Tuesday, 11 January, 2022 I 7 Jamadi-al-Sani, 1443 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XII No 194 I 12 Pages I Karachi Edition
OppOsitiOn demands Judicial cOmmissiOn tO prObe murree tragedy
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staff report
eader of Opposition in the National assembly Shehbaz Sharif on Monday demanded formation of a judicial commission to fix responsibility of the Murree snowfall tragedy that claimed around 22 lives over the weekend. Speaking in the House after both the treasury and opposition benches agreed to suspend the scheduled agenda and hold a debate on the tragedy, the opposition leader criticised the government over its failure in handling the situation. “There was heavy snowfall, but there
and formation of a judicial commission to investigate the Murree incident, fix responsibility and award exemplary punishment to all those found negligent. Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari thanked National assembly Speaker asad Qaisar for specifying the sitting to debate the Murree tragedy. He alleged that there was delay in provision of assistance to the deserted tourists and demanded strict action against those involved in negligence. He also supported the demand of opposition leader to conduct a judicial inquiry into the incident. He also criticised the government over inflation in
was no one to ask about the people. Innocent children, the youth and the elderly died and nobody asked about their [well-being] for 20 hours.” “The reality is that there were no arrangements in place,” he said, adding that traffic officials and authorities responsible for removing the snow were not present. “People kept asking for help but no one showed up […]. This was a criminal act of negligence and inefficiency and cannot be pardoned. When the Met Office had warned of excessive snowfall, what measures did the government take?” He suggested for passing a resolution on the conclusion of the debate
Govt will retain control over SBP, finance czar tells NA committee IsLaMaBaD TLTP
Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin on Monday dismissed reports pertaining to granting complete autonomy to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), saying the government will still retain control over the central bank even after the passage of the SBP amendment act. Briefing the National assembly Standing Committee on Finance, Tarin said that the government will propose names for the SBP board of directors and appoint the board members as well. The impression that it will curtail powers of the government is not correct, Tarin said during a heated standing committee session, in which he traded barbs with the opposition leaders including Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N)’s ahsan Iqbal. “The IMF told us to stop borrowing money from the State Bank,” he said, adding that the government has not borrowed from the SBP for the past two and a half years. “However, the earlier loans by the SBP amount to rs7,000 billion,” the minister added. The finance minister further said that in March, Pakistan was given $500 million by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on strict conditions that were accepted by the government. “But the current legislation is very different with respect to those demands,” he added.
according to Tarin, it had cost Pakistan $60 billion to artificially stop the devaluation of the rupee. at this, PML-N leader ahsan Iqbal retorted that exports have not increased after the rupee went through a 40 percent depreciation. Meanwhile, briefing the committee, SBP Governor reza Baqir also claimed that the government will retain full control of the SBP despite the amendments in the law pertaining to the central bank. He termed the news reports regarding the “auction of the SBP to the IMF” as fake news and said the “draft of the bill is not secret any more which says that the government will retain control” of the SBP. Baqir said the impression that the IMF is getting control of the central bank is “wrong”. He added that he used to work for the IMF, but it was not a crime to work in a global financial institution. according to the SBP chief, he was a Pakistani national and didn’t hold another nationality or even a residential permit. “The reports in media over these issues are completely baseless,” he added. On January 2, the Prime Minister’s Office had expressed reservations over the SBP bill and sought deletion of certain parts. Sources said that the PM’s Office had also raised several other objections over the SBP bill, which envisages complete autonomy for the central bank and places a complete restriction on the government’s borrowing from the SBP. The premier’s office had disagreed with giving complete autonomy to the SBP and sought the deletion of section 46 B (4) from the bill. On January 8, the SBP had issued two papers to offer clarity on the issue. It had said the proposed law would neither compromise economic sovereignty nor would it become a “state within a state. The amendments, it had added, would help in boosting coordination between the finance minister and the SBP governor to better strike a balance between economic growth and inflation reading. Its officials would remain answerable before parliament and that the National accountability Bureau and the Federal Investigation agency (FIa) could investigate alleged criminal matters.
CONFIRMED CASES: cOrOnavirus in DAY'S DEATH TOLL:
LAST UPDATED AT 7:26 AM ON JAN 10, 2021
NEW CASES:
1,305,707 pakistan 3 1,649 RECOVERED:
1,258,987
SINDH:
PUNJAB:
ISLAMABAD:
KP:
BALOCHISTAN:
AJK/GB:
487,668 448,091 109,396
DEATHS: 28,972 181,757
33,659
34,704/10,432
the country. Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s Salahuddin said the Murree administration was responsible of the incident and strict action should be taken against the negligent officials. Parliamentary Leader of Muttahida Majlis-eamal Pakistan asad Mehmood said the the JUI-F workers and its volunteer organisation participated in the relief activities. No standard operating procedures were issued after the Met Office’s heavy snowfall warnings, he said and de-
manded to conduct a judicial inquiry into the incident. responding to Shehbaz, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Chaudhry Fawad Hussain regretted that leader of opposition has nothing to offer except jugglery on the Murree snowfall tragedy. The minister said Shehbaz is a ‘habitual juggler’, who should have avoided doing politics on tragedies.
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