PAKISTAN – Page 24 – OVERSEAS TRIBUNE

ISI to have more civilians at the top

September 17, 2017September 17, 2017 News Desk

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government has increased the civilian share in the senior hierarchy of the country’s premier intelligence agency — Inter Services Intelligence (ISI). Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Sept 15, 2017 approved a proposal to increase the number of directors general (DGs) — the highest civilian post in the agency — from one to four. The post of civilian DG in the ISI is a grade 21 position, equivalent to a serving major general of the armed forces. Previously, there was only one civilian DG post in…

Pakistan defeat World XI by 33 runs to win Independence Cup

September 16, 2017September 16, 2017 News Desk

Pakistan defeated the visiting World XI by 33 runs in a gripping contest for the Independence Cup at Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium on Friday. World XI skipper Faf du Plessis won the toss today and put Pakistan in to bat first, as was the case in the first two matches of the series. The green shirts in their innings set a target of 184 runs for the visiting side in the Twenty20 international (T20I) series finale, but the World XI managed to pile on only 150 runs with eight wickets. The…

ECP orders SSP Operations Islamabad to arrest Imran Khan, produce him on 25th

September 15, 2017September 15, 2017 News Desk

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has ordered the SSP Operations Islamabad to arrest Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chief Imran Khan and produce him before the polls supervisory body on September 25. In connection with a contempt case against the PTI chief, the ECP also sent a communique to the Advocate General Islamabad, informing him that as the commission would hear the case against Khan on September 25, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) should set another date to hear his case. The PTI chief, however, can avoid being arrested if he obtains a pre-arrest…

Supreme Court dismisses review petitions filed by Sharifs, Dar against Panama Papers verdict

September 15, 2017September 15, 2017 News Desk

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the review petitions filed by deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his children and Finance Minister Ishaq Dar against the apex court’s Panama Papers judgement of July 28. The court had reserved its verdict on the review petitions after the lawyers for the petitioners completed their arguments earlier in the day. A five-judge SC bench, headed by Justice Asif Saeed Khosa, had taken up the petitions seeking review of the court’s July 28 judgement which disqualified Nawaz Sharif and ordered the filing of corruption references against Sharif, his…

Provinces job to take action against banned outfits, says Ahsan

September 15, 2017September 15, 2017 News Desk

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal told the Senate on Thursday that it was the responsibility of the provincial governments to keep an eye out for and take action against banned outfits in the country, including those organisations that were resurfacing under new names after being outlawed. The Senate had asked Mr Iqbal to provide the name of the authority or agency responsible for keeping a lookout for banned organisations in the country, under the National Action Plan, and the role of the Ministry of Interior in monitoring the activities of these organisations.…

Nothing to be gained from standoff with institutions: Nisar

September 11, 2017September 11, 2017 News Desk

The most mercurial member of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s cabinet on Saturday stated categorically that no political objectives could be attained through confrontations with the judiciary or the military. “Better coordination with both the judiciary and military is the only option in the current situation, where conspiracies are being hatched against the country,” Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told a private TV channel. In an interview with Saleem Safi of Geo News — the first part of which was aired on Saturday — the former interior minister said “paani sar ke bohat…

Three Hazaras among four shot dead in Quetta

September 11, 2017September 11, 2017 News Desk

Four people, including three members of the Hazara community, were killed and two others were injured when unidentified gunmen opened fire on their vehicle in Quetta’s Kuchlak area on Sunday evening. The members were “targeted” on their way from the Chaman border crossing at the Pak-Afghan border, said police official Zahoor Khan. Two women travelling in the car were injured and transferred to Quetta’s Civil Hospital for treatment, Khan told, “The incident seems to be an act of targeted killing.” The suspects sped away on their motorcycles after opening fire,…

ECP warns PML-N ministers to ‘refrain’ from participating in Kulsoom’s NA-120 campaign

September 9, 2017September 9, 2017 News Desk

The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has served notices to Punjab provincial ministers Saiful Malook Khokhar and Bilal Yasin for violating the election board’s code of conduct by participating in Kulsoom Nawaz’s campaign for NA-120 by-polls, DawnNews reported. The notice, issued by a returning officer on Saturday, claimed that the two MPAs disregarded ECP rules by participating in Kulsoom’s election campaign, being run by Maryam Nawaz. The notice warned both ministers that the body would take legal action against them if they fail to submit an answer within three days. It specifically…

