02
Tuesday, 17 November, 2020
NEWS
pakisTan reJeCTs indian denial of dossier on sTaTe-sponsored Terrorism ISLAMABAD
i
STAFF REPORT
SLAMABAD on Monday rejected as “sophistry” a statement by India’s Ministry of External Affairs which denied involvement in terrorist activities inside Pakistan. The MEA statement came in response to a dossier shared by Pakistan on Saturday which included specific evidence of financing, training, harbouring, and weapons supply in the shape of copies of correspondence, bank transactions, communication intercepts and photos showing perpetrators of attacks inside the Indian consulate in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. Responding to the press conference, Anurag Srivastava, the spokesperson for MEA, declared the dossier was “another futile anti-India propaganda exercise”. “The so-called claims of proof against India enjoy no credibility, are fabricated
and represent figments of imagination,” Srivastava said in a press release. “Fully exposed, India has typically resorted to sophistry, obfuscation and refabrication. Bland denials and regurgitation of an old litany of charges, however, will not change facts,” the Foreign Office responded to Srivastava’s presser on Monday. A statement issued by FO Spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudri said: “The dossier presented by Pakistan extensively documents India’s active planning, promoting, aiding, abetting, financing and execution of terrorist activities against Pakistan. “Since 2001, Pakistan has faced more than 19,000 terrorist attacks on its soil and suffered 83,000 causalities. The direct economic losses have been upward of $126 billion. As a result of India’s sponsorship of terrorism, from across our borders, Pakistan continues to suffer immensely.” Meanwhile, India has mischievously
maryam terms pTi’s failure to achieve majority in gb shameful defeat LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Vice President Maryam Nawaz on Monday said that failure to achieve a clear majority in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) is a "shameful defeat" for the incumbent government. Taking to Twitter, Maryam said, "This defeat is a telling sign of what the future has in store." She claimed that the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) won a few seats in GB’s election despite “rigging”, “bullying”, and help of turncoats. Maryam said that the ruling party was unable to secure a majority despite using state machinery and with the help of turncoats, adding that the people of GB have no confidence in the PTI. Her sentiments were echoed by former premier Shahid Khaqan Abbas who said the federal government had "stripped GB of its powers". Likening the GB polls to the 2018 general elections, the PML-N leader said Sunday's election was rigged. TLTP
kp researchers find first Covid-19 re-infection case PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) health researchers, in a case study, detected re-infection of Covid19 on Monday. As Pakistan is undergoing the second wave of novel coronavirus, a group of Khyber Medical University researchers have found the first instance of Covid-19 re-infection. According to the research released by the health experts, an employee of the health department, who was found positive of novel coronavirus on June 6 this year was diagnosed with coronavirus again. The health worker had developed flu-like illness before testing positive for coronavirus on June 6 and was cleared of the disease on June 19, but four months and 13 days later, he was re-infected. The virus symptoms were severe in the re-infection case, which was detected during a study carried out by a team of researchers. TLTP
Justice rasheed sworn in as acting phC CJ PESHAWAR: Justice Qaiser Rasheed Khan on Monday sworn in as acting chief justice of the Peshawar High Court (PHC). The oath-taking ceremony was held at the Governor House, Peshawar. Justice Qaiser Rasheed was administered oath by Governor Shah Farman. The ceremony was attended by judges of the PHC, lawyers, elected representatives and others. Last week, Justice Qaiser was appointed as acting chief justice of the PHC. He will work on the post till the appointment of regular chief justice by the Judicial Commission of Pakistan. The position had been lying vacant since the sad demise of Peshawar High Court (PHC) Chief Justice Waqar Ahmed Seth who had died of Covid-19 on November 12. TLTP
masqueraded as a victim of terrorism and sought to mislead the international community by hypocritically levelling terrorism-related allegations against Pakistan, Chaudhri said. “It has also conducted false flag operations in occupied Kashmir and inside India to malign Pakistan. That facade has now been removed and the world can see the real face of India — one blackened by its decades-long state terrorism in occupied Kashmir and state-sponsored terrorism and destabilisation efforts in Pakistan.” “The most familiar and undeniable face of India’s state sponsorship of terrorism against Pakistan is Commander Kulbhushan Jadhav — caught red-handed in March 2016. His complicity in subversion, sabotage and terrorism in Pakistan is part of the incontrovertible evidence against India.” The world is also familiar with “saffron terror” orchestrated and unleashed by the RSS-BJP zealots against Muslims in India and against Pakistan, the FO spokesperson
said. “Masterminds of Makkah Masjid, Ajmer Dargah, and Samjhota Express terrorist cases, like Swami Aseemanand, have been granted full state protection and acquitted in a complete travesty of justice after having confessed to India’s National Investigation Agency.” “Open threats to Pakistan by Indian civilian and military leaders, India’s sinister design to subvert China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), and public statements by noted Indian politicians and senior security officials on ‘teaching Pakistan’ a lesson through the use of terrorism constitute further incriminating evidence.” The presence of ISIL (so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) and AQIS (AlQaeda in Indian Subcontinent) in India, as highlighted in recent UN reports, indicate that India is emerging as a hotbed of UNdesignated international terrorist organisations and posing a great risk to the region, he said.
