for people consuming up to 400 units of electricity.
As per the sources in the Ministry of Finance, the relief plan for electricity bills has been prepared on an emergency basis. The government is working on providing relief of 250 billion rupees in electricity bills.
Additionally, sources have said that if the IMF approves the plan, an agreement can be made for 2 months. The Ministry of Finance will give a written guarantee to pay the bills for August and September in installments.
Withdrawal from the increase of Rs 7 in the basic tariff is being considered along with installments.
The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday threw out the review petition of the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) about the May 14 polls order, The News has reported.
“The court will intervene whenever there is a constitutional violation,” Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial said.
In April 2023, a three-member bench of the apex court headed by CJP Bandial, comprising Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan and Justice Munib Akhtar declared the decision of the ECP to hold elections on October 8 instead of April 30 “illegal” and directed the ECP to hold elections in Punjab on May 14.
In its 14-page petition, ECP said that the apex court should review its decision as the court “doesn’t have the authority to give the date of elections”.
“Such powers exist elsewhere under the Constitution but certainly not lie in a court of law,” the ECP had said, citing various legalities and reasons behind its statement.
Dr Gohar Ejaz, the Caretaker Federal Minister for Commerce, Industries, and Production, has set a bigger target of achieving $25 billion in textile exports for the current fiscal year, a substantial increase from the $16 billion target of the previous year.
Speaking at a meeting with the Pakistan Textile Exporters Association, led by Khurram Mukhtiar, Dr Ejaz outlined his strategic vision. He pledged to revitalise dormant industries within the nation within a tight one-month deadline, expressing confidence in surpassing last year’s export figure of $16 billion.
Assuming the role with a bold $80 billion export objective, Dr Ejaz assured a systematic approach to address impediments hampering industrial operations. He expressed eagerness to directly engage with stakeholders, even offering to visit facilities as a symbol of his dedication to the industrial landscape’s rejuvenation. He requested a comprehensive list of inactive industries and their specific challenges to better tackle the issues.
Furthermore, the minister vowed to promptly resolve pending financial obligations owed to industries by various departments, including the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and customs.
He extended an open invitation to associations and business leaders, emphasising his readiness to collaborate and find solutions for their concerns.
With a focus on swift resolutions for challenges related to gas, electricity, energy, and fund allocation, Dr Ejaz reaffirmed his commitment to fostering a thriving and supportive business environment.
The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has assured the Awami National Party (ANP) that elections will be held by end of January or mid-February at the most, depending on the completion of delimitation of constituencies.
According to Geo News, ECP met with representatives of ANP, Balochistan National Party (BNP) and Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) to discuss the upcoming general election.
According to ANP leaders, the commission assured them of speeding up the process of delimitation, telling them that elections will not be delayed beyond mid-February.
In a statement released by the commission, ANP insisted on a date and schedule for the electoral exercise if elections were not being carrying out within 90 days. ANP believes that ECP should have consulted political parties before carrying out delimitation because under the constitution, the commission can not reduce or increase the seats given in the provinces.
On the contrary, the BAP delegation supported the initiation of delimitation, stating that not going for delimitation as per the new census would be an insult to political parties, candidates and the public, reported Geo News.
However, BNP representative Agha Hassan Baloch urged ECP to hold elections within 90 days. He highlighted that the new census seems to be faulty since the population of Balochistan has been reduced. “Therefore, our party believes that there is no use of new delimitation. If the election commission believes that delimitation is necessary, then the process should be corrected,” he said.
While speaking to the media, Mian Iftikhar of the ANP said that the electoral body will complete delimitation of constituencies soon in order to hold general elections no later than mid-February.
The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has ordered not to arrest human rights lawyer Imaan Zainab Mazari in any First Information Report (FIR) registered after August 20.
Justice Mian Gul Hassan Aurangzeb of the IHC heard the case in which Shireen Mazari, former federal minister and the mother of Imaan Mazari, submitted a request on her daughter’s behalf through her lawyers, Zainab Janjua, Salman Akram Raja and Qaisar Imam.
The Interior Secretary is to submit a report to the court detailing the number of cases that have been filed against Imaan Mazari in the country.
Earlier, On Sunday, August 20, human rights lawyer Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and former lawmaker Ali Wazir were arrested for attending the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) protest in Islamabad.
Caretaker Federal Minister for IT and Telecommunication Dr Umar Saif and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Chairman retired Major General Hafeezur Rehman have announced that 5G services will be launched within 10 months.
Dr Umar Saif said that hinderances in launching 5G services will be countered swiftly and issues in regards to taxation, teledensity and spectrum will be addressed.