Pakistan seeks changes in free trade agreement with China

September 9, 2017September 9, 2017 News Desk

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will try to convince Chinese authorities to revise the existing free trade agreement (FTA) on the less-than-equal reciprocity principle, Commerce Minister Pervaiz Malik told Dawn on Friday. The move is aimed at overcoming the trade imbalance that exists between the two countries. “We will demand an early-harvest programme in the existing FTA that will cover 100 items of Pakistan’s export interest,” Mr Malik said. Negotiation teams briefed the minister about the trade agreements with China and Thailand. The briefing was part of the preparation ahead of the eighth…

PM inaugurates country’s 5th nuclear power plant at Chashma

September 8, 2017September 8, 2017 News Desk

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Friday inaugurated the country’s fifth nuclear power plant C-4 at Chashma, Mianwali area. The C-4 plant is capable of generating 340MW electricity. Addressing the inauguration ceremony, PM Abbasi said that the project would help the country’s energy problem. The Chashma nuclear power projects units, C-1, C-2 and C-3 have already been successfully contributing to the national grid, he said, adding that two large nuclear power plants, K-2 and K-3, were also under construction that he hoped would be operational soon. Abbasi said that the…

Army’s deployment in federal capital extended

September 8, 2017September 8, 2017 News Desk

ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to extend the army’s deployment in the capital city for three more months. According to officials of the interior ministry, the deployment was extended due to a request made by the chief commissioner of Islamabad. In the extension order, the federal government has exercised powers conferred under Article 245 of the Constitution to extend the authorisation of deployment of 350 troops of the Pakistan Army to act in aide of civil power in accordance with the law for 90 days. The federal government had deployed…

Accountability courts short of judges as NAB approves references against ex-PM, family

September 8, 2017September 8, 2017 News Desk

ISLAMABAD: A Rawalpindi accountability judge will be retiring in a few days while another judge of the Islamabad accountability court is being repatriated to the Lahore High Court (LHC) at a time when the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) is filing four references against former prime minister Nawaz Sharif and his family. There are two accountability court judges in Islamabad: Nisar Baig and Mohammad Bashir. Mr Baig is being repatriated to his parent department, the LHC. In Rawalpindi, Raja Akhlaq Ahmed is retiring as he will attain superannuation at the end of this…

Who killed Benazir Bhutto?

September 6, 2017September 6, 2017 News Desk

IT is indeed a shocking court judgement. Almost 10 years after her assassination, Benazir Bhutto’s murderers have not been identified let alone convicted. While the anti-terrorist court has acquitted the five main accused for lack of evidence, two police officers charged with negligence have been convicted. So the mystery surrounding the murder of the twice-elected prime minister and one of Pakistan’s most charismatic and popular leaders remains unresolved. Or is this really so? Last week’s ruling of the single-judge court has raised many questions about the dubious way in which the…

Universities move to counter trends of extremism, militancy in students

September 6, 2017September 6, 2017 News Desk

KARACHI: Alarmed over reports of a university student’s involvement in the attack on the leader of the opposition in Sindh Assembly on Eid day, two major public sector varsities in the city held meetings on Tuesday to brainstorm ideas on how to check trends of extremism and militancy in students. All deans of Karachi University as well as university syndicate and academic council members attended the meeting that was chaired by the varsity’s Vice Chancellor Prof Mohammad Ajmal Khan. A similar discussion was held at the NED University of Engineering and Technology.…

12 killed as monsoon rains continue to lash Karachi; parts of city submerged

August 31, 2017 News Desk

At least 12 people have been killed so far, mostly from electrocution, in Karachi as monsoon rains continued to lash the city on Thursday, Edhi officials told DawnNews. In one incident, an eight-year-old child was killed when a building belonging to the Intelligence Bureau collapsed in Clifton area in the aftermath of heavy rain, Karachi South DIG Azad Khan confirmed. After the incident, the minor’s body was shifted to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, where Executive Director Dr Seemin Jamali confirmed the death of the child. Officials are still engaged in removing…