Ahsan Iqbal reviews progress on digital census

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

Minister for Planning Development and Special Initiatives Professor Ahsan Iqbal on Wednesday directed the constitution of a committee, comprising the Planning Secretary, Provincial Chief Secretaries and Chief Census Commissioner, to devise a mechanism and look into the matter of ‘undercount’ in big cities.

The body would suggest a way forward to resolve the confronted issues, ensuring a transparent and credible Census Field Operation.

ISLAMABAD

Staff RepoRt

Vice Admiral Naveed Ashraf, Vice Chief of Naval Staff here on Monday called on Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar. The meeting discussed the prevailing economic and security situation of the country, said a press release. The minister commended the efforts of Pakistan Navy in protecting the country’s sea frontiers and maritime interests of Pakistan. Ishaq Dar further expressed confidence on the role of Pakistan Navy in safeguarding the maritime boundaries and extended the government’s full support to Pakistan Navy. The Vice Chief of Naval Staff thanked the Finance Minister for his support and appreciation.

NdMa predicts more devastating floods this year

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA)

Chairman, Lt Gen Inam Haider has predicted that there is a 72% chance of devastating floods in Pakistan this year. According to media reports, while giving briefing to Public Accounts Committee (PAC), the Chairman NDMA said that the rapid increase in the temperature, glacier melting and early monsoon can result in floods. He said that the NDMA and climate change ministry are monitoring 17 satellites and 36 flood early warning systems will be placed. The Chairman NDMA informed the committee if similar catastrophic floods like last year happened now then the country will land in a huge economic crisis. Earlier, the National Flood Response Coordination Committee’s (NFRCC) latest figures showed that the catastrophic floods in Pakistan resulted in the destruction of over 1,76,153 acres of crops, 4,66,366 homes affected, and over 2,16,974 cattle. In Balochistan, over 3,90,201 homes have been affected while 124 people have lost their lives amid floods. In Gilgit Baltistan, 23 people were reported dead, and 8,479 homes were affected due to floods.

ihc instructs NaB to file complaint in sessions court

ISLAMABAD Staff RepoRt

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday directed the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to submit the complaint to the sessions court after completing the investigation in one month with regard to alleged fraud of 60 million pounds in the United Kingdom (UK). The court disposed of the petition of accused against freezing of his assets and said that this case fell in the jurisdiction of the sessions court. A two-judge bench, comprising Justice Mohsin Akhter Kayani and Justice Arbab Muhammad Tahir, heard the case. The Nation Accountability Bureau had initiated an inquiry against the accused on a request from abroad. The accountability court had endorsed the decision of NAB to freeze the assets of the accused. In a written order, the IHC directed the investigation officer to submit complaint to the sessions court after completion of the investigation wherein the relevant court would take the decision regarding the assets of the accused. The order said that NAB amendments had been introduced after the appeals were filed and UK authorities had also ended up the course. It said that the sessions court would hear the case from the beginning and the appellant were free to file applications on fresh grounds.

congressman writes to Blinken about ‘hr abuses’ in Pakistan

CONtINUED FROM PAgE 01 regulations. It removed the price floor of 1.5% on MDR and capped IRF at 0.2% for debit cards and 0.7% for credit cards. The impact of these policy changes on the number of POS deployed and the number of payment cards issued in the upcoming quarters remains to be seen, and will reveal the success or counterintuitiveness of these measures by the SBP.

The minister made these directions while chairing a meeting via Zoom to review progress over the ongoing exercise of Census Field Operation, a news release said.

Among others, the meeting was attended by Sindh

NTC, SPARCO and other stakeholders. The Planning Minister also directed convening a meeting of the Census Monitoring Committee for necessary deliberation to complete the task within the given timeframe.

During the meeting, the minister also directed SPARCO to conduct geo-tagging to identify the count of missing slums.

On the matter of election delay, Sherman mentioned the government’s demand for a full-court bench and said “scholars argue that such an en banc review is not called for by Pakistani law”. He added it “would be helpful if the foreign law experts at the State Department could confirm this conclusion”. The letter also listed various other “concerns about conduct by the government or its agents” such as extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, political prisoners, serious restrictions on internet freedom, substantial interference with the freedom of peaceful assembly, severe restrictions of religious freedom, threats of violence targeting LGBT+ persons among others. PTI leader Fawad Chaudhry hailed Sherman’s letter in a tweet, saying, “Letter by a senior member of USA Congress Foreign Affairs committee to Secretary Blinken shows the growing concerns of international community on the HR abuses in Pakistan by a fascist government.” He called on the European Union and United Kingdom parliamentarians to “raise [the] issue of human rights abuses in their jurisdictions as well”. Recently, Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin said she was working towards getting the support of 100 Congress members to write to Blinken asking him to “push for democratic values” in Pakistan. Following the PTI’s efforts to improve its image in the US and inform the international community of the crackdown against the party at the hands of the PDM government, a number of US representatives and leaders have been voicing their concerns, echoing the PTI’s grievances. PTI leaders in the United Kingdom and Europe have also sprung into action by staging protests, writing to MPs and speaking with human rights organisations to inform them about the government’s actions against the PTI. In August 2022, the PTI US chapter hired a public relations firm to improve its image in the US after Imran’s ousterrelated allegations portrayed the PTI as anti-American. The agreement revealed that the party was to pay the firm $25,000-$30,000 per month. Similarly, it was revealed last month that the PTI in March 2023 had hired a second lobbying firm in the US to make Americans aware of the threat to Imran’s life.