Moreover, quality of the service will also be worked on in order to cater to the masses with the imminent 5G auction.
Both the IT minister and Chairman PTA highlighted that Pakistan’s cellular service quality ranks very very low — 79 out of 100 according to the Inclusive Internet Index — reason being the lack of investment in the telecom infrastructure.
According to Dawn.com, PTA officials pointed out to the minister that telecom operators in Pakistan only have 274 MHz spectrum to serve the 7th largest number of telecom users in the world, whereas, a single telecom operator in Australia uses over 345 MHz.
“For better telecom services, we must ensure immediate improvement in 4G infrastructure and accelerate the rollout of 5G in Pakistan,” the PTA chief said.
While the Ministry announced to launch 5G by the middle of 2023 and was seeking foreign investment, a digital emergency has also been declared due to the “high cost of doing business and restrictions on imports of components and technical parts”, reports Dawn.com.
ARY news has reported that Khairpur police have released four accused in the murder case of 10-year-old Fatima again.
SHO Ameer Chang, Dr Fatah Memon, Dr Ali Hasan Wasan and medical dispenser Imtiaz Merasi have been set free as they were not named in the FIR.
“The evidence of innocence of four accused has been presented to the Joint Investigation Team headed by DSP Abdul Qadoos Kalor,” the Investigation Officer said.
On 28 August, Pakistan Today reported that according to sources having knowledge of the matter, the ‘deal’ is struck through an ‘agent’ of a high-ranked police officer in the Fatima murder case۔
Moreover, according to police sources, the arrested doctor, compounder, the MS, would be released from the Fatima murder case under a “deal of Rs5 million.”
On Tuesday, Ejaz Khaskheli, the driver of prime suspect Asad Shah’s wife Hina Shah, was arrested in Karachi by Khairpur Police while 11 others were also taken into custody from Asad’s mansion.
As reported by Dawn, according to Khairpur SSP Mir Rohail Khoso, Khaskheli was accused of helping Hina Shah in escaping arrest and went into hiding himself.
In Court
On 29 August, local court extended Pir Asad Shah’s physical remand by one day on the request of the police in 10-year-old Fatima’s case.
Shah was produced in the court after his three-day physical remand was completed.
The investigating officer told the court that because the provisions of the Terrorism Act have been included in the case, it should be transferred to the Anti-Terrorism Court.
The court also handed over Asad Shah’s driver Ijaz to the police on judicial remand for facilitating him.
Suspects re-arrested
Four suspects in the 10-year-old Fatima case have been rearrested after a short release on Sunday, 27 August.
The suspects included SHO Ameer Chang; two doctors Dr. Fateh Memon and Dr. Ali Hasan Wasan and hospital worker Imtiaz Meerasi.
According to Investigation Officer (IO) Qazi Bachal, they were released on evidence of their innocence. However, they are still under investigation.
The four were accused of concealing facts, concealing crime and neglect of duties.
Samaa News reported that no suspect was produced in court and that they were free without any investigation allegedly due to political pressure.
Additionally, on Saturday, Judicial Magistrate Khairpur extended the physical remand of Pir Asad Shah, the main suspect in the Fatima murder case, by three days.
Previously
Pir Asad Shah, the main suspect in the Fatima murder case at Ranipur Haveli in Khairpur, was being facilitated by a local SHO of police to remain in contact with his mureeds [followers], Geo News reported.
Earlier, DIG Sukkur Javed Jaskani had said in a conversation with Geo News that the police will not accommodate any pressure in the case.
The seven days long bail period of Hina Shah, another suspect in the case, has also ended.
Pir Asad Shah is the main suspect in the killing of 10-year-old Fatima who was found dead at his Haveli. The child, who was working as a domestic servant at the pir’s Haveli, was hastily buried. However, subsequent exhumation and autopsy revealed that Fatima had multiple injuries over her body, and had been raped vaginally and anally.
Do you remember the news of a drone carrying drugs falling near Kahna?
This year in July a drone carrying six kilograms of drugs, worth millions of rupees, crashed in the outskirts of Lahore. Recently a case has been registered against a senior official of the Lahore police, who headed the anti-narcotics wing of the city police, for alleged involvement in cross-border drug smuggling via drones.
Lahore Deputy Inspector General (Investigation) Imran Kishwar confirmed the “involvement of a DSP”, saying that the official was booked by the ANF.
“We have constituted a high-powered committee of senior police officers to further expand the scope of the investigation into the illegal cross-border smuggling of the drug,” the DIG told Dawn.
He said that Lahore SSP Internal Accountability (IAB) Tauqeer Naeem would head the committee while SP Crime Record Officer Aftab Phularwan and a DSP would assist him in this matter.