Bilawal warns of dire consequences if ‘rigging’ in GB election not reversed GILGIT INP
Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) on Monday staged a sit-in against alleged rigging in Gilgit-Baltistan election in front of the deputy commissioner's office in Gilgit city. The PPP candidate, Jamil Ahmed was leading by 400 votes last night in the final count but in the morning he was shown as trailing by 2 votes. Bilawal also joined the protest and addressed the crowd gathered there. In his fiery speech, he said that the PPP candidates were pressurised to leave the party and join the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) but every one of them remained steadfast with the party except one. He claimed that when the authorities witnessed the support for PPP by the people of GB from Siachen to Gilgit, they got worried. The election commission started supporting the illegal acts of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) ministers, he alleged. The PPP chief said that so much so that the chief election commissioner went to Islamabad and held a press conference in Islamabad against opposition instead of stopping government ministers from illegal acts. Even the
Prime Minister Imran Khan visited Gilgit, he added. Bilawal said that three seats were clearly snatched from the PPP but warned that no one will be allowed to do so. He said that PPP will continue its protest at every place where rigging has occurred. “We will not allow the puppet, the selected and the selectors to steal the elections. The selectors knew that PTI does not exist in GB. Everyone knows that the people of GB are with the PPP,” he added. The PPP chief said that the people of GB snatched their rights from Dogra Raj and they will again snatch back their rights. He said that he is under pressure by the people and warned the powers to be, not to push him to the extent that he takes extreme measures. He asked people to continue their protest and if the seats which were snatched through rigging are not given to the people and the PPP then the protest will go to Islamabad and he will lead that protest. Bilawal said that he is not going anywhere till the rights of the people are given to them. He said that if the rigging is not reversed then he will choose an extreme and difficult path but that will be the path to victory. He added that he had already warned to accept the verdict of the people otherwise there will be dire consequence.
Two women among eighT killed as bus plunges inTo ravine in nowshera NOWSHERA: At least eight people were killed including two women and a child after a bus fell into a ravine near Nowshera in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) early Monday morning. According to reports, at least 11 passengers were injured in the accident. Seven of the eight deceased died on the spot while the eighth victim died at the Qazi Hussain Ahmed Medical Complex where he was taken for treatment. The police said the bus fell from a hill when its driver tried to clear the road to save another vehicle from falling. Four severely wounded passengers have been moved to a hospital in Peshawar while others are receiving treatment at Qazi Hussain Ahmed Medical Complex. STAFF REPORT
abbasi, miftah, others indicted in lng reference ISLAMABAD: An accountability court on Monday indicted Pakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PML-N) leaders Shahid Khaqan Abbassi and Miftah Ismail, and others in liquefied natural gas (LNG) reference. They denied charges and opted to contest them. The court has sought evidence from the prosecution on the 19th of this month. Accountability Judge Muhammad Azam Khan ordered provision of a copy of the chargesheet to all accused. Ex-PM Abbasi, Miftah Ismail, ex-PSO MD Imranul Haq and others are accused of awarding an LNG import contract allegedly at exorbitant rates in 2015, which caused a big loss to the national exchequer. According to the NAB, Abbasi had awarded an LNG import and distribution contract to the Elengy Terminal in violation of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) rules in 2013. At the previous hearing, Abbasi’s lawyer Barrister Zafarullah had contended that the NAB had written to make Miftah Ismail as an approver in this case while his client had been charged under section 3. The documents in this regard were not provided to the defence side, he said. “Charges could not be framed against them until provision of these documents to them,” Zafarullah added. The NAB prosecutor told the court that the demanded documents had been shared with the defence counsel. TLTP
Sindh CM Murad tests positive for coronavirus, goes into isolation KARACHI STAFF REPORT
Sindh CM Murad Ali Shah said on Monday he had tested positive for the coronavirus. In a statement released by the Twitter account of CM House, Murad said that he had a mild fever on Friday and got himself tested after Friday prayers. “On the advice of my doctors, I have gone into isolation,” he said, adding that he was currently only
experiencing a slight fever. Pakistan is currently in the midst of a second wave of the novel coronavirus, with several prominent personalities, including politicians, testing positive for the disease in recent weeks. The country on Monday reported 2,128 fresh infections after conducting 29,511 tests with a positivity ratio of 7.21 per cent. Several politicians, including Sindh Governor Imran Ismail, National Assembly (NA) Speaker Asad Qaiser and Pakistan
Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shahbaz Sharif, have contracted the disease since the first case emerged in the country in February. Last week, Peshawar High Court (PHC) Chief Justice Waqar Seth and senior journalist Arshad Waheed Chaudhary passed away of coronavirus. Prime Minister Imran Khan will preside over a meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) today to devise a strategy to deal with the rising number of coronavirus cases in the country.
ECC approves Rs80m grant for payment to British law firm ISLAMABAD SHAHZAD PARACHA
The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) on Monday approved giving Rs80million to a British law firm to pursue cases under investigations in the United Kingdom. The meeting of ECC was chaired by Adviser to Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh. Sources said that the Ministry of Interior had requested the ECC to give a Rs80m Technical Supplementary Grant (TSG) for payment of legal fees to a British law firm, Guernica International.
An amount of £175,000 is yet to be paid as the law firm for the period July 2018 to January 2019, wherein the firm worked on the cases and forwarded a request for contract renewal, Pakistan Today learnt. Furthermore, the government of Pakistan is giving £25,000 per month to pursue cases under investigation in the UK, including the Imran Farooq murder case, money laundering and incitement of violence cases. The meeting also recommended the formation of a committee consisting of representatives from the Ministry of Commerce and Ministry of National Food Security and Research (MNFS&R) to decide a
timeline for export of mango and kinnow after consultation with the stakeholders. In light of a summary presented by the Ministry of Information Technology regarding the manufacturing of SIMs/smart-cards in Pakistan, the chair directed constituting a committee to examine the proposal and present a report for a way forward within two weeks. The committee would be chaired by the Federal Minister of Industries and Production Hammad Azhar and would include representatives from the Ministry of IT, Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and Board of Investment (BOI).