According to departmental sources, the issue was escalated to the prime minister after reports suggested that some elements were sending drugs from Kasur to India through drones. They further suggested that a gang of drug traffickers were using unmanned aerial vehicles to smuggle huge quantities of methamphetamine (locally known as ice) from Lahore to India.
Sources said a drone could carry up to six kilograms of drugs, which would be delivered at a given location in Indian Punjab after flying across the border.
Departmental action has already been initiated against the police officer, DIG said, adding that further proceedings would be made in the light of the inquiry report.
The use of technology to smuggle drugs sent alarm bells ringing in ANF, evident from recent arrests made by the force. A subsequent probe revealed that DSP Mazhar Iqbal, who secured interim bail after a case was registered against him, was also involved in the alleged smuggling.
The smugglers on both sides of the border were using “some means of communication to get alerts about the delivery of the drug”, the officials said.
They added that payments against these drugs would be made in the UAE.
After country-wide protests against unprecedented hikes in electricity bills, Pakistan’s caretaker government has approached the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to seek approval before announcing any relief for the people.
According to Geo News, the IMF asked Pakistan to share a written plan for relief on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the federal cabinet had a meeting with interim Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar to take into consideration all possible options but no decision was officially announced.
The Power Division has shared proposals with the authorities but first, the IMF is to be taken on board as loans from the Fund bear strict conditions.
In July, a $3 billion loan agreement was signed with the IMF with stringent financial regulations to be followed during the programme.
Under the bailout package, the former government of Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) approved a stark increase in electricity rates, resulting in increased bills.
As reported by Geo News, Finance Minister Shamshad Akhtar had a virtual meeting with IMF representative Esther Perez to discuss relief measures.
They were made aware of the current situation and continuing protests across the country.
While the Pakistan team submitted various proposals for relief in electricity bills, IMF officials requested the relief plan in writing which, according to Geo, will be shared today.
President Dr Arif Alvi is seeking an increase in his salary. Official documents show that the president has asked for two raises, first with effect from July 1, 2021 and second with effect from July 1, 2023, as per Geo News.
Currently, the president draws a monthly salary of Rs 846,550 and wants a two-step raise to Rs 1,024,325 and Rs 1,229,190 per month with effect from July 2021 and July 2023 respectively.
In a letter written to the Secretary Cabinet through his Military Secretary earlier this month, the President’s Secretariat has desired amendment in the Fourth Schedule of President’s Salary Allowances and Privileges (Amendment) Act, 2018 to allow the president’s salary, a) Rs 1,024,325 per month with effect from July 1, 2021, and b) Rs 1,229,190 per month with effect from July 1, 2023.
The letter stated, “In Pursuance of para 3(2) of President’s Salary, Allowances and Privileges (Amendment) Act 2018, published in the Gazette Notification (Part I), the remuneration of the President shall be a symbolic one rupee higher than the salary of any holder of Public Office in relation to affairs of the Federation. Accordingly, pay of the honorable President was fixed at Rs 846,550/- per month in 2018 as reflected in the Fourth Schedule of the Act ibid.”
The letter further pointed out that the salary of the Chief Justice of Pakistan being a holder of Public Office was increased twice in the last 2 years through Presidential Orders. Pay of Chief Justice of Pakistan was fixed at Rs 1,024,324/ per month w.e.f 01 July 2021 and subsequently at Rs 1,229,189/ per month w.e.f. 01 July 2023. As per the rules, the salary of the President was not enhanced in relation to the laid down principle of one rupee higher than the salary of any holder of public office i.e. Chief Justice of Pakistan.
On the basis of the above, the Presidency sought changes in the Fourth Schedule of President’s Salary Allowances and Privileges (Amendment) Act 2018 accordingly.
The Cabinet Division referred the case to the Law Ministry, which on August 18 advised the former to process the case for a raise in Alvi’s salary.
The Law Ministry stated, “The Federal Government by virtue of section 3(2) of the same Act has the power to amend that Schedule by way of a notification in the official gazette henceforth in relation to the issue at hand the Federal Government is competent to amend the Fourth Schedule by way of gazette notification and no amendment in the Fourth Schedule is required via an amending Act to effectuate a revision in the salary of the President.”
The matter was also referred to the Finance Division, which on August 22 also supported the proposed increase in the salary of the president through amendment in the Fourth Schedule of the President (Salary, Allowances & Privileges) Act, 1975.
The matter is expected to be presented before the cabinet for approval. The president, besides getting the desired increases, will also get a hefty amount as arrears as the two-step raises will be allowed with effect from July 2021 and July 2023 respectively.